Now, when I said I would kill Dianite, I meant it. Nobody, and I mean nobody, hurts my little girl and gets away with it. The next day, I marched to the priest's house and demanded that I get one of the weapons that could kill gods.

"Mot... are you sure you can do this?" the priest asked, reluctantly handing over a bow. "If you die at his hands, he has the power to make it so you can't respawn."

"Yes," I said firmly. "I believe I can do this, priest. You have to trust me." Holding the bow at my side, I approached the nether portal.

"Well," the priest said sadly, "If I never see you again, then, well, it was nice knowing you, Mot. I will make sure that your daughter is raised properly."

"Thank you, sir," I replied, even though I was confident that I would survive the assault. Even if I didn't manage to kill the god alone, I could weaken him easily. I stepped into the purple portal, and immediately became nauseous. Everything around me swirled, and then went black as I flew from one dimension to another.

The nausea faded away, and I opened my eyes to a sea of red and orange. The land of death and destruction. I sighed and stepped onto the platform below, bow in hand. I used an ender pearl that Champwan had given me to teleport across the lava ocean and to the temple.

Thanks for the lesson, Mianite!" I said cheerfully, packing up my items. I was determined to make up for the wither accident. "I better head back to Mot now."

A look of panic suddenly filled Mianite eyes. "Oh... Mot is doing some business with the priest. He's not home right now."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Wait a second. He didn't tell me he was going to see the priest. Is it a secret?"

Mianite looked stressed. "Yes, it's kind of a secret, Alyssa." Desperately trying to take my attention away, he added, "Why don't we go ride horses? I could teach you to do some tricks on Daisy!"

I shook my head. "I'm really good at keeping secrets, Mianite! Please tell me!"

"I'm sorry, child. Do you want to ride horses or..."

"No, Mianite," I sighed. "I'll just go visit Ianite in the End. I haven't visited her in a while, actually. And I want to talk to Skipper."

He looked worried. "I suppose, child. At least you'll be with Ianite." I jumped to my feet and hurried away, in the direction of the End portal.

But, at the last second, when I was sure that Mianite couldn't see me, I changed direction.

I entered the flaming temple. "Lord Dianite!" I yelled. "I have come to speak to you!" I walked further and was relieved to find that he was on his throne, hunched over like he was before.

You know, even being so weak, and with such a deadly look on his face, he was still hot... no. I couldn't afford to think like this. I loved Dia, not this monster.

"Speak to me, eh?" the god snarled. "I know what bow is in your hand. That's the bow that the Tom boy used to kill me. I know what you're here for. And I know that you're underestimating me."

I took out the bow and pointed an arrow at the god. "I was going to leave you alone, you know that? I was only preparing for an attack. I wanted no quarrel. But then, you harm my little daughter, and this gets personal."

He didn't reply. I let go of the arrow, and it sped towards his crimson face. Dianite stared right at it, unmoving, until it was right in front of his face. Then, the god flew into the air, emitting smoke particles. The arrow flew right threw the smoke and attached itself to the wall behind him.

The god cackled, his laugh creepy and hollow. "You absolute weakling!"

I loaded another arrow into the bow. "That's what you said to my daughter yesterday."

The god smiled. "Want to know a secret, Mot? I only said that to your daughter to make her mess up. It's pretty clear that she is the strongest person living in the realm. You on the other hand? Your courage is an act! I know you better than you think I do, creeper mutant. You'd get down on your knees and whimper like a child if you didn't have your fancy armor and weapons. Or, if it was the other Dianite, you'd be getting down on your knees for a different reason!" He howled with laughter, and my face turned scarlet with embarrassment and rage.

"So you've been strong all this time, but never chose to show your face?" I asked, flashing him a humorless smile. "You're scared. You're scared of your big brother and little sister, who you let down. And now you don't want to pay for your actions. You're a coward, Dianite! A coward!"

His cheerful look turned into a snarl. "A coward, am I? Let's see who's the coward now!" He suddenly melted backwards, into the walls of the temple. A face began to emerge, made of netherrack and lava. Without any other choice, I turned and ran.

I reached the portal and was about to dive through when I heard the screeching of dozens of ghasts. I turned and saw an army of beasts, fireballs zooming from their gaping mouths. I let out a small scream and dove to the side. It wasn't until I had run that I realized that the fireballs weren't aimed at me.

One by one, they hit the portal. Explosions broke everywhere, and netherrack burst in front of my eyes. The portal itself shattered, leaving an enormous crater and the obsidian frame.

I was trapped.

I knew exactly where my father was. He hadn't exactly covered it up yesterday, when he announced that he'd kill Dianite. However, when I ran up to the portal, it was flashing an error message. That was odd. Did the portal break somehow? I grabbed an extra flint-and-steel before diving through it, just in case.

When I reached the other side, I found myself falling. I landed in a ditch. The portal was, in fact, broken, but I decided it wasn't wise to fix it. As far as I could tell, nobody had realized that I was here. I could hear Dianite yelling, and he sounded like he meant business. Where was Mot? I peered over the edge of the pit and saw my father dodging fireballs coming out of... a face in the temple?

"This, Mot!" the god thundered. "This is weakness! You thought you could bring your petty bow in here and kill me, an immortal being? You fool! Have you lost your mind?" He shook his head, moving the entire temple with him. "And the little girl thought she was weak. I laugh!"

Mot backed up further and further from the god. "I thought you knew everything about me, Dianite. Did you truly think I believed I was strong? There's a reason why I didn't attack you right away. I am here only to defend the ones I love. I know I am weak, but I will do whatever I can. This, Dianite," he said, confidence returning to his voice. "Is what you don't realize about me."

The god sighed. "Perhaps you are right, Mot. But whoever you may be, it doesn't matter, for you're dead anyway, aren't you?"

Mot suddenly stood tall, and let the bow hang limply at my side. "I have no escape, Lord Dianite. I... I accept my fate." He bowed his head to the god. My heart pounded as I realized that my father was giving up. Now was my time to act.

I jumped from the crater and lit the portal in one swift movement. Before Dianite could react, I tackled my father, pushing both of us into the portal and out of the realm of death.

When we appeared on the other side, Mot seemed to be at a loss for words. "Alyssa... how did you... what just happened?"

"I'll tell you later," I said. "But for now..." I gave him a huge hug, almost making him fall over again. "I want to tell you not to leave me ever again. Promise?"

Gratitude rushed into his eyes. "Yes, Alyssa, I promise."

"I love you, Daddy." Remembering what Mianite had told me, I added, "Please don't listen to Dianite. I don't think you're weak. You went to kill a god, even at the risk of your death, because he hurt me. That's... that's braver than I ever could be."