Here is the next chapter of Adapting to Modern Times. :D I'm curious, does anyone even like this story? I can't tell because of the lack of reviews. I would love to hear some feedback.
Atlantis is sitting in her boss' office waiting to be scolded. Her boss' blue eyes are glaring at her from his oak desk. His fingers drum his desk in frustration. The other hand roughly weaves through his white beard. The wrinkles on his face are more prominent, loudly broadcasting his age of 150 years old.
King Cyril stops and gives a sigh. He continues glaring, irritated. "Atlantis, my pilot and sources have told me you high jacked my plane for your quest for…..Twinkies." The old king looks at her in disbelief. Atlantis shuffles in her seat nervously. Throughout her Twinkie quest, she forgot to think about the consequences she'll face for taking his private jet without permission. Come on, he has plenty of private jets, how is he going to miss one measly jet? It's not like she took the one with the Jacuzzi and supermodels: that's his favorite jet.
Atlantis doesn't want to piss him off too bad. If she does, she'll be thrown into the kraken pit….again. She's not in the mood to fight off against angry krakens. Those krakens are still furious from the last time she was thrown in that pit. She's starting to regret all the trash talk she did. Plus, the yo mama jokes she learned from America didn't help either. Oh the things she learns from America…
King Cyril snaps his fingers. He has this strange, calculating look in his eyes. "Since you're my country, I'll forgive you for the Twinkie incident." Atlantis stares at him with skepticism. She's wondering who the hell she's talking to right now. This is not her grumpy and sinister boss. Her real boss would be scolding and yelling at her by now. He looks very suspicious.
The Atlantean king pulls a drawer and places a sheet of paper on his desk. "Your half birthday is coming up right? I'll give you your own private jet," The king grins as he grabs a pen. "It'll have a Jacuzzi and sexy butlers~" Atlantis is becoming more freaked out by every word that's coming out of his mouth. Her boss would never, ever, celebrate her birthday. If he even bothered, it would be an I-owe-you note. Heck, she doesn't even remember when her own birthday is.
Tony, America's alien friend, must have abducted her boss and probed him. It's the only explanation. That or he has an ulterior motive. She'll go with the latter. It sounds more logical and less of a conspiracy theory.
Atlantis eyes the paper on his desk, seeing him smoothing out the paper and grinning at it made her curious. King Cyril hands her the paper. "I'm going to pass a law limiting our country's exposure to the outside world. I want to have your approval on this. Please sign your name on the dotted line." He hands her a pen and she takes it.
Atlantis narrows her eyes in suspicion, her cynical side revealing itself. She refuses to sign anything unless she's allowed to read everything. Yes, even the fine print. She learned the hard way that signing anything blindly leads to disasters….and riots: lots and lots of riots. She has to know how her citizens will react if this law became enacted. She doesn't want to be blamed if it's awful. Atlantis takes the magnifying glass off the table and starts reading.
The king rolls his eyes. "It's not bad, Atlantis. It'll protect our citizens from dangerous influences. You don't want the mentally unstable citizens to get any bad ideas, do you?" Atlantis catches on to what he's implying. The nerve of him! Trying to make her feel guilty and responsible for her 'failure' to sign his law. Atlantis looks up from the paper. "It's a precaution I must take, your highness. Surely, you must understand this is a protocol I must follow." King Cyril unenthusiastically nods.
Atlantis feels she has a right to be wary. "Why would he want –no need- my approval for this law?" It's not like it's her job to sign laws. (It's rare for that to happen.) That's her boss' job. Her instincts are going berserk. Something must be wrong with this law.
And that's when she finds it with her magnifying glass. A handful of lines stating her boss can limit her citizens' rights when and however he sees fit. Atlantis boils in rage. No wonder he wants her approval. Without it, her citizens will outright protest it. With her signature, Atlanteans will be too afraid to show their outrage in public.
Atlantis slams her fist on the desk. She is very angry with her boss now. No way is she going to be polite and ladylike and let this slide. "Atlanteans will never accept this! They hate absolute monarchy," Atlantis rudely points her index finger at him. "It's your duty to protect their rights, not repress them!" Technically, what little rights they do have. The king chuckles and walks around the desk.
