The song of the day is "Demons" by Imagine Dragons. I found this song months ago, and I just couldn't help myself. I had to use it for crazy Sonja. :)

Also, it was most definitely the number 50 that was freaking me out, because this was actually quite fun to write. You know I'm having fun when I end up with a 3,600+ word chapter, or when I end up having to split a chapter into 2 or 3 separate pieces. Actually, I've had a lot of fun writing most of this book. I've halfheartedly started two other books in the past (originals), but I never made it to double digits in either of them. :P (They will never see the light of day.) This one I'm going to see through to the end, however many chapters away that may be. I'm pretty sure we'll at least hit 70, maybe even 77 if I'm lucky...

Okay, enough teasing. Bring on the feelz! (You have been warned...)

*Sonja's POV*

I kicked the last head crab across the corridor where it was zapped by one of the runes embedded in the floor. Seriously, who told these hermit crabs that it was alright to grow this big and start living in helmets? I shot it with one of my entropy arrows before it could recover. Satisfied that it was dead, I retrieved my arrow. What? Those things are expensive. Stepping over the booby trapped rune, I continued down the long passage. I swung my ichorium pickaxe at a few spawners and knowledge fragments as I passed them. They weren't what I was really here for.

This had to have been the tenth maze I'd gone through in the Outer Lands, but I'd only found hints, the occasional discarded journal, or rare writing on one of the passage walls. The first time I'd found one such journal, I'd thought I'd finally lost it. The writing, where it wasn't insane rambling, had speculated that the Outer Lands weren't truly their own dimension, but a place between worlds, a place that was accessible from other worlds (based on the fact that this wasn't the Eldritch guardians' home dimension after all). It also speculated that this place was more of a mental construct than a physical one. The point that no one in the writings—or my thaumonomicon—agreed on was whose mind it was linked to. Other parts of the journals went way over my head. I had debated showing them to Sparklez; he'd probably understand the metaphysics the author went into. I'd decided against it though. They didn't know thaumcraft well enough to understand what I'd tell them, and they already believed I was crazy. Hell, if I were sane, I probably wouldn't follow my line of reasoning either. Who would believe me if I told them I may have found a way home?

A way home...I sighed as I continued walking. The others had given up on finding a way back. I hated seeing that resignation in everyone's eyes. They tried so hard to hide that they weren't happy in Ruxomar. Jordan and Tucker were easy to read. They had been excited to explore the new world at first, just like I had been. Tucker's eyes seemed to be filled with only worry and frustration ever since this world's Mianite showed up. The sparkle had faded from Jordan's eyes after Andor left and Ianite died. Tom seemed to be the most well adjusted of the bunch; for all I knew, he didn't want to go back.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I accidentally strayed too close to a rune, and it zapped me. What does he even have to go back to? He killed his god, an all too familiar voice asked in my head.

Great. The voices are back. How you been, guys? I asked grudgingly. I had enjoyed not sharing my brain for a day or two. Lovely thing about these runes, aside from smarting, I'd discovered they made the side effects of my forbidden knowledge worse—including but not limited to my hearing voices.

Hey there!

We never left in the first place. There just wasn't anything to say.

What's up Foxx fam! We're back for another day in Mianite!

The last voice tended to get on my nerves. It wasn't always around, but when it was, it spoke complete nonsense when it wasn't commenting on whatever I was doing. When it was around, I felt like I was being constantly watched. Plus the other voices kept telling me I was being followed, or they panicked and told me to run. I did my best to ignore the myriad voices beginning to give me a headache and kept walking at a measured pace. I was nearly to the ancient lock. I'd already found the key in another part of the maze.

One voice acknowledged the situation as I turned a corner to see the lock. Place your bets now! Will it be giant tainticles, an Eldritch construct, or another master Eldritch guardian? The other voices chimed in with what they thought might await us. I merely shook my head and placed the rune covered stone in the lock and watched with anticipation as the mechanism glowed and began to dissolve along with the wall behind it.

A voice I recognized as belonging to the maze itself and not me yelled above the others, "A ruby portal opens nearby heralding the arrival of the Crimson Cult. You must close the portal quickly!" (This is a possible boss battle in the Outer Lands. I couldn't recall if Sonja ever came across this one in the streams—I haven't watched all of hers.)

