ã€ŠOf Life and Deathã€‹


 Chapter 1

    I long for the sensation of flight through the forest. The wind in my face, the rustling of the leaves, the rush of adrenaline, and being with my friends. I can''t help but wonder what it feels like to fly way up in the air in the clouds with wings like a fairy and then swooping down and skimming across a lake and, knowing me, possibly hitting face-first into a tree. Then we fly down to the forest floor and rest under a large oak tree and eat food.

    ¡°Kal! Kal!¡± My teacher, Mrs. Mackey calls, forcing me back into reality. My daydreams seem so real. This isn''t exactly normal for kids my age. No one really dreams about stuff like that, except for kids and last time I checked, I¡¯m not a kid. I¡¯m a seventeen-year-old senior in high school, who¡¯s a food and fairy loving dude.

    ¡°Huh? What?¡± I say, still dazed. I''m still trying to reel my mind back from that wildly realistic daydream.

    ¡°Were you paying attention to anything I was saying? Anything at all?¡± She says, with her hands on her hips looking rather annoyed. On the board behind her are notes about how to find the tangents of circles. I really hate math. It seems like it''s written in a completely different language. All the lines and numbers don¡¯t make much sense. The dusty cogs in my head start turning for an answer. My first reaction is to say something idiotic.

    ¡°Uh, something about tangents and circles,¡± I say, with a bit of humor in my voice and a slight smile. Half the class laughs a little bit. I have a sharp wit and can make humor out of almost anything, except serious situations. I know when to not be joking around in serious situations. Plus, I like to joke around in my math class to prevent it from being so serious because of Mrs. Mackey and that has landed me a few detentions. But only a few.

    Mrs. Mackey sighs and shakes her head, probably ashamed at my idiotic remark. Either that or she¡¯s just sick of my shenanigans. Probably both.

    ¡°At least you know what the lesson is about,¡± she sighs. ¡°Now exactly how do you find the tangent of a circle?¡± she demands.

    I stare at her blankly. The metaphorical dusty cogs in my brain are once again turning, trying to not sound stupid. Like I say, I just can¡¯t understand math. I look at the notes and take a random guess.

    ¡°Uhhh, I think it has something to do with right triangles in circles,¡± I say, with a shrug and, once again, feeling like an idiot. Way to go me. Way to go. The class laughs a bit more.

    Mrs. Mackey sighs at my even dumber response. She turns around and continues teaching. I sigh a bit. I didn¡¯t even notice that I''m holding my breath.

    I bring out my notebook and begin to doodle. I tend to do that a lot. I prefer Celtic designs and I¡¯ve been working on mastering the style for almost two months. Then I draw strange little symbols around it. They almost look like a written language from some strange, magical land.

    I look up periodically, hoping that I look like I¡¯m taking notes. But in reality, I¡¯m not, because math sucks.

    The damn bell finally rings and I bolt out of there quickly. I run to meet Roxanne. She¡¯s usually waiting for me in the same spot every day. Roxanne is the smartest, prettiest, most popular girl in school, who just so happens to be my best friend since we were babies. We practically grew up together.

    ¡°Roxanne!!¡± I call.

    She looks in my direction.

    ¡°Hey Kallan!¡± she says.

    Kallan is my full name. I have told her many times over the past fourteen years to call me Kal. Then again, she''s been telling me to call her Roxy for the same amount of time. It''s sort of a running joke now.

    ¡°Have you heard?¡± she asks.

    ¡°Heard what?¡± I ask in reply.

    ¡°About someone,¡± she says vaguely while smiling a little bit.

    ¡°What about that someone?¡± I ask.

    ¡°A new kid is coming to our school,¡± she says. ¡°He was supposed to come today, but he got sick and I heard that it was bad. He''s in my fifth-period class. We¡¯re going to make him a ¡®get well¡¯ card.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what his name is?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Hametsu Yamashi,¡± she reports. ¡°Apparently he has a weak immune system. A common cold lands him in the hospital for a good long while.¡±

    ¡°That sounds bad,¡± I cringe. ¡°Well, a card is nice. Maybe some candy might work, too.¡±

    She gave me that look of disappointment that I have grown to both love and hate. I just smile.

    ¡°Giving a sick person candy?¡± Roxy scowls. ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°That''s for when he gets better!¡± I retort.

    ¡°Still, Kal.¡±

    Roxy is right, though. It''s not the best idea to give a sick person candy. But still, I would like to give him something more than just a card. Having only a card sounds pretty boring.

    ¡°How about a basket of fruits?¡± I suggest.

    She thinks about it and nods her head.

    ¡°Sounds alright,¡± she says. ¡°It¡¯s a lot better than candy that¡¯s for sure.¡±

    I laugh when she says that.

    ¡°True, true,¡± I say, when I finally calm down. ¡°Well, I have to go right now. You know how my mom is.¡±

    ¡°Oh goodness,¡± Roxy says. ¡°I know. Better go before you get in trouble.¡±

    I scoff and laugh a bit.

    After we say goodbye to each other, I race home so my mom doesn¡¯t kill me. I do own a car and have a driver''s license, but my school is close enough to walk. Besides, walking is good for you. I want to remain strong and healthy. I go into a daze while walking home, once again daydreaming about flying like a fairy with my friends. I only stop when I decide to check the time. My mom expects me to be home at 3 pm every day after school. it''s 2:55 pm. I sprint like the freaking wind to make it on time or my mom will ground me for a week.

    ¡°Kallan, you barely made it on time,¡± she says as I walk in the door. I''m very out of breath and sweating from sprinting a mile and a half from my school to my house. My school is a two-mile walk and I¡¯m a very fast sprinter. I could join the school track team but I¡¯m not interested in sports. I¡¯m more into gardening.

    ¡°I was talking to Roxanne for a bit. Can''t you give me a break?¡± I ask her, still catching my breath. I go to the fridge and chug some water, a few big gulps of that refreshing liquid and I feel better.

    ¡°Kallan, a proper man is never late. Being early is on time, on time is late, and late-¡±

    ¡°Is unacceptable,¡± I say, cutting her off. ¡°I know mom.¡±

    Mom smiles at me.

    ¡°I''m baking some cookies! Would you like some?¡±

    ¡°Later,¡± I tell her. ¡°I have to do homework. A ton of it.¡±

    I race upstairs to my bedroom.

    My bedroom is small, but it''s cozy. My ceiling slants downward on the left-hand side. My bed is the average size for a kid my age and height. I''m 5 feet and 8 inches tall. I am 17 years old, as I said before. The bed covers are green with a leafy design. My walls are painted to look like a forest. The painting is incredibly life-like and breathtakingly beautiful. Every detail of my room signals forest-like and natural. The ceiling is painted to look like the top of a forest, with the light filtering down below. The rest of the room is detailed as the canopy light comes down and lights up the forest a nice green shade. There is a stag in the background and birds in mid-flight. There are flowers blooming on the trees and the ground. The forest is painted as spring. But what''s weird is that the painting changes with the seasons which is not normal at all but I don¡¯t complain. It¡¯s pretty. In the summer, it looks like a summer forest. In the fall, the leaves are in beautiful shades of yellows, reds, oranges, and browns. In winter, everything is covered in a layer of snow that looks beautiful. A creek runs through it.

    There''s a lynx in the background too. But it''s only visible in the winter. My carpet is just a normal carpet. It has a couple of faded stains from soda, hot cocoa, food, and other drinks. Mostly soft drinks.

    My work desk is made of mahogany wood and has enough space to hold all of my books and art supplies. I even have a small drawer for packaged food. I open that drawer up and take out a large, family-sized bag of nacho cheese Doritos. I¡¯ve been eating that thing for days. It''s held tightly secure with a clip so no bugs get in it and start devouring my food.

    Other foodstuffs I have in there are a package of powdered donuts, about twenty packages of dried fruits, trail mix, and a pear that I put in there this morning. It''s still in good condition, surprisingly. I keep asking my mom to buy me a mini-fridge for my room. She refuses, saying that I have to earn it myself.

    I shake my head at what my mom always tells me about earning the stuff I want, but I''ve been asking for that mini-fridge since November. It''s early March and my birthday isn''t for another two months in early May. May 8th to be exact. So far I have done everything plus some to earn that mini-fridge.

    Mini fridges envelope my thoughts as I work on my English homework. I¡¯m supposed to be writing about what interests me, but the whole thing ends up being about mini-fridges. I scrap it and push mini-fridges out of my mind. I get serious and work on what really interests me: nature, Celtic, and Gaelic folklore. Especially when they''re about fairies. I know a guy like me shouldn''t be into that stuff, but I am. Anything related to magic and sorcery has my full attention. However, I leave out the fairy things and just write about Celtic and Gaelic folklore and nature.

    After about an hour of working on that, I move on to the dreaded subject of despair: M A T H ! ! !

    The entire homework assignment is about equations of circles and finding the length of the tangent line and graphing. Graphing is the worst thing ever. I spend two hours on that until I finally finish the twenty problem worksheet. I decide to take a break and fool around on my computer for a while.

    My mind suddenly turns to the new kid, the one who''s in the hospital because of his poor immune system. Hametsu Yamashi. I know his name is in a different language. I know Yama means mountain in Japanese so I figure his name must be Japanese. I search for the meaning of the name Hametsu on Google. Hametsu means ruin. Then I take a look at the other part of his last name. Shi. Shi means death. So the English translation of Hametsu''s name: Ruin Mountain-Death. Either his parents had a screw loose or they didn''t know. It''s most likely the former. I don''t blame them. The name sounds a hell of a lot cooler than mine. Kallan Foster Aelfdene. English translation: Warrior Forest-guardian From-the-elfin-valley. Totally not cool compared to Hametsu. For starters, Hametsu¡¯s name is easier to pronounce. Mine requires a dictionary or something, my last name does. It''s so crazy to pronounce. Who''s ever heard of the last name Aelfdene? Not anybody I know.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    I often get teased about it in school. But Roxy keeps the jerks at bay. I love everything about her. Her dark brown hair and honey colored eyes. Her skin has a nice soft pink tone.

    We both have the same interests. She actually likes the fact that I''m interested in fairies. I like to think that she is one. But, alas, she is not, and neither am I sadly. It would be awesome if we are though.

    It''s not just her looks that I like. She has the perfect personality, cheerful, optimistic, calm, and easygoing. We share each other''s secrets and dreams.

    I remember from a time when we were little kids. She told me that she wants to be a fairy princess when she grows up. It was pretty embarrassing now that I think about it. But at the same time, it was pretty cute.

    I get off the computer long enough for me to eat dinner and eat a few oatmeal raisin cookies and carrot cookies. Carrot cookies aren''t as bad as they sound. They''re actually pretty good. Especially when my mom bakes them. The woman is a baking goddess, considering the fact that she''s not even my real mother.

    I¡¯m adopted. I don''t know who my real parents are. I''ve always known that I was adopted. I mean, I look nothing like my parents. My hair is light brown and my eyes are a startling shade of green. Sort of like the Crayola crayon green, except, more vivid and intense. My skin is light. My mom is a blonde haired, brown eyed woman who''s about 49 years old. She¡¯s tan from all the surfing she did when she was younger. My dad is black haired and also brown eyed and he''s about 50 years old. He has a thick, black beard. His skin is dark, but not yet tan. He has a small scar on his lip from surgery when he had to get a tumor removed. Thankfully, it wasn''t cancerous.

    Just as I sit down, my dad comes in.

    ¡°I''m home!!¡± He exclaims. Dad takes a huge whiff of the delicious aroma of cookies baking in the oven.

    ¡°Oatmeal raisin and carrot cookies?¡± He guesses.

    ¡°You win the cookie dad!¡± I say. He laughs a hearty laugh. He''s a playful and joking sort, a great guy to be around. He can make anybody laugh. Anybody. Even my math teacher, Mrs. Mackey, and that woman is the most serious woman to have ever walked the face of the planet.

    ¡°So, Kal, how was your day at school?¡± My dad asks.

    ¡°Average,¡± I respond. ¡°Nothing eventful. Other than Roxy telling me that a new kid is coming to our school.¡±

    ¡°Oh really!¡± My mom exclaims. ¡°Do you know what his or her name is?¡±

    ¡°Hametsu Yamashi. He was supposed to come today. But he got sick and we don''t know when he''s coming back. He has a weak immune system,¡± I say.

    ¡°Poor thing. We should make a card for him.¡±

    ¡°Roxy¡¯s got that covered. Her fifth-period class is making a card for him. I want to give him assorted fruit.¡±

    ¡°That''s very thoughtful of you Kallan.¡± My mom says. ¡°I¡¯ll go order it.¡± She washes her hands and heads off to do that. Dad and I look at each other and smile. We take the opportunity to steal a little bit of cookie dough and eat it. She comes back a few minutes later and resumes baking. She glances at the two of us and shakes her head with a half smile. She knows what we did. Dad and I just smile mischievously.

    ¡°Anyway, do you know you share any classes with him?¡± mom asks

    ¡°He''s in my math class as far as I¡¯m aware. Mrs. Mackey mentioned something about it,¡± I start to say, ¡°but I wasn''t really listening because math is the very embodiment of evil itself and Mrs. Mackey teaches math so¡­ yeah.¡±

    My mom nods. She''s too involved in her baking to listen to me ramble about my disdain for math.

    ¡°Well actually,¡± my dad starts. ¡°I visited him today. He was connected to a respirator. His older brother was with him.¡± Dad likes to volunteer at hospitals to visit patients and give them comfort.

    ¡°Is he ok?¡± My mom and I ask in unison.

    ¡°He''s fine. I had a small conversation with him. He says he''s coming back in about two days. He was getting disconnected from the respirator. His breathing is normal now,¡± he says. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to visit him before, I¡¯m not sure why though.¡±

    ¡°What does he look like?¡± I ask, intrigued.

    ¡°Dark brown hair, pale skin, pale green eyes. His hair is short and thick. He seems like a nice young man.¡± Dad says.

    ¡°Personality?¡± I ask

    ¡°Easy going, laid back, calm, a bit daydreamy, and sort of pessimistic.¡±

    I nod. He seems ok. Maybe we can be friends. Really good friends. I can probably help him with his pessimism. Roxy used to be pessimistic, but I helped her to look at the bright side of things. Now she''s a very optimistic person. So much so, she puts my optimism to shame. I love her. She''s like my sister. We''ve been through thick and thin. High and low. Shallow and deep. We trust each other wholeheartedly with everything.

    My mom snaps me out of my daze saying that I need to continue with my homework. I race up the stairs and crack down on science.

    We¡¯re learning about ecology and the study of ecosystems and their wildlife. Ecology comes naturally to me for some reason. I seem to know the names of all the plants and animals in the forests. Then I draw them in that Celtic design and write more symbols around it.

    For some reason, the symbols look familiar. Extremely familiar, like I''ve seen it before, a long time ago, in a distant memory or something. It''s comforting. Roxy agrees with me as she¡¯s seen me draw it many times. Then I move on to history.

    History is a bore to me. It''s just not exciting. It¡¯s monotonous. It''s all about war and the events before and after. Nothing interesting in my opinion. I get it done in about thirty minutes.

    After finishing my homework, I just fool around on my computer and order one of those fruit arrangements for Hametsu before I remember that my mom already ordered one. Well, now he''s getting two. It should arrive at his hospital room tomorrow, along with the cards from his new classmates. Hopefully, he¡¯ll appreciate them.

    I¡¯m fooling around on some gaming website when I¡¯m alerted by my computer that I have an email. I quickly finish my game, albeit rushing through it sloppily, and I go to my Gmail account to look at my email. it''s from someone who calls themselves ¡°Blackdeath606¡±.

    ¡°Hey.¡± They type.

    I''m surprised.

    ¡°Who are you and how did you get my email address?¡± I type back. I wait for a few minutes to get a reply. I''m writing in my online diary type thing. It''s on my google docs account.

    ¡°Your dad gave the email address. I''m Hametsu. Your new classmate. I got sick and it was bad. I had to be put in the hospital for the umpteenth time this year. I''m quite sure your dad told you about my weak immune system. Haha.¡±

    He''s a pessimist alright. He''s honestly sort of depressing. But I want to strike up a conversation with him so I sent him my cell phone number.

    Literally, a minute later I get a text from him.

    Hametsu: Hi!

    Me: Hi.

    Hametsu: Whatcha doin?

    Me: Fooling around on my computer. Why do you ask?

    Hametsu: Just curious. I''m bored sitting in my hospital bed. I can''t do anything fun. :(

    Me: What happened to you?

    Hametsu: Oh, I got a cold. It''s not the typical stuffy nose, sore throat, little cough sort of thing. My throat swells up and I can''t breathe. My nose bleeds and my cough sounds like I have pneumonia. I feel like I''m dying.

    Me: Yikes. Sounds bad. Well, I hope you get better.

    Hametsu: Oh, I feel MUCH better than I did three months ago.

    Me: You were in the hospital for THREE MONTHS?!

    Hametsu: Didn''t I JUST say that?

    Me: Still. That''s a long time.

    Hametsu: Meh. For me, it''s not. Normally I''d be there for about six or seven months. This is a record. I take it as my immune system is FINALLY getting stronger.

    Me: Yikes. Well, we¡¯ll see you in two days I guess.

    Hametsu: Yeah. See ya.

    We stop texting for a bit. He seems ok. A real pessimistic person though. But he''s nice. But there''s something unsettling about him. He seems too friendly, probably because he wants to make a good first impression. But he''d still be a great friend regardless. I decide to give him Roxy¡¯s number so they can get to know each other.

    Hametsu: Whose number is this?

    Me: My friend Roxy''s. I think that you might want to get to know her a little before you meet us.

    Hametsu: That''s sweet. Do you think she''s hot?

