Author's Note: Update Delivered! Yay! Am so happy with myself. Was still able to conjure out words from my stress-riddled brain and didn't took a lifetime to make an update. Enjoy and Review!
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Poseidon's Temple, Atlantis
"Shoot!" Amphitrite exclaimed, ducking her head under Poseidon's shoulder, and then peeking out again, eyeing the Trojan royal emissary hanging by the principal table, still talking to Poseidon's Atlantis-based captain, Crissus,
"He's still there," she fretted, "When will he leave? I mean, will he ever leave? My feet are getting pretty sore."
Poseidon craned his neck to where she was looking at, glanced back at the worried face of his lovely wife and deftly spun her around in the dance floor filled with guests and revelers, caught her back and then dipped her slowly down.
He whispered to her ear in a tease, "Now, what on earth could you have possibly done to the man?"
Amphitrite repaid him with a playful glare as he pulled her back up to a stand but didn't say anything.
"What?" he prodded.
"I refused his marriage proposal," she confessed in a muffle.
Poseidon furrowed his brows at her.
"Thrice," she continued, her face flushing with embarrassment, "Then he went and burned down my sister's house in Troy because he thought I was staying there," Amphitrite calmly narrated.
"Wow," he remarked, genuinely surprised, "I don't know if that makes me feel any better that I wasn't the first man whose marriage proposal you declined."
"Well, you're trickier," she pointed out nonchalantly, "You were threatening to wage a war if I wouldn't," she reminded, "The others were much easier to dodge."
He shook his head in astonishment, not knowing what to say.
Just earlier, she did the same retreat down the dance floor, dragging him with her, when she spotted a certain general from Sparta heading their way, "Just how many marriage proposals have you received?" he wondered out aloud.
She appeared uncomfortable by the question, "I don't know..." she shrugged.
Poseidon narrowed his eyes at her.
She bit her lip, her eyes gazing out to anywhere but his face, "Twenty-six? Twenty-seven...?" she made a rough guess.
Poseidon felt his jaw slack.
"Don't give me that look," she instantly complained.
He snapped his mouth shut.
"It's been years since I've come of age, and I didn't receive them all in a day. Nor did I receive it all in one place," she rambled on, "I spent a lot of time travelling around from one of my sister's place to another."
"Just how..." Poseidon felt in a loss of words in disbelief, "Just how on earth did those twenty-six or twenty-seven men got to know you way before I did?" he asked the one thing that he'd been asking ever since meeting Amphitrite in Naxos. Everyone else in the mortal lands seemed to have noticed her long before he did.
This time, she regarded him fully with those large emerald eyes of hers, "You did."
"What?" he retorted.
"Thetis introduced us in Delphi long before my debut," she reminded him.
He angled his head, suddenly feeling like he was placed on the spot.
"You don't remember," Amphitrite correctly guessed.
"When was this?" he asked aloud, "Was I drunk?"
"You even had a hard time pronouncing my name," she noted.
He nodded, "Yup. Drunk," he confirmed, "That could only be the explanation."
Amphitrite laughed, "Don't worry," she surprised him by hitting him with a soft punch in the shoulder just as if they were pals, "I was still really young then. I'm pretty forgettable," she smiled.
Poseidon eyed the hand in his shoulder, and then looked back at her. Amphitrite responded by immediately retreating back her hand to her side, discomfited.
'To be fair, Amphitrite seemed to be getting pretty comfortable with him now,' he consoled himself, 'TOO comfortable in fact that somebody's got to remind the woman that she IS his wife.'
Feeling the sudden awkwardness, Amphitrite cleared her throat, "Maybe... maybe it's about time that we should be getting back..." she excused, gesturing to the principal table, "Don't you agree? I mean, we've been out here far longer than we should, so..." she shrugged her shoulders and made an abrupt turn on her heels just in time for her to come face to face with the Trojan emissary that she'd been trying to avoid.
Poseidon could hardly stop himself from grinning at the expression on her face.
