It had taken a long journey to get there, but finally Cormac and Melusine had reached Pacifica, that Atlantis of the Pacific, and what a diverse place it was! Profound Ones, crab-people, turtle-people, octopus-people, jellyfish people, people like Uit, Mer people of every kind imaginable, Children of the Storm, never could a place beneath the waves have been so beautiful not only with its appearance, but in its diversity as well.
At the squid-like palace with its shark and scallop imagery, the two redheads told everything to Ronemun, his distant cousin and wife Aremy and their sons Conn and Art, Ronemun's illegitimate son Masara, his first cousin once removed Atir, the mage Sheth, the councillor Behen, now an apparition, and long-time friend and ally Yash. That Uikesh had still lived as a vampire was something of great interest, causing Behen to vocally wonder how they could not be certain that all tyrants past had not risen from the grave as such monsters. It was a thought that caused a grim expression to appear upon Ronemun's countenance.
"As if my enemies weren't legion enough already." Ronemun commented.
"Ronemun, you exaggerate!" Aremy said, smiling at her husband and placing a hand upon his.
When Melusine brought up the Sea Bishop she and Cormac had met in the Arctic Ocean, Yash, A Profound One with the head of a goblin shark, commented: "Sounds like Sinith could have been the state the Sea Bishop mentioned… Maybe, I'm not sure what is going on there. The waters around South Africa haven't exactly been in a good state for sixteen years. Politics and stuff like that, kid."
Only half paying attention, Cormac looked about the throne room. The throne had a back that looked like a clam's shell, arms that looked like dolphins and was situated on a pedestal shaped like a starfish. As for the columns of the palace, as well as that of other buildings in Pacifica, they were designed to look as if there was seaweed wrapped around them.
Sighing, Ronemun rose from the throne and said: "There is no doubt Urefenkebos' band will be gathering Takeo's host. We need to prepare for that Would-Be Deep Lord's assault because we all know what it means should he win. The worship of the Trinity will return to Pacifica and worse he will be able to force every able-bodied Pacifican to serve in his host so that he might conquer each undersea nation and become the supreme military leader of the entire Deep and after that, he would turn his attention to the Surface, only sparing Japan."
Shaking his head, Purple-Eyed Sheth commented: "Him and his favouritism. The only reason he has to spare Japan is because he was born there."
"And given his hatred of you, Ronemun, he would most likely begin with Bahrain and Ireland." Added Behen.
"I know, I know!" Ronemun said with a wave of his hand. Cormac and Melusine may not have known, but he was somewhat annoyed with being told what he already knew.
With crossed arms, Aremy commented: "I am more concerned with that fool releasing Phmyn's son Behmeroh from the ruins of the Pacifica of old."
"Aremy, to get to the ruins, one has to get through the vaults and those are guarded by the apparitions of statesmen past." Atir stated.
"Not exactly a way that I want to spend eternity." Uttered Behen with a chuckle. "That's wherefore I stay up here."
While Cormac stood in the middle of the throne room and Melusine floated next to him, Ronemun returned his attention to the two Children of the Storm. "Behen, why don't you show Cormac and Melusine around the palace?"
Nodding, Behen said: "Yes, yes, of course. Cormac, Melusine, do come with me." Waving his hand, the spirit of the anglerfish-headed Profound One swam down a hallway with Cormac and Melusine following after him. "I am sorry about all that. We didn't mean to ignore you two. It is just that Takeo is a dangerous individual and by no means foolish. He can't be taken lightly."
"Why would he want to attack the Surface?" asked Cormac.
"Whaling, pollution, nuclear bomb testing, all things we agree are dangerous." Replied Behen. "Of course, he takes it too far in wanting the entirety of the Surface to pay for it rather than just those responsible… Well, not exactly the entirety. As Ronemun stated and Sheth explained, Takeo would exclude Japan simply because that is where he was born and he would probably want to return it to the way it had been when he had lived on the Surface, the Age of the Samurai, though I can't imagine wherefore. The samurai were brutal thugs who used their higher social position to oppress the weak and Takeo's mother was a fisherman's wife."
"Maybe he wanted to be a samurai." Melusine suggested. "So, he could do to others as the samurai had done to him."
Cormac had difficulty arguing with that. Some people did not want to make things better, they simply wanted others to feel the oppression that they themselves had felt. Behen himself even looked as if he had difficulty arguing with the idea, though to Cormac's thinking, the Councillor's Apparition wished that he could. The Young Egan did however have an alternative view and that was that Takeo might have had difficulty accepting that Japan had changed from how it had been in his youth.