The registration andrew j. Peters

Aerander lost track of Calyiches. Wincing against the brightness, Aerander moved around on his hands and knees. He knocked into someone.

“What’s happening?!” Calyiches yelled out.

Calyiches was a blurry silhouette. Aerander grasped his shoulder.

“It’s the Seventh Pleiade.”

The temple shifted. Aerander felt a knot in his stomach, like when he had been up in a hot air balloon. They were rising. Quickly. Aerander steadied himself on the floor. Dardy and Perdikkas called out for help. Aerander squinted toward the ceiling to try to figure out what was happening, but the light was too strong.

Just as quickly as it had started, the light vanished. Everything was pitch black. Other things had changed, Aerander noticed. The air felt cold and dry. There was no scent of ocean or the forest, and he couldn’t hear the storm. The temple was still except for the disembodied shuffle of the other boys re-orienting themselves. Aerander crept along the floor to try to find Calyiches.

“What’s happening?” Calyiches’ voice. This time it was an urgent whisper.

“Is everyone all right?” Radamanthes called out.

They could not see each other, but one by one, the boys answered: “Aye, Perdikkas,” “Aye, Dardy,” “Aye, Mesokantes,” “Aye, Calyiches,” and “Aye, Aerander.” They followed Radamanthes’ voice to one side of the temple. Even Dardy was silent.

A white light descended through the fault in the ceiling and formed a cone of illumination on the floor. Aerander watched the spot breathlessly. There was something forming there.

It was a silhouette against a beam of light filled with floaty things, like a thousand tiny lightning bugs. The image came together, a reflection in a wavy pool. A figure dressed in a short tunic with indigo embroidery. The other boys backed away. But Aerander got up on his feet and approached.

The figure was a young woman, fair-skinned with hair cropped short like a boy’s. With her slight breasts, narrow hips and no adornments other than her House of Atlas patterned covering, Aerander could see how she could have passed for a young man.

“Prince Aerander. You have released me.”

Her voice was warm and lilting. Aerander glanced back at Calyiches. “She’s the one.”

Calyiches’ eyes narrowed. The rest of the boys pushed a step closer.

Aerander brought out the fishbone pendant from beneath his collar. “This belonged to you,” he said.

“Yes,” the woman said. “I hid that amulet in the Citadel wood with the hope that someone would find it and discover my true story. For many centuries, I have been trapped up in the night sky looking down at a world that I was no longer part of. The name my mother gave me is Calaeno.”

“Who sent you away?” Aerander asked.

“The one you call Zazamoukh, I knew as Eudoro. Like me, his real name was lost with the passing of years. Besides my parents, he was the only one who knew me as a woman. We ran away to a place beneath the earth to hide from my father. But I did not know that Eudoro had made a pact with the New Ones to gain eternal life. When I pleaded with him to change his ways, he chose the stone over me. He used its power to place me in the heavens. But he could not abandon me completely. His curse left one provision for my return. Through the ages, with every person who sought my secret, my light burned stronger. I tried to warn people about what Eudoro was doing.”

“Like my mother.”

Calaeno gazed at Aerander kindly. “Yes, Sibyllia was on the verge of revealing everything. But she was killed before she could find others to help her.”

Aerander’s face turned hard. “By Zazamoukh.”

“You are mistaken, Prince Aerander.”

Aerander looked at Calaeno askew.

“Your grandfather was the one who unearthed that amulet. He never understood that it was a device for unlocking my memories, but the visions led him to the underground vault where he discovered Zazamoukh and the missing boys. But Glaukius was corrupted into the conspiracy with the promise of eternal life. It was he who started the Registration to create an occasion for Zazamoukh to gather the boys. When Sibyllia threatened to expose them, Glaukius murdered her.”

“But if the stone could make my grandfather immortal, like Zazamoukh, how come he died?”

“Glaukius was betrayed by Zazamoukh. After Sibyllia’s murder, Zazamoukh feared that Glaukius had become too reckless. He convinced the New Ones to cut off Glaukius’ access to the stone. Your grandfather had no recourse. He was left to the ravages of time.”

Aerander sank with the memory of standing at the bedside of his ailing grandfather. All that time, he had been told to pity the man who had killed his mother. Meanwhile, the other boys looked completely lost.

“I am grateful to you for restoring me, Prince Aerander,” Calaeno said. “But I fear that both of us are too late. Atlantis is no more.”

Aerander’s head shot up. The other boys drew up beside him.

“I have taken you to a place of safety,” Calaeno said. “But as you can see, the ocean has washed away what was once our kingdom.”

