[That night after Choromatsu and Poseidon's big fight was a hard one. None of the rest of his sons would dare approach him, not when they knew he was this mad. It got to the point where his shouting could be heard halfway across the sea, and even now the water continues to churn dangerously within his quarters. It lasts this way throughout the night as he doesn't sleep, simply sitting in there and stewing over it all.
By the time the sun rises, Poseidon's anger has fizzled into a deep seated sadness and disappointment over what Choromatsu had chosen to do. At the same time, though, he knows he could have handled it better...but could he be blamed, really? All those years of warning them, and Choromatsu of all of his sons meets with humans twice in his life. Claimed that he loved them. And, for the first time in raising them, he has no idea how to handle it. He figured that keeping him out of the ocean would do it by virtue of them not being able to meet again...but that also meant ostracizing his son. But if it took him months to get over it...then so be it.
Unfortunately for Poseidon, he doesn't get that long.
At some point during midday, Osomatsu eventually gets the nerve to come to his father...and he tells him that he can't find Choromatsu anywhere. He'd expected that; Choromatsu probably went back to the remains of his grotto. After instructing the eldest to stay back and keep the others company, he ensures him that he will find wherever he went off to before leaving home for the open sea. Instead of checking the grotto, not actually comfortable with confronting Choromatsu so soon after what happened, he decides to search the sea for his son's presence one last time.
...and he's. ......not there.
He's not anywhere.
And it isn't possible for him not to be.
Without thinking, Poseidon beats a path to the grotto, finding one side caved in while the rest is still intact. When he goes to search for his son, however, he's nowhere to be found. Even when he uses his trident to either break or lift and toss away fallen rocks, he doesn't see him. And when he searches for his presence again and he's still not found...that's when he really begins to panic.]
Choromatsu...
[He shoots out of the grotto and starts to swim for the shore, directly for the area where he felt him coming from yesterday.]
Choromatsu! Come to me right now!
Choromatsu!!!
[He doesn't get an answer. He swims to the shore, even breaks the surface to search...but he's nowhere. There's only one possible explanation for why he can't find him, and it makes Poseidon let out a bellow of frustration before he dives beneath the surface again and takes off in another direction, crying for Choromatsu to come to him when he's nowhere.
This goes on for three hours. Tirelessly, he searches massive swathes of ocean, looking for...some sign of his son. He couldn't possibly have gone too far thanks to his restriction on him, but there's no denying the fact that he can't sense him at all. Before Poseidon realizes where he even is, he's suddenly come upon a place he hasn't visited in a very long time. A lone island in the middle of the sea that seemingly has nothing on it. One that, with his entire body sagging from the exertion of his trek, he drags himself towards. Soon enough, Poseidon beaches himself on the island's shore, panting for breath as he surveys the immediate surroundings before letting his body sink into the sand a few feet.
He lets the gravity of reality sink into him, and it renders him immobile.]
[ No one ever comes to the island. Not anymore. Not even a poor shipwrecked victim or a pirate looking for a safe place to put their treasure. Only gulls... and the "goddess" of this island would know. Nothing escapes his notice... not here. The last time anyone was here was that one time 20 years ago...
So to sense someone now catches him by surprise. Did some poor soul wash up here? He can't tell from his lake, so he sets out to investigate in the form of a small white snake.
What he sees shocks him but he doesn't yet reveal himself ]
[Though he's significantly weaker on land like this, Poseidon has the power to stay somewhat out of the water for quite a while compared to his smaller counterparts. He has no reason to be on the land, yet he doesn't go back into the water. Perhaps he doesn't want to face what he knows isn't going to be there when he slips back in.
Then, he hears a voice. A voice that almost startles him into retreating, but the familiarity of it keeps him rooted to the spot. He probably couldn't have moved anyway, seeing how his body seems reluctant to do anything right now.
He lifts his head slightly to look into the lush undergrowth of the island, and when he answers his voice is very hoarse.]
[ He transforms into his human form, though for anyone else might see it looks like he just suddenly appeared like... well like something divine. It was useful... back when he still had living worshippers.
