Shell - The Deep Fanfic

Chapter 3 - Departure

Art by the wonderful gingerboutasnap on Discord!!

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April 12th, two years later. City of Lìliàng, Atlantis

A breath. Another breath. And another. Another.

Benthos could hear the roar of the immense crowd outside the arena's locked doors. They were waiting for him to take down a Kraken.

Every hour he had spent training had led up to this moment. He had trained and learned from the finest instructors in all of Atlantis: General Oceanus, General Poseidon, and, of course, his own father.

It was exciting news when a son was born to an Atlantean general, even more so when that general was the leader of the biggest battalion in Atlantis. And after two daughters, General Aphros had begun to think that his line would never continue.

But then his wife had a son, so all was well, and he didn't have to divorce her. His son would continue the family legacy of leading countless soldiers into battle against the vicious Lemurians to take back the seas for themselves, once and for all. Daughters cost money to raise. Sons cost nothing.

So when Benthos was thrown into training at the age of four, he didn't dare complain. He already knew that his father had the final say in everything that went on in the house, especially if it had to do with his children. And if his father thought the best thing for him was nonstop training in the merciless sun with a bunch of boys he didn't know, then so be it.

Benthos saw how his mother tiptoed around his father, even when the general wasn't angry or in a bad mood. Pherousa knew it was her duty to take care of the household but to leave all the decision-making to him. A perfect, happy, Atlantean family was what she had to create with a general husband who was often tired and weary at the end of the day. So when Aphros was yelling at Thetis because he didn't like her current boyfriend, or when he was giving Laomedeia another stern talk about her grades in school, she knew to butt out. Never talk, and just quietly observe. That was how an Atlantean woman should behave.

Benthos already had his beloved picked out. Well. He hadn't picked her out himself, but she seemed nice. His father had chosen a well-behaved, demure girl who was turning eighteen in the coming months as he had that morning. If all went well, he'd soon be lifted high amongst the people of the capital city of Atlantis, beaming down at his bride-to-be.

If he survived, at least.

Then again, he might not. But every general's son and soon-to-be general of Atlantis had to face this test. All of them had passed. (Still . . . there was that one rumor of a forgotten, ancient to-be general who had died during the test. But nobody believed that.)

Benthos heard the announcer's voice on the outside. He stood up and began stretching, so he could be the readiest as possible to defeat the father Kraken and prove that he was worthy of the high title of general amongst the army. If he succeeded in killing the Kraken, he would be immediately promoted. If he didn't . . . Well, he would be the first man to fail at the test, and his family would be shamed forever.

He took up his sword and shield. They glinted in the light of the door's bars, silver, with little carved indents. The crowd roared again, and he stepped closer to the door.

The door heaved down from the bottom, slowly disappearing from view into the arena's stones. Benthos stepped into the light, his bronze breastplate gleaming in the harsh sunlight. Already he could feel himself begin to sweat.

He looked up at the king, queen, and prince in their gilded arena thrones. They all stared back down at him with fierce looks of determination. He gave them one back. To their right, on a lower level of the arena, he could see his family. As the guests of honor, they had the second-best seats.