Chapter 6: Beginning

A/N: Well, due to my recent distraction with my original works and Delusion/Desperation, I COMPLETELY forgot about FoV!! I'm so sorry! Anyway, thanks for all my reviews and a big thanks to Ferlinda the Dreamweaver because she always leaves amazing reviews and makes me feel awesome about myself! This chapter is for her!

Congrats to all CotT Nominations and Winners!!

Disclaimer: After over thirty stories in Class of the Titans (and more to come!) I can honestly say, I still don't own this…

// And Will He See How Much He Means To Me? I Think It's Not To Be. //

For the briefest moment upon waking, Archie thought that the form that was wrapped in his arms was Mary, and the strangest dream lingered in his mind. Red hair tickled his face and he could feel warm hands twined within his own.

The hands were the first clue that it was not Mary, and everything was not normal. They were soft and petite, like his wife's, but callused. Mary didn't have calluses.

Atlanta.

Strangely enough, the realization that his awakening wasn't a dream didn't cause pain. Mary's death hurt briefly, and Archie knew that his heart would probably never get over that pain. But the welcoming feeling of Atlanta's lithe body beside his calmed him and soothed him; his arms tightened and he closed his eyes once more.

Peace descended and Archie was pleased that his aching body was healing along with his shattered heart. He hoped to grab another hour of sleep, but Atlanta shifted. He held himself still as a statue but she eventually turned over and met his eyes.

Her reaction when she met his eyes was not what he was expecting or hoping for. Instead of his own reaction of peace and happiness, her hazel eyes widened and she let out a small squeak of shock. Her body automatically flung backwards and Archie reached out to stop her from tumbling to the floor. Instead, she yanked him off the couch with her, landing them both in a chaotic heap.

But a laugh burst force from her lips and all the pillows and blankets were thrown off their forms. Archie smirked at her exhilarated expression.

"Sorry about that rude awakening."

She laughed, "That's okay, I didn't know we had fallen asleep during the movie."

"That was the most boring movie I have ever seen Lanta." The name slipped from his lips easily, and carried with it a gentle adoration, something that had been building within him since he had first seen her.

She eyed him strangely and explained, "Cronus has an entire pop culture team that ban anything from rebellions or individual thought."

Archie growled, "It's like we have reverted to the middle ages. It's surprising that women aren't treated like slaves really."

Atlanta frowned, "Some are, mostly the wives or mistresses of Cronus' loyalists. But Atlanteans value women immensely, and their values have filtered down throughout most people as well."

"Good. Even when I was last awake women would be treated horribly. I would hate that it was worse."

Atlanta smiled, and Archie realized that she appreciated his views. She had his wife to thank for that, Mary was the only reason he thought of women as people. His mother hadn't really been amazing at anything –excluding the miraculous amount of alcohol she could consume- and Archie hadn't respected her at all.

"I'm going to shower." Atlanta said as she removed herself from his arms. "Go ahead and eat something."

She left the room and Archie glanced down at his hand, noting the ring that still strangled the finger. He felt a pang of guilt, but it was overshadowed by his happiness. He wondered briefly why he would feel guilty when he knew it was what Mary would want. The answer came to him.

Herry.

Archie cursed softly. The huge man would hate him for this. It was obvious that Herry was desperately in love with Atlanta. But Atlanta wasn't interested, Archie was sure of that.

He heard a knock on the door, soft but sure. Archie wasn't sure if he should answer, but Atlanta had said Cronus could bypass security if he wanted to. Archie glanced through a small window.

Speak of the devil. Herry was standing on the doorstep, alone. Archie stood in a rush and quickly put the blanket and pillows back on the couch. No need to make it look like Atlanta and himself had had a wild time.

He answered the door and smiled at Herry, "Hey Herry. What's up?"

"I came to talk to you and see Atlanta." Herry answered. Archie frowned. He sounded pleasant enough, but the tender sound of his voice was gone.

Deadly. "Okay, well, would you like to come in?" Archie asked. Herry nodded and walked past the warrior, glancing briefly to the couches.

"Where is Atlanta?"

"In the shower." If Herry wanted to play this game, Archie would too.

"Good." Herry said. "Archie. I don't know you very well. And neither does Atlanta."

Archie held back the temptation to snarl. "She knows me well enough." He said.

Something flashed in Herry's eyes, and Archie wondered if the buff man was terrified or furious. Either way, it was dangerous.

"No, no she doesn't. You come from a time where women are more… worldly." Herry's voice was tightly controlled.

Archie didn't understand this comment, "What do you mean?"

"Atlanta has never been out of Old Olympia. She has never had a boyfriend." Herry explained. Archie reeled at the news. A woman like Atlanta deserved men lining up to be with her. Archie sighed; Herry needed the full score on how Archie felt about the red head.

"One day I will take her travelling." He hoped the implications of the two of them travelling together would pass onto Herry. It did. Herry's eyes narrowed.

