Atlantis ~ The Memento Mei Series

Prologue

Fourteen years ago...

Owen leaned heavily into Sean, panting in pain, as they both followed behind the two men up a mountainous road. The sun was heating their skin until it burned red, the rocks scalding their feet through their worn shoes. The journey was treacherous for the group of nine who all had numerous injuries amongst them.

At seventeen, Owen knew far too well how cruel the world could be. Since he turned eleven, just like the rest of his comrades, he'd been struggling to survive on his own. Since the day he first laid eyes on the hideous beast that took his mother. The story was identical to the others in his company.

They turned eleven and within a few days either a giant or some other monster hunted them down, killed their relatives and destroyed everything. There's nothing left of the lives they had before. Somehow, through sheer dumb luck Owen presumed, they all managed to single handedly walk away with minimal injuries and as orphans.

Sean, a rebellious boy who smoked cigarettes, was his first companion. Their paths crossed in Boston, both in the same predicament. Though he annoyed him to no end, Owen couldn't help but grow close to him.

Something about the blonde idiot made his weary days easier to bear. They traveled alone for two years, aimlessly and carefully. They often spent time in the wilderness where they weren't endangering others. It became crystal clear that these beings didn't mingle with the mortal realm. They didn't even seem to affect it unless they were in close proximity to those the boys. The boys resorted to thievery in their rare visits to local towns where they'd stockpile supplies, and Sean hoarded valuable bag space with his cigarettes.

Then they happened across five boys, five friends of twelve years. Four years of solitude had made Owen and Sean reclusive and untrusting. Merely because the young Luke had been detrimentally injured by a run in with some ghouls, had the inseparable duo allowed them to join their companionship.

How easily they became family.

Dakota became a fellow of similar intellect that Owen found himself enjoying the company of. Always level headed and logical of mind, Dakota was a sound comrade any would want by their side in those most tumultuous times.

Nathan was unyieldingly loyal, something Owen admired about him. To the bitter end that boy would fight for his family, even when all hope was lost. He'd lost so much, as they all had, yet refused to back down. He refused to crumble like the dust beneath their feet and instead he remade himself from the ashes like a glorious phoenix.

In Victor, Owen found a fellow musician who appreciated the upsetting loss of their vices. Without his violin, Owen felt as if a piece of him had been left behind that terrible day four years before. Victor understood this greater than any other for he too left behind his most precious possession - the keys to his heart.

Gabriel was a breathe of fresh air, ready to rewrite things to his own will. Whether that be with his great taste and style, his artistic abilities, or his creatively vulgar mouth. He reminded Sean and Owen of the beauty left in this world, of the things they'd thought long expunged from their soul.

Luke had been badly injured when they had joined companies. A ghoul, a vile creature not quite in this life or the after, had nearly gutted him. His future looked bleak and his days numbered. However, his luck changed when he crossed paths with the older duo. Sean had been studying medicine as a hobby for as long as he can remember and while he's not really a doctor, he knew enough to save the boy's life.