YJA/DCU fic: The Sleeping Prince
Title: The Sleeping Prince
Fandom: Young Justice cartoon (DCU)
Pairing/Characters: Kaldur'ahm/Kon-El, M'gann, Dick, Wally
Rating: general
Spoilers: only mildly
Summary: Written for the yj_anon_meme prompt for a fairy tale AU of the opening episodes. Kaldur'ahm sets out onto dry land to prove himself in a quest and ends up rescuing a handsome prince from an evil wizard. Unless, of course, things aren't quite as they appear. 7,185 words.
Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Atlantis, there was a young boy named Kaldur'ahm. He was a page in the court of the king, Arthur Curry. Kaldur's greatest dream in life was to be a knight of the kingdom and protect and aid all the citizens, but being a poor orphan who was raised in a stable, he was not eligible to be a knight unless he first proved himself by venturing out into the world above the water and performing great deeds there that would impress the king and the other knights enough to show them his worth.
So Kaldur bade farewell to the stable that had been his home and the war-trained sharks and whales and squid that were his charges and ventured up into the air and the dry land.
Once on land he wandered for a while, learning how to breathe, and how to walk, and how to control the small bits of water that he found and how his abilities were different now that he was not constantly surrounded by the ocean.
Then he went inland and found a road and began to walk along it. Suddenly ahead of him he heard a scream. Racing toward it he discovered a carriage being set upon by bandits. Inside the carriage was a pretty young girl with dark hair.
Kaldur called the water toward him from the puddles left in the road by the last rain and blasted two of the bandits off their horses. Then a red blur sped past him and two of the other bandits fell off their horses as well. The fifth and final miscreant grabbed the girl and put a knife to her throat.
The girl flipped up and over his head and, disarming him swiftly, knocked him out with the hilt of his own knife.
"I could have taken them all," she said, glaring at Kaldur and the red blur, which had settled beside him into the form of a boy. She ran her hands through her hair and then pulled off her dress, revealing the uniform of the kingdom of Gotham underneath it, and a slim, boyish body. "But thank you for your service."
"The pleasure is all mine, my lady." The redhead swooped in a courtly bow. "I am Prince Wally of the Speed Kingdom, nephew to King Barry."
A small laugh was the first response. "And I am Prince Dick of Gotham, King Bruce's ward."
Prince Wally's jaw dropped in shock and Kaldur repressed a smile as the two of them turned to look at him. He felt a little shy introducing himself in such illustrious company. "I am Kaldur'ahm, future knight of Atlantis. I have come on land to have adventures and win my knighthood."
"How fascinating," said Prince Dick, "I have never met an Atlantean before."
"How exciting!" exclaimed Prince Wally. "I'm off to have adventures as well. I'm looking for a princess locked in a tower, or held by a dragon, or being fattened for dinner by a witch, or... well, something."
"My mission was to capture these brigands," Prince Dick added, "and now I must turn them over to the nearest guards so that they can be jailed for their crimes."
"But why were you dressed as a girl?" Prince Wally asked.
"To hide my identity, obviously, so that they would attack me," Prince Dick replied.
"Oh," Prince Wally said, and Kaldur had to silently admit that it did not seem so obvious to him either. "Well, maybe you two want to join me in adventuring? You might be a little slow but you both seem good in a fight, and just so long as you promise to let me have first chance with any grateful princesses or damsels in distress, we could make a great team!"
Kaldur was perfectly happy to have guides in this strange dry world, and Prince Dick nodded after a moment's hesitation.
And so it was that the three of them took the bandits to the guards in the nearest town and then set out together on a quest for adventure, with Kaldur riding a bandit's horse and being rather uncomfortable in the attempt.
They spent a day and a half climbing higher into the mountains, with Prince Wally frequently running off to scout ahead and to the sides, and Prince Dick teaching Kaldur about the plants and animals they saw and asking him endless questions about life in Atlantis.
Then Prince Wally appeared breathlessly before them. "My companions, there is a strange tower up ahead! It's really tall and it doesn't have any doors and there's only one window at the very top and it's built of a rock that glows green! If there isn't an enchanted princess locked inside, then I'll eat my hat!" Kaldur had so far never seen Prince Wally wearing a hat, so he wasn't sure what kind of threat that was. Prince Wally pointed excitedly in a vague direction and then disappeared again. Prince Dick spurred his horse and rode off after him, with Kaldur following as best he could. Horses were much harder to command than the sea creatures he was used to.
He followed Prince Dick for a few more hours, Prince Wally appearing and disappearing randomly and complaining loudly about how they were slowing him down.
"I'm being really chivalrous and not going inside until you two get there, so hurry up hurry up hurry up!"
Finally they crested another hill and Kaldur saw the tower in the valley below them. Prince Wally was zipping about in a red blur, and as Kaldur and Prince Dick approached, the blur ran up the side of the tower and into the window at the top.
"Nice of him to wait for us," Prince Dick commented. Kaldur glanced at the stream that flowed through the valley and was about to offer his aid to Prince Dick when the other boy began climbing up the wall of the tower, finding handholds and toeholds somehow in the close-packed stones.
Kaldur nodded and pulled the water of the stream into a jet that lifted him up to the window, stepping inside just ahead of Prince Dick.
The little room at the top of the tower was lit with a sickly green glow from the stone walls, and filled with tables covered in odd alchemical and magical instruments. Kaldur didn't know much about the subject but they looked to him like evil instruments.
Prince Wally was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the large tubular glass coffin resting against the far wall.
"Darn it," he muttered. "I'm really hungry but I hate the taste of hat."
Inside the glass was a handsome young man dressed all in white who appeared to be asleep.
"Well, we ought to wake him up anyway," Prince Dick said. "He's clearly been captured by an evil wizard."
Prince Wally began to run around the room, grabbing every vial and beaker and splashing their contents on the glass, pushing every lever of every instrument.
"Wally!" Prince Dick shouted, running after him and attempting to move the levers back to their original positions, and grab Prince Wally, who was too fast for him to catch.
Kaldur moved forward toward the glass, gazing at the youth inside. His features were clear and regal, his skin pale and his hair black. Kaldur put a hand against the glass, avoiding the splashes of strange liquids, and the glass started to move. Kaldur jerked slightly back as the door slid off the coffin, revealing the youth clearer, and yet the youth remained asleep.
Driven by vague memories of stories he had heard, and by something stirring low and strange inside him, Kaldur leaned forward and pressed his lips to the youth's. When he leaned back again the youth shifted restlessly, dark blue eyes blinking and opening right before Kaldur's face.
"Oh!" he said in a deep voice, staring wonderingly at Kaldur, his gaze roaming over Kaldur's face and form. "Did you come for me?"
"That's a classic!" Kaldur heard Prince Wally exclaim behind him. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"I came to do great deeds and to help people," Kaldur murmured. "Do you need to be rescued?"
"Yes," came the soft answer, the youth gazing up at Kaldur through his lashes, his breath against Kaldur's lips making him realize how close he still was. Kaldur straightened, drawing away from the other and the glass case. The blue eyes before him seemed to flash with what Kaldur thought might be regret, and the youth glanced quickly past him at the two princes. "I am Prince Kon-El, only son of King Kal-El of Krypton, and I have been captured by the evil Wizard Luthor."
"I thought so," Prince Dick whispered behind Kaldur, and, "Well, you do have great observational skills," Prince Wally whispered in reply.
That was when Kaldur noticed the ferocious bubbling in the puddle of liquid at his feet, that had dripped down and combined all the things Prince Wally had thrown at the glass. "Get away," he shouted, grabbing at Prince Kon-El's arm and pulling him out of the glass case. From the corner of his eye he saw Prince Wally pick up Prince Dick and speed out the window. Kaldur attempted to place himself between Prince Kon-El and the puddle as he tried to control the puddle, but he could not command whatever contents it was made of. Just as the puddle exploded, Prince Kon-El wrapped his arm around Kaldur's waist and flung the both of them out the window.
The look of triumph on Prince Kon-El's face changed suddenly to a stricken expression of loss as the two of them dropped toward the ground. They landed with a thump, Kaldur on top of the prince, and the prince seemed in so much pain that Kaldur rolled off him instantly and ran his hands along his sides, checking for anything broken.
"But I can remember..." the prince whispered, and Kaldur found no injuries on him. "I must be weak from my imprisonment, that's it..."
Then his eyes widened and he grabbed at Kaldur again, rolling atop him as there was a huge bang and pieces of stone from the tower rained down upon them, bouncing off Prince Kon-El's back without leaving a mark. Even when it was all over the prince still just sat above Kaldur, staring down at his own hands and turning them slowly back and forth.