    Me: Uh... I guess. I dunno. She''s my best friend.

    Hametsu: You sure she¡¯s not your GIRLFRIEND?

    Me: What? NO!!!

    Hametsu: Not yet at least.

    I send an eye roll emoji.

    He sends a laughing emoji.

    Hametsu: Kallan, don¡¯t deny your love for her!!

    Me: She''s not my girlfriend!! And please call me Kal.

    Hametsu: I know. I know. I''m just kidding lol. Sorry, Kal.

    Me: Are you gonna text her?

    Hametsu: Later. I''m gonna take a little nap. The meds the hospital gives me make me really drowsy and because I like naps.

    Me: Ok. Have fun.

    Hametsu: I will lol.

    We stop again. I continue to play games on my computer while getting ads about literally everything! I really hate ads. They''re annoying and repetitive. I''m trying to find a way to stop the ads from popping up.

    About three hours later, Hametsu texts me again.

    Hametsu: Two star crossed lovers. And both of you deny it. Wow. Just... wow that''s sad.

    Me: Excuse me?

    Hametsu: You and Roxy would make a perfect couple. But not as perfect as me and my girlfriend.

    Me: You have a girlfriend?

    He sends me a selfie of him and this girl with light pink hair and rosy pink eyes. She''s pretty. The photo was taken at a resort during the winter holidays. I can tell because there was a decorated tree in the background and a lot of Christmas decorations. It''s broad daylight in the picture and there was a really pretty white sandy beach outside the resort. Hametsu has a light band of freckles across the bridge of his nose and a little bit on his shoulders.

    Hametsu: She''s hot, isn''t she? I love her. And I will beat the living CRAP OUT OF ANYONE WHO HARMS HER!!

    Me: Whoa, Hametsu. I''m not interested in her.

    Hametsu: Don''t hit on her just because I sent a photo of her. I WILL hurt you.

    Me: Dude, I JUST said that I''m not interested in her.

    Hametsu: Ok. Just making sure. I don''t want you to end up with a black eye and a broken nose. Maybe even a couple of broken bones. I tend to get carried away and I want to change that.

    Me: Yikes. Did you have training for fighting?

    Hametsu: Years worth. I have a black belt in karate, taekwondo, hapkido, jujitsu, you name it.

    Me: You have a black belt in a lot of martial arts!!

    Hametsu: Haha yes.

    Me: Sweet. You can fend off some of the biggest jerks in our school.

    Hametsu: Hmm sure.

    Me: What do you mean by ¡°hmm?¡±

    Hametsu: Oh, nothing really. It''s just that in my old school, I got expelled for my behavior.

    Me: WHAT?!

    Hametsu: I was the biggest ¡°jerk¡± in school. I intimidated everybody. It was fun! :D

    Me: Wow... Don''t hurt us.

    Hametsu: Oh, don''t worry. I''m going to this school because I need a new start. I¡¯ve changed after some harsh lecturing from my older brother and a lot of therapy.

    Me: Good. All your new classmates are worried about you.

    Hametsu: I¡¯ll be back in about two days, maybe even tomorrow. I don''t know. Things change with me.

    Me: That''s cool. We¡¯re sending you stuff tomorrow.

    Hametsu: Nice. Well, I got to go. I''m getting really tired again. Stupid meds. I hate them!! They make me sleepy and I don¡¯t like being sleepy. I turn into a massive grinch.

    Me: For real?

    Hametsu: Yup. I hope you don¡¯t get on the bad end of my sleepy scale because like I said, I become a grinch.

    Me: Dang. Get some sleep.

    Hametsu: No. You¡¯re not my dad.

    Me: I am now, child. Now sLeEp.

    Hametsu: Never.

    We go back and forth with this. I¡¯m enjoying this conversation. I can tell that he¡¯s enjoying it too. Then I noticed that he¡¯s most likely starting to fall asleep because not only did he take longer to respond, he starts misspelling words¡­ badly.

    Hametsu: I cnat stay awale amynotr. Translation: I can''t stay awake anymore. Yeah, he¡¯s really tired if he messes up a sentence that badly.

    Me: Ok, see ya.

    Hametsu: Bye.

    After that, we are done talking for the day. I learned that he''s fiercely defensive of his girlfriend and that he can be a bit cruel. Hopefully, Roxy and I will be able to help him. But other than that he¡¯s an awesome guy. He handles his hospital stays like a champ. I would be nothing but a mess of stress and anxiety if I had to go to the hospital. I¡¯d be worrying nonstop about what¡¯s wrong.

    Then I caught a whiff of my sweaty clothing. Yeah, I need a shower. Sweat smells bad. I turn off my computer and go take a shower. I close my eyes as the warm water runs over me. I have a weird feeling on my back. It feels like a slight burning sensation.

    I¡¯m not aware that I''m writing with the soap on the shower wall until I open my eyes.

    I wrote in that same language-like symbol. Except, they rearrange themselves as English words.

    ¡°Rise and fly price of life. Defeat the king of death before he releases a terrible plague that threatens all.¡±

    That startles me. Rise and fly? I can''t fly. I don''t have wings. I wash off the soapy writing. I''m pretty sure that did more than startle me. It shook me to my core. I¡¯m literally shaking. Suddenly, everything starts spinning and I black out.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Is he ok?¡± a voice asks.

    ¡°I think he''s waking up,¡± another voice says.

    I groan. My head is throbbing.

    ¡°Mom¡­¡± I groan. Slowly, I open my eyes and let them come into focus. I¡¯m laying in my bed with my parents standing over me.

    ¡°Kal! Kal can you hear me?¡± Dad asks me, his voice filled with concern.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I ask. I can¡¯t think straight. My mind is fuzzy.

    ¡°You fainted in the shower! Are you ok? Did you hurt something?¡± My mom says all panicky.

    ¡°My head hurts a bit.¡± Ok, it hurts a ton. But I don''t say that out loud. My mom would have completely flipped out. That would be bad. Like, really bad. Mom has always been very overprotective of me. For example: If I get a small paper cut, you''d think I just had my arm chopped off. That''s how panicky she will get. If it weren''t for Dad getting her to calm down, I would¡¯ve had the paramedics called on me numerous times for things like the aforementioned paper cut. She keeps asking me if I¡¯m okay.

    ¡°Mom relax, I''m fine, really.¡±

    Am I really fine though? I just wrote in a language that I didn''t even know was real AND I knew what it said!! This just got freaky.

    I hardly register the fact that I¡¯m still naked. Luckily I have a blanket over me, covering the lower half of my body.

    ¡°Are you sure Kal?¡± My dad says.

    ¡°Yes. I''m sure.¡± I say, getting annoyed by her constant asking.

    He nods. Mom sighs with relief.

    ¡°That''s good,¡± she says. They stay for a little longer to make sure I¡¯m fine. I keep telling them I¡¯m fine. But they fuss regardless.

    Eventually, they leave the room so I can put on some pants and go to bed. I lock the door to my room and close the window blinds so no one can look inside my room. I quickly change into pajama pants, green camo style, and go to bed.

    The next morning is a Saturday so I sleep in and wait for my parents to go to work.

    I immediately think of Hametsu and wonder if he got his cards and two fruit arrangements.

    I look over at my clock on my nightstand. It''s 10:42 am. My head still hurts a little bit, but my thoughts are clear as day. But my back, MY BACK, is killing me. Probably due to my fainting the night before. That message still haunts me, but I decide that it isn¡¯t worth pondering over at the moment. I want pancakes and some pain killers. I grab my phone and go downstairs.

    The first thing I do when I come down is take some ibuprofen. My head and back stop hurting in about twenty minutes. Then I make food. I made strawberry-blueberry pancakes. Pancakes with fine strawberries cut strawberries and small blueberries in them. Add boysenberry syrup and it¡¯s like I¡¯m eating a slice of heaven.

    I''m only allowed to make them if I make enough for my parents too, which, of course, I do.

    After I pile up five pancakes on my plate and douse them with boysenberry syrup, I devour them. Then I go back into my room and fool around on my laptop. It¡¯s only for about thirty minutes before I receive a call on my phone.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Hey,¡± The person on the other line says.

    I can tell immediately that it¡¯s Hametsu. None of my friends sound like him. His voice is calm and cool and actually really soothing and soft. But not extremely soft. Moderately soft. His voice sounds slightly hoarse too. He clears it before talking again

    ¡°I''m extremely bored. Help me out here Kallan.¡±

    ¡°Call me Kal!¡± I exclaim. He sighs, annoyed.

    ¡°Sorry. Right now I''m pissed because I''m bored,¡± he says clearly agitated. ¡°Amuse me.¡±

    ¡°I''m not your servant,¡± I say defensively. He really is a pessimist.

    He laughs.

    ¡°I know I''m just kidding! Take a joke,¡± he says. Hametsu laughs more, this time, a very slight hint of cruelty.

    ¡°Dude that''s not that funny,¡± I tell him. He''s kinda mean and I tell him so. His response?

    ¡°Psh I don''t really care. I''m an asshole. Well at least I can be,¡± he says. ¡°I do have the capability to be nice when I want to.¡±

    ¡°That''s good. So what are you doing?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Sitting in bed watching some horrible movie.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, a movie! What kind?¡±

    ¡°A really bad kind.¡± He says, being very vague.

    ¡°Genre?¡±

    ¡°Can terrible be a genre?¡± He asks, clearly enjoying this conversation. I roll my eyes.

    ¡°Quit it Hametsu. Seriously what type of movie is it?¡±

    ¡°Rom-Com.¡± He says, obviously disgusted at the movie genre. Rom-Com is short for Romantic Comedy. I take it that he hates Rom-Com.

    ¡°What''s your favorite genre of movie?¡± I ask him.

    ¡°Horror. My girlfriend doesn''t like it though. So I steer clear of it when we go out. She likes romantic dramas. I, personally, don''t care for any romance, but I endure it for my girlfriend¡¯s sake. What''s your favorite type of movie?¡± He s.

    I think about that for a moment. I can''t really decide.

    ¡°Well, I definitely don''t like horror.¡± I tell him. ¡°I like fantasy- action, and romance. What movie are you watching?¡±

    ¡°I don''t even know what it''s called. But it''s terrible. I hate romance movies. It¡¯s all mushy and soft. Not enough action,¡± He complains. Clearly, he''s a little ball of hate towards romance movies.

    ¡°Do you like action?¡±

    ¡°Very hard core. The ones that give a rush of adrenaline that makes you lean on the edge of your seat and has some death in it. I like the excitement it brings,¡± he tells me. ¡°But I usually watch it with my other friends.¡± Wow. Hametsu is, uh, interesting. Ok, he''s kinda weird, but who isn''t? We all have our own degree of weirdness. But some people take it too far and they end up on the wrong end of the social ladder.

    ¡°You told me you liked to bully people?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Where do I start? What do you want to know?¡± He replies.

    ¡°How did you treat the students at your old school?¡±

    ¡°Like crap,¡± he says.

    ¡°Why though?¡±

    ¡°Listen here Kallan-¡±

    ¡°Call me Kal!!¡±

    ¡°I don''t care. I ruled my former school. Everyone was practically at my beck and call. I targeted a few people, and was a total jerk to them,¡± he says. I can just feel the smirk on his face. It sent shivers up my spine. I think he knows it too because he laughs a bit.

    ¡°I''m sorry. Did I send shivers up your spine?¡± He asks way too sweetly. His overly sweet voice sent another wave of shivers up my spine.

    ¡°Twice,¡± I reply.

    ¡°Hah okay. I like teasing my friends. Sorry if I came off kinda psycho,¡± he says.

    ¡°Do you have any friends?¡±

    ¡°I mentioned it earlier, remember? When I was talking about my favorite kind of movie,¡± he says. ¡°I think you didn¡¯t catch that,¡±

    ¡°Do you think I can meet them?¡± I ask.

    ¡°They¡¯re coming to visit me today for a short while. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re going to see them today. They¡¯re busy with school and other activities. One is in college taking animation and graphic design courses,¡± he states. ¡°Is your girlfriend coming to visit me?¡±

    ¡°Hametsu for the last time Roxy isn''t my girlfriend. We''re just friends!!¡±

    This time, he laughs hysterically. I eventually laugh a bit too. He then fell into a coughing fit. The cough sounds raspy. He put me on mute for a moment then comes back on. He clears his throat.

    ¡°Sorry about that. my cough still hasn¡¯t gone away,¡± he starts. ¡°Like I said, I like teasing my friends. It''s a lot of fun. They don''t seem to care unless I take it too far; then they get pissed. I won''t even begin to tell you how mad one of my friends gets when I tease him too much. My other friend doesn''t care that much,¡± he says.

    ¡°On another topic, what do you do for fun?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Play a bunch of video games like Fallout and Call of Duty. Even though it''s nothing but data, I still have fun with the combat elements. I''m also extremely competitive, so don''t try to compete with me Kal,¡± he spat. Then he sighs, kinda annoyed. ¡°I hate it when I sound like that. Sorry. It just comes out.¡±

    He¡¯s crazy. I think I just pissed him off. He sounds pretty angry.

    ¡°You sound pissed. Are you ok?¡± I ask.

    ¡°I''m fine, don''t worry. I''m just upset that my girlfriend can''t visit me today,¡± he says. ¡°Her parents want her to finish her homework first.¡±

    ¡°I still can''t believe that you have a girlfriend. Is she coming to our school?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Yes, she is!! I''m so happy that she''s coming with me to a new school. I won''t be so lonely,¡± he says. Then he goes on and on and on about how amazing and wonderful and beautiful his girlfriend is.

    ¡°She''s just, oh my god she''s just perfect in every way. Well in my opinion. But she''s mine,¡± he says. Then his tone gets very dark. ¡°No one can have her. If I find anyone flirting with my girlfriend, I¡¯ll rip them to shreds with my bare hands. That includes you,¡± He says with that very dark voice. Then his voice gets all peppy and light. ¡°Well, I have to go. My friends are here. And so is a girl with dark brown hair. I¡¯ll talk to you later Kal!¡± He hung up after that. I''m left speechless. He''s weird and he¡¯s crazy. Although he did say that he likes to mess with his friends. So I forgive him. I call my mom saying that I¡¯m going to visit Hametsu. She says it''s fine just as long as I''m home before dinner. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    I rush to get ready and shoot a quick text to Hametsu, saying that I''m coming for a visit.

    He replies ¡°whatevs¡± and I continue to get ready. I call Roxy''s parents and tell them that I would take her home.

    Once I finish doing what I need to do, such as covering up the enormous stack of pancakes I made, I hop into my car and drive to the hospital where Hametsu is.

    ¡°Excuse me, what room is Hametsu Yamashi in?¡± I ask the receptionist lady. She hands me a slip of paper with the room number on it.

    ¡°It''s on the second floor. He¡¯s having quite a parade today,¡± she informs me. She must¡¯ve assumed that I''m here for Hametsu, to begin with. How else would she have the floor and room number written down already?

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I say. I go to find the elevator and press the button for the second floor. Two people come out of the elevator, talking, cursing, and laughing. A super pale dude with black hair covering his right eye, wearing a black hoodie with the hood partially on his head. When I mean pale skin, I mean pale, like, almost completely white. He caught me looking at him. His left eye is light grey, probably a color contact.

    ¡°Birth defect,¡± he says in a cold voice. He looks me over.

    ¡°I see,¡± I reply.

    The other guy, who is very tall, is wearing a dark blue jacket, has light blue hair, and some piercings on his ear and one on his lip, looks at me and gives a nod hello. They both seem unsettling. I give a hello nod back. They both walk away, resuming their conversation. I think it''s about a random person they encountered. They sound super condescending. I go into the elevator and go to the second floor.

    I spend about ten minutes looking for his room. When I finally find it, I go in. They seem to be having a pleasant conversation about fruit.

    ¡°Oh, Roxy, look it''s your boyfriend!¡± I hear him say, when he notices me.

    ¡°Hametsu. For the last time, Kal and I are just friends,¡± she says.

    ¡°Sure, sure. Whatever you say,¡± he says.

    ¡°Don''t you have a girlfriend?¡± I ask.

    ¡°You already know. Also, she said that she can visit and is coming over now. She finished her homework on time.¡±

    Hametsu is sitting up on the hospital bed wearing that gown thing. His pale green eyes have a weird look to them, as if he isn¡¯t quite right in the head. But who am I to judge a person?

    No sooner had he said that a girl with pink hair and rosy pink eyes, again, likely color contacts, skids to a stop. She is wearing a maroon sweater and flower print yoga pants. Hametsu immediately becomes flirty with her.

    ¡°Hey baby,¡± he says to her.

    ¡°Hi Hammy!¡± she exclaims.

    ¡°Hammy?¡± Roxy and I say.

    ¡°You two even think about calling me that and I will make you regret it,¡± he says defensively. ¡°And Sakura you know I don''t like that. Please don''t call me that ok?¡± He tells her, suddenly very sweet.

    A shiver runs up the spines of both me and Roxy. He smiles.

    Sakura pulls up a chair and sits down next to Hametsu. Hametsu begins hugging her. Sakura leans into his embrace.

    ¡°Sorry honey, ¡± she says.

    Hametsu takes her hand and kisses it.

    ¡°You''re forgiven,¡± he tells her.

    They kiss. Then they begin to make out, apparently forgetting that we are standing right in front of them.

    ¡°Ahem,¡± I cough. They stop.

    ¡°Whoops. Sorry.¡± Hametsu says, a bit annoyed that we interrupted his make-out session with Sakura, and embarrassed that he forgot we are there.

    ¡°Exactly how did you two meet?¡± Roxy asks them.

    Hametsu looks at her dreamily.

    ¡°We''ve been friends for a while. Then we just fell in love with each other,¡± he says. ¡°That''s the reason why I keep asking you two if you''re dating,¡± he says with a smirk.

