Chapter Text
"Onward!"
A rain of battle cries rang across the ruined hall, echoing off the pearly white columns and sending the golden roof trembling. The swords clashed against one another, the shields shuddered at contact, the skin teared at sight.
In the eye of the storm stood a proud man, tall in stature and arrogant in gait. He held himself up against the enemies, slicing each one of them where they stood, leaving nothing but ash in his wake. Many stories and legends would be written about his liquid sword that twisted about to his will, even turning into a long bow when he so wished.
The God of The Ocean was what the mortals had dubbed him, and perhaps he was the most powerful of the Gods. Not because of his powers, but because of his lust for a good fight, his unsatiable hunger for the blood of his enemies. He was rivaled only by the God of War himself in this aspect.
No one could even get close to touching him - he stayed without a scratch even when ten, no, twenty people went after him. There was no weapon to stop him, and he was going to make sure they'd forever lament the choice of attacking the Gods' palace.
But it wasn't a weapon to stop him. It was a carefully thrown spell that hit him right in the side of the head, where a flower of his blood exploded into a semblance of a crimson mask. The God stumbled in his place, and the earth itself seemed to tremble under the weight of his unsteady feet.
"Tartaglia - !"
But the God could hear no more, as cold, unmovable grey climbed up his skin and enveloped him until he was nothing more than a stone shadow never to breathe a breath of fresh air again.
-
"- the end!" Amber said, clapping her hands together.
Lumine stared up at the imposing statue, pulling down her scarf a bit. “End...”
The statue was of a tall man with his right hand raised slightly, a delicate-looking sword in it. His left one was stretched to his side, palm upwards as if inviting people to take it. He seemed to have been fighting someone, just as the legend said, but his expression was different. In the story, the God had noticed the spell right before it had hit him, but here it seemed as if he'd been hit in the back by a someone who was too afraid to face him head-on. He still had a wide grin on his face, forever frozen in time.
Well, Lumine huffed a breathy laugh, it was only a legend anyway.
She glanced towards the shiny, golden plaque on the podium the statue was on. The God of The Ocean: Tartaglia.
“Lumine, can you take a picture of us?” Amber asked excitedly, giving Lumine her phone and posing in front of the statue with her girlfriend and soulmate, Noelle.
She smiled as she took pictures of them, Amber grinning widely in all of them and Noelle having a sweet smile on her lips at all times. This was what she dreamed of having. This was what she wished her and her soulmate would be like.
Even their first meeting seemed like something out of a story! Noelle, a teacher for kindergarten had been carrying a huge box filled with files on top of files, when freshly-got-the-job Amber rounded the corner and slammed right into her, sending the both of them tumbling to the floor.
And, just like a scene out of a romance novel, the two reached for the papers at the same time, and the perfect dark circle on their wrist turned into a light shade of pale cyclamen. The rest was history.
Lumine broke out of her reverie once she noticed people were waiting in line. Because, in a world where you recognized your soulmate by touch, everyone wanted to try and accept the offer seemingly put forward by the statue of the God. Even if it was nothing more than a fun time – considering statues are, well, statues – most people wanted to try and touch the so-perfectly-placed hand of the frozen God.
She hurried to gesture towards Amber and Noelle they had to leave, but Amber batted away her worries with her hand. “Let's all take a picture together and then we'll leave!”
As Lumine came to stand near them, Amber grinned mischievously and pointed towards the statue. “Try and hold his hand,” she enthusiastically said, pushing Lumine to climb onto the podium and stand near the tall statue. She had to crane her neck to look at the man's face.
She hesitated a bit, watching as the people around all good-naturedly clapped and cheered for her, before she gently placed her hand on the frozen, stone one. She hesitatingly smiled at the camera.
A beat of silence passed, nothing to be heard except the click as Amber took a photo.
As expected, nothing happened, and Lumine climbed off the podium to playful laughs of 'You'll get him next time!'. She smiled. She was glad at least here there seemed to be some sort of bubble inside which everyone got along and made jokes, even if they didn't know one another.
“Aww, I was sure if anyone were to be a God's soulmate it'd have been you.” Amber pouted exaggeratedly, earning her a fond sigh from Noelle.
“Sure, Amber.” Lumine rolled her eyes playfully, as they made their way around the evening streets of the city.
~~~~~~
Lumine laughed quietly, gazing down at the sight of Amber and Noelle sleeping peacefully on her couch, looking as at ease as possible. She turned off the lights, before making for her bedroom.
She sighed as she entered her dark room, only a faint trickle of moonlight pouring in through the blinds. Sometimes she couldn't help but feel envious of them. But, she gazed down at the blue circle on her wrist, she didn't necessarily need a soulma -
Wait a second, her eyes widened.
She brought her wrist closer to her face, her heart pounding loudly in her empty room.
Blue...?!
There was no time to ponder more, as the door from her bathroom slammed open, and a tall man stood in the frame of it, his body and face shadowed by the lights inside. Before Lumine could scream, the man had already – faster than lightning – placed a hand over her mouth, snuffing out her shout.
Oh no, oh please no -
A beat of silence paused, and the man slowly raised a finger, as if signalling something, before turning on her bedside lamp. Lumine instinctively winced and closed her eyes for a second, before opening them back up.
The man had an intense gaze, his blue eyes seeming almost too blue, as if he were a cartoon character. A sharp nose and pale, porcelain-like face. Wild, red hair sticking out in every direction yet still somehow managing to look somewhat presentable, if not even appealing.
Lumine furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and shock, the lower part of her face still covered by the man's wide hand. He seemed horribly familiar, and the sight of a stranger holding her down was bothering her less than it should've. It was as if her body knew when to recognize danger, and this was not one of those situations.
It was when her eyes fell on the crimson, sharp mask on the side of his head that she realized where she'd seen him before.
But it wasn't a weapon to stop him. It was a carefully thrown spell that hit him right in the side of the head, where a flower of his blood exploded into a semblance of a crimson mask.-
This man – was the statue!
Her fingers darted up to clutch the wrist of the hand held over her mouth. What the hell? Was she dreaming - ?
Suddenly, an even more terrible thought dawned on her. Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes dropped to his own right wrist. Her heart lurched in her throat at the sight.
There, was a circle blue in the same exact shade as Lumine's own.
The man had seemed to noticed she'd somewhat calmed down, so he took his hand away a bit, still hovering it above her face as if he was unsure whether to trust her or not. She hadn't seen him blink or look away from her once since this whole ordeal had started.
“W-who are you?” she whispered, even if deep down inside she knew the answer. But it just wasn't possible!
A wide grin that showed all of the man's teeth overcame his lips then, making her falter. He jumped back – as fast as lightning again – before standing in the middle of her room with his legs wide and open and his hands on his hips. He pointed a finger dramatically in her direction.
“Tartaglia, God of The Five Oceans and Seven Seas! Alas, it seems you are the one granted the blessing of being my soulmate!”
Lumine blinked at nothing, faintly feeling a vein start to pound in her temple.
“Eh - ?!”