Princess Fantasy D X-2

A/N: I have never been inspired enough to write stories about any fanart before, until I saw the work of deviantart artist Skirtzzz, specifically her Final Fantasy Disney Dressphere series. With her blessing, this will be the first of a series of final scene rewrites, using the powers of the dresspheres to possibly change the script, or failing that, make the scene worthy of a Final Fantasy series. Replicating the feel for such an incredible franchise will be a challenge, but I swear I'll do my best!

If you haven't seen any of the movies or their endings, this could be a little spoilerific, but if you have or don't mind, hang on for the ride!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

The Silent Sapphire

As Milo Thatch entered the king's chambers, his heart sank down to his feet to see the ancient man lying on his bed, gravely weakened. Dr. Joshua Sweet looked up from him with a sobering look.

"How's he doing?" Milo asked slowly.

The burly doctor sighed. "Not good, I'm afraid. Internal bleeding. There's nothing more I can do." He was under no illusion that said internal bleeding wasn't caused by a sucker punch to the sternum.

"What a nightmare," Milo lamented, staring down at the ruler he had inadvertently caused the death of. "And I brought it here."

"Ah, don't go beating yourself up," Sweet waved it away. "He's been after that crystal since Iceland."

Milo suddenly looked up, a realization coming to him. "The crystal! Sweet, that's it!" He moved to lift the King's crystal pendant. "These crystals, they have some sort of healing energy! I've seen it work!"

"No…" a wrinkled hand grasped Milo's own, and the linguist gulped as he looked into the clouded eyes of King Kashekim. "Without the proximity of the Heart… that feat is impossible."

Milo's face fell as the idea was swept away. The King gazed mournfully up at him. "Where is my daughter?"

"Well she… she…" Milo tried, but couldn't tell the King of his daughter's fate, instead sighing in defeat.

King Kashekim's face grew even more sorrowful. "She has been chosen, like her mother before her."

"What?"

The King's voice drifted off, recalling the tale of his people's destruction many eons ago. "In times of danger, the Heart will choose a host, one of royal blood to protect itself and its people. It will accept no other."

"Wait, wait a minute," said Milo, sitting down next to the aging man. "Choose? So this thing… is alive?"

"In a way," Kashekim replied, gulping for breath. "The Heart of Atlantis was said to have been given to our people by the Gods at the very start of our civilization. It thrives on the collective emotions of all who came before us. And in return, it provides power, longevity, protection. As it grew, it developed a consciousness of its own."

The King paused to give a few weak coughs, his regret growing. "In my arrogance, I sought to use it as a weapon of war. But the Heart disapproved, and its power proved too great to control. It overwhelmed us, and led to our destruction." The rumbling of a once-grand city sinking into the ocean echoed in his memory.

"That's why you hid it beneath the city," Milo understood. "To keep history from repeating itself!"

Kashekim nodded. "And to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate as my beloved wife. She was chosen by the Heart as a sacrifice, to save us from our own failures. Now, our daughter has been chosen, to save us from that man."

"What do you mean?" Milo asked hurriedly. "What's going to happen to Kida?"

"If she remains bonded to the Heart, she could be lost to it forever," answered the King, a tear leaking from his eye. "The love for my daughter, is all I have left. My burden would have been hers when the time is right."

"But now," the King reached up, and removed his crystal, "it falls to you."

Milo was thunderstruck at that. "Me?" he whispered, taking the outstretched crystal.

"My fear of repeating the past led me to close it off entirely," breathed Kashekim, now struggling to even speak. "… I outlawed… the study of our past… to keep my people safe. But now… with the crystal gone… the past may be… the only thing to save us."

The ancient man knew he had only a moment to share his last secrets. "Under my throne… is the location of the secrets… I had sealed away for my people's safety. Use them… to return the Heart."

Old fingers clasped around Milo's own, and bespectacled eyes met those of a blind, desperate man. "Please. Save Atlantis. Save my daughter…"

With his last plea on his lips, King Kashekim took his final breath, and his insensate fingers slipped from Milo's hands. The linguist stared down numbly at the immobile King, as his guards bowed down silently at the demise of their ruler.

Dr. Sweet closed his eyes in respect, before packing away his tools. "So," he said, turning to the contemplating linguist, "What's it gonna be?"

"Excuse me?" blinked Milo, not quite believing his ears.

"I followed you in, and I'll follow you out," answered Dr. Sweet. "It's your decision."