    ¡°Well, we''re not,¡± I say awkwardly.

    ¡°Well not yet anyway,¡± he says with this mischievous smirk. My face flushes red when he says that.

    ¡°You''re blushing Kallan,¡± Hametsu says teasingly. My face gets even redder. He laughs.

    ¡°I''m kidding, relax. Sakura and I make a better couple than anyone in the world,¡± he says. He kisses Sakura on the cheek and whispers something in her ear. She giggles a bit.

    Roxy looks at her watch. She flinches with a bit of surprise.

    ¡°Oh shoot I have to go! My mom is taking me for a mother-daughter spa day at one o¡¯clock. Hey Kal, can you take me home?¡± she asks.

    ¡°Ooh a spa day that sounds fun, and... with your mom,¡± he says, his voice trailing off a bit. He gets a bit sad but then quickly covers it up.

    ¡°You okay?¡± I ask him.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Nothing to worry about,¡± he says with a smile.

    ¡°Kal I really gotta go. Can you take me home?¡± Roxy asks again, a little more urgently.

    ¡°Yeah, I promised your parents,¡± I reply.

    ¡°Well it was nice talking to you Kal,¡± Hametsu says, not spitting out my name as if it''s contaminated. Then he smiles a nice smile. ¡°I¡¯ll see you on Monday. And thanks for the card and fruit arrangements,¡± he says.

    ¡°Sure no problem!¡± Roxy and I say in unison. We look at each other and blush. Hametsu chuckles a bit.

    ¡°Bye guys,¡± Sakura says.

    ¡°Bye,¡± we respond.

    ¡°See you,¡± Roxy says. We leave the hospital building shortly after that and head to my car.

    When we get into the car we sit in awkward silence. I want to talk with her the way I normally do. It gets so awkward, I just had to break it.

    ¡°So. Hametsu. He''s interesting,¡± I say.

    ¡°Yeah. I found out that he has a twin sister,¡± Roxy says.

    ¡°He never said anything about it to me. Is she coming to our school?¡±

    ¡°No. Hametsu told me that she goes to an all girl¡¯s private boarding school,¡± Roxy explains. ¡°He talks to her often though.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Interesting. But doesn''t he have an older brother?¡± I ask. Why I didn''t bother to ask Hametsu about his family will always be a mystery to me.

    ¡°No. His legal guardian has been taking care of him ever since his mother became an alcoholic after his father died,¡± she tells me. I feel pretty bad for him. But he never said any of that to me. Why did he tell her?

    ¡°Why did he bring this up to you? I was talking with him on the phone this morning.¡±

    ¡°It probably didn''t occur to him at that time. After that depressing conversation, he proceeded to explain, in detail, why he hates romance movies. He cusses a lot. Then he told me why he loves horror movies,¡± she says, somewhat appalled. ¡°I¡¯ll never figure out why. He noticed my discomfort and decided to talk about fruit. He likes tangerines. He knows a lot of things about fruit. It was a very engaging conversation.¡±

    Apparently, Hametsu loves talking about random things and not so appropriate topics. He catches himself then changes it to a more appropriate topic.

    After discussing Hametsu for five to ten minutes, we turn on the music. The song that is playing is so depressing, we had to turn it off after two seconds. I decide to turn on my playlist.

    We talk about stuff that we normally talk about, such as animals and ecology, bacon, a banana¡¯s color, and zebras.

    Don''t ask about the banana thing and the zebras. We just somehow end up talking about them. Then again we end up talking about a lot of weird things. We debate about the difference between a crocodile and an alligator a lot, even though we both know the difference. We just do that for fun.

    ¡°I just don''t get why they''re called crocodiles,¡± she says.

    ¡°They are from the family of Crocodilia.¡±

    ¡°But alligators are in that family too. So are caiman and gharials. It makes no sense.¡±

    I shrug.

    ¡°I swear science is made to confuse us. But ecology is one of my better subjects. I suck at biology for whatever reason,¡± I say. ¡°And MATH. That is the creation of the devil himself.¡±

    ¡°Kal it''s not that bad. Who''s your teacher?¡±

    ¡°Mrs. Mackey.¡±

    Roxy cringes. She pats me on the back.

    ¡°I see that you switched teachers. I heard Mrs. Mackey is relentless with homework.¡± Roxy says.

    ¡°No. That''s Mr. Bane. Mrs. Mackey is strict and the most serious person alive,¡± I say. ¡°Why did they make me switch teachers in the middle of the semester?¡±

    Roxy shrugs. We sit in silence for the rest of the car ride home.

    About twenty minutes later I drop Roxy off at her home, just in time for her spa day with her mom.

    ¡°Thank you, Kal for taking me home!!¡± She says happily. Her parents thank me too.

    ¡°it''s my pleasure! See you on Monday!¡± I call back. I go back into my car and drive home.

    I walk into the house and see a package on the table. It arouses my curiosity. I see that it is addressed to me.

    The package is a small cardboard box that fits in the palm of my hand. I take a small pocket knife and open the box. Inside is a necklace with a dragonfly charm on it. I take it out and put it on. It looks pretty cool on me. I take it off.

    I look into the box again and see a note. I can¡¯t understand most of the note because it''s written in that weird symbol like language. But it said something about protecting the necklace from the forces of darkness. I don''t know how I¡¯m able to understand some of it.

    The note and the package don¡¯t say who it¡¯s from. But I don''t want to worry about it right now. I put the necklace back in the box, go to my room, and put the box in one of my snack drawers.

    My thoughts soon turn to Roxy. My face turns red again. I keep pondering what Hametsu kept telling us on how we should start dating. The thought has a unique way of both scaring me and exciting me. I know I can''t deny it any longer.

    I''m in love with Roxy. My childhood friend since we were babies. Hametsu''s right. He knows that I''m subconsciously in love with her and decided to bring it up.

    My mind can''t stop thinking about her for two solid hours. I kept thinking about how I''m going to ask her out.

    I push that thought out of my mind, which takes me longer than I expect.

    Then the thought of Roxy being my WIFE pops into my head. I''m mortified and completely embarrassed for some reason. I run up to my room and lay face-first on my bed.

    I suddenly begin to cry. I don''t cry very often. I grab another pillow and cry into it. I cry myself to sleep.

    I have the most disturbing dream that I think I have ever had in my entire life.

    In the dream, there is a war going on. The soldiers have swords and shields. They have fairy wings. WINGS!!! Some are black, others are white. The white wings are fighting the black wings and losing. I look up. In the air, there is a figure with black dragonfly wings. He is holding a scythe and looking ahead. I turn to see what he is looking at. In the distance, there is a large castle. The guy is smiling cruelly.

    ¡°FAE WILL BELONG TO THE DEATH FAIRIES!!!!¡± He shouts. The people with the black wings cheer and overpower the white wings.

    The person who shouted laughs an inhumanly cruel laugh. I don''t think I have ever heard such cruel laughter in my life.

    I wake up with a start. Cold sweat is rolling down my face.

    I text Roxy as fast as I can about the dream.

    ¡°That¡¯s so weird,¡± She replies.

    I call her.

    ¡°That was the weirdest dream I ever had,¡± I say.

    ¡°Sounds like it,¡± she replies.

    ¡°Sorry to disturb your spa day,¡± I tell her.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Roxy says. ¡°I gotta go. Talk to you later,¡±

    ¡°Alright. Enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± she says.

    As soon as I hang up, I suddenly receive another call.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Hi Kal.¡±

    It''s Hametsu. He spits my name out again.

    ¡°Will you stop spitting my name out as if it''s contaminated.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll stop. Maybe,¡± he says. ¡°Sooo whatcha up to?¡± He asks.

    ¡°Nothing much. Just woke up from a nap.¡± I reply. ¡°What are you up to?¡±

    ¡°I''m getting out today,¡± he says. ¡°Jeez, my clothes reek. They need to be washed. I don''t want to catch another cold.¡±

    ¡°Please don''t.¡±

    ¡°I won''t. Don''t worry,¡± he says.

    I want to ask him a few questions.

    ¡°So Hametsu, I have a few questions I want to ask you.¡±

    ¡°I may or may not have answers to your questions,¡± he says.

    ¡°How long have you lived with your guardian?¡±

    ¡°About, uh, I wanna say, 10 or 11 years. For a while.¡± He replies.

    ¡°I don''t mean to be all personal and all up in your business, but, can I ask what happened?¡±

    ¡°I saw my dad get murdered and my mom died of alcohol poisoning. She had too much to drink at once. I saw that happen too. When I was seven.¡±

    I''m speechless. I didn''t know what to say.

    ¡°Dude- I- uh- I don''t know what to say,¡± I say like an idiot.

    ¡°Don''t pity me. I hate it. I hate being known as the poor little boy who saw his parents die in front of him,¡± he spat. ¡°I have no innocence left in me. That''s why I like seeing horror movies. The most terrifying horror movies out there. It distracts me from my emotions. I don¡¯t mind watching bloody stuff either. If anything, I somewhat enjoy it,¡± he says. I can sense this crazy grin on his face. He definitely has a major screw loose.

    ¡°Uh, dude are you, like, literally insane?¡± I ask.

    He starts laughing. Then he composes himself.

    ¡°Sorry about that. I''ve been tested. I''m partially insane. 70% to be exact. I have some sanity. That sanity is my awareness of my insanity therefore I can control it¡­ Sort of. It comes out on its own sometimes,¡± he rambles. ¡°I hate it when that happens.¡±

    ¡°I have one more question to ask,¡± I say. That is the dumbest, most idiotic thing I have ever said because the answer he gave me is completely insane.

    ¡°What do you like most about life?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Death.¡±

 Chapter 3

    ¡°Define that. Are you suicidal?¡± I ask. I have no idea what he means when he says ¡°death¡±.

    ¡°No. I just like the idea of life after death.¡± Hametsu says. I want to end the conversation right there. Right now. It got dark.

    ¡°I gotta go. I have to do¡­ things. So I''ll see you Monday. Bye.¡±

    I hang up on him and text Roxy about two hours later.

    Me: Hametsu is 70% insane. He''s been tested. I''m seriously doubting if we can ever be friends with him.

    Roxy: Kal, give him a chance. He was sick for three months. He can change.

    Me: Yeah, but...

    Roxy: Kallan. Second chance.

    I can sense that she is stern with that reply.

    She''s right. I haven''t gotten to know him very well. Maybe he''s just joking with me and he really isn''t a near insane lunatic. But his love of horror movies is real. He likes to talk about it. A lot.

    I honestly have no idea where this thought came up, but I''m hoping that he isn''t genocidal and hates everyone and wants to kill us all after he grows bored with ruling the world. I don''t know why that thought came into my head. It just did. It¡¯s probably my anxiety that thought that.

    A lot of weird things come into my head. Like that time when I wrote about mini-fridges for my English homework, as I¡¯ve mentioned before.

    I kept texting Roxy for a while. We talk about many different things. Then I randomly text, without even thinking, if we can hang out next weekend.

    ¡°Um¡­ Sure I guess.¡±

    I gave myself about fifty mental lashes. I''m such an idiot.

    ¡°So uh¡­ Any suggestions?¡± I ask.

    ¡°We could go see a movie.¡± She replies. I agree. We both want to see Jumanji because the trailers for it look amazing, plus we''re both fans of Dwayne Johnson. So I buy the tickets online and we decide to go to the 8:30 pm showing.

    When we stop, I scream in my pillow for a good five seconds. I swear I want to cry again. I text my mom about my date with Roxy. She is very proud and tells me not to rush into a relationship and, of course, she gives me her favorite saying:

    ¡°Early is on time, on time is late, late is unacceptable.¡±

    I laugh a little bit when she tells me that.

    I get off my phone and do a little house cleaning. Sweeping the floors, cleaning the bathrooms which is pretty gross, and the ever constant war between me and my bedroom. I swear I clean it one day and the next day it looks like a tornado hit it. Then there are the stains. Those evil stains. I get rid of one and a new one takes its place. It''s a never ending war. I should stop being so clumsy with spilling things.

    Then I need to clean my entire desk. I have to remove everything out of the drawers and clean the insides of the drawers. I have special cleaning supplies for them. It''s called: Orange Glo. That wood cleaner stuff you get at the local store. I¡¯ve seen ads for it on TV and decided to try using it for my desk. I honestly really like that stuff, but that''s just my personal preference. People can use whatever wood cleaning product they like.

    Then I tackle my floor.

    ¡°All right, floor, it¡¯s just you and me. Those stains will be removed whether you like it or not,¡± I say. I aim the stain remover at a particularly annoying stain. It never goes away permanently. I get rid of it and a week later it reappears.

    I will get rid of that stain even if it kills me.

    I spray it with the carpet stain remover and scrub it like there''s no tomorrow. The foamy stuff goes from white to a disgusting brownish-black color, sort of like rot. I rinse it off with water and the stain is gone, temporarily. I clean my other stains. Those actually go away. The one by my bed though, that one stupid stain, never goes away. It''s taunting me.

    I even changed carpets twice and had the area underneath the carpet cleaned.

    It. Reappears. Every. Single. Time.

    I screamed: ¡°MOM IT CAME BACK!!!¡± When I saw it again.

    I hate that stupid stain. It''s a nightmare to get rid of. Just an absolute nightmare. I can''t get rid of it.

    Anyway, I grow bored after a few minutes so I decide to go on my laptop and fool around on Facebook and Instagram for a while. Hametsu sent me a friend request on Facebook which I reluctantly accepted. He isn''t on at the moment, which I am silently thankful for. I had enough pessimism for one day. Pessimism and insanity. He''s starting to drive me a little crazy.

    Two of my other friends, Adair and Aidan, are currently on and bombard me with a bunch of invites to games. They''re brothers. Adair is 27 and the more mature one. Aidan is 30 and has a little bit of a wild side. I''ve known them for basically my entire life because they used to babysit me all the time. I spend a few hours talking to them. Then I go to eat dinner and get ready for bed and promise to text them later that week.

    When Monday rolls around I almost dread it. Hametsu had a really bad reputation at his old school, bad enough to get him expelled. I really hope he won''t be like that now. He did say he is going to change.

    But he''s being a moderate jerk to the biggest jerks in school. Everyone else isn''t worth his time.

    Sakura is a bit harsh. A girl says hi to Hametsu and she''s clinging to him glaring at the girl who spoke to him with dagger-like eyes. She¡¯s possessive. Hametsu tells her to lighten up.

    She acts differently towards Roxy though. She has it in her head that I''m dating Roxy. Which is good I guess because she kinda scares me.

    ¡°Roxy your boyfriend is here,¡± Sakura says.

    I can tell that Roxy gave up on telling them that we''re not dating¡­. Yet. I''m actually considering dating her. I mean I did ask her out last night so I guess that''s a step forward.

    ¡°Hey guys,¡± I say rather glumly.

    ¡°Dude, what''s wrong?¡± Hametsu asks. ¡°You look glum.¡± I can hear a hint of pleasure in his voice. He¡¯s enjoying my moodiness. I scowl. He smiles.

    I didn''t answer.

    ¡°Don''t give me the silent treatment. I did nothing wrong,¡± he says. Roxy eyes me sharply. I sigh, slightly agitated.

    ¡°I''m just tired.¡± I finally say.

    ¡°Understandable dude,¡± he tells me.

    Hametsu is wearing a dark green hoodie with his sleeves rolled up. He''s wearing dark grey jeans and black converse. He has a black Jansport backpack that looks like it has nothing in it but is full when he opens it up. Three different folders and textbooks, and PE clothes. Plus some loose papers and a pencil. He pulls out his schedule.

    ¡°Mrs. Mackey. Sixth period. Is she cool?¡± He asks.

    ¡°Strictest teacher in the history of everything,¡± I say. ¡°She''s also very serious. Don''t attempt to crack any jokes or it''s an automatic detention.¡± It''s true. I once tried to tell her a joke my dad once told me, I got a thirty minute detention for just asking if she wanted to hear it. She labeled it as ¡°disrupting class¡±. That day we were all done with classwork and notes and she gave us free time. Which half the class translated as ¡°do your homework¡±. I was like ¡°haha no. Time to fool around on my phone,¡± and she didn''t like it.

    I laugh silently to myself.

    ¡°What''s so funny Kallan?¡± Hametsu asks me.

    ¡°For the millionth time-¡±

    ¡°I don''t care,¡± he says, cutting me off. I scowl.

    I notice that for some reason people seem to be slightly afraid of Hametsu. Except for the jerks who decide to pick a fight with him.

    ¡°Look it''s the new kid.¡± One of them says.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you too,¡± Hametsu says, with his voice dripping in sarcasm. He is holding on to Sakura as if his life depends on it. I guess he¡¯s also defensive of his loved ones.

    ¡°Who''s the pink haired chick?¡± Another one asks.

    ¡°This is Sakura, my girlfriend,¡± Hametsu replies, getting very defensive. ¡°If you touch her you will end up in a hospital having your bones reconstructed. That''s how badly I will beat you.¡±

    ¡°Liar,¡± A third one says.

    ¡°I''ve seen it happen,¡± Sakura warns. ¡°It''s actually kinda scary.¡±

    Roxy and I are just listening to their conversation, not even bothering to jump in. They kept arguing about which one of the two is a better fighter, Alec, the jerk leader, or Hametsu, the new kid.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Fine, then we''ll fight. Today at four o''clock, after school near the old park.¡± Alec says. I can tell Hametsu isn''t one to back down from a fight, no matter how many times people warn him.

    ¡°Great. See ya then. I hope you know what you''re getting into.¡± Hametsu says.

    The jerk group walks away.

    ¡°I hate them,¡± Hametsu says. He hugs Sakura.

