Legends of the Sunken City: An Atlantean Adventure

The oracle smiled at them. "Of course," she told Jonah. "You have a compassionate soul, deep down," she assured him. "I can tell that of you. All of you will be praised for what you are to do. Fienna will lead you to the catacombs. I will stay here. I will be of little help to you out there," she explained. "Good luck and fare thee well. Return safely." Fienna smiled, and swam up towards the door.

"I can lead you there," Fienna stated, swimming out of the oracle's house and down a narrow passageway through one of the alleyways of the city. It was dark, not as lit up by the blue flickering lights that permeated the rest of the city. Indeed, the alleyway seemed like a maze, heading this way and that in a veritable labyrinth.

"Stay close," she warned. "This part of the city is dangerous. I have seen unusual characters in this area and this is where Miss Janet refused to go any further. I don't know what lies beyond the catacombs, but I so wish I could come with you. If anything were to happen to any of you I'd be so ashamed..."

Oracle's Home

Well, at least someone could recognize that he was more than a emotionless jerk. Back home, they treated him like he was made of stone, when he was more like plastic. Their barbs and remarks still angered him a lot. If only he knew if he wanted to hurt them or not. It would be easier than constantly struggling to keep his composure so he wouldn't kill one of them.

He followed like always.

Atlantis

He wasn't a fan of alleys, even above ground. The fact that every sound he heard also sounded unnatural only added to that sentiment. It twisted and turned in too many places. Jonah couldn't stand irregularities in patterns. Things always worked out better when they were predictable and punctual.

Oh, there were unusual characters in these parts, apparently. Getting mugged by a mermaid was definitely not on his bucket list. On a more worrying note, he was soon going to delve into unknown territory. At least Fienna showed the proper concern for those she was leading to their potential deaths. With faked optimism, Jonah said to her "I'm certain we'll be fine! I promise that there won't be anything coming out of this that you would need to be ashamed of. And I keep my promises!" Might have let slip a bit too much emotion on his "I" there. No matter. They wouldn't know who he was referring to, after all.

Jon

Oh sure, he could dig that. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

So apparently, they have to traverse through the aquatic kingdom's equivalent of a back alley. Wherever they're going is starting to remind Jon of the seedier parts of a typical city. Now if they added a couple of homeless bums here and a few thuggish looking merman there, it would look perfect.

And apparently, Fienna started saying that there's potential dangers around them, but that's probably just to rile the three up.

He took another look at the 'mermaid' escorting me.

"Psshaw. Don't worry about me! I mean, have you seen how I handled myself back there with Kortos? Dude's probably saving face by saying that he's impressed by me. AND I can be perfectly careful, when I want to,"

Hoo boy, a back alley. A back alley in a country that had probably never seen a tablet before in its history. This wasn't going to end in me getting robbed, nope.

Yeah, I think it'd be best if I put it away for a bit. I zipped open my bag and hurriedly shoved it in, then quickly zipped the thing back up. Having to go back and fill out the few minutes' worth of coverage I'd be missing seemed a better trade-off than losing my work tablet and missing out on a few days' worth of coverage and the couple hundred dollars it'd take to replace it.

Jon was bragging. I had a feeling this would be a regular occurence.

"I wouldn't call shooting off at the mouth very careful. More like, 'Hey, someone come mug me, I'm an open target with suicidal overconfidence,' Tempting Fate, that sort of thing. Watch your amulet, bud."

Here's hoping for the best.

Fienna swam around the three with a smile on her face. Her smile grew wider when Jon started bragging about himself. "Oh, Jon, you're so brave..." she insisted, her tail flicking happily as she did, almost swooning at him.

A silhouette darted between buildings, and Fienna gasped, looking in the direction of the silhouette and swimming closer to the three. "I don't think we're alone here!" Fienna exclaimed, as another silhouette darted between some buildings in another direction. A couple of mermen, wearing unusual armor that resembled sea shells, swam into view and began to circle the three. Two of them had red cloth bandanas covering their mouths.

The third, a young merman with long hair and a scar under his eye, swam up to the three. "What have we here?" he asked with a cock of his head. "A lost little girl protecting a couple of surface dwellers," he stated to her. "You know surface dwellers are not welcome in our city." Fienna glared.

