Prologue
This is the tale of Olive Branch and Seaweed, a tale as old as time. But how pray tell, did these two become lovers divine?
For Olive Branch lived on a tree high above the sea.
And Seaweed lived down below floating in the tides.
Their two worlds could never meet, until one day they did.
This is the tale of Olive Branch and Seaweed
And it started in Athens, it did.
Chapter One
Seaweed
Olive Branch lived on a tree. She was not the tree but merely the carry-on. Olive Branch was an important branch, for every year, for the people of Athens, she produced the most olives. More than any other branch on the tree. "A gift from Athena!" the villagers would say, and Olive Branch would ruffle her leaves with pride. Olive Branch lived her life lavishly. The people adored her, and her leaves produced the most olives. Life was amazing for Olive Branch. Until he came.
"Please untangle yourself from my tree's roots." Olive Branch said, looking down at a piece of seaweed.
"I would if I could," the seaweed piece responded. "but I'm afraid I am lacking in appendages that would help."
"What is your name?" Olive Branch asked for he had yet to introduce himself.
"So sorry, how rude of me. My name is Seaweed."
"Seaweed," Olive Branch repeated.
"Correct!" Seaweed exclaimed. "And you, fair branch, what might yours be?"
"Olive Branch," Olive Branch said. "and I would like you to remove yourself from those roots and go." She said, indifferent after the introductions.
"Alas, Olive Branch, I cannot. I would if I could, for seaweed is meant to drift, but I cannot."
And lo and behold, he could not. Some conversation was made from time to time, a friendly hello from Seaweed with an icy response from Olive Branch, but Seaweed did not leave.
Olive Branch detested Seaweed. She thought him to be too full of himself and too stuck up. Seaweed himself could not for the life of him understand why Olive Branch hated him so. Even so, he made an effort to be kind to her, for floating in the sea had given him much wisdom. He knew should he be kind to her, her icy exterior would melt.
Olive Branch hoped that if she ignored Seaweed long enough, he would eventually cease to be. Unfortunately, she underestimated how resilient Seaweed would be. It seemed as if he could last forever without water! Even if it seemed to take too long, Olive Branch ignored Seaweed's plea for help. Even though he annoyed her with his constant pestering, she still would not speak.
It changed one day, however, when Seaweed did not say his usual greeting of the new morning to her. Not that Olive Branch would ever say so, but she rather had become fond of the greeting. No one had ever said as much to her before. The villagers had no time to talk to a tree of all things, and the other branches felt that Olive Branch felt herself to be above them. And they gossiped. Olive Branch despised gossiping.
It was unusually quiet, Olive Branch noticed. Seaweed hadn't spoken a word today. Olive Branch was getting antsy. Was he planning something to get back at her? For all those times she had disregarded him?
"Quiet today, aren't we?" Olive Branch asked Seaweed. He still did not talk. "I see you have given up," Olive Branch continued. "That is good." Still, Seaweed did not speak. This went on for days. Olive Branch would make barbs and insult Seaweed, but in his stubbornness, he still did not speak. A long while passed, and Olive branch began to wonder if he had died when Seaweed finally spoke.
"I apologize for my silence, but I had begun to lose hope." Seaweed said.
"Lost hope about what?" asked Olive Branch.
"I began to fear that I would never make it back home," Seaweed said. "I still do. And you're no help, always berating me, then speaking when I ignore you after all those times I tried for conversation. You even had the gall to be insulted! The hypocrisy of your actions amazes me."
Olive Branch was silent. She knew his words to be true, yet it still stung. Why was that?
"I will help you," Olive Branch said. "I will help you as best I can. But do not expect too much, for I am just a branch."
"And I am just a seaweed piece, yet I've traveled the world with the sea." Seaweed said, but the happiness in his voice was apparent.
"I am afraid," Olive Branch pushed on, destroying the small sliver of hope they had, "the only question, is how?"
Chapter Two
Bird
Olive Branch was not happy with the bird that had made its perch on her. She had shaken her leaves, but it only flew away until she stopped. She had tried asking the bird to leave, but it acted as if it hadn't heard her. The worst part of all of it was the howling laughter of Seaweed below.
"I am glad you find this so amusing." Olive Branch grumbled as Seaweed panted to catch his breath.
"I-I hope h-he poops on you!" Seaweed wheezed out. Olive Branch grumbled a few choice words at Seaweed, then turned her attention back at this bird.
"Excuse me," Olive Branch said, ruffling her branches to gain the bird's attention. "I would like for you to please get off me."
