The boat began to rock and sway with the sudden change in the ocean's current. Sophia looked up from the journal; she crawled to her knees and stared out the small circular window. It was strange how the sea had suddenly turned against them. A frown tugged at her lips and she looked back at the journal. As crazy as it sounded, she felt like this journal was the cause of it. She laughed slightly, shaking her head. No, that couldn't be possible, unless it was a cursed object. Sophia looked away from the journal and back at the ocean, the waves crashing harshly against one another. Sliding off her bed, she moved towards her door, poking her head out of her room. She could see the crew members running around; trying to make sure things didn't break. She decided it would probably be best if she stayed in her room. She climbed back onto the bed staring down at the journal, her fingers tracing over the frayed pages.<br/><br/>She jumped immediately when she heard a voice, looking up from the journal, she nearly let out a scream. There, in the middle of her room, a man stood. Her mouth hung open with the intention of calling for Adrian or one of the other men, but no sound left her mouth. When he spoke, shivers rolled down her spine and she shied away from him instinctively as his powerful presence fill her small room. She pulled her legs closer to her chest, her hands digging into the sheets as she continued to stare at him. She flinched as he walked towards her, listening to all that he had to say to her. She took these words to heart, not sure if the male before her would harm her. She wanted to ask him questions, like where he came from and how he managed to get into her room but her voice was caught in her throat. She jumped as the pages of the journal began to move on their own before shutting, green eyes jumped back to where he was, even closer now. She swallowed hard as he told her the dangers of the journal before he, somehow, reappeared beside her.<br/><br/>Her long limbs flailed as he was so close, her mind unable to comprehend how he had managed to become like that. He left with his final words before disappearing. It was only then that she let out her caught breath. She stared at the space that he had been standing in for a while, before reality hit her. She grabbed the journal beside her before running out of her room. She flew up the stairs leading to the deck, staring out at the calming sea. Her eyes darted around, searching for the man that had been in her room. She jumped when Adrian touched her arm and she looked at him for a while. "What...what happened," she questioned, gripping his arm tightly.<br/><br/>"Ah, it was just the sea acting on its own accord," Adrian said while rubbing the back of his neck. "We're heading back to Crete now, so it should back three hours until we reach shore."<br/><br/>Sophia nodded her head, biting her lower lip. She glanced up when a woman from her archaeology crew came running up to them. "The treasure is gone," she panted out.<br/><br/>"What do you mean, I thought you all handled it," Adrian growled out.<br/><br/>"We did," she explained. "But it just went missing after the sea decided to calm down."<br/><br/>"No," Sophia breathed out. She had an idea of what could have happened. "No...no no no." She rushed to the railings of the boat, staring down into the aquamarine waters.<span style="font-style: italic">Give back to the sea what belongs to us.</span>The voice rang in her mind and she clutched the railings tighter, feeling a wave of anger overcome her. She turned back to the two behind her, she felt like pulling her hair out. "It's fine for now; as long as we have the chest and the journal...we should be fine."<br/><br/>"But that treasure was so valuable," cried her crew member.<br/><br/>"I know...we'll just have to try again in a few days," Sophia said while chewing on her bottom lip. "For now we need to focus on not having any other artifacts lost."<br/><br/>Sophia started to move back down to the cabin, feeling exhausted. Adrian followed after her and she only stopped to look at him once she was in front of her door. "Are you alright? You seem...different," he asked while leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.<br/><br/>The brunette glanced around before looking back at Adrian. "Did you see anyone strange on the boat a while ago?"<br/><br/>The male frowned slightly. "What did they look like?"<br/><br/>"He-"<br/><br/>"He?"<br/><br/>"Yes...he...had long dark hair and the most interesting eyes Iâ€™ve ever seen. They were silver, his eyes were completely silver. He stood well over six feet...not much older than us...maybe younger," Sophia described while she sounded like she was in awe. "His voice had this accent that I've never heard of before though it sounded close to a Grecian one. He was so...interesting." Adrian's frown deepened as he listened to her description, surely any of them would have seen such a man on this boat.<br/><br/>"Are you sure you weren't dreaming? You've been tired lately," he muttered.<br/><br/>Sophia realized that she was the only one who had seen the strange male. "That was probably it; we've been searching here a lot lately. I...I think I'll just go lie down for a while."<br/><br/>Adrian nodded. "I'll have someone come get you when we reach the port in Crete."