There were, unfortunately, no giant squids available for sale at the port’s open air market. However, Caelin and Theo happened upon a group of fishermen on an emptier side of the pier, untangling what appeared to be a giant squid from their net.

“Hello, sailors,” Caelin said, approaching the group with Theo. “How much for that giant squid, and do you know where I can get it cooked by someone?”

“This ain’t a giant squid, lass,” one of the fishermen said gruffly. “It’s a colossal squid, and it’s not for sale.”

“Why isn’t it for sale?” Caelin asked. She reached into her pocket and unscrewed the top of the fountain pen, starting the recording. 

“‘Cause Dr. Manton said so,” the man replied matter-of-factly. 

“Who’s Dr. Manton?” Theo asked.

“He’s one of them ocean scientists,” the man said, pointing in front of him. “Lives right over there. We’ve been told to bring all of these new creatures to him, just to make sure they’re safe an’ all.”

Caelin and Theo turned to follow the man’s finger to a grey lighthouse standing on the edge of a cliff. A white building sat right beside it.

“Thank you,” Theo said, turning to leave. 

“Head to Penn’s Fish if you still want a good seafood meal,” the man called after them as they walked away. 

Caelin and Theo returned to the main section of the market and continued perusing the different stalls. In addition to fish and other sea creatures, there were many sellers that featured jewelry, clothes, flowers, fresh produce, and a multitude of imported wares. Caelin bought a small pouch of blueberries using money she had stolen from Alice’s office before leaving for Sireine. Despite her contribution to the previous mission, since AIKA wasn’t paying her, Caelin decided to take matters of her salary into her own hands. 

Snacking on the sweet and tart berries, Caelin stopped at a table with sea glass necklaces, seashell bracelets, and pearl earrings. Though the hand-crafted, artisanal jewelry were beautiful, there was a plain tin bucket, distinct from its surrounding stock. The words “10 cuprus” were painted on the side of the bucket. Caelin reached inside and pulled out a small, oval stone. 

It was blue like a robin’s egg and a similar size too. There was a hole in the center of it. Holding it up to the sky, Caelin saw vein-like streaks of pale green coating the stone. The color flowed towards the bottom into one celadon green pool. 

“How peculiar,” Caelin remarked. When she tilted the stone to the side, the green pool moved as well. 

“It’s a fae-stone,” Theo said, looking at the stone in Caelin’s hand. 

“What is that?” Caelin lowered her hand and the pale green streaks slowly faded away.

“It’s from the fae realm and had once belonged to a fae,” Theo explained. “They must’ve lost it in a wager and are no doubt searching to reclaim it now. I don’t know how it ended up here, but it’s best to leave behind a fae-stone if you happen to encounter one. Since they’re precious to the fae, it’d be better to avoid a  fae's wrath.”

Caelin nodded in understanding and placed the stone back into the bucket. She picked up a shell bracelet instead. The nacre glistened iridescently in her palm. “I’m going to look around here a bit more. I see a sign for Penn’s fish shop at the end of this strip. I’ll meet you there after?”

“Don’t take too long,” Theo said. He glanced at the tin bucket again before heading towards Penn’s. 

After making sure Theo left, Caelin set down the bracelet and picked up the fae-stone again. Although they were rumored to often leave their own realm to play tricks on residents of the other seven realms, Caelin had never encountered one before. 

She wondered what kind of fae the stone belonged to. “Do they also bleed red?”

“Sorry? Could you repeat that?” The stall’s merchant looked over at Caelin expectantly. 

“I’d like to buy this please,” Caelin said in a louder voice and placed the exact amount of coins on the table. 

“Thank you, come again!” the merchant chimed out as Caelin pocketed the fae-stone and left the stall. 

Caelin found Theo standing to the side of the fish shop’s main entrance. Contrary to its surrounding canvas-pitched tents for booths, Penn’s Fish was a permanent structure made of wood. The front half resembled a boat, and from outside the circular windows, Caelin spotted multiple dining tables inside the hull for patrons to sit at. There were also numerous fish tanks along the sides of the restaurant. The largest tank, however, was right outside of the shop’s entrance, attracting various passersby to observe the spectacle it held. 

“An old friend?” Caelin joked as she approached Theo, who was staring intensely at the enormously long fish inside the tank. 

Theo laughed dryly. “That’s certainly one way to look at it. Legends say that the appearance of an oarfish foretells impending doom, a messenger of misfortune from the siren’s realm.”

The oarfish was at least six meters long with numerous red spikes along the back of its silvery body. Caelin couldn’t quite identify where its mouth was, but its large eyes gave off the impression that it was permanently startled. 

“Sounds as lovely as it looks,” Caelin remarked. “Can we eat it?”

“I believe its natural habitat is in the deep sea…” Theo said thoughtfully.

“Hello, may I help you two with anything?” asked a man in a dark blue waistcoat from the restaurant’s entrance. He had a professional service smile, but there was a wary look in his eyes.

