“I’d like you to clear out the entire restaurant for the next two hours,” Selius said with a blank expression as he leaned on the counter while tapping his foot on the tiles that surrounded the front desk. “Now.”

“Twenty thousand,” replied the stout woman with bronze skin that stood behind the counter after she had spent a second to process what he had said. Chewing gum lazily with a disinterested look, she examined Selius and his group before sighing. “What, you can’t afford it?”

“Of course I can afford it. Do you know who I am?”

Selius’ statement caused her to raise an eyebrow, but Rucille wasn’t sure if it was because of the first or the latter half of what he had said. He’d already tried this spiel in three other places only to be met with a range of similar responses, and it looked like this was about to be the fourth.

“No, I don’t know who you are,” the woman said it as though it were obvious. “Pay up, sit down like everyone else, or get out.”

“We’ll sit thanks,” Rucille said quickly before Selius dug himself into an even deeper hole. At this rate he would stubbornly lead them around the entire mountain before they eventually died of hunger, and she certainly didn’t want to be a part of it. With a meal in mind, she purposely ignored the heated glare from Selius that she could feel on her back as she walked across the restaurant floor and sat down at a large round table.

“I’m in charge of this trip,” Selius reminded her as both him and the rest of their group sat around the table beside her. One of the first things that they had done was change into an assortment of clothing that was more appropriate for the climate than what they had brought with them, but the thin and often revealing clothing didn’t do much to conceal the rifles that most of them carried. People didn’t seem to be particularly afraid of them however, which led Rucille to believe that openly carrying weapons wasn’t an issue.

Selius himself carried an ornate metallic pistol that was probably more decorative than it was practical, wearing it as though it were a piece of jewellery over a neat white shirt and a pair of clean black pants. He must have been rather warm considering the sun, but apparently his image of the well-dressed leader of the group was more important than his own comfort.

The rest of the group had dressed more practically. Rucille had opted for a lime-green skirt which hung just below her knees and a peach shirt with short sleeves. A thin white shawl had been draped around her neck, but it did nothing to hide the pair of small ivory pistols that were clipped to her white belt, one on each hip. She had also found a pair of thin brown sunglasses which she was quickly becoming attached to, but they were something that nobody else in the group seemed to understand even after she explained that they weren’t just cosmetic.

The other six members of their team, all members of the Royal Guard, had settled for basic combinations of short sleeved shirts and shorts in a variety of colours. Rucille had found herself explaining to one what a palm tree was when he pointed to his shirt, but the rest of them had fortunately opted for either solids or basic patterns made up of pastel colours. Besides their white skin and the standard Royal Guard issue rifles slung over their shoulders, they actually looked rather unassuming.

“I know you’re in charge,” she replied as she casually picked up a menu. “I’m just showing you how things work here so that you can make better decisions in the future.”

Selius snorted while Rucille hid a smile in turn. The fact that she had said ‘better decisions’ in reference to his choices so far obviously wasn’t lost on him, but at the same time his lack of response was an indirect way admitting that he needed the assistance. Her role in the group as some kind of advisor was something that she certainly found quite entertaining, but she also knew that as soon as Selius thought he had a grip on things, he would immediately try to put her back in place.

“Decide on what you want to eat,” she said to everyone while tapping the menu in front of her. “Let me know when you’re done.”

She used the time while they were occupied to examine the restaurant. It was a breezy open space due to the arches that were set into the walls, while thin white curtains danced in front of them with the breeze. Behind them she could see the vast ocean which continued to amaze her, especially how it was a light shade of blue before gradually turning dark as it stretched away to the horizon. An array of wicker seating was spread out across the wooden floor which had traces of sand on it, while white cloth was draped over much of the furniture which was probably to protect it from the weather. The roof was steeply pitched so that it rose up high above them, and as a result the fans overhead were mounted to a lattice of timber which hung five or so meters overhead. Considering that it was lunchtime it probably wasn’t bad that they only had some forty or so people scattered around the space, and while they were mainly dressed in unassuming summer wear Rucille did note that about half of them were armed.