That one statement opened the floodgates in Milo's temper. "Oh, my decision?" he snapped, "Well, I think we've seen how effective my decisions have been. Let's recap: I lead a band of plundering vandals to the greatest archeological find in recorded history, thus enabling the kidnap and/or murder of the royal family!" His voice grew louder and louder until he was almost yelling in Sweet's face. "Not to mention personally delivering the most powerful force known to man into the hands of a mercenary nutcase, who's probably going to sell it to the KAISER!" Milo took a breath. "HAVE I LEFT ANYTHING OUT?!"

"Well, you did set the camp on fire and drop us down that big hole," Sweet admitted.

"Thank you!" declared Milo. "Thank you very much!" He strode to the stone throne only a short distance away, and slumped to the ground at the base of it, a picture of defeat.

Sweet was silent for a moment, before reaching down and picking up the Shepherd's Journal that Milo had thrown in his ranting. "Of course, it's been my experience, that when you hit rock bottom, the only place left to go is up," he said wisely.

"Who told you that?" asked Milo bitterly.

"A fella by the name of Thaddeus Thatch."

The mention of his grandfather's name halted Milo's thoughts in their tracks, before igniting them with determination. The linguist glanced down at the crystal shining in his hand, and clenched it in a fist. His grandfather wouldn't give up for what he believed in, and neither would he.

It was at that point that he realized exactly what he was leaning against, and remembered the king's final words to him. He turned around to examine the throne's base, and spotted a small crystal-shaped indentation in its base, almost indistinguishable from the regular carvings. Tentatively, he inserted the crystal, and watched as the carvings lit up with blue light, and a small panel slid open on the side.

Milo reached in and pulled out a small stone box, inscribed with King Kashekim's name on the top in Atlantean glyphs. When he pulled it open and saw what was in it, his eyes widened behind his glasses.

The main crew of the Ulysses watched the milling citizens of Atlantis, half of which were staring across the now obliterated bridge leading to the surface, and the other shooting angry glares at them for their hand in their king's death. Between Vinny Santorini, Gaëtan "Mole" Molière, Audrey Ramirez, Mrs. Wilhemina Packard, and Cookie Farnsworth, they had enough guilt going around to last them through the trip back to the surface… if they ever did.

It was at that point that Milo strode out of the King's temple, followed by Dr. Sweet. Eyes turned towards him only to blink in surprise; Milo now had the King's own blue crystal around his neck, a small stone box tucked under his arm, and the steely look in his eye almost made him seem twice as tall and broad as he was.

"Milo, where are you going?" asked Audrey.

"I'm going after Rourke," replied Milo, heading right past her.

The rest of the crew exchanged shocked glances. "Milo, that's crazy!" interjected the mechanic.

But the linguist did not pay her any heed. "I didn't say it was the smart thing. But it is the right thing." He strode off towards a small clearing, a purpose clearly in mind.

Audrey stared after him, before sighing in exasperation. "Come on, we'd better make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

The small group found Milo standing in the middle of the circular platform on the side of the city, one side open to the air and pointing towards the entrance to which they had originally entered the city chamber. The linguist had the box set beside him and was now reading from a piece of parchment "Milo, what do you think you're doing?" asked Audrey cautiously.

"Following the King's last wishes," answered Milo, still scanning the sheet. "Only in Atlantis's darkest hour will the secrets of the past be used to preserve its future." His eyes looked at a diamond-like symbol drawn at the bottom of the parchment, and then at the same diamond symbol in the center of the platform.

"Slot in… three clicks right… one left… push in… pull out!" Milo recited, inserting the King's old crystal into a small depression in the center of said symbol, and following the steps written. As soon as he pulled it out, the platform lit up, blue lines of light tracing themselves along every carving inscribed in the stone. A moment later, the glowing surface of the platform started to rise, the whole piece folding out like a box lid. Milo just managed to make it to the edge of the platform before he got tilted over the edge.

When the lid finally stopped moving, sticking out into mid-air, Milo, the crew, and a large number of Atlanteans stared at what had been revealed. The entire platform had concealed what was obviously an Atlantean hangar, revealing a large number of stone craft in the forms of various sea creatures, damp and dank from disuse.

"This… this is great!" Milo exclaimed. "This is just what we need!" He darted down a revealed flight of stairs in the side of the hangar, and ran towards a compact stone vehicle that vaguely resembled a piranha.

The rest of the crew followed curiously. "What in the world are those?" asked Audrey.

"Our way to stop Rourke! Just follow my lead!" answered Milo, grasping his crystal again. Placing one hand on a stone panel, he inserted the crystal into another stone slot, turned it halfway to the right, then a quarter turn back. Instantly, the fish flared with blue light, its blank stone eyes lit up like headlights, and it levitated off the ground with a hum.

Everyone stared agog at the sight, except for Mrs. Packard. "Well, I'm impressed," she muttered in her usual deadpan, nasal tone.

