[Book 2] Chapter 03: An Opportunity (Part 3)
[Clock - 12:33 | 12:33 AM]
[Calendar - 05/05/2010]
[Location - Beastialis Empire - Skypelago, Menagerie Island, Central Region, Pyramid Palace of Cycles]
----
Warning: Info Dump ahead! Lore drop too :3
----
Atlas - Empress of Beasts, Archmagus POV
"C'mon, little one~" Lifting the fluffy little chick in his arms, Atlas smiled at the little kids that he was taking care of for Marchosia Ventus, since he was occupied with preparing another play today for the Festival of the Day of Ascension, that will last for an entire week. Casting [Levitate] on the four little chicks, Atlas smiled as he spoke in Draconic to them: "So, little ones, are you four ready to watch your father today again? He's kinda nervous because he has been preparing a special play for you." Atlas magically pulled the four little feather dragons alongside him as he walked towards a rather flat door in the middle of the field that they were in, his silver legs were quite eye catching because of the bright pale blue energy lines that swirled around them- They looked to be made out of this soft metal, with each step he took his feet seemed to almost glide across the ground, and there were moments where he would simply take a step on his tip toes and his "feet" would morph into this sharp pointy blade-like thin and sharp end before they went back to being normal feet. "I bet he is very excited to show you all his new work, because I heard it was going to be about-"
"Love~?" Pushing the door open before Atlas could even open it, the large dragon of a man grinned- Waylon has grown quite a bit in the past 7 years, both in size and power. He was 7'5 feet tall, his enormous tail was still the same deadly thing, but now he had this softness to him with his bigger body, making him a bit more huggable than before. He wasn't fat, nor was he chubby, but the amount of fat in his body was higher and it gave his muscles a softer look without making them vanish in a sea of fat. In other words, he has been eating a little bit more than before, eating enough for someone of his metabolism. "Look what I made!" Holding onto this rather massive piece of steak, Waylon looked proudly towards Atlas- This was one of the hobbies he picked up after his work as an Emperor got... well, better is not exactly the right word. The world has come to a standstill regarding the Beastialis Empire and the Skypelago as a whole, with many nations seeing them as something they could not go against, and others seeing this as an opportunity for wealth and power. The truth about magic and the supernatural being real slapped the face of many people in the world, and as such, there was an uproar online about various discussions of various topics about the world and what was true. This sparked a fight about religion, with people questioning what was the "true religion"... One of the reasons the "Pagan" Gods have lost so much of their followers and their power was because of Christianity.
Do I need to explain?
With that in mind, many have turned their faces to look at the islands in the sky, the archipelago that challenged the notion of many about what was real and what was fake. Many skeptics pointed out that this whole "magic" thing was just a disguise for advanced technology, while others saw this as proof that the supernatural existed! So, when people started to learn about the different residents of the Skypelago, many started to believe more in magic... After all, it's not every single day you see a massive feathered dragon simply appear out of thin air! Seriously, it was on the news alongside the footage taken from a satellite. With that knowledge, the curiosity of the world about the mysterious flying islands only grew with time and nowadays there has been many attempts at infiltrating this empire to learn its secrets, even more so after satellites stopped working at peeking into the empire— seriously, the day all the satellites transmitted the same [Fuck you, fucking vouyers] message across various countries was also the day politicians and people responsible for such spy work shat themselves.
"Oh, is that the giant squid meat?" Atlas smiled softly at his husband- it has been years since they married in private, a small ceremony that was simply Atlas looking into Waylon's eyes and saying "I do" while receiving a ring that Waylon himself made -and the giant slab of meat that he had just recently cooked. Waylon has taken cooking as a hobby, more specifically, barbecuing! He has gotten really good at it too, and looking into his husband's bright green eyes, Atlas couldn't help but feel happy that he has found something he enjoyed so much! Cooking (just to specific, Waylon can also cook- he just prefers barbecuing) was something he loved, and Atlas also enjoyed the final results too. "Well, have you made it in the Atlantian way, the American way, or your own way?" Because Waylon took barbecuing seriously- who wouldn't? It's food! -he has developed his own way of doing it! Magic was channeled through the food to enchante the flavor, but Waylon has had to learn that sometimes this would go haywire and he'd make extremely poisonous grub... At least Atlas has developed a resistance to poison thanks to it?
