Madeleine

The One With Flying Fish

"I'm very glad about your change of heart," Madeleine let out a nervous chuckle. "Milo, what about your question?"

"Well, okay, uh, how did you get here? Well, I mean not you personally but you... your culture, Milo gestured around, "I mean, how did all of this end up down here?"

Kida began wandering so the two followed her closely as she recounted her story.

"It is said that the gods became jealous of Atlantis. They sent a great cataclysm and banished us here. All I can remember is the sky going dark and people shouting and running. Then, a bright light like a star floating above the city," Kida rested her body against a slab of rock. "My father said it called my mother to it. I never saw her again," her voice softened.

Milo and Madeleine understood her position.

"I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, Maddy and I know how you feel because we lost our-" Milo paused for a second, "wait a minute, wait a minute. Whoa back up! What- what are you telling us? That you remember because you were there?" he sputtered. "No, that's impossible because I mean that would make you..." he counted his fingers, "8,500-8,800 years old."

"Yes."

Milo and Madeleine glanced at each other in bewilderment. "Oh, well, hey uh, pfft. Lookin' good," he flirted and then cleared his throat. "You got another question for us?"

"Yes. How is it you found your way to this place?"

"Well, I'll tell you it wasn't easy. If it weren't for this book we never would have made it," Milo pulled the Shepherd's Journal out of his satchel. Kida grabbed it out of his hands, flipping through the pages curiously. "Where did you find this book?" Kida shot Madeleine a demanding expression.

"It was discovered in Iceland. I mean, we didn't personally find it, our grandfather and his crew were the lucky ones." Madeleine answered.

"Yes, what she said. Okay, second question. Legend has it that your people possessed a power source of some kind that enabled them..." Milo was interrupted by Kida who said, "You mean, you two can understand this?"

"Yes, we're linguists, that's what I do, that's our job. Now uh, getting back to my question," he huffed and tried to continue his research into her life but she suddenly thrust the book in his face, silencing him.

"This right here, you can read this?"
Kida seemed to become agitated.
"Yes yes, we can read Atlantean just like you," Milo slowly moved the book away from his face. Madeleine placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Milo," she spoke softly, "I don't think she can read," She gestured at how startled Kida looked.

"'You can't, can you?" Madeleine said to Kida.

"No one can. Such knowledge has been lost to us since the time of the Mehbelmok."

"Oh, the great flood." Madeleine said.

"Show me," Kida thrust the Shepherd's Journal into Milo's hands. "Okay, uh..." Milo and Madeleine began reading Atlantean out loud for Kida to translate.

"Follow the narrow passage for another league. There you will find the fifth marker."

"Yeah, yeah, that's it. How was my accent?" Milo asked. "Boorish.
Provincial and you speak it through your nose," the Atlantean remarked.

"Yeah, gotta work on that," Milo noted with an awkward smile.

"What about me?" Madeleine asked Kida. "I don't know if I'm butchering the accent." "You are not. Ha, perhaps you should give him lessons," Kida teased.

"Actually, it was the other way around." I giggled.

"What does that quote mean?" Milo asked bringing us back to the conversation.