The quartet was on a plane to Lyon, France. Hunter sat at the window, watching the mountains drift by. Virgil was on the aisle, stretching his long legs out into it when no one was trying to get by. Tiyana was sandwiched in the middle. She was busy reading articles in academic journals about nucleic research, particularly research done in France. Somewhere over the Alps, her eyes started to glaze over. She was not getting any useful information out of these articles. Her research had gone far beyond the point of diminishing returns.

“Virgil, why don’t you tell me again about what Shenouda said back in the coliseum?” Tiyana asked.

“Okay,” Virgil replied, “She said, ‘there were giants in the earth in those days.’ Then she talked about Ouranos, Father Sky, the father of the father of the Greek gods. Then she talked about a battle, probably the Titanomachy, where the earth burned, the ocean boiled, and the sky shook. Then she said the mass-energy equivalence formula. Finally, she said that he needs mass to become a Titan and he will take it from the field.”

“And when you questioned her again?” Tiyana asked.

“She said something about Atlas and that Ghaelvord needs to find him.” Virgil replied.

“And you have no idea what any of that means?”

“I could tell you that most legends are more than legends. Most of them are embellished, but they come from a time when the Dahjaat War ravaged across the earth. It raged on since mankind lived in caves.”

“What about Atlas and Uranus and the war between the gods and the Titans?”

“I am sorry, but all I have is my own notes, and they are vague. While we live for long periods of time, our memories start to fade after a few centuries. Still…”

“What?” Tiyana asked.

“According to my records, shortly after the epoch, a war was fought for about a decade. According to the records, many Dahjaat became something more than they had once been.”

“There were giants in the earth in those days… Where is that from?” Tiyana asked.

“The Book of Genesis, chapter six, verse four.” Came the reply.

“Hrm… tell me about this ‘something more.’” Tiyana went on.

Virgil cleared his throat. “They were elemental, primordial creatures. Larger than life. Their battles scarred the planet, moved mountains, changed the flow of rivers. Acid rain fell and volcanoes erupted.”

“The creatures did that?”

“They brought immense energy into the world. They are said to have taken it from chaos.”

“Chaos.” Tiyana asked.

“Chaos, the void out of which all was created.” Virgil replied. “They were changing the order of the world.”

“What happened to them?”

“They began to lose their minds. They lost track of their goals and simply existed, but their existence threatened the world.”

“But they are gone now?”

“Yes. A man united the tribes, on a very temporary basis, against them. It took a very long time and it was difficult, but the creatures were eventually defeated. They were stripped of their powers and bound in a place that I cannot discuss.”

“A man?”

“Well, not a human. We Aempyreans think of ourselves as men. The Chthonians think of themselves as gods. It is foolish.”

“What does all this have to do with Atlas and Uranus?”

“The Titanomachy is more than a legend. It is another account of events. Parallel to mine. Probably not as accurate.”

“You think Ghaelvord wants to become a Titan?”

“No one knows how to become a Titan. That knowledge was destroyed. Also, Ghaelvord likes control; he would not give in like that. I think.”

“You don’t sound too sure.”

Virgil was silent.

“After the epoch, there was always war. It was long and exhausting. When the Aldenduenum ruled the planet, they maintained peace. They regulated the activities of the Chthonians. Without them, it was always one thing after another. We were always desperately trying to keep up. The Dahjaat had their forms, their kebaac, they had leftover Aldenduenum technology, and some of us used magic, like the vanishing trick that you pulled back on Ghaelvord’s compound.”

“I am learning how to do incredible things.” Tiyana murmured. “It’s amazing.”

“Well, I think you and I both know how limited those things are.” Virgil said.

“Yes, I understand. Virgil, at one point you didn’t need it? The element?”

“No. That’s what my notes say.”

“Fascinating.” Tiyana replied.

Virgil nodded.

Tiyana went on, “Do you mean that it’s reversible? That we could put things back to the way that they once were?”

Virgil nodded again. “That is what my notes tell me.”

“Is it a good idea?”

“I am sure that the Aldenduenum had their reasons.”

“But, you use it.”

“I do.”

“Do you have your reasons?”

“If I did, then I forgot. I use it as a means to serve an end, nothing more. Besides, without the element, it’s useless.”

“Right. About the War, though. What more can you tell me about it?”

Virgil shook his head, “It came from a piece of Aldenduenum tech or an old alchemy; I do not know more. The Titans were giants, but greater than the Dahjaat. The giants were like the Colossus of Rhodes. Like Helios. They were larger than life.”

“What about the mythical beasts, like Cerberus, or the Makara? Could something like that be part of the Titan myth?”

“Maybe, but the Titans were anthropomorphized. They were human. They came from the Dahjaat.”

Both Virgil and Tiyana were lost in thought for a few moments. Then Tiyana spoke.

“When they declopse, they need a great amount of energy to do it.” Tiyana said. “If they had more energy, could they do more?”

Virgil squinted. “More energy... not that I know of.” His pupils darted across his eyes as he searched his memory. “I see what you are getting at. You may be right. It would explain a lot.”

Tiyana asked, “Do you know of Dahjaat named Atlas? Dahjaat that Ghaelvord might intend to wake?”

“If he wakes more Dahjaat, then I must return to Shambhala. The War will begin again. There is no one he could wake that could stop the fury of the Kingdom.”

After that, Tiyana and Virgil spent the rest of the flight lost in thought. They imagined the Titanomachy raging across the planet and wondered what Ghaelvord had up his sleeve.