261Neptune tapped his fingers on his throne. His blonde hair was swept back into a pony tale and his crisp blue eyes looked bored. His face was turned sideways, showing off his very sharply pointed nose and full lips. Dressed in what most mortals would consider an outlandishly gaudy outfit, he fit perfectly into a blue Shakespearian blouse with a silver vest and blue pants with silver embroidery. The throne he was sitting upon was gold and lavishly sculpted into the shape of waves, and the arm rests were dolphins carved out of the gold as well.
His court of otherworldly beings chattered around him. They were having a marvelous time: the merman and mermaids frolicked in the sea around the island. The water nymphs danced gracefully on the beach. The sea monsters, including the kraken, floated as close to the island as they could. The wave walkers ran in on the waves and onto the shore, shouting with excitement and delight. If one where to look on this gathering, one would say it was a party of some kind. But it really was not. This was an everyday occurrence for Neptune and his subjects. And frankly, Neptune was bored of it all.
He snapped his fingers. Immediately his only mortal servant, who went by the name of Pete, appeared at his side. He was an old, trusted servant of Neptune's.
"Yes, your Majesty?"
"I'm bored."
"Your Majesty?"
"I'm bored. It has been a century and a bit since I have had a nice mortal woman around here, has it not?"
"Yes, your Majesty."
"I think it's time to recruit a new one."
"Yes your majesty, but-"
"DARE YOU TO CONTRADICT ME?" Neptune's temper flared, and as his temper flared, he grew bigger and bigger, until his head almost touched the roof of his palace.
"No your majesty, but there might be some difficulties. You see, the world has changed greatly since you last took a mortal woman." Pete scratched his nearly bald head. "If you took a woman, depending on who she is, her family might make a fuss. Her picture would be in all the papers, on all televisions, and perhaps there would even be spies sent out to look for her. That is extreme, but it could happen, if you take the wrong kind of woman."
"Explain this to me." Neptune shrunk slowly down to size. He did not know much about the world outside of his island. In fact, none of his subjects knew what the mortal world was like, except for Pete who had lived as a mortal for the first fifty years of his life before he took a cruise. His ship had crashed, and Neptune had saved him upon a whim of his. Pete was the only person who knew what the mortal world was really like.
"Let us say that you capture a princess," Pete said. "Perhaps the country would think that another country kidnapped her, and then they went to war. Or, let us say that you take someone famously rich, like Paris Hilton. The whole world would be alerted of her disappearance."
"What kind of girl should I take then?"
"My advice, your Majesty, is to take no girl at all."
"THAT IS NOT YOUR BUSINESS." Neptune grew slightly, his cheeks flushed. He calmed down somewhat and shrunk a little. "Alright then. I will just have to take a nothing, non special girl; someone that no one will miss. She must be beautiful, of course," Pete struggled not to roll his eyes at this. "And she must be kind, loving, funny and willing to do anything I ask."
Pete nodded his head.
"I will find a girl such as this," he said. He left the room, lost in thought.
I doubt there is a girl anywhere in this world like that.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Terralyn leaned over the railing, letting the wind rush through her black hair. She was currently on a ship crossing over the Bermuda Triangle to visit her father. Although her mother had done everything in order to keep her from going, including telling her about all sorts of weird disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle and ghost stories and what not, she had been firm about her desire to spend the summer with her father.
After hearing the stories about the mysterious storms and disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, Terralyn's first thought had been "Nonsense." She acknowledged that there were plenty of storms which caused ships to sink and whatnot, but she refused to believe things like 'Ghost ships' and 'Ships vanishing in the fog without a trace'. So she boarded the ship without fear or doubt.
Her blue eyes scanned the waves, searching for dolphins. They had been jumping beside the ship when they had started off. Where had they gone?
Suddenly a shadow came over Terralyn's face, making her look up. Clouds covered the once perfectly blue sky, and the wind grew steadily stronger. The soft waves now turned into deadly looking white caps, and shouts could be heard from below decks; the captain was calling his full crew to man the ship.