"It's simple," Milo said, addressing one of the notes he had taken from the box. "All you gotta do-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up, we get it, okay?" Audrey dismissed, clambering up behind him and reaching for the now-glowing panel.

"No no! Wait!" Milo cried. Too late to stop, Audrey placed her hand on the panel, and like a bullet, the aircraft shot backwards, crashing into the wall and embedding itself hard in it.

"Gently!" Milo muttered, trying to stop his ears from ringing. "Just gently."

By now, a good number of the Atlantean guard had gathered around the machines, looking at them in awe. "How is this done?" asked one of them.

"All you have to do is use the crystals. Kida showed me," Milo answered, leaping down. He moved to another hammerhead-shark shaped craft as the Atlanteans crowded around. "Half turn right. Quarter turn back. Keep your hand on the pad." He demonstrated and felt the ship come to life under him. "Just think of where and how fast you want to go, and it will take care of the rest."

The guards' eyes lit up at the prospect of saving their city, and they all scattered to different craft. The crew of the Ulysses joined them, leaping onto vehicles that already had drivers. One by one, the Atlantean craft rose into the air for the first time in millennia: five sleek Aktirak patrollers like the one Milo was riding, ten compact, piranha-like Martag fighters, six larger, manta ray-like Baylokh gliders, four wide, turtle-shaped Turtak destroyers, three spindly-legged, crab-like Martak bombers, three massive, multi-manned barracuda-like Rakuda cruisers, and a single, equally-massive squid-like Kraken dreadnought.

"Alright, this is it!" Milo yelled to the fleet. "We're gonna rescue the princess! We're gonna save Atlantis! Or we're gonna die trying!" Shoving the panel, he took point as 32 airships flew towards the opening, the people of Atlantis cheering and shouting in encouragement. "Let's do it!"

One by one, the craft flew through the mist surrounding the city and entered the cavernous opening, deftly maneuvering away from the walls. As they flew deeper and deeper into the caves, Milo thought he heard a dim explosion further down, followed by a series of muffled thuds and crashes, almost like someone had blasted a wall and caused a small avalanche.

Milo gritted his teeth. Whatever Rourke was planning to do, he wasn't going to get away.

As they drew closer to the volcanic cavern where they had ended up after falling down the bridge, Milo started shouting his game plan to the others. "Okay, here's the plan! We're gonna come in low and fast and take them by surprise!"

"I got news for you, Milo!" Audrey shouted back. "Rourke is never surprised and he's got a lot of guns!"

"Well when he sees what we've got, I think he will be!" Milo replied. "These things can do a lot more than just fly!"

"Yeah, like what?" Vinny asked.

But before Milo could answer, they rounded a corner and came face to face with a giant red balloon floating up the volcanic shaft, which now had a hole with sunlight shining through. Assorted trucks with masked mercenaries were scattered around the cavern, observing the balloon rising with huge spotlights. Most prominent, though, was the steel case containing the crystal Kida shackled to the bottom of the balloon, the propeller-guided zeppelin clearly being used to lift her to the surface.

Milo's eyes locked with the burly Rourke's from under the case. "There they are!" he yelled. He dimly heard Rourke bellow something like "We've got company!" before the lead started flying.

The fleet shot in all directions, twisting and turning to avoid the bullets. The Atlantean warriors retaliated with their arrows, but the multitude of crevices and rock outcroppings meant that the mercenaries had all the cover they needed to render them obsolete. The small army countered with machine guns and mortars, turning the air into a fireworks display. One unlucky blast caught one of the Martags square in the belly, sending it and its screaming pilots down to the ground in a blaze of blue lightning and stone.

With no real way to fight back, the Atlantean craft were reduced to dodging fire for all they were worth, even as Milo saw Rourke and Helga leap onto a platform attached to the gyro-evac. The larger and slower craft like the Martaks, Rakudas and the Kraken were especially obvious targets, and their stone surfaces were soon pitted with bullet holes. To make matters worse, Rourke had started launching gas-powered mini-planes armed with machine guns to chase after the crafts in mid-air.

As Milo aimed his Aktirak towards the steel case, a fusillade of bullets from three of said aircraft poured down on him, deflecting off the stone surface and forcing him to break away. "Holy smokes!" he yelped at Audrey. "You told me he only had guns!"

"What I said was he's never surprised!" Audrey yelled back.

"But what made him bring gliders on this trip in the first place?"

Vinny darted around the linguist, trying desperately to avoid fire from an anti-air gun. "Milo, we're getting killed out here! I thought you had a plan!"

