AUTHOR'S NOTE AND DISCLAIMER
I'd just like to state here and now that Helga is my favourite character in Atlantis, so don't flame me. There is method to my madness. Well, actually that was a lie, but I'm sure I had a reason for what I did to her...
I own Nikala, everything else is copyright Disney.
CHAPTER II - Presumed Dead
"Milo, for the last time, Kida'll be FINE!" Joshua Sweet was starting to lose his patience as he headed down the steps of the royal palace. He was hoping that this time Milo would just stay up there with the girl and stop bothering him... but the sound of feet running after him (and almost tripping down the entire flight of stairs) told him he was out of luck
"But she's hardly moved in the last two days!" Milo gasped out as he caught up with the medical officer. "She's barely been awake since the crystal let her go!" He was about to continue when the look he got from Sweet silenced him. It wasn't a good look, considering how much bigger than Milo he was.
"We've been through this Milo. Seven times." Sweet began, still walking down the steps to the plaza below. "The girl is exhausted, and considering what she's been through that's hardly surprising. You following me?"
"Well, yes..." Milo agreed reluctantly. "But still-"
"But nothing!" Sweet interrupted him. "She. Will. Be. FINE! And she'd probably be better if you weren't dragging me up there to bother her every five minutes!"
"And you're completely sure she'll be okay?" he replied, then was silent again as he saw Sweet's expression, his glasses slowly sliding down his nose.
"Boy, you keep this up and you're getting a smack." Sweet growled. "I'm sure. I'm only a trained professional though," he added with a slight grin. "So maybe you might want a second opinion from Cookie or something."
"Okay, point taken... sorry Sweet." With a sigh, Milo pushed his glasses back up as the two of them stepped down onto the circular plaza. "It's just been... kinda crazy and all."
"You're telling me." a familiar monotone broke in. Both of them looked round to see Mrs Packard sitting on a fallen statue nearby, smoking an intricately carved Atlantean pipe. "I reached 'crazy' saturation point right when that big lobster attacked the sub." Taking a long draw on the pipe, she stared out across the newly risen outer reaches of the city with as much interest as she might have had in cleaning her boots.
"Uhhhhhh... hey Mrs Packard." Milo greeted her. He'd never been sure how to deal with her complete indifference to everything about her. It was unsettling. "Have you seen the others?"
"No." she replied shortly, indicating no further wish for conversation. Milo wondered how she'd managed to tie up the Ulysses' wireless system with phone calls so often; even while it had been under attack she'd just carried on talking until Helga had...
"...hey..." he said slowly, only just remembering what he'd seen and heard after crashing his Akitirak into the gyro-evac. "Did anyone see what happened to Helga?"
"Nope." Sweet replied with a shrug, while Mrs Packard ignored the question completely. "She was in the balloon with Rourke, wasn't she?"
"Until he threw her out." Milo told him.
"He WHAT?!" Sweet looked amazed and shocked. "But she was his right-hand ma- uh, woman."
"There's relationships for ya." Mrs Packard commented, taking another drag on her pipe.
Despite himself (and trying NOT to think of the mental images Mrs Packard's statement conjured up) Milo couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Maybe he should have done something. "Well, after I kinda... uh... crashed into the balloon, it started falling again, so he threw her out to lighten the load. I heard them fighting just before I jumped Rourke."
"Men." Mrs Packard muttered.
Sweet was having trouble keeping a straight face at the thought of Milo attacking Rourke. But he knew from Milo's expression that making a sarcastic comment right now would be a bad idea. Besides, the kid had some guts to try a stunt like that. "Well, the fall probably killed her Milo. Don't beat yourself up about it."
"And if it didn't then the volcano would have." Mrs Packard added.
If anything, that mental image was worse. Milo repressed a shudder at the thought. "I guess you're right. Just one more person that got killed on this trip thanks to me." Slumping down onto the bottom step, he sat with his head in his hands, wondering if it had all been worth it. Sure, he'd found Atlantis, and found Kida... but so many people had died. Out of the entire crew of the Ulysses only seven were left, himself included. Not to mention the Atlanteans that had died in the attack on Rourke, and Kida's father.
