Chief Burns: “Hey Doc, how’s the professor doing?”
Doc Greene: “Ah, Anna is doing alright. Though seems that being down inside the Midgard has …compromised her immune system due to being in a stabilized and controlled environment.”
Chief Burns: “Meaning?”
Professor Baranova in the background: “IS THIS HOW I DIE??? I CAN FEEL MYSELF DECAYING!”
Chief Burns: “..Is she?-“
Doc Greene: “She’s currently sick with the flu. This has to be the first time she’s caught in over 28 years and is especially straining on her mental state.”
Professor Baranova, super delirious right now: “TELL THEM TO PUBLISH MY PAPERS!!!l
Chief Burns: “..I can hear.”
Doc Greene: “I’m currently preparing chicken soup for her, Dither and Frankie are keeping an eye on her temperature. She keeps trying to get into the labs and not resting.”
Here's some stuff regarding Logan's outfits and accessories! I'll start planning his personality shortly after I figure out what's in his duffle bag. By the way, I'm open to personality trait suggestions. What do y'all think so far?
Wait so are you telling me that story from the scroll wasn’t fictional?”
“I don’t ever recall telling you that it was.”
“Oh…wait…so do stars actually look like that? A dark cloud with glowing eyes and a multitude of voices or was that a creative liberty you took?”
“Creative liberty, of course, in reality we stars usually look far worse.”
“Worse?” she repeated. “Even you?”
“I’m not sure why I’d be excluded from that, but yes, even me. There’s a reason why we’re so…particular about the way we look when we’re around humans…”
“Finally,” she grinned. “A form of you that isn’t ridiculously handsome. Now I actually kind of want to see-”
“Finally a form of me that isn’t ridiculously handsome?” he repeated, staring at her in silence before the true meaning of her worsd began to sink in to both of them. She hadn’t meant it lke that! But the grin that slowly spread across the star’s face told her that she was now in for a world of trouble.
“Asha-,” he sang.
“I’ve never been one to ask a building to collapse on me before,” she grumbled as she tried to ignore how her face burned.
“Do you think I’m handsome?” The wicked little star was enjoying this. “It’s okay if you do. I think you’re really pretty too~,”
She shook her head, quickly taking a step back as she’d cursed the tightness of their air bubble. “Ha, ha, no, no, I never meant that you were handsome, you see what I was trying to say was that-,”
“That?” the star repeated. “Go on Asha, tell me what you were trying to say.” He was enjoying this wasn’t he?
“Scratch that, I hope the building collapses on both of us.”
“Is this you showing your strong feelings for my form again? I knew you liked it but to call me ridiculously handsome-,”
“I am politely asking you,” she called while staring at the partially collapsed ceiling. “To please do it. Just make it quick.”
“Ha! Listen to me princess, very few things in this universe could kill you while I'm around, but I'm afraid this building isn't one of them,” he flippantly waved his hand as he leaned away from her.
Incredibly Rough Snippet that I'm going to take down by the end of the day (at midnight) because it may or may not be in the final cut...
She wasn’t imagining it. The writing had seemed less observational, and more…educational. Who had the writer been talking to? They’d wanted someone to remember something, someone who was a human, or what Tau had called…starblood.
She had yet to figure out who, or rather what a ‘starblood’ was, but the journal had made it sound as if they were more than human, yet not quite stars. Whatever they were or had been was enough to make Tau Vitrius uneasy, as he’d written about not informing the starbloods of the astronomers’ mistake.
But what had the mistake been and why had they insisted on hiding it from the starbloods? The journal’s writer had made it sound as if they’d been something more akin to allies than enemies.
But the journal had shown no indication of existence when Tau’s entries had. If anything, it had probably predated his writings, as the astronomers still had contact with the stars at the time of the journal’s creation. So what had happened?
The question loomed as she turned the pages. Her eyes half heartedly scanning the words and drawings until landing on one in particular.
She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed it before, given how good it had looked in comparison to all the sketches and drawings that had come both before and after. But if she’d ever doubted that there’d been two authors of this journal than that doubt had died down now.
The drawing had depicted a young man, one that looked frighteningly identical to the star who’d accompanied her and her Saba to town today.
Could it be? But this drawing looked older. The young man had looked as if he was nearing his mid twenties, with all the playful and teasing traces of Cepheus’s face gone, effectively replaced with a solemn sharpness that had been exclusive to the statues of Greek gods.
