Original Fiction: Cleito of Atlantis or Cleito Sitnalta?
Cleito of Atlantis or Cleito Sitnalta?
When the great gods divided the Cosmos between them, Poseidon the Lord of the Ocean took possession of a chain of islands stretching from Spain to Central America. The largest of these islands was as big as the whole of Asia Minor.
When Poseidon inspected his new domain he found the islands to be more beautiful than anywhere else in the world. Every leaf on every tree glistened as brilliantly as an emerald, and the rolling pasturelands were as sleek and green as the waves of a summer sea. The flowers were so richly scented that they made the warm air as intoxicating as wine. Great herds of tame cattle grazed the pastures, the water in the streams was as clear as crystal and as fragrant as clover, while the hillsides shone with veins of white, black, and red marble and with deposits of every kind of precious metal.
The great god discovered that the people of the islands were singularly handsome and intelligent, but so newly created that they had no leaders or social organization. They had not even given a name to their island home.
As Poseidon explored the land he came to a hill rising from the very center of the largest island, and he climbed through its flowering forests until, close to summit, he found the abode of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She told him her name was Cleito. The dazzling glance of her sea-blue eyes, and the sumptuous beauty of her face and form, aroused such lust in the potent deity that he conquered her without delay. She responded ardently to his power and splendor and in due course bore him ten fine sons. They named the firstborn Atlas, and Poseidon named the islands and the surrounding ocean in honor of his son. They became Atlantis while the oceanis the Atlantic.
Poseidon is the most violent and most jealous of the gods, distrustful of all mortals including Cleito, and so he isolated her upon her hill by digging three great moats around it. Each was about a kilometer wide, and separated from the others by a circle of land of the same width. Thus, the Hill of Cleito was surrounded by great concentric circles of land and water.
When Poseidon's ten sons grew to maturity he made them all into kings, each with responsibility for one-tenth of Atlantis. Under his orders, they formed themselves into a council, led by Atlas, to rule the nation for the benefit of its entire people.
The Atlanteans were so vigorous and intelligent, so adept at developing their arts and technology and so industrious in exploiting the resources of the islands, that they soon established the world's first and finest civilization. With Poseidon's permission, and under the guidance of the ten kings, they built a magnificent city upon the circles of earth surrounding the Hill of Cleito. Atlantean architects used the red, black and white marble of their county to design buildings of dazzling splendor, with the three colors artfully blended or contrasted to attract and please the eye. On the hill of Cleito they built her a great palace, and this together with the palaces of the ten kings and the temple of Poseidon all blazed with inlays of gold and precious stones. The principle temple to Poseidon was the wonder of the entire world. The pinnacled roof was so high that clouds drifted around its spires, and it contained an enormous image of Poseidon riding in his chariot attended by sea nymphs and dolphins.
The unique beauty of the city, on its circles of land linked by great bridges across the circles of water, was further enhanced by brilliant gardens, groves of flowering trees, and innumerable sparkling fountains. Great universities, observatories, libraries, laboratories and academies for people of all ages showed that Atlantis was the well-spring of human arts and sciences.
Portions of the city were devoted to commerce and industry, because the Atlanteans used the discoveries of their scientists and technologists as the basis of a flourishing trade with other nations. They dug a great canal from the city to the sea, so that ships could sail right up to the water-circles and pass from one to another by tunnels dug through the land-circles.
Visitors to the city wrote enthusiastically of its beautiful women and handsome men; of the freedom they enjoyed under the laws of the ten kings; of the skilled craftsmen who wrought in base and precious metals, and of fresh sea breezes which cleared the smoke of their foundries from the air; of the busy markets where country folk sold the rich and colorful produce of their farms; and of the frequent festivals which brought throngs of Atlanteans singing and dancing into the streets.
The greatest of these festivals was staged once every five years, when the ten kings assembled in Poseidon's temple for their Quinquennial Parliament or QP. While they deliberated, stockmen drove a number of splendid bulls in from the outlying ranches and corralled them within the temple grounds. Great crowds assembled to admire these monstrous animals with their sleek hides and sword-like crescent horns, while warriors and nobleman prepared for the bull-hunt. When the parliament was over, the bulls were released and the hunters chased them barehanded through the temple grounds, dodging their charges as they attempted to seize one and throw it to the ground. At last a group of hunters would manage to corner a bull and wrestle it to the ground, and the animal was then sacrificed to the glory of Poseidon. The other bulls were taken back to their ranches and the festival concluded with a great public banquet.
