Ch. 55 - The Great Pretender, the blessed one

'Why am I still here? Just to suffer?' Floating on the ocean was Maui, however his body was not only charred up but half of his hair was also missing.

After facing the explosion of Leo, Maui wasn't expecting it, and for that, surely you can already tell the consequences he faced just by his appearance alone, if he were a normal human, he would've exploded into pieces of flesh, making a gore out of a simple teasing and banter.

"You still alive?" Meanwhile, Leo swam towards Maui and was surprised to see him still living, he was already expecting Maui to be half dead, or worse completely dead, making Leo a slayer of Demi-Gods.

Thankfully, that didn't happen as the world must've wanted Maui to live.

'Whoever wanted him to live must be powerful.' Leo said to himself only to be interrupted when someone spoke in his mind.

[Obviously, because it was me who stopped you from completely obliterating my champion to death.]

Quickly turning around, Leo saw nothing but an island. Even the previously dark sky and raging storm were already gone as if it didn't exist.

"Huh?" Leo got confused. Was it just his imaginary or did someone just speak to him in his mind.

[It was not your imagination.]

'Fuck!' Leo's eyes widened in surprise. Who knew he'd caught the attention of an all-powerful goddess.

'Where are you? How can you talk in my mind?' Leo asked after recovering from the shock.

[You don't need to know where I am, because I'll bring you and Maui here to me. Ocean...]

'Ocean? What do you mean by Oce-?' Before Leo could state his confusion, the ocean suddenly moved and seemingly rose into a tidal wave with Leo and Maui being on top of the wave.

"Woah." Leo gasped in surprise and looked down, seeing how high he is thanks to Ocean.

The tidal wave then moved or swam on the ocean, bringing him and Maui to a certain familiar place.

"Moana?" Leo uttered in surprise while the latter also did the same.

"Leo? Where were you?" Moana expressed her worry and approached him after the tidal wave carried and carefully dropped him on the island.

"I was just...." Before Leo could finish his words, his eyes suddenly met with the eyes of a certain Goddess of Creation.

"Te Fiti...." Leo muttered under his breath, his excitement and shock being unable to hide.

"Hmmm.....five more minutes." Meanwhile, Maui was still asleep on the ground, even snoring like a child.

Te Fiti looked down on Maui's sleeping figure with an unimpressed expression before manipulating one of the nearby plant to stretch and slap Maui on his cheeks.

*Slap!*

"Gah! Who did that!" Maui quickly stood up and held his already broken magical hook thanks to Leo's explosion in a threatening manner, thankfully it didn't last long before Maui saw Goddess Te Fiti.

"H-Hey....Goddess. How are you doing? Looking great huh?" Maui greeted with a very awkward smile, combined with Te Fiti's expressionless face.

"....S-sorry....for stealing....your....heart." For every word that Maui utters, the volume keeps getting lower until eventually his last word sounds like a mosquito.

*Thud!*

"Apologize properly!" Smacking Maui on the back of his head, Moana glared at him, making Maui bow more.

"I know that!"

"I uhh I apologize for what I did. It was foolish of me to do that, not only I caused you and the whole world in trouble, but also to myself. In that, I accept whatever punishment you give me." Maui deepened his bow and apologized correctly.

"..." Te Fiti still stays silent and the longer she stays that way, the more nervous Maui becomes.

Eventually, Te Fiti's expressionless face soon bore a warm and forgiving smile before opening her palm in front of Maui, showing a brand new magical hook, unlike his previously broken and full of scratches magical hook, this new magical hook is shiny and devoid of any gash.

Gasping loudly, Maui looks like a baby that saw his very first toy in his whole life, making gestures with his hands as if he's grabbing breasts.

*Thud!*

Elbowing him, Moana shook her head.

"Ah-I mean, is this for me, goddess?" Maui asked politely, however his face doesn't show anything close to politeness.

After receiving a nod, Maui almost jumped in excitement, thankfully he composed himself quickly and carefully but slowly grabbed the handle of the magical hook with his hands.

"You're just as beautiful as the day I lost you." Maui looked at the magical hook in love and other unknown emotion in his eyes, making Moana and Leo look at him with weird eyes.

'He's clearly obsessed with his magical hook, who knows what he does with it every night.' Leo said to himself, making a disgusted expression.

"Thank you again, Goddess." Maui bowed his head again after taking a 'good' look at his magical hook.

