Dianite's POV:

"We have some grave news," one of the leaders said, addressing the crowd. Unable to find most of Cypress's group, what was left of them had joined Ambrosia's group in the restaurant. However, it was clear that everyone was much too upset to eat any more. 

"Is Malachai okay?" Ambrosia interrupted, her voice low and her face expressionless. 

"Malachai is badly injured, but it won't take long for him to recover." The leader cleared his throat and shuffled his feet a few times, looking extremely nervous. "The problem is what happened to the two who were with him... Andor and Alyssa were their names?"

"No, no, no," Mot whispered. I hugged him tighter, but I knew it wouldn't do much. I would do anything, literally, to comfort him and have everything be okay for him, but there was nothing I could do. 

"There is no proof, of course," the leader continued. "The only blood that was shed in the visitation center was that of Malachai's. We've searched everywhere, and we haven't been able to find Andor or Alyssa. We will keep searching, but there will be no promises."

"Should we help search?" Martha, one of the only people who had come from Cypress's group, spoke up. "If there are more people looking..."

"No," the leader said firmly. "We need to keep everyone off the streets for now to make the search easier. The best thing you can do to help out is finish your meals, and then go back to your rooms. In the morning, we will update you again." When nobody objected, he nodded and left the restaurant. 

"Mot, you need to eat something," I said quietly. "I ordered a meal, but, as you know, gods don't really need to eat. Even without powers, we're immortal. Please eat it."

"I can't stand being here," he answered. "I can't stand being around these people. Everyone's staring at me, and..."

"Go back to your room then," I replied softly. "I'll ask if I can pack the food, and I'll bring it to you there. Is that okay?"

He let out a long sigh. "Yeah, that's fine." He quickly exited the restaurant, nobody giving him a second glance. 

"I got the food for you," I told him, opening the door to the room. "Now you need to eat."

Mot looked terrible, his eyes red and puffy, but he still made his way over to the table and began to eat the plate of food I had brought for him. "I'm not that hungry," he said between bites. "I feel too sick to eat."

"Then eat what you can." I sat next to him and stared out the window behind Mot. "I just don't want you to harm yourself over this."

"You heard what the leader said," Mot answered bitterly. "They searched Galena. Alyssa's dead, they just don't want to say it. How could I be okay?"

"I really don't think that's what happened," I snapped, my anger directed more at the leaders than at him. "I find it unbelievable that they can't just check their cameras, or something!"

He looked up at me, one eyebrow raised. "Well, you can tell yourself that, but I'm not going to keep lying to myself. It's just going to hurt me more."

"Why would Safire kill two kids who are of absolutely no threat to her, Mot!" I cried, desperate for him to understand. "Wasn't she Gaines's friend? None of this is adding up."

Tears rose to his eyes again. "Look, Dianite, I don't know what you expect us to do about this. We can't just go to Safire and find out, now can we? And the leaders aren't going to take us seriously. We're trapped in this miserable place, and there's nothing we can do about it."

He was right, of course. We were trapped. 

But that didn't mean I was going to give up. 

Safire's POV:

"Iolite!" Isara called, spotting the god. "Iolite, Safire returned!"

The goddess whirled around and began to yell instantly. "What did you do back there? Why in Anatase would you kill two kids to get those memories?"

A lock of blond hair fell to my shoulder, and I realized my disguise was wearing off. "I didn't kill them, Iolite. They're with me." I turned around and gestured to them. "Meet Andor and Alyssa."

She was speechless for a few seconds. "You brought them with you? And convinced all of Galena you're a murderer? Safire!"

I shrugged. "It's not my fault their cameras don't record. They jumped to a crazy conclusion long after I was gone. And yes, I brought them with me. They came from Ruxomar, doesn't it make our mission easier?"

"Not when you convinced the rest of the people that you killed them," Iolite hissed. Turning to Andor and Alyssa, her anger faded away and she gave them a half-hearted smile. "Well, welcome to Chrysoberyl, I guess."

"Is there any way I can contact my family?" Alyssa asked, looking terrified. "My father isn't going to react well..."

"I'm sure he's worried sick, but he'll have to wait until we can rescue the rest of them," Iolite said gently. 

Her gaze hardened, and I saw her fists clenching at her sides. "Look. You don't know my father, or what he'll do if he loses the last person that he loves. Don't you guys have all sorts of fancy machinery? This is far, far more important than you think it is."

Iolite didn't know what to say, so Isara spoke up. "It would be incredibly difficult to contact someone in Galena, and that kind of technology isn't here in Chrysoberyl."

"Well, I need to try. If that 'kind of technology' isn't here, then where is it?" Alyssa demanded.

Isara looked shocked at how firm her tone was. "I mean... I think maybe in Safire's laboratory..." She looked at me with fear in her eyes. 

"I was going to take them there anyway," I sighed. "I guess I could try contacting them. It would just take a bit of time..." 

"I think you can use a bit of your time to guarantee that her father's okay," Andor snapped. It was the first time he had spoken so harshly since the incident at the visitation center, and looked guilty the second the words were out of his mouth. Far from annoyed, however, I was encouraged by the spark of defiance in him. 

"Yeah, you're right," I answered with a shrug. "But I guess it's something that I should do as soon as possible. Iolite, hello and goodbye."

The goddess frowned. "I was hoping we would have at least a little bit more time together, to discuss how we were going to progress. But if you have to." She started to walk away, and motioned for Isara to follow. 

"Right now?" I let out a short laugh. "Do you know how much life-changing information these two have? Dozens of questions we've been trying to answer for years are contained in these two people, so I think we better respect them as very, very important pieces of our mission."

Isara smiled, as if she was proud of me, but Iolite didn't look back. I rolled my eyes and gestured for Andor and Alyssa to come back to the train station with me. I had been hoping to stay with Isara for a night, but that could always be done later. 

We walked through the chilly night air, heading back to the train station. "You guys will love all of the machines I have," I told them, suddenly excited. "I've built all sorts of stuff in my time."

Andor smiled slightly. "Like what?"

"There's so many," I answered, trying to think of which machines they would like best. "I have a machine that can scan your mind and tell you all sorts of things about yourself, such as which god you were meant to follow. In several dimensions, as well. So maybe you would follow Molybdenite here, and Dioptase... Dianite, I mean, in your dimension."

Alyssa's red eyes (which were quite creepy, but also fascinating to me) lit up at the mention of gods. "Whoa... what else do you have?"

I thought for a few more seconds. "Hmm... I have a machine that can tell you whether or not someone is lying. Oh, I know which one you'll love!"

Andor straightened at my sudden enthusiasm. I grinned, having successfully captured their attention. 

"I have a machine that can tell you who your alternate selves are."

Slight cliffhanger, I guess? Anyway, yeah, in the next few chapters you will be finding out who quite a few alternates are :) get hyped