Chapter 73: Offer

"Excluding how you know about that, why do want to meet him?" Bruce questioned, his eyes narrowing and ignoring Robin's surprised look.

"Let's just say I have a proposition that he would be interested in hearing. If it works out, it'll be a boon for everyone." Sora answered with a telling smirk on his face.

"Again, why are we even listening to him?" Robin complained from the side as Sora's eyes settled on him.

"Richard Grayson…" He started as Dick jumped, startled at the casual reveal of his identity.

"How did yo-"

"Wouldn't you like to know. Such things are mere trivialities in the grand scheme of things." Sora interrupted casually as the boy's face squeezed into a frown.

"Moving on…After hearing about your 'encounter' with certain members of the league, I'm not sure how he would receive you as a guest. It's already been established that you aren't to blame but there are those who have their own take on the matter." Bruce explained.

"Is that a yes or no?" Sora asked simply as his mind went elsewhere.

He could get to Atlantis on his own but he would have to follow a slightly strenuous process for him to do that. This was a much easier way.

"Let's go." Bruce answered as he put on his cowl.

"So, we're taking a trip to Atlantis. Sweet." Robin commented as the other two turned to him.

"We're going. You're staying here." The dark knight said firmly.

"What!? That's not fair!" The boy wonder complained only for Batman to level him a glare. The boy huffed, mumbling about adults being unfair much to Sora's amusement as the dark knight lead him to what he quickly identified as a Zeta tube.

"Batman to Aquaman. I have…" Sora tuned him out as his eyes observed the Zeta tube structure.

'Quite doable with the right parts but it could be better.' He thought as Batman finished up, setting the coordinates for Atlantis.

The whirring sound of the teleportation device starting up became apparent as Batman offered a small device to Sora who politely rejected.

"Why use a rebreather when there are other more efficient ways." Sora said easily as a purple rune made itself visible above his hand.

It glowed and shrunk, shooting into his neck before disappearing. Batman raised a brow at that.

"Simple magic that allows me to breathe underwater." He explained briefly.

"Want one?" Sora asked with a smirk as Batman remained silent, the Zeta tube scanning him and Sora as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stepping through the Zeta tube in the batcave, the two emerged from the zeta tube in Atlantis. Batman without a rebreather over his mouth took the lead as a yellow haired man in an orange and black outfit stood before them.

Batman turned to Sora, hesitating for just the slightest moment before opening his mouth to speak.

"Aquaman." He spoke, his own clear voice seemingly surprising him and also startling the Atlantean king.

"Okay. That's…new." Arthur said slowly as he shook his head.

"Ah, so this is the boy who wanted to meet with me. I am Aquaman as you already know. May I know the name of who I'm speaking to?" He requested politely as he stretched out his hand.

"Sora. A pleasure to meet you." Sora answered as he took the hand.

"Let us take this somewhere more proper than here. Sora, this is Aqualad, my protégé. Aqualad, please show our guest to the palace." Aquaman said as the dark skinned boy behind him nodded in acceptance.

"Yes my king." He responded with a quick bow before gesturing for Sora to follow him. And so they swam, leaving the two league members behind them.

[Swimming has leveled up!]

[Swimming has leveled up!]

[Swimming has leveled up!]

[Swimming has leveled up!]

Sora couldn't help but shake his head as he read the notifications. It had been a while since he saw level up notifications. As for why he didn't have the skill at a high level previously? Why would he swim when he could walk on water?

He felt himself get better at swimming, movement becoming much easier and natural which Aqualad noticed.

"Your form is quite impressive. You are a quick learner." Aqualad commented, drawing Sora from his thoughts.

"Thanks Aqualad. I never really thought of myself as a swimmer." Sora said lightly.

"Please, call me Kaldur. If I may ask, what brings you here to Atlantis?" The older boy asked politely.

"I guess you could say I'm here on a business venture." Sora answered vaguely to Kaldur's visible confusion.

"I do not understand." He spoke honestly to which Sora let out a laugh.

"Don't worry about it. You'll see soon enough." He reassured to which Kaldur nodded.

Sora's eyes traced the skin icons on Kaldur's body, max level [Magic Theory] doing its work as he carefully analyzed it.

'A bit inefficient from the looks of it. Further study is required to come to an accurate conclusion.' He thought as his eyes then traveled to the waterbearers on his hip.

