Water city part 1

The flaming ship passes through the tree gate. Gorge and Periphirilia are captivated by the view. It's almost as if they have entered a different dimension. The night is suddenly gone, and it's the middle of the day. The fire is also gone. The life forms here are completely different and don't resemble anything else they have ever seen before, including the forest and river monsters. The creatures here look like they are composed of a variety of bizarre and unusual shapes.

There is a creature in the water with the shape of a water bottle but with pointy tentacles sticking up from the body rather than sticking to it. Its head is located in the center of its back.

There are many different creatures in the sky, the most common of which is a very large animal with enormous wings that resembles a square-looking rat-fish mix with bats wings.

"Wow, we are definitely going to find golden carp here."

"Where would we even find it? This place is huge." Asks Periphirilia

"We can look around; this place is amazing. Golden carp or not, it would be a waste not to explore it. And if we can't find it by exploring, then it's fishing time."

"Do you know how to make fishing rods?''

"There is no need to make anything; there are plenty in the storage room."

They keep swimming past picturesque scenery. Everything is surrounded by large trees that form enormous towers that reach the sky. Unexpectedly, one of those sky cube things dives toward the water, splits in half, and swallows the bottle-like water animal in its entirety.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a safe space?" Gorge feels a little letdown.

"Well, as long as they don't attack us, we have no reason to complain."

"I guess so. Wanna go for a swim ?" Gorge smiles.

"Don't you think that swimming in a completely unknown place could be pretty dangerous?"

"The water looks beautiful and pretty warm; this place looks like a paradise. I think we should relax and enjoy ourselves. You know, it's like that vacation thing."

Periphirilia laughs.

"Wanna race down to the bottom?"

"You are on!" Gorge gladly accepts the challenge.

"Hey, aren't you going to strip down? Oh, right.." Periphirilia remembers the robe.

...
"Forget all that stuff; let's just jump."

They look down at the water and jump. The water is crystal clear, and yet they cannot see anything that looks like a bottom. They continue to dive down, but there is nothing but submerged trees and strange creatures.

They both have the same thought: "This place is infinite," as their eyes meet in the middle of a bottomless sea. As they both continue to descend further and further, they are unable to do anything but stare at one another.

 I'm sorry, but I'm unsure which way is up or down. What shall I do? Gorge begins to lose control before Periphirilia grabs him and directs him up. They ascend together as she carries Gorge up while hugging him. They look at the unusual ecosystem as they ascend toward the surface. Gorge thinks to himself, Wow, the strange creatures resemble flying vehicles, and the underwater trees resemble tall structures. This place looks like a futuristic underwater society.

Gorge becomes red-faced upon realizing that he and Perphirilia are nearly naked and touching bodies. His head is starting to get dizzy. Not again. Why does this always happen to me? But then Periphirilia lifts her head and smiles at him. He can't help but look at her smile and relax. He also smiles. They are getting closer to the surface. Gorge realizes something. The view below isn't dark, nor gets any darker the deeper you go. Does that mean that the bottom has a light source?

This place is a bit weird.
They have surfaced, re-boarded the ship, and are drying out in the sunlight.

"Hey, Periphirilia... Um, don't you think that there is something weird about this place?
For example, the deeper you dive it down, it doesn't get any darker."

"I honestly don't know. This entire journey has been extremely weird. I don't think something like an extra light source is too surprising now."

"I guess so, but I can't help but feel that this place is somewhat off. The creatures weird me out too."

"After everything we experienced in the forest, how can these creatures even seem strange? These appear to be much more normal."

"I guess so. All that's left is to find the golden carp."

"I can't see the top of those tower-looking trees; do you think they have reached the sky?" Curiously asks Periphirilia.

"Well, I can't see their tops either. They are pretty wide; maybe we could carve up the insides and make an infinite house that extends towards the space?"

"Two of us? You know that would take hundreds of thousands... No, maybe even hundreds of millions of years. No thanks; I would much rather stay on the surface."
Argues Periphirilia.

"You are probably right. What's that in the distance? Can you see it? It looks like a floating mountain." He points at something floating in the distance

Gorge concentrates really hard.

"Well, I can most definitely see something in the distance, but I don't know if that's a mountain or not. It's too far or too small."

"We should go that way and check it out; it's only water, and these trees tower over here," suggests Periphirilia.

"Sure, that is probably the most exciting thing we have found in here yet. Hey, if it's a mountain, do you think a golden carp will be on top of it?"

"Hmm, I don't know."

"Doesn't that mean that we would have to climb it?" Asks Gorge

"Maybe, as long as it's not too big."

They keep sailing straight for that object off in the distance.

"What if it's a mountain of ice cream?"
Asks Gorge hopefully

"Well, I most definitely do not know what that thing is, but it's certainly not a mountain of ice cream."

Sigh." Gorge looks disappointed.

They have gotten closer to the mysterious structure.

"I don't think that thing is tall enough to be a mountain."

"Yeah, plus it has this weird shine on it. I don't think mountains should shine like that," Explains Periphirilia.

I hope we reach it faster. I can't wait to find out what that thing is. I think it's definitely connected to the golden carp. Thinks Gorge.

They continued sailing towards it, and now they were really close.

"What is this? It looks man-made."
Says Periphirilia as she's observing the metal structure.
"Look, it's very old; everything is decayed and disintegrating. I'm curious as to how they even made this thing float.
But to think that someone would not only find this place but also build this huge structure here. Something doesn't add up." Periphirilia is getting a little suspicious

"At least it's not completely broken yet. Wanna go and check it out?"

"I don't know; it's very badly decayed; the whole place looks like it could collapse at any second. Periphirilia expresses her concerns: "I don't think it's very safe or wise to enter."

"Hello, aren't we supposed to be on an adventure over here?"

"I don't know your idea of an adventure, but killing ourselves for no reason doesn't sound like the most fun thing to do."

As they continue to sail closer to the structure, it becomes more and more visible.

It looks like there is a door! It has a door! We are most definitely going inside there," Gorge shouts in excitement.

She looks at him.

"Sigh. Fine, but if it looks like it's getting worse, we both turn down and immediately go back towards the ship without any arguments, okay?"

"Yay, the adventure continues."

"Okay?"

"Yeah"

"Promise?"

"Promise"

The ship finally reaches the structure. They drop the anchor.

"Let's go!!!" Gorge shouts as he's no longer able to contain his excitement.