The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (13 page)

“
Well, things are
obviously worse than I thought,” he muttered after a few
minutes. “But who is leading these rebel Titans? Where did they
come from?”

“
No idea, sir,”
Justin answered. “But I heard one mention Hyperion.”

He wasn't prepared for Prometheus'
reaction.

“
What did you just say?”
the old Titan asked sharply. “Say that again!”

“
I...I said that they
said that Hyperion was their leader,” Justin stuttered,
surprised.

“
Hyperion is dead,”
Prometheus said flatly. “I killed him myself.” The entire
group gasped but he didn't seem to notice. “He is dead and
buried, may his name be cursed forever.”

Justin had unconsciously pushed back
his chair. For a tiny instance, he thought that Prometheus' eyes had
flashed a fiery red.

“
Not too fond of that
Hyperion guy, I assume,” Dominic said dryly.

Prometheus flashed him a look and
then glanced at Justin.

“
Cronus was my brother.
Did you know that?”

“
What?” Justin was
stunned. “But, I thought Hyperion was Cronus' brother?”

“
Indeed he was. And mine
as well.” The old man sighed and seemed to sag in his chair. He
sat back again and began staring at the solar system above them.

“
All of us, the original
thirteen Titans, were born of five mothers. And all five mothers were
the daughters of one woman.” He shook his head slowly. “Our
research indicated that it was this woman who had undergone some sort
of cellular mutation at some point in her life. What caused it,
whether it was radiation or some other event, we never knew. But she
was the source of the entire Titan race.”

“
So you and the other
twelve Titans were either siblings or cousins?” Maria asked.
She looked fascinated and was hanging on every word.

“
Precisely, my dear,”
Prometheus replied. “All of us had the condensed cellular
structure, the enhanced mental capacity and energy, and the larger
body size. Unfortunately, we learned that we were incapable of
reproducing with our own kind. None of the cousins who mated produced
offspring and so we could not expand our race. We were afraid that
sooner or later, we would die out.” He looked at the group and
smiled sadly. “We learned over time that we were immortal. But
being immortal did not mean that we were indestructible. We knew that
one day, the Titans would be just a memory; one of the many
evolutionary dead ends that litter Earth's history.”

“
But sir,” Justin
cut in, “I saw other Titans in the Hall of Remembrance. Mr.
Fitzgerald took me there once and I saw Cronus and Hyperion in a town
square surrounded by people. He said that they were Titans too.”

“
Mr. Fitzgerald, was it?”
Prometheus asked. Justin nodded. “Ah yes, of course. Well, let
me explain. You see, we determined that there was indeed a way to
increase our numbers, as long as we did not insist on keeping the
bloodline 'pure'. And that was by combining our genetic material with
humans.” Again a collective gasp was heard from the teens.

“
Please understand, we
were not born knowing all of this information about genetics, runes
and all the rest. It took centuries to experiment, to adapt, to grow
in learning and understanding. The small farming village where we
were born grew to fear us as we reached adulthood. We eventually left
to find our own way. We kept ourselves aloof, hidden from humans
while we learned and explored our possibilities.” Prometheus
smiled to himself. “The island of Atlantis was our refuge. It
was far enough away from the small human population to keep us hidden
while we worked things out.” His voice took on a harden edge.
“Even Hyperion was useful. He developed ways of extracting DNA
and cloning it to help in our experiments. All before he turned on
us, of course.”

“
So these people that I
saw were not pure Titans?” Justin asked. At the old man's nod,
Justin continued “Then they were like we are now, human-titan
hybrids?”

“
Exactly, Justin. Sound
reasoning.” Prometheus sounded pleased. “These new Titans
were able to reproduce naturally, although never in great numbers.
They could use runes by channeling their mental energy through the
titanium bracelets. They had a dense cellular structure and, while
not immortal as we originals were, their lifespans were extended
significantly.”

“
How significantly, sir?”
Dominic asked eagerly.

