Author: Amrita, Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 9:40 PM, Post Subject: Washed Up [P, R]

At the sound of the stranger's voice, Niran gave a hateful glare. How dare this woman command him? Even if she was the person responsible for bringing him here, his hardened heart refused to bend to anything or anyone. No one, not even his own mother had done such a thing. They were the ones who would beseech him so he would look their way. When she pulled the ethereal chain, his body was dragged towards her against his will. As she spoke to him face to face, he remained unmoved. While a more prudent man would learn when the situation told one to yield, not once had Niran truly bowed his head to anyone. The most his father the king ever received from him was lip service, well-disguised lip service no less. He respected almost no one if he did not deem them worthy of it. 

As he prepared to raise a hand to strike her for her impudent tongue, an unseen force arrested his entire body as the words the woman spoke echoed in his mind: "I, Bryony of the Oracles, bind you, Niran of the sea, to me…" No matter how his mind resisted, his body was compelled to obey and he physically could not do anything against her. But he was stubborn, and having had free reign of his schemes without facing the repercussions for so long, he would not accept the truth even if it stared him straight in the face. He made a second attempt, which was forcibly stopped midway. As his anger and frustration began to rise, taking a razor he tried to sever the blood bond to no avail. At this point if he had been mad enough to try to cut his hand off, he would have done it. The grip his pride had over him was that strong. Having failed, he hissed through his teeth with a seething fury. "Release me at once you witch! Who are you to bind me to your whims?!"

Author: Bryony, Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:27 PM, Post Subject: Washed Up [P, R]

My, my… This one had some fight in him. – That was the first thought in her mind as she listened to the sounds of the bedroom. There was a stench of panic, anger, and a dip of survival.

Bryony rolled to the edge of the bed where he had been. Her face held a bored look as she propped her head up on a palm with her elbow propped on the mattress. Her blue eyes were drilling into him. “That won’t work Niran. I know who you are and I know what you’ve done. You might as well crawl right back into this bed before I make you crawl back into this bed. It is far too early for myself to be up… There isn’t even a sun in the sky yet~”

She reached for the coil and took it as a rope as she gave a good pull bringing him towards her. “Now… Are we going to play nice,” she got close to his face. Her breath hot against his lips. “Or am I going to have to show you why I was chosen to keep you?” She let the rope go and she rolled on the bed patting it gently. "Come back to bed."

Author: Amrita, Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:16 PM, Post Subject: Washed Up [P, R]

Even the most ancient of sea spirits could be bound under the right circumstances, and it didn't matter if they weren't willing. In his severely weakened state, he was incapable of resisting the bond forced upon him. Another chain, this one literal, to bind his soul. As a spirit of cold seawater, it was only fitting that an Oracle of water became his new lord and master. His memory following his loss of consciousness was blank until he awoke under another's roof. There was silence, no sound of the sea or the cries of birds above. Waking with a start, bright green eyes stared at the unfamiliar room and the ceiling. Somehow he was alive. His final vivid memory before being swallowed by the sea was of that leering smile as that woman's fingers were wrapped around his own, pulling the blade of a knife deeper into her body. 

Turning to his side, there was an unknown woman in the bed. Immediately his first instinct was to analyze the situation and get his bearings. There was no sign of that accursed madwoman anywhere, yet the seething rage inside his heart refused to be quelled until he knew she was dead–preferably at his own hands. He had no idea who this stranger was or where he had been brought, however this was the perfect opportunity to begin devising his plan for revenge. With Kavala having been completely forgotten by the mortals of this world, Niran assumed that his true identity was unknown to the general public. And besides, all of his former political opponents were already dead. Their bones were rotting away at the bottom of the sea with the remains of their once-glorious kingdom. 

Believing the woman next to him to be asleep, the fallen royal proceeded to make a dash towards the door hoping to slip away unnoticed before any witnesses caught sight of him. But before he even came within two meters of the threshold, an invisible force jerked him back violently, preventing him from leaving the premises. Whipping his head back, his ghostly green eyes saw a length of chain that he hadn't seen before. It was attached to him, coiling around his wrist while the other end stretched across the bed towards the dark-haired woman he had woken next to. Despite his greatest efforts, he could not sever it. By some sorcery he was being bound here against his will!

Author: Angela Rose, Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:40 PM, Post Subject: Washed Up [P, R]

“You don’t say? He sounds like a rather dreadful person~” Angela was thumbing through some of her patient files when she looked up at Shiloh’s staff. “Oh heavens no, I won’t be personally seeing to him. I can see the concern though. Having a man like that set free… To do whatever he wants.” She mused a bit. “I know just the person.” She booped Shiloh’s clergy on the nose and shooed them dramatically. “Don’t worry about it. I assure you that not even Shiloh could pick a better person than this.”

Angela finished up what she was doing, checked in on Shiloh to heal her (didn’t take too long but the goddess was always a pain to handle even when knocked out), and then she made her way to Sularia. The woman sitting at the desk near the vault was her goal. Bryony was tall and curvaceous with very dark skin. Her blue eyes stuck out the most against her dark features. “And what do I owe this pleasure?” Bryony had been scribbling down notes and signing off on paperwork. “For the great goddess to come see me personally?”

