Hello again, lovelies! :D I should be studying for my class, but I wanted to post a chapter instead... :P I am the best procrastinator I know...

I should warn you all that this is the last relatively feelz-safe chapter for a while. >:) I hope you all enjoy!

*Donella's POV*

Tom Syndicate and I were flying back to The Fyre wizards' town after hearing that Matt had found James. We had wandered farther than initially intended, and night had already fallen. It was completely dark now aside from the stars and the blood red full moon. I ignored the monsters teeming below us, though I did have to occasionally dodge a well-aimed arrow from a bold skeleton. Tom was light-heartedly sniping at monsters as we flew, laughing when he took one down. A true Dianitee. I was trying to think of anything that could have gone wrong with my limited knowledge of this world and its magic, concerned by Matt's report of James acting strangely. Tom broke my worst case scenario train of thought with a question. "So, Donella, you know Dianite?"

I glanced over to him flying a few feet to my right. The zombie was clearly nervous asking. "Yes, we've known each other for a couple centuries now," I replied, short and to the point.

"A couple centuries?!" He exclaimed. I could feel the disbelief radiating off of him without turning to look again. "Geez, woman, you barely look my age! How long do wizards live, anyways?"

"We don't age the same way mortals do." We started out aging the same as mortals, but our physical aging slowed to a snail's pace after our magic finished maturing. For most wizards that was in their late teens or early twenties.

"Sheesh. No wonder you're all so good at magic. I would be too if I had ages to practice." I shook my head at his nonsense and grinned slightly. I suppose mortals aren't all bad; they can be amusing at times.

"Anyways," Tom continued, "How did you meet Dianite? He doesn't seem like the type to make friends, at least from the time I spent working for him." Ah, that's what he's curious about. I couldn't see any harm in telling him

"He wasn't always like that. Remember I mentioned being in a war with Mianite?" Tom nodded, keenly interested.

~Flashback~

We met a few decades after the war started. I had had a disappointing day on the battlefield, and an old friend—more than a friend if I was honest with myself—had fallen. I needed to get away from the others and fight something that wouldn't bring the entire enemy army down on top of me, and I needed to do it before I broke down in front of my wizards. There had been a nether portal in a nearby village that was abandoned when the fighting first started. I thought the Nether would be a good place to let off some steam without the rest of my troops seeing and losing respect for me. I snuck through the portal with my sword and wand that night and started slaying everything in sight.

Hot tears flowed partway down my cheeks before evaporating in the scorching nether air now that I knew no one would see. The tears ended long before my rage was spent. The familiar sounds of battle and death echoed through the Nether. By the time I'd worn myself out, there was nothing alive within two miles of the portal, except an immortal with red skin and eyes. Dianite had been watching me for some time apparently. I took my hat off and wiped soot and sweat from my forehead with my arm. I finally turned and started stumbling back toward the portal, and I saw him watching me from a ledge above it. I sat down on a pile of gravel and set my hat next to me. I waited to see what he would do; he could smite me for all I'd care. I almost wished he would; so I wouldn't feel the aching hole in my chest anymore. I had failed my best friend. No number of Mianite warriors or nether creatures slain could undo that.

Dianite leaped down from the ledge, landing beside the portal frame with a grace learned from millennia of experience. His glowing scarlet eyes never left mine as he slowly strode towards me. He stopped a few feet away from where I sat. When he finally spoke, his voice was deep and did not hold as much anger as I had expected. "Finished?"

"Yes," I finally managed to croak. My throat was raw from crying. All my hopelessness and sorrow were in that one word. I was "finished" in more ways than one.

Dianite glared at me. His eyes darkened from scarlet to the deep color of wine. "You are not the same wizard I saw fighting today. The wizard who routed one of Mianite's best divisions did not just give up. She fought harder when her enemy thought he had won." He turned away from me and formed a wicked grin as he crossed his arms over his muscled chest. "You should have seen how furious my brother was when he learned one of his favorite generals fell in the battle today."

I cleared my throat before trying to speak again, "You watched the battle?" I'd never heard of one of the gods leaving their domain.

"Nothing happens near one of my portals that I don't know about," He said in a low voice. When he turned back to face me, his wicked grin had become more sly. "And nothing transpires in the Nether without my knowledge."

I looked in the direction of the corpses of the pigmen and blazes I had just slain and wondered if he was going to end me after all. The lord of the Nether looked me over one last time before turning and walking away. "You're not going to kill me?"

He stopped and replied without turning around, "Why would I kill someone who wants to put Mianite in his place as much as I do?" Turning to look at me over a shoulder, he continued, "Though I would appreciate you not slaughtering an entire regiment of my army next time you visit my realm."

