Atlantis Excavated [ᴏᴘᴇɴ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟʟᴀ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇsᴛ 2020]

• ᴀɴᴄɪᴇɴᴛ •

No matter how the wind howls,the mountain will not bow to it.'

«chapter three»

When Senamile Majola was 12 years old, she had her first vision. Her great-grandmother always knew that she would grow up and be a powerful sangoma and taught her from a very young age how to connect with the ancestors and the spirits. The first vision she saw was of the whole world ending.

Terrified and slightly disturbed, she tried to run away from her calling by moving in with her mother but that didn't end up well. Bad luck stuck to her like a glue and sleepless nights became a norm to her.

After a year of suffering, she finally gave up the idea of having a normal life and went back to her Khokho to train and learn how to use her gift for the good benefit of the world.

It was a hard road because she wasn't gifted by one God. She heard and saw all God spirits, the ancestors of every being alive. None were inferior or superior and they all spoke at once. It all depended on who spoke the loudest at which time, and one day, eleven Gods spoke so loud, the earth shook.

•••

''The world is in danger and it's your ancestors fault." Was the first thing Thomas heard when he opened Arch's apartment door.

A hooded figure carrying a small, black messenger bag pushed passed him and he stumbled back and stared in stupor at it as it made it's way to Arch's room.

He quickly snapped out of his momentarily daze, shouting after it. "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

The figure ignored him as it opened the bedroom door. The cloak it wore was a midnight black and the hood attached to it hid almost half of it's face. When it extended it's gloved hand to touch Arch's face, Thomas quickly reacted.

"Stop! Who in the God's are you? You can't just budge into someone else's home like that." He hissed.

"Let go of my hand if you don't want him to die of vision overload." The figure stated matter-of-factly.

Thomas stared intently at the person in front of him and reluctantly let go of their hand. No one except for family knew about Arch's gift so he has curious on what it will do. They placed their hand on top of Arch's forehead and it glowed a faint green.

His eyes widen when he saw the pastel grey colour of Arch's skin disappear and be replaced by his usual healthy peach. The figure lifted it's hood to reveal a woman. A very attractive woman in Thomas's opinion.

She had dark brown hair that appeared almost black styled in beaded dreads and skin the colour of dark chocolate. Her brown eyes where almost too big for her face which gave her an innocent look. Her lips were  wide but pouty and were accompanied by a small button nose.

She was shorter then people her age, which Thomas guessed was earlier twenties, ranging from twenty two or twenty five and she fell slightly on the chubby side.

"My name is Senamile Majola and I'm a gifted Sangoma. I'm here to help not to hurt. Can you please shut the curtains for me?" She asked steadily and Thomas hesitantly did what she asked.

The girl, Senamile, rummaged through her bag and fished out three different types of incenses, a box of matches and five different coloured candles. She placed them on the floor and ripped the covers off of Arch's body.

"Help me out?" She asked him as she grabbed Arch's arms and tried pulling him off the bed. Thomas quickly grabbed ahold of his legs and they both lifted him up and placed him on the floor.

Senamile circled Arch's unconscious body with candles and lit them up then knelt near the top of his head, lit up the incense and whispered softly.

"ξεκινησε. πρέπει να ξυπνήσει για να το τελειώσει"

Thomas heard her whisper and saw her blow the smoke of the incense all over Arch's body. It engulfed his whole body and seemed to swirl around him before expanding all over the room.

"απελευθερώστε τον" She continued and the candle flames flattered gently, as if blown by a soft wind. Thomas watched in fascination as the smoke continued to swirl around Arch's body then fill the room again and again. He was so wrapped up in the motion that he almost jumped out of his skin when Arch gasped for air and shouted the words:

"WE SHOULDN'T DIG HERE!"

His eyes were unfocused and he kept on repeating the same phrase he woke up shouting over and over again.

"We shouldn't dig here. We shouldn't dig here. We shouldn't dig here!" He chanted, sweat trickling down his face and glistening on his whole body.

Senamile was still whispering but with her eyes closed, her hands now firmly placed on Arch's shoulders. The candles flattered once, twice and were blown out by a sharp breeze that came out of nowhere and Arch went silent. Thomas almost panicked.

"Arch?" He called out and knelt in front of his cousin,who in spite of getting his natural peachy colour back, still looked awful.

"Thomas?" He croaked out, the dazed look on his face clearing out as he focused on his cousin's face.

"What happened? Why are you looking at me like that? And why do I have a splitting headache?" Arch questioned as he groaned and kneaded his aching head.

"Here. Take this. It's ginger root. It will help with the headache." Senamile stated, shoving the root in front of Arch's face who took it  and ate it whole then grimaced at the bitter taste.

"Man am I glad to see you're okay. Don't do that again man! Men just don't faint like that." Thomas half-heartedly joked and clamped down on Arch's left shoulder.

Arch groaned once again and tried to get up but felt a cool hand pushing him down gently.

"It is not wise for you to rush getting up. Stand up slowly or your headache will get worse." Senamile said helping him stand slowly as she advised.

Arch felt awful. His muscles burned and it hurt like hell to move a single finger. What the hell happened to him?

They placed him gently down on the bed and passed him a glass of water that was on his bed side table. He released a pained breath after drinking his water and continued to massage his head, trying to quiet down the pounding session it was having.

"Who are you?" He asked Senamile, glancing at her through the space between his kneading fingers.

"My name is Senamile Majola and I'm a gifted Sangoma. I'm here to help you stop the destruction of the whole world."

Arch sighed and lifelessly dropped his arm to the side of his body.

"I was really hoping that that vision was a dream."

Khokho: Great grandmother.