The Prince of Atlantis

Maoya Island, Norway

Tom Curry stepped out of the lighthouse that he watched over with a broad smile. His little boy of only three years had run off and hidden, waiting for his father to come and find him. Tom quickly checked his son's usual spots, like the formation of three rocks that he could fit into, and the shrubs that surrounded the lighthouse's base, but to no avail. He quickly scanned the plains next to the tower, but his son wasn't there. In the corner of his eye, he saw a tiny figure dart out from the dark sand dunes on the edge of the small island. And there was his son: Arthur Curry.

He sighed and began to jog towards his son lazily, not wanting to end the game too quickly, but Tom's expression of relief turned into one of horror as his son had begun to sprint towards the rough waves that pounded shore. Tom ran as fast as he could, the blood rushing in his ears, but he wasn't quick enough. He watched in utter terror as his son tripped on the rocks and fell down, out of his sight with a splash. Tom ran even faster, trying to reach the toddler in time, but when he reached the edge an odd sight greeted him.

His son was zipping around in the Arctic Waters on the back of a harbor porpoise, laughing gleefully. Tom dropped his jacket and boots and dove into the water to retrieve his son from the animal. The porpoise let out a noise that Tom interpreted as the creature yelling at him and he swam back to shore, rushing back to the lighthouse where he dried off his son. The oddest part of the entire encounter was that his son didn't even shiver once, as if the icy water had no effect on him.

That was the first of many times that his son would show that he wasn't fully human, like he was… for the lack of a better term… other. For example: one time Arthur began to cry endlessly because he dropped his food, and a pack of sea lions erupted into barking almost simultaneously. Then, when Tom got the child more food and he stopped whining, so did the sea lions.

This was when he came to realize that the things his lover had told him before she left weren't lies. He tried to recollect what she had told him; that she was from a Palace at the bottom of the ocean called Atlantis, and that she had to return; that the child would become something great one day. It also explained how she got off the island without a boat, a question that no one had ever given a reasonable solution to. From that day on, he kept a closer eye on his boy, never fully letting his son out of his sight for too long.

Life continued on normally until the next year. Several weeks after Arthur had turned four, Tom decided that Norway wasn't going to work for them anymore and that they would move to America where he found work at the docks of Gotham City. Packing everything that they had, which fit into two backpacks, they left their small island on the coast of Norway, intent on a new opportunity in the Land of the Free. Tom found the man that agreed to take them to France by boat for one thousand Norwegian Krones (About a hundred US Dollars) and for him to work as a deckhand. At first, Tom was worried that Arthur would have another "incident", but his worries were put aside as Arthur slept for the majority of the voyage and ran around the deck whenever he got antsy. He suffered a minor scare when a large wave came over the deck, hitting Arthur perfectly in what should've knocked him down, but when it washed away, Arthur was on his feet and laughing. The captain commented, "Barnet ditt er bra på et dekk," (Meaning "Your kid is good on a deck.") Tom nodded, "Yes, he is."

After a voyage of about thirty hours, they finally docked in north France. They took a taxi to Paris, where they stayed for nearly a week, and then took a flight from France to New York City. Arthur had looked uncomfortable for most of the flight. He threw up twice but would calm down if he could look down and see the Atlantic Ocean below him. Finally, they landed in New York and went through customs. Tom emerged feeling like a new man, like the entire world was his oyster. They took another taxi from New York City all the way to Gotham, where they found an apartment in what the natives called The Narrows. They lived in the same apartment for the next ten years, but when his son was fourteen, their lives changed forever.

Life in The Narrows wasn't so bad if you asked Arthur. He had extremely vague memories of Norway, but from what his father told him, the city was very different than his country of origin. He had realized this early on in his stay in Gotham while trying to play with a few boys older than him. He couldn't understand what they were saying because they were speaking English so fast, but he got one thing: they were making fun of him. Arthur had ran home that day, distraught at the fact that the older kids had been so mean to him and that he couldn't understand their language. So, his father began to talk in English at home rather than Norwegian, which was difficult for the both of them at first, but Arthur eventually began to understand and in a few months he was communicating with everyone just fine.

His dad wasn't home very often as he'd get roped into working overtime on ships and would occasionally have to go off and work as a deckhand on the huge cargos. Arthur would be left at home for days at a time, which led to him growing up on the streets. He made a ton of friends with the other street kids, even inviting a few home with him for dinner whenever he could. He grew up fast, but that was normal for people like him so he really didn't mind.

One day in particular when he was eleven, he met a girl on the streets who had gotten into a fight with one of his friends. She was destroying the poor kid, and Arthur couldn't help but cringe as his friend got the living shit beat out of him. Finally, she knocked him out and he dropped to the floor with a bit of drool running out of his mouth.

No one seemed to want to get involved, so Arthur approached menacingly, staring her down with his friends behind him. She began looking around for a method of escape, but when she looked back at him, his scowl cracked and he smiled dashingly at her. Sticking out his hand, he said, "Hello, I'm Arthur. What's your name, love?" His father had taught him one thing: when talking to girls, always layer on the accent.

She looked confused for a moment but the unexpected question broke her hardened expression and she shook his hand, saying, "Cat. Sorry about him," she nodded towards his friend who was being lifted off the ground.

He lowered his voice and told her with a grin, "He probably deserved it, that one; kind of a douche if you ask me." She smirked and he asked her, "What did you do?"

Cat shrugged, "Stole the laces off his shoes when he was sitting on that bench."

She pulled out the laces from her coat pocket and he asked, "Why?"

"I don't know, I just felt like it, I guess," she said offhandedly.

"Alright, I'm impressed. What else can you do, you know, besides steal shoe laces?" Arthur inquired.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Arthur shrugged and replied, "Just curious." He turned back to his friends and told them, "Hey guys, this is Cat, she's cool with us now, got it?" He received mixed reactions of scoffs and nods, but no one objected, which was a win in his book. Turning back to Cat, he said, "See you around, oh, and can Jonny have his shoe laces back now?"

She shrugged and tossed them to him, turning on her heal and slinking back away into the shadows. "Dang," one of the younger guys commented and the others looked at him oddly. "What?" he asked them innocently. "We were all thinking it."

Arthur turned to them and asked, "Who wants to go down to Chinatown to find dinner?" They all cheered, except Jonny who had just come to, who tried to stand on his own and nearly fell again. "Alright there, Jonny?" He nodded groggily and they moved on from the street. Unknown to Arthur, the girl was watching them go with a certain curiosity sparkling in her green eyes.

A/N: OMG I can't believe I'm finally posting something! Any reviews/criticisms are absolutely welcome, as I'm still learning which you all probably noticed by the quality of my writing. I hope you enjoy and I'll try and update my story(s) as much as I can. Thanks for reading! -JP