Tide Between Two Worlds

Welcome to Tsuran City

       Tsuran City. The place where a young ningyo never got the chance to see firsthand due to unforeseen circumstances. An empire missing its one and only prince, left behind by its last empress. The same empress who was happy and eager to show off her home to her lone offspring.

At an entrance gate similar to an Indian torana, a Japanese Torii, Korean hongsalmun, or a Vietnamese tam quan, Shuichi requested a pause to take it all in. Standing at guard were two male ningyo draped in armor made of whale bone and shaped molten rock. Their spears, helmets, and shields were also made of the same material and each were equipped with daggers made of carved stone and volcanic glass. They didn't resemble the samurai of old but were just as militant.

The gate itself was nothing to wave a fin at either. Centuries, if not, millennia of erosion, evolution, and good ol' stone carving made this aquatic door what it is today. Detailed carvings displaying the citizens beyond were seen along the twin sides of the gate, leading up to the awning where the shapes of past rulers formed a border with Botan taking front and center. Above her sat the figure of the country's patron goddess draped in an open, kimono-style shawl made of nothing but pearls and seashells. Although it isn't fully shown, the deity was quite busty. She didn't have a fully defined face but her mouth was like that of an angler fish with a feminine jawline. The upper half of the head was shaped like an octopus where many of her followers believe contained the celestial waters for deceased ningyo to eternally rest. Along with her tail, octopus or squid like tentacles adorned her waist like the skirt of a traditional, western-style wedding dress. In some human cultures, the goddess could either be described as a chimera or the infamous kraken. To Botan and her subjects, the goddess is simply that. A goddess. The entire thing was made of limestone and is assumed that it was the purest of white when it was first constructed. However, due to time, lingering water pollution, algae, and barnacles making it their home, whatever was pure white has now been changed to either greenish blue or bluish green. On brighter days, if the sun was in the country's favor, the gate could be mistaken for raw, untouched, deep aquamarine.

       "Amazing," Shuichi marveled, "Are you sure those guards can't see us?"

       "Quite," Botan assured, "Of course, should you visit this place for real, you'll be greeted the same way as any noble. Let's go."

And through the gate, the mermaid and her son went. Shuichi's jaw dropped for a seemingly countless time upon the view. Hidden deep in a city-wide canyon, thousands of feet below sea level was the empire of Tsuran City. An aquatic reminder of the days of old, before modernization. Because of the darkness of the surrounding waters, the city itself was illuminated by millions of bioluminescent fish, serving as either pathway lights, portable lanterns, and household lighting. Thousands, if not, millions of merfolk made this place their home and were seen either leaving the city, coming home, or commuting like the humans back on land. Speaking of land, Tsuran City might as well be an underwater version of Mushiyori City the way it looked from above. There was even a tower where the brightest light of the city was actually composed of an aquarium made of sand glass full of firefly squid that were fed daily. Other sources of light came from angler fish, lantern fish, and comb jellyfish. The combination of rainbow-like lights reminded Shuichi of the holiday lights seen around the city back home.

As far as structure was concerned, individual and family homes occupied a majority of the rocky gorge that bordered the metro area. Most of them had their special touch. Doorways made of seaweed and kelp, entrances decorated in glass shards from the surface or fish bone from a hunting trip. A couple was seen setting up their own nesting ground in preparation for family life.