CHAPTER 3: Debates
"Warin, did you see where the Crystal went?"
"I am sorry to say I do not, Milo. No one I know does, but if there is someone, you will find out shortly."
"But why was it removed anyway?"
"The truth I may not know. A great casing had been placed around it. Not long after it was removed from our skies. Khobdesheh claimed it was to be placed in a great temple at a later time. No one has dared question this or inquire where for fear of angering either of you."
The scholar shook his head. "Is there anything else really that he's done? I mean that machine in that north-side cave? Has he done anything with that?"
The man looked puzzled for a moment before finally replying, "No."
"Good. We don't need another machine being used that we don't even know what it does."
"No, we do not."
Milo sat looking on as Kida paced in casual wrap, the only clothing she currently had access to. Her expression, like his, was tense as people gathered in the plaza. He looked down to the cat in his lap, and stroked it in an unconscious attempt to calm himself. The other hand was reserved for a jealous Obbi, who had finally stopped chasing the cat. Fluffy meowed loudly, at Obbi's irritation, almost as if to ask Milo what the problem was before the artist hunter spoke again.
"Do you wish me to take the animals?"
"Yes, please. It might look odd if I go up there with a cat." Obbi almost tripped Milo. "Or a ketakentem obenosuhg…" He gently handed the feline to the man and motioned for Obbi to follow. Rising, his eyes meet Kida's immediately. The linguist knew the same thoughts went through her mind, the same anger at Khobdesheh, the same apprehension of the situation they did not understand, the same desire to help their people, and the same need to be together to draw on each other's strengths. His brown eyes were almost a question, and the queen nodded in response, lips parted. They took each other's hands and walked to the stack of crates piled at the edge of the plaza, a makeshift speaking platform that they started to climb onto. The rest of the team stood to the side of it.
Inhaling deeply, Kida projected her voice of concern. "My people! We know not what has been done here, but we have gathered you here to learn of it! With your help, we shall strive to set Atlantis right once more!" A vehicle came to a stop at the opposite end of the plaza.
Milo stepped forward. "It appears Khobdesheh has taken matters into his own hands to do what he thinks is right. He doesn't seem to realize the pain he's caused."
"I know even the bohodmok does not survive if it does not learn what pain is and is willing to hurt to hunt."
A roar went through the crowd as Khobdesheh stood in the Aktirak across the plaza.
"Khobdeheh!" Kida exclaimed, Milo communicating his surprise with silence.
"Milo. Kida. Pain is necessary to life." He pressed a strange glove or section of armor to his side. "I understand this fact better than anyone."
"Khobdesheh! What've you done?!"
"You do not know?"
All was silent. Indeed, they truly had called the people to learn exactly what was happening and to explain that they had no knowledge of or hand in this.
"You have not heard? Then I suppose it will be I who will educate the naive." Milo saw Kida stiffen defensively, biting her lip. "Atlantis's future is ensured. Imagine an empire where the rulings and laws were consistent, and the views remained the same. The people need not worry about their ruler dying within their lives. Generations upon generations would deal with the same principles and commandments. The ruler would live for eons, each person sacrificing his or her own spiritual life for the sake of society's survival.
"You're killing society! Look at what you're doing Khobdesheh! Master artists and incredible dancers are being turned into hunters. Singers and even historians are being turned into police or janitors, basically! The arts are essential to culture and, though you keep some, is it really enough? Arts, history, all of that separates a society from a pack of animals. Are you trying to preserve a culture or just a race?!"
"A culture is a way of life. I offer a way of life that will survive millions of years. People will be free from fear. There will be no crime, and no one will ever go hungry. We need not fear for our survival. What our lives were degenerating into before the second cataclysm will never happen."
"You are right. Our people will be alive," Kida began, "but will they truly live?" The woman took on an authentic air of wisdom, a trait that reminded Milo of her father. "You are cutting their lives short, are you not? How are they to live without fear if they do not know if they will die in ten thousand years or a century? You--"
"But they do know, Kida. They will die within 150 years."
"What?!" Milo shouted. It was like being told they all had less than six months to live. "You can't do that! What if the places were reversed? What would you say then?"
"If it would better Atlantis I would do it. However, since certain rulers have been so blind as to put comparable merriments ahead of their own culture's survival, I take the burden."
"Then you do put fear into their spirits by lessening it so much! And in addition to this you instill fear in pour people by-"
"Would neither of you sacrifice comfort or your lives for Atlantis? It seems you would have only a few decades ago. My people! Do you see? Your king and queen have changed. They are now hypocrites!
A soft murmur flowed through the crowd.
