Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Ruins of Atlantis ❯ Barbarians and Jackpots ( Chapter 3 )

Ruins of Atlantis

By: Ginsan

 

 

Chapter 3

Barbarians and Jackpots

 

 

 

Jorowyn froze where he was, crouched under a small cluster of bushes, as several carts and soldiers walked by on the well traveled roadway. While crude by his standards, this was obviously a main highway, and he had to be cautious. He didn't know these people, and he had no real knowledge of how life on the surface had progressed after Atlantis' Fall.

 

His priority right now, was to find a town of sufficient size that he could blend in without being noticed. Before his Imprisonment, it had been a hobby of his to study and learn new languages. It wouldn't take him long to figure out the local language. Even if it was a new language, he should be able to learn it within a day or two. And, at least he had a head start on narrowing down the choices.

 

He was in a fairly arid climate, and there were signs of civilization. Deductive reasoning lead him to assume that Meioh had left him somewhere along the Mediterranean. Now it would be a simple matter of deciphering where, and how to proceed.

 

He turned slightly, to look back the way he had come, back toward the cliffs.

 

While the sea caves were quite pleasant, especially after his previous accommodations, they wouldn't have lasted forever. He hadn't been left much food to begin with, and he could tell that Harvest was coming, and the Frost soon after. Even if he did harbor a slim hope that Meioh would come back for him, he couldn't stay there any longer.

 

How she had gotten her hands on the Gate Keys, he'd probably never know. She certainly hadn't been very forthcoming on the details. All he knew was that she had gathered some basic survival gear for him, and a months supply of food, and then brought him to the caves. She hadn't stayed very long to say goodbye, though she had made a weak promise to come back and check on him.

 

He knew better. She never was one to express her emotions to other people, though he had always been able to read her quite easily. They both knew he'd never be safe in Atlantis, even if it was with her. And she was still wracked with guilt over what had happened. It was only a matter of time before she would crack, and then the manhunt would be on. At least here, on the surface, he had a chance to disappear from the search parties.

 

After she had left, he'd managed to hold out for a month and a half, conserving his food the best he could. Once the weather started to turn, he gave it up. Besides, the longer he stayed along the coast, the more chance there was of discovery. And it was obvious by now, that Meioh wouldn't be coming back. Maybe she had been captured. Or worse, maybe she had abandoned him.

 

For now, he locked him emotions and thoughts on Atlantis and Meioh away, to be dealt with later. Once he was truly safe, he could afford to think upon them again. For now, survival was what mattered.

 

He took a steadying breath, as he inched out from under the brush, and hurried down the road while it was clear. If he was lucky, he could find a settlement or even a village, and sneak in under the cover of darkness. He wouldn't stoop to stealing, at least not yet. For now, what he needed was information. Information was what made the world go round.

 

* * *

 

“Jordan, I have the files you wanted. Head Office just faxed them over.”

 

Jordan looked up from his desk as Michelle stepped inside the office.

 

“Good, good. Did you have a chance to look it over?”

 

“Yes Sir. Not good news.”

 

“How bad is it?”

 

She handed the file to him, before taking a seat.

 

“Pretty bad. Intelligence lost track of their main force. Last position placed them in Africa, but that data is over forty-eight hours old. Black Flame could be anywhere by now. Including sitting off the coast to see what we dig up.”

Jordan frowned as he read through the file.

 

“I doubt they're sitting off the coast. More likely, they have a couple of scouts here on the island, and the rest are waiting on the mainland. They'd be too exposed waiting in the water.”

 

“I'm afraid I don't follow you sir.”

 

“Black Flame has many enemies. Not just us. Don't worry about it though. Things will happen as they happen, and we'll just have to make sure we're ready. Find Amara, and get her to double up the security details. We can't afford a slip up now.” There was a pause while he signed some paperwork before handing the file back to her. “Make sure she gets a look at this as well. And remind her, not to worry herself sick over this. Until they attack, or show up elsewhere, all we can do it play defensively. I'm going to make it your job, to keep her from dwelling on this too much. I'm sure you already have an idea or two up your sleeve.”

