Randomfrenchgirl: She still has a lot to do to come back on track. And yes, I would not separate her from Apollo too long again. I cannot torture you continually like that!XD
Guest and chipo: I am so happy that you love it.
Eranda: Thank you so much for sharing your experience. In fact, I have just reread the chapter and something felt just...off. I know that depicting depression is not easy. I will probably never succeed to depict it rightly (even though I have so many friends who experienced it, it is not the same as experiencing ourselves) but in my opinion I can do better. I will probably rewrite the chapter in the future in order to modify some tones, sentences and descriptions. Always trying to improve my writing. So thank you so much for that very helpful feedback!
7DeadlySins: *I hope I got my username right* I always feels the same!XD Happy you enjoyed the development of Delphina. I've always wanted to include Nereus in this part of the story because nothing can match parental figure guidance. And for Zeus, well, he is faithful to himself, I have nothing to add!XD I really think you are going to love this chapter! Enjoy!
Thank you for your comments.
Chapter 34: Crete
Another day. Another offering.
The priests couldn't count how many gifts they had received in the last decade. The temple of Delphina situated in Crete had always been very modest. Sometimes, too modest for a very popular deity, despite being minor.
On the other side, they couldn't compete with Delphi. Well, not anymore as she had left the sanctuary a long time ago.
Ho! This wasn't the real problem. The troublesome reality was that the divinity they served hadn't given any sign of her presence in a decade.
Everyday, they came. They were sailors, fishermen or simply living near the sea. Also, former slaves who wanted her blessing as she was also considered as the protectress of slaves, referencing the story of the birth of the first dolphins. They came to pray.
"Dear Goddess, we beg you to accept this present. Please, bless us with your guidance. Give us the abundance of fish we once used to have."
"Dear Goddess, I plead you to hear my prayer. My son went to sail the sea and hadn't come back. I have no news since. If he is dead, could you bring back his body. Please!"
"Dear Goddess…"
Always the same thing. And yet, rarely the prayers were responded. Consequently, they began to receive less visitors. But the few who persisted to come always debarked with more generous offerings. It appeared as a waste of wealth but what else could they do?
Then, one day, a chicken was brought as a sacrifice. Another visitor couldn't resist commenting. "Now, we are going to murder animals for this goddess? Pathetic!"
He had cut the usual quietness so sharply that the entirety of the heads present turning toward his direction was the appropriate reaction to expect. The impudent who had spoken had short brown hair, a very thick beard and a tall body.
A priest responded. "Who are you?"
"My name is Timaeus of Taras."
"Taras is very far away from here. So, I guess you must be a traveller."
"A sailor to be exact."
"Well, you have probably come here for the purpose of asking for protection from the patron goddess of your kind. So, I advice to show more respect for the ritual of the sacrifice."
"A ritual? You are talking as if it wasn't the first time you murder something within these columns."
"It is a sacrifice, not a murder."
"A sacrifice is something terrible you have to do in order to obtain something. The trick here is that you will obtain nothing. So, this is just a pointless kill."
"How dare you…?"
He began to laugh. Rarely such arrogance from a mortal had been observed in a sacred temple. But this one didn't care and acted as if he had heard the funniest joke ever.
"Seriously, you appear surprised?" He said. "Ten years. You have done that for ten years. Can someone tell me if they have seen a dolphin in the last decade? Nobody? Ho! I forgot. Or more exactly, you forgot! You forgot that Delphina ignored us since the end of the Trojan war. You forgot that no matter how much we pray for her help, she still leaves us on our own. Most importantly, you forgot that in the past, we never had to give her offerings or to do sacrifices to earn her good will. No, my friends. The Goddess of Dolphins is not worthy to be worshipped anymore."
Silence. A very uncomfortable silence.
One golden rule. Never talk negatively about any god. No matter how much you disagreed about them, you shut up and respected them.
Gods were gods. They were powerful. They were immortals. They controlled practically everything. They could bless or punish as they want. They decided what was right and what was wrong.
