The End of Atlantis: I

By Paul Lofty

First of the series:

The hypnotic master, Skye, carefully selected two qualifying candidates to teleport back to the ancient Atlantis. The two candidates, Dane and Seir, possessed two princes of the two most prominent kingdoms on the island of Atlantis. Soon after their lives as princes began, they were astonished to disco

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chong Bao Chang
• Release date: Oct 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781777938307

Paul Lofty

Paul Lofty excels at creating gripping narratives centered around courtly intrigues, political machinations, and the complexities of power struggles within royal settings. His expertise in weaving tales of cunning manipulation and palace dynamics has earned him acclaim among readers seeking immersive stories of high-stakes drama and calculated maneuvering. Drawing inspiration from historical events and a deep fascination with the intricacies of power, Lofty brings to life compelling narratives that transport readers into the heart of opulent courts, where every alliance, betrayal, and strategic move shapes the destiny of kingdoms. With a keen eye for detail and an understanding of human nature's complexities, Lofty's storytelling delves into the multifaceted characters navigating treacherous political landscapes. His work resonates with audiences captivated by tales of ambition, rivalry, and the unrelenting pursuit of influence within royal circles.Paul Lofty's forthcoming book promises to enthrall readers once again, offering a riveting exploration of courtly intrigues and power struggles set against the backdrop of a meticulously crafted world brimming with suspense and calculated maneuvering.

Book preview

Preface

The Atlantean civilization is the most fascinating of all prehistoric civilizations. 

Warm climate, fertile land, and abundant resources are natural privileges of the continent of Atlantis. There is abundant wealth, prosperous cities, beautiful villages, lofty and gorgeous palaces, temples, altars, and well-connected roads, and well-constructed transportation systems. 

A highly developed civilization on Sirius blessed Atlanteans with exceptional intelligence and a variety of extraordinary abilities. 

They started as honest, kind, loving, carefree people. 

With time, the Atlantean society began to corrupt. People began to worship greed, indolence, and extravagance. The demons of evil gradually eclipsed the Holy Spirit of the Atlanteans, so much so when desires ran rampant, the Atlanteans who could not afford the blessing of heaven did evil. 

Plato noted in Critias,

By such reflections and by the continuance in them of a divine nature, the qualities which we have described grew and increased among them; but when the divine portion began to fade away, and became diluted too often and too much with the mortal admixture, and the human nature got the upper hand, they then, being unable to bear their fortune, behaved unseemly, and to him who had an eye to see grew visibly debased, for they were losing the fairest of their precious gifts; but to those who had no eye to see the true happiness, they appeared glorious and blessed at the very time when they were full of avarice and unrighteous power.

The perpetual display of luxury and moral degradation of the Atlanteans finally angered the gods. The wrath of God came! Earthquakes and tsunamis came unannounced!  

As Plato described,

But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea.

A high civilization of 12,000 years ago disappeared! 

I

Seir’s Death, Skye’s Necromancy

The night in New York City was full of high-rise buildings and flashing lights.

It was one o’clock in the morning. The streets were virtually empty. Driverless buses and suspended trains had already called it a night.

A few cars were driving on the streets of Manhattan, where the lights shone.

Seir waddled eerily down the street like a battered plastic bag drifting in the wind. His giant mansion was in a wealthy Manhattan neighborhood, where he lived for over a decade. Seir knew the streets of New York City like the back of his hand. But as he floated down the supposedly familiar streets of Manhattan, Seir’s mind went blank. He didn’t know where he’d come from or how.

Seir took a look at his surroundings, expecting to see the same old Manhattan. However, everything appeared to be grayscale, like an old black-and-white film. He felt strange about the gray world, but what was more strange was how his body felt. His beefy muscles were gone, the pecs and abs that once attracted so much attention from girls were now nonexistent. Even his hands and feet were soft and swaying with the wind.

Seir took a look at his gray and translucent body, stunned for a while, then took his habitual steps towards his mansion. As soon as he took his first step, he was shocked to discover that he wasn’t walking. He was floating forward.

