Chapter 23

In the morning after I woke up, Ianite came in with fresh bandages and patches. By now, we both have fallen into a rhythm. She cleans, I relax, she bandages me up, and then she washes up after disposing of the dirty bandages and patches.

"So, what does a goddess do other than watch her followers?" I asked as I sat on the loveseat. She came and sat next to me after finishing up.

"Well, other than watching over you and Sparklez, I hang with the foxes a bunch, I have a diary I keep, and I could give you missions sometimes. Other than that, I just hang out, taking some alone time sometimes."

"I see. Would you like some alone time today? Have some space and think?" She smiled gently at me.

"You're so thoughtful. Thank you Lucky. No, I think today I want to hang out with you around this island. Maybe the foxes will visit?" she mused.

"Alright love. Hang out day it is." I attempted to put my left arm over the back of the loveseat, but it didn't work. My shoulder kept me from doing so. Ianite gave me a sympathetic look as she stood.

"Move over." I half smiled and did as she instructed. She sat back down where I was. I put my arm up on the back of the loveseat behind her. She nestled into my side. I decided to put my arm around her instead of resting on the loveseat.

"I can't believe tomorrow you're getting sworn in as Apprentice Priestess, declaring your loyalty to me. I'm really excited for you."

"Yeah? I'm excited too, and nervous. There's going to be a lot of people there, isn't there?"

"Yeah, and others who didn't go will be able to get the news through book that says everything that happened. The condensed version of course."

"Right, because that'd be way too much writing," I said, chuckling. She giggled and nodded in agreement.

"It'll be split between Mianite, Dianite, Dec, you, and I."

"Me?"

"Well of course. We'll be writing these after you become an Apprentice. You'll need to help too. It'll be your job. We'll all be writing the same thing, so you'll be able to do it easily. Besides, I have the utmost faith in you that you can do it."

"Thanks love. I think I can too. With 5 of us, it'll be a cinch." Again, she settled for a nod. We sat there for a while, enjoying each other's company and closeness. Ianite eventually sat up.

"Let's go outside, get some fresh air." I nodded and we got up from the loveseat. We went outside and I leaned against the same tree Ianite sat against. I focused on the waterfall that she had in her garden. This tree was fairly close to the small pool that the waterfall was falling in. The sound of the rushing water was very relaxing. I smiled and closed my eyes, letting the sound of the water wash over me. I laid my head against the bark of the tree. A couple minutes passed and I heard minor rustling. Ianite's moved. I can tell by her presence not being as close to me. I chalked that up to her wanting to move around and stretch a bit... boy was I wrong. Next thing I knew, I was wet. I opened my eyes to see a mischievous Ianite sitting on the edge of the small pool of water. I grinned and shook my head.

"I see, you wanna play that game huh?" I walked over to the pool, but Ianite knew, just by the tone of my voice, what I had planned.

"Nooo, Lucky," she said as she got up and went away, keeping herself at a safe distance. "I know what you're thinking." She was smiling.

"Payback, I retaliate. I only retaliate if provoked. I was provoked. By the Lady of Balance herself no less." I had a joking tone about my voice.

"'Lady of Balance' exactly. I can either be Orderly or Chaotic, depending on my mood. Today, I feel mischievous."

"I can see that. As a follower of Balance, I should show the same qualities. Honestly Ianite, hanging around as long as I have, I think I know what exactly I feel like I should embody as a follower of Balance." I sat on the edge of the pool of water. I motioned for her to sit next to me. I could feel her playful mistrust. I chuckled. "You're safe, I won't get you, I promise." She hesitated a moment, smiling, but eventually sat next to me.

"So, what do you feel like you are as a follower? What are your ideals, beliefs of being my follower?"

"Well for starters, I'd already mentioned that I would only retaliate if provoked, whether that be attacked or pranked. I believe Order and Chaos both have equally good qualities which must be upheld for true balance. I would prefer to side with Chaos or Order to completely balance them out. Lastly, I also believe that balance between Order and Chaos must be grounded by sympathy and the belief that humanity can be reasoned with. I feel that we, Sparky and I, should be the most empathetic and approachable so that we can uphold Balance and help others if they approach us to uphold Balance. That's my take anyway. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds great." I grinned.

"Hmm, now that I've shared mine, I'm kind of curious what Sparky's idea of what being a follower of Ianite means? Could we ask him at some point?"

"I don't see why not."

