Aquatic Kingdom Hearts
Chapter 30: Questions and Answers; I Want to Know
Day 1
At the Palace
Kida exited from the Palace's front door, alongside with Obby at her side. She was in her casual attire as she was from yesterday after the hunting expedition. Today now, she was going to head over to the strangers' camping area. She had only met one of them; the one that she knew as Frey and wanted to know more about their world above. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask them all. She eagerly couldn't wait to meet up with them to inquire about the surface world, including the Seablade bearer…especially his blonde comrade. And so she walked forward, along with her lava dog, Obby, to the campsite.
However, she would never get to the camp, as awaiting behind one of the pillars, were the teens. Ariel peered over at the side of it, and hid back, winking at the boys, "Okay, guys. She's heading this way."
Eric turned back to Frey, who was the best candidate to talk to the Princess. They had figured if anyone had a shot of talking to her with no problems, it was him. As Helga pointed out, the princess obviously had a crush on him, much to Frey's denial on the subject. He looked to Frey and asked, "Okay, you remember what do?"
Frey sighed as he nodded, "Don't worry, I'm not taking no for an answer."
Dax, who was on Eric's shoulder, asked, "Okay, then let's hear it, shall we?"
Frey cleared up his throat as he said over his lines to the Princess, "Look, me and my friends have some questions for you, and we're not leaving this city until they're answered!", he then tipped his hand as he asked, "How's that?"
Dax gave his thumbs up and winked, "Yeah, that's it. That's good. That'll work."
Then Frey sighed to himself as he stepped out to meet the Princess…only to come face-to-face with nothing. He looked around, quite puzzled, as everyone stepped out in confusion as well. Frey looked around and asked out loud, "hey. Where'd she go?", then suddenly, Kida appeared from behind them, with Obby on her back. She then snuck up behind Frey, and grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth. This action startled the others as they turned around and saw Frey caught by the Princess out of thin air.
Smiling from her accomplishment, she looked to Frey and to the others, as she said, "I have some questions for you and your friends, and none of you are not leaving this city until they are answered!"
After she removed her hand from his mouth, Frey blabbed, "Well, I…uh, yeah sure.", and the Kida signaled Eric and Ariel to follow her as she dragged Frey away with her.
As they followed her, Dax quirked out, "So she's the forward type, eh?", he mused as he scratched his furry chin, "Jack and Mole are pretty lucky. Look at what either one of those two could've gotten into."
At that scene, Ariel giggled as she complimented, "I think she's definitely Frey's type of girl."
Later On
After a while of traveling the ancient ruins that no one occupied, Kida had led the trio deep in one of the uninhabited areas of the ruins. They had traversed in an area behind a waterfall like structure, and into a section that was covered in vines, trees, and moss covered rocks. After they had arrived, Kida beamed with much eagerness as she mused, "Oh, there is so much to ask about your world.", she then turned around as the others had finished following her. She then turned towards Eric as she asked, "Your Uncle…he is a scholar, is he not?", she then scoffed in amusement as she pointed out, "Judging from his diminished physique and large forehead, he is suited for nothing else!"
Eric, not sure if he considered what she had just said was an insult, or a compliment, shrugged undecidedly, "Um, yeah, pretty much."
Then Kida walked up to them, and took Eric's Seablade to examine it a little as she asked out of curiosity exploding beyond anything, "What are you countries of origin? How old are you? Why do you all have different hair and skin colors? When did the Flood Waters recede on the surface? How did you…?"
But then Ariel stopped her as she took back the Seablade and gave it back to Eric, "Wait, wait. We cant answer all those questions at once.", she then calmly looked to Kida and then proposed, "How about this? We'll each ask a question; you ask a question, I'll ask one next, and then either boy can ask a question. You know, like a game."
Kida sighed at that, but smirked as she looked to Ariel and asked, "Very well. So what is the first question?"
Ariel looked around, slightly puzzled, but then decided to ask, "Well, I've been kind of curious. Ever since I read the stories, Plato described that in one day and night; your city sank into the bottom of the ocean. But it never said how or why.", she then nervously scratched the back of her head as she finally asked Kida, "So I'm curious…how'd you get here? I mean now did this entire city end up down here in caverns?"
Kida sighed at that as she walked over to a pillar and leaned on it as she explained, "I'm not sure myself, but it was said that Hecate, Goddess of the Witches, and sister to Calypso, became jealous of her sister for blessing our people. She sent forth a great cataclysm while we were at war with the underwater city of Atlantica."
