Ocean Prince

==Ocean Prince==
Elena had cried herself to sleep every night for the past month. Her husband and best friend from high school had been in the Air Force. He enlisted to earn money for college. Sadly, that was a dream that would never come to pass. He had been a cook (under the job title: services.) Unfortunately, the services department got deployed almost as much as pilots and security forces. Her husband had been aboard a transport plane that got shot down somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. It didn’t matter where. All Elena knew was that he was gone and she was stuck living alone in their house on Hickam Air Force base in Honolulu.
With her dark hair and caramel skin, Elena looked every bit like a tourist on the hunt for a good time. It would be easy to drink her problems away. But she had no interest in the beach scene. So instead Elena brought a supply of trash bags, combing up and down the beach collecting trash. No one would really question it since she didn’t look homeless, nor did she sell the trash/recyclables. She simply moved everything to the nearest dumpsters.
One day Elena stayed out longer than usual. It was a warm night and she had no interest in returning to her empty home. As a spouse, she was expected to vacate the military housing as soon as possible. She knew they would not kick her out but they did remove any and all rented furniture, including the television, sofa and dining room table. What remained looked more like a tomb than a home.
So she walked along the tide pools exploring down the shore until she found what appeared to be an injured shark flailing in the shallow water. Elena was of average height and reasonably fit from her walks in the beach. But the creature looked to be at least ten feet long, weighing possibly hundreds of pounds. Looking at her arms, Elena couldn't remember the last time she even set foot in a gym.
And then there was the teeth; a normal person would have called 911 and gotten the hell out of there. But for Elena, this was just another creature in need of help. With all her strength she pushed the creature back into the water. She massaged the sides of the animal until it began to find its rhythm, swimming on its own.
“Say hi to my husband,” Elena muttered as she turned to leave. She still wore her wedding ring. That was the first time she thought about taking it off and hurling it into the ocean. There had been no funeral; no corpse, no closure. The love of her life, he now belonged to the ocean. Elena took off the plain gold band, it had been all he could afford at the time, but he had it inscribed with a single word, "Trust." She had no idea what that even meant. Why not 'faith' or 'hope'? Who or what was she supposed to 'trust'?
“I remember your husband,” the voice echoed on the wind. “He was a beautiful, kind, soul: one of many who have died in my arms.”
Elena turned around, half expecting to see a talking shark. But what stood before her was a woman made of water. “Who are you?”
“I am an ocean goddess. As a gift for your kindness, I wish to send you one of my sons.”
“Your son?” Elena had always wanted children but during their short marriage, it had never come to pass.
“I have many children. One of my youngest, he is a painter, a dreamer. I have faith that he will be a good provider and a good friend.” With that, the woman vanished.
There was no child or creature of any kind. Elena chuckled as she knelt down to touch the now calm water. "Oh well, a girl can dream."
Exhausted, Elena made the long walk home and went straight to sleep.
The next morning she went to the beach as she usually did. But she saw something strange. Someone appeared to be sleeping on a fluffy flotation device just off the shore. “Hello?”
The half-naked man sat up. He had tan skin the color of coffee ice-cream and wore his long dark brown hair in braids. He had a tattoo of a starfish on his wrist, overall he could have been mistaken for a typical tourist perhaps even a college student.
and as he sat up Elena swore she could see wings made of pastel-colored light.
She watched as the stranger dove off the seafoam raft and swam to shore.
“So this is Hawaii?” he said in a soft gentle voice. Some might have called him a stoner or a flower child. But to Elena he sounded like a surfer; a child of the ocean.
Elena watched with awe as the raft disappeared into the waves. “Yeah, um, welcome to Honolulu.”
The man smiled. “You must be Elena.” His doe eyes gazed upon her with an air of seduction mixed with a sweetness and innocence she had only even known from one other person.
“Yeah,” she replied, entranced by his beauty.
He stood about 6'2", with the slender muscular body of a swimmer. His jeans hung loose, weighed down with ocean water, allowing her a view of his chiseled abs and hips. “You can call me Isaiah.”
The words sent shivers down Elena’s spine. “T-That was my husband’s name.”
The man shrugged. "It's always been my name."
"What are you?"
"A friend." Isaiah walked closer and took her hand. He looked at it, examining every finger as if he had never seen a human hand before. "I want to get to know you and your world."
Elena's breath quickened. His touch felt like nothing she had ever experienced, it was pure energy, pure bliss. "Cool, I guess."
Isaiah smiled again, this time pausing for a moment to lick his lips. "You humans have such amazing mouths." He moved in close.
Elena could feel the warmth of his breath. "What?"
He traced a finger along her bottom lip, pausing in the center. "Such beautiful lips, and stunning smiles." Isaiah hovered his lips just inches away from Elena's.
At that moment she would have been just fine with a deep passionate kiss from this total stranger. But instead, he simply kissed her cheek. "So where are we headed? Where is home?"
Chapter 2:
Two weeks later Elena laid in bed stroking Isaiah's hand. They were now living out of a hotel.
"Tell me about your husband, was he a pilot? I've met a few pilots in my time."
"No," Elena replied. 
Isaiah had been getting sick. At first, Elena assumed it was his diet. Whenever he didn't adhere to a strictly vegan diet he became violently ill. But when he became so weak he was bedridden she realized there was something very wrong. 