They were mortals. Mortals were weak. Mortals depended on the good mood of those above them. Mortals were inferior. Mortals needed to learn their place or else…
But Timaeus didn't care. He simply said out loud what others were too afraid to admit. Everyone knew that the goddess had ceased her activities. Trojans were the more vocal about denouncing her attesting the fact she had betrayed them by tricking them with the Trojan horse, abusing their trust.
Greeks pretended they were punished for implying her in the trap. That Odysseus had lied to her in order to convince her to help them. Angry that her dolphins had been used for such villainy, she had turned her back on them.
They remained only theories. But her reluctance to help mortals like before was a fact.
However, defending the honor of their temple, the priests refused to surrender to the truth. The high priest ordered. "I will ask you to leave this sacred place. Such offense towards our beloved goddess will not be tolerated. Out!"
'Such miserable fools.' Timaeus kept his own thought for himself. He had come here only because his mates had insisted on it. He had persisted with his opinion that it was useless and still would not change his mind.
They couldn't count on Delphina anymore.
…
She still hesitated.
Who could blame her? Her body and mind spent ten years deep underwater. Right now, just the change in the pressure felt strange. From that, imagine going from the sea to the land. Going from darkness to the light. Going from solitude to the society.
Going from shamed to redeemed?
Maybe. First, she had to do this.
She made one move with her tail and soon a blond-haired head emerged at the surface. Her lungs got a shock as air penetrated them once again. She breathed slowly. She let herself float to allow her body to readapt. She opened her eyes.
She had forgotten about the beauty of the sky during the night. The moon was full. Was Artemis driving it tonight? She said hi just in case. Her attention went to the stars. Back in her childhood, they weren't very numerous. Now, many centuries later, so many additional constellations occupied the celestial space. Plenty represented good memories.
She recognized Cassiopeia, the Ethiopian queen who had insulted the Nereids. She noticed Leo, the Nemean lion and the first labour of Heracles. Taurus, the father of the famous minotaur. She looked at Orion, the deceased love interest of Artemis who died in tragic circumstances. Her heart beat when she gazed at a personal one: Delphinus.
She missed her dolphins.
She didn't want to try to call them. She was too afraid they would not come. What if she had lost her connection to them as well? The thought alone contracted her chest. Her heart couldn't bear that reality. Safer to not know at all. Her situation was a big mess already. The road back to her old self looked so laborious but she couldn`t hide like an oyster forever.
She needed to see Apollo. She had chosen a particular place for their meeting: Crete. A specific spot of this vast island.
She swam until she reached the coast. She eyed a large rock with a flat top above the water. She climbed it and transformed her tail into legs. After ten years, how weird it felt to have feet once again. She stood up. A little more difficult as her body needed to readjust but she welcomed the relief of discovering she hadn`t forgotten how to walk.
She closed her eyes and inspired. 'Don't be nervous.' She called out loud. "Apollo!"
She waited. Not for so long.
A sea snake appeared and crawled on her rock. She gasped as she still possessed her phobia. But this animal never went out of the salt water to approach humans. She calmed down a little. The stripped brown reptile slid between her feet. The friction of its scales with her skin provoked an exhilarating shiver in her spine. An euphoric mix of fright and anticipation. Once behind, a change of shape happened and a warm body covered her backside.
"Hi." She dared to break the ice. She received silence as a reply.
Worries ran wild. Maybe she had been too far. Disappearing for ten years. Abandoning him once again. "I'm sorry." She said then turned to see him.
Only the moon helped her to distinguish his face. Eyebrows frowned, mouth closed, eyes fixed on her. He was angry. Of course. She had to expect nothing less. Thankfully, she was better at apologizing than him and he was better at forgiving than her.
"So, it is my turn now? To receive the silence treatment?" She laughed nervously. "I probably deserve it. Well, now, you may understand that fear to say the wrong word when emotions overwhelm us."
He turned his head. She kept laughing. Humor might sound unwise to use in their delicate situation. But she spent too much time feeling either angry or sad when confronting him. She missed their cordial relationship. Acting like before appeased her. Anyway, Apollo would not be Apollo if he didn't brood from time to time.
"Are you upset because I didn't want to meet you in daylight? Don't get me wrong. I did miss you and I really desire to come back to Delphi… But I am not ready yet. There is something I need to do first."
