Claire POV-

The wizards had decided to establish their home far from the island where all the champions (and pirates) lived in.

The odd thing was, it wasn't visible to the naked eye. If you didn't know where to look, you'd certainly miss it.

Waglington had explained the magical concepts behind their cloaking spell once, she had so much trouble keeping up with the foreign ingredients and complicated spell names that she had just nodded along.

He could have just said it was like a giant invisibility cloak, but no, he had to make it crazy.

Luckily for Jordan, she HAD paid attention when he explained where it was. It was past the eastern desert, in the outskirts of the mountains and ocean.

Even better though, was the fact that she didn't need to ride all the way there. Jordan was pretty sure that her trusty horse, Arion, would have kicked her hard enough that she would have made it back to Earth if she requested such a long ride.

Wag and the other wizards had created a portal hidden with all kinds of protective spells that could take her to their home in the blink of an eye should an emergency come about.

For some reason, they had only entrusted it's location to her and not the other champions, but they never asked her to keep it a secret.

"You do realize we are in the middle of the forest right?" said Sonja as she adjusted the grip on her sword.

Jordan looked back towards her friend and gave her a wink.

"We're almost there" she said "besides it's only been like 10 minutes since we left the pirates' house"

Sonja let out a frustrated huff and sagged a little bit as they walked.

"I know, I'm just worried ok! I'm worried about the guys" Sonja said, her fox ears sagging a bit , her orange tail nearly dragging on the ground "I mean, obviously we go to the nether all the time and nothing happens, but everything seems...off"

Jordan tried to push those same fears away, choosing to focus on counting the trees before her and looking for the markers in the bark indicating the portal's hide out.

Three trees forward. Five to the left. Two right...

There it was, a subtle X marked on the trunk of a common oak tree.

Jordan turned back to Sonja and motioned for her to come forth. Once next to each other, Jordan pointed to the space between two trees.

"Ready?" She asked

Sonja laughed.

"Are you crazy!? Jordan, this is a cliffs edge, that 50 foot drop right there, that can kill us. I though we were going to see the wizards or something!?" She said, eyes wide

Jordan knew what it was like, it was an odd request to ask a friend to jump down to oblivion. When the wizards has shown her a few days back, she almost though they were trying to kill her.

That had been an experience. Specially since Jordan had once jumped off a cliff to her death....one which was orchestrated by Dianite.

No. She wouldn't think about that.

Instead of explaining the crazy portal mechanics Jordan hadn't paid attention to, she placed her sword back on its belt, pulled down her black hood, and jumped down.

Closing her eyes, she let the horrible sinking feeling in her stomach spread as the drop continued, fighting to keep her scream at bay. Not that she could have screamed, the feeling of falling stunned her into silence.

Then suddenly it stopped.

When Jordan opened her eyes, she stood on a stone bridge, intricate enough that it seemed as though it took millennia to build and thousands of skilled craftsman to carve out the beautiful details on it.

The bridge itself was made from normal stone, nothing to flashy or rare. It was the way the side walls of it were decorated with complex arcs and pillars that really made it one of a kind.

There were even statues of the gods and some of the races of the world in there, some she didn't even recognize probably due to their extinction.

On the stone roof, there were intricate depictions of the stars and constellations along with some incomprehensible writing along the edges.

Some sort of ancient language. Maybe something the wizards of the world had once spoken and written with.

Just looked like odd scribbles to her.

Looking ahead, the bridge spanned a long distance, about 200 feet of bridge to the other side.

Below her was a giant drop into water that was so deep, she couldn't see the bottom, just a black veil of darkness.

Behind her was a tree surrounded by a circular walkway, plants, and water. It was a huge tree that had some special magical properties that helped cloak the castle and supply the wizards with a special surge of magic. That area was surrounded by a stone wall which had a door on the other side leading to the forest beyond.

