Okeanakis's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Okeanakis had won a seat in the sea court, and now he needed to lose the mortal blood inside him. Full godhood came only through a trial his father would name. Poseidon had not named it. So Okeanakis stood at the edge of a wide blue lake, gripping his gold trident, waiting for a father who took his time. The lake was his father's private water. Reeds and pale flowers ringed the shore. Lily pads drifted on the surface without a ripple. Okeanakis had come here because his father came here to think, and he wanted to catch him alone. Poseidon stood in the shallows. His long dark hair faded to blue at the ends, and two small braids hung at the front of his face. He wore gold armor even here, where no war could reach him. He watched a fish circle his ankle and said nothing to his son. "Father," Okeanakis said. "The court has accepted me. I am ready for whatever comes next." Poseidon did not turn. "You beat three of my full-blooded children. That surprised the court more than it surprised me." He bent and touched the water. The fish scattered. "It did not surprise me at all." The words warmed Okeanakis, but he could not say what he came to say. He could not beg for a trial. A god did not beg. A son who begged would prove the court right about the mortal half of him. So he stood straight and held his tongue and let the silence stretch. Poseidon finally faced him. His blue eyes moved over his son's blond hair, the hair no full god had. "You want the trial," he said. "You will not ask, because asking would shame you. You think I do not see this." Okeanakis said nothing. His grip tightened on the trident. "That is why you are still half mortal," Poseidon said. "A god acts. He does not wait at my shore hoping I will speak first." He stepped out of the water and stood close. "So I will not name your trial. You will find it yourself. Bring me proof you belong on Olympus, and I will bring you before Zeus." "Where do I look?" Okeanakis asked. "That is the first part of the test." Poseidon set a hand on his son's shoulder, and his voice softened. "I love you. That is why I will not make this easy. The other gods will forgive you nothing. Neither can I." He turned and walked into the lake until the blue water closed over his head. Okeanakis stood alone on the shore. He had wanted his father to hand him a task. Instead his father had handed him nothing but a demand and a name: Zeus. Now he had to choose his own trial, and choose one great enough to erase every doubt. He looked at his reflection in the still water and did not know where to begin.