He approaches on foot, cautiously and with concern. What would bring the king of the sea here to his dying island again...? ]
Yes... Are you all right?
[ you are reminding him uncomfortably of a beached whale right now ]
[Even after all this time, the "goddess" was just as he remembered. In fact, the sight of him almost makes him smile until he remembers why he ended up here in the first place.
Wordlessly, the god shakes his head no, unable to meet Megami's gaze.]
[ Okay something... something is REALLY wrong here. He doesn't know Poseidon that well, fulfilling his wish was the only time they'd actually met face to face, but only an idiot wouldn't be able to read the somberness of the air, the way the sea seems sadder than usual (and he has spent a LOT of time staring at the sea).
His thoughts worry for the children he entrusted Poseidon with but he tries not to jump to conclusions.
At this point he's close enough to touch the other god and after a moment of hesitation he reaches out and places a small hand on the other's. ]
...What's wrong? I... cannot fulfill another wish for you [ he had regained some power since the last time but it would not be enough for a god's wish ] but I do have ears and... time.
[ a lot of time but he keeps that bitterness to himself ]
[What's wrong, he asks. Poseidon doesn't even know where to begin in the realm of what's wrong. Everything has gone wrong in less than 24 hours, and now...
He looks down at Megami's hand on his own, barely even a speck against his massive size, and he feels his throat threatening to close up on him before he can actually respond.]
[ That... is not good. He'd never met the children, didn't even know they were all boys or their names or how many of them there actually were. But he thought about them constantly. Wondered how they were doing, wishing for them to be healthy and happy...
That one of them is missing, that not even the sea king himself can find him, fills him with dread. ]
What? How is that--?
[ No, he doesn't know enough to understand. There must be some kind of story here ]
...Tell me everything. Now.
[ He needs to know. The sooner he knows the sooner he can help ]
Edited (ehhhh wasn't satisfied with the old tag) 2017-09-16 23:14 (UTC)
[Poseidon was ready to just slip back into the sea and continue searching, but...he remembers talking to Choromatsu about Megami, about how he wished he could meet "her" someday. And he thinks about how he feels like Megami has a right to know what's going on, even if he didn't raise the children himself.
So, once he's had a moment to catch his breath, Poseidon explains everything.
He tells Megami that six babies hatched from the egg a few weeks after he was given it, and he'd named them all after the island Megami lived on. Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu. He explains how Choromatsu was always intrigued by human things no matter how much he was warned to stay away.
He then tells him of the tragedy of Choromatsu nearly losing his life to a fishing net after meeting with a human over time. He tells of how he wiped his memories of her...and how that decision came back to haunt him. He goes further to tell of the falling out he had with his son the night prior, banishing him from the shore and making it impossible for him to leave the sea...only to be unable to find him now.
By the time he reaches the present in his story, Poseidon had begun to cry without realizing it initially. Large tears rolling down his cheeks and falling dangerously close to Megami as his voice breaks on the last few legs of his story. Now, for his own indignation and inability to understand, Poseidon may have very well doomed one of his precious sons to an untimely demise.]
I l-love them so much, Megami...I just...I just wanted to protect them...
[ It's a lot to take in. Six, six sons, all named after his island (he'd be more touched if not for the gravitas of their current situation), one of them interested in humans, almost killed for it and now in love with them... and missing.
His heart aches for the child he never knew, and the father before him reduced to tears...
He climbs onto Poseidon's arm and does his best to soothe him. ]
Shh, shh, I understand that... you've done your best.
[ McFucked up a bit, yeah, but all parents do. ]
Are you absolutely certain that he could only be dead? Wouldn't you have been able to detect his corpse if that were true? Or... whatever remained.
[ unless he was out of water anyway but Megami is trying to figure out a way that Choromatsu could still be alive. ]
...I...I do not want to believe it...just the possibility of such is unbearable.
[The thought of after all of that, Choromatsu...somehow making good on that declaration...
He chokes back a sob, using his other hand to wipe tears futility from his cheeks.]
E-even...if he were, I should be able to find him...I think. I do not really...I have never had this problem before. But I just...cannot fathom any other way he could have just vanished...
