The Final Revelation

Somehow, even the songbirds knew this was serious information. Not a single one made a peep as my friends and I sat stunned in silence.

“Camellia could… take Tethys’ place?” Lynn squeaked out.

“Correct. She would become the next Tethys, adopting her name and role as the goddess of the sea.”

The world started to spin around me. I wanted to throw up. Me? Become a goddess?

“Why not do it, Camellia?” Aurea offered. “It would be an excellent opportunity.”

That sounded like a whole lot of responsibility that I didn’t want. Having to grant requests, judge trials, and protect humanity from those leviathans? “I don’t really want to, though. It sounds like a lot of work.”

Aurea tilted her head to the side, confused. “So? You’re very accomplished. I’m certain it would be a fine role for you.”

“I don’t really care about that sort of thing anymore,” I admitted. “What, you want me to put ‘Goddess of the Sea — three millennia’ on my resume?” The thought made me laugh.

The goddess’ brow lowered in frustration and uncertainty. “But then you could spend more time with me,” she added, trying to entice me.

That hit a nerve. I almost snorted, replying, “And after all you’ve done, you think I’d want that?”

“Fine. Then what do you want, Camellia?”

I thought for a moment. I wanted to be with my friends. That was what mattered to me. Besides… There were other things I wanted to take care of, too.

The frustration on Mom’s face washed away, replaced by confusion. She gave me an inquisitive look.

Ah, still reading my mind, huh, Mom?

She swiftly broke eye contact, turning away sheepishly.

Lynn turned to me, eyes searching, her lip almost trembling in fear. “Are you going to do it?”

I didn’t even have to think twice once I saw her face. “No. I couldn’t.”

A sense of warmth filled me, as if confirming that my choice was right. “I need to be with my friends. You guys are so important to me.” I looked at Damos, then Lynn. My vision lingered on Lynn for a moment as I thought, Especially you.

“What is it with you and her, Camellia? I don’t— Ah! Sorry!” Mom read my mind again and stopped herself, but it was too late.

I sighed. “A leopard can’t change its spots, and all that, huh, Mom?” Honestly, at this point, it was almost funny. It’s not like my thoughts had been private for the last month, anyway. Mom must have seen me stare at Lynn’s chest multiple times. Surely, she understood.

“Well, I’ll try to do better. But still, I don’t quite understand, actually.” Her eyes darted between me and Lynn.

I was confused. “I know I never told you, Mom, but you’ve been in my head for a month, right? You know what I’m thinking about and stuff.”

“Well, when it came to her,” she nodded at Lynn, “you were always vague, even with yourself.”

“Please, you two. I’m lost. What are you talking about?” Lynn pleaded.

I stood up. I was finally going to get the chance to tell Mom something I’d hidden for years. A secret I had taken to my grave.

“So, Mom,” I began, “There is one thing that I regretted not telling you. You never got to see me find someone I love, or be my true self.” A shaky breath escaped my lips. This was hard. “But the truth is… I like girls. Romantically. Sexually. Platonically. All of it.”

I closed my eyes, waiting for something, anything. A condemnation, congratulations, confusion. Just a response.

When I opened them, what I saw painted all over my mother’s face was instead a look of realization. “That… makes a lot of things make a lot more sense,” she chuckled. Addressing my two friends behind me, she asked, “Did you two know?”

“Sort of,” Damos said. I swirled around to see him shrug and smile. “Kinda figured it out at one point. You see a girl stare at another girl enough times, and it begins to make sense.”

“And you, Lynn?” Aurea asked. “...Lynn? Are you alright?”

Lynn was the person whose face I was the most nervous to see. The girl I’d been crushing on since the day we met. What would she think? Would she hate me? I bit my lip and turned to face her.

Tears were streaming down her face. “Camellia, is it really true? You’re being honest?”

Oh no. Oh no, no, no no. This is very bad, I thought. My attention turned to my feet, shuffling back and forth anxiously. “Um, yeah. It… It is. I’m gay. Well, lesbian, but—”

Lynn tackled me in a hug before I could finish my sentence. She embraced me tightly, squeezing every atom of breath from my lungs. Huh?

Taking a slight step back, she looked me in the eyes with a tearful smile from ear to ear. “Me too.”

My ears started ringing. I thought it was impossible. That was all I could have ever asked to hear. Truth be told, I almost fainted on the spot from happiness.

I started stammering, “A- A- And you like, um, one specific girl? Or just, girls in general, or—”

She enveloped me in a hug once more. Whispering into my ear, she cried, “You, Camellia. I like you.”

I melted on the spot.

“Camellia.” My mother’s godly voice pierced through my picture-perfect, joyous moment. Lynn and I separated, looking at her. “Thank you for telling me.” Her smile was truly kind. “I’m sorry you didn’t feel safe enough to tell me before, but…” She looked at the book in her hand. “Forget this, for now. I think you ought to live a little in this world as a regular person before having to worry about becoming a goddess.”

Damos snorted. “Regular person? Are you kidding? Have you seen her aspect, Aurea?”