As she began looking at the tree behind her and the sun rays that trespassed the foliage into the deep green grass, a figure appeared right before her line of sight.

"Took you long enough, I was wondering if I'd have to go back and push you myself" Jordan teased

Sonja looked mortified, her hear sticking out all over the place and her jaw nearly hitting the floor.

"I know you're used to falling from the sky and all, but I'm never doing that again" she said, her voice worn out, probably from screaming.

After giving her friend a few moments to recover from the jump, both of them began walking over to the other side of the bridge, both looking at the walls and roof as they went by.

There were some crazy murals of different wizards doing all kinds of crazy things along the way. One of them was depicted summoning water to a dessert, another levitating a whole castle! The art kept getting crazier and crazier as they walked by in silence.

Then Sonja stopped.

On her right side was a carving of a group of wizards bringing a giant flood to a town.

"That must be Tom's home" Sonja whispered

Though a violent story, it was depicted in a way that seemed almost majestic and elegant. A group of women in cloaks, arms raised in the sky with a giant water wave being them.

Both girls continued walking, but no longer admired the craftsmanship on the walls.

Once at the other side, a small courtyard became visible. It was simple, with green grass and various treason the edges.

Past it, a giant castle loomed before them.

The thing itself must be over 100 floors, not counting the two watch towers above it.

There was also some sort of landing platform on the roof with enough room for it's blue air balloon.

Because owning an air balloon was normal....

Still, the structure was very simplistic, made of stone with wooden accents, and the castle itself wasn't very wide, just tall. It was still crazy to behold even though she'd seen it many times before.

Sonja whistled at the sight and vowed that her next home would be built by the wizards. Something nice and peaceful unlike the castle before them and the giant tree Jordan had requested.

Once past the courtyard, Jordan knocked on the door, a huge echo of metal hitting metal resonated throughout like a giant bell.

Not one minute later, the giant left door opened to reveal "Killer Tom". No one was supposed to call him that but now that she had spent many times with the wizards they had opened up about their full names and life stories.

"Hey Tom, I'm sorry to wake you guys up so early but this is kind of important" she said, cringing at her lack of consideration for peoples sleep schedules.

Tom didn't bother with pleasantries and let the girls in with a simple nod of acknowledgement.

Inside was the grand space with stairs and hallways leading to the various rooms in the castle. He guided them to their makeshift kitchen/ potion making room. The combination of both its uses frightened her enough that she never accepted anything to eat there. Not that she didn't trust them, but Matthew (one of the wizards) had once confused orange juice for a shrinking potion.

Once seated in their large table by the window on the left side of the room, Tom excused himself so he could wake up the others.

Sonja had made the mistake of accepting some water and Jordan debated whether or not a friendly warning should be said.

But her friend hadn't taken a single sip of her drink, just stared out the window.

"They are doing fine" Jordan said softly, a lame attempt at comforting her friend.

How did she know they were ok, it was just empty words.

Unless....

"Hey! Why don't we contact them through the world communicator? It reaches far enough to Dianite's base right?" Jordan said, mentally slapping herself for not thinking of that earlier.

Before when she had first arrived to the world, it had become an instinct to reach for her cell phone when needing to contact someone and had taken a long time before she stopped that particularly embarrassing habit. Becoming accustomed to the communication benefits of the world communicator was something she was still getting used to.

Sonja, probably to wrapped up in worry and doubt seemed to have forgotten that as well.

"I'll message Tom to see if everything is ok. We probably shouldn't do it at the same time so we don't distract them. Once they say they are doing ok you can message Tucker while Tom keeps a look out" Jordan said

Sonja smiled and commanded her to hurry, no doubt eager to get a hold of her boyfriend.

Jordan focused on the image of her best friend, his voice, his scent, his laugh.

Soon enough she felt the connection form.

Hey, how are you guys doing? Everything ok?

You know, It flatters me that you care so much

I'll take that as a yes. Have you guys found anything useful?

