𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐒 》 MILO THATCH

𝔄𝔴𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤

𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚
𖣔𖣘𖣔

THEY WERE PULLED INTO THE CENTER OF THE POND. (Name) felt her toes hit something when she took a scrambled step, like there was a bump on the floor. Seconds after they were all stood, and just when (Name) was about to turn and smirk at Rourke, the floor shifted to the left, like a cork screw. (Name)'s hands flew outwards to try and balance herself again. They began to move down.

Expecting to travel down a deep dark tunnel until they hit the Earth's core, (Name) was rather surprised when she saw that it opened up into a cavern. The rocks slid in to resemble a sphere, they were smooth and jagged, but also walls that meant (Name) had no escape. They kept moving for a few moments, until they hit the floor and shifted right, moving back into place.

The rocks were covered in patterns, presumably ancient Atlantean. There was more water, too, another pond, except (Name) couldn't see what was beneath this one - maybe it was nothing at all. Despite the water being so dark, the cave was well lit, faces hovering above the water, spun anti-clockwise, carved eyes glowing blue. Like Kida's crystal.

Entranced, (Name) nearly stepped forwards before the floor had halted its movements.

''Jackpot,'' Rourke said, spinning his toothpick cockily before planting it between his teeth. Milo and Helga stepped forwards too. (Name) stayed with Kida - she was the strongest one here and maybe she had been here before, she was their best chance at escaping. Only, Kida looked as though she had seen a ghost.

''Oh,'' she said, taking a few moments to process what was happening. ''The Kings of out past.'' A lone tear slid down her cheek, and then she was on the floor. Her knees pressed into the stone as her pals hit the floor, her forehead barely grazing it as she closed her eyes, mumbling frantically what (Name) thought to be some form of prayer.

''(Last Name), tell her to wrap it up, we got a schedule to keep,'' Rourke said with a roll of his eyes. The other three exchanged an uneasy glance before (Name) realised it was either her, or the commander himself. Lowering herself down slowly in hopes to buy Kida more time, she placed an arm on the girls shoulder. Kida flinched underneath the girls touch, looking up to see what was going on. The head snap caused her necklace to fly up at the sudden jerk of the movement. Kida's crystal, her life force, brushed against (Name)'s wrist and a sensation washed over her.

Blinking it away, she smiled softly down at her. ''Kida, I'm so sorry, but...'' Nodding slightly, the Atlantean allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, stepping forwards to join the others.

(Name) paused, glancing down at where her wrist was held in front of her. The skin burned from where the crystal had touched her, not in a way that hurt, but more of an unknown muscle being stretched for the first time. It felt - good. But (Name) had no idea why.

Rourke looked up at the majestic scene, unimpressed. Glancing down, he kicked a stray pebble into the waters, looking through his eyelashes when the blue light turned red, voices murmering in deep, hoarse voices that sent chills up everyone's spine. And - there it was again, the voices hit her eardrums and (Name) felt as though she was being pestered out of a deep slumber.

''C'mon, lets get this over with,'' Helga said, nudging (Name) forwards with her elbow, but it wasn't as harsh anymore, the place had the blonde too spooked to do any real harm. ''I don't like this place.''

Turning around, Rourke took his tooth pick out again, gesturing to Milo with it. ''All right, Thatch, what's next?''

''Okay, so there's a giant collection of faces, hovering one-hundred and fifty feet in the air, over a bottomless pit of water. Doesn't anything surprise you?''

''The only thing that surprises me...''

Their voices were getting fuzzier by the second, her eyes fixed on the crystal. ''Mahtim,'' she heard, Kida's voice as clear as day. A beam shone down on Kida, drawn to the necklace as it floated above her chest, leading her to the waters edge. Once her toes barely reached the dark liquid, when she turned around, revealing eyes painted blue.

''Talk to me Thatch, tell me what's happening.''

''I, I don't know! All it says here, is that the crystal is alive, somehow and it... I don't know how to explain it. It's their deity. It's their power source.''

''Speak English, Professor.''

''They're apart of it, it's apart of them. I... I'm doing the best I can here!''

''Well, do better.''

''Hey, here's an idea, why don't you translate, and I'll wave the gun around!'' From the corner of her eye, (Name) could see Milo waving his arms about, but her stare was zeroed in on Kida.

Kida extended her arm, and they all froze, waiting for what would happen next. Her gaze locked with (Name)'s and there was that feeling again. Like old bones softly cracking back into use. ''They want you.'' The words sounded foreign to the zoologist, but her brain didn't even need to pause and translate them. (Name)'s eyes flashed with understanding, although she herself didn't, and she took a step forwards too, palm sliding into Kida's where they both turned to the others.

''All will be well, Milo Thatch, for there are no traitors among your rank.'' They spoke in unison, successfully freaking everyone else out. Immediately, Rourke snapped towards Milo, demanding to know what had just happened.

''I, uh, I don't know, I didn't catch it,'' Milo said, holding back the faint smile that wanted to make an appearance. He still didn't fully understand why (Name) had glowing eyes, but he did understand their message. (Name) was on his side, she had always been there. He could only hope that that was still where she wanted to be.

The two turned back to each other, their eyes connecting again, and it was as if they were speaking telepathically. (Name) couldn't hear the words, she couldn't feel them either, not in the way she had heard the old kings only moments before, but then again, she didn't really feel anything anymore, not even the ground beneath her feet.

What was happening?

𖣔𖣘𖣔
Okay, so I know this update took a while, but I was asked to try and make the updates more frequent! So, I've written ahead and pretty much finshed the book so now after this long wait, you only have short ones to go now! Hope you enjoyed <3