"Niko! I should have known you and the Sea Dragons would be involved in this! They are most certainly welcome and this is not your city!" Fienna shouted. She turned towards the three. "These are just a bunch of hooligans." Niko glared.

"Hooligans? Ever since the guard has been disappearing, we've been staking our claim here. We own this city now. And if you don't want to disappear as well, you'll hand over all of your belongings. That means you, land-walkers!" Niko shouted at them, looking at them dangerously.

Jon

"Hey, I'm doing pretty well myself so far all things considered, right? Heck, I actually expected to get a punch or two from before. This is nothing," he retorted back to Ally, who seems to have a problem with how he conduct himself. Pssh- Don't take this so seriously.

He then looked at Fienna. Oh, geez, now that's just cheating! He replied to her sheepishly. "Oh, uhh, yeah! I'm definitely great, right? Hahaha...."

Then, three thuggish looking mermaids came towards them, basically trying to mug them of their belongings. Jon rolled his eyes at that. Of course they're getting the 'getting mugged in the mysteriously dark back alley' cliche. Oh geez, who could ever see this coming.

The three thugs would hear a very slow, sarcastic clap coming from one of the surface dwellers once they finished; a surface dweller named Jon. "Oh. Oh, wow. I'm scared shitless right now. Please, somebody help me," He said that in the most deadpan tone possible. "You know, you guys would be intimidating..." He snickers. "If, you know, you're actually intimidating. Because holy shit,"

"I mean, Sea Dragons. Sea. Dragons. Seriously? Looks like someone tries too hard to be cool. I mean, really, to have the three of you to gang up on a poor girl who's just trying to help us strangers to get acquainted with Atlantis, how pathetic can you guys get? Honestly, for a group calling itself 'Sea Dragon', you kinda lose all respect from me."

And finally... "Ohhh...!" He puts his fist on his left palm, to show that he just realized something. "I see! So that's what it really is. Wait a moment, I have just what you need...," He took a moment to take something out of his pockets before... casually throwing his spare changes at them.

Well, as far as how someone can throw something underwater, but you get my point.

"There. Now go buy yourself some food or drinks or whatever since, well, we're in the middle of a important quest to save your world here, and by extension, your sorry arses too, and you homeless bums are kinda getting in the way of that. So if you could just clear a way for us, we'd really appreciate that,"

edited 23rd Jan '17 1:10:05 AM by JustSomeGuy732

Jonah was about to groan in reaction to the interaction between Jon and Fienna, when some merfolk muggers meandered menacingly in front of the group. And they were part of some gang that had staked this as their territory. How annoying. And they wanted all of his possessions. Like he would give up his property with just some intimidation. He'd work through this, just need to figure out the right words to use... Why are you doing this, Jon?!

He was going to die because of this blind skeptic. It was almost admirable how blind to the truth this alleged prophet was, except for how much trouble they were in now. Jonah's grandfather wouldn't have trusted someone like this to sell him meat, not that he trusted most people to do that. No matter, Jonah was good at diverting attention. He was no stranger to getting shaken down for lunch money, so hopefully the same principles applied to an actual mugging.

He needed to minimize damage by showing he didn't agree with Jon. Distancing himself from the troublesome party was never a bad start. He jabbed his elbow into Jon's arm and, loudly enough for everyone to hear, said "''Are you Trying to get us killed? Just go along with it, you imbecile!"

Next step, damage control. He doubted they would be able to fight them off or talk them down. The best method is tricking them into thinking you had little of value on your person. That or giving them half and hiding the other. Luckily, Jonah got into the habit of spreading his things among his pockets. He took out his jacket from his bag and opened up its pockets. Turning them inside out revealed loose change and some screws and paperclips. Jonah simply said "S-Sorry sir, I didn't bring anything of value. P-Please don't h-hurt me, s-sir."

It was humiliating, but Jonah had used this line so much that he had perfected its delivery. A perfect mix of a faked subservient attitude and fear, it stroked the ego of the aggressor. He kept his important stuff on the pockets on the inside of the jacket, which he carefully kept from being seen. Just act subservient, once he finished this quest it would all be worth it.

