A friendship between Adella and Arthur bloomed quickly after her father began bringing her to the surface. While Vulko taught Arthur the ways of the Atlanteans and how to use his strength and abilities, Adella gave him much needed companionship and a sense of belonging. Arthur didn't feel like much of a freak anymore now that he knew there were really others out there that were like him. Adella wasn't afraid of him like the other kids were. Especially that he could talk to fish. She thought it was 'the most amazing thing she had ever seen ever'.
She'd also tell him about his mother as best as she could. "She's beautiful," Adella would say. "And she's so nice. She wants what's best for everyone, no matter what."
"Does she ask about me? Does she miss me at all?" Arthur asked. He looked at Adella hopefully, a tiny spark in his eyes as he waited for her answer.
"Everyday!" Adella nodded enthusiastically. "...She does get sad though. Like when daddy tells her how your lessons are going. I think she wishes she could be the one to teach you. And I think she really wants you to come to Atlantis." it was a difficult situation to be in for someone so young. Adella wanted nothing but to tell Arthur everything there was about home. About his mother, about Orm and the King. But she knew there was a fine line between the things she was and wasn't allowed to say. It was dangerous.
But the sad, broken look in Arthur's eyes was too much for her to stand. She had lost her own mother. There was the fear that one day Adella wouldn't be able to remember anything about Delphine. Arthur shouldn't have to face the same fate.
"...Has daddy told you why you can't go back with us to Atlantis?" she asked one day. She and Arthur were in the living room of the lighthouse, sitting in front of the fireplace with Salty laying between them. Arthur shook his head.
"He just says the time isn't right. Like I'm supposed to know what that even means." he rolled his eyes.
Adella chewed on her bottom lip, pulling her legs to her chest and resting her chin on her knee. "Well...you can't tell anyone I told you this….you can tell Salty, but that's only because he can't talk," Arthur perked up at her words, nodding and scooting closer towards her. She pointed at his chest. "Wait, X your heart first!"
Arthur let out a small laugh, crossing an X over his heart. "Cross your heart 'Della." he corrected.
"That's what I said. Okay, so, one day I heard daddy talking to Queen Atlanna. And she said that she thought you were the King Atlantis needs...whatever that means. And now I'm pretty sure that's why all of this is so secret. 'Cause Orm is supposed to be King. It's all he talks about."
She of course was sad that the adults in her life were trying to take away the one thing Orm wanted more than anything, but she also wasn't going to pretend that at her age she knew anything about who should or shouldn't be King of Atlantis.
Arthur looked at Adella with a hard frown. "King? Me? ...Wait, who's Orm?"
"Your brother. He's one of my best friends! Him and Mera. She's princess of Xebel. I don't get to see her as much as Orm thou-"
"I have a brother?! How come no one told me? What's he like? Is he younger than me? Older than me? Does he know about me at all? Was Vulko ever gonna tell me?" Adella giggled at Arthur's excitement. It didn't matter to her anymore if she'd get in trouble for telling Arthur these secrets. The look on his face made it worth it.
"He doesn't know about you. King Orvax doesn't either. I think that's part of why your mother left. He's the same age as me, but he's six months older," she rolled her eyes, Orm never let her forget he was the older one of the two. "I think you'd like him though. You both like fighting a lot and you're both really stubborn and…" Arthur frowned at her again. "...In a good way though. He doesn't like exploring as much as you do, that's more me and Mera. But he promised us both one day when we're older we'll all go to really explore so we can find mermaids."
Arthur blinked a few times. "...Mermaids are real?"
"Uh huh! Well, me and Mera think so. Your mom used to tell us stories about them all the time. No one's seen them for a long time though. Orm thinks they're about as real as Atlan's trident though. He's never really liked fairy tales much."
Arthur only grinned at her before standing up. "Boy do I have some movies to show you. I'll be right back."
Arthur shoved the door to his cabin open, kicking off his boots and practically stomping over towards the kitchen. Adella followed in behind him, patting Salty reassuringly on the head and shutting the door quietly behind her. She watched as Arthur yanked the fridge door open, pulling out a beer and slamming the door shut. He popped the cap off, pacing the length of the kitchen looking like a great white shark waiting to pounce on the first thing that moved. It was nearly impossible to talk to him when he was like this.
She let out a soft sigh, slinking past her husband and heading down the hall to their bedroom. It had been almost a year since she'd last been there, but it still felt just like home. Arthur hadn't really kept their room as tidy as she once had though. She walked past her vanity, it had been untouched since she was last there. A few of her belongings scattered across it along with two framed photos. One was of her and Arthur on their wedding day. Thomas had taken it at Terry's after the ceremony. She and Arthur were sat at the bar, Arthur grinning wildly and holding up a beer stein while Adella smiled up at him, barely able to hold her own giant stein with both hands.