She eyed the assembly of rocks in front of her forming a line following the coast. She analysed the closeness between them, using echolocation to see better. It was feasible.
"Follow me."
She jumped to another rock nearby. Her move required a lot of agility with the obscurity and the wetness of the large stones. Luckily, Delphina had years of practice. Her body remembered the reflexes despite ten consecutive years in her mermaid form.
She popped from a rock to another rock with the grace of a dancer. She rejoiced in the memories it evoked. How often did she do that during her youth when she longed to explore her environment? She forgot how fun it was.
She stopped. She was there. She blinked her eyes. Yes, it was that place, completely unchanged. After all these centuries… She put her hand on her chest. Her heart beat under the effect of nostalgia. A bizarre mixture of both pain and appeasement.
She checked behind her. Where was Apollo?
She heard a raven croaking just beside her then he appeared under his original form. She rolled her eyes. "Cheater." And yet, she smiled. Apollo had never shared her playfulness‒maybe because his childhood had lasted only a few days‒so he was being completely himself.
She contemplated the place. "I wanted to bring you here since a long time ago. I don't know why it took me so long but here we are."
She gave a glance at Apollo. He looked seriously at her offering her his full attention. She pursued. "Do you remember the day you killed Python?" She sighed. "How silly. Of course, you remember! I bet you could describe that event with more details I failed to notice. Well, since I was there, I can share my point of view."
She closed her eyes. "I can picture you vividly. You, standing on the corpse of Python. How bright you were. How proud you appeared. How strong you showed. Your majesty was blinding. Impossible to not be impressed. I couldn't take my eyes away from you‒not just because you are handsome!" She laughed. "I just knew I was witnessing something important. The birth of a new greatness… And you didn't disappoint me."
She opened her eyes. He looked at her the same way he did after he killed Python. At that moment, she had had no clue he was intending to ask her to marry him. She had only blushed because she was intimidated. But right now, it was different. The love she detected… It wasn't a silly love at first sight anymore. He stared at her like someone who had learned to appreciate her with her qualities and her defaults.
She blushed. "I considered unfair that in return you didn't get to be there when my own moment happened. This is why you are here. So, I can share that with you."
His eyes opened wider. She smiled. "Yes, Apollo. This is here I created the dolphins. I can even show you the exact spot where the boat sank. The wreck is still there underwater. It is such a pity you didn't get to know the first generation. I miss them so much."
She caught a frown from the god. It didn't surprise her. She suspected he had always been bothered by the fact she had had a life before him. Delphina had been there at his birth. It meant the god couldn't recall an era before he met her as it didn't exist. She had been present since day one.
That might explain why Apollo seemed deeply more attached to her than she to him.
She pursued. "Before I got these powers, I was just a nymph. Nothing special. Just one of the numerous daughters of Atlas, a titan, and an adopted child of Nereus. My fate seemed to just accompany other sea nymphs, gossiping and tanning on the beach. That life was boring for me. All I wanted was to swim in the sea and explore. That desire caused confusion among the Nereids. I hated it. I hated feeling abnormal. I hated feeling out of place. I hated not knowing where I should fit in the pantheon. So, I could do what I wanted and wander in the sea. Then what? It felt lonely and provided no answer to what I was supposed to do with my life. You have no idea how easy you got it at four days old."
She marked a pause. "That day… When I saved these slaves, it was a whole revelation. These mortals had been abandoned and suffered. I happened to be the only divine being at proximity. Their screams disturbed me. The fear of death was intense and real. Slavery is so terrible. I refused to be like these free citizens who looked upon these people like animals. Not even animals deserved that. Here I was the only one who could hear their pleas. They prayed for no god. They simply screamed because what else to do? As the only one there, one thought dominated me. I want to save them. Please allow me to save them. Don't let them die. Help me to save them."
She closed her eyes again. "I felt something grew in me. Like an impulse that needed to be released." She advanced, sat on a rock and plunged her feet in the water. "I released it. I screamed as a light covered me and I could see myself changing. Then, I felt good. Really good. How could I describe it better? It was like if being magically cured after being in pain. Everything suddenly felt right. I had my answer to my existential crisis. I had found myself."
