Standing on the deck of the Ship of God, I peered through the spyglass and saw a small village nestled against some hills; the buildings appeared to be made of wood. It was obvious where we would go next.
We docked the ship next to this wooden pier. This man came to greet us.
"Welcome to Pescani village," he said. "Are you here to trade for fish?"
"We;re just exploring this world," I said.
"Why have you come here?" asked the man. "To see the mermaids?"
"Uh, no," I said.
"We don't have all that much fish, but we will trade if your brought along plenty of food with you."
"Maybe we should trade some of our gold for some fresh fish," said Hassan. "I'm gettin' tired of salted meats."
We walked around the village. The people lived in wooden huts and grew vegetables in their gardens. SDpeaking to the villagewrs, we learned that sea monsters had been eating the fish and as such fish was an expensive rarity, with one small fish trading for a week's harvest of fresh vegetables. It was clear that we would have to offer a lot of gold just for one fish to be divided among all of us.
"Did you speak to Rob?" asked a woman.
"Who?" I asked.
"I saw him speak to you when you got off your ship," said the lady.
"What about him?" asked Muriel.
"What happened? Oh, he's in love, but...oh nevermind."
The lady then went on her way.
"We should stick around here for a while," said Barbara. "To find out more about the mermaids. Last I knew, there weren't mermaids around the waters here."
"Maybe they migrated here for some reason," suggested Chamoro.
We went to this wooden building which was the fish store; a sign indicated how expensive the fish were.
"You have any fish for sale?" I asked.
"No," replied the merchant who was standing behind the wooden counter. "Where is that guy?"
He then left the store. I figured I might as well follow him.
The merchant entered one of the houses. I peeked through the door, which was ajar.
"I can't wait forever, Rob," said the merchant to the man inside the house, who had greeted us earlier this day. the merchant then left.
"What was that about?" I asked, entering the house.
"None of your business," replied Rob. "Now get out."
And so I did. I then saw Rob leave his home. I followed him from a distance. He went inside a cave in the hillside.
The cave inside was dark; the only light came from a torch that Rob was holding. I kept my distance, staying in the shadows.
A few minutes later, I saw Rob standing before this rock wall. I heard this sound. A seconds later, I heard that same sound again.
Rob was gone, nowhere to be seen.
I lit a torch and walked to the wall and felt around. I could see some protrusion from the rock. I hit it, and then I heard the sound.
I looked and saw a door open up.
It led to this huge chamber which apparently had this underwater bay. I saw Rob speaking to this lady with a fish tail below her waist.
That lady was clearly a mermaid!
rob and the mermaid both looked at me, startled. The mermaid dove underwater.
"You," said Rob, "I thought you were following me! Now I can't let you leave."
"Chill out," I said.
"you didn't see anything, right?"
"No, I did see something."
"Please," said Rob. "Please don't tell anyone about the mermaid...about Denae."
"Okay," I said.
"Really, you won;t tell anyone about Denae?"
"I won't say a word."
"Denae was separated from her friends during a storm," said Rob. "She saved my life. I was injured and I can't go fishing. She wants to go home, but can't make it because of the monsters. If only someone had a ship."
"We have a ship," I said. "We can take her home."
"Bring it here; this cave should be big enough."
I left the cave and got back onto the Ship of God.
"there should be a cave entrance next to ther ocean not far from here," I said.
"Okay," replied Chamoro, taking the steering wheel. "I'll get on it."
We raised anchor and sailed right near the coastline. Not far from Pescani, I saw a huge cave entrance, more than big enough for the Ship of God. Chamoro steered the ship into the cave.
"That's your boat," said Rob, who was staning near the water.
"That's right," I said, hollering from the deck of the ship.
"Please escort Denae home."
The mermaid surfaced. "I don;t want to leave you, Rob," she said.
"I only want what's best for you," replied Rob. "Please go with them."
The mermaid swam to where our boat was. "My name is Denae," she said. "I live to the east."
"We'll take you there, miss," I replied.
We raised anchor and sailed out of the cave and towards the east.
oooooooooooooooo
"At least that Rob fellow took care of her," said Hassan as he stood on the deck.
"She's finally coming home," said Barbara. "to her family. What about your family?"
