Chapter One, Part 2: Kingdom Come
If I knew going to meet this king would require me to get on a boat and travel across the sea, I would have kindly refused. Halfway into the blueish-green miasma, I began to feel sick.
Don’t look at it, just close your eyes…
As I did, the man beside me put a concerned hand on my shoulder.
“Miss Marie, is everything alright?” I peeked out from one eye to reveal the erratic red-haired man, whose name I had discovered to be Victor. I gave him a slow nod.
“Yes… thank you. I’ll be fine once we get there.” He chuckled lowly.
“Of course, of course. As I said earlier, the city of Rasvyx is divided into five islands, the one you just left, Rankshu, the one we are headed to, Rangga, and obviously a few more I’m sure you will learn about in… due time.” I raised a questionable eyebrow but said nothing. It wasn’t my place to ask questions that he clearly didn’t want to answer. I allowed myself one last look at the sea, bracing myself for an impact of vertigo, but instead I was met with a chubby, staut face.
“Eep!” I cried, doubling back.
“Oya!” the creature exclaimed. It looked like a tiny seal, except it was covered in translucent purple feathers. Its eyes were a beady black, staring right into my shaking soul.
“Uh…” I began. “O-oh yeah?” the creature chirped once more.
“Oya, Oya!” I heard Victors annoying chortle behind me.
“Ah yes, an Oyaoya, Ranggu’s resident sea babies.” I blinked, making sure he wasn’t messing with me.
“Sea… babies?” he nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, ma’am! We call these cute little things Oyaoya’s!” he gave the creature a rough head pat before it retreated back into the depths. “You’ll find that there are a lot of interesting creatures here,” he began. “Divided like the islands, they belong to the seas that encompass them. Curious little things, those Oyaoyas!” I cringed at his enthusiasm. He certainly loved this city and all it came with, huh? I began to form a sentence when I was interrupted mid-syllable.
The mass of land before me was nothing like the one we had left behind. It was enormous, a regal stone wall built along the perimeter. It looked like an impossible roadblock, although I guess it was supposed to be. After turning a bit around the edge of the massive island, a gasp caught in my throat. Houses, buildings, churches, restaurants, and other amenities were scattered across the entire landscape. Even from our distance, I could see large crowds of people, bustling about like their objective was the most important to ever exist. I could almost feel my pupils dilate when they landed on such a massive structure, it loomed over all else underneath it. Constructed like it could be made for gods, such regality and expansive architecture that even the most skilled of people could not rebuild it if it were to fall, but it seemed that it never would. The closer we got, the more I could see of the planet-sized kingdom. It was built out of a type of red stone, but not bricks. On the bottom level was a moat and above the base of that the castle continued to branch into several other buildings and only grew in size from there, it seemed. Victor, looming eagerly behind me, didn’t have to say anything; I knew exactly where we were going.
We exited the ship along with several other passengers and spilled out unto the masses. I tugged at my jacket sleeve as I weaved in between the shouting advertisers.
“Hey, miss! Try our fried cranberry liver!”
“You look lovely, why don’t you come join us at our place tonight, huh?”
“Just in: Lords New Addition to his Abode!”
I did my best to shut them out, but with the increasing amount of people, it became difficult to hear anything at all.
“Miss, Marie, would you care for a tour?” Victor asked, placing an empathetic hand on my shoulder. I winced.
“Don’t I have to meet with the King…?” he chuckled nervously and itched at the back of his scruffly neck.
“Yes, well… we might be a tad early.” I offered him a small smile in return.
“That’s okay. Where do we start?” His eyes lit up like a childs would on Christmas day and he happily gestured towards a huge cluster of buildings to our left.
“That’s the Market Square, home to all shops, restaurants, taverns and anything you’d ever imagine needing! My personal favorite is the Ice Bar, but you’re a bit young for that, huh?” he paused. “Wait, excuse my lack of knowledge for once, but how are you again?”
“I’m eighteen. Not too young, or old, I guess.” He nodded in agreement.
“Yes, yes, well, are there any shops or such that you’d like to stop by?” I shook my head.
“Can we just walk through? Theres a lot of people here, and I’d hate to get caught up in the crowds…”
“Of course, right this way!”
We entered Market Square underneath a large, intricately carved, wooden arch that led to a surplus of not-so-easily accessible port shops. On my left and right, I was met with buildings of all shapes and sizes. Some had two, or even three stories, while some only had one. It was easy to tell how popular each one was based on the amount of people crammed in front of the entrance. In front of each, were large signs depicting the highlights and purposes of each establishment. Bee’s Beers, Crimson Crab Hut, Potion Priorities, all of them had their own unique and quirky names.
“See anything you like?” Victor asked from in front of me, his body partially hidden behind a tall group of burly-looking men.
“Ah, nothing in particular, they all just look extremely busy right now…”
“That’s true, perhaps we’ll stop by later!”
“Right…” I mumbled.
The city itself, architecturally, was easy on the eyes, but the amount of people in it was surely enough to drive anyone crazy. Despite this, everyone seemed as happy as could be, at least at first glance. I’m certainly not one to assume somebody’s state of mind. I began to wonder how much time had passed when I was on the “tour.” Before I could ask, my question was answered by a huge, expansive clock that was built on a diagonal steel rod, lined with all sorts of wooden signs, with various scribbles and drawings.
“What is that?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“What is what?” I found it silly how someone could not notice such a thing.
“The huge clock.” I said, gesturing to the phenomenon.
“Oh, that.” He cleared his throat. “No one knows. It was here for as long as we can remember. The time is correct, as far as we know. But as for its existence, a clear answer has never been found. Over time, it began to be seen as a sign from some sort of god, so many leave hanging wooden signs on and nearby it with prayers and wishes.”
“Wow.”
“Would you like to read some?” I blinked.
“Well, yes, but… I don’t think I can read that language. I couldn’t in the Tavern, either.” He looked confused for just a moment but answered rather quickly.
“Oh, that will be solved once you meet the King, don’t worry, Miss Marie!” I was very confused as to how I could learn a language just by simply meeting someone, but with the amount of things ive discovered today, I really couldn’t rule it out just yet.
We continued through the main part of town, through winding streets both narrow and wide, bumpy, and smooth. As we went, the amount of people thinned and the buildings began to appear similar to that I had seen of the castle, when we were first approaching the island, Rangga, by that wretched boat. I expected Victor to explain this change of scenery, but he remained abnormally quiet as we went. After what seemed like miles of walking, we reached a clearing. A gate built of a material I couldn’t recognize loomed before us. And like everything else in this town, it was enormous. The gate was tar black in color but shone like fresh obsidian. Once again, I decided not to question it.
“Are you ready, Miss Marie?” Victor asked, snapping me out of my confusion induced trance.
“Y-yes, I think so.”
He nodded and fished out a tiny key out of his small leather satchel. Was that miniature thing supposed to unlock this thing!? As if on cue, he stuck the key in a lock I hadn’t noticed before, and the gate swung open. It made no sound, like one would expect. Just a silent swing, and we were through.
Comments (0)
See all