"Cool, I can't wait to hear his side of things. Oh, wait, I wonder if we could ask Tom and Karl about their ideals and beliefs being followers of your brothers? Oooo, and what about Dec, Orion and Hermod? They're godless, so I wonder what that's like for them?" I disturbed the water of the pond a little with my hand, absent-mindedly as I thought about that. I could feel Ianite's tenseness. I have yet to get her back for splashing me and now she's on edge. I chuckled.

"You have nothing to worry about my lady. I'm just playing with the water." She gave me a playfully suspicious look. I just grinned at her. I continued playing with the water until I felt her settle down a little. I'm definitely paying her back, so I wait a little longer, looking lost in thought. As she smiled gently at me, that's when I splashed her back. She squealed in surprise and jumped up. I laughed.

"Oh, you!" I grinned, stood up, and embraced her.

"Gotcha." I said softly. She giggled and embraced me back.

"You did. You lulled me into a false sense of security. You're very sneaky."

"I can be when I want to."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. It would be very handy for a mission where you need someone to be quiet, much like the Dragon Architect mission to get the Air stone. Then Gandus' minion had to ruin it... but hey, it worked out for the best. The Dragon Architects are pretty cool, and I have a wand and can use soulfire magic. I'm glad the minion ruined it."

"Wow. Admirable that you don't mind a plan being foiled and can find the good in it." I let go of her, stood back and shrugged.

"I mean, no good in being mad at something out of my control, right?" Ianite smiled gently.

"Absolutely right, but also, you shouldn't be mad at yourself for anything either you know. Remember our talk Lucky, back at Sparklez's beach when we first met and at Tom's island when you projected your voice. Remember my words to you." I nodded.

"I'll try." We went back over to the tree, but I sat down this time and Ianite sat next to me, nestling into my side again. We sat in comfortable silence, enjoying the nice weather. Soon, my thoughts drifted off to something else that had been often occupying my mind. The silence stretched out for a minute or two, only to be broken by a quiet,

"Hey Ianite? Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

"Gandus is on my mind... When she appeared at the fleet of ships we were at when we went to fetch the Water stone, I felt that Gandus has a past that we do not know. I felt her presence. Ianite... I felt her hurt... someone in her past has hurt her and she has chosen the wrong choice in how to deal with the hurt. I want to help her. I feel sympathy toward her. I think we should try and reason with her first, before attacking. If she attacks us... then so be it. Retaliate, but don't unalive her. Find a way to imprison her that she wouldn't be able to break free of her shackles. I'm stubborn, you know this. I have the stamina to be able to try and reason with her and try to get her to open up to us, or to even just me if she doesn't want other people knowing of her past. I want to help her."

"Do you really think you can get through to Gandus? I feel like she's gone too deep into being a minion of Darkness."

"I think I can. I can at least try."

"Well, alright then. I won't stop you at least trying. Now, do you think you can get through to Wot?"

"No... he's too far gone. The Darkness has fully taken ahold of him. Though I know of Light, and without Darkness, Light cannot stay balanced. Darkness needs to stay around. This means we need to figure out a way to weaken the Darkness, to reign in its extra power. How though? I'm not too sure..."

"Don't be discouraged. No one expects you to have all the answers. That's why there's us gods and Dec." I nodded. She's right. The foxes came over to us shortly after we finished our conversation.

"Hello A, B, C, D. How are you all?" I asked.

"Hi Lucky! We're doing well thanks. How is your shoulder?" B asked.

"It's getting better. Thank you for asking. I'm pretty sure Ianite said the back of it should be completely healed within a week."

"Wow, that's great news!" I smiled. I really like B. He's super friendly.

"Hey Lucky, can you play with us? Lady Ianite, will you play?" A asked.

"I probably could. Just nothing too exerting because I don't want my wounds to open again." I explained. The foxes all nodded.

"I'll play with you, sure."

"Ok! So, I wanna play tag, but you can't... C, you like to pretend cook, how about you and Lucky do that?" B suggested.

"Ok, that sounds like fun. Come on Lucky Fire, I'll set up the cauldron." I followed C to an area out of the way of the other foxes and Ianite. I can still see them however, which I was glad to know. C dug out a block of grass and placed a lit campfire down, then he placed a cauldron over it. "I'm gonna make some rabbit stew because that sounds really good." I smiled and nodded. That kind of does sound good to be honest.

"Hey, could we actually make rabbit stew for real? I'd love to share some food with my lady. You know... one of these nights I need to make a dinner date at the Dine at Nite. I promised her I would."

"First of all, you don't know Ianite very well still apparently... she's a vegetarian. No meat at all... Secondly... Can I cook for you?!"

