Claire POV-

"Get back inside your stable, you've been stubborn enough already!" Jordan screamed at the horse, kicking the dirt like a child.

After a few screams of frustration and helpless bribes with food the horse complied and Jordan headed back home with a scoff.

Although she was generally happy about the day's events, she couldn't help but be a bit salty. Jordan's clothes were once again soaking all over, her boots ruined with mud, her hair had who knew how many leaves weaved inside it from her tree climbing experience, and lastly were the scratches all over her arms that the salty water from the ocean had made unbearable.

But her god was safe at the very least.

As she walked, Jordan kept an eye out for any mobs, sword ready in hand and feet ready to run if need be. It was almost as if by instinct at that point, always keep an eye out, listen, and be ready for anything.

Not half way home, she felt something fall on her head, with a panic she stopped and began to turn around, spinning her heel quickly to a stance she could use to better fight her attacker. But there was no one on sight.

Drops of water fell in front of her, falling on the light green grass with a quiet plop. More and more followed until the walk back became hazardous, Jordan even had to walk slower to avoid tripping a few feet from her home.

It didn't rain much in Mianite, so her clothes weren't really suited for those kind of scenarios. Still, she welcomed the rain with a smile, it served as a small reminder of what used to calm her back home.

Jordan's sister and her used to open their windows to let the smell of rain into their room in days like those, sometimes they would even grab their raincoats and jump in the puddles that formed outside their door.

Mundane activities really, but it was those small insignificant memories that she remembered most. According to her mental calendar, months had passed by carelessly. A part of her felt guilty that she didn't think about her family more often or cry at their absence, but her new life had her thinking of other things most of the time.

Nonetheless, she had a rag around her wrist at all times, originating from the shirt she wore when she arrived to Mianite, her shirt from back home that was basically destroyed. It had been a gift from her family for her birthday long ago, and since it was beyond repair, she ripped up a piece of it to keep as a reminder of who she was and the people she loved.

Jordan had jewelry from the gods, a cape from Tom, her rag from back home, and her clothes that Sonja and Tucker gave her, every piece of her was of those closest to her. Everything had a piece of those she cared about, and Jordan hung on to every singe one of her little trinkets as a reminder that she wasn't alone.

Thoughts that had swirled through her mind distracted Jordan from realizing she had somehow arrived home and was standing in her living room like an idiot, staring at nothing in particular.

Sometimes she stopped and listened when she arrived home, expecting a greeting from a familiar voice, but there was alone, always.

Jordan debated wether to go to bed or get cleaned up, it was midnight and she was too exhausted after the day's events to want to do anything but she pulled herself to her bathroom and took a shower.

Laziness would get her nowhere.

After a long shower, she put on a simple pair of black tights and a long sleeve white shirt and headed for her bedroom floor but a thought crossed her mind.

Mianite said he would be distracting her boyfriend, maybe she should let him know what happened, just in case he wasn't already aware.

"Miante" she said in her head, directing all her focus on privately messaging the god

"Oh, Jordan. Have you returned?" he asked

"Yes, I just wanted to let you know in case you were still distracting Dianite"

"Oh no my dear, I left long ago. He and I got into a small argument, big enough to keep him occupied for the day though" he said quickly "But how about you? I assume you found nothing?"

"Kind of, I arrived to the coordinates and found a cell up in the sky. Ianite was being kept there"

"Hmmm, brother must have found out"

"NO! Actually, he escaped all on his own. he left a note saying that he fled to a place Dianite couldn't reach him and that he had his....well...his heart. I'm not sure what kind of metaphor that is but apparently I am to retrieve it" Jordan said with doubt filling her words

Jordan hadn't thought about how absurd that sounded, she hadn't even questioned it back when she saw the note. Now it just didn't make sense.

"I don't think he was joking"

"Wait! You mean Dianite ripped out my god's heart!!!! How is he still alive?! I am going to slap Dianite senseless for this!" Jordan screamed in her head, fists forming as she walked into her room

"Not quite, Dianite could have removed it with magic. Ianite still has his heart physically, but the one Dianite has is a magical copy. I'm not sure how to better explain it, it's ancient magic I presumed was forgotten with time"

"Apparently not. So, what does that mean? Ianite mentioned something about that weakening him"

"Yes, it does have that effect, but it can also prevent Ianite from being away from his core element for too long. Meaning he is most likely back in the end or in his old capitol since its filled with end energy" the god answered with concern

"Ok...that means I need to steal a heart from my boyfriend...completely normal. Maybe I'll go pay him a visit, haven't seen him in a while and if you two had a fight he might need me to calm him down"she said

"Perhaps its best, but maybe start looking around for that heart while you're at it"

"Got it. Meanwhile, would you mind trying to locate him? I'll look for the heart, but it won't be of much use if we don't know where he is"

"Very well, sounds like a plan"

Looked like the day wasn't over after all.

Jordan grabbed her purple and silver jacket Tucker got her from a villager market a few days back and her red cape. She didn't even bother with weapons when it came to visiting Dia, if anything, it felt uncomfortable to have them in his presence.