"My family?" I asked. The only family I could remember was Tania, and she turned out to be the figment of someone's nighttime imagination. And yet, I wondered why I sometimes dreamed of her and Lifecod. "Well, I really can't remember."
"Maybe there's some statue of you in the world," said Muriel. "Hassan got his memories back when he found his statue."
I looked at the map. We were still far from where Denae said her people were.
ooooooooooooo
"Over there," said Denae. "that's my home. I wonder if they're still there."
I looked ahead and saw some rocks jutting from the water. This place was just east of Mudo's castle.
We sailed up there and weighed anchor next to the shoals. I could see ripples coming from the water' I hoped what was there were mermaids, and not giant sea monsters.
Denae swam over there. "Wait, Dina, everyone!" she yelled. "It's me, Denae!"
One of the mermaids surfaced. "Denae," she said, "you're back. We thought you werew captured by humans or even eaten by sea monsters."
"Nit all humans are bad," replied Denae. "One of them fed me and sheltered me. And the humans on this ship protected me as we sailed home."
The other mermaid swam up to the ship. "I am Dina, chief of this mermaid clan," she said. "I thank you for bringing our sister home. It is my duty to reward you. Here." the mermaid chieftan presented a harp.
"Cool," I said. "Maybe we can start a band or something."
"This Mermaid Harp will allow you to submerge and explore underwater," said Dina. "There are bound to be great treasures down there, but fierce monsters also swim underwater."
And so she gave us the Mermaid Harp.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Chamoro. "Let';s play the harp."
"And so I did, playing a tune from the Mermaid Harp. The sea frothed from under the ship, and suddenly this bubble encased the ship.
And we sank down.
I looekd around. I could see fish and squid and octopi swimming about. The bottom of the sea had strange plant life. this was like another world.
"Shall we set sail?" I asked.
"Sure," replies Chamoro. And so we set sail underwater.
Suddenly, these monsters attacked. The enemy party consisted of two octopi sitting in jars, armed with crossbows, a man o' war jellyfish, a one-eyed fish, and an underwater snake. I drew my Sword of Slumber and attacked. With our weapons and skills, we made short work of these fools. Chamoro healed us with his Gent Cane after the battle was over.
We continued sailing, ebing attacked by monsters on occasion. About twenty minutes after leaving the mermaids' lair, we spotted an underwater castle.
"I wonder who's there," said Muriel.
"I hope they're friendly," replied Barbara.
We sailed the ship through the castle entrance and docked inside. The main room had a floor paved with stone, and huge columns supported the ceiling above. A woman sat on the throne. I wondered if she was some queen or noblewoman.
"My name is Rubiss," said the lady. "I am guardian of the world, as well as the mountain spirit of Lifecod."
"My lady," I said.
"It was I who restored you after the battle with Mudo, and I made the flute that summoned the dragon."
Muriel held up the flute she used to summon that dragon that flew us to Mudo's castle. "It was useful, my lady," she replied.
"We seem to have done well," said Hassan.
"This is so awesome," said Chamoro. "I never thought I'd meet Rubiss."
"We're looking for the legendary equipment," said Barbara. "do you have any tips."
"There is even a stronger power that threatens the world," said Rubiss. "Be careful."
As we boarded the Ship of God to explore more of the underwater world, I kept wondering who or what this stronger power is.
oooooooooooo
As we were sailing underwater, I looked at the map.
"I think I'm on to something," I said. "Sail north and west."
"Okay," said Chamoro, turning the wheel.
We fought off monsters as we sailed. Muriel was able to steal some items from the monsters before we killed them. I made sure to keep an eye on the landmarks.
"I think we're here," I said. "We'd better surface."
"How wopuld we dop that, mate?" asked Hassan.
I plated a tune on the harp., and the ship rose up. The light above became brighter and brighter.
And then the sky appeared. I could see gulls flying above.
"What's up here?" asked Muriel.
"Look to the south," I said.
this huge, tall mountain was to the south, visible from even here. I looked trhgouh the spyglass, seeing buildings on top.
"There it is," I said. "That's Lifecod!"
"We going there?" asked Chamoro.
"You bet."
And so we set sail, to find out the truth behind Lifecod village.