Everything I Need - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Chapter Two - The Lost Queen Herself

"Mom?"

She looked just like the woman in the photographs her father kept around the lighthouse, him keeping his promise to his beloved wife that he would not let their daughter forget her mother.

And she hadn't.  Neither of them had. And Atlanna had never forgotten her surface world husband and daughter. 

"Mom?"

Atlanna's sea blue eyes were wide and a smile was spreading across her face. "Aurelia!" She wasted no time in drawing her daughter close for a tight hug, one that was years overdue. 

Aurelia returned the hug.  I'm actually hugging my mom. "Y-you're alive?" Was she dreaming? She must have hit her head when she was being thrashed around in that whirlpool... But hit her head on what? It must have just been the getting thrashed around then... Maybe this place played tricks with your mind or something.

"Aurelia."

"You're here."

"I'm here."

"You're really here!"

"And you're really here!" They drew apart, beaming at each other.

That was when Aurelia remembered that they were not alone. "Orm! Oh my gods-" She looked to her mother desperately.  "We need to help him, he's dying."

"What happened to the prince?" 

"That jackass father of his-"

"Orvax did this?" cried Atlanna, eyeing the stab wound in Orm's abdomen.

"Yeah, it was awful," Aurelia choked out.

"We really shouldn't move him."

"Yeah, good point." 

"But I can help."

Aurelia sat by Orm's side as Atlanna mixed together a medicinal remedy and bound Orm's wound. 

"Will he be okay?"

"For now." She knew her mother was only telling the truth, but that truth was far from comforting. 

She had so many questions, and so much she wanted to say to her mother.  "So what is this tropical paradise?" Aurelia asked once they had gotten Orm settled.  She was still pretty unsettled though.  "How does this even work? We're technically underwater, aren't we?"

"Magic of the gods."

"Right."

"You don't believe in that?"

"I'm starting to. It's all a bit overwhelming."

"You're just not used to it yet."

"So what happened to you? How did  you get here?" She was still having trouble believing that this was actually happening - her mother was alive, and she was here with her. 

"When I left you and your father and returned to Atlantis, upon hearing I had a surface world family, Orvax sacrificed me to the Trench. But I managed to survive and fought my way through as you did, and ended up here."

"Hold up, you've been here for twenty-one years?"

"Yes."

"Alone."

"Not always.  Other sacrificed people washed up on these shores, but, unfortunately, they didn't survive long after that."

"God, that must have sucked." Aurelia shook her head.  "I can't believe you were here this whole time, alive." Then a thought struck her.  "Why didn't you ever come back to us?"

"I couldn't. I was trapped here. The portal that brought you here won't let us return. I've tried, many times, but to no avail. It is one-way only." Now Atlanna appeared sad.  "You must forgive me, forgive me for everything."

"Are you kidding? None of this is your fault in any way.  All this happened cause of me, cause you had me. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

"Aurelia-"

"I realized that a long time ago."

Atlanna took her daughter's face in her hands, lifting Aurelia's head so their eyes met.  "None of this is your fault. Please don't believe that it is. I made a choice to stay with your father and start a family, live a life I wanted by my choice, not to be forced into some arranged marriage to that tyrant king.  I also made the choice to leave - it was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make, but  I did it to protect you, to save your father..." Now she was smiling again.  "Tell me, tell me about him."

"He still walks to the end of that dock every morning, every day. Waiting for you to return. Waiting for you to come home to us."

 Some tears were sliding down Atlanna's face and she looked extremely touched. "Oh, Tom..."

"Yeah.  He still loves you, so much."

"And I him."

"Yeah. If that's not true love, then I don't know what is. You two really have something special, that's for sure." She didn't even realize she was looking at Orm when she said this until her mother noted it. 

"You care for him," Atlanna observed.

"He said he believed in me.  We're friends, I guess." She wasn't about to tell Atlanna about Orm's obvious crush on her, which made things hella awkward. But, she'd never had a mother-and-daughter gossip session about boys before.  "He actually admitted that he likes me... I thought it was just cause we were apparently in an arranged marriage - which sucks, by the way. But then, the more time I spent with him, the more it seemed that maybe he just liked me for me." She smiled a little.  

"True love is special that way."

"Okay, hold up, we're a long way from 'love', let alone 'true love'. I don't have any romantic feelings for this guy."

Atlanna only smiled. 

Aurelia looked around, taking in their surroundings. "So, if the portal is a one-way only deal, how are we going to get out of here?"

"The trident," Atlanna said with such confidence. 

"I'm sorry?"

"The trident is the only way back."

"Trident, what trident? You mean Atlan's trident?  Orvax has it now. Don't know how, but he does, so if that's really our only way out then we're pretty screwed."

"No, there's another trident."

"Of course there is. What's so special about this one?"

"Oh, it's very special." Atlanna smiled.  "It belongs to Poseidon."

(Greek Mythology, yay! :) Also, happy reunion chapter, yay!

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