Royal Heiress (5 page)

Jake snapped his head up. “Atlantis? It’s
under the ocean.”

“Not for long. I viewed this mirror earlier
and discovered it is due to rise out of the ocean in two days. We
don’t have long to act.”

“You’re kidding.”

Pallid shot him a serious look.

“Fine. You’re serious,” Jake admitted. “I
suppose since I have nothing better to do, I might as well tag
along with you.”

“From what I could see of your future there,
it seems like it’s the best course of action for you to take.”

Jake knew he was right. It looked much better
than his other possible future. He reluctantly spread out his
father’s plans for Atlantis. It was time to start looking into how
they were going to get there.

Chapter Five

Atlantis

Planet: Earth

Deep within the recesses of the ocean stood
Atlantis, perfectly preserved as it had been the day Queen Ann and
her husband Hathor left it twenty-four years ago. Its ivory
buildings still displayed a variety of colors whenever light hit
them just right, and the entire city laid on a foundation of
ivory-colored stone that kept its appearance regardless of the
amount of sunlight or darkness which graced its path.

No decay was visible anywhere in the city. It
appeared as if it had been built that very day. The materials used
to create it were indestructible. In the center of the city was a
large arc, roughly twenty stories high. This arc had been the
center of life in the city in the midst of its glory. This was
where the six leaders, who had produced many more people, managed
the city.

When the city fell into the ocean, they
evacuated the city with some of their creations and ruled over
Greece and then Rome as gods and goddesses. Their Stone of
Immortality gave them their godlike characteristics that had fooled
many people on Earth into worshiping them. Desiring the fame and
glory, they hadn’t dissuaded the people.

However, at the close of the Roman Empire,
it’d become clear they needed to seek out a safe haven if they were
to keep their Stone of Immortality from other people on Earth. They
were transported to planet Olympia in the Enchanted Galaxy when
King Edmund of Raz found them. Ever since, they have enjoyed a life
of peace and solitude on their world. Aside from the occasional
visitor, they kept mainly to themselves, only pledging their
loyalty to the Queen of Raz.

The city of Atlantis sat, uninhabited, for
thousands of years, in pristine condition. It waited for the time
it would ascend over the ocean. The six leaders had seen the city’s
destruction in their future and had adequately planned for a time
when it would be safe to return.

On this particular day, their calendar had
been marked for such an event. The instructions in the large mirror
at the top of the arc notified the city it was time to be
resurrected. The city rose smoothly and quietly above the water.
This event took only minutes. No one knew of this occurrence. Even
the leaders safe on Olympia had long forgotten their native city
was destined to rise again.

But one group of people, the Augurs, who
lived on planet Aug, did not forget. They were created by the
leaders to care for Atlantis, and they carefully waited for this
time. Now that they knew it had come, they were ready to act.

***

Ivory Palace

Planet: Olympia

Galaxy: Enchanted

Queen Amanda knew the Olympian gods and
goddesses were wonderful entertainers, but she had no idea how much
they liked to spoil the Queen of Raz. Upon her arrival there, she
learned of the Special Alliance that Olympia and Raz shared, so if
either planet ever experienced trouble, they would help each other
out.

She also learned this was a secret between
the Olympians and the queen and, upon request, the king as well.
She delighted in this privileged information and relished their
attention. She couldn’t remember being so pampered in her entire
life.

Currently, she sat on the outdoor ivory patio
with Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Ares.

“Your gardens here are splendid,” Amanda said
as she sipped some of their sweet juice. “Raz has beautiful
flowers, but they are nothing compared to the ones you have
here.”

“You can thank Demeter for that,” Hera said.
“She’s the one who causes them to bloom.”

“She only sends the Spring and Summer seasons
to us when her daughter Persephone is with her,” Apollo added.
“When her daughter is with Hades, Demeter gives us Fall and Winter,
which are bleak on this world.”

“My mother mentioned that,” Amanda replied.
“She said Persephone is with her husband for six months and with
her mother for the other six months.”