The scientists and technocrats of Atlantis were not jealous of their skills and learning. They acted as industrial missionaries who spread their knowledge all over the known world. They taught the Egyptians and the Mayans how to build pyramids and the Greeks how to construct Atlantes, the sculptured figures of males which support the architraves of temples and other buildings. They spread their knowledge of metallurgy, astronomy, medicine, magnetism, and many other arts and sciences, wherever the ships of Atlantis could sail. They invented reading and writing, mathematics, agriculture, architecture, and all the concepts of human civilization. It was rumored also that Atlantean scientists expected to discover the mystic force, which powers the Cosmos and that when they had harnessed this force there, would be no limit to human achievements.
For many centuries, Atlantis was the center of the world. The peace and security of the nation were protected by a great army and navy, too strong to be challenged by any other country, and the Atlanteans enjoyed long contented lives of achievement and prosperity.
However, about 1200 centuries ago, the parliament of the Ten Kings began to alter its attitude towards the outside world. In one of the QP, the kings decided that it was not enough for the Atlanteans to spread their civilization everywhere. Those who benefited from the Atlantean technocracy should also become its subjects and pay tribute to their imperial masters.
Thus the Atlanteans embarked upon the conquest of the world. Their ships took expeditionary forces to Central and South America, where they overwhelmed the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayas and sent rich booty back to Atlantis. Another force conquered the whole of North Africa, and regrouped in Egypt so that they might invade Greece and then sweep eastwards through the kingdoms of Asia.
In about 9500 BC, a great Atlantean invasion fleet sailed into the bat of Athens, where a vastly outnumbered force of Athenians waited to resist them. When the two armies clashed, the arrows flew in such clouds that they darkened the sky, the hooves of the chariot horses were like thunder upon Olympus, the brazen armor of the Atlanteans dazzled the eye and their spearheads seemed as multitudinous as wheat growing in a field. However, the Athenians fought desperately in defense of their city-state and at last, the massed battalions of Atlantis faltered, fell back, and turned in headlong retreat towards their ships.
The Atlantean fleet was about to set sail when the whole sky turned the color of dry blood, and a mass of black clouds swept across it with such a dreadful sound as had never been heard before. The seas rose in gigantic waves which swallowed the entire fleet, while the whole world reverberated with earthquakes and the ocean roared and rushed from one sea to another like water swilling around in an immense bowl.
For days on end it seemed the whole Cosmos would fly apart. The skies deluged the earth with water, the mountains shuddered and cracked apart, the oceans were a torment of monstrous waves. When at last the seas became calm again a few battered ships crept into port. They brought the news that Atlantis had disappeared, and that the Atlantic Ocean rolled over the place where this magnificent empire once flourished in all its glory.
Ever since those days, historians have debated the reason why Atlantis was obliterated, some say that Poseidon was angered by the Athenian victory, and punished his people with total destruction. Others say that an Atlantean scientist had discovered the forbidden secrets of the Cosmos, and released the forces which may eventually destroy the whole of mankind."
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Did the lost continent of Atlantis really exist, or is the account of the island paradise destroyed just a moral tale? The story of Atlantis was first told by the Greek philosopher Plato as a parable to show how heaven punishes those who worship false Gods. But at the same time he hints that the story is true --- the memory of a terrible cataclysm passed down by word of mouth for hundreds of years. Myth or reality, the legend of Atlantis has inspired a search that echoes down the centuries.
