“One of my ancestors saw the cost and ended it. Refused to renew the bargain and buried centuries of history so his actions couldn’t be discovered and the cycle restarted. He thought that was enough. But the truth is, we were still bound. Connected to an ancient entity even after we walked away.”
I swallowed. “So, we were punished for it. Not with fire or war, but with erosion. Fewer children born. Shorter lives. Magic thinning year by year. We paid for rejecting the deal without ever being free of it.” I met Caliban’s eyes. “Hadrian wanted to start it again. To accept the bargain fully this time. To take everything it offered and damn whoever stood in the way.” I shook my head. “Artemis would not let that happen. She found another path. One that broke the connection entirely.”
I let the truth settle between us.
“We are free now. Both of us. The clan and the entity.”
Caliban exhaled slowly through his nose. “I always had a bad feeling about Hadrian.”
I believed him. Caliban didn’t say things like that lightly.
“He tracked us to Atlantis,” I said.
That got a pause.
“The real one,” I added. “What is left of it. Stairs rising out of the sea. A temple of old stone beneath the water. That’s where the ancient entity we were bound to is. It was chained,angry, and tired.”
Caliban’s hands folded together. He said nothing.
“There were trials,” I said. “Puzzles. Rooms filling with water. Choices that punished the wrong answer immediately. We nearly drowned.”
I swallowed. That part still sat heavy in my chest. It had been traumatic.
“Artemis solved most of them by seeing patterns and the meaning of them. I would not have survived without her. I’m certain of that.”
Caliban finally looked at me then. Really looked.
“She saved me,” I said. “Again and again. When the water rose. When the walls closed in. When Hadrian nearly succeeded in killing me. I was prepared to die there. She refused to allow it.”
The kitchen was very quiet now.
“We bargained for freedom,” I finished. “Freedom. For everyone. The entity accepted. The chains are gone. The siphoning is broken. Our people will recover. The entity is free.”
Caliban stood there for a long moment, processing. When he finally moved, it was with great care, like he was approaching a volatile artifact. He stepped closer and placed the back of his hand against my forehead, checking me like I had taken a serious blow to the head.
I lifted a brow. “I am well.”
“Hm,” he said. “That remains to be determined.”
He withdrew his hand and studied me in silence, eyes sharp, expression unreadable. “Perhaps,” he said slowly, “I should ask Artemis to recount what happened.”
I waited.
“She seems quite bright,” he added. “And less inclined toward exaggeration.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “Yes, she is.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The air hummed softly around us. It was a normal morning. One that almost hadn’t existed.
“Well,” Caliban said finally, straightening his jacket. “I suppose I should put the kettle back on.”
“Yes,” I said. “And Caliban?”
“Yes, Arthur?”
“Thank you. For worrying.”
He sniffed. “Don't make a habit of surviving impossible situations. It is exhausting.”
