Chapter 1: The Sea God's Wife

"Grandmother, grandmother!" a little girl, about the age of seven, ran out from the kitchen after helping her mother with the dishes and followed her grandmother into the living area. She stood in front of her grandmother with her arms behind her back, plastering the largest smile she could muster onto her face. "Can you please tell me the story again?" The old woman chuckled softly and sighed as she looked down to her youngest granddaughter.

"Again?" she asked in amusement, "This would have been the third time this week you've asked for it."

"Please, grandmother, please?" she begged, "I promise that this will be the last time I ask you, I promise!"

"Jinjoo!" her mother came from the kitchen and places her hands on her hips, "Your grandmother just finished her dinner! Let her rest! She has a long trip tomorrow." 

"Oh stop your shouting, Minjoo, you pestered me about the story just as much as your daughter does." she scolded.

"Does that mean you'll tell me?" Jinjoo asked with a sparkle in her eye. Her grandmother nodded ad Jinjoo squealed in delight.

"Donghae, Heyrin! Grandmother said she'll tell us the story before we go to bed!" From the other end of the hall, doors opening and the quick footsteps of her grandchildren could be heard. A little boy and girl, both 5, ran out from the room dressed in their sleep wear and their matching stuffed dolls stuffed under their arm.

"But mother, the children need to sleep. They have to wake up early in the morning." Minjoo sighed and placed her hands on her hips. The old woman waved her daughter away reassuringly and smiled.

"Let me tell them again this last time, Minjoo, I have to leave tomorrow anyway." she said, "I'll keep it short, alright?" Minjoo gave her mother a questioable look and sighed before giving her a deafeated nod. 

"1 hour, children, alright? 1 hour." Taking her cane and her grandchildren's hand, she walked slowly toward toward the fireplace. Taking a seat on the skin rug, she settled comfortably facing the open door.

"Where do you want me to start?" she asked Jinjoo, "From the beginning?" the children nodded eagerly and quickly settled into their comfortable positions. She smiled lovingly down at their large, curious eyes and began to recall the story she had held dear to her heart for so many years. Outside, she looked upon the great, open ocean and the fog covered island in the distance.

"We have a long forgotten ritual, a ritual that granted us fortune and prosperity, one that granted us mercy from the great Sea God." 

The Sea God is the God of the sea, fortune, and luck, a God of loyal worship by merchants, fisherman, and others of costal towns. The Sea God has always been known to be rough, belligerent and violent and many feared to anger this God. However, he was also known to be merciful, generous, and kind to those who worshiped him loyally. Despite the lore and tales passed through the generations, those who worshipped him had begun to take advantage of his generosity and had begun to undermine his power and his dominion. To punish humanity for their insolence, he sent the sea on a stormy rampage that progressively worsened for near 10 years, slowly stripping food from his subjects and striking famine and fear into their hearts.

Years were spent trying to appease the Sea God in attempt to quell his anger but, nothing had worked. Hunger, poverty, and desperation struck villages, many lives had been lost and many had begun to lose hope. One fortunate night, however, a high priest of the Sea God's most sacred temple received a message from the Sea God himself. The Sea God had grown tired of man's greed and naivety and had demanded a human sacrifice. The great God spoke of a maiden born on the next full moon during the high tide, a maiden who would become His wife the evening of her 20th birthday. This maiden would be sent to him on a boat toward the island rumored to hold the gateway to his realm where they would be wed. 

After the delivery of His message, the dark stormy waters returned to blue and iridescence, the clouds that had shielded man from the stars reappeared and Sea God had granted them 20 years of prosperity. He had promised many more years of peace if the maiden was sent, however, he warned that failure to deliver his wife would result in the destruction of human kind.

As said by the Sea God himself, a single girl had been born the night of the next full moon, a strong, healthy baby girl.

This girl would grow to become the Sea Gods wife and the savior of man.

It was a most glorious day. The sea was calm, the breeze was light, and there hadn't been a cloud in the sky for the past 3 days. The weather had only been this nice, this calm once exactly 20 years ago, the day the Sea God's Wife had been born. The village had been in celebration for the past week as the Sea God's wife neared her 20th year, the year the Sea God would finally be receiving his wife from the people who worshipped him.

In preparation for her departure, the High Priest of the Sea God's temple had requested that she and her family reside in the temple of the main city the week of her birthday where she'd be blessed before her marriage to the God. From a young age, she had always carried the name, "the Sea God's Wife". She and her family had begun as humble fish farmers with a small plo