The Atlanteans

He did not return with the warriors.

With that one thought, Nereidia knew her peaceful life within the waters of Atlantis would be forever changed.

She watched as warrior after warrior arrived home, some more battered than others. But still, they were back home, days after the assassination of her beloved King. She knew Leviathas would be among the troops sent to go after his killers. She expected it, for her dearest childhood friend was a member of the Atlantean army. What she didn’t expect, was that he would not come back.

Frantic, Nereidia tracked down the commanding general. He was an imposing man, tall, broad-shouldered, a worthy opponent for anyone. She chased him down as he marched from the shores back to the army stronghold, grabbing him to stop.

“Where is he??”

At first, the general looked annoyed, he appeared ready to beat the person who held him back. Then, he saw Nereidia, her large, blue eyes looking up at him, desperate for an answer.

The general’s expression changed, and he looked down at Nereidia with sympathetic eyes, “He disobeyed orders, little one. And followed our target to the surface dwellers’ realm.”

Nereidia froze in place, her long, flowing hair, the color of ocean sea foam, framed her face as the water caressed it slowly. She gripped her wrap tightly No one ever…no one dared…approach the surface world. Now, she knew

Nereidia raced to the temple, eager for help from the only other man she could trust.

“Zemos!!”

The elder man emerged from one of the rooms, concerned at the panic in his young charge’s voice. He saw Nereidia racing up the stone steps, a determined, yet frightened look in her eyes.

“Father Zemos! It’s Leviathas!” Nereidia shook her head. “He is still not with them! How can you now tell me things will be alright??!” She gripped the older man’s hands tightly, as she stared directly at him.

Zemos sighed, “What would you have me do now, child? I cannot help the lad,” he tried to calm Nereidia by placing a gentle hand atop hers. “I love that boy as if he were my own, you know that.”

He searched Nereidia’s face for any sign of comprehension, but knew she was too distraught to really hear him. For days, she had been at the city’s edge, waiting for any sign of her childhood friend. For days, she would watch as warrior after warrior returned.

Zemos patted her hand sympathetically, “His fate is no longer in my hands,” he told her quietly.

Nereidia trembled slightly as she nodded and withdrew her hands from Zemos’ grasp. And with a strange look, she turned on her heel and walked determinedly out of the Temple of Poseidon, silently cursing her god’s name

• * *

Nereidia stood in front of the members of the High Council, holding her breath. It was an informal meeting, for the young girl simply stormed into the chambers and demanded an audience. Her interruption garnered a few chuckles, but at looking at the seriousness on her face, the Council reluctantly agreed to let her speak her piece.

“I know he is but a scout, but he is also a citizen of Atlantis! Does that not account for something in your eyes?” her voice rose slightly with each gesture to each and every Council Member.

Nereidia sighed, her shoulders visibly slumping, “I beseech your help…” she implored.

She looked up warily, expecting one of two reactions, extreme anger or indifferent shrugs. She received neither, for what saw was the same. Pity.

• * *

Nereidia returned to the city’s edge on the shore once again to wait. This time, however, a cold chill enveloped her, as she tightened her grip on her wrap. She closed her eyes, concentrating, looking … reaching … for any sign of Leviathas. And once again, nothing.

She collapsed to her knees, covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook as she began weeping in sorrow for her beloved friend. It was a loss she could not bear. She had grown up with the stubborn boy, had adventures since they could walk and swam amongst the creatures of the deep.

He was her best friend, her confidante, the one person she could trust above all others. He would never leave her side, as she would never leave his. The two were constant companions, one was rarely seen without the other. Their distinctive hair color of ocean sea foam could be constantly seen peeking above the various stands in the city’s main square at the market. People heard her light laughter, spotted his mischievous grin as the two young friends raced through the square nearly every day.