"So sorry," said the bird. "I didn't think you minded." He hopped off her. "My name is Bird."
"Olive Branch. And that hooligan down there is Seaweed."
"Hey!" Seaweed protested.
Bird nodded politely. "Very nice to meet you all, but I'm afraid I've overstayed my welcome. Well, I'll be off- "
"Wait!" Olive Branch cried. "Would you be so kind as to untangle Seaweed from those roots?"
Bird paused, wings raised, just about to take off. Bird lowered his wings. "And why would I do that?"
Seaweed sniffed. "I'm afraid there is no answer to your question coming from us. But we'd be ever so grateful."
Bird lowered his wings. "While I'd love to help, really, I would," Bird snapped his beak. "I fear I might rip you in half."
"Ah," said Seaweed. "So I will be stuck here forever?"
"Forever?" asked Bird. "Oh no, just until the next storm."
"When is the next storm?" Olive Branch inquired.
"That," said Bird. "I do not know. But I can find out." Bird pushed off the ground and hovered in the air. "I can fly 'round the village, gathering information."
"Most appreciated." Seaweed said. "Thank you, Bird."
Bird nodded then flew away towards the village below.
When Bird returned the following evening, he bore no news as to information regarding the storm. He did, however, gain wind of a coup. It was not a coup of the other-throwing the government, but to cut down a tree. Olive Branch's tree. Some villagers felt that Olive Branch didn't produce enough olives. They felt she was growing old, and needed to be replaced with a newer tree, one that made the village more money than Olive Branch ever did.
"I thought you said that the village loves you. That they called you 'a gift from Athena'." Seaweed sounded hurt. "You lied to me."
"I didn't know!" Olive Branch protested. "How could I? I am a branch attached to a tree, doomed to stay rooted in the same place."
"But you must have known that you weren't producing as much fruit as before." continued Seaweed.
"I thought..maybe I have been...but-"
"There's no use pressing her, Seaweed." Bird said, settling on a branch just above Olive Branch. "She wouldn't have known. She's only ever known happiness. She's not prepared for the cruelness of the world."
Seaweed was silent. Olive Branch wondered if he was angry with her.
"Okay." he finally said. "Okay. Fine."
Seaweed was quiet for the rest of the night. Even as Bird bid them goodbye, he was silent. Even when Olive Branch wished him goodnight, he was quiet.
It would be morning the next day before he spoke again.
Chapter Three
Winter
"The basic elements for growing are sunlight and water."
"I know."
"To grow better, you'll also need fertilized soil. Animal poop works best."
"Bird, that's revolting."
Bird tweeted indignantly. "I am merely telling you the elements of good plant growth habits."
"Water, we have, thank Poseidon. Sunlight, we have, bless Apollo. But animal poop? I'm afraid we're fresh out." Seaweed drawled.
"You're a plant too. This lesson could help you as well." Bird said, ignoring Seaweed's sarcastic remark.
"I do not grow like an olive tree. I float in the sea, soaking in the sunlight. I do not need soil." Seaweed said, but he kept quiet after that. No doubt, he wasn't in the mood to be pecked to death by Bird.
"This winter will be the best one yet." Bird continued as if there had not been any interruption. "You will stock up on nutrients, and by spring come, you will produce so many olives the villagers will regret even thinking about wanting to cut you down."
Olive Branch was then reminded of that horrible day. It had been when they had first met Bird, which now felt like many moons ago, but it had only been three, and Bird had come back with the news that Olive Branch's tree was to be cut down because of her. Olive Branch had always thought that the villagers loved her, for she had been told as much by the kind couple that tended to her from time to time. Remembering all those times made Olive Branch remember the disappointed looks on their faces when they came to harvest her olives, or the whispers and glances at the sky as if they expected lightning to strike. Maybe they had been. Athena surely would have struck them down if she had even the slightest inkling that they might cut her down. Olive Branch had reasoned that they had not wanted to invoke the wrath of a goddess, especially their patron one. They seemed to hold no such fear now.
"Olive," Seaweed called from below. Olive Branch looked down at him. He had started calling her 'Olive' rather than the full name of 'Olive Branch' claiming it was too long. Olive Branch felt as though she preferred the shortened version of her name, especially when it came from Seaweed.
"I know I was harsh with you before," Seaweed continued. "and I'm sorry. I should not have been so upset with you. It wasn't your fault that you did not know. But now, you have a chance to prove the villagers to be wrong about you. I believe that you can do this." He paused. "Even if you are 'just a branch'." Olive Branch smiled at the reminder of their previous conversation.