It is 3,500 years ago and the long, lazy Aegean summer is drawing to its close. It is dusk and the rays of the dying sun pick out a tiny island so nearly a perfect circle in its outline, so compellingly lovely with its ochre-colored volcano raising out of a violet sea, that even among the islands of the Aegean it is outstanding for its beauty. The swallow’s streak through the sky, darting and wheeling in the blaze of the setting sun. The branches of the olive tress quiver in the light evening breeze. The island's harbor is quiet, now that the business of the day is over. The fishermen are going home with their shining, silvery catches. The narrow streets begin to fill with people, laughing and talking. In the doorways of the little houses, women sit gossiping and from dozens of tiny workshops all over the town come the cheerful whirr of the potter's wheel. In the orchards and vineyards, the men are strolling home after the day's labor. The shadows lengthen as night comes. Then a strange choking heat engulfs the town. The sea turns to the color of lead. From deep within the earth comes a muffled rumbling, intermittent at first but soon continuous. Panic seizes the islanders. They sense that the great volcano, whose 1,500-metre peak dominates their lives, is about to erupt and that the god who controls the earth-shaking forces inside the volcano has awoken from his long sleep. What they could not have known, as they stumbled from their houses clutching a few frantically snatched treasures, was that their town, their island and ultimately their whole civilization was about to be destroyed by what, according to evidence gathered by volcanologists and seismologists of a later day, has come to rate as one of the most violent volcanic cataclysms the world has ever seen. First came a choking plume of dark smoke. Then a terrible rain of blazing pumice stone, followed by ash, poured down in between explosions blasting up from the cone. At the height if the cataclysm, the volcano itself exploded under enormous internal pressures. With a bang that was heard from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. It must have sounded like the end of the world; most of the island was blasted into dust. Finally, the magma chamber beneath the volcano emptied, spewing out millions of tones of solid rock and, as a result, the great volcano collapsed in on itself, forming a steep-sided caldera or crater, 60 kilometers in circumference. Into this void poured the sea, bringing even more horrors in its wake. These were the giant tsunamis, tidal waves which are set off by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions and are perhaps the most terrifying forces in nature. Waves as high as 200 meters radiated from the island to strike nearby coasts with a force that has never been equaled. This is how scientists today see the sequence of events that the island 3,500 years ago. An explosion that they estimate produced a destructive force equivalent to 500-1000 atomic bombs. A terrible darkness, caused by the thick fall of ash, descended on the Aegean, plunging the whole area into a night that was to last for weeks. The ash itself continued to fall for some time and today deposits of it, called tephra, lie more than 60 meters deep on what remains of the island that the Greeks call Kalliste. Scientists now believe that what happened to Kalliste might be the solution to a riddle that has perplexed historians and geographers since the days of the Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC). Plato, one of the fathers of western thought, is our sole direst source for the legend of Atlantis. His fragmentary account of the continent that was swallowed up by the sea still excites the modern mind. Plato's Atlantis was as kind of paradise - a vast island 'larger than Libya and Asia put together' - with magnificent mountain ranges, lush plains which teemed with every variety of animal, including elephants, and luxuriant gardens where the fruit was 'fair and wondrous and in infinite abundance'. The earth was rich with precious metals, especially the one prized most highly by the ancients, the fabulous, iridescent orichalc, an alloy of copper, perhaps brass. The capital of Atlantis, built in the very centre of the island, was remarkable for the scale and splendor of its public buildings that were designed in an architecturally harmonious blend of white, black, and red stone. Even more extraordinary, perhaps, was the plan on which the city had been laid out. It was arranged in five zones built in perfect concentric circles. Its various ports were served by a system of canals. Plato says that the capital's canal and its nearby port were 'full of vessels and merchants coming from all parts, who, from their numbers, kept up a multitudinous sound of human voices, and din clatter... night and day'. At the heart of the city were the great palace and the temple, which was in more sumptuous: 'All the outside, with the exception of the pinnacles, they covered with silver, and the pinnacles with gold. In the interior of the temple the roof was of ivory, curiously wrought everywhere with gold and silver orichalc; and all the other parts, the walls and pillars and floor, they coated with orichalc. In the temple they placed statues of gold: there was the god himself standing in a chariot - a charioteer with six winged horses - and of such a size that he touched the roof of the building with his head; around him there were a hundred Nereid’s riding on dolphins...' This charioteer