CHAPTER 52: CELESTINE CITADEL
Soren watched as the sun set over the horizon—a sprawling metropolis was scattered beneath its crimson hues. The high balcony he and the others were standing from gave him a direct vantage point of the entire city below. The buildings were all made from high quality marble that were carved into towering support columns and intricate capitals that glinted in the sun’s final rays. He could see massive domed structures and open-air theaters could be seen in the distance with large plazas for people to move in.
Celestine was full of life. The narrow, winding streets spread like veins across the city. All of it reminded him faintly of ancient Greece back on Earth—at least how it was described to him in history class. Though, none of this even compared to where he was currently standing.
The balcony overlooking the city was connected to an elongated staircase which wrapped around the building—all of it was carved from marble. Judging by the elevation, he guessed they were currently on the side of some tall mountain.
“That’s wrong,” Myrin corrected while reading his thoughts again. “We aren’t standing on the edge of a mountain—we are standing on the base of Celestine Citadel.”
“Celestine Citadel?” He had heard Tina talk about it before. It was apparently a colossal castle that matched Floramere Keep in scale. When he heard this the first time, he didn’t believe her.
Now he does.
As he leaned over the railing of the balcony, Soren glanced upward while squinting his eyes. It was difficult to see, but Myrin was correct. They were at the base of a colossal castle made of the same stone that lined the city’s walls. Colossal pillars jutted from the ground with domes at the top. From what he could see from his limited vantage point, the castle was divided into three sections—each one was a miniature castle on its own. Walls and bridges connected each of them together, forming what he could only assume to be a triangle. It was as if multiple castles were stacked together to form an even bigger structure, all of it carved from stone.
“Incredible…” He murmured.
Myrin smiled and walked toward the staircase connected to the balcony. “Alright, it's time to go. I'll take you to sightsee around the city later.”
Soren nodded and followed after him. Tina on the other hand ordered the crew of the skyship to just leave their belongings near the balcony—without identification, they weren’t allowed to leave the next checkpoint. She considered hiring someone to pick them up, though in the end, she decided to just do it herself. After stretching her arms, she swiftly stacked all four crates above one another and picked them all up simultaneously.
Soren couldn't believe his eyes at first. He knew she was strong, but this was a first. Myrin on the other hand didn’t look surprised at all. He considered asking her if she needed help, but decided against it—there was no telling how she would react, but anger would probably be his best bet.
Just as they moved down the staircase, Soren caught a figure from the corner of his eye. It was an elven man with pointy ears and green seaweed for hair. He looked to be roughly in his forties, with a rough stubble across his chin. It was very odd—Soren had not fully memorized everyone on the skyship's crew, but he was at least familiar with them somewhat.
The man he was looking at now looked oddly familiar, and yet he didn’t recognize him as someone that was boarded with them on the skyship.
Suddenly, the seaweed-haired man jumped on top of the railing of the balcony. Soren’s eyes widened, “What the…”
The elven man dangerously leaned over the edge, as if priming himself to jump. It was at that moment that Soren realized who it was, and it seemed the man also recognized Soren—he was staring at them coldly from the corner of his eye.
“Virion,” Tina filled in. “The Court of Nightshade’s captain.”
Just as she finished her sentence, he leaped out of the balcony—Soren ran up toward it to get a look of where he went, but like a ghost, he had already vanished.
“When I said we need to be careful because we might get tracked, this is what I meant.” With the boxes stacked one above the other, Tina turned back around and went down the stairs.
“Let’s go. Myrin, activate your Soul Realm to keep track of any changes.”
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Soren couldn’t believe he was thinking this, but he was secretly glad to be back in a city full of humans. He had always hated how crowded New York City was, even in the hottest of the summer days—not to mention the insane amounts of freaks and weirdos that lined every corner of the subway system. Something about the metro system attracted the most unhinged people for whatever reason.
But even with these negatives, Soren couldn’t help but feel a bit… Homesick? The feeling disgusted him. He had no love for that city or Earth in general, but walking through the streets of Celestine and seeing the faces of people as they headed back home from work was oddly… Therapeutic. He felt like a hypocrite for it.
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Along the way, they rented a wooden cart to transport the crates Tina was carrying. They didn’t know it at first, but in retrospect, it should have been obvious that a petite five-foot-six woman carrying a stack of four large crates that were taller than her would attract a lot of attention. He decided to take the responsibility of pulling the cart around—Tina and Myrin walked in front of him.
“That Virion guy,” he asked. “He’s the person who confronted us on that roof isn’t he? During the Nightshade Raid.”