"And you are 'just a Seaweed piece'."
"If the two of you are done with your lovers' quarrel-"
"We are not lovers!"
"We are not quarreling!"
Both Seaweed and Olive Branch protested with Bird's statement, but Bird flapped down to land on Olive Branch (maybe out of spite) and continued.
"-We really must finish our lesson."
"What is there to finish, Bird?" Seaweed asked. "Sunlight, water, and fertile soil are what you said we needed. How do you propose we get that?"
"I have friends in high places." Bird said.
"I wouldn't expect anything less. You are a bird, are you not?"
"Very amusing." Bird said. "But what I meant to say is that I have contacts. Fertile soil will not be hard to come by. As for water…Seaweed, perhaps you could pray to your patron?"
"Poseidon? Even if he listens to the pleas of a mere seaweed, who is to say that he will even answer them? Is Athena not his enemy? Maybe he will smite me down for even suggesting that he help an olive tree, the very thing that made him lose the contest for Athens."
"Try." Bird told him. Seaweed grunted but said nothing else.
"Bird," Olive Branch spoke up. "Who are your friends in high places?"
"Oh, a wolf, bears, lions."
"How are you planning to get them here without anyone panicking?" Olive Branch said.
"I have my ways." Bird said. "And don't you worry. From now on, everything will be fine."
Chapter Four
Fire
In the distance, an angry fire roared. The origins of the fire were unknown, whether or not it had been started by the people of the village or if lightning and struck the grass, but the fire still roared. It set its sights on an olive tree on the high hill, and in its path lay the village. Good thought the fire. More destruction.
Olive Branch was already looking healthier. She had confidence that this would be the best harvest yet. Bird had indeed called down his friends of bears and lions and wolves. While the means were...less than sanitary, Olive Branch was still grateful that Bird at least tried, and even more so when it worked. As it seemed, sending animals away from Olive Branch's tree denied her tree, and her, the nutrients it needed.
"Thank you, Bird." Olive Branch had said. Bird had nodded modestly, but Olive Branch saw the gloating gleaming in his eyes.
Poseidon had, much to the astonishment of Seaweed, answered his prayers for water. For the past week, a small storm, not nearly powerful enough to untangle Seaweed from the roots of her tree (even if she knew she no longer wanted him to go), rained down on Olive Branch. She soaked in the water, feeling its power course through her. Maybe a gift from Poseidon.
The sun shone even more radiantly than ever. Perhaps Apollo too wanted the thanks Athena and Poseidon were receiving from Olive Branch, Seaweed, and Bird, as the Gods could not let any single person have all the glory.
"Hm," Bird said, inspecting Olive Branch's leaves. "Olives are growing here already."
"That...that's good, right?" asked Olive Branch nervously.
"Good? Good?" asked Bird, flapping his wings hysterically. "It's better than good! It's...i-it's excellent, admirable, splendid, stupendous-"
"We get it Bird!" interrupting Seaweed, but a smile showed on his face. Bird huffed.
"Thank you, thank you very much." Olive Branch said, pretending to bow (if she could, which she can't, because she is a plant).
"I must go." Bird said suddenly. He frowned as he flapped skywards.
"Whatever for? Were we not just celebrating?" Seaweed asked.
"Something feels wrong." Bird said. "A disturbance. Déjà vu, if you will."
"What's that?" Olive Branch asked. Bird waved her off.
"No need for you to worry." though Olive Branch could swear she heard him mumble a 'yet' he thought she couldn't hear. Bird flew away, down towards the village. Olive Branch wasn't expecting him to come back so soon, but when he did, fear was etched onto his face. He was shouting something Olive Branch couldn't hear.
"Seaweed, what is he saying?"
"I think he's screaming…" Seaweed peered into the distance (with what eyes, I do not now. I am merely the narrator). "Fire." He shivered. "There's a fire."
Now that Bird was closer, Olive Branch could hear him screaming all sorts of words. Seaweed winced. "Bird, there is no need to have such a sailor's mouth."
"No need?" Bird shrieked. "A fire is coming this way, about to burn Olive Branch to a crisp, and you're telling me 'no need'!"
"What?" Olive Branch asked. "It's coming this way? Towards me?"
"Oh, finally, someone realizes the gravity of the situation." Bird was still flapping wildly in the air. Seaweed, however, appeared calm.
"Now, screaming and panicking isn't going to stop the fire, now is it? What we need is water."
