“Yes,” Tao replied, “It.” he gasped, “It almost reminds me of my old home!” “I wonder how these plants ever got any light?” remarked Athanaos, “They look so.pale!” Esteban glanced up at the ceiling and speculated, “Maybe.maybe the ceiling opens sometimes, like back at Tseilla?” Athanaos followed his gaze and noticed how the dark, rocky dome contrasted with the smooth, orichalcum city below. “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Zia dreamily asked. Whatever kind of City of Gold this was, he had a feeling the people of Mu had never planned for that. As Athanaos looked around, he took particular notice of how some of the buildings around the edge of the city had been pulled out of their foundations and lifted up into the trees on the ceiling. But what astounded everyone was the impossible feat of the Dragon tree’s roots climbing up the walls of the cavern and sprouting more trees that hung from the sides or even upside down. In the distance, Tao observed what looked like man-sized orichalcum insects patrolling the area, stopping every now and then to tend the plants. Zia smiled as she noticed the hundreds of plants, flowers and animals that populated this orchard, all pale and nearly colorless from lack of sunlight. They snaked in all directions, expanding, dividing, even growing into new trees to join the ones in the orchard that circled the city’s perimeter. While the tree-shaped orichalcum tower was magnificent in itself, the roots of the very real Dragon Tree on the surface seemed to dominate the entire city. “Now let’s go.” As everyone spread out through Arcaena, they couldn’t help but marvel at the scenery around them. “You can be by my side, señorita,” Mendoza replied, “In case.we run into trouble.” Isabella just laughed as she joined her partner, “Always the sensitive one, aren’t you, Mendoza?” Finally, Athanaos cleared his throat, “I’ll stay with the children.” “Good,” nodded Mendoza. “And me?” asked Isabella as she crossed her arms and gave him a reserved smirk. “I’ll watch him like an e-e-eagle!” Sancho added, comically holding both hands around his eyes. And whatever you do,” he warned, “DON’T let them out of your sight under any circumstances! Understand?” “Sir, yes sir!” Pedro obliged with a pathetic salute. “Who knows, there might be some real gold among this alien alloy!” Mendoza narrowed his eyes as he saw how Gaspard’s sparkled, then he turned to Pedro and ordered, “You, Sancho, keep an eye on those men. We might not have much time to explore this city, so let’s split up to cover more ground.” “I’ll keep your friend safe!” Khadan insisted. Clearing his throat, Mendoza asked the group, “All right, friends, we know how these things work by now. “Boy,” remarked Esteban, “These people of Mu sure have a strange way of traveling from place to place.” “I’d take that over a long temple staircase myself,” Athanaos remarked, adjusting the golden mask he'd worn since entering this city. Naturally, the trip proved both disorienting and uncomfortable, to the point where Pedro almost hurled up his meal before Sancho helped him up, while Athanaos had to hold his own head to lessen his dizzy spell. Esteban jokingly thought they'd have to walk along this branch, but a doorway inside proved him wrong with another Ascensioner tube, this one vacuum-based like the kind at Badalum. "I'm fine, let's try and find a way down there." As they passed under the golden tree's impossibly organic leaves and fruits, it didn't take long for the group to notice how one of the lower branches snaked around the tower to the city below. He must have forgotten the others were watching, as Mendoza spoke up, "Tao, are you all right?" "Y-Yes," the boy stammered. Tao in particular had mixed feelings: On one hand, he hoped his father was in here somewhere, but another side worried how long they'd be able to explore until something inevitably went wrong. They stood atop the tree-shaped tower for what felt like half an hour, taking in the new City of Gold they'd traveled all this way to find.
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