Sweet sat down beside him, patting his shoulder sympathetically. "Kid, we've been through this. Rourke would have come after this place with or without you. Hell, if you look at it that way we're all guilty; at least you and Audrey weren't on the team that found the journal in the first place."
Sighing heavily, Milo stared at the carved rock floor beneath him. "...I'm just starting to wish I'd hired that rowboat after all." he said softly.
"Oh yeah, and how would THAT have stood up to the Leviathan?" Sweet asked with a grin. "And didn't your grandfather say you couldn't put a price on knowledge?" Standing up, Sweet dragged Milo with him by his collar. "Take a look around Milo. Didn't you notice that the city got a whole lot bigger after the dome went down?" He swept his hand out at the vista before them; the city now stretching to the furthest limit of the water instead of only halfway. "Despite everything that's happened, I'd say this is a good thing."
Looking out at the new-old buildings receding off into the distance, Milo couldn't help a wistful smile. "Okay, you've got a point."
"That's the spirit." Sweet grinned, giving Milo a slap on the back that almost knocked him flat.
* * *
Sweet and Milo weren't the only ones admiring the new cityscape. Nikala was sitting on top of her home, staring out at what had previously been unbroken water in disbelief. She could see other Atlanteans exploring the newly risen buildings with some trepidation, and wouldn't have minded taking a look herself... but she couldn't leave her home.
Swinging back through one of the large windows in the upper storey of the hollow gourd, Nikala jumped down to the main room below. She had been checking on the blonde surfacer constantly, to the point of sitting by the bed watching her for most of the past two days. She still hadn't told anyone that the surfacer was there, firstly because she was afraid to leave her, secondly because she lived in a somewhat remote part of the city. (and everyone seemed to be exploring the new districts anyway)
Helga had not moved since Nikala had laid her on the bed, apart from the occasional twitch. Yet she seemed to be improving slightly, her pulse was stronger and her breathing steadier. The Atlantean was amazed by her resilience. And fascinated by her appearance, her golden hair and pale skin were unlike anything Nikala had seen.
Loosening the bandages around Helga's right arm, Nikala gently applied a pale green salve to what remained of the skin. The burns had been severe, second and third degree, and it was unlikely that the woman would be able to use the arm properly again. Replacing the bandages with clean ones, Nikala checked on the woman's other injuries, but there was little she could do to help broken bones heal except to ensure they remained properly set. And that wasn't hard when the patient wasn't moving.
But as she examined the deep, bloody bruises across Helga's torso Nikala felt her flinch slightly, and drew back a little, unconsciously holding her breath. She could see the woman's eyelids flickering, and hadn't expected her to wake up so soon. With a quick movement, Nikala perched on the foot of the bed and watched intently.
* * *
...she could feel herself falling, the solid rock of the cavern floor rushing towards her. And from this height, the pumice ash would not break her fall, only her bones. A scream tore from Helga's throat as she hit the ground...
With a hoarse shout, Helga's body jerked up from the bed then fell back heavily as agony lanced through her. Her mouth opened soundlessly, trying to scream but she was barely able to breathe through the pain searing through her chest.
Jumping back in shock at Helga's shout, Nikala had fallen off the bed. Stumbling back to her feet, she moved round to stand over the woman. Her eyes had opened slightly, but were glazed and unfocused. Placing one hand on her crystal, she felt it tingle against her fingers, then gently touched Helga's forehead, leaving faint glowing fingerprints.
Everything hurt. The pain seemed to be focused in her right leg and chest, and especially strong in her right arm, but it had infused through her entire body. Helga's memory was a blur; all she remembered was falling and fire. A shadow moved over her, and she caught sight of a blue glow coming towards her. Then there was something cold against her forehead, and the pain began to ease. And she remembered.
"ROURKE!" Helga screamed, her left hand clawing uselessly at the air. "You BASTARD!" In blind rage, she forced herself up from the bed. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't care. All she wanted right now was to get her hands on Rourke. Someone caught hold of her, and she lashed out at them furiously, trying to break free.
Panicking as the woman tried to get up, mostly because of what the movement would do to her injuries, Nikala quickly restrained her and tried to push her back onto the bed. In retaliation, Helga punched at her, catching her high on the cheekbone. But the blow had no strength to it. Then, with a wheezing gasp, she went limp and slumped against Nikala's chest, gasping for breath. Carefully easing the woman back down, Nikala waited to see if she would try to get up again. Thankfully she didn't, but was obviously in a lot of pain. Taking off her crystal pendant, she placed it on Helga's forehead as she had done before, and watched as its glow grew brighter.