The other was a photo taken in Kansas. Just after everything had winded down after the Justice League had defeated Steppenwolf. The seven of them stood in front of the Kent farm that Bruce had just bought back for Clark. Adella smiled down at the photos, a bittersweet feeling washing over her. She truly loved the surface and the humans that lived there. In the small time she had spent with them, she'd grown close with Arthur's friends. They were her friends now. But soon she'd have to give that up. Soon she and Orm would be married, and she wouldn't be able to visit the surface.
Moving to the closet, Adella began stripping her scaled suit away in exchange for some warm clothes that Diana had helped her pick out back in Gotham. "You can't marry Orm!" Arthur stomped into their room. He was pacing at the foot of their bed now. "Is that even legal? I mean, it can't be."
"Arthur, no one knows that we're married. Only our fathers know. This was arranged before I married you. It was just after Atlanna…" she sighed. "I had no way of knowing. And while I do love Orm," Arthur scoffed. "It will never be in the same way that I love you. But there's nothing that I can do. It's different in Atlantis, you know that." Adella had never felt more connected to Atlanna until now. While she wanted nothing more than to be with Arthur, she would be forced to marry someone else. A selfish part of her hoped this would push Arthur in the right direction and he would agree to help her end the war before it began.
"You're Queen! Technically...right? You married me, I'm older-"
"No, I'm not Queen. You refuse to take the throne. Orm is King. I'm not about to try to find some technicality and put everyone I love in danger. Orvax killed your mother once he found out about Thomas and you. There's nothing to say Orm wouldn't do the same." it pained her to say, but it was true. Orm was different now. More like his father every day. She was afraid that soon there wouldn't be anything left of the boy she'd been best friends with for her entire life.
Once she was changed into something more comfortable, she brushed past Arthur and headed back down the hallway to their living room and joined Salty on the couch. "...Well does he know? That you're not...y'know…"
Adella raised an eyebrow. "That I'm not what?"
"...Pure."
"Excuse me?"
"You know what I mean!" Arthur pointed back and forth between the two of them wildly. "We're married! I watched the Tudors, I know how that part works!"
Adella hid her face on her hands, groaning and letting out a laugh. "Yes, Arthur. I told him I've slept with his treacherous, half breed brother." Arthur frowned. "...Can we please not argue about this? I'm not anymore happy about it than you are. But it's what I have to do for my home. Maybe I can convince him one day to leave the surface alone. I have to at least try. But until then, I don't want the time I have left here and with you spent fighting over something I have no control over."
She stood, walking over to Arthur and placing her hands on his cheeks. "I love you, Arthur. More than anyone I'll ever know. No matter what happens, I need you to know that."
Arthur placed one of his hands over his wife's, turning his head and gently kissing her palm. Adella smiled softly at him. "I know. But if you think I'm gonna let Atlantis take someone else that I love away from me, you're wrong."
"...Hey 'Della?" Arthur asked. The two young Atlanteans were sprawled out on the living room floor now, just finished watching The Little Mermaid. Arthur had been right, Adella had absolutely loved it.
"Hmm?" shed mumbled, almost paying more attention to Satly than Arthur.
"What's the King like?"
Adella frowned and looked over at her friend. "King Orvax?" she asked. Arthur nodded. Her confusion morphed into a look Arthur couldn't quite pinpoint. "He's…" she looked around, as if she were expecting to find someone watching them. "I don't like him," she whispered. "He's...you know how sometimes you can look at a grown up and you can see in their eyes that they're angry?"
"Like my dad when he's mad at me for not doing my chores." Arthur joked.
"It's different than that," Adella shook her head. "Worse. He's...I don't know, he's like a bad guy in a bedtime story."
Arthur frowned. "And my mom's married to him? Is he at least nice to her?" Adella could imagine how scary the thought could be. Arthur couldn't even remember his mother yet had to sit back and watch his father walk out to their dock each morning hoping for her return when really she was married to a tyrant of a man.
"He's nice...I guess. They don't speak much. I don't think they really love each other."
"Well, then why did they get married?" Arthur sat up, throwing his hands in the air.
"Because," Adella shrugged. "That's how it is back home. When you're a prince or a princess, your parents decide that you're gonna marry a different prince or princess. So that their two kingdoms will be friends. That's how daddy explains it."
"So you have to marry someone you don't love for a bunch of people you don't even know? That's so stupid!" Arthur waved wildly at the tv. "Did we not just watch the same movie? I mean, she gave up her voice to be with the person she loved, even though she was a princess."
Adella giggled. "You know, if you're gonna be King then you can't base all your decisions on fairy tales."
"If I'm King then there's no way anyone's telling me what to do."
"Very mature," Adella mused. Arthur scoffed. "Come on, Ariel," she hopped up to her feet. "If you're gonna be King you should probably be able to at least beat me in a race first!" she giggled, running outside towards the dock, Salty and Arthur following close behind.