    ¡°We can tell after how menacingly you spoke to them,¡± Roxy says.

    ¡°It was pretty startling,¡± I say.

    He smiles. He looks very proud of himself. He actually has a pleasant smile.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get to class already. I don¡¯t want to be late,¡± I say.

    First period rolls around and is generally pretty much the same, aside from Hametsu telling us that he¡¯s allergic to sunflower seeds. He didn''t go into much detail about it.

    One of those jerks is in the class too. I see this smirk on his face that didn¡¯t look friendly at all.

    I eye him coldly. He flips me off. Hametsu looks at him and smirks a very cold smirk.

    He sits down next to me.

    We vigorously take notes and we try to ask the teacher to slow down. He refuses.

    Hametsu is also in my PE class. Today we have to run the mile. Oh god please no. I hate the mile. Hametsu is fast. He is the first to finish the mile. I''m somewhere in the middle.

    Hametsu just leans on the fence, lost in thought. Then this evil looking grin crept upon his face. He''s most likely having an insane episode again. I know he tends to have a strong hate towards certain people. I decide to try and help him with his insanity problem.

    ¡°Yo Hametsu.¡±

    He sighs.

    ¡°The insanity of my mind is blooming right now. I need help,¡± he says. ¡°Help me get out of it.¡±

    ¡°So, how do I help you?¡± I ask him.

    ¡°Just talk to me about stuff that doesn''t involve torture or whatever,¡± he says. I can see the insanity in his eyes and him struggling to control it

    I''m not exactly paying attention because a caterpillar is crawling next to his foot. I go over to it and pick it up. It''s a western swallowtail butterfly caterpillar because it''s green and has eye spots close to its head. It''s fat, almost ready to become a chrysalis. A couple of days away it looks like.

    Hametsu notices the caterpillar I''m holding. A look of disgust crosses his face.

    ¡°Ew, gross. Caterpillars,¡± he says. I''m offended.

    Caterpillars are cool. They turn into butterflies and butterflies are pretty.

    The caterpillar quickly crawls up my arm and onto my shoulder.

    ¡°Yeah you better crawl away you stupid bug,¡± Hametsu says.

    ¡°Dude that was mean!! Caterpillars have feelings too.¡± I say in defense of the cute little caterpillar. The thing seems to be afraid of Hametsu. He sighs and apologizes.

    On the way back to the locker room, I stop by a plant that western swallowtail caterpillars like to eat and put the caterpillar on a leaf. It wiggles its head and six front legs at me and happily begins munching away on the leaf. I smile at it.

    Then Hametsu grabs me by my arm and drags me away towards the boy¡¯s locker room to dress out.

    ¡°I hate bugs. Especially butterflies,¡± He tells me.

    ¡°Why? Butterflies are cool.¡± I retort. He scoffs.

    ¡°My mom told me that butterflies represent the beauty of life, and life''s a bitch in my opinion,¡± he growls, as we change back into regular clothing. He has a six pack on his abs, which made me jealous.

    I''m offended by his remark. Butterflies are important to the world. They bring beauty and color and are a symbol of change. But I do understand where he''s coming from, having to deal with the death of his parents while still in elementary school. It¡¯s incredibly unfair for someone who had to witness the cruelty life can bring at such a young age.

    ¡°I can see your point, but it was still kind of offensive,¡± I say. He sighs heavily, most likely missing his parents and wishing life is fairer to him. When he finishes changing he gets his stuff and storms off to his next class without another word.

    At lunch Hametsu, Roxy, Sakura, and I sit by the quad area near the hallway near Mrs. Mackey¡¯s room. Hametsu seems to be in a much better mood.

    ¡°You said that you were allergic to sunflower seeds. How bad is the allergy?¡± I ask.

    Hametsu swallows his food before he responds.

    ¡°They make me feel a feeling that is similar to being high,¡± He says. ¡°You don''t want to see me like that. I get violent. Really violent,¡± he explains, pretty ashamed. ¡°and I get really cruel. In that state, I can''t control it. I also break out in hives shortly afterward.¡±

    ¡°Ok so we need to keep sunflower seeds away from you,¡± I say. We laugh.

    I''m completely unaware of my surroundings. I didn''t even see the caterpillar as it''s crawling up my arm. Roxy tells me.

    ¡°Kal there''s a caterpillar on your arm,¡± she says to me. I look down. it''s the same caterpillar from my PE class. It wiggles its six front legs at me. I cautiously wave back. Hametsu begins to laugh a little bit.

    ¡°That¡¯s cute, but let me get rid of that caterpillar for you.¡± He says trying to reach over. I gently grab the caterpillar and place it on my shoulder.

    ¡°You just want to kill it. I will not let you do such a bad thing,¡± I say. The caterpillar rests happily on my shoulder. Hametsu rolls his eyes. Then the jerk group comes and they decide to pick a fight with him. Great. Just great. That''s the last thing he wants. I can tell by the really cold way glares at them. There is also a look of absolute annoyance. We all share that look of annoyance.

    ¡°You still up for the fight, Hammy?¡± Alec says.

    I swear I think Hametsu is about to rip Alec¡¯s head off.

    ¡°As ready as I''ll ever be asshat.¡± He replies in a voice so cold, it sends shivers down our spines. Me, Roxy, Sakura, and the jerk group. We all shudder. He smiles, obviously pleased with himself, but quickly stops seeing the shivers it gave us.

    They walk away, talking about some upcoming wrestling match that Alec will be in.

    Everyone knows Alec is on the wrestling team. He also does karate and is a first degree black belt.

    ¡°Hey Hametsu, what degree black belt are you?¡±

    ¡°Third, almost fourth. I''m having a test for karate on Wednesday, jujitsu on Thursday, kung fu on Friday, taekwondo on Saturday-¡±

    ¡°We get it,¡± I say, cutting him off. He shrugs and continues anyway.

    ¡°Hapkido is tonight. I was supposed to have one last Saturday for judo, but you know I was sick so I had it pushed back until I got better, and tomorrow for aikido,¡± he explains. ¡°Also these are all make up tests.¡±

    ¡°Dude. How much do you know?¡± I ask. ¡°How long have you been training?!¡±

    ¡°Since I could walk,¡± he says. ¡°So about 16 years. And some of the tests I had pretty early. I got a black belt in all of them when I was five.¡±

    ¡°Don''t end up killing Alec. The last thing we need is you getting arrested.¡± I caution him.

    ¡°I know how to control myself. Unless I eat a sunflower seed,¡± he says.

    Hametsu and I get entirely lost in our conversation. We talk about mushrooms, martial arts, poisonous plants and animals, bacon, and fruit, specifically pineapples. We had a debate on its pronunciation. Causing us to fall into fits of laughter occasionally.

    It''s a really interesting conversation and he tells me that he once ate a wild mushroom thinking it was a safe one. That part of the conversation quickly gets depressing so I turn it around to weird fruits. We talk about the durian, which he says he once had.

    ¡°Dude it smells horrible, and it tastes just as bad as it smells,¡± he tells us. ¡°I don¡¯t understand how some people like it.¡±

    Roxy has to tell us when the bell rings because we are so lost in conversation, we didn''t even hear it.

    I lost track of the caterpillar but I hope it''s safe wherever it is.

    Hametsu takes a seat next to me in math. We talk about math and how evil it is.

    Then Mrs. Mackey comes up and begins teaching.

    ¡°Alright, class.¡± She starts. ¡°Let''s introduce Hametsu Yamashi, the transfer student.¡±

    Hametsu stands up and introduces himself.

    ¡°I''m Hametsu. I''m 17. My favorite color is a dark forest green and I have a girlfriend and if you try to hit on her I''ll make you regret it. Thank you,¡± he says. After that, he sits down. He smiles a nice smile.

    Mrs. Mackey turns around and begins teaching about tangent lines and circles. Hametsu made a gagging face at me and we quietly laugh.

    After school is over, I meet up with Roxy at our usual place by the large oak tree near the school. Hametsu follows me.

    ¡°Wanna watch me fight Alec?¡± he asks.

    To be honest I kinda did.

    ¡°Sorta yeah. I guess,¡± I say. He literally grabs me and drags me to the old park.

    Apparently, the news of the fight spread quickly because there are like twenty people there.

    ¡°Ready to lose twerp?¡± Alec taunts.

    ¡°I''m going to have you begging for mercy by the end of this,¡± Hametsu replies.

    They soon begin fighting. Alec tries to land a blow on him by punching and kicking but Hametsu easily avoids his shots. Then Hametsu does some very advanced kicks that involve jumping in the air. Alec blocks it but it''s obvious that it hurt him. Then Hametsu begins trying to punch him. Alec blocks some of them, but Hametsu is too fast and Alec ends up with a bloody nose.

    Then Hametsu begins kicking him in the gut and face. Then he pauses to take a quick breath. That''s when I see a sunflower seed fly into his mouth.

    Hametsu ate it and spat the shell out. I don¡¯t even know why he did that despite his allergy. He becomes dazed, I see some hives break out on his neck. I immediately know what¡¯s coming. The uncontrollable cruel side is coming out. I can see him struggling to control it but he fails. I see the cruelty flood his eyes.

    Alec lands a few blows on him, but before he can land the final blow, Hametsu grabs his hand, and then I hear his bones crunching. Hametsu begins to crush the bones of Alec¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Which one of you idiots told him about my allergy to sunflower seeds?¡± Hametsu says in a cruel voice.

    Everyone froze.

    ¡°Answer me. NOW!!!¡± He demands. ¡°Or else your friend here won''t have any bones left in his hand.¡± Hametsu squeezes Alec''s hand a little more. Alec cries out in pain and goes on his knees.

    No one moves. They are too scared. He smirks while his eyes shine brightly with pleasure at Alec''s pain. He squeezes tighter. Blood starts to come out of Alec¡¯s hand.

    Finally, that kid from our first period class is shoved forward with a small bag of sunflower seeds. Hametsu sees him and eyes him very coldly.

    ¡°Give me one reason why I shouldn''t be doing this to you,¡± he says.

    The kid stood there, terrified like a deer caught in headlights.

    ¡°I''m waiting for an answer,¡± Hametsu says. Alec begins to plead for him to stop. Hametsu kicks him in the gut and slightly tightens his grip. More bone crunching noises can be heard.

    The kid begins to stammer out an answer.

    ¡°You have every right,¡± he says, shaking.

    Hametsu isn''t satisfied.

    ¡°That''s not a reason. I just want one simple reason why this shouldn''t be you!!¡± Hametsu changes his position to a sort of move that looks like he''s about to break Alec¡¯s arm. He bent hard. I heard something snap.

    ¡°JUST MAKE HIM STOP!!! PLEASE MAKE HIM STOP!!¡± Alec pleads. He begins crying.

    ¡°Answer me,¡± Hametsu demands again. His smirk grew wider and crueler. He laughs a bit. I know his cruel side is bad, but I didn¡¯t expect this.

    ¡°I told Alec that you were allergic to sunflower seeds and he made me get some so he can win,¡± The kid says frantically. ¡°I don¡¯t have a legitimate reason for you to not do this to me, but please stop hurting him.¡±

    ¡°Well clearly he isn''t winning,¡± Hametsu sneers. ¡°Very well then.¡±

    Hametsu drops Alec on the ground and slaps the kid so hard, the kid loses balance. He ends up falling backward.

    ¡°You''re a monster,¡± Alec gasps.

    ¡°I''ve been called worse,¡± Hametsu retorts.

    Hametsu grabs his backpack and walks away after harshly warning everyone that if they tell anyone about what happened, they will be granted no mercy.

    The crowd eventually disbands. Some people help get Alec to the hospital. I''m left standing there, terrified. I''m shaking. I walk home, regretting my decision of watching Hametsu fight.

 Chapter 4

    When I arrive home I walk up to my room and plop myself on my bed. I''m shaken up by what I just witnessed. Man, I didn¡¯t know he was that cruel. I curl up in a ball and play on my phone to desperately get that fight out of my head. After a short while, I feel something crawl off my head. I put my hand up there and pick up whatever is crawling. I''m startled to see that it''s the caterpillar from school.

    ¡°What are you doing here little guy? You should be at the school,¡± I say, not that it would be able to talk back. It¡¯s a caterpillar.

    ¡°You mean that building those humans walk in and out of?¡±

    My entire body froze. I''m not at all expecting that.  Did a caterpillar seriously start talking to me, or am I losing my mind? I''m seriously hoping it''s the first one. I don¡¯t want to end up being admitted to a mental institute for believing a caterpillar spoke to me in an adorable squeaky voice. Watching that fight took a bigger toll on my psyche than I though.

    ¡°What? Did I scare you? I''m sorry, my prince,¡± the caterpillar says.

    ¡°You''re¡­ forgiven?¡± I say, questioning the fact that I''m really talking to a caterpillar. I miss the part where he calls me Prince. ¡°Am I hallucinating? Or are you actually speaking to me?¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry my prince!! You''re just fine!! After being in the human world for so long, you are just now getting in touch with your powers.¡±

    I''m completely lost.

    ¡°Okay, what?¡± I ask. ¡°Who and what are you?¡±

    The caterpillar raises its head and introduces itself.

    ¡°I am Excalibur, the legendary sword wielded by King Arthur in the first Great War against evil over two thousand years ago. I have remained dormant until the Prince of Life was born.¡± The caterpillar explains.

    I''m talking to a caterpillar who claims to be a sword. This is weird. I am desperately hoping that this is a dream. My anxiety has reached a point where I¡¯m hallucinating. I had to get up from my bed to walk around a bit and clear my thoughts.

    ¡°What?¡± I say, really surprised. ¡°What''s the Prince of Life? And how are you a sword?¡±

    ¡°The Prince of Life is the savior of the realm of Fae, my home, and the home to all fairies. M¨¤thair N¨¤dar, the Mother Goddess and the creator of Fae, prophesied that the Death King will return and plague the realm with the Black Death. But in the darkest of times, a savior will be born and restore all that the Death King has destroyed. He is the Prince of Life. He will bring peace and prosperity to the realm of Fae.¡± Excalibur says.

    I''m lost, and I think math is confusing. This takes the cake. I¡¯d rather deal with math than figure this mess out.  I honestly don¡¯t know why I continued talking. I guess it helps me relieve my stress? But this is adding more stress at the same time.

    ¡°What do I have to do with him?¡± I ask. Excalibur hung its head.

    ¡°You don''t know?¡±

    ¡°Know what?¡± I ask it.

    ¡°You were only a baby when your mother gave you to your adoptive parents to live in the Human Realm.¡±

    My mind is still trying to figure it out. I''m so confused. I mean, I love fairies, but I don¡¯t believe they exist. Okay, maybe a little bit but not to that extent. There is no way this is true. Then being told I¡¯m a prince? There is something very wrong with me.

    Then, my back starts to hurt, but it''s not a sharp pain type of hurt. It''s like something is growing out of my back hurt.

    I go downstairs to take ibuprofen. I open the bottle and take a pill out and get some water. Just as I''m about ready to take it, the caterpillar knocks it out of my hand. I''m surprised at its dexterity.

    ¡°Dude seriously!! Why?¡±

    ¡°Don''t take human medication! It''s bad. It puts poisonous things in a fairy''s body!!¡± it tells me.

    ¡°But my back is killing me!¡± I retorted. ¡°Why do you keep insisting that I¡¯m not human?¡±

    ¡°Kallan. You are the Prince of Life. You need to take care of yourself,¡± it scolded.

    ¡°What do you suggest then?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a healing herb?¡±

    I think about it for a moment and remember that my mom has pain killing herbs growing in the backyard. I go back there. The herbs are ready for harvest so I take a few leaves.

    ¡°Should I dry them out and put them in boiled water?¡± I ask the caterpillar. Why am I asking a caterpillar for advice? I''m pretty sure that I¡¯ve gone crazy. This has to be a dream. I don''t believe that I''m a fairy prince, let alone a fairy in general. It just doesn''t seem logical.

    ¡°Also, I don''t like Hametsu. He''s really scary. Something about him seems off,¡± Excalibur says.

    ¡°He''s a bit weird, and occasionally has some insane spells, but he catches himself and apologizes.¡±

    ¡°I sense a dark presence from him. You should keep your guard up,¡± Excalibur warns.

    I roll my eyes. Hametsu may have a screw loose, but he isn¡¯t evil. I would know if he¡¯s evil. No one evil apologizes for their behavior unless they¡¯ve changed for the better. I watch too many movies. Besides, he¡¯s a good kid. He¡¯s trying to change.

    My mind turns to Roxy. I begin blushing. I am very much in love with her.

    ¡°My prince are you sick? Your face is red.¡± Excalibur asks, concerned.

    ¡°What? Oh. No, I''m just blushing. I keep thinking about this girl I like. Her name is Roxanne-¡±

    ¡°Lady Roxanne is here too?!¡± Excalibur exclaimes, making me jolt with surprise. That squeaky caterpillar has a loud voice.

    ¡°What?¡± I ask, confused.

    ¡°Lady Roxanne is your betrothed! Your fianc¨¦! She was probably moved here along with you to protect you two from the Death King¡¯s grasp.¡±

    ¡°Who is the Death King?¡± I ask. I grew increasingly annoyed at this fairy royalty talk, but I didn¡¯t say anything and hid it. Although I am curious about this Death King.

    ¡°The Death King is evil. He wants to destroy the realm of Fae and make it his kingdom. He rules the Death Fairies and wants to enslave the rest of us,¡± Excalibur explains. ¡°He''s a bad bad man.¡±

    If I really am the Prince of Life or whatever, then I have a huge responsibility to uphold. I don''t believe any of that. But then again, weird things have been happening. I can read that weird symbol like language that I like to write in. Except, I didn''t even know it was a language until that day where I fainted in the shower. So I don''t even know anymore.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    I''m actually really confused now. How on earth am I a fairy?! I was raised on earth, I was born a human. I don¡¯t have wings or magical powers. That would be awesome honestly but that stuff doesn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°I''m going crazy,¡± I say silently to myself. Trying to set my mind straight.