"Oh... well frick. Thanks for letting me know C, and sure. You can be our cook. Hey, and maybe the other foxes could work there too. Do you think they would be interested?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't be. D could take care of your armor, tools, and weapons, B could be the waiter, and A could be the one who takes your names."

"That sounds great C. Now we need to make a night where we could do that."

"Why not tonight?"

"Ok, that sounds great and I can surprise my lady with a dinner date. Oooo, I need to call A over real quick and make reservations. A! Could you come over for a quick second?" A bounced right over to us. He was playing tag with Ianite, B, and D.

"Yes Lucky?"

"Could you take down Ianite's and my names for the Dine at Nite for tonight? Make reservations for us if you don't mind?"

"I'd love to! What time?"

"7 o'clock. That way we can watch the sun set from our table as we eat."

"Oooo, romantic. Ok, come to the Dine at Nite around then and us foxes will take care of you."

"Thanks so much A." He grinned, nodded, and went back to the others and resumed playing tag. I pretended to cook with C. After a while, I looked over to Ianite and the other foxes and watched them play. I focused on Ianite, my expression melting into one of intense love.

"You're such a simp..."

"Oi, I love my lady, I want to express just how much. I feel like I've said and done all I could to let her know just how much..."

"Well, reserving dinner for two is one way. You could get her flowers too. She loves the lily of the valley."

"Oh? Well then, I'll go find some. Thanks for the tip C." I stood up and went away into the cluster of trees to look for lily of the valley flowers. A bit away, I found some and gathered them up into a bouquet. I looked at them and smiled. I can't wait till I see the look on Ianite's face when I present her with these. I walked back where I came from and made sure Ianite wasn't looking my way. I want these to be a surprise. Once I felt safe, I booked it to the house and went into my room.

'Hey, Mianite, could you teleport me to Dine at Nite? I need a safe place to put the gift of flowers for Ianite that I've got.' A moment passed and I was teleported to Dine at Nite. Mianite looked at the bouquet.

"Lily of the valley huh? Well then." I looked at him confused.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Well, lily of the valley has the flower meaning of humility, chastity, sweetness, purity and is said to bring luck in love. It also means 'the return of happiness' which is the reason why it is often used as decorations in weddings."

"Weddings huh? Well jeez, not that. We only just started dating. Plus, it's Ianite's favorite flower according to fox C. So I want to give her her favorite flowers as a gift for our date tonight. Now, could you help me find a flower pot to put these in?"

"I can do you one better. Here." Mianite handed me a flower pot he must have created from nothing. I took it and set it on the counter and put the flowers in it.

"Thanks Mianite. At 6:45 is when I'll be bringing Ianite here for our date, so I need to hide these where she won't find them... eh, I'll put them in the chest I guess." I walked over to the chest and gently set them in. "There. Now to wait until tonight. I'm excited! Thanks again Mianite. Now to ask Ianite to teleport me back to her." He smiled, inclined his head, then left. 'Ianite, could you teleport me to you? I needed Mianite to teleport me to him for a second to do something.' Mere seconds later and I had gotten teleported to a confused Ianite.

"Lucky, where were you? Why did you need Mianite to teleport you? I was also looking for you, it's time to change your bandages."

"It's a secret my lady. Don't worry, you'll find out soon, and you're going to love it," I said as we were walking to the house. Ianite changed the bandages on my shoulder wound and afterward, we went back outside. We passed time by watching the clouds go by, telling each other what shape we think they are. It was fun. The foxes even came over and laid with us, all curled up into balls of white fur. I still can't get over how adorable they are. I pet D as she laid against my side where my injured shoulder is. She was gentle of course. Ianite laid her head on my shoulder on my right side, facing me. A few hours passed as we just laid, talking, and I even got to know the foxes more. When C got up, he bounced on my stomach. I let out an 'oof!' and looked at him. He gave me a serious look. With Ianite's help, I sat up then got up, following C. When we were far enough away,

"Can you ask Mianite to teleport me, A, B, and D to Dine at Nite? We need to get started on getting ingredients and the place ready."

"Sure, and be careful with the chest just inside the door. It's got the flowers I picked for Ianite in it." C nodded.

'Mianite, could you teleport the foxes to Dine at Nite?' A few moments passed and the last fox was teleported. I walked over to a, yet again, very confused Ianite.

"What's going on Lucky?"

"It's all part of the secret. Here in a few moments we'll be teleported. You won't need to teleport yourself to me. Mianite will do that." Ianite merely nodded. We watched the grass swaying in the light breeze going by, then I heard from Mianite.

'You ready?'

'You bet.' I looked at Ianite. "See you there my love." I gave her a quick kiss, then I was teleported.