Chapter 11 Atropos

David

July 20th, 2017

8:18 PM

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

My team and I survive the fighting in the assembly room and we race out back in the halls with the Eternium in my hands. The five of us clear out the remaining ConDef troops storming down the halls as Cayce finishes of the last one crawling on the floor with a single bullet to the spine from his own rifle. A pity MITs finest instructor had to die just to hand us over the Eternium. I only hoped it was worth dying for and Dr. Brainer's death wouldn't be taken vainly.

Dean Nelson contacted us again from her radio to update us on her situation on the student's protection by Captain Desean's team. Guess this is where we break the terrible news about Brainer.

"Madsen, Cage, we've reached the courtyard without being detected," said Nelson. "They what we're up to now. You need to hurry."

"Affirmative," I respond. "We're on way right now and we've got the Eternium in our hands. Just what we came here for. And what ConDef came here for too. And just to let you know, Brainer didn't make it. They shot him right in front us and killed him when he gave us the Eternium."

"Shit! Sigh. Very well, Commander. He'll be missed."

"We'll be sure he didn't die for nothing, Suzy," said Cage. "Assuming the Eternium is vital to turning the tide. Just make sure Desean is watching your asses."

"Desean to Valor. We've just got a transmission from Admiral Penske. He's sending in an extraction team down to the courtyard and he'll be there with them. We're gonna have to clear out this courtyard first and we're gonna have to do it together to give our evac a clean LZ. ETA ten minutes."

"Acknowledged, Desean. We're on the move to the LZ right now and we'll bring the Eternium with us. Cage out. Madsen, take point until we get there."

Across the hall, as I take point for the team, we heard more voices afoot. I order the team to move up carefully to investigate. Checking the corners as routine. The voices were coming from more civilians in distress with ConDef soldier rounding up. We had to be quick and quiet if we were to save them. The captured civilians weren't far and they were just ahead of us down the hall and to the left.

Once the civvies were in our sights, two ConDef soldiers had dropped them to their knees with their hands behind their heads and the trooper's guns trained on them. At least three innocents were needed rescuing. On Cage's command, he and I take the two soldiers out with a round to the back of their skulls and they drop to the floor dead in front of the locals. The five of us approached them together to aide them but were frightened by our presence. Unsure if we were friendly lifesavers or hostile life takers.

"I don't know who you are," said a frightened college girl. "But stay away from us!"

"I'm Commander Madsen with Chrysalis," I said. "We're here to help."

"We didn't buy it from the last guys and we've got no reason to buy it now."

"I'll buy anything from Blackwell's former security chief," said another girl less frightened the other.

My eyes lit with surprise as soon as the girl called me Blackwell's former security chief. I knew this girl. She had sleek auburn colored hair, blue eyes, and a dragon necklace around her neck. But no beanie over her head. She was one of Chloe's friends during Rachel's time in Blackwell.

"Stephanie Gingrich?" I said.

"Hello, David Madsen," said Steph.

"Steph, you know him?" A college boy asked.

"Sure do. Used to be head of my high school security after Skip left. A pain in the ass head of my high school security."

Steph's friends were now more trusting enough for my team to help them. Given my familiarity with the third former Blackwell kid I've come across on this mission yet. The all got up off their knees and accepted our help.

"I'll never hear the end of that one," I said. "Next time you try to keep yourselves safe, ConDef is the last people you go near. We've got another team extracting the Dean and more students. You can come with us to extract you. Just stay close and we'll get you out of here."

"Okay," said Steph's friend girl. "Uh, thanks."

Cage got a good look at Steph and tried to remember her, but she was never around during and after the Blackwell raid.

"I don't think recognize you from Blackwell during the raid," he said. "Did you graduate a year before or something?"

"I graduated in 2013," said Steph. "The year Rachel Amber went MIA and later presumed KIA. I know she's still alive from what I heard. Been hearing a lot of things since my family and I moved from Arcadia Bay. From that Kate girl on the roof to the Blackwell shooting to the Portland terrorist invasion and everything Chloe's been informing me from emails and text. What's angle in a Chrysalis uniform? A fitting end to your Blackwell career?"

"I get that a lot," I said. "It's a new beginning to a more ambitious career of my life is what it is. And how did you end up here? I didn't think you'd be the one with a future of technology."

"I'm not. But I did come here for orientation with my friends with some interest. I figured maybe I'd come here to learn how to design video game consoles. I also attended an orientation at Lesley where they teach art and design. Something I'd be more into."

"Has MIT been alright?"

"It's been good, I guess. I ran into Warren and Brooke earlier before ConDef began raiding the place and taking hostages. So if they're worried I'm dead, I'm still alive. Why is ConDef here anyways?"

