Legends of Aquaman #5

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Legends of Aquaman #5
The Curse of Kordax!

Written by Scott D. L. Kruger
Edited by Daniel Dyer

“Destiny... is it truly pre-ordained at birth, or something that we can change as the journey of life shifts with the tide?"-From the Chronicles of Atlantis (by Haumond, one hundred and thirty-fifth royal Historian)

A man of great posture sat upon the throne of Atlantis. Long blonde hair churning with the current, a golden band encircling his forehead... the royal crown. Arthur stood defiantly before the usurper, bound in thick chains, with guards flanking him on either side. The man sat in shadows on his throne. These were his guards... What the Hell happened?

"I demand you free me. I am Arthur, King of Poseidonis, Lord of Atlantis!" Orin demanded.

The man in shadows, with a nod & slight gesture of his hand, commanded Roduun, captain of Arthur's personal guard. Roduun stepped forward to his former king and stabbed down with his ceremonial dagger, into Arthur's left calf.

"NNNYYYAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" Arthur screamed in pain and fell to his knees. "Damn you, what do you want from me?"

Another nod & hand gesture.

"HHHUUURRRMMM..." came the bitten back cry of agony from the deposed Atlantean King. Arthur looked up at Roduun and growled, "How could you, I consider you my friend..."

"It is not he you should question... 'Arthur'..." the blonde man in shadows spoke. His accent was so thick that Arthur could not understand him at all. Arthur heard the translation in his mind. Much like he did when he 'spoke' with Porm and his dolphin family, or the other creatures of the deep when they sought out his council. The man in shadows shared the same ability. The man leaned forward, into the light and Arthur gasped. The blonde man was a mirror image of Arthur, but with long hair and no beard. Though he appeared to be the same age as Arthur, there was something in his eyes that said he was beyond ancient. "No, not at all... it is yourself that you should question."

"I am the Lord of this realm, and you will step down..." Arthur growled through his pain.

"You call yourself Lord & King, yet you do not even accept your own name. You go by the name an air breather gave you." The man sneered in disgust. "Accept your true name, my son, and you will..."

"Your son?" Arthur interrupted, "King Trevis was my father, I don't know who you are."

"Indeed. Then have a taste of my power then... guards!"

Roduun and Duncan held Arthur down on his stomach. Arthur watched helplessly as the blonde man walked behind him, out of sight.

"Accept your true name Orin, my son and this power is yours. Power beyond anything you could imagine." The man spoke as he lay his hands upon the open wounds in Arthur's calves. "All you must do is call yourself by your true name..." Searing fire ignited in Arthur's legs.

"NNNYYYAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" Arthur screamed.

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

"NNNYYYAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" Arthur awoke with a start. The last thing he remembered had been sitting in a chair in his quarters, reading the daily report. Although he had obviously dozed off, the clock on the wall hadn't moved. Not a moment had passed. His calves ached. They had begun cramping a few weeks before, about the same time the dreams started. Correction: the dream. The same dream almost every night. Unfortunately now, the dream had infiltrated his day. This time, though, the dream had been slightly different. Never before had the strange man, laid his hands on him.

Arthur swam to the nearest mirror and stared in shock at the back of his legs. The true root of the problem was apparent... he had small fins growing slowly from the backs of his calves. They were not yet fully developed like other Atlanteans, but they were coming through. He stood there for a while in his undergarments (something he never quite broke himself off from his time on the surface) staring at his reflection... how he had changed in the two years since becoming the King. The scar over his left eye had faded some, but was still very visible. His long hair was lopped off (much to Vulko's approval) almost immediately after sitting on the throne the first time but he decided to keep the beard. He felt it gave him more of an authoritative look. Besides, Mera liked it. He was 23 now... basically, still a child. But he was the king, a husband and very soon... a father.

"Well what do you know... you've finally hit puberty!" came Mera's voice behind him as she glided toward him. Luckily for Arthur, she had no such notions regarding undergarments.

Mera had blossomed into the most beloved Queen in Atlantean History, and now, three months pregnant she was radiant as well. Arthur met her halfway, and took her into his arms. He kissed her gently on the forehead and lowered himself to her belly.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he rubbed her stomach.

