Many years later, after Poseidon, Zeus and Hades had emerged victorious from the war and drew lots, Poseidon began to entrench himself in the realm he would have chosen anyway. The sounding sea was so mysterious and deep. He had the Cyclopes, his new assistants, build a fine new abode for Nereus and his family, and then proceeded to host a party in his grand new palace, to which everyone was invited, so they could get to know their new ruler. At this party, Nereus approached Poseidon, clutching a goblet of wine, and, judging from the wideness of his smile and the blankness of his gaze, Poseidon surmised it wasn't his first. But that was fine with him. Why throw a party if you don't intend people to get drunk? He clapped Poseidon on the shoulder, saying, "Hail, Poseidon, new Lord of the island-girding deeps!" Poseidon smiled, responding with equal verve, "Nereus, my knowledgeable, most highly esteemed friend!" They traded a mixture of compliments and mild insults for a few minutes. Though slightly inebriated, Poseidon had been taught well enough to know that Nereus wanted something. "SO!" boomed Nereus, having seemed to become increasingly more intoxicated even in the minutes they had been talking. "It's high time you took a wife!" Poseidon was confused and amused in equal measure. "Nereus, this is only my first party as ruler of the sea," He inclined his own goblet towards the older man respectfully, saying, "I don't need a wife right now," Nereus shrugged. "Well," he slurred, "Should you change your mind, I would be more than willing to give you any of my fifty daughters. By Zeus, I'd give you all fifty if you wanted them! So long." And then he shambled off. Poseidon smirked.

Nereus had known that it would make sense for Poseidon to depose him the same way Zeus had deposed Kronos, and figured that if the new king was his son-in-law, he wouldn't have to worry. Poseidon put the incident to the back of his mind and continued to enjoy his party, interacting with all of his new subjects and getting a little inebriated himself.

Later, after most guests had retreated, wine-sodden, to their rooms, Poseidon was making his way to his own magnificent new quarters when he ran into someone in the hallway. When he saw it was a woman, he apologized profusely, even more so when he saw she was a very attractive woman. "What is your name?" He asked. "My name is of no consequence," She responded lightly. He tried again, "What are you doing here?" She replied, "You hosted a party," Poseidon chuckled for a moment, then said, "Yes, but I mean here, as in this area of the palace," She was silent for a moment, and Poseidon tried, once more, in vain, to focus his blurred vision on her. The fact that the hallway was unlit was not helpful. "Minding my own business," She replied, a little crisply. This made Poseidon really laugh. He could make out her features indistinctly- she was smaller than him, with a tanned, oval face, eyes that appeared like bruises in the dark, and very long hair.

Poseidon had changed his mind about not wanting a wife the moment she refused him her name- he had always been intrigued by mystery- and decided that none but her would do as his empress. "I like you," He declared. "Will you stay with me tonight?" Her answer was immediate. "Absolutely not." Poseidon stroked his beard. "Will you stay with me if I catch you?" He asked. "You can't catch me," She responded, and took off running down the hall. She ran as though she knew these corridors better than he did. He rounded a corner he had seen her disappear behind and suddenly, she was nowhere to be seen. He allowed his mind to spread, the way he had been taught. He could feel her presence, that she was still in the palace, but he could not find her. He searched all night long, but there was no sign of her, then or later, when all the guests thanked him for the excellent party, wished him well as their king, and went on their ways.

He threw another party a week later, because he had been unable to get the dark-haired, mysterious beauty that he already thought of as his off his mind, and a party was the only way he could think of to see her again. This time he'd get her name and ask her father for her hand. He was supremely confident- because what man wouldn't want to be the relation of one of the most powerful gods? By this time next week, she would sit beside him on a throne of silver and pearls. Or so he thought. What he soon realized was that, due to the fact that the hall had been very dark, and he had been a lot more drunk than he'd originally thought, all he could recall of her was that she'd had bluish-green eyes and curly black hair. But all fifty of the Nereids had bluish-green eyes and every woman at the party had curled her hair. All night, Poseidon danced with goddesses, nymphs, naiads and Nereids, and gotten the names of all of his partners, but he had not found the mysterious woman who had so enthralled him. He felt certain the second he heard her speak, he'd know it was she.

When he paused for a rest, he went to get himself a goblet of wine and saw, standing off to the side, in conversation with some minor god, was his future queen. She wore a small diadem in her black hair he hadn't noticed before that marked her of the fiftieth daughter of Nereus and Doris. With a broad smirk on his face, Poseidon wove his way through the crowd to get to Nereus. "Nereus, my friend!" He started in swiftly. "Poseidon, the most-" Poseidon held up his hand to silence him. "I have decided to take you up on the offer you made me in the previous week. I ask for the hand of your daughter Amphitrite in marriage," Nereus silently studied the younger god, then broke out into the very widest smile. "It will be my honor," He responded immediately.

