So this is a loose retelling of the story of Amphitrite and Poseidon, but there are quite a few changes. It's a soulmate fic and they have a strictly monogamous relationship, among other alterations. Thank you to garglyswoof and goldcaught for beta help and to arrenemris for the beautiful cover art!
For Paula (howeverlongs on tumblr). Check out her graphics and gifsets and general awesomeness!
"Nik? Stefan?"
Klaus looked up from his conversation to see Rebekah standing in the seashell-encrusted archway to his throne room, her brow furrowed.
"Hello, sister."
"What are you discussing?" she asked slowly, taking a few steps towards them, her eyes fixed on her husband's face. Stefan was watching her warily, his strong jaw set in a grimace, muscles tense.
"Your betrayal, obviously," Klaus drawled, and Rebekah stiffened.
"You had no right, Nik," Rebekah said, her voice shaky, her eyes darting to Stefan, who looked away as soon as she tried to meet his eyes. "Stefan, please. You must understand-"
"I think I understand perfectly well, Bekah."
"It was just a dalliance. It meant nothing to me," she said softly, reaching out to touch Stefan's cheek, but he flinched away, and her face fell. "I love you, Stefan."
Stefan stalked out without a word, leaving Rebekah looking slightly lost before she rounded on him, teeth bared.
Klaus was aware that ruining his sister's relationships shouldn't be amusing to him, but Stefan had never been good enough for her, and neither had the 'dalliance' whom she claimed to love. When Stefan had come to him asking for the truth about Rebekah's comings and goings... well, given the choice between lying to the man who made his tridents or enraging the fickle goddess of love, there was only one answer that was acceptable.
After all, what was Rebekah going to do?
And yet, as she watched him with rage in her eyes, her hands clenched into fists, he had an inkling that he may have miscalculated. Her hair was rustling in a non-existent wind, her entire body stiff. "I hope you're happy with your choice in where your loyalties lie."
"Why would I not be, Bekah? What shall your revenge be? I have no weaknesses to exploit, nothing I love enough to make me hesitate in risking your wrath. Stefan forges my weapons, allows me to scatter the corpses of my enemies across my seas. What do you offer me, little sister? What sort of fool doesn't choose power over silly infatuation?"
"Is that what you truly believe, Nik? That love is a fool's errand for which you have no desire? Are you so blind as to think that you are immune to the weakness you so despise?"
He shrugged, his gaze wandering to the windows where schools of fish swarmed around the nearby reef before it was drawn back to his sister when she let out a bitter laugh.
"You are a fool, Nik."
"How's that?" he asked, trying not to let his amusement at her reaction get the better of him.
"If you are so very determined to ensure that I am without love, I do hope you enjoy the opposite."
"And what does that mean, exactly?" he asked, keeping his voice calm despite the growing tug of dread in his stomach.
"I am cursing you, Nik. A curse more powerful than the oceans you cling to so dearly. You will have a soulmate. A weakness. A woman fashioned by the fates to be your other half, and therefore too clever to fall for the pretty words you so often employ to fill your bed. Your heart will be hers to keep, and if you are fool enough to resist the pull of the weakness you so despise, your misery will consume you."
"And here I thought you believed that love was a gift," he drawled.
"It is, and I'm determined for you to see it," she said. "You see, if you manage to put your arrogance aside and convince her that you are worthy of her affections and her loyalty, I promise that you will no longer see my gift as a curse. You will be the happiest fool alive, and you will thank me."
"Is that what you crave so strongly, sister? My thanks?"
"Yes," she admitted, her face softening as she took a few steps closer, her hand jerking as though she wanted to touch him, though she resisted. "However, I also want the brother whom I love so dearly to understand that his true weakness is the inability to let himself be vulnerable to those who care for him."
"I do not care what you believe you have gifted me with, Rebekah. I have no weakness. I do not feel and I do not love."
"So you say, Nik," she said softly, pity in her eyes.
Before he could respond she had disappeared.
XXX
Klaus threw a statue of seaglass against the wall, watching it shatter. He was in a temper, fury churning within him, and he knew that the seas around his palace were stirring angrily with his mood. He could feel ships nearby sailing across the area around his palace, but he had no desire to save them from the harsh waters.
