A/N: Hello peeps.

So yeah, turns out I was busy all weekend, and most of the week -_-. It wasn't uni that got in the way though, no sir. It was just life in general this time. Gotta pay the bills and all that. Transitioning out of a new job into a new one is hard, and it is something that sucks all the enthusiasm out of me. That, and I had a pretty awful day yesterday. One of the most awful things for any employee is getting shouted at by customers for doing your job. And this time, it was for doing what my manager asked me to do.

The only thing that kept me from hitting something (probably the customer) was the knowledge that I am only there for another week and a half.

Yeah, anyways. Enough about my life. Onto the rest of chapter 1 :D.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

Omens. Part 2.

As the last man fell beneath the rain of arrows sent by Atlantean archers, Arkantos felt yet another surge of exhaustion flood through his body. It was much worse this time.

Perhaps, Arkantos though with a grimace, he truly was getting old. It didn't seem fair; he was, after all, only 38.

"Another landing party!"

Arkantos jerked, pulled from his thoughts and saw another kebenit sail around the bend and into the harbour and following right behind it was a further two. Frustration found its way into his thoughts with the next immersion this time.

Where in the name of Poseidon was the damn fleet?! How were they getting in?! If he lived through this attack, he seethed, he was going to have words with his captains about this.

Despite the desperate cascade of arrows launched from the watch towers at the harbour opening, the ships reached the beach, axemen and slingers pouring from the decks the moment they landed. Arkantos entered the fray, his bellows of encouragement to the men fighting at his side becoming hoarser and hoarser as his voice was reduced to a weak rasp. Every few steps he took, his foot caught itself on a human limb lying on the ground. The sand of the beach was soaked in blood.

And yet, when he managed to catch a brief moment and was able to look up, he could see more ships landing and more men leaping from them.

They just kept coming. He could see the colours of his men diminish gradually, as each man fell. The blue of Atlantis was falling beneath a haze of red…

"Arkantos!"

The drained man raised his head, directly weary eyes in the direction of the voice.

"The Atlantean army has arrived!" Before his eyes, a mass of 'Lantean blue appeared other the edge of the hill from the Acropolis. Leading them was the Amazonian queen, Hippolyta.

The ringing blast of a battle horn smote him from the west. When he turned, he was further stunned by the appearance of Atalanta, at the head of a several dozen Hypaspist*.

As they neared, Atalanta cried out.

"Command us, Arkantos!"

At the sounds, the pirates had stopped fighting and looked at the oncoming army with a growing looks of horror on their faces. At the sight of the approaching force, Arkantos' men had let out a cheer.

A grin spread out on his face.

"Attack!" Responding to his shout, the army poured over the crest and the crashed into the opposing force with a shimmering clang of steel on steel, metal in flesh and the mixing of battle cries with the cries of the dying.

Another kraken gave a groan as it too fell, collapsing into the shallow water, tentacles trailing out over the sand.

Arkantos, breathing heavily with exertion, was finally able to take stock of the battle. What he saw made him smile grimly. The pirates were bring driven back towards their ships by the Atlantean army, while Hippolyta and her archers rained a deadly hail into their midst, careful about their targets.

Abruptly, the kebenits still lingering in the harbour began to veer away, along with the two surviving kraken. A surprised, jubilant shout went up from the blue-clad soldiers.

"The Black sails are fleeing!"Atalanta, who had been standing near him, gave him a vicious grin and joined her men in a roar of victory.

"It will take more than pirates to overrun Atlantis!"

The wounded had been taken to the infirmary, and the others had been led off to the barracks to clean their weapons and take their rest. Villagers were already at work repairing the damaged buildings, and Arkantos could swear the fires just mysteriously vanished more seconds ticked by. It always surprised him how quickly a building was built or repaired.

Taking his eyes away from the busy workers, he returned to his previous contemplation.

They had repelled the attack, and with only minimalistic casualties, and proved that despite being far away from any wars, Atlantis' defences were still a powerful and effective force.

But, there were a few things that kept Arkantos from celebrating with his men. The first was where was the damned navy? By this time, they still hadn't arrived, and Arkantos' frustration was fading to concern. The second was that the sea monsters had kept coming. Surely Poseidon wouldn't allow his creatures to attack his own worshippers?

And the last, and most dominant of his thoughts, was why the pirates were attacking them in the first place. They could not have though that they could defeat them that easily…?

"Another message from Poseidon, Arkantos…" Theocrat's voice came from behind him, as Kastor stopped beside his father, looking at his neutral features in concern, "his creatures help the Pirates."