"Oh, right!" Milo gasped, remembering what he was trying to tell Vinny earlier. "There's a hand-shaped panel to your right! That should activate its energy weapons!" Demonstrating, he slammed his hand against said panel on the Aktirak and instantly, the craft's flat head lit up like a plasma torch. Banking hard to the right, Milo aimed it at an approaching attack glider, and held on for dear life as the Atlantean patroller tore clean through it.

Vinny's eyes lit up as he wheeled his Martag back around at the gun turret. As he ducked to avoid the bullets, he found the aforementioned panel and struck it, sending a bolt of blue energy arcing out of the fish's mouth at the turret. An explosion blew said turret to smithereens and sent the user careening through the air. "Okay, now things are getting good!"

Soon, the word had spread throughout the Atlantean pilots, who all started sending their armaments after the enemy for all they were worth. The bolt-spitting Martags swarmed the soldiers like the piranhas they were crafted after, while the surprisingly agile and silent Baylokhs ducked and dodged around enemy fire, getting close enough for their short-range, wide-spread bursts to do their work. The Turtaks' assault-calibrated energy beams vaporized ammo trucks and enemy cover, and the Rakuda cruisers sent torpedo-like energy pulses arcing after fleeing gliders, even as their passengers peppered them with more arrows. But it was the behemoth of the Kraken that was now a real force on the battlefield: as two pilots controlled the nine tentacles that tried to swat enemies out of the air, its main pilot scattered ground troops with its own mouth-launched energy ray.

Milo ripped through another glider as he made a beeline for the gyro-evac, which was gaining height with every moment. "I've got to get to Kida!" he shouted. "Audrey, Sweet, Vinnie, you need to draw Rourke's fire!" Gliding next to two of the Martak crews, he called to them, "Get above that thing and knock it down! Don't let it reach the light!"

"Indeed we shall!" called back one of the guards. Swiftly, the two rode their vehicles over the gyro-evac, as the rest of the fleet kept the fighters at bay. Once they were in position, the two activated their armaments, the crab-like crafts' spindly legs surging with blue light. Blue orbs of energy formed at their tips, before dropping down on the balloon like bombs.

Onboard the gyro-evac, Rourke and Helga braced themselves as their craft was rocked by several explosions. "Lieutenant!" barked the commander, pointing up at the bombers. Helga spun and aimed a flare gun up at the craft, the magnesium explosive shattering a few legs of one of the Martaks and forcing the two to weave away before she fired again.

As Rourke kept the crew at bay with a handheld minigun of all things, Milo raced for the chamber dangling underneath the gyro-evac. Halting the Aktirak next to it in mid-air, he pulled out his crystal and started hammering against the glass, using it as a chisel. "Come on, Kida! I know you're in there! Please, come out!" muttered Milo fervently.

Unfortunately for him, Rourke, hitting the deck to avoid a blast from Vinny, caught sight of him. "Some people just don't know when to quit!" he sighed, turning towards Helga, who also looked down. Obediently, she moved to an array of aerial bombs, pulled the pin and let one loose. The explosive blew apart Milo's unmanned Aktirak and threw him and the capsule into a pendulum swing. Milo held onto the chamber for dear life.

"Milo, no!" shouted Audrey in worry, but a fusillade of bullets impacting against her and Sweet's own Aktirak forced them to bank away.

"Sorry, Mr. Thatch! It looks like you're plum out of luck!" Rourke called down to him, hefting his gun. "If only you'd quit while you were behind, then I wouldn't have to resort to this!"

Pointing his firearm over the side, he waited for an opening between the propellers. "Old Whitmore designed that capsule to be completely impenetrable!" he said with a grim smile. "Shame I can't say the same for you!"

Clinging onto the chamber with only one arm, Milo felt the g-forces almost tear his fingers loose. He almost didn't register Rourke aiming his weapon down at him, but pushed it out of his head and raised the crystal for one final strike.

"KIDA!" he yelled, bringing the crystal down for one last desperate strike, just as Rourke found his opening.

A gunshot and a glass-crack echoed out at exactly the same moment.

From the moment Kida felt her body merge with the Heart of Atlantis, every sense she possessed vanished. With no way to tell where she was or what was happening to her, all she could do was float in the unknown void that seemed to be the interior of the crystal.

She didn't even know how long she was floating in the void, but all of a sudden, she found herself able to hear again, and a strange voice came to her. "Princess Kidagakash, hear my voice. There is much I need to tell you."

"Wh-who is there?" whispered Kida, wishing she had eyes to see who was speaking.

Almost instantly, her wish was granted, and her vision was filled with a void of bright azure, although she couldn't see any sign of her having a body nor a head. Somehow, she could still shift her field of vision, but couldn't see anything until she "turned" around.

