Chapter 26: Chapter 23: “Oceana”

Oceana was truly different from Pymule.

Pymule was a village built by wooden creatures, the elves, as such the primary colors on their village were browns and beige. The architecture was rustic and earthy, something similar to old european styled villages. Most of the people there were also dressed more conservatively.

Oceana, on the other hand, was built by ocean dwelling creatures. Their architecture was nothing like Ai had ever seen in the real world. Chaotic was the word he would use to describe it. Twisty spires, crooked buildings, and uneven sides. Most of them were painted blue and green whilst decorated with oceanic things like sea shells, clams and fish bones. The ground he was stepping on wasn’t dirt but was instead sand.

The people of Oceanus were also vastly different from the elves. Ai couldn’t see much with the guards, but the people had even more aquatic features. Scaly skin, fins on their ears, arms and legs, slit pupils. How they dressed were much more open and daring than the elves, looking similar to things people wore at the beach.

“Your room key!” 

Ai took the key from the innkeeper and thanked them.

The innkeeper grinned, showing a row of razor sharp teeth that reminded him of shark teeth.

That was one thing the sirens had in common. Though their aquatic features varied between siren to siren, all of them had the sharp teeth in common. Ai reminded himself that these were sirens and not mermaids. Sirens were creatures who lured people to drown then eat them. He needed to be careful around them.

The room he got was obviously not as grand as the Golden Suite since it was a cheap one. It was small, only containing a single bed, a nightstand, a closet and a table and chair. The only thing that really stood out was a single golden egg decor sitting on the nightstand. It looked out of place, like something old rich people would have. Who thought this was a good idea? Bright, odd and ridiculously tacky with its bright shine and jeweled stand. He wondered if one of the previous guests misplaced it or something. Or was this just the siren’s tastes? Maybe it was fake?

In any case, Ai found the room to be pretty comfortable after he took the egg and stuffed it inside the nightstand cabinet. It also enhanced the view out the window significantly. He could see the blue ocean and the glittering skyline. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine that he was just out on vacation in the real world.

How long has it been since he’d been on one really?

Sighing, he leaned back on the bed and enjoyed the breeze from the window wash over his room and himself. It felt nice. It wasn’t anything like the freezing temperature of the chilly mist, instead it was refreshing, cool and comfortable. Like the breeze of the spring air. 

It would be so easy to just let his eyes close and fall to sleep, but he couldn’t. He had things he needed to do.

He rummaged through his inventory and pulled out the letter from Nebule. He left the fancy letter from Oceana in his inventory for now since it didn’t have a set date or time, he guessed that it was an open invitation to visit whenever. Nebule’s didn’t have a set date either, but the content of the letter felt urgent.

His eyes scanned the letter again.

 

Hello, dear envoy.

You might be confused about the intent of this letter, about who is the writer, and why this letter is intended for you.

My name is Nebule. I am one of Oceanus’s people. 

I’ve heard of your great achievements and how you have helped people in the nearby Pymule. 

Please, if you are someone who helps others, I beg of you to come and save me. I know of no one else who can. I will compensate you for your troubles. Money, jewels, anything, just please help me.

If you are willing, I will be waiting for you at the entrance of Oceanus. Our gates have long been closed to outsiders, but in this letter I have attached a special badge for you to be able to earn entry. 

I’ll be waiting for you, envoy. Please.

 

• Nebule.

 

 

At the entrance...yet they weren’t there at all. There were only the two guards there and none of them seemed to know who he was or why he was there. 

“Where do you think they are?”

Athens didn’t answer, as usual. Ai mentally slapped himself. He really needed to stop talking to his owl like it could understand him. Maybe this was just the result of traveling alone too much with an animal as his only companion.

Sitting up, he returned the letter to his pocket and got up from the bed. Nothing was going to get done just by sitting still.

 

***

You are reading story World Symphony Mediator at novel35.com

 

It truly felt like he was spending time at a beach or something, even though he couldn’t exactly see where the ocean was from where he was, at almost at the center of the village.

The roads weren’t as crowded as he thought it would be. There were some people bustling about but for a main road, there weren’t nearly as many people as it should. The shops were also closed which was odd. Very odd.