 

They shared a smile before she left the room, more than happy to keep Amara occupied if need be.

 

Jordan waited until she left, before turning around, and looking out the window.

 

His office had a great view of the cove, made even better by the addition of a spectacular sunset. He stared at it for a while, as he pondered over the situation with Black Flame. It was never good when they decided to poke their noses into things.

 

A group of highly trained and ruthless mercenaries, Black Flame had formed roughly fifty years ago, and since then had made quite the name for themselves. They specialized in Industrial Espionage, and private warfare. They had been the cause of several project failures within Mallone Industries over the last few years. No one had ever seen the core members of the group, those responsible for it's creation, funding, and choosing targets. He had his suspicions, but he would have to wait to confirm them. He had a feeling, that he'd find out all too soon.

 

They had already sacked both islands that had contained the Orbs. It had been sheer luck that they had gotten them off the island before the attack. That had been three months ago. Added precautions had been taken, which had resulted in the current security arrangements. All files relating to Atlantis had been classified, and only those who had attended the dinner meeting with Chiba last week had access to them. He had even instructed Chiba not to inform his team what they were looking for.

 

He knew that there was another Orb on the island. If the stone he had read earlier was right, it would be the Wind Orb. There was also supposed to be a Gate here, somewhere. Even if there was, he couldn't be sure what sort of condition it was in. He couldn't even tell how long the island had been abandoned.

 

The island was a chronological contradiction. They'd tested soil and rock samples all over the island, which seemed to be split into five different segments, each varying in age from each other by several thousand years. They had even found a piece of cliff with a clear line through it. One side was weathered by several thousand years more than the other. He was beginning to wonder about the islands discovery. With modern satellite equipment, this island should have been found twenty years ago when he had first started seriously searching for Atlantis. Not suddenly appearing three weeks ago.

 

Twenty years ago had also been when Black Flame had started poking their noses into Mallone Industries projects, and he'd begun to suspect who their leaders might be. Recent activities and rumors were leading to a pretty grim confirmation of his ideas. He just prayed, that he was very, very wrong about all of it, and it was all just coincidence.

 

He continued to stare out the window, lost in thought long after the sun had finally set.

 

* * *

 

“HEY! DARIEN! Come check this out.”

 

Darien look up, from where he was looking over another stone covered with the strange glyphs to spot Jadrian up on the cliff. The glyphs fascinated him. He'd never seen a language quite like them, and yet, he could almost swear he could understand them. It left him with a strange sense of missing something. Some piece of the puzzle, that would make it all clear. Still, it was no use worrying about it right now. He didn't even know what the missing piece was, much less the puzzle it fit into.

 

“HEY! Quit daydreaming, and get up here.”

 

Jadrian was waving excitedly from up on the cliff. He wasn't too sure how he'd gotten up there. He wasn't even sure what Jadrian was doing up there anyway.

 

Jadrian had gotten bored with a lack of work, and had volunteered to help Darien's first years clear out some of the vegetation that was blocking their examination of Site 12. Obviously he had gotten bored, since S12 was on the other side of the island.

 

“The vines on your right are covering the stairs. Hurry up.”

 

Darien sighed, but put the stone down anyway, before going over to the vines, and looking for the hidden stairs. He was almost surprised, when he did find them. He made a mental note to study them later. They were perfectly formed, almost like they had been carved out by modern machinery. He shrugged it off for now, and hurried up to where he could see Jade literally bouncing with excitement over whatever he had found.

 

“Pay dirt. I don't know what this place is, but I know it's worth this entire trip.”

 

Jade ducked around the corner just before he reached the top. He hurried after him, stepping through a doorway. Once he did, he was stunned by what Jade was so eager to show him. He recovered quickly, then hurried over to Jade, wanting a better look at the center of the chamber.

