Mera gracefully walked from the waters and onto the shore of Paradise Island, waiting patiently as the two women who were patrolling the shores approached her. They were leery of the presence of the Queen of the Atlanteans on the shores, especially after the war and Orin declaration. She kept her hands at her sides since she figured that they would think she was meaning to attack them if she lifted her hands. "I seek an audience with Queen Hippolyta," she said softly. She waited patiently again as she two women spoke quietly with each other before one of the women turned to run back to the city to inform her Queen of the visitor on their shore.

The Queen awaited word from the women who had gone through the gates of the Under World. Part of the woman wondered if it was a mistake to allow such a quest while the Titans were still a threat and all signs pointed to dire events looming on the horizon. There was the possibility none of them returned, but Hippolyta felt it would be wrong to deny the women a chance to complete this heroic quest. So with her love and her hope she sent them off and awaited news of their return.

It was then with some surprise that the Amazon heard news of the Crowned Ruler of Atlantis and her presence on the beach. Of all the things she could have heard about, that was not expected. At one point in time a visit from Mera would have been welcome, but now it was potentially a sign of trouble.

The horse needed no saddle nor reigns for the woman to ride the black winged stallion to the beach. She hopped off a good thirty paces from the Atlantean and motioned to her guards, nervous as they were, to wait twenty paces back with the horse.

"What brings you to the Isle of Themyscira, Queen of Atlantis?" Hippolyta asked, keeping her voice a respectful and neutral tone. It was the Ocean God's decree that they would be enemies, so the Queen showed no pleasure at seeing the auburn haired woman on her shores.

Mera watched at Queen Hippolyta approached upon her winged stallion, unsurprised when the woman landed some distance from her. She nodded her head respectfully as befitted a greeting between two queens, even if they were not on friendly terms at the moment. As she had told Orin, she had not yet forgiven Hippolyta and the other Amazons for events before and during the farce of a war, but Mera had always been more known for her compassion then her husband. Perhaps with enough time, she could forgive them.

"Greetings to you, Queen of Themyscira, of the Amazons," she said softly, still keeping her hands at her sides so that she would not make the already nervous guards even more so. "I come to let you know that the word that Orin passed down is lifted. If your people wish it they may once more be within the waters, just treat them respectfully as you always have. My husband spoke to me of disaster on the tides and that your people may once more need Atlantis as an ally and friend. I come to your shores to offer that, Queen Hippolyta," she said softly, gently.

"I ask forgiveness for my people that they merely followed the word of Orin and I. If you have any ill feelings, please only hold those toward those that deserve it, not toward my people."

”It is not my anger that declared our people enemies – that was the anger of the Lord of the Ocean and yourself. It is not my anger that set us to war in the first place, that burden lays on Poseidon and Athena. Incase you have forgotten I begged you two to not make this an issue between our people, but one between you and I. At the time in response I was slammed against a wall while you cradled your child who lived only because of my plea to the God of Death. I will let my people know if they wish to have dealing with Atlanteans that their Queen and I assume their God, allows it,” Hippolyta said forcefully, keeping the anger in her voice barely contained. The guards moved slightly and the woman raised her hand to motion them to hold. She did not feel threatened by Mera, not on her own shores.

”We do not raise a weapon to those whom we owe a life debt to. Is that clear?” Hippolyta said, her command ringing out to her guards. She turned her eyes back to Mera. Her brown eyes softened a bit, a little of the compassionate Queen showing through. ”There is no anger that I hold for your people Queen of the Twin Cities of Atlantis. There never was.”

Mera closed her eyes briefly as Hippolyta spoke, hearing the barely contained anger in the woman's words. She could not blame the woman for her anger. She glanced briefly at the two guards as the moved, but turned her attention back to Hippolyta when the woman stopped them. "I never held anger toward you Queen Hippolyta," she said softly, shaking her head slightly. "The anger was Orin's and I understand why, but my anger was never directed at you. I was shocked to hold my son in my arms again and afraid. I still fear, Queen of the Amazons, that I will fail in protecting him again. I kept my king's decree in place because it was the last that he made as king. I can not apologize for his actions," she said, a soft sigh slipping past her lips.

