[Luna POV]
When I left the room I was staying in and walked into the main room of the inn, I found the others sitting at a table and chatting. Soleil noticed me first as I was making my way over to them.
“Big sis, what’s wrong?” (Soleil)
“Can’t hide anything from you, can I Soleil. I’m just a bit stressed out. Tamamo helped me vent so I’m doing better for the time being.” (Luna)
“What can you possibly be stressed about?” (Velvet)
“Several things, actually. But, and this is Tamamo’s conjecture, is due to me not being able to see or just be under or in the sky. Not counting the very little time yesterday, it’s been nearly two weeks since we’ve gotten here and we haven’t really seen the sky since we arrived in the first dwarven city.” (Luna)
“Ah. So that’s what’s up. I’ve been wondering why you seemed a bit jittery lately, but now I get it. It’s something to do with one of your Authorities, right?” (Skadi)
“Yeah. Got any advice?” (Luna)
“Well, in your case, the best I can say is to just tough it out since you said it has to do with the sky.” (Skadi)
“I’m assuming you went through something similar?” (Luna)
“Yeah. Though in my case, the process to get used to what you’re feeling was as simple as carrying around some sea water in a bottle. And, unless you have some ingenious idea to bottle a small bit of sky, I don’t think we can do much.” (Skadi)
“Hmmm. Bottle the sky…nope, can’t think of anything. Unless, of course, dwarves have some special magic that lets them use the nature of things to forge stuff.” (Luna)
“What does that even mean nya?” (Mio)
“Something like using the “sound of the wind” or something.” (Luna)
“Still don’t get it nya.” (Mio)
“Anyway, do you still plan on continuing the journey in this country, master?” (Ophidia)
“Yeah. I want to at least see the capital of every country on this continent before ascending, so until we do that, I think I can tough out this feeling. And if it turns out I can’t tough it out, I can just teleport somewhere with a view of the sky for a bit before coming back.” (Luna)
We chatted a bit more before we all left the inn to go about the few things we wanted to do in the crystal city. Since there were a lot of jewelers in this city, I visited a few before finally finding one that was able to fix my necklace in a reasonable pace. After that we walked around the city looking for something like a library. Before we found one though, we stumbled upon a plaza that looked like a memorial. It has a large monolith of black marble with names carved into it. Around the monolith were painted stone carvings of what looked like a fierce battle with some kind of octopus monster. We walked closer to the painted carvings and I found some worn down writing carved under the pictures.
“Big sis, what does it say? I don’t understand that writing.” (Soleil)
“In summary, a few hundred years ago, a big monster that the people called The Watcher appeared in the waters around the city and rampaged. It killed a lot of people and, since the people of the city back then were caught completely off guard, locked themselves in the city. They survived for a while, while cut off from the rest of the country, but started to get desperate. As resources dwindled, the people started throwing together things in order to try and kill The Watcher. While this was happening, other cities sent people to try and figure out what happened here, and upon discovering that the people here were trapped by a monster, sent soldiers and adventurers to try and help the people here. A lot of those people died, and their names are the ones carved into the road leading in to the city.” I moved over to another painted carving to read the rest of the story. “Eventually, some people from…I’m not sure…managed to sneak into the city while a group of people sacrificed themselves to give them an opening. Those people brought plans for those ballista that line the walls and, dismantling buildings and other things for materials, managed to build enough to use. Then a lot of people left the city in order to drag The Watcher out and give the people on the walls an opportunity to shoot it. After many sacrifices, they managed to kill The Watcher, freeing the city. They then carved the names of all those who sacrificed themselves into the monolith as a memorial for future generation to remember their bravery.” (Luna)
“…” (Skadi)
“Skadi, I think I know what you want to say, but don’t. At least not here.” (Luna)
“Fine.” (Skadi)
{Actually, I’ll interject here to say that this actually happened. Of course, there is some, well, a lot, of embellishing of details, but the majority of it is fact. As for why not more people know about it, I have no clue. Probably some reason only mortals know or something.}
“So, it’s an event that even caught the eyes of the gods. Still doesn’t make sense why I wouldn’t have heard about it before, but I guess I’ll let it go for now.” (Skadi)
“It’s still interesting. Though now I’m curious as to where The Watcher came from.” (Ophidia)
“Maybe it was some monster that lived in the water around the city and managed to survive long enough to evolve to that point. I mean, that’s the only other thing I can think of aside from someone intentionally bringing it here and setting it free.” (Luna)
“I’m of the same opinion as Luna. I can’t think of any other reasons for why something like that showed up.” (Velvet)
“I’m kinda interested in this place nya. The one you couldn’t read nya.” (Mio)
“It’s not that I can’t read the letters, it’s just unreadable. The stone is cracked here and the letters are ruined in a way that makes what is legible basically gibberish.” (Luna)
“Guess we’ll never know. Though I do want to know what language this is.” (Soleil)
“It’s old dwarfish. It was the primary language here before the common language became wide spread.” (Skadi)
“Hmm. Well, at least that one skill is finally getting some use.” (Luna)
“It’ll be getting some use when we visit the merfolk as well. Of our group, only you and me will be able to understand them. We’ll have to figure out something when we get there for the others.” (Skadi)
“Alright, future us, good luck.” (Luna)
After looking around the memorial for a bit longer, we went around doing some more sightseeing of the city before going back to the jeweler to pick my necklace up. Once that was done, we headed back to the inn and prepared to leave for our next destination.
