The priest told us more about the heroes from the realm. Apparently, they were all the same age. Even weirder, alternate Sir Jeriah and alternate Alyssa were dating. My daughter seemed absolutely disgusted.

I was told that Tom had built three main houses. One was abandoned, and another had been turned into a club. The third was a pretty wooden house with red windows. The sun was setting, so Alyssa and I went into the third house to sleep.

"It looks so... dark in here," Alyssa seemed to read my thoughts. "I thought Uncle Dianite was nice?"

Uncle Dianite. The words stung. The poor girl had no way of knowing what had happened between Dianite and I. But she was right. Dianite, although not the happiest person ever, wouldn't have liked a house this menacing. It didn't make much sense to me, but I figured I could ask the priest tomorrow.

"We'll figure out the story behind it tomorrow, Alyssa." We went to the top floor, where the bed was, and lay down to go to sleep. "Good night."

"Good night, Daddy."

The next morning, we were woken by the bright sun shining through the windows. The red glass caused the room to glow crimson. It was almost scary-looking, and I could tell that Alyssa thought the same thing. There was something eerie about this house, and I knew I needed to ask the priest about it. It was bothering me too much.

Downstairs, Alyssa and I found leftover apples and porkchops for breakfast. I also discovered that some gear had been left behind. I kept the diamond armor for myself, and gave Alyssa an iron set. We both got enchanted swords and bows. Tom must have had a lot of supplies.

We walked up the hill and to the tall cobblestone wall that surrounded the priest's house. "Priest?" I called. "Are you home?"

He walked out of a stone hallway and waved. "Hello, Mot. Is something wrong?"

"Sort of," I replied. "Is there anywhere that Alyssa could... play while we're talking?"

"Of course," he said, gesturing towards the back of his house. "There's a path there that leads to a river. You can go play in it if you like." Alyssa smiled and skipped away. My heart warmed at her happiness, but I quickly cleared my throat and returned to the serious topic at hand."

"What are the gods like in this realm? Something about the house made me feel like Dianite is very different here than he was back where I came from." I shifted from foot to foot as I spoke, nervous about his response.

"Well," the priest sighed, looking very uncomfortable. "Mianite is the 'good guy' of the realm. He is and has always been the most powerful. Ianite is the goddess of balance and fairness. She's very kind, unless you anger her, of course. Dianite used to be the evil god. He only treated his followers with kindness. He dealt with any situations by either pranking them or killing them. Ruthless and cruel, he was. Judging by your expression, I'm guessing that it is not the same where you are from?"

There was no masking the horror on my face. "N... no, not at all. Mianite was a very... unfair god back in Ruxomar. I guess you could label him as the 'bad guy'. your Ianite seems very similar to the Ianite I know, but Dianite is very different. Moody at times, but kind... and helpful... and, well....." Unable to bear it, I stopped talking about the Dianite I knew. "Anyway, you said 'used to be'. Has he changed?"

The priest looked like he'd rather be anywhere than here. "His follower, Tom, was very close friends with the followers of Mianite and Ianite. They showed him that what Dianite was doing was wrong. And, well, Dianite didn't like that. Yesterday, he tried to kill Tom. I'm pretty sure that Tom was just firing back in self-defense, but, well, it killed him."

Silence fell. After a moment, I remembered something. "But gods are immortal, right? So how is Dianite dead?"

The priest looked terrified. "That's the thing, Mot. Maybe he's not." He shook his head. "But that's not something I want to think about right now. Maybe you should fetch Alyssa, and I can introduce you to the other people in this realm. You might be here for a while."

We met a ninja named Champwan, who seemed friendly despite his menacing appearance. Everyone seemed cheerful and excited to explore this new realm, but I felt as if there were weights on my shoulders. Did the others not get it? We were stuck here forever. There was no way back. spark would never see his wife or children again. Alyssa would never see Andor or Alva ever again. And I would never see Dianite again. Both Dianites were gone, and I was left feeling hollow. I was foolish to think that a god could love me.

"We'll be traveling into a place called Aethoria now," the priest told us. "I suppose the child must come along, but beware. It is a very dark place. Terrible things have happened there, and shadows lie everywhere. Beware." I gripped Alyssa' hand as we climbed into a ship.

"What happened there?" Alyssa asked. She didn't seem bothered by his warning.

The priest sighed. "A wonderful woman passed away there the day you arrived. Her brother lives there now, saving her death place." He stared sadly into the distance as the ship sailed into an enormous portal. Alyssa, sensing how upset he was, fell silent.

We arrived in the End, but it was different. The island was covered in different shades of purple, and no endermen were in sight. Small glass buildings were scattered among colorful trees. That description made it seem pretty, but it wasn't. There was, of course, the fact that it was eternally night. The island was surrounded by an endless void, and shadows loomed everywhere. There was something hollow and eerie about the place, and it made me shiver. Alyssa and Jeriah seemed to feel it too, but spark looked like he was in heaven. He was smiling from ear to ear as he looked around at the island. I guess it must have reminded him of his wife.

I held my daughter close as we walked through the forest. The priest led us around, explaining the significance of each location. As the tour continued, Spark's smile faded more and more.

We stopped in front of an immense circular structure. "As you already know, Dianite was the evil god who constantly tried to stop the revival of Ianite," the priest sighed, shooting me a look of pity. "The heroes came here to save her, but Dianite teleported them into this arena so he could stop them. Fortunately, Tom was able to kill him before he could ruin the plan." He moved on without mentioning the fact that gods can't actually die. I decided to keep quiet.

We traveled on until we reached a violet gate that seemed to touch the night sky. The Temple of Ianite seemed to stretch for miles, and it was truly breathtaking. spark stopped walking to take it all in.

After a moment of gasping at it's beauty, we continued through the entrance. We approached a massive throne with scales on the back of it. Ianite herself sat in the throne, talking to a man with red hair and a peg leg. A glass grave sat to the side of it.

"Greetings, Lady Ianite and Skipper Redbeard," the priest said, nodding to each of them. Spark stopped walking, and longing filled his sky blue eyes.

"Ianite!" he rushed toward the goddess. "Please help me! Tell me you remember who I am! Please!"

She frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry, sir... do I know you?"