Tom squinted as he broke out onto the top of the mushroom shaped mountain into the glaring sun. He blinked hard a couple times and shielded his eyes with his hand, running over to the edge to get a full view of the land below. After a minute he heard his friend's footsteps approaching from behind, and he took a precautionary step back.

"I miss my sunglasses." Jordan complained, both hands cupped around his eyes. Tom heard him gasp as he turned his attention to the horizon. "Woah..."

"Do you think this is natural? Or did someone take the time to really reorganize literally every block in existence into this random ass pattern?"

Jordan tilted his head and pursed his lips. "If it were someone doing that, they really need to get a different hobby. But, you know... I don't think it's random."

Tom glanced to the side. "Of course it is."

"No, cause look," Jordan pointed with his left hand down at the ground, "there's a thing of diamond blocks down there, right? And right next to it is pink wool. And then over there, you can see the same pattern. I think there's some kind of system to it."

Tom stared at the diamond patch Jordan had pointed to, but he didn't see what his friend did. "Nah, it's totally random.

"Tom-"

"Nah, nah, nah, Jordan, it's totally random!"

Jordan rolled his eyes and smiled, going back to scanning the horizon. "So, that mountain looks really weird, over there."

"They all look really weird."

"Yeah, I know! I was just suggesting a possible place to explore."

Tom pointed to the right of the smooth mountain Jordan had pointed out. "What about that? Do you see that over there, the grid looking thing?"

He squinted in the direction his friend gestured to and nodded. "Yeah, that's kinda weird too."

"Everything is weird. Let's go get a closer look!" Tom bounded away from the edge, back into the staircase.

"Hold up!"

Tom and Jordan made it down the stairs much faster than they had made it up them, and they started towards the grid Tom has pointed out at a brisk jog pace. Tom shared some of the food he'd swiped from Star's base, and they ran in comfortable silence, side by side.

They followed the path. Tom found it very obvious after Jordan actually pointed it out to him, and he chastised himself for missing it. It was a two block wide flat path with barriers on either side, splitting off leading to other areas. The two followed it up a medium sized hill and came up on the grid structure he had spotted.

It was four buildings, arranged in a square formation and built in a low valley in the ground. Tom slid down the sand on the side of the valley and broke into one of the buildings after not seeing a door, slaying a stray zombie and looking around. The shadows cast by the ceiling didn't hide the fact that the building was nothing more than an empty shell.

"There's nothing in here, Jordan!" He called to his friend, leaving the one and breaking into the opposite one. He sighed as he found the same result in the next one, and the following one after that. An empty one room structure, with not a chest or piece of loot in sight. Sure, he dug out some diamond and iron blocks he found within the grid, but even that wasn't enough to warrant their running over.

"Nothing in any of them, huh? Tom, come on up here." Jordan called, back up at the crest of the valley. Tom climbed up after him and followed as Jordan lead him into another closed off area, this one without a roof.

The new place was pretty small, but oddly shaped. There was a clear strip to walk in, and on either side were one or two high mounds of various blocks. And all around it, a surrounding border floating a few blocks above their heads, supported by pillars on the four corners of the rectangular area.

"What do you think this is? Some kind of ritual setup?" Jordan examined the entrance for any signs of use. Tom meanwhile decided to parkour to the top and he sat down on the border, swinging his legs and nibbling on a pork chop.

"I don't know if that kind of stuff even exists in this world. I haven't seen anything that you could use for witchery or magic around, have you?"

Jordan shook his head, putting his hands on his hips. "No, but I mean, what else could it be? The buildings down there could hold monsters or animals, and they would bring them up here to be sacrificed."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "That's morbid."

"Yeah, but it's possible!"

"Ok, sure. Doesn't really matter what it was, though. Clearly it's been abandoned for a long time." Tom had stood up, running back and forth on the border now, sliding along the small patch of ice in it with glee. "So Jardon, what do you think was wrong with that girl?"

Jordan turned around and stared up at him, eyes moving back and forth as his friend bounced around. "What do you mean?" He unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, wincing as he brushed a tender spot.

Tom attempted a cartwheel and missed his footing, crashing to the ground. "Ah!"

The older man crossed his arms and grinned.

"I mean, you think Ianite did something bad to her? Liked, killed her whole family bad?" Jordan's eyes widened.

"What? Ianite would never do that!" he retorted defensively. The zombie man got to his feet and rolled his neck.

"Maybe not in the worlds we've been in, but Jordan, it's kinda her turn, right?"

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

Tom brushed off his sleeves and started monkeying his way up to the top of the border again. "Well, in Mianite, Dianite was the one we ended up fighting. And in Ruxomar, it was Mianite. So it would make sense for this world to fight Ianite, right?"

Jordan opened his mouth to reply, to argue for his goddess, that she would never become something that they would end up needing to fight, but then he closed it and thought for a moment.

