Chapter 5 - Week Three: Monday – On Cultural Perceptions

Jane prepared through the entire weekend for the day's discussion topic but before she could even introduce it to the group, she was abruptly interrupted by Belle raising her hand to speak.

"I'm sorry Jane, I'll let you begin in a few minutes. I just wanted to share this amazing book I have been reading." She held up her library copy of The Innocents Abroad for everyone to see. "It has so much detail and description about travel and what it's like to experience traveling in a group." She gleamed with pride. "I very much recommend this to all of you!"

The group was very interested in Belle's book, Particularly Tiana. "I've actually read it before! I'm a big fan of Mark Twain myself."

Belle gave Tiana an approving nod before continuing. "I'm almost finished if anyone wants to read it. Just let me know so that we can renew it at the library."

Esmeralda chuckled at Belle's mention of the library. "I know what you're doing, you're thinking about that Adam fellow aren't you? Trying to find some excuse to see him again?" She winked in the direction of Belle whose face was beginning to flush.

"I don't know what you're talking about Esmeralda." She said defensively, causing Esmeralda to erupt in a hearty laugh.

"Oh come on Belle! We both know that you've been thinking about him since you met him last Thursday. You would not stop talking about him all weekend!"

"I think Belle and Jasmine should double date, now that they both have a romantic interest." Mulan piped up, nudging Jasmine in the side causing the other girl to jump in her chair.

Jasmine was also on the defensive. "That's not fair! Aladdin and I aren't even officially dating!"

"But you are unofficially dating then?" Mulan continued to tease her roommate who was becoming even more flustered.

"No, I didn't say that either! I'll admit that we want to see each other, but it's complicated." Jasmine responded while rubbing her temples. This conversation was beginning to cross her comfort zone.

"What makes it so complicated? Are you not allowed to date or something?" Esmeralda asked, a single eyebrow raised.

Jasmine threw her hands in the air. "YES!" She yelled and leaned forward in her chair so that her head was nearly lying on her knees. Granted, her not being allowed to date was not the full reason for the complications between her and Aladdin, but it was certainly part of the truth. Mulan, who suddenly felt guilty for putting Jasmine in such a vulnerable position started rubbing her back in apology. She didn't know what to say so she kept silent. Meanwhile Jasmine kept her head resting on her knees while the rest of the room remained quiet.

Jane broke the silence "I think we should get off of this subject. It appears it's a bit sensitive to some and I want to reiterate that this is supposed to be a safe space for all of us." she warned. "This is also a good place for us to switch to the discussion topic I have chosen for the day: cultural identification and practices."

Jasmine looked up, relieved that the dating conversation was over. Belle too was pleased that she didn't have to explain anything more about Adam for the time being. After a few moments of silence, Meg spoke up. "I want to know more about where Ariel and Kida are from."

Kida paled at the sound of her name and secretly imagined strangling her roommate for forcing her to speak up. Truthfully, she didn't even know where to begin on the subject of her culture. She was more than grateful that Ariel took the reins of the conversation, giving her more time to think in hopes that Ariel would chatter until the end of the seminar.

The young redhead cleared her throat. "Well, as you all know from our first day, I'm from the sea. Not literally of course, but my family works on ships so I spent my entire life at sea." She looked around at her peers awaiting approval to continue.

Kida's heart was racing and her palms began to sweat. "Tell us more Ariel! I'm really fascinated by the fact that you grew up on a boat and not on land." She prompted, flashing a rigid smile knowing that she could at least stall for a short time by asking questions to keep Ariel talking.

Ariel bit her lip and furrowed her brow as she contemplated what would be interesting or relevant. "I'm a good swimmer because of the way I grew up, and I am well accustomed to cold weather. The smell of fish doesn't bother me either, though it does get old eating seafood every day..." She shrugged.

"Okay, but what language did you grow up speaking? What sort of traditions does your culture have?" Kida prodded.

