Chapter Text
Art was done by the lovely duo of Peculiardiction and Wandixx
Danny swayed with the music. Gigs like this were plentiful, and he was becoming more and more known for his voice. Smooth, sultry yet refined, Danny’s vocals were reminiscent of the popular crooners of yesterday. Frank Sinatra. Bing Crosby. One wouldn’t look at Danny and think that he had such a deep singing voice, but he did. He looked the part, in his perfectly tailored tuxedo and the shiny black shoes. The rich aristocrats and business men and women ate and enjoyed their meal, listening to his dulcet tones in the background.
He couldn’t help but recognize a few, having seen them before. The Waynes were rather nice, having tipped Danny handsomely when he’d sung at their recent spring gala. Luthor was an ass, nitpicking every tiny thing about Danny and his performance, sneering as he’d paid him. The Cobblepots were… unique. Danny had been a pinch singer a few times at the Iceberg Lounge, but he’d refused to become one of the regulars. He felt uneasy about singing for a business that had a… suspect reputation. Constance Cobblepot had been strangely delighted by that, hiring Danny often, showing him off at her charity balls and social gatherings.
Danny’s eyes wandered over the crowd, the glittering of diamonds and other precious gems catching his eye. This entire ship was filled to the brim with the rich, dressed in their finest. Black ostrich feathers adorning the plunging neckline of a skin tight gown with a large leg split was worn by a middle aged woman who was wandering past the stage, her large diamond ring on top of her black velvet opera gloves. Her entire ensemble was worth more than Danny would likely ever make in his life. It was a sobering thought.
He finished his song, and some in the audience politely clapped. Others didn’t even spare him a glance. Typical rich people. They never looked closely at ‘the entertainment’ or ‘the help’. If they did, it was usually with desire in their eyes, like Danny and the others were pieces of meat. He snuck in a quick sip of water before he began the next song. ‘Sway’ was a classic. It was beloved both by the Italian mob and the upper crust. Strange how the taste of two supposedly so different and separate sets of people tended to line up.
He hesitated after a few of the opening bars of the song, that chilly blast of air exiting his mouth, as it would to anyone on a chilly winter morning. It wasn’t winter though. It was a warm, summer evening. Danny managed to recover quickly. He was tense, on alert. Something… someone dangerous was coming. Danny was stuck here, singing, while everyone was unaware as to what was about to happen. Not that Danny did either, but whenever his cold sense came, something BAD happened. He’d originally thought it only worked on ghosts, but it also sometimes randomly went off when he went to Cape Cod, and there wasn’t a single ghost around, not even a half ghost. Which had made him suspect that something else was happening and triggering the breath.
Danny was brought out of his thoughts as the entire ship jolted, tables starting to slide a bit. The music cut out as he stopped singing and the band behind him halted, waiting to see what would happen. The ship shuddered once more, and Atlanteans began to board the craft, rising out of the water below. They were all decked out in black armor, carrying guns, boarding the ship with ease. Adrenaline surging through his veins, Danny’s eyes kept darting back and forth. What should he do? He had a microphone, so he could theoretically direct everyone the right way. Yet there was no good place to direct people. If he directed them to life boats, they’d just be captured by the evil Atleanteans. Or drown. Both were bad. The other option was to just keep everyone here? They’d be robbed (probably) but they’d live. Danny would just have to wait and see what they did.
The leader, in all black armor and a larger helmet than the others, started barking orders for his men to get something that was in the hull of the ship. He made his way to where Danny was, forcefully taking the microphone and shoving him out of the way. What to do, what to do?!? If this was a ghost, he’d be running away and transforming, but this was a person. A real, living person. Danny wasn’t used to fighting those. Ghosts at least tried their best not to kill anyone. They hated the idea of being the cause for another person's death. Whoever this villain was, he likely wouldn’t care.
Still, as Danny crawled out of the way, he could at least try to get away and transform. Try to limit any casualties and prevent the villain from leaving before the Justice League or one of the other heroes showed up. Of course, he wasn’t that lucky. As soon as he got off the stage, one of the henchmen grabbed him, keeping him from leaving. Pointing their weapon at Danny, they gestured for him to join the frightened and whispering socialites. Danny grit his teeth.
“Upper crust of Gotham. Our quarrel isn’t with you. We’ll simply take a few things from below, along with a few other items, then we’ll be on our way. Then you can continue your festivities,” the leader told the crowd. What was in the belly of the ship? This was just some fancy yacht, was there really something that important in the hull?
There was a whistle as something sailed through the air, knocking the microphone from the leader’s hand. Jumping down from above was Nightwing. Danny was pretty surprised, as Nightwing was usually in Gotham. It seemed, though, that Nightwing hadn’t come alone, as Aqualad, Kid Flash, Ms. Martian, and Artemis showed up behind him.
“Black Manta.” Nightwing acknowledged.
“Interfering, as always,” the leader, Black Manta, growled.
A fight broke out between the two groups. Batman appeared out of nowhere at some point, falling in step beside Nightwing. The heroes would be winning, if it weren’t for the fact that they had to protect the civilians. If things continued the way they were, it would be a draw. The civilians would be protected, but Danny watched as Black Manta’s men were carrying this cylindrical shaped thing out from the ship, making their way across the deck. If something didn’t happen, if someone didn’t step in, then Black Manta would get what he’d come here for.
Making his decision, Danny acted.
Pulling on his ice powers, Danny walked forward, standing next to Artemis and Kid Flash. He gathered up the water that had sloshed onto the floor, making a wall of ice that protected the rich people. Bringing up razor sharp slivers of ice.
“Go. I can take care of them. Stop those guys from getting whatever they want,” Danny encouraged them. He knew his eyes were glowing. Even with their masks, he could see their surprise on their faces.
They didn’t question it though, Kid Flash racing forward to tip the men, Artemis capturing them with bolases and nets that burst from her arrows. Sensing his upcoming defeat, Black Manta retreated, getting back into his submarine and sinking beneath the waves. That felt rather anticlimactic. It was always wild to him how fights like this could end so quickly.
