Though he wasn’t really focused on the historical descriptions of the buildings from the tour, he did take notice of the beauty that described the city’s structures. He had never seen any of the larger Tehynshin cities, as he was raised all his life out in the frontier, but he had heard stories from Syonette about how the city’s stone buildings towered overhead. She had explained that many were built so closely together that they seemed like one single, massive, multicolored structure that stretched on for whole city blocks, each the size of his village of Mintas.
She had also explained that such tightly knit construction came with distinct disadvantages, namely the loss of any sort of privacy, lack of any nature to relax in, and smaller homes since each building was built to house multiple families in their own little apartments.
And the stairs. She never failed to mention the hellish stairs and the multiple times per day she had to go up and down them. Apparently, it was a mark of rank and social status to live near the top of a building, but she failed to see it that way since that just meant more steps. Kre tended to agree with her on that point, not being favorable to steps himself.
But this. This city was magnificent. Or at least, it used to be based on the memories of it he was seeing. That part confused him a bit. His mind couldn’t seem to wrap itself around the idea that none of this existed anymore, yet it was clearly visible to him. He supposed that maybe it had something to do with the fact that his physical eyes were trapped in the darkness of the underground while his mind was being fed the colorful vivid images of the city as it was.
At least, that’s how he understood things as they were happening right now. He wished he had paid closer attention to Bel and Kitalia when they talked about the priest and his seemingly dark powers. He wished a great many things, being trapped here with the strange man… rather, the creature that had him ensorcelled and imprisoned deep underground.
“A copper sun for your thoughts boy,” the priest said, after pausing in his latest explanation of a nearby building. “I’ll even wager a thousand more suns that it has to do with you daydreaming and not listening to a damn word I’ve said.”
Kre snapped his eyes off to the side, to avoid the priest’s stern gaze. “I’m sorry… it’s just that the constant shifting of everything is making me queasy. I’m not used to this kind of magic. Or any kind of magic, that is.”
The priest considered it for a moment and nodded once. “That’s a fair response. I know very little of your people, I admit, but I had not considered that yours would be a race bereft of any magical capacity.”
He tapped at his cheek and pursed his lips thoughtfully, “It makes sense though, given what happened.”
Kre waited a moment for him to continue, but the priest made no indication that he would. “What did happen?” he finally asked.
The priest raised his eyebrows as if considering the question for the first time. “Oh? Yes… that little sordid detail. I mentioned it before, I think.” His eyes seemed to take on the fuzzy shadow that once surrounded his outline. “It’s hard to remember. So hard to remember so many things.”