Why did he look so different?
He was handsome, and if her translation was correct he was also named…Sirius. ‘Your friend, T!’ The second writer’s comment read.
So the star really was Sirius!!! She’d been suspecting it before, but now she was-
((I'm working on having the chapter out by next week but I make no promises!))
“How did it end?” She asked, feeling the sea breeze gently push her braids. The scene around them re-materialized as she stood at the edge of the gloomy shoreline. “Cepheus?” She called, looking around as she noticed he was no longer with her. “I- Cepheus!”
“Right here, my dear,” he called from beside her. “Sorry about that, I nearly lost you there.” He smiled, his eyes glowing the same moody blues and greens as the cloudy sky overhead. “I take it you don’t want to see it? The war I mean.”
She shook her head, “Not particularly. I was just curious to know whether or not they won.”
“They did,” he answered, after a moment or so of thought. “But it wasn’t easy.” He knelt down in the sand as his finger lazily traced lines within it. The ships flying overhead neared, their forms far more reminiscent of griffins as she watched them disappear into the distance. “From what I gather the Atlanteans have always had one of two strategies when it came to dealing with their enemies. Thanks to their superior technology they’d always been able to eviscerate an enemy headfirst. But that strategy didn’t work thanks to, ah-,”
“Allepac?” Asha finished. Something about the name had felt…familiar to her, she just couldn’t determine what it was exactly.
“Yes, her.”
“So what was the second strategy?”
“Long-term warfare. You see, in war, the goal isn’t always to decimate the other forces so much as it is to merely tire your enemy out from fighting. It’s how smaller forces usually persist against larger ones. And given the fact that the Atlanteans could live up to hundreds if not thousands of years without aging. Then you could see why this strategy had worked so well.”
“Alright. So how did Erlan and his forces win?”
“Ha,” he chuckled as he looked back to the ocean. “You see. It was like Erlan said. Atlantis wasn’t just at war with one nation. They were at war with a world where Allepac had managed to level the playing field. Erlan’s people had embraced Allepac with open arms, and because of her, they aged slower and grew smarter. With the help of the other nations, they fought Atlantis. The Atlantean king wanted to end the war rather quickly in an ultimate display of Atlantis’s might, so he built a weapon.” His fingers traced the sand, “but on the day the weapon was supposed to be deployed. Something happened. Some claim it was an error on the Atlantean’s part. Others claim the heart of Atlantis, their power source, caused the weapon to misfire.”
A shiver ran down her spine as she tried to fathom just how powerful the weapon could’ve been.“Why would it do that?”
“Why would what do what?” he asked, looking back at her.
“Why would the heart destroy its own empire?”
“Because its people were on the verge of destroying the world. You saw how they were treating others....The Atlanteans had grown arrogant and disrespectful. ”
“Yes” she nodded. “But I didn’t think it would matter that much to something of supernatural origin!”
“Well depending on which version you read or who you ask, it did. Either way, the war ended with Atlantis’s capital city settling on the bottom of the ocean.”
The thought of a whole city sitting on the bottom of the ocean terrified her as she tried to shake the visual from her mind.
“They’re not dead yet if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Oh…” she wasn’t sure if that revelation relieved or unnerved her. They were alive, most likely due to the ‘heart’ which was good, but then they were trapped on the bottom of the sea, which was bad. She supposed that’s why it was mythology, wasn’t it? Where the ending grew more bittersweet the more the reader pondered it.
“Did you enjoy the story?” the star’s voice asked, cutting through the silence.
She nodded. Her attention more on the distant waves than the glowing figure beside her. “I did, but I just don’t understand...”
“What do you not understand?”
She turned to him. “I mean, they won, which is great, but what about this story interested the astronomers and the celestial courts so much? Nothing about it makes any sense, unless…Those beings…the heart of Atlantis and Allepac…Were they stars?”
Cepheus hesitated, his gaze not meeting hers.
She stepped back, unsure if confusion or amazement had filled her as she tried to piece it together. “They were, weren’t they?” She’d whispered. “They’re stars, just like you.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Cepheus interjected as his smile shrank.
“But they were called primordius asterions or something along those lines, weren’t they?”
“You mean Primorus Asteriun?” Cepheus corrected.
