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Chapter Warning(s): coarse language, violence, minor gore, discrimination (ala Purists & Kordax), misogyny

Maelstrom

Sha'lain'a

"Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful."

Mary Shelley

8

Poseidonis, Atlantis : November 7, 2010 – 19:45 UTC-03

"Thanks to the valiant actions of Aqualass and our allies on land, our world, our children, our parents, our siblings, our aunts and uncles, our friends were saved," says Orin, his voice carrying over every individual in the centre Agora of Poseidonis. He's standing on the south side of the palace, which looks out over the Agora, with Mera beside him and Orm standing slightly behind them, though still visible. Kalladura'ham moves forward as Orin mentions her, coming to a stop next to Mera.

I am holding the golden coin in my hands tightly, recalling the moment where my every fear was realized. Where my nightmares of someone coming to my door with a sad face and a simple announcement of my daughter Missing or Killed In Action were realized.

I close my eyes and lift my head, letting my daughter's words fall across my ears and through my mind.

"We thank you, fellow Atlanteans," Kalladura'ham says. "Your actions kept Atlantis' people safe, your quick work in mobilizing a team of sorcerers and academics to work to solve the problem was admirable, the work of your children as they protected their siblings and saved surface-dwellers stranded on ships just above Atlantis' waters is something I am immeasurably proud of. But, there were losses."

Orin picks up, "We have lost loved ones, friends, family, in this disaster orchestrated by our common enemy, the Lord of Chaos, Klarion. We come together today, two days after the tragedy of the Split Worlds, months after the tragedy of the Spill in the Gulf that wounded our brothers and sisters in Kolpos, and nearly two months after Black Manta's most recent attack – which felled many, soldiers and civilians alike. We know tragedy, but we have come together stronger for it and we will come together stronger now. Today, we remember the lives of the fallen, we honour their memories, and we send them off with their payment for Charon. We send them to a rest worthy of warriors."

I open my eyes and Mera lifts her hands. Her channels glow and every other sorcerer in the crowd takes that as their cue. My channels glow and the gold coin in my hands lifts from my palms, I lift the coin in Calvin's hand and we both watch as the coins are sent streaking through the water around us, past the heads of some Atlanteans, weaving through the legs of the Atlanteans above us, until they reach the centre mystic pot created by Mera.

The prayer for a safe and honourable death murmurs through the Atlanteans gathered. I begin to recite the familiar words, watching as the coins swirl above us by Mera's power. Beside me, Calvin murmurs the prayer and the recitations of those from the palace are drowned out by the voice of the crowd.

As the prayer fades, Mera sends the coins spiralling away, rising past us Atlanteans and whipping about the palace. Then, the coins are gone and the last words of the prayer hover in the water.

We remain there for two hours, clasping hands with one another, continuing the remembrance ceremony, continuing the honouring of the dead and wishing our fellow Atlanteans well.

Sometimes it feels false, as I grasp the hand of a Pure Atlantean whose words vibrate false through the water, as another sneers at my hair. As a soldier stares at me, his glare boring holes into my body. I hate feeling like an outsider in what is supposed to be my own community.

22:00 UTC-03

"Matim, Patera," Kalladura'ham smiles as we greet her in her quarters in the palace after the ceremony. We exchange tight hugs.

"You were wonderful," I say earnestly, gripping her hands tightly. "I'm so proud. You defeated a Lord of Chaos, saved the world, protected the children."

"Please, Matim," she tries to pull away. I do not let her. "I was doing my job."

"Of course, and we remain incredibly proud," I say, nodding to Calvin.

"She's right, you're stuck with us Princess," Patera says, squeezing her shoulder then pulling her back in for a hug.

She smiles tightly and returns the hug.

"You look well, Kalladura'ham," I say, gripping her hand tightly. "You look happier."

"I am," she smiles. "I am anxious, of course, for you and Patera, but I now understand my duty and I understand what I must do to fulfil that duty."

"I am happy for you," I say as Kalladura'ham and Calvin separate. I sigh, "You know by now that Tula has returned to the Conservatory, I am sure. It is too risky for her to be living with us any longer."

"Your matim thinks that they're going to arrest us soon," Calvin explains. "I think she's right. We'll be interrogated by the week's end."

"Should I do anything?" Kalladura'ham asks. "I…I would like to, I do not want you to be arrested, but…"

"Don't do anything," Calvin says. "We can handle this."

