Chapter 5: Undersea

Alurel had no more tasks to handle, it was time to return to King Poseidon for her report. As much as she maligned the man, he did worry if she was out too long. So, it wasn’t wise to keep him waiting.

She swam fast, much to the digesting Clamdi’s displeasure. All that stuff in her stomach did move when the rest of her body did, after all. Atlantis wasn’t too far off at all from where she was, so it quickly came into view. The light of the city hit Alurel’s green eyes. She would never deny that wonderful city was always a pretty sight.

Atlantis was spread over a great range of seafloor. It was a city designed by and for seafolk of all sorts. Its buildings varied wildly in size, but even the smallest hovel was beautiful. Every structure glistened with shiny gold and pearl-stone. Indeed, spires of the radiant metal and stone towered throughout the area.

The most obvious feature of the sunbud-lit city was the royal palace. It was there that King Poseidon lived. Though every building was fancy by human standards, what with its shiny gold and pearl-stone, the palace was very much the most marvelous building in the city. Like most of the most marvelous buildings, it was large enough to be scaled for the great mermaids, and thus towered at thousands of feet high.

Alurel swam towards it. Along the way, she came across a gathering of normal merfolk: the ones but the size of humans. They were busy playing some sort of leisurely rock-ball game, and waved as she approached.

Alurel kept swimming though, and they realized they’d have to move lest they’d be barreled through by her giant body.

“Out of the way, guppies~”, she said.

A few of the slower ones were indeed knocked a little to the side in her passing.

Alurel darted through the spires and over the smaller homes of the smaller seafolk. She was dead-set on reaching the palace, which was another journey not at all long for her.

Music wafted through the water as she glided above the pearl-stone streets. Bands dotted the jovial, aquatic metropolis. Alurel heard music from a big band below staffed mostly by crustacean-folk, as was common. Clacking claws made for a marvelous instrument after all, making their kind well known for being musically inclined. Although, such a boon did come at the cost of opposable thumbs.

The doors to the palace were always open. Two great mermaids stood--or rather, floated upright--as guards. However, that was merely formality and ceremony. None would dare think of hurting King Poseidon, and few would be foolish enough to think they could. Unlike the kingdoms of man, the kingdom of seafolk was at peace. It was unified.

Well, for the most part at least.

Alurel swam through the opulent halls of the palace. Sunbuds nestled to the walls like sconces, lighting the path through the shimmering corridor. She sped through the halls towards the throne room.

There, atop a majestic throne of solid gold sat King Poseidon. In his hand, as always, was the Trident. Alurel always drew her eyes to that artifact first. It was a solid gold, but not the same gold that made up much of Atlantis. No, it was a lighter shade, a kind like no other in the deeps. Sturdier and harder at a glance.

The item consisted of a long ending with a fork head. Each of its three prongs was tipped with sharp points. Alurel had no doubts it could serve as a formidable melee weapon if need be, but it was not meant for such crude physical might. No, its might was beyond that. Just looking at it she could also feel the power. It practically radiated it. Indeed, the Trident glowed with a gentle, light, golden illumination.

“Alurel!”, said King Poseidon. “It’s good to see you again my gal.”

She snapped her head to the king himself and, while swimming forward, took in other details of the room. Great mermaid guards lined the opulent chamber, along with some choreographed dancers in one corner. There were also some great mermaids stringing undersea harps as well, though they ceased once Poseidon gave his greeting.

“It’s good to see you, my king.”, said Alurel.

King Poseidon sat on the throne best as any merfolk could sit. He had a stately white beard with medium length white hair on his head. The color of it conveyed wisdom, a wisdom bellied by the rest of his form. Despite his many years of rule he, like any other immortal merfolk, didn’t suffer the ill effects of aging.

His body was fit as could be, with toned arms and chest proudly bared and bereft of any body hair. Like any merfolk, great or no, his lower body transitioned to a fish-like lower half. His was red, which was quite rarer than the much more common green.

Then again, most everything about King Poseidon was rare at the least. Merfolk were predominantly female, and great merfolk were especially so. All merfolk looked to be in their early twenties, but he alone had a more mature appearance: high 20s or early 30s. Poseidon was also the only merfolk of any size or gender who had stark-white hair. She had never seen a red tail on a great merfolk elsewhere either and, of course, there was only one ruler of Atlantis and wielder of the Trident.

She swam up close to him, and bowed her head.

“I’ve been waiting for you Alurel, you were a tad late. Is everything alright?”, he asked.

“Oh yes, I’m sorry I just caught up taking in some of the sights of the sea I suppose.” she replied.

“I see you have a new, one of those ‘bras’ of yours. Very nice shells. It’s quite lucky to find abandoned shells that fine I’d say.”

“Oh yes.”, said Alurel. “Very lucky.”

“Ah now then, I hope your surveying went alright. I was more eager than usual to see one of my beloved ocean surveyors back, in fact.”

“Why is that, my king?”

“Well I’ve heard some concerning reports of going-ons in the sea. You’re the last surveyor to come back, so I was hoping you’d know something about them.”

“About what, my dear king?”, said Alurel. She had her arms crossed behind her back, smiling to convey a sense of innocence.

“Well to start, the sea-witches have complained that their eel flock hasn’t returned. Do you know anything about that?”

Alurel shook her head.

“I’m afraid not, I saw not a single eel during my swimming.”, she said, lying. “If you ask me, I bet those sea-hags simply-”

“Alurel!”, said Poseidon in a raised voice. She had known she had made a mistake even before he continued.