Jon, Jon, Jon. Your suicidal overconfidence was going to get someone injured. I facepalmed. "Dude. Are you trying to make my job harder?"

Still, he did have one good point...

I stood up straight. "Hey, I was told we were brought here to save your damn city. What gives? Why are you being actively hostile to the people who are supposed to be your saviors? Do you think somehow you can do it better or do you just want to watch the world burn? ...There are ways to have fire underwater, right? The hell is your problem?"

edited 24th Jan '17 2:10:11 PM by MsAmiClassified

Niko's eye twitched at Jon. His face twisted into a bit of a sneer, before glancing at Jonah, who had begun to grovel at him, and Ally, who seemed to be getting indignant at him as well. Niko turned his gaze back to Jon, then with a surprisingly fast motion for being underwater, whipped his body around and slapped him with his powerful tail, pushing him back into the nearby building wall. Fienna gasped and swam over to check and see if Jon was all right. She looked at his back— badly scuffed up from hitting against the rough stone wall. She glared at Niko.

Niko glanced at her, then back at Jon. "You should have listened to your groveling friend over there," he pointed out, with a threatening tone to his voice. "You would have to be mad if you were to have me believe that surface dwellers have the power to save our city," he continued, saying surface dwellers with about the same tone of voice that one would say pond scum. "Get out of my sight and get out of our city. We don't need you or any land-walking barbarians!" With that, Niko and the other two Sea Dragons made their leave.

Fienna frowned. "Who's calling who a barbarian here?" she asked, thinking out loud. Then she looked back at Jon and the others, mainly examining Jon's back wound. "Are you all right? I can try to heal your back though we should really be in a safer place before I can start... what were you thinking, talking to him like that?" she asked, sounding more worried for his well-being than upset at him. "He could have killed you..."

edited 24th Jan '17 11:16:18 AM by AllHailThrall

Jon

Huh? Wait, why are you cowering to these guys? Of course they're not going t-

What. What the fuck?

The mermen thugs hit him. The thugs. Actually. Fucking. Hit. Him. With the spin of his tail, even. And, as someone who'd never been involved in fights, DAMN, that hurt!

This wasn't supposed to happen. How the heck did that happen? Wasn't this all just a grand stage to misled people that Atlantis actually exist? Won't beating the recipients be detrimental to that? Or, wait, is this why that researcher from Harvard didn't want to come here? No, to begin with, they were already countless other things back then that couldn't just be explained; ones that he ignored, thinking that he could dissect the reality of it all at the end of the trip. Can it actually be...

For once, Jon's inner skepticism wasn't so sure anymore.

"Ow, goddamnit!" he scoffed, though more out of shock from getting his actual sense around than that of any actual pain(though the latter is still there). He turned to Fienna. "Y-yeah, I'm doing fine. Great, even! Hahaha... ha," He then said to no one in particular. "So, wait. So, all of this..." He can't believe at what he's about to say next, but he felt like he had to. "... is freaking real? Like... whaaaaat?"

edited 24th Jan '17 9:34:26 PM by JustSomeGuy732

Well, Jon was just slapped into a wall. Good thing he was still alive. And more importantly, the grovelling worked like a charm. All is well that's well for Jonah. The guys had a good point, though. They were a group of nobodies who were supposed to save an ancient civilization. That was simply far fetched.

More irritating to Jonah was the blatant racism. It wasn't exactly easy to resist doing something stupid when he heard their words. Nothing was worse than discrimination. It was antithetical to Jonah's world view of everyone being worthless until they proved themselves to him. Not that bias was avoidable, but he hated anything of that sort.

Luckily, the gang swam away before Jonah's patience reached a tipping point. And even sooner after that, his anger was melted away and replaced with curiosity. Fienna claimed she could heal Jon's back. This implied either super advanced medicines or healing magic. Both of which put sparkles into Jonah's eyes. Of course, he'd have to be more careful with something like that. An upheaval in such an important job as doctor could have devastating effects on everything. Not to mention, he wasn't sure if he could do something that had the potential to put his father out of a job. It was still a point of interest, though.

