Atlantis: City of Mages

by M. Arcturus

  “Would you like me to get you down from there?” He gave her a faint smile. Starting to mess with the keys in his hand, she stopped him.

  “No, I need to stay. I may not be doing well, but with me being in this state of health, there will be no disputing how badly we were treated. Kajaka has been taken to safety, and the others were freed by their own people. I’m all that’s left to prove that we were held hostage,” she paused for a moment breaking eye contact. “I’m very thankful to see you, but what are you doing here?”

  “Shadow received Kajaka’s feather, so we knew what happened to all of you. So, Shadow, Selené, and I formed a plan. Shadow sent Kajaka’s feather to Avalon to contact reinforcements. Selené came back here after her risky escape to find the young traveler from the Kinnowwa. And me, I came here to find out what cargo Juron was waiting for.”

  She looked at him with a sad expression. “So, you’re not going to be able to stay long?”

  “I’ll do what you need me to. If you need the company, I can stay here until they come for you. I’m sure there will be a window of time that I can use to search Juron’s chamber.”

  Once Seth got there, it didn’t take long for Pandora to fall asleep. She finally had someone there to allow her mind to rest. He sat back on the floor across from her with his back resting up against the door. Realizing the swords strapped to his back made this position painful, he removed them and laid them across his lap. He stared back at Pandora and, at first, he thought he was going mad. The shadows on the floor right underneath her began to rise like black smoke. Once floating, it rippled like the ocean waves. Drifting up to the chains that held her hands, it settled and unwrapped itself from its tail. This Bennu wasn’t like the rest; it reacted differently, more like a personification of smoke than of shadows. It moved almost like a cloud of dark water. The Bennu started pecking at her chains, loosening them. Seth watched as the first shackle turned loose. It drifted over to the second one and started pecking at it as well.

  The Bennu raised its head and looked at Seth as if to say, you better catch her! With one last, swift peck, the chains broke.

  Seth lunged at her with one abrupt jolt and caught her right before she hit the floor. His swords went crashing to the ground clanging loudly. She must have been worn out. She didn’t even stir lying there across his lap. It took him a while, but he finally got it. The Bennu not only wanted her to be more comfortable than hanging on the wall, but they were also permitting him to touch her.

  He reached for his short sword with one hand and pulled it toward himself. Unclasping the trigger for the Kit-Lar, he slid it out of its hiding place and used it to remove the shackles from her wrist. Her wrist seemed so bruised and frail. He started to massage them hoping to relieve any pain she might have been feeling from them. She gently stirred and looked up at him with her bright, deep green eyes, but she was too weak to stay conscious. From the waist up, he leaned over and hugged her. As he was straightening himself back up, in an almost dream-like state, she put both of her hands on the sides of his face, drew him near and kissed him. He returned it affectionately. The soft passion of his kiss felt supportive and nurturing, yet the intensity behind the kiss gave her a glimpse of the deep yearning he had for her. He had waited years for this moment, and she could finally feel how much she meant to him.

  Juron had just handed Selené her own cup of tea. She watched him as he walked back over to his chamber door and spoke to the guards. They turned away with their orders, and he gently shut the door. It was a shame that she couldn’t hear what he told them, but even with her growing doubt, she still tried to believe that his orders were just. After all, he did show her that he was still the person she knew deep down inside.

  “Now tell me. What shall we do with our guest?” asked Juron sitting down in a chair across from her.

  “I have a hard time understanding why she’s being held captive like that, hanging there in the dark all by herself,” Selené said. “She must be scared!”

  “She needs to be there for the trial. I want her to be presented just the way she is with no foundation to stand on.”

  “In other words, you don’t want a single part of her body to touch the floor because symbolically it shows that some part of the floor, upon which we deliver our messages to the other board members, belongs to her. You don’t want her to have a say in anything.”

  “She’s The Destroyer, Selené! She has no name, is known to destroy everything she touches, including the floor upon which she stands, and you want her to be treated with special hands?”

  “It wouldn’t hurt, Juron. She’s only a child. Although it is hard to determine age here on Atlantis, I can tell she is younger than Pandora and me. And in retrospect, we are the youngest members of the Council. All I’m saying is that she needs someone she can call a friend. Maybe kindness is what she is seeking. If we give her friendship, she might spare our community.”

  “Alright, we’ll leave her in your care after the trial tomorrow. That is, if you’re not jailed by then. I’ll talk it over with the Council. All will know who destroyed the empire if you fail. Your idea: your responsibility.”

  “But Juron—” Selené was cut off by a pounding on Juron’s chamber door.

  “I’m coming!” Shouted Juron in a gruff voice, but the door was still being hit. She got this feeling that something was amiss and tried to stop him.

  “Juron, wait!” Selené yelled, but it was already too late. He had already unlocked the door and was turning the handle.

  His chamber door flung wide open, and the entrance became instantly filled with amphibious sea creatures. They slithered in using their arms to pull them along, with their tails flopping left to right. The first wave grabbed Juron and pinned him against his desk. They held him taut as the second wave approached. The second wave of creatures moved slower than the first. Moving seductively toward Juron, they started singing.

