Chapter 82: Coming Tides
Poseidonis, Atlantis
Somewhere in the Atlantic
May, 2006
Deep in the bottom of the sea, where no man has ever visited, lies an underwater kingdom that many have speculated about, yet none have ever seen proof of its existence. The Kingdom is made up of multiple moderately sized cities spread out around the ocean floor, and a large city serving as the capital. The name of this kingdom is Atlantis
Like the myths, Atlantis is the name of a mortal kingdom that sunk to the bottom of the sea. Unlike the myths however, Atlantis did not sink as punishment from Poseidon due to hubris, rather it is a disaster of their own making that occurred once they took their mysticism too far. None know what the disaster was, only that it resulted in seven of the major cities that make up the kingdom to sink and that Poseidon took pity on their people by transforming their physiology to suit their current environment. Ever since then, they have worshiped him and named the capital after him by giving it the name, Poseidonis.
Poseidonis, as a city, is about the size of New York. It is separated into five different quadrants, with three quadrants dedicated to a certain area of the city while the remaining two are relegated to their own quadrants simply due to their importance to the Kingdom as a whole rather than due to their sizes..
The first quadrant is in the form of a ring that surrounds the second and third quadrants. It's the largest one in terms of land and is where the part of the army that is stationed in Poseidonis is located. There one can find the training grounds, the barracks, and anything else the military uses.
The second quadrant is the biggest one in terms of population and, similar to the first quadrant, is sized like a ring around the third quadrant. It is where the majority of the citizens live and where the majority of businesses are.
The third quadrant is located in the center of the city, and is where the royal palace can be found. It's where any citizen of importance, such as senators and generals, are housed.
The fourth quadrant is The Conservatory of Sorcery. It is a school in Atlantis, led by Queen Mera. As the name suggests, it is a place for students who are interested in studying sorcery and boasts a diversity of students. From Atlanteans that look like the standard human with only gills and webbed hands hand and feet to serve as indicators of their heritage, to those with more notable differences such as skin colored green or fish tails as opposed to feet, and even those who now look more fish than human, all types of Atlanteans can be found studying there. It is relegated to its own section of the second quadrant.
The final quadrant is The Science Center, a facility that explores every form of science and sometimes even going as far as to attempt to seamlessly blend it with mysticism. It can be found on the outskirts of the first quadrant and is headed by Vulko, the chief science advisor of Atlantis.
Currently in the training grounds of the royal palace, a young man around the age of twenty three can be found facing off against four warriors clad in armor. The young man stands at a slightly above average height of five feet eleven inches tall, possesses black hair, white skin and a strong build. His hair is relatively short and slicked close to the head, but comes down to the nape of his neck, and he has long sideburns. His eyes are blue. Unlike the warriors who wear full armor, the man wears a black and dark red sleeveless tunic and a wide gold collar combining a close-fitting, round, and high collar around the neck like a turtle neck and an usekh-style collar on the shoulders. He also wears a wide gold belt with a stylized sea creature at the front and golden bracers while his left hand carries a trident. The young man is Orm, Prince of Atlantis, younger brother to King Orin, also known as Aquaman, and secretly the terrorist set on dethroning King Orin, Ocean Master.
Floating to the right, the man dodges a stab aimed at his neck. Without giving the soldier time to react, the boy grabs his opponent's arm with his unoccupied hand and throws him at a soldier behind him, giving him room to move forward. Without missing a beat, Orm proceeds to swim at the remaining soldier with blinding speed stabs at him with his trident. This soldier, unlike the other three, is a veteran and manages to bring his shield up just in time to block. The resulting collision however sends the soldier flying out of the ring and into a wall.
Orm looks around waiting for his next opponent, only to realize that he is the last one standing. With a sigh that signifies both his annoyance and irritation, Orm places the trident back in the weapon rack before he turns and leaves the training ground to swim towards the corridor that leads towards his room.
The royal palace is divided into different wings. The royal wing, where members of the royal family are housed, the guest wing, where all guests are housed, the servant wing, where the servants are housed, and the central wing, where one can find the throne room, the war room, the training fields etc…
As a member of the royal family Orm's room can be found in the royal wing. The room itself is large, painted blue with burgundy decorations, with a large bed, a nightstand, a dresser with a mirror, and a closet full of clothes. While Orm loves and relishes the luxuries that come with being royalty, he finds that the simple decorations of the room suit him just fine and even prefers it.
