As Haydee appeared through the portal, all she could see were buildings and people. The platform for incoming portals was a raised dais on a little hill, so it afforded her a pretty decent view in all directions. Everywhere her sight landed all that could be seen were buildings and people of various races. Dee had read a tiny bit about architecture, and though her knowledge was limited the view seemed decidedly odd.
It was not that the buildings were weird, but that there was no uniformity among them. Graceful wooden and screen doored pagodas were built right next to rundown and ramshackle sandstone blocks that barely qualified as houses. On one side she could see what looked like the grounds of a temple surrounded by a park, and on the other was something that could only be described as a cathedral. Not a very big one, but the design was there.
As more and more people passed through the portals, Dee was gently but firmly pushed to the side by the wave of travelers. Both the travelers and the people in the city were a stunning array of various races. There were elves, faeries, humans, naga and even few demons in the mix. Just with a quick glance, Dee counted over a hundred races within the range she could see. Some Dee could sense were beings that had only taken a humanoid form, either to hide or because their real forms would be too large to navigate the streets without trouble. She was pretty sure she could sense the presence of a dragon coming from one person that had come through the portals and disappeared into the city.
The most numerous people in this area seemed to be from various beast races. They ran the full range from werebeasts that were basically human or elven but with beast-like features, such as ears and tails, to demi-humans like that looked much like Dee herself, where they were humanoid in shape but looked more like beasts standing on two legs instead of humans. Though in Dee's case, she wasn't actually a demi-human, she simply looked like one. The lines between the definitions of races had always been blurry, since two beings could look almost the same, but have nothing in common when it came to their ancestry or abilities. Dee herself was perhaps the most extreme example of this.
As she waited on the edge of the dais, Dee suddenly realized that mother had not given her very good instructions when it came to deciding what to do after stepping out of the portal. That was very typical of Selvaria. As long as she knew what was supposed to happen, she also assumed everybody else knew as well. Normally Dee would be able to figure things out after some thought, but this time things were not as simple. Selvaria had handled all the arrangements and never bothered to explain anything to her. She didn't even know where she was. Not to mention the city, she didn't even know which world this was.
The only thing she knew was that someone was supposed to pick her up, but she had no idea how she was supposed to identify the right person. Or more importantly, how that person was supposed to identify her. Was she waiting for a man or a woman? Or maybe something in between? Genders weren't all that clear to some races. Speaking of races, which race was the person she was expecting? When were they supposed to arrive? What was she supposed to do in the meantime? Next time she met Selvaria she'd definitely slip something into one of her experiments and have it blow up as revenge!
Hours slipped by as Dee sat and waited. She expected night to fall as the sun was setting, but to her surprise a second sun rose up on the sky. 'So a world with multiple suns?' She thought to herself. There were guards monitoring the platform, and they had noticed Dee sitting around. Finally one of them approached.
"Hey little girl. Are you waiting for someone?" The female weretiger asked.
"I'm supposed to yes." Dee answered politely. The people here seemed to use the same common language that Selvaria had taught her. Apparently it was the most commonly used language in the universe.
"Who are you waiting for? Maybe we can help?" The guard asked. They couldn't have children loitering around the dais. Even though Dee wasn't taking much space, there was the possibility of her being a pickpocket or something similar. It would ease the minds of the guards if they could get her to leave.
"I honestly don't know. Mother sent me through the portal and told me to wait for someone, but she didn't explain who. She can be a little scatterbrained sometimes." She replied, still remaining polite. Dee could sense the suspicion in the guard, even if the offer of help was genuine.
"I see." The face of the guard darkened. Another suspicion had arisen inside the guard. Sometimes parents who didn't have the means to provide for their children abandoned them near the portal stations in the hopes of someone picking them up. There was also a sense of finality in the act, because once the child disappeared through the portals, he or she would be almost impossible to find. This particular Gate had incoming and outgoing portals from different worlds and wasn't exactly the most common location for such things, but it wouldn't be the first time. "I'm afraid we can't have you stay here any longer. This is not a place for children to spend time in." The guard continued.
"I suppose you're right. Besides, I'm getting hungry, and it seems whoever was supposed to be here couldn't make it. Thank you for your patience." Dee replied, and started moving off the dais.
