Third Person

Tanith was having trouble remaining awake. It had been almost five days since she slept, but she wasn't going to stop now. It felt like she had to shake herself awake every five seconds just to make sure she didn't nod off.

For a while there she thought she was getting better. The flashbacks stopped coming, she felt content and just like her regular self again. Then it happened again. She heard the sound and suddenly she was back in De Vrede and watching the light fade from her eyes. The Peace that town was called, but soon it gained a new one: De Schaduw, or more commonly known as The Shadow.

She couldn't sleep. Or at least didn't want to, and for a number of reasons. There were two main ones that really got to her. One, every time she slept, nightmares kept coming and two-... Well, that was something she wanted to keep to herself. For now at least. Tanith knew how people felt about it, and just didn't want to ruin her relationships.

If you tell them, you might get a better one than before! A strengthened relationship with them! Wouldn't that be nice? A little voice in her head kept telling her that, but there was a much stronger one keeping her from saying it. But, it said, if it doesn't go well, you could lose them forever. You know how people normally react.

Tanith couldn't stop listening to the second thought. Sure, a better understanding of each other sounded like a dream, but she didn't need another nightmare in her life. In this case, she kept her mouth shut and tucked her thoughts away. No need to deal with it now. Later perhaps.

Besides her will to stay up, Tanith had coffee on her side. A drink where it kept her adrenaline up and her body awake. Though it helped a ton, Tanith was starting to wonder how long she could keep this up. The health risks she was taking were insane at this point and she felt herself falling apart. Plus, it was only a matter of time before Cody noticed. He wasn't stupid, Tanith knew that. He'd figure it out soon and then she'd be forced to stop, one way, or another.

Just thinking about all of this made her act up. Tanith didn't even realize she was fidgeting until it was many moments later. Her eyes darted around before stopping at the ball of yarn with two needles in it. She let out a sigh, making her way over to the couch. If she was going to worry, might as well do something useful with her time.

As the hybrid began to knit a red scarf, a knock alarmed her for a moment before realizing it was only the door. Tanith stared at it, then remembered she should probably open it. When she did, she was face to face with the King of Atlantis.

"Hey Tanith, do you mind if I talk to you about... Something." Her heart palpitated. Did he already know? Professor told him didn't he... "I need some advice."

Tanith quickly let out a short breath of relief and nodded, moving to the side which allowed him to walk in. "Yep, come in, come in. Take a seat on the armchair." The penguin obeyed and she chose to sit on the edge of the couch, facing towards him and slouching a tad.

"Do you mind if I continue with this?" She held up the knitting needles and received a shake of the head. "Good. Now Cody, what's on your mind?"

Cody took in a long breath before speaking. "Well, as you may have noticed, I'm not really in the best place right now. After that whole "Invasion", I... I think I'm still in shock."

"It was a surprise attack." Tanith pointed out. "And you are the king. I think you have the most right to be shocked out of all of us! I mean, I was quite surprised myself but Atlantis is your city! Your home! Getting invaded like we did had to be hard for you, knowing you couldn't stop it. But at least Atlantis is okay! It all worked out pretty well!"

"That's not exactly the thing I was so shocked about..." Cody admitted. He sighed and didn't meet her eyes. "Do you remember after the killer whales attacked? When I had a nightmare and you came to help?" Hesitantly, she nodded. Tanith had a feeling of where this would be going.

"And remember when I told you I killed someone? Someone I really regretted killing?" Another nod. "Well... There's this guy who's kinda the villain of Atlantis. His name is-"

"KrakenKid." Tanith blurted out. Cody gave her a confused look.

"Oh, do you already know about that?"

"Yeah, I- hold on." Getting up, Tanith slowly walked over to her closet and skimmed through the shelves before finding a huge book and bringing it back over. Dropping it on the table, it landed with a thud and made anything else on the table bounce in the air. Cody leaned forward, just enough to read the title.

History Of Atlantis was on it, written in big letters at the top.

"You would not believe the pain this thing is, but reading about this city's history is certainly worth it! Did you know that-" Suddenly, she hesitated, glancing at me and back to the book. "That... They update it every time something eventful happens!" The hybrid spoke quickly. Cody got the impression deep down, that isn't what she was going to say.

"More on," She continued, making the king decided to save that question and thought for later.  She let out a yawn. "It had more recent events. I read about, well, you know! It took a while for me to get to the part, and I had to skip ahead to read it but... I know. Do you mind if I ask what happened? From what I read, there was a big battle and you had to kill him to end it, but I know from experience that nobody gets the full details without being there."

