In The Wake of Gods (pt. 1)
Trevor walks along the concrete stretch between the Tower of Charity and the Tower of Strength. People & families walk along with him, some the other way, some to work; some having stopped along the thick iron railing to look down at the other stretches of New Shaal. Seeing the mass of the suspended city on their commute to and fro whatever places in their lives, and some stare down further to the ground, and the ruins.
His mind was elsewhere however, heading to the Tower of Charity to take the public lift 8 & 1/3, down to the middle of the city with a few families, a couple, and a postmen with a set of boxes on a dolly. Trevor notices the bottom box is a case of assorted high end wine bottles, three bottles each of Byzieral, Aushel, Grand Bristinal, and Romno berry wine. Trevor feels his stomach drop after reading the plastic labels and it wasn't because of the flavors, the case itself was wooden and antiquated, baring the brand of the long dead Imperial House; the white dragon laying dead on its back with a stone pillar running through the chest.
"How much is that worth?" A young boy asks aloud, his eyes in widen and his mouth hanging comically open. The lift dings and moves them all down the tower as the postmen seems to bite his tongue on the answer while eyes turn to him and the box.
"If I stole it, I think I could buy the entire apartment I live in with it." He decides to answer. The boy looking up to his parents to see if such a thing was possible while others shock their heads in several versions of disbelieve.
"So we jump him in three and drink the evidence." Trevor says and several people laugh, the postmen included. Conversations then break out around him and he looks down at his phone, the black screen reflecting back the half tired twenty something face that looks down at it, Trevor realizes his brown hair is a mess and turning on the camera he runs his fingers through it until it seems bearable; then the original purpose of the time and for any messages. With nothing he looks up at the lights above the lift door, watching the progress of their decent. Several times he hears mentioning of the new museum dedicated to the old Imperial House, and he wonders how crowded the place is going to be. It has had a none stop flow of people coming to it, and today Trevor and his date would be apart of that flow.
When the lift stops and opens everyone leaves, fanning out into the star shaped central plaza. The families heading over to the statues while the postmen waits for a clearing in the mass of people before wheeling out his cargo. Trevor watches the box of impossibly old and valuable wine leave his life and turns his head to scan the mass of people for her. Failing to find her easily he makes his way through the crowd, going around the small pockets of clustered people and food vendors servicing out ice cream, various kinds of moriato meat cooked and prepared into tenders, burgers, or on a stick with grilled vegetables. The smell of it all makes his stomach grumble and suddenly reminds him that his nervousness got him to skip breakfast. Shrugging his soul about it as his stomach swells again Trevor makes his way into an open space where people only pass him by as he turns his head around and around, scanning the crowd he tries to pick her out only to feel a purposeful poke at his back, turning around he sees nothing and feels the poke again. He doesn't move this time and Holly rushes herself to end up facing him.
"Oh, hey." She says before laughing, "You weren't supposed to do that."
"Not the first time you've said that." He replies and they both laugh as she clings herself to him.
"Nor will it be the last, I'm sure" She says looking up at him, then down and forward to the statues before them. Trevor takes a moment longer looking at her before joining her gaze at the Imperial Family. Before them stands a detailed but rusted green Heliva, with her arm out stretched to the sky, lining up to where the sun would crest the hills in the morning, as if gesturing for tomorrow; even now. To her left is Solenne, dressed in battle armor and poised to strike with a sword that isn't in her hands, mainly because everyone else would look boring in comparison. To Helvia right is Moirran, ordained in an elegant dress even as a statue, while she stares up at the sky with Helvia in the day, because at night her statue's dress shines with the dim golden flakes, in memory & in honor of her city and its final hour. "These people ruled the world." Holly says, looking up to Trevor.
"Yeah," He agrees, remembering learning of each of them throughout the entirely of school, "and if I remember right, the girls were the good ones."