[ Megami sits on Poseidon's arm then, making himself a little more comfortable as he thinks. He doesn't want to accept that the child could be gone either. ]
...I can. But I do not know if it will soothe your heart any. It would mean young Choromatsu is alive but...
[ He does not want to give Poseidon false hope but... ]
[Poseidon blinks slowly, his eyelashes still wet with tears. Then, he turns to look down at Megami on his arm, his expression completely distraught and desperate for anything.]
...When this island was still inhabited, still visited by the outside world, I came across my fair share of wishes where the request was to become something else.
Men and women whose bodies did not match their souls, children who wanted to become cats or birds, creatures who wanted nothing more than to be human themselves... one time even a harpy came here, wanting to be human so she could be with the man she had fallen in love with.
[ He pauses for a moment, letting the implications sink in, before looking up at Poseidon once more ]
Poseidon... do any other gods reside in your ocean? Ones with powers like mine.
[He listens quietly, his tail curling in the shallows of the island. At his question, though...Poseidon's expression darkens considerably, rather suddenly too.]
...there is only one. But my sons, they...they know better than to consort with her.
You also said they knew better than to interact with humans.
[ another pause ]
...Is she a good person?
[ he's guessing no by that reaction, and it wouldn't surprise him. He knows not all gods and spirits and other magical beings are as benevolent as he is, that some would abuse their powers to trap others. ]
On the surface you would believe she was. She claims to use her power to help other merfolk...but she is conniving and manipulative. She takes particular joy in providing what is asked for...but at a price.
[It's just as he says this that he goes very still, staring off into the ocean just below him.]
[ Conniving and manipulative, huh... figures. He can't judge against the idea of a "price" to pay per se, as it would certainly make things easier for him if HE asked for something in exchange... but with everything else Poseidon's saying he can already tell she's not fair about it. ]
Anyone, but especially a child, can be easily preyed upon in moments of high emotion... even more so when love is involved.
[ and then his voice gets a lot more stern ]
Regardless of your intent, Sea King, you've placed our son in a vulnerable state. I'm not saying it's for sure what happened but... if he's as upset as you said he was... I am sure he would have been easy to coerce.
[For a long moment, Poseidon is silent, mulling over the implications. It's either believe that Choromatsu did go to her...or accept the fact that his son is dead. Neither are good options, but one at least involves his son still being alive.
He can feel his heart tighten in his chest, and he lowers his hand from his face to grip the stone set against his sternum.]
...I have to go speak to her.
[He's already shifting, like he's ready to get up and go now-]
[Oh, right. He settles back down into the sand once he remembers he's there, looking back down at the goddess proper. He does have a point...no doubt he'd be lied to even if Choromatsu met with the witch...]
But...I thought you said you could not grant any more wishes?
That is true. At least not large ones. But I am not entirely useless yet.
[ Yet. ]
The only visitors to this island now are birds. Seagulls. I cannot leave the island but I can communicate with them and ask for their help. If they know what to look for and where to go... they may be able to confirm if Choromatsu is really with the humans.
[Even before Megami finishes that statement fully, Poseidon can feel tears welling in his eyes. His hands shake a little as he smooths the one across the scales of his tail.]
I could...not possibly repay you, if you could do this for me.
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time to tell mom that dad fucked up
[That night after Choromatsu and Poseidon's big fight was a hard one. None of the rest of his sons would dare approach him, not when they knew he was this mad. It got to the point where his shouting could be heard halfway across the sea, and even now the water continues to churn dangerously within his quarters. It lasts this way throughout the night as he doesn't sleep, simply sitting in there and stewing over it all.
By the time the sun rises, Poseidon's anger has fizzled into a deep seated sadness and disappointment over what Choromatsu had chosen to do. At the same time, though, he knows he could have handled it better...but could he be blamed, really? All those years of warning them, and Choromatsu of all of his sons meets with humans twice in his life. Claimed that he loved them. And, for the first time in raising them, he has no idea how to handle it. He figured that keeping him out of the ocean would do it by virtue of them not being able to meet again...but that also meant ostracizing his son. But if it took him months to get over it...then so be it.
Unfortunately for Poseidon, he doesn't get that long.
