Chapter 27 - Samudra

Chapter 27

Samudra

The next morning came and was the time for Meredith and Ernest to go on their long journey to Samudra also known to be located in the Indian Ocean. Everyone came to say their goodbyes to the couple. "I made some meals that will last three days' time for each of you," Rimulus bowed handing the parcels filled with food to each Meredith and Ernest.

"Thank you, Rimulus. You be sure to take good care of Amelia, alright? And make sure she stays out of trouble," Meredith winks at him. "I will surely do my best, safe travels to both of you," Rimulus smiled.

Haruto eyed Meredith with a serious expression but then spoke with tenderness. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to know you much more having the connection we have with one another. Samudra will be in the best of hands handled by the strongest warrior I have had the opportunity to meet." Haruto kissed her hand in grace. Then, he directed his attention to Ernest, "Ernest, be sure to help out in any way you can for Her Highness. She may not need it physically, but emotionally, I'm sure she will need solemn advice close by. Watch over her for me in that regard."

"I will, Your Highness," Ernest bowed to him. Amelia then swam toward them smiling bright. "I've had a feeling you couldn't wait to see your kingdom, Meredith. I don't blame you for one second at this last-minute departure. May the tides course favorably throughout your voyage." Meredith then rushed to hug Amelia. "I love you, cous, I'll miss you," "You'll be back, I know you will." Amelia whispered to her ear as they are hugging tightly one another.

Amelia broke the hug and swam away leaving Lynae left to bid her farewell to her little sister and Ernest. She rushed to hug her and cried softly. "Now, sis, you said you weren't going to cry." "Shut up, I'm not crying," Lynae said in frustration and sadness. "I'll write to you when I get there." Meredith promised. "You better," Lynae said gripping at her sister tighter than ever. For a long moment more, the girls were in that embrace and parted afterwards.

"You ready to go?" Ernest asked Meredith not sure if he should say 'Her Highness' or call her by her name as she insisted.

"Yeah, I'll write to you guys when we make it there." Meredith said waving to the group. The group shouted goodbyes and farewells to the couple and they swam off exiting the Aula and headed East toward their destination.

While following a compass that Haruto gave them, Meredith spoke up, "Okay, confession time, I actually never been to Samudra before." Ernest's eyes widened. "What?" "I've been around Oceanus and that's about it. I'm from the far side of Oceanus far from Samudra."

"Anything else?" Ernest asked. "I lived in Hawaii majority of my life." Meredith confessed while not telling him she was not mer all of her life. "Okay, that kind of sets us back a little in getting to where we are going," Ernest shrugged it off. "Aren't you mad at me?" Meredith asked hesitantly. "You had your reasons why you kept it from me from which I can imagine why, but now you're here trying to make the seas a better place. Now it made sense why Haruto gave us this compass in the first place. Okay, we can settle this whole 'hiding truths' thing later, right now, we need to go East." Ernest explained that he wasn't mad and he was focused on wanting to get to Samudra.

"Wouldn't we need to go South?" Meredith asked. "We will, but we have a long way before we cross that bridge according to Haruto," Ernest declared. "Haruto knows a lot of things, doesn't he?" Meredith rolled her eyes. "Give the guy some credit, he's been nearly all around the seven seas at a young age. He may be smart, but he's resilient." Ernest said in his defense.

While they were swimming by the open waters, they noticed that there were more sharks lurking around the area. Ernest and Meredith grew cautious at the sight of the herd and decided to stay low to the sea floor. "That's a lot of sharks, there's no way we can fend them all off." Meredith pointed out. "I've heard from my father that Atlantica is known to draw sharks more to this part because it's the warmest ocean in the world and sharks thrive in that environment." Ernest whispered.

Both of them swam swiftly but quietly trying not to attract the hungry looking sharks. Another hour or so of swimming and they found some rocks to camouflage in between while they caught their breath. They both slid down in relief that this wave of sharks did not chase after them or pursue them.