Nereidia paused a moment to recall a memory, bringing forth a small smile on her tear-stained face…

The two of them were playing near the shore, a game of tag or something similar. Leviathas was balancing himself atop a small rocky outcropping, showing off as usual, when he slipped. During his attempt to maneuver into a perfect dive, his cloth breeches were caught on a jutted tree limb. Nereidia gasped as she heard the cloth tear, fearing Leviathas was hurt. She saw him turn, then flip and dive down, graceful as a dolphin – and bare as a newborn. She blushed.

Seconds later, Leviathas broke the surface of the water, careful to keep his bottom half below the waves. Brushing his hair out of his eyes, he grinned sheepishly towards his friend, “Um, heh… hey, Neri!”

Nereidia looked down at him, an expression of perfect innocence, “Hmm?"

Leviathas smirked, pointing up to the tree limb, and his cloth breeches swaying in the wind. Nereidia glanced to where he pointed, tilted her head, and simply grinned back down at him.

Leviathas frowned, “You...wouldn’t..?”

Nereidia grinned wider, stood up, turned slyly, then walked away, out of Leviathas’ sight.

He stared, his jaw dropping slightly. He waited a few moments, positive she would return. He treaded water, waiting to spot her pixied face. After a long while, his voice exploded.

“NEREIDIA!!!”

Silence. He waited for a response.

“Nereidia!!!”

Still nothing. He began to fume, muttering curses he had learned from his elder brother, Mercutio.

“I swear!! I will cut off your hair!!!”

Again, nothing. Nereidia, for her part, sat as silent as she could behind some rocks, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“Nere…?”

The call was a plea this time, and Nereidia nearly revealed herself, when Leviathas’ impatience got the best of him.

“I mean it, Nere!!! No more hair!!!”

Nereidia kept down, grinning like a fool, and laughing even harder as she heard Leviathas walk out of the water, and rush past her hiding place, naked. He wheeled around angrily when he heard her giggles, and almost approached her, fuming. That is, until he heard a distinctive, and very familiar ‘harumph’ from behind him.

“I trust there is a reason for this…display, young Leviathas?”

Leviathas cringed and tried to deftly cover himself as her heard the voice of one of the Temple’s high priests. Nereidia immediately ceased her laughing, nervously biting her lower lip. She stood up slowly from her hiding place, bowing .

“I am sorry, Father Zemos. It was my fault,” she said quietly.

Leviathas blinked at her, but she ignored him.

“His breeches tore,” she pointed to the rocks. “I dared him to dive from up there.”

Leviathas stared at her, “She’s lying!” He turned to face Zemos. “I did it! I said I could!”

Nereidia stared back, “What are you doing?” her voice flashed loudly within Leviathas’ mind. “You’re still in trouble from breaking that vase!!”

Leviathas ignored her and stared up at Zemos, “Blame me, not her.”

Zemos raised an eyebrow at the children, glancing admonishingly between the two of them. He removed his long robe silently, and wrapped it around Leviathas. Then without a word, he nodded at them, and indicated they both return home before walking away silently.

Nereidia and Leviathas stood side-by-side, somewhat stunned for a few moments. Then Neriedia suddenly whipped her hand out, and smacked Leviathas in the head.

“Hey!”

Nereidia then turned, and walked back toward the city, with Leviathas trailing reluctantly behind, rubbing the back of his head…

Nereidia opened her eyes, blinking back tears as more memories began to surface. He could not be lost to her. It simply could not happen. But as she knelt there at the water’s edge, she truly felt there was nothing she could do

• * *

The next morning, Nereidia awoke, tired from a very restless sleep. She had dreams of Leviathas, strange visions of him on the surface. He was wearing his Atlantean armor, and running after a dark and cloaked figure. Over and over again, the same vision, and the same dreaded ending, with Leviathas being beaten.

Nereidia dragged her body out of bed to begin her routine of studying. She was training with some of the city’s most gifted healers. They told her she had promise with her talent. Leviathas was the most supportive, saying he could think of no better healer than she, to be at his back in battle.

But she could not concentrate, her thoughts kept wandering, to her dearest friend. The healers and teachers also looked on her with sympathy, for never did an Atlantean return from the surface dwellers’ realm, much less alive.

