Ronan arrived in the morning as usual, and the lessons in Neoraian continued.
Toward the end of the lesson, Ronan glanced dubiously at Atlas’s battered skinsuit. “I see Marlin has been harsh on you. Perhaps you should get Riva to check your clothes. It is winter, and I can’t imagine how cold you are.”
It was the truth. Atlas was feeling cold these days, especially with all the tears in his skinsuit. However, he had been too busy to notice. During the night, the moss in Unit 1 was warm enough to keep him from shivering, and during the lessons with Ronan, he also sat on the moss. However, away from this comfort, the chill clung to him.
Atlas had attempted warming the water around him with Solar, as he had with the driftwood when he was back on the beach. However, perhaps due to the pressure from being this deep or from the sheer cold of the water surrounding him, warming the water was impossible. He had then tried with his skinsuit. It had worked, but again, the cold made it difficult. His Solar reserves would deplete far too quickly for it to be a good method. So, he had given up on the idea, instead distracting himself from the icy chill.
“You’re right. I’ll go to Riva today,” Atlas said, nodding. “On another note, do you think I can go see the stars again? I… miss them.”
Ronan glanced up in surprise, taking in Atlas’s pleading eyes. He grunted, obviously hesitant. “I’d tell you it’s dangerous, but you already know that. I can also understand that you want a view of the world again. I imagine it is quite stifling being in the water for these extended periods, especially for your terrestrial form.”
He sat in thought for a few more moments before shrugging and nodding. “Sure, why not,” he said. “But only if Taron or Marlin accompany you.”
Atlas felt a burst of excitement at the thought of seeing the stars again. He nodded vigorously.
With the lesson over, he met up with Marlin. Again, he had to dodge ball after ball, each one dangerously fast. However, Atlas was starting to see progress, which only energized him. Marlin was also happy with his progress, although he didn’t show this. Atlas didn’t ask Marlin to escort him to see the stars, however, knowing it would be impossible to convince him.
His lessons for the day completed, Atlas swam toward Taron and Riva’s house to talk to Riva about his tattered clothes, and to ask Taron about his wish to see the stars.
Swimming up close to the spherical coral house, he looked inside. He didn't see Riva, Taron, or Sirena. Frowning, he swam up higher to have a better view, looking to see if Riva was in the vicinity, but she wasn’t anywhere in sight.
However, among the coral playgrounds for the Keeper kids, he spotted Sirena playing alone. She was poking at a funny blue fish with white stripes, giggling. Atlas swam up to her, and when she saw him she suddenly froze. She was such a shy girl.
“Where is your mother?” Atlas asked her when he was closer.
She frowned suddenly, then stuck her tongue out. “You’re so adult-like. It’s weird because I’m older than you,” she said.
Atlas paused, unsure how to respond.
“If you play with me, then I’ll tell you,” Sirena said, her shyness vanishing with the currents.
“Deal,” Atlas said. “What do you want to do?”
“These fish are funny! They like to scare the Wrigglers,” Sirena said, giggling and pointing to the fish she was previously bullying. It swam around lazily, obviously much tamer than other fish.
“Wrigglers?” Atlas asked, lifting a brow.
Sirena grabbed his arm suddenly, pulling him around to look at a type of plant that clung to the coral. Her skin was pale and her hair was blonde. Her tail was a mix of pink and turquoise, and her eyes a deep teal. She was quite pretty.
The weird-looking plant, supposedly called a Wriggler, had about 10 short red tentacles that, quite literally, wriggled in the water. Suddenly, a fish that looked like the one from earlier swam up to it and started rubbing against it. The Wriggler’s little tentacles wriggled more violently as if it had been given a fright.
The whole scene was quite bizarre and Atlas found himself laughing along with Sirena.
Sirena showed Atlas many other weird and funny-looking fish and plants. The two children giggled all the while, enjoying their time bullying the sea life.
Atlas realized with a start that this was a foreign feeling. He felt… like a child. When had this innocent laughter, immense curiosity, and silliness left him?
