On the coast of the Jarvist Ocean there was a small fishing town.  In the town there was a Temple of Luthor like there are in many places in Anyuk.  A young man by the name of Jerick devoted most of his time at the temple as a guard with hopes of becoming an officer of Luthor some day.  In the times he wasn't in the temple, Jerick liked to take his small sailboat out onto the waters of the Inner Sea.  He loved the sea very much and had dreams of living on the sea at some point in his life.  Of course there is always more than one thing a young man would dream about.  There was a beautiful young maiden, Krista, with long golden hair and eyes of the deepest blue.  When Krista was close, you could catch the sweet scent of honeysuckle and smell a hint of lilac, at least that's what Jerick would tell you.

     For almost a year, Jerick and Krista courted.  The time they spent together was always filled with laughter and love.  One of their favorite things to do was to take a picnic lunch to a special location beside the seashore.  Not many people knew of this little secluded spot and the couple called it their special secret.  The lovers spent many hours there talking of their future together, happy to be in each other's company.

     All seemed right in the world for the lovers.  Jerick had finally come to the decision to ask for Krista’s hand in marriage.  On one warm summer evening he told her he had something special to show her.  She questioned him but Jerick said he could only show her once they were out on the water in his sailboat.  Jerick wanted everything to be perfect when he asked Krista to marry him and being on the waters of the sea seemed to be the most romance place to be.  Krista could hardly contain her excitement but Jerick persisted in telling her she had to wait.

     Jerick sailed his small boat to a point just off the shore of their special secret.  As the reds and oranges of the sunset turned the waters to a brilliant crimson the young guard of Luthor took his love's hand in his, looked deep into her eyes as asked her to marry him.  Before she could answer, Jerick removed a crystal ring from his pocket and said with a smile, “this is the surprise”.

     Krista threw her arms around Jerick’s neck and kissed him.  “Oh, of course I’ll marry you”, she said.  The excited couple talked all the way back to the docks about plans of a wedding.  Oh how grand the wedding was going to be.  The families of Jerick and Krista took the news of their union with great joy and happiness.  Everyone concerned looked forward to the couple taking up a household together.

     As with many things in life, a darkness can come in to over shadow it.  That's what happened with Jerick and Krista.  The plans of their wedding were progressing well until a handsome stranger entered the little fishing community.  The stranger was a fine looking man, tall and strong.  His only purpose in life was to cause mischief, it was what made him happy.

     It was strange the way the women of the town started flocking to this stranger.  Rumors circulated that there was magic involved somehow.  He seemed to have a charisma and charm that drew women to him.  Krista wasn't immune to the stranger's charm either, to Jerick’s dismay.  Krista, at first, started planning her day so she would be near the stranger when ever possible.  Many of the other young ladies would do the same thing but the stranger seemed to have picked Krista above the others to give his attentions to.  First it was polite greetings that turned to polite conversation.  But as the days past there was flirting and more private talks during supposed harmless lunches between friends.

     The more time Krista spent politely, so to speak, talking to the stranger meant that she was spending less time with Jerick and their wedding plans.  Needless to say, Jerick was becoming very jealous, more each passing day.  It seemed that Krista and the other women in town were under some kind of spell.  However, Krista would always be able to defuse Jerick’s anger and jealousy by telling him that the stranger and her were only friends.  They had found that they had a few things in common that they liked to talk about.  Jerick would always calm down after this, mainly because his love was so strong and he trusted Krista’s every word.  That is until one fateful day after a long shift in the Temple of Luthor.  Jerick had decided to take his sailboat out for a relaxing sail to relieve the day's tensions.

     Lost in his thoughts, Jerick didn't notice the storm blowing in.  When he did notice he turned his small craft around to head back to the docks before the storm overtook him.  He didn't realize where he had even sailed due to his mind being on the many things that happened during the day.  Jerick had sailed his small boat past Krista and his special spot.  What Jerick saw as he sailed past froze his heart.  On the shore, where he and Krista had spent so many happy moments, were the stranger and in his arms, was Krista!

     Jerick’s eyes filled with tears of rage and anger.  As Jerick turned his boat toward the shore he stood up to shout his curses.  At the same time the seas, becoming ruff from the storm, sent a wave up and over the bow of Jerick’s small boat knocking him in the turbulent waters.  Jerick was a strong swimmer but the stormy waters were stronger.  Jerick was unable to stay above the surface for very long.  With his last breath, Jerick cries to his god.  “Luthor, I beg you.  Grant my revenge before I die!”

     Blackness was coming to Jerick’s vision as he sank below the surface.  In his clouded sight a golden skinned hand reached out to him.  Cenob had come to lead Jerick to the afterlife.  However, Luthor, god of vengeance, had heard Jerick’s prayer and decided to intervene.  Before Jerick could take Cenob’s hand, Luthor spoke.

    “Wait, this mortal's job is not finished here.  Death may not claim him yet”.  The voice of Luthor boomed in Jerick’s head.

    “You have not right, he is mine now.  Go back to your truth and law”.  Cenob hissed.

     For the next few minutes the two gods argued over Jerick.  The young guard of Luthor floated in and out of consciousness, never knowing for sure what was going on.  A decision was made soon after though.  Jerick would be granted his revenge.  Luthor reasoned with Cenob that if Jerick were allowed vengeance there would be three souls instead of the one for the god of Death.  Reluctantly, Cenob agreed to extend Jerick’s life long enough to extract his vengeance.  Luthor nodded to the god of Death and turned to leave, touching Jerick as he left.  When the god of revenge was gone, Cenob prepared Jerick for his life's extension.