She metamorphosed her legs while experiencing vividly the images well maintained by her memories.
She opened her eyes… Her tail was still blue. Still fishlike.
Her skin froze. Her muscles trembled. Her heart pumped. Her brain bowled. This overdose of body activities was too much and tears exited her eyelids under the pressure.
"I thought… I thought coming back here would resolve the problem. I don't understand… Nereus told me… I… Did I lose…" It was a nightmare. She sobbed.
Strong arms circled her body. She was lifted up and brought on a lap. A comforting heat enveloped her, shielding her from the cold outside world. Startled, she almost protested but a mouth whispered to her ear. "Shush. I am here." He kept her caged in his embrace refusing to give her any chance to escape. He would not let her go. It was exactly what she needed.
Defeated, she wept her deception, her guilt, her shame and her loss. She plunged her nose in the shoulder of the one who never stopped loving her and being there for her. The one she had always loved against her better judgement. Living in denial had been too painful.
No more that.
She snuggled with him, giving the permission to offer the source of comfort he wanted to be and that she needed to have.
"Your tail is beautiful." He commented. Maybe he said that only to reassure her. But he was the God of Truth. It was also the first time he saw the tail of her childhood and honestly it had never been ugly, the blue color matching perfectly her eyes.
However, her dolphin tail… How could she still claim the title of Goddess of Dolphins without it?
She hugged Apollo stronger to avoid surrendering to panic.
"What have you been doing the last ten years?" He asked, worried and impatient to get answers to his starving curiosity.
"You will find it strange but I didn't realise I had been gone for ten years. It felt more like one year. It was like if I was in a dream. All I remember is that I swam in the darkness. Just swimming. My head was resting and I couldn't think of the reality. It was peaceful. It sounds strange, but I know that my dolphins manage to sleep by shutting down only half of their brain at once so the other one can manage to think about going to the surface to breathe. I suspect in my case I have probably exaggerated this capacity. I was both conscious and unconscious. Sometimes, I woke up and fully realised my situation… Then I cried. I remembered the horrors I caused and I couldn't bear it. I returned to my sleeping state. Such cowardice. Too afraid to confront reality. Forgetting everything was too easy. Thinking about my issues was too hard."
A finger caressed her jaw, following the line of her bone before lifting her chin to force her to look at Apollo who gazed at her in his serious mode.
"Don't do that. Ever again." He said that with calm but only an idiot would miss the scary authority in his tone.
Although he appeared and sounded severe, she clearly saw the love through his eyes. How much he cared about her. How much he had been worried for her. How much he needed her near him. Once again, she felt bad for what she did but she also felt relived that such devotion was dedicated to her. She hoped he could see in her gaze that her feelings matched his.
She nodded and cried even more, savouring the presence of the god. "I'm sorry for last time." He said. She knew what he meant. She dismissed the issue quickly. "It's ok. You are here now. Please, stay with me. " She felt selfish as she had abandoned him so many times in the past. But she tightened her grip on him and he willingly returned the gesture.
Nereus was right. They needed each other. Not so complicated.
For a while, they didn't speak. Delphina just savoured the strong body holding her and the hand caressing her back with an indescribable tenderness. Could she wish to freeze this instant? To enjoy this comfort forever? Now that she might have lost her dolphins, what else besides Apollo was left to her?
Wait… There was something wrong in this sentence.
She opened her eyes. The light of the moon illuminated the coast and she succeeded to spot a familiar place: a grotto.
It triggered a memory.
A long time ago
A child sulked in the cave dug in the costal rocks of Crete. Delphina was upset. How could Nereus do that to her? That was unfair! And just like any typical child frustrated of not getting what she wanted, her first idea was to run, hide, and sulk in a corner.
At least, she wasn't alone. "You know your behavior will not change anything, Delphina?"
She turned. She saw another girl, the same age as her with black braided hair and a tanned skin. Of course… Calypso will always know where she hid. There was hardly any secret between them.
"I know. My goal is not to change anything anyway."
