Arrival in Gigas

[bravenewmods]

The City of Gigas is unlike anything the people of Union have ever seen before. The city is immense, a sprawling metropolis that covers the land as far as the eye can see. Built up primarily around enormous centralized towers, unlike Union these towers are dark concrete buildings, covered in glass windows. The buildings seem to serve any number of functions, and have a startling variety in construction, style, and even size, creating a unique skyline that is breathtaking to behold. The city is connected with roads of asphalt, upon which whiz smoke-belching steel carriages at frightful speeds, the engines (and piercing, constant horns) creating an ever-present din that engulfs the city in loud, chaotic sound.

“Downtown,” as the Gigans know it, is a huge collection of stores, apartments, and businesses. Apparently, the larger homes are built in Calderan-style but tend to be further from the main commotion of the downtown areas, of which Gigas citizens assure Union citizens that there are several, each with their own district name and culture. The technology is quite advanced as well, full color televisions are standard in every home and built in devices so slim and with such sharp images that they seem decades ahead of Union’s own technology. Pokemon are still quite present in Gigas, many people riding flying types and the buildings having huge perches to accommodate them. As with the vehicles below, however, Gigas seems to regulate air traffic to individual lanes and the birds seem well-trained as they convey their trainers to and fro.

Humans are just that, here, Human. No unusual shapes and sizes like the Enlightened and Earthkin of the Union Alliance, and those displaying unusual traits receive odd looks. Like many civilizations to the east, Battling is a common sport though in this place it’s more like the combat arenas of old. Several stadiums dot the cityscape, the sounds of Pokemon Battles and cheering crowds echoing for blocks all around, and it’s a stadium where humans are not welcome. Unless, of course, they want to make a show and spar against a Pokemon, of course.

This is Gigas, the City of Reclamation. Union civilians have free rein to explore this grand city as councillors are invited into the massive capitol building to negotiate with the Gigan leaders. Gigas civilians, for their part, are polite, friendly even. While many of them are caught in the bustle of their daily lives they regard Union citizens with interest and curiosity, willing to talk about their city, extolling its virtues while complaining about the noise, the crowds, the lines, and the expense all the while. One thing is clear though, the people of Gigas are proud of their city and their accomplishments. This is their home, and they are eager to show it off to the world.

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[demenscantrix]

I: The (Ex)-Commander's New Groove

[Why Nero had come back here, she had no idea. It certainly told High Command something, seeing the name Nero Claudius on the list of travelers, and maybe that was it. Sending a message to the traitors that she was alive and well was one thing she was not opposed to. She was never the sort to want to stab a man in the back, after all.

But that was not what today was all about. Today, she was the greatest and most celebrated woman in the world, returning to the land of her birth. And she was a whirlwind of excited energy, practically bouncing up and down as she zips towards the shopping district.]

Come! There's an amazing shop that you simply must see! And food, so much food!

II: The Fall of the House of Asper

[In the dead of night, Nero slipped away, careful to not be seen. People she was staying with might notice, but she moved with purpose, devoid of her usual airheadedness. This was a task she'd come to do, and come to do silently. A task that only she can do, and one that leads her through winding streets and dark alleys towards a section of the high walls surrounding a highrise. And it's there that even a crafty pursuer will lose her, the nimble Homunculus leaping upwards a story, and then climbing up the spire at an alarming rate. Once she's atop it, there are several long moments, and then a dull wet thud as something slams into the street from high above.

Moments later she reappears and slips back into the night, heading back to her lodging.]

((ooc: Feel free to catch her as she returns to the room, or after the event in prompt II.))

I

[allergictoloveletters]

[Ami looked up and smiled at her patient and slowly developing friend. She tilted her head, having gone to check on her, unsure of how the return would affect the woman, but it seemed she worried for naught.]

Well, I look forward to see it and try it all! What would you recommend? So long as it isn't too spicy I don't mind trying it.

[demenscantrix]

[Generally, Nero bounces back from problems like a rubber band. This is no exception, though she's keeping her true intentions about coming quiet to everyone. At least one person would not live another sunrise, but that was...not...something a doctor needed to hear.]

Oh, well there's an exquisite style of pasta here, thinner than Union. It's a marvelous thing, and you simply must try it.

[allergictoloveletters]

Very well, if you don't mind acting as my guide, I would love to try it. Would you take me there? If not, just point the way and I can figure it out on my own.

[demenscantrix]

Would I mind? Not at all, my dear girl. Come, let us go! It's not far from here, and if memory serves they offer take-away meals.

[allergictoloveletters]

Well, then we'll do what you feel most comfortable with, if you don't want to eat there, perhaps there is a nice park we can eat at? Or you are welcome to join me at the library with it.

II -- afterward

[untalented]

[Staying up too late at night had become a habit for Waver, whenever sleep decided that it wanted to evade him for the ideas and curiosities that wanted to dance in his head. While he hadn't heard Nero leave, he was certainly surprised to awaken in the middle of the night and find her gone.

