The Atlantian System: Creation

“Fucking politicians…” Leta growled as the image of Elston flickered out.

Saying the man had been less than helpful was being generous.

Leta had begun by asking about what countermeasures would be taken against the Blessed and what they would be doing to hunt down the Gargoyle that took her mother.

Elston went on some long, drawn-out speech about other areas that needed protecting, then backtracked when she brought up the lack of safety for herself as their ‘Queen.’ Then the Governor would try to point out that she was healthy and safe in the Athens Sect and then backtracked again when she brought up that she’d been attacked on Sect property.

He’d say he didn’t have the men to spare to find her mother, then he turned around and said that finding her mother was his top priority when she questioned his sincerity to protect humanity.

The more he talked, the more she realized he reminded her of an infant unable to hold his head up on his neck, his head flopping this way and that as he went on and on as if her suggesting he do, his job was an insult.

In short, nothing would get done.

The Athens Sect had lost four people during last night’s attack without any promises to replace them.

The man did say that he would be ensuring communications were back open between the Sects after being strong-armed into the decision.

After an hour or so of the back-and-forth exchange, Elston made up some excuse to drop out of the conversation, his hologram image dissolving into tiny light particles that faded from existence.

“Unfortunately, when the man comes to civil disputes, he’s very good.” Atreus sighed. He kept Bulgaria and Serbia from becoming a bloodbath during the Cold War, so he’s got a bit of clout.”

Leta’s brows furrowed in confusion at his offhand remark. “The man doesn’t look older than fifty. How could he have had a hand in anything happening during the Cold War?”

Atreus looked up to Allister with a raised brow as the giant put his hands up in surrender. “Donne’ look at me. This hasn’t come up yet.”

Leta looked between them, her confusion turning into apprehension. “What hasn’t come up?”

Allister groaned as he ran one hand over his neck as if about to confess to eating the last cookie on the plate. “Well, lass. You know how we heal quickly, aye?”

“Yes…” Leta pulled the word out slowly.

“Well, Arisen are… very healthy, let’s say. We donna get sick, and if we break a bone, it’s healed in a day or so. After we Rise, our… aging slows down. A lot.”

Her frown deepened. “What do you mean by a lot?”

“It varies between the Arisen, but our best guesses are that we age about one year for every ten or so years that pass.”

She blinked in surprise, “What?”

“Allister, here’s over 300 years old, pushing 400,” Atreus remarked, his arms crossed as he leaned his hip against the hologram table as if they were discussing the weather.

“What!?” Leta’s raised voice echoed slightly off the stained glass as she looked at the giant Scotsman in shock. He didn’t look any older than his mid-fifties, his red hair only just showing a few strands of gray.

She remembered how Afra had said the Healer was ancient, but she looked like a lovely woman in her mid-seventies.

“Holy shit…”

“Died labeled a witch.” Allister humphed before she saw his beard twitch with a smile, “Guess they weren’t wrong.”

“So, everyone here’s…”

“Old, aye, lass. At least in terms of Mundane life spans.”

Leta looked to Atreus, who shrugged. “Austro-Turkish War for me.”

“Holy shit!” Leta’s expertise was Mesopotamian cultures, but she was pretty sure the Austro-Turkish War wrapped up around 1791.

“It’s not immortally.” Allister was quick to remind her, “Just a long existence. Losing your head is a sure way to go, and you can still bleed to death if you get seriously injured.”

“There’s always one new Arisen that wants to test it, though.” Atreus sighed, then frowned, “However, from my reports, you might be fine if you did. Kudela said that you healed extremely fast, even for an Arisen.”

“Crowns are built a bit differently.” Allister shrugged. “The problem is, now we’ve got a problem. Our comms are back up, but we’re still four men short. With Tariq in town, things are going to be tense.”

“Tariq?” Leta asked.