While he didn't really believe that because this was the third world with the gods that they'd visited, Ianite had to be the bad guy for the reason that she hadn't been yet, he did have to admit that it did complete the cycle. But even so, he didn't want to admit to himself that he would need to fight against his goddess this time. Ianite, the angelic ethereal being that he had saved in Mianite and lost in Ruxomar, the guardian of a balance as delicate as she was.

"Uh, Jordan? Dude, what is with you? You are so out of it!" While Jordan had been daydreaming, Tom had jumped down from his running around and stood in front of him, standing as tall as he could with fists on his hips, staring at him.

"Sorry... I was just... thinking. I don't think you're right, though. How could Ianite ever be the bad guy? She's the balance of good and evil, right? So you would think, in the other worlds where the balance was lost, she'd be bad. But she wasn't! So, she's gotta be good in this world too. So she wouldn't do something like murder a family."

Tom took a step back, slightly intimidated by the intensity of his friend's defense of his goddess. "Ok, ok, jeez. It was just a thought!"

Jordan took a breath and turned away, leaving the area before Tom could see how much the thought of fighting Ianite really affected him.

"She definitely killed one of her wolves, though."

"Drop it, Tom!"

Waking up, Wag felt better than he had for as long as he could remember. He was in a soft, comfy bed curled up with a blanket and a warm body beside him. He didn't wake up from a loud owl right outside his window, he didn't have to spring out of bed from him having to put out a fire from a rogue spell he'd casted in his sleep. And most of all, he didn't wake up in a cold sweat from a dream that mostly eluded his memory, leaving only feelings of anger, loneliness and loss. No, all he felt this morning was a strong urge to make a move he'd been holding back on for a while.

The wizard pulled Martha closer to him and kissed the back of her head, reveling in the softness of her light purple hair and grinning when she hummed adorably in her sleep.

He loved this woman. As strange as the circumstances were surrounding their relationship, and her reservations that he would respect should she not want to be with him, he loved her with all his heart.

Probably the first time it had happened, and frankly it terrified him as much as it excited him.

Martha squirmed in his arms, and he allowed her room to move as she twisted around and brought them face to face. Her sleepy eyes and smile melted his head and riding the high of his feelings, he dipped down and pecked a quick kiss on her pretty little lips.

The mystic blinked, and her cheeks burned red as she ducked her head to hide her face in his chest. Wag chuckled, a low sound resounding in his throat, and hugged her.

"Love you, Martha."

"Love you too," came the embarrassed squeak.

An hour later, the fantastic foursome was all out of bed and packed up, gear strapped on to their armor and weapons ready at their sides, should any insane teenagers decide to greet them.

The group left the safety of the base and squinted at the strong sunlight that blinded them.

Wag took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips, looking around at the quilted land before them. "So... where to?"

Sonja piped up. "Me and Tucker decided we have to join up with Jordan and Tom, and then we need to find Andor, Mot and Dianite. They would have landed in the same world, right?"

"Tucker and I." Martha corrected. Sonja rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

Wag shrugged. "I mean, maybe? But they disappeared almost as soon as we jumped, and Andor flew into the void. They could be in a completely different world entirely."

"Well, we have to try and find them. I really never thought I'd be relying on Dianite, but he might be the only god we can trust in this world, if that girl is anything to go by." Tucker pointed out, looking around at the others. Martha giggled softly.

"My uncle is anything but trustworthy, but I have to agree with you."

"You two are actually gonna be Team Dianite?" Wag raised his eyebrows as the group started walking.

"We're not gonna be Team Dianite, I don't think. More like, we'll align with his morals and work with him, if only because we trust him the most out of the gods in this world. After all, Mianite must be a crazy son of a bitch if that girl acted that way, and who knows what Ianite's like. Dianite is probably our best bet, right?"

Sonja nodded, agreeing with Tucker's explanation. "Tucker and I have both always been on the morally right side, not so much on Mianite's team itself."

"But you sure took to my uncle's plan rather quick once you realized my brother was spewing nonsense about him." Martha accused, glaring daggers at Tucker. "Not to mention being very eager to murder innocent children to go along with his plans."

"That was to try and bring Ianite back, and you know it! Don't make me the bad guy!" Tucker's voice echoed against the mountainside and sounded much louder than he intended.

"Let's not point fingers and start fighting, ok? That's in the past now." Wag tried to pacify his friends, with a little success. Tucker crossed his arms and picked up his pace, leaving the group behind as he sulked.

Sonja glared at Martha, who sneered back. Wag focused his attention on preventing a catfight, and so he didn't notice when Tucker turned the corner at the base of the mountain and disappeared into a tight valley between two mountain peaks, filled with blocks mimicking the shape of trees.

Tucker didn't take long to admire the strange view, ducking around the pseudo trunks and began climbing up a small flight of stairs out of the forest.

A shadow darted out from the corner of his vision, and he only had a second to react before his assailant brought a glinting diamond sword down on his head. Tucker tried to react, unsheathing his own weapon, but he couldn't raise his arm before a clash rang harshly off his helmet and he dropped to the ground like a rock.