Danny yelped as he was picked up bridal style by Kid Flash and sped away, deposited roughly on the floor. He glared, slowly getting up, resisting the urge to rub his butt, which was stinging from the pain. By the time Danny got up, Ms. Martian, Nightwing, Aqualad, and Artemis were there too. Aqualad stepped forward, extending his arm for a handshake.
“Thank you for your assistance, friend. I didn’t expect there to be an Atlantean aboard.” At Aqualad’s words, the others relaxed a bit. Danny felt his face heat up a bit, as he was close to a very handsome and muscular man, with lovely swirling tattoos up and down his arms. Ancients, that was a nice, strong grip that Aqualad had.
“No problem. A fancy rich person ship isn’t somewhere most Atlanteans would be,” Danny replied. Was he coming across as awkward as he felt?
“Indeed. What were you doing here, if I may ask?” Ah fuck. He was totally being questioned by Aqualad. They probably had him doing it since they’d recognized Danny as Atlantean.
“Oh, I’m the entertainment. I sing. I do a lot of different gigs around Gotham and Metropolis. My sister jokes that I have siren blood.” Crap. Why couldn’t he just shut his mouth and not babble? “Um, I do have singing powers, but I don’t use them. You’d uh, you’d notice them pretty quickly if I did.”
“Singing powers aren’t very common. They usually can manipulate people.”
Danny laughed bitterly.
“Hah. Not mine. Mine tends to cause waves of destruction. So, I just use the pretty voice I was born with to make money, but don’t bother adding the power, as, well, I’d get fired from any singing job if I trashed the venue.”
“You said you’ve worked other gigs. Can you name a few?” Nightwing asked, stepping forward slightly. The entire group had slowly been relaxing while he talked, so Danny’s interrogation must be going well? They didn’t think he was suspicious. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or, maybe it was the right place at the right time, since he’d helped out?
“I sang at Bruce Wayne’s spring gala a few months ago. Uh, I’ve done a couple more private gigs for Mrs. Cobblepot. I’m a backup singer at the Iceberg Lounge. I’ve sung only twice for Lex Luthor. He pays well, but he treated me and the rest of the musical entertainment like shit. I know there are more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Um. I am auditioning to sing in accompaniment to the Gotham Orchestra’s Fall Concerts?” Man, he sure did babble when he was nervous. That was a bad habit he needed to work on.
There was some sort of agreement between the team, entirely unspoken, as they all dispersed, except for Aqualad. He began to talk to Danny cheerily in some sort of language. Ancients, was that Atlantean? Danny wasn’t fluent in that. He actually couldn’t speak it at all.
“Um, sorry to burst your bubble,” Good job brain, making a bubble pun when this was serious, “but I don’t speak Atlantean. I um, I was found abandoned on the shore after a storm, and, well, I was adopted by my parents. Uh, until Aquaman revealed the existence of Atlantis when I was like eleven, we just thought I was a metahuman. A lot more things made sense though after that little reveal…” Aqualad briefly looked disappointed before his face smoothed over into a handsome smile.
“Oh. That is alright, we can continue to talk in English. I had just… assumed you’d grown up in Atlantis, as you have a great mastery of sorcery. How did you learn about your magical abilities then? Ah, I am Kaldur’ahm, but you may call me Kaldur. I introduced myself, but it was in Atlantean. What is your name?”
Good to know that Danny wasn’t the only one sort of flustered and caught off balance by all of this. Two awkward Atlanteans, one who probably barely could be called one as he knew NOTHING of his birth culture.
“Oh Ancients, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Danny, Danny Fenton. Nice to meet you, Kaldur! I wish it’d been under better circumstances. As for my powers, trial and error really? I would realize one day that I could do something, then I’d try to do it again and practice at it. I’m really good at ice now, because of it. My control over water isn’t the best… Oh, here! For you!”
Danny made a little statue of Kaldur out of ice, giving it to Kaldur with a smile. He was teetering on such a strange precipice. He’d always thought his ice powers had been because of him being a ghost, but Kaldur was making it sound like it might actually be his Atlantean side. What did that mean for the rest of his powers? Were some of them actually Atlantean? Atlantean magic? Or were his Atlantean abilities just enhanced by the ghost powers? Danny was even more of a freak now than he was before.
“This is beautiful. You’ve captured all of the details here in ice. Your skills are incredible.” Kaldur, was turning the figure over in his hands, looking at it closely. “Danny, would you like to visit Atlantis? I think it would be good for you to meet some of the sorcerers there. You seem to have an incredible knack for ice magic, and surely you have talents with other magic as well.”
Danny hesitated.
Would he love to go and learn more about Atlantis and Atlantean culture? Yes. But his ghost side… Would that come up? They’d probably notice it. Amity did have Axiom labs, which had recently gotten bought out by Star Labs, so there was finally some notice on the whole ‘ghosts are real’ front. How would Jazz feel? How would his parents feel if he actually went off to try and learn more about his bio parents? His mom and dad would always be his mom and dad. Whoever his bio parents were, they’d never get that title as they didn’t raise him. His parents had given up their research, changed their focus of study from trying to kill and eradicate ghosts to trying to understand them and help them. They had a weird but wonderful relationship with the Yetis of the Far Frozen. It was nice, but really weird.
Knowing his family, they’d support him. Hell, they’d encourage him to do it. Danny just wasn’t sure if he was ready for what he’d find, if he did end up discovering who they were. He had his family though. They’d help him through whatever he ended up feeling. Looking into the pale green eyes of the young Atlantean man in front of him, Danny figured he’d have more than just his family on his side. Kaldur gave Danny the sense that he’d help him. He’d help Danny connect to his Atlantean heritage.
“I - Yeah. I would. I - Part of me has always wanted to learn more about Atlantis and where I came from, but I just… never knew where to start. It also could open a can of worms. But I… can’t turn down an opportunity like this, staring me right in the face. If you’re willing to take me down and introduce me, I’d love to go. Um, you said there were sorcerers?” Danny had no idea that Atlantis had sorcerers, that they even did magic. He’d kind of assumed that the powers that Aquaman had used on TV came from the trident, not from an innate magical talent.