At some point during midday, Osomatsu eventually gets the nerve to come to his father...and he tells him that he can't find Choromatsu anywhere. He'd expected that; Choromatsu probably went back to the remains of his grotto. After instructing the eldest to stay back and keep the others company, he ensures him that he will find wherever he went off to before leaving home for the open sea. Instead of checking the grotto, not actually comfortable with confronting Choromatsu so soon after what happened, he decides to search the sea for his son's presence one last time.
...and he's. ......not there.
He's not anywhere.
And it isn't possible for him not to be.
Without thinking, Poseidon beats a path to the grotto, finding one side caved in while the rest is still intact. When he goes to search for his son, however, he's nowhere to be found. Even when he uses his trident to either break or lift and toss away fallen rocks, he doesn't see him. And when he searches for his presence again and he's still not found...that's when he really begins to panic.]
Choromatsu...
[He shoots out of the grotto and starts to swim for the shore, directly for the area where he felt him coming from yesterday.]
Choromatsu! Come to me right now!
Choromatsu!!!
[He doesn't get an answer. He swims to the shore, even breaks the surface to search...but he's nowhere. There's only one possible explanation for why he can't find him, and it makes Poseidon let out a bellow of frustration before he dives beneath the surface again and takes off in another direction, crying for Choromatsu to come to him when he's nowhere.
This goes on for three hours. Tirelessly, he searches massive swathes of ocean, looking for...some sign of his son. He couldn't possibly have gone too far thanks to his restriction on him, but there's no denying the fact that he can't sense him at all. Before Poseidon realizes where he even is, he's suddenly come upon a place he hasn't visited in a very long time. A lone island in the middle of the sea that seemingly has nothing on it. One that, with his entire body sagging from the exertion of his trek, he drags himself towards. Soon enough, Poseidon beaches himself on the island's shore, panting for breath as he surveys the immediate surroundings before letting his body sink into the sand a few feet.
He lets the gravity of reality sink into him, and it renders him immobile.]
MOM IS HERE
So to sense someone now catches him by surprise. Did some poor soul wash up here? He can't tell from his lake, so he sets out to investigate in the form of a small white snake.
What he sees shocks him but he doesn't yet reveal himself ]
..Poseidon?
[ What is the sea god doing here again...? ]
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Then, he hears a voice. A voice that almost startles him into retreating, but the familiarity of it keeps him rooted to the spot. He probably couldn't have moved anyway, seeing how his body seems reluctant to do anything right now.
He lifts his head slightly to look into the lush undergrowth of the island, and when he answers his voice is very hoarse.]
...Megami? Is...that you?
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He approaches on foot, cautiously and with concern. What would bring the king of the sea here to his dying island again...? ]
Yes... Are you all right?
[ you are reminding him uncomfortably of a beached whale right now ]
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Wordlessly, the god shakes his head no, unable to meet Megami's gaze.]
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His thoughts worry for the children he entrusted Poseidon with but he tries not to jump to conclusions.
At this point he's close enough to touch the other god and after a moment of hesitation he reaches out and places a small hand on the other's. ]
...What's wrong? I... cannot fulfill another wish for you [ he had regained some power since the last time but it would not be enough for a god's wish ] but I do have ears and... time.
[ a lot of time but he keeps that bitterness to himself ]
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[What's wrong, he asks. Poseidon doesn't even know where to begin in the realm of what's wrong. Everything has gone wrong in less than 24 hours, and now...
He looks down at Megami's hand on his own, barely even a speck against his massive size, and he feels his throat threatening to close up on him before he can actually respond.]
My...my son. One of my sons...has gone missing.
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Oh.
He goes very still and silent for a moment as he processes that. ]
...What?
[ looks like he would have been right to jump to conclusions ]
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I-I...apologize, for only coming to you in times of need...but he is...he isn't...
[Poseidon shakes his head again, his tail curling towards his body.]
I cannot find him.
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That one of them is missing, that not even the sea king himself can find him, fills him with dread. ]
What? How is that--?
[ No, he doesn't know enough to understand. There must be some kind of story here ]
...Tell me everything. Now.
