CHAPTER 5: Revelation
As the mob finally cleared, Kida found herself on a different street. She looked around, desperately trying to locate the others.
"Milo! Sweet! Audrey!" There was no response, save the few people who gave her strange looks. "I must try to return to the area where we were separated." The queen knew the general direction, but, not being used to a maze of enormous, similar buildings, she was also aware it would be difficult to locate. She looked down, but the occasional scuff mark would not be enough to track her way back.
Kida aimed herself to her destination, but heard a sound like a small bell behind her. Glancing back she spied a small metallic disk roll after a rushed man and twirl to a stop. The gentleman reached a car parked alongside the road and opened the door.
"Sir! You dropped your--!" She called to him, but the man had already gotten in and closed the door, the engine firing up. The queen snatched up the coin and started toward the vehicle, but it was already rolling into traffic. She stopped to stare after it amongst the hustle and bustle of the walk. Seeing there was little else she could do, Kida examined the coin. She ran her strong but nimble fingers along the ridged edge and peered at the likeness of a man's profile. She silently read the word "liberty" and the phrase "In God we trust." Flipping it over she beheld a relief of a great winged creature. The queen ran a short fingernail under the letters, slowly mouthing, "the uh-nited… United States of America."
"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Buy your newspapers here!" Kida was distracted by the vigorous voice of a young man. It came from the general direction she needed to go. She started forward, the thunder becoming louder.
She peered around the corner, spotting the man amongst the evening crowd, and assessed him to be approaching, perhaps, 4300 years old. The youth waved a periodical in the air, and Kida was near enough to see the paper was covered in writing. Further down the street she also spotted a landmark, or enough of one that would enable her to get back to the theater. Thus, she took the opportunity to learn. She followed the crowd to the newspaper man.
"Is this enough?" she inquired, trading him the quarter. She did not have the money she had last time. Kida had wondered why Milo hadn't given her any this time.
The man then handed her a paper. "Yep! In fact it's more than enough. Do you want change?"
"Change? Into what?"
"Um… Nevermind…"
"Thank you." Kida began to walk away, trying to read a few words.
"I take that to mean I can keep the change?"
"Yes," she said glancing over her shoulder, indifferent for the moment. "The New York Times…" Kida carefully read in a whisper. Then, raising her eyes, she searched for a way to cross the street. Some people, she saw, were doing just that in front of a few stopped cars. Taking advantage of this, she agiley darted through the people and crossed at the same point, not noting the curious looks of the people around her. When she had done so, the queen flowed with the crowd as best she could fro several blocks, changing directions a few times, until she could see the theater across the street, brilliantly illuminated in a flash of lightning.
Kida stood as tall as her body allowed, rising to the height of 5'9" upon her toes, but could see none of her companions through the multitude of people and the occasional speeding car. Once again she made use of the crosswalk, but she still spied no one familiar.
"I may either remain here and hope to be found… or search for them myself." She shook her head, not knowing which act would be best to perform. Her flow of consciousness drifted back to the papers in her grasp, and without thinking she had sidestepped the crowd to stand flanking a wall. Slowly, she ran her eyes along the lines illuminated by streetlamps. The queen found the text difficult to decipher, being used to Milo's script. She quietly began to read aloud.
"'Should America Stay Out of the War?' What?!" She read on, shocked there was war in this seemingly peaceful world. "'War Rages On in Europe. ROO-she-velt…'" She trailed off and looked up from the paper, disbelieving. "Why would America not help its allies? And why is there war?" Questions swirled rapidly through the dubious warrior's mind. "This cannot be…Perhaps this is not the place I had perceived…"
Abruptly the queen's train of thought was shattered by screech coming from nearly opposite directions. The huntress's senses were fully awakened by the noise, jerking up her head to view, in sluggish time, the coming of two vehicles together. Pieces, in disordered beauty, flew through the air as the front of one car smashed inward, and the nose of the other was bent to the side. A shower of glass aided the feeling of heavy mist. A shriek of pain pierced the air.
Kidagakash's eyes were wide, taking in everything. Fearful shouts of the people around her crashed against her eardrums, and shocked, awe-struck people crowed around the vehicles, gawking at the grim spectacle. To her alarm, it seemed the people watched as one would a sport.
Once again the queen could not see. She glanced around hurriedly for anything to stand upon. A relieved look crossed her face as she caught sight of a table in front of the café in which she stood, and climbed on top of it. Debris shrouded a yelping woman, and an older man staggered out of the other vehicle. Shrill sirens pierced her ears. Wincing at the noise, she happened to look downward into the surprised and disgusted people staring at her. She quickly realized she had made a social blunder.
