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."

"That makes sense," Anna responded diplomatically.

"What are humans like?" Kuana asked. The Queen looked disapproving of her question.

"Um…" Anna said, looking for help from her friends.

"That's a hard question to answer…we were once humans, you see," Emma said. "What exactly did you want to know?"

"What are they like? How do they live?" Kuana asked. "What do they eat?"

"You have never seen a human? Despite the amount of inhabited islands around you?" Bella asked.

"We never go to the surface – our cave is deep enough that it is very rare for a human to be able to swim down, and we migrate at night…" Kuana replied. "It is forbidden to get close to a human."

"Well, humans look like Fi here," Rikki said. "She can breathe underwater like you, but she has legs rather than a tail. We're not sure of why she is different to the rest of us."

"There are billions of humans on land," Emma said. "And there are millions of different people groups – all of which live differently. There are many different cultures; kind of similar to how mermaids are different – kingdom dwellers, pods, and nomads,"

Kuana nodded her understanding.

"The answer to the question of what we eat is similar – everyone eats different things. In the Western world…ah, more like kingdoms I suppose, there is a lot of processed food, and not a lot of natural and raw foods are eaten," Emma continued.

"Processed?" Kuana asked.

"This is very difficult to explain…" Emma trailed off. "Where is Lewis when you need him," she muttered.

"Processed food is food that you cannot grow and gather from nature, it involves chemicals and additions," Cleo said.

'Thanks' Emma whispered to Cleo.

"Is it harmonious between males and females in the human world?"

"Um, define harmonious," Anna said.

"Is the relationship between males and females equal? Do the males look out for your best interests?"

Wow, this was a complicated discussion.

"Yes, and no," Anna said. "Again, it depends on the culture. In some societies, women are dominant, and in others – the majority actually, men are dominant. Where we are from, in the Western world, in most things men and women are equal – for example in interactions between the sexes. However, there is definitely inequality in some areas, particularly in the workforce, depending on the jobs – men tend to have it better in those areas. Historically, men have had more rights."

"So you're saying that human men are just as bad as mermen?"

"No," Anna said. "I don't know what mermen have done, but I know that some human men are bad, but many are good. I couldn't imagine living in a world separate to my husband – but then again, he is a merman. We changed at the same time."

"You cohabitate on land with a merman?" Kuana asked.

"I do," Anna replied. "And the others cohabitate with their human husbands…except Jessie – she's unmarried."

"What does human marriage entail?" the Queen asked.

"It is a commitment between two people. A promise to protect, and love each other through all things. But marriage is viewed differently depending on who you are asking," Bella said.

"And in this, the men do not corrupt you?" the Queen questioned.

"Corrupt out morals? Not personally," Bella said. "That is why you live separately to the mermen?"

Queen Varine nodded.

"There was always inner turmoil in the pod when we lived together; fighting for which mer would be the dominant – maids or men. The ancestral leadership – the traditional two mermaids and two mermen, led their followers into a civil war – the female followers versing the male followers of the mermen. The fight continued a long time, and no side made headway. A truce was achieved and that is when the genders separated."

"What happened to the families who were happy together?" Jessie asked.

"I was not alive at the time, so I cannot know for sure. I do know that some families left and joined another pod, severing ties. Others were happy for the separation. Thus, our groups only meet for breeding and trading of offspring. We have peace because of our separation. It is better this way."

By now, everyone had finished their meals. The Queen had to participate in ceremony by concluding the meal, and sending everyone on their way. She asked the group to stay behind.

"I trust you want to be leaving now?" the Queen queried.

"We would like to be home as soon as possible," Cleo admitted.

"If only it were that simple," Varine said.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm back at university again, and straight back into assignments :P

Let me know what you want to happen, and your guesses on how I will take this - I love to read your theories :)

Thanks so much for your continuous support - it means a lot to me.

Thanks so much to the following people for reviewing.

YaleAceBella12 - thanks for reviewing. I will :)

CrazyHayniac - thanks so much! I'm glad you like it so much- I always love reading your reviews. You know what's funny? I didn't even think of Mako Mermaids when I first thought up the idea :P It was inspired by a Starwars fanfiction I read lol. Then I read all the reviews which mentioned it - haha. Thinking about it now though, there must have been some kind of subconscious thing which linked it. I'm glad I wrote it like that now :)

I do view parts of Mako mermaids as part of my headcannon - but not all of it - the whole invisibility thing? Na. I actually have only really seen the first season. My headcannon tries to link the two shows together in some way, but I've really created my own reality of the mermaid world, as shown through this story and Prince a Curse and One Solution, there are many different types of mermaids

Guest 1 - I'm sorry you think Mako mermaids is abominable, but I don't actually watch it. And this will never ever be a cross over. There are two many contradictions between the two shows at this point. My stories try to smooth out the cracks, but this story is for H2O - it was created before Mako Mermaids existed, therefore, it will continue on the H2O path (with my own creations added). As mentioned above, when I wrote this, I didn't even think about that show, but I'm glad it links them because it makes it fun for people who are invested in both. Thanks for reading, I hope you continue to.

Guest 2 - Thanks so much :) I'm happy you like it. (It you put a name next time you review I can thank you by name :) )

The Writer Es - Thanks :) I always like creating original characters, so I'm glad you enjoy it.

zikki 3 - Haha :P Yeah, I don't know what my imagination gets up to sometimes.

KarlieAndieLightwoodCullen - Thank you. Good to know - I'll keep it in mind for future chapters :)

WannabeeAussie - thanks :) I'm glad.

Charmedhpgirl - Thanks :) I'm glad you noticed. I really appreciate hearing what you think. Thank you :D

sammiloveschoc - Thanks :) Thanks for reading. I hope uni continues to go well for you.

loveh2o - thanks :) I hope the update didn't take too long :P

Thanks again everyone! I hope my thoughts came across the way I intended them to this authors note :)

I hope it won't be too long until the next update of this story. Yes, I know it has been an embarrasingly long time since I updated my other stories...working on it!

See you next time :)