Legends of Amacia Attack on Tartarus

“I honestly don’t know, Leila,” Hannibal replied in a gentle, understanding tone. “I ask the same thing about my life, but I have yet to uncover the answer. But you can be sure of this. You are one of us. You are family, and we will love and treat you as such. It looks to me that the Almighty made an exception for you, just as He did for Josephine, strange and marvelous as it is. We, as humans, by His all-knowing and wise decree know we aren’t allowed live over a thousand cycles, which is like a day to Him. However, you are not human, but Lynxian. I don’t know whether you or any Lynxian would be under that declaration. Maybe by the very fact you are here on this planet puts you under it? I don’t know. But I do know this: what has happened to you is a first. Your situation is unique, even different from Josephine. The Almighty must have known that we were going to need you otherwise your body would have long since deteriorated into dust like your husband and very likely Thoth and Ariel as well. He caused your life to be interrupted, not ended by His will. Now, it picks up again and answers we have been searching for will be revealed at long last.”

Leila became puzzled at his comments again, asking, “What are you saying?”

Hannibal smiled as he got up. “Let me give you a little example of what I’m saying.” He walked to Hanna’s dresser, storing the teddy before going the closet and opened it. Retrieving the Relic, he turned and walked back to Leila and Selina, holding the strange artifact in his hands.

Leila’s face exploded in shock upon seeing the Relic. “Where did you get that?” she demanded in almost a panic.

Hannibal sat back down with the Relic, saying, “So you know what it is. We have been absolutely baffled by it since we found it at Tiamat.”

Astonishment built on astonishment as Leila cried, “Tiamat? You’ve been to Tiamat?”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “Yes, ma’am. It’s one of the old places that survived the Deluge on the surface. I found it, tamed it, snatching it from the legions of darkness, and turned it into my base of operations. It’s now a fortress of light, purged of the infernal darkness that once surrounded and permeated it. We found the Archive, the portal generator, the core of the ancient machinery, and its many healing chambers. We even found the Giant’s Garden, the Hall of Drakens, and the cursed gateway in its lowest levels. We had to seal the way to the infernal gateway though to prevent the demons from escaping. I lost many good men at the gateway to an army of infernal fiends.”

“This can’t be happening,” Leila cried in utter dismay, terror dripping from her lips.

“What can’t be happening?” Selina asked with some concern at Leila’s reaction to the Relic and the news of Tiamat. Leila was in a panic. She stared at the Relic with absolute terror once she heard that it came from Tiamat.

“What is it?” Hannibal asked with growing worry. “What is wrong? Tell us. What causes such terror in you? You can tell us.”

Leila was wide-eyed, frightened as a child terrified of the dark and about to be plunged into utter darkness. She shook her head, sobbing hysterically with tears gushing, “You don’t know what you’ve done! If they find it, all is lost! They will come for it! You should have left it buried. At least it was safe buried in the depths of Tiamat.”

“If who finds it, Leila. Please, share with us. Tell us what you know,” Hannibal pleaded with her as Selina tried to calm her.

“It’s all right. You can tell us,” Selina cooed in her ear.

Leila shook her head, saying, “I can’t! Only the King is supposed to know. If I tell, I will be violating an oath to keep what I know about it secret. I cannot. I swore an oath on the throne of the Ancient of Days. I can’t divulge what I know. Only the King is to know.”

Hannibal sighed, rising from his chair. “The king you say. Well in that case, I will not force you to tell,” he said plainly. “I can’t force you to break such an oath. It wouldn’t be right.” He walked back to the closet, putting the Relic away and closing the door. A sigh escaped Hannibal’s lips as he kept his back to Leila and Selina. “After everything I’ve shared, you still don’t seem to understand who I am,” he declared solemnly. “Even after seeing the signet, the Caverias Seal, Thoth’s Sword, Hellion, even me handling Grimm’s Bane as if I were born to it, you still don’t understand. You even saw pictures of me mutated into Hanna, not to mention me effortlessly utilizing the Elemental Earth in the drakenite fashion. You claim to know the prophecies, and yet you still don’t see. What can I do to make you see who and what I am?”

Leila heard the pain and frustration in Hannibal’s voice as he spoke. It struck her heart like a dagger. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to not believe you. It’s just everything is so chaotic and jumbled right now for me. I feel like I’m lost in a nightmare that I can’t wake from. Here you are claiming to be the Last Caverias of the prophecies, and apparently having the proof to back it up. However, I barely remember those prophecies. My memories are a complete jumble and nothing makes sense. Please, be patient with me.”

Hannibal walked back to Leila and looked down at her with a mix of perplexity and compassion. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he admitted. “You have been gone from this world for over twelve thousand cycles. Hmmm, maybe this will help you figure out who I am. May I see the picture album?”