Her twin crossed her arms. "So, what it is?" She got no answer. " Well, from what I know, these receptions at Poseidon's palace are nothing less than occasions to drink, eat, tell jokes and gossip. You would have been bored to death." She laughed and went to sit beside her sister. "Come on. No need to be upset. You are not alone. I am here with you."
Delphina looked at her. Then, she advanced to give her a hug, her lips widened. Calypso could instantly melt her bad mood. There was just something magical when they were together. Some people would call it the twin bond. A pretty vague term and yet revealing in intensity.
"You know what?" Delphina said. "Adulthood sounds boring anyway. Even more when you are nymph and you have such a long lifespan. If we are going to live in boredom, better do it while we feel like we belong somewhere. Don't you agree?"
Calypso nodded. She shared the feeling of abandon they got when they had been adopted. They shared the weird sensation of saying 'Nereus' and 'Doris' after fifty 'Father' and 'Mother'. To not hear anything from their biological mother and siblings. To feel like an anomaly in the pantheon. They would not pretend to be unhappy‒far from it‒but there was that self-awareness of their particular situation they simply couldn't ignore.
Calypso replied. "We could marry, you know? A spouse and children could be entertaining."
"Not very interested. Devoted men are too rare and I have no energy to search for."
Her sister reflected. Then, something clicked in her mind. "We can still be bored together."
The nymph got up. She took a stone and, on the sand, she began to draw. Delphina stood up and approached her, curious. "What are you doing?"
"What do you think?" She replied as she continued to draw.
Delphina paid more attention. The lines took the shape of many trees. Species? Very ambiguous. There was also a grotto like this one. A beach. Many animals. It looked like a drawing from a child that you developed in order to present it to your parents.
"What I think? Well, you are telling me that we could hide here and draw? You know, I am not the best at that."
Calypso laughed. "No. This is not what I mean. It is the drawing itself. What do you thing of it."
"It is pretty."
"Thanks. Would you live there?"
"Hum… It is supposed to be a real place?"
"Not yet."
Delphina raised her eyebrows. "I really need precisions now."
"Just imagine. Once we are officially recognized as mature, we can just run away and build our own future. What could stop us? You can travel in the sea as long as you want but together, we can construct a place on our own that we will call home. We just need to explore the whole world and then, we will find some place untouched by mortals. We will develop it and it will become our own spot! Think of Circe who possesses her own island. We could do something similar. Poets would talk of that magical place. They would talk of the legendary twins of the sea. We will make our own myth separated from the Nereids!"
Delphina blinked her eyes, slowly assimilating all the details composing the idea. Then, she smiled and jumped in excitement. "Yes, I would like it! In fact, that sounds like it is anything but boring!"
Calypso laughed. "We have never been bored together. So, it is a promise?"
"Yes, it is a promise."
And they hugged each other once again for what felt like an hour. No matter what, they would never be alone. They will always have each other.
After a while, Delphina proposed. "So, what do you think about swimming and try to catch some fish?"
"You know me. I am always in."
Back to present
Despite Apollo's presence around her, she couldn't stop the panic increasing in her body. The spasms menaced to make her nerves explode.
Calypso… Ho! No! How could she have forgotten her?!
We will always be together. False! They have been separated for she didn't know how long.
I will always be there for you. Delphina had no clue what Calypso was doing right now. She hadn't realised but time had made them correspond less and less until they cut their links without being aware of it.
Nothing will ever come between us. So many things came between them.
I promise to come visiting you often. When was the last time Delphina visited her?
There was a time when Delphina thought that her bond with Calypso was unbreakable. Then, the dolphins arrived in her life followed by Apollo. Her life changed so much that she began to leave Calypso behind.
I left my sister, my best friend, my twin, my blood alone. She had been so upset by her tumultuous relationship with Apollo then the loss of her godly powers that she didn't even think a single instant about the one who had been there at the beginning of her life.
The terrifying truth was that she truly forgot her. Until now, she had never thought about her in the last decades.
What was Calypso feeling right now?
Delphina couldn't stay here. She may have lost what made her a goddess, but she could still get back her sister! No! It was probably Calypso who needed her right now. Was she feeling lonely? Did she hate her for breaking her promise? The thought made her cry in shame.