"Well, we speak a few languages I suppose, more of a mid-Atlantic Creole because we picked up our vocabulary from the various sailors who came aboard. As I've said before, my passport is Danish and most of our words are Danish or Swedish. I've always known English though."

"And traditions?"

"We didn't really have any specific traditions, though I guess you can say that living at sea is a tradition. I've never eaten red meat and we're not religious. We don't have any folk songs either." Ariel grasped for anything 'unusual' or 'unique' that might pertain to her background. "What about you Kida?"

The young woman froze, realizing that she would have to speak after all. Her interrogation with Ariel was stopped short due to Ariel's own discomfort at describing her complex culture. Kida struggled with what she would say, unsure of how she would proceed. The others waited patiently as she opened her mouth to speak, only to close her mouth again and shake her head. She looked at the clock, noting that there was still plentiful time left of the seminar. She knew she wouldn't be able to stall any longer so she did the only thing she could do when she couldn't find the right words.

"I have to go." She uttered quickly and sprinted out the door, leaving her classmates in complete confusion as to what had just transpired.

Kida listened to the enthusiastic student-teacher describe the ancient pottery of the Sumerian culture during her Classical Archaeology course. It was exactly one hour after she mysteriously fled the seminar and she was still contemplating as to why she had such a difficult time talking about her background. In truth, she had no idea what her background was. She knew how she grew up, she knew her phenotype, and she knew some oral traditions that have passed through many generations, but there was still a lot she didn't know.

She loved growing up in Iceland and she identified with the Icelandic culture and spoke the Icelandic language. That all made sense. Yet she knew there was more to her than being 'Icelandic.' When she was younger, she used to compare herself to her peers, noting that there were very few similarities in their appearances, mostly in skin color. There was no doubt that her appearance is striking: with beautiful tan skin, white hair, ice-blue eyes and tattoos to match, she knew she was unique. In truth, she hated the term 'exotic,' though that was usually the first word people used to describe her.

Knowing that there were obvious differences between her and other Icelandic's, she often pondered if her ancestry involved more than just being Icelandic. It was even a legend that her family was descendant from the ancient Atlantians. Kida chuckled out loud, recalling the ridiculous family claim. There wasn't any evidence that such a place even existed, how could she be a descendant of a non-existent people from a non-existent place? Yet, there were too many unanswered questions to let any theory go to waste.

Kida was interrupted from her thoughts at the sound of feet shuffling around the auditorium. When she looked around she noticed that everyone was leaving. She was puzzled, lecture couldn't possibly have ended already...When she looked at the time on the laptop screen projected at the front of the auditorium, she realized that lecture had indeed ended. While she rushed to pack up her belongings and her notes, everything fell out of her bag forcing her to crouch on the ground to retrieve it all. However, this distracted her from the large, clumsy boy bounding behind her. He didn't notice her either, so it was certainly a shock to both of them when he tripped over her legs.

In order to keep himself from falling on top of her, he oriented his weight on to her desk, knocking it over. Kida released a scream of pain as the desk toppled on to her right middle finger, making a distinct cracking sound in the process. Her face turned bright red as she bit her lip to stifle her tears and screams. The boy was absolutely horrified, his mouth a gaping hole as he stared at her, scrambling to find a way to help her.

"Are you OK? Should I call an ambulance? Do you need help up? What can I do?" He stammered, his head turning from side to side looking for someone to take the responsibility from him. Kida just screamed obscenities back at him. Though she knew he didn't mean to hurt her, she couldn't help the pain she was feeling and tried to channel her pain into anger instead. Suddenly a voice approached from behind the boy.

"You can leave now Mole, I'll take over from here." The boy – Mole – only had to be told once that his presence was no longer needed. When he scurried away, Kida looked up to see who had spoken and came face to face with the teacher's assistant who was lecturing before. "I know some basic first aid, and I think I can set your finger back." He offered.