“Hi, yes, can we eat this here?” Caelin asked, pointing at the ribbon-like fish. 

Realizing that they were potential patrons, the man’s smile widened and his posture relaxed. “No, it’s not for sale, unfortunately, and I don’t really recommend consuming oarfish either. It tastes absolutely horrible with a very gelatinous-like meat. I would never serve something like that to my customers. Please, come in, and try something else. Everything we serve is freshly caught from just this morning.”

Since it was already noon, Caelin and Theo decided to go inside the restaurant for lunch. The man led them to an empty table and set down two menus before them. Once sitting inside, Caelin noticed a small brass ship slowly spinning above the room, attached to the ceiling by a thick metal wire. Small puffs of smoke drifted out of its funnel as its copper gears turned, moving the boat in an endless loop through invisible waters.

“So are you Penn?” Caelin asked. 

“No, Penn is my father, who opened this restaurant,” the man explained, chuckling as if he’d heard this question many times before. “I’m Pierre. I help manage when my father is out at sea.”

“I thought it was usually best to fish in the mornings or evenings,” Theo said. 

“Yes, but my father isn’t out to catch just any fish, you see,” Pierre explained. He looked around the room before leaning in close to them. “He’s aiming to catch the kraken.”

Theo frowned. “But the kraken isn’t real. It's a folktale based on sightings of giant squids.”

Pierre smiled mysteriously. “Or so that’s what they want you to believe. With the recent rise in appearances of deep sea fish, there has to be something out there in the depths. Something that scares even the most abyssal of specimens.”

“And why would you think it’s a kraken?” Theo asked.

“Because that’s what Dr. Manton believes,” Pierre said. “He’s spent decades of his life researching the kraken. The frequent catches of the oarfish confirms his theory. There must be a kraken residing in Sireine’s waters now.”

“So I’m assuming that you’ll also be giving that one to Dr. Manton too?” Caelin pointed at the oarfish outside of the restaurant. 

“Of course.” Pierre nodded. “I would’ve liked to earlier, but we’ve been swamped with the lunch rush. Now, what would you two like to have for lunch today?”

Caelin ordered the squid ink pasta, while Theo had the grilled swordfish steak. Thinking that the meal would taste like how an inkwell smelled, Caelin was sorely disappointed by the fragrant aroma of the basil and garlic. The acidity of the tomatoes cut perfectly by the richness of olive oil and butter. The dish was delicious and though the pasta was stained black by the squid ink, there wasn’t the slightest hint of bitterness that she would expect from an inkwell.

After the meal, Caelin and Theo left Penn’s Fish to continue their walk through the market, paying special attention to any mention of Dr. Manton or a kraken. Caelin had kept her pen recording the entire time and was beginning to grow worried over how many hours it could handle. Lilac had said that there would be a red light on the side of the pen to indicate that it was full, and although there was currently no light, Caelin didn’t want to take any chances of missing crucial information due to a silly technical issue. 

Stopping at a stall that sold spare mechanic parts, Caelin found a piece for 5 augens that matched the small chip in her pen. After haggling it down to 2 augens, she happily agreed to purchase the part. While searching for the coins in the money pouch she had stolen from Alice, a group of three burly men stopped at the stall beside her. They were dressed like mercenaries with swords by their hips, and they conversed with each other in gruff voices. 

“Are we sure that she’s here, Boss?”

“Raven said she was sighted on a boat headed here last week, so she must be nearby.”

“But we’ve been searching since yesterday, and there hasn’t even been a hint of her. Maybe she’s already left. Why don’t we head back, Boss?”

Handing over the money to the merchant, Caelin casually glanced at the trio. The “Boss” had a fierce appearance with a scar stretching across his face from the top right corner of his temple to the bottom left of his chin. He wore a permanent frown on his face. 

“And then what do we tell the Marquess?” the leader of the mercenary group hissed. “That we failed to find and retrieve his missing daughter?” He suddenly looked around, and Caelin ducked her head, focused on putting away her new purchase. 

“Come on,” the mercenary said. “Let’s continue the search.”

“Hey did you hear that?” Caelin whispered excitedly after the mercenaries were out of earshot and nudged Theo with her elbow. “I think there’s a runaway noble’s daughter here.” When Theo didn’t respond, Caelin looked over at the hooded man and noticed his attention was drawn to something else in the distance. 

“Sorry, there’s something I need to check on first,” Theo said hurriedly. 

“What’s wrong?” Caelin looked around the market, but aside from an increase in the crowds shopping, she didn’t notice anything amiss. “Did you find a clue?” 

Though she couldn’t clearly see his expression under his cloak’s hood, Theo seemed to be unusually agitated by something.

“Let’s split up for now,” Theo said, ignoring her questions. “I’ll come find you later.” Without waiting for a response, he quickly walked away and disappeared into the market’s crowds.