The two of them continued on their exploration of the massive city. They left the beach—well, the small part that they saw. Apparently, on a different part, much farther to the left of where they had witnessed the fighting stages, there would be a lantern showing of some sort.
It didn't sound that interesting to either Linnie or Liora, but it was good to keep in mind. It wouldn't be until late at night, anyhow.
"Hey, you!" Linnie called out to a boy that looked around his age.
The boy flinched innocently, probably surprised by the sudden confrontation. To be fair, Linnie could've said something like 'excuse me' or 'pardon.'
"What is it?" the boy asked.
"What can we see around here? We're visiting and we're bored."
"That's all? There's tons of stuff! There's the docks where they're holding the 24/7 ship building, there's all the fortune tellers, the fighting shows, the water games... the lanterns, too. Oh, but my favorite is the cathedral! The city's main cathedral is pretty close, and you can watch the artist working on the yearly fresco!"
"Freshco? The hell is a frescho?" Lininie asked.
"Fresco. It's like a very large painting," the boy explained.
"Oh. Lame."
"Whaaaat!? I wanna see it!" Liora said.
"I promise, you won't regret it. You'll never see art the same ever again!"
'I've never seen art in any way, period. What's the point in looking at a drawing?'
Despite Linnie's reluctance, they found themselves in front of the gigantic building. It had sharp spires and grand arches, and stained glass that lined the clerestories.
Massive flying buttresses gave the impression that the building was something alike to a skeleton—massive ribcages spiked with pinnacles and decorated with gargoyles.
On either side of the cathedral was a canal, giving the impression that the building was its own island.
"Wow!" Liora gasped. "This is the coolest building I've ever seen!"
"Damn."
They were carried through the doors, which were far too tall for any human, by the rushing crowd. Once inside, there was no church service going on, or anything religious, really.
It was a spectacle. People lined up behind a margin made by a thick rope strung across the cathedral and watched as a man sat atop his scaffolding, moving his brush back and forth.
The fresco was... incredible. If either of the two children understood what exactly they were looking at, they wouldn't even believe it possible. Now, an art expert, like I am, would be able to tell you—it absolutely shouldn't have been possible.
The yearly Corvailles fresco was a true tradition, an event that had been happening for hundreds of years by this point. And, with those hundreds of years, there were hundreds of brilliantly created pieces.
The unveiling of the finished fresco always happened on the second to last day of The Feast of The First Voyage. Then, a week after being unveiled, it is torn away and a new artist is chosen to paint the new fresco.
Not even a year is used to create the sprawling work.
Works like these typically require a few years at least—the one that Linnie and Liora were looking at was especially impressive, and should, for the usual artist, take no less than four to five years. Fresco is a technique that requires both incredible skill and patience.
It is the process of painting on wet plaster, done quickly before it dries, so that the colors penetrate into the actual wall and become fixed. It is a little counter intuitive to paint a fresco every year, considering the technique is especially used to create long-lasting works, but that is tradition.
But, this piece, impossibly, was almost finished.
The scene was a beautiful portrayal of an ancient story. Being inside the Corvailles cathedral, it was, naturally, a scene depicting the patron saint, Saint Pischt.
She sat on her hip, relaxed atop a water lily. It wasn't the saint's true face, of course, but surely a model the artist used. Still, her beauty really did seem divine.
Her hair was characteristically long and damp, separated into thick locks that looked like tendrils, a symbolization of her control over the waves, and perhaps simultaneously meant to represent the uncanny might of sea creatures such as the squid or jellyfish.
Pischt's outfit was slick with water and the thin cloth stuck tightly to her skin. Linnie felt a little embarrassed, since the scene didn't leave much to the imagination. He wondered if it was appropriate to depict a god in such a way, but considering everyone else appreciated it, he didn't make a fuss.
On her face, she wore a faint but warm smile. Her eyes were narrowed and staring beyond the painting. The face was so well done that it felt as if she was staring directly back at anyone who looked to her.
And, around her head, there was a golden circle that seemed beyond the rest of the painting. Linnie actually understood this part—it was a halo. All the saints had one, and angels too. Or, they were supposed to.
The only angel Linnie actually knew didn't have one, and in his brief encounter with the being who claimed to be this very lady depicted in the painting, there was nothing of the sort, either.
Pischt's scene was only the top half of the fresco, though, and though it was surely rich in symbolism, it's not as if Linnie was going to understand any of it.
Beneath the calm water's surface, dozens of hideous and terrifying sea creatures writhed and swam within the towering underwater forest of seagrass—but, despite their horrific nature, they were still under Saint Pischt's domain, and so, they were under her control.
It was as if the painting was letting you know that there was nothing to be afraid of beneath the waves, not if you had the saint on your side.
Though Linnie thought that he'd 'never seen art in any way,' the sight of the massive work of art actually took him back, for the second time, to the only other painting he'd seen in his life.
'She's kind of like... the holy lady, from the orphanage.'
When he looked over to his side, to see Liora's reaction, he frowned.
The girl, who he didn't take for an intellectual of any sort—especially not in art—was crying.
Very softly, to the point where he wasn't even sure she knew that she was tearing up. But, she was certainly crying.