Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Aqualad looked around the barren wasteland. He frowned.
Kaldur had not visited Atlantis for quite some time, around half a year. He walked cautiously along. This was not how he imagined his home…not at all.
The spectacular kingdom of the seas had been brought to its knees by seemingly low threat bandits. The very water seemed gray with fear and despair.
The once lush and beautiful plants were now dead and wilted. The once beautiful palace had become unkempt, wild, and ugly. Cracks were showing in the walls, and if you stared long enough, you could see heads covered in black fabric occasionally poking out from small windows.
There was no one around. He had seen a small child run from behind a bush a while ago. The child looked like a girl, but it was hard to tell because the girl's clothes and face were covered with dirt. Her hair was tangled up in what looked like a bun. The only clean part of her face was covered with tear tracks.
The little girl let out a squeak of fear upon seeing Aqualad. She ran away as fast as she could.
Aqualad furrowed his brow in confusion. "No, wait!" he called after her, taking chase. "I will not hurt you!"
She wailed, and then ran behind a stonewall.
Aqualad skidded to a halt, and looked behind the wall, seeing nothing. He frowned.
Kaldur looked ahead, seeing the ruined kingdom. "No…" he whispered, his voice cracking. "No…"
"Terrible, isn't it?" Aqualad jumped as he heard a voice behind him. "Like a nightmare."
Aqualad's eyes widened as he turned around. "Tula?" he said, his voice heavy with disbelief. "Are you ill?"
His friend's once fiery red hair was now dull and limp. Her eyes had lost their challenging shine, and she hunched over, as if she was afraid they were being watched. "You could say that," she said sadly. "I'm sorry you had to come visit now," Tula said. "Atlantis is not at its best, as you see."
The sorceress began to walk at a fast pace. "Hurry," she said. "We are not allowed outside now."
"What?" Aqualad asked. "Not allowed outside? What has happened—?
"I'll explain when we're safe." She said, looking over her shoulder to see if they were being followed. "Then again, we're never safe now."
Aqualad said nothing. His brain was racing much too fast, so he simply walked along with his friend.
They soon reached a large dip in the land, with small rundown houses littering the inside of it.
They could hardly be called houses, however. The huts looked to be about one room large, with one floor, and possibly a basement. It felt like a ghost town.
Tula dragged him into one of the huts, hurriedly slamming the door shut behind him.
Aqualad started when he heard a voice from a corner. "Tula? Who's this?"
Tula smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. They remained pits of sadness and hopelessness. "Don't tell me you cannot recognize your best friend?"
Garth emerged from the shadows. He too had duller hair, a paler complexion, and dead eyes. "Kaldur?" He whispered, as if he could not believe his eyes.
"Garth…" Aqualad murmured. "How are you?"
"I have been better," his old friend admitted. "Of course, Tula has probably already told you why—
"I have not," the red haired girl interrupted. "We were outside. It was not safe."
"Of course," Garth admonished himself. "I forget. Come, Kaldur, sit with us."
He pulled a chair from a corner of the hut.
"Thank you," Kaldur said.
Garth swallowed, clearing his throat. "Six months ago, about a week after you went back to the world of the surface dwellers, a new man came to Atlantis. He demanded a meeting with the King, and after three days, was granted permission. The guards all seemed strangely taken with him, which should have been our first clue. But we were all too trusting." Here Garth let out a sigh of regret. "Two weeks later, random people began to sign up for the position of a guard. The number of guards tripled incredibly quickly. For a while, we simply thought that people had a sudden sense of duty." He laughed bitterly. "How stupid we were. The guards soon launched an ambush on the king, queen, and prince. King Orion was banned from Atlantis, and Queen Mera and her son were allowed to stay if they did not come to the palace."
At this point, Aqualad could not restrain himself. "Why did my king not inform me of this?" He asked, worried.
"King Orion was shamed. We can assume that he has not even informed the Justice Band of this." Tula said.
"Justice League," Aqualad corrected her.
Garth continued. "The guards soon took over the palace, and the rest of Atlantis as well, by infiltrating us. We were brought down from the inside, and were forced to retreat here, where we struggle to survive, day by day."
Aqualad was horrified. "Have you not tried to fight back?" He asked.
They shook their heads. "Garth is the only man left," she explained. "They killed the rest by inviting them to a wine tasting event, and poisoned the drinks. He was sick that day."
The leader of Young Justice was lost for words. "I am sorry," he said. "I will get help."
"You're going to leave us again?" Garth was suddenly furious. "You leave for six months, come back to see Atlantis in ruins, and walk away like a coward!"
"Garth, calm down," Tula snapped at him. "He has to leave. To get help. The three of us alone will not be enough to take down those evil people."
She turned to Aqualad. "Kaldur, please come back as soon as you can. We shall miss you."
"I shall."
"Wait!" Garth called, sounding apologetic. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I'll walk you to the transporter."
Aqualad smiled at him. "If you wish to."