As Val clung to the sea serpent alongside Tavras, she really could not believe that she had not been able to identify him. This, she found herself expressing before she could stop herself. “I feel so dumb for not recognizing you.”

“No, don't worry about it. I think that you might be concussed right now. No shame if the noggin isn’t working quite right at the moment.” Tavras tapped his head, too silly for such a serious issue.

That sounded just wonderful. Similar to how she had never broken a bone before, Val had never experienced a concussion either. She found herself checking off too many boxes for first-time injuries, too quickly. If it was any solace to her, maybe the concussion could explain why she had been utterly incompetent with Mind Blast before.

“Whoa, there!” Tavras said. “I don’t even know you, but I can tell that you’re spiraling into worry. Relax. You would heal up just fine in time, all on your own. I even have some minor healing abilities, so I will fix you up in no time! If you keep it up though, you might just end up with some wrinkles on your face even with your divine blood. Those, I wouldn’t be able to fix.”

Val just stared at him. As a demigoddess, she would age until about twenty-five, then she would stay in her prime for eternity, never having so much as a wrinkle or gray hair. The joke was not even that funny.

Tavras laughed as if it were the funniest thing in the world, though. With an arm, he hauled Foofy up to the sea serpent’s head. “That’s a big dog that you’ve got there. My arm was getting tired just by holding him.”

Again, Val had no idea what to say. The only thing that she knew for a fact: there was no way that a god's arm would get tired from holding a dog, not even a big Dobie like Foofy.

Her lack of response did not stop Tavras from keeping up the conversation. “You may know me, but I don’t know you, random demigoddess. Would you mind telling me your name?”

“My name is Valentine." She gave him her full name in an attempt to be formal. Was Val supposed to bow or curtsy or some such? Given the way that she clung onto the sea serpent, a grand introduction was not possible, so she carried on. "I go by Val, if you would prefer to call me that."

“Well, Val, we don’t have that far to go now. Just hang in there.”

Did she look that beat up? To avert the attention from herself and her silence, she asked, “Where are we going exactly?”

“Right there!” Tavras pointed out over the sea serpent’s head.

Dotting the ocean, a tiny island appeared in sight. The land mass grew larger as they drew closer. Eventually, Val could no longer see water on either side of the sandy shores. Once the water grew shallow, the sea serpent stopped swimming with them.

“We need to swim by ourselves from here.” Tavras dove into the shallow water first.

His long hair shimmered as he swam along the sandbar. By the kicks of his legs and the strokes of his arms, Val noted the musculature of his body, lean but impressive nonetheless. Actually, Tavras happened to have the most alluring body that she had ever seen for any man. A beautiful presence must come naturally for a god of his status.

When he lifted himself to the surface, he waved back to Val.

If Val claimed not to know how to swim, would Tavras help her? It would not be too far of a stretch, considering how she had almost drowned just before. The fact that she even considered trying to pull hijinks on the god of water just to get a little physical contact with him was pathetic.

Val did not want to make herself out to be helpless around him, so Val slipped off of the sea serpent by herself. “Come on, Foofy.”

He took a majestic leap into the water, all paws extended. Foofy was eager enough to escape from the sea serpent that he jumped into the ocean without hesitation.

With a wave back to it, Val said, "Thank you…."

The slanted, yellow eyes blinked once before the sea serpent dove back underneath the water and disappeared out to sea.

“I guess,” Val added with a mutter. The sea serpent did not deserve much of a thanks, in reality.

She swam while Foofy doggy paddled until they could wade through the island’s surf together.

Ahead, Tavras waited for them on the beach. Looking to the side as he did this, his strong jaw appeared distinctly defined. With one hand, his fingers ran through his hair and over top of his head. The long strands of his hair ruffled along his skull and rearranged themselves throughout his long mane. If a man could be gorgeous, Val certainly thought that Tavras was the very definition of the word.

She had never stared at a man like this before. It had to be the effect of a god on her. She was a demigoddess who was closer to a mortal girl than she was to her immortal heritage, so of course she would idolize the first god that she met.

Ogling at him like this felt like a trespass. While it was obvious that he was in her company, Val still felt like an outside observer who spied on Tavras's privacy, here on this secluded island.

“This island is a special place.” Tavras threw back his head and opened his arms wide, facing out to the jungle and the mountain beyond. “Welcome to my Paradise.”

Droplets of water expanded outward from his body from every which way, pulling from his hair and leather clothes into small spheres of water. These drifted back to the ocean and merged with the gentle waves.

Val watched with wide eyes, astonished by how flawless Tavras looked with those shiny spheres of water all floating around him.

“Let me dry you off too,” he said.

Likewise, the water pulled away from Val’s body, first rising from her skin. So too, the tug of the floating water made her wet clothes pull up from her skin. Once the fabric fell back against her body, her clothes had dried. “Wow,” Val said, truly at a loss of any other words.

While Val had struggled and failed to use her powers in a life-or-death situation, Tavras could use abilities for casual conveniences like drying off. It was impressive.

For a dog though, they had their own way of drying off. Foofy gave a shake of his whole body, ready to splatter her yet again.

“Foofy!” She tried to shield herself with her arms, yet the water never came.

The droplets hung suspended in the air. Val was practically able to see her reflection within them. The remainder of the water from Foofy’s coat floated from his fur.

All of this water swirled around them like a miniature whirlpool of a thousand water droplets, all sparkling in the sun. Val found herself revolving in a slow circle, trying to take in everything at once. All of this water, too, returned to the ocean.

“That was beautiful,” Val said, spinning back to Tavras.

His back turned to her as he walked along the beach. “Yes. Water is beautiful. I find it much more stunning when it is untouched by me, in its natural form like the ocean, or a river, or the rainfalls.” Tavras gazed out to the sea with a content smile on his face.

That had been the most serious thing that he had said since Val had met him. She could feel herself smiling broadly at Tavras’s appreciation of water, simple and pure.

“Come. Follow me. We need to heal your head and your shoulder."

Obediently, Val followed Tavras along the beach. Seeing these demonstrations of his power could not have thrilled her more. Maybe she was a little too excited to see the way in which he would heal her.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Tavras Title: The Sea Itself Rank: God, Fifth Seat Attributes: Water Abilities Name Class Description Bend Water combat, practical - move water at will Unknown n/a - probably has a lot more abilities