A sailor passed her by, and paused a moment, telling her to get below deck, and then continued on. Terralyn did not go down to her room; below deck was the worst place to be if they crashed, instead, she hid herself between two metal boxes which were bolted to the deck. Within minutes rain came tearing down, striking the deck as if it were daggers. The ship rolled up and down sharply, as if it was a roller coaster. Terralyn clutched onto a metal pipe close to the metal boxes. Waves washed up on board, smashing down on everything and everyone. The sailors fought to lower the sail, but the wind was too strong. Terralyn heard a sickening snap and watched in horror as the mast fell down, smashing into the deck and straight through the ship.
"SHIT." She thought, as more and more water began to flood the small ship. "Shit. I'm going to die." The wind whipped her hair savagely across her face, getting into her eyes. She wished she had gone to her room and grabbed her life jacket. Looking down at the water, she somehow doubted a life jacket would help. She closed her eyes and hung onto the rail for dear life, and did the only thing she could think of; she prayer to god.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
God, in this case, was Neptune. He was the closest to her at the time; he was out on the sea, walking along the waves with his trusty servant Pete. Pete was the first to hear her cry of help.
"Do you hear that, Majesty? Someone is calling for you."
"Well, go take a look. If it is that important, send for me." He waved his hand nonchalantly. "Those mortals are so finicky. Sometimes they want our help, and sometimes they don't, and sometimes," he looked appalled. "They use our name for swear words."
"Yes, but you normally only hear calls for desperate help," Pete pointed out. Neptune continued to walk along the waves.
"Go see if this person really needs my help. Then call for me." He snapped his fingers and Pete disappeared, reappearing on the deck of Terralyn's ship.
Pete grabbed onto the railing with all his might, and looked around, horrified. The sea was ripping the ship to shreds, and the wind was drowning out the frantic yells and shouts as people were tossed overboard. Waves crashed over the ship savagely, soaking Pete within seconds upon arrival. Pete had seen some storms out at sea, but never any so nasty as this one.
Despite all the wind and rain, Pete managed to spot the girl who had called out desperately for help. He got onto his hands and knees and crawled towards her, managing to grab hold of the metal pipe before another wave crashed over them. Terralyn coughed and spluttered, but kept her eyes tightly shut as she continued to pray. In Pete's mind he could hear her words clearly.
"Please god. Take me away from here. I promise to be good. I promise not to swear. I'll give all my money to charity. I'll always tell the truth. I'll always tell my parents that I love them. I'll do anything. Please god, save me."
Pete reached over and laid his hand on her shoulder. Her eyes flew open, and Pete found himself looking in the most beautiful blue eyes he'd ever seen. Another wave crashed down on them, causing them both to cough and shut their eyes tightly.
"DO YOU WANT TO GO AWAY FROM HERE?" Pete shouted.
"WHAT?" Terralyn screamed.
"I SAID DO YOU WANT TO GO AWAY FROM HERE?"
"MORE THAN ANYTHING!"
In his mind, he said: "Neptune. She needs you."
In a flash they were gone from the ship and back on the waves. Neptune held a fainted Terralyn in his arms, looking down on her with an intense, puzzled expression.
"This is not a girl," he said. "You said 'she needs you' this is not a she."
"I beg your pardon?" then Pete realized why Neptune had said this. Pete began to laugh. Neptune grew outraged, growing bigger by the second.
"HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME?"
Pete stopped laughing.
"Forgive me, you're Majesty. But, she is a girl. That is how girls dress in the mortal world."
"This is outrageous!" Neptune bellowed. "Not to mention indecent. How can a girl wear trousers? Men wear trousers!"
"Not anymore," Pete chuckled. Terralyn stirred softly, opening her blurry eyes. Most of her damp hair lay over her face, and slowly she lifted her hand, pushing it back and looking around dazedly. She looked down at the arms that were supporting her, then up at Neptune, blinking in the harsh sunlight.
She's beautiful. Neptune thought, looking down at her fondly as if she were his pet. If I can get her into some skirts, and maybe brush her hair, she will be the most beautiful woman of my court.
She looked up at him, perplexed, then down at the water. Neptune waited patiently for her to scream, which was what any normal maiden would do in this situation, but to his great surprise, she did not. She looked back up at him, and glared at him intensely.
"PUT ME DOWN OR I'LL BITE YOUR NOSE OFF!" she yelled.
Pete gasped and snatched the girl from Neptune's arms, which at that second, may have crushed the girl as he grew taller. Neptune's face flushed a deep red, and he opened his mouth to yell at her.