"Of course we'd sacrifice that," Milo exclaimed, "but not at the price of innocent people who have little choice in the matter!"
"You lied," Kida roared. "You made our people fear us, telling them of our ruthlessness. We were on the rise! Our people were content!"
"They do not know any better, Kida!" Milo noted the ex-advisor's words had an effect as he saw his wife's eyes grow large and she stepped back in some revelation he did not understand. "Though they are learning, many people still cannot read or write yet, and even more cannot do it well. Yes, our history is being revived, but have they truly learned enough? I think not. Try, Milo. Ask, 'Who was Simadar?'"
The king blinked. The name evaded memory, if he had ever stumbled across it.
"And you do not know either. Ask yourself if you know better, Milo. Simadar freed Atlantis from a corrupt king."
"Sounds like you liken yourself to Simadar, Khobdesheh. Did he ever mislead his people?"
The man with the ash-white hair paused on the red-veined vehicle, leaving the crowd to whisper. "That is not something I hold on high, but something I did to better us all, something you are blind to… I give you a second chance. Side with me. Take my pain, if you wish, but understand me!"
"A second chance? To accept pain and fear? No one can live like that. Sorry. Thanks, but no thanks." Milo tightened his lips.
Khobdesheh simply looked down, shrugging a bit. Though Milo could not hear it, he knew the advisor sighed. "I believe in second chances. People grow wiser… Anyone can change in any or every sense of the word. Even the most unlikely can learn to understand." He looked to an area at the end of the plaza Milo could not see, as it was obscured by a fallen pillar. Khobdesheh seemed to gesture to the dilapidated architecture.
First a blue glow with the occasional flash of red, then an entirety of it emerged. Like some hideous metamorphosis the situation contorted itself into another form: a nightmare.
Milo, accompanied by the people just below gasped. As Milo clenched a fist, he heard Kida murmur a growl so heated and fierce the lava would have evaporated. The being that strode beside the Aktirak was unmistakable, the now crystalline entity who had already worked his way into stories that would frighten children. Rourke stood before them all, smiling.
No one dared take their eyes from him, even when Khobdesheh began to speak once more. "As I said, anyone can change, as amazing as it is. You both are a danger to this way of life. You threaten what is best for Atlantis. I am sorry, Milo. I apologize, Kida. I have no choice…" He thrust his armored right limb into the air of night. Behind him rose a sight breathtaking in what had become horrifying. What must have been nearly the entire armada, completely unmanned, hovered, intricate patters that once glowed blue were now scarlet lacerations in the ancient stone.
"Eh, this doesn't look good…" Vinny gawked with the rest.
"We'd better be gittin'!"
Kida joined Milo in stepping to the back edge of the crates. "That... would be wise…!"
As a clawed hand was pointed to the two speakers, the crowd began to scatter, crying out.
Like a wildfire the vehicles enveloped the sky. The team bolted, hoping to find refuge anywhere.
Kida by his side, or slightly ahead of him as the case was, Milo scrambled over ruins and sped down steps, wishing they had spears to aid them in their flight. "Split up! If he's controlling them we'll be harder to follow!"
A Martag flew low, the fish vehicle preparing to attack. In the growing distance was the ex-advisor's Aktirak. A screaming whistle seemed to call forth a crimson bolt of energy from the closest vehicle's gaping mouth. As the red lightning struck the ground debris flew, becoming projectiles in themselves. The king stumbled as a stone impacted his skull, causing him to yelp. His vision sparked for several seconds. Rubbing the back of his head the linguist glanced to his left to see a slab of stone slam against Audrey's back, pinning her to the ground. "No!" He ran to his friend, trying to lift it in spite of the increasing barrage around them.
"Get out of here!" the mechanic gasped as Kida joined to help.
"Not without 'ya!" Milo heard Sweet exclaim. With his gentle muscle the stone rolled over without hurting its captive.
A Turtak, jaws wide, hurtled toward them. Audrey was grabbed by her overalls by Sweet, who easily hoisted her over her shoulder as he bolted. Milo and Kida closed behind. A massive explosion signaled the Turtak's assault. Pebbles beat the king's skin, and luckily nothing else besieged him. Milo followed when Kida broke away, but still tried to not where everyone else was amidst the chaos.
