Perhaps it was the gentleness of her upbringing, or the fierce love that surrounded her, but Aphrodite was not the vain and zealous goddess known later to mortals. No, this Aphrodite was different. She had a family. A childhood. And in that rarest of divine upbringings, she discovered not just eros—the passion of lovers—but all six forms of love the ancient philosophers once pondered: storge, philia, eros, philautia, xenia, and agape.
Her command over storge, familial love, made her the invisible thread that kept their household woven together. Tensions softened when she entered a room. Her smile disarmed even Keto's darker moods. A touch from her was warmth, and laughter followed her like a trailing melody. Her gift for philia drew others to her—not for beauty alone, but for the quiet wisdom in her words, the sincerity in her gaze. Metis often visited her chambers for conversation, as did other sea deities, drawn to Aphrodite’s ease in crafting friendship from thin air.
Eros—romantic love—did stir within her, but it was never reckless. She observed love’s depth and ache with a scholar’s fascination. Her advice was whispered in the ears of gods and mortals alike, and her guidance often sealed unions stronger than oaths.
With philautia, self-love, came her radiant confidence. She stood tall not from arrogance but because she knew herself—what she was, what she wasn’t, and what she might become. She inspired others to love themselves more fully, simply by being unapologetically whole.
Her mastery of xenia transformed their home into a place of sacred hospitality. Guests were always greeted with food, warmth, and grace. Even the gruffest of monsters left softened, lips curled into smiles they hadn’t worn in centuries.
But it was agape, divine love, that made Aphrodite truly divine. She had a gift for seeing through pain, for loving even when it hurt. She was a sanctuary to the broken and the weary. In her presence, sorrow dared not linger long.
“Knowing love, is like knowing the mind—it must be studied, tended, and above all, shared.” was Aphrodite's belief. She effectively became the first and only counsellor in the sea, land, and sky, whose company was sought after by many.
Yet despite her pride as a matchmaker, Aphrodite had not yet found a romantic love for herself. Perhaps that is why she hasn't been able to assume the divine role of the goddess of love and beauty.
While Aphrodite's abilities grew and evolved, Dolus also matured.
Quieter than his sister, Dolus was thoughtful—curious in ways that unnerved even the elders. He asked why more than anything else. Why the tides flowed as they did. Why history repeated. Why the stars whispered to him in his dreams.
And oh, those dreams.
Dolus dreamed of a strange world, unlike the one he knew—where he lived as a mortal, went to school, read for pleasure, and was average in almost every way. The child in his dreams was fascinated with Greek mythology, offering Dolus countless tales to explore. Mortals, of course, were not foreign to him; Cronus, the God King, had already fashioned them. But the mortals Dolus saw in his waking life were nothing like those in his dreams.
The mortals who lived on land above the sea led godlike lives. They never knew suffering or labor. Their deaths were like gentle sleep. No one grew unhappy. Spring was eternal. They aged backward, and in death, they became daemons who wandered the Earth in subtle glory.
But the mortals in his dreams? They toiled. They cried. They aged and withered. Their lives were stitched with pain. They worked endlessly to sustain themselves—and often failed.
At first, Dolus believed these to be fables spun by mortal imagination. But that changed the day he came across the myth of Medusa, and with it, the names of his parents etched on a luminous, moving stone screen. Horrified and captivated, he began reading every myth he could find, each one scrolling across a strange glowing device the mortals called a smartphone. A tool of immeasurable knowledge, it fit in a single hand—divine in its own right.
The more he read, the more vivid the dreams became. And with vividness came pain.
These were not mere dreams—they were brutal, prophetic visions. They always ended in death for the mortal child he shadowed. Worse, any injury the boy suffered echoed in Dolus’s body the next day. In those days, before the god of dreams was born, sleep was a domain of omens and prophecies—not rest.
One morning, Dolus awoke choking on blood, a gash torn across his neck. Chaos erupted through the palace. Keto, enraged, nearly slaughtered every servant in the household before Dolus stopped her with weak hands. Through gritted teeth and pain, he told her everything—the dreams, their consequences.