"Stelios!" she gasped, completely unable to hide her reaction, "Hi!"
The Trojan emissary in his blue livery gave Amphitrite a formal bow.
'Oh, he would LOVE to see how his wife is going to get out of this!' Poseidon admitted guiltily.
There was a brief, unsettling silence that passed them like an eternity where nobody was saying anything, only standing there, staring at each other, seemingly playing a guessing game on what the other person was about to do.
"Have..." Amphitrite squeaked out, breaking the discomfort, "I'm afraid you haven't met my husband."
Poseidon threw her a look, a smile ridiculously sneaking out from his lips.
This was the first time Amphitrite had ever referred to him as her 'husband', and Poseidon couldn't quite describe the absurd delight that suddenly engulfed him that she finally let that out of her system - regardless if she was only using that fact as a shield against a scorned admirer.
Stepping back, she daintily coiled a hand on Poseidon's forearm, the other one settling intimately behind his back, speaking in a very private tone as if they were all alone in the room making him bristle, "Baby, this is Stelios from Sparta, an old friend," she started, "Stelios, this is my husband, Poseidon."
Stelios was first to offer his hand, saying, "Lord Poseidon," he greeted, "It's been a pleasure to finally get to meet you."
Kicking himself out of his trance, Poseidon accepted the Trojan's hand, "Likewise," he murmured.
Squaring his shoulders, Stelios continued, "I was looking forward to meeting the god, but it is more of an honor for me to get the chance to meet the man who has won our dear Amphitrite's heart."
Poseidon nodded politely, "I hope I didn't disappoint then."
The Trojan shook his head in response, "We've all always known that Amphitrite will eventually end up with someone far more better than any of the best men in Troy, or in any other place for that matter," he stated, "And true enough, she got you. An Olympian God."
"Oh, Stelios," remarked Amphitrite as if in overwhelming gratitude, glancing up at Poseidon with an impossibly besotted look on her face you'd think she hadn't fought her way out just to NOT marry him, and then leaning her head comfortably on his shoulder.
'Gods! Who is this woman?' Poseidon rambled to damn nymph was a natural actress!
Facing Amphitrite, the Trojan proclaimed, "I wish you all the happiness in life, milady..."
"I am happy," Amphitrite convincingly asserted, with a nod.
"I can see that," Stelios agreed quickly.
After one long, lingering look, the Trojan emissary transferred his glance to Poseidon, "Take care of her," he smiled, "Many would trade just about anything to be in your place right now."
Poseidon could feel Amphitrite stiffen at the sincere statement, and he concurred, "I will."
Stelios then excused himself succinctly, saying, "I will not be keeping you any longer, I will be on my way," and with a swift bow, started his way back to the Trojan's tables.
In an instant, Amphitrite dropped her hand from Poseidon's arm.
"Well," Poseidon blurted as soon as the Trojan was out of earshot, "Your Stelios wasn't that bad!"
He saw Amphitrite's shoulder slump, "God, I need a drink," she announced making him snicker.
"Did he just say 'our dear Amphitrite' earlier?" Poseidon teased,
She started off for the banquet table, remarking, "Go on, take it all in," she scoffed, "Wait 'til we cross paths with one of your past paramours," she warned, fetchingly throwing him a glance behind her shoulders, "I WILL laugh at your face," she promised.
Poseidon smirked secretively, following her, "What if I say, you already did?"
"What?" she exclaimed.
"More than a couple of times," he nodded.
She stopped on her tracks, turned around and made the most adorable scrunch on her face, "Really?" she regretted.
He squeezed the top of her nose, just because he couldn't stop himself, and chuckled. He actually couldn't quite remember when he last chuckled.
Grinning, he commented, "You'll have to try your luck a little bit harder, Freckles."
She rolled her eyes and paved her way back to the banquet table, "Luck, when matched up against you, means nothing," she sneered.
He laughed at her seemingly acceptance of defeat, "Oh sweetheart, where's the spirit?"