Fienna sounded way too concerned about Jon. The guy brought it upon himself. He was actually furious about this. Those guys might have killed him too. Endangering yourself was one thing, involving Jonah was another. In response to her questioning about what Jon was thinking, Jonah answered "He wasn't thinking. He was running on heuristics. Quick and easy, but not always spot on. This idiot lives in a world where everything always turned out one way, and he starts assuming the coin will never land heads up. Maybe this will have beaten some sense into him. I hope so!"

Oh, he had actually spoken his mind. It was abnormal for Jonah to say anything that wasn't carefully weighed against other courses of actions. When he didn't spend time to think, he started ranting. Repressed anger can do that to you.

He then turned to Jon. Looked like he was starting to get it. It was actually satisfying to see someone's world view start to shatter. Jonah didn't have his emotions under enough control to suppress the amused smirk on his face.

edited 24th Jan '17 10:17:09 PM by pillowmantis

Fienna's eyes widened a little bit, listening to Jon's words. Is all of this.... freaking REAL? She blinked a couple of times, dumbfounded, a twinge of sadness coming onto her face. "Yes... it's all real, it's always been real," she told him. "Did you... did you just stand up the guard and accept my sister's quest because... you didn't believe it was real?" She looked him in the eyes. "Did you think... I wasn't real either? That I was just... manipulating you?" She backed up a little bit, moving her arms to hug herself slightly, looking hurt.

She listened to what Jonah had been saying as well. He was certainly getting some sort of joy at tearing apart Jon's entire being. She said nothing to him, though, or to Ally, instead swimming in place and shaking her head slightly, the sad look still on her face.

Jon

"Oh, yeah, yeah! Kick me some more, why don't you?! Explain oh I was oh so useless to everyone and nearly get themselves killed, while you're just cowering like a goddamn coward!" was what Jon said, or rather shouted, to Jonah, his shock to reality and back pain causing him to not stay calm. And the fact that someone is shouting at him, admonishing him right afterwards is not helping matters.

Then, Fienna started talking too, to which Jon widened his eyes. And she's real. And... oh, fuck.

"Ah, wait, I do-," Don't really think that wa- Well, shit, he can't exactly say that, can he? "Uh, mean, what the hell am I sayin', right? Umm, I-" Smooth. Real smooth. Yeah, there is no way this is salvageable. His first mermaid crush, and already he unknowingly hurt her feelings all beyond to hell and back. He knows he should apologize to her, but he just can't get the words out, with all of this happening.

This day has just been going fucking great for Jon, is it?

"... Okay, you know what? Fuck it. I'm already in too deep of a shit to care, anyway. If nothing else, I might as well go through with this all the way through, to make up for it." Jon said to no one in particular, his mind a jumbled mess and having given up on trying to think clearly.

He turned his head to Jonah. He might be on a higher ground, might have a point, even, but fuck it. There's no way Jon could just leave it at that, not after looking at that shitty looking smirk on Jonah's face, as though he's enjoying this.

"And yeah, I'll keep my mouth shut from now on. I hope you're happy, jackass, though from the look of your face, I feel stupid for even asking. Or, what, is that not enough and you still have something else to say to say about me?"

Welp. Saw that one coming.

The gangsters derided the idea of those on the surface saving their city, and then left; it was evident from their tone that they regarded us as lesser. I suppose that confirmed my speculation of them thinking they could do the job better, in some roundabout way.

So, standing between us and this city's continued existence was at least one band of racists, presumably in addition to other such obstacles. Fun.

Though in what perhaps may have been a silver lining, depending on your perspective, it seemed this "Niko" had quite literally beaten some sense into the young and arrogant Jon. From his words, he finally understood just what he was dealing with, though was certainly reeling from the shock of being both literally and metaphorically slapped in the face with the facts. I was about to snark about the predictability of this turn of events when Jonah, who had been relatively quiet and submissive since I had first encountered him, suddenly exploded in a burst of self-righteous fury, ranting quite extensively on the nature of Jon's idiotic behavior thus far, and looked very subtly satisfied with himself when he was done.

Someone had issues.

I looked between him and Jon a couple times, observing Jon trying to justify himself to Fienna, who herself was in a less-than-joyous state from realizing that he hadn't taken any of this seriously until just now. She...hadn't realized that? That was uh...yikes.