Chaos Realm:
Atmos: You know, little Astraea is really well behaved. She hasn't really cried almost at all and she isn't very messy.
Atmos, do you not know what the children between gods are like? After the amount of time you've lived? That's surprising.
Atmos: Hey, children haven't really been on my mind like, at all. It's not like I have any close friends that have had kids either, so all my experience comes from what Grey has told me and what I've observed of mortal children.
Fair enough. Children of gods are not like mortal children, they don't get upset easily, they mature somewhat quickly by mortal standards, and generally are well behaved, though that last one depends on the Authority.
Atmos: What do you mean mature quickly?
I mean, Astraea is going to grow relatively fast up to a point. In the next few weeks, she'll grow to the equivalent of a mortal four year old, where she will remain for a few millennia before hitting another growth spurt.
Atmos: Huh. The more you know, I guess.
It does help. Speaking of which, Astraea, do you want to go see the Sea of Chaos with me?
Astraea: Gah!
I'll take that as a yes.
Atmos: *Sigh* Why do I have to be the only other person here today? While Astraea is cute, her father is getting on my nerves with the doting.
Fenrir: NnnnnnnAH! Eh?
Atmos: Oh, I forgot you were here still.
Fenrir: Um, what happened? The last thing I remember was that Sleep Goddess using my tail as a pillow and then nothing.
Atmos: Oh, you've missed quite a lot.
Fenrir: Care to fill me in? And please start with why the owner of the place has a baby in his arms and a smile that says; "Look upon this adorable being and fall to your knees with joy upon being given this opportunity."
Atmos: How very specific.
[Luna POV]
When I left the room I was staying in and walked into the main room of the inn, I found the others sitting at a table and chatting. Soleil noticed me first as I was making my way over to them.
“Big sis, what’s wrong?” (Soleil)
“Can’t hide anything from you, can I Soleil. I’m just a bit stressed out. Tamamo helped me vent so I’m doing better for the time being.” (Luna)
“What can you possibly be stressed about?” (Velvet)
“Several things, actually. But, and this is Tamamo’s conjecture, is due to me not being able to see or just be under or in the sky. Not counting the very little time yesterday, it’s been nearly two weeks since we’ve gotten here and we haven’t really seen the sky since we arrived in the first dwarven city.” (Luna)
“Ah. So that’s what’s up. I’ve been wondering why you seemed a bit jittery lately, but now I get it. It’s something to do with one of your Authorities, right?” (Skadi)
“Yeah. Got any advice?” (Luna)
“Well, in your case, the best I can say is to just tough it out since you said it has to do with the sky.” (Skadi)
“I’m assuming you went through something similar?” (Luna)
“Yeah. Though in my case, the process to get used to what you’re feeling was as simple as carrying around some sea water in a bottle. And, unless you have some ingenious idea to bottle a small bit of sky, I don’t think we can do much.” (Skadi)
“Hmmm. Bottle the sky…nope, can’t think of anything. Unless, of course, dwarves have some special magic that lets them use the nature of things to forge stuff.” (Luna)
“What does that even mean nya?” (Mio)
“Something like using the “sound of the wind” or something.” (Luna)
“Still don’t get it nya.” (Mio)
“Anyway, do you still plan on continuing the journey in this country, master?” (Ophidia)
“Yeah. I want to at least see the capital of every country on this continent before ascending, so until we do that, I think I can tough out this feeling. And if it turns out I can’t tough it out, I can just teleport somewhere with a view of the sky for a bit before coming back.” (Luna)
We chatted a bit more before we all left the inn to go about the few things we wanted to do in the crystal city. Since there were a lot of jewelers in this city, I visited a few before finally finding one that was able to fix my necklace in a reasonable pace. After that we walked around the city looking for something like a library. Before we found one though, we stumbled upon a plaza that looked like a memorial. It has a large monolith of black marble with names carved into it. Around the monolith were painted stone carvings of what looked like a fierce battle with some kind of octopus monster. We walked closer to the painted carvings and I found some worn down writing carved under the pictures.