Reaching the central feast table, Amphitrite was readily welcomed by a banquet attendant mechanically extending her with a readied goblet already filled with wine.
"Oh, Bless you," Poseidon thought he heard Amphitrite say to the server, and was about to put the goblet to her lips when she was distracted by an incoming voice.
"Tell me it wasn't as awkward as I've seen it from afar?" Theseus greeted, effectively distracting Amphitrite away from her desire for a drink.
Poseidon laughed, "You saw it?"
Theseus nodded, "Every painful second of it."
"Oh, great," Amphitrite murmured, "And then there were two," she said, eyeing Theseus.
"One of your jilted admirers, I presume?" Theseus joked mischievously.
"I think I just lost my appetite for everything," Amphitrite announced, waving off her goblet.
"Honey, if you won't have that, I will," a passing nymph, clearly inebriated, answered from behind Amphitrite.
"Oh please do, Galene," Amphitrite replied graciously, handing her the goblet, and then following the nymph with her gaze after she wobbled off to the dance floor, "I think she already had too much to drink, but, anyway..." Amphitrite mumbled like an afterthought.
"Just in case you haven't noticed yet, but your Trojan left you a gift at the principal table," Theseus informed, "He'd been waiting for you to return but you never did, so he went to the dance floor instead and approached you."
Both Amphitrite and Poseidon glanced at the principal table at the same time and noticed the huge bouquet of white flowers from where Amphitrite sat.
His wife pursed her lips, more like a thoughtful frown. "He really shouldn't have bothered," she murmured.
Theseus smiled at the look on Amphitrite's face, "I don't know about you, milady, but I would've done the same," he swore, "Anyone as remarkably beautiful as you with a refreshingly vibrant personality, deserves every bit of the attention," he said, "I can see what my father sees in you."
The statement only seemed to deepen Amphitrite's scowl with a faraway look on her face, and then suddenly, as if jolted out from her thoughts, Amphitrite narrowed her eyes on Theseus in pure, readable speculation.
Only a sudden commotion broke her attention away.
"It looks like your friend, Galene, couldn't take any more of those wine," Theseus calmly observed at the growing crowd around the nymph, who appeared to have passed out, and was being carried away.
"I think, I'm going to get myself some fresh air," Amphitrite announced, giving Poseidon a glance, "I'll just be outside."
Poseidon nodded his consent.
Theseus followed Amphitrite with his gaze, musing out, "How does one handle that kind of woman?" his son stated, before transferring his gaze back to Poseidon, "You have chosen wisely, father," he praised.
Poseidon smiled.
In other cases, he would've said an immediate thanks to his son about his statement, or even shamelessly brag about it, but he knew his son far too much to know better.
Stepping forward, Poseidon placed a firm hand above Theseus' shoulder, patted him gently by the neck and said, "Not my wife, Theseus," he warned with a shake of his head, "Not my wife."
'What was that all about?' Amphitrite wondered as she headed for the gardens, glancing back at the banquet table, catching Poseidon giving Theseus a pat on the shoulder, saying something that looks private from where she was looking at.
When she met Theseus earlier, her first impression was that he awfully looked like his father. He was far leaner than Poseidon and a head shorter, but he was every bit like his father. What she didn't realize was just how much Theseus was actually like his father.
The minute they were alone, Theseus just made it all uncomfortable for her.
'What is it about these men?' Amphitrite shook her head, walking along the hallway.
And then she stopped on her tracks.
There at the other end of the hallway, stood Deioneus, alone, who by the looks of it appeared to be as much surprised as she was at catching themselves at an inevitable encounter.
Amphitrite felt herself turn cold, not knowing what to do. She impulsively felt herself stepping back, then realizing how strange it would look like if she'd run back inside with Deioneus just standing there at the other end not doing anything, she stopped herself, eyed the garden to the right and contemplated if she could take an abrupt dash for it and pretend as if she hadn't seen him at all.
"I'm not going to bite you."
Deion's welcoming voice broke the silence.