I must be dreaming! Seir said to himself, but then I can hear the cars driving by…. He dared not think further.

Just then, a gray and shadowy figure appeared across the street. Seir immediately figured who it was by the creepiness of it.

Yo, Ali! You deadbeat! Seir growled as he rushed across the street.

Ali turned around and made a face at Seir, then flipped him off with his middle finger. Seir was instantly provoked. He furiously rushed to the other side of the street, wanting to grab Ali and knock the damn bastard down. At this very moment, a speeding car was coming at him head-on. Seir was so confident in his technique that he could slip past the car with a single step to the side, then he could make a giant leap to get Ali. However, he thought wrong. He forgot that his feet were no longer at his command, and all he could do was float.

The oncoming car was crashing onto him without hitting the brakes at all.

I’m screwed! Seir’s heart tightened, thinking he was sure to die.

But the car passed him without a hitch and he only felt a slight shake as the car ran over him. Confused, Seir took a look at himself and found himself unscathed.

Bahahaha! Ali looked at Seir and let out a wild laugh. Before Ali could mock Seir further, two men in black came to Ali’s side, grabbing him by the arms, and took him away.

Seeing Ali getting caught, Seir was overjoyed and shouted excitedly, Great! Get him! Let me blow the head of this stupid pig off! Seir clenched his fist, ready to land a beautiful right-hand uppercut that could end Ali’s life in one blow. As he was getting excited, the two men turned back simultaneously and gazed at him with electrical beams shooting from their eyes. Seir went into convulsion immediately as his eyes were involuntarily locking up to their gaze. His entire body felt like it was being electrified. The heat and shock were too much for him to bear.

Gradually, as the violent tremor and sizzling subsided. Seir opened his eyes and found Ali and the two men in black long gone.

Suddenly, Seir recalled that Ali had died of an overdose two months earlier. He saw it on the news. Seir was upset about Ali’s death at the time because Ali still owed him 5 million bucks. Seir shuddered at the thought. Did I just see a ghost? He shook his head in denial. But then he was beginning to realize that he, too, was probably dead. Bewildered, he looked at the ground, and sure enough, there was no shadow of him in the light.

In a daze, Seir didn’t know where to go. Well, maybe it’s a good idea to go home.

Seir drifted down Central Park Avenue towards his mansion in the gray, cloudy, and windy night.

It was the dead hours of the night, and the gusts of wind were becoming more biting. The city, which was loud and lively during the day, was now in complete silence. In the night streets, several people were dropping dead from time to time. Seir realized in a trance that these people were probably dying from the highly contagious virus that swept the world in 2050, the time he was in now. Everyone was at risk, but there were always people who did not regard the safety of themselves and others as important in the name of freedom.

Seir glanced down at a corpse indifferently and said, Well, there is a price to pay for everything.

Suddenly, there came a fierce quarrel. Seir followed the noise and found himself in front of a war museum. In the gloom of the night, many grey shadows floated around the museum. Among them, a dozen or so shadows were surrounding three shadows, both sides were arguing fiercely.

You evil bastards!

Why did you force the disaster on us innocent people in the first place?

Ha-ha! Calling us the evil guys? You’re the real evil ones!

You are to blame for the disaster!

You brought this on yourselves!

Bullshit! You started the war and caused the disaster. How did we bring it on ourselves?

Remember, it was greed that brought the disaster. We were just doing God’s work.

Full of shit….

Seir listened to them bickering. It dawned on him that these shadows, too, were ghosts, the ghosts of those who died for the war.

The bickering continued.

As long as we don’t get to reincarnate, we’ll be around you evil bastards all the time.

Fine! You can do whatever you want. But watch out, we might blow up our hearts one day, and then we can all return to chaos together.

Of course, you’d do all kinds of evil deeds.

Ha-ha, good that you are aware!

The shadows squabbled endlessly among themselves, ignoring Seir all together. Seir stayed there for a moment but couldn’t take an interest in their quarrel. With a habitual shrug and a headshake, he left the museum and continued walking towards his mansion.

A low murmur came from behind.

