"Hey, Mot, have you ever heard of a purge?" Dianite asked.

I exited the priest's house and noticed a few people running back and forth in front of a white building. "Yeah, I heard about it back in the Realm of Mianite. I took part in one, years and years ago. It was pretty fun, but we didn't exactly get the opportunity to do another one."

"That's a shame. Purges are quite entertaining." I could feel Dianite gesturing toward the white building. "That's the purge hall. You can spectate for this purge, and see how it's run here. Some things were changed, since we are much more capable of setting up fancy contraptions than the people back at the Realm of Mianite."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Someone's a bit self-centered."

Suddenly, he dropped a potion and a ring on the ground. "Take these. The potion will make you invisible, and the ring will give you wings. You can use them to spectate the purge." He took off into the air, leaving me alone.

I heard Sparklez yell something from inside the building, and Tom yelled something back. I heard a countdown beginning, so I quickly slipped the ring on my finger. Large white wings unfolded from my back, and I felt as if I weighed nothing. I gulped down the potion, and disappeared into the sky.

"Come back here!" I heard Jericho yell. I saw that he was chasing the wizard, Waglington, with a rather large musket. He fired it, and the man collapsed onto the ground. One hit with Jericho's sword, and he was dead. That had been rather fast.

I felt Dianite appear next to me once more, now that we were both flying. "Jericho seems to win every purge these days, and by a lot." He sounded bitter.

"Do you not like Jericho?" I asked, surprised. He had been the one who persuaded me to introduce myself to him, after all.

"I don't know, boyo. He's nowhere as bad as Jeriah, but he's still a follower of Mianite, and it's incredibly annoying to see a follower of Mianite win every purge," Dianite sighed.

"So who do you want to win?" I asked, watching another fight. "Tom, I'm guessing?"

"No, Sparklez," Dianite answered, surprising me. "Tom may be my champion, but he lacks, well, discipline. You can't do serious work with a guy like that. He's more of an asset these days. Sparklez on the other hand, he gets real work done. It would be much nicer to see him win a purge."

I felt ideas forming as I watched the poor guy get killed by Jericho. "Would I be allowed to interfere next purge?" I asked. "It's not right, of course, but I'd like to wipe the smirk off that Mianitee's face. I know you probably won't..."

"No, no," my god cut me off, "it's a great idea if you're willing to go through with it. Fairness isn't my biggest priority. That would be more of a problem for an Ianite follower, which Sparklez happens to be. Ask him for permission, will you? I can't see him denying the help, but do it all the same."

My confidence rose a little. "Do you think he would be upset with me for suggesting it?" I asked hesitantly. "He might get angry, and say that he could fight on his own without needing to cheat."

"I don't know," Dianite replied slowly. Below us, Sparklez was killed yet again, after letting out a frustrated yell. "I think he's grown desperate. Apparently he used to win all of the purges back in the Realm of Mianite."

I shrugged. "Well, I suppose it's worth a try."

The next week rolled around quickly, and I had asked Sparklez for permission. As Dianite had guessed, he accepted my offer, much more willingly than I expected. The fight was going to be in Urulu, so I was even more interested in watching these battles. Dianite was positioned inside Sparklez's section of the purge hall, holding strength potions that he would throw at Sparklez every time he respawned. It was a perfect plan, and I was excited.

"So," he asked me nervously before the purge, "does this mean I have to win? I know I'll have all of the potions, but it's still a lot of pressure."

"Winning would be nice," I said with a shrug, "but it's not entirely necessary. All you need to do is beat Jericho. Dianite's orders." He grinned, and I grinned back.

"Will do. Thanks, Mot." He spread his purple wings and flew off in the direction of the purge hall. Dianite flew after him, and I flew over to the island where the portals were sitting. In front of the bridge was the enormous portal marked with a block of sand. I went through it, and reappeared in Urulu.

"Mot? Is that you?" I turned and saw the librarian standing worriedly in front of his massive building. "I thought you disappeared ages ago!"

"I, umm, returned," I said. "Long story. For now, I'm spectating the purge. Perhaps we could talk later?"

"Sure," he replied. With another terrified glance, he ducked behind a pillar. "You must be crazy to spectate the purge, though. Those sky people are dangerous to everything around them." He sounded furious, but I decided now wasn't the time to ask him. The countdown began, and the librarian took off into his library. I flew up to the top of a building and sat, gazing out at the city, and waited for the fighting to begin.

One by one, the five participants burst into the center, holding shimmering swords. A few of them, such as Firefoxx, began running right away, but Tom started fighting right away. Sparklez had a strength potion on, so he was already getting the most kills. I couldn't help but crack a smile when Jericho let out a yell of defeat.

Unfortunately, Sparklez's victory didn't last all that long. Tom was getting a lot of kills as well, and he was about tied with Sparklez throughout the entire purge. Poor Mr. Butts was incredibly frustrated with himself, for not being able to do better, even with the potions.

"Tom doesn't matter," I muttered since I couldn't speak to him myself. "You're beating Jericho, and that's what matters."

The purge rolled on, and Sparklez regained his place at the top of the leaderboard. Unfortunately, that meant the others started to get ideas. They teamed up on him, and refused to kill each other. It was funny, in a way, to see him getting chased by an angry mob waving swords. This wasn't going to plan, but at least it was entertaining for me.

As they ran under me, I heard him yell "This isn't fair!" before getting killed by Tom. I laughed, but quickly stopped. I wouldn't encourage my alternate.

"Is second place good enough?" an exhausted Sparklez asked me, holding up his prize.

"As long as it wasn't Jericho in first, yes." His look of relief was amusing. "You fought well."

"Sure did, boyo," Dianite agreed, appearing next to me. "You deserved first."

Now he was laughing as well. "You guys are like my parents. Don't worry honey, you were the best out there in my opinion."

Dianite sighed. "I've got to take care of so many children these days."

"And you've dumped your actual child on me," I reminded him, referring to Dianito.

"I guess you're the type of father that takes favorites," Sparklez said to lighten the mood.

I could feel Dianite's shrug. "Yeah, maybe I am."