"I hold no anger toward you and your people either, Hippolyta," she said gently. While she may not have yet found forgiveness to offer them, she held no anger. She sighed softly and lightly pinched the bridge of her nose, allowing how weary she was to show for a moment.

"You did the right thing in honoring King Orin's edict and there is no judgement from me for that. I shall tell the Amazons that no longer does there exist a state of static war between our people. I ask for no apology on your husband's behalf," Hippolyta said, looking to the Queen of the Oceans. There was a time when the woman might have reached out to the other, to tell her she too knew what it was like to lose a child. Perhaps the eyes hinted at it, but the Queen still remembered Mera standing by and doing nothing to calm Orin while he attacked her. Still, it seemed wrong to say nothing at all.

"I think the same sometimes, about Diana. The Gods took her once on a whim, why not again? Then I remember, the only thing I can do is enjoy the time I do have with her. May you find that same joy in Prince Arthur, Heir to Atlantis."

Hippolyta looked to Queen Mera and waited to see if there was anything more to be said. She did not know if she comforted the woman, if her words were the right one to say. They were once friends. Those days seemed long ago and the Amazon doubted they would ever return to that state.

Mera nodded slowly at Hippolyta's words, knowing that the woman also feared the same for her own child. She glanced at the two guards briefly and if they had not been there then she would have allowed more of her sorrow, of her grief show on her face. As it was her sorrow showed in her eyes, eyes that once shone a bright blue now seemed dull and full of pain.

"I am glad to have my son in my arms once again, Queen of Themyscira. I do owe you thanks for that privilege. Despite what you might think, I do regret the loss of your friendship. I have lost more in the past few months then I had ever thought to lose at one time," she said softly, sighing as she lowered her gaze from Hippolyta. As Orin had said, they had only made it easier for the waves to crash down over them all. The Queen of Atlantis was prideful, but not so much so that she could not realize what she had lost.

The friendship that she had once had with the Queen of the Amazons would have been more then welcomed in that moment. In truth, she longed to be able to go to Hippolyta and use the woman's shoulder to cry on as she had done in the past. To be able to speak to someone who understood the hardship of ruling a people when there was sorrow in your heart and no one to turn to. She could not let her people see it, could not let her nephew see it when the young man had his own sorrows to over come. Mera was not to prideful to admit that despite being surrounded by her people she was alone in the world aside from the comfort of holding her son.

She closed her eyes and sighed softly again. "I am sorry," she said softly, just loud enough for Hippolyta to hear over the sound of the waves the brushed against the shore behind her and around her feet. She knew that the words probably meant little the the Queen, but she still felt that they needed to be said. Orin had said that he had not forgiven the Amazons and she could not fault her husband that, but if she was going to allow her people to be friends and allies with the Amazons, she would have to find it in her heart to forgive them. Perhaps Orin would hold that against her, but the Queen of Atlantis had always had a more compassionate heart the her King had. Not that she faulted him for it. If Orin held it against her, well she would deal with that if it came to pass.

Hippolyta’s expression was entirely unreadable for a few moments after Mera’s softly spoken words of apology. She turned to her guards, the women who even now stood at alert not far away. The woman raised her hand in a regal gesture to tell them to step away, to depart from her presence. A sigh escaped her lips at the loyalty of the women who took it as their personal mission to keep the Queen safe at all times.

”Leave us,” the Queen said and when both of them looked ready to protest, she gave them a stern look. ”I need to speak to the Queen of Atlantis alone.”

The guards each gave a salute and backed away. Hippolyta’s eyes looked to Mera, full of compassion. She had not seen the woman after the death of her son, but the times that she had seen the sorrow in the face of the other queen had broken her heart. All the anger at the actions of Orin, all the frustration of having to watch her people avoid the ocean that had been a part of their lives on Themyscira for as long as the island had been within their care.

She held out her hand to her fellow Queen.

”Let us walk the beach together. There is nothing to…well actually there is probably much we should both apologize for but I do not need an apology from you my friend,” Hippolyta said, remembering all the times the two women had shared. Perhaps the Queen should keep her anger, but with disaster so soon on the horizon there was far more reason for her to once more be there for her friend.

Who knew how many more times like this the women would have?