Who the hell is this megalomaniac?

Who knows. Maybe an ignorant idiot who just joined the gang.

Seir knew they were talking about him, but he didn’t know what to think. He just wanted to get back to his mansion as quickly as possible to think about what was going on.

His mansion was just around the corner from 59th street. The residential area was all dark except for the faint glow of the dim street lights. The buildings of different shapes and sizes looked like demons scattered in the darkness of the night, ready to rush out and rip anything destroyable apart.

Seir found his luxurious, spacious mansion forbidding for the first time on this gray, overcast night. Banner, a Scottish shepherd, was lying in front of the mansion, whimpering. It was unclear whether Banner was awake or asleep, but his existence nonetheless added a touch of life to the gloomy, gray neighborhood.

The sight of his dog warmed Seir’s heart. Banner! My good boy! I’m home! Seir called happily to his beloved dog while floating towards the door of his mansion. Banner looked up, his eyes glittering in the night. Seir expected Banner to swoop in as usual and greet him by licking the back of his foot. But tonight, he didn’t. Banner opened up his ears and stuck his tongue out. His front paws stretched forward, and his back tilted up. He was barking at the top of his lungs, ready to attack at any moment.

Banner! You dumb dog! Did you forget me? I’m your dad, Seir!

From the darkness behind the mansion came a bloodcurdling shriek, Seir! You scumbag! I see you’re getting what you deserve! With a shrill scream, a shaggy shadow floated out of the darkness. Banner barked more loudly at both Seir and the shadow. Seir fixed his eyes and glared at the shadow. It turned out to be his dead wife, Lynda.

Two years ago, Seir was caught in a chokehold during a cage match, in which he fell from the top of the cage and passed out on the ring. Despite his eventual victory, he was hospitalized for six months. On his first day out of the hospital, he furiously found his wife, Lynda, disheveled after spending the night with his agent, Ben. The uncontrollable rage led Seir to knock Ben and Lynda two meters up in the air before slamming them right to the ground with his proudest right-hand uppercut.

Lynda and Ben died before they even made a grunt, and Seir was charged with first-degree murder.

After throwing money around, lawyers presented plenty of evidence to exonerate Seir, the most famous world wrestling champion. As a result, he walked out of the courtroom with a big smile on his face and resumed his dominance on the wrestling ring.

Two years, and I’ve never left the house. You know what? I’ve been waiting for this day for two years. Today is the day of my revenge! Lynda lunged viciously at Seir with her teeth and claws open.

You bitch! I might’ve been afraid of you when I was alive. But now that I’m also dead, I’m now a ghost just like you, Seir sneered.

You dumbshit. If you were alive, then your body would’ve been protected by a powerful life field, then it would’ve been hard for me to get close to you. Now that you’ve become a ghost, too, I’ll show you what I’m capable of! Lynda said while thrusting her long fingernails into Seir’s chest.

Ahhh! Seir let out a harsh, piercing cry of pain.

As Lynda’s nails poked in, Seir felt a gut-wrenching pain. He looked down at his chest and saw a stream of dark green liquid gushing out. Unexpectedly, when Lynda pulled out her fingers, his chest was good as new. Out of the habit of a professional wrestler, Seir threw a right-hand uppercut to Lynda’s chin. He thought the blow would knock Lynda into a mess, but his punch came up empty, and he lost sight of her.

Seir was confused, then he heard Lynda chuckle from behind him, ‘Hahaha! You idiot! Hatred fueled up my strength and dexterity. You’re dying today!" As Lynda chattered and laughed, a sharp, unbearable pain shot through Seir’s back. Seir knew that it must be Lynda’s fingernails again.

Seir knew he was certainly no match for Lynda, the experienced and seasoned ghost. Seir said to himself, Let me get the fuck outta here first.

In excruciating pain, Seir attempted to float away. However, he was too slow, at least slower than Lynda. While he floated at full speed in the front, Lynda chased after him, thrusting her fingernails into his back and stirring up his insides while biting him when she could. All Seir wanted was to escape Lynda’s torment and end this endless torture. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t get rid of her. Seir hoped that this was just a nightmare, and all he had to do was hang on a little longer, and the nightmare would end. He would wake up, and everything would resume as normal. But that was Seir’s desperate wishful thinking.