Prometheus paused a moment before
answering. “Perhaps five centuries, if they died of natural
causes.” He fixed Dominic with a piercing stare. “What is
your name, young man?”

“
Me?” Dominic
sounded surprised. “I'm Dominic. Sir.”

“
Dominic.”
Prometheus stared at him a long moment and Dominic began to squirm in
his seat. “Yes. I will remember you, Dominic.” To the
teen's obvious relief, the Titan turned back to speak to Justin.

“
This led to our
expanding to the mainland. We built a small village that grew into a
large town. Trade was initiated with regular humans, with many
warnings to our people not to do or say anything that would cause
these humans to suspect that the new Titans were anything but
ordinary people.” He looked sadly at the group. “You can
guess what happened.”

“
Someone made a mistake?”
This time it was Yolanda who spoke up and then blushed when
Prometheus looked her way.

“
Actually, many people,
young lady. Humans began to suspect because of the little things.
Seeing someone fall and not show pain. Or noticing someone else
struck by a heavy object and not bruise or bleed. Or perhaps light a
fire just by staring at a pile of logs. The incidents aren't
important. Over time, we were exposed. And once exposed, it was
concluded by the council of Elders, made up of the original Titans,
that we should simply make an admission of our differences and offer
our talents to aid others.”

“
That was very generous,
sir,” Maria said sincerely.

“
Perhaps it was. I don't
know now if we were right. Hyperion, of course, was absolutely in
opposition to our decision. He feared that, once exposed for who we
really were, humans would want to use us, try to take our powers and
technology for themselves. And, if that was not possible, then he
believed they would try to destroy us.” Prometheus shook his
head again. “Imagine that. He was absolutely right.”

“
So what happened next,
sir?” Aaron asked eagerly, caught up in the tale.

“
What happened next,
Aaron, led to my being exiled here,” the old Titan said with a
wave of his hand. “I made the biggest mistake of my life.”

There was no sound from any of the
teens. Justin looked around and saw that they were all focused on
Prometheus; several with their mouths hanging open.

“
We needed a way to
defend ourselves, in case Hyperion's predictions came true.
Unfortunately, most of my fellow Elders dismissed his fears out of
hand. I was cautious. The problem was that Titans had over time
became a race of pacifists. We had no need to kill or fight, being
almost impervious to injury. We grew our own crops, ate fish or other
types of seafood and had only a very few weapons, most of which were
either ceremonial or experimental. So what would happen if humans did
attack? We could conceivably be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. As I
said, we reproduced very slowly and had a small population. Humans
outnumbered us a hundred to one or more.”

Prometheus stood up slowly, made his
way to a wooden trunk that stood against a wall and removed something
from it. Then he came back to his seat, sat down and dropped an
object on to the table. It bounced and rang with a metallic tinkling
sound.

Justin stared along with the others.
It was a titanium bracelet. But unlike his and Aaron's, this bracelet
was shaped like a spiral, twisting around about four times. It was
covered with tiny, deeply-etched runes.

“
Hey!” Aaron spoke
up. “I've seen something like this before.” He looked at
Justin. “Remember? When the rebels invaded Sanctuary the first
time? The Destroyers were wearing them. So were the rebels.”
Justin only nodded as he watch Prometheus' reaction.

The Titan had paled at Aaron's
statement. “These rebels were wearing a bracelet like this
one?”

“
Yes sir,” Justin
answered quietly. “Both groups were wearing them.” He
thought for a second. “But the rebel leader was wearing a
regular bracelet like ours.”

“
Was he now?”
Prometheus paused for a moment. “That is...very interesting. So
only the leader was a hybrid Titan. His followers were human.”
He hesitated and then carried on. “But now, let me explain my
tragic error, my enormous misjudgment.” He picked up the spiral
band and stared at it pensively. “We were not fighters but we
had true friends among normal humans, friends who were willing to
help protect us. Whether they did so for gain or because they revered
us is hard to say. But it was this group who had originally warned us
of plots among human tribes who wished to take what we had spent so
many years creating. Having but a little less skill working with
runes and titanium than my brother Cronus, I hit upon a solution.”
He looked at Justin, a strange mixture of shame and pride in his
expression.