"Atlantean men... they grow fins when they reach puberty. Your time out of the water must have just delayed that part of it... as you can tell, everything else works... appropriately," she teased.

"Fantastic... I'm now a man. Although, I will need a few new pairs of pants. How is little Arty this morning?" Arthur asked.

"Oh judging by the way I felt an hour ago, I'd say he's healthy as can be..." She paused when she noticed the distant look on Arthur's face. "You had the dream again, didn't you?"

"Yes," he responded... drifting once again towards the mirror.

"Arthur?" Mera touched his shoulder, her silky skin was warm to the touch.

"Mera... I think I should speak with Hagen."

"Hagen? The mystic?" she asked doubting her husband. "Is that wise? He is not fond of you, you know..."

"Fond? Actually he despises me." Arthur replied with a smirk. "But, I believe in freedom of speech for all creatures... Even slimy, scaly bottom feeders like Hagen!" he added as he began to tickle her. She giggled, and kicked away from him. They chased each other around the bed chamber for a while...

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The great farmland of the Angola plain was the primary supplier of Poseidonis's edible vegetation. Unlike Tritonis and the outlying colonies, that were self sufficient, Poseidonis relied on the plain exclusively.

The farmer's son was the first to notice the fetid smell coming from the western corner of the kelp bed. The boy raced to his father, the foreman, and brought him as close as he could bear. The putrid stench held the boy at bay as his father investigated the source.

There, tangled in the bed of enriched kelp lay a dying dolphin. The ornamental jewelry it wore signified that it had been a member of the King's sacred tribe. It's sleek gray skin had turned to a horrible green and black, and seemed to be quickly, painfully dissolving. The farmer approached the poor mammal when it bucked his head and began to speak.

**Please... you must tell Porm's swimmer to help... before all is lost.**

The man looked at the Dolphin with pity in his eyes. There was nothing he could do to save the poor creature. There it was dying before him in agony. If only the king had been there to help calm the poor creature... He raised his farming tool high above his head.

**Tell young Orin, he must go to the ship graveyard Southeast of Mercy Reef... no. please, you must not...**

The farmer brought the farming tool down onto the Dolphins head, putting the poor creature out of its misery. He had no idea what it was saying, but it had obviously been in pain... it was probably begging for death.

The farmer did not notice as the Dolphin's blood drifted back toward the heart of the kelp bed. He was more concerned with trying to scrub it from his arm. No matter how hard he scrubbed & scraped it would not come off. He headed back toward his village hoping that perhaps his wife had something that would help...

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The walls in the chamber were covered in books and scrolls. Mostly written by Hagen himself, and there were more than a few unmarked works, that were highly questionable in origin. Arthur sat at the head of a great table in the center of the chamber with Vulko at his side. Across from them sat Hagen, an elderly man in his late 70's with white hair and a long, white braided beard. Hagen wore the crimson robes of an ancient Atlantean holy man. The robes had been in Hagen's family, supposedly, since before recorded history. Legend said they were created by the legendary sorcerer Arion, over a thousand years before the cataclysm that sank Atlantis.

For the better part of an hour, Arthur told Hagen of the recurring dream. Hagen's scowl deepened as the story progressed, yet held his tongue until the tale was finished. He was nothing if not a good listener.

"The man you speak of..." Hagen began, staring intently at Arthur, "you say looked identical...?" He paused waiting for Arthur's reply. His beady eyes looked as though they would pop from their sockets any second.

"... To myself? Yes." Arthur replied hesitantly.

"Interesting..." Hagen said, rubbing his beard, still eyeing the King intently. Just being near Hagen always made Arthur uncomfortable. One of Arthur's only remaining childhood memories was of the elder man's face glowering at him. "Wait here!" Hagen spoke suddenly causing Vulko to jump.

Hagen drifted from his seat and floated to the highest shelf in his library. As he browsed through volume after volume of his archives, his voice called down, "This man... he claims to be your father?" In Hagen's tone was something more than just curiosity.