Amphitrite cleared her throat and tried to laugh it off, "Well, thank god for that!"
"You looked like you were ready to bolt away at any second," he noted light-heartedly.
"With this dress?" she replied in an offhanded manner, acting as if she wasn't at all rooted in her place unable to do anything else, "That is highly unlikely."
Deion took a step forward, "You look wonderful tonight."
Amphitrite ran a hand over neck, feeling that familiar warm sensation taking over her whenever Deion says anything complimentary to her, "Well," she shrugged, "I should!" she laughed awkwardly, "It took ages for the other nymphs to get me looking like this!"
He shook his head, nearing her, "You don't need all the prepping up," he smiled, his gaze running up and down her face, "You looked lovely just as you are."
She felt herself shrinking, "Thank you," she squeaked.
Warm sky blue eyes bore into hers. Amphitrite couldn't quite remember exactly how many times she had stared into those blue eyes before and found peace and assurance. Nothing much has changed since she'd last seen him though, his sun-kissed blond good looks was still very much evident with only a few light creases at the sides of his smiling eyes.
He offered his arm, "Can I walk you to the gardens?"
"Oh, that wouldn't be necessary..." she instantly declined.
"Please," he said, "I insist."
Amphitrite stood unresponsive for a while, but then seeing that the garden was not at all devoid of any people, she relented and took the hand he offered.
"I believe a few thanks are in order," Deion started, catching her attention. "You saved my son, Phylacus, by the docks in Naxos."
"Salmoneus told you?" she inquired.
He shook his head, "My brother didn't say a word," he said, "Phylacus, on the other hand, couldn't stop talking about this flame-haired Nereid who jumped into the sea to retrieve him," he grinned, "I knew, for a fact, that Poseidon was there at Naxos for the festival, and given that you two were... married just weeks after, I can only guess that you were there with him," he angled his head, "I put two and two together, and I am more than certain right now that you were the Nereid who saved my son."
Amphitrite felt her face burning at the mention of Naxos and welcomed the sight of the large fountain by the garden as they approached it. Gladly sitting at its edge, she replied a humble, "Well, you're welcome," she granted him a smile, gazing up at him amiably, "He looked just like you," she returned.
Deion sat beside her, stretched out his long legs before him and looked out into the lawns filled with some guests enjoying a quiet moonlit walk, "So they say," he murmured. Suddenly, glancing down on her with a wistful look upon him, he commented, "So... You and Poseidon huh?" he said in a tone that suggested he was teasing her.
"Surprise!" she joked.
"It WAS a surprise!" Deion concurred, "I mean, nobody really knew you two were..." he stopped whatever it was he was about to say and instead settled with a, "Poseidon actually marrying was a shocker in itself."
Amphitrite let out a laugh, "Yes," she conceded, "Who would've known..."
He glanced at her, "You know, I used to be under the impression you weren't much of a fan of Poseidon..."
Knowing first-hand the animosity Deioneus have with Poseidon as a god after the mess Poseidon had caused to two of Deion's sisters, Amphitrite didn't make an effort to refute him, and replied with a simple, "I used to..."
"But now it isn't..." Deion interpreted.
She didn't want to confirm that either, so she remained elusive, "Things change..."
Deion remarked, "That man has all the luck in the world, doesn't he?"
Amphitrite smiled, "I think, he is just one stubbornly persuasive man that luck almost always doesn't have a choice but to bend to his will."
"You really do love him, don't you?" Deion was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face, "I can see it in you."
And with that, it effectively erased the smile that was lingering on her lips.
"I've often thought about this," he began, "If I were a god, or if I were a deity, would things ended up differently between us...?"
Amphitrite turned to him, "Deion please..."
She felt her heart broke with his next, gently-spoken, statement,
"I'm sorry I wasn't born a god..."
Amphitrite reached for his arm, "Deion don't..."
"Look who I've found!"
