The pod opened and Xaloc stepped out. Xaloc took a deep breath, the air was different. He could not explain it.
He could feel it strengthening him with each given moment. The pain he constantly felt in his left stomach and his spine after the surgeries seemed to have reduced drastically. He took another deep breath. It was almost addictive.
Xaloc glanced around his surroundings. The place he was transported to was like a small airport. A very small one, more like a waiting area for people coming in.
Different people were holding different sign boards, with different names and emblems on them, waiting for friends and family perhaps.
No one was waiting for him here. No one knew him here and the thought made him incredibly happy.
One tall girl with a messy bun and a quiver of arrows around her waist held a large poster with the words Newcomer written in large fonts.
People had already started to gather around her. Xaloc also made his way to her.
The girl just looked at them calmly and pulled out a metal token, "Hina from the Atlantis Control Council. More people are still coming. You can sit down and wait. I will begin the orientation by 3p.m."
Questions were thrown at her but she did not answer, just kept numb and continued to look at the pod entrance.
Xaloc had no way of telling the time so he just found a seat around and continued to take quick deep breaths. The girl glanced at him sharply before she faced the pod entrance.
People continued to step out of the pods.
Suddenly the quiet environment grew louder. People began to gasp and the whispers grew louder that Xaloc opened his eyes.
It was a very beautiful girl of about 5'7 dressed in a pale pink gown. Her dark hair cascaded down to her back and she had pretty ice blue irises clearer than the sky itself. Perfectly shaped eyebrows, pinkish lips and flawless skin, this girl was the most beautiful person that Xaloc had ever seen.
She looked around in confusion, then resignation before she made her way steadily to the group. Something about her drew people's gaze to her, maybe it was the way that her eyes glowed with intelligence and determination, she was very charming.
As she watched them, many men and even women began to get excited as they quickly surrounded her eager to start a conversation.
Xaloc glanced at Hina and their eyes met. A smile tugged at the girl's lips before disappearing.
When this group began to disturb her, she pulled a metal token and addressed the crowd in the same monotone as she had earlier, "Hina from the Atlantis Control Council. More people are still coming. You can sit down and wait. I will begin the orientation by 3p.m."
The beautiful girl's eyes widened and she spoke, her voice mellow and pleasant to the ear. "It is still 1 pm. We would probably be here for a while. Let's get to know each other. My name is Selene. Selene Foxx. Just five hours ago, I was a strong supporter of materialism so I am very new to this. I hope we can all be along well."
"I do as well." A tall, skinny boy jumped in to say, " My name is Fino. I am twenty two. Yesterday night, A gnome appeared in my window and said I was a descendant of Banba and I had fifteen percent purity. Not sure what that means but according to him it is a good thing." The boy said, smiling.
Xaloc gave him a disdainful look. Could someone be any more foolish? To impress a girl, you give out every information you have.
Hina also thought as she sneered.
A bald fat man smiled widely, "Descendant of Banba. That's great. My name is Joseph, a descendant of Glanis. Not sure about the purity level."
One by one, by promoting or crowd pressure, everyone began to introduce themself.
Soon, it reached Xaloc's turn. Xaloc had no desire to answer but being singled out was no good either.
"Xaloc. I am new here."
The moment he said his name, he could feel Selene's gaze fixate on him.
The tall skinny boy seemed to have seen it too as he snorted, "That's all. If you don't want to introduce yourself then don't. Nobody is forcing you."
Several people seemed to have a similar opinion as hostile gazes landed on him from time to time.
Xaloc sighed. He had not tackled the situation well. He should have given more information but he did not want to lie either.
"Maria, descendant of Isis." A girl announced taking most of the attention in the room.
Selene's attention fell on him several times during the introduction, making Xaloc uncomfortable. Does she know him from somewhere?
Once it was three o clock, the tall girl with a messy bun stood in front of the room and addressed the crowd.
"Good evening. Many of you are no doubt confused, you were taken from your various homes voluntarily or involuntarily and brought to this place. This is because of a recent law from Shangri-La that mandates all the descendants to leave the mortal realm. Yes, all of you standing here are immortal."
The whispers reached the peak as people struggled to wrap their head around that concept.
"No, it does not mean that you will leave forever." The girl said coldly, a mocking gleam in her eyes. "It just means that you possess a drop of Aether in your bloodstream. The Aether makes you divine."
"Is that what the purity level is, the higher your level, the stronger you are?" Someone asked.
"I won't say stronger but basically your purity translates to your divinity. But I am not handling that topic. The various groups, institutions you join would explain that better."
"Is their Aether in the air?" Xaloc asked.
The girl smiled widely, "No. But there is Aer." She seemed to find her own joke funny as she started laughing, breaking her cold, monotone image.
Composing herself, she spread her hands, "Welcome to Atlantis."