Emerging out of the light was a tall white-haired Atlantean woman in ornate blue robes, with alluring, sculpted features and an air of both kindness and royalty around her. Her distinctive Atlantean tattoos were coiled above and below her right eye, but Kida didn't need them to instantly recognize her.

"Mother…" whispered Kida in Atlantean, not believing what was in front of her. "It's you! Mother!" She tried to move forward, but found that she could not get any closer to her.

Queen Idesha smiled quietly and opened her eyes, and Kida stared when her eyes revealed a pair of glowing-azure irises. When she spoke, it had a strange resonant tone that gave it a divine air. "I am afraid not," she said. "This is merely a guise taken from both your memories and that of the past rulers. I would not be able to speak with you otherwise."

"Past rulers?" murmured Kida. "I don't understand. Who are you?"

"The old tales, long forgotten by your people, once spoke greatly of me and my brethen," answered the woman, moving closer to her perspective. "I am, after all, the one who's Heart you have entered to save your people."

Kida would've blinked if she could. "But the Heart was said to have come from the Gods. If you tell the truth then that means…" Her voice trailed off as she realized who she was talking to.

The being who held her mother's face nodded. "You were always one to continue looking for our tales, even if you couldn't understand them." Her eyes seemed to shine brighter. "But if you could, you would know my name. Lady Kritim, Goddess of Life and Light."

Kida's first instinct was to prostate herself in front of the Goddess, but forgot she didn't have a body to do so. She settled for lowering her field of vision and murmuring over and over again, "Exalted spirit, I beg you for your forgiveness. My people did not mean to lose sight of our place all those years ago. You and your brethren have every right to forsake us, but if it means preserving my people, I will throw myself into the ether…"

"Hush, my dear," Lady Kritim moved forward and placed a hand under her chin, lifting her view up to meet hers. Kida blinked when she felt the touch of the deity, then blinked again when she found she had her own body again. "There is no need for anyone to sacrifice anything. Mistakes in the past are just that, in the past. The willingness to give your own life for your people's is enough for us."

Kida felt her eyes brim with hopeful tears. "Thank you, exalted one," she whispered. "So you will help us?"

Lady Kritim's expression dimmed slighly. "I will, but with you as my avatar restrained like this, I cannot. I'm sorry, but isolated from the emotions of those who hold my crystals, there is little I can do."

The Princess's tears turned from hope to despair. "So there is nothing I can do from in here? I cannot even protect my friends or my people from being massacred by those animals?"

The Goddess's eyes glimmered slightly, before smiling wanly. "Not until this young man succeeds in saving you." She waved one hand to the side, revealing the image of a porthole: and a certain bespectacled linguist banging on the porthole like a man possessed.

"Milo!" gasped Kida, watching him anxiously. But before she could say more, an explosion sent the scene outside rocking and Milo clinging to the capsule for all he was worth.

"NO!" cried the Princess, reaching for the image, but found her hand passing clear through it. "Please, you have to save him!"

"I wish I could," whispered Lady Kritim, "But until you are released, there is nothing we can do to help."

"Don't say that!" cried Kida frantically. "Ever since we were struck down for our hubris, I have been doing my best to revive my people's culture, yet this man has done what I had been trying to do: he gave us a way to read our old secrets and restore our civilization. With what I saw of that mercenary, there is no way Milo could hope to win against him, and yet he has managed to rally my people enough to fight against them! If he can do the impossible, so can I!"

Lady Kritim was about to respond sadly, when a sudden glow pulsing from her eyes cut her off. Both she and Kida stared as her eyes, Kida's crystal, and their entire surroundings started to glow brighter and brighter. "What's this?" murmured the Goddess. "Is all this fueled by your emotion? Your desire to protect your people? The one you care about?"

A smile curved the deity's lips. "Yes… this could work."

Kida reached up to grasp her crystal with one hand. "So, you can help us?"

"In a way," said Lady Kritim mysteriously, clasping Kida's hand between her own. "Your drive to save your people tell me that the only person who can truly save them… is you. But do not despair, my powers will be at your disposal."

"I… I don't understand."

"The intruder seeks to thieve my power for his own greed," said the Goddess, even as the world grew bright enough to blind the princess. "So, who better to take it back from him than another thief?"

Milo only just registered was the glass finally cracking at the same time he heard Rourke's gunshot, so he didn't react fast enough to register a metallic blade slicing through the door crack where the lock was, a foot from his side. But he did register the door suddenly bursting open and swinging him out into thin air, the bullets from Rourke's gun whizzing right past him.

"Yaaagh!" Milo yelled in fright, almost losing his grip in surprise, but a sudden hand on his wrist prevented that from happening.

