Hi, folks! Scooby-Doo and the Legend of Atlantis is back! This chapter will be the moment when the gang learns the secret of the Star of Atlas. Feel free to rate and review if you wish, and you have my humblest apologies for taking so long with this story.
Chapter 7: The Secret of the Star
Fred had pulled one of the decorative tridents from one of the statues and was trying to use it to unlock the vault door. It had been ten minutes since Luke Milton and his mutineers had stolen the Star of Atlas and Princess Mira, and still the gang was nowhere near being free.
Velma said with a lamenting look, "Give it up, Freddy. The door of this chamber must be at least five feet thick."
"We can't just let Mr. Milton and his goons get away with this!" Fred insisted. "I'll pry at this till midnight if I have to."
Captain Walton said, "We may not have that long." Then he sighed, "We shouldn't have been so hasty seeking this city, even if it was in the name of science and discovery."
Daphne was feeling admittedly upset because of what had happened. She said sadly, "For once, I think Shaggy and Scooby had the right idea. We should've just stayed away from Atlantis. Maybe then, Mira wouldn't have been abducted and the Star of Atlas wouldn't have been stolen."
That's when Shaggy said, "No, Daphne. We should've come."
The rest of the Mystery Inc. gang turned to Shaggy in surprise.
"I may be a coward, guys, but since when have Scooby and I turned away the opportunity to have so many adventures with you guys?" asserted Shaggy. "We've traveled the world, discovered ancient treasures and creepy tombs, and built up our friendship all the way. What happened here is that weirdo Milton's fault and we've got to stop him."
"While we're stuck here?" groaned Velma.
Shaggy and Scooby shrugged at that and thought Velma had a point. Suddenly, the dungeon began to shake. The Mystery Inc. gang and the Odyssey crew huddled close together for fear until the tremor stopped.
"What was that?" wondered Fred.
King Mardeshek spoke next. He said with a pained expression, "The power that has preserved our city is failing. Unless the Star of Atlas can be retrieved, Atlantis will die."
The group approached the king, and Velma inquired, "What do you mean, Your Highness? And what is that crystal anyway?"
"The Star of Atlas has been the life force of this city since the reign of Atlas, who was the highest king in Atlantis first," said Mardeshek. "It is bound to Atlantis and to the people, for it was forged by Atlantean hands. In the past, it would enable the royals to protect Atlantis from any threat on a whim. But its power is far too great for only one to bear it, so the power would be divided between each member of the royal family so that each would bear the strain equally."
These words made the group feel a sense of mysterious astonishment, and Fred asked, "So, is the crystal some kind of mystical heart for Atlantis?"
"In a way, it is," said the king. And now he began to tell Scooby and the gang the story of the Star of Atlas.
"The crystal was forged by King Atlas as a gift to his people to protect them from harm, for he loved them as his own offspring. It thrives on the will to live and grows as it is nurtured by love. As it is nurtured, the Star provides light and warmth to the city, power to our weapons and our devices, and it prolongs the lives and health of the people. In times of trouble, it shields Atlantis from forces of nature that would harm our people and repels attackers when our armies cannot."
"But, like, how did Atlantis sink below the sea if that crystal was supposed to protect it?" wondered Shaggy.
"When Atlas' brother Autochthon became the tenth King of Atlantis, he dishonored his brother's law by claiming the entire kingdom for himself and depriving his nephews and their heirs of kingship under him," Mardeshek went on. "Consumed by a lust for power, he sought to use the Star of Atlas to conquer all lands of the known world. He destroyed the island that you call Santorini to persuade the Achaeans to surrender first. But in cutting the island in two, the crystal set a wave as tall as a mountain upon Atlantis. For the first time, it rejected Autochthon for his hubris and chose only his wife, his daughters, and his son to protect Atlantis. Though the people were saved, Atlantis descended a mile into the earth, and all that remained on the surface was erased from existence."
Daphne gripped her own arms and said, "Jeepers!"
"Like, what a way to go," Shaggy said with lament in his voice.
Velma now understood the reason the Star of Atlas had been kept so secret. "So the Star of Atlas was hidden within the city so no one else could try what King Autochthon did."
King Mardeshek bowed his head, saying, "Yes. But now that Mira has been forced to absorb its power so your wayward companions could steal it, the Star's mystic energy is sapping her life force. The longer it remains in her body, the weaker her spirit becomes. If the crystal is not brought back, Mira will be consumed by its power."
