[ sea ] of nightmares

keto ◤ goddess of sea monsters ❝ is this a dream or a nightmare come true ? voices everywhere, calling from the dark . there's an ill moon raising in the blue horizon . without salvation, we are doomed into the void. ❞

[krataiis-blog1]

sxnguineus:

           glancing from the man lying facedown on the sidewalk to the woman who thought nothing of poking at a wild beast with a stick of mischievousness, eyes the color of coals gleaming with disinterest, seung offered a shrug at her rather foolish question. “the chase is half the thrill,” he replied simply, a cruel twist to his lips as he gave the body a sharp nudge, not bothered by the drunkard’s grunt of pain. “and this sad sack of meat would make for a poor meal. you, on the other hand … ” he flashed a look of feral intent, sensing the predator lurking beneath her skin. “you i wouldn’t mind ripping limb from limb.”

  Typical predator. Head cocked, Keto continued to observe the bloodthirsty man in silence, a look of faint curiosity glittering in her cold, dark eyes. He was clearly of Asian descent, his stature one of intimidating, battle-hardened warrior. But that didn’t explain this ... eerie feeling he gave off, causing the skin of her nape to prickle and tighten with unease. She was no stranger to dangerous monsters – as the mother of such monsters herself, very little caught her off guard even now. Yet this one did. Only a little – but it was enough to irk her. “Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” she replied evenly, her instincts urging her to take a few steps away from this unidentified threat. But did she listen? No. “This kind of raw meat – ” she pulled on the fleshy part under her arm and sighed – “is actually quite stringent. Ew, right?” Even though he never said he wanted to eat her, only rip her limb from limb, that didn’t change the outcome. So at least her response made sense in both contexts ... maybe.

[krataiis-blog1]

impavidcs:

❛     I WISH IT WERE THAT SIMPLE.    ❜    Good versus evil – it’s such an abstract concept that very few people take into account the fact that one cannot exist without the other. They may duke it out a few times, but the idea that good always triumphs over evil is a callow viewpoint.    ❛    THAT’S THE THING ABOUT BOOKS – THEY’RE REAL GOOD AT EXAGGERATING IDEAS, OFTEN IN THE MOST ENTERTAINING WAYS.    ❜    He’s read quite a few books over the years, enough to fill at least a hundred libraries, so he can definitely attest to that, especially since his own story has been exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness.

❛     HONESTLY? … NO. NO, I DON’T,    ❜     Expelling a big sigh of regret for having to speak such a harsh truth, Achilles regards the woman with something very close to curiosity.     ❛     THIS KIND OF JOB ISN’T SOMETHING I CAN JUST QUIT.    ❜      Even if most days, he wishes he could.

  “Or ... you’re overthinking it,” Keto returned, a bit of bite in her tone. She didn’t have anything against this man personally – it was just that Achilles was so depressing to be around sometimes – but maybe if he learned to lighten up some, she wouldn’t have the urge to throw the pepper shaker at him; and if he was allergic to pepper, then all the better. “Do people even read books anymore? I use mine for a doorstopper. They work pretty well, you know.” This was supposed to be the age of technology. Books were fast becoming a thing of the past – like common courtesy and common sense. “Better get with the times, old man. Fossils like you ought to be on display in a museum somewhere, not traipsing down Freemont Street without a care in the world.” No one wanted or deserved to be exposed to his bleak existence, especially not that poor child staring at them from across the bar. Someone must have mistaken him for a man-child.

  “Why not?” She wanted to roll her eyes at his absurd response – so she did. “Jobs were originally created for the sole purpose of quitting them. I think they call it job-hopping.” Apparently, it was the in-thing now. Or could be, it always was.

