Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 31: Ruin Diving; the Missing Page

Day 3

At the Palace

Kida was rushing down the hallway, and jumped out one of the open corridors that led outside. There, she landed in a flower bed as she scooped up a rare form of blue rose. And then she scooped up a few yellow flowers that resembled a combination of Honey suckles and Violets. She then held up a lovely bouquet of flowers in her hands as she smiled with delight. She then looked to where the camp to where the strangers were located at, and smiled as she ran over to that very spot with the bouquet of flowers, being very careful not to ruin it.

However, her little walk away didn't go unnoticed, as Suki was looking at her sister's retreating form. She sighed sadly as she crossed her arms and shook her head. But she wasn't alone as her uncle Akuda was with her, along with Obby, yipping happily for her. Akuda just had to smile at Kida's happiness as he crossed his arms, "It is nice to see Kida that happy."

Suki just huffed as she crossed her arms and walked the other way, muttering, "I give it a week."

Seeing her retreating form, Akuda just chuckled lightly as he muttered, "Jealous much, eh, Suki?"

At the Camp

Kida rushed over to the camp, hoping to see Frey once more as well as her newfound friends. But as she approached the camp, she looked at it rather confused at this point. She saw that some of the soldiers were packing up camp; the crew were doing the same, as they all each got ready to leave the area. Kida looked around, trying to figure out what was going on now. Then it hit her; Rourke had requested that they stay here for a total of three days. Today was Day 3, and now they were getting ready to leave Atlantis.

It seemed so glum, but then she spotted Milo, along with Eric and Ariel, to try and convince Rourke to stay longer, "Couldn't we plead on staying a few more days? We still don't know how we're gonna get out of here."

Rourke then asked sarcastically, "Oh, and then we'd be late for the Ark."

But then Ariel pleaded, "But then we'll have come all this way for nothing."

Rourke shook his head as he walked away, "Sorry, but we can't do that.", leaving the group sighing with depression over each other's different reasons. Milo for wanting to find the power source, while the two teens looked distraught for not finding the Heart of Atlantis in order to protect it.

Kida, looking a little distraught as she turned away to see if she could find the one person she wanted to see. It was then that when she turned around, she and someone else bumped into each other. As soon as the two righted themselves once more, Kida saw the one person she meant to find. It was none other than Frey, as he was holding a few bags to be packed along with the rest of the stuff.

Surprised to see Kida, Frey greeted and asked, "Oh hey, Kida. Whatcha doing here?"

Kida then shyly smiled as she held up the flowers, "These are for you."

Frey, a little surprised at that, smiled stunned, "Oh, um…thank you.", he then sighed as he asked, "Well…I guess this is, goodbye for us…isn't it?"

Kida looked confused as she asked, "Goodbye?"

Frey sighed and nodded as he answered, "Yeah, today's the day we said we'd leave.", and then he sighed as he scratched the back of his head as he said, "And it really stinks because…well I…I wanted to stay here a little longer."

Kida thought about it for a moment, until she smiled as she suggested, "Well…you could stay here a little longer. It's like Jack once suggested with that strange land called Singapore, Go see Atlantis today, come home tomorrow."

Frey sighed sadly as he shook his head, "Ah, no…you see, it'd be kind of impossible for me to go back home…ever, if I stayed here after the others left."

Then Kida frowned as she asked, "Then…you do not want to stay here?"

Realizing that he had in some way hurt her feelings, Frey replied, "No, no. I want to stay longer…it's just that, I have to go back. I mean, I can't leave my dad all alone back on the surface."

Kida thought about it for a moment; in truth she didn't want Frey to leave, and she didn't want to leave home. But then she thought about living without Frey in her life…and it started to hurt in her chest. It was then that she made a choice decision, and replied to Frey, "Then…I will go with you."

It was while they were having this conversation, Ariel and Eric had spotted this but kept hidden. She smiled as she saw Kida and Frey together, and spotted the flowers. She smiled at this realization as she looked to Eric, "Eric. I think they're in love."

Eric smirked at this, "Well, one down and…", as he looked to Jack, but then turned back as he cleared his throat, "Well, one down.", and then went back to their packing, leaving the two new lovers be.

Frey, taken back by that proposal, stumbled with the bags as he shook his head, "Uh, no, I don't…", but then sighed as he replied, "Kida, I don't think that'll work out. I mean…you're a princess and I'm just a…"

Seeing the uneasiness in his voice, Kida rested one of her hands on his. And then said, "Frey, if just to be with you…I would give up my heritage, my birthright…even half of my lifespan….to stay with you.", but before Frey could say anything, she was already leaning towards him, as she looked at him with pleading eyes, "Let me come back with you…please."