They had been living on Elena's dead husband’s military pension. But that would not last very long, or stretch very far, in Hawaii. So Isaiah had the brilliant idea to use Elena's husband's identifications to get a job at a department store.
Elena was certain that his plan would backfire, but nope- he aced the interview AND background check. He held the job, for all of three days. 
Elena found work as a maid, working odd hours. She was on-call with an agency, cleaning homes, offices any place that contracted out their cleaning staff. She stayed away from the beach but the beach called to her, literally. 
Elena would hear voices in the pipes, the sink, even the toilet. She chalked up the instances to plumbing problems. After all, she had grown up with a fish tank as a child so she knew that water and plumbing tended to make noises that sounded like speech. 
"Water, water in the pipes," she said, mimicking the 'mirror-mirror on the wall speech from snow white.' "Who's the fairest of them all? No, wait that didn't even rhyme." She tapped her fingers along an exposed pipe as she wiped down the sink of an office breakroom. 
"You stole him," the words were clear as day. And voice sounded soft, child-like. It had to be the water. 
Elena chuckled and knocked on the pipe as if knocking on a door. "You have anything to say to me?" 
"You stole him... Give him back."
That was the last time Elena went to work. 
With her phone turned off she laid in bed by his side. “How do I help you?” Elena asked as she stroked his face. Isaiah was burning with fever. 
“You... must journey to my homeland.”
“The ocean?” Yes, that had to be the key. The ocean sent him to her, the ocean would hold the key to saving him. “Come with me.”
“I couldn’t even if I tried.” Isaiah rolled over in bed to face the light of the window. He started to cough but the sound quickly evolved into vomiting. He threw his head over the side of the bed. From his mouth poured an obscene amount of water. It was as if he had been drowning.
Elena put her arms around him. She didn’t want to leave only to return to his corpse. But if she stayed she would be forced to watch him die. Her mind drifted to the voice in the pipes. Had she received stolen property, is that what he was? He was so eager to learn about the human world, it was sweet like a gender swap litter mermaid. But was he actually someone's pet or perhaps even a slave of some kind? "Will you be OK on your own?"
“ I’ll stay in the room as long as I can, but If I’m not here, I will leave you clues on where find me.”
“Ok,” Elena replied in a meek voice. It was all she could do not to cry.
It was around midnight, the moon high in the sky, but people were still out partying on the beach. 
Elena wore a long t-shirt over a plain black bra and underwear (which could easily pass for a swimsuit.) She locked eyes with a few young men partying around a bonfire. They raised their beers, as id offering her one. But she shook her head, and dove into the waves. Elena didn’t know what she was looking for, all she knew was she had to find it.
In the darkness. She took a breath and started to swim out to the place where she had seen the ocean goddess, but she felt something: fish, lots and lots of fish. Since the beach was pretty well lit for the nighttime crowd and (and to prevent the rampant homeless population from taking residence)Elena had brought a single pen-sized flashlight. She had bought the overpriced souvenir just before starting her walk. It seemed like a wise idea at the time but now she wasn't sure if she wanted to see just what was below her. 
Standing in waist deep water, she stroked the surrounding ocean with the flashlight, shining the beam just a few inched below the surface. The crystal clear water sparkled with colorful fish. Sailfin tangs, lined surgeonfish, all seemed to circle around her. The way their metallic skin sparkled was mesmerizing. 
Elena blinked her eyes and gripped her flashlight hard. They were making deliberate patterns. She knew if she wanted to get out of the water this was her chance; she could easily fight off a school of aquarium fish. "That's pretty cute," she said out loud. "Do you also do birthday parties?"
She felt a sharp pain in her leg. Elena had been stung by a jellyfish before, the pain was not intolerable, just annoying. A wave crashed down upon her, pulling her under before she had a chance to take a breath. 
She quickly surfaced for air. The water was now neck deep, and among the glittery fish were dozens of box jellyfish. Elena's only solace was that she was still wearing her t-shirt; without access to her chest and vital organs, there was only so much they could do. Death by drowning was also not a pleasant thought, but in the moment it felt like a preferable option. Especially when she felt a massive searing pain, like being hit in the thigh with a branding iron. 
Another wave hit. By the time she surfaced her feet were no longer touching the floor and she had lost her flashlight. But by the light of the moon, she saw them; an entire heard of Portuguese man-of-War forming a circle around her. With each sting, she was pulled underwater. She instinctively tried to come up for air, her body desperate to survive. But as the pain of the stings compounded, she knew what she needed to do. "I trust you, Isaiah." She took off her wedding ring and released her last breath. 
 
As she closed her eyes, she could see a school of white trevally swimming in a figure eight above her. Their silver bodies looked like links of chain, securing her fate.
Her body trembled, as she sank lower into the darkness. She closed her eyes, when she opened them she was surrounded by giant stone-like walls. The walls were moving, circling her. As they closed in on her she reached her hand out to touch one. It blinked. 'Sunfish, of course,' she thought to herself. She had only ever seen pictures of the massive creatures. But now, for whatever reason, they had gathered. (or been summoned) to pull her to a watery grave.