Mera glanced at Hippolyta's out stretched hand, but there was no hesitation as she reached out place her hand lightly on Hippolyta's. She didn't think that her fellow Queen would try anything to harm her and she had no intentions of doing anything of the sort either. She turned to walk along the beach with the Amazon, simply walking in silence for a moment as she listened to the waves brushing along the shore.

"How do you do it?" she asked softly, tilting her head to look to Hippolyta. "How do you rule on your own?"

It wasn't that Mera doubted her ability to be the sole ruler of Atlantis until such a time that Arthur Jr. was of age to sit on his father's throne. After all, if Orin had faith in her that she could down, then she most certainly could. But, Hippolyta had more experience doing it and she would welcome any advice that the woman could offer her. She knew that they would come around the discussion of the coming disaster soon enough.

Hippolyta never knew what it was like to have someone else rule alongside her until recently, when the Bana-Mighdall tribe rejoined them. Queen Anahid and her had an agreement, where the affairs of the Egyptian Amazons would be handled entirely by the younger woman and they would be loyal to the words and laws of the Themyscirian tribe as ruled by Queen Hippolyta. Although as women they were far more prepared to work together for the betterment of their people than any male counterpart of theirs would be, the two Queens still on occasion had to figure out how their system worked. For a long time her black hair blew in the breeze as she considered the question.

”To be honest, I have never considered the question. I have been blessed to be surrounded by the best and the brightest women I could ever hope for. I learned to tap on their experience and opinions, to listen to their council and more importantly to know when their advice was biased. I remind myself that the people need a strong Queen, but not an infallible one. I balance the advice of others against my own instincts,” Hippolyta said finally, not quite sure if it was a complete answer. There was much more to say about the subject of course.

”For the heart and mind that has the best interests of their people in mind, your instinct is the best guide. The advice is only to give a perspective, and that’s important too. Mera, you love your people and trust that it will guide you as well as any advisor in what to do,” the Amazon said as they walked the shore. Her feet bare, she noticed the prints in the sand being washed away as the tide rose, no sign of their stroll being left behind. It made Hippolyta sad as she looked at the prints, to think that there might be no memory of a time when the Atlanteans and the Amazons were friends and walked the Earth together.

”You do not have to forgive me Mera. Nor should I ask an apology from you. Simply our nations not being in any form of war is enough for me,” the woman said as she watched the waves carry the sand from the beach out to sea.

Mera remained silent for several long moments after Hippolyta finished speaking and she turned to look at the water as it moved along the sand and erased their footprints, feeling to brush against her feet. She finally turned her gaze to Hippolyta once more and nodded. "I thank you for the advice," she said with a slightly nod of her head.

"I hope that you have other allies and friends as well, Queen Hippolyta. While, I will allow my people to interact with yours once more, the protection of my people still comes first to me. I will do anything to protect them," she said softly, her voice calm, no underlying threat in her words. It was simply the truth that she spoke. If it looked like the disaster that Orin warned her was looming over them would also crash over Atlantis, then she would do everything in her power to keep her people safe. Mera had always been willing to die to protect her people and the ones that she loved. That was not something that had changed.

"And that is why you are Queen," Hippolyta said emphatically. "It is a lesson that not everyone understands, that to rule is to ultimately serve and sacrifice. It is something that much of the world does not understand."

Allies and friends, well that was an interesting subject. The Authority was an ally, but only to a certain extent. The Atlanteans might be allies now, but no doubt many of the women would be reluctant to be allied with the people from under the sea after the proclamation and actions of the Sea Lord.

"I would not ask you to put your people over mine, I never have," Hippolyta said, with a sigh. That had been all Orin and frankly, while it had been for the best there was much damage that it caused too. The reputation of the Amazons as warriors was gone, replaced instead with an image of angry women prepared to fight at a moment's notice over the slightest insult without any real skill. The Authority was distant, and frankly it was for the best.

Either the Amazon nation would stand or it would fall, but it would do it based on it's own work. No more would the Queen seek help from others, perhaps not even the Gods themselves. Guidance, advice, but not help.

Mera glanced to Hippolyta and sighed softly with a nod. "I need to return to my people," she said softly as she gave Hippolyta another nod, a nod from one Queen to another. "I wish you and your people health and luck," she said gently. She watched the Amazon for a moment longer before she turned to walk back into the water, diving back under the waves. She swam quickly, wishing to be back home with her son as fast as possible.