Atlantis stands up and stares into his eyes. They engage in an intense glaring match. "This is a new era Atlantis, a time for change." He breaks eye contact and paces away from her. "After learning about that damn America-" he spits out the American's name in disgust. "My people are getting restless."
Atlantis doesn't appreciate her boss bashing America. He's her friend, and she cannot stand there and do nothing. "America is not a bad person. He's-" Atlantis is abruptly cut off by her boss' glare.
"That bastard America has caused me nothing but trouble. My people want more freedom of speech and equality." Atlantis figured out his motive. He's afraid his power is slowly starting to slip away. He's desperately trying to keep a hold on his power. "Because of his democracy preaching, my citizens are demanding more rights." His eyes are wild like an untamed animal.
King Cyril paces back to his desk but trips on his rug. He does a faceplant and stays sprawled on the ground. Atlantis sighs in annoyance. She can't wait until her boss' son inherits the throne. She hates dealing with the king's ridicules antics. He's too old for his job now.
King Cyril brings back Atlantis' attention. "Help me up from the floor dammit! My back hurts like a bitch!" He rubs his back and whines to emphasize his point. Atlantis scowls at his disrespect. Past kings of Atlantis were formal and majestic. King Cyril is the total opposite. He's more like a child ruling a kingdom who she has to babysit. "The shit I have to do for this man."
Atlantis reluctantly helps him from the ground. Even though she was raised to respect her elders, there's no way in hell she's showing respect to this man. If her boss refuses to show her any respect she'll do the same. It's not like he can fire her or anything. She's Atlantis! She can take down those krakens, yo mama yokes or not. She gives him a glare. "Shut up and stop complaining!" King Cyril puffs up his cheeks and sits back at his desk.
Atlantis wants to leave the room immediately. She doesn't want to deal with her childish boss any longer. "I'm going to Japan with Lichtenstein. I'm going to go meet her now," she slowly says.
"Remember to make some alliances you slacker. It'll be good for our country." The Atlantean king mumbles as he flips through the pages. Atlantis gives one last glare before leaving the room with style. She slams the door on her way out. She wants to do the most dramatic exit possible. Nothing riles him up worse than melodramatic door slams.
The golden-eyed woman claps her hands in excitement. She can't wait to meet up with Lichtenstein. She's so adorable and huggable.
After checking in her luggage, Atlantis trudges through a crowded airport looking for Lichtenstein. She regrets hastily leaving her boss. The Atlantean doesn't own a jet. Maybe she shouldn't have crashed that one jet. King Cyril doesn't trust her after that incident. Ever since, she always has to borrow one of her boss' jets. She never had to go to airports, until now. She could have bargained to get a jet…..and those sexy butlers.
Atlantis spies Lichtenstein standing by the elevators looking glum. She approaches her and ruffles her hair. The Atlantean smiles. "Greetings Lichtenstein, how are you today?" Lichtenstein gives a weak smile and nods. "I'm okay. Let's go to our flight."
Atlantis drops her smile and frowns. She's a little worried about Lichtenstein. She wonders what could have made her so gloomy. "Are you sure? You look a little down to me." Lichtenstein grabs her hand and gives a more convincing smile this time. "Don't worry about it Atlantis, I'm okay."
Lichtenstein starts guiding her to the security checkpoint. They walk around people rushing past them with suitcases and screaming children. Atlantis then realizes something very important. She curious about where Switzerland is. Switzerland follows Lichtenstein almost everywhere like a loyal guard dog. It is strange to not see him around Lichtenstein when he's supposed to be with her.
"Maybe he's in the restroom? If so, why are they not waiting for him? She's sure Lichtenstein mentioned he was going to join her on the trip."
"Lichtenstein, where's Switzerland? I thought he is joining us on the trip," asks Atlantis. Lichtenstein's smile drops and finds the floor more interesting to look at. "He…couldn't make it." Lichtenstein hesitantly replies. Atlantis shouldn't be happy about this, but she is. She masks her glee with a fake look of remorse.
It's not like she hates him or anything. (Okay, he scares her a bit when he nonchalantly points his guns at people.) She did some research and found that it's illegal to carry guns in Japan, unless it's for hunting purposes or something similar. She doesn't want to get arrested because he starts shooting at people for being too close to Lichtenstein. She shudders.
