Episode Five, Part 6:

R a d i o   S i l e n c e

Sol stared onwards at the wide open desert, her feet resting on the divide between the forest and the DeadLands. She didn't realize she would be this afraid. That the endless blur of the golden sands would remind her of what it felt like to be suffocating, as if just looking at it made her throat dry up and her skin burn down to her bone. 

But there were things stronger than fear. Courage. Perseverance. Hope. Driving factors to the moving of her feet, the sacrifice to carry herself back into hell on earth for one stubborn, naive, but significant boy who Sol owed her life to. 

Nothing in the world could hold her back. 

- 

Wynnlow peeled his eyes open, his neck stiff as he tried to stretch out as best as he could. It was strange how it seemed that even when he was sleeping, he was well aware of his pain. As if his own dreams were screaming at him that something was wrong. 

The sound of Adair's heaving stole his attention, the older man grimacing at him from the other side of the cave. He was shivering violently. His skin had turned a pale grey to yellow, his lips cracked in dehydration, with blood stained around the edges. 

Wynnlow couldn't fathom why he was smiling, nor did he want to look him again, afraid that he might never get such a wicked vision out of his mind. 

"She's not coming backkk." Adair sung out, taunting Wynnlow with the only weapon he had left. 

Wynnlow hit his head back against the wall, somewhat wishing that he had done it hard enough to knock him unconscious... He hadn't. 

"Either way, you're gonna die out here." Wynnlow muttered back. It was then that the confusion seemed to flash through his mind - how it was that he hadn't died yet, as if he was somehow prolonging his own survival for the sole purpose of being able to torture Wynnlow for as long as he could. 

Still, there was a part of him that hoped he would stay around for even a little while longer. Not because he had any sympathy for what he had done to Adair, or wanted to see him live long enough to pay the consequences for what happened to Sol, but because Wynnlow was deathly afraid of being alone.

Adair laughed, the sound carrying a weight of life to it, as if he had mustered up his strength to delight in his terror. "You're gonna die with me." 

"We'll see about that-" 

"You keep looking at your leg." Adair pointed out. Wynnlow hadn't noticed it until now, but he supposed Adair was right. He had been checking every other waking moment to see that it was still attached and that his blood wasn't leaking through the bandages. 

"You should've seen you when you were asleep. You think my shaking's bad, but you were just like me. I didn't think you were gonna wake up again. Still, there's always next time." 

Wynnlow tried to block his voice out of his head. He knew Adair was lying to try and get under his skin, to drain him of his ability to hold onto life, onto hope that Sol would return...and it was working. 

"Well I'm still here now, and as long as I live long enough to see you die, then that's enough for me." 

Adair smiled, no doubt thinking of some witty remark to bite back with, but his eyes rolled into the back of his head before he could speak. His body crashed against the ground, locking up stiff as he began to seize, droll froffing in his mouth. Wynnlow wanted to look away, but every so often his eyes would drift over to him, as if a brave attempt to witness his death that only seemed to prolong. 

- 

Atlantis was with Dreea when the radio started to vibrate, instantly alerting them that something was wrong; that the message would have come through clear if it was sent from Basilisk, and not a static, unrecognizable sound. 

Dreea pulled it from her waistband, already working at jamming the static before Atlantis was even aware of what she was doing. 

"Alive." The word echoed in the room, both Dreea and Atlantis freezing in place. They waited for more, the message repeating again once the loop picked up, not wanting to believe it was Sol until they were sure. 

"I am Riverly of Basilisk, and I am still alive." 

Atlantis breathed out, wiping under her eyes before the tears even fell. She looked to Dreea expecting a similar reaction, but she was emotionless. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" The relief from seconds ago had already vanished. 

"Where's Eryx? We need to find out if he's heard this or not." Dreea answered.

"Why does it matter if he knows-" 

"If he knows she's alive, then he's just going to send more people out to kill her." Dreea snapped. 

Atlantis jumped a little, still not used to her fiery temper, but she understood her frustrations. She watched as Dreea tried to configure out a plan in her head, praying that for once she wouldn't be helpless. That she could do something on her own, something that mattered. 

"I've got an idea." Atlantis muttered, jumping out of her seat in an instant. She bolted towards the door, leaving Dreea behind before she could even explain anything to her. 

Atlantis hurried through the Sovereign's quarters to where father's room was. The sight hit her like a blinding light, stumbling her path as she struggled to move forward from where she was. All of Sol's belongings had been moved out of sight, and Eryx's possessions now took over the Nobel's room. It was some sort of clarification for Atlantis. The final confirmation she needed to understand what Eryx had done, even though her heart seemed to have realized before she even entered the room. 

Her father had arranged for Sol to be killed. Her sister. The girl who hated her - but her sister, nonetheless. 

All those years in the Bunker listening to her mother's stories of what her father was like, all the plans for when he would find them in there, for coming up to the ground and being a family - that man didn't even exist. 

The door open from across the room, and suddenly aware of her exposed vulnerability, Atlantis wiped her cheeks, screwing up her nose, blinking any tears away before they could be seen. 

Her mother entered the room, startled to see someone in there. She relaxed upon realizing that it was Atlantis, but raising her guard once again when she noticed that something was wrong. 

"What's happened?" Zara asked, a hand raised in concern. 

"Nothing, I'm just trying to find something." Atlantis turned away, beginning to scan the shelves in front of her for her dad's radio. 

