Crash Splash Crash

The scent of salty seawater and sand filled my nose as my eyes fluttered open just in time to be pushed on shore further by another rolling wave. The gritty yellow substance scraped every inch of my body as I lay face down not knowing where I was.

‘’Daphney.’’ I hoarsely whispered to no one hoping to coax out the oracle.

The area was desolate, devoid of anything or anyone. I could see what I had been shown by Daphney as cars clattering and humming along the side of the beach, all rushing to get where they were going.

‘’Daphney where am I?’’ I pulled myself up, groaning as the sand fell from my furiously red body, taking with it a few drops of my blood.

‘’You’re on land Jackson.’’ Daphney’s soft hand slowly materialized on my right shoulder followed by the rest of her body.

‘’My father! He’ll kill me! He’ll kill you and Zeus only knows who else! Send me back Daphney!’’ I gripped her arms softly and pulled her towards the water again, only to have her stop and become completely motionless.

‘’You wanted this Jackson. You have been given a gift and it’s your fate to see it out. The heavens have smiled fortunately on you and you must do as they have foretold.’’ She moved her blood red lips to my ear as she continued in a soft voice.

‘’You’re free.’’

I walked along the beach for hours savouring the feeling of dry sand crunching beneath my feet. Daphney was long gone promising to visit me often enough to keep me company but not often enough to arouse suspicion in Poseidon’s realm.

I never thought that I’d ever have such a privilege of being on land. I walked from the grainy sand to soft green cut sprouts of grass. The feeling of the earth pressing and compacting beneath my feet felt amazing. In water you don’t have enough weight to press down on the sand to compact it, not that I was even given that luxury living on anything but the rock floor. It was such a surreal feeling.

‘’Sir, can I help you?’’ A young girl’s voice broke me out of my thoughts.

I looked up to see a petite teenage girl with blonde curls falling over her shoulders and smiling brightly. My eyes drifted from her small baby face to her thin arms, her long legs, her perfectly curled hair and everything in between. I noticed the small green apron she wore and looked around to find myself outside a small flower shop.

The smell of all the different flowers assaulted my nose in magical ways. I had never smelt anything like them anywhere. Even under water, Daphney would bring me different things all the time to keep me in touch with the outside world.

The sweetness of all the colourful buds almost had my mouth watering and I felt almost ready to pass out as an open window blew all the smells to me at once.

‘’Sir?’’ The girl’s curious blue eyes fell to mine questioningly.

‘’Ah, Sorry. What’s this place called?’’ I smiled brightly and looked around at all the pale green walls and dark green trimmings that were lined with all the beautiful flowers.

‘’Lannie’s’’

‘’Lannie’s?’’Her bright smile seemed to grow a million times over as I questioned the name.

‘’It’s short for Lannelle’s. She was the owner but she died a few years back. The shop was left to her son but no one has ever seen him so my brother and I are taking care of it until he comes back or until someone finally tracks him down.’’ Her smile dimmed but it still held hope whereas my eyes grew wide and my heart stopped.

‘’What was her last name?’’

‘’Johnson. Why?’’

My heart completely stopped. My lungs stopped. The blood flow to my fingers stopped and it felt like they were about to fall off or just float away like dust in the wind. My whole body tingled and I couldn’t help but to start to breathe heavily and stare into the girl’s eyes to make sure there was no signs of her words being a joke.

‘’Now that you mention it you look a lot like her. It’s quite funny. What’s your name?’’ She giggled and sweetly gave me a large toothy grin.

‘’Jackson!’’ I heard a screech behind me and turned to a stunned looking oracle.

‘’Daphney.’’ I looked at her confused before she started pulling me from the store.

‘’Wait! You’re her son right? You’re Jackson Johnson right!?’’ The young girl grabbed my shirt and looked up into my eyes.

‘’I don’t-‘’

‘’You have to be! You look exactly like her!’’

‘’I-I’’

‘’Jackson we have to go. You shouldn’t have come here. He’ll look for you here first. Please come on we have to get out of here!’’ Daphney pleaded and kept looking in every direction just to make sure no one was watching us.

I gave the girl a sympathetic look and ran out of the shop hot on Daphney’s trail until we came to a rocky cliff beside the beaches’ shore I had just wandered from.