“Yeah, that. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled.
“But it’s just like how Erlan explained it, primorus has ties to the word primordial, and Asteriun must be related to stars. Primordial star-,” she paused. “Wait…didn’t you mention the primordial ones as stars that weren’t safe for humans to wish on?!” Her eyes widened as she nodded. Rising to her feet, she began to pace the shoreline. “It all makes sense! First, they call her a primordial star, and then her power turns Erlan’s eyes silver. Just like there’s a silver court…and then it said that the heart had been one of them…but blue! Just like the blue court! They have to be stars! But…what stars are they?” she’d paused, frowning as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “there’s no Allepac in the sky.” Then she turned back to the star at her side, “so what are their names?”
“Names?” he repeated. His eyes did not meet hers. “I don’t know what you mean….”
She shook her head, scowling, “Yes you do! I want to know why they’d lie about their names!”
He shrugged, “Asha. names are sacred to the primordial ones and not something to be taken lightly….If she said her name was Allepac, then it’s probably Allepac.”
“Don’t lie to me Cepheus! You know it’s not her real name! There is no Allepac!” she cried, frustration filling her as she snapped, “You’ve already shown me this much! Why not just be honest about it?”
“Because I didn’t think you’d be paying attention,” he confessed as he leaned back, yawning. “You’re certainly better than most. Usually, people focus more on the visuals than the story itself.”
She huffed, still unsatisfied with his answer as she scribbled the words ‘Allepac’ and ‘Agirua’ in the sand. Wait…how hadn’t she seen it earlier?!…Agirua was Auriga backward! And Allepac was- “Capella?” she spoke as Cepheus tensed from beside her. “Cepheus, Please. ” she pleaded as the grin on his face disappeared. “You’ve been the only person who’s been at least semi-transparent with me lately!”
“That’s unfortunate,” he grimaced.
“I know, but what can I do?” she sighed as she sat back in the sand beside him.
“You can ask for better.”
“From the royal family and nobles of Rosas?” She shook her head. “Haha, I don’t think so.”
“You know Asha, when you think about it…don’t you and Erlan have a lot in common?”
She’d been half tempted to joke about the king taking wishes instead of souls until she thought better of it. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you and Erlan are both peasants who are taken advantage of by a royal family that you have connections to via your fathers. You both are often ignored despite your genuine efforts to improve the lives of others-,”
“I think that’s just an unfortunate coincidence,” Asha frowned.
“-And you both are looking to restore a past era of your kingdom that you deem superior. One that guides and inspires you. The only difference between you is that Erlan made a wish and look where it got him-” he flexed his hand as the beach turned to mist around them, before solidifying. Now she could see they were in the castle. A much older Erlan, now dressed in royal robes with a crown on his head, stood before a mural.
“Erlan,” a muffled voice called out as a beautiful woman walked into view. Her jet-black hair with silver streaks had been done into a beautiful bun that neatly sat beneath a crown of her own.
Erlan’s eyes lit up as he turned to her. He gently took her hands in his as he gently kissed the back of her knuckles. Her scarlet-painted lips smiled as she laughed, and took his hand to rest on her swollen abdomen.
Curiosity filled her as she caught sight of the woman’s bright silver eyes. Given what Cepheus had said about Allepac’s interference, there was a good chance that most of Erlan’s subjects had silver eyes like the king. But there’d been something startling about this woman’s eyes as they almost appeared to be glowing.
She couldn’t hear what they were saying as he pulled her into his arms. Holding her as they soaked in the silence.
The world blurs and mists as the sounds of the beach and ocean quickly return leaving her unhappy.
She’d done everything she could and played by the rules to try to help her people, and what did she have to show for it? Absolutely nothing, well save for the star that she was still unsure of. Then there’d been Erlan who’d only by sheer luck, defiance, and a desperate wish ended up running into a creature who just so happened to be the solution to all of his problems.
How was that fair?!
Sure she’d wanted things to improve for his people. No one deserved to live under those conditions. But to hear the star himself point it out deeply irked her in a way she couldn't understand
.
“You know, you always make wishes sound like a good thing,” she crossly spoke, waving away the remaining faint wisps of smoke.
“Aren’t they?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Maybe to a star, but wishes are only born out of the absence or lack of something. Here Erlan only made his wish because he and his people were suffering. If they’d been content and happy, there’d be no need to wish for more.”