Climbing off the table, Kida spied the tops of new vehicles arriving.
"Get away!" a man in a blue uniform cried. "These people need medical attention!"
She glimpsed people in white coats, much like the ones Dr. Sweet wore, run to the victims.
"Go on! Get away!" the voice called with authority. Kida was once again swept away by the crowd. A flash of light heralded the birth of rain. The Atlantean looked upward, still finding it strange outer-world rain was sometimes accompanied by colossal bolts of energy. She hugged her precious papers close to her body in a futile attempt to keep them dry as she rushed for cover. Men and women alike rushed into shops and restaurants, crowding them to the point one would find entering far from feasible. The queen hurried for a wall near a corner that yielded some protection from the storm. Finding that protecting the newspaper was becoming frivolous, she mimicked as best she could, the people, and held it over her head like an umbrella.
The rain was cold to the point of slightly numbing her fingers. She finally judged it best to go in search of her comrades. The huntress began a search pattern, circling the theater in an outward spiral. She pushed up against a wall at one point, having managed thus far to remain fairly dry by walking under covered walkways and awnings as much as possible.
The terrified scream of a baby became audible to Kida, and like a cat hearing the mewing of kittens she faced the direction of the sound, curious and concerned. As if the breath of that child had strengthened upon reaching her, a breath of wind stole the paper from her hands, but she no longer cared. Instantly she rushed to the sound. Using her skills she pressed up against a wall to remain from being heard, having already discarded her high heels to keep silent. The firing of a gun surprised her, making Kida flinch. Slowly she looked around the corner to behold a middle-aged woman being threatened by a man with a firearm, the entirety of them soaked with rain.
"Now unless you give me your money, the second shot will be aimed at your kid, there."
Kida's eyes scanned the entire situation instantly, from the frightened eyes of the mother and child to the eyes of…
"The dark-eyed one!" the queen's mind exclaimed. Quickly she scanned the entirety of the area, looking for anything to use as a weapon. The warrior seized a long-discarded pipe and boldly leapt into view. Wielding the rusty pole as a staff, she knew her duty as queen and warrior to protect the innocent.
"Do not harm them!" she exclaimed powerfully.
The dark-eyed man set his sights on her. "Ha! It's the curious girl form the dancehall! What are you going to do? Hurt me little girl?"
Kida found his calling her little quite demeaning since she stood at his height at least and was physically older than he. Her irritation turned to fear as the man pointed his gun and shot it, without looking, at the woman.
A lock of hair fell to the ground.
"Now, if you don't want me to kill her next time, you'll run along now. And if you tell the police, they'll find the corpses of this lady and baby." In a cocky fashion he approached the poised Kida, his gun still in the victim's general direction. "You got that, little girl?" he added with his face a few feet from hers.
A trickle of brown water ran down her face. The queen could no longer allow him to terrorize the blameless. With her fury unleashed she swung the rod, smashing his hand downward. The gun fired and flew, its bullet ricocheting off the walls before imbedding itself in an old wooden door. The warrior kicked high, her foot catching the face of the surprised man. He stumbled backwards, his nose bleeding as she froze, thus giving him a warning to leave. "Tough girl, huh? We'll see who's tough!"
The man charged her, launching a punch that would have broken bones. Kida nimbly dodged him, using her metal staff to hurdle over him. She twisted to view him rushing her again, but she would not dodge this time. Mustering her might she swung the pole powerfully, only to find he was sliding past her for his pistol instead.
The dark-eyed man rolled onto his back and fired. As fast as she could the huntress tried to remove herself form the predator's line of sight, but her reflexes were not fast enough to dodge such a projectile. A horrendous pain shot through her arm as the bullet tore along the outside of her flesh.
"AAAAAAAAH!" she cried in pain and rage. She landed hard, nearly barefoot, upon the concrete, but incorporated her back swing to strike the gun out of his hand again. Falling next to the woman and child, the gun fired for the fifth time. The man yelled in agony as he felt the bones in his hand crush. The robber rolled to a stand, finding there was more at stake than a few bullets and some cash. He pulled his arm back and began to release a mighty assault.
A flash from a nearby bolt of lightning blinded the fighters, leaving Kida unaware of which way to dodge and forcing her to estimate. Thunder sounded as the man's fist grazed the queen's cheek. Luck had given her adequate compensation.
The man became wide-eyed. "What the-- You freak!" Kida caught him with a brutal blow to the back, his spine emitting an audible crunch. The dark-eyed man ran excruciatingly from the huntress, who began pursuit with a run. The queen quickly discovered it was not a flight of fright, but running at another opportunity. He sped past the mother, rolled, and came up with the gun pointing once again at the hapless mother.
