Important information: Okay, so King Nereus is not Mera's dad in this. I thought it was a little weird that the movie did it this way because in the comics Mera was ENGAGED to Nereus, and Ryus was her dad. Now that we have all that sorted, let's move on XD

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Camille was not a detective. She was just some low-rank street cop that was in way over her head. Her normal, mundane life was slowly spiralling out of control. Every day brought new challenges, and today's was lying motionless on the embassy floor in a pool of blood. Camille had seen many dead bodies in her line of work, usually from overdose or gunshot wounds, but never had she needed to investigate the scene.

For a while, she just stood there in the middle of the mess - unsure how to begin. The security personnel for the UN were scattered around the place, staring at her with expectant eyes. They were waiting for an order...or for her to at least start looking at anything but the floor. Eventually, one of the guards became uncomfortable with the silence looming around him and spoke up. "Ah...chief? What should we do?"

Camille snapped back into reality, finally tearing her gaze from the ground and to the guards awaiting her command. "J-Just give me a second. I'm thinking."

She placed her helmet on a nearby table, its surface had the appearance of wood but Camille knew that it was something else entirely. Primarily by the way it absorbed the large mass of blood that had spilt onto the far right corner. Camille shivered at the sight, then turned her attention back to the dead Atlantean. He was covered in gore, and it soaked his blue-tinted skin like thick paint. Atlantean blood was much denser than that of humans. She crouched down beside the corpse, expression twisting in revolt at the smell that was starting to linger; damp, dead flesh.

It would have been easy to slip back into peaceful ignorance, hoping that the Atlantean law-enforcers didn't blame this on humans...but that was completely unrealistic. Camille knew that, and so she forced herself to flip the body over. There, right between his shoulder blades, was a knife wound. It was deep... Camille didn't know much about Atlantean biology, but if it was anything like a human's, then this man would have died very quickly.

Her eyes darted towards the sword that had been knocked from the victim's hand and she found that, strangely enough, there was no sign of the attacker's blood on it. This meant that it had happened so swiftly, and unexpectedly, that he didn't have time to react. Camille bit her lip. A human couldn't have done this.

"Okay, I want you guys to-" Just when she was about to start acting like she was in charge, a group of well-armed Atlantean's hurried into the room.

Mera trailed behind them and managed to flash Camille a regretful look before her expression hardened. "This area is hereby moved to the authority of King Orin. You no longer have any jurisdiction here."

The human guards mumbled in irritation but refused to move, once again staring at Camille for guidance. She sighed and nodded in Mera's direction. "You heard the captain. This isn't our investigation any longer."

The embassy's guards tentatively started filing out of the door, attempting desperately to ignore the glares they received from the Atlantean security team. Camille turned to follow them, but Mera swiftly blocked her path. "While you were here Tenai was searching the human quarters."

"Who's Tenai?"

"He's the Captain of King Nereus' personal guard." Mera answered quietly.

"And King Nereus is...R'atlu's dad?"

Mera nodded curtly, eager to continue with the information she had previously tried to give her. "Tenai found something in Luthor's office. He's gone to show it to the King, and knowing Arthur he'll be quick to condemn Lex. You can't let that happen. Our alliance would be shattered."

Typically, Camille would have remained a neutral party in this situation. If Lex was innocent then there was nothing to worry about, but the tensions were high and these matters were too sensitive to leave for fate to decide. She was positive that Lex hadn't killed that Atlantean, and so she'd have to try and convince Arthur of that fact as well.

"Thank you." Camille said sincerely, grabbing her helmet from the table and shoving it onto her head before leaving for the palace. Lex followed closely behind, joined by Jimmy Olsen who was determined to grab pictures of anything he possibly could.

Two burly men still watched over the castle, but instead of stopping Camille as they had in the past, they moved aside and let them all through. Camille grabbed hold of Inky, who didn't understand the severity of the current events and had been twirling happily beside her. She let him wrap around her arm where he felt the most secure, and continued into the throne room.