was none other than the God of the Sea and Shaker of the Earth, Poseidon. When he and his divine brothers Zeus and Hades divided the world between them, Atlantis fell to Poseidon's lot. He became the all-powerful lord of the island, which he peopled with his sons, a virtuous race touched with divinity. The ten kings of Atlantis were immensely rich and powerful but ruled wisely over the enormous colonial empire they built. Numberless generations of Atlanteans lived in peace under aa system of laws which had been handed down to them by Poseidon and whose justness commanded universal admiration. These laws were 'inscribed by the first kings on a pillar of orichalc, which was situated in the middle of the island, at the temple of Poseidon'. But in the end, Atlantean society began to decay. The people started to worship the false gods of wealth, idleness and luxury. Plato, ever a pessimist about human nature, write: 'When the divine portion began to fade away, and became diluted too often and too much with the mortal admixture, and the human nature gained the upper hand, they then, being unable to bear their fortune, behaved in an unseemly manner, and to him who had an eye to see, grew visibly debased, for they were losing the fairest to their precious gifts; but to those who had no eye to see the true happiness, they appeared glorious and blessed at the very time when they were full of avarice and unrighteous power.' It was during this era of corruption that the Atlanteans embarked on a war of world conquest, launching huge fleets against other islands and enslaving the inhabitants of the coastal settlements of the Mediterranean. The only power that could stand against them was Athens, the city dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom, industry and war. The Atlantean hoplites, or heavy infantry, succeeded in stemming the tide of invasion and won a brilliant victory. But this setback was not enough. The gods had prepared a terrible retribution for the men who betrayed the ancient faith of Atlantis. Plato takes up the story: 'Afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune... the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea.'
What I am saying, Mr. Ranean is that all I need is a team, some transportation, and technology!” Ranean rubbed the stubble on his chin saying, “That is asking a lot Ms. Sitnalta, for a 23 year old that is, moreover, for Atlantis. We all know that this is all a myth that Plato made up to get attention.” “I know people think that but I have proof, Sir!” she explained pulling out her map, she slapped it down on his desk, “You see the coast here, next to the Mediterranean. I believe that if we go about 50 miles out then that is where Atlantis will lye. You see, when any submarines, or any life form for the matter, get within a 10 mile radius of this area.” She circled an already drawn red line. “They disappear, they were most likely destroyed,” she added. “So what makes you think you can get through to the area?” he asked, actually interested in what she was saying. “I have come to the conclusion that if we somehow can enter all of our submarines at the same exact time to certain places, we can enter this barrier like object.” He grinned accumulating, “And let me guess, you know how and where to enter the submarines?” She grinned her all knowing grin and stated, “What do you take me for, sir, of course I know. Why would I propose this alliance, if I didn’t have all the details?” “Ah, I see I have taken you too lightly, Ms. Sitnalta.” He said leaning back in his chair. “Call me Cleito, sir,” she suggested holding out her hand. Taking her hand and shaking it he confirmed, “Well if we are using first names, then call me Tolland.” She pulled away her hand. “So do get what I am proposing here, sir- I mean Tolland?” He leaned forward close to her face, whispering, “Can you keep a secret?” She nodded. “Well, actually I have been looking into this myself. I have compared so many different hypothesis’ and well, to tell you the truth, your’s is the only one that makes enough sense,” he stated. She leaned forward so they got a little closer and said, “Can you keep a secret?” he nodded. “I think you’re full of it. I have read them all over as well. They all, well most, make sense. It is just what they were saying; it does not collide well with what Plato described. That is what people should base there facts on, if you do not mind me saying. So a man of your brilliance and stature should get what they are saying,” she stated. He raised an eyebrow, leaning back again. “Beauty and brains, how did you manage that?” he asked. “Don’t flatter me, sir. I am not even close to beautiful,” she corrected. “I thought I said to call me Tolland,” he reminded. “Sir, could we please get back on subject?” she begged running her fingers through her brunet hair. “Right, so you want to form an alliance between us?” he confirmed. “Correct, sir. I believe that with your technology and sources, and my plan, we can find the lost city, sir,” she answered. He raised his hands in the air, stating, “And become famous!” She laughed, “That isn’t quite what I was going for, Sir.” He sighed placing his hands on her shoulders, “If we are going to be partners…you need to call me Tolland, Cleito!” She smiled getting excited, “So are we going to do this?” He nodded. Her eyes went wide-eyed and she leaned over his desk hugging him. “Oh thank you, Tolland! You defiantly won’t regret it!” He smiled in contentment agreeing, “I am sure I will not.”
