Theocles ran along the beach, laughing as his bare feet kicked up sand and spray. It was beautiful out here, away from the noise and smells of the town. He knew his mama would yell at him for sneaking out alone, but she’d be wrong. He wasn’t alone.
“Theo!” a voice behind him cried. “Wait, slow dow—umph!”
Theo turned and giggled. His best friend lay sprawled face down on the sand, legs kicking uselessly in the air. Theo clapped two hands over his mouth to stifle his laughter as best he could—Hali wouldn’t appreciate it, no matter how funny he looked, flailing like an upturned turtle.
Hali looked up, white sand all over his chubby brown cheeks and frizzy black curls. He blew the sand off his lips and pouted at Theo. “It’s not funny. You always run too fast.”
“Sorry,” Theo said, walking back to his friend. “I forgot about your legs. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Hali insisted, rubbing the sand off his cheeks. He tried to sit up, but his legs had clearly stopped cooperating—they just flopped randomly in every direction. He bit his lip, looking close to tears.
Theo’s laughter died immediately, replaced by guilt and concern. He knelt beside his friend and helped him sit up. He checked Hali for cuts and bruises, carefully running his olive-skinned hands over his friend’s arms and legs.
There was a little scrape on Hali’s elbow, but it didn’t look bad. Theo wiped away the drop of golden blood and waited for another that never came.
“Yeah, you’re fine,” Theo said, then grinned. “But you’ve got sand in your hair.”
Hali shook his head, spraying sand everywhere. Theo jerked back, closing his eyes against the grains, and both boys giggled.
“Now you’ve got sand in your hair,” Hali said. He was smiling, but not doing a very good job—his lower lip kept wobbling.
“You’ll get good at legs soon,” Theo said, patting his friend’s shoulder. “And anyway, you swim better than anyone.”
Hali sighed and looked down at his legs. They rippled like water, morphed and shifted. A moment later, his true lower half appeared—eight octopus tentacles that curled and twisted nervously. As Theo expected, the usual black color was mixed with blotches of blue and purple—Hali’s sad and anxious colors.
“But I wanna run,” Hali said, pouting down at his tentacles. “I wanna…I wanna be with you.”
“Of course you’re gonna be with me,” Theo said, stating the obvious. “You’re my best friend. I like you best in the whole world!”
“But you left!” Hali cried. He grabbed Theo by his tunic, clutching the fabric like a lifeline. “I dreamed you went away, far away, and I couldn’t find you!”
Two pairs of brown eyes met, Hali’s wet with tears and Theo’s wide with horror. That couldn’t be right—Hali was his best friend, the most amazing person in the world. None of the other boys in Thespiae could change colors, or talk to fish, or had such a big collection of shiny shells.
He was cute, too, cuter than any girl, and he made Theo laugh. They told each other everything—stories about the underwater palace and the human town. Hali always believed him. Hali understood him. Hali was special.
The thought of leaving him made Theo’s chest hurt.
“It’s just a dream,” Theo said, putting his arms around Hali. “My mama says dreams aren’t real.”
Hali hugged him back with two human arms and all eight tentacles. The two boys nearly lost their balance, but letting go was scarier.
“Your mama says I’m not real,” Hali pointed out. “And my mama’s a titan. She says there’s two gates dreams come from—Ivory-Gate dreams are fakes, but Horn-Gate dreams are true.”
Hali squeezed Theo tighter, like he thought Theo would disappear any moment. It was a good thing he’d shifted away his suckers—the last time Theo had gone home covered in circular red marks, Mama had thought it was a pox. She didn’t understand.
Hali’s mama understood a lot more things. She was Tethys, wife of Oceanus and queen mother of the sea. She had six thousand and one children, including the river gods, sea nymphs and Poseidon’s wife Amphitrite. She’d even trained Hera to be Queen of the Gods.
She might know better than Theo’s mama.
“So,” Theo asked, reluctantly, “how do you know if it’s a Horn dream?”
“Uhhhhh…” Hali frowned as multicolored confusion swirled along his tentacles. “Ask an…or’cle, I think? An orca whale? I think I know where they live, but I gotta swim a long way…”
“That’s leaving!” Theo cried, pulling Hali in so tight he squeaked. “No leaving, you or me. We’re together forever, I promise.”
