Rubatosis:
The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat
It was the rapid, unsettling pounding of her heartbeat after the explosion that first brought Atlanta back to consciousness. Next came the unbearable ringing from deep within her ears as her head throbbed relentlessly. Atlanta groaned in pain as she stiffly tried to shake off the debris of the collapsed cave around her. Her eyes remained closed, wincing as a harsh brightness lingered over her face. She gingerly opened her eyes as a shiver travelled down her spine. Her stomach dropped as the ghostly entity slowly approached her; an iridescent lioness illuminating the dilapidated caverns around her. Atlanta's body fell frozen before the creature's presence; its pale aura felt formidably powerful, but she couldn't decide whether the eerie beast was a friend or foe. The lioness held Atlanta's eye contact with peaceful recognition, it bowed its head before turning towards a narrow passage hidden amongst the debris.
"A tunnel," Atlanta whispered. "You know the way out of here? I need to get back to my friends…"
She watched as the lioness effortlessly swept over the rubble and descended towards the darkness of the caverns. Atlanta tried to follow nimbly but the aching of her muscles and ringing in her ears from the explosion left her shaky and unsteady. Had it not been for the divine metals melded within her armour by Hephaestus she would have been a singed pile of ashes in a matter of seconds.
The ghostly lioness patiently waited for Atlanta to catch up before quickly drifting ahead again,
"Sorry, I'm usually way faster than this-" Atlanta puffed, "But could you slow down a little!"
The pair scaled through the caves for what felt like an eternity, every so often pausing to allow Atlanta to catch her breath. Until finally, a stream of daylight pierced through the darkness of the path before them. Atlanta winced as the sun hit her face before relishing the sensation of fresh air filling up her lungs. The moment was short-lived however, as the distant crackles of explosions rumbled over the horizon before her. While she may have successfully blown up Cronus's power source for his army back in the caves, the second Titan War wasn't over yet.
She turned to thank to the lioness but where the ghostly creature once stood, an iridescent figure of a woman appeared instead. The woman was not much taller than Atlanta, with a slim but muscular build. Her short curls were pulled loosely back from her face, framing her sharp features. Her eyes, though piercingly focused, had an aura of untamed wildness. Over her shoulder, the woman carried a magnificent ivory bow that looked as though she had plucked the crescent moon straight from the night sky. Atlanta recognised her from the paintings at school immediately,
"You… You're Atalanta, aren't you?" She gasped, "You're my ancestor!" It wasn't until then that the teenager suddenly felt the intensity of the great archer's gaze.
Atalanta smiled at her descendent. "Yes, I had heard long ago of a great prophesy involving a descendent from my lineage. I must say, the gossip is true, you're very fast. Perhaps even close to rivalling me."
Atlanta beamed in awe of the heroine, "I've got so many questions – but wait, shouldn't you be in the Elysian fields?"
Atalanta sighed, "When my father took me in after years of living off the land, he insisted that I needed to be married. I, having no interest in marriage, agreed to only marry a suitor who could outrun me in a footrace. Many had failed but one man, Hippomenes, went to the Gods for help. With their assistance, he managed to win the race and become my husband. However, he offended the Gods when he failed to honour them for the victory. As punishment, they turned us both to lions; I never had a proper burial, so I could never travel to the underworld."An aged sadness lingered in the ancient huntress's words,
"That's totally unfair! It wasn't even your fault…" Atlanta frowned, "Gods can be such jerks sometimes!"
"I have made peace with my fate. Right now, it is the Gods who need your help." Atalanta smiled down at her young descendent, "And I sense that time is of the essence."
"I don't even know how to find the team now…" Atlanta gloomed over the horizon at the awaiting battle, "And my swords! I must have lost it in the explosion!"
"A sword?!" Atalanta spat the word out as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, "My dear, you are a huntress - you belong with a bow not a sword," Atalanta declared before unslinging her own bow and gently handing it to Atlanta.
"For me?" The young huntress gazed hesitantly at the gift. On closer inspection, the pearl-white bow had gold etchings of lions and hunters all over the handle, yet it felt almost weightless and perfectly fitted to Atlanta's hand. "But wait, I don't have any arrows," The teen enquired, slinging the bow over her shoulder.
"You won't need any, just aim and shoot." Atalanta explained before turning towards the rocky terrain ahead, "Follow that path around the bend and you'll find your friends within the hour. They must be very worried about you." Her stomach dropped at the thought of the others fighting off Cronus's army without her. And Archie, she winced, stuck in battle thinking she's dead under piles of scorched rock.
Atlanta shook her head, "thank you so much, I don't know how I could ever repay you."
"You can fight valiantly and with honour," Atalanta grinned proudly, "I'll be watching over you." Before Atlanta could say any more, her ancestor faded away into the breeze leaving not so much of a foot print behind. The teen faced the path before her and took a deep breath,
"Let's end this." She whispered to herself before bursting into a sprint, running faster than ever before.
This was a small excerpt from another story I had an idea of but was never able to fully map out – basically it would have been a Season 3 finale where the gang would face one final showdown in a 2nd Titan War against Cronus. Thanks for reading!