Banner’s barks faded as Seir fled 59th street while enduring the torture. Central Park was up ahead.

Hahaha! You scum! You can’t escape today! Lynda chased closely after Seir. Her fingernails kept thrusting into his back, giving him endless pain.

Out of nowhere, Seir thought of the conversations he heard in front of the museum. You bitch, if you don’t stop right now, then I’ll detonate my heart, and we’ll all end up in chaos. Seir threatened Lynda, although he had no idea how to detonate his heart. It seemed to work, though. Lynda stopped churning her nails and asked hesitantly, What the hell did you just say? How, how did you learn this trick in one day?

Be afraid! Never forget, I’m the greatest world wrestling champion ever. These desperate…ahhhh! Lynda punctured his throat with her nails again.

Just when the pain was too much for Seir to bear, he heard a voice in the night sky calling him, Seir, do you hear me? Come back! Hurry back with my call! Seir, come back…. The voice got clearer and clearer. His floating speed began to pick up with the voice until he lifted off the ground and flew off into the night sky, leaving Lynda stunned among the trees of Central Park.

Seir felt like he was now in heaven as he was free of Lynda, free of her torture, and free of the pain she kept inflicting on him. He didn’t know how or why he took off, but he was content enough just to get rid of Lynda.

The voice in the night sky was even clearer at this point. Strangely enough, the voice seemed to have a strong magnetic force because Seir noticed he was moving faster each time the voice called.

The sun rose from the east, it should’ve been warm and invigorating, but Seir felt his whole body was on fire as he flew towards the sun, as if it were a gigantic sphere of fire.

Come back, Seir. Time is running out. With the call, Seir involuntarily slowed down and landed at a window. Seir peered through the window panes.

It was an empty room with four white walls. In the middle of the room, a man in his fifties was sitting upright in a chair. He was a long-bearded, pale, gaunt man in a black toga. The most impressive features about this man were his nose and neck. His nose was like a huge hook, almost reaching into his mouth, and his neck was slightly crooked. There was a bed in front of him. On the bed lay a stiff man in his early thirties with thick brows and a sharp face. Through the white sheet that covered him, it was apparent that he had strong, muscular limbs, especially the pectoral and abdominal muscles. The man had a white gauze wrapped around his head. His tightly closed lips and his motionless chest indicated him to be a corpse that had long stopped breathing.

Seir was beside himself with joy at the sight of the man lying in bed because it was Seir himself.

The man in the chair opened his eyes slightly and looked out the window with his neck askew. Seir tensed up. Can he see me?

Seir, you’re not dead, the man said slowly, staring out the window, you’ve only been temporarily removed from your body. Now, follow my voice and return to your body. The man’s voice had a quality that Seir could not resist. At the sound of him, Seir entered the room through the double panes of the window.

Return, as I command! the man craned his neck and waved his hand unquestionably at Seir, who was levitating in mid-air. Seir was pushed violently by a strong force and threw headlong on the corpse with the man's voice command and gesture.

***

A few years ago, a grand wrestling tournament was hosted in Las Vegas. Seir was the only heavyweight wrestler to win the World Championship for ten consecutive years. No one in the world was unaware of Seir’s fame.

In the ring, Seir was like a ferocious lion that could tear any opponent to pieces. His right-hand uppercut, in particular, was universally acknowledged as unbeatable. His signature uppercut had beaten every wrestler Seir had ever faced.

Now, to the fanatical cheers of thousands of audiences, Seir made a beautiful slide and easily dodged a flying kick from his opponent.

Seir! Seir! Uppercut! Show me the uppercut!

Uppercut, Seir!

The roar of the crowd was loud and overwhelming. The audiences were all expecting Seir to land his signature right-hand uppercut to knock his opponent out of the ring in one blow.

