Merry Christmas.
I don't own the 1961 George Pal movie Atlantis the Lost Continent, but I enjoy it and I decided to write this one-shot as a Christmas present to all of you. Please leave feedback.
Changes of Heart and Changes of Atlantis.
The sun was beginning to set in the city of Atlantis, and the Princess Antillia, daughter of King Cronus whom she had once believed was a wise, noble and strong leader of her people for years, was looking troubled as she looked out over the view of the city that had been her home for years.
From the balcony overlooking the city, Antillia could see the multi-ringed harbour that formed a massive section of the city, with the markets and the houses and other buildings and gardens that showcased Atlantean civilisation, and the great pyramid which held the giant crystal which powered the city shone in the sunlight. It would provide warmth and light for everyone in the city, as it had done for many years since it was first mounted in the capital.
It was once a view that made Antillia believe in the propaganda of her people, that the Atlantean race was the greatest on the Earth.
No more.
The thought was disheartening but it was the truth. Ever since she had returned home from Greece with Demetrius after her disastrous royal tour of the Atlantean outposts since her father was needed at home in case some crisis arose, Antillia had found her home to be wanting after being desperate to leave Greece.
She lowered her head in remembrance of her attitude there, the arrogance she had shown when she had demanded her clothes back from Demetrius and his fisherman father, and how she had called them slaves simply because of what they themselves were wearing…. But the princess knew it was how she had been brought up to see the world. For many years since the founding of Atlantis where the founders had turned their attention to studying the sciences and developing a highly-advanced civilisation as a result, aided by the study and development of the crystals littering the crater of the volcano.
Antilia was not blind. She knew that despite her people's achievements they had been enslaving travellers and seamen from various lands if they stumbled across Atlantis for years, but she hadn't imagined Demetrius, whom she had slowly come to love, becoming one of them.
Antillia shook her head in disgust with herself, she had promised the man she had once had sex with on the boat he would be rewarded for helping her. Some reward. No wonder Antillia had received a handful of mud thrown at her shoulder when she had gone out for the day on horseback and found Demetrius with a party of slaves, chained up, and forced to work on the long-term project in the crater to unearth a crystal even larger than that which powered the city. She had been too stunned to speak to the Greek fisherman when she had seen him. She had wanted to ask him what had happened, but the words couldn't reach her mouth, but when she was hit with the mud, her ears ringing with the sound of his furious voice, "a gift for the princess" she had been hurried away before she could say or do anything to mitigate the worst of what would happen, what she knew would happen to the man for what he'd done. Besides she had heard the commotion behind her, knew that Demetrius was being flogged behind her as she'd been forced onwards.
The thought made her sick of what had happened to Demetrius.
But truthfully, she blamed herself. She should have known no matter what, he would have been enslaved, and besides it was Atlantean policy to enslave everyone who stumbled across their homeland to prevent others learning of their existence. The Atlanteans of the past were explorers and adventurers, and they had spoken of harsh places on the Earth. They had spoken of vicious, barbaric peoples, and their warnings had been taken seriously in song and in story, and that had shaped Atlantean culture and philosophy that all outsiders should be enslaved.
What had happened to her father? Cronus had given orders for Demetrius to be enslaved, without a care at all to the fact without the brave fisherman, she may very well have never made it back to Atlantis in the first place. Antillia had been shocked and horrified when she had discovered for herself Zaren, someone whom she had known all of her life, knew wanted to desperately court her though she wasn't interested in him despite his standing in society, had more or less taken over the throne from her father. He was King in all but name and without the crown. Antillia had been horrified when she had seen for herself how weak he looked. Once she had seen him so strong, now he was as weak as a brittle twig. For that was now what he was. He was a twig, manipulated by Sonoy and Zaren for their own ends, all to conquer the world.
Antillia had been frightened for Demetrius when the three men had decided to shove him into the ordeal of Fire and Water, though to be honest, she wasn't sure which was worse; being forced to fight in the arena, or being transformed into a beast at the House of Fear.
Actually, she did know; at least during the ordeal, he would be himself, without his brain muddled and his body deformed.
The ordeal of Fire and Water was a gladiatorial sport where two opponents would be forced to fight over hot coals in one round, and in the other, they would be forced to fight and defeat each other in water that flooded the pit.
But Demetrius had managed to survive and he was now a free citizen of the land though she knew he probably wanted nothing to do with Atlantis, and personally, she couldn't say she blamed him. Antillia herself was beginning to think the land she had grown up in was overrated after spending time in Greece even if she had tried to deny it at the time because of her desperation to return home.
Demetrius and Antillia had more or less settled their differences now and their relationship was more cordial, but it hadn't been easy for them to do so. Azar, a man whom Antillia had known all of her life, and the supposed high priest of the great temple, had tried his best to bring them together again but the Greek fisherman had been too angry with her to really care about what she had to say. She couldn't blame him. In Demetrius' mind, she had lied and betrayed him after taking him as her lover.
Thinking of Azar made her frown slightly. The High priest had not really told her why he believed the gods in their temple, the gods he himself was meant to revere and preach about, were nothing but falsehoods but she had the impression Azar had done something in his youth that he was not proud of, but she was thankful he was at least her only ally and the present protector of Demetrius in case someone like Zaren tried to press gang into becoming a slave once more since an extra slave would certainly help with the construction of Zarens' war weapon.
Antillia had been listening in secret to the Council of Governors meeting where the plan to use the crystal as a mighty weapon was being discussed. When she had been a child growing up, Antillia had been taught those people beyond Atlantis were primitive barbarians thanks to those legends and stories passed down through the generations.
