Everything To Me - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Chapter Nine - Allies or Enemies?

As soon as she awoke the next morning, Aurelia was met by a thick fog, which hung heavy and hugged close to the boat. Must have rolled in over night.

This wasn't of huge concern, not until the fog gave way into a rapid-onset, high-intensity storm.

"Where the hell did this come from?" she cried while running back and forth across the deck, trying to secure and steady the boat, Orm helping the best he could with his limited knowledge of sailing. Both were thrashed about as the waves rocked the boat.  Luckily neither of them needed to fear the risk of drowning.

The fog had begun to clear while the storm raged on.  Up ahead, Aurelia just managed to catch a glimpse of land. 

"Abandon ship!" she finally shouted. "Swim for shore!"

Grabbing only what they needed - which was really only the bottle - both she and Orm dove overboard.

It was a bit of a fight to swim through the storm-angered water, but eventually both made it to shore, collapsing onto the beach, breathless.

"Now what?" Orm asked.

"Why are you asking me?" was her way of replying that she had no idea either. "Where the hell even are we?"

Now that they had reached the land, it was as though the storm had never existed.  It was a clear day on this island of gold beaches and emerald hills, surrounded by water of bright turquoise. 

Aurelia shielded her eyes from the beating sun.  "Hey, wait a second - I know this place-" The long beach and the rolling green hills tugged at her memory.

Her pondering didn't last very long, however.

An arrow whizzed past them. Up ahead, armed figures appeared. 

Soon the two Atlanteans were being chased down the beach. 

Aurelia waved her arms over her head to try and get their attention. "Hey! It's me, Aurelia - Princess Aurelia, Daughter of Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis! We come in peace!"

Orm just groaned. "Amazons."

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"This really isn't necessary."

Aurelia and Orm were kneeling before Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, in the great hall, their wrists bound by rope and surrounded by armed Amazon guards.

"Princess Aurelia, it has been many years since you last graced us with your presence."

"Yeah, well, I was only coming here to help me prepare to 'fulfill my destiny' and I'm still struggling with that destiny..."

"What is your mission?"

"Uh..." Aurelia and Orm exchanged a glance. Orm shook his head. "That's classified..."

"Well, classified or not, it would be in your best interests to share it with us."

"We do not trust you," growled Orm.

"I do," Aurelia jumped in.  "He may not, but I do."

"You may, but I'm afraid you have broken our trust, Princess Aurelia."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, seeing as you have aligned yourself with the Prince and future King of Atlantis, that speaks for itself."

"Okay, like I knew you all had some feud going on, but this is something else..." She turned to the Amazon who was holding the ropes binding her. "Hey, Venelia, right? You trust me, yeah?" The warrior said nothing.  Aurelia sighed and turned back to the queen.  "Look, this isn't what it looks like, okay.  I have not aligned myself with anyone here, this is more of an accidental team-up.  I'm on a mission, and Orm is actually my prisoner so I had to bring him along. Plus, we're both fugitives, running from the king."

"You have betrayed your  father?" Hippolyta now addressed Orm.

"So it would seem."

"I must say I am surprised."

"Me too, honestly," said Aurelia.

The queen remained firm. "Still, we have the upper hand here. You will tell us what you are doing."

"We're actually rivals for the throne," Aurelia continued.  "Even though I want nothing to do with it-"

"And King Orvax would not give up his crown so easily."

"Yeah, no, probably not. Listen, I dislike the guy too - no offence Orm."

"None taken."

"Basically, we're just trying to gain the upper hand. There's this special trident you see-"

"Seriously?!" cried Orm.

"Oh, come on, they're obviously not going to help your father. Whoever holds it rules over Atlantis and the sea-"

"The Lost Trident of Atlan.  Yes, I am aware," stated Hippolyta.

"Oh, you know it. Okay, cool. Saves me from having to explain it all then.  We're just trying to get to it first and stop Orvax from laying waste to the surface world. I won't let that happen.  And honestly, as soon as he does that, he'll probably come for you, his next top enemy."

"Yes, most likely.  Release them," the queen ordered the guards.  Aurelia gave a sigh of relief.  Orm just looked pissed. 

"You have an important mission ahead of you - our fates rest in your hands."

"Yup, no pressure there." The queen gave her a stern look.  "Sorry. Please continue."

Hippolyta sighed.  "I have a daughter - Diana.  One hundred years ago she left the island and traveled into the World of Man to stop a war.  She's never returned.  She is working in a museum now, in Paris, France."

"Diana Prince? Wonder Woman? Oh yeah, I know her! We've bumped into each other a few times on 'hero' business."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it.  I want her to come home.  You will deliver this message to her."

"Okay..." 

"And if you succeed and Diana returns home, we offer our armed forces to your assistance."

"Atlantis does not need the 'assistance' of any Amazons," sneered Orm.

"Shh, shh, shut up!" scolded Aurelia before addressing the queen again. "Thank you, that's very generous of you. I might just take you up on that later."

"Later for our part of the bargain.  You find her now."

"Oh, you mean like right now... We're actually on quite a bit of a time crunch - okay, yeah, no sweat, we'll get right on that," she answered to another stern look from the warrior queen. "Paris, here we come." 

"We will join you in the fight against King Orvax. Your father has never been very respectful, towards anyone really.  And especially not towards women," Hippolyta said, eyeing Orm.

"Yeah, tell me about it," agreed Aurelia.

"Your own mother included."

"I do not need to be reminded of my father's ways towards my mother. Thank you for stirring up those memories," Orm sneered. 

"You have our allegiance - should you uphold your end of the bargain."

"Thank you. We will," Aurelia assured her.

The queen nodded.  "Thank you. You will leave at once."

"Yeah - uh, but our boat, we had to abandon it out in the storm..."

"Well swim then.  You're Atlanteans - you are naturally good swimmers." 

(And here we tie back to what was established all the way back in the prologue! Who else is excited for 'Wonder Woman 1984'?! :D

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this (much overdue) chapter! :))