Eric raised an eyebrow at that as he asked, "Wait! The Merpeople and Atlantis were at war with each other? Why?"
Kida merely shrugged at that as she explained, "I am not sure. I do not remember that much back then. All I remember was the sky glowing red, and…people shouting and running….and…", and then she felt saddened and troubled, as she finished, "…and…and then…a bright light, like a star…was floating in the city.", she then looked saddened as she finished, "My father said it called my mother to it…", and then turned away to prevent anyone from seeing her sad face, "I never saw her again after that."
The teens looked at her and felt like they were kicked in the butt. They felt like complete jerks at this point; making her relive a moment of a tearful and heart-wrenching moment in her childhood. Ariel was the first to apologize as she walked over to Kida, and took her hands in hers as she explained, "I know exactly how you feel. I lost my mother when I was young as well. I know what's it's like to lose someone that you love."
Eric nodded at that, as he said, "Same here, you see I lost my parents when I…"
But then Frey and Dax interrupted as the furry otter shouted out, "Whoa! Wait a minute! Time out, toots!", he then pointed out a he asked, "What do ya mean you remember? You mean, you remember because you were actually there?"
Frey nodded at that, "Yeah, I mean if that was true…you'd be like…85…?"
"8800 years old.", Eric finished.
Kida chuckled at that as she and Ariel broke apart for a moment, "Of course I'm not 8800 years old."
Dax crossed his arms in triumph, "Ha! See? What I'd tell ya."
"I'll be 8800 in two days from now.", Kida calmly and casually answered back.
This earned a couple of surprised looks from everyone's faces as they had heard this piece of information. The fact that the sixteen year-old girl that they were starting to befriend…was nearly 10,000 years old, and still looked pretty good. Frey nearly took it the hardest, but shook his head to clear up that stray thought from his head. He smiled half-heartedly as he said, "Oh, hey….um…lookin' good for that age."
Kida smiled at that as she bowed her head respectfully, but mostly to hide the blush, "Thank you, Frey."
Deciding to break the ice of the moment, Eric then asked, "So, um…you have another question for us?"
Kida smiled at that as she looked to Eric and asked, "Yes. How is it you and your companions followed your way to this place?"
"Well, it wasn't easy.", Eric answered as he pulled out from behind him the Atlas' Sphere, "If it wasn't for my uncle, me, or the Shepard's Journal and this little orb, we'd never would have found our way here." And then Kida took the orb with much puzzlement in this. She looked at the orb all on each other's sides, almost as if she was trying to figure out what the markings met. Then Eric popped out, "Okay, here's my question. My uncle's research indicated that your people had an unlimited Power source, called the Heart of Atlantis. Now that…"
"You mean…you can understand this writing?", Kida asked, making certain that she heard this right.
Eric nodded, "Yeah, pretty much…"
And then Kida sharply turned to them all as she nearly shoved the orb into Eric's face, shouting out, "This! This right here! You can read this?"
Everyone was a little freaked out at first, but then Ariel walked up to her and calmed her down, "Yes, your majesty Eric and his Uncle Milo can read Atlantean…just like you can.", but then Ariel saw Kida's uneasiness at this as she shied away, feeling ashamed.
Frey, seeming to understand what was the problem, walked up to her and asked, "You…can't read it. Can you?"
Kida sighed as she shrugged to them all, "No one can. Such knowledge as reading and writing had been lost to us since the time of the Maebemuk."
Eric sighed to that as he nodded, "Oh yeah, the Great Flood.", but then Eric thought about it for a moment, and asked, "By the way…um, how was my uncle's accent yesterday?"
Kida smirked at that as she answered, "Boorish, provincial, and he spoke it through his nose.", and then after that, through the awkwardness, they all chuckled at that answer.
But then suddenly, stumbling out of the foliage of the jungle ruins, out came Wally crashing flat in his face. Everyone was a little startled by that as Wally looked at them sheepishly from the ground. And then Eric and Frey walked up to him and helped the Atlantean robot get up form his fall. Then Frey asked the goofy robot, "Wally? What are you doing here?"
Then Wally whirred out, "lllLOOOOOOooKIIIng FR FREEENDS, FReeeeEEEEE!"
Kida, who was wildly amazed by this strange creature, walked up to it. Obby, being mildly curious by it approached it and circled Wally, sniffing him. Kida was quite amazed as she asked, "What is this?"