“What are zenberries?” Selius asked Rucille as he examined the menu with an unimpressed expression.

“You won’t like them,” she replied with a light smile. “Sour.”

He didn’t seem to like the fact that he was being told what he would and wouldn’t like, but the menu was largely alien to all of them. Rucille was subsequently rattled with a series of questions as though she were an encyclopedia, so eventually she explained that much of the produce on the menu was native to Areinis and therefore she didn’t know either. Perishables could often survive the trip through a few of the plates, so they had tried many foods from Neo Luesa and the Badlands but moving goods through all seven plates was both difficult and expensive.

After managing to coax the group through the ordering process Rucille could finally sit back and relax as drinks were served. It had been a new experience for all of them, and she still grinned when she thought about when they had dropped through to the plate below. The rush of the freefall, the view of the horizon in the distance, and the reverent gazes that they had attracted from the commoners upon landing were all things that she would never forget. After they were on the ground, however, Selius seemed to be intent on making the remainder of their experience as forgettable as possible. It still hadn’t seemed to sink in for him that he wasn’t royalty here who could simply do as he pleased, and as a result the general public attitude towards him had left him irritable.

“Tell us about Areinis,” he finally said after he was served a drink that he actually liked. It had only taken him three tries, so Rucille hoped that he stuck to it instead of trying to find something better. He’d probably be bitter when he learned that he had also been charged for the two he had rejected, but learning things the hard way would be good experience.

That’s if he even read the bill.

“Areinis is known as the sunshine plate,” she shrugged. She thought about what they would want to know and what they wouldn’t, but eventually decided to just give them the basics. “All human settlement is built around a ring of five mountains which are known as the Five Fountains: The Wind Fountain, the Earth Fountain, the Fire Fountain, the Water Fountain, and the Light Fountain.”

“We’re on one of them now, right?” asked one of the guards. Although they had all introduced themselves to her already she had immediately forgot who was who. Was that Graslich or Lucan? Maybe it was Piore.

“Right now we’re on the Earth Fountain,” she replied. She hadn’t known that either when they had arrived considering that they all looked very similar from the air, but asking a local hadn’t been hard. “Each Fountain has a fairly similar social standing and is governed independently, although as a general rule it is more expensive to live higher up on the slopes.”

“Wouldn’t the powerful want to live at the bottom?” Selius frowned. “Flatter terrain, closer to the other mountains, and it’s also closer to the ocean.”

“Mmm, you would think that,” Rucille smiled. “But there’s a reason they’re called the Five Fountains and not the Five Mountains. You all know what a volcano is, right?”

Seeing the general nodding from the group, Rucille continued even though she wasn’t sure if they were being honest as Zaffre’s Moat didn’t have any. “The Five Fountains are similar to volcanoes, but instead of magma they channel fresh water up from an aquifer beneath the seabed. Each Fountain has a large crater lake at its peak, and the fresh water flows down through rivers which support life on the plate.”

“What about the islands?” another guard asked. Was that Traval, or was it Fenm?

“Everyone on both the islands and the boardwalk settlements around the fountains needs to purchase water or collect it themselves, as far as I know. I’m not sure if it rains regularly or not here, but that would also be an option.”

The group paused in thought for a moment as their food was brought over. Rucille aside, they had all ordered relatively similar dishes which used ingredients from their home above, so it seemed that they weren’t planning on being adventurous just yet. It wasn’t that surprising that there was so much of their local food available, now that she thought about it too. It would be easy for travellers to buy produce from the farms around Zaffre before transporting it to Areinis below, and they could probably make a neat profit while they were at it.

“Alright, I’ve heard enough,” Selius said with a raised hand. “How do we find Nina?”

Rucille smiled inwardly as she wrapped some pasta around her fork. Mixed into the sauce were a bunch of ingredients that she had never tried before, but to her, trying new things was one of the finer things in life.

Looking up at Selius with a grin on her face, she raised the fork to her lips. “Isn’t that your job?”