    ¡°I assure you, my prince, you''re not going crazy,¡± Excalibur assures me. I''m not convinced. I''m talking to a caterpillar who says he''s a sword. That talking caterpillar says I''m a life prince or whatever. He also claims to be from a realm called Fae. Then he says I''m a fairy. What the heck is going on? I''m hopelessly confused. I¡¯m trying to make sense of this and tell myself otherwise.

    I decide to let the pain killing herbs dry and make tea out of it. I take some string and tie the leaves in a small bundle. I hung them inside by the window, and let them dry out in the brightest and hottest room in the house, my room. Yeah, my room gets very hot due to how much sunlight it tends to get. I know they will dry out quickly. Then I sit on my bed and stare at my wall. I admire the way the trees are painted and how some of the trees had buds on them. I like how the bushes have ripe fruits on them and how clumps of flowers are in full bloom. Then I look at that stain. That one stupid, horrifyingly stubborn stain came back and I just cleaned it on Saturday. Why does it never go away?!

    I sigh. My back still burns. I decide to just do my homework to distract myself.

    I work on ecology. My favorite subject. I seem to know everything about it. I get done in like twenty minutes. Then I crack down on math. That takes almost two hours to finish. English takes about an hour. Same with history. After I finish, I look around my room for a while, admiring the lifelike paintings. I''ve always thought it was weird how it changes according to the seasons. I eventually fell asleep.

    About an hour later, I wake up with a start. A jolt of pain shot down my back. I lay back down. My back feels super uncomfortable so I turn on my stomach and run my hand down my back. I feel something like a long, thin lump. Two of them, parallel to each other. It scares me. I rush to the bathroom to take a look at it.

    ¡°What''s wrong, my prince?¡± Excalibur asks. I show him. He didn''t seem too concerned.

    ¡°What the heck is this?!¡± I ask, whispering in surprise.

    ¡°Your wings!¡± He says, excitedly.

    ¡°Huh?! What the-¡± I turn around, trying to get a better look. I''m so shocked. I want to tell my parents, but I don''t know how they will react. My mom will most definitely freak out and send me to the Emergency Room to get it checked out and removed. My dad will be with her, also freaking out.

    ¡°Should I tell my adopted parents?¡± I ask Excalibur.

    ¡°If you want. I¡¯m not stopping you,¡± Excalibur says.

    ¡°How long will that take?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Do I look like an expert on fairy anatomy to you? I''m just a sword. Well, when I hatch out of my chrysalis I¡¯ll be able to turn into the sword,¡± he says with some sass.

    ¡°Right,¡± I say skeptically. I still didn''t exactly believe all of this. But two parallel lumps are growing out of my back and they burn, so I¡¯m starting to doubt it. Reason eventually kicks in

    My mind soon turns to the herbs I left hanging out to dry. I look over and see that they are already dry. So I take them and go downstairs.

    My parents come home from work when I go down.

    ¡°Hey, mom. Hey, dad.¡± I say.

    ¡°Hi, Kallan! How was school?¡± Mom asks.

    ¡°Average. Hametsu was there today. He got into a fight after school and he broke his opponent''s arm and crushed the bones in his hand.¡± I say. Just thinking about it made me sick. I take some and boil some water.

    I wait for a few minutes and the water starts to boil. I put the herbs and some cut berries in the water and wait a few more minutes. Then I get a cup out and pour some of my tea into it and drink it after letting it cool down for a bit. It tastes nice.

    ¡°Kallan are you ok?¡± Dad asks.

    ¡°I''m quite sure I''m going crazy but other than that I''m fine,¡± I reply.

    ¡°Crazy? How so?¡± Mom asks as she sits down next to me. She gets that look that says she¡¯s ready to start fussing.

    ¡°I think a caterpillar was talking to me. I could be hallucinating but I don''t know.¡±

    ¡°What was it talking about?¡±

    I tell her what the caterpillar told me about being a fairy, a prince savior person, and this place called Fae.

    Mom''s face drops. I didn''t take it as a good sign. She''s for sure hiding something from me.

    ¡°Mom, what are you hiding from me?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Nothing sweetie,¡± she says, avoiding my eyes a bit.

    ¡°Mom. Please tell me,¡± I say. Honestly, I wish I would just drop the subject because I am not ready for what she tells me.

    ¡°Well, Kallan, I know your birth mother. She is a beautiful, wonderful, woman. Everyone loves her. Especially your birth father.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I say.

    Mom takes a deep breath.

    ¡°Your father is also very loved. Everyone admires him. Except for certain people. They want him dead,¡± she explains.

    ¡°What?¡± I ask very confusedly. She takes a deep inhale. Dad walks up to us.

    ¡°Kallan,¡± my dad starts. ¡°I think it¡¯s time that you know the truth.¡±

    ¡°What truth?¡± I ask, getting upset and frustrated.

    ¡°The caterpillar, Excalibur¡­ has been watching over you since you were a baby¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, how did you know that its name was Excalibur?¡± I ask, getting more frustrated.

    ¡°He¡¯s a sword that can change forms when he doesn¡¯t have a person to wield it,¡± my dad explains.

    ¡°What is going on?¡± I ask, fed up and annoyed. They look at each other and sigh.

    ¡°Everything the sword said is true,¡± my dad tells me. My mom takes a minute to say the most shocking thing in my life.

    ¡°Your real parents are King Oberon and Queen Titania,¡± Mom finally says.

    I''m utterly speechless. It takes me a full two minutes to form words again.

    ¡°Are¡­ are you serious?!¡± I ask, on the brink of tears

    ¡°Yes. My husband and I work for the royal court as advisors to the king and queen. Your mother entrusted us to take care of you when the Death King attacked Avalon.¡±

    ¡°Do you know if I have any siblings?¡± I ask her.

    ¡°You have two older brothers. They both loved you so much. They have devoted their lives to protect you from harm,¡± my dad explains.

    I''m stunned and still trying to wrap my head around everything.

    ¡°This is all one big joke. Please tell me this is a big joke right? Is it?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Kallan we¡¯re telling you the truth.¡± Mom says.

    I drink my pain killer tea and reflect on everything that was just said to me.

    I''m a fairy prince. Not just a regular prince, no, I''m a savior fairy prince. I''m supposed to save an entire realm from destruction. What the actual heck?!

    That caterpillar talks to me and says he''s a sword. I feel like I have a strange connection to nature. I have a green thumb and brought our dead apple tree back to life a few years ago and I¡¯m still trying to figure out how I did it. Animals love me. It¡¯s starting to make sense. But those could all be coincidences. There is no way I¡¯m a fairy, let alone Roxy. This is bull crap, absolute bull crap. I refuse to believe it, but part of me tells me that this is all true. I¡¯m so confused.

    My mind suddenly turns to a dream I had a few years ago. I was never sure if it is a dream or not since it feels more like a memory than a dream. Maybe it''s a memory.

    I was a baby, sitting in a cradle made of fancily carved wood. Two people were looking over at me smiling and talking to me, but I couldn''t make out the words and their faces seemed blurry. I only see a few prominent features like hair color. One of them picked me up and I cooed and laughed. The entire thing was out of focus and somewhat blurry. I barely remember the person holding me¡­ I only remember their dark blonde hair and they were wearing white. Another hand takes mine. I remember seeing light brown hair. I cooed and laughed. The voices were muffled, but I could tell they were talking to me. My dream self eventually fell asleep and I woke up in reality.

    I reflect on all of this for a little bit while drinking my tea. The burning sensation goes away. But I''m really confused.

    I stop when I get a phone call. I didn¡¯t recognize the caller ID, so of course, the only logical thing to do is cancel the call right? Well, what I did is the exact opposite. I answer the phone despite every instinct telling me not to. I quickly regret it. I need to not be so impulsive.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I say.

    The person on the other line laughs the inhumanly cruel laugh I heard in my dream on Saturday. Yup. Definitely should not have answered the phone. I want to hang up but I feel frozen in place.

    ¡°Hello, Aelfdene. So nice to hear your voice.¡± the person says.

    ¡°Who is this?¡± I demand.

    ¡°So demanding. Just like your pathetic father,¡± he says.

    ¡°Tell me who you are,¡± I demand again.

    ¡°Kallen who is it?¡± My dad asks. I shrug. Mom tells me to hang up but I¡¯m practically frozen in place. Cold sweat is forming on me. I get the chills and feel terrified, like a dark presence is looming over me, feeding off my present fear. The person on the other end spoke again.

    ¡°Prince of Life. I know where you are located. Once I find you, I¡¯ll kill you. Then all hope will be lost for both realms. Everything will be at my mercy.¡±

    Before I can get another word in, the cruel voice hangs up and I''m left speechless.

 Chapter 5

    <h1>CH 5</h1>

    Once the person on the other end hung up, I had time to think and calm down. First of all, how did that person get my number? Second of all, why does that voice sound a little familiar? Like I heard it in a dream or distant memory. I couldn''t find out where I heard it from, so I decided to drop it. Besides, I promised Aidan an Adair that I''d text them. I kinda think of them more as brothers than friends to be honest, I''ve known them for years. I¡¯ll text them regarding this entire situation. They may know what to do, but I trust them to not call a mental hospital on my family. This stuff is getting way too freaky and I have no idea what to think of it all.

    I decided to group text them.

    Me: Hey Aidan.

    Aidan: Dude Kallan! My bro! How''ve ya been bro?

    Me: Better than I am now

    Aidan: Spill it. If something¡¯s bothering you, you can contact either Adair or me. Ya know that right?

    Me: Yup. I know. Is Adair around?

    Aidan: The dude fell asleep. He''s always been like this ya know. Want me to wake him up

    Adair: What happened?

    Me: Good morning sleeping beauty.

    Adair: Kallan. Seriously. That is so childish.

    Aidan: Pffff says the guy who took a two hour nap and FINALLY woke up!

    Adair: >:( not cool!

    Aidan: Haha sorry.

    Me: Uh are you guys going to let me speak or not?

    Adair: Yes, speak Kallan. Any concerns?

    Me: Well to be honest. Yeah. I have a few.

    Aidan: Do tell bro.

    I began to explain about Hametsu and his outlook on life and his insanity. I didn¡¯t mention the fight he got into. I don¡¯t ever want to bring that up for as long as I live.

    Aidan: This Hametsu dude sounds messed up. Sorry to hear it Kal.

    Me: Yeah. Then a caterpillar started to talk to me.

    Adair: No. That''s logically impossible. Caterpillars can''t talk. It''s not in their biological setup. That is not how nature designed it.

    Aidan: Bro.

    Adair: Yes?

    Aidan: Shut it. You¡¯re not helping one iota.

    Me: No he''s right. Caterpillars can''t talk. I''m going crazy. LOOK OUT GUYS!! KALLAN¡¯S GOING INSANE!! WHEEEE!!

    Adair: Kallan. No. You''re not going crazy. I assure you.

    Me: Oh really?

    Adair: Yes. Really.

    Aidan: You sure Adair?

    Me: Lol. What are you talking about? I am crazy.

    Adair: Kal stop ok? It''s getting a bit creepy.

    Me: Ok fine. Sorry dude.

    We were texting for two solid hours before my mom called me down for dinner. I wasn''t really hungry and I was sort of anxious about the whole fairy thing. I hardly touched my fried rice, even though it¡¯s my favorite food.

    ¡°I''m not hungry,¡± I said as I was getting up.

    ¡°Na ah! Don''t leave. You don''t have to eat but you need to stay at the table,¡± Mom said. I sighed and complied.

    ¡°Kallan is everything alright?¡± Dad asked.

    I shrugged.

    ¡°I guess. I don''t know,¡±  I replied.

    ¡°Are you sure? You look anxious,¡± Mom said.

    I sighed. I was NOT okay. I was full of anxiety and nervous as hell. Hametsu is scaring me. I¡¯m not even going to deny it anymore. He crushed Alec''s hand and broke his arm.

    I felt my eyes tearing up, but I wiped them away.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    I''m so overwhelmed with everything that has happened. I saw Hametsu go crazy and fight. A caterpillar started talking to me. THEN I was told that I''m a frickin FAIRY PRINCE!! After that I got a call that said the person on the other line wants to kill me and rule the world and this made up realm called ¡°Fae¡± or whatever. This is just too much to handle.

    I started crying. I don''t do well with anxiety.

    I went over to my parents and told them about Hametsu and how crazy he is. I even told them about the fight he got into. I told them about the talking caterpillar and how I think I''m going crazy.

    ¡°Kallan honey. I assure you. You''re not going crazy. I''m sorry we didn''t tell you sooner. It''s okay. Everything will be okay. Don''t worry,¡± Mom assured me. Dad came over to me and comforted me too. I felt safe in their arms. My anxiety went away. I felt calm. I wiped away my tears and calmed down.

    ¡°You have no idea how much your birth parents love you. It hurt them when they had to send you away to the Human Realm. They did it to protect you from the Death King.¡± Mom said.

    ¡°Just... who is the Death King?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The Death King is the ruler of the Death Fairies. He passes his heritage from father to son. No one knows who the new one is, but 700 years ago, the previous one released the Black Death on the Human Realm in an attempt to conquer it. Your father defeated him and ended the Black Death.¡± Dad explained. ¡°His son recently took over about a hundred years ago. He was hidden in another world until he was old enough to rule the Death Fairies.¡±

    ¡°He sounds like a cruel person,¡± I stated. It made me scared that I supposedly have to battle and defeat him.

    ¡°He''s very cruel. Every territory he conquers gets drained of life. The people are enslaved. They suffer unimaginable torture for his amusement.¡±

    I was shocked. This Death King is beyond insane. He''s outright deranged. A person who loves to watch people suffer and be in pain doesn''t deserve to call themselves a king. They deserve to be at the bottom of society and homeless just to get a taste at how hard the poor have to struggle just to get something to eat or stay warm.

    But I can''t help but feel bad for those people. No one should be that low in society. People that low get scorned and ridiculed and I HATE it whenever someone gets scorned and ridiculed. It''s not right, even if they deserve it.

    ¡°The Death King doesn''t deserve to call himself king,¡± I said. ¡°He shouldn''t treat people like that.¡±

    My parents nodded.

    ¡°The Death Fairies regard him as their chosen one. The Death King treats his people kindly. But he despises all others and regards them as trash,¡± Dad said.

    ¡°Why though? What did they do to him?¡± I asked.

    Mom and Dad shrugged.

    So this ¡°Death King¡± hates everything and everyone except his own people. In other words, he''s completely biased towards himself and his people.

    ¡°I don''t exactly know what to think about this whole thing,¡± I admitted.

    ¡°I know it''s shocking Kallan. But everyone is here to support you. When you were born, everyone loved the very first breath you took and the loud cry you made. There was a huge festival held in honor of your birth,¡± Mom told me.

    ¡°But how did everyone know that I was their savior or whatever?¡± I asked.

    ¡°There was a prophecy written long ago. I don¡¯t know the details very well. All I know is that the Prince of Life will be born in a dark time,¡± Mom informed.

    ¡°The prophecy is well known around fae. The full details are fuzzy. The full prophecy is hidden in the royal archives. Not a lot of people have access to it,¡± Dad explained. ¡°We don¡¯t have access to it.¡±

    I was relatively speechless. I still didn''t know what to think of everything. I was excused from dinner and I went to my room to text Roxy about what I saw with Hametsu.

    Roxy: Oh my god your serious?! He did that?!

    Me: Yup. He did. The bastard¡¯s crazy.

    Roxy: Language.

    Me: Sorry. I''m just FURIOUS about it.

    Roxy: Even if he did act like that, that¡¯s not a reason to be scared of him. He did say that he can¡¯t control himself when he eats sunflower seeds.

    Me: I don''t even know what to think about him.

    Roxy: Well, continue to be friends with him. He really needs the support.

    Me: You¡¯re right. I just have a lot of anxiety right now and can¡¯t think straight.

    Roxy: I can tell.

    Me: Yeah. Hey have your parents told you anything weird?

    Roxy: Well, they did tell me I was a fairy nobility and was betrothed to you.

    Me: So did mine!! Apparently I''m supposed to be a fairy savior called the ¡°Prince of Life¡± or something.

    Roxy: I sprouted wings.

    Me: W H A T ? ! ? !

    She sent a picture of her wings. They''re light blue like the sky over the ocean.

    I was speechless. It took me a good thirty seconds to get my mind together and reply to her. I just kept staring at them. They¡¯re beautiful and they complement her so well. It brings her eyes out even more.

    Eventually I recovered my bearings and replied to her.

    Me: What the heck?!

    Roxy: Yeah. This is weird.

    Me: I was talking to a caterpillar and it told me the same thing my parents told me before they got home.

    Roxy: Was it the same caterpillar that was at the school?

    Me: Exact same one.

    We began having a very serious conversation about the whole thing. We even admitted that we both have crushes on each other. I mean, we¡¯ve known each other for so long it was bound to happen.

    We texted for a really long time, about four hours. My parents were still up.

    The burning sensation in my back came back. Then I felt something rip out of my back. That was the most excruciating pain I¡¯ve ever felt in my entire life. It felt like my entire back was being ripped apart by a meat cutter. I thought growing wings was going to be gradual and painless.

    I screamed in pain. It hurt like absolute hell. How my neighbors didn¡¯t hear my scream will forever be a mystery. My parents bolted up to my room in a panic. I was crying from the intense pain.

    ¡°KALLAN!!!¡± Mom shouted, worried sick and about ready to call an ambulance. She ran into my room and her eyes grew wide.