"I... I think I've grown. I wasn't this big before... How many years have I been sleeping in that glass?"
"I cannot say, my prince," Kaldur answered.
A smile slowly pushed its way through the gloomy confusion on the prince's face. "I would thank you for rescuing me," he said shyly, "but I do not know who you are to address my thanks."
"I am Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis. And I owe you my life as well, it seems, for which I am grateful."
"The mutual exchange of salvation creates an eternal bond, Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis," Prince Kon-El murmured, his hand dropping to stroke just below the line of Kaldur's gills, where the skin was very sensitive. The prince's weight was still full upon him and the fact that he didn't mind either of these things at all was what caused Kaldur to shiver and squirm. "All that I have is yours. For as long as I live you have only to ask and I will give you anything." His eyes seemed huge as he stared down at Kaldur.
"My prince..." Kaldur managed to choke out.
"That was an amazing explosion!" Prince Wally yelled, running up to them.
"Are you injured?" Prince Dick asked.
"Oh!" Prince Kon-El exclaimed, standing up swiftly. "I have been remiss. You are not injured, are you?"
"No, I am fine. Is everyone else safe?" Kaldur stood and brushed himself off, but the feel of the prince staring at him still remained.
"Oh, yes," Prince Dick answered. He held out a hand and Prince Kon-El clasped and shook it briefly. "I am Prince Dick of Gotham and this is Prince Wally of Speed. Together with Kaldur we have been looking for adventure, so you have kindly provided us with some of what we sought. I would invite you to join us on our quest, but I would also understand if you wish to hurry home to your father and relieve his mind of any worries for you. I..." He hesitated for a moment. "I must confess that I had not known King Kal-El and Queen Lois had a son."
"Queen Lois? I... She is not my mother. I do not think I know her." Both Prince Kon-El and Prince Dick frowned slightly.
"She has been Queen of Krypton my whole life," Prince Dick replied. "How long ago were you captured? And who is your mother, then?"
"I do not know how many years I have been asleep. I begin to fear it is far longer than I would have suspected. I believe I grew up in that glass. As for my mother..." He frowned again. "I... I cannot remember her. I cannot picture her face or call up her name." There was great sadness in his expression and voice. Kaldur ached for him. "Everything in my mind is hazy and I am unable to fly. My imprisonment has clearly affected me. Damn that evil Wizard Luthor." Prince Kon-El's hands clenched into fists.
"It would be wise," Kaldur suggested, "to remove ourselves from this vicinity before the wizard returns and discovers us. We can reunite you with your father and then plan revenge on the evil Luthor." Prince Kon-El shot Kaldur a dazzling smile.
"Yes, indeed," Prince Wally agreed, "we really shouldn't hang around like sticks in the mud. He's not going to like losing his tower and his captive prince. Not gonna like that at all."
There were only the two horses, so Kaldur offered his to Prince Kon-El. It was the respectful thing to do, and he would not especially miss riding the beast. But when Prince Kon-El tried to mount, the horse shied away from him, and he appeared as uncertain as Kaldur had been the first time, or even more so.
"I thought I had ridden before," the prince said, "but I... I don't remember what to do..." He gazed longingly up at the sky for a moment, stretching on his toes, then dropped back down with a heavy sigh. Kaldur could imagine that flying was closer to swimming, and he knew exactly how frustrating it was to be locked on the ground and left with only heavy walking.
He sighed himself and mounted the horse, reaching his hand down to help Prince Kon-El clumsily up behind him. It took a moment for them to adjust themselves to fit, but then they moved off, Kaldur tensely aware of the prince's strong grip around his waist and warm presence against his back.
Prince Wally ran ahead again, but Prince Dick rode beside them, pattering Prince Kon-El with questions about his life and his kingdom, and as Prince Kon-El kept answering more and more of them with, "I don't remember," and sounding more and more lost and bewildered, Prince Dick kept assuring him that his memories would come back, and that the questions would help that to happen. Kaldur wasn't sure he agreed about the questions but he said nothing, not wanting to contradict Prince Dick.
Prince Wally had offered to take a message to the court of Krypton, but Prince Kon-El had asked him not to, preferring to appear before his father in person. According to Prince Dick's calculations Krypton was a few days more ride away on the other side of the mountains. So it was that they continued up into higher altitudes and stopped to camp as the sun was setting. Kaldur had felt awkward the night before letting princes do work when such was more his place, but he had been forced to admit that he knew nothing of this custom of making food with fire that the others had insisted on. So this night as well Prince Dick was the one who did the "cooking" for them, using ingredients acquired by Prince Wally from a town still miles away. At least Kaldur could help Prince Wally care for the horses and learn more about them. The plants in the watery food mix that Prince Dick made tasted strange. Kaldur had tried some of the meat that the princes had eaten the other day, since it was not from sea creatures and had never spoken to any of his fellow citizens, but it had still made him feel sick and he ate no more of it now.
Afterward they divided up the small number of blankets as equally as they could and arranged themselves on the hard ground around the fire. Kaldur was staring up at the stars when Prince Kon-El shifted closer to him, speaking quietly, for Kaldur's ears alone.
"You have learned all that I know of my life, though it is but a piddling sum. Yet I find myself still curious about your life."
"There is not much to learn, my prince," Kaldur replied.
"Call me Kon, Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis, for I am not really your prince. Though I would not mind if I were..." he added even more softly, and Kaldur felt warm. The glowing coals above their heads cast flickering reddish shadows over Prince Kon-El's handsome face.
The princes did not need to use titles and just called each other by their names, but it made Kaldur flush to think of taking such a liberty, even requested.
"Are all the people of Atlantis built like you?" Prince Kon-El continued.
"No. Some look more like humans, without even any webbing, and some look less, with fish tails instead of legs."
The prince shifted even closer to Kaldur. "We are not all the same here on land, even. The nobles of my kingdom are blessed with many powers others do not have, and in Wally's royal line runs the gift of speed."
He sounded pensive, though, speaking of his powers, and Kaldur replied without thinking about it. "You could come swimming. Under the ocean it is not like here, you do not have to move only in these two dimensions along the bottom, but you can go up and down and play around however you like."
That earned him another shy, glittering smile. "I would like that." There was a pause, and then Prince Kon-El continued. "But you have not yet told me of your life."
"It is a short tale," Kaldur said, flushing again. "I do not know who my parents are. I was abandoned as a child and raised by the stablemaster in the king's household, caring for the steeds of the knights. Not like these horses, they are giant squid, and fierce sharks, and mighty whales. They listen when you talk to them. But I wish to be a knight myself, and so I have come up here on the land to prove my worth through my deeds."
"You have already proved your worth utterly to me," Prince Kon-El breathed. "I told you I would give you anything you wanted, and when we reach my father's court, I will have him knight you there." He cast his eyes down suddenly. "That is, if it pleases you."
"It would please me greatly, my prince," Kaldur spoke through the tightness in his chest. "Though I... I do not think I could leave the ocean forever. Already I miss the song of the currents in my ears and against my skin."
"No." The prince looked very sad. "I have been torn away from my home, and I... It would be cruel to ask that of you, to do that to you." He gathered himself together, smoothing his expression. "I think I have never seen the ocean."
"I shall show it to you whenever you like, my prince."
"Kon." His tone was teasing now. "Or I shall call you Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis every time I speak to you."
"Then, I shall show it to you, Kon," Kaldur managed to say.
That caused a dazzling grin. "I would like that very much indeed." He shifted then as if uncomfortable, stretching his hand out a short way. "Kaldur, may I... It is cold, and I thought that if we shared blankets, it would be warmer."
It was indeed cold, and though his heart was beating almost enough to break out of his chest, Kaldur lifted the edge of his blanket and the prince - Kon - crawled in beside him, settling his own over both of them. He lay down next to Kaldur, not touching, but close enough that Kaldur could feel the heat from his body. Neither of them spoke again after that. It was warmer and more comfortable this way and soon Kaldur drifted off to sleep.
The next morning before they moved on Kaldur asked Prince Dick to stop interrogating Prince Kon-El, and though he gave Kaldur a curious look, Prince Dick did as requested. Instead as they rode Kaldur told them both more about the lives of undersea creatures, and the many things that were unlike land animals fascinated his listeners. Even Prince Wally ran around them in circles more often in order to hear.