"That's not what I meant. She has no experience and you are married." Herry gazed down at Archie's wedding band.

Archie's voice went cold, "My wife has been dead for centuries, and I don't take kindly to you using her as ammunition against me caring about Atlanta."

Herry's scowl softened briefly, "I'm sorry."

Archie hated that he liked the burly man, hated that he didn't want to beat him senseless. Herry was too kind for his own good.

"It's alright. But Herry, I do care about Atlanta. I know you do too, and I know she loves you as a friend. I don't want to make her choose between us."

Herry grimaced and Archie knew he had won. Dirty tactics; using one man's love for a woman against him. Guilty tactics.

"This is so… typical." Herry sighed, "I love Atlanta. As a friend, and as more. But I would never hurt her. Okay, you win."

Archie stuck his hand out. Herry grasped it and tightened his grip for a brief moment. Archie's arm went numb.

"You win for the moment. But I want you to know that if you hurt her, I will kill you." His grip tightened again. "And the instant you leave her, I will be there."

Archie held back his instantaneous reaction. The desire to tell Herry off, to rip out his throat. To tell Herry that he would never leave her.

Stupid reaction. Archie nodded angrily. Herry let go and walked towards the door. Before he exited, he turned back and grinned.

"Tell Atlanta I dropped by."

Archie's blood boiled as Herry shut the door. He opened the fridge and hunted for something to eat, something recognizable.

"Archie?" Atlanta asked.

"What?" He snapped. Immediate regret over his tone filled him and he sighed and turned to her. She was standing in a big shower robe and her cheeks were flushed red. "Sorry Lanta, didn't mean to bite your head off."

"It's okay. But… you don't need to tell me that Herry dropped by."

A deeper sorrow filled him, and Archie wished that he had told Herry he would never leave her. "You heard all that."

She nodded, "Everything."

He walked towards her, unsure if she was angry at him, "Lanta…"

She interrupted, "Archie, listen. It's my choice and Herry had no right to tell you I was inexperienced in the…boy matter."

Everything went crystal clear for Archie in that moment. She wasn't mad at him, she was embarrassed. She thought that he wouldn't like her now. He almost laughed at her, but held back because her eyes were pleading and determined and he had never thought she was more beautiful.

Three strides towards her and they were face to face. "Atlanta, the only woman I have ever loved or been with was my wife. I haven't even talked to a person for a thousand years. It doesn't matter."

Relief flushed through her, "I just thought, because of Mary…"

He leaned down and rested his forehead on hers, smiling. "How about we just accept and ignore each other's pasts."

She grinned and her blush intensified, "Deal."

Archie knew he was going to kiss her. He knew that he was about to taste her lips and try not to compare her kisses with Mary's. He knew that every atom in his body was focused on the slight blush on her cheeks and tenderness in her gaze.

But she took him by surprise and leaned upwards, kissing him mid-thought. After that, it was all feeling. Passion ignited and he pulled her close to him, letting every plane of her body hit his. He thought to possess her, but she battled him. Their wills clashed even as their lips captured each other. Tenderness and chaos reigned in his thoughts and heart.

She broke away from him and laughed breathlessly. He felt himself gasping for air and nearly joined in her laughter. There was no comparison. Mary and Atlanta were two very different women. Mary was the epitome of tenderness, every touch gentle, and every smile warm and compassionate. Atlanta was fiery, wild and brave. Archie knew that with every kiss Mary had healed him, had reassured him. But Atlanta's kisses sparked something in him; heated him for battle, tempted him to kiss her more.

Mary he would have cloistered away from this war; Atlanta he wanted by his side. They were so very different.

And while he knew he would always love Mary, he felt that he was falling deeper in love with Atlanta.

"What in the world am I going to do with you?" He murmured, his eyes still closed. His lips burned from their kiss.

"Stay with me." Her demand was soft, but just that –a demand. He opened his eyes to find her staring straight into his. Fiery hazel, turning greener with every second. His throat closed and she blinked.

Had Mary said that, she would have blinked furiously and ran away, hiding until her embarrassment at her bravery faded. Atlanta just stared him down, waiting for acknowledgement, acceptance or rejection. Archie didn't want to deny her, he wanted to stay with her. But he didn't want to promise anything.

"For as long as I can."

She saw his pacifying sentence for what it was and her eyes burned. "Does that mean for as long as you want me?"

It was in that moment that Archie realized he would always want her, just as he would always want his wife. In that moment that he knew only death would stop him from keeping her.

He wouldn't let the Gods take this one away from him. He stared straight back at her and gave her a straight but painful answer.

"It means for as long as I can. For as long as I live."

It wasn't meant to be romantic, and she knew it. Her hand gripped his and she smiled grimly.

"Try not to die."

"There are only two things I would die for." He informed her.

"To kill Cronus and to get your revenge on the Gods." She muttered and turned away from him. She picked up a dropped towel and handed it to him.