    Dad came up a few seconds later. He just stood there, his eyes growing wide with what looked like wonder and shock.

    ¡°Your¡­¡± he started. He couldn¡¯t even finish his sentence because he was so awestruck.

    I felt something move on my back, like an extra appendage. I looked behind me.

    Wings. Beautiful, shimmering, wings. Golden like the sun itself, they radiated a royal aura. I actually grew wings. I was in complete and total shock.

    The pain subsided after a few moments. My parents and I just stood there in awe of my new wings.

 Chapter 6

    ¡°How am I going to hide these?¡± I asked them, worried. They looked at me and were somewhat sad.

    ¡°You''re not,¡± Mom said.

    ¡°We promised your birth parents that when your wings grew, we would take you home to Fae,¡± Dad said.

    ¡°But why did my wings grow now? Why did they suddenly just rip out of my back?!¡±

    ¡°Your parents put a spell on you that prevented your wings from growing out until a certain age. We didn¡¯t expect it to be so soon,¡± dad explained.

    ¡°We were hoping that they would grow in after you graduated high school,¡± mom expressed.

    I got really worried. How will we explain this to my teachers? To Adair and Aidan? Something tells me that I shouldn''t even bother to tell Hametsu. I hope Roxy has the same idea about not telling Hametsu.

    ¡°What do we tell everyone?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Nothing. The memories of you and Roxy will be erased from everyone.¡±

    I got really sad. I have to leave Adair, Aidan, and Hametsu behind. Admittedly, I don''t exactly like him because he¡¯s pessimistic and kind of an asshole, but I don''t want him to be lonely, even though he has his girlfriend and seems to hate everyone else. I can''t help but feel bad for him. I put up with his crap because I think he can change his behavior towards people. But after seeing what he did to Alec... I¡¯m not too sure. I need time to myself. I have to text my friends to calm down and gather my thoughts.

    ¡°Can I have some time alone? Just for right now,¡± I requested.

    ¡°Alright honey, just call us if you need us,¡± mom told me. She and dad hugged me before they exited my room.

    I texted Roxy asking if she planned on telling Hametsu. She replied, ¡°no and I don''t think it''s a good idea¡±. I agreed with her. We just met him literally two days ago. As I said before, I only put up with his assholery because I believe he can change. But considering his mental state and how often he makes fun of me, I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s ever going to happen.

    I decided to drop that subject and text Adair and Aidan.

    I was stupid enough to take a selfie and send it to them.

    Me: Hey guys. WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK IS THIS OH MY GOD HELP MEEE!!!

    Aidan: Kal bro. Chill. Everything is gonna be okay. Don''t worry.

    Adair: Wow. That was earlier than we expected.

    Aidan: Adair! Not on the group chat!

    Me: Excuse me?

    Adair: Well, uh. You see. Um.

    Aidan: Dude. Let me handle this. Kal, your adopted parents told you things right? About Fae and your birth parents?

    Me: Yeah. They did. Wait a minute, how do you know about this?

    Adair: ...

    Aidan: ...

    They didn''t respond. Twenty minutes later they were at my house.

    ¡°Kallan. Dude. Your wings are epic,¡± Aidan said. Adair rolled his eyes in annoyance.

    ¡°Aidan. Not now,¡± Adair said sternly. Adian gave the ¡°dude wtf¡± look.

    ¡°What the hell is going on?!¡± I asked, getting frustrated.

    I swear we all look like we could be brothers. We all have green eyes and brown hair. But Aidan¡¯s is lighter than mine and a little closer to red and Adair¡¯s is the color of oak tree bark. We all have green eyes of various shades. Adair¡¯s are emerald green and Aidan¡¯s are forest green.

    They eyed that annoying stain. They grew worried. They began whispering to each other.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Kallan how long has that stain been there?¡± Adair asked.

    ¡°Three and a half years. I can''t get rid of it. I have tried,¡± I said.

    Aidan sighed.

    ¡°We need to go back, Adair. The Death King¡¯s influence has spread to the borders of Fae and the Human Realm,¡± Aidan said urgently. ¡°Hey Kal, did you get a small package with a necklace in it? It has a dragonfly charm.¡±

    I dug around my drawer and searched for the necklace. I eventually found it underneath all my food.

    ¡°This thing?¡± I asked, holding it up.

    ¡°Yes. That''s it,¡± Adair said. ¡°It''s the Black Death.¡±

    I dropped it in fear of getting sick. The last thing I need is to have the bubonic plague.

    ¡°It''s not a virus. It''s a curse. The humans mistook it for a virus and tried to find a cure for it,¡± Aidan said. ¡°The former Death King, Romeo, unleashed it to the Human Realm as a way to try and conquer it. The good king Oberon defeated him and took the charm away from him. We¡¯ve been guarding it ever since.¡±

    ¡°The current Death King has tried to take it from us numerous times. But he has failed every single time,¡± Adair explained.

    ¡°What does that have to do with the stain in my bedroom?¡± I asked.

    ¡°This room is the border between Fae and the Human Realm. That stain is the Death King¡¯s power leaking through.¡±

    I was skeptical. I went over to the stain and touched it.

    It completely disappeared. Not only that but my entire carpet was cleaned of stains. I was shocked and amazed. I could just imagine the pocket money I would¡¯ve made by doing carpet cleaning with that ability. I would''ve gotten rich quick, and also be taken in for questioning by the FBI or some other government agency for these weird powers and my wings. Staying here is totally out of the question.

    ¡°So uh¡­ when do we leave?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Right now,¡± Aidan said. He was about to do some sort of ritual but was interrupted by that familiar squeaky voice.

    ¡°Don''t leave without me!!¡± We all looked over and saw a swallowtail butterfly come flying in through my window. I held out my finger and he landed on it.

    ¡°Excalibur? Where were you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I turned into a butterfly!¡±

    ¡°We can see that Excalibur. But how? I just saw you a few hours ago as a caterpillar.¡±

    ¡°I found Adair and he turned me into a butterfly. Then I got lost on the way back. But I saw a death fairy do something cruel to a butterfly!¡±

    Before I could protest, he used some sort of spell that allowed me to see what he saw.

    Excalibur was resting on a nearby tree close to where a fairy with black and red wings was. He seemed lost in thought, most likely taking a break. A monarch butterfly flew up to him and landed on his knee. The fairy was watching it the whole time. This cruel smile crept upon his face. He let the butterfly crawl on his hand. Then he took it by the wings.

    ¡°Oh, poor thing. You look tired.¡± His smile widened and grew even crueler. ¡°I know you want to continue flying. But let me put you out of your misery!¡±

    I watched in absolute horror as he began to slowly rip the butterfly''s wings off. Then he ripped its legs off. All the while he was smiling and laughing. When he finished, he dropped the near-dead butterfly next to him and walked away laughing very cruelly. ¡°Glory to the Death King!¡± he said with a cold laugh. He sounded almost¡­ mocking. I saw him teleport away

    Excalibur flew to the butterfly and used a spell to transport it somewhere.

    I was absolutely horrified. That was most likely a death fairy. How are they so cruel? But why did he sound so condescending when he said ¡°glory to the Death King?¡± Guess this Death King isn¡¯t popular with some people.

    ¡°Where did you send the butterfly?¡± I asked Excalibur.

    ¡°To Adair. He knows a lot of healing magic,¡± the butterfly sword said. I was rather surprised. A million questions formed in my head but I couldn¡¯t voice any of them. Are they fairies too? Why are they hiding things from me? Is Adair good at healing? I was utterly lost. My face probably said everything.

    Aidan gave the look that says everything will be explained later. I nodded.

    ¡°Did you save her?¡± Excalibur asked him. I assume it¡¯s about the butterfly again.

    ¡°Yes. The butterfly has a new pair of wings and a new set of legs,¡±  Adair said. ¡°I fed it milkweed nectar and sent it to Fae so it can live in the secret meadow safely.¡±

    Relief flooded me as soon as I heard that. But what the heck is the secret meadow?

    ¡°Thank goodness it''s alright,¡± I replied, relieved. ¡°And what¡¯s the secret meadow?¡± I asked.

    Adair shrugged.

    ¡°It¡¯s basically a really really big butterfly garden filled with all sorts of flowers and trees. No fairy has ever set foot there. Butterflies seem to know the way, however. We don¡¯t follow them because we don¡¯t want to disturb them.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said. I began thinking about all of this. This meadow sounds beautiful, but I don¡¯t want to disturb the place where butterflies live. The place is probably very sacred anyway. I wouldn¡¯t be able to enter even if I did find it.

    Adair brought me back to earth.

    ¡°Shouldn''t we be going?¡± he said.

    ¡°Going where?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Fae. Home,¡± Aidan said.

    ¡°But shouldn¡¯t we wait for Roxy?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She left before we did. She¡¯s already there,¡± Aidan informed. I nodded. Why didn''t she tell me? Probably her parents whisked her away before she could.

    ¡°Enough talking, let''s go!¡± Adair said, growing frustrated.

    ¡°Geez Fine! No need to get so worked up,¡± Aidan annoyed.

    ¡°The more time we waste the less time we have to defeat the Death King,¡±

    The two performed some sort of ritual that involved reciting a special incantation in another language. I watched in amazement as my room glowed gold. Eventually, the brightness subsided and I opened my eyes.

 Chapter 7

    There are trees everywhere. Butterflies flutter all over the place in all sorts of colors. The sky is golden with the sun rising. Weird, since it¡¯s early evening in the human world. It¡¯s also a bit cooler than it is on earth.

    Then I turn around and I¡¯m horrified by what I see. Everything behind me is dead and dark. I almost cry at the sight.

    ¡°What happened there?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The power of the Death King,¡± Adair said with a hint of anger in his voice. ¡°Many areas of Fae are like this. Lifeless and full of suffering while his people struggle for dominance.¡±

    ¡°He plans to create a new world for his people by eliminating all plant and animal life on Fae and regrowing the poisonous plants that we life fairies are unable to consume. The Death Fairies are immune to poison,¡± Aidan states grimly with a hint of anger lingering.

    ¡°He plans to do the same to the Human Realm by using the Black Death,¡± my adopted mom said. ¡°Then he¡¯ll eliminate all traces of human activity and grow the same poisonous plants in the Human Realm.¡±

    ¡°In other words, genocide, destruction, recreation,¡± I said.

    Everyone nods.

    ¡°We should head to Avalon,¡± Adair said.

    They sprout their wings and fly. I am absolutely dumbfounded. They¡®re about ten feet in the air before I finally regain my senses and call out to them. They seem to have forgotten that I don¡¯t know how to fly. How mean of them.

    ¡°Uhhh a little help please?¡± I shout at them. They look at me.

    ¡°Oops. forgot you can¡¯t fly,¡± Aidan said. I roll my eyes.

    ¡°No shit, Sherlock!¡± I told him. I can¡¯t believe I just cursed like that. My adopted mom gives me that death glare that I grew up to fear, forcing me to apologize for such foul language, even though it was the first time I cursed in six years.

    They all come down to me. Aidan and Adair begin to teach me how to fly. My parents told me it was good for bonding time after my mom finished lecturing me about cursing. I¡¯ve always hated being lectured. Plus, I¡¯ve known these two dorks my entire life, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have more bonding time with them.

    I¡¯m clumsy at first, very very clumsy. I crash in a bush with sharp leaves. Then flew face-first into a tree. I even crash into Aidan and Adair, causing us to form a pile on the ground. I have small cuts on my arm from that sharp leaved bush and I think I got a splinter in my chin. I got it out pretty quickly.

    ¡°You need to steady yourself and flutter your wings,¡± Aidan tells me. I feel like a small child learning how to walk. Thank goodness no one I didn¡¯t know is around. That would be just plain embarrassing. Like, the seventeen year old Prince of Life dude can¡¯t fly. Just think about that for a moment. Then again my wings have been hidden since I was a baby when I first went to Earth, I mean, the Human Realm or whatever they call that place here. Looks like I still need to learn fairy terms.

    After about three hours I eventually got the hang of it and I¡¯m flying like I''ve been doing it my entire life. I¡¯ve always been a very quick learner.

    I fly with them to a giant castle made of white marble. It¡¯s very beautiful. The flags are grassy green and have a butterfly on it. Butterflies must be important to Fae. I''m not exactly sure why, but I''ll find out.

    We fly to the door of the castle. Aidan knocks, more like pounds, on the door. I worry he¡¯s going to dent it. It opens.

    ¡°My princes!! You have returned!!¡± A guard exclaimes. They¡¯re also princes? That can only mean one thing...

    ¡°Yes and we brought back our brother,¡± Adair replies. ¡°Get Mother and Father.¡±

    ¡°Right away.¡±

    I¡¯m confused, But I have the suspicion that I am their younger brother. To be honest, at this point, I shouldn''t be surprised. Yet here I am, being surprised.

    ¡°Who''s your other brother?¡± I ask, to confirm my suspicions.

    They both hug me tightly.

    ¡°It''s you!!¡± Aidan said. My suspicions have now been confirmed. These two dorks are literally my older brothers. Oh boy, this is going to be interesting.

    ¡°You have no idea how much we wanted to tell you!¡± Adair said.

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you?¡±

    They shrug. I assume it¡¯s because our birth parents told them not to. I have no idea why they did that, but I¡¯m not them so I don¡¯t know. Probably an extra layer of protection.

    ¡°You know, when you were born, we were the happiest boys alive,¡± Aidan said excitedly. ¡°We were screaming up and down the halls of the castle, proudly shouting about you being born.¡±

    ¡°Just thinking about it makes me really happy, and very embarrassed,¡± Adair said, blushing from embarrassment. I assume it was because of how he acted seventeen years ago when I was born. ¡°Just wait and hear what the people will do when the news spreads that the Prince of Life has returned.¡±

    We talk and goof around outside for a few minutes until the king and queen, my birth parents, come out.

    ¡°Aidan, Adair!!¡± My birth father said. His hair is chocolate brown and his eyes are the same shade of green as my eyes. I look similar to him. We have the same smile and small dimples on the left cheek. He''s taller than me, by like¡­ six inches. His wings are white. My birth mother has blonde hair and green eyes. Her wings are clear and shining with different colors when the light hits them in a certain way. She¡¯s only like two inches taller than me. I definitely have her facial structure.

    ¡°Mother, Father!¡± Aidan and Adair shout. Aidan tackle-hugs our father. He¡¯s always been rowdy. Adair just hugs our mother like a normal person.

    ¡°We have our little brother,¡± Aidan said happily.

    ¡°You brought Kallan home?!¡± My birth mother said.

    ¡°Hi,¡± I said quietly as I wave nervously.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    They both came up to me and hugged me.

    ¡°Kallan, my precious little boy, welcome home!¡± My birth mother said. She hugs me and proceeds to kiss my forehead a bunch of times, I awkwardly hug back. I¡¯m not sure how to take this all in.

    She looks decently young. Both of my birth parents do, like in their early thirties.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, kind of awkwardly. I am so bad at confrontation. Secretly, I want to die from embarrassment.

    ¡°Your majesties,¡± My adopted parents said in unison with a bow.

    ¡°We owe you two so much for taking care of him,¡± My birth mother said. The three of them start to talk to each other.

    ¡°Kallan, I know it will be hard to adjust to this. But we will help you in whatever way we can,¡± My birth father said. ¡°Come! We shall have a feast to celebrate the return of our three sons!!¡±

    We walk into the highly decorative castle. Vines with fat flower buds that look ready to burst into bloom are growing on the walls and there are stained glass windows of my birth family and this really pretty, godly fairy woman with butterflies fluttering around her. I take it that she''s M¨¤thair N¨¤dar, the Mother Goddess.

    Now I understand why butterflies are important. They''re sacred here. They have something to do with M¨¤thair N¨¤dar. I¡¯m not sure what they have to do with her yet, but I¡¯ll find out soon.

    A servant escortes me to what appears to be my room. My new room is very spacious. It has a huge window and a large bed with dressers and a mirror. The sheets and pillows are various shades of green that compliment each other. They smell of pine wood. I love the smell of pine wood.

    He helps me dress into some sort of prince like outfit that''s white and gold and has a cape. The outfit is white pants, a white top with gold shoulder ornaments and long sleeves. It has a golden sash made of silk across my chest and some white boots. It¡¯s really comfortable and very easy to walk around in them. The clothes I wore when I arrived, jeans, a short sleeved jacket, a t-shirt and some Nikes, were taken to be washed and put in a trunk for safe keeping. I go out to the dining hall, greeting some of the servants that walk by. I know I could fly there but I like walking, so I just walk there.

    The dining area is huge. Like really huge. The table is long and made of well polished mahogany wood. I can see my reflection on it. Damn I look good.

    ¡°Ah! Kallan my boy!!¡± my birth father said. ¡°You look very handsome.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I guess,¡±  I reply, somewhat shy.

    ¡°I take it you''re not a man of many words?¡± he asks me.

    ¡°Oh nooo. I talk a lot. Ask Aidan and Adair. They know. I''m just shy and nervous right now,¡± I said to him. He laughs a hearty laugh.

    ¡°Kallan. I have a feeling that you and I will get along just fine!¡±

    I smile.

    ¡°Can I call you dad or father because rumor tells that you''re my birth father.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead, my boy!! After all, you''re my youngest son!!¡± He grabs me from the side and pats my chest. He smiles brightly. I smile back a bit, still kind of getting used to this.

    ¡°Are you always like this?¡± I ask him.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Someone calls from another area. ¡°Every day. He''s an excitable man, very jolly. His optimism is contagious.¡±

    He laughs again.

    ¡°That is very much true!!¡± Father said. ¡°Now if you''ll excuse me! I have to make a public announcement to my people of your return.¡±

    I love how he said that so casually. It made me laugh. He''s such a goof. Just like me.

