9. Many ancient cultures worshiped gods and goddesses of the sea. Nowadays, without devotees, they spend their days yachting in the Mediterranean.
There are legends of a mysterious ship, always sailing within the eyes of storms and being shrouded in deadly mists. Rumors are told, myths debunked and re-considered time and time again. Reports of this vessel have been heard from all around the world, from the largest continents to the tiniest of islands, almost any sailor will have a story of the killer fog or the tsunami-threatening storms that preceed it.
Countless centuries ago, there existed six deities who ruled over the seas. In fact, they still exist today, forgotten and cruising around the world that they once commanded. Somewhere in the Mediterranean is a shining yacht, cloaked in gray fogs or terrible storms being used to keep mortal vessels away. These six gods are as follows:
Nyxus, once the goddess controlling the night. She'd bring up the moon by a string, letting her husband move elsewhere as she drags the dark over the oceans and land alike. Even holding the title of "The Mother of the Gods", having raised all the other gods, with Grans being the only exception.
Now she spends her days basking on the deck, enjoying the warmth kiss her naturally chilly body. No matter how much tanning lotion she acquires, her pale body never gets any darker.
Bezi, at one time she would entice any who looked at her, undisputedly the most beautiful woman any could be blessed to see. Being the second-to-youngest meant that she had started late in gathering followers, but with her promises of protecting vestal maidens as well as provide a fertility second to none, it didn't take long for her to amass a true cult. Not that she minded that, of course. Together, she and her followers would hold the most outrageous parties in which treating women was the main attraction.
These days, Bezi is found below deck, resting in her room as stunningly gorgeous as always. She can be found with a book in bed, finding mortal writings both amusing and wonderful altogether. She even decided to give wearing glasses a try, despite not needing them. Even now, Bezi remains a virtue of beauty and fertility, even though no mortal has laid eyes on her for centuries.
Nephtys, a revered and respected god who would dictate deaths of those sent to him. He would send those worthy of a good reincarnation to planes in which they can live out their next try at life, while those more devious were guided to the river of lost souls to forever thrash in its turbulent waves. Many see the oldest son of the gods to be the least-liked, having been sentenced to a lifetime within the underworld as its manager. However, he was seen as the most responsible, being given such a duty as an honor rather than a punishment.
However, an eternity or so of gloom means that one gets awfully bored. So it was natural that when Nephtys was given his retirement, he decided to take up learning how to play the games he never had time for once aboard the boat. Now he's a most fearsome opponent at checkers, shuffle board, and his most favorite, go fish.
Lev was the divine ruler of all who dwell within the ocean, still spending most of her time under the rocky waves. At one point in her life, she would punish cocky sailors who thought the seas to be something conquerable. She would send her great krakens towards the boats, crushing them into nothing but splinters. Her followers would make sacrifices dedicated to her, in hopes that she would send them plentiful fish within their nets and give their men safe passage.
However, once her younger sister was born, Bezi, Lev was overwhelmed with jealousy as many of her worshipers left her altars to attend the pretty goddess' "parties". There was a time when Bezi was so enraged by being seen as lesser to someone who's power was nowhere near her own, that she sent creatures from the deepest trenches of the ocean to assault her sister's temples.
Every now and then, Lev likes to visit her companions on the yacht (Bezi excluded), doing various small things before returning to the waters to converse with the fish. They were always such delightful company, and now she uses her free time to speak with them more.
Nowadays, Marduk works on the boat, always eager to please his parents who controlled the day and night. He uses his godly powers over nature, once being praised to bring rain for crops, to simply create the veil of mist or send a thunderstorm through the ocean to keep it clear for their endless voyage.
Being the youngest meant he had a feeling of needing to prove himself, a feeling that he had to keep his place among the other gods, even though everyone was too caught up in their own relaxation to notice.
He even frequently tries to one-up his siblings in any way he can; like the time that Marduk tried to cheat at checkers with Nephtys. Marduk was lucky to have not been sent to the endless realm in which the dead walk, escaping such a fate by promising to never play against Nephtys again.
Lastly, Grans, the father of the gods, was once the ruler of the sky and sun, bringing light to the world with his wonderful wife taking over the night in his wake. He was feared during the summer and begged for in the winter, always enjoying his position.
The retirement hit him the hardest, being without followers to sacrifice to him and without any prayers to protect soldiers and family alike, filled him with an overwhelming feeling of uselessness.
Now he spends time helping to keep an eternal sun over their boat, or perhaps doing maintainance in the bowels of the ship. Very rarely would you see him playing cards with his son, Nephtys, and even then it was only for an hour or so before he came up with another project to busy himself with.
Around the ship are various workers. People who were once devoting themselves to an eternity of servitude to one god or another were pulled from death to spend their everlasting deaths still working for their god. Perhaps they were warriors or priests, even a farmer in life. Now they were to work on a ship alongside their gods, fetching one thing or another, doing cleaning jobs or steering the vessel. When sailing, you'd always see one ghostly blue apparition doing something, keeping busy as to keep their deity happy. At times, they are permitted breaks and will find themselves reading or playing games, even fishing off the side to see what Lev would send their way. No one was truly miserable onboard the S.S. Deus.