"How can I sit back and do nothing though?" she asks, gnawing on her lower lip.

"You know that I can handle myself," I say, gripping her shoulder tightly. "I taught you how to fight, how to defend yourself. I knew this would be an outcome of my actions, and I must see the consequences through."

"They may have you executed. Both of you."

"They will not. If they are smart, they will take advantage of Calvin's past allegiances, and killing Aqualass's matim is a terrible thing to do in this climate. They will be faced with severe backlash if they harm anyone connected to you, who just saved millions. Do not act as though you do not know that I cannot handle this, Kalladura'ham. I can handle this, and so can your patera."

She sighs, "Nothing I do will stop this, will it?"

Calvin shakes his head, "Probably not."

I pick up Kalladura'ham's tablet and open my email. I move the attachment of one of my drafts to her tablet's memory then delete the draft. I pull up Hai'lain's email and turn the tablet around to display it to Kalladura'ham.

"You did the interview earlier this week, but you should have his email just in case. The article should be out on Monday," I explain. "Do you have it memorized?"

She nods.

I delete the file, erase her browser's memory, and then hand the tablet to Calvin. He flips it over and begins fiddling with it.

"What are you doing?" Kalladura'ham asks, frowning at him.

"You need to be careful, Kalla," he says. "You've been with the military for so long, with possible Purists for so long, and many have handled your belongings."

Her eyes flick around her room nervously.

::: There's a protest planned for the 22nd in Nai'ada against the influence of the Purists on the city-state. I suggest you be there, ::: I remark over our link. ::: I am afraid that you are an advantageous tool for this, Kalla. :::

::: No, not a tool, ::: she retorts. ::: I'll be there. I will get them the attention they need. :::

::: We need to keep this from becoming a media blackout. We need to put national pressure on the most powerful Purists and make it impossible for them to continue to operate. :::

::: How? :::

::: We bring attention to the problem. That's where you and Hai'lain come in. Then, once we have Atlantis' attention, we start bringing out all the charges against the Purists. We point out all of the control they have over Atlantis, we disprove their idiotic academics, we turn it around on them when they try to silence us. After all, why would they be trying to silence us if they did not have something to hide, if they did not know that something was wrong? :::

::: Understood. :::

"You're good to go," says Calvin, handing Kalladura'ham her tablet.

"Thanks," she says, her eyes flicking across him and I.

Calvin just added a new task to her calendar and a new contact. By the week's end she will have been in contact with the anti-purist organizer in Nai'ada, a woman who goes by the name of Leuce.

Shayeris, Atlantis : November 10, 2010 – 18:46 UTC-03

"Calvin, how is that dinner coming?"

"My famous seahorse kebabs cannot be rushed," Calvin retorts.

"Someone just took down my wards," I say abruptly, ringing occurring in the back of my mind as the wards fall. My channels begin to glow as I swim to the front entry then call back to Calvin, "The currents are nice today, aren't they Calvin?"

There's a beat, then he responds, "Agreed, quite smooth. No nausea for me today."

A man calls, "Sha'lain'a, it's just me, Phri. I'm with Knasso."

I frown sharply. Lieutenant Phri works with Kalladura'ham.

I open the door and take in Lieutenant Phri and Sergeant Knasso. They have twin expressions of regret and uncertainty. Instantly, my heart drops to my stomach and all the nightmares beginning with Orin or one of Kalla's superior officers coming to my door with sad expressions and her water-bearers rise up. Killed In Action – those three words run through my mind lightning-fast. They're the worst words I've ever known.

My grip on the door tightens.

"Some detectives from Lemuria contacted us a couple of days ago," Phri explains. "We have to take you in for questioning regarding a case."

Oh thank Poseidon.

Wait, shit.

"I asked if I could come," Knasso explains her presence, because from what I'm aware she usually isn't involved in investigations such as these. "Figured that if both of us were here there would be less of a…scene. Which is something Arnis wants to avoid."

"You know what we're talking about, don't you?" asks Phri.

"No," I lie.

"Telling the truth will be easier for everyone, Kalla included," Knasso points out. "It's just…this is a ridiculous situation, Sha'lain'a. The accusations are insane. You'll probably be called on to appear before the Royal Court soon."

"That will be a farce."

"You aren't exactly making it easy to defend you," Phri says. "We want to help. But the only way we can help is if you come with us. Quietly."

"Fine." I lift my hands out to them, "Cuff me."

