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Barry had never met Royalty before. Well, there was Diana, but she was part of the JL. It was different.
Out of the founding members, only Barry hadn’t been able to go down with the rest of them for the first meeting. It was a pretty good deal, as far as Barry was concerned. It wasn’t often all of them could be in the same place at once, what with having individual cities (or sectors of space as Hal was so happy to point out almost every day. They got it, he was a space cop. Whatever.) too look after, or islands in Diana’s case.
Batman didn’t leave Gotham all that much, unless it was to go to Metropolis (and Barry had some suspicions there but that’s a whole other story) or the Watchtower.
The journey was phenomenal; the small pressurised vessels had large glass domes. Barry spent most of his time looking at the fish, cephalopods and whales that swam around them as they went down. Sea creatures seemed to be drawn to them, like someone had called them there. Was that an Atlantean thing? The scientist in Barry was crying out for him to ask questions, but that seemed a little presumptuous.
The main hall of the city, the throne room Barry assumed, was empty of water which was a relief. A man was sat on the throne with a frankly stunning woman sat next to him. They looked up as Barry stepped into the room flanked by heavily armed guards. Did they think he was a threat? Suddenly he wasn’t so sure coming on his own was a good idea.
“Welcome,” The man said. His voice echoed around the room and Barry suddenly felt really out of place. What place did he have meeting a king? As if sensing his discomfort, Superman put a hand on his shoulder and offered him a smile. “It is an honour to have you here.”
“It’s an honour to be here, your Highness,” He bowed his head and hoped he was being respectful enough. He’d never met royalty, remember? The king stood and walked down the steps towards where Barry was stood. He didn’t have a crown on, which seemed strange, but the large trident spoke of his authority well enough. Barry did not want to be on the wrong end of that.
“I trust your journey was comfortable?”
“It was amazing, thank you! Why did the fish follow us down?” He blurted out. The king laughed, deep and hearty, which made Barry feel less and more foolish all at once.
“I use them as sentries, of sorts,” He explained. “I can communicate with them, on a basic level only, and they warn me when something draws near to my kingdom.”
Barry’s jaw dropped open, but he slammed it shut quickly. “That… that is pretty awesome,” His eyes flicked to the woman who had been sat next to the king as she descended the stairs.
“See, Arthur? There are those who actually appreciate your powers,” She said smoothly, her tone indicated that this had been a long running argument between the two of them.
“This is my wife and queen, Mera. Mera, this is The Flash of Central City,” Mera looked him up and down with her chin tipped up. Barry swallowed around the lump in his throat.
“I’ve never met a queen before,” Barry said quietly. Mera smiled at him then, reminding him of how his mother used to smile at him when he came back from school with a B+. It made something warm settle in his stomach.
“You’re doing well enough,” She said and wrapped her arm around her husband’s waist.
“Would you like a tour of the city?” The king asked, one eyebrow raised. Barry nodded, eager to see more of the new world he’d been introduced to.