Scooby and the gang and the rest of the crew all gasped in shock, and then Captain Walton said, "You mean she'll die?"
"It is far worse," answered Mardeshek with an air of mourning. "Her body will become like stardust and her mind will be absorbed by the crystal. Its power will become unrestrained without a proper host, and it will threaten all our lives unless I and my wife can restrain it. Pray it does not come to that."
The gang and the Odyssey crew were getting more nervous by the second and wishing that they could find a secret panel and escape from the room. But their luck had finally run out, it seemed. Suddenly, there came a loud creaking from the other side of the door. It opened as slowly as it had before, and standing there with four Atlantean guards behind her was Queen Anamarhet.
"Like, we're saved!" cheered Shaggy, and he and Scooby danced around with glee.
"My friends, my husband, come quickly! The whole city is in chaos!" cried the queen.
She led the gang and King Mardeshek from the crystal chamber and to the outer wall of the palace. When they got there, a dreadful sight met their eyes. The whole city of Atlantis was trembling as though it were being rocked by an earthquake. Great fissures began to spread in the streets and fountains of lava began to fill the gaps. Even the great lake surrounding Atlantis had become a sea of boiling water that gave the air the steaming embrace of a sauna. Within the city, the people of Atlantis were fleeing for their lives toward the palace as chunks of the sunken island began to break away, taking houses and shops and even a few temples with them.
"What's going on?" cried Daphne.
"Stealing the Star of Atlas seems to have triggered some kind of seismic tap from inside the city that's causing this volcanic activity!" shouted Velma over the rumbling din.
King Mardeshek replied, "No, my friends. Atlantis is in pain. She wants her crystal back."
"As crazy as that may sound to us, he's right! We've got to stop Luke Milton before he gets back to the ship!" urged Fred.
Everyone wanted to ask how they were going to pull that off, but the king already had an idea. He turned to the guards and said, "Prepare the sea chariots, and use the automatons built to glide on the air."
The guards hurried to carry out this order, and then Mardeshek and Anamarhet gathered the people together. Then the king declared, "My people, our city of Atlantis is in its gravest peril. Listen to these surface people. They are our only hope to save our city."
King Mardeshek deferred to Mystery Inc., and then Velma stepped to the front. She said, "People of Atlantis, my name is Velma Dinkley. These four are my friends; Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby-Doo. We and our friends came here to discover the truth of the existence of Atlantis and to discover the wonders of your city, but we were betrayed by a crew member who is responsible for this damage and destruction."
Fred spoke next and said to the crowd, "We're truly sorry that this is happening, but it can be fixed. We're going to stop the crew member who betrayed us and get the Star of Atlas back. But we need your best soldiers to help us."
"And before you ask why you should listen to us, it's not for our sake that we're asking for help," added Daphne. "It's for Mira and for her mother and father and all of you too."
"Like, Daphne's right," piped Shaggy. "If we don't get the Star back and save Princess Mira, then all the wonders of Atlantis will be wiped out. And we don't want that. You guys took us in and gave us the buffets off your tables, and to repay you by stealing is a poor way for our former companions to repay you."
"So we're going to help you get your crystal back and save Atlantis before this beautiful ancient nation crumbles! Who's with us?!" shouted Fred.
The citizens of Atlantis listened to the words of Scooby's friends and took the weight of each statement into consideration. Some of the people were afraid of the gang's idea of going after the thieves and some were distrustful of the gang, but the people all loved their city too much to give up on what their forefathers lived and died for. The Atlanteans cheered for Scooby-Doo and the gang, the soldiers of Atlantis waved their spears and beat their swords upon their fish-shaped shields, and King Mardeshek and Queen Anamarhet smiled.
A guard approached the king and queen and said, "The sea chariots are harnessed to our aerial automatons, Your Majesties."
"Then have our soldiers marshal with our friends from the surface," ordered King Mardeshek. "Today, our two worlds stand together in this battle."
The guard bowed and went to carry the word, and then Scooby, Shaggy, and the rest of the gang led the Atlantean soldiers and the crew of the Odyssey to where these "sea-chariots" were being kept. Things were being set up for the biggest archaeological search-and-rescue mission of the century.