Arkantos' lips twisted briefly, his only acknowledgement to the remark.

Then, something broke him from his thoughts.

"Father! They stole the trident!"

"What?!" he turned in shock to glance at his son, then peered at the statue of the Patron God of Atlantis, rising from the water in the middle of the harbour. No sunlight glinted of the plated metal of the pronged weapon that usually adorned the white marble. Kastor was right.

"Yes" Theocrat's voice this time was tinged with a faint reproving tone, "it was stolen during the fighting."

Arkantos glared at the blood-soaked sand at his feet.

"Kamos…" he spat through clenched teeth, his fist closing and nails digging into calloused palms. Quiet footsteps in sand behind him heralded Theocrat's movements.

"There could not be a clearer sign, Arkantos. We are losing Poseidon's Favour!"

It was just as before; Theocrat requesting him to go to Troy to assist the Greek armies. But this time, the Speaker of the Council's voice was tinged in desperation. He was begging him.

"We must act!"

Oh for the love of…

"I will go to Troy as you ask" the veteran Admiral finally conceded to his superior's appeal. He turned and stared down at the aged man.

"I'm going to get that trident back on the way." Theocrat met the stare steadily, and slowly nodded. Arkantos turned to his first officer, who was standing to attention just a short distance away.

"Zethos!" The younger man back straightened, waiting for his orders.

"Take supplies aboard and get the men together. We're setting sail."

Zethos slammed a fist to his breastplate, and he and the battalion of hoplites behind him turned and hurried to the docks.

"Can I come?"

Arkantos jerked his head down to look into his son's earnest, excited face. Ready to follow, ready to fight. Ready for battle.

"No," his face fell, "I need you here in case they come back." Kastor stared hard into his father's affable face, and Arkantos hoped he didn't see the real reason behind his eyes.

Eventually, he nodded.

"Do not worry," Arkantos continued, his gentle smile melting into a hard stare just beyond him.

"This errand will not take long."

I am coming for you Kamos. This is the last straw. You will not escape me again.

Arkantos watched as his men loaded the various supplies of food, water, materials, and weapons aboard his ship, 'Sword of Atlas*'. Everything they would need for the journey ahead. Three additional ships would follow them, the 'Star of Tyro*', 'Hope of Alope*', and 'Caeneus' Spear*', also holding the things they would need, including workman and villagers who would work on the defences and gather additional food for the warriors.

Arkantos was taking no chances.

"Father."

He turned. Kastor stood behind him, eyes narrowed.

Arkantos sighed. He was expecting this. His son, while young and a little too enthusiastic at times, was not stupid.

"Kastor-"

"Father, why can I not come with you?" He would not accept a conciliatory answer this time, Arkantos knew. He wanted a proper answer.

The true one.

Inwardly, the experienced warrior knew that in 'truth', this was likely to be a difficult battle. This argument with his son was going to be difficult.

"It is because you do not think I am ready, is it not?" Kastor's eyes had darkened in a strange resentment. It was something he hadn't seen in the youth's face before. Arkantos frowned.

"No, that-"

"But it is!" Kastor cut across him again, causing his father's own eyes to narrow. "You want me to stay here and keep training! Father, I am not a child anymore! I am almost fourteen! You have told me that you were fourteen that day the pirates raided the city*, and took up arms for the first time against them. I have been training since I was but eight, and while I have never been a battle, neither had you back then. Why will you not you let me come with you?!"

The lad was shaking, his fists clenched almost as tightly as his teeth. Arkantos took a moment to study his only son before he answered.

He was angry, frustrated and embarrassed, but underneath that, Arkantos could see the boy who was chafing under the peaceful life of the island capital. Kastor had inherited the boundless energy and sense of adventure and action that Arkantos himself had possessed at his age.

That, combined with the need to see his father, spend time with him, and stand beside him, caused an ache deep inside him that resulted in resentment and anger simmering on the surface.

During all this, Arkantos had been silently observing him. The lengthening scrutiny was only increasing the youth's ire, and just when he was about burst out in frustrated rage again, Arkantos spoke, his voice low, quiet, and his words came out slow, as if blown on a gentle breeze.

"It is not that you are not ready, Kastor. It is that I am not ready."

At this Kastor opened his mouth, but immediately shut up in shock at hearing the next words.

"I am not ready to see you in a true battle yet."

Kastor stared in stunned silence at his father, before a frown marred his youthful face.

