Meeting the Queen of Atlantis.

Calamity had finally made her way into the heart of Atlantis through the spines, brambles, and other odd foliage within the dome. A few guards sat at the entrance, Euoplocephalus donned in strange objects. One, a grey and black ankylosaur with strange brass augments over the front of his spine and covering over the face, kept watch with a brownish one with fluff and a white streak on the nose, who donned a leaf-colored cover over the back. There looked to be human language on her cover.

She had avoided them in the jungle by following more dangerous paths, as they seemed more like trouble than the Oviraptor were, but now interaction with these walking rocks was inevitable.

The Cryolophosaurus walked forwards in a calm manner, so as to not alert the guards more than her sudden presence already would. The two ankylosaurs grunted amongst themselves as Calamity stopped before them, before one of them, the grey one, spoke to her.

“Halt, interloper.” His visor glinted as he articulated, “You are now under arrest by order of her majesty Queen Rhys”

By the time he finished his sentence, the other ankylosaur was already behind Calamity, cutting off her way of escape. The theropod put up her arms, it’d be easier to figure a way out later.

As she was led to the holding cells, what looked to be quarantine pens from long before their time, an Iguanodon, the first she had seen, was looking over the courtyard. This Iguanodon that bore a white cloak of feathers with dark extremities, looked to the two Euoplocephalus and to Calamity.

“Another outsider snooping around outside?” the Iguanodon spoke, her beak clacked together. Her imposing size seemed to match only that of Nidhogg, which was now almost a distant memory. As the ankylosaurs explained Calamity’s sudden appearance, she heard a familiar voice coming from the nearby contaminants.

It was Tress.

Calamity told her not to follow, but it seems that the juvenile didn’t listen, and instead found herself in a whole heap of trouble, similar to what Calamity now found herself in. But their luck was about to change.

“What is all this, Agnus?” A voice emerged from a building entrance, a lighter tone. Outstepping was a piebald Iguanodon with patches of blue and black peaking through. A troop of primates followed her, as well as another Iguanodon who almost seemed to blend in with the largest primates in the group if it wasn’t for his immense size.

As if on que, the two ankylosaurs and Agnus bowed to her. Agnus spoke, head still bowed.

“Your Majesty, Halberd and Donna found this interlope within the dome outside the walls of our kingdom.” The tone was not expecting praise, but seemed instead a little uncertain about her actions. Like she wasn’t exactly following orders.

“We don’t need to imprison every outsider that comes into our wonderful dome, Agnus. It will be hard to make allies if we keep locking them away as soon as we find them.” Queen Rhys spoke in a scolding tone. “You three are dismissed”

The two Euoplocephalus did not hesitate in taking the dismissal, but Agnus stood for a second before following suit, leaving Calamity alone with the Queen and her entourage.

The Queen gave a strange word to the primates, which began to make their ways into the containment cells and release several dinosaurs, including Tress.

“I must apologize for this, I am Queen Rhys of Atlantis” She introduced herself to Calamity, her age evident in her smaller size compared to the other Iguanodon, but to the smaller theropod they were all giants.

“Calamity, Investigator of those before.” The Cryolophosaurus gave a bow to the Queen, “I came here to investigate the strange plants which began appearing on the surface.”

“Ah, a scholar then. Well if you were looking for the origins of our plants, you have found them here.” The Queen gestured somewhat to the whole dome. “I understand we might be intruding upon the surface, but we have good reason.”

The Queen gestured for Calamity to follow, Tress had finally made her way out of the containment area and followed behind, a few other dinosaurs followed, but the rest had already left for their own accords.

The Iguanodon lead the group to the edge of the dome, the smell of salt was already filling the air like they entered a beach. “When the ground shook, a new threat to our home made itself known.” The Queen pointed to the fractured wall of the dome. “Our Kingdom is now at threat of sinking completely, and while we are making attempts to repair this breakage in the walls of our home, I had a realization.”

“As long as we are beneath the waves, Atlantis will never truly be safe.” She turned back to the crowd of surface dwelling dinosaurs. “That is why we have come to your land, as this is only a temporary solution to an existential threat.”

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, before Tress spoke up, “Can we help in any way?”

The Queen nodded, “If you would like to help Atlantis and her people, we would greatly appreciate it. We already have others working on repairing the wall, and if you wish to help us prevent its collapse would be generally greatful.”

Most of the dinosaur stepped forwards, including Tress and Calamity. The few that didn’t had quietly broken off for the crowd to excuse themselves. The Queen gestured to follow the dark Iguanodon that had been following her, all but a few of her primate troop following as well, as their dexterous hands would help in construction.

As the crowd reached the edge, the sounds of leaking seawater through the thick metal and glass were audible. Some dinosaurs, both Atlantean and Surface, were already working on the wall. Primates scattered throughout using tools to keep things in place as dinosaurs held the materials in place. And this new group would follow in kind.

Calamity and Tress, due to their smaller sizes compared to some of the other dinosaurs, were primarily tasked with moving smaller objects and carrying tools to and from. From the few glances they saw while transporting, it looked like even some of the sea dwelling reptiles were assisting from the other side of the wall.

While some of the reconstruction was being done with the original pieces that fell off the dome wall during the earthquake, it looks as though the Atlantans were also employing some of their own creations. Panels and connectors made out of the plants native to the dome, grown into strange shapes to interconnect with the metal and glass of the human work. One group was tricking some fast growing vines to grow in ways that sealed some of the smaller cracks. Others were fashioning spines into nails while chatting amongst each other. Off in the distance, other groups kept the construction site free of sabotage or collected materials to help with the repairs.

While they were working, Calamity took the time to study the human objects that were being reattached or replaced. It was certainly a strange feeling seeing dinosaur made works beginning to compare with those of humans. It would be something that she’d keep in mind while continuing her own work too.