“You promise?” Hali asked, looking at him with those big brown eyes. “Forever and ever?”
“Yeah.” Theo nodded. “You promise, too?”
“Of course I promise!” Hali said without hesitation.
“See? It’s fine,” Theo said, then grinned as an idea struck him. “We can even get married, like my sister did—then we’re always together!”
“Oh!” Hali smiled too. He grabbed Theo’s hands. “That’s great! You can live in my house, and I’ll show you everything—”
“Yeah! Oh, wait…” Theo paused. “Wait, no, I can’t live in your house. I’m a boy. My wife’s gonna move into my house.”
“But I’m a boy too!” Hali said, ruffling Theo’s hair with a tentacle. “And I’ve got a way bigger house.”
“My house is big—” Theo began, but Hali wasn’t listening. He grinned, bouncing with energy as his tentacles flashed gold with joy.
“My house is almost as big as Cousin Poseidon’s!” Hali grinned so brightly that the sun seemed dark. “It’s so big your mama and papa and brother and sister can all come live with us. There’s music and food and dolphin rides. The only thing missing is other kids, so when you come, it’ll be perfect!”
The joy on Hali’s face—and the promise of dolphin rides—won Theo over. “All right, you’re the husband and I’m the wife,” he said decisively. What else had his sister done? “So we need bride-gifts. And songs, and torches, and a pro-sesh-un…”
“That’s a lot,” Hali said, making a face.
“…and a kiss, I think,” Theo concluded. “But the kiss part’s easy.”
“Yeah,” Hali said, then bit his lip and looked at Theo. “The kiss is easy so…do that first?”
Theo swallowed. His hands were sweaty all of a sudden, his stomach full of strange fluttering. This was part of being married, something grown-ups did all the time…so why did it make him anxious? Why were Hali’s tentacles sprouting little purple dots among the gold and black?
“Right…” Theo fidgeted. “So, I think we close our eyes?”
Hali nodded. They both closed their eyes and leaned in slowly. The first time they missed, bumping noses instead of lips, and started giggling.
Still laughing, they got it on their second try.
Hali’s lips were warm, smooth, impossibly soft. It was just a peck, light and gentle, but Theo’s heart still fluttered—too fast, too loud, like he’d run a mile. It was scary. It was wonderful.
“Uh,” Hali said when they pulled back. His blush was faint on his dark skin and his tentacles were sun-bright gold. “Right. Yes. Bride-gift, now?”
“B-bride-gift,” Theo said, trying to remember how to breathe.
“Wait here,” Hali said, and his smile was bright and sweet and soft. “I’ve got—no, it’s a surprise—just wait here!”
He swarmed down the beach, tentacles flailing at the sand until he reached the water, almost falling over twice on the way. The moment he hit the breakers he went from clumsy to graceful. He surged through the waves like a dolphin until he reached deeper water. Then, with a cheery wave and a flip of his tentacles, Hali disappeared beneath the surface.
Theo didn’t stop grinning until he heard the shout.
“Theo!” Mama cried, running down the beach with her braids half-undone. “There you are—we need to go, now!”
She grabbed for his arm, but Theo pulled away.
“Mama, wait.” Theo babbled. He had never seen her so upset. “I’m sorry I ran off, but it’s good, I can—”
“There’s no time.” She caught his hand and hauled him to his feet. “The Theban army’s coming—we need to get inside the walls right now!”
Mama was scared—nothing ever scared Mama. A cold shiver went through Theo, terror he’d never known.
“B-but we can’t leave,” Theo said. He turned to the water and called out frantically. “Hali! Hal—mmmmph!”
Theo’s mother clapped a hand over his mouth. She grabbed him and hauled him bodily up the beach, while he fought to escape.
He’d promised Hali, promised he wouldn’t leave. The dream wouldn’t come true. It couldn’t…
Theo got one last look back over his shoulder, caught one last glimpse of the beach.
A small figure, a familiar one, stumbled out of the water. He ran after the two humans on shaky legs, legs that couldn’t hold him. Something shone in his hand, something bright and beautiful. A polished oyster shell.
Theo couldn’t hear that familiar voice, but he knew it was screaming his name.
Screaming…
Screaming…
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