The Goddess Speaks Her Mind
A bright flash dazzled my already dazed mind, and suddenly the Harvest Goddess was resting against the foot of the island beside me. She turned to me and said, in her voice strong and unaffected by the water, "Kappa, I have waited too long to step in. My apologies."
I shook my head but it dizzied me. I put a webbed hand across my face.
"Kappa, listen to me as closely as you can. Claire has been talking with me, since she is also one of my favorites, and I realized how dire the circumstances have become. If you do not stabilize your relationship, this lake might not be the only victim of it. She has even confessed her love for you to Carter, my priest in the village... Oh! I had hoped that you might come to me with your own feelings, but I should have known that it would not be in your nature... Allow me to give you the blessing I gave her, so that you two guardians of Mineral Town and the nature all around it might marry and thrive."
The water around my face was getting saltier and saltier, and I realized that tears were squeezing from my pained eyes. I nodded slowly so that my headache would not worsen, but as I continued to bob my head it became easier and easier, and the water began to clear of salt and sediment. The lake was recovering, I was recovering! In my confused state I caught the Goddess's smile, just before the blinding flash rippled through the water.