Sienna welcomed the embrace of her people. Worry weighed heavy on her heart. She promised to protect them, and here she was being brought back to them by those of other tribes. What kind of joke was this? She scoffed.

“Is something wrong?” Eren asked.

“No. I’m just thinking of how to best defeat Sha’al.” Sienna’s brows furrowed.

“Do you really think you can do it by yourself?” Eren tightened her grip on her spear.

“I know I can,” Sienna said. Her confidence wavered with those words. She couldn’t even prevent him from breaking her arm. What hope did she have of defeating him? She was more likely to wind up like her parents, than to crush Sha’al.

“Those snakes on Sha’al attacked Stellina. I don’t know how they did it. I remember the black leg on Stellina after Sha’al attacked her. He’s something bigger than all of us. If he can damage the Zodiacs, then he’s stronger than any single one of us,” Eren said. She stopped in her tracks. “We need to work together to defeat him.”

Sienna clenched her fists together. “I can’t rely on others.”

“You can’t or you choose not to?” Archer asked. He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Just think about it. We have a month until he comes back. Eren and Naomi taught me a little bit in a short few days. I’ll be better next week and the week after.” He smiled. “When Sha’al comes back, he’ll be afraid of all of us. We all want to defeat him, so its better to work together.” He directed his gaze downward. “Just think about it. Get some rest.”

Sienna nodded. She fought against the monster all night and it still wasn’t enough. She looked down at her arm. What if it’s never enough? She walked over to a tree that would shade her from the morning sun. It was close to the water, and for a moment she felt like she could just relax without worrying about everyone else. It was nice having Archer, Eren, and Naomi around. They helped evacuate her tribe like it was their own. If she accepted their help to defeat Sha’al, she would just be acknowledging how weak she is. Her parents might have had each other, but she was the sum of both of them. She was stronger than them.

Titus popped his head out of the water and stared at her. A smile crossed Sienna’s face.

“Hi, Titus,” she whispered. He splashed his fins in the water, creating a small wave around him. “Do you think I’m a failure? Do you have such thoughts?” She looked down at her arm. “Will I ever be able to throw a spear again like I used to?”

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She felt a part of herself break inside. “Maybe I am a failure,” she muttered. Sienna closed her eyes and drifted into sleep.

Blood and death hung over the lake like a cloud ready to turn into a thunderstorm. Fear rippled through it like waves. Sienna sunk deeper and deeper into it. She reached her hand up to try and breach the surface, but she was too far away. No matter how hard she tried to embrace the water, it dragged her down. Maybe she wasn’t meant to be the one Pisces blessed.

“Do you really think that?” A loud voice said. Sienna could hear it perfectly, even though she was deep underwater.

“Show yourself!” Sienna commanded, taking in water. Her lungs roared at her to get them oxygen but she was too weak to even try.

A large golden koi presented itself above Sienna. “Do you really think I chose the wrong person?”

Pisces, she thought. “I failed to defeat Sha’al.” she said, expecting to breathe in more water.

“Many have,” the fish said. His voice reminded Sienna of her father’s.

“But I was born to defeat him.”

“So were the others. And like you, they failed because they were too prideful.” Pisces pushed Sienna up to the surface. “What do you see now?”

“The cloud is gone. There’s no longer the blood and death hanging over this place.” Sienna felt a sense of wonder. “I see the stars, your stars.”

“Exactly. Do you know why you can see them?” Pisces slid under Sienna and swam upward into the air.

Sienna instinctively went to brace herself with her arms, but remembered her broken one. “I shouldn’t be riding. My arm is broken.”

“In the real world, maybe. But we are dreaming, and I have things to show you. Just trust me.”

Sienna nodded, still feeling skeptical. She never had a dream like this one before, and dreams were just figments of imagination. “So you’re not real?”

“I’m real. I can visit those I’ve blessed while they dream.” Soon Sienna and Pisces were among the stars.

She felt different than when she was on the ground. She felt a sense of wonder and hope. She felt like a little kid again. Sienna moved off of Pisces and landed on an invisible, solid surface. She looked around at the stars. “This is your constellation?”

“It is. Do you remember it from when you were here last?” The fish swam around Sienna.

“What do you mean?”

“I see.” Pisces chuckled. “Do you ever wonder why half your hair is white and continues to stay white?”

“No,” Sienna admitted. “At least not for a long time.”

“When you were younger, you were angry at your parents. You went out during a storm and swam with Titus. When you surfaced by the river bank, you faced an unlucky lightning strike. Your father found you, barely breathing, and brought you to the temple at the bottom of the lake. He was the blessed one of the tribe originally. He begged me to save you, transfer his powers to you so you may live. So while you were originally not the blessed one, I could not ask for a better blessed child.” Pisces front fin touched Sienna’s head. “Trust in what you think is right.”

Tears streamed down Sienna’s cheeks as she awoke. “My father did that for me…”