Natalie didn’t really know how or why it happened. One moment she was helping out a fellow Second Generation with practicing her blocking ability, the other she was grabbing her by the throat and pushing her back so her back hit one of the punching bags behind them. Instantly realizing what she was doing, the blonde snapped back and stepped away from the girl, hands in the air defensively, who looked completely taken aback. What was it? Was it the fact that she was just really bad at not even giving it a try to do better? Was it the fact that she had a bad attitude? God knew Natalie herself had one, too. Was it something that she said about killing people and not looking back? Probably not, since Natalie made peace with that quite some time ago.
It took her a split second to grasp why did she react so impulsively. It was just something that felt like she was adding salt to the wound; she mentioned Zach’s ability and any mention of Zach had Natalie move into the twilight zone. A total blackout. It wasn’t the girl’s fault, and it wasn’t Zach’s either; Natalie herself pulled the curtain on that one. It was all her and her only -- and that made it difficult to find a scapegoat to blame.
She was sitting in her room as it was a particularly bad weather -- rain aggressively hitting the window seams as if trying to push inside. But Natalie liked it; she liked the rain and snow as opposed to heat. Yet on that evening, she had a sinking feeling that wouldn’t go away and she felt a little self-destructive. It was one of those old moments that she used to have, something that she thought went away when she left her old self behind. Something that she hadn’t experienced in way too long. Something that petrified her, isolated her from the people in her life. She was used to pushing people away whenever they got too close, but with Zach it was always the opposite; she wanted to stay close to him, as close as possible. She quite possibly loved him more than she ever loved anyone else.
So when he entered the room, a little tired but still managing to find a smile that Natalie knew was only meant for her -- her heart sank lower than ever before. That scruff and the smile and the affection that was radiating off of him and spilling right into her; it felt foreign and venomous, like something that she didn’t deserve and something that was only going to mess everything up in the long run. Here was this man, wrapping his arms around her from behind as if she was the only woman in the world, trailing kisses across the back of her neck, obviously aching for her the way she usually ached for him as well, and the only thing Natalie was able to feel was a dark pit of fear in her stomach. She couldn’t give him what he needed from her, she never could.
Natalie’s mind flashed back to the death and destruction just from a few days ago; she killed mercilessly and felt nothing. Hurting April, hurting Isobel, hurting Chris. Hurting, killing, hurting. How was she ever going to give genuine love, affection and support when she was able to pull the trigger and not care? He’ll grow older and you won’t, at least not right away, said a little tiny voice in her head that stole some breath out of her lungs. It was something they never got around to discuss, but it was just another thing on the pile of different things they’ve never talked about. ‘’We were so blinded by stealing away the moments we thought were ours to steal,’’ Came out of her mouth, as if she was only now waking up to that realization. ‘’I can’t stand before you and tell you that I love you when I never got rid of my issues that won’t let me love you, not really,’’ She felt like this was only partly true, but it came out of her like a flood.
Because she really loved him, quite possibly unconditionally, but the dark pit kept wanting to pull her in and swallow her whole. ‘’How can we love each other if we’re able to kill on order? We never gave it a thought, but what happens when I get an order to kill someone you care about? Do you think I’m able to say no? The truth is, if I don’t care about someone -- they’re as good as dead. And that’s-- that’s beyond messed up.’’ She almost laughed at herself from how damaged she was. ‘’You don’t want this.’’ She gestured towards herself. ‘’No, I don’t want this. I was so blinded all this time, I just--’’ She shook her head, pacing around the room. Then there came something from his side, a lot of trying to reason with her, a lot of yelling, a lot of swearing.
Natalie knew she sounded frantic, irrational, crazy. But what could she do when she didn’t want to be touched anymore? She didn’t want to feel the longing feeling of wanting someone and feeling it reciprocated. Was this everyone else strived to achieve? Was this what she was once striving for? She couldn’t bear the thought of tying Zach to herself out of selfishness when she was the one feeling inadequate. When you spend your life searching for a way to handle commitment and finally get that only to realize that there’s so much wrong with you... it’s either do or die, there could be no bouncing back and feeling normal. Yes, this was a mistake she was going to regret, she knew that quite well. It made no sense when the person she was letting go was her lifeline. But now, she was going to be able to do her job and not feel regretful. After all, she was always pretty good at cutting ties even when it meant losing the one person you gave your whole self to.