"Yes..." Arthur replied.

"This is not a good idea..." Vulko whispered to Arthur. "Hagen cannot be trusted."

"It is unfortunate that you think that way Magistrate Vulko!" came Hagen's voice from high above. Apparently his age had not betrayed his ears. "I mean our King, nor any of his citizens harm... Ah! Yes, here it is!" Hagen pulled an oversized book from the shelf and came back down to the seat. The book had the marking on it of one of the Atlantis Chronicles. "Now, where is it..." he began as he flipped through the pages.

"Hagen! Where did you find that? The Chronicles are meant to be in possession of the King at all times! Or at least in the great library!" Vulko scolded.

"Are they...?" Hagen replied unfazed as he continued to flip through the pages. "I wasn't aware... no... no... Ah! No... wait, that's not it... no... no... Aha! Here it is!"

"What?" Arthur eagerly asked.

"According to the description of the man you saw in your vision..."

"Dream," Arthur interjected.

"Right... dream... He was a former King of Poseidonis. One of great renowned, in fact," Hagen explained as he pushed the volume across the table toward Arthur & Vulko.

"Yes, that's him!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Poseidon's beard! You look so much like him..." Vulko gasped.

"Yes... indeed he does," Hagen spoke suspiciously, "but there is no way he could be your father, my King. Maybe a distant relative... but father? It is impossible. Although the legends of Atlantis, indeed, the chronicles themselves are filled with the impossible. Or so I've heard..." Hagen added quickly, eyeing Vulko with contempt.

"King Trevis was my father... who is this man?" Arthur interrupted.

"That is Atlan. He ruled Poseidonis well over 2,000 years ago." Hagen smiled. "Atlan's father ruled all of Atlantis with an iron fist... even attempted to rule the surface world. When his father died in combat, Atlan assumed Lordship of Atlantis and freed all it's cities. It was said that he was possibly a descendant of Shalako and perhaps even a son of Kordax."

"Impossible!" shouted Vulko again. "Kordax was dead centuries before Atlan would have been born!"

"Like I said before, Magistrate... The chronicles are filled with the impossible," Hagen smiled and quickly added, "my Lord Orin, please... take this volume and add it to yours! You may find it... enlightening!"

"Hagen..." Arthur began, much to Vulko's dismay, "he says I will gain power if I 'accept' my true name. I have accepted it..."

"Your majesty, if I may be so bold... You may allow others to call you Orin, but deep in your heart you still cling to the memory of your surface life. You honor a man that took you in, which, is very admirable, considering your circumstances..." Hagen paused deliberately, Arthur was shocked by the amount of insight Hagen had on his past. "Your true name is Orin... your mother named you that before you were born. Some thought it blasphemy to name you after the mightiest of our Gods. But she claimed that it came to her in a dream... she claimed that you were to do great things. According to legend, Atlan had many of the same abilities you possess... but he also had abilities far beyond yours. They say he could manipulate or control the temperature of water and even that he had mastered Shalako's ability over 'hard water'. Some claimed that these were signs of the Curse of Kordax. Perhaps these are the powers he spoke of..."

"Bah! This is nonsense!" Vulko interjected.

"Beware though, King Orin," Hagen said ignoring Vulko's outburst, "the Curse of Kordax is real, and it always comes at a steep price. It is said that those who possess it's power lose something that is very dear to them. For Atlan, it was his beloved brother Haumond... the one that wrote that very volume you hold in your hands. Know this though, my King, no one can escape their destiny..."

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Arthur sat on his throne, Mera at his side on hers. The meeting with Hagen earlier in the day only brought up more questions. If such a thing truly existed, was he cursed? Five years ago he would have thought breathing underwater was magic... how far off could the idea of a curse be? Was Atlan truly his father? How could that be possible? Would his claim to the throne be any more valid than Orm's was? If he rejected the name of his adoptive father, would he be condemning someone he cared for?

“No one can escape their destiny...”

The words spoken by Hagen ran over and over in his mind. Power was never something Arthur sought out... but was this a matter of power or potential? If he gained new abilities could he not better protect Poseidonis? Could he use the abilities to keep those he loved safe?