Seir dodged a flying right kick from his opponent and moved half a step to the left. He was in the best position to give an ultimate uppercut to end the match.

Look! Time for the uppercut!

This is gonna be good!

Here comes the uppercut!

The crowd shouted, their eyes wide open as they waited to see Seir’s godlike move. However, just as Seir was about to throw his signature uppercut, his opponent, from a position that was by no means possible, flew back with a flying left kick that landed heavily on Seir’s temple. Seir was kicked out of the ring and landed headfirst on the concrete floor before he had time to react. He blacked out.

The only World Wrestling Champion of the tenth consecutive year ever died before he could even make a noise.

The entire arena blew up!

Seir felt as if he were floating up all the way to the top of the ring. At the top, he saw thousands of audiences shouting wildly. He was bewildered. At this point, he had no idea what was going on.

Skye sat in the audience, neck-crooked, watching the match with utter indifference. While everyone focused on Seir, who had just died and was lying in a pool of blood, Skye craned his neck and rubbed his hawkish nose, raised his head, and stared intently at Seir on the ceiling. His gaze was like an electric shock targeting straight at Seir, which struck him and made him tremble violently. Upon Skye’s gaze, Seir came back to his senses and realized that he was just in the middle of a match. And…it seemed that he received a heavy blow, and then, just like the match two years ago, he floated to the top of the ring somehow.

Seir tried to dodge Skye’s gaze and his irritating hawk nose, but he couldn’t. He looked at himself lying in the ring and decided to return to his body, as he had done two years ago. Seir summoned up all of his energy and lunged headlong at the body; however, thousands of audiences formed a life field of tremendous energy. He wasn’t as lucky as he was two years ago. He bounced right out of the ring soon as he hit the life field. By the time he landed, he had found himself on the streets of New York City.

***

Skye was the world’s top-tier hypnotic master. He did not attend Seir’s match for the excitement, blood, and entertainment like almost all others. He was there for a reason.

Skye watched every match Seir took part in for two years. All with the same goal of waiting to see Seir die in the ring and his soul detaching the body.

Two years ago, Skye was invited to watch a wrestling match for the first time. It was that very match that led Skye to discover the collaborator he had been struggling to find – Seir.

It was Seir’s World Championship Rematch, an exceptionally bloody and brutal steel cage fight.

Seir made a beautiful slide in the cage, gently moved half a step to the left, then surprised his opponent with his godlike uppercut. Upon Seir’s miraculous uppercut, his opponent fell backward on his back and passed out. Seir glanced scornfully at his opponent, looked up, and proudly sent a few kisses to the audiences in the arena. Then, he raised his arms high, bent his left leg, and stomped his right leg in a bodybuilding pose, showing off his beefy muscles to everyone. After that, he took his time and slowly climbed up the cage. He would be considered the winner of the match once he jumped out of the cage.

Just as Seir was straddling on the cage, with one leg in and the other out, taking the opportunity to show the audience his well-polished muscles. His unconscious opponent suddenly jumped up and climbed up the cage in an instant.

Elated, Seir was blowing kisses to the audience. Just then, his opponent wrapped his right arm tightly around Seir’s neck, and with the weight of his body, the two men simultaneously fell from the 10-foot-high cage. It was a desperate move that could badly injure both of them, just the way the audience liked it.

Bang! the two men fell from the cage at the same time. The sight of violence and the smell of blood made the audience roar. The excitement level reached its peak.

Skye watched the match indifferently with his neck crooked. Violence and gore did not interest him. But Skye raised his head and paid unusual attention just as Seir and his opponent were both falling.

Skye was surprised to see Seir’s soul detaching from his body the moment he fell on the ring. His soul hovered around the top of the ring for a moment and swooped back down to his unconscious body. His eyes opened as his soul entered, and he rolled over to sit up.

His soul can free itself from the body and rejoin later. Great! He is the very collaborator I’ve been searching for! Skye’s face was still, but his heart burst with ecstasy. As the world’s top-tier hypnotist, Skye knew that it was extremely rare to find a soul capable of freeing itself from the body and returning to it again. Skye could see souls and give people an out-of-body experience, but he couldn’t free his own soul.

