They moved into the priest's home, turning left of the spiral staircase into a small room that Jordan hadn't noticed before (And doesn't actually exist in game, I know. Now shut it and keep readin' ya nerds!).

It was a simple room, consisting only of a couple chairs with the walls made of the smooth, light gray stone of the cliff and the floor of soft colored wooden planks. A couple red and blue tapestries hung from the walls with odd, curving golden symbols. In the center of the wall facing the doorway was a large stone fireplace, flames crackling softly, providing the only source of light in the room.

Jordan hadn't realized he'd been staring at the fireplace until a hand alighted softly on his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry about your home." A soft voice came from behind.

Jordan turned, surprised, to see the somber face of the priest.

"How did you-"

"You spoke... in your sleep. Tossed and turned the entire night, in fact."

Jordan flushed, looking down at the floor, embarrased.

He hadn't spoken in his sleep since...

Jerry.

Another wave of grief hit Jordan, but he hid it, simply nodding at the priest in gratitude before shuffling towards a simple, wooden chair, seating himself  carefully on the seat's stiff purple cushion.

Declin cleared his throat as everyone claimed a chair except Tom, who stood next to Jordan.

"Story time!" Tucker squealed like a four year old.

Declin grinned.

"Gather round kiddies. Ol' grandpa Dec is going to tell you a story." Declin's tone had changed to that of an old man, earning a few chuckles from Sonja.

"Yay." Tom said dispassionately, causing Jordan to glance at him in surprise.

Declin cleared his throat.

"At first, there was only void. The Void to be exact. It was the darkness that covered everything." Declin began, thankfully in his normal voice this time.

Tom yawned and leaned against the wall, eyes closed as if already bored.

Tucker and Sonja on the other hand, tried to look attentive, whilst Jordan couldn't be more in to the whole thing.

"Ehm, well it covered the earth in its darkness and nothing living walked or grew upon its surface. So basically, it was just a floating rock. And, in short, the void grew bored with its stoic and lonely existence and from this thought, it created a man to change the earth into something interesting. This son was named Mianite."

Tucker did a silent fist pump to which Sonja raised an eyebrow to, though she was smiling as well.

"The void gave Mianite light to see the earth by creating the great star known as the sun to show Mianite his job. Mianite looked down upon the rough, cragged rock and blessed the earth with the soft grass and tall trees. He created the minerals and jewels that dwell deep in the earth's crust and the peaceful animals that walk its surface. With a sudden intuition, he blessed several of these creatures with sentience, shaping them in his own image, thus creating the first humans. The Void was pleased with Mianite's work, and blessed the man with reign over all the earth and all that breathes it's air. And all was well." Declin spoke as if reading from a script, hesitating every now and then as if unsure how to explain, but Jordan was enthralled, several questions whirring in his mind.

However, Declin caught him just as he began to open his mouth.

"Don't even think about it, Jordan. There's still more."

Jordan nodded meekly, leaning back in his chair only to lean forward again as Dec continued.

"Ehm, As I was saying, all was well in Mianite's world. But soon, the Void noticed his son had become downcast, his previous energy fading. Mianite was lonely, he had none to talk to but his father, but he wished for someone closer to his level to speak his mind to. The Void thus created his son a brother, and he was named Dianite."

Jordan glanced at Tom, expecting a reaction similar to Tucker's at the mention of his respective god, but surprisingly, the normally hyperactive Thomas was silent.

"The brothers bonded immediately. Dianite was his equal in intellect, even helping improve Mianite's earth by creating things such as the currency of emeralds, and the mystical redstone dust that powered lights and other contraptions the boys created together. The world progressed, and once again, all was well."

Tom walked forward, startling Jordan and the others, however Declin didn't so much look at him, as if expecting this.

"We all know how that ended. The greedy b*tch betrayed Dianite, trapped him beneath the earth, and banished him from ever returning. How can you follow someone like that?" He glared at the priest.

For a moment, there was complete and utter silence at Tom's outburst, then the priest cleared his throat.

"That's not how it goes, Thomas." Declin replied evenly, not looking at Tom, causing his temper to flare even hotter.

"Do you really think I'll believe that horsecrap story? It's not true! It's just an excuse to make Mianite look like the good guy." Tom was practically shouting now, and Jordan grew wide eyed as his friend's fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

"You aren't making a very good impression of your god right now, Thomas." Tom flushed in anger. "And though I am a follower of Mianite, I am also the priest and you will respect me in my own home or else." Declin hissed, his eyes turning to meet Tom's.

Tom's eyes widened, the anger in his eyes still evident, but now fear flickered there.

For a moment, it remained like that, but Thomas soon gave in, falling back to lean against the wall again, shutting his eyes as he harrumphed in childish rebellion.

"Now, where was I?" Declin continued, pretending as if the incident hadn't happened.

"Ah yes. The boys... They created much together, but without Mianite knowing, Dianite had begun his own experiments."

Jordan wiggled impatiently in his seat, and even Tucker and Sonja seemed interested at this point.

"Dianite's creations became more and more dangerous. Finally, one day he decided to reveal his works to Mianite, meeting him near a small village. With a click of his fingers he created one of the greatest things in all of human history."

Declin turned, glancing sadly into the fireplace, his voice barely above a whisper.

"And possibly, the most devastating."

The crackling of the fireplace had become distinctly louder, the sound filling Jordan's ears as memories of his own home burning threatened to overwhelm him.

"Dianite had created fire." Declin turned back to them, "He had wished to find a way to harness the warmth and light of the sun for use when the sun was away or to light the dark of caves. However, Mianite was wary of the new creation, not liking how something non-living could move and spread so easily. He spoke his concerns to his brother, but Dianite waved them away. In his confidence, he allowed the fire to spread, the flames growing closer and closer to the small settlement of mortals nearby."

