The walls shook and the floor quaked, windows ages old shattered and splintered, and fell to the ground with weak resolve; with pathetic, defeated clanks I could never have imagined. The throne room was falling apart, and so was the entire palace. This much I knew, much else I didn t. The War was coming to an end. The Olympians had failed, the heroes had failed. Kronos was on the verge of victory. The age of gods was over. I could feel in in my veins, and there was no retreat not to Oceanus, not to Tethys, for my very own parents would take arms against me. They d warned me not to marry Poseidon but I d refused to listen. They d warned me his reign would never last but I had scoffed at the claim. Poseidon . . . out in the ocean, losing the battle against the primordial beings who had risen to reclaim what once was theirs.
In here, sitting on my throne I felt useless. I was powerless to stop the inevitable. For a moment curiosity seized me. I peeked out into the ocean, my domain. Forty thousand miles away my son Triton fierce as a lion, was fighting to protect his kingdom. Next moment, a flash of blinding light and he was on the ground, stunned by a being even Zeus would be at a loss to identify. I could not bear to watch as it bore down upon him, for surely he must crumble. Elsewhere, Poseidon s battle was only getting wilder, more unstable. I watched as he wove and ducked, firing beam upon beam of destructive wave from the three-pronged spear. He himself was aglow, like the corals that lined Atlantis, except a million times brighter, and around him the ocean boiled, its surface frothed the sea was at war with itself. Oceanus had risen from the depths, monstrous as I had always remembered, his body lined with burning, blue lines that were hard to look at. He struck, my dear husband parried, the sea exploded. The throne room shook violently as if the attack had happened outside. I fell to my knees. What was I to do? I, Amphitrite, the thrice girdled, the Queen of the Sea, the laughing water, Salacia the salty foam . . . was this how it was all to end? I couldn t let it. I couldn t. . . . A single tear fell from my cheek and onto the crystal white floors. A flower formed where my sorrow fell. A brilliant blue daffodil. It wilted as I watched, turned to ash, disappeared. There was no hope.
There was huge explosion. I felt even weaker. A part of me had gone. I knew then, without knowing how I knew, that he was gone. Poseidon was gone. It seemed trivial at first, unimportant. What did I feel? Was it grief, was it anger, was it emptiness, despair; was this what hopelessness felt like? Then the pain washed over my broken shell. Brand me, whip me, and flay me! None of those could compare to the turmoil I felt within. He had been unfaithful, proud, aloof all of the things I detested. But he was Poseidon. My Poseidon. It may seem harsh to you, mortal, that I brushed away the death of a loyal son and mourned that of a philandering husband. We gods are curious creatures, I admit. But that was what I felt. My hair tingled, turning blood red, my eyes darkened, now as deep and horrid as onyx. The redness my lips vanished, replaced by nothing but cold paleness. I could feel the sorrow of an entire ocean the plague that was the arrival of an old lord bent on vengeance. Oceanus would not be forgiving. Even now I could hear his voice in my head, giving orders to his army, instructing them to find my husband s generals, his lieutenants.
They were coming for me. Nothing mattered. I was already fading. I was unafraid. What was worth living for? The memories of a dead husband, of a son killed in battle? Life, especially an immortal one, was meaningless now. And what role would I serve in this new regime? I would be shamed, manhandled, abused. I would be a trinket for the Titans to play with. I could not bear the thought.
The double doors gave way. It was a spirit I did not know. It oozed malice of the kind I had never encountered. It had been sent to bring me in, this evil mass. I gazed upon its blackness, its searing heat, and smiled. It would not have me. From within I felt what Helios must have felt, what Selene must have gone through. I was falling into nothing, into oblivion, for that is how gods end. For those lucky enough to have taken refuge in those darkest parts of the cosmos, far away from Kronos grasp, I wished a happy existence, the irony lost in my delirium. I wouldn t be among them. All was lost. This was the end.
In here, sitting on my throne I felt useless. I was powerless to stop the inevitable. For a moment curiosity seized me. I peeked out into the ocean, my domain. Forty thousand miles away my son Triton fierce as a lion, was fighting to protect his kingdom. Next moment, a flash of blinding light and he was on the ground, stunned by a being even Zeus would be at a loss to identify. I could not bear to watch as it bore down upon him, for surely he must crumble. Elsewhere, Poseidon s battle was only getting wilder, more unstable. I watched as he wove and ducked, firing beam upon beam of destructive wave from the three-pronged spear. He himself was aglow, like the corals that lined Atlantis, except a million times brighter, and around him the ocean boiled, its surface frothed the sea was at war with itself. Oceanus had risen from the depths, monstrous as I had always remembered, his body lined with burning, blue lines that were hard to look at. He struck, my dear husband parried, the sea exploded. The throne room shook violently as if the attack had happened outside. I fell to my knees. What was I to do? I, Amphitrite, the thrice girdled, the Queen of the Sea, the laughing water, Salacia the salty foam . . . was this how it was all to end? I couldn t let it. I couldn t. . . . A single tear fell from my cheek and onto the crystal white floors. A flower formed where my sorrow fell. A brilliant blue daffodil. It wilted as I watched, turned to ash, disappeared. There was no hope.
There was huge explosion. I felt even weaker. A part of me had gone. I knew then, without knowing how I knew, that he was gone. Poseidon was gone. It seemed trivial at first, unimportant. What did I feel? Was it grief, was it anger, was it emptiness, despair; was this what hopelessness felt like? Then the pain washed over my broken shell. Brand me, whip me, and flay me! None of those could compare to the turmoil I felt within. He had been unfaithful, proud, aloof all of the things I detested. But he was Poseidon. My Poseidon. It may seem harsh to you, mortal, that I brushed away the death of a loyal son and mourned that of a philandering husband. We gods are curious creatures, I admit. But that was what I felt. My hair tingled, turning blood red, my eyes darkened, now as deep and horrid as onyx. The redness my lips vanished, replaced by nothing but cold paleness. I could feel the sorrow of an entire ocean the plague that was the arrival of an old lord bent on vengeance. Oceanus would not be forgiving. Even now I could hear his voice in my head, giving orders to his army, instructing them to find my husband s generals, his lieutenants.
They were coming for me. Nothing mattered. I was already fading. I was unafraid. What was worth living for? The memories of a dead husband, of a son killed in battle? Life, especially an immortal one, was meaningless now. And what role would I serve in this new regime? I would be shamed, manhandled, abused. I would be a trinket for the Titans to play with. I could not bear the thought.
The double doors gave way. It was a spirit I did not know. It oozed malice of the kind I had never encountered. It had been sent to bring me in, this evil mass. I gazed upon its blackness, its searing heat, and smiled. It would not have me. From within I felt what Helios must have felt, what Selene must have gone through. I was falling into nothing, into oblivion, for that is how gods end. For those lucky enough to have taken refuge in those darkest parts of the cosmos, far away from Kronos grasp, I wished a happy existence, the irony lost in my delirium. I wouldn t be among them. All was lost. This was the end.