When the sea serpent swam, it did not duck its head in and out of the water and make its body follow in arches as one would think. Actually, its body took up a side-to-side motion like a water snake. This made sense, given how it needed to keep its head above water for Val’s sake.

She clung here, unmoving beneath the harsh sun. The only thoughts occupying her head were ones of her pet dog Foofy: gone.

“Well, it looks like you have found my pet,” a masculine voice said. Right next to her, a humanoid figure breached from the water.

With a yelp, Val wrapped herself against the fin that extended from the sea serpent’s head.

Long hair whipped back in a wide arch, creating a circle of water along with it. Every elegant strand of hair shimmered with an unnatural presence. The droplets of water in his hair and throughout the air all shone in the sunlight.

For a split second, the beautiful hair made Val expect to see a woman with a deep voice—definitely a water nymph—but the face that turned to her had the square features of a human man. He was a man with the most magical, enviable hair in existence, and he had just appeared out of the ocean.

What had he said? Already, Val was too distracted to remember his words. He had said something about a pet, but she was pretty sure that he had talked about his pet, not hers.

“Your pet?” Val stammered.

The man ran his fingers through his hair and licked his lips, all things that she could not help but pay too much attention to. He casually joined her on the sea serpent, grabbing hold of the fin on the other side of its head. “Yep! You have found my pet, and I have found yours.” The man had a big dog tucked under one arm like a purse. He lifted Foofy higher up from the water with the gesture.

“Foofy!” Her fear of the sea serpent evaporated as she reached across its slimy scales to give Foofy a pat on the head. “You are such a good boy. You’re safe now,” Val whispered to him. Her eyes welled up with tears so that she then had to restrain herself from crying with relief.

Maybe Val was a tad more emotional than she liked to let on. Today had simply been the most heart-rending experience in her life. Once again, she would have to be crazy not to feel overwhelmed with joy, now that Foofy had come back to her alive and well.

Foofy’s ears laid back while his soaking body trembled from some combination of fear and cold. Not much could be done to alleviate either of those things for the both of them.

Val focused on the man who claimed the sea serpent as his pet. “Y-You saved him. I could never thank you enough! And your, er, pet saved me.”

Now she had to wonder more than ever if this was a different sea serpent or the very same one that had gotten them into this mess. Perhaps she should feel less astonished by this man's kindness and more outraged by his oversight. After all, an owner should be responsible for their pet, no matter how big and destructive.

“Who are you?” Val stared into the strange man’s eyes, unsure if they were colored a deep blue, a light blue, a misty gray, or even a mixture of green therein.

Whenever she thought to have determined his eye color, it seemed to shift and make her question if the salt water had done any damage to her own eyes. Likewise, his hair had the same fluid effect. Originally, it had been a light brown when he had surfaced, but it also seemed to move with shades of blue and green as well. The shifting colors of his hair even lightened to a white, before turning back to brownish. This man had the quality of an artist’s palette, filled with the colors in which to paint an appearance of ocean waters.

Hopefully she had not been staring at him too much to make him uncomfortable.

The man shifted in place and pointed to his face. “Uh, power leakage. Sorry, I know it’s a little disorientating.”

The most powerful individuals with divine blood all developed power leakage at some time or another, resulting in these changing and glowing appearances. Usually, Val thought that power leakage only happened when one of the extremely powerful gods and goddesses exerted themselves at the peak of their potential. Apparently, this man had a permanent power leakage from the vessel of his body.

Since she just stared at him, the man tried talking to her again. “Do you not know who I am?” he asked with a jolly laugh.

Val had her gaze locked onto him, unable to respond. If she had ever seen this man before in her life, she would have remembered. His distinctive appearance would have ensured that.

To prod her along, he said, “You even prayed to me not even two minutes ago.”

“Tavras!" she shouted his name, exasperated. "You are the god of water, the Sea Itself!”

“Precisely.” When Tavras smiled at her, his smile gleamed like pearls. He looked like a god of water which explained the watery aspect of his hair and eyes, always shifting like the flow of waves.

“You really answered my prayer.”

“More like I was not going to let your dog die from the start. I just took my sweet time in swimming over here. It was for Foofy's sake, you know.”

Val could imagine that. However fast the god of water might be able to swim, Foofy would not enjoy it. As it turned out, she was truly starting to appreciate the Sea Itself.

In a high-pitched voice, Tavras mocked himself. “Hello. My name is Tavras, the god of water. You know, I kind of just drowned your dog, but I promise that we are friends here!” His voice returned to normal as he finished up for himself, “Yeah. That would make for a terrible introduction.”

Val did not feel the need to say anything. Tavras kind of made a whole conversation and a half for himself. Besides, what was she supposed to say to a real-life god? As laid-back as his personality may seem, Tavras made for one of the most powerful gods in the entire world. He was seated fifth on the Pantheon, to be precise. Beyond that, he was one of the oldest gods, literally thousands of years old.

How had she not been able to recognize the most-renowned god of water? She had only seen a thousand depictions of the notable gods and goddesses before, but something about seeing Tavras in the flesh was entirely different.

She could not believe her luck that the Sea Itself had actually responded to her prayers. Dizzy thoughts spun through her mind as she tried to imagine what would happen next. If her luck held up, maybe Tavras would do more than just send her back to land.

Gods were supposed to take some interest in meek demigods from time to time and invest in their development. Admittedly, the gods might only do that for their own children, though. Val was not certain how these things worked, but she hoped that Tavras would grace her with his favor despite not having any kind of familial relation.

At any rate, Val assumed that she was not related to Tavras in any way. She did not know the identity of her immortal father, but it could not be Tavras. They looked nothing like each other.

Val had a remarkably pale complexion, while Tavras had brown skin. Whereas his features looked more square and flat, her face appeared more round in places and more pointed in others, namely her nose. Though she could not discern his natural hair and eye colors, Val would guess a dark brown on both counts. She had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. If somehow Val happened to be Tavras's daughter, she would have expected to inherit at least a tiny semblance of his traits.

It was also worth noting that Val supposedly took after her mysterious father, whereas Ross took after their mother.

Besides, Val had already felt attraction to Tavras upon first sight. That would just be the creepiest thing in the Nether if he turned out to be her father. She wanted to be able to keep feeling this way towards Tavras while also staying in his company.

Was that so much for a young demigoddess to ask?

Character Update

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Tavras

Title: The Sea Itself Rank: God, Fifth Seat Attributes: Water Abilities Name Class Description

Unknown

n/a

- extremely powerful

- probably has a lot of water-based abilities