Madeleine's POV
The princess left the castle shortly afterwards, making her way down the stone steps.
"There she is," I nudged Milo's arm and he tucked the Shepherd's
Journal away so he could concentrate. "I'm ready," he said.
"Okay Milo, don't take no for an answer," I whispered. "Maddy, how does this sound? 'Look, we have some questions for you and we're not leaving this city until they're answered,' Milo glanced at me for approval.
"Yeah, that's it, that's good, that's good." I nodded and Milo gave me two thumbs up.
As they cautiously peered from behind the pillar, the princess was nowhere in sight.
"Did you see where she went?" I wondered. "I didn't. It's like she disappeared in thin air," Milo replied.
Unbeknownst to us, the princess was observing their every move from above. As we slowly emerged from behind the pillar inquisitively, she stealthily descended and startled them by placing her hand over our mouths.
"I have some questions for you two and you are not leaving this city until they are answered."
"Looks like she beat us to it." I said to Milo. "Yeah, well..I, okay," muttered Milo. "Shh, come with me," the Atlantean suddenly whisked the two outsiders away.
Third Person POV
Madeleine was in awe ot the enchanting city of Atlantis. Thinking of her home, she couldn't help but wish her own looked just as captivating. "Where are we going?" she pondered aloud. "Keep up.
You'll see," Kida answered.
The trio crawled their way through the waterfall rocks that were coated with tree roots and eventually found themselves wandering in a vast forest clearing.
"Oh, there is so much to ask about your world. You are a scholar, are you not?" Kida pulled Milo down a moss rock by the hem of his pants, accidentally showing his underwear,
"judging from your diminished physique and large forehead," she flicked his head which shifted his circular glasses out of place, "you are suited for nothing else."
Milo appeared a little flustered as he tugged his shirt down.
"And you," the Atlantan's attention turned to Madeleine, "do you work for your lover? I assume so by your similar clothing style and your constant presence together since our first encounter," Kida pointed at the two who were leaning against each other.
"Oh no." Madeleine chuckled as she and Milo separated. "He's just my brother." Madeleine paused for a moment. "I mean, he and I previously worked in a museum," Madeleine clarified, disregarding any further assumptions.
"I am most fascinated by your arrival. Do tell me, what is your country of origin? When did the flood waters recede? How did you..." Kida playfully donned Milo's glasses, leaving him to navigate the now-distorted world before him.
"Wait a minute, we appreciate your enthusiasm. We really do but we have some questions for you too," Madeleine smiled, holding her hand out.
The glasses were handed back and Madeleine carefully wiped them clean on her shirt before placing them on Milo like the many times she had done before.
"Let's do this, okay? You ask one, then we'll ask one and well...You get it," Milo suggested. "Very well," Kida spoke calmly. "What is your first question?"
"If you don't mind me asking, have visitors always been welcomed here in the city, or were any denied at the entrance?" Madeleine inquired.
"You are the only visitors to ever make it to Atlantis. But, had you visited many years ago, we would've slain you on sight. Now, I cannot bring myself to do so."
"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.
"I'm unsure. My father may possess information about this matter, but I don't want to distress him more by informing him of our conversation," responded Kida.
"Right. He would probably kick us out faster if he knew. Or worse..." Madeleine tapped her chin, considering all of the possibilities.
"My father is a very patient man to his people. If you were one of us, you would see his gracious side," Kida insisted. "Do you think we would have any chance to convince him to let us stay?" Madeleine inquired.
Kida shook her head. "After your leader left my home, my father asserted that your crew would not see a second day here," she sighed.
"You know," Milo began slowly, "we might have an advantage here."
Madeleine raised her eyebrow. "How so?" "We're solely the first visitors here in the city, right? That means there are no expectations of us or any bad ones at least. We must try and convince the king that we have pure intentions for our visit."
"Moving on. So, do we have any ideas of how to persuade the king?"
Milo huffed.
"We could give him our assistance if he is in need of any" Madeleine suggested. "Father refuses any help but I could use yours," Kida chimed in. "Certainly. With what?" the Thatch sister replied.
Madeleine's POV
"Here, let me show you two something," the Atlantean led the way to another clearing with a large object set in the middle of the ground. She yanked the green cover away to reveal the most unusual-looking machine that had the formation of a fish to be exact.
"What? It looks like some sort of vehicle," Milo noted, crouching closer to inspect.
"Does that belong to you?" I grazed her fingertips against the cold exterior. "No, I assume a villager left it here but no matter what I try, it will not respond," Kida explained, "perhaps if..."
"Way ahead of you," said Milo, pulling his pants up and rubbing his hands together in the cocky way he always did.
I knelt down to read the writing carved into the fish.
(M- Milo Ma- Madeleine K- Kida)
M- "Okay, let's see what we got here.
Okay, Place crystal into slot."
K- "Yes, yes I have done that!"
Ma- "Gently place your hand on the inscription pad."
K- "Yes!"
M- "Okay, did you turn the crystal one quarter turn back?"
K- "Yes, yes!"
Ma- "While your hand was on the inscription pad?"
"Ya.." The princess stopped abruptly, "No."
"Ah, well, see. There's your problem right there. That's an easy thing to miss. You know, you deserve credit for even...even getting this far,"
Milo's words were well-intentioned, but his sarcastic tone of voice caused the Atlantean to cross her arms unamused.
Milo, who was feeling uneasy let out a skittish chuckle. "Okay, uh, give it a try." We closely observed as the princess inserted her crystal necklace into the slot, placed her hand on an inscription pad, and rotated the crystal one-quarter turn back.
The vehicle emitted a motorized screech and was illuminated in the same shade of blue as the crystal. All three of us were surprised when the vehicle levitated high in the air. The princess spoke in Atlantean which prompted Milo to reply, "Yeah, you got that right.
"Oh this, this is great! With this thing, we could see the whole city in no time at all. I wonder how fast it goes," I bubbled. With a gentle tap of my index finger on the inscription pad, the vehicle accelerated rapidly, bouncing recklessly off rocks and trees at an uncontrollable speed.
We were caught off guard when the vehicle came hurtling towards them at lightning speed. "Maddy, get down!" Milo shouted and swiftly tackled me to the ground. The vehicle crashed into a wall, but we were lucky enough to manage to avoid any harm.
Milo swept my hair out of my face and checked me for any injuries. He asked, "Are you okay?" with genuine concern. "I'm okay, although you knocked the wind out of me," she breathlessly responded and Milo rolled off me with a chuckle. "I'd rather that than have you guillotined by a flying fish."
Despite the damaged vehicle emitting sparks and smoke, the Atlantean found the situation amusing. "Let's keep this between us, yes? Father doesn't need to know about this," she stated and we agreed with a nod. "For our sake, I really hope that the crash could not be heard," I said.
Relieved that nobody was hurt due to my actions, Milo glanced between the us with a mild grin. "So, who's hungry?"