Royal Heiress (10 page)

Then the screen narrowed its view on various
popular locations on the globe, and one big city after another
showed an exact replica of Atlantis: Paris, Jerusalem, Tokyo,
Washington D.C., Buenos Aires, Egypt, and many other cities were
the same.

The leaders in those various cities also wore
the same clothes the Atlantian leaders did. Everything was the
same. The people even looked alike. All of them were perfect. There
was no imperfection or elderly among them. Everyone was full of
youth and energy. They smiled, but he noted a lingering sadness
beneath the surface.

“Certainly, these aren’t all the people on
Earth,” he thought aloud. Bringing his attention back to the
mirror, he asked, “Are these the only inhabitants on Earth?”

The screen showed him many Underworlds across
the globe. So that was where the elderly, handicapped, and other
imperfect people went. He noted that their condition was filled
with misery and despair. They were confined to underground chambers
on Earth where sunlight never graced their dwellings. It was a
morbid state of affairs.

So life would continue, as it had thousands
of years ago in Atlantis. The rest of the world would follow the
leaders and embrace their quest for perfection, but the injustice
overwhelmed him.

And in that moment, he understood the Augurs’
intention when they allowed the leaders to create the ideal Augur:
Avar. Avar’s pride eventually caused a terrible war that led to
Atlantis’ sinking into the ocean. The Augurs were unable to promote
justice for those confined to the Underworld, so they allowed the
leaders to create an Augur so obsessed with himself that he
insisted on being the head leader. And Zeus would never allow
anyone to take his place, even if such an event was foretold.

“Why are you showing me this particular
year?” Gaius asked. “Is there something significant that
happens?”

This time the scene that appeared in front of
him was of Atlantis’ six leaders who sat around a table in their
meeting room near the top of the arc.

“We have a big problem,” Zeus announced at
the head of the table. “There is a rebellion going on in the
Underworlds. The people dwelling there want to live above the
ground.”

“Hades, are you doing nothing to subdue
them?” Hera asked, turning to him.

“They are too numerous for me to adequately
take care of,” Hades growled. “Don’t you think I’ve already tried
to calm them down? Do you think it’s pleasant down there? I don’t
like being there any more than they do.”

Zeus shook his head. “But there is no other
place for them up here.”

“Why not?” Hestia asked. “Surely, we can
consult the Augurs on how to improve our technology so that we can
at least make them bearable to look at. Or we could force them to
cover up their imperfection.”

“How do you cover up someone in a
wheelchair?” Hera pressed.

“Confine them to their house,” Hestia
said.

“And when they want to come out, then what do
we do with them?” Hera added.

“Why haven’t we developed the cure for
paralysis yet? We’ve had thousands of years to do that,” Hestia
replied.

“As nice as that would be, we’ve had to focus
our efforts on more important details,” Zeus explained. “We need to
make sure the other nations cooperate with us.”

“Oh, let the Underworldlings come back up,”
Hades insisted. “I would like to be up here, too. Then I can be
with Persephone all year instead of six months at a time.”

“We should consult an Augur,” Hestia
insisted. “I’m sure they can work with me on the technology. Zeus,
you and Hera can focus on the other nations while the Augurs and I
work on the technology. Then we can all live up here together.”

“There’s a lot of time and money that would
be wasted on such a pursuit,” Zeus argued. “We are already taxing
the people to death. We can barely afford the free health care they
demanded.”

“If they were up here, they could work and
pay taxes. Then we’d have more money.”

“And who would hire them?”

“We’ll make laws so employers won’t be able
to deny them work.”

“Can you imagine the money it will take to
enact all of this?” Zeus asked.

“The money you spend in the short-term will
be little compared to the amount you’ll make in the long-term,”
Hestia replied.

“You’re wrong,” Poseidon protested. “The
number of elderly people down there is three times as much as the
young people who can work. We’ll never be able to afford their
retirements.”

