Sol could care less if she hunted for substance or for sport, at least at this particular moment. These men need to see that they were but mere mortals firsthand. The devil would be in the details and he had hoped that before they fade to black forever that they would learn this utmost important lesson. He hated fools like this captain fellow- thinking that they were al high and mighty without knowing what true power was.

Sol didn’t bother to mask his pleasure of incinerating his men at his leisure. Blood and smoke could be smelled all over the deck, the sea air filled with succulent screams from the crew as the massacre continued onward. He would leave Undine with her sought out prey. For his taste, the man talked to bloody much- another aspect that he loathed from the powerless. He slipped up and gave her the information that might have kept him alive for a few moments longer, but it was hardly a surprise that she took him out when he criticized her for her feelings.

“I don’t pity you”, he spat out at the captured man before she went to work on systematically destroying his form in the most gruesome manner possible. All the while, he looked around at the charred corpses and the burning ship. The captain was finally silenced, thank the gods and he turned to face Undine.

“I find this amusing, to be honest. Not in your tragedy, mind you. But in all of this. I want to see the world burn and be ripped apart like that man and this ship.” There was a deep smile curled up on his lips as he knew that he could use such power at his disposal. But unlike this Aarav person, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to use her like he had. Sol took her hand, “For now, I will follow and watch you do as you please.”

Undine stared up at Sol for a good long time as the ship burned around them. “I want nothing more than to drown the weak especially since its the weak who think they can talk big.” There was a fire in her eyes as she spoke. This was a pet peeve she had as she took Sol away from the ship. They climbed back on board his vessel and she wrung out her hair as she stared at everyone. Her temper was hot as she growled at them.

The siren was quick to go below deck to where her chambers were. The wound on her chest was still pulsating as it slowly healed. Once the seas settled from her wrath she emerged from her chambers dressed. “Set a course for the northernmost islands. I know where he is. Just watch the barrier reefs to the east…” Her tone was dark as she found Sol afterward.

A monster couldn’t love. That’s what she had said but she wasn’t a monster before he made her one. Her eyes flashed to Sol as she looked around his space some more. Undine slipped into his bed where the demon laid and curled up next to his warmth. He was sure to notice her as she was a tad bit on the cold side.

“I am going to make this death look like art compared to the last one. If his family is lucky I will spare them since they were not the one to give me ill will.” Her blue eyes stared into his eyes. They were full of anger. “I am not a cruel creature but dues must be paid in blood.” This was forty years in the making as she moved herself over him. “And I will have what is mine come hell or high water… and he better have it or I will hoist him above this ship with his guts out and still alive until I find it.” There was venom leaving her lips. “I have no love for people who abuse me and he will get my harshest treatment.” Her fingers were more like claws as she gripped the pillows by Sol’s head.

A few rough breaths left her lips as she calmed down. She could feel the sea swelling just by her own emotions. “I set the ship’s course to the islands where he is. I know where this place is.” She knew it was well.

He could see the spark in her ignited into a wicked flame of motivation. He had been…incorrect in assuming that she was without direction in her life. No, there was plenty of vengeance that seeped from her form. He understood well how betrayal can fuel a person’s wraith, and more importantly, their will to undo the crime by any means necessary. “They will, in the end. Survival of the fittest will be but a test for all to face. And the unworthy ones will be snubbed out.” He led her back to the their ship and he left her be to her own devices. The crew had their orders to go where she directed, he merely needed to confirm it, if necessary. But the threat of death did well to make them obedient.

As they parted, he retired to his chambers and readied himself for bed. It was the same ritual as it had been the last few days. He laid on his back as he waited for slumber to take its course, and in a matter of time, he felt Undine’s presence in the room. It wasn’t something odd, nor was it when she climbed into his bed. Aside from the chilling presence she gave, it did nothing to disturb him. Her words, however, caused him to peek over to her side. “The debt will be…”, he started but then Undine moved over him and stared right at her, a bit surprised at her forcefulness.