~^~^~^~^~^~^~
A week later Cleito gathered all her things together. She was beyond excited. She was motivated. She picked up a photo of her mother; her silver eyes were practically staring at Cleito. Cleito had gotten almost every feature of her mom’s body. The only difference was her lips; she had gotten her dad’s unusually full lips. She sat down the photo in the duffle bag. “Poor dad,” she whispered, “I had best call him.” She walked to the other end of her apartment and picked up her cordless phone, holding the ‘2’ button. The phone automatically dialed her dad’s number. “Hello?” a tired voice asked. “Dad?” she asked. “Oh Cleito it is just you, I thought it was a salesperson or something,” he yawned. “Oh, I’m sorry dad, did I wake you?” she asked. “Oh no not at all,” he yawned again, “I was just taking a small cat nap.” She laughed a little, “Admit it dad, you were asleep.” “Alright, I admit it. So what did you need, sweetie?” “Well I...just wanted to tell you, I am going for it dad,” she said a little nervous. “You’re getting married sweetie?” he asked all excited. “No dad, sorry. I just got partner with Tolland Ranean. We are going to find Atlantis, dad,” she announced. She heard a sigh at the other end of the line. “Dad, I know this isn’t what you wanted. But, I need to do this,” she paused. “So when do you leave?” she heard him ask many moments after. “Tolland has everything ready and all he is waiting for is me,” she answered, “I leave as soon as everything is packed, dad.” “I see,” he said quietly. “I just wanted to let you know, I may never comeback dad, and that I love you,” she croaked beginning to get teary. “I love you too sweetie. Now I have to go, dinner is burning.” He said. “But-” she began but heard a click at the other end and then a dead tone. She began to cry. Then she heard the doorbell ring. She sniffed and then headed for the door. She tried to wipe off the tears from her eyes, even though bellow her eyes were red and puff from her tears. She then opened the door and discovered Tolland standing there. “Oh, I am almost ready, Sir,” she said a little shakily. She sniffed and turned. “Come in,” she, again shakily, said. She walked back to her duffel bag and pulled out the photo again setting it aside. She then placed a few more clothes and supplies in her bag. Then folding the folded the photo in its already known creases. She tucked it in her back pocket and threw the bag over her shoulder. She rubbed her swollen red eyes and walked back to Tolland. “Alright,” she said quietly, “I am ready.” He wrapped and arm around her ‘buddy’ like, assuring, “Don’t worry, everything is going to go fine.” She felt tears well up again. She pulled away running out the door tears flying out of her eyes. Tolland ran after her finding her waiting at the car. Something had fallen out of her pocket. Tolland picket it up unfolding it, then finding a blank piece of photo paper. He turned it around. It showed a woman that looked a lot like Cleito. The woman had brunet hair, a small nose, huge silver eyes, and a small slim body. The only difference was their lips, Cleito’s lip were very pout like and sexy. This woman had thin serious lips, but still good look since she was smiling. The woman in the picture was holding a little girl in one arm, and holding out a kneecap fossil from what seemed like a small Tyrannosaurus Rex. The small girl looked a lot like Cleito. Tolland folded the photo back up and walked toward Cleito. “Here, I think this is yours,” he said handing her the photo. Her eyes went wide-eyed as she reached for her back pocket. She then took the picture against her chest. “Who is the woman in the picture?” he asked. She looked up from the ground at him. She let out a shaky breath, “This is my mom when she found the kneecap of a Tyrannosaurs Rex,” She began, “But when I was seven she-” she paused getting teary again. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to,” he assured. “No, I do. When I was seven, she was doing the same this I am doing now. Only she did not make it back home that time. Her theory was just wrong and she went about it the wrong way. Her mistake cost her-her life,” she finished. She put the photo back in her pocket only a little deeper this time. He opened the car door to his red Mustang Convertible. She sat down on the leather and pulled in her knees. He shut the door quietly and walked around to the other side, getting in. Cleito heard the engine start up as she watched Tolland shift the gears and drive off. In Iceland, it was not always as cold as people thought but tonight it was bitter. Cleito rubbed her arms with her hands reminding herself repeatedly how stupid she was to pack her coat. She felt a coat lye on her shoulders, she looked over at Tolland, who was smiling at her. He then said, “We can’t have our expert freeze, now can we?” “But you’ll get cold!” she said, certain. “I’ll be fine,” he assured. She nodded and put her arms into the sleeves, carefully. She held her hair away from her face, struggling against the wind. She then asked, “Where are we going?” “Well, first we are going to my personal air port, and then from there on we will be flying to the Mediterranean, where we will be boarding our ‘ship’!” “Did you say flying?” she asked nervously. “Well we sure can’t drive now can we?” he sarcastically asked. “Well no…we are on an island I guess,” she answered as though her were seriously asking her.
