The fleeting city gate loses its grandeur as the distance erases its details.
The wooden wagon drags its wheels across the damp green and white blades of grass, its rusty axle squeaking the entire time. Lingering from the storm of the previous night is a hazy mist blanketing the crisp air.
It's strange... Everything is dry inside the city's walls, but outside, the remnants of the rain remain.
Sirius asks the girl with gradient eyes, and she explains that the city of Auretta is "under the protection of a barrier." This barrier cloaks the perimeter of the walls like a massive dome, shielding them from attacks and weather. It is also invisible to the naked eye, though apparently, one with an "applicableblessing" can witness its image.
The carriage follows down the path Sirius once viewed from near the weeping tree. A natural ramp inclining toward the entrance of the city. Many other carriages are being guided up and down the winding road by exotic animals.
Luckily, leaving the city was easy. Wilphrey, the old man driving the empty stagecoach, simply showed a strange insignia to the stationed guard, and they let them pass through.
Once far enough away from the gate, Aureole lowers the blanket shrouding her entire self. But instantly upon feeling the cool air, she immediately wraps it back around her loosely clothed arms.
The girl seems excited, as if riding in the back of this wagon is something monumental. She, along with the two boys, gazes out across the sweeping scenery.
Distant mountains take up half of the horizon. They're surreally shaped, like massive, morphing knives jutting out of the rolling hills. Appearing as a faded indigo, the mountains perfectly complement the blurry blue sky and hydrated grass.
Auretta, once feeling so vast, now pales in comparison to this majestic picture. The city itself rests atop a mound similar to the one the castle sits upon. Except this motte appears to be even slimmer.
Colossal walls, housing an entire city and full of thousands of people, are built atop a mountain comparable to an apple core. A rigid core of dirt and stone that should in no way be capable of holding a city.
Sirius asks Aureole how it can possibly stand, and she has the exact same question. Though she suspects it to be magic.
Interesting.
Declining the spiral path, the wagon levels onto flat ground. Auretta shadows the ground below like an eclipse of the sun.
At the base of the mountain holding up the city, amidst the shadows, an entire settlement thrives. While less elegant, an entire second population lives beneath the city above.
Their path follows the outskirts of this settlement. It is a swampish environment, with squishy moss acting as the trail. Wooden huts with straw roofs decorate the mire, all with actual doors. How about that...
The inhabitants are thin and lengthy, with greenish-gray skin. They wave as the carriage passes by, awestruck by the sight. Others, less interested, drive pickaxes into the already slender mountain or obtain water from dripping stalactites.
Dog-like, muddy creatures run around, barking in high-pitched tones. Korlin avoids looking at them, holding tightly onto his sleeve. The dogs leap into children's arms, and strangely, the mud seeps itself into the arms of the children. It's as if their arms are a sponge, staining their gray skin a dull brown. An entirely new layer of muddy skin replaces the original.
An entire thriving community, seemingly happy, lives right below the lavish city.
Aureole breathes in the swampy scent. Her cheeks lift in satisfaction.
"Ahh, I've never been outside of the carriage when coming down here! It's way too cramped in there, so I can never really appreciate everything like this."
"What is this place?" Korlin, who has been silenced by his admiration, finally speaks.
"The official name is Auretta's Fallen Wing. But the townsfolk call it Lupoli." The girl shifts her weight, eager to tell more. "The Luto, the people here, are kind souls. Unfortunately, they are forced to live in places such as this..."
"...?"
"Sunlight is lethal to them. Prolonged exposure will leave them incinerated. As such, they live in secluded, shaded areas like caves or thick groves. Many people have offered assistance in sheltering them, but... These people have nothing to offer in return, except for kindness. Which... is not enough for most..."
"They're like vampires!" Korlin whispers to Sirius. His comment is met with a flick to the forehead.
A group of three children, donning tribal garments, runs up to the side of the stagecoach. One, a stubby little lad, carries a white flower. The child, losing pace with the wagon, offers Aureole the flower.
The girl accepts the gift and gracefully places it in her hair. She gives the child a sincere smile and thanks him wholeheartedly. The boy blushes and pauses his pursuit. The other two kids congratulate the boy, patting him on the back.
"They seem to like you," it slips out from Sirius's lips.
"...You think so?" Her response holds hesitation and uncertainty.
"He did just give you a flower."
She buries herself deeper within the blanket, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks.
"I guess so..."
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask..." Sirius changes the subject. "Are you... royalty?"
Korlin perks up and barges into the conversation.
