Chapter Text
Far from the kingdom of Atlantis, on the coast of Amnesty Bay, a young boy with a head of unruly brown hair slept underneath the bright light of a lighthouse. The sea roared in the night, waves tossed up against the shore, making the rocks glisten in the moonlight. Arthur was dreaming of the day his mother had left. He watched through his infant self, vision blurring as his mother kissed him on the head. Her mouth was moving, though he couldn’t hear what she said. Soon the moon had left and the sun took its place, and the waves had died down, reflecting the relaxed breaths of the true king of Atlantis.
“Happy birthday Arthur!”
Now 10 years old, Arthur Curry was no one special. He had no place in the world. Compared to the rest of the boys in his class, he was especially short, and his brown, unruly head of hair made him a target for the older boys, so birthdays were celebrated and spent at home with his father and not at school like the rest of the kids did. Though he was lucky this time, his birthday fell on a Saturday and not a weekday, which meant, no bullies for his birthday, for once.
His father told him of soulmates, though he didn’t believe that he deserved one. Everyone else at school already had their first soulmate mark, a spot here or there, or a patch on the arm. On top of his height (or lack thereof) and hair, the older kids bullied him for not having a mark, and they’d call him freak and anomaly behind his back.
He knew he was an anomaly- a freak perhaps- not only because of his lack of marks, but because his mother was the queen of the sea. A queen of a “lost” kingdom, a ruler that had the power to control the ocean. When he was first told of this by his father and Vulko, he was only eight- confirming his fears of being a freak- he didn’t want to be Atlantean. He didn’t want any part of the royal lineage. He didn’t want to be any more different than he was already. Those nights were spent tossing and turning in his bed, crying and wishing - why couldn’t he just be normal? He resisted the temptation to even look at the sea, though it called out to him.
Through lots of consoling and talking and finally, training, which really was what convinced him, he accepted the fact he was Atlantean. Even with this new knowledge, Arthur would wonder why he didn’t have one mark yet, and sometimes he wondered if his lack of marks meant he never had a soulmate. It was rare to not have a soulmate, though the ones that didn’t have marks usually found a soulmate in another person that didn’t have marks as well. But with his connection to the sea and the kingdom underneath, he couldn’t help but wonder, did his soulmate live in Atlantis?
His father had told that it his lack of soulmate marks at the age of 10 meant that his soulmate was young. “They typically start appearing when a person is 6, but there are special cases. Be patient son. Be patient. Your’s just might be in Atlantis, just like mine, son.” He had said with a twinkle in his eye.
Arthur rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the sunlight streaming into his bedroom window. He pulled his blanket up and above his head, unused to the brightness. “Dad…” He whined.
“Come on son, get up now. It’s your birthday.” Tom Curry patted the lump underneath the blanket. “We’re going to the beach today, how’s that sound?”
The ten year old shuffled a bit underneath the covers. “Is Vulko coming?” His muffled voice travelled from underneath. Vulko had promised that he would teach the young boy a new skill once he had turned 10.
His dad laughed. Of course all his son cared about was training. “Vulko will be there, son. But he’ll come later, once most of the public has left. Come on,” He sighed, pulling the covers away, reaching for his son, determined to tickle his son awake. Arthur’s laugh filled the house, and soon, the pair were sitting down at the breakfast table, enjoying a filling meal of bacon and eggs.
Once they had put on their swimsuits and packed up all the other beach things Arthur wanted to bring along, Tom Curry started the engine of his pickup and they drove along the seaside. Arthur leaned out the window, watching the rhythmic pulses of the ocean. It calmed him like it usually did. Not far off in the horizon he spotted a gush of water erupt from the surface. It shot straight up like a geyser would, and he giggled. With his marine telepathy ability, he found that it was a whale that he had talked to a few months ago.
The beach was surprisingly crowded for the spring day. The Currys parked the car, and headed towards the sand. There were a rather large amount of families on the beach, more than there were usually. Umbrellas were propped up and towels were strewn across the sand.
Arthur immediately recognized a few kids from his class, and instinctively he hid behind his dad, keeping himself out of their view. Tom knew his son liked the quieter side of the beach, so they walked across the hot sand, the little granules sticking themselves between Arthur’s toes. Soon they had reached the point where they usually set up their stuff at, and Tom Curry encouraged his son to go play in the water as he himself laid underneath the rock, keeping away from the sun. He preferred to not enter the water; it brought back too many painful memories, knowing that the love of his life, his soulmate, was somewhere in the vast blue sea. His father knew his son was at home at the ocean, taking after his mother.
“Son, come back in 2 hours.” He said, not wanting his son to wander off too far.
Arthur took longer than usual to warm up to the water, scared to be seen by one of his classmates. He kept out of the view, exploring his own little area of the beach. But soon, he was diving and splashing, racing and swimming with the ocean life.
