Cody

I was home.

After everything, fighting with KrakenKid and being sent back, spending time with the younger him, and seeing a new side to Poseidon, I finally got home, back in my own time and everything.

But I still felt like a part of me was left behind. That what came back wasn't 100% Cody. No, I felt a sense of dread. Like there was a ball and chain attached to me wherever I went.

I tried to act normal, to joke all of my cares away, but I couldn't. Rasmus and Professor both pelted me with questions on what happened but I gave vague answers. I didn't want to talk about it quite yet. I was still trying to take it in. I even found it a little hard to sleep, my thoughts going everywhere but when I did, I finally found out what was so wrong with me.

It was odd to dream about something other than the Nexus in a dark room, but it happened. I was back in time but screams rang in my ears. Even when I covered them, it still came just as clearly. All around me, thousands of krakens were screaming, dying and collapsed on the ground, but there was one just standing there in the middle, unmoving and kept their head down. It kept happening until they was the last one. I stumbled forward, reaching out to them, my breath going ragged. As soon as I touched the shoulder, they whipped around.

It was KrakenKid.

I shot awake in a cold sweat, my heart thumping out of my chest and fear pulsing through me. It took me a while to figure out what my dream was about. So many krakens dead and KrakenKid being the last one standing made sense, but why were the screams so realistic? It was almost like-

Then it hit me.

I sighed to myself and rubbed my eyes, trying to get it out of my head but doing that was next to impossible. Eventually, I came to a conclusion.

I was in an internal war. My heart and mind were conflicted about what to feel.

I didn't know how to feel about KrakenKid, about what I experienced, about myself but most of all, I couldn't come to terms about my father, Poseidon.

All the stories I heard about him were good and Rasmus never stopped saying good things about him. The people of Atlantis too. But even seeing pictures of him all around just unsettled me.

I knew what I needed to do, even if I didn't want to.

As I walked up the stairs, my mind never stopped thinking. Thinking about everything I learned, and everything that happened. Reaching the palace, all of the guards were surprised to get the request to leave the throne room and make sure no one comes in. Nonetheless, they obeyed. I was their King, of course they listened.

Soon, I was alone.

My steps became heavy just walking towards the throne, but I had to do it. I needed to face it. Stopping at the gold and red seat, I raised my head up to the mural hanging above it. So many times I came here to talk to him, but never was I in the state I was now. The state of anger, of confusion, and of betrayal.

My fists clenched but somehow, even though I didn't want to, there was a part of me that knew this had to be done. I needed to face him. I needed to say something. After everything I learned, I needed to say SOMETHING.

"Rasmus always told me how great you are." Even though it was just a painting, I could still feel the rage flow through me. "He always told me how you built this city and protected it with your last breath, and I believed him! For so long, I believed that my father was the best ruler anyone could ask for and wondered if I could be a fraction of what you were, but is that true? Is it really? Because now I'm not to sure!"

I paused as if waiting for him to say something, but of course it never came.

"Everyone- no- all the Atlanteans- they all worship you! They worship me for being your son! But you know what? What if I didn't want to be? HUH? WHAT IF I DIDN'T WHAT TO BE THE SON OF POSEIDON?"

My voice strained and pleaded for me to stop, but I couldn't. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I huffed, prying my eyes off of the mural and started to pace around, back and forth. "There were thousands of them! A practically whole district full of just krakens! All of them had lives and families! Friends! Not all of them were bad, just a fraction, but no, you deemed it too dangerous! Did you ever think about what you did would affect so many others? This, so many things that are damaging Atlantis right now, is because of YOU! YOU AND YOUR CHOICE OF COMMITTING GENOCIDE!"

My whole body began to shake, hot tears poured out of my eyes and refused to stop. "There were so many men, women and children of all different ages! YOU KILLED THEM ALL! YOU'RE A MURDERER, YOU HEAR ME? A MURDERER! A MUR-..." My lungs heaved, a sudden weight dropping on me. "I'm the son of a mass murderer... That- that bad- no, that EVILNESS inside of you, is now running in my veins! I've tried to make Atlantis better, but can I? Is it possible for me to, or will I just break everything I touch?"