The two of them talked a bit more, Kaldur giving Danny a phone number, promising to text him so they could set up Danny’s introduction to Atlantis. Specifically, they’d be going to the city of Poseidonis so Danny could go to the Conservatory of Sorcery to be tested to determine his magical talent. As he grabbed a cab to head home to his small apartment in the financial district, Danny knew his life was permanently changed.
***
Kaldur was doing his best to hide his grin. Danny had agreed to meet him at the phone booth Zeta location in central Gotham. He had not expected the other Atlantean to show up in casual clothes, with a barely hidden wet suit underneath. Danny wasn’t wrong to wear one, as they would be going in the water. It was just… surprisingly cute how the young nineteen year old was both so excited and so nervous. His majesty, King Orin, wanted to meet Danny first, at the Team’s hideout in Mount Justice. The King has assumed that he was the only Atlantean who had been raised above water, so this young man would likely go through a lot of the same trials and tribulations that the King had. Undoubtedly, they would be less, as Danny didn’t have the pressure of being next in line to be High King of Atlantis.
It surprised him, to find out that Danny was older than him by a year. Perhaps it was because of all that he’d seen as Aqualad, he felt older. Nightwing had done him a favor and looked into one Danny Fenton for him. Found wandering along the beach where the old Roanoke colony had once been by a pair of paranormal scientists, he’d been taken in by the pair. At approximately three years of age, Danny had been adopted by the two scientists, Drs Maddie and Jack Fenton. The couple had then returned to the small town in Ohio where they lived, having only been in Virginia for research.
By all accounts, Danny had grown up and lived as an average human being, completely unaware of his origins.
They zeta-ed to Mount Justice.
Kadlur couldn’t help the smile on his face upon seeing Danny’s awed looks around the interior of the mountain. It was fun to see another be so impressed by a sight he saw everyday. It reminded him of what was out there. He had to turn away from the guest to greet his King and the other members who were there.
“Your majesty, I present Danny Fenton. He is the one I told you about.” Danny’s face flushed red at the introduction. The man fumbled before bowing slightly, following Kaldur’s lead.
“Nice to meet you, your majesty! Um, I can’t believe I’m here and I’m doing this?” King Orin laughed, stepping forward to pat Danny’s back.
Unlike the King and some of the other members of the Justice League, Danny was thinner, leaner. He didn’t have the broad shoulders and athletic body type that many had. His physique was closer to that of Nightwing. A small part of Kaldur was worried that the pats would knock the man forward, but they didn’t. They put Danny’s outer clothes and his phone, wallet, and a few other personal items in a locker. Then, they zeta-ed into Poseidonis. Once again, Danny was awed by his surroundings. Poseidonis was beautiful, with its glowing pillars that held up the protection bubble that surrounded the bustling city.
It was fun, showing Danny around the city. King Orin was enjoying it as well. It also let the man look around the city, allowing him to talk to the citizens. They ended the tour at the Conservatory, where Queen Mera met them with a smile. She gave him a hug as well, which surprised him. He hadn’t thought that she’d missed him this much. It had not been that long since he had visited. It was nice to feel missed. The Queen ushered Danny to a large shiny orb that looked like a pearl.
“Danny, what you need to do is put your hands on this special orb. When I tell you to, inject some of your innate magic and power into it. From there, the orb will read your magic. You will be able to do all kinds of magic, but this will let us know what your magic tends to lead towards and what will be easiest for you to learn,” the Queen explained as she made her way to the screens which would output Danny’s results.
“We will also get a good idea of how powerful your magic is. I know you’re a little nervous. It won’t hurt you. I can record your results and let you know right away. Are you ready Danny?” Danny took a deep breath and then nodded.
There was a slight vibration in the water as the orb turned on. Danny jolted slightly at it, before settling in and letting the Queen know that he was ready. A beautiful blue and green magic began to slowly spread across the circular object. It seeped into the round structure, and he could see the graph and the data coming across the screen that the Queen was looking at. She hummed, lookin at the results.
“Thank you very much Danny. That should be enough.” Danny swam over, his curiosity apparent.
“Um, what did it say?” Mera smiled.
“You do have a high affinity with ice magic, which also means you have a high affinity to healing magic. The two are often seen together. Surprisingly, you are also well suited for offensive magic. Defensive magic might be more difficult for you, but you are also proficient with this type as well. Your affinity with so many different types of magic is unusual. Affinity towards different kinds of magic is usually genetic, and while ice and healing magic are correlated, it is a rarer kind of affinity.” Here, the Queen hesitated. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I can look through our records to see who else has had a high affinity with ice and healing in the past few decades and could potentially be one of your parents.” Danny’s mouth opened and closed a few times.
“That would be great. Thank you. I didn’t even know you could do that,” Danny eventually croaked.
“As the Headmistress of the Conservatory of Sorcery, I will be the first to offer you a spot in the school. You have a great gift, and we would love to have you nurture it here.”
“Is it kinda like Hogwarts, but Atlantean style?” King Orin started laughing, slinging his arm over Danny’s shoulder.
“Oh, I’m going to love having you around. They don’t know anything about surface world pop culture or media. No one gets all of my references and jokes,” the King said with a massive grin. He led Danny away, talking animatedly about the surface world. Kaldur stayed behind. Something was bothering the Queen.
“Is something the matter, your majesty?” She sighed, turning back to the results.
“I recognize the magical affinity that young Danny has,” Mera admitted. “The only person I know who is the right age to be Danny’s parent is a criminal and currently imprisoned below Poseidonis. I don’t… I don’t want to tell him. Not yet. Not until I’m sure that… that man is Danny’s father. I know you understand.” Kaldur managed to suppress the wince. He hated when he was reminded that his biological father was Black Manta, one of the greatest threats to the kingdom of Atlantis.
“Yes. Yes I do understand. It’s better to be sure, before we give him such heavy knowledge.”
Kaldur would do his best to make sure the rest of Danny’s time was pleasant, so he pushed that information from his mind. Hopefully that wasn’t the case.
***
Mera swam through the cell blocks, her heart in her throat. If Danny was the son of the man she suspected, it could cause chaos. She doubted he would talk to her, but she had to try. For both Danny and her family.