“Sure,” Leila replied, handing the picture album to Hannibal as he sat beside her on the edge of the bed.

Hannibal searched the album until he found the nude pictures of Hanna. “Here we are,” he said softly, “I want you to see this.”

“But that’s Hanna naked,” Leila declared, blushing.

“Indeed it is,” Hannibal stated, “But look closely at her form. Do you see all the scars?”

Leila scanned the image, seeing a multitude of bite and claw marks mixed with gashes, lacerations, burn marks, and bullet scars. Her mouth fell open in horror. “Look at that,” she breathed. “She, I mean you’ve been mangled so much it’s unreal.”

“I fully agree,” Hannibal concurred. “Every scar you see there I had before the Emperor had me mutated. Even the mutation couldn’t erase what the Darkness had done to me. Now, I wish to show you something that will remove all doubt about who I am. Hold the album, Leila.” She took it from his hand as he stood up.

“Now you will know who I am,” Hannibal stated bluntly, taking off his shirt and tossing it in the chair. At the same time, he removed the Caverias Seal, handing it to Selina. Stepping back and holding his arm out horizontally, Hannibal said, “Look well, Leila Carie Karac. Compare the scars in that picture to what you see here. You will note they are exactly the same.”

“By the Elder Gods,” Leila cried in horror, seeing the scars of every bite mark, claw mark, gash, laceration, every bullet hole, and burn Hannibal had received over his life. She even saw the puncture scar from the Triaskus Spider. Hannibal slowly turned around so Leila could see every scar. Leila instinctively touched her side where the werack had bitten her.

“I know about the werack bite,” Selina said softly, “We saw it when we changed your clothes.”

“Look; compare us,” Hannibal ordered. “We have the same wounds...wounds I received at the claws and teeth of the infernal fiends that wish to destroy this world and humanity with it. Pay attention to the bite and claw scars. Demons did that to me after I turned on them. You see, I used to be allied with the same powers that rule the Emperor, but the Almighty saved me from that Darkness. However, the Darkness does not take kindly to traitors. The demons I acquired while a dark wizard with power comparable to the Emperor repeatedly tried to kill me as they were expunged from my body and soul. These scars are the physical record of their exorcisms.”

“You mean you used to be a dark wizard utilizing the powers of the Darkness?” Leila asked, completely stunned by the revelation.

“Yes,” Hannibal admitted softly, sitting down in the chair heavily. “It was a very bad part of my life that I’m working to atone for. When the time is right, I will tell you the full tale, but not now. You’re already overwhelmed by everything you’ve seen and heard this evening.”

“I cannot deny that,” Leila stated, repeatedly looking at the nude image of Hanna, and then back at Hannibal. “The scars are the same, except for the one in your right shoulder. I don’t see that on in this image of Hanna. Why is that?”

“That’s because it occurred after Josephine used the Nano Chamber of this tower to restore me to my male form,” Hannibal reported. “That’s why you don’t see it on Hanna, but everything else you see is there, don’t you.”

“I’m flabbergasted by this,” Leila admitted, her tone reflecting her awe. “You really were mutated into a woman, just as the prophecies I can remember say. Now, as predicted, you’ve been restored. Wait, this means that....” She let her though trail off as she finally put the pieces together.

Hannibal smiled soberly at Leila’s epiphany. “That’s right, Leila. It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I am the Beowulf: the Last Caverias and heir to the throne of Thoth Caverias,” he declared in a humbled tone. “I am the One the prophets, including Ragnar, foretold would come. I am the great warrior king who will finally put an end to the Emperor’s evil once and for all in these end of days. Surely, you remember the prophecies about the fall of Amacia and the destruction of the Emperor.”

Leila was beginning to cower in his presence. A sense of great power and nobility was flowing from him to the point that Selina was awed and humbled by it. “I think so,” Leila replied, now beginning to sense his real purpose in this world. “As I said, what I do remember of the prophecies is jumbled, disjointed.”

“That can be remedied, so don’t worry about it,” Hannibal chimed warmly, very pleased that Leila now grasped who, and what he was, at least on a surface level. “As you sort out your memories and we reeducate you on what the prophecies really say, you will understand what I’m here for. But let me make it perfectly clear, Leila. This position, this power I never wanted and if I could give it up, I would in an instant. I never wanted to be a king, messiah, or the most powerful human on the face of the planet. I genuinely fear the power growing within me. I now channel far more power than I ever did as a dark wizard. But this is my fate and the will of the Almighty. Apparently, this is why our God made me. I’m to be His weapon against the Darkness that has contaminated this planet from the beginning...the same Darkness that took Bolthor and left you in a stasis limbo for over twelve thousand cycles; the same Darkness that turned Josephine into a cyborg and left her in a mechanized hell for the same amount of time. Lord have mercy; I so wish I was just a normal guy with normal problems. I never wanted this, but I cannot back out at this point. I must do what our God has called me to do. If I don’t, the world and its people may very well perish in an apocalypse that makes the Kragonar look mild. I can’t in good conscious let the same Darkness that snared me escape this savage land and obliterate humanity. So by the decree of the Almighty and the prophecies He used to tell of me, I am the....”