Cody paused, but started to spill it out. "That's not what happened. I started the battle, I wanted to attack the place. A lot of people will tell you for different reasons, but truthfully I was scared. KrakenKid... He was unstoppable. He attacked the lab and won against the Hulk! He attacked the palace and held hostages there! If we hadn't freed them and drove him away, I... KrakenKid would have had a fully powered Gauntlet in his possession. He had me prisoner at his base! I barely escaped with my life! I was scared- no- I was terrified. Before him, I ruled Atlantis with little worry of dying or being killed. As soon as he appeared, I no longer had that luxury. And when I was captured in his base, I brushed with death. While I was in there, I realized that I could die in there. I could die, and Atlantis would fall."

Tanith couldn't say a word, even if she wanted to.

"So I fought against him, and I barely realized what I'd done until the aftermath came. Have you seen Jo- I mean, the Great Sword?" She nodded slowly, remembering seeing the great blade on the pedestal. "He had that. That thing should have been in my friend's possession, but when I saw it in his room... I lost control. I didn't want to bring him in anymore. I wanted him dead. Then my vision went all red and didn't fade until I killed him. I killed him! Not only that, we took his son! We destroyed his base! And now that he's alive, that's all coming back to me!"

Cody leaned back in the chair, eyes fixated on the ground. "... What do I do?"

For the longest time, Tanith said nothing. Eventually, she stood up, slithered over to her closet, and picked out another book, but this one was much smaller than the last one she pulled out. It had a brown, leather front with several pages in it, some sticking out. The number two was cut into the cover of it. Cody raised an eyebrow and she flipped through it, and stopped on a certain page. Then, the hybrid handed it over.

The penguin's brown eyes darted from her and the book, but finally took it and read what was on it. His eyebrows knitted together. "Jason Yen, Kenji Cor Toyama, StoneHeart, William "Billy" Martin Diaz? Why is the page filled with names?" Not only that, but tallymarks were at the top of it and on some of the names, a strange purple symbol.

"27." Cody continued to scan the page.

"27?" He looked at the top of the page again. "That's the number of tally marks but why? What's the point of this?"

"27 is the number of people I've directly killed." Then the penguin's heart nearly stopped. His head shot up to meet her eyes, expecting a joke or something, but his mouth hung open when he only saw the seriousness in her eyes. Dark circles lined the bottom of them. "That book has all of their full names. I know what it's like to kill someone and regret it because I've done it many times. The the heart of war, logic is gone. You don't get to think about your actions as much. You do, or you die. I learned that quickly."

All was quiet until he spoke again. "... You had to kill people?" She nodded.

"My point is this: Cody, you're a good person. The fact that you felt guilt proves it. I can only assume how weird it is seeing KrakenKid alive for you, but doesn't this make it your chance to fix it? People rarely get this chance, use it wisely."

Cody smiled. "Thanks. I needed that." As he let his eyes wander, he looked down to her knitting. "Uh... Tanith? I don't knit but I don't think you're supposed to do that..."

In her hand, though the beginning of it looked good, there was a large knot in the middle of it. However, the hybrid just kept going with it. Tanith stared at it and huffed. "I know but getting it untangled seemed like a pain so I just kept going... It seemed like a good idea at the time but now I'm realizing maybe it wasn't."

The penguin king chuckled and stood up. "Well, I gotta go. You should probably deal with the problem before moving on though. It'll make things a lot easier for you! I'll see you around!"

Tanith watched Cody leave. Her mind started to unravel the things previously kept hidden, but she shoved them away again, getting up and putting her unfinished project of yarn on the couch. She needed something to distract her, and she knew just the place.

********************************

As Cody arrived at the palace, he started to tend to his citizens.

"My King! Our barn is infested with fish! We cannot get in and all of our supplies are in there! We don't have the money to replace them and our crops are dying! Help us!"

Cody began to think up a plan, then snapped his fingers when he did. "I'll get Professor and the guards to relocate the fish! Don't worry, you're crops will be better than ever in no time!"

The Atlantean farmer's eyes sparkled and thanked him several times before leaving. Another one took their place.

"The bomb testing is messing with my life!" He raised his eyebrow and urged them to continue.

"Well, the lab is doing bomb testing and I can hear it nearby my house during the day when I'm trying to nap. Plus, my roommate can't stand it either! Not to mention that a couple times last week we woke up feeling terrified!"

