Prologue 2:
.....
….
-Kraken City, Xebel, Atlantis
-January 17th, 2002
When Adam opened his eyes again, he was in a different body.
Adam woke up dazed... The first thing he noticed was the unmistakable sensation of weightlessness, as if he were floating. He blinked rapidly, trying to focus on his surroundings, but only saw a watery blur. Panic began to overtake him as he realized he was submerged in water, yet he was breathing effortlessly.
Fortunately, the "Gamer's Mind" ability kicked in, and he felt a strange and comforting calm that allowed him to process everything without panicking.
Instinctively, Adam held his breath, expecting his lungs to scream for air, but it never happened. Instead, he felt the refreshing flow of water through what he now realized were gills. His heart raced as he brought his hands to his neck, feeling the strange new slits that allowed him to breathe underwater.
'What the hell is going on?' he thought frantically. Gamer's Mind had worked wonders to keep him from losing it at that moment; his mind was in chaos, but at least he could process everything.
Then a flood of memories poured into his mind.
He discovered that he was now Namor, a ten-year-old atlantean orphan born on January 7, 1992, living in Kraken City within Xebel, a city-state of Atlantis. To his surprise, it was the year 2002 and, according to his understanding, in some version of the dangerous DC universe since Aquaman was real in this world, although this Aquaman didn't resemble the version from the movies he had seen.
He wasn't a big fan of DC. After all, when you're an orphan, it's hard to be a fan of anything other than money… But he believed he had seen and enjoyed most of the live-action movies of the 21st century they released, but had never seen the comics or the animated movies/series.
It took him a while to come to terms with the idea that everything he was experiencing was real. It was a radical change for him and extremely difficult to process. But at least with Gamer's Mind, he could stay calm and quickly assess the situation he was in.
Sitting in the small and dimly lit room, Adam observed his surroundings, trying to take it all in.
He was in a small but orderly room, with marine stone walls adorned with luminous corals and bioluminescent algae providing a soft and ethereal glow. Strange unknown symbols were engraved on the stone walls, but his mind instantly provided him with the information he needed about these symbols—it was basic atlantean, and apparently, he could now understand it perfectly.
There were several simple pieces of furniture woven with algae filling the room. There was also a large window that showed a spectacular view of the ocean. He was literally in the ocean. For someone who until moments ago was just a simple human on the surface, this was a radical change. He couldn't help but marvel at being in an underwater city in the middle of the South Atlantic.
"It's like being in a dream," he murmured, his voice sounding strange and slightly echoic, but perfectly clear despite being underwater.
Adam stood up, at first with difficulty, and moved towards the window. Looking outside, his breath caught… he saw a landscape of deep blue, with fish and other marine creatures swimming in an eternal dance. And he also found an impressive view of an underwater city, full of activity. atlanteans swam gracefully through the water, going about their daily lives, completely indifferent to their aquatic surroundings. Buildings made of coral and stone rose majestically, illuminated by soft bioluminescence that gave the environment an ethereal glow.
"I'm really in Atlantis," Adam whispered in awe, his countless questions momentarily overcome by the sheer wonder of it all.
Although a part of him quickly clarified that he was actually in Xebel, one of the 8 city-states of Atlantis. But at this moment that couldn't matter less.
"I am an atlantean…" he murmured, trying to come to terms with this fact. Now he was no longer a person living his life on the surface, but underwater.
He now even had the knowledge of how to read and speak basic atlantean, and not only that, he could breathe underwater and speak, as well as hear what was being said. It was simply incredible. He didn't understand how atlantean physiology worked, but it was undoubtedly amazing.
Namor carefully noted the changes in his body. Now he was not only physically smaller at 10 years old instead of 15, but his entire body was also very different.
He felt a new strength and agility in his muscles. His hands were thinner and more agile, with small membranes between his fingers. His muscles felt very different, and looking at himself in a mirror in the room, he saw that his eyes glowed with an intense golden color. His hair was very dark blue and moved with the water current while his skin was pale white, having lost his previous much more tanned skin tone. He had a slim build and had a set of visible gills on his neck that allowed him to breathe underwater.
Not only did he feel a strength and agility he had never experienced before, but now his mind was filled with memories of a childhood spent under the ocean.
"So, I guess I now have to get used to my new name as Namor…" he murmured to himself, exploring the child's memories further.
Namor's life had not been easy or special in any way; he was just an average atlantean orphan who didn't even have a last name.