"But, you said that the war would be over by the time you got there. And you fight pirates all the time. I am trained, Father. Let me prove that I can-"

But Arkantos was shaking his head.

"Kastor" he smiled gently at his son, his only child, only thing left from his Halia*. The stubbornness he was showing he must have gotten from the both of them.

"I know you have been trained, my son. And I have the faith of all the Gods in you," at this, Kastor could not help a small smile of pride at his father's words, "but as ready as you are, I am not ready to see you enter in a fight, and true fight yet. And I would not see you anywhere near that madness that I am bound to see in Anatolia*. I may be a warrior, Kastor, but I am also a father, and I have no wish to have my son see the horrors I have seen just yet."

Kastor's anger had abated, easing with his father's confession. He was gazing at him silently, and Arkantos met it, unflinching.

Finally, Kastor responded.

"I…think I understand, father. I will accept your will." At this Arkantos nodded, inwardly relieved.

This faded as Kastor continued.

"But the next time you leave for a mission, I am coming with you."

The Admiral of Atlantis blinked down at his son, seeing the set line of his mouth, and hard, determined eyes.

"Are you now?" Arkantos countered, attempting to keep a smile off his face. The corners of his lips betrayed him with a twitch.

"Yes" Kastor answered simply. Then, he gave a quick grin.

"I want to you there on my first mission."

To this, Arkantos' eyes widened briefly, and then the smile he was suppressing broke free.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, my son. You have my oath; your first mission for Atlantis, I will be there."

With that, they clasped each other's forearms, then Arkantos pulled him forward into an embrace, before he released him, and strode onto his ship, who had finished their preparations and were waiting for him.

As 'Sword of Atlas' and her companion ships sailed out of the harbour of Atlantis, a slight figure could still be seen standing on the beach. It was waving. And nobody on the ships said a word as their commander raised an arm to wave back, before the sea winds caught the Atlas' sails, and pulled them away.

Moments later, they were around the harbour entrance, and the figure vanished from view.

And there you have it. Chapter 1. Hope you liked it. I will admit that this was out later than I planned, but honestly I haven't had much time or inclination to write much this past week. Uni, work, bed, then repeat. Too tired and too lazy to do much else. Oh well. I hope to get started on the next chapter sometime over the week.

A couple of things. First, I included the last bit because it honestly seemed natural to me that Kastor would want to come with Arkantos. He's a young man with a famous father, a trained warrior who is stuck living on an island where nothing much happens. That combined with the traditions of Ancient Greece would definitely cause some frustration to a boy that age, teenage status notwithstanding.

Second, you may notice that I made some references to some things. Halia, for example. This is the name I picked for Arkantos' wife, if you hadn't guess already. Most men in those times, I'd imagine, would have gotten remarried, but Arkantos hasn't. This will be explained later on in the story. Also, the reference to pirates raiding Atlantis is something I got off the character page on Wiki. If this is wrong (which wouldn't surprise me, since it's Wikipedia), messege me .

Whoops! Enough of my babble.

'Til next time!

~~~CreatedInFyre7.

Glossary time!

Hypaspist – In AoM, they are archer counters, trained out the Archery Range in the Greek Heroic Age. In history, Hypapists were likely armed similarly like Hoplites, with shields and spears.

'Sword of Atlas' – Atlas was a primordial titan in Greek Mythology who held up Uranos, the Sky, as punishment after the Titanomachy (War of the Titans against the Olympians). According to Plato, Atlas was also the name of the first King of Atlantis, and was the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman.

'Star of Tyro' – In Greek Mythology, Poseidon became full of lust for the woman Tyro, who was in love with the river God Epineus. Poseidon disguises himself as Epineus in order to seduce her.

'Hope of Alope' – Alope was a mortal woman seduced by Poseidon (does that a lot doesn't he? So do most of the male greek deities…. XD), due to her great beauty. She was also his granddaughter through the King of Eleusis Cercyon, and after being buried alive by him after begetting a son called Hippothoon, she was turned into a spring by Poseidon.

'Caeneus' Spear – Caeneus is an Argonautic hero, and also took part in the hunt of the Calydonian Boar . He was originally a woman called Caenis. The reasons behind his/her transformation vary according to sources.

Halia – means the Sun. In Greek Mythology she was a nymph, and the mother of seven children by Poseidon, including a daughter called Rhodos, after whom the island of Rhodes is named after.

Anatolia – ancient name of Asia Minor, now including most of modern Turkey.

Whew! Never thought I'd have to brush up on my Greek Mythology in a story!