Her being upset, he was used to, but this? It seemed the more they explored this touchy little subject of hers, the worse her temper seemed to flare up. And when that happened, the ocean took it out on them and the ship. “You should relax. In a matter of hours, it will all be over one way or another.” Perhaps his words would only set her temper off more, and he silenced himself. Not out of fear, but out of thinking this through logically.

“I was mistaken earlier. You are spirited and motivated by a goal after all. But as much as you are angry right now, you must control yourself until that time. Else there won’t be a ship heading over to those islands like you wish for. ”

“Now, what is it exactly that he had stolen from you when he betrayed you? I too know was it’s like to have something robbed from you, something a part of me had been taken so long ago and I will get it back.”

He started to speak to her and he stopped. Her blue eyes were drilling into him as she spoke. Relax? She knew how but this was eating her at her core. She took a deep breath as she gripped the pillows more at him. “I am controlling myself,” it left her lips coldly as she glared down at him now. “If I wasn’t you are right there wouldn’t be a ship. It’s why I retreated by myself until I was calm.” This was calm? Hardly but it was better than the rage she had before.

“He took my heart.” The words were broken from her lips. “Not my actual heart but he might as well have. It is a precious necklace formed by the hottest depths of the ocean. A shimmering heart of hardened sea brine. It looks like a sapphire in the sunlight but in the darkness, it shines like the volcano in which it was formed. It is a one of a kind necklace gifted from the Sea King to his daughter. Capable of water magic that rivals even the most talented sea folk.” Tears formed on the side of her eyes now as she thought about it.

“He took it so easily.” Her fingers released his pillows as she came down to him and put her lips to his. “Like a stolen kiss.” Her words were soft now. Her fingers entangled in his hair now as she watched his strands of hair slip through her fingers. “My most prized possession. The Heart of the Deep.” Her other hand held her up just a bit as she caressed his face before sliding down his chest. “It can control a variety of different things such as emotions, the toll of the sea, and most importantly my conduit of power. While I am strong I am not as strong as I could be with it. I wonder if that is why he took it from me.”

The woman hadn’t been as brash as she was being right this moment- her rage gave into a completely different emotion, or a wave of them at least. While he could barely call what she was now “calm”, he wouldn’t argue against it. After all, there would likely be one less ship in the whole if she was truly angry. “Fine, but as I said before, it will all end soon and he will be no more.” What he wasn’t prepared for was her breaking down from expressing what it was that man had robbed her off. A power artifact it must have been from her description and somehow it was found in the hands of the deceiver. As if just making some coin off of her wasn’t enough. Truly a folly of the mortals and their damn selfishness.

Sol watched her, trying to figure out what he could be using such a powerful tool for when he looked bewildered once she kissed him. What in the hell? But he relaxed a bit when she was using it to prove a point, as funny as it sounded. “This Heart of the Deep…how did he manage to take it from you?” His eyes lowered towards her hand upon his chest, her other playing with his hair. He couldn’t really understand her ebb and flow of emotions other than she was akin to the sea in indeed. One moment, it could be calm and peaceful, the next being violent and dangerous. She seemed to be tethering on that fine line and he was the one that it seemed directed towards. “He could have took it because he wanted to sell it or…as twisted as it sounds, have a part of you for himself. I figure you could ask him in person, if he still draws enough breath when you reach him that is.”

What more, she had said that she was stronger with the jewelry, and given her strength as is with the water magic as well as being intune with the sea, he would have shuttered to think of what would come should she be reunited. At least now he understood why she was so pissed. “And when you end him, you will likely get back what was stolen. I, on the other hand, have a much more difficult task to get back what was mine. My essence was taken from me, my “pride” so to speak. In these parts of the world, do you know what I was called?” He stretched and grew more comfortable in his position, letting her play around with him at her leisure. It would be a first- he was hardly one to let someone venture too close to him. Sol was like fire- the closer someone got, the more likely they were of getting burned. Not that Undine seemed to have cared, lest she wouldn’t be here. “I was called the Prideful Lion of Abed. I had powers that allowed me to stand as a mighty force in the realm of demons, and I had legions of followers in the city. But my own father plucked it away, in a painful manner to teach me a lesson. The essence was placed into another and that’s why I fought against them and why I was locked away in the end.” As he spoke, he traced his fingers lightly against the center of her back nonchalantly. He had his own anger masked in his voice, but it was more of frustration than anything else. At himself for losing his power and the battle, at his father for stripping his strength away and for the damned sibling that his power succeed to.

