Leo had thought the King was a bit scary or maybe somewhat a dictator, considering the first time he saw him. But after spending a few hours with him supervising and learning more about the realm, his view of the King had changed.
The King was jovial, honest... maybe too honest, and given the way he related with the workers, he was definitely loved by his city. That wasn't a mere guess since the citizens had gone against him when Aquarius had brought the plan of leaving the realm, but they still obliged at the end.
Speaking of leaving, he had also learned that Aquarius's true goal was to break the curse with the help of the King. He learned royals are the key to breaking the curse. He still didn't know if breaking it would cost the King's life, but he figured that was how the realm itself was created.
According to the King, the creator was an axiom of emotions. That explains a few things and still causes more confusion. He now saw the distinct difference between the three layers of the realm. The Tide Of Seas was mostly composed of dark emotions; underwater where civilization resided was filled with happiness and all sorts of happy emotions, while the desert was devoid of any emotion.
He also learned the remaining cities could also come to the desert but would appear in separate regions in respect to the way they lived in the Great Sea.
Expectedly, the Tide of Seas was imagined differently by the humans of this realm. But now that Aquarius had gone there, he was able to explain everything he knew and saw about the surface. The King and Lyra were scared and a bit in awe at the same time, making the feat of killing a Condemned Sagittarius in that kind of surroundings much greater, if not legendary, since he was a Pisces after all, which was two ranks higher than Sagittarius.
... But a Condemned was a Condemned, nevertheless.
... Well, it was legendary to the commoners who couldn't stop giving him strange looks. Maybe it was the armor, maybe it was the feat of surviving the Tide Of Seas while battling a shark, or maybe it was both. Whatever the reason for the strange looks was, he loved it.
It kept fueling his pride more and more.
It also led to another question, though, after remembering the battle with Aquafina. Her sensory suppression ability had limited according to Leo's theory before leading her to the sea. Which means his guess about Lyra's ability could also be true, and Aquafina's ability was directed to steal and also suppress the relations one had with water, or maybe liquid at large.
But it still didn't make any sense. If that was her ability, then how was Lyra still able to battle her and unleash her full power? Was it because they were of the same rank? Or maybe Lyra was simply a better Aura Farmer?
If any of the above were true, then it would still make no sense. Would their abilities work in a seemingly endless expanse of white sand where a single drop of water isn't in sight?
He had now decided learning the full nature of people in this realm could run him mad. It felt all over the place at some point, random at other points, and just plain nonsensical at other points.
'It isn't clicking.'
What had been gnawing on him was also whether these people were humans or other beings entirely. It was a huge revelation to know that they are actually humans. According to the King and a few words from Lyra, humans inhabit all the realms, all possessing different genetics. In fact, it had been theorized that all realms share one connection, but it was too fragile to hold together, splitting into realms with their own specific features.
... It was as if a god had split their consciousness to create humans.
Well, that was just somewhat of a personification the King had given to explain it better and was not actually true. In fact, everything the King had said was to be taken lightly since he was saying it based on what he had been told.
At the end, Leo classified it as myths. Even if they were facts, there were bound to be some changes in the actual storyline.
'Huh? Storyline? Hey! What if my life and everything... aura, realms, and much more... is actually a story written by someone... Maybe by me? Who knows.' Leo chuckled at the joke.
Since everyone was now ready to work on the ship, laborers had appeared and the soldiers who were tasked with keeping the city safe from the sea monsters before the attack were back. So, Leo didn't have anything to do. It was as if he was the only idle human on the desert.
Aquarius had long drawn the plans of the ship, so he and Lyra had been following them, although it took him a while to finally grasp it. The same went for the laborers, but with the help of the King and Lyra, they were understanding the simplicity behind the complex intricacies of the ship and the work was going smoothly.
After explaining it to the laborers, he checked continuously to see if they were doing it properly and following the plan and his orders.
He then left Lyra to keep supervising alongside the King and left the ship with the metallic gloves. He wanted to study the domes more.
'Wow.'
Just as he had guessed, the domes were arranged in such a great manner and with such intricacy that they could be on par with the plans of the ship.
Up close, they weren't just simple stone igloos. They were massive, smooth structures that seemed to grow out of the white sand like giant, sightless eyes. As he walked between them, he realized they weren't placed randomly. They formed wide, curving boulevards that funneled the stagnant desert air, creating a slight, artificial breeze that kept the silt from piling up against the entrances. It was a layout designed for a crowd, yet the silence between the curved walls was so thick it felt heavy.
He reached out a hand, his white metallic gauntlet brushing against the surface of the nearest dome. It felt cold. Looking closely, he saw that the stone was etched with thousands of hairline fractures, all interlocking in a pattern that reminded him of the scales on his own chest.
... Somewhat resembling a shell.
He followed the line of one dome to where it met the sand and noticed something even stranger. The base of each structure was slightly translucent, allowing a faint, ghostly light from the trapped ocean sky to bleed into the ground. It was as if the domes were breathing light into the earth. For a moment, Leo forgot about the ship, the King, and even his missing arm. He just stood there, a lone figure in bone-white armor, dwarfed by the silent, perfect geometry of a city that was waiting for a people who might never return...
Soon, he heard a fragile, elderly voice from behind him.
"Sir Aquarius?"