It had taken Adella four exhausting days to get from Atlantica to Oktolae. She had really not expected her journey to be so arduous and long. She certainly would not have volunteered if she had known beforehand what she had gotten herself into. At the beginning, she had left Atlantica in a comfortable shell carriage as usual, but the dolphins harnessed in front of it had quickly needed a break and had to be replaced at a way station scattered along the route. The new team, however, proved to be very inexperienced and not exactly compatible, forcing them to make another exchange. Unfortunately for her, however, there were no more migratory fish at the next stall. Adella would have lost a whole day waiting for them. Realising the urgency of her journey, she therefore decided to join a collective conveyance. Thus she had spent much of the journey squeezed tightly together. Despite this highly unusual and unpleasant mode of transport for a princess, however, this had still not in fact been the worst part of her journey. Due to the strict rules that Oktolae enforced with regard to travelling the most sacred sea areas, the final destination was still several miles away from the city proper. Those who wanted to get there had to rely on their fins, any kind of comfortable aid was forbidden. So the princess had no choice but to mingle with the pilgrims who made the arduous journey to their religious centre day in, day out. Adella quickly realised that she would have to reduce her luggage, which had been halved when she switched from the private carriage to the collective carriage, even further if she wanted to make the journey. She secretly wondered if her father and all the others, who must have known exactly what awaited her here, had deliberately let her swim into this knife. Silently swearing to herself and earning shocked looks, she had rummaged through her luggage and weighed which of her remaining things she really couldn't part with. In the end, she had managed to carry only one small bag, which hardly restricted her swimming. Nevertheless, she had to take a break several times to regain her strength.
Now she was here in the middle of a swarm of mermen and merwomen of every conceivable origin. Adella really wondered why all these sea people around her were willingly taking on this ordeal. Those she had started with, driven by their faith, had probably even long since arrived in the city with its many temples and sacrificial sites dedicated to the most diverse gods. How she longed now for her cosy bed and all the comforts of court life as a princess. But she would probably miss this luxury for the time being when she looked at the sparse dwellings that gradually appeared in the outskirts of the city. Again and again she saw statues and images of various gods. Some were unfamiliar or even strange to her, others very familiar.
But even though Oktolea offered every faith space for the worship of their respective gods and religious figures, the representations of a merman with seven tails predominated by far. His image was omnipresent. Small figures of him stood on many windowsills and reliefs of him could be seen on many of the house walls. But the huge statue, erected on the highest point of the ridge, was impossible to miss.
Adorned with several insignia and dressed in the religious costume of Oktolae, even the untrained eye recognised the importance of the deity depicted. With darker stone, skilled stonemasons had optimally imitated the brown-toned skin colour very common in this region. His arms, not covered by the cloth wrapped around his body, were decorated with detailed ritual patterns. Two fist-sized citrines formed the piercing eyes of the oversized statue. The stone image of the religious leader seemed to watch over everything in his realm, seeing every little offence. Since quite a few of the high-falutin priests scattered around the city brought all sorts of iniquities to his attention, one could think that this was indeed the case.
Adella found it hard to take her eyes off the huge statue, and when she did, it only took a moment for her gaze to return to the ornate stone.
So it was no surprise when, in the city that was getting busier by the day, she finally bumped into someone distracted. She quickly apologised for her inattention and promised to be more careful next time. Meanwhile, she gathered up her scattered belongings.
As she was about to reach for the last item, however, someone else's hand beat her to it. Helpfully, she held out the letter sealed with the Atlantean seal.
"Thank you," Adella replied, raising her eyes for the first time. Her eyes wandered along a tanned arm and finally lingered on the friendly smiling face from which two breathtaking golden eyes looked at her. Adella suddenly had the feeling of being face to face with the deity himself.
"Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?" her counterpart's concerned voice snapped her out of her stupor.
"Um... No, no don't worry. I'm fine," she assured, waving her hands away in an underlining gesture.
Adella couldn't help it and let her gaze wander back and forth between the merman in front of her and the statue. The resemblance was truly astonishing.
"Do I have something on my face?" the other asked, irritated at her stare.