    I walked around introducing myself to the court officials. They seemed really friendly. I can¡¯t find my adopted parents anywhere, which made me kinda sad. I wonder if Roxy is going to be here. I walk around, admiring the architecture of the castle. I see a girl, around my age, with black hair that was braided. She was wearing a midnight blue dress with the back cut low for her wings. The wings are light blue.

    It¡¯s Roxy.

    ¡°Hey Roxy,¡± I said. ¡°Or should I say, my future wife.¡±

    She jolts a bit, startled, and looks in my direction. Relief floods her face. She must''ve been a nervous wreck.

    ¡°Kallan. You''re here!¡±

    ¡°Well, this is apparently my home after all,¡± I said.

    I hold my hand out and she takes it. We walk back to the dining area together.

    ¡°It''s still so weird,¡± she said.

    ¡°I know. To find out that we''re going to be married and that we''re royalty? This is going to take a lot of adjusting,¡± I said. ¡°So when did you get to the castle?¡±

    ¡°I just arrived. My parents are nobility from an island archipelago.¡±

    ¡°My parents are the king and queen of Fae. Doesn''t that take the cake? Oh my god, cake sounds so good right now,¡± I said.

    ¡°Is food always on your mind?¡± She asks teasingly.

    I shrug. She¡¯s not wrong. Food is on my mind a lot sometimes.

    My mind immediately went to Hametsu. I wonder how he¡¯s doing at a new school. His memory of us has been wiped out, so he must be very lonely with only his girlfriend.

    ¡°I wonder how Hametsu is doing?¡± I ask aloud.

    Roxy shrugs.

    ¡°It''s not like we can call him. He doesn''t have our numbers anymore, remember? We don¡¯t even have phones. Plus, his memory of us was erased,¡± she said, ¡°and to be honest, I''m glad for that.¡±

    I agree. I don¡¯t think I could handle another second with him. His pessimism is way too much. He really needs a therapist.

    We walk into the dining area and talk with some court officials. Many of the men want to talk about the recent territories that the Death King captured and destroyed. About seven of them have been captured. As much as I hate talking about war, I decide to get over it, since I¡¯m going to have to fight in it eventually.

    This one guy named Ryan and I got really into the whole thing. He''s really cool. Ryan is eighteen. His father is the head of the royal guard, so he''s training to take over after his father retires or passes. Ryan''s hair is black and he has blue eyes. His wings are blue. He''s about four inches taller than me. I hate that a lot of people are taller than me. I¡¯m so used to being the tall one.

    ¡°The Death King and his army will never win now that you''re home!¡± he said to me.

    I got really nervous. I keep getting reminded that I have to go to war and I hate it. Like, I already know that. Please stop reminding me.

    Ryan notices this and decides to drop it. He tells me a lot about what he knows of Fae¡¯s culture. They respect nature. Butterflies are sacred to the Life Fairies while dragonflies are sacred to the Death Fairies. The Death King is said to have the wings of a dragonfly. He''s also said to be viciously cruel to those who oppose him and shows little to no mercy.

    ¡°He sounds really messed up in the head,¡± I said.

    ¡°He is very messed up in the head,¡± Ryan said.

    ¡°Do you have any idea what his name is?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not really, all we know is the color of his eyes,¡± he said.

    He gave me a piece of paper with writing on it. I was able to read it perfectly, even though it was written in that symbol like language. There was a little bit of blood on it.

    ...I was horribly brutalized by the Death King. I have never seen such cruelty in one young man¡¯s green eyes. His smile was cruel beyond description and he enjoyed my misery and oppression¡­

    Green eyes. Cruel smile. I have a suspicion of who the Death King is, but I don''t want to jump to conclusions. There are other people with green eyes, I¡¯m related to four people with green eyes, but I¡¯m not sure. It doesn¡¯t specify what shade his eyes are, so I can only guess. But I know one other person with green eyes that isn''t related to me.

    ¡°My Prince are you okay?¡± Ryan asks, snapping me from my thoughts. ¡°You look rather angry about something.¡±

    ¡°Oh what? Oh no. No. No. I''m fine. I''m just thinking,¡± I said.

    ¡°Do you have an idea of who the Death King is?¡± He asked.

    ¡°A vague one,¡± I said. ¡°I know many people with green eyes, but one person really sticks out for some reason.¡± I kept pondering it. I swear to the Mother Goddess I feel like I should know who he is.

    I come up with the suspicion that the dude I tried to be friends with could be the Death King. He¡¯s pessimistic and hates life and butterflies, but that alone isn¡¯t enough to convince me. It¡¯s just speculation. I could be wrong. But something tells me that I''m not.

    My theory is that Hametsu might be the Death King.

 Chapter 8

    I really hate jumping to conclusions. But it just seems to make perfect sense. It just seems right.

    ¡°I could be jumping to conclusions, but I think I might know who he is. Please don''t tell anyone.¡± I said urgently.

    ¡°My lips are sealed, Your Highness.¡± He said.

    ¡°I think he might be this guy that I tried to be friends with,¡± I told him. ¡°His name is Hametsu and he''s crazy. He has pale green eyes and a strong hatred for life. He brutally beat up a guy from my old school.¡±

    Ryan is appalled when he hears that Hametsu does that.

    ¡°That FIEND!!¡± he said. ¡°How dare he!!! He''s certainly not going to be a friend of mine if he does that to people!!!¡±

    ¡°Calm down. It''s just a theory.  I could be wrong and Hametsu could just be a psychotic human. Either way, he''s psychotic,¡± I told him. ¡°And in his defense, he was doing it to prevent himself from being bullied.¡±

    ¡°Still,¡± Ryan said. ¡°It¡¯s not a good thing to do. He could¡¯ve found another solution.¡±

    I nod in agreement. He has other options available and beating someone to a pulp is the last thing he should do if he''s trying to change and be a better person. I guess his old habits die hard.

    My birth father claps his hands loudly to get everyone¡¯s attention. I feel bad for the people for sensitive ears. A few people do. I see them wince a bit with the first clap. He gives them a look of apology, most likely knowing it was a little too loud. He clears his throat.

    ¡°Gather around the table friends!! Let the feast begin!!¡± he said happily.

    Servants begin bringing out platters of food. There are roasted pigs, stewed beef, cooked chicken, a variety of salads and soups. There are also quite a few fish dishes that I can''t name because I don''t recognize them. There was also a variety of fruits and veggies.

    Everything made my mouth water. It looked so good.

    ¡°Food. So much food,¡± I said dumbly.

    ¡°Lots of food,¡± Ryan said just as dumbly.

    My stomach began growling furiously. I haven''t eaten anything since lunch in the Human Realm. It''s late afternoon in Fae. When I arrived the sun was coming up. I probably didn''t even notice it because I was so busy talking with everyone and exploring the castle. Plus the few hours I spent learning how to fly earlier in the day when I first arrived. I am definitely going to have some very light scars from that sharp leafed bush I crashed into.

    Roxy and I sit next to each other awkwardly. We have no clue what to say to each other.

    ¡°Sooo. What do you think of the food?¡± I asked.

    Roxy laughed a little bit.

    ¡°You and food,¡± she said with a big smile on her face. ¡°What''s up with that? You always want to talk about food or eat food.¡±

    ¡°I just like food,¡± I said.

    ¡°I''m the same way,¡± Ryan butted in. ¡°Food is always on my mind.¡±

    ¡°I have this feeling that you two are going to get along just fine,¡± Roxy said.

    We all laugh. Everyone is talking, laughing, and eating food.

    Everything is beyond delicious. The flavors of everything compliment each other perfectly. I don''t think I have eaten anything better than the food I''m eating now. To say that I stuffed my face is an understatement. I had a hard time controlling myself. I think I had a little bit of everything.

    My birth father eventually stood up and called us to a toast. He raised his glass and spoke with a loud voice.

    ¡°To the chosen caretakers, Elise and Manny!! They bravely went to the Human Realm to raise Kallan, our youngest child, and the savior of Fae!¡±

    ¡°Here here!!¡± everyone said. There was cheers and applause.

    ¡°To Adair! Who specializes in healing magic and heals the wounded and the ill!¡± my birth father said.

    More cheers and applause. I see Adair blushing a bit.

    ¡°To Aidan! A man with a warrior''s heart! He''s brave, kind, honest, and noble!¡± he said.

    More cheers and applause. Aidan is smiling with pride.

    ¡°And finally, to Kallan! The savior of Fae!! He will restore the beauty of the realm and banish the Death King and his followers!¡±

    The room erupts with cheers and applause. I wave nervously.

    Yeah, no pressure, dad. Thanks.

    I sit down, very nervous, but I hide it. I don¡¯t want people to think negatively of me, like I''m not brave. I just hate fighting. Why can''t we just call a truce and stop this seemingly endless war? It''s been going on for 2,000 years according to Excalibur and literally everyone I''ve spoken to.

    I have no appetite for eating anymore dinner after hearing that, but when dessert comes around, I start drooling. I quickly wipe my face with a napkin to save myself from any embarrassment. Luckily no one saw me drool a tiny bit.

    There is so much cake and pudding. There are many different types of desserts that I can''t even name. My favorite was the strawberry banana cake with chocolate cream frosting topped with strawberries and banana wheels arranged in a spiral pattern

    They have pancakes for dessert!! I am so happy, I stack like, ten on my plate and pour a lot of syrup on them.

    ¡°You seem to be enjoying your sweets,¡± Father said. I nod furiously and shove another forkful of pancakes in my mouth.

    ¡°Kallan slow down! You''re going to get a stomach ache!¡± My birth mother and adopted mother said in unison. I didn¡¯t even notice my adopted mother was there. I couldn¡¯t find them earlier.

    Ryan started to laugh hysterically. I¡¯m about to laugh hysterically so I swallow my food to prevent myself from choking and begin laughing with him.

    ¡°What''s so funny?¡± Mother asked.

    ¡°You and my adopted mom said it in unison!!¡± I said in between laughs. Everyone stares at us. Roxy elbows me hard in the ribs.

    ¡°Ow! Roxy that hurts.¡± I said. Ryan was trying to contain his laughter, but was unsuccessful. He kept giggling. I elbow him. We look at each other and start snickering.

    Roxy grabs me and kisses me so I could stop laughing. It works, Ryan just stares in amazement.

    ¡°Oy, lovebirds. You still have food on your plate,¡± Aidan said. His face was red. He too tried to keep himself from laughing because he had this huge smile on his face.

    ¡°Laughter is very contagious. King Oberon was trying not to laugh,¡± Ryan¡¯s dad said. ¡°Then again, so was I.¡± I look over at them and sure enough, their faces are red with an attempt to contain laughter. I see my birth father, with his face in his hand laughing a bit. It must be hard to remain professional when two teenage boys, me and Ryan, are laughing like idiots, and your two grown boys, Aidan and Adair, are trying, and failing, to keep themselves from laughing.

    We calm down and continue eating. Although Aidan is making faces trying to get us to laugh. He almost succeeds, but Adair elbows him to stop, which he did. But I can tell that Adair is trying not to laugh because he¡¯s suppressing a smile, albeit rather poorly.

    I inquire to them how they managed to be a warrior and healer respectively when they lived in the Human Realm with me. They admit that they traveled back and forth to receive the training when I was growing up. So the times they said they were at school were the times they were training. What about their actual education?

    ¡°Same with our training. We trained every other day and did homeschool every other day,¡± Adair told me. ¡°Of course that was when we were ¡®at school¡¯ in the Human Realm. We still lived in Fae. We just went to see you literally every day, especially during the weekends¡­¡±

    ¡°But time passes differently in Fae and the Human World!¡± I said, surprised. ¡°How did that even work?¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    They shrug.

    ¡°Maybe the time god?¡± Aidan guessed.

    ¡°Time god?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s the ruler of time. He usually doesn¡¯t adjust time for worlds to match other worlds, but I guess ours was an exception,¡± Aidan said.

    ¡°Maybe M¨¤thair N¨¤dar had something to do with it? Maybe she asked him?¡± Ryan guessed.

    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± I said.

    ¡°The books say that he¡¯s very strict though about the flow of time. Maybe when our roles there were done and we returned, he fixed the time zones for the worlds,¡± Adair said.

    We shrug and drop the topic to continue eating.

    <h1> </h1>

    Oh my gosh, I was so stuffed when the banquet was over. I think I had too much cake, because I did get a stomach ache. My adopted parents went to find me and hug me goodbye, they had to leave to go home.

    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you both.¡± I told them, fighting back tears.

    ¡°We¡¯ll miss you even more. No matter what, you¡¯ll always be our son to us.¡± My adopted mom, Elise, told me.

    ¡°We would never trade the time we spent with you for anything. To us, you are our son.¡± Manny said, hugging me

    I hug them both and start crying. My birth father came up to them.

    ¡°Titania and I can¡¯t thank you enough for raising him. How can we reward you?¡±

    ¡°No reward is necessary. Having kallan to be our son for all these years was more than enough of a reward,¡± Manny said. ¡°If anything, we owe you for allowing us the gift of raising a child.¡±

    Manny tells me that he and Elise are unable to have children of their own. When the Death King attacked Avalon, my father¡¯s advisors had the idea to send me to a Montesary deep within the forest for protection. He obviously didn¡¯t like that idea, so they chose Elise and Manny, my adoptive parents, to raise me in the human world. They loved and raised me as their own child. I found out on my own that they weren¡¯t my real parents when I was five. I overheard them talking about it, but it didn¡¯t make me sad when they explained, partially, that my real parents wanted them to raise me. I say ¡°partially¡± because they left out everything about Fae. They only said that my real parents wanted me to be safe. I was too young to know why, and now I do. They kept my real birthday on May 8th obviously.

    After a tearful goodbye, and some consolation from my father, I went to find someone to help me with my stomach ache, but instead I found Ryan, laying on a couch, holding his stomach. I walk up to him and decide to chat for a bit instead of dealing with my stomach ache like a normal person.

    ¡°Hi,¡± he said. ¡°How are you, Kallan?¡±

    ¡°Ugh. I had too much,¡± I said, plopping next to him. I¡¯m not going  to tell him about the tearful goodbye I had a few moments ago. ¡°My stomach hurts.¡±

    ¡°So does mine, but that chocolate cake was really good. Add bananas and it was heaven,¡± Ryan said.

    ¡°Ahhhhh yes that''s so good!!¡± I said. ¡°And don''t forget about that fruit salad. It had YOGURT in it.¡±

    ¡°Ohhh that yogurt was so good. Especially with strawberries and cantaloupe,¡± Ryan said.

    ¡°Don''t forget the fruit kabobs,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes yes, Y E S ! ! ! !¡± Ryan exclaimed. ¡°And then there were all the soups and stews.¡±

    ¡°I have never had stewed duck until today. That was really good!! And the turkey! The turkey! The gravy it was in was amazing.¡±

    We continue to talk about the banquet food for a long time. There were a lot of fish dishes that I liked such as grilled fish, eel, smoked salmon and a variety of stews.

    Thinking about all that food made me hungry again. But my stomach can''t eat anymore. If anything, I need something to get rid of my stomach ache. Ryan left to find a healer. I went to find my birth mother. I¡¯m hoping that she knows how to help me. I found Roxy instead.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I said. She smiles at me.

    ¡°Hi Kal,¡± she responds. She gives me a quick peck on the cheek. I¡¯m leaving in a few minutes, I was looking for you to say goodbye for now.¡±

    I smile.

    ¡°Be sure to write me letters,¡± I tell her. We laugh a bit and kiss each other.

    ¡°See you next time!¡± she says with a wave. I wave back with a smile. She flies off to her parents. Then I continue looking for my mother.

    I find her talking to a court official. I walk up to them.

    ¡°Hey Titania- er- mother.¡±

    ¡°Kallan you can call me mother,¡± she said kindly.

    ¡°Okay. Mother, do you know of any herbs that deal with stomach aches?¡± I asked, smiling nervously.

    ¡°Elise and I warned you about eating too much,¡± She said teasingly. I laughed a little bit.

    ¡°Yeah. I love food,¡± I said.

    Mother smiled and laughed.

    ¡°You act just like your father. Energetic, hyper, and cheerful about everything,¡± she said. ¡°Not to mention a big lover of food.¡±

    I blush and try to keep from smiling. I fail miserably because I have this huge smile on this face.

    ¡°I''ve only known you for a few hours, how can you tell?¡± I asked.

    ¡°From the way you and Sir Ryan were laughing hysterically,¡± she said.

    ¡°Sir Ryan?¡± I asked. ¡°Is he a knight?¡±

    ¡°He''s training to be the captain of the royal guard,¡± Mother said. ¡°If you want to get rid of your stomach ache, go find Adair. He specializes in healing magic.¡± She said.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± I run off to find Adair.

    I find him in the castle gardens in the back. Many different flowers are blooming in many different colors. There are fruit trees and berry bushes. The evening sun shines down on them and the sunset is gorgeous. I could stare at it all day, but that is bad for my eyes.

    ¡°Adair!¡± I say when I see him.

    ¡°Let me guess, you have a stomach ache?¡± He said.

    ¡°Well actually yes I do,¡± I said. He laughs a little bit.

    ¡°Drink this. It should help. It might taste bitter,¡± he said, handing me some sort of potion. It¡¯s a pretty shade of green and it was in a small coconut shell. I grab it and chug it down.

    Oh my god. It tasted AWFUL. It was extremely bitter.

    ¡°Might be?! It''s horrifyingly bitter. Ugh,¡± I said, shuddering.

    ¡°Medicine is never sweet my dear little brother. It''s always bitter. Well, except for one but that''s for young kids,¡± Adair said with a smile.

    I was still reacting to the bitterness of his potion thing. But my stomach ache is gone. The bitter taste in my mouth isn¡¯t going away however.