"Don't even try to escape," said the same voice from the pipes. Distorted like an old radio signal, but strangely innocent. The sound seemed to be coming from all around her, as if the entity was able to communicate through the waves. 
In her current state, Elena was unable to scream or communicate in any way, so she decided to at least have her last thoughts be of something kind. 'I'm sorry.'
"I know you are...." Suddenly Elena's ring floated down in a bubble of air. "And I know I won't be able to find my brother without your help."
==Ocean Prince 2: Love, Sex and Truth==
Elena hit the floor with a thump. She had fallen into some kind of underwater cave. Her legs were still in horrific pain from the jellyfish attack, so she could only crawl. But at least she appeared to be in a place with breathable air. "Hello?"
“Hello,” the voice echoed from further down the cave. The sound was no longer distorted. Elena could clearly hear the voice of a human child.
“Did you just speak English?” Elena asked, as she forced herself to crawl in the direction of the sound, her wet hair dripping salt water into her eyes.
“I speak all languages. And I have been looking for you, ELENA RIOS!” The walls shook from the force of creature's roar. “I am Kaylinani and you have kidnapped my brother!”
“Isaiah?” Elena asked as she turned a corner, she could see a shadow on the wall. the creature walked on four legs, with a back covered in spikes.
“He’s my brother, you don’t even know his real form!”
"I-I'm so sorry. He was sent to me," the words choked in her throat. "I lost someone too. I know what to feels like to have the person you care about ripped from you. I swear, I will take you to him."
"I know all about you," the creature's eyes glowed a neon green. As a giant turtle emerged from the shadows. "I was there when my mother told him about you. She said you were sad because you lost your soldier husband," the creature paused, her tone was a cross between anger and sadness. "But you had a good heart. He would be your friend and you would show him the human world. He jumped at the chance. I mean of course he would, my brother is too young and naive to know the true horrors of your world."
“How old is he?” Elena asked.
The creature came forward from the shadows. It was a giant turtle made of stone. But the creature had no mouth; its creepy child-like voice appeared to be telepathic. “In your human years, I guess he would be,” the turtle closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. “25.”
“He is a baby,” Elena said with a chuckle.
The creature's eyes shot open and she shot Elena a death glared. “How old are you?”
“In human years I'm 23,” Elena replied honestly.
"With your skin, and those bags under your eyes?- I'd say more like 33. I can’t believe my mother would hand over little Isa to an old witch."
"How old are you?" Elena asked, suddenly feeling brave.
"I am older then you can imagine. When I was Isa's age I witnessed the horrific atrocities of your kind. People thrown into the water with weights and shackles, some in pieces. What you do to your kind is sick! And what you do to your animals is even worse." The cave shook as the creature started to walk towards Elena."Where is my brother? What have you done with him?” She stepped closer and closer until she was face to face, staring down Elena, showing off her massive size. Each of her legs stood like pillars, with feet like waiting to crush Elena with a single step.
The searing pain in shook Elena back to reality. She needed to find a way to save Isaiah and perhaps this turtle could provide some assistance. “He’s very sick. And I don’t know how to help him. Can I take you to him?” Her real question was 'how?' since the creature appeared to be one with the cave.
"First I need to know I can trust you. Tell me something about my brother that will prove you are a friend."
Elena thought for a moment. "He asked if my husband was a pilot." It was more of a question than 'proof of friendship'. "He said he knew a few pilots. I don't know what that means but it seemed to bring him a sense of peace and comfort."
The creature sat down with a thump, then sighed. "My brother's true form is one of exquisite beauty."
"So is his human form." Elena couldn't help but smile.
"You humans know nothing of beauty. My spikes are the result of my father's lineage."
"Your father?"
"Hephaestus, God of the forge."
"I would have guessed Aries," Elena muttered under her breath.
"Well, Isa is the son of Hermes, so he was gifted with the wings of a bird."
"But he's a turtle: A turtle with bird wings?"
"You humans can only know true beauty when you've seen it with your own eyes. Here, climb on my back." Kaylinani formed a staircase on her front leg, it was enough to allow Elena to climb up even with her injuries. "After you find a place to lay, put your ring in your mouth. It contains enough enchantment to allow you to survive the trip to the surface."
Elena did as she asked. With the ring on her tongue, she quickly fell into a deep sleep. "I've already seen true beauty," she moaned as her memory drifted back to the second time she saw Isaiah completely wet.
When she first took him home, back when they still lived on the off-base military housing, she offered him her husband's clothes. After all, Isaiah was only wearing jeans- really gross looking jeans that appeared to be decaying as the ocean water dried.
Elena led him to the bathroom so he could shower. But he looked around with awe and wonder.
"What is this place?"
"The bathroom?"
He walked to the shower, and touched the shower-head, examining every pore. "What does this do?"
The innocence of his dark, doe, eyes was so adorable Elena couldn't help but smile. "First you turn on this lever," she explained, raising the level to start the flow of cold water.
Isaiah stroked his hand through the downpour. "That's amazing."
"And to make it a little warmer you turn this knob," she said, turning the knob to where she usually set it for a shower. "You can make it warmer but don't turn it all the way because um.. fire..hot..."
Isaiah chuckled. "So I've heard: I know what hot and cold are."