“Did she explain why?” Apollo asked.

Amanda shook her head. “No.”

“Oh, it’s a sad, yet romantic, story.”
Aphrodite sighed, her hand over her heart.

Ares rolled his eyes. “Aphrodite is obsessed
with love and sex.”

“And Ares can only think of violence,”
Aphrodite said. “That’s why he is the god of war.”

“This is how it is with them,” Zeus warned
Amanda. “We try to keep them separated.”

“Anyway,” Apollo interrupted, “a long time
ago, while we were on Earth, Hades came up from his Underground
Domain and saw Persephone picking some of her favorite flowers. He
fell in love with her and dragged her with him to his palace.
Demeter was frantic with fear that her daughter was harmed and
sought our help. We finally discovered that Hades was keeping her
in his palace against her will. We tried to talk Hades into sending
her back to Demeter, but he was insistent on having his way and
refused.”

Ares sighed with regret. “We almost had a
terrific war over it, but Zeus decided to assert his authority as
the head god and force Hades to free Persephone. That war would
have been more famous than the war at Troy.”

“The rest of us were relieved it could be
peacefully resolved,” Apollo continued. “Hermes went to get her and
found her eating a pomegranate. Unfortunately, we are bound by the
rules of hospitality. As soon as she ate at Hades’ house, she was
condemned to spend her life with him.”

“Demeter was distraught,” Zeus recalled. “She
sent a bitter wintery blast through Atlantis that year. I went to
see Hades, and he showed me the pomegranate Persephone had eaten.
When I realized she had only eaten six of the twelve seeds, I
brought Hades and Demeter together for a compromise. They finally
agreed Persephone would spend six months with her husband and six
months with her mother.”

“She loved Hades,” Aphrodite inserted. “She
was glad to stay with him, even if it was for half a year at a
time.”

Hera scoffed. “Glad? She was forced into
eating the fruit. The poor girl was hungry, and she’d been there
for a long time. She was devastated to learn she had to be Queen of
the Underworld. She is happier when she’s with her mother, enjoying
the sweet smelling flowers.”

“I like my version better,” Aphrodite pouted,
crossing her arms. “It’s much more romantic.”

Amanda watched their dialogue with great
interest. If only she and her sister could experience such fun
conversations. It seemed all they did was argue. She wondered what
she ever did to upset Katherine so much.

The doorbell to the Ivory Palace chimed a
whimsical melody.

“Pardon me, Queen Amanda,” Zeus said. “I will
be right back.”

She nodded.

“We used to have Hephaestus do all the menial
tasks for us,” Hera began, “but we learned he is equal to us, even
if he is deformed. It was a lesson in humility we acquired on one
of your mother’s many adventures.”

“Yes,” Apollo said. “We had lost out
immortality for a few days and had to experience the limitations of
imperfection.” He shivered in horror at the memory. “Thanks to your
mother, that was a temporary experience.”

“Your mother has done a lot for us over the
years of her reign,” Hera replied. “We are pleased to have you
here. You look a lot like your father, but I can see traces of your
mother in you.”

Before Amanda could respond, Zeus came out
with Matthew.

Amanda blinked in surprise. “Matthew? What
are you doing here?”

“The Augurs have requested to speak with
you,” Matthew said, out of breath from his long trek up the palace
steps that he had to climb to get to the front door.

“Is it urgent?” she asked, hating to leave
her luxurious vacation ahead of schedule.

“They said it was. Atlantis has risen again,
and it could be fatal to their planet.”

The gods and goddesses gasped.

“Atlantis? Why has it risen?” Zeus asked.

“What year is it on Earth?” Hera softly
asked, her eyes wide.

Apollo had to think her question over before
he was able to answer her.

“We set for Atlantis to rise again in this
year,” she said.

“That’s right,” Zeus added, his face pale.
“This is bad.”

“Why?” Amanda asked, alarmed as she stood
up.

“In case of our demise or absence,” Zeus
began, “we designed the city’s technology to release our genetic
information into human-size chambers where our replacements will
develop and take over.”

