For the Love of Triton

1. Triton

Sophie wished she brought a sweater, or five.

The wind refused to die down despite her wishes as she continued to pace herself towards the bleakness that awaited her. The turquoise two-piece bikini she wore failed to shelter her from the cold.  She began to regret her decision to be the brave one out of her company tour group.

Armed with a gas torch given to her by the guide, she was the only one who had enough ovaries in her tour group to enter the cave. The second the tour guide told the team the tale about how haunted the cave was, they tensed up and chickened out. 

Sophie volunteered without hesitation. It couldn't be that creepy. She survived all of the haunted houses her best friend dragged her into (although, with her eyes closed), and she didn't believe in the supernatural crap the tour guide spoon-fed them. 

She wanted that raise badly. She prayed the Vice President of Finance, who happened to be in the same cave tour group as she would take notice. And, hopefully, give her the promotion to Senior Associate as opposed to Brad.

Brad had been the bane of her existence ever since she was hired for the job. It was nothing new being the only female in male-dominated space. She was in investment banking after all.  It's more that Brad is an outward misogynistic dick from his horrid sexist comments to his toddler tantrums if he doesn't get his way.

Twenty minutes in, she wished she stayed back just like the rest of her co-workers. It didn't help that the wind blew the map straight out of her hands ten minutes ago. Now, she couldn't tell if she was going in circles or not. 

Everything appeared to be the same. Slimy rocks covered in puke-green moss painted the walls of the cave. But, she couldn't turn back now. She needed to convince the VP that she loved diving into the unknown and was not creeped out by the cave. Except neither was true.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound of water droplets startled her. Water must mean that she had to be close. The guide did say that the rarest pearl in all of history was located where there was a light dripping of water. Sophie quickened her pace. At this point, she didn't care for the damn pearl. She prayed to God that she would find a warm fleece blanket at the end of the trail.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The rhythmic splash of water dripping grew louder as Sophie continued to follow the sound. She came to a halt as a slab of onyx colored marble greeted her in between two pillars. The stone towered over her. She tilted her head way back to read the inscription etched into stone. Sophie was familiar with the language, it was Greek. Unfortunately, her being Greek doesn't guarantee that she knows how to read Greek. Her eyes followed the letters down to the cavern floors and her mouth hung agape. Below the inscription was a man chained to both ends of the marble. 

"What the f—?" Sophie caught herself as she moved closer to the being. He was battered and unconscious. He was naked and only a piece of sullied cloth covered his private parts. His hair was soiled and dirtied by what seemed to be time. The remains of what used to be a flesh wound ran diagonally from his left pectoral down to his chiseled abdomen. His broad shoulders along with his well-built arms were stretched out and cuffed to each end of the boulder. His legs were chained to the floor in the same fashion.  The man had a strong jawline and the most painful expression she had ever seen.

"Are you okay?" Sophie placed her hand on the man's shoulder and gave him a good shake.

No response.

Oh lord. 

Oh lordy lord.

This was a dead man's cave. God knows how long this man had been here. It hadn't been long since he has been dead. She took a couple of Biology classes when she was in college. She knew that it took about a month for muscles to start decomposing. And, this man was visible proof that it clearly has not been a month yet.

She needed to get him out of here. What if he was just unconscious? Who would leave a man in chains in the middle of a cave?

Sophie placed her torch on the chains with hopes of melting the metal. As her luck would have it, the chains didn't even crack the slightest. She was going to die here as well if she didn't get them both out of there. The guide warned her that she only had an hour to get out before high tides hit. This cave was only open when the tides were low. In a half an hour, if she didn't get the both of them out of here - they would be underwater.

Read the inscription, Sophia.

"Who said that?" Her voice echoed in the darkness. Great. Now she's going insane. Hearing voices in one's head was the first sign of schizophrenia. She would know, her grandmother was diagnosed with schizo, after being convinced that she had godly powers.

She took a step closer to the boulder he was chained to. She knelt down until she was leveled to the embossed letters right above the man's head. It was clearly not in English. "Greek?!" Sophie cried out, not caring about the profanity that was yet to come. Normally, she would be classified as a non-swearer and formed coherent sentences with her words.

Υπόσχομαι να προστατεύσει σου, να λάβει σου ως πολυαγαπημένη μου. Με τον όρκο του Δία, διατάζω να αυξηθεί. Γιος του Ποσειδώνα, Τρίτωνα.

The small voice spoke to her again.

And again.

Sophie, taking the hint started to recite the inscription as best as she could. She hadn't spoken the language since her grandfather read her bedtime stories as a child. She knew if Plato was alive and could hear her now, he would have socked her in the face for butchering her family's native language. The second she finished the sentence a golden light as bright as the sun traced the embossed letters. Sophie's eyes widened in disbelief, this whole fiasco had to be a dream.

Kiss him, Sophia.

"You're hilarious," her voice was deadpanned. 

If you want to save him, you must kiss him.

"There has to be another way!" Sophie cried out, hysterical. The warm gold light started to bathe the man in its warmth.

High tides are coming. Ten minutes.

Sophie took a deep breath before she pressed her quivering lips on his. The stranger's mouth was cold, dead.  Suddenly, she felt warmth envelop her. His lips were not frozen anymore, instead, they were soft and his kiss was gentle. Slowly opening her eyes, she found a pair of bright turquoise eyes with specks of gold staring back at her. She was still in a state of shock until she looked down at the man's torso. The gold light was transforming his legs into a fin.

Then she lost it.