Welcoming Arms Of The Sea People

By the time the sun reached the top, we were about to reach Juiyo, the sea king, once more to rest after the glorious battle we had been through. Babu took care of my wounds, and wrapped me almost all over my chest. And although Babu approached me every two minutes, tightened the bandages, and stretched them down, again and again, I was better than before, and it didn't bother me much.

Everyone had heard of everything I did. And ultimately, the peaceful meaning that underlies our silence and the fleeting time of rest that we had gained over our success meant a lot to me. For me, that moment was very precious, and even though, as no other war has been through, we gave our war with blood and pain, it still made me happy to know that no harm had come to the people I cared about.

And as the stranger that we met on this journey, Shou, was as silent as he was in the beginning and stood in front of the ship.

He was standing at the end of the ship, waving his hand here and there with a ring shining in a greenish color on his finger, while a torn piece of fabric on his back was rippling and moving with the wind. He was as calm as a rock and just focused on not making a wrong move. And while the ring on his hand was an item I had never seen on his finger before, it seemed really miraculous that he could steer a ship with such a small thing.

With his previous skills in battle and him helping us huge time, I wasn't planning to argue about him being silent and not even telling any kind of thing from beginning to end.

I was curious deep inside, but knew it wasn't the best time.

So as he just stood there, silently watching the kingdom we were going to. And I looked at his back, thinking about more important things.

Our journey had not taken so long when Shou controlled and flew the ship. And after minutes of waiting without a sound or somewhat of an event, we finally got to the kingdom. When we finally flew right past some part of the ocean, and when my eyes finally adjusted to the view in front of me, I finally saw something.

Not far away I was able to see the palace of the sea kingdom, and the huge embroidery on it. The great structure of the palace, built in the middle of the sea, and the splendor of the shining with gold plating and sea jewels on it, impressed me just like the first time I came here.

It was just fascinating as ever before.

But not only that, I saw another thing that amazed me much more.

In front of the huge palace, were thousands of different people looking at the point where we were. With clapping, screaming, shouting, picking up beautiful names to heroic songs to just celebrating the thing with pure dancing, enjoyment with a simple smile, hugging, lifting, pushing, waving and looking, From child to adult, I've never had seen such a crowded landscape before that was that heartbeat changing. It was as if they were excitedly, enthusiastically, waiting for something or some people important.

And just when I was confused out of sheer amazement, Hiroshi lit his cigar against the view and started to approach me,

"It seems to be quite a crowded down there, Kid. It seems that the people of the sea lineage are not the only ones waiting for us there, and I think they all want to thank you."

As he said that, I lost myself to my curiosity and quickly went to the edge to see clearly.

And as I thought, the view closer was much better and had me breathing deeply.

"I think the whole of the second kingdom is like there!" I said as I looked at Hiroshi once more.

Then Mila looked at them like we did, and said excitedly,

"It is nice to see everyone coming to gather again! But I always find it interesting to be many people here, always gathering for something important."

"Oh yeah! Do you know why these many people are here? I mean, I only thought there would be only sea people living here, but there are many more." I said wanting to know more.

"The sea kingdom Juiyo, as it is in the whole second kingdom, is a house to many people. Without making any differences in race, age, or personality traits, we always love to mix up our traditions and act toward each other as one."

Then Hiroshi looked at Mila and asked,

"But this many people, do live together right? And since they all have some particular trait, don't they fight against each other on what's right?"

"That is a thing that became inevitable. But still having many things we go through and many things we can not stop, everyone here learned to respect each other and has been taught about how far our discussions could lead us. So we all have a scar from the past, and we all know, that the only medicine to heal it, is to smile as once."

She then looked at us and said still smiling from before,

"Every time we fall or feel bad upon something, it helps to understand each other. And I can confirm, that it is a great act of generosity!"

I looked one more to the crowded place, seeing everyone in joy as Mila said and not even breaking their harmony of happiness. So many people, minds, hearts, souls. Every single one of them seemed one at that moment. And the joy that they radiated, was incredible.

So I said, with a smile, just like hers, on my face,

"I guess so."

But when we were just having fun with the view, Hiroshi once again approached me, and started talking to me. But in a much quiet voice tone,

"Were you serious about what you said about that princess of ours, Kid? Here her father made a fuss for her, which made a lot of people go crazy. And the idea of her daughter just leaving must be a little ridiculous both to him and to her.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused about Hiroshi's question.

He then replied quickly,

"So I'm asking, are you sure you want to put her on the team?"

"Actually, it seems like a rather strange idea when you look at it like this. It's like the princess is being kidnapped once again after being kidnapped. But no matter how ridiculous and extreme it may seem, she has proved that we can seriously trust her with loyalty. While there was no reason at all, instead of calling herself a weakling, she used the power she had in her hands for her own people. And stayed until the end, not even running away from anything. That's why she's pretty special to me."

"The choice is yours, Kid. You're the captain. But remember, by doing this, you attract a lot of people's eyes to yourself. You make sure that others are aware of you when there is already a hunter who has been after you before. It is also true that she is the future of the seafarers here, and her people really respect her. So it would be big news for everyone that she is leaving again."

"I'll figure something out." I said, putting another smile on my face to tell Hiroshi it's fine.

And as much he didn't want to give this is a chance at that moment, and found it a little bit rushed for me to decide, he accepted what I had decided and nodded to my plan. He then turned towards the stateroom and finished speaking with one last phrase,

"I have a bad feeling, Kid. Something big is coming up. My advice to you is that we don't stay long in the kingdom."