Kida gave the assistant a skeptical look, taking note of his somewhat ragged appearance and the fact that he could barely keep his thick-lensed glasses atop his awkward, triangular face. Most days she found him comical as he fumbled about his words and his information – no doubt a lot more information than necessary for an introductory course. This time, as he knelt beside her on the auditorium floor offering to set her broken finger, she was almost terrified of him.

She vigorously shook her head. "No, no, that's not necessary...I'll find the nurse."

"No really, I know how to do this. It will only take a moment." He was insistent. To demonstrate, he began to fiddle with her finger, sending shocks of pain throughout her entire body. He flinched at her screaming and shrugged his shoulders, trying to hide from her angry, red and sweating face. "I guess it's not that way...let me try again."

This time, Kida didn't give him the chance. Taking his cue of what not to do when setting a finger, she took back her hand and abruptly twisted her finger until both she and the assistant winced at the chorus of cracks that emerged from her finger. Instantly, she felt better. "I guess it wasn't really broken, just dislodged." She sighed.

After a few moments of awkward silence between Kida and the assistant, the man coughed and offered his hand in greeting. "I'm sure you already know this, but I'm Milo. I'm the professor's assistant for classical archaeology." He was shy and ashamed, keeping his head pointed toward his knees while his hand stretched out waiting for the injured woman to shake it and introduce herself.

She knew he meant well, so she forgave him for his atrocious attempt at first aid. So she took his hand, wincing at first when her middle finger buckled against his and introduced herself in response. "My name is Kidagakash, but you can call me Kida. I'm an international student from Iceland."

At the mention of Iceland, Milo shot his head up and looked the young woman straight in the eye. Taking note of her physical appearance and her tattoos, he shook his head back in forth, his eyes widening. "Can't be..." he muttered to himself. Puzzled, Kida was about to respond but was instead surprised to find Milo pulling her up off the floor, nearly dragging her out of the auditorium.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked him, trying not to trip over her feet as he briskly walked ahead, his long legs making faster strides than hers.

"To the lab. I have to look at something and I would really like you to help me out." He answered over his shoulder as they continued walking. Though cryptic, this was enough for Kida to agree to go along. She was curious to know what the connection could be between her, Iceland and the archaeology lab he was taking her to. What could she help with? She wondered.

After jogging through a labyrinth of hallways and taking the elevator to the top floor of the building, the pair finally reached the archaeology lab. Milo released his grip on Kida's hand to punch in a code on the padlocked door. She expected a clean, spotless and categorized set of rooms with scientists in white lab coats. Instead to her disappointment, she entered into a large room in complete disarray. The room was covered with posters from various locations plastered on the walls, glass cases of unidentifiable bones and pottery, and in the very middle of the lab was a table with small, uncleaned bones scattered about the tabletop while young interns in jeans worked to identify the specimens.

Kida followed Milo to his desk. What caught her eye was not the fact that his desk was far more cluttered than the others in the room (though it was), but the fact that his desk contained photographs and stacks of books about Iceland – Icelandic mythology to be exact. While Kida scanned the book titled and the notes, Milo flipped through one book in particular titled "How Atlantis was confused to be Greek."

Atlantis. The young woman's heart started racing as she read the name, repeating it in her mind over and over again while recalling the old family legend about being descended from the ancient Atlantians. Without a word, she leaned against a stack of books next to his desk. Milo silently continued flipping through the book, his eyebrows rising and falling as he scanned the pages. Finally, he exclaimed "Aha! I found you!" And placed the book in Kida's hands.

What she saw was a photograph of a mummified corpse, apparently found off the coast of Iceland. The corpse had remains of snowy, white hair and tanned skin – features Kida assumed only belonged to her family and herself. The corpse also had faint remains of light blue tattoos on the side of the face and the body. The young woman stroke her face lightly as she stared at the image. No doubt there was a strange connection.

