Jacynthia’s earlier advice broke into her thoughts, putting a stop to Van’s fear spiral. She struggled to recall her spirit guide’s exact words. Something like, “All fear is a lack of faith in the Self. To overcome this, you must embrace your dark side.”
Zurial’s memory engram had mentioned something similar. A message for Van to accept the duality of life and the duality in her Self.
Is facing the dark part of my Self worse than facing the Quasher?
Van began to connect all the pieces of what she had learned on this journey and had an epiphany.
The Quasher—it was Van’s balancing force against her light, the essence of her inner darkness.
The Quasher…is my own duality!
She felt exhilarated about this realization but still didn’t know what to do.
Accept and embrace the Quasher?
Van couldn’t escape its hook-like claws much longer. She had no choice but to accept and embrace—not the Quasher—but her deeper fear: death.
Then, a bigger revelation hit Van—she was never alone, never separate from the Creator. From Thalassa’s first test, Van learned that what she gives to the Creator is what she gets back. In Zurial’s last memory engram, her ancestor gave Van a message about not fearing death.
A fog lifted and everything Van had encountered on her journey sank in. She knew the answer to the Elemental’s final exam.
Van had made the right choice by not drinking the potion. Thalassa claimed it would have made Van immortal. What the Elemental meant was that it would have made her physical body immortal. If Van had sipped from the Cup, the potion would’ve locked her soul into her body like a cage—for eternity.
Van’s soul had been formed from a piece of the Creator, and like the Creator it existed infinitely. According to Jacynthia, “The soul cannot be permanently diminished.”
Secure in this knowledge, Van no longer feared death of the physical body. She accepted death as part of life.
And death came for her. In the form of the Quasher.
She hobbled out from behind the rock knowing even with her magic and her powerful connection to her ancestry, it was clear she couldn’t defeat the Quasher using force.
Then, three words drifted to the forefront of her mind.
Force versus strength.
She remembered Zurial’s memory engram, when Manik mentioned harnessing emotions to show strength not force. Ferox had suggested the same thing.
Van didn’t need to use force to fight the Quasher. She possessed inner strength through her connection to the Creator.
Her soul had been made from a piece of the Creator, and the Creator was made entirely of light. There was no darkness in the Creator; therefore, no darkness existed inside Van.
But, darkness could enter her being if she allowed it into her space with incorrect actions or thoughts. Again, Van became aware she had the right to reclaim this space—her space—to keep out anything that wasn’t part of her essence, like darkness.
The Quasher, as Van’s natural balancing force, was not part of her inner Self. Like night and day, they were two separate but balancing entities allowed by nature to exist in peace, as long as each respected the other’s boundaries.
Nevertheless, true to the Quasher’s nature, the shadow-wolf rushed at Van. Trying to consume her energy, as darkness does to gain strength.
She didn’t flinch or brace for impact.
Instead, she communed with the positive eternal presence within her Self and declared, “This darkness is not me. I refuse to give it my light. I reclaim all the energy it has taken from me. It has no power over me and no right to be in my space, given to me by the Creator. By the will of the Creator, it cannot harm me.”
The Quasher leaped forward, snarling, hooked claws extended.
It dissipated as it struck Van. Going straight through her as if it were the dust of a hologram.
And just like that, it vanished.
An unnerving silence strained Van’s ears.
Her eyes darted up and down the rocky sides of the cavern and across the lagoon, searching for any coming sign of trouble. But the water had calmed and receded back to its original size. The pieces from the shattered masks lay scattered across the beach and rocks. Wiglaf silently peered at Van from atop of a nearby rock; his ears straight and tall, his fur white and fluffy.
Van wasn’t sure what had happened. She wasn’t even sure if what she had done counted as defeating the Quasher. Did I pass the Elemental’s test?
Her eyes roamed the shoreline. The shiny outer rim of the Cup protruded from the sand not far from her, next to it rested the Coin. She cautiously climbed down the rocks onto the beach, ignoring her aches, bruises, bleeding ankle, and her partially shredded boot.
Still unsure if her tests were completed, Van didn’t make any sudden movements.
“First, I challenged your ability to relate to your emotions, to feel your connection to the Creator, ” Thalassa said from behind Van.
Van whirled around, arms raised in defense mode.
“Feeling is the fountainhead of power.” Thalassa had reverted back to her original appearance—her dirty-blond, seaweed-like hair and silver robe had returned. She stood on the beach several yards from Van.
At that moment, Van knew the Quasher she had encountered was in actuality Thalassa. The beast, merely another of Thalassa’s many changing faces, one of her illusions.
Van relaxed her fighter’s stance, relieved by the pleased expression on the Water Elemental’s face.
“Next, I presented you with a choice,” Thalassa continued. “To save your life by drinking from the Cup or use it to heal Wiglaf, giving him life. To make the correct choice at that moment—you needed to feel love for Wiglaf.”
At the beginning of her journey, Van had been so sure that emotions made her a bad warrior. Now, she knew her feelings were an integral part of making her a stronger one. Zurial’s memory engrams, Jacynthia’s advice, Wiglaf, Paley and Daisy’s illnesses, Hiccup, Brux…Ferox were all designed to heal Van so she could reclaim her right to feel.
