Recoiling from the flavour overload, I say “This is the best.” Looking over at the man who gave this to me, I see he is talking to someone, so I say, “Is anything wrong?”
“No, I was just checking up with him.”
Anto rubbing his full belly says, “Orb I am full, now let’s go play.”
“We don’t have time to waste, we need to find the missing man.” The faster we get this little hunt over with the better.
“You say that but you have been messing around too.”
“Only because you kept complaining.”
“I never did such a thing.”
“Yes, you did!”
“No, I didn’t.”
As me and Anto continue to argue my brother grabs me and puts me on his shoulders saying, “Yamal likes to mess around during the day, I am sure he will be in all the fun locations around the city. So, the best way to find him is to hit up all those spots.”
“That sounds like an excuse to mess around.”
Snickering the man says, “Why can’t it be both!”
Sighing, I say, “Let me down and lead the way.”
Dropping me off his shoulder he takes us, into a large building.
“The beast exhibit. A collection of all the beasts recorded to live in Jedidiah. Over there is an Anathematized Camel, and to your right is the Karkadann. Both of these produce water from their bodies making them keystone species in Jedidiah.”
Walking around, I see recreations of wonderbeasts from around Jedidiah, but beside them, I also see small sculptures beside them. “What are these small versions for?”
“Oh, the citizens of Jedidah are allowed to create their own mini sculptures of the beasts as a way of showing their appreciation of the originals. It allows the museum to become more of a personal event to everyone, especially since most of the citizens currently in Jedidiah are not from here.”
“Why?”
“Well, you see most of the people here were originally slaves who were bought. You see the king here has a habit of buying abused slaves and liberty them here in Jedidiah, due to that fact there are quite a bit of different cultures here.”
I see that explains why Ahmed Abrahams is the biggest slave buyer on Terrafide, he is actually buying them for liberation. Since Jedidiah is closed off for the most part from outsiders most people wouldn’t know about this, which explains Ai's description of this place.
Looking around, I see the big centipede towering through the sky. Seeing it causes me to have a look of amazement, “It really is giant.”
“Has that one caught your eye.”
“Sort of I was just amazed that a wonderbeast this big exists.”
“Well, it is rare seeing a behemoth.”
“A behemoth?”
“Any wonderbeast over 60m gets that qualification. They are extraordinarily rare and are as powerful as they are rare. That one is the behemoth of Jedidiah; Sirabalma.”
Hearing a noise, I see Anto kicking the rabbit sculptures saying, “Die evil rabbits!”
“What the hell is that brat doing!” Running over to him, I grab Anto then I headbutt him, which calms him down.
Walking back, I say, “Sorry about this stupid idiot. He actually damaged your wonderful exhibit.
“Don’t worry about it, but I can definitely say if you liked this you will definitely like what I have to show you!”
Leading us for a little bit we are eventually brought to an area that looks incredibly different than the rest of Jedidiah. “What is this place?”
“We’re still trying to come up with a creative name but for now I guess I would call it the cultural zone. Here we let people set up different areas pertaining to their cultures, so they can celebrate and share it with all the others.”
As I walk around in amazement, my brother says, “Of course everything here is funded by our gracious king. Fear is often caused by differences and the best way around that is to make sure everyone can freely understand people's differences.”
Walking around this area, I am completely raptured by the sites I see around me, there are a ridiculous amount of areas with each one being completely different from the rest.
“Amazing isn’t enough to describe this place.”
“Then let’s go look around!”
Running around we talk to all the people and go through each area one by one. Anto has so much fun that he didn’t complain even a single time. We got so lost in our enjoyment that we didn’t notice the day pass us.
Sitting down covered with trinkets and food, with pleasure, I devour the food left in front of me, but as I eat, I suddenly come to a realization and say, “What am I doing!”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I was supposed to be looking for Cyrus’s sister, but I have been completely derailed it is already night and I have barely done anything. Standing up I say, “I need to get back to work immediately.”
Walking over to a sleeping Anto, I see that his stomach has expanded to the point where he looks like a ball. Looking at his satisfied face I start to get annoyed, picking him up I shake him and say, “Get up you little brat, it is your fault we are so behind anyways.”
“Hey Orb, are you ready for the grand event.”
Turning around, I say to my brother, “Sorry, but I have some business to attend to.”
“What are you talking about Orb, it is time for the daily performance. All of the citizens will be going as usual!”
Dammit, I forgot I need to act as though I am from here. Letting out a little laugh I say, “Haha I was joking.”
“Well then let’s go.”
Following him with Anto in my arms we walk out to the edge of the city, luckily it was the opposite edge than the one we arrived on, so we don’t have to worry about anyone finding our captives.
Looking around I see that a huge amount of people have gathered, but in the distance I see the rabbits are also sitting away from us. What is going on?
“It should be getting started right about now.”
Suddenly all the sand in the distance starts to move around and shape itself, and then in mere moments, the sand shapes itself into rather fancy-looking people. They all have rather fancy clothes.
From a platform to the right, a gorgeous woman says with a soothing voice, “Our story today is Alibaba and the 50 thieves.”
My brother beside me says, “During the night time the sand comes alive and plays out stories for us all to watch, so now let’s enjoy.”
-Break-
Φ Sitting down on a bench, Atalanta says, “I am sick of all this walking, my legs are literally about to fall off.”