Fuming, I whipped to the painting. "SEE? SEE WHAT YOU DID? THIS IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" I let a couple breaths out, calming myself a tad, just enough so I could breath properly, then let myself speak again "KrakenKid is trying to destroy Atlantis because of your choice! He doesn't think Atlantis has any good! He doesn't think I have any good in me, and do you blame him? After what you did, I can't even trust myself! Did you ever think about that? Did you ever stop and think about the effect this out have on your family? Your own heir?"

I let out a shudder, wiping away any tears on my face only for them to be replaced. I looked away from his false gaze, but could still feel myself shrinking under it.

"... Did you ever stop and just think? I don't know if you know but one of the times I acted without thinking and let my anger get the best of me, I almost finished what you started."

I gritted my teeth and I looked back up one more time, determined. "After I learned this, I've had to carry your sins around, the souls of thousands, all of that dead weight when I don't have to. That was your burden to carry, not mine! You know what Poseidon? You wanted to make Atlantis thrive and survive? You want to make it better than it ever was? Fine! I'll do that,"

I stared him directly in the eye, dead serious. Any crying that occurred earlier now ceased "But not as your son. I'm done being your son. I'm a King now, and I shouldn't have to deal with the emotional scarings of something I didn't do! That was your mistakes and choices, and as your successor King, I have to fix them. I will make things right, but just know, this isn't something I'm doing for you. I am not freeing you from guilt. I am just doing what has to be done. I'm just King Cody Maverick, someone who has your genetics, but I am not your son."

Turning away, I marched out of the room, leaving one final remark. "And you are no longer my father."

As I left the palace and walked down to the gates, a voice called out to me and I stopped in my tracks, looking back. Rasmus was rushing to catch up with me and when he did, he stopped and just stared into my eyes in disbelief.

It took me a minute before I came to a conclusion. "You heard what I said didn't you?" Rasmus was still speechless but nodded anyways. I huffed and looked away. "Great... Anything to say? Anything to try and convince me?"

The rooster just stared and finally asked. "Cody... What happened to you?"

I froze up but faced him in the end. "You want to know what happened? The Nexus sent me back in time and I met a cute little KrakenKid who was traumatized by the attempted genocide of his entire kind and how he was being hunted for it. He told me everything. You lied to me Rasmus! You told me he was the best King to ever exist! YOU LIED!"

"Poseidon did make some mistakes-"

"Mistakes? MISTAKES?" I growled. "Killing almost every single kraken was more than a mistake!"

Rasmus avoided my gaze for a moment but returned to it, sighing. "... Fine. He did some terrible things, but he was doing it for Atlantis. Poseidon put Atlantis over everything and everyone else. When some of the krakens started to take over he made a choice, one that most wouldn't think was too bad because of their own ignorance. Poseidon didn't want any trace of what could destroy his kingdom. Yes, he did bad things but he only wanted what was best for Atlantis. He broke some relationships along the way, including those of your family."

All rage drained from me, instead replaced with curiosity and confusion. Rasmus noticed pretty quickly and explained. "Your mother was angry with your father for a time and even left with you for a while. She came back but their relationship never fully healed to what it was. That wasn't all either... You, your brother and your father weren't exactly what you normally see. In fact, you didn't take much pride in being a prince or an Atlantean at all. You left and when you came back, you were different, much more like you are now. You were passionate about your job and just wanted to improve your homeland. Seeing you like that..." He sighed deeply. "I just wanted you to be happy again. So yes, I lied, but only to protect you."

I couldn't speak for the longest time, but finally I came to a conclusion. "I understand what you did but lying that much seems wrong." I faced away from the palace and gazed down the path. "I will make Atlantis better. I will right this. Just you wait."

I started walking down it but Rasmus followed. "Cody, where are you going? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to fix this."