***
Jazz and his parents were excited for him to go to the Conservatory of Sorcery. He’d been rather adrift for a little while now, as he’d initially decided to take a gap year between high school and college, only to then not apply to college and that gap year just… extending. So going to the Conservatory of Sorcery was a good thing. Probably. It’d be like college! Just underwater. And he’d probably be years older than the others there. He’d also be thousands of miles away from his family, and the only way to see them was through a zeta tube to Central City, and then it’d be a few hours drive (or flight) back to Amity Park.
He’d have to leave a lot of his things behind. Phone calls were going to be very different. It seemed that King Orin had taken a liking to him, mainly because Danny understood his references and dad humor. Which, holy crap, Aquaman was a dad! He hadn’t thought the man was old enough to have a son! Both the King and the Queen had been flattered that Danny thought they were so young. Queen Mera’s eyes had tightened when Orin had commented on how Danny was young enough to be their son. He’d skedaddled after that, going to the guest room that had been set up for him.
It was still weird as hell to be living in the palace.
He was super, super grateful that he was getting personal tutoring in Atlantean. Danny was grateful for everything the King and Queen had given him. King Orin obviously liked him. Queen Mera did too, but there were times where she was clearly… off around him. Cautious? Nervous? He really wasn’t sure what she had to be nervous about. Danny was harmless. She had freaked out the first time Danny had held little Prince Artur though. It had been really awkward to be sitting alone in the room while the king and the queen were off in a corner talking in hushed whispers.
Something was definitely off.
He didn’t know how to broach the subject with them. Was it possible that just the King wanted him to hang around and the Queen didn’t? He didn’t really know what was happening here. Either way, he was sitting on top of the balcony railing, feet dangling as he watched the city. It was relaxing to watch the lights of the city and how people swam through it. There were certainly roads, in a sense. They were more like pathways. Since it was all underwater, people could just swim any direction they wanted and at whatever height they wanted. Yet most people stuck to the paths at the bottom of the sea floor. It was interesting.
In Amity, he was the only one who could fly. Here, underwater, everyone could in a sense, ‘fly’ as the buoyancy of the water meant that they could all float. Not only that, but the magic. He was still a long, long way off from being as great as Garth or Tula, the Queen’s own proteges, who had been helping him learn Atlantean and showed him some of their magic. But their magic put them on a similar power level as him as Phantom. After having been the different one, the half ghost, for five years now, he was around people who weren’t the same as him, but they were similar.
More similar than his human friends and family.
Surprise! He technically was a different species from them, homo mermanus. On another technicality, he wasn’t full homo mermanus at this point. He was whatever a half ghost half Atlantean was. Thinking about it tended to stress him out. He was going to have to eventually figure all of this out, but for now, Danny didn’t want to think about it. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. It wasn’t as satisfying to do that underwa-
“That was a deep sigh.” Yelping, Danny jerked, losing his balance and falling backwards. Strong hands caught him, putting him back on the balcony railing.
“Whoa! Careful there!” It was King Orin, who… oh great, now he was looking at Danny weirdly. It was that same searching look that Queen Mera had been giving him. That wasn’t good.
“Thanks. For catching me. Um, did you need something?” How does one go about asking a king why the fuck were they here? Granted, the king owned the entire palace, but this was also Danny’s room, for the time being.
“I just wanted to see how you were doing. Especially since you had to see Mera and I fighting. She’s protective of Artur. Ocean-Master… Well, she’s been a mother bear ever since. Mother shark? Eh, you know what I mean. We didn’t mean for you to get involved in our bickering,” the king explained. Ancients, what to say to that?
“I’m sorry that happened. I’m glad that the prince is safe.” Yeah, just generic platitudes would suffice. Right?
“What were you thinking about? Before I found you? What made you give that big sigh.”
Danny bit his lip. How to explain this without revealing that he was half ghost?
“So. I’ve lived my entire life thinking, knowing, that I was different. Humans can’t breathe underwater. My parents figured that out pretty quick, but they still kept me and loved me. Eventually, when you revealed that Atlantis existed, well, we knew what I was, but I was still the only Atlantean in our family. In our city. Hell, probably the entire state and the surrounding states.”
“I’ve spent so long thinking I was different, that I was the only one like me. Now, look at me!” Danny waved his arms around, indicating the city.
“I’m underwater, in Posideonis, with hundreds and thousands of other Atlanteans.”
“I should feel like I belong. But I don’t! I don’t speak Atlantean, and I’m so far behind when it comes to schooling and magic here. Yes, I fit in now that I’m among other Atlanteans, but in other ways… I’m still a total outsider! I’m still different!”
He was surprised by the hug he received from the monarch. Danny hadn’t been looking for anyone to dump his worries on! He was going to wait until his next call with his sister and his parents before he unloaded all of his feelings. He hadn’t fully intended on venting to the King of Atlantis of all people!
“You’ll get there. I grew up on the surface world. My father still lives there. He manages a lighthouse. It took me a few months of very intensive learning before I started to feel more at home here beneath the sea. It will take time, but you’ll get used to it. If you don’t, you can always go back. You’re also not required to stay here. I go back up to the surface often. You have a lot of choices, Danny. And you don’t have to make them all at once.” Feeling the king’s big hand rubbing soothingly along his back made him feel like a small kid again, when he’d run to his dad’s arms and cry after he’d gotten bullied. Ancients, this was going to make him cry!
“Thanks. Sorry to um, dump all of that on you. Good to know that I’m not the only one to have ever felt this way. And that I have time. Time to figure it out and get used to… to everything,” he croaked. Was it possible to tell when people were crying? Or did they look the same as usual, their tears simply adding to the salt of the ocean?
“You’re still young, and you’re far from home, far from what you’re used to. I struggled as well when I first became King. Mera… she helped a lot. You’ll find people you connect with here, who can help support you and help with homesickness. You’ll make friends. You’ve been getting close with Garth and Tula, right? Kaldur too.” The reassurances were nice.