As they were climbing higher up a mountain pass, the horses turned skittish and even harder to control, attempting to turn and flee back down the slope. Prince Dick pointed up ahead to the sky, shouting, as an enormous bird came floating into view past the ridge ahead. The bird caught sight of them and swooped in their direction. Kaldur tried his hardest to keep the horse under control as he headed for cover under the trees, heading back down the slope away from the bird, following Prince Dick, who had a better grasp on his horse.
Then Prince Wally appeared before them again, waving his arms at them to stop, and around the corner charged a huge, lumbering grey beast covered in horns, with smaller ones with glowing eyes riding atop it. The horse bucked under Kaldur, and Prince Kon-El gripped him tight as the two of them tried not to fall off. The horse was rolling its eyes and frothing and Kaldur wished more than ever that he was able to reach its mind and talk to it, but he still couldn't.
The small creatures' eyes all sparked a brighter red and they leaped off the huge beast, swarming directly toward... toward Prince Kon-El, Kaldur realized, as the first of them began to climb up the horse's rear legs and the horse bucked even more frantically. Prince Kon-El released Kaldur and leapt from the horse's back and Kaldur followed suit. The horse pitched frantically away down the slope, along with Prince Dick's, and the four boys were now standing on the ground facing the strange creatures.
Prince Dick was throwing daggers and skewering the small creatures, and Prince Wally was racing around knocking more of them away and retrieving Prince Dick's daggers for him. Prince Kon-El was busy kicking and tossing away the creatures as they kept targeting him and attempting to climb up him. Kaldur faced down the enormous beast that was pawing at the ground and preparing to charge them. There was hardly any water nearby, but he gathered what little he could out of the soil and blasted the beast in the face with it. The beast roared and charged directly at him, and Kaldur leapt up and onto its back, balancing himself precariously as he boxed it on the ears. None of these creatures would listen to him, either.
The beast was now running at Prince Kon-El, shaking itself to try to dislodge Kaldur. Prince Kon-El looked up and then leapt just before the beast reached him to join Kaldur on its back, knocking it a huge blow in the eye as he passed.
The beast roared again and turned to race down the slope, all the smaller creatures following after it.
"No!" Kaldur shouted. "You're what they want, get off! Leave this one to me!"
Prince Kon-El shot him one desperate look and then jumped free of the beast. Kaldur could see Prince Wally harrying it as well now, and Prince Dick racing after them. The small creatures all swarmed around Prince Kon-El again as he rolled on the ground, and he flung a few of them away before Prince Dick caught up and joined him in attacking them.
There was a high shriek from the sky and the enormous bird wheeled back into sight. Kaldur almost fell off the beast as it screeched to a halt, looking up at the sky.
He could hear laughter in his mind, and a clear warning, and Kaldur leapt off the beast just as the enormous bird stooped down upon it and lifted it into the air. The beast screamed and then the bird dropped it down onto the rocks below with a crack, and it lay still and silent.
The bird shrieked again in a way that pulsed through Kaldur's mind, and all the small creatures threw back their heads and wailed, their eyes dimming. Kaldur guessed they were getting the brunt of the vibrations that he was only partially sensing, and the other three boys shivered.
The creatures all turned tail and fled, disappearing immediately into the forest.
Right before his eyes the enormous bird shimmered and shifted and changed into a pretty young girl with brilliant red hair and rich green skin, hovering in the air.
"Finally!" Prince Wally exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "A damsel!"
She glared at him, then swooped down to the fallen beast and picked it up, an incongruous sight this time, and tossed it over the cliff to fall even further away. Then she flew over to hover in front of them again.
"Why are you being chased by creatures belonging to the evil Wizard Luthor?" she asked in a clear, ringing voice.
Prince Kon-El stepped forward. "I have but lately been released from captivity in the evil wizard's tower, and it would appear that he wants me returned." His eyes were full of a blank longing as he stared at the girl floating in the air in front of him. "I am Prince Kon-El of Krypton and the Wizard Luthor has long had an enmity with my father King Kal-El." At the name the girl frowned thoughtfully, and her gaze examined Prince Kon-El closely for a moment, her eyes narrowed and her head cocked to one side. Kaldur could feel her mind searching lightly over all of them. She sighed then and cast a tiny smile at Kaldur.
"You are not able to use your powers," she said to Prince Kon-El. "You cannot fly now, and during the battle you were unable to blast the creatures with your eyes, though you tried."
Prince Kon-El dropped his head. "I do not know what was done to me during my long imprisonment but it has left me sadly weakened. For now, at least."
"Hey, how come you get to ask all these questions?" Prince Wally demanded. "Who do you think you are?"
"I am Princess M'gann of Mars," she answered. "My uncle is King J'onn and you are currently inside the borders of the Kingdom of Mars. Also, I just saved you from defeat and I could toss you off the mountain if I wished, don't think you could run away first."
Prince Dick laughed and stepped forward. "Forgive him, please, Princess M'gann. I am Prince Dick of Gotham, my thoughtless companion is Prince Wally of Speed, and with us is Kaldur'ahm, knight-hopeful of Atlantis. We are grateful to you for your aid in battle. We may indeed need to beg even more aid of you. We have been escorting Prince Kon-El back to his father but we are now left without any steeds."
"I will take you there," she said with another thoughtful glance at Prince Kon-El. "Krypton is but a few hours flight from here." Her form shimmered and changed into the enormous bird again. She alighted on the ground near them, settling her feathers. Prince Dick pulled a length of rope from the saddlebags that he had clearly rescued before he let his horse run away and the four of them climbed aboard Princess M'gann's broad back, tying themselves on carefully.
Then she spread her wings and leapt into the sky. Prince Dick and Prince Wally whooped in delight. Prince Kon-El appeared both elated and distraught at once. Kaldur was amazed. It was nothing at all like swimming, but it was wonderful, with the wind roaring in his ears, the ground passing so swiftly beneath them, and the sky opening wider than it ever had around and above them. The time passed swiftly as he was entranced in the experience of flight, and it did not feel like hours later, but the sun was starting to set as they landed near the city of Krypton.
Prince Kon-El explained that he wanted to announce himself to his father personally, so when they reached the palace in the center of the city and joined the receiving line into the throne room, the herald announced them as "Princess M'gann of Mars, Prince Dick of Gotham, Prince Wally of Speed, and their entourage."
Kaldur was busy gazing around him at the splendor. The jewels and cloth draped over the throne room were very different from the coral and seaweed of the court of Atlantis.
As they were approaching the throne, Princess M'gann sent to Kaldur's mind, **Be wary and be ready. There is more here than meets the eye.** Kaldur glanced swiftly at her, and she directed his attention back to the king and queen as she curtsied to them. "Greetings to your majesties from the Kingdom of Mars. King Kal-El, my companions here have brought something that you should see."
King Kal-El was an imposing man who looked almost exactly like Prince Kon-El, and Queen Lois was an elegant woman of similar coloring beside him.
Prince Kon-El stepped forward from where he had been hidden behind the rest of them. "Sire?" he asked hopefully.
The king looked at him curiously. "Who is this young man?"
"Sire, I... I am your son, Kon-El. I have returned to you."
"It is true that you look uncannily like me," the king said, glancing at his wife, "but I have no children." Kaldur could hear all the other people in the throne room exclaiming and rustling around them.
The expression on Prince Kon-El's face was devastated and devastating. "I know that you are my father. I remember you! I remember being in this court..." He took a step closer to the king. "I have just been released from captivity after the evil Wizard Luthor kidnapped me. Father..."
"This is a plot by Luthor! Stay back, minion of evil!" the king commanded, but Prince Kon-El's eyes widened even more and he stepped closer to the king, stretching his hands out toward the man.
"Father..."
Prince Kon-El's hands began to glow as they neared the king, and then the rest of his body, the same sickly shade of green as the walls of the tower they had rescued him from. The king's skin began to wrinkle and he shook in agony. The queen clutched at him, holding him up, as the bodyguards around the throne stepped forward and raised their spears to block Prince Kon-El.
"No!" Prince Kon-El exclaimed in horror, jerking back away from the king. Kaldur moved forward toward him.
That was when screams erupted at the rear of the throne room and a horde of the same small creatures they had faced before overran the crowd, eyes glowing and teeth biting at the courtiers.
Kaldur stepped between them and Prince Kon-El, but quickly realized that this time they were actually focused on King Kal-El. The king was still incapacitated, and the bodyguards and other courtiers, as well as Kaldur's companions, were trying to fight off the creatures, but there were even more of them this time, and some had fastened upon the king already in his weakened state. Prince Kon-El kept glancing back frantically at King Kal-El, clearly wanting to help him but unable to approach, still glowing greenly.