The pain was worse than before. Though she had practiced this with Enkara, the real thing made Mina cry out in agony.
Perhaps it was simply stronger than Enkara predicted. Or perhaps Mina had changed her trajectory just enough to throw her off the mark. No. She wouldn’t make that mistake. Not after everything they had rehearsed.
Maybe it was the anticipation of what was waiting on the other side. The agents, hybrids leading the charge. This was not the safety of the Plaza. Runa was not there to pull the plug or help her heal. This was not their experiments testing how the shield would react to her DNA. A wall between her and the only man strong enough to protect her. The only safety net she had were the Second Gen and humans loyal to them. And considering how they were already neck deep in the shit, she didn’t hold out much hope for them coming to her aid either.
Burning.
Minutes felt like hours as the air around her began to dismantle her on a cellular level. It was strange at the things that crossed her mind as she struggled to burst through to safety. What a wonderful deterrent this shield was. What clever creatures they were to make these blocks to protect themselves. How amazing it was that they were able to turn the Originals own technology, their own safety measures, against them. Brilliant really.
And how it burned.
When relief came it was short lived. Mina had neither the strength nor the will to maintain flight and dropped from the sky immediately after her body crashed through.
As if the injuries she had already sustained weren’t bad enough, Mina skidded across the roof of a long abandoned truck before crashing into a dumpster.
Perfect. Exactly as planned. Well...not exactly.
But she survived.
So far.
Mina counted her blessings as she assessed the damage to herself and began to focus everything she had left on healing. There was a reason she was the only one to do this. Her specialty would be vital now. The recovery for her would take less time than any other Original. And with the Second Gen occupied with the hybrids and agents, someone else needed to get those shields down. Failure was not an option.
Now bleeding from what seemed like everywhere and sitting on a mattress of very old, rotted trash, she barely had the strength to open her eyes. And when she did, the bright sun was too much for them. Slowly, Mina closed her eyes once more and shut out the world. If she had more energy she would have used telepathy to at least tell Vincent that she was alive. Not that it would calm his nerves much, she guessed.
Her only hope was to go unnoticed at least until she had her strength back. Well, at least some of it back. Some was better than none because the next part of her mission might even be worse than the last.
“Reports are continuing to pour in but by all accounts the operation to rid our greatest threat of their stolen prize was a success. I believe I speak for all Originals inside the city and around the globe when I express my great pride and utmost respect to all of our soldiers that participated. For some of you to put aside your own fears and hesitations to do what was clearly best for our new city, I know was difficult. It is clear that there is no weak link in this chain that has united our species. And your strength, fostered by your Original teachers, can only grow from here.
My greatest hope is this resounding success leads to a long lasting peace. I know this is a far off dream, but as these villains, these agents of oppression, have seen it futile to stand against our alliance. Once these miscreants are brought to heel then our combined dream of peace can be achieved.
I’m so very proud of all of you and so very honored to work alongside you. Congratulations on your success and on behalf of the rest of New York and the world beyond, thank you.”
Mina set down her tablet after sending the message out on their network. She wanted the other clans to hear of their success as well, so the message became global. After the disastrous riots caused by the Atlantean’s foolishness she wanted the other clans to see that New York was still will in hand. Weakness now would be an opening for the others that they definitely didn’t need.
When her assistant handed over her son she grinned and took the boy in her arms. “Bring me Inanna in the sitting room.” She told the man before standing and heading into the next room. Mina sat down on the couch and stared at the fish tank in front of her, the one Vincent had installed during her pregnancy. It had been a full week since she had heard from him or any of the others with him. Not even one word. Mina had grown so furious that it felt like her emotions had almost reset themselves. She had become so angry at him that she just stopped caring, or at least feeling. Mina still did care, probably too much. But he had left he alone with the twins in an active war zone with no way of communicating with him. She was disgusted by the level of disrespect that he showed toward her, but even more so at the arrogance that she’d simply wait around for him to return whenever he was ready.
