Aaaand there I am again. Sorry for the wait, but the last two weeks have been hectic with learning for exams, falling ill, taking said exams whilst being ill, continuing my propedeuse thesis, and continuing to write this chapter for you guys.
See the first chapter for acknowledgements and major canon divergences.
I hope you will all enjoy this chapter as well, and thanks to everyone leaving comments and kudo's!
Chapter 6
Arthur woke to the buzzing sound made by engines. He opened his eyes and saw he was inside of his brother's ship. He carefully sat up and noticed that his shirt was missing whilst sea weed was wrapped around his injuries as a sort of bandage. He moved to remove the plants, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Leave them on, the wounds will have closed in an hour or two," Orm spoke.
"What happened?" Arthur asked. "Black Manta's suit malfunctioned after I hit it with a piece of rubble. He crashed upon the rocks. I carried you back to the ship and treated your wounds." Arthur nodded. "Thank you." Orm gave a nod in return and turned back towards steering the ship. Arthur noticed that his brother seemed a bit distracted. "Is everything alright?"
Orm sighed. "The black-suited man we fought… I knew him. His name is David Kane. I hired him some time ago to steal a surface-ship and he demanded a suit of Atlantean armor as payment."
Arthur furrowed his brow. "Wait a minute. A couple of days ago I encountered this guy stealing a submarine. He and his men were killing innocent folk. Are you telling me you were behind it?"
Now it was Orm's turn to look confused. "I hired him only to steal the ship. I swear to you that killing innocents was not part of the plan." Arthur glanced into his brother's eyes but could not detect any lie. Orm sighed again. "And now it is my fault we almost died."
Arthur considered his brother's words. He believed Orm when he said that he did not meant for those humans to die, even though he had been indirectly responsible for their deaths. And perhaps, if he had known the humans like he did now, he would not have hired David Kane at all. On the other hand, wasn't Arthur responsible for the destruction and harm that had occurred in Sicily as well? Hadn't he killed David's father, causing the son to attack the town?
He reached out and grabbed his brother's shoulder. Orm's head spun back at him, looking surprised. "We are both to blame. On that submarine I left David Kane's father to die. I could have saved him but I didn't. And now his son is out for revenge." The blonde gave him a sad smile. "We rarely know if a decision we make leads to a mistake in the future. All we can do is acknowledge the mistake and learn from it."
The ends of Arthur's lips turned upwards. "You know, I am sorry I called you an uptight butthole." Orm chuckled before going serious again. "And I am sorry I blamed you for our mother's death. It was not your fault. My father was… a cruel man. I see now it was his hatred for humans and jealousy which drove him to kill mother."
Arthur looked away as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. All his life he had believed his very existence had caused the death of the mother he had barely known. Though he wasn't fully convinced otherwise, Orm's words meant the world to him. Perhaps, he thought, after this is all over, we can still be a family and maintain our relationship… He glanced back at his brother. "Can you tell me about her?" Orm's eyes grew distant. "Well, she was beautiful and kind, fair and just. She was always there when you needed her and always knew just what to say. Atlantis never felt the same again without her warmth. There was once a time when…"
The next couple of hours were filled with stories they shared about their mother and youth. Arthur even talked a bit about his own dad. Eventually they had fallen into a companionable silence, but Arthur noticed something was still bugging his brother. "What's wrong?"
Orm sighed, staring straight ahead through the front window of the ship with a frown on his face. "The bottle. It showed the direction we needed to go." Arthur nodded, slightly confused. "Yes. And?"
"The charted path leads to Kingdom of the Trench."
It was like an ice-cold hand placed its grip around Arthur's heart. Vulko had only mentioned that place once before… "That is where our mother was killed, isn't it?" Orm nodded, his mouth a hard line as he continued to stare straight ahead. "It's a place of death. We hardly know anything about what's down there."
Arthur mulled this around in his head. Going to the place where his mother had been killed filled him with unease. It had to be even worse for his brother, who had told him how he was made to watch whilst their mother was sacrificed. He nudged Orm, who finally looked back at him. "Hey. Whatever is going to happen, we're in it together."
