Chapter One

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“Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Ah! Ah!”

The waters flowed with Queen Ọbà of the Kingdom of Oya as she released her call. She wasn’t in queen mode at the moment. Swimming faster, she was in her most important mode: mother mode.

“Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Ah!” Her vocal pitch was music in the waters that only one other person would hear. 

Ọbà was positive that he’d heard it. He knew how important this night was. So why didn’t he respond to her vocal call with the one he was blessed with? Aww, he’s probably nervous. The strong, feminine ruler thought to herself, her legs kicking harder as she swam faster in the butterfly stroke. It has been five years.

“Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Ah!”

Safi smiled as he heard his mother’s call for the fifth time. I’m positive she’s wearing her wrist communicator. 

However, for the first time ever his mother’s call filled him with a sense of dread. He was feeling dread on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of his life. It was his homecoming. He left five years ago. He was home. 

Why was he so nervous? He knew everyone was excited to see him. This was the next step on his road to greatness.

Tonight’s the Yemaya Ball too. I definitely got to shake off whatever this feeling is.

Safi touched the gills on his neck. The Yemaya Ball was his favorite night of the year as far back as he could remember. The music, the dress, the food — all of it was the best time anyone could have. He’d never admit to the bias that it was his family’s annually held event held since the planet’s beginning. It was Yemaya along with Oya and Oshun who helped the nation build to where they were now. …And he was next in line to rule it all. 

Safi always wondered what the beginning was like. Only the ancestors know what truly happened. All he had was the words and written stories of those long gone. 

It was called “The Flood” or “The Great Cleansing”. It was written that it was a divine punishment. It was the utter destruction of what was called humanity. 

At first, the humans called it a weather anomaly. The skies darkened and gray clouds stretched across. They all looked up in amazement until the lightning struck the land. Massive chasms opened in the seas. Great waves covered every inch of land, destroying all of humanity by sinking them into the abyss. All except for four faithful families. 

Were the families the last of humanity? Yes, but after the Divine’s purge of the planet, they couldn’t call themselves human as the Divine gave them the gift of changing their make-up — their DNA to allow them to survive on this new water planet. They made their faithful into merpeople. They were now humans with the abilities of mermaids. While the human race perished, the Divine also left the history of various cultures, the music, the agriculture, the animals (all remained sea creatures) and the great structures unscathed, so that the families would build and improve on the foundation of those before them. Many things were destroyed while so much was created and replicated with everything left behind from the old world. 

The new world was named Maá. From the shallow waters of death sprang the Kingdoms that controlled what the humans called the continents. The Kingdom of Oya was Africa, Anu was Eurasia, Cocha was North America, and Tláloc was South America. The Divine transformed Australia into what was called the Land of the Rainbow Serpents while after the flood, Antarctica had become an uninhabitable, ice-covered barren wasteland.

“Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! Ah! Ah!” His mother’s voice echoed off the walls of his room, that alone put him at full ease. 

Safi looked over his shoulder and from his diaphragm released, “Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh”. as the guards in his room watched as magical notes of music passed between mother and son.

Safi shook his head. “How long have you been behind me, Momma?”

“Just long enough to see that lion pelt around your waist could drop that any moment.” 

Safi looked down with a playful smirk. “You always said that the Yemaya Ball was the best time to find love. What if my lover and I make it back here?” 

“They…” Ọbà flowed towards her son, hands extended forward. Once she had grip of his lower covering, she fashioned it a bit tighter than normal to his hips. “...can wait until the entire ball is finished. I know this is your favorite event of the year, baby, but this year isn’t like all of the others.”

“Momma, those are our people out there. All I did was come home.”

SLAP!

Ọbà’s open palm struck Safi in the face and made him square up to her. “No! You just spent five years training and studying to be the next king of Oya. Don’t ever downplay that achievement, beloved. Do you understand?” 

Safi rubbed his cheek until the sting left him. “Understood.”

“Baby,” Ọbà’s soft, motherly nature returned in a heartbeat. “You are the living symbol of what the entire nation lives for. If they had it their way then you’d rule it all. You remember your role?” She asked and Safi nodded. “Tonight, your father and I are the power and dominance while you’re the smile of our success. Plus it’s always good to stunt in Anu’s face. In the beginning, they were strong, then their heirs became a bunch of dumb niggas.” 

Safi frowned. “Without them, we wouldn’t have reached our greatness either, Ma.”

“Remember the way they chose to earn it, son. I refuse to call them great.”

“Some of their leaders may not have been, but the people aren’t responsible. They suffer underneath them.”

“Especially that bloodthirsty daughter of theirs…” A groan of disgust left her. “I can’t believe you—” Ọbà stopped herself. “You know? Let’s not focus on those lower things.”

Ọbà dug into her robes. Safi’s eyes lit up at the sight of gold. They widened when his mother presented him with a golden wire-wrapped amethyst bracelet. 

Ọbà placed the bracelet on his wrist. “This is worn by the crown princes of our family when they reach this stage to protect the wearer from evil and misfortune as they lead us into the next era.”

Safi gazed down at the bracelet as his body stiffened up. The crystal was seemingly powering him on the metaphysical level. For a few minutes, his crown chakra was ablaze with energy. For those minutes, he connected to the cosmic consciousness and the Divine’s intelligence and grace.

“Mmm, did it make the king feel the way I’m feeling right now?” Safi asked, composing himself and thinking of the day he left earlier than normal all those years ago to start his royal training.

Could she be here tonight?