  “No, stop. Don’t!” cried Juron as they moved in on him with their melodic chants.

  Selené started moving toward the crowd around Juron when she noticed that she was surrounded as well. They clawed at her and bared their sharp teeth. She looked back at Juron as his screaming stopped. They had lulled him into a deep enchanted sleep. The creature closest to him used her fingers to puncture into his neck. She wasn’t killing him but leaving her fingers in the holes she created to integrate into his neuro system, using it to control his thoughts, or to manipulate his dreamlike state. Her long purple hair drifted up to his ears and entered his ear canal and came out his eyes, nose, and mouth. It must have been some sort of mind control, and they were winning. Selené briefly looked away in disgust. Whatever he was experiencing, bent his will. She knelt on the floor and curled up in a ball waiting for them to do the same thing to her as they closed in.

  One cut through the crowd, humming a soft, gentle melody. Selené looked up and made eye contact with the creature. While looking into its hypnotic eyes, the creature’s appearance softened. Selené finally realized what the creatures were. They were the itty-bitty mermaids that played tag with Pandora when she rowed out onto the reef just off the shore. When the creature was at arm’s length from Selené, her vision blurred, and she blacked out.

  “Who are you? What do you want from me?” asked Juron as he walked the palace halls. He was unaware that he was debilitated on his chamber floor and his surroundings were just hallucinations. The spell of the sea creatures was thick and held strong.

  Other than the echo of his voice, there was not a sound. No one was present, and he started to get the creeps. The last thing he remembered was sitting in his chamber with Selené and being ambushed by a group of hideous creatures. Was this a dream or was this actually the palace? Where was everyone?

  “Selené?” he called out again as he headed for the courtyard.

  She was sitting there in one of the big arched windows that looked out over the marketpl
ace. Calmly, she viewed the tips of her hair, checking for split ends. The rays of the sun hit the crown of her head, producing a soft white glow around her face. She looked up at him as he neared.

  “Selené, where is everyone?”

  “They have either left or have died.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Take a look for yourself.” She hopped out of the window and allowed him to view the new Atlantis.

  Though the sun was still able to shed its light, there was a thick film of smoke in the air that barely allowed blue sky to show through. Bodies covered the walkways. Not a lot of blood was spilt, but the devastation was beyond his comprehension. Atlanteans were not the only ones among the dead. Neubians, a few Ackrids, dragons, Bennu, and more races than he ever knew existed were lying on the ground.

  “What happened here?”

  “Suicide—it’s what you wanted, right? You ordered all of them to kill themselves, Atlanteans and other worldly beings alike. And those who disobeyed were poisoned by the water supply.”

  “No, this is not what I wanted.” He turned back toward Selené, but she was no longer standing there, and she had left no trace behind.

  The earth rumbled periodically. Looking back out over the bodies, Juron was astounded! As the wind rippled over their clothes and through their wings, he began to wonder how this could have happened. He turned around once more and was confronted by Oberon.

  “Just look what you have done! The Elders thought that you would be perfect for this position and yet you let the Atlantean Empire fall into a wasteland! Shame on you, brother, shame on you! I’m even a little disturbed that we’re from the same gene pool, tsk tsk!”

  “I didn’t do this! I swear!”

  “What about the cargo and your denial about the prisoners? Did you really think you could imprison innocent people and keep the cargo all to yourself?”

  “That was my cargo. They had no right to it. I had to do something!”

  “So, you had them commit suicide?”

  “No, I didn’t do this! All I did was imprison a few, just the ones who might have known about my cargo. I only wanted to keep them locked up until the Council punished them for boarding cargo ships and stealing cargo that didn’t belong to them. Once the Council sentenced them, they would be too preoccupied with clearing their names than to keep me away from my cargo.”

  “My daughter, our daughter died in your captivity,” Bitter tears welled in Oberon’s condemning eyes as he continued, “The Elders should have left us as one person. I was so ashamed of being half human. The fae needed a pure blood to take their throne, and the Atlanteans needed a strong leader once the Elders left. When the Elders came to me, I thought it was the best solution. I could be in two places at once, to rule both lands. I didn’t realize the cost. With the exception of feeling rage, I lost the ability to feel my emotions, and the desire to rule both lands was a mere taste of the greed locked up inside of me. The greed buried within was bestowed upon you. The greed has consumed you. You are unfit to rule! Did you not realize that maybe your people, your own kin, needed you more than you needed this precious cargo? Where did this cargo come from? Why are you obsessed with it? If it is yours, why would anyone take it? Unless it’s not yours and belongs to someone else.”

  “It’s mine!” Juron shouted so passionately and so desperately, wanting to keep his treasure that his voice cracked. “They gave it to me fair and square!” Juron took off running down the corridors toward his chamber.

  “Run, Juron, go on and run! Too many stains are on your hands. This will not be ignored,” stated Oberon basking in his superiority. “They will be heard! Your secrets will not be kept!”