They talked for a while. It was nice, and helped calm some of Danny’s worries, for now. It was also nice to know that the King had also struggled with sleeping underwater at first, and had also found himself floating up to the ceiling. King Orin was really nice, and at times, reminded him of his dad, Jack. When he fell asleep that night, he didn’t feel as sad and homesick.
***
Danny was sitting in his healing magic class, struggling to understand. The lecture was being recorded, so he could listen back to it later. He was only catching every other word. It was all in Atlantean. Still, he could pick up a general idea of what was happening. Gather your power in your hand. Place it near the wound. Think of healing, of the cut disappearing. It might not happen at first, as healing is hard, but do your best.
So of course Danny was able to do it his first try.
The kids in the class, who ranged from elementary kids to middle school aged kids looked at him with jealousy. Funny, they’d been staring at him, for being so old and not fully understanding Atlantean earlier. Now they had a different reason to gawk at him. It was clear the teacher had not been expecting anyone to succeed right away, possibly after this first lesson. They didn’t exactly have extra injured Sea Cucumbers that had been found and rescued from the sea floor.
The flustered teacher made two calls, and before he knew it, Danny was ushered to a separate building, where there were a lot of injured marine animals. Dolphins, fish, seals, and even a few sharks. There, he was greeted by curious people. They spoke slower, and took more time explaining the process, which was really nice of them. They wanted him to try and heal the animals, and they would be watching closely, to provide input and critique. There were just two of them, one an older woman whose brown hair was turning silver with age and a heavier set middle aged man.
They were highly impressed with Danny’s healing, but they did have some critiques. He used far too much magic. It was probably because he was a beginner, but he put way too much power into his spells. Were they spells or just abilities? He honestly didn’t have any clue. They explained to him how he was drawing too much energy from the ocean of power within him, and to focus on that more as he went around and healed the injured creatures in the… well, it was basically a vet’s office? The woman, Celle, was stern at times, but clearly knew what she was talking about. Tonso, the male instructor/vet was more interested in how strong Danny’s powers were, and if he could help with some of their more critically hurt marine animals.
After that, Danny got permanently placed with Celle and Tonso. They were the head healers in Poseidonis. It was really amazing, watching how they healed the smallest of scratches and large wounds on Atlanteans. Danny was still only working on healing sea creatures, as he was still learning. What had surprised him was when he started to hear… some of them talk? They had fun little tidbits to tell him. The dolphins told him where he could find a nearby coral reef and where some of their favorite fish were found. Their directions and sense of time was… interesting. He actually found himself preferring the sharks and the seals over the dolphins. They talked too much and were too excitable. The seals, although still excitable, rested more and appreciated a good nap.
After about a month of learning and working with Celle and Tonso, they finally deemed him ready to start healing Atlanteans. His first patients were Garth and Tula, who’d gotten a few scrapes and bruises from learning combat magic under the Queen’s tutelage. They were amazed at how quickly Danny had been picking up on healing magic. It was one of the harder branches of magic to learn. Garth and Tula were slowly becoming Danny’s closest friends here in Poseidonis. It just… it just felt like they were missing something. Someone really, as they talked about Kaldur fairly often. Danny was able to pick up on the fact that they’d been a trio of friends, like Danny was with Sam and Tucker. After Kaldur was picked by Aquaman to be Aqualad, that had caused their friendship to weaken. They no longer went to the same school, and Kaldur was now almost full time on the surface.
He knew they didn’t mean to, but their talk of Kaldur made him nervous that Sam and Tucker might be feeling the same way, with him far away. Did he maybe call them extra the next couple weeks? Yes. Danny didn’t want them to drift apart! They’d been his friends since elementary school! Sam, she’s sussed it out pretty quick, scolding him a little bit before reminding him how they’d be friends forever. She also revealed that she’d felt the same way, worried that now that they no longer lived in the same city, they’d no longer be friends. Tucker took more time to figure it out. So long that Danny, after such a good reception from Sam, brought up his worries about their friendship. Danny needn’t have worried. Tucker had been in the same boat as him, as Sam too. All three of them had been worried about their friendship splintering and breaking due to distance. There was no way that would happen! They all wanted to keep their friendship alive!
It made Danny feel bad for Kaldur.
Kaldur was doing the hero thing, something Danny knew intimately (not that he’d been the hero Phantom since sixteen). Kaldur was feeling the sacrifices that came with it. Unable to complete or focus on school. Straining relationships with friends and romantic ones falling apart due to the secret identity. Hardly any time for anything else. Growing up too fast.
All of those things, Danny knew too well.
Maybe…
Maybe Danny could be Kaldur’s friend.
***
He didn’t get a chance to see Kaldur again until almost a month later. Danny’s Atlantean was much, much better at this point. Enough to realize something was wrong. That Kaldur… wasn’t his normal self.
“Kaldur? Are you okay?” he asked, hoping to subtly impress the other with his Atlantean.
“ Danny. Your Atlantean has gotten much better!” He laughed.
“Oh, the fact that I can actually ask a basic question tipped you off on how much I’ve learned? Ouch.”
That brought a smile to Kaldur’s face. He had a nice smile. It was too bad he didn’t seem to smile too often.
“It seems you’ve caught me. I’m afraid I won’t be good company at the moment.”
“How come?”
Kaldur sighed.
“I just saw Garth and Tula.” Kaldur said it as if that explained everything, but it really didn’t. In fact, Danny just had more questions.
“Did you catch up? Or no? What didn’t go well?”
Kaldur looked conflicted, his hands tightening into fists at his side.
“I merely… became more aware of what it is that I have lost by taking the mantle of Aqualad. I can handle loss. I have before. It is just painful, at the moment.” That was cryptic. Did that mean that Kaldur was no longer friends with Garth and Tula? Swimming forward slowly, giving Kaldur enough time to get away should he not want it, Danny hugged the other teen.
“I’m sorry Kaldur. Hey, why don’t we spar? I can see your cool magic swords and you can see what I’ve learned so far!”