Before he can even begin to undress to wash himself a whirlpool forms in the middle of his room making him narrow his eyes as he prepares for whatever is to come. Soon the whirlpool dissipates as a humanoid form coalesces from the water that caused it. Surveying the man that now stands before him, Orm cannot help but notice that the man bears an eerie resemblance to the statues and paintings of Poseidon that can be found in Atlantis.
Standing at around eight feet tall, the man has white hair, a neatly trimmed white beard, a green complexion as opposed to a deep tan that can be seen in the paintings, and sea-green eyes. While his lower body is that of a mermaid with green scales, his upper body is naked, showcasing his strong and defined muscles, and his hands hold a golden trident.
"You dare intrude upon my room stranger? Identify yourself!" exclaims Orm as he begins to channel Atlantean magic in the form of a water constructed trident.
"Mortals." scoffs the man as he casually dissipates Orm's trident with a slight wave of his hand.
With wide eyes and slight fear in his heart Orm attempts other forms of Atlantean sorcery, such as summoning electricity, only for it all to fail in a similar fashion.
"Enough!" roars the man as he once again disrupts Orm's attempts at sorcery and increases the water pressure in the room to unbearable levels even for an atlantean. As a result, all objects in the room are destroyed and the floor and walls that make up the room crack while a fearful Orm is forced to his knees as he attempts to at least breath. Unfortunately no matter how much he tries, oxygen does not seem to reach his lungs and for the first time in his life Orm truly fears that he is about to die here and now without achieving any of his dreams. However, just as his vision begins to swim, the pressure vanishes and he can once again breathe.
"Now that I have your attention, you will cease your futile efforts and listen." says the man to a gasping Orm. "I am Poseidon, God of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and the one who you worship. I have decreed that Atlantis is to begin their conquest of the surface world, and you are to lead them."
"Why come to me? I am not the King. That honor belongs to my brother, Orin." spitefully answers Orm once he regains his bearing.
"Your brother loves those pitiful surface dwellers and cannot be trusted to oversee such an important task. As such you will take the throne from him and lead Atlantis in this conquest. Succeed and you shall be rewarded handsomely. However, should you fail, the punishment will be severe." answers Poseidon.
"Dethrone the King?" says Orm with a bitter laugh. "What do you think I've been trying to do for the past years when we fought? Train him?" questions Orm with an acidic tone.
"For years I've been trying to do just that, but no matter how much I try he always wins." says Orm as he begins to pace around the room.
"At first he would narrowly win by the skin of his teeth, then he started to get better. He was more skilled, stronger, faster, and even cunning at times to the point of seeing through my plots. Eventually it was I who escaped the skin of my teeth." rants the Prince of Atlantis as an intrigued Poseidon listens on. "I thought that our trainers might have something to do with it, but no. Even they don't know how he improved this fast, and you expect me to dethrone him? I am many things, but suicidal is not one of them." says Orm as he comes to a stop in front of Poseidon.
"Tell me mortal, how often does he go to the surface?" questions the god.
"Every. Single. Day. And I know for a fact that this so-called Justice League that he is a part of does not require his presence that often." answers a frustrated Orm through gritted teeth. "It is almost as if he owns a residence there, or has an obligation that he must see to. If I did not know any better I would think that he is having an affair."
"Or perhaps it is where he receives his training." suggests Poseidon as he summons another golden trident to his hand. "Regardless it does not matter. With this weapon you shall be able to best him in combat." says the god as he presents the weapon to the prince. "This is the Trident of Poseidon. A replica of my own godly weapon for you to make use of."
As Orm grasps the trident with awe, he immediately feels the power of the weapon rush into him and empower his very being.
"With this weapon, overthrowing your brother should be an easy task. However, it does not come without a price." says Poseidon to sober the awestruck Orm. "In exchange for this, you will conquer the surface world, how much is up to you. The cities you conquer will be sunk into the sea, and the people will be turned into atlanteans. What you do to them is up to you as long as they too worship me."
"Could you not do this yourself?" asks Orm, causing Poseidon to narrow his eyes as he contemplates whether he should answer or punish the prince for questioning him.
"That would alert Zeus to my plans." answers Poseidon as he chooses the former option in a rare moment of kindness. "His paranoia has blinded him. While he is suspicious of everyone, his current focus lies elsewhere. As such this is the perfect time to move subtly. Any blatantly obvious acts will draw his attention to me."
Having said his piece, Poseidon leaves in the same fashion as he arrived leaving a giddy Orm to study the weapon.