 

The room itself was huge. Easily twice the size of any of the buildings they had explored so far. The center of the room was filled with some strange crystalline sculpture. He assumed it was a sculpture. He couldn't be sure what any of these Atlantian artifacts were, not really.

 

He turned to Jade, feeling a smile large enough to match his, spread across his face.

 

“Jade, you just hit the jackpot. Once we get to the mainland, all the beer you can hold, on me.”

 

Jade smirked, knowing that Darien knew his ability to hold his alcohol.

 

“Add a steak dinner once we get back home, and we got ourselves a deal.”

 

“Done. Now, go find Staziak or Mr. Mallone, and let them know about this. Don't tell anyone else.”

 

“Got it. I think Staziak went back to the mainland yesterday, but I can always find Amara, and get her to pass along the message.”

 

“Stay away from her Jade. Or haven't you learned your lesson yet?”

 

“She's female, right?”

 

Darien rolled his eyes, as Jade laughed, and left the room, presumably to do what he'd asked.

 

For now, he had to figure out a way to keep the students occupied, and away from the site until Mr. Mallone could arrive.

 

* * *

 

Across the island, Nathan was overseeing one of the Grads, and several of the first years as they carefully dug out rubble.

 

They had found a building built into one of the islands many rock formations. The entrance had collapsed, and they were working on clearing the debris away, so they could get inside. The general multi-tiered look of the building led him to suspect it was a temple of some sort. He couldn't be sure what it was for, until they got inside.

 

“Easy with that beam Michael. We don't want to make it collapse again, and make us do this all over.”

 

“Easy for you to say Nate. You've got the easy job.”

 

Nathan glared at the Grad as Michael laughed. Easy, right.

 

He was geared up to crawl through the small opening they had made, and brace up the entrance from the inside. If the load shifted while he was still crawling through the hole, he could easily be crushed. If Michael thought this was the easy job, he didn't want to know what he considered to be a hard job.

 

“OK kids. Once I'm inside, I'll look around, and make sure it's safe to brace. Michael, you're in charge of telling Chiba what happened if this goes wrong.”

 

“Gee, thanks Nathan.”

 

“You're welcome.”

 

Nathan smirked at Michael as he carefully walked up the debris, and eased himself into the opening. Once he was inside, he pulled out his flashlight, and turned it on. He spotted their problem almost immediately. He eased himself down the sharper slope of rubble, and gave it a better look.

 

A large piece of the entranceway had collapsed, breaking into two large pieces. The rest of the rubble had settled on top of them, forcing them to press against the sides of the passageway. The pressure had forced the two pieces into the wall, now acting as support. Removing them would cause more of the tunnel to collapse. It would take a bit of work to make it safe enough to clear out more of the rubble. He eased back up to the hole.

 

“This is going to be pure trouble, but we have a lot of bracing to do in here. I'm going to look and see if there's another passage we could use to get in and out from. Meanwhile, go get equipment to use to brace this up. I'll be back in twenty minutes.”

 

“You should have someone with you. Take Julia at least. She's small enough not to get in your way.”

 

“Hey! Stuff it Michael. Or do you need a repeat of what I did to you in Reno?”

 

“Depends. Was that before, or after you woke up in bed with me?”

 

“PIG!”

 

He heard Michael cry out in pain, then felt the rubble shift. He jumped back just as the opening caved in with fresh rubble.

 

He sighed, as he looked up at the rubble with his flashlight. Looked like he was going to be in here longer than he wanted. Good thing he wasn't claustrophobic.

 

He wished Michael and Julia could make up their minds. Either get married, or finally kill each other. They'd been like this for little over six months now. He and Darien were getting a little tired of this behavior. He comforted himself with the fact that at least Jade hadn't been there this time, to egg them on. It seemed to be a hobby of his.

 

With a shake of his head, he turned around and decided to go exploring. Maybe he could find something interesting inside to keep himself busy.

