Kida sighed, "Emergency lights flashing out and in...then everything went dark...My mother...I remember a bright light, high above the city...My father said that the light called Mother to it...I was holding into my mother's hand...I was calling for her...She was lifted into the light...I never saw her again...Father hid me and Sia from seeing more, closing our eyes and all...Sia never got to truly have a few memories of Mother like I did, having barely been out of the crawling stage herself...Father got blind soon afterwards...yet I had a feeling he suspected that I would grow up to look a lot like Mother...The last hold of her hand was her taking my bracelet...my favorite bracelet that we had worked on together only a few months ago on my birthday...", fingering her wrist.

"I'm sorry...", Milo said, offering his condolences. "Thousands of years but I'm guessing, to you, it still feels recent?", with a soft frown.

"Still as if it was yesterday...", Kida admitted. "So much has passed but those moments... still too fresh...", she told him as he nodded.

"It never truly heals... I lost my parents when I was young too... my grandfather took care of me afterwards... but I just lost him recently too.", Milo sighed deeply.

Kida reached out to hold his hand, "Sia may be a romantic, but she's wise beyond her years as well...She once told me that the ones we love never truly leave us in our hearts...", with a smile.

Milo chuckled, "She sounds like my grandfather there...Yes, you're right...And you know what? I think your mother would be proud of you healing me, along with Steve and Peggy.", with a smile.

Kida both bit her lip and blushed, remembering her sister's words and her father's slight anger at them healing their soulmates...They definitely remember those men, but did they have visions of them as well?

She replied, "Thank you, that means a lot...", nervous to talk about that, not ready to tell why she's attracted to him and all, changing the subject, "Anyway, how did you find this place?".

Milo chuckled, "Wasn't easy. If it wasn't for the Journal and my grandfather's greatest goal, we wouldn't have made it...", taking out the Journal from his satchel, and Kida took it, opening it, her eyes wide yet sad that she can't read, "You...You understand and read all of this?".

"Yeah... well, sort of, I'm a linguist; I can't exactly be perfect but for the most part, I think I've gotten it pretty nailed down.", Milo told her. "You can read this?", Kida pointed to a part of the book. "You can read this, right here?".

"Yes, yes, I can read Atlantean, just like you!", Milo nodded proudly with a wide smile. Kida frowned, "You're the first one to read Atlantean in centuries...", as Milo widened his eyes, "Wait, nobody here can read? Not even you or Sia?", having discovered that in many civilizations, only the royals and high officials read, and the peasants didn't.

Kida shook her head, "No... such knowledge has been lost to us since the time of the Mehbelmok.".

"That... that's the Great Flood, right?", Milo replied, and Kida nodded. She then handed him back the Journal, "Please... you have to show me... show me how to read all this... you... you don't know how fortuitous your timing could be!".

Milo replied, "Oh, well, that's a lot...but I'll give it a shot for you...", with a smile before clearing his throat, and went to read out loud from a page in the Journal, as Kida listened to him, following him as they walked.

Kida widened her eyes as she is faintly recalling her mother's lessons, and spoke along with Milo as he read on, and then Milo nodded with a smile, "Yeah, that's it. How did I do?".

"You really picked it up very well, Milo...And your accent, it's a tad provincial, I admit, but you'd be close to being a real Atlantean man.", Kida smiled, and Milo looked relieved, "Thank goodness...".

Kida grinned, "If you think reading Atlantean out of a book is excellent, see what you think about this.", tugging his shirt as she nearly skipped over, and soon, she let go of him as she grabbed a blanket, and with a whoosh, removed it to reveal a fish-like craft while Milo tucked the Journal back in the satchel.

"Woah...", Milo's eyes widened at the sight of the craft. "What exactly is that? A vehicle?", he asked as she nodded, "Yes... they once flew through the skies of Atlantis-".

"Wait, you mean to tell me this thing flew?! I thought this thing was a watercraft for a moment there!", Milo exclaimed in surprise and shock.

"Well, it's nothing but a simple relic at this point now.", Kida sighed. "And yet looks like it came off of a factory line yesterday almost.", Milo whistled as he ran his hand along the craft as he inspected it.

Kida replied, "Some things are resistant to the moss and vines...Anyway, I and Sia found this, and we really tried to figure it out, but well, the instructions...", and Milo smiled, "Ah, way ahead of you, Kida. Okay, let's see here...", adjusting his glasses as he peered at the small Atlantean inscription.

"Place crystal into slot.", Milo replied, and Kida nodded, "Yes, yes, we have done that!", with a nod as she walked behind him.

"Gently place your hand on the inscription pad.", Milo said. Kida shouted, "Yes!", as Milo kept going, "Ok, did you two… turn the crystal one-quarter turn back?".

