The Azra-El Series Ch. 19

The pelagorn opened its eyes and gave them a dissatisfied squawk, before jumping into the water as well.

"Hiya, Brachel! Azalea mentioned you earlier. How do you like D'Warka?" Bayou asked, her piercing brown eyes studying his face with great interest.

"It's quite something..." he replied, still reeling from the smell and everything else. It had been a beautiful city until he visited the shanty.

"Brachel, this is my good friend Bayou, and that is her pet, Pela the pelagorn. Bayou is from the north shanty. This is Briny's house. Coral and Ariel are also from here," Azalea introduced them.

"I'd rather live here with my friends," Bayou muttered under her breath.

Ariel? Blaze glanced at the Undine with the fairytale name. To his great disappointment, her hair wasn't red. However, she did have a green tail and wore a purple, eel-skin bikini. She had black hair.

Coral had sea-green hair, while Briny's was a dirty white, just like the sea foam.

Done with the introductions, the group slowly made their way out of the shanty and into the open sea.

The merangels rode over the waves with exceptional ease. Only the pelagorn experienced any trouble, but once she realized that the group was heading deeper into the sea, she spread her wings, waddled over the water, and took to the skies. In the air, her wings caught the breeze, and her movements quickly turned from clumsy to elegant as she smoothly glided over the crystal-clear waters.

In the sea, the merangels were completely uninhibited. Their upper bodies zipped over the water surface like jet boats, as their tails propelled them from underneath.

The sun peeking through the heavy, white clouds was hot against Blaze's back, and the wind was sharp and damp. However, the view was spectacular.

Blaze spotted a group of Undine and angel children playing out in the open sea. The little angels were riding on the Undine's backs just like he was riding Azalea's, and "fighting" against other pairs.

"What are they doing?" he asked Azalea.

"'Ships and Captains'. We used to play it too, when we were younger," Azalea replied nostalgically.

"Ooh! That sounds interesting. I want to try it," Blaze asked. Blaze was always up for a good game, but now he also wanted to see how the angels and Undine interacted at a personal level, even if they were just kids.

Azalea glanced at her friends and, all of whom gave her affirmative nods. They quickly made their way towards the younger ones.

"Oi brats! Let us in," Azalea announced, when they reached them.

The players paused to look at them. There were around twenty kids, and none of them looked older than forty. "That is not fair. You are all older!" complained a brunette-haired ina.

"You guys can have a fleet of two ships," Azalea offered.

"Done."

Soon, the captains and ships were tussling over the warm cerulean waters. It was a rough game, but with water all around them, it was hard for anyone to really get hurt.

The Blaze-and-Azalea pair were like a juggernaut. Azalea crashed into the ships with all her might, and Blaze knocked the captains off.

"Red Quetzal!"

"Bazooka!"

"Gattling Brachel!"

Blaze gave names to his palm thrusts as he knocked over each angel.

"Cannon Strike!"

"Submarine Headbutt!"

"Mast-destroying Lunge!"

Azalea cried out her own names to her moves.

That day, Blaze finally found his comedy duo partner. It was also the day Azalea was bro-zoned.

"Arr, ye' landlubbers," Blaze yelled exaggeratedly from Azalea's back. "Ye' arr no match for the best ship in the Purple Sea and her mighty captain, Blazing D. Barr-nacle."

"You surely stick to Azalea like a barnacle," Bayou complained. Though she was as good a swimmer as Azalea, her sailor wasn't as strong as Blaze.

The group continued their play for another hour before the players finally got fed up with Blaze and Azalea's shenanigans. In the final game, they ganged up on the two to bring them down.

"Hey! This is cheating," Azalea protested.

"All's fair in play and war, my friend," laughed the main conspirator, Bayou.

Finally exhausted, they all began to merrily float over the waters.

Azalea floated on her back with Blaze sitting over her stomach. Her plump chest was over the surface of the water, and her wet shirt clearly outlined her shapes. Blaze tried to keep his eyes and hands away, however. Bro-zoning was a very serious business.

Pela the pelagorn, who was floating nearby, suddenly plucked a large sunfish out of the water and swallowed it whole.