 

He followed the main hallway for a while, until he finally stepped into a large room. There were doorways in each of the walls, but nothing else, the room itself was bare. Not even glyphs on the walls like most of the other structures.

 

Following his basic strategy, he took the doorway on his right. After several more minutes of walking, the corridor began to curve to his left and descent slightly. He was fairly sure now, that he was somewhere inside the rock. He wasn't really sure where he was going, but something in his gut told him to keep going, that there was something just ahead.

 

He finally emerged into another small room. This one looked even emptier than the first. There didn't even appear to be any other passages. Still, his gut was telling him that something was in this room. He just couldn't see it. Yet. His gut had never lied to him, and he doubted it would start now. Frowning, he began to search the room.

 

He started with the walls, taking his time searching for any hidden switches or panels. After that, he began checking the floor. He was almost ready to give up, when he finally found it. Set in the very center of the room was a very small hole. It wasn't until he knelt down to examine it, that he noticed there was a very thin layer of dust covering the floor there. He pulled out a brush, and began to carefully sweep it away.

 

Five minutes later, he had uncovered glyphs arranged in a circle, with the hole at the center. The hole itself was part of a glyph, set in the very center of the others. Several of the glyphs had faint lines around them, and he suspected they might be switches, but he had no idea how to use them. A mistake, and he might even get himself killed by setting off some sort of trap. Some Archaeologist he would be then.

 

He stared at the glyphs for several minutes, before a sudden spike of pain pierced his brain, He grabbed his head as he was suddenly overcome by vertigo. He collapsed on the ground, still clutching his head in pain. It only lasted a few seconds, before settling into a dull throb at his temples.

 

He carefully sat up, letting out a sigh of relief as the vertigo seemed to have passed. He wasn't sure what had happened. Maybe there was a gas leak in here somewhere, and it was starting to get to him?

 

He slowly stood up, ready to go back and see if the rubble had been cleared away again, when he glanced down at the glyphs. He stared in shock, as his mind slowly translated them for him. It wasn't perfect, and he couldn't tell what they were saying, just that the glyphs represented certain elements.

 

His gut prompted him again, and his feet tapped down on three of the glyphs out of impulse. He wasn't sure why he had done it, only that his body seemed to have a mind of it's own. A moment later, the walls began to shine with an eerie bluish light, before a section of the back wall just dissapeared. It was there one second, then simply vanished in the next.

 

On shaky feet, he approached the new opening, and walked into the brightly lit room beyond it.

 

Sitting on an intricately carved pedestal sat another one of the Orbs, gleaming in the bright illumination. It appeared very similar to the ones he and Jade had been given earlier in the week. He hurried over to examine it more closely.

 

It was cut exactly like the others, though this one was made of a crystal that looked like citrine. Looking closely, he could make out what appeared to be bits of sand blowing around in a circle, like a perpetual wind was blowing inside.

 

Against his better judgment, he reached out and picked it up. It was as weightless as the other two Orbs. As soon as he picked it up, the lights went out in both rooms. His only illumination, was from the flashlight he had left in the previous room.

 

Suddenly eager to get out of the temple, he slipped the Orb inside his clothes, before going back for his flashlight. As soon as he stepped out of the room, the wall re-appeared. He quickly grabbed his light, and raced back toward the entrance. Fearful of being sealed inside this room as well.

 

He made his way back much faster than it had taken him to get to the Orb room. He sighed in relief as he spotted sunlight filtering through the new opening, and Julia just emerging on his side.

 

“Nathan! Are you OK? We tried calling you once we cleared the rubble again, then we got worried when you didn't respond. We though you might have been caught in the collapse.”

 

Nate shook his head, as he gestured for her to go back out.

 

“No, no. I'm fine. Just decided to explore a bit while I waited for the entrance to be cleared again.”

 

“Anything good?”

 

“Just some dust and a few glyphs. Nothing important.”

 

He remembered his conversation with Mr. Mallone earlier in the week, and decided to show him the Orb personally. After a nice hot shower to clear both the grime, and his thoughts.