A few months had passed since we visited the Mianite temple. My seventh birthday was the next day, and I decided to go visit Mianite. We had formed a strong relationship since we met. He loved my optimism, and I loved how he was willing to listen to everything I told him. I told him about the time when my village burned down, and how Mot adopted me, and all of the problems in Ruxomar. Not only did he listen to what I had to say, but he took me seriously, despite the fact that he was centuries older than me.

He reminded me of Andor.

Now, of course, despite all this serious talk, I was still a child. Even better, I was a child with a father who had a bit of an obsession with flower crowns. Our house was filled with all sorts of them, and we were always wearing them. The only item that Mot and I had not lost when we fell through the void were our flower crowns, so they seemed sacred to us.

"Hi, Mianite!" I ran up the marble stairs to greet the god.

"Hello, Alyssa! What do you have there?" he nodded towards a basket in my hand. For the past week, I had gone around collecting as many flowers as I could, and then put them into a basket.

"Flowers." I knelt on the floor and started taking them out.

"What for?" He jumped off his throne and sat down next to me.

"I'm going to show you how to weave a flower crown."

He laughed, but agreed. He chose to make a crown out of white and yellow flowers, to match his temple. He was laughing the entire time, until he noticed that I was making mine out of red flowers.

"Red is the color of Dianite's skin," I explained. "Or at least it was the color of old Dianite's skin. I'm going to wear it in memory of him. If I ever see him again, I'll give it to him." I noticed that he was no longer smiling. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, child. It's just... you know how I feel about Dianite." He sighed.

"Old Dianite wasn't like that," I said. "Old Dianite was very nice to me and Daddy. He was like my second father. I miss him." I set my flower crown down. "I think Daddy does too, but I'm not sure. He was acting weird when we were in Ruxomar."

"How so?" Mianite asked, leaning against a pillar to weave his crown.

"They used to be best friends. Dianite would always come to our house, and Mot would be very happy every time he did. But then, at the end, Mot would ask me to stay at home when he visited Dianite. And then he'd always be crying when he returned. He would never tell me why." I hadn't told anyone except for Andor about that, and I couldn't meet Mianite's eyes afterwards.

There was silence for a moment. "I... I see." Normally, he was able to comfort me, but he was at a loss for words this time. "Well, I finished my flower crown. Is it good?"

The next day, Mianite and Mot treated me to a fancy dinner at Dine At Night. They had made it larger, and encased it in glass so mobs couldn't attack during the meal. They added floating torches and more choices for the menu. The place seemed to glow.

"Here's your seat, birthday girl," Mianite smiled, gesturing toward a small throne made of gold. I noticed that he was wearing his flower crown, which made my grin widen.

I had convinced everyone to come to the party, so a large table had to be made to fit Spark, Jeriah, Ianite, Redbeard, the priest, and Champwan. Mot ran into the kitchen to be the chef (he was a lovely chef) and Mianite distributed the menus.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked, starting with me.

The other adults ordered fancy potions, but I had to stick with water since I was too young. I could only watch in fascination as colorful squiggles rose from each guest, and they were affected by the contents of the potion.

I ordered some porkchops and bread later, and it came with a god apple for my birthday. I had never had one before, so I decided to keep it locked up for when I really needed it.

"Time for the gifts!" Mot announced, emerging from the kitchen after we were mostly finished eating. He handed me a basket of flowers from Ruxomar, ones that we didn't have here. "I saved some from the old world. I figured you would like it."

thank you, Mot!" I squealed, giving him a hug. He laughed and hugged me back, and then moved back to allow Mianite to approach me.

"Unfortunately, child, this world is not a safe place. You need to learn how to defend yourself, and I believe this will help you." He held out a glowing iron sword. "I put some of my own energy into it, making it a Blade of Mianite. Try it out!" I lifted the sword from his hands. It emitted smoke particles, and it shone with all of the best enchantments.

thank you, Mianite, but I don't know how to fight!" I was shocked that, at seven years old, I was trusted with such an important item. It should have gone to Mot, who could actually fight.

"Don't worry, my dear, I shall teach you, starting tomorrow. But, anyway, it's getting late, and you should get going." He reached out a hand and helped me off of the golden seat.

"But I'm not tiiiiiired!" I whined, although I was. I just really wanted to try out the magnificent sword. I was so excited that I could barely contain myself.

"Yes, you are. I trust that you remember your way back home? Your father seems a bit... er..." Mianite stammered. I turned and saw that Mot had ordered a few too many potions, and was giggling uncontrollably with Spark.

I laughed. "Yes, I can get back home on my own. thanks again, Mianite, for everything!" I gave him one last hug before skipping across the desert, back to the house.

I had reached the main land when I heard someone behind me say, "Happy Birthday, Alyssa! I would've told you sooner, but you haven't been alone the entire day!"

I spun around, but nobody was there. "Who... who was that?" I drew out Mianite's blade to, hopefully, intimidate them.

The person only laughed. "I am not a physical being, child. You can not bring harm to me, and I can not bring harm to you. I figured we could be friends."

I lowered my sword suddenly as I recognized the voice. "Dia... Dianite?"

"That's Lord Dianite to you. I am aware that you knew an alternate version of myself?" When I nodded, he laughed again. "Lovely! We could become close. Although, I must share a secret with you before we get to know each other."

The others had told me not to trust this Dianite, but he reminded me too much of the god I knew and loved. "Yes?"

"Mianite may seem very sweet, but beware. You know how Jericho and Firefoxx were his followers previously? He abandoned them. Sure, he left them small gifts every now and then, but he made them do all of his dirty work with only petty wooden and leather items in return. He gave them diamond items to begin with, but then grew lazier and lazier. He didn't even bother to answer their prayers! You wouldn't want to worship a god like that, would you?"

It was convincing, but I still trusted Mianite more. "I see. Well, it was nice talking to you, but I'm going to sleep." I continued on my way, slightly scared of what he might say or do. But, to my relief, he didn't speak again. I reached the house safely and lay down to sleep.

If only my dreams weren't nightmares.