Post by Arthur Curry on Jul 28, 2021 20:06:23 GMT -5
Participating Characters: Arthur Curry , Slade Wilson
Forum Location: New York
Time of Day: Night
Weather: Thunderstorming
Thread Location: Brooklyn Docks
Premise: Arthur must begin a quest to save his son's life, however an ally might be needed on the journey to come!
The rain came down hard to the harbor where Arthur stood near Brooklyn. The storm’s eye was still miles out at sea, so there were still hours of weather to come to land. It had been a while since he wore a shirt let alone a vest to go with it, but the rain made things feel more uncomfortable than before, heavier and hugging his skin tightly. As a flash of lightning cracked across the darkened sky, the booming thunder soon followed accompanied by the crying child strapped to Arthur’s back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It all started a few nights ago, when Arthur was resting at his bed with his love of his life, Mera, and with little Arthur Junior in his mini crib, not too far from the royal bed. The water in the room was quite relaxing, but silence was broken by the sound of the infant beginning to cough. At first, it seemed innocent enough but it never stopped! Junior kept continuing to cough as if he couldn’t get anything in his lungs at all. Arthur and Mera quickly acted trying to soothe and comfort the child, then quickly getting their trusted advisor and friend Vulko to examine their breathless child. Vulko carried the young prince into his lab to commence his studies.
It was close to an hour before they saw Vulko or their son return to their chambers. Vulko seemed to have a sad look upon his face. Arthur, fearing the worst decided to approach from a lighthearted direction, hoping the grim face was on matters far from the current situation. “Tell me dear friend, was it just a coughing fit like all kids have? Junior is our first and only child, and you know how parents get over worried wi-”
“I’m sorry sire, but I am afraid it isn’t that, although I wish it was.” Vulko appeared to have been fighting tears from his eyes. Even though being underwater, it is still easy to tell when people are upset by the strain and redness in their eyes. Vulko’s eyes seemed very red and bloodshot. “The prince has a condition that is very rare. In fact, the last child that was born with this must have been over a hundred years ago. We call it ‘Dry Lung’. What happens is that the child’s body begins to reject the oxygen in the water and slowly they need to develop to breathe air instead. However, the mortality of this situation is that the young still need the sea to live, for they are still Atlantean.” Arthur could feel his whole world stopping in this moment. He could feel Mera burying her head into his arm, sobbing at the misfortune that came across their son. “There is no guarantee that he would survive out on the surface.”
Thinking quickly for answers, Arthur tried to keep his voice steady, trying his best to hide his pain and anger. “And there is no cure I assume?”
“This is a condition far too rare for our scientists to properly examine. In the past, most cases show that parents offered their young out to the sea as if to rid the curse from their homes.”
“A situation all too familiar.” growled the king. There were many customs of the deep that he would never understand. They were so cold, barbaric and with no remorse, it seemed to be anything that was slightly out of the ordinary. He would never do that to his son, or any child of Atlantis… or any child of the world! Everyone has a place, he felt in his heart. His eyes drifted from Vulko to the sleeping child in his arms. If young Arthur was going to live, he may end up having the same situation that he had as a kid. But those were different circumstances! His parents gave him up! They abandoned him on the reef and never looked back! That was not going to happen here, Arthur was going to keep his family intact!
“Fine... if there is no cure by our means, then give the Prince to me.” Mera’s sobs fainted down and stared at her husband, hoping he had a notion of a solution at hand. Vulko looked puzzled but seemed just as hopeful while returning the infant to its father. “Sire, what are you going to do?”
“I am going to find a cure.” He swam across the room to collect his harpoon attachment for his prosthetic. “I refuse to break my world apart! If the answer can’t be found in the depths of the oceans, then I will seek answers on the sands of the shores! I know many scientists and mages in my Justice League, I am certain I will find a cure for our prince!”
“BUT SIRE, the child to accompany you is a certain death sentence on many accounts! He can not survive out of water for very long! To have him on your ventures he is likely to to injured or yet killed! And if this gets out to the rest of the kingdom, that it’s king is away on a quest with his heir, the throne will be vulnerable once again!”
“THEN I SUGGEST YOU KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN.” Arthur sneered through his teeth. “I am well aware of all the problems here, but the only thing I can’t stand the thought of is Junior drowning here when he should be in the safest place. I am well familiar with the drylands, I will be sure that the young prince comes to no harm. Tell the kingdom that I am away for a diplomacy mission. That I am seeking better bonds with the surface dwellers.” After grabbing his old bag he had from his younger surface dweller days, Arthur turned to his wife who remained quiet this whole time. “Mera, I’m sorry to take charge like this but this is the only thing I can think of keeping our boy safe. I swear to it I will bring our son back home happy and healthy!” Mera reached up and gently grasped the sides of her husband’s face. She stared into his eyes searching for the truth in his words. Arthur however found something that was a bit more terrifying, seeing his wife's own rage staring into his soul to be absolutely certain that no harm would come to their child. She must have found it because she soon slowly relaxed her grasp. “Keep the kingdom safe, we’ll be back soon!”