A friendly dolphin swam up to him, nudging him with its rostrum. “Hey!” exclaimed Arthur, as he turned around. Using his abilities, he challenged the dolphin for a race. He hadn’t had a good one in a long time. The turquoise dolphin clicked in response, and the pair were racing under and over coral formations, bubbles trailing behind them. Fish ducked back into tufts of seaweed as the pair raced by.
Up ahead in their path was a large rock formation, that rose up through the surface which was partially exposed. Coral and other sea life had made there home there, and at the center was a rock bridge in which Arthur told the dolphin, they could pass through underneath it, as it would be the finish line for the race.
He straightened his arms, keeping them at his side. Remembering what Vulko taught him. Holding his head higher, and pointing his feet, he inched closer and closer to the finish line.
The dolphin clicked next to him, flapping its fin and pointing its nose. They were head to head, leaving a trail of bubbles as they shot for the final line.
Almost there! He thought. From a distance the makeshift finish line seemed like a wide open, though as he neared it he found that the gap was barely big enough for him and the dolphin to squeeze through together.
He barely pushed through in front of the dolphin, though he didn’t notice a chunk of rock that was sticking out. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he turned around, stopping ahead of the dolphin. The dolphin clicked at him, rubbing it’s fin on his leg, before splashing away.
As he sped off towards the shore again, his long hair trailed against the current. His knee was bleeding, though he didn’t notice it as the adrenaline of the race continued to pumped through him. As he raced back, against himself, commanding the sea to push him even further forward.
“Dad! Dad!” Arthur ran up to Tom, ignoring the sand sticking onto his feet. “I raced a dolphin!”
“That’s great son.” Smiling, eyes still closed as he was sunbathing. He imagined his son racing and playing along with a dolphin, laughing along to the image. “Lunchtime?” He asked, sitting up, only to notice the stream of blood trickling down his son’s leg. Arthur nodded. “Arthur! Come here. What happened?”
Sitting down next to his pops, he propped his leg up as Tom looked through their bag for the emergency bag. Luckily, it didn’t bleed for long, as his Atlantean structure reduced the time it took for the injury to heal. Tom wrapped a few pieces of bandage around his son’s knee, ensuring that it was comfortable enough for his son to move around.
They then had lunch, both chewing on a delicious homemade sandwich. Arthur ran back to the water’s edge, wincing in pain as he shifted more of his weight onto his left leg.
That night, when the Currys got back to the lighthouse, Tom was set on rewrapping Arthur’s knee again as the first bandage had gotten bloody. Unwrapping the last layer of gauze tape, he found that the scar had partially healed and what was left was a lightning shaped scar.
“Dad? Does this count as a soulmate scar?” Arthur asked, while his father was putting him to bed. Tom nodded. It wouldn’t be coloured such a dark shade if it weren’t. “Really?” He was unsure about his mark, still, though he had looked forward to it.
“Yes, son. Come here, I have something to show you.” He sat up from Arthur’s bed, reaching for a picture frame on the left side of his drawers. It was a picture of Arthur’s mother and father, smiling as they stuck their elbows out, both bearing the same scar. He pulled his sleeves up, jutting out his elbow to show his son. “What I liked to do, was to put in a little diary entry of the marks. So you have a record of them.” He left for a moment, coming back with a leather bound book with frayed pages in it. “This was mine, and now, since you have your first mark, this will now be yours.”
Arthur took the book in his hands, caressing the pages and gently flipping through the delicate entries.
“Write a little something in it, son. Then you can keep your memories forever.” Tom got up from his spot, giving Arthur a goodnight’s kiss. “Happy Birthday, son.”
“Goodnight, Dad.”
The destined king took a pen that he kept at his bedside table, running his hands over the previous entries. He flipped to a new page, pen in hand.
Well, hi there soulmate. Hopefully my new lightning shaped scar is a soulmate mark. Maybe you’re in Atlantis? Or on land. Either way, I hope to meet you soon. Please be careful, I don’t know what it’s like to have soulmate marks from another person, though I hope your marks give me some information. Don’t you think it’s cool? That we’re connected, and I’ll meet you someday. The first soulmate mark I’ve gotten was on my birthday, while racing a dolphin. Which is today. Now that I think about it, it seems like you would be from Atlantis, with my mother being Atlanna and me being half Atlantean and such.
He put down his pen, his train of thought halting to a stop. Did that mean he got to visit Atlantis someday? If meeting his soulmate meant visiting Atlantis, that meant…. He’d be there one day!
When I visit Atlantis, sooner, hopefully, rather than later, I hope you’re there. I’m sorry again about my mark.
He signed it off with a little smiley face and a large A at the bottom. Arthur closed his eyes as the moonlight passed over his window. The sound of the waves lightly tickled his ears, bringing him closer, and closer, to sleep.