Chapter 2: First impression

~Queen of Atlantis POV~

It started six years ago, I started to hear a baby crying. It was weird as this was the first time in all those years where I would come to this deserted place to reminisce about my first son, I heard such sounds. I believed that it was my mind producing those sounds out of my longing for my son. I had a second son but what mother can not help but worry about her children, especially one she has not seen for more than two decades?

I would go to that place whenever I could which was rare as I had to fulfill my duty as the Queen of Atlantis. Every time I went there, I would always hear that same voice. Sometimes, it was cries of sadness others were laughter of joy. This was my way of getting close to my first son. It might sound crazy, but I missed a lot of his life starting from his infancy, this infantile voice helped me imagine what it would be like to have been in his life.

I could always blame my second son's father, but the fact remains that I abandoned him. I even took a young talented girl as my protégé to fill the void made of guilt, but it never worked. I had to give it to my mind it felt like the voice was growing with time. It was still very much that of a child, but it had outgrown the frequency of a baby. In the blink of an eye, six years went by fast.

One day, my secondborn found me in my secluded spot.

Queen: Orm, is everything alright?

Orm: Everything is alright mother. I just wanted to let you know that the counsel requires your presence once more-hm.

Queen: *Sigh* Fine, let us make haste and finish whatever they're debating this time before- Orm? Are you listening to me?

Orm: Huh? Oh, Apology mother, it is just that I thought I heard a kid laughing which isn't possible as we are the only people here.

This shocked me. If Orm could hear the voice, does that mean that I was not imagining it and that- Oh by Poseidon! I spent all those years neglecting a child in need?! How?! If the child was alone, he or she would have starved to death by now.

As I was wrapping myself in newfound guilt, Orm brought me back to reality.

Orm: Mother! Are you alright?

Queen: Y-Yes, I am. Let us go.

I spent the entire day worrying about the existence of the said child. The next day, I gathered a squadron of soldiers and led them to my secluded spot for them to search the area. Orm caught wind of what I was going to do and volunteered to help. After I order them to search, I felt someone watching me. I looked around until I found the source of that feeling. It was a boy. An Atlantean boy, with long blue hair, dark skin, and nails that were not maintained.

The nails on his feet were not even cut while those on his hands were clearly chewed out. The last feature proved that he had been alone for a long time. He was definitely the source of the voice I hear- no neglected for six years. He had what I assumed to be a trident made of stone. He must have made it on his own. Our eyes met, he did not back down and kept staring at me. I was intrigued as I thought he would be timid or scared after meeting someone for the first time. I had no way of knowing if we were the first people, he had met but I had a hunch it was the case.

Our staring contest ended when I heard a soldier yelling at the boy.

Soldier #1: HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT THE QUEEN WITHOUT BOWING?

He pointed his gun at the boy.

Queen: STAND DOWN! CAN'T YOU SEE HE IS AN ABANDONED CHILD?!

The soldier lowered his weapon. Orm and the rest of the soldiers came back due to the commotion. I looked at the child as he threw his trident at the soldier. He must have been startled by the soldier and tried to defend himself. I was surprised by the strength he showed. The stone trident broke upon impact with the Atlantean armor, but it managed to make a dent. A kid managed to throw a stone trident with such force that it made a dent in an Atlantean armor.

This was shocking. I was the only one to notice that. Sadly, in my moment of shock, Orm ordered them to attack.

Orm: He is hostile. Fire!

They fire at the child. I was angry as they were grown men that attacked an abandoned child. If any of them took a second to think they would have realized that we were startling the child and he was just defending himself. I was about to order them to stop when I saw the child vanish from his spot The next moment, I heard a loud sound followed by Orm's cries. He was clenching his stomach and in front of him was the boy in question. I could also see what looked like puke floating in the water close to Orm.

The boy grabbed Orm and threw him toward the Soldier that was about to fire at him. Orm was hit. I went to check on him.

Queen: Orm, are you alright?

Orm: *Groans* *Hphf**Hphf* I am alright mother.

Queen: Alright, then all of you stand down, I will go meet the boy.

Orm: But mother-

Queen: Orm, this is not a request it is an order from your queen.

Orm: …Understood.

I went toward the boy. He seemed on guard but did not attack me right away. I continue to approach him, but he doesn't attack. I study him and I realize how malnourished he is. I did not notice it before but now that I am closer, I realize how hard his life must have been. I could have saved him, but I indulged myself in my fantasy. I could not hold myself back. I swam toward him as fast as I could and hugged him. I was ready for him to hit me as I deserved that, but his hits were not as strong as the one Orm received. They grew weaker. After a while, I heard the boy for the first time up close. He was crying. He must have been lonely. I am so sorry. I pulled him into a tighter hug. He kept crying until he passed out. Once he passed out, I carried him back to Atlantis. Though, Orm and the guard disagreed, after seeing the state of the boy they quickly changed their opinion.

It did not take a genius to guess that this boy must have been abandoned and lived here for years. Now that they had cooled their heads, they realized that the boy was only acting in self-defense. I brought him to the Royal Infirmary. They did some tests to see if we could find his origins or at the very least see what nutriment he was missing so that we can administer it to him. After an hour of test, Vulko a chief scientist came out, bowed to me, and spoke.

Vulko: My Queen, I apologize for sounding rude but is what you have said the truth?