Jordan's eyes widened, he knew where this was going. Declin's next words confirmed his thoughts.

"The town burned, killing several of its residents before the gods could get the fire under control. Mianite was overwhelmed with grief by the deaths, the loss of life new and painful to him."

"Pussy." Jordan heard Tom mutter under his breath.

"The people began to fear Dianite, some even went so far as to hate him. This enraged Dianite. He had only killed a few humans, what was the big deal? They would just make more. They should be praising him for bringing such a great new thing into their lives. But no matter what he did, the people only praised Mianite."

The room was now silent, not even Tom made a comment at this point, his face cascaded in shadow from his position away from the fire, making his expression unreadable.

"Dianite created more humans as if to prove his point, blessing these men with immortality. However, without the powers and structure of the gods, the men became corrupted, their bodies corroding and their minds eaten away by their endless suffering intoa literal zombie-like state. They began attacking the mortals, and once again, Dianite had created chaos on Mianite's peaceful world."

"They're really not that hard to get rid of.." Tom commented under his breath so that only Jordan heard.

"It was at this point that Mianite noticed the change in his brother. Dianite was never remorseful for the death he caused, in fact, the god had begun to find it almost entertaining to see a little disruption in Mianite's peace. Mianite knew this could go on no longer, and thus banished his brother from the earth."

"Dianite was furious at his brother's claim to having power over him. He formed armies, twisting peaceful animals such as pigs into wicked, blood-lusting creatures. However, the Void saw the destruction this would cause and opened a hole in the world, sending Dianite and his armies into the depths beneath the earth where he still searches for a way to return, and take back what he believes is his."

"Now do you see Jordan?" Tucker spoke up, startling Jordan. "What kind of whacko would follow a god like Dianite?"

Tom stepped forward, walking past Jordan til he was standing next to the priest, directing his words to Tucker.

"You can't just base what really happened on a story! It's been passed down by Mianite priests. I mean, how is that fair?"

"History is written by the victors." Jordan said quietly, causing Tucker to turn towards him in surprise.

"Exactly. I rest my case." Tom folded his arms, looking smug.

"So you're going to join Dianite?" Sonja asked incredulously, disappointment and wariness etched into her features as Jordan's eyes widened.

"No! I don't- I just-"

"I would advise taking time with that decision." Dec spoke up, rescuing Jordan from answering.

"Plus, there is one other option."

All three heads bobbed up at once, Jordan's confusion for once mirrowed on the faces of the others.

"Another option? Dec, have ya gone mad?"

"What, can he just choose to be a Wizard or something?"

"You don't choose the wizard life, Sonj. The wizard life chooses you."

"Shut up, Tom."

Declin waited until the talking died down, looking at each of them in turn.

When he was sure they would no longer interrupt, he cleared his throat once again.

"As I was saying, there is another option because there is another part of the story."

Tucker opened his mouth to criticize this point, but quickly shut it, thinking better of it.

"It's true that the Void was the one who cast Dianite into his banishment, but no one said that the Void did it directly."

Tom furrowed his eyebrows, leaning forward, suddenly interested.

"The Void truthfully had no idea what to do with his rebellious child. It only knew how to create things, and didn't want to deal with this new situation. Thus, it created a new being to enact justice. This being was different from the others, having been born from anger and love, the righteous goddess of balance was born. They named this third immortal, Ianite. She cursed Dianite's army into a docile state, so they would never be the first to attack. Then, the glowing, purple figure of the goddess banished Dianite from the earth, sending him beneath its crust into his own personal prison we now call, the Nether."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jordan saw Sonja's face twist into a confused frown.

Turning his head, he saw a similar expression plastered on Tucker's face.

Jordan turned back to the priest, who seemed on the verge of ending the tale.

"Ianite's birth had greatly weakened the Void and with the last of its power, it created a dimension in which it could rest. Ianite followed her father into this dimension, guarding him as she continued to enact justice and keep the earth's balance."

"What?" Tucker asked, standing up abruptly with Sonja not too far behind.

Ton rolled his eyes, chuckling under his breath.

"That's what you say, but everyone knows that there are only two gods. If there was this 'goddess of balance' wouldn't we have seen this b*tch by now?" Tom looked around at the others for support.

"He's got a point, Dec. I've never even heard that part." Sonja frowned.

"And balance? The way I see it, things aren't very balanced around here." Tucker added.

"Where did you even hear that from?"

"What kind of weed you been smokin', mate?"

"There aren't any female gods!"

"What's wrong with females?"

"Uh, nothing, dear."

"That's what I thought."

Jordan sat quietly as they argued, processing what he had been told.

So there was a goddess of balance, huh?

"So basically, there is a god of peace, a god of chaos, and a god of balance? Kind of like the whole yin and yang dealio?"

They all turned towards Jordan, Tom looking at him in disbelief.

"You're buying into this fairy tale?" He exclaimed incredulously.

"It all sounds like a fairy tale to me." Jordan admitted.

"Ehm, basically." Declin replied, not at all surprised that Jordan had believed him.

In fact, it was just as Mianite had said.

A/N

Man, is lore hard to write...

Especially when it deletes constantly *sigh*

Excuses, I know.

But I think that's pretty common around here.

If you have an interesting idea for lore, or really just want to correct me (even though I'm kind of making it up as I go) then go right ahead! I love suggestions!

Welp.

I'm sitting in a gym cuz school be all rude. Why do bleachers have to be so UNCOMFORTABLE!!

C ya l8r m8e!

~Turtle