Chapter 3: The two Brother’s views
~Orm POV~
At first, I was curious. Mother had gone with a squadron of our guards to search for something. I intercepted her so that I may join. She had been acting strange the day before. When we reach the search site, we dispersed to cover more ground, but the loud yell of a soldier caught our attention. That was when I met it. I was shocked when it made a dent in an Atlantean armor, with a primitive trident at that. In a panic, I had an order to fire at it.
The next moment went like a blur. Before I knew it, He had punched me in the gut making me puke. It disgraced me. By the time I had fully regained my composure, my mother had subdued it. After hearing her theory for its origin, I could not object to mother helping it. My view of it changed when Vulko told us about the test's results. It had the making of the perfect weapon. If I could mold it then when I became king I could conqueror the sea then the surface.
Mother wanted it to be a mage, but I objected. We decided to wait till it could speak. While Mother was teaching it our language, she named him Acnologia while giving him a necklace of a trident made of the green rock he always carried with him. When it became time to decide, Acnologia decided to become a mage, I protested, and he insinuated that he could become the strongest fighter on his own. I laughed at that, but he proved his words to be true.
He used a type of martial art similar to ours but more powerful in its potential. He could take down an elite soldier with one water drop. If he could teach this to our elite soldiers, then our- no my future army would become invincible as long as there was water in their hands. Sadly, Vulko announced that we couldn't recreate his techniques as it was linked to his mutation.
After one year, I realized that there was no way I could control Acnologia. He only listens to Mother and refuses any order from anyone else though Mother never actually gives him orders. I have tried to convince my mother to tell Acnologia to listen, but she never does. I started becoming jealous of him as he got Mother love twenty-four-seven. My only solace was that he could never become King since he was not of royal blood.
One day I ask Mother to let me be an ambassador for the visit to Xebel. It had been a successful trip as well as a disaster. She was worried about me thus she sent her dog, Acnologia. That was the nickname he acquires in Atlantis. "The guard dog of the Queen". Mother was furious and ordered for the name to never be said but people still used it behind her back. While we were at Xebel, I thought of the perfect way to make Acnologia listen to me. I had prepared something for the meeting. I bribed a close member of the king's confidence. He would make the king slightly want Acnologia's necklace and I would swoop in and bow my head a little. This would stop the King and make Acnologia see me in a positive light.
The plan was perfect as the King would only want to show a little of his authority. Sadly, both of us underestimated how much Acnologia cared for that necklace. Once the king of Xebel demanded the necklace, Acnologia instantly appeared in front of him holding him by the neck. The guard that pointed their weapons at Acnologia suddenly fainted. I could only see the face of the king but his complexion became paler as Acnologia told him to know his place and that he would kill him if he even thought of crossing looking at the necklace ever again. The king immediately accepted.
I was puzzled as to why the king would be that scared. Sadly, I got my answer shortly as I tried to stop Acnologia from leaving. I can still remember our conversation.
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Orm: Wait a moment Acno-
Acnologia turns back to look at Orm. His eyes were giving an ice feeling. Orm instantly understood that it was the feeling of near death.
Acnologia: Look, Orm, I don't care what you do. I truly don't but if you ever pull something like this again then… I will kill you.
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After Acnologia left, the king and I decided to never tell this to anyone as I had seen him being scared shitless and he had seen me pissed my pants. Acnologia never told Mother what I had tried to do.
One year later, I found out two devastating news. Mother was dying and I would not be king. It would be my half bastard of a brother. At that moment, I wanted to kill him and Mother but as I looked at Mother's back with a fake smile, Acnologia came between us with that same look he had at Xebel.
That was when I realized, he could feel people's emotions. That was why none of the people I had bribed to becoming his friends ever succeeded as he could feel their greed. It would also explain why he listen to Mother as she was the only one in Atlantis that had no ulterior motive when speaking to him. The only solace, I found in this situation was that Acnologia did not listen to Orion. If he were to side with him, I could not overthrow that bastard.