“Big sis, what does it say? I don’t understand that writing.” (Soleil)
“In summary, a few hundred years ago, a big monster that the people called The Watcher appeared in the waters around the city and rampaged. It killed a lot of people and, since the people of the city back then were caught completely off guard, locked themselves in the city. They survived for a while, while cut off from the rest of the country, but started to get desperate. As resources dwindled, the people started throwing together things in order to try and kill The Watcher. While this was happening, other cities sent people to try and figure out what happened here, and upon discovering that the people here were trapped by a monster, sent soldiers and adventurers to try and help the people here. A lot of those people died, and their names are the ones carved into the road leading in to the city.” I moved over to another painted carving to read the rest of the story. “Eventually, some people from…I’m not sure…managed to sneak into the city while a group of people sacrificed themselves to give them an opening. Those people brought plans for those ballista that line the walls and, dismantling buildings and other things for materials, managed to build enough to use. Then a lot of people left the city in order to drag The Watcher out and give the people on the walls an opportunity to shoot it. After many sacrifices, they managed to kill The Watcher, freeing the city. They then carved the names of all those who sacrificed themselves into the monolith as a memorial for future generation to remember their bravery.” (Luna)
“…” (Skadi)
“Skadi, I think I know what you want to say, but don’t. At least not here.” (Luna)
“Fine.” (Skadi)
{Actually, I’ll interject here to say that this actually happened. Of course, there is some, well, a lot, of embellishing of details, but the majority of it is fact. As for why not more people know about it, I have no clue. Probably some reason only mortals know or something.}
“So, it’s an event that even caught the eyes of the gods. Still doesn’t make sense why I wouldn’t have heard about it before, but I guess I’ll let it go for now.” (Skadi)
“It’s still interesting. Though now I’m curious as to where The Watcher came from.” (Ophidia)
“Maybe it was some monster that lived in the water around the city and managed to survive long enough to evolve to that point. I mean, that’s the only other thing I can think of aside from someone intentionally bringing it here and setting it free.” (Luna)
“I’m of the same opinion as Luna. I can’t think of any other reasons for why something like that showed up.” (Velvet)
“I’m kinda interested in this place nya. The one you couldn’t read nya.” (Mio)
“It’s not that I can’t read the letters, it’s just unreadable. The stone is cracked here and the letters are ruined in a way that makes what is legible basically gibberish.” (Luna)
“Guess we’ll never know. Though I do want to know what language this is.” (Soleil)
“It’s old dwarfish. It was the primary language here before the common language became wide spread.” (Skadi)
“Hmm. Well, at least that one skill is finally getting some use.” (Luna)
“It’ll be getting some use when we visit the merfolk as well. Of our group, only you and me will be able to understand them. We’ll have to figure out something when we get there for the others.” (Skadi)
“Alright, future us, good luck.” (Luna)
After looking around the memorial for a bit longer, we went around doing some more sightseeing of the city before going back to the jeweler to pick my necklace up. Once that was done, we headed back to the inn and prepared to leave for our next destination.
Chaos Realm:
Atmos: You know, little Astraea is really well behaved. She hasn't really cried almost at all and she isn't very messy.
Atmos, do you not know what the children between gods are like? After the amount of time you've lived? That's surprising.
Atmos: Hey, children haven't really been on my mind like, at all. It's not like I have any close friends that have had kids either, so all my experience comes from what Grey has told me and what I've observed of mortal children.
Fair enough. Children of gods are not like mortal children, they don't get upset easily, they mature somewhat quickly by mortal standards, and generally are well behaved, though that last one depends on the Authority.
Atmos: What do you mean mature quickly?
I mean, Astraea is going to grow relatively fast up to a point. In the next few weeks, she'll grow to the equivalent of a mortal four year old, where she will remain for a few millennia before hitting another growth spurt.
Atmos: Huh. The more you know, I guess.
It does help. Speaking of which, Astraea, do you want to go see the Sea of Chaos with me?
Astraea: Gah!
I'll take that as a yes.
Atmos: *Sigh* Why do I have to be the only other person here today? While Astraea is cute, her father is getting on my nerves with the doting.
Fenrir: NnnnnnnAH! Eh?
Atmos: Oh, I forgot you were here still.
Fenrir: Um, what happened? The last thing I remember was that Sleep Goddess using my tail as a pillow and then nothing.
Atmos: Oh, you've missed quite a lot.
Fenrir: Care to fill me in? And please start with why the owner of the place has a baby in his arms and a smile that says; "Look upon this adorable being and fall to your knees with joy upon being given this opportunity."
Atmos: How very specific.
