CHAPTER 2: Preparations
"I will get you Milo Thatch!" Kida yelled forcefully to the fleeing Milo.
"You'll have to catch me first!"
The queen, laughing at the challenge, pressed her hand more firmly upon the panel, causing her Ketak to accelerate with astounding speed. She brushed the bangs of her hair from her face as she streaked past the trees of the arboretum, closing in on her husband. Milo turned abruptly, darting into a rocky passage strewn with ruins, his tunic fluttering in the wind. Kida overshot and turned back to pursue. The king, looking over his shoulder, twisted his hand upon his Ketak's panel and gave it the mental signal to rise. From the narrow passage he ascended, the queen doing the same. After lifting hundreds of feet into the air, Milo suddenly brought his Ketak to a stop. Kida, surprised, passed him and circled around. "What is it?" she called.
"Look!" Milo pointed toward the Atlantis itself, which glistened beautifully in the light from the Mother Crystal. Over the rise of the city they could see a small caravan of sorts, one clearly composed of rust-colored, boxy, American vehicles. The trucks were on the edge of a cliff in front of a cave opening. Aktiraks, and a Nartak were flying to greet the new expedition.
"They have arrived!" Kida, enthusiasm in her voice, began to speed her vehicle in the direction of the palace.
"Kida! Wait up!" Milo zoomed after the excited queen. At full speed it still took the couple some time to return to the palace. They landed at the newly repaired palace doors and, leaping off their vehicles, darted inside. Upon entering the throne room, Kida ran into a corridor, leaving Milo to straighten out his wind-blown hair and straighten the blue tunic he was currently wearing. He did not feel the need to change his outfit to something more formal. Kida reemerged in less than a minute. She still wore the blue robes that resembled her royal gown, though they lacked its elaborate, magenta designed panels. Her white hair was smoothed back from the shaggy style she wore so recently so she could wear her headdress crown.
Only several seconds later the palace guards opened the door. In the doorway, one could perceive Vinny, Sweet, Audrey, Packard, and Cookie standing there.
"Knock, knock!" Vinny called sarcastically, yet good-naturedly. The comment caused Milo and Kida to inwardly wince from the memory of the last time he said it.
"Hi guys!" Milo approached them all with a warm, enthusiastic grin.
"Welcome!" added Kida.
Joshua Sweet stepped forward, a jovial look upon his countenance and several large bags in his hands. "We hear there's someone here who wants to visit America?"
Sweet's question made Kida smile even more. "Yes! There is so--"
"Ah-ha!" cried a thrilled Mole, who emerged from behind Joshua. "We weel go to 'gay Paree' togezar!" The little man ran to the surprised queen, and, for once being almost gentlemanly, snatched her hand and attempted to kiss it. Kida, disgusted by the thought of where those lips might have been, tried to shove him away.
"America first, Mole," Audrey said irritatedly. "Now if you do that again, 'Paree' is what I'll do to your face." There were a few chuckles.
"Ha! I am not inteemidated!"
"Hey, Mole!" Sweet reached into the medical bag that never left his side. From it, he pulled a bar of soap and tossed it to Audrey. She then held it out toward Mole the same way the physician had done weeks before, causing Molieré to hiss and hide behind the throne. More laughter filled the air.
"Gracias para su ayunda, Audrey." (Thank you for your help, Audrey.) Kida, her hands on her hips, nodded in approval.
"No fue una problema, Kida." (Wasn't a problem, Kida.) She tossed her wrench in the air and caught it in a show-off fashion. "Now, ready to prepare for your trip?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Well, we'd better get going then," Packard said in her normal, nonchalant fashion. She and the doctor advanced toward the queen. Nodding in understanding, Kida led them down the corridor to her bedroom. Sweet placed all but his medical bag on the bed, and, giving Kida a friendly smile, left Packard with Kida. The communicator opened up some of the luggage and removed a dull blue-green dress. "You know how to put this on? This is the front, this is the back, this is the zipper…" Packard zipped up the dress for example as she spoke in her indifferent tone.
"Yes, yes! I understand that." Kida was impatient, but she knew she must do as she was told to experience this new culture. In all actuality, she had not known what a zipper was, though it was easy for her to grasp the concept.
"Good. And you need to put these on your feet too." Packard handed the dress and a pair of high-heels to Kida and left the room, closing the door behind her. Kida began to disrobe.