Then Eric pointed out, "He's one of yours.", with Ariel and Frey nodding to that, "He's an Atlantean robot." But then noticed the same look that she had when they found that she couldn't read her own language.
She walked up to the robot, curiously and full of nostalgia at the sight of him. She then tilted her head in thought, but then said in wonder, "You…you remind me of someone I knew.", but then smiled as she led everyone somewhere, "Come, there is something I must show you." The others followed her to a bigger location that was still unknown to anyone else. They came across an object that was covered by a tarp as they reached it.
"Hey what's that?", Frey asked.
Kida yanked the tarp away revealing a strange vehicle of Atlantean design. It was shaped to be a fish in somewhat, but the design and model was that of a motorcycle with no wheels on it. Eric was the one to examine it and say its' obviousness out loud, "Wow. It looks like…some sort of vehicle."
Kida nodded as she complained with her arms crossed, "Yes, but no matter what I try, still it will not work.", and then spoke hopefully towards the others, "Perhaps…."
Eric smirked, "Way ahead of you.". And then knelt over to the vehicle's inscription pad and read the inscription out loud, "Okay, Place Crystal into Slot. Gently place hand on Inscription pad."
"I've done all that!", Kida said impatiently.
"Did you turn the crystal a quarter turn back?", Eric asked.
"Yes, yes!" Kida cried.
But the Frey seemed to get it all, seeing it sounded like the same as it was on the door to the temple, and the robot, "While your hand was on the inscription pad?", Frey asked looking all smug.
"Ye... no,", Kida admitted as her shoulders slumped.
Then Eric got up as he cleared his throat, "Well, then that's your problem there. I mean, you deserve credit for getting this far."
"Women drivers,", Dax said rolling his eyes. This earned a glare from both Ariel and Kida as they both looked at the boys pretty miffed and with Kida folding her arms at them both.
Feeling the tension pointed at them, Frey cleared his throat as he dodged their way out of the bullet's path, "Okay, eh…give it a shot."
Kida placed the crystal in the slot and turned it. Suddenly the blue eyes and the rune glyphs on the vehicles lit up with bright blue light. And then suddenly to everyone's surprise, the vehicle hovered off the ground. Kida whispered something in amazement, "Yahd la Gohneh."
Ariel nodded at that as she smiled in wonder, "Yeah, same here."
They all walked around it as Frey asked in amazement, "I'll bet it's one sweet ride.", he smoothed his hand across the surface, almost testing the vehicle's texture. He then smirked to Kida, "I bet you've never rode one of these before." Kida shook her head as he smirked, "Well, I'll bet it can give you the ride of your life."
"I wonder how fast it goes,", Eric mused, quickly and lightly touching the pad. The vehicle suddenly lunged forward away from them, startling everybody. It ricocheted off the cavern; bouncing on all walls and pillars like a ping pong ball, spinning out of control and heading right towards them.
"Duck!", Ariel screamed.
Wally pounced at everyone and threw them all down as the vehicle whizzed over their heads only to crash into the wall. Everyone slightly got up and saw the vehicle slightly damaged, but still looked like it could move. But no one dared to try as to repeat the same daredevil stunt that had just happened.
"So…", Frey said sheepishly as he gulped to Kida, smiling at him and raising an eyebrow, "Who's hungry?"
Later On
After the fiasco with the Flying Motorbike vehicle, Kida had wanted to show them something pretty amazing. Unfortunately, it was on top of one of the ruin towers. So at this point, they were following Kida, as they climbed up the tower after her. it was while they were climbing, both Ariel and Eric realized that they didn't know the princess's name. and in that realization, Eric said as he climbed up, "By the way, we were never properly introduced like you were with Frey. My name's Eric. Eric Thatch."
"My name's Ariel.", Ariel replied as she climbed up with a smile.
"Dax's is the name.", Dax replied on Wally's shoulder.
Sebastian cleared up his throat as he replied, "And I…am Atlantica's royal composure. Horatio Felonious Ignacious Crustaceous…Sebastian."
Wally merely whirred out, "WAaaalEEEEE!"
Kida smirked at them all as she introduced herself to them, "My name is Kidagakash."
For a moment there, those who didn't seem to hear her name the first time, minus Frey, were a little slack-jawed at that. They had no way to pronounce the name as Eric tried to pronounce it first, "Ki-ki-kidagaschmaga..."