"If you don't mind me asking, I'm a bit interested in Atlantis' version of magic. Your icons are magical in nature yet you use other accessories to control it. Why is that?" Sora asked curiously as he analyzed what he could see.

"Truth be told, I am not as advanced in the mystic arts like my peers and so require my waterbearers to effectively channel my magic." Kaldur explained a bit somberly.

"If you wish to know more, I would advise that you visit queen Mera for further explanations. I am sorry I can't be of much help." The dark skinned sidekick apologized sincerely.

Sora let out a hum of acknowledgment as they continued their discussion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur, or as they call him, Orin sat in a private room, his wife, Mera sat beside him as they gazed upon their guests.

Batman and Sora sat opposite them with serious expressions on their faces. At least Batman's face was serious, Sora on the other hand simply looked too calm.

"Batman informs me that you have something important you wish to discuss with me. It sounded rather urgent." Orin said, starting the meeting to which everyone else hummed in curiosity.

"The importance really depends on how much of a priority it is to you." Sora spoke as the man narrowed his eyes.

"Explain." Orin said in a commanding tone that subtly grated on Sora's nerves but he pushed it down.

"It's a very well known fact that there is conflict between Atlantis and surface world. One of your known goals is to make peace between them but you can only achieve so much when you're so limited." Sora said, casually speaking about Orin's long time effort to bring the two worlds to something akin to peace.

The man couldn't help but grow a bit irritated which Sora noticed with a smirk.

"I don't quite follow." Mera said honestly as the others in the room agreed with her.

"You're limited in communication with the outside world. Other than national meetings and relegations, Atlantis and the surface dwellers have no means of communicating with the other." He explained, gaining their interest.

"After peace talk and a bunch of unnecessary politics. Both sides are left to their own thoughts, building assumptions of each until assumptions turn to rumors and rumors turn to dissatisfaction." He continued as Orin now stared at him with narrow eyes.

"Other than point out the negatives, I haven't heard you talk about anything else." Orin retorted abruptly, some of his irritation at the truths being spoken leaking into his tone to which Sora smirked.

"I never said I was done. Hypothetically, what would happen if Atlantis and the surface world had some form of constant communication? What would happen if we remove the social disconnect between both sides?" Sora pitched, put a small device on the table between them as Mera began understanding what he was getting at, her eyes widening.

"Throughout our swim here, I didn't see even one person something resembling a phone. With that, I present to you a device that can assist with your goal. I can't guarantee that it's an instant fix or that it'll work at all. I'm simply providing you an alternative." Sora said, leaning back into the chair knowing he already had them in his grasp.

The device he had dropped in front of them was a scroll. Unlike what one would expect, it still looked fully functional. To prove his claims, he picked it up, operating it briefly as a holographic screen appeared above it, showing a reporter in New York that was talking about an incoming storm.

It hadn't taken him time to modify a scroll to work underwater. He had done it a while back out of boredom but he didn't see the use for it as of then. The only thing that could be a problem was the poor network in the sea but that could easily be solved.

He looked around the table to see the other members of the room staring at him in surprise and shock.

"The boy makes a good point." Mera conceded but Sora knew she was already convinced. Batman simply didn't talk as it was a matter of Atlantis and so the decision rested on Orin himself.

"This could be it." Orin spoke barely above a whisper but his voice was still carried.

"Before we jump to any conclusions, I have to ask. What do you stand to gain from this?" Orin asked Sora who tilted his head in an almost bored manner.

"Me? I'm a businessman. I'm always looking for opportunities to invest in." He answered easily causing the three atlanteans to look between themselves.

"I can see why you labeled this as urgent." Orin said towards Batman who nodded, still a bit surprised at the development.

"We will discuss the finer details at a later time. For now, we will adjourn this meeting. We can provide you both a place to stay until we iron out the details." He continued.

"I'm afraid I won't be staying. I have urgent business in Gotham. I'm sure you've got this covered." Batman announced as Orin nodded in understanding as they both exited the room, leaving Sora, Kaldur and Mera alone in the room.

"So Sora, Kaldur tells me you have some questions about our magic. I hope I can help broaden your understanding a bit." She said as they made their way towards the exit.

"That would be most appreciated Miss Mera." Sora said gratefully at the chance to study another kind of magic.