Everything To Me - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

One - Different Worlds

The day hadn't exactly gotten off to the start she had imagined.

She hadn't expected to have to come to the rescue in the early hours of the morning of a drunken sailor, and carry the guy back to land. Not fun.

She stormed into the nearest pub, assuming this is where he had gotten all his drinks, and dumped him on the closest table. "Next time, don't go swimming while drunk, dumbass." She didn't have time for this shit. That, and she had bigger problems looming on the horizon, rather beneath the surface.

Treating herself to a drink - might as well, cause she was in the bar already - she ordered a beer. The bartender was quick, thankfully, and she snapped off the cap and downed the drink in a few large gulps - she was sure her father would be proud of her for drinking it so fast.

She slammed the now empty bottle back down onto the counter and nodded to the man she had saved on her way out the door.  "It's on him."

With that, she strode out of the bar and right into the awaiting waves.

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When she arrived home, at dawn, her father, no surprise, was waiting at the dock.  Waiting for her mother, his love, to return to him.

Now Aurelia knew she never would. Atlanna was dead, killed by her own people. Thanks to them, she would never be returning to her family. And Aurelia didn't think she had the strength to tell her father this, and so she hadn't, not yet. And maybe never would.

Because maybe revealing the truth to him would mean she was accepting it herself, and she didn't want that.

But then he would be stuck waiting forever.  Waiting for something that would never happen.  She didn't know which option to pick, for neither seemed better or less painful than the other.

It had been just two weeks since the disastrous end to her trip to Atlantis, so the wounds were still fresh. Very fresh.

"Hey Kiddo, want some eggs? Coffee?" Tom asked once he had returned to the lighthouse, the sun now risen high in the sky.

"No, thanks."

"Still little appetite?"

"Something like that." Without another word she headed upstairs to her room - she could sense her father about to ask her what was wrong, and wasn't about to get into it right now.

Was she really sparing him anything hiding the truth from him like this? Or just sparing herself from having to reveal the painful truth to him?

She was broken out of her thoughts when her attention was drawn to a sudden rattling sound. The glass of water sitting on her bedside table had begun trembling, faster and faster, the water spasming, until a holographic image of none other than Prince Orm emerged from the water.

"AH! WHAT THE FU-" Aurelia swatted the glass, which shattered against the wall, falling to the floor in a pile of broken shards and water. The image disappeared momentarily, then rose again from the puddle.

"Aurelia! Everything alright up there?!" called Tom.

"Yeah Dad!" she squeaked. "Just found a big spider! It's okay!" Her eyes never left the wavering image of Orm's handsome (cough, forget that) stern face.

"What the actual hell?! What the hell is this?" Orm said nothing, just stared back at her. "What, you gonna pop out of my toilet next? That would actually be kind of funny. Are you stalking me through that thing? Tracking me? Through - water?"

Orm gave a brief shrug, then finally spoke. "I developed a way to make water holograms."

"Good for you. Now go shared it with someone who actually cares."

They stared at each other for a long, drawn-out moment, until Aurelia swung a punch. Her fist went straight through the water, but she did it again a couple more times just for the satisfaction.

"How long have you been tracking me?"

"I'm not tracking you."

"Oh yeah? And what about before?"

"My father placed that tracker in my mother's bracelet when he knew I was going to gift it to you."

"Well good job, Sherlock Holmes, you solved the case.  But you're not entirely innocent in this."

His expression remained unchanged.  "Neither are you."

"Me?! I'm the victim in this!"

"And what of my mother's bracelet? The real victim."

"Okay, I'm sorry about that, but I was, understandably, very angry. There, I apologized. Happy?"

"No." He remained strangely calm and expressionless. "We need to talk, Aurelia."

"Been there, done that. No thanks."

"There is still the question of succession at hand-"

"What question?"

"If we do not rule together-"

"Yeah, no thanks. Thought I made myself clear on that one."

"-Then we need to decide who will rule - through the most ancient of solutions: combat."

"Or, you could just take it, no questions asked. I mean, you want it, so go for it. Seems like the easiest solution to me. Then everyone's happy."

"Only not quite. You see, what about my war? I will have it, and starting with a little visit to you and your father."

She saw red. "You wouldn't dare."

"Maybe, maybe not. Come alone and unarmed and we'll see. Otherwise, expect a visit from my guards." With that, the image dissolved away, and the water splashed back into a puddle on the floor.

Aurelia sat in shocked silence for a moment. Had that really happened? Had Orm just popped out of a puddle of water in her room and threatened her?

Yup.

"Damn it." Looked like she was returning to Atlantis after all.

She turned to face her mother's prized weapon, Atlanna's trident, resting against the wall. She went and picked it up, spinning it between her hands. "I'll come alone, but not unarmed."

(So the first part of this chapter was inspired by the introduction to Aquaman in 'Justice League'. I have not watched the full movie, just the Amazons and the introduction of Arthur.

I was worried that it might be too soon to have Aurelia and Orm interact again in the first chapter, but it gets the action started! Thanks so much for reading (as always!) and I hope you enjoyed (also as always! :))