“I suppose…that is true,” the star conceded with a slow nod as the wind swept away the remnants of mist. “But I also don’t think you’re giving his wish enough credit. A wish can be a very powerful thing Asha, not only in its contents but what it can accomplish, and tell you about the person who made it. Yes, you can call this Erlan reckless and headstrong, but you could argue he was also selfless and compassionate for his people. He was willing to risk everything to ensure they’d received better. Wouldn’t you want that too?”
“Well, yeah, but you’re missing a crucial difference between me and Erlan,” Asha started as she gestured towards the castle. “Erlan is a king. He inherited powers from a royal bloodline and had parents with a prestigious legacy he needed to live up to. He’s practically the textbook example for your usual mythological ‘chosen one’” Her voice echoed into the night as frustration began to fill her. ”Sure he sold his soul- but I mean look at how everything and I mean nearly everything worked out for him! I’m not like him! I’m not from a special bloodline. I’m just a peasant, from a regular family, who does regular things, with no luck to speak of. But do you know what I would do if I had a tenth of his luck?!” Cepheus had said nothing as she’d deflated, trying to calm herself.
Slowly she sank to her feet as she drew her knees to her chest, sighing. She’d nearly apologized for yelling when the star slowly began to speak. “You’re right,” his voice was low, maybe even meticulous. “You do need more luck, don’t you? But that’s what you have me for.”
“What?” she paused, looking towards him.
He smiled, lowering himself so she could feel the warmth that radiated from him. “I can level the playing field for you. Just like how Allepac did for Erlan. I can make all of your wants and deepest desires a reality. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
It…did sound nice. But then wouldn’t anything sound nice after the meeting she had with the king and his advisors earlier?
“And isn’t it only fair that little Asha deserved to see at least one of her dreams come to fruition?”
She shook her head, and rose to her feet. Her arms instinctively wrapped around herself as she shivered, “No…no. I think you’ve got it all wrong.”
“Do I?”
She looked away, back to the kingdom in the distance as she answered. “Yes…What I want to do and achieve, isn’t about me. It’s about the future and technology of Rosas. The people deserve better!”
“And who are you to decide what this ‘better’ looks like?” he’d asked. Had it been anyone else, she would have been offended. But she could tell from the genuine curiosity of his tone that he hadn’t meant any harm by saying it. Or at least she’d hoped he hadn’t.
“Well…Sure I’m not the king-,” she started.
“-But so many other countries have amazing technology. That I wish the people of Rosas had as well. Sure we might not need it as much as they do because we have a powerful king. But most of the people are too complacent and dependable on the king who won’t be around forever.”
“You’re right. He won’t. I suppose after he dies his heir will assume the throne as per tradition,” Cepheus’s eyes widened as he looked at her knowingly. “But hadn’t that been one of your wishes? To be involved with the prince?”
Her cheeks burned as she looked away, “being a princess was and still is the wish of any girl in Rosas. Power aside, a lot of people do like the prince.”
“I see,” Cepheus hummed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “You know, if you wanted, I could give him to you.”
She did a double take. “P-pardon? What do you mean by…give him to me?”
The star sweetly smiled. “I could make him fall for you-,”
She fervently shook her head. “No, you can’t! You can’t just make people fall in love!”
“Really?” his eyes glowed. “Because I beg to differ. Now all you, or rather he, would need is a curse.”
“A curse?!” she shrieked.
“Yes, a rather potent one. What?” He asked, taking note of the questioning look she’d given him. “Everyone knows that most if not all princes are either cursed or live in a cursed kingdom.” He rubbed his hands together. “Now then, should I use a large curse or a small one? Goodness, there are certainly a lot of options! Aren’t there?” he’d asked excitedly.
“WHAT?!” She screeched. “What are you talking about?!”
He shook his head, “Yeah, you’re right. I should go with a big one, maybe continent level. For good luck.” The star hummed thoughtfully, blissfully ignoring the shrieks and screams of the panicking girl before him. “Maybe I should curse him so that he’s stuck as a bird…” His eyes turned to hers, practically blazing with laughter. “How does a chicken sound?”
“Nope! No! You are not cursing the prince or the kingdom to become anything!”