As if on cue, Thalassa said, “Being able to feel compassion and love allowed you to accept the duality of others and of your Self. This led to your understanding that the ultimate form of healing is to accept nature’s greatest duality—that of life and death.”
The Elemental spoke matter-of-factly. Her eyes never blinked and remained focused on Van. “Knowing that death is not the end, that there is continuity of life through the soul, eliminated your fear of death. By doing so, you transcended your earthbound status and grew closer to your spiritual power as Anchoress.”
Thalassa paused.
Van squirmed. The Water Elemental did the same thing after Van’s first test. Then decided Van needed additional testing.
No matter, Van felt confident she had learned her lesson. Whatever Thalassa threw at her next, she would face it head-on.
“The choice you made during your final test proved that you truly understand the Elemental Law of Healing,” Thalassa said. “By healing your emotional Self, you were able to accept the duality of all things. Including, acknowledging that Creator only creates, there is no death, only different forms of life. This is what led to your ability to counter the second plague of humanity, the Plague of Death.”
Thalassa smiled, startling Van.
“Congratulations,” she said. “I am satisfied that you have passed my tests. The Cup of Life is now your responsibility.”
Thalassa began to change appearance again. This time her dress turned into tiny beads that looked like water droplets.
“My time as guardian has come to an end.”
The Elemental’s droplet dress became one with her skin and hair, turning her whole body into water droplets one by one.
“Remember, the Cup only heals the body, not the soul.”
Each of the water droplets rose upward like reverse rain, and Thalassa evaporated into the sky.
Chapter 53
Th
e lagoon grew quiet.
“Mrrwwp ilp.” Wiglaf sat beside Van’s feet. He raised his whiskery nose. His round, blue eyes peered up at her.
Van reached down and scooped him into a big hug.
He cuddled in by draping his paws over her shoulder and snuggling his face by her ear.
Van walked across the beach, her footprints leaving marks in the damp sand.
She firmly held Wiglaf as she bent down and picked up the Cup.
“Let’s get back to the ship,” she said to her bunfy as she tucked the Cup into her jacket’s inner pocket.
After falling into the mouth of Charybdis, Van believed she had entered a magical lagoon, deep under the sea, perhaps even at the bottom of the Bottomless Sea. Although, when she looked up, she saw the sky.
She had no idea where to find the others or if they had even survived. She picked up the Coin and wiped-off the sand with her thumb, still holding Wiglaf over her shoulder with her other hand. She held the Coin in her palm and asked for the best direction back to The Obelus.
Wiglaf began to squirm.
“Irp weep!”
“What?” Van turned to see what upset Wiglaf.
The water in the lagoon was steadily rising.
Van took several steps backward. “It’s flooding the cavern.”
Van hastily changed her request and asked the Coin for the best path out of the lagoon. It pointed, and Van hurried away from the rising water.
She came to a fissure in the rocky side of the cavern. Van placed Wiglaf on the ground, so if he wanted, he could follow her. She turned sideways to fit into the narrow opening and wedged her way into the fissure. Van barely had room to breathe, and her steps had become damp from the rising water. She panicked for a second, imagining being jammed between boulders, seawater rising, drowning her.
I survived the Quasher, only to drown five minutes later?
With her luck? Probably.
Van’s anxiety abated. What was the worst that could happen? Death? She no longer feared death.
She placed her trust in the direction of the Coin and held faith that she was headed the right way.
Van kept moving, shuffling sideways between the suffocating stone walls. She stumbled forward when the walls opened into a vast tunnel system. The blackness of the tunnels activated Van’s magical ability to see in the dark by turning on her ‘flashlight’ eyes.
She followed the direction of the Coin as it led her through tunnel after tunnel, finally ending in an underground cavern that had formed around a natural cenote, about eight feet wide.
Van stood on beach sand, but unlike the lagoon, this sand was dotted with bunches of dried seaweed and had a handful of scattered shells. Van scrutinized the odd look of the beach, watching as the sand got damper. As soon as the water began wetting the sand, Van realized she wasn’t standing on a beach—she was on the sea floor!
The cavern began to flood, perhaps going back to its original state now that Thalassa no longer required the space to guard the Cup.
Van’s eyes darted along the ground in a panicked attempt to find Wiglaf, ready to save him again, if necessary. Thankfully, he had the sense not to follow her into the fissure. Van assumed he’d had enough adventure and now that she had healed him, he had enough energy to pop back to his magical realm.
The sea rose high enough to merge with the water from the cenote. It continued to flood the cavern as if an unseen faucet under the ground had been cranked full-throttle. Van hurriedly consulted the Coin as the water reached her knees.
It pointed to the cenote.
But the water! How am I supposed to breathe underwater?
She was reasonably sure becoming a fish wasn’t one of her magical abilities. If it came down to it, she would call on her protective bubble. But she wasn’t sure if the invisible sphere would surround her as she swam to the surface. She feared becoming stuck on the ceiling of the cavern in her bubble, forever floating at the bottom of the Bottomless Sea.
