The Princess and the Spider-Man

Chapter 48

The familiar luminescent sights of the sea in Mera's submarine once again amazed Peter as they drove to Atlantis. He could only wish that people could see the ocean like this.

"You think it is possible that people could get a tour of Atlantis?" Peter said, still admiring the environment around them. Mera turned in his direction and smiled at the child-like enthusiasm his face was displaying.

"You're so cute Peter." Mera said to herself, but Peter heard her and looked in her direction.

"Well, that's.......not exactly the response I was expecting to get, but thanks." Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck. Mera chuckled and turned her attention back to the ocean.

"I do believe it can happen one day. If things continue to head in the right direction, perhaps we will conduct tours of Atlantis. And who knows, maybe Atlanteans may want to explore the surface world for themselves one day." Mera replied. Peter loved the fact that Mera was so optimistic about everything. Now that he thought about it, it reminded him a little bit of his uncle. No dark day could ever offset her positivity.

"Maybe." Peter said, turning back to the window. Arthur was swimming right beside them, leading the way towards Atlantis. Once the entrance to Atlantis came into view, Arthur swerved out of sight. "Where's he going?" Peter asked, looking around for where Arthur had disappeared to.

"There is another entrance to Atlantis. An entrance only the high borns can venture through. It leads straight to the palace." Mera answered.

"Why can only high borns enter that way?" Peter asked, turning to Mera.

"Because the passage way has a little area that is made completely of air. No water around." Mera answered. Then the light-bulb popped up inside Peter's head.

"Ahh........and only high borns can breath air as well as water." Peter said.

"Yes. And on top of that, there is a little security scanner that identifies if you are indeed one of the higher borns or not. Some people in the past have tried entering the area with their Atlantean suits, similar to the ones that we fought in Italy." Mera explained.

Peter's face grimaced when he thought back to those bizarre and slightly terrifying red suits those soldiers were wearing.

"With the scanner, it scans your body and can instantly tell if you are worthy to step through or not. If you aren't.............you're pretty much screwed." Mera said. She then blinked in utter disbelief at her own words. "Geez, I think I've been around Arthur too much." she added.

"I see." Peter said, smirking at Mera's last sentence. That however wasn't the only thing that he saw though. He saw that there were no submarines or ships flowing in or out of the palace, like there were the last time. There was absolutely nobody at the gate! "Hey, where is everyone?" Peter asked, looking around for any more vessels that may have been coming or going to the kingdom.

"I know, it's a little bit odd for me too." Mera said. "But they're already in place."

"In place?" Peter asked. "In place for what?"

"In place for you." Mera said, turning to Peter once again. Peter's eyebrows shot up at her response. "Well you are dating a princess of Atlantis, so the entire kingdom is going to want to see who you are, despite the fact that you're a surface dweller." she continued with a smirk.

Peter slowly shook his head while saying, "I don't think that I am worth that much attention though."

At that moment, Mera suddenly stopped the vessel right in the middle of the open ocean. She then turned her full attention to Peter and grabbed his hands as tightly. This was perhaps the tightest grip Peter had ever felt from Mera. And truth be told, he didn't know whether to be enlightened or concerned at this.