“Why not? Don’t you think you deserve to be a princess? Perhaps even a queen someday?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t. In fact, that’s a pretty bold assumption on your part. Thinking that I deserve anything.”
His smile disappeared. “What do you mean?”
“Look at me, Cepheus. I’m not rich nor influential like the nobles or royal family of Rosas. I’m not impactful or capable like my co-workers.” Her eyes lowered as she took a step away from him.
Cepheus’s nose crinkled, “If it makes you feel any better, Asha. I wouldn’t call your coworkers that capable-,”
“That’s only because you haven’t seen what they can do! What most people in Rosas have the potential to do!” He didn’t look as if he believed her as she continued, this time pacing the shoreline again. “No one remembers or cares about me! Not the officials, not the nobles. Not the painters, heck, not even Rosas’s top playmaker who lives and breathes all things Royal family related knew I existed. ME!” She’d let out a sound of frustration as she sat back down in the sand.
Cepheus quietly sat beside her as she stared at the ocean, confessing, “When I was younger and the apprentices were originally discovered, rumors had arisen that the king would bestow noble titles and blessings on their families as his thanks for their children offering their services to him. All of their families have become affluent, all, save for mine.” She sighed, unable to meet his eyes. “Do you know what it’s like to embarrass your family like that? All because you don’t have powers? It’s like no matter what you do, you’re always letting them down because you’re not good enough.”
“I don’t think you let your family down,” he’d gently objected.
“Cepheus. I’m an embarrassment to everyone. Both to my community and to my family. No one ever gets as excited about me as they do for my other co-workers…” She sighed, feeling as Valentino nudged her gently while her birds chirped.
“I doubt that. I mean look at how the people cheered for you at the market. They all seemed proud and happy for you.”
She smiled, petting Valentino. “That was because the king gave me his ‘approval’. I bet you that’ll all change after they see me at the ball fumbling about because I am literally the worst ballroom dancer in all of Rosas.”
“Wait, you can’t waltz?”
She scowled at him. “Hey now, I didn’t say that I couldn’t. I just said that I wasn’t very good at it. There’s a difference you know-,”
“But a ball-,” now, he was standing. His glowing eyes were full of excitement. “Asha, that's wonderful!”
“Haha, you certainly have a lot to learn about Earth my friend,” she said as she rose to her feet. “This ball is going to be terrible.”
“Why? Is it because you can’t dance-,”
“NO Cepheus, it’s not because I can’t dance. I’m an excellent dancer. Dancing is like science, but waltzing is like magic. So it has never been my area of expertise!”
“I’m good at magic!” the star called. “If you want, I could help you with waltzing-,”
“What?”
“I’m a great waltzer you know.”
She pointed to him. “You?”
“Um, yes! Me. You can ask any star. When the ladies need their dance card filled, I’m usually the man they fight over.”
She looked at him in disbelief. She could buy girls wanting to dance with him. Maybe even fight for him. But it was just the part that involved him of all beings, getting invited to formal events that confused her.
“Wait- the celestial court throws balls?”
He nodded, “Yes. They throw many balls all year round for different occasions of course! But the most prominent ones are during the equinox, where the courts host lavish events. Especially balls. You should attend one!”
Yeah, she didn’t know if she could or should do that… But curiosity quickly got the better of her as she asked, “So in your personal opinion, which one of these courts hosts the best balls?”
“Well, they all have their different strengths and weaknesses. The golden, or rather yellow court is the largest one so their balls tend to be the liveliest. The silver court’s ball tends to be the most dignified, and the blue court’s ball tends to be the most regal and elaborate…”
“And the crimson court?”
He didn’t answer.
Alright then. She supposed she’d try a different question. “Which ball is the best one to attend for a human like me?”
“The safest one would probably be one of the smaller ones held by the golden court,” he answered. “But I could see you enjoying a ball held by the silver court. Possibly. Maybe.”
“Really?” She blinked in surprise. He really thought she’d enjoy a ball being surrounded by stars like Allepac? Hmm, maybe he didn’t like her as much as she’d thought. “And you get regularly invited to these balls? Be honest Cepheus.”
“Not to brag, but I’m usually one of the first few to receive their invites. I suppose you could say I’m a must-have at the top of their mailing lists.”
She’d looked at him with a half smile, “Really? A star peasant?”
