11958/So What Did He Say

So What Did He Say
Date of Scene:	10 July 2022
Location:	Atlantic Ocean
Synopsis:	Team Aquaman gathers to share information and decide their next steps.
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Curry, Mera, Dinah Lance

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Arthur Curry has posed:
    A few days after the meet with Dinah and Mera, Arthur had sent word ahead to Mera that he had finished the investigation as he could in Kennebunkport. Though he was no Dark Knight Detective, Arthur's reputation had some small amount of sway the more one wandered toward New England and the people there in Maine treated him often as one of their own despite being half-Atlantean. He had talked to the police in the area, the hospital staff, and the newspaper that had reported things...
    And now it was time to share them with Mera.
    So it was that he was settled on the ocean's floor, seated on the foredeck of an old sunken fishing vessel that had cracked in two on the rocks. From afar it was almost picturesque with the way the grim man leaned forward, elbows resting on his thighs and his fingers interlaced. Thoughtful Poseidon in the ocean, contemplating the woes of the kingdom...

Mera has posed:
Funny Poseidon should be mentioned; Given the eldritch nature of what Arthur described Mera had used her position as a Princess of Xebel and an official part of Namor's diplomatic corps to search not just Atlantis's archives, but the reclusive Kingdom of Xebel's records. The findings were grim. Almost as grim as the brief encounter she had with Namor before being dismissed and sent on her way like a child.

The redheaded warrior princess looks faintly frustrated and a little peeved under her veneer of royal hauteur as she settles near the Aquaman with enough grace that she doesn't cause more than the faintest hint of water displacement. She nods to Arthur, and waits to let him either have the first word or take them somewhere else.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    At first hint of Mera's approach, Arthur lifts a hand in greeting. His hair drifts from side to side with the gentle caress of the tides even as his golden eyes meet hers. It's a distant gaze, distracted, the gaze that is seen whenever he is 'beyond' himself and in touch with the world around him. His response is a touch slower, as if not truly seeing her...
    And then the gold fades to blue as he lifts his chin.
    "Mera," The word reverberates between them, half-thought half-sound. Then he pushes up from the boat, rising with a short rush, then drifting again back toward the coast. "Dinah's returned. Let's see what she has."
    That said he then rolls over and turns before the rush of water and surge of speed sends him up along the ocean floor as it curves steadily higher until eventually he plants one foot and the other...
    Then from Dinah's perspective he is rising out of the water, rivulets sluicing over his chest as he pushes his hair back with both hands and leaves it hanging wild behind him.

Mera has posed:
"Good, I don't want to have to repeat what I found." Mera responds when Arthur suggests a change of scenery. Unspoken is that she's not entirely sure she should be repeating what she found out at all, much less to Arthur and Dinah who are outsiders. Rolling her eyes at the mess Arthur leaves behind, Mera takes a moment to wrap herself in a hydrokinetic surge of energy to enhance her speed as she keeps up with the stronger, divinely powered half-breed.

Her surfacing isn't nearly as dramatic as Arthur's, although the azure glow in her eyes and the swirling of water as she dries herself is certainly impressive. Her expression remains grim, even as she runs a hand over her hair and leeches the water out of it to harmlessly swirl down back into the ocean.

The Princess of Xebel is dressed for war, in her gold and green Tidebreaker armor with a trident slung across her back. She seems to be walking on the water like the Nazarene Himself, although her eyes fade from the glowing azure to the usual deep blue-green of her oceanic gaze.

Dinah Lance has posed:
To a land walker, it was all impressive as hell. Mera rising up onto the water then moving to othe shore. Arthur rising up with the water flowing off him.

It was enough to make someone feel inadequate in some ways.

Thankfully, Dinah had a lot of self confidence to make up for it. Though she was dressed casually today. No costume, though the blonde wig was in place covering her normally black hair. She was wearing a bikini top and a pair of denim cutoff shorts, flip flops on her feet. It was better beachwear than leather and fishnets!

"Good to see you both. I hope you're well, Mera?" Since she was pretty sure Arthur was well.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    At the sight of her Arthur's lip twists up a little even as he steps forward leaving divots in the sand under his bootsteps and a trail of water behind him. No casual affectation of powers to clear himself of water, instead he just shakes his head a little like some great Golden Labrador Retriever as he dries off the old fashioned way. Though that might inconvenience someone near like oh say, Mera.
    But then he's closing the distance and giving the Canary a one-armed hug before turning to include Mera in their small council. Around them the beach is calm and white and beautiful in the morning with the sun hanging low over the horizon. Distantly are a few houses where people spend their Summers, but other than that it's as if society hadn't touched this strip of land.
    "Hey. Thanks for comin'." That said toward Mera, "So I did some digging, reckon you both did as well. First off anyone hit a jackpot? Cuz I'll tell you up front, I just ran into hassle after hassle."

