"Hey, Alyssa? Do you know where your flower crowns are? I want to find the one meant for me. I want to wear it," Mot said.

I looked up from my dinner, surprised. "Yeah, it's in my room. Should I get it now?"

"That would be great," he answered without looking up from his own meal.

It was an odd request, but my father always did feel attached to those flower crowns. I suppose it represented our close bond. I climbed up the ladder and entered my room. I had a couple of chests sitting in the back of my room, and I had to dig through a few of them before I found the one I had made on our vacation.

"Here you go," I said cheerfully as I walked back to the table.

Without replying or looking up, he took the flower crown from me and placed it on his head. "Thanks. I just wanted to have this with me. It's a nice reminder."

I wasn't sure why he would need a constant reminder of me, but I went with it anyway. "Oh, okay. So, are you going to teach me to make rabbit stew tomorrow?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Umm... yeah, I will." My heart sank at his sudden lack of enthusiasm.

"Should I lay out the ingredients now, so we can start right away tomorrow?" I suggested in another attempt to have a conversation with him.

Mot shrugged. "There's no point. Just do it tomorrow." He finished his food and stood up to leave. "Well, goodnight, Alyssa."

I frowned. "Is something wrong, Dad?" He looked upset.

Mot finally looked up, and met my eyes for the first time that night. "I'm a little tired, that's all. I'm sorry." He reached out and gave me a hug.

Something was wrong. I just didn't know how wrong things were at that time.

I was the first one downstairs that morning, which was odd. I had come down later than usual. Thinking nothing of it, I sat down and ate breakfast by myself. After I had finished and he still wasn't down, I began to suspect that something was up.

I went to his bedroom and saw that the door was closed, so I knocked. "Mot, are you awake?" He didn't respond, no matter how much I knocked, so I went in, rather scared.

He wasn't in his room. His stuff was laying just as it had been before, and the bed wasn't made. He had left without writing a note or stopping by to tell me he was leaving. Where could he be?

"Alyssa? Is something wrong?" I had left the castle and began to wander around in search of someone who could tell me where my father was. I turned around when I heard someone calling me, and saw the priest behind me, looking worried.

"Mot left the house. I don't know where he is. Have you seen him?" My voice started to tremble when I saw the look on his face.

"I don't, sorry. He didn't leave a note or anything?" A suspicious look crossed his face.

"Not that I saw, no." I started to shake from fear, and he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Don't freak out, Alyssa. He leaves sometimes, and I'm sure we'll find him. The gods have the ability to find anyone, no matter where in the realm they are."

"What if he's dead?" I covered my face with my hands.

"He can't be. The only one who could truly kill him is Dianite, and you know that he can't get to us," the priest reassured me. "Now come on, let's find someone who might know."

We walked around for a bit. The first person we saw was Spark, who freaked out immediately when he heard that Mot was gone. He hadn't seen him either.

"Let's just go find Mianite," I said, unable to wait any longer. I didn't know what had happened to my dad, but I was already beginning to form theories.

We entered the white temple in a hurry. I had begun to run, tears forming in my eyes. "MIANITE!" I called once I was within hearing distance. "MIANITE! HELP!"

The god appeared in front of us, lightning crackling in his palms. "What's going on? Who needs help?"

The priest looked mildly annoyed. "It's a different kind of help. Alyssa's overreacting a bit."

I glared at him. "Mot's gone missing, Mianite. Can you tell me where he is?"

"Of course," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "You scared me." He squinted into the distance, and his eyes clouded over. He looked for a very long time, and his face began to get paler and paler.

"WHAT'S WRONG?" I screamed, starting to shake again. "WHERE IS HE?"

Mianite shook his head, looking incredibly confused. "This... this can't be. We have to go find Ianite. Now."

I let out a long, shrill shriek as the others started to run toward the portal to Aethoria. My world was collapsing, and I didn't even know what was happening. As you could probably tell, I don't handle things very well. I'm a bit of an emotional person.

We jumped into the nearest ship and took off as soon as possible. Spark looked terrified, and Mianite was muttering something under his breath. Tears were running down my face, and the priest was desperately trying to calm me down.

I half-ran, half-fell out of the ship once we arrived in Aethoria. "Alyssa, be careful!" Mianite cried out. "You could fall into the void!"

"I don't care!" I yelled, shaking with sobs.

"We don't know anything for sure," the priest said in yet another attempt to get me to stop crying. "We're going to ask Ianite. There's no need..." His voice faltered.

I shot him a look of pure fury. "Don't treat me like a little kid. I can't be sheltered forever. All of you know the truth. I'm not an idiot!"

"What's all this racket?" Ianite called, emerging from one of the houses. "I wasn't sleeping, sure, but..."

"Where's Mot, Ianite?" Mianite asked sharply. "Look for him, now. Can you see him?"

The goddess's eyes widened in shock. After a moment, she snapped out of it and used her powers to search the realms. Once again, it took her ages, and worry was crossing her face.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" I couldn't take this anymore. I couldn't take anything anymore.

"He... he's gone." Ianite's hands flew over her mouth, and she began to tremble as well. "He's not anywhere. He disappeared."

Silence. I fell to my knees. It didn't seem real, nothing did. It felt like a dream. Nobody said anything, or moved an inch, until we heard a whirring sound behind us.

Another ship pulled into Aethoria, and in it was Champwan and Jeriah. "What's going on?" Jeriah jumped onto the land beside us.

I turned around slowly. The two of them took a step back when they saw my face, red and puffy from crying. "He's gone." My voice was dry and hollow. "Mot's gone."