"WATER FROM WHERE? ALL I SEE IS FIRE!" Bird screamed.
"Bird, if all you're going to do is yell, you can shut up and fly away." barked Seaweed. Bird clamped his beak closed.
"Pray to my patron. He has helped us all this time. Maybe he will come now?"
"Why would he? Why should we expect him to help us?" Bird asked.
"Try."
Olive Branch was shocked at how different Seaweed seemed now than when she had first met him. Not ready to believe in anything, to stay in any one place, determined only to help himself.
If only you could see how far you've come, Olive Branch thought. You'd be proud.
And pray they did. She prayed that she would live. That she would produce more olives than ever, that the villagers would not get rid of her or her tree…
The fire raged as he neared the olive tree. Finally, the fire thought. It had destroyed half the village and laughed at the pitiful attempts of the villagers as they tried to quench its flames. A single olive branch, already blooming with olive flowers, sat on the tree. The other branches hung limp as if they had already accepted defeat.
A fighter, the fire thought. It will be fun to burn her. He touched the branch, barely grazing her, when it began to rain. The rain fell heavy on the fire, seeping out its power. Poseidon. He was helping this olive branch. But why? What did this olive branch have that would cause a god to take special notice?
"Agh!" the fire screaming, its cries garbled by the rain. The olive branch was at least scorched a bit, thought the flames as it became nothingness. At least the olive branch was burned.
Chapter Five
Doubt
"That olive tree is costing us money!"
"Get rid of it!"
"What with the storm coming, it'll never survive!"
"The fire started the process, and I say we finish it! Burn it down!
"Burn it!"
"Burn to the ground!"
Bird shook his head sadly as he flew from the village back to Olive Branch and Seaweed. No good news for Olive Branch again today. She had been miserable ever since the fire had burned her. Bird himself truly saw no difference. The ash from the fire helped fertilize the soil her tree was planted in. So she lost a few olives? At least she was alive. But she won't be for long, said a nagging voice in Bird's head. Not if the villagers have their way.
As Bird nears Olive Branch, he notices that her branches are still drooping. He lands closer to Seaweed and whispers, "No luck?"
Seaweed had been trying to cheer Olive Branch up with no luck.
"None." Seaweed whispers back. "I want to help her, but…" He trails off, shooting a longing look at Olive Branch. Perhaps neither Olive Branch nor Seaweed noticed it, but Bird certainly did. The two of them were smitten with each other, but either side had yet to make a move.
"I know the both of you are talking about me," Olive Branch interjected. "So just tell me the news from the village."
"They want to take your tree down." Bird said quietly. Olive Branch scoffed in a way that said I expected no less. Bird's mind whirred as he remembered something he had heard one villager shout.
"There is a storm coming." Bird said. "The storm you," he turned to Seaweed, "had been waiting for."
Olive Branch sucked in a breath. "How do you know?"
"A village mentioned an impending storm. He said you would never survive. I can only assume…" Bird trailed off.
Olive Branch wanted to cry, and had she had eyes for tears, she would have. Not only did the villagers want to get rid of her, but she had also been burned by the fire, something she had prayed so hard against, and now, she was going to lose Seaweed.
"It's going to be okay, Olive." No matter what had happened, Olive Branch loved the fact that Seaweed still called her by the same playful nickname he had begun to call her not too long ago. "It's going to be okay."
"The last time someone told me it was going to be okay, I almost caught on fire." Olive Branch pointed out.
"Maybe it will be better this time?" Bird offered hesitantly.
"Bird, you don't sound like you believe that at all." Seaweed said.
"Sorry?" Bird said. Seaweed moved a bit, which was the equivalent of rolling his eyes.
"I understand that the two of you are trying to look at the bright side," Olive Branch began.
"No one's staring at Apollo." Seaweed muttered under his breath and Bird snickered.
"But maybe there is no bright side." Olive Branch finished. "Maybe...maybe it's hopeless."
"So you're just going to accept defeat?" Seaweed asked. "Just like that?"
"It's not 'just like that' Seaweed! I've tried, haven't I? And what do I have to show for it?" Olive Branch shook her burned branches. "Nothing. Nothing but scars."
"But-" protested Seaweed.
"But nothing! It's hopeless, it's over, and there's nothing we can do about it." Seaweed said nothing.
"You know," said Bird. "That sounds like how Seaweed used to talk. Of course, so I've heard. He pestered you, didn't he until you agreed to help him. He could have said it was hopeless, but he didn't give up." Bird began to rise into the air. "I suppose that's what makes the two of you so different."