"...Jesus. Maybe we should come back later," I suggested, suspecting that maybe proceeding through a dangerous area was not such a great idea at the moment.

Besides, I wanted to fill out my log a bit. I knew it'd been a good idea to hide my equipment.

edited 25th Jan '17 5:38:30 PM by MsAmiClassified

There wasn't any coming back from this, was there? It always happened this way. Jonah got a fresh start where people didn't know him and he'd try to act calm. He'd try so hard. But they beat him down just by being less than his ideals. And once he reacts, he got yelled at. He couldn't take hatred. Why did he have to do this to himself again?

And Fienna wasn't taking any of this well. Jonah would feel bad under normal circumstances, but once he got angry he didn't care much about anything or anyone. This was what happened to hi when he stopped using other outlets to his pent up aggression. A small part of him was screaming to just stop this stupidity and try to be a normal functioning person.

Of course, he could tell he had overstepped. Jonah's rage was like an inferno that used his social life as fuel. It was so painfully difficult to be friends with someone that felt like they had to walk on eggshells around you. But it wasn't too late to stop now. Just need to play it off quickly. No one needs to know it was anything that wasn't brought on by the heat of the moment. He wanted to cry. He just wanted someone who could understand that he didn't want to hate them.

Wait, WHAT WAS HE CALLING HIM?! A coward! This guy had just reignited him. The smirk on Jonah's face was completely replaced with some demented expression that could only be described as hatred. While it was obvious to everyone else who he was angry at, in reality it was mostly directed inwards. He needed to cool off. He needed to shut it down, like always. Can't let his mind ruin him again. Whenever Jonah lost his temper, he'd calm down to find himself despised by everyone around him. It wasn't to late here, though.

Another tradition of Jonah: Blaming himself. His anger frequently caused problems for him, so he just needed to direct the hatred towards himself. He was a failure and didn't have any right to say those things about Jon. He was as insignificant as a single grain of sand on the beach. The only one to blame for any of his problems... was Jonah. He just wasn't good enough. There was no need to let it out on anyone else.

His face turned from anger to perfect calmness in the blink of an eye. Jonah knew he needed to apologize. And now that he could be a robot for everyone again, he would be able to deliver it. In a tone that might have sounded sincere if it weren't for the uncanny lack of any emotion put into it, Jonah stated "That was wrong of me. I'm sorry about that. Please forgive me for my disgraceful behavior." His attempt at getting under control was just bottling up everything.

Even as he went through the motions, Jonah really didn't feel emotionless. He would love it if someone were to call him out for it, so that he might finally be able to convince himself to end this stupidity that isolated him from everyone. He just wanted to be able to talk to someone without having the urge to hurt them.

edited 25th Jan '17 6:45:43 PM by pillowmantis

When Jon couldn't give her a straight answer, Fienna looked at him with more pain in her expression, then her eyes turned towards Ally, who suggested they come back to the passageway later. With a stoic expression, Fienna nodded, and began to swim back towards the oracle's house.

"Let's go," she simply stated, with none of her playful lightheartedness that she had previously possessed. "I will see if my sister will help to heal your back," she said to Jon, leading the three back. "And this time we should consider bringing more protection before we head into Sea Dragon territory. Have any of you skill with combat of any description?" she asked, continuing to swim.

Jon

... Well, shit. The moment Jonah started apologizing, Jon's anger began to subside. Too much or no, it's still technically his fault that he almost brought them to danger. Because of this sheer fact, and the fact that he's recovering(albeit slowly) from the previous shock and pain, Jon simply can't stay mad.

"No, I mean... I-... Ah, forget it!" Jon slowly breathed in, calming himself down. Really, he never thought his expedition would turn out so stressful like this. He was starting to think that maybe coming here was a bad idea.

It's impossible for him right now but the next chance that he gets, he's going to swallow his pride and apologize. To both Jonah who's just as stressed out as he is because of him and Fienna, for obvious reasons.

And Fienna is still mad. Or at least upset. Or both, which is entirely possible. And who's fault do you think that is? He sigh. At least now, he could think clearly and maybe, just maybe, not do anything stupid to get them in harm's way. Or redeem himself, though he's less hopeful on the last part.

