Chapter Summary: Now back in his hometown of Amnesty Bay, the young Atlantean runs into an old friend from the past.


Old Friend (Arthur)

"You need a ride home, Artie?" Erika asked me.

"Uh, sure," I replied. The two of us walked down the pier to her car. On the way, we started to catch up, see what I've missed these past months.

"So Artie, is it true?" she asked. "Did you actually find Atlantis?"

"Yeah," I responded flatly.

"So how's it like? I bet it must have been amazing!"

"Eh…" I hesitated to respond to that. "Yeah, I guess."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, as soon as I showed up, they threw me in prison because of my blond hair."

"What?! Why?!"

"Apparently, they mentioned some prophecy about a blond-haired outsider that will bring the destruction of Atlantis," I explained. "So when they saw me, their first reaction was to throw me in jail and kill me."

"Oh…" Erika tried to change the subject. "Did you find your mom? You dad wanted you to look for her, right?"

"Yeah, I found her… then she and the king got assassinated and I was accused of killing them, so then they tried to kill me for it."

"Oh, Arthur… I'm so sorry," Erika sympathized with me. We got to her car and so we exited the parking lot.

"I don't know, Erika… what did I do to deserve this?" I wondered, rubbing my face. "All my life, people have just been giving me crap and putting me down. It got even worse when people found out what I really am. And just when I thought I found a place where I do belong, they hate me and want me dead."

Erika didn't really know what to say about that. She just gave me a sad look and gave me a hug once we were at a stoplight. "You know, they buried your dad while you were gone. I could show you where his grave is."

"Sure. I'd like that." Stupid news and paparazzi… couldn't even leave me alone to attend my own father's funeral… It's all because of…

"Shin. Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Stephen Shin. What's he up to now?" I asked bitterly.

"Well after you went away, his reputation went down the drain. People started calling him 'crazy' and 'delusional' for thinking Atlantis was real," Erika told me. "Now he just holes himself in his house and nobody's seen him since."

"Good. He deserves it."

"You know, Danny feels really bad about uploading that video of you… doing the thing," Erika sighed.

"It's not his fault. I mean, it's not every day you find a guy that can breathe underwater and lift a plane out of the ocean…"

"On the bright side, it shows that Aquaman's not useless, right?"

"Yeah, well, people tend to ignore that kind of stuff. Saturday Night Live, Conan O'Brien, Family Guy, all those shows is what people pay attention to." There was a long, awkward pause after that. I stared out the window while Erika focused on driving.

"So… how's school?" I broke the silence.

"It's going well," Erika answered. "AP's are killing me and plus, y'know, college apps."

"Huh."

"All of us miss you, though. Me, Danny, Austin, and the rest of the gang."

"Oh. I never realized that I was leaving some people behind…"

"It's okay. The good thing is that you're here now, right?" Erika smiled.

"Yeah…" I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay in Amnesty, though. Pretty soon Orm and Vulko will send some guards to look for me. Or maybe the guards won't. Most of the Atlanteans are too scared to even set foot on land and they'll probably be glad that I'm gone.

"So how're things in Atlantis? They're still not trying to kill you, are they?" Erika asked.

"No, not really. I found out I have a half-brother, whose pretty happy to see me. My mom's old advisor is also keeping me safe from the fanatics, so I guess the two of them are the only things keeping the Atlanteans from feeding me to the Kraken."

"Oh… that's nice."


Finally, we arrived at the lighthouse, my home. "Your dad's grave is near the rocks, right next the lighthouse."

"Thanks, Erika."

"Hey, are you gonna be sticking around here for a while?"

"Can't guarantee that I will."

"Well, just in case you do, you mind if I invite the gang over and hang out? It'll just be like old times."

"Um… sure, why not?"

"Great. We'll see you this weekend, okay? Have a good night, Arthur." As she drove off, I went to see my dad's grave. I saw his headstone near the lighthouse, above the rocks like Erika said. It read "Thomas Curry. Beloved friend, father and lighthouse keeper." I kneel down in front of it and put my head against it.

"Hey, dad," I greeted it. "I did what you asked. I found mom and told her that you never stopped loving her. Hope you two are happy wherever you guys are now." I stayed there for a little while longer before heading inside. I took the key under the doormat and unlocked the front door.