"Don't talk in riddles, Bird." Olive Branch pleaded.
"Oh, it's no riddle. The difference between you and Seaweed is that Seaweed refuses to give up," Bird spoke as he flew higher and higher into the sky. "But you will."
"Bird!" protested Olive Branch, but Bird was already gone.
"Seaweed, surely you don't agree with him? You don't think I'm giving up, do you?"
"But that is what you're doing, Olive Branch. You're giving up." Seaweed rustles sadly. "You're giving up."
Chapter Six
Goddess
Olive Branch let the wind push her. She bent, twisting with the breeze, bending and turning, and feeling the rush of the air, flow past her. She didn't have the strength or the willpower to keep herself still. What was the point? Bird hadn't come back after he had accused her of giving up, and Seaweed wasn't speaking to her. Spring was nearing, and Olive Branch couldn't even bring herself to look at her leaves. She felt the olive flowers beginning to bud, but after everything that had happened, there probably wouldn't be a plentiful harvest. The villagers would see that she no longer could produce fruit and then they would get rid of her tree- and her.
Just as Olive Branch was readying herself for more walling, she heard the sound of someone singing.
"O káto apó tin eliá
Ypírche éna kommáti fýki
Éna poulí pétaxe psilá
Éna polý idiaítero eídos peristerioú
I eliá den apéfere karpoús
Ta fýkia kollíthikan sto déntro
Allá apó ti thálassa írthe mia kataigída
Aftó ésteile ta fýkia píso sto spíti
To kladí eliás parígage meriká froúta
Allá se poia timí, poios boreí na pei?
To kladí épese sti thálassa
Éna poulí pétaxe psilá
Kai sti thálassa synantíthikan xaná
Kladí eliás kai fýkia
Kai o fílos tous poulí to peristéri '' It was a little, old lady, singing about two lovers. Before Olive Branch could think about the content of the song, the old woman sat beneath her tree.
"Olive branches are underappreciated." The woman spoke to herself. "But truly, we owe them everything. Had we not had olives, Athena never would have been our patron goddess."
What a strange old woman thought Olive Branch.
"Athena protects us, provides for us, and what do we do?" the woman chuckled. "We conspire against her gift." she patted the tree. "You."
Olive Branch was shocked. With the way Bird always spoke of the going on's of the village, she had assumed the decision to be unanimous. Had there truly been those against the removal of her tree? Was it because she was a gift from their patron? Or because she always bore them fruit?
"Ah," the woman said, leaning back on the tree. "I am old. I suppose if anyone walked up here to the tree, they would believe me to be mad." The woman shook her head sadly. "I suppose you must have given up." She said, continuing to address Olive Branch. "What with your burned branches."
Olive Branch wished this woman had not walked up here to remind her of her failure. How she would die soon because she could not do the one thing she was planted for.
"I think you can do it." the woman said this so quietly, that Olive Branch had to strain her ears (again, where are all these body parts coming from?) to listen.
"I know the villagers down there don't believe that you can do it. And maybe...and maybe you don't believe it either. But I do. I have hope."
The woman grunted as she stood, and Olive Branch suddenly found herself missing this strange woman who was about to depart. She had been pleasant, unexpected, company.
"Just remember," the old woman said, turning around. As she turned, her ugliness and age melted off her, to reveal a goddess in a helmet that covered her face, and a shield boring the face of Medusa. She held a spear in one hand, the other resting on her silver breastplate.
"It always seems impossible until it's done."
Athena disappeared in a sudden motion. With a wave of her shield, she was gone.
Olive Branch stared in shock where Athena had sat under the tree. The goddess of wisdom herself had taken the time to give Olive Branch advice. Quickly, Olive Branch tried to think of what Athena had told her. She had told her not to give up hope. And the song she had been singing…
Oh below the olive tree
There was a piece of seaweed
High above flew a bird
A very special type of dove
The olive tree produced no fruit
The seaweed stuck on the tree
But lo from the sea there came a storm
That sent the seaweed back home
The olive branch produced some fruit
But at what price, who can say?
The branch then fell into the sea below
A bird flew high above
And in the sea, they met again
Olive Branch and Seaweed
And their friend Bird the dove
Chapter Seven
Again we go
"Truly, you want to?" asked Seaweed. "You really want to?"
"Yes, Seaweed." Olive Branch said for what felt like the millionth time. "I do."
