Using the Past to Hide the Present

“Saki!” shouted Yuki, “Don’t!” His heart pounded against his chest the moment he revived. His eyes were wide with small irises. Turning his gaze around, he quickly realized time had passed. Memories caught back up to him. He slammed his fist into the surface of the metal disc they rode. “Damn! Damn. …damn…”

Neither Ayumi nor Haruo said a word to Yuki. They kept their distance from him, letting him vent a little. His fist pounded several more times before easing up. Eventually, he stopped moving. “…it’s happening again…” He muttered more words barely audible.

Yuki looked back into the distance. Somewhere out of sight, he knew Saki fought for him. ‘So stubborn…’ It triggered new emotions with a different source, no longer internal. His arm jumped out grabbing Ayumi. “Why are you continuing to do nothing?! Twice now this has happened!”

Stoic as always, Ayumi almost looked bored if she was close to any emotion. The flat features gave nothing. “Because you have something more important to do. Everyone else understands that but you.”

His hand tightened around her tunic. The emotions coursing through his body were almost impossible for him to restrain. Ayumi’s uninterested look only made it worse. “I don’t give a damn about that! It means nothing if I have to abandon my friends! I brought them here into this danger. This is my responsibility!”

“Your responsibility is in the Capital. Your friends are not helpless. Or do you have so little faith in their abilities?”

“No! Of course not!” She cornered him. He had no good reply. It made him shrink back a little. She effortlessly knocked him off balance. Any footing he thought he had turned out to be merely an illusion. His hand released her. Yuki backed away from her. Silence was his only answer.

“Believe in them as they believe in you.” Ayumi tugged on her clothes a little to straighten them. “Remember if you succeed in your goal, everything will be over. The sooner you achieve your goal the sooner they’ll be able to stop fighting.”

He felt like he was being lectured. “I know.”

An hour or so passed in silence. Yuki had nothing more to say after Ayumi made her point. Haruo naturally did nothing to add to the conversation. The mood was awkward with them down to three. Haruo’s low presence at times made it seem it was only two.

Oddly, it was Ayumi that broke the silence, but not in the way they expected. “I returned back to the Capital when I was fourteen. I had finished the three years of duty.”

Yuki stared over at her. Her plan to distract him surprised him a little. As always, she was a complicated woman with many sides. He didn’t want to hear anymore, but found himself listening anyway.

Chapter 221 – Using the Past to Hide the Present

Eudokia, age fourteen, stood before the massive structure of the palace. It had only been three years since she last saw them, but it no longer felt as tall to her. The entire presence was different than she remembered.

Most of the fanfare ended back at the walls of the city where the returning soldiers marched. Excited families welcomed home their sons and daughters. For them it was a celebration of peace and security as much as it was a joyful reunion. Many soldiers would retire and go to lead different lives. There were few career soldiers to be found in the regular military. Any MPs that returned sought to join Omega or the Academy depending on their talent. If both failed, they returned to the border likely to give up any hope of ever seeing a different position.

The Royal Guards stopped her approach to the palace. She handed over her orders. It only took them a moment to skim over it before they stiffened their stature. “You may pass, Lieutenant Commander Eudokia!” The gates slowly opened in silent response.

She nodded to them and passed through. Within the walls, she found a familiar face. He waited for her just at the entrance in the building. Her pace quickened a little, her excitement a little difficult to restrain. The distance between them slowly decreased, but it wasn’t fast enough. Order lost out to childishness. Eudokia ran the rest of the distance to meet him.

Leaping only a meter away, Eudokia latched on to him. Immediately, she turned it into a hug. It had been so long since she was able to be herself without all of the rules and structure. “I missed you, Demosthenes!”

Anything he planned on saying vanished. Demosthenes smiled warmly down at Eudokia. He patted her head a little. She was allowed a moment to be a child again. He thought it fair enough.

Minutes passed before they started into the palace and down the hall. Eudokia returned to her previous self, in control. Many eyes watched from the walls of the palace. Even outside was a risk, but it was something out of her control. She had to maintain herself the rest of the time. She could do nothing to give those in opposition any sort of reason to doubt her.

“How was the South Gate?”

Idle chatter, he didn’t look at her. His rank as the General required him also to maintain a certain distance. It was something she understood. “The second and third years were less eventful than the first. It still set a record for number of incursions.”

“Indeed, it’s unheard of to have more than one in a single tour, if any. Five incursions, but it was fortunate for you. You have quite the accomplishments and accolades thanks to such unprecedented events.”

“I was merely lucky.” Eudokia had her suspicions about the incursions, nothing she could ever prove beyond a gut feeling. They were never as big as the first one, but they never seemed like the normal researchers they received. They might have tried to pass themselves off as such after the first attempt, but it was clear there was something different about them. It felt like they were testing something.

