A/N: Alright, I have been wracking my brain to come up with something for this, because I had all these ideas, scattered and disoriented but waiting to just be put in a story. Before you continue on with the story I have to say this that I am not in any way or shape a comic fan, let alone a dc fan but hey... I loved Aquaman movie, such a beautiful movie with all those colors, special effects and of course gorgeous cast. And of course, I really liked the Villains. Both Orm and Black Manta, Okay maybe Orm more because he wasn't exactly evil ... more misguided I'd say, which isn't really anything surprising considering the fact that every beloved villain is that way and so the vicious circle of loving misunderstood baddies never really ends. Anyway, as I said I had all these ideas which I didn't know how to begin to write in an Orm fanfiction so I decided to start from the last scene. The surprise... which I must add...

spoiler alert!

Read along, I might add more chapters, might even come up with a solid storyline later but first I'd like to explore Orm's character, as both a child and an adult so I might be jumping back and forth into the past and present in future chapters.

Okay! on with the story!

Prologue

"That is enough killing!"

Orm was dreaming. It must have been a dream. Or was he dead? Has Arthur's trident finally ripped out his throat and sent him to another world, where he could be visited by his mother again? But no… even if he was dead, Orm didn't deserve to unite with Atlanna, if anything it must have been his father standing there before him, mad and disappointed as always, ready to berate him and call him weak and unworthy.

No… Shaking his head, he blinked. This was a dream then. He had a thousand of those before but in each and every one of them, he saw Atlanna leaving, not even looking back at him. Sometimes, Orm wondered to himself did she truly love him or did she only cared about her other son? the bastard on the surface, the one that was responsible for his mother's death? Oh for so long he hated the bastard yet now… it didn't seem to matter that much to him anymore.

The delusion had to disappear into the thin air, the vision bound to fade away. Orm had to wake up and face the reality that he had lost to a surface-dweller, that he wasn't worthy of his title and his father had never been so right about his weakness. But she was there. Atlanna, in her bright silver scale dress, walking out of the stormy ocean to the surface, walking to him gracefully like a true queen.

"Mother…" He called softly, for the first time after his mother's banishment to the Trench allowing the false façade of coldness and anger to fall. He let himself be vulnerable again, still kneeling on the surface, reaching out for her, longing for her grasp. She was exactly the same, not even a day older, her blond hair dancing in the wind, her bright blue eyes similar to his, shining with unshed tears as she took his hands, kneeling and pulling him into a tight embrace.

"My son. "

Slowly, reality sank in as Orm lost himself in her scent. She smelt of home, his lost childhood day and a pure love he hadn't had received for far too many years.

"I don't understand," he pulled away, still unable to let go, still unable to believe. "We thought…"

"I know." she let a smile grace her lips, cupping his face, she felt warm, "Arthur saved me."

Grief overtook Orm's heart then, his chest tightened with sorrow with realization and suddenly he was a little boy again, tears threatening to spill from his blue eyes. He always feared his father's wrath; never had he felt the need to hide away from his mother's disappointment. But this time…

"You're both my children and I love you so much but you were misguided, your father told you that there were two worlds but he was wrong… "He felt ashamed to look her in the eye. Her voice brought back so many memories that he had tried so much to forget, that Orvax tried to wipe away from his mind but they were all there, now lightening the darkness in his soul. "The land and the sea are one."

Was it too late now? Orm had to ask himself. He would have apologized for forgetting this soft voice, this motherly touch, for letting his anger lead too many people to their demise in a battle that had no true victor. All for what? He would have also explained, for a greater good. For his home Atlantis, because Atlantis came before family and he would have killed his own brother for that but more than that because he was the reason his mother was taken her away from him in the first.

There were so many things he wanted to say but as Vulko walked with an army of Atlantean soldiers behind him, he knew that his time was due. The army in white knelt before their queen all around them as Orm watched in silence. It wasn't a dream anymore. As bittersweet as it felt, it was real and deep down as he watched Arthur with Atlan's golden trident in his grip standing there, he realized that he wasn't angry anymore. Even though the half-breed was going to become a king now, even though he had lost both his trident and his title, he wasn't mad or even depressed.

A part of him was happy, knowing that Atlanna was alive, a part of him, however, felt absolute… nothing and that was the part that scared him the most. He didn't know what would become of him without that fiery feeling of anger that drove him to live, to train each day all to serve one purpose, to become a king. He had felt this emptiness before when he first learned about Atlanna's sacrifice to the Trench and it led him to the darkest of places.

"Take him but make sure he has the view." Vulko's voice brought him out of his trance as he glanced back, nodding knowingly. He wanted so badly to hate the traitor but now he didn't see a reason for that. The soldiers surrendered him but he didn't wait for the humiliation of being dragged back to the ocean.

"When you're ready..." Arthur called, making Orm turn, his eyes serious and determined, "Let's talk."

Orm didn't respond, didn't even acknowledge his older brother as he should. He would want to talk as well, there were so many things they had missed out. So many unanswered questions they hadn't discussed but did it even matter now? did he even want to bring up the past? Arthur was right, he wasn't ready yet. He needed the silence of a room, now perhaps a small cell that was going to keep him imprisoned for his crimes. But mostly he needed the time to gather his thoughts, he needed to remember and to be reminded of the things that he was urged to forget, to dismiss, to put aside as a prince-to-be-a-king. He had locked too many of those emotions away in a box, assuming that they would fade away in time and a large portion of them did go away but meeting Atlanna again broke that box into pieces and now he felt heavy, unfocused pain pressing on his chest and he needed time to sort it out.

Orm looked away, his eyes fixed on the strong tide waves. Standing straight, head held high, he took strong steps back to his home, where he would await his fate.

For whatever it was he would take it with pride.