With no understanding of dream-visions, Keto wasted no time. Just a month after their last visit, she carried Dolus back to her brother, Nereus, the wise man of the sea.
Seeing his sister in her true sea monster form, cradling a wounded boy, Nereus was surprised—but wasted no time. Using his divine gift, he sealed the injury with power woven like stitches from the tides. As Dolus explained the dreams, Nereus listened with growing awe and concern.
“You must be a god of prophecy, like me,” he said gravely. “But as a newly born daemon, you cannot yet wield this gift. The visions bleed into reality. We prophets are mere travelers in a sea of time. If we wade too deep, we drown.”
“You are fortunate,” Nereus continued. “You witnessed only the life of a mortal. Had your visions shown the death of a god—or the destruction of a city—you may not have survived.”
Keto, now in her human form, paled. “Is this... what you meant, long ago? That he wouldn’t live past ten unless we loved both children equally? But—we did. We do.”
Nereus nodded gently. “Then the trial has passed. If you had loved unequally, that wound would’ve been to his heart, not his neck. Still... this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
From that day forward, Dolus avoided the dreams. He tried not to look deeply, letting them pass like currents in the dark. But they were persistent—returning night after night, growing more vivid, more violent. Until, one day, Dolus collapsed. For two full days, he did not wake.
When he finally did, he found he could no longer understand his family. The words in his mouth were foreign to them. He could still speak—but not in Ancient Greek. If a mortal were present, they would have recognized it instantly as English.
Keto, terrified, rushed him once again to Nereus.
The old sea god examined him in silence, patching wounds with the precision of tides. But what troubled him most was not the boy’s injuries—it was the signs of decay. The black pearl embedded in Dolus’s face was fading, melting into his skin. Scales crept up his hands and legs. His vibrant blue eyes were growing cloudy.
“The divinity that once preserved him,” Nereus murmured, “is vanishing... No—worse. It’s being drawn away.”
His eyes turned toward the girl—blonde, bright-eyed, now nearly twelve—who stood nervously nearby.
“What?” Keto’s voice cracked as she turned, monstrous features returning in a flash of panic. “Aphrodite—?”
“N-No! I didn’t do anything!” the girl stammered. “At night, he’s always hurting... so I hold him to help him sleep. I just wanted to help! You said he’d get better!”
Tears streamed down her face as she clung to her brother, who lay sickly and fading.
Nereus’s voice was soft, but firm. “The divinity is being drawn to its source. It’s natural—it’s trying to return to the one who birthed it. Separation may slow the process. Or we may introduce other divinity to sustain him. But these are temporary solutions. Like pouring water into a cracked bowl.”
“Then say it clearly,” Phorcys growled. “What does he need?”
“His own divinity,” Nereus replied. “His own essence. Preferably that which created him—or something close.”
Dolus listened quietly, unable to speak. Keto did not wait. In a blur of scales and sea-serpent wrath, she tore through the currents, heading to the deepest reaches of the sea where her father, Pontos, slumbered.
Phorcys made to follow, but Nereus held him back. “Let her go. For now, take the girl home. The boy needs distance. Deep in your palace, where even my tides can’t reach.”
Phorcys looked at his son, still comforting Aphrodite through pale lips and dimming eyes. He sighed, defeated, and embraced the boy once before leading his daughter away.
As they traveled, Aphrodite looked up at her father with guilt weighing her down.
“Will Dolus be okay?” she asked, voice trembling.
“Yes,” Phorcys replied softly. “Your mother has gone to see your grandfather. He must be able to help after hearing her plight. It's just...Your grandfather is a very powerful and elusive god. I just hope your mother doesn't do anything rash."
"I- I'm going to collect some seashells that brother likes...Can you send them to him please?' she said holding in her tears as she ran out to the sea floor with the other two guardian monsters in tow.