"Brachel," Az spoke cheerily, "do you want to be punted by a mer-pult?"

"Do I want to be what by a what?"

The Mami Wata slithered under Blaze until he was over the end of her tail. "Take a deep breath and hold on tight. Let go when you feel yourself leaving the water."

"Huh?"

She quickly turned around and her upper body dove under, her fishtail wiggling under his butt. Blaze suddenly understood. Holding his breath, he held on to her tightly.

Azalea dragged him under, and he only caught a momentary glimpse of the mermaid arching her body like a bow in the clear blue waters. Her tail whipped upwards, and as soon as Blaze felt himself leaving the water, he let go.

Blaze shot up fifteen feet into the air, like a catapult projectile, and landed in the sea with a mighty splash. Azalea caught him as he sank and brought him back to the surface.

"Whoa! That was really fun!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Can we try it too?" the younger angels asked almost simultaneously. Any young angel that ventured out into the sea with an Undine could be said to be a little adventurous. However, none of their younger Undine friends were strong enough to properly mer-pult them. Azalea's group was older and stronger.

Soon, the merangels were punting little angels over the surface of the water. Screeches of glee filled the air as both the young angels and the young Undine lined up to take turns. Soon, Azalea's group was competing over who could punt a kid the farthest.

Blaze slowly waded over to some of the kids. In his observations thus far, he felt that the kids at least didn't seem to care too much about racial differences. In fact, the younger ones treated him more like an outsider than their Undine friends.

"Where do you go to school?" he asked one of the older angels.

"Eastside Academy."

"Oh, is it any good?"

"Well, it is not the University of Bologna if that is what you are asking, but it is the best academy my mother can afford," she answered.

"University of Bologna? That's here?"

"I thought you were not from around here. Did you come to watch the tournament?"

"You could say that... What about that university?"

"University of Bologna is one of the best academies in Caledonia. Many nobles from all over the HU come to study there. You need to be really smart or really well-connected to get in."

Blaze remembered that Jie Er had attended the Uni of Bologna. Does that mean she did her schooling in D'Warka?

"So, where do the Undine go to school?" he asked an Undine.

"Oh, most don't get any formal schooling until their 80s. Then, we take skill development classes-- nannies, dock laborers, industrial workers, handy Undine, swimmers, etcetera."

As far as Blaze knew, it was mandatory for all angels to attend school at twenty. Why was it different for the Undine? Segregation?

Wheeee. A little ten-year-old angel shot through the sky and crashed thirty feet away from her launch site. Her mer-pult, Ariel, brought her up into the air like a prize. "Haha. I win!" she declared.

While the rest played, Blaze approached Azalea and began to pester her with more questions. She wasn't very forthcoming with her answers, but Blaze's need to know made him unintentionally relentless in his questioning.

"What do you want to know, Blaze?!" she finally cursed, bringing the revelries to a sudden halt. "That the Undine perform the most menial jobs that are left over for the running of the city? That we take care of stinky fish pens when even their smell is abhorring to us, but we must do it, anyway, because the angels like to eat them? That we get paid loose change for it?

"That our children must work to keep the fisheries safe, while the adults trudge on in the factories from morning till night, yet their pay is so meager that they have no real means to reach the higher echelons of the society? That their wages are half as low as an angel doing the same work?

"That, despite being adopted by one of the richest angels around, I couldn't get into the University of Bologna? My bad, I must be too dumb for it, though I am quite sure I aced all their tests. Did you know that some angels have 'no Undine allowed' signs at their homes, as if we were no different from manatees?

"Is that enough for you to show me more pity? We don't need your pity!"

Her words and anger took Blaze by surprise. His own anger flared, briefly, but understanding calmed him down.

The young angels and the Undine stared between the two, watching their quickly changing expressions. A deep sense of awkwardness set in. A couple of the angels appeared embarrassed while the others were just baffled. The Undine, however, looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Brachel," Azalea finally sighed, "I know you were only trying to learn more about us. I got carried away."

Blaze shook his head and looked towards the beautiful orange sun as it began to reach the horizon. "It's okay, Az. I get it... Anyway, I think it's time for me to head back. I promised I'd be back by dinner."