     Cenob, however, was angry at the interference by another god and changed the way Jerick would live out the rest of his borrowed time.  The god of Death waved his golden hand over the young man, taking the soul and consciousness away from the mortal body.  Once the body was cast aside, Cenob placed the essence of Jerick in the sinewy limbs of the kelp that grew abundantly in the area.  With a malicious laugh, Cenob left the man to figure out how to finish the business left to him.

     Jerick woke confused.  His memory of what happened was vague.  Then as he fully came to a wakeful state he panicked.  “My god!  What have you done to me?”  Jerick screamed.  His fear and anxiety overwhelmed him, he wasn't in his own body.  When Jerick was able to calm himself down and think, the memories of what happened came back to him.  The betrayal, the storm, his drowning and last prayer to Luthor, and then the arrangement with Cenob opened in his mind.  Jerick tried to explore his new surroundings and found that he was now quite able to breath under the water, control the sinewy vines of his seaweed arms, and was able to see and hear through senses he didn't know he had.  Jerick could sense the fish swimming near his plant like body, feel the sun's rays warming up the water and hear the crashing of the waves on the shore not so far away.  Next for Jerick was to solve the puzzle of how to fulfill his revenge.

    For days he puzzled over what to do. In that time Jerick learned how to use his leafy arms to grab fish and hold them tightly to absorb it's nutrients.  Time seemed unimportant to Jerick now, so time to plan meant nothing.  It must have been weeks after his fate caused the untimely loss of his body when he came up with what must be done to satisfy his need for revenge.  Stretching his leafy arms, Jerick set the trap, which he hoped, would catch his deceitful Krista and the devil of a man who took her away.

    When the pieces of Jerick’s small boat washed to shore and were found Krista was heartbroken, even though she knew that she was partly to blame for Jerick’s death.  Both families, Krista and Jerick’s, grieved the loss together.  In the background, the stranger, Cidious, silently laughed.  He had never liked the temple guard and couldn't see why Krista was in love with him.  Cidious could now move in to take Krista for his own without having to deal with getting rid of Jerick himself.

    Krista in her time of grief looked for comfort and, of course, Cidious was there.  His words were soothing to the emotional girl.  Cidious had a way of always saying the right things at the right time.  However, people began to talk and gossip about how quickly Krista was getting over the loss of her love and how it seemed suspicious that she was always seen with the dark stranger.  Rumors started to flow from neighbor to neighbor that there most have been a plot between Krista and Cidious to kill Jerick.

    With any good rumor, everyone always hears them sooner or later.  When Krista did hear what was being said about her, she flew off in a rage.  To prove to everyone that she would never have betrayed Jerick she went down to the special spot to plant a white rose in the place where they had spent so much time.  The rose had been Jerick’s favorite and Krista was going to carry a bouquet of them with her went they were married.

    Tears welled up in Krista’s eyes as she carefully planted the small rose bush.  Tears of sorrow and tears of guilt flowed together down her cheeks.  All she could think of was how the rumors were so close to being true.  It was her fault that Jerick was catch in the storm.  If only he hadn't seen her and Cidious on the shore of the special spot none of this would have happened.  Thoughts of her guilt ran through Krista’s mind.  She couldn't block out how terrible she was to be seen in another man's arms by Jerick.

    While Krista wept, Cidious watched from the shadows of a rocky outcrop, he had followed her.  Cidious waited for the right moment to show himself.  When Krista finished scooping the final bit of dirt over the roots of the rose plant, Cidious walked into view.

    At first Krista was angry that he had followed her and she was also having trouble looking Cidious in the eye for what they had done to Jerick.  But of course, the dark stranger was able to talk his way to forgiveness, be it by charm or by magic.  In no time, Krista was in his comforting arms once more.  She didn't even realize that they were standing in the same spot as the fateful day that they were caught by Jerick.  Neither Krista nor Cidious had noticed that the sandy beach on which they stood was covered with many fauns of thick leafy seaweed.

    Jerick’s senses perked up at the sound and feel of someone coming down to the beach where his leafy arms lay.  When he heard Krista’s voice and felt the tears dropping onto one of his leafs Jerick almost forgot his revenge and forgave her.  Then that devil of a man, Cidious, came into view.  Jerick’s anger flared once again.  How could she be so heartless, Jerick thought as she slipped into the other man's arms?  The young temple guard of Luthor saw that his vengeance was near.  In their embrace, Krista and Cidious didn't see the leafy vines of seaweed begin to move.

     Jerick used all of his strength to quickly wrap his sinewy arms around the deceitful couple.  The screams of Krista was almost more then Jerick could tolerate but hearing Cidious cry for help far outweighed any feelings he had for his lost love.  With slow agonizing pulls, Jerick dragged the couple into the crystal waters of the little bay.  Revenge was sweet, Jerick found.

    As Krista took her last breath of air she could her the voice of Jerick.  “I loved you Krista”, it whispered.  Cidious struggled for all he was worth but he couldn't break free of the binding vines of Jerick’s seaweed arms.  “Cenob is waiting for you”, Jerick told the two deceivers as he finished dragging them below the surface.

    Jerick’s spirit and soul left the leafy plant soon after Krista and Cidious were taken by the god of Death to find it's final resting place.  Krista’s afterlife will be one of torment for what she did while she lived.  To Cenob’s displeasure, the soul of Cidious was taken from him.  Another god had intervened were death was concerned.

    It was said that the white rose Krista planted bloomed white only once.  The next time a bud was seen on the rose it was a deep crimson.  It was also said that in a town not to far away on the shore of the Jarvist Ocean a dark stranger that could charm any woman was seen talking to a young girl about the same age as Krista.