The Immortality Stone - The Cardinal

Chapter Thirteen - If There Ever Was A Whizz That Wasn't

"Oh really, and I suppose those two are the Gods of Honesty and Hygiene, right?" Sameeca said sarcastically, folding her arms over.

"There are no gods of-" Lethanas began, before Aramon cut in.

"She's twistin' yer arm matey."

The group lapsed into silence. The sounds of the fire and water filling the uncomfortable silence. Outside a horse nickered lightly. Sameeca turned over the accusation in her mind. How could she be a goddess. For a start, weren't they supposed to be beautiful and intelligent and graceful, kind of like a princess but with additional power. Sameeca certainly hadn't received the credentials for the princess gig, so how had she been lumbered with this god thing.

"You've got the wrong girl entirely. There is no way I am a goddess, never mind this supposed Water Goddess." She cried out.

"What makes you think that?" Lethanas asked softly.

"I hate the water. Be it river, lake, sea, ocean, puddle or rain drop. Frankly, if you could make tea without water, I wouldn't even drink it."

"Why do you hate it? Have you never wondered?"

"I don't wonder, I do. Always have, always will. Simple as that. You've got the wrong girl, please deposit me at the nearest exit to home and I'll take the non-stop flight home to Saneville, if you please."

"Sameeca, there is no denying it. You should never have been able to get here in the first place, the veils to Earth have been blocked for millenia. The magic that your brother wields is no match for the Gods. The fates made sure you came. You have been chosen to help us." Lethanas told the young girl softly, their eyes meeting over the fire.

"You don't get it. You're a figment of my imagination or my own personal hell. I want to go home. I don't want to go on a sodding quest. I want to see my Aunt, I want to argue with Louise over who gets the bigger room. I want a cup of proper tea, with a bar of chocolate and sit in a sunny window reading about how this adventure is happening to someone else. I get it. I was wrong to treat Randy and Rose like that. I understand now, please, please let me wake up and go to my family." Sameeca pleaded. "I don't want to be a Goddess, I don't want to be a Princess. I don't want a hundred thousand lives resting on my shoulder, while some tinned serial killer on a rabid pony tries to hurt me."

Lethanas sighed gently. "Sameeca, this is no dream. You are actually here. You are Sameeca, Princess of Anví, and you are the reincarnation of Ríanna, The Water Goddess. Have you ever wondered why it always rains when you are sad?"

"I lived in Ireland. If it wasn't raining, it was only because you were inside."

"When did your fear start?"

"I've always had it. Rosie tried to help me, used to bring me paddling at the beach in Rosses Point. But then the crabs and the fish would come out and....no....no more," Sameeca shuddered.

"How did your ship sink?"

"It's a ship, they sink."

Lethanas turned to Aramon and Martin, who were busy pouting over being called figments of imagination and asked them the same question.

"It was during a storm. A rogue wave split the ship in two, we barely had time to get into the row boats. Sameeca wouldn't remember any of it, as she was asleep and sick." Martin told the Elf.

"See, I can't be a water goddess! What kind of God gets sick of their own element! HA!"

"You would be surprised. But think about this, how did the three of you, and only the three of you end up on that beach?"