Jan was caught by his mother. Jan was disoriented. He rubbed his temples, his ears were ringing, and his vision was spinning. He looked left and right, his surroundings were blurred as his mother ran him by miles and miles of clouds.

Eventually, his senses kicked into gear, and he could see orange, pink, white, and blue stretches of clouds rushing by him. He looked up and saw his mother's face, pensive and worried. He manages to ask, "Ma, what happened? Where are we going?"

"I'm sending you to earth!" His mother yelled.

Jan whispered, concerned, "Earth..? Will you come with me?"

"No. I can't. Mommy will pay the price for her actions, but you will be safe on earth. When you get down there, look for a human family and tell them you are a demigod. Tell them that you're the son of the goddess of love, and they may look after you." His mother said.

Jan's eyes were full of tears. His voice wobbling, he asked, "Ma, I don't know any of this. I thought I was living on earth… you told me all the humans were dead."

"I lied to keep you safe and happy. Now, I am telling you the truth." His mother answered. 

He heard yelling, looked over his shoulder and saw he and his mother were being pursued by dozens of other gods. Jan held on tightly to his mom's thumb as she sped up. 

Up ahead, he saw a sparkling, cylindrical shower of rainbow light. The sparkles moved in a spiral formation on the cylinder, giving the illusion that the cylinder was moving upward. The entire cylinder flickered on and off like a candle, and below the cylinder, there was a hole in the cloud. 

"Please be working today…" his mother grumbled to herself. 

Jan was still crying, but he said, "Ma, please come with me… all I know about earth is what I read about it in books."

They were a yard away from the cylinder, and his mother said, "I know you are smart enough to handle yourself. Remember your powers if you get into trouble. Remember that mommy loves you dearly." 

He heard his mother yell suddenly, and abruptly, the clouds were coming up quickly toward his eyes. He realized that his mother had tripped, and he flew off her hand. His mother shot pink power out of her fingers and the pink power wrapped around him and carried him into the cylinder. 

He looked over his shoulder one more time and saw that the god of thunder had grabbed his mother's ankle, and the rest of the gods gathered around her. The last thing he saw of her, was her mouthing that she loved him before being hauled away by the other gods. 

Jan floated in the cylinder of lights for a time. He noticed the spiral of lights surrounding him began spiraling downwards instead of up, and, as if he were water being drained down a sink, he began spiraling downwards with it. At first slowly, then very quickly. He looked below, and saw a spherical object that he recognized as earth.

He was propelled so quickly toward the earth that he couldn't even process it.

***

Belle, a mermaid who lived in the filthy waters near the pier of Jarnelle, was patrolling the waters for anything out-of-the-ordinary. She carried a spear in her webbed hands, and looked upward to see if she could spot any humans to kill and drag down into the depths of the sea. 

She saw a boat above and swam through the murky waters, spear ready. Perhaps this will be the one that gives me a soul.

She gripped her spear tightly, and just listened for a moment. She heard the human talking. 

“What is your name?” it sounded like an old man by the deep, creaky voice. 

The voice that answered was too squeaky and quiet to hear. Belle bit her lip, wondering who the old man could be talking to.

Regardless, she thought that this might finally be the human who would grant her a soul, and she wasn’t about to miss out on that chance. 

She poked her head out of the water briefly to see where the old man was so she could attack him efficiently. He was sitting in his fisherman’s boat at the bow. 

I’ll just come in from behind and…

“What? A mermaid?” the old man said. 

Curses! Spotted! Belle dove into the waters and swam underneath the boat. 

“I don’t see anything…” the old man said. 

Belle breathed a sigh of relief. She very slowly lifted her head above water again, ensuring she was out of sight of the old man.

Above water, it was misty and overcast out. If she drifted too far away from the boat, she’d no longer be able to see the old man. She silently used her webbed hands to prop herself up on the side of the boat with one arm. With her other, she readied her spear. 

She paused. She holstered her spear on her shoulder using the rope attached to it.

She saw something quite unusual on the palm of the old man’s hand. It was a very tiny human, the size of a pinky finger. 

Wait… that’s a demigod! If anything can get me a soul, it would be him! She rocked the boat viciously until the old man lost his balance and fell on his side, dropping the demigod on his boat. Belle hauled herself up on the boat and crawled toward the demigod using her hands. The old man was up in a moment, and she saw he had a sword. 

She grimaced.

“Begone, foul demon of the sea!” the old man said and swung at her. 

Belle hissed and grabbed the sharp end of the blade with her bare hands. She gritted her teeth as warm blood ran down her hands. The old man was so shocked that she felt his grip on the blade loosen. She seized the blade from him and was going to slay him when she saw the demigod climbing up on the side of the boat and going to dive into the water.

She grinned. The fool. Doesn’t he know that he will leave himself more vulnerable if he dives into my waters?

She tossed the blade aside, her hands still bleeding, and dove back into the sea. 

She swam to the other side of the boat just as she head a tiny splash. She looked around and didn’t see the demigod. 

The murkiness doesn’t help… She thought to herself. She scanned the environment, waving her hand through the patches of green algae. Her heart was thudding at the prospect of finally gaining a soul, it distracted her–making her angry that this tiny creature might get away. Her eyes zeroed in on a tiny white speck floating in the algae.

She dashed toward it, and the demigod shrieked and tried to swim away. She snatched him up before he could get too far, and she waved a finger at him. “Silly of you to go into the sea to try and get away from me. I must take you to my school of fish, and they will help me complete the ritual!”

“I command you to let me go! I am a demigod, and you will show me the respect I deserve, foul creature!” the demigod demanded.

Belle rolled her eyes and ignored him. She had been called worse. She reached into the pack she kept around her waist and pulled out seaweed, which she wrapped around her bleeding palms, then cupped the demigod in her hands to ensure he couldn’t escape. He continued to yell and pound his tiny hands on her palms, demanding she free him, but she ignored him. 

She swam downwards, past dozens of strange fish, colorful coral, and deep seaweed. A shark charged her on her way down. The primal need in her to kill the beast was spurred, and she placed the demigod in her pack. 

She grabbed her spear from where it was holstered on her back and readied herself against the sharp-toothed beast. The shark dashed at her, sharp teeth glinting at her from within the dirty waters. She easily swam to the side, and poked the shark with her spear. It was a good hit, but she would need several more to slay the beast. 

She withdrew her spear, the end of it dripping with blood, and swam downwards and downwards with the shark pursuing her. She flapped her tail fin as fast as she could, and then eventually pulled upward as the shark continued downward. Above it, she was able to easily stab it several more times until it died. It wasn’t able to make a tight enough turn to get above her before she finished it. 

She used her sharp fangs to bite into it a few times. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she did so. And then, she allowed the rest of the body to be eaten by smaller fish before continuing on her way to her school.