“And if they succeed in taking over, we will
cease to exist,” Hera added.

“But how can that be when you have the Stone
of Immortality?” Amanda asked.

“The Stone of Immortality recognizes its
owners. If we cease to exist, then the Stone will transfer to our
replacements.”

“What can I do?” Amanda pressed.

“The Augurs will have the answer,” Apollo
spoke up. “They are entrusted with protecting us from the
technology in that city.”

“Atlantis must be destroyed for good,” Zeus
said. “I hate to condemn the city of our birth to destruction, but
it is too dangerous. If the people on Earth get a hold of it, they
will experience the same problems we did and end up destroying
themselves. We remember how Atlantis was almost destroyed that day
of the great war. We cannot let Earth suffer the same fate.”

“Athena warned us not to use the technology
we developed.” Hera shook her head and sighed. “We should have
listened to her.”

“It’s too late for that now. All we can do is
stop the city from coming back to life.”

“You’re speaking as if Atlantis can think on
its own,” Amanda noticed.

“In a way, it does,” Zeus said. “The
technology is overwhelming.”

“I wish we had an Infer here,” Hera
commented. “The Infers were perfect in their memory. If one was
here now, he’d know how to disable the technology from making those
replacements. We had a password set up to override the system, but
I don’t remember what it was. Do any of you?”

The gods and goddesses shook their heads,
scared of what their fate might be.

“What’s an Infer?” Amanda asked, feeling
incredibly stupid to have to ask so many questions. It was
beginning to occur to her that even with her extensive training,
she wasn’t prepared for the task that loomed ahead of her.

“An Infer is a person we created on
Atlantis,” Hera replied. “Actually, we created a couple hundred of
them. Their job was to remember every detail and aspect of life on
Atlantis. They wore all white. Even their hair was white. We had
hoped that in case Atlantis’ technology was ever lost or destroyed,
the Infers would help us rebuild it.”

“The Augurs, in turn, would guard the
technology and prevent anyone from abusing it,” Zeus added. “The
Augurs wore all black and had black hair. I believe the Augurs
still adhere to this code of dress.”

“They take their duty very seriously,” Hera
said. “The Augurs were smart. They left Earth long before we did.
The Infers, however, weren’t as smart, and had no such insight.
Most died as the city sank into the ocean. Any Infers who survived
died out long ago. They could not reproduce with their own kind, so
if they had children with other people, the children would not
possess the perfect memory they did. Their line has long since died
out as a result.”

“Matthew, we must meet with the Augurs right
away,” Amanda insisted. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do or
how she was going to do it, but the Olympians’ fear made her quick
to act.

“Right away, Queen Amanda,” Matthew said.

“And when you’re done, you can come back and
stay for a while,” Aphrodite offered Matthew as she twirled her
blonde hair around her fingers. She smiled seductively at him.

Matthew blushed.

“We’re in danger of becoming extinct, and
you’re trying to have relations with the queen’s brother?” Ares
asked. “Have you no shame?”

“I might as well enjoy myself in case I do
die,” she replied, flipping her hair back.

Amanda ignored their squabble and grabbed
Matthew’s hand. “We’re going to go right to Aug and see what we can
do.”

Before the Olympians could respond, she and
Matthew disappeared, not wasting any time in figuring out the best
course of action.

Chapter Six

At the Top of the Arc

Imitation of the city of Atlantis

Planet: Aug

Galaxy: Mythical

Gaius sat at a round ivory table, surrounded
by his top four entrusted advisors. The view they enjoyed was an
exact replica of the city of Atlantis. They did not personally
recall the city, but they kept the records from that time in
immaculate order and condition.

The time had come to act. They knew if they
didn’t act with great care, their existence and the lives of those
on Olympia were in danger. They had waited for this moment for
centuries, and now that it had arrived, they had to put their plan
into action. They exercised proper respect for the technology,
which they had duplicated from Atlantis, for they knew that
technology, though a threat on Earth, was their safeguard on
Aug.