“A favor~” Angela took a chair and she turned it around so she could sit and lean against the back. Her green eyes connected with the oracle’s blue eyes.

“A favor~ From you? That’s like the fey offering food.” Bryony said it almost dryly as she continued with her work.

“Oh, but just you wait until you hear what it is first~” Angela proceeded to explain the situation to Bryony in as much detail as possible. When she was done the goddess was examining the oracle to see how she would react.

“And I can treat this man however I wish?”

“To break him and mold him into someone new~ However, you wish indeed,” Angela smirked a bit as she laid her head down on her arms looking up at the oracle whos interest was perked.

“And he is down on the beach partially dead?”

“Perfect for a gaes~” Angela chuckled a bit.

“You are too cruel~ I will do what I can for him. He won’t leave my sight nor that far from me.” Bryony pushed herself up and when she dared to look where the goddess had been… She found the seat empty like she had never even been there to begin with. “Figures~” With a roll of her eyes Bryony made her way to the beach.

The gulls were in full force and the vultures were circling. It was an amusing thought just to leave him there and let the birds have a snack. The gulls were pulling on his clothes and she didn’t try to help him. “I, Bryony of the Oracles, bind you, Niran of the sea, to me.” She bent down as the magic bloomed around them. “Forever until the day you learn how to be a decent being. You will not leave my side, my sight, nor my presence without my permission. We will be bound by the contract of which I am making.” Her words became a spell as she took a sharp shell from the beach and cut her palm and his. She joined their hands as the magic flourished into a chain that connected them before fading from visibility.

It was easy just like Angela said it would be. There was a smirk, “Now, as much as I would absolutely love for you to be gull food right now… or even vulture food… You are my responsibility.” She heaved him over her shoulder and began to walk. “I’ll have to get you new clothes and a new attitude before too long… You smell like the ocean and fresh fish.”

Once she was back at the oracle house there was a hoard of girls who were looking over Niran as they poked and prodded him. “Now girls, try not to make him act like a dick this early~ I don’t want to punish himself already.”

They stopped their pulling part way to look up at Bryony who had stripped him down so she could redress him in fresh clothes. “You know the drill~” The girls nodded and ran off to do their chores. For now, this one was wiped out and she carried him up to her room. All she could do was wait and see what he did when he woke up.

She threw him onto her bed and she changed into her own nightdress. “Was about time for bedtime anyways~” What a sight this would be for him. If he tried to run he would be yanked by a special force back to her. Though the same could be said for her but she was used to such magic. She climbed into the bed and curled up with him. She would be going for maximum shock value.

The morning would come soon enough.

Author: Amrita, Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 5:15 PM, Post Subject: Washed Up [P, R]

In his last moments, he remembered watching the ground give way beneath him and both of them being swallowed by the frothing sea. Falling into the cold seawater, it brought back all too familiar memories of the moment everything was snatched away out of his fingers. It had happened again. Days passed until two figures were carried by the tides and left behind on a distant shore, meters apart. In the early hours of the morning, the waves of the Nyella tossed them onto the coastal sands of Arri. The skies were still dark, and the first light of dawn had yet to rise above the clouds. A still silence hung in the air above the two crumpled forms sinking into the wet sand. Time passed, and the sun rose. The gentle lapping of the waves had faded into the background as he struggled, half-conscious and dreaming. He heard footsteps and voices, blurred. They came closer, then they began to disappear and all went quiet again. As he laid face-down and unconscious, a group of people came to the normally deserted beaches by the Black Court.



"There she is! I see her! Quick get the stretcher!"

"Stop pulling, we know! Nerine, how is she?" 

"She's unconscious, but in one piece. I can't read her vital signs since she's in her myrmidon state. She must have used it to prevent herself from drowning."

"A prudent decision, seeing how far she managed to drift across the ocean. Hopefully she'll return to normal once she wakes up. Alright, let's lift her onto the cot. Auron, take hold of her head and upper body with Nerine. I'll grab her feet."

"Try not to move her too suddenly. I think her joints might have locked up."

"Gods! I'm more surprised she didn't manage to sink halfway here! Give me a hand, won't you?"


Nerine was the first to receive the news through her friend Mora. All of Antikythera had been on the lookout for anything related to Shiloh's whereabouts ever since the mirage had collapsed into the sea. Everyone was deeply concerned, though Auron pointed out that since her temple was still standing, that meant she was still alive. So when the Rosenite was told that there were two bodies discovered on the Black Court's shore, she grabbed her husband and got everyone running. Carefully, the small group and a few of the deity's automatons carried the inert body of their friend back into Sularia. As for the other body that washed ashore, it was left in the sand. The figure that remained was waterlogged with bits of kelp and driftwood tangled into his hair. His skin and clothes were encrusted with sand and salt. His clash with the Overseer of Luck and Misfortune had taken its toll, his strength spent and his body weakened. His once-dark hair was now a bleached white like a piece of long-dead coral. Yet, by the hand of fate–he lived.