“As dangerous as you are, you are no monster.” His solemn expression has not wavered, but he spoke the true at least in his mind. “People just paint those like ourselves to be that because they don’t want to look in the mirror and admit that about themselves. That captain…your associate in the islands…they were the very thing my father warned me about back when we were on speaking terms. It is one of the few things I will heed from him.” His fingers continued to drum against her, his warming body felt her cold form pressing down against it, stealing away some of the heat he normally built up, but not completely. He barely noticed it before, but now, he just seemed…warm. Not blazing like a small inferno, but just warm.

Undine mulled his question over as she thought back to those many years ago. To the things that made up her nightmares and her dreams. Her eyes were lulling back and forth for a moment trying to decide how much to tell him. It was a very deep thought. “I loved him.” This was the start of her tale. “He had no idea what I was and I was okay with that. Not many men would love a creature like me knowing what I do to sailors.” That was the smart thing to do. Even Sol didn’t initially want to get involved with her. “Steele’s Eldora had come to me and told me that I was being reckless… That dead men told better tales than the one I was writing. I didn’t want to believe her. Eldora’s visions are mostly correct and she doesn’t go out of her way often to tell others their fortune.”

There was a sad look on her face. “But I didn’t believe her when I met him. All the sea wants is to be loved for who it is and I am the same way. I hid what I was out of fear and I was still naive enough to think people wouldn’t notice someone like me.” She played with his chest softly drawing circles with her fingers and moving on to other shapes. “We saw each other every day for a year. A year.” She reaffirmed the time frame just for herself. “Nothing seemed wrong. One day he took me by the hand and led me down to the pier and I knew something was off… By the time I realized what had happened I was in a stranglehold and mana locked. He took the necklace from me as they tore me away from the land.” There was a sad look on her face. “Called me a monster and said he had known the whole time… Had been biding his time to be able to capture me at the right moment.”

Her fingers stopped their movement and she tilted her head. “That’s how he took it. The shock to my soul was enough to paralyze me from fighting. I was heartbroken but heartbreak often turns into anger. Eldora got me off that ship and I went on a rampage for days as I regained my strength. Sunk a few islands off the coast but Father put me to sleep and took me to the bottom of the ocean to slumber. Away from the men who would hunt me and kill me. Away from the pain that the man had caused.” She gave a soft smile now as she thought about it. “I never loved anyone before that man. I was born broken and falling into madness. I had my blood ripped from me and stitched back together into a sea spirit. I was always destined to be miserable at least that’s what I tell myself. For all the power in the world, it can’t buy me happiness. Fear is not love.”

Her voice had been soft for the first time since they had met. Her anger was null as she laid there thinking about everything. “I may get back what was stolen but… a part of me will be gone forever, Sol.” Just like him. “Vengeance doesn’t soothe all wounds I am afraid.”

There was a soft chuckle from her lips as she studied his face. “You are quite prideful.” It was a dangerous thing to be as prideful as Sol but maybe that was why his father took it away. “Sol, if you cannot get back what you lost… What will you do?” Her eyes flickered to his for a moment. “If he is so hellbent on keeping it away from you… what if you never get it back?” It wasn’t the same as her necklace… This was so much more.