Te Fiti nodded her head with a smile before bringing her attention to Moana, who bowed her head like a princess. Meanwhile, Leo was left looking around in confusion before eventually asking Moana.

"Moana....where's Black Pearl?" He asked, he's been searching for his ship for the past 5 minutes and saw nothing.

"About that....." Moana made an awkward smile while scratching the back of her head.

"....Don't tell me...." Leo suddenly had a bad premonition.

"I-It kinda got destroyed when Te Ka threw a flaming boulder on it." Moana awkwardly smiled as she answered.

*Crack!*

As if something was broken, Leo's heart was smashed into pieces. Sure the ship has just been a few days with him, but during those days, Leo has grown attached to the ship, to the point that Leo was tempted to rename her.

"M-My ship." Dropping down on his knees, his palms touching the sand, Leo wanted to cry yet not tears were slipping out.

While Moana was staring at him with an apologetic look, Maui was very smug at Leo's poor state, even though he didn't get his revenge and probably won't be able to, at least he got to see Leo's 'defeated' figure.

Meanwhile, Te Fiti was watching this with an amused expression before touching Leo's back, as if she was patting his back.

"....Thank you?" Leo was confused, though he still thanked the creation goddess.

As if to ease his pain, Te Fiti showed her huge closed hands to Leo before opening it, showing the brand new Black Pearl, more clean and healthy.

"My ship!" Rushing to the ship, Leo hugged the hull with his wide arms.

"Thank you!" Leo sniffed and expressed his gratitude with the goddess Te Fiti.

[You are welcome, Destined One.] Hearing her voice in his mind, Leo was confused by what she called him.

'What do you mean by Destined One?' He asked.

[Soon you'll know. Not know as you are weak but in the future, you'll know. In order for that, I'll give you my blessing.]

At the same time as Te Fiti finished her words, a translucent screen popped out in front of Leo, showing the blessings that he got from Goddess Te Fiti.

[Congratulations! You have acquired Goddess of Creation, Te Fiti's blessing! You have acquired the following...

- Whisperer of Nature skill

- 50% increase in overall strength

- Life Sensor skill.]

"!!" Leo's face beamed up in happiness upon seeing two skills and one increase in his overall strength.

"Thank you very much!" Facing Moana and Maui's confused gazes, Leo bowed his head and thanked Te Fiti again.

'Does the ship really matter to him that much? I wish he was like that with me.' Moana mentally pouted in anger and jealousy, but after remembering the 'talk' that she had with her grandmother, her negative emotions vanished and were replaced by happiness and positivity.

'He'll be with me for the rest of our lives, like what Gramma told me, I have years of chances to make him mine.' Moana confidently said in her mind. Even if Leo doesn't intend to stay with her on the island of Motunui, she could just come with him on whatever his journey is about, whether to find adventure or to 'recover' his memories and past.

Her father is still young anyway, he won't be dying soon, so she has some 'free' time to join Leo and make him fall for her.

'Especially the techniques that Gramma told me. I might need to practice them for a few days to get a hold of it. Once that's done, he'll definitely- what was that word she told me? He will be shitten? Smitten?'

***

'Goddess, I don't know how to thank you, I can only express it through words, please forgive me.' After Moana finally had her moment with the Goddess Te Fiti, it was time to bid their farewells.

[No need for that. It is part of my job, a duty that was bestowed upon me which is to guide the Destined One. Go on, Leo. Make sure to get strong.]

'You don't have to tell me.' Leo confidently answered with a smirk in his face.

And finally, Leo and the other two boarded the brand new Black Pearl and waved their hands to Te Fiti, who had already gone back to bed, sleeping as if the chaos never happened.

"Welp, there she goes." Leo smiled as she looked at the sleeping figure of Te Fiti.

'Time to check my new babies!' Leo mentally rubbed his hands against each other, referring to his newly gained skills.

Only to be interrupted by Moana.

"Leo, can we talk?" Moana nervously rubbed her short skirt, looking anywhere but Leo's eyes.

Meanwhile, Maui has already transformed into an eagle and flew away, not bothering to say goodbye. He can already see where this is going.

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[Hey...I-I heard from a few sources that you have the You-Know-What, I-I kinda need it for a few purposes, *Sniff* come on now, I can pay. I need that shiitt~]

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 56 - The Great Pretender is no longer available]

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