Cody gave them an odd look. They started to explain. "We don't know why, but we think it was the bombs! We just woke up for no reason and my heart was pounding! It wasn't just us either! The whole neighborhood woke up! Basically everyone in a mile radius! I woke up, my roommate woke up, Mrs. Jitters, that one hybrid, everyone! It was insane! Can you stop the testing?"

Dread sank deep into the penguin's heart as he remembered that a week ago, he woke up feeling the same thing. "Well, I can't stop it because it's actually long overdue, but I can assure you, it ends in two days! If you could hold out until then?"

The citizen of Atlantis thought for a moment but shrugged. "I guess so... Thank you!"

As they scurried away, before the next person could ask for a favor, Professor walked in, making a beeline for Cody. "Oh hey! Great timing, do you think you could help a farmer clear out some fish in their barn? Like, could you relocate the fish?"

Pikalus paused but nodded. "Yeah, I can do that but I have something kinda important to tell you."

Cody glanced at the short line of people left and thought to himself for a moment. "Hey everyone? I have something personal to attend to! Do you mind waiting a while? I promise I'll get to all of you today!" The crowd muttered complaints but left anyways. Cody huffed and turned back to the scientist. "Alright, what is it? Lay it on me!"

"Have you noticed anything off about Tanith?" The question wasn't what he was expecting.

"Off? I don't really get what you mean."

Professor Pikalus looked like he was having a battle in his head, but finally spoke. "She hasn't slept in days and refuses to." His brown eyes widened as the mad scientist went on. "I tried talking to her yesterday but she refused to tell me why. I can't get through to her, but you two are better friends. Can you?"

He didn't answer, instead just rushed out of the palace and down the path. "Cody? Cody wait up!" He called and dash after the king. Cody didn't speak, suddenly remembering seeing dark circles under her eyes and her sluggish movement. He remembered how exhausted she looked, and chided himself for not asking about it. Eventually, they reached the red house and the penguin firmly knocked on the door.

But no one answered.

He did it again and again, but still no response, not even movement inside. Getting impatient, Professor just yanked the door open and walked in, getting mild scolding from Cody. But as they searched the house, no one was home. She was gone.

"How long has it been since she slept anyways?"

"Five days by now."

"FIVE?" Cody exclaimed. "That's almost a week!"

"Yeah! And what's worse is that she's going to have delayed reactions to things. I don't know where she's gone, but if she got attacked, her magic is going to be minimun, her reflexes are gone, and strength was never her strong suit to begin with. See the problem?"

Cody's eyes darted around. "We have to find her before she hurts herself."

*****************************************

Tanith stumbled through the tunnels, her muscles starting to fail her. All of that caffeine was starting to wear out and leaving her in the state she was before: A mess. However, she refused to give up now. Besides, the longest a human could stay up was 11 days and she wasn't totally human. Whether that was good or bad, she was still trying to figure out. Her memory couldn't tell her the longest her kind has stayed up.

Eventually, Tanith found herself at the beautiful sight. The Conch Command. The hybrid always thought it looked so cool. I mean it's a huge shell! How could that be any cooler? Only the palace itself could rival it.

Lucky for her, she barely managed to avoid the traps and lava set up for unwanted visitors and walked through the front door, getting the Illithid's attention. "Hey! Guard! Is KK busy?" They gave her a strange look. "Just ignore the nickname and answer the question!" She snapped. Their heads shook. "Well, can you do me a favor and go get him for me?"

All of the nearby Illithids exchanged glances. Tanith sighed. Of course they wouldn't take orders from her. Not without a little persuasion. Tanith checked what she had on her and grinned. "The one who brings me their boss gets five coins." She held it up.

The two main guards by the door bolted up the stairs, trying to shove each other out of their way. The hybrid chuckled to herself. Villains always responded well to bribery. As she waited, the world started to spin and become surreal. Tanith found herself leaning against the wall for support. Almost seconds later, a kraken was being practically pushed down the stairs by the same guards. "Hey! Watch it!"

When they finally reached her, Tanith grinned and handed them both five coins. "Thank you!" They nodded and returned to their positions.

"You bribed my guards?" KrakenKid eyed the pair that brought him down then turned back to the hybrid, who shrugged.

"Just a little persuasion! They still aren't used to me. Anyways, how's my favorite villain?"

"Really? I'm your favorite? Wait... I don't remember telling you about the villain thing..."

Tanith rolled her eyes. "I think I always kinda suspected something like it. I mean, the way you always acted, especially when I first met you, your base, just everything made a lot more sense!"

KrakenKid thought for a second, then asked. "How long have you really known?"

"Since the invasion."