I spend the next two years trying to convince Mother into asking Acnologia to be loyal to Atlantis, this way he would obey me once I take over the crown. Sadly, she did not tell Acnologia to do as such. Though, I did learn through the hidden recorder that he could cure her uncurable sickness with the death of a hundred people. I was relieved that she refused but depressed that she did not tell him to be loyal to Atlantis. He would be a headache in the future. He was already a pain to deal with when Mother was around, without her there was nothing that could stop him from leaving Atlantis for example. He was an important weapon.
I was shocked. It has been a year since Mother died but Acnologia has not moved from her grave not even once. The people were displeased when he did not show up to her funeral but no one who has thought that he would stay a whole year in front of Mother's grave. Seriously, Mother why did you not tell us how to control him before your death?
~ Orion POV~
I always felt that I did not belong on the surface. I could breathe in the water, bend metal like they were made of paper, and talk to fish. I felt like I was an alien. One day someone named Vulko came to my house and told me that I was a prince of Atlantis. I first thought he was a scammer, but the story sounded too far-fetched to be a scam. I followed him to Atlantis. If my father was alive, he would complain about the fact that I followed a stranger without asking questions.
When we arrived I met my mother, a beautiful woman, my brother, and a kid that seemed off. I say that because every guard looked tense every time, he walked past them. When I asked my brother about it, he laughed and said that I should fight the kid to get my answer. I was an adult; I was not going to lose to some child. I wished I had taken the advice from the beautiful Mera. It was decided that the fight would happen the next day. Vulko and Mera thought me a few moves to fight underwater.
Once the fight started, I moved from my position as Mera had advised before the fight. That was the moment I saw the weird water drop the kid had thrown hit the wall of the Arena and pierce right through it. I was shocked, I looked at my brother and mother who looked at me as if they knew this was going to happen. I focused on my opponent only to find him extending his fists in my direction. I only heard Mera's voice telling me to run before I realized that my opponent's fists were mere inches away from my stomach. I can still remember the words we exchanged.
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Acnologia: Rokugan Ogi: *Poseidon's Wrath*
Orion: Roku-Wha-ARH?!
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I felt immense pain in my gut and proceeded to faint. When I woke up, my brother Orm apologized while laughing and told me the story of the kid. Acnologia was supposed to become the strongest Atlantean. He was able to fight against the elite guards though he would not win, he would not lose. It became as such that the soldier started to avoid him like the plague as it was an utter humiliation to lose to a kid when you know what he is capable of.
Losing to Acnologia while not knowing his abilities became a right of passage for the elite soldier. Though Orm said it was mostly because they did not want to be the only ones that lost to a kid. If they knew his abilities and only managed to achieve a tie, then it was slightly worse than losing to him like the other, but it was a right of passage, nonetheless.
I tried to socialize with Acnologia much to Orm's advice. It led to what Orm had predicted. Acnologia barely paid attention to my existence. According to Mera and Orm, Acnologia will never listen to anyone's order other than Mother's. It was ironic since she never gave him any order. She simply asked and he would accept without complaining. It was only after learning of his secret past that I understood why he would act like that.
I had heard cases like that on the surface. Mother was the first person he established contact with thus he was more prone to listen to her than the other. I was surprised that Acnologia could talk to fish like me, but he seemed to only talk to Orcas. I was able to settle in Atlantis after only one year. That might have something to do with Mera. It took one year for us to become serious. We wanted to keep it a secret as we wanted to share this with only each other.
It barely took a day for Acnologia to find out about us. Mera asked him to keep quiet which he had no qualms to do. It was only when she asked him to swear on his trident necklace that it got intense. After a minute of staring at each other. Acnologia swore after telling us that Mother already knew. We were shocked as we thought we had been cautious. Turns out she knew we would become a couple of six months ago. "Never doubt a woman's intuition", that was what my old bartender used to say.