Heading inside, I threw my jacket on couch and set the food on the kitchen counter. Washing my face in the sink, I heard some sounds coming from upstairs. Listening more carefully, I noticed that they were light footsteps. The sounds then stopped. I waited for a few more moments, but still nothing.

Slowly making my way upstairs, I blinked a few times to adjust to the dark. Spending all that time under the ocean really helped my night-vision. Creeping towards the corner, I peered down the hall to see if anyone was there. I saw the outline of someone in my room. Whoever it was, they exited it and started tip-toeing down the hall.

Waiting patiently behind the corner, I grabbed them and slammed them on the ground. "Gotcha!"

But they threw me off and recovered quickly. The figure then ran towards me at break-neck speed and held against the wall. "The Trident! Where is it?" a female voice said.

I kicked her off of me and hopped off the staircase downstairs. "Who are you?"

"That is none of your concern. Surrender the Trident immediately!" she demanded. "You do not know the power it possesses!"

I bet it's one of those crazy Atlantean fanatics. "You want the Trident!?" I took the pendant off my neck and morphed it into the 6-foot long, golden weapon. "Come and get it!"

She hopped off the upstairs floor and tried to land on me. I managed to dodge it, but she kicked me from behind and knocked me off balance. She reached in and grabbed the handle of the Trident, but I pulled myself forward and used my weight to push her to the ground.

The assailant fell to the ground, but she quickly rolled to the side before I could land on top of her. Damn, she's good. I hope a few months of Atlantean combat training will last me.

"Please, I do not wish to fight you. Just hand over the Trident and I will leave you alone," she said.

"Sorry, lady. I earned this trident and I'm not just gonna give over to some thief that easily," I countered.

"Very well then." She then unhooked a rope from her belt and threw it around me. I had no time to dodge, so when it tightened around me, she threw me against the wall. I hit one of the light switches and the lights flickered.

Rolling over and refocusing my vision, I finally saw what the thief looked like. She had olive skin and long, silky black hair from what I could make out. She was also wearing all-black clothing and I'm not gonna lie, she looked really hot, too. When my vision fully came back to me, I looked at her face. Red lips, blue eyes, and a very youthful look overall. Wait a minute…

"Diana?" I called out.

She paused for a moment and looked at me. Her face went from a serious look to realization and then to excitement. "Arthur?!"


I unwrapped myself from the rope and stumbled back on my feet. Diana ran up to me and gave me a tight hug and lifted me into the air. "Arthur! It's so good to see you again!"

"Hey… Diana," I gasped out. "Tootight…"

"Ooh, sorry," she said putting me down with a meek smile. "It has been so long."

"Yeah, it has," I said, trying to register what she was doing here. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, after you left Themyscira, I became the champion and representative of the Amazons a couple months later. I was tasked to come to Man's World and protect it from the magical influences that plague it."

"Is breaking into my house and trying to steal my stuff a part of it?"

"No. I sensed the presence of strong magic in this area, so I came to investigate. I realized this presence was of Poseidon's, so I feared that some mortal may have had possession of his Trident."

"That makes sense, I guess." I picked up said weapon and it transformed back into a pendant. "This Trident is from Atlantis. I don't know if Poseidon just left it there, but it's mine now."

"How?"

"Let's just say I saved Atlantis from being crushed by a giant octopus and they let me keep it as a reward. Plus, I now have a giant pet octopus named Topo."

"Oh! So you found the city? What is it like there?" Diana asked excitedly.

"Oh, they reacted just like how the Amazons did. Racist and violently, but instead of me being a man, I was a surface-dweller," I summed it up to her.

"Oh… Well you at least have their respect, right? I mean, you saved their city and plus you are the son of their queen!"

"Yeah, well… I did gain the respect of some of them. Plus I'm the illegitimate bastard son of the queen. That, plus me being a surface-dweller and having blond-hair, which is apparently a bad thing, just gave them more incentive to want me dead," I summed up for her.

"Oh, Arthur… I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. My life can't really get any worse at this point," I said, sitting on the couch. "You want some food?"

Diana nodded and sat down across from me. I took the fish-and-chips and clam chowder from the kitchen and got bowls and spoons for the soup. "So Diana, how long have you been in Man's World for?"

"About four months." She then told me her story about how a plane crashed near Themyscira, how she rescued some guy named Steve Trevor from the wreckage, and how it inspired her to leave the island and explore Man's World. Heh, that takes me back to when I washed up on the island…