‘Probably down a sea creature’s gullet,’ he thought morbidly.
“Your eyes are weird. They’re pretty, but I’ve never seen eyes like yours before,” Sirena said suddenly, gazing deeply into his eyes.
“How so?” Atlas asked, feeling self-conscious. He had never really looked at himself before, besides what he could see in the water’s reflection when he was back on the beach. Even then, the choppy waves and swirling eddies of water had never created a clear enough reflection, so he only vaguely knew how he looked. He had white hair and multicolored eyes, he knew.
“They are like the sifting sands in a water current. You can see red, green, and blue in them. When the colors all mix, white forms, but when they move away from each other, it goes away,” she explained. “Three, or rather, four, different colors in your eyes,” she giggled now. “Weirdo.”
Atlas was surprised to hear this. White? Move? Everyone else’s eyes were static color, but his colors moved? He was also impressed at her poetic rendition of his eye color. Perhaps there was more to her than the eye could see.
“Okay, let me take you to my mom,” she said, grabbing Atlas’s hand. She swam out of the playground with him in tow, back toward Riva’s house.
Atlas was about to say that she wasn’t there but was proved wrong when he saw Riva busying herself inside the coral house. Entering with Sirena, he greeted Riva.
“Were you two out playing?” Riva asked, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. “It’s about time, Atlas. I was beginning to think you were a grown man inside a boy’s body.”
Atlas laughed. “Yeah, well, Sirena showed me what I was missing. A lot, apparently.”
Riva grinned, putting down a piece of fabric that she was busy sewing. “So, what business do you have with me?” she asked, but she was already eyeing the shredded skinsuit that Atlas was wearing. “Nevermind, just come here.”
Riva started sewing Atlas’s clothes together after giving him something else to cover up with. He sat on the warm, soft mossy floor and spoke to Sirena and Riva, recounting what they had seen while playing in the coral. Riva nodded along, a small and comfortable smile present on her lips. Atlas felt relaxed, more so than he had been in a while.
When Riva had finished sewing his skinsuit back together, she handed it back so that he could get changed again. She then told him about the high-quality material she had gathered recently to make a far better skinsuit than the one is was currently wearing. She would take a while to make it for him, but he had something to look forward to.
Just then, Taron swam into the house.
“Hey, Taron… Oh, I just remembered!” Atlas said, recalling his wish to see the stars.
Taron, having picked up Sirena to hug her, looked at him expectantly.
“Would you mind taking me to the surface so that I can see the stars again? I feel pretty claustrophobic these days,” Atlas said, biting his lip. He hoped that Taron would accept.
Taron thought for a while, then nodded. “That wouldn’t be a problem. Meet me in three hours and I’ll take you up.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Sirena’s eyes went wide and she gave her father a cute look that could melt hearts. “Daddy, I want to go too.”
Taron chuckled, shaking his head. “No, it’s far too dangerous, Sirena.” However, her pleading eyes were shaking his resolve.
“No fair! Atlas is younger than me and he is going!” she said, pouting and pointing a finger at Atlas.
“Your father said no-” Riva began, butting in.
“Fine,” Taron suddenly said, interrupting her. The couple looked at each other in surprise for a second. “I’ll keep them safe, don’t worry.”
Riva gave a defeated sigh. “Yeah, yeah. Sirena, you listen to every word Daddy says, okay? Don’t go off on your own and stick close to him.”
Sirena gave a nod, grinning from ear to ear. Her cuteness had won once again. Taron was powerless against her tactics.
Atlas left the Keepers’ house. He was starving so he vacuumed up his dinner at the barracks before returning home.
To kill time while he waited for the three hours to pass, he returned to swinging his makeshift sword. He repeated the steps, blocks, and parries that he had seen, attempting to look half as graceful and fluid as the cadets. However, he had only watched them once, and his memory was foggy. He would need to watch some more to hammer the techniques in.
He continued his training despite his memory failing him at times. After about two and a half hours he sat on the soft moss of Unit 1, resting his aching muscles.