"That's classified, Steph. All that matters is that we get the three of you out of here alive. Follow us, and we'll take you to the courtyard for rescuing."

"Sounds good. I've been pissing myself out of my pants wanting to get out of here with Johnny and Kerry."

"I swear," said Cayce. "If I have to rescue one more Blackwell graduate-"

"Can it, Cayce," I said. "Let's just get these kids out of here while we still can."

"Agreed," said Cage. "We need to get that LZ cleared for Penske's extraction team ASAP."

Max

July 21st, 2017

6:34 AM

Caffarella Park, Italy

Castle Camelot Museum

I take point for everyone in the tunnels and light the way with my torch. We had to shimmy across another space that was a little wider than the last. Rachel, Frank, and Kristen got behind me. Fernando had pardoned Alex to go after him, but after what happened to Fernando and what he did to me, Alex suggests to get behind him instead.

"No, no," said Alex. "I'm not turning my back on you just yet. After you."

"Huh," said Fernando. "Oh great. Next thing I know you'll be putting that gun to the back of my head telling me about the rabbits."

"Hey, play nice, people," I said.

"Yeah, come on," said Rachel. "You're almost through."

"Come on," said Frank. "Let's move it along. They'll be looking for us."

Once we're past the space, we enter a large room that appeared to be the end of this crypt. The room featured a large globe of the Earth with statues tower above the global centerpiece. As well as unlit scones in the room with torches on the wall that looked to be used to light the sconces. I get the feeling this must be where the X marks the spot for the Reality Shard. But how do we find it and uncover it?

"Amazing," said Fernando. "Is that – is that a globe?"

"Looks like this thing should spin," I said. "Doesn't it?"

"This is more than just a crypt," said Kristen.

"Yeah," said Alex. "The whole damn room looks like some kind of ancient device."

"Where's my notebook?" Fernando asked.

"You gave it to Alkaline," said Frank. "Don't you remember?"

"Que? No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you're gun too."

"Ah, mierda."

"Alright," said Alex. "We need to figure out how to get it spinning."

"Look at these sconces," said Fernando.

"It looks like they were meant for lighting," said Rachel.

There were stairs in the room that looked like they would go up the second floor above the room. While everyone else lit their sconces on the bottom floor, I walk up the stairs to investigate the higher level to see if there was anything worth lighting. I see some wood arranged on the statues in the room with a sconce at the bottom. Had to definitely be worth lighting.

"See anything up there?" Rachel asked from the bottom level.

"Hey, I bet we can light these," I said from up here.

I light the sconce under the statue as it ignites with the fire burning the wood across it's back to its head where the wood had been stacked. The flames had projected a light through the head of the statue down to the globe down in the center. The light looked to be the shape of a country that would be marked on the globe if it were aligned correctly.

"They look like some kind of projections," said Rachel. "They're marking positions on the globe."

"Let's get the other ones lit," said Frank.

There were three other statues to be lit in the room. I walk over to the other three to light them up and make more projections on the globe. Once they were all lit, the next step had to be getting them aligned somehow. But how?

"Incredible," said Fernando. "The beams don't line up with anything though."

"Let's keep looking," said Alex.

I walk down the stairs I came up from to investigate what to do next. If there was a way to align the beam with the land masses on the globe, we would need to find it. Alex was the first person to find it.

"Hey, Max," she said. "Take a look at this."

I walk over next to Alex to see a slot of some kind with a shape to it. A rectangular shape with triangular shapes top and bottom. A shape that matched the one of the Eon Codex we had in our hands. Could it fit through there?

"It looks like something fits through there," said Alex. "What could it be?"

"Hold on," I said.

I take out the Eon Codex out of my bag to stick it in the slot. It fits through and then the globe starts spinning around gradually. Ready for alignment.

"It worked," said Kristen. "It started to spin."

"We should be able to rotate the globe now," said Fernando.

"Now we're getting somewhere," said Frank.

"Hey," said Alex. "It looks like those light projections might line up with the land masses."

"Go on," said Rachel. "Give it a spin."

I walk up against the globs and use my hand to spin the globe around in the correct shape alignment the light rays were projecting. It wasn't the same as spinning a globe you see in classrooms. It was pretty heavy to spin and it felt like it took Atlas the Greek titan spin it around. With a little muscle, I began to act like it. Once the beams were in the correct position, they appeared to be intended to project on Rome, Italy and two locations in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Islands perhaps. But that wasn't all.

