Chapter 2:
Before I could react to the gun being jammed in my face, Mera leaps at the figure with the weapon and forces him to the ground outside. He sees Mera's bandages and strikes it with super-human strength. She shows a shocked expression, clutches her abdomen, and keels over into a foetal position. The armed figure stands and I see he is covered in sleek, dark blue armour, with some sort of emblem that looks like an upside-down 'V' shape. He lifts his gun, pointing it at Mera's face. Before he pulls the trigger I knock him to the ground, grab him by the arm and throw him high into the air. He lands with a loud thud, but gets back up as though nothing had happened. Rather than attack, he stood as still as a rabbit gazing into oncoming headlights. Quickly snapping out of this trance, he ran and leaped into the ocean, and in the blink of an eye he was gone.
Mera lay in front of the lighthouse, unconscious, and hurt. I carry her inside and lay her on my bed. She howls in pain as I redress her bandages, that punch caused some serious damage. I sit beside her as she regains consciousness, I need answers and I know she can provide. The guy who attacked us wasn't heavily armed, he just had a small handgun. His armour was form fitting, and he survived such a long fall. Maybe he was an assassin, but sent for who?
"Are you okay?", I hear a soft, angelic voice coming from the bed. It's Mera, she is awake and trying to stand up. I rush to her side and lower her back down slowly.
"You mustn't move, your wound may reopen", she looks at me with genuine concern,
"Are you okay, my lord?". I just have a few bruises and scrapes,
"I'm fine, you seem to have suffered the hardest, stay right there I'll go call an ambulance",
"No! You must not contact the human authorities",
"Why not?". Mera lets out an exhausted sigh and looks me directly in the eyes,
"I am part of the Atlantean Royal Guard, and I have been tasked to protect you from any and all harm",
"I think the blood loss is effecting your brain".
"No, this is real", she produces a medallion out of thin air, and places it into my hand. "You are the rightful heir to the Atlantean throne",
"How? I don't even- ", but she cuts me short,
"Think about it. You are incredibly strong, you have tough skin, you can breathe under water. Look, you've seen the power that Orin possesses, that assassin was sent to kill you. He's most certainly gone back to Orin to tell him of your location, and who knows what Orin could do with that information. We need to get you out of here and safely to Atlantis. Please just give me a chance". I look down and see her hands are still clasping onto mine. She slowly let's go, leaving the golden medallion in my hand. It has a magnificent city etched into it with a large "A" for Atlantis in the background. I see the desperation in Mera's eyes, she really believes I need to come with her. I prepare to answer when I see Mera's eyes widen at the sight of something out of the window behind me. She grabs be by the shoulders and pulls me to the with her hand across my mouth. She crawls to the window and as she raises her head to see what was outside the window smashes into small glass shards as something comes hurtling through the window. At first it thought it was a rock until a blinking red light caught my eye. Before I can react, Mera covers me as the explosive detonates. My ears are ringing as Mera guides me to the back door. I look behind me and see 5 more men in black armour storm into the lighthouse. When we get outside Mera is clutching her bullet wound,
"Quick now, jump!", she commands,
"What about you?"
"Don't worry, I'll make it. Go. Now!", she forces me off the edge, and I plummet into the crashing waves below. As I fall through the air, I look up to see a giant explosion. I see the lighthouse collapsing as I plunge into the water. I begin swimming to the shore to find Mera when I hear something hit the water. I look beneath me and see a sinking body with long, beautiful red hair rippling in the water. I swim down to her and see she is unconscious; I try to wake her up when a large wall of concrete crashes into the water next to me. The lighthouse is crumbling into the sea; we need to get somewhere safe. I grab hold of Mera and swim down to an old cave, dodging large masses of lighthouse. We make it through to an abandoned ship, this is somewhere I like to go when I need time to myself; but for now it will serve as a safe haven for Mera and I. Today my life flipped on its head. How on earth did I get into this mess? Less than a few hours ago I was just a freak, Arthur Curry, son of the lighthouse keeper. Now all of a sudden a beautiful stranger is shot at my doorstep and claims I'm the heir to the throne of Atlantis. If it weren't for all these assassins showing up and the lighthouse falling to pieces, this would be too hard to believe.
"Arthur, my king", I hear from the banks where I left Mera to rest. "Where are we?"
"This is an old cave under the lighthouse I found when I was a kid", she keeps her eyes focused on me as I speak. "I come here when I need to be alone or need time to think".
She nods and begins to undress, taking off the shirt and pants I gave her.