He looked around him, truly taking in the scenery. It was late evening now. The Kingdom at night was not as dark as it would be outside of it, thanks to the tons of luminous seaweed that acted as light sources. The barrier that protected the Kingdom also provided a dim light at all times.
During the day it was much brighter, of course, but regardless of time, Atlas was able to see fairly easily. He constantly saw things with a shimmer of blue, as if he were wearing tinted goggles. This wasn’t normal, as he had never had this outside, so he determined it to be due to the barrier’s presence.
Having rested for half an hour, he made his way back to Taron’s house. Taron and Sirena were hovering outside. Sirena looked jittery with anticipation, gazing up excitedly at the barrier. She had never been outside of the barrier before, so this was completely new for her.
Taron, seeing Atlas, nodded. He grabbed onto Sirena’s hand and swam upward, toward the barrier. Atlas followed close behind.
Keeper Warriors were on guard every few hundred meters in groups of two just below the barrier, and there were hidden scouts outside the barrier that made sure no danger was approaching. The only disadvantage to the barrier was its lack of visibility outside the Kingdom, so scouts were a very necessary part of the defensive system.
The unusual trio swam upward, past the guards. The guards gave them firm nods and meaningful looks, with a bit of aggression focused on Atlas. They were telling the Keepers to be careful. Of the outside, and perhaps of Atlas too.
Leaving the barrier was disorientating. The world went from a constant deep blue to the sudden pitch blackness of the ocean. Atlas couldn’t see any sort of barrier when he looked at the place he had just swam from, just pitch blackness for what seemed like forever. The barrier was invisible from the outside. Atlas also found it difficult to see Taron and Sirena in the dark, only being able to vaguely make out their expressions with his Solar infused eyes.
There was a dim light coming from the water's surface - the light from the moon. Atlas looked up in anticipation, and Sirena had frozen. Her fear of the surrounding black water was evident.
“Stay here,” Taron said, moving past the two. “I’ll scout the surface to see if it’s safe.”
Sirena looked like she wanted to complain. She immediately grabbed Atlas’s hand, squeezing tight, as Taron swam away from them. Atlas felt himself squeeze her hand back, more so in anticipation than fear.
Taron appeared back in front of the two after several minutes. Sirena gasped in fright when he returned, as the dark had hidden him from view until he was right before them.
“All clear above. It’s a beautiful night,” he said, taking Sirena’s other hand. The trio swam upward toward the surface together.
Breaking the water’s surface, Atlas took a real breath in for the first time in a while. And then, he gasped in wonder. The clear sky above was filled with thousands of stars that twinkled and shimmered, as if as happy to see Atlas again as he was to see them.
Immediately, he looked for the Eastern star. There it was, glimmering in the sea of stars. He gazed at it for a while, feeling a sense of home, before focusing on the moon. It was in the waning gibbous stage and looked as if it were emerging from the stars. It shone brightly overhead.
The waves were also calm, rolling gently. No other light existed except for the stars above. There was no breeze, but the air had a chill to it. Atlas wasn’t bothered by it, however. Sirena had also gasped at the sight and was completely mesmerized. Atlas realized she was still holding his hand.
He smiled. “Beautiful, right? I missed them.”
Sirena nodded in agreement, but her eyes never strayed from the cosmos. “So pretty,” she breathed.
Taron was to the side, also enjoying the view.
The trio floated in comfortable silence, enjoying the view of the endless universe that splayed out before them, with only the murmur of the ocean being heard. Atlas made use of Solar Breathing to top up his recently low Solar reserves. He usually meditated during the evenings to replenish his Solar, but he hadn’t had the chance today.
All too soon, it felt like, they had to return to the Kingdom. Atlas took one last deep breath, gazing at the stars forlornly, before diving below with Taron and Riva.
Two years sped by in this manner.
Atlas became closer to Sirena, playing with her a lot more often than he thought he would. This allowed him to feel like he was only a child, without all the horrible things he had been through. It was healing, and it was needed. She accompanied him most of the time to watch the stars, which was a habit Atlas kept to stop himself from being driven insane. Staying underwater for ages was disconcerting and stifling, so Taron often took him up to the surface.