The maze always hinted at what lay beyond the door when I activated the lock, but the odd thing about this announcement was the hint of anger in the voice. What? All of us asked. If the maze could get angry, that supported the theory that this place was alive or connected to someone who was. The implications made me reel. It had never given me a direct command before, or acknowledged my presence for that matter. Maybe I could get on its good side.

Well, looks like we've got company, I shrugged, entering the newly opened room. The space was empty aside from a ring on stones similar to ones I'd seen the Crimson Cult gathered around in the Overworld. The only difference was the lack of a floating obelisk at the middle of this ring. Instead, the center of the ring held a sparking ball of magic that was quickly organizing itself into a portal that was almost identical to the one that had brought me here. Something about this portal did not seem stable, and I worried that the instability might start to affect the maze. Maybe that's why the maze wanted them gone.

I pulled my broadsword, Mianite's Bond, from its sheath as the first cultists stepped through the portal. They seemed entranced by finally achieving their goal, gazing about the room in amazement. Until their eyes landed on me. They shouted in indignation and summoned their hulking knights to defend them as they backed away. We'd met before, and they knew how these encounters usually ended.

I smiled at them and attacked. The knights were not very bright, being summoned creatures; they always moved and attacked with the same pattern. It was almost sad that they had no will of their own, or they might have been decent opponents. As things stood, I dispatched them as quickly as the cultists could summon them, each disappearing in a puff of grey smoke when a mortal wound was dealt. The only problem was more and more crimson robed figures kept coming through the portal. I had to shut that thing down. I backed off enough to have time to sheath my sword and pull my greatwood staff out of my golden bag of holding. I aimed the primal focus at the portal and fired a blast of magic at the vortex. The crimson clerics shouted in dismay as the projectile hit and exploded. Their fragile portal flickered in and out of existence, and one more blast finished it off.

This infuriated the twenty or so cultists scattered around the room. Uhg, I'm not even going to get a pearl out of this, am I? One of the voices complained. I was inclined to agree. Finishing off all these guys with their magic and summoning abilities would take forever. I put my staff away and pulled my wand from my belt. The cultists in the meantime had summoned more than a dozen knights. I was so done. I sighed and aimed my wand at the floor beneath a clump of summoners. The purple-black focus on my wand flashed, and the floor disappeared from beneath them, sending them plummeting into the void before the floor reappeared.

Oh, did I mention that the Outer Lands is floating in the void between worlds. Yeah, that's a thing.

Between my wand and sword, the others fell quick enough. I made sure to remove all the bodies with my wand; there was no reason to give the head crabs more food. I may have to come back here one day. Finished with cleanup, I turned to make the long walk back to the entrance of the maze, but I stopped when my foot hit something. I looked down and was quite surprised to find a primal pearl and a worn, leather journal lying there. I'll take it that's a "thank you", I thought as I bent and gingerly picked up both items. I grinned and saluted to the air as I backed out of the room.

As I traversed the maze one last time, my voices started arguing over whether or not I should trust "the maze." That was too easy. Three dungeons with no luck, and then I suddenly get handed a journal that looks intact? Something's fishy.

C'mon. We help the maze out; it helps us. Makes perfect sense.

Taking orders from some higher being who won't reveal themselves? No thanks.

Sounds a bit like my deal with Death in the old world...

As long as we don't get into as big a mess as Tucker...

At the mention of my boyfriend, the other voices fell abruptly silent. Oh, Tucker, I thought, shaking my head. What did you get yourself into? I thought about what had happened over the past few days. What I had watched happen. What I had done nothing to stop.

~Flashback~

Ever since Wag had left town, Tucker had been acting oddly, more distant and forgetful. At first I thought he was just distracted with all the rituals he had to repair. He'd complained about them enough that I knew some of them required a lot to reactivate. Some days I worried he had been pushing himself too hard with his blood magic. So one bright morning I decided to bring him a grilled cheese and some of my famous Deez Nuts as an excuse to check up on him.

The only thing was, as I walked around his dojo, courtyard, and blood altar, he wasn't anywhere to be found. I even went so far as to use his teleposer to see if he was over at the demon village. Much to my surprise, the teleposer brought me to Mianite's childhood home instead.

Origin Ranch was the one thing in this world that made me think this Mianite and ours in the old world had anything in common. The ranch had a quaint, friendly feel to it, though it came across as a bit flat on closer inspection, like a photograph or a pressed and dried flower—still bearing the beauty of the past but dead. The feeling wasn't helped by the nigh impregnable force field encasing the house and fields like it was some curious specimen preserved for future study.

