The Underwater Kingdom~ (2)

All paths on the face of the main island eventually lead to the Pod Station in the center of the town. The Pod Station is the only form of transport for outsiders to travel from the Island, to the Underwater Kingdom. The Station is a blue shaded, transparent, spherical building, the size of a small house. Along the walls of the building, are ten capsule shaped pods. Two attendants are present in the Pod station at all hours, in order to ensure that those needing to travel along them will be able to do so with no issues. The pods are each about the size of a small closet, capable of fitting about five people. They’re made of a strong, clear material, to allow visitors to take in the magnificent view that is the ocean beneath the Island. The wildlife, and corals are astonishing through the royal blue filter that is Sirams waters.

The trip that the pods take, though the mazelike paths under the ocean takes approximately two minutes. During which time, passengers are likely to see various fish, dolphins, whales, or even sharks! Upon their destination, they will see an almost identical station to the one from which they departed. The only difference is, instead of the doors opening to the outside, they open to reveal a corridor, that leads to the grand, crystalline Kingdom of the Royal Family.

What the members of Siram call the “Kingdom” is more like a modernized, medieval palace. It’s underwater location provide it safety from outside intrusion, however, it’s beauty provides a feeling much different from that of a bunker that one would find underground. Crafted from the sea itself, the palace is made up of different corals and marbles. The most reputable material, however, is Sirams famous Sea Glass, which allows those inside to see out into the vast ocean. Though this clear material is called glass, it isn’t nearly as fragile as that which makes up a bottle. This material, which makes up the outer walls of the palace is actually solid as a tank-proof fortress, yet crystal clear as glass, stained blue by the color of the brilliant waters surrounding it. This effect causes a magical blue glow to radiate through the Kingdom in the daylight.

The corridor from the Pod Station leads directly into the main hallway, which breaks off into several main corridors. To the left, is the employees of the kingdom's wing. The employees are treated well, and given lovely living quarters. These employees may include Official Siram Healers (as opposed to entrepreneurial healers up on the islands) Chefs, Gatherers, or many other workers. To the right, the visitors wing, which is exactly as it sounds. Visitors to the Kingdom stay in well furbished quarters, and are treated as royalty. Up the stairs, is the royal's wing, home to the royal family, and their closest advisors. It has the fewest number of rooms out of all wings in the palace, however, the rooms are, by far, the most extravagant in all of Siram.

It was just like any other early morning in the crystalline kingdom of Siram; silent corridors, the streaming pitter-patter of water in the bath halls, and the endless Drip. Drip. Drip. of water droplets striking the metal plates of the time collector in Micah's room. As each new water droplet struck the plates of the counter, a new second of life was marked; collecting together in a small, yet endless pool of water at the base of the clock. For a while there was just the peaceful audio of dribbling rain, but as time passed, it came time for active life to start once more; time for the Menelaus Aquae, the Little Princess of Tides, to awaken from her peaceful slumber and join the rest of the world until the sun set once more. As it came time, the collection of water droplets continued to build until the volume reached its max, and spilled over the brim of the water-fountain-ike clock on her dresser. As this chain of events occurred, a new metal plate was struck, this time signaling a music box to open. The melody that slid forth from the tiny music box was loud enough to fill the candle-lit room with a gentle piano melody. It took only moments of this calming noise to flutter to Micah's ears; knocking gently on the doors of her conscious mind, and greeting it like an old friend. Soon, she was awake; pulling her small figure up into a loosely knit sitting position on her overly large bed. For a moment she sat in silence, letting the gentle melody sooth her muscles and tease her small face with a sleepy smile. She lifted a hand after a moment, brushing the sleep from her eyes, and running her small hands through the beautiful mess of hair atop her head. She then reached over to her desk, plucking a rather large brush from its surface and passing the gentle bristles through her hair once-over, then twice, three times. She counted out 100 strokes, before smoothing the soft strands of hair with her fingertips and setting the brush aside. Well, it was time to get up.