Dianite seemed to think of something that pleased him, which worried me. "Next time you need to spend your rage, come to the Nether again. I think we might be able to come to an arrangement that would benefit us both and might quicken Mianite's downfall."

I cautiously stood and rested my hat back on my head before walking over to him. "You have a deal, Lord Dianite. Just know that I am no one's follower," I said as I held out a hand for him to shake.

"Allies then," He said as he turned and took my hand. His hand dwarfed mine, and heat radiated from the rough maroon skin. I briefly wondered if I was going to regret this.

I never did.

~End Flashback~

I gave Tom the quick summary without making myself seem weak. Tom laughed at the end of my tale. I raised an eyebrow at him in question. "Sorry, I was just thinking how funny it is that he was still like that back then. Dianite appreciates fighting skill, let me tell you. He tried to get Sparklez to join his team after watching him take down a wither single-handed. The way you describe it, he was really impressed with you too. I'm kinda surprised that he settled for you two being just allies."

We didn't have time for further discussion, because we had arrived back at Wiztopia. In the torch light I could see the Fyre wizards and the Mianitee—Tucker—standing around a cage next to the bridge leading into the wizard tower. The cage sat a short distance from a large glowing crystal sphere that must be the Tower Heart. Tom and I flew over to join them. As we landed, I noticed the cage held a person: James.

We joined the others in stunned silence, examining the wizard before us. He was definitely worse for wear. His wizard robes were covered in twigs, leaves, cockleburs, and dried mud. His hood was back, revealing an ugly cut on his left cheek that looked like it was well on its way to being infected.

Even worse were the intangible things. His magic was a dangerously disordered mess. Being this close to him was making my head throb, and I saw Phil rub his temples next to me. The other Fyre wizards could sense it too, though the two mortals seemed unaffected. James was not acting right, either. From what I'd seen of the four wizards interacting, he should be threatening his brothers and demanding to be let out right now; instead, he sat on the ground, looking at us with his head tilted to one side. His crimson eyes did not hold their usual cautious intelligence and thought; they seemed soft and friendly. As we watched him, he tried to scratch his ear with his foot.

"I'm no expert on wizards," Tucker ventured, pointing at James. "But that's not normal."

"That's the understatement of the century," Tom Syndicate replied, sarcasm thick in his voice. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know..." I started to reply as Jordan and Sonja flew in together. Jordan was wearing a set of dark purple robes now. Judging by his shaky landing, he'd been overdoing it with his newly repaired wing. I couldn't even see a scar as he walked over. I was glad to see the magic of his angel ring hadn't interfered any with my healing spell. Sometimes different magic types didn't mix well. Wait...

"Jordan, do you happen to have the spell that you used on James with you?" I asked. Jordan paused at the question and pulled the hood of his robes back to better see us in the flickering light. He's definitely been overdoing it, I thought as I noted the pallor of his skin. What do you think, Tena? Think I need to warm up that regeneration spell again? Akatena looked up from the clump of wildflowers she was eating to give the young man a once over before snorting softly and ignoring him again. Fair point. Maybe he knows his limits.

"Um, yeah; I think so. It should be in my bag..." He trailed off as he set his bag on the ground and rifled through it. Sonja walked over to Tucker and whispered something in his ear while Jordan searched.

"Well, one happy couple is here. Where's the other one?" Tom Syndicate asked while scanning the star strewn sky to the west. The only other mortal I'd met from their group was Mot. Was he seeing someone? Growing impatient with his fruitless search, Tom turned on his communicator and yelled, "Mot! When are you and Dianite getting over here? You didn't get lost, did you?" Wait, Mot and Dianite?! I must not have heard that right. Gods don't... Oh, Ianite in this dimension married and had children with a mortal. I suppose there's no reason Dianite shouldn't have a love interest then. This is truly the strangest dimension I've been to. Akatena twitched her ear in silent agreement.

"Ah, found it!" Jordan called as he lifted an old leather bound tome from his bag. He rose and handed it to me. "The page is marked," he said, pointing to a black ribbon poking from between the yellowed pages. In coiling scrollwork Circle Magic was embossed in silver across the front of the book; several foreign glyphs and symbols were arranged in three concentric circles on the lower half of the cover.

"Thank you, Jordan. Tom," I said turning my attention to the zombie next to me who had been listening to Mot on his communicator. He looked up at the sound of his name. "You mentioned that you'd found James's spell book while looking for him. Do you still have it with you?" Tom nodded and pulled it from his pack before handing it to me. I nodded a thank you to him and tucked both books under my arm.