Mera has posed:
The Tidebreaker lets out a long-suffering sigh at Arthur shaking himself dry without a care for his surroundings, and catches the water meant to inconvenience her with a flick of her wrist and a flash of cerulean energy in her eyes. "I've been better." Mera replies to Dinah frankly, shaking her head before brushing now-dry locks of fiery red out of her face. She doesn't look at Arthur. "The Sub-Mariner was no help; Frankly, he shut me down the moment he heard about Arthur's involvement and came the closest to a temper tantrum he's done in my presence." The regal redhead draws herself up, a touch arrogantly, "Although spies tell me he has them often with people of lesser rank. Even the military..."

She shakes her head again, as if she can't quite grasp the idea of someone being petty with the people in charge of his safety. She finally then glances at Arthur, "Not much concrete. I've a few theories, based on legends and Royal secrets, but nothing solid."

Dinah Lance has posed:
As Arthur shake his hair out in Mera's direction, Dinah has to stifle a laugh. Especially when she sees that the Tidebreaker seems none too amused. She does nod as she listens to Mera's response then frowns a little at the mention of Namor having a tantrum. "Sounds like a really great guy," she mutters, the sarcasm thick.

Despite the fact he's all wet, Dinah does return the brief one-armed hug. Leaving the side of her body now wet. Maybe the leather would've been better!

"I didn't find out much," she says apologetically. "Missing persons cases haven't really increased much in coastal areas. But I did find a couple where three or more people went missing at once. No details really, just the fact they were missing and law enforcement doesn't have many leads." She glanced between the two. "I did contact the League, updated them with a report. No word from them on anything similar in their experience."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Ah man," What is said about Namor has Arthur grimacing and resting a hand on his brow, his middle finger rubbing between his eyes as if he felt the onset off an oncoming migraine that threatened to harsh his groove. He takes a deep breath as his eyes close as he makes peace with what's said, then just shakes his head and presses on.
    "Alright, so no help from that angle." He gives a nod to Mera and for once there's no edge to it, just an acceptance of a job well done. "Theories though can be good. Royal secrets, great."
    His attention slips back toward Dinah as she speaks and his head nods at times as she relays various points of information. When she mentions the other groups of people missing he grimaces and takes a deep breath, then looks at Mera and Dinah together.
    "Alright, I hit up the people nearest the disappearance here, and I didn't get far beyond initial contact." He frowns, "Talked to the investigating officer, the journalist who reported on it, even one of the families. They had gotten dead ends supposedly. But main thing..."
    He pauses to look back and forth between the two women, "They had like... no sense of urgency. It's like they're alright not being able to find out more. Like everyone is all, 'oh yeah, those guys? they disappeared. ho hum.'"
    Arthur shakes his head again, "So maybe we should follow up on those other disappearances. Since, I mean, if my son or daughter went missing I wouldn't give up after a few weeks. Right?"
    Then to Mera, "Alright lady, lay it on me." The secrets of course.

Mera has posed:
"Namor has his uses." Mera admits grudgingly to Dinah, "And his heart is in the right place, even if I disagree with quite a bit of his beliefs regarding the Surface and Arthur." She lets out an inelegant sound close to a snort. "He doesn't trust me, but he can't move against me the way he has other rivals or protestors because I'm a Royal."

She grimaces at Arthur when he says his bit, and squares her shoulders. "I'm going to go off the assumption that neither of you have experience with Xebel and Atlantean theology." She glances out over the waves. "Legend among my people in Xebel is that we were the first to descend to the ocean, before the rest of Atlantis. When Zeus of the Olympians overthrew his father, Poseidon became the Lord of the Sea. But before him was another, older God." She worries her lip a little, and adds, "Poseidon made a pact with my people after Oceanus was stripped of his power to guard not just him but other horrors. After the fall of Atlantis, we sacrificed the bulk of our magic to keeping the prisons secure." She spreads her hands, "The paths are many, and my people guard them zealously, but Xebel isn't what it was. My thrice-damned sister and former fiance both saw to that."

She then eyes Arthur, a touch of grim amusement. "My current theory is you stumbled across an abandoned pathway to the prison of one of these eldritch horrors. Probably not C'thulu or Oceanus, but maybe some lesser evil."

Dinah Lance has posed:
"And this is why you shouldn't be wandering around unsupervised," Dinah mutters though there is no venom to her tone. It's more a joking comment to try to deal with the horror now running through her brain.

Something from before Olympians. And the name C'thulu? That wasn't good. She'd thought that was just something from a book but, like always seemed to happen, if it was something horrible in literature it actually came from reality.