"I never had this much intense fear in my lifetime!" Ernest said while huffing in some water. "Call me crazy, but I thought it was kind of like a game like tag," Meredith said trying to contain the grin from her face. "Tag?" Ernest asked in question. "It's a game of chase which the terra children play on the surface. You chase a bunch of people and try to get one to be it and once you tag someone then they chase in return after the others. It's kind of what that feels like," Meredith explained.

"So swimming for your life made it to be thrilling and exciting for you? Is that some kind of twisted game you like to play gambling with your life?" Ernest asked quizzically thinking she had gone crazy. "I guess so," Meredith grinned back and they both laughed at each other in amusement. "You are one crazy princess!" Ernest chuckled. "Maybe so, Ernest, but you can't say I'm not a bore to be around with." Meredith laughed along some more. "Not by a long shot, Mere, not by a long shot," Ernest said placing a hand on her shoulder. They both kept joking around until they had the strength to continue on with their journey.

They then decided to head South once they gotten further away from the western portion of Atlantica. They also noticed more fish and more sharks were around. "We must be getting close to the Equator," Meredith said in a sure tone. "Figures we would run into a large school," Ernest said in discouragement. "We've got no choice to avoid it, we'll have to bide our time, just get through the school, and hopefully not run into any sharks." Meredith said planning the next step to go.

"Could you imagine living here? You wouldn't run out of food ever!" Ernest said in amazement. "Yeah tell that to the hungry sharks that come bulldozing the schools here imagine what they would do to us." Meredith replied in a snarky tone. "Killing the mood is really becoming of you isn't it?" Ernest muttered. "Nah, that's my sister, I kill sea creatures." Meredith said while showing her spear. Then, she put the spear down and asked Ernest, "Hey, have you ever been on land?"

"No, I never have. Father said that it's dangerous going up there, but I've been curious on what it is like up there." Ernest explained. "Well, we'll have to change that. I'm thinking to save some time swimming, we should travel through the southern portion of Africa." Meredith explained her idea. Ernest grew concerned about her idea. "Have you ever been to this Africa?"

"Nope. I'll give you the rundown of how terra surface works. Africa is the name of the continent we are heading towards or possibly near it as we speak. A continent is a big massive chunk of land that is grouped by countries or providences. Like where I'm from? I was from Hawaii, and Hawaii is a state which is like a providence and much smaller than a country. Hawaii is part of the United States which is a country. And United States is part of a continent called North America. Make any sense?" Meredith explained and then turned to Ernest asking if he understood. "Uh, sort of, sorry this is a lot of information to take in." Ernest said as he was still confused from Meredith's explanation on how the land works on different colonies. "I'll have to find some books from the land and help you pinpoint everything." Meredith said reassuring him.

"Then let's go to Africa then!" Ernest said excitingly. "Okay then, well first we are going to need to get you something to cover your extremities." "Why?" Ernest asked innocently. "Because the terra have a standard when it comes to appearance and nudity is mostly frowned upon." Meredith explained with difficulty trying to find the right answers. "What about you?" Ernest asked. "Good point, let's find a market nearby before swimming upward." Meredith said looking down at her tail and notices she is only wearing her bikini halter top.

The two spotted a market nearby and saw that they were selling some colorful skirts that came down the midsection of a mer's tail. "Excuse me, how much are you asking for the skirts and the shirt?" Meredith asked. The merchandiser replied. "What do you have in mind of payment?" "I have coinage. What were you asking for if you were to trade?" Meredith replied. "What kind of coinage?" he asked enthusiastically. "Copper," Meredith said taking out three pieces of copper coins out of her purse. "You have a deal." The merch said with him eyeing on the metal coins. He handed them the two skirts and shirt.

The two started their way up towards the African coastline with their new clothes. Ernest wore the shirt and skirt while Meredith wore the other skirt along with her bikini top. As they reached the surface, they searched a place where they could transform privately. They spotted a barren portion of the coastline where it showed no one was there. "Over there," Ernest directed. Meredith nodded and swam up to the rocky coastline.