"I'll shoot her if you come any closer!"
Kida stopped instantly, her brown and now white hair flying in front of her for it had come undone. Face down-turned, she glared at him like a lioness to another predator. The huntress flexed her leg muscles subtlety in preparation for the next action.
She looked once again into the face of the dark-eyed man. His eyes were fearful, yet calculating like a chess player's, analyzing what would be the best action to take.
The man moved his firing arm away from the victims.
In a flash Kida employed her good arm to shift weight onto the rod and bounded forward.
A bullet was fired at her as she was in mid air. The shot met its mark and went through her right ankle with incredible pain. "Do not land on the injured limb! Bring out the other foot!" her mind raced. She alighted, but her leg gave out form under her, causing the huntress to collapse. Kida caught herself with her arms, but a searing pain was felt as the flesh of her arm was further injured on impact.
She looked up, her teeth bared in agony and anger, to see the man fleeing. Luck had been against her in the struggle. It became clear greed was his motive, clearly not a desire to kill. "Does greed motivate so many?" he mind quietly thought. The dark-eyed man knew disabling the queen before lying down his king, the money, would be the safest alternative. She eyed the partially crippled man furiously as he sped out of sight and around a corner.
Grimacing, Kida righted herself. She gripped her arm in pain, and, pulling her hand away, found it soiled. She removed the crystal from around her neck while bringing up her ankle to view. Carefully the warrior placed the crystal into both wounds. She grasped the glowing shard to her chest and felt its soothing energies pass into her hand. Gingerly at first, she placed her fingers around her ankle. In anticipation she breathed in and clenched her jaw and eyes as she forcefully squeezed the joint. The pain faded with the glow of her handprint, and she beheld it fully healed. The queen promptly repeated the process on her arm.
The rain finally passing, the water had washed the mess from Kida's healed wounds and the makeup from her face. She stood and directed her vision to the woman and child. "Are you all right?" The baby smiled innocently and patted its hands clumsily. The mother, however, stared horrified at her, trying to inch away. "If you are hurt, I can heal your wounds," the huntress added.
"Kida!" The voice was like a native hymn to the Atlantean's ears.
"Milo!" she called, turning, but hard footsteps sent her looking back. The mother had taken advantage of the distraction to run. "Wait!" Kida yelled, but to no avail, for the woman either didn't hear or wish to heed it. The queen merely stared after her, the act being the last stone to shatter the stained-glass window of such a good society.
"Kida! What happened?! Are you okay?!"
"Yes." She still watched in the direction the mother and child disappeared. Her silence left Milo dangling.
"Well, were you in a fight-- No, of course you were in a fight," he said eyeing her torn, stained dress and smeared make-up. "But…" He trailed off. Not knowing what to say, he only dropped his umbrella and put his arms around her.
"I had believed this to be the perfect world of myth. I--"
"You seriously thought America was perfect?"
"Y-… She sighed. No. I… I simply wanted to believe the myth was true."
"And what do you mean 'myth?' According to myth, Atlantis was the perfect society."
She looked at him somberly, but believed her was joking. "We were indeed a great people, but if we were perfect, why would we have fallen?"
"Wait. You mean Atlantis had a utopia myth?" The linguist let go of his wife.
"Does 'you-TOH-pea-ah' translate to 'perfect society?'" she guessed, never having encountered the term. No explorers had reached Atlantis since the words had been coined.
"Yeah."
"Yes, we have such a myth." She shrugged and shook her head slightly as she spoke, wondering why that was so stunning.
"This is amazing! Maybe other cultures heard this myth from you -- not you personally - but finding your way of life more sophisticated, thought Atlantis was that culture!"
Kida simply looked at him, a bit incredulous.
"Why did you find America to be so perfect? This nation's grand, surely the best for protecting the people, but no country is perfect. Not that I know of, anyway."
A moment passed before she spoke. "I had seen such kindness here. There seemed to be peace and welfare. The people were content, and they truly appeared to know better. Your technology is very sophisticated." She paused, looking away. "But there is war in this world. People threaten to kill each other only for the sake of money!" The huntress's shoulders rose and dropped with a sigh. "All was not as it appeared. And for the third time I have seen others motivated by pure greed."
The queen looked down at herself. "I can no longer blend in. I need Audrey to help me."
"Actually, I've been thinking about that. We need to make sure it doesn't look like you've been in a fight, but maybe once you're cleaned up, we can just forget the make-up, high-heels and all. You couldn't really wear your street clothes in America, though. We could minimize things for you. Yes, you'll get some questions and some looks, but you'd get that anyway."