There was only one man that he trusted. Not that he didn’t trust the other Leaguers but he needed to keep this as quiet as possible. Arthur, with his son, ventured to Salem to the Tower of Fate, home to his friend Kent Nelson, otherwise well known as the mystical Doctor Fate. Upon his scan of the child he did have a solution that would reverse the effects of Dry Lung and bring his physiology to normal Atlantean standards. With a scroll that appeared from nowhere, he handed it off to Arthur and told him that five items would be needed for this journey to save the young prince’s life. And with that, he created a gate for Arthur’s exit. He explained that he could do no more for his friend due to keeping the balance of order in check was in need of monitoring. Arthur wasn’t quite sure of that but still thanked him for all the help he had already received. And with that he boldly made his way through the gate and on to possibly his most important adventure.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Changing an Atlantean diaper was not quite the adventure Arthur had in mind as exciting. But he was going to have to do it. Junior started to calm down after the thunder died down, but he left a present for his father in the meantime. Arthur suddenly realized that ever since Orm’s attempt of the throne, he never had to change his son's diaper since then! It never really occurred to him that everyone was helping out and keeping his awareness of how having a prosthetic may be limiting. They sought shelter from the rain by an abandoned warehouse that was close to a horrid-smelling garbage barge. It took him a while to figure out the maneuvers of changing a diaper one-handed but he was beginning to feel awfully proud of himself for his accomplishment. “There you go little one! Bet you are feeling much better now!” He brought the little prince close to his chest. “Now that little stinky thing is gone, we can focus on what we need to do next.”
He picked up the scroll from his bag and the scroll jumped out of his hand and stayed motionless in the air revealing just a blank piece of paper. Then slowly writing began to bleed through showing what was needed to be collected. First was revealed to be ‘Giant Kelp from the Bermuda Triangle, wrap the child in them.’ “That was easy enough, you seem to not mind the wrappings that we made you.” Then the scroll showed more ingredients for the remedy. “But these other one’s might need some assistance with. They are in places that I feel more comfortable if I had back-up. I hope that the information I got from the Watchtower was slightly accurate on where to find him.”
Forum Location: New York
Time of Day: Night
Weather: Thunderstorming
Thread Location: Brooklyn Docks
Premise: Arthur must begin a quest to save his son's life, however an ally might be needed on the journey to come!
The rain came down hard to the harbor where Arthur stood near Brooklyn. The storm’s eye was still miles out at sea, so there were still hours of weather to come to land. It had been a while since he wore a shirt let alone a vest to go with it, but the rain made things feel more uncomfortable than before, heavier and hugging his skin tightly. As a flash of lightning cracked across the darkened sky, the booming thunder soon followed accompanied by the crying child strapped to Arthur’s back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It all started a few nights ago, when Arthur was resting at his bed with his love of his life, Mera, and with little Arthur Junior in his mini crib, not too far from the royal bed. The water in the room was quite relaxing, but silence was broken by the sound of the infant beginning to cough. At first, it seemed innocent enough but it never stopped! Junior kept continuing to cough as if he couldn’t get anything in his lungs at all. Arthur and Mera quickly acted trying to soothe and comfort the child, then quickly getting their trusted advisor and friend Vulko to examine their breathless child. Vulko carried the young prince into his lab to commence his studies.
It was close to an hour before they saw Vulko or their son return to their chambers. Vulko seemed to have a sad look upon his face. Arthur, fearing the worst decided to approach from a lighthearted direction, hoping the grim face was on matters far from the current situation. “Tell me dear friend, was it just a coughing fit like all kids have? Junior is our first and only child, and you know how parents get over worried wi-”
“I’m sorry sire, but I am afraid it isn’t that, although I wish it was.” Vulko appeared to have been fighting tears from his eyes. Even though being underwater, it is still easy to tell when people are upset by the strain and redness in their eyes. Vulko’s eyes seemed very red and bloodshot. “The prince has a condition that is very rare. In fact, the last child that was born with this must have been over a hundred years ago. We call it ‘Dry Lung’. What happens is that the child’s body begins to reject the oxygen in the water and slowly they need to develop to breathe air instead. However, the mortality of this situation is that the young still need the sea to live, for they are still Atlantean.” Arthur could feel his whole world stopping in this moment. He could feel Mera burying her head into his arm, sobbing at the misfortune that came across their son. “There is no guarantee that he would survive out on the surface.”
