The Temple of Aquarius

Gen then asked, "Wow, you mean Aquarius created the dome?"

And Isabelle said, "Well, I don't know if that's true, but that's what the story says."

"You don't believe the story?"

"Well ... let me finish telling it. There's still a little piece missing."

"Oh, okay."

...

After creating the dome, Aquarius spent the rest of his life living in it, but when he was about to die, for fear that the dome might one day fall, he left a test inside it to pass on his legacy. The person who passed the test would receive his blessing.

Years passed after his death, and one day, a young woman finally managed to pass his test. And after passing, the young woman gained a high affinity with the water essence.

The years passed, and the level of her essence rose rapidly until one day, she became a King, and not only in essence but also the Queen of Arpolis.

Upon becoming King, she decided to live in the same place where Aquarius lived, which was the same place where she had passed the test, the royal palace.

She then began to live in the palace, but after a few days of living there, she realized that she had done something wrong. The palace was the home Aquarius had made for himself, and with her living there, she felt as if she had stolen the home of her great hero.

Some time passed, and after trying to think of several different solutions, she finally decided what she was going to do. She would build a new house for Aquarius.

She then, with the help of the people of Arpolis, began to build Aquarius' new house, and the new house was quickly built, but the Queen didn't like how the house was since it had to be at least on the same level as Aquarius' old house.

She concluded that it would be impossible to create another dome since even though she was at the same level Aquarius was when he did it, after trying multiple times, she knew she couldn't do it.

She then decided that, since it would be impossible to create another dome, at least the house should be infinitely superior to the royal palace. The construction process then started, taking them five years to make it, and when it was finished, the Queen named it the Temple of Aquarius.

The Queen then used her essence to lift the temple from the ground and carried it toward the sea. There, she placed it on the water and used her essence to keep it from sinking. After that, the Queen returned to the city and held a city-wide celebration for the successful creation of the new house of Aquarius.

A few months passed, and many people from Arpolis and abroad came to the city to see the temple on the sea in the distance. This continued for some time until suddenly, one day, someone warned the Queen that the temple was sinking.

The Queen quickly went there and saw that the temple was indeed sinking, and then began to use her essence to make it stop, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the temple from sinking. Every time she used her essence, she felt like she was trying to pull the water out of the sea, but she didn't give up and kept trying until the temple was completely underwater.

She then returned home and was extremely saddened by what had happened, but a few days after this, she was cheered up and told everyone that she would not give up.

She then began the construction of another house for Aquarius that would be even bigger than the last one, for she understood that the last one sank because it was not a good enough house for Aquarius.

A few months passed since construction began, and then suddenly, one day, the whole town began to shake. Everyone thought it was an earthquake and took cover, waiting for it to end, but after it ended, chaos was created in the city. People were saying that the Temple of Aquarius was back.

This news quickly reached the Queen's ears, but she didn't believe it because the place where the supposed temple had been sighted was not the same place where the temple had sunk.

The Queen then went towards the place, and when she arrived, she was surprised. In the middle of the sea in front of her, there it was, the Temple of Aquarius. The Queen then went towards it, and when she arrived, she saw that it really was the place she had built, but that it had something different that the Queen couldn't tell what it was.

She then left the temple and asked several people to investigate it to try to find out what it was that she was feeling. The people stayed there for days, trying to find out what was different about the temple. Until one day, one of the people investigating awakened an essence related to water. The Queen didn't think much of it, but after a few more days, other people began to awaken essences, and then the king understood what was different.

The Temple of Aquarius had become one with water, and so being inside it was like being in the water, but not like a person entering the water and the water making way for the person, but rather like being filled by water.

The news that the temple of Aquarius was helping people to awaken essences spread throughout the city, and from then on, every day, many people started going to the temple to have the chance to awaken an essence, but after a few days, the temple closed its doors, and then soon after it began to sink into the sea.

The people who had not awakened an essence yet became desperate and went to the Queen to ask her to try to stop the temple from sinking. The Queen then went to the beach and was about to start using her essence when suddenly a thought crossed her mind. She then stopped and let the temple sink into the sea.

Everyone was confused at this and asked why the Queen did that. She then looked in the direction where the temple had sunk and said, "Now I understand."

Everyone then got even more confused, and she said, "There was nothing I could do. The true place where the temple belongs is not on the surface as a tourist attraction or a place to awaken essences, but inside the sea, where Aquarius always wanted to live."

Many protested at the Queen's words, but she did not listen to them and just let what was natural happen. A year passed, and it was still possible to hear one person or another talking about the temple until one day, the whole city shook, but instead of being worried, everyone was very excited.

People then started looking for the temple, and after a while, someone spotted it on another beach, which made everyone go in its direction. The temple then stayed on the surface for a few days and then sank again.

The townspeople were then divided between the people who thought the temple would come back next year and the people who thought it wouldn't, and then one year later, there it was again.

From then on, every year, people began to look forward to the coming of the water temple, and this reached a point where even people from out of town began to visit the city at that time of year.

The Queen was very happy to see this. Still, as the years went by, she realized that although the temple was huge, there was no room for the large number of people who were coming, so she decided to create challenges for the people who wanted to enter the temple. From then on, the Temple of Aquarius event was created.

...

Gen then said, "Wow, now I understand why you said that the water temple was considered the home of a constellation. Actually, I think you could say that it is the house of one."

And Isabelle said, "I wish I could, but that's just ancient history. There's no way to know if it's true."

"So it could be that everything you've told me is a lie?"

"Not everything. The Queen in the story really existed. She was the first member of the royal family of Tólis, and from then on, all her descendants have had a great affinity with the essence of water. Always having a King in each generation, until today, with me."

Gen then asked, a bit startled, "You are from the royal family?"

And Isabelle then smiled and said, "Fufufu, pleased to meet you, Queen Isabelle."

"Wow, I didn't expect to meet the Queen of Tólis."

"Fufufu, things are not always as we expect, Gen."

Gen then looked up and said, "That's right, they usually are anything but as we expect them to be."

Isabelle then put a hand in front of her mouth and said, "Fufufu, you are very funny, Gen, but I guess you are right. Where did you think you would be today, Gen?"

"Well, it depends on when I thought. If it was about five years ago, I thought I would be living a good life with my family. If it were about three years ago, I would think I'd either be solving my problem or looking for a solution."

"What if it was earlier today?"

"I would think I'd be with my friends at some bar after being dragged there by them, hahaha."

"Oh, I see. Sorry for getting in the way."

"Don't be, it's not bad here. I'm having a unique experience that only happens once a year with the most important person in town. Maybe I'm in the best place I could be."