In her tearful view, she came to a deep sea enclave where she found a small clam similar to the clam that birth her and Dolus. She remembers her mother saying that clams were a miracle that birth her her and her brother.
"This! Maybe this can save brother!!" Aphrodite stayed excitedly
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With sudden hope, she turned to the monsters behind her. “Search for more! Ones just like this!”
"Father!!" Keto roared as she surged into the palace beneath the sea, her voice a sonic tide through coral halls. "Father, I need a word! It is an emergency!!"
The sound of hurried footsteps followed
"What's the commotion about? Sister?! This is unlike you," Thaumas, with his wife Electra, rushed over upon hearing the ruckus in the main hall. They usually stayed in the palace with their father. Taking over his work when their father was asleep.
"Where's Father?!!" Keto growled in her monster form, causing Thaumas to frown at his sister's crazed manner.
"Still in his chamber," Electra answered, wisely skipping small talk.
Keto stormed to the sealed door, a barrier forged from the ancient seabed and carved for a titan. Without hesitation, she slammed her mutated arms—now sinewed with scaly mass—into the gate, forcing it open.
Inside, Pontus stirred. Towering at nearly thirty feet, his storm-lit eyes narrowed. "What warrants this chaos?"
"My son—Dolus—he’s dying!" Keto cried, her voice tremulous with dread and wrath. "His divinity is draining, eaten alive by visions of a future that bleeds into his waking flesh. Nereus believes he needs divine essence—something akin to his own origin—or he won’t survive."
Pontus’s gaze sharpened. "...You have a child that is not of the sea’s monstrous blood? That should be impossible." His voice churned like undertow. "Explain."
Keto told him everything—Dolus’s unnatural birth, the dreams of another world, the injuries that carried over, his connection to Aphrodite, and Nereus’s warnings.
Pontus listened intently, his expression darkening with each word. When Keto finished, he sat in silence for a moment, contemplating the gravity of the situation. Finally, he spoke. "It is as Nereus said. Dolus is a god blessed with prophecy, but his power is unstable and consuming him. He needs a source of divinity that can stabilize his essence."
Pontus stood, his immense form casting a shadow over the room. Shrinking his size to match his children, he nodded and motioned for his daughter to lead the way. As a primordial god, he had many descendants, and Dolus was just another one of the bunch. However, what Keto said about Dolus's origin finally convinced Pontus to take action. Fate was something every god was resigned to at birth, whether it be Gaia or any God King that ruled the land. To have someone completely fateless was unheard of...
This meant that their unchangeable fate was no longer so unchangeable...
As Pontus swam to the palace of his eldest son, he pondered the implications. Keto, Thaumas, and Electra followed in tow. Upon arrival, he met the sickly boy who sat quietly before him.
"I, Pontus, god of the sea, bestow upon you the power of the calm sea."
A shimmering blue light descended upon Dolus, but it stuttered—flickered—then recoiled, snapping back to its source.
Pontus’s brow furrowed. "...What?"
"A fateless child cannot inherit divinity," came a voice—mechanical, cold, and absolute. They turned. There stood Order, unnoticed until now, unmoving like a blade drawn from stillness.
The deity repeated himself, seeing the confusion upon the faces of the god infront of him.
"A fateless child cannot accept the divinity of another. And while the process has been sped up, his body would have rejected the divinity he was born with sooner or later. To be a true god, he must find his own divinity and create something himself." All turned to look at the source of the cold voice and saw Order standing silently, unnoticed by the others until now.
"Order," Pontus acknowledged the elder god that was there during his birth a hint of irritation in his voice. "What do you suggest we do then?"
Order's eyes gleamed with an almost mechanical precision. "The boy must discover his own divinity before he dies. This trial of life and death will test whether he can exist in this world as a fateless child."
"How can he do so in such a state? Unable to see, speak, or understand the world around him... How do you expect him to create his own divinity?!" Keto questioned Order, enraged. "Even if he finds or creates a new phenomenon over which he could have divine control over, how do you expect the boy to communicate his findings?!"