“
I created titanium bands
that could be used by pure humans, if they were trained properly in
their use. Secretly, I gathered a group together, a small militia you
could say, and named them Destroyers.”

“
So that's where they
came from,” Aaron said in awe.

“
Yes, Aaron. And it warms
my heart to know that their descendants still exist and fight to
protect Sanctuary, on their own terms.” At Justin's questioning
look, Prometheus explained. “I did not want to lord over the
Destroyers. So I gave them the freedom to respond to threats only if
they felt they could make a difference. I had spent too much time and
energy in their creation and training to allow it all to be wasted in
suicidal attacks against vastly superior forces. They had the right
to choose when and if they would fight.”

Rising again, Prometheus waved the
group toward the food and juice. “Please, eat, gather your
strength. You have a long road ahead of you, it seems.”

He returned the bracelet to the chest
and sat down again while the teens grabbed some fruit and juice.

“
After Hyperion had
ambushed and murdered Cronus, he felt invincible, I'm sure. He and
his lackeys moved on the palace, certain that they could take control
and use our advanced, experimental weapons to destroy the human
armies that were gathering to sail on Atlantis. My Destroyers and I
met them in the throne room, as my traitorous brother was about to
sit on the throne itself.” Prometheus' expression was grim. “I
struck him down as my men defeated his followers. My titanium blade
took his head and saved the throne from being desecrated. But Rhea
and several other Elders entered just as I cut down Hyperion. They
were appalled, even after I told them what he and his men had done.
'Evil does not cancel out evil, Prometheus,' Rhea said to me. She
said that Cronus would not have wanted one brother to kill another,
no matter how justified. And training humans to use runes? She had no
words for such treachery.”

“
Treachery? But you
stopped him! He might have slaughtered thousands!” Aaron was
indignant, as were several of the others.

“
Perhaps,”
Prometheus replied heavily. “But she was right. She was right.
If the widow of my brother did not seek revenge on his killer, how
could I? How was I justified in arming humans with our technology? We
were pacifists! We were not killers, even by proxy. Those were the
words she used. And after we buried my two brothers, a council
meeting was called and my punishment was pronounced.” He looked
up at the ceiling again. “Exile, into the very bowels of
Sanctuary. A place that we had used to store technology, built to
save our race but not used in time. Ironic, isn't it?” he said
to Justin. “I was sent into this prison and ended up as the
only survivor of my race. If there truly are gods, how they must have
laughed.” He sank back and covered his face with his hands.
Justin wondered if he was crying.

“
So you don't really know
how Atlantis fell?” Aaron asked cautiously.

As he lowered his hands, they could
the tears on the Titan's cheeks. “Of course I know. We'll come
to that in a moment.” He just sat there looking sad and lost.

With some hesitation, Maria asked
quietly “What about the minotaurs here? Are they guards or...?”

“
Failed genetic
experiments,” Prometheus said, wiping his eyes with both hands
and clearing his throat. “Some of our people were still
experimenting, still trying to create a true Titan. Those beasts are
titan-animal hybrids, as are the gorgons, the chimera, the basilisks
and a host of other monstrosities you may find in some lost corner of
Sanctuary. These were assigned to guard me, to keep me caged. But
also to make sure I was fed and kept alive.” His smile was
sardonic. “In them, the immortality gene bred true and they
just live on and on, as do I.”

“
Why haven't you gone
crazy?” The question startled everyone, including Prometheus
who just stared at the speaker. It was Jason, who hadn't said a word
in all the time that they had been in the room. He returned the
Titan's stare calmly and said “You've been here for thousands
of years. I know that that would have driven me nuts.”