Wanderlust ✧ (Milo Thatch)

fifteen

Placing his stethoscope on, Dr Sweet checked over the fallen king.

"How's he doing?" Milo asked as he entered the room. "Not good I'm afraid. Internal bleeding. There's nothing more I can do," Sweet was straight to the point. "What a nightmare," Milo approached the king, rubbing his neck, "And I brought it here," he lowered his head. "Ah, don't go beating yourself up. He's been after that crystal since Iceland," replied Sweet.

Milo placed his hand on his head. "The crystal. Sweet, that's it. These...these crystals, they have some sort of healing energy. I've seen it work," he carefully scooped up the king's necklace. "No," the king reached for Milo's hand. "Where is my daughter?"

"Well, she...she...mm," Milo couldn't answer the royal.

"She has been chosen like her mother before her."

"What?"

"In times of danger, the crystal will choose a host. One of royal blood to protect itself and its people. It will accept no other."

"Wait a minute," Milo sat beside the king. "Choose? So this thing is alive?"

"In a way. The crystal thrives on the collective emotions of all who came before us. In return, it provides power. Longevity. Protection. As it grew, it developed a consciousness of its own." the king coughed weakly. "In my arrogance, I sought to use it as a weapon of war but its power proved too great to control. It overwhelmed us and led to our destruction."

"That's why you hid it beneath the city, to keep history from repeating itself."

"And to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate as my beloved wife."

"What do you mean? What's going to happen to Kida?" Milo rose to his feet.

"If she remains bonded to the crystal, she could be lost to it forever. The love of my daughter is all I have left. My burden would have become hers when the time was right, but now it falls to you," the king removed his necklace, handing it to Milo.

"Me?" Milo accepted the necklace in astonishment.

"Return the crystal. Save Atlantis. Save my daughter," were the king's final words before his untimely death. The guards kneeled in silence beside their spears to mourn respectfully. In the distance, a horn could be heard, alerting the Atlanteans of their king's demise.

Dr Sweet placed his equipment into his bag, inhaling deeply. "Hmm. So, what's it going to be?"

"Excuse me?" Milo turned his head to look at Sweet.

"I followed you in and I'll follow you out. It's your decision."

"Oh, my decision? Well, I think we've seen how effective my decisions have been. Let's recap. I lead a band of plundering vandals to the greatest archaeological find in recorded history, thus enabling the kidnap, and, or murder of the royal family. Not to mention, personally delivering the most powerful force known to man into the hands of a mercenary nutcase who's probably going to sell it to the Kaiser! Have I left anything out?" Milo yelled, throwing the Shepherd's Journal to the floor.

"Well, you did set the camp on fire and drop us down that big hole."

"Thank you," Milo flailed his arms in the air. "Thank you very much," Milo took a seat and Sweet picked up the discarded book. "Of course, it's been my experience when you hit bottom, the only place left to go is up."

"Who told you that?" Milo sighed.

"A fella by the name of Thaddeus Thatch."

Inspired by his late grandfather's advice, Milo carefully tossed and caught the crystal necklace in his hand with an expression of determination plastered on his face. Milo and Sweet joined the crew outside and everyone watched Milo march away. "Where are you going?" Audrey questioned. "I'm going after Rourke."

"Milo, that's crazy," she pointed out.

"I didn't say it was the smart thing but it is the right thing."

"Come on, we better make sure he doesn't hurt himself" sighed Audrey and the crew followed. They watched Milo climb aboard an Atlantean vehicle. "Milo, what do you think you're doing? What about Challis? We need all the help we can get to take down Rourke," Audrey mentioned. Milo grimaced at her name when her betrayal came to mind.

"She's chosen whose side she's on."

"Milo, listen to me," Audrey reached out for his arm. "Rourke threatened her with his gun. Almost choked her too. She was never after the crystal or the big break. The only reason she's with Rourke right now is so that you don't end up shot dead." 

"It's true, we were all there," Vinny added.

"If I were you, I'd go after the girl. Heck, my third ex-husband couldn't even do that for me," Packard moaned while lighting yet another cigarette. Milo, distracted by the fact Packard had three ex-husbands, looked at her in astonishment before snapping back to reality.

Challis was always devoted to him and he let her go with that monster without a fight. His hands trembled out of resentment towards Rourke. Baring his teeth with a frown, Milo pulled the crystal necklace out of his pocket. "Just follow my lead."

He placed the crystal into the slot, twisted it and placed his hand on the pad which lit up blue. The engine revved and the vehicle rose into the air. "Wow, I'm impressed," Packard took a long drag of her cigarette. Audrey climbed on behind Milo. "It's simple, all you got to do-" Milo was interrupted by Audrey who said "Yeah yeah yeah, shut up. We get it, okay?" she then placed her hand on the pad and the vehicle went flying back into the wall. 

"Gently. Just gently," Milo scolded.

"Hey Milo, you got something sporty? You know, like a tuna?" Vinny called out.

"How is this done?" an Atlantean curiously inquired.

"All you got to do is use the crystals. Kida showed me," Milo ran over to a spare vehicle, "half turn right. Quarter turn back. Keep your hand on the pad, the linguist proudly demonstrated. Catching on, the Atlanteans boarded any vehicles they could get their hands on.

"Saddle up partners. Bring jerky and ammo," Cookie twirled his shotgun as he claimed his own.

The rescue team floated in the air, ready to fight against Rourke to protect their city. "All right, this is it. We're going to rescue the girls. We're going to save Atlantis or we're going to die trying! Now let's do it!" Milo yelled with a fist pump in the air.

On cue, the rescue team sped off. The remaining Atlanteans cheered from below, waving their arms wildly with hope in their hearts. The rescue team gave chase, headed towards the volcano. "I'm coming, Challis, just hold on."