Lost Children of Atlantis - 9. Chapter 9

True to Ryan's word, about five minutes later there was a soft, almost diffident knock at the door before it opened, the butler standing there, impassive as ever.

"Your usual guests are here, sir," he said, as inflectionless as before. "Shall I prepare refreshments for you and your guests?"

"That shouldn't be necessary this evening, but thank you, Blake," Ryan said, clearly dismissively. Blake bowed and let in several people, walking out once they'd filed in.

The first to enter was a tall, thin gentleman who looked about 30, his hair long and flowing and as silver as a fresh quarter. He wore an immaculate three-piece suit in dark gray, and his eyes were a piercing silver-blue. He was chatting lightly with a woman about half his height, whose manner and carriage reminded me of a storybook princess, her floor-length white-blond hair flowing freely behind her, wearing a simple dress of royal blue with silver trimming.

The other two, walking hand in hand behind them, were odder still. The girl, who looked like she was about 8 years old, was dressed in... well, all I could think of was the absolute stereotype of an anime schoolgirl uniform, complete with her bright pink hair tied up in ponytails. She kept... shimmering, almost, back and forth between that appearance and that of an older (well, my age) girl dressed a bit more casually, though still with the same bubblegum-pink hair color, the hair short-cut and messy. The way she kept switching back and forth so erratically, it made my eyes water trying to look at her...

"Shemara," the man with her said impatiently, and her form stopped on that of the older female.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly to the taller man accompanying her, "you know how Sparrow gets with new people."

He sighed and I got a closer look at him... tall and wiry, with medium-length hair that looked like it'd seen every color ever invented (it was currently vivid blue and deep black), and a sardonic grin which I was sure was characteristic of him. "Havens forfend we deal with that tonight," he said in a sudden British accent which I was sure he didn't have before, which got a weird chuckle/giggle out of the girl.

Ryan set me gently aside, rising to introduce his guests. "This gentleman is Aricus, and his companion is Aurora," he said, indicating the first two. Aricus bowed regally while Aurora gave a grave but elegant curtsey. Ryan glanced at the second pairing. "The... illusionist, shall we say, is Shemara, and her compatriot is Jesse. Their... ah... less conventional counterparts are Sparrow and Johnny, who you saw briefly." A smirk crossed his face. "To be sure, it's usually a bit more chaotic for our gatherings when Sparrow and Johnny are present. More interesting, however." Shemara again chuckled in that weird half-giggle way.

He then turned to address his gathered friends. "And here we have our newest, and very eloquent, member, Damien Avile. I'm pretty sure each of you heard his flowery little speech earlier?"

Every head in the room nodded, and I felt my face burning with embarassment. "I would not be surprised, personally, if Citadels in Europe were calling to find out what all the commotion was about," Aurora sniffed. "Such ostensible displays only server to make yourself a target, youngling... and do remember, not all Guardians... nor all Fallen, to be sure... are so sanguine about your being a... 'lost child', was it?" At that, she favored Ryan with an ironic gaze, to which he grinned and shrugged, unrepentant.

"It's true enough, isn't it?" he countered softly. "We are neither fish nor fowl, neither blinded to our reality like the Guardians, nor driven by greed like most of the Fallen. And as such, are we not 'lost' to both sides?"

To this, to the apparent amusement of some, Aurora had no reply.

With Ryan's guidance, I began to relate my tale to them, starting with the dream (during which Shemara and Aurora kept exchanging glances), then to my near-suicide (at which point Aricus burst out coughing sharply and took several moments to recover), and finally to my initiation by and consquent defection from the Guardians.

When I finished, Aricus looked at me... although it was strange, it was almost like he was staring through me... and in a hushed whisper said:

One never found shall become lost...
Borne of ice, reborn in love...

Ryan visibly started when he heard the words, then looked closely at me, before noting my puzzled expression. "That is taken from the Digital Prophecies," he said to me, everyone else suddenly looking at me closely, watching me, their expressions still.

"OK, but what's it mean?" I asked, still puzzled. Cryptic word puzzles were never my forte, but given the way they were all acting, it must've meant something to them...

"Well, think about it," Shemara jumped in. "I mean... borne of ice? You almost died from the ice-dream-whatever, right? Because of that, they had to step in and make you a Guardian, and way ahead of schedule I'm sure... you were still young, they don't always do that."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but so what? So some vague ominous phrase matches my situation. What's that got to do with me? Honestly?"

Jesse shook his head quickly and made a cautioning gesture. "It's obvious you're still young, so we won't take offense. But you have to be careful who you talk like that around. Some people..."

