FAIRY TALE TIME

“New kid, you go in there, Oblin is waiting”, the red-haired girl poked me in my stomach. I had been on the island for just about three minutes, and I was pretty sure that girl was someone I did not want to be close to.

Alas, the croc was better

“Come on, get in '', her brother ordered placing his arm on my shoulder, he was a few inches taller than me and his boney chin almost touched my forehead. The mad guy was standing right in front of the door I was supposed to go into. Alph had warned me to stay away from the twins. I had tried initially, but now they were getting onto my nerves. "Go in", he repeated.

I was still debating whether I should punch my way through the guy, when the sister decided to speak up, “Are you going inside B-r-e-a-k-e-r P-h-o-n-x-i-e”.

A couple of kids laughed nervously. I looked at her and then back at her brother, the guy’s red hair was long at the back and short in front.

He had introduced his hair to me the minute we had disembarked, ‘the cool hair’. They looked pretty stupid, my first impression was of a Gorila with the tail of a horse on its head.

You get what I mean.

Quite a large group had already accumulated around us, holding their breaths to see what would happen.

The guy looked me in the eye, to which I very gladly returned the glare. His fingers were itching to make a move, which I so badly wanted him to.

I'll just break just one bone, I decided, probably his hair bone.

So after a while of back and forth gazing, followed by a facial expression battle, I decided to return to the human mode of conversation, "Can I go? If you're done".

“Yeah”, he fumbled, moving out of the way, “right, I will see you later Phoenix. Better watch out-come on Luna, let's get out of here".

Luna, the redheadstupidtwinsister gave me the stink eye and followed her brother away.

Alph looked at me and shrugged, "Come on now", he said, opening the cabin door, "Oblin is waiting for you".

I walked inside, the cabin was dark, there was no source of light other than the door through which we had just entered. Dust particles sparkled as the sunlight struck them.

"Thank you, Alph"

I looked around the room, which seemed empty

Curtains don't speak, I consoled myself.

They don't?

I am pretty sure they don't

But are you sure?

"My pleasure Oblin", Alph said, closing the door behind me.

I wished he had left the door open as now I could not see at all, and it was creepy.

I felt my way to a table.

"Careful", I heard a familiar sound.

My eyes adjusted slightly to the surroundings, I noticed a faint outline of a person sitting on what looked like a sofa.

Then blaring siren noises filled the cabin, soon to be followed by flashing red lights, "No-no-no, not the emergency button", I heard another high pitched voice, "the other one".

The light's went off again. There was a click and a different set of lights illuminated the room, normal lights.

The roof of the cabin was a metal sheet, there were a few couches randomly placed around the room. An ancient television took one corner of the room. Behind the couch there were two people, staring at me. I kind of wished the lights would go off again.

Please go off

No?

Sad

One of them was a somewhat old man, he had a rusty walking stick which looked almost as old as the man himself. He had short spiky white hair, that had a hint of grey in them, to match his stubble.

The man beside him had a gun strapped to his waist, "Hatchet!"

Hatchet grinned at me, "sup?"

I pointed at the man beside him, "You, you must be Old McDonald's"

Don't blame me, I was going through a lot of stress.

"Bracer, you're just in time. Care for some coffee?", Old McDonald's spoke, hinting towards the kettle that was boiling.

This is my moment

"Let me go", I whimpered bravely.

Yes that is a thing

"Coffee?"

"Alright", I groaned. Clearly, I struggled with the first impression thing.

"Very well, please be seated on the table", he said turning around to the kitchen pedestal and pouring coffee into three mugs.

I dragged the chair behind and occupied the seat. Oblin walked up to me, holding the three mugs in his hand.

I knew curtains don't speak

But are you sure?

Fun fact about my brain, It thinks- not the normal thinking. I'm pretty sure it comes up with thoughts that aren't mine.

No, I don't need mental assistance

But are you sure?

There is somebody, definitely living inside my head.

"Come, join us, Gellert", Old McDonald's said without looking behind.

"Yeah".

The three of us were seated around the table, in a sophisticated manner.

I looked at Hatchet, who was busy sipping his coffee. Then I looked at Old McDonald's who was also sipping his coffee, and together they produced such a loud slurping noise that it shook the whole cabin.

LOL Moment

"Have your coffee Bracer", Old McDonald's said looking up at me.

"Yeah", I said probing the hot mug in my hand. I brought the coffee close to my mouth, it smelled like butter popcorn. It even tasted like butter popcorn, so much for a cup of coffee.

I placed the cup of hot butter popcorn back onto the table. Hatchet and Old McDonald's set their mugs down as well.

"My name is Oblin Macdine", he introduced himself, "can we talk?"

Damn, close though.

"Of course, where am I?"

Oblin smiled at me sympathetically. "Bracer, did your parents tell you nothing".

I looked at him blankly, "Nope".