"Oh, I decided to try the Atlantian way- I still find it a little weird that they can cook meat without boiling it directly by simply controlling water to not boil the meat but rather use it as a way to channel the heat." With heavy steps, he entered the majestic otherworldly dimension that was an imitation of the outside world and smiled as he offered Atlas the enormous slab of giant squid meat: "But, seriously, this tastes good! I also was going to try and make dragon soup but-" He looked down at the small dragons that floated around Atlas like they were being held by the very air around them: "-well, you know." Shrugging, Waylon used the tip of his clawed finger to boop the beak of the closest little dragon and smirked- And even though he knew the reason he didn't want to have kids now, Atlas was still a little sad... Look, children aren't essential for a happy life, but Waylon clearly loves children, and he has expressed his desire to have children, and it makes him feel bad that they don't have any yet! It's Darkseid we're talking about, just imagining his child- I mean, it's not like he doesn't trust Waylon to keep the kid safe, he trusts him with his life...
The problem is that his anxiety keeps fucking him over.
Every time he wants to bring the topic of children or having children, he just panics. He has thought about it, and he is ready, and now he feels like he is just using this whole future war with Darkseid thing as an excuse to himself. Is he being selfish? Stupid, even? "W-well, uhm, how has your Ascension Day been, love? I have been preparing for tonight's firework show and, well, to have that discussion with Adam about his whole... hero aspirations." Ah, Adam... Adam Begala. The kid is 14 years old this year, and ever since his training with Atlas started he has been dreaming of becoming a super hero. After his fall out with Batman that resulted in a few problems of trust (he found out about the whole mind fucking thing... They still haven't fully processed that, specially Atlas) that ended up with a fight between Dick and Batman after he got injured- which got Robin... out of being Robin, Atlas decided to show that he was willing to trust Batman by sending one of his people to learn under him how to become a super hero. And who better than the kid who has been pestering him about becoming a super hero from day one? Batman has (a bit reluctantly) informed him that the Justice League has been amassing a team of younger heroes to handle covert and stealth missions, and although Adam's powers were not exactly stealthy, he could still be stealthy! He three months of training on stealth specifically because Atlas wanted him to know at least the basics of it. He has been preparing himself for the talk with the kid- He was quite serious about being a hero, and although Atlas didn't really condone recklessly throwing oneself towards danger to save someone else, he also was the Empress of an empire, and that's something he has to do when danger towards his people comes.
"Oh, I bet he will be very excited when he learns about that thing..." With a cheeky grin, Waylon nudged Atlas in the cheek, making him smile back at him- Waylon has known about this whole thing and he is being vague because of a certain someone's ability to listen to the electromagnetic field like he's a radio antenna! With a grin, Waylon looked up at the room around them as he said, cocky as evey no matter where and when: "We know you're listening, kid, stop listening in to our conversations or else you'll hear things that will scare you for life... or awaken something in you." There was no shift in reality besides the soft sensation that they were being eavesdropped on simply vanishing. He and Waylon were able to feel this because of their heightened connection their souls- Atlas because he has 9 rings in his soul alongside 450 stars, and Waylon is a Demigod. This made them highly aware of being spied upon or just whenever the vibes were not up to part.
"Adam. Remember the first rule I taught you about this kind of thing? If you can't eavesdrop without getting caught, don't do it." Atlas chuckled, his fingers dragging across Waylon's leathery chest- Waylon has been wearing more clothes, he just has a deep allergy towards shirts that aren't either sleeveless or sweaters, mostly because Atlas (according to Waylon) looks adorable in big sweaters that don't fit him at all. Most of the time he just wears his Emperor robes, which have been made by Atlas. "Do you want to know the news now, or later? Because if you wanna know then now, there is going to be a price..."
"Uhrghh..." An electric voice- almost like the sound of a tesla coil -echoed in the little paradise dimension: "...what's the price?" That was one of the many techniques that was taught to him by Atlas- the ability to manipulate the Electromagnetic Spectrum with his Electromagnetic Energy. Such power allowed him to control Light, negate Gravity, manipulate Electricity, and other abilities! Till now, he has been learning from Atlas how to manipulate and use radio waves to eavesdrop and communicate long distances, but he has also been learning how to use other waves and radiations to do the same, and it won't be too long until he is using other aspects of his powers to do the same. "Like, is it going to be like that one time you had me pay a dare of swimming three times around the entirety of Aquarium Island because of that bet we had?"
"Oh, no, kiddo." With a devilish grin, Atlas said: "You'll just have to ask out that boy you've been crushing on in class for the last... three weeks?"
"More, it has been four weeks."
"Wow, a whole month? You pine like a tree! You really are like a lesbian sheep."
"Urghh! It's not fair- you know I'm curious about it!"
"If you wanna know, I already told you what to do~"
"You evil, evil man..." Adam paused for a moment- his sigh was like static electricity: "Fine... I'll ask him out... Now, what was the thing you were going to tell me?"
"Oh, nothing important." Atlas sounded smug: "Just that I got you a place in a superhero team that will learn directly with the Justice League."
...the-
"WHAT!?"
-that followed was louder than thunder.