The Fallen Goddess

Still Going

"So, what's Plan-B?" I ask Koreena.

"Plan-B, for right now, is getting the hell out of here," she responds, walking over to where I'm sitting.

She reaches out to touch my chest, but I grab her hand to stop her.

"Are you sure you can do this? I mean, where do you intend to go, because if you're trying to get to America, then I think you should rethink-"

Rolling her eyes, Koreena cuts me off by squeezing my hand, and the all too familiar sensation of being pulled away into nothingness overcomes me.

When the whirling stops, I open my eyes and see that I am sprawled on what looks like a forest ground. I sit up and my head starts to pound.

I see Koreena next to me, her face screwed up in pain.

"Are you okay?" I ask, even though I know how she's going to respond.

"Yeah," she says in an unconvincing tone.

I shake my head, smiling despite myself.

"No, you're not," I say, standing up and heaving her up with me.

"I like that you care," she says mockingly, though she is smiling.

I stay silent for a moment, just grinning at her, enjoying her. But then I have to ask.

"Where are we and what are we doing?"

"We are in Montana, and I honestly have no clue what we are going to do from here," she states matter-of-factly, her smile thinning out.

"If we don't know what we're doing, then can I take you on an actual date now?" I ask, making her sweet smile return.

"We're wanted criminals," she responds, stepping closer to me.

"Really just you," I correct, grabbing her hand and pulling her into me.

She laughs.

"Hey, so I was thinking," I start after a minute. "Why can't you just teleport back to Orathne?"

She gives me an incredulous look, but she continues to smile.

"I can't believe that I have kissed an idiot like you," she says, flicking my head. "I can't just teleport back because I didn't just 'fall'. I was banished, and I don't have my full powers anyway."

I nod.

"So what are we going to do then?" I ask.

To this, she shakes her head.

"I think I know another way that I can reach Orathne, but the solution is in California," she says to me. "But I'm not sure how we're going to get there."

"We wait a few days for you to regain your strength and then we teleport to California," I tell her like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Again, she shakes her head.

"It's not that simple this time. I think the only way for me to get back is to turn myself in-"

I try to protest, but she raises her voice and plows through my words.

"-and there is a certain custom in our society where you have to turn yourself in in a certain way, or else you won't be accepted and instead killed."

"You're already going to be killed," I say, being more insensitive that I meant to be. "So why not just do it the easy way."

"I feel like you're just trying to get rid of me at this point," she says, and for a moment I panic because that is not what I meant and I do not want to argue.

But then she breaks into a smile, and I smile back.

"I'm starving. You have a lot to explain, so you wanna get something to eat first?" I ask her.

She nods, saying, "But I thought I was a wanted criminal. Where are we gonna go?"

"I'll just slip into a fast food place. Nobody there will recognize me."

And that's just what we do. 

We find our way out of the woods, which isn't that hard, and we end up by a main road. We travel along it for a while until we see the great golden arches.

I stop in there and grab us both simple meals, and then we go back to the woods, eating on the way. Once we are there, we sit together against a tree, and Koreena explains.

She explains that it seen as trustworthy and submissive to travel to the place where you can turn yourself in by foot or vehicle rather than by teleportation.

She explains that she knows her sister is in California, as her sister hinted that she loved the state before Koreena fell, and that she would have the authority to bring Koreena to the Court of Orathne.

She explains that she has a plan once she is in custody: she will be able to escape from this particular sister with ease, but she has planned to make it swift and out of the public eye. From there, she will be able to start fighting for independence the way she did before she fell. And she promises me that, this time, she will not stop fighting, she will not fall.

The only thing she doesn't explain, the one thing I was hoping she would mention, is what's going to happen once she's back.

I want her to tell me that she'll come back, I want her to tell me that there's a way I can help her through all this madness.

But nothing of the sort leaves her lips.