"Damn it."
I hunch my shoulders and make a circling motion with my right hand. "Given how things are, I could probably… Ah… Use my own power to fix things… But-."
Not really the
best solution. Heck, if you tried to replace Ahri'ahn, you'd probably be in the unenviable position of paying the magical cost of maintaining things.
"That would mean you mind controlling my people."
"It's more of an unnatural mental influence. But that's why I asked rather than just doing it. Alternately, I can perform the awakening on you, and you can do it."
Nah, Arthur's far too American to accept
that option.
"No. No more mind control. If there's a lingering problem afterwards, we can deal with it when we need to." He walks over to the window, looking out across Poseidonis towards the sea. "God, I never thought I'd get a view like this."
Behind him I wince, and wait for him to reason it out.
As in, is it
him thinking that, or the 'King Orin' Ahri'ahn made him be?
"It won't last, will it?"
"Neigh, it will not." Luna takes a step closer. "In truth, We are surprised that it was survived the removal of the Caliph's support. We can only imagine that it is of supreme importance to Ahri'ahn."
Which will at least made it harder for him to fight back, if most of his power is tied up holding the city afloat.
"It's not just him. This has been a dream for a lot of Atlanteans." He turns back to us, frowning at Nabu. "Is that something you can keep going?"
"Only by leaving your people half-consumed by the Dream. This subverts the natural magic flow of the world. It could only be maintained with an external power source of great power."
And while you
have them around, they're not really the sort of thing that
enjoys being used that way. Like, say, Oceanus.
"Or." I raise my right forefinger. "Your people could put the effort it to making it happen gradually. You can't tell me that Atlantis doesn't have spells for making things float. Or make aquatic volcano erupt. Heck, I can get you an asteroid if it comes to it."
"That would-." He pauses and shakes his head. "Do you know how much of what I'm feeling are my own feeling and how much is a left over from Ahri'ahn? I grew up in Maine. I never thought that Atlantis should be anywhere but the sea floor before."
And really, it's a lot
cooler that way. In cultural terms, not temperature, even if it is
colder...
Luna nods. "Ahri'ahn still holds the dream over much of Atlantis. Until we confront and defeat him, We may only bend it a little. We suggest that you place a hold on important decisions until you are truly free."
"Alright. What's the plan? And why aren't I having this talk with the Justice League?"
And if the Renegade remembers the 'Obsidian Age' story arc, he immediately realises how bad
that could turn out.
"Ah, basically, I'm tough enough to survive hostile magic without being so overtly magical that Ahri'ahn would immediately detect me."
Luna nods. "And We are an expert in dream magic. Giovanni Zatara is powerful, but he lacks Our particular skills."
So, in a way, they're the
sneakiest options the league had for infiltration.
An eight-foot-tall strongman conqueror and a beautiful-yet-mighty pony-turned woman. Only in comic books...
I nod. "And my absolute faith. Plan is, you turn up to your regular consultation as if you're still dreaming and lamp him. If that doesn't work, Luna and I will be one floor-punching away."
"'Floor punching'?"
Not so much 'pulling the
rug from under Ahri'ahn's feet' as pulling the floor entirely.
"Look, this place is going to be wrecked by the sudden change in water pressure when it sinks again. Don't worry about the hole I have to make to reach you fast enough to stop one of the planet's top five magicians disintegrating you."
"Okay, that's-" He nods. "-a reasonable point. How much damage did he do raising Atlantis?"
To Atlantis? Next-to-nothing because
Magic. To the rest of the world? Like
he cared.
"Not a lot. We were all over that. No one's going to hold the actions of one wizard against Atlantis as a whole." Hm. "Do you have a good place for us to hide?"
"Who else have you woken up?"
Backup? Good plan, but...
I shake my head. "No one. It would have made sneaking around harder and risked tipping off Ahri'ahn. And people should wake up by themselves after he's defeated."
"Defeated or dead?"
Are you asking as a super-hero or a vengeful King?
"Given his power level and the potential political fallout from taking him alive, I was planning on killing him."
"He's the founder of our magic traditions. The only reason why Atlantis still exists today."
And? Doesn't mean he's
not a seeping arsehole in need of shanking with the Sword of the Fallen. Or better yet, any
regular sword.
I nod. "Yes, he's definitely outlived his usefulness, I agree. I suggest denying that you ever clarified that point and 'blaming' me."
"Are you sure that he's not being influenced by anything else?"
'Heat of battle' and all that. Can't blame the Renegade for putting his
surfboard Daiklave through
all of Ahri'ahn...
"Sure? No. But anything powerful enough to influence him… Well… Not a lot we can do about it at short notice. And… Honestly… Has anything he's done been out of character? For an Atlantean noble of his era?"
"Perhaps not. Alright, I've completed my appointments for the day, but I can get Ahri'ahn to discuss…" He frowns, the thoughts of his Dream-self colliding with those of Actual Arthur Curry. "Vassalage reform? That was-?"
Let me guess: 'Putting the impure in their rightful place', that place being under his boot?
"I imagine that his views on democracy are a little dated. Luna, do you have-?"
Luna hands him an enchanted lollipop stick. "Break this when it is time for us to intervene."
Heh. Subtle, easily hidden. And if Ahri'ahn asks, Arthur was feeling a little peckish.
He nods. "I wouldn't visit his workshop, not while I was under his control. I'll call him to the east wing drawing room. Do you know where that is?"
"Yes. We'll be lying in wait."
Preferably with a nice sharp knife in hand...
He nods distractedly. "Maybe I can find out where he was going with all of this."
"I wouldn't recommend risking yourself to assuage your curiosity, but it's your life you're risking. Don't forget to dismiss your guards just in case things spill over."
Collateral damage, and all that. Or Ahri'ahn could set them on Arthur, being still bespelled...
He nods, then turns away and marches out of the royal apartments.
"Is this what it is like?"
The Superheroing life? Not really. Big things like this tend to come along once in a while, but a lot of it tends to be punching lunatics in fancy dress.
I turn to Luna. "Is what what what's like?"
"Being a 'super hero'. We had largely assumed that it was something like being a knight errant, but no mere knight would be trusted to do what we have done today."
To be fair, both you and the Renegade are a bit higher-tier than a mere Knight.
"Pretty sure that Celestia would dump it on Twilight."
"Not without a great deal more notice and preparatory material."
Pfft, please. Do you not remember... Nearly
every major disaster thus far?
"I don't remember her getting a fat lot of preparatory material before being sent the fight Sombra. Didn't even get the Elements."
"You need not argue that point with Us. Having considered your viewpoint, we are in agreement."
Good to see you recognise that no, just being lucky and plucky doesn't make you a big hero...
"Twilight and maybe Rainbow Dash count. At our level, superheroism is about highly skilled and powerful people dealing with otherwise intractable problems that would otherwise cause widespread devastation. Both of us needed our full range of skills and resources to get this far, and our combat abilities will be tested before too long. There aren't many things that would require people in our weight class to apply themselves like this, but it's nice to be around when they come up."
As I noted, a lot of it is fighting
regular loonies. And that's well below the Renegade's level.
She nods, looking pensive. "We think that We may desire… To participate in such incidents more often. To… Beat off the rust."
I smile. "I was rather hoping that-."
As long as one situation or another ends up with the two of them standing over defeated foes, panting for breath before sharing a big damn kiss.
You know it'd happen sooner or later.
"And We believe that Our Sister may similarly wish to engage in such pugilistic events."
"Maybe Kal-El's got something for her."
Wonder if Celestia has a spell that could amplify Superman's solar energy levels for a big fight?