"Yeah! You literally have your own butler. Do tell..." The boy folds his hands together, eagerly awaiting a response.
"...I-I wouldn't say royalty... And he's not my butler, he's my lord's." Her embarrassment only seems to have increased.
"Then what's with this whole magic carriage ride?" Korlin presses further. "You can't tell me you're not at least a little important."
"I'm really not that important... Not yet at least..." She scratches the backs of her pointy ears. "I'll tell you about it when we get there, okay? It'll make more sense if Lord Rawlin explains it."
"Fine..." Korlin sighs a disappointed sigh.
Sirius jabs him in the arm.
⧗⧖⧗⧖⧗
Auretta sinks under the skyline, and the new world expands before them. They cross the fields they saw from afar, traveling into land he yet knows. They pass through a narrow valley in the mountains, and the green grass trickles into a soft cerulean.
Supposedly, according to Aureole, this cerulean grass isn't actually grass at all. Instead, it is an invasive weed that has taken over the surrounding mountains. Originally green like most plants, the weed, rightfully named the Cerulean Reaper, was forced to evolve into its now iconic pigment.
On the mountains once lived creatures named Grazers, boar-like animals who feed on anything colored green. Cerulean Reapers, facing extinction, adapted out of their green coloring and over time took over the hills. In turn, Grazers lost their primary food source and were forced to migrate elsewhere in order to survive. Now, without a predator to keep the population in check, the Reapers multiply endlessly, slowly absorbing the landscape.
Intertwined with the weeds are thick, fist-sized particles dancing around. When touched, they light up and split apart into smaller orbs. They help give the already serene, natural passage a mystical aura. Truly enchanting...
"What are these things? They're... spongy." Korlin is captivated by one of the orbs. He swiftly swipes his hands through the floating particle, mutilating it into hundreds of tiny specks. One lands on his hand, so he decides to lick it. He swishes it around in his mouth with his tongue.
"Ah, the pollen sprites?"
"Sprites?!" Korlin promptly spits it out. "You mean like fairies?! Did I just murder a fairy?!"
Aureole giggles.
"No, there aren't any fairies in Lunalir. These are only sprites in the most literal sense. Technically, they are just pollen."
"Pollen from what?" Sirius asks, brushing a passing sprite. His innate curiosity is on full display. That, and he can tell that Aureole loves talking about this sort of thing.
"From moonlids!"
-Wasn't that a street name?
"Moonlids... They sure produce some massive pollen. How big are they?"
"Do you care for a course on moonlids? I'm quite knowledgeable on them." She takes pride in her wisdom, grinning ear to ear.
"Please."
"Hehe," she sways side to side. "Moonlids are indigo flowers native to Lunalir. During the day, they shrink and conceal themselves from the sun. However, at night, they bloom and spring up really tall! Also, during the night, moonlids can track the moon's movements, even behind a wall of clouds!"
"Ohh, kind of like sunflowers?" Sirius asks Korlin, who is still occupied with the hovering orbs.
"Sunflowers? What are those?"
...
...
Korlin doesn't remember.
...
A cruel reminder of the fate they share.
Sirius knits his eyebrows, but seeing Aureole's confusion, suppresses his boiling panic.
"N-Never mind..." Sirius turns to the girl and plasters a smile onto his face. "Continue."
"Okay..." She is clearly curious about what just transpired, but continues regardless. "Periodically, around this time of year specifically, moonlids pollinate. And these huge pollen sprites are the result! Eventually, they will nestle down and help produce more moonlids... Or be swatted and swallowed by other organisms..."
Both of their eyes fixate on a clueless Korlin.
"What is it?"
"Nothing..."
"Didn't you say they're sprites?" Korlin affirms. "Are these things alive?"
"Pollen is a multicelled organism, you know?" Sirius shares.
"It is?!"
"You really didn't go to school, did you?"
"Aha...ha..." He awkwardly laughs and scratches his head, trying his best to avoid answering.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Aureole butts in. "But, pollen sprites aren't capable of becoming full-fledged fairies. They remain as sprites until they help grow into a new flower! Though if you contain one for long enough and nurture it... They can grow into a lesser sprite."
"So are sprites defined as just baby fairies here?" Korlin tilts his head like a curious puppy.
"That's right."
"Woah..." It's as if his whole worldview was shattered in an instant. Though almost immediately, he goes right back to trying to catch one. He cups them in his hands like fireflies.
"You know a lot about moonlids," Sirius starts. "Do you like them?"
Aureole fiddles with her wristlet, and her pointy ears wiggle.
"They are my favorite flower... But I only know so much because of one of my friends at the house."