[krataiis-blog1]

sonnysong:

sonny held back a yelp as the triple torpedoes came straight for him. he tried to escape into the ocean but the force was still so strong, pushing him back and causing him to tumble backwards in cycles. once he got his bearings, he growled, fins along his back ruffling. he couldn’t fight this bitch from the sea, but if he were to get out and go into his human form, he’d be even weaker. he had to be smart, had to trick her into weakening herself.  he swam closer to the woman, head coming out of the water just enough for his eyes to be visible, flashing bright green, then lifting his whole head above the water before he spoke. “why don’t you come closer and fight me with your fists. i’m just a simple merman. i mean no harm. you can easily defeat me.” he smirked a bit, knowing the words this woman wanted to hear. she was a fighter, he could tell. so why not bring her in for a fight?

  Direct hit. 

  She wanted to triumphantly throw her fist in the air – giving him a thumbs down in the process – but a goddess of her standing really shouldn’t practice the art of sore winning. So instead, Keto tossed him a victorious look, one with a grin that stretched across her lips, wide enough to show teeth. It wasn’t that she enjoyed fighting, but, well ... maybe she did? Maybe she just liked putting other creatures in their place. Maybe she liked robbing them of hope. 

  Or maybe she was bored. 

  Either way, she was having fun at the expense of this sea critter who couldn’t be bothered to leave the safety and comfort of the ocean. 

  And it was that particular mindset that gave his words the chance to crawl beneath her skin, burrowing deep. “Fight you ... with my fists?” She repeated aloud, pondering the idea for a good, long minute before finally reaching a decision. “Fine – if that’s what you want.” Three steps closer, and her feet were in the water, submerged up to her ankles. 

  It never even occurred to her that this could be exactly what he wanted ... and needed – to turn things around in his favor.

         She was simply in it for the fun ... and the complete erasure of boredom. Was that so wrong?

“Can I?” Keto eyed him thoughtfully, slowly moving closer, the water level rising with each carefully planned step. “Are you really that easy to defeat?” And here she was, hoping for a bit of a challenge.

[krataiis-blog1]

sonnysong:

“i don’t care how worthy you think you are. your life has nothing to do with mine, so back off.” the water started to boil around him, burning his scales and making the water unbearably hot. sonny freaked, not realizing the woman was a creature. fuck! in that case, sonny had no second thoughts about his next move. he focused his energy on the water around him, trying to ignore the burning feeling and instead, use it to his advantage. he reached out his hand, extending his arm towards the woman and watched as the water forcibly shot out and aimed straight for her. 

  What a sourpuss. He was even grumpier than what’s-his-name-who-slayed-the-lion-and-stole-a-few-golden-apples. But then, those two fools probably had more in common than they realized. Perhaps she should introduce them. “But I don’t want to back off.” Bottom lip poking out in a childish pout, Keto crossed her arms, refusing to budge an inch. “I’m having way too much fun at your expense.” And no one – absolutely no one – came between Keto and her fun. Unless you were a ball of hot, boiling water. Shrieking in surprise when the water she’d only just brought to a boil suddenly hit her square in the face, sending her sprawling to the ground, she wiped at her face with her forearm, her skin running a little warmer than normal thanks to the water splat. 

  Oh, who was she kidding? 

        It burned.

  “Well done,” she harrumphed – and no, she wasn’t talking about her skin. “Giving as good as you get – but you know what that means, right?” She tossed him a cold, reptilian smile full of anticipation. “War.” And with that, she launched three times as many water torpedoes, aiming for his face as well – returning fire with fire. She could manage that much, at least.

[krataiis-blog1]

sonnysong:

the girl’s backtalk shocked sonny, but he still was quick enough to snarl, his true form showing his slightly jagged teeth like sharp fangs. eyes bright blue as he looked up at the girl, his anger coursing through his veins. “what is it to you? you aren’t worthy of anything to do with me, so why don’t you get lost.”

  His jagged, pointed teeth, similar to a shark, instinctively brought a dark, curious smile to her lips. What manner of creature was he to possess such fine teeth? “Oh, I’m sure my worthiness is far greater than you realize.” Especially since she’d once been renowned as the goddess singlehandedly responsible for giving birth to the most dangerous creatures known to mankind and mythology. “Or perhaps you simply refuse to accept that there are other, far more dangerous creatures out there who rule over the sea.” In fact, she was one of them – or used to be. “Why don’t you make me?” Her smile turned challenging then as she leaned forward, her fingers skimming the surface of the water and suddenly bringing it to a boil, essentially turning it into a hot spring – more on the side of hot than spring. But alas, she would have had more control over it if the mortals hadn’t made certain to take that control away from her. 