They climbed up using their arms and tried holding onto their parcels of food and belongings along with it. The sun was so hot that day that it took no time at all for the two to regain their legs. They struggled to gain their balance back on their feet since it had been awhile since they had used their legs on land. "Crap, my legs feel like jelly!" Meredith muttered under her breath while Ernest swore under his as well. They climbed the rocky hills and ahead of their view was a little church building in the distance.

They walked towards that church and saw there was a town along with that church. Meredith then started asking the locals. "Excuse me, where am I?" The local chuckled. "Why, you're in Luderitz, child. Are you lost?" Meredith replied. "Kind of, we're looking to go to South Africa the southern point where the two oceans meet." "Ah, then you have a long journey ahead of you. Even walking it would take a week to get to your destination." "Great," Meredith sighed. She thanked the local and went on her way south in that town.

While they were walking around the town, Meredith showed her thumb out towards the road. "What are you doing?" Ernest asked. "Hitchhiking, of course." Meredith replied hastily trying to find a car nearby that would stop for them. "Mere, they're not going to drive hours away for us to get us to the tip of Africa. We might as well head back to the shore before we lose anymore time." Ernest suggested.

Suddenly out in the open, there was a quarrel up ahead with a bus that looked to be down. "Please, I beg of you, these are tourists from other places in the world!" The bus driver pleaded. "Alright, everyone hands up where I can see them!" The other bandit said while getting on the bus. The two looked at each other, nodded to one another, and started sneaking over to the bus.

"Please whatever you do, don't hurt them!" The bus driver pleaded some more. "They won't be if they'll cooperate," the robber said. The bus driver saw Meredith and Ernest sneaking up and she placed her finger on her mouth hinting him not to give them away. Ernest got out his blade and snuck up on the man who waved a gun at the bus driver. He held him in his grip pressing the blade onto his neck. "Drop the gun and you'll live another day," Ernest hissed at his ear. He pressed the blade harder to make him aware that he was serious.

While Ernest was handling the robber outside, Meredith climbed on the bus sneaking through the hatch on the roof. She first peeked through the window to see where he was to time her jump. "That's right, cough up your belongings..." The bandit said then was cut off at the surprise of a blade meeting to his neck and his arm with the gun is restrained behind his back. "Now it's your turn to cough up your belongings. Do it!" Meredith commanded him. He dropped the gun and she kicked the gun away from him. "Now, drop the bag,"

There was a commotion outside with the robber and that distracted Meredith enough where the bandit inside could stun Meredith and make a run for it. She darted towards him running out of the bus. She got out one of the weapons, threw it at his legs, and he dropped as his legs were tied from the leaded sling. The robber started shooting at Ernest and he in turn got out his large bladed weapon that deflected the bullets. He then ran towards him, turned the pole side of the weapon and pinned it to the ground where he could catapult himself onto the robber. The robber tried to shoot but ran out of bullets. The robber still resisted Ernest and with his flexible body, he turned his arm into an unnatural direction to where he could not use it anymore. Ernest then got him up and slammed him on the bus's side. Meredith then knocked the bandit out with a hard punch to the face and grabbed the bag.

The bus driver sat there stunned at what he witnessed. The two came towards the driver and threw the bag of stolen possessions at him. "You... you saved us." The bus driver said in gratitude.

"Don't mention it." Meredith said while catching her breath. She caught the corner of her eye someone taking a picture of her and she put her hand in front of her face. "Can you tell your tourists to not take pictures of me?" Meredith asked. "Please no photography." The bus driver waved at the tourist with the camera. "I don't know how to repay you two for saving my life and my customers' lives." "Where are you going?" Ernest asked. "Cape of Good Hope is where our last stop is before we round back." The bus driver explained. "Cape of Good Hope, you mean in South Africa?" Meredith asked. "Yes ma'am, bunch of attractions are there." "Can you take us there with your group if that is no trouble?" Meredith asked. "No, no trouble at all. After all I do owe you my life." The bus driver responded.