Phri cuffs my wrists behind my back as inconspicuously as he can.

Calvin watches, silent.

As I'm turned around, more soldiers swim past us and into the house.

"We need to search it," Phri explains.

"You should probably take me in while you're here," Calvin says, pausing in the doorway. Phri and Knasso turn and look at him quizzically. Calvin explains, lifting his hands to his head, "I used to work for Black Manta. I was given the job of infiltrating Atlantis and taking down the king from the inside. Shortly after I arrived in Atlantis though, I defected."

Phri sighs, "You're not giving me much choice here, Calvin." He nods to the stunned soldiers, "Take him in."

Calvin has his wrists pulled down and cuffed behind his back. I'm turned around quickly, with Phri and Knasso leading me to one of the armoured transports.

19:23 UTC-03

I tell them the truth; that I was trying to get information from the two men, information on purist activity. They gave me little to work with though and instead they tried to attack me. I attacked back and they got a few bruises.

The soldiers are not satisfied though. I can see that much. They want to take me down, hard, and there is a rolling in the pit of my belly that is asking the dreaded – why, why me. They could attack any so-called impure person and bring them up on ridiculous charges. The system is easy enough to exploit, hell I've been doing it for years. It's probably easier for one of the pure to exploit it. More doors are opened, probably more money, more power. Easy.

It's me though. It might be because my daughter is Aqualass and they hate Aqualass – the Purists all hate Aqualass, think that she thinks she's better than them just because she fights supervillains alongside Aquaman instead of in rank and file like the rest of them. She doesn't, of course, she would be appalled to know that people think that of her, but it doesn't matter what the truth is. The only thing that matters is what the people in power think, and the people in power right now are the Purists.

It might be because some of the soldiers recognize me from my time with Aspasia, where I knocked them to the ground. Where I killed a few of them.

Both options are likely.

Regardless, this is still too soon. Hai'lain hasn't even published the article yet.

The cuffs are irritants and keep me restrained to the chair that's bolted to the floor. The interrogation room is like every other interrogation room I've seen – granted, I have not seen many. It's barren. Nothing but a couple of chairs and a table bolted to the floor, where a two-way mirror would be in the surface-world is a charmed section of the wall. I can sense the charm, which enables people to see into the interrogation room but not be seen by anyone inside the room. There are charms plastered throughout the room, making it nigh-impossible for anyone restrained to get out.

After the Shayeris interrogators leave I start counting the rivets in the ceiling to pass the time.

21:43 UTC-03

The man somehow manages to slam an automatic sliding door.

Despite myself, I'm impressed. Though, that may partially be due to the fact that I am starving and I have been in here for at least two hours.

I do not recognize either of the people who enter. They must be from Poseidonis – the national forces would have to be involved, considering I crossed city-state borders. The man is pure, with cocky brown eyes, short black hair, and the uniform of a Major. On a cursory glance, he appears to be someone who is used to being on top of the food chain, someone who is good at most everything. Well-rounded, I would suspect, but not exemplary in anything in particular. Likely, charismatic.

Alongside the cockiness is something else in his eyes. He's angry, but it's not simply a Pure vs. Impure anger. It's personal. Do I know him?

"You can call me Jai," the Major says, sitting down in front of me. "This is Chimira."

Chimira is the woman. She's also pure, with hard green eyes, a scar cutting across her left cheek, tightly braided then twisted red hair and the uniform of a Sergeant. Judging from the nicks and scars on her hands, she likes knives.

Jai puts a tablet down on the table, spreading his hand deliberately wide to reveal scars across his right palm. They look like scars from something he grabbed, which then stabbed him. Ouch. There's a larger scar stretching up his forearm.

He slides his finger across the tablet, pulling up an image of Aspasia.

Shit.

Shit.

"You know her?" Jai asks. He brings up another photo, this time of a girl with a green tailfin. She's dead in the photograph, her eyes lifeless, void of their spark, and her dark skin pallid. "What about her?"

Jasle.

You can erase the physical evidence, but not the memories. Orin couldn't erase Jasle's death. He couldn't erase Aspasia's existence. I know she's still operating and she definitely remembers me, the girl who faked a curse and brought in piles of revenue.

CRACK!

The chair doesn't give but my head whips to the side, blood beginning to flow from my nose and taint the water. I splutter and gasp, my gills flaring. I swear and glare at Jai as he hovers in front of me.