“The most dangerous creatures in existence are those that can smile and hide the devil inside. That’s what my father told me. He spoke about my mother as such.” She inhaled his scent from where she was and closed her eyes as she tilted her head. “Your heart is the most precious thing you have. Guard it well and it will protect you through the terrors of life. Treat it poorly and you will have wished you didn’t have one, to begin with.” Her hand moved to his heart as she felt it beating within his chest. “All things can love but sometimes it is foolish to give it to the first person who pays you any mind. No matter how much one longs for the affection of another it is dangerous to just give it away.”

It was a different kind of conversation they were having. It was deep and calm which was odd for Undine who always seemed to rage so easily. The atmosphere seemed heavy as her head nuzzled against his. “We are a lot alike Sol. Fire can be just as calm as it can be destructive and water is no different from it. A wildfire will burn a path until it runs out of fuel and an ocean will toss and turn until there’s no longer a pull. They are the same coin.” Her hands moved up as her body lowered more onto his her hands cupping his face as her thumb gently caressed his dark skin. A caught breath left her lips now as she exhaled. The siren moved down and placed a kiss onto his lips, a sort of test against him to see his wants.

Sol wasn’t one that believed in love, or the mere concept of it between two people. Whether it was from his scorned nature or his pride, he didn’t fall for such a trap at any point of his life. He listened to Undine’s sad tale as she admitted that it was by her own folly and mistrust that allowed the man that she sought to destroy to use and betray her. He did pity her for the strife she had to deal with in the end, though her vengeance would be sated before tomorrow’s sunrise. At least she had settled down, which calmed his own nerves. The last thing he wanted was for his ship to be destroyed and him being stranded at sea.

“Vengeance may not be able to do all of that, but it will be enough for me. That much I can swear to you.” Sol was determined to keep focus and achieve his goals. What came afterwards was of little matter to him as long as he regained his pride. Perhaps Undine would prove him right in the end, but until then he would remain steady on his path. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was getting far too comfortable in this compromising situation they were in yet he didn’t make a move against it. “All I have left is the shambles of pride in me. I will not think of if I can’t get it back. I will, I have to.” His head turned slightly away from her, “It’s the only thing I truly have left. To admit defeat, I would rather die a thousand times.” His father, siblings, anyone in general- he refused to let anyone or anything stand in his way. He turned back and listened more, his fingers ceasing in drumming and now his whole hand was pressed against her back now. The cooling touch of her was warming up, mainly due to his own work.

“I have no problem in that department- I only wish for a few, real things. Love was never one of them.” Much to the ire of many in Abed; it wasn’t hard to see that he was a divine creature and he had made use of it quite a few times. But aside from carnal needs, he didn’t wish for an emotional connection with another. It seemed like a waste of time and from her experiences, could be used against him in the end as well. “Is that why you are here, in my bed? To warn me as to guard my heart?” He couldn’t understand her, but that was par for the course honestly. Her movements, every single one, seemed planned out and she followed it piece by piece. He wasn’t too sure what her angle was.

“Of the same coin…” He blinked and would have finally risen from the bed had she not lowered herself further onto him. Sol wasn’t like his brothers as they were seduced by Undine’s sisters and he wasn’t looking to repeat their histories. “Do you think we are of the same coin as well?” Perhaps he got his answer in the kiss she gave him; it was much different from the last one in that it was just a demonstration. His inner thoughts was to break this…thing, whatever this was, off. His body, on the other hand, didn’t quite get that message and he felt his own lips drawn to hers. Her lips tasted like that of the seawater and his other hand found itself to the back of her head. The one on her back slipped upwards and he struggled to keep what control he did had. “Why are you here?”, Sol managed to breathe out, not sure if he honestly cared about the answer really before he pulled her into a more forceful kiss.

Undine thought about it and she tilted her head. “Maybe.” It wasn’t an answer but more of a deflection as her fingers slightly curled. “However, word of the wise Sol… Sometimes we have to protect ourselves from ourselves. We’re our own greatest enemy and that isn’t just a saying.” She could see him in the future tearing himself limb from limb as he tried to get what he wanted. It wasn’t her place to stop him but merely try and push him where to go. You could lead a horse to water but that didn’t mean he would take a drink. Sol was prideful even now. Even if he said he lost his pride it was still there and she could see its fire.

