Tidal-Bore

5. Sacred Animals

"So, the shell, you call it, yes? Explain it to us. Is it technology?" Yeosang inquired from Seonghwa as they marched ahead of the group to lead the way. The scientist was already in full investigation mode, wishing to understand everything about their surroundings. In the meantime, Wooyoung looked forward to the brilliant marble city. Statues of rays and sharp-toothed morays lined the path leading inside the metropolis and the people milling about were utterly regular yet seemed to come from a different star.

"It's organic, but our technology holds it in shape. The rare silk of deep-sea slugs is woven around a massive metal net that keeps its shape through the little electricity we generate. Our oxygen comes from the corals." Seonghwa gestured at their surrounding, at the flora that matched those on the ocean floor. Few trees dotted their rocky and sandy lands, but the corals strived even above water, having accustomed to their surrounding.

"Exceptional," Yeosang muttered. He dug through his bag messily to bring forth a notebook and scribbled down that information.

"And how did it come to be? You can't have developed it only after Atlantis sunk."

Seonghwa mildly shook his head, though slow on catching up with the flow of Yeosang's questions.

"Atlantis was always threatened by floods, so our ancestors designed the net ahead of time. Our most prideful invention was completed before the city sank. It malfunctioned a few times through the centuries and we often have trouble with sharks crashing into its safety and ripping holes, but we are always prepared for such emergencies."

Despite Seonghwa's reassuring smile, Wooyoung cast a doubtful glance at the dome. Knowing how deep down they were didn't buoy him. If the bubble burst, the water pressure would kill them all within the bat of an eye.

Better than being shredded by sharks.

When Wooyoung shrugged off his shudder, one girl wordlessly handed him a peach to indulge in. With an awkward nod, he accepted it. Munching on its soft flesh soothed his anxiety.

"Does that happen often?" Yeosang asked, half in curiosity, half in dread.

Seonghwa relayed the question to the chieftain, and he replied gruffly. Hongjoong added into it and their rough yet singing language sounded vexing from his lips.

Back with an answer, Seonghwa waved it off.

"It happened only twice during our current chief's reign, and both cases were no high-level threats. You are safe here and we have safety pods to evacuate into if the city ever flooded."

Soothed enough by that answer to accept it, Yeosang carried on. They now entered the outskirts of town and Wooyoung got to stare at their houses from up close. Flat roofs adorned humble white to pink walls. The entrances had no doors, just flaps of fabric for privacy. The path underneath them was paved by volcanic black rock, but the houses were made of limestone. Some of them had carvings of waves and maritime lifeforms over their walls, others bore hangings of massive fins or decoration of teeth and bones from large fishes.

The Atlanteans regarded the newcomers with interest as their procession took them through the busy streets. They went about their daily business like food preparation and laundry as any other folk, only that they seemed stuck in the middle ages.

Charmed by the rural yet so modern atmosphere, Wooyoung smiled at two kids hovering on a doorstep to watch them with gigantic eyes.

"Our sacred animals are morays. Apart from yellow morays, it's strictly forbidden to eat them here, as it would be sacrilege. We eat all other sorts of maritime life, even the poisonous ones when prepared right," Seonghwa revealed when they passed a crossroads that was dominated by a statue of an ugly eel. The sharp needle teeth chased a shiver down Wooyoung's spine. He always found morays particularly repelling.