"Do not worry, Milo," a familiar voice called to him. "I've got you."

The next thing Milo knew, he was flying through the air being pulled by his wrist, moving at speeds that no human, Atlantean or not, was capable of. He literally felt the propeller blades graze his limbs as they went hurtling through a gap, before finally coming to a stop on the main platform of the gyro-evac. Panting on his knees, Milo glanced up to see exactly who grabbed him, and his eyes nearly fell out of his head.

Grasping his arm was an un-crystallized Kida, her pupils still glowing a bright azure, but dressed in a way he'd never seen before. Over what appeared to be a dark-blue bikini similar to her old outfit, she wore a turquoise knee-length skirt, secured by gold rings and riding on her hips, and a length of cloth that flowed from her top and covered her back, both seemingly made of ruffly crêpe cloth. Her sandals were replaced by light-blue shoes built for light, fast footwork, and her arms were covered in long sleeves made of the same cyan cloth, secured with gold bangles. Most prominent, though, were the long curved knives with ornate, round hilts that she now carried, one with a blade-parallel handle and the other with a blade-perpendicular handle.

Rourke and Helga had caught sight of them and were staring in disbelief. "What the blazes? How'd you get up here?" Rourke exclaimed. "Where's my treasure?"

"It doesn't like to be stolen, thief," snarled Kida, crossing her twin knives, Dem and Mar in front of her. "You try to take my people's livelihoods, and I'll take back a lot more than that."

The two mercenaries quickly recovered and aimed their firearms at her and Milo. "I wouldn't want to damage the merchandise, but a chipped crystal is better than none," Rourke growled. "So get back in your cage or the two of you will drop faster than that old geezer when I tapped him!"

Kida's face contorted with fury. "You dare…" With a shriek, she shot forward at them, who instantly opened fire. Milo blinked at said shriek, it was a phrase in Atlantean: "Sticky Fingers."

Milo ducked as the lead whizzed over him, when the gunfire abruptly cut off a second later. The linguist looked up, then blinked when he saw Rourke and Helga missing their weapons and looking back in disbelief, and Kida standing behind them holding both Rourke's minigun and Helga's pistol. Milo blinked: how did she get both weapons out of their hands with no resistance, or get behind them that fast?

Kida scowled and threw both firearms off the side of the platform out of sight. "Hey!" Rourke exclaimed furiously. "That was custom-made!" With one fist, he smashed the glass of a nearby fire case and pulled out a large hatchet, before stomping forward to do battle.

Kida dodged his wild swing, and spun around, gashing through Rourke's singlet with a blade. Helga snarled and lashed out with a kick, but the Princess ducked underneath it and knocked her other leg out from under her, dropping her to the deck. Before she could follow up, she had to throw herself back to dodge another chop from Rourke that bit into the wooden deck.

Milo struggled to his feet and leapt at Rourke from behind, but all he did was distract him from Kida and left his lieutenant to take care of her, reaching behind, gripping the smaller man by the neck and hauling him off his back. Rourke's face was twisted into an ugly sneer as he held Milo in the air with one hand.

"Well, I have to hand it to ya, you're a bigger pain in the neck than I ever thought possible," he sneered, as Milo struggled in his grip. He raised the hatchet above his head. "You and your little girlfriend almost cost me a few billion dollars, but once we get to the surface… well, it'll be a long way down for a twig with no legs."

Helga managed to deflect a strike from Kida's blade, before drawing herself in to deliver a bruising punch on the Princess's left breast. When Kida flinched, the lieutenant managed to grab Dem, Kida's left blade, from her, and moved in for the kill.

It was at this moment that the gyro-evac started to shudder, as energy attacks from two of the Rakudas started blasting away at the side pods, tearing holes in two of them with their energy torpedoes. The zeppelin started to list to the side, throwing Helga off balance. Kida took her chance, her hand tightening on Mar's handle and infusing it with blue energy. She lashed out with a snap of "Borrowed Time!", touching Helga's shoulder with the tip. Instantly, blue Atlantean glyphs spread from the point of contact and the woman's entire body froze up.

Kida whipped her blade from Helga's hand, and lunged for Rourke like a bolt of lightning. Her blades hooked around his hatchet and neatly plucked it from his hand, causing him to swing down at Milo with an empty hand. Rourke did a double take and spun around, but Kida was already flipping over his head and bringing her feet down on his outstretched arm, forcing him to drop Milo.

Rourke cradled his injured wrist as his expression went from annoyed to downright murderous, looking from his sinking balloon to the two meddlers. "I am this close to a major payday, and the two of you are not sending it up in smoke!" Clenching his fists, he stormed at Milo and Kida, even as Helga unfroze and came at them again.