And then Orm smiled. Really smiled. Before, on Sicily, it had been a bare tug of the lips, and a few hours ago it had been a small sad smile that did not reach the eyes. This, however, was a smile that went cheek to cheek and made Orm's stormy blue eyes seem to twinkle. The whole cockpit of the ship seemed brighter through that smile, and Arthur had to remember how to breathe. That smile was worth all the hardships off the last couple of days: being dragged to Atlantis, being locked up in a cell, jumping out of an airplane, and being chased by Black Manta. Arthur was so distracted that he almost missed his brother's reply.
"Together."
The sea became darker and darker as they travelled further and deeper. Eventually the outside seemed to be completely pitch black except for a small area surrounding the ship that was lit up by their lights. Orm was forced to drive at a very slow pace.
Suddenly, Arthur noticed a creature speed along the edge of the lit-up area around the ship. He squinted his eyes, not sure if it had been real or just his imagination playing up. Then the creature came out of the darkness again and landed on top of the front window of the cockpit. Fins stuck out of its arms and back whilst its mouth was filled with sharp teeth. Arthur did not see any humanity in its eyes, just a hunger for death. The creature started banging on the glass using its head and claws, trying to get in. Based on the sounds coming from other parts of the ship, it was not alone.
"What the hell are those things?!" Arthur asked. "The Trench. We're here," Orm replied as he quickly flicked a couple of controls above their head and the lights suddenly turned brighter. To their horror the two brothers saw there were hundreds of Trench surrounding the ship. Orm returned his hands to the steering wheel and sent them off to the depths at full speed. The Trench that was banging on the front window slid off.
As they descended Arthur could hear more Trench banging on the sides of the ship. It even sounded like parts of the ship were torn off. Arthur tried to keep his panic in check. Red lights started blinking inside the cockpit and Orm shook the steering wheel. "Controls aren't working anymore, we'll have to ditch the ship!" One of his brother's hovered above the button that would unlock the front of the ship, whilst the other was offered to Arthur. "Ready?" Arthur took the hand and nodded. Orm unlocked the ship and the two brothers swam forth from it as soon as they could. Luckily most of the Trench seemed to be following the course of the ship. One of Arthur's hands clung to his brother's as a lifeline while he used the other to punch any Trench that came too close.
Then, in the distance, he noticed the entrance of a cave from which the Trench seemed to stay clear. "Come on!" he called above the noise of Trench as he pulled Orm towards the opening. Once they were inside, Arthur could see that it was more of a tunnel than a cave, and that there was another entrance at the far end. They exited through the other side and ended up before a giant maelstrom. It was spinning fast and it almost seemed like lightening was caught inside of it.
Orm shook his head. "That thing will tear us apart!" Arthur glanced back, hearing the Trench in the tunnel. "We don't have a choice." After a brief moment of hesitation, Orm nodded, and together they swam to the maelstrom. As soon as they were inside it, the terrible force of the spinning water pulled the hand two brothers apart.
"Arthur!"
"Orm!"
When Arthur regained consciousness, he noticed he was gently floating in a body of water. For a moment he was confused on how he got there, but then his memory kicked in. Trident. Ship. Trench. Orm. Orm! Panic filled Arthur's heart as he could not see his brother. He quickly surfaced and saw he was in a tropical environment surrounded by mountains and flying dinosaurs. Not too far from him there was a beach with two figures on it. One of the figures, which resembled Orm, was lying motionless in the sand.
Arthur quickly swam to the beach and ran to the prone figure that indeed turned out to be his brother. "Orm!" Orm opened his eyes and glanced up at him, his chest moving up and down steadily. Relief flooded Arthur. His brother was alright. Arthur helped Orm into a sitting position and pulled him into a hug before he could think about it. "Thank god you're okay." He was just about to pull back again when he felt his brother's arms embrace him as well. The two of them stayed like that for a moment, glad they were both alive.
A noise sounded behind them. Arthur and Orm broke their embrace and looked at the third figure that was still standing next to them on the beach. The figure did not seem to be one of the Trench, but instead was wearing parts of the Trench as armor. It removed its gloves to reveal two human hands. The hands then went up to its helmet to reveal the face of a slightly older woman with matted blond hair and stormy blue eyes that searched both of their faces. Arthur heard Orm let out a gasp beside him as he too came to the same conclusion, the same hope, Arthur had.
"Mom?"
And that was chapter 6! I hope you enjoyed reading it. I have started on the next chapter and I will try to post it next Sunday (7-4-2024). If I don't make it, it will be posted on Sunday 14-4-2024 at the latest.