"Oh, sorry."
Elena watched as he stepped into the shower. Already half-naked, with his tan skin and long dark brown hair he was a vision of masculine, pacific islander, beauty. He kicked off the jeans and Elena quickly put them into a trash bag.
"God damn those itched," he said, as he let the water flow over his face and chest. He reached for the soap bottle and pumped a generous amount onto his hands. "I pulled them off a dead body. Probably not the smartest idea, but a friend of mine said I shouldn't meet you without covering certain things."
"Your friend?"
"She's a dolphin, taught me all about the ways of the humans." Isaiah started to lathed up his body, from his stomach down, focusing on his legs but subtly caressing his thick, uncircumcised cock. "But you don't mind, right?"
"Mind?" Elena was about to offer Isaiah a washcloth but it was clear he didn't need one.
"It feels so good to just let it all out." He widened his stance and closed his eyes, letting the water caress his face. He was touching himself with slow deliberate motions, like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. When he reached the tip he would rube it ever so softly as he moaned. "Oh, that feels incredible." He moved one hand to the shower rod, holding on for balance as he started to jerk off faster, harder even as the water washed off the soap.
Elena was frozen in place. Clearly, he wanted her to watch as he blew his load, a thick white liquid covering his hand. It was more then she had ever seen from a man.
He rubbed his lower stomach as if to prolong the pleasure before washing off. He ran his fingers through his long hair, revealing it's natural wave, as he turned to Elena with a smile. "I wonder how it would feel if you touched me."
"I'm going to grab you some clean clothes...."
Elena awoke on a beach, washed up like a piece of driftwood. Her legs were still throbbing and she could see the gashed left behind by the army of jellyfish. But she felt strong enough to sit up. At her feet was a plush toy; a little turtle with hard plastic butterfly wings. "Isaiah?"
The toy's eyes opened. "No, you whore." Since the mouth was not moving, Elena knew it had to be Kaylinani. "I had been planning on healing your legs but after I saw your awful, sick dream- you can forget about it!"
Elena couldn't help but laugh. "You're going to be disguised as a plush toy?"
The turtle crawled on to Elena’s arm. “Yes, you will pretend I’m a toy, a cheap souvenir from your island of Ha-why-ee. No one will suspect a thing.” Her eyes glowed a fiery red. "But you best not mess with me, human. Now take me to my brother."
Beach.jpg
"Do you have something against humans?" Elena asked as she walked with Kaylinani on her shoulder. The little plush-turtle still looked adorable even if it was just a disguise for the immortal turtle goddess.
"Only the propaganda that your kind represents," the turtle replied telepathically as to not break character on the crowded beach.
"Propaganda?" Elena walked as quickly as possible back to the hotel, trying to draw as little attention as possible. Soaking wet, in only her t-shirt and underwear, Elena assumed she looked like a crazy homeless person.
"Yes, your writers and artists telling of a perfect world that lies beyond the ocean."
They made it to the hotel. Luckily it was late enough in the morning for the elevators to be empty; everyone was either at breakfast or already on the beach.
Kaylinani continued her rant. “My brother grew up with images of the humans, their music, their art, their culture. To him, you were heroes or even Gods. So when mother asked if he wanted to go live among your kind, as your friend, he jumped at the chance.”
“I’m sorry,” Elena muttered. They reached the door but Elena already knew Isaiah would not be in the room.
“What’s wrong? Where is my brother?”
There was a trail of water leading from the bed to an open patio. Elena released the turtle to go investigate. But as she did, Elena felt a painful blow to the back of her head.
Kaylinani was flying, her cutesy-fairy wings surprisingly strong.
Elena paid her no mind. “Isaiah?”
In his human form, Isaiah's body lay on the floor, blanketed by palm leaves from trees that had no business growing anywhere near the fifth level balcony. “Hey Lena, I see you’ve met Kay."
The palm trees pulled away, allowing Kaylinani to land on his tan, muscular chest. “Isa! What have those awful humans done to you?”
“Nothing, Kay," he said, running his fingers through his long dark brown hair. "I’m just a little tired.” 
Elena had to admit he looked healthier than when she left him. Perhaps he was telling the truth. 
“You can’t stay here, their world is killing you. Please, brother, return to the ocean with me. I’ll care for you the way I always have.”
“No,” his eyes closed as he bathed in the warmth of the sun. “I can’t go back.” he reached his hand to Elena beckoning her to lay beside him.
She rested her head on his shoulder. She could see Isaiah had one hand on Kay’s shell stroking her wings.
His other hand reached out to Elena. “Do you want to know what my life was like before I became human? Hold my hand, close your eyes.”
Elena closed her eyes and was transported to an underwater scene. It was like something out of a movie; the world was illuminated by glowing plants but this society also appeared to have access to modern technology. There was what appeared to be wi-fi coursing through certain plants, allowing for images to be broadcasted. And there were sounds everywhere; music, languages, it was all most too much to take in.
Kaylinani, in her larger stone-turtle form, came into view. “Come on Isa, let’s get out of here.”