For several days, this was how Nereidia spent her time, and it began to affect her health. She ate less, if she ate at all. She rarely slept. Her nights plagued by the same dream. Even Zemos noticed how the young woman turn into a shell of the person she was. It was as if someone literally ripped out her heart and soul.

He suggested she take one day for herself. No studying, no rules, and reflect on how best to remember her beloved friend.

“You do no one any service, my child, if you cannot care for yourself,” Zemos told her softly. “Leviathas was a good warrior..and an even greater friend. The two of you, I think, would have made quite a pair.”

Nereidia blushed slightly, and gave Zemos a weak smile. “You know as well as anyone, he never thought of me in such a way. We were very close friends, and that’s all we would have been if he were still – “

She nearly choked on her words. While some found it best to speak of Leviathas in the past tense, Nereidia still held onto her heart’s desire that somehow ... he would make it back to Atlantis alive.

But she took Zemos’ advice, and prepare a short trip for herself. She had planned to swim to a small, familiar island nearby where Leviathas and she spent many a time together. She swam for a few hours, but stopped well short of her destination by an intense, powerful voice erupting in her mind

“…To the surface … Leviathas… ”

She grabbed the sides of her head in pain, her vision blurred, her mind raced as the ominous words pounded loudly in her head. She stumbled, sinking deeper within the ocean , stunned.

“By the gods...” she gasped, incredulously.

Nereidia looked about, wondering if she had finally gone mad. She furrowed her brow, and shook her head. She was imagining it, of course, her practical mind told itself. But her heart held sway. Could the almighty, Poseidon himself have called her?

Nereidia sank further below, until she found herself resting upon the ocean floor. Brightly glowing fishes swam past in the dark, casting an ethereal sheen across her face. She sat still, and concentrated.

She slowed her breathing, calming the waters around her. Then, after long moments, she felt him. Not her god, Poseidon, but that of her dearest friend, Leviathas. She felt that familiar caress of their thoughts merging. It wasn’t much, but it was there. Their minds touched briefly, and Nereidia’s heart soared knowing her beloved friend was, indeed, still alive. But it nearly ripped in two once again when she realized he was in pain and very frightened.

She concentrated again. “Poseidon…hear me…” she whispered. "...Help me..."

A flicker touched her thoughts. Nereidia’s eyes snapped open, and she turned her head ever so slowly.

“… That way…”

She looked far down the ocean floor, and began to swim…

• * *

She did not stop. For hours, she swam. Her legs begged her to rest, her arms weakening by the minute. But Nereidia was determined to reach her friend before it was too late. All the warnings of the surface dwellers’ land meant nothing. Leviathas was alive, and that was all that mattered.

She somehow knew she was close when she spotted more unfamiliar lands below the surface. Then, within the shadow of what appeared to be trees in the water, Nereidia finally broke the surface. She arched her back, taking in a deep breath as the ocean’s spray fell around her. She gasped, the air was unfamiliar, perhaps tainted for it was nothing like the air above Atlantis. She shook her head, clearing it, as she wiped the water from her eyes.

He was there. Incredibly, she saw him lying there. Battered and bloody, but alive. Nereidia held back a scream as she raced across the sand to reach him. She stumbled as she approached, spraying water and sand over his beaten body.

“Leviathas! Leviathas!!” she rolled him over so that he lay on his back.

He was unconscious. His face was distorted, his cheek bones crushed. Nereidia took care not to touch the area. She brushed his bloodied and matted hair off his forehead. A long gash was filled with sand and dirt. His lips were chapped, flakes of skin peeling along the sides of his mouth. She quickly surveyed his chest. More deep cuts, more bruises. She couldn't even begin to count how many. She was certain his ribs were broken, but the imperceptible rise of his chest proved beyond a doubt that he was alive.

