Chapter 4: Exploration
The nymphs listened intently, agreeing to help find Lucia, before turning to Miriam and Cori, Stelle first to speak. "Little ones, we would be able to help much faster if you two could aid us with our chores? Then we could search for your friend." she offered, the two girls readily agreeing and walking off with Stelle and Emilie, Merlie turning to Kai. "I did my chores much earlier, so I'll help them out. Will you be alright on your own?" she asked, the boy nodding. "I'll be fine!"
Miriam and Cori followed the three sisters through the city, where they found grapevines and fruits everywhere, beginning to pick them and throw them into enormous baskets. Miriam stared at each berry- they were perfect and all looked delicious. Hoping nobody was looking, she plucked one off the grapevine- and it was taken from her fingers by Cori, who shushed her and put it in her mouth. The two girls silently giggled, before each taking a berry and eating them together, the three sisters being caught completely unaware. After an hour or two of berry picking, the girls then progressed to an old, polished building, where an armoury was held. Merlie passed everyone pieces of armors and cloths, beginning to scrub the shiny silver to ensure it was spotless. Cori spotted various weapons around the room, from swords to cannons, and gently set about polishing each one until it shone, whilst Miriam focused on armour instead. Eventually, the two girls found themselves together and needing to polish an enormous sword, working together until they could see their reflections, joyously smiling.
Kai, meanwhile, traversed the city, seeing market stalls and street dancers everywhere. Some even tried to get him to dance, but he politely declined- he was no good at it. He found himself in a strange corner of the city, where the festival music almost seemed to be drowned out by echoing voices, from whom he couldn't find the location. He eventually almost slipped on the suddenly uneven and darker cobbled streets, but dislodged a little worn piece of fabric from the ground, picking it up and examining it. It didn't reveal much, but he still found himself fascinated by it, as it seemingly depicted a tail, so he wondered if he could find the full image and replace the piece.
Wandering through the streets, he found himself feeling very uneasy, goosebumps climbing up his arms and giving him chills. It was just a shadow caused by the buildings around the streets, but he still felt his worries twisting themselves up inside them, like the coiling tentacles of an octopus. Eventually, he came to a large, looming building, an old, worn tapestry decorating the entryway. It had fallen to one side, revealing a bronze door, but he first wanted to examine it. The hook holding it up on the left had fallen onto the ground, so he gently replaced it into its nook and placed the tapestry's corner over it, revealing the full image, save for some missing gaps. Holding the piece of fabric up, he noticed that the image depicted three sisters, seemingly beautiful mermaids, in a deep brown colour, surrounded by blue to represent the ocean they inhabited. The boy smiled, whoever had painted this had put in a lot of effort, and he wanted to know more about the art. Remembering the door, though, he removed the corner of the tapestry so it once again fell to the right, and gently touched the handle, half-expecting it to be locked. Surprisingly, though, the room was open, so he found a lantern and lit it, curious about what could be inside.
Miriam and Cori headed into the center of the city with the nymphs, Emilie musing where Kai could have gone to. Merlie was then approached by a vendor, who she began to speak with. "Excuse me, have you seen a young boy with dark skin wandering around here? He has been exploring and we're trying to find him." She explained, and the young vendor simply pointed her toward an alley. "He went that way, miss." He replied, Merlie raising an eyebrow and stealing a slight glance at her sisters. "Thank you sir. Stay here you two, I'll go and find him." She spoke, Cori and Miriam being led toward a seating area where Stelle and Emilie began conversing with fellow nymphs and the two girls giggled together.
Kai found himself in front of a hall of stone statues, each one depicting a different person. He shone his light toward the corner of the room, finding men and women holding each other, and approached, trying to see their expression. Typically, from the joyful statues he'd seen, they would be carved with utmost care- the man in his village had proven that many times to him, but here their expressions were frantic, almost terrified, so he wondered what type of sculptor would create such an image. Moving backwards, he bumped into a little one, which he hadn't noticed, before feeling his heart suddenly drop. This one was a tiny girl sitting on the ground, probably seven or eight, captured in the midst of screaming. The tears had even been carved onto her face, which her hands above her head practically obscured from the wrong angle. Someone had to have been disturbed to create these images, so it was no wonder they unnerved him. Despite this, he couldn't help but admire how human they looked- even the expert craftsman in his village couldn't create such an accurate carving. Slightly weirded out, Kai decided to return another time, blowing out his lantern and closing the door behind him, where he was suddenly spooked by Merlie approaching him.