Calaeno lifted her hand, and the space filled with light. Outside, the sky was dark and stormy. The temple was suspended some hundred yards above the Citadel.

Aerander stepped between two columns at the temple’s edge. When he looked down, he wavered from the height. Gradually, Aerander picked out familiar things in the scene below. He shifted around in disbelief. The palace watchtowers jutted out of undulating waters. The observatory tower still stood, but the ocean was halfway up its pinnacle. Beyond the Citadel, everything was flooded. Wooden wreckage floated in the murk, but there was nothing more there. Aerander’s stomach felt tight and woozy. He dropped to his feet.

Calyiches took Aerander’s side, looked down and his face seized up with grief. Radamanthes, Dardy, Perdikkas and Mesokantes hurried over.

Mesokantes let out a curdling scream. “Father!”

Dardy wept. Perdikkas stood frozen. Radamanthes stumbled around the temple’s periphery, searching for some sign of hope.

“The earth has entered a new age,” Calaeno said. “You are Atlantis’ sole survivors. A very important journey lies ahead of you.”

Calaeno’s voice and everything around Aerander faded out. Danae, Alixa, Thessala and his father were all gone. Pyrrah, Punamun, Alatheon, Cory One, Cory Two, and all the boys he had met through the Registration as well. Aerander buried his head in his hands. Then he stood and rushed back to Calaeno.

“Why did you leave the others behind?”

“I could only use my power after being freed from the spell,” Calaeno said. “But you have saved your friends by releasing me. And if you are successful in your quest, you shall create a new home, and life shall start again.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere! Change it back. Make everything the way it was. You’re supposed to be my personal guardian, aren’t you?”

Calyiches and Dardy stared at Calaeno hopefully.

“I wish that I had the power to do that,” she said. “But be strong, Prince Aerander. Your friends need you. And there is little time.”

Aerander grasped the satchel. “What about this magical stone? Couldn’t it undo what happened?”

“The stone belongs below the earth. That is where it originated. Its arrival above the surface many centuries ago was the start of our world’s undoing. It cannot help us now.”

Aerander thought about his family. When the flood came, were they mad at him for not being with them? It occurred to him that by forcing him to go to the final Registration ceremony, his father had assured that he would live while everyone else had perished. Had Pylartes somehow known how things would turn out? There were so many uncanny happenings that night. If he and Calyiches had not run away after the boat race, they would have gone along with the temple ceremony and succumbed to Zazamoukh’s poisoning. If they had followed Gryllus’ instructions, they would have been swallowed up in the flood while trying to bring the boys back from the vault. If they had not been caught by the sentinels, they would have drowned in the city along with everyone else. They had been lucky, exceedingly lucky, but it made Aerander feel hollow.

Mesokantes strode toward Calaeno. “How do we know that you did not do all of this? What are you anyway?”

“It wasn’t her,” Aerander said.

“Where are we going to live now?” Perdikkas said.

“Can we not go back?” Calyiches said. “Please – we might be able to help the others.”

“Give us a chance to see our families once again,” Dardy said.

Calaeno eyed the boys sympathetically. “Sorrowful men – the tragedy of Atlantis cannot be undone. Remember that I too once walked the earth and called Atlantis home. You shall believe me that your kingdom’s demise was inevitable: the collision of two worlds that were never supposed to meet. The stone allowed Atlantis to grow in a place that was not ready for its creation. Ever since the New Ones reclaimed the stone, Atlantis has been living out of time. Tonight, natural forces brought our world back into balance. Mourn for what you have lost, but do not turn away from one another. You are all that you have. The Princes of Atlantis. Heirs of a kingdom that shall rise again.”

Aerander spotted a tallow that had fallen to the floor from the altar. He picked it up, Calyiches found a flint, and together they lit the candle and traveled to the temple’s edge. The other boys joined them. Dardy teared up, and Calyiches put a hand on his shoulder. Mesokantes paced the floor. Perdikkas stood some distance away, pale and shaky. Radamanthes, who was known to prefer action over emotion, abandoned the vigil to address Calaeno.

“So what is it that must be done?”

“You must save those who have been taken from Atlantis. Over many hundreds of years, Zazamoukh has smuggled young men to work as slaves for the New Ones. He wrapped up their bodies in the vault so that the New Ones can transport them to their world below the earth. You must go there, free the boys and bring them back to the surface.”

“You mean they’re not dead?” Aerander asked.

“No – Zazamoukh used the New Ones’ venom for his bloodstain benedictions. It creates a state of catatonia that lasts for several days. When they boys wake up, they are prisoners in the New Ones’ mori-mori mines.”

Aerander flashed back to his vision of the enslaved boys hacking apart the rocks and releasing a red, glowing substance.