“The name of that Loupgarou you met. Athletic? Dark hair, dark eyes? Pretty boy.” Allister scoffed, “We’ve run into him once or twice. He’s up there in the local Blessed hierarchy. Some Loupgarou you can converse with when they aren’t furry, but they’re average at best regarding prowess. But this Tariq? He’s different. Smart and capable enough to control one of the largest packs in Europe.”

“He’s given us our fair share of black eyes,” Atreus added, his face sullen as if giving the man any compliment physically hurt him. “But by their nature, the Blessed are very territorial, which means getting them to agree to something, or better yet, follow orders, isn’t easy. Tariq has the know-how, but he doesn’t have the manpower by himself. However, without backup, we’re basically on an even playing field now if you’re looking at it in terms of fighting power.”

“Tariq mentioned that my existence was bad for his master. Who’s that?”

“Alrich, most likely.” Allister ran a hand over his face as he felt an oncoming headache, the thought of a creature enough to give him a migraine. “He’s a Vampire that came onto the scene somewhere around the French Revolution era. If Alrich’s set his sits on you, we’re in deep shit.”

“How so?”

“Best way to think of Vampires somewhere along the lines of a Senator when it comes to power and reach. They’re not Crowns by any means, but they’re much, much more powerful than, say, a Goblin or a Loupgarou. Having a Vampire on your back would be like having half of a hemisphere gunning for you.”

Leta gulped. “Why would he want to go after me? I’m three days into this bullshit.”

“Exactly, for that reason.” Allister shrugged as if they weren’t discussing monsters trying to kill her, “You’re a fledgling Queen. You donna know your strength yet. Be smart, wouldn’t it, to kill a weed before it has enough time to truly infest a garden, no?”

“As a Queen, you’ve got the potential to be a threat.” Atreus added. “Crowns are famously known for being able to boost their troops in all out war. Legends past say a Crown could take a handful of simple farmers and turn them into a deadly fighting force with a wave of their hand. As a corpse, well, you’re not much of a threat.”

“Which brings us to our next topic.” Atreus uncrossed his arms as he gave Leta a serious look. “Apologies, your Majesty, but to be completely frank The Athens Sect is understaffed to properly defend you and yet I am concerned about sending you to another Sect at this time. I believe that it is best that you stay within the confines of the Athens Sect until we have more information for your own safety or until we’re able to get you to a safer location.”

Her lips pursed at his matter-of-fact tone. “So, what then? I’m just supposed to sit here twiddling my thumbs until we get attacked or a group of old farts decide what to do with me?”

Allister let out a breath, tapping his foot as he thought for a moment. “Best guess, I’d say you’ve maybe a few days before Crowns summon you. But make no mistake, we can do nothing to protect you when that time comes. One minute you’re here, the next you’re with them. There’s no warning or buildup like when Hayoto makes a Shadow Gate - that’s the kind of power they wield.”

“If they’re so powerful, why haven't they taken over the world?” Leta said flippantly.

“Well,” Atreus answered, “because of the rules they can’t do it themselves, or at least they can’t make a spectacle of it. It’s all very ‘man behind the curtain’, but with a lot more ‘Annoy me and suddenly you’ll find out who invented the Screaming Eagle’.”

Leta felt a little bile in her throat at the mental image of someone's organs being pulled out of them while they watched.

“Noted. So, sit tight till my blind date with destiny comes knocking. That could be days from now though, and the Sect could still be attacked.”

Atreus frowned. “First of all, we’re outside the city limits, and our Priestess has placed runes around the Sect, so no ones getting in. Second, that’s my concern to worry about, not yours.”

Leta felt her jaw clench at being regulated to a building with a bunch of strangers but slowly nodded.

The Blessed had shown last night the lengths they’d be willing to go to in order to kill her, and unfortunately both of her parents had gotten caught in the crossfire.

She was in no position to make demands, especially when she knew so little about the world she found herself in.