It took a moment to pull herself steadily out of bed; having stumbled once or twice during her attempt. Once she was finally standing upright, a delighted giggle passed her plump, rosy lips; laughter by her own failures. She closed the distance between her bedside and the elegant, clothing-stocked closet area on the other side of her room, stepping into the separate space and allowing her fingertips to lightly trace the smooth silks, cottons, and cashmeres of her wardrobe. What to wear? The lights from her younger sister's clan lit her way through the separate, clothing filled room; eyes wandering over the many different colors and fabrics, until they reached a suitable pair of clothes. With a warm smile, the little princess gave a feeble pull to the clothes, allowing them to slide gracefully off of their wracks and into her arms. She then changed directions; heading of of the wardrobe, out of her room, and down the vibrantly lit cobblestone corridors of the underwater kingdom, her destination being the bathe halls. Of course, they weren't really halls, nor where they rooms, or even individual showering areas. The bath hall was really just one large room, lit by both candles, and the orbs of light from Liwanag. Inside of this room were several open bathes; hot tub like structures, built into the cobblestone floors. There were also cooler pools of water, for casualties, as well as naturally made indentations in the walls to provide for relatively private showering areas. The bath hall wasn't really all that private; everyone would be out in the open, showing themselves to all others in the room at the time. However, no one really cared, or where bothered by this fact. It was an easy, peaceful, and harmless freedom; the only true privacy being the fact that there were separate bathe halls, for women and men. Other than this, all were relatively free inside of the bath halls.

As she made her way into the women's bathe hall, a short moment was taken to observe the others in the room with her. Not very many seemed to be up this early, only a few women could be seen taking warm bathes to wake themselves up, or relax before they had to go off to do their daily dos. With a short nod to herself, she set the clothes she had brought, along with the towel she picked up by the doorway, into once of the dry shelf like areas and slid out of the clothing she had worn to sleep. These shelves were separated from the actual bathe hall, in a smaller room just off to the side of it, for safe keeping of individuals belongings. Once her clothing was set aside, she wandered her way back into the bathe hall and found an empty showering cuby, setting the bar of handmade, natural soup, as well as the small bottles of natural hair cleaner, on one of the small indentations in the wall. It only took a moment for the water to spill itself from the ceiling; coming from the gradient like patterns in the ceiling that are always filled with water. These patterns defy gravity, so to speak, water collecting inside of them like they would in the cracks of the cobblestone floorway, and remaining there, until one would use their manipulation over water to create a steady flow of water, to rain down on them. The flow she created was much like a mild rain; strong enough to create an almost massaging like pressure, but thin and light enough as to not overpower, and create a refreshing brush of water on her body. She stood under the relatively warm water for several long minutes, before taking the small bottle of hair cleaner and lathering the soup-like liquid through her long hair. After a minute or two she then washed the soup out of her hair, replacing the bottle with the bar of soup, and lathering a good amount of the bar's smooth surface onto her skin and working it into the pores. Once her body was cleansed, she washed the soup off of her and stood a few more minutes under the water, before letting its flow slowly die out above her. With a small smile, she then wandered out of the showering cuby, into the wide open area of the room. She lightly ran her fingers through the long, wet, and glistening hair as she exchanged smiles and small waves with a few of the other women in the room, before taking her leave to the dry room, where she would proceed to dry off, dress comfortably, and head back up to her bedroom.

As she wandered back into the obnoxiously large room she had been granted as a birth right, her eyes took stock of the room, and she mentally compared it to the image she had before she'd left. Everything seemed to be in order, accept for the fact that there was now an elegantly dressed platter of food atop her dresser; containing several different types of fruit, from the island no doubt, raspberry jam-covered toast, small amounts of lemon-dribbled fish meat, and a tall glass of what looked to be pomegranate juice. And though this was a large amount of food for a relatively small girl, she appreciated the variety of foods they had prepared for her this morning. Advancing toward her desk she took a seat, picking small pieces of fruit occasionally from the platter to eat, as she gathered the papers she needed for todays work. The ball was coming soon, and she had taken on the responsibility of writing the invitations to the other clans. Of course, other members of the council had told her they would write them, but she felt that it was more personal, coming from herself. And so, she picked up a pen containing soft, pinkish ink, that smelled like herself after the shower; freshly bloomed roses, dozens of them. And then she started to write, using the 'fancy paper', as her mother used to put it, to write out each individual clan's invitation to the Grand Ball, occasionally eating bits of the food, or taking a drink of the juice, as she did so; a delighted smile on her face.