"Typical", he said softly.

"What?"

He looked at me carefully, "I am afraid there is so much to tell, our familiarisation film would not suffice".

"Familiarisation film?"

"No", Oblin decided.

"No?", I questioned.

"No", Oblin replied firmly.

"But are you sure?"

OOPS, I swear, this wasn't my fault.

"Your friend Hatchet is one of ours", Oblin continued. "You stopped a saltwater croc, no small feat. What you don't know is there are great powers and forces controlling your life, -Atlanteans or the race of the submerged island as you call them, -are very much alive".

I stared at the two of them with round eyes.

I waited for Hatchet to tell me it was a joke and they were messing with me.

“Bracer”, Hatchet said timidly, “if you do not want the coffee can I take it?”

“Yeah sure”, I said, passing him the mug. Hatchet drained the boiling liquid popcorn in a gulp and banged the mug on the table. And then slumbered back onto his chair with an exaggerated sigh.

“Wait”, I told Oblin, “ you’re telling me Atlantis is a true legend”.

“Not atlantis, Atlantis- with a capital- A”, Oblin said, “And Atlantis is a true legend”.

“So”, I said, “For a second if we believe Atlantis is real - I am not staying I believe you but- but putting my doubts aside. Why aren’t we in water then? And why can I not breathe underwater”.

“My dear boy”, Oblin bega, “you clearly have a lot to catch up to. Atlantis, my boy, to begin with, was one of the greatest empires in the world . . .”.

“-Romans and Greeks were nothing compared to Atlanteans”, Hatchet interrupted.

Oblin appeared mildly disappointed with the interruption, “Ah- absolutely, the might of the Atlantean empire was something worth beholding. Yet, it is not in the history textbooks. Atlanteans were more capable and advanced than any other race, no army stood against them. Nothing could stop them”.

“Yeah”, I said, “then one day an earthquake, came to say ‘hi’”

LOL

“Bracer”, Oblin said, piercingly, “I am not wiring out a fantasy, I need you to pay attention to me. Nevertheless, these are typical neomancer beliefs-”

“So Atlantis is real?”.

“Yes, that exactly '', Oblin said sighing, “Atlantis did not sink due to an earthquake. Have you heard of Davidina Hybliss?”

“Now who is she?”

“Daughter of king Atlas, it was she who sank Atlantis-”.

“I love daughter-father comedy".

Oblin stared at me for a while, I noticed the uneasy position I had put him in, "Bracer, Davidina Hybliss was a true warrior. Thousands of years ago an unknown rival, gained control of a large part of Atlantean weapons and people. His movement spread like wildfire. Atlantis was strong from the outside, but this attack was from the inside. People lost hope, hundreds and thousands died, Atlantis was crippled. Davidina Hybliss had no choice but to sink Atlantis. When Atlantis went down, it took all the attackers down with it, trapping them in an impenetrable air bubble, for thousands of years''.

I looked at him baffled, "Atlantis-is-real?"

Oblin stared at me, he probably wanted to strangle me, no I'm pretty sure he wanted to strangle me, "Hatchet get me the album".

Hatchet who was rocking his chair and staring at the ceiling, fell down from his chair, "Damnit, the wind", he grumbled as he got up, "the album eh? Wait-o".

Hatchet hobbled up to a cupboard and pulled out a huge red album from it, "There you go", he said, placing it on the table.

As Oblin opened the book, a heap of dust fell out of the book, "It is a bit old".

Very old

He shuffled through the pages, and almost jumped with joy as he reached what he was looking for, "Have a look at this", he said passing me the album

I looked at the page he had opened, there was a photograph. I recognised it immediately, "You kidding right, this is my photograph. How did you get it?"

"Turn the page boy", he said softly.

I gazed at Hatchet who was doodling something on a sheet of paper that uncannily looked like a mug of hot butter popcorn. I turned the page, it was my photograph. I was standing with some girl, but how?

"What is this Oblin?", I asked looking up at him.

"That isn't you Bracer, the boy in the photograph. It is your father and the girl-".

"Wait", I said. I gazed at the girl, they were the same almond eyes, thin bony face. I looked at Oblin, "She is my mother".

I sat there, feeling my world go topsy-turvy around me. Everything I believed in crumbled to dust around me. It sounded ridiculous but I could feel something inside me, shift a voice inside me, telling me the man wasn’t bluffing. My stomach twisted. I looked at the photograph again, it was my parents, standing at the docks of Zubengeuse, smiling at the camera-man.

I glanced up at Oblin, “My parents, they were Atlanteans”.

“Ah-”, Oblin croaked, “I remember training your parents. One of the finest students I had ever trained, brilliant team they made, always together”.

“Tell me more”.

“Well”, Oblin said, “As good as your father was, he was very mischievous. Grew up to join the Atlantean Academy Of Naval Combat. Your mother followed him, as far as I heard, they were the best students. Later on, your father took up the job of an instructor at the Naval Academy, while your mother joined the ground forces".