Atlas maintained his strict training regime with Marlin, progressing from the deadly dodgeball to other mobility training exercises. This included a difficult obstacle course that required Atlas to swim quickly between sharp coral that would cut his skin if he grazed it, and also between dangerous jellyfish and hungry sharks. Atlas became much more competent in his swimming, his awareness, and his reflexes. Manipulation of the water around him became instinctive and he found he could keep up with adult Keepers much more easily.
He slowly became more proficient in Neoraian, the human language, and was fluent in it by the time he was five. Ronan was impressed with his learning ability and taught him all he could about human society so that Atlas could adapt well when he integrated into it. He forced Atlas to speak Neoraian whenever he was around to ensure that he was as fluent as a native, and never lost his ability to speak it.
The cadets never could accept Atlas, and oftentimes would go out of their way to make his life hell. Not all of the cuts, bruises, and scrapes were from his training with Marlin. However, their attacks grew less frequent, and their glares grew less intense. They started to ignore him more than actively hate him, and he was relieved by this. Their stares were never without their usual aggression, though.
Besides, Atlas couldn’t be too mad at them. He understood their hate, and he felt that it was also due to their feeling of inferiority that they were so aggressive. The humans were much more competent than the Keepers in terms of Solar use. In a way, he felt sorry for them, being cooped up inside an arguably small barrier, training hard to perchance fight against a force they could not compare with.
Also, he was grateful to the cadets. For two years, every evening, he would secretly visit their training sessions and memorize their movements and stances. Then, he would return home and run through them as they did, committing the moves to habit and memory. Regarding this, he became more skilled in the art of using a weapon and moving underwater. He felt less drag as he continued training, following the cadets’ movements precisely. He never used Solar, yet he could feel his movements becoming quicker, stronger, and achieving less resistance from the water as he learned the technique.
Using the same coral branch, he had begun to master the movements. Horizontal and vertical strikes, jabs, thrusts, blocking, and parrying. He longed for a real sword, not just an improvised stick, and he couldn’t wait for his lessons to start including the sword.
Riva also made a new and improved skinsuit for him with the materials she had mentioned acquiring. It was black and scaled, like his old one, and had a sheen to it that accentuated his figure. She had also embroidered his Rune of Naming, ‘Atlas’, into the back of it, between the shoulder blades. It was white and shone with a blue light whenever he used Solar for water manipulation or air funneling. Somehow, Atlas knew this phenomenon had something to do with Chroma, as Riva had not purposefully made it so.
The skinsuit provided much more warmth and mobility and was sturdier than his previous one. Marlin’s dodgeballs had little effect on the new and improved suit, but Atlas would still have to be careful not to scrape the suit on the sharp coral of the obstacle course.
The material it was made out of was very rare and hard to use in clothing. The skinsuit was woven from very fine threads of an alloy called Dynamic Metal. It came from the Dynamic Hermit, a well-protected hermit with a shell that grew along with it so that the hermit never had to change shells, This shell was the Dynamic Metal used, and when made into clothing, it allowed the clothes to always fit the wearer, no matter how much they grew.
This meant that Atlas could use the skinsuit for as long as he wished, without worrying about outgrowing it. Riva also ensured that the skinsuit could be altered in the future if Atlas so desired. He could add enchantments to it if he managed to learn the craft, or managed to find someone who did. Only the Eastern Kingdom had Enchanters that could do this, so Atlas would have to be without one for now.
Atlas was now five. His white hair had grown longer, down to his shoulders. He had trimmed it a few times over the two years but had ultimately let it grow. His eyes were still the same; a shimmering of reds, greens, and blues that sometimes overlapped to form a milky white. He was much stronger now, due to all of his rough training, but without having hit puberty, this couldn’t really be seen physically.
He had just finished up his lessons with Ronan and was headed for the front of the palace, as was the usual routine.
‘I can’t wait,’ he thought, a jittering excitement running through his body as he swam. ‘Marlin is finally going to teach me the sword!’