Squee floated quietly before the gates of Atlantis.
The city shimmered like a dream — tall coral towers, glowing gardens of seaweed, and streets paved with shells that glittered like moonlight. Soft music drifted through the water, and gentle lights swirled like dancing stars.
For a long moment, Squee just watched, eyes wide. He had finally reached it — the place of legend, where sea secrets were said to live.
As he swam through the archway, the city seemed empty. Not a single fish or merfolk in sight. Only the faint echo of his own bubbles.
Then, suddenly, the water began to sparkle around him. The shimmer gathered into a graceful shape — a tall, glowing figure with flowing hair that rippled like waves. She held a shell-shaped staff and smiled kindly.
“I am Aqualina, Guardian of Atlantis,” she said, her voice like the sound of gentle tides. “Welcome, little traveller. You have come far.”
Squee bowed politely, though his arms tangled again. “I came to learn how to protect myself. Everyone else seems stronger or faster. I just wanted to find what makes me special.”
Aqualina gazed at him with soft, kind eyes. “And along the way, you faced storms, darkness, and fear, yet you did not turn back.”
The water around them began to glow brighter. “That, Squee, is already a great strength.”
She lifted her shell staff, and a swirl of tiny bubbles floated toward him. “But there is more inside you — a gift waiting to be awakened.”
Squee blinked. “A… gift?”
Aqualina nodded. “Long ago, the sea gave every creature a way to survive. The shark has its teeth. The eel has its lightning. The turtle has its shell. And you, little squid, carry a gift of your own, though you have not yet discovered it.”
She touched her staff lightly to his head. “Close your eyes.”
Squee obeyed. The water grew warm, and he felt a gentle tickle deep inside his body, like a soft swirl near his belly. Suddenly, a puff of black mist escaped him, swirling, twisting, forming beautiful shapes before fading away.
Squee gasped. “What… what was that?”
Aqualina smiled. “That is your gift — the Ink of Illusion. When danger comes, it will swirl around you like a cloud, hiding you from harm and giving you time to escape. It is not a weapon to hurt others, but a shield of cleverness.”
Squee watched the ink drift in wonder. “So… I can protect myself, not by fighting, but by being smart?”
“Exactly,” said Aqualina. “You have the courage to face fear, and now you have the wisdom to outsmart it. That is true strength.”
The ink shimmered like stars in the water before fading completely. Squee felt proud for the first time, not because he was powerful, but because he had found something that was truly his own.
Aqualina smiled. “Go now, young squid. Share your courage with others. And remember: when the sea grows dark, you carry your own light, even if it looks like ink.”
Squee bowed deeply. “Thank you, Guardian.”
Then he turned and swam back toward home. The journey seemed shorter this time — the ocean no longer felt scary. He couldn’t wait to tell Pippa the Prawn, and maybe even Ozzie and Orla, what he had learned.
That night, the little squid slept peacefully in his shell, a soft swirl of ink drifting gently around him like a dream.
And from that day on, all squids carried the same gift — a magical ink to confuse their enemies and keep them safe in the great wide ocean.
The End.