"Then", I asked, "why didn't we live in Atlantis?"

Oblin winced, "The Atlantis, you believe in my boy, is not the Atlantis it is. Atlanteans weren't the only inhabitants of Atlantis, it was home to Gargles and Dardians as well".

"-Gargles and Dardians?", I interrupted.

" Both of them are species similar to the Atlanteans, cousin species if I may call them. However, when Atlantis submerged, the unity between the inhabitants broke, and they spread out, all over the globe. Atlanteans settled down in the Furio and Hibrass Oceans, what you call the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The Gargles moved south, and inhabited the islands of the Izo Ocean, or the Southern Ocean. Dardians moved north and west to occupy the Olivo and Zorg Oceans, the Arctic and Pacific. There are five major Atlantean islands, Notraade, Ziobrey, Nifaglar, Heurrion and Armagdos; there are several small islands also. Some serve as military bases while others are occupied by independent groups. The rulers of Notraade, Ziobrey, Nifaglar and Heurrion signed the Union-Pact and formed a government similar to the democratic, they share their resources, and their armies their Academies. - When you stepped into the island of Zubengeuse, you automatically became a citizen of Notraade, the Atlantean capital.

Camp Pixlur is for Ziobrey, Nifaglar and Heurrion do not have their camps, it is up to the student whichever camp they want to join".

"-Armagdos, what about it?"

"I am coming to it Bracer", Oblin, "The ruler of Armagdos did not join the pact. So Armagdos remains a dictatorship and the most mysterious Island in the Atlantean territory, it is right at the end of the Furio Oceans, at the border of the uncontrolled regions".

"Uncontrolled regions?"

"Atlanteans command a massive force, - A naval fleet of mighty battle cruisers, twice as big as the Neomancer ones and almost five times as powerful. Yet, our control lies majorly in the Furio and Hibrass Oceans, which we refer to the controlled regions. The uncontrolled region is filled with small islands controlled by their inhabitants. The people over there, -they are ruthless murderers, the oceans are filled with pirates, who wander into the controlled regions and wreak havoc in our cities. Our battle cruisers do patrol the uncontrolled regions, but their hold is not very convincing. The Dardians also have an army at their disposal. Not as strong as ours, but their location in the north gives them strategic power. Gargles stay in groups on their islands and are allied to us, you will find a few Gargles at our camp too".

"What does this have to do with my parents?"

"Your parents initially stayed at Notraade, I believe. The fact that your father took up the job of an instructor was a bit unconvincing, since he was offered high ranks in the active fleet. Whenever I got a chance to meet your father, he would say ' I am doing some research, Oblin'. I got a chance to meet him at the Flame Week in a Royal Banquet at Notraade about twenty years ago. Your mother was with him, he said he was about to discover something great, something which no one had found out before. A few months later, I found out, they packed up and shifted to the Neomancer world. Your father, he sent me this tape three years ago, I had almost forgotten about him-", Oblin took out a tape from his pocket and placed it in front of me, "play it".

I held the tape in my hand, and bit my lips nervously. My parents never told me anything about Atlantis, yet they sent a tape to this old man. My fingers fidgeted with a button on the tape and I pressed it. The tape began, with a static noise. And then I heard the voice, my father's, it seemed as if he was in a hurry.

"Oblin . . . . ZZZZZZ . . . . . found what we were . . . . . ZZZZZ . . . . . not good. . . . . . ZZZZ . . . . . it is . . . . happening . . .ZZZZZ . . . . . We are not safe . . ZZZZZ. . . Addilyn vanished. . . . . ten years ago . . . . .They are coming for me . . . ZZZZZ. . . . This. . . . . . . ZZZZ . . . . . . . be the last tape I send you. . . . . . ZZZZZZZ . . . .Than- . . . . for everything . . . . . ZZZZZ . . . . . my son . . . .ZZZZZ . . . . care of him . . . . . Everything I discovered . . . . . ZZZZZ . . . . is hidden in the . . . . find it . . ZZZZ . . . warn everyone".

I gingerly set the tape down gingerly on the desk, "My, father what happened to him?"

"I do not know, whatever he found out only he knows. He didn't tell anyone".

"My mother”, I said softly, “ what about her?"

"Bracer, I cannot be sure", Oblin said, "But I believe the disappearance of your mother and father are somehow not related, since it happened over a span of ten years. Plus, whatever your father found out, it was only known to him- ".

"-Unless", I said.

"Unless what?"

"Unless, my mother found it first".

Oblin's expression darkened, "If your mother had found it first, she would have sent a message of some kind. It is possible but very-very unlikely, since your parents hardly did anything without confiding in each other".

I nodded at him, “So Oblin what do I do here?”

“Come”, he said smiling, “let me show you”.