Bliss

Chapter 5

Bliss had decided, early on, that she would celebrate her sixteenth birthday on Atlantis with her Uncle Nikolas, Cousin Jason, and perhaps her mother and father if they chose to join her. She had, since hitting the full flower of adolescence, become somewhat bored of her father's palace and all the godly pleasures available to her there.

She instead craved the visceral, immediate joys of being in the human world. There was just something so vibrant about earthly flavors and sensations. After, all, when her parents had created her, Bliss's mother had been a human and humanness remained a part of Bliss's essence. Their food, their music, their games...all held great fascination to her.

So, her Uncle Nikolas was planning a great carnival to celebrate her birthday. There would be acrobats and dancers, athletic events, musical performances and all kinds of food. At Bliss's request, all the humans her age from the palace and the nearby village regardless of rank would be invited to partake in the festivities.

It was going to be a delightful party. Bliss only wished she could invite the Naiad Arethusa, who had recently become her first lover, to the party.

She lay in the sprite's arms, caressing the curves of her body and kissing her on the neck. They lay in the soft grass next to the stream that Arethusa had made her home since before the first human ever set foot on Atlantis. The place from which she had once seen and decided to punish two spoiled princesses, a decision which in a roundabout way had led to Bliss's own existence. Bliss had, in fact, seduced Arethusa in part by using this fact. Using playful logic, Bliss had argued that they somehow owed pleasure to each other for this fact.

"We could find some way to hide your wings," whispered Bliss. "You'd be the talk of the celebration.

Arethusa laughed, the sound of which itself was like a song, and smiled down at the younger immortal. "You are certainly not fully human, my dear. If you were, you won't want me stealing a bit of attention from you at your own party."

Bliss sat up on her elbow. "You've got that right. Uncle Nikolas has told me to at least pretend like I want to be the center of attention a the party or else people might think me mad! Or worse, suspect the truth. That's I'm not fully human."

Arethusa grinned, and she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Bliss's lips, and then a playful one on her nose. "He's not wrong. In all my centuries of watching humans, I've never seen a teenage girl who didn't want to be the center of attention at her own party. Even your mother did, although it wasn't for the reason everyone gave her attention. She wanted praise for her mind, not her beauty!"

Bliss blushed. It was so strange to think that the voluptuous and youthful Naiad, who didn't appear any more than a decade older than Bliss, knew her mother as a teenage human. "Another reason to come to the party! I'm sure she'd love to see you and meet you properly. She's come so far since those days, or so everyone tells me."

"Perhaps one day I will speak to her, but not at the party. I like to keep my distance from humans. I'll watch them from afar, but I have no need of their company."

Bliss pouted, noting the slight hint of judgment in Arethusa's voice.

"I'm still connected to them," whispered Bliss. "It annoys father to no end, but I think it secretly makes my mother proud."

Arethusa suddenly sat up and looked around. She had the highly developed senses of a Naiad, while Bliss was wearing the amulet that essentially made her mortal. It made sensations, including sensual ones, more acute, but also lessened her hearing and vision.

"Is someone coming?" asked Bliss.

Arethusa nodded and she leaned over and grabbed Bliss's dress and tossed it to her. Bliss quickly pulled it over her head, and Arethusa tied it in the back. "It's your cousin, Jason, and believe me he will not understand what has passed between us. You know how silly human men can be about women and pleasure."

Bliss nodded. "Not so in Mesopotamia, or so Hermes tells me. But yes, there's too much Greek influence here in Atlantis. Poor Jason would be utterly scandalized by our affection, even if it has nothing to do with him.

Arethusa dropped a kiss on Bliss's shoulder. "You're a pleasure goddess, if a young one, and it's only natural you explore that. But, no, he won't understand. Don't tell him."

Bliss turned around to kiss her goodbye on the lips, only to see Arethusa fly away and disappear beneath the water. "Next time, I'll take the amulet off and we'll both have wings," said Bliss.

Arethusa poked her head from the water, "I look forward to it, my beauty," she replied, before disappearing again.

Just then, Bliss heard footsteps and turned to see her cousin Jason emerge from the nearby footpath. He waved when he saw that she had seen him, and she thought she saw the hint of a smile.

Jason was tall, taller than Bliss by several inches, with a mop of dark curls and handsome, Macedonian features. He wore a fine Atlantean tunic, woven with the symbols of both Atlantis and Macedon, and he had a bow slung over his shoulder since that was his preferred method of hunting. He also had one hand behind his back.

"Hello, Cousin," said Bliss.

"Hello, Cousin," he replied with a smile and a wink. "Did you go for a swim alone? You know that's dangerous. You should always have someone here because there are currents."

Bliss blinked. Immortal that she was, that was not an issue, but she could hardly tell him that. Nor could she explain that a certain water sprite wouldn't let anything happen to her, anyway.

"Next time, I'll make sure you are here to protect me, Cousin," she said demurely. Humans liked that kind of sentiment, after all.

Jason smiled at this, and he held out his hand, the one that had been behind his back and with which he was holding a bouquet of violets. "For you, Bliss, the violet will bright out the green in your eyes. I know you'll get far more extravagant presents at your party, but they reminded me of you."

Bliss looked at the delicate flowers that Jason had brought her, and she felt her cheeks get warm. The affection he had for her was so delightfully and sweetly human. She took the flowers. "I can tell you now, that these are the best gift I will get."

He looked at her skeptically, but she wasn't merely flatteringly him. The beauty and simplicity of flowers meant far more than jewelry or other finery. It meant something.

"You'll be my escort at the party, won't you?" she blurted.

He smiled. "There's going to be a dozen princes who would like to be your escort, probably more."

"But they aren't you, Jason," she said. "You've always been my friend, and I trust you."

He sighed. "Friend, yes, I am that."