"Well, that's wonderful!" Bird chirped excitedly. "Absolutely wonderful."
"If you don't mind, Bird," Olive Branch said. "Your fertilization techniques would be most appreciated.
"Done." Bird said with a nod of his head.
"And Seaweed," Olive Branch said, turning towards him. "If you could-"
"I can't promise he'll answer," Seaweed said, referring to Poseidon, "but I'll try."
"That's all I ask." Olive Branch said happily.
"And Apollo?" questioned Bird.
"I suppose all of us must thank Apollo for shining brightly during these dark times," said Olive Branch gravely, then burst out laughing at the sound of her voice. Bird and Seaweed soon joined in, their infection laughter ringing through the air.
Chapter Eight
Olives
"I don't believe it." a young man said breathlessly as he stared at Olive Branch. Olive Branch wanted to scream. What? What was it could he not believe? What was wrong?
"I don't believe it." the man said again. Then he turned, streaking down the hill with determination. As he ran, Olive branch heard him yelling, "Olives! Olives!"
"Olives?" whispered Olive Branch confused. She looked at herself and realized she was covered in...olives. She looked at the other branches and saw the same. This was the largest harvest Olive Branch had ever seen, by far.
"Seaweed! Seaweed, wake up you lazy lump!" Olive Branch said, shaking wildly.
"What, what?" Seaweed asked groggily, yawning.
"Look! Look at me!" she shook her leaves more, showing off the olives that decorated her.
"We- you did it!" Seaweed exclaimed. "I always knew."
"I know you did," Olive Branch said, "but wait for Bird to say the same thing."
"Wait for me to- Olive Branch! You have olives!" Bird flapped down onto Olive Branch excitedly."I always knew." Olive Branch scoffed and Seaweed chuckled in amusement.
"What?" protested Bird. "I did."
"I could tell," Seaweed said dryly. "What with all the screaming about 'hopelessness' and 'we might as well give up'." Bird tweeted indignantly.
They stilled as they heard the sound of villagers approaching. One of them shooed Bird away. "Go bird! These are our olives!"
Bird flapped his wings, rising into the air, barely missing the rake that had been swung at him. "As if I'd want to eat olives anyway."
The villagers spent the next hour plucking the olives from the branches. They shook the trees, and as the olives fell from the branches, they were collected on a tarp. Not all the olives were as lucky. Some flattened on impact with the ground. A few were stepped on. Olive Branch even saw one man eat an olive, before spitting it out, and decided that an unwashed olive would not make a very pleasant snack.
After they had finished, the villagers scavenged any other olives they could find before descending the hill, talking amongst themselves about the harvest.
"Athena must have caught wind of our plans." one villager was saying. "This must be a blessing and a warning from her. Letting us doubt her, and when we try to turn against her, she blesses us with her grace." They all nodded as if this explanation made perfect sense. Olive Branch had to agree. It did make perfect sense. After all, she had met the goddess herself, had she not?
"You've done it." Seaweed said. "I'll admit, I had my doubts, but-"
"But we gave it our all." Bird said, flying back towards them. "We tried our hardest. We had our moments when all the odds were against us but after all-"
"It always seems impossible until it's done." Olive Branch finished. "I know that firsthand."
"Olive Branch-" Seaweed starts, but glances back at Bird and quiets.
"And that's my cue to leave." Bird says. "See you lovebirds later. Hm, love birds. Could be big." and he flies off.
"Is Bird right?" Olive Branch asked.
"Right about what?"
"If you love me."
There's a pause, and Olive Branch can sense that Seaweed is trying to find the right words to say.
"I do love you," he said finally. "And I want to stay here. With you. Forever." Olive Branch could hear the hesitancy in his voice.
"But?" she asked him.
"The storm," he said, and Olive Branch cursed herself for being so foolish. Of course, he was worried. The person he wanted to stay with most, and he was about to be ripped away from her. But Olive Branch felt taken with a feeling she had never felt before.
"And so?" she said. Seaweed startled.
"But-" Seaweed began, but Olive Branch wasn't finished.
"Let the storm come. We can sit here waiting for it on our doorstep, or we could take a chance."
"A chance at what?" Seaweed asked.
"A chance at love. A chance at fate." Olive Branch said. "A chance...to not have to worry about anything but each other."
Seaweed was quiet.
"I'd like that," he said. "I want to take a chance with you, Olive Branch. Will you take a chance with me?"
"On one condition," Olive Branch said, and she heard Seaweed move forward in anticipation. "You have to call me 'Olive'."