Annoying pests.

[krataiis-blog1]

sonnysong:

“and why’s that?” sonny asked, his tone not at all forgiving. “should i be more explicit and tell you to get the fuck out of here? or would you like me to get you to leave?” his threat was only slightly fake, he knew he was a bit stronger when in his true form, but even then he was still considerably weak and couldn’t do much to get the girl to leave. 

  "Awe. Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the coral reef this morning?” Folding her arms across her chest and widening her stance – only slightly; to clearly convey her scornful amusement with her adopted pose – Keto contemplated getting in the water. At least then they’d be on equal footing. “With that nasty hostility at your beck and call, I can’t help but wonder what exactly it is you’re trying to hide.” It was a shot in the dark, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that his immediate rise to her provocation had something to do with his reason for staying water-bound.

[sonnysong]

sonny needed this, this escape from the outside, gravel world. his body was itching to get back into the water, to swim freely and not worry about people hurting him. he knows he could never be that free, but under the dark sky, with only the moon lighting the ocean top, he could pretend… for one night. he stripped down nude, staring at the ocean with the biggest smile, running towards the shoreline as fast as his pained legs could carry him. as soon as he hit the water, he was overpowered by the calming feeling. 

he ran deeper into the water, now waist deep, and dove in. he felt his legs merge together, fin growing from the human toes he was forced to use on land. the gills on the sides of his neck springing to life, taking in the water and allowing him to breathe. his fingers webbed slightly at the crease, his shimmering scales coating his arms and tail, giving off their beautiful blue and purple color. 

sonny swam for hours, zipping through the coral and flipping around the algae. he felt alive, for the first time in months, he felt free. he swam towards the surface, his eyes peaking over the line, when he saw someone by the shore. he was sure he was well hidden in the dark, but the moon’s light gave a silhouette of sonny’s head. he went under quickly and swam towards the person, looking back up out of the water at the person, eyes flashing blue with distaste and anger. he kept his gills under the water, in fear that the person would see them. thankfully he was still able to talk and looked seemingly normal from this view.

“you shouldn’t be here.” he snarled. 

[krataiis-blog1]

  The longing suddenly hit her, and before she knew it, she was standing on the shoreline of the closest body of water – quite large for its location – toes sinking into the cool, wet sand as she gazed out across the ocean, the deep blue of the water shimmering in the moonlight. It was quiet and serene, the soft, night breeze wafting through her hair; it reminded her a little of home – before she’d discovered the joys of wreaking havoc with the very sea creatures she’d governed over. Quiet, serene ... and boring. Perhaps it was time to wreak a little havoc of her own then. At least that was the plan – until some poor, misguided waterboy chose that moment to pop up. If she’d had a mallet on hand, she would have taken it to his angry, little head. “I must have missed that memo.” Keto threw a derisive eye roll at the boy, tempted to complete the look of disdain with a curled lip – but decided to save that one for later. “I wasn’t aware this was a private beach ...” But even if she had been, she would’ve ignored it. “You should make an exception just this once.” More demand than plea.

[krataiis-blog1]

inamatxs:

❛   AND WHAT UNDERWATER ROCK DID YOU CRAWL OUT OF?  ❜   Her lips flattening into a line of irritation, Aphrodite crosses her arms — as though waiting for more witty remarks to tumble from Miss Congeniality’s lips.  ❛   BECAUSE I’M PRETTY SURE IT’S CALLING YOU BACK. ❜  unless it’s like her and wants nothing to do with the Goddess of Sea Monsters. Can’t really blame it there.  ❛   AND BESIDES, YOUR WITTY NEEDS WORK. IT’S SHOWING QUITE A FEW WEAKENED SPOTS HERE AND THERE. ❜ 

 “No rock this time,” Keto returned with a dry chuckle, initiating a long, dramatic pause as she casually circled Aphrodite, searching for that ever present weak spot in her armor. 