"What, no! No, sorry. It's just...", Adella tried to explain her rude behaviour, but could do no more than continue to look back and forth between the statue and the other.
"I'm going crazy. This can't be happening. Get a grip, Adella. It's just a hallucination due to all the exertion," she whispered to herself, shaking her head with her eyes closed.
Hopefully, she opened her eyelids afterwards, only to look back into the same face. An irritated expression had by now settled on his features and he now eyed her in turn.
"You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you really all right?" he asked anxiously, following her stunned gaze.
"Ah," he then said eyeing the statue and then turned back to Adella with an amused grin.
"No need to fall on your knees before me. I'm not who you think I am," he declared, extending his hand to her once more helpfully.
Adella hesitated. After all, she would make a laughing stock of herself if she now reached into the void, believing that the god in front of her was actually more than just a figment of her imagination. But wasn't she already making a laughing stock of herself if he was actually real? After all, she had bumped into someone. Or had she? Unsure which of her senses she could trust, she finally decided to take the risk and reached for his hand.
His fingers wrapped warmly around hers and with a firm grip he helped her up. Adella was quite sure that no ghost could do that. But was he really not the god she thought he was? Well, on closer inspection, he was clearly missing six of the seven fish tails, but who knew if such a god didn't prefer to swim around in private with only one fin. Certainly it was very demanding to coordinate all of them at the same time.
"You're still not convinced, eh?" he asked, laughing briefly.
"Who's going to blame me, there's no denying the resemblance," she replied and then hastily slapped her hands over her mouth, but couldn't undo her snotty reply. Fortunately for her, she did not actually seem to be facing the god who would surely have been highly offended by such an outrage.
"My name is Shayan. Pleased to meet you," the octolaer skipped over her remark. Adella was glad of the change of subject and so quickly introduced herself in her turn, "I am Adella. The pleasure is all mine."
"You do express yourself in a chosen manner. You come from a high place, don't you?" he remarked.
Adella didn't give him an answer and, to her relief, this time he just left it at that.
"Where are you going?" he asked the next question.
"I have an important matter..." she began to explain herself until she realised she was speaking rather stiltedly again and quickly rephrased, "I mean... I want to tell my troubles to the great god Mazu. I hope he can help my family."
"You're in good company here," he said, pointing to a long line of pilgrims before continuing, "the great Mazu has an open ear for everyone. But I must warn you, he is not the most talkative."
As he finished he fell into a loud laugh.
"You don't seem very devout to me," Adella remarked.
"Oh, yes, yes, I do believe. But not like most people here," he assured her lightly, shrugging his shoulders.
"Come on I'll take you to someone who might really be able to help you," he urged her, and swam off ahead.
Adella didn't know what to think. Was it really wise to follow him and possibly waste her precious time? Or would the exact opposite be the feared waste of time?
Her eyes wandered to the long queue in front of the main temple and her decision was made. Perhaps the crowd of waiting people would diminish towards evening. In the meantime, she could see what the other's alternative looked like. Quickly she grabbed her bag and followed the octogenarian.
Tired from her journey, she could hardly keep up.
At a small, rather inconspicuous side temple, he finally stopped and waited for her to catch up. Out of breath, Adella finally reached him.
"How much further is it?" she asked, gasping for breath.
"You've made it. You'll find help in there, for your problems," he revealed to her, gesturing invitingly towards the temple entrance.
The princess hesitated. Who would she meet inside?
"Come on, now you have travelled so far. Take heart. You won't regret it. I promise," Shayan encouraged her to keep swimming.
Even though she wasn't sure if it was smart to trust him, she got moving and swam through the portal.
The inside of the temple proved to be much more spacious than she had guessed from the outside. Adella looked around cautiously but could not make out anyone. She felt she was being made fun of and was about to give the other person a piece of her mind when a voice stopped her.
"Who is it? Is it you, Shayan?" a woman's voice echoed through the darkness of the temple.
Adella expected the other to answer the question, after all they seemed to know each other, but to her astonishment the hitherto talkative fellow now remained mute.
Suddenly, the princess felt a cold current glide around her, sending a shiver down her body. Something threatening surrounded her. It had been a mistake to believe the other so blindly.
