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“You’ve got this,” Tav whispered to Gale. “You know what you’re going to say, and you know what you need to do. And then come back to me.” They kissed his cheek, dropped his hands, and stepped back from the statue.
Gale looked at the crown in his hands, at the person he’d come to love more than anything else, the one who had shown him where he’d stood before and why it was not, in fact, where he wanted to be or where he belongs. “I’ve got this. I know what I’m going to say, I know what I need to do.” He smiled, hoping his usual confidence showed instead of the kernel of doubt that had wormed its way in. “And then I come back to my love, and you and I go to Waterdeep and figure out what we plan to do with the lives we’ve saved in the world we saved.”
Tav nodded, and Gale turned to the statue. He could feel the portal reaching out to him, and all he had to do was reach out and touch it. It would take him straight to Mystra. He reached out.
The Weave was as beautiful as he remembered it, as was Mystra. The pull to her was as strong as ever. However, he could recognize it now for what it was, and more importantly, for what it wasn’t. Oh, there was love there, certainly, in a weird way, but it wasn’t the love that Gale had come to recognize as the most important thing in his life. “Hello, Mystra. I brought you the crown of Karsus, as you asked.”
“Excellent work, Gale.” Mystra reached out a hand, and Gale pulled back just before she made contact with his face. “What is it?”
“I brought you the crown. It’s yours. Put it away and keep it somewhere safe.” Gale met Mystra’s confused eyes. “You promised a cure to my orb in exchange. After that, I’ll be leaving. You offered to make me your Chosen again, but I think it best that I turn down the offer. It’s a great honor, certainly, but I am not the one for the job.”
Mystra tilted her head, hands closed around the crown but not taking it from him. “If you’re worried about your ambition getting the better of you again, look at you. You could have taken this crown and completed Karsus’s goal, making yourself a new god, or even challenging me for control of the Weave and your revenge. You chose not to take that.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Gale let go of the crown and took another step back. “It’s you. You have a power over me that I do not trust, nor do I want to put myself in a position where that power can lead me back to ruin. I’m hardly the first of your Chosen to make a foolish choice to earn your love, only to fail badly and end up discarded, but I don’t want to be the first to do it a second time. You will always be my goddess. I’m devoted to my talents and my mastery of the Weave within my non-divine limits. The thing is, it’s not good for me to be devoted only to magic, such as being your Chosen. I need to be surrounded by my family and friends, to find love that pulls me out of my own interests and reminds me to engage with the world around me. The power you have over me draws me into your oceans… and inevitably, I will drown again, as I did before.”
Mystra nodded. “Gale, you’ve done well to make that choice.” She stepped closer again, putting one hand to his chest. When she pulled it back, an oily black glow pulled back with her hand. She guided it to the crown, and the jewels of the Netherstones greedily slurped it up.
When the last of the black had pulled out of his chest, Gale felt considerably lighter. “Will the crown hold it safely?”
“It will,” Mystra said. “After all, the crown recognizes its own master’s power. The crown is even more powerful now than it was before, but I will keep it safe.”
“Good.” Gale stepped back again. “It was good to see you again, Mystra… but it’s time for me to go. Farewell.”
“Go with my forgiveness and my blessing, Gale.” She held up a hand, opening the portal beside Gale. “And my admiration, as well. As much as I know you hated having the orb and the tadpole, I think both ended up doing you a world of good.”
Gale stepped through the portal, returning to the temple. As before, little time had seemed to pass for Tav, but this time they were a little more prepared for the quick return. “Hello, Gale. How did it go?”
“Well. Unexpectedly so. Mystra barely even tried to talk me into staying, and said I did well.” Gale glanced over his shoulder at the statue. Perhaps it was his imagination, but it appeared to be smiling at him. “It feels strange to say, but there was no temptation there. I could still feel the power, certainly, but I know better now what I want and what I need, and it’s not her.”
“Good.” Tav held out a piece of paper. “As soon as you left, one of the priests gave me this. I didn’t have time to open it even if I’d wanted to.”
“Which you would have, because you’re one of the most curious people I’ve ever met,” Gale said with a soft laugh. “Want to, I mean. Not necessarily that you’d have done it. Depends how long I was gone, I suppose.” He opened it while Tav was still spluttering a bit. “Well. It seems that Blackstaff Academy is seeking a new professor. A magic school in Waterdeep. They think my adventures make me a candidate to pass along my wisdom and learning.”
“We saved the world yesterday,” Tav said, looking at the paper. “They’re already after you?”
“Why not? After all, Gale of Waterdeep was rather well-known as a prodigy and highly skilled wizard even before I saved the world. I was not in a position to be a professor as Mystra’s Chosen making my home in Elysium, or after being cursed with the orb, but now, I am.” Gale looked up from the invitation and smiled at Tav. “I intend to meet with them and see what they want from me. I find I rather like the sound of Professor Gale Dekarios.”
“If that’s what you want, it sounds good to me. As long as we’re together, I think anything that makes you happy sounds like a good plan.” Tav took the invitation from him. “Before we go, though, we have some more goodbyes. Shall we get started?”