By: M Monroe Casey
“Marriage? OMG!!!! Mon, are you sure?”
“Absolutely, I’ve known for quite some time now. It’s you. It’s always been you. Sooooo, what do you say?”
“Yes, a forever and thousand times, YES!”
“Amazing!!”
Kissing each other in their matching pink and purple pajamas for another shared moment of intense and beautiful shared love, the two of them lovingly shared a moment gazing into each other’s eyes. Two souls who would soon merge it even more officially according to the traditions of _____. Because that’s exactly what they needed to decide next as a confused look entered both of their brains simultaneously before it showed directly on their faces.
“Ummm… C?”
“Yeah, Mon?”
“Where should we get married? I’m from Earth, you’re from Pyroclastia but it’s not like either of us live in either place though…”
“Hmmm, good point babe… what do you think?”
“Well, my beloved loving love, how about we just do our own thing?”
“What do you mean?” Questioned the curious High Goddess.
“Well, we could just do one quick ceremony on Earth to fulfill some of those traditions, do one quick ceremony in Pyroclastia for the same reasons then we finish it out here with a party in our world… Afterwards, we can take a honeymoon anywhere or anywhen in the Cosmos. But I think we both know when and where we’ll go. What do you think?”
“Perfect and I absolutely agree. I totally already have my honeymoon spot in mind and I assume you chose the same place I did. So, I guess I’ll just grab a notebook then we can write down some more ideas. Ooooohhhh… let’s get sushi while doing it too. Go ahead and watch the next project, hun, I’ll be right back.”
“Deal babe.”
Seeing her beautiful darling step out of the room, watching her as she left, Monica Dancer then smirked something so undeniably cute before she began to play the final project of the storyline on her own. It was a capstone video that had Baleigh Sofia Luisa and Lillie LaDestino currently post-teleporation and powerfully walking into a ceremonial-vibing cave near Mikladalur, Faroe Islands. Their all-black outfits fit the mood of a mysterious mission as the choppy and cold dark waves rocked themselves to the internal roar of the water’s restless spirit all around the entrance. Feeling the epic vibe strongly, they went inwards to see just what lay for them there.
Click.
“Alright, Lillie! I talked to Jessica and she told me a bit about you.”
“Yeah?”
Walking into the narrow entrance side-by-side, eerily similar to Baleigh’s own “Trials of Light” in nearby Norway, the two of them halted amongst the cold, wet and dark rocks watching their every move. In front of them currently stood a thick sheet of blue-white ice standing like a natural wall in their way. Stopping in front of it, Baleigh replied to her as they looked at it and then each other, “Yepperdoodle! So, I think I know what your goddess power just might be… so… my friend, break down that wall.”
“Ummm… what?”
“You heard me, New Yorker. Break down that ice wall!”
“Ummm… Baleigh… that’s like five centimeters of ice, I’ll like bloody my hand punching that…”
“I didn’t say you had to punch it.”
“I can’t kick through that either…”
“Nor did I say you had to kick it.”
“Theeeeeen… what? I’m lost…”
“Think about it, Lillie. Jessica and you talked about it so much. It’s the power you always possessed. What did she call you? A tough dragon or something?”
“The Strongest Dragon of All. That’s what she told me. Nooo… you don’t mean… like a literal dragon?”
“No… I don’t think you’ll do any wild transformations or anything like that. But… I do think it means you aren’t exactly human either. Just trust me. Put your hand on that wall and think deeply about your own heart.”
“Okay… I’ll try.”
Stepping forward to the ice wall with a determined look in her snow-whites, Lillie held her left hand on the icy surface then closed her eyes promptly. Breathing in and out with intention and power, she began to focus inwards on the burning nature inside. Ever since she was a child, she was always filled with a deep passion. Roaring like an eternal and burning flame, almost at all times.
With this much passion, she eventually had to learn how to calm it and suppress it from the judgemental viewpoints of others but it was under the guiding voice of Jessica Maddy and the other Goddesses that she was able to unleash it fully and properly finally. Finally able to live her own truth and show the world and Cosmos just who she was inside.
Holding up both hands to the frozen floor-to-ceiling structure, she began to feel it manifesting. Slowly but surely the ice was actually melting by the power at her hands.
The fire inside that she always felt was finally and powerfully coming out. Reducing the barrier to a chilled water, the two of them moved along as Lillie’s big and dorky smirk couldn’t be denied any longer.
She had the power of dragon’s fire literally and readily available at her fingertips.