Adella was all the more aware of this when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and a short time later she could observe first one then another dark tentacle emerging from behind a column not too far away.
"I've brought you someone very special," the other finally found his tongue again, fuelling Adella's anger. It was a trap! From the beginning he had played her for a fool and lured her here. She had been so gullible as to swim straight into the others' tentacles.
"How kind of you. I so rarely get visitors," the woman's voice rang out one more time, almost mocking Adella for her naivety.
With the last of her words, she pushed herself fully into the princess's field of vision and she could not believe her eyes.
Eight black tentacles, dark purple skin and light hair. Adella's breath caught in her throat.
"May I introduce you?" asked Shayan and Adella was about to sneer at him that this was more than unnecessary when he continued.
"The High Priestess of Mazu, the wonderful, breathtaking, enchanting... Ashera," he introduced with much fanfare.
Only now did Adella realise that Morgana was by no means swimming opposite her.
"Who is that with you Shayan? Who have you brought with you?", Aschera wanted to know, but otherwise seemed to ignore Adella completely.
"As if I'm air!" the princess indignantly said under her breath.
Adella was about to vent about this ignorant treatment when she noticed something that explained why she would be so overlooked by the High Priestess.
A delicate blindfold was tied around her head, obscuring her vision. Was she blind?
"Adella, one of the seven Atlantean princesses, Ashera," Shayan replied, causing Adella's eyes to widen.
"From where...?" she perplexedly started to confront the other, but broke off when the High Priestess forced her way into the conversation.
"Such high visitors. I am glad you have come all this way, Princess. Tell me, what brings you to my homeland?", Aschera greeted her.
"I'm sorry, but I'm sure you understand that I have certain reservations about entrusting my worries and wishes to someone like you. I'm leaving now," Adella clarified and swam straight out of the temple.
Shayan only looked after her until Aschera said something to him that Adella no longer noticed. He followed her and quickly caught up with her. Without further ado, he circled around her and blocked her way.
"What else do you want from me? Move over and let me through! I'm done with a secret-keeper and liar like you! I don't want anything more to do with you or that sea witch, oh sorry you call her high priestess. What my little sister Ariel has been through is a lesson enough for me," she snapped at him and then pushed him aside.
Shayan let it happen for the moment, but did not give up and circled her again.
"I am neither a secret-keeper nor a liar!" he was indignant at her calling him one.
"Oh, no?" asked Adella pointedly.
"No, if you were, you would be the secret-keeper and liar. I had asked you if you came from good stock. Remember? You could have told me. It wasn't my fault that the letter with your seal fell out of your pocket. I wanted to help! But Your Highness is too refined. Look where you're staying. Swim to one of those moulded stones they all worship. Take your kingdom's request for help to one of these corrupt misers, but don't be surprised if they end up taking advantage of your predicament. Asherah is not Ursula! You should be ashamed of yourself for labelling her so superficially in advance without giving her a chance!" he shouted angrily at her.
"I...", Adella really didn't know what to say to that. Was this just another ploy to wrap her around the tentacles of others? But he was right. She had been the one to hide the truth and he hadn't been responsible for her clumsiness either. Or had it all been planned for much longer? Had he known what she was hiding in her bag? Had he possibly collided with her on purpose? But surely she would have seen him if he had been near her earlier in the journey. After all, he was quite an apparition with his confusable appearance. Adella came to the conclusion that she had been quite unfair to him.
"I'm sorry," she begged meekly.
Apparently he hadn't expected her to buckle so quickly, because he just looked at her puzzled for some time. But then he showed his volatile temper once again and laughed out loud.
When he had regained his composure, he held out his hand to her and said, "Very well, let's just start again. Hi, I'm Shayan."
Adella looked irritated at the other's hand. He seemed anything but resentful and really didn't care about what belonged to the past. I guess he always lived in the here and now. He deserved a second chance, Adella thought, and shook his hand.
"Hello, I am Adella. Princess of Atlantica. But please keep this to yourself. I don't want to cause a stir," she introduced herself again and gave him a final wink.