Legend of the Book Keeper (24 page)

At the request of Cia,
The Code
had been taken to the Monastery to be watched over by the Brotherhood of Light until Cody could begin his training the following evening. Cody happily obliged; he knew they wouldn’t be able to use it anyways. It was his.

There was a soft knock on his door. When Cody opened it Jade was standing in the doorway. She was wearing a long white tunic and a thin, matching white headband. The paleness of the outfit illuminated her darker features giving her an almost exotic appearance. Cody suddenly realized he was staring at her. Jade smiled. “It’s the clothes they left us in our rooms. Guess they think we stand out too much with all our
surface dwelle
r clothes.
” She laughed; it was the first time Cody remembered hearing her laugh in days. He was glad. “Anyways, Poe, the servant Prince Kantan assigned to us, has offered to show us around the city. He’s waiting downstairs. I’m anxious to get out and see if the rest of Atlantis is as wacko as its royal family!”

“Yeah, it will be good to get out and walk around a bit. Give me a second.” On the side table by his bed was a similar stack of new clothes that had been left for him. He quickly removed his shirt. The moment he did so he felt the beams of Jade’s eyes slicing into his uncovered body. He felt embarrassed and vulnerable. He hastily changed into the rest of the clothes. They were surprisingly plain; just a baggy, brown tunic with a cloth belt. He felt slightly disappointed. He had hoped for something a little more majestic; a little more befitting of a Book Keeper. Perhaps even a gold B and K embroidered onto it. He made a mental note to ask Cia about it next time he saw her.

By the time Cody reached the lobby Jade was already waiting. With her was one of the oddest-looking people Cody had ever seen in his life. Even Sean Schneil would have looked shockingly handsome next to this strange specimen. His body was shaped in the distinct formation of an overripe pear. His chubby head perfectly mirrored the shape of his body, only in miniature, as though the pair were part of a Russian Matryoshka doll set. A lonely regiment of scattered hair hung like string from his otherwise balding head. The sparse hair was tucked behind his oversized ears, which stuck out like kites. His face, like all the other inhabitants of Atlantis, was mousey. The man turned to Cody as he approached and gave a nervous smile. “Gg-greetings, most noble Master Cody,” he stuttered, “Poe Dapperhio at your humble service . . .”

“Oh, Poe,” said Jade, “I’ve already told you, there is no need to be calling us master or noble or anything of the like. A simple Cody or Jade will do.” Cody sighed with disappointment. Most noble Master Cody—he had liked the sound of that.

“You are most kind, Master Jade. If it pleases you, I will show you around Atlantis, our lovely, perfect city.” With an overly deep bow, the peculiar man waddled to the door. Cody and Jade followed close behind.

The city took on new life in Cody’s eyes now that he understood some of its history. As he gazed over the people and buildings he tried to imagine what it must have been like when the twelve hunters had first come to the spot, back when it was just them and the Orb. Cody cranked his head around to see the crown-jewel structure behind him.

“B-b-behind you,” stuttered Poe, “is the heart of Atlantis. The Sanctuary of the Orb.”

Directly on cue, a loud gong sent sound waves streaming across the city. Instinctively every visible citizen knelt down to their knees and began chanting, “Hail the Orb of holy light, humbled we by its eternal might. Hail the Orb, let it shine forever bright.” As the crowd began chanting the phrase for the seventh time, Cody risked a glance up. Several men with dark red sashes across their chest and matching red headbands had remained standing. They were walking through the kneeling citizens as though inspecting them. The chant ended with a loud, “Amen.”

As Cody stood he tugged on Poe’s sleeve. “Who are those men? The ones with the red sashes.” Poe’s face lit up and he gave a slight bow in direction of the men.

“Those are the Enforcers. They work for the AREA, which of course stands for . . .”

“The Atlantis Rule Enforcement Association,” finished Cody.

Poe’s face gleamed with delight. “Y-y-yes! Well done! Splendid folk!”