"...I understand the child's words. I will stay here to watch over the child as he creates his divinity or dies trying. At this time, no one is allowed to interact or help this child" Order spoke calmly as he held the boy's hand and led him out of the palace.
Keto was about to pounce on the arrogant deity and rip him to shreds, but she was stopped by her father.
"There is no other way. We must wait and see if a miracle takes place..."
Unlike most younger gods, Pontus and other ancient gods knew that Order never showed up anywhere without the guidance of Chaos. If Order states that the child must take a test, then it is the will of Chaos...
And so, on the vibrant seafloor, Dolus followed the cloaked figure into the dark.
(Where are we going?) the boy asked in a strange voice, similar to some sea monsters.
"A place with no life and no gods. The loneliest part of the sea," Order spoke indifferently in the same way back.
(Why?)
"For your test."
(What test?)
"A test for your survival," the cloaked figure spoke coldly. "You have one month to create a divine power, or you shall die."
(Oh.)
"..."
(Can I take some things to the test?)
"Only whatever you see on the way."
As the duo walked silently, Dolus noticed a familiar figure in her stand that she opened as a consulting stand in her free time. It was a little girl with blond hair, angry and sulking.
"Stupid dad. clams are magical...Mother told me so; it can save Dolus... Yet he won't even send it over to Dolus..." Despite her power and amazing ability to understand and guide others, she herself was no different from other 12-year-old girls in her essence.
(May I say farewell...?)
"Very well."
(Please be my translator.)
...sigh. The order looked at the two children before nodding. The duo walked to the sulking girl as the sea monsters growled at the strange cloaked figure warningly but stopped when they noticed Dolus.
(Aphrodite)
"Aphrodite," Order's voice echoed as they approached the sulking girl. Hearing a strange man's voice, she turned around with fear until she met Dolus's eyes. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Dolus!!!" Aphrodite cried, rushing towards her brother. She hugged him tightly, her small frame shaking with emotion. "What's happening? Why are you with this man?"
(It's a long story,) Dolus began, his strange voice echoing through Order as the cloaked man translated. (I have to go on a long journey to find my own divinity. It is my test)
"What? No! You can't go alone!" Aphrodite protested, her eyes filling with tears. "Let me come with you. I can help."
Order's cold voice interjected, "This is a trial he must face alone. Any interference will only hinder his progress."
Aphrodite turned to Order, her expression fierce despite her tears. "He's my brother. I won't let him suffer alone." As she spoke her once blue eyes began to glow a misty purple as her newly developed divine powers came into play...
Remembering the respect his powerful grandfather had shown the deity. Dolus hurriedly tried to stop his sister, trying to soothe her.
(Aphrodite, I have to do this. But I'll come back. I promise.)
The little girl looked deeply at her brother, her eyes full of worry reflecting another pair of blue eyes filled with determination. "You better come back, Dolus. I believe in you. Here," she said, revealing a cloth holding a few clams in it. "I found these when looking for seashells. Mom once told me that clams are magical!! Since we were born from clams!! I think this can heal you!!" the girl spoke brightly, handing the shells to the tiny boy. Dolus looked at the clams in his arms and knew they were just ordinary clams found anywhere in the sea.
Not wanting to make his sister feel worse, Dolus nodded, taking the clams and hiding them carefully.
(Thank you, Aphrodite. I'll keep them safe.)
As the daemon of deceit and treachery, Dolus was born with near complete control over his facial expressions. Where his face will only show the expressions that he wishes to show, with only situations such as extreme shock or pain causing them to show their true feelings, making them the nemesis of abilities such as Ahprodites.
Order, showing a rare moment of understanding, allowed Dolus and Aphrodite a few more moments together before gently pulling the boy away. "We must go."
Aphrodite watched them leave, her heart heavy with worry "Be safe, Dolus," she whispered.