He punches me again. Chimira doesn't move. I feel my nose crack and he snaps, grabbing my chin and turning my head to face him, "You know them. I know you know them."

I spit.

His eyes darken.

My mouth may have gotten away from me there.

His hand moves up to my throat then freezes an inch from wrapping around my throat. I lean back as far as I can. Without warning, he and Chimira move sharply out of the room. They return a few minutes later and slam a tablet down in front of me. It displays an article from The Aconite Post by a guest reporter.

oOoOo

The Aconite Post

Nov. 10, 2010

Sha'lain'a, mother of Aqualass, was first known as Kor'dia'ax.

Guest Reporter - HAI'LAIN

...

[Image of Sha'lain'a posing in the front of her shop, Seaglass Charms, grinning wide wearing a green wrap skirt and sheer shawl atop a bright green bustier]

...

Sha'lain'a of Shayeris is a woman with traits Aphrodite would be envious of and she is clearly well-aware of that fact. She flirts lightly with one of the merchants in Shayeris' main Agora, gradually negotiating down the price of a serving set with impressive dexterity. Eventually, she gets the price she wants and flashes me – two stalls down feigning looking at a collection of pearls in accordance with her demand – a smile. The young merchant doesn't notice, he's distracted by the swell of her breasts, and she turns back to him quickly, paying for the set and continuing the banter as he wraps the set up for her.

Sha'lain'a is known to most in Atlantis as simply the mother of Aqualass – Kalladura'ham. Even then, most people are not aware of what she looks like.

She is also responsible for creating the small shop Seaglass Charms. Sandwiched between hole-in-the-wall restaurant Sanape, and Clio's Finds, an antique shop nearly as old as the antiques it sells, Seaglass Charms is beloved by those who are after an accessory with a personal touch, as nearly all of its products are made in-house.

Don't let the soft curves, beaming smile and kind words fool you. Pay more attention to the scar stretching down her jaw, because Sha'lain'a is deceptively tough and strategic. She can negotiate with the most notorious of merchants, and has more than her fair share of experience in fights. Few people are aware, but she was first called Kor'dia'ax, and she has the honour of being the trainer of Aqualass before she was Aqualass.

...

[Image of a young Kalladura'ham dressed in her best being carried by a younger Calvin Durham and hugged by a younger Sha'lain'a, both also in their best and wearing thin circlets around their heads and a red sash around their waists that connects the pair.]

...

After the split of the world into those under 18 and those over 18, most parents refused to leave their children's side for more than absolutely necessary. Sha'lain'a and her husband – Kalladura'ham's foster father – Calvin Durham are more flexible.

"She has to do her job," Sha'lain'a explains earlier in the week when we meet up with Kalladura'ham on the surface. She references this conversation later when I ask her about the split. "I cannot get in the way of that, and neither can Calvin. She's growing up, and we have to accept the fact that we are not as paramount in her life as we were when she was younger."

Kalladura'ham is in surface-world clothing, like Sha'lain'a and I, when we meet up in Miami. Side-by-side, Kalladura'ham and Sha'lain'a could be sisters – a statement that causes Sha'lain'a to laugh while her daughter just raises an eyebrow and remarks that people always say that and she has never understood why.

When I ask Kalladura'ham when her mother started to train her, she answers bluntly, "When I was born."

Kalladura'ham was born to Sha'lain'a when Sha'lain'a was 18-years-old. Sha'lain'a gave birth alone and for the first 8 years of her daughter's life, raised her as a single parent. Adamant that her daughter would know how to take care of herself and how to deal with anyone who tried to take advantage of her or hurt her, Sha'lain'a started teaching Kalladura'ham how to beat people from a very early age. They started small, with Sha'lain'a instructing Kalladura'ham how to locate all the exits in an area and how to manipulate people into letting her go unharmed. By the time she was 6, Kalladura'ham knew how to fall without getting hurt and knew all of the soft spots on Human and bi-pedal Atlantean bodies. She now knows the soft spots on more bodies than her mother does.

Sha'lain'a married Calvin Durham when Kalladura'ham was 9, which put Kalladura'ham into the position of having to figure out what a father was, as she had never had one nor ever felt as if she needed or wanted one.

The marriage didn't change much with their relationship though. Sha'lain'a still found time to train her daughter and Kalladura'ham has always stated that her mother is the person most responsible for who she is today.

When I ask about Sha'lain'a's recent work against the Purists, Kalladura'ham merely remarks that she isn't surprised. Her mother had always been one to refuse to put up with anything she perceived to be an injustice, and had always been willing to do whatever it took for anything she believed in.

