A woman with long black hair and an iridescent fish tail for a lower body responds.

"Er, hello. Why are you glowing?"

"It's a side effect of how I'm breathing and moving around."

"And how are you doing that?"

"I got lucky and somehow ended up with a very special ring."

Well, that's a vague non-answer.

"Er, okay. So you're a surface-dweller then?"

"Yeah, I live on the surface most of the time. I guess I'm kinda a superhero by some standards but I do charity work not fights. My ring helps me do all kinds of things."

"Okay. Well, don't cause any trouble while you're here."

She swims off.

Well that was interesting. She doesn't feel like trying that again so she keeps swimming toward the palace.

After about ten minutes of ring-assisted floating—that she's moving through the water without kicking or paddling with her hands is probably one of several reasons passers-by keep giving her looks—she reaches the palace gardens. They consist primarily of beautifully-sculpted corals and aquatic plants in a panoply of vivid colors, with paths converging in clearings with marble statues or animated light sculptures that resemble holograms.

She floats around slowly just taking in the ambiance. It's beautiful.

While floating around the gardens, she (proverbially) bumps into a young man wearing clothing that resembles surface fashion more than anything else she's seen in the city so far. He looks troubled.

"Hello, are you enjoying the gardens? It's my first time visiting."

"Your first time?" He turns around. "Oh, you're from the surface, I suppose that explains it."

"I am. I'm actually from a different Earth where as far as I know Atlantis is just a legend so I wanted to visit when I learned it existed here."

"Sapphire, I presume? Batman mentioned you. My name is Kaldur'ahm."

"Oh, you work with the league. They've been very helpful. And yes that's my name. It's nice to meet you Kaldur'ahm."

"You could say I work with the League. Although I am considering stepping down and returning to Atlantis full-time."

"It sounds like you're trying to make a big decision would you like to talk about it? People tell me I'm a good listener."

"I might as well. I haven't made much progress on my own."

"Two years ago, when I was a student at the Conservatory of Sorcery, Poseidonis was attacked. I assisted Aquaman in battle, and afterwards he took me on as his protégé. I paused my studies in sorcery and spent more time in the surface world. I enjoyed it, it was exciting to leave Atlantis and see the world. Recently, I... took on another role which involves spending most of my time on the surface. And now, I find myself missing Atlantis, and the people I left behind. Yet, were I to return here, I suspect I would miss my friends from the surface. I am caught between two worlds, and I have to choose. Or, I have to commit to one of them, and let go of the other, or I'll remain distracted and unsatisfied. Does that make any sense?"

"It does, there's only so much time in the day and it's hard to do everything we might want to. Friends are important and it's hard when we lose touch with them."

"I am able to visit, and spend time in both places, but I am not able to... live two lives at once. I cannot be both an Atlantean sorcery student and a surface world hero. Perhaps the uncertainty I feel is uncertainty about who I want to become."

"What do you miss about Atlantis and about being a sorcery student when you're on the surface?"

"In part it's nostalgia for the life I used to lead, but mostly it's... someone who I care for very much. I think that if I want to be part of her life, to be with her, I can't be occupied with being a hero on the surface."

"Oh, that sounds hard. Is it possible that she could join you in your work on the surface?"

"She could, but I do not think she has the desire to do so. And it's not something I would ask of her."