Poseidon's Secret

by Preston William Child

“Those pearls belong to a god,” Mr. Irving said with some caution. “I would never take from Poseidon and if Poseidon is demanding you give them back to him, I suggest you do that and with some haste. If you knew anything about the gods, then you would know how powerful Poseidon is...and that he's not always the most forgiving of gods. You need to get those pearls back to him before we all suffer for it.”

  Sam wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that. His mind drifted to thoughts of tsunamis coming to hit coastlines and earthquakes of magnitudes that had never been recorded before. Though that moment of imagination passed and he remembered that Poseidon wasn't real. There was no need to fear the ramifications of his anger if he didn't exist to carry them out. But if he did really exist, then they could really be in some serious trouble.

  “Get those back to him, quickly,” Mr. Irving said with wide eyes. “You will do that for me, for all of us, yes? Right, Daisy?”

  “Of course,” Daisy said reassuringly, sharing in Mr. Irving's worry. “We are going to get the pearls back and he will be appeased. We'll all be okay.”

  “Good, thank you,” Mr. Irving said. “And thank you, David Purdue. Please don't dillydally. The sea is not something that you want to upset any more than it already is.” Mr. Irving took a step away before he suddenly stopped and his eyes widened. “Oh! I almost forgot! I brought along something that might help!”

  He reached into his bag and pulled out a long cylindrical rolled up scroll. When he unrolled it, it revealed a very old map. It wasn't exactly accurate compared to most navigational charts these days but they didn't quite have the technological capabilities to accurately display the world. There weren't any satellites for one thing. It was very crude but it was recognizable. Someone long after the map had originally been drawn had put it on top of a large piece of paper that bordered the map, displaying the longitude and latitude to help decipher what exactly it was showing.

  “This chart was made long ago by navigators hired by disciples of a temple that worshipped Poseidon to showcase his domain. This shows all of the oceans of the known world at the time and is mapped out to the best of their abilities of the time. Of course, it's not entirely accurate...but it might be of some help so I decided to bring it along. You will need to bring the pearls back to Poseidon's trident. You won't be able to get to the trident without all three of the pearls. The location of the trident may even be on this map.”

  Sam wasn't convinced by the chart but took it anyway. He wouldn't have been surprised if the map was nothing but a fake that was made just to try to convince people of the existence of the gods. The trident being displayed on the map...Sam kind of doubted it, but he knew better than to discard possible clues. Any little thing might end up being helpful in the end.

  “You don't want to come with us?” Daisy asked Irving.

  Sam cut in. “He wasn't invited.”

  “No, no,” Mr. Irving said. “I'm afraid I would only just get in the way in such matters. I wish you safe travels,” Mr. Irving said. “The sea is an unpredictable place. Who knows what the next wave might bring.”

  5

  THE EXPECTED SEA VOYAGE

  Sam was looking forward to speaking with someone sensible again so he called Purdue and told him everything Mr. Irving had claimed. Purdue was very quiet on the other end of the line, only sporadically asking a question or giving input. Purdue was much more accepting of the crazier things that had come out of Mr. Irving's mouth than Sam was. Either that, or he was just distracted by his continual research into their unseen foe. Either way, he didn't seem overly impressed or alarmed by the task at hand. It all sounded absurd to Sam but he wasn't going to complain. At least he was doing something that might be able to help the Order. Purdue had finally offered him something important to do. He just wished that he was doing it in better company and not with a person that he wouldn't trust with a textbook let alone with his life.

  “I can get you a boat,” Purdue said. “And you will set sail immediately after that?”

  “I think so,” Sam said.

  “Brilliant, I have just the vessel in mind. It would be perfect for this.”

  It didn't take long for that ship to arrive and Sam recognized the vessel and the woman that stood in front of them on the dock—Aya.

