Maite and Kepa sat there, staring dumbly at Amalur as she continued to morph between her three forms. Kepa couldn’t quite tell if they were three distinct personalities or just different variations of the same person. No, person wasn’t quite right. You didn’t call an ancient earth goddess a person. But, he wasn’t quite sure what to call her. Goddess was probably the best thing, now that he thought about it.
“Goddesses,” he began.
Amalur, appearing now as a composite of her three forms that some how both completely confused his brain but was perhaps the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, nodded her head down toward him, as if acknowledging him.
“Bai,” he stuttered before continuing. “What happens to the people when the bubbles burst?”
A flash of sadness seemed to ripple across Amalur’s face before it regained its stoic composure.
“They are simply gone,” she answered.
“Erased from existence?” asked Kepa horrified.
Amalur floated closer to him and touched his forehead. “Some still exist, here.”
“Like Latxe,” muttered Kepa, a tear welling in his eye.
Maite brushed aside the confused feelings of sympathy and jealousy she felt at the mention of Latxe’s name as she turned to Amalur. “Who is de Lancre? Who is he, really?”
Amalur feigned confusion. “What do you mean? He is de Lancre, of course.”
“Ez, ez,” replied Maite, shaking her head. “He isn’t just another man, there is something more there. What is it?”
Amalur sighed as her formed morphed into that of Ilargia, the goddess of the moon. “Something more?” her icy voice repeated, sending a chill down Maite’s spine. “Perhaps, or perhaps he is all the evil of humankind personified.”
Maite shook her head. “There is no good nor evil. Just humans making bad choices, or selfish choices.”
Eguzki’s radiance filled the room as she shifted form again. Maite had to turn away as the brightness grew with Eguzki’s smile. “Can that not be a definition of evil?”
Maite threw her hands up in frustration. “Fine, be all cryptic with your answers.” She folded her arms as she sat on the bed, pouting.
“What happens when we collect all of the zatiak?” asked Kepa.
“You cannot,” replied Amalur, this time, appearing in a new form, an elderly amuma with a sad visage. “After you count the stars in the sky, the blades of grass on the earth, and the grains of sand on the coast, there are still more zatiak.”
With that answer, Amalur faded and vanished from the room.
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