Well, the good thing is that we got through the night. When Spark and I awoke, it was morning (although it was always dark in Aethoria), and Mianite and Ianite were still waiting by the void for the ship to come through. The two of them didn't need sleep like us mortals did, so they were able to stay up and watch for the ship the entire night.

We were the first ones to wake up, so we didn't have much to do. The house we were staying in had some food in it, so we went downstairs and sat at the table to have breakfast. The furniture wasn't arranged very well, and clutter filled up most of the space. You could barely navigate around the main room.

"Spark? Jeriah?" I heard someone call from behind the door. I opened it to find the priest standing there, looking like he had gotten little to no sleep that night. "Oh, you are awake. And you've made breakfast! Nice. Mianite and Ianite want us to all gather around and talk strategy, as well as assigning weapons to each person. Can you guys come now?"

I looked at Spark, who nodded. "Yeah, we're good. Just give us a second to finish up."

"Alright." The priest sighed. "It'll take more than a second for me to convince Redbeard to join, anyway."

The two of us quickly ate the remainder of our breakfast and cleaned up as well as we could, trying to rush. Everything could go from calm to chaotic in two seconds, and we never knew when Belyssa and the Shadows could return. Spark ran upstairs to grab his sword, and I held the precious bow. Champwan was just as good, if not better, with a bow, but everyone agreed that I should be the one to possess the bow in the final fight. They all said it was only right.

"I can't believe this," Spark muttered as he made his way down the stairs, turning his shimmering sword over in his hands. "This could be the last time I see you guys."

I leaned back against the counter and sighed. "I've been trying not to think about that."

Spark's eyes met mine, and I saw that they were tearing up. "I tried not to think about it for a bit. But I realized how much I'd regret it if you were to die and I just didn't say anything."

I didn't say anything for a few seconds. I tightened my grip on the counter as I let his words wash over me. "Yeah... you're right." I sighed. "It's just crazy, how far we've come, you know? When we first came here, I wanted nothing more than to leave all of you. No offense, of course." I smirked at Spark, and he grinned back. "But now you've all become my family. Mot too, even though I didn't want to admit it at the time. And now he's gone, and I'm probably never going to see him again. I can't lose anyone else, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Spark looked uncomfortable for a second, then walked over and wrapped his arms around me. "We'll still be family, even if the Shadows split us apart. You, Mot, and Alyssa will always remain in my heart. We've been through too much together."

About fifteen minutes had passed, in which Mianite and Ianite nervously rambled about possible strategies. As she was beginning to draw a diagram in Aethoria's soft ground, the priest and Champwan started to walk over, followed by an exhausted-looking Redbeard. All of us winced in preparation for Redbeard to yell at Ianite some more, but the moodiness we were expecting never came.

"What's the plan?" he asked us, his voice hollow. He sat cross-legged next to me and stared blankly at the sketch Ianite had made.

"Well, we're planning on attacking from different angles, so no one person has to take on the Shadows alone," Ianite stuttered nervously. "And that's only if Alyssa and Bella split again, which we don't know that they will. I mean, the Shadows probably treated them roughly, don't you think? And if they don't end up splitting, what we may have to do is..."

"Ianite." Redbeard stopped her mid-sentence, and her voice faltered. "This isn't going to work."

A look of disgust appeared on her face, but she attempted to stay calm. "Of course it's going to work. It's everything we did wrong last time. Plus, we won't have to battle Dianite, and..."

"That's not what I meant." Redbeard seemed to be trembling slightly. "There seemed to be only one way to kill him last time. I don't like it at all, but it's necessary. Anything to save Bella and Alyssa."

"What do you mean?" Ianite asked, but I could see the realization dawning on her.

Redbeard looked up and stared directly into her eyes. "You need to transfer your powers onto the rest of us."

Her mouth hung open slightly. "So you trust me again?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You're the one the Shadows want dead, and running from them like you did last time isn't going to help you. So I trust that, unless you're a complete idiot, you're not going to do what you did before."

Ianite sighed, pulling her long purple hair into a ponytail. "See, this is the thing. Only a few people are capable of using my powers to their full potential. The others will be able to damage the Shadows, but there's no way they could kill them. I'm not sure if it can work like last time."

"Are any of us one of those people?" Spark asked, nervously spinning his sword in his hands.

The goddess closed her eyes, and a purple aura formed around her. She cast the aura at each of us, and then shook her head. "Unfortunately not."

"But Bella must be one of them," I pointed out. "She killed the Shadows last time, with one hit if I remember correctly."

She frowned. "Yeah, Bella's one of them. And I imagine that Alyssa is one too, which is why the Shadows felt the need to take her instead of, well, Jeriah, I guess."

"You'll need to transfer your powers to them," Redbeard said sharply, before I could reply to Ianite. "I imagine that Bella and Alyssa will split again. When they do, you'll need to immediately transfer your powers. It's the only way."

She looked terrified, but also sort of relieved. "I... I... if they split, I'll do my best." Ianite sat in silence for a moment, then reached out a hand and wiped her previous plan off of the ground.

"We're bonded by trust now," I spoke up after a while. "No more secrets are allowed. We can't afford to fight anymore. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Spark, the priest, and Champwan said together.

I looked around at each of them. "Are there any more secrets you guys are keeping? Anything that would potentially tear us apart? We need to fix it now."

At first nobody replied, and I was beginning to relax. And then, I heard a small whimper coming from Ianite. We all looked at her in shock, and saw that her eyes were filling with tears.

Even Mianite looked surprised. "What secret are you talking about? I don't recall any..."

"I didn't even tell you," Ianite whispered. "I... I'm not supposed to tell you, but you're going to find out one way or another. I should get it over with. It's been two years."

"Two years? What do you..." Mianite's voice trailed off as he began to realize.

"I was the one who helped Mot leave this realm," Ianite said, confirming my suspicions.

"WHAT?" Mianite yelled, scrambling away from his sister.

She ignored him, staring straight ahead and holding back her tears. "I built a portal to Ruxomar two years ago." Her voice was louder now, and firmer. "Mot asked me to help him leave. He wanted to help you. I couldn't have known that this would happen when he left. But now he's gone, and it's my fault."

"Well then, let's all escape through that portal!" I cried, realizing I could see my wife and child again. "Let's leave!"

"That's the thing." She dug her hands into the ground and allowed her tears to spill out. "We can't."