White sands and photography....

Nicolaus Reed, slightly downcast, walked over to where Nicki stood with Lil. He knelt down slowly and carefully to pet the large tiger. It was weird petting a large cat of the wild but he stayed there and waited for Nicki to speak.

Nicki looks at him through the big cat's fur, a mischievous look on her face.
"Don't look so forlorn," The girl teased him.
She leaned over and kissed Nic.
"Doesn't mean I can't kiss you," She said before standing, "Now where do you want to go?"
Nicki asked him, her hands on her hips.

Oh really? Nic spoke with a joking tone in his voice as he watched Nicki carefully. Finally he stood and grinned at Nicki. I don't know, anywhere that won't end with me breaking my ankle after keeping a deranged sibling from killing you.

Nicki nodded and grinned, starting down the path again, thinking.
"Yow do you feel about scuba diving?" She asked while Lil trailed behind. Before long they had reached her cove and Nicki stood on the edge, her back to the drop off. She looked at Nic.

Nic smiled slyly and then in a smooth movement he ditched his armor and weapons while shoving Nicki into the water. Almost immediately after, Nic dove in and popped up a few seconds later spluttering from the chilled water. Water seems to be our domain now so scuba diving should be fun.

Nicki popped back up, grinning. Water streaming down the back of her neck and over her face.
Nicki swam over and slid her arms up around his neck, planting a kiss on his lip, tangling her fingers in his hair as she forced the transformation upon him.
"You're going to want your sword," Nicki said, then she dove, vanishing into a hole in the rock and then returning with a dagger strapped to her tail and her sword across her back. "The sharks were we are going can get pretty nasty."

Nic laughed softly and then reached into his shirt and pulled out a long bladed dagger and a hunting knife. He always carried them in case of situations where he had to have weapons at the ready. Also under there was a weapon meant for mortals who decided to get nasty as well but that wasn't supposed to kill. I'm good. Anyhow, if they attack me then they won't be able to hurt me too badly right now. Nic dove down under water and enjoyed how he could breathe just fine. He decided then and there that he'd ask Nicki to let him keep the curse.

Nicki grinned, "Come on then."
She dove under the water and headed towards the open ocean. The way merfolk swam was in a kind of smooth roll that seemed to remind people of a ripple. The open ocean was a grey color that made it so Nicki could see for miles and miles. Her long brown hair seemed to ripple and move with a mind of its own. Then at one point Nicki dove deeper and she whistled and the noise carried on for miles. Then she waited, her tail rotating in tiny circles and her arms moving back and forth as if she was treading water.

Nic dove down under the water and followed Nicki closely before he stopped behind her and smiled. So why do I need my weapons? I mean there isn't much here to hurt us is there? Nic circled around Nicki with his hair billowed up slightly like all hair does when underwater.

"We do have water demons and such," Nicki said arching an eyebrow. Then she heard echoing movement. Two sleek grey blue dolfins came surging towards them, Nicki held out her hand and they both came to a stop in front of her, nuzzling her fingers.

Makes sense...but really? Don't they bow to Triton or something? Nic wasn't real up to par with water mythology and he didn't see how creatures who lived in the water could be allowed to hurt a water god's daughter.

"Poseidon rules the seas, not Triton. Wherever we are there are creatures that object to the idea of a ruler. There are monsters wherever you go." Nicki said, latching onto one of the dolphins. The dolphin began to swim away as the other one waited for Nic to get the memo. The dolphins made their progression much faster.

Nic wrapped one arm around the dolphin and then felt them start to speed up. He soon saw Nicki as they caught up and he laughed. Do you go everywhere with an animal?

"Nope, I am just too lazy to swim," Nicki shrugged, running her fingers over the smooth skin of the Dolphin. It was smooth hard muscle and Nicki glanced over at Nick and she giggled at the sight of his hair. It was flying everywhere like some possessed creature.

Nic smiled and then shook his head to make the hair fly about even more wild-like. Well I guess if you only travel with animals because you are lazy then I could have carried you. I mean that is something I enjoy doing after all. Where are we going anyhow? He looked around at the watery surroundings.

"Now if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise," Nicki said, stifling laughter. Then she saw it, it was an abandoned city underwater. She let go of her dolphin and she sank to the level of the underwater city. It was surrounded by coral and fish. Non dangerous fish. The city was built entirely of stone.
"What do you think?" she asked Nic.

