Wonder Woman: Queens of the Ocean (Part 7)

Queen Mera

The ally answers "I am Queen Mera, the true queen of Atlantis"

Diana "Atlantis? Was this your doing? Are you working with Clea?"

Mera "No, I am trying to free my people under her control. She invaded Atlantis when I was a girl and has destroyed, oppressed and taken over the kingdom whilst expanding her own"

Diana then frees her from the Lasso

Diana "Please, talk to me"

Mera "I cannot, I am sworn to secrecy"

Diana "You have fought by my side for these past few weeks, you can trust me. I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons and I am the Wonder Woman, protector of this Earth"

Mera sighs "I would like to speak more but I cannot compromise my secrets"

Diana "I assure you, I will not. I take secrecy very important. You may notice but I am blind, which is why I have not been able to see you when you fought alongside me, you have helped me protect the people here. Please, we have a common enemy, let us talk"

Mera "I do not want to be detected here, come down below and we can speak"

Diana "I cannot communicate underwater for long"

Mera then sees a rock in the sea "How about that rock over there, I will guide you. I know you can fly"

Diana "How do I know you will not swim away?"

Mera then moves to Diana "Carry me if you must"

Diana does that and she carries Mera and they sit on the rock and talk

Mera "The kingdom of Atlantis was submerged underwater centuries ago. Many died but my ancestors found opportunity. They can adapt to both land and sea and they settled in the abandoned underwater kingdom. They built their society and defended it from invaders. We can communicate with sea life, we move rapidly underwater. We are Atlanteans and I am the true queen of the kingdom. But when I was a girl, a powerful force took over. Clea as you rightly said. I am unaware of her origins but tales tell she was exiled from the surface world and took over the waters. She built a community and found ways to force dwellers to work for her. She assembled an empire of Cleaneans as I call it. She sneakingly abducted humans and made them like these warriors you fought with. She harbored untouchable powers and made a pact with the evil sea god Aipaloovik. Over time, her forces grew and she began taking riches from the underworld. Her actions have lead to unexplained ship capsizes, abnormal weather events and burglary of resources. She had her eyes set on Atlantis for years and one day, she took over it. She killed my parents, enslaved as many Atlanteans as she can but I escaped somehow. I was the Princess of a tribe of Atlantis with other tribes getting their royal families killed off too, including the crowned king and queen. I am the only one of royalty left"

Diana "Oh I am so sorry to hear this"

Mera "The crown prince of Atlantis also managed to escape, his father was a human and after his mother died, he fled to the surface to his father's house. I saw my kingdom get overtaken right in front of me and a trusting dolphin was tasked to take me away. She died but her last breath got me to safety many miles away. I swam continuously and found shelter in various places and fended for myself. I went to various refugee camps till they got destroyed by Clea's forces. When I was a young adult, I found my way to Thomas Curry, father of Arthur, the crown prince of Atlantis. We developed an alliance which turned to love. We swore to take back our kingdom and we fought back. But my dear Arthur was caught up in an ambush... I do not even know his fate, whether he died or survived. I tried looking for him or his body but had no luck. Thomas was then slain before I could even relay the sad news to him. That day, I grew angry. I had a burning desire to kill Clea and went after the trident warriors"