Everything I Need - Orm Marius/Ocean Master

Chapter Eight - The True Queen of Atlantis, Apparently

When Aurelia emerged back onto the beach in the Hidden Sea, new armour, trident, and all, Atlanna looked extremely proud.  "The one true ruler."

"Yeah, guess so."

"I'm so proud of you."

Having never heard that from her mother, for obvious reasons, it was pretty special.  "Thanks, Mom."

"And you should be too."

"Yeah, I guess."

"How do you feel?"

"Strange..."

"Princess!" The other voice made her jump. As promised, there were Coral, Crystal, and Carina, tending to Orm. 

Aurelia rushed over to them.  "How his he?"

The mermaids appeared saddened.  "Our remedies are not strong enough, his wounds are too great. We are sorry, but he is very near death." 

Their words felt like she was being stabbed. "No, no, no." She knelt at his side. He did look very close to death, even paler than before.  "Come on. I was just starting to like you." His chest barely moved; he was barely breathing now. The puncture wounds were deep. Come on, stay with me. Please don't die. Please. 

"Aurelia," cried Atlanna.  "The trident." 

Thank goodness her mother was here - she herself being still quite new to all this, the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. If the power of the gods couldn't cure Orm, what else could? 

"Stay with me just a little longer. I've got you. I've got this."  She touched the tip of the trident  to Orm's wound, and hoped, to any of the gods that were listening, and to Poseidon himself, that it would be okay.

A golden light shimmered. A gentle breath, so soft you could have missed it, escaped from Orm's lips.  But she heard it.

The stab wounds were gone.  He barely moved, but she was already throwing her arms around him in a hug.  "Thank you," she whispered, hoping - but also knowing - that Poseidon could hear her. 

Orm groaned, and she realized she was still hugging him - probably a little too tight.  "Sorry!" She quickly pulled away. 

"Aurelia..."

"Orm, I was so worried! How do you feel?"

"Honestly, great... What happened?"

"That'll be the power of the gods working its magic. We have a lot to fill you in on."

"'We'?"

"That's part of it. But you're sure you're feeling good?"

"Fine, yes."

"Good."

"Nice armour," he said, nodding to her gold wet suit.  

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Poseidon gave it to me." 

"Oh..."

"Yeah, like I said, there's a lot to fill you in on."

"Well, for the first time, you actually look Atlantean."

She chuckled. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is. It's a good look on you."

"Thanks.  You may finally be getting the hand of this flirting thing-" That was when she remembered they weren't alone. Atlanna was smiling at her.

Orm was just as shocked to see Atlanna alive. She explained to him her story.

"But then, my mother..." Orm's eyes widened and the hope in them was heartbreaking.

Atlanna didn't need to say anything, she just gave him a sympathetic look. "Come with me."

She led them into the trees.  There they found a small spring.  

"I buried her beneath this spring," Atlanna said. "I hoped and prayed to the gods that I would be able to nurse her back to health."

"She told me, before she died, that she was planning on running away from Atlantis, and taking you with her, trying to escape your father. He must have found out and sacrificed her. She loved you so much. You were her greatest joy."

"My father always said she was hunted by surface dwellers. That was the main reason why I hated them so much."  Orm looked distraught and Aurelia didn't blame him. Finding Atlanna had given him hope at perhaps finding his mother too, only to have that hope come so suddenly and shot down just as quick. 

He sat beside the spring. 

"I'll give you two a moment," Atlanna said softly before heading down the stream and leaving them.

"I'm very sorry," Aurelia told him. 

"I've always thought she was dead."

"Still, it's not easy."

"No..."

"I'll give you a moment, with her."

"Thank you." 

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Aurelia paced her way up and down the beach, muttering the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven to try and calm herself. 

The trident was their ticket out of here - but then what? They needed a plan of attack. 

"I didn't know you sang," Orm said, breaking her from her steady stream of thoughts.

"I don't, usually. Unless it's Karaoke, then I'm unstoppable. Was going to play guitar in Arthur's band. I'm just trying to calm myself down. I really wish I had my vinyl collection with me right now, I could use some tunes."

"Congratulations, by the way."

"Sorry?"

"The one true Queen." He nodded to her getup and trident.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, I guess."

"You hold the trident of the Sea God," Atlanna said. "With it, you are in control of the sea. You hold  the most powerful weapon and the whole sea on your side. We stand a very good chance." 

"He cheated the prophecy," Orm stated.

"Yeah, so much for the damn thing. But how'd he do it?" Aurelia wondered.

"My father is ruthless. He'll do anything to win, including playing dirty, as we know."

"Yeah, that much is clear. Well, I'm in it now; I'll fight to defend the surface, come hell or high water - no pun intended." She got to her feet, gripping the trident. "Are you with me?"

"Yes," Atlanna confirmed.

"Yeah." Orm got to his feet.  "That monster who calls himself King killed my mother, and he's going to kill many more innocent people if we don't stop him.  So let's go get that son of a bitch."

Aurelia was impressed.  "Well damn. Let's go and do this then - or else we're going to have a lot more to mourn."

(I guess Orm's final line there is just like Cap's line from 'Endgame' ;) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Onto the final battle! :))