Cody eyed Jade curiously. “So you are in favor of the AREA? We’ve been given the impression that the Association is not well loved by the citizens . . .” Cody’s voice trailed off.

Poe’s face looked as though he had just witnessed his favorite pet fall victim to the plague. His eyes watered under his eyelids. “Not well loved? Rubbish! The AREA
is
Atlantis! Without them our city would fall to chaos! Nobody would know how to worship the Orb! Let us not speak of such horrors. . . .” Poe’s disproportioned body shook like a wet dog before waddling forward. As their tour of the Inner-City continued, Cody grew increasingly irritated by Poe’s stutter. He had the annoying tendency of stuttering only on the first word of his sentences, as though his tongue was incapable of smoothly pushing off from the starting line.

They were shown all the workings of the Inner-City. Poe explained that because the majority of the actual industry took place in the Mid-City, the Inner-City acted as the metaphorical brain of Atlantis. All the most important citizens lived in spacious houses and all the headquarter buildings were in close proximity to the Royal Palace.

Poe stopped abruptly to show them the Atlantis Food Processing Center. “Y-y-you can probably guess that here in Under-Earth we are not accustomed to the same vast food options that you Surface-Dwellers are.” Poe continued, “Although several nutritional elements have been imported from Upper-Earth, our main source of food consists of insects and deep-earth animals. But, for those with money, there is also the practice of
de-fossilization
.”

“What’s that?” asked Jade curiously.

Poe took in a deep breath; he seemed exceedingly pleased with himself to be the know-it-all-expert on the city. “W-w-well,
de-fossilization
is a practice which recycles what Upper-Earth is finished with. The ground of the Earth is not static; rather it is fluid, constantly in motion. Every time one age of life ends, another one is quick to take its place, reestablishing itself on top of the previous. As a result, the earth is like what you Surface-Dwellers call a tomato . . . or is that an onion? I always forget. Upper-Earth history was never my strongest subject; never really saw the point. Anyways, like your tomatoes, the earth is made of many layers.
De-fossilization
is the delicate art of going into these layers as they reach us and removing the fossilized objects, such as animals, nuts, fruits and so on. At our Food Processing Centers, such as this one, these fossils are rehydrated and the nutrients are regained. As they say, one Surface-Dweller’s three thousand year-old trash is an Underling’s dinner!” Cody shivered. The thought of threethousand year old, rehydrated woolly mammoth meat had suddenly caused him to lose his appetite.

Next Poe led them to another large building. “T-t-the Atlantis Stone-Clothing Textile Factory,” announced Poe cheerfully. “Y-y-you both can thank this very center for the clothing you currently don!”

Cody rubbed his hands along the soft fabric of his tunic. “What do you mean,
stone-clothing
?”

Poe once again entered into professor mode. “O-o-one thing you may have noticed is that here in Under-Earth we do not have access to the wide variety of fabrics you do in Upper-Earth. But one thing we do have an abundance of is rock. It was the great Gorgo Tallsin who invented the first rock-tunic. In essence, the process has been going on since the beginning of time in the depths of the oceans, but Tallsin devised a way to speed up the process. By a continual breakdown of the rocks into granites smaller than sand, and by a simultaneous polishing of the granites by water compression of enormous proportions, he was able to produce a material that felt soft to human skin. By welding the tiny granites together, a pain-staking procedure, as you can imagine, our designers are able to produce any article of clothing. Not only is it soft and stylish, but it is also exceedingly more durable and tough than the flimsy, tacky clothing worn by you Surface-Dwellers.”

As their tour continued they saw other fascinating places. Out of reverence, Poe refused to lead them too close to the Sanctuary of the Orb; but he did point out the Monastery of the Brotherhood nestled at the top of the base below the Sanctuary where Cody was to begin his training

They were toured through the Pure-Air Plant: a center that, through intense light energy and a complex matrix of shoots and pipes, mimicked photosynthesis and recycled the air, maintaining breathable levels even in the center of the earth.

