I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“I believe a fitting punishment will be for you to remain frozen until my friends arrive. By my estimation, that will happen within a week or so.” There was a flurry of splashing and angry shouts that quickly changed to weeping and pleas. Ana, ignoring all of it, turned to leave, but before she did, she gave a final warning. “And if you even think about kissing any of my friends, I’ll see to it that you remain frozen for one hundred years. Do we understand one another?”
The sulky mermaid shoved a handful of water over the lip of the fountain, splashing our feet. “Yes, Goddess,” she said.
“Good.”
Ana blew the girl a kiss and the fountain froze. With a quick snap of her fingers, she also blurred the mermaid’s memory of me so she wouldn’t recognize me when she saw me again.
“Feel better?” I asked Ana.
“I believe I do,” she said and gave me a conspiratorial smile as we headed down the tunnel.
When we came up to a dead end, Ana used her power to blast a hole in the rock. She held back the might of the ocean, turning the area ahead of us into a sheet of thick ice, then we walked forward, the ice moving and shifting around us until it created the long tunnel I remembered.
Soon I noticed we were being followed. The giant monsters that swam in the deep caught sight of us. I prepared for an attack. But Ana just cooed at the ugly creatures as they trailed along after us like lovesick puppies, nudging the ice and giving her mournful looks with their strange unblinking eyes. When we’d gone a sufficient distance, Ana lifted a hand, causing an underwater earthquake. Rocks rose and precious metals tore away from the seabed. Her giant pets sped away as she created the temple, complete with a door and a keyhole that would just fit the key she’d made earlier.
Stepping inside the temple, she trailed her hand over the walls, and carvings appeared, spreading out around us like waves. When we passed rooms, I saw gems and marble statues.
“Where did they come from?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I borrowed them from Jīnsèlóng. His hoard was becoming too large.”
I laughed and told her of the incense, the pool, and the thick windows that looked out across the deep. With barely a thought or a whisper from her, everything I described appeared before my eyes.
Her skin gleamed in the dimness of the temple as she walked through each passageway. Ana asked me to help remove the clasp of her black pearl necklace, and after she whispered the words that would grant us six more hours, she dropped it inside one of dozens of giant oysters that each rose to the surface and cracked open their shells hungrily for the privilege of guarding her gift.
I described the statues that we’d found at the top above the pool and the giant shark and the huge jellyfish that Kelsey summoned to take us back to the surface. She was fascinated by the harrowing tale of escape. Her mouth fell open in horror when I said that Kelsey was nearly eaten and how Ren rode the back of the giant shark, sinking the trident into it.
“I would have liked to see that,” she said. “It must have been frightening.”
“Terrifying,” I agreed. “We floated in a giant clam shell for a long time, finally using the scarf like a kite. It guided us back to the ship.”
“It must have been quite the adventure,” Ana said.
“It was,” I answered as I looked out through the darkened glass and saw the flash of something large out of the corner of my eye. “I’m glad we did it. Don’t get me wrong. It was hard, and every corner we turned brought us face-to-face with something that could kill us, but we came through it, you know? There’s something satisfying in knowing that.”
Ana threaded her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder. We rested for a while and ate. I told her of the kraken and didn’t even need to embellish the story to see her eyes grow wide. Next I told her of the green dragon hunting us. She gasped and said we should devise some sort of punishment.
“It’s okay,” I said. “When they helped me heal you, I saw their whole lives in a glance. They mean no harm. Not really. And they do try their best to fulfil their duty as you assigned. The dragons just like being the bosses of the sea. They spent a long time being trapped at the bottom of the food chain, and they want to assert their dominance. It’s an animal thing.” I shrugged. “As a full human, er, goddess, you probably wouldn’t understand.”
Ana rose, dusting her hands. “Still, we should visit them from time to time. Help them remember that someone is watching.”
“Agreed.”
Ana made the statues with my guidance, gifting them with the power of the scarf so that they might transform me, Ren, and Kells when we appeared. When that was done, she peered up at Shiva, Indra, and Parvati and trailed her fingers over Shiva’s arm. I then regaled her with the story Kadam had taught us.
“He told me that story as well,” she said. “But there were a few things he emphasized that spring to mind.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. He wanted me to especially remember that though Shiva might have forgotten her for a while, anyone who saw him with Parvati would know that they were meant to be together, for they balanced one another’s power.”
“What else did he say?”
“He also added that Shiva was a fool to disregard his wife in the first place.”
“Yes, he was,” I said.
Looking at the statues made me think of Ren and Kelsey. Lost in thought, I touched the hand of Parvati. “You know, when the statues disappeared and the three of us were assigned the roles, I was Shiva and Ren was Indra. At the time, I thought it meant I was the one destined to be with Kelsey. That I was her true love. I hoped this even though I felt as if I were a charlatan trying to steal something that didn’t belong to me.”
Ana shook her head. “You had it backwards, Sohan. You were never a charlatan. You assumed the role you were always meant to have. You are the companion of Parvati. Ren and Kelsey were the players in this cosmic game. They represent the mortal half of us, the other side of the coin.” She cupped my neck with her warm hand. “But you, my handsome tiger. You were always the hero of the story. Never forget that.”
I took her fingers and brought them to my lips. “You know, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I think I might believe it.”
“See that you do.”
“Ana?” I said, snaking an arm around her waist. “When Shiva found the necklace, he won a prize.”
Her breath caught. “I remember,” Ana said softly. “He was able to claim his bride.”
“Right.” I drew her lissome body closer. “So, what happens when he gives up the necklace?” I asked.
“Hmm. I suppose the two of us will have to find out.”
Ana spun away before I could push the conversation further in the direction I intended and fashioned the statue of the shark. Leaning over him, she whispered in his ear what he should do when the visitors arrived. I hoped it included not munching down on any of us more than he had to.
Heading to the wall of windows, she twitched her fingers, and tiny, microscopic organisms grew larger and larger until they became the jellyfish I remembered. “What remarkable creatures!” Ana exclaimed, growing excited. “We’ll have to return someday and visit all the places under the sea. I am especially interested in seeing the gold dragon’s treasure trove.”
The idea of exploring underwater via jellyfish made me squeamish. “If we have to.”
“Do not fear to walk where a goddess treads, Sohan,” she said with a laugh. “Come. We must visit Ren next.”
“Ren? When?”
“When he is imprisoned with Lokesh. We must remove his memory of Kelsey.”
I whistled. “Okay, then. Did Kadam give any reason why we have to do this?”
“You know how little he tells us.”
“Right.”
“But in this case, he made an exception.”