They suddenly found themselves in the middle of a fling of accusations, all coming from Captain Tenai. He held a knife in his stubby fingers. The blade was so sharp that it almost threatened to slice through the water, and its hilt looked to be made of pure gold. He pointed the tip of it towards Lex as they entered and roared "Arrest that land-dweller! He killed a citizen of Atlantis!"

"Oh please, I've never seen that knife before in my life." Luthor remained as calm as ever, simply crossing his arms and scowling beneath his helmet as if he were offended by this comment...but for all the wrong reasons. "I would never do such a sloppy job."

"This knife is made of metal only found on the surface." Tenai argued. "Prometheum is one of the strongest materials known to mankind, while most land weapons could do little more than bruise us, this type of metal could easily kill an Atlantean. It's completely unbendable and unbreakable."

The scrutinising eyes of the Xebel representatives were stuck on the small group of humans. Jimmy took this opportunity to snap a few pictures for the Daily Planet, but Luthor swiftly urged him to lower the camera. Camille gulped, sensing Mera arrive with the rest of her team. She could see that Arthur was seconds away from condemning Lex. She needed to do something before it was too late.

"King Orin." She spoke a lot softer than she had originally planned. "Please, think about this logically."

Tenai's teeth bared at her interference, they were as long and sharp as any shark's. "You have no voice here, human."

There was a momentary flicker of hesitance in Camille's eyes. She paused, voice becoming stuck in her own throat. It was true that this wasn't her kingdom, nor was she knowledgeable on their legal system, but she knew one thing for certain. She was not going to be silenced by anyone. Ever.

Camille turned her attention to Arthur, who looked almost angered by Tenai's comment. His fingers curled against the thrones armrests, digging into the solid bone until it felt like it might fracture. He opened his mouth to speak, but Camille's voice found air before his could. "Prometheum is almost impossible to destroy, so he's right that it could have been used to kill the Atlantean...but what kind of human would have the strength to dig that thing into his back?"

The room was suddenly filled with murmurs and whispered debates. Arthur and his fiancee, R'atlu, both kept their focus on Camille as she presented her case. She felt like she was being stared down by two almighty Gods, there to decide the fate of everyone she'd ever known; Arthur on his chair of whale cartilage, and R'atlu standing beside him in her dress of winding serpents. They looked perfect together; like two souls moulded in each other's image and destined to one day unite.

Camille inhaled sharply and continued. "Atlantean skin is tougher than thick titanium...no normal human could pierce that with a blade and their own strength alone. Besides, there was no blood on the victim's weapon. That means that he didn't fight back. He must have been taken off guard...and every Atlantean I've met has been overly cautious around the embassy."

Arthur shifted on his seat and raised an eyebrow at the woman. He looked somewhere between impressed and uncertain. Lex had achieved the impossible on numerous occasions, he couldn't just dismiss this incident entirely.

"And why on earth would I keep the murder weapon in my own office?" Lex snorted, seemingly surprised that he was a suspect at all. "Only idiots and amateurs make such rookie mistakes, and I'm neither."

The king shot Luthor an expression of complete disdain, and though Lex didn't appear too bothered by it, he decided it was probably best to keep quiet from then onward. Arthur pushed off his throne, R'atlu following closely behind like a lost puppy. A very tall, slender, and beautiful puppy.

"Mera, take the murder weapon for analysis." He said with such authority that the red-head actually listened without any argument. "I want everyone out except Officer Hanson."

The crowd obeyed, each of them swimming for the exit hurriedly. The only exception was R'atlu. She just stayed right beside him as if she hadn't heard his words correctly. Arthur was evidently annoyed by this but chose not to comment on it. Instead, he kept his eyes on Camille. Somehow it felt like he could see straight through the helmet, and that he was staring straight into her eyes; the crystal blue waves rippling in his irises crashing onto the sandy shores of her own.

