Flowing Flawlessly

Chapter IX

Leaning back in astonishment, Don examined me with his mouth agape. "You're upset. You feel," he marveled. I kept a blank face not knowing what to say. "It's happening already. I've never done this before but I didn't think it would happened this quickly."

"What do you mean? You're in no position to keep secrets. I'm confused," I admitted. He shook his head, his golden hair gracefully flowing. "Nyx, I had to do it-"

"You keep saying that! You keep saying cryptic things and now I don't know what to think. What's wrong with me? Would you tell me the truth already!" I cut him off in anger. Anger that has been ready to come out for awhile. He smiled widely, seemingly ecstatic that I'm upset. How could I not be though? He is not making any sense to me. He tells me he loves me and everything in me feels conflicted about that. I've loved the ocean my whole life but that doesn't mean I love him. I am a Christian who didn't believe in Greek mythology and now I'm being dragged into it by Poseidon himself.

"You're going to be a goddess, Nyx. Each original god or goddess has the opportunity to choose one mortal in their entire lifetime to stand by them. The mortal must be pure, no blood on their hands, no ill nature, and many more standards that I won't name. Bringing you here started the process. You met all the requirements. You're my goddess."

I looked down at my hands, still not thoroughly believing. I wish that calmness I felt before came back because my whole body is drowning, falling into the abyss of my overwhelming emotions.

A goddess.

"What if I don't want this? What if I want to move on to wherever it is I'm meant to go after death?" I asked. Don closed his eyes, his face full of fear and great sadness. "I would hope that someday you'd decide that you could be happy here with me. You'd never be able to become mortal again and pass into the realm of the deceased," he explained. I gulped and clenched my teeth not in anger, but in fear. I don't know how I'm supposed to live. Or what I'm supposed to do. One thing is for certain, though. I'll be here on this island forever. This beautiful island. I looked at my canvas that still sat by the bed, the unfinished image I was painting before waiting to be completed. A small forlorn smile graced my lips.

"Can I still paint?" I asked softly, the anger and fear leaving me and being replaced with something different than hope, but not quite peace. I've never been a resentful, grudge-holding person and I don't plan to begin now, even if this is all a dream.

Poseidon opened his eyes in surprise, a grin breaking out onto his face when he saw the small quirk of my lips. "Of course. You can paint as long as you want. Wherever you want. I can take you to any part of the world and you can paint forever," he whispered promisingly. Sitting up so I was on my knees, I leaned back so I was sitting on the back of my legs. Maybe this was supposed to happen. Maybe this is why I've never felt like I belonged.

"I hope you have more shirts because I quite enjoy wearing this one," I teased, breaking the fragile tension. "There's plenty unless you prefer I don't wear one?" He joked back. This whole situation still felt unreal. I'm sitting and joking with a god while he stares at me with unworldly blue eyes filled with wonder. I'm turning into a goddess myself and everything seems too impossible.

Turning serious, I inhaled deeply, the salty scent of Don filling my senses. "Will it hurt? Turning into a goddess I mean?" I asked timidly. He sighed. "I have no idea, Nyx." I nodded.

"This is going to take a lot of adjusting. I don't know how to act or what to do. I know that I'm going to need to get used to you, Don. I know that I can't just accept you right now when I am so lost. I know the part of you that clashes with rocks. The part of you that I've confided in all my life. I've never personified the ocean quite literally before, a-and it's new. But you probably already know I'm pretty good with change," I said, adding the last part to comfort him a bit. Every word leaving my mouth feels foreign in a way that doesn't seem natural. The words I say feel too unreal. Don must feel so vulnerable and nervous- a god feeling such normal emotions. The thought is so strange.

"I plan to help make your life the best it can be, Nyx. If you decide," he paused to catch his wavering voice. "If you decide you don't want me or you can never grow to love me like I do you, I'll create you a new island of your own. You're the goddess of change, Nyx. Anything you want differently is yours."

The end