‘’I should have told you not to go there. I’m sorry Jackson.’’ She shook her head and walked slowly into a cave at the base of the cliff where water slowly rolled shallowly in and out of the dimmed space.

‘’That’s my mother’s shop, isn’t it?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’It’s beautiful.’’ I softly smiled as we walked deeper into the cave, the only light emanating off of the walls where the sun shone harshly against them.

The rest of the evening was spent in the cave. I would have to stay here the night while Daphney took care of a place for me to stay, until then I was stuck here by myself.

I explored the cave further and further until there was nothing but darkness and I fumbled with feeling my way around. I wouldn’t be in here long but it was always good to know your surroundings. The walls smelt of dew and moss. It was a thick, moist, grassy, smell not necessarily overpowering but it was definitely noticeable.

Daphney had left me some beads and crystals that glowed softly throughout the dark night so I could see at least a little in the now dark cave. They didn’t light up the cave but gave a soft eerie green glow to the already mossy green walls. In a way it was beautiful, in a way it creeped me out and I knew if the glow wasn’t as subtle the whole world would know someone was in here, and in my current position it was best that no one knew I was around.

‘’Mum...’’ I whispered as I rested my head against the cold rock wall and wrapped my arms around my legs that were propped up to my chest.

I wondered how she ran the flower shop. She must have been very inspiring for that girl to be so cheery at just the mention of her name instead of sadness at the remembrance of her death. It took a special type of happiness and cheer within yourself to cause your loved ones to not mourn your name and leave it a taboo subject. She must have been amazing.

‘’I wish I knew you…’’

‘’Jackson.’’ I turned to face Daphney looking at me with a sad smile.

‘’Can you take me to her grave?’’ I looked at her seriously and I could tell the question took her off guard and she almost took a step back and starred at me strangely.

‘’Of course. In the morning we’ll go but for now, you need to rest.’’

She slowly took her long black jacket off that almost reached the floor to reveal her pale olive green button down blouse, everything but the centre coated with laced flowers that darkened the green satin to make the area of exposed double buttons pop out to anyone’s eyes.

The colours of her blouse matched her wiry hair piece amazingly. The nine wires that stuck out from her half up hairstyle stood out of the bulging black bun that clashed with the dark ocean blue that was in her side swept fringe. Each wire was filled with small pearls and then topped with a single large pearl. The nine pearls symbolised the nine original oracles of the underworld.

Oracles were considered an evil race, the whole ‘seeing into the future is only for the God’s ‘drama and oracles weren’t Gods but did defy them in a way. I guess my father liked the idea of knowing things that he as a God couldn’t know on his own and now he had one of the original nine, Daphney. I never thought I’d thank him for anything, but this is one thing I had to thank him for, for having Daphney because she got me to this point; to my freedom.

‘’Come on sweetie, sleep. I’m going to keep an eye out.’’  She draped her coat over my body before walking over to the water and calling out to her pet.

Daphney had a pet octopus. I don’t know why but all the nine oracles had an animal that they called on, an animal from their realm that they used to help them with their powers. They were also a kind of mood ring I guess but Daphney’s was always white, always as beautiful and pure as she was.

--

The first thing I felt was the warmth of a bright light warming my skin followed by the shine of it through my eyelids. Slowly blinking away the sudden intensity I opened my eyes and let the sun’s rays radiating off the walls encase me in its warm hold.

This was my first time waking up on land, my first time waking up with the direct contact of the sun’s rays on me, the first full day of me being a free man, no cell, no bars, no overbearing father that didn’t even want me for a son.

You never asked to be born, you just were and you had to take the blame for that. You had to accept the fact that it was your entire fault. It was my fault my father couldn’t walk around without a slight twinge of worry that someday, somehow I could be found by somebody. Now it was my turn to be looking over my shoulder for someone to somehow possibly find me someday.

I shook my head of the thoughts and sat up slowly dragging Daphney’s coat with me off the ground as I stood. The sea air filled my nose as I made my way towards the entrance of the cave. I could almost feel the salt water soaking into my skin and just asking me to go into the water. I am the son of Poseidon so of course I was drawn to the water, and the water was drawn to me as the tide seemed to raise a few centimetres to reach my toes that I softly buried into the sand loving the feeling of it encasing my skin.

‘’Daphney.’’

‘Yes?’’ Her materialising body stood beside me in the morning glow of the sun.

