Heart of Poseidon: The Siren's Call

killed to be cured

"I'm sorry, my daughter," he says.

Suddenly, I began to get an intense feeling of dreadful understanding.

"Wait-"

At that awful, terrible moment, Poseidon struck his grand trident through Trevor's chest. "NO!"

Tears welled in my eyes, stinging, as I witnessed him fall to the ground, blood pooling around him and staining his tux. I tried to run to his body, but two guards grabbed hold of me, restraining me. Preventing me from being with him. I watched in horror as his breathing got shallower and then stopped. I screamed. A lilac colored mist began to surround me, and the world went dark.

I woke up in a sweat, panting. I shot upwards, looking around to see that I am, in fact, in my room. I sighed in gut-wrenching relief. I looked at the floor... and then to my outfit. I... was still in my dress... with blood staining the sea green bottom. My heart shattered. Tears welled in my eyes. I crumbled down to the ground, sobbing and hugging myself.

I could've saved him.

I could've saved him.

I could've saved him.

I should've saved him.

I should've saved him.

I should've saved him.

I should've saved him.

I should've saved him.

I should've saved him.

IT'S MY FAULT HE'S DEAD.

...

No. Stop. It wasn't your fault.

It was Poseidon who killed him.

Poseidon, who took him away from me.

Poseidon, who took my life from me.

I crawled across the room and closed the door, locking myself out from everyone and everything, wishing that Trevor was still here with me. Holding me in his arms. Telling me stories of the ocean. My heart began to fill with anger, screaming out loud to myself, cursing Poseidon. This awful period of rage and mourning lasted for weeks. One morning, I woke, fed up of feeling useless and miserable. I got up, grabbed my dagger, and walked out to the balcony of the apartment building, summoning my wings... and jumped. I sang of sadness and rage, flying faster than I ever had. I landed in the middle of the forest, looking for trouble. I turned in just enough time to see a fully grown cyclops chasing after a water nymph. I leaped towards the cyclops, stabbing the monster through the back with ease. The water nymph gave a startled yelp and raced off in the opposite direction. The cyclops reached his hands around his back, trying to grab me by the waist and throw me. Of course, just my luck, he succeeds. I slammed against a tree, probably breaking something, but I didn't care. I was angry and I wanted to fight. I wanted to hurt something. I ran towards the cyclops, screaming. I slashed my dagger at his leg. Repeatedly stabbing and cutting his leg over and over, I started tearing up again. The cyclops swung across my head and I ended up getting knocked out for the second time today. Big surprise.

I came to, watching the autumn leaves fall from the sky and the massive oak trees loom overhead.

An echoing voice whispered, "Liz?"

I looked to my left and almost screamed. Kneeling next to me, was a man wearing a princely robe, covered by gold and turquoise jewels, his face was filled with concern and relief.

"Trevor."

My eyes filled with tears as I leaped into his arms, hugging him and sobbing.

"I-I thought you died! I saw Poseidon stab you, a-and you were bleeding and coughing and-"

"And I'm back, now. Don't worry."

"How...?"

"Poseidon didn't kill me. He crowned me. He struck me with his trident in order to change me, so to speak.

"Change you?"

"I'm not human anymore. I'm a sea spirit. The uh... prince. Of sea spirits." He gave a nervous smile and glanced away.

"But- but you still look human."

"This is what sea spirits usually look like, Liz."

"I don't care anymore, I'm just glad you're alive!"

I hugged Trevor again, wanting to hold him forever. As he held me, his sea salt smell soothed me and reminded me of home. He moved his fingers through my hair and said, "Now, let's go home."

I stood up... but sat my butt right back down. I nearly passed out! Black dots danced across my vision.

Guess I'm more hurt than I thought. Whoops.

Trevor knelt down beside me and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small vial with a strange, opaque, red liquid in it.

"Here, drink some of this. It's a healing potion. It'll restore your energy and dull the pain.''

I took a semi-hesitant sip and the taste surprised me. It was sweet... like the apples I took from the trees at the park. My body immediately felt less heavy, my wings felt like they could take off at any moment. I got up and took Trevor's hand, giving him a dangerous smirk. He didn't even have time to protest as I bolted up into the sky, scaring the living daylight out of him. Trevor held on for dear life as I zoomed past trees and buildings, singing like there was no tomorrow. I landed gracefully on the roof of my apartment and looked back to see if Trevor was ok. He... definitely was not. He was panting, holding on his knees with a horrified-adjacent look on his normally handsome face.

"Sorry, I got excited..." I said, laughing as I lent him a hand. He took my hand and replied, "It's ok. Just next time, go the speed limit, you little maniac!"

I chuckled and lead him inside. I started making some tea and grabbed out the chips from the pantry.

"So... why did my dad do that? He could've just told me about this instead of making me think that I lost you forever..." I trailed off as I handed him a cup of tea. He looked into the cup with a cold hard stare.

"No, no. Don't be mad at him. You don't get it. Liz, the reason why I came back to America from England was to say goodbye."

"What... do you mean?"

"I had lung cancer, Liz. When Poseidon struck me with his trident, my lungs felt clearer than they had in nearly five years."

I blanched.

"He turned me into a sea spirit to keep me alive. Your dad wanted you to stay happy, so he turned me. The reason he didn't tell you was that... well, the only way you can turn into one of us, is if you are ended by a god and the cry of a siren is heard. I'm sorry for having you go through that. But hey, it's better than me being dead forever after a horribly, painfully slow death, isn't it?"

I wrapped my fingers in his and tried to process this whole mess.

Even after everything I've been through in my eighteen years of life, this is finally what got me.

Everything was going so fast, I couldn't keep up. All of my emotions were jumbled up in this roller coaster of tears and laughter.

He's back, I thought. That's all that matters now.

I sighed. "So where exactly are we going start with this god-awful quest thing?"