Ariel, however, chuckled at first as they reached the top and she asked, "I don't suppose you have a nickname?"
Kida chuckled as she said, "You can call me Kida for short."
As they all got up there, Ariel smirked, "Kida. I think we can remember that." And then everyone stopped as they looked out in awe at what they were seeing at this time. It was the entire city of Atlantis; from where they stood, it was a marvelous view of the whole city. The very sight had taken their very breath away as they stood and looked.
Frey mused at the sighed as he turned towards Kida as he said, "Kida, this is amazing."
Kida smiled at that as she said, "I come here every often."
Then Frey asked, a little curious, "Alone?"
She nodded sadly, but smiled at Frey as she said, "But not today.", however, she then spotted Eric letting a tear out for a moment. She then asked out of concern, catching Ariel's attention as well, "Eric? What is wrong?"
Ariel noticed it too and asked concern for him, "Eric? Why are you crying?"
Realizing he was busted, he wiped away the stray tear as he fibbed, "Oh, it's nothing. I just…caught something in my eye is all.", he then sighed happily as he explained, "You know, my Grandpa Thaddeus told me stories about this place as far back as I could remember.", he then sighed sadly as he wished aloud, "I just wish he could be standing here with us."
Back at the Camp
Mid Noon
The group had gotten back after the day was nearly over. The kids had said their goodbyes as they strolled on in. They had a pretty good day with Kida, learning a little bit about the Princess than they had already known. However, that moment was spoiled as soon as they saw Rourke right in front of them. He had his arms crossed as he asked them all, "So…did ya find out what the King's hiding?"
Feeling like they were cheating on their friend, Ariel stepped up in defense to the Atlantean Princess's friendship, "No, we haven't. Rourke, we're trying to get along with them. Not try to steal from them."
Then Rourke barked out, "Listen, I told the king that we've got three days, and we hightail it out of here. We don't have time for making friends. Just ask her if there's a library or not and…"
"We don't think there is a library, Rourke.", Frey intervened, "Kida is….", and then suddenly, Kida popped up in between them all, for once in a lifetime, startling Rourke. And with Frey, saying slightly surprised, "…here."
Ignoring everyone's startled, Kida slightly stepped forward, and smiled to Frey, "Hello, Frey.", and just stayed there for a moment, smiling at him.
This caused a slight uneasiness from the boy as he slowly stepped back a little, nervously smiling, "Uh, hello…Kida. Heheheh."
Then Eric chuckled, remembering what Frey had mumbled a while ago, "I see what you mean about those personal boundaries."
It was then that the others were walking in, and then Kida lit up as she walked over to them. She then approached Helga, and curiously looked at her as she circled her like a vulture of sorts. Helga raised an eyebrow as she tilted her hip, and rested her right hand on it, as she looked at Kida puzzled by her actions as she asked, "What is she doing?", and then much to everyone's amusement, Kida mimicked the same posture that Helga was in.
Milo, who had looked at this with much hilarious thought, walked up to Rourke. He then mused out scientifically to Kida, "Just look at her. Moves like an animal, but looks like a human.", he then chuckled at how Kida was acting on her curiosity, "IF I didn't know any better, I'd swear, she'd be the Missing Link."
It was then that Rourke thought about it for a moment, and then smirked. He leaned in towards Milo and smirked, "Or…our link to finding that Power Source you've been obsessed about."
It was after that, Milo lit up as he nodded, "Ah, you're right."
And then Rourke walked over to Kida as he calmly asked, with a smile, "So how about it, Miss? Where's this power source you all have?", however, Kida was still quite curious as she ignored the question and looked at Rourke confused at first. Rourke figured he wasn't about to get an answer straight out, but then he yelled out to her, as if she was stupid or deaf, "THE…POWER…SOURCE!"
Thinking it was some sort of game, Kida stepped into Rourke's face, and yelled out just like he did a while ago, "THE…POWER…SOURCE!"
Taking a step back, Rourke popped his ears as he mumbled to everyone, "Well, that went well."
Shaking his head to clear this whole mess up, Eric stepped up as he explained, "She doesn't know anything about the power source. She doesn't even know how to read their language. No one here can." Everyone looked a little shocked by that.
"Illiterate. Nobody ever wants to be illiterate.", Vinny stated, adding a little thought to all this.
