The purge was fun, but I was starting to get bored during the other days, so I spent my time wandering around and tracking what the others were doing. The more I did this, the more I realized just how faulty new Ruxomar was.

Mianite was the only god alive, of course, and he could easily make the others bow down to his wishes. His champion was Jericho, who I was already beginning to think was up to something suspicious. You can't stay at Mianite's house for that long so often and not be up to anything. I suspected that Jericho had already bowed down to his wishes, and that was a scary thought. When I asked Dianite, he told me that Jericho was a lost cause.

Although Sonja was technically team Mianite, she didn't act like it. She never spoke to her god, instead keeping to herself. I decided she was more like her own team, like Waglington. She was so peaceful and kind that I found it hard to believe she would join Mianite's forces. And Tom might have his faults, but there was no way he would listen to a word Mianite said. He hated his guts. Mianite convinced people using (terrible) logic and reason, and Tom wasn't exactly a logic and reason kind of person.

So, obviously, there was only one person to worry about. It was kind of funny, actually, how there was a crew of people that almost specifically fixed Sparklez's mistakes. Some voices in the sky, named Wisdom and Intuition, were always there to fix his physical mistakes, and Miss Martha had taken on the job of fixing his other mistakes. She was trying to handle the job of Sparklez currently, but I was still worried. I caught him talking to Mianite once, but who knew what deals they were arranging? I left that to Martha to figure out.

"I've noticed you snooping around, boyo," Dianite told me. He acted as if he had caught me doing something secret, but really I was more surprised that he hadn't noticed earlier.

"I want to find out what everyone's up to," I said with a shrug. "I still don't know if this place is safe or not."

"Why do you need to know?" he asked. "If anything happens, I'll do whatever I can do protect you."

I turned red. "No, no... I want to make sure the other three can come back safely. I can't have them returning when their lives could be in danger."

He was quiet for a moment. "I suppose you're right. Having an old man and a little girl in a world like this would be terrible. Although I wouldn't mind forcing Jeriah into the problems he left behind."

I sighed. "Jeriah really isn't that bad anymore. He's overcome most of the issues I had with him before. I've begun to respect him even, to an extent."

Dianite seemed shocked. "Respect him? You've changed a lot in that dimension, haven't you?" I could feel him shaking his head in disbelief.

"We had a common goal, and a common enemy," I answered simply. "Over the course of ten years, past rivalries tend to become less important."

"You really have..." Suddenly, he stopped talking and seemed to freeze. "Boyo, I have to go," he said, his voice filled with alarm.

"Why?" I asked, but he disappeared before he could hear me. Confused and with nowhere to go, I started walking around in search for someone else to spy on.

A few minutes later, I saw Martha exit her house and start running in my direction. "Hello, Miss Martha," I called after her. "Is something wrong?"

She brushed her long violet hair out of her face, revealing a furious stare. "I don't have much time to talk, sorry. Sparklez has gotten himself into major trouble, and it's my job to fix it every time!" Exasperated, she threw her hands into the air.

"Major trouble?" Intrigued, I began to follow her. "I'm bored out of my mind here. May I help?"

"Not now," she answered, although she sounded sorry for me. "You know how Sparklez is, the idiot signed a contract with Mianite because it 'sounded reasonable'. This is Mianite we're talking about! Nothing is reasonable!" She let out a furious sigh.

"He signed the contract that quickly?" I gasped. "How are you planning to help him?"

"No, thank goodness he told Mianite he'd take a day to think it over. I have to go convince him to deny the request. Anyway, I have to go." She gave me a half-wave and dashed off.

"Hey, boyo. How's your boring day been?" Dianite appeared next to me a few hours later.

"Boring," I told him with a shrug. "How's your busy day been?"

"Busy." Dianite laughed. "Mr. Glitter Lap gets himself into all sorts of trouble the second we take our eyes off of him."

"Glitter Lap?"

"Nicer way of saying Sparkly Dick," Dianite told me, and I could tell he was grinning. "We persuaded him to turn down the contract, thank goodness."

"Oh, that's good." I felt slightly worried, even though I knew the situation was solved. "What do you think Mianite was trying to do?"

He sighed. "You never know. He could have been trying to persuade Sparklez to join his side, or maybe even trick him into harming his own side. Whatever he was aiming for, it couldn't have been good like Sparklez believed."

I stared at my feet. "I just hate how easily things could go wrong. If you didn't realize he had taken the contract, or if he signed it immediately..."

"I know, boyo," Dianite said quietly. "I know."

Sorry about fewer chapters! I'm on vacation for the next week :P