Tina nodded, “Yes that’s him. He’s the captain of the Court of Nightshade. Extremely powerful Holy Phantasm. That night, I was honestly planning on surrendering, but I had no way to verify he was a real person or an illusion made by the culprit behind the incident…
“In a way, I am kinda glad I brought you with me,” she smiled at Soren.
Soren turned away in embarrassment, “I’m glad I helped a little, I guess…”
“Still,” Myrin interrupted. “The fact that he showed himself at the end there is very suspicious. He must have been riding along with us the whole time on the skyship, and yet we never noticed his presence. It was only after we disembarked that we got to see him briefly before he disappeared again.
“That had to be on purpose.”
Soren nodded, “I agree. If he had the skill to hide himself for that long, he could have most likely continued hiding himself forever, and we wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Something is still fishy, though.” Tina said. “He leaped out of the balcony probably because the next checkpoint at the end of the staircase would entail passing through a magitech device that could detect if someone was a Phantasm or not. Our identification badge gives us some immunity from these searches—he on the other hand doesn't. He must have known that and decided to just skip the entire entry process altogether. But that still doesn’t explain how he managed to escape through jumping from the balcony.
“There is an entire magecraft spell that is active all around the perimeters of Celestine Citadel. The fact that it didn’t detect his presence is concerning… Should we report this incident to the officials?”
Myrin shook his head, “it’s better not to do that. Virion isn’t just some common criminal—he holds an important role in Yadria. Offending him might break the relationship between Aellora and Yadria even further. I am fairly certain he knows this too.”
Tina crossed her arms while dodging another pedestrian walking the other way. “Are you saying he showed himself to us as a way of granting himself permission for his actions? He wants us to let him go?”
He shrugged, “Most likely, but he could also have another goal I am unaware of. I am not completely certain, but I am sure Mistress Sienna will know more.”
Tina nodded and followed after him—Soren did the same thing, but the weight from the wooden cart was finally starting to drain his stamina. The fact that Tina was able to carry all of that weight without even breaking a sweat baffled him.
“I wonder,” he murmured. “Is Tyrel back in Celestine?”
Tina shook her head, “I doubt it. His march from the border toward the nearest village will take him a few days, and that’s being generous because he’s leading a group of exhausted refugees. And even once he gets to the village, he’ll still need to head westward—Celestine is all the way on the other side of the kingdom from where he would be at.”
Soren was a bit disappointed, “I see…”
As they moved along the crowded streets toward Star Fate Guild, Soren decided to take in the views. One thing that surprised him the most was how diverse Celestine was compared to Yadria. Even though Aellora was a human nation, it seemed to not mind other races at all. He could see people with animal ears, dwarves, and even those with horn-like antlers resembling twisted branches, adorned with sprouting leaves. The race that fascinated him the most, however, has to be the Drakar—humanoid beings covered in dragon scales paired with reptilian-like tails.
Even though the majority of the population seemed to be human, it was still incredibly rare to find a single bar, store or any sort of location that wasn’t a mixed bag of different races.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Soren.” Myrin murmured while reading his thoughts again. “This sort of situation is rare in Aellora—it's only common in Celestine and maybe Cinta Bay which gets a lot of travelers from the Sinlar Kingdom.”
Tina nodded while embracing the hubbub of the city. “Yes, you can thank the Outward Movement for what happened here. There was a brief renaissance period of new art and literature some 80 years ago. This city became the hub for that—many foreigners call Celestine the ‘City of Passions and Art.’”
Soren nodded, “I am guessing that caused a lot of exchanges in culture?”
“Indeed,” Myrin nodded. “This city has become much more diverse due to that. But as I said, this does not mean Celestine is not prone to intolerances. Elves are still viewed negatively in many circles even in this city. Not to mention, there’s still a lot of grudges that many hold against the neighboring Staterra Kingdom, so watch what you say.”
Soren didn’t doubt that in the slightest.
As for Tina’s claims about the city’s history, that too was quickly proven to be true. Food stalls and ambulatory vendors lined the streets, with countless bards donned in jewelry dancing at every corner, plaza, or road. Groups of exotic dancers did their routines over finely decorated carpets as onlookers tossed coins at them. Every few stalls, he would spot claymakers, sculptors, painters… Truly a city of passion. The urge to wander the streets aimlessly had never been this difficult to resist.
After another ten or so minutes of walking, Soren finally got exhausted. Just when he was about to ask Tina to pull the cart instead of him, he heard Myrin’s ecstatic voice.
“We’re finally home…”