"Arthur, my love... you seem worse off now than you did before you visited that wretch. What is weighing on you?” Mera asked running her fingers through his short blonde hair.

"Something... Mera... what if I were to find out that I'm not who I thought I was?" Arthur asked rhetorically.

"Honestly, Arthur? I'd say it wouldn't be the first time..." she replied with a grin.

"True... not funny, but true." He stared down at the newly raised fins on his legs in silent contemplation when suddenly a thought occurred to him. "The books that Vulko gave me... the Atlantis Chronicles... where are they?"

"I thought you said they were nothing but 'superstitious hooey'? Besides, didn't you already read them?"

"Well, they very well may be... just humor me... and I didn't really read them. I just skimmed through them a bit. A lot was happening around that time, you know? Being a king was a bit new to me then and took up a bit of time!" Arthur ranted defensively, "... Anyway, Hagen gave me a volume that contained information on King Atlan. I also need to find out who this 'Kordax' was, aside from the legends."

"Kordax? All that ridiculous curse ever did was condemn innocent people for thousands of years... rumor had it that some even wanted you cast out when you were born!"

"Mera, you have to admit... I have abilities that Kordax supposedly had. I have to know," Arthur pleaded to his wife. "I'm going to sequester myself in the caves until I've read everything in these books. You and Vulko can handle the palace for me while I'm away."

"Of course... do what you must, but please come back soon... I don't want you to miss this," Mera spoke, holding her pregnant belly.

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The next morning Arthur set out from Poseidonis to the caves that served as the staging ground for the Atlantean revolution. He went back there from time to time to get away from the city... in fact, at times the palace reminded him of the over-crowded orphanage he spent years in. Even then, he found ways to get away from everyone... but now, in the palace, where EVERYONE needed him at all times, he desired privacy more than ever.

The caves had, in fact, become a bit of a trophy room for his 'heroic' exploits. He had amassed a large number of weapons and other souvenirs from his time undersea. Two items of some significance were his brother Orm's cracked helmet, and a large ornate 'A' that hung on the wall near the caves entrance. He wasn't sure what it was about the 'A' that called to him. 'A' for Atlantis? For Arthur? With his odd dreams lately, perhaps it was 'A' for Atlan.

Arthur glanced down at the large stack of books in front of him. The Chronicles of Atlantis. The history of his people... of his nation. He should have made time to read them, long ago. How best to understand the nation and it's people than to read it's history?

Not all volumes were there, each numbered, with roman numerals, along their spine. They were beyond ancient and Arthur marveled at how brilliant Atlantis was, even in its earliest years, before the cataclysm that sank the nation, they had developed paper and ink that was waterproof! He found a comfortable chair and sat down, opening the volume labeled "I".

The Chronicles of Atlantis
By Albart, appointed by King Orin as the first royal historian.

King Orin declared that a massive dome would be built to cover Poseidonis...

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Angola plain had quickly become a desolate wasteland of death and decay. Within a week’s time the 'plague' had spread to several nearby villages. Death was not instantaneous... yet it was inevitable and horribly painful. The plague's origin was mysterious, yet the Idealists (purists that still believed in the long lost ways of long lost Gods & magic) assumed punishment was being delivered for some wrongdoing.

The plague, however, was far less mystical in origin...

~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Bermuda Triangle, 300 miles southwest of Poseidonis.

For centuries, myth and legends surrounded the region in the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle. Tales ranged from sea-serpents to UFO's... many different theories to explain lost freighters and aircraft. Yet none were quite right...

Deep beneath the surface of the sea in the center of the 'Triangle' lay it's most recent victim. Lured in by mysterious circumstances, the Lexcorp Albatross floundered and sank. It's mighty hull gashed open by jagged rocks on the ocean floor. It's contents, spilling from it like blood from a deep fatal wound, a thick black and green ooze. The biological weapon was to besold to the highest bidder in the Middle East. Unfortunately for both it's creator and even more so for undersea life, the weapon would never reach it's intended destination.

To be continued...