‘’What should we do today?’’ I took a glance at her body and she seemed to be soaking up the sun as well that almost illuminated her pale skin.

‘’We could go look at some apartments. I found a good one not far from the beach that’s reasonably priced. I’ll be able to support you for a few weeks but after that I’m afraid you’ll have to get a job.’’

‘’Okay.’’

‘’Where would you like to work?’’

‘’I’ll work at my mother’s shop.’’ I smiled and looked at her but she looked worried.

‘’Jackson-‘’

‘’No. I don’t want to be scared of him. He can’t leave the water anyway.’’

‘’But a lot of sea people can. You’ll be an easy target out in a human city.’’

‘’It doesn’t matter. I can’t hide forever anyway and I want to be closer to my mother. I want to know what she was like without having to have you describe her.’’ I turned back to looking out at the rolling waves of the early morning tide and the warm sun reflecting through the rippling water flow.

‘’That reminds me. We have to go see your mother today.’’

‘’Where’s her grave?’’

‘’It’s on that cliff.’’ She pointed to the top of the cliff where the cave was situated underneath.

‘’Wow. It’s a nice place for a cemetery.’’

‘’No. She has a plaque up there. Her ashes are out at sea. She wanted to be with her son.’’

Her eyes connected with my shocked ones and I couldn’t help but notice how serious her tone was. She wasn’t upset, angry or happy even. It was just a serious and informative tone which was strange of the oracle. She always showed her emotions around me, even though they were very subtle.

‘’She knew?’’

‘’Of course she knew. When your father had his amulet and was on land, she took it off without knowing the consequences. When he was dragged back to the sea by Zeus it was kind of self-explanatory. Not to mention I got the pleasure of meeting her a few times and explained it to her. No mother should have to go through the pain of having her child taken off of her without a reason.’’ Her hand started to almost furiously stoke her pet at what she had said and I could tell the thought got to her but her hand soon slowed again and she gave me a soft smile before nudging her head towards the small sandy path that was leading up the cliff. ‘’Let’s go.’’

We walked up the winding sand path that soon turned to soft grass as we reached the top. It was beautiful once we reached the end of the railed walkway. The grass covered the entire earth up here and some flowers were sprouting from the ground at different areas in different colours but the brightest ones were a beautifully cut bush of the whitest roses imaginable.

‘’That’s hers.’’ Daphney whispered in my ear smiling at the roses at the end of the cliff.

I looked to her and she nodded and smiled softly. My throat seemed to close up and I had to swallow the saliva that seemed to be building up in my throat as I neared my mother’s roses. 

When I reached the roses I realised there was a silver plaque at the base of them that inclined at the back to give a better view of the words and picture on it.

‘’Your mother never liked gold or bronze. She said they looked dirty.’’ She chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile along with her.

I didn’t like gold or bronze either. I guess that was something we had in common and it truly made the scenery even more beautiful. The silver looked amazing with the white roses and the grass that seemed to creep up the sides of it and bring out the photo of my mother in a green dress.

The mint green dress brought out the pure mint eyes she had that were filled with so much joy and love. Her browning blonde hair was neatly tied into a side ponytail of long ringlet curls that dropped down onto a…

‘’That’s you.’’ Daphney’s hand rested on my shoulder as I stared at the baby wrapped in a light blue blanket in my mother’s arms.

I bent down onto my knees and traced my fingers around the circular picture and then slowly slid my fingers to the bulging grey letters that read ‘Lanelle Johnson 1971-2008 Today I fly away’

‘’It’s beautiful.’’ I whispered and let my fingers linger back on my mother’s face.

‘’She loved you, you know. You may not have known her but she knew you. I always secretly slipped a picture of you in to her shop’s mailbox with a little message of how you were doing.’’

‘’How did you get pictures of me?’’ I stared at her curiously as I tried to remember her ever taking any pictures of me.

‘’In your sleep. I knew you’d never let me do it when you were awake and it was easier to get them to her at night.’’ She chuckled and let her eyes linger on my mother’s picture too.

‘’She truly was beautiful. How did she die?’’ Daphney was shocked at my question. I had never asked how she died; I only ever asked what she looked like and how she was when she was alive.

