A Walk with Eternity-Chapter 47: Welcome

"Woah. It’s bustling here..." Milera commented, wandering her eyes around her surroundings.

They were now at the central plaza of the city, which is basically a road of shops leading to the port, where the ships that will take them to the capital city of the Empire of Amadeus Oceana are located.

"We have an hour and a half to look around before our ship leaves," Kian says, looking over his watch, a wearable VOID device that helps them keep track of time. In his watch, it was already 7:30 in the morning. Their ship leaves around 9 o’clock. "We should split up and meet up by the port after an hour."

"That said..." Kian takes Dolunay’s hand and immediately walks away.

"I will be taking her with me!"

This bastard— Dolunay’s thoughts were later interrupted when Kian dragged her out completely.

"Well, all be damned, he beat me to it," Milera cursed under her breath but sighed after. She then pulls Ezio with her, she looks up to him with a bright smile. "Let’s go check everything out, Ezio!"

Oh, I’m always the choice for when the girls aren’t around huh... Ezio chuckled and linked their arms together. He knows that Milera likes hanging out with her girls more than with them men, but at least, he’s always her top choice among all six of her male friends.

Ezio smiles back warmly. "Let’s go!"

"Don’t wander too far!" Cimmerian reminded the two like the older brother that he’s always been. He then sighs again when they are completely out of sight. "Gosh, all of them really..."

"Let them be for now, they can handle themselves at this point," Syvestian says as he lets out a yawn.

"You haven’t slept at all, Yves. Why don’t you just head back and get some sleep?" Lysander asks, firmly holding on to his umbrella, but Syvestian shakes his head in response to that.

"I’ll manage for now. Our audience with the empress is at dinner, no?" He asks, and Lysander and Cimmerian nod to answer his question. "I’ll be fast asleep after the meeting."

I doubt you’d even be able to last the whole afternoon, Lysander and Cimmerian thought. For the past few days of being together, they’ve seen how Syvestian often overestimates himself in the simplest limitation a human can have. Well, they can understand that he has been basically making himself to be an insomniac, but there’s truly a limit to how much he can push his body.

Just like how he overestimated himself back at the Redridge Clan. Syvestian was knocked out cold because of pushing himself way past his actual limit. Syvestian’s under eyes have gone darker for the past few days, working when he’s not around them. And now he pulled an all-nighter of training and studying after a whole day of travelling.

They can only imagine the mental and physical fatigue he’s experiencing at the moment. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

While they know they couldn’t scold him nor will he listen to them anyway, Lysander and Cimmerian simply shrugged it off and started moving around together as a group of three, all while making sure they don’t tire Syvestian too much from walking.

All seven of them enjoyed the day, picking out things to buy and new foods to savor. While Kian, Dolunay, Ezio, Cimmerian, and Lysander have always traveled far and wide within the empire, Milera and Syvestian were actually enjoying themselves in learning more about this place. It’s a place where they have never been in after all.

Dolunay, on one hand, had begun appreciating her surroundings more than she did before. She would only hide herself when she would visit lands that in her mission required her to do, always being unable to appreciate the beauty that actually surrounds her.

It was a short time for them to actually enjoy the entire plaza, but they bought what they all wanted. They wouldn’t want to tire themselves out when the capital city is much wider than this one.

Right after an hour, they were already gathered up at the port. An imperial knight was waiting there for them patiently. Once Kian was in his line of sight, he bowed in respect.

"Where are the others?" Kian asks.

"They are waiting inside the ship, Your Highness."

Kian turns to his friends and gestures his hand towards the ship. "Let’s head inside and rest for a bit. Secure our own seats while we can. We’ll leave in a few."

All of them boarded the ship, seeing a few sirens that are part of the crew. All with bluish or purplish pale skin, they all seemed easy to distinguish from a normal crowd.

They were all giving them certain glances here and there, probably recognizing the imperial royalty on board.

They all walked out to the deck of the ship, enjoying the cold ocean breeze that brushed through their skin and hair.

"This feels nice," Lysander says, holding the umbrella over his head, enjoying the breeze with closed eyes. He was next to Kian and Syvestian, who were a few feet away from the railing.

"Uhmmm, so refreshing," Milera nodded in agreement, standing by the railing with Ezio Cimmerian, and Dolunay.

"We can barely see the island from here..." Dolunay mumbled, putting her hand over her eyes to focus on looking directly at the island where the capital city is. There’s barely even anything ahead.

"It’s hard to believe it will only take half an hour to get there..." Cimmerian comments simply.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince..."

Their little moment was interrupted when a deep voice from behind them spoke.

The siren man, who seems to be the captain, approaches the group, most specifically Kian. He was tall, almost as tall as Cimmerian himself, but also seemed old from his gray hair and obvious wrinkles. "Welcome. I am Ian, captain of this ship. Have you enjoyed your stay so far?"

"Yes. Captain Ian was it?" Kian says with a warm smile, and the captain nods. "It has been delightful. How much longer until we set off?"

"Just a few more minutes, Your Highness. We have no more to wait for," the captain responds.

"Ah... I heard the security has tightened for the past week..." Kian trailed off, recalling the information his father had given them. "Are you aware of the reason why?"

"There has been a wanted criminal sighted within the capital," Captain Ian answers simply, catching the attention of the whole group. "Quite a heavy bounty has been placed on her, so there have been adventurers coming in and out of the city to hunt her down, but strangely enough, the empress simply decided on keeping the adventurers out, as if to keep that criminal inside as well."

Sounds like something Rue would do, all of them thought in unison.

In a few more minutes, the ship set sail. The horn sounded all across the entire city, signaling the first ship to leave for the day.

Their way to the island was nothing notable of any sort. It was quiet and peaceful, letting them enjoy the quietness for a while. It truly didn’t take too long for them to be able to see the island properly. All of a sudden, it seems so close.

"It must be an illusion spell..." Syvestian uttered.

"How so?" Kian became curious. The others looked over his direction as well, feeling curious.

"Since I didn’t feel that we came across a portal, I am assuming the island simply looked too far from the City of Shells because of an illusion spell. But in truth, it’s actually not," Syvestian says, letting out another yawn. "I came across a phrase in the historical documents I was reading, and it says there that only a siren can enter the island."

"That is true."

They once again heard the captain of the ship, Ian. He was approaching them with a small smile.

"Since the founding of our empire, it has been a long-standing rule that no outsiders can be allowed within the city walls without the company of a siren," Captain Ian continues, halting his steps next to Syvestian. "An illusionary spell has been casted to make the island seem so far off, that when a ship captained by an outsider will miss it completely, no matter how big it is. It’s an open secret to many visitors, since it’s a century-old spell."

Within forty minutes, they were able to arrive by the busy dock and finally get a full view of the huge city wall that goes around nearly the entire island. But they can see it, the very top of the Imperial Palace, where they will be staying for the month.

All of them stared in silence, all having a thought of their own. Expectations and worries were somewhat building at the same time within their system.

Waves came crashing from all sides, the winds were a little rough for a sunny morning.

Make one mistake, you can slip, fall, and die in these waters.

It somehow perfectly describes their mental state at the moment.

It seems like a rough environment from the outside... Syvestian thought to himself, looking up to the palace towers that they could only see from here. So that’s where she lives now.

The captain of the ship, Ian, steps back for a moment, bowing in front of all seven passengers.

"Welcome to the Empire of Amadeus Oceana, we welcome you."