Kind of. The priest told us he had decided to block of the way to the nether because of Lord Dainties armies being ready to deploy

I knew that already. And?

Well, they aren't. His royal darkness seems to be keeping all of his forces within the fortress. They aren't even ready to be deployed.

Meaning he's not planning to attack?

According to Tucker, it seems like it. We're on our way to sneak near his private chambers to see what he's up to.

Dianite's room....The memories of her past came tumbling down like a flood.

What the hell was going on?

Then it registered in her mind...they were going into the castle.

"Tom don't" Jordan said out loud, sending Sonja into a fit of questions which Jordan blocked out of her hearing range.

Tom that's too dangerous and not at all what we agreed on.

Well, this isn't what we were expecting to find. If we came all this way might as well know as much as we can

If you get caught.....

Of course we aren't gonna get caught! Im taking us through the ventilation system and the servant passageways.

Please. I'm begging you. If he finds you, me and Sonja won't make it in time.

Hey! Tucker agreed on this and he's the plan master. Besides, first sign of danger and we're out. We already have an escape plan ready.

You'd never bother with an escape plan Tom.

True. But this was Tucker's idea not mine. I'm just contributing by being the guide.

Tom, listen to me. Dianite is probably really mad right now. I can't even begin to imagine what he would do.

Relax, he's my god after all. I know him better than anyone. Wait, why would he be mad?

Just trust me on that. I...did some dumb things that probably pissed him off.

"Jordan! The wizards are here" Sonja's voice sounded in the distance

"Give me one second" she replied quickly

Oh crap, we just got to his council room. His Gucci gang is with him.

Jordan really regretted teaching Tom about earth jokes then. Of course he wouldn't be serious at a time like that. If his mysterious council was with him... Furia could be amongst them.

Ok. Just wait there. Keep your ears open and your mouth shut till I get there.

Why are you coming? We're doing fine!

Until you're not fine. I'll be there in a bit. Tell Tucker to hang tight.

Jordan disconnected and glanced at the cramped kitchen. The four wizards were gathered around waiting patiently with various drinks in hand.

"Ok new plan. Sonja I need you to stay here with the wizards and help them with the task I have in hand" Jordan said as she stood from her wooden chair to fasten all her weapons in place.

"Why!? Are they ok?" Sonja asked in a panic

"Yes they are but they might need my help" Jordan said, running over her words "Wag I don't have time to explain very well but I need you guys to make us as many potions of invisibility and straight as you can, with as much durability as possible"

The wizards exchanged sleepy looks but they seemed to have registered her request well enough.

"They don't need me here for that! Let me come with!" Sonja complained, now standing along with everyone else.

Jordan shot her an apologetic look before turning back to the wizards who were all leaning on the closest kitchen counter.

"I also need you to track something, I'm not even sure if magic will help but its worth a try. In short, I'm looking for Ianite's heart. Dianite has it somewhere near him but it needs to be kept around some sort of end magic for it to be able to survive"

Though not very clearly, Jordan remembered Wag ranting about some tracking spells back when they had just arrived at the island. She had asked if they could track Ianite but he had said something about it only being able to track objects, and even then there were complications. But it was worth a shot, it would be the only way to find that heart without asking Dianite himself.

Wag let go of his wooden mug and ran his hands through his brown hair. Seeing him in anything other than his wizard robes was just odd... he wore comfortable 'pajama' pants and a cotton long sleeve lined with dark blue stitching. The other wizards wore similar outfits but varying colors and fits to their bodies, no magic robes in sight.

In any other occasion, she might have teased them about it, but it was not the time for that, not with her friends in danger.

Jordan has spent a considerable amount of time in Dianite's prison, and there was no way she would let her friends suffer that fait. Specially when Dianite might not be so kind to them.

"We might be able to pinpoint where that end energy is since its not in the end. I can get started on that while my brothers work on the potions. Sonja, it seems like I might need you help after all" he said and Jordan almost kissed him for dragging Sonja along.

