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Chapter 37: Mysteries to be Found
Penina was growing worried about Pika. She seemed tired, with dark circles around her eyes and a groggy expression. Even though she hid it well from Mele, always smiling and staying excited for the hatchling, Penina noticed how she put down the mask in the moments she could. “Hey, Pika, have you been sleeping okay?” she whispered to her friend.
“Mhm?” responded Pika, whose tail was being attacked by Mele. “Sleeping. Have you been sleeping?” Penina pressed. “Sleeping…oh, yeah!” Pika responded with her eyes widening, “Yeah…trying to when I can.” Penina gave a stern look at Pika, “I didn’t see you asleep in your room last night. Where were you?” She had woken up in the middle of the night and decided to check in on Pika, but saw no sign of her.
Pika gave a pained look, realizing she couldn’t hide it anymore, “I’ve been at the library researching, trying to figure out things about Mele. We’ve been so swamped with tasks that I didn’t want to take that time away during the day. Soooo….nights are for research,” and she gave a sheepish grin.
But Penina’s kept her grave face and crossed her arms as she looked hard at Pika, “If you keep yourself up, you’re going to impact our time together with your exhaustion. Or, you may even get sick and be unable to help for days,” but then a sparkle passed her eyes, “Did you find anything yet?”
“Nothing!” Pika wailed, which caused Mele to stop playing with her tail and show a look of concern, “I tried every section of the library – history, biology, legends – but nothing!” Penina gave a pregnant pause as she thought, and then asked, “But did you look in the restricted section of the library?” Pika stopped her wailing and had her eyes fixed on Penina, “Wait, there is a restricted section?”
“Mhm-hmm, and I may be able to give you access if you actually go to sleep at night,” she teased, “It’s a portion of the library only for those of the royal family. I can’t read a good chunk of it because it’s written in an ancient text, but maybe you can make more of it. That is, only if you change the poor habits you’ve been starting.”
Mele landed on Pika’s snout, eyes large and round, as though peering into Pika’s soul and asking for her to listen to Penina’s words. Pika gave a sigh, that somehow then turned into a yawn, “Okay, okay, I’ll get some sleep.”
“Yeah, starting now,” Penina ordered, “You look like you haven’t slept in days,” then she turned to Mele, “Make sure she gets some sleep, okay?” Mele gave a satisfied purr in Penina’s direction and then turned her eyes to look straight into Pika’s with the fiercest look she could muster.
Pika’s fins drooped, “Okay, starting now then. How can I say no to that face? Will you keep Aunty company?” Mele chirped and butted Pika towards the doorway. Penina heard Pika’s laughter from the hall until it faded to silence. She then breathed a slow sigh of relief. Even though she had a lot to do on her own, her mind would rest easier now that Pika didn’t stay up for most of the night. So Penina went to work, pouring her mind into the tasks at hand.
“Come on. I’ll show you,” said Keola, who was swimming ahead of zir parents. Kailani and Murchadh were not fully convinced of Keola’s story. Why didn’t they see these two dragons when they first explored the ruins? “Here we are,” Keola stopped in front of the pedestal of the two ancient Undertide statues, “Now watch this… Lillan! Shezilzilla! I’m ready for my training!”
There was silence that seemed to linger for far too long, and Keola’s parents’ doubt only grew. “Seems they didn’t keep to their word. Or maybe you imagined it while sleep-swimming last night?” Kailani said with a raised eyebrow.
“Seems that there are some disbelievers in your family. Maybe it can be a whole family class,” said a voice. Murchadh shot up to attention and brandished his trident. “Easy, guard of Nan’nalu. We do not wish to bring harm upon the royal family,” said a second voice.
Both Lillan and Shezilzilla appeared, swimming from the direction of the large statues. “Greetings, Princess Kailani, Royal Guardsgon Murchadh,” said Shezizilla, and both her and Lillan bowed their heads in respect, “Sorry for our delayed appearance. So I presume Keola explained our first interaction and offer for tutelage?”
Kailani was surprised but immediately asked, “How come we didn’t see you here when we first arrived?” Lillan gave a smile, “We tend to keep to ourselves amongst the ruins. No sense making an appearance if there is no danger posed to these ancient relics. Now if you were intruders, it may have been a bit different.”
Murchadh spoke next, “How did the kingdom forget about this site and about you? It seems so unlikely that such a place like this would be neglected.” Shezilzilla gave a look of sadness, “Yes, it is a dishonor to abandon this site and leave it to ruin. However, when it came to the dishonor that King Dakila brought, many things were thrown away in an attempt to save the inhabitant’s faith in the kingdom. After King Dakila was outcasted, his sister stepped in, broke his statue, and vowed to lead a new line of rulers that put the inhabitants first.”