Ah. 

There. 

“Still avoiding that big lug of a dildo, Ares, I see.” She clucked her tongue in feigned disappointment and shook her head. “You really should consider getting back in the game, love. Just because one man thought it’d be fun to bag and tag the beauteous goddess of all things lust ... Really, now, there is such a thing as letting bygones be bygones, in case you didn’t know ... ”

[sxnguineus-blog1]

            head cocked as he watched the human stagger toward him, the stench of alcohol surrounding him, seung held perfectly still — like a statue — waiting to see what he would do. but then, the alcohol finally catching up to him, the man dropped like a lead balloon, kissing the pavement in a drunken tangle of limbs. “first time the prey’s come to me,” he murmured, nudging the body none-too-gently with the toe of his boot. “not so sure i want it, though.”

[krataiis-blog1]

  Staring after the punch-drunk mortal, Keto tracked the man’s progress with an amusedly curious head tilt, speculating on just how far he would get before he face-planted on the sidewalk. One ... Two ... And there he went. Smirking, she started in the direction of the downed mortal, only pausing when another man - this one giving off the aura of a predator - stepped into the picture. Metaphorically speaking, of course; he’d been standing there all along, watching the man like a hawk. “Why?” Sidling up to his side, she looked from the would-be predator to his would-be prey. “Is it the chase you’re after?”

[inamatxs]

❛   THIS IS RIDICULOUS,  ❜   Aphrodite harrumphs, the brown of her gaze scanning the flier as though in search of the fine print that would mark it as a hoax — Looking for love lost or never found? Then look no further, for the Love Guru is on the case. Let your journey to love begin!   ❛   AS IF THIS IMBECILE KNOWS THE FIRST THING ABOUT FINDING LOVE. ❜  If love is meant to be easily found, then what reason would there be for her existence?

[krataiis-blog1]

  “Ridiculous,” Keto parroted, rather enjoying seeing the Goddess of Love in such a tizzy over something as insignificant as a flier. Just how many years had it been since their last ... talk? A millennium? Maybe two? “Dearie me, you seem quite ... agitated. Could it be a minor case of the jellies? Afraid that some imbecilic human might accomplish what you were never able to – find love?”

[krataiis-blog1]

unseeliexlinnea:

“I never said it would be spectacularly skilled,” she conceded as she looked down into the water, gauging the depth. Looking back up, she smiled mischievously. “Id say I would either belly flop a make an impressive splash, or end up feet first and landing on the head of one of your dear friends.” She raised a brow at the woman’s agreement. “I would rather not get in trouble with the law for attempted murder, but if we can find a way around that, I saw a sign for the staff break room.”

  “A spectacular belly flop might earn you more brownie points,” Keto pointed out, almost gleeful at the prospect of seeing a belly flop landing. Apparently, the impact stung. “After all, I very much doubt my dear friends would take kindly to a foot in the face.” Who would?

  Smirk teeming with mischief, she gave the woman an amused once-over – before averting her gaze to the tank, already imagining what it would look like filled to the brim with screaming, crying employees desperate to escape the deadly jaws of the very sharks they spent their work hours feeding – and mocking – from the safety of the platform.

  “Fool the eyes – fool the senses,” she replied helpfully. “I’m sure we can make it look like an accident. No one need ever know it was planned from the start.”

[impavidcs]

❛   — IT’S NEVER-ENDING, ISN’T IT?  ❜   Achilles murmurs into the crowded bar, the steady stream of conversation around him filling the atmosphere with a feeling of pleasantness that is sometimes hard to find on one’s own. Or it would have been if not for the six o’clock news — man in his mid-thirties storms the family home of a newly hired kindergarten teacher who coincidentally took his place yesterday.  ❛   BUT I GUESS I WOULDN’T HAVE A JOB IF THESE KINDS OF THINGS DIDN’T HAPPEN ON A REGULAR BASIS …    ❜    He adds in a somber tone, eyes narrowed on the television screen. 

