One Month Later

  Year 602 of the Divine Empire

  “You seem nervous, Nohea. Am I really so intimidating?”

  “. . . Do you really think I’d tell you if you were?”

  Kehlani lay on a carving table in front of Nohea. They weren’t quite sure why she had waited so long to get her kaha, as she had molted before they had even arrived in Kālepa. It was also surprising that she came to them instead of the three other carvers here. They had certainly struggled to get clients recently, with everyone relying on their regular carver. Probably didn’t help with how eccentric Nohea’s designs usually ended up being. Even in as free a village as this one, most weren’t brave enough to stand out too much.

  “Heh. Don’t worry, I’m only here out of curiosity for my village’s newest artist. Besides, you look like you could use the advertisement.”

  “Can’t argue with you there. . . Well, not that I can blame them. Not everyone is as brave as you, and it takes courage to go against the grain. It’s not too big of a problem, I can make trades by carving furniture, and Ikaika’s been getting more than enough food for us.”

  “Glad to hear it. Not that I was truly concerned, mind you. Anyone with the willpower to attempt what you did in Ho’okahi is bound to have the resourcefulness to survive under any circumstances. Speaking of which, where is that family of yours?”

  “. . . I think ‘family’ is a bit strong, but they’re out by the beach. Kanoa’s been obsessed with going out in the water lately, and Ikaika went to keep an eye on her.”

  Kehlani narrowed her eyes, but did not make a comment. Whatever conflict was happening there, it really wasn’t any of her business.

  “Yes, I did get that feeling from her during training. Strange, though, she doesn’t have any interest in fishing, hunting sea beasts, or even looking for shells and shiny stones. Did she ever tell you why she’s so fascinated by it?”

  Nohea’s tools had been abandoned at this point as they leaned against the wall. It was clear that they weren’t quite sure either.

  “She mentioned looking for someone. . . I suppose she is about the right age to have an imaginary friend. What do you think of her training, by the way?”

  “Shouldn’t that be obvious?”

  “I’m not a warrior. All of these stances and forms and ‘flames of Kinohi’ nonsense is just going right over my head.”

  “Hmph. Well, she’s managing well enough for someone without experience. As for her journey into the Terrestrial, well, she’s a ways off from being ready for that. I imagine it will be a few years before she could even begin using Nihil.”

  “Nihil. . . I’ve heard of it before, but is it really necessary?” Nohea had stumbled across their abilities mostly by accident, only knowing that it was called passion. Their understanding of it was rather limited as a consequence

  “As you said, you’re not a warrior. If the Ideals don’t manifest naturally, then we have to start with a power that doesn’t require such dedication as yours.”

  “I see. Just don’t push her too hard, right? We can afford to take our time.” They knew there wasn’t much reason to worry, Kehlani had been a reasonable teacher. Still, they couldn’t help but worry.

  “Honestly, sometimes I wonder who’s supposed to be leading who. But yes, I have no intention of letting her burn out.”

  “Good. Now, do you have any idea of the design you want?”

  Kehlani seemed like the type to already know what she wants. Given the strange atmosphere, this probably wasn’t the best time to just do whatever they wanted.

  “Hmm, do you know of any plants that are as beautiful as they are dangerous? Walker wants to have another talk with me, and I’m thinking of sending a strong message.”

  “You know, I’ve had a look at some books and paintings from the human settlement, and even got one of their translators to explain them to me. Apparently, their previous ruler was poisoned to death with a flower called an eon poppy. Humans put a lot of meaning in flowers, so this may be enough to put him on the backfoot.”

  “Oh, my. . . I like the way you think, Nohea.”

  Smiling, Nohea produced their carving knives. They didn’t know much about the leader of the humans here, but based on what they’d seen of him before they had no issue in making him sweat a bit. Their only regret was that they wouldn’t get a chance to see it.

  —

  Elsewhere, Kanoa was lying face down on the ocean water, watching as Ikaika scuttled along the sandy floor while looking for tonight’s dinner. A group of other children her age played at the shore, though with how deep she had gotten it was difficult to even hear them. It’s not as if she didn’t like them, but she didn’t really feel much of a need to play with the group. They were always so loud and energetic, and seemed to understand so many things that she had never had the chance to learn. It was fun to run around a play-fight with them on occasion, but the mood wasn’t right at the moment. She did see a few humans were here this time, though. Human parents didn’t usually let their children play with kālai, so they must have snuck out. This was also a contributing factor to her distance, as she was still a bit uncomfortable around these new creatures. Though the way they acted was mostly akin to any other child, the language barrier and strong difference in appearance was enough to encourage some distance. Still, Nohea said it was a child’s job to learn, so maybe those humans were learning how to get along with people better.