"So," Milo began, "it really was a good thing they gave you extra crystals, since you all had one cut for formalwear." He looked from the earring Vinny was wearing to Cookie. They all were wearing normal crystals, but Cookie's seemed misshapen. "So what did you cut yours into-- …Oh."
"Ya like it? It's m'tooth necklace. Some injun jewelry gave me the idea."
"That's… Really something, Cookie."
"Oh, found a lil' critter that might be yours, Milo. Seem t'remember ya talkin' 'bout 'im." The road cook held up a birdcage containing a very distressed looking parrot lizard. "Thought it was a chicken for a sec, 'till I remembered what you said. Was cookin' near Atlantis when the little feller landed near a plate of my rabbit almandine and some er my bacon grease. You'd think it liked my cooking, but 'by my lame mule,' it must be sick 'cause it won't eat."
"I can't imagine why it wouldn't eat you food, Cookie." A polite but nervous smile crossed the linguist's face as he took the cage from the country man. He retrieved the creature from it. He released the creature, who, sniffing, began to fly right for the kitchen, a confused Obbi watching as he waddled his way out. "Oh, no, not again…"
"I'll get it," a guard announced.
"Thanks, SIHM-bah!" Milo's voice attracted attention to himself, and Obbi came bounding over in his typical, thrilled-to-see-his-owner fashion. "AHHH!"
Obbi drenched Milo with his huge tongue as others laughed.
"You plan on making a habit of that, do you not, Obbi?" The queen entered the room with a smile. The dress she wore was rather formal, the fashion of the time, bearing lace and embroidery around the collar. Light shimmered upon the fabric like light shining off rippling water, he thought. "How is my appearance?" she asked.
"Lookin' good," Milo voiced as he grinned adoringly, pushing the lava whale off.
"Hey, that's-ah nice." Vinny nodded toward the queen.
Milo noticed, however, Kida wobbled as she walked, and her head was occasionally down-turned slightly to gauge her steps.
"These foot coverings seem quite inefficient, "Kida began as she stumbled. "What is their purpose?"
The explorers simultaneously shook their heads or shrugged. "They make 'ya look prettier?" suggested Sweet.
"And how is that?" Kida's stride was quickly improving as she adapted her stride appropriately. Once again, the physician shrugged.
"But we still gotta do your hair and makeup," Packard added casually.
"MAY-kuhp?" Kida was unsure as to the meaning.
"Yeah. Back to the bedroom. The sooner we start, the sooner we can go home."
They both went back to the room. Packard pulled some small containers out of the bags as Kida sat upon the bed. "You got a place where you can wash your hair?" Packard asked.
"Yes, but why?"
Packard handed Kida a small bottle. "Wash your hair with this, then comb it out. It will change your hair color."
"Why would I need to change the color of my hair? I saw people with white hair on the surface." Kida cocked her head.
"People don't get white hair 'til they're my age."
"Well, how old are you?"
Packard gave her a cold look. "I'm sixty-one."
"You are only sixty-one?" Kida was amazed. "I am eight-thousand, eight hundred years old."
"How about that." Packard was unphased. "Go dye your hair." Kida left the room, taking her brush with her. Meanwhile, Packard lit a cigarette and looked for a makeup that would match Kida's well-tanned appearance. The queen returned after some time, having dried her now jet-black hair with the heat of a fire. "Now, sit on your bed and close your eyes. I'm goin' to be putting makeup on your face, so try not to flinch." Packard pulled up a chair.
Kida did so obediently as she felt a cream being smeared across her face, heavily so over her tattoos. There was the sensation of a soft-tipped instrument touching her eyelids and pulling at her lashes. Spongy tools dabbed at her cheeks. All the while, the smell of Packard's cigarette nauseated the queen. It seemed Packard had re-aquired the old habit. "Now you can open your eyes." A strange feeling passed though Kida's mind as she could no longer see the starts of her tattoos upon the perceivable edges of her cheekbones. "Pucker your lips." Packard took hold of the queen's chin as she followed directions. From a gold cylinder a bright red tip emerged as its base was twisted. The tip was then spread across Kida's lips before Packard released her face.