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Outskirts of Poseidonis, Atlantis
Somewhere in the Atlantic
May, 2006
Kaldur'ahm is an Atlantean with light blond hair cut at the bottom, deep brown skin, pale green eyes, high cheekbones, and a lean build. At the age of twelve he stands at a height slightly above average of five feet tall and possesses webbed hands and feet, and a set of gills that allow him to breathe underwater. The set of visible gills is a trait not shared by most Atlanteans from Poseidonis, but common among the residents of Kaldur's hometown of Shayeris, a city that was founded after the seven major cities of Atlantis sank.
As a twelve year old atlantean, he is a new member of the atlantean military which is why he is outside of the city by himself practicing the combat forms taught there. Unlike many of his fellow new recruits, Kaldur has no qualms with practicing what he learned outside of classes during his free time. And while he could be practicing in the training grounds, he finds that his comrades can be too distracting to train near when outside of class. Many of them cannot seem to practice without causing a ruckus or challenging one another to a contest.
As he loses himself in his training, Kaldur fails to hear the approaching battle until a particularly powerful shockwave knocks him to the ground. With a shake of his head, Kaldur picks himself up from the ground and slowly floats towards the direction of the shockwave. As he draws closer, Kaldur is able to make out two figures battling against one another while they argue.
The first is a muscular caucasian male that stands at six feet tall, with short blond hair, a blond beard, and aqua blue eyes. He wears an orange scale-mail tunic and dark green leggings. At his waist is a gold belt that is clasped with a stylized letter "A", which no doubt has a built-in communicator. He also wears golden gauntlets on his wrists, and dark green greaves. In his right hand is a golden trident brimming with magical power. Kaldur easily recognizes him as King Orin, ruler of Atlantis.
The second is a man Kaldur has only heard spoken of, but never seen, Ocean Master, leader of the terrorist organisation Atlantean Purrists, an organisation that believes that the more human an atlantean looks the more pure their bloodline is and the more superior they are. Ocean-Master dons a purple suit of armor with a cape. The suit of armor consists of spaulders, protecting his shoulders, and fingerless gauntlets and greaves, covering his forearms and shins, respectively. He also has a belt adjoined by an upside-down crescent moon, and wears a helmet that covers his face, leaving only his mouth visible. His eyes are covered by two round opaque red lenses. His suit of armor has an aquatic motif and features protuberances shaped like fins on the greaves and shreds and rips on the base of the cape, making it resemble a caudal fin. Underneath the armor, he wears a black jumpsuit while leaving his feet bare. In his hands he wields a golden trident of his own.
At first it seems that they are evenly matched, but the more Kaldur watches the more he can see that it isn't the complete truth. King Orin is far more skilled with the trident. However, Ocean Master seems to be the more powerful of the two in terms of magic and physical prowess.
"How did you receive this weapon, Ocean Master?" questions King Orin as he deflects Ocean Master's swipe and kicks him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards.
Rather than answer him, Ocean Master simply recovers before raising his trident up.
"While this battle has been interesting, it comes to an end now!" exclaims Ocean Master as his weapon glows and King Orin screams in pain while dropping his trident. "You see Orin, during our battle, every time you received a cut, no matter how minor, a poison was seeped beneath your skin. While it would normally be useless towards our atlantean physiology, my trident allows me to amplify and control it how I see fit." informs the terrorist as he lunges for the King and sends him flying towards Kaldur with a swing of his trident.
Knowing that the King is in no position to land correctly, Kaldur attempts to catch him, only to also be thrown backwards by his momentum and the both land on the ground a few inches away from one another.
"Well what do we have here? A witness?" says Ocean Master as he slowly approaches the duo while Kaldur attempts to get a groaning Orin back to his feet to no avail. "Unfortunately I can't let go back to tell the Queen that it was me who killed her husband." comments the terrorist as he stops a few feet from the two while Aquaman attempts to whisper something to Kaldur.
Before Ocean Master can react, Kaldur presses the "A" on Aquaman's belt and the two are teleported away from Ocean Master while he floats there in surprise.
"Of course he would have a way to escape." says Ocean Master with an irritated scoff. "Regardless, his friends on the surface will not be able to save his life. While they search for a cure for my "poison", the curse will do its work and kill him in a few minutes. It is unfortunate however, that I will not be able to burn his body to ashes." remarks the man to himself as he swims to Aquaman's discarded trident.
Removing his armor, Orm goes about arranging the battlefield to make it seem as if the surface dwellers were the cause of it. Once done he removes his Ocean Master armor and proceeds to vaporise it with a bolt of lightning from his trident before purposefully cutting himself all over with a USMC ka-bar knife and heaping other injuries on himself. Once that is done he grabs his brother's discarded trident and slowly swims back towards Poseidonis with a mournful expression on his face.
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