Chapter 22

I'm riding in a boat on my own. Sparky's with Tom and Dec and Karl are riding together. Boy, when Dec said this was far, he wasn't kidding. We travelled a long way. As we approached however, there were ginormous ships in the background as a fleet of smaller ships were in front. Whoa... this is nuts.

"Remember, these smaller ships in front are where you're going. There are 8 shards of the Water stone hidden in chests. I have the Core of the Water stone, so when you find all 8, bring them to me and I will put them together.", Dec explained. We all nodded, then went on our way, communicating telepathically as we went. The guys parkoured as I rode my boat. I couldn't parkour because of the patches over my wounds. I did well though, I found 3 shards. Meeting back up with the others by Dec, Sparky handed over his 3 shards, and Karl and Tom each handed over their 1. He congratulated us on our job well done, then put together the Water stone, and before any of us could see it, Tom swiped it immediately. We all gave him a dirty look that was cut short by a feeling of danger.

"Guys, incoming!" We all scattered as a lightning bolt hit. I looked up. There was an unfamiliar feminine face. Who is this? Her presence feels mostly evil, but I can feel a brokenness, like she's been hurt before and hasn't healed. A sympathetic look crossed my face. Who hurt her?

"Hand me the Water stone and no one gets hurt!" Her face was stony as she made her demands.

"Ok, first off, who are you?" Tom asked. 'Rude'.

"My name is Gandus. I am allied with the Darkness. Now, I said, hand over the Water stone!"

"Gandus! I can feel your presence! I can feel that you've been hurt by someone! Please, tell us what happened to you. We can help you, if you'll let us." I cried out. Sparky, Tom, Karl, and Dec all looked at me, surprised. I ignored them, holding my gaze with Gandus. I felt her waver for just a moment, then she put up her guard again.

"You're mistaken! Now, do as I said!" I shook my head.

"We will not. We'll fight you if we have to." Gandus scoffed.

"Even you? You're already hurt. You'll just die if you pick a fight with me." I smirked.

"Wanna bet?" I whipped out my wand and shot soulfire at her. Caught off guard, she took the hit and fell into the water. I turned to the others. "Go! I'll hold her off!" They hesitated. "Now!" They nodded and sprinting off toward their boats, they rowed as fast as they could. I turned back to the water and watched Gandus surface.

"You're a wizard?!" I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Half-born, but yeah. I can use magic. Only soulfire though."

"'Half-born'... so you can't do much of anything against me.", Gandus sneered.

"Yeah, but I can fight. I'm pretty good too."

"Your bandage patches say otherwise," she shot back, smirking.

"Yeah well... that's what I got from my run-in with the Darkness..."

"Serves you right."

'I hope everyone's gone far enough, I can't stall her for much longer.' I searched for their presences, but couldn't feel them. I'll give it a little longer.

"I did nothing to him! He hurt me just because one of my friends stepped closer to me as they tried to rescue me."

"Then they should learn not to mess with the Darkness!" Gandus shot a lightning bolt at me. I leapt out of the way.

'Ianite, teleport me to you now! I'm in a situation!' I communicated quickly. I dodged another bolt as I was transported to Adventure Island, rolling across the sand.

"Lucky! What happened?" The concern was clear as Ianite helped me up.

"Gandus happened. The guys should be coming soon. I held Gandus off as long as I could. I hope she doesn't go looking for the guys. Tom has the Water stone... 'cause of course he does..." Ianite embraced me.

"I'm so proud of you my champion. My feisty, fiery champion. You put the others first and offered yourself as a distraction so that the Water stone was safe." She stepped back. "Lucky, it doesn't matter that Tom has the Water stone. As long as Gandus or the Darkness doesn't get it. You did a great thing out there. Thank you for doing what was right."

"Ianite's right. You did good Lucky. You made sure the Water stone was safe," Mianite agreed.

"Yeah, but I need to fly over the ocean to look for the guys. Make sure Gandus isn't searching for them. My job is not done yet. Thanks for the teleport Ianite. I'll be right back with the guys." I equipped my Elytra and fireworks, then I was off again. I flew in the direction we went to go looking for the shards. I went a fair distance before starting to feel the guys' presences. I flew over them and waved. I went further from them, feeling for Gandus' presence. I couldn't feel it, not even faintly. I went a little further, just to be sure. No, nothing. Phew... I turned back around and followed the guys home, but still keeping guard. I only let my guard down as we got back to Adventure Island. I landed as the guys got out of their boats.

"I didn't feel Gandus' presence at all. I'm 100% certain we're safe.", I reported. The gods all nodded.

"Thank you Lucky. You did what a good Priestess would do. You thought of a plan right on the spot and kept the Water stone safe. You used yourself as a distraction so that Gandus would be occupied with you rather than us," Dec said. He's really proud of me, I can feel it. I grinned.

"Now don't let all this praise go to your head girl. To be a Priestess you need to also keep a level head," Mianite added. I nodded and let the grin fade from my face into just a satisfied smile.

"Now would also be the time to change your bandages and patches", Dianite said. The others got the hint and left, in comradery. That left Dec, Ianite, Dianite, and Mianite. "Dec, could you go with the others? I would like us gods to speak with Lucky.", Dianite asked. Dec nodded and caught up with the guys. We four went in the big building, which was mostly completed. There was a medical wing now. Oooo, fancy.

