What starts as a peaceful fishing trip with Hercules quickly turns into a full-on confrontation with Ursula in Disney Dreamlight Valley. The Aquatic Musings quest takes you from catching a strange fish on Dazzle Beach all the way to a showdown inside the Cursed Cave, with cooking, crafting, and some clever mirror work in between. Every step is covered below.
How to start the Aquatic Musings quest
This quest kicks off during a hangout with Hercules on Dazzle Beach. He wants to go fishing, and what follows is anything but relaxing. Make sure you have your Royal Fishing Rod and Royal Pickaxe ready before heading out, since you will need both.
Aquatic Musings quest start
Where to fish for the Grayscale Trout
Head to the Dazzle Beach biome and make your way to the water near the Cursed Cave, which sits in the northeast corner of the region. Note that the Mystical Cave is also in this area, so pay attention to which one you are heading toward. The Cursed Cave is the northeast landmark; the Mystical Cave sits closer to the center of Dazzle Beach near the ramp up to Peaceful Meadow.
Once you are at the right spot, equip your Royal Fishing Rod and cast into any of the golden ripple spots in the water. You will pull up a Grayscale Trout, the strange fish Hercules had heard about. There are roughly six golden ripple spots in the area, but they all disappear the moment you catch the quest fish, so it does not matter which one you pick first.
After landing the fish, talk to Hercules. Neither of you can figure out what the fish means, so your next move is to find someone who might. Track down Moana and bring up the Grayscale Trout with her.
What ingredients do you need for the Divination Meal?
Merlin shows up during your conversation with Moana and suggests cooking a Divination Meal to uncover the mystery. You need five ingredients:
Once you have all five, head to any cooking station in the valley and toss them all in together to produce the Divination Meal.
Cook and use the Divination Meal
With the Divination Meal in hand, open your inventory and click on it to activate it. Doing so triggers a Memory connected to the Grayscale Trout, and what it shows is Ursula scheming. Talk to Hercules about the Memory to move things forward.
Cooking the Divination Meal
How to reach Ursula in the Mystical Cave
The Memory places Ursula inside the Mystical Cave, the other cave on Dazzle Beach. Head there with Hercules. Remember, this is not the Cursed Cave you fished near earlier. The Mystical Cave is closer to the middle of the biome, near the ramp connecting to Peaceful Meadow.
Inside, Ursula has blocked the path with rocks. Equip your Royal Pickaxe and smash through them to descend to the bottom of the cave. Listen to the conversation between Hercules and Ursula once you reach the end.
What materials do you need to craft the Sea Glass Mirror?
After Ursula flees, she drops something in the pool at the cave's bottom. Cast your Royal Fishing Rod into the golden ripple spot there to retrieve it. Then find Merlin back in the valley to identify what you caught.
Merlin tells you to craft a Sea Glass Mirror to fight back against Ursula's plans. Here is what you need:
- 1 Sea Glass Fragment (already obtained from fishing in the cave)
- 2 Garnets (mined from rock spots in the Plaza and Peaceful Meadow biomes; also available from Aladdin's gem stall occasionally)
- 5 Glass (crafted from 5 Sand and 1 Coal Ore each, or occasionally sold at Kristoff's stall)
Head to a crafting station, select the Hercules quest icon, choose the Sea Glass Mirror, and craft it. Hand the finished mirror to Hercules.
Crafting the Sea Glass Mirror
How to defeat Ursula with the Sea Glass Mirror
Follow Hercules to the Cursed Cave on Dazzle Beach, talk to him outside, then head in. The cave puzzle here requires some coordination. The process works in three stages:
- Wait for Hercules to bait Ursula and hold her attention.
- While she is distracted, push the Sea Glass Mirror pillar to the center of the room.
- Let Hercules taunt her again, then push the pillar a second time to align it with the light beam coming from the cauldron.
- Repeat one more time to fully redirect the beam and shut down Ursula's scheme.
The timing is forgiving, so do not rush. Wait until Hercules draws her focus before each push.
How to finish the Aquatic Musings quest
Once the light beam is properly redirected, walk to the pool near Ursula and interact with it to collect the Light of Muses. Open your inventory and click on it to set it free.
With that done, approach Ursula and talk to both her and Hercules about everything that just happened. That conversation wraps up the quest. You receive the Marble Muse Statue as a reward, along with a significant boost to your friendship with Hercules.
The quest has more moving parts than it first appears, but none of the individual steps are particularly punishing once you know what to look for. The trickiest part for most players is keeping the Mystical Cave and Cursed Cave straight, and making sure all five Divination Meal ingredients are tracked down before heading to a cooking station. Get those sorted early and the rest flows cleanly. If you are working through other character arcs at the same time, the Olaf's Grand Exhibition quest walkthrough is another multi-step mission worth tackling alongside this one.