WIS #3.2: Goddesses, the Land of Nowhere, and to Trust or Not to Trust?

And now I have brought myself to continue the last WIS!
(Sorry about the weird name, by the way. I just couldn't think of a better title.)
BUT BEFORE THAT! The Goddess of Wisdom, Sheilsophinacaneia, has had a name change because...I wanted her too. Her new name is Jesiackazysofiarti. (Isn't that a mouthful? Or ten?)
And all the goddesses have colloquial nicknames that the goddesses use to address each other. (Lower beings also use these nicknames, but never to address the goddesses.) The names (mostly) come from their real names. The parts of their names that contain their nicknames (or something close to their nicknames) are italicized.
Scadoosh = Scadoosh, because it's not that hard or tiring to say. But goddesses like to get creative. So she's called Bruce, Alaura, or Lola.
Jesiackazysofiarti = Jessica or Sophia
Anilokalmosia = Annie
Jenisifiodincneiwa = Jennifer or Jenny
Marryahlagumpideya (she's a new goddess) = Maria or Mary
Crisstareenaywebdermotti (also a new goddess) = Christina or Christi or Christine
Now that that's settled, happy reading!
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"I can't believe we actually helped punish you for something you didn't do, Scott!" exclaimed Priya when she found out about what the group had learned about Scott from Scott and Scadoosh.
"It's not your fault. It's that girl who I thought was my very sweet daughter..." fumed Scott.
"Don't worry, Scott! We'll find Emily and make her pay! And we'll free Scadoosh, too!" promised Feathers.
"I sure hope we know where we're going..." mumbled Zella. The group looked at where they were. But it definitely was not the island below Annie's lair, which was where the old map said they were.

"Um, you're in the middle of Nowhere, to be precise," said a strange voice.

"Well, we can see that," said Maddie, "but where? And who are you?"

"I just told you where. You're in the land of Nowhere. Nothing happens here. What I'd like to know is what all of you are doing down here?"

"We're, um..." "Uh..." "I think..." "Why do you want to know anyway?" Everyone tried to answer at once, but no one was sure whether to say where they were really going. "I'm just curious, that's all! No need to get all worried or anything. If you don't want to talk about something, you don't have to! By the way, that looks like a really old map..." noted the girl, the owner of the voice.

"Oh, that's the map that the Gwate Goddess of White Magic Scadoosh gave us! We'we going to Aniwokaw...Annie's home to twy and get the keys to set the the goddess fwee!" explained Hannah, before anyone could stop her.

"Oh, I see. But what are you guys doing here? Annie's lair is to the east of here," said the girl. "And Scadoosh is imprisoned? That's...bad," said the girl, surprised.

"Why are you so calm?" asked Feathers.

"The only way to solve this problem is to be calm," replied the girl, coolly. "You ended up in this place because you panicked." She took the map. "You probably got lost because you were so worried about getting to the lair on time. But, honestly, time hasn't got much to do with your rate of success anyway. It doesn't matter when you get to the lair; you've got to get there."

"What do you mean, 'it's wrong'? And how would you know where the lair is, anyway?" asked Feathers.

"Well, I've been invited there by Annie because she wanted to lure me over to the dark side. Intelligence can be used for evil...Oh, and I forgot to introduce myself! Where are my manners?! Anyway, I'm Jessica, the Goddess of Intelligence."

"JESIACKAZYSOFIARTI?" exclaimed everyone, as they bowed.

"Oh, there's no need for that," said the goddess. "Just call me Jessica. It's easier."

"Are you going to help us?" asked Maddie.

"Oh, I'd love to, but I can't. But I can tell you one thing. You will get help from a person you wouldn't expect help from. Sorry I can't help anymore than that. There's so much stuff to do, including another Good Goddess Convention, where we ponder about what to do about poor Bruce. I think I should just be allowed to help you guys, but I've got to attend another pointless meeting." She sighed. "So, yeah. I've got to go, now! And I'll correct this old map for you." She waved her hand, and sparkles flew onto the paper. "There. It's all fixed. So, bye!"