"Are you positive that Lex isn't behind this?" He asked bluntly, watching for any signs of nervous movement...but she floated there as relaxed as she could realistically be after having one of her own people accused of murder.

"I am." She replied surely and Arthur found himself almost believing her. She had always been persuasive. Camille said everything with so much confidence that it was hard to doubt her, even when she wasn't completely convinced of it herself. There was something comforting about that, Arthur found. The world could have been tearing itself apart outside, but as long as she told him that everything was alright, he would believe her. He hadn't realised how desperately he needed someone like that in his life. Someone that could reassure him with a few uttered words that his decisions were worthwhile, and that he was doing the right thing.

Arthur swallowed the urge to say anything too regrettable out loud. He didn't want to give either Camille or himself hope where there was none. The king straightened his posture, nodding at the human to show his understanding. "I'll be keeping an eye on him."

"So...you're not going to arrest him?"

"Not yet." Arthur turned, armour shining under the artificial lights. "I just wanted to know if you were defending him because it could prevent a fight, or if you actually believed his innocence."

"And what do you think?" Camille fidgeted with her gloves, more aware of how uncomfortable they were now than she had ever been.

"You believe him, but whether that means he's actually guiltless remains to be seen." Arthur held his hand out, and quite slowly, his trident unstuck itself from its holder and glided into his grasp. "I have business to attend to. Tell Luthor we'll be watching him."

As he began to leave, R'atlu once again tried to trail behind him. "May I assist you, my king?"

"No." Arthur growled lowly, and the sound resonated in his chest instinctively.

He said nothing more, leaving without even allowing R'atlu to respond. Camille was starting to think that 'no' was the only word he ever said to the poor girl. She looked so alone; forced to marry a man that refused to let her know him, and in a city she'd never been to. Xebel was much different to Atlantis, or so Camille had heard. R'atlu's bottom lip trembled. It would take a truly heartless person to see the future queen as she was right now and not feel pity for her. She hadn't asked for this marriage, but it was her duty as princess of Xebel. Camille couldn't even begin to imagine how she must have felt.

"Hey, you should go after him." Camille said with a smile that she knew R'atlu couldn't see. "He's stubborn, but you can't let him push you away. No matter how hard he tries."

"B-But he's the king." R'atlu said in her strong accent. "I cannot just force myself upon him, especially if he does not desire my company..."

"Why not?" Camille shrugged. "You're gonna be queen, right? What gives him the right to dictate what you can and can't do?"

R'atlu twirled a strand of her long, green hair around her index finger anxiously. It was obvious that she wasn't willing to defy Arthur's wishes. She was simply too timid to do that, and had been raised to always respect the needs of whomever she might marry. "I would prefer not to start this marriage in a negative light..."

"What are you going to do then?"

The Xebel princess hugged her arms around herself and glanced around the room. "I will just...await the king's return."

"You're gonna sit here doing nothing?" Camille said sadly. This woman's life in Atlantis had been short. She had only her father and Arthur to talk to, and the latter wasn't exactly being too welcoming. "Well, if you get bored of waiting around here you couod always stop by the embassy. I could show you around."

There was a spark of excitement that filled R'atlu's eyes, but that quickly dimmed to sorrow once more at the thought of her father's disapproval. "That is not a good idea."

"Alright, but the offer's there if you want it."

Inky uncurled himself from Camille's arm and swam towards R'atlu. The Xebel woman seemed a little shocked at first, having assumed that he was simply part of the human's odd costume. The squid circled around her, as if he noticed her sadness, then snuggled against her cheek comfortingly. R'atlu smiled. The first genuine smile Camille had ever seen the woman wear. As Inky returned to Camille's side she waved kindly at the future queen of Atlantis, who could do nothing but stare as she left. King Nereus, her father, wouldn't allow her to return such a gesture to a human. He hated them with a passion that almost rivalled Orm's. R'atlu had been raised on stories of their greed and treachery...but if people like Camille existed amongst them, then how could they possibly be as bad as he said they were?