His eyes widened. "And you're okay with it?"

"Well, you got over me being an Atlantean, it's only fair! Besides, for a villain, you're not so bad." She teased.

KrakenKid rolled his eyes but couldn't quite believe it. Most would have run for their lives if they were in the same situation. Then again, he probably should have known she wasn't going to be the same when she started climbing in through the window. Not exactly normal.

"You have your job, and I have mine. We can still do them and be friends, can't we?" The kraken nodded along, then realized something.

"You came through the front door this time!"

"A miracle right? I figured you deserved a reward after the last two times we met, you stopped pointing a gun at me. Progress! So, congrats KK! You have officially broken your streak!" She grinned and let out a heavy yawn.

The Tide Changer chuckled. "Never thought I'd see the day." Tanith continued to nod along, but the yawns kept coming, reminding her that she needed to recharge on coffee if she was going to get through the day. However, KrakenKid noticed her behavior and finally asked about it.

"Uh, are you okay? You look like you need a nap."

"I'm fine." She insisted, but this barely reassured him.

"Are you sure? You've got some pretty dark circles under your eyes... How much sleep have you gotten?" Tanith fell silent. KrakenKid gave her one last look before deciding on something. "I'm going to go get Doc, get him to check up on you, okay?"

"I said I'm fine!" Tanith couldn't help the sharpness in her tone, though KrakenKid didn't flinch upon hearing it.

"If you're fine then you'll have nothing against a check up. I just want to make sure." He said before leaving. As he left her sight, memories began to flash in her mind, different voices giving her reminders.

"Tanith? You're up too? I swear the whole neighborhood is! Strange, isn't it?"

"No actually. It was strange, I just woke up feeling afraid but I had no idea what of."

"Now that you mention it, yeah! That did happen! I couldn't sleep all night after it."

"You've been given a gift Tanith, one that is rare, especially in our family."

"I-I'm not exactly comfortable with this... I-I need some space."

"You did what? That is an invasion of my privacy!"

"It cannot be controlled."

"It's pretty common for people in war to develop this. Medicines won't help much, only time will. Getting help from family and friends will help with it as well. You just need to let yourself open up."

Several different but familiar voices rang in her head, until she made her choice.

"Okay Doc, she's right over-" The kraken paused at the entrance, looking around. The doctor followed behind. "Well she was right here... You! Guard! Where did she go?"

KrakenKid walked up to the one's guarding the entrance. "The snake lady? She just left seconds ago. Not really sure why, it just kinda happened."

His yellow eyes searched but when he didn't find anything, he signaled two guards to follow. "Well if she hasn't been sleeping, catching up and asking why won't be too hard. Let's go."

Tanith knew she wasn't 100% herself but just kept moving anyways. All good judgment was failing her now. She didn't want to tell him yet, or anyone for that matter, but something deep inside of her wanted to. It wanted to spill everything she was keeping in and let herself fall apart. Her mind was becoming a battlefield and it was getting hard to focus on walking. She had no idea where she was until the sand came into view.

The beach was empty at the moment, but then again it was getting late which meant the water was getting colder. The only people here was the people at the fishing port and the lifeguard. Slowly, her movements came to a stop and she nearly collapsed.

Tanith had no idea how long she was standing there but soon, loud voices finally alerted her she was no longer alone. Her head inched and came face to face with four people. Four she should have suspected would find her sooner or later.

"Found her!" It was Sam who hollered and got Cody's attention. The penguin bolted over while the rest followed much slower.

"TANITH! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU?"

Tanith flinched at his screaming but didn't move from her spot. She was reaching her limit. Not even sugar or caffeine could help her now. Cody caught up and stood in front of her, arms crossed like a disappointed father. For some reason, it actually made her feel like that's exactly what he was. "You haven't been sleeping?" She nodded. "WHY? DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE HEALTH RISKS? I MEAN, Y-you can get a heart attack! High blood pressure! Heart failure! I mean, do you have a death wish?"

Tanith could barely say a word at that moment, but shook her head. "Well it sure seems like it! What is going on with you? Why haven't you been sleeping and do NOT lie to me."

Her mind was finally clear, and a sensible voice spoke out. Sometimes, it said, you can let yourself fall apart as long as you have someone reliable to pick you back up again. And right now, you have them. It's time to let go.

"I've been having night terrors. Actually, the bomb testing was what made all of it start to happen."

"The bombs?" Professor questioned. "Why that?"

