Hera knew that the rest of the party would be arriving soon, and she had no reason to think that Lodi was lying about this place being safe. Despite that, she went outside to check what was going on in the city. A paranoid part of her still wanted to confirm those things. Not to mention that she wasn't exactly in the mood to see Alex right as they landed. In the end, the assassin was right. They all got here without any problems, so her use of the curse worked, but at the same time, Hera didn't want to approve of that. Just because something created a good result didn't mean it was the right thing to do.
Going outside, the Empress looked to the side of the hangar, towards the base of the triangle-shaped city. She walked close to the edge and reached her hand out to Nimbus to hold her. Just in case. Leaning over the edge of the city, she could see another layer of ground under her, but it was small, and if someone were to stumble while landing on that lower floor, it was likely that they would end up falling.
"They really should put some railings here," Hera said as she walked away from the ledge.
"I agree. It seems unnecessary. Then again, the people who lived here could be able to fly," Nimbus jumped and started flying just a few centimeters above the ground. Hera could see the Sentinel moving slowly away from her, and he soon landed again, "Yeah, the city is not moving fast enough to become a problem."
"That's good. I think. I don't know. How much do you think that will influence everything?" Hera asked.
"Not much. Or at least, I don't think so. No one should have any problems because of the movement," Nimbus replied.
The next Flying Slime Fish appeared and landed on the hangar while Hera continued to check her surroundings. Even if she was avoiding Alex, she didn't want to stray too far away. This was still a new place, and running around alone was stupid, to say the least.
After looking for a bit more, Hera returned back into the hangar and saw that everyone else had arrived carrying the monster-repellent stones they had brought from the raft. Unfortunately, she didn't find much during the attempt to scout the place. Only several buildings that seemed to be at least four stories tall. The entire area also felt like an industrial district of sorts.
Hera quickly told everyone what she found as they left the hangar, and the group continued moving through the city. There was a striking difference between Sky and the raft. While moving around below, even in the areas with a dense concentration of cabins, things felt very open and free. Here, it was somewhat claustrophobic. As if they were traveling through narrow alleys in a high-rise city. Oddly enough, even if the buildings were not as tall as skyscrapers, that is what it felt like to look from the ground.
"I think we should be looking for a place to stay first," Bonnie spoke up.
"Yeah, I agree. Even if we have to stay in one of those large buildings, making a home base might be better than any other option. Then we can search for other things, like that Naga temple," Shane nodded.
The whole group glanced at her and sighed. It was really obvious why she was so keen on coming here. Hera also had the same idea, but as curious as she was, her focus was to make everyone safe first. After about ten minutes, they arrived in an area where the building had changed significantly. Instead of the flat white walls towering above them, they could see some more creative use of architecture. Small pillars with grooves and small decorations where the door and windows were located. The sides of the house were still the same, solid blocks of white, but the buildings were starting to get smaller. Not like a full story smaller, but their roofs had an incline going toward the 'tip' of the city. Another thing that Hera noticed was that this place was nowhere as windy as she believed it would be.
As the group stopped by one of the doors and let Daskka move inside the house to scout, Hera turned to Nimbus, "Didn't you say that this place had a lot of wind? And that's why you assumed they didn't have windows to the side of the houses?"
"I did. When I came here, there was a lot of wind. Walking through one of these corridors was hard, but I also landed closer to the tip of the island. I didn't have enough time to explore this area as well," Nimbus explained.
Hera nodded, and Daskka reformed from her mist form to her side, "Mum! They have furniture here. And even glasses."
"Glasses? Like, eyeglasses or cups?" Hera asked.
"Cups. And stone chairs and tables. Even cupboards. Oh, and I don't think this is locked. I mean, there is no lock or anything stopping you from opening the door."
"Ok…" Hera turned to Nimbus again, "Didn't you say that the doors here were closed?"
"I tried going inside a single house and the temple. I didn't try every single door," Nimbus squinted at Daskka.
"That's fair, so is this locked?" Helena asked.
"Apparently not. According to Daskka, there is nothing blocking the door or a lock. Not one she can see, at least. Also, they have furniture and cups in there," Hera explained. Sometimes she forgot that she was the only one able to hear the snake talking. It felt so natural to her already.
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"Let's try it," Blue walked to the door and tried to push it, but to no avail. It was like she was pushing a solid wall. Since they wanted to avoid brute forcing their way in, everyone started to come up with ideas, including having Daskka move inside and open the windows, but that also didn't work.
Around 15 minutes passed with them all struggling to open not just that but other doors as well until Mylo stepped forward with a new plan. Instead of pulling or pushing the double doors, he slid them to the sides. Just like that, the doors opened, and he turned to the group with a proud expression, "If it doesn't say push or pull, it must be slide."
