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Prince Charming Diaries Volume 3
Diary of a Sea Prince
Rushing Water, 6, Year of the Green Horse
Note 2
I really wish Nereus would like me. But even if he cannot like me, it would be nice if he at least respected me. But now that he knows that I am from the bloodline of the Star People, he openly hates me. Zeus has made me his envoy with the Sea People, but they all dislike me. If you have never lived in a city full of people who hate you, you are lucky. The Sea People are an odd race. Judging by the greenish tint in my hair, and the fact that I can breathe underwater, I have Sea blood in me too. But this does not seem to matter to Nereus' people.
There are many different races of beings in the watery kingdom. Merpeople, Seapeople, Nyads, and so on. Mermen are a lot more unpleasant than the Seamen. But none of them are as bad tempered as the courtiers of Nereus' court. All those honored to serve the king of the sea, have been carefully selected, from among the nastiest people in all the Sea Realm. I do not mean to complain, but it would seem the truth. I once voiced my opinion to Zeus, and he got angry and told me that the Sea People were the kindest people in all the world. Not to people they dislike. I am top on that list.
Poseidon
Rushing Water, 9, Year of the Green Horse
Note 3
It started out as a bad day. I awoke to find my bed crawling with little crabs. I was bit and pinched two or three times before I was able to drive away the dirty little beasts. I was late for breakfast. How Nereus glared. His courtiers snickered and took great pleasure in my pain.
“If one is late, they are excused from the meal.” Nereus thundered. I was in a predicament. I was supposed to be Nereus' lord, yet if I listened to him, I would be puting myself lower. If I failed to keep his rules, he would have an excuse to complain about me to Zeus. I would have given anything to get out of Nereus' Realm, but not with a smirched character. Everyone had their eyes on me. They knew it was a situation that I was going to lose.
I am not clever like Hades, nor skilled like Zeus. I was hopelessly outnumbered, hated for things I could not control. It was not fair. I wanted to lash out wildly, but that would have made things worse. It would only have proved that I was an immature child. Even if I had already seen twenty Rushing Water seasons, I still felt foolish and childish. What was I to do? I took a deep breath. The only thing to do was react as I always would. There was no sense in changing who I was.
“I do apologize for disturbing your court routine.” I said quietly, “I do not expect things to go smoothly until I have learned the schedule perfectly.” I had already been in the underwater kingdom for almost six years. There was no excuse. One of the Seamen whispered something to Nereus.
“Would you order me to serve you breakfast?” he demanded belligerently. I wished myself anywhere, even in the Old Star Palace, rather then in that breakfast chamber. I was failing again.
“Of course not.” I said, he cocked his head, “Usually the servants do that.” I added lamely. Someone snickered. I flushed.
“Bring his little lordship some fishballs.” Nereus said with a sneer, to one of the attending lobrats. They were the most interesting breed of servants in the palace. But also the meanest. They have large lobster claws, but they are covered with a red velvety fur and have ears and a tail, rather like a rat. There pointed faces have little fangs, quite good for prying open jars. But they are not above snapping and biting people, especially me.
I hate fishballs. Little greasy leftover fish bits, rolled into a tight wad and bound with sea leave. They are bitter and slimy. Gag worthy. Nevertheless I gulped the horrible stuff down and made my escape. But someone was waiting for me. It was Ion. I rather liked him. He was the only person in the entire underwater kingdom, who had ever been nice to me. If you could call him a person. He is Sea Goblin.
The Sea People are ranked in a peculiar order. It is not the same as Titan, Mythicals or Star ranks, which are all similar. The Sea People can rise and fall in rank, depending on there age. I'll try to make a simple chart.
Fish- lowest of all
The regular fish, most of which are without minds. But they make excellent eating.
Halflings- second lowest of all
Someone who is half of the Sea and half of the land. Metis is a halfling. I am considered a Fourthling, which is lower then fish and does not even make it to the register of Sea People.
Beasts- low class
Lumbering water creatures. Water ox are very powerful. Seacats are a favorite of the mermaidens. But it would take to long to name all of the sea beasts.
Nymphs- low class
Seawomen who prefer lakes, rivers and streams. Freshwater, instead of Saltwater.
Hybrids- low class
Seabeasts and fish that have mingled, such as the Lobrat, or the whalafant.
Great Fish- middle class
Whales and Sea Serpents mostly.
Seawomen/Nyads- middle class
Seawomen who prefer to stay on islands in the sea. They mostly live in communities.
Sea Goblins- Upper middle class
Goblins who can live in water as well as on land. They are generally better tempered than Mountain Goblins or even Forest Goblins. They are mostly soldiers.
Merpeople- upper middle class
Seapeople with tails and fins instead of legs. They need water to breathe.