The sea witch was pleased with his kiss as she pressed a smile against him just before the kiss broke. Though before she could play a little game with him she found him to be most appetizing. Undine gave him that much force back as her fingers moved along his chest now seeing just how far he would let her get. When he didn’t stop her she continued forward. Her lips moved from his to his neck as she disrobed him and he did the same to her.

They ended in a sitting position Undine still firmly straddled against him. Her arms around him, as she gave tender kissed from his lips to his neck once more. Her face nuzzled his own as she took a breath for what felt like the first time since they started. “Now doesn’t that feel better?” Her voice purred a bit as she thought. “The best cure for stress… is another person.” One of her hands let her fingers slide down his arm with an almost ghost-like touch as she kissed his lips firmly once more. "And yes, the same coin. I would not deceive you Sol. On the contrary, I will be very honest with you whenever you ask me something. I promise you that much. It's not in my nature to lie and cheat my way through life. I merely just as exist as I am."

Protect ourselves from ourselves.

Some would say that Sol’s biggest weakness was not knowing his limits. He carried on no matter what odds he faced, no matter the danger. He knew this to be true, but he couldn’t help himself. He had to keep on going, or what was the point of it all? He wouldn’t be bested like this, not like this. Undine’s words didn’t go unheard though and he kept it in the dark corners of his mind. But everything seemed to be on hold when they embraced. Had he wanted this? Sol was sure that he hadn’t in the beginning yet his body and slowly his mind gave into it. The more he embraced her, the more he could feel that her body wasn’t just a bit colder than his but also soft and succulent. They grew more fierce in time as he felt her hands undo the bits of clothing he still wore and instinctively he did the same with her clothes and his lips explored her body…

When the fire died down and they were coming down from their high, Sol was catching his breath as his chest heaved while she remained seated on him. For a good while, he was quiet as she spoke, only wishing to speak after she kissed him again. “So you sought me out for that cure? It doesn’t matter if you had or not- the deed has been done.” A part of him knew that she was somewhat right. Sol did feel less stressed from their tryst and perhaps she had sought it out for herself as well.

“And I suppose you expect the same from me…well I hadn’t lied to you yet nor will I after seeing what you are capable of. I have no time for lying to those working with me. The humans up there is a large exception. They don’t know of power, and only follow those with it." After some internal struggle, he brazenly moved up and nipped at the skin at the base of her neck. His hand firmly grasped at her hips before he moved to flipped their positions so that she was on the bed and he was over her. “Who says that we are done here? It is still quite a travel and I don’t think you will want to leave this warm bed just yet.” His lips dropped down her body before climbing back up and meeting with her lips.

Undine gave him a rather satisfied look. “Of course you wouldn’t… If you were well I wouldn’t be here with you right now.” An almost silent gasp left her lips as he nipped at her. A smirk was clear on her face as he grabbed her and flipped their positions. His bed was soft and plush against her back as she looked up at him. “No, you’re right this bed is quite warm.” She ran her hands up and down his arms.

Once they were truly done the two of them closed their eyes for some sleep. Undine was curled up into him with her head on his chest. She looked rather peaceful for a creature that could destroy islands at a time.

When the time had come to wake up Undine was startled awake by one of Sol’s men coming into the room. She let out a hiss. “My lord we’re here.” It took several minutes for Undine to settle down as she kept her eyes firmly planted on the door. She pulled herself from his warmth and slipped out of the bed without much of a word as she dressed herself and headed up on deck to look at the island coming into view. The dock was small so they would have to take a smaller boat to the shore.

Her eyes narrowed a bit. “Soon…” Undine waited for Sol to meet her on the deck before she held out her hand to him. “I’ll show you the beauty of my ways today.” Her fingers stretched and wiggled as she waited for his hands. “and I’ll have back what is mine.”