The last memories he has of this body are that he got quite sick and then fainted… And then today he woke up as Namor.
As he looked out the window, he felt a wave of determination. He had a new chance, a new life in a world full of wonders and dangers. And this time, he was going to make the most of it. He knew he couldn't talk about his past life or his encounter with Death, but he was certain he had made the right decision.
Even if he as Namor was just an average atlantean, he was extremely satisfied because being an atlantean, even an average one, was simply a thousand times better choice than being just an average human.
This is due to a very simple reason, and that is that atlanteans are like humans but badass.
First of all, one has to keep in mind that all atlanteans are born and live in the depths of the seas and oceans under tons of pressure. An average atlantean already has 10 times the muscle density of a human, they are practically bulletproof, and their strength is even greater than that of Gorillas or Bears...
Literally, an army of average atlanteans is like having an army of superhumans that are able to fight either on land or underwater.
And there are exceptions like Aquaman who is many times stronger than an average atlantean, being who knows how many times faster, stronger, and more resilient.
So yes, he really couldn't complain.
Currently, it was January 17, 2002. Only 10 days had passed since Namor turned 10 years old, and from the memories he retained, he knew that July 1 was the day public school started in Xebel.
Yep, in Atlantis, education was compulsory and started on June 1, ending on December 27. atlanteans had to complete 7 years of compulsory education. After these 7 years, all young people had to enter mandatory military service for another 2 years.
For anyone non-atlantean, this might seem crazy, as young people usually started their education at 5 or 6 years old. Thus, when they finished their education and joined the military service, they were only between 12 and 13 years old.
This might seem premature, but for everyone in Atlantis, that age was more than adequate.
In fact, once an atlantean finished their compulsory education and, generally, after completing military service, unless they remained in the militia or had the opportunity to continue studying, they were expected to find a job, since from that moment on the state stopped supporting them financially.
And currently, Namor was supposed to start his penultimate year of school in June…
He stopped thinking about all that and decided to leave his room to explore the city on his own. He might have Namor's memories but he still wanted to familiarize himself with everything that surrounded him now.
...
As he left the room, the reality of his new situation started to sink in. Moving through the water felt natural; his body knew exactly how to navigate this new environment with ease and grace.
Adam's initial interactions as Namor with the other atlanteans were cautious. He watched everyone and everything with curiosity and fascination. Conversations were tough at first, but he quickly adapted to basic atlantean, even though he sometimes slipped and said an English word, which earned him a few strange looks.
Despite his new abilities, he felt out of place—a human thrown into an atlantean body in a superhero world. It would take him some time to fully accept this.
...
As he swam through the streets of Kraken City, Namor met a young atlantean girl carrying a basket of algae. She looked at him curiously.
"Oh, Namor, what are you doing here?" she asked, surprised. "I haven't seen you since you got sick"
Namor searched his memory and remembered her name was Athlea.
"Yeah, um… I'm better now," he nodded, trying to hide the fact that he wasn't really the Namor she knew.
"Good to see you recovered," she said with a slight nod. "Do you need anything?"
"Err… actually, yes. Umm I was looking for the library," he felt a bit awkward but pressed on.
"The library is where it's always been, Namor," Athlea joked, pointing. "Straight down this street, then turn right at the Kraken statue"
'Yeah… thanks a lot, previous Namor, for never going to the library or worried to know where it was ' he thought to himself rather annoyed at not being able to get such simple information from the acquired memories.
"Thanks," Namor said with a gentle smile.
Athlea shrugged: "No problem. Take care"
….
As he continued exploring, Namor came across a group of young atlanteans around his age playing underwater hockey near a bioluminescent fountain, also known as Octopush according to the memories he kept of Namor who used to enjoy this game.
One of the young atlanteans, a boy his age, approached, sizing him up.
"Namor! Want to play?" the boy asked. "We haven't seen you in a while"
"I was sick…" he replied, feeling a bit out of place. He remembered this boy's name was Lir, another orphan like him.
"I see…" Lir said, not entirely convinced. "Well, you can join if you want"
"No thanks, I have to go to the library…"
"The library? That's new," Lir raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah well, there are some things I want to look up," Namor laughed awkwardly and said goodbye to Lir and the others, not wanting to prolong the conversation.
Once he arrived at the library, he began searching for all kinds of information that young Namor naturally didn't have in his memories, or if he did, it was very basic.