"The trip will do, consider that debt to be paid if you take us to Cape of Good Hope." Meredith smiled. "Done, hop on," the bus driver said.

"Everyone, we will be adding two new guests with us on the road as thanks for saving our lives from these criminals. Please make them feel welcome." The bus driver introduced them. He then closed the door and started to drive off. Meredith and Ernest sat next to a couple. "That was really awesome what you did back there. I've never seen a person go after a thief like that before." A lady said. "It was nothing, we were just passing by," Ernest said emotionless. "You may say nothing now, but no one got injured because of you two and we got our jewelry back." The husband said.

"How did you learn to fight like that? I saw how you took down that other guy outside?" A kid asked. "My father taught me when I was your age," Ernest smiled. Meredith noticed how he was being kind to the boy. "Could you possibly teach me?" the boy asked lighting up. "Sure, but with just a pole instead. That can do as much damage as this here, and that was what I've had as a boy to defend myself." "Awesome!" the kid turned to his mother in excitement.

Back at the Aula, Amelia summoned Rimulus in the library. "You wished to see me, my lady?" Rimulus asked. "Yes, I have something for you." Amelia said gesturing Rimulus to stretch out his hand. She handed him a purple amulet. "Now put it on, let me see how it looks on you," Amelia instructed him. He did as he was commanded. "Looks good," Amelia nodded an approval of the appearance of the amulet on Rimulus' neck. "Any specific reason why you wanted me to wear this?"

"Glad you asked, Allura gave me a lesson over how to hone in some portion of our abilities into inanimate object as well as people although she advised against for the second. The point is, that amulet has a portion of my power channeling through the stone. Whenever you wear it, a part of me will be with you even when I am not near you, and there will be times where I will not be near you all the time. This amulet will also connect to me and give you a portion of my power to fend off anything or anybody that may come into harm's way. The amulet has a counter spell. Anyone with the exception of you or me that tries to take the amulet into their grasp will ward them off. This amulet is now a part of you as it would be for an arm or a scale on your fin. I trust you will take good care of it?" Amelia explained.

"Thank you, my lady, but why me?"

"You've been by my side since nearly the beginning. You haven't given me questions about your loyalty towards me. Besides, when I'm away from the Aula, my trust is in you to man the fort and make sure it is the same condition as I have left it. This amulet will give you that ability to do so. You'll be able to survey every corridor of the Aula, and you will be able to use my power to an extent as a defensive mechanism. I'm actually planning on searching for the final reincarnate with Haruto and Lynae. This is why I needed to see you about this and about my plans. Will you be okay by yourself?"

"I will but it will sure be lonely in this big castle."

"We will arrange on getting more help around the castle once I figure a way of a system of payment since we are short on coinage. But I am also entrusting you to be on the lookout of anyone that may fit our dire need of service and can be trusted to fulfill that duty without question." Amelia said placing her hand on his shoulder.

Back in South Africa, the tour bus stopped to take a short break to stretch at a local park. Meredith sat there peacefully watching Ernest give the boy a few lessons on how to work around the pole to defend himself. An elderly man came to sit next to Meredith. "Your boyfriend sure knows how to be around children." The elderly man smiled. "He's not my boyfriend, he is a friend. But yes, he does, doesn't he?" Meredith politely corrected him. "When you saw us in harm's way, why did you run over to help us?" The elderly man asked peering into her eyes. "I was just passing along; I couldn't let them hurt any of you guys. It just wouldn't feel right." Meredith said with her face falling down. "Why didn't you let the police handle it or try calling the police?" He questioned some more innocently. "I don't have a phone on me neither did he," Meredith answered. "I overheard your conversation with the bus driver and saw what you did. You could have taken the stolen possessions you know, why didn't you do it?" He asked. "Material items doesn't really interest me. None of those items have what I want. What I want is not something you can touch or have in your hand." Meredith told the truth. "What is it that you want?" He asked. "To find out where I belong." Meredith answered looking sad.

