Chapter Twenty: Part One - Shadows of History

'Wait, what?' Leta blinked in shock.

As she beheld the item in her grasp, she felt as if she was falling forward into the weapon. The world in her peripheral vision seemed to blur out of focus as the sword seemed to warm in her hands as if alive.

[THE ITEM IN HAND IS LISTED AS A SOLDIER CLASS WEAPON. THESE WEAPONS WOULD HAVE BEEN A GIFT TO HIGH-RANKING INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE ATLANTIAN'S HUMAN MILITARY. THESE WEAPONS WERE HIGHLY PRIZED BY MILITARY CLASSES, AS A FULLY ATTUNED WEAPON COULD TAKE ON MULTIPLE SHAPES ACCORDING TO IT'S MASTER'S WILL.]

[IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT THE TEMPTATION TO REVOLT AGAINST THEIR MASTERS, THE ATLANTIANS ENGINEERED THE WEAPONS SO THAT THEY WOULD ONLY BE ABLE TO BE ATTUNED WITH ATLANTIAN ASSISTANCE. THUS, ATLANTIAN WEAPONS BECAME USELESS AFTER THEIR RETREAT FROM EARTH.]

In her mind's eye, she could almost see the shadow of memory, as if the weapon was trying to speak to her not in words, but impressions.

The minor annoyance of sun-baked sand on her arms.

The smell of wheat in the field.

The cool of stone under her feet.

The taste of beer on her tongue during a harvest festival.

The sting of sweat in her eyes after hours of training with the very weapon in her hands.

[INSPECTION SHOWS THAT THIS ITEM WAS PREVIOUSLY WIELDED BY THE HEAD OF PALACE SECURITY FOR DR. PHERENIKE CHILONUS, THE ATLANTIAN DOCTOR OVERSEEING THE CREATION OF THE MONARCH CLASS. AS A MONARCH, THE HOST HAS A CHANCE TO IMPRINT THEIR WILL UPON THE WEAPON.]

"Leta?" Simon asked, forcing her thoughts to pull away from what Gada was telling her.

The Judge frowned when he saw that Leta's face had gone pale, her hands like talons as they held the weapon with the same unbreakable grip as someone who had been electrocuted.

"Are you alright?"

"Uh…" she moaned, scrambling to find words to explain this. "This is going to sound super weird, but I think I can absorb this weapon."

Simon scowled in confusion. "You mean as if to absorb its vitality?"

She shook her head, "No, I mean really absorb it, making it one with me. I don't know the best way to put it in words, but I just know that I can make weapons that were Atlantian obey me."

Leta looked down at the weapon, really seeing it for what it once was. Like the ghost of a whisper she could almost see a tall bearded man layered in ancient armor, this sword perfect and whole at his hip as he patrolled the dark halls of an ancient palace dedicated to his patron.

"Lady of Secrets…" Leta whispered.

Simon's shocked inhale had her turning to meet his wide, nearly fearful eyes.

"Where did you hear that name?"

She blinked, "I… I don't know. Holding this… it's like I can feel memories of its previous owner. I can almost see him standing guard as he protects a palace temple full of shadows and darkness."

He exhaled, fearful for what her words meant as he tasted the truth in them. "What else?"

"It was given to him by his master," Leta continued, the words coming natural as if she knew the man's history, "Blessed when he took his vow to protect the palace. But now that he's been dead for thousands of years the blade has no owner… and somehow I can fill that void."

Simon licked his lips. His expression was one of trepidation and morbid curiosity, like staring at a lion in the wild.

"What will happen after that?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly, blinking as she tried to focus on everything that she was experiencing, "I… I get the impression that it won't just disappear. It… I think that the weapon just won't work for anyone else. It will get heavy or trip people up or won't have an edge if someone else holds it."

Simon looked at the weapon and took an involuntary half-step back. "It's alive?"

"Kind of? Not really. It's not living and breathing like you and me, but it does have…. thoughts. Memories? It's more like a computer that needs a fingerprint to use it. There are files already on it, but right now I'm the only one who has a chance to access them."

She ran her thumb over the rough, sediment-encrusted pommel as another idea occurred to her.

'Gada, if I imprint on the sword, do I get the memories?'

[IN ESSENCE, YES. ATTUNED WEAPONS CAN STORE MEMORIES WITHIN THE NANITE HIVE BRAIN. THIS WAS UTILIZED BY THE ATLANTIANS TO DETERMINE WHAT HAPPENED IF THEIR WARRIORS WERE SLAIN IN BATTLE AND TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE IN CIVIL MATTERS. AS A MONARCH AND WITH ATLANTIAN AUTHORITY, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE STORED MEMORY FILES OF THE WEAPON'S PREVIOUS OWNERS.]

[IN ADDITION, SKILL SOFTWARE THAT THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD INSTALLED WAS INSTILLED IN THE MEMORY FILES AS WELL. THE HOST CAN, OVER TIME, DOWNLOAD THESE SOFTWARE FOR THEIR USE. THE NUMBER OF SOFTWARE AVAILABLE CANNOT BE DETERMINED UNTIL AN IMPRINT IS MADE.]

'New skills.' Leta thought to herself, giddy with the idea of getting new abilities.

She turned her attention back to Simon, "The person before who owned it - he was the leader of the temple palace for Pherenike. He met her and spoke with her at times. If I take the sword, I can get some of the memories that are left on the sword. Simon, I could learn more about the Atlantians!"

Her excitement was contagious, as Simon's caution was replaced with the wonder of a life-long history enthusiast given the chance to behold something truly historic.

"Truly?"

"Yes! Like I said, it's like a computer. The files are there and I can access them once I imprint on the sword."

Ever loyal, Simon was torn between breaking protocol to permit Leta to take the sword and learn what they could about the Atlantians, or stop this and keep his Sect safe from the scrutiny that would come after.

Leta pressed, "Simon, I get the feeling that no one has been able to access Atlantian artifacts like I do before and I'm sure there's only so many items like this in existence. If this goes into the archive, we may never get another chance to learn so much about the Atlantians, especially Pherenike. Please, let me do this."

Simon looked at into her blue, pleading eyes. Judges could not be beguiled, but he found that he was nearly powerless to say no.

She wasn't wrong. He could count on one hand the facts that they knew about the Lady of Mysteries. This was a once in a life time opportunity to fix that.

"Alright." He nodded resolutely, "Do it."

'Gada?'

[DO YOU WISH TO IMPRINT ON THIS WEAPON? YES/NO?]

[THE HOST HAS SELECTED YES.]

[STAND BY FOR IMPRINT.]