Having her this close had caused Frey to nearly go stiff as a board. Just having her this close to him, caused all his senses to go haywire, and his heart beating so fast. It was from this feeling and what she had said to him, it was what he feared. She was in love with him…and in some way or another…he was feeling the same way towards her. This had been his worst fear; falling in love, and then having his heart betrayed. Deciding to end it there and now before both of them got hurt, he shook his head as he broke hand contact with her, and then walked away from her, "I'm sorry…I can't."

Kida looked at him both shocked and saddened as she called out to him, "Frey!", but she went unheard as he continued to walk away. At seeing him leave, she dropped the flowers that she had, and fell into despair as she now knew that she would never see him again. She would have been on the verge of tears, had one person not spoke up.

"Teenagers.", Rourke said as he walked up next to the princess, catching her attention as he stated, "Even if you haven't grown up in a cave, you'd still be lost, young lady." He then patted her on the shoulder as he explained, "No matter how old you are, there are no trails to the heart."

Kida sighed sadly as she knew the obvious, "Frey is leaving, is he not?"

Rourke sighed at that as he nodded, "Yeah. You know, if only we could find that power source, we might have styled a bit longer than intended. Milo's not the only one to be disappointed, you know.", seeing that it was sinking in to Kida's head, Rourke stepped away as he shrugged, "Well, I'd better get ready as well."

It was after that he said it, Kida thought about it. This power source that they had been looking for; it was the main reason why they came here in the first place. If they could find it, they could stay here longer…even Frey as well. And if they could find that Power Source, then maybe, just maybe…she could also help her people as well. She turned around and called out, "Rourke!", stopping, the commander as he turned around with a raised eyebrow, listening to her, "If you can find this power source…you can stay here longer?"

Rourke thought about it as he said, "Say…that's why we came here, isn't it?"

Kida thought about it, and then nodded, looking determined by this new idea, "Then I will help you."

Rourke smirked by that, "Fantastic.", and then spotted Helga as she walked nearby, "Lieutenant.", she stopped as Rourke gave the word, "Tell the boys to put everything down, and radio the 'Second Survey Team'. Tell 'em there's gonna be a change in plans." Kida smiled at this, knowing now that she wouldn't have to say goodbye to her friends…or to Frey.

However, unknown to the Atlantean Princess, Rourke smirked evilly in triumph.

Later On

At the Ruins

Kida had convinced Ariel and Eric to come along, seeing as how Eric could read Atlantean much better. They had come to a ruin site that was near a river of sorts that led to some of the ruins being water-logged or half sunk into the lake/river of sorts. However, as they were gathering some of the Fire-flies that were in the cave when they first got there to make a light, Ariel had noticed that Frey was keeping his distance from Kida.

She looked over to Frey, seeing he was the closest, and walked on over to him. She then asked Frey, with a serious look on her face, "Frey…did something happen between you and Kida?", she didn't get a response from him, but then guessed it as she looked shocked at him, "You turned her down, didn't you?"

Frey sighed as he nodded, "Pretty much, yeah."

Ariel frowned at him as she scolded her friend, "Frey, how could you? I can tell that Kida cares about immensely.", and then looked to Frey with a little saddened but happy for him, "And I can tell that you feel the same way as well."

Frey sighed at that without even trying to deny any bit of it. He sighed, "Yeah, but I…"

Then Ariel looked at him concerned, "Why? What's holding you back?"

Frey looked away sadly, but then answered as he sighed heavily, "My mother."

Ariel seemed to understand that, after what she had heard about his father's love life. She knew that he had to be brought out of this, so she walked over to him, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She then encouraged, "I can understand why you feel you need to shield yourself from true love, Frey. But if you spend the rest of your life running away from it, then it won't be much of a life at all."

Frey thought about it, and sighed heavily, knowing that Ariel was right. He then turned towards her, half-smiling as he asked, "So…you think she's the girl for me?"

Ariel smiled at this, and jokingly said, "Oh yeah. She's tones of fun, and you're no fun at all sometimes. She…completes you."

Back with Eric, who had Dax perched on his shoulder, he was gently gathering the fireflies as he commented, "You know, Kida…the first thing we thought was when we found this place, the most we'd expect was a few ruins, maybe broken pottery at best.", and then he chuckled excitedly at what he said next, "But instead, we found a living thriving society.", and then walked towards Kida with a few of the fireflies that he caught in hand.