Milo, who was even more, surprised by this, walked up to his nephew as he asked, "Are you saying that the whole city doesn't know how to read Atlantean."
Frey nodded, "It's like the whole city's been outlawed of reading and writing."
Then Jack voluntarily walked up as he said with pride, "Well then, we'll just have to teach our friend here to read again.", he then walked over to Milo's camp area, which had all his stuff, including a blackboard, and took a piece of chalk, writing/drawing on the board, "If my mate, Cotton, can teach his parrot to talk for him. I think we can teach our white-haired lass here a thing or two.", and then turned away as he showed Kida a crude drawing of what he figured to be the Atlanteans power source…which looked like a car battery, "Power Source."
Kida walked up to it, in slight thought, and then she was given a piece of chalk by Jack. She looked at the blackboard and then back at the chalk piece, and smiled, "Power source."
Everyone seemed to light up by that, as Milo smirked, "Ah! She's got it!"
But then everyone was dismayed, as Kida started to scribble on the chalkboard, and then murmur out, "Power source. Power source…"
Then Ariel sighed as she shook her head, "Maybe not."
Rourke, getting fed up with this, snatched the chalk away from Kida, scolding, "No! No, no, no, no, no!"
And then in a comical sense, Kida did the same thing as she snatched the chalk and waved it at Rourke, "No! No, no, no, no, no!", and then Rourke snatched it away from her. But this time, she pounced on him as he struggled to keep it away from her. It was sort of a comical scene; it was like a zoo-keeper was trying to keep a banana away from a chimpanzee. In truth, it was slightly comical, but then it was starting to get a little annoying, as much as it was funny to see Rourke like that, but it was just getting old.
As Rourke was trying to keep the chalk away, and Kida trying to grab it, someone else grabbed it. The two stopped their little squabble and saw Milo, with is arms crossed. He then looked at Rourke and said in a teacher like manner, "Commander….I think I can take it from here."
Later On
Near one of the tents, they had set up a small movie theater of sorts. Chairs were placed in back as Eric and Milo placed on a stand table a slide machine. Kida, who was sitting at the front, was equally curious about this whole thing. Milo had stated to her that he would not only teach her how to read Atlantean like he and Eric could, but also anything else she wanted to know. She looked to Ariel as she asked, "What exactly is all this? I thought Mr. Milo said he would teach me?"
Ariel nodded as she explained, "He is. He's just setting up for it."
Whatever you do,
I'll do it too
Show me everything and tell me how
And that's when Milo started up the projector, catching the Atlantean princess's attention. The slides started with the first being of a few Atlantean symbols; Kida crouched/walked over to the screen. She was in complete awe in amazement at this site she was seeing right now. She then looked back at her friends in wonderment at this amazing surface world invention. Frey couldn't help but smile at the girl's curious and amazed nature of this. And then smiled again as he saw that Kida imitated another one of the slides, this time being a man standing up straight. He didn't know why, but for some reason he smiled more when he saw her.
It all means something
And yet nothing to me
When one of the other slides was next, it was a picture of a couple dancing. Kida seem to smile at that and turned towards Frey. She shot up and ran up to him, dragging him out on the clear floor. Ariel smirked at that too, and dragged Eric along with them. The kids enjoyed the little prom dance scenario; even Milo clapped them on as he, Mole, Jack, and the other teammates cheered the scene on. Rourke, on the other hand, slouched over in his chair, groaning at this small debacle.
I can see
There's so much to learn
It's all so clear and yet so far
I see myself as people see me
Oh, I just know there's something bigger out there…
As they danced a little, it stopped as Kida's curious wonder turned back to the screen. There, she saw an amazing sight: a strange metal station…floating in the vastness of space.
I wanna know
Can you show me
I wanna know about these stranger like me
Later on, Mole was teaching Kida all about the microscopic world of dirt. Ariel was with her as Mole lended Kida her binocu-goggles as she looked closely at a piece of dirt. Through the goggles, she saw truly amazing creatures in the dirt, almost knowing that they were being watched at. She couldn't believe her amazement by the things she was learning at this point.
Tell me more
Please show me
Next, Audrey showed her the mechanics of a vehicle and how they ran. Unfortunately, when they got Kida in front of the wheels of one of the trucks, they had to run for their lives, as Wally nearly got flattened by one of the trucks.
