It may have been an Exaggeration, perhaps not. But the Message was clear. Gone were the days of sacrifice in blood for their ability to prosper
Awoga then stopped at the closed door, and pushed the button for the door to form away. The light from the far door on the other end bleeding through into the dark room "You Comin'?"
This seemed to snap them out of it. Clearly Awoga was a Woman that knew how to hold a group's attention
The Crew walked out of the Temple. It'd felt like they'd been in there for months, when in reality the story took only an hour to tell.
"Aponiv will show you a place to Stay. I do hope you enjoy your stay in the meantime. The Games will start In three days, with the Survival Tournament being at the end of the Week."
"I'm Glad you all enjoyed the History Lesson." Aponiv spoke, he sounded like he was trying to not be bashful. He held a large amount of pride in his people's history, and seeing these outsiders not only understand, but were brought a sense of joy by it. That fact made him happy.
A Few Minutes passed, And Aponiv stopped in front of a floating building. The clouds beneath it clumped together, it looked surreal.
"So, uh-" Kirk looked up, his hand on his brow to blot out the bright sky "How we gonna get up there?"
"Simple. Stand Here." Aponiv Said pointing to an area on the sidewalk with a pentagonal shape just a bit to the side. The crew stood together, able to not have to stand shoulder to shoulder, and still be well within the confines of the shape.
"Ready?" Aponiv asked as he pressed a shell shape in the center of the shape with his foot, causing a sudden reaction! The shape began to rise out of the ground! Quickly rising up to the floating building!
They were not merely being propelled, but were being lifted by an unseen pillar of cloud beneath them that expanded upwards, stopping directly to connect perfectly to the entrance.
"What!?" Jeanne, Dezzi and Leroy said as they all fell to their knees to look at the lift descend back down through the safety rails that surrounded the building. "Hold do you call it back?!" Dezzi said looking of their shoulder, their ears giving a twitch.
"That Reel on ground there. Just tap it with your Foot."
"Why on the ground?" Leroy asked
"Easy for Children and Elderly to use. And if you can't use your hands, just using your body weight to press it is far more convenient." Answered Aponiv as he gestured for them to follow him inside
The Inside of the Building was quite cozy and confined, but the space was used extremely well. The lobby held carved supports and woven tapestry on the walls. A Counter sat next to a staircase that led up.
Behind the counter was a middle aged looking individual. Twin braids down their back, with studded wings.
"Ah! Aponiv, what brings-" They stopped mid sentence as they noticed the Crew "I- I didn't know, those from the Blue had arrived…" They said cautiously
Clearly the man was nervous. Having heard the stories of the past decades of the few people that had made their way up to the Clouds of Skyderia. For every Red Sash, there was also those who wanted to cause trouble. A Kind and Accepting people like the Skyderians had to have an Intolerance for Intolerance
"It's okay Gonzales." Aponiv spoke with a comforting hand on his shoulder
Aponiv leaned forward and whispered something in the mans ear that even the Keen eared Dezzi and Leroy could not hear. But the morphing of Gonzales' face showed a sense of relief "Ah! I see."
"Welcome to the Sky Hi Inn. We Pride ourselves on comfort and a home away from home. I'm Gonzales. The New owner of this fine establishment." He said with a smile, resting his hand on the counter.
"Aponiv Said that you were going to be participating in the Games! We've got a luxury suite open just for you." He said as he turned around and unhooked a strange key from the wall behind him, and dropped it in Leroys hand
"Free of Charge." Gonzales spoke confidently, wanting to help the Foreigners.
"Hold on now-" Aponiv said raising a hand "Let me pay at least."
"No It-" Gonzales was cut off as Aponiv sat down a handful of Libraes and setting them down on the counter, having pulled them from a shell that looked like a Razor clam.
"I insist." He moved his hand to reveal…Sand Berry. But smaller ones than the very ones that the crew had just fished for.
"Wait- What? You guys use Sea Berry as Currency?" Asked Kirk
'Sea Berry?" Aponiv Raised an Eyebrow. "Oh! Libraes. I did not know that those of the Blue were familiar with them!" He said pulling another larger one from his Razor Shellfish and placing it in Kirks Palm like a coin
"Wow…These are just. Sea Berry. Are they Rare up here?" Kirk pondered. Being a thief and with his time on the Sea taught him many things that had to do with exchange rates and the oddities of currency that were specific to only a single island.
"I'd say so. Many earn a living off of fishing them from the white sea. A Dangerous Job with how many Beast swim through them. It also adds to the value of Librae." He said pulling another few from his pouch and placing them in Kirks hand "They're Durable, and scarce. We Skyderians may often rely on trade and the good nature sense of our neighbor and community to help one another, but Money is still a concept we hold"
Pointing to a smaller Sea Berry he Explained their Denomination. Moving from only a few centimeters to large palm sized ones "1, 3, 5, 15, 35, 70, 140"
"So it raises in Values of…" Raven scratched her chin, Jeanne continuing where she left off "2.3?"
"Yes." Answered Aponiv "There's also half Denominations as well. .30, .60, .90" He said pointing to Sea Berry that weren't full circles but rather shaped in a triangle
"Why don't you use gold?" Kirk questioned, pulling a Minted World Government coin from his coin purse in his satchel. Waiting for Aponiv to replace his Money. "Gold? Oh. Gold." He seemed familiar with the material. Before realizing what they were talking about and looked to the golden chain on his wings ridge "Why would we make it out of this? We have no purpose for it."
The Crew all perked an Eyebrow and tilted their heads "Huh?"