Turning to the others—who were all staring at me now—I conveyed my suspicion of what might have gone wrong, "Judging by the current state of James's magic, I believe there might have been a negative interaction between the magic Jordan used and some type James was using at the time. We need to know what we're dealing with before we throw more magic into the mix trying to fix this. I'll investigate both books before I retire for the night. I suggest that you all get some rest too," I said, catching Jordan's eye.

"No argument from me," the Ianitee yawned with his hands up in surrender. "Is there a spare room I could crash in for the night? I don't think I could make it back to Dagrun right now," He asked, turning his blue eyes to the Fyre wizards.

"Of course!" Phil exclaimed. "You can all stay here in the town. Donella, you can join us in the wizard tower if you wish or stay here."

I opted for a spare room in the wizard tower, and we all split to study and sleep. The spare room was simple but efficient in its use of space. I set the two books on the acacia desk in one corner and pulled a spare blanket and pillow off of the bed to make a spot for Akatena to rest. Personally, I wouldn't have minded if she wanted to sleep on the bed with me, but she preferred to actually sleep through the night. I tended to turn several times in my sleep—according to her. Akatena gladly curled up on her piled blanket and pillow and immediately closed her eyes.

I smiled at her and turned back to review the two spell books. I started by going over the curse Jordan had used as a prank, slightly annoyed that the last page on that curse had become blurry and smudged from water damage. I couldn't read it, and I was no expert on book magic like James was. I then turned to James's spell book, looking through the well worn pages first, as they would most likely have been what he was using when something went wrong. I must have combed through 20 spells before I decided I was making no further progress without sleep. I had been awake close to 24 hours by this point. I was a wizard, not an immortal; I needed rest.

---Warning: Reference to Self Harm Ahead---

I shrugged off my maroon coat, draping it over the chest at the foot of the bed. I paused in the lamplight to look over the scars my coat had hidden. Most were long-healed battle wounds turned a silver-white, some were from the clean cut of a sword or spear healed to lines thick as a quill or thin as spider silk; others were irregular and knotted—the result of lucky arrows. One scar on my left wrist was still pink despite weeks of time and plenty of healing magic spent trying to repair it. That one I only had myself to blame for; forbidden magic was forbidden for a reason. I had thought I had found a loophole, and I suppose I technically had. I had survived after all, but just barely and only thanks to Dianite's quick action.

---End of Warning---

I tore my gaze away from my arms and removed my hat, setting it on top of my coat, followed shortly by my sword and scabbard. My boots, white shirt, and black pants swiftly joined them. I changed into the soft red pajamas that Phil had been kind enough to conjure up for me when he showed me the room. I changed without looking down to see more of the scars the war had left me. Each one told its own story: a battle, an ambush, a victory, a defeat, lives saved, lives lost. I did not want to dwell on them right now; so I turned off the lamp and crawled into bed, feeling a few of the larger scars stretch slightly as I moved. I was asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

I opened my eyes to see a faintly familiar grey fog surrounding me that slowly resolved into an imitation of the Nether, specifically the fortress Dianite let me terrorize when I needed to vent. Standing by the door of the nether brick structure with his back to me was the immortal himself, gazing out across the sea of lava below the shelf we stood on. He did not seem to notice me until I took a step towards him. He straightened and turned to me. I noticed his eyes were an unusually light color, almost coral, until he saw me; he grinned at me as they darkened back to their usual scarlet in relief. What emotion was that? Was it... worry?

"Donella, good to see you made it to the other world safely," Dianite remarked. "I was beginning to think something had gone wrong. You've been gone four days on this end." Dianite paused to look me over, as if to confirm I was in fact doing fine in the new world. I realized I was still in the red pajamas I had fallen asleep in. I silently wished I had my coat back, though I knew Dianite had already seen most of the battle scars on my arms. No sooner had I wished it then I was wearing the comforting article of clothing.

"How are we talking right now?" I asked, confused, as I straightened my coat. This seemed far too real to be a dream.

Dianite grinned mischievously before offering a cryptic answer, "My dear Donella, wizards aren't the only ones who can use magic."

I was stunned when I realized why this place felt familiar. This was a meeting of the minds (so to speak). I had used this magic before, though it had been a long time. Seto and I had used it to coordinate our armies during the war; it required a mental link to work reliably over long distances, though. I never would have dreamed of using it to keep in touch with someone across worlds; how much energy was Dianite spending on this?

Dianite must have made a link when I was distracted by his power transfer before I left. I can't believe he snuck that by me, I thought, genuinely impressed. The apprentices at the college had been trying to pull one over on me for more than a century with no success. They must have tried every spell in existence, and I had practically grown eyes on the back of my head dealing with them. Dianite had just broken my streak. I smiled and shook my head, not even mad that he had established a mental link without my permission. "You sneaky devil..."