Six Guardians of the Underworld

Chapter 2

"There!" she said solemnly. "We are now the Pendant Keepers. It's up to us to get them home safely."

But just then, a terrible thing happened. The Underworlders heard the sound of horrible, menacing laughter behind them at the entrance of the cave. A cruel voice called out, "Powers of the Dark Dark wave, arise now for me!"

"Oh, no," gasped Gina. "It's Brutel!"

The Underworlders were suddenly thrown into a swirling whirlpool. It sucked them up out of the Pendant Cave and into the open Underworld.

"Be careful, everyone," Carly cried out. "Keep hold of your Pendants!"

"And let's stay together," called Gina urgently. She tried to grab on to Gabi's and Percy's hands. But it was too late! Gina was slipping away from her friends, as the whirlpool turned into a twisting Dark wave. She heard Pearl scream. Then Gina was lifted right out of the water and hurled through a dark and cloudy sky. The glowing sunset had been transformed into an angry blaze of red, burning like a fierce fire over the Underworld.

Gina seemed to be blown away for miles, far across the wide ocean, all through the black night. The force of the wind was too strong for her to fight against. Where was she going? And when would it end?

Chapter Two

At last, the unnatural Dark wave died down. The clear morning sun began to light up the sky. The wind suddenly stopped, and Gina tumbled back into the Underworld with a splash. What a relief it was to be out of the howling Dark wave! As Gina plunged deep under the waves, she wondered anxiously where she could be. But she was certain of one thing. She was sure that the evil Underworlder Brutel had conjured up the Dark wave with her dark magic.

Brutel was so jealous of her sister, Queen Diona, that she had vowed to overthrow Narva Kingdom and set up her own Dark wave Kingdom in its place. She wanted to rule the Underworlds herself as a cruel queen, helped by her army of wicked jellyfish with their poisonous stings, and her hideous monsters from the deepest, darkest places of the ocean. Gina knew that Brutel would not want the Underworlders to get the new Pendants home safely. Perhaps this Dark wave had been part of her selfish plan to delay them in their task?

Gina steadied herself in the water with her gleaming pink tail and looked around. A dim, early morning light made the water glow faintly. She saw that the Dark wave had sent her to a very strange place, and she had no idea where the other Underworlders were.

As Gina swam down deeper, she began to see tall, dark fronds of thick Underworldweed growing up like trees from the Underworldbed.

"This doesn't look anything like Narva Kingdom," Gina whispered. She gazed at the peculiar plants all around her and sat on a rock to think. "This tall Underworldweed doesn't grow at home."

Gina couldn't help feeling frightened as she started to wonder where the others could be. But just then, she noticed she was sitting on something hard and sharp.

"Ouch!" she squealed. Something had pinched her. Gina flicked her tail out of the way and peered down. A huge, grumpy-looking king crab was glaring up at her.

"What do you think you're doing, sitting on me like that?" the crab shouted. He snapped his big claws at Gina angrily.

"Oh, er, I'm so sorry, er, Mr. Crab," she said quickly.

"Grab?" he said. He was a bit deaf. "My name's not Grab! It's Cato. And it's not nice to be woken by a Underworlder landing on my shell."

"No, I can see that," said Gina. "I'm very sorry."

The old crab grumbled on, but Gina was too upset to listen. She had to find her friends and the way back home to Narva Kingdom as quickly as possible. Queen Diona would be waiting.

"And our parents will be anxious if we are late getting home," she thought. "I just hope we can get back before they are too worried. But I have no idea which direction is home! I wonder where I should look for the others? Perhaps this crab has seen them."

The grumpy old crab was still fussing about his shell. "There doesn't seem to be any damage done," he was saying, "but you must learn to look before you leap!"

"I didn't leap," said Gina indignantly. "I sat on you by accident."

"Humph! I'm going back to sleep," he replied. "Do not disturb!" He crawled under a big frond of Underworldweed and disappeared.

"Well, I don't think it will be any good asking him to help find my friends," thought Gina. "I'll just have to see what I can discover for myself."

She set off through the gently moving forest. It seemed very peaceful as Gina glided in and out of the tall strands of Underworldweed. Brightly colored starfish shone like little jewels. Underworld snails crawled over the waving fronds. But there were no Underworlders anywhere.

"I'll have to make the Underworlder Call," Gina said to herself.

The Underworlder Call was very unusual and very special. It was hard to get right, but all the Sisters of the Underworld had to learn how to make it. And if any Underworlder heard a Call, she had to answer right away.

Gina cupped her hands around her mouth and blew gently. A soft, echoing noise rippled through the water. She waited anxiously. Would any of her friends reply, she wondered, or was she alone in this strange place? Gina was beginning to get really worried when, at last, a sweet answering note floated back to her.

"That's Gabi's call!" she said. Gina darted quickly toward the pretty sound, then caught a glimpse of Gabi's long brown curls and silky purple tail behind a large Underworldweed frond. Gabi didn't notice Gina, because she was checking that her Pendant was still safely in her pouch.

"Oh, Gabi, is it really you?" called Gina.

Gabi looked up joyfully.

"Thank goodness you're here, Gina!" she cried. "I've been so scared! Let's try to find the others."

Soon, the water around them echoed with their beautiful calls. One by one, Carly, Percy, and Loveth emerged from the strange Underworldweed and swam toward Gina and Gabi, looking confused but relieved. They all hugged one another and smiled thankfully. But then they had serious matters to talk about.

"What do you think made the terrible Dark wave that blew us here, Gina?" asked Percy, with big, wondering eyes.