Arisa had a spoon of her meal. As she felt the salty yet sweet flavor of the food, she examined her surroundings. An arched green tent worked as an improvised ceiling of the annexed area of the inn's building where she was housed. Through the transparent wall of the tent, she could see a small number of people passing by the sidewalk talking in their native language.
She took another spoon of her food, losing herself in her thoughts. When she woke up a few hours ago, she was embarrassed to see she had woken up at such a late hour. Despite her friends telling her that it was normal for her to oversleep since she was recovering from the previous battle, Arisa couldn't help but feel ashamed.
It was past early afternoon when she woke up and as she went to meet her companions, she saw that they were having lunch after they spent most of the morning exploring part of the town. They told her Rangi suggested them to enjoy the island since he would be away to talk to the lady who would enchant them to explore the ocean.
Thelma gushed about how stunning this world was. She said that the town and the world itself was beyond beautiful with paradise-like places. She added that she wouldn't mind living in Oceana. Before Arisa's order was ready, her friends told her she would find them at the beach. She exhaled, wondering why they couldn't wait until she finished eating.
Arisa was so distracted that she didn't notice a small child with a fluffy ponytail, standing by her side. The girl's brown eyes froze on Arisa as the girl watched her having her lunch. The little girl would lick her lips every time Arisa would serve the seafood flavored with coconut cream on her plate.
Arisa gazed at the little girl as she noticed her presence. The small child blinked as Arisa smiled at her. She then shifted her view back at the seafood on the small roundtable.
"Oh," said Arisa. "Do you want some?"
The girl didn't reply and kept her gaze locked on the seafood. Arisa grabbed a few napkins and placed some of the seafood in it.
"Here," she said, giving the napkins to the girl. "Be careful, it's still hot."
A large smile spread across the little girl's face as she grabbed the food and had a bite. Arisa smiled.
"Samaria," called a distant voice by their side. "There you are. Mama is calling you."
Through the sea of tables, Arisa saw the lightly strong girl with curly hair, approaching them. The young girl placed her hand on the hip and glared at the small child when she turned around.
"You glutton child," she said, shaking her head. "Mama already told you not to bother the clients. If you were hungry you should have told us instead of scaring the client with your stares."
"Buat itsh umu cooked fuish," said Samaria, her mouth full. "I like umu fuish."
Lani rolled her eyes as she finally reached them. "Of course you do. There's no food you don't like. Now go back to the house, mama is calling you."
Samaria nodded as she had another bite of her food. She then walked in the area filled with various tables, back to the house. Arisa smiled, finding her cute.
"That child never ceases to amaze me," said Lani, sighing. "On behalf of our inn and family, I would like to apologize. My little sister has a little problem with food and just can't resist. I can ask the restaurant to refill your dish."
"No," said Arisa, shaking her head. "It's okay. It's not like I would finish eating this alone."
"Alright then," said Lani. "I heard from uncle Rangi that you and your friends are Guardians, are you here to protect us from the People of the Sea?"
Arisa gazed at her, blinking a few times. Despite having heard that things weren't going well in Oceana, she wondered why Lani's people would need protection from the people sharing the same world as them.
"No," said Arisa, shaking her head. "We're here to see Caris, there's something we need to tell her."
"I see," said Lani, looking sideways, disappointed.
Arisa raised a brow, her curiosity growing stronger.
"Why do you need protection from the People of the Sea?" she asked. "You two share the same world. There shouldn't be trouble between the two people."
"We may share the same world," said Lani, "but we're two different people."
Arisa couldn't help but feel a bit down upon hearing those words. No matter how many worlds were out there, there were always differences between the people that inhabited them.
"The People of the Sea are just evil," said Lani, breaking the brief silence. "Besides having us as their food, they look down on us just because the majority of our world is water. Animals."
Arisa's brows arched. "Is that true? The People of the Sea eat people?"
"Yes." Lani nodded. "They attract their prey by singing. There's something in their voices that is hypnotizing."
Arisa looked at her almost empty plate, gulping. She remembered the time Caris warned her to cover her years in case she would be forced to use her voice. Caris had told her that usually, the People of the Sea used their voices to catch their prey. Knowing that people were their prey, Arisa couldn't help but worry since they would have to explore the ocean soon. She breathed in, trying to tell herself that maybe it was just a rumor.
"It's sad to see two people hating one another," said Arisa, changing the subject. "You share the same world, the same sky. You should accept each other and live in peace."
"If that ever happens, it will be a sign of the world ending," said Lani, her tone calm. "Even though monsters from other worlds are the ones mostly causing chaos around the worlds, I have never heard of countries getting along in most worlds. What to do? We may share the same world, but we live in different worlds."
We live in two different worlds. Arisa's heart tightened upon hearing those words. Remembering the conflicts between Celestia and Eteria and seeing how things were going in Oceana, she wondered why mortals had to be so imperfect. Even though she knew that everyone had their own flaws, she thought that at least the mortals could try avoiding hatred caused by their differences.
"Lani," called a female voice, "Lani."