But, since sleeping at that point was going to be a practice in futility, he decided to pull out his trusty notebook and start jotting everything he had seen and experienced in the city down, just to get it out of his head.

He wasn't waiting for her-- not really. But, he was paying attention for her eventual return. Like a wandering skitty, Nero always returned to where there was hot food and a comfy bed eventually.]

[demenscantrix]

[Silently, Nero does return a while later, closing the door behind her and starting off towards her section of the suite. At least, until she noticed the boy's eyes watching her. Of course he would be, because he was fundamentally a good person, and a friend. She stops, offering him a quiet little smile.]

Waiting for me, Waver?

[untalented]

[He looked up when she arrived with a small start, and peered up at her owlishly from his place in the corner that was only lit by a faint variant of a Flash spell.]

I didn't plan to...but finding you missing did worry me a little. I know what this place means to some of the people who travelled here from Union.

[demenscantrix]

I'm fine. Truly. I just had some business to attend to.

[Though, an uncharacteristic gravity to her words is probably a dead giveaway that this is something big. Something important.]

I know these streets better than Union's. You don't need to worry overmuch about me.

[untalented]

It's not just you I'm worried about.

[Because, though he hadn't pressed for details, he suspected that the people who had hurt Nero were also associated with Gigas...and Nero wasn't one to do anything half heartedly.]

I

[vulcanblazer]

[Adell was, admittedly, quite a Slowpoke by comparison to her boundless energy. Gigas had been much more to take in than he imagined it would be... technology greater than he could've guessed, sights, sounds, and more that he never really imagined back in Caldera.

Nevertheless, he followed behind her the whole way, and was admittedly surprised she seemed so jubilant to be back. And that energy was tough to keep up with while constantly dumbfounded by everything you see.

But there was one thing that caught his attention.]

Food, you said? What kind of food?

[demenscantrix]

[It's only because she knows the evening is going to be productive, and this is where she needs to play the giddy fool she once was, not the person she is. His question is completely unsurprising though. He is Calderan, and that culture seems characterized by food.]

Why, all sorts. A favorite of mine was always pasta. Though it's thinner here than in Union, and not served in soups.

[vulcanblazer]

Noodles not in soup? Hah. That's quite different. So, what, do they just serve it on a plate? Wouldn't that be kind of... plain, by itself?

[You'll have to forgive him, he's something of a bumpkin even for Caldera's standards. Still, at least he's sharp enough to think that there might be more he doesn't know.]

Or, is there something else to it?

[demenscantrix]

You'd think that, but really, you flavor it with sauces. All kinds of sauces, though I personally prefer the cheese ones.

[She's heading down a long row of what appear to be restaurants, towards one in particular, with a glowing neon sign that reads "Pastigliones!"]

II

[ofpromisedvictory]

[Unlike Waver, Saber was deliberately waiting for her human double. To the point of having a second cup of tea prepared - if you can call the stuff made with the contraption in the hotel room tea, anyway.]

Finished with what you need to do, or is this going to be an ongoing event?

[demenscantrix]

[When Saber speaks up, Nero doesn't jump. If anything, she seems...subdued when she looks at her counterpart. There's no hesitation when she crosses the floor and sits across from the other woman, just a kind of dour sigh.]

I am done. The message is sent. I shall not be leaving again for the remainder of our sojourn.

[ofpromisedvictory]

I think that's wise.

[She takes a tentative drink of her own tea. Still too hot. What's the deal with the machines here, anyway?]

Do you feel any better about your past now?

[demenscantrix]

Yes. And no.

[Without hesitation, Nero sips her own.]

Sulpicia Asper is one of twelve individuals I have to deal with, to put it to rest. Monsters all, who've done far worse than merely betray me. I take no joy in killing them, I merely do what needs to be done. There's no system that will try them, they cover their tracks well.

[ofpromisedvictory]

[Darned Steel type.]

I'm not going to argue that point.

...I do wonder why I'm not, though. If you were just looking for vengeance, I'd probably give you some bitter words and then let it go. But when you say you "do what needs to be done", I believe you, and I don't know why that should persuade me.

I

[expertonshutters]

Oi, oi! You keep that up and I'll lose you in the crowd!

[it wasn't really a secret that Gigas had him tense but, well. Nero was pretty excited. He would try to be less sour about everything for that reason.]

[The promise of food, though- that helped in its own way. He can't keep the curiosness out of his voice.]

What kind of food does Gigas have?

[demenscantrix]

[She does slow a little, though...she was never terribly fast to begin with. She's a shorty.]

Food? Oh, all the best kinds! Noodles with sauces, cheeses, fried things, and all these wonderful kinds of bread you just can't find anywhere else!

[expertonshutters]

[It's okay Hayato is also a shorty. He catches up with her quick enough, though.]

You should show me the best. Come on, dazzle me with this Gigan cuisine.

[demenscantrix]

Very well!

[She's 5'0" with the ahoge...]

I shall not even trick you with spice. So, come, to the restaurants!

[expertonshutters]

[so smol.]

Such a kind and benevolent guide!

[But he will follow her to where she leads him.]