"Will you take a chance with me, Olive?" Seaweed asked.
"I'll take every chance with you."
Chapter Nine
Storm
The sky flashed with lightning. The wind blew so hard, Olive Branch had to grip the tree to keep herself from falling. Seaweed blew just down below, coming loose from the roots.
"Seaweed!" Olive Branch screaming over the storm. The rain was pounding on her, the wind pushing against her, the lightning flashing in the sky. The sun had left the sky, and all that was left was dark gloomy gray clouds.
"Seaweed!" Olive Branch yelled again.
"Olive!"
Olive Branch sighed with relief. Seaweed was still okay!
"I don't think I can hold on much longer!" he yelled back to her. Olive Branch saw him slowly unraveling from the roots of the tree. He was slipping away from her.
"Seaweed!" she screamed. Her throat felt dry and scratchy, even though there was water falling all around her. Lightning flashed again, this time striking a spot close to the village. Olive Branch saw the smoke of the fire, and smelled the burning trees, and heard the sounds of screaming villagers.
But all Olive Branch could focus on was Seaweed and she watched in horror and he let go of the roots…
Falling
Falling
Falling
Falling
Falling
Into the sea below, and disappearing under the crashing waves.
Olive Branch could still hear the screaming, could still see the raging fire, and smell the burning smell of flesh and wood, but she couldn't understand why. After all, Seaweed was gone. Shouldn't the entire world stop and mourn her?
Seaweed was gone
Seaweed was gone
Seaweed was gone
Seaweed was gone
Seaweed was gone
And the world went on without Olive Branch. The storm worsened, as if reflecting Olive Branch's mood. Another lightning strike, this one even closer, hit a field of crops. It lit on fire immediately. The rain grew heavier. All around her, destruction rained down on her (no pun intended), and she gave up. She tried to hold on, to keep faith, but why was she?
Never give up, Athena told her. Bird told her. Seaweed told her.
But why shouldn't she? Truly, wasn't giving up the best option? What was waiting for her if she held on? She was wasting her time trying to hold on to something, when really, there was nothing to hold on to.
Olive Branch looked at the countryside that was being ravaged by the fire, and looked at the sea, who's waves showed no mercy, where only the one of strongest will survive.
Olive Branch let go of the tree and fell into the sea.
Down
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Chapter Ten
Found
Olive Branch felt the sun burning her. She wondered for a moment about where she was before she remembered what had happened last night. A wave of sadness overcame her as she thought about Seaweed falling into the sea below.
Why was this happening to her? Why was she being punished? What had she done to offend the gods that they would sentence her to this cruel punishment?
First, there had been Seaweed. Olive Branch remembered the hatred she had felt for him when they had first met. How she hoped that he would perish so she would not have to speak with him.
Then, of course, a silly dove he was, far from the way he was meant to be portrayed. Loud, anxious, and sometimes loud, but Olive Branch loved him. She would probably never see him again, but she would forever hold on to those fond memories.
Olive Branch floated aimlessly in the water. She wished she would sink below the surface, for that at least would put her out of her misery.
For what wasn't the first time, Olive Branch thought of Seaweed again. What was he doing? Was he thinking about her the same way she was thinking about him? Did he believe that they would never see each other again, and was already planning to move on?
A seagull flew overhead, circling down on Olive Branch.
He probably wants to eat my olives, thought Olive Branch. I won't mind. Better to not have any reminder of that horrid cliffside village.
With a start, she remembered that she no longer had any olives. Maybe he wanted to eat her. Instead, the bird swooped down and picked her up in his beak, and carried her off to where the gods knew where.
Great, thought Olive Branch. Here I am, without Seaweed, without Bird, being carried by a seagull to wherever, probably to become a part of his nest.
The seagull drops her.
"You-" shouts Olive Branch, followed by a long list of curse words that she thinks makes the seagull wince. In fact, Olive Branch, I could match wits against Bird.
Olive Branch is still cursing as she hits the water with a smack! Olive Branch feels pain shoot up inside her, and sees one of the twigs that adorned her floating beside her. This was just great. Now, as far as Olive Branch could see, was water. Left? Water. Right? Water. Down? Water. Up? Well, that was sky, but if she looked up, she felt the burning of the sun. Southwest at 14.5994° S, 28.6731° W? More water.
"Oh, Seaweed." sighed Olive Branch. "I wish you were here with me. You'd make everything better with one of those stupid jokes."
