Chapter 11: King Poseidon’s Legacy
As soon as Odysseus heard that his father had awoken, he rushed from the throne room to the royal chambers. At the Prince Regent’s request, Abel and Nia also followed behind. Then they entered the darkened royal chambers. The room was lavish, as well as neat and tidy, but also displayed a sort of loneliness; as if the King of Aquaea had been carrying the weight of the world for as long as he could remember.
King Poseidon lied at his royal bed, far too large for him, as if it was meant for an additional person. An attendant next to the bed stood and saluted the Crown Prince upon realizing who had just arrived.
Odysseus put a hand forward. “We require privacy.”
The servant nodded and promptly left, leaving only Odysseus, Abel, and Nia with the king.
“My son,” Poseidon said. “The servants have informed me all that had transpired while I was incapacitated.”
Odysseus nodded as he listened.
The King smiled. “You have done well. I’m proud of you, son.”
But Odysseus shook his head. “All that I have done as Regent is only to keep things in place until your recovery.”
“No,” Poseidon said. “I do not think that will be the case. It is time for me to step back. In my old age, it is time for me to reflect on my own life and actions. And it is finally time for you to take hold the keys to the kingdom.”
Odysseus said nothing, his face calm. For the Prince, the thought of his father’s death had always been painful; he had feared what he would do should that happen, knowing its inevitability. What it would mean for Aquaea, for Melia, for everything. But after the Battle of the Aquaean Depths, after his father’s mortal wounding, after his accession as Prince Regent, that fear was slowly dissipating. He had learned how to move on, and the fact that his father made a recovery was now a bonus.
So the Prince Regent knelt before his father, and spoke, “I will not let you down, papa.”
Then, Poseidon placed his hand over Odysseus’ head, as if to confer a blessing upon his son.
***
The royal chambers remained silent for some time as all four inside did not want to spoil the solemn atmosphere. It was then when the doors opened rather abruptly, showing Princess Melia behind it.
The shark princess had tears in her eyes. “Papa,” she said.
And with that, Melia rushed into him, running past the others before she jumped into the arms of her father.
Father and daughter remained in embrace for some time.
Poseidon spoke, “My daughter, it warms my heart to see you again.”
Melia sniffed. “Papa, I’m sorry, so sorry.”
Poseidon raised an eye. “You apologize? For what?”
“Because I almost got you killed, papa,” Melia said. “If I hadn’t been in that battle…”
“Then you wouldn’t have grown to be the fine young woman that you are,” responded Poseidon.
Melia’s eyes widened. “Papa?”
Poseidon placed a hand over her head, and spoke,
“Now I have a request of you, my dear Melia.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Earlier I have given your brother the keys to the kingdom, and the task to rule the kingdom in my stead. For you, my daughter, I have something different.”
As the king said this, he gestured to Abel and Nia.
Poseidon spoke, “I want you to accompany the Sethites on their journey through this world.”
Everyone who heard this was in shock. Abel and Nia looked to one another in confusion, not quite sure what to say. Odysseus looked down, his expression pensive. But it was Melia who spoke,
“Wait, really?”
“That is,” Poseidon said, “if Abel Ramsey and Nia Ennis are willing to accommodate my request.”
Abel stepped forward. “Our journey will be a perilous one, Your Highness. At the moment, we intend to make our way to the land of the lionmen in the Continent. Are you willing to expose your daughter to that kind of danger?”
Poseidon nodded. “I do. For too long, I have let fear rule my decision-making. Fear for this kingdom after my passing, fear for Melia should she leave the waters of Aquaea.
“No more! For Aquaea to survive into the future, my son needs to be the King that his people deserves, and my daughter needs to truly understand the outside world.”
Then Melia interjected, giving Abel and Nia a confident look, “And besides, I have Turtey with me. You’ve seen him in action. Don’t pretend that you’re not impressed.”
Abel smiled. “Your turtle is an interesting specimen. But in any case, I am honored to accept this request.”
“Thank you, Abel Ramsey,” responded Poseidon.
“Yay!” Melia cried.
“Alright,” Nia said, crossing her arms as she looked to Melia. “But if we’re going to do this, we’ll do it right. Don’t wander off the ship, listen to what I have to say, and don’t trouble Abel.”
“O-okay, Nia,” said Melia.
***
With Melia having officially joined the mission, the party began their preparations for the expedition towards the Dour Plains. The first work to be done was the retrofitting of the Star Surfer. With the help of Odysseus and his Aquaean engineers, the holding tanks had been transformed into one unified aquarium, something more fitting as Melia’s quarters. Of course, the tank was made to accommodate Turtey also.
