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.

Comments

[allergictoloveletters]

So noted. [She laughed.] And thank you.

Well, shall we head to that restaurant? What is the name for this dish, by the by?

[demenscantrix]

This particular dish, the one I'm thinking? Pasta Bolognese. A sort of noodle dish, but with a sauce and meat, as I said.

[allergictoloveletters]

I look forward to it. I admit, I know what pasta is, but not this particular variant of it. [She wondered what the meat was in particular. As they reached the restaurant she opened the door for Nero to enter first.]

[demenscantrix]

[And in they go, and they're seated and drink orders placed.

The menu is mostly beef-pastas, but some call for pork in the form of grumpig.]

Your thoughts? My favorite was always the cheese sauces with miltank.

[allergictoloveletters]

It was wonderful! I quite enjoyed it, I find I prefer tomato based sauces for things like this, although I prefer a different sort of noodle, they tend to be in broths.

[demenscantrix]

Oh! The tomato sauces are also quite lovely, but for me, this will always be the taste of my family meals as a child.

And to be honest, while I do like Union's broths I find them a little less filling.

[allergictoloveletters]

What was your family like, if you don't mind my asking?

They are smaller portions, I admit, but who is to say a restaurant like this wouldn't excel in Union? I'm not a very good cook, I can follow the recipe, but the fine-tuning that comes from intuition is something I lack.

[demenscantrix]

They were...troublesome...I think is the best way to describe them. Ambitious and generally self-motivated. My mother tried to poison me after my father passed, so she would become the head of house instead of me. She was exiled for that, of course. My cousins and uncles were much friendlier though, and that's what these remind me of.

[allergictoloveletters]

[Ami's eyes widened as Nero so unabashedly admitted to her mother trying to poison her, calling them troublesome. She nearly choked on the tea she was drinking.]

I- I'm sorry that- no one deserves that from those who should be standing by them the most.

[demenscantrix]

[Nero shrugs, completely nonplussed by this. If you were wondering why she was the way she was, her family probably gave the best indication. Once you had all that happen, only truly great wrongs stung anymore.]

There is no need to apologize, Doctor. It is merely something in the distant past. I outwitted her and lived to tell the tale as you can see, so do not concern yourself with such.

[allergictoloveletters]

Please, just Ami is fine, Nero-san, after all, while I am your doctor, we are not at the medic center and we're just here as acquaintances.

Still... I am glad to hear you are alright, but it doesn't excuse what she did. Is she still alive?

[demenscantrix]

Very well then, Ami.

[Honorifics were not her way, but she understood the use at least.]

She is not. She was tried in a court of law and sentenced to exile, where she presumably perished. Nobody has seen her since I was eight years old, and that was close to twenty years ago now.

[allergictoloveletters]

[Twenty eight years ago when she was eight, she was at least 26? She looked fabulous for her age, in all honesty.]

I see... still, I hope you have been able to make better memories and better connections since then.

[demenscantrix]

[And she wouldn't ever grow old. Thanks Fairy typing.]

I have. Union has been incredibly welcoming, of course. It is what you're know for.

[allergictoloveletters]

We try, though there are some who would rather we weren't.

[demenscantrix]

Then those people need a dictionary, to learn the meaning of the word union.

[allergictoloveletters]

Perhaps so, but they say so for fear of Union's safety. Still, it actually makes me quite happy to know how welcoming you find the city.