I stood in front of the crystals and peered into the cave, remembering all the time I spent in there but with a smaller kraken. To my surprise, the adult version of him exited and froze at the sight of me. We locked eyes for a moment, then he cautiously approached.

"What are you doing here penguin?" Every time I heard my nickname it seemed to be an insult but this was the first time it felt like it wasn't. I took in a deep breath before speaking.

"I-... I need to make things right. You made the Tide Changers because Atlantis wasn't a place you wanted it to be and... I see it now. I want to improve but... I can't do it alone."

I sighed and ran my hand though my top feathers. "Rasmus, Pikalus, the Sneaky Sisters, they're all friends but they can't give me criticism the way I need it. I need someone to help me who knows Atlantis as something else. Someone who has seen the evil in it and knows how to fix it... What I'm trying to say is, join me KrakenKid. You and your Tide Changers, come join up with Atlantis."

KrakenKid said nothing. I started to sweat, wondering if he'd reject my offer. "Okay Maverick." He held out his tentacle. A smirk played on his face. "Let's make an Atlantis worth my people. I'll help you, but you have to make sure my Tide Changers have a place in society. And when I give you criticism, I'm going to be blunt. No sugar coating. You think you can handle that?"

I blinked. "You really want to agree to this?"

"You are the only one who learned important things from our little trip. I now know that you do want what's best for Atlantis, your younger self taught me that. You actually had quite some wisdom for a child. I'm not sure if I can fight you after all of that... I want to be able to live in an Atlantis I approve of, and maybe you can make it. You're my best bet, so prove me right. Do we have a deal?"

I grinned and shook his hand. "We do."

In my life, I've had many lies, but you never know the full story until you see it from another point of view. You have to know the facts, and when you see it, there are so many things you learn about people.

Rasmus wanted to do anything to protect me, Poseidon cares more about his city than his family, I was much different, KrakenKid never got to live a normal life. All of this, I learned through the Nexus.

I have no idea why it did that, but it was like it knew it's what I needed. What KrakenKid needed. It's like it knew, that what I truly needed wasn't him to tell me everything during a fight, or to slowly piece it together but rather, what I needed to make Atlantis what I want it to be,

Was To See Through The Enemy's Eyes.

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Holyyyy crappppp, that was pretty hard... Endings are always the hardest aren't they? I never know if I'm accidentally leaving something out or if it's good enough but I can say I am VERY proud of that last line. I loved referencing the title in a way that makes you go YOOOOOOOOOOO.

Alright, since this is more than likely the last chapter of this book, time for the very long end note I promised. Ya'll ready?

To be honest, I think the reason I came up with this is I started thinking about KrakenKid and Cody's rivalry but also on how strong they would be if they teamed up, then I thought about if they met their younger counter parts and SOMEHOW it just kinda formed into this!

In case you didn't know, this is my second book I've ever made and I didn't think anyone would like this silly little book idea but BOY was I wrong! I couldn't believe how many of you ended up loving my book and it all just blew me away! Holy crap, I didn't think I'd make it this far! This book was going to be a lot shorter but it ended up being like 17 chapters long! I thought it was going to be 15 AT MOST but then I got inspiration and all of the support just kept me going!

This was a really fun book to make! From the young KrakenKid's cuteness to his older counterpart being TOTALLY DONE WITH EVERYTHING and both Cody's being little cinnamon buns that we need to protect, because somethings don't change, it was a nice side project from my main one. Writing the same book gets a little dull so this was an amazing break from it.

The only other thing I'm thinking of doing with this book is maybe like pointing out any little Easter eggs in this book, which I don't think I have too many in this one, or, something that you guys can decide is this:

Should I make like a Q and A for this book? Like do you guys have any questions you want me to answer?

If not, that will be the end of it.

Anyways, like I said, this has been ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! I have had so much fun and though I hate to see it go, this does have to end. I will more than likely make another book soon, though I'm still deciding which one to do.

I hope you have liked this, not just the ending but the whole book! Be sure to comment and I'll see all of you, in another book. Goodbye!

Most likely my final goodbye for this book,

--JustAnAtlantisWriter