Poseidon, triumphant, then went to seek out his future bride. He ordered away the minor god she had been conversing with (finding her father and getting his consent had taken a matter of minutes) and began talking to her himself, simply to make sure she really was what she had appeared the previous week. They spoke as though they were perfect strangers, and Poseidon surmised that she believed he didn't remember their interaction, believing him to have been too drunk at the time. Wouldn't she be surprised later, when her father told her of his actions?

After the party ended, Amphitrite, her forty-nine sisters and her parents went back to their new palace. There, Amphitrite was summoned to her father's audience chamber. "My dearest little girl," Nereus started. "Yes, Father?" asked Amphitrite. Her relationship with her father had never been that of subject and subjugator- it had been that of father and daughter. "A wonderful opportunity has occurred. The Lord Poseidon has expressed his desire for you as his bride, and I agreed!" Amphitrite was stricken with horror. "Father, I thought we had always agreed that you would never promise me to a suitor without my consent first. Doesn't what I want matter?" She ventured. Her father looked confused. "My daughter, what more could you want? Poseidon is young and strong and so powerful. He has a good head of hair and all of his teeth, and he's the brother of the most powerful god that ever was. There will never be a better match for you!" Amphitrite had no words to say and so let her father continue. "He wishes for you to come to his palace tomorrow at sunrise. With a retinue of fifteen of your sisters, and a platoon of my soldiers, you and your dowry and any possession that you wish to take with you- though I don't imagine that you'll have many of those! - will travel to our old palace, and your life will begin! Really, my daughter, this couldn't have worked out better!" White-faced and stiff-backed, Amphitrite accepted her father's blessing, agreed to all of this, and made her way back to the room she shared with her twenty-four chronologically closest sisters. She reasoned with herself as she went that this was a good opportunity, that she would fill the shoes of her mother as a good and just queen, and perhaps she could put off the motherhood aspect of marriage for a century or two before people began to clamor for heirs.

When she got to her room, she found that her mother and weepy sisters had already packed up all of her trunks of belongings. Her entire life had been neatly boxed up and was now being shipped off with her to live with a strange god she knew nothing about, all in the name of political gain. Like a herd of cattle. Like what she wanted didn't matter. Her mother sent all of her sisters out into the hallway and sat down next to her on the bed, the only thing of hers that had not been thoroughly dismantled. "Now, my darling, a very important stage of your life is ahead. This time of adjustment from being a member of a household to a head of the household, is going to be the most difficult time of your life. Your influence over your husband is great- it is the wife that runs the house and, therefore, makes the world go around, never forget that. But you are no longer your own person, beholden to none. What he says is your new law, his wish is your command." Amphitrite leaned into her mothers' embrace, the way she had all her life. "This sounds a very great deal like slavery," she remarked, prompting her mother to laugh. "Oh, precious, it's not so bad. You become accustomed to it. And besides, masters do not usually let their slaves eat at their table and sleep beside them. Remember to conduct yourself with grace and dignity, no matter what, and be kind to everyone, from the lowliest servant to the most important dignitary. If you do these things, you will prosper and your life will be filled with bliss and happiness." Her mother took Amphitrite's chin in her hand, smiling into her eyes. "My lovely littlest girl, a grown up woman!" Doris' eyes began to fill with tears, as did Amphitrite's'. "Will I never see you again?" asked Amphitrite. "You may send for me any time you wish, and we will see each other at parties and other functions. I will advise you on your new duties as queen. We shall see each other often- you just will not be my little girl anymore."

Doris leaned forward and kissed Amphitrite on the forehead, then said, "Sleep now, my dearest. When the sun rises tomorrow, your life will begin!" Her mother left her alone in her room, and none of her sisters came in, leaving her alone in the vast and echoing cavern. What her mother had said was true, and Amphitrite made a decision. She was one of the embodiments of the sea, and had no intention of going somewhere or doing something that she didn't want to do. And the way her mother had described it, getting married was something she most certainly did not want to do. Poseidon could pick another one of her sisters- one who appreciated marrying him for the honor it was, one who was ready to leave their father's jurisdiction and have a family of their own. She picked through her possessions, selected the ones she thought she would need, and under the cover of darkness, ran away.

Chapter 2! The way I originally wrote it didn't include much dialogue, so I rewrote it, and I'm hoping it's as good as the first draft. I really have become attached to these characters- they're now almost one of my favorite Greek Mythology pairings. Doris did not mean to freak Amphitrite out- she was just trying to prepare her, and because Doris is a great deal more complacent than her youngest daughter, the future life she described actually sounded pretty good to her. OH, AND, ALSO! I save all these fics in a certain way, and the way Poseidon and Amphitrite got saved on my computer was PandA. This made me immeasurably happy. Please let me know what you think, I'd really love to hear it!