Melanie was woken up by a light jolt as the airship came to a halt. She looked around in a panic, her heart was racing and dreams still replayed in her mind as a distorted memory of her travelling through space whilst looking back at Earth and trying to claw her way back, but as she turned to face where she was heading towards instead of it being just a bright light there was someone in there waiting for her, and as she got closer she saw it was Zenos with his arms wide open, his eyes blazing red, and with an evil laugh shouting "Come, let us dance before the pyre!" The light turned into fire and Zenos's face distorted into a wild and psychotic grin, a darkness rose from behind him with a fearsome aura and struck out at Melanie. "The end!"
Ephemie looked at Melanie startled at her sudden movements. "Are you alright?" she asked concerned. Melanie, now realising she had been dreaming, shook her head. "It's ok, it was just a bad dream" she replied. "Oh. Well good thing you're now awake as we've just arrived" Ephemie said as she pushed herself onto her feet. Melanie grabbed her satchel that was nearby and pushed herself onto her feet. Although she slept through most of the flight her body still felt a little wobbly. She wondered how much time had passed since boarding the airship. It was hard to tell since there was no light coming in from outside and just a few lanterns to light up the hull.
Together they escallated a small set of wooden steps up to the sides of the airship where a plank was already awaiting them to disembark. Rays of brilliant sunlight pierced through the dark shadows indicating it was still daytime, probably around lunchtime. Krile was already waiting for them at the top of the stairs. Melanie's stomach began to gurgled as she thought about lunch. Ephemie heard Melanie's tummy and turned to face her. "Did you not eat before we left?" she asked in surprise. Melanie shook her head, "I didn't have time" she replied. "Don't you have anything in your satchel? We won't be able to stop for food before the meeting" she said. "Wow why didn't I think of that myself?" Melanie thought to herself as she slipped her satchel off her shoulders. She remembered the night before emptying everything from her satchel and seeing piping hot plates of food that somehow didn't manage to spill all over everything else. As she thought about it her hand felt the edge of a plate inside her bag and she pulled out a plate of smoked chicken. Ephemie shook her head in despair. "We don't have time for that!" she exclaimed. "Don't you have something quick you could eat on the go, like a sandwich or a cookie?" Melanie put the plate back into her satchel and fumbled around a bit more. Her hands landed on something thin and rough textured. She pulled her hand out of the satchel clutching onto a large biscuit and looked up at Ephemie. "That'll do. Now let's hurry or we'll be late" Ephemie exclaimed. Melanie swung her satchel back onto her shoulders and started munching on the biscuit as they proceeded to cross the plank.
The taste of the biscuit for a moment made Melanie forget where they were. The buttery sweetness of the biscuit combined with a rich chocolatey flavour and the slightest hint of coffee made Melanie's stresses melt away. As she approached the plank she almost dropped her cookie and squealed out in fear. The airship was hovering at the top of a tall circular stone building that was on the edge of a canyon that was so high up that a layer of clouds swirled beneath them masking the view of the ground. A pair of wide stone stairways curved downwards on the inner perimeter of the building towards a large archway that led into the Ala Mhigan Quarter. Krile turned around startled by Melanie's shrieks. Ephemie quickly grabbed one of Melanie's arms and dragged her across the platform onto the top of the building in protest. As soon as they were off the platform Melanie dropped to her knees clutching herself in a hug whilst shaking and trying to take in deep breaths to stop herself from hyperventilating.
Krile shook her head in dismay as she looked ahead at the huge city peering over the walls, its heights towering over 600 feet high. "I should've considered a much better place for this meeting, one that Lineya could've reached without her fears taking over" she said to herself sadly. Ephemie gave Melanie a few moments to catch her breath. "You think you can manage the stairs?" she asked. Melanie looked at the stairs. There was nothing to grab onto to stop her from falling, that wasn't to say that where they were standing now wasn't that much better. There was nothing to prevent anyone from accidentally falling off the edge. A strong gust of wind or walking too close to the edge could spell death to anyone. Melanie closed her eyes tightly and rocked on her knees. Ephemie could see she was going to have a tough time getting Melanie down. She closed her eyes as she started to think of a plan.
"I know you're afraid of heights, but this is the only other way into the city without using chocobos or teleports and where we need to go is even higher up than where we are now. If you can trust me I can help you reach it." Ephemie held an arm out to Melanie. Melanie opened her eyes and looked at Ephemie's outstretched hand. Her body continued to tremble, every limb refused to cooperate for her to get up off her knees, her diaphram bounced up and down inside her every other second and making her want to be sick. She knew she couldn't stay up here forever and would have to get down eventually.
After what felt like hours Melanie was able to reach out with a shaking arm and take Ephemie's hand. She took in a couple of deep breathes and together they helped her to get back onto her feet. Melanie still remained crouched over as she stood up, her knees feeling like she might crumple back to the floor again. She began to push one foot forward in front of the other and slowly shuffled towards the stairs. Krile let out a sigh of relief and followed behind.