He felt a foreign wave of calm from the surface, settling the churning waves, and it made fury build in his gut. He knew the feeling. One of the Nereids had appeared to soothe the waters as best they could, though their powers were weak compared to his. They were bound to the sailor's prayers, appearing when they were in dire need of assistance, though occasionally if Klaus was in one of his moods nothing they did could calm the oceans enough to save even those under their protection.
How dare a Nereid attempt to interfere with his desire to disturb his waters, and he pushed back without care, creating crashing tides and the beginnings of whirlpools around his palace. Yet, the calming influence persisted, though it was growing less effective by the moment, the girl clearly overwhelmed by his power.
After another few moments of the Nereid stubbornly trying to calm the seas, he appeared at the surface to see a beautiful blonde on her knees by the edge of the ship, bending to dip the tips of her fingers in the water, a frown of concentration on her face, muttering to herself. "-Davina told me he threw tantrums but seriously, this is excessive. Like, take anger management or something."
It was clear she was talking about him, and he knew he should be furious at the sheer gall of this girl, but there was something about the look of deep irritation on her face, how her plump lips formed the complaints in a melodious voice, that made him hesitate to dole out punishment.
"Hello, love."
Her head snapped up to look at him, her eyes widening in fear as she seemed to process who she was looking at before she closed off again.
"Klaus," she said, her tone more of an accusation than anything else.
"I see you've heard of me. Pity that I can't say the same. May I ask your name?"
"Caroline," she said, her voice terse as she continued to stroke the surface of the sea with her fingertips, ignoring the panicking sailors rushing around them trying to keep the ship afloat. "I'm a Nereid."
"I can see that," he said, trying not to let surprise show at the name.
He'd heard of her, usually through sirens or other Nereids who crossed his path (or his bed). She was one of the younger Nereids, perhaps only a few decades old, and apparently one of her father's favorites. She'd been described as shallow, a little bossy, competitive and more than a bit tactless, but her soothing sympathy for the waves, the way she tried so desperately to calm them, had struck him. Nereids were deeply connected to the sea, and she seemed to be too stubborn to see it suffer. He'd never met her due to his tendency to remain in the ocean nearest the pantheon and her rumored preference for a climate much further north, and he couldn't help but think it was a shame.
He was entranced by her, unable to take his eyes off her face, busy wondering how he could possibly capture the blue of her eyes with the paints he created.
"So, not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here?"
"Beg pardon?" he asked, slightly taken aback by her frank speech and apparently accurately recounted lack of tact.
"Well, as far as I've heard, you usually stay by your scary ocean castle."
"My scary ocean castle?" he asked, his lips twitching. "Well, I believe you're mistaken, love. My castle's just under the surface there," he said, gesturing towards the ocean's surface before freezing.
The castle wasn't there, the beach in the distance certainly not the one closest to his palace. He must have somehow been transported from his area of the waters. But how? What could possibly be powerful enough to do that?
"What have you done?" he snarled, turning to face Caroline, and she stood, her hands on her hips.
"I didn't do anything, buddy. You were the one who turned up on my beach."
She seemed supremely unconcerned by his anger, shooting him another glare before bending down to calm the seas again. and he felt thrown off by her attitude.
"How did I get here, then?"
"I don't know. You're the god, not me. I just work here. Can you calm down? You're making the water angry," she said as she stood, looking at him with stubborn blue eyes and flushed cheeks. The nerve of her request surprised him even as he obeyed, the water beginning to calm again. No one had ever been stupid enough to dare challenge him while he was in a rage, and he knew he should end her, should make an example of her until she was simply salted foam on the surface of the sea, but he hesitated as he watched her.
Her spine was straight, her eyes blazing with anger, but he couldn't help but notice the tinge of fear behind them. She knew that what she was doing was dangerous, he realized. She wasn't stupid and she didn't have some sort of death wish, but she seemed to be too protective of her sailors and her little section of the sea.
