Llyr, who was walking directly behind the Warm Sea Foreign Minister, became more and more rigid with each step, as if a Bokló had wrapped his limbs in hot ice. This change did surprise the hegins really much, but of course none of them said anything. They all thought it best to just remain silent for now and observe the developing situation.
The stairs they took to the upper floor seemed to never end. They just climbed higher and higher. If the hegins had not been accustomed to climbing mountains thanks to the geography of Madüjawr, they would have been out of breath long ago by the time Foreign Minister Kiwa reached the upper corridor.
To be more precise, it was not really a corridor, but an anteroom with a single door. The Warm Sea Foreign Minister opened this door with ceremonious slowness, after the last member of the surfacer group had arrived in the anteroom. From beyond the dim colored door, warm light flooded the otherwise algae-lit room.
"Mr. President, I brought the... " Kiwa began as he entered the room first, but before he could say anything else, someone interrupted him.
"Llyr! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You good spirits, if I had known, I would free up my whole day!" A young man appeared, almost pushing the Warm Sea Foreign Minister to the ground, and with sparkling eyes, he took one of the undersea-walker ex-Foreign Minister's hands in both hands. "I'm so glad to see you. You've not been here for so long. I was starting to think I had offended you with something, or that you had forgotten about me." The young man explained further.
"Mr. President." Kiwa cleared his throat, trying to divert his leader's attention from the grimacing Llyr and direct it towards the guests who were much more important at the moment. It seemed that this plan had worked, as the President first looked at him, and then when his Foreign Minister nodded towards the team, the President turned towards them.
As the young man looked at the team, he first narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't understand what was really going on, then looked at Llyr questioningly. When the undersea-walker didn't speak, he looked at the team again, blinked a few times and took a step back.
"Oh, Llyr, why didn't you tell me you were bringing guests?" The man asked.
"Let's say it was a spontaneous visit, Mr. President. My..." The former Foreign Minister of the Cold Sea began, as he quickly glanced towards the team above. "Friends, they have come from Floating Barracks to learn about our culture." The man explained.
"From Floating Barracks?" The President's eyes sparkled as he turned towards the team with renewed curiosity. "That's wonderful. I've not heard from home for so long. How is my father's health?" He asked, and the hegins looked at each other with puzzled faces, trying to figure out how they were supposed to know who the president was talking about. "Oh, I always forget that not everyone knows me." The president chuckled, then pulled himself together. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mittar Mullen."
"What?" The question that was on everyone's mind, came out of the open-mouthed Citar.
"I didn't think I'd ever run into Matthias' one of sons." Kamu's lips twitched into a faint smile.
"It's not easy to find us, I haven't heard from my brother for a while. He likes the seas about as much as dad." The president shrugged. "Would my guests be as kind to introduce themselves. I mean, the ones I don't know who they are." Here he turned to the ghost-man. "Welcome to the Warm Sea Association, Mukei Vietryk." He nodded, then silently listened to the team's introductions and shook hands with everyone one by one.
"So the statue in the square really does represent the blacksmith." Achilleus muttered under his breath.
"So Marianne not only has a husband, but that also is an undersea-walker. Damn, who would have thought that about that tailor." Tele Tete shook his head.
"How?" Benkó asked softly, but he only got a roll of eyes in response.
"If one of his parents wasn't an undersea-walker, he couldn't be here." The hegin man pointed to the president of the Warm Sea Association.
"Ah, Mukei is the underse-walker, my younger brother inherited our father's species." The man said with a soft chuckle.
"Mukei?" Tele Tete looked at Kamu with a grimace.
"You can guess who they named him after." Kamu rolled his eyes.
"If your brother is an undersea-walker, what are you?" Suk asked with narrowed eyes, when Teveli hit him in the side. "If I may ask." He added politely, only to glance at his friend afterwards, as if he wanted to ask: Is it better now? And Teveli nodded in response with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Me? Of course, I'm a predator, like mom." The president of the Warm Sea Association smiled and proudly straightened himself.
"Predator?" Achilleus asked back with a grimace.
"I'm not surprised you don't know. Mom doesn't usually brag about it." Mittar squeezed his neck, then blew a breath. "It will be easiest if I show myself." He finally thought about it. "Come inside please." He invited his guests into the room. "Kiwa close the door please." He said as he turned around to go inside his office.
"As you wish, Mr. President." He received the answer from his Foreign Minister.
"I have not been in my full predator form for a long time. Usually I am only partially like that." Mittar thought as he reached under his long brown hair towards his neck. "I missed it a little." He whispered the last sentence before closing his eyes and before the eyes of the team he was enveloped in a black cloud that most resembled when children play in the pond and stir up mud.
"What is this?" Suk scratched his head when the black mist cleared and a huge creature that most resembled a fish appeared in the president's place.
"A shark." Several people said at once in response.
"Thanks, now I still have no idea what it is." Suk rolled his eyes and even folded his arms in front of him.
"It's like a wolf only in the water." Kamu noted.
"Ah, I see." Suk nodded slowly, while the president of the Warm Sea Association took on human form again. "So predators can take on the form of animals?" He asked with his head tilted to the side.
"Yes." He got the answer from Mittar.
"What kind of animal could Marianne be?" Rahul held his chin with one hand.
"I thought you knew about it." Razvan looked questioningly at the chüvig boy.
"Hey, this is as new to me as it is to everyone else." Rahul raised his hands to his head.
"Spider." Came the quiet answer, before the team turned back to the president. "Mother's predator form. She is Marianne Mullen, the spider." The young man explained, then sighed. "I would like to talk more, but I have a lot to do today." He sighed. "Kiwa, make sure that the guests have the best accomodations and that Llyr lacks nothing." He smiled at his foreign minister.
"Will do, Mr. President." The man nodded.
"In that case, I hope you enjoy your first day here in Deadworld Trench. Today I will take care of all my work, and tomorrow you will receive a truly warm welcome. I cannot let my parents' acquaintances have a bad experience of my city." Mittar also noted, before sadly, but starting to say goodbye.