“Then I will ca-a-a-a-arry you,” I say turning around and kneeling down.
Hitting me on the head, Atalanta says, “First, you must always princess-carry girls. Second, it was just an expression. And third, my hand hurts like hell.”
As she blows on her hand, she says, “But in all seriousness, we have been moving around all day and we still haven’t caught a whiff of your sister.”
Clenching my fist I say, “Maybe she isn’t here?”
Φ “To be honest I would much rather she be here, considering how happy all the citizens are. Really Ai was completely off the mark about this place, it is so relaxing and fun that it is taking all my willpower to stay on mission.”
Hearing a loud trumpet go off I jump off the bench and look in front of me, where I see a group of men all in armour, except for the man leading in front of them who happens to be a good bit shorter than them.
The man in front says, “The sandstorm stops at my command, the rains clouds vanish at my presence and women kneel at my existence, I am the Easifatan the great!!!”
Plugging my ears, I say, “Hey you shorty, the one who reeks of insecurities, could you quiet the hell down.”
“Don’t call me short!”
“Looks like I was right on target.”
As tears start to fill his eyes, one of the guards behind him says, “We can ruff them up a bit when we capture them.”
“Your right, you hear that you two.”
“Sorry, say it louder I can’t hear you from all the way down there.”
“A-A-A-Atalanta stop being mean.”
Letting out a sigh, I say, “Ok.”
Pulling two daggers from his waist he says, “As the head guard of Jedidiah I declare you two intruders are under arrest.”
Seeing sparks forming on the daggers, I kick Cyrus out of the way and then dodge myself. Then out of his daggers, lightning emerges and strike the bench I was on.
Those daggers look like the jackal's horns, did they forge weapons out of them?
“Surround them!!”
“Cyrus, we need to run!”
Running towards me Cyrus picks me up and princess carries me away.
Behind us, I hear, “Chase after them!!”
While in Cyrus's arms I say, “They found us out sooner than expected. We need to go find Orb and formulate a new plan with them, but for now Cyrus I need you to lose these guys.”
“Sorry, but it is hard for me to move around with all these people around.”
“If you can’t go through just go over..”
Understanding my intent Cyrus jumps up high into the sky, for a second I am completely flabbergasted by how high he jumped but I quickly recomposed myself then I shot arrows at our pursuers.
All my shots except the ones aimed at the head guard hit.
With an annoying laugh, the head guard says, “You will have to try harder than that to best me.”
He has good reflexes, and his use of spirit arts isn’t half bad, I guess he isn’t all talk. As he points his dagger at us, I tell Cyrus, “Watch out!”
But looking at his face I see he has a completely bewildered expression. “CYRUS!” I shout snapping him back into reality.
As the lightning comes towards us Cyrus uses his body as a shield and protects me from it. As we fall to the ground Cyrus uses his body to cover mine, and when we land, I manage to break my fall on him.
“HAHAHA, is that all you got?”
Annoyed I stand up and say, “I am going to kill him slowly. Cyrus, are you ok?”
On the floor, Cyrus says, “I saw a woman with a tail.”
“You don’t mean.”
With a smile on his face, Cyrus says, “It must be my sister.”
Jumping over to the rooftop we landed on, the head guard says, “I have you two right where I want you!”
Standing up Cyrus lets out a thunderous scream which knocks the head guard right out of the sky. Taking my hand Cyrus starts to run at full speed, he moves so fast that I doubt words could even reach him.
Φ As I head towards my sister's location, memories start to play endlessly in my mind.
“Cyrus remember you always need to be strong.”
“Cyrus remember to always treat women right.”
“Cyrus never take out your anger on someone weaker than you.”
“Cyrus of course I will always be there for you.”
“Remember you are no less a man just because you don’t act like everyone else.”
“Of course, I am happy to be your sister, I have always been thankful that you were born.”
Jumping on top of the building I saw, there I see her staring over a balcony, so I shout, “PARIBANOU!”
Turning around I see her face as she says, “Cyrus.”
Dropping Atalanta I run over towards my sister, and give her a hug. “I finally found you!”
“It is good to see you, Cyrus.”
Name: Almiraj
Height: 50cm
Type: Wonderbeast, Herbivore.
Description: A golden rabbit with two horns on its head. They have purple stripes throughout their bodies and normally stand on two legs. Due to living in the same environment as dragons, they have evolved to have an incredibly dense amount of muscle within their bodies to satiate the dragon's appetite, but also due to this, they are incredibly strong.
Fact: To be from the dragon continent they have also evolved to be able to survive for years without food.
Name: Anathematized Camel
Height: 210cm
Type: Herbivore
Description: An animal almost exactly the same as a camel, except it has golden skin and instead of humps on its back it has three large cubes of water.
Fact: Due to being one of the very few sources of water in Jedidiah it is a keystone species.
Name: The behemoth of Jedidiah; Sirabalma
Height: 65m
Type: Wonderbeast, Carnivore
Description: A behemoth wonderbeast. It’s appearance is very similar to that of a centipede. It has golden armour covering it, and out of that armour spikes can pop out to impale anything that gets too close. Its skin is capable of absorbing water and air even from deep within the sand and because of this is can stay burrowed under the ground for long period of time.
Fact: Whenever a part of its body breaks off, from that dead flesh it can sprout flying insects that completely obey it.