Shark Warriors- Upper Class
The most intelligent of all the fish. These are battle hardened, and obey only Nereus. They make up the bulk of the Seawarriors.
Seamen/Nerads- Upper Class
Seamen can breathe in air, and they have legs, but they prefer to remain underwater, and it happens once in every ten centuries that one ventures ashore. The Nyads are there women, but they are rarely together, which makes their population growth, one child every ten years.
Mermaidens- High rank
Merwomen who are dedicated to care of the Underwater Palaces and temples. They never marry.
Merwarriors- High Rank
Mermen who swear to spend the rest of their lives serving the Sea King in his vast army.
Sea Elves- High Rank
There is some debate about whether or not Sea Elves or Merwarriors are higher in rank. Sea Elves acknowledge Nereus as their overlord, but do not have much interest in the palace. They tend to live in the deeper places and fight the dangerous monsters. They are very bad tempered. Except Zeus' old friend Seth, who is the ambassador.
Sea King
Nereus is the current Sea King. In the past there have been multiple Sea Kings, but under Nereus, the Sea united under one banner.
Olympian Lord
Me, Poseidon, third son of Cronus, the late Star Father. According to Zeus, I should be the highest rank on the chart. But I am treated like the lowest.
That is the detailed ranks of the Sea. I suppose if anyone saw it, they would tell me it was all wrong. I have to watch every word I say, because someone is always following me, to catch any mistake I might make. They hate me, because I am the son of Cronus. I think it is their kind that drove every new Star Father to greater evil. If everyone spits in your face all day, I would probably spit back. As it is, Zeus set it up so they cannot do that, without starting a war. But I am sure some of them would love to start a war.
Back to the story. Ion was waiting for me. I gave him a false smile. When I say he had been nice to me, I mean he had failed to torment men when opportunity left me wide open.
“A word in your ear, lord.” he whispered. I glanced around, shrugged and approached him.
“What is it?” I asked suspiciously.
“Monsters, me lord.” Ion whispered into my ear, “Three of them are presiding on Lake Midard. No one dares go there. Even Nereus trembles at the thought of them. We are forbidden to speak of- of-” he leaned closer, “Medusa and her sisters.” he breathed so softly I almost did not catch his words.
“What are they?” I whispered back.
“Deadly spawns that crept from the Underworld.” Ion hissed, “Stirred and woken by that meddling Hades.” I frowned.
“Why does no one kill them if they are so much trouble?” I demanded.
“They have tried, but the wicked creatures turn all those that gaze upon them to stone.” Ion argued. My eyes bulged.
“They must be destroyed.” I cried.
“Oh what honor Nereus would give to the one that frees Midard and avenges all the Nymphs and fish who used to live there.” Ion sighed.
I clenched my fists. This was the chance I had been waiting for. If I freed Midard, Nereus would have to admit that he needed me. But how was I to accomplish what all others had failed to do?
“I shall speak to Nereus directly.” I said out loud.
“No, you mustn't.” Ion gasped. I was startled.
“Why not?” I demanded.
“Because he would think in order to keep the peace, you must stay out of danger.” Ion cried, then his voice grew softer, “Write a letter my lord, I shall pass it to him once you are safely on your way.
“Thank you.” I said earnestly, “You are a true friend.” I clasped his hand, then hurried down the corridor to make preparations.
Poseidon
Rushing Water, 12, Year of the Green Horse
Note 4
After three short days of preparation, planning and avoiding Nereus, I am ready to take off. Instead of leaving directly for Lake Midard, I plan to bypass and go down the Belt of Orion. Midard and Orion span most of the Mythicals' Kingdom. If I can locate my brother Hermes, I plan to borrow his winged sandals. Medusa and her sisters would be watching the lakes, rivers and land, they would not be watching the air.
Poseidon
Rushing Water, 20, Year of the Green Horse
Note 5
And my journey came to a crashing halt. I was reaching the curve of the Belt. I was going to splash ashore, rather then be swept into the Pipe, as the rushing river outlet was called. But this plan was changed when a tidal wave of rolling water, crashed down the Belt directly towards me. There was not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind in the air. I knew that I had been trapped. I splashed towards the shore, but it was to late. The water caught me up and flung me down the Pipe. I choked and gasped. Was I going to drown? Then I remembered I could breathe underwater. I tried to calm myself. But I guess I couldn't breathe water and air at the same time. I started choking. I was dragged down the Pipe, scraped and dragged against the shallow water, but unable to stop. I thought that I would be flung into the Endless Waters and swept away forever.
Suddenly, someone swept down from the sky, and caught me by the arm. I was dragged out of the churning waters and into the air. Then I was flung down to the ground. I sat up coughing and gagging. I think my brother Hermes was about sixteen at the time. Age had never bothered me before, so I tended to forget ages and birthdays and focus on the more important matters.