"Let me take you back to your hotel," Ariel offered, before Azalea could reply. "I need to pick my young mistress from her Lyre lessons, anyway. I am sure the others want to hang out with Az a little more."

Blaze nodded, trying to catch Azalea's eyes. He didn't want things to become awkward between them. However, Az avoided his gaze.

Ariel came up to him and turned around, offering her back. He gently wrapped his arms around her neck while she grabbed him under his knees and pulled him closer.

"Az," Blaze said to Azalea. "I want us to be friends. I am not sorry for wanting to know more about you and the Undine. My friends from Tir will arrive tomorrow. Let's have more fun."

Azalea nodded and Ariel took off towards the city. The Undine began to take the young flightless angels back to their homes, and soon, only Azalea and her Undine friends were left floating in the rippling waters. Tears started to flow down Azalea's eyes as she stared in the direction Blaze had left.

Bayou swam up to her friend and placed a comforting hand on Az's shoulder. "I can understand how you must feel, Azalea. The Blazing Fury looks to be a kind and understanding angel."

Azalea threw her arms around her friend. "I hate this. I feel like I'm betraying her trust," she choked.

"We must do this, Azalea. Besides, you know who's planning all of this! You can be sure she will not be harmed. We will just be borrowing them for a little while."

***

Ariel dropped Blaze back at Hotel Valanor and even apologized for Azalea's outburst. He reassured her that it was alright.

Blaze had a quick dinner with Jie Er at the hotel before they were picked up by the gondolier from earlier. Since the low tide had set in, the Undine chose to push her boat with a long rowing pole, instead of swimming.

Traffic slowed down during the low tide, and the starry sky was reflected in the calm waters as the driver took them through the canals, telling them tales about the various places of D'Warka.

The wet malachite walls of the buildings gleamed under the moonlight, casting an ethereal glow to everything around them. The humidity of the morning was gone, and the air was clear of fog, despite the cooling temperatures.

The city was a beautiful place, but Blaze found it more interesting to watch the interactions between the Undine and the angels.

As they floated through the industrial district, he spotted a supervisor yelling at a group of labor, all Undine, at not reaching that day's quota. Apparently, they had not fixed enough of the lampposts with energy bulbs. Maybe it was because of Blaze's preconceived notions, but he felt that the supervisor was a little ruder than necessary.

"Ms. Draga," he called out to the Undine, "Do you like us angels?"

The Undine glanced at him with questioning eyes before she saw him looking at the screaming angel.

"I don't have a particular dislike towards them. We get paid our dues and that is all I care about, I suppose. However, even if I felt different, I wouldn't say that to you, would I?"

"Oh..."

"You are a perceptive young one, child, but you are not the first one to raise such questions," continued the Undine. "It is not uncommon for tourists to feel a little uncomfortable over the relationship between the D'Warkan angels and the Undine. They are not used to cities like ours.

"There are also occasional protests from the new Undine that arrive here to replace those that leave, but the only answer they ever get is that 'if you don't like it here, you are free to leave'. Some do, but most understand their situation or learn to accept it.

"The truth is that the new city has been built by the angels. We did help in building it, but without their resources there would have been no D'Warka. Just the ancient malachite ruins. Maybe you are too young to understand it, but there are no freebies in this world. It's our own misfortune to be born as the Undine. I don't despise the angels for it."

Blaze chose not to say anything more. To him, those sounded like the words of someone beaten into submission. However, he also accepted that he understood very little. He glanced towards Jie Er, but she simply gazed at their surroundings with a little smile on her face, as if she hadn't heard the conversation.

"Ms. Draga," Jie Er said, after a few moments. "Can you drive by the gulf near the University of Bologna?"

"That's a long trip, istera. It will cost you more. It's probably better for you to just fly there."

"That is fine. I wish to ride the boat."

The gondola floated northwards and east, and soon, the water began to get deeper again. When they reached the sea, the gondolier put her pole aside, and jumped into the water to pull the boat through the rocky waves.