For an instant, Kalladura'ham isn't a champion of Atlantis. She's just a rare teenager who thinks she has a cool mother. She flashes me a distinctly teenage smirk, as if revealing some sort of irreverent family secret, and remarks, "My mother is relentless."

Sha'lain'a throws her head back and laughs.

...

Many years ago, a boy named Kordax was born illegitimately to an Atlantean princess. Kordax was eventually responsible for so many deaths that it took two generations to get the population in the Atlantic Ocean back to safe levels.

He was a blond, scaled Atlantean who wielded immense mystic power and fostered a hatred for the monarchy and Atlantis as a whole. That hatred was responsible for Atlantis' largest person-made tragedy since the Great Flood. More than a million Atlanteans perished thanks to his actions. As a result, the name Kordax was tainted and said to be a name of great evil. After his death, any child born with blonde hair was said to be a being of great evil and for the next 500 or so years every child born with blonde hair was killed, by order of the Royal Family.

Of course, those actions didn't prevent tragedies from occurring and evil Atlanteans from rising up. They were the actions of superstitious, scared and desperate Atlanteans that had lost nearly everything thanks to a blond named Kordax. It wasn't until 1938 that the killing of any Atlantean – infant or otherwise – because of the colour of their hair was made illegal throughout Atlantis.

Regardless, the prejudice against blonde Atlanteans continued for decades, until finally slowly noticeably dying out in the past twenty years. Still, this only marginally helped Sha'lain'a.

...

In 1976 a blonde Atlantean girl named Kor'dia'ax was born. Eventually, she would grow to become Sha'lain'a.

Kor'dia'ax was the youngest child of Neptan and Klystra. Neptan was heavily involved in the technology sector and eventually became an employee of Atlantean tech-giant Angelia Graphikos. Klystra was a financial analyst for Crastinus' king, eventually becoming the Director of City-State Finances. Their two older children, Klement – now a Major in Nai'ada – and Nyssa – currently a chef in Lemuria – were taught by their parents to hate their youngest sister.

Kor'dia'ax spent her childhood in a physically and verbally abusive home, one that allowed others from the community to join in the abuse.

Kor'dia'ax was a clever young girl who rarely spoke, for fear of upsetting someone who would hurt her. She was constantly aware and could spot "mean eyes" from across the field. In school she quickly found that she was intelligent, but she deliberately failed because when her parents thought she was smart they would ridicule her and tell her that she was acting out of place. When her parents thought she wasn't intelligent they merely shrugged, having expected such a thing. Ensuring that her parents thought she was dim also helped to make them less concerned about her activities. After all, a stupid little girl couldn't hold much of a threat to them, regardless of her apparent curse.

When she pretended to be in remedial classes after school she was in fact sheltered at a neighbour's home and shop. Marpesia, a young woman with "a scarred face and violet eyes," was the owner of a local charm shop. She taught Kor'dia'ax her first charms while sheltering her from the abuse outside. Soon, Marpesia began working to try and get custody of Kor'dia'ax. Klystra and Neptan refused, blockading her efforts by exploiting all of their connections.

Eventually, Marpesia gave up in trying to gain custody of Kor'dia'ax. Instead, she plotted with Kor'dia'ax to smuggle the young girl out of her home.

"June 22, 1986," Sha'lain'a recalls. "The fear would come later but right then I remember trembling with excitement."

Marpesia had told Kor'dia'ax that she would carry her out of Crastinus in one of her shop's boxes, because she had to go to another city-state for work and had to bring along a number of her products. Sha'lain'a recalls curling herself up as small as she could in Marpesia's box, then not seeing anything for what had to be hours before there were suddenly voices outside.

It turned out that Marpesia and Kor'dia'ax had gotten unlucky and became the targets for a group of thieves. Marpesia protested, but the box holding Kor'dia'ax was grabbed and dumped over, sending her sprawling out at the feet of one of the thieves. Marpesia attacked the thieves.

"She shouted at me to swim. To get as far away as I could and she would find me later," Sha'lain'a says, her gaze focusing on something I can't see. She swallows back a lump in her throat and explains, "I never did see her again."

...

[An artist's interpretation of what Marpesia may have looked like 25 years ago. It's a detailed mosaic image of an olive-skinned woman with gleaming purple eyes and six-inch scars stretching across her face, twisting the right side of her mouth into a permanent frown. Her dark hair flows around her, framing her face with soft curves.]