When Inanna was brought into her Mina shuffled Alulim to the other arm and held both infants close. “Purse, I’d like you to do something for me.” Though she spoke like it was request it clearly wasn’t which both parties knew. “You’ll take a message to my husband. Tell Vincent to send home Alexander when he’s finished his vacation. The boy has earned it. But the rest of them are... no longer welcomed in New York. Everything here is handled, better than before. The queens have taken over the city and we are no longer needing any assistance from the rest of you.”
Even with as much as she had manipulated his mind he knew that this message was trouble and was reluctant to deliver it. Mina noted her assistant’s fear and locked eyes with him. “And please return my Purse unharmed. There, are you happy now?” He nodded.
“Good. I’ll have you flown into the country. I’m sure they won’t be hard to track down once you’re there.” Mina was sure that there was a path of destruction ripped through the poor country from the rogue Originals. They certainly wouldn’t be trying to hide anything. “Take some time to observe after you have delivered my message then return to me. I’ll be retiring to the cabin with my sister for now. I think it’s the safest place for the twins for now.”
Mina dismissed Purse and sat back with her children. After feeding them both she stood and went into the nursery. The twins were quickly changed and dressed. Mina was thankful that she had her abilities. Taking care of two infants alone was difficult enough with them. After putting them to bed Mina started to pack. She needed to get out of the city. Now.
It was a typical maintenance day for Chris. Every week he could be found up at the top of the water trap making sure everything was working properly and nothing had damaged or destroyed their main source of water. It was his pride and joy - his child, basically. The one project he really had to take his mind off of everything. And, like any typical maintenance day, everything seemed to be working smoothly, which was a good thing for Chris. Certain pieces of it were hard to come by and most of it he had made from scratch. The less work he had to do, the better.
Chris was inspecting the opening of the trap, checking the opening for cracks and making sure that the filter was seated firmly. If that filter slipped or cracked in anyway then it could cause damage to the rest of the trap. If it became too loose it would fall and hit the other filters on the way and destroy the rest of the trap - something he could not afford to have happen. Thankfully it appeared to be in working order and everything was still screwed in tight.
The one thing he did notice, however, was how dirty the inside seemed to be. No big deal - water running down a pipe was bound to leave some residue. This was normal and his cleaning days were more frequent with the heat starting to rise. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a rag to start wiping up the residue...
His hand felt the vial - the one Vincent had given him. As his fingers brushed up against the cold glass something came over him. His hands were not his own as they pulled out the vial, nor were these his own willful actions as he removed the top and laced the contents of the vial in the filter like Vincent had instructed. This was not the real Chris - this was the puppet the Originals had created within him - dormant until they needed it. Once the vial was emptied Chris placed threw the vial off the roof, away from the building towards the still emptied homes nearby.
With a few blinks Chris looked back at the water trap, not completely sure as to what just happened or why he was looking elsewhere. The last few moments were gone to him, not that he was aware. With a shrug he went back to cleaning the trap, completely oblivious to the ruin he had just caused.
Mina slipped out right after the twins feeding as soon as they both fell asleep. She didn’t want to leave them or Vincent, but she knew she’d regret not going. Part of her wanted to take Vincent with her. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, so she didn’t but the thought did cross her mind as she walked the empty streets alone. Rarely did she have time alone since the twins were born which was fine with her. She liked spending her days bossing people around from her tablet while cuddling with the twins and her mate. Being so busy with the babies was also a good distraction from the serious events that have occurred in her life recently.
