In her long life, Diana had been not only all over Earth, but to different planets, experienced different cultures, met creatures unlike any her Amazonian upbringing had prepared her for. But Vallo felt….disconnected, in a way she couldn’t explain. She had Donna and Zatanna, and that reassured her, but even those she’d come to rely on in the League, Bruce and Kal-el and Arthur, all were out of her reach. Or like Arthur here, they were someone else, another person but undeniably the same as well. She’d eschewed her normal outspoken nature and instead remained quiet in Vallo as of late, protecting and learning and watching.
Today, this departure from that quiet, a casual day exploring Atlantis with Arthur...she needed this. Connection with a sliver of where she’d come from, a reminder of friends back home, even coupled with new beginnings. Perhaps this would be the next step she took to being a more visible ambassador to this place, to going back to her mission.
She stood on the beach, letting the sand warm her feet, the sun on her skin, sending silent thanks to the gods as she always did when seeing the beauty of a world. May they bless me today, as they have in the past. Smiling, she turned to look at Arthur, different Arthur, but still quite clearly blessed of Poseidon, and ruler here. Inwardly, she also admitted that she much preferred the darker hair.
“At your command,” she spoke, good-natured.
For his part, Arthur didn't have a lot of thoughts swimming through his head aside from hoping he lived up to whatever expectation this Diana had for him. He didn't know much about her version of him, which was probably a good thing. The last thing he needed, and he knew it, was to try and measure himself against some other Arthur that he could never be.
He did smile as he watched Diana quietly stand on the beach against the backdrop of the ocean, though he had no idea what she was doing or thinking, but the woman somehow managed to make anything look majestic so he wasn't going to complain. She really didn't seem all that much different from the Diana he knew, which he figured made her a pretty consistent force in the multiverse.
When she turned towards him, he immediately directed his eyes out over the ocean and nodded as if that's all he'd been looking at. "No commands here, unless having a good time counts." He moved to step out into the water and then looked back over his shoulder. "We'll have to go through the guest checkpoint. Decide yet if you want the tail, or just a water breathing spell?"
Diana grinned, just as happy to enjoy the day. “Oh, the tail, certainly. I’m a decent enough swimmer,” she continued, following him into the low waves, “but I cannot pass up being a mermaid at least once. If nothing else, Donna and Zee would be disappointed if I turned it down.” The water was cold; she grew up in Aegean waters and they could be as warm as bathwater some seasons. But she knew she would be acclimated to it.
Pulling off her shirt, revealing a dark blue sports bra, she tossed the shirt onto the beach. “Just tell me what I have to do.” She’d toss the jean shorts too, if needed.
"You can keep the--" he started, then stopped as the shirt came off. He smirked, shrugged, and pulled his t-shirt over his head before wadding it and tossing it back up on the beach. "Hold on and I'll summon the magicians."
With a few quick strides over to a post mounted in the water with a length of rope, he grabbed the end and gave it a quick tug to signal the guards underwater that there was a guest waiting to visit Atlantis. He'd hoped before long enough trust would be built that this wouldn't be necessary, but if anything it helped people who couldn't normally breathe down there.
"All right, they'll be here shortly and then it's just a matter of some finger waggling and then you'll be good to go."
“I’m not entirely unfamiliar with magic. The gods and all that,” she replied, with a nod of acceptance and a small laugh. Still, she felt a thrill of anticipation; she’d visited her world’s Atlantis but many years ago and not like this. Not as a guest, instead of a mission; this time, she could admire and enjoy and relax.
She glanced over at Arthur as the guards rose to the surface. Without his shirt, she noticed even more differences between her old friend and him. Interesting differences. Putting that away, she followed the instructions as the magic took hold. It tickled, much like Zee’s magic (and was less frustrating than when Circe attempted the same thing). And in moments, she had a long, almost royal blue tail and they were under the surface.
"Good color on you," commented Arthur, nodding at the tail and talking through the water with ease. "How's it feel?"
Diana couldn’t help a delighted laugh, and was doubly pleased at how the sound carried in the water. “This is amazing,” she told him, as she experimented with the new tail.
"Glad you like it," was the response, coupled with a genuine smile. To be honest, he never was sure what to expect since powerful people could often have unexpected results, even though the Atlanteans had been getting better with the magic now that they'd had a lot more practice since that first visit.
Turning away from Diana, Arthur pointed towards what could be made out as some light off in the distance before continuing. "At normal speeds, it'll take us about half an hour to get there. I can go pretty fast, but I'm not sure about you. How many more surprises do you have?"
The glimmer in the water drew her eyes, before she looked back at him. “I like to think I am full of surprises,” she joked, “although I’m a bit more of an open book, truly. Still, I’ve never had a tail before.” She tested the newfound ability by swimming a few yards ahead. Strong, she could feel that. And she never shied away from a challenge.
“Why don’t we find out? Race you there.” She winked at him, before taking off with a powerful swipe of her new tail. Diana had no illusions that she would beat him; if he was anything like his counterpart, his mastery over the water outstripped hers. But she loved the thrill of the competition.