They were also shown the Strategizing Center for RoofMining, which organized the mining camps that hung from the ceiling of the cave and harvested the mammoth sky gems. Next, Poe showed the tunnel-phone: an elaborate communication system in which tunnels dug miles beneath the ground stretched from one location to another. Due to the perfect design of the tunnels, they would amplify the sound and carry it great distances to another location. “A-a-although call options are obviously limited, the sound quality is unhindered,” explained Poe. “It is an effective way to communicate between distant cities . . . that is, if you have the patience to wait for a response.”

The trio came to the last stop on the tour which Poe had obviously saved until the end for dramatic effect: the AREA headquarters. The building looked like a magnificent temple. A row of pillars lined the perimeter of the structure and the roof elevated high, meeting in a sharp point. A big open window framed the large hanging cymbal within. Above the large double front door was a small, wooden plaque that read: Rules Are The Foundation of Worship.

A large signpost stood next to the building. Written in small print, the sign read:
ESSENTIAL RULES OF ORB WORSHIP.
Cody read aloud:

1. Recite the Orb’s Hymn seven times every 2.5 hours while facing the Sanctuary
   
2. Never
   under
   any
   circumstance enter the Sanctuary of the Orb. To do so is punishable by death
   
3. Walk barefoot on the fifth day of the week in reverence to the Orb
   
4. Never
   wear a headband when walking within the shadow of the Sanctuary. To do so is to disrespect the Orb
   
5. Never
   challenge the authority of an AREA Enforcer
   

Cody scanned down to the bottom of the list that numbered 232 rules. Poe skipped merrily up beside Cody. “Ss-splendid aren’t they? I can recite each one by heart. All Atlantis citizens can; we are taught to as children.” The mention of children jerked something in Cody’s mind. It suddenly occurred to him that he had yet to see a single child in the entire city. He opened his mouth to inquire about it but a shriek from Poe cut him off, “It’s him!”

Cody followed the servant’s eyes to a man approaching the building. Like the Enforcers he had witnessed earlier, the man had a dark red sash across his chest. However, instead of a red headband, he wore a large red hat. Cody had to fight to suppress a chuckle at the ridiculousness of the head attire. Poe leaned over and whispered gleefully, “T-tthat man there is Sli Silkian, head of the AREA. Outside of the royal family, he is the most powerful man in Atlantis.”

The man had a face like a panther and walked with a cool confidence. As he reached the building he gave one quick glance to where Cody and Jade were standing. His beady raven eyes connected with Cody’s. In that brief instant Cody felt as though a wave of disdain was passed into him. He shuddered. The man quickly disappeared through the door and was gone.

Poe was rambling on excitedly about how Silkian had revolutionized Orb worship, but Cody tuned him out. His contact with the stranger had been brief, but for some reason Cody couldn’t escape the sickening feeling in his stomach that in that one short stare, he had just made a very powerful enemy.

A Secret Rendezvous

H
er lush, blonde hair flowed across her face as her eyes gazed longingly at Cody. He smiled back, winking and flicking his bangs to the side. The blonde beauty blushed and motioned with her finger for him to approach. Cody smiled confidently as he strutted toward the girl. He slipped his arm firmly around her back and pulled her body into his. She closed her eyes. Slowly Cody lowered his face toward her, his lips almost touching hers . . . just as a hard knock banged against his door.

Cody screamed. The beautiful blonde girl suddenly transformed into his pillow. He wiped the drool off of it; with a sigh of disappointment he realized he had only been dreaming. He closed his eyes again. The girl from his dreams was real, he had seen her the first time he had entered the Inner-City.
Who was she?
He was determined to find out. But another loud rap on the door brought him back to reality. Cody groaned and rolled off his bed. His legs were still aching from Poe’s exhaustive tour of the city. Cody didn’t know how long he had been napping, only that it hadn’t been long enough. Groggily staggering to the door he pulled it open. It was Jade.