"Hm?" A woman looked up to see pepper sinking in the water. "Oh, a human! He's bleeding!" The woman said, with worry. The woman had a large fish-like tail that had beautiful white scales all over.
pepper caughed up water and quickly shot up.
"What?! Where am I?!" pepper said, quickly looking around.
"Good, you're finally awake. You're lucky a saw you when I did." The woman said, smiling.
"Oh, did I cause you trouble? I apologize." pepper said, trying to be polite.
"Oh, no. I enjoy helping anyone!" The woman said, with excitement.
"Oh, alright then. My name is pepper, may I have your name?" pepper asked, wondering who this woman is.
"My name is Meer, I'm a Mermaid, by the way." Meer said, telling more than pepper asked.
"Oh, a Mermaid, that's pretty cool." pepper said, seeming intrigued by the species.
"Are you alright though? It seems something hit your head..." Meer asked, hoping pepper's okay.
'My... head...? What is she talking about...?' pepper took a minute, going into deep throught.
'I appeared on an island... faught Madie... buried Madie... and then... Medusa...' pepper thought, finally remembering what's going on. "Oh, right. Yeah, I'll be okay. It was just a rock." pepper said, with a chuckle.
"A rock?! You could've gotten brain damage... or, or-" Meer said, getting cut off by pepper. "Or... I'm fine. I promise you that I'm fine, I appreciate that you care. Thank you for helping me, Meer." pepper said, reassuring Meer that he is okay.
pepper told Meer all about what happened from the time he woke up, all the way to the present.
"And here we are now..." pepper said, finishing his story.
"I see, you say... Zeus? The God of Lighting? The very same?" Meer asked, seemingly deep in thought.
"Yes, that's him. Why?" pepper said, not understanding her reasoning for making sure he means Zeus.
"Interesting..." Meer said, with a pause. "Do you know where you are, pepper?" Meer continued, giving pepper a question.
"No, I don't." pepper answered.
"This place is known as Atlantis. Atlantis and the Mortal realm will combine once the moon hits the Sea just right, this usually happens only once every thousand years." Meer said, explaining where pepper is.
"So I'm in Atlantis?" pepper asked, making sure he understood.
"Yes, you're in Atlantis." Meer answered.
"Alright... I don't really know where that is, but how do I leave?" pepper asked, trying to get to the point.
"Leave? Why would you want to leave?" Meer asked, moving her bright, ocean blue hair out of her face.
"I've got people that need me, I can't just relax somewhere while they might be in danger. My job is to protect them, if I'm here I can't do that very well." pepper said, getting up off the bed that Meer healed him on.
"You probably shouldn't be moving..." Meer said, trying to stop him from getting up.
"Eh... I'll be fine." pepper said, ignoring her worries.
"Well then... If you want to leave, you'll have to ask our King." Meer said, beginning to explain how pepper can leave.
"King? Okay, sure. Where is he?" pepper said, stretching his arms and legs.
"Um... He's in the Palace, you can't miss it, it's made of golden coral." Meer said, walking pepper to a door.
"Got it. What's this King's name, and how should I address him?" pepper asked. 'I want him to think I respect him or whatever so that I can do this without any trouble.' pepper thought, explaining his plan to himself.
"Oh, you really don't know? You can call him Lord Poseidon." Meer said, giving pepper the top half of his tuxedo.
'Poseidon?! Already?! I haven't gotten that far in the book. Shit. This is bad...' pepper thought, biting his lip.
"Oh my! You're bleeding, here let me help you." Meer said, dropping his tuxedo and rushing for something to help.
"No, don't worry I'm fine." pepper said, picking up the tuxedo and brushing it off, then proceeding to put it on.
"Alright then, just be careful out there, Humans aren't very liked here." Meer said, waving at pepper as he makes his way to the front door.
"Okay, I'll try to be careful. See ya!" pepper said, as he closed the door behind him.
'So this is Atlantis, huh?' pepper said, looking around. 'It's quite beautiful!' pepper said, as he kept looking around. 'Ah, there it is! The golden coral palace place.' pepper said, as he started to run towards the palace.
'What the?' pepper thought, as he slowed down his running. 'I thought I just heard a whistle...' pepper continued thinking, pausing for a moment. 'Maybe I'm loosing it...' pepper thought more, ignoring what he thought he heard, and continuing to run to the palace. 'Not too much farther, I hope Poseidon doesn't wanna kill me like Zeus does.' pepper thought, trying not to think of the power Poseidon might hold. pepper instantly stopped thinking everything he was thinking and stood still. '... I knew it...' pepper thought, pausing for a second. 'There's... a female pepper here, I can sense her in the palace. Is that bastard hurting her?!' pepper thought, becoming angry. 'Cool yourself, pepper. There's probably a good explanation, I'll simply ask him.' pepper thought, continuing again to run to the palace.
