Sekhmet

Chapter 8

Chapter 8
Saltwater
Gray

Water roared past his ear's as Gray broke through the ocean's surface, waves gently splash against his silver hair. His limbs merge with the water, not a tail exactly but more like a transparent flow of water as if they merged with the tides. The open ocean rocks calmly underneath the sun, Gray sighs picking seaweed from his hair.

Been a demigod set up many challenges that vary in extremities, for the children of Cari it was even more difficult. Born with a destiny, set to follow a hero's footsteps till they complete their quest, and by the end of it they're alone without purpose for eternity. Gray at least had an interesting destiny to follow, lead eight heroes to their fate and so on and so on.

Gray knew his destiny off by heart as did his thousands of other siblings, now all Gray had to do was keep an eye on the sea and report back to Atticus once in a while. He swam along the surface unsurprised to find himself bored, though Gray has such a large family he still felt so alone.

Gray laid on his back a floated over the waves, children of Cari don't necessarily need to be in water. Many of them live on land and among mortal folk, and many of them lived in the sea "Gray!" A voice calls to him from the deep. Gray rolls over onto his stomach, his eyesight cutting through the water to find the face of one of his many siblings.

Jane Cari grinned up at him, her short dark hair chopped close to her scalp and swooshed over her face. Her skin took on a yellowish tan, black ink tattoos ran up her arms and along the tail she had which was more noticeable with the cloth she wrapped around her waist.

Her bright silver eyes creased up at him "what are you doing?" Older ocean children tended to assign themselves to younger ones, they usually ended up been the guides or teachers of newly formed demigods.

Gray doesn't know who started it, probably one of his much much older siblings. But it was helpful in more ways than one, Jane was his guide, and he was hers. "Just enjoying the sun" his voice sounded clear in the water, it carried itself at a different frequency allowing it ti cut through the liquid.

Gray swam back down toward her, a large ravine split the floor of the ocean open, inside is a bioluminescent forest of coral and plantation. It was one of the five ravines around the ocean which the ocean demigods called home.

Gray has been to all five before when he was younger, when he met Sebastian he rarely visited despite been on a ship. Jane came to him though; Gray would lean over the rails and chat away to her for hours on her shifts.

"Beluga is enjoying the festivities" Jane said taking his hand a leading him further down back towards the ravine "he is always enjoying festivities, so long as there's food involved."

Jane laughed her lips curving up in her natural smirk "yes that is true."

Beluga is a rare aquatic dragon gifted to Gray by the nature god Elder. During the battle in Veia they had worked together well despite Beluga missing his front two legs, trapped and mutated from black market hunters.

Gray originally told him that he could leave, but he seemed pretty content with following Gray around the last year, and his siblings didn't seem to mind. Today was that last day of the new year week, after twelve full moon cycles they world celebrates new beginning. Some countries do big festivals, some do not, demigods apparently party for a week.

They entered the ravine, Jane began conversations with many siblings, Gray swore she knew all of them. Jane was one of the oldest children of Cari, she's had only one other child to guide before Gray. But she disappeared a long time ago. It was a cruel fate the children of Cari faced, death never came for them instead their minds would slow, and their hearts would grow heavy.

Without a person to guide or a destiny to fulfil they were worth nothing to the world around them. Gray had seen it before, hundreds of siblings laying there, alive but not living. Some took the short way out, suicide was irregular, but it happened. But not even they had an afterlife, their souls would simply crumble with the rest of their body and return back to their creator, the sea.

The only reason Jane hasn't succumbed to the end is because of her destiny, born at the start or mortals and immortals Jane was destined to guide a sibling. One born of silver hair and ice blue eyes, like Gray she was born to guide a hero, it just so happened to be Gray himself. Jane waited thousands of years for Gray to be created, and now gladly fulfils her destiny.

When they reached the third level of the ravine, there the celebration continued loudly. People of different ages and colours mingled together, drinking golden liquor and fruit. Beluga rolled around on a large anemone; it's dangerous arms did nothing against his tough scales. Food scattered around where he played, Gray approached him. Beluga noticed his presence straight away and sat up, his front stubs up as he sits on his back legs.

"Stuffing your face, I see" Gray began "you're going to get sick again" dragons were a rare, almost extinct species.

They died out from hunting and harvesting by mortals, though gods didn't care enough about the earths creatures enough to stop it, not even Elder who says they must not interfere with mortal destruction.

Beluga swam to him wrapping his large body around Gray's, he made a loud clicking sound. Jane grinned running her hands through his white hair "he says your uptight" Jane stared at Gray "what's wrong?" Gray gave a shrugged focusing on the feeling of Beluga's scales under his palms.

"I don't know, something doesn't feel right" Jane considered this her charismatic face shifting between emotions "is it because of the earthquake?" A couple of days ago there was a wave of magic that rocked the sea floor, it came from Arcon. Jane had convinced Gray to stay and wait to hear news rather than run in blindly, but it didn't stop Gray from stressing.

"I should be there" he insisted "even if... if they're not there I should at least try" Jane floated to his side "we'll go down tomorrow, how about that?" Gray was sure he'd leave before then but decided to nod along.

Jane laid back floating in the water and picked at her teeth for food stuck in it "by the way..." she shifted to float on her stomach "your powers, how is it going?" Gray has been avoiding this conversation the entire time he's been home.

It's only come up a total of five times, this would be the sixth. As children of gods demigods inherit abilities, their always somehow connected or matching the parent. The children of Cari can control water, they could make storms and creat droughts. Gray though seemed to lack in that department, he could barely raise water over Sebastian's ship.

Gray shook his head "nothing" Jane sighed in thought "I've been training, doing everything you and the others have told me. Nothing seems to work" Gray swam to rest against Beluga's snout.

"What if you just didn't do what we're telling you to do" Jane suggested, Gray raised an eyebrow "not follow instructions? Isn't that dangerous? What if mother finds out?"

Jane waved her hands "psh, she won't know." Jane held her chin as she thought "what if you didn't restrain it? Demigod's souls are very flexible, but we also have mortal blood in us. Which is what makes us dangerous, unlike gods emotions can take control of us easily like mortals"

Gray listened to her ramble and slowly began to realise what she was suggesting. "You're saying I should use my emotions as some kind of amplifier for my magic?"

Jane nodded enthusiastically "yes! It'll work, no? Only one way to find out" Gray was about ask what she meant when the distance sound of canon fire echoed, rippling the water above them.

A large shadow casted itself over them, like a large bird flew past. Gray whipped his face to Jane who only shrugged "convenient huh?"

"risky is what I'd say, what will mother say when she finds out you shifted the tides and brought a pirate fight to the ravine?"

Jane scoffed and yipped at Beluga making him start to swim up towards the surface. They broke the surface, Gray's eyes widened at the sight before them. A large dragon, made of rough, rocky scales and muscle was flying frantically around a black-market ship.

It's back leg caught in a handheld rope as about fifty men hold it down like a stray kite. Jane clearly didn't expect this, Beluga growled lowly. The larger dragon let out a loud shriek and fire spewed through its jaws, Gray's grip on Belugas hair tightened "ready boy?"