I awoke on the luxuriously soft sofa to the smell and sound of frying bacon. It overpowered that faint smell of pine which usually scented our home. In the far corner of our rustic cabin, from the direction of the kitchen, Alis was humming the tune of some moribund ballad. There was a crick in my neck and my back felt stiff from sleeping upright on the sofa. A soft blanket covered me.

‘Klarric, I’ve almost finished cooking our breakfast,’ Alis called out to me when she noticed, through her divine senses, that I had awoken.

I stood up and stretched, doing the best to ease my tense muscles.

All the knowledge that Aggard had gifted me the previous day was still crowding my mind. There was so much I struggled to make sense of it. There was some knowledge which was almost pointless, about how to use divinity to change your clothes. Which the two of us already knew how to do. But there was also secrets about divinity and mana I was not sure she should’ve shared with me.

Yet my mind seemed to mainly go over her arguments why I should join forces with the blight she created. The same blight, which was currently held within the confines of the prison, formed from the Isles of Dunkeltal, which she too created. Though instead of just telling me to do so, she also gave me reasons why she formed the prison. Further more she told me why at one time she had changed her mind and instead set out to defeat and destroy the blight she created.

Most troubling to me was the fact she had not, in fact, died, had not stopped existing. She had given up resisting against the void and had gone back to become one with it.

I made my way on weak, stumbling legs over beyond the immense fireplace, its fire banked right now, towards the dining area. On the large rectangular, solid oak table, Alis placed two plates down. Both of them overflowed with a wonderful fried breakfast, complete with fried tomato, scrambled egg, bacon, and toast. The freshly cooked food steamed happily away, unaware of its fate to be devoured.

Alis sat down straight backed and controlled in front of one plate. She looked up at me, her beautiful freckled face calm and collected.

‘What would you say, and do, if I knew how to bring Aggard back into our lives?’

‘I would be jealous.’ Still, she didn’t look away, scream, shout, or show any overt signs of emotion.

What she said is what I thought she would say.

What I didn’t know was how she would react to my next question. ‘What would you say, and do, if I said I wanted to destroy this world?’

She looked at me with her bright eyes squinting in confusion. ‘My only truly fond memories of this world revolve around my dead sister and you. Outside of I couldn’t care less about this world. Not once did anyone ever try to save me. At most, they were indifferent.

‘Well, there was that one person, I guess.’

Did I dare go further down the path which Aggard had now opened for me? Not knowing what to do, I sat down and took a bite of the wonderfully creamy scrambled egg Alis had cooked for me.

‘There is a saying back from where I came from, to make an omelette you need to break a few eggs.’ I took another bite of those delicious eggs. ‘In my first life, I felt like the world was indifferent to me. Basically, no matter what I did, nothing ever amounted to much. So I aimlessly wandered through life.

‘In my second life, the one where I met you, I was hammered with so much hate I struggled to restrain myself. It was all I could do to remain focused upon Aggard, to do my best to transform my anger into devotion towards her.

‘Then we became deities.’ I took a bite of the juicy bacon.

‘At first I listened to the will of Aggard. It was clear from what she said she wanted to save this world. Flaws and darkness and all. Not knowing what else to do, I aimlessly went along with what she told me. Then last night she told me everything.’

I put my fork down and rested my elbows on the table, and looked across at Alis. She had stopped eating her breakfast. Those bright eyes focused intently upon me. Her fiery and wild hair framing her beautiful freckled face.

‘There is something deeply flawed about this world. It was Aggard’s husband who first noticed the flaw, and for that he was killed. Fearing for their lives, the other elder gods fled, leaving Aggard behind as a Fallen Goddess.

‘To make sure she survived, she left behind a series of anchors which would hold her firmly into this world. Of her two strongest, one has been subverted by the two of us. That was the golden statue in the realm of the divine.

‘The other was the Fallen Blessing, the curse, the blight, which she put upon the Isles of Dunkeltal. Even her faithful, the followers of Aggard, was a bastion. But one which has now been all but subverted. With the exception of the true faithful in the Isles of Dunkletal and in Rynstowe. Lastly were the Watchers, most of whom were killed in the attack on Rynstowe.’

I took another bite of the rapidly cooling breakfast. It wasn’t as nice as it had been when it had been warm. But still, it was something to do while I awaited Alis to work though whatever she was struggling with.

‘But,’ Alis started, her voice unsteady, ‘why did Aggard want to destroy this world? Why go through all that trouble?’

Instead of answering directly, I came at the answer in an indirect manner. ‘There is a reason we have the logo of the crossed keys. Keys are there to either secure something, or to open something up.

‘Do you want me to hide the truth, lock it away, so we can live for as long as we can in innocence and peace? Or do you want me to tell you the truth? Unlocking it. I must warn you, knowing the truth is scary. It will force you to do something you will regret. Yet you will do it because if you do nothing…’

I trailed off because I didn’t know how to finish what I was saying. So instead, I let the two of us sit in silence.

Alis lent back in her chair, letting her hands fall in her lap. ‘My jealousy is telling me we should be done with Aggard. We should crush her alongside that blight. Then all the pain it’s causing will be gone. But I… Yes, I am afraid she might steal you away from me,’ she looked away from me, a painful wince on her face, her teeth clenched tightly together. ‘Yes. Nevertheless I have faith in her and I do trust her…’

I reached over the table towards her, but I couldn’t reach her.

‘But it is not right for you to hold the kind of secret you know alone.’ Alis said, her face now full of resolution. ‘From here, on the outside, I can’t easily tell how troubled you are. Yet I know you are troubled.’ She reached forward and took my hand in hers. ‘I would be a poor wife if I didn’t do something as simple as standing alongside my husband, sharing his troubles, easing them the best I can. Even if I cannot ease them, I could at least help him carry their burden.

‘So, Klarric, please share your burdens. Tell me the secret.’

‘Okay,’ I squeezed her hand, thankful that she decided to stand next to me. So I told her just why Aggard’s husband died, and the dangers all the humans in this world faced.

As I told her, our partially eaten breakfast lay forgotten.

When at long last I finished, Alis gave me a sad smile. Her face in greater pain now than it had earlier when she was scared Aggard would steal me away. Still, despite that pain, she was resolute.

‘We shall side with Aggard. We shall destroy this world.’