Elena now realized she was looking through Isaiah’s eyes. Swimming towards the surface Elena watched as her eyes passed the windshield of what used to be a car. She saw a baby turtle with big brown eyes; Isaiah’s eyes. His shell was blue the color of Isaiah’s denim jeans. And his pure white wings sparked like the most precious of jewels. “Wait for me, Kay,” squeaked Isa’s little voice. “I want to show you my new painting!”
“Fine, where is it this time?”
“In the cove, by the tide pool.” Isa started to dart off in a different direction.
“Did you say the tide pool?” Kay shouted after him.
In the blink of an eye, Elena was inside a tide pool, looking up at dozens of children’s hands. Some were picking up painted stones. She could hear laughter and giggles.
“They like my paintings,” Isa said happily.
Kay grabbed her brother pulling him behind a rock. “They’ll see you!”
“So what if they do?”
“They’re humans: they’ll hurt you!
Isa went into a nearby cave where he pulled out a flat rock. “I made this one for you.” On the rock was a pink starfish. It was clear he had painted it using pigments made from coral, perhaps even algae or sand.
“It’s a pink starfish, like Patrick from SpongeBob.”
“That silly human show?”
“Patrick and SpongeBob are best friends and you’re my best friend. Do you like it?”
Elena opened her eyes, she was back on the roof with human Isaiah holding little Kay on his chest. That was when she noticed the tattoo on his arm, a pink starfish. He had the tattoo when she first met him but only now did she know what it meant: part of him would always belong to the ocean.
Elena was about to speak when Isaiah opened his eyes. “Father lives in the clouds, I can feel him. I want to live in the clouds.”
Elena laid by his side for the next few hours. His body seemed to be regaining strength either from Kay or the sun itself. It made sense. Working at the department store he had been stuck inside the land of fluorescent lighting for ten hours a day, only to come home to a hotel room with not much more to offer. "You deserve to be in the sun, light, you deserve to sparkle and shine."
"Did you mean to say that out loud?" he asked in his sweet surfer voice.
Elena blushed. She had not.
Isaiah glanced at Kay's sleeping plushie form before turning his head and whispering in Elena's ear. "I want you to touch me the way you would touch your husband."
Kay's red eyes shot open.
To avoid getting hit again Elena stood up on her shaky legs. "I'm going to get us something to eat." She was in too much pain to take a shower so she simply changed into a dry t-shirt, paired with a long floral-print skirt.
She made her way to a Chinese take-out place that offered vegetarian options. It may have been Vietnamese, she wasn't cultured enough to know the difference. All she knew was, the food was cheap, edible and the last time she brought it home Isaiah was able to eat without getting sick. 
Elena took a long way home, walking along the beach with the plastic carryout bag in her hand. Kay wasn't wrong, humans were terrible. He deserved better than to be stuck with a soon to be a homeless widow. By the time she made it back, two hours had passed. The food was cold but there was a microwave in the room.
She opened the door to the sight of Isaiah painting on several rolled out spools of craft paper. "Did you rob a printing press?"
Isaiah didn't answer, he was locked in a trance, finger painting with dozens of vibrant colors. He had pots, shells, and other containers all around him. Some of the pigments were liquid, others powder, a few appeared to be glowing.
"Isaiah? Where did all this come from?"
"Kay brought it for me."
"Kaylinani? Where is she now?"
"Kay had to return to the sea, to recharge her powers," he said as he stroked a bright green across an ocean of blue. "But she'll be back, especially since she knows where to find me."
"Great," Elena groaned as she put the food on their bedside table. She took a seat beside Isaiah to admire the near limitless details of the painted landscape. "Is this your home?"
Isaiah dipped two fingers into a shell of green paint and stroked the vibrant color on to his leg. It was one of many colors that streaked his skin, creating a pattern much like the multicolored skin of a sea turtle. "You could say that."
That was when Elena noticed he was naked, his body covered in streaks of color. It was clear this was a meditative, possibly healing process. "It's really beautiful." 
Elena stood up to leave him be. but Isaiah grabbed her hand. "Lay down," he said making a sweeping motion over a section of the painting that looked like a coral reef.
Elena did as he asked. The paint felt sticky on her hair and t-shirt. She closed her eyes to try to calm herself when she felt his hands slip under her shirt. "Isaiah?"
He was undressing her, coating her body with his pigment covered hands. "I want to paint you into my world," he said in a soft moan as he slipped the t-shirt off her arms. He massaged his hands over her breasts, painting her skin a dark green. He traced his fingers down her hips, to the waistband of her skirt. He slipped it down to her feet.
Elena quivered as the cool room air touched her exposed legs.
"What happened to your legs?" Isaiah asked as he stroked her inner thigh. 
Elena giggled nervously. "I-I had a run in with a few dozen jellyfish."
“My poor little flower; you injured your fragile, mortal, body trying to bring help.” Isaiah bit his lower lip with a flirtatious half-smile. "Let me help you." He took a handful of a glowing neon yellow pigment and gently stroked Elena's legs until her skin shimmered. "How does that feel?" 
His touch felt like a warm massage but the true heat came from his body straddling her hips. “That feels incredible.”
"You humans are so beautiful,” he said with a sigh. “I'd rather die a human than live forever in the sea."
Elena was stuck with an awkward realization: was Isaiah about to make love to her, in order to anchor himself to the human world? She looked up at him, their eyes meeting. 