"Careful with that pretty mouth of yours, love. We wouldn't want you to have an accident," he growled, and she inhaled sharply, her eyes widening before she seemed to gather herself.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, her voice free of fear now, and he found that the flatness of it irritated him, the lack of life that had been so present in her mere moments before an unwelcome change.
"Do you really think so low of me, Caroline?" he asked, letting the words drip from his mouth with a seductive lilt, expecting her to melt.
She met his eyes instead, energy crackling between them as she held his gaze, and he found that he was desperate for the answer, needed to hear that this little girl, this stranger didn't believe him to be a monster. "Yes," she said tersely, and his breath caught in his throat as he processed her reaction.
The truth hit him instantly, the confusion of his fascination and anger at himself for it draining out of him in favor of fear. It had been centuries since Rebekah's words, a mere blink of an eye when you were an everliving entity. He'd never forgotten her curse, but it had never seemed to work. He'd long since decided he had been correct. The soulmate spell was useless. He had no weaknesses.
But now...
He swallowed audibly, unable to take his eyes off of Caroline, his mind racing, heart pounding in a way it hadn't in millenia. "I think we're soulmates," he said hoarsely.
There was a beat of silence, and then another, Caroline's eyes widening as she stared at him before her lips twitched and giggles bubbled out of her mouth, her hand covering it as though it would stop the sound. "Soulmates?" she asked. "Seriously? I wasn't born yesterday."
"It's true," he bit out, bristling at her willingness to laugh at him, laugh at the one of the most powerful beings in the universe, the controller of the sea that she'd made her home. He vowed to curse Rebekah so that every time she even so much as thought of water she'd feel unimaginable pain.
"How many of my idiot sisters have you screwed with that line?"
She looked less amused now, a steely glint in her eye that made him pause, and he heard Rebekah's unwelcome words echo in his head as Caroline glared at him.
"Look, I've heard about you from my sisters. You throw temper tantrums about literally everything and you're kind of an ass-"
...A woman fashioned by the fates to be your other half, and therefore to be too clever to fall for the pretty words you so often employ to fill your bed...
"-told me that you're completely insufferable when you win at arguments and Katherine spent an entire family reunion dinner ranting to me about your broody artist schtick-"
...put your arrogance aside and convince her that you are worthy of her affections and her loyalty...
"-So, like, I'm not going to be another notch in your ocean king bedpost. Got it?"
...Your heart will be hers to keep, and if you are fool enough to resist the pull of the weakness you so despise, your misery will consume you...
"Um, hello?" Caroline said, interrupting Klaus's realization. "Earth to Klaus?"
"Yes, love?"
"Thanks for calming down, but my answer's no. Let's just keep it professional, okay?"
He blinked. "Beg pardon?"
"Professional. You know, because my job is to protect sailors when you throw temper tantrums. It was a joke."
"Caroline, are you sure-"
"I'm sure," she said flatly, clearly growing more irritated with his persistence by the second, and he realized that if he kept pushing he wasn't going to get anywhere.
"I'll see you around then, Caroline," he said, her name rolling off of his tongue in the way he'd been using to give women weak knees and pounding hearts for centuries, but the only indication that it might have had any effect on her was the slight flush of her cheeks, which could just have easily been anger. It was jarring to him for a woman to be so resistant to the power and pleasure he could bring her, especially one so young, and he had to admit that it was intriguing.
"Bye."
He reappeared in his painting studio in an instant, methodically preparing a canvas and selecting paints, his mind racing.
Despite his initial denials, he had no doubt that Rebekah had unfortunately been right. She'd cursed him with a weakness, and though he had no desire to acknowledge it, he knew that he'd spend every second craving Caroline's touch, her smile, her presence, until he finally had her. Though he hadn't taken his sister seriously at all when she'd cast the spell, he was nothing if not paranoid and he did some research and asked some contacts to see if she'd done any such thing before.
A soulmate bond did not force feelings of love and affection between the mates, but it did lead them to each other, and once those feelings were present it was said that the bond would enhance that connection. He'd never felt so instantly connected to someone as he did to Caroline, and it scared him that he desperately needed her to return his sentiments.
