The day I first saw him was like any other. I was on the Olympian beach watching the sun gods travel down to the mortal realm as they always do. Apollo waved to his mother as he flew off to bring daylight to the humans. I didn't really like Apollo on the account of him being so full of himself, but his family wasn't like him. Leto would see him off once in a blue moon and then she'd disappear for long periods of time before she'd do it again.
"You know that watching someone without them knowing is called stalking, right?" I peered over my shoulder in surprise only to see a short nymph. To add to my surprise it was a boy. I'd never in all my years seen a male nymph. I was so stunned that I couldn't think of anything to say. It didn't seem to matter to the nymph. He sat down in the sand right beside me. "It's rude to stare. I know i'm weird looking, but you don't have to rub it in, ya' know?" his words startled me and my sight fell to the ground. It was embarrassing for some reason, even though it has happened before.
"I'm not meaning to be rude, at all. I actually don't think you look weird at all. You look really beautiful...a-at least that's what I think." I couldn't have said something less embarrassing, could I? After saying something like that to a boy how am I supposed to look at him.
"Thank you." I whipped my head to the side to see him. He was blushing so hard that even the tips of his pointed ears were red. I couldn't help but once again begin to stare. This time I took a chance to analyze his features. His eyes were a deep crystal blue, his hair a bright white and freckled skin as white as snow. I leaned forward to get a better look at him, but he noticed and turned my way. He smiled revealing his pearly whites and dimples. I could feel the heat rise in my face. I had never seen such beauty as his. He was more beautiful than Aphrodite, though I would never risk saying such a thing out loud. She is a very vengeful goddess. He gave a small sigh under his breath before rising to his feet and striding off into the water. I came to my feet and followed behind him. We stood at the shore line and let the water wash over our feet. In this moment of calm, I began to think of all of the facts that were so clearly before my eyes. The true facts of this boy. His white hair, the color of his eyes and the fact that he's a nymph.
"You're from the underworld, aren't you? You skin shows the lack of sunlight due to the fact that the sun gods are forbidden to enter that realm." he flinch at my question before shooting me the narrow of looks. My remark did not please him.
"You're a bit too ubsurvent, little god. You better be glad that you're immortal because you know entirely too much for me to have let you live. You better not tell anyone about me. No one is to know of my existence." the intent to kill was clear to see in the eyes of this boy.
"If no one must know...then why did you approach me earlier? Even if you didn't, wouldn't someone know by now if you're just walking about?" he gave a smug smile, but his eyes screamed pain. He turned around and began to make his way back to our previous sitting area, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him. I followed behind him, sitting only when he did. He turned away from me, focusing his gaze on the waves.
"I pretend to be a girl. I work an assistant for the king of the underworld. His last one ran away out of fear. She would rather death than to stand at the side of something much worse. I wasn't scared of him, so I took the job. Im living life as a city nymph, while I lie to all of my friends about who and what I am. I have no family...so I have no one who cares about me. Not enough to try and understand how I feel." tears ran down his freckled cheeks and I felt an unbearable clenching in my chest. I understood what he was feeling, even if our situations were very different.
"I don't really have to try to understand. I do understand. My family deserted me and left me in the trash because I didn't "come out the way they wanted". I resented them for it and I guess I still do. I lied to people about how great my life is because the expect it to actually be great. They want me to be the perfect god, but I'm way younger than everyone else. I'm not...like everyone else." I looked over to my side to see his eyes streaming with tears. I hadn't meant for my story to make him feel worse. Before I could open my mouth to say sorry, I heard a voice behind us. We both turned around to see who it was. I didn't recognize the person, but he did. He jumped to his feet and headed for the water. As it has been for the most part, I jumped up and followed behind him.
"Don't follow me. Run the other direction! You have nothing to do with this so leave!" I shook me head in disagreement and quickened my pace to catch up with him. I took a quick peek over my shoulder only to see the figure racing after us. The boy reached the water and quickly ran in, so I did the same. I grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him toward me.
"If I have to leave, please tell me your name. I'll find you!" he peered over my shoulder before pulling me in close.
"My name is Mateo. Promise me you'll find me." even though we'd just met tonight, it hurt to let him go.
"I, Micah god of winter, promise to find you. No swim!" he gave me one final smile before pushing off of me and plunging into the depths of the Olympian sea. Just then a hand curled its fingers over my shoulder and squeezed tight.
"You just cost me this job, kid. Now you have to pay in blood." suddenly a head rushing pain burst at the back of my head and just like that, everything was dark.