Then, an interesting topic came up. One about providing protection, in case if those Sea fucks came around again. If we're talking about experience with combat, there was that time that he went into this one convention...

"I, err...," he began, then stopped, obviously due to this awkward barrier that is now in-between him and the mermaid. "... I had a replica sword that I used to swing a few times back at home. Does that count...?"

I frowned. While she understood that we should probably get moving, it was obvious Fienna wouldn't be over this for a while. Jon was gonna have his work cut out for him, a fact that he seemed to grasp rather painfully.

She asked if we had any experience in combat. I suspected she wanted to make sure we were ready next time we had a less-than-pleasant encounter like this.

"Afraid not, sorry. I could learn, though, if we have the time and resources I suppose."

In his rage, Jonah hadn't noticed the use of the word sister. Having redirected his anger, the information finally clicked in. A point of interest, he supposed. Even he could see it wasn't the time to ask about it. The question she asked was a bit more difficult to answer. Combat skill? He was the opposite of battle-ready! He might have been fairly skilled at cutting things due to years of preparing food, but there was a world of difference between vegetables and living people. His grandfather was a butcher, but Jonah himself had never harmed a living creature (aside from when he was angry, but he never aimed to kill). In any case, if they were going to provide weapons, a dagger was the probable choice for him.

He simply answered to Fienna "Sorry, I never really fought anyone...I just took beatings. We are some truly pathetic saviors."

He was ready for a stream of insults from Jon. Or something. Wait for it... his apology was accepted? That's a new one. He didn't mess everything up with an outburst? YES! When Jon made his comment about swinging the replica sword around, Jonah let out a genuine laugh. He then recoiled in disgust, due to the way the laugh sounded in the water. Still can't get over that.

Fienna raised an eyebrow. "So none of you have combat training?" she asked, sounding less angry and more curious and confused. "Here, every man trains with weapons from childhood. And women train in spellcasting. Is it more peaceful on the surface?" She sighed. "Never mind," she muttered, seemingly remembering she was supposed to be angry at them. "This is fantastic. We will have to start from the beginning. My sister will have to find you something to use."

Fienna swam into the door after opening it again, looking upset, then she swam off to the side and crossed her arms, flicking her tail slightly. The oracle swam over to the group. "Welcome back," she told them with her distant voice. She stared at Fienna for a moment, then her eyes widened and she looked at the three. "Fienna is troubled. What did you do?" she asked, the distant tone of voice leaving for a moment and a sort of protective irritation entered it.

Fienna looked at her sister, an upset look on her face. "Oh, Taera, you should have heard what Jon said!" she exclaimed. "He didn't think any of this was real... he didn't think I was real!" The oracle, Taera, looked at Jon and her brows furrowed, seemingly looking deep into him. "So set in your ways and your beliefs. Continuing on this path may lead to trouble. Now let us see about your back." She turned him around, running a hand on his back. "What happened here?" she asked. "It can be easily healed, it is nothing to fear." Whispering something under her breath, her already pale eyes began to glow with blue light, similar to the light that permeated from the half-dead lamps, and said glow began to run across her arm, her tattooed markings beginning to light up.

As it did so, and as she continued to chant, the wound began to glow in a similar fashion, and with a bizarre tingling sensation much like the sensation that he felt when he first put on the amulet, the wound began to close itself up. After a moment, she removed her hand from his back, a little tender but otherwise the gash in his back had been fully cleaned and healed up. "The danger in this city is a serious matter," Taera warned. "You must be ever vigilant. Who knows what threats will lurk on the other side of the passageway?"

She backed up. "So what do you have to say for yourself, Jonaidi?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. Fienna crossed her arms, flicking her tail and tilting her head slightly.

Jon

Yeaaaaaah, maybe he shouldn't have said that. "Hey now, at least it's something, right?" he responded quickly to Jonah's laugh, albeit embarassingly.

And then, Fienna guided them to the oracle's house, appearing very surprised to know that they don't have any actual combat training since childhood. Huh. What are they, Spartans or something?