"I am sorry, but I will return shortly." Packard did not answer but to exhale smoke from her cigarette. The queen stepped out of the room and closed the door, harshly coughing from the malevolent smoke. She breathed in the fresh air, temporarily relieved. She found it difficult to grasp the concept of smoking even in her culture, having found it repulsive throughout her life. Kida took a deep breath and reentered, leaving the door open, trying to be tolerant.
"Am I not considered acceptable now?" she asked as she opened curtains to increase the airflow in the room. Kida's voice hinted she was stressed.
"Not quite." She took Kida's brush in hand. "Sit down and turn around." Upon the completion of the order, the communicator pulled and tied the queen's hair, putting it into a bun in the back of her head. Kida was quite startled at the jerking of her hair, expecting a more gentle touch like that of her late parents'.
Within a few minutes, the two reentered the throne room. The conversation that had been taking place came to a screeching halt, as it were, by the drastic change in the ruler's appearance.
"Well, uh, Kida…" Milo wasn't sure what to say. He glanced around noting everyone was gawking at her, even the shemubin. "What is wrong?" Kida voiced her inquiry. She bounded to the nearest source of reflections, in this case, to the surface of the water garden. Her eyes widened in shock and disgust. She almost did not recognize herself. The makeup was very gaudy by 1914 American standards, and would seem utterly bizarre by any Atlantean. She wiped at her vivid pink eye shadow and touched her cheek, which looked to be a shade too light.
"Jeez, Packard. You got the hairdo okay, but now her hair color doesn't match her eyebrows. The makeup's too light." Audrey crossed her arms.
"That was the darkest shade of makeup we brought." stated Packard, unperturbed, to the tomboyish mechanic. "You want to do my job for me? Be my guest. Not that you use much makeup." The communicator handed a bag to Audrey, and then began to exit through the still-open palace doors. "I'm calling Marge."
Audrey rolled her eyes and sighed in an agitated fashion. She then turned her attention to Kida, who was still inspecting the stranger in the water. "C'mon. We need to try this again, your highness." The queen lifted her eyes, dreading experiencing the event again. "No preoccupe, Kida. Todo va a ser bien." (Don't worry, Kida. All will be well.)
"SOH-lesh MAH-toh noat…" Kida whispered inaudibly in memory. She snapped out of thought, slightly shaking her head. "PAH-gen. Gracias." The queen once again led someone into the bedroom. Audrey rummaged through the bags.
"What is this? How many types of eyeliner did we really need to bring?" She growled in annoyance. "Alright. Kida, you'll need to wash the color out of your hair, then you'll need to re-dye it with this." She tossed the queen a brown bottle. "You might as well wash off your makeup, too." Kida sighed, frustrated and impatient, but did as she was told. She returned a little later, after overhearing Milo trying to tell Obbi why the little 'lava dog' could not come, and something about a "sore thumb" sticking out. As she returned, it was notable her hair was now down and a shade of brown instead of black. Audrey had containers spread across the bed, and was trying to put some of them away upon the queen's arrival. "I think I've got what you need," said the mechanic, gathering up a few objects. "Sit down."
Queen Kidagakash did so, closing her eyes in addition and doing everything the teenage mechanic told her to do. This time, the event seemed much shorter to her, and Audrey's manipulation of her hair was less severe than Packard's. It seemed to Kida that Audrey sympathized, perhaps because she had gone through similar problems.
"Kida, you're finished."
The queen's face flashed with relief and anxiety of her appearance. She stood, quickly walked past Audrey, and opened a small cabinet door across the room. From it, she procured a small mirror. Biting her lip, she peered into it, and then looked skyward to give silent thanks to the spirits of Atlantis. She pulled a small strand of hair in front of her face, a perfect finishing touch in her opinion. Then she turned toward the mechanic, placing the mirror atop the cabinet. "Thank you, Audrey. Changing my tattoos was more than enough for me, but changing my eyes, lips and cheeks as well turned me into a stranger."
"It was nothing. Now, I'm sure Milo would like to see you. C'mon. You have a world to see."
Kida smiled contentedly as she left the room with Audrey, heading toward the throne room.
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," as well as the characters Temlohn, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my (Rebmakash's) property. I do not own the name, ""MUH-suh MIH-kee"." The name "Khohbdesheh" is my property only when used as a name. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, and other characters, names, concepts, and non-gibberish Atlantean are property of the Walt Disney Company. >
