The days seemed to slip between my fingertips without interruption. Every day I would wake up, lay in bed for hours, maybe get up to eat something, and then go back to sleep. I found it hard to keep the motivation to pick the cloaks up from the stony floor or to brush the knots out of my hair. Daphne stopped by to visit every once in a while, and soon even Natsu grew tired of my incessant moping. I never got a letter back from Phil or Wilbur, and the sky remained as overcast and moody as ever.
That is, until I did finally leave the cove.
I was walking along the beach, the sand cold beneath my feet, when I heard the shouts and laughs of a couple of teenage boys. Looking over my shoulder I saw a blonde running with a shorter brunette with horns, both heading towards me.
"Hey!" The blonde shouted at me. He clearly wasn't from Helia; his accent had to be from somewhere up north. The brunette laughed and shoved the taller boy. I stopped walking, trying to put a cork in the bottle of memories threatening to spill over.
"You're Lorelai, aren't you?" The brunette asked, his green eyes sparkling in the sun. "Sorry, I'm Tubbo, and this one's Tommy," he said, elbowing the taller boy, Tommy.
"Yes, I am Lorelai. Why?" I said, my gaze flicking between the two boys. They had to have been around the same age. Tommy wore similar garments to that of a prince, and Tubbo wore a simple dark green shirt and trousers.
"My brother's looking for you," Tommy spoke up. "He has this letter he wants to give you and he refuses to send it in a bottle." He paused. "Whatever that means."
"Have I seen you before?" Tubbo asked. He was just a tad shorter than I was, and there were golden ornaments hanging from his horns. They were like a young goat's horns.
"Probably not," I said quickly. "Prince Wilbur should know where to find me," I said to Tommy. He frowned, crossing his gangly arms over his chest.
"Alright. Well, we've probably been gone too long. I hope Wil finds you," Tommy said, and the two boys ran back in the direction of the castle. I hoped Wilbur never found me, never delivered his letter, and went back to wooing the women at the pub.
As I continued my aimless wanderings across the beach, I saw a ship pulling into one of Helia's ports. The shouts of burly men with saltwater-stained beards and missing teeth fell on my ears like rocks, making the pit of my stomach grow cold. Pirates, all of them. There was not a single seaman who was any better than the ones I had known. Nevertheless, I approached the port, telling myself that I was only there to look at the merchants' wares along the boardwalk. But I knew, somewhere deep down inside of me, that I was curious.
I was curious whether these would be the same pirates that had ruined me and put me under the watchful eye of Thetis. I was curious whether they would try to commit the same heinous crime again on some young, unsuspecting girl who just likes to watch the waves. Never once did she wonder whether she would be living under them. I never thought I would live under them. A young girl with lenient parents and too much time, wandering down to the beach and dying. An old wives' tale made within days of the incident because Helia loves their stories and legends. Never mind the grieving parents who couldn't escape the gossip and increasingly morbid iterations of their daughter's death, never mind the way the children the girl had played with grew to be terrified of the mention of the ocean, never mind the girl who wasn't actually dead. Never mind me, who has watched everything happen without the power to step in, tell my parents that no! Your only daughter isn't dead! She's waiting, every night, for you to venture to the shore and look to the rocks and see her sitting on the tallest one.
But of course, I couldn't be so lucky.
Misfortune has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Only a week after the incident, my parents left Helia quietly under the pretense that I would never come home. The search for the little girl with white-blonde hair stopped almost as quickly as it had started, and Helia moved on. Tragedy happens all the time, why should I be any different?
"You're rather pale for a Helianite," a woman said to me. Curious, I turned around to face her, and was shocked to see a halfling staring back at me. She had long, curly white and brown hair, kind of like a sheep's coat. She had sheep's ears and wore a long red coat, a white dress shirt, black trousers, and knee-high black leather boots. On top of her head was a captain's hat with gold trim.
"Queen Callista isn't exactly the tannest person either," I said, trying to give her a smile. I think I failed. She smiled back anyway.
"Sorry, I should have introduced myself. My name is-"
"Captain Puffy!" A man shouted from the deck of the ship that had docked. "Where do these barrels go?" He asked. The woman sighed and shook her head in disappointment.
"On the dock! Careful with 'em, Her Majesty has paid a lot for these to be here," she shouted back, wincing when she heard a thud from the ship. "Again, sorry. I'm Puffy. And you're..?"
"Oh, I'm Lorelai," I said.
"I'm supposed to meet a certain Prince Wilbur here like, five minutes ago. Would you happen to know where he would be?" She asked. She spoke with very remarkable manners for a pirate.
"I can't say I-"
"Lorelai!" A cry from behind me. Once again I turned around to meet the speaker, and saw Wilbur literally sprinting towards me, a piece of paper in his hand. Out of instinct, I took several steps backward, the ice in my stomach growing and spreading.
"Impeccable timing, Your Majesty," Puffy laughed and did a shallow bow, tipping her hat in the direction of the golden prince. His guitar was strapped to his back, and even though I knew nothing about guitars, I knew that couldn't have been the safest way to carry it around.
"Just Wilbur is fine," he said. "Lorelai, I've been looking everywhere for you." His eyes searched mine, for what I don't know.
"So I've been told. You should probably talk to your brothers about how to approach strangers," I said with a wry grin. His brow furrowed before realization blossomed on his face.
"Oh, you mean Tommy and Tubbo. Yeah, they're not very good around people they don't know," he said with a slight chuckle. "Dad didn't like the idea of sending letters to you; he said something about Thetis interfering with them." He held the papers out to me. "He didn't write a lot anyway," he added.
"Um, Wilbur, I need you to approve this delivery before we can cart it to the castle," Puffy interrupted gently. He nodded and followed her to the boat rocking slightly at the end of the dock.
Out of curiosity, I unrolled the letter that I knew was from Phil. Wilbur folded his letters. Written on the paper in messy dark green ink was:
Come to the castle. We need to talk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We out here, vibing.
We do a bit of writing on Valentine's Day yes we do
Hahahaha how you been? Make sure you're taking care of yourself as spring looms closer! Make sure you're drinking your water, eating good food, doing all the homework, and getting the most sleep!! Constantly sending good vibes your way, because you deserve it.
I love all of you little mushrooms and I'll see you in the next chapter :DDDDD <33333333
YOU ARE READING
Amphitrite - Wilbur Soot
Fanfiction~AGAPE BOOK 3~ Lorelai is not your average naiad. Tragedy has followed her wherever she goes, and she has grown cynical and jaded. But when the boy she has watched grow up from afar approaches her, her view begins to change. Will she be able to ha...