But of more importance was the transformation of the ship from a submarine to an airship. When Abel and Nia were drawing their plans, it soon became apparent that the Dour Plains was located deep inland.
“How are we supposed to make our way there with a submarine?” asked Nia.
The answer came from Odysseus, who explained to the two UEC officers about Dragon Tribe ship design, which the Prince Regent described as ‘efficient planning, wasteful engineering’; he said this because the Kruptosians had the exact same design for both airships and submarines, with only minimal differences on the inside. The issue from this design philosophy was that Kruptosian submarines consume a lot more power than necessary, a problem solved by having multiple sources of power.
Once this was understood, it was child’s play to transform a Kruptosian submarine into an airship, and back. Odysseus, for his part, was generous enough to hand the schematics to Abel for the UEC Captain to study.
Abel quickly learned the basics; as someone who had undergone the Explorer path back in the Academy, he had learned how to improvise and learn the basics of ship engineering; and he had deeply absorbed those lessons.
For Abel, what turned out to be surprising was how Odysseus got access to these schematics…
“Princess Thalya gave them to me,” the Prince Regent said. “She sent it to my communicator just before she left Aquaea.”
Abel put a hand on his chin. “I can’t say I don’t appreciate the gift, but…”
“… you wonder what she is trying to achieve with this, right?” Odysseus said.
“Yeah. I can’t help but feel like we’re puppets, and she’s being some strange, alien pied piper.”
“I do not know what this pied piper is but be at ease, Abel Ramsey,” the Prince said. “I am not naive. I know the Princess has her own agenda. But she is not as in control as she wants us to believe.”
“And how do you know that?” responded Abel.
Odysseus smiled. “The Kraken. The only way that thing could have been released is if the right planetary ritual had been carried out. The Book of Lamech is clear on this, and only Cain and his witches are in the position to do so.”
“You mean…?”
“Yes,” Odysseus said, nodding. “Cain must have released it to terrorize Aquaea. Most likely out of anger born from your daring escape.”
Abel crossed his arms. “Yet Thalya didn’t mention it to us.”
“Because it would make her look bad,” responded Odysseus. “She must have tried to dissuade her father but failed.”
***
Finally came the time for Abel and Nia to leave Aquaea, but they wouldn’t be leaving by themselves as Princess Melia came along with her trusted guardian Turtey. For the Princess of Aquaea, saying goodbye to her brother, to her father, and to her home turned out to be more difficult than she had thought. But it was time for her to go on her journey.
And she did so with the blessing of King Poseidon of Aquaea.
***
The Star Surfer had thus left the docks of the Underwater City. Inside the ship’s control room, Abel and Nia took their seats; far at the side was Melia sitting on a freshly bolted seat. With a press of a button by Abel, the inner walls of the Star Surfer began to shift, revealing a transparent metal window. Outside was the dark blue waters of the Aquaean depths.
“Well,” Nia said. “I guess it’s time for us to make our way to the surface. I’m ready when you are, Captain.”
Abel nodded. “Let’s do it.”
“Roger,” Nia said. Turning to Melia, she said, “Hold on tight, okay.”
“Okay, Nia.”
Abel moved the gear, and shifted the steer upwards. And slowly, everyone felt the sensation of the ship rising.
Reading the instruments, Nia studiously called out the Star Surfer’s depth location. But Melia was more focused on the window next to her; her eyes widened as she saw the water grew brighter and brighter, and navy blue slowly turning sea blue, the light of the sun becoming more apparent to see. It was not something she had ever seen before.
But the piece de resistance came as the submarine finally broke through the water surface to become an airship, the huge splash of the water soon gave way to the clear blue sky. When Melia saw the clouds, all she could say was…
“Wow.”
Nia’s voice broke the silence:
“Captain,” she said to Abel. “The Star Surfer is fully airborne. Readings are all clear. We’re good to go.”
“Good,” Abel said, nodding, and looked to the instrument map in front of him.
For Captain Abel Ramsey, everything was all set. The destination, the ship, the crew. Now was the time.
“Hang in there, Lieutenant Smits. We’re coming for you.”
To be continued…
Thanks for reading. If you love my work, consider supporting my work through one of the following:
Buy my books:
Tip via Buy Me A Coffee.
Bitcoin: bc1qydz05wsjqmuhqv6yu6zr0l45wewzhgkg96xqt0
Thank you in advance for your support, it keeps me writing and helps me considerably. Germanicus Publishing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.