Atlantis and Lichtenstein stand in line for the security checkpoint. Lichtenstein removes her shoes and sets it in the box on the conveyor belt. Lichtenstein repeats this action with her small bags. Atlantis mimics Lichtenstein's actions since the Liechtensteinian knows more about airport procedures than she does.
As soon as Atlantis finishes setting her bag on the conveyor belt, she observes the little country being pulled over after walking through the metal detector. Atlantis thinks this is strange but ignores it. She casually walks through the metal detector and grabs her bags. She turns and nearly drops her bags in shock.
She sees a man groping Lichtenstein's stomach! Lichtenstein squeaks as she faces in any direction but the TSA agent. Lichtenstein blushes pretty badly from embarrassment.
Atlantis enters mother mode. She turns red with rage and briskly walks to the TSA agent. He remarks, "Are you hiding something-" He's interrupted by a front kick to his side from Atlantis. The TSA agent falls harshly to the ground a few feet away from the two countries.
He groans in pain and grasps his waist. "Shit. What hit me?" Atlantis roughly grabs him by his uniform collar, ready to scream to his face.
Atlantis shakes his collar in rage."Pedophile! Child molester! How dare you grab a child there, especially in public! Have you no shame young man?" Her menacing glare scares the man to death. The young man shakes in fear. He mutters incoherent words, which causes an extra slap on the head.
"I-It's procedure ma'am. A-All the other f-female agents a-are on b-break right now, I s-swear!" The agent cowers in fear.
Atlantis gives him another slap. "You have cougar agents too?! What kind of sick airport is this!"
"It's for s-security p-purposes ma'am. We're not t-trying to be perverted!"
Atlantis smirks in triumph. "A-ha! You admitted it! TSA agents are perverts in disguise. I sense a conspiracy theory!" The other passengers cheer in the background. Screams of "I knew it" Echo throughout the room. The passengers become unruly and restless after all the commotion Atlantis is making. The workers try to prevent the passengers from rioting.
"Where are the security guards when I need them," the man screams.
The two security guards snap out of their shock and move in to arrest Atlantis. She shoves the man away from her and gets into her battle stance, clutching her bag and ready to strike with it. She smirks, ready for them to make the first move. She hasn't had a decent fight in three centuries.
Lichtenstein jumps in front of Atlantis. "Please stop fighting!" The security guards pause to avoid running in Lichtenstein. Atlantis lets the adrenaline leave her body. She couldn't believe she was about to fight in front of Lichtenstein. She feels shameful of her actions.
The security guards walk past Lichtenstein. Each security guard grabs Atlantis by her arms. One of the men coughs into his hand. "Ma'am, we're going to have to arrest you now for assaulting a TSA agent."
Lichtenstein panics and grabs the guard's sleeve. The small country tears up. "Please don't arrest her. She doesn't know about airport security." The guard doesn't look convinced by her plea.
He tries to gently pry off Lichtenstein. "Right…..who doesn't know about strict airport security these days," he says sarcastically. Lichtenstein refuses to budge and continues trying to pull his arm off from Atlantis.
"Lichtenstein, I'll be okay. I'll get this situation resolved," Atlantis says with a sheepish smile. Lichtenstein looks doubtful on whether the Atlantean will be okay or not.
Atlantis, trying to swing her purse strap onto her shoulder without her hands, strikes a conversation with the security guards. "Let's get this interrogation over with."
Atlantis and Lichtenstein manage to get onto the airplane on time despite the chaos the former created earlier. Atlantis is sitting next to the window with Lichtenstein sitting next to her eating airplane food.
Atlantis becomes comfy in her seat and gazes outside the window. She sees white, fluffy clouds slowly moving below the airplane. She can't even see the ground or cities because they are so far up in the sky. She never would have imagined man being able to invent transportation to fly among the birds.
"Atlantis, how did you get the guards to let you off so easily," Lichtenstein stops eating and says with curiosity written on her face. Atlantis smiles and pats Lichtenstein's shoulder.
"It was simple; I gave them some diamonds and they let me off with a warning," says Atlantis nonchalantly. Lichtenstein's eyes widen in shock. "You bribed them?"
Atlantis waves away Lichtenstein's reaction. "It wasn't a bribe; it was more of a present for being good, underpaid security guards."
