CHAPTER ONE
Ten thousand years later...
"Oracle, come before me!" Leidon ordered imperiously. He stood in the palace's golden receiving hall on Mt. Olympus, awaiting the Oracle of Delphi; he had had troubling dreams; dreams of blood, destruction and rebellion. If it had been about others it would not now concern him, but in these dreams he had seen the deaths of his brothers, cousins and himself. Now he wanted to know whether or not he had extreme cause for worry. "Oracle, I said come before me!" He knew the old bitch had heard his summons but she liked to defy him at every turn.
"You called, my lord?" the Oracle asked, as she walked on silent feet into the hall, startling Leidon as he hadn't heard her enter. She often enjoyed catching him unawares, as he thought himself far more superior to others. Oracle came to a stop before him, but instead of bowing her head like all others she stood with her head held high, patiently waiting for his questions.
"I've had some seriously troubling dreams for the past week or two," he stated even as he scrutinized the Oracle to determine her reaction to his next words. "I have dreamed about death, but not just any death. It is that of my brothers, cousins and mine. Do you know anything about this?"
"Aye, I do."
When she didn't continue, he impatiently said, "Well, what do you know and stop toying with me or I will kill you."
They both knew that the threat was an invalid one, as the Oracle was neither mortal nor immortal. She was just a power that be, there to guide and provide counsel for each ruling pantheon.
"The power of the Olympians has reborn, my lord." The Oracle of Delphi kept her face expressionless as she imparted this latest titbit of information to the King of the Gods, Leidon. She was supposed to be neutral and provide guidance or counsel but, she would have been lying if she had said she had derived no pleasure from telling this piece of shit her latest vision.
For centuries, since after the murder of their parents, the katikōs had reined with cruelty, disparity and selfishness. They cared for no one but themselves and any who had tried to resist their rule was punished or killed. She had waited for this day, when the world would finally be rid of the cruel gods and Olympian power would retain the heavens. The mates of the Atlantean kings had been born in this age and with this the dakōlăs would soon be awaken. The world was about to see the dawn of a new era once again.
"What do you mean, by that statement? The Olympians have been dead for ten thousand years; obviously this is another one of your games," Leidon said furiously. Though he knew she played games with him and didn't like him very much, her words had the ring of truth to them and as such had filled him with a debilitating fear. It took all his control to appear unaffected.
"I assure you, King Leidon, my spoken words are the truth and nothing less than. Olympian power has returned to this world and with it comes the death you have seen."
"Where and who has the power been reborn into?" He wanted the information; as long as he had it he was sure he and the rest of his family could find whoever it was and destroy them before they became a threat to the Katikōs' reign. "Tell me Oracle, where do I seek this new power."
"I cannot answer that question for the answers are hidden even from me. I can tell you that the power has not fully awaken in the hosts. They only have small amounts, just enough that I could sense the awakening but not enough to track."
"You are useless, that information is no good to me." Leaving the throne he had been sitting on up until then, he paced the golden floor. It was then he realized that she had said hosts as in plural. He couldn't believe it, after destroying the Olympians, after all this time their power was coming back to haunt him. Frustrated by this turn of events he ordered the Oracle to leave and summoned his whole family. "The Oracle has confirmed that our deaths are imminent but I believe we could prevent this. We just need to bid our time and wait for the power within the hosts to become strong enough to track them and move in for the kill."
A chorus of agreement rang through the great hall as Leidon moved to sit on the throne once again. There reign was far from over in this world. If any rose against the Katikōs, a wave of destruction would engulf this world unlike times past. He was not above destroying the world and remaking it, if he and his family were thus threatened.
She and her team of archaeologist had been digging for hours since the dawn of first light that morning and they had yet to unearth anything of great value. Making matters worse they still had at least two more hours of stipulated dig time left to complete today and the sun seemed to be getting hotter than usual for this time of day; a break was definitely in order.
"Take five guys. This heat is blistering; I swear hell's raining on Earth today." Kithira ordered her team to break as she turned to Jordan.
"Too true, Thira," her best friend and fellow archaeologist, Jordan Sanova said. "The meteorologist said we would get some rain around midday, not sweltering heat. That just goes to show how accurate they are," she continued with a laugh.
