The Royal Pursuit (20 page)

Ann hated to admit it, but he was
right.

“
Should we go up and see
it?” Kent asked Stacey.

“
Before we do, can I check
out some of those rooms along the staircase?” Ann asked.

“
Sure.” Stacey nodded. “We
have plenty of time.”

They followed her up the gold
staircase.

She opened the first door. “For some
reason, no one locked any of these doors. We think it’s because
they had a false sense of security.”

Ann considered what her friend said.
She reflected on the things she had learned about the Olympians
since she became queen. “Well, they still don’t lock any of their
doors or windows. They like to live peacefully, and they are seldom
attacked so they don’t feel the need to protect
themselves.”

“
Interesting. You can
really help us analyze these people.”

“
It helps when you know
them.”

They stopped at the first
door.

“
Mark and Stephen were
drooling over the woman whose picture is in this room. So be
prepared,” she whispered to Ann.

“
What happened?” Hathor
asked, not realizing the message was meant for Ann and no one
else.

“
Don’t pay attention to
her,” Kent interjected. “She’s just upset because Stephen and Mark
are in love with the woman in the picture in this room. A word to
the wise, keep your jaw shut.”

Ann sighed. “Okay. Let’s get this over
with.” Apparently, the women who lived on Atlantis were extremely
beautiful.

“
Who knows? You might
recognize her,” Kent said. “She could be another one of those
goddesses from mythology.”

They entered the room. The furniture
was pink with gold trim.

Stacey led Ann behind the desk where
the picture of the woman was on the wall. The woman was indeed
beautiful; her long blond hair fell in gentle waves over her
shoulders. Her skin was flawless, her smile enchanting, and her
green eyes hypnotizing. Ann tried not to show her irritation. As
much as she enjoyed the company of the Olympians, she could never
fully accept this one person.

“
Her name is Aphrodite,”
Ann said. “And she flirts with every human male she comes
across.”

“
Oh her.” Hathor shrugged.
“Aphrodite is shallow. She might be the most attractive Olympian
woman on that planet, but she’s boring to talk to.”

Stacey grinned, seeming to enjoy his
description of her. “Your typical airhead, huh?”

“
What’s an airhead?” Hathor
asked.

“
Someone who doesn’t use
their brain,” Ann replied. She was glad that she could trust him,
even if she couldn’t trust Aphrodite.

“
Are all Olympians perfect
in their appearance?” Kent spoke up. “It’s true Aphrodite is the
best looking woman of any of the women we’ve seen in the rooms
here, but every woman, and even every man, doesn’t have a single
flaw on them. It’s as if we are looking at one of those pictures
that have been touched up so that the person looks like a super
model.”

“
I hadn’t thought about it
before, but you’re right,” Ann said. “Until they lost their
immortal power, they didn’t have a single thing wrong with them.
Some were better looking, but in all honesty, none of them are
ugly, except for Hephaestus.”

“
They pride themselves on
their youth and good looks,” Hathor added. “You might say they are
self-absorbed, but they are also loyal friends.”

“
That is true,” Ann
replied. “They have helped me out in the past. I like them a lot.
Well, we should continue going through the rooms. If I’m right,
then Hera will be at the room closest to the top of the arc because
she’s the head goddess on Olympia. She wouldn’t settle for being
down here.”

“
The Olympians are
particular about their order of importance,” Hathor added. “Even in
their ivory palace, they have their main room adorned with pictures
of themselves, and Zeus and Hera are always at the top. Aphrodite
and Hephaestus are at the bottom. The other gods and goddesses are
in between them, according to their value on Olympia. Apparently,
they haven’t changed much.”

“
This is terrific
information,” Stacey marveled. “It sure is good you two came along
when you did. You made my job so much easier.”

“
We are expecting the
Augurs to come here to meet us,” Hathor reminded her. “I don’t know
how long we have to talk about the Olympians.”

“
Then we shouldn’t waste
any more time,” Stacey replied.

In all the excitement of checking out
Atlantis, Ann had forgotten about the Augurs’ impending arrival.
She wondered why they wanted to meet her and Hathor here of all
places. She had a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be a social
visit. This was going to be a serious matter. She just hoped she
was up to the challenge.

***

Lake Solitaire

Planet: Lone

After Athen and Dour caught the fish,
Optima cooked it. Athen was surprised to find that the fish tasted
good. He had expected them to be bland, but they were full of
flavor. He was more alert and refreshed after taking his nap, and
he could tell Dour and Optima felt much better as well. The only
one who seemed more worn out was the man in white, who silently ate
the fish. Athen narrowed his eyes at him, wondering what he
knew.

“
The process of changing
into a merperson will start soon. When it does, we should be in the
lake,” Optima told Athen.

“
Oh. Sure,” he said with a
nod.

He and the man in white followed the
Nicals into the water.

“
You will notice that it is
getting harder to breathe, and your legs will begin to meld
together,” Dour informed them. “That is when you should go under
the water. As soon as you breathe the water in, the transformation
will be complete.”

“
This is going to be
strange,” Athen confessed. “Have you two done this
before?”

“
No, but we know of others
who have,” Optima replied, smiling at him.

He smiled back. He enjoyed her
attention. She was serious and demure, but she could also stand her
ground when she needed to. She was beginning to be bold in her
dealings with the man in white. Athen would like to think his
presence gave her the courage she needed to stand up for herself,
but he was afraid to hope he meant that much to her.

