See the prologue for disclaimers and major canon divergences. We finally get some action by the main characters. Hope you enjoy reading and thanks to everyone who has left kudo's and/or comments thus far!

Chapter 2

2018.

The King of Atlantis reigned in his reptilian steed as he, his vizier Vulko, and a handful of soldiers arrived at the Council of the Kings. Orm had chosen this location with care for his meeting with the King of Xebel. The place had symbolic meaning, which Nereus would surely appreciate, and was close enough to the surface for the surprise attack Orm had planned in secret. The time had finally come to wage war on the surface, to take action against all the harm the humans had done to the seas for over a century with their factories, their pollution, and their hunting. No more.

In the distance, he could see the Xebelian party arrive astride their sea dragons. King Nereus himself sat on the largest sea dragon and rode in front of his men. Orm removed his helmet as Vulko turned towards him. "He understands the significance of this meeting. He'll hear you out." Orm did not give any reply as he watched Nereus take off his own helmet and dismount. Orm got off of his own tylosaur as well.

The two kings greeted each other in the middle of the large, partly crumbled, room. "You picked a meeting place too close to the surface for my liking," Nereus commented. Orm gestured to the ruins surrounding them. "You don't recognize the Council of the Kings? In Atlan's time, when the Seven Kingdoms were one, our ancestors gathered here." Both kings swam upwards to get a better view of the room and the seven colossal statues that stood within it. "Atlantis sat here, at the head of the table," Orm continued. "Xebel, as always, by his side. Brine. Fishermen. The Deserters and the Trench had not yet fallen. The Lost Nation had not yet vanished. Together, they were the greatest empire the world had ever seen." Orm turned towards Nereus. "I have called this meeting because the threat above us grows undeniably." The King of Xebel shrugged. "Violence has always plagued the surface. The humans will destroy themselves." Orm shook his head. "Not before destroying us first. We have been hiding long enough. The time has come for Atlantis to rise again."

Vulko rode up to the duo on his shark. "We honor you, King Nereus, by inviting Xebel to be the first Kingdom to join King Orm's alliance." Nereus scoffed. "As if you had a choice. By law you need four of the seven Kingdoms to ascend and attack. You need me and my army to help convince the Fishermen and the Brine to join. All the other kingdoms are out of the question since they are either lost or have devolved." The Xebelian turned back towards Orm. "But I know what you really want. Once you've obtained the pledge of the four Kingdoms, you will be ordained Ocean Master."

"That is merely a title." Of course, the thought of a once again united Atlantean Empire sounded appealing, but all Orm truly wanted right now was to wage war upon the surface in order to stop their destruction of the seas. And for that he needed the approval and armies of the other Kingdoms.

"I'm no fool, King Orm. As Ocean Master you will be commander of the greatest military might on this planet."

"I am the natural choice to lead it." Atlantis always had been the largest and greatest of the Seven Kingdoms, and Orm had been the one to take the first initiative for the upcoming war.

"Are you?" Nereus questioned. "What about the rumors that there is another? An Atlantean, living among the surface, one of royal blood. You may sit on the throne of Atlantis, but your claim to it is weak. How could you possibly hope to unite the empire?"

The King of Atlantis sighed. No matter how hard his father had tried to ensure his claim to the throne, Orm still dealt with rumors about his half-brother. Despite being their mother's firstborn, Arthur had never shown any inclination to take the throne, so Orm had allowed him to live out his life on the surface. "My mother's bastard has never even been to Atlantis. His loyalty is to the sur-"

An explosion hit the wall next to them. Nereus, Vulko and Orm were all flung back by the force of the impact. Orm hit the ground hard, but quickly got up again. In the distance he heard Vulko shout orders to their men. He went to help his fellow king, who had been trapped beneath a pillar after another missile had caused a second explosion. "Your King is injured!"

As soon as Nereus was safely in the hands of his men, Orm mounted his tylosaur and headed towards the surface war ship that was approaching the ruins. He unhooked his trident from his back and slashed the side of the ship. He also hit one the propeller fans for good measure. The ship began to slow down and steer off of its previous course. Orm noticed how battered it looked. Still, it had served its purpose. David Kane would be given the payment of Atlantean armor he had requested.

As the ship hit the sea floor, Orm was joined by the others. "I'm not trying to start a war," he stated to Nereus. "The war has already begun."

"Then it's time we send them a message they'll hear."

Arthur sighed as he sat next to Mera in her ship. He tried to untangle how the events of the last two days had led him to this position.

Only yesterday morning he had saved the crew of a submarine from a bunch of pirates. Which wasn't that unusual; saving innocents on the seas was a way for him to use his Atlantean abilities for good. People had even given him the nickname of "Aquaman". Then, after spending the day with his father in town, Mera had approached him and asked him to come with her to Atlantis. Arthur had declined, of course. Atlantis had killed his mother for having him. He did not want to have anything to do with it, and it certainly did not want anything to do with him either. Whatever threat or war Mera thought there'd be coming, he could deal with it. Or so he'd thought. Whilst driving his dad back home to his lighthouse, a small tsunami had hit the coast of Maine. If it hadn't been for Mera, his father might have died. It was mostly because of gratitude, and because the tsunami had shown him how serious the Atlanteans were about attacking the surface, that he had finally agreed to accompany her to meet Vulko.

The ship had been weaving its way through a cave system filled with bioluminescent corals and plants for about half an hour. Mera took another turn, went through an exit, and suddenly the entrance to Atlantis appeared in the distance. The city was surrounded by a high wall. The only way in seemed to be a bridge leading up to a white gate. Mera steered her ship closer and into one of the five beams of traffic on top of the bridge that were going in and out of the city. "What's the point of having a bridge underwater?" Arthur wondered aloud. "The Gateway Bridge is a remnant of the Old World," Mera answered him. "It's also the only way in or out of the capital." "Why can't they just go over the walls?" "Security is impenetrable. Even if they did manage to evade the guards, they don't get past the hydro-cannons. People try to sneak in all the time."