As they travelled, Dolus and Order traversed through the vibrant and life-filled parts of the ocean, heading towards the desolate and empty regions. The journey was arduous, and the closer they got to their destination, the more the environment changed. The once colourful and lively sea turned dark and cold, with nothing but barren rock and silent waters surrounding them.
(How much farther?) Dolus asked, the strain of the journey evident in his voice.
"We are close," Order replied, his tone unchanged. "This is where you will find your divinity, or meet your end."
As they reached the deepest part of the sea, a vast emptiness stretched before them. No light, no life, only overwhelming silence and darkness. Order stopped and turned to Dolus. "This is it. You must stay here and find your power within. I will be nearby, but I will not interfere."
Dolus nodded, feeling a mixture of fear and resolve.
(I'll do my best.)
As Order disappeared into the shadows, Dolus was left alone in the vast emptiness. He sat down, feeling the crushing weight of the deep sea around him. Closing his eyes, he focused inward, searching for the spark of divinity that would save him. In this dark sea, nothing could be created and nothing could be observed. Only the things he picked up on his way to the site could save him now. Dolus knew he needed a divinity that matched his origin, that was worthy of divinity and could be made in the total silence of the sea... He only had a month.
He didn't take much on his way, only the clams and oysters Aphrodite gave him. He carefully cradled them in his hands the whole journey.
When he met Aphrodite and she gave him the clams, he remembered something. Pearls. A treasure of the sea, a symbol of his sister who was born from a clam. Since he was also born from a clam, could he become the God of Pearls? It would be what he was looking for... a divinity that matches his birth and blood.
It was a risky take, but Dolus believed it was the only one suitable. After all, why else were his parents warned to love both children equally, if they wished for Dolus to live past 10? If fate really couldn't affect him, it could only affect those around him in ways that either harmed or helped him. Yet he was dying, and no one had defied the prophecy, so what was the prophecy? Only now did Dolus truly understand it.
If Aphrodite didn't care for him, she would not have spent days collecting these clams to give him, and he wouldn't have been able to meet her to get these clams, making him unable to condense his very own divinity, leading him to die.
Dolus picked up the black shell, then used his divine power to condense a small sphere, then gently opened the gap of the shell and embedded the bead condensed by divine power into the clam's flesh and blood. He is the offspring of Keto, the Danger of the Sea, and Phorcys, the Wrath of the Sea. Although he has not become a god, he still has some divine power.
He did this for every clam in his possession and waited.
Days turned into weeks, and Dolus's condition worsened. His body grew weaker, and the transformation into a sea monster seemed inevitable. But he didn't give up. He remembered his family's faces, their love and belief in him, and their love, which fueled his determination. Each day, he checked the clams, hoping for a miracle.
On the last day of the month, as his strength was nearly spent, Dolus felt a faint pulse of energy from the clams. He opened them carefully with his strange claw-like arms. The shell in front of him suddenly shone brightly. A bead with a light blue halo and a tranquil atmosphere appeared from the shell and fell into his hands. Of the 12 oysters around Dolus, only two held pearls. One was silver with a pink hue, another black with a blue hue. Seeing the two familiar pearls, Dolus smiled heartfully, wondering if it was fate.
Sensing the presence of another, Dolus turned to the shadows where the cloaked man silently watched Dolus.
With trembling hands Dolus displayed the two pearls to the silent man, smiling happily and said, "This is called a pearl, and the shell that gave birth to the pearl is called a pearl oyster. Pearls are treasures nurtured by the ocean and are the only gem in this world that doesn't come from stone."
After Dolus finished speaking, the godhood of pearls appeared in the world and merged into Dolus's body. His body began to grow stronger, and his divine power continued to grow. Magically the scales and deformities within Dolus began to shed off like a second skin turning into a shower of pearls. Order looked at the glistening pearls on the sea floor and resigned the name.
Dolus, the god of Pearls
It can also calm down various psychological instabilities and allow for communication. It can awaken the feeling and memory of crazy monsters, making them quickly fall into a state of bewilderment, so that they will no longer want to attack.