She rubs at the back of her neck a little, trying to grasp this and really hoping that Mera was wrong.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "If what I found was supposed to be a prison..." Arthur says as he looks sidelong toward Dinah before returning his gaze back to Mera, "Then it was doing a pretty shitty job of it." He takes a deep breath, grimaces, then murmurs. "But that's good to know the possibilities."
    Which has him giving Mera an upnod of appreciation, what passes from Arthur as a replacement for him saying 'good work.'
    Though when Dinah joins in on the tag-team with Mera Arthur gives her a look with one quirked eyebrow and murmurs, "Et tu Canary? Et tu?" He smirks but then his eyes roll a little as he shoulders that possible blame since honestly... he wouldn't put it past himself to be responsible for this madness. Or maybe he takes that responsibility for all of the oceans seriously.
    "Alright, so here's my plan. I'm gonna try and check on those other disappearances. Then Mera..." A look is given as he tilts his head just so, "This is gonna be tough but... you think you can get the Explorer Corps away from Namor? Not officially, but get them tasked to working the North Atlantic? More eyes, more feelers out there."
    Then toward Dinah, "And Canary, Kord was working on some submersible tech, you mind ringing him up?"

Mera has posed:
"My sister is a shit queen, and my ex a shit king." Mera retorts to Arthur with another inelegant snort, "Remember when Xebel was overrun a couple years ago, and they did nothing? She was never trained in statesmanship and ruling the way I was, and I doubt she sat still long enough for them to tell her the secrets I was raised knowing." Pause. "Provided it didn't go in one ear and out the other."

She rolls her shoulders, though, and says, "Like I said, I don't think it was the worst case scenario. And I should be able to do you one better, and get the Corps assigned officially." She smiles, a touch self-satisfied, "Namor told me to do whatever I wanted as long as I didn't say your name again for at least a week. Besides... the officers and most of the grunts in the Corps tend to be sympathetic to the loyalist faction that supports you, and would be happy to do it just out of pique with Namor and his isolationism."

Dinah Lance has posed:
She has to grin at the Caesar impression. After all, Dinah hadn't been seriously. She didn't truly think it was his fault in all this. If it was a prison, someone dropped the ball on guarding a pathway to it. And that was apparently on Xebel. Not that she had any right to criticize a place she had no knowledge of before a couple of weeks past.

She glanced over at Mera as the request was made, not quite sure what the Explorer Corps were but wondering how much of an ask this is. Then when she heard the response, she winced visibly because that was a lot of shit for someone to be dealing with.

At mention of Ted, Dinah nods and looks back to Arthur. "I can reach out to him. See what he might have available. Any goodies that might be involved. I may owe him a favor later in exchange but we usually have a good working relationship." She bit the inside of her cheek lightly, hoping that the conversation went well and didn't become far more complicated than it should.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Another deep breath is taken by Arthur, then it's let free with a rumbling chuckle. "Alright, that's good news then. I don't care how you do it, so long as we get... something going there, since I can't get any reads from the ocean animals. It's like we're chasing a ghost."
    Then back to Dinah, "Also Dr. Fate was running around a while back, maybe see if anyone has an angle on him. If anyone knows his Eldritch Horrors it's that guy and if this is that then... yeah, would like some expert consulting."
    That said he looks between them. "Alright, we got this? Bring it in people." Even as a wry half-grin settles on Arthur's lips, "Team Aquaman on three." And there he is doing it /again/ as he puts his fist out in between them.
    "One."
    "Two."
    "Three."
    "Team Aquaman! Break."

Mera has posed:
"No, thank you." Mera tells Arthur blandly when he tries to bring everyone in for the 'Team Aquaman' cheer. And she doesn't put her hand in, but just watches with her arms crossed as he does his bizarre surface world ritual.

"I'll do what I can, and hopefully we can at least get some eye witnesses or enough notice to get out to the next attack before it happens." Mera agree with Arthur, frowning, "Politics shouldn't get in the way of us saving lives."

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Doctor Fate isn't one I know well but I'll certainly reach out to him. Or to someone else who can reach out to him. Either way, I'll poke a bit and hopefully he'll have some ideas or suggestions."

Then when Arthur puts his hand in, Dinah has to laugh again. Especially as Mera stands her ground, refusing to give in. But Dinah finds it humorous still, so she puts her hand in above his. And she waits for him to finish the count and adds her loud, "Team Aquaman!" Before a fit of giggles ruins all of it.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "You are no fun," Arthur points at Mera while biting his lower lip. Then he points toward the North as he adds, "Alright you take that half of the ocean I'll take this one." He points to the South, since that's where the other missing persons' cases are located.
    He gives a half-smile sidelong to Dinah then nods to them both. "Stay in touch, and I'll try and get to you anything I find." Then he pauses as he rests his hands on his hips, looking between them.
    Then his tone shifts, steady, sombre as he murmurs. "And thanks for your help, guys." Then he's turning to head off. And a few moments later there's the splash as he dives into the water.