"Finally, awake?" Anna's voice broke the silence.
Damon slowly opened his eyes, finding himself fully healed. With Anna's help, he managed to get to his feet.
Together with Leo and Damon, Anna found herself in a new hiding spot with her companions. Inside an office building.
"Where are we?" Damon asked, but no one had a definitive answer.
"An office building? I guess," Anna replied, her tone reflecting her uncertainty.
Arashi returned from the rooftop after a quick survey. "About two hundred yards north from here, there's a big building. Looks like a government office. We might find people or refuge."
"Let's go, then," Anna interjected, and both Damon and Leo nodded in agreement.
They hurried through a nearby parking lot, but Anna's progress was interrupted by an explosion and an accompanying earthquake. She lost her balance and slipped.
"The statues again. Let's pick up the pace!" Arashi urged, helping her to her feet, and the group followed his lead.
After about 15 minutes, they reached their destination. "Galileo Galilei Museum," Anna remarked.
"Not what I expected, but it's better than nothing," Leo said.
The museum was a Baroque-style building with white marble walls and gilded frames. In the main entrance, they perceived a wonderful work of art, “The Fountain of Science,” Anna read from a marble plaque.
The fountain featured statues of various historical figures, and despite the winter weather, the water didn’t freeze, remaining warm due to a spell. The statues were arranged in random poses around an island with geyser-like water outputs.
“Nicolas Flamel, Paracelsus, Al Khwarizmi, Nicolas Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci, Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei.” She continued reading. “The two women in the center of the fountain are Hypatia of Alexandria and Ada Lovelace.”
Damon reached the museum’s entrance and noticed the doors were still open. “It’s open,” Damon said. “Come on in!”
Once inside, they found themselves in near darkness, with the only light coming from the windows. At the entry lobby, Anna discovered a 3D model representation of the city map. Every building was displayed using tiny plaster scale models, a remarkable work of handcraft. The city's layout, according to the labels she read, was meticulously planned, with Paasilinna taking on a quasi-circular form.
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"The museum is located on the border between The Commercial and The Residential District, about 10 blocks south of The Courts District, the Jäävarasto," Arashi mumbled as he studied the map with Anna.
A gray rock wall encircled the downtown area with Courts District, the oldest part of the city, originally built as a fortification. The government buildings were mostly located there, except for the city hall, situated outside the wall in the Residential District.
Further north laid Paasilinna’s Jails, The Ministry of Warfare and Defense, and Army Academia, in the Military District, the tiniest district of all.
The Wall of the Jäävarasto stood tall, featuring four imposing gates reminiscent of a medieval stronghold: The Gate of the Water in the West, The Gate of the Fire in the East, The Gate of the Earth in the North, and The Gate of the Wind in the South.
The Industrial District lay to the northwest, adjacent to The Military District. Here, the city's factories, manufacturers, and food processing plants bustled with activity. The zone known as the Sampo Stronghold right next to the wall housed diesel refineries and steam-powered production facilities.
Beneath it, sprawled the Commercial District, a bustling hub of market activities. Supermarkets, shopping centers, cinemas, theaters, the major hospital, and The Train Station of Näkymatön Junä.
The Residential District, occupying the vast south and east, was the city's largest area. Split by the Tuonetar River into two zones, the Inner Zone and the Outer Zone, this district stretched into the entire eastern portion of Paasilinna. The river flowed southward into Lake Tuoni, in the southern part of the city.
Arashi scrutinized the map, committing its details to memory.
"Oh, look at this!" Damon's voice broke the group's contemplation.
“What is it?” Anna glared at him, annoyed after the interruption.
"Did you know that Christopher Columbus was the descendant of a family of Arlos and Jana? This city of science considered him a madman when he wanted to go west looking for India?" He laughed, his gaze fixed on a statue of the explorer, reading the inscriptions alongside it. "Then, he found the New World!"
“Wasn’t he a despicable person?” Anna asked. Damon laughed, shrugging.
"Let's take a look around!" Leo suggested.
"Yeah, sure, why not? It's not like there are giant, killer statues actively hunting us down," she replied, rolling her eyes. To her surprise, they continued with their nonchalant plan.
The interior of the museum left her awestruck. Everything seemed to gleam with gold from the columns to the rooms filled with hundreds of paintings, and even the polished floor, casting a shimmering mirror-like reflection.
"I feel like I’m in some Italian cathedral… but fancier and much more megalomaniacal!" Damon joked, earning a chuckle from the whole group.
She approached an area filled with signs pointing to different sections of the museum. “So, History of Paasilinna to the east. History of the world to the northeast. Natural history to the west. The Cultural Heritage of the World to the northwest. Thaumaturgy studies to the north.” She said.
“Where do we go?" Leo asked.
"I go wherever you go," Arashi said.
"I don’t mind," Damon added. She turned to Leo.
"I want to go north, Thaumaturgy studies. I’m a bit interested in how it works… maybe learn about it," She confessed, her cheeks blushing.
"Let’s go there then!" Damon agreed, smirking.
A towering sixteen-foot statue of Gaius Julius Caesar greeted the group as she reached the entrance of the Thaumaturgy Studies exhibit.