In case things went south, Tucker would kill her if he knew she came along. Besides the potions were one of the most important things at the moment, and she trusted Sonja more than anyone to see it through.

Jordan began walking to the hallway leading out of the kitchen.

"Once the potions are all done and the tracking thing is dealt with I need you to take the potions somewhere safe. Maybe your vault Sonja or here for that matter. Don't let any mobs see you with them, I'm not sure but they might be spies for Dianite" Jordan yelled back at them

Dianite had mentioned something about her issues with Capsize. No one else knew about that so he had to have some sort of spies around.

And who better to do that than his mobs.

"Jordan....darn it!!!! Just be careful ok? I go this but bring them back safe" Sonja said, giving up on any argument.

She nodded and turned to Phil. He specialized in motion magic and was actually the one responsible for the portal leading to the home of the wizards. Jordan had seen him teleport his brother's for supplies before but never actually experienced it herself. Hopefully it wouldn't be something only wizards could do.

"Mind teleporting me to the priest's house?" She asked Phil

Seeing her distress, he waisted no time and in the snap of his fingers, she was standing out in the chill of the night right outside Declan's door.

She waved Phil goodbye and turned to Declan's door.

Manners be damned.

"Dec!!!! Open up now!!!" She screamed while banging the door like a crazy woman.

Before she managed her 13th knock, the priest stood before her, angry beyond compare.

"What is wrong with you children!!!!! Believe it or not, people need sleep!!" He screamed

"The guys need me, now!!!!" She said

The priest's anger vanished instantly as he beckoned her inside without any other complaint.

******

Tom's POV

Him and Tucker were currently crammed into a very dark and very filthy ventilation shaft located on the left side of Dianite's grand bedroom. Though there was no bed in sight (because evil never slept apparently) the whole room was filled with weapons, books, and various maps and records.

Boring.

From their line of vision, they could clearly see Dianite sitting by his desk like he owned the world. Before him, on the other side of the desk were his useless morons.

Tom had made it his life's mission to avoid those old hags as much as possible, and had nearly succeeded most of the time. Only now the group seemed to have expanded.

Damned General Furia was amongst them, smug and proud with his scorching armor that Tom had envied once or twice until he realized the guy was probably compensating for all the stuff he lacked by wearing that awesome armor.

Tucker inched closer to the metal covering before them, trying to get a better look.

They were at least 20 feet above ground, and every time Tucker inched closer, Tom feared they would topple down and fall, not to their deaths but to an embarrasing and painful entrance.

Not something that was in his current wishlist of achievements.

As the whole gang did their best to look intimidating yet pathetically submissive, Tom turned to look at his god.

Sure enough, he did seem more pissed of than usual.

There was even some furniture blasted into shatters all over the place.

A couch was burnt and split in half near the god's desk. What looked to be an old desk was completely shattered in a corner along with a giant desk chair that looked just like the one Lord Dianite perched upon at the moment.

"Status" His god said, voice so deep and commanding that he almost flinched in fear.

"All arrangements have been made to guard the temple my lord, every single soldier is here at you disposal. I have made sure to come up with a patrol system that makes for an impenetrable defense system" said Helot, the famous war advisor who looked like a human ghast.

HIM Tom could stand on any given day, but it was the owner of the next voice that made Tom want to shove gun powder down his mouth.

"We will also have legions guarding the various portal entrances, no one will be able to enter the nether without us knowing" said Arlo, the war general.

Everything about that guy set Tom's blood on fire.

When Tom had first began working for Dianite as his champion, it was Arlo who trained him.

Though that guy had arms longer than his body and a body so thin it looked like he was a skeleton with a thin layer of skin, that guy could pack a punch.

Not only was he one of the best fighters left in the world, but he was also very clever. If his cleverness failed, he always had those long nails to skin people alive with.