There was no usable water anywhere nearby inside the palace so Kaldur had to settle for kicking and crushing the creatures.
**Princess M'gann!** he mentally shouted to her.
**There are too many of them!** she replied. **I don't think I could be loud enough to get all of them, and if I try, I may hurt the people in the room as well.**
**Can you just shield the king?**
**Oh! Yes.** She glanced around, then flew beside the king, quickly saying something that Kaldur couldn't hear to the queen, who nodded and gestured the bodyguards away, and then placing a hand on the king's shoulder. The creatures who had fastened on to him shuddered and fell off, dashing away. Kaldur and Prince Kon-El stomped them flat as they passed.
The king was still weakened and writhing, however, and Prince Kon-El was still glowing. Kaldur didn't know exactly what was happening, but he could recognize evil magic when it was this blatant, and there was clearly some spell on the prince that targeted the king.
Kaldur grabbed at the prince, who tried to fight him off, eyes wild, until Kaldur forced him to look straight at him and said his name. "Kon! We have to get you out of here."
"But I cannot simply abandon... my father..." he whispered, confused and bereft.
"You will serve him best by leaving," Kaldur replied.
"It is true," Prince Dick said from beside them. "Clearly the evil wizard has done something to you as part of his plan."
"We can hold it down here!" Prince Wally exclaimed, zipping past them and scattering creatures.
"Go with Kaldur." Prince Dick shoved the two of them toward the door. "We'll fix you once we've dealt with all this."
Kaldur led Prince Kon-El toward the exit from the room, shoving their way through all the fighting people and creatures and all the other people also trying to flee the scene.
Just as they reached the door he felt a mental pressure and turned to see Princess M'gann standing by the throne, her arms raised above her, her head thrown back, blue light emanating from her. The vibration built in his head and he had to catch Prince Kon-El who stumbled against him. All motion in the room ceased and every person and creature turned toward the princess, the creatures' eyes glowing brighter red. There were far fewer of the creatures now than there had been, the room littered with their corpses and with a few fallen people as well. Kaldur could barely breathe through the ringing static in his mind.
**No more!** came Princess M'gann's command.
Every creature leapt toward the exit, and none of them reached it. They all were simultaneously caught in the blue light, frozen in mid-motion, and then each of them just burst apart, popping and raining internal organs and gore down on the floor.
Prince Kon-El slumped limply against Kaldur, who caught him, noticing that he was no longer glowing green either.
Princess M'gann rose up and swooped toward the two of them, catching them up and carrying them out of the palace. **For now, let Dick and Wally handle the diplomatic fallout of us bringing him here. We will try to see what we can do for Kon.**
She set them down in the forest outside the city and Kaldur propped the prince sitting against a tree. Prince Kon-El's eyelids fluttered open, staring at Kaldur like the first time, and Kaldur's heart beat in time with them as he knelt before the prince.
Princess M'gann sat delicately down next to them. "Kon? May Kaldur and I go inside your mind to see what the wizard has done? Though if it is what I suspect, you would prefer us not to reveal it."
"I must know," Prince Kon-El answered, shaking his head. "I must know why my father... Why I..."
She ran her palm softly down his cheek, than gathered up one of his hands and Kaldur's in her own, and Kaldur reached out and tightly clasped the prince's other hand. It was clammy and shaking. Princess M'gann closed her eyes and enfolded both of their minds in her own.
This was far more intimate than the mind-speech Kaldur used. He could feel her all around him, feel her gentle soul and the vast strength of her powers. They moved over the surface of his self like a hurricane of light, and he drew back for a moment, until she loosened her grasp on him and he could relax, floating now in the calm waves left behind. Then the two of them turned toward the flickering spark that was Prince Kon-El. Princess M'gann pushed Kaldur toward it first. Kaldur approached and brushed against the prince, against his loss and his desire. He could see himself reflected back in the prince's mind, the gentle sea of him that the prince felt, and he pulled away a bit, feeling like an invader.
**Kon,** came from the princess, **this may hurt.**
Prince Kon-El's memories began playing before them, images of the court of Krypton and its king, but to Kaldur they seemed... unreal. The pictures were flat, the sounds dull, the feel of the king's arms around the little boy not quite matching the view of him. There were not enough of them, and there were so many things missing.
Princess M'gann pushed those away and let them flutter off. Underneath them was a deep green glow, and Prince Kon-El whimpered and shuddered around them. Kaldur could feel the fine lines of green energy that shaped the prince here, could start to trace the pattern of them.
Like the memories, this pattern was... not right. Not shaped like a mind or body ought to be.
Princess M'gann reached deeper and Prince Kon-El struggled against her. **No! I don't want to go there. I'm not supposed to...**
**Kon, you said you wanted to know,** she reminded him. **Please let me.**
**He doesn't want me to...**
**That doesn't matter. This is about you and what you want.**
Kaldur tried to send reassurance, and the prince turned toward him, brushing up closer. **Will you be there?**
**Always,** Kaldur answered.
The prince's mind opened wider, pulling them in deeper. There were more memories down here, still strange and hazy, but more complete and real. Memories of being inside the glass while the wizard moved about outside. Memories of being taken out of the glass for a while, being small and then getting larger. And through all the memories, the same green glow.
Down at the very bottom, in the earliest memories...
The green stones. The green stones, and the wizard muttering over them, filling them with magic, and the stones slowly waking and forming together, forming into the shape of a boy. A boy the wizard planned to use to destroy the king and replace him, to gain power over the kingdom.
But Kaldur and the others had stumbled in before the wizard was done, had awakened the boy and set him free and he had not known what he was, had known only the false memories the wizard had given him. So he had gone to the king anyway and almost...
**No!** Kon shouted, and Kaldur and the princess were thrust out of his mind, back into their own bodies, blinking in the dim forest twilight. Kon ripped his hands away from them and turned to press his face against the tree trunk, his shoulders shaking with angry sobs.
Princess M'gann stood up. **Kaldur...** she sent, her fingers brushing over his arm and her sympathy brushing over his mind, and then she was gone, disappearing among the shadows and the branches.
Kaldur pressed his hand between Kon's shoulderblades, feeling the silken softness of the white tunic, riding out the flinch and not drawing away. He could still feel the lingering traces of the magical energies that ran down to Kon's stone core, but the flesh under the cloth was warm and the muscles shifted like anyone else's. "My prince..." Kaldur said, his voice rough and painful.
"I'm not a prince," Kon muttered into the bark, not turning to look at Kaldur.
**You will always be the prince of my heart.** He knew it was true as soon as he thought it, and he held that truth out in his mind toward Kon.
Kon tried to shrug away from him again. "I'm not even a person. My family... my kingdom... my powers, my memories, none of it is real, I can't go back there... I'm not real."
Kaldur tugged him around by the shoulders until he could grip Kon's chin and make him face him, but Kon kept his eyes down. They were red and damp, but his features were as even and beautiful as ever. "Kon, listen to me." He tried again. **Listen to me.** Kon's eyes came up at that and met Kaldur's, as dark as stormy waters. "I know that you're a real person. I've touched your thoughts. I've seen your actions, the way you care, the way you fight to do the right thing."
"I have nothing to give you..." Kon whispered.
"I ask for nothing from you, except for you to believe me now."
Kon was silent for a long time. Then finally he answered, "I can believe that you believe..."
Once before he had woken Kon from the wizard's enchantment, and Kaldur leaned forward now to try the same tactic again. This time when his lips met Kon's, Kon's mouth opened under him and drew Kaldur in, his tongue warm and wet and solid, real. Kaldur could feel the smooth skin of Kon's face under his hands as Kon's strong arms came around his shoulders. Kon murmured and sighed wordlessly against Kaldur's lips and Kaldur closed his eyes and pulled his prince closer.
Epilogue
Despite offers from Prince Dick and Prince Wally, Kon went with Princess M'gann to the Kingdom of Mars. This did cause some diplomatic tension between Mars and Krypton, but King J'onn was able to smooth that over eventually. Princess M'gann knighted Kon and gave him a house on the coast. With so many royal commendations, when he returned to Atlantis Kaldur was made a knight too as he had always wanted. Kon eventually learned how to use the magical energies inside him to do other things such as fly and carry air with him underwater and blast enemies with his eyes. He and Kaldur were able to live together on the beach at the border of Mars and Atlantis and take each other swimming and flying.
They had many more great adventures and saved many people.
And they lived happily enough ever after.
