Destinies: Separate Ways

12th Fate: The Drowned King

Dwiyan POV

It all started with the fire-the fire that burned our happiness to ashes, the fire that took our friend from us, and the fire that drowned us all in despair. A month has passed since that accident, yet none of us can go back to who we used to be. Everyone always looks so miserable. Everyone, including me, I don’t know what else I should do after this. My mind has been a mess ever since the fire happened. I’ve tried everything to calm my thoughts, but nothing has worked—I keep thinking about that accident over and over.

At least, until one day I visited a zoo. I thought that watching cute animals playing might help to calm my mind. It seemed to work, especially when I reached the aquarium area and saw the fish swimming freely, moving around so calmly, as if they had no worries at all. When I placed my hand on the glass of the aquarium, the fish that were swimming freely gathered right where my hand touched the glass, and somehow, I felt like they were comforting me. I smiled a little at them, and then they went back to swimming freely again.
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A few weeks later, I had managed to calm my mind and heart, and right now I was relaxing by the beach while listening to the sound of the waves. I decided not to swim because the currents here were quite strong, and the tide was coming in, making it very dangerous for anyone daring to swim. So, I just lay under a coconut tree, enjoying the refreshing sea breeze. Without realizing it, maybe because I was too comfortable lying here, I ended up falling into a deep sleep. When I woke up, it was already late afternoon, and the sun was starting to set.

As I was preparing to leave, I heard a scream from the shore, and when I turned, I saw a small child being pulled by the waves, almost drowning. Without hesitation, I jumped into the sea and tried to save the child. I moved easily in the water, and I started reaching for the child, who had already sunk quite deep. However, just as I was about to grab hold, I saw someone else saving the child first. He then swam towards the shore with impressive speed, and I quickly followed him.

Once we reached the shore, the person looked surprised to see I had managed to catch up so quickly, but then he smiled and focused again on helping the child who had nearly drowned. After we succeeded in waking up the child and received thanks from the child’s parents, we moved aside, and the person who had saved the child earlier invited me to talk. 
???:"You’re an Atlantean too, aren't you?" 
I was immediately confused when I heard his question, so I asked him back. 
Dwiyan:"Huh? What do you mean?" 
But, he didn’t answer my question and instead continued asking something else. 
???:"And not just any Atlantean, since you can breathe on land freely, which means you have royal Atlantean's blood" 

???:"But I’ve never seen you in the palace, who exactly are you?" 
I grew even more confused after they said that. 
Dwiyan:"Wait, wait, wait, Atlantis? I really don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t even know you at all" 
This time it was their turn to look at me, confused. 
???:"My name is Arthur, most people know me as Aquaman" 
Arthur:"Do you really not know that you’re an Atlantean" 
Dwiyan:"I’m serious, both my parents are just normal humans" 
Arthur:"Or maybe they hid the truth from you so that you wouldn’t know" 
Arthur then thought for a moment before looking at me again. 
Arthur:"Come to Atlantis with me, maybe we can find out the truth about you and your parents"
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I was inside a submarine shaped like a fish along with Arthur. At first, I was hesitant to go with him, so I asked him to wait a bit. After about a week, I became quite curious about the truth about myself because, no matter how many times I asked my parents, they wouldn’t tell me. So, I decided to go with Arthur to Atlantis. When I arrived in Atlantis, Arthur introduced me to Mera, Arthur’s wife, and Queen Atlanna, Arthur’s mother.

I was quite shocked when I met Queen Atlanna because she looked so much like my mother. Queen Atlanna also looked surprised when she saw me; she immediately came up to me and asked. 
Atlanna:"You, is your mother’s name Altina?" 
I nodded, then she immediately hugged me while crying with happiness. 
Atlanna:"Thank goodness, how is your mother doing now?" 
Dwiyan:"My mother is doing fine, but why do you ask, Your Majesty?" 
Queen Atlanna kept hugging me, which made Arthur and the others look as confused as I was. Shortly after, Queen Atlanna let go of the hug and then told us that my mother was actually Queen Atlanna’s little sister, who had been kidnapped long ago.

We were all shocked to hear that. Queen Atlanna then told me about my mother and about Atlantis. I listened to all her stories, and I was sure that my mother truly was her sister. After hearing everything, Arthur immediately put his arm around me. 
Arthur:"I knew you were an Atlantean noble, but I didn’t expect you to be my cousin" 
Arthur:"Nice to meet you… Um… What’s your name?" 
Dwiyan:"Ah, sorry I haven’t introduced myself yet, nice to meet you, my name is Dwiyan" 
Arthur:"Nice to meet you too, Dwiyan" 
After welcoming me, Arthur then looked back toward his mother. 
Arthur:"Mother, if Dwiyan really is your sister’s son, doesn’t that mean Dwiyan also has a right to inherit the throne" 
Queen Atlanna nodded, and then Arthur looked back at me with a grin. 
Arthur:"Kid, are you interested in becoming a king" 
Dwiyan:"No thank you" 
Arthur immediately pouted after I rejected his suggestion.
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A month had passed, and so many things had happened during this time. I introduced my mother to Queen Atlanna, and the two of them embraced as soon as they saw each other. My mother then told me that she had indeed once been kidnapped, but my father saved her, so she decided to marry him. The reason my parents hadn’t told me before was that they were afraid I would be in danger if I knew about Atlantis.

But after Arthur and Queen Atlanna assured them, they allowed me to stay in Atlantis, even though they preferred to remain on the surface. A few weeks after I decided to stay in Atlantis, Mera brought a young girl, who turned out to be Dela. I was very surprised to see her here, but then we smiled and shared our stories of how we ended up in Atlantis. That wasn't all—during this month, Arthur kept trying to push me into becoming the King of Atlantis to replace him. He even started matchmaking me with Dela, which was getting pretty annoying for both of us.

My days in Atlantis passed peacefully and comfortably. Aside from Arthur’s constant pestering, I truly enjoyed living in Atlantis. Until one day, suddenly, someone arrived in Atlantis with a panicked expression. Arthur had told me about him before; if I’m not mistaken, his name is Orm, Arthur's half-brother. 
Arthur:"What’s wrong, brother, why do you look so panicked like that?" 
Orm:"This is bad, brother, something very terrible is about to happen on the surface" 
Arthur:"How bad?" 
Just as Arthur asked that, a huge tremor shook everything around us, and we could all feel a terrifying aura released alongside it.

After the tremor ended, Arthur and Mera immediately prepared to go to the surface with Orm. At first, Dela and I wanted to join them because we were worried about our parents, but they forbade us. 
Arthur:"Dwiyan, Dela, stay here in Atlantis" 
Arthur:"Please take our place as King and Queen of Atlantis for the time being and protect Atlantis until we return" 
Mera:"Don’t worry, we’ll make sure your parents are safe, so the two of you don’t need to worry" 
Dela and I initially wanted to insist on coming along, but since we couldn’t leave Queen Atlanna alone, we obeyed them. Arthur, Mera, and Orm set off early the next day.

Unfortunately, they never returned after that. We couldn’t contact them or reach anyone on the surface. Everyone in Atlantis grew increasingly anxious and cautious, while I, who was supposed to be acting as King in Arthur’s place, didn’t know what I should do. I felt like I was nothing more than just The Drowned King.