Chloe's eyes grew progressively wider as she read the remnants of the letter. "King Phil Le, ruler of the Central Sea. You are specifically requested to attend this meeting on Three Ring Isle. For without you, we cannot form the unication of all the oceans! Please RSVP!"

Chloe crumpled the letter in her hand. "How dare Dingsworth send out these letters on my behalf! Does he not know that I'm the queen?!"

Monica smiled slyly. "But chica, I thought you didn't want to be queen of the Mainland!"

"I don't," Chloe exclaimed. "But stealing my throne without asking? That's just not right! And what's this unification crud?"

Ramone scratched his billygoat goatee. "Perhaps, they are finally going through with the plan to form one big Oceanic empire? They've wanted to for a while, but who knew it would be minister Dingsworth who'd pull the trigger."

The king nodded. "I remember this minister when your parents were still alive, Queen Annabell. He was very pragmatic and always coordinating everything your parents did when they visited my kingdom. He was a busy body and if I was to venture a guess, he probably helped you govern too, Queen Annabell."

Chloe put her hands behind her back. "Maaaaaybe. But that's because I was much too busy plotting my pirate empire! He was a necessary evil."

"But it seems like the power has final gone to his head," Rosemary said from inside Chloe's brain. "The only more pragmatic man is the great Fienmond himself."

Chloe nodded. "So what are we gonna do about this?" she asked. "Do we want this old guy regulating everything we do? I know I don't."

"Perhaps," King Phil Le said. "I will attend and see for myself what this unification actually entails. There are good and bad sides to every proposal."

Everyone nodded except for Chloe. She was fuming from the way that the minister was running her country. "Child," Rosemary whispered to her. "I believe we should attend. Because...where there's power...there is Fienmond. He's a demon who lurks in the shadows of every great decision. Then, if we find him, you and I can both have our....revenge."

"I don't appreciate how you futzed with my mind earlier, Rose," Chloe muttered. "But admittedly, I want to find him and the source of the Demollusks as well."

"It's settled," the young queen said. "We'll visit the big tops and see this clown convention once and for all!"

***

The crew bid farewell to Luna and Gillian and the king appointed the fishysauz captain as leader until he returned. The king with his great, shining purple eyes and broad jaw smiled as he boarded the Whaleboat.

"Arrr these accomodations to yer liking kingy wingy?" Captain Abacab asked with a friendly salute.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Yes..." the king said with a certain smile. "Just... Do you have any water to keep my gills hydrated?"

The captain playfully thrust a Yo-Ho into the king's face. "Drink away, matey!"

The king skeptically gazed at the bottle, and hapharzardly poured it into his mouth. He closed his eyes and when they opened, they glistened with joy. "Hmm, chocolate water," he remarked. "Excellent. Perhaps I will propose that at this meeting of the world leaders! This could make for a more flavorful pool of water in our domain!"

Everyone laughed before the captain shouted "anchors away" and they sailed towards Three Ring Isle.

Fortunately, the circus islands wasn't far away from the other side of the Fishysauz domain. They were simply further eastward towards the Underpass. Three large striped tents of blue, red and yellow rose high and proud on three miniature islands. Balloons of all colors rose out of them up into the sky.

"I always went to this place as a little girl," Chloe said as the islands reflected in her eyes. "But you'd never guess what I loved most about going to the circus."

Abacab, Monica, Vinnie and Ramone all asked at once.

"The acrobats?"

"No."

"The food?"

"Nope."

"The animals."

"Nah."

Monica was last to answer. "Oh come on chica. Please tell me you didn't like those creepy clowns the most!"

"Shell yeah, baby!" Chloe laughed and slapped her knee. "I love clowns. They shoot water in your face, honk their noses at you and sometimes even throw a pie! They're as unruly as pirates themselves! Only they look twice as insane!"

Monica shivered and turned to Vinnie the Eel. "Don't worry, baby. I'll protect you from da clowns."

"Kinda hard," she responded curtly. "When you are one."

***

The six disembarked from the ship and headed onto the grounds of the big top. At the front of the tent was a young girl of twelve. A red nose stuck out on her face and she bore a smile as wide as her painted one. She wore a paint splattered white dress that looked resembled tye dye print. Despite her clown attire, wide eyes and vacant smile, she didn't seem to unsettle the crew (aside from Monica.)

"Hiya!" she said in a drawl from the southern sea. "Have you come to see the greatest show on the seas! It's gotten loads of four starfish reviews on Kelp!"

"Ah dio mios!" Monica gasped. "This clown is even creepier close up."

"Aww naw," the girl responded. "Clowns aren't supposed to be scary, they're supposed to flip yer frown upside down. That's why I put on this makeup, cos you know, clowns are always smilin' even when they're not. Isn't that super?"

"That's what I don't like, girl," Monica responded. "It's not good to smile all the time. That's why our goddess gave us a whole range of emotions."

"Of course," the girl said with vacant eyes. "My pappy said if you smile too long yer face will get stuck like that. And then people won't know how you really feel! You'll be like a zombie with facial paralysis!"

"That's strangely insightful," Ramone responded. "But young clown girl, who are you exactly? Are you part of this circus?"

"Well, ma name's Sunny," the girl answered. "And I'm what you call a 'task juggler'. I greet people, say hi-hi-hi and serve food in the stands but I'm not really part of the act. Unfortunately, the owner James Clown thinks I'm too much of a showstopper!"

"Is that a good thing?" Chloe asked.

"Heck naw! He means I stop the show! I'm vertically challenged you see...I throw stuff in the air and..." Sunny removed three juggler balls from her dress and tossed them up in the air. The balls all came down and hit her in the head. "Ouch!"

After a dull expression from getting whacked, the girl gasped. "Jumping Junebugs!" she said to the king. "Now who is this royal remora?!"

The mightily muscular fish king stepped forward. "King Phil Le The First of the Ocean Kingdom at your service."

"Ah yes...King Phil Le!" Sunny said with a smirk. "We've been expecting y'all. That minister mainland guy instructed us to set up a special grilling in your honor!"