A Tour around Apium
Suly woke me up the next morning, and said breakfast was ready. The bed was so comfortable, I slept longer than usual. During breakfast, uncle Ulon told us we would start the tour from his garden. Apparently, he and his people were responsible for all the plants in Apium. Shortly after breakfast, uncle took us downstairs where his personal garden was located. As soon as we entered, I was stunned by its beauty.
The whole garden looked like a sphere made from vines, with an opening at the top letting in the sunlight. There were flowers, plants and whatnot growing all over the place. But, there was one flower that immediately grabbed my attention. A long green stem, atop which a three petaled flower sprouted. The petals were white at the bottom but black at the top, they looked really beautiful. "Wow… I've never seen such flowers or plants", I said looking at the display in front of us. "Of course, because these plants grow in Apium only. They are very rare and hard to cultivate, but they are also a bit special. You see, your uncle here can make medicine out of them", uncle Ulon said proudly.
"So these are medical plants?", I asked. "Yes, or rather we call them herbs. This is my personal garden, but I will show you our farms where we grow some other herbs too", he replied. Before we left, uncle cut one of the white and black petaled flowers, and attached it to my hair. "You seem to like them a lot. The instance we entered, you've been eyeing them. These flowers are called Black Irises, and they suit our little Anna very well", he said with a smile. I nodded with a smile on my face, I really liked those flowers. Suly walked over, "Let me put a Formation on it. That way it will not wither quickly". I agreed, since it would make the flower last longer.
With the Formation and the tour of uncle Ulon's garden completed, we moved on to the next place. Uncle showed us the fields on which loads and loads of herbs grew. He explained that there were some special herbs in there too. One of such special herbs was Earth Grabbing Sprout. When processed correctly, it was able to increase one's strength. Uncle asked me if I wanted some of that, but Suly refused for some reason.
"You are still too young for that Anna. When you grow up, ask your mother about it", she said. 'Mom is stingy… but I can visit uncle in the future', I thought. I also noticed some sort of wooden channels carrying water around. "Are you wondering about the channels? They are there to water the herbs for us. This is what y…", uncle stopped himself. "That is what me?", I asked. "I don't want to bore you to death with unnecessary stuff. I can go on and on about farming, herbs and such, hehehe. Instead of me rambling about that, let's move on to the next place", uncle replied.
I found it a bit suspicious, but didn't try to get any further with that. The next stop was a large lake. The water inside was crystal clean and there were plants growing at the bottom too. "You probably wonder why the water is so clean here, right?", uncle asked. I nodded, "Yes, it's so clean I can see the bottom, and there are even plants growing there".
He smiled, "The water is so clean precisely due to these plants. Moreover, this water is produced by those plants". I looked at him shocked, "The plants at the bottom produce water? Is that possible?". He laughed, "Of course it is, otherwise there would be no water here. The ones responsible for water production are called Ophilis Reeds, while the ones responsible for keeping the water clean are called Aliris Plants. These plants are very old, even reaching times where the North was being established. It was thanks to those plants we had drinkable water".
"Does that mean the North didn't have drinkable water in the past?", I asked. This time Suly replied, "In the past, North looked a bit differently. It was mostly barren and harsh. Now it's much more friendly, with new plants sprouting outside of Apium. If you saw Apium back then, it looked like a dreamland in the wilderness". Uncle nodded, "Clean water was really sought after during those times, but the times changed and we don't worry about it anymore. Still, these plants are very special to us, hence we still take care of them and grow them". Uncle got some water from the lake, and handed it to me. "Try it, it's a bit different than normal water". I gave it a few sips and the water tasted a bit differently indeed. It was fresh and slid down my throat smoothly. A strange feeling of calmness enveloped my body too.
"Do you feel calmer now?", uncle asked. I nodded, but didn't know why. "That is because this water has mind calming effects due to Serelis. The effects don't last very long, and if you took this water with you, the effect would disappear a few hours later", he explained. Leran became very quiet after drinking the water, and his usual excitement disappeared. "It seems to be working on you too, Leran", I said with a smile. "I'm sleepy now…", he replied and fell asleep. We all laughed and left the lake towards the next location.
Uncle Ulon showed us a large statue depicting three Atols next. "This is the statue of our ancestors, who with their own hands established Apium and the three factions responsible for their specific tasks", he explained. Indeed, each Atol was portrayed differently. One of them held a wooden pole of some sort, with some sort of armour protecting his body. He was the biggest of the three Atols sculpted. Another one was depicted with flowers and vines growing around him. The third Atol had a piece of wood and a knife in his hand. The statue was made from wood, but it looked new. "Did you make this statue recently?", I asked.
Uncle smiled, "Would you believe me, if I told you that the statue is hundreds of years old?". I shook my head, "It would rot away a long time ago, this looks new. I'm not that naive uncle". "What Ulon said is true actually. The statue is very old, they simply care for it very well. That is why it looks like new", Suly added. I refused to believe it, "You are trying to fool me. I will not give in! Shame on you". Both of them looked at each other and sighed in defeat. 'Hehe, you can't fool me that easily', I thought.
Uncle then took us to an area with a lot of craftsmen. "This area is reserved for craftsmen, where they can hone their skills and work on new designs. The house you live in was built by such craftsmen", uncle said. We watched them for a while, but didn't disturb anyone. We returned to the central area, where uncle showed us the place of gathering, and a few other locations. After lunch, Suly insisted we had to go back home. I wanted to stay a bit longer, but she wouldn't budge. "I might visit you guys soon myself. Besides, you are always welcomed here. Visit whenever you wish", uncle Ulon said. I nodded, bid farewell to my uncle and a few Atols escorted us outside.
"So, how did you like Apium?", Suly asked. "It was great, but why couldn't we stay longer?", I replied. "We did this without your mother's knowledge. If she finds out, I will be in trouble… and I don't want to be in trouble. We need to return before the night falls", she said and prepared the basket. On our way back, I thought about Apium and what other cities looked like. Although Apium wasn't a city, it was very unique and had loads of great things inside. I also thought about those performances Suly and Leran talked about. 'I have to convince mom to take me there, sitting at home all the time is boring', I thought. We made it back home by night. Mom was not around, and <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight">Suly seemed glad she wasn't. All of us were tired from the journey, so we went straight to <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-word-highlight">sleep</msreadoutspan>.</msreadoutspan>