“We have a common enemy though.” Her words were low but full of certainty, her eyes shining with a lethal fury as she embraced that now familiar anger bubbling in her stomach like an old friend. “They took my mom. They hurt my dad. I want them to suffer.”

The word came out like the hiss of a viper, her teeth bared as fury wrapped her in its embrace as she raised her chin. “I want them to bleed. I want their bones to snap while I watch them burn till they’re nothing more than dust on the wind. What do I do to make that happen?”

Atreus blew a breath out through his teeth, his expression showing his annoyance, “I’ve not the time nor the patience to make you a soldier.”

“We’re going to be holed up until we get reinforcements, right? I think we could make time.”

Allister chuckled then smothered his humor at the harsh looks of disapproval from both Atreus and Leta.

Leta turned back to Atreus with a defiant stare, “Teach me. Show me what I have to do to make them suffer for everything they’ve done?”

All her life she’d gazed in wonder at the ancient world and marveled at its grandeur. Now the monsters of the past had risen from the depths intent on ending her.

Her old life was over, ended on the roof of a hospital.

Her new one would start here.

Atreus stared at the young woman so confident in her convictions as she leveled a haughty stare at him.

She was frail and little more than an infant lost in the woods.

But the fire in her eyes… that rage. He’d seen it before in war; a spark that could light the flames of revolution or burn the world to cinders trying.

She could do it. Her clenched fists and the point of her chin said the power inside her was nothing to be overlooked.

She was a wild card, and the last thing anyone needed in battle was a wild card.

The girl needed to understand herself and her own limitations in order to be effective. Like an ingot of iron, she needed the beating that comes from training and the burn of her rage to share her into the deadly weapon he could see she was.

Resigning himself to his choice, he pushed off from the table to stand before her. “You want revenge?”

“Yes.”

“I will not treat you with any leniency. If you go this route, you will train and bleed just as hard as the rest of us, sometimes harder.”

Leta swallowed but her gaze didn’t waiver as she nodded. “Understood.”

Atreus let out a breath. “Fuck. Alright. Then I need you to understand your limits. You’re no good to the Chosen if you’re useless. Come.” He gestured to the door that they entered through.

Allister gave her a flourishing bow as she neared, a sarcastic smile crinking the edges of his eyes. “This way, your Majesty.”

Leta frowned, then turned her head to look back at Atreus behind her. “Totally serious question here. Am I allowed to hit him upside the head every time he does that.”

“You’re a Queen. I can’t tell you no.” Atreus dead panned.

Leta smiled happily as she turned back to the giant and made to follow through with the threat. He was quicker than expected, his head ducking to the side as her palm sailed past.

Allister straightened, still smiling. “Reflexes are better than a Mundane but not spectacular. Something we can work with.”

The gleeful look in the giant's eyes tempered the burning anger in her stomach with a mix of confusion and trepidation.

The pair led her through the hallway into the center courtyard, where Hayoto and Koa were taking a break from their sparring. As they approached the pair stood up and bowed low before standing straight at attention like true soldiers.

“At ease.” When the two relaxed, Atreus gestured to Leta by his side. “Her Majesty has committed herself to training. You’re both relieved of training today and will attend to your other duties until further notice. Dismissed.”

Hayoto and Koa shared a look before bowing low again to her and backing up to their discarded weapons.

Leta ran her tongue behind her cheek and looked at Atreus, “Do you guys do memos? What do I have to do to get that nonsense to stop?”

Allister shrugged, “Most will when ya ask. Some will be easier to break the habit of than others.”

Atreus sized her up and down, arms crossed as he tried to figure something out in his mind. “You’re skin and bones, so that will need to be remedied. The Talents that you possess, list them for me.”

No please or thank you. Just a demand for a result with a conviction that he would get it.

As with Afra yesterday, she went down her list of abilities, even going over her stats and explaining her higher than average strength and stamina.

She could tell that Allister was trying to put puzzle pieces together in his brain to decide how best to approach her powers, but furrowed brows said he was having trouble doing so.