  She had helped Purdue during his nautical searches for Walton Ogden's gold and later for the first pearl. That's when Sam met her. She and her crew used to work for Jamaica's biggest crime boss, the Wharf Man. However, they turned on him to help Purdue. Sam was honestly surprised that they weren't all members of the Black Sun now after that, but maybe it was their choice to not be part of the Order. They were probably just enjoying their freedom now that they were out from under the Wharf Man's thumb.

  Aya smiled when she saw him. “How are you, Mr. Cleave?”

  “I am doing much better than the last time I saw you. How about you? What are you doing here?”

  “Purdue asked me to ferry you on this new search of yours.”

  That made sense. Both Purdue and Sam knew that Aya's crew was reliable and could be counted on in a tough situation. Sam was actually feeling very happy to see a familiar face. Aya would be someone to turn to when he would be annoyed by Daisy's stories at least.

  Daisy introduced herself to Aya. “You have worked with Sam before?”

  “Yes,” Aya said. “A short while ago. Mostly, we just sat around waiting for Purdue to come up from the bottom of the ocean.”

  “Good times,” Sam said. “Has Purdue told you anything about what we're after this time?”

  “He did,” Aya said. “It's another one of those pearls he found on the sea floor...the one that helped him get rid of the Wharf Man.”

  “That's right,” Sam said. “There are two more of them out there, three pearls total. We just got some hints about where the others might be.”

  “So we find them...then what happens when we bring all three of them together?”

  Sam looked to Daisy who looked just as uncertain as he felt. They weren't sure on the specifics of that yet.

  “We bring them all back to...Poseidon's trident.” Sam said the words reluctantly and they slowly rolled out of his throat. It still sounded so ridiculous to him.

  Aya was understandably confused. “Poseidon's trident? That's a made-up god, isn't it?”

  Sam admittedly kind of enjoyed how red Daisy's face got at that remark. It was nice to have another sane person joining the conversation. He felt a bit outnumbered when they were talking with Mr. Irving. Logic and reasoning didn't seem to have a place in that particular discussion.

  Aya glanced to Purdue but he just shrugged.

  “And where are we going first?”

  The ship was exactly as Sam remembered from their journey to find the pearl initially. Aya still commanded her men with just as much stern gracefulness. She was a good, fair captain and a good ally to have in a tight spot. Sam was glad to have someone familiar to work with; he was no longer stuck with a bunch of novice Black Sun members that didn't know what they were doing yet or a delusional companion that was adamant that ancient gods were walking among them. There was finally someone he could rely on and depend on if things got bad—and things usually had a way of going bad.

  However, Sam wasn't exactly thrilled to be back on the open ocean. It was never a favorite place for him to be. He much preferred to have his feet firmly on solid ground. He never liked the endless rocking beneath his feet. If a place made even the simple act of standing difficult for him, then it really wasn't some place that he wanted to be. At least he used to have Purdue or Nina to talk to, to help distract him. Daisy Judge wasn't nearly as good at making interesting conversation. She just stood at the bow of the boat, raising her arms and inhaling the salty brine with glee.

  “Do you smell that?” she asked, sniffing the breeze. “That right there is Poseidon, alright. Unmistakable.”

  “That's just the ocean,” Sam countered. “It always smells like that.”

  “Exactly my
point,” Daisy said with a confident smile. “Like I said...Poseidon.”

  “So let me make sure that I'm getting this straight. You see a wave break on a beach...that's all Poseidon? Or you find a dead jellyfish washed up on shore...is that also Poseidon? Every little thing that happens inside of the sea or that has anything to do with the ocean...it can all be summed up with that one name?”

  Daisy looked a bit offended, or at least put out. “It's still mindboggling that you're still such a skeptic of him, even after what you've already seen.”

  “And just what is it that I have already seen? Since you know me so well.”

  “What you saw during what happened back at headquarters, of course! You might recall it. The water everywhere. The guy whose body was literally made out of water drops. Surely you remember that.”

  They were back to that initial debate and she was still doing her best to try to convince him that all of that had been the work of a fictional deity. This was why it was hard to work with her, because she seemed to intentionally be trying to push his buttons after knowing that he wasn't the believer that she was.