Mina hadn’t realized how far she traveled. Her feet knew the way without her even having to think about it. The minutes turned to hours seemingly in the blink of eye. The sun moved across the sky heating up the streets. It was by no means sweltering but much more humid than back at New York. Had she been in a different state of mind, Mina would be concerned with her hair, her appearance, anything that could be affected by the weather. But her focus was sharp and targeting one place.
The memory that Jack had shown her of one his homes was many decades old but from the looks of the place it hadn’t changed at all since he had left. Using her senses she made sure it was empty before unlocking the door and stepping inside. The furnishings had changed, not surprising considering human fabrics weren’t even meant to last for their whole lifetime.
Mina closed her eyes and heightened her senses even more. His smell had long ago dissipated from the room. Despite rationally knowing that’d be the case there was still a small hope in the very back of her mind that there would be something in that home of him. But there wasn’t. Mina spent a few more minutes roaming the building until she heard the residents returning. Not wanting company in that moment, she slipped out unnoticed and continued on down the street.
She had hoped that visiting the places Jack had showed her would make her feel something. Instead she just felt numb like the past months had been just a dream and she’d wake up any second. Mina was just about to return back to Vincent and the twins when she spotted through the buildings the clear blue water of the Mediterranean. Levitating up, she made a quick break for the beach.
Landing on sand, she was giddy with excitement. The breeze off the ocean refreshed her. The color of the water did match her eyes. It was everything she had heard from her mother and more. Since Mina left home she had wanted to see the Mediterranean. Jack had promised to go with her.
Then it hit her. All at once.
Mina crumpled to the sand, body wracked with sobs. Hands clutched at the cool sand, grinding it between closed fists. She wanted to rip apart that beach and tear down the whole country. Electricity surged through her body down into the ground turning the sand into glass then crushing it under her.
It was an explosive display of emotion. Emotions that she had been unable to deal with in the weeks prior due to everything happening around her and to her. Not just Jack’s death, but Vincent’s scare, their children’s birth, losing a large section of the city, learning the truth of Atlantis, and those all lost in the middle. All of it piled up until she screamed for a release, a release triggered by the sight of the simple life she had wanted. A home by the sea with a family that adored her and a place she felt she belonged. A place that Jack had promised her in the past.
Damn that man.
He had been her anchor in a sea of uncertainty after she was set adrift alone. When even her own family wouldn’t take her back Jack never hesitated keeping her close. Even when she felt like a leper. When Mina warned him of her wickedness he had laughed and pulled her close. When she was selfish and cruel he kept his distance but never strayed far. Even when she broke off part of their relationship, loved another man over him, started a family with that other man; Jack had given his word that he would still be there for her. But he wasn’t there. Not by his own choice, but that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t there. He didn’t get to see her babies or who they would grow to be. She wouldn’t have him to guide her through this greatest part of her life, and it infuriated her.
Of all the people that deserved to die, all the expendable lives that could have been sacrificed instead of Jack, it never should have been him. Mina needed his softness. There wasn’t enough softness in the world. Everyone had to be so hard. She had to always be so hard and guarded. Every action had to be calculated and considered. Every move had an alternate reasoning behind it. It was exhausting.She was exhausted just thinking about making this her life forever.
Jack’s killer was punished for his crime but even that didn’t seem to be enough. It didn’t bring him back. It didn’t make her feel any better. She was glad Kino had suffered and would do it again if the situation arose no matter what Vincent said. Even watching the Atlanteans humbled by their mistake in Temen was a hallow victory.
An hour passed and Mina had finally roped in her emotions. She looked like a wreck and for the first time in her life she didn’t care. Mina wiped her eyes with hand and stood. Her knees were bloody from the sand turned glass, but immediately began to heal as she started off home.
Choosing to fly home, she landed outside of the room her and Vincent shared. Walking through the babies room, she picked up her son from his crib. Without a word she moved to where Vincent was sitting trying to get Inanna to settle down and crawled into his lap, careful to make sure there was a enough room for all three. Mina rested her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
Mina’s eyes popped open when she felt the pressure. It wasn’t painful, not at first, but instead felt like gravity was pulling everything inside her down to her toes. She struggled to sit up and felt her first true contractions along with a wetness on the bed where she had been sleeping. Her water broke while she was asleep.