Zara stepped over towards her, observing Atlantis for a few moments until she was certain she was being lied to. "You were crying, weren't you? Just then... And what are you doing in here? Did your dad say you could come in here?" 

"This isn't dad's room..." Atlantis thought she had said it in her head, but the sudden exclamation of her mother let her know differently. 

"What was that?" 

"I said, 'this isn't dad's room.'" Atlantis repeated, owning up to her words. She continued moving around the room, displacing everything without a care. She was determined to find the radio even in spite of who tried to stop her. 

"Did you know that if a Nobel dies, no one else can be crowned that position until their body is returned to Basilisk? It works as some sort of insurance so that no one can take over the responsibilities when the Nobel isn't around, or in our case, missing." Atlantis stated. "I've been reading about our history, educating myself with the rules, they way Basilisk rules." 

Zara sighed, moving over to the bed which she allowed herself to collapse onto. "I know it must be a difficult adjustment to come up to the ground and learn you have a sister. And although it's a tragedy that she's gone, at least you were fortunate enough that you didn't know her well." 

Atlantis turned to face Zara, betrayal etched deeply onto her face, the tears that were wiped clean glossing over her eyes once again. They was a quiver in her lip like maybe she was about to break but she was holding it in. 

"She's my sister, mum. I should have known her, and I didn't, and that's a tragedy in itself." Atlantis let out a deep breath, shaking her head rid of Zara's words. "Besides, she's not even dead." 

The bed creaked behind Atlantis, and as she shifted her head she caught sight of the radio and picked it up in clear sight of her mother. She had already revealed the truth about Sol and now there was no point even trying to hide what she was in here for. 

Zara seemed stunned for where to start. "That's not your radio." She stated. "A-and what are you talking about, Lanits? Riverly's gone." 

"Yes, only because of dad." 

"Excuse me?" 

"Everything that's gone wrong is because of him." 

"Do not speak about Eryx like that." Zara barked. 

"I know more than you think I do, okay? Probably more than you at this point, and I'm sick and tired of letting dad mold everyone into who he wants them to be for whatever game he wants to play. Is he even the same man you left behind 13 years ago, or are you just holding onto the idea of him because he looks just like you remembered? Just like he did in the pictures you gave me?" 

"Do you hear what you're saying!?"

"Are you honestly trying to tell me that you don't know what he's done?" 

At the alarm of raised voices, Eryx entered the room, a concern look on his face as he came to investigate the noise. He moved over to Zara, as if to ask what the dispute was about, unbeknownst that she was desperate to understand what Atlantis had told him. 

Eryx looked over to his daughter, noticing that she had his radio in her hold. He reached out for it without speaking, like he just expected everyone to obey him without fight. 

Atlantis stepped back, pulling the radio close to her chest to keep it away. Everyone fell silent, Eryx unsure what to say to his disobedient child, and it was then that the hum of static became noticeable. The same hum Atlantis had been trying to disguise. 

"Give me my radio." Eryx ordered, keeping his voice calm. 

"Give me my radio." He repeated, Atlantis not even batting an eye. 

"I'm going to ask you one last-" Before Eryx could even finish his sentence, Atlantis raised the radio in the air and hurled it onto the ground with all her strength. The impact broke it apart, but Atlantis stomped all the pieces beneath her feet for good measure, grunting with each burst of energy as her rage spilled out of her. 

Zara hand covered her mouth in shock, Eryx growling with anger as he waited for her to finish. "You better have a damn good reason to have done that." 

"I do, but not for you." 

"Jax! Eon!" Eryx roared for his guards, waiting for them to hurry into the room. At the call of his guards, Zara stood up, suddenly opposing against him. Dreea had made her way into the room as well, nervous to see what Atlantis had gotten herself into. 

"Place Atlantis into a cell until further notice." 

The guards hesitated, unsure what had happened to turn Eryx against how own daughter. Zara stepped in, halting the guard's movements as they reached over towards Atlantis. 

"You are not putting my child into a cell." 

"Our child." Eryx spat. 

"My. Child." Zara reclaimed, her deathly stare enough to silence Eryx despite her small stature. "No one puts their own child in a cell. If she goes, I go." 

At Zara's compromise, Eryx backed down from his threat, a newfound resentment for Atlantis beginning to settle. He called off his guards, retreating his order, but Atlantis stopped him before he could leave. 

"I do have something to say, actually." 

Eryx tensed his jaw, turning around to face her once again, anticipating what she was going to say. 

"With Sovereign Dreea as my witness, and to reference the foundation laws of Basilisk, I relieve you of your duties as Sovereign, and as a blood descendant to the throne, I take its place." 

Eryx laughed. A nervous laugh that informed Atlantis that he had no idea of what was happening. "You can't do that." He spoke. It was all too familiar to when Eryx had ripped Sol of her title, and now he was in the same position she was, ripped of all her power in an instant, no warning and no relief. 

Dreea stepped forward from the doorway, bringing confirmation to the guardsmen who were unsure who to believe. 

"She's right. It's the 11th of 18 foundation rules created by the first Sovereigns of Basilisk. Until Riverly is found, Atlantis is lawfully the heir to Nobel."  

Five // Part Six

Nobel Sovereign Atlantis Beckett.

Sorry that this chapter has THREE different scenes in it. Also, sorry for changing the episode name yet again!!! I used 'Oasis' originally for episode four, then changed it to this one, but its definitely next one you guys. More just kept needing to happen so I had to postpone certain narrative points.