<br/><br/>Sophia nodded before going back into her room. She set the journal back on her bed, staring at it for a while. She recounted all the words that the man had told her, trying to understand them. What dangers were there by reading the journal? It only made her want to read it even more. How could she not? This was the one material remain that she had been waiting for. She couldn't just not read it; she needed to prove that Atlantis was real. Letting out a sigh, she suddenly felt conflicted with emotions. She sat down on the bed, trying to figure out what she should do. It would probably be better to sleep then figure out what to do. She placed the journal underneath her pillow, before lying down, her mind taking her to place where she had finally achieved her family's goal.<br/><br/>------<br/><br/>"FiFi, we've reached shore," Adrian's voice called through the door, waking her from her slumber. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking for a moment. Immediately she threw the pillow away, letting out a relieved breath as she looked at the journal. She gathered up all her belongings quickly before exiting her room. She walked across the deck, while everyone else gathered up all their things.<br/><br/>"So when do we set sail next?"<br/><br/>She looked over at Adrian; he had his bags ready to go. "Since we've made a lot of progress, how about next Monday?"<br/><br/>"Wow, a whole week off of work," he said with a grin.<br/><br/>Sophia rolled her eyes. "I have to go back to Athens for a few days so I might extend this break. Go spend time with your wife and kids," she said with a smile.<br/><br/>"Is everything alright?"<br/><br/>"Yeah, I just have some books at home that I want to get and I'll probably stop by and see my father." She definitely needed to do a little more research before setting sail again. "Make sure you have everything off the ship and all the records, we'll need them next week."<br/><br/>"Sure thing," Adrian said while turning back to the boat. "If you need me, just call."<br/><br/>Sophia nodded before heading off to the hotel she had been staying in for the last month. As much as she loved her job, she enjoyed going home from time to time. She caught a taxi to Heraklion; she would book a flight to Athens in the morning. A yawn escaped her as she rode in the cab, ready for the well need shower she was going to take. It took about another hour to get to the hotel. She paid the driver and headed inside, rummaging for her room key. She greeted the receptionist and rode the elevator to the fifth floor. When she finally made it to her room, she immediately headed into the shower.<br/><br/>Once she was done, she wrapped herself up in a black robe and her hair in a towel. She sat down on the lounge chair, offered by the hotel and picked up the journal once more. As much as the experience she had had earlier terrified her, she had probably just been sleep deprived. She did have a wild imagination, especially when she lacked sleep. Beside the lounge chair, she had a table with stacks upon stack of books about Ancient Greece, Gods and Goddesses, Atlantis and so on. She grabbed a tattered notepad and pen, preparing to translate the first few pages of the journal before she called it a night.<br/><br/>She propped open the journal before she began to try and write out the words she could recognize. She had grabbed a few books about Atlantis, knowing that there had to be some familiar letters she could match with it. Even if they were hypotheses, she would have some sort of lead.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">You do not want to awaken...the beast who guards.</span><br/><br/>The voice stopped her once again. She glanced up from her writings, looking around her room, hoping that she wasn't hallucinating again. She laughed slightly to herself, knowing that she was probably going to go insane over Atlantis one day. She continued to work on translating the first sentence when she paused, reading what she wrote.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">The Writings of Meison Crehonerex II, King of Atlantis</span><br/><br/>Sophia stared at the translation, not only was this journal from Atlantis but it had been written by the King. An excited grin came to her face as she hopped up, placing some coffee into the brewer, knowing that this little discovery would keep her up all night. Maybe she could get about twenty pages down, if she was lucky. She went back to translating while waiting for her coffee to brew.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">The Origin of Atlantis: The Gods, the Goddesses and their Pantheons.</span><br/><br/>------<br/><br/>"And you said the woman was unable to read Atlantean," the identical woman hissed out.<br/><br/>"No one should be able to but us and them," he growled out, looking into the sfora. "No matter, the Guardian while do what is necessary. No need for us to get involved."<br/><br/>"If he does not fulfill his duties, I will tell father," she purred out, her emerald eyes narrowing.<br/><br/>"He will do it, I assure you," he replied with a cruel grin. It was well known that most of the Atlantean pantheon had died out as the Greeks took over. The Guardian would do their bidding, so long as Atlantis needed protection. Until the time it did not, the Guardian was bound by his duty.