((Hey there! I caught the flu xD And it hated me.))
One day, she would be able to leave Nexus and let him have at his own fetishes without her having to bear witness. The idea of even sampling was enough to almost make her lose her lunch. But sheer desperation kept it inside her stomach. Not to mention she had no money (yet) to grab any food with... having to use human currency. Oh, how she hated it. But for now, she simply bristled at his comment and drew further away from him.
The mention of a swim made her growl a bit, and she looked back out to the ocean, the very thing that now betrayed her. If he had... it would be a quick death, that she was certain. But not a death that she wanted. Death was not something that she wanted. As for his other comment, she just scoffed. There wasn't much of a bother in replying to it.
"So... they aren't webs?" She asked, cautiously, peering at the glowing strings. She drew closer to the pit, and peered into it, before laying back on her spot. "Oh... kay." So he didn't really know what to call them. That was fine.
It was his story that made her actually look up, watching him with a gaze that was close to unblinking as any creature of this earth would allow. He had started out as a human... but he was tricked. By a... necromancer. Her eyebrows furrowed at the word-- she had little experience with mages outside her own-- but at least she could gather enough from word meanings to understand what it was. And damn her! She felt the shock through her system, the way her eyes widen and she drew closer as he said he became an instrument to a Goddess, an angel of a cruel twist of fate. A puppet. "You were used," she spoke softly, but not an accusation. She of all creatures had no right to accuse.
His story was fascinating. He was truly not a creature of this world, something that was used. And his hate... she could taste it on her tongue, something vile and powerful. She watched the expression on his face, the anger, how he looked at the stars of a sky that wasn't his. But he escaped it... to an extent. She met his gaze, and nodded, in understanding, or as much as she could.
"You may be broken... but you're not a puppet. Not to her anymore." Slowly, Sekhet stretched her human legs out, running her hands softly over her calves. It was a few minutes before she spoke.
"I was never like this... months ago. When I was born, I had a fate. That fate was sealed for me. I was nobility, I was honor. I was what kept law in my kingdom. I was a knight, of the most powerful standing. A Neptune, descendants of the warrior god, so the legend went. I trained with a trident the moment I knew how to grip one, I fought every enemy I could come across, all to protect the royalty, the light of our kingdom, the King and Queen, and their five descendants..."
She rested her head on her knees, her gaze drifting sideways to the ocean, to look at the lapping waves. "I trained in magic, I trained in combat, in hunting, anything and everything, in preparation for serving my life to the order in my kingdom, the highest honor any merperson could want. I beat every one of my competitors, and on the day I turned twenty, I fought and defeated twenty of my own kind to become a knight, fought them one after the other. No one could match my ferocity. I thought I was invincible, immortal even, that Neptune himself guided my hand in battle... Oh, how naviety makes fools of us all."
She was silent for a while again, and when she spoke, her voice was cold, distant. "We wanted nothing to do with the human kingdoms. We made that clear. We kept the pirates and merchants away and asked for nothing, wanted nothing... but it wasn't good enough. They came one day, with weaponry that we had no way to counter. I was given only one task, to protect the prince and princesses, for only the king and queen would entrust me with their children. So I took them, but by then it was far too late. The pirates were upon us, and their spear... it went through my shoulder, pinned me to the bottom below. I struggled to get out, and I did so... only to watch the prince before me die, his body speared by the same weapon, and the princess, gone from my sight. I held his body as I looked for hers... and I found it. Broken and beaten.
"I was brought before the king and queen, brought before my parents, my kingdom... and I was exiled. And to mark my humiliation, my failure, I have been cursed by the king for taking away his children. I must walk like a human after every full moon for four days, and the touch of salt water will kill me if I try to escape this fate too early. I am forced to be among humans, with the shell of who I used to be to drag before me."