Finding Contentus

Chapter 77: Pained Phoenix Pools

For eight days, Genesia rested, and on the ninth day, Gene said, fuck sleep, we've slept long enough. The night does not sleep.

With a querulous groan, Genesia came to with blurry eyes that took some time to focus. Without even waiting for his sight to clear up, his nose ascertained his location. Ramiya's bedroom. The amber scent and glowing lamps gave it away. But he didn't sense her next to him like he thought he would.

Instead, he was greeted by Azizi, who rubbed his head with his own affectionately. "How long?" Genesia asked with a reciprocating head rub and purr.

"Nine days, like my nine lives," Azizi answered with a purr. Lapis licked his face. "And my shedding skin of rejuvenated life," she hissed.

Genesia turned his head towards the stained window to see it and the curtains opened. Slowly, he got up to walk towards the window, depicting the scenes of Hathor's tears from the sky, providing life to her people in the river and raining down on their crops to have their food grow with blessed grains. The cow horned goddess, mother of Metro, fed all her children with maternal nutrition, and wept for all her babies.

Genesia's body was heavily wrapped in mummy bandages. Of course it was, he didn't even question it at this point with how much damage he had sustained during his second trial. Hayi. At least it's all over. He did feel healed, but the bandaged aesthetic was growing on him.

He was pleased to see his night cloak and saber tooth charm necklace on the beige sofa. He put the cloak on and wore his necklace, breathing a sigh of relief. A part of him was tempted to go to Ramela first, but another part of him needed to see Ramiya and check up on her.

It was strange. He didn't feel all too worried about Ramela's well-being due to her strength, even though she hid her weakness that leaked out from time to time. Ramiya on the other hand... scared him, with how strong her emotions were for, well, everything. It was like her body water was made of tears, just waiting to be expelled like body sweat.

He made a sad face and cleared away his thoughts by climbing up on the window seal. A ladder led the way to a high rooftop. He could smell her scent and perfume, however, he could not tell whether she was crying or not. He prayed she wasn't.

He climbed, taking his time as he ate up the gorgeous view of Kumbaktu from so high up. It was like he was ruling over the city of gold and each climb made the city rise with him, like he was carrying the place on his shoulders.

He eventually made it to the circular roof, and stopped immediately at the view that was before him. Ramiya was overlooking her city of sin, leaning over a marble pillar with a posture of overriding sadness that gazed across the kingdom.

Not just a part of the kingdom. The entire kingdom, at the same time, parts of the kingdom were not visible to the naked eye.

From every corner imaginable, Genesia was enthralled by the size alone. So this is how ants feel.

He knew that Kumbaktu was the largest city in Constantia, but with this view, he severely underestimated just how large it was. The vastness was astounding like the open ocean. Farmland and endless fields stretched for runs and waves on the outskirts of the city, along with harvesting farms on the inner parts. Hell he could even see Ramiya's dairy farm to the far left side of the royal estate.

Streams of artificial waterfalls flowed down from the hydro powered temples, supplying the city with water, just as the great Nyra river ran straight through all of Metro as its greatest source of water that sparkled in the blue night.

The complex buildings of dazzling limestone, glorious gold and patterned palm trees draped the whole place in magnifique displays of colour as Minaleese would say.