"Please, your majesty, don't." Pete said frantically. "She didn't know any better! She doesn't understand what's going on!"
"EXPLAIN IT TO HER THEN!" Neptune thundered. Terralyn continued to glare up at him from Pete's arms. Pete looked down at Terralyn. He tightened his arms, then let her drop from them. With a thump she hit the waves, and stayed there, on top of the waves, as if they were a moving floor.
She scrambled up wards onto her feet, her eyes wide with alarm. She looked down at the waves, then at Pete, and then at the towering Neptune.
"What's going on?" she whispered. Pete gave Neptune a look. With a sigh, the god shrunk back down to size.
"You were about to die," Pete said. "The waves were going to destroy your boat. We heard your prayer, so Neptune saved you."
"Neptune?" Terralyn asked, confused. Pete inclined his head slightly towards the fidgeting Neptune. Terralyn's mouth formed an 'O', then she looked back down at the waves, watching as some fish swam below the surface.
"Whatever," she said. "This is just a dream anyway. Why not throw some gods into it?"
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME!" Neptune thundered, growing taller by the second. "THE ONLY REASON YOU ARE STILL STANDING IS BECAUSE OF ME!"
"Oh yah?" Terralyn stared up at the giant Neptune, not intimidated at all. "Proove it!"
Then she abruptly dropped into the water.
Terralyn thrashed around slightly, startled at the change of events in her 'dream'. She kicked her legs, pumping herself back to the surface, but her legs were tired. She herself was exhausted, and because she believed this to be a dream, she was not worried about drowning. She let herself sink down as she thought very clearly:
"If this was real life, I'd be dead."
Above the surface, Neptune stood, fuming at the insolence of the girl. Pete was yelling at him, and frantically waving his hands.
"IF SHE'S SO SMART, SHE CAN SWIM UP!" Neptune boomed.
"You're majesty! She doesn't believe this is real!" Pete said. "She's probably letting herself drown, thinking that she'll wake up and everything will be alright!"
"WHAT?!" Neptune boomed, and then he dove under the water, now completely normal size. He shaped his eyes like a fish, and searched the depths for any sign of the girl. He spotted her further down and swam faster, shaping his legs into a single fin. He grabbed the girl by the arm, and dragged her up to the surface, throwing her up in the air. He jumped out of the water and landed on his feet just in time to catch her.
"Well," Terralyn said, after coughing up water for a few minutes. "That was interesting."
Neptune brushed her hair out of her eyes.
"This is not a dream," he said quietly and firmly. "You are here because I decided to save you, and I expect you to be grateful for that."
"I am grateful," she said. "But I refuse to believe this isn't a dream. Now put me down."
"No," he said. "You are too weak to walk by yourself."
"I don't need help from anyone," she murmured, here eyes drooping. "Not anyone." Her ragged breathing evened out, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Neptune smiled down at her, and then turned to Pete.
"Shall we go back to the palace?"
"I believe so, your majesty." They set off across the waves, Pete slightly behind Neptune. Neptune looked down on Terralyn fondly every few minutes. Pete found this terribly amusing and chuckled quietly to himself.
"Why are you laughing?" Neptune asked, turning his head.
"Normally gods don't care about humans because they believe they are 'just mortals'."
"True, she is just a mortal," Neptune said. "But she is my mortal."
"You make her sound like a Barbie doll."
"What is a 'Barbie Doll'?"
"Never mind," Pete waved his hand. "Basically what I mean to say is that she might not appreciate you saying that she's 'yours'. For all you know she might have a boyfriend."
"Pfft. A boyfriend? Do not make me laugh! What is a mere mortal boy compared to me?!" Pete rolled his eyes but kept silent. After a few minutes, they reached the island.
Neptune opened the door telepathically and marched through the palace, up the main staircase and visualized a room he considered 'perfect' for Terralyn; the walls were pink and there was a white canopy bed with a rose-print cover in the center of the room. The carpet was pink, the chair and vanity was white, and the curtains were white. A pink door led out to a small balcony overlooking the ocean. He would have carved her name into the door, but he did not know her name. He laid her down on the bed and brushed the hair out of her eyes. She stirred slightly as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"I do not even know your name," he whispered.