Subconsciously, Ai stayed away from the middle of the road. He wasn’t afraid of being run over or anything of the sort, there weren’t vehicles like that anyway, but there was something in his gut that told him it was better if he didn’t go to the middle.

Suddenly, a hand appeared from one of the alleys that he crossed. It gripped his arm tightly and then pulled him into the alley with so much force that he almost tripped and fell face first onto the course sand. Athens, seeing his owner being “attacked”, flapped its wings furiously at his “attacker”.

Straightening himself, he looked up and saw the person who had pulled him in. It was a hooded figure, which didn’t help his suspicions. Ai couldn’t see their face very well underneath that hood, but he could see the piercing yellow eyes and the scales on the person’s arm where their sleeve had been pulled up.

“Who…?”

The hooded figure didn’t answer, but they gripped the sleeve of Ai’s garb then pulled him into one of the buildings through a door on the side.

It honestly looked like a kidnapping scene and Ai shouldn’t go with this suspicious person who wasn’t even showing their face or telling their name. Yet there was something about how the siren gripped and tugged and his sleeve that made Ai follow them anyway, with no hesitation.

The building wasn’t anything special, it was just a simple house or apartment complex. The hooded figure kept pulling Ai as they climbed up the stairs until both of them reached the rooftop.

Looking down from above, Ai saw that there were almost no people in the road now. Instead, everyone seemed to be looking out at the road from their windows. All of them seemed to be brimming with excitement, just ready to explode with shouts and cheers.

Confused, Ai looked back at the hooded figure to ask what was going on, yet the figure only pointed at the road silently, asking him to watch.

Suddenly a loud conch shell horn sound resonated through the air, so loud and ear piercing that Ai almost closed his ears in response. After the sound slowly ceased, the sirens watching from their home windows started shouting and cheering wholeheartedly. Their cheers were even more deafening than the previous horns.

As their cheers got louder and louder, what they were waiting for finally made an appearance.

A giant coral pink open clam carried by at least a dozen buff sirens slowly made its way down the main road. It was not only enormous but also glittery and decorated with all sorts of jewelries like pearls and other shining blue gems that glinted under the sun. It almost looked like a parade display at a grand celebratory event. 

As it got closer and closer to where they were, Ai could see that inside the clam were actually decorated with more ornaments and many soft pillows and that someone was actually sitting inside of it. Bit by bit, Ai could see their features more clearly. They were definitely a siren, they had the aquatic features of the fin ears, shiny scales, blue hair and blue tinted skin. But their eyes were extremely different from the other sirens. If the yellow eyes of the sirens were like fish eyes in the dark, this siren’s eyes were like the ocean itself. A combination of ocean blue, green and grey that made it look like waves drifting to shore.

As the parade reached the middle of the main road, it suddenly stopped. The twelve buff sirens effortless put the clam throne down on the ground and then soon dispersed onto the sides. Meanwhile, the ocean-eyed siren slowly stood up from their seat. They wore a turquoise mermaid dress that looked relatively simple when compared to the grand display that was the clam.

Once the siren rose, all of the sudden, the other sirens who had been screaming and cheering fell into a deafening silence. Their eyes still stared at the ocean-eyed siren with adoration and excitement in their eyes, but their lips were shut. Not a single sound could be heard.

Slowly, the ocean-eyed siren opened their lips and began to sing.

Ai didn’t know what happened next. 

He remembered watching the siren opening their lips, then...nothing. What he saw next were the clam being carried away by the buff sirens. What just happened? What…

Ai slowly rubbed his eye. He felt almost dizzy and disoriented and his brain tried to figure out what just happened.

A touch on his shoulder made him jump. Turning around, the hooded figure was staring at him with concern in their eyes.

“Her voice is too much for any other being.” They said, their voice high pitched and most likely female. “Your mind could not process her voice, so it erased the memory.”

Ai looked back at the giant clam that was slowly going further and further away.

The hooded figure looked almost sad as she spoke. “That was Priestess Oceana. Well, it would be much easier to think of her as the queen of the sirens.”

 

 

no new art. only have this in color >w<

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