‘’Cancer. It was pretty bad but she was never in pain, well she never let on she was in pain. She smiled the whole time and she passed on with a smile on her face too. She was happy and she was ready for it. In all my thousands of years on this earth I had never seen any being so at peace with the reality of dying and leaving behind everything she had. She was ready because she knew one day she’d be able to have her son with her again.’’ She squeezed my shoulder and I felt a tear fall from one of my eyes and slowly cascade down my jaw and fall onto the plaque only for it to splash onto the photo.

‘’Open it.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’The plaque.’’

I wiped my eyes and ran my fingers along the rim of the plaque and lifted it. Inside the box of a plaque was a small box and a note that looked as if it had just been written yesterday. There was no aging or weather damage at all but I knew it was from my mother when I read the script writting on the perfectly folded note.

To my dearest son, Jackson. I unfolded the note and wiped another tear that rolled over my cheek.

Jackson, my baby boy. How I would have loved to have raised you and seen you flower into the amazing, caring, loveable man that I am sure you are now. I always loved receiving any small notices about you and how you were doing. I know it was never an ideal situation that you were in but always know mum loved you and no matter what, always remember it!

I love you so much my baby and I would give anything to have been able to keep you in my arms forever but I’m happy to wait until the day I can have you back in my arms but not as a baby, but as the man you will aspire to be, the man you will be when you’re happy the way your life is and when Zeus thinks you’re ready to come home to me.

Baby, take care of my shop for me. The shop needs all the love of the family and I know you will do great at anything that comes up! You’re a Johnson and that means you’re as stubborn and loving as your mumma so make sure you keep giving them twins in the shop the same love and stubborn attitude I have been giving them their whole life. I know you’ll love them as much as me.

In the box there is a pendent. I want you to make sure you keep that on you all the time. It was your fathers and I know you probably don’t want it because he did everything he did to you but it will keep you safe and I have never taken it off until the day I passed on so it’s become a sort of heirloom and I want you to pass it down the family once you pass on and so on with your children and their children. It would mean a lot to me and it’ll keep you safe the way it kept me safe.

I love you honey. Keep safe and always be yourself baby ‘cause I know you’re great and I’m so proud of you.

Mum xx

I smiled at the letter and picked up the small soft black box and opened it. Inside the velvet box laid a neatly folded sterling silver chain accompanied by a pendant around the size of my thumb. The pendant had ridges and bumps where swirls and small pearls lay but what caught my attention was the trident in the centre, each point sharp and beautifully defined. In the centreit held a cross that softly bludged off of the trident.

The cross symbolised the directions in which the trident held power, to the north, to the east, to the south and to the west. Poseidon’s trident would never be without power in any direction and I knew this necklace had to be my father’s because Daphney had shown me a portrait of my father when he was my age many centuries ago and he was wearing this necklace.

This necklace symbolised royalty,  it symbolised power and for such a small object it symbolised dominance of the sea creatures,  anything that touched water was under the protection and power of the person who this rightfully belonged to; The king of seas,  the God of water. That person was my father but it was now my mothers and I had no right to refuse her wish. I wouldn’t feel guilty for taking it because he could have just easily taken the necklace from my mother or asked someone else to do it. He could have called the necklace to him so I knew deep down he wanted my mother to have it.

‘’He loved her you know. No matter how harshly he left her or how horribly he treated you. He loved your mother and no amount of words could fix this but no amount of hate could disprove that he loved that woman with all his heart he just couldn’t have been with a human woman. How classic, a Romeo and Juliet story but so much moretragic to live on without the choice of death.’’ I looked up at Daphney to see her at the edge of the cliff staring out into the midday sun.

‘’Thank you mum...’’ I closed the lid of the plaque and stared at it for a few minutes before kissing my hand and placing it over the picture of us.

I slowly slipped the necklace over my head and let it dangle over the top of my black tank top only for it to be covered by the movement of my black jacket in the soft blowing wind safely slipping the note into the pocket of it to not lose it.

‘’Let’s go grab some lunch.’’ Daphney smiled over at me and rested her hand on my shoulder.

‘’And some flowers.’’ I smiled down at mum’s grave one final time before following Daphney off back down the cliff’s grassy trail.

I’ll do you proud mum.

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A/N

Well this took me a long time! So sorry about that but I was going through things that were said in my Life Update for those that follow me. So here the second chapter is…What do you think!? I really want to know!! Make sure to comment, vote and follow me for more!!

Daphney to the side >>>

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