...

Kor'dia'ax swam. She had a handful of Marpesia's charms with her, but she wound up not needing to use them as bargaining chips. A group of teenagers on a trip across Atlantis before going to the Academy came across her and convinced her to come with them. She agreed and when they reached the next city-state they headed straight for the authorities. She knew that being in contact with the authorities would only lead to her being sent back to her parents, so, desperate to escape the confines of Crastinus and her parents, Kor'dia'ax left the teenagers.

A recruiter for the infamous Aspasia was in the area at the time. Thirty years ago, Aspasia, with some help from a man named Posei, created what would eventually become the largest prostitution ring, and eventually criminal empire, in Atlantis. Today, the criminal empire spans the entire nation, has spread past prostitution and into just about any illegal act you can think of, and is suspected to be providing around 10,000 Atlanteans with their livelihood. Despite it being a well-known operation with around 10,000 individuals involved, the military, Royal Court, and Monarchy have been unable to shut it down and with the development of legislation working towards the possible legalization of a variety of different types of sex work, it's been theorized that eventually parts of the ring may become one of the largest employers in Atlantis.

Back in 1986 though, Aspasia's criminal empire was still in its childhood and trying out such things as cage fighting, which was legal at the time. Cage fighting began to go out of favour a couple of years later until finally becoming highly regulated in the '90s.

Young girls were highly desired by Aspasia and Posei, mainly because they would be easier to indoctrinate into their illegal life, and because they had nowhere else to go. Kor'dia'ax was a bonus. She was a young girl and she also seemed dangerous because of her blonde hair. Her recruiter, whose name she never learned, figured that eventually when she got into the cage fighting she would bring in a lot of money simply for her reputation as cursed.

He was right.

...

The artist sitting across from me has an air of superiority about him. He holds himself with a casualness that speaks to either a security of self or an acceptance of damnation. He clasps a gem-encrusted blade in his webbed hands - the only remnant of his former life of expensive bribes and handfuls of gold coins crossing hands in buildings with cages in their centres.

He uses an alias now, that of Posei Dai'ain. I've traveled three city-states to speak to him and am greeted with simple shrimp. His home is small, cluttered with cheap knick-knacks and knockoffs. I suspect that he misses the wealth of his former life.

Currently, Posei is an informant for the Atlantean Intelligence Office (AIO), and lives on some subsistence offered by the AIO and the money he makes from the sale of his artwork. He gives intel and advice to the AIO and Atlantean Military on dealing with his former partner, Aspasia. He has been doing so for two years since Aquaman and Aqualass put such a hitch in his and Aspasia's work that Posei had to leave to save his own skin. Aspasia got out with a section of her operation cut, but otherwise apparently unharmed. Posei fosters a strong hatred for Aspasia even today, loathing her for leaving him out to the AIO and Military, or, as he calls them "the eels."

When I ask him what he thinks about Sha'lain'a he responds simply with an explanation that he rarely interacted with her one-on-one. Posei handled most of the behind-the-scenes operations and he was not usually involved in the prostitution ring and cage fighting. Regardless, he feels the need to emphasize that Sha'lain'a's name is Kor'dia'ax and always will be.

Posei lifts his hands into the air, waving around the blade as he gestures, "She [Sha'lain'a] is an artist, a performer. Everything she does is a performance. She keeps her hair long because she knows what people expect when they see a beautiful woman with long blonde hair in Atlantis. They're intimidated, but not too intimidated, because while her hair is blonde it is also soft, everything else about her is soft. She can even change her eyes to appear soft. I would not be surprised to find that sometimes she will cover her scars with a glamour charm to emphasize that softness. She used that performance of softness when she was younger and fighting in a cage. Soft-spoken and unremarkable, then, she would change. She would turn hard and fearsome, every soft curve would become a sharp point and hard edge. Then, she would gut you."

He leans back, apparently satisfied by his ability to instil fear.

Posei had been Aspasia's partner since before she took the name Aspasia, though they were not particularly loyal to one another. He had been present when Kor'dia'ax "that monstrous little blonde girl" arrived, all of 10-years-old. She started out as all the younger ones did, as an attendant to the older ones. She was taught by example and occasionally by tutors, then when she was 12 and deemed having learned enough she began working with clients through the prostitution branch of their empire.