Nereidia immediately laid her hands on him, and closed her eyes, enveloping both of them with her healing touch. She remained motionless as she concentrated, her mind’s eye seeing his injuries, healing them slowly. Beneath her fingers, bones knit back together, cuts began to close. She could feel his heartbeat getting stronger. Leviathas began thrashing about, fighting off death with a vengeance.

Nereidia continued her work, her hands slowly passing over his legs. She could hear the bones pop back into place, but she did not stop. Sweat began to form on her forehead as she concentrated.

“Live, Leviathas…” she spoke into his mind.

Leviathas let out a quiet moan, his hands balling tightly into fists. His neck strained as Nereidia’s hands moved along his body, finding and healing whatever else they could. Her body shook, but still again, she did not stop.

Then, it was over. Leviathas’ eyes snapped open wide. He sat up with a jolt, gasping for breath. His momentum nearly knocked Nereidia off balance. She stared at him, hardly daring to breath. He turned to her slowly, his eyes widening.

“… Nereidia…?” he whispered incredulously.

She swallowed hard, nodding ever so slightly. Her hair still wet and tangled, her clothing torn from hours of swimming mercilessly non-stop. She searched his face, waiting for him to speak again.

Leviathas could not stop staring at her. “You…came…” he uttered softly.

Nereidia kept her eyes locked on his, even as he lifted his hand slowly to lightly touch her cheek. Tears immediately began to fall the minute he caressed her skin. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers.

“...You … came…” he whispered again hoarsely.

She flung an arm around his neck, and began sobbing. “I-I th-thought you were d-dead..!!” Her body heaved uncontrollably as she cried against his neck. Leviathas closed his eyes and simply held her. For days he had chased his adversary across this strange land. For days he tracked the vile Cocharados, for killing their king. It was an intense and demanding pursuit, and nothing else mattered to him. Until now.

It took long moments before Neredia ceased crying. Leviathas never let her go from his embrace. The sun had begun to set, as seagulls wailed plaintively over the ocean’s surface. Yet the two of them remained on the beach in each other’s arms. Finally, Nereidia pulled away and leaned back slowly on her heels, looking at her dear friend.

“How are you feeling?” she asked quietly.

Leviathas blinked in surprise, staring at her. He studied her face. “I … am fine,” he smiled softly. “Thanks to you.”

Nereidia smiled back, and nodded. “You prayed … I heard Poseidon’s call…” she continued quietly. “I ...had to come.”

Leviathas watched her as she looked at her surroundings. Nereidia looked up to see strange metal structures, some tall as statues in the Great Temple, others much smaller moving under the own power with no beast to pull it. She saw surface dwellers, some walking, sitting, and talking amongst themselves. All paying no heed to the two Atlanteans.

Nereidia turned back to Leviathas. “What is next?” Her face now clear of any emotion, focused on the task at hand.

He nodded, noting her sudden change in demeanor. His head tilted, as he looked at her with an odd expression. “We find Cocharados.”

Nereidia listened as Leviathas described how Cocharados confessed to killing their king. She frowned as she heard how the evil Legionaire amassed a small army on the surface to combat loyal Atlanteans who dared follow.

Leviathas sighed, “We cannot do this alone. He is too powerful.”

Nereidia nodded, reaching for his hand. “Then we pray.”

The two made their way to the water’s edge, kneeling before their beloved ocean and spoke to their god for guidance and help. For several days, they prayed.

“Merciful Poseidon, God of the sea, hear our prayer…send us aid…”

When they were not praying, Leviathas and Nereidia learned what they could about the surface. They spoke with some of the humans, fascinated by what they heard and saw. They also built a small temple, under the water, below Talos Island near where Leviathas nearly lost his life.

Then one day, when both believed their voices would go unheard, the skies rumbled, the ocean roared, the wind howled, and the heavens opened. Raging storms struck the island, surface dwellers ran for cover, but Leviathas and Nereidia stood firm upon the beach. For what they saw, made their hearts soar.

Atlanteans. They had come, emerging from the waves with weapons and shields ready. With every approaching tide, more came. Loyal subjects of the deep, both from Atlantis itself and their closest kin, the Mer.