Nodding her agreement with that sentiment, Kithira Duarlé made her way to the tarp covered area where the coolers with drink and food were located. I definitely could do with a cold drink.
On nearing the coolers, she and Jordan overheard some of the second year archaeology students along on the excavation talking about Atlantis.
"I can't believe there are people still thinking about finding Atlantis. The scroll at Alexandria were discovered so long ago and have yet to be translated; I would think people would have given up on discovering the lost island by now," Jordan said as she bent to retrieve two bottles of water from a cooler.
"No one has found it because the scrolls had no coordinates within them and no other scrolls has been found up to now with any further information for that matter," Kithira stated as she accepted the bottle Jordan held out to her. "Maybe being in the Aegean has piqued their interest in the myth." She added with a shrug.
"Yeah maybe, here is where it has been rumoured to be located. Personally, I gave up on dreams of discovering it long ago, how 'bout you?"
"I didn't dream of finding it, but I have wondered about the story the Alexandria scrolls contained. The scrolls stated that the Olympian gods sank the Tri-Isles to protect their Halflings, but I don't understand how they could survive." Kithira said matter – of - factly as she stared at the group discussing Atlantis. Then it hit her, what she had unwittingly revealed.
Turning to her friend, the extent of her mistake hit home. Always she had been careful to keep the knowledge that she understood the scrolls to herself. No one had been able to identify or translate the language the scrolls had been recorded in; in one moment of thoughtlessness she had admitted to knowing.
Jordan just stood, her mouth agape, staring at her best friend. This was the first time anyone she knew of understood the writings of the person responsible for creating the scrolls; that is except herself. The only reason the world even knew the scrolls were about Atlantis is because the librarians in the Alexandria library so long ago had labelled the containers the scrolls were found inside in Greek and Latin. Even more coincidental and shocking was that, it was her best friend and it was now coming to light.
"You're certain?" Jordan asked in a whispered voice, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation.
"Yes, Jordan, I'm certain," Kithira answered in an equally low tone. "When I first saw it five years ago I realized as I stared at them what I was unintentionally reading, of course I knew even then it wasn't a good idea to mention it to anyone. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by not telling you Jordan."
"Bahh...I don't expect for you to tell me everything, Thira. Besides, I too have secrets I have never shared with anyone for the simple fact that they call the men in white suits for me." Jordan told her. "It isn't only you who could understand what is written on those scrolls," she said added evenly.
It was Kithira's turn to gape as her best friend revealed a secret even she wouldn't have guessed at. "You never mentioned it either Jordan. But I understand why." If no one, especially experts who had spent years trying to decipher the Atlantis scrolls could not, who were they – then newly graduated archaeologist- to own up to comprehending the contents of the scrolls.
"What I don't understand though, is how we both figured out the story in the scrolls and others couldn't?" Jordan questioned softly, still getting over the shock that she wasn't alone in her knowledge anymore.
"I'm not sure, but for now let's get back to digging, we'll continue this conversation later." Turning away from her friend, she yelled across the distance to tell the rest of her team that their break was over and it was time to resume what they had come there to do.
For the next hour and a half they dug and sifted dirt, the sun grew hotter and hotter until Kithira began to wonder again at the extreme temperature they had gotten for the day, it was unlike the last five days, when the weather had been warm reaching at least thirty five degrees Celsius. Maybe the Sun god was angry, she thought humorously. With half an hour to go, she and Jordan were sifting the contents of two sieves when Jordan exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh my god! Will you look at this? Look! Thira, look at this!"
Dropping the sieve she was holding Kithira hurried over to where Jordan was bent over the sieve.
"What is it?"
"See for yourself," Jordan said moving aside for Kithira to get a better view of the sieve's contents.
"Ohhh!" was all Kithira could say as she spied the ring.
"My sentiments exactly!"
"It looks brand new though. Someone must have dropped it out here and could not find it back."
"No, no, no. I doubt that very much. No one really comes this far."
Carefully picking the ring up, Kithira looked over it with a magnifying glass. It had the bluest stone she had ever seen. It was practically glowing. It was set in a ring of gold with an intricate design of the ocean's waves. She was sure that she had never seen anything like it while she was studying.
"Ok Jor, let me just store it and we'll finish sifting this dirt. We'll examine it later."
