So this was it – goodbye. One final farewell to the country that was truly his home, and would ever be regardless of how long he spent in Atlantis. He decided that London would be their destination: a great capital to rival Atlantis, and filled with things he could show his friends, things he loved and still marvelled at.
His friends had been introduced to cars, of course, as over the course of their stay they had heard and seen the machines going up and down the hill outside the house, rather faster than they could quite comprehend. Pythagoras had been fascinated, wanting to know how they worked, how they were made, whether he could make one back in his own time. Jason had doubted this very much, and Pythagoras had eventually lost interest. However, showing him trains was probably a mistake: these were bigger and more impressive, and completely captivated him.
Whilst he was investigating the trains that pulled into the station, as well as the LED boards that hung above him, Jason bought the others coffee and sat them all down on a bench, watching the people who bustled around him. It was a small station, and so there were few people: just a handful waiting to get to London or Exeter or anywhere bigger really. He found himself wondering how the others would react to the amount of people in the London stations: probably more people would be in Waterloo when they arrived than there were in the whole of Atlantis.
The train arrived, and they had quite a nice ride north-east, skimming through countryside that made Jason's heart long to stay in England. They had a table on the train, and sat together discussing times that had been – normal conversation for once. All of them seemed happy enough, even Icarus, who could not help but admire the greenery that flashed past the window, a stark and verdant contrast to the bare scrub and dense forests that surrounded his home city.
And then they came to London Waterloo, a chaotic place for those unused to the British rail system. Jason's companions became disorientated, not quite walking in straight lines, staring up at everything with wide eyes: the great clock, a leftover of the grandness of the Victorian era; the shops, filled with customers grabbing a drink or buying a magazine for the next stage of their journey; people everywhere, indeed, so many that it was hard to navigate without bumping into them or their infinite luggage, trailed behind them or balanced on their arms; and the lingering smell of trains mixed with coffee, remarkable in how reminiscent of holidays it was, to Jason at least. Train stations were a necessity, and usually little-noticed, but sometimes they were rather splendid. And now especially, when he wondered if he would ever travel by anything other than horse or boat after today.
'So this is London...' he said vaguely, swinging them outside into the warmth: the blazing sun provided a noticeable difference in temperature to that of the air-conditioned interior. And there ahead of them was the London Eye, its great circle rotating slowly and rather grandly.
His friends stopped, stunned. Such an edifice was normal to Londoners, and to most Britons indeed, but they had never seen anything so big, so bizarre, so... well, actually, it was quite beautiful.
Jason couldn't afford to take them all on the Eye, and anyway he knew that Hercules was afraid of heights (though embarrassed to admit this), so they just took a stroll in the park below, by the Thames, along paths lined with other people, mostly tourists, many with their coats or cardigans tied around their waists – it was an unexpectedly marvellous day. Across the river from them were the Houses of Parliament, which Jason explained to be the seat of the government, and to be, in fact, a palace – the Palace of Westminster. He asked Ariadne cautiously what she thought; at length she admitted that it was quite nice, though not as nice as her own palace.
More ice-creams were due as they passed a stall selling them, and they relaxed on the grass, looking up at the azure sky and finding themselves rather enjoying the day out.
'I don't mind England,' Hercules said at last. 'It's nice, you know. Not grand or anything, but friendly. And the food's all right,' he conceded, with an exploratory lick of his ice-cream.
'I might let you in a pub today,' grinned Jason, who had thus far had serious doubts about letting Hercules into a modern public house, knowing what he was like in those in the ancient world. 'We could have a pub lunch, I suppose, unless anyone wants something else?...'
Nobody did, because they were all curious about what a pub lunch might entail, and didn't know enough about modern cuisine to be able to suggest anything else; Jason said that they would soon set out to see if they could find a sensible pub with a good reputation. Now however they remained on the grass, watching the clouds float by and feeling generally peaceful.
Ariadne couldn't help making a remark about the number of couples kissing or otherwise showing more passion that was acceptable in public where she came from. Jason looked at her carefully, wondering if she was genuinely disapproving or just dropping hints; and when a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth, he decided on the latter and kissed her gently and yet passionately. Behind them Hercules rolled his eyes but smiled, wistfully perhaps. Icarus and Pythagoras shuffled a little awkwardly, but said nothing.
When Jason and Ariadne broke apart, Jason noticed this, and it suddenly occurred to him that he had forgotten to mention that their relationship was far more accepted here. He had just taken it in his stride, being from these enlightened times, and it was only now that he remembered that they too would be allowed to show affection in public. Hesitantly he told them so, and his friends all looked stunned but rather pleased by this particular progression in attitudes. Nevertheless, they did not dare to do anything more than just clasp each other's hands and smile shyly.
Eventually they set off for lunch, which was a roast dinner in something more like a restaurant than a pub. The dinner was quite cheap – it had to be; Jason was finding the amount of money in his wallet rather worrying – but rather nice, with large pieces of meat, fluffy Yorkshires (not quite the best, but then they weren't in Yorkshire) and the entire thing smothered in rich gravy. All of them had to admit that they had liked the meal.
The afternoon was something of a farewell tour for Jason. They walked past Buckingham Palace, and Jason explained about the Royal Family, finding it strange to think that in Atlantis he himself was a monarch; they visited Trafalgar Square, which led to a brief description of Lord Nelson's career, or at least all he knew of it, by Jason, and the nature of warfare in the centuries following the invention of gunpowder; and as evening drew near they stood on Westminster Bridge and took in the Thames, the cars and taxis that whizzed past, the occasional London bus; all those things that symbolised Britain and would ever hold a special place in Jason's heart.
And they found a hotel in which to spend the night; Jason booked three rooms, and disappeared into the one that would be his and Ariadne's, reflecting on the day and deciding that much as he loved London and Britain – and he loved them so very much – he would put up with living anywhere as long as Ariadne was with him. Atlantis, England: they weren't important. He would miss Britain. He missed Atlantis. But as long as he was with his friends, nothing else mattered to him.