"Terralyn," she said. "I'm Terralyn." She opened her eyes, and then let out a scream. "What are you doing in my bed?" she yelled. Neptune leaped up, looking disgruntled. She looked around the room and let out another scream.
"It's pink! God forbid, it's pink!" she yelled, covering her eyes with her hands. "I'm in a pink freakin' nightmare!"
"I-I-I BEG YOUR PARDON?" Neptune grew two inches. Terralyn kept ranting on and on, with her hands over her face, not paying any attention to what he said.
"-first I almost die on a ship, then I end up in some wacko dream where I'm walking on water like freakin' Jesus, and then I fall into the water and almost die, and then some guy lies down in bed with me! What is this, a backwards universe? Honestly-"
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME?" Neptune roared. Terralyn stopped ranting and looked up at Neptune, her eyes wide. "THE ONLY REASON YOU ARE ALIVE IS BECAUSE OF MY GENEROSITY!"
Terralyn said nothing for a moment. Neptune huffed a little, unable to find any words to continue his rant. Terralyn turned away from him abruptly.
"Fine, whatever!" Terralyn yelled. Then she threw herself under the covers, her back facing Neptune. Neptune paused a moment, bitterly confused. He was used to having people cower or grovel when he was angry. He shrunk a few inches with a huff, and then headed towards the door. He turned back to look at the bed, then he heard a soft, almost silent sound; faint sobbing. He approached the bed quietly and drew the covers up; only to have the covers yanked out of his arms as Terralyn pulled the covers back over her head.
"GO AWAY!" she sobbed. Now, normally this obscene command from a mere mortal would have made Neptune mad, but as it was, he could only feel sorry for Terralyn.
"Are you alright?" he whispered through the blankets near where he guessed her ear to be.
"I'm just tired," Terralyn said from under the covers.
"Perhaps this will cheer you up," he said. He lifted the covers off the bed gently. Terralyn was crunched into a ball with her face hidden in her arms. "Look!"
Terralyn looked up and let out a gasp of surprise; while she was hidden under the covers, Neptune had changed the room into a mermaid's paradise; the walls were sea blue with a blue carpet. The walls and tables were decorated with shells, and a hammock hung in the corner of the room. Her bed was now a white canopy with a vibrant blue cover decorated with paint seashell patterns.
Terralyn breathed a sigh of relief.
"So much better than the pink, though I don't like blue much either," she muttered. Neptune's pleased smile seemed to freeze on his face. "Kidding! Kidding!" Terralyn laughed, her tears forgotten. "I love blue!"
Neptune looked like he was about to explode with anger for a moment, then he looked at Terralyn's pleased face, and he calmed down.
"I am pleased that you like it," he said. "Now I should let you sleep."
"Sleep? How can I sleep after seeing this?!" She got up off the bed and twirled around. Neptune caught her by the waist and twirled with her. Terralyn let out a laugh as they swung around.
"Normally if a guy randomly grabbed me and started dancing I would be pretty mad," she pointed out, still dancing with him. "But since this is a dream, and I'm going to wake up soon, I really don't care."
"I am not just 'a guy'. I am Neptune, god of the sea," Neptune said. He slowed down and dipped Terralyn low, so her head was almost touching the floor. "And this is no dream. This," he leaned down so their lips were only an inch apart. "Is reality."
Terralyn gasped, and then burst out laughing.
"That was the lamest pick up line I've ever heard!" she laughed. This comment made Neptune extremely angry. He set her on her feet and grasped her by the shoulders. He shook her violently, his face turning purple.
"Let us get one thing straight, Miss Terralyn," Neptune said coldly, his voice as frigid as an iceberg. Terralyn's eyes widened in fear at his tone of voice. She had seen him get angry, but right now he was downright furious. "I am god here. If you annoy me, I will kill you without batting an eyelid. Show some respect, and remember that there are consequences to your actions."
He let her go suddenly and she fell to the ground. Neptune turned on his heel and strolled to the door.
"Go to bed," Neptune ordered. Then he slammed the door.
Terralyn picked herself up from the floor and shook herself slightly. She reached up and touched her shoulders; they were bruised.
"It's true," she said aloud. "This isn't a dream."
She lay down on the bed and drew the covers up to her chin.
Now that she had discovered that this was not a dream, she did not know if she was happy or not.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Authors note: how do you like it so far? Please review! Give it a rating, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.