Once she stored the ring they both went back to finishing sift the dirt to see if anything else was hidden within it. That took them the remaining minutes 'til the end of the work day to finish. Heaving a sign of weariness Kithira straightened.
"Alright Jordan, let's call it a day."
"Tell everyone to pack up, the sun is starting to get hotter, we'll resume tomorrow morning. I'll take the ring to the museum and put it in the vault until you arrive and we could do some research then."
"Ok Thira," Jordan answered. "I'm heading back to the hotel first though; I really need to wash all this grit off me. See you in awhile," Jordan said even as she spun away to head to her four wheeler.
"Oh, Jordan, before I forget, you're going to be in charge tomorrow because I might be in the museum all morning. You cool with that?"
"No scene. According to how things go here, I'll come and help you."
"Sure ok, now let's get out of here. I need a bath it's hot out here."
Leaving Hakim in charge of pack up, Kithira drove off, wanting to get in a bathe and reach the museum before the curator left for the night.
It was as she drove along the coastal road leading into town, that she first heard it; a melody unlike any other she could ever remember hearing. The rhythm of the sea and its creatures was how she could have described it best. It was different in a way she couldn't immediately identify; however, it was peaceful, lulling and beautiful.
Curiously wanting to know where it was coming from she pulled to the side of the road. Getting out and taking the ring with her for security reasons, she stood facing the sea. Watching out over the ocean she listened with all of herself, including that part of her that was intimately connected with the sea.
The ocean's waves plunged to shore spraying foam everywhere. Still, she saw nothing from which the song could have been emanating. Hearing a pod of dolphins chattering she reached into the truck and withdrew a pair of binoculars. Training them on the water she saw the pod playing in the water not too far out from shore. Their antics brought a smile to her face. It was rare that she had time to stand around and watch dolphins or any animals for that matter play, and just enjoy the sight. Smiling, she continued looking at them longing to go out and play with them.
From childhood she had realized that she was slightly different from others and in her naivety told her parents. They had scolded her and told her to never mention her unique ability again; as such she had never told another person of her ability to communicate with sea animals. Her connection to them was something she cherished but had had little opportunity to use between completing university and working on various exaction sites. Hello guys, I wish I could play with you all, she thought spoke to them. Pictures appeared in her head of her playing with them. More chatter followed. Do you hear the melody?
Yes, it is beautiful, isn't it? A large male dolphin said in answer.
Yes, it certainly is, do you know where it comes from? Kithira questioned.
It sounds like the melody our elders sang for us when I was a baby. It is the melody of Poseidon's ring emanates when it is near the ocean, another dolphin added.
But Poseidon is a myth, she spluttered in reply to that unexpected piece of information. And myth said he used a trident not a ring.
Many of our ancestors were around in the time of the Olympian pantheon Ocean Whisperer. Dolphins were his favoured sea animals and were held in high esteem then. Now we are hunted by some as game. The Katikōs care nothing for anything but themselves.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was impossible; the Greek gods didn't exist they weren't real but a myth she had learnt in her course of studying archaeology. Leaving the road, she walked the path to the shoreline. Reaching there she took off her shoes and made her way into the water until it reached her waist.
Seeing her move into the water the dolphins swam towards her and splashed her. Laughingly she scooped up handfuls of water and threw it at them. She heard there laughter in her head even as their chatter was heard by normal humans. Wading out further into the water, she stood in the circle of the small pod.
Now my friends explain to me what you mean by Ocean Whisperer, Katikōs and Poseidon's existence.
We cannot tell you what Ocean Whisperer is only our elders know the true meaning as to Poseidon, he and the other gods ruled this world and the heaven ten thousand years ago as told to us by the elders of our pod. They are hunting right now, we are supposed to play and not get into trouble. A dolphin with a moon shape on her tail told Kithira. Continuing she told Kithira that the Katikōs were the ruler of the heavens now.
Stunned, Kithira could only open and close her mouth, no words finding an escape in neither her thoughts nor voice. Wrapped up in thoughts of the discovery, she failed to realize that the underwater currents were stronger and pulling at her; when she realized it was too late. With a scream she disappeared below the water and was pulled away faster than any of the dolphins surrounding her could react.