Martha's POV:

The menacing-looking man, Malachai, nodded at us. "Nice to meet you. Where are you going?"

"I'm giving them a tour," Eris answered, glancing again at the clock on the wall. "They don't know the rules of Galena."

Malachai raised an eyebrow. "Well, if they're from Ruxomar, they're not going to like it."

Eris shrugged. "Whatever. They're going to have to deal with it, like the rest of us. It's not our fault that they left their cozy little home to come here."

"It's not ours, either," Jeriah muttered. If the twins heard him, they ignored him.

"Then let's go, I guess," Malachai said with a small sigh. "We don't have forever. We can hand them off to someone else later on."

Eris turned and exited the visitation center, confidence in her stride. The hallways were white and bland, but the city directly outside of it was one of the most magnificent things I had ever seen (and, mind you, my father was one of the most skilled builders of all time). We were standing on an enormous cobblestone circle, in the center of which was a tall fountain. The middle of the fountain contained what seemed to be Dianite's head, and water was pouring out of his open mouth. I noticed that Mot stopped and stared at the fountain for longer than the others, sending a pang of pity through me.

Behind the fountains were skyscrapers, gorgeous metallic buildings that stretched as high as I could see. The doorways were lined in gold, and red carpets led up to each one. This seemed to be the place where the important people stayed. Everyone hurried around as if they had someplace they needed to be very soon, and they were dressed in incredibly nice clothing. Red, gold, and black seemed to be popular colors, that was sure.

"Isn't it pretty?" Eris asked, her eyes full of excitement. "I have to stop and stare every time I come here. It's too beautiful to ignore. Malachai, on the other hand..." She glared at her brother, but it seemed to be in a playful way.

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't want to waste any time." He gestured for the group to follow him, which we did. Mot and Eris stayed behind a few seconds longer to marvel at the city, and then followed.

Waglington jogged to catch up with me. He made sure that neither of the twins were watching him, then leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Do you think we should trust them?"

"Do you think we have a choice?" I muttered back, twirling a strand of my long hair around my finger. "They're the nicest people we've met so far, and they're going to teach us the ways of Galena."

"Gaines said that the people of Galena are bad," the wizard reminded me. "But I agree that, at least for now, we're not exactly in a good enough position to do anything else. I'm just thinking for the future."

We walked in silence the rest of the way, my hand in his. I wanted to stop and stare at the buildings, but something about the beauty of them made me feel slightly sick. It was most likely homesickness. I was still longing to go back to Ruxomar, even though I knew that wasn't a possibility.

"Where are we going to go first?" Tom asked, speaking for the first time.

Eris looked delighted that someone was asking her questions. She seemed to be very excited when it came to her city, to say the least. "There's a nice restaurant around here. We can talk about rules and dull stuff like that over a delicious meal."

Mot's POV:

I felt almost too devastated to eat, but I ordered some food anyway. As the others were flipping through their menus and discussing what they were going to get, Eris came over and sat down next to me. She looked around her for a second, as if afraid someone would overhear her, then began to speak to me in a low voice.

"You seemed to take a lot of interest in that statue of Dioptase," she said, raising her eyebrows in suspicion.

I was already feeling uncomfortable. "Yeah, it was a nice statue."

The edges of her mouth curled upward. "More interest than any of the others, in fact."

"Well, perhaps I have a greater interest in architecture," I snapped, irritated.

"That's not the reason, and both of us know it," Eris sighed, pointedly avoiding my gaze.

"How would you know anything about me?" I growled, not wanting to admit to anything.

"I've been trained my entire life to observe small details about people," Eris answered, as if it was obvious. "You have some connection with Dioptase, correct?"

"No, it's not." She looked at me as if she didn't believe me, and I finally gave in. "Fine. I have a connection with... well, my realm's Dioptase. Is that a problem here?"

She brightened immediately. "Not at all! Dioptase worshipers are more than welcome in Galena. But, may I ask, what kind of connection did you have with Dioptase?"

She made it sound polite, as if I didn't have to tell her if I didn't want to, but I knew she was going to make me tell her anyway. "Me and Dianite were... well, a couple, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well, we never made it official or anything, but it was assumed." My words had a hard edge to them, to let her know that I didn't want to continue talking about my god.

"I see. No need to get bitter. I'm trying to help you here, with anything I can." Eris turned back to her menu and scanned through it again, crossing her legs and leaning back. And, suddenly, I was tempted to trust her.

"Your people took him away," I muttered. "Any idea if he's okay?"

She shrugged. "He's not going to be harmed... not really, at least. The people of Galena don't like the idea of one person being too powerful or having too much authority, so they'll probably drain him of his powers, wipe his memory, and let him go."

I inhaled sharply, and my fingernails dug into the table. "Wait... his memory is going to be completely wiped?"

"Yep," she replied cheerfully, then frowned when she saw the expression on my face. "Is that bad?"

"Is that bad?" I yelled, jumping to my feet. "He's going to forget all about me, and the fact that we were in love..."

"Yeah," Eris continued, looking slightly frightened. "I'm sorry, I'm not understanding. Relationships between humans aren't a big deal, unless their blood relations."

I was speechless. "Is that what they teach you here?"

"They didn't have to teach us that," Eris answered, appalled. "Everyone just knows it. Friendships and relationships are overrated. All that matters is working for our leaders and our god." Her gaze hardened suddenly, and she stared off into the distance. "I don't matter. Nobody else matters. Just my leaders, and Dioptase."

I was beginning to get incredibly, incredibly creeped out. "But, technically, he is Dioptase!"

"Yes, I know. But that doesn't mean he can have fancy powers and obliterate the people he doesn't like. That's the job of the leaders." Eris tried to focus on her menu, but she was shaking now. "Gods must exist in theory, not in reality. That's just how it is. Now sit down, and order."

More unsure about this place than ever before, I quietly sat back down. As I scanned the menu, however, I found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on food.