Hermes put his hands on his hips and glared down at me. But I was to happy to be rescued to care. Since Zeus had presented him with the winged hat and shoes, I had never seen Hermes on the ground. He liked to hover a few inches above the heads of whoever happened to be around at the moment.
“What a fine fish, I fetched from the frigged- er- freshwater frozen- um-” he hesitated. I raised my eyebrows, and spat out some water.
“What's with the alliteration, Hermes?” I asked.
“I've been composing poems.” he cried eagerly, his eyes glinting, “There are these lovely Nymphs-”
“Say no more.” I sighed. Hermes had been writing love notes and compositions since he was a baby. It was really annoying. Of course he would probably have died of shame if anyone, particularly his special fancy, had ever read the horrific rubbish. I know Hades read them.
“But you got to tell me what you think of this composition.” Hermes wailed. This was new.
“You want me to read one of your poems?” I demanded, as I wrung out my brown hair.
“This is true love, and she only deserves the best.” Hermes sighed, “It has to be perfect.” I winced. What would my other siblings say?
There was no doubt about it, I knew exactly what they would all say and do. Zeus, would tell Hermes to take it to Hestia, or wait until later when he was no busy. Hestia would listen and find something beautiful about it. Zeus' wife Hera would scorn to even hear it. Hades would make a cutting remark about Hermes' age, then snatch the paper and probably read it to all of Olympus and the Sea World. His wife Persephone would not listen to it, if Hades didn't want too. Hephaestus would listen, then claim he didn't understand poetry, so he couldn't give an opinion. Apollo would laugh and go into detail about all the problems of his poor style and technique. His twin sister Amertis would say that poetry was for fools. Ares would subtly change everything so Hermes had to admire him. Athena would have little to say except the truth. Dionysus was to young to have an opinion. But what would I do?
“I'll listen to you, only if you will lend me your hat and shoes.” I said quietly. I was surprised at myself. What was I thinking, Hermes would never lend me his magic gifts.
“How long?” my younger brother demanded, his bottom lip jutting out.
“Uh- maybe a month or two.” I said at last, even more amazed.
“Done!” Hermes cried, seizing my arm and shaking it, “No backsies.” I blinked. Hermes fluttered down to the ground and took off his sandals and hat.
“Are you serious?” I cried, “What would Zeus say?”
“He didn't have time to listen to me, so I don't care what he says or thinks.” Hermes growled. Just how bad was this poetry? I started strapping the sandals onto my feet.
“Go ahead and read.” I said lamely. Hermes grinned, then to my horror, he unstrapped a little golden lyre from his back and began to strum on it, while singing ridiculously out of tune. I winced. It was worse than awful.
My mesmerizing maiden mild
Sweetest symphonies of sunshine slide
From fairest facial fiery fronds
Look longingly lost love
at an amazing astonishing astounding-
Hermes hesitated and scratched his head. I winced again and rubbed my ears. No they were not bleeding, which was a great surprise.
“Go on.” I whispered weakly.
“I'm stuck.” Hermes sighed, “What should I do? I can't think of another A word.”
“Ass.” I said.
“To crude.” he said. I stared at him and shook my head. He was hopeless.
“I cannot help you.” I said, “I gave my input. What's a frond anyway?”
“I made it up.” Hermes said gleefully, “I think it means locks of loosely flowing curls.” I shuddered. That was the worst thing I had heard yet.
I stood up, forgetting about the sandals and hat. Immediately the hat took off on it's own and my feet followed, flipping me upside down.
“Ugh!” I screamed.
“Do you think athletic should come next?” Hermes mused. I was carried up into the clouds, and thankfully out of earshot.
Poseidon
Rushing Water, 22, Year of the Green Horse
Note 6
How does he do it? How can anyone travel in winged sandals? They behave so poorly, as if they were ill-mannered children. I have taken to roaming barefoot through the forest. I am quite lost. My feet have been cut to ribbons on thorns and sharp rocks. My clothes not much better. It really doesn't seem like I've only been on this horrible quest for ten days, it feels like an eternity. But when I think of the glory I will gain in Nereus' court and Hermes horrifyingly horrendous horrible heinous poetry I keep going. After all, everyone gets a reward for their deeds. Unfortunately, it isn't always the preferred reward.
By evening, I was short on temper. There was a thorn filled gorge, that I had spent hours trying to skirt, only for it to curve back around in the direction I had come from. Wild animals were howling to close for comfort. If any Mythicals tried to have me for dinner, I would given them a splash with my trident. A painful one too. I was quite angry enough for a battle. But I still wished I knew what kind of beasts they were. If there were big ones nearby, I would have liked to know about it.