The sensation in his legs was a faint
tingling at first, hardly noticeable. His breathing became shallow.
He saw the rest of them quickly duck into the water and realized he
was changing already. He hesitated to follow them. The tingling in
his legs grew stronger and his legs began to pull together, as if
an invisible force was molding them so that they would become
one.

Instinct forced him to keep breathing
the air but it was harder and harder to breathe. Forcing aside an
urge to panic, he slipped under the water. He looked at the others
who had already finished their transformation. He knew he had to
breathe in the water, but it went against everything in his body.
He held his breath for as long as he could, struggling to keep the
air in his lungs.

Finally, when the sensation to exhale
overrode his desire to live, he let out the air and breathed in the
water. His initial reaction was to go back to the surface of the
water because the water burned his lungs, but Optima and Dour held
him down. As quickly as the burning sensation began, it
left.

“
It is a difficult thing to
go through,” Dour told him.

“
Do you feel better now?”
Optima asked, concerned.

He hadn’t realized she was holding his
arm. His face flushed at her touch. “Yes. I am fine now,” he
finally replied. “Thanks.”

“
It’s not easy to adapt to
the ways of others,” she said.

He sighed in disappointment when she
removed her hands from his arm.

“
Alright, now that we got
the transformation over with, let’s go. We don’t want to be late,”
the man grimly stated. He turned and swam deeper into the
lake.

“
Late for what?” Athen
called after him.

“
You’ll see.”

Athen groaned. Why had he expected the
man to answer him? He reluctantly followed him, Optima and Dour
next to him.

Chapter
Seventeen

Aboard an Airplane

Planet: Earth

William looked out the window in his
first class seat on the airplane. The flight was relatively
comfortable, though boring. He tried to sleep, to help pass the
time, but it was no use. His mind was on Atlantis. By now, Captain
Reed and the other man should be in Atlantis, ready to bring it
back up from the ocean.

William often wondered about the
identity of the man who insisted on wearing all white. Even his
hair was white. He never revealed his name. One day he showed up at
William’s apartment and announced his intention of helping William
discover the location of Atlantis.

“
I have a deal to make with
you,” the man said, entering the apartment without an
invitation.

“
I’ve seen you before,”
William replied, surprised.

The man sat on a brown chair, crossed
his legs, and twirled the cane in his hand. “I saw the same future
you did. You were there, and so was I. We are both meant to rule
Atlantis. You will take care of all the political junk, and I will
control the technology.” The man paused for a moment while William
sat across from him. “You have seen Queen Amanda destroy Atlantis
completely. If she does such a thing, you are doomed. You will lose
all the power and wealth you desire so much.”

William frowned, his heart pounding
fiercely in his chest. “How do you know so much about me? I’ve
never seen you before. Are you from planet Pale?”

The man laughed. “Oh no. I’m not an
alien. I am very much a human being from Earth, like you. I came to
make a deal with you. In exchange for the video chip you have in
your possession, I will deliver the current Queen of Raz to
you.”

He rolled his eyes. “I tried that
avenue before, but she keeps choosing Hathor over me.”

“
You’re looking at this
situation from one direction. I’m not talking about Ann Kerwin. I’m
talking about her daughter Amanda, the one who destroys Atlantis.
Of course, Amanda is not even conceived yet, but she will be soon
if we don’t act fast. We must prevent Amanda’s
existence.”

William considered the man’s words,
turning them over carefully in his mind. The future had haunted
him. He had often wondered if he was doomed, if the future was
something he could not change.

“
I’m going to tell you a
little secret that no one else knows, not even the Augurs or
Olympians, who reside on two different planets outside of this
galaxy.” The man uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his elbows
resting on his knees. “I’m immortal.”

William scoffed.

“
Whether you believe me or
not is of little consequence,” the man said. “The fact is that I
was alive when Atlantis was a thriving city full of life and
activity. It was a glorious place, and one that should never have
sunk into the ocean. That is why I have spent all these centuries
biding my time until you were born. I’ve been keeping track of your
life, waiting for the correct opportunity to introduce myself, and
this is the moment. Back on Atlantis, I saw a glimpse of my future.
We ruled together, though we had little contact. You reigned as the
president, and I took over the technology. You see, on Atlantis, a
man named Cronos invented the device by which anyone who placed
their hand on it could see parts of their future. That is how I saw
you in my future. I have been patient. The wait is
over.”

William shook his head. He had
wondered how he would ever resurrect Atlantis. He could easily find
Stacey and send her to find the lost city, but he couldn’t figure
out how to bring Atlantis to its former glory. Now the pieces were
beginning to fall into place.

Finally, William spoke up. “And how
are we going to bring Atlantis out of the ocean?”

“
The Queen of Raz has the
planet’s magic dwelling in her. All we need to do is capture it and
place it above the machine that tells people their futures and what
might have been. The magic will activate the city to its former
glory.”

“
Okay. I’m going to ask you
an obvious question because you failed to explain something
important.”

The man nodded.

“
Why do we need Raz’s
magic?” William asked.

“
Because when the Augurs
left, they took the city’s magic with them. Only a descendant of
Atlantis who possesses magic may bring Atlantis back from the
bottom of the ocean.”

“
And Ann Kerwin is that
descendant?”

“
Most of Atlantis’ citizens
died in the great war that condemned the city to the bottom of the
ocean. The Olympians, who became the immortals of Greek mythology
went to Greece, but they didn’t have access to any of the magic or
technical knowledge because they gave that to the Augurs, who left
for planet Aug. Only a handful of others managed to escape to other
parts of Europe. Ann comes from that group. Atlantis will only
recognize its own.”