A Small Spark

Amaris

Snow glittered down to the ground as Damon and Amaris walked through the forest. The Keepers were gone from the forest. It was just herself and Damon, like it always had been. It was unusually quiet and she found herself wondering if the forest had always been this quiet. Perhaps it had been, but she had never noticed it before. The 50 yars weighed down in her pocket, guilt flashing over her.

“This was the right decision, Mare,” Damon told her as though he could read her mind. She gave him a slight smile.

Amaris could see tree 4642 ahead of her. Her home. The place she had been longing to return to for weeks. Even so, she stopped at the base of the tree. “Mare?” Amaris did not look back at the anxious face of her friend. Her thoughts were thousands of miles away.

Amaris had known for a long time that she was King Jonathan’s daughter. She had also always known that she had a brother, a brother who supposedly died. She did not feel that her life had dramatically changed at all, she should be able to return to the comfort of her home in the forest. Nothing had really changed for her. So, why was she hesitating? Her life had not changed in the least. But still, her thoughts were transported to the mountains.

They said that he looked like her.

“Mare?”

Amaris crash landed back in the forest. Damon had a concerned look on his face. Amaris knew immediately what she had to do.

Amaris turned around and started making her way to a different tree. There was someone she wanted to talk to. However, as talking to King Jonathan and his wife, Queen Aralia, was not exactly a viable option, she had another idea. King Jonathan’s wife loved the forest. Especially one of the trees.

When she was five, Ahab numbered the trees in the forest. Initially, he wanted to organize the forest or something of that nature. Matthias told her that Ahab was going to put a camera on every single tree, and he wanted to make the cameras coalesce with the trees. But that plan failed because the electricity in the cameras interfered with the oxygen tanks. Whatever the reason, there were bright red numbers on every tree in the forest.

The biggest tree in the whole of the forest was tree 587,656. The tree had accidentally been made incorrectly, the dimensions of the tree were different from that of any other tree in the forest. And on this tree, in the middle of the forest, Queen Aralia had a treehouse.

The treehouse there was not as magnificent as the ones Damon and Amaris owned, but it was perfect in a simple way. It was small and only had one room. A couch stood stately in the middle of the room. Desks and boxes lined the walls in the clutter. Amaris assumed Queen Aralia was like that, loving the chaos of clutter. She would not know, she never met the woman because she had given Amaris away to an orphanage. Damon sat down on the couch, tired after the long walk there.

Suddenly, as she walked around, there was an aroma of roses. Fresh roses. Amaris frowned and glanced around the room. There, sitting on a table a few feet away were fresh, red roses. Amaris walked over to them as if they were a beacon she could not ignore “Why was he there?” Amaris wondered aloud.

“Maybe he came here before Ahab locked him…wherever he locked him up,” Damon replied, only vaguely interested in the roses. But Amaris could not believe it. He came here before all that happened in the forest. He knew what was going to happen and he was okay with it. Amaris wanted to know where Ahab was keeping him.

Someone had to save him.

There was a piece of paper lying on the table. The handwriting belonged to Castor. Pessimistically, she read it.

Amaris,

I have known the truth about you for a long time now. I was the one who delivered you to the orphanage all those years ago. And I have known about you and your brother since the beginning. That was why I created the Rising. It is time for the rightful heir returned to the throne.

Amaris, there are many kinds of greatness in this world. Some people claim greatness, wanting the recognition from it. Some people have greatness forced on them when they least expect it. But you, Amaris, you are different. You were born into it. And you have to do something to help the people of Atlantis because they are your people. You know them best. Your brother is going to need a lot of help in the coming years. You are his only hope.

You are Atlantis’ only hope.

The gift I am leaving you is only a part of a bigger map. I have the third piece. Make sure Ahab never finds this.

Stay safe.

Your Uncle, Castor

Amaris moved the letter to find a folded up piece of paper. It was old. Extremely old. Amaris carefully unfolded it, afraid it would break in her hands. When it was completely undone, she studied the picture and the writings. She could not read it as it was written in ancient Atlantean, but she could make out one word over and over and over again: Poseidon.

The picture on the page looked incredibly familiar. She knew that she had seen it before but was uncertain where. From what Amaris could understand, this symbol had something to do with the Surface. The more she looked at the paper, the less it made sense to her.

It started with a trident, laying over a triangle. The top of the symbol, there was a pointed structure that she had seen both a thousand times and not at all.

Two ovals laid on the paper with an object she had never seen before. The symbol. It looked to be some sort of key, but she did not understand. Frustrated, she threw the paper into Damon, hoping he could make sense of it. He frowned, trying to concentrate on the drawings. “I’ve seen this somewhere before,” he said. “What is it to?”

Amaris shook her head. Matthias would know, she thought. She shoved the paper into her pocket and continued to look around. Amaris opened one of the boxes and found Queen Aralia’s journal there. Hoping to find some answers, she opened to a page that dated twenty years ago. It was just about the hardship of having to send her son away.

It did not help her, but then again, she was still frustrated from over the diagram. If Ahab wanted it, the diagram must have been valuable. Her eyes met Damon’s. There was something unfamiliar there, passing too quickly for her to discern what it could have been. “Damon,” she said. “What’s on your mind?”

He took a deep breath and sat down at the table. Amaris repeated his actions. “Mare, I­–” he shook his head and started over, “I love the forest. But I understand if you want to join the Rising.”

Amaris scoffed, “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, Amaris. You’ve been trying to decide what to do for the past three hours. That’s why you made us trudge through the cold to look at the treehouse you swore you would never enter. It’s okay to care about your brother and want to know him.”

“I don’t care about him,” she told him confidently. “He means nothing to me.”

“I think you honestly believe that about yourself. But it isn’t true. And if you don’t go to the mountains now, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”

“I thought you wanted to stay in the forest, Damon.” He looked away from her eyes. For a moment, he looked almost panicked, but then his usual carefree expression returned to his face. Amaris must have imagined it.

“Sometimes I’m selfish, Amaris. But the Rising is fighting for something bigger than us.” His words reminded her of something Matthias had told her. The words floated into her ear, reaming in her mind. “Mare, stop being selfish!” Matthias had said, “There are more important things in this country than you. Like the people who are starving on the streets because they don’t have enough to eat. I won’t stop you from leaving, but I think that optimistic ten-year-old I met in the forest all those years ago would care about those people. When are you going to stop watching life and actually live it? Mare, our little lives don’t matter. We are working for a greater good. We’re working for Atlantis.”

Amaris took a deep breath. The moment was coming and she was reluctant for it to come, but there was nothing she could do. And perhaps, it was all for the best.

“Alright, Damon,” Amaris said, looking over at him, “let’s go save Atlantis.”