I tried to cut back to the original path, but only succeeded in getting myself hopelessly lost. Finally, I decided that it was time to try the sandals and hat again. If I could get the wretched things to work, I could fly above the treetops and get to the Midard river. I sat down on a rock and wiped my bloodstained foot, with the hem of my robe. A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air, drowning out the animals. My hair stood up on end and I dropped the sandals. They fluttered a few inches into the air, before falling to the ground.
“Help!” the voice screamed again. I snatched up the sandals, stuffed them into my sash and took of in the direction of the cries.
I burst into a small clearing. In the center of a ring of grass, were two intertwining trees. About five massive shaggy creatures, with bloodstained fangs, were circling them. Perched in the branches was a slender figure wearing a heavy brown coat and a turban. She was screaming for help. I brandished my trident and approached.
“Get out of here.” the girl cried, “The warebeasts will devour you.” Even as she spoke, the largest beast crouched down, then leaped out the tree. For a moment he clung to one of the trunks, his snapping fangs only inches from the girl's feet. She screamed and tried to climb higher. The branches bent and cracked under her weight. Her attacker tumbled back to the ground, pulling bark and branches with it. The other beasts began to circle the trees in a slow run. The girl's hand fluttered around her head. I thought she was going to faint. If she did, she would fall. I had to help. I lifted the trident high and slammed it into the ground.
The ground rumbled and shook, geysers of water spurted up in fountains. The beasts turned, their eyes were glowing with red fire. Two licked their jaws. The others crouched down, ready to spring at me.
“They will kill you, nothing will stop the Warebeasts!” the girl screamed, “You're dead.” The last rays of the sun disappeared behind the trees and the darkness crept over me. The first beast leaped with a terrible roar. I spun aside, slashing with the trident. The prongs sliced through the thick neck and blood spurted. The beast stumbled and let out a gasping roar. But he rose in a flash and turned back towards me. I heard the girl babbling. But I didn't need her to tell me that I had failed.
The other beasts leaped towards me, I slid to the side, but they were ready this time. They seemed to turn in midair, and landed only inches away from me. The nearest one reared up, it's terrible claws slashing at my face. I plunged the trident into it's heart. The beast howled and jerked away, nearly taking my gift with it. I yanked it away. Blood dripped off the smooth green metal. I twirled the trident, causing it to flash eerily in the strange light. Another beast leaped at me. I struck the ground and it was swept away with a roar in a sudden flood of water. The other beasts hesitated, then turned and darted off into the darkness. Only one remained. The one I had struck in the heart was lying dead at my feet. I stepped over it and ran to the the tree.
“Are you a fool?” I demanded, as I leaned the trident against the tree and helped her climb down, “You get a whole forest and you chose a clearing.”
“You know little about the Illyrian forest.” the girl said. She brushed some bark off of her coat. She was odd looking. Small and petite, her head only up to my chest. The red cloth, which was wrapped around her head, hid every strand of hair. Her small narrow face was dirty and mostly hidden by the high collar of the strange coat. Underneath the coat she was wearing baggy trousers and a long shirt.
“A simple thank you would have sufficed.” I said, with a smile. The girl did not smile back.
“You annoyed them.” she said crisply, “They will return in greater numbers and strength.”
“They were animals.” I said, my face growing hot, “They didn't have minds.”
“They were Mythicals and you are a fool.” the girl retorted.
I gathered up the hat and sandals. Biting my tongue to keep from shouting angry words, I started on my way.
“You're just going to run off?” the girl cried as she darted after me.
“What if I am?” I demanded, “I have a long way to go.”
“I better keep you out of trouble then.” she retorted and fell into step with me. I stopped and stared at her.
“Are you coming with me?” I asked.
“Yes.” she said and tossed her turbaned head. I shrugged.
“I'm going on a quest, it's not safe for girls.” I said, “But it's your choice.” I really didn't want her to come with me.
The girl ignored me, so I kept walking. She followed. I was irritated but couldn't really do anything about it. It would have been unreasonable to tell someone who happened to walking in the same direction as me, to buzz off. It grew darker and darker. I had planned on spending the night in some water, but there didn't seem to be any water about. I decided that a tree was the next best place.
“Well, it's getting late.” I said with a yawn, “I think I shall spread my bed in one of those trees.” I moved towards the nearest one. The girl kept following. I gritted my teeth and climbed. I wasn't accustomed to climbing. After several awkward attempts and two cuts, I finally got myself as near to the top as I dared. The girl perched two branches higher than me and made herself comfortable on a forked branch. I wasn't quite as comfortable. The bark pressed painfully against my skin.
“You can call me Trite, if you like.” the girl said, just as my eyes were about to close. I snapped them open again.
“I wasn't planning on calling you anything.” I said dryly. Trite shrugged.
“What do they call you?” she asked.
“Loser.” I said, and closed my eyes.
“Sounds applicable.” was the scathing response. I made no response, but I was dreadfully humiliated.
Poseidon
To Be Continued
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