He’d flinched like she’d poked him with her stick again. “You know, in some courts, the hierarchy doesn’t matter all that much.”
“So it seems,” she nodded, remembering his complete lack of regard for said hierarchy during his time in the market. But her mind slowly wandered back to the misty outline of the castle. “Like which ones?”
“Oh you know,” he shrugged. “A few of the minor ones.”
“Minor ones? Like minor courts?”
“Yeah, they’re smaller, more recently formed courts. Sometimes ruled by relatives, or offsprings of alpha stars. They tend to form alliances with one or more major courts. They give the major courts some of their resources, and constellations and train the younger star members in exchange for power and protection. But they’re more involved with other galaxy politics so not too many of them come to Earth.”
“I see,” she’d nodded, making a mental note of that. Maybe he was a member from one of these minor courts who’d allied with the yellow and blue court. But a minor court didn’t sound fitting for a star that was Sirius. “Cepheus,” she’d started once more.
“Hmm?”
“What did you think of the story?”
“Me?” he’d pointed to himself as she nodded. He shrugged as he almost looked…displeased. “Honestly. It was okay. A little different from the versions I’ve read in the intergalactic archives, but that’s pretty on par for a story like this anyway.”
“What did you think of them? Allepac and the heart of Atlantis I mean.”
He’d shrugged, “The ancestral beings? They exist, or existed, I guess.”
“Were either of them related to you?”
“Related to me?” he repeated as his eyes narrowed and he laughed. “Noooo, don’t Erlan me, Asha. There are billions if not trillions of us. And contrary to popular opinion, most of us aren’t related. Heck, most of us can’t even tolerate each other’s presence that much to begin with.”
“Really?” she asked. “Like which ones?”
“Well,” he started. “Granted their relationship is somewhat tolerable now, but back then as you can see in the story-,” He frowned, his voice trailing off as he looked past her, off into the distance.
“What?” she asked, looking around as the surrounding beach began to blur and meld.
“Do you have a name? Anything I could call or remember you by?”
“A name is not needed.”
“But it’s wanted. C’mon, you don’t even have to tell me what your real name is. I just think anything is better than calling you, well, ‘you’.”
He’d nearly mistaken its silence for an answer before it replied, “Allepac Agirua,”
“What?”
“You may call us Allepac if you wish.”
“Oh…Allepac…Is that a male or female name?”
Its eyes narrowed as he bristled, practically feeling its annoyance from its ledge near the top of the mountain. “I’m sorry!” he stammered. “I mean, you speak with several voices, and I’ve never really gotten a good look too…you know….I didn’t want to-,”
“Female,” it answered, the woman’s voice sounding particularly loud.
“Wait…So you’re female?”
“The name we have chosen is of female origin, Erlan,” the female voice spoke. The other voices were noticeably absent as he’d decided to take that as his answer before moving on.
Quickly he began to dig through the dirt as he buried the pieces of fish meat and seeds.
After an hour or so of work, he’d wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood up, calling to the creature still positioned at the top of the stairwell. “How did you live for so long? Better yet, why come here of all places?” He groaned as he stretched. “If I were immortal and could do half as much as you could, I would travel the world! Maybe even to the stars as well!” He paused, slowly sliding onto the third stairwell as he glanced upwards. To his surprise Allepac was now on the edge, staring down at him intensely.
Right. He mustn't forget what he was dealing with, not if he wanted to live long enough to make it back to his village. Taking a deep breath, he waited for the moonlight to reappear before digging through the soil once more.
Why would the creature want to remain in such desolate parts? Perhaps it had sought solitude? If so it had done a remarkable job of keeping its presence unnoticed. But then it had emerged, seemingly killing and eating any animal or devils it had come across. It was most definitely carnivorous, but it had not attempted to attack the village, even in its most weakened state.
He knew it would be a foolish question to ask. He’d seen it mutilate and kill, but his curiosity quickly got the better of him as he spoke, “Do you eat humans?” Allepac’s eyes were practically blazing now as he felt his throat dry.
“Do not insult us. We have never found the flesh of your kind to be satisfying., it spoils and thins with age. Its taste and texture are identical. You would taste no different to us than any Atlantean.”
He frowned, “But you’ve tried it?” Silence. Alright, well that answer certainly wasn’t comforting, but he continued. “Well if it’s not to your liking, then what do you use to sustain yourself?”