The gulf of Bologna was formed by an elevated, hilly area, whose surface was covered in lush meadows, scattered trees, and stone-cut buildings. The waves crashed against the indented rocky-gray walls, carving out a coastline that looked dangerously beautiful. The flame of a lighthouse flickered in the distance, throwing a sheen over the wet walls whenever it illuminated them.

"Eva and I used to go for boat rides on nights just like these, usually right before test days," Jie Er spoke in a soft, nostalgic voice as she gazed at the coastline. "It used to calm our nerves as we studied under the light of an energy stone lamp while our boat simply drifted along. Reading under the stars is a wonderful experience. You should try it sometime."

Blaze listened quietly. He had a feeling there was more to come.

"I used to visit D'Warka every ten years from when I was forty till the end of my graduation. I did not have as many friends as you do at Tir, but I loved my university and the city.

"I spent a lot of my free time roaming around in the lower city, and I can not say my interaction with the Undine was limited. However, it was not until my later years that the difference in the way we treat the Undine truly registered in my mind. My moment of disillusion came when I witnessed a young angel remorselessly beat her Undine servant. The strangest thing was that there was no malice in her eyes. To her it was akin to training an animal."

Blaze shuddered at that analogy.

"When I realized this, I needed catharsis, with the way things were, with the power I held, and the desire to do something about the suffering I saw in front of my eyes. However, I was in a foreign land and there was little I could immediately do.

"For a little while, I was all about trying to change things here at D'Warka. However, as the years went by, I began to question myself. 'Was I qualified to fight for the Undine?' I was not related to them or the D'Warkans. 'Was I making assumptions based on my preconceived notions? Did I understand the complexities of the situation? Was I doing something that could do more evil than good?'

"So, I ended up not doing anything substantial, convincing myself that it was not my responsibility to intervene. I do not support that decision of mine, but I hope you can see why it happened. The decisions we need to make will not always be clear.

"The world is not 'light vs dark' or 'good vs evil'. You can always define laws and define what is considered 'good', but the world is not so well-structured. It is a hazy place. Something that is horrid from one perspective might be a necessity from another, something that is considered 'good' can cause suffering to many.

"You can not be hasty in your conclusions or decisions, Blaze, not when even your words might have the power to move people and change the way they live. You have to be careful with that power."

"I don't have such power, aunty."

"You will. The angels of D'Warka have grown up believing that the merangels are confined by their capacities, and that it is the natural order of things. They believe that the merangels are not smart enough and do not have the capability to prosper in land cities. However, I wonder if the merangels ever had the opportunity to excel in our cities.

"Most merangels do not get the opportunity to attend the best of our schools, nor get any training that is required for higher society. The angels then look down upon them for the very thing they have forced upon them.

"A hypothetical question I often asked myself was what would have happened if the Undine were in control of D'Warka and the angels were made their laborers. That could have happened if the resources came from the right places. Think about what you have done then, Blaze? Would your actions have been different? It is easy to find answers from a post-perspective.

"However, no matter what answers you find, never detest the angels of D'Warka. When you grow up in privilege, it is easy to be complacent and not see issues with the state of affairs. Cultural ideologies also have a strong grasp on the ways we think.

"There are a couple of things about you that I love and find fascinating. The first is that the lens you see Azra-El through is clear of the obscurities gained by living on this world for a long time. However, you have your own experiences that may fog your vision in ways that you may never fully realize. Just, keep that in mind. The second thing is that you are intelligent, strong, and confident, yet you are unafraid to ask questions and learn, unlike many who become drunk on their own greatness. I, myself, was once a victim of this drunkenness.

"Do you remember, Blaze? I once told you that you need to explore and understand the world more before you could be ready to make judgments and decisions. I do not want to tell you what is wrong or what is right. That is for you to decide, and you must be ready to face the consequences of those decisions. There are easy ways out, the right ways out, and the terrible ways out.

"Anyway, if you are interested in knowing more about the city, I will tell you this, to start off. The labor of the Undine is a necessity for this city to prosper. If the city does not prosper, the Undine will not. It is all interconnected. There are more than two-hundred thousand Undine in this city. You must understand the economic, social, and cultural aspects of both the Undine and the angels to change anything.