"Yes. Yes!", Kida replied back. "While your hands were on the inscription pad?", Milo looked back at her, and Kida was about to respond before halting, looking back at Milo, "Ye- No.". He chuckled, "Ah, well, see, there's your problem right there. That's an easy thing to miss. You know, you and Sia deserve credit… for even… even gettin' this far.", as he got up, smiling at her as Kida raised an eyebrow, and he sheepishly smiled, "OK, uh, give it a try.".

Kida removed her crystal necklace and went to do what Milo said, and then as she did it, the fish vehicle came alive, floating upwards, hovering and humming as Kida and Milo gasps in awe and shock.

Kida spoke a phrase in excited Atlantean, and Milo laughed, "Yeah, you got that right.", before they got closer to the hovercraft, as Milo grinned, "This is brilliant! I bet we can ride this all over the city and I can see it in no time! I wonder how fast it goes...", gingerly placing a finger on the pad, and suddenly, the hovercraft went zooming off in several directions, whacking off corners as Kida and Milo leapt back, watching out for it.

"Look out!", Milo shouted as the hovercraft charged at them, and Milo grabs Kida, covering her as they ducked down just in time as the hovercraft crash-landed nearby, and he exhaled, "That was close...".

Kida chuckled, "Maybe I was slightly wrong about you being a scholar...You're really quick on your feet...", her heart pounding as he is above her, shielding her...She knew she is a warrior, and she can take care of herself, but something about the man of her visions protecting her, it's rather nice...She knew she was up close in Milo's personal space when she healed him, but that was a helping sort of situation...This...This is different...

Of course, while she certainly knew what was between them with what she had done earlier, Milo still was a bit elsewhere in his thought process. "Well, despite everything, that thing actually still looks like it almost got through without a scratch.", he admitted as she chuckled.

Kida replied, "Looks like it...", with a smile as Milo looked back at her, realizing the position he's being in, and he blushed, "Oh...Sorry...", moving his body and arm in a shuffle, and Kida replied, "Do not be, Milo...You see my gold earring? In our culture, wearing it on the right side means I'm single.".

"Si- wait, really?", Milo asked as she chuckled, "Yes, really, I understand if that's a bit hard to believe though, you're probably thinking that a princess like me should've found a mate quite a number of millennia ago.".

Milo exhaled, "Because of status, isn't it?", and Kida nodded softly as she sat up in a lotus position, with Milo getting up to sit on a edge of curbside rubble, looking at her, as she continued on, "From the fisherman to the guard, and in between, courting and marrying a princess would be a great status change for them all, but I am not just a princess...I'm a warrior, an explorer, and I have gotten respect for having experience in hunting and tracking, and keeping our people safe from beasts, but there has been men and a few women as well who told me to leave it alone, to settle down as I'm the crown heir to the throne...I argued with Father a lot as he was worried for me when I first took up to be a warrior, from apprentice and so on, as it was and is a risky position to take.", with a deep sigh.

"I can imagine... what with some of the things we've saw on the way here... this worm creature that took out several men with ease and resisted much of our weapons.", Milo explained as she nodded.

"Not to mention the other arguments I have with Father regarding our future... what remains of it if things continue as they are...", Kida rubbed her arm.

Milo asked curiously, "Why couldn't your father abdicate the throne, and surrender it to you? No offense, but he...he is rather old, and if he indeed ruled for thousands of years...", with an awkward look as he rubbed his neck.

Kida sighed, "He is unfortunately stubborn, my father...And abdicating the throne is technically a weakness to the city, even if it's crumbling on the edge of a lake, unable to show our mightiness to the surface...He has prepared me so long to take the throne someday, but it would mean...I and Sia would lose the only remaining parent we had for so long...I...I'm honestly scared...Oh, believe me, you would think that I'm confident, tough, passionate and determined to help this city...But what if I'm a terrible queen?".

Milo honestly couldn't answer that. He wasn't going to lie and try to say things that he knew wasn't the truth since he still barely knew her for the most part and had no idea if she would make things any better or any worse.

Kida could tell that just from his silence, "I know... I shouldn't ask you that... don't want to make you say something that we'd both regret, I'm sure.".

Milo gave her a small smile, "Hey, it's okay to vent out like that, and I'm just happy to listen to a new friend and be there...Let's make the most of today...starting with breakfast...You hungry?".

Kida smiled, appreciating his support, "Of course. I know the best spot to grab some breakfast while showing you around. And Milo...Thank you...", uncurling from her lotus position, getting up as Milo got up from his man-made seat.

"You're welcome...", Milo smiled as he went into thought. He really could tell that they needed some help... perhaps it might be better for him to at least stay behind; he was fairly confident that Kida would hide him probably somewhere nearby, maybe.