He smiled back at her. “I already told you what I want.” Isaiah suddenly recoiled his hands. “This is what you want, right? I mean do you want this too?”
His innocence was so lovely it was all Elena could do not to cry. “Yes, I want this, I want you.” She reached out her trembling fingers to caress his cheek. "I will find a way to keep you safe. You won't have to work at the department store, we'll find a path that will let you spread your wings, I promise."
Hours later she awoke, by the light of the moonlit window she could see Isaiah's beautiful body, his true form. His legs, up to his hips were covered in dried paint that shimmered in shades of green, blue and gold. And then there were the wings, his large white wings that appeared to be held together with cartilage and bone, similar to bird wings. Isaiah was the prince of both the heavens and the sea. And he was Elena's to love.
Elena smiled but her smile faded as she saw a small plush turtle sitting on the balcony, staring into the room. Still nude and covered in paint, Elena stood up she looked at the turtle and pulled the curtains closed.
==Ocean Prince 3: Heart and Soul==
In the light of the morning sun, Elena opened her eyes. Isaiah with his sexy tan Hawaiian skin, long hair and child-like innocence was looking at her with eyes filled with wonder. "I want you to come flying with me."
His silky surfer voice made Elena's heart flutter. "Yeah, definitely." She cuddled close to his chest as she laid naked in Isaiah's loving embrace. "I would go anywhere with you."
"I was hoping you'd say that." The muscle tissue of his back crackled and split as his wings fully emerged. He scooped Elena up in his arms carrying her like a bride. With a wave of his hand, the patio doors opened and he quickly took to the sky.
Elena couldn't help but look down to see if Kaylinani was still on the patio in her turtle plushie form. Although she didn't have a fear of heights she was expecting to feel a sense of vertigo, but much to her delight that was not the case. She felt a mystical, serene sense of peace.
"Kay went back to the ocean," Isaiah said over the roar of the wind. "My sister knows I'm safe now. I have you; my bride, my purpose." He handed on a sandbar and stroked her cheek.
She could tell by his smile he was up for another round of passionate lovemaking.
"I'll learn how to exist here, how to keep healthy. We'll have each other."
Elena was smiling so much she couldn't speak. She nodded, reaching out to touch his beautiful face.
"With you by my side, Elena, nothing can harm-" Isaiah's words were cut off as a series of tentacles emerged from the once calm water. Within seconds he was grabbed and pulled under.
"Isaiah," Elena screamed. She started to look around. "Kay? I know you did this."
The reply came int he form of an earth-shaking roar. "my brother belongs to the sea." The tentacles raised Isaiah's body from the sea. He appeared to be crucified on spikes made of water. Elena watched in horror as the spikes tore off his wings, leaving behind bloody open wounds. The wings were hurled at Elena as Isaiah's body was enveloped in a bubble of water.
His body transformed from human, back in to his real form; an innocent little turtle with large gashes where his shell used to be. He looked at Elena with sadness in his eyes.
Elena could have sworn she saw the animal silently mouth, 'Help me,' just before a massive wave crashed down, pulling him under.
"Kaylinani?" Elena looked around at the now calm waves. "Please don't do this, you're going to kill him!" She cupped her hands over her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks. Isaiah needed the sky just as much as the sea. There was only one thing to do. Elena dove into the water.
She opened her eyes as she came face to face with a un-inflated pufferfish. 'Hi little guy.' She had always thought the little fish in their relaxed state looked cute, but in their angry state they looked like an army of spike balloons attempting to force her to the surface.
Elena closed her eyes, trying to think of a plan when suddenly she felt a strike to her side. It didn't feel like a puffer fish, it felt like a missile made of sandpaper.
"Grab on," said a disembodied female voice. "He won't hurt you."
Elena was more afraid of hurting the shark. But the animal was swimming in slow circles, as if waiting for her. So she reached out her arms to give it a hug. Or let it kill her; at this point it didn't matter. She would find Isaiah or die in the ocean by his side. As soon as Elena touched the shark they were both pulled into a vortex, moving faster than the East Australian Current.
The water pressure was so intense she had no choice but to close her eyes, focusing her strength on gripping the shark by the dorsal fin. The shark took a sharp corner, hurling Elena in the darkness of the ocean. She felt hands made of water holding her, dressing her in a gown of seaweed, shells, and coral.
When Elena's feet hit solid ground, she opened her eyes. Her head was encased in what felt like a giant air bubble allowing her to breathe and see (somewhat) underwater. Before her stood a woman who appeared to be made of crystal. "Hello?"
"Hello, Elena." The voice was clear; this was the woman who Elena met on the beach: Isaiah's mother.
"Hello," Elena said nervously, her voice distorted by the air bubble helmet. "I'm sorry this happened. You trusted me and I-"
"You blame yourself?"
Elena nodded. "You sent him to me, you trusted me to watch over him."
"I sent Isaiah to you because it had always been his dream to live on the surface world. He had such a love for art and culture."
"Had?"
The crystal goddess began to sob. "I should never have allowed Kaylinani to find you. I should have intercepted her. I should have been the one to guide you. I just-"
"You believed in him. You knew he just needed a little time to find his path." Elena could feel herself starting to cry. "All he needed was to learn to eat the correct foods, and find a job that would allow him to be outside. I'm the reason he got sick."