Nic was midway through saying something when the walls of the underwater city rose up before them and he literally forgot what he was going to say as he let go of the dolphin and swam closer to the beautiful stone buildings. He could just make out all of the corrosion on the walls but what really got Nic's attention was the fine writing carved in the stone that was Ancient Greek, even more ancient than most Greek writing from back then. It was the writing of the times right before true heroes were ever sang about and therefore none really had it memorized but Nic was able to read it and he scanned the words to see that it was a story of history. The words told of times when the titans still ruled the universe and all the heavens and earth bowed before their might but there were heroes, or champions at that era, even then who fought for freedom and humanity. Nic read further and came across one particular hero that he had only heard whispers of and he actually started crying. It was his brother from across time, as a child of Styx, and he had taken out rogues who had fought on behalf of Cronus before Zeus and the gods had overthrown the titans. Nic swam up a ways and saw the statue in the center and recognized Coronne, son of Styx and long time hero in Nic's eyes. He turned back to Nicki and gaped for a couple seconds before rushing over and hugging her. This is an awesome city but why did we come here?

Nicki was clearly surprised by Nic's reaction and she made a small noise when he hugged her, nearly causing her to do somersaults.
"Eep, what did I do?" She squeaked, clearly confused. Her brown hair flew around her face wildly while she disentangled herself from Nic's grip.

Of course, Nic thought as he pulled away from Nicki. She didn't know why this city was so important to him and hell he hadn't even known it had existed until now but still he smiled and kissed her warmly and held the kiss for as long as Nicki would allow it. His eyes closed and he wrapped his arms around the mermaid and allowed all of the questions to be answered as best they could by his kiss.

Nicki made a small noise as Nic grabbed her and and made to kiss her again. Nicki ended the kiss quickly and pressed her lips into a thin line, putting a finger to his lips halting him.
"Hold it fish boy, Kissing quota, remember?" She flashed a smile before darting out of his grasp and began swimming towards the city. Nicki's long hair streamed out behind her.

Nic frowned deeply and then looked around them to see if he could find something of interest besides the city. Just outside the city was a small ledge where there was a large pearl sitting out in the open which kind of surprised Nic because normally they were inside an oyster. Still, he could use it so he darted down and snatched the pearl up before swimming to the city where he swam over to the statue and waited for the girl who he loved.

Well what if I don't agree with that kissing quota? What if I want to kiss you all the time and Zeus damn me now if that is bad? Nic smiled and then tossed the pearl to Nicki.

Nicki caught the pearl flawlessly and studied it before dropping it in the sand.
"That means you value me for my kissing talent and not as a person." Nicki's eyebrows raised, Nic had just said something very stupid and it was going to come back to bite him in the fishy backside. Her eyes darkened at that thought and she moved to swim deeper into the city. The city itself was built amazingly and each bit of stone was hand carved. Several statues had odd glass like plinths, Nicki had discovered they were diamonds a few years back.

The water around the merman seemed to grow colder and he felt his mistake sink in almost immediately after he'd said the words but there was no lie in them. He did hate the kissing quota and he did want to kiss Nicki a lot so it was only fair he said that. Finally Nic swam after Nicki slowly and thought to himself about what he would say. When they made it to the statues he looked at the mermaid in front of him and sighed. You misunderstood me...badly. I don't agree with the kissing quota because I love you not because I only want to be near you just to kiss you. And the kiss earlier in front of this city, well it wasn't one of me testing how much you would let me kiss you but because this city is the home to a very famous son of Styx back when the titans still ruled. That statue back there was a statue of him actually and it just was difficult to explain that at that time. Nic tried to take the girl's hands in his and hoped she would understand.

Nicki's fingers avoided his, "No it's not difficult to explain. There is this thing that comes out of your mouth, called words. Learn to use them. "
Her eyes were a shade of dark blue as she glared at Nic, no trace of warmth left in them. Then she whistled and a single dolphin came into sight. The mammal came to stop in front of Nic and the meaning was clear, she wanted him to leave. Nicki swam back towards the heart of the town. She was angry but Nicki's anger would blow over... eventually.

Nic watched and was hurt inside when Nicki moved her hand away from his only to reprimand him in such a way. He blinked a couple times in frustration and then looked over at the dolphin in a sad manner before brushing by the mammal and swimming off away from the city without the guide. He wasn't about to let some dolphin take him back when he needed to be alone anyhow.

What had been a cool and calming water was now a menacing force that seemed to weight down on him and make it to where he couldn't breathe even though he was still a merman. Nic brushed at his eyes and the skin of his hand came away with salty tears that shouldn't have been there. How did Nicki honestly believe he was only there to kiss her? It didn't matter anymore anyhow.

As Nic was nearing the surface he caught sight of something glinting on the rocky shelf about fifty feet below him and Nic's curiousity got the best of him. The son of Styx swam down quickly and came across a small device that looked like it had once been Stygian Iron and had a skull pin on it. Then Nic realized what the device was that rested in his palm. The small device was a grenade that some camper had thrown into the water awhile back and now rested here. Nic held onto the grenade and swam to the surface before breaking into the air and swimming back to land where he dried off and walked to a solitary area to just think while examining the grenade.