Something above the room was glowing another ray of light. The six of us step back away from the globe to make way for the arrival of something emerging out of the ceiling. Something similar to Lahkesis's entrance back in Greece. In that case, I knew what was coming. Or rather who was coming. A witch-like figure transcended herself entering through the light in the ceiling that looked to be used as a portal of some kind. The strange female figure levitated herself from above the globe. She had a grimly dark appearance to herself. Wearing a crown and breast plating and had long white hair and very long nails that reached to her knees. Reminded me of the lady with the long nails from the Guinness World Records.

"So…it is true," said the witch-like figure. "The traveler has come."

Everyone's eyes were popping including mine. Everyone's jaws were dropping including mine. Just by the sight of this supernaturally female figure in her very presence before her. I knew the look of this female from anywhere. This had to be the second sister of fate herself. I can't imagine how everyone must be reacting to this now, but silence is the golden reaction to me.

"I know you," I said. "Atropos, the second sister of fate."

"Indeed, I am, young traveler," said Atropos. "Lahkesis has spoken highly of you since your first meeting with her. And until now, you've had much to learn from us."

"Max Caulfield," said Frank with a pale look. "Who the fuck are we talking too?"

"Frank, please," I said. "Let me do the talking. Where's the Reality Shard? With respect, tell me what I need to know."

Atropos smiled.

"The Reality Shard is not in this crypt," she said. "It never was. Castle Camelot was the foundation to King Arthur's Order of Saint Loomis. Sworn to protect shards and uphold their mission to the Ark of Genesis against their contenders. For those who believed the Reality Shard to be here soon discovered the fortress of Castle Camelot to be a decoy when in competition."

"A decoy?" I wondered. "What are you saying?"

"The real ossuary where the Reality Shard is placed and protected is in the Colosseum of Rome. When King Arthur and his knights were at war with the Saxons, they knew they had to make themselves scarce from what only their enemies knew. As insurance, they hid the Reality shard away from the castle and hidden into the Colosseum. Centuries later, when the descendants of the order, as you know to be the Herd of Whales, exceeded the same journey to the Ark of Genesis and learned about the true presence of the Reality as you are now."

"Ezra Prescott and the herd."

"I should be asking," said Alex. "How is it that Max and I are descendants of the Herd of Whales? Specifically speaking, that's a question that can go for Max."

"As Lahkesis may have told you," said Atropos. "You have much more history with Herd than you believe you do. As well as the Prescott and Blackwell family likewise. However, the Caulfield family in the Herd of Whales family tree was not as numbered as the families of Prescott and Blackwell. In time, your family was later defunct of the herd itself. During a contradiction between the herd and the Caulfields, they were eventually stripped of their herd status and declared rankless from the society alone. Never to be gathered into the herd again. You above everyone else, Max Caulfield, are the first ever non-instated descendant of the herd to obtain the power of time. Thus far, since your journey began in Greece, have proven worthy of yourself in the righteous path of that power."

"I don't understand," said Rachel. "What of the Eternity Shards? What about the Eon Codex? How does that help us get to the Ark of Genesis?"

"The Eternity Shards are used for more than just Ares's unfathomable goal. They are the conduits for keeping the universe at bay. The Eon Codex is the catalyst to the Ark of Genesis's power inhabited by the six shards themselves. Every one of you should know the unorthodox evil Ares wants with the shards. To render half the universe no more for his beneficial ego. You, however, must do otherwise. To use the six cosmic entities within the shards along with the codex to allow the Ark of Genesis to bring balance to the continuum of the world as you know it at bay. It would seem Ares himself has already acquired three of the six shards for his Eternity Gauntlet. He must never find the remaining three."

"Lahkesis allowed me to protect the Power Shard when we first found it ourselves," I said. "But Ares ambushed Alex and I in Greece and he took from us. I'm sorry."

"Don't ever be sorry for letting the shard slip into the wrong fingers, Max. Be responsible. There is less time to explain everything else. The Reality Shard awaits you within the crypt of the Colosseum. Go there to claim what is needed for the Great Journey upon you, Max Caulfield. My sister Clotho will be waiting for you at the Colosseum. Your humanity's only hope of winning the Eternity War against Ares and the Continuum Defense Front. Our only hope."

Note: So I hope you all enjoyed my unexpected cameo of a much beloved Before the Storm character! If any of you guessed it right who it would be, show of hands in the reviews! Call me JJ Abrams for the special little fan service. Another chapter of explaining the complexity and lore behind what Max and Alex must learn to win the Eternity War. Which has been my biggest challenge in completing this story altogether. Shoutout to eri101 for her interest in the universe influenced by other universes I've built for my stories. Much appreciated! As it is for any writer, generally. Saw Ant-Man and the Wasp yesterday and (mild spoiler) what an awesome setup to Avengers 4 at the end! Lol.

Until next time, stay tuned and golden!