Secrets at Sea

Chapter 22

Kepner finishes telling his story and pauses, waiting for one of us to say anything. We've been walking back towards where the man-baby's lair is located. Kepner keeping us in the shadows as the sun rises higher and higher into the sky. He's been talking the whole time in hushed tones, forcing Mason and I to huddle closely around him.

"You expect us to believe this bullshit story." Mason huffs. "None of that shit makes sense man. There's no way that we wouldn't have heard of The Counsel. Plus there is no such thing as Gods."

"You're right on one thing," Kepner says. "There are no Gods, only Goddesses." His matter-of-fact tone making it very hard for me to not believe that he's telling the truth. I stay silent, taking in all that Kepner had just told us. My mind makes a connection between Kepner's tale and the vision I had earlier in the day.

"You mentioned the name of one of the Goddesses, the water Goddess?" I asked.

"Senna." Kepner stated. "Why?"

"She was in the vision I had, or at least I was seeing the vision through her perspective." I paused, trying to remember the name of the other woman from my vision. "This other woman was there, she wore all black. I can't remember her name though."

"Oh, that was most likely Viella, the Goddess of Death."

Both Mason and I turn to look at him, fear and confusion filling our eyes. "The Goddess of Death?" My voice raises an octave higher than anticipated. I swallow, calming my nerves a bit.

"She's not what you think." Kepner says, "The Goddess of Death isn't like Gods such as Satan, Hades, or Thanatos; like the ones that man have made up over the centuries. Death has a close connection with the Goddess of Life. Death uses her power to help even out the balances of the world. She is kind and compassionate; making sure everyone's transition into the next life goes as smoothly as possible. She is a caretaker of the souls and nurtures those who are hurt and broken back to health before allowing them to move on."

"Why would Death waste so much time on promoting care and life? Isn't she Death for a reason?" Mason scoffs. I can see he does not believe a word that Kepner is saying and from the looks of it Kepner is starting to get annoyed with Mason's stubbornness.

"The Goddess of Death's whole job is to help the transition of souls. If she can heal the soul for the next life then that's an accomplishment and there be one more naturally good person alive. If she isn't able to aid in the transition this time around then she leaves it up to the Goddess of Life to help the soul along a better path while they walk the planet."

Mason just stares at Kepner in disbelief. As long as I've known Mason he's never believed in any type of higher power. He's very much logical and can't fathom a force or being that he can't see of touch. Mason is a huge supporter of evolution and scoffs at anyone who believes otherwise.

"What does this World Leak you were talking about earlier have to do with these Goddesses you've told us about?" I ask trying to get the conversion onto a different track. I don't need these two arguing over religion while we're stuck on this stupid ship. We've almost made it back to the Entertainment Center, I can see the bodies of the psychopaths still laying in the middle of the deck.

Kepner starts his response while still glaring at Mason. "The World Leak is a way for the Goddesses of now to have easier access to the strong magical powers for their past incarnations. We found a way to tap into the Goddesses' souls, which is where they hold their connection to the past energy given to them from the Vierikks upon creation."

"So why on earth would I be in charge of something so valuable to the Goddesses and Genocryte?" Anger filling my voice as I make eye contact with Kepner. "I lose my phone at the drop of a hat, there's no logical explanation for that kind of responsibility to be thrust on me. I'm just a graduate student trying to have a nice cruise with my friends, not some carrier pigeon." I take a deep breath as to not let my emotions get the better of me. I can't lose focus of that fact that we're still trapped on this boat with people running around trying to kill us.

"Well they thought that the World Leak would be safe with someone that can utilize its power." Kepner says casually, his green eyes cold. I get a feeling that he's hinting at something important, but my mind is too tired and too worn down with fear to process more of what he's saying.

"Say it in a way that I can understand with this current situation, please." I sigh. Mason looking just as confused as I feel.

"You're a Goddess Chelsea. The first Goddess reincarnation of the Forest since Medlinda's sacrifice."