Third Person POV
Madeleine swallowed, trying not to choke on the itchy feeling in the back of her neck. Her eyes were willing up but she refused to acknowledged it in front of Rourke. The smoke cleared, her vision took slightly longer, and she could see the king on his seat.
"Knock, knock," Vinny said, throwing and catching a stick of dynamite. "Room service!" Cookie shouted. Personally, Madeleine had never been so disgusted in her entire life. No - she had to remind herself. These were people, they were just like her. They didn't know people were going to be down here, they didn't know things would escalate this quickly and they certainly didn't know they'd use their tools as weapons out of fear of their commander.
A horrible thought struck Madeleine's mind. Had the other, lost soldiers, known? Were they even aware of their mission? Or were their deaths just heads Rourke could strike out on the percentage list?
Tell them to drop their weapons, now," Helga said, spinning her gun as if it was an extension of her own limb and prodding Kida's side with it. The King waved a hand, speaking Atlantean. The guards dropped their spears in an instant.
The others were yelled at to separate and search, whilst Madeleine and Kida were kept in the grip of Helga. Madeleine was rather embarrassed, she had to admit, whilst Kida stood their confidently, she had tried to weasel out of the blonde's grip - and couldn't.
Seriously, she was being held with one hand. Helga's hand was like a metal vice, freezing cold and sure to snap her bones if it was pulled too tightly.
Rourke shoved his gun further toward Milo, lifting his chin up with the edge of it to force them into eye-level. "You're not applying yourself, son. There's got to be something else."
"Well, there isn't!" Milo said, shoving his beloved book further away from him as he glared back. "It just says 'the heart of Atlantis lies in the heart of her king'." "Well, maybe Old King Cole here can help us fill in the blanks."
Milo was discarded harshly to the side whilst the commander and two others cornered the king. Madeleine gulped, her mind was playing out various scenarios and not one of them ended well. "How about it chief Where's the crystal chamber?"
"You will destroy yourselves." Rourke twiddled his toothpick between two fingers, leaning in closer. "Maybe I'm not being clear." Rourke slammed the king in the gut with a vicious punch and the royal fell to the ground in a heap.
The appalled Kida cursed in Atlantean and all Madeleine said was "Ты сукин сын" (It's Russian btw.) Sweet dropped to his knees beside the kings head. "Rourke this was not part of the plan."
Rourke rolled his eyes as he sauntered past the scene. "Plan's change, Doc. I'd suggest you put a bandage on that bleeding heart of yours. It doesn't suit a mercenary." Madeleine scowled as the commander took a seat on the throne as if he was back at him, his feet plopping down on the fruit table in front of him.
"Well, as usual, diplomacy has failed us. Now I'm going to count to ten, and you're going to tell me where the crystal is... one." He cocked his gun, Madeleine could see the crew flinch from the corner to her eye. This was for real, it was actually happening. Her chest was getting tighter and she clenched her eyes closed, turning away from the scene.
"Two. Nine. T-" He stopped mid-word and Madeleine un-froze, relaxing slightly as she slowly blinked her eyes open, turning her head to see what had caught the commanders attention. He was looking right at her.
Oh no, what had she done?
He glanced at the Shepard's Journal before back at her, and then at the floor. What was going on?
"The heart of Atlantis lies in he eyes of her king." The king released a deep breath from where he forcefully knelt, his head sagging in defeat. "This is it! We're in!" Throwing the book to the side, the commander began striding towards them, dropping into the water and wading to where he came to a stop in front of Helga, Kida and Madeleine who stood on a stepping stone just off the centre.
"Rourke, for the last time, you have to listen to me! You don't have the slightest idea of what this thing's capable of," Milo tried pleading as he followed after the man. "True, but I can think of a few countries who would pay anything to figure it out," Helga said before dropping her captive's arms and pushing them forward.
Kida rolled into a crouched position, clutching her arm in distaste while Madeleine went for the more - sophisticated route. She stumbled once her feet hit the floor harshly and nearly toppled over. Glancing up, Madeleine saw that Milo had been the one to grab the front of her shoulders and pulled her back up.
Tears filled the younger Thatch's eyes and hugged her brother tightly as if her life depended on it. She soon latched onto Milo's forearm like a desperate puppy.