Before anyone went to one of their clients they received a package containing surveillance another branch of Aspasia's and Posei's growing empire gathered. They were instructed to attend to the client as suggested by the package. According to Posei, even as a child Kor'dia'ax knew how to perform. She knew how to change her entire body language and presence so that she appeared to become someone entirely different. She used "soft Kor'dia'ax" for some clients and "hard Kor'dia'ax" for others. She adopted a variety of characters and practiced them before seeing the clients, in accordance with the packages.

"They [the clients] loved her," Posei gushes, his hatred for Sha'lain'a vanishing as he recalls the rise of Kor'dia'ax. "She had some of the most powerful people in Atlantis asking for her. Some did not even ask for sex, they simply wanted her to play a part and they could adopt one in kind. She got bags of tips the size of her head, and received gifts from some clients – of course she could not accept them, that went against our way of business, but they were offered many times."

When I ask him when Kor'dia'ax started cage fighting he responds with a scowl.

Apparently, they had been receiving significant complaints from clients about Kor'dia'ax about eight months after she started working directly with clients. Figuring that she needed to work out some anger, Aspasia and Posei switched her from being client-focused to being fight-focused. It was almost immediately a success.

Kor'dia'ax performed perfectly. She acted intimidating at the right moments, took full advantage of the superstitions surrounding her hair colour, and, most importantly, was good at fighting. Money put in by soldiers wanting to prove themselves was rarely earned back by the soldiers. Kor'dia'ax was quickly one of the best and earning plenty for Aspasia and Posei.

Of course, then the nineties came.

...

The early nineties were a time of upheaval in Atlantean military culture. Systems were being revamped and the old ways of doing things were being replaced with more contemporary methods. Methods some refer to as more inclusive, though that can be argued.

The military began moving in on areas they had previously passed by because they were believed to benefit the military. Aspasia's and Posei's empire had provided sex and entertainment to many soldiers, but when the shift occurred that changed. Due to the fact that Aspasia and Posei provided such things to the military they had a degree of influence over the military, which many people within the military questioned the benefit of. As a result, the military began cutting ties with people such as Aspasia and Posei, which resulted in the raid on the building Kor'dia'ax was fighting in one night.

The raid killed seven civilians, including Kor'dia'ax's best friend. Four soldiers were also killed, two of whom Sha'lain'a claims may have been killed by her though she is uncertain.

Reports from that day state that soldiers pursued Kor'dia'ax, shooting to kill, but she managed to escape to the surface.

"I just swam. I didn't know what to do. I was scared, I had just watched my best friend die, I had just watched the only security I had be ripped away, but it was also a place I hated so…I was conflicted and confused and scared – I was only 14. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, what I could do," Sha'lain'a explains when I ask her about the raid. "I guess I reverted back to my 10-year-old self, when Marpesia shouted at me to swim, to get away. So, I swam. Then my feet hit the ground of the surface and I ran."

I mention that before then she had never been to the surface.

"It was scary, of course," she responds. "But I had no time to react then, I was sure they were still behind me, hunting me. I needed to survive."

She ran, and when her legs finally collapsed beneath her body she dragged herself into an alley and let her fear take her. She sobbed.

...

[A photograph of Sha'lain'a standing next to and grinning up at a mosaic of Aqualass on one of the walls of Shayeris' palace. Below the mosaic is the word 'Champion.']

...

Over a decade later Kor'dia'ax is in Shayeris, using the name Sha'lain'a, with a daughter named Kalladura'ham who is now the focus of her protective streak. Her fear is rarely a crippling force now, but she's still a performer. She still ties her hair back into a tight, spiked braid. She still leans forward to distract naïve shopkeepers, she can still read people easily and figure out how to present herself to get what she needs from them, or to help them. She still watches everything, listens to the currents and reads everyone around her.

Today, Sha'lain'a may not be crippled by fear but she is anxious. When I ask her why, she tells me that she can feel the currents shifting, that she can feel eyes on her now. When she leaves her home in the morning to open the shop she can feel people watching her but when she looks to where she feels the eyes coming from, there's no one there.

She has good reason to be paranoid. Her past is, with the help of this piece, beginning to come out and become public knowledge. She is the mother of one of the most influential people in Atlantis, she's married to a man who used to work for Black Manta, and she's becoming one of the more recognized activists in the depths of the anti-purist factions that are cropping up across Atlantis. She is also one of the activists who does not practice self-restraint in an effort to protect her status. If the evidence points to someone powerful being a purist, then she will work to decrease their power, to expose their allegiances, and not care about the effect such actions may have on her status.