"Ugh... That run was a lot farther than I thought, that was like ten minutes!" pepper shouted, in frustration. 'Whatever, let's just go up these stairs.' pepper thought, as he started climbing the stairs to the palace.
"There's a boy here... Why?" A girl said, looking through a window in the palace at pepper.
'Someone's watching me...' pepper thought, as he made it to the top of the stairs.
"Halt!" A guard shouted, at pepper. pepper jumped back a little, in surprise, since he was lost in thought. "State your name and business." The guard demanded.
"Uh... I'm pepper, I'm here to see the Lord." pepper said, trying to be as friendly as possible.
"Hmm... And what business do you have with Lord Poseidon, he's quite busy." The guard said, growing suspicious.
"Um, well, you see, I'm not fr-" pepper said, getting interrupted by the door opening behind the guards.
"L-Lord Poseidon, Sir." Both guards said.
"Yes? What is it?" Poseidon said, as the doors opened.
"Is it already time for your walk?" A guard asked.
"Indeed, I only have so much free time, and this is among the things I enjoy. You know that I do this every week, why are you surprised?" Poseidon said, exiting The Golden Palace as the doors finished opening.
"You're right, Lord Poseidon, forgive us." A guard said, bowing his head.
"Who's this?" Poseidon said, looking at pepper suspiciously.
"Um, apparently his name is pepper, Sir. His business is unknown but he wished to see you." A guard said, explaining the situation to Poseidon.
"Fine, I'm here. What do you want, pepper?" Poseidon asked, looking intensely at pepper.
'So this is a God?' pepper thought, taking in Poseidon's presence. "I'd like to return home, I didn't intend to be here, and I have people that need me." pepper said, explaining his issue to Poseidon. Poseidon had a head of brown hair that went down to his neck, and a beard that wasn't too short but not too long either, his eyes were as blue as the ocean.
"Ah, I see, another Human trapped here in Atlantis. Alright, I'll take you home." Poseidon said, still looking at pepper intensely.
"Okay, thank you." pepper said, staring back at Poseidon.
"You're welcome into my palace for now, find my wife, Amphitrite, and she'll show you to the guest room, I believe she's somewhere on the second floor, but you're free to look around. If you're hungry request food from a servant and he'll bring it to you. Got it?" Poseidon said, hoping pepper understands.
"Yes, I think I understand." pepper said, not sounding extremely confident.
"Good enough, I guess. Now I'll be on my way, I'll take you home tomorrow." Poseidon said, walking down the palace stairs.
'Alright, guess I'll go inside.' pepper thought, walking through the doors.
'I know I felt something... Before I got to the palace, I could sense the presence of a female pepper... but now I can't... Why?' pepper thought, feeling puzzled.
pepper walked around for a few minutes and suddenly, he felt it again. 'There it is! It's extremely close!' pepper thought, looking around to try and figure out where it's coming from. 'This way!' pepper thought, again, as he ran up the stairs and dashed down a hallway, only to stop infront of a door. '...It's locked...' pepper thought, as he looked at the massive lock on the door. 'It's likely in this palace... but where?' pepper thought, pondering infront of the door.
"Hey." A woman said, to pepper.
"Agh." pepper muttered, and jumped back as he was surprised by the sudden voice.
"Did I scare you? My apologies." The woman said, to pepper.
"Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought." pepper said, shaking his head. "You must be Amphitrite, right?" pepper asked, assuming the woman is Poseidon's wife. This woman's hair was blonde, but some parts were as blue as the sky, or maybe a lake, and her eyes sparkled green.
"Yes, I am Amphitrite, Poseidon's wife." Amphitrite said, not seeming too thrilled by it.
"What's the deal with this door? Why is it locked?" pepper asked, hoping to get an answer.
"Oh... Someone of your kind shouldn't worry about that." Amphitrite chuckled.
"Hm... Fine." pepper said, knowing it's better to go along with whatever they say to insure he doesn't get kicked out. 'My kind? Does she know I'm a pepper?' pepper thought, being suspicious of Amphitrite. 'No... Maybe she means that since I'm not a God...' pepper continued thinking.
