23. Oranges & Spice

        Zara stood in front of the mirror, admiring her new blue outfit as the morning sun flooded the dorm, deciding she did indeed look better in blue. The clothing swap was growing on her now that she was actually wearing the clothes, Dena was right. And even though her figure paled in comparison to Dena's, the clothes seemed to fit perfectly, nonetheless. 

         As the bells began to toll from the Fina Temple of Medel, Zara put her robe on over the blue clothes and headed out into the crisp morning air. The new temple was all that the Temple of Medel in Culloom was, almost identical to the temple she already knew and loved so dearly. Her sadness had been in vain, this she thought, she would never see again, and here it was... 

         Zara left the temple feeling awestruck once again by the amazing world she had known so little of, the only the regret being that she didn't get to sing songs. It wasn't just the temple with the same service, the same decor and architecture, everything here in Fina was built in the same factory as Culloom, things were just much more ornate here, there was no sing-song, the town felt a little more sophisticated, more grown up. She paused to admire the fountain, spouting from the bronzed statue of Atalon atop a powerful horse as she left the building, even the monuments of Atalon commanded respect, simply looking at the powerful pose summoned her own inner Will to think beyond achieving only little things. With a smile inside, she stood tall, visualizing the string pulling her up, and carried on along the path toward the steps of Fina U. 

         "Welcome to Merchant U!" Dell had at one time been every Merchant's professor, even Orius had been his student once. A highly respected figure in the Underworld, Dell deserved much credit for the success of the Atlan Empire. It was his genius that had developed the economic model enabling trade with distant lands, which in turn filled the vaults with even more gold, generating even more energy to develop an even bigger economic model.

         The new students stood in salute as he inspected their turnout, identifying them one by one as if he was already familiar with them. He began his Welcome Tour with a small speech regarding conduct, then led them out of the lobby down one of the tunnels leading away from the Hub.

         Wafts of food welcomed the students as he led them into the first establishment.

         "This is the Gourmet Chamber, the heartbeat of the Underworld" he announced as he led them inside. Dell's jocularity helped the students to relax, nervous glances were quickly exchanged with smiles. He continued on with the tour, leading them through the bustling food factory. 

         "This is where we do all of our food preparation, where we brew all the drinks and prepare the meats. Here we make wines from grapes, juices from oranges and corn, all that the Farmers produce with their skilled labor. This is where all the sweets, honey, spice and orange bubbly that you love so much, comes from! Come this way!" Dell led them through a set of double doors into a servery, flanking a dining room filled with tables and booths, where they could order from a menu and sit down to eat. 

        After the students ate their meals, Dell led them out through the double doors into the hallway, down a few meters through another door into a Brewery Chamber, filled with enormous vats and fermentation tanks. It was noisy, steamy and reeked of rotten alcohol.

         "These beverages are all aged slowly" Dell explained, "some are as old as forty years!" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the machinery. "MoonWine is our most popular brew, you may have had some last night?" The hangovers were better after the breakfast but not forgotten. Dell smiled, amused by the predictable feedback on their faces. "Atlan is famous for it. This way!" 

        He continued with his tour, leading them through a set of double doors into the Water Chamber. Towering thick glass cylinders of crystal clear water stood bubbling in a row, networked, plumbed into an enormous old distillation machine, the sound was overwhelming. Dell had to raise his voice even louder this time. "We also brew the water, which we process in order to make it nutritional. When we start with nutritional water, all the foods and drinks that we produce, become nutritional."

        

         They even brew the water? Nolan’s mind was spinning as the enormity of the Underworld operations began to manifest as reality, all kinds of secrets were being revealed below the surface of Atlan. He followed the herd back out into the tunnel, reflecting on the immensity of the unknown society when the sound of an approaching train gathered his attention, amplified by the hollowed sandstone walls. He stood back as the train trundled by pulling various carts carrying aribu and miscellaneous shipping containers, the last car being especially curious. It looked like a beat up cage but the bars were gold, they were covered in dried blood, some were bent and broken, as if something dangerous had escaped from it...