This entry was originally posted at http://ciaan.dreamwidth.org/38219.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Fandom: Young Justice cartoon (DCU)
Pairing/Characters: Kaldur'ahm/Kon-El, M'gann, Dick, Wally
Rating: general
Spoilers: only mildly
Summary: Written for the yj_anon_meme prompt for a fairy tale AU of the opening episodes. Kaldur'ahm sets out onto dry land to prove himself in a quest and ends up rescuing a handsome prince from an evil wizard. Unless, of course, things aren't quite as they appear. 7,185 words.
Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Atlantis, there was a young boy named Kaldur'ahm. He was a page in the court of the king, Arthur Curry. Kaldur's greatest dream in life was to be a knight of the kingdom and protect and aid all the citizens, but being a poor orphan who was raised in a stable, he was not eligible to be a knight unless he first proved himself by venturing out into the world above the water and performing great deeds there that would impress the king and the other knights enough to show them his worth.
So Kaldur bade farewell to the stable that had been his home and the war-trained sharks and whales and squid that were his charges and ventured up into the air and the dry land.
Once on land he wandered for a while, learning how to breathe, and how to walk, and how to control the small bits of water that he found and how his abilities were different now that he was not constantly surrounded by the ocean.
Then he went inland and found a road and began to walk along it. Suddenly ahead of him he heard a scream. Racing toward it he discovered a carriage being set upon by bandits. Inside the carriage was a pretty young girl with dark hair.
Kaldur called the water toward him from the puddles left in the road by the last rain and blasted two of the bandits off their horses. Then a red blur sped past him and two of the other bandits fell off their horses as well. The fifth and final miscreant grabbed the girl and put a knife to her throat.
The girl flipped up and over his head and, disarming him swiftly, knocked him out with the hilt of his own knife.
"I could have taken them all," she said, glaring at Kaldur and the red blur, which had settled beside him into the form of a boy. She ran her hands through her hair and then pulled off her dress, revealing the uniform of the kingdom of Gotham underneath it, and a slim, boyish body. "But thank you for your service."
"The pleasure is all mine, my lady." The redhead swooped in a courtly bow. "I am Prince Wally of the Speed Kingdom, nephew to King Barry."
A small laugh was the first response. "And I am Prince Dick of Gotham, King Bruce's ward."
Prince Wally's jaw dropped in shock and Kaldur repressed a smile as the two of them turned to look at him. He felt a little shy introducing himself in such illustrious company. "I am Kaldur'ahm, future knight of Atlantis. I have come on land to have adventures and win my knighthood."
"How fascinating," said Prince Dick, "I have never met an Atlantean before."
"How exciting!" exclaimed Prince Wally. "I'm off to have adventures as well. I'm looking for a princess locked in a tower, or held by a dragon, or being fattened for dinner by a witch, or... well, something."
"My mission was to capture these brigands," Prince Dick added, "and now I must turn them over to the nearest guards so that they can be jailed for their crimes."
"But why were you dressed as a girl?" Prince Wally asked.
"To hide my identity, obviously, so that they would attack me," Prince Dick replied.
"Oh," Prince Wally said, and Kaldur had to silently admit that it did not seem so obvious to him either. "Well, maybe you two want to join me in adventuring? You might be a little slow but you both seem good in a fight, and just so long as you promise to let me have first chance with any grateful princesses or damsels in distress, we could make a great team!"
Kaldur was perfectly happy to have guides in this strange dry world, and Prince Dick nodded after a moment's hesitation.
And so it was that the three of them took the bandits to the guards in the nearest town and then set out together on a quest for adventure, with Kaldur riding a bandit's horse and being rather uncomfortable in the attempt.
They spent a day and a half climbing higher into the mountains, with Prince Wally frequently running off to scout ahead and to the sides, and Prince Dick teaching Kaldur about the plants and animals they saw and asking him endless questions about life in Atlantis.
Then Prince Wally appeared breathlessly before them. "My companions, there is a strange tower up ahead! It's really tall and it doesn't have any doors and there's only one window at the very top and it's built of a rock that glows green! If there isn't an enchanted princess locked inside, then I'll eat my hat!" Kaldur had so far never seen Prince Wally wearing a hat, so he wasn't sure what kind of threat that was. Prince Wally pointed excitedly in a vague direction and then disappeared again. Prince Dick spurred his horse and rode off after him, with Kaldur following as best he could. Horses were much harder to command than the sea creatures he was used to.
He followed Prince Dick for a few more hours, Prince Wally appearing and disappearing randomly and complaining loudly about how they were slowing him down.
"I'm being really chivalrous and not going inside until you two get there, so hurry up hurry up hurry up!"
Finally they crested another hill and Kaldur saw the tower in the valley below them. Prince Wally was zipping about in a red blur, and as Kaldur and Prince Dick approached, the blur ran up the side of the tower and into the window at the top.
"Nice of him to wait for us," Prince Dick commented. Kaldur glanced at the stream that flowed through the valley and was about to offer his aid to Prince Dick when the other boy began climbing up the wall of the tower, finding handholds and toeholds somehow in the close-packed stones.
Kaldur nodded and pulled the water of the stream into a jet that lifted him up to the window, stepping inside just ahead of Prince Dick.
The little room at the top of the tower was lit with a sickly green glow from the stone walls, and filled with tables covered in odd alchemical and magical instruments. Kaldur didn't know much about the subject but they looked to him like evil instruments.
Prince Wally was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the large tubular glass coffin resting against the far wall.
"Darn it," he muttered. "I'm really hungry but I hate the taste of hat."
Inside the glass was a handsome young man dressed all in white who appeared to be asleep.
"Well, we ought to wake him up anyway," Prince Dick said. "He's clearly been captured by an evil wizard."
Prince Wally began to run around the room, grabbing every vial and beaker and splashing their contents on the glass, pushing every lever of every instrument.
"Wally!" Prince Dick shouted, running after him and attempting to move the levers back to their original positions, and grab Prince Wally, who was too fast for him to catch.
Kaldur moved forward toward the glass, gazing at the youth inside. His features were clear and regal, his skin pale and his hair black. Kaldur put a hand against the glass, avoiding the splashes of strange liquids, and the glass started to move. Kaldur jerked slightly back as the door slid off the coffin, revealing the youth clearer, and yet the youth remained asleep.
Driven by vague memories of stories he had heard, and by something stirring low and strange inside him, Kaldur leaned forward and pressed his lips to the youth's. When he leaned back again the youth shifted restlessly, dark blue eyes blinking and opening right before Kaldur's face.
"Oh!" he said in a deep voice, staring wonderingly at Kaldur, his gaze roaming over Kaldur's face and form. "Did you come for me?"
"That's a classic!" Kaldur heard Prince Wally exclaim behind him. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"I came to do great deeds and to help people," Kaldur murmured. "Do you need to be rescued?"
"Yes," came the soft answer, the youth gazing up at Kaldur through his lashes, his breath against Kaldur's lips making him realize how close he still was. Kaldur straightened, drawing away from the other and the glass case. The blue eyes before him seemed to flash with what Kaldur thought might be regret, and the youth glanced quickly past him at the two princes. "I am Prince Kon-El, only son of King Kal-El of Krypton, and I have been captured by the evil Wizard Luthor."
"I thought so," Prince Dick whispered behind Kaldur, and, "Well, you do have great observational skills," Prince Wally whispered in reply.
That was when Kaldur noticed the ferocious bubbling in the puddle of liquid at his feet, that had dripped down and combined all the things Prince Wally had thrown at the glass. "Get away," he shouted, grabbing at Prince Kon-El's arm and pulling him out of the glass case. From the corner of his eye he saw Prince Wally pick up Prince Dick and speed out the window. Kaldur attempted to place himself between Prince Kon-El and the puddle as he tried to control the puddle, but he could not command whatever contents it was made of. Just as the puddle exploded, Prince Kon-El wrapped his arm around Kaldur's waist and flung the both of them out the window.
The look of triumph on Prince Kon-El's face changed suddenly to a stricken expression of loss as the two of them dropped toward the ground. They landed with a thump, Kaldur on top of the prince, and the prince seemed in so much pain that Kaldur rolled off him instantly and ran his hands along his sides, checking for anything broken.
"But I can remember..." the prince whispered, and Kaldur found no injuries on him. "I must be weak from my imprisonment, that's it..."
Then his eyes widened and he grabbed at Kaldur again, rolling atop him as there was a huge bang and pieces of stone from the tower rained down upon them, bouncing off Prince Kon-El's back without leaving a mark. Even when it was all over the prince still just sat above Kaldur, staring down at his own hands and turning them slowly back and forth.