  Whatever the specific reason was, she was on her own. Well, not exactly. Ikaika was making sure not to let her out of his sight, but he knew to give some space. Idly glancing across the seabed, Kanoa spotted something glimmering in the sand. Squinting as hard as she could, she still couldn’t quite make out what it was. A seashell? Some kind of shiny stone? Whatever it was, checking it out seemed a lot more interesting than just letting the waves push her around. Letting herself slip under the water, Kanoa dove down nearly four dozen feet towards the bottom. There wasn’t much risk here; even younger kālai could hold their breaths for over an hour, and the membranes between her digits were enough to push through any currents. Even so, this was far deeper than she had ever needed to dive before, deep enough that some of the smaller sea beasts Nohea had mentioned could be crawling about. Not that she had ever seen one of these beasts before, so her fear was more of an idle thought. Pushing it aside, Kanoa arrived at the bottom and clawed at the sand to reveal whatever had caught her eye. She was only moderately disappointed as this something turned out to be. . . a bottle. Specifically, one of those glass bottles that humans always seemed to be drinking from late at night. It felt wrong to just leave it where it was, so she picked it up and turned to resurface.

  And yet, she couldn’t see the surface anymore. She couldn’t see much of anything, actually, just an endless blue darkness that felt in high contrast to the previously bright sea. It seemed that, once more, Kanoa had found herself in an endless expanse of just. . . water. Except this time she was truly alone. She had hoped that the strange sea beast with the coral horns would be around, but there was nothing around her whatsoever. It was strange, really. A mere month ago, this wouldn’t have been anything too frightening. This empty darkness reminded Kanoa of the life she used to lead. Nothingness as far as the eye could see, with no beginning or end. There wasn’t even a window to look outside now, nothing to distract her from the emptiness.

  Bubbles of air floated out of her mouth as her oxygen supply rapidly decreased, no longer under control due to a building dread. She could hear her own heartbeat, pounding louder and louder, as her emotions caused the water around her to simmer from heat. What would once have been a comforting silence now clawed at her ears as the memories of the world she had been rescued from could no longer be avoided. The memories filled in the silence, building louder and louder until it felt as if she was drowning in her mind as much as in her body. Kanoa closed her eyes, shaking anxiously as she started to sink slowly down towards. . . whatever was at the bottom of this place. She was only just barely pulled out of this state as a pair of slender arms wrapped around her stomach. A familiar, childish voice filled her mind once more, finally grounding her back in reality.

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  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I was just trying to surprise you, I didn’t think. . . Please open your eyes. . .”

  Kanoa opened her eyes just as she was pushed upwards through the ocean surface. Sputtering from the sudden shift in her surroundings, she looked around frantically, trying to see who exactly had grabbed onto her. The voice was the same as that sea beast, but she was pretty sure it didn’t have arms the last time they had met. It was only when she had turned herself fully around that she saw. . . well, she wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at.

  Ailu’s hominid form was a strange mismatch of traits, with no real logic as to how a species would develop such an appearance. She looked like a young human, about at Kanoa’s age, with random aspects of her base form mixed in. Patches of navy blue scales dotted areas of her body, their placement seemingly at random. Her hair was a blackish color, though its shade resembled her scales when looked at from the right angle. Poking above said hair were a pair of pronged horns, made of that strange, coral-like material. She wore what looked like a mix between a set of ceremonial robes and a noblewoman’s dress, with her sea-snake tail emerging from a fold in the back. The expression on her face was twisted with worry as she did her best to avoid looking Kanoa in the eyes.

  “Who. . . are you?”

  “Oh! Oh, I’m. . . Ailu. Are you. . . alright? You were looking really bad. . .”

  By all means, Kanoa had no reason to be alright. Just a moment ago, she had felt far too panicked to even move, but she could feel that rapidly regressing. This girl, however, now had a far greater presence in her mind. Her time with Nohea had exposed her to a variety of new sights and wildlife, and this had awakened a newfound fascination with all the stranger parts of the world. Her stress faded away and was replaced with pure, unadulterated childish wonder.

  “I see. I’m Kanoa. What are your horns made of?”

  There was a short pause before any kind of response. “. . . My horns?”

  “Yes, and what about your shells? Why aren’t they the same on both sides like mine?”

  Ailu was starting to shift from side to side uncertainly. “Umm. . . I don’t-”

  “And what are you, really? You look like a human, but not. What are you called?”

  Ailu wasn’t sure how to respond to any of this. One second she had been worried about hurting someone she wanted to be friends with, and the next that same someone was overwhelming her with a barrage of questions. Flustered, she did her best to keep up.

  “Um, I dunno what my horns are made of, my cousin Noco made them for me. I have scales, not shells, and they just look like this. . . and I think I’m called a sea serpent. . .”

  “Your cousin? Are there more like you? Can I see them?”

