I had woken up before Alyssa, so I went to Nadeshot's automatic farm below the stairs and started growing more flowers for her crowns. I also added more plants so we could have a healthier, wider diet. It had been a while since we were able to eat things like pumpkins.

"Hey, Dad!" I heard her call from the top of the stairs. She had stopped calling me "Daddy" as she grew older, which made me slightly sad. I guess I was going through what every parent goes through- the stage where we miss how young our children used to be.

"Good morning, Alyssa. Would you like breakfast now?" We had leftover eggs and carrots, but the special food would have to be saved for a later meal.

"No thanks, Mianite is training me again today. We're going to the little obsidian arena behind Jeriah's house to fight mobs!" She sounded thrilled, which worried me.

"Is it going to be difficult for you? I don't want you to get injured." Perhaps I was being a bit overprotective, but I knew the damage that mobs could do. I had to remember the power of mobs every time I looked at my reflection, and saw half a creeper staring back at me.

"I'll be fine," she sounded slightly annoyed. "Mianite will be watching me, so he can always jump in and help. It's preparation!"

I sighed. "Very well. Better be on your way, then." I listened as her little footsteps disappeared, then continued with my gardening.

Gardening and cooking was fun, but it got dull after a while. I was aching to explore the world that our alternate selves had created, but there was other work to be done. After an hour or two of planting, I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, brushed the dirt off, and changed into my diamond armor. I grabbed a sword and some food, then headed off.

I didn't really go anywhere. As I exited the castle, I no longer felt the need to see new buildings. I just wanted to take a walk. I followed the path that they had set up, and passed all of the familiar buildings that I had begun to call my home. I felt a sense of safety and security around them, despite the potential evil lurking around the place. I felt as if nothing could hurt me anymore, as long as I stayed here.

So, naturally, that's when the forces of evil decided to hurt me.

"Mot?" I heard someone ask. My stomach lurched at the voice, and I spun around with my mouth open. Nobody was there, but I knew I had heard someone call my name. And I knew who that someone was.

"Dia?" my voice trembled.

"Hello, there. While I am not the one you have clearly become... close to..." I flinched at the stinging words. "I am, in fact, Dianite. I wanted to get to know you better, and I feel like you want to get to know me better."

He wasn't wrong. "May... maybe. But I thought you were dead?" I felt my heart snapping as I listened to his deep, soothing voice again. I couldn't afford to think like this, though. Not while I was here. Or ever again, for that matter, since I may never return.

"I am here in spirit form, my boy," the god replied. "I could speak to you properly, but that would involve going to the place where I am strongest- the Nether. I believe the main portal is in the priest's house."

My boy. Why did he have to break my heart like this? Was it on purpose? Somehow, I didn't think so. There was no way for him to know. And, even though I had been warned by the others, I went to the priest's house.

The portal shimmered as I approached, as if it was calling me inside. I drew my sword, took a deep breath, and stepped into the middle of it. The world around me swirled with purple particles, and I was sucked out of the dimension. I squeezed my eyes shut as the floor seemed to rock under my feet, and only opened them when the nauseating feeling faded away. I was in the land of evil, a place I had refused to enter for years.

To my relief, this nether wasn't quite as deadly as the one back in the old place. That one had blocks of ashes that burned you when you stepped on them, and deadly mobs around every corner. Unfortunately, this nether still had oceans of lava, and fireball-shooting ghasts. If I stepped in the wrong place, this could be the end. I stepped towards the edge of the netherrack platform, and squinted at my surroundings.

And that's when I saw it. A building that could be nothing else but the Temple of Dianite, made mostly of nether brick. It was dark and menacing, but something about it was drawing me closer to it. Curiosity, probably.

"Over here, Mot boy," Dianite called. It seemed to be coming from inside the temple. I walked across the stone bridge, listening to the groans of undead pigs and the wails of the monsters above.

The inside of the building was even more breathtaking. There was so much to look at, but I couldn't focus on that now. I had to find my god.

"Back here! Behind the pillar." I started running, and rounded another corner to find Dianite looking back at me. He was hunched over on a huge throne. He looked dreadfully weak, and was leaning against the armrest for support, but he was alive.

"My... my lord." I didn't know what to say, but I suddenly felt a strong sense of fright. This wasn't my god. This guy had a stone cold heart, and murdered for fun. It had been a relief to the land when he had died, but I had followed the sound of his calming voice into the place where he was strongest. Why was I such a fool?

"So, boy," Dianite began, in an angry voice that made my stomach twist into a knot, "Is it true that you are another version of Tom?"

I didn't like how that sounded. "Not another version of him. Apparently he's supposed to be my alternate self, but we grew up in different places, and we're nothing alike..."

He sneered at me. "The boy who betrayed my trust for those weak followers of Mianite and Ianite. He had the nerve to kill his own god!"

My hands started shaking. "I would never..."

"SILENCE!" he screamed, louder than I thought he would be able to in that state. "He disappeared after slaying me, and then you appear! Who shall I take my revenge on, Mot? Who?"

"I didn't do anything!" I yelled, beginning to panic. "Just let me go! I came here to talk to you!" I took out my sword in case he attacked.

"Oh, I can't hurt you now," Dianite laughed. "I can barely lift my arm. Flee now, weakling. Just don't think I'll ever forget about it." As I was turning away, he added, "Now I can see why the other me didn't love you back."

I didn't stop running until I was back at the castle, at which point I began to sob uncontrollably. The situation had been bad enough already, but of course the god of all evil had gone and made it a thousand times worse.

And I thought I was strong.