Chapter 1269: Aquarina's Side Of Things
Chapter 1269: Aquarina's Side Of Things
The trip towards the Dry Steppes was longer than Aquarina could have imagined, to reach these faraway lands of the Elven Continent, the airship had to travel for two and a half days through the skies. In between her tears due to missing Sylphy and her own boredom, she slept through half of the trip, only waking up to eat when her parents called for her.
Shade and Nepheline had noticed it already, Aquarina was very depressed. Although she had shown some maturity once the trip began, they easily learned it was all to not make Sylphy upset. The moment she entered the airship with her parents, she broke out into tears and wouldn't let go of her mother for hours.
She loved Sylphy so much she didn't want to show her how she truly felt and bottled everything up. For these two days, she hadn't stopped crying in between her naps and food. Her parents did their best to lift her spirits, but it wasn't working too well.
It was only when the airship finally arrived in these far away and dry lands that Aquarina had cried everything she could have cried. Even when Pyuku and her two Spirits were there for her, she had to cry a lot to finally get a bit better.
"Aquarina, how are you feeling? Dear? It's morning already."
Nepheline gently caressed her daughter's head until she managed to wake her up.
"Hmm? It's morning...?"
Aquarina had black bags beneath her eyes from all the crying she had done, looking still sleepy.
"Yes, look, the Dry Steppes are just around the corner. Look, isn't it beautiful?"
"Huh? What could be beautiful, it's just a bunch of dry land- Ah!"
Aquarina's eyes widened as she sat down and looked through the window.
The Dry Steppes were an enormous area of the continent that was completely dry, but there were enormous mountains, canyons, and all matter of cactus and unique vegetation.
Giant black mushrooms grew for up to tens of meters, covering with shadow several areas to cool them down, and beneath them forests made of all kinds of colorful cactus sprouted.
At the distance, enormous canyons could be seen, not just brown colored, but many were yellow, orange, and almond colored.
The wind was strong and refreshing, and there were many types of animals and birds everywhere. Giant rock wyverns flew around, enormous drakes with long necks walked across the cactus forests, and there was even a huge oasis at the distance.
And right behind the oasis, there was a large, abandoned temple-like building, ruins of ancient times, made completely out of black stone.
She then quickly noticed a lot of houses, actual houses all around the oasis, covered by the shadow of the giant black mushrooms, and surrounded by cactus forests.
"W-What is that place?! I thought it was some dry land? It's so full of everything..."
Aquarina was quickly stimulated by the view, after only seeing nothing but sky for so long, she had gotten even more depressed, but after finally seeing the land, she felt surprised, amazed even.
Right, this wasn't just some sad trip, nor an obligation, this was also, as Sylphy had said, an adventure!
"Looks like someone feels more pumped up now?" her father walked inside the room, as he brought with himself breakfast.
There were three cups of warm tea, six sandwiches, and lots of donuts, fruits, and other pastries for his daughter and wife, who were big eaters.
"Dad, you never told me there was a town down there!" Aquarina complained.
"Did I had the obligation to tell you, young lady?" her father smiled. "Well, perhaps you shouldn't have just cried for so long. We might have had more time to talk about other things, perhaps..."
"Buh..." Aquarina sighed. "W-Well, I couldn't help it! Don't make fun of it... I thought you understood me as my dad..."
"Sorry, I shouldn't have worded it like that," Shade sighed, sitting down. "But you look a bit better, Aquarina. Come on, let's eat together. Let's talk about what's to come."
"Okay..." Aquarina nodded, as she walked towards the table and sat down over the wooden -chair.
Her mother quickly followed her, sitting right beside her.
Despite how she was often the stricter of the two parents, Nepheline couldn't help but pamper and spoil her daughter whenever she looked this sad.
She simply couldn't bring the strict mother person and would instead just hug her daughter and caress her hair, giving her company and warmth.
"The town we're going to is right at the side of the Inheritance. And it's called Everstone, it's a town composed mostly of Desert Elves and Amazonians that migrated to these dry lands thousands of years ago. Over half of their population is already mix between the two."
"Eh?! I had no idea Amazonians lived all the way here, didn't we live better inside of jungles?" wondered Aquarina.
"Not at all, our tough bodies are adapted to almost any environment," her mother said. "Mountain Dwelling Amazonian descendants usually belong to the Stone Carver Tribe, it is said that in ancient times they worked for the gods, carving the stones of the world for them and building their giant temples. The ones that dwell in the jungles, our tribe, was called Wood Cutters. We cut wood and processed it for the Gods. And lastly, there's another tribe, the Frost Carriers, those adapted to cold environments. Most of us remain almost the same, though the Frost Carriers have much paler skin, and their hair tends to be blue."
"Wow... I-I had no idea there was such a big variety of people like us, mom!" Aquarina was surprised. "I wish you could've told me more about my racial ethnicity like this! I want to meet more Amazonians now... Are the people at Everstone nice?"
"They're a very friendly bunch," her father nodded. "They're good friends of us. And were also the people that guided your mother, when she was much younger, to become as strong as
she is now."
"You won't be entering the inheritance trials yet, you'll be training with the Everstone people for a couple of months first, preparing yourself for what's to come. Of course, your father and
I will be there to also help you and instruct you," said her mother.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Aquarina's eyes slowly regained their light, as she felt slightly excited about what was to
come.
"Sylphy... I wonder how you're doing."