Her fraternal instinct kicked in and she freed herself from Apollo's embrace. "I need to go!"
This alarmed the god. "Wait? Where are you going?"
"I need to see my twin sister! I… I forgot her! We used to be so close! And yet, I neglected her. I am so terrible! I need to se her right now."
She was ready to enter the water when a hand strongly caught her wrist. "No!"
She turned around to protest. But Apollo caught her other wrist. "No! I cannot let you go!"
"Apollo!" She decided to turn her tail into legs in order to stand up and calm him down. But his grip on her refused to loosen. It didn't hurt but still… Apollo's reaction had startled her. "Come on. You have to…"
"No! Please! Not again! I cannot let you disappear from my view once again. Please… Don't do that to me."
She was just going to see her sister. Before accusing him of overreacting, she stopped and reflected. He trembled. He didn't mask it. His fear.
Apollo was afraid.
He had known her since his birth. Sometimes, she underestimated his love for her. Just like she undervalued the weight of her own feelings for him. She saw how easier it was for her. Apollo had constantly been the one rejected. The one waiting. The one left alone. Yes, he had committed huge mistakes. And he had also hurt her. But she had never doubted his affections for her. Unconsciously, she had probably abused of that advantage.
On the other side… "Apollo." How he had coped with her disappearance? "Please." He was right to fear that she will not come back once again. "Look at me."
He rose his chin and she contemplated him. As if Artemis paid close attention to the moment, the moon's light was brighter, helping to see better his face. He was so beautiful. His blue eyes looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered. Just like…when he first opened his eyes as a baby. They had looked at each other. They had been connected since that instant.
She had never felt so certain before. Everything felt right. She was ready.
She put her mouth on his.
First came the shock. Apollo didn't expect that. The gesture was so genuine and loving. But she lacked experience.
And so, the god took the lead.
He let go of her wrists. A hand grabbed her hair and the other her back. He gently brought her closer to him, warming her body with his. With care, he tasted her mouth and deepened the kiss, provoking fireworks in his skin and soul. How many times he had lying down in his bed, dreaming of this exact moment? His imagination had failed to match the euphory and excitement of reality.
Delphina abandoned herself. How agreeable it was! She could feel the intensity of his love and she surrendered to express her complete trust toward him. He didn't disappoint and offered the best physical experience that surpassed all of her expectations. She could forget everything and remain in the safety of his arms and the loving attention of his mouth forever.
Eventually, he broke the contact and they both took a huge breath. They was still trembling from the adrenaline and lust.
"It is dangerous to test my self-control." He said.
"I know." She closed her eyes and leaned her front onto his. Such intimacy appeased her. She just wanted to stay here and give in.
But Calypso needed her. "I have to go. Now." She looked at him and reassured him. "I will be back, I promise."
She stepped back and Apollo let her. She gave him a last glance. He looked sad but he trusted her. How she loved that man.
Today, she would have learned that even if she prided herself for being good and caring about others, she could still hurt the ones she loved the most. She now had to make up with both Calypso and Apollo. Her godly powers were the least important thing, right now.
She swam continually. It was a long distance. As the sun rose before her arrival to Ogygia, she decided to wait for the day to pass before going to the surface. That gave her time to reflect about what she would say once she saw her twin sister. How would she react? She was nervous, that was an understatement. But she would not be a coward, this time. She had to confront her own faults.
The sun set. It was time. She went at the surface… She was shocked.
On the beach, she spotted somebody she had not seen since the Trojan war. Even in the nighttime, she would not fail to recognize someone who had had a very negative impact in her life. Someone she never thought she would see again.
Odysseus
Thank you for reading.
I told you these two would get better! I am not a liar!
Anyway, there is still some business to end before getting the happy ending but we are getting there!;)
Be warned, you will have to wait until april before getting the next chapter. It seems that recently the chapters are becoming even more harder to write. Maybe it is because I am not simply retelling myths anymore. It is more complex now, but I will always make sure to provide chapters of quality.
I hope you enjoyed it! (Because honestly if you didn't...)
See you soon!