“True King of Amacia, the prophesied heir of the Caverias line...the Last Caverias,” Leila breathed in stunned reverence. “How could I have been so blind? You really are the King, and you’re here to take back Thoth’s throne from the Emperor.”

Hannibal beamed with delight and clapped softly. “Finally, you understand!” he crowed. “You see me as I truly am.”

“I believe so,” Leila replied softly, “I’m willing to accept this is your fate, and will accept you as King. However, there’s so much I still don’t know or understand about you. Is there any way to alleviate my ignorance? I must know your entire story in order to fully believe in you.”

“I understand,” Hannibal said warmly. “But it would take days for me to tell you my story. However, I think I have a quicker way to educate you, if you think you are up to it?”

Leila’s eyes were literally glowing with amazement. “How?” she asked in awe of him.

“You are a Lynxian, are you not?” Hannibal replied.

“Not just a Lynxian, but a Kaitian Tiger,” Leila admitted. “My mother and father were Kaitian Tigers and they made sure Ariel and I knew who and what we are from the moment we knew anything.”

Selina’s mouth fell open in shock. “You’re a Kaitian Tiger?” she asked in amazement. “I’ve only seen recorded images of Kaitian Tigers, never in person. Kaitian Tigers vanished from Kaitia a least three generations ago. This is a great honor.”

“The honor is mine, little sister,” Leila replied graciously. “Just to know Lynxians still exist warms my heart. We should talk of Kaitia some time.”

“I would love to, Leila,” Selina chimed.

“So, are Kaitian Tigers as telepathic as regular Lynxians?” Hannibal asked, intrigued by the news. “Selina here is a first-order telepath you know, and has taught me everything she knows about that gift.”

“Wait a second,” Leila interrupted. “Are you saying that you’re telepathic?”

“Not just telepathic, Leila,” Selina declared, “Hannibal is now one of the most powerful minds on the planet. He’s as far above me now with his telepathic prowess as I was above him the day we married and merged.”

“Really?” Leila asked, now genuinely interested in Hannibal’s history. “How did that happen? I know telepathy amongst humans is extremely rare.”

“That it is,” Hannibal agreed. “It seems I am the very big exception to that rule. To answer your question, my telepathy began stirring the day I first met Selina. However, it didn’t really blossom until the Emperor had Josephine mutate me into a woman. When he did that, he took the shackles off my telepathic prowess. It’s grown over a seventy fold since then. In fact, it’s grown so fast it caused a problem for me. I didn’t know how to control it. It was maddening to hear everyone’s thoughts at the same time. Only when Selina taught me the discipline and how to control my telepathy did it become bearable.” He looked Leila in the eye and added telepathically, Speaking telepathically is now second nature to me, though I seldom do it. I prefer to ask permission before using my telepathy to touch minds.

Leila’s eyes grew wide as she clearly heard Hannibal’s telepathic voice inside her mind. “Incredible,” Leila breathed. “I’ve never seen a human with such a powerful telepathic voice. And you found how to speak telepathically to others and not make it hurt them. That’s a true marvel because only the most powerful and disciplined minds of my time could accomplish. I truly believe now. You are the One: the Last Caverias.”

“Nice of you to say so,” Hannibal answered warmly. “But you didn’t answer my question. Are Kaitian Tigers as powerful telepathically as Lynxians?”

“You could have just plucked that information from my mind, and known,” Leila stated bluntly.

“But that wouldn’t be right,” Hannibal insisted. “Only in the most extreme cases will I do that. I much rather ask permission before knocking around in someone else’s head. It’s the right thing to do.”

“That it is,” Leila agreed, “You know your telepathic protocol well. I’m impressed. To answer your question, yes, I am telepathic, and yes, Kaitian Tigers can be just as telepathic as Lynxians. However, that depends on whether they choose to exercise and develop the gift.”

“Ah,” Hannibal chimed softly. “I see. It depends upon whether the individual wants to use it, and how much they want to use it. Some may just use it on a low to moderate scale while others go all out and master the gift, becoming powerful telepaths like Selina.”

“You could say that,” Leila stated. She paused a moment and then asked, “Why did you ask if I were telepathic? What do you intend to do?”