"Ah, people your age have that same question each and every day. What should my calling be? What is my purpose? Am I to be a mother or a father? Where should I be? And do you think going to Cape of Good Hope will find the answers you are looking for?" The elderly man asked.

"I believe so," Meredith answered. "I'm sure where ever you go, you will make good choices not for what everyone else thinks, but for yourself as well. Don't go by what someone tells you to be, find it within yourself and do what you feel is right by you. You saved us because you felt it was right. I can tell you are a good person. I'm sure whatever path you choose, you will benefit others and yourself in the long run." The elder man smiled at her.

The bus driver hollered for all the tourists to get back on the bus as it was time to go. The driver said that they would all be in Good Hope by break of dawn as the sun had already set on the horizon. Everyone winded down for a good night's rest while the driver was still driving to Good Hope. Meredith leaned on Ernest using him as a pillow while Ernest laid his head back in the seat.

Morning struck as the bus kept driving. Meredith slowly opened her eyes as the sunlight beamed at her face. She then opened her eyes wide looking at the views from the window. She slowly walked up to the driver. "Where are we at?"

"We're in Cape Town, we'll be stopping in a few minutes. The first tour is about to begin around the city." The bus driver answered. Meredith thanked the bus driver and went back to her seat eagerly looking out the window at the marvelous sight of the city.

The tour bus stopped in the city. The group went around taking their expeditions in the city and at the mountain side of Cape Town. Some even stopped by the beaches to cool off in the clear blue waters. Meredith and Ernest didn't dare step on the beach knowing if they were to come into contact with water or the sand, they would be exposed. Even though they know the sand wouldn't trigger the transformation, the sand was tempting enough to go in the water from the craving sensation they both get.

Their time came to an end in Cape Town. The bus driver called almost everyone back on while the others did not get on the bus as they had other expedition plans. The bus driver explained that the trip will take a couple of more hours until they reached to Cape of Good Hope. Meredith turned to Ernest as the bus started to move. "Aren't you glad we came up?"

"A little bit unexpected. Why did you want to come up?" Ernest asked. "I thought a little detour could help make the journey easier. Plus, I wanted to take a break from swimming." Meredith explained her reasonings behind the change in her plans. "Well, my perspective on the terra has slightly changed from the experience. I mean there are still some terra that I've heard about, but there are also some good ones out there as well like the bus driver, the kid, and a few others on this bus." Ernest stated his opinion about the human race. "Did you regret coming up here?" Meredith asked. "Not so much, just out of my comfort zone, that's all." Ernest responded. "We all have to get out of our comfort zone sometimes. If I'm to ever lead an entire oceanic realm, I need to get use to the idea of getting out of that comfort zone." Meredith said with an uncertain feeling welling up in her chest. "Are you still nervous about arriving in Samudra?" Ernest asked peering into her face. "Wouldn't you? Imagine, all of a sudden, this random stranger with supernatural powers comes to your realm out of nowhere and declares that they are the rightful ruler to your realm in which you've lived nearly your entire life?" Meredith explained.

"Right, I can see how that can upset an entire community on the suddenness of your appearance going to claim up on their turf." Ernest rubbed his chin thinking. "The only thing we can do is play it by ear and play it as safe as possible while doing so. The Atlanticans may have been a cake walk for Amelia, but Samudrans are a bit more resilient and stubborn." Then Meredith furrowed her brows responding with only this, "So am I."