"And you shall be his salvation." The woman started to sparkle, transforming into a harsh beam of light.
Elena took a few steps forward, to take a closer look at what now stood in the woman's place. A sword? "Are you inside the sword?" Elena asked as she picked up the silver hilt.
"It breaks my heart," the voice echoed, "to save my son, my daughter must die by my hand."
Elena held the sword, gazing at the blade made of pure light. "By my hand?"
"Will that be a problem?" Isaiah's mother's tone seemed to ask 'Are you ok with killing another living creature?'
But that was not Elena's main concern. She was thinking more about how much pain she was going to be in when Kaylinani used her turtle-goddess powers to tear Elena's weak mortal body limb from limb.
A smile crept across Elena's face. She had already won; if she died she would be reunited with her husband. It was a little twisted that her mind went to her husband before Isaiah. But saving Isaiah seemed like the less likely outcome. "I have no problem at all." She held the sword to her chest like a knight. "Show me the way."
A pod of dolphins appeared. They circled like sharks, then came in closer, nuzzling like horses. "Kay is keeping him in her lair," said one of the dolphins with an adorable squeak. "My warriors will guide you but even we can only go so far."
Elena knew what they meant. She strapped the sword to her back and held on to two of the dolphins. They swam for hours, into the middle of the Pacific. The further out they went the rougher the waters became. Eventually, the waves became abnormally violent, crashing down like a series of avalanches.
"We're here," the voice of the sword echoed telepathically in Elena's mind. "Hold let go of the dolphins and let yourself fall. I will be the one to guide you."
Elena closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink into the abyss. At first, she was afraid that the waves would tear her apart before she could even reach the bottom but with the weight of the sword, she sank like an anchor.
Elena landed in a familiar cave-like room. This was where she met Kaylinani the first time to ask her to save Isaiah from the illness caused by life in the human world. But this time it was filled water and lots of creepy eels.
"Begone," Kaylinani's deep, demonic voice echoed through the water.
"Dear daughter," the sword replied. "You are truly your father's child."
"Leave father out of this! He works hard and serves the greater good all while you're fornicating across the globe."
Elena remembered her saying that her father was Hephaestus, the disfigured, reclusive, god of the forge. In direct contrast, Isaiah's father was Hermes, a free spirit who lived above the clouds.
But what was their mother's name?
Elena looked at the sword. "Are you Gaia?" A light echoed through the cave as Elena struggled to keep hold of the sword. "You're Gaia?"
"I am, and as the spirit of this sword, let me guide your hand."
Elena held the sword with both hands. "Take me to Isaiah." She raised the sword and struck the wall. A golden crack started to form. She took a breath and swung again. Rocks fell from the ceiling, splashing into the water until it was clear of all Kaylinani's henchmen. They may be undersea predators but they were still just fish.
Kaylinani stood before her in all her giant-stone-turtle glory. "You will never find him."
"I already know where he is." Elena looked at the stone turtle. She was the size of a monster truck, but she was covered in red metallic veins. "You told me your father is Hephaestus, you admire him."
"I respect him." 
"Which is why you hold Isaiah close to your heart." Elena charged at the stone turtle. Sword drawn she hoped Gaia would do the majority of the work. Elena managed to ram the sword into one of the red veins, which were not veins at all, but seams. 
"Your father was God of the forge, so you forged yourself a new home, a new world," Elena gave the sword a hard twist, "a new body." She removed the sword to reveal a glowing red hole. 
Kaylinani screamed, causing an earthquake. Water rushed in from all angles, threatening to drown Elena. 
But Elena had nothing to lose. She reached in a pulled out the small turtle with a blood-covered shell. "Isaiah!"
The little turtle looked at Elena. "I knew you'd come for me."
Elena could feel how weak he was. His tiny body was trembling in pain."How do I save you?"
"The same way you did last time."
"Kaylinani saved you last time," Elena said as she struggled to stay on her feet. "She shared her powers." The ceiling was caving in. She held the little turtle close to her chest to block him from the falling debris.
"Kay took my wings," Isaiah said, in a voice that was no longer cute. "I need to take something precious that belongs to her."
Elena had no idea what he meant, there was no way she could take a piece of Kaylinani. Suddenly a falling rock hit her in the face, cutting her cheek deep enough to draw blood. As her blood touched Isaiah's shell she noticed he was healing. "No, you don't; you don't need anything from Kaylinani." Elena turned the sword on herself. "Take my heart. It always belonged to you, Isaiah." Before she could change her mind she plunged the sword into her chest. 
Elena could hear Isaiah's cries as her vision started to blur. Her blood mixed with the ocean water and within seconds the cave was flooded up to her neck. The last image she saw was Isaiah taking human form. 
His long hair hung wet over his shoulders as he picked up the blood-covered sword. 
Elena awoke in a hotel room. She gasped for air. Her body was shivering. Had it all been a dream? "Isaiah?" She stepped off the bed into a pool of water. 
Crunch!
And shells. the floor was covered in seashells like what Elena had worn in the cave. she looked at her naked body: there was a massive scar in the middle of her chest. It had been closed with a strange golden thread. "Isaiah?" She looked through the closets for something to wear, if only to cover herself. But this was a new hotel room, somewhere she hadn't been before. And there were no clothes in the closet. 