Among the first to arrive, the beautiful siren, Kenjia, who sang at the Temple of Gaia. The bold and brash warrior, Mandorallen and his brother Ultalan. The mer prince Tritonius also arrived, pledging his peoples’ loyalty to Atlantis. Soldiers, scouts, healers, and seers. Archers, alchemists, and archivists. They had come.

Nereidia watched Leviathas as he greeted each and every one of them. She could see the weight falling across his shoulder. Once a simple scout, he was now leader of an army. An army ready to avenge their fallen king. She smiled to herself as the group made their way to the Temple to begin battle plans. She looked up, and prayed one more time.

The Mer

Tritonius stood at the surface, the plane of existance, that seperated his world of the deep from the alien world of the light. This was a momentous occasion. The gathered Merfolk, paused and searched the prince's counternance, searched him for courage, they too needed. Tritonius stared in awe at the shimmering spectacle the surface presented from the shallows, stared in awe as the light rippled like a mirrored dancing creature, carefree and lulling. The awe was shared by them all. Tritonius took a moment to appreciate the beauty of what he saw, he was after all stepping into another world, and what a beautiful omen to cross to do so. All around them the Merfolk could see the Atlanteans breaking the plane, sending wild cascading mirror-like light dancing in every direction across the surface. The bards would sing of this, Tritonius knew, he could see... could feel the sea's energy, its joy... what they were doing would forever change everything.

Tritonius broke surface, stopping mid waist level to regard himself, he watched for the first time, as the sea "fell" from him, watched it slide and stream from his body, to rejoin itself in the sea. The gravity of this display was not lost on him, it reminded him all too well that this new world was that alien... that even the great and nurturing sea, would not, or could not follow. The spectacle was indeed beautiful however, and the Prince stopped to savor the moment, as his compatriots and loyal allies shared with him this strange new experience.

Ahead of him, through the glimmer and haze of seeing the unfiltered sun for the first time, felt its warmth, and the breeze, sensually cool and warmly caressing as any sea current. Tritonius saw them gathering. The Atlanteans were heralding Poseidon's call... were gathering around the one who the sea had loved enough to send out the call for aid. Tritonius was eager to know himself. Looking back to his people, who were similarly sharing in the sensations that had brought him to such awe, he cast them a broad and courageous smile, he turned and made his way to the gathering.

The sand was different here, he felt heavier, without the sweet caress of the sea's embrace, each step lumbered heavier, and his feet sank deeply into the beach. He noticed all these things, the sounds were different, everything sounded so "sharp' so stingingly cacophonic. The coil of the sea's music was nowhere to hush, and to soften the sounds. The young princes eyes were adjusting well, the permeating glow that ebbed around all things, was receding. The mass of peoples gathered among the stones of "land", gathered around the one, he could see, began to take form, he could nearly count them. Behind them, through the haze, he could see tall pillars, spiraling into heights. He broke tide, and stepped completely free of the sea... he paused to notice how the sand spread, and caved to his weight, saw the water lap away, and retreat, only to return a moment later, like it was licking, caressing the land... coaxing it to come into the loving embrace of the sea. Promising untold sensations of another world. Tritonius knew that world, and the lull was strong in his heart... the will to return, was almost overpowering... like leaving behind the better part of yourself.

Again Tritonius took a moment to regard his people, stepping from the sea, their lithe forms glistening in the light of the surface world, their bodies strangely aglow with the mirrored light of the sun, as they took purchase of this new world. The young prince breathed deeply, and though it was not like the full, sweet breath of the sea, it wasn't unpleasant... though something about this new world was strangely wrong, the air didn't feel right.

The prince cast out his arms, droplets of the sea cascading from his form as he closed his eyes, and faced his people, tilting his head back, he breathed deep again, and as he finished the long exhale, he lowered his eyes back to them. He took note of the concern, the anxiety of their faces, felt their reservations about everything.

"You all felt the all father's call..." He started, his voice was booming, it had a new sense of power to it, one he had not expected.