“What are you talking about? Where?” Radamanthes asked.

“Agartha,” Aerander said.

The others looked at Aerander confused.

“I was there. Through some sort of portal. It’s back by the temple.”

“You must go there again,” Calaeno said. “But you must act quickly. The waters rise, and you shall soon be unable to enter.”

Mesokantes sneered. “What are those things you call the New Ones?”

“They are a race of men from the time the earth was born. They escaped the world’s first destruction by hiding beneath the earth, and there, they built a new world. They adapted over many centuries so that they could no longer survive above the surface. But they are very powerful in their realm, and they will not give up their slaves easily.”

“How are we to succeed in freeing the other boys?” Perdikkas said. “There are only six of us.”

“Your numbers are small, Prince Perdikkas. But you have the stone. It cannot be used for destruction, but it shall protect you from the New Ones and cure your wounds should you be injured.”

Aerander put his hands around the stone in its satchel. He could feel it vibrating through the covering. There was so much that he needed to know, he did not even know where to start.

“And you shall find allies in Agartha,” Calaeno said. “The Old Ones still exist though they have been driven by the New Ones to Agartha’s most barren parts. The stone must be returned to the Old Ones. If you find them, they shall join your cause.”

“What is the stone?” Calyiches asked.

“You have many questions, but there is little time,” Calaeno said. “I can only tell you that the stone was forged by the Old Ones when our world was just beginning. It holds many magical powers. The Old Ones sent it up to the earth’s surface so that the New Ones would not get it. But the New Ones lured Zazamoukh to get it back. They shall do anything to reclaim it.”

Aerander brightened with a thought. “Will you come with us?”

Calaeno shook her head. “That I cannot do. I am forbidden from entering Agartha. Zazamoukh made certain of that with his curse. But if you are successful and return to the surface, I’ll be here to help you. And you have another powerful device: the bone amulet you have been wearing. I imbued it with a special power before I was cast away. Whoever bears it shall be able to communicate with me should he ever need advice.”

Aerander’s surroundings flashed in and out of focus. To enter some foreign world, filled with gruesome creatures, with only some strange artifacts that he barely understood – there seemed to be scarcely any hope. He glanced around at his companions. With the exception of Calyiches and Dardy, they were not exactly a chummy group.

“You must go while you can still make passage to Agartha,” Calaeno said.

The boys studied each others faces. Calyiches gave Aerander a nod.

Aerander breathed out. “Let’s get on with it then.”

“Down at the Citadel, in the spot where the temple once stood, you shall find the portal,” Calaeno said.

Aerander led the others to the temple’s edge. The shrine lowered through the air; it hovered above the drowning Citadel. The boys peeked over the edge. A white light projected from the bottom of the temple to show where they would have to descend. The spot was many yards below and submerged in a considerable depth of water.

“This is madness,” Perdikkas said.

“Then stay up here if you like,” Aerander said.

“I’m going,” Calyiches said.

“Me too,” Dardy said.

The others shifted their feet. Then, Radamanthes spoke up. “Count me in.”

Mesokantes glowered. Perdikkas sighed. The group stood together, gazing down at the rumbling waters.

It was good to go first, Aerander remembered. He unlaced his sandals, undressed to his underrobe, and secured the leather satchel around his shoulder. The other boys slowly followed his routine. Aerander eyed Calyiches to convey their bond. He took a deep breath. Then, Aerander dove off the side of the temple.

Aerander plunged into the water and propelled himself as deep as he could. He listened for one, two, three, four, five splashes above him. Aerander opened his eyes for just a moment to find Calaeno’s beam of light, and he swam fiercely toward it. Calyiches followed him at his ankles, and then came the others in a steady pursuit.

Aerander reached the lighted spot. He was running out of breath. There was no hatch or any kind of opening, but Aerander knew from his previous experience that the portal worked by some sort of magic. Aerander swam into the light. His vision went blank, and he felt himself descending.

In an instant, Aerander was back in the tunnel, dripping wet on the cold, stone floor. There was no light, but Aerander could hear the sputtering breaths of the five other boys behind him. Aerander loosened the satchel and took out the stone. It filled the space with a red glow. The other boys drew up behind him, relinquishing their opinions for now.

Aerander peered down the shadowy tunnel. It was the way to the well in the rotunda and, through the well, an underground kingdom. Aerander stepped forward and his companions followed. Boys go into the Registration, and they come out men. That’s what Aerander was counting on. There was no one to look out for him, no chance to turn back or let someone else take charge. The black walls of the tunnel were completely bare, and any form of life that could exist in such a place would be far derived from the world above. They had entered Agartha.