Jhuidah was back in her trance, blubbering like a baby to a still-unseen god.

"I'm very, very sorry," Jhuidah said. "It won't happen again, I swear... I didn't mean for the girl to get away... really, I..."

"Girl?" came a furious voice.

"Ye – yes," Jhuidah replied hesitantly. After waiting a second, she continued. "Apart from the fact I let her get away, is there anything wrong, Pango?"

"Yes," Pango answered calmly – but still plainly angrily. "I cannot believe that you misinterpreted my instructions."

"Misinterpreted?" Jhuidah repeated. "What did I do wrong, Pango?"

"My instructions were quite clear," Pango told the trembling Faerie. "Between the hours of three and four, one pair of human and pet would approach your Cooking Pot, Jhuidah. And yet, despite the fact that there was only one pair, you took the wrong one!"

"I apologise, Pango," Jhuidah stumbled, "but you are mistaken. At three-fifteen, I saw a girl and her Uni. At three-thirty, I saw a young man and his Kacheek."

"The girl was not there."

Jhuidah tried her best not to bristle. "Yes, she was," Jhuidah protested.

"She was not," insisted Pango.

"Yes she was, Pango – I saw her! Felt her! Restrained her! Drugged her! She was as real as I am!" Jhuidah wondered if Pango was being obtuse just to annoy her.

"Do you doubt my vision?" the invisible god asked the Faerie levelly.

Jhuidah swallowed. "No, Pango. I apologise. You are right. The girl is not there."

Jhuidah heard Pango laugh. "Of course she's there, foolish one! You have every reason to doubt my vision. Just because I am a god, does not mean I am right all the time."

Now Jhuidah was sure Pango was being deliberately obtuse.

"Pango!" Jhuidah yelled.

"I am not the only one who resolves evil," Pango explained. "I have heard stories of powerful beings..."

"Other gods?" Jhuidah whispered.

"No," Pango replied. "Aliens to you. Beings from other planets. They monitor the universe and when something goes wrong on a large enough scale, it is they who fix it."

"So..." Jhuidah paused to consider. "So both they and you tried to dispose of the evil?" she asked. "And on a large enough scale... how evil are the evil ones?"

"I do not know," Pango admitted. "I can sense evil, I cannot sense its quantity."

"What do I do?" Jhuidah asked. "I have ten Coco High Priests waiting for me, and one rolling around on the floor. I still have the Uni in captivity."

"Release the Uni," Pango told her. "Send the Priests away. Do not fight the evil. If those who watch have sent someone, they are better equipped than I to deal with the situation."

"Better equipped than a god?" Jhuidah asked.

"Far better equipped than a god," said the disembodied voice. "Go now, Jhuidah. Remember all I have said."

Better equipped was hardly what Jess considered herself, after finding – to her immense annoyance – that her irremovable bracelet was supremely useless at breaking Blanche's manacles.

"I wish I had a thingamabob," Jess told Blanche while busily hitting her wrist against the chain.

"What kind of thingamabob?" Blanche asked languidly.

"One that would cut through metal," Jess replied. "Even the metal of my indestructible bracelet."

"So, sort of like a super metal cutter?"

"Mm," Jess agreed. "This is useless. Without a key..."

Both girls heard a slight cough in the doorway. They turned their heads to see an apologetic Island Faerie. Jess ignored the apologetic part.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jess demanded of the short Faerie.

"I, uh... have the key," Jhuidah mumbled, holding it out to Jess. Suspiciously, Jess took it.

"I'm truly sorry," Jhuidah apologised. "It was a misunderstanding."

"Pretty major misunderstanding," Jess chided. "I mean, how close was I to losing my life, eh?"

"I am sorry," Jhuidah repeated. "Pango said there was evil in this land, and it just so happened there were two pairs fitting his description."

"Oh, and that makes it all better," Jess retorted, as well as using the key to free Blanche.

"You were sent here to expel the evil," Jhuidah felt as though she was stating the obvious.

"I thought it was Kayandri's idea of a good joke," Jess said sarcastically. "Yes, thank you Jhuidah, I knew that."

"Oh," Jhuidah said, deciding against reminding Jess who that was. "Good luck, then."

Jess waited until Jhuidah was gone before releasing the rest of Blanche's restraints. "Idiot."

"I don't think that's entirely fair," Blanche told her owner, standing up. "As the Island Faerie, I imagine Jhuidah is obligated to believe in Pango."

"That doesn't make it any more excusable!" Jess announced sharply. "She nearly sacrificed me!"

"Due to no fault of her own."

"Murder is always a fault of your own," Jess said. "Having a religion which permits it is no excuse!"

"You weren't listening, were you?" Blanche asked. "She was asked to sacrifice evil."

"I know that."

"And she just told us that you have to now."

"I was listening, you know, Blanche," Jess reprimanded her Uni.

"Could have fooled me," Blanche remarked acidly. After a reproving glare, Blanche continued with, "I just think we need to hurry up and expel that evil!"

"But I don't know who the evil person is."

"Well, let's hurry up and find out!" Blanche ordered.

"Fine!" Jess yelled her reply. "After dinner."

"Dinner?"

"It might be breakfast time, but I didn't have dinner before being transported here, you know."

"Fine. Dinner."

Every Coco had left the temple save one, rolling helplessly on the floor.

"Bob!" Steve yelled at the rolling Coco. "What are you doing in that coconut costume?"

"Uhh..." Bob thought. "You asked me to get in here, dude."

"Yes, but Bob, you were meant to get out of there ages ago!"

"I would've," Bob protested, "but the suit wouldn't break!"

Steve tapped the shell sharply, frowning when it didn't crack. He then kicked the helpless Coco lookalike – and the shell then split apart with such force that Bob was thrown a metre away.

"Get up, Bob," he snapped. "We have work to do."

"But dude..."

"No buts, Bob. I'm going to join Jess and her Uni."

Bob wasn't overly pleased with that plan. "Why?"

"Have you ever heard of the saying 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'?" Steve grinned mischievously.

"No..."

"Well, now you have, Bob. And that is precisely what I'm going to do."

"Okay."

Steve stared at the Kacheek. "Aren't you remotely interested in what you're going to do?"

"Should I be?" Bob asked blankly.