Dax nervously chuckled as he grabbed one little firefly that didn't scorch him, "Heheh. These things are kinda cute…ya know, when they're not formed into a fiery column of death. Know what I mean?"

As Eric put the last firefly into the spherical lantern, Kida sighed sadly as she truthfully stated, "We are not thriving.", after hearing that, Frey and Ariel walked on over, as Kida shrugged and explained, "True, our people live, but our culture is dying. We are like a stone the ocean beats against. With each year a little more of us is worn away."

After hearing that, the three teens looked at each other in distraught. Then Frey, feeling like he should speak up, asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

After hearing Frey's voice again, realizing they were speaking to one another again, she nodded, "I have brought the three of you to this place, to ask you for your help…and maybe in helping you find this Power Source that we once possessed." She then pointed to the ruined walls as she stated, "In these ruins, there is a mural here, with writing all around the walls, showing pictures of the bright light I told you about.", she then looked hopefully to Eric as she asked, "I was hoping that you or your uncle could translate it. Seeing as how I am not done with my lessons in Gibberish…as everyone else says it is called.", she joked at that last part.

Then Eric lit up as he took the lantern and stated, "Well, you came to the right guys for the job.", and then, as Frey walked up, Eric started to try and translate on the writings. However, as Eric started to read it out loud, Frey and Dax gawked at what they were seeing up to at this point. Eric stopped as he turned and looked at Frey and Dax, who were stunned and gawked straight ahead of them at what they were looking at. Eric turned and gaped as well as he now saw what the two were currently seeing at this point. Eric gulped as he asked, "Uh…Ariel…Kida…", he then nervously chuckled as he finished, "…what are you two doing?"

While Eric had been kept busy, Ariel and Kida had both undressed at this point in time. Now, Ariel was in her purple bikini, as Kida was wearing a blue bikini as well. Kida, turned around as she asked the two boys, "You two do swim, do you not?"

Slightly in a daze, Frey dreamily smirked at the two girls in bikinis as he nodded, "Oh, we swim pretty girl….", but then shook his head as he realized what he had just said. He then cleared it up as best as he could, "Pr-Pretty good, pretty good. Sw... Good. Swim good. Pretty good. I swim pretty good."

Kida giggled as she wadded in the water, "Good. It is a fair distance from where we are going.", and then, not surprising Kida at all, Ariel slipped into the water, took off the Calypso bracelet, and then her Mermaid tail appeared. The boys did the same as the girls, stripping down tot their wet suits and wadding in.

Then Frey pointed out, "Hey. You are talkin' to the two swim champs at our high school."

As they were finally in, Dax jumped into the water as he belched out, "Well, what are we waitin' for? We're wastin' time.", and then dived on in. However, after the teens waited a bit, Dax popped up, clueless as to where to go. He then looked to Kida as he asked, "Why don't you lead the way. Cause I have no idea where we need to go."

After a few moments of hesitation, the teens and otter dived on in, in search of this mural. They swam below and further in deeper in the lake. The ruins became deeper and deeper, with Kida and Ariel's crystals lighting the way for them. However, air was getting scarce for those who needed it very badly at this time. They had been swimming for what felt like thirty minutes, past the time that it would be before their lungs were on the border of blowing up. It wasn't until that Kida led the way that they surfaced into an air pocket.

They shot up out of the air bubble as Frey smacked his head on the roof of the cave. Kida, being slightly concerned, swam up to him as she examined his skull and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Frey coughed up a little water as he answered, "Well…I didn't drown if that's what you're asking."

Then Kida smirked as she said, "Good. Follow me.", and then dived right back down.

Dax sighed, "Doesn't she ever stop?", and dived right back after her, with the others following behind.

As they continued to swim, they saw where Kida was leading them. It looked like they had swam right into the ruins of what appeared to be a Greek temple of sorts. And like Kida had once said to them, the walls were covered with tapestries and writings. Especially one depicting of a certain Sea Goddess, flying high above the heavens and bringing down to the people of Atlantis…a crystal blue star. After seeing that, the kids swam back up to the air pocket to discuss what they just saw.

Eric coughed a bit as everyone was present as he explained, "It's amazing. It's a complete history of Atlantis; well, almost complete. Plato described it pretty well, but he was a little far off on a few details…"

"Eric….Eric!", Dax interrupted, "…you're startin' ta bore everyone around here."

Then Kida, being a slight bit anxious, asked, "The light I saw. The star in the middle of the city. What does the mural say about that?"