Arthur watched amusedly as she took off like a shot, then comically counted to five with his fingers before launching himself through the water like a torpedo. Granted, it was fairly standard for Atlanteans back home, but it was something else entirely here. It didn't take him very long at all to catch up to Diana, but he peeled back and just decided to keep pace with her instead of hot-dogging and leaving her behind. Besides, where was the fun in that?
"Not even breaking a sweat?" he asked, offering a toothy grin at his own joke as he looked over his shoulder at Diana, who was, in all fairness, rocking an impressive speed for a first-timer.
“How would you even tell?” she shot back, chuckling as he caught up. Biting her lip, she still tried to add more speed, even knowing that her abilities just wouldn’t match his. Persistence didn’t die easily. “But trust me, I’m putting a little effort in. Some.”
Still, racing meant she couldn’t talk as easily, so she slowed slightly to show she conceded. “How are your people handling being so close to Vallo?” she asked, curious. “And so far from the waters they knew.” The thought reminded her of Themyscira, but that was an old pain, easily understood and set aside.
To his credit, Arthur pretended that he either didn't notice she'd conceded or that it was never a race to begin with. Still, he rolled to face her so that it almost looked like he was swimming upside down and kind of danced his head side to side before answering. "That's the rub. Not my people. These Atlanteans are native to this world. I'm the ambassador because I know a different version of Atlantis and am kinda the natural go-between. Took almost eighteen months to build up enough trust to get them to let outsiders visit."
“Truly?” Diana drew up a little, startled into slowing down more. “This world already had an Atlantis? That’s…” She let her voice trail off, wondering. “I’ve thought of the boundaries of the island holding the entirety of the world here, but perhaps that’s not the case. Not that I can determine it anyway,” she added, wryly. “Still, what do you think? There could be other lands out there very similar to our homes.”
"A couple of other islands have shown up and we've got people who can fly or have planes and helicopters." Arthur shrugged, still keeping pace with Diana. "If there were more islands out there, I figure they'd have picked them up by now. But new stuff? Seems it can happen any time." He chuckled and rotated back to a normal swimming orientation. "Who knows, maybe these guys showed up a long time ago and started somewhere else, too."
Humor aside, though, Arthur wasn't really sure how it all worked, even after all this time. Having things like Netflix and Amazon in Vallo… how? How did an island have all the supplies and merch of a global industry? Honestly, it was difficult to really wrap his brain about it - it worked and that was enough for him.
“It could be there, and hiding behind the barrier. But I think I would feel it. For good or ill, it seems I’m the only Amazon here.” Diana let that thought float away, enjoying the novelty of breathing underwater, of being able to swim like this. “I’m just used to patrolling the whole of the world, and now….it’s a collection of islands. And I’m vastly outnumbered by other powerful people.” She sounded not at all upset by that. “I’ve been wondering what we should be doing...we had the League. We had the responsibilities attached to that. Obviously, I can still help, but…” She shrugged, looking over at him as she moved some of her hair away from her face. “What do you think, Arthur?”
"I think it's okay to lean on others and find some joy in things you never had time for," answered Arthur, because it was something he'd weighed on his mind over the last two years of being in this place, wondering what his purpose was if he didn't have his initial responsibilities. Finding this world's Atlantis helped with some of that, but ultimately it still wasn't the same. Powerful people were showing up almost daily and the threats were pale in comparison.
"Like karaoke," he added, grinning through the current at Diana. "And wait until you try the seaweed coffee down here."
That brought a laugh, and Diana enjoyed the sound it made here, in the water. “Alright, seaweed coffee here we come,” she agreed. “And I like that idea, just finding joy in the things we never got to do.” Her eyes traveled over the underwater vista as they swam. Another fact occurred to her as well, here.
“I’m glad that you are the only of the League here, frankly.” Diana slanted him a knowing look. “The others are far too serious to relax. Can you imagine Bruce being willing to don a tail and swim to Atlantis?”
Arthur laughed in return at the absurdity of that idea. "If yours is anything like mine, he wouldn't. Why don a tail when he can spend a few billion on some complicated underwater submarine thing? The mental image of a MerBat sounds great, though." He finished his thought with a bit of a chuckle, just trying to picture that firmly in his mind. Maybe Vallo would make it happen at some point.
"But don't forget, you're here, too. So I'm not the only Leaguer-- and hey, good timing, there's the gates."
Diana slowed as they approached, but she couldn’t resist adding to his description of their mutual friend. “Oh, he’s certainly the same,” she agreed, ruefully. “Except he would already have purchased it some time ago, just in case of this exact scenario.” Men and their toys. Well, at least Bruce and his toys. She was enjoying Arthur’s much more ‘take it as you go’ approach. When was the last time she’d actually relaxed?
“Alright, Your Majesty,” she offered, with a small incline of her head, still amused. “Ready to show me around?”