"Um… w-what are you doing?", I ask completely flustered.
"I am discarding these garments; they will only slow our swimming down. They are impractical", she looks down at my body. "I suggest you do the same".
My face turns cherry red. I take off my shirt and leave my pants on embarrassed.
"So… where exactly will we swimming to?", I ask.
"We will need to get flexsuits, I stored a pair not too far from the lighthouse. Once we have those we will head to Atlantis, where you will meet with your mother and she will appoint you king", she catches me looking at her body. "Quite honestly my lord, have you never seen the body of a female?"
"What- no. I mean- It was an accident. I. I mean, sorry"
"No need to worry your lordship, all is forgiven", she says with a grin on her face. "We should get moving, staying in one place for too long is a bad idea".
We emerge from the cave to find the entire lighthouse in pieces laying at the bottom of the ocean. We can see flashing lights on the shoreline, the police have obviously come to investigate the explosion. We swim around the rubble; side by side trying to avoid being seen. After swimming for around ten minutes she leads me to a large crevice on the sea floor. It is too narrow for two people at once, so Mera swims ahead and guides me. We reach what looks like an empty cavern; Mera moves aside a large rock and reveals a tunnel. We swim until the water becomes shallow and climb onto dry rock. Mera lights some sort of lantern and the dark room becomes tinted turquoise. There is a locked chest that Mera heads towards. She pulls a stone from the wall and reveals a small pigeon hole; she reaches into it and turns a confused expression. Resting her head in the palm of her hand she curses under her breath.
"What's the matter?", I ask her.
"The key, it's not here", she says disappointed. "I forgot to put it back. It would have been my coat pocket". I pick up the stone she pulled from the wall and rest it on my shoulder.
"How about we try what I like to call… percussive maintenance", I drop the stone onto the lock, and it violently shatters. "There, problem solved". She looks at me and giggles.
"I guess that works too"
"I like your laugh", I shout suddenly, with no self-control. Mera's eyes fixate on the hard stone beneath her feet as her cheeks turn blush. She clears her throat.
"Let's get to work". She pulls out three pieces of armour, and hands two to me. "I'm sorry it isn't much", she apologises. "It's all I could carry". She hands me a pair of green leggings and gloves to match. We turn backs to one another as we get changed; I try to control myself but I catch a short glance of Mera as she undresses. I quickly look away embarrassed and continue to put on the armour.
"Alright, are we all ready?", Mera asks enthusiastically. I turn to see her in a tight, green one piece set of armour, that accentuates her body to no end.
"When we get to Atlantis I will get you your traditional royal chest piece", Mera says to me. As she reaches over to close the chest she reaches in and says, "Oh, I almost forgot, you'll need this to get into the palace". She passes me a golden belt with the same symbol as the one on those assassins. As I put it on I begin to ask,
"So when we get to Atlantis, how is this going to go? Will my mother be waiting for me? Will there be some sort of ceremony?". Mera is about to answer when someone else does instead.
"When you get to Atlantis, it will be for your public execution!". We turn to see two of the men who attacked the lighthouse. One of them pounces on me, and before Mera can tackle him off me the other one knocks her to the ground. I struggle as the assassin holds his forearm to my throat. I knee him in the gut and pin him to the ground. He tries to wrestle out of my hold but I punch him in the stomach and he curls up winded. As he props himself up I kick his arm and he falls back down; I kick him twice in the head and knock him out. I turn to see Mera lying on the floor, blood dripping from her nose and a cut across her cheek. I try to run to her side but the other assassin is approaching her with a glass blade. They only intend to take me alive. I run and push him to the ground, he tries to strike me in the ankle but I dodge and trip over. He holds me down with one hand and raises the blade above his head. I lift my arm up and try to hold the assassins arm up. He is stronger than me, the knife slowly inches towards my throat before he is swept away in a large pillar of water; he knocks his head against the rock wall and falls unconscious. I look over to Mera and see her eyes glowing blue with her hands outstretched controlling the water. The begins to cover the both of us; it washes away my bruises and heals Mera's bullet wound and cut. The water falls and Mera collapses exhausted. I catch her and hold her head in my lap.
"I did most of the attacking there, I thought you were supposed to be protecting me", I say jokingly. Her eyes flutter open and she looks up at me.
"I try my best, your lordship. But alas I mustn't invalidate the King of Atlantis with my superior fighting skill", she replies with a chuckle. She sits up light headed and looks at the two assassins. "Let us bind these soldiers and find out the knowledge they possess.