Tethys

Camellia almost panicked when she awoke underwater. The feeling of the cool liquid around her had her convinced she had been drowning. It took her a moment to remember that underwater was normal in this world. Well, this definitely isn’t a dream, she thought, settling back into the covers.

The softness of the bed struck Camellia as unusual. After all, shouldn’t cloth be waterlogged, heavy, unwieldy? But no, the blankets around her, while not necessarily dry, were as light and comfortable as she would normally expect.

Curiosity overtook her. What was the bed itself made of? How could it be so pillowy soft? She lifted a sheet and took a peek.

A giant sponge! Of course! It’s not alive, thank god, but that explains the softness.

She remembered a good friend of hers from her university program who had been in love with sponges. Camellia never studied them much, more focused on fish and the like, but she had fond memories of Amanda aggressively extolling the many, many virtues of sea sponges over a cafeteria lunch.

With that reminiscing came crashing back the pain of her old life. She would never see Amanda again. She would never—

No. I can’t do this again. I can’t start my day like this. Forget it. Later. Yeah, later. I’ll process it later. I want to learn more about this place.

Successfully shutting down her grief, Camellia hopped out of the giant-sponge bed. Suddenly, she remembered she was in someone else’s home. Where was Damos? She had no clue where his room even was. Trepidation in her heart, she carefully stepped outside.

Camellia, why are you sneaking around like that? They let you into their home, you know. It’s not like you aren’t supposed to be here.

The second she stepped into the hall, she heard voices downstairs. Damos! She headed down.

A lazy-looking woman rested her chin over the counter of the shop, talking with Damos.

“Damos, I would really appreciate any and all speed you all can muster for this. The trials are in a month, after all. I need them.” Her face, inert and serious, gazed up at Damos.

“I know, Lynn. I told Mom, she’s working on them. I could pester her again, if you’d like?” He grinned.

Lynn sighed. “No. Please don’t do that. I’m just… worried. I don’t have any replacements. I’d love to use the best of the best for this year’s trials.”

Damos gallantly stuck a thumb at himself. “And you know you’ve come to the best of the best of the best of the best of the—”

“I get it, Damos.”

Camellia watched the two banter back and forth — rather, she watched as Damos tried again and again to make the woman laugh, to no avail.

Her host turned around from behind the counter to grab something, catching Camellia hovering on the stairs to the side of the shop. He brightened immediately, calling out, “Oh, Camellia! Morning!”

She felt as though she’d been caught. She hadn’t been eavesdropping, since she had been technically visible the entire time, but guilt overtook her nonetheless.

Lynn raised an eyebrow, but remained slumped over the counter. “Who are you?”

Camellia’s heart rate jumped. “C- Camellia! Sorry. Hi.” She gave a timid wave. “I was staying with Damos. Ack, no! N- Not like I was sleeping with him or anything. Like, staying over. In the guest room. We met yesterday.”

The corner of Lynn’s mouth crept up into a smile, ever so slight.

Damos jumped in. “Yeah! I just found her out in the Crags, totally naked. Or, uh, mostly naked.”

Lynn’s smile disappeared as she rolled her eyes. “Only the most important details, huh, Damos?” She looked over at Camellia. “Sorry about him. He’s as dense as rocks. Means well, though. You’ll get used to it.”

“Hey!” Damos protested.

“So what were you doing out in the Crags? Out on a valiant mission of goodwill like Damos here?” Lynn asked.

Camellia stepped down from the stairs, approaching the counter. “No, actually. I, ah… How to explain?” I can’t just well say I came from another world, now can I? she wondered, stopping in front of the pair.

Luckily, Damos jumped in to help. “She lost her memories. She’s got amnesia. We have no idea why she was in such a dangerous place by herself like that.”

Seemingly intrigued, Lynn pushed herself off the counter, standing straight.

Camellia’s eyes were immediately drawn downwards.

Whoa whoa whoa. Holy hot damn. Holy shit. Those are… huge. Wow.