"…..It's the same thing….." Lichtenstein gives her a scolding look. "You shouldn't bribe people. It's not right." Lichtenstein looks at her lap shyly. The blush on her face shows her embarrassment at her own boldness.
Atlantis chuckles in amusement. Even though Lichtenstein is several centuries old, she has the innocence of a child. Switzerland does an excellent job on conserving Lichtenstein's child-like innocence. Lichtenstein is persistent on staying good.
Atlantis' face darkens. "No one should inappropriately touch a child like that, no matter the reason."
Lichtenstein shakes her head, the ribbon on her head swaying with the movement. "He thought I was hiding something."
The cup of water set on the small table in front of Atlantis freezes. The cold air hovers over the cup. Neither of them takes notice.
An uncomfortable atmosphere sets in their aisle. The air becomes slightly colder. All the passengers, except Atlantis, wrap their arms around themselves and try to preserve their body heat. Lichtenstein shudders and tries to warm her hands.
Atlantis, uncaring of the awkward silence, grins and pats Lichtenstein's head. "What do you want to do when we get to Japan? It's the day after Valentine's Day so there still must be something to do. I think there are still activities for us singles." The airplane becomes a little warmer.
"Being single…" Lichtenstein gloomily says with her head on the palm of her hand.
Atlantis looks at her confused. "Does she dislike being single?" The golden-eyed woman gets a mischievous grin. The possibility of Lichtenstein having a lover sounds too good to be true. Maybe Lichtenstein is growing up.
Atlantis tries to bring some cheer to Lichtenstein. "Being single is not so bad. You can flirt with attractive men –or in your case boys- to your heart's desire with no commitment required." Lichtenstein starts crying into her hands. Her sobs sent Atlantis into a panic.
"Shit. Belarus is harsh, but right. I suck at this romance crap. I don't know how to help broken-hearted people." She received this remark –and a stab in her stomach- from Belarus after she commented on how she should try to find another man. It was Atlantis' first year back outside her country and she just had to say that to Belarus.
Let's just say there's no way Belarus is ever coming to her for help whenever Russia rejects her advances. (It's not like Belarus did so anyway.)
Now she understands why no one, except possibly Ukraine when she's brave enough, comments on Belarus' obsession of marriage with Russia.
She also learned another important lesson that day. Never tell Belarus anything she wouldn't like to hear; especially if she's holding a knife in her hand.
Atlantis clenches her fists as her mind goes into overdrive. "I'm an insensitive prick! I might have sounded inconsiderate with the commitment comment. It's not like Lichtenstein is going to stab me like Belarus, right?" Atlantis then freaks out again. "She was raised by gun maniac Switzerland! She'll shoot me instead."
Atlantis relaxes and pulls Lichtenstein into a hug. This is Lichtenstein she's talking about. She wouldn't shot anyone. "Did you have a lover?" The dark blue-haired woman is curious. The idea of Lichtenstein having a lover sounds so adorable. She imagines Lichtenstein shyly holding hands with a boy. It sounds so cute!
Lichtenstein whispers, "Well, there was this human boy I had a crush on for the past two years," Atlantis squeezes Lichtenstein's shoulder to encourage her to continue. "He came to big brother's house with flowers and….." Lichtenstein pauses to start sniffling. Atlantis rubs her back and manages to calm down the small country.
"and...and… Switzerland came and scared him away with his shot gun." Lichtenstein whimpers and keeps clinging to Atlantis, refusing to let go. "My crush doesn't want to talk to me anymore." This explains why Switzerland isn't joining them on this trip. Lichtenstein probably left him at the house and went to the airport alone.
Atlantis knows that he will shoot people off his lawn –as told by his 'survivors.'- but this has to be the cruelest thing he has done yet. She finds it hard to believe that Switzerland would do anything to hurt Lichtenstein: mentally or physically.
Atlantis decides to make it her goal to help Lichtenstein's broken heart. What better way to heal a broken heart than with chocolate?
Atlantis and Lichtenstein are standing outside a chocolate shop in Japan ready to go inside.
Lichtenstein looks at Atlantis in confusion. "Why are we outside of a chocolate shop, Atlantis?"