Thankfully Kaldur agreed to Danny’s very, very obvious distraction attempt. Kaldur was very, very proficient with those glowing swords of his. It was also really, really cool how his eel tattoos glowed when he used them. It was pretty. Danny could admit it to himself, Kaldur was a very handsome man who knew how to fight, and from what he’d heard of the The Team’s exploits, was a great leader. What wasn’t there to like about that? Yet at the same time, he didn’t know much about Kaldur. Kaldur had been the one to reach out, to offer to take Danny here, to Posidonis and had completely changed his life. Arguably for the better.
Danny wanted to learn more about the man he was sparring with.
“Focus, Danny,” Kaldur chided as Danny barely held back some of Aqualad’s blows. The clashing of Kaldur’s water blades against Danny’s ice blades merely vibrated the water around them. If they were above water, there probably would have been sparks or something.
“I’m trying!” he protested.
“Really? You seem distracted.” Danny felt his cheeks start to heat.
“So are you!”
They traded a few more blows, Danny losing ground as Kaldur pushed him back. Their strength was evenly matched, but Kaldur knew what he was doing with his swords. It was kinda hot. No, bad Danny! He just wanted to be friends with Kaldur! He didn’t have time for a crush or a relationship! Danny just wanted to learn Atlantean, learn magic/sorcery, and find out who his bio parents were. That didn’t leave a lot of room for romance.
Danny’s distraction was all that Kaldur needed to knock Danny’s swords made of ice from his hands and knock him on his ass, water swords pointed at his throat. Danny held up his hands in surrender.
“I yield. You win.”
Kaldur then, gentleman that he was, put away his swords and then offered his hand to Danny. Danny grasped it and was pulled back up, cheeks heating once more as he realized just how close he was to his opponent. Their chests were nearly touching. Ancients, Kaldur had such pretty pale green eyes. His tattoos were so, so attractive. Also, those muscles. Kaldur had some well defined arms, which was enhanced by his tight fitting red tank top. How bad would it be to close that gap? To kiss those lips that weren’t that far from his? Oh man, there was a high chance it would mess up their budding friendship, but he was oh so tempted.
Both of their heads turned at the sound of clapping. Standing at the edge of the sand clearing they’d been fighting in was King Orin. There was a grin on his face and he was clearly thrilled to see them. Queen Mera was behind him, a young prince Artur clinging to her chest, watching them all with his big blue eyes.
“Danny! Kaldur! That was a wonderful fight! You’re getting better Danny. You’ve improved too since I’ve last watched you fight, Kaldur.”
Kaldur bowed.
“You flatter me, your majesty.”
Danny wasn’t given a chance to respond as Orin jumped back into the conversation immediately.
“Mera and I would love to invite you two to dinner. Garth and Tula have been invited too.”
“It would be an honor.”
“I’ll be there.” He couldn’t really call it an honor, like Kaldur did, as, well, he kinda ate dinner with the King and Queen almost every night? Oh man, that was probably really weird and most people didn’t get that sort of treatment.
The royal couple left, giving Danny and Kaldur time to go to their rooms and get ready for dinner. King Orin had excitedly taken Danny shopping a week or two after he’d gotten here. Ironically, it had been the night after he’d spilled his worries to the man. Orin had a great time introducing Danny to Atlantean fashion. Danny had been overwhelmed at first. Thankfully a lot of it was loose and super comfortable. He was going to have to wear the more formal Atlantean attire which was far more revealing. Guards and warriors got long pants and full shirts. Atlantean formal wear seemed to be tank tops, crop tops, short dresses and skirts, or ones with massive slits in them.
Ancients, he was going to be in a black crop top in front of Kaldur, his crush. He was ready to admit after their spar that he had a crush on the other teen. Afterall, why would he have been so tempted to kiss Kaldur if he didn’t at least like him a little bit? Okay, black crop top, black skort, and a pair of gold bangles and a thick gold necklace that almost reminded him of a collar. That would be his outfit.
Atlantean fashion was something he was still getting used to.
Taking a deep breath, Danny made his way to the dining room. King Orin was at the head of the table, Queen Mera on his right, and young Prince Artur was next to the queen. Kaldur was sitting at the table, but the seat to the left of the king was left open, for Danny. That… felt significant. Why had that spot been left for him? Shouldn’t Kaldur take it, as he was King Orin’s protege? Orin was Aquaman and Kaldur was Aqualad. Danny was missing something, but he didn’t know what. Something was being kept from him.
Feeling even more self conscious, he sat down in the empty seat. The dinner itself was pretty normal. Danny ate and listened to the two other men talk about different Justice League and The Team’s missions. It was interesting at first. It got boring quickly. Danny didn’t have a lot of the background information for a lot of it, so he eventually just tuned it out. After dinner, Mera went to put Artur down for bed and the rest of them moved to what was basically the living room. The King brought out some alcohol. Twenty one may be the drinking age in the United States, but it was sixteen in the Kingdom of Atlantis.
Danny wasn’t going to turn down some Atlantean wine. There was this special seal over it, so it only came out when they sucked on it. All three of them got their own small bottle. Mera grabbed one too, when she came back from putting the prince to bed. Danny hadn’t ever had alcohol before. Sure, he’d tried a few sips from his parents' drinks, but he’d been too busy to try any underage drinking and then after he stopped being a hero, he wasn’t exactly popular enough to get invited to parties. So no underage drinking for him. His babyface also always got carded at the singing gigs he did after high school.
That meant he didn’t really have anything to compare Atlantean alcohol to. It was making him really sleepy though. The conversation that Orin and Kaldur were having was like white noise to him, comforting and soothing. It was no wonder that he started to drift off.
He woke up a bit later when he was being shaken by someone.
“ -nny. Wake up Danny. You need to go to bed.” He blinked, looking up at the blurry, red haired woman.
“Five more minutes Mom,” he grumbled, feeling woozy. He was comfy here. Warm too. He blearily opened his eyes. Oh, that wasn’t mom. The red hair was too long to be mom.
“Jazz!” he protested. “Why’re you wakin’ me up?”
“ You need to go to bed Danny. Come. I’ll help you.”