Lillan continued, “But not everyone believed that she had the right to rule, let alone the right to outcast a king. It was an uncertain and conflicted time that followed, breaking the foundation and leaving little left to build off of. Those that didn’t support the new queen had left the kingdom in search of the former king. And those that stayed tried to bring Nan’nalu back to its former glory.”
Silence hung heavy after the two mentors’ words. Finally, Keola asked, “But what did King Dakila do that caused his own sister to outcast him?” Lillan and Shezilzilla exchanged looks and then turned to the family, “Will you permit us to train Keola for zir role for Nan’nalu?”
“But you didn’t answer zir question,” Kailani said and crossed her arms. “We need to make sure Keola is committed to zir role as a ruler of Nan’nalu before we can share that history,” Shezizilla explained.
Keola looked at zir parents, “Ma, Da, I need to do this. I can’t keep living my life running away from my heritage and responsibility. But I don’t want to risk your lives to do it. With Lillan and Shezizilla, I can do both – keep you safe and begin my journey,” zi looked pleadingly, “Please, I want to do this.”
Kailani put a hand over her chest, an emotional pain of guilt and sadness in seeing Keola hurting from her life decisions, “I never wanted to hold you back in what you wanted to do. I’m sorry that you felt that I was barring the way that you wanted to travel.”
“Ma, you only stopped me when you knew I wasn’t ready, just like when I first wanted to travel with you. But when I showed you what I could do, then you gave me your full support. I just hope that you see me as being ready to take this next step,” Keola said, and zi took her hands in zirs. “You’re more than ready,” Kailani said, “I’ll still be here if you ever need me though.” Keola smiled, “Thanks, Ma.”
Murchadh was quiet and looked torn, “After what I’ve been through and seen, I worry that going back to the palace may lead to your demise,” he shook his head, “I may not agree with your decision, but I’ll support you. I just hope that everything we taught you will keep you out of trouble and harm.” Keola nodded, “Thanks, Da. I’ll be sure to mindful of what’s around me and keep my guard up.”
Lillan and Shezilzilla was on the side, respectfully quiet and patient during the family’s exchange, “What is your choice, Keola?” Keola turned toward the pair with a determined look, “I’m ready to start my training.”
Ahohako looked bruised and beaten physically, but he was still standing on the deck with sparks of electricity shooting off his fur in different directions, “Come on, I’m ready fer more!”
Sklonda sheathed her blade, “You may have spirit, son, but that won’t help you win battles. Brute strength can only take you so far.” Ahohako gritted his teeth and decided to charge at Sklonda, horns first. While the electricity and speed he was going at made him seem quite able to take down Sklonda, she weaved her body to easily dodge Ahohako. Instead, the Gaoler tripped over Sklonda’s outstretched foot and fell to the deck. His face was hidden by his fur, but he didn’t get up or push the fur away. He wanted to hide his shame of being unable to successfully hit Sklonda even once in their battle training.
“Get up, Ahohako, and take a break,” Sklonda ordered, eyes cold, “There is strength to know when to stop and fight another day.” As she walked away, Ahohako could feel tears well in his eyes. He hated feeling so inadequate, especially in front of his mom.
“Ye know, ye do ‘old up pretty well ‘gainst yer mum, considerin’ all of ‘er battle experience,” a voice spoke on the side of him. Quickly wiping away his tears with his paw and standing up, he was face to face with Glan. “Yer mum is a tough one, that’s fer certain. I couldn’t even beat ‘er when we sparred, an’ I ‘aven’t tried since.”
Ahohako growled, “Why don’t ye try to face ‘er again then?” Glan shrugged, “I know me strength an’ ability, an’ I’ve been honin’ meself since that battle. When I know I’m ready, then I’ll face ‘er again.” Ahohako, still fuming, turned and started to walk away. “She still loves ye, ye know,” Glan said, which made Ahohako stop, “She just ain’t good at expressin’ it. I’m sure ye do ‘er proud.” After a moment’s pause, Ahohako continued to walk away, but less angrily.
Glan turned towards Sklonda, who was aft and talking with Keala. “Maybe it’s not a bad idea to face ‘er again sometime soon,” Glan thought aloud softly.
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Reshiramu
Tried making the most I could out of this writing pull. I felt Ahohako hadn't been in the spotlight much, so I definitely chose him to develop. He is a lot more like Sklonda than Luca, so they will have some more parent bonding. But Sklonda's rough exterior may be a little bit of an obstacle. And Glan may finally face things he had ignored for some time, including his feud with Sklonda. Maybe he will finally address it so the crew can be more united.
Keola definitely needed his parents support, so taking the time for that (and sowing some seeds of mystery) was a definite point. And finally, Pika was caught staying up much later than she should! Hopefully with some sleep and now a new section of the library opened up to her, she may find what she needed to understand Mele more.
I really wanted to get across the sheer size of these statues and loved the idea of using Keola as a reference to that. Even the fish and manta are an extra set of size comparisons for good measure.