When they reached the ‘airport’ like area and had boarded the plain, Cleito had begun to feel sick already. Her fear of flying was catching up to her. She ran back into the bathroom to vomit twice before take off. When she finished and was sure that all the food she had eaten was out of her system, she sat down next to Tolland. He raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “Am I going to want to move over a seat?” She clutched his hand as he started to get up and begged him, “No, please stay! I need someone here next to me.” He gave her a small smile and sat back against his seat. She let go of his hand and exhaled. She buckled her seat belt, tightly. Then she felt the plain jerk as it started to move. It went faster and faster. Moreover, when it started to angle a bit she clutched his hand again and squeezed her eyes shut. She could not help but see images of her past. Flashes of a plain being crushed toward her. Then seeing the teenage face of her older brother while he squeezed her hand tight, right before he was killed. She then felt a voice drag her back from her memory. She slowly but surely opened her eyes. Her hand was still clutching Tolland’s hand, tightly. “We’ve steadied the plain out now, Cleito,” she heard Tolland say, softly, “Can I have my hand back?” She did not want to let go. This was comforting to her, but must have been awkward to him. Her hand was on top of his, her fingers pressed into the spaces between his fingers, and curled. She let out a shaky breath and began to let go. He took his other hand and rubbed the top of hers so it was again pressed against his other hand. “It’ll be fine,” he assured. He had said almost exactly those words to her before, when she had been crying in her apartment. She nodded, not to sure of what he was saying was true. He then pulled his hand away and let her hand rest there on top of his, until she felt more comfortable. She felt acid rise to her throat. She jerked off her seatbelt and again ran to the bathroom, and again vomiting. When she returned she again sat next to Tolland, who had pulled out his laptop and was working on a project. She leaned on over to her side to see what he was doing. She then asked amazed, “What is that?” he smiled at her answering, “This, my dear, is a Tectonic Nobelizer. I have been working on the design for years. What it does is mobilize the wounded during a war, and sho-” he paused and glanced at his shoulder that was feeling a little heavier. Cleito had fallen asleep with her cheek pressed up against his shoulder. “Wow am I that boring?” he asked himself aloud as he returned to the design.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~
When they finally landed, Cleito was still asleep, and Tolland had just packed away his laptop. He unbuckled his belt and then carefully unbuckled hers. He gently lifted her and carried her off the plain. Moreover, waiting for his arrival was practically the whole crew. He smiled at them while he walked toward there direction. A woman with much of a woman’s figure, blonde curly hair, red lipstick, and light blue eye shadow on walked toward the two. “This is the girl?” she asked starring at her. “Yeah, this is her. The brains of this mission,” he announced. “She is not much to look at,” the woman stated. “Awe come on don’t be hasty. She is quite beautiful,” he corrected. “Right…and I am Cleopatra,” she said sarcastically. “You are Cleopatra! Oh what an honor it is to meet you!” he laughed. “Oh shut it Ranean, now come on, we have business to attend to,” she ushered him toward the crew. “Tolland!” he heard a tall muscular man with graying black hair, yell. “Rodney!” Tolland greeted, “Long time no see!” “No kidding,” the man agreed, “So who is the girl?” Tolland looked down at Cleito. He had almost forgotten about her.