"Are they a flower expert or something?"
"You could say that... She loves gardening! But, she can be a bit... hotheaded."
It almost feels like a warning.
"Well, thank you for enlightening me."
"Of course! I'm happy to anytime-"
Breaking the wholesome atmosphere, Aureole suddenly erupts into a hacking fit. She coughs violently into her blanket, which doesn't do much to suppress the sound.
"Are you alright-?" Sirius feels stupid asking the question. This is clearly not normal. "Do you need water or-"
"Milady!" Wilphrey shouts from up front, his voice writhing with worry. "Are you alright?!"
After a few more ragged hawks, she stares down into the blanket and catches her breath. She looks mortified. Terror enshrouds her soft features, and a faint smear of blood is visible on her lower lip. She swallows and attempts to regain her composure.
"I'm fine! Sorry, Wilphrey! No need to worry..." Aureole scratches her clavicle and rubs her eyes. "Sorry, that... happens sometimes."
With bloodshot eyes, she smiles like nothing happened.
"It just happens...? Are you sick?" Sirius struggles to express his thoughts. Seeing her in pain makes him feel ill, but he doesn't understand why. Why would he feel concern for someone he just met-? Is this even concern? He felt like this back during the wailian attack, too... Pain doesn't suit her.
"No, no, I'm fine! I just get a cough once in a while. That was a rather intense one though..." Distress skulks behind her smiley facade.
"Have you ever had it checked out?"
"I did once, but a healing blessing didn't seem to do anything. So, I've just learned to live with it."
"..."
Sirius and Korlin stare at each other, both sharing the same concern. There is obviously more to this story.
"Really, I'm fine! Don't worry about a little cough."
-She doesn't want to talk about it...
"Alright..."
Roughly half an hour passes, and none of the novelty wears off.
Venturing deep into a valley, their sight becomes limited. In the midst of the lull, Sirius remembers the journal at his side and asks Korlin for the papers within his purse.
Korlin, of course, denies that it is a purse, but eventually gives in.
Sirius stacks the papers into a neat pile on his lap and skims through the pages.
-Most of it seems to deal with basic physics and chemistry. Thermodynamics... Entropy... Enthalpy... Heat... Light... Elements... Atoms... Torque... Momentum... Gravity... All stuff I know pretty well. If I am going to forget things... these will be helpful to have. But, it might be helpful to write some of these other things down, just for basic knowledge...
Not to mention, I don't know how much I can trust Korlin to keep these documents safe...
Sirius pulls out his journal and inkclaw and begins jotting down concepts.
[Age Conversions: Due to the difference of time between Earth and Mirgaia, my age is technically not accurate here. It involves some math to convert, but it isn't too complicated. There are 271 days in a year. Since I am 17, almost 18, according to Alzir's conversions (which may or may not be accurate), I would be over 23 years old in this world.
Korlin watches anime, so he'll probably end up asking for the age of consent. So, converting 18 Earth years into this world's age system would mean legal age is: slightly over 24 years old. So, if someone is 24, they're an adult (in Earth terms). I'm not sure what the adult age requirement is in this world, though...
Just some basic benchmarks for myself: 20 years old = 26 years old here. 30 years = 40 years here. 40 = about 54. 60 = about 81. 80 = 107. Etc...
The math isn't too hard, but I fear I will continue to forget my newfound age. 23... sounds strange. If I were still on Earth when I turned 23... what would I be doing? I can't imagine... Would I even still be alive...?]
[Calendars do not exist. Not traditionally, at least. Alzir's created a bunch of copies based on what he's learned, but it seems he's given us the calendar he threw against the wall earlier, so it's a bit crumpled. Thanks, Alzir.
Months are not counted with a set number of days. They are typically 27 days, but it changes each year. The 'ten months' are based more so off of the seasons. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are all still relevant happenings.
Just like on Earth, different regions of Mirgaia experience these seasons at different times. Unlike Earth, however, Mirgaia is (more) tilted on its rotational axis. This causes seasons to not always align with their months, meaning it can often snow in autumn. As such, the months are based on the prediction of what the seasons will entail that year.
The months are listed in order as follows: Ayeis (Winter), Atin (Winter/Spring), Olos (Spring), Kyrim (Spring/Summer), Kaitis (Summer), Dalun (Summer), Oakul (Summer/Autumn), Isyn (Autumn), Inera (Autumn/Winter), and Demera (Winter). Winter and Summer are considered longer for reasons Alzir put down as: "probably farming related." ???