"You wouldn't believe the last Human who got lost, she was a gorgeous red head, oh, I forget her name, it was a hundred something years ago, so she's long dead now, but Poseidon decided to lock her away and proceed to... mate with this woman for months until I discovered it." Amphitrite said, going on about something pepper has little interest in.
'Locked away a person... Is there someone locked in that room?' pepper thought, as Amphitrite kept talking about how Poseidon can't keep his dick in his pants.
"Oh my, you must be tired. Here, allow me to show you to the guest room." Amphitrite said, grabbing pepper's hand and taking him to the guest room.
"Here we are, you may do as you wish in this room, and if you desire you can look around the palace, we know you Humans don't usually see anything like this in your short lifetime.
'She's calling me Human... which is correct, but I'm a Human pepper... Does she know?' pepper thought, having previously assumed all Gods hate the pepper species. "Thank you, ma'am." pepper said, trying to be as polite as possible.
"Oh, anything for a guest, it gets boring being immortal, so doing something different is always exciting!" Amphitrite said, obviously trying to seem excited. "But I'll leave you be. If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen where Poseidon prefers me." Amphitrite continued, before leaving.
'I'll wait a few minutes before I leave to find the key to that room, just to make sure she's gone.' pepper thought as he fell onto the extremely soft bed.
pepper peeked his head out of the door. 'Alright, coast is clear.' pepper thought, as he left the guest room. 'Hmm... Where to look?' peppee thought, standing in the hallway trying to fugure out how he'll find the key. 'Guess I'll check every room.' pepper thought, shrugging his shoulders. pepper walked over to the door next to the guest bedroom he was just in. '... Just another guest room... Maybe I should go to the bottom floor fisrt.' pepper said, making his way to the first floor. As pepper got near the staircase, he noticed a room on the opposite side of him. 'That room looks interesting... I'll start there.' pepper thought, as he made his way to that room.
'Maps?' pepper thought, as he looked around to see many maps. 'Hey, this is the map I saw in that book... Map of Earth?' pepper thought, looking at the map again. 'That isn't Earth, my planet is Earth, where is this?' pepper thought, growing a little frustrated.
"Who the hell are you?" A voice said, quickly. pepper jumped back and got ready to fight since this voice sounded hostile.
'What is it with these people and coming around when I'm thinking.' pepper thought, getting annoyed. "I'm pepper, a guest here, I was told I am free to go anywhere I like in this palace, so that's exactly what I did." pepper said, explaining why he's here.
"I see, my apologies then, friend. I am Triton, son of Poseidon. I welcome you into our home." Triton said, being kind. "Though... my father seems to have forgotten what Zeus said." Triton mumbled. "But no matter, my father's word is my father's word. See you around, then." Triton said, leaving the room.
"Hey, wait, Triton." pepper said, catching up to Triton.
"What is it?" Triton said, wondering why pepper stopped him.
"That room up there..." pepper said pointing to the room with the big lock on the door handle. "What's inside it?" pepper asked, trying to get an answer. Triton stayed silent. "Well, at least tell me why I can't know." pepper said, trying to get as much information out if Triton as he can.
"If I tell you, father will be unhappy. If I lie, mother will be disappointed. I can't please anyone with either option, so I choose to stay silent." Triton said, with a face of worry.
"I see... Then that's just how it is, I apologize if I've upset you, Triton." pepper said, realizing he won't get any information from him.
"But... I would prefer it if you did open that door..." Triton said, looking seriously at pepper. pepper stayed quiet in surprise. "Go down that hallway and to the left there's a room, you'll find the key." Triton said, before walking away.
'What the hell...?' pepper thought, not expecting to be told the location of the key.
'In here? No... Here! No...' pepper thought, looking through drawers in the room Triton told him to go to. 'Where is this key?' pepper thought, becoming frustrated. 'Maybe under here?' pepper thought as he lifted the rug to see a key bedazzled in sparkles and shaped like a trident. '...Really... The God of The Sea couldn't think of a better spot than under this rug...' pepper thought, disappointed in Poseidon. 'Whatever, I got the key.' pepper said, as he rushed back to the door.
'This better be the right key, or I'll lose it.' pepper thought, puttung the key against the lock. 'Why did Triton want me to get in here? I guess I'm about to find out.' pepper thought, as he pushed the key inside. Noticing it fit, pepper grew slightly nervous. 'Obviously, there's a female pepper behind this door, but why?' pepper thought, as he heard the door unlock. pepper twisted the knob and slowly pulled the door open.