The girls looked by their side. Not far from them, a strong girl with long wavy hair that covered most of her back was rushing towards them.
"Hi, Issa," said Lani, tilting her head. "What's up?"
"News," said Issa, recovering her breath. "Big news."
Lani looked at the tanned girl, her brown eyes widening with curiosity. Arisa had a cup of her drink, wondering what kind of news that girl had for running around like that.
"Remember that person of the sea that was captured last week?" asked Issa, her tone excited.
Lani replied with a quick nod.
"It seems the authorities failed to interrogate it," said Issa. "Protesting people have taken it to the plaza so it can spill some beans. I thought you would be interested to see the show."
"You thought right," said Lani walking a few steps forward. "There's no way I'll miss this."
Issa chuckled as they walked together.
"Ah, wait," said Lani before she could take another step. "Um, would you like to go? It's a great chance to see what those animals look like."
Despite being worried about how the people of the Wimbi Islands would force their enemy to talk, Arisa thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to join Lani. After all, her friends told her she would join them on the beach she had no idea where it was located.
"Sure," said Arisa, standing up.
She didn't take long to join the young girls, who walked alongside her.
"By the way," said Lani as they passed by more tables, "what's your name? We didn't have a chance to properly introduce each other."
"Ah." Arisa realized. "I'm Arisa."
Lani smiled. "Nice to meet you, Arisa. I'm Lani, the second eldest child of the lovebirds you saw yesterday. This girl over here is my best friend, Issa."
Arisa smiled as Issa waved at her.
"Nice to meet you," said Arisa.
--♐♑♓--
The sun brightened on the clear blue sky. Despite the strong presence of the star, a cool breeze blew past Arisa as they walked in the street. She guessed she couldn't feel the punishing heat due to the town being built over the ocean as if it was an artificial island.
With the sun illuminating the town, Arisa could have a better look at the environment compared to the day before. Simple-looking buildings filled the area with the highest edifices only having two floors. From the outside, most of the buildings looked as if they were built of wood and logs, while others seemed as if they were built with multiple pebbles. Even so, Arisa couldn't help but be fascinated with their uniqueness.
Strolling the town a little more, crossing wooden bridges that had green-blue water flowing below them, Arisa noticed that the main transport here were bicycles. She was surprised to see a great variety of them, from a simple one to one that was used as cargo. Even though this world looked so simple compared to the technological-heavy Earth, it still had its own beauty.
As they approached an open area with several people gathering around it, Arisa could hear chants. Some said to kill something with fire, others said to let it die under the sun. Hearing such words, Arisa felt down, wondering why everything had to be solved with violence.
"Seems that things are already hot," teased Issa.
Lani increased her pace. "I hope we didn't miss the best part."
Approaching the crowd, Arisa saw several people rushing towards the open area. It didn't take long for the girls to walk through the gathered crowd to have a better look. As they couldn't walk anymore further, Arisa examined her surroundings. A few people were in front of her, but she could see clearly the scene not far from them. A creature was tied around a large pole in the middle of the area.
Looking carefully, Arisa thought that the creature looked like a human but with fin-like ears. The shining sun flashed the fish scales spread on his partly green skin. On either side of the tied being stood two large men, threatening the being with wooden sticks.
"Look at its face," said Lani, laughing. "I wonder if the authorities tortured it in jail in order to force it to talk. If it had a beating in public it will be a shame because we missed it."
Arisa gazed at Lani, frowning. Did she hate the People of the Sea so much she would enjoy seeing one of them being tortured? She sighed and shifted her gaze back to the scene. She noticed that the being's face was a bit swollen and had several bruises. She placed her hand on her chest, feeling sorry for the being.
"I'll ask again," said the large man with short hair, "what did you do to our people, where are they?"
As the being kept his mouth shut, chants filled the silence, suggesting to burn the young man. Arisa gazed around, hoping that the Wimbi People wouldn't go so far.
"Since you won't tell us about the people your people have kidnapped," said the large man with long hair, "tell us what happened to the children of the sea. They haven't returned since going back to the sea a few weeks ago."
Laughter filled the atmosphere. Arisa noticed that the young man from the ocean was the one laughing.
"I hope my people have succeeded in getting rid of those trashes," said the young man. "They are nothing but a product of sin. They're not supposed to exist."
Upon hearing those words, Arisa curled her fingers, hoping that Caris was alright.
"How can you say that to people who share part of their bloodline with your people," said one woman in the crowd. "The ocean is their home just like the surface is. You should be happy to have people that can connect with us."
"And who said we ever wanted to connect with savage creatures like you?" asked the young man. "Those half breeds are only staining the population of purebloods. They're not supposed to exist and I'm hoping that the Royal Family has succeeded exterminating the ones who dared going back to the sea. The seas will shine again without the trash floating around."
"How dare it," said some of the crowd. "Kill it. Kill it with fire."
As the crowd chanted to kill the being, some people cried in the crowd, calling names. Arisa guessed those were the names of family members that had gone back to the sea. Arisa gazed around in disbelief.
So much hatred. Why?