Gradually, impossibly, Helga's pain began to fade. Taking deep, rasping breaths, she opened her eyes to find that her sight had cleared... and that she was looking up into a pair of wide indigo eyes, a stripe of vivid blue running below them.
Nikala sighed in relief as the woman stilled, calming as the crystal numbed her pain. But as she reached out to pick it up, Helga's eyes opened again, gazing straight up into hers. Freezing in mid-movement, Nikala could only stare back, unsure of what to do now.
An Atlantean. That meant she was back in Atlantis. Helga wondered exactly HOW she'd gotten back, all she remembered was blacking out in the volcano cavern. Was she a prisoner? If so, then she wondered why they'd left a young woman to guard her instead of a warrior. The girl looked a little younger than the princess, but shared the same athletic build, dark skin and white hair. Only in her case, it was shorter and tied back in a ponytail. And unlike Kida, her facial tattoo was an inverted 'v' running across her nose just below her eyes.
"Soopuhk..." Nikala said, a little hesitantly. The woman's suspicious scrutiny was making her nervous. The glare that she got from Helga made her shrink back a little, wondering if she'd offended her somehow.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak gibberish." Helga muttered, her voice hoarse and scratchy. "Aren't you all supposed to speak English anyway?"
"I... I'm sorry..." Nikala replied in awkward, halting English. "Your tongue is strange to me..."
"Well at least now we're getting somewhere." Helga snapped back. "Now you can tell me exactly what happened and how I got here." Now that her pain had gone she was slowly regaining her composure, and there were several important things she needed to know right now. Namely what had happened to Rourke, if she was a prisoner, and why she couldn't move her right arm.
"I found you." the Atlantean responded. "Back at the volcano, I saw you were hurt so I brought you here to help you."
Helga's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering if the girl was as imbecilic as she seemed. She had just brought her back here? "Am I a prisoner?" she asked, not sure whether the Atlantean knew exactly who she was.
"Of course not!" Nikala sounded shocked. "Why would you be? I saw you fighting the man who was taking Princess Kida, he threw you from the flying machine, didn't he?"
"Yes." Helga growled angrily, mentally replacing "imbecilic" with "ignorant", and intending to keep it that way. "He did. Because I fought with him." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I only went with him so that I could stop him," she added, lying through her teeth. "What happened to him?"
"The Heart of Atlantis destroyed him." Nikala said matter-of-factly. "He was not worthy of its power," she continued. "So it consumed him. Then I think he was smashed by the flying machine."
Helga didn't reply at first, her left fist clenching. That was hardly unpleasant enough; Rourke had gotten off lightly as far as she was concerned. "Good..." she snarled eventually. "He deserved it." Snapping out of her vengeful haze, Helga remembered that she still didn't know much about her situation. "So... are you the only person who knows I'm here?" she asked, hardly daring to hope.
Nikala nodded, a little confused by the woman's slight smile in response. "I had to stay with you... you were badly injured." she told her, wondering exactly how to tell her that her right arm was pretty much useless.
The Atlantean's expression quickly dampened Helga's initial feeling of triumph. Rourke was dead (though admittedly she'd have preferred a messier ending for him) and nobody knew she had survived; meaning that escape from Atlantis would be easier than she had thought. But now she knew there was something here that the girl wasn't telling her. "What do you mean?" she asked, with the slightest hint of apprehension.
Turning her head away slightly, Nikala shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't been looking forward to this. "Well... you broke a leg, and some ribs. And those should heal up just fine!"
Helga rolled her eyes, knowing avoidance techniques when she heard them. "But?" she pressed, wanting to know what the girl was hiding. Helga did have her own suspicions, but she was hoping that she was wrong...
There was nothing else for it. Taking a deep breath, Nikala glanced at Helga, and looked away again. "Your right arm was badly burned," she almost whispered. "Very badly."
Her suspicions had been right. Helga wasn't sure whether to be pleased with herself or not. "Show me." she ordered. After all, it couldn't be THAT bad... could it?
