VIII. A Little Lie Never Hurt Anyone

The woman jumped slightly when he approached, so he must have startled her - again. She must be a rather jumpy person. Then he remembered how threatening and angry he had come across as the first time they had encountered each other, and saw she had a fair point and reason to be startled and jumpy in encountering him again.

She clearly recognized him right away, judging by her reaction. "You - you - you threatened me!" She pointed accusingly at him, eyes wide, and took some cautious steps back away from him, as much of a distance as her small stature and strides would allow.

"I know. I realize we didn't have the best first encounter or impression-"

"Yeah, you could say that again! What's your problem?!"

"Listen, I regret that I frightened you last time, that wasn't my intention-" Only it definitely was. "-And that is not my intention now. I gave off the wrong impression before, and I do not wish to do so again now." He paused and tried to come across as gentle and non-threatening as possible, and she stopped backing away from him, though kept a good distance between them. "I apologize for frightening you last time-" And he honestly was a bit sorry, now realizing just how frightened of him she had been and obviously still was. Of course, that had been his intention then, but not now. He made sure to lower his voice so that it sounded softer and hopefully more kind. "You see, I wasn't in a good place then-"

"Yeah, and that was no way to thank me for saving your life!"

"What? You didn't save my life." Now he was baffled.

"Yes I did! You washed up in the netting of the boat I was working on, and we took you to the hospital."

So she had not only stolen his trident from him, but it was also her fault that he was re-captured by Arthur, maybe even the reason for ending up on the surface in the first place.

"I am amazed you didn't drown."

Huh, you would be.

"We must have found you just in time."

Perhaps. Or I'm just naturally equipped to live and breathe underwater.

Despite his growing irritation at this new fact, he tried to keep calm. He didn't want to risk frightening her again with his anger. Instead, he put on a smile. "Well then, I owe you great gratitude, and another apology."

She just nodded. "Glad to know you're doing alright. What happened that night anyways? How could you have gotten all tangled up in that boat's net? Were you diving?"

"No, I wasn't. I was, I was -I was attacked. By my brother."

Now she stared at him, eyebrows shooting up and disappearing into her hairline. "What? That sounds - intense."

"Yes, it was." No use denying the fact.

"What provoked that, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, you know, the usual: he stole my throne, we dueled it out, he stole my home, my fiance, my title, everything really."

She just blinked back. "'The usual'?"

"Yes. And stole my symbols of power - speaking of which, why did you have my trident?"

Now she was staring back at him even more blankly than before, most likely trying to process all that he had just said and make sense of it. Human brains must be rather slow at processing. "Y-your trident?"

"Yes, I saw you with it that night I-" That night I threatened and frightened you. "-That night we first met."

"Your trident? Are you a collector?"

"No, it's my personalized weapon."

"Oh, okay..."

"What is it? Why do you look so confused?"

"It's just, I've never heard of anyone owning a trident before, much less as their 'personalized weapon."

"Well, isn't that what you're using it for? As a weapon."

Her eyes grew wide again. "Me? Oh, no! Definitely not!" She chuckled awkwardly. "I wouldn't know the first place to start with using it as a weapon, or any sort of weapon for that matter..."

You swing it, it's really quite simple. And stab with the sharp, pointy end. Orm bit back his sarcastic comments.

"I'm not using it like that, I'm studying it. I study Atlantis."

This surprised him. A human, studying Atlantis? But Arthur had said humans didn't believe it existed. "I thought everyone thought it was a myth."

"Oh yeah, that's what everyone tells me." She chuckled, rolling her eyes. "But I've been studying it for years, searching for any small sliver of proof that it's real. It is, I know it is. It has to be..."

If everyone thought it was a myth except for this woman, then that meant she was committed. He could tell, in her words, in her eyes, the way she entirely lit up as she spoke of it, almost matching his own enthusiasm for his home - perhaps he could use this to his advantage. "You study Atlantis?"