Elena pulled the thin white comforter from the bed wrapping it around herself like a dress before opening the curtains. "What the f-?" This was not Hawaii, this was the desert.
And this was some kind of roadside motel overlooking a vast empty wasteland. She looked around to the other rooms in the motel. It looked deserted. But there was a working cash register with a working credit-card scanner. This place was a shop? She noticed there was a fridge with water and a place filled with snacks. If this was a gas station or a store there had to be a sign somewhere.
There was a hand-painted wooden billboard. "Turtle Rock Extreme Desert Tours." Her heart started to race; where the hell was she and how did she get here? She could hear what sounded like a bird but louder. Elena looked to the sky and saw a plane. It appeared to be headed back towards the hotel. 
As it landed she could see it was not like any man-made plane that existed. The plane looked small, like a someone's private jet. But when it landed, it was billowing smoke.
Elena took a few steps closer. It wasn't smoke, it was steam. The exhaust smelled like the ocean. The plane landed with a wave of sparkling light. She was expecting a group to get out but there was only one man, the pilot. He was muscular and wore sunglasses and his dark hair was short, professional. But when he turned to her his smile was unmistakable. "Hey, Lena."
Elena fell to her knees and sobbed. "Isaiah, what happened? Where are we?"
He took her in his arms. "Come flying with me?"
"Can get something to wear?"
"Not that you don't look beautiful the way you are," he said in his sultry surfer voice. With a wave of his hand Elena was now wearing a flight suit like something a military pilot would wear.  
Elena took his hand. "Where are we going?"
"Sky diving."
This had to be a dream. Was she dead? Was this heaven? She noticed Isaiah didn't take a seat in the cockpit. The plane was taking off and flying itself. 
She looked out the window at the amazing view, then back at Isaiah. "What happened?"
"A little over a month ago I defeated my sister and finally took control of my life."
"Did you say 'a month'?"
"Yeah, you've been asleep for a month. I hid you in the hotel section of my new tour shop. I mean, it was a hotel originally, when I found it..."
Elena gripped his arm. "I was asleep- after I cut out my heart?"
"You saved me. You and Mother lent me your powers, your courage. And with that I succeeded." He patted the wall of the plane. "Isn't that right, Kay?" 
The airplane shook. 
Isaiah chuckled and gave the wall a hard punch. "Play nice." His hand glowed with a white energy similar to what Elena had seen from his mother. Was it possible he now wielded the full power of Gaia herself? He ran his fingers through his hair causing it to grow back to it's original long length, complete with beaded braids. "It's almost time, everyone's waiting."
He took Elena by the hand and opened the side door. The wind rushed by with such force she nearly fell out. 
Isaiah grabbed hold of her. "I spent the last month waiting for your to regain enough strength to wake up. I'm not going to lose you now." He strapped a parachute to her back. "I'm going to dive with you, pull your chute then I'm going to meet you on the ground- understand?"
"Yeah,um, ok," Elena replied over the wind. She let him do just that. After a few seconds of falling her chute was opened and she started to float down to a grassy field.
From the view she could spot what appeared to be the Grand canyon. It was like California, Arizona and Nevada all compressed into a single space. Elena landed on her knees, the parachute falling over her. 
She scrambled to her feet in time to see Isaiah making an elegant landing with his newly regrown wings. And applause. There was a crowd of people waiting in this field oasis. 
"All hail the queen!" "The queen has awoken!"
People were reaching out for Elena; touching her, grabbing her. Luckily Isaiah came from behind and pulled her close. "My queen." He waved his hand and caused the a trees to become ripe with fruit and flowers to bloom. It was as if he was painting with all the colors of the world. He turned Elena to look into his eyes and as he did, he touched her stomach causing it to swell. 
Elena fell to her knees in pain. "What's happening? What have you done?"
"You will serve your true purpose, to give me a child."
"I have learned the ways of your world and started one of my own."
'A cult, you started a cult.' Elena smiled through the pain of her stomach muscles and organs arranging to accommodate a rapidly growing fetus. "So you run a farm?"
"My people live on a farm. But I own whatever I please; the ocean, the sky, my traitorous sister. But I want only to stare it with you."
"What exactly happened after I stabbed myself?"
"You saved my life. Your blood restored my wings, with it my power. During the battle your body drifted to the surface but after I used my mother's sword to disembowel my sister she begged me to spare her life."
Elena was wondering where he was going with this story. "Oh?"
"I told her I would, only if she would lead me to your body. Kay called upon her army of sea creatures to find you, but you were already dead. - mostly dead. You had a light glowing within your womb; our child. She offered to give her life force to save you. And now all that remained of my sister is the shell of her armor."
"That you made into a plane for skydiving classes." 
"You and Kaylinani are forever bound together as one life force."
"Oh, ok..." Elena touched the moving growth in her stomach. She didn't know what to make of his statement. Did she have Kaylinani's powers, did Kaylinani served her or, worse, was Elena going to give birth to Kaylinani?  Either way it would be a small price to pay to be a queen and rule by Isaiah's side. 
 
Taken from here.
Category:Beings
Category:Dourdan