Camellia! You mustn’t make comments on people’s bodies like that, even if it’s only in your thoughts!

She’s totally… Wow. That’s hot.

Where on earth is this coming from, Camellia? Goodness.

Let’s ignore Camellia’s rude thoughts for now, Obbie. She must not have slept well.

Though… It was somewhat true. Lynn was quite well-endowed. I would be jealous, too. But that’s not really very important, though. Why don’t we listen to what she has to say instead of ogling her body? Isn’t that right, Camellia?

Lynn slowly studied Camellia with a novel gleam in her eyes. “Amnesia, huh? How in Tethys’ good name, I wonder. You don’t remember anything?”
Camellia had to force herself to maintain eye contact. Her heart rate jumped again. “Uh, yeah. Nothing. All I knew was my name.” A bare-faced lie, though she didn’t see many other paths available to her.

Damos chimed in, “I was gonna take her to the grounds today. She told Dad she wanted to be a contender, too!”

Please, Damos. You have to know that was a lie.

Lynn rested her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s potentially one way to get your memories back, I suppose. Do you have an aspect?”

Confused, Camellia asked, “An aspect? I’m not sure I do.”

After thinking for a moment, Lynn cocked her head. “Well, I suppose it’s not necessary to become a contender, but it sure does help.”

“I was also gonna take her to the statue on the way and explain some stuff. Get her back her bearings. Thought it might help.” He was like a puppy, honestly, with that hopeful look of his.

Lynn nodded. “Sure. Let’s do it.”

“Awesome! Let me get changed into my gear.” Having received Lynn’s approval, Damos happily dodged into the shell-curtain doorway for a moment before re-emerging with the same outfit as yesterday, bracers and all, as if he had literally ripped off his white sleeping tunic to reveal his warrior outfit underneath.

Lynn grabbed a cloth bag off the counter and motioned for Camellia to follow her. “Let’s hit it.”

God, she’s so cool.

Camellia’s two new friends led her through the streets of the Bed once more. After a short walk, they arrived at a humble shrine of some sort, tucked away in a blackstone alley behind a restaurant. It was carved into the ground itself against one of the city’s many cliffs, surrounded by bright corals and anemones — a blindingly vibrant dot in the darkness of the alley, a beacon for all life nearby to congregate. Small fish zipped around the shrine, and little tufts of some kind of sea plant crept out of the cracks in the stone around it.

The same beautiful woman depicted in the massive plaza statue from yesterday was enshrined here, too. Though this time, she knelt on the ground, wielding no shield. Her face maintained the calm, protective expression, the one that made Camellia feel safe just by meeting her gaze.

Lynn set her bag on the ground next to her as she sat cross-legged in front of the miniature statue. Damos joined her. For a moment, they both remained totally silent. Praying, I guess?

Finally, Lynn spoke. “Alright. Tethys, Camellia. Camellia, Tethys.”

Camellia stood dumbfounded. Was she supposed to do something?

She gave an awkward wave to the statue. “Uh, hi, Tethys. I’m Camellia. Nice to meet you, I guess?”

The statue didn’t respond.

“Perfect, now that you’re introduced, I can tell you about her,” Damos exclaimed as he hopped up from his seat.

Lynn slowly joined him on her feet. “Please do.”

Damos opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stood, slack-jawed, with a puzzled expression on his face. “Uh, Lynn… Where do I start?”

“Of course.” Lynn rolled her eyes again. She turned to Camellia. “Let me. You need an explanation of literally everything, right?”

Camellia nodded shyly. Embarrassed, are we?

Lynn gently smiled. “Nah, I get it. Amnesia, right? I’ll go from the basics.

“Tethys is known by humanity as one of two great protectors. Her dominion is the ocean itself. The other is the protector of civilization on land.”

“What’s the city up there like?” Camellia wondered aloud.

Damos burst out laughing, interrupting her.

“What? What did I say?”

“My apologies.” Lynn shot a glare his way. “He’s laughing because, well, what you said was rather absurd.”

Camellia was confused. “Why’s that?”