“It’s happening,” she sent a message telepathically first to Vincent who was beside her and then to the rest of the clan. Mina wanted the twins birth to play out much differently but with Vincent still weak from his injuries she needed more help.
Unlike the false labor that she had occasional felt in the last week these contractions were much more intense and occurred at regular intervals. The pain increased and nothing she did to lessen them worked. Mina tried to move around the room they had set up for her to give birth in for as long as she could stand.
Hours passed and the pain just became worse and worse. During one particularly bad set of contractions Mina accidentally broke the arm of a human caregiver. She hadn’t even noticed what she had done until they whisked the woman out of the room with her arm wrapped in a towel. Only Originals got within her reach after that.
Mina was already exhausted by the time she was ready to push. Luckily, once it was time the first baby was born quickly. Her son was born at 4:52 am on August 16, 2015. He scream and screamed while they were cleaning him off. One of the nurses held him over for Mina to see. He stopped screaming and stared up at her. Mina could hardly contain her joy. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. She was immediately head over heels in love with him. “Hello, pretty boy.” Ignoring the pain form more contractions, Mina reached over and rubbed his tiny hand with her finger. “Welcome to the world.”
She wanted desperately to hold him but her focus needed to be on the birth of her daughter. Mina was not out of the woods yet; however, meeting her son gave her a much needed energy boost. “Alilum,” she told the nurse his name before looking over at Vincent set up in the corner of the room. She wished they could touch and share the moment together but he still needed to heal before his full range of motion was restored. “He doesn’t leave this room.” She turned her attention back to the nurse who gave a nod. Mina’s look alone made it clear that there would be no negotiations. Her children wouldn’t leave her sight for a moment.
Alilum’s sister was born ten minutes later. Her cries made her brother’s sound like a whisper, and they didn’t stop even after Mina pulled herself back on the bed to lay down and finally hold both of the twins. After being on all fours for most of the labor her whole body almost melted into the bed, every muscle finally able to rest and recover. Luckily, her specialty meant that her time needed to heal would be cut in half even compared to other Originals. Sleep would be the best thing for that but right now Mina just wanted to hold them.
Her daughter was placed on her arms still screaming away. Mina inspected every inch of her, memorizing every part. “Yes, yes, let them hear you.” She whispered to the baby, her finger rubbing her chubby little arm.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” The nurse stayed at the side of the bed and folded her hands. “Her name?”
Mina tore her attention away from her tiny girl and locked eyes with Vincent. It was the happiest and proudest moment of her life. Finally she had a family, rebuilt and made just the way she wanted it. Mina paused and smiled. “Inanna. Now bring me her brother.”
The last thing Vincent remembered was Damon kneeling down next to him and loosing the connection to Mina. He had been dragged down into darkness, emptiness, weightlessness. At first there was nothing but silence and Vincent thought that this was finally the end. Through six thousand years he’d seen the rise and fall of empires, many of his own making and destruction, been through some of the most famous battles history had ever seen and still he had never been injured this badly. He never thought his end would come because of the actions of his own people, by the hands of other Originals. His life had been dedicated to saving them from not only the humans but from themselves as well. It would have made him sick to the stomach if he’d still have control over his body.
Time was no longer a concept he could grasp. Vincent had no idea how long he had been like this, if he was alive or dead. If this is what happened to the energy of a consciousness once the body had died then he knew he hoped that he was still alive. The peace would be comforting for a time, finally getting to rest but there was so much he had left behind. It would eventually become unbearable, not knowing what was happening to his family would drive him mad. Perhaps he would just fade away, but how long would he have to endure that pain?
This kind of peace, this quietness was also something he tried to achieve with his meditation. Now that he had it though, he didn’t want it. It was as if he was in a mental prison. His mind was restless; it was constantly going over plans, ideas, thoughts, the future he may never get to see. Most of his thoughts were centered on Mina, his unborn children and his brother. Had they been born yet? Had Mina been able to survive childbirth without him or was she trapped in this possible afterlife alone like he was? Would Damon be able to protect them? Would they be able to bring the clans together to put the abominations of Atlantis’ lies to rest?