He peered back over his shoulder. Closest to him was a Ketak. The erudite man barely had time to wonder why when it swooped low, causing him and his wife to dive for cover. The vehicle crashed cataclysmically, exploding with a brilliant display of fire. Its debris became weapons, pieces painfully pummeling them. Kida yelled as a large segment crashed against her right arm. Milo looked back again, clambering to his feet as another Martag bore down on them. There was nothing either pf them could do…
From the corner of his vision came a figure running toward the vehicle, lobbing something that seemed to spark magically in this time between life and death. So near to it the man was when the explosives entered the machine's mouth. Again a blast sounded, close enough Milo could feel it in his teeth. He flinched when he felt a wall of heat that felt like it should sear his skin. The scholar opened his eyes in time to see the figure fly past.
"Vinny!" Though Milo was already standing, Kida, cradling her arm, reached him first.
"Vinny! Are you all right?!"
"Say something!"
The demolitionist coughed, the jerk shaking off the ash that was once his eyebrows and much of his moustache. The linguist took the burning match from his mouth. "Now that was ah boom!" he smiled. Milo smiled back, relieved.
"Quickly! We must move him!"
"Gotcha."
An Aktirak skimmed above.
Together Milo and Kida, using only her good arm, lifted him by the shoulders and arms onto theirs and ran as best they could.
When they reached what seemed to be a dead end, a raspy accented voice met the ears of those filled with trepidation. "Psst! Here!" loudly whispered Mole from what looked like a freshly dug trench. The trio quickly dashed for it, landing a little hard. To their relief, the rest of the crew occupied it too. Everyone, Milo noted, was scratched, bruised, an attending to their wounds except for Packard. How she managed to get away with only a few more dents in her helmet the king would never know.
"Sweet!" Milo breathed loudly. "Vinny's been hurt!" His words proved unnecessary, however, since the physician went to them immediately. He watched the African Native American, with all his care, remove the demolitionist's breast plate and black sweater.
"'M I ah gonna make it, Doc?" Vinny raised a nonexistent eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, but let me work on 'ya, first."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Milo glanced around for his wife. He found her crouching at the other end of the trench, facing away from everyone. The linguist crawled over on three limbs, pressing his crystal against the back of his head with the last. "Kida, are--" When he saw her face he backed away immediately. It had been years since he had seen any expression that even compared to the venom that scorched her face.
"Yes?" Her tone, though extremely serious, did not convey the utter hatred her face had expressed.
"You…"
"The queen turned to face him, her eyes no longer looking as if they could melt something with a glance. "Forgive me. I have not been this…" Her anger kept her from finding the exact word she wanted. She held out her hands in frustration.
"Enraged?" Milo offered.
"Yes," she said, still not satisfied. "I have not since that murderer earned his title!" It was clear Kida was trying to hide some of it, for the hint of a powerful growl had entered her voice.
Milo dared to cautiously put his hand on her left arm, cooking concernedly to her face.
"I vowed I would kill him when he struck Father… I have the chance now…" She tensed. "What were you going to ask me?"
"I… uh…" After seeing that expression Milo had to find the thoughts that had run for cover. "Are you okay? I mean, of course not, Rourke's alive and we're on the run, but… How's the arm?" He noted she still cradled it. "Haven't you healed it yet?"
She exhaled heavily as she looked at it. "It is broken. I need Sweet to help me set the bones in place or lit will not heal properly."
"Call me?" the doctor asked. Sweet's amicability still showed even in his most seriousness of faces, something that eased Milo's nerves and surely alleviated Kida's restless spirit. "Now, lemme see that arm." She held it out, the limb already swelling. "Pretty bad break, but we can fix that. Now, get ready ma'am." Kida clenched her jaw as the expert physician cracked it into place. Delicately Sweet healed the break with short, precise applications of his crystal. "Better?"
Kida flexed her arm and hand. "Yes, very much so. Thank you."
"Uh, Sweet? How's Vinny? What about Audrey?"
"My pride is hurt…" he heard the Latino girl comment, "but otherwise I'm good."
"Vinny's gonna be fine, but considering the broken ribs and shoulder, it'll still take a while for him to recover. He took a big hit. He's tired from both that and the extensive healing. Vinny was in mild shock, I believe."
"Knowing you, I'm sure you're right…" When Sweet went back to the Italian, Milo and Kida crept behind. Vinny opened his eyes and liked at the linguist. "That was amazing, Vinny."
"Had it not been for you, a twelfth King Stone would have been presented to the Mother Crystal. You saved us."
"We owe you our lives. Thank you."
"Ey, it was nothing." He looked straight up, dreamy. "I think I found the perfect boom… Some sorta reaction between the circuits and the dynamite, I think." He smiled contentedly, eyes flickering. The demolitionist popped his eyes open and put his gloved fingers to his brows and upper lip. "Now ah tell me. How do I look with half ah moustache, eh?"
