Wooyoung and Berosus left early in the morning for work. Berosus' wife was still asleep when they tiptoed out into the cool air of the morning. The early sunlight broke around the Tower of Babel and threw long shadows in the city that was already busy with people scurrying around for their daily tasks.
When they reached the bazaar, the two men got food from a stand that had opened already. Their daily business went on just like yesterday, but the bazaar had changed its details. Some travelling merchants had left the city entirely, and other vendors whose wares looked no less fascinating filled in their places. Wooyoung watched them set up their booths while Berosus chattered with the food merchant.
Gradually, the city awoke to fill with new spirits. The never-ending flux of newcomers from the gates exchanged places with those leaving to try their luck elsewhere. Before the sun radiated down on them, everybody had set up their tables again and hid away in their scarce shadows. Today, a group of musicians blessed the bustling market with their music. A flute player started out with slow and soothing tunes, while a drum and the occasional tambourine underlined its melody. Later, as the hustle and bustle of the bazaar picked up, their pace also did. Accompanied by merry music, the thriving city did their businesses.
Wooyoung sweated rivers as he helped Berosus with his booth. Merely standing wanted him to spread all limbs off so his skin would touch nowhere. When paired with his lifting duty, sweat dropped from his chin onto his beautiful garments.
Whenever no customer demanded their attention, Berosus and Wooyoung had pleasant conversations about the weather and the city. Wooyoung learned that Mingi's rank was high enough to take Wooyoung onto a trip up the tower and that he had to visit the beautiful gardens if he got an opportunity to. Wooyoung agreed with that enthusiastically. He barely understood his companion over the many overlapping voices on the market, but Berosus didn't mind repeating himself. If he heard an accent on Wooyoung, he didn't let it show.
In learning so diligently, Wooyoung made sure that he would stand out less. As long as his excuse to be a distant traveller got accepted, he didn't need to fret. But if they found him suspicious for coming from so far away, he might be marked a threat and executed before he could get to Mingi's records.
Not that Wooyoung wouldn't flee with his time remote before that. But he could never be so sure.
A few hours passed, and it got hotter and hotter. Inwardly, Wooyoung joked with himself that Yongguk probably would have passed out from the heat already, but he was off no better. Heaving and parched, Wooyoung praised every gulp of water Berosus offered to him. The other man was far more composed and used to the heat. He even swayed his body to the music.
The sun stood high at noon and Wooyoung pondered getting lunch for the two of them when they got approached by a peculiar visitor. His tall frame stood out between the broad men working on the bazaar. Dark hair stuck to his forehead as he made his way over to the booth Berosus and Wooyoung suffered in. A glance at their reddened faces baking like an oven had the young man smile. Wooyoung scrutinised the big leather bag he carried.
"Good morning, Berosus. How are you?"
The deep timbre of his tone resonated in Wooyoung's chest. It was soothing and scratchy at the same time; like the granite rocks in Prague's mild forests that Wooyoung missed so much currently. A glorious voice, especially when paired with Akkadian tones.
"Always happy when I see you, Mingi. May I introduce you to Wooyoung? He searched for you." Berosus gestured over to the boy, who stood from his stack of stones that made for a seat in surprise. As Mingi noticed him with a polite smile, Wooyoung fumbled for words over having found him so abruptly.
"Ah, hello! My name is Wooyoung, and I come from the west. I study history and mystery at my institute back home and my lord sent me on a journey to share the remarkable knowledge of your folk. I had hoped you could school me." Satisfied with his speech, Wooyoung peeked at the man hopefully. Mingi looked flattered, his big grin growing bashful around the high rank Wooyoung referred to him with.
"Oh! I can't believe that my name travelled so far in combination with my research. I would love to exchange learnings with you. Do you wish to accompany me to the palace?"
Wooyoung nodded eagerly. He turned to Berosus, troubled about helping him for the rest of the day. The man's bony hands and hunched back weren't fit for lifting heavy loads.
And yet, the man beckoned him to leave with a smile.
"Congratulations on finding your purpose. Have a wonderful time in our magnificent city and drop by for a chat before you leave," he said. Wooyoung bowed deeply.
"Thank you for your help. I will remember it fondly when I look back to this day. For sure I will come to say goodbye before I leave."
With a bright smile, Wooyoung brought the stones along that Mingi purchased and helped him position them in his worn bag. They bid their adieux to Berosus before they set out together over the bazaar. Keeping up with a person in a cluster as crowded would have been difficult if not for Mingi standing out so much.
"Do you have any more shopping to do?" Wooyoung asked him as they wandered along the edges of the market since fewer people romped about there. With a grimaced smile, Mingi shook his head and adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
"No. I always get the stones last since they are so heavy. We can return right to the palace. What is the place you are from called?"
"It's called Prague. It's further beyond the sea. I had a long journey here."
No harm in telling Mingi. His lifetime wouldn't be long enough to find out that Prague wasn't an actual place yet.
Still, the other man nodded intrigued. With his free hand, he pushed his sweaty locks out of his face.
