BBC Atlantis 'fanfiction'

4

’’What on earth are you doing?” Theano was stupefied.

’’I'm fetching breakfast.” answered Hercules as if it had been the most natural thing in the world to collect the horsedung in a pot.

’’I've seen him eat worse when he's drunk.” Pythagoras added.

’’Not for me, you fool, it's for Astrabacus.” Hercules answered quick as a flash before they misunderstood him.

’’Who's Astrabacus?” – Pythagoras and Theano were on the same page more than ever in this morning while they were on their way home from the market.

’’It's the name I've given to my beetle.”

’’You've named him?” joined Jason the childhood-friends’ ’choir’, while he was cluching a loaf of bread.

’’After his victory last night, it's the least he deserves.”

’’Astrabacus? You don't think that's a little grandious? For a dung beetle?” – Jason still hadn’t accepted the fact: his friend had a pet-beetle and he fondled it just like it was a cat.

’’You may mock all you like, but Astrabacus is the most valuable possession we have.” – hearing these words Pythagoras sighed painfully.

’’That is truly depressing.” – he quickened his pace not to hear the further chatting. Theano went next to him and this contributed to his distruction. It didn’t take a long time, the memories besieged them.

   They were the fist ones to arrive at home. They were carefully packing out the things they bought, while one memory was following the other. But both of them skirted that last conversation’s memory, too. They took good care embarrassedly not to embitter that they were together, again. Finally Pythagoras couldn’t bear it any longer.

’’Why did you go away?” he sprang the question on her. Just after he has pronounced the words, he looked in her eyes again.

Theano spotted tears in those remarkably intelligent and emotional grance, and because of them, her heart broke again.

’’Where have you been? Why did you never come back?”

The questions were pouring like raindrops at that night.

’’Why did you leave me alone?” this last one omitted his lips in a whisper.

Theano wanted to speak, to explain what and why had happened as they did then. She left alone as only one friend this intelligent little boy, who was excluded from everything because of his talent; and she broke his heart without any explanation... She wasn’t looking for an excuse, she knew there wasn’t any for that.

However in spite of all this, she knew exactly she could not reveal, and especially not to him, the true reason of her leaving. But now she could not lie, either.

Anew the feeling to hold her in it’s prison and the sorrow tickling her throat, her eyes burnt. Minutes later she found her voice again.

’’I had no choice.’’

’’In life you always have a choice. But sometimes it’s easier to think that you don’t.” Pythagoras’ words echod mercilessly in the consciousness of Theano.

’’This time I had not. Believe me, Flecky!” her voice tapered off because of the strain to try to form her thoughts in words. The man understood that if it had depended on Theano, they wouldn’t have left each other. ’’I could save you only this way.” she whined between Pythagoras’ arms by this time.

’’What do you mean?” he attracted his attention of her last sentence. However he had to wait for the answer, because the unexpected appearance of Jason and Hercules broke the moment.

’’Oops!” Hercules got confused and he would have liked to turn back with the same impetus, but Jason stood behind him closely with the loaf of bread, so he was compelled to enter the house.

’’Did we disturb something?” asked Jason tactfully, when Theano withdrew into Pythagoras’ chamber and the ’triangle guy’ turned round sharply with some invented argument to go from the flat.

’’It seems we did.” sighed Hercules and then he started to give Jason an instruction: ’’Talk to her and I’ll look for the other.” he didn’t let Jason to speak anything, he ran after Pythagoras.

 Jason has drew a deep breath before he knocked on the door of the chamber. He didn’t know what would he say, maybe he would let her tell him on her what she would like to speak of. And if she spoke nothing? Well, then it will be somehow...

The girl, hearing the slight creaking of the door and the half-stopped-short step, knew exactly, it was Jason. She dried her red-rimmed eyes fastly and tried to collect herself.

’’Tell him, please, I’m very sorry!” he wasn’t sure if her words were addressed to him. Nevertheless there was something in the way how Theano looked at him after this. It was like she knew preciselly, who he was, where he was from and why. Since Atlantis was his home, he has been seeing this strange knowledge only in the eyes of the Oracle.

’’Why don’t you tell it to him yourself?”

’’I already have.”

During this time Hercules cought up the troubled Pythagoras.

’’Slow down, I can not keep up with you!”

’’Precisely it’s my goal.”

’’Hey, what’s happened with you two? In the morning you were still cronies.”

Hercules came to a sudden stop because he has already gasped for breath.

’’Would you answer me?”

’’Answers. Exactly. I need answers.” the ’triangle guy’ looked his friend straight in the face. Hercules had never seen him so distraught although he has had the friendship of the clever Pythagoras for a long long time.

’’Then you might let her to explain this whole thing.” And before he could have been interrupted, he significantly added: ’’Or maybe you want her to disappear from your life, but this time, forever? Because then you are doing it just fine!”

The hard words made Pythagoras stop.

’’If you ask me, I think, it’s not him who you should apologize to. I think, first of all, you have to forgive yourself.”

’’How would I do that? I left him alone in that world which took no notice of his talent. I didn’t stand by him, whereas we pledged to never leave each other.”

’’You were children.”

’’A child who went back on her word. Who left her only friend in the lurch. What kind of friend is such a person?”

’’But you found him again. Doesn’t it matter?”

’’Maybe I should not to have come here. But I was too weak. And selfish. I have never wanted him to forget me or me to forget him.” she jumped from bed and then just like someone who makes order in her mind hastly she mumbled something under her nose of which Jason didn’t understand a word.

’’You don’t want to go away, do you?” he asked fearing the answer.

’’You didn’t see how he looked at me earlier! I would not survive if he would have looked at me once more. But of course I know I deserve all this. I excluded him from my life and now, after so many years I must not tell him the truth, either. I musn’t.” She almost whispered the last words.

The door of the chamber opened again, but this time Pythagoras stared the girl down.

’’And do you think escape is the solution?” his eyes denoted, he heard just enough of the conversation to make an important decision.

 He looked at Theano softly, and at this moment even Jason could understand what he didn’t say: he forgave her. It didn’t matter anymore but their fate was entwined.

’’I don’t let you go. Ever. Do you understand?”

His last words were strict enough, almost fatherly, but Theano wasn’t frightened by him.

 Jason closed the door behind himself discrete. He and also Hercules thought wisely the childhood-friends needed to talk about lots of things.

end of the first episode...