That was way too nice for it to be Jazz. Jazz would be shaking him or ripping off his covers. Wait. He wasn’t on a bed. Where was he? Danny rubbed his eyes. Oh! That was Queen Mera! Oh no. Was he making a fool of himself right now? Yeah… Kaldur was right there. Plus, there was the king. Ugh. Of course the first time he’d gotten drunk was in front of his crush and royalty.
Danny accepted Mera’s help walking down the hall to his bedroom. She didn’t even really like him, yet she was helping him. Guilt began to eat at him. Once he sat down on the bed, he looked up at her.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to call you Mom. Or Jazz. You just look like them. I miss them.” The Queen’s face softened, and she gently brushed his hair out his eyes.
“It’s alright. You’re far from home. Go to sleep Danny. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.” She turned to leave, her flowy cerulean robes dragging behind her.
“‘M sorry. I don’t know - I don’t know what I did to make you not like me. But ‘m sorry,” he told her. She stopped, just inches from the open door, the muscles in her back tense. Slowly, they relaxed.
“It’s not your fault Danny. You did nothing wrong.”
“But -”
He didn’t have a chance to finish, as she hurriedly left. Sighing, he kicked off his shoes and crawled into the center of his bed, still in his clothes. Sleep came easily that night.
***
The next morning was a little awkward, for Danny at least. He’d been a drunk fool last night who'd mistaken the Queen for his mother and sister. Making the day even worse, Kaldur had to go back to the surface, back to his team. While Danny had managed to distract the man from whatever was worrying him yesterday, that wasn’t the case for today. Kaldur had been gloomy when he’d left, his smile not reaching his eyes. Feeling awkward in the palace, he left it to find Garth and Tula. They’d probably know why Kaldur was sad.
He found them holding hands and smiling standing in front of a shop that sold food.
They were clearly together. Ancients, how sad and pathetic this was. Danny had thought he’d left love triangles and all that bullshit behind when he’d left high school. Kaldur clearly liked either Tula or Garth, and then Danny liked Kaldur. He didn’t need or want a relationship right now, and didn’t want the drama that came from jealousy and love triangles. Danny turned around and sighed. It might take a bit, but he’d get rid of his crush on Kaldur. He’d stamp it out.
It wasn’t like they even saw each other that often.
Deciding to explore a bit, Danny exited the city. He was pretty confident that he’d be fine. He decided to see if he could find that coral reef that dolphin had told him about. The directions had been a doozy, and it took probably around two hours before he found it. It was so worth it, the mix of red, blues, yellows, pinks, oranges, greens, and purples was beautiful. The fish were so vibrant and excited to see him and talk to him. The coral was bright and vibrant. Danny felt the stress and pressure start to be washed away.
He didn’t have to speak Atlantean right now.
He didn’t have to learn magic.
He didn’t have the eyes of the royal family and the court on him.
He was free.
Joy filled him and he transformed, sighing in pure relief as he shifted into his ghost form, something he hadn’t been able to in months. Yelling in delight, he sped through the water, skimming over the coral. He felt so weightless, so intune with himself. He’d never transformed in the water before, or spent a long time underwater while transformed. Danny had never had a reason to. Having spent the last couple months becoming more intune with his Atlantean side, he could feel the currents, he could see them! They were outlined with bright blue lines. The colors of the reef sharpened, and he could feel his power, his energy radiating out causing the reef to bloom. Fish swam around him, calling him ‘life bringer’ and ‘heart of the sea’.
Honestly, all he needed was long red hair and a tail, and Danny would be a ringer for princess Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Relaxing, he drifted down until he was resting against the soft, sandy sea bed. Resting his head in his hands, he watched the fish as they swam around. It was so calming. So soothing. He could see out of the corner of his eye a kelp forest. He knew it was behind him as well, as he’d had to navigate through it on his way to the reef.
Celle and Tonso had explained how the kingdom had been trying to plant kelp forests near coral reefs, as they would help protect the reefs from ocean acidification. It was a real threat, one that was affecting the kingdom a lot more than it was affecting those on land. Some of the cities were more affected than others. It felt so much better to actually see the reef in person, and not just hear about it from his teachers.
This was something he’d needed to do.
Just have a day away from everything to try and destress. It gave him time to think. Was he even happy down here? Not really. He loved learning about magic and getting better at it. He also felt at ease in a way he hadn’t on the surface. Ohio had a lot of moisture in the air, but he’d still often felt dry. Danny never felt that way under the water. Yet… he hadn’t been happy on land. He could admit to himself now that he didn’t want to go to college. He had his family, and he loved them! His friends too! They couldn’t support him forever though. While Danny had enjoyed singing, it had been dangerous. Rich patrons could pay lots of money, but there were often targets on their back. Or they were villains who’d shoot you, no questions asked. He’d worked one singing gig for the Falcones before that lesson had sunk in.
Could he see himself living the rest of his life underwater? Speaking Atlantean? Being thousands of miles away from his family? His friends? He groaned, turning over onto his back. Things might be better if he moved away to a different city after he graduated from the Conservatory. Although maybe he should ask the queen or someone high up at it what sort of track he was on, and how long did they think it would take before he graduated. Also, what kind of jobs could he get with a degree (?) from Posidonis’s Conservatory of Sorcery?
He tried to settle back into the sand and relax, but… was someone calling his name? Anxiety pierced through him, and he transformed back with a flash. The kelp forest should hide the light from his shift. Getting up, he started swimming towards the sound. Danny was barely able to stop his mouth from dropping open in shock. What was King Orin doing here?!? Ancients, was that some of the palace guards too? Why! There was no need for any of this!
“I’m here! I’m fine!” he called, swimming close to them.
“Where have you been?” King Orin looked… furious?
“Uh, I was just checking out the coral reef and the kelp forest?” Why was this a big deal? The king pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You can’t just leave the palace or the city without telling someone.” That didn’t sound right.
“I’m an adult. I’m not a child. I don’t think I need to tell anyone when I want to go exploring outside the city.”
“You do. You need to tell me or Mera.”
“Why?”
“Because you do.”
“That’s bullshit! Give me an actual reason!” Danny’s own temper was starting to flare.
“I don’t need one, I’m your king.”