So... this is something new. Apparently, both Fienna and the oracle, named Taera, are sisters. Yeah, he definitely won some points from her from making her sister depressed. Go Jon!

And here, he thought that'll be the end of this awkwardness until later on, where he finally has the courage to man up. Looks like Fate has other plans for him. In fact, with how everything's turning out so far, Fate is a very cruel mistress. Now, he's not one to believe in such thing, but if freaking Atlantis is real, then why not some otherworldly being who controls the fate of everyone on the planet?

In conclusion: Fate is a fucking bitch and he's screwed over from the very beginning by Lady Luck herself. Such misfortune.

At least his back feels better already, but that doesn't excuse the entity that he entirely made up on his mind to vent his frustration on.

Well then, back to answering the sister of the mermaid that he just broke up with(geez, they haven't even been in a relationship and already, they broke up. If there was a Guineass World Record for that, he'd probably be a contender), one who can see into the future, do actual mumbo jumbo magic and looking very very disappointed at Jon to the point where she no longer bother to act as an oracle and instead, being a concerned elder sister instead.

At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if she happens to cast a hex or curse and turn him into a crab or something indefinitely if he answered wrongly. That would be bad.

"Okay, first off. Now that I know you're real and all, calling out someone's name without being introduced first is creepy as hell. Just saying," Need to get that out of the way first. He's definitely not trying to stall time or change the subject. Yup.

"Second of all, yes, being aware of the dangers is good and all, but some manner of protection or fighting back would be really helpful as well, especially considering we might be risking our lives here against those Sea fucks again. As much as I can verbally kick their ungrateful ass and their nonexistent pride, I'm not too good in a physical fight, know what I mean?"

"Thirdly," This is the moment where he go *ahem*, very obviously trying not to look nervous(and failing). "... Technically, it isn't entirely my fault. But before you shoot!" he quickly added later to the oracle, just in case. "... Well, okay, I lied. It's entirely my fault. So, umm...,"

Jon turned back to Fienna, trying as much as he can to not avert his gaze right now, all the while tilting his head downwards and scratching the back of his head as he struggled to let the words out.

"... Sorry."

edited 27th Jan '17 2:10:20 AM by JustSomeGuy732

Atlantis Streets

So this society left weapon based combat to males and magic to females? Jonah hoped that wasn't some sort of rigidly unbreakable rule, because learning some magic would be awesome. He would've informed Fienna about the relation between the modern world and combat training, but she seemed to realize they should probably hurry. Jonah concurred and followed her back.

Oracle's House

Jonah didn't like how agitated the two mermaids looked, as he tended to get nervous around individuals who were being influenced by emotion. He knew what people could do when they didn't try to look at things from an objective standpoint. While it was impossible to truly be objective, it definitely helped to be calm when talking things over.

It was a whole inquisition on Jon, apparently. At least he seemed to be realizing how wrong he was before. The awkward answers he was giving sounded sincere, at least. Jonah would have tried to weasel his way out with some careful lies and half-truths, but this guy was owning up like a champ. Jon was willing to admit he made a mistake, putting him leagues above the people Jonah was basing his perception of Jon off of. Someone like this might deserve someone standing up for him, since he actually seemed like a better person than Jonah gave him credit for. He would definitely try to help if Jon's apology wasn't accepted.

On to the matter of danger, though. Jonah wasn't a fighter of any sort, and he wasn't that strong either. He said with a look of contemplation "If I n-need a weapon, then a d-dagger is about all I could use... unless there's some way for me to utilize magic instead of a physical weapon? I w-wouldn't know, because... um... magic has been gone from the surface for a massive amount of time." He had successfully led into learning magic without sounding desperate! Good to know his fit earlier didn't throw him off.

Upon our leaving the sinister back alley of drama, I withdrew my tablet once again, figuring it would be safe to do so, but was too distracted to focus on the log, and so merely held it there.

That said, we were not free of the drama. The oracle, who conveniently had a name now, was less than pleased to observe her sister in turmoil over these events, leading to an awkward exchange where she pounced on Jon with the wrath of an older sibling vicariously scorned. It wasn't pretty, and I thought it better to not interfere to avoid the metaphorical flames flying.

But Jon was learning.