I'd just like to state here and now that Helga is my favourite character in Atlantis, so don't flame me. There is method to my madness. Well, actually that was a lie, but I'm sure I had a reason for what I did to her...
I own Nikala, everything else is copyright Disney.
CHAPTER II - Presumed Dead
"Milo, for the last time, Kida'll be FINE!" Joshua Sweet was starting to lose his patience as he headed down the steps of the royal palace. He was hoping that this time Milo would just stay up there with the girl and stop bothering him... but the sound of feet running after him (and almost tripping down the entire flight of stairs) told him he was out of luck
"But she's hardly moved in the last two days!" Milo gasped out as he caught up with the medical officer. "She's barely been awake since the crystal let her go!" He was about to continue when the look he got from Sweet silenced him. It wasn't a good look, considering how much bigger than Milo he was.
"We've been through this Milo. Seven times." Sweet began, still walking down the steps to the plaza below. "The girl is exhausted, and considering what she's been through that's hardly surprising. You following me?"
"Well, yes..." Milo agreed reluctantly. "But still-"
"But nothing!" Sweet interrupted him. "She. Will. Be. FINE! And she'd probably be better if you weren't dragging me up there to bother her every five minutes!"
"And you're completely sure she'll be okay?" he replied, then was silent again as he saw Sweet's expression, his glasses slowly sliding down his nose.
"Boy, you keep this up and you're getting a smack." Sweet growled. "I'm sure. I'm only a trained professional though," he added with a slight grin. "So maybe you might want a second opinion from Cookie or something."
"Okay, point taken... sorry Sweet." With a sigh, Milo pushed his glasses back up as the two of them stepped down onto the circular plaza. "It's just been... kinda crazy and all."
"You're telling me." a familiar monotone broke in. Both of them looked round to see Mrs Packard sitting on a fallen statue nearby, smoking an intricately carved Atlantean pipe. "I reached 'crazy' saturation point right when that big lobster attacked the sub." Taking a long draw on the pipe, she stared out across the newly risen outer reaches of the city with as much interest as she might have had in cleaning her boots.
"Uhhhhhh... hey Mrs Packard." Milo greeted her. He'd never been sure how to deal with her complete indifference to everything about her. It was unsettling. "Have you seen the others?"
"No." she replied shortly, indicating no further wish for conversation. Milo wondered how she'd managed to tie up the Ulysses' wireless system with phone calls so often; even while it had been under attack she'd just carried on talking until Helga had...
"...hey..." he said slowly, only just remembering what he'd seen and heard after crashing his Akitirak into the gyro-evac. "Did anyone see what happened to Helga?"
"Nope." Sweet replied with a shrug, while Mrs Packard ignored the question completely. "She was in the balloon with Rourke, wasn't she?"
"Until he threw her out." Milo told him.
"He WHAT?!" Sweet looked amazed and shocked. "But she was his right-hand ma- uh, woman."
"There's relationships for ya." Mrs Packard commented, taking another drag on her pipe.
Despite himself (and trying NOT to think of the mental images Mrs Packard's statement conjured up) Milo couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Maybe he should have done something. "Well, after I kinda... uh... crashed into the balloon, it started falling again, so he threw her out to lighten the load. I heard them fighting just before I jumped Rourke."
"Men." Mrs Packard muttered.
Sweet was having trouble keeping a straight face at the thought of Milo attacking Rourke. But he knew from Milo's expression that making a sarcastic comment right now would be a bad idea. Besides, the kid had some guts to try a stunt like that. "Well, the fall probably killed her Milo. Don't beat yourself up about it."
"And if it didn't then the volcano would have." Mrs Packard added.
If anything, that mental image was worse. Milo repressed a shudder at the thought. "I guess you're right. Just one more person that got killed on this trip thanks to me." Slumping down onto the bottom step, he sat with his head in his hands, wondering if it had all been worth it. Sure, he'd found Atlantis, and found Kida... but so many people had died. Out of the entire crew of the Ulysses only seven were left, himself included. Not to mention the Atlanteans that had died in the attack on Rourke, and Kida's father.
Sweet sat down beside him, patting his shoulder sympathetically. "Kid, we've been through this. Rourke would have come after this place with or without you. Hell, if you look at it that way we're all guilty; at least you and Audrey weren't on the team that found the journal in the first place."