"Fascinating! I don't get to travel much since my work is inexcusable for His Majesty, but I would love to hear more from you about Prague!" Mingi went first when they passed a tight gap between a group of men and a palm tree. The gentle breeze whirled circular patterns in the sand dusting the ground.
Once they had caught up with each other again, Wooyoung spoke up.
"I have to admit, Babylon is far more beautiful than Prague, however. I have heard from the beauty of the gardens from far beyond your borders, and the tower is a sight to behold."
"I can show you around! Usually, I'm free in the mornings, so we can use the time before the sun turns us into bread to explore. The part of the gardens connecting to the Euphrates river is an Earthen paradise," Mingi agreed. Devotion swung in his voice as he regarded the nearing walls of the inner palace district. He adored this city and even when never leaving the place one had been born in sounded boring to the modern man that Wooyoung was, he could understand. In a world not knowing alternatives and in a city as brilliant as Babylon, Mingi lived a fulfilled life still.
The guards at the gate nodded at Mingi when he passed through. They didn't spare Wooyoung a gaze as they trusted their historian in his decision to bring him in. Gleeful, Wooyoung studied the new area.
The entrance looked similar to the resident district. He presumed the soldiers lived in the humble huts that stood in neat rows next to each other and created a barrier in front of the palace. The streets were orderly and clean, unlike the shadier alleys Berosus resided in.
Beyond the houses was a spread of free land leading up to the palace. Tall, the building climbed to the sky to overlook the area. Its shape was similar to the ziggurat, only that the palace expanded in smaller buildings attached to it. Like mushrooms on a tree, they spread out with no coherent plan. The entirety of the halls with an abundance of windows had oriental ornaments decorating them. Lines of the same blue painted bricks with different floral patterns framed the roofs. The noble design was at the same time modest and expensive.
In the vast space around the palace, milled servants and aristocrats. The many entrances and exits signalled the maze that the hallways inside were, but Wooyoung was all too willing to get lost in there.
Mingi snickered at the way Wooyoung's mouth hung open.
The palm trees and other green bushes complimented the palace. They grew on garden flats on top of the buildings and framed the irregular stories with a wall of lush green and blissful shadow. Here and there, mighty animal statues throned between them to look out over the city and the fields below.
"It's gorgeous!" Wooyoung gasped. It was unlike all the drawings he had seen, unlike the many reconstructions of the ruins in various places of the modern world. It was grand and breathtaking, and it was all real and in formidable condition. The golden age of Babylon shone bright around the sublime architecture.
Wooyoung would take hours to take it all in, but his slow stroll with Mingi didn't halt. They directed their steps towards one of the many entrances that led into the cool halls with their vaulted corridors.
"It truly is. Can you spot that back there? There are the Hanging Gardens." Mingi's index finger pointed at something in the sky and Wooyoung cupped his hand over his eyes to see. Behind the palace structure was another one, a unique building. It also rose to the skies like a pyramid, but it was far less spread out than tall. All Wooyoung could see was deep green back there, and his heart sung at the idea of visiting the mythical place himself.
"Wonderful, all so wonderful," Wooyoung praised. He nearly forgot his Akkadian in how breathtaking the sight was.
Mingi smiled proudly. His grin showed Mingi a crooked incisor tooth that perfected his natural and kind looks. In his tanned face, that bright grin lit up like a ray of sunshine.
"Is the kingdom you come from just as grand?"
"Not this much," Wooyoung confessed. "We use different stones and our statues have the shape of women."
His explanation had Mingi raise a brow at him. With a huff, he adjusted the heavy stones in his bag. His struggle reminded Wooyoung that lingering to look around was impolite towards Mingi, so he hurried to follow Mingi into the tunnel that led towards the main palace building.
"Women? Why women?"
Wooyoung snickered at the idea of a Babylonian coming to modern times and freezing in confusion at the sight of a naked Aphrodite statue.
"Because their beauty is something we worship in our religions."
The symmetrical windows threw light on the humble sandy ground. In the distance, Wooyoung could hear people conversing with each other. The tickling of water sounded somewhere beyond the walls.
"That makes sense! We like to think that animals, the ones we can't converse with, respect the might of our kings and look up to us just how we would look up to our gods." Mingi nodded cheerfully at the connection they had found. Even when the thought of erecting statues of women had a smirk play around his full lips still, he didn't condemn that choice.
"Shall I apply for a royal hearing for you? I'm positive that His Majesty would adore hearing your stories!"
Wooyoung hummed. He should stay clear of people with too much authority in case he messed up. If Mingi found him suspicious, he would chase him away, but the king? Keeping a low profile was the key to any time travel.
"I don't know yet how long I will stay, so I will consider," Wooyoung replied kindly.
"Wise words. The king is a busy person. I will extend your name to him if our work together calls for his attention," Mingi settled smoothly. Wooyoung liked his warm personality.
"Thank you, friend."
"My pleasure."
They passed an inner courtyard that divided the water canals into all four cardinal directions. Straight ahead was a staircase that wound up the clustered buildings to the upper level. Mingi motioned Wooyoung to follow as they scaled them to visit Mingi's home first, and then to explore the royal palace.