Is that not why Enoch created him in the first place? To combat evil?

[krataiis-blog1]

  “Disillusioned?” Keto inquiried from one table over, chin cradled in the palms of her hands as she looked from the television screen to its somber viewer. “Good’s supposed to always triumph over evil, you know – I’ve read the books.” Okay, that was a bald-faced lie. But seeing how downtrodden the man looked, she’d felt the need to say it. Her method of attack had always been to poke at a festering wound until it finally opened, and blood oozed out of it. And emotional wounds were the worst. 

  “Do you honestly think you could have changed the outcome of that travesty?” How positively ... human of him – but also self-righteous and conceited. “You could always look for another job.”

[eireneofathens]

lesser-known greek goddesses/personifications (+)

“But [Keto] she bore another unmanageable monster like nothing human nor like the immortal gods either, in a hollow cave. This was the divine and haughty Ekhidna, and half of her is a Nymphe with a fair face and eyes glancing, but the other half is a monstrous snake … [and] Keto, joined in love with Phorkys, mothered the youngest of the deadly Drakones … that one which guards the all-golden applies.”

[krataiis-blog1]

unseeliexlinnea:

“Not particularly, but if I do end up in the water, you can be assured it will be a spectacular dive.” Linnea grinned at the woman. She noted the use of the word mortal, wondering what the other thought she was. Those who didn’t live in the Court rarely knew her status, and she wasn’t one to reveal it. “We’re not much better, most of the time. For example, if I were you, I’d take a few of the so-called caretakers and see if they can handle being tossed to their charges.”

  “You sound sure,” she murmured, her interest piqued by this woman. It had been such a long time since she’d found anyone or anything interesting, and she’d missed the feeling. Going through life on autopilot, with nothing to distract you from the tedium of one’s day, was not her idea of fun. It never had been. And surprisingly enough, her interest had nothing to do with this woman’s ... designation. Human, creature, or tree – it mattered not. “You would need great skill to turn an accidental fall into a spectacular dive ... ” Was it wrong of her that she actually wanted to test this little assurance of hers? 

  “And who is this we you refer to?” Surely not her. As the goddess of sea monsters, it would be downright rude of her not to – at least – learn a little something about the sea life she’d watched over for centuries. “But you raise an excellent point. Why not throw these so-called caretakers to their charges? Shall we hunt a few up here and now?” That certainly sounded like fun.

[krataiis-blog1]

unseeliexlinnea:

“Terrifying,” the blonde replied dryly, a hint of amusement in her eyes. Linnea leaned into the railing more and raised a brow at the brunette, daring her to stop her. “I hear they keep the fish here well fed. Maybe not the patrons, though, or maybe that’s just you?”

   “Do you want to fall in?” Keto asked, a little more sharply than she intended. But she had to admit, such actions wrought little more than curiosity on her part – with a bit of a challenging undertone. It was like this woman wanted to see what she would do. Interesting. “They try, but since most mortals have little understanding of the creatures they hope to profit off of ... Well, I’m sure you can see our little dilemma here.” They only cared about the bottom dollar; the needs of their products rarely came into play. “Can you blame me for wanting to help the poor creatures to a bedtime snack?”

[merflk]

M Y T H S: Keto

KETO (Ceto) was the goddess of the dangers of the sea and, more specifically, of sea-monsters, whales and large sharks (all called ketea in Greek). She consorted with her brother Phorkys (Phorcys) to produced a brood of fearsome monsters including–the she-dragon Ekhidna (viper), sailor-devouring Skylla (crab), the hundred-headed serpent Ladon, the one-eyed Graiai (grey ones), and the petrifying Gorgones (terrible ones). [x]

[primordialnyx]

Obscure Immortals - Keto

Keto/Ceto is the goddess of the dangers of the sea, specifically sea monsters. The most known monster created by Keto was the Gorgons, especially the birth of Medusa.