  “It's hard to forget it,” Sam said. “I remember it perfectly. It was very, very vivid. What I don't remember is there being any proof or even a tiny bit of indication that it had anything to do with Poseidon.”

  “No indication?” She snorted. “All of it was indication! Obviously! The whole thing!”

  “I disagree.”

  “Disagree all you want. You are just refusing to believe the obvious answer.”

  “No, I'm just looking at the facts. The facts aren't biased against you, and they definitely don't support your big theory.” Sam knew that he wouldn't be able to refrain from the debate for long. He was trying to keep an open mind, he really was, but he couldn't support ridiculous conjecture just being tossed around nonchalantly like it was proven to be fact. “There is this thing called confirmation bias. It's the idea that you want your belief to be correct so badly that you will let any bit of information count as evidence that your thought is the right one, even when it's not.”

  “So that's what you think? That I'm just guilty of sticking only to my truth?”

  “You kind of are.”

  “Then you are just as guilty of the same,” Daisy said spitefully. “Your view is just more narrow-minded. That's all.”

  Daisy looked very annoyed. If it were anyone else, Sam might have tried harder to do some damage control, but he wasn't going to for her. The two of them were at a complete and utter impasse when it came to the facts of life. They disagreed even on the most basic of levels. There was no getting around that and no convincing the other one of the truth apparently. It made it very hard to agree on just about anything. She could believe whatever she wanted, the boat was big enough to contain both of their truths—no matter how ludicrous her truth was.

  Sam stared down into the water and tried to imagine some enormous bearded man sitting on a throne on the ocean floor, clutching a giant trident in his hands. How could something like that even be remotely real? The ocean was an enormous, mysterious place, even now, but there was no evidence that a god was lurking down there. He didn't care how many sacrifices used to be performed in Poseidon's honor; it didn't make him any more tangible. All it meant was people were always willing to commit violence in the name of their own beliefs.

  Daisy surprisingly hadn't stormed off and was leaning against the railing beside him still.

  “You have to understand, none of this is easy for me to even try to wrap my head around. I live in a world of facts, of going off of what I see with my own two eyes. You can think that's narrow-minded, I just think it's practical and logical even. That's all. I haven't seen a god with my own eyes, so how exactly am I supposed to believe that he is there?”

  “He is.”

  She didn't even try to elaborate or give him some sort of explanation of why she was such a believer. That was frustrating. If she was going to preach about Poseidon all of the time, she should have at least tried to give him some reason as to why she was so faithful.

  “Tell me, Miss God Expert, since you have all of the answers, what was Poseidon like?”

  “Well that's up for discussion considering that I never met him personally...but based on the old writings from how the ancient Greeks viewed him, he was very much like the sea itself...”

  “Deep?” Sam offered cheekily.

  Daisy couldn't hide the small smile that twisted on her face. “It was more like he was always fluctuating so at times he was pleasant—beautiful even—and then other times he was dominant, dangerous, powerful, overwhelming.”

  “If that was really him demanding the pearl, then I guess that was during one of his more dangerous periods. I guess I always pictured Poseidon as being more of a benevolent deity...riding around on sea horses and things like that.”

  “There aren't many simple personalities in the pantheon of Greek gods. They all have their good sides and their bad. Unlike the omnipotent God a lot of people still worship, the Greeks prayed to were much more fallible beings...gods that were much more human really. It's one of the things that fascinated me most about them.”

  “So if he's so powerful, why not come get his pearls himself? Couldn't he just summon a whirlpool and pull everything into the water to snatch his pearls back? Or send a bunch of crabs to come up to land and get them for him?”

  Daisy shook her head. “That's an impossible question for me to answer. How am I supposed to understand why a god does what he does?”

  “I thought you just said that the Greek gods were more like humans than all-knowing gods. So I don't think it's a big leap to try to get inside of their heads a little. I just think that Poseidon wouldn't be sending us on an errand to get his things back. Why would a god need us? No, I think this is something else...but I'll humor you for a second...what will you do if it is Poseidon?”

