Dear Mother and Father,

I know I haven't written to you in a while, but be assured that I'm being treated very well at the castle. The staff maids are very nice and living here has been very comfortable, though I do miss mother's home cooking sometimes. Speaking of mother, how have you been fairing? When we last spoke, your skin looked a bit pale and flaky. I hope you weren't coming down with something when I was escorted away.

I hope father is taking good care of you since I'm no longer around to help. He may claim that he's still in top condition, but he's certainly not the young Techno Troll he once was! Sorry daddy~! Still, I think of you two every day and hope you are doing well.

Living here in the castle has its ups and downs, but I go about every day with a smile! And I've made some new friends here as well! They're from the other pods and I'm sure you'll like them as much as I have once you meet them.

Especially Sula! She's really nice and supportive! And really really pretty too! She's got this nice coloring and sings beautifully! We made each other topknots and haven't taken them off since! I think that made all the other girls jealous! Except for Rulli. She likes to keep her distance from the group but the clothes she picks out are KILLER! It's like everything she touches and puts on makes her a goddess! I'm so jealous! Twix is a bit strange, but she's very lovable in a good way, and J.P. Pop makes some nice music to listen to when the girls and I are bored. I really like all my new friends!

Except for one.

Her name is _ and… she scares me. She scares everyone. Except Sula. She keeps saying how we shouldn't be here and how this will all end in blood. Sula keeps telling her to knock it off and to leave us alone, but _ won't stop. Twix claims to have seen her leave her room in the deep of the night sometimes, and Rulli keeps a very far distance from her, and J.P. told me that one time she though she heard _ scream somewhere.

I'm really creped out by her. She has this dead eyed look and her hair is all mattered up. I think I saw a dead fish in her hair once. I'm sad to admit it, but I would feel much better if she wasn't here in the castle with us…

Anyway! One of the guards told me the king would be back soon! I'm so excited to meet him in person! I'll tell you everything about him once we finally meet! I bet he's handsome~!

No one really talks about the king. Not even the staff members, and they work here. Strange huh?

I hope this letter reaches you quickly and that you're both doing alright. I miss you both every day and I love you.

From your daughter,

Moonlight

"Pitiful." The kelp was folded over, covering the message that was written on it. "Such high hopes. Wasted." With a sigh, the message was stuffed into a small bag hung around the Techno Troll's hip.

"They all had high hope." A soft voice whispered from behind. "You can't blame them for not knowing."

"Well, they should have. It's been going on for generations and yet they're all still in the dark about what's going on." Turning around, the Techno Troll hurried to the door, gazing out into the hallway. It was dark, the jelly lanterns glowed dimly from their coral cages hung on the ceiling. "Personally, I wished they got the hint sooner when she managed to escape. Damn girl got extremely lucky. I still don't know how she pulled it off."

"She was under heavy supervision like the rest of them, and yet she disappeared without a trace!" Tiny hands grabbed the rim of the helm, peeking down at the larger Techno Troll. "Do you think she was magic? Like all the rumors say about her?"

The bigger Techno Troll snorted, plucking the smaller one off their helm. "Please. Magic isn't real. It's just some made up tale like all the others to keep guppies in line and away from the Top." Glancing down the hall one more time, they motioned the troll to follow.

Swiftly and silently, the pair swam down the long hall, sticking close together. The hallway ended, opening to a large room in the castle. Making sure no one was around, the quickly shut the door, hiding it behind the old tapestry, making sure everything was in place before swimming off.

Once reaching the main hell, the larger of the pair motioned the smaller to wait, swimming up to one of the open windows and looked out. Signaling their friend to follow, they made their way down, swimming into the gardens below and followed the path they laid out earlier to a stone wall. The smaller troll took lead this time, moving a certain stone that opened a secret entryway for the pair.

Ducking in, they waited for the entryway to be sealed before nodding to each other and grabbing a hand. The smaller one closed their eyes as the larger pulled them along, the glow of their bodies provided enough light to see in the dark tunnel. The tunnel opened to a small room that split into four paths and the larger troll quickly went into one without hesitation. They repeated this until they reached the fifth room filled with large holes. Nudging the smaller troll, the larger toll closed their eyes as the smaller opened theirs and led their friend to a certain hole.

The tunnel was longer than the rest before it opened to a drop off. The pair peeked out, looking for any danger or signs that they were followed and were relieved to find none.

"Okay, you go get the seahorses, I'll go and get the other two." The larger instructed as they swam down. They headed towards a large rock that stuck out from the cliff side with a small bit of seaweed struggling to grow on it. Looking back, they spotted the smaller troll ducking into a small hidden cave where they had hidden the seahorses in earlier.

A small smile cracked on their face. Everything was going smoothly… too smoothly.

They frowned. Everything was going as planned, but they couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

And their feeling was never wrong.