There were bouts of a sleep like state that came over him when it would finally go quiet for a time but how long either of them lasted was something he couldn’t grasp. Sometimes the silence was welcomed just to end the continuous streams of negative thoughts and emotions. And sometimes it seemed to last so long that he was glad to go back to his thoughts.
It was during one of these lengthy periods that the darkness slowly started to change. Vincent was still surrounded by nothingness but it wasn’t empty anymore, there seemed to be some sort of lightness to it as opposed to the feeling that he was being held down before. Was this what people had described as moving on? No, he wouldn’t accept that, he wasn’t ready for that. There was still so much for him to do.
There were no more periods of silence, his thoughts were with him at all times now unless he wanted to stop them. There was less uneasiness accompanied with the new sate and he felt like himself even if he was still confined to his own mind.
Slowly his senses began to come back to him. First was smell. It was the most basic grasp on it though, nothing that compared to what it had been. But it was the most welcomed sensation he’d ever had and Vincent was filled with hope. He was alive. Next was sound and again it was faint but he could hear someone near him, hear what sounded like whispers and eventually recognized it as Mina’s voice. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard and he clung to it even if he couldn’t make out what she was most of the time.
For the time being those were the only two signs of life that he was given. He had no control of his body, he couldn’t open his eyes, feel anything. But once he knew that he was still alive he tried to focus on healing himself but he had no access to any of his abilities. He couldn’t reach out telepathically, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. It made him want to scream in frustration. Vincent hadn’t felt so frustrated and afraid before in his life.
Adamen straightened his robes and stepped in front of the camera. It was the last hope for his reign that he avoid a search of Atlantis at all cost. Once word returned to him that Kino had been discovered Adamen knew it was only a matter of time before the mainland Originals came knocking down his door asking the important question. He had to dispose of Temen before that happened, wash away the evidence of what he had to do to survive under the ocean.
He wasn’t mad, but knew that his actions would paint him as some power hungry monster. Adamen would not hear judgement from anyone that did not spend time with them. All those years of chaos had soured everyone. The actions that were taken by him and his loyal followers were necessary.
Good people, on behalf of all of Atlantis and my family I would like to personally offer my condolences for your loss. Although I did not know Valik I am well aware of his reputation as a good man and a great warrior. It is a true devious crime when someone so brave and strong is taken from us too soon. I am ashamed to say that the killer of this great man was one of my own.
After receiving word that the sentence of death was already carried out on Kino at first I admit I felt relief. It was my great hope that with the killer destroyed we would be able together move past this violence. However, Kino was of Atlantis and I’m aware the light that shines on my home. I would have loved to cooperate with the rulers of Beletum and Shubure once it was revealed that it was my subject that cut down Valik in cold blood but unfortunately hasty actions by his family and the Beletum Queen prevented me from assisting.
While I don’t believe my Original brothers and sisters wished to put Atlantis in a negative light it appears that is exactly what has happened. For this reason I am temporarily closing the passages to Atlantis. We won’t be allowing anyone in or out of the city until we can assure that our people are not endanger from further retaliation. Like the rest of you, we are simply trying to survive which, if nothing else, is something we all have in common.
After he finished his message to New York and the camera turned off Adamen sighed, his shoulders slumping from the weight of his secrets. The one positive to come from this was that no matter what happened this was no longer his burden to bear.
His eyes shifted to his second in command standing closest to him waiting for instructions. “Open the gates. It’s time to end this.” The man didn’t move and instead stared with wide eyes at his king. Adamen turned to gaze out the window at his city. “It has to be done. Flood Temen, kill them all. If there’s any justice left they’ll die quickly.” He heard the snap of his second’s boots as they hit together as he exited the room leaving Adamen alone with his thoughts, a terrible punishment.