“You’re the high king of Atlantis, but I’m an American citizen. As far as I know, I never became one of your citizens.”
“You’ve been an Atlantean citizen since you started learning from our top healers.”
“Well, thanks for telling me! Also, other people can leave and explore! Tula went out last week to go hunting with her dad!” Arguing in Atlantean was so hard, and he was impressed he hadn’t forgotten words yet in his anger.
“They’re not you!”
“Oh, they’re not the weird Atlantean boy who grew up in Ohio and knows nothing about being Atlantean! Good to know what you really think!”
“They’re not my nephew!”
That drained all of the fight out of Danny. Nephew? It was obvious that King Orin hadn’t meant to say that. Orin sighed, putting his hand on Danny’s shoulder, looking him in the eye.
“You’re my nephew. You’re a prince of Atlantis, like my son. Let’s head home, and I can explain more.”
Numbly, Danny nodded and swam alongside his… uncle.
How long had Orin known? Had the Queen known? What about Kaldur? Did everyone know, and Danny was just the only one in the dark? How had Orin even found him? Also, he was a prince?!? Danny had no idea what that entailed, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t qualified for any of it. He also didn’t want it. Danny didn’t think he’d make a good prince. If he was a prince, that also meant that he was in line for the throne, which he also didn’t want. If anything happened to Orin, Danny would probably be one of the worst people to take over. He was still learning about the kingdom and how it was essentially a collection of city states that had their own trade agreements between each other, had their own rulers and everything.
When it came to negotiations with the surface world, that’s when the High King got involved. It was… different and interesting. Orin was both the ruler of Posidonis and the High King of all of Atlantis. They made good time, as Orin and the others actually knew where they were going, and weren’t trying to follow the directions of a dolphin. It took less than twenty minutes for them to get back to the city. Danny waited until they were back in the palace, back in the living room where he’d fallen asleep drunk the previous night.
The Queen was there, playing with little prince Artur on the floor. If… If Orin was his uncle, that meant that Artur was his little cousin, and Mera was his aunt. Then why didn’t she like him? Why did she freak out when Danny held Artur? Orin sat down on the couch, putting his head between his hands. Danny stood there awkwardly. He was the one with all the questions and no answers. Orin had all the answers.
“My love, are you alright?” Mera asked her husband. He sighed.
“I spilled the beans, Mer. I know we’d talked about waiting a bit longer, but Danny knows.”
Sighing, she picked up Artur and passed him to his father. The toddler protested, not liking having been taken away from his toys. She sat on the couch next to her husband and then patted the empty space next to her.
“Sit, Danny. This will be a long conversation, and I’m sure you will have many questions. I will explain as much as I can.”
She began talking. Telling him about Orm. The Atlantean purists had wanted Orm to rule instead of Orin, as Orm was full Atlantean while Orin was only half. Orin had been the first born, and he was a kinder ruler than Orm was turning out to be. As such, Orin became the ruler of Posidonis and the High King. Orm stayed, but was jealous. As such, he began moonlighting as the villain Ocean Master, siding with the Atlantean purists to oust Orin and those who had more fish-like characteristics. The purists would consider Kaldur, who had gills and webbed hands and feet ‘impure’ even though he looked human. Those traits were enough for them to dislike Aqualad. The purists also did not like how the High King was helping the surface world as Aquaman and having one of the students from the Conservatory be Aqualad.
The more he heard about the purists, the more it became clear that they were just the worst kind of bigots, especially since they were willing to take action to get rid of those the deemed ‘impure’. Horrible people, the lot of them. Danny hated that he was the son of essentially these bigot’s leader. It got worse when Mera began to describe how Orm had briefly taken over Posidonis, how he’d let his subordinates threatened Artur’s life, calling it a ‘much needed cleansing’.
“I know it’s irrational. I have been getting help for my feelings and trauma in regards to their threats against Artur. It’s so hard to let him out of my sight, and -” Mera choked up a little at this point. “You look so much like Orm, when he was younger. Seeing you holding Artur was difficult. I know it’s not your fault, and that you would never harm him, but I had a flashback, and I panicked.”
“I’m to blame for that,” Orin admitted. “I’ve… not been the best of husbands. Finding out my little brother had a son threw me off balance. He needed to be locked up for his crimes, but it was a betrayal, and at times I do feel guilty. He did horrible things and threatened my son, yet I can’t give up on him. I still miss him.”
“Having you in the palace was my chance, my chance at atonement, to do better. I was so focused on bonding with you, that I neglected my wife. I didn’t listen when she told me she was struggling. I didn’t listen when she asked me to be the only one to hold our son. I unintentionally set her progress back by being over enthusiastic.”
It all made sense. Just… everything sucked. At this point, part of him was regretting wanting to know more about his bio family. He had not been prepared for all this drama. The most drama that had ever really happened with the Fentons had been when his dad had forgotten his parent’s anniversary, and then mom had gone off to Aunt Alicia’s to celebrate his aunt’s divorce. That had been nothing compared to: oh, your bio dad tried to kill his nephew and your bio dad is a big asshole.
“This is… a lot. How and when did you find out that… that I’m your nephew?”
“I suspected it at first. You have a lot of power, and your magical profile is incredibly similar to your grandmother Atlana’s and to your father Orm’s. It wasn’t until later, when we took a strand of your hair for testing. That is when it was confirmed,” Mera explained.
“So you knew pretty early. Why not tell me.”
“We knew who your father was, but we still don’t know who your bio mother is. We’ve both tried talking to Orm. He’s curious about you, but won’t reveal who he thinks your mother is. I’m honestly not sure if he really knows,” Orin admitted. Artur waved his hands, patting them on his father’s face. It was cute, and helped bring a bit of levity to what they were talking about.
“I don’t want to meet him. Not right now. I need… time.”
He wasn’t sure if they were going to push for him to visit Orm or not, but he wanted to tell them his stance. Danny really wanted to talk to his parents. They could help him figure out these confusing feelings and what he wanted to do moving forward. Thankfully they didn’t push. The conversation ended not long after that, dying out naturally. Danny fled to his room, refusing to come out at dinner.
He had a lot to think about.