Sighing heavily, Milo stared at the carved rock floor beneath him. "...I'm just starting to wish I'd hired that rowboat after all." he said softly.
"Oh yeah, and how would THAT have stood up to the Leviathan?" Sweet asked with a grin. "And didn't your grandfather say you couldn't put a price on knowledge?" Standing up, Sweet dragged Milo with him by his collar. "Take a look around Milo. Didn't you notice that the city got a whole lot bigger after the dome went down?" He swept his hand out at the vista before them; the city now stretching to the furthest limit of the water instead of only halfway. "Despite everything that's happened, I'd say this is a good thing."
Looking out at the new-old buildings receding off into the distance, Milo couldn't help a wistful smile. "Okay, you've got a point."
"That's the spirit." Sweet grinned, giving Milo a slap on the back that almost knocked him flat.
* * *
Sweet and Milo weren't the only ones admiring the new cityscape. Nikala was sitting on top of her home, staring out at what had previously been unbroken water in disbelief. She could see other Atlanteans exploring the newly risen buildings with some trepidation, and wouldn't have minded taking a look herself... but she couldn't leave her home.
Swinging back through one of the large windows in the upper storey of the hollow gourd, Nikala jumped down to the main room below. She had been checking on the blonde surfacer constantly, to the point of sitting by the bed watching her for most of the past two days. She still hadn't told anyone that the surfacer was there, firstly because she was afraid to leave her, secondly because she lived in a somewhat remote part of the city. (and everyone seemed to be exploring the new districts anyway)
Helga had not moved since Nikala had laid her on the bed, apart from the occasional twitch. Yet she seemed to be improving slightly, her pulse was stronger and her breathing steadier. The Atlantean was amazed by her resilience. And fascinated by her appearance, her golden hair and pale skin were unlike anything Nikala had seen.
Loosening the bandages around Helga's right arm, Nikala gently applied a pale green salve to what remained of the skin. The burns had been severe, second and third degree, and it was unlikely that the woman would be able to use the arm properly again. Replacing the bandages with clean ones, Nikala checked on the woman's other injuries, but there was little she could do to help broken bones heal except to ensure they remained properly set. And that wasn't hard when the patient wasn't moving.
But as she examined the deep, bloody bruises across Helga's torso Nikala felt her flinch slightly, and drew back a little, unconsciously holding her breath. She could see the woman's eyelids flickering, and hadn't expected her to wake up so soon. With a quick movement, Nikala perched on the foot of the bed and watched intently.
* * *
...she could feel herself falling, the solid rock of the cavern floor rushing towards her. And from this height, the pumice ash would not break her fall, only her bones. A scream tore from Helga's throat as she hit the ground...
With a hoarse shout, Helga's body jerked up from the bed then fell back heavily as agony lanced through her. Her mouth opened soundlessly, trying to scream but she was barely able to breathe through the pain searing through her chest.
Jumping back in shock at Helga's shout, Nikala had fallen off the bed. Stumbling back to her feet, she moved round to stand over the woman. Her eyes had opened slightly, but were glazed and unfocused. Placing one hand on her crystal, she felt it tingle against her fingers, then gently touched Helga's forehead, leaving faint glowing fingerprints.
Everything hurt. The pain seemed to be focused in her right leg and chest, and especially strong in her right arm, but it had infused through her entire body. Helga's memory was a blur; all she remembered was falling and fire. A shadow moved over her, and she caught sight of a blue glow coming towards her. Then there was something cold against her forehead, and the pain began to ease. And she remembered.
"ROURKE!" Helga screamed, her left hand clawing uselessly at the air. "You BASTARD!" In blind rage, she forced herself up from the bed. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't care. All she wanted right now was to get her hands on Rourke. Someone caught hold of her, and she lashed out at them furiously, trying to break free.
Panicking as the woman tried to get up, mostly because of what the movement would do to her injuries, Nikala quickly restrained her and tried to push her back onto the bed. In retaliation, Helga punched at her, catching her high on the cheekbone. But the blow had no strength to it. Then, with a wheezing gasp, she went limp and slumped against Nikala's chest, gasping for breath. Carefully easing the woman back down, Nikala waited to see if she would try to get up again. Thankfully she didn't, but was obviously in a lot of pain. Taking off her crystal pendant, she placed it on Helga's forehead as she had done before, and watched as its glow grew brighter.