Against my better judgment, I wordlessly gave him a little pat on the shoulder, and then worked up the nerve to go back to my work.

Taera continued to look at Jon with her eyebrows furrowed. Then he finally apologized. Her expression lightened up slightly. "To answer your first remark, I do apologize if my powers alarmed you. Sometimes I have difficulty differentiating between what is plainly visible and what is visible only on the fabric of destiny." She looked him up and down. "For your third concern... apology accepted. But actions speak louder than words. You will have to prove you are true in heart as well as in words." Finally she looked the three over. "As for your second concern, I can most definitely find you a weapon to use, if you would tell me which weapon you are most proficient with."

Fienna looked at her sister. "They aren't proficient with any weapons," she muttered. Taera raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" Taera asked incredulously.

"They have no combat training whatsoever," Fienna replied. Taera put her hands on her hips, looking slightly concerned.

"This is going to be more difficult than I had anticipated. I believe a sword is in order." She swam to one of the walls, pulling an ornate-looking slightly curved sword from the wall and handing it to Jon. As soon as it was in his hand, the runes on the blade began to glow slightly with the same blue light that permeated everything else magical. Taera smiled slightly. "All of our weapons and armor, and many of our magical items, are made of orichalcum. I have been made aware it is not present on the surface. It is enchanted so that it moves as smoothly through water as bronze moves through air," she explained.

She swam in front of Jonah, looking at him intently. He requested to be taught magic. She blinked in confusion. "Really? Normally, sorcery is considered a women's art in Atlantis. But you sound intrigued. I will attempt to teach you and Ally what I know. Unless Ally would rather learn a weapon. But I should let you know, learning magic is intense. It imprints the very soul. Once you have been taught in the ways of magic, forever will it permeate your being."

She circled around him, examining him and looking deep into him. A slight smile crept onto her face. "But you have a very powerful soul, Jonah. And for those with a powerful soul, the rewards are great and the prestige is mighty. You will have power beyond what you can even comprehend. Powerful sorcerers can rival the very gods. The forces of reality will bend to your beck and call," she told him, her distant voice fading again. It was clear that the very concept of sorcery gave her a twinge of excitement. She backed away from him, frowning.

"But it will not be easy, since your soul has already settled. It is easier at youth because their soul is still malleable, easy to imprint upon. For those who have grown, it can be dangerous. Even deadly for those with weak spirits." She swam towards the back of the room, running her hand across the back wall, and as it opened up the entire room was bathed in blue light. "Come, Jonah. We will need to see if you are prepared. If you can handle the awesome power of magic. Fienna, find out what Ally wishes to do, and fetch the captain of the guard to help train Jonaidi," Taera stated.

Fienna nodded, then looked at Jon warily, a little unsure of wanting to associate with him. "If you are sure, sister oracle," she replied, her voice a little sad.

Their weapons were made with orichalcum? Jonah wondered how that compared to steel. Well, new materials for construction of any item was a game changer. If this stuff was equivalent to or better than steel... $$$! Definitely not the time to ask, though.

Sorcery was a women's art? Well, he had just said he wasn't familiar with magic, so the confusion was a bit confusing. Oh well, the stress was pretty much gone by now. He could easily respond without fighting back anger. He offered a bit of an explanation "Yeah, gender roles are starting to not be a thing up above. Not completely there yet, but getting there."

The thing about magic forever changing a person was a bit of a damper, even more so was the risk of death. But she said the reward was great, as was his potential. Sounded to him like a risk worth taking. He always regretted not jumping on opportunities, and the path to success should have risks to it. His grandfather might've compared it to immigrating to America. A risk that could pay off. And if he was defining spirit the same way as Taera, he definitely had a strong drive and strong ideals. He could do this.

It was a bit creepy how excited she was getting, but Jonah figured someone so obviously immersed in the topic was probably getting the same thrill he got from teaching someone a subject he was good at. It was always an exciting endeavor, imparting knowledge and skill to others. He probably would've been a teacher if dad didn't push him so hard to medicine. That was off topic, though. Taera was waiting.

He swam after her, saying under his breath, to quietly to be heard "Not sure how grandpa would have felt about this, but I need to do this for me. Don't worry about the risks, just go upwards."