She wasn't lying when she said she was getting hungry. One of the problems with a growing body was the constant need for nutrition. Even if the guard did not come to shoo her off, she would have been forced to go and find some food quite soon anyway. The issue was, how was she going to find food? Mother might have packed some supplies inside the pendant, but as the pendant changed owners, it had turned dormant and become a tattoo invisible under the fur on her chest. Dee would not be able to access anything inside until the pendant came out of the dormant state, and who knew how long that would take.
She had gotten familiar with the concept of money, and realized the usefulness of such a thing to facilitate trade. However, she had never seen any and certainly didn't have any either. As she walked the street, her observations told her that it was unlikely that any of the people selling food on various stalls along the street would simply give the products for free. She could try stealing some as her stealth skills would make that rather easy, but that seemed like a rather dangerous way to take her first steps in this new world. Making enemies on the first day seemed like a bad idea.
The next possibility was to either hunt, or to work for some food. The problem was that even though she might have the skills required to do some simple jobs, it was unlikely that anyone would believe her. Also, she needed the food now, not after she was done working. As she didn't know anyone here, there was also the possibility of being taken advantage of. Dee was not naïve enough to think that people were above such things. That left hunting, but she had seen nothing but city around her from the dais. She had done some basic hunting in the pocket dimension mother had created to get used to her abilities, but there was no game inside the city.
Maybe she should try to find a higher place to see just how big this city was? The highest point she had seen from the dais was the pagoda in the nearby temple. She started to rapidly move towards the temple, darting around the people that barely even registered her passing. As she reached the park surrounding the temple, she noticed several monks going around tending to the plants. There was also a group of monks practicing some kind of movement on a large open ground between the buildings. Dee wasn't sure if the movement was supposed to be some kind of synchronized dance or a form of unarmed combat. If it was the former, then it wasn't all that pretty, and if it was the latter, then it wasn't very effective. Maybe they were simply stretching and practicing balance? That seemed the most likely option.
As she got closer to the large pagoda, one of the monks spoke to her. "Greetings little sister. What brings you to our temple?" The monk said while giving a small polite bow.
Dee returned the bow before replying. "Greetings…brother? Would it be a problem if I took a look from the top of this building? I'm trying to find something."
The monk gave a small smile. "As long as you don't damage anything, then it is fine. Don't enter any of the doors inside, as the people within don't like being disturbed. Should I accompany you?"
"No need." She hurriedly replied, and started scaling the outside of the pagoda, seemingly without any trouble.
"There are stairs inside." The monk mumbled with a complicated look.
As she reached the very pinnacle of the pagoda, she started searching through her surroundings. The pagoda was not only tall, but also situated in an elevated place, so she had an unobstructed view all around her. And everywhere she looked, the only thing she could see was more city. Even while enhancing her eyes with her psionic power, the only thing different was a huge gray mass barely visible in the distance, in a direction she decided to call north for now. The mass could either be a mountain range growing straight out of the city, or it was the biggest wall she had ever even read about. She wasn't exactly an expert, but were cities supposed to be this big?
She descended the pagoda even more confused than she had been before. As she landed next to the same monk as before, the monk could tell that Dee had not found what she was looking for. "Tell me about it little sister. Maybe I can help."
"Well, I was looking for a way out of the city, but it seems this place is bigger than I thought." Dee answered half in thought.
"A way out of…you're a new arrival to the Pantheon aren't you?" The monk asked in a sudden realization.
"What gave me a way?" Dee asked wryly.
"Well, if you had spent any real time here, you'd know there's no way to see outside the city. We're in the twelfth circle, rather close to the edge of the eleventh circle. If you started walking now, it would take you a thousand years to walk to the edge of the city. Though why you would want to exit the city is beyond me." The monk explained with a smile.
"A thousand...how big is this place?!" Dee asked in shock.
"Well, I might as well tell you the basics since you're a newcomer. The Pantheon of Heroes is a world as big as five normal stars. The world is divided into two cities, with one city covering a quarter of the planet's surface, with a grand wilderness between the cities that are situated on the opposite sides of the world. You are now in the city of Day, while the other is the city of Night. Both cities are divided into thirteen circles, with the more powerful beings, societies, guilds and familia closer to the center." The monk explained, giving Dee the basic rundown.
"So we're rather close to the edge of the city, and it would still take me a thousand years to walk out?" Dee asked in shock. Now it started to dawn on her, why mother had said the angels wouldn't be able to find her here.
"Assuming you kept up the pace and didn't stop to sleep." The monk smiled. "That said, I still have no idea why you would want to go into the wilderness."
"I was thinking of hunting for food." Dee mumbled still half in daze.