Gradually, impossibly, Helga's pain began to fade. Taking deep, rasping breaths, she opened her eyes to find that her sight had cleared... and that she was looking up into a pair of wide indigo eyes, a stripe of vivid blue running below them.
Nikala sighed in relief as the woman stilled, calming as the crystal numbed her pain. But as she reached out to pick it up, Helga's eyes opened again, gazing straight up into hers. Freezing in mid-movement, Nikala could only stare back, unsure of what to do now.
An Atlantean. That meant she was back in Atlantis. Helga wondered exactly HOW she'd gotten back, all she remembered was blacking out in the volcano cavern. Was she a prisoner? If so, then she wondered why they'd left a young woman to guard her instead of a warrior. The girl looked a little younger than the princess, but shared the same athletic build, dark skin and white hair. Only in her case, it was shorter and tied back in a ponytail. And unlike Kida, her facial tattoo was an inverted 'v' running across her nose just below her eyes.
"Soopuhk..." Nikala said, a little hesitantly. The woman's suspicious scrutiny was making her nervous. The glare that she got from Helga made her shrink back a little, wondering if she'd offended her somehow.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak gibberish." Helga muttered, her voice hoarse and scratchy. "Aren't you all supposed to speak English anyway?"
"I... I'm sorry..." Nikala replied in awkward, halting English. "Your tongue is strange to me..."
"Well at least now we're getting somewhere." Helga snapped back. "Now you can tell me exactly what happened and how I got here." Now that her pain had gone she was slowly regaining her composure, and there were several important things she needed to know right now. Namely what had happened to Rourke, if she was a prisoner, and why she couldn't move her right arm.
"I found you." the Atlantean responded. "Back at the volcano, I saw you were hurt so I brought you here to help you."
Helga's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering if the girl was as imbecilic as she seemed. She had just brought her back here? "Am I a prisoner?" she asked, not sure whether the Atlantean knew exactly who she was.
"Of course not!" Nikala sounded shocked. "Why would you be? I saw you fighting the man who was taking Princess Kida, he threw you from the flying machine, didn't he?"
"Yes." Helga growled angrily, mentally replacing "imbecilic" with "ignorant", and intending to keep it that way. "He did. Because I fought with him." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I only went with him so that I could stop him," she added, lying through her teeth. "What happened to him?"
"The Heart of Atlantis destroyed him." Nikala said matter-of-factly. "He was not worthy of its power," she continued. "So it consumed him. Then I think he was smashed by the flying machine."
Helga didn't reply at first, her left fist clenching. That was hardly unpleasant enough; Rourke had gotten off lightly as far as she was concerned. "Good..." she snarled eventually. "He deserved it." Snapping out of her vengeful haze, Helga remembered that she still didn't know much about her situation. "So... are you the only person who knows I'm here?" she asked, hardly daring to hope.
Nikala nodded, a little confused by the woman's slight smile in response. "I had to stay with you... you were badly injured." she told her, wondering exactly how to tell her that her right arm was pretty much useless.
The Atlantean's expression quickly dampened Helga's initial feeling of triumph. Rourke was dead (though admittedly she'd have preferred a messier ending for him) and nobody knew she had survived; meaning that escape from Atlantis would be easier than she had thought. But now she knew there was something here that the girl wasn't telling her. "What do you mean?" she asked, with the slightest hint of apprehension.
Turning her head away slightly, Nikala shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't been looking forward to this. "Well... you broke a leg, and some ribs. And those should heal up just fine!"
Helga rolled her eyes, knowing avoidance techniques when she heard them. "But?" she pressed, wanting to know what the girl was hiding. Helga did have her own suspicions, but she was hoping that she was wrong...
There was nothing else for it. Taking a deep breath, Nikala glanced at Helga, and looked away again. "Your right arm was badly burned," she almost whispered. "Very badly."
Her suspicions had been right. Helga wasn't sure whether to be pleased with herself or not. "Show me." she ordered. After all, it couldn't be THAT bad... could it?