The Quest

Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII

It never came; but surely it would be ridiculous to assume that she was still falling and yet her body told her she was, but her eyes told her that she should have plummeted onto the sand by now. One must be lying, but which?

Her vision was blocked by a large hand which floated before her eyes. Anamaia just stared at it bewildered.

 “Take it Anamaia,” said a distant voice from somewhere in the sky or behind the hand, she couldn’t quite make out which one it was. Anamaia reached out cautiously and grasped it, not sure what use it would be when she was about to meet her death. The hand pulled her up and Anamaia clambered to her feet, almost falling over again when she saw who the hand belonged to.

Gaea stood before her nonchalantly, as if standing on thin air was an everyday habit, the stars little pinpricks of light spread out behind her – it seemed as if there were more, and brighter, stars closer to her, as if all the stars had moved to be near her and their light was so concentrated and pure that all Anamaia could make out of her goddess was her figure, her face and her hair which was floating gently around her head.

 “Gaea?” she whispered tentatively, scared that speaking it aloud would make it the truth, “Am I dead?” and was rewarded by a large smile spreading across her face.

 “No, you’re not Anamaia. You’re just special. I couldn’t let you fall off a cliff could I?” she asked, laughing wryly.

 “No,” she said, pausing to think what to say before the one person who could explain it all. Which question should she ask first? “Gaea-”

 “No questions for now Anamaia,” she said sadly, “I’m sorry, but there are things that you need to do by yourself.”

Anamaia opened her mouth to say something, and then decided that, although it was annoying, Gaea probably had a good reason for refusing to answer any questions; but that didn’t stop her, just influenced the choice of question that she proceeded to ask. “How do we find the water realm?” she said, in a rush to get her question out before Gaea could stop her.

She smiled, as if amused by the direct disobedience Anamaia had just demonstrated and paused saying “Oh it’s not the water realm that you need help with. But you’ll find your way there if you just wait here. Patience is the key,” she glanced down and suddenly said “Now it’s time for us to go our separate ways, so it’s high time to return you to Earth.” She took Anamaia’s hands in hers and Anamaia felt the feeling of falling intensify only this time it felt controlled, and her hair was whipping around her while they descended. Anamaia looked down and saw the sand rushing up to meet them and she flinched away from the contact.

They stopped suddenly, hovering slightly above the sand, the crests of the waves skimming Anamaia’s feet; looking at the feet opposite hers, she saw that although waves engulfed them many times, they stayed dry. “Gaea?” she asked, not sure where her courage was coming from, “Are you really here?”

Gaea didn’t say anything, but dropped Anamaia’s hands and vanished, leaving Anamaia to drop abruptly onto the sea, the waves lapping at her feet. She stood there for a while, lost in her thoughts and thinking about Gaea and what had just happened until Ellaime ran up behind her.

“Anamaia! Anamaia!” he called. She turned around startled, feeling guilty for having completely forgotten about Ellaime.

“Hi Ellaime,” she said shakily.

“Oh thank Gaea! You’re alright! I thought you were going to die!” he said, running his hands through his hair.

“So did I,” she said wryly. “How did you get down so quickly?”