sheep_game | Counting Stars

[there's a moment--a brief moment, but still a moment--where he panics, holding his breath and trying not to inhale the water around him. there's a very, very human part of his brain that knows inhaling water means drowning.

then the dream kicks in, and of course you can breathe water in a dream. you can do whatever you want in a dream. so he settles and enjoys the strange view, watching how the sunlight plays off of the water, the coral.

once he's had his fill, curiosity absolutely dictates that he swim towards those murky structures not too far away]

[ the structures start to resolve into the shape of a palace. it's clearly beautiful, made of gleaming abalone and decorated with seashells and pearls and other treasures from the depths. power radiates out from it, brightening the sea, filling lethe with a sense of strength.

doesn't he want to go there? wouldn't it be nice to see it up close and go inside? ]

[he just wanted to go there because it's an underwater palace and that seems cool, but if it's ALSO making him feel powerful then of COURSE he wants to go there. give him super strength, shiny underwater palace]

[ great!

as he gets nearer, it becomes clear there's something gleaming in the sand en route, half-buried. does he stop to see what it is? ]

[nnnnnnnn-yes okay that could be a cool magical artifact buried deep in the ocean or something. taking a quick detour to see what it is can't hurt!]

[ it's a trident! or...it was a trident. it's been shattered to pieces ]

[huh

can he pick up the pieces. just collect them all.]

[ he can do that! there are a few of them, and the trident blade is kind of heavy, but they're normal and pick uppable ]

[it's fine he's gonna get super strength from that palace in a little bit

in a brief moment of curiosity, he does try to stick some of the pieces together once he has them, to see if they'll mend at all on their own or if they stay broken]

[ they stay broken. in fact, he may notice some fresh cracks forming as if they're going to break MORE ]

[in the most disappointed dad voice he can muster:]

Stop that. No more breaking.

[

the cracking slows down a little? ]

...Good job.

[okay he's going to keep swimming towards the palace with those pieces. maybe the palace has superglue.]

Edited 2024-05-07 03:13 (UTC)

[ the cracking slows down even more after he says that,,,,,

and the palace is getting closer now! it looks SO radiant. it's so pretty. all abalone pale and glimmering with rainbows, the water strewn with huge pearls giving off light. there are gorgeous undersea gardens. it looks like a really nice place!

but just as he's about to reach the outer gater, the ground starts to tremble ]

[NO, WHY!!! WHY WOULD THE EARTH DO THIS]

Oh come on, what now?!

[ WHAT NOW IS that

the entire palace crumbles to dust

the broken trident he'd been carrying crumbles to dust

the water turns wine-dark, glimmering with strange colors. and before any other sign of her can be seen, a voice resounds:

YOU ARE MINE NOW, WHEREVER YOU GO. ]

[ugh, it's her]

Big talk for a slimy corpse! Why don't you swim back to your space sea and bother a different planet? You're not wanted here.

[ yep, it's her! there's her enormous face peeking out where the palace used to be.

WHAT IS DONE CANNOT BE UNDONE

and there's a horrible inevitability to it, to her, to everything. ]

[I'm sorry Lethe doesn't do horrible inevitabilities it's not his thing]

You're being too overconfident, aren't you? It's not that hard to undo your messes, little guppy.

[since this is a dream, and they're in the ocean, and he knows how to manipulate water, he tries to freeze just a little bit of it at his fingertips. testing if he can, and how much a dream will allow]

[ lethe is allowed to GO WILD, the ocean ain't gonna stop him. it might...even help him a little? expand his abilities beyond the real world?

meanwhile, the goddess is still approaching, her shadow turning the whole sea even darker ]

[oh cool, that's a wonderful boost! then he's going to freeze the water around her limbs--whether they be fins or anything else--in an attempt to block her movements, to start]

I'll give you one last chance, since I'm feeling generous. Leave.

[ HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE IF YOU'RE FREEZING H

but no she just pauses, canting her head at lethe.

WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH? ]

[SHE CAN FIGURE THAT OUT he's going to keep freezing her]

You smell bad, Mute was suffering because of you, and you were raining down destruction on a country or something. Do I have any reason to like you?

[ well she'll be swatting at the ice, but doesn't attack him. yet?

I STOPPED DOING THAT

I STOPPED DOING SOME OF THAT ]

You're still doing it!!!! You tricked people into stupid Faustian bargains for no reason and now you're just messing with them!! You don't give a shit about any of them, so just leave them alone already!

[a current swirls around meris, slow at first and then growing in intensity]

m pls

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