A Fishy Tale, The Sequel - Fanfiction for H2O Just Add Water

Chapter 102

Chapter 102

There was an awkward silence.

"Are we prisoners here, or what?" Rikki asked.

'Have we determined that they are not spies, my Lady?' Kuana asked privately.

'Io. Yes.' Varine said. 'They are foreigners and potentially dangerous, but they are not spies from the Buraka Mermen. I am very interested in their culture...give them a tour of our home and then they shall join me at our meal. I wish to learn more about them...have the scribes attend so we can record information they disclose.'

'As you wish, my lady,' Kuana bowed.

"You're not prisoners here," the Queen said, her tone suggesting she would rather it be the opposite. "Please allow Kuana to show you our abode, and please join us for our midday meal." Varine requested.

"Okay," Anna responded.

"Even though it doesn't seem like we have a choice," Rikki voiced quietly to her friends' minds.

The group were fascinated by what Kuana showed and told them about the Kaburaka people and the place they lived. Using their magic, the resident mermaids had created various shaped and coloured lights which illuminated the crevasse. There were whole underwater gardens, bursting with food for the harvest. They saw a few creatures like Vatu swimming around; they looked like they were pets. After the brief but informative tour, Kuana showed them to another area of the place, and indicated for them to tread water. A stream of mermaids entered the area, treading water in a large ring of three rows. An instrument, which sounded like a conch shell being played, resounded. This announced the Queens arrival. Apparently, as the guests of the Queen, they sat closest to her. The mermaids awaited in expectation, and as soon as their Queen gestured to them, they relaxed and sat on the sandy floor. The group followed suit. The girls were eternally grateful that the children behaved – especially the boys (when they were seated separately); it would not do to give the mermaids another reason to hate the male sex. It seemed they understood the importance of their situation and predicament. The Queen was not only disapproving of the males present, but also of Fi Bennett. The little girl was known amongst mermaids as a 'zerailian' – one with no tail. This was seen as a serious disability, and when the rare condition occurred in an offspring, they were often discarded – picked up by pods of Zerailians and outcasts that swam in the area. Because Fi was a baby, and a female, she was allowed to stay with Rikki at the meal.

Once everyone was seated, a trail of sea turtles swam through, each with plates of seaweed and what looked to be tentacles and crustacean meat.

'You must eat some,' Emma instructed the children.

The native mermaids all took a plate as the turtle swam past, therefore, the group followed suit.

The Queen held up her hand, and the congregation bowed their hands. A unintelligible prayer was muttered, after which, all began to eat.

Most of the children, used to western cuisines, forced a little bit down – their mothers were proud of them for that. The girls were actually quite enjoying their meal; Emma especially – after one of the moonstruck incidents, she had never shaken her strange love of seafood – especially for the fresh stuff.

"Why do you live on land?" Kuana asked, opening the conversation.

"We were born on land, we transformed into mermaids later on, so it made sense to us to continue living on land, but swimming whenever we got the chance," Emma supplied.

"Morphe-maids," Kuana muttered in realisation.

"Can you breathe underwater?" Cleo asked.

"Of course we can breathe underwater!" Queen Varinn exclaimed. "We are further evolved, more worthy of the name mermaid than those uncivilised Kingdom dwellers." She said, her tone almost bitter. "The first mermaids manipulated the air in the water to be able to breathe it in, or at least hold their breaths for a very long time. The mer folk in those kingdoms hidden in the oceans around the world used magic to surround their cities with breathable air – whilst still swimming in the water. Because they spend all their time in an oxygen filled environment, their true mermaidness was never allowed to evolve. We have gills because it is necessary to the survival of the pods. If we went to the surface to breathe, we would be threatening the secret of the mermaid race."