"You are his children, as we are all..." he searched their faces, sensing the growing morale, the gravity of his words weighed upon their minds.

"Let us go forth and meet the one who has sent out the call... let us go forth and discover this new world... Let us go forth and do his will." With the last, steely reserve had replaced the concern of their faces, they had faith in Poseidon, and could bear any strangeness, any tribulation in his name.

Tritonius turned from the Merfolk, and continued up the beach, his vision was clearing further, a sharpness was to be seen, he could identify males from females, and warriors from priests. They were all here, some faces he recognized of the Atlanteans, from his travels to their great city. Some he could only identify their heritage, as he passed within reach of them, recognizing their families blood, from their appearances. Tritonius was a scholar in many histories and cultures, and from the stories... or the great persons he had met, he could identify their descendants. Tritonius, reverantly nodded to the ones he recognized, and smiled to those he did not, passing by them, to the center.

Some of the Atlanteans watched the Merfolk approach with wonder and awe, some with disdain, and concern, others with steely indifferance. The Mer prince bore himself proudly as they made way for them. The tension and surprise their presence brought was not wasted on Tritonius. It was becoming clear to him, that it was an Atlantean, that made the call... that the all father had blessed one of them with his boon of aid. The Atlanteans had a shaky alliance with the Merfolk of the deeps, and even that was not with them all, many of his peoples were as varied as any human nations, and most saw the Atlanteans with disdain... the returned, apprehension was only justified he supposed.

As Tritonius cleared the many gathered warriors, the mystics and the sages, the scientists and the scholars, the priests and the laymen, he was aware that an Army had answered the call, and this truly was a momentous occasion. He was able to see three figures slightly separated from the others, one of which fell away, to join his companions in the crowd, after shaking a male Atlantean's hand. Tritonius vision finely cleared completely, as he strode the last few feet to the one. The last foggy edges burned away, and Tritonius could see see the strong, frame of an Atlantean warrior, his dark skin contrasted by his sea foam hair, that fell about his jaw in dirty locks, sand still clinging to it. He had clearly been in a battle, and bore the marks, though recently healed. Tritonius had been eager to meet the one... to support and guide them in their service to the all father, but he was not prepared to be staring an old childhood friend in the face.

"Leviathas..?" Tritonius managed in amazement, recognizing the warrior, his eyes then fell on the smaller figure of Nereidia, his lifetime companion.

Tritonius had not seen the duo, since he was younger, they had ran off together during a celebration in Atlantis, and the duo had showed him the city from the peoples eyes, and they had a wonderful adventure of it, Andramadas had chastised him sternly for his disappearance and his father had been seething... but Tritonius had gotten away from the trappings of royalty for a day, and had made fast friends with the Atlantean children. His mind had wandered to them and their adventures many times since then, and often he had imagined what new adventures they had experienced since.

The two did not quite realize themselves who it was before them, Tritonius' long deep sea green hair was pinned up in royal fashion, with coral stalks, and he wore the Royal gown of the Archdai, highest priest of Poseidon. Tritonius' eyes shown with the gathered power of the Storms... as they had not when he was a child. Tritonius stared at them a moment as they searched each others faces, and looked back to the Mer Prince. He then reached up and took the stalks from his hair letting it cascade down, he still wore it as he did ages ago, when he had ran off with the sea foam children of Atlantis.

"Prince... Killian...?" Neredia began quizzically, having found his resemblance in her memories.

Tritonius smile broadened, and his heart lifted, they remembered him...

"Prince Tritonius" Leviathas corrected her, having known about the tragedy of Andramadas, and the new Heir to the Atlantic Empire of Merridia.

Tritonius met his eyes then, and something passed there between the two men, something only men of their stature could share, and childhood smiles broke their grave counternances. Childhood memories flooded them all, and the worries of their lives fell away for a moment. The three shared a laugh together. The trio embracing again on the sunset beaches of the new world, for the first time in ages, and all was right with the universe.

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