Tag: kiss

Lukas stirred awake. He was feeling a little calmer about being Calliope’s servant, the frequent bubble baths with her were helping him. Now, he needed to know his third labor. He stretched and slowly swam out of bed. He then had his breakfast and poked his head out to reveal Calliope’s eel merman scout, the muscular Sly, outside his door. “Oh! Good morning, Sly,” greeted Lukas. “Has…Has Mistress Calliope decided on my third labor today?”

“She sure has,” replied Sly. “She’s in her bedroom, waiting for you.”

“Very well.” Lukas knew where her bedroom was and swam to it. He knocked on the cave wall outside the curtain that served as the bedroom door.

“Come in!” sang Calliope’s voice. Lukas pulled back the curtain and swam in to see Calliope getting ready. “Ah! Lukas! There you are!”

“Good morning, Mistress,” said Lukas.

“I’m sure you guessed why you’re here,” said Calliope as her lips changed color to look like she was wearing lipstick.

“My third labor, yes,” replied Lukas.

“Well, it’s a bit of a breach of manners,” admitted Calliope as she put on her massive sea wool sleeves. “You see, to really make your wish come true…I will need to know your FULL Zodiac sign.”

“M-My full sign, Mistress?” stammered Lukas.

“Yes. You see, this kind of spell requires a person to be at their zenith in order to work. Perhaps, if it will make it easier, I can tell you my sign.”

“Y-You don’t need to-!”

“Oh, but it’s only fair.”

“…V-Very well.”

“I thought so. My full sign is Black, Immortal, Water, Sea, Blue, Bat, Lotus, Deal, Octopus. All within the 3^rd Zodiac Era, you understand.” Lukas thought for a bit, then steeled himself.

“Very well. My full sign is White, Immortal, Earth, Sand, Blue, Mouse, Marigold, Crystal, Dragon. Same era as you.”

“Excellent!” cheered Calliope. “We’ll have the labors done in reverse Zodiac Sign order, hm? For now, you’ve gotten farther than most others that attempted this deal.”

“…Y-You mean…they didn’t tell you their full signs?” asked Lukas.

“No, and I couldn’t tailor the remaining nine to them. So sad. They had to be planted.”

“…I…I see.”

“I think I know what I want from you!” said Calliope, pinning her sea lotus hair adornment into her hair. “Next month, I will need 10 scales, each from a different sea dragon, and scales that were shed are more than acceptable. I’d rather not have you eaten by a sea dragon that hasn’t shed. The month after that, I’ll need nine different crystals from the Crystal Cave near here. After that, eight sea marigolds, then seven sea mice the next month, then six blue stones, then five phials of sand from different kingdoms, then four phials of earth from four different parts of our world, then three drops of blood from three different immortals, then the last month will be two white pearls.”

“…That first one seems rather tame, even by the standards of sea dragons,” remarked Lukas.

“Like I said, I don’t want anyone to die on these things, or come to any harm. What do you say? Sound fair?” Calliope’s tentacles were coiling around Lukas’ tail. Lukas smiled.

“Very, Mistress.”

“Then our pact is fully sealed…with this.” Calliope then pecked him on the cheek.