Milo chuckled a bit. "Like a hero." However, he found Vinny already asleep from exhaustion as he said it. The linguist just shook his head a little. He looked up to see the little Frenchman examining the edge of the trench. "Mole? Is it safe to say you dug this?"
"Yes, but eet eez no marvel. The soil eez too soft here to accommodate anytheeng other than the seempleest unsupported structures." The geologist frowned as he examined the dirt.
"Marvel or not, it was a great idea." Mole simply waved away the complement and went back to his work.
Milo sat down in the dust, still trying to take in all of what had happened. He was now a refugee in his own land, and his own advisor had betrayed him. The linguist put his hand over his eyes. It was like a book he had read before, some terrible story he had heard. He couldn't believe what was happening.
Milo found himself longing to pet his cat, wondering if she was safe.
"But could it be true...?" he wondered aloud.
"Could what be true?"
The king looked back at the queen. "What Khobdesheh said. That anyone can change."
Her face flamed again as she turned it away. "Rourke can never change!"
"I didn't say Khob was right, but… Why would he join up with him? Unless he had changed, I mean. Khobdesheh has always been prone to jump into things, but we didn't have a stupid advisor…"
"Rourke cannot change. He must be forcing Khobdesheh to do this!"
"I think if Khobdesheh found himself a tool for Rourke he'd be more likely to kill himself… Like you might."
Kida looked back at him, eyes conveying conflicting emotions, the rest of her face unsure of which feeling to side with.
"Kida, something here's different. Maybe the Crystal's power changed him for the better, or--"
"Perhaps he is misleading Khobdesheh the same way he mislead you."
"You took the words right out of my mouth."
"What? How?!"
"Nevermind. Just a saying. 'Exactly,' is what I mean."
"If the crystal changed him for the better, why, as you have told me, did he continue to come after you in that form?"
Milo paused. "It might be something that occurs over time?"
"It sure wasn't to give you a hug." Audrey's sarcastic remark made Milo realize everyone was listening to their conversation.
"No…" the cartographer voiced. "But something still isn't right here… Maybe whatever it is with Rourke has also to do with the Crystal… Wherever it is." He ran a hand over his hair.
"Maybe that's why he's alive and our crystals are glowin' red."
"That's probably the connection, Sweet. We really don't know what's going on… Or how--"
"Get down!" came Mole. An unmanned Aktirak flew overhead, hovering briefly above them before moving on.
"It… didn't attack us…"
"Qué obviamente, Milo. (How obvious, Milo.)"
"But why in the cockle doodle didn't it do it?"
Pushing up his glasses the king replied to Cookie, "It must be a scout…"
"Which means we must move now!" exclaimed Kida in whisper.
Voices in the background silenced them all, freezing them in the trench. Glancing around, Milo pulled a stone from the soil. One edge had been sheared off long ago, creating a natural but crude sharp edge. Slowly he crept to the edge, only to find his glasses snatched away. An unfocused Kida, pressed against the wall, held them up with one hand above the edge to angle them carefully. She was using the vague reflections to look around.
"People are searching." the huntress breathed, barely audible.
A soft impact on earth and a tweet caused them all to whirl. There perched a large man, armed with a spear, crouching at the border of their tiny sanctuary. A steady rhythm in the opposite direction let the team know the others were running toward them.
Milo grabbed his glasses away from Kida and stood, stone in hand. His heart exploded with energy. "Get back…!"
"Do not be afraid. We are here to help all of you."
"What? We thought you were a search party."
"Yes, Milo, but we are not searching under Khobdesheh's order."
"PAH-geh-sheh-nen NEE-shen-toap AHD-luhn-tih-suhg. (Thank you, Spirits of Atlantis)"
"I would not be amazed to hear the whole city believes in you."
"Are there many that believe?"
"Yes, my queen."
The crew ducked as another Martag flew over.
"Do not fear… I do not believe they can see us. We believe Khobdesheh must be able to see a target for any complex command. The vehicles are running like guards. If you were found at least one vehicle would be close enough to subdue you quickly this way. They seem not to need much direction to simply run in large circles."
"So... Khob can't see us?"
"No. Come. There is much we must set right."
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The Name "Shards of Chaos" is property of Disney. The term "gorlock" is property of Disney Interactive. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Bendoh, Rourke and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company.
Disclaimer: Atlantis: the Lost Empire, and the characters, language, symbols, storylines and titles are property of he Walt Disney Company. This site has been created for entertainment, non-profit purposes only. See sources.
Permission must be granted by the fan authors/artists before their material is to be used. Credit must also be given to the respective author/artist in question. Do so via their e-mail. Questions? Comments? E-mail me at Like_A_Star8800@yahoo.com.