  The last thing Selené remembered was being surrounded by sea creatures, and now she was in her own bed with the sun pouring in through the window. She sat up slowly, thinking the creatures must have been nothing more than a dream and then realized that this must be the day. Today her friends would be freed! Today the truth was going to be heard! Feeling her newfound enthusiasm, she jumped into the shower to prepare herself for the gathering. Before she got dressed she looked at herself in the mirror to check her wounds. After Shadow decreased the pain and activated the bandages, she didn’t even feel them. When she took the bandages off, she was shocked to see there was not a single trace of the wounds, not even a bruise. She thought it was strange. Selené knew the bandages worked well, but not that well. Surely there would still be some kind of marks indicating that she had gotten hurt.

  Ignoring her thoughts the best she could, she walked over to her wardrobe. Pulling a beautiful violet and turquoise robe with silver inlay out of the wardrobe, she put it on and headed for the Council room. Gently, she closed her chamber door behind her and turned the key to lock the door. As she turned around, there was no one to be seen. Thinking that this was strange, she headed to the marketplace. Out of all the locations on the palace grounds, the marketplace was always alive and active. Except for when everyone was dead?

  Selené gasped at the sight before her! Hundreds, thousands were laid out on the ground. The banners of Atlantis blew in the wind. Leathery dragon wings rippled in the breeze. Not a single one of them moved. Selené took a step back and instinctively covered her mouth with her hand.

  “I don’t understand?” whispered Selené softly, not thinking there was anyone near.

  She sat down on the sill of one of the grand arched windows that lined the doorway, which lead out to the marketplace.

  “Selené?” asked a soft, familiar voice.

  “Mother?” replied Selené.

  “Why did you let so many people die?”

  “Mother, is that you?” Selené turned to face her company.

  “I know I wasn’t around for you as much as I should have been, but you always seemed like a happy child. I didn’t know you would just stand by and watch without trying to get them to reason.”

  Selené tightened her expression and faced her mom with anger. Her mother was precisely how she remembered her. The large ringlets of her hair were dark brown with a reddish tint, almost like the color of burnt umber. She wore the violet streaks she had dyed in her hair shortly before she died. Her brown eyes smiled like the sun as she wore a dark reddish-brown dress. The sleeves of her dress had a slit that ran down, showing the top of her arm. The material flowed angelically in the soft air current, which came in through the arched windows. Her dress draped slightly across her body and graced the mirror floor upon which she stood.

  “I don’t know who you are, but you would be more convincing if you would have chosen to look like someone else.”

  “I don’t understand? I’m your mother! Don’t you remember me?”

  “Yes, I remember. I remember my mom died when I was about two hundred years of age. I remember picking out that dress for her funeral and remember lighting her funeral pyre, but I don’t remember you!”

  The apparition vanished, knowing that it had not only struck a chord, but its cover was blown as well. Selené stood there for a moment wondering who that was and where to go to next. Instantly, without thinking, she found herself wandering down the halls toward the Council room. It was no surprise to her that the girl still hung there in the dark, surrounded by silence. Feeling like she was being watched, she crept forward as quietly as she could. Somewhere within the room was a slight breeze, which caressed the girl’s chains, making them clang softly against one another. As she neared the cage of light, she noticed a green feather on the floor.

  “Kajaka?” asked Selené out loud to herself.

  Looking all around her, she tried to make out any shapes in the darkness that pertained to the eyes she could feel watching her.

  “I’m not sure who you are, or why you are here. This is my home, and there is no reason why this place should cause me to feel uneasy, so I’m going to take a wild guess and assume that this is not real. None of this i
s real unless you physically moved me in here. The last thing I remember, I was in Juron’s chamber.” She shivered at the thought of the creatures. There was no response, but a quiet shuffling sound moving in all around her. “What have you done to Kajaka?”

  “We haven’t done anything to him.” Her mother’s clone stepped forward.

  Selené looked at her and smiled, “I know you’re not my mother, but it is nice to see her again.” She continued, “About Kajaka, he’s a friend of mine. This is one of his feathers. I’m worried. Have you seen him? Please, any of you? Is there anything that I should know?”

  “We saw him carried away on the back of another,” came a voice from the darkness.

  “They were headed toward the northeastern shore,” said another.

  Selené blankly looked into the darkness. “This is a visitor,” she said gesturing to the girl hanging from the ceiling. “I’m not sure why she’s here. She doesn’t speak to us, and I can’t blame her, though I do want to learn from her. I want to know who she is and why she’s here. It will take a long time to have those questions answered, I understand that. I refuse to give up on her. There has got to be a way to show her that I care and want to help.”

  “Why would you want to help out a creature that you don’t even know?” Asked her mother’s mimic.

  “Not all of us are cruel. Some of us want to learn from what we don’t know rather than destroy or control it. There’s really no positive way to handle these situations. My way is to show patience and compassion, but even then, there are situations in which action is required, becoming the better path for a solution. Maybe her sole reason for being here is to destroy us. In that case, what Juron is doing is correct. He wants to control and detain her until the questions of her presence are answered, but that is not my way. I’m sure Juron is just scared. He has a lot riding on his shoulders. I’m not trying to make excuses for his behavior, but I guess this is the best way he knows how to handle the situation.”