Everything I Am - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Chapter Eight - Tragedy

Aria died just days later. She was one of the first victims of death by the plague. 

"She was the closest thing I had to a mother for so long," Aurelia admitted to Orm.  "Female role models are so important to and for young girls. And she introduced me to you."

"Yes," he agreed, taking her hand and pressing a tender kiss to the back of it. "We will be forever grateful to her for that." 

 Vulko was not the same afterwards, understandably, and soon fell victim to it himself. 

And it didn't stop there. No, it was getting worse. The number of cases was increasing daily, and the death toll was rising almost just as frequently.

It seemed too unbelievable to be true, and yet, true it was. A frightening reality. 

And suddenly, they didn't just have a plague outbreak on their hands, but a rising, climbing death rate. Memorial ceremonies were becoming a regular occurrence.  

They all dressed in their black mourning wetsuits that they hadn't needed to wear since after the battle with Talokan. They had gone from sheer happiness at Opal's birth to tragedy in seemingly a moment. But that was all it took, a single moment, for everything to change, and often drastically and dramatically. 

"I can't believe they're gone." Aurelia stood over the graves of her mentors and said her final goodbyes. Really, they had helped raise her, Tom unable to help her with her Atlantean abilities growing up. "I realize I maybe wasn't always that thankful, or easy to work with - well, that part I do know - but I want you to know how grateful I was, and still am, for all that you did for me and helped me with. Thank you for everything. I never could have done it without the two of you cheering me on. And I'm so sorry this happened. I'll find a way to end it, I promise."

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Time was passing, and things were only getting worse. 

Things had been changing undersea and now seemed to be following a similar pattern up above. On the Surface, strange weather was taking hold all over the world. Not a coincidence that these things were occurring at the same time. 

"Something isn't adding up," Aurelia mused.  Like the Council had said, and had been saying, all these happenings hadn't presented themselves as unusual in the beginning, and only now did they have a big problem on their hands. So what were they missing? "If things have been changing for the last hundred or so years thanks to the Surface, and nothing like this has happened, to this extent at least, isn't that a big red flag? Doesn't that make sense?" She turned to Orm. "Science guy?"

"Yes," he agreed. "It does." 

"The Council is so focused on blaming the Surface that they're not looking at the bigger picture - or the whole picture. Climate change has been an ongoing issue the Surface has been dealing with, but not to this extent. This is more than just a culmination of Surface doings affecting the oceans and climate. No, something else is going on here. We just have to figure out what."

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The damage was widespread, and still expanding. It was becoming irreversible. If only they could go back in time...

Even Atlantis, famed ancient technologically advanced nation, was stumped. "When was the last time something like this happened?" Aurelia asked. 

"Based on our records, right before the Great Fall," Orm said. 

"When Atlantis became too greedy and sank itself?"

"Yes."

"Well, our power hasn't changed. Let's go through the records, see if we can find any patterns."

And so they searched the records vault, the library, the archives, any place they could think of. They studied scrolls, books, steles and tablets. Many were in Ancient Atlantean, which made sense, so thankfully she had Orm and her mother there to help translate. But all said the same thing: under King Atlan, Atlantis's power and ambition became too great and resulted in the Great Fall, and to the bottom of the ocean they, well, fell.  

"I just read more here than I have in years," Aurelia announced, tossing another unhelpful scroll aside and rubbing her hands over her face. She turned to the next page.  "Everything looks a little uneven on these diagrams," she noted, Atlantis in the middle, Xebel and the Brine Kingdom on one side, with the Fishermen, Deserters and Trench on the other.

"Originally there were seven kingdoms, united as one under Atlantis," Orm explained.

"Yeah I heard that. That never made sense to me hearing about seven but only learning about six. What happened there? I'm not great at math but even I can see something doesn't add up. I know I should know this - don't tell the Council."

"They won't hear it from me, My Love," Orm assured her. "We don't know much, but we do know that there used to be Seven United Kingdoms of Atlantis, and then one day there wasn't."

"Yes, all anyone knows is that there was once a seventh kingdom, and then, one day, right before the Fall, it was stricken from all the chronicles," Atlanna explained.

"Huh, sounds suspicious. I take it things weren't usually' stricken from the chronicles'." Did she ever wish Vulko and Aria were here to share their knowledge. 

"No, it would truly have to be something big and shameful."

"Huh..." Clearly Ancient Atlantis was trying to hide something, but what?  

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When their search through the records proved unsuccessful, it was decided that Orm, as King, had a mission. 

"I am going to venture to the other kingdoms and see what is taking place for myself, see if I can find any patterns or answers. I'll even go past our borders, see what's happening outside of Atlantis."

"I should come too. I'm Queen after all," Aurelia jumped in. 

"No, no. You have to stay here, and watch over our daughter and our kingdom."

"Or you could stay and I could go..."

He fixed her with a knowing look. "You're just trying to get out of looking after Atlantis."

"Am not."

"You'll do great," he encouraged. "And I'll be back soon."

Soon - too soon - he was all packed and ready to leave and they were saying goodbye, the first separation of their new family. Opal didn't like it at all, and Aurelia fully agreed with her daughter. 

"Miss you already," she told him.

"And I miss you.  Goodbye my sweet darling." He stroked Opal's soft dusting of hair. 

"And here I thought I was your sweet darling."

"You are both my sweet darlings. Look after each other."

"We will. And please be careful, with this plague and all." She didn't say it, she didn't need to, for her meaning was clear: I can't lose you to this too. "Please." 

"I will be, I promise. And you as well. And remember, you're Queen, they will listen to you. They have to." He winked and kissed her one last time.  "I will see you soon." And then he was gone. 

(Wanted to do some alluding to the Lost Kingdom earlier in the story to then come back to later ;)

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