"Yes, the Greek myth, the sunken island and civilization-"

"Well it's no myth," he jumped in defensively.

"Do you study it too?"

"No, I'm from there." Well, so much for Arthur's strict words about playing a human.

Now she gawked at him. "Y-you're from there? R-really?"

"Yes, why would I say so if it wasn't true?"

She stared at him, assessing him. "And you're not just messing with me? Joking with the 'crazy Atlantis nerd?'"

"No, I'm not. I'm serious."

"How serious?"

"Dead serious."

She stared back at him for a moment before she exploded with excitement. He jumped when she let out a high-pitched squeal and clapped her hands together. Must have been some excited mannerism.

"Wow, I can't believe it! It's real, it's real! It's really real!" Orm resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I can't believe it! And everyone said I was wasting my time!" Then she continued in another language, one which he could not understand, though he was impressed by her knowledge of more than one language. He hadn't expected that of humans. She was proving to be an interesting surface dweller.

"Wait-" Suddenly she paused in her excitement and turned back to him. "-Are you the Aquaman? The Atlantean living amongst the humans? The superhero?!" Now she was beaming.

Arthur. That's right, he was well-known of here. And not just here in this town, but all over the surface world. Her excitement startled him a little. He was about to spit out, 'No! No of course I'm not that fool!" But, again, this could prove useful for him. In fact, this was all falling together quite nicely, and he hadn't even planned it. So although he felt another layer of his pride strip away with his next words, he said, "Uh, yes..."

"Oh my God, no way!" Were humans really so naive and gullible? "I'm so happy to meet you! What's your name? Unless you want me to call you 'Aquaman'."

Certainly not. "Orm. Rightful King of Atlantis."

"Well, it's so nice to meet you, Orm! I'm Tatiana, or 'Ana.' Dr. Tatiana Andreas, Archaeologist." She flashed him a wide grin. "Wait, did you say king?"

"Yes, rightful king."

"So you're royalty?"

He held back yet another sigh. "Yes."

"So you're not just Atlantean, but Atlantean royalty! And a superhero! You're an Atlantean royal superhero - that's so badass!"

"Could we perhaps keep our voices down?" he requested, now worried that her intense excitement would attract more unwanted attention.

"Wait, do you know Wonder Woman?! She's my hero! A badass Greek mythological figure turned super-heroine?! Sorry, I'm really nerding out! I have so many questions I want to ask - would you be willing to help me with my research?"

The woman was overly excited, and Orm was having trouble keeping up. "Uh, yes, I could do that..."

"YES! Oh, thank you, thank you!" For a terrifying moment, he thought she might hug him. This was exhausting.

Again he tried to calm her down. "Now, I am trying to keep a low profile..."

"Oh, of course. My lips are sealed! Where are you staying while you're here? Wait, you live here, don't you?"

"Uh, yes, this is my home..." I cannot believe I just called this disgusting place my home. "But due to this trouble with my brother, I cannot go home. That would be the first place he will look for me."

"Right, yes, of course. This is like one of those spy movies! You have to fill me in on what's happening. Do you need somewhere to stay? You could always stay with me, if you wanted..." Her sudden generosity to a pretty much complete stranger startled herself. She got caught up in the moment, in her excitement. What was she thinking? This guy could be dangerous - was dangerous. And by the sounds of it, he could bring danger with him.

But she had always believed in generosity, and maybe she would even make a friend in her new home.

The man - Orm - still hadn't said anything. "Sorry," she apologized. "I wasn't thinking..."

"If it is no trouble with you, I would be extremely grateful to stay, even for just a short while."

She smiled. "Alright then, it's settled. Come on, follow me, I'll take you home."

She turned and began walking, and Orm began to follow, exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Well, that had worked out very nicely indeed. And a little lie never hurt anyone, right?

Whew, that was a bit of a whirlwind! And I think we all know that Orm lying right from the start is not going to end well...

Will be starting the sequel to my other Orm story very soon, so stay tuned!

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)