"I've been at the bottom of the rung before. I will be fine there again," she explains, justifying why she doesn't care what the most powerful Purists do to her.

I ask her what she'll do if the Purists target her daughter.

She falls silent for a moment then shakes her head, answering, "She is already being targeted by them simply because of who she is. But they can't take her down now, not unless they want most of Atlantis to turn against them. See, most Atlanteans are neither Purist or Anti-Purist," she explains, "and those Atlanteans love her. If the Purists decide to just up and kill her, those Atlanteans plus the Anti-Purists will respond immediately. The Purists might have political and economic power but the Anti-Purists are many, and there are even more Atlanteans not aligned with either faction. We have numbers. Besides," she leans back, "my daughter can take care of herself. If she could not, she would not have been asked to be Aqualass."

I ask her if she's scared.

"A part of me, yes, but my daughter deserves to have a day where she is not ridiculed because of her gills or hair, so do I, so does every other gilled or blonde person out there. That fact will overpower my fear every single time."

oOoOo

I look up at Jai and Chimira.

"In all fairness," I say, "you didn't really give me a chance to answer."

Jai punches me. I cough and frown as a tooth floats out of my mouth, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Note to self: Think before you speak.

"Yes, I know her. Them. Both of them. I was a kid who got drafted into the service of Aspasia's ring. Jasle worked there, she was my friend," I explain impatiently. "You can't charge me for any of that. I was doing all of that against my will. I was taken as a child, I had nowhere else to go."

"It does suggest that you have some criminal connections though," says Chimira. "And you married a man who used to work for Black Manta, so, we have to wonder."

"And everyone knows that people like you wind up involved in criminal, even treasonous, activities more often than not," adds Jai.

"People like me," I repeat. "Are you talking about blondes or the so-called Impure?"

"What do you think?" asks Chimira.

"You know what I think?" remarks Jai, unhooking my cuffs so that he can tug me off the chair and slam me against the wall. "I think that you just want everyone to be scared of you. I think that you just want to fake it, like you did in the cage. I think you're still, how did this reporter put it? You're still performing." He tugs on my hair to pull my head back sharply, exposing my neck. "You tied spikes in your hair so that people would believe in the curse and fear you, the unforgivable, the cursed child, Kor'dia'ax. Reports say that you still do that."

He slams me face first against the wall, causing what I know will eventually be a welt to form on my forehead. I sink to the ground, wincing as blood drips out of my nose and my head pounds.

I must have fought him. Wonderful. He was a man carrying a grudge from when he was a teenager and got beaten up by a little girl.

Fuck, my head hurts.

His foot comes up and gets me right in the gut, slamming me back against the wall. I hack and double-over. Dammit. I could take him, here and now. I took him out once, I could do it again even with my hands behind my back. But I cannot do that. I have to play by the rules.

He wrenches me up by my hair then slams my head against the table. I bite my tongue, taste blood, and then shout as a chunk of hair is ripped right out of my scalp. A flurry of Atlantean and English profanity streams from my mouth.

"Why would you know English?" asks Chimira as I hit the floor again, spitting out blood from where I had bit my tongue.

"My husband's first language is English," I point out. I wince, unable to focus my vision on either of them.

"Who taught you English?"

I groan in response.

Jai lifts me up and slams me against the wall, "Answer the question."

I wince, his forearm digging against my collarbone. This cannot be a legitimate and accepted method of interrogation. This is ridiculous. Kalladura'ham would never do something like this. She's better than this, than me.

"You know, I figured that when we finally found that little girl who made chumps out of all of us that she would have a little more fight in her," comments Jai. "Guess having a kid and getting married turns even the cursed into snivelling little wretches."

Snivelling? I am not snivelling. I probably have a concussion, jackass.

Jai drops me. I slump against the wall, my face contorted into a wince. I hear Jai leave the room, snapping, "Transport her to her temporary holding cell, and make sure the other prisoners know who her daughter is."

Chimira crouches in front of me as the door slides shut behind Jai, "You know, we could help."

I glare at her, "See you in Tartarus."

She snorts and rises, leaving the room swiftly.

As I suspected, this will be unpleasant.

A/N: Finally, that kid from Sha'lain'a 2 is back. Other not-so-far-in-the-past people shall be returning soon as well, even as just mentions.

R&R