Couple of hours passed by and they arrived to Cape of Good Hope. The waters were bright with the luscious green cliffs complementing it. Meredith and Ernest looked at the waters and couldn't believe that the waters couldn't be any more beautiful than when they were in Cape Town. Everyone got off the bus and went onto their excursions saying their goodbyes to Meredith and Ernest. "Our vacation wasn't ruined thanks to you two. Let me know if you ever stop by in Chicago." A man said shaking their hands with gratitude. Meredith then turned to the bus driver. "Thank you for taking us, I know we might have been..." The bus driver held out his hand to interrupt her. "You saved my life and the lives of my customers. You are far from a burden or anything of the sort. I don't know how I can..." "Consider the debt paid, sir." Meredith stretched out her hand to shake his. "Thank you, and have a good trip." The bus driver waved at them and drove off with some of his tourists remaining.

"So, what now?" Ernest asked. "We go to that cliff and run like there is no tomorrow." Meredith said smiling at him. "Right behind you, my lady," Ernest replied. They made it to the other side of the cliff where no one was around to see what they were about to do. They ran off the cliff and jumped with their belongings. They hit the water and they transformed back into their mer form.

"The border is not too far to swim now. Let's get going," Meredith said insisting on heading that direction still. They swam further east and noticed that the water became more of a light green color. They both realized that they just crossed the border and the environment seemed more on edge than it was in Oceanus and Atlantica combined.

As they swam further into Samudra territory, a couple of sketchy mer came up to them. "Are you lost? Pretty sure I have never seen you around these parts before?" One of the mer grinned mischievously. Meredith then sized up to them. "Nope, I'm where I want to be. Are you looking for trouble?" The two mer looked at each other smiling. "No, but trouble looks for us." They said pointing out their spears towards Meredith and Ernest.

"I don't think you want to mess with me, gentlemen," Meredith reached from her side. Ernest tackled one of the mer while Meredith broke off the spear with her knife. The mer then tried grabbing his knife, but Meredith smacked his hand leaving his knife buried in the sand. The mer threw punches at Meredith. Then she caught his fist while trying to throw another punch and started twisting his wrist in agonizing pain to the mer. The mer then punched her jaw to let go of his wrist.

This was a first for Meredith that she nearly met her match in a fist fight with another mer. The reputation of Samudran merfolk was shown to her and she knew that she had a challenge. Ernest struggled to hold his own on the other mer but he had the upper hand on Ernest. Then the merman spoke to Meredith with ease, "What's the matter? Bit more than you can chew on? Well, let me help you spit it out!" The mer then hit her in the gut and Meredith started coughing.

She knew what she needed to do. It was obvious to her that these Samudran mer are not to be trifled with so easily. She then mustered up enough energy to summon some rocks nearby and started pelting on both of the men. The men swore as they saw rocks flying at them. They were in shock after seeing the state Meredith was in. Her eyes were green like the root of a bamboo tree. Her energy submerged showing colors of brown with tints of green like her eyes. Ernest grabbed a hold of her seeing that she was losing focus. She calmed down and went back to her normal appearance. The mer scattered like two little guppies swimming away from their predator. Meredith collapsed in front of Ernest. "Hey, easy there, you alright?" Ernest asked while holding Meredith back up. "Yeah, I'm fine, just felt like I was spinning round and round in my head like a merry go round."

"What?" Ernest asked on what Meredith meant. "Never mind, I'm fine now, we should keep swimming East." Ernest interrupted Meredith. "I think you mean North, Samudra's capital is up that way after we passed this Africa continent." Meredith asked. "You mean near India?" "Is India another continent?" Ernest asked quizzically. "No, it's a country. India is part of the continent called Asia." Meredith corrected him. "Then yes, it's nearby India." Ernest stated. "Okay, lead the way." Meredith gave the reins to Ernest to lead the trail.

Days past by as they swam and they finally came to an area where some ruins lied deep down on the sea floor. "This can't be right, Samudra wasn't suppose to have buildings like this." Ernest pointed out as he remembered seeing some rough looking housing and buildings. "No, this is it. We made it to the capital of Samudra." Then Ernest looked at her pleadingly. "Please tell me we aren't going to be building another castle."