"Kai? Why are you all the way back here? Didn't you want to watch the musicians perform or a show or something?" She asked, Kai shrugging. "I just sorta wandered until I ended up here, I guess…" he chuckled, but it was forced. "Um, Merlie? What were all those statues?" He asked, and for a second a ghost of a frown passed over the nymph's face, before returning to her usual gentle and demure expression. "Well I collected them before Itar sank. I used to buy them from all over the world- there's something beautiful about how perfect the expressions look, they're almost human, right?" She smiled, Kai managing a little smile. "Yeah, but whoever carved them had to be a little disturbed, right?" He laughed, Merlie chuckling. "More than a little disturbed young one. They had to be positively crazy." She replied, before taking his hand and leading him back to the others and into the sun.
As they approached the group of other nymphs, Kai suddenly remembered his goal. "Merlie, did you find Lucia?" he asked, but the nymph shook her head. "Sadly we didn't, though I kept a keen eye out as we passed from place to place. I promise to keep looking, though." She replied, Kai nodding before approaching his friends and sitting down with them.
After the girls briefly explained they'd been doing all sorts of chores, Kai was about to tell them where he'd been when he was interrupted by the three nymphs, Stelle stepping forward to talk to them. "The other nymphs here gave me a message: they've told me that our leader, Allura, wishes to meet you. As she is our most revered highness, we must dress you accordingly, and make sure you are all looking as shiny as silver beforehand." She explained, before staring at Cori with a smile as her stomach began to growl. "S-sorry…" Cori mumbled, but Stelle just chuckled. "Are you hungry, little ones?" she asked, and the three teens nodded intently- Kai hadn't even realized how hungry he was until that moment, but now he was ravenous. Smiling, the three nymphs watched as the sky above began to dim, and brought them toward a nearby bar for some well-deserved food.
Inside, there were so many people drinking and dancing together that it felt like the air was electric. Finding a table, the trio ordered some food for themselves, all variations on dishes they knew with an Atlantean twist, and then Cori grabbed Miriam's hand, pulling her to dance with everyone else as Kai watched on, laughing. His gaze was drawn elsewhere eventually as their food arrived, where he spotted someone sitting alone at a table, reading a book but features obscured by a long blue cloak. Knowing it was rude to stare he turned away, and instead focused on eating his food, a play on traditional dolmades, where instead of being served in vine leaves the rice was served inside coral fans, each a different yet vibrant shade of pink. Since it was just an appetizer, each teen just ate one, awaiting their full meals. However, the food was interrupted by some beautiful voices. The group of nymphs entered the bar, singing a wonderful song about sailors. Both Miriam and Cori stopped eating to listen, whilst Kai, unbothered, continued to munch on the rice- in his defence, it tasted amazing. He then turned, to see the cloaked person staring at him, before quickly looking away, seemingly a little shy. Under the table, he gave a slight wave, before turning back as the nymphs finished their song, the women dispersing among the crowd as dinner continued. Kai couldn't help but watch the cloaked person, who was approached by the nymphs and promptly hurried away, making him curious. As their main course arrived, he tried not to think about it, and instead struck up a conversation with Cori and Miriam about the food, and how their first day had gone.
Eventually, all three teens were exhausted, being led to their chambers by Stelle, Emilie and Merlie, who offered to sing them to sleep. Cori and Miriam readily agreed, but Kai wasn't sure, he typically slept better when it was silent. Understanding, Merlie simply gave him some pyjamas and toiletries, eventually drawing his curtains and blinds for him. Wishing him goodnight, the nymph quietly closed the door behind her, leaving him in peace. He got changed, brushed his teeth and headed to bed, the sheets comfortable and the mattress extremely soft, the boy feeling as if he was curled up inside an anemone. He yawned, and closed his eyes, eventually slipping away into dreams. Likewise, as Stelle and Emilie sang the girls to sleep, playing their harps, both girls felt themselves drifting into dreams of the ocean and its creatures, whilst Kai dreamt of stone and rocks and fallen tapestries. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep properly, and felt the nightmares begin, dreaming of Lucia calling for his help and sharks swimming through darkened waters, only managing to sleep properly when he found himself wondering about the cloaked person, and deciding he wanted to learn more about them.