had an encounter with calypso the goddess of the sea. Powerful, seductive, yet sensitive; always elegant. Untamed, annihilating those in her path, and never showing her full potential as a sea god; indecisive, but strong-willed in choices Im not sure if its the best idea, but honestly Im going to do it! she exclaimed in a voice full of authority. I had to advise her against such a waste of time. I dont know your full capabilities but I cant see even you pulling something so absurd off, Calypso. Youll end up destroying yourself... Or the world. Either way it doesnt look good. Want a taste of my full potential? I am an immortal who belongs to the sea! Watch. Usually I conceal my power because after Ive used it people tend to flee. They see me as a threat. But you dont seem to be affected... Or afraid. Calypso proceeded to chant a song of longing, haunting, yet beautiful ambience. I tried to interject a few times, but she ignored me and continued for about 30 minutes flawlessly. Schools of fish, pods of whales, and various of aquatic life forms swirled around in the ocean ahead. On the horizon I see a ship making its way in our direction. Soon I realized she had lured a ship full of people! They were unable to focus on anything other than uncovering who or what was resonating with such elegant sound. As it approached, her song faded out, and slowly the ship began to head back out to sea. I presume the crew was lifted from her enchantment and discovered that they were off course. The ship eventually faded from sight. Id imagine the people were baffled as to why they were approaching the island in the first place. Theyll never be the wiser. Calypso, that was stunning! Your song sent chills all over my body... Well, the intention is to capture the attention, not necessarily appeal to the emotions. Do you know what the strangest part is? Whats that? You were not enthralled in the slightest by my song... It bothers me. Well, I was enthralled... The song is good, but while you were singing it made me think. Whats STRANGE is you showing a mere mortal like me your godly potential! Not many people gain the trust from a god. The word why crosses my mind... Later with this rubbish. Now, Im ready to enact my idea. Obviously worried by me being unaffected by her song, she turned her attention away from the issue at hand and began shuffling off the beach and into the densely grown trees. I followed. The scene surrounding was strangely serene, as we passed many animals that paid us no mind. There were also a lot of unique plants in this jungle-forest environment, some even that had no roots in the ground! Thy simply hung, suspended above the Earth but below the sky. It was a rather peaceful trek thanks to Calypso calming the animals. After an hour, we had stumbled upon what seemed to me to be a towering gray block of solid stone. She put her hand to the face of the block. It became wet, then started to erode away at many times the normal speed. The inside was hollow. She had more power than she was letting on. She took a step through the small hole created just a moment ago, as did I, though I was reluctant to because I began to wonder what her intentions were with a place like this. I could hear growling and hissing coming from all sides of the block, sort of like we were being surrounded by monsters and serpents, but I knew there was nothing outside except for a few animals in a state of hypnotized harmlessness. The idea was alarming, and I had a feeling that this was some sort of stone cage filled with creatures from beyond the physical realm of existence. Calypso, explain this menacing scene would you? Oh you will find out soon enough. she touched her hand to the wall opposite the hole we climbed through, and it too began to disintegrate. On the other side of this wall, however there was a tiny room. In it hovered a dark, sickly looking shade. It was a tormented shade. Shades are very devious creatures with a shadowy smog surrounding them and piercing, fiery-looking red eyes full of trickery and deception. When tormented, they become less of a prankster poltergeist and more like a bombshell of destruction. They become incredibly spiteful and begin to act utterly lethal to whoever lies in their path. Calypso and these creatures seem to get along very well in this respect. After opening the second hole, she took a step back and guarded the hole that led outside. The shade propelled itself out of the hole and sped up to the top of the stone tower. I hadnt realized just HOW tall it was until then. It reached far higher than the tallest trees in the region. The shade, which I could barely even make out at that distance, disappeared, quickly reappeared at Calypsos front, then hissed. you already know you can go no further. Attempts to escape will be of no use. I suggest uncaging the rest. And, indeed, the shade started shuffling up each wall detect the other hidden shades. I had heard the stories of tormented shades, and I was starting to wonder how calypso was able to command them with such grace. I had to ask. Are you sure that you should allow all these shades to be turned loose? Allowed to roam the physical plane causing mayhem? These shades, as you so liberally refer to them, are simply my pets. They do as theyre told. They are also useful to me because they possess a lot of energy. Basically I shear them like sheep, except instead of collecting wool, I collect their souls for the life force. As for your moral concern, these creatures know that any time they defy me they are properly punished. that doesnt sound like a proper response to me. These creatures have never deserved any sort of leniency. Just letting them dwell in this realm is more than enough. I was still hanging onto the thoughts of the shades when one of them sped into to me... Or so I expected. It stopped dead only a millimeter away from my face. you should wait outside the obelisk. We shall move into the next phase in a few moments, she said non-chalantly. She stepped aside and I scurried through the hole she created, feeling a little claustrophobic anyway. Thirty seconds passed. Thirty more slipped away. After another thirty seconds there was a loud click, crack, crumble, as the top of the tower popped off and crashed to the ground. 