The villagers gathered around, still carrying the weight of what had happened. Urcino’s deal with the Strangers had shaken everyone. But Urcinetta had not stopped. She had gone from house to house, from current to current, listening. Asking. Collecting stories.
And what she found surprised her.
“Urcinetta,” said Mrs. Kelpina , a wise old kelp forest keeper, “my grandchildren play with PaScaline every afternoon after school. They say she is… nice.”
“Cl-oude always helps Copepito and Euphisto with their homework,” added Mr. Diatom , the village teacher. “He is the brightest student in the class.“
Clio sat quietly in the corner, her small heart aching. She felt a heavy weight in her chest. Guilt. Because the villagers were right — the Strangers were not all monsters. And Clio knew that better than anyone.
“You’re right,” Clio whispered, standing up slowly. “They’re not all bad guys.”
She thought of PaScaline, who had once stayed with her after school, sharing stories about a place where the sun was bright and she had once been a container for biological samples in hospitals – no water, no currents, just human buildings.
She thought of Cl-oude, who patiently explained numbers and shapes to Copepito until his eyes sparkled with understanding. He had once been a pipe for drinking water.
One day, as she swam near PaScaline’s home — a quiet corner of the village where the Strangers had settled — she heard a small, weak cry. She swam closer and found PaScaline’s child, a tiny polystyrene fragment, trembling in the water.
“Hey, PaScaline, what’s wrong?” Clio asked gently.PaScaline looked up, her usual smile gone. Her eyes were full of worry.
“Something in the water… it is binding to him. BPA and phthalates are leaching out of him as he ages. And PCBs, PBDEs, lead, and cadmium are all clinging to his skin from the water.”
“I used to be beautiful,” PaScaline said softly.
“I had a perfect shape. And now… look at me. I am degraded. Biofilms are eating my surface, little by little. I am being eaten by the very water I now live in.”
Clio’s eyes widened. She had never thought of it this way. The Strangers were not just hurting the sea creatures. The sea was hurting them in return.
“You never told anyone” Clio said, her voice full of sadness.
“We didn’t think you would care,” PaScaline replied. “You see us as enemies. As the ones who invaded your home.”
Clio swam closer and gently touched PaScaline‘s tiny hand.
“None of you chose this. You were made by humans, far away, and brought here by currents you could not control.”
Meanwhile, at the meeting….
Urcinetta stood tall at the center, her voice strong and clear.
“We must protect our home! The Strangers are poison. They are inside our food, our water, our bodies. We cannot let them stay!”
The villagers cheered. Copepito‘s dad nodded. Even Urcino looked thoughtful.
But then Clio raised her tiny hand.
“May I speak?” she asked.
The square fell silent. Everyone knew Clio. She was small, gentle, always the first to welcome someone new. Her voice carried a different kind of power.
“Urcinetta is right,” Clio began, looking straight at her friend. “The Strangers are dangerous. They carry toxins. They are changing our water. We must fight to protect our ocean.”
Urcinetta smiled, proud of her friend.
“But” Clio continued, her voice growing softer: “The Strangers are also suffering.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
“PaScaline’s child is sick. They came here by accident, carried by the same currents that bring us plankton. They used to live on land — in houses, in factories, and in labs. They were flushed into the oceans, and now they are being attacked by the very water they now live in.”
“I do not want Urcinetta to stop her battle. The ocean must be protected. But our enemies… are not the Strangers.”
The villagers sat in stunned silence. Even Urcinetta looked surprised.
“What do you suggest, Clio?” the mayor asked.
Clio took a deep breath. She had thought about this all night.
“Ask them where they come from. Ask them how they got here. And most importantly – ask them how we can help them get back home. Because if we send them home, safely, the ocean will be safer for all of us.”
A long silence followed. Then, slowly, the villagers began to nod.
Urcinetta looked at Clio, then at the crowd. Her eyes softened.
“Clio… you may be right,” she said. “We cannot fight what we do not understand. Maybe… maybe there is another way.”
And so, a new chapter began. Not a war, not a surrender — but a conversation. The villagers and the Strangers sat together, for the first time, and began to talk.