[ He needs to know. The sooner he knows the sooner he can help ]
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So, once he's had a moment to catch his breath, Poseidon explains everything.
He tells Megami that six babies hatched from the egg a few weeks after he was given it, and he'd named them all after the island Megami lived on. Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu. He explains how Choromatsu was always intrigued by human things no matter how much he was warned to stay away.
He then tells him of the tragedy of Choromatsu nearly losing his life to a fishing net after meeting with a human over time. He tells of how he wiped his memories of her...and how that decision came back to haunt him. He goes further to tell of the falling out he had with his son the night prior, banishing him from the shore and making it impossible for him to leave the sea...only to be unable to find him now.
By the time he reaches the present in his story, Poseidon had begun to cry without realizing it initially. Large tears rolling down his cheeks and falling dangerously close to Megami as his voice breaks on the last few legs of his story. Now, for his own indignation and inability to understand, Poseidon may have very well doomed one of his precious sons to an untimely demise.]
I l-love them so much, Megami...I just...I just wanted to protect them...
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His heart aches for the child he never knew, and the father before him reduced to tears...
He climbs onto Poseidon's arm and does his best to soothe him. ]
Shh, shh, I understand that... you've done your best.
[ McFucked up a bit, yeah, but all parents do. ]
Are you absolutely certain that he could only be dead? Wouldn't you have been able to detect his corpse if that were true? Or... whatever remained.
[ unless he was out of water anyway but Megami is trying to figure out a way that Choromatsu could still be alive. ]
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[The thought of after all of that, Choromatsu...somehow making good on that declaration...
He chokes back a sob, using his other hand to wipe tears futility from his cheeks.]
E-even...if he were, I should be able to find him...I think. I do not really...I have never had this problem before. But I just...cannot fathom any other way he could have just vanished...
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...I can. But I do not know if it will soothe your heart any. It would mean young Choromatsu is alive but...
[ He does not want to give Poseidon false hope but... ]
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Megami, whatever you know...please tell me.
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[ He looks down, his hands in his lap ]
...When this island was still inhabited, still visited by the outside world, I came across my fair share of wishes where the request was to become something else.
Men and women whose bodies did not match their souls, children who wanted to become cats or birds, creatures who wanted nothing more than to be human themselves... one time even a harpy came here, wanting to be human so she could be with the man she had fallen in love with.
[ He pauses for a moment, letting the implications sink in, before looking up at Poseidon once more ]
Poseidon... do any other gods reside in your ocean? Ones with powers like mine.
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...there is only one. But my sons, they...they know better than to consort with her.
[At least, so he thought.]
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[ another pause ]
...Is she a good person?
[ he's guessing no by that reaction, and it wouldn't surprise him. He knows not all gods and spirits and other magical beings are as benevolent as he is, that some would abuse their powers to trap others. ]
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[It's just as he says this that he goes very still, staring off into the ocean just below him.]
Choromatsu, he....he wouldn't...
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Anyone, but especially a child, can be easily preyed upon in moments of high emotion... even more so when love is involved.
[ and then his voice gets a lot more stern ]
Regardless of your intent, Sea King, you've placed our son in a vulnerable state. I'm not saying it's for sure what happened but... if he's as upset as you said he was... I am sure he would have been easy to coerce.
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He can feel his heart tighten in his chest, and he lowers his hand from his face to grip the stone set against his sternum.]
...I have to go speak to her.
[He's already shifting, like he's ready to get up and go now-]
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W-Wait...! You don't know for sure! She may not even be honest with you! You said she was manipulative, right?
[ He could not live with himself if Poseidon did something dumb and got HIMSELF in trouble because of his suggestion. ]
--Would you like my assistance first?
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But...I thought you said you could not grant any more wishes?
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That is true. At least not large ones. But I am not entirely useless yet.
[ Yet. ]
The only visitors to this island now are birds. Seagulls. I cannot leave the island but I can communicate with them and ask for their help. If they know what to look for and where to go... they may be able to confirm if Choromatsu is really with the humans.
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I could...not possibly repay you, if you could do this for me.
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poseidon this is gay
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Sorry I had to do this before bed rq
👀
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