Something Greater

somebody i used to know

author's note: in this story, the film's events have taken place within the year 1898, as per a hint in a letter sent by adelina shown in the ending credits. a time skip of three years will happen in chapter 4, so there's three chapters to prepare before said time skip. as for characters' ages, while i admit that i see adelina as 40 and lionel as 45 respectively in the film terms, but for this fic's sake (and for the ones to follow it as well) adelina will be 38 and lionel will be 41 at the start until the time skip. susan is immortal, obviously, but mentally in his 20s (though he's got a bit of a tarzan situation... i'll explain later). this fic will be approximately 26 chapters long, so buckle up folks, because it's going to be the slowest burn in the history of slow burns (or at least, my attempt at one). without further ado, here's the first chapter.

–-–

Now and then I think of when we were together, like when you said you felt so happy you could die

Told myself that you were right for me, but felt so lonely in your company,But that was love and it's an ache I still remember.

- Gotye, "Somebody that I used to know."

–-–

Atlantis was colorful.

That was the first thought that came into Sir Lionel Frost's mind as he and Susan walked through the city of the hidden aquatic civilization. With all of the colorful buildings and paintings on the walls, it felt like they were in a picture from an old storybook instead of an actual republic. It was a wonder how no one else had even thought of coming here, what, with how extraordinary it was, even more so than how other folks had described it.

This was the kind of adventure Lionel dreamed of, the kind of adventure he'd wanted to go on ever since he was a small boy. After the long adventure to Shangri-La, he had been more than eager to begin his next case on Atlantis.

His adventure to Shangri-La... if it had not been for him going on that journey, he wouldn't be here in Atlantis right now. To think, one simple letter from Susan was what had made him make that deal with Lord Piggot-Dunceby - the head of the society of "greater men" - that if he proved the sasquatch was real, then he would let him join the society. The bet was made and Lionel set off to the Pacific Northwest, finding Susan in a forest... only to be requested with help in finding his relatives, the yetis, in the Himalayas. Thinking it would help him discover a whole evolutionary line, he- admittedly, out of some selfish reasons- agreed to help the sasquatch.

The key to getting to the Himalayas, however, was a map that lay in the hands of his former girlfriend, Adelina. The only issue with retrieving the map was that Adelina harbored some disdain towards him for missing out on the funeral of her late husband, his former partner Aldous.

He tried reasoning with her, even offering to pay her for the map, but she only became angry with that and kicked him out... though now that he looked back on it, he did deserve that.

(He'd had his reasons for skipping out on Aldous' funeral, though- petty, selfish reasons, yes, but reasons nonetheless. Sure, he had attended the wedding and all, visited a little bit even after, but... something in him kept him from going to the funeral that day, something within his heart that ached and yearned.

A bitter feeling of the relationship he once had with his friend's widow... a longing for the past and what had once been, a longing that eventually tore a rift between him and his friend –

A longing for his lost love.)

So since he couldn't get the map from her, he chose to come back later that night with Susan and break in. It wasn't one of the best choices he'd made, but they needed the map if they were ever going to get to the Himalayas.