Atreus seemed the most interested in her lightning, a talent that was apparently not a normal ability for Arisen.

“Give me an example. Nothing destructive, but so I can observe.”

Leta nodded, remembering that neither of the men had witnessed her channeling the storm or her fight on the hospital roof.

Hold her arms out, she breathed as the tiny cracks of electricity arched over her fingers and hands, caressing her skin moths drawn to a flame. Was it weird that the dancing light had begun to feel familiar?

The two men watched the sparks dance up her arms to tangle in her hair, the blonde strands beginning to float as the static played over her head.

“Enough.” Atreus held up a hand and she dutifully dropped the energy, though it took a moment for her to shake the energy from her hair.

“How strong can you make that?”

“In a single blast? 300 million volts, enough to power more than 50 homes for a day. Sustained? Somewhere around 200 million. Not enough for a normal lightning bolt but enough to do some serious damage.”

Allister whistled. “Stun guns max out at 30,000 volts.”

“And that trick you did on the roof.” Atreus ignored the giant’s impressed voice, his calculating face piecing information together. “What was that?”

“There was a lot of dust and ash on the roof. I remembered the fulgorite I made on Santorini, so I tried to recreate that. I used the telekinesis to scoop up dirt and hold it in the air, then channeled my electricity into a punch so the fulgoritewould have some momentum.”

“Hm...”

Leta waited for him to say more but he just stood there looking in the distance, lost in thought.

Finally, he shouted, “Samuel!”

Leta turned and looked up to where The General was gazing. On the second floor walkway around the courtyard, a young boy of around ten watched them with rapt interest, his dark eyes going wide as his surprise at being caught.

She could see his mocha skinned cheeks flush even from this distance as he pointed at himself.

“Yes, you.” Atreus’s words were firm but gentle like an old soldier addressing a young squire who dreamed of being a knight, “The Queen’s powers could cause some damage to the structures if she missfires. We’ll need to set up some rods around the courtyard to catch and stray bolts.”

“Y-yes, sir!” The boy nodded and ma,de to run before remembering himself, turning back to her and giving her a low bow before scurrying away.

He wasn’t the only one.

From the second floor Yelana, Koa, Hayoto, and the stout Indian woman from last night stood among the columns and arches watching. Yelana watched with an oddly hopeful look, while Koa and Hayoto followed her movements with a fascinated curiosity. The middle-aged Indian woman had her arms crossed over a blacksmith’s apron, seemingly not impressed.

“Ah.” She waved her hand at the young woman dismissively. “You dragged me out of my shop for a play when you promised me a battle. I’m going back.”

“But, don’t you-” Yelana started but the older woman was already walking away with a huff, muttering something that sounded like curse words under her breath.

“Don’t worry about Kaviah,” Allister chuckled, “That’s just how she is. She’s dedicated to her craft and harder to crack than the weapons she makes.”

Atreus gave Koa and Hayoto a sharp look, “Isn’t it your day to help in the scriptorium? Why are you leaving Huda alone to it?”

“The Mundane is poking around in there.” Hayoto responded, “Why clean up after his every step only for him to make another mess? I say just let him have his fill and then clean up after.”

“Ãrchontas ton oikodesponton…” Atreus sighed, “Fine. Then you’ll both be coming down here and participating in this evaluation. If I have to educate one person I might as well I make sure I’m educating the lot of you. Start by getting the mats prepped.”

Leta could hear Koa grumbling but the two began collecting their weapons.

Atreus looked back at her and continued.

“What physical martial arts training have you had?”

“I did karate for two weeks at summer camp when I was eight.” Leta provided with a straight face.

Atreus stared at her for a while, the silence only broke when Allister snickered off to the side.

“Fuck.. Hayato! Koa!” Atreus called up to the second floor, looking as if his future was about to be a lot more painful than theirs, “Grab Afra too. This could be a long lesson.”