Though none of her friends knew it, she had some secret passages in her new tree house she asked the wizards to instal. The one underground was used to mask the sound of a nether portal that took her straight to a room inside Dia's castle. he had created it himself so she wouldn't have to trip around in the dark.

It was a sweet gesture, one she couldn't share with anyone. Though Tucker and Sonja had a nether portal, it was for mining purposes only, far from the castle. Since there was no concept of private property in Mianite, everyone used it, meaning she had to keep hers a secret unless she wanted the others to question why she had a portal to his castle.

Before stepping through, she put on small silver boots and tied her hair into a neat ponytail. Jordan never worried about dressing up or making herself presentable to see Dianite because he always assured her she looked beautiful no matter what. He couldn't care less what she wore or if she had makeup on, he always assured her that she could be herself.

One of the many things she was grateful for was that, besides, she wasn't the kind of girl to get dressed for a guy anyways.

When she walked through she immediately felt the heat of the nether reach her skin, it wasn't unbearably hot but rather like a warm welcome.

The room she appeared in was mostly built to hide the portal but it was filled with a few couches, armor stands, a few changes of clothes for her, and there was always food in case she was hungry. In a way it was like her room, made to greet her and only her.

Jordan reached the door and found little creatures running around like working ants. One of them noticed her presence and made his way over to her. Though they were basically little daemons with short wings and fangs, she never found them scary, so she did what she was accustomed to doing and greeted the creature with a kind smile.

As always, her greeting was dismissed and the creature spoke up in a neutral tone.

"Lady Jordan" he said

"Hi! Is Dianite around? I know its late but I assume he's still up?" she asked

"The master is awake. I will take you to him, Lady Jordan"

"You don't have to call me that you know. Jordan is more than enough"

"As you command" the servant said in a robotic voice

Jordan felt so bad for them, she wanted to free them and see them with smiles on their faces but truth be told, they were very dangerous and mischievous creatures. She would be doing more harm than good.

The walk was quiet, Dia's servants weren't exactly known for making good conversations, even when she tried to talk they rarely answered.

She expected the creature to take her to Dia's chambers, or even his office, but as they walked further she realized this wasn't their usual path. they were walking to the furthest side of the castle, instead of the front side. The far side of the castle was for military quarters and training facilities Jordan didn't spend much time in.

Dia wanted her to see the more civil sides of the castle, not the war side. Still, she knew what that side held because Dianite had told her with all honesty, he wasn't ashamed to be seen as a 'war general' as he put it.

Nonetheless, Jordan still worried about the all too famous concept of imminent war between the two brothers, she just tried not to think about it.

Thinking about that meant thinking about which side to chose.

They stopped in front of a door at the end of an empty hallway, the doors were grand and she could see flashes of light on the other side in the hinges and cracks between the doors.

That and screams along with a muffled conversation.

Judging by the flashes of red light she knew Dia was on the other side, but who could he be taking to?

Before she had any time to debate wether to leave or stay, the servant pulled the doors outwards, revealing the room inside.

"Master, Lady Jordan is here to see you" the small creature said

Inside was a big arena, filled with weapons and targets scattered along the walls and floor. There were no windows or unless decorations, the place was made for practicality, to take hits by the looks of a few stains and wholes on the walls.

Dianite stopped whatever he was doing to turn back and face them, hands still blazing with fire.

As Jordan looked around the room she saw...dust...dust everywhere.

It wasn't until Dia fully turned around to face them that she saw a person burning behind him...a villager.

A part of her was horrified, realizing that all the dust she was standing over was probably the remains of corpses. One of the things that she had learned early on about the world was that mobs and villagers wouldn't respawn within the reach of the world communicator, meaning not all death could escape the shield of magic.

Dia still looked too angry to seem apologetic for the scenario, the one who did seem worried was the person next to him.

"Tom?" she asked

"Jordan? What are you doing here?" he asked, almost angry before he ran over to her and embraced her, lifting her feet off the ground

"Woah!" she said surprised

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick since this morning!" he said as he set her down but not letting go of the embrace

"I went mining, didn't the other's tell you?"

"Don't lie! You wouldn't go mining alone after the spider incident"

Right.....

"I took some potions with me and shut out the world communicator so I could listen better this time. I'm actually more comfortable with potions since I started my lessons with the wizards so I decided to go down there and just take a bunch of invisibility potions while I mined" she lied

He seemed convinced to her relief, but he wouldn't let the topic go so easily.

"Last time you were gone for a day...well you know what happened! Next time just take me with you!" he said, giving her a light kiss on her forehead

"Thomas, perhaps we should continue our conversation some other time" Dianite said from behind them

"Oh! You guys are probably busy with champion stuff. I can come back later, don't want to interrupt" she said to both them

"Why are you here anyways?"Tom asked

Panic rang across her mind, scrambling for a good lie, but of course her mind would blank at a moment like that. It took all of her focus to keep her expression from showing her panic, instead she answered with a careless tone.

"I got back from the mines and went to see if you had....some water to wash my hands. When I saw you weren't home I came here to find you"

"You came all the way to the nether, the castle of your enemy to find me? That's sweet" Tom replied, embracing her in another hug

"Of course. Well I should get going and leave you two to talk and BURN the villagers" Jordan said with a harsh tone directed at her boyfriend

He stood still, and clearly angry. Why was he angry when she should be the one that was angry?