Atlantis beams. "Chocolate is perfect for recovering from heartbreak." Sadly, she knows this from experience when she was a younger country. She needed something to cheer her up from heart breaks. "I heard about this special chocolate shop from an associate of mine."
Lichtenstein stares at the window display filled with display stands holding delicious chocolate sculptures of hearts. "You're buying a chocolate heart sculpture?"
Atlantis shakes her head. "No, something even better. Now come, follow me." She enters the chocolate shop with Lichtenstein following close behind.
Atlantis strolls straight to the register, ready to ask for that special item. She can't wait to see the look on Lichtenstein's face when she sees it. Atlantis whispers into the cashier's ear and he nods.
He walks to the back of the store and Atlantis beckons Lichtenstein to follow him. The room is spotless with a three cylinder scanners reaching the ceiling and a small platform in the middle of the scanners. A printer and computers are on the other side of the room. The shopkeeper's assistant fumbles with his camera. As the man readies the scanners, Atlantis gestures for Lichtenstein to stand on the platform.
Lichtenstein nods and goes to stand at her designated spot. She stares at the Atlantean. "I thought you were getting chocolate?"
"I am. Just sit there and give the camera your beautiful smile." Atlantis says as she stands to the side of the scanner.
The shopkeeper finishes readying the scanners and his assistant stands in front of Lichtenstein with a camera. Lichtenstein smiles as the camera flashes.
The man nods and leaves to the computer. He inserts a plug into his computer and camera. "Miss, I have your other orders ready on the desk near the printer. It'll take a while to get these pictures ready for the chocolate."
Atlantis thanks the man and reaches the table with glee. Her chocolates are ready to go! She grins and calls Lichtenstein over to the table.
When Lichtenstein is at the table, she gasps in shock.
On the table are chocolate heads of the allies, axis, and several other countries on sticks. The 3-D chocolate heads varies in facial expressions. England has an angry face to Spain's cheerful one.
Atlantis becomes nervous. She doesn't take Lichtenstein's silence as a good sign. "Maybe I should have bought normal chocolates."
"While we were at the hotel, I heard about this place from Japanese locals and I had Hungary send me some pictures of all the male countries she has." Atlantis keeps talking as Lichtenstein picks up a chocolate head of Italy.
Atlantis picks up a Germany-chocolate head and plays with it. "I sent it to this shop and paid him to have it ready for today. I'm paying for everything, so you can make as many 3-D chocolate heads as you like."
Lichtenstein gives a soft smile and giggles. "You can stop rambling now. Thanks for going through all this effort for me. You don't have to do this."
Atlantis grins. "You're welcome; I want to make you happy again." Atlantis gives her chocolate a quick lick. "Besides, I want to do this. I have plenty of diamonds to spare. Let's get some more pictures." Lichtenstein finally gives into Atlantis' offer. Atlantis pops the Germany-chocolate head into her mouth and savors the taste. The chocolate tastes great!
Atlantis stands on the platform and smiles for the picture. Right when the picture is going to be taken, she glances at Lichtenstein licking a France-chocolate head. Atlantis snorts at the irony of it. Shame on her for her dirty mind.
The assistant waves her over to look at the camera. Atlantis nods and sees the picture…of her in mid-snort. It looks ridicules. Her lips are puckered up and her eyes are scrunched. Lichtenstein peers around her to look at the photo.
Lichtenstein laughs and points at it. "I have an idea. Let's take silly photos of ourselves. If that's alright with you." Atlantis laughs. Lichtenstein has a great idea. The chocolate will turn out hilarious if they do that.
Atlantis is glad Lichtenstein is having a good time. The Atlantean may not be an expert with love, but she's better at cheering up children.
"It's fine with me. Let's make as many as we want."
That concludes part 1 of Atlantis and Lichtenstein's little trip vacation to Japan.
I'm sorry I took so long. So much homework and projects overwhelmed me. I decided to make two parts in order for these chapters to get out sooner. :(
I know that in the Disney Atlantis movie, the people live way longer than 150 years old. I wanted the age limit for Atlanteans to be around 170 years old.
On Valentine's Day in Japan, woman have an option to have their chocolate to look like their faces. You can Google the exact process and time it takes. It is strangely funny and creepy at the same time. xD
This must be my shortest author's notes at the end of the chapter yet. :0