"Well hey, it's not as if I'm just floating around, am I?" Seaweed asked, appearing beside her from who knows where.
"See?" Olive Branch said. "You've done one of- Seaweed!" Olive Branch exclaimed as she realized that this was Seaweed, in the flesh, staring at her with an amused expression. Seaweed floated closer to her, wrapping himself around her in the plant equivalent of a hug.
"I didn't think I'd see you again." Seaweed admitted to her. "I was ready to float across the ocean if it meant I could see you again."
"I couldn't hold on after you left." Olive Branch told him. "I wouldn't have anything worthwhile to hold on to if you'd left."
"Bird?" Seaweed asked. Olive Branch scoffed.
"If I know BIrd, he'll find us out here by some magical stroke of luck." Olive Branch missed her friend, however. "I do miss him though."
"I can almost hear him screaming from out here." Seaweed said, and Olive Branch laughed. It hurt a bit, for it felt as if she had not laughed in a long time, but she laughed a long, hearty laugh that made her smile.
Olive Branch took a chance by falling in the sea. And maybe...maybe she will take another one now.
"Can we just stay here?" she asked Seaweed.
"What do you mean?" he asked her.
"I want to float around like a piece of seaweed. I want to see the world." Olive Branch stopped to let her words sink in. "And I want to do it with you."
"Olive, will you take a chance with me?" Seaweed asked suddenly.
"I'll take all the chances with you."
Chapter Eleven
Home Again
"I never thought we'd be back here again."
"Well, here we are." announced Seaweed. "Home again."
"Do my eyes deceive me!" cried a voice on shore. Flapping towards Olive Branch and Seaweed was a dove.
"Bird!" Olive Branch and Seaweed cried. It was a tearful reunion, one with both sides trying to tell the stories they had missed out over the years.
"After the storm, when the both of you were gone, I feared the worst." Bird said. "I blamed myself for not warning you again of the storm."
"Oh, Bird." said Olive Branch. "Leaving that dreadful village and it's villagers was the best decision of my life."
"The village is gone." Bird said. "It didn't survive the fire."
"Athena?" Seaweed asked.
"Who knows?" Bird shrugged. "At any rate, the wild had reclaimed it as its own." Olive Branch began to speak up to ask another question, but Bird shook his head. "No, no more sad things." He told them.
"I do believe we've missed a few years of gossip." Seaweed told Bird. "What, pray tell, ever happened to that swan from a few years back?"
"Oh my goodness, so-" Olive Branch laughed as the boys began to talk, catching up on the things they had missed.
It felt good to be home again.
She looked around. She saw the trees, the deer, the bears, the wolves, the wild. Home was different. She was different. She felt the breeze on her and smelled the salt-air. She heard the tune of a song Athena had once sung for her.
Oh below the olive tree
There was a piece of seaweed
High above flew a bird
A very special type of dove
The olive tree produced no fruit
The seaweed stuck on the tree
But lo from the sea there came a storm
That sent the seaweed back home
The olive branch produced some fruit
But at what price, who can say?
The branch then fell into the sea below
A bird flew high above
And in the sea, they met again
Olive Branch and Seaweed
And their friend Bird the dove
Additional Information
Who even Were those people?
Since a great bit of this story was inspired by greek mythology, I made quite a few references to it in this story. For those of you who aren't as knowledgeable with this subject as I claim to be, here is some additional information.
Athens - The capital of Greece, named after its patron goddess, Athena.
Athena - Goddess of wisdom and crafts, female goddess of war
Apollo - God of archery, poetry, music, the sun, and many more things that I couldn't bother to list.
Bird - The mentor of the story. Acted as a newsgiver for Seaweed and olive Branch, and was an all around wise bird.
Olive Branch - The Hero of the story. The entire story is told from her point of view. Her name truly describes what she was: An Olive Branch.
Poseidon - God of the sea and oceans, the Earthshaker
Seaweed - A piece of Seaweed who was the love interest of Olive Branch.
THIS IS THE FULL STORY FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO GO THROUGH CHAPTERS!
Sorry if the spacing is weird. Thank you to everyone who commented! Yes, this work was inspired by 'the Olive Tree and her Seaweed Patch' but this version is completely mine. Follow me on ao3 (thatonebrokendeskyouhadtositon) and wattpad ( dancemonkey37).
I am working on 'A little birdy told me', but I'm at a block. I may start focusing on other stories, and will update less often from now on. Sorry :(
Love you all! Peace and Justice,
-ThatOneBrokenDeskYouHadToSitOn