Milo grabbed the axe from Kida's hands and swung at Rourke, but the larger man dodged and tore it from his hands. Paling, the linguist ducked as the tables turned again, but a boot to the chest knocked him into the fabric of the balloon. Meanwhile, Kida was dancing away from every kick and punch Helga was throwing, leaving small gashes on her limbs with every attack.

"Tired, Mr. Thatch?" sneered Rourke, raising his axe for one last blow. "That's a real shame, 'cause I'm just getting warmed up!" With a grunt, he slashed down, but Milo managed to scramble out of the way. The axe tore through the fabric of the main balloon, venting a stream of hydrogen right into the commander's face. Rourke gave a choked yell and stumbled back, giving Milo enough of a chance to grab an empty steel barrel within arms reach, and throw it into Rourke's chest. The commander stumbled back into Helga, knocking both of them to the ground.

Kida saw her chance. Once again, she crossed Dem and Mar, causing the metal blades to transmute into pure blue crystal, which then started to glow with the same azure light as all Atlantean crystals. "Lady Kritim, guide my blades," she murmured. In a blur of motion, she shot forward, two words on her lips.

"Heart Theft!"

The crystal blades slashed into the chests of the two mercenaries, biting into their flesh, yet not drawing a drop of blood. The effect was instantaneous: both Rourke and Helga froze up, their skin suddenly lined with bright cyan lines, their eyes flaring with blue light, and their expressions a picture of complete blankness. A moment later, the lights winked out and both of them collapsed like ragdolls.

Milo crawled over and checked them. "They're still alive, but what was that?"

"They strove to steal the Heart of our people," replied Kida, but in a voice Milo'd never heard before. "So it is only fair that I take theirs. They will not desecrate our city, nor that of any others, ever again."

It was at that point that the Martaks, having recovered from the initial bombing, got in place to drop another payload of energy bombs. This salvo finally breached the roof of the gyro-evac, releasing a stream of hydrogen and setting it alight. Milo and Kida were almost thrown of their feet by the violent shaking as the craft started to sink lower and lower in the air.

"Your Majesty, hurry!" cried the crew of two of the Turtaks as the craft floated down to the same level. Kida picked up the two unconscious bodies and hurled them onto the back of one before gripping Milo by the arm and leaping the full distance onto the other. The two assault craft rushed away as the gyro-evac fell away beneath them to crash on the stone floor.

Milo and Kida breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived when they saw the ground crack beneath the wreckage of the zeppelin. The fissures spread across the ground as magma started to seep through the cracks and fill the chamber.

"The volcano! She awakes!" cried Mole.

"It'll flood the city if we don't do something!" gasped Milo, sweating as the entire chamber started to heat up like an oven. "Kida, you're the crystal; can't you do something?"

"I am afraid not, Milo Thatch," Kida said concernedly, "but the defenses of Atlantis certainly can. But we must get me back to the city or all is lost."

Milo didn't know why Kida was speaking like that, but this was no time to ask. "You heard the lady; back to the city! GO!" he yelled. As one, the remaining Atlantean craft turned tail and fled down the tunnel, the bubbling magma surging after them.

The Turtak set down in the middle of the hangar, as did the remainder of the fleet. Milo struggled to the ground while Kida jumped to the center of the platform, even as the first streams of lava started to flow out of the tunnels. "Kida, hurry!" called the linguist.

If possible, Kida's glowing eyes grew even brighter. "Do not despair, Milo Thatch. No more people shall die today." She struck Dem and Mar together and held them out to either side. "In the name of Lady Kritim, Goddess of Life, let this city be preserved by the might of its guardians!"

With two quick flicks, both blades were embedded in the stone, and instantly, the ground lit up with blue lights once again, growing and spreading across the stone until the whole city was illuminated by its shining-blue carvings. Kida's own crystal lit up like a flare, as the glow spread across her body until she was once again a being of crystal.

A moment later, the Princess leapt into the air as the ground around her exploded, the ten King Stones bursting through the ground and floating into the sky, circling the glowing Kida, and rising higher and higher until they were hovering over the city. The stones started to spin faster, and faster, and faster still, until all that could be seen in the sky was a ball of light surrounded by a rapidly-orbiting blur.

As everyone stared in awe at the sight, twelve beams of light suddenly shot out from it to strike strange rock formations all over the city. The next moment, the city started to tremble as the formations revealed themselves as the heads of gigantic stone golems, each one as tall as the city itself.

"Hear me, Guardians of Atlantis, heralds of myself and my brethren!" Kida's otherworldly voice echoed over the city over the rumbling of the rising statues and the approaching lava. "I awaken you from your slumber to take your duties once again! To stand sentinel over our city, and to preserve it from danger!"