Shane let out a long sigh while shaking her head, but Hera and Alex chuckled at that response.
"That was really smart, big guy," Blue bumped Mylo's shoulder.
The house was considerably big. It had four rooms on the upper floors and a living room and kitchen on the ground floor. Another thing no one expected was the bathroom. There wasn't a toilet per se, but there was a hole in the ground filled with water that could be flushed. But that wasn't all. There was also a large tub that could be filled with water for anyone to take a bath. There was no showerhead, meaning that the stone tub would be filled from the bottom up, but it was still a great thing to have. Everything seemed to be made by using some sort of spell, and Hera could see some of the mana moving through the walls, but the source of that magic wasn't anywhere near the house, only the levers or buttons that would trigger it.
"I wonder if all the houses have this," Helena looked outside.
"You don't like this one?" Bonnie asked.
"I think we are too close to the… Industrial district? Yeah, let's call it that," Helena replied.
"Why is that a problem?" Adriel tilted his head.
"Because we don't know what's in there. What if there are machines or things that make loud noises during the night or early in the morning? Not to mention that going out in the middle of the night would be very creepy, even if we have the stones to ward off monsters. If we are going to shop around for a house, we could see if we find one in a better place. Maybe closer to the edge of the city, there is a park or a place with a nice view," Helena continued her explanation.
Everyone agreed with her idea and decided to head out. After another half an hour, they arrived at a wide two-story house closer to the edge of the city. Here the wind was a bit stronger but not to the point where it would become a problem. However, there were some stone railings around the area, showing that there was a possibility that the wind had become too much at times. Still, the house was right in front of a small open area with a pattern on the ground that reminded them of the stars in the night sky. Another thing that made everyone agree with this house was that on the second floor, there was a small balcony surrounded by a tall railing on all sides. Since this was a house that looked to be directly in the center axis of the triangle, it also meant that whoever was up there could see beyond the houses to the sides. The house itself was smaller than the first one they found. With only three rooms, two of them on the first floor with only one on the ground floor. The kitchen was a little bigger, but the living room was smaller. But the most important part was still there. A proper bathroom. The idea of splitting up and having each of them stay in a different house was tossed in the air, but it was quickly shut down. No one knew what to expect in a place like this, and if things went south, being close to everyone else would help a lot.
After setting up some of the monster-repellent stones around the house, they took a small break to eat before continuing their exploration. Blue, Mylo, and Adriel chose to head back to the raft and grab some food. It was still early, and they could even get some fish if they felt like it. The rest of the party stayed in Sky to look around and find out more about this place.
"Nimbus, can you show us where the Naga temple is?" Shane asked as they were leaving the house.
Before replying, the Sentinel turned to Hera, who gave him an approving nod, "It's to the right. Well, to the right of the smallest point of the triangle. Oh, just follow me," he gave up on giving directions.
This time, Helena, Alex, and Bonnie also joined them. They wanted to explore the city anyways, and going towards the temple was as good a plan as any. To everyone's surprise, the temple was much closer than anyone expected. Walking for about 5 minutes was enough to get there and see the single-story building. Shane quickly tried to open the door with the carving of a Naga in between the double doors. Just like any of the other houses, the doors slid to the side, revealing what was beyond them. However, unlike any of the other houses, there were no walls here, no rooms, and no furniture to speak of. But the markings of those things were still there. It seemed like the Naga who created this place changed everything. They used the walls to make an elevated platform, and the furniture became a large sculpture of a winged serpent with a crown of feathers on the top of its head. It was beautiful and extremely detailed, but at the same time, it showed some of its flaws. The wings were not the same size, and there were some pillars supporting the body instead of it being a full sculpture that could stand on its own.
Looking to the side, Hera saw some patterns on the walls, but on a closer inspection, realized that it was something else entirely. The walls were filled with writing, some looking more frenzied than others, but there was a part of it that was meticulously made. A large part where the title read 'Blessing Ceremony.'
As Shane and Hera kept looking around, Alex spoke, "Ok… I know you two are going to stay here for a while. Is it ok if the rest of us go exploring around the city?"
"What? Yeah, yeah, sure," Shane waved them off without even looking back.
Hera frowned and turned to her friends, "Have you guys marked the house on your map?"
Helena nodded, "We have. Also, if something goes wrong, we can send out a flare. I have a black smoke spell that I can tweak to be green or red if I need to."
"Ok then. I'll keep one of my blades outside on the lookout for that, just in case," Hera smiled, and the others left. The Empress turned back to the temple and started translating everything she saw. It's been a very long time since they had ever found so much Naga writing in a single place, and she really wanted to understand what this place was, and more importantly, what that sculpture was.