Confusion and Questions

August 10, 2014:

In the medbay of Deep Marine Discovery labs, Rowan and Mera have a short question and answer period.

Deep Marine Discovery Medbay

A small, slightly cramped medical facility that is none the less state of the art for undersea medicine.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

The walk to medical isn't all that long, but the surfacce dwellers are, understandably, most interested in taking care of their own injured, including the one who should have died. So while Rowan is given a bed, it may be a bit before anyone sees to him. Since, you know, he's not in any apparent danger of immediate death or dismemberment. This, however, affords the waterfolk a chance to talk. By the looks of things, though, Rowan isn't going to be super talkative. Mostly he just looks very, very, very confused.

*

Mera has been staying within eyeshot of Rowan, for both his sake and the sake of the surface dwellers. Arthur asked her to make sure no violence ensued, and she will do so. Violently if need be.

Now that they have a few moments undisturbed, though, Mera takes a few steps closer to Rowan to regard him for a moment or eight. "Your armor is almost familiar and yet you are not. What can you tell me about the events just before you landed on the surface dwellers' structure?"

*

Those are the events that are most clear to him, though even they're a blur. Rowan sways a bit unsteadily as he seats himself on the bed. "My team and I responded to reports of the Ov… Over…" He frowns. "Our enemy building a large underwater structure of some kind. Atlantean intel pegged it as some kind of a portal machine. We struck in concert with a coordinated plan… but they structure was guarded."

Rowan frowns again, thinking. "There was a fight… a long one. The portal activated before we could stop it. I fought my way to the machinery and smashed it and…" Another long pause.

"It's all fragmented after that. I remember pain… breaking the surface and seeing one of the enemy's flying fortresses. Attacked it… lost I think and then I fell…"

He looks up and then casts a glance a few beds over. "Next thing I remember is seeing Aspen, your majesty."

*

Mera nods slowly. "You say you saw and attacked an 'enemy flying fortress' … after smashing the portal device." She is quiet for a moment as she telepathically relays this information to Arthur verbatim. He'll likely know what that means and the implications thereof. "Can you remember farther back? Your city of origin, for example?"

*

Rowan thinks for a long time, arms folded, looking down. It seems, at length like he's not going to answer when he finally looks up and shakes his head with a frustrated sigh. "No Your Majesty… I… I can't recall…" His jaw sets. How could he not remember something like the name of his home? Or the names of his family? Everything seems so fragmented. So… broken.

*

Mera simply nods again. "That may take more time to recover than your body. Do not try to force yourself to remember. Now, try to rest." She doesn't suggest he lay back on this weird slab of … sponge-like material as that just seems unsavory, but it's at least less unappealing than the stone-like floor.

*

He nods, but really seems unable to rest. Too much going on in his mind right now. He glances again behind him, toward where Aspen was taken and then back to Mera. "Your Majesty… what is going on? Why are there surface worlders down here? And why is the foremost champion of the Blue among them?" And why did she act so strangely when he said she was Blue? It's all… a little much for Rowan. He sighs, and it's the sigh of a man laying down something heavy. The blue tint in his skin seems to waft upward like smoke, quickly dissipating and leaving him appearing utterly human in moments.

*

Mera tilts her head slightly, her eyebrows drawing together for a moment. "The surface dwellers are here researching, and have permission from Arthur to do so." Again the comment about the Blue. She's not sure how to answer that, so she doesn't. She will, however, have some questions for the woman that responded to the name Aspen.

*

Okay… that's odd, but he does - ever so vaguely - recall that they have surfacer allies. "Research… I see, your Majesty." One does not convey doubtful tones to Arthur's frightening wife. "May I ask what happened to his Majesties Injuries? And… how the war goes? I suppose I'll need to report back soon. The Councilors will be expecting to hear the results of my mission, even if I must tell them I do not remember…" Hopefully there were survivors.

*

Mera openly frowns at that. "Why would you think that Arthur had been injured?" Again, a telepathic message is sent out, this one possibly a bit harshly. The Atlantean equivalent of 'WHAT have you been doing without telling me, husband?'. "And what war are you referring to? Atlantis has not been involved in open conflict since before Arthur took the throne."

*

"I…" Rowan seems to tense a little. None of this makes sense and he's starting to suspect some manner of ruse or trap. A bad one but… these things are known to happen. "The King, your Majesty… he's been wounded in several assassination attempts. He's… been badly scarred for years." He's actually missing half his face, more or less. "And… the war. The war against the surfacers? The… Psionic Overlords?" There! He remembered. Now… who is that again?

"It's been going on since before you ascended, your Majesty…"

*

Mera looks Rowan up and down again, then speaks slowly. "I think you need to speak of this with my husband. He understands the surface dwellers better than I do." By far, but she's admitted enough to this relative stranger. "And we have not been at war at all, that I have seen."

*

Rowan's eyes narrow a bit. This… cannot be Mera. Can it? The Mera he remebers was a frightening, dedicated, intense champion of her people. Where is he and who are these people?

"Not at all… are you certain of that, your Majesty?"

*

Mera's expression hardens at that. "Are you questioning my word?"

*

Okay… maybe that's a bit more like the Mera he remembers. Her sudden fierceness seems to avert an incipient fight. Of course, he doesn't have his weapons on him at the moment, so that probably helps.

"I… no… I don't think so, your Majesty…"

*

Mera nods once. "I thought not." Now she gives the man a stern look again. "Enough questions. Rest."

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