"Spark, we have a choice," I panted. "Neither option is good. But we have a choice."

The poor old man looked as if he was going to pass out. "Jeriah, I need to hear your story. I've heard the gods' story, and I've heard Redbeard's story, and I want to hear yours." He looked uneasily at the pirate, who was glaring at us from a distance.

"What do you mean, you've heard their stories?" I asked, sitting up. Everyone seemed incredibly tense, and I felt as if I must have missed something important. I was still short of breath, but I was calming down now.

"Each has... different opinions of what the Shadows did," Spark answered, shrinking away from the glares of the other three. "I want to hear what the Shadows told you."

"Oh... er... alright," I stammered uncomfortably. "The Shadows are the father of the three gods. Dianite was his favorite, since he followed the path the Shadows had laid out for him. And... he was a selfish ruler, who refused to give up his position as the ruler of the mortals. Is that okay so far?"

"Yes," Mianite answered in a low voice. I turned to Redbeard, who nodded, so I continued.

"He possessed the mortal rulers... and awful stuff like that." I was beginning to forget what I had been told, but I tried to make it seem as if I knew exactly what I was talking about. "And then he had children, Mianite, Ianite, and Dianite, and he wanted them to be his slaves, basically. They each ruled separate parts of the Shadows' land in peace, until Ianite tried to make him fall from his position."

"EXCUSE ME?" Ianite yelled, while Redbeard slammed his fist down on a nearby table and yelled, "THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" at the same time. I jumped back in fear as the goddess's purple eyes gleamed with anger and fear.

"I'm telling you what the Shadows told me," I said, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a fight. "Ianite... distributed her powers, I think. To three mortals. It weakened the Shadows, but two of the mortals died. The third escaped and transferred his powers to his daughter, Bella."

"What I want to know," Spark said, turning to the gods. "Is why we weren't informed of this earlier, when Alyssa had those dreams about Bella."

"There was no reason to!" Mianite yelled back.

"Liar!" Redbeard clenched his fists. "You wanted to hide the truth from everyone! You didn't want people to know about the true fate of Bella!"

"I didn't want to scare poor Alyssa!" Ianite protested. "She was in a bad enough position already, it wouldn't help to..."

Redbeard let out an irritated scream. "You didn't tell her what could happen! You lied and kept her oblivious, just like you did to Bella! Bella didn't know anything, because you thought she couldn't handle it! And then look what happened to her! And then you know what happened when you kept the truth from Alyssa! The. Same. Goddamn. Thing."

"How would telling her what happened keep her from dying? Redbeard, there's nothing I could or can do. She's dead. Gone. Never coming back!" Ianite cried out in response.

"Dead?" I asked, suddenly confused.

"Umm... yeah," Redbeard said, giving me a strange look. "Just like Bella, Alyssa was killed at the hands of the Shadows because of what the gods did!" When he saw the look on my face, he added in a hushed tone, "is she not dead?"

"She's not dead, and neither is Bella," I replied quietly. "Although they're as good as dead, and both would probably prefer death to what their actual fate is."

Redbeard and Spark looked horrified. "What happened to Bella?" Redbeard was yelling now. "What did that disgusting excuse of a being do to those innocent girls?"

"They're possessed," I said in a hollow tone. "Bella has been possessed since the day she died. She was possessed when she appeared in Alyssa's dream, and she's still like that. His intention was to... fuse Bella and Alyssa, and form some greater being. Then, he would possess the fusion, and they would destroy all of us."

Nobody said a word. Even Mianite and Ianite looked taken aback. I crossed my arms and glared at the two of them. "What's your plan now?"

"We'll fight back," Ianite said proudly after a second. "It worked last..."

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR HIM?" Redbeard interrupted. "You're not just fighting against the Shadows anymore! Do you know how much power a fused human would have? Of course you do, you're a god. And are you planning on fighting the war the same way? Transferring your powers to the three of us and running away?"

She opened and closed her mouth wordlessly. "We can't fight back," I said firmly. "And, to be completely honest with you, I'm tired of fighting back. I know what I've seen, and I know that I don't want my life to end because the two of you want to shove us into battle. I'm not doing it."

"We don't want to shove..." Mianite began, using a tone that showed he was trying to lecture me.

"Shut up, would you?" Redbeard growled. "I'm not fighting, and neither is Jeriah. It's a lost cause."

"If it wasn't clear," Spark said, "I'm not fighting either. Firstly, it's near impossible for me to fight anymore, and there's no way you could get me to fight against the Shadows. What's our other option, Jeriah? Don't tell me we have to join his side."

I shook my head. "He doesn't need the help of three normal mortals. He's already got the most powerful force he needs. He told us to... step out of the way, I guess. He doesn't care about us. All he wants is revenge for what his children did to him."

Ianite's face turned completely white. "You're just going to let us be killed? You're not going to do anything?"

Redbeard had begun to walk away, but now he turned back and said, in a stone cold voice, "I wonder how that must feel."