King Atticus Neptune, The last King of Atlantis, my father told me very little of him. According to Poseidon, him and his brother were the first members of his official army. He always said they tried to expand Atlantis into the Atlantean Empire but failed, and Zeus and Athena destroyed the kingdom in response. That was all he would really say about it, but I wondered why he would lie about the brothers of all things. They hated eachother in the end, and I understand his hatred towards Athena is strong but to lie about Zeno killing Atticus? To blame a gods hands for spilling half-god blood was unthinkable, why would he lie? There were to many questions, but I knew someone who could answer them.
I went to the kitchen and turned the hot water on, it took a minute for the water to warm up. I felt every question clawing its way out of my mouth onto steam that had not yet arrived.
Finally when steam rose, I threw a coin in and it vanished immediately into thin air. Like something had plucked it from the sky at the speed of light. A rainbow formed in the steam from the residual light in the window, Iris was waiting eagerly to take calls it looked like.
"Name. Address. Purpose." A woman's voice called from the steam.
"Cristiano Santoro, Marco Rey Estate, My favor." I stated plainly, I knew he wouldn't take long to answer.
The line rang, well half rang, and Santoro answered immediately. He was already up and dressed in his 15th century Italian clothing, his brown hair neatly placed and his hazel eyes calm. The picture in the mist was clearer than I had thought it would be, but it was a welcome surprise.
"What can I do to repay the favor, Sara?" He asked, desperation in his voice.
You see, about two years ago Minerva's Hidden was due for training with Neptune's Blessed. Christina wanted it to take place in Atlantis, but Cristiano wanted it at Marco Rey Estate. Cristiano dreaded being near Poseidon and the ocean, and begged me to argue his case with my father. He couldn't say no to me after I told him I'd quit Neptune's Blessed and join Minerva's Hidden.
"I need any and every book you need on Atticus Neptune sent to my house," I said, I was expecting a fight but what he did next surprised me.
"Alright, My Nonna will be upset for giving you the books but you did me a real favor. You might end up owing me one," Santoro shot back.
"I will tell Christina that you're afraid of the ocean and that's why you keep dodging her," a smile creeped onto my face as Santoro looked down in defeat.
"Fine. Iris, end call," Santoro had lost his cockiness with one sentence.
He vanished from the steam as I shut the water off. I knew how the library worked and knew it wouldn't be long before I got the books, or so I hoped. I doubted Santoro would jerk me around considering all the times he asked me to put in a good word for him with my sister. If only he wasn't afraid of the ocean, so he could actually see her more often.
"He's gonna have to work on that damn phobia," I said to myself, sitting down.
"Who does?" A woman answered.
My blood flash froze, like someone injected liquid nitrogen into my veins. The chilling sensation creeping down my spine, as I turned to see Christina Bell. She wore a dark blue legion uniform, with her golden hair thrown into a bun. Her cyan eyes like piercing daggers for my heart and soul, her lightly tan skin rough from years of combat in Atlantis.
"U…um, No one," I muttered out.
"Hmph. No matter," Christina practically grabbed and threw a chair trying to pull it out. She sighed "Gods its been forever since I was above sea level," they fixed the chair and sat down.
"Why are you here, Christina?" My fingers tapped impatiently at my leg.
"I heard you're the one who broke my record, and I also heard what you did to break it. Are you fucking mad?" Christina shouted, her stare felt like it was peering into my soul ready to chop it into bite sized pieces.
"It was either do the obstacle course or everyone else runs the actual one for Neptune's Blessed! I wasn't going to stand by and let everyone else suffer!" I shouted back, recalling The War God's threat.
"First of all! Don't raise your fucking voice with me! You sit there and talk to me like a fucking adult, Senator! Second! He was bluffing, for A Tribunus you're horrible at reading people! The test was to see what you'd go for, brute strength or diplomacy. Olivia's gunning for your spot more than ever now!" Christina yelled, matching the energy I gave her.
That last sentence hurt, I knew Olivia wanted my position but to try and cut me out from my position via Ares. That would not only cut me out from my dads legion, but possibly remove me from the school. A thousand thoughts began to race through my head, my heart began to race at the same pace. My breaths quickly became rapid, I was losing my mind.
"SARA!" Christina yelled, shaking me.
I was violently cut from my own thoughts, the sudden realization of burning eyes and a hot face hit like a truck. My hands, gripping my legs with iron strength as my mind continued to race.
"Are you okay?" Christina whispered, crouching down.
I nodded quickly, all words became lodged in my throat everytime I went to speak. Christina gently wiped at my cheeks, and stood up, walking over to the sink. She came back with a cup of water and handed it to me, I took it and immediately started to gulp down the whole thing.
"Woah woah, easy kid, I know you're a daughter of Poseidon but you can still choke on water," Christina's tone had shifted from angry to motherly in an instant as she put a hand on the glass to pull it away from me.
She had been one of my care takers when I was younger so it wasn't weird to see the shift, my throat eased up and I was able to breathe easy.
I took a few deep breaths and looked up at Christina, "Thank you." My voice sounded rough, like I had ran a marathon in the cold.
"Of course, little sis," Christina sat back down. "Look, I fended off Olivia for now but The Senate will need a public appearance from you."
"If I leave this house dad will kill me," I looked down at my feet,
"Then I'll go above his head and get you signed papers from The Senate, Ares, and Zeus. I will be damned if Olivia gets your spot," Christina sounded determined.
"Ok, but if one signature is missing I can't go," I clarified.
"Of course, now let me get to it," Christina practically bounced out of the house.
I knew Christina would get the signatures, I was more afraid of how. She often forgets The Art of Negotiation and went with The Art of War, I was mainly hoping I could start my reading before she got back. As if on cue, two books appeared next to me on the table. One looked normal, but the other was sealed with the seal of Poseidon. It was accompanied by a note that read 'We are more than even for this one -Santoro'. I carefully examined the book and read the lettering on the spine, The Blood of Atlantis.