I sat groggily at the priest's table while he poured me some tea. "You don't look too well. Is something wrong?"

"Nightmares," I answered gravely. "I haven't had one since I left Ruxomar. The only real dreams in the Realm of Mianite are... god induced. I forgot this would happen once I returned."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He gave me the cup of tea, and sat across from me. "Now, I believe the two of us have quite a lot to talk about."

"Make that three of us." I felt Dianite appearing next to me. "I would take a cup of tea too, had I a mouth to drink it with."

"Well, the more the merrier. I guess you can fill Mot it on what I don't know." The priest cleared his throat. "Where to start?"

"Where did you two leave off yesterday?" Dianite suggested.

"I think you got to the point where, er, Dianite was killed," I reminded him.

"Oh, of course. So Ianite released the Taint, and Helgrind claimed her for Freya and Alva's deaths. He banished her, and she had no choice but to leave. That left only one god to rule Ruxomar."

I made a furious noise in my throat. "I don't even want to know what ridiculous rules he forced onto these poor people."

"He isn't a bad ruler," the priest shot back defensively. "It wouldn't be a problem if Helgrind hadn't decided to ignore the entire existence of the other two gods. He convinced the whole kingdom that Mianite was the only god."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "And you're telling me that nobody remembered Ianite or Dianite? Nobody else in the royal family bothered to acknowledge the existence of either god?"

"I was upset too, boyo," Dianite said gently. "But it was in the past. Everything's been solved now."

"People in the royal family remembered it, but that family kind of... fell apart. All that was left was Martha, who fled in hopes of finding a new life. There was Steve, of course, but what's the word of an apple farmer next to the word of the King?"

"This is disgusting." I leaned back and sipped my tea to calm myself down. "What about Andor? He's still part of the royal family."

The priest froze for a second. "That poor, poor boy. Loved his grandmother, and refused to go with his father's ridiculous claims. Helgrind didn't... take his rebellion very well."

I felt too sick to continue drinking. "What did that horrible man do to the poor boy?"

"I suppose you could label it as emotional abuse. For ten years, almost. Poor thing. It only got worse when your alternates showed up. Sparklez became Andor's friend, something Andor desperately needed. He gave Andor confidence, and the boy started to rebel against his father more than ever."

I lay my head on the table. "I'm just imagining Alyssa going through this...."

"An old friend of Andor's, by the name of Alister, was hired by Helgrind to capture Andor. The boy was taken to an incredibly secure prison, where his wings were sliced off and he was beaten half to death. By the time the alternates rescued him, he could barely walk. They practically had to carry him out of that place."

"But things are better now, right?" I asked desperately. "It's a safe place to live in now?"

"It's better in that sense, but safer is not the word I would use. Some larger force is draining the gods of their quintessence. Whatever it is is targeting Ianite. Mianite, if anything, is getting stronger."

"What does this mean for us?" I was just concerned about the state of the world if the others were to return.

"We're safe for now from this being, but who knows how long that'll last. If it starts draining the land itself of quintessence, everything will die. It's a tough time, and we're not entirely sure what to do."

I finished my tea. "Well, it seems like coming back here wasn't such a great idea after all. The Realm of Mianite wasn't pleasant, but it seems like I could die any day here." I stared at the inside of my cup. "I thought I might have a purpose here."

"Oh, don't act like nobody wants you around. It may not be safe for you, but that doesn't mean people don't want you here," Dianite reassured me. "Trust me, it's a relief to have you back. Tom was too careless to be a very good champion." I smiled, but it was only half-hearted.

"Well, what were your experiences at Mianite?" the priest asked.

How much should I tell? "Well, everything was calm and peaceful for a couple of years. It was a nice place to raise Alyssa, after she has gone through so much. Then, Dianite came back, in spirit form also. The difference was that this guy knew where his body was and could resurrect himself easily, and he kind of wanted all of us dead."

"Not the best combination," Dianite muttered.

"Er, lots of things happened. We had long fights, Alyssa began to get depressed, we lived in constant fear. This is kind of strange, but, umm, Jeriah fell in love with Dianite, and..."

Dianite sounded like he was choking. "WHAT?!"

"I know, I know. But anyway, Jeriah did it out of desperation, and Dianite fell for the trap. Long story short, Dianite attacked, Jeriah betrayed him and killed him. Dianite started to haunt our dreams and got to Alyssa pretty badly, but then we all got over it. And then I came here."

"None of us really had an easy time, I guess," the priest sighed. "Well, why did you come back here? Seems like everything worked out for you. And why didn't you bring the others?"

"The whole place felt like a trap. We were all going insane staying there. But I didn't know if this place was safe for them, so I went alone." I glanced uneasily at my god. "And, well, I would stop at nothing to help my god. That's the way of a champion."

I could feel Dianite's smile. "You are correct, boyo."