“Do not call our allies hags. Yes, unlike us merfolk they are not gifted with eternal youth, but they are immortal just as us. Their magical gifts can keep them looking just as beautiful as a great mermaid like yourself is naturally, and there’s no shame in that.”

“Ah, forgive me my king!”

Alurel bowed her head and crossed her arms at the wrists over her ‘alp’. She frowned. Internally, she made a note not to let her thoughts come out so carelessly.

King Poseidon chuckled softly.

“Now now that is alright my dear. I’m sure it’s just a slip of the tongue, you probably heard the term said from some of the more rambunctious types of this city, and it came out by mistake.”

“Yes.”, said Alurel. “That’s it, I think I overheard some of the normal merfolk use it on the way in. It must’ve wiggled into my speak that way. My sincerest apologies.”

She bowed again.

“It’s alright, all is forgiven. Now then, there was another matter still.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.”, said King Poseidon. “One of my normal mermaid surveyors, Orabelle, reported seeing some flotsam on the seafloor: wooden wreckage of a ship, in fact. It was near the area you usually swim in, so I was wondering if you saw or heard anything perhaps?”

“A wreck? Why that sounds horrible.”, said Alurel. “Were any people found?”

“Well no, the ship was completely empty, which is unusual for wrecks as you know. After all, normally at least one poor person is stuck in the ship’s hold when it goes down, and they often float down with the flotsam.”

Alurel shook her head.

“Well, I am sorry to report I didn’t notice anything like that. Perhaps the humans had some sort of battle with one another.”

Poseidon stroked his beard.

“Hmm, that does make some sense. There were some cannon balls found near the site. I’m surprised you wouldn’t have noticed such a commotion though.”

“Forgive me my king, I’ve been feeling a bit scatterbrained, I suppose.”

He chuckled.

“Nonsense nonsense, do not disparage yourself in my presence my dear gal. We all have our off days, you’re still a valued surveyor of the kingdom.”

She smiled, then spoke.

“My king, if I may broach a topic.”

“Hmm? Is it what I think it is Alurel?”

She wiggled her tail fin, hands behind her back again.

“Well, I think this latest incident with that ship is just more evidence that the humans could benefit from meeting us. I mean, they keep getting into scuffles.”

King Poseidon sighed.

“Alurel, you know that is out of the question. I know it can be hard to know humans make each other suffer, but that they do so is precisely why they aren’t ready to meet us. They have their own problems to sort out.”

“There’s more though,”, said Alurel. “I don’t think they understand that the storms are to keep them from fishing. Some see it as a challenge. If we could just talk to them-”

“Alurel, I know the storms can be troublesome, but they keep enough of the humans away when the fish need time to recover. They aren’t designed to sink their ships, only keep them away. Accidents do happen, and some humans are foolhardy, true. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the best we can do while upholding the rule of no-contact. We can’t let them deplete the populations of fish. The seas need balance after all.”

“Then why let them fish at all?”, said Alurel.

“My dear gal, they have to feed themselves too. I’ve always been ok with humans fishing, so long as they don’t overdo it. In time, they will figure things out about it. They’ll come to respect the seas and fish in a balanced way.”

Alurel squared her shoulders.

“It’s hardly balanced that they get to fish our waters, while we get nothing from their lands. We can never sample their food, hear their stories. We can’t even chat with them. It’s not fair at all, it’s not-”

“Alurel!”, barked Poseidon. He punctuated his words with a thud of his Trident on the chamber floor.

“That is enough of that. The humans have their own lives and dreams, just like us. Still, they aren’t ready for contact. Imagine if they knew the powers we held in their current state. Imagine the scuffles they hold with one another, but with one side having a great mermaid to help them battle. It could only lead to trouble. They would covet our treasures and aid, and destroy each other and themselves in pursuit of it.”

His brow furrowed.

“As the more mature beings, we must abide the inequality of their partaking of the sea’s resources. This is not the first time we’ve had this discussion Alurel, you should know better than to get worked up over silly things like this.”

“I’m...”, Alurel quivered her lips. “I’m sorry, my king.” Her eyes managed to squeeze out a couple tears too for good measure.

The king sighed.

“Now now, it’s ok Alurel. You just have a big heart, I know. It's only natural to want to share our wanders with the humans, given what they go through. It just won’t work out. We have an important duty to preserve the balance of the seas. We check the sands for richness, the coral for signs of malaise. If humans were introduced to our world as you wish, they’d only mess the balance up, and mess up themselves too. It wouldn’t be good for anybody then.”

Alurel looked up. A look of sadness on her pretty face could soften even the most stone of hearts.

King Poseidon continued.

“Now, it seems today has been a little rough on you. Why don’t you have the rest of the day to yourself. Relax, sample the music of the city a bit. You can even entertain yourself in my palace, the door is always open you know.”

“That’s ok.”, said Alurel. She smiled softly.

“Are you sure? I’d so love to hear your singing again. Why, the harpists are on stand-by now as I speak.”

“No that’s alright, I think I’ll just relax at home for a bit. Thank you for your kindness my king.”

“Bah”

He waved his hand, then continued.

“Kindness is the least a person can do. Also, Alurel, are you sure you don’t want to live in the city? You’re the only great mermaid who doesn’t. I could get you a nice estate, probably much better than that distant cove of yours.”

“Oh, my king, you are so generous.”, she bowed her head again. “I appreciate the offer, but I do love my cozy cove, and the privacy and quiet comfort it affords.”

The king nodded his head.

“I understand. Well, if you ever change your mind, do let me know. And take do care. I look forward to a survey report tomorrow.”

“Of course.”, said Alurel. “My thanks again, my king.”

She swam out the palace, wiping her tears on the way.