They'd clearly gotten off on the wrong foot, and he was determined to remedy that. He just needed a plan, needed to find a way to give her a chance to get to know him. He needed her to recognize that she had feelings for him to activate the bond, to reluctantly fall for him as deeply as he knew he inevitably would for her.
Magic was such a nuisance.
He certainly couldn't ask Rebekah for help as he'd sooner die than see her victorious smirk, but he had another sibling with an unlikely love story. He doubted Caroline would take well to being kidnapped, not that Bonnie had either, but perhaps he still could take a leaf out of Kol's book. His brother had captured the heart of the goddess of Spring by spending time with her.
The question was, how could he put Caroline in a situation where she had to be receptive to his attentions?
An idea unfolded itself as he painted the outline of Caroline's face, and by the time he'd finished the last stroke of adding fullness to the pretty pink color of her lips that he so longed to taste, he knew what he was going to do.
XXX
Caroline felt the distant prayer of her name prickle under her skin, the sailor's desperate call for help an irresistible force that she couldn't deny. She responded, appearing on the ship that was twisting in the harsh waters, large waves slopping over the low edges, a few sailors desperately trying to keep the boat upright. The tide seemed to be inexplicably harsh around the boat, the water calming to a clear, still blue a mere boat length from the edge of the swirling section.
She kept herself invisible to the sailors as she walked to the boat's edge on light feet, bending to dip her hand into the water. The sea had always been a living being to her, and she felt its anger, though she couldn't discern why. It was almost like someone had forced it to lash out, and she huffed out loud as the answer came to her even as she silently tried to soothe the waters.
Klaus.
"Caroline."
She stiffened. Almost as though he knew she'd found him out, he'd appeared behind her, and she pressed her lips together, mentally preparing to deal with this nonsense. Ever since he'd claimed them to be soulmates when they'd met a year ago, he'd been popping up every now and then with contrived excuses and seemingly random grievances, and it was getting old. "Klaus," she greeted. "I told you to stop tormenting my sailors, remember?"
"I hardly think killing them counts as torment, love. It's not drawn-out enough."
She shot him a skeptical look as she felt the sea calm enough that she could stand up, the waters still swirling around the boat while leaving it stable. The sailors all breathed a sigh of relief, and a few of them muttered thankful prayers to her, though she ignored them. "Did any of them even do anything wrong?"
"That one insulted me."
She glanced at the one he was pointing at, more out of curiosity than anything, before turning back to fix Klaus with her best disbelieving glare. "How?"
"Does it matter?"
"Of course! You're the most easily offended man I've ever met."
"Then perhaps those who choose to sail should take more care with their words."
"They almost never do anything bad enough to actually deserve your temper tantrums. You're acting like a toddler."
His eyes flashed gold for just a moment, and he moved closer so that their noses were only inches apart. "Careful, love. You wouldn't want to upset the god of the sea," he said, his voice quiet, and she knew that she should tread carefully Though rumors had recently begun to circle that the temperamental king of the sea had developed a bit of a soft spot for the protector of sailors in the north seas, she knew she could still only push so far.
Her heart had pounded as she stared him down that first meeting, fear filling every inch of her as she wondered what would become of her when he'd decided she was too mouthy for him, too tactless. She always seemed to misread people, to say the wrong thing, and she couldn't quite believe that of all the people she'd ever met, the god of the sea was the one who she could most easily understand.
"I wouldn't," she agreed, recalling his earlier threat and choosing her words carefully. "But I'm doing the job I was created for. The sailors pray to me for help, and it's my responsibility to protect them from your temper tantrums as much as I can."
She felt the heat of him as he moved even closer, the faint smell of salt and an ocean breeze surrounding him. It was all she could do not to lean in and inhale. She rarely had the desire to be intimate with anyone, but something about his presence so near to her always made her heart flutter, a now-familiar ache blooming in her lower belly.
Still, she stood her ground, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing she liked anything about him. The god of the sea was undeniably enticing, but he was also arrogant and quick to anger, and it made her suspicious that he'd taken a mysterious liking to her. She had no intention of entertaining his wrath any more than necessary, and since he clearly knew that, it would make sense that the unsubtle increase in threatened sailors was simply a way to ensure she appeared, to instigate conversation and banter. She had to admit that he was intelligent and could make her laugh, and she occasionally didn't mind.