"BYE!" everyone exclaimed, as Jessica disappeared with a flash of light.

"Why do all the goddesses get such cool exits?" complained Priya. "I wish we could have cool exits." 

Amarantha agreed. "I, for one, would love to be able to disappear like the Cheshire Cat, except my cool new horn would be the last to disappear. Having the grin be the last to disappear would be just creepy."

"I wonder what Jessica meant by 'You will get help from a person you wouldn't expect help from,'" mused Ellie.

"Maybe she's referring to Scott?" suggested Feathers.

"ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT I'M UNEXPECTED HELP?" boomed Scott. "I am upset at this revelation."

"Exactly! Why would she tell us about Scott's help? We know that already. That's not new information," said Science Nerdess.

"Meh...we'll find out later, I guess. Now let's go!" said Priya, and the group valiantly trekked [I like that word. Though I have no idea if I'm using it right.] on to find Anilokalmosia's lair.

Soon, the group found that they were running out of supplies, namely food. They stopped by a port city to restock. "According to the revised map," noted Science Nerdess, "we have to get to the middle of Datwun Lake to get to the island of Anilokalmosia."

"What a very specific name," snorted Scott. "'That One Lake'? Any lake could be called that!"

"Not 'That One Lake,' Scott. Datwun Lake. D-A-T-W-U-N. Datwun," explained Science Nerdess.

"The two are too close for my liking," said Scott. "It could be a respelling for all I know."

"Well, now we've got to get some boat...and someone to steer it. Do any of you people know how to steer boats?" asked Feathers. Everyone said "no" in some way. "Let's get food first," suggested Zella, and the group headed to the General Store of the port city (disguising first, of course). While the others went off in search of supplies, Priya and Feathers stayed behind. "So, what do you want to do?" asked Priya.

"I dunno. Hey, let's check out those books over there--" Feathers was interrupted by a yell.

"AAAAUUUGHH!"

Priya and Feathers looked to see the source of the noise.

Priya helped the girl put the books back on the bookshelf. "Thank you!" said the girl, smiling. "I don't know how it happened. I was just pulling out books and then WHAM! All of these books were on top of me! Gosh, I'm such a klutz."

"Haha, so am I," said Priya. "So, do you like to read?"

"Do I?! I love reading!" said the girl.

"What's your name, by the way?" asked Priya. "I'm Priya."

"Hi Priya," she replied. "I'm...my name is..." She hesitated, then added in a whisper, "Anita." Priya wasn't sure why the girl was whispering her name or why she hesitated before saying it. Maybe that was a fake name, thought Priya, suspiciously. But that didn't matter. She just needed something to call the girl by, and "Anita" would just have to do. But there was something about the name that didn't feel quite right...

"So, what are you getting?" asked Anita.

"Huh?"

"You know, from the store?"

"Oh! Right." Priya grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I was kind of lost in my own thoughts."

Anita laughed. "It's fine."

"My friends and I are getting supplies for our, uh, journey."

"A journey? How fun! Where to?"

"Um..." Priya paused. "To a friend's relative's place. It's on an island in Datwun Lake."

"Gee, that relative must be really brave! Or maybe one of Annie's slaves--but I hope that's not true!" said Anita.

"Yeah, my friend has, uh, been trying to get her to move out, you see, but she doesn't listen. That's why we're all going together...yeah. Yeah, that's it." 

Anita looked at her suspiciously. "You know, you suck at lying."

(That was my attempt at a "Well, crap" face. It failed.)

"Hi, there," said Anita to Feathers. Talking animals were quite common on the island and pretty much everywhere in the planet, so Feathers didn't shock Anita. "Hi, I'm Feathers!" said Feathers.

"Nice to meet you!" grinned Anita. She then turned to Priya and said, "So, can you tell me the real reason now?"

