Common

Once, long ago, she had been an innocent child with bright eyes and a contagious smile. Quick to hide behind her forelock or dance within the frothing waves to a tune only she could hear. Always by the sea, a nymph who cared naught but for what the next wave could bring. If she had been a priestess then the ocean was her patron god. Not a soul could tempt her away or so it seemed.

He came with an enchanting smile that ensnared her tender heart. Perhaps he was Orpheus in disguise and his words were the lyre that enchanted her heart? Her womb soon bore the fruit of a passionate love. A son who had all the fire of his father but his dam’s love of the ocean. Nereid loved him so, perhaps even more so than her husband or the patron god she revered as a child. Fate is cruel, she would learn, and a scorned god even crueller. For the ocean was Hades and her son was Euridyce.

The ocean tempted Nereid as it had never done before. When her resolve crumbled and she returned to the place of her birth, Hades took his due. Her son paid with his life for her treachery and her heart beat no more. Without her son, who was she? What purpose did she have in this world? His laughter had been her sun, his love had been her moon. Without either, she was adrift in this plane of existence. A soiled priestess returned to her patron.

Standing in the shallows, Nereid gazed out across the ocean. She had gone out for an early morning swim and was now reluctant to return to Gaea’s embrace. Wet tendrils of her forelock obscure her view, while her mane, entangled with strands of seaweed, haphazardly drapes across her shoulder and chest. Once ivory flesh is darkened to a lacklustre pewter, speckled with aged blemishes of youthful arrogance. Her stance in conflicted, with her breast turned toward the land while her neck and crown point toward the endless expanse of sea.

Do you still play in the ocean waves, my son? she speaks aloud, lyrics raspy from neglect. The wind picks up for a moment, tugging at her mane and brushing against her cheek, before dying down once more. A forlorn smile tugs against her lips and amber orbs gain a misty sheen for a moment. I thought so.

[ open to anyone ¬ sorry for the shit quality. it has def been awhile ]
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