20 Culture

"I feel like I'm going to die of dehydration," Arunika said as another deluge of rainbows spewed out of her mouth from the side of the boat.

"We're almost at the main island, honey," Aoi said rubbing her back gently.

"Just a short while longer and we'll be on solid land," Eva commented from the side.

Arunika looked askance at the two women to her right and replied, "How am I going to be alright? If I vomit anymore then I may as well display my stomach through my mouth as well. How are you two fine anyways? This feeling is awful."

"You really want to know?" Aoi said to which Arunika meekly nodded. Aoi pointed to Arunika's ear then her eyes. "What's happening is the information your eyes is sending to your brain is different to the information the bones in your ears is sending out. The brain gets confused and it can't put those pieces of information together thus making you feel nauseous. If you want to feel some minor relief, then look at and focus on the horizon and take deep breaths. Let's get under some shade while we're at it."

After walking over and sitting under an overhang of the ship's deck and resting a few minutes, Arunika confirmed that she felt a little better. "You know... I've always felt at home when I was by the coast near the seas, but this is too much. I need firm land and soft sand under my feet."

"It's alright. We're almost there. Just relax and keep your eye on the horizon."

~~~~~~~~~~

The ship reached an island set in the middle of numerous other islands and, as far as the eye can see, is a palace that spans the entire expanse from coast to coast. Skirting the edges of the island are miniature warships equipped with soldiers holding a mix of longbows and short recurve bows and ballistae on the bow and stern.

Just from a glance of how tight security is around the island, it's obvious that this is either the royal palace or at least the fortification of someone important. Archers and sentries are stationed at intervals up on the walls and it's obvious even to Aoi and Arunika that none of them dares to slack off.

"Is this the royal palace?" Aoi asks.

"Indeed. The King has already been informed of your arrival and is awaiting for you at the docks with his family," Eva responds.

"How old are his children?" Arunika asks as she's curious about her fellow distant cousins.

"There's the princess, Luna Soleil, who will be 16 and having her adulthood rites in the following Winter months, and the prince, Apollo Soleil, who just had his 8th birthday. I've also come to learn the Queen is pregnant with her third child and will give birth in about 4 months."

"Quick question," Aoi interjected. Eva turned to her to acknowledge. "What is the significance of the sun and moon to your culture? I only ask because every name, the family names and given names, refer to both the sun and moon, and to not sound rude, but some of these names don't sound like they'd come from your culture. On my home world, those names exist too, but they come from different cultures."

"We revere the sun and moons in our culture. They directly affect our way of life. The sun nourishes our bodies and wildlife, gives us warmth to the land and waters, and brings us light every day. The moon tells us the cycle of the year, works with the stars at night to light the darkness, and commands the waters to bring us the high and low tides of our waters. We don't worship them as gods per say, but because of how direct of a correlation that they have with our daily lives, we hold immense meaning to their existence. As to the names, the royal family and their relatives take on these names to show respect. Other islanders may use these names as well, but no one does."

"How you have so many different names related to it is my main concern though," Aoi brought this point up because she was honestly wondering how an island culture that resembled a melting pot of different island and coastal nations from back on Earth would have names from cultures on Earth. There's names from Latin, Greek, Southeast Asia, India, and more. Not to mention, the Kreutz Empire with their Germanic and German influence in names.

Eva looked away and scratched her head in thought. "That one is a little harder to explain. Some are from ancient texts found in our archives that date to communication with now extinct cultures and some are from other cultures around the other four continents. There are some that we, as a people, have no idea how they came about, but they are still there."

"Do you think other people from my world have come here as well? Maybe someone with a name like mine has come around, or someone who has the same facial features as mine? I only ask because I haven't seen or heard anything with an Eastern Asian influence."

"That I'm not sure about. It's always a likely possibility others from your world have come here, and to your other question, no, you're honestly the first person I've seen or heard of with a name and face like yours." Eva pondered and couldn't think of an instance like this.

"Kono yo ni hanasa reta hito wa imasu ka?"

"What?"

Arunika perked up and answered in excitement, "She said, 'Have you ever heard anyone talking like this?' Did I get that right Aoi-chan?"

Aoi nodded with a smile at Arunika and Eva said, "Not that I can think of. That's the first. You can understand it Arunika?"

"Yeah, she's been teaching me!" Aoi reached up and rubbed her head causing her to giggle.

"She's a genius. Honestly, I don't want to sound narcissistic to say I'm a genius too, I am, but she's amazing. Aru-chan here has a near perfect photographic memory and can remember almost anything the first time she sees or hears it."

"I hate learning kanji though," Arunika interrupted with a pout, "There's too many."

"Fufu, that's true. There's over 50,000 of them, but no one really knows or uses that many."

Eva was honestly surprised at the revelation of Arunika's memory capabilities. "That's amazing. I'm certain the King would like to know more about your travels and hardships over this past decade to learn more about the Kreutz Empire." Eva turned to look to the bow of the ship and saw them approaching the docks. "We're here guys. You ready, Arunika?"

The two nodded with smiles and prepared to debark from the ship that pulled up to the docks of the royal palace. Everything seemed peaceful now and they hoped they'd be able to live happily, but this was only the calm before the storm.