Well, only if her day was particularly boring, obviously. It wasn't like she looked forward to seeing him. Not even a little.
"It's possible that I'd be willing to let your sailors be."
"Yeah?" she asked, her gut telling her that she was walking into a trap.
"In exchange for one small favor."
Of freaking course.
"What's the favor?"
"Just a few hours of your time."
She narrowed her eyes, her spine straightening. "That's it?"
"Yes. Just long enough to get to know me."
"How many hours are we talking?" she asked, not bothering to keep the suspicion out of her tone. Klaus generally kept his word, but he had a habit of twisting your own in his favor, his promises a minefield for those who weren't careful.
"Just a night."
"How many hours?" she repeated, irritated due to his neat evasion of her question.
"Four hours," he said after a moment. "And really, if you're so opposed to spending time with me, this really is such a small amount of time compared to the stretch of your eternal life."
She considered her options. He'd played his cards, shown that her hunch was correct and he was bothering her sailors to talk to her. He hadn't mentioned anything about the whole 'soulmate' thing after their first meeting, but it was still niggling at her mind. There was something about the idea that was intriguing to her, and she honestly couldn't think of any other reason the god of the sea would take any interest in her.
If he truly believed it and she said no, then she had no idea what would happen, and it was possible that he'd continue to torment her sailors until she gave in. It was a terrible precedent to set, and she didn't want to do anything out of fear, but she couldn't help but wonder if it would really be that bad to talk to him for a few hours. He was ancient and powerful, probably had an infinite amount of interesting stories and experiences, and all she had to do to sate her curiosity was a few hours in his company.
She met his eyes and was a bit taken aback by the heat in them. His tongue darted across his lips, and she couldn't help but fight down a blush as his gaze seemed to rove her face, drinking her in. She swallowed, could tell that he'd heard by the way his lips twitched.
"Fine," she said, her voice embarrassingly breathless despite her intent to sound reluctant. "One night."
"Excellent," he said, his cheeks dimpling, and he waved a hand, a beautiful shell bracelet appearing out of midair, which he handed to her. She took it gingerly, glancing up at him when he spoke again. "That will take you to my palace foyer at seven, allowing you to bypass the security measures."
"What are we going to do?" she asked slowly, slipping the bracelet on her wrist with slightly shaky fingers.
"That's a surprise."
She hated surprises, and judging by his smug grin he knew it.
"Fine, but no funny business," she said with a toss of her hair, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Of course not, love. Any 'funny business' would be on your terms, I assure you."
She let out a sharp breath, breaking eye contact as she tried to calm her pounding heart. "Good."
When she looked back up he'd disappeared, the waters eerily calm around the ship. The sailors were breathing hard, murmuring prayers of thanks, and she left with barely a glance, materializing back on her own little island that her father had created for her.
She was lost in her thoughts as she sat on the beach, breathing in the familiar sea air and absently fiddling with one of the shells that had washed onto the sand as she went over all of her and Klaus's interactions over and over in a constant loop.
She had no intention of just falling into his arms, not after the horrible first impression he'd made and how he'd tortured and murdered her sailors, but there was something about Klaus that drew her in, and she wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't the pretty package that concealed the monster, though she had to admit that it didn't exactly hurt that he was attractive, and it wasn't the power he held. It was the way he looked at her, the way he seemed to hang on every word she spoke. She was seriously tempted.
Caroline felt a sudden surge of anger at herself for the impulse to give in. Klaus could spin pretty words and compliments all he wanted, could look at her like she was the most interesting person in the world, but she would not give an inch.
She'd only let him in if he wasn't an arrogant entitled jerk, and judging by their previous interactions, she'd set the odds in the favor of her never having to see him again.
Still, as much as she tried to squash it, a tiny part of her said to keep an open mind, and she found herself wanting to listen.
I hope you enjoyed this! Please let me know what you thought. Do you like the premise? Any favorite lines? Predictions? Constructive criticism? I'd love to hear anything you're willing to tell me!