The palace gates groaned shut as the last of the mercenaries fell to Kurai and Helios. They left behind a wake of destruction: shattered pillars, scorched floor tiles, wounded guards moaning in pain, and the bitter smell of smoke clinging to the once-sacred air. The light from the Heart had vanished, taking with it the very soul of Atlantis.
Kida was gone.
Helios stood in the throne room's center, Equilibrium still pulsing in his grip, his whip-form slowly retracting into a solid blade with a whisper of dissipating darkness. His chest rose and fell with breath.
"We failed…" Milo whispered, still cradling the place where Helga's whip had hit and his ribs where the butt of the gun had struck. His voice trembled. "They took her."
"No," Helios replied grimly. "We haven't failed yet. She's still alive. But if we wait any longer, you will lose her."
Kurai stepped over a fallen mercenary, her face carved from steel. "Then we go after them and kill everything in our way."
"No," Helios said, calmer now, sheathing his keyblade. "Calm yourself and remember what we need to do."
Behind them, the broken body of King Kashekim stirred with a groan. Milo and Sweet were at his side in moments, the medic pressing cloth to his wounds while the king's pale eyes fluttered open.
"Milo… child of the surface…" the king rasped. "Come closer…"
Milo bent low, voice shaking. "I'm here, Your Majesty…"
"The Heart… It has awakened again. And with it… so too will the judgment."
Helios stepped forward slowly, motioning for the others to remain silent.
Kashekim's bloodied hand rose, beckoning Milo to lean in closer. "Long ago… I made a mistake," the king gasped. "A terrible one."
The flickering torch crystals seemed to dim, the shadows growing thicker as he continued.
"I… I tried to use the Heart… as a weapon," he confessed, his voice a trembling whisper of remorse. "I wanted to strike down our enemies… before they could strike us. But the Heart is not for war. It is… a living force. One that cannot be commanded by darkness, greed, or fear."
Kida's mother, her voice long gone from history, was now given form by the old king's dying words.
"She tried to stop me… her mother," he said to the space where Kida had stood minutes ago. "She knew what the Heart would do. And when I lost control… when the sea itself rose to swallow our arrogance… she gave herself to it. She became the barrier, the shield… the dome that saved what little remained. That is how we came to be as we are now."
Gasps echoed through the chamber.
"She never returned," Kashekim continued. "But her sacrifice bought Atlantis time… time we squandered. I feared the Heart would take Kida too in the future. So I hid it, even from her. I let our people drift toward ruin… all because I was afraid to lose her too."
Tears glistened in Milo's eyes. "You only wanted to protect her."
"Yes, what father wouldn't do everything in his power to save his little girl?" added Helios as he looked down on the dying man who had accepted his fate.
Kashekim gave the faintest nod. "But now… the Heart has chosen. The same way it did before… and she will be lost unless… unless you act quickly."
His body began to shimmer faintly. A soft light pulsed beneath his skin, the same blue glow as the Heart.
"Save her," he pleaded, his voice now a faint echo. "Save Atlantis… from the darkness within."
Then, with a final exhale, the king's body dissolved into motes of light, his heart-shaped essence drifting upward before spiraling away toward the depths—toward where Kida had been taken.
Silence gripped the room.
Cookie took off his hat, eyes damp. "He may've been old and stubborn… but he died tryin' to do right by his people."
Kurai remained still, watching the drifting lights in contempt until they vanished. "Now what?"
Helios looked to Milo. "You know where they might try to take the Heart to escape, right?"
Milo nodded slowly. "Beneath the city. The mural pointed to a subterranean chamber accessed through the temple ruins. I shared that knowledge with him yesterday, and that seems like the best way to safely get out of the city. If Rourke's heading there, he'll need to pass through a sealed catacomb."
"We'll take the long route," Helios said. "Avoid the direct pursuit. We flank and intercept."
Sweet looked over from where he was bandaging one of the injured guards. "We'll need to move fast. I'll stay behind with the wounded. The rest of you—go save her."
Audrey cracked her knuckles. "Let's do this. That rat's going to learn what happens when you mess with a Ramirez."
Vinny gave a curt nod. "Mole knows underground. We can track them."
"Then it's settled. Let's hurry," Helios said, his tone a little rushed and impatient.
He turned to the others, his gaze flicking to each in turn—Milo's grief-stricken determination, Kurai's cold rage, the Atlantean warriors who had survived, and the surface team that had chosen morality over gold.
"We're not just saving Kida," Helios said. "We're saving a civilization. And if Rourke wants to doom these people, he'd better be ready for divine punishment or worse, Kurai's punishment."
The floor beneath their feet trembled slightly, a low pulse of energy echoing from the direction the king's heart had vanished.
They were running out of time.