“If you endorse adoptions like I’ve been
asking you to, then we will increase the number of young workers
among us,” Hestia pointed out.

“That may be true, but adoption is too
political of an issue among the nations,” Zeus explained. “Too many
people would be inconvenienced by taking care of the unfortunate.
Then we’ll really have a war on our hands.”

“Hades made a good point earlier,” Hera said.
“He said the Underworld is no place to live. Since it isn’t
feasible to let them live up here with us and they are miserable
down there, we should do the compassionate thing and let them die
with dignity.”

“No, Hera!” Hestia snapped. “You can’t force
people to die like this. It’s inhumane.”

Hera shook her head. “For thousands of years
we’ve given them the choice between a peaceful death and living in
the Underworld. Most of them keep choosing to live down there, yet
they have the nerve to complain about it. That’s just being
ungrateful. We’ve done everything we could for them. If it weren’t
for all the money we invested in our beauty technology, they
wouldn’t have been able to live up here for as long as they did.
How can we be any more generous?”

“I’m sorry to say that Hera’s right,” Zeus
solemnly replied. “It’s not something I delight in, but very few
things in this world are perfect. So it is now a law. From now on
we will not force anyone to live in the Underworld. We will allow
them to die with dignity.”

“No!” Hestia pounded the table as she stood
up. “The Augurs will never allow this. This is a grave abuse of our
technology.”

“Then I know what we’ll have to do about
that,” he sadly said. “We’ll have to get rid of them, too.”

“They are the guardians of our technology.
Athena established their role. Her wisdom has never led us astray
before. Without them, we’ll destroy ourselves.”

“Not if we create another group of people
like them who will see the right thing to do is to stop condemning
people to a life of misery.”

“So it is decided,” Hera replied. She took a
deep breath. “Let’s take a vote.”

Out of the six leaders, only Hestia and Hades
voted against Zeus’ proposal.

Gaius watched with growing alarm as their
decision went into effect. The Augurs were the first to die in the
war. The nations willingly obeyed the leaders, and the people in
the Underworlds were killed. The resulting bloodbath was too much
for him to bear. He quietly quit the program and walked over to the
window.

He must share his discovery with the other
Augurs and the Olympians. He knew the Olympians had been cold and
indifferent in their dealings with others in the past, but since
Atlantis sank into the ocean, they had gained a profound sense of
humility and respect for life. If Atlantis hadn’t sunk, they never
would have developed those qualities, which was apparent by what he
had just witnessed. Whatever the Infer was planning, it must be
stopped.

Chapter Ten

Thousands of years in the past

Atlantis

Planet: Earth

Amanda walked quietly beside Pallid as they
made their way through the crowd of people walking to the arc that
dominated the city. She worried for her sister. She couldn’t
remember ever seeing her so upset. Then Amanda couldn’t help but
wonder if her sister had felt like that many times in the past. Did
she somehow contribute to Katherine’s sense of isolation and
rejection?

“This is the center of Atlantis,” Pallid
informed her as he led her into the left entrance of the arc. “This
side belongs to the male leaders. The female leaders are in the
other column of the arc.”

Thankful for a reason to break out of her
thoughts, she took in her surroundings with a sense of awe. So this
was where the Olympian gods and goddesses used to work. It was
strange to think of them as powerful leaders. They seemed more like
common friends to her.

The building was more magnificent on the
inside than it had been on the outside. The aqua plush couches and
chairs gave warmth to the room. The ivory tables that were
scattered around the chairs and couches held miniature statues on
them. With a closer study of them, she realized the various statues
were each a replica of one of the male leaders. One table featured
Zeus. Another Apollo. And so on. She recognized each of them and
marveled at the detail. Great care was taken into doing each
one.

“We need to go up to the main floor, which is
right above Zeus’ office,” Pallid informed her. “I hope you don’t
mind a long walk up the stairs.”

She looked over at the golden staircase,
which twirled around the entire column. Along the staircase were
offices. Undoubtedly, each male leader possessed his own
office.