After a few moments, Milo leaned over her shoulder. "So, what are your thoughts?" His voice alerted Kida back to reality, and she slammed the book shut, releasing a cloud of dust into the air. Her eyes were streaked with anger as she looked up at him. "Do you think this is some kind of joke? What do you know about me?" She hissed, cornering the young man between his desk and his book stacks.

Milo was taken aback, not at all expecting this type of reaction. "No, not at all, I don't know anything about you. See, I have been doing some research about Atlantis and -"

"ATLANTIS!" Kida roared, interrupting his explanation. He looked up at her, running a hand through his hair, trying to keep calm. "Ever since I was young all I have been hearing about is Atlantis! Yet no one can give me any bit of information as to how this is relevant to me." She continued, throwing her arms in the air before placing them behind her head.

"I know that I'm different. I know that I don't look like a 'normal' Icelandic. I know that there is more to me than being Icelandic. Yet no one seems to have any idea of how to explain these things. Then I hear a family legend about Atlantis and then I hear it from you!" She exclaimed, addressing Milo directly. The anger seemed to fade from her face and was instead replaced with some form of fear and anxiety. "You must understand...this is not an easy conversation for me..."

Milo remained silent, watching as the tormented young woman paced around his workspace muttering under her breath about her confusing identity. He cleared his throat to speak "Kida, I truly had no idea how this would affect you. I thought you might know something already. It seems you are just as puzzled as I am, though from the opposite end of the spectrum..." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "You see, I too have been hearing of nothing but Atlantis as well while growing up. My grandfather was also a researcher – an archaeologist of the Arctic to be specific – and he always had this theory about Atlantis being in Iceland, not in Greece" This got Kida's attention.

He continued. "You see, I picked up his work after he passed away a few years ago. I've always wanted to be like him. I have been looking at that image – the one I gave you – for over ten years now, memorizing every detail while studying any ancient texts I can get my hands on. When I saw you, my brain just froze! I thought I was seeing that photograph come alive – literally! I should have asked you first about what you might know before jumping to conclusions that you might have all the answers..."

This last statement was enough for Kida to realize that she and Milo were exactly alike. Both of them have been chasing the same myth, searching for the same answers to the same questions, reaching for the same Atlantis that neither of them knew for sure was even a real place. Seeing Milo embarrassed with his head in his hands softened her demeanor and she rested her injured hand upon his. "I'm sorry Milo...I jumped to conclusions too. Now I see that we both are after the same thing" She patted his hand softly and continued "If I have not scared you away, I would love to help you with your research. I have some questions of my own that you might be able to help me with."

With that, he took her hand in his and shook it once more. "It will be a pleasure to try to answer your questions, Kida. I'm sorry for bringing up such a sensitive subject. From now on I will make the effort to be more cautious in my approach"

She gave him a weak smile. "That won't be necessary. We won't get anywhere without a little bit of grit under our fingernails. This is dirty business, archaeology. I'm sure we will be more help to one another than trouble." She scribbled down her email on a stray sheet of paper. "Let me know when you are in the lab. I will send you my schedule and we can work out regular times to meet."

The young man smiled back at her, folding the paper with her email and placing it into his shirt pocket. "You have no idea how much this means to me Kida...I'm sure we will make a great team."

"I'm sure we will Milo. Keep me updated." She waved at him as she exited the lab, still processing everything that had happened on such a strange day.

Author's Note:
First of all, thank you very much for the reviews! They keep me going ^_^ An extra thank you to Solaria daughter of Apollofor requesting Kida for the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this one. It was a bit longer than I had intended, but I just couldn't stop writing. I really enjoyed how this chapter came together and I hope from a reader's perspective it was executed properly.

Please keep the reviews flowing! If you have any spelling or grammar comments, please send me a PM and I will promptly edit those. Suggestions, criticisms and praise are all equally appreciated. This is for you as much as it is for me and I would hate to disappoint. =]

Lastly, I will return everyone's PM's soon! I've been focused on getting this chapter finished that I have hardly been online to respond! I promise that I will get back to all of you soon though.

-Suzerenma