"I... I think I've grown. I wasn't this big before... How many years have I been sleeping in that glass?"
"I cannot say, my prince," Kaldur answered.
A smile slowly pushed its way through the gloomy confusion on the prince's face. "I would thank you for rescuing me," he said shyly, "but I do not know who you are to address my thanks."
"I am Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis. And I owe you my life as well, it seems, for which I am grateful."
"The mutual exchange of salvation creates an eternal bond, Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis," Prince Kon-El murmured, his hand dropping to stroke just below the line of Kaldur's gills, where the skin was very sensitive. The prince's weight was still full upon him and the fact that he didn't mind either of these things at all was what caused Kaldur to shiver and squirm. "All that I have is yours. For as long as I live you have only to ask and I will give you anything." His eyes seemed huge as he stared down at Kaldur.
"My prince..." Kaldur managed to choke out.
"That was an amazing explosion!" Prince Wally yelled, running up to them.
"Are you injured?" Prince Dick asked.
"Oh!" Prince Kon-El exclaimed, standing up swiftly. "I have been remiss. You are not injured, are you?"
"No, I am fine. Is everyone else safe?" Kaldur stood and brushed himself off, but the feel of the prince staring at him still remained.
"Oh, yes," Prince Dick answered. He held out a hand and Prince Kon-El clasped and shook it briefly. "I am Prince Dick of Gotham and this is Prince Wally of Speed. Together with Kaldur we have been looking for adventure, so you have kindly provided us with some of what we sought. I would invite you to join us on our quest, but I would also understand if you wish to hurry home to your father and relieve his mind of any worries for you. I..." He hesitated for a moment. "I must confess that I had not known King Kal-El and Queen Lois had a son."
"Queen Lois? I... She is not my mother. I do not think I know her." Both Prince Kon-El and Prince Dick frowned slightly.
"She has been Queen of Krypton my whole life," Prince Dick replied. "How long ago were you captured? And who is your mother, then?"
"I do not know how many years I have been asleep. I begin to fear it is far longer than I would have suspected. I believe I grew up in that glass. As for my mother..." He frowned again. "I... I cannot remember her. I cannot picture her face or call up her name." There was great sadness in his expression and voice. Kaldur ached for him. "Everything in my mind is hazy and I am unable to fly. My imprisonment has clearly affected me. Damn that evil Wizard Luthor." Prince Kon-El's hands clenched into fists.
"It would be wise," Kaldur suggested, "to remove ourselves from this vicinity before the wizard returns and discovers us. We can reunite you with your father and then plan revenge on the evil Luthor." Prince Kon-El shot Kaldur a dazzling smile.
"Yes, indeed," Prince Wally agreed, "we really shouldn't hang around like sticks in the mud. He's not going to like losing his tower and his captive prince. Not gonna like that at all."
There were only the two horses, so Kaldur offered his to Prince Kon-El. It was the respectful thing to do, and he would not especially miss riding the beast. But when Prince Kon-El tried to mount, the horse shied away from him, and he appeared as uncertain as Kaldur had been the first time, or even more so.
"I thought I had ridden before," the prince said, "but I... I don't remember what to do..." He gazed longingly up at the sky for a moment, stretching on his toes, then dropped back down with a heavy sigh. Kaldur could imagine that flying was closer to swimming, and he knew exactly how frustrating it was to be locked on the ground and left with only heavy walking.
He sighed himself and mounted the horse, reaching his hand down to help Prince Kon-El clumsily up behind him. It took a moment for them to adjust themselves to fit, but then they moved off, Kaldur tensely aware of the prince's strong grip around his waist and warm presence against his back.
Prince Wally ran ahead again, but Prince Dick rode beside them, pattering Prince Kon-El with questions about his life and his kingdom, and as Prince Kon-El kept answering more and more of them with, "I don't remember," and sounding more and more lost and bewildered, Prince Dick kept assuring him that his memories would come back, and that the questions would help that to happen. Kaldur wasn't sure he agreed about the questions but he said nothing, not wanting to contradict Prince Dick.
Prince Wally had offered to take a message to the court of Krypton, but Prince Kon-El had asked him not to, preferring to appear before his father in person. According to Prince Dick's calculations Krypton was a few days more ride away on the other side of the mountains. So it was that they continued up into higher altitudes and stopped to camp as the sun was setting. Kaldur had felt awkward the night before letting princes do work when such was more his place, but he had been forced to admit that he knew nothing of this custom of making food with fire that the others had insisted on. So this night as well Prince Dick was the one who did the "cooking" for them, using ingredients acquired by Prince Wally from a town still miles away. At least Kaldur could help Prince Wally care for the horses and learn more about them. The plants in the watery food mix that Prince Dick made tasted strange. Kaldur had tried some of the meat that the princes had eaten the other day, since it was not from sea creatures and had never spoken to any of his fellow citizens, but it had still made him feel sick and he ate no more of it now.
Afterward they divided up the small number of blankets as equally as they could and arranged themselves on the hard ground around the fire. Kaldur was staring up at the stars when Prince Kon-El shifted closer to him, speaking quietly, for Kaldur's ears alone.
"You have learned all that I know of my life, though it is but a piddling sum. Yet I find myself still curious about your life."
"There is not much to learn, my prince," Kaldur replied.
"Call me Kon, Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis, for I am not really your prince. Though I would not mind if I were..." he added even more softly, and Kaldur felt warm. The glowing coals above their heads cast flickering reddish shadows over Prince Kon-El's handsome face.
The princes did not need to use titles and just called each other by their names, but it made Kaldur flush to think of taking such a liberty, even requested.
"Are all the people of Atlantis built like you?" Prince Kon-El continued.
"No. Some look more like humans, without even any webbing, and some look less, with fish tails instead of legs."
The prince shifted even closer to Kaldur. "We are not all the same here on land, even. The nobles of my kingdom are blessed with many powers others do not have, and in Wally's royal line runs the gift of speed."
He sounded pensive, though, speaking of his powers, and Kaldur replied without thinking about it. "You could come swimming. Under the ocean it is not like here, you do not have to move only in these two dimensions along the bottom, but you can go up and down and play around however you like."
That earned him another shy, glittering smile. "I would like that." There was a pause, and then Prince Kon-El continued. "But you have not yet told me of your life."
"It is a short tale," Kaldur said, flushing again. "I do not know who my parents are. I was abandoned as a child and raised by the stablemaster in the king's household, caring for the steeds of the knights. Not like these horses, they are giant squid, and fierce sharks, and mighty whales. They listen when you talk to them. But I wish to be a knight myself, and so I have come up here on the land to prove my worth through my deeds."
"You have already proved your worth utterly to me," Prince Kon-El breathed. "I told you I would give you anything you wanted, and when we reach my father's court, I will have him knight you there." He cast his eyes down suddenly. "That is, if it pleases you."
"It would please me greatly, my prince," Kaldur spoke through the tightness in his chest. "Though I... I do not think I could leave the ocean forever. Already I miss the song of the currents in my ears and against my skin."
"No." The prince looked very sad. "I have been torn away from my home, and I... It would be cruel to ask that of you, to do that to you." He gathered himself together, smoothing his expression. "I think I have never seen the ocean."
"I shall show it to you whenever you like, my prince."
"Kon." His tone was teasing now. "Or I shall call you Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis every time I speak to you."
"Then, I shall show it to you, Kon," Kaldur managed to say.
That caused a dazzling grin. "I would like that very much indeed." He shifted then as if uncomfortable, stretching his hand out a short way. "Kaldur, may I... It is cold, and I thought that if we shared blankets, it would be warmer."
It was indeed cold, and though his heart was beating almost enough to break out of his chest, Kaldur lifted the edge of his blanket and the prince - Kon - crawled in beside him, settling his own over both of them. He lay down next to Kaldur, not touching, but close enough that Kaldur could feel the heat from his body. Neither of them spoke again after that. It was warmer and more comfortable this way and soon Kaldur drifted off to sleep.
The next morning before they moved on Kaldur asked Prince Dick to stop interrogating Prince Kon-El, and though he gave Kaldur a curious look, Prince Dick did as requested. Instead as they rode Kaldur told them both more about the lives of undersea creatures, and the many things that were unlike land animals fascinated his listeners. Even Prince Wally ran around them in circles more often in order to hear.