60 or 70 shades flooded out. It looked like a dark, sludgy substance infected the sky to spread across the land. Calypso slid out of the entrance. Success is imminent. Are you a little more trusting of my abilities now? Well honestly I still feel like thats a pretty large scale force for you to keep tabs on by yourself. Im perfectly capable. If you have anymore unworthy questions you might as well get them over with now. I could tell at this point she was irritated and maybe even a little offended at my underestimation of her power. And it WAS an underestimation, Ill tell you that right now. I came to terms with that misjudgment in the worst way. But Ill get to that. So what do you need to do now? I said, a little weary just from imagining the power she had to reserve for techniques like leading shades. come, Ill show you. I followed her to a relatively large hut. The size held about two people; two slim cots crossed adjacent corners on one side of the hut. It also had enough room for a stone hearth opposite the wall the cots hung from, and there was a spit with a pot drooping into what would be a fire. Between the cots and fire pit, a wicker table for dining sat, surprisingly stable. On the table there was a glass ball about the size of a fist, glowing, not with a white heat, but a dark purple haze. She drew in closer to the ball, and urged me to join her. In the middle of the haze inside the ball, a shades face was making a series of noises that Calypso seemed to be interpreting. My work is coming along well, she told me. Ive made the necessary adjustments to acquire what I desire. She explained that the shades were able to infiltrate a sailing ship and wreak havoc on their food supply. Some of it was stolen or tossed overboard, most was contaminated with disease, a few were infested with various bugs, and the occasional rat. The shades took the liberty of destroying some of the ships men, to make things a little easier. She sensed at one point that one of the shades was making its way towards Odysseus, the captain of the ship, and immediately that particular shade vanished into a puff of dark smoke. At the time I didnt know he was a war hero. She made me believe that this was a ship full of unworthy creatures, evil jinn, or genies I later learned. Although why evil genies were traveling aboard a ship confused me, I chose to believe Calypso, for she was a divine being. Excellent. Well done. The rest of you creatures make sure they go and feed off the sacred cattle. We need Helios to intercept their travels. I cannot seem to sway them towards this island with my song. On the ship, Odysseus was fervently rounding up his men, and gathering his wits amidst the chaos caused by the shades only 5 minutes before. set a course starboard. We have very little food and would not survive the trip home without gathering some more. Well be heading to the island of Helios. There is a large supply of oxen which we can use for food. And with that, they set sail for Thrinacia. After quite a long journey, they finally got to their destination. His men exited the ship, rounded up some cattle, and slaughtered them with a slice around their neck. They bagged the meat and returned to the ship. The process was fluid and quick with all the men at work at once, yet precise because these were highly labor experienced men. They shoved off of the island. Two days after leaving the island, a high-pitched song appeared to be coming from the direction of the sun. After a moment of hearing the song, a name was called out from the sky in a booming voice. Odysseus, of Ithaca! You have intruded on my holy land, and have stolen holy property with your filthy, mortal hands. Abruptly, the light of the sun went out; there were no stars, there was no moonlight, and frankly, as far as they were concerned, there was no sun. Instead of causing mass panic like I would expect from the sun disappearing, the lack of light caused complete silence from the crew. The sound of the ocean splashing against the ship was prevalent as it continued to sail through the darkness. The entire crew was completely at a loss as to what they should do, or what they even COULD do. The ship sailed on. What the crew didnt know is that Helios, another divine being (this time with the power of the sun, of course) had whisked the ship far away from his island and they were now unable to navigate their path. They were unable to figure out WHERE in the ocean they even were. Everything has gone perfectly so far, I heard Calypso say in pure darkness with a hint of excited impatience in her voice. A shade appeared. Grab hold of Odysseus and bring him to me directly after his ship has wrecked, she commanded it. It snarled as it vanished again. After a pause in the action, while we waited for the next portion of the plan to be executed, I had had enough time to meditate on the events that had been occurring over the course of the days. I had begun to slowly build a wall of distrust towards Calypso. The whole situation seemed to me a little fishy. I was finally able to collect my thoughts to speak out against Calypso, or to at least find out what exactly she had planned. Have you even contain-- I have full control over those shades, and I dont appreciate your lack of faith in my abilities. Its starting to impede my thinking. And? And Im not sure whether I want to toss you into the ocean to fend for yourself or simply keep you occupied so youll stop your foolish bickering.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:22:36 +0000
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