Chapter Forty-Eight: Serve And Protect

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The whole world knew of Camille's misfortunes, and that wasn't just some overreaction from a grieving parent dwindling into paranoia

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The whole world knew of Camille's misfortunes, and that wasn't just some overreaction from a grieving parent dwindling into paranoia. No. Her time as queen had been documented, and so, it appeared on almost every avenue of media. This, unfortunately, also meant that both her grandmother and Amelia had found out about Kasalus through newspaper headlines instead of Camille herself. She thought they'd be furious...but they were more devastated than anything, and worried. They insisted that Camille stay with one of them for a while, at least until she readapted to life on the surface, but she wanted to be alone. Camille needed time to fully experience her sorrow. To mourn her son without the distraction of rulership.

She did, however, go back to her old police uniform. Camille had many offers for higher paying jobs. It was a general belief that, because of her experience in Atlantis, she was more qualified than most for leadership roles; such as chief of police or mayor. There were even a few petitions online urging her to run for President. Camille thought it was a ridiculous idea. She had never been involved in human politics, and Atlantean rule was far different regardless. Still, she turned down every offer that came her way. Camille didn't want to be in charge. She just wanted to continue with the life she had left behind.

Unfortunately that didn't seem to be an option. Most of the population knew who she was now; her name, her face, and her past. She couldn't go outside without being recognised and barraged by paparazzi. As the days extended into months, and finally a year, that started dying down but it never completely disappeared. Camille started to realise why most superheroes wore masks.

Even as a street cop her job was never the same as it once was. There was never a shortage of problems for people like the Justice League to solve, and before gaining her abilities, Camille could do nothing about these tragedies. That was the biggest change. Whenever there was excessive gunfire or a psycho villain attack, she could actually do something about it. Not that she enjoyed it at all. Camille was still perfectly happy giving drivers breath tests on the side of the road.

Take now, for instance, she had forced a middle-aged man to pull over. She could smell the alcohol on him before she'd even retrieved the breathalyser. "Afternoon, sir. I'm just going to be taking a random breath test. Have you been drinking today?"

The man's eyes were unfocused and slowly wandering off into the distance. His head swayed, only slightly, but enough for Camille to notice. "No, Officer."

His lie was slurred and not even remotely convincing, but Camille held up the breathalyser anyway. "Then you have nothing to worry about. Please blow into the mouthpiece for ten seconds."

The man cleared his throat nervously, but followed Camille's instructions...well, partially. In an attempt to trick the breathalyser, he blew as softly as he possibly could into the mouthpiece. This was a fairly common occurrence amongst drunk drivers. It was honestly a little shocking that they still thought that the police hadn't realised this tactic, not that it was effective anyway.

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