The propaganda of Atlantis stated all lands out there were dangerous, but when she had been in Greece everyone had just gone about their business, indifferent and unaware of the continent beyond the Pillars of Hercules, so while she could understand Zarens' points, she doubted it would ever have happened since no-one knew of Atlantis (Demetrius' father didn't count; he was only one man and while he may be desperate to get his son back, he probably didn't know anyone who could make Zarens' desires justifiable since so many people were frightened of going beyond the Pillars of Hercules) and the army, air force, and navy were strong enough to repel attacks. She had seen a small fishing village whose only weapons were nets, but if they did have swords and knives then Atlantis would be perfectly safe.
The governors should have known that. But Zaren had made them think that beyond the Pillars of Hercules and in other parts of the world there were whole armies and navies being constructed and assembled to attack Atlantis. And so, apart from Azar, the governors had decided to declare war on the world, backed with the King which meant it was now a royal decree.
War was going to happen.
Antillia looked out over the horizon of her home, knowing that sooner or later, disaster was going to strike. Sonoy had made one of his usual astrological prophecies about a disaster on the horizon, brought into being by Demetrius. The governors and Zaren took that 'omen' seriously, never once stopping to ask or even to think the disaster they so feared actually came from Atlantis itself. Azar had told both her and Demetrius (she wasn't foolish enough to imagine the priest hadn't said a word to the Greek) about the volcanic activity going on, how the wind was changing, and how the island was losing its animals.
Something terrible was going to happen to her home, and those fools were looking in the wrong direction for the disaster.
Antillia stayed by the window for another hour, frightened of the future.
Something was wrong. For some time Antillia had noticed her eating habits changing along with feeling nauseous. She had also been noticing a growing bump on her abdomen, a swelling…. Antillia hadn't needed to learn from her personal physician what the matter with her was, though in the early stages she had wondered if she had picked something up in Greece.
But Antilla's doctor hadn't found any sign of any evidence of some kind of infectious disease, though she found the doctors' open contempt for Greece or any country outside of Atlantis to be disgusting because it wasn't Atlantis. So Antillia had stopped visiting her simply because of her contempt though she felt even worse because she had once held the same ideals her doctor did.
But now she knew for sure what the matter was. It hadn't taken her long to research her symptoms in the libraries of Atlantis, though she'd already had a theory of what was wrong with her. No, that wasn't fair. There was nothing wrong with her, no, it was something wonderful instead.
Antillia was pregnant.
And Demetrius was the father. He was the only one, after all, to have intercourse with her.
When she discovered she was pregnant, Antillia had wondered what she could do about it, thankful no-one, not even her maids, had worked it out since she made sure to dress privately once she had begun to notice the bump, though the clues were there for them to find. After a while Antillia, after she had run a hand over her bump and realised how nice it felt, began to accept the fact she was pregnant and she was going to become a mother. That the baby was Demetrius' made it even better.
She closed her eyes, remembering how he had set that ultimatum at her when he'd caught her taking his family's boat away from his home in Greece; that if they didn't find Atlantis, then she would become his wife. Somehow the thought didn't sound so unappealing anymore, but then again as they'd had sex in the boat before the submarine found them, the thought of becoming his wife was looking better and better each day.
If Zaren found out about the baby….. Antillia shuddered at the thought of the corrupt Atlantean finding out about her baby. If he did….. That was one of the reasons why she had made sure to keep her bump from being seen by the maids; she knew even if she stopped them by royal order, one of them was likely to talk about it, and rumour would get out. Zaren would eventually hear of it and realise what Antillia had done with Demetrius. When that happened…
She pushed that aside so she could focus on her possible plans. Atlantis was becoming too dangerous to live on, so hopefully, she could find a way to meet Demetrius and escape with him to Greece so then they could live together in peace. Actually, as she thought about it she would need to learn how to live as a woman in Greece; she doubted her royal training honed by centuries of experience by previous queens and princesses would count for anything. But that could wait for the time being.
Antillia left her bathroom and went to her wardrobe, but one of her maids appeared. "May I help you, your highness?" the girl asked demurely, looking down at her feet. Antillia wished she could make the girl look up, but royal protocol forbade it.
"Yes, I would like to put on my rider tunic," the princess said.
The girl bowed, though Antillia could see the girl was confused about why she was going out at this hour, but the servant was too professional to say a word. "Yes, your highness," the girl repeated and assisted Antillia with putting the relevant clothing on. When the servant girl was finished and Antillia had stretched in the clothes to make sure it was comfortable, the princess turned to the girl and smiled, "Thank you."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise and delight at the acknowledgement. Antillia had changed a great deal since meeting Demetrius and after seeing him enslaved because of the insane plot to make Atlantis the centre of a massive world-wide empire where everyone would become enslaved, she had changed drastically.
After dismissing the servant, Antillia went down to the stables and selected a strong horse. The trip out to the crater took a while, and it was dark by the time she arrived. After she'd secured her horses' reins with practiced ease, Antillia was surprised when she spotted a crowd of slaves leave a small hole in the ground, mindful of the guards patrolling the area, among them, was an exhausted looking Demetrius.
She knew Demetrius had taken charge of the mine, arguing with Zaren the slaves were exhausted by the time they arrived which caused numerous delays, but what was he doing now? Antillia decided to forget that as she slowly followed Demetrius to see which tent he walked into. She waited for a moment and she walked in. She shook her head fondly as she saw him lying on the camper bed, his body bronzed with sweat and exhaustion lined in his face.
Antillia watched him lovingly and she deliberately made a slight noise that would wake him up. He did and he sat upright in a moment, and he was visibly surprised to see her there; she wasn't shocked by his reaction since she never visited the crater.
She wanted to tell him the happy news that he was going to be a father, but she decided that it was too soon and besides she didn't want to shock him just yet.
Instead, she decided to say, "I want to be your wife, Demetrius."
Antillia had made her choice.
I hope you enjoyed it.