The Jimmy Hoffa of Atlantis

[The Navigator, pt. IV]

Its a windy day in paradise;
in pinstriped trousers and a wine stained white tie
and sitting indian style atop the boulders that overlook the water
i remember the day the man with a Black cap came...

'If this isn't a tale of two cities, this is a tale of
the day a respected member of society lost his sanity,
and the day our society lost one of its greatest members"

We sat at the table i had made during my time here,
or rather, he sat at my table sipping tea he had brought the both of us
while i nervously paced between
the palm trees and the point on the beach where sand turns to sharp gravel.

I'd bitten all of my fingernails far past the lunula.
Black cap just stared intently as it became clear to him
that my time here had created an anxious wreck of a man.
He had a lot to say, but spent a great deal of time just watching me.

"i wasn't always this way" i told him
"before you, i could sleep at night,
before you i looked foreward to the sun rising in the morning,
why'd you come here?"

"haha oh Charles, you'll get your explanation in due time, but first
we need to work out a few things, you see, things back in Atlantis have changed a some.
I've brought you diaries of the ones you knew. They wont answer your questions, but they
refresh your memories for when i take you back there."

I'd spent a great deal of time beforehand fantisizing of what i'd do
if the ring leader of my demise ever set foot before me, and honestly,
in my head there was a lot more bloodshed. A little more Steven Segal
with a twist of Hannibal Lecter's taste of creative destruction.
Now, even with a butcher knife infront of me, all i could think of was
Atlantis... my eyes on the prize.

Atlantis wasn't my home, but it was a place id spent a great deal of time.
I'd built it up to be a great place, a land where I was invincible.
I still had a crystal amulet from the center of the city i kept with me...it was a gift.
It was wrapped around my neck as a reminder of bliss and promise...and
then destruction and survival.

"i can't go back, i wont!......not like this"

"relax, we'll tidy you up to the handsome chap you use to be,
its going to be a formal occasion full of faces you know very well..
come with me, we have a lot to do before Friday night, and we better
get started if we're ever going to have you ready"

I followed Black cap to the row boat which took us to a much larger ship
that was out at sea waiting for us.

"i'm not the same person i use to be" i said
"you dont know what youve done to me..."

Black cap laughed with the shrug-offish charm of someone
whos done this a few times before
"Go take a shower Charles, theres towels and soap in there waiting for you..."
so shower i did.