As they stood at the top of the stairway Melanie's fears once again began to make her body shake uncontrollably. She gripped onto Ephemie's arm more tightly than ever. "I'll walk you close by the wall to make it easier. If you can help it try not to look down" Ephemie said to her calmly. Melanie nodded despite inside she was screaming in objection. "Of all the places they chose here. Why not Ul'dah or even Ishgard?" she thought to herself. She trembled and cried, biting on her bottom lip hard to not scream. Her legs felt like they were about to give way as soon as she took the first step and she stumbled as she tried to get down the first few steps. She closed her eyes tightly and sobbed, tears racing down her face like a waterfall and soaking her collar. Slowly they began descending together, Melanie cursing in her head both at her inability to get over her fears and at the architects who designed the city. After a few steps Melanie was able to touch the wall next to her which helped a little as they slowly descended.
Finally they reached the city level. Exhausted from exertion Melanie propped herself up against the wall, her head reeling and her body feeling like she had been violently shaken arounnd. Ephemie looked a little cross that they were wasting so much time but Krile quickly raised a hand to her and then walked up to Melanie. "Take it slowly, one slow breath at a time" she said softly. Melanie heeded to Krile's words and began to inhale slowly and deeply. Her body started to relax and she began to feel her strength slowly return. "All right, let's make our way into the city" Krile smiled a little. Melanie nodded and straightened herself up. Together they walked towards the archway opposite the staircase only to be met by another flight of stairs only this time smaller and much wider. Melanie once again began to bite on her bottom lip which was now sore and swollen from last time. She hesitated for a moment, her body starting to object to going down yet another set of stairs after her previous traumatic experience. Krile and Ephemie walked up to either side of her, Ephemie looking down at her with her arm held out at her side. Melanie grasped onto Ephemie's arm and together they descended the stairs with less effort than earlier.
Once at the bottom of the stairs a small black metal door was now all that was between them and the city. Ephemie pushed open the door and together they entered into a building were a man was guarding a double wooden door that led into the city. Krile proceeded forward and handed in some papers to the guard. "We're here on business from Mor'Dona." The guard looked at the papers and handed them back with a nod and stepped aside.
Upon opening the wooden door the first thing Melanie was greeted by was a large blue aetheryte crystal which stood out in the middle of the red brickwork of Ala Mhigo. The noise of activity filled the air of people chatting with one another, carts being carried back and forth by merchants, and workers nearby expanding some parts of the city to build a better trading quarter in the heart of the city. Many of the streets were lined with large crates, barrels, sacks, and huge stone bricks whilst merchants made make-shift stalls to peddle their wares. While the threat of a possible retalliation by the Garlean Empire to invade and take back Ala Mhigo was far at the back of peoples' minds it nonetheless still remained a possibility and all measures to ensure that Ala Mhigo remained prepared for another war were kept in place. All entrances in and out of the city were well guarded, even the gateway leading up to the royal palace where Zenos yae Galvus once resided were barricaded and watched over by resistance guards disallowing access save those who were on utmost important resistance business or just visiting the gardens.
Krile led the way around the winding streets of tall buildings until they reached the base of the stairway leading up to the palace area. The guard on duty reacted as she approached him. "Mistress Krile, I trust you're here for the meeting up at the castle?" he asked. Krile nodded with a smile. "These are my companions who'll be joining with me" she replied. The guard nodded with compliance and went to escort Krile up the long stone stairway. Melanie looked up with a gulp, there must've been at least 80 steps to the top of the stairway. "We're going all the way up those?" Melanie asked Ephemie. Ephemie nodded. "There's even more leading up to the palace" she replied.
"Ala Mhigo is famous both for its use of local resources for its unique red brickwork to being one of the most tallest cities in all of Eorzea. The Royal Menagerie itself stands at over 2,000 fulms, its highest buildings overlooking the entirety of The Lochs."
Melanie stared at Ephemie eyes opened wide and her jaw hanging low. She had no idea what a fulm was but she could guess it meant a foot. "And lemme guess, we're going to climb all of that?" she asked in a worried voice.
"Oh no, not all of it. Just two thirds" Ephemie replied.
Melanie almost choked, a shudder surged down her spine. "I don't know what's going to kill me first, my fear of heights or the long walk up" she said in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Can't we just like teleport up there or even ride a chocobo?"
Ephemie scoffed slightly. "Oh do stop complaining, it'll be good exercise and hopefully by the time you reach the top you won't have any more fear of heights." Ephemie gave Melanie a quick shove forward with both hands sending her stumbling towards the steps. Melanie turned around and lightly scowled at Ephemie who in turn smirked back.
"This is gonna be torture, we'll be lucky if we reach the top by nightfall, that's if death doesn't claim me first!" Melanie thought to herself as they began quietly scaling the stairway together.