As they were climbing higher up a mountain pass, the horses turned skittish and even harder to control, attempting to turn and flee back down the slope. Prince Dick pointed up ahead to the sky, shouting, as an enormous bird came floating into view past the ridge ahead. The bird caught sight of them and swooped in their direction. Kaldur tried his hardest to keep the horse under control as he headed for cover under the trees, heading back down the slope away from the bird, following Prince Dick, who had a better grasp on his horse.
Then Prince Wally appeared before them again, waving his arms at them to stop, and around the corner charged a huge, lumbering grey beast covered in horns, with smaller ones with glowing eyes riding atop it. The horse bucked under Kaldur, and Prince Kon-El gripped him tight as the two of them tried not to fall off. The horse was rolling its eyes and frothing and Kaldur wished more than ever that he was able to reach its mind and talk to it, but he still couldn't.
The small creatures' eyes all sparked a brighter red and they leaped off the huge beast, swarming directly toward... toward Prince Kon-El, Kaldur realized, as the first of them began to climb up the horse's rear legs and the horse bucked even more frantically. Prince Kon-El released Kaldur and leapt from the horse's back and Kaldur followed suit. The horse pitched frantically away down the slope, along with Prince Dick's, and the four boys were now standing on the ground facing the strange creatures.
Prince Dick was throwing daggers and skewering the small creatures, and Prince Wally was racing around knocking more of them away and retrieving Prince Dick's daggers for him. Prince Kon-El was busy kicking and tossing away the creatures as they kept targeting him and attempting to climb up him. Kaldur faced down the enormous beast that was pawing at the ground and preparing to charge them. There was hardly any water nearby, but he gathered what little he could out of the soil and blasted the beast in the face with it. The beast roared and charged directly at him, and Kaldur leapt up and onto its back, balancing himself precariously as he boxed it on the ears. None of these creatures would listen to him, either.
The beast was now running at Prince Kon-El, shaking itself to try to dislodge Kaldur. Prince Kon-El looked up and then leapt just before the beast reached him to join Kaldur on its back, knocking it a huge blow in the eye as he passed.
The beast roared again and turned to race down the slope, all the smaller creatures following after it.
"No!" Kaldur shouted. "You're what they want, get off! Leave this one to me!"
Prince Kon-El shot him one desperate look and then jumped free of the beast. Kaldur could see Prince Wally harrying it as well now, and Prince Dick racing after them. The small creatures all swarmed around Prince Kon-El again as he rolled on the ground, and he flung a few of them away before Prince Dick caught up and joined him in attacking them.
There was a high shriek from the sky and the enormous bird wheeled back into sight. Kaldur almost fell off the beast as it screeched to a halt, looking up at the sky.
He could hear laughter in his mind, and a clear warning, and Kaldur leapt off the beast just as the enormous bird stooped down upon it and lifted it into the air. The beast screamed and then the bird dropped it down onto the rocks below with a crack, and it lay still and silent.
The bird shrieked again in a way that pulsed through Kaldur's mind, and all the small creatures threw back their heads and wailed, their eyes dimming. Kaldur guessed they were getting the brunt of the vibrations that he was only partially sensing, and the other three boys shivered.
The creatures all turned tail and fled, disappearing immediately into the forest.
Right before his eyes the enormous bird shimmered and shifted and changed into a pretty young girl with brilliant red hair and rich green skin, hovering in the air.
"Finally!" Prince Wally exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "A damsel!"
She glared at him, then swooped down to the fallen beast and picked it up, an incongruous sight this time, and tossed it over the cliff to fall even further away. Then she flew over to hover in front of them again.
"Why are you being chased by creatures belonging to the evil Wizard Luthor?" she asked in a clear, ringing voice.
Prince Kon-El stepped forward. "I have but lately been released from captivity in the evil wizard's tower, and it would appear that he wants me returned." His eyes were full of a blank longing as he stared at the girl floating in the air in front of him. "I am Prince Kon-El of Krypton and the Wizard Luthor has long had an enmity with my father King Kal-El." At the name the girl frowned thoughtfully, and her gaze examined Prince Kon-El closely for a moment, her eyes narrowed and her head cocked to one side. Kaldur could feel her mind searching lightly over all of them. She sighed then and cast a tiny smile at Kaldur.
"You are not able to use your powers," she said to Prince Kon-El. "You cannot fly now, and during the battle you were unable to blast the creatures with your eyes, though you tried."
Prince Kon-El dropped his head. "I do not know what was done to me during my long imprisonment but it has left me sadly weakened. For now, at least."
"Hey, how come you get to ask all these questions?" Prince Wally demanded. "Who do you think you are?"
"I am Princess M'gann of Mars," she answered. "My uncle is King J'onn and you are currently inside the borders of the Kingdom of Mars. Also, I just saved you from defeat and I could toss you off the mountain if I wished, don't think you could run away first."
Prince Dick laughed and stepped forward. "Forgive him, please, Princess M'gann. I am Prince Dick of Gotham, my thoughtless companion is Prince Wally of Speed, and with us is Kaldur'ahm, knight-hopeful of Atlantis. We are grateful to you for your aid in battle. We may indeed need to beg even more aid of you. We have been escorting Prince Kon-El back to his father but we are now left without any steeds."
"I will take you there," she said with another thoughtful glance at Prince Kon-El. "Krypton is but a few hours flight from here." Her form shimmered and changed into the enormous bird again. She alighted on the ground near them, settling her feathers. Prince Dick pulled a length of rope from the saddlebags that he had clearly rescued before he let his horse run away and the four of them climbed aboard Princess M'gann's broad back, tying themselves on carefully.
Then she spread her wings and leapt into the sky. Prince Dick and Prince Wally whooped in delight. Prince Kon-El appeared both elated and distraught at once. Kaldur was amazed. It was nothing at all like swimming, but it was wonderful, with the wind roaring in his ears, the ground passing so swiftly beneath them, and the sky opening wider than it ever had around and above them. The time passed swiftly as he was entranced in the experience of flight, and it did not feel like hours later, but the sun was starting to set as they landed near the city of Krypton.
Prince Kon-El explained that he wanted to announce himself to his father personally, so when they reached the palace in the center of the city and joined the receiving line into the throne room, the herald announced them as "Princess M'gann of Mars, Prince Dick of Gotham, Prince Wally of Speed, and their entourage."
Kaldur was busy gazing around him at the splendor. The jewels and cloth draped over the throne room were very different from the coral and seaweed of the court of Atlantis.
As they were approaching the throne, Princess M'gann sent to Kaldur's mind, **Be wary and be ready. There is more here than meets the eye.** Kaldur glanced swiftly at her, and she directed his attention back to the king and queen as she curtsied to them. "Greetings to your majesties from the Kingdom of Mars. King Kal-El, my companions here have brought something that you should see."
King Kal-El was an imposing man who looked almost exactly like Prince Kon-El, and Queen Lois was an elegant woman of similar coloring beside him.
Prince Kon-El stepped forward from where he had been hidden behind the rest of them. "Sire?" he asked hopefully.
The king looked at him curiously. "Who is this young man?"
"Sire, I... I am your son, Kon-El. I have returned to you."
"It is true that you look uncannily like me," the king said, glancing at his wife, "but I have no children." Kaldur could hear all the other people in the throne room exclaiming and rustling around them.
The expression on Prince Kon-El's face was devastated and devastating. "I know that you are my father. I remember you! I remember being in this court..." He took a step closer to the king. "I have just been released from captivity after the evil Wizard Luthor kidnapped me. Father..."
"This is a plot by Luthor! Stay back, minion of evil!" the king commanded, but Prince Kon-El's eyes widened even more and he stepped closer to the king, stretching his hands out toward the man.
"Father..."
Prince Kon-El's hands began to glow as they neared the king, and then the rest of his body, the same sickly shade of green as the walls of the tower they had rescued him from. The king's skin began to wrinkle and he shook in agony. The queen clutched at him, holding him up, as the bodyguards around the throne stepped forward and raised their spears to block Prince Kon-El.
"No!" Prince Kon-El exclaimed in horror, jerking back away from the king. Kaldur moved forward toward him.
That was when screams erupted at the rear of the throne room and a horde of the same small creatures they had faced before overran the crowd, eyes glowing and teeth biting at the courtiers.
Kaldur stepped between them and Prince Kon-El, but quickly realized that this time they were actually focused on King Kal-El. The king was still incapacitated, and the bodyguards and other courtiers, as well as Kaldur's companions, were trying to fight off the creatures, but there were even more of them this time, and some had fastened upon the king already in his weakened state. Prince Kon-El kept glancing back frantically at King Kal-El, clearly wanting to help him but unable to approach, still glowing greenly.