  “I don’t think. . .”

  This went on for as long as it took for the two of them to get back to shore. It was better to perform an interview on solid ground, after all. Easier to talk when you weren’t treading water. Or at least, that would have been the case, but Kanoa was forced to pause her interrogation as the group of children that were playing on the shore quickly noticed the new face. There were about twelve of them, all circling around the pair as they gossiped amongst themselves, curious but too nervous to ask questions to the strange new person. The humans, naturally, didn’t know any kino and simply did their best to follow along. The targets of their attention weren’t sure what to do, with Ailu sitting cross legged on the ground and Kanoa standing protectively in front of her. Finally, a decisive action was made available as the leader of the pack stepped forward. Keola was the oldest of the group, having just completed his ninth molting, and thus naturally fell into the leadership role. He at least had enough authority that his own question, directed towards Kanoa, was enough to silence them in curiosity.

  “Kanoa, who is this? I haven’t seen her around here before.”

  Looking back and seeing Ailu was a bit overwhelmed, Kanoa took a vague approach. “She’s my friend, and came here to visit me.”

  “Hmm. Alright, then. Hey, new kid, what’s your name?”

  Startling slightly, Ailu responded cautiously. “Oh, I’m. . . Ailu.”

  Having experience with other kids having this kind of nervousness, Keola took on a soft smile. “Well then, Ailu, you ever played tag before?”

  “I. . . think so?”

  “Great. The new kid’s always it first, got it?”

  Ailu and Kanoa glanced at each other. Not really caring one way or another, Kanoa gave a shrug to offer the decision to her new. . . friend? Ailu, for what it was worth, stumbled to her feet in order to give chase to the children already fleeing from her. Not that she got very far, as she was only able to make a few steps before falling on her face. Keola, giving her an odd look, turned back to question her again.

  “Uh. . . are you alright?”

  “Oh, yes, sorry. I’ve never really walked before. . .”

  “You’ve never. . . Oh, are you one of the raft people?”

  “The what people?”

  Once again, Ailu found herself confronted with weird questions. Was this just normal for children? She didn’t really know any outside of her family.

  “You know, the people that live out on the sea in villages made of rafts. My dad said he’d seen one before, and that they don’t know how to walk because they’re out on the water all day.”

  Ailu thought for a second, then gave out a soft laugh. “I. . . sure. Yeah. I’m a raft person.”

  Chuckling slightly, Kanoa reached down to grab at Ailu’s arms. The other kids, stunned not only by the strange new kid but also by Kanoa taking on such a friendly expression. They had gotten used to her muted standoffishness by this point, and were now seeing her smile for the first time. It was fortunate that Ailu’s form was scaled the same as a human, since it made it easy for the larger kālai girl to lift her up into a piggyback position. With the aid of her new steed, Ailu resumed her pursuit of the other children, laughing all the while. Ikaika, who had been watching all of this unfold from the shoreline, let out a chittering rhythm that sounded almost like a laugh as he slipped back under the waves.

  —

  Later that Day

  Nohea was lounging on their sleeping mat as Ikaika and Kanoa stumbled back into the house. The two of them looked exhausted, with Ikaika having clearly collected a large bounty for dinner, and Kanoa having some tears in her shell from rough-housing all afternoon. It didn’t seem like she was bleeding at least, but they couldn’t wait for her next molting where her shell would finally harden. It would certainly be one weight off their back. Stretching loudly, they called out to the child.

  “Wow, you look worn out. Did you have fun playing with everyone?”

  “Mmm. Yeah. I got a new friend today.”

  “Oh, really? What’s their name?”

  She collapsed down on her own mat, sore from running so much with another child on her back. “Ailu.”

  “Ailu? That’s an odd name. Are they from the human village?”

  “No, she’s. . .” Kanoa thought for a second on how to describe her. “A raft person.”

  “. . . Is that so?”

  What in Kinohi’s name was a raft person? Nohea gave Ikaika an inquisitory look, but the pāpaka just shrugged and dropped their catches near the cooking pot. Shaking their head, they walked over to the pot and began to prepare dinner. Whatever that meant, it was good that Kanoa was fitting in with all of the children here. They hoped that they would get a chance to meet this Ailu later. It would be interesting to see what kind of child could befriend Kanoa. She really had to be someone special.

  —

  Present Day

  “How did this even happen?”

  “I wish I knew. . .”

  “Aren’t the sea emperors supposed to be isolationists? How in the world did that child end up in a populated city?”

  “I wonder if her parents were even aware.”

  “. . . Oh gods they weren’t, were they?”

  “Hmm.”

  “We’re dead if we let Kanoa ascend, aren’t we?”

  “No, you’ll be dead. I am merely an impartial observer.”

  “What have I gotten myself into. . .”