She nodded and followed him up the stairs.
There were quite a few people who were going up and down the steps,
but most of the activity took place by the entrance where people
made appointments. “Does everyone have to have an appointment to
see a leader?”

“It is recommended, but there are cases where
a leader will see someone without advanced notice.”

The setup was so different from Raz. Raz was
simple. The queen ruled, and she saw the creatures on Raz several
times a week for four hours at a time. The king was in charge of
allowing visitors to see her so they could address their concerns
to her. In Atlantis, the leaders were busy all day long.

As they walked up the steps, she looked in
the first office window they passed and gasped when she saw
Hephaestus, except he wore a veil over his face. She almost waved
to him but then realized it wasn’t proper to do so since he hadn’t
met her yet in his time. She noticed he sat by himself. Had he not
seemed so content to work on a new piece of artwork, she would have
felt sorry since he was probably lonely.

“Why does he get to stay up here?” she asked.
“He doesn’t meet the criteria for perfection.”

“No, he doesn’t, but he is too valuable to
condemn to the Underworld. He designed all the buildings,
furniture, and artwork you see around you. He is a genius at
creating things.”

“I can’t imagine that any woman wanted him
though. How sad.”

“You didn’t learn about his brief marriage to
Aphrodite? She married him because of his talent, but she cheated
on him so he divorced her.”

“I had no idea they were a couple.”

“Well, she used him to get beautiful jewelry,
so it wasn’t a loving marriage. He got her in the end though. He
put a substance in her jewels that gave her a rash every time she
wore them.” He chuckled at the memory. “It was all people talked
about for weeks around here.”

“That’s why they don’t have much to do with
each other on Olympia.”

“In Aphrodite’s defense, adultery was a
common practice here. As long as both parties agreed to it, it was
actually encouraged.”

She sniffed. “My future husband better be
faithful to me. I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”

“I agree fidelity is the best for a married
couple. You can eliminate a lot of damage that way. But that is not
why we’re here. I want to check on Avar. He likes to hang out at
the top of the arc.”

She glanced up the staircase and sighed. They
still had a long way to go.

***

Jake found the entrance to the Underworld
without any difficulty. The dome was the only one in the city. It
was humble in its appearance, which led Katherine to believe the
leaders thought so little of imperfect people they couldn’t even
give them their standard exquisite entrances. She noticed people
staring at her. Since she knew why they stared, she couldn’t help
but feel like a freak put on display.

“Are you sure you want to come with me?” she
asked, giving Jake a chance to back out.

“I’m sure,” he said without hesitation.

She wondered why he wanted to go with her. It
seemed like this was the last place anyone wanted to be. She
wouldn’t have volunteered to go down if she had qualified to stay
above the ground without a veil. She supposed the people living in
the Underworld felt the same way.

He opened the door. The room inside the dome
was surprisingly dark with a single light coming from the bottom of
the steps. The steps were made of gold, which surprised her since
gold was a precious metal on Earth. But who knew? Maybe it was in
abundance on Atlantis.

They slowly entered the room and shut the
door behind them. That was when they heard the groans of despair.
She took a deep breath as she began to take her first step.

“I should go first,” he offered. “Whatever is
down there doesn’t sound pleasant.”

She was glad for his suggestion, so she
followed him down the steps. As they furthered their descent, she
became aware they were entering the bowels of a cold and clammy
cave. She shivered, grateful he had insisted on coming along.
Having him with her made her feel a lot safer than she otherwise
would have felt.

Their journey down the steps didn’t take
long, and by the time they reached the bottom of the cave, she saw
the source of light was a single torch that was mounted on a wall.
It gave an eerie glow to the corridor that loomed before them.

The groaning was louder than before, and
considering the shadows that lurked ahead of them, she didn’t
relish the opportunity to find out what was causing the distressing
sound. She had just gotten here, and she already hated this
place.