"Okay, fine. The thing is...we have to free Scadoosh from a prison that Anilokalmosia made with the help of Jenisifidincneiwa..."

"Oh, wow! Dangit, why didn't you tell that the first time? What time did this happen?"

"Um...in the...morning? Why?"

"Don't you know that if a god or goddess cannot go to his or her lair within four hours, he or she loses his or her powers and becomes mortal?"

"Oh, yeah! Gosh, I forgot! Gah...it's been so long since I've taken a theology class...oh, darn these budget cuts!" 

"...I thought they were still teaching theology? At least, they still are at my school."

"Well, um..." Priya lowered her voice. "I'm an elf from Renardiyet, and--"

"Oh, I see what you mean. I've heard the budget cuts are pretty bad. But what are we waiting around here for? Don't you have to get to Annie's lair?"

"The problem is we don't have a boat or anything!"

"I have a boat...I guess I could row you there."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? We've got a goddess to save!"

The rest of the group gathered together as Priya introduced Anita to everyone. "She has a boat that can take us to Annie's lair!"

"That's great!" said Science Nerdess. "Let's go, then!"

"Whoa, hooold up a sec," said Scott. "How do we know we can trust her? My own daughter wasn't worthy of my trust; how can we be sure she is?"
"You're forgetting who she'd be messing with if she was to break our trust," said Zella, menacingly.

"Seriously. She's dealing with phoenixes (yours truly), witches, dragons, unicorns, and elves...she'd be a fool if she wanted to mess with us!" said Feathers.

"Whoa, so you guys are magical creatures?" gasped Anita. "Heh, I wasn't going to mess with you guys anyway, but that would give me much less incentive to try and trick you!"

"Well put," said Amarantha.

As the group strolled out, Zella saw a young, forlorn, bespectacled elementary school girl holding a clarinet case. 

"What's the matter, little girl?" asked Zella. "You look sad."

"W-well," blubbered the girl, "My mommy didn't come to pick me up a-and it's been two hours...and n-now I'm sc-scared!"

"Aw, don't worry, we'll take you home!" said Amarantha. "Where do you live?"

"There," said the girl, pointing one chubby finger to the island of Anilokalmosia's lair. "I don't understand why people live there," whispered Priya. "Are you sure we can trust a girl whose parents are probably Anilokalmosia's slaves?"

Ignoring Priya, Zella asked, "And what's your name?"

"I'm Annie," said the girl. "But can you really take me home?"

"Sure! Why not?" said Science Nerdess. As the group walked on toward Anita's boat, Maddie stayed behind and told Priya to do the same. "What happened?" asked Priya.

Maddie took out a book of names. "There's something really weird about the name 'Annie' that just makes me worried. Gods, if only I could remember theology class..."

"What does theology class have to--"

"Oh gods, I was right! Listen here," said Maddie as she read aloud, "Annie: The Chosen Mortal Name of the Goddess of Seduction, Deceit, and Hypnotism. Persons cursed with this name are doomed to a life of evil."

"Aw, fudge nuts! I forgot all about the curses!" said Priya. "How did I forget that people can be cursed or blessed depending on whether they are named the CMN or a derivative [math, yay!] of the CMN of a god or goddess?!"

"I think we'd better warn the others," said Maddie.

"Wait, can I see that book?"

"Um, sure," said Maddie, handing the book over to Priya. Priya flipped through and suddenly said, "Oh, crap! Maddie, look what I found!" 

Maddie looked at what Priya was pointing at and gasped.

Anita: A derivative of the Chosen Mortal Name of Anilokalmosia, the Goddess of Seduction, Deceit, and Hypnotism. Persons cursed with this name are doomed to become evil at some point in their lives, but they can become good again with much effort.

"Crud," said Maddie. "We've really got to warn the others!"

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Oh no! Will Maddie and Priya warn the others in time? Or will something terrible happen first? Stay tuned, and please, do comment!