She had no idea why the Coin had led her here, but she was certain it didn’t mean for her to drown.
Wait a minute.
She was at the bottom of the Bottomless Sea.
Duh! The Coin led her to the second seal! It was in the cenote.
Her legs were drenched; the water had risen to her hips, but she could still see the cenote under the water, its color different—a lighter shade of blue-green than the rising sea.
Her hand grazed the protruding lump coming from her inside jacket pocket—the Cup. Maybe the Cup would fill with some life-saving liquid. She tucked the Coin in her pocket and pulled out the Cup as the seawater reached her neck.
Van stretched onto the tips of her toes to keep her nose and mouth above the water.
How am I supposed to drink from it if I need my hands to stay afloat? Don’t I need a potion made under the full moon?
The sea rose higher, and her toes no longer touched the ground. Her eyes darted to the stone ceiling. It got closer and closer.
While treading water, Van flailed her arms so much that she hit herself in the face with the Cup.
When the Cup touched her face, it moved on its own. The bowl of the Cup suctioned onto her skin and changed position to cover her nose and mouth.
Terrified of suffocating, Van tried to yank it off as she sank below the water.
The whole time she struggled, she gulped down air.
Air!
The Cup acted as a magical SCUBA mask, providing oxygen to her body without a tank.
Van calmed down. She glanced around the murky water, completely submerged. Her injured ankle throbbed as she swam over to the cenote and dived deeper into the blue-green water.
The cenote walls surrounded Van, but provided enough room for her to swim to the bottom. She didn’t know if the seal would be obvious and wondered if it was worth the risk of consulting the Coin.
The decision was taken out of her hands. She had reached the bottom of the cenote.
Several striated bands wrapped the wall surrounding Van, each about double the width of her hand. One granite band; one reddish-orange stone strand; and one deep-blue, watery strip were embedded into the side of the cenote. The bands reminded Van of the portal in the House of Lacus.
She had reached the second seal.
Her eyes moved along the wall as she turned full circle, getting a good look at the bands. Silver sparkles twinkled throughout all three layers. There were no cracks, breaks, or ruptures anywhere. She circled again, this time running her hands over the strands. Everything looked fine. There was no crack in the second seal.
Did that mean the Cup was the real mission?
The seal and the Cup happened to be in the same geographical location. Van needed to use the Cup to breathe so she could check the seal. Thankfully, it worked out that her team’s plans changed and she decided to retrieve it.
Was it a coincidence? Fate? Or, did Uxa know the seal was intact?
Did Uxa send me to check the seal because she knew I would need the Cup to complete the mission?
Van’s gut churned. Again, her intuition questioned her mentor’s motives.
Is Uxa the spy at Lodestar?
Van made triple, quadruple sure that the seal was indeed undamaged in any way, then began her ascent out of the cenote.
She reached the cavern and swam back through the tunnels. She wedged her way through the tight-fitting fissure, turning her face upward to fit the SCUBA Cup, and back into the submerged lagoon.
As she moved through the foggy seawater, Van glimpsed Thalassa’s throne. It looked eerily abandoned, like a relic from a lost culture reclaimed by the fury of Poseidon.
She swam higher into the darkness, half expecting to hit a stone ceiling. But the murky water continued, and she kept swimming and swimming. Suddenly, the water surrounding her filled with tiny, swirling bubbles that seemed to increase her ascent.
Light filtered down from above, and the bubbles stopped.
Van broke through the surface, and the Cu
p detached from her face. She scrambled to catch it and fumbled, almost losing it to the sea. Her heart raced knowing if the Cup fell she wouldn’t be able to retrieve it again.
Van secured the Cup into the inner pocket of her jacket while treading water. Then, she scanned the horizon.
In the near distance, she saw a battered ship.
Chapter 54
Although exhausted, Van swam toward The Obelus.
The man stationed in the crow’s nest spotted her before she reached the ship. Within minutes the crew had lowered a rowboat into the water.
Relieved, Van took a needed a break from swimming. The muscles all over her body ached, and her injured ankle throbbed.
Van saw Ferox perched on the bow with a worried look on his face, and Brux’s powerful arms rowing the boat.
They gripped Van by the shoulders and pulled her onboard, both fussing.
Brux embraced Van. “We thought you were…dead.”
“Same here.” Van smiled, hugging him back.
“Good to see you’re alive,” Ferox said. He hesitated, as if unsure whether he should show a full-on display of his affection. Then, he reached out and grasped Van in a hug that seemed much more intimate than the one given to her by Brux.
Ferox volunteered to row back to the ship.
“You rowed here,” he said to Brux. “I’ll row back. It’s only fair.”
All of them had questions. Van considered hers the most urgent.
“How’s Paley? Is-is she…alive?”
“She’s…” Brux paused, searching for the words.
“Alive, yes,” Ferox added. “But not well. You’ll see.”
“Pernilla? Thyra?” Van asked. “Is it really true? They’re…gone?”
They nodded sadly.
Van’s heart ached when she thought about how Pernilla’s death would affect her parents. And Ken. He, too, would be devastated.
Ferox paused. He lifted the oars and rested them on the inside of the rowboat so they wouldn’t float away.
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