“Luck or not, you’re able to stand here because of it.”

However much she wanted to question it, she knew Demosthenes spoke the truth. It allowed her to achieve the goals she desired. Today was what she wanted more than anything. It was a matter that could be addressed later.

The two stood before another tall door. On the other side waited an event specifically for her. They had to wait for the doors to open. “How is his health?”

“The same, there’s been no change, but it is not unexpected.”

“No,” she replied softly. She knew how the King fared, unlike when she was younger. They no longer tried to hide the facts from her. It was something they both knew was coming. It was an unavoidable fate. Their only question was how long would he last. He continued to show stubbornness and a strong will to live where others would have already folded. It was clear something drove him to remain alive, something Eudokia didn’t understand. She only prayed he would wake the next day and the next after.

When the doors finished fully opening a soldier from inside shouted out into the large chamber. “Presenting General Demosthenes Alexander and Lieutenant Commander Eudokia!” They stepped into the grand hall of the throne room.

Marble stones lined the entire floor of the chamber. They were finely polished, reflecting the numerous support columns that rose more than fifty meters into the air. Spaced between the columns were countless people all watching as a child entered the sacred hall. Each one a surname to remember. It was an oppressive atmosphere, different from the sort she lived.

She kept everything strict and to the letter. Her eyes faced forward at the end of the parade. There the King waited for her along with all the old men of the council. The closer she marched, she recognized the familiar faces of the elite Royal Guard standing on flanking positions of the throne. They were the personal guard of the King, each one a MP specially selected.

When she came within speaking range, she could pick out the faces of the Royal Guard. In front of them, a middle-aged man stood with the air of importance, the Captain of the Royal Guard. He was closest to the King and followed him everywhere, the visible face of the Royal Guard in the public. Everyone knew him and respected him.

They stopped at the end of the floor and the rise of the stairs to the throne. Despite the declining health of the King, he managed to carry a strong and dominating presence. He had a good façade for the public.

“I welcome you, Lieutenant Commander Eudokia to these ancient halls,” he greeted formally.

Eudokia knelt before him, lowering her head. “It is an honor, Your Majesty.”

He cracked a bit of a smile before motioning to the council. The head of the council walked slowly to the King’s side handing over something. Once in hand, he stood up looking out to the entire chamber. “It is for two reasons that I summoned you here. On this day, I am proud to bestow the honor of a surname. A surname is granted to only those distinguished individuals that have shown to have the heart of Atlantis within them to protect and carry into the future.”

Stepping down slowly, he approached Eudokia, still bowing. “Before us, stands a child, but in only three years she has proven she is no longer a child, but an adult of Atlantis! Her unwavering duty both to her fellow Atlanteans and the safety of Atlantis are proof of this.” He extended a hand to Eudokia. “No longer are you Eudokia, but rise as Eudokia Ismene.”

She stood up lifting her head to meet gazes with the King. She felt some wavering in her chest at the sight of him and his welcoming smile. The proud look on his face told her everything.

“It is only the King who grants this honor. Each King and each individual’s gift are unique to their achievements.” He presented a short sword with an intricate design carved into the sheath and handle. “May you continue to protect Atlantis with this sword.”

She accepted the gift of the King. “To the last breath I have, my life is only for one purpose.”

“Well said.” He dismissed the head of the council and called for the Captain of the Royal Guard. The tall man took up his place at the King’s side. “It is with a sad heart that I accept the retirement of Ektor Nicanor.” Ektor stepped out in front of Eudokia.

“Lieutenant Commander Eudokia Ismene, I, Ektor Nicanor, Captain of the Royal Guard, pass to you the ancient sword which every generation of protector has carried since we arrived in this land.” He unfastened the belt attached to his sheath. The design was irregular, but careful, the sign of handmade work from a time before the commonplace usage of their powers. He handed over the symbol of the Captain to Eudokia. “I can rest easy now.”

Eudokia stared at Ektor for a moment. Unlike all in the palace, Ektor actually knew her secret. His words carried more in them than others would know. She bowed in acceptance of the transfer of power. “I will uphold the honor of my predecessors. My life is the King’s shield.”

After the exchange, the King stretched out his arm calling all to his attention. “I present to you all, Captain of the Royal Guard Eudokia Ismene!”

She turned around to face all of the eyes for the first time. They stared likely a little questioning of someone her age in such an important position. They wondered if she could even protect the King. However, they kept silent, as they couldn’t say anything about someone with such a record. And more so, it was the King’s decision.

“Long live Atlantis!” they shouted in unison. They accepted her, even if it was with reservation.