Amphitrite snapped her head in astonishment at the shrilly voice of a clearly inebriated noble woman, decked out quite flashingly with golden bangles and pearls, wearing an elegantly intricate blue gown made out of the finest silk it shone against the moonlight night.
"You are...?" Amphitrite blurted even before she could stop herself. Belatedly recognizing that this golden-brown haired woman standing before her was the same beauty she saw with Poseidon when she accidentally ran into them at the back of the arena at Naxos.
'Ah, the Thessalonian princess,' Amphitrite thought to herself.
"I, my dear..." she stated loudly in a drawl that some people by the gardens were already turning their heads at them, "...am Iphemedia of Thessaly."
By this time, Deion had already pulled Amphitrite up to her feet, possibly to lead her away from a very much impending commotion.
"Well, it's wonderful to get acquainted with you, Iphemedia..." Deion answered for her.
"And you, my dear nymph...!" Iphemedia interrupted, who didn't seem to notice Deioneus at all, "You, honey, have proven yourself quite a thief!"
"What?" Amphitrite was just able to blurt that out puzzlingly, when she felt herself pushed.
The next thing she knew, she hit the back of her knee by the edge of the fountain, felt her arms flailing about her and then heavily fell, back first, into the fountain with a loud splash, she could swear she was still able to hear the collected gasp of the group of people around the gardens.
Amphitrite was left stunned for a while, gaping and drenched, as she felt the fountain water incessantly showering over her head, hearing, amidst her blurry, water-filled vision, Iphemedia shouting at Deioneus who seemed to be trying to hold her down.
"Let me go!" the Thessalonian screamed, "Let go of me!"
Provoked, Amphitrite felt the world fast fading around her, blocking everything else, where all that exists was this one woman who had the nerve to shove her into the fountain in the middle of her wedding celebration for all the mortals to see.
Pushing herself up, a prepared fist on her side, Amphitrite marched straight to the shouting woman,
"I WILL show you...!" Amphitrite seethed with anger, her fist poised in the air ready for an attack when she just as suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground, a firm arm around her waist.
It was Poseidon.
"Oh no, you won't," he proclaimed resolutely.
"Let go of me!" Amphitrite demanded, struggling to free herself from his clutches and feeling like a doll effortlessly being carried off by Poseidon.
"There are a lot of people," Poseidon reminded, "You wouldn't dare..."
Amphitrite pointed her hand out to where Iphemedia was also being restrained by Deioneus and Theseus, "SHE SHOVED ME TO THE FOUNTAIN!" she charged.
"SHE TOOK YOU AWAY FROM ME!" screamed back Iphemedia, making the growing crowd gasp, scandalized.
Angered, Amphitrite tried to wrestle herself away from Poseidon's iron grip, "I DIDN'T TAKE AWAY WHAT'S NEVER BEEN YOURS!" she hotly proclaimed, while at the same time, hitting Poseidon in his arms, ordering, "Let go of me! I'm going to teach that woman a lesson!"
"ALRIGHT!" Poseidon raised his booming voice for everyone to hear, "ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Iphemedia stilled.
"For the love of all that is holy, Iphemedia, we've discussed this!" he declared, "I AM married, and nothing's going to change that, so deal with it!" he decreed, and then lowering his voice in a menacing baritone, stated, "THIS is my wife," he elucidated very clearly, "And you are NOT to lay even a finger on her EVER again. Do so and I promise you, there WILL be consequences. And these are things you wouldn't exactly like."
After a moment of stunned silence, the Thessalonian transferred her blazing gaze at Amphitrite once again, breathing, "You witch!" she accused, "YOU'VE BEWITCHED HIM! SEA ENCHANTRESS! WITCH!"
And the uproar began again.
"HOW DARE YOU...!" Amphitrite raged, flailing her arms as if she had any chance at all to get her hands on the Thessalonian princess,
"Okay, that's enough," Poseidon repeated in a huff, and in the next moment, Amphitrite found herself hoisted over Poseidon's shoulder.
Amphitrite gasped in utter shock, "PUT ME DOWN, YOU BEAST!"