Something's familiar
About these strangers like me
Next came Milo and Eric's turn as they started teaching Kida on how to read Atlantean once more. At this point, Kida was slowly reading a passage from the Shepard's Journal. She slowly spoke out the words as she concentrated on the knowledge that the two Thatches taught her, "Follow…the…narrow passage…for another league…th…the…"
"There…", Eric pointed out to her.
She smiled at that mistake as she continued and finished with much pride in her accomplishment, "There you will find the Fifth Marker." And with that said, the two gave an applause to the girl on a job well done.
Next on the agenda, Rourke and Helga taught her about the many forts and wars that were once fought on the surface. She listened to details on the battles and strategic plans that were used. But her attention was brought up to something…or rather, someone else at that time. Frey was sitting right behind Rourke as he was concentrating hard on his sketchbook. Kida couldn't help but admire his concentration and passion with his sketchbook. She had looked at some of his drawings and took notice that they were equally amazing and lifelike.
Every gesture
Every move that she makes
Makes me feel like never before
Frey took a moment and looked back at Kida, and noticed her looking at him. He broke back from it as he shook his head and went back to work. Currently, he was sketching a few portraits of Kida; for some odd reason, even for him, he couldn't get her out of his mind, let alone tear his eyes away from her.
Why do I have…this growing need to be beside her
Rourke caught Kida looking at the boy, and then forced her attention back to the lessons at hand. Kida shook out of her daze and returned back to her studies…but not before she stole a blushful glance back at Frey.
Later that Night
Kida couldn't sleep at this point as she lay on her bed under her covers. Obby was snoring soundly on top and flat on his back, but that didn't deter Kida at all. She was too busy looking up at the ceiling of her room, full of excitement on what had transpired the first day. She had learned so much about their world, but her curiosity was still buzzing with so many more questions. But also on her mind, there was Ariel and Eric; those two had become great friends to her at least in more ways. But in her mind even more so…she was thinking about Frey. She had never met any boy like him at all in her city…and doubt in the next thousand years, she would ever meet another one like him.
These emotions I never knew
Of some other world
Far beyond this place
The Next Morning
Day 2
As soon as she got up, Kida snuck out of the palace undetected. As soon as she saw no one looking, she ran out of there, and headed straight to where the camp was. However, Kida didn't notice someone looking out her room. Suki had seen her sister run towards the strangers' camp. She had asked Kida what had happened when she was there, but she told her it was a secret. Fear swept over Suki like a wave did over the sand; fear of losing her only sister to these strangers and their ways.
Beyond the trees
Above the clouds
I see before me
A new horizon
Back at the Camp
Everyone was wide awake and back to work as always. Vinny was strolling by, carrying a case of Gunpowder to his truck in preparation. Unknown to him, Kida had come on in, and then without him noticing, mimicked his walk as she strolled behind him.
I wanna know
Can you show me
I wanna know about these strangers like me
It was then that she stopped as she saw Frey once more, sitting on a ledge, carefully sketching a strange creature. It looked like a small green and pink chipmunk with four wings in place of its arms. Kida carefully walked up behind him as she crouched over to him. This caught his attention as he asked, "Oh, Hey Kida.", and then showed her the sketch of the creature, "What do ya think?"
Tell me more
Please show me
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
She smiled at the drawing and to Frey, "It beautiful."
Frey shook his head as he corrected, "No, no. It's pronounced…It is beautiful."
Kida nodded, but then said to Frey, "So are you."
At that moment, Frey just blushed at that, but then shook it off as he cleared up his throat, "Um, yeah. Well, I better finish…", but as he turned, he saw the little creature flying away. As it did, Frye just slumped in disappointment as he mumbled, "Well, that's just great." Kida looked at her disappointed friend and then smiled as an idea popped in her head.
It had only taken the two a few minutes to climb up one of the cavern walls. Kida was leading Frey to somewhere as he asked once more, climbing beside her, "Kida, why can't you just tell me where we're going?"
Kida just smirked at him as she said, "You will see…it is a surprise."
Come with me now
To see my world
Where there's beauty
beyond your dreams
And then when they reached the cliffside, they had reached their destination. It was a big enough cave to crouch/crawl in as the two went in further. When they reached the end, there was light coming out of the cracks as the two stepped in through the end. And when they got in there, they had walked into a home that belonged to a flock of those creatures perched up on the cavern walls.
The two walked in as the creatures playfully perched on the two. They laughed at the silliness of each other's creatures perched on them, with Frey having the most covering him.