There was no usable water anywhere nearby inside the palace so Kaldur had to settle for kicking and crushing the creatures.
**Princess M'gann!** he mentally shouted to her.
**There are too many of them!** she replied. **I don't think I could be loud enough to get all of them, and if I try, I may hurt the people in the room as well.**
**Can you just shield the king?**
**Oh! Yes.** She glanced around, then flew beside the king, quickly saying something that Kaldur couldn't hear to the queen, who nodded and gestured the bodyguards away, and then placing a hand on the king's shoulder. The creatures who had fastened on to him shuddered and fell off, dashing away. Kaldur and Prince Kon-El stomped them flat as they passed.
The king was still weakened and writhing, however, and Prince Kon-El was still glowing. Kaldur didn't know exactly what was happening, but he could recognize evil magic when it was this blatant, and there was clearly some spell on the prince that targeted the king.
Kaldur grabbed at the prince, who tried to fight him off, eyes wild, until Kaldur forced him to look straight at him and said his name. "Kon! We have to get you out of here."
"But I cannot simply abandon... my father..." he whispered, confused and bereft.
"You will serve him best by leaving," Kaldur replied.
"It is true," Prince Dick said from beside them. "Clearly the evil wizard has done something to you as part of his plan."
"We can hold it down here!" Prince Wally exclaimed, zipping past them and scattering creatures.
"Go with Kaldur." Prince Dick shoved the two of them toward the door. "We'll fix you once we've dealt with all this."
Kaldur led Prince Kon-El toward the exit from the room, shoving their way through all the fighting people and creatures and all the other people also trying to flee the scene.
Just as they reached the door he felt a mental pressure and turned to see Princess M'gann standing by the throne, her arms raised above her, her head thrown back, blue light emanating from her. The vibration built in his head and he had to catch Prince Kon-El who stumbled against him. All motion in the room ceased and every person and creature turned toward the princess, the creatures' eyes glowing brighter red. There were far fewer of the creatures now than there had been, the room littered with their corpses and with a few fallen people as well. Kaldur could barely breathe through the ringing static in his mind.
**No more!** came Princess M'gann's command.
Every creature leapt toward the exit, and none of them reached it. They all were simultaneously caught in the blue light, frozen in mid-motion, and then each of them just burst apart, popping and raining internal organs and gore down on the floor.
Prince Kon-El slumped limply against Kaldur, who caught him, noticing that he was no longer glowing green either.
Princess M'gann rose up and swooped toward the two of them, catching them up and carrying them out of the palace. **For now, let Dick and Wally handle the diplomatic fallout of us bringing him here. We will try to see what we can do for Kon.**
She set them down in the forest outside the city and Kaldur propped the prince sitting against a tree. Prince Kon-El's eyelids fluttered open, staring at Kaldur like the first time, and Kaldur's heart beat in time with them as he knelt before the prince.
Princess M'gann sat delicately down next to them. "Kon? May Kaldur and I go inside your mind to see what the wizard has done? Though if it is what I suspect, you would prefer us not to reveal it."
"I must know," Prince Kon-El answered, shaking his head. "I must know why my father... Why I..."
She ran her palm softly down his cheek, than gathered up one of his hands and Kaldur's in her own, and Kaldur reached out and tightly clasped the prince's other hand. It was clammy and shaking. Princess M'gann closed her eyes and enfolded both of their minds in her own.
This was far more intimate than the mind-speech Kaldur used. He could feel her all around him, feel her gentle soul and the vast strength of her powers. They moved over the surface of his self like a hurricane of light, and he drew back for a moment, until she loosened her grasp on him and he could relax, floating now in the calm waves left behind. Then the two of them turned toward the flickering spark that was Prince Kon-El. Princess M'gann pushed Kaldur toward it first. Kaldur approached and brushed against the prince, against his loss and his desire. He could see himself reflected back in the prince's mind, the gentle sea of him that the prince felt, and he pulled away a bit, feeling like an invader.
**Kon,** came from the princess, **this may hurt.**
Prince Kon-El's memories began playing before them, images of the court of Krypton and its king, but to Kaldur they seemed... unreal. The pictures were flat, the sounds dull, the feel of the king's arms around the little boy not quite matching the view of him. There were not enough of them, and there were so many things missing.
Princess M'gann pushed those away and let them flutter off. Underneath them was a deep green glow, and Prince Kon-El whimpered and shuddered around them. Kaldur could feel the fine lines of green energy that shaped the prince here, could start to trace the pattern of them.
Like the memories, this pattern was... not right. Not shaped like a mind or body ought to be.
Princess M'gann reached deeper and Prince Kon-El struggled against her. **No! I don't want to go there. I'm not supposed to...**
**Kon, you said you wanted to know,** she reminded him. **Please let me.**
**He doesn't want me to...**
**That doesn't matter. This is about you and what you want.**
Kaldur tried to send reassurance, and the prince turned toward him, brushing up closer. **Will you be there?**
**Always,** Kaldur answered.
The prince's mind opened wider, pulling them in deeper. There were more memories down here, still strange and hazy, but more complete and real. Memories of being inside the glass while the wizard moved about outside. Memories of being taken out of the glass for a while, being small and then getting larger. And through all the memories, the same green glow.
Down at the very bottom, in the earliest memories...
The green stones. The green stones, and the wizard muttering over them, filling them with magic, and the stones slowly waking and forming together, forming into the shape of a boy. A boy the wizard planned to use to destroy the king and replace him, to gain power over the kingdom.
But Kaldur and the others had stumbled in before the wizard was done, had awakened the boy and set him free and he had not known what he was, had known only the false memories the wizard had given him. So he had gone to the king anyway and almost...
**No!** Kon shouted, and Kaldur and the princess were thrust out of his mind, back into their own bodies, blinking in the dim forest twilight. Kon ripped his hands away from them and turned to press his face against the tree trunk, his shoulders shaking with angry sobs.
Princess M'gann stood up. **Kaldur...** she sent, her fingers brushing over his arm and her sympathy brushing over his mind, and then she was gone, disappearing among the shadows and the branches.
Kaldur pressed his hand between Kon's shoulderblades, feeling the silken softness of the white tunic, riding out the flinch and not drawing away. He could still feel the lingering traces of the magical energies that ran down to Kon's stone core, but the flesh under the cloth was warm and the muscles shifted like anyone else's. "My prince..." Kaldur said, his voice rough and painful.
"I'm not a prince," Kon muttered into the bark, not turning to look at Kaldur.
**You will always be the prince of my heart.** He knew it was true as soon as he thought it, and he held that truth out in his mind toward Kon.
Kon tried to shrug away from him again. "I'm not even a person. My family... my kingdom... my powers, my memories, none of it is real, I can't go back there... I'm not real."
Kaldur tugged him around by the shoulders until he could grip Kon's chin and make him face him, but Kon kept his eyes down. They were red and damp, but his features were as even and beautiful as ever. "Kon, listen to me." He tried again. **Listen to me.** Kon's eyes came up at that and met Kaldur's, as dark as stormy waters. "I know that you're a real person. I've touched your thoughts. I've seen your actions, the way you care, the way you fight to do the right thing."
"I have nothing to give you..." Kon whispered.
"I ask for nothing from you, except for you to believe me now."
Kon was silent for a long time. Then finally he answered, "I can believe that you believe..."
Once before he had woken Kon from the wizard's enchantment, and Kaldur leaned forward now to try the same tactic again. This time when his lips met Kon's, Kon's mouth opened under him and drew Kaldur in, his tongue warm and wet and solid, real. Kaldur could feel the smooth skin of Kon's face under his hands as Kon's strong arms came around his shoulders. Kon murmured and sighed wordlessly against Kaldur's lips and Kaldur closed his eyes and pulled his prince closer.
Epilogue
Despite offers from Prince Dick and Prince Wally, Kon went with Princess M'gann to the Kingdom of Mars. This did cause some diplomatic tension between Mars and Krypton, but King J'onn was able to smooth that over eventually. Princess M'gann knighted Kon and gave him a house on the coast. With so many royal commendations, when he returned to Atlantis Kaldur was made a knight too as he had always wanted. Kon eventually learned how to use the magical energies inside him to do other things such as fly and carry air with him underwater and blast enemies with his eyes. He and Kaldur were able to live together on the beach at the border of Mars and Atlantis and take each other swimming and flying.
They had many more great adventures and saved many people.
And they lived happily enough ever after.
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