"Some people," Aricus interrupted solemnly, with the faintest hint of rebuke in his tone, "would look at what you just said as highly sacrilegious. The Digital Prophecies were written... well, perhaps compiled would be a better term... during the time of the First Citadel, by the combined efforts of every single AI of the time. And each and every event thus far has come to pass as written therein. You might think it's just silly superstition... after all, mortals in this day and age often see a lot they pass off as 'chance' or 'coincidence'... but as Guardians go? You're in the minority, youngling."

With that, he stood and left, followed by the others except Ryan. "Did I...?" I started.

"No," he said softly. "They might be affronted, but as Jesse said, they won't hold it against you, they know you're young yet. Intellectually, at least, they won't." He sat beside me, pulling me close. I sighed as I settled back into his arms, letting the warmth and comfort of his closeness steal over me.

He leaned over my shoulder, his lips seeking mine out, meeting with mine in a gentle, soft kiss. His lips parted as he shifted slightly, and I felt his tongue at my lips for the briefest of moments before I parted them, out tongues exploring each other, as I felt a quickening lust joining the thus-tender romance of the moment. My hands rose behind me to slip under his shirt, feeling the taut muscles of his back, our bodies clinging tightly together.

He broke the kiss briefly, pulling off first my t-shirt, then his own. He pulled me back to him and we resumed kissing, his arms linked about my waist, my hands roaming his smooth, taut back, reveling in the feel of his warm, inviting flesh pressed tightly against me. I could feel his hardon through his pants, grinding into my leg, as my body reacted similarly.

After what could've been either a few seconds or a couple lifetimes (I wasn't precisely watching the clock, after all) he pulled back slightly, his arms unlocking from my waist, looking into my eyes as though he could see the answers to life's mysteries inside. Then slowly, deliberately, he slid his hands to my belt, unfastening it and my pants both and gently lowering them. We resumed kissing, the need overwhelming the romantic passion of before, our kisses faster and more desperate now as I reached down and unbuttoned his pants, fumbling a bit as I went.

Not bothering to remove my boxers, Ryan cupped my cock through the material, alternately stroking and lightly tracing it. I moaned into his mouth as I finally got his pants undone and started trying to ease them down, encountering no underwear as his dick sprung free, slapping against his smooth, tight stomach. Abandoning the kiss for now, I began lightly kissing and licking down his neck, over his smooth chest and stomach, avoiding my ultimate goal for the moment as I maneuvered down to his inner thigh, licking and nibbling at him, his moans enticing me further as he continued teasing me by hand.

I moved from thigh to balls, lightly licking them, then sucking them into my mouth one at a time, enjoying the moans and gasps from his throat and the increased intensity of his teasing almost as much as the act itself. I moved on to his dick, lightly running my tongue up and down, following each contour as though I was blind and seeing it only by the feel of my tongue upon it. I was so intent on my own actions, I didn't even notice when he stopped working me until I felt myself surrounded by his mouth, the heat and moisture threatening to overwhelm my senses.

Consumed by lust, I stopped teasing his still-throbbing cock and took the entire length into my mouth, briefly fighting my gag reflex as he hit the back of my throat. He was definitely longer than Tyler, an idle part of my mind thought, as I felt my throat stretch a bit as I fought to get all of him inside me, finally succeeding and rewarded with his heavy breathing and moaning that I heard/felt as he reciprocated in kind on me.

After several minutes (again, assuming here) I felt his body begin to tense, and I knew he was close. While he sped up on me, I pulled back to focus mostly on the head and upper shaft as he spasmed, releasing his load to fill my mouth as I swallowed quickly, only losing a few precious drops that managed to leak out the corners of my mouth. I licked the corners of my mouth, then returned to him, nursing him of the last few drops until he moaned weakly, and I heard him in my mind say [i]::Let go for me, my Damien, my love.::[/i]

As I heard those words, I felt my body let go, orgasming with an intensity I'd never known, as if my entire being was being squeezed through my balls and out my dick with that orgasm, while he swallowed every drop, nursing me as gently as I did to him. The last drop coaxed free, he slid around more until we were facing each other, him kissing me sensuously, me... well, I was trying to return the kiss, but I couldn't move!

After a few moments, he pulled back, looking at me with a puzzled look... which I watched turn to realization, then amusement. "Apparently, we'll be putting off your training a bit, my love," he said aloud, chuckling, as he cuddled against me. "It seems your mentor neglected to advise you of several things. Like the fact that going too long without release of some sort can have... shall we say, worse consequences than blue balls." He smirked, kissing my cheek lightly.

Well, I wasn't worried. At least, not too much. At least I still had Ryan, right?

"Don't worry," he continued, as if echoing my thoughts. "I'll stay with you. Forever."