Can you feel the things I feel
Right now, with you
Take my hand
There's a world I need to know…
And just then, the bird/chipmunks flocked off of them, the huge stir of commotion caused the two to stand up. However, when Kida stood, she had nearly lost her balance and almost fell over. If not for Frey of course, as he rushed over to her, and caught her in his arms. As soon as he could, the two stood up, but with Kida still in Frey's arms and her hands resting on his chest. The two seemed a little confused, but at the moment in time, all they were doing now, was looking each other eye-to-eye. And then, they started to lean in towards one another, but then stopped, realizing what they were almost about to do. The two broke away and looked away from each other, slightly embarrassed from the little scene that they had gone into.
But Kida, she turned slightly towards Frey, and just blushed at the thought of what it was they were about to do. Then it hit her like a wild Xeno out of control of its flight pattern; she looked away from Frey with much surprise on her face as she clutched her chest. The truth was present in her heart as she remembered she had skipped a beat, 'By the Past Kings…I…I'm in love with him.'
Later On
After the cave scene, the two teens had met up with Ariel and Eric, as they walked along the pier. They had walked along a few bridge paths, and making their way to a restaurant. While they did, Kida asked more about their companions; though it proved difficult considering she was either making it hard to understand. Though when they got to the restaurant and sat there eagerly eating their grub…literally, they seemed to clear it up as Kida pointed it out, "So I think I have it now: Cookie is sweet, but at the same time he is not. Dr. Sweet is kindly, but Kindly is not his name. Audrey and Helga are sweet, but they are not the doctors, they are Lieutenant and a mechanic. Vinny loves explosives and flowers, but Jack loves rum, although he is not a rum rat. Milo is nearsighted at times, but that is not because his glasses do not work. And the little digging animal called Mole…he is your pet, Eric?"
The teens chuckled at that scene, as Eric finally nodded, "Eh….close enough."
Sweet, Mole and Vinny were currently trying to eat the strange grub. Vinny looked at it questionably, while Mole ate at it like it was Cookie's food. Sweet seemed to be a bit more tolerant as he bit off one of the heads of the more…questionable foods, as he advised, "Oh, don't forget to eat the head. That's where all the nutrients are."
Back at Camp
Rourke had gathered everyone together, as Kida was looking at a small model of the solar system. Everyone wondered what Rourke had to say, but then he said it out loud. He was currently complaining about Kida's education, and their expedition going nowhere with it. It was high time she earned her tuition, by helping them find this mysterious power source of theirs, "We've wasted all this time on what she wants, people. The Ark's gonna be arriving ocean head soon in a few days, and we still have to find that giant battery of theirs.", he then looked to Milo and the kids, "Now just ask her straight up."
They all turned towards Kida, who was too fascinated with the solar system model that Milo had brought along. Ariel, who seemed the second closest to Kida, asked, "Kida?", catching the Atlantean princess's attention, Ariel continued to ask, "Can you show us any sign of your people's power source?"
She thought about it for a moment, but then nodded, "I can't."
Everyone seemed to frown at that, as Eric asked, "Why not?"
Kida sighed and tilted her had sadly as she answered, "My father."
After that was said, everyone sighed with disappointment at this, even Jack shook his head in disappointment. However, Rourke walked away with no one looking, and way out of their range, he was venting silently, convening a face showing much anger and frustration.
I want to know
Can you show me
I want to know about these strangers like me
Later that day, Kida was back in the tent looking through the slides and books, learning more about their world. In the room, Ariel and Eric sat together, both fast asleep with Ariel's head on his shoulder like a pillow. Sebastian and Dax were sleeping on Max, who was curled up in a ball of fur. Wally slept all sprawled and leaning on a crate, snoring out some strange sounds. Frey was sleeping on a chair
Tell me more
Please show me
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
The slides continue to pour out faster than ever during Kida's learning. Until she stopped at a slide with a man and a woman standing together; the clothes seemed slightly strange but they seemed elegant. The man was in a black suit with a rose on the side. The lady on the other hand, was dressed in a beautiful white gown with a laced veil of some type, holding a bouquet of lovely flowers. It must have been some sort of ritual between boyfriend and girlfriend; after all, Ariel had explained to her that on the surface, every girl loved flowers.
I wanna know
She smiled at this as she looked at the sleeping Frey in the chair. And looked back at the picture, getting an idea.
Next Chapter: Ruin Diving; the Missing Page