After things calmed down, I asked Mera why she made Acnologia swear on his necklace. I should have known. It was Mother that made it from a rock he had since his years of loneliness. According to Orm, I was to never under no circumstance be responsible for the damage to the necklace. Acnologia would kill me if that happened. I laughed thinking it was a joke but when I saw that neither he, Mera, Vulko, nor any guard was laughing I proposed talking to Mother about this and they laughed this time. They said that they had tried but Mother would always tell them to never touch the necklace, and everything would be fine.
Spending more time with Mera was the best decision I had made since my arrival in Atlantis. She showed me many things I was still ignorant about. I even learn something that not a lot of people know. Acnologia is not that hard to get along with. Sure, he does not speak that much but as long as you do not order him around, he will not go out of his way to antagonize you. From what my brother said he can sense people's emotions, that might be the reason why he sometimes ignores some Atlantean generals.
After another year, Mother died. She had told us about her disease long ago. We had made our peace with it but some were not ready to let her go. During her funeral, Acnologia was not seen by anyone. He was the one everyone expected to be there. It seems that due to this expectation, the people of Atlantis started to badmouth him. Though, that stopped six months later. After the day of the funeral, a guard notified us that Acnologia was in front of Mother's grave. We decided to let him have some space but after a month it was reported that he never left his position. He spends the next five months doing the same thing, ignoring anyone who came to persuade him.
After six months, Mera and I had enough. We decided to ask him why he was staying there. It was meant to make him angry thus he would let out the emotions that were eating him up inside. We were not prepared for what he had to say.
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Orion: Acnologia…
Mera: Why are you still here? Come with us to the palace.
Acnologia kept his eyes on the grave.
Acnologia: If I don't stay here… I will kill a lot of people… to bring her back.
This stopped our train of thought.
Mera: Wai-What?
Orion: Acnologia, I know that you might think that you can bring her back but she is dea-
Acnologia: I CAN bring her back from the dead but for that, I would need to kill a lot of people. She would not like that. I know that but the temptation is still there. That's why I am staying here till I am not tempted to do it.
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I was about to speak when Mera grabbed my shoulder. She shook her head and signaled me to leave with her. It felt like she knew more about this. After going to a secluded place, she told me that Mother had tried to find Acnologia's origin but only managed to find a certain legend.
Like the legend of the one true king, Atlantis had a legend about a powerful artifact that could transcend reality. The philosopher stone. "The black dragon, marked by the sea, guards the knowledge of its creation and sleeps beneath the sea. Destined to live alone till the end of time through a perpetual cycle of reincarnation. Only the one who can find the dragon's egg can learn the secret of the philosopher stone but beware it will come at the cause of breaking the cycle and unleashing the dragon through the world."
I was shocked. It seemed that Mother had broken the cycle. Mother had told Mera to keep it a secret. From what Acnologia said he was staying there till he overcome his temptation. We decided to support him by sending food to him. Whether he could bring Mother or not did matter, what mattered was that he would kill to achieve his goal if he succumbed to the temptation. It took one more year for him to leave Mother's side. During that time, Aliens had invaded Earth, I had joined with other people to fight them off. We managed to corner them into leaving their physical form and escaping through space.
The others seemed to be scared of Batman but after living with the anti-social master Acnologia himself, I was used to someone glaring at me. They were interested in meeting Acnologia after I told them his glare could rival Batman. Flash joked that Batman might have found his long-lost son. Someone named Ocean Master attacked Atlantis, but I managed to defeat him with the help of two promising teens. I proposed the two come under my wing, and one of them accepted while the other stayed.
After Acnologia came back, he decided to visit the surface world. It turned out that Superman needed help fighting a robotic enemy. I thought it would be a good experience for both Kaldur and Acnologia. Kaldur needed more fighting experience on the surface world and Acnologia needs to social. I mean even Batman was chatty compared to him.