Lost City, Lost Kingdom, Lost Soul - Orm (Aquaman)

VII. You're Playing a Human, Act Like It

"Please tell me you've decided on something else," Orm said when he was brought back into the hall after giving the others time to discuss his life. 

"Nope," said Arthur. "Nada. You're going up to join the humans."

Orm heaved a heavy and unimpressed sigh. He hadn't really thought they would come up with some other scheme, but he had hoped. Hoping hadn't done him much good though, it would seem. "Let me guess whose idea that was..."

"Oh, it wasn't my idea." Arthur grinned and turned to Atlanna.

Orm's jaw dropped. "Mother?!"

Atlanna nodded.  "I suggested it.  Being on the surface taught me a lot, and definitely changed my previous ideas about it. I thought maybe it would do the same for you, and the others agree."

Orm gawked at her.  Arthur he could see coming up with a crazy plan like this, but his mother? Definitely not.

"I cannot believe you would even suggest this-" Siding with Arthur was one thing, but suggesting Orm do something he was so entirely against was definitely another. His own mother - he couldn't believe it. "Of all the people..." Orm thought of Atlanna's words to him when he had first seen her alive after thinking her dead all these years: "You are both my children and I love you, so much..." But she couldn't be doing this out of love - could she? But the look in her eyes right now staring back at him was telling him that's exactly why she was doing this.

He recalled her words following that statement: "But you have been misguided. Your father taught you that there were two worlds - he was wrong. The land and sea are one." Then he had been hauled away to prison.

"We'll equip you with some things that you'll need - like you for sure can't go marching around in that ridiculous wet-suit."

"You're wearing one too!"

"Eh, this is more what I would consider to be armour..."

"Mine is armour! And it still looks ridiculous on you." Great, now here they were, brothers, arguing like children. Orm's pride was being steadily stripped away, piece by piece, a pride and confidence he had struggled with building for so many years and had finally achieved, much to his father's chagrin, gone in an instant.

"Aw, don't look at me like that. It'll be an adventure! When was the last time you set foot outside the kingdom? When you weren't conducting war of course?" Atlanna sent Arthur a warning glance, telling him to wrap this speech up.

Arthur gave him one last piece of advice: "And remember, you're playing a human, so act like it."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here he was, up on the surface. Again.

He already hated it.

Last time he had accidentally ended up here. Now, he had been left here by his own people.

He wondered if Arthur had chosen uncomfortable clothing for him to wear just to spite him further, or if surface garments were all this scratchy and uncomfortable.

The only good thing about being recaptured by Arthur was that he had been able to go back to Atlantis, back home.  Even if under terrible circumstances. Even being a prisoner in Atlantis was better than being here. Anywhere was better than here. 

All he had were the clothes he was wearing and a small bag of extra clothes and other small items he might need. That was all he had - this definitely felt like a prison sentence.

"You're playing  a human, so act like it," Arthur had said. Well, easy for him to say... So I should just be annoying and ignorant, like you.

Growing up under a strict regime laid out by his father, Orm had often secretly longed for the support of his older half-brother, not that he would ever admit it, especially not to Arthur himself. Only now that he finally knew said brother, he wanted nothing to do with the man with whom he shared the same lovely mother.

It was safe to say his situation had gone from 'Very Bad' to 'Much Worse' in only a matter of days.

What to do now? He needed a place to think, to collect his thoughts and assess his current situation - clearly a bad one. And that place was certainly not here in the middle of the street.

Atlanna and Arthur had mentioned some lodgings, a 'hotel' they had called it. When Orm asked if he could just stay with Atlanna and her human husband, Arthur made it clear that he wanted Orm to fend for himself. Luckily, Orm had ample experience in that field, thanks to his father's rigorous training throughout Orm's life.

After some minutes - he had no idea exactly how long, but it felt long, and the sun was beating down on him, doing nothing to improve his current foul mood - Orm knew he was lost. Wasn't this supposed to be a small town? How could he be lost already? This was just embarrassing. He was sure the others were watching him somehow, probably through using his technology, laughing at him, mocking him.

The thought made his blood boil.

But he tried to relax and be calm - he wouldn't be able to think clearly if he was this tense.

Okay, so he was lost. What could he do? He could ask for directions, something he saw as beneath him, but honestly, he had few options.

The crowds were thin, so not a lot of options, but he noticed a young woman crossing the street to the side he stood on, who looked like she would be heading his way. He would just stop her as she passed him and ask her where the 'hotel' was. Simple, easy.

But as the young woman approached, he found that perhaps some luck was suddenly in his favour - he realized he recognized this person passing by: the woman who had his trident. Small town, indeed. Sure, they hadn't met under the best circumstances before (he had definitely frightened her) but she was familiar - the only familiar face to him here so far - and an added bonus, he could get his trident back.

With determination, he straightened up his posture and approached.

(So I really wanted Orm and Tatiana to meet in this chapter, but felt that was a little rushed as he just arrived on the surface. But in the next chapter for sure!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))