Eric shook his head as he answered, "I haven't gotten that far, so I don't know…yet.", and then he smirked, "But we're about to find that out.", and then dove back into the water. The others followed after him as they swam back to the mural to complete their research on the writings.

The writings continued to tell the tale of the Heart of Atlantis. It was said that the people had harnessed its power to give them unnatural long life. It also said that the robots, like Wally, were connected to it in some way; they saw it as their deity, seeing that it gave them their life and power. The story went on and on about how the massive Crystal that Calypso bestowed on to them had given them unbelievable scientific achievements…and also caused a war between Atlantis and Atlantica. The story went on and on, telling on how the mighty people and robots of Atlantis fought against the invading forces of the Merpeople, stating that in fear was the war caused on by both sides. Both in fear of the power that they were given; the Trident that the Merpeople had to govern the waters, and the Heart of Atlantis that gave eternal life and power to the Atlanteans and the sea. And that's when all the pieces were finally coming together as Eric and everyone else swam back up to the air pocket.

After that was said, they resurfaced into the air pocket, as Eric gasped out, "The Heart of Atlantis."

Frey asked, "Wha?"

Eric answered, "The Heart of Atlantis; it's the Second Heart of the Sea. Just like Triton's Trident.", but then he explained, "But it wasn't a star or a battery, like my uncle said it was, it was a massive crystal that later on spawned a whole garden of mini-crystals.", and then he lightly held Ariel's crystal as he explained to them and to Kida, "Like these. These little ones are sort of like radio transceivers; they channel the power of the Father Crystal.", he then went on, "This massive Crystal is the building block of all of Atlantis' Technology; the armor, the vehicles, even the robots like Wally or the Leviathan. With that crystal, all of the stuff we've seen is possible to activate thanks to the crystals, and the Second Heart."

Ariel then asked, "Is that even possible."

"It is, Ariel.", Eric answered as he finally understood it all now, "I think it's what's been keeping it all alive for so long. Kida, the plants, animals, all of Atlantis from dying out completely."

Absorbing all this in, Kida then asked, "But…if that is true…then where is it now?"

Eric scratched the back of his head in thought as he asked that too, "I don't know. You'd think something as big and important as that was in the Journal.", and then paled at the realization, "Unless…"

The three teens, minus Kida, looked to each other and knew straight on, "The Missing Page."

Back at Camp

Milo hurried along the dark corridors looking for Rourke. He had heard that he was intending to stay here just a little longer beyond the said time frame. The King was probably not told this information and would sooner or later find out about this in a most unsatisfied way. The last thing they needed to do right now was anger the King any further to sneak up on them like so. And so immediately and without hesitation, he walked over to Rourke's tent.

He then flapped it open as he protested, "Okay, Rourke! I've gotta few things to…" But then he stopped as he found that the tent was completely empty.

Milo looked down at his luggage and decided to find something of help to find him, like a cell phone or walkie-talkie or something. He looked about quickly before he began eagerly rummaging through it. Finally, he had found something amongst the bags, but it wasn't what he was looking for.

It was a page of yellowed parchment with scribbles all over it; from what Milo looked upon it, it was pretty old, but was well taken care of as not a rip was on it…except for the rip made on the side, which made it look like it was torn out of a book. The writing also had with it a picture of stones circling around a humongous crystal of sorts, with what appeared to be a gibberish symbol of what appeared to be an A. It was then that Milo realized that the gibberish was Atlantean. What he was holding in his hand as he stood up was the missing page from The Shepard's Journal…the page that depicted the Heart of Atlantis.

He knew that he had to find Rourke and demand an explanation about all of this. He was about to leave when she heard the tent flap open. Milo nearly froze in place as he jumped. He felt his heart stop as he wondered who it was behind him, so he turned around slowly. Rourke was looking at them with a cruel amused smile, "Well, what do you know, Mr. Thatch…" he said, as movement from behind Rourke stirred around. And then coming into the tent…Maccus, Koleniko, and the rest of Davy Jones's crew, all bringing out their weapons, and chuckling evilly, laughed full-heartedly, as Ogilvey pushed next to Milo, a surprised Princess Suki who was looking for her sister, and now stood next to Milo, as Rourke finished, "You found the Missing Page."

Milo gulped hard as Suki stood next to him, a little frightened at this scene. Milo then nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt, before giving Rourke a large Jack-like grin, "Parley?"

Next Chapter: Mercenaries at Work; the Crystal Chamber