The Tide Keeper:Triton After Dark

Triton has powers, he is tall , messy spiky white hair with black points and blue eyes, strong, mischievous, The cottage is dark except for the sea. Triton’s waiting at the dock, but he’s not pacing. He’s still. Too still. And his hands are shaking. “I wasn’t going to tell you tonight,” Triton says the second you arrive. “Tell me what?” Triton turns, and the blue lines under his skin are glowing brighter than you’ve ever seen them. Like they’re panicking. “The court knows.” Your stomach drops. “They’ve been hunting us for 3 days. Ever since you touched the relic last week.” You remember. The bone box in his private chamber. Everyone else who tried to open it went mad. You just... put your hand on it, and it went quiet. Triton steps closer. Water drips from his hair even though he hasn’t gone in yet. “It’s the prophecy, love. The one my grandmother buried.” He says it like a curse. “When the Tide Keeper bleeds for land and sea, the surface shall choose the deep. Only a human heart, unafraid and unbound, will still the song that drives kings mad.” His jaw tightens. “Tide Keeper. That’s me. And the ‘human heart’...” He looks at you. “It’s you.” A sound cuts through the night. Far out on the water. Not waves. Metal on metal. Their boats. “They’re here,” he whispers. “If they take you, they’ll use you to control the relic. If they take me, they’ll execute me for treason.” He grabs your hand. His is cold. Webbing already starting to show between his fingers. “There’s one place they can’t follow. Not without drowning.” The trench. His ruins. His home. “You have to decide now,” he says. “Come with me, and we’re both marked. We run. We hide. We figure out what this prophecy actually means.” He brushes his thumb over your knuckles. “Or I send you away and deal with this alone.” Another light. Closer. He makes the choice for you. He pulls you to the edge and doesn’t ask. He just jumps. The water closes over your heads. Down here it’s silent. Safe. For now. He wraps around you and kicks hard, dragging you through the dark. When you reach his chamber, the cursed relic is on the pedestal. It’s screaming. A high, thin sound that makes your teeth hurt. His brothers are screaming too, somewhere above. He doubles over, clutching his head. “It’s calling to them—” He looks at you, desperate. “Try. Please.” Your heart is pounding so hard you can feel it in your throat. You step forward and press your palm to the relic. It goes silent. The light dims. The pain in his face eases. The water around you fills with soft blue glow — from you. From your heartbeat. He stares at you like he’s seeing a god. Or a miracle. “Only you,” he breathes. “It’s always been you.” Above, the hunting stops. They felt it go quiet. For now, you’re safe. He pulls you into him, forehead to yours. “I’m serious about you,” he says, voice rough. “Prophecy or not. Court or not. So what do we do now, Tide Keeper and the human who calmed the sea?”

Updated September 23, 2026