"Thomas, leave me to speak to the Ianitee. NOW" Dia said with a commanding tone, the one he used on his servants.

"She didn't mean to cause trouble my lord. I'll get her out" Tom responded in a panic

"Now" Dia repeated

"Tom its fine, besides I need to....deliver...a message from Mianite to him. Kinda private" she said before Tom got himself in trouble

"Mianite? since when are you his messenger, why didn't he send Tucker?" Tom asked

Before she could answer with another lie, the servant that brought her there grabbed Tom by the leg and pulled him out of the room

"JORDAN! DON'T HURT HER!" Tom screamed as he was being dragged out

She let out a sigh, wishing he knew she wasn't in danger. When she turned to face her boyfriend, he was already behind her grabbing her arms, pulling her into an embrace.

"Hi" She said calmly

Though she hadn't freed Ianite or anything, she felt a pang of guilt at his embrace but resided to hug him back.

"Thomas can be such a bother" was all Dia said before giving her a light kiss to which she couldn't help but smile at

"I missed you. I would ask you've been a good boy while I was gone but clearly you weren't" Jordan joked, breaking out of his embrace, staring at the still blazing dust on the floor

"Not on purpose, somebody set my blood on fire today" he said, the closest thing to an apology he could muster

"Right....what did Mianite do?" she asked

"How did you..."

Before he could finish his question Jordan cut in with another lie, "You only get this upset over Mianite"

He let out an annoyed groan at the mention of his brother and rested his head on her shoulder

When he didn't say anything, she put a hand on his back, running circles through it to soothe him, her other hand rested on his head running her fingers through his hair.

"What did he say" she asked once she felt his stress had lessened

"Do you really like me?" he asked instead of answering her question

"No, I just come here to enjoy the nice nether heat" she joked "Of course I like you! Why would you ask such a thing?" Jordan asked

Dia lifted his head from her shoulder and pushed her hair behind her ears

"What about Tom? Do you enjoy his hugs as much as mine, do you like him more?"

"Um ok...where did that come from?" she asked, completely perplexed

"Just answer me"

"Of course I like Tom, he's my best friend, but I don't like him the way I care about you" she said fastening his tie so she could avoid looking him in the eye and so he wouldn't see the blush running across her face

"I really care about you, enough to know this doesn't have to do with just Tom. What did he tell you?" she asked, still fidgeting with his tie

"Told me that you would leave me, make sense since everything good in my life is always taken away"

That paused her fidgeting and made her look up at him. His stance was trying to show power but his eyes betrayed him, showing the pain and worry inside

She couldn't help but laugh

"You really thing that just because Mianite says something its automatically true? He has no power to make me leave you, ok? As long as you feel something for me and I you, we will be together" she said, trying to wash away his worries

He finally smiled, holding on to her face gently.

"You make it so hard not to love you" he said, with a smile that reached his eyes

Love....... he said it......

"You...you love me?" she asked, barely able to get the words out

He paused, probably realizing what he just said. He took in a deep breath and held her hand.

"Im not sure what love means if I'm being honest, I never learned about it. I just know that I care about you so deeply that it must be love, this is what love feels like" he said, letting some weakness show

Jordan smiled, unable to talk.

"That was a lot easier to say than I though" Dia whispered in her ear, leaning closer

She giggled, unable to control the flush that ran across her cheeks as he kissed her, pulling her closer as their kiss deepened.

The world was suddenly gone, there was only one thing on her mind, it wasn't the heart she was supposed to steal, or her family even, it was the fact that a person who didn't care for feelings actually cared about her.

A part of her was afraid it wouldn't last, after all, Dianite never dated Jordan in the streams, that had been her choice. Their embrace and kiss gave her hope though, she wasn't defined by the streams of a distant world, she made her choices.

"I'm not going anywhere" she whispered to him, as if to reassure herself and him.

He gave her a wicked smile and proceeded to kiss her once more, a hunger in his eyes.

"Woah!!!!! Ok.....um...what!? Wait, no. What?....I'm gonna....wait outside..or" said a voice behind her, coming from the front door.

Panic began to rise again but Dia just growled.

Dianite broke the kiss and slowly lifted his head, with anger in his eyes again.

"Who is it now!!!!!????" he screamed with gritted teeth

Jordan was almost afraid to turn around. Why was it that they kept getting caught at the worse moments?

"I told you to go away" said Dianite, still holding Jordan in his arms making it impossible for her to turn around and face whoever just saw all that.

"I'm not one of your servants, besides, I wanted to make sure Jordan was alright"

"Clearly she is, now leave" Dia said, still angry for the interruption

Jordan's arms were around his neck, she slowly pulled them down into his chest to push off him and face the voice behind her. A voice she knew to well...

"Um....I...whats going on here? Is he hurting you? Forcing you to do this?"

"How come everyone assumes that" Dia whispered to her

"He isn't forcing me to do anything, we are dating Champwan, we have been for months" she said turning around to face her friend

This was gonna be a long night...