This Mianite gave off much the same impression, as if he had once been genuine and warm but had been hollowed out, leaving only a thin veneer. What lay beneath, I did not want to discover. Maybe it was my insanity, but I suddenly felt very exposed and paranoid. Anxiety coiled in my gut as I walked over to the house to see if anyone was home.

As I approached I heard two familiar voices drifting out through one of the kitchen windows. I decided to listen in before announcing my presence.

"Another job well done, Jericho. You fended off those zombies quite well. The villages thank you," Mianite said, actually sounding pleased. I don't think I'd ever heard him like that.

"I was only doing my duty, Lord Mianite," Tucker replied in one of his most stiff and formal tones. Standing beside the window, I couldn't see him, but I could easily imagine him standing straight as a bamboo shoot. He was so adorable when he was acting all proper and disciplined, especially since he didn't even realize he did it most of the time. For some reason I found this habit of his incredibly attractive. The occasions when he acted that way around me—usually on dates—never failed to make me feel special and were some of my favorite memories with him.

I found myself grinning when Mianite spoke next, though the silly smile vanished when I registered his words. "Hm. You've been injured. Remove your helmet," He commanded.

Against my better judgment, I stole a look inside. Thankfully, Mianite was angled away from me, and Tucker didn't seem to catch my movement at the window from his seat at the table. Mianite stood next to his chair inspecting a goose egg over Tucker's left temple. Ow, that looks like it really hurts.

Mianite asked, "How are you feeling right now?" There was something in his voice that made the question disingenuous.

Tucker spaced out for a moment, thinking harder than was usual before he answered. "A little tired and sore. Slightly disoriented."

Mianite's expression was unreadable as he moved to stand behind Tucker's chair. "Better safe than sorry," He said quietly to no one in particular. Tucker stayed seated as Mianite placed a hand on either side of his head. His dove grey eye glowed a bright white, though his bionic eye's red light never changed. Tucker's eyelids drooped half closed and he relaxed in his chair like he was in a trance. A few seconds later his lidded eyes were glowing faintly white as well. My best guess was Mianite was checking him for a concussion.

Since when does Mianite care if one of us gets hurt? I thought skeptically.

I would have stayed longer, but my insanity decided to kick in then. Suddenly everything was too bright to look at. I held back a hiss of pain as I stumbled away from the window and backtracked to Tucker's teleposer with an arm shielding my eyes.

I didn't think anything of that incident until I saw Tucker again the next day. I caught him as he was walking from his blood altar to his teleposer. "Tucker!" I called as I fanned my butterfly wings for a landing on the path a few feet away.

He turned to greet me, but the usual warmth and affection were absent from his eyes. "Hi, Sonj. Sorry, I can't hang out right now. Mianite wants me to do something for him."

I was too stunned by the odd look in his eyes to reply with anything beyond "oh." He started to turn back in the direction he'd been going when I found my voice again. "Tucker, are you okay?"

"Never been better," He said over his shoulder as he hopped up onto the teleposer. He turned to face me as the device hummed to life. He waved, and I started to wave back. I stopped mid wave when I noticed his irises looked a shade lighter than I remembered. I should know what his eyes looked like; we spent plenty of time gazing into each others eyes during our make out or cuddle sessions and...other activities. He vanished before I could decide if what I saw was real or a trick of the light.

Over the next couple days, I got more and more worried. Finally, after a lengthy argument with me, myself, and I, it was decided. It was spy time. I didn't trust this Mianite as far as I could throw him, and I thanked whoever might hear that he couldn't read my insane mind.

It made sense really: a disorganized mind probably gave the god of order a headache. His first response after meeting me was offering to remove my insanity and the forbidden knowledge that imparted it. I might have been inclined to take him up on the offer if I hadn't found those first few hints that one could get to another world through the Outer Lands. I couldn't give up that knowledge until I knew for sure. After realizing I wasn't about to budge, Mianite largely ignored me. I realized that was one thing I disliked about him: his lack of tolerance for disorder. Even nature had a natural disorder to it; it didn't make it any less beautiful. Our Mianite had understood that.

I wasn't the only example of this either. Gaines' power plant and Origin Ranch both had greenery, but it was so ordered and carefully manicured that it almost didn't look real. When I first met Gaines and complimented him on the well kept garden, he confided that he'd had the plants put in without Mianite's approval, and that was the only way Mianite had let him keep them.