“Never fear,” Hannibal reassured her. “I won’t do anything without your permission. Because of how long it would take me to tell my tale, I propose we take a little spin through my memories. Let you see what I have. I can do that because I’m gifted as such too, as is Selina. What I suggest is that all three of us take a little trip down memory lane. We will not look at your memories unless you want us too. For the time being, this is purely for your education. It is to show you exactly who and what I am. Are you up for it?”

Leila hesitated because she had already sensed that Hannibal was an incredibly powerful and disciplined mind, much more so than anything she had ever encountered. “I...I’m not sure that I’m ready, Hannibal,” she said with hesitation. “I’m still weak and am fairly sleepy again. Could I have a drink of water?”

Hannibal’s kingly attitude melted away as he replied pleasantly, “Of course. Could you get her a drink, honey?” Selina was already getting up, heading for the bathroom and a cup of cool water. She briefly stopped at Hannibal’s dresser, sitting the Caverias Seal on top of it before disappearing into the bathroom.

Hannibal sighed deeply, glancing back at the weapons rack. “You know finding Thoth’s Sword and Seal nearly cost me my life,” he said softly, looking Leila in the eye. “I should not have survived the fall to the Island of the Devourers beneath Acheron, much less survived my free-fall battle Lord Baal. But our God was incredibly merciful that day, imbuing incredible power and skill in me that allowed me to triumph that day.” He paused solemnly for a few moments as tears started to well up. In a stressed, sorrowful tone, Hannibal declared, “I have seen and done things that no one should ever have to see or do. But I saw and did those things nonetheless. I know what evil lurks in the heart of the Emperor because I’ve tasted that evil myself long ago.” He looked at her and asked, “Do you have any idea what it is like to do things that are nigh unforgivable by anything or anyone? I am haunted by a past of heinous evil deeds that are burned into my mind for all time.” Leila was speechless as she closed the photo album and handed it back to Hannibal. He graciously took it and smiled soberly, saying, “But our God is good. He forgives if you repent. The only thing He can’t forgive is when you believe that He can’t forgive. He can’t forgive you if you don’t let Him. He is my light and my salvation, my fortress and refuge in the face of the enemy, and what a powerful enemy it is.”

Selina returned with a small cup of water. She sat on the edge of the bed saying, “Drink very slowly, Leila. You’re body hasn’t had water or food in such a long time that it may initially reject it.”

Leila sipped on her water. It was a strange sensation for her as the cooling liquid moved into her digestive tract. A cool, pleasant feeling arose from it as she drank it. She smiled and suddenly became light-headed. “Strange, but nice,” Leila stated dreamily as her head spun. “My head is spinning? Why?”

“It’s your body reacting to the water,” Hannibal stated softly. “It is trying to determine whether it is good or bad. It will pass.” Leila drank a little more and she began to sway. “Golly day!” she exclaimed dreamily. “I feel really strange.” Selina snatched the cup out of Leila’s hand as she lost grip of it. Leila plopped down on the pillow giggling like a little girl. She began to speak in the ancient tongue of Amacia, giggling hysterically.

Selina was baffled and asked Hannibal, “What’s going on? Why is she acting like this?”

Hannibal heard and understood Leila’s speech. “She’s drunk,” Hannibal replied with some amazement. “The water has intoxicated her for some strange reason. This is a bit unexpected. But she should be going out right about...now.” No more than Hannibal had spoken Leila passed out. “She must be having a reaction to the water as the body tries to identify it,” he stated, “As soon as her mind and body agree that it is a good thing, it will not bother her. Come on, honey. Let’s go to bed. I’m dead tired. Frankly, I’m glad that she didn’t want to look. I’ll be much more able to function after a good night’s rest.”

“All right,” Selina replied as she covered up Leila, who was giggling in her sleep as if she were reliving some humorous part of her past. Hannibal rose, putting the photo album away before going to the bathroom to take a bath. Selina went to her dresser and got a nightgown, and then went to his dresser and got him his pajamas. He was so tired that he’d forgotten to get them. She then went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her so they could bathe together. An hour later after the intimate bath, they came out in a good mood, but very tired. Even though they deeply desired to mate while in the bath, they didn’t, choosing to remember their marriage vows. However, they did pleasure each other deeply, strengthening their bond to one another and rebalancing each other’s energies with their intimate play.

Going to the bed, Hannibal and Selina laid down together, cuddling. Hannibal wore a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt while Selina wore her favorite silver nightgown. In minutes, they were sound asleep in each other’s arms. Rachel remained in a deep sleep on her bed, and Leila lay on her bed with her back to them, facing the wall that her bed was pushed against. All was peaceful and quiet. Little did they realize that a storm was coming and its name was the Emperor.