Thinking quickly for answers, Arthur tried to keep his voice steady, trying his best to hide his pain and anger. “And there is no cure I assume?”
“This is a condition far too rare for our scientists to properly examine. In the past, most cases show that parents offered their young out to the sea as if to rid the curse from their homes.”
“A situation all too familiar.” growled the king. There were many customs of the deep that he would never understand. They were so cold, barbaric and with no remorse, it seemed to be anything that was slightly out of the ordinary. He would never do that to his son, or any child of Atlantis… or any child of the world! Everyone has a place, he felt in his heart. His eyes drifted from Vulko to the sleeping child in his arms. If young Arthur was going to live, he may end up having the same situation that he had as a kid. But those were different circumstances! His parents gave him up! They abandoned him on the reef and never looked back! That was not going to happen here, Arthur was going to keep his family intact!
“Fine... if there is no cure by our means, then give the Prince to me.” Mera’s sobs fainted down and stared at her husband, hoping he had a notion of a solution at hand. Vulko looked puzzled but seemed just as hopeful while returning the infant to its father. “Sire, what are you going to do?”
“I am going to find a cure.” He swam across the room to collect his harpoon attachment for his prosthetic. “I refuse to break my world apart! If the answer can’t be found in the depths of the oceans, then I will seek answers on the sands of the shores! I know many scientists and mages in my Justice League, I am certain I will find a cure for our prince!”
“BUT SIRE, the child to accompany you is a certain death sentence on many accounts! He can not survive out of water for very long! To have him on your ventures he is likely to to injured or yet killed! And if this gets out to the rest of the kingdom, that it’s king is away on a quest with his heir, the throne will be vulnerable once again!”
“THEN I SUGGEST YOU KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN.” Arthur sneered through his teeth. “I am well aware of all the problems here, but the only thing I can’t stand the thought of is Junior drowning here when he should be in the safest place. I am well familiar with the drylands, I will be sure that the young prince comes to no harm. Tell the kingdom that I am away for a diplomacy mission. That I am seeking better bonds with the surface dwellers.” After grabbing his old bag he had from his younger surface dweller days, Arthur turned to his wife who remained quiet this whole time. “Mera, I’m sorry to take charge like this but this is the only thing I can think of keeping our boy safe. I swear to it I will bring our son back home happy and healthy!” Mera reached up and gently grasped the sides of her husband’s face. She stared into his eyes searching for the truth in his words. Arthur however found something that was a bit more terrifying, seeing his wife's own rage staring into his soul to be absolutely certain that no harm would come to their child. She must have found it because she soon slowly relaxed her grasp. “Keep the kingdom safe, we’ll be back soon!”
There was only one man that he trusted. Not that he didn’t trust the other Leaguers but he needed to keep this as quiet as possible. Arthur, with his son, ventured to Salem to the Tower of Fate, home to his friend Kent Nelson, otherwise well known as the mystical Doctor Fate. Upon his scan of the child he did have a solution that would reverse the effects of Dry Lung and bring his physiology to normal Atlantean standards. With a scroll that appeared from nowhere, he handed it off to Arthur and told him that five items would be needed for this journey to save the young prince’s life. And with that, he created a gate for Arthur’s exit. He explained that he could do no more for his friend due to keeping the balance of order in check was in need of monitoring. Arthur wasn’t quite sure of that but still thanked him for all the help he had already received. And with that he boldly made his way through the gate and on to possibly his most important adventure.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Changing an Atlantean diaper was not quite the adventure Arthur had in mind as exciting. But he was going to have to do it. Junior started to calm down after the thunder died down, but he left a present for his father in the meantime. Arthur suddenly realized that ever since Orm’s attempt of the throne, he never had to change his son's diaper since then! It never really occurred to him that everyone was helping out and keeping his awareness of how having a prosthetic may be limiting. They sought shelter from the rain by an abandoned warehouse that was close to a horrid-smelling garbage barge. It took him a while to figure out the maneuvers of changing a diaper one-handed but he was beginning to feel awfully proud of himself for his accomplishment. “There you go little one! Bet you are feeling much better now!” He brought the little prince close to his chest. “Now that little stinky thing is gone, we can focus on what we need to do next.”
He picked up the scroll from his bag and the scroll jumped out of his hand and stayed motionless in the air revealing just a blank piece of paper. Then slowly writing began to bleed through showing what was needed to be collected. First was revealed to be ‘Giant Kelp from the Bermuda Triangle, wrap the child in them.’ “That was easy enough, you seem to not mind the wrappings that we made you.” Then the scroll showed more ingredients for the remedy. “But these other one’s might need some assistance with. They are in places that I feel more comfortable if I had back-up. I hope that the information I got from the Watchtower was slightly accurate on where to find him.”