That’s the kind of Goddess she really was. One born from the roaring and raging flames.
Walking up to the next barrier after a twenty or so more steps down that chilled hallway, this one was over ten centimeters this time and she knew it wouldn’t be as easy. Using more effort overall, it too melted away though in front of them both. Continuing on down and into the final chamber of the small cave, Lillie looked ahead through the thick and blanketing snow falling to see a single gem on a pedestal in the center. Its blue-green seafoam color softly shined in the darkness and blizzard manifesting all around them as Baleigh just stood back. Urging her recruit to see just how strong her raging flames truly were.
With a nod and fingertips that glowed a dark orange mixed with a powerful red, she stepped up into the space as the howling winds of the five meter cavern raged on. Pushing her back as she stepped in the gem’s direction, the winds and the natural realm fought her tooth-and-nail as she tried to progress forward. Stopping mid-distance in the wintery space, Lillie looked back at Baleigh then smirked.
Feeling a wave of power growing upon her hands, she then turned her gaze back ahead as she clenched her fists, unleashing a complete and utter wave of burning energy. Heating and dissipating all of the powdery, frozen substance in the air in one swell of pure power.
Feeling the hot flash grow and fade in an instant, Baleigh smirked back too. Knowing that their newest Goddess was powerful, but also, that it wasn’t everything it’s cracked up to be in of itself.
“… hmmm… you are strong. That’s good. But can you actually do something with it?”
“What do you mean?”
“See that gem there, that’s why we are here. Grab it and I’ll explain more when we get back outside.”
Quickly grabbing the seafoam shaded rarity, they then turned right around and meandered back outside into the sleeting and chilled landscape. Standing on a natural rocky balcony while overlooking the harbor below, Lillie noticed something down there that she didn’t see the first time they arrived. Holding onto the gem they found tightly, she then asked the question to her mentor, “Hey Baleigh, what’s that?”
“That, my friend, is why we are here. That’s a selkie. Or a mermaid-like creature that can transform into a seal. In local legends, they can even take a human form. Some stories are sweet and others are less sweet but they usually have cute human babies involved. But it is also usually without a doubt in these same stories that they will eventually miss the sea and their seal brethren, wanting to return to it someday.”
“Oh, that’s so sad. So, the mom then leaves her children?”
“Yeah but it isn’t always goodbye forever. Sometimes in these legends, the children will visit the waterfront and see a seal swimming. But it isn’t just any seal that they see, it’s their mother and they actually know it. They can recognize her and they know who she is and the opposite is the same. Proving that the strongest connections can last beyond even a change of appearance or shapeshifting.”
Looking down upon the picturesque landscape below with a smile, Lillie then asked the burning question on her dragonic brain without wasting almost another second, “woah, that’s amazing… but what does it all have to do with this gem and my Goddess power?”
“Well, my wonderful New Yorker, toss that gem into the water.”
“Okay…” Launching the seafoam wonder into the dark and rugged waters, it quickly sank down below into the depths. Beyond even where their enhanced Goddess eyesight’s vision could see.
“Thanks, so that priceless family heirloom originally belonged to one of the selkies, Catalina, but it was taken by people who had no right to take it. It didn’t belong to them but they took it anyway. Stole it away from a lifeform that is seen as less than them. Classic pillaging stuff. Then the stone, lost from its home, sealed itself away from all people and life. Removed from where it wanted to be, it naturally cut itself off. Thus, we had the icy prison back there.”
“Oh… I get it. So, we basically just reunited that magic relic with its people?”
“Yeah but not we, Lillie. You. You did that. Your Goddess powers were the perfect match for that ice and what lay in that cave. You may not be the perfect match for every fight or situation but you were for this one. Therefore, knowing and understanding that is the most valuable piece of information I could ever pass along to you. I hope you use them for every situation that needs you the most but I can’t tell you how to use your dragonic flames. That’s on you and Thunder to decide.”
“Alright. Thanks Baleigh. And wait… yeah… Thunder… that’s sooooo perfect. That’s my name! The Thunder Goddess!”
“Love it and of course Lill. Well, should we get going? I am soooooo hungry!”
“Deal and I knooooooow, me too!! Let’s go!”
Click.
Whooshing away in their great and tremendous power at the same moment, Monica clicked off the Windowsill just as CJ’s portal closed and she returned home. Complete with their two sushi rolls, two packets of soy sauce and a whole empty white-paged notebook ready to be filled with wedding and honeymoon ideas to the sound of soft, nice and romantic music on their patio.
The End.
