Chapter 26: The Grand Gran Andes

“All passengers prepare for docking,” the captain of the cruise announces over the intercom as the ship prepares to land onto the ports of Rio de Brasilia.

Celia, Hikaru, and Alto stand against the railings along with a large crowd of people as they look upon the unfamiliar skylines of the city with awe. Although the buildings and skyscrapers weren’t as tall as the ones they were used to, the sky was filled with hundreds of colorful airships for as far as the eye could see that more than made up for the empty space.

Each airship slowly drifted across the sky, their giant colorful frames of various sizes float between the buildings as beautiful drapes with different Brazilian designs and patterns fluttered in the wind down the sides of the ship.

While Alto and Celia looked at the ships in awe and wonder, Hikaru began rapidly taking pictures along with a few other passengers.

“Woah, calm down there Mr. Photographer,” Celia jokingly remarks, “we’ll have plenty of time to take pictures of the airships. For now, let’s get off the boat; I’m sick of standing on this stupid uneven floor, and we don't want to be the last ones in the inevitable long line.”

The three of them head back inside the ship, dragging their luggage behind them as they headed towards one of the three exits that people filed out of. As soon Celia steps off the ship however, she feels an immediate wave of dizziness wash over her. 

After growing accustomed to the constant swaying of the ship, standing on solid ground for the first time in ages left her feeling unsteady and queasy.

Just as she felt like she was going to topple over however, Alto firmly grabs her and stands her upright.

“Are you alright Celia?” he asks with a worried tone.

“Ugh… yeah… I just feel a bit dizzy that’s all,” she mumbled out as she held her head, “thanks Alto.”

She then enviously looks towards Hikaru who just shrugs and says, “what? Getting used to it wasn’t easy on me either.”

He hands some of the luggage to Alto and Kyomi who he had equipped with a transport function just for this journey. Due to her small frame and lightweight body however, she couldn’t carry anything too heavy, but the little paw-shaped arms the function came with was more than good enough to help drag a large suitcase across the floor.

Celia looks on with jealousy because she hadn’t considered getting Tabby the function, but despite this she couldn’t help but find how adorable Hikaru’s support drone looked with its cute little paws and instead gives Tabby a crude stare. However, even though he was just a robot with a digital screen for a face, she had a feeling he gave her a look that said, ‘it’s not my fault you didn’t think of giving me those features’.

Hikaru checks the time and says, “we still have a lot of time before our train to Sector Palmas arrives, so let’s go sit down for a while; I think Celia needs it.”

The three of them walk over to a nearby bench with Celia holding onto Alto as a crutch before slumping down onto her seat. Even after more than a week of healing, her head still ached from all the times she'd bumped it, and the dizziness from land sickness wasn’t making it any better.

Without giving her mind a single moment to rest however, a loud announcer loudly welcomes the passengers to Gran Andes over the intercom.

“Welcome to Gran Andes, home of, and named after, the longest mountain range in the world!” he says with an attitude so enthusiastic it physically hurt her already bad state of mind, “Whether you’re here to see the Andes Mountain Range, take a ride on one of our beautiful airships, visit one of our many national parks, or partake in our food and culture including one of our many year round festivals, we hope you have a great time while you're here!”

After the announcer finished talking, Celia’s face looked so dead inside that Hikaru was starting to genuinely worry about her mental state.

“Look on the bright side,” he said, trying to cheer her up, “the worst of it’s over. I mean we still have a 4 hour train ride to Sector Palmas from Sao Luis, but that’s infinitely better than the land sickness you’re feeling right now.”

He then stands up and walks over to a stand carrying Gran Andes travel guides, and begins browsing through the pamphlet before realizing he can’t read Portuguese or English. Instead, he pulls out his phone and scans the QR code on the pamphlet so that it opens up a dedicated webpage in his language for him to read.

“I’ll be right back,” he says, heading off to some unknown destination as Celia slowly begins to reorient herself.

“Are you feeling better Celia?” Alto asks as he stares at her.

“Just a little bit,” she replied, “I’m still a bit dizzy but it’s a lot more bearable now.”

“Take all the time you need,” he says, “we still have plenty of time left before we need to head to the station.”

Celia slowly nodded as she stared at the concrete floor, hoping that looking at something static would help her calm down.

After a while, Alto suddenly asks, “so, Celia, what do you think of this journey so far?”

She tilts her head at him, surprised by the sudden strange question.

“...It’s not so bad I guess,” she answered, “I mean aside from the seasickness, the land sickness, the useless new knowledge of how metal synthesizers work, and the constant fear that we could be caught at any time, I’d say it’s been pretty great.”

Alto tilts his head at her in confusion, as Celia tries not to laugh.

“It may not sound super fun, but I’d rather deal with all of that than just being complacent with the way things were back then,” she explained, “it’s definitely a lot better than having to build robot parts every single day and worry about upcoming exams and stuff. Plus, I got to visit different countries, meet new people, see an iDIVE exhibit, take cruise and finally make a real friend for the first time.”

“I see,” Alto said, “I’m glad to hear that then.”

“Is there any particular reason why you wanted to know?” she inquired, curious because unlike her, Alto wasn't the type to randomly ask stuff like this.

“I suppose it was just because I was worried I was being selfish about all of this,” he replied.

“Selfish?” Celia asked, “what do you mean?”

“I mean that in hindsight, I feel like I was pushing you too hard to chase after your dreams, all so that I can fulfill mine,” he explained, “my goal has always been to reach the moon, and I knew that I couldn’t do it alone. When I heard that you were the great great granddaughter of Alaric, I knew that I had to convince you to help me no matter what, but that selfish desire caused me to feel bad every time you experienced something negative, just like the land sickness you have right now. I regretted lumping such a large responsibility onto you, and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to continue this path if you weren’t enjoying it.”

Celia gave him a big hug.

“Thanks for worrying about me,” she said, “but if anything, all you did was give me a well-needed wake-up call. I would’ve probably been in class right now, worrying over another exam or project that was due. Instead, I’m here in Gran Andes, watching the airships in the sky and enjoying the view, and although I had land sickness, I’m starting to feel a lot better now."

“That’s good to hear,” Alto said, “I, too, didn’t know that South America had developed airships over the years I was inactive, so I am also just as amazed as you are in seeing them for the first time.”

Suddenly, they hear footsteps approaching them as the two of them look up to see Hikaru walking towards them holding two small paper trays with what looked to be a few teardrop shaped bread in them.

“Hey guys! Look what I bought from a vendor,” he says excitedly as he hands Celia a tray, “apparently they’re called coxinhas and they have shredded chicken in them. I thought you might be hungry after the long cruise trip and because we haven’t eaten breakfast yet, so I got some for the both of us. Plus, it might help you calm down from the land sickness; my dad used to say that eating food can help a lot with getting you back into the right state of mind.”

“Thanks,” Celia said, taking a bite into the soft but crunchy exterior, “but I was already feeling better anyway. I do appreciate the thought though.”

Hikaru shrugs.

“Trying out new food is always worth it anyway,” he mumbled, his mouth full of food before swallowing, “but if you’re feeling better then we should head to the subway as soon as we can. Sector Sao Luis is a very popular port sector, and I don’t even want to imagine how long the lines can get.”

Celia shuddered at the thought, and quickly finished her food before the three of them make their way to the station.