A little later, Aria brought Aurelia her promised dinner on a silver tray adorned with flowers.
"The flowers were Orm's addition." Aria grinned, setting the tray down. "I also brought these-" She held up a stack of clothing, including jeans and khaki trousers, and assorted band shirts, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. "I figured this would be more fitting for your wardrobe."
"Thanks, Aria."
"My pleasure, as always. Will that be all?"
"Yeah, I think so, I'm planning on staying in tonight."
"Sounds good. Feel free to go exploring, although it sounds like Orm wants to take you on a tour. Just let us know if you need anything."
"Thanks Aria, will do."
It was a little difficult to tell what time it was, due to being so far under the ocean that it was always dark. She stood on her balcony looking out over the city, mesmerized by its inner glow. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, again, as it was hard to tell the time. However, slightly exhausted from the events of the day, she turned in early.
She awoke and immediately began her morning routine: start with something active. She stood in the centre of her room, swinging her mother's trident around to practice with it. Atlanna's weapon had always been a bit unbalanced when Aurelia used it, so it could be a little awkward sometimes.
She found a tray outside her door baring her breakfast (and more flowers), which she ate before going back to training.
Smash! During one swing, the trident slipped from her hands and knocked a bunch of breakable vases off a side table.
"Aurelia!" She heard Orm's voice calling from outside her door, making her jump. "Are you all right?"
"Shit - yeah!" she called back. "Just knocked something - somethings - over! It's okay! Hope those weren't too valuable," she muttered to herself as she scrambled to pick up the broken pieces.
Once she had hastily cleaned up, she went over to open the door to find a concerned Orm standing there. "I knocked, but you mustn't have heard me."
"Sorry, yeah, I was concentrated on training. Sorry for the mess," she added, gesturing to the broken vases.
Orm's eyes widened. "Those were from the First Dynasty."
Aurelia was about to start apologizing profusely, until she noticed Orm cracking a grin.
"Sorry, just joking." After the initial panic wore away, this made her chuckle along with him. Look at them, joking and laughing together as if long-time friends and not rivals for the throne. It sounded so dramatic.
"What happened?"
"I was swinging the trident around, probably shouldn't have been. It's a bit unbalanced so it kind of slipped and I knocked all that over."
"Ah, yes. Each royal has their own trident specially made for them, so it will be unbalanced if anyone else tries to use it."
"That explains it then. That's kind of like wands in Harry Potter, you can really only use your own."
Judging by his confused expression, she guessed that he didn't know of Harry Potter. Made sense, though.
"Your mother's trident is very beautiful." He examined the weapon. "We'll have to get you your own."
"Yeah, maybe. I'm more of a hand-to-hand combat woman myself, but thanks anyways."
"I was wondering if I could take you on a tour of the city?"
"Yeah, Aria mentioned that. You're really wasting no time, huh?"
"Well, you said you weren't planning on staying too long, so I want to make the most of our time together." He was smiling, she was nodding. "Finally, we're reunited after all this time."
Okay then. At least he was being honest. "Alright. Lead the way then."
Atlantis really was an underwater wonderland. She loved the blend of old and new, Ancient World and modern. Orm showed her around the palace, gardens, market, and Old City.
"And this here is one of my favourite places in the whole city."
"Where are we?"
Orm was grinning excitedly. "My lab."
As soon as they swam inside, the room illuminated itself with bioluminescence. "This is the heart of the Atlantean technological design, which I am head of. This is where I do all my designing and building."
"Wow..." Was all she could say. Then she added, "this is all really impressive."
"Thank you."
"And handsome..." She was staring at him again. "Nice! It's all very nice," she tried to cover her slip-up.
"Here, put these goggles on, and I'll show you the latest weapon design. It's a blaster, and converts water into plasma beams." The curved, uneven surface of the weapon made it look like a large piece of coral.
He took the weapon and gestured for her to follow him into a side-room, which resembled a firing range. He hoisted up the weapon and fired it across the long room. She watched in awe as a beam of red energy shot across the room and struck the wall.
"Whoa... And you designed it?"
"Yes, I did."
So he wasn't only handsome and kind, but also smart. He was gaining more wins and surprises in her book.
"How far can it shoot?"
"Here, let's find out."
Sharing a mischievous grin, they took the weapon outside the lab, and he led her to a corner of the city where empty ocean stretched before them, ancient pillars and statues signalling the edge of the city. He fired the weapon again, both watching as the beam shot through the water, rippling it, and stretching further than the eye could see, even their Atlantean eyes.
"Whoa! That's awesome! Can I try?"
"Of course." He passed her the weapon and showed her how to hold and fire it. She aimed and pulled the trigger.
The force of the blast caused her to be pushed back a little, also causing the beam of energy to shift - blasting off the head of a nearby statue.
"Oh-" By the look on Orm's face, that statue was more valuable than the vases this morning that had fallen victim to her trident-swinging.
"Who did I just behead?"
"King Atlan, first King of Atlantis."
"Oh... Sorry..."
"Orm."
Both jumped and turned to see that the situation had only gotten worse - there was Orvax, flanked by guards.
"Father." Orm quickly bowed his head while Aurelia could feel the scrutiny of the king's gaze.
"So now you're destroying our home," Orvax accused her.
"It was an accident, it was my fault," Orm quickly stepped in, defending her.
"Silence. I wasn't talking to you." She noticed how Orm flinched at this. It was subtle, but there.
"Orm was showing me his tech designs, and I asked to try the blaster. It's my fault, I'm sorry about the statue, it was an accident."
Orvax seemed to ignore her apology - which, by the way, she was not pleased to be giving to him - and instead continued to grill his son. "You know how I feel about your technology. And you should be preparing for King Nereus's arrival, not fooling around. You didn't forget about Xebel's arrival tomorrow, did you?"
"Of course not, Father. I have been preparing for it-"
"Then I suggest you continue. This is a big moment for us, for you."
"I am aware of that, Father."
"Only I'm not sure you realize the weight of this. I suggest you return to preparing for our guests."
Orm nodded, looking ashamed. "Of course, Father."
"And as for you-" Now Orvax addressed her. "You would do well to keep your hands to yourself and to not dig into what you don't understand." With that, he and his guards floated away.
"I'm sorry," Orm began, giving her a smile, though not his usual smile.
"No, I'm sorry."
He nodded. "I would invite you to dinner, but I'm afraid I have work to do, so I will be eating in my chambers."
"Yeah, that's fine, thanks. I should probably do the same. Thanks for the tour, it was nice. And I really do like your technology. I think it's great."
His smile grew. "Thank you, Aurelia."
She realized once he left that she hadn't discussed the tidal wave and his threat to the surface - she had been too distracted.
(Whew! So sorry for such a delay! With 'Avengers: Endgame' being released, my Marvel stories were taking priority. But don't worry, I am still in love with Orm and am excited to continue this story! ;)
And I just saw the live-action 'Aladdin' (so, so good, I highly recommend!) and yes, this chapter title is inspired by the song! ;)
Thank you for waiting so patiently and for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))