The sun was already setting by the time I had gathered everything I might need for a good stake out. I slipped my goggles of revealing down over my eyes as I headed out for Tucker's place. I had almost made it to the teleposer when I got pushed back and nearly fell out of the air. "Dang it, Tucker!" I swore at the darkening sky. He'd left his repulsion ritual active. Great, now I'll have to fly all the way.

I let out an exasperated sigh and angled myself toward the distant ranch. I would find out what Mianite was up to, even if it took me all night to get there. As I flew, I was surprised to see a blood moon rising. Wow, is my internal clock off that much? I could have sworn we just had one. Maybe my insanity was getting worse than I thought. I mulled over that unsettling possibility as I flew high above forests and fields to avoid prowling monsters.

The moon was nearly halfway through its journey, and my wings were tired when the ranch's dome finally came into sight. I landed on top of the force field and readied my wand to make a way in, initially intending to hide on the roof of the ranch and listen in from there. I pulled up short when I heard a blood curdling scream.

Sparklez!? What the heck is Sparklez doing here? What's happening?

I heard shouting from the walkway outside of the house, but the words were too muffled by the barrier to make sense of. I slid down the curve of the dome and used my wand to make an opening hidden behind the forge. I stepped through and closed the gap, listening to Sparklez, who was now sobbing. Terrible dread crept up my spine at the sound. I'd only ever seen Sparklez cry one time, when Capsize died. Something horrible must have happened. I forgot to breathe when he said between sobs, "Tucker, why?"

I cautiously peaked out from behind the forge building and saw Tucker holding his kikoku as an Ianita who had been lying in a heap on the ground before him dissolved into thin air. I could have sworn I saw a faint purple glow surround Tucker's blade before he sheathed it. Jordan was on his knees with his face buried in his hands; strangely he wasn't wearing any armor. Tucker turned to face Mianite, who I now saw had a hand on Jordan's shoulder—whether in comfort or to hold him back I couldn't tell. "The deed is done," Tucker said with zero emotion in his voice.

Mianite went on to say something about the Ianitas' sacrifice being needed to revive Ianite, but I was lost in absolute horror. Did Tucker just...? No! No, I refuse to believe that! How could he...?

When Jordan removed his hands from his face, I could practically feel the despair and hope warring behind those red-rimmed, tear-swollen eyes. He nodded at Mianite and rose without looking at Tucker. He looked like he might break down again as he disappeared in a swarm of blue particles that indicated he had gone to his spectre dimension.

After Jordan left, Mianite walked up to my boyfriend and circled him as a drill sergeant might a private looking for anything out of place in his subordinate's uniform. "Another job well done, Jericho," Mianite said with a grin twisting his lips into something that could almost be mistaken for a friendly expression. He stopped in front of Tucker and faced him as he continued, "One more piece falls into place." His right, grey eye glowed white for a split second, and I knew I didn't imagine a similar glow that flashed across Tucker's eyes seconds later.

Mianite, what have you done?

Mianite held out a hand, and Tucker unbuckled the belt with his kikoku and handed it to the god. "I'll take this to Gaines to have the quintessence extracted." Without a farewell, Mianite vanished.

Tucker stayed where he stood for a moment before blinking and looking around as if slightly dazed. His eyes settled on me and widened in surprise. "Sonja?" His brows creased in confusion as he took a step towards me. I took a matching step back in apprehension. He had the decency to stop and look conflicted as he stared at me. When he winced and held a hand to his head I took that opportunity to hightail it out of there without looking back.

~End Flashback~

Instead of heading back to Dagrun and my home—where Tucker would be sure to look for me—I had flown randomly until I'd happened upon an obelisk about sunrise. I'd activated the portal to the Outer Lands and stayed far longer than strictly necessary, but I knew I couldn't hide forever. As I came back to the portal that would return me to the world of gods with hidden agendas and mind controlled, murderous boyfriends, I briefly thought I understood why someone would make a mental sanctuary in the void. I sighed and stepped through, deciding reluctantly that it was time to face my problems.

Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I'd intended to get this out earlier in the week, but forgot I was going out of town Wednesday through Friday. My grandparents are doing well. They are the literal definition of an old, married couple. <3

Anyways, I thought this would be a good time to ask if there was anything y'all wanted to see in this book before the finale? :) I know I'm still 10+ chapters out from that, but I wanted to have time to work any good ideas into the plot line without it being forced.