  “I'm not the type to brag,” Daisy said. “But I would definitely tell you that I told you so.”

  “Fair enough,” Sam said. “I may not share your faith at all but I have to respect you for not being deterred by anything. Your beliefs remain unshaken.”

  Daisy gave a smirk, and Sam saw the years of her beliefs coming through that smile.

  “They've never been shaken.”

  INTERLUDE – THE MYTH OF DAISY JUDGE

  Daisy Judge always had a deep love, fascination, and appreciation for all of the old myths about the Greek gods. Even the most morbid tales had captured her imagination as a child, far more than any of the usual fairy tales. The Olympians were always much more captivating than those kidnapped princesses that sat in their towers waiting for their knights in shining armor to come galloping to their rescue. Persephone was far better than Rapunzel. Hera was more interesting of a foil than the Evil Queen. The tales of St. George slaying a dragon or King Arthur pulling a sword from a rock were nothing compared to some of the Greek heroes of legend. Hercules didn't just go on one quest, he went on twelve.

  The stories that most people told were created with the intent of entertaining, or at least to teach some sort of life lesson to the listener. They were just fabricated stories from the very beginning. Everyone knew those fairy tales weren't real; no one had ever really believed in them. They weren't considered a valid part of history. In contrast, the stories of the Olympian gods had been seen as far for a very long time. Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Ares, and the rest were all seen as historical figures that continued to have power and sway over the world. Feasts were made in their honor. People were killed in their honor. They were part of everyday life, not just stories to tell around the campfire.

  Eventually, people stopped believing and the Greek gods became just as mythical as dragons, griffins, and wizards. That was always what fascinated Daisy the most. The Greek gods walked the line between reality and fiction. That gave them more weight in her eyes. They weren't just characters in a fable meant to teach a moral; these figures had been worshiped by generations of people
. Some people back then had spent their whole lives as priests dedicated to these characters. For there to be that kind of utter devotion to supposedly fictional beings, there had to be more than just stories, didn't there? Those priests and priestesses must have experienced something concrete—something undeniably real. That was what made Daisy believe there was some truth to all of the myths and she carried that truth with her throughout all of her years.

  In grade school, she excelled at any lessons that had anything to do with the Ancient Greeks. She especially loved the studies about the legendary heroes that were constantly being tested by the gods on Mount Olympus. She used to like to envision herself as one of those chosen heroes. It helped her try harder when she pictured all of those gods looking down on her, curious to see if she would succeed—and she had succeeded. Despite her unorthodox interests, she was able to do what most people only dreamed they would get the chance to do—turn their obsessions into an actual career.

  There were of course many other people in her field that didn't consider her any sort of historian at all. She was seen as lesser because she wasn't talking about well-documented dates, laws, or military campaigns. She was talking about things that most people didn't consider to have ever really happened. It wasn't her job to convince anyone that it was real, even though she believed it was, but instead she just did her best to show people how influential the Greek gods were on the history of the world. She wasn't going to try to prove their existence, but she would prove their importance.

  On the occasions where people needed to know about the punishment of Prometheus or the legend of Persephone and Hades, Daisy proved herself to be one of the first people that were contacted. Everyone was weary with her, like they thought that she wasn't all there in the head, but she didn't mind. They could be uncomfortable all they wanted, she would still do her job well.

  One of the only people that never looked at her funny was billionaire David Purdue. She knew about him and his many exploits all over the world. He was constantly traveling the globe, searching for old artifacts and buried treasure. He was rather famous among some circles for all of his many, many adventures. They had met on a couple of occasions when he was looking for more unorthodox artifacts that pertained to Ancient Greece, but those conversations had only ever been brief interactions. She was just a source he could use when he needed additional, thorough information on something that most historical connections he had would just laugh at. She took all of it seriously, and he seemed to appreciate that. She always enjoyed speaking with him when he needed assistance.