Manusia Air (Citizens of Water)

Chapter 4: Petualangan Unik JJ (JJ's Bizzare Adventure)

The Cove looked a lot like any human city Fajar had visited, with some underwater adjustments. The buildings, instead of made by bricks and stones, were made from corals, reefs and variety of sea minerals. Vibrant was understatement, as the citizens of the Cove used very bright colors for their buildings. As Fajar was descending from the castle towards the Cove, he could see distinctions between each area of the Cove. The middle part, where Fajar was heading to and the part that filled Cove the most, seemed to be the liveliest and the busiest. The buildings were close to each other and in very different sizes. On the left side of the cove, the buildings were more strategically placed and seemed to have planned carefully. Fajar guessed it could be where the administrative offices were. Lastly, the right side of the Cove seemed to be the least managed and populated.

The Central Market, Fajar read written on a large stone. It was written in symbol which origin Fajar couldnt recognize, but in his mind, he could read and translate it. Part of the magic he glad was included.

Once inside the market, he saw another interesting fact of the underwater kingdom. Unlike humans which were restricted with ground vehicle and transportation within the city, citizens of the Cove move freely to any directions. He also found that that normal sea animals, those who were not gifted with intelligence caused by Vandyr's magic, lived among the sea-dwellers. He saw a school of small fishes hung around weeds and the corals. An adult humpback whale was sleeping, hovering in a plaza full of man-fishes. Both parties seemed to be able to live peacefully with each other, since not one side seems to be bothered by the other. For normal human maybe itd look chaotic, but what Fajar saw was a living art piece of nature. Fajar hovered still, digesting the magnificent view in front of him.

After five minutes or so, Fajar turned his attention back to his main mission. Fajar tried to see if there was any map or street signs that could help him locate JJ's, but he found nothing. So he figured he'd ask some directions from the locals. He saw a passing a couple of man-fishes, and stopped them.

"Hey , I'm so sorry to bother you, but do you know where I can find JJ?"

"Ugh, its the landwalker" said one of the man-fish loudly, as he rolled his eyes.

"Do all landwalkers always know our language?" said the other man-fish, skeptical.

"I dont care, lets just go before he spread his curses on us"

And the two man-fishes left Fajar alone. Fajar looked around, the other sea dwellers now noticed and aware of his presence. Some look frightened and changed their directions away from him, some look disgusted and made very rude gesture. A parent took their kids away even though they were still playing. In that moment, Fajar never felt so alienated. The sea dwellers made sure that Fajar did not belong down there. The bright neon lights of the building suddenly didnt feel as pretty as before.

This is not the time to be sad, Fajar told to himself. He shook his head and swam forward, hopefully towards the right direction. He distracted himself by continue observing the city.

"Hey kiddo" a male voice called.

Fajar looked left and right, found no one.

"Down here" the voice called again, sounded weak.

He looked down, and saw at least a dozen of starfishes the size of truck tires on the lake bed. All of them seemed to be on the move, except one, who was turned upside down so its mouth were facing Fajar. The poor creature was almost left behind by its group.

"Can you help me kid? A man-fish toddler found me and turned me like a plaything, then the little brat ran off. Usually I could do it myself, but I'm not so young anymore"