Lukas waited outside the lair after completing his new labor of six blue stones, a rare mineral for merfolk. In fact, he waited for an hour and was getting impatient. Thankfully, Calliope was convinced he accomplished the labor, but still! \u201cCome on!\u201d he complained. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on down-!\u201d A portal then opened and Maria swam out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHello, Lukas!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA por\u2026?\u201d Lukas was puzzled. \u201cMaria, what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, just a little surprise for you,\u201d replied Maria. \u201cNow, I need to blindfold you and-.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNO!\u201d Lukas swam back. Maria blinked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Erm, Lukas?\u201d asked Maria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot again! I can\u2019t!\u201d Lukas was hyperventilating now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh shoot!\u201d muttered Maria. She then stuck her head into the portal and said something. Calliope swam out of the portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLukas?!\u201d she asked, her voice tinged with worry. \u201cLukas, are you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo sight means binding! Binding means whip! Whip for hours!\u201d he whimpered, curling into a ball. \u201cScars! Blood! Shark teasing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLukas, look at me!\u201d said Calliope as she gently placed her hands on his cheeks. \u201cLook into my eyes!\u201d Her eyes then swirled between black and white. \u201cLook into my eyes. Let my hypnosis relax you. There will be no blindfold. There will be no bondage. You will not be whipped until bled out. You will not be used as bait to tease sharks. You are safe with me. As you sleep, you will have pleasant dreams. When you wake, you will see that you are safe with me and my staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSssssafe\u2026yessssss.\u201d Lukas\u2019 eyes became heavy with sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lukas woke up to see that he was in his room in Calliope\u2019s lair. He looked around in disbelief, then looked himself over. \u201c\u2026She meant it!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLukas?\u201d asked Maria\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cY-Yes! Yes, I\u2026I\u2019m awake,\u201d he replied. Maria swam in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLukas, this might be a stupid question, but are you all right?\u201d Lukas sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2026I\u2019m sorry for freaking out like that,\u201d he said. \u201cI just\u2026every time I wanted to\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLukas, you don\u2019t need to explain,\u201d said Madame Calliope as she glided into the room and sat next to the bed. \u201cAll I worry about is that you\u2019re okay. You can tell us in your own good time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Was\u2026was there some sort of surprise for me?\u201d asked Lukas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Well, I think we can still give today a happier time,\u201d said Calliope. \u201cJust come to the commons level when you\u2019re ready, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cO-Okay, Mistress,\u201d replied Lukas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRest up, Lukas, my lovely,\u201d soothed Calliope as she and Maria left the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he recovered, Lukas headed to the commons level, located just above the bottom of the lair where Calliope keeps her cauldron. When he approached, there were streamers, balloons, and a party table. \u201cWhat in\u2026?\u201d he asked himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHappy birthday, Lukas!\u201d cheered everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cY-You remembered?!\u201d stammered Lukas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEveryone living here deserves to have their birthday acknowledged,\u201d replied Calliope. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a perfect time for making beautiful memories, hm?\u201d Lukas hugged his mistress with everyone cheering for him. The party was a happy one with Lukas feeling safer than ever, even after the faux pas from earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lukas waited outside the lair after completing his new labor of six blue stones, a rare mineral for merfolk. In fact, he waited for an hour and was getting impatient. Thankfully, Calliope was convinced he accomplished the labor, but still! \u201cCome on!\u201d he complained. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on down-!\u201d A portal then opened and Maria swam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1022,1023],"tags":[1035,1027,936,1034],"class_list":["post-7238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-calliopes-lair","category-the-labors-of-calliope","tag-birthday","tag-labor","tag-story","tag-trauma-and-healing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7239,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions\/7239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}