Chapter Seven
When Milo's shift was over, he and Astrid walked across the street to the Twin Brook Apartment complex. While they both lived in the same complex, Astrid's room was much nicer. It had quite a few more windows than Milo's. It had more space too. Yes, Hue Mortlake made quite sure his daughter could live comfortably.
However, room 107 was way different than 355. 355, well that's all a janitor's pay could afford. Milo unlocked the door and Astrid walked in. After closing the door, he joined her on the couch.
Milo filled Astrid in on all the details he purposefully hid from her the last time he told his story. He told her how they had in fact found the lost city buried deep under the sea. How surprised they were to find it inhabited. How he had befriended the king's daughter. And how in the end he and the rest of the crew had risked their lives to save Atlantis from total destruction. Milo regrettably informed her how far Rourke had gone to ensure he'd get the Heart of Atlantis. He had tricked Milo into finding the Crystal for him and caused Kida to merge with it. He murdered the king. He took the Crystal away from Atlantis even after learning it was the only thing keeping the Atlantians alive. He threw Lt. Helga Sinclair (who just so happened to be his partner) off the blimp after Vinnie blew a hole in it. And Rourke would have killed Milo had he not have been turned into a crystal and shattered in the blades of the blimp. Of course Milo told Astrid that that part had been a total accident and he was only defending himself.
When he was finished Astrid shook her head and sighed disappointedly.
"What makes you think I should believe anything you just said?" she asked.
"Because it's the truth." Milo replied.
"Prove it." Milo had prepared for this answer and took off his crystal pendant. He pulled the light switch. The Atlantian pendant lit up the apartment room in a bright, fluorescent, blue. "How on earth are you doing that?" Astrid asked in complete awe.
"It's the crystal. It's in sync with the Heart of Atlantis. My crystal will continue to glow as long as Atlantis is safe." He explained. But he wasn't finished. Milo turned the light back on and walked over to the bookshelf to take the photo of the crew from its place. He sat down on the couch next to Astrid and began fumbling with the frame.
"Uh Milo? You already showed that to me." she said, referring to the photo he was having difficulty pulling out of the frame.
"You haven't seen the whole picture yet." he stated as he finally freed the photo from its frame. Astrid never noticed, partially because the frame did well to hide it, but the picture was folded at the top and right side.
"Why didn't you put it in a bigger frame?" she asked, confused.
"Because I needed to hide this." Milo replied. He unfolded the creases and rubbed them against his trousers to flatten them out. The unfolded parts of the photo revealed a giant, stone narwhal in the background and a white haired woman with strange clothing standing to the right of the crew. She was wearing a crystal like Milo and Astrid already knew who she was.
"The Atlantian princess..." she gasped.
"Kida..." Milo whispered, with a misty look in his eyes.