"A long time ago while I was in war, I witnessed something I never thought I would. I watched a town get turned into nothing but a shadow. My first and only war I was in with a nuclear bomb. I was lucky that I was out of the actually town at that moment. We thought we'd get attacked so me and some others were tasked with getting the children out but, no one knew it was going to be that... One of my good friends, General Zuoc got turned into nothing but a shadow. Just a figure in the middle of the street. My old therapist told me I got PTSD from it, or at least one of the causes." She said, remembering his words. You just need to let yourself open up.

Cody stared. "Why didn't you say anything? Why just keep that in?"

Tanith chuckled, even though there was no humor in his voice. Out of the corner of her eyes, a flash of purple came from behind the large hunk of rock to her left. She knew who it was, it wasn't hard to figure that out. "Because, I traveled everywhere and barely stayed in one place long. I've never had enough time to really open up to anyone that it's... It's so strange to be able to. Plus,"

She paused. You've been given a gift Tanith, one that is rare, especially in our family. Those familiar words echoed in her head. It cannot be controlled.

"It became complicated. Every time I slept, I had nightmares. I could have handled it a little better if I didn't..." Her voice trailed off. Tanith? You're up too? I swear the whole neighborhood is! Strange, isn't it? Another memory came.

"You remember my calming spell?" Everyone nodded except Selena, who looked around, confused. Selena wasn't quite sure if she had or not but was drowned out by the majority. "The way it works is that I force myself to be calm and then release energy of those emotions out. However, it works for other emotions as well. Which includes fear. When I had my nightmare, I accidentally released all of that fear and everyone in a mile radius or so was affected. They all woke up feeling intense fear."

Cody remembered the citizen saying this, and also how the same happened to him. But the thing was, Tanith lived a little ways away, how did it affect him? Plus, everyone else in the palace slept fine. "Wait, but I got affected! How is that possible?"

Tanith almost didn't tell him. Everyone else reacted so badly and the fact was, she knew that KrakenKid was waiting for the same response, hiding behind the rocks. She knew that he also felt the same fear, but he was a lot further away. Tanith didn't want to screw it up, but at the same time, it could bring them closer together as well.

Finally, she spoke.

"I call it Bonding." Cody raised an eyebrow at her words. "I don't have any control over it, it just happens but I know that it only happens when... When I really bond with someone. When I really care about them. When it happens, I get little sense of their emotions, like an empath but only for certain people. And it's not just any old emotions either, it has to be intense." Her eyes locked with Cody's. "Like when someone has a really bad nightmare."

Cody suddenly understood it all. "That's how you always seem to show up. You sensed it. You bonded with me?" Tanith nodded. "Really? You cared about me that much?"

Tanith was blank faced for a moment, but grinned, joy was apparent on her face. "Y-yeah. I can get attached to things or people pretty quickly so it happened with you." She spared a glance to the rocks, meeting a very particular pair of yellow eyes peeking out at her.

"The bond often fades if the feelings do or if they die, so all of my old bonds are long gone. The thing was, it can go both ways in extreme cases. I woke up you because of my fear and I didn't want to hurt anyone else so, against my better judgement, I just stopped sleeping altogether."

While the others were thinking, it was Selena who had to ask something. "Why didn't you tell him about the bond then?"

"Mainly because... Most people don't really,"

I-I'm not exactly comfortable with this... I-I need some space.

You did what? That is an invasion of my privacy!

"React well to it. They get uncomfortable that their feelings aren't entirely a secret anymore. I didn't want to ruin it."

Cody snapped out of his thinking and took a step forward. "I'll have to learn more about this "Bonding" later but for now, I do demand you are going to the hospital and getting fixed. As a doctor- well former surgeon but still, I think you'll need it."

Tanith smiled. For the first time in a long time, she told someone about it. She let them in, and though she knew she wasn't cured yet, or if she would be soon at all, it was a start.

"Okay."

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4, 600 words. This is a MONSTER of a chapter, but it needed to be done. I've been referencing that something like this would happen for a while and I've been planning Tanith's reveal of her bonding powers since the third episode and her fear of bombs and her memory since the 5th one, but here it is! Finally!

SO MUCH EMOTIONS

I've been working on this for at least three days, but here it is. Dang, I sure hope it turned out okay because this took so much

I totally spaced this last time but two important things! One, this book has 1K views which is FREAKING INSANE HOLY CRAP and two, I got a new cover! It was made by the absolutely amazing Wolf-Wisdom! It looks amazing! So HUGE thanks to her!

I hope you liked this chapter! Be sure to comment your thoughts and such, and I'll see ya'll later!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter