After the children shoot their way into the entrance, they followed Triton down the concrete steps which smelled oddly of seaweed. 

A smooth, white marble stair rail aided Brooke as she ambled past Johnny and slowed down behind Caleb, Nessa, and Triton.

Small pools of water splashed on her bare legs. The temperature was sixty degrees below freezing and the bitter environment suffocated her. 

"Ugh," Nessa shivered in her rain jacket. "Why is it so freezing in here?" 

Triton exhaled his breath, watching the frosty vapor withdraw from his lips.

"Most mythical creatures prefer the cold," he replied, massaging his scrawny elbows. "It's nothing personal."

"What kind of mythical beasts are we talking about?" Caleb inquires between quick stutters. 

"Are we talking about a Yeti or Santa Claus?"

Triton chuckles some more. "There is no such thing as Santa Claus."

"Yeah," Johnny agrees, shuddering like a fragile leaf. 

Brooke observes the faint dark circles tracing around his eyelids. She wonders if Johnny has gotten enough sleep at the beach house.

Her ex-boyfriend looks at Brooke but didn't question her curious gaze. Instead, he continues ranting about cliche fairy tales. 

"I don't still understand why kids worship that guy? He's a fat, white dude who watches kids sleep in their beds." 

Caleb studies him for a second. "Wait, aren't you and Nessa white?" 

"Vanessa and I are half-Portuguese," Johnny stated scornfully. "Anyway, I don't think kids should believe in fairy tales."

Brooke gives him a funny look. "Why? When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me stories about the Easter Bunny." 

"Because fairytales are total bullshit," he answers. 

"I mean, think about it: Tooth Fairy is a ruse to get kids to brush their teeth, the Easter Bunny forces children to believe in Jesus, and don't get me started on the North Pole-" 

"What?" a tiny voice murmured.

Startled, everyone pulled out their handguns and pointed them in the direction of the voice. 

But when Brooke glanced down, she noticed a little girl was standing right in front of them.

She had curly brown hair, a fresh trail of acne across her face, deep caramel skin, hazel green eyes, and wears a white dress with black Mary Janes. 

"Oh my God," Brooke lowers her gun and approaches the scared child. "Everyone, drop your weapons! It's just a little girl!"

Moving towards the startled oracle, Johnny and the others shoved their guns deep in their back pockets.

Like Brooke, they felt guilty about their brutal behavior and wanted to reassure the young girl.

Back in Idlewild, the instructors taught their students that firearms themselves crafted to defend from any adversary -whether it's an arrogant man with a gun and a carnivorous beast.

The students became extremely adept with revolvers, shotguns, and pistols that they didn't mind the violence. In fact, they show no remorse for their actions.

This concept frightened the headmaster that he enforced strict laws to never aim their guns at each other, an innocent civilian, or cultivate school shootings.

If anyone disobeyed the law, then the headmaster will revoke his or her privileges and kick them out of the school.

And so, Triton taught the students empathy and how to put their safety on.

His teachings benefited the students because they have never harmed their community outside of the campus.

Crouching in front of the girl, Triton chuckles awkwardly. 

"We are so sorry you had to see that," he says in a reasonable voice. "Are you okay? Where are your parents?"

The little girl opened her mouth to speak, but all of a sudden, tears begin to form in her eyes.

"This is just fantastic." Nessa thinks."We just emotionally scarred a nine-year-old girl."

Caleb casts the anxious girl a scolding glare.

"Nessa, you shouldn't be thinking like that," he whispers. 

"What?" she hissed in anger. "The girl saw us holding loaded handguns, Caleb. What if she tells someone?"

"I'll erase her memories. Just be cool, okay?"

In the meantime, Johnny made his safety was on so he could give the little girl a warm hug. 

"Why don't you come with us?" he suggests softly. 

Nessa sighs and nods sympathetically.

"Yeah," she smirked. "We will take you to find your mommy, okay?"

Triton held out his hand and the girl shakes it. 

"So, what's your name?" he asks her.

The girl blinks away her tears and eventually tells Triton and the children her name. 

"My name is Abby." 

Caleb expressed an optimistic gasp. 

"Abby? What a pretty name!" he exclaimed. 

The girl let out a cute giggle as Caleb easily lifts her up and places Abby on her shoulders. 

"Let's go to the train station, okay?" he suggested. 

"Okay." 

Johnny, Nessa, Triton, and Brooke observed Caleb walking down the steps, tickling Abby's tiny stomach.

Triton let out an exhausted sigh. "That boy is putting himself at risk."

Nessa glowers her eyes at him. "What are you talking about? Caleb is just cheering up a kid."

"A kid whose parents despise mind readers." Triton smooths his old cowboy hat. "If we don't be careful around these mortals, then I am afraid we will be in danger." 

Brooke frowns in disgust.

"With all due respect, Caleb understands the precautions," she says in a defensive tone.

"Hell, we all know that humans treat us like shit. But Caleb has the most genuine soul. He wouldn't leave anyone behind." 

Johnny smiles as Caleb makes absurd faces at Abby. His reassuring hands carefully wrap around the little girl's torso as the boy comments how adorable she is.

"Brooke's right, Triton." he agrees. "Stop worrying so much. Caleb can take care of himself and has a soft spot for kids."

Triton opens his mouth to speak, but closes it in an instant.

Both Johnny and Brooke were right; Caleb can handle himself, but like Johnny, Triton is afraid of discrimination and is unwilling to let his allies perish. 

However, instead of arguing, Triton buries his hands inside his pockets. He ambled across the tough stairs and tells his former students to hurry before the train leaves.

***
The Poseidon Express welcomes not only mortals but mythical creatures as well. 

Created by a wealthy inventor Martin Bright, the train was designed to withstand extreme temperatures, go thirty-thousand miles, and enter inside a body of water without any obstacles. 

Blackish-green obsidian touched the cold ceiling and the floor the children are standing on. Sea salt emerged from the silver train tracks while dank rocks and grounded sand were littered with putrid garbage.

Mortals and mythical creatures flocked on the moistened sidewalk, searching for their majestic transport.

But even though they stood in the same room, the passengers avoided each other like oil and water. 

Standing on the metal train tracks is a silver steam engine caravan. Black vapor poured from long chimneys, causing everyone to shield their noses with their elbows. 

"Gross!" Abby cringed as Caleb sets her down on the floor. "I hate smoke!" 

Caleb nods in agreement. "Smoking is gross and bad for you. That's why you need to stay away from cigarettes, understand?"

Abby nodded. 

Brooke smiles a little, imagining Caleb being 
surrounded by their adorable children. 

"He's going to be a great Dad." she thinks cheerfully. 

He browsed inside the minds of various adults until he heard the thought of a desperate woman looking for her child. 

"Hey, guys!" Caleb beamed. "I think I found Abby's grandmother!" 

Brooke, Johnny, and Nessa trade optimistic smiles following him through the crowd of miraculous creatures and human beings. 

Triton, who was standing in front of an empty ticket booth, called the kids' names, but his voice was out of reach.

The public flourished. 

Odors of fresh seawater grew stronger as Caleb and the others searched for the girl's parents. But when Caleb took a sharp right turn, he accidentally bumped into a petite old woman.

"Oh no," she moaned. "I am sorry—"

"Grandma!" Abby sang, releasing Caleb's hand.

Soft gray streaks tarnished the old woman's strawberry blonde hair; she wears a luscious white coat, a red satin dress, and bold black pumps that were a bit too small for her. 

Enthusiastically, the old woman opened her arms, allowing Abby to hug her very tightly. 

"Oh my God!" she wailed, embracing her granddaughter. "How on earth did you get here?" 

After their warm embrace, Abby's grandma looks at the skittish teenagers watching the touching scene. 

Caleb smiled at the grandmother while his friends stood behind him. 

"Hello, ma'am." he greeted. "We had found Abby is standing on the stairs. So we helped her find you." 

The grandmother's withered face is filled with pure joy. 

She wraps her arms around Caleb and gave him a suffocating bear hug. 

"Thank you so much!" said Abby's grandma. 

Thankfully, Abby's grandmother released Caleb, reaches into her small, ruby-colored clutch, and pulled out five folded slips of golden paper. 

"Whoa, are those-"

"First class tickets." Abby's grandmother finished. "I bought them before they were sold out."

"Holy cow. . ." Nessa mumbled.

The thick slip of paper felt soft in her hand. Shiny golden letters spelled The Poseidon Express above a drawn headshot of the Greek God himself.

"This is amazing," Johnny began. "But we can't take this. These tickets must have cost a fortune-"

Abby's grandmother cuts him off with a skeptical pout. 

"I was going to give these tickets to my shrewd daughter-in-law," she began. "but apparently, they aren't coming."

The teenagers were stunned. 

At first, they were reluctant to take these tickets from her hand, but when Triton stumbled upon them empty-handed, Nessa had decided to take the tickets. 

"Thank you, ma'am," she beams. "I hope you and your granddaughter are safe." 

Abby hugged Caleb and scampered behind her grandmother. Meanwhile, Triton caught up with the children.

"Oh my God." he wheezes. "I have been searching for you guys for hours! The train is about to start!" 

Nessa smiled presenting Triton the golden train tickets. 

"Whoa," he gasped. "Where the hell—" 

"THE POSEIDON EXPRESS WILL LEAVE IN FIVE  MINUTES!" the train conductor announced, tapping his golden pocket watch. 

Dozens of passengers climbed aboard, prompting Triton and the kids to do the same. 

Shoes fondled the beautiful red carpet as passengers settled themselves in lavish pearl white chairs. 

Several were well-dressed socialites, while many looked like the cast of Fraiser. 

Sitting in the back of the car, Caleb whispers to Brooke: "God, I have never been on this train before." 

Brooke, who sits next to him, grins as she grasps his shaky hand. 

"Me too," she whispers. "Pretty exciting, isn't it?" 

"Yeah."

Meanwhile, Nessa and Johnny settled in front of the couple, checking their wallets to see if their money is inside. 

And as for Triton, he was nowhere to be found.

"How much guineas do you have?"

"I have thirteen coins," Nessa replied. "You?" 

"Twenty-four." 

Nessa stared at him in surprise. "How do you have more guineas than me?" 

Zipping up his leather brown wallet, Johnny retorts: "Maybe it's because you are spender." 

Flustered, Nessa wants to hurl an insult at Johnny when she noticed a young Latina was watching them. 

She has curly dark hair, light brown skin, coffee black eyes, and a noticeable dark purple birthmark behind her left ear.

As for her clothes, the girl wears a white shirt, a purple daisy-printed dress, and sandals that revealed her chipped periwinkle toe polish. 

"Hey," said Johnny, noticing the troubled look on Nessa's face. "Who are you staring at?" 

"My ex-girlfriend." Nessa gestures her finger at the teenage girl who Caleb immediately recognized. 

"Wait, Dove Applewhite was your girlfriend?"

Nessa nods very casually. "Yeah."

Both Caleb and Brooke stared at her in total awe.

"What?" she scrunches her face at her aghast companions. 

"You're gay?" Brooke asks slowly. 

"No," Nessa frowned. "I am pansexual." 

"Oh."

Listening to the conversation, Johnny smiles at his younger sister coming out to her peers. 

"Yeah," Johnny beams proudly. "Nessa came out to the family years ago, and we are very supportive of her." 

"Really?" Caleb breathed. "I don't believe it."

Nessa cocks her head to the side. "You're surprised that I am pansexual?" 

Brooke trains her eyes at Caleb, praying that he wouldn't say hurtful things to Nessa. 

But much to her surprise, Caleb shakes his head.

"I am not surprised that you're pansexual," he begins to say. "I'm surprised that Dove is the only person who likes your cynicism."

Nessa flips him off, prompting Caleb to shut his mouth. 

Overhearing their discussion, Dove gawks at her old companions and squealed in joy. 

"Hi, guys!" she cried out, waving at them. "I didn't expect you guys to be here!"

Nessa awkward glances away from Dove's sweet gaze while Johnny, Brooke, and Caleb happily converse with her. 

"Oh yeah," Johnny grinned. "I haven't seen you since Idlewild Boarding School. How are your parents?" 

Dove gives him a warm smile.

She gets out of her chair, walked over to Johnny, and said: "They're doing great. My mom is a wedding planner and my dad is helping out at the clinic."

"That's amazing!" said Brooke. "Can you send them our regards?" 

"Of course!"

Dove sat in an empty seat beside Nessa who rolled her eyes. 

Her parents were religious and constantly forces Dove to go to church so the priest would cleanse her from her homosexual desires. 

However, when the girls started dating, they didn't encounter any homophobia because the headmaster welcomes the LGBTQ community with open arms. 

Regardless, their relationship spiraled out of control because Dove's parents caught them holding hands during Dove's swim meet.

They forced Dove to sever her ties with Nessa, dropped her out of Idlewild, and enrolled her in a prep school in Manhattan.  

Despite Johnny's pleas, Nessa constantly blames herself for what had done. If she hadn't held Dove's hand that afternoon, she would have stayed in Idlewild.

But now that Dove is standing right in front of her, it was hard for Nessa to recognize the girl she had fallen in love with. 

"So, how are you, Dove?" Nessa asked in a bitter tone. "Did your parents prayed the gay away?" 

Johnny frowns, nudging her by the shoulder. 

"Come on," he murmured. "I get that she is your ex, but-"

Dove held up her hand to stop him.

"I understand that you hate me, Nessa." she sighs. "But can we please talk? The last thing I want is to fight." 

Nessa casts her a doubtful look. 

"In case you haven't forgotten," she growled. "Your pathetic, homophobic parents forced you to stop going out with me."

Dove bites her cracked bottom lip.

"But then again, I am glad that you are out of that stupid prep school." she smiles. "For a minute, I thought you had forgotten Idlewild."

Her former best friend smiles a little.

"Why would I do that?" she frowned."Idlewild gave me the courage to come out to my shitty parents."

Brooke stares at her. "It did?"

"Yeah," Dove groaned. "You have no idea how boring that prep school is! It was awful!"