The pair of them went to explore while grabbing breakfast from one of the stalls, and Kida showed him around, like leading him up a statue of creeping vines and all as Milo stared in awe of the amazing view.

"Wow!", Milo whispered, and Kida smiled, "Beautiful, is it not?", and Milo replied, "Oh, it's more than beautiful...Grandpa told me stories about this place as far as I can remember...Perhaps some imagination here and there, but still...Kida, you probably have seen this so many times, but this...from one of the highest buildings of Atlantis, in the heart of the city...for me...it...it's...".

Kida replied softly, "Beyond your dreams...", with a smile, and Milo nodded, "Yeah... I wish Grandpa would be up here, but like you said, I feel like he already is.", as he sat on the second tier of the hat of the statue, resting his back against the top tier, and Kida sat next to him.

"I'm glad you are taking my words to heart, Milo...", Kida smiled before whispering, "You know, I actually never took Sia here, and she understood that it was my sacred place just to be...You are the first person to be here by my side...".

Milo blushed hearing that. "Really? You put that much trust into me?", he asked as Kida nodded. "Hey, you're the one that actually can read our lost language... a little special reward for that is rightfully deserved.", she told him as he chuckled.

"Well, take it a bit easy with that sort of thing, I don't think my nerves could truly take being practically your people's Messiah.", Milo admitted.

Kida smiled, "Oh, I'm sure that they will realize that you are human as much as they are, just like me...It is a thing of earning respect, and they will see you as a good person...like I do...Still, I'm sad on the inside that you have to leave on my father's orders...Still, may I have the chance to do something I'd might never get to have again?".

Milo looked at her, "You healed me, you got us able to see your father, and you are literally giving me the chance to explore a legendary city that I have always dreamed about...Of course, you can...", with a smile.

Kida shyly yet boldly shuffled over, and kissed Milo on the cheek in a quick peck, and leaned back to watch how he reacts, biting her lip, hoping that she is respecting his boundaries, not knowing the culture rules of his world.

Milo gently placed his hand to his cheek as he was stunned by that. He just never thought he'd be able to really experience anything like that, especially in terms of getting one from a princess of all people.

Kida asked hesitantly, "Did I do something wrong? I have not intentionally kissed a man on the cheek before...", wondering if the stunned expression is good or bad.

"No... no...", Milo's brain finally restarted. "Just... that was a surprise...", He said as Kida smiled. "Guessing that's never happened to you before then, huh?", she teased as Milo blushed, "That obvious, huh?".

Kida giggled softly, "Very much so...But somehow it's a good look on you...", and Milo looked surprised as he blushed redder, and Kida grinned, "I never knew pale faces would blush that much...I'm glad to be the cause of it...".

Milo stammered, his heart hammering as he saw her looking so genuinely beautiful when she is mischievous...Not a princess or a warrior, but rather a strangely refreshing woman in her own way...

He wanted to get back at her somehow, and then he remembered what she said, about him being the first person here at her sacred place, and if that was the first time that she kissed a man intentionally and intimately on the cheek...As if he's hearing his grandfather's voice in his heart, he remembered a piece of advice. 'Leap at any chance you get, because you would never know if you could have that chance again...'

Milo took a deep breath, and moved in to kiss her on the cheek, the one with the tattoos, following his heart while not knowing that a peck on the tattoos in a specific area meant that he intimately likes her in Kida's culture. He did it in a gentle and short way and leans back to watch her reaction.

Kida gasped softly, widening her eyes in surprise and joy as she places her hand on her cheek, her heart beating so fast as she whispered, "Milo...", blushing.

"Sorry... I just thought it was fair, you know? You kissed me, I kiss you... that sort of thing.", Milo said as she smiled. Now she really felt her heart ache at the thought of him being forced to leave. One way or another, she was going to figure out a way to keep him, her father's orders be damned if it came at the cost of their people!

"I agree very much with you, Milo. And do not be sorry for it...I enjoyed that...", Kida replied warmly, and Milo looked relieved, "Great.. Shall we get going back to ground level? Even if I wanted to stay up here to see the changes of the city from up high with you, Kida, I think we couldn't waste the day away.".

Kida nodded, "Certainly. Let's go.", and Milo smiled at her, and so they climbed down, heading back to ground level, to explore more of the city, and so they did, with Milo explaining about his friends when she asked about them, grabbing lunch from one of the fishermen, seeing the marketplace, the different terrains, like the beach, the waterfalls, the jungle.

Then soon came dinner, where they reunited with Sia, Jacques and Vinny, at one of the jungle tree/stonehouses, discovering that Erskine and his friend was requested by the King.

As Milo talked with Jacques about the city, while Vinny played some sort of board game with a couple of boys, Kida stared at Sia, "He actually asked for Erskine to return back to the palace? Our father?".