Book Seven: Chapter 113

“Out of curiosity, why not you?” he asked.

The ground rumbled beneath him, and Pelé sighed. “I’ve asked myself the same thing. Sometimes I wonder if my sister offered because she was hoping I would take her place instead. Maybe she did it solely so she could lord it over me from the afterlife. I knew that my people still needed someone to lead them if they ever strayed too far from the path. As for my sister, she realized that her own time was coming to an end.”

“Because people stopped believing in her?”

The goddess stopped on the steps and looked back at him. “Belief is only one part of the equation,” she said with a sad look in her eyes. “Do you know how many gods are in charge of the ocean?”

“Several,” he replied. “Or maybe one with many names.”

She nodded. “A fair statement. It’s not just that my sister has domain over the ocean. She was the ocean. The spirits of the water were interconnected in a way, their territories often overlapping. Some of th