"Is it because my garb is too unusual to these people?"
"Umm… Well, you could say that. If you did you'd get some rather disgusted looks with the strange ones. We'll just tell the truth. We'll say you're a foreign tourist. That'd clear things up for most people."
A nervous half smile appeared on her face as she raised a skeptical eyebrow and crossed her arms.
"Besides," the linguist began softly, "I like you better this way..." He touched her chin as gently as one would stroke a bird. "…When you don't have to hide."
Milo embraced his wife once again to comfort her. The rain clouds, feeble with their energy spent, were blowing away.
After a moment of silence, Kida spoke again. "May we still continue WEH-dihn tem?"
He gawked at her for a moment before remembering the history lesson he gave her a week or so ago. "Oh! The 'traditional sojourn meant to--'"
"--'Educate a new ruler about the ways of other cultures and to find ways to better the lives of the people.'"
"Well, I guess so," he said confidently. The scholar's emotions conflicted. While disappointed this was not the "honeymoon" he had hoped for, he was thrilled to help a native Atlantean, his very wife, in native custom. "We'll search for that perfect society. Not that we'll fond it, but maybe we'll find ways to make your -- our - society a utopia." The linguist placed his forehead upon the head of the queen, his tarnished gold hair mingling with her platinum. He then stroked his wife's disheveled hair and tenderly caressed her cheek. Her eyes met his loving ones, and with a look Kida was reassured by her husband.
"PAH-geh-sheh-nen sahg-lokh, MY-loh-toap. (Thank you for everything, Milo.)"
"Kwalm. PAH-geh-sheh-nen… (No. Thank you…)" the king responded, " ...Nok GAH-nesh-suhg-ehn kahg. (…For loving me.)"
"Gihm PAH-geh-sheh-nen lokh Mah-RAH-hoo-teh. (And thank you so much for the same.)" Kida smiled amorously.
She kissed him deeply before they both broke their gaze. Bathed in the light of the waking haloed moon the two looked from each other to the sky above. Holding each other close they gazed at the shimmering crystals of the sky.
Credits and Dedication:
(To be read to Sting's "When We Dance")
The Statue of Liberty scene is dedicated to the victims of the September 11th tragedy.
Starting my little obsession:
Walt Disney
&
Everyone Involved in Making the Movie
Including:
Don Hahn
Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise
Michael J. Fox
Cree Summer
James Newton Howard
To Name a Few
Advisor:
Shahnahkehm (Zzyllo)
"…'Paree' is what I'll do to your face."
Line by Shahnahkehm
Encouragers/Plot Hole Searchers
Julie
Shahnahkehm
Karen
Lisa
Malkavien
Fellow Fans (To name a few, and in no particular order:)
From the Search for Atlantis RPG and the Destination Atlantis Forum:
Lisa Mahteim Mu
Shahnahkehm Karen
Julie Sarah
Jodotha Cali
Goblinqueeen Kat
KatterinaJ Dawn
RoamingTigress Bitsy
Lieutenant Starlite Vegakeep
Malkavien Bubblegumgrl
Those Who Introduced Me to Fan Fiction:
Everyone in the AtlantistheMovie Yahoo! Group
Including, but not exclusive to:
Zudomon
Grim=20Stripper
Kida Grath
Raymond Chuang
Ruggaphile
Dibsdib
Freakhybrid
The Snow Grygon
Jjvo
Lisa
Karen
Julie
"Fuzz" Breaks:
Holly the Hamster
Inspiration:
God
The Movie and All Those Involved
James Newton Howard, Whose Music Made Me a Fan
Whatever that place is where my mind wanders to and doesn't come back
Maneuvering those immense summer crowds at Disney World
Group Allowing You to Read This Right Now:
Well, I notice you're still reading. I hope you enjoyed my story!
PAH-geh-sheh-nekh
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.
And now for those who even read this far… A special Easter egg!
Epilogue and Crossover Joke:
"Milo! Milo! Wake up!"
The man groaned, groggily opening his eyes. "Kida, this is the fifth time you've woken me up. It's been a long day, and the plane trip isn't making it any easier to sleep. We're going to be traveling all night."
"Milo! There is a man outside!" She pointed to the bright day-lit sky through the window as people's heads began to block the view.
Yawning and readjusting his glasses, he humored, "What did he look like?"
"He wore a red jacket with many buttons, and a very strange mask with black eyes, slits where the mouth should be, and it was made of gold! Flame shot from his back. You can ask anyone here and--"
"…Have you been up all this time looking out that window?"
"Yes. I can see the cities and the patchwork of the fields!"
back and closed his eyes, oblivious.