Orm: YOU DARE DOUBT YOUR QUEEN?!

Queen: Calm down Orm, Vulko must have found something. Yes, Vulko what I have told you is the truth. Now, what did you find?

Vulko: Well, my Queen, the tests revealed that he was indeed an Atlantean around six years old, but he is severally malnourished. He is missing most nutriment normal Atlantean would need to survive. It is believed that he was abandoned during infancy as you had ingeniously guessed. We believe that he survives because of his mutation.

Queen: Mutation?

Vulko: Yes, my queen, the boys show signs of mutation like our ancestor mutated to survive in the sea. At first, we believed that it was due to the green rock that he is gripping with tremendous tenacity. Sadly, after scanning it we concluded that the radiation emitted from the green rock was completely harmless to Atlanteans. It affects an Atlantean as much as any other common glowing rock.

Orm: Then why would the boy keep it in his grip if it was meaningless?

Vulko: Well, my prince, we believe that during his years of solitude, that glowing rock gave him some sort of comfort.

This broke my heart. I felt that it was completely my fault that the boy suffered this much. I wanted to help that unfortunate boy in any way I could. As if the gods were answering my prayer. The perfect opportunity appeared.

Orm: Is there anything else?

Vulko: He seems to be able to use magic.

Queen: Is that so?

Vulko: Yes, my queen.

Queen: Then I will take him as my second student.

Orm: But- With all due respect mother, you saw what he could do. If he does not join the military of Atlantis, then it is a huge waste of his potential.

Orm was right. He managed to practically beat two Atlantean soldiers at the age of six, malnourished at that. If he was given the proper training, he could become Atlantis's greatest soldier, but I could not the boy go into military school. He spent his whole life alone he deserved a peaceful life. It might be selfish, but I wanted to help him even if it was out of guilt. I refuse Orm's request but this time he seemed adamant. We were at an impasse; I did not want to use my authority as queen on my child. Thankfully, Vulko proposed a solution.

Vulko: If I may. The boy will likely not be able to understand a word anyone of us speaks. Why doesn't the choice for his future be postponed until he can talk? 'That way you guys won't ask me to be the tie breaker' he thought.

We agreed to that. It took four hours for the boy to wake up. He was on high alert against everyone. It was weird as he seemed to drop his guard around me. It took two months for him to learn our language. It was initially believed he would need four months to accomplish that. When he was able to communicate, Orm came to propose his enrolment in the army. I can still remember what he said. He had declined because he wanted to learn magic as he could get stronger physically on his own.

Orm was not pleased with this and decided to show him the might of the military by having duel an elite soldier. We were all surprised when he knocked the elite soldier with what looked like a large water drop. Orm had accused him of using magic but I along with every magician verified that no magic was used. It was probably one of his mutations that allowed him to do such a feat.

I spent two years teaching him magic along with Mera. He was a quick learner, so much so that Mera was slightly jealous. During those two years, I learn how he managed to survive his first six years. He could change water into food. It must have been an ability he subconsciously unlocked out of desperation for his survival. I told him to keep it a secret from everyone. This might be useful for Atlantis if we run out of resource but from what he described as his power, he does not create food but change existing matter into food. This means we would still need something to change into food. This would not solve the problem if it occurred it would only delay it and he would suffer the hate of the people when the problem come back.

What I found interesting, was that he took magic seriously and managed to create what he calls his own magic moves. It brought a smile to my face as it was the second time, he acted like a kid his age. The first time was when I named him Acnologia, he was happy about the name. He never acted like a kid on other occasions. From what people have told me, he acts differently with me than everyone else as he does not listen to anyone else. This made Orm angry on multiple occasions.

Recently, Vulko told me I had contracted a disease. It had been dormant for years but now that it was active, there was nothing he could do. I told him to keep this between us and to find my first son. He lived on the surface world. He needs to know the ways of Atlantis to better lead as he was of both worlds. I had hoped I could accomplish peace between both worlds and thus meet him again, but fate does not allow me to do so.

When my firstborn came to Atlantis, I was worried that Orm would lash out after finding the truth, but he welcomed him with open arms. This might be because he learned that I was dying but I was happy, nonetheless. Two years went by quickly. Mera and Arthur, or Orion, were a couple. They tried their best to hide it, but they were not as subtle as they thought. I was now bedridden. Acnologia would barely leave my room. I still remember our last talk.

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Acnologia: What would you do if I could save you, but you would hate the method I used to save you?

This was a weird question, but something told me that he was not speaking hypothetically.

Queen: Well, I would rather you do not do that but out of curiosity what is the method?

Acnologia: The death of hundreds of people.

This shocked me enough to make me get up. I looked at Acnologia. His face told everything. He did not want me to die but he was stopping himself from doing something rash. It was killing him, not being able to help me. I knew him enough to understand that.

Queen: Acnologia, come here.

He came close to me. I hugged him.

Queen: Acnologia, you're a good boy. I am proud of you, more than you could ever know. This is not your fault but if you want to help me then promise me something.

Acnologia: Anything.

I smiled. He did not have that usual lack of care vibe he usually has.

Queen: Always be yourself no matter what.

Acnologia:… Okay…mom.

My eyes widen, and I shed a small tear while smiling.

Queen: Thank you logy, my sweet baby boy.

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I smiled as I was closing my eyes. I had a hunch as to why I just remembered that conversation. That was the moment I died.