***

November 3, 1800, 11:00pm
Aeryn Branche, Poseidon

"Poseidon, God of the Sea, of Horses, of Earthquakes and Inability to Raise a Child Properly, I can't believe you summoned me to meet you. I certainly can't wait to get back."

Aeryn couldn't pinpoint where she was. Everything was blurry, the reason being she was underwater. The only proper colour she could see was the auburn of her hair floating around her. The feeling of being underwater brought back the feeling of drowning, that loneliness, that darkness, that fear of never seeing anything ever again.

But suppressing feelings had become second nature at this point. She had learned the hard way that emotions were a way to disregard what she said, especially since she was a woman. So now, she spoke with a sneer and smirk.

Poseidon sighed, throwing his head into his palm. "Aeryn Branche, please be professional about this."

Aeryn smirked. She knew Poseidon couldn't kill her. If he could, she would have drowned with the rest of her crew that day, but she was breathing. And she might as well say everything she wanted to. "I'm professional. My tone and posture are both perfect." She faked a gasp. "Perhaps there is truth to what I say and that bothers you?"

Poseidon looked as if he were just barely controlling his anger. "Please," he forced, "let's talk business."

"Alright. Explain then I'll ask questions."

Poseidon let out another sigh. "So, as you already know, you are the Empress of the Sea. Erel did the honour of choosing you for me unbeknownst to her. What that means is that you will be carrying out my tasks. Gods are not to interfere with human issues unless it's something capable of ending the world, but the current threats are not that huge."

Aeryn nodded her head, playing the role of coy all too well. "So what is your task for me?"

"All I ask from you is that you retrieve Erel from Kronos and remove Juele from the castle."

She cocked a brow. "Why Juele?"

Stroking his salt-and-pepper beard, Poseidon took a sip of nectar, analyzing how he would share his reasoning. As a god, he wasn't used to being questioned. "He is currently trying to change the king's mind about the war, however, I believe that he might just fail and end up doing the opposite of what he's aiming to do. Either you extract him from there, or convince him to play along with his father and stay there as a spy providing information to you."

Aeryn decided on extracting the prince. He couldn't lie to save a life.

"You should probably collect the remaining members of your crew when you're there as well. They're doing nothing much at the moment."

"Iona and Reyna?" Aeryn had nearly forgotten about them. She'd been so focused on herself and everything happening to her that no one else came up in her thoughts. She's been wallowing in self-pity for the last couple of days. "Is that it?"

"No. You also must aid the Emperor of the Dead and the Sovereign of the Worlds in their tasks and they will do the same for you."

Aeryn cracked a knuckle and leaned back into her chair. "Just say their names. It's not that hard. Or long."

Ignoring what she said, a habit that he shared with many other gods, Poseidon continued. "You'll be summoned once I believe you are ready for your next task. I will then provide you with a weapon and some training. Currently, you are not ready for anything other than the healing ability I've given you and the others, Han and Asra, are also not ready. My brothers and I have agreed on keeping the three of you on a similar schedule."

"Anything else?"

After a moment's worth of thought, Poseidon sighed. "Aeryn, even though Erel chose you to be her companion and Empress of the Sea, you were nowhere near my first pick. You'll have to be careful with how you handle this much power and how you handle your mindset. Or you might die soon. I hope that I might be able to do for you because you have brought light to my daughter's life, but there is nothing much I can do from under the sea. Your bloodline is known for having tremendous mental strength and prowess, but that gene disappeared many years ago, so I worry for you."

Aeryn frowned, not quite understanding what Poseidon meant by the "bloodline" thing. "I didn't expect to hear that from you, but alright."

"I am a god, Aeryn Branche. If I do not hold human life to some regard, especially the life of Ariel's friend, I wouldn't be worthy of my title, don't you agree?"

"Yes. Fully."

"Furthermore, I'm sure you are awake of Kronos and Cronas and the war that is brewing up in Auber and Tereline."

"Of course."

"There is nothing much you can do for what is going on in Auber and Tereline, but I do expect you to try and deter Kronos." Utter rage passed in Poseidon's eye at the mention of Kronos' name. The name of Erel's kidnapper. Poseidon wasn't only in that rage, only Aeryn kept it buried deep inside and icy. "And since I do sense death in your near-future, please try and find a replacement for you. Someone to take the title of Empress of the Sea."

"Must I find an Empress?" Aeryn asked, consciously ignoring any mention of her death. She was too young to die. Too immature. She had a life to start, a future to make, a path to walk on. She had just completed two decades and needed to live at least two more. "Or is an Emperor acceptable?"

"It matters not. Just find someone." Poseidon gave it a thought. "Actually, if it is a man that you find to take over, Czar of the Oceans has a better ring to you, don't you think? Hades already claimed the word emperor."

Aeryn clasped her hands together ready to change the subject, fiddling with her fingers and rings she wished she had. "How come I can't see anything? Why is everything blurry?"

To answer her question, Poseidon provided another. "Do you remember the words whispered into your ear on your twentieth birthday?"

Raising a brow, Aeryn searched her memories and found nothing but vague images of the White Crow even though she'd been on it less than a month ago. Everything of that time had already become a haze. "No."

"Well, neither do I, so when you do the certain thing that is required of you to fully become the Empress of the Sea, you'll be able to see just fine. For example, I bet Sehyun Han had a hard time seeing anything in the Underworld since he hasn't taken anyone's life yet."

"Are you suggesting I drown someone?"

Poseidon provided her with a look of pure disgust. "No! I'm telling you that you have to do something to see."

"And what is that thing?" Aeryn said, anger boiling up in her. Not the rage she felt for Erel's disappearance. Something much lighter and fake. A feeling that she had a lot around Han. A wave of anger that masked anything she didn't want him to see. The type of anger that might make a bystander laugh.

"I cannot recall."

Aeryn folded her arms, huffing out her lightweight annoyance in a flurry of bubbles. The water around her body became tight, a reminder of the time she had nearly drowned to death. It had been a weight upon her shoulders ever since she was summoned, but she managed to ignore it like everything else. No longer. "If there is nothing else, please return me to the Black Egret."

Poseidon snapped his fingers with another sigh and Aeryn returned to the deck of the Black Egret soaking wet.

And the first thing she did was tell Sehyun Han everything that had been discussed with Erel's good-for-nothing father, Poseidon.

***

WORD COUNT: 1400