One by one, the twelve Guardians, six male and six distinctly female, rose out of the water, ignoring the chunks of tephra now soaring over their heads, and started moving to the outskirts of the plateau the city and its surrounding waters rested on. Energy surged over their stone bodies, as the statues took their places at the edge of the cliff, facing down the approaching lava with no fear.

"Raise the barrier!" Kida called out one last time. "Protect!"

"Protect!" the largest golem, a feminine-shaped behemoth facing the lava head on, boomed. With a thunderous boom, she clapped her hands together and drew them apart, expanding a shimmering blue wall of energy from them.

"Protect! Protect!" the other giants echoed her cry and her actions, each one expanding a barrier of their own that deflected the shards of burning stone. As each barrier met, they merged into each other until a gigantic, pulsating blue dome covered the entire city.

Milo watched as the first surge of lava splashed into the wall, but despite the heat and pressure, the Guardians did not buckle and neither did their barrier. The lava rose higher and higher, until the entire dome had turned a seething gold color, a destructive tide held back by an impenetrable force. Then, the dome suddenly crackled with energy, and the lava dimmed, cooled and spontaneously hardened, sealing the city within a shell of stone.

For a moment, there was silence. Then the still-whirling crystal gave one last pulse of energy, and cracks started to appear in the stone layer outside the barrier, the energy of the Guardians forcing their way through. Bit by bit, the cracking shell crumbled, large chunks of stone falling off the dome and off the plateau. A few falling pieces even crushed the wall between the water and the cliff, turning the plateau into a circular waterfall, but the giants stood their ground, never dropping their barrier until the last few shards of earth had fallen to the ground below.

Milo let out a large breath as everything started to calm down, but then became aware of a light shining down from the crystal above. The stone heads had slowed down to a more sedate speed, and what was once a ball of light was now only a pulsating orb of energy like what he had seen before in the underground chamber. As the young linguist watched intently, the crystal gave one last flash of light, and a body emerged from the depths of the orb and started floating down to the surface.

Milo hurried into the beam of light and caught Kida. She was dressed back in her old outfit, her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow, but she was still alive. As he held her in his arms, her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"M…Milo," she murmured, staring into the bespectacled eyes of her savior, before becoming aware of something in her hand. When she looked, she found the gold bangle that her mother had taken all those years ago, resting on top of a strange card. Tears welled up in her eyes at the memory of her parent and the act she had just replicated and survived, and she hugged Milo in relief.

Milo returned her embrace, just being thankful he had succeeded against all odds, when he suddenly became aware of something emerging from beneath the surrounding waters as the new cliffs drained them away. He pointed them out to Kida, whose frown turned into a big smile when she saw them.

The previously-submerged buildings from the great Cataclysm were surfacing from the lowering waters, like long-lost treasures being brought to light. For the first time in millennia, the full glory of Atlantis was there for everyone to see.

One by one, the crew of the Ulysses and the citizens of Atlantis joined the couple to marvel at the newly restored city, the bodies of the two responsible all but forgotten. As Kida took Milo's hand in her own and squeezed it lovingly, she almost heard the whispers of Lady Kritim in her ear.

"Let the Gods' light shine favor on Atlantis once more, and may you bring it into a new age of glory, Queen Kidagakash."

Wow, this one was tough to write, both to get moving and to stop in the end. But I think it's worth it; Kida is seriously under-appreciated as a Disney Princess, and A:TLE was seriously under-rated as a Disney Movie. Once again, I hope this chapter passes muster. I might go through it again a few times if I feel it needs perking up.

I know the focus might have been a bit on Milo and Atlantis's ships, but when I saw all the information on the Atlantis Museum of History and Industry, I just couldn't resist putting it all in! webspace . webring dotcom / people / gr / rebmakash / AMusHiIn . HTM

Skirtzzz, thank you so much for waiting again! Once again, I'm so sorry I took so long, but you know how uni life is these days: all assignments and midterms and not much else!

I'm cashing in my chapter's writer's change entitlement here: from many building-sized guardian statues to just twelve city-sized guardian statues – one for each of the twelve Atlantean Gods (see the science-and-religion sectin of the Atlantis Museum for more details).

And lastly, the names for Kida's blades, Dem and Mar, come from the Atlantean words for Land and Sea, respectively. It's pretty obvious why I chose those words.

Find Kida's thief costume, created by the talented DeviantArtist Skirtzzz here (scrap all the spaces)!:

skirtzzz . deviantart dotcom / art / Thief - Kida - 191945431

Review and Critique as you like; more support will inspire me to work faster! But please, no flaming!

Next Chapter: Patchwork Presents