Andromeda. [ grin! ] Her name was Andromeda. And this is her story.

[ aaaand it looks like he's settling in comfortably with the story telling, because he starts to change his voice dynamic to suit the passages. soft on some parts, louder on other parts, varying degrees of delivery that add to the storytelling. ] The king and queen, realizing their error, immediately appealed the Sea-God to forgive them and let them go free. However, Poseidon, that Sea-God, ruler of all the oceans upon the land, refused, and raised his hand, summoning a giant sea monster that roared with the fury of the dragons. It rose out of the ocean on fins the size of islands, touched the sky with teeth in a mouth that gaped like the widest valleys of the south.

Fearful for their lives and the lives of their people, the king and queen finally had no choice. They offered up their daughter, who wept tears as she was chained onto the side of a giant rock, destined to be eaten by the great sea monster that the God had summoned.

[ and that, in turn, makes him pleased, because the most valuable audience for a magician is a captive one! ] Perseus. He's a guy on an adventure. A prince that was challenged by the illegitimate ruler of his homeland to prove that he's the proper heir to the throne, he was sent on a suicide mission to kill a mystical snake-haired lady that turned all who looked upon her into stone. [ wiggling his fingers! snake-haired lady indeed. ] And he succeeded! On his way back, flying on the magic sandals that the Goddess Athena gave him, he happens across Andromeda, chained to the rock.

Immediately, he falls in love with her beauty and the taste of adventure. So he goes to the girl's folks-- the queen and king-- and tells them that he'll rescue her, but at a price. The king and queen, faced with hope, asked him-- "And what could we offer you?" [ throwing his voice! he does a very good imitation of a worried king, voice deep and trembling ] And in return, Perseus puts down his satchel and smiles at the monarchs. [ and here, his voice dips into that of a cocky young man's, a husky whisper. ] "I'll have your daughter's hand."

But man, the queen and king didn't want to give their daughter up like that. It's not like they had any choice, though-- so it was with a heavy heart that they agreed to Perseus' request. The guy then went off to do his thing and save the princess. Of course, it couldn't be easy-- the monster was huge, and it had the blessing of the Sea-god, not to mention the fins and the teeth and just the fact that it was this giant monster thing.

But-- [ and here, his voice turns into a hush whisper-- ] The Goddess Athena had Perseus' back. And together with the Goddess, the young man conspired and hatched out a brilliant plan. He skimmed across the water [ and here, he mimed something skimming across water with his hands, ] dodging waves and the angry cries of the nymphs, which confused the giant sea monster. And then, with a flash of his sword, he leaped from the water!

[ whamp! his hands mimic the movements. ] Brave Perseus dodges the first swing, but the monster has more coming. It opens its huuuuge mouth, and shakes its head! With each shake of its head came a wave the size of three mountains that come together like clapping valleys, and tries to take our hero by the head! But brave Perseus lifts his sword and cleaves the coming waves in half-- only to face the tail of the monster that comes hurling!

[ ... this guy is way too into this. ]

Oh, yes. Because just as the tail comes for him and all seems lost, he runs up the beast's tail with his winged sandals! And when he gets to the neck he swings down with his might sword, and [ dramatic pause! ] severs that beat's head from its body!

Keening its death cry, the beast disappears below the waves. Victorious and triumphant, he flies over to Andromeda's rock, and unbinds her chains. Andromeda, who had been watching the entire thing, can only stare at her savior with wide eyes. [ and here, he throws his voice again-- and can you believe it, he sounds just like a teenage maiden-- ] "But who are you?" she asks.

The hero takes her into his arms, and grins. [ his facial expression matches-- ] "Perseus. Prince, hero, husband."

Hey, it's not done yet! [ but he says this good-naturedly, and... actually pauses here. ] But the rest of the story's not as happy.

The two tried to get married, but Andromeda's relatives messed up the party-- possibly because the king and queen asked them to. But Perseus fought back and, well, both the king and queen died because of it.

The Gods put the king and queen up in the sky as constellations. And much later, they put Andromeda up there, too, so that they could all be reunited.

Like family.

Heh. I'm glad you did. I had a lot of fun telling it, not gonna lie.

I try! That's me-- Kaito Kuroba, storyteller extraordinaire~

What's your name, anyway?

Same! Always pleased to find a good audience~

Heh, sure thing. If you're ever bored, gimme a call.

And you know, I'm kind of interesting in the stories from where you're from.

[ ... ] Hey, what do you mean?

[ ... huh. ] Ship? Like... ship ship, or... some other kind of ship?

[ ah. he leans back. ] So you've seen the stars up-close.

I'll bet. Back where I come from, the most we got to see were from telescopes.