"Since you won't tell us where you have taken our people and our children," said the man with long hair, "we'll let you die with pain. The sun shall consume all the water in you. I heard that on the opposite of our children who can stay away from the sea for a month, purebloods can only stay for a few days. How weak."
As the other man made sure that the being was well tied, some people protested, saying they would rather see the fish burn quickly in a bonfire. Chatter filled the atmosphere as people protested for a quick yet painful death.
"What's going on in here?" asked a gentle voice not far from them.
As Arisa examined her surroundings, she saw the crowd making way for someone. Arisa didn't take long to spot a lady in colorful robes passing by. As the woman of age walked towards the middle of the plaza, Arisa noticed strands of black hair in the single braided gray head.
The woman shook her head as she reached the spot where the young man was tied.
"Is this how far my people have gone?" she turned around and gazed at each side of the crowd. "I'm ashamed of you."
"It's not our fault, Grandmother Tausa," said the large man with short hair. "These people, they are killing our children and who knows what they did to our people."
Tausa glanced over her shoulder. "And you think by torturing or killing one of the merfolk will bring them back?"
Silence fell as everyone gazed at Tausa. The lady shifted her gaze back at the crowd standing in front of her.
"The merfolk has always seen us as inferior beings," she said, walking a few steps on the left side. "But we all believed that no matter where we are from, we are all the same. Even when they spread rumors of us beings savages and violent, we never stopped believing in ourselves. By killing this young man we will all prove that what they said throughout the years is true. Is that what you want?"
Another silence fell as everyone looked at each other.
"It doesn't matter," said one man in the crowd. "Aqua Madre Mati knows that the Wimbi People have a good heart. Who cares what these fish think."
"Do you think Madre Mati will be happy seeing her children behave this way?" asked Tausa. "The poor Mother of the Sea must really feel bad after seeing years of hatred between her children. Who knows what she will do after she has enough of us."
As Tausa walked to another side, Arisa couldn't help but sense something familiar in the woman's wise words. She scratched her head. Where did she hear that before?
"We should show Aqua Madre that we are not like them," said Tausa. "That we can solve our problems without using violence."
As another silence took over the atmosphere, Tausa turned around.
"Give that young man some water," she said. "I'll take him to the Mother Island. We'll see if he can tell us something in the presence of the Ancients."
The two large men nodded and focused on untying the young man.
"As for you, my people," said Tausa, turning around. "Please go back in doing your daily things and don't let hatred take over your hearts. You're stronger than that and always have faith that your loved ones will return."
Arisa heard the crowd say something in their native language before the people spread around the area.
"Grandmother Tausa had to ruin everything," said Lani, exhaling. "That animal deserved to die after insulting us like that."
"Yeah," agreed Issa."But she's not wrong, though. Killing that animal would prove its people's words."
Lani crossed her arms. "Who cares what its people think. We should've killed it."
Arisa couldn't find any words as she stared at Lani. She wondered why she hated the People of the Sea so much.
"Hey, isn't that your uncle?" asked Issa before they could turn around and walk away.
Arisa followed Issa's indication. Not far from them, they saw a small number of people trying to talk to Tausa. Arisa recognized the slim man with short wavy hair.
"Yeah, that's definitely uncle Rangi," said Lani. "I heard he woke up very early to talk to her. Seems like he didn't see her in the Mother Island. Let's go say hi to him."
Arisa quickly followed Lani. They didn't take long to reach the small crowd trying to talk to Tausa. Arisa noticed that they were talking in their native language.
"Uncle Rangi," called Lani.
Rangi turned around. "Oh, Lani. What brings you here?"
Lani folded her arms and tilted her head.
"Of course you wouldn't resist seeing this," said Rangi with awkward laughter. "I see that you brought our guest as well."
Arisa smiled as their gazes met.
"I'm sorry you had to witness this embarrassing scene," said Rangi. "Unfortunately our world is like this."
"You don't have to apologize," she said. "No world is perfect."
Rangi showed a small smile. Several minutes passed as the small crowd around Tausa shrunk. People that were done talking to her left the area.
"Grandmother Tausa," Rangi greeted, his tone cheerful.
"You again?" Tausa frowned. "I told you I won't enchant you. It will be a waste."
Rangi chuckled. "You're so cruel, grandmother, but I'm here to ask you another favor...um."
Rangi patted Arisa's shoulder as he moved a little to introduce her. As the lady looked at her with widened eyes, Arisa could see marks of her age on her face.
"I have been waiting for you, daughter of Ky Azurea and Lucinda Manje," said Tausa before Rangi could say anything.
Arisa's brows arched.
"What?" Rangi looked at Tausa and then at Arisa. "Have you two met before? I didn't even introduce you yet."
Arisa shook her head. "No. This is the first time we're seeing each other."
"The Oracle was right," said Tausa, smiling.
Before Arisa could say anything, a man whispered something to the lady. She then nodded.
"Princess of Celestia," called Tausa, her tone calm.
Still not used to the title of a princess, Arisa looked at Tausa.
Tausa smiled. "Meet me at the Mother Island."