He didn't deem it necessary to tell her that he didn't want revenge on the Gods. He wanted to keep her with him. To keep her safe, the way he had always wanted Mary to be safe. He would die for her wishes only. He smirked at the thought that this tiny woman who looked about seventeen controlled him. Archie believed that one on one Cronus and himself would be equal. Cronus was powerful, and had no challengers. But Archie held all his own power, and all the power of Hera and Zeus within him.

"If you want to shower, it's your first door on the left. It's a pretty ordinary shower. Press the button and it turns to the heat your body desires." She explained.

"Thank you. The shower doesn't sound ordinary, it sounds wonderful." He told her. He knew she was disgruntled because of his previous comment; she didn't like the thought of him wanting revenge. But he couldn't resist moving down to place a kiss on her lips before he left for his shower.

// A Girl Like You Is Impossible To Find, You're Impossible To Find //

Archie was unhappy with the leader, not that it was unusual for him to be so. But he had just been settling into the couch with Atlanta in his arms to watch another movie, one that Atlanta promised wasn't as boring when Jay had called. They had raced to the warehouse, ready for a full scale emergency.

Instead, they found Jay shaving, Herry packing and Neil off at some modelling shoot. Archie was ready to spit fire.

"Why in the world did we rush down here?" He asked acidly. Herry scowled at him and shrugged, resuming his packing. Atlanta laughed at his impatient tone, but he knew she was just as aggravated as he was at the interruption. But it was Jay who answered.

He shrugged and inspected his close shave in the mirror. "We're ready to go get Cronus."

Archie gaped, "We are getting ready to attack Cronus, and you are shaving? Are you insane?"

The question was rhetorical, but Jay answered him anyway. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. But we are all ready. We have trained enough. Everyone go put on your nicest clothes but make sure you can move in them."

Jay left for his room, Herry followed his lead and left for his room, but not before casting Archie a glare.

"Our nicest clothes? Why!?"

"First of all, because no one who looks like a peasant gets into Cronus' compound. And second; because all of us have no family, and Cronus will burn our bodies. It's our funeral preparations." She explained.

At her bittersweet and damning words Archie knew that while had been alive for centuries, and had made a choice to save the world despite everything and had lived through hardships; these people were the real thing. Atlanta was so young, but so old in so many ways. As he stared at her he realized that he wished she wasn't here. He wished she was travelling, was loving every second of her life.

She seemed to understand because for a second she clasped his hands and whispered, "Remember, I'm one hundred and twenty five years old Arch, remember that I have lived a long life."

He squeezed her hands and gave Jay a glacier glare when he returned. The leader smirked at Archie's show of anger and power and straightened his tie. Archie wondered briefly where the leader kept his sword in the light suit. The pockets looked empty.

He didn't ask however, and at that moment Neil breezed in, looking like a real life angel. He quickly snatched up a dagger and sword on the side table and slipped them into his outfit, and strapped to his arms. Archie realized that Neil may be superficial, but he was one deadly individual.

"Ready?" Jay asked bluntly. Archie nodded, reaching one hand into his pocket to grab his whip. Energy swirled to life in him and he created his ever-ready dagger in his left palm. Atlanta's muscles tensed and she grinned. Neil checked his reflection briefly in Jay's shaving mirror and nodded decisively.

Herry entered the room, and Archie very quickly regretted his decision to be ready to battle the man. He wasn't wearing his best clothes, like Neil or Jay. He wasn't even wearing casual clothes like Archie and Atlanta. He was wearing dark denim jeans, torn off at the knee. He held a rope over his torso and knives strapped to him everywhere. It would have looked comical, except that Herry had the sheer muscle mass to make it devastating. Every inch of skin was scarred and rippling with leashed power and determination. Archie knew that Herry was probably the strongest individual he had ever met.

"Ready." Herry echoed. Jay's grin turned sadistic.

"Tonight, we sneak into Cronus' compound. We free Odie and Theresa. We bathe in his blood." Jay snarls were furious. "And tomorrow, we relax and give my soon-to-be wife whatever she wants."

Atlanta snickered, "Which would probably be some privacy with you."

Jay glowered and yanked the door open. "Ladies first."

"Thanks Jay." Neil said and brushed through the door, calm and collected. Archie strove not to laugh, but grins were on all his friends' faces. His family's faces.

With a glance to Atlanta's smirk, Archie knew he would do whatever it took to survive this fight. He once more looked at his wedding ring and slipped it off his finger. As the others passed through the door, he set it on the coffee table.

Rest in peace. The thought was content, if sad. Atlanta watched him and Archie smiled at her confused glance. But he said only two words that explained everything –and nothing.

"For you."

She frowned for a moment, but then smiled sadly. For her. For her, he would fight. For her, he would let his wife rest. For her, he would die.

Archie didn't need his best clothes. The two words to Atlanta and the final thoughts to his wife were his requiem. They were the only funeral he would have, the only funeral he would need.

She clasped his hand and stared up at him. "For us."

// And Begging Has Never Made Anyone Stay //