Despite all of this, calendars are more obscure tools than they are on Earth. The people of this world moreso base everything on the seasons and don't give too much thought to the months or days.
As for some specifics: Mirgaia is closer to its sun than Earth is. This explains why years are shorter. The rate of rotation of the planet is also slightly faster, explaining why days are slightly shorter. Mirgaia is larger than Earth, but somehow less dense (supposedly), but this does not affect much, as orbit is more determined by the mass of the Sun. However, its increased size does affect things like the moon. The moon is further away than Earth's and is forced to move faster, which helps explain why months are shorter.
Science is so cool... (Assuming Alzir's right about all of this. I wouldn't know, I'm not an astronomer).]
[Temperature conversion INITIALLY didn't seem to be too complicated. Instead of Fahrenheit or Celsius, the temperature is measured in 'Kiln'. The highest recorded temperature above ground was reportedly 123.4 degrees Kiln. According to Alzir, from this, he took the conversion as 62.7 Celsius. This means the equation of conversion from Celsius to Kiln would be Celsius multiplied by 2 and then subtracted by 2 as well.
Now, that doesn't seem too hard to learn, but after that initial finding, I think Alzir just gave up when it came to lower numbers. Negative numbers do not exist in Kiln. The lowest possible temperature is 0, and that is based on the lowest "recorded" temperature on the continent of Aeonice. 0 Kiln is the lowest the temperature can possibly reach, and it APPARENTLY roughly translates to -42 Celsius.
But as I mentioned earlier, I think he kind of gave up at this point. The equation he found above does NOT apply here. From what I recall ,when we last met, he said that 3 Kiln is about -30.7 Celsius. Which, by all math rules, just does not work. The most useful thing on these notes are that 28 Kiln to 52 Kiln is the best temperature to be in. That, of course, is based on his false equation, so we'll see about that... Anything about 15 Kiln is around the freezing point. I'll try to keep this in mind, but quite frankly, I don't think these notes are that helpful. We should have a little chat about this later. Or I could just ask someone else...
(I think he just made all of this up).]
Sirius sighs. The great scientist is not living up to his initial image.
"That a little journal? What are you writing?" The girl's curious eyes erase all of his coherent thoughts.
"Oh... Just some stuff on... temperature and whatnot." He didn't expect anyone to question him.
"Temperature?"
"...Yeahhh...?"
-Could I ask her how temperature works? Or- Maybe not... She'll probably think I'm insane. I mean, what kind of guy doesn't know how temp-
"You're a weird guy, you know that?" Her smile only flusters him further.
"...I could say the same thing about you."
"Oh...?"
Her eyebrows raise as if she's accepting a challenge.
"Aha, I didn't mean anything by it-"
"Oh, really?" Aureole and Korlin mock him simultaneously. When did these two become so in synch?!
Sirius sighs.
"Well... For one, you are taking two strangers over to your house. I'm not one to judge, but it seems a little... odd. But, I guess I don't know how these things work here."
"Would you rather continue being homeless under a tree?"
"...Touché."
"Seriously though," she giggles. "I just want to thank you. You helped me more than you could ever know..."
"I didn't really do that much-"
"You ripped off its wing, punched it in the face, and tackled it in the fountain to get my wristlet back! I'd say you did more than enough."
"I'm sure you could have handled it without me..."
Korlin listens with a face screaming: "huh??" Sirius may have left out quite a few details when sharing the story with him.
"That's not true, I mean... All I could do was watch and get thrashed around. It's my fault we even got attacked by it..."
Gloom shades her pale skin. Instinctively, Sirius searches for a way to console her.
"I don't know... That bite was pretty hardcore."
Her bleak expression erupts into one of embarrassment.
"Ahhhhh! You remember that?!" She rolls around, burying herself in the blanket. Her ears and cheeks burn a bright red. Her covered wings flap around frantically.
"W-What? What bite?" Korlin laughs.
The girl lies prone on the wagon's bed and cries out while banging her side into the railing. She kicks her feet around in the air.
"You see..." Sirius holds back a laugh of his own. "Out of nowhere, she just started biting the wailian's wing. And when I say bite, I mean she was chomping on that thing! It even started bleeding-!"
"Stop it-t...!"
Even she can't help but laugh.
Their painful experience, for now, turns into one they laugh about, and the wagon fills with the sounds of laughter and joy. Their chuckles chime out and resound through the narrow valley.
The trek continues, accompanied by cordial conversations, smiles, and stunning sights.
As he crosses into the unknown, under a foreign sky, the boy's fears seem to vanish, if only momentarily...