Despite never having wanted to come here after finding out about his mother's fate, Arthur couldn't help but glance around curiously. His mother and Vulko had told him so much about this place. He had always wondered what it looked like and how life was down here. As they went through the white gate, he was not disappointed. The city almost seemed to glow due to all the bioluminescent colors used in the architecture. The buildings were mostly shaped like spirals or jellyfishes. The ships they passed were, similar to Mera's, shaped like sea creatures. Sea turtles and whales were pulling forth cargo whilst city life seemed to be bustling below them. Arthur felt like he did not have enough eyes in his head to watch the wondrous city around him. Mera noticed his amazement and smiled. "Welcome home."

Mera led the ship downwards, and soon they were driving alongside old, overgrown ruins on the sea floor. The princess explained to him that this was all part of the Old City, from before the Great Fall, and that highborn Atlanteans never ventured here. A couple of shipwrecks were lying amongst the rubble as well. Mera steered the ship towards one of these and parked alongside it. "We're here. This is the safehouse." They exited the ship and swam up to one of the large holes inside the wreckage. As they went through it, the water disappeared and gravity took effect. "Wow." "We use this air pocket as an extra layer of precaution. Only the Highborns can breathe water as well as air," Mera spoke as they went up to the second deck.

"Plus it keeps the animals out. They get kind of messy."

Arthur looked up at the familiar voice and walked up to hug his old mentor. "Vulko. Here I am, old man. After all these years you finally got what you wanted." "Arthur," Vulko greeted back. "I wish it was under better circumstances." As a young boy, Arthur had been taught various Atlantean skills by the man that now stood before him. The trainings had stopped after Vulko had finally caved and divulged what had happened to his mother. Arthur, around sixteen years old at the time. had felt enraged at being lied to for all these years. The rage was followed by sadness and eventually bitter acceptance. Vulko had kept his distance and allowed him to grief. Arthur lost all inclinations to ever come to the kingdom that had executed his mother.

Mera joined the duo and greeted Vulko as well. "I can't believe there was an attack." "It wasn't an attack," Vulko spoke as he led the group to a desk standing close by. "Legally, Orm isn't allowed to yet. What was done to the surface warships was merely a warning." "What provoked it?" Vulko turned towards the princess. "King Orm and your father were ambushed by the surface." "By the surface?" Arthur asked, confused. "I don't think so. They still think Atlantis is a fairy tale."

"I was there, a surface war ship fired at us. Now Xebel sides with Atlantis, giving Orm a fleet big enough to force the other two Kingdoms to join him." Vulko turned fully towards Arthur. "If we're going to prevent this war, you must dethrone him now."

Arthur sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want to be king."

"You don't understand," Mera interjected. "Once Orm is named Ocean Master it will be too late. The powers at his disposal will be unlike anything you have ever seen."

"Even if I did want to become king, I'm from the surface. No one's going take me seriously. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

Vulko smiled. "By winning the hearts and minds of the people by proving to them that you're worthy and by retrieving this." He unrolled a scroll which showed the drawing of a golden trident. Arthur pointed at his mother's trident that was leaning against a wall. "Already got one of those." "Not like this one, you don't," Vulko replied. "This is the Lost Trident of Atlan."

"That's just a story."

"It's more than a story. It's real. It was forged by the greatest weapon masters in history, crafted from Poseidon's steel for king Atlan, the first ruler of Atlantis. Legend says the trident was imbued with the power to command the sea."

"So what happened to it?"

"After the Great Fall, when the ocean swallowed us and Atlantis sank, King Atlan took the trident and spent the remainder of his days in self-imposed exile. Neither he nor the trident were ever seen again." Vulko pulled out a cylinder-shaped object. "One of our archaeological teams uncovered this a few months ago. It's an ancient recording, dating back to the first dynasty. We unfortunately do not know what it says precisely since the technology is too old, but I believe it contains Atlan's final message to his people and the whereabouts of the Sacred Trident. The cylinder bears the markings of the Deserter Kingdom. You must take it there and retrieve the message. The clue to Atlan's final resting place is inside of this." Vulko held out the cylinder to Arthur.

Arthur realized he now had to make a decision. A decision which could alter the course of the entire planet. He could refuse, go back to the surface, and continue living with his dad whilst saving people being attacked on the seas. But then the Atlanteans would attack the land and many innocent humans would die. If Arthur accepted the scroll and went on this quest, he would be forced to dethrone his own brother, a man he had never even met and had no quarrel with apart from this upcoming war. He would be forced to become king, a role he did not want or care for. But if Arthur did this, perhaps a war with the surface and countless bloodshed could be prevented. Was it worth it?

Arthur reached out to grab the cylinder but was suddenly thrown back by an explosion that hit the wall beside him. Four Atlanteans, dressed in white armor, entered the safehouse, and surrounded him. "Order Defense. You are under arrest for illegal entry." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mera and Vulko grab the cylinder and sneak away. When one of the guards tried to restrain him from behind, Arthur reacted instinctively and started to fight. Four more Atlanteans entered the shipwreck, wearing more robust red armor as well as swords. Arthur kept fighting, but already knew deep inside he would not be able to escape. These Atlanteans had the same reflexes and superhuman strength as he did. The numbers were simply too great to win. Soon he was knocked down to the floor. The last thing he saw before being knocked down was a guard telling him again that he was being placed under arrest in the name of his Highness, King Orm.

Hope you've enjoyed it! Next chapter there will finally be some interaction between Arthur and Orm. The chapter will be posted next Sunday (3-3-2024).