[DOA] The Concert Hall: Building the Concert Hall

Hey mom. Cappuccino clicked and thought, bumping his rostrum against his mother’s side gently. He couldn’t speak, per se, but he got his point across easily enough with clicks and noises. He knew that she wasn’t really his mother, the entire pod knew that, but she was the closest thing he could remember to a mother. And she’d adopted him...nothing he could do about that. He let out a soft chuckle-like noise as Callisto gently brushed her element against his rostrum in return, an arc of electricity jumping between them as he pulled away. 

“Hello, my son.” Callisto replied, chuckling at his amused whistle. “Anything of interest today?” She asked, smiling as he made a face. “A no then?” She inquired, earning a nod. She grinned. “Race you to the surface?” She dared, turning and exploding towards the twinkling surface far above. She could hear Cappuccino’s grunt-like click of amusement as he sped after her, the powerful thrusts of his flukes letting him quickly overtake her. He launched out of the water, his black and white body in stark contrast to the early morning light before he crashed back into his watery world. Callisto followed suit, her body leaving a smaller splash as she dove below. Callisto glanced back towards where the rest of the pod was, far in the distance. She could just make out her sons and daughter, traveling close with Twilight and Kyuquot. She smiled. She had had four healthy, although a bit mutated, offspring. Three sons. One daughter. They had all been named after celestial beings and phenomena, in the same style that Callisto herself had been named. Calypso, Cosmos, Orion, and Flare. All perfect. All healthy. They and the pod were moving to meet up with the other Phins who lived in the Grassy Shoals to work on whatever task the phins had in store for them. Cappuccino let out a whistle, catching Callisto’s attention. He nodded towards something that she couldn’t see. Watching him, Callisto soon figured out what had gotten Cappuccino so excited as he mimed out and signed that he had seen the other phins. Callisto turned her attention back ahead of her and grinned. Sure enough, the phins who lived in the Grassy Shoals were waiting.  

“Good. You came.” Seoul said simply as the rest of the pod rejoined them. “Of course. We said we’d come” Callisto responded with a smile. “What is our task for today?” She inquired, interest in her voice. “We need help building the Concert Hall.” RM spoke up, watching Callisto’s pod with interest. “If you’re up to it, that is.” He added with a grin.Callisto grinned back. “We’re always happy to help!” She said, glancing downwards as Flare bumped against her side playfully. “Go play with Calypso, Cosmos, and Orion.” She said. “I’ll call you if we need help, okay?” She said, her voice gentle. “Okay Momma!” Flare said, giggling as his mother gently ran her pectoral over his rostrum. “Alright, have fun!” She said, smiling as she watched him turn and dart towards Calypso, his many fins making him fast as an eel through the warm water. She smiled as he giggled, racing his siblings, the watchful eyes of the older aqrions on them at all times so they didn’t go too far. 

Callisto turned back to the phin singers, smiling at them gently. “We’re at your service. What would you like us to do?” She asked, earning smiles in response. “Follow us, we’ll show you.” Seoul said, turning and leading the two groups of phins towards the concert hall. “Callisto, can you and Cappuccino help hold the logs up so that RM and I can tie them together?” Seoul asked, earning nods from the mother-son pair. “Thank you.” RM said, swimming towards the surface with Seoul as Callisto and Cappuccino got their rostrums under the logs, using their powerful flukes to propel them to a standing position. Together, RM and Seoul used long lengths of kelp to tie the logs securely together, giving them a few pushes to make sure they were stable. Callisto and Cappuccino moved to the next section, repeating the process. Callisto backed up, looking up at what they’d helped build. The structures seemed sound and only got more stable as they were directed to gather a long log with some of the other phins. Pushing it up towards the top of the structure was a lot easier than it seemed, especially with all the help and the log fell into place with a satisfying clunk. “Thank you for your help.” Seoul said with a smile as the last log was tied in place. “This helped this go a lot faster. We can handle the rest from here, It’s meant to be a surprise, of course.” She said. “Gather your pod, enjoy yourselves before the concert. We’ll reach out if we need anything else.” She said, dipping her head in gratitude. “Of course! We’re always happy to help!” Callisto said, returning the dip of her head before she turned, gathering the rest of the pod and departing.