"Oh, Dianite, you don't need to change my patches. They can be done after I wake up and before I go to sleep. Debbie had told me this when I had met her. Only my shoulder needs to be changed during the day now." He nodded, then got the supplies around as I took off my Elytra.

"So, why did you want just you three here Dianite?"

"You were very close to breaking your vow to Ianite."

"What?! But-"

"No, don't speak. Listen." Mianite ordered. I kept my mouth shut, but my face was in a pout.

"You running away even though you thought it was out of love wasn't a very loving thing to do," Dianite began. "While you all were out looking for the Water Stone, Ianite told us how she felt as she was looking for you. What she concluded as she was looking for you. Therefore, you almost broke your vow to never let your love waver. I know we've said this, I know you understand now, but you need to do better. We will never forgive you if you ever broke our sister's heart. I'm sure she'd never forgive you either. You don't want that, do you?", Dianite asked.

"No sir."

"'Sir' huh? That's a new one. Well, if you don't want that, then-"

"Do better. I know. I will. I really will." Dianite finished bandaging me up.

"Now that Dianite is done, do you have anything to say to me?" It was clear that Mianite was expecting something as well.

"Yes, I do. I apologize for not listening to you, for saying you were wrong when you were actually right, and for also running from you as you tried to make me see reason. Will you forgive me for that, Mianite?" He smiled.

"I will forgive you Lucky Fire. Thank you for accepting that you were in the wrong." I nodded. Ianite smiled at me and took my hand.

"You're growing my champion. I'm really proud of you. I know I said that earlier already, but it's true."

"Yeah, I'm trying... Dianite, Mianite, just know this though. I will fail, I will still make mistakes. It's normal for humans to. But I promise you, I will learn and grow from those mistakes, like I said earlier in my mass apology to everyone. Just remember that, ok? Ianite and I may fight sometimes, but we will always apologize, forgive, and learn." Mianite and Dianite smiled.

"We'll remember that Lucky," they said. I got up off the table and we all went out to the island. I felt for the guys' presences. I can barely feel them at Tom's island.

"They're all at Tom's island. Want to go over and see what they're up to?"

"We won't. We'll go invis and just watch over everyone. Ianite, will you too?", Mianite asked.

"I will. Pardon me Lucky, but we can't be around each other 24/7. I am a goddess. I need to watch over my people. We live together, so we'll always have that." I nodded, I understood. We embraced and then the gods disappeared and floated above me. They floated so high, their presences are not as strong, but they're not faint either. I got in a boat and rode over to Tom's island. I got out and went over to the guys who were rough housing. I grinned.

"Room for one more in your games?" They looked over to me and smirked. They raced over to me, I braced myself for impact, then Tom reached me first. He slung an arm over my shoulders and gave me a noogie. Karl, Sparky, and Dec all put their arms around Tom and each other. "Shoulder... but that's fine... I asked for it." We all chuckled at my comment as they agreed.

"So, now that we've done our mission, how about we do some Cactice? We've got enough time left in the day and we've got enough people," Karl suggested.

"Cactice?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a real fun game. You'll love it Lucky. Come on, follow us!" They took me to Cactice, which was a perimeter of cacti surrounding ice. It was a giant arena.

"Whoa... I might want to put my chestplate back on." I took out my Ender chest, and as usual, Tom claims 'illegal'. I took out my chestplate and equipped it. I broke my chest and followed the guys onto the arena as they explained the rules of the game. They took me over to the chest on the other side. I opened the chest and hovered over the cakes. Man, there's a lot of cake... They're all named though? Mianite, Dianite, and Ianite. Obviously I took an Ianite named cake. We all went to the outer edge of the arena and then turned and faced each other.

"Ok. 3, 2, 1, GO!" We all sprint jumped to each other and smacked each other with the cakes. Karl was right, this is fun. Tom dominated at first, then Sparky caught up. Karl and I didn't do too well, and Dec was ok. Tom still won though... damn. As we were going back to our islands, I declare

"I blame not doing well on my wounds. If I could move better, I would have done better." They all chuckled.

"Sure, Lucky," Tom said. I gave him a playful look. We all poked fun at each other as we got back to Adventure Island.

"I'm going back home. Good night Lucky."

"I'm going home too. See ya Fire girl."

"I'm leaving as well. Night Lucky." Sparky, Tom, and Karl all went back to their islands, then a moment later, I got teleported to Ianite. We were in my room. I sat on my bed and laid back against the wall. I took a deep breath, smiled, and closed my eyes.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Playing Cactice and being bros with the guys. It felt so refreshing. I loved it." Ianite smiled gently.

"I'm glad you had fun. I enjoyed watching you all play. It makes me want to play sometimes too."

"I wish I could tell you to, but you'll just say you're a goddess. That you need to keep watch over your followers instead."

"Yeah. I mean, maybe I could once in a while. It might not hurt." After she finished completely and washed up, she came back in. I had laid down under the covers. She knelt beside my bed. "You're exhausted, huh?"

"Yeah. Today was eventful."

"It sure was. You did very well. I'm very, very proud of you, you know." I smiled.

"Yeah. I know." She returned the smile and kissed my forehead.

"Good night Lucky."

"Good night."