Seir regained consciousness and was incensed by the crushing defeat. Amidst the roar of the crowd, Seir pinned his opponent to his crotch and swung his fists at his head. The opponent died quickly. Seir won the match, but he was hospitalized and spent six months recovering.

Ever since that match, Skye had been keeping an eye on Seir. He attended every match that Seir was a part of. He had been waiting for the perfect time. When Seir’s soul was struck out of his body again but wasn’t lucky enough to return this time, Skye knew his time had come.

***

Doctors at the ring announced Seir dead, and his body was sent to the morgue of a nearby hospital. Skye hypnotized the guards at the morgue and made them believe that he was their supervisor. At the behest of their supervisor, the guards guided Skye to where Seir’s body was located and provided him with a comfortable chair. Then they returned to their lounge and passed out.

Skye, with a crooked neck and dressed in a black toga, sauntered into the morgue, turned off the incandescent lights, rubbed his enormous hawk nose, and settled back into his chair.

It was dark and cold in the morgue with the blowing wind. A faint, dim light from the window fell on Seir’s gray face. The blood oozing from the gauze wrapped around his head had coagulated and turned into a crimson color. His eyes were closed, and the corners of his mouth slightly tilted downward. Although his body was covered with white sheets, the shape and volume of his muscles were still clearly visible.

Skye stared down at Seir’s gray face, God, I hope both you and I are lucky! If your soul does not return before dawn upon my summon, you will be a true corpse. And I’ll have wasted two years of my life. Sitting up in the chair, Skye faced Seir's corpse, eyes half-open, silently gathered all his thoughts together, and then started to summon Seir's soul.

Skye’s way of evocation does not involve any rituals and incantations used by other spiritualists. All he does is concentrate on his mind and get rid of all distractions. Then, he mobilizes his inner force and fires the intentions outward in a continuous stream. Everything is done in silence.

Seir slowly opened his eyes and looked quizzically at Skye, who was sitting in front of him and whispering. Skye’s face faintly showed a rare look of satisfaction. Craning his neck and nodding slightly, he let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself, The fact that Seir has come back from the dead shows that he can separate his soul from his body, which is exactly what I had been looking for.

After a whole night of struggle, Seir’s soul was exhausted. He blinked and strained to sit up. Still full of doubts, he asked, Where am I? And you are…?

This is the hospital morgue, Skye replied coldly, looking at Seir with his crooked neck. I am Skye, Skye Edward.

Seir closed his eyes for a moment, and the memory of the night began to sink in. He nodded, I see. I recall I died last night, but I’m alive again now. Oh right, You’re the famous hypnotist, Skye. But…

Skye smiled faintly, But you want to know why I summoned your soul back?

Seir nodded.

Your soul must return to Atlantis, Skye replied without a word of doubt,

Atlantis!

Looking at the puzzled look on Seir’s face, Skye stood up with his crooked neck and pointed to the morgue. This isn’t the place to talk, is it?

Seir shivered.

Let’s talk in my hotel room, said Skye.

Seir nodded obediently.

Following Skye’s instructions, Seir stood up, wrapped the white sheet around his body, and walked out of the morgue first.

The two guards of the morgue slept through the night. When Skye’s hypnotic power gradually faded, the two men yawned and stretched and walked out of the lounge one by one. The first thing they saw was Seir, draped in the white bed sheet, striding over.

II

Orb of the Mayan Ruins, Hermit of the Lotus Peak

Seir and Skye came out of the morgue and met the two guards that had just left the lounge. It was almost impossible to see Skye from the guards’ point of view because his slim frame was concealed easily by Seir. The guards were barely awake. As they were walking out, the first thing they saw was Seir. Trembling with sweat coming down from the back of their neck, one of the guards asked in a tremulous voice, B...Bro…, do you, do you see him? I...I think so? the other guard replied. Didn’t he already…?

Seir walked towards the guards and gave them a grimace. Why? Have you never seen the living dead? he whispered. The guards felt an intense churn from the