    ¡°Is there any way to get rid of the bitterness in my mouth?¡± I asked.

    He just laughs.

    ¡°It''ll go away in a few hours. Ryan came by for the same thing and he reacted much differently.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡± I asked

    ¡°He puked. People don''t have the same reaction to my potions. Some people like it, and some don''t. It can''t be helped. Everyone''s bodies are different.¡±

    He sounds very wise when he says that. We begin talking about plants and herbs. The topic suddenly changes to my powers and the Death King.

    ¡°I wonder what sort of powers I have,¡± I said, looking at my hands. I''ve been thinking about that for a while.

    ¡°I honestly don''t know,¡± he said. ¡°All I know is that you have the power to revive dead plants and bring forests back to life. You''re also said to be able to defeat the Death King once and for all and restore beauty to Fae.¡±

    ¡°But, just who is the Death King?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No one knows much about him.¡± Adair shook his head. ¡°All we know is that he''s extremely powerful and his eyes are green. We have spies there but we haven''t heard from them in months. We''re all very worried.¡±

    I grow worried, too. I feel like I should know who he is. The description of his eyes seems really familiar, but again, there are many people I know that have green eyes. It really bugs me that I don''t know.

    ¡°There''s got to be a way to find out more,¡± I said.

    Adair shook his head.

    ¡°We''re trying to find a way. But it''s difficult. He seems to know what we''re doing and is always one step ahead of us.¡±

    ¡°Well that''s not fair,¡± I said.

    He sighed. We both got up and went back inside.

    When we enter the courtyard, there is a lot of commotion. Adair and I went to investigate.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Your Highnesses,¡± the guard said. ¡°We found a spy.¡±

    ¡°Let me go!! Let me go!!¡± the spy shouted. He¡¯s tied up in rope made from the fibers of bamboo. Bamboo is really strong. I didn¡¯t even know it was possible to make rope from it until now. It must be some sort of Fae thing.

    The spy had black hair and brown eyes. His skin was pale. His wings were black and red and shaped like butterfly wings.

    ¡°Unhand me you pathetic life forms!!¡± He shouted.

    We got insulted. Very insulted.

    ¡°Excuse me?!¡± I shouted. ¡°We''re fairies just like you!!¡±

    ¡°No, you''re not.¡± he replied with a sneer. ¡°We, the Death Fairies, are a superior race! We deserve to rule over you! You life fairies will bow before our master the Death King!!! He will rule over you for the whole of eternity!!¡±

    ¡°He will never rule over us,¡± Adair said.

    ¡°Tell us what you know about the Death King!¡± I demanded. The harshness of my voice startles me a bit. Adair even gave me a quick glance of shock. The guards didn¡¯t seem to notice.

    ¡°I can''t! It''s forbidden!!¡± the spy said. ¡°He will punish me if I tell you!! He knows all.¡±

    ¡°I highly doubt that he knows everything,¡± Adair said. ¡°It''s impossible. He''s not a god.¡±

    ¡°Our ruler is a deity!! A divine being of awesome power!!¡± The spy squirmed. ¡°He can destroy you all in an instant if he wishes. You can do nothing to stop him. He knows of your spies and has killed them all. You can''t defeat him! Our Grand Master of Death!!¡±

    The guard kicks him a little bit.

    ¡°Hey don''t kick him,¡± I said.

    ¡°Apologies, Your Highness,¡± the guard said. I took into consideration what the spy said about his king.

    ¡°God complex noted.¡± I whispered to Adair, ¡°a major god complex.¡± Adair nods in agreement.

    ¡°We already know of your ¡®deity¡¯s¡¯ eye color,¡± Adair said.

    ¡°No!!! Forgive me my lord!! They know of your eye color!!¡± the spy began screaming on how the Death King is going to punish him. Honestly I don¡¯t see the big deal about knowing his eye color. Maybe he wants to remain anonymous?

    The guard hit him on the head and the spy passed out. They carry him to a prison. I¡¯m seriously hoping that they don''t treat prisoners like trash.

    ¡°Well, we know that the Death King has a major god complex,¡± I said out loud. ¡°He claims to be a god.¡±

    ¡°Yes. His ancestor brainwashed them into believing it,¡± Adair said. ¡°Most likely using fear and oppression. It''s rumored that the current one loves to torture his enemies and prisoners.¡±

    The Death King loves to torture. He, yet again, reminds me of Hametsu. Hametsu likes torture and death.

    It''s official. I am doubting Hametsu. I get the feeling that he''s not human. I decide to go out and investigate.

    ¡°I''ll be back soon. I''m heading out,¡± I said.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Adair asked.

    ¡°Gonna do a little bit of investigating on the Death King,¡± I told him.

    Before he can protest, I fly out, having little idea what I''m getting myself into.

 Chapter 9

    There are dead and decaying trees dotting the empty and lifeless landscape. In the moonlight, someone descends from the sky and lands soundlessly. His wings are that of a dragonfly. He¡¯s holding a scythe in his hands. This is the Death King. He admires the lifeless wasteland he created. I¡¯m hiding behind a large fallen log.

    ¡°If only I could keep it like this,¡± he mumbled to himself. ¡°But, my people need food. I have to end their famine. I promised them.¡±

    He raised his scythe and destroyed all the dead trees. I have nowhere to hide.

    ¡°I know you''re there Prince of Life. Don''t try to hide,¡± he said.

    I recognize that voice. It''s the same voice that called me and threatened to kill me. But there''s something else about his voice that I recognize. It''s surprisingly soothing.

    It takes me a few seconds to fit the two together. Oh my god, I¡¯m furious. I feel betrayed.

    ¡°Hametsu,¡± I growled.

    He laughs cruelly.

    ¡°You are surprisingly very slow Kallan. I''ve been dropping hint after hint after hint and you were too stupid to notice,¡± he says as he laughs some more. ¡°Now I know it''s because you just discovered your powers and your heritage.¡±

    ¡°I thought we were friends,¡± I said.

    ¡°Me? Friends? With you?¡± he said menacingly. ¡°Don''t make me laugh Aelfdene. I was just getting close to you so I can kill you!! I''ve been trying to kill you for years! You''re a threat to my ambitions. Once you''re gone nothing will stop me from destroying both Fae and the Human Realm and recreating the habitat in which my people will live in!!¡± He laughs a near deranged laugh.

    I punch him in the face. He was unaffected by it. He stops laughing but the cruel look in his eyes didn''t leave.

    ¡°I''ll stop you, Hametsu. You will never have your way!!!¡± I growled at him.

    ¡°Please, Kallan, spare me your humor,¡± he said. ¡°You and I both know that I will rule both realms. Whether you like it or not. Your kind will be crushed like the insignificant little bugs they are under the weight of my oppression while my kind will flourish and prosper and beat yours to the ground. It''s a win-win. I get what I want and my people get what they want.¡±

    ¡°Just what exactly do you want?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Kallan I just said it,¡± he replied. ¡°I want to oppress and torture your people. I want to exterminate the human race and bring forth an empire of ruin and death to humanity. I will make sure that you fail miserably at your little ¡®savior¡¯ task. Then you will be the biggest laughing stock and the most shamed being in both worlds. I''ll destroy you with every form of torture I can think of and publicly HUMILIATE you in front of everyone you love.¡±

    He grabs my neck. I can see extreme cruelty burning in his eyes, but also something else, however, it went away as soon as I saw it.

    ¡°Just try and stop me Kallan. It''s your death sentence,¡± he said in a low, dark, voice.

    He smiles cruelly. He digs his nails into my neck, drawing blood, and scratches me. It hurt. He knows this and continues doing it, slowly, painfully, digging his nails even deeper into my neck while his smile grows even crueler. I try to pry his hand off, but he just claws me harder.

    His other hand held his scythe. It has a long blade and is extremely sharp and deadly looking, I got nervous when I saw it.

    He sees what I was looking at and judging by the cruel expression that crossed his face, he formulated some form of torture for me. He lets go of my neck, backs up, and slices me across my chest before I have time to react. Blood is pouring out.

    ¡°I''m done toying with you,¡± he said as he starts to fly away. ¡°I''ll get serious with your death soon.¡±

    I¡¯m having a hard time standing up straight, but when I do, I fly away as fast as I can.

    ¡°KALLAN!!!!¡± My birth parents scream, when I crash land onto the floor of the main hall.

    ¡°Kallan what happened?!¡± Mother said.

    ¡°I went out to investigate who the Death King was,¡± I said. ¡°I ran into him and he scratched my neck and sliced my chest after we talked. Well, he taunted me more than we talked.¡±

    Father picks me up and carries me to my room. Medics arrive quickly and begin to treat my giant wound.

    ¡°Kallan, my boy, that was very reckless of you,¡± he said. ¡°Even I wouldn''t do that, and I, myself, am a reckless man.¡±

    ¡°I''m sorry. But I know who he is,¡± I said.

    ¡°Tell us later. We have to dress your wounds,¡± Mother said.

    Dress my wounds. That sounds incredibly cheesy, but I keep that to myself because they''re right. I need to get my cuts and gash across my chest fixed. I¡¯m bleeding a lot. I''m pretty sure I passed out because next thing I know, my chest is covered in bandages and my neck has some sort of paste on it. It¡¯s mid-morning and I¡¯m very light-headed. I fell back asleep again.

    When I wake up again, I see Aidan sitting to my left, totally lost in thought. His expression is worried.

    ¡°Aidan?¡± I said weakly. He turns my direction.

    ¡°Kal you''re awake!!¡± he exclaimed running up to me. He kneels to my eye level.

    I try to sit up, but it hurts a lot, so I lie back down.

    ¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Nearly two days. There was a poison in your body, probably from the Death King,¡± Aidan told me.

    So Hametsu tried to kill me by poison and having me bleed to death. His scythe probably has poison on it. Or maybe his nails because that actually burned. But I highly doubt that he secretes poison from his nails. Maybe he had poison purposefully smeared on his hand just in case he ever ran into me. Sure enough, he did and he tried to kill me.

    ¡°Rumor tells that you know about the Death King,¡± Aidan said.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°He was a classmate that Roxy and I tried to befriend. He''s extremely manipulative.¡± I started coughing.

    He gently shushed me.

    ¡°Don''t push yourself, bro. Rest. Tell us more later okay,¡± he said gently.

    ¡°At least let me tell you his name,¡± I said.

    ¡°Go for it.¡±

    ¡°Hametsu Yamashi, the manipulative psychopath who enjoys torture,¡± I said, ¡°I believe I told you about him a few days ago.¡±

    ¡°I should''ve known it was that little demon,¡± Aidan said. ¡°Rumor says that he was raised by the Spirit of Death after his parents died.¡±

    ¡°Seems likely since he tried to kill me,¡± I said. ¡°He told me what he plans on doing, but not how to do it. We gotta find out how he plans to destroy us. Literally,¡± I said. ¡°He wants to destroy us in many different ways of torture and that''s not all-¡±

    ¡°Kal rest. You''re not going to tell us anything yet,¡± Aidan said.

    But you have to know what he wants to do. It''s serious. I thought. They have to know that he plans genocide, that he wants to practically enslave us, and torture us for his sick and twisted amusement. I don''t know how bad his torture is, but going by the expression on his face, the unhealthy amount of cruelty in his eyes, voice, and smile, it must be horrifying.

    Aidan¡¯s right though. I don''t feel very good and my chest and neck hurt a lot.

    I¡¯m not aware that I fall asleep again until it¡¯s early evening.

    I sit up. The paste on my neck is still there, but it hardened. My chest still hurts.

    I''m still trying to make sense of everything. His betrayal stings.

    Hametsu is the Death King. He wants to eliminate humanity using the Black Death. Maybe he''s going to rule the human race while he''s killing them off. It seems likely because he really likes torture on an unhealthy and unholy scale.

    Death and torture are always on his mind. He''s seriously evil, nearly demonic.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    It makes me sick.

    But I also heard him mumble something about a famine. It made me wonder if that''s the reason behind this, besides his pure love of genocide and torture and wanting to make everyone, save for his kingdom, suffer.

    I''m actually beginning to wonder if he has a soft spot for his people. He wants to help his people, but he thinks genocide is the answer. There has to be a different way.

    I get up and try to flutter my wings. It¡¯s kinda weak. I try walking. That is hard. I¡¯m all wobbly and unbalanced and dizzy. I keep falling over, causing my chest wound to hurt even more.

    I¡¯m also incredibly hungry. I swear I could''ve eaten an entire all-you-can-eat buffet and have room for more. I keep on practicing to walk again and eventually gain enough balance to walk out the door.

    I walk around, still in pain from my chest wound, but hunger drives me forward. I eventually found the dining area.

    ¡°Hi,¡± I said hoarsely, ¡°I''m still alive.¡±

    My family stand up and embrace me. It took every fiber of my being to keep myself from screaming in pain.

    ¡°Kallan!! You''re alright!!¡± My mother said, as soon as they let me go. I sigh a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Yeah but I still hurt,¡± I said.

    ¡°Kallan are you sure that you''re alright? Because what you did was very reckless.¡± father said.

    ¡°I''m fine,¡± I insisted, ¡°my chest still hurts that''s it. Plus I''m starving.¡±

    ¡°I see the antidote worked. How are you feeling?¡± Adair said.

    ¡°Like I could eat an entire buffet. I''m starving,¡± I said again. ¡°Did you save some food for me?¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry my boy!! There''s plenty.¡± Father said.

    I walk over to the food and eat. I stuff my face until I can''t eat anymore. The entire plate of beans is gone. There¡¯s one piece of steak left. The giant bowl of creamed corn is half-finished.

    ¡°Ahh, that felt good,¡± I said once I¡¯m full.

    The sting of Hametsu''s betrayal still hurts. He''s been trying to kill me the entire time.

    I want to find out what started this entire war. But I have more important things on my mind, like trying to get rid of my chest pain. I cannot think when I hurt.

    I once got a really bad headache during a major test for one of my classes a few years ago, I had to get excused because it turned into a migraine. I was very dizzy and I couldn''t focus.

    ¡°Are there any pain-killing herbs?¡± I asked, ¡°because my chest hurts like hell.¡±

    ¡°I told you he would ask that,¡± Adair said. Aidan looks at him with an annoyed expression. Adair smiles mischievously. I never knew that Adair had a fun streak in him. He''s so serious all the time. Aidan gives him a few coins. I assume they made a bet about whether I would ask for some pain killers or not. Aidan probably assumed I wouldn¡¯t because I''m rather tough and can tough out most things. But this gash is the most painful injury I have ever received at this point.

    Adair grabs a vial filled with a dark brown liquid. It looks disgusting, absolutely disgusting, almost like rot.

    ¡°What is that?¡± I asked cautiously. I¡¯m scared of this thing. Couldn¡¯t he have made it look like chocolate or something?

    ¡°Don''t worry, it tastes better than it looks.¡± He said. He gave it to me, ¡°drink it. All of it.¡± he ordered.

    I take it, open the vial, and chugged. Adair¡¯s right. It actually does taste better than it looks. It tastes sweet like strawberries and bananas. My chest pain went away.

    But the aftertaste it left behind was terrible.

    ¡°Dude the aftertaste is horrible!!!!¡± I exclaimed.

    Adair laughs.

    ¡°As I said before, dear brother, medicine is never sweet,¡± he said.

    ¡°Well the painful throbbing is gone,¡± I said, ¡°can someone tell me where I can find the history of Fae and the family trees of Aelfdene and Yamashi?¡±

    ¡°I am quite curious myself about this. I will go with you my boy,¡± father said, ¡°come with me to the archives.¡±

    ¡°Oberon are you sure this is a good idea? The Death King''s spies could still be watching us.¡± Mother said.

    ¡°The archives are heavily guarded, Titania. It''s the most secure place in the kingdom.¡± Father assured her.

    ¡°Yes but,¡± she pauses to look around, ¡°you know that''s where we hid the necklace.¡±

    ¡°I know. But our best guards are guarding the archives. We should be safe.¡±

    I¡¯m not so sure. Hametsu has enough power to completely drain the life out of an area the size of New York, maybe even an entire planet. He can easily kill the guards without lifting a finger or breaking a sweat.

    ¡°Father,¡± I said, ¡°it''s probably not a good idea right now. His spies could be lurking anywhere.¡±

    I know that we were being watched. I can feel it in my insides.

    ¡°We¡¯re being watched right now,¡± I said. I¡¯m secretly hoping that the spy didn''t hear us talking about the necklace.

    An aura of danger filled the room. This spy is more than a spy. He¡¯s an assassin. I can sense it. I have no idea how though. I¡¯ve only been here for less than a week and already

    I hear the whizz of an arrow flying my direction. I quickly grab the arrow as it¡¯s coming up behind me. My lightning-fast reflexes surprise me.

    I survey the area. Up in the corner of my eye, I detect movement. I fly up there as quickly as I can and capture the assassin. I bring him down.

    ¡°See?¡± I said. My family¡¯s shocked that I just did that. To be honest, I¡¯m a pretty surprised myself

    ¡°UNHAND ME!!!¡± The spy shouts as he attempts to wriggle his way out of my grip. Vines grew around him and held him in place. I have no idea where they came from, probably me but I have no idea how. He keeps shouting at us to let him go. He looks exactly like the other spy we captured. They must be twins.

    ¡°Who sent you here?¡± I asked. Wow, I''m an idiot. I already know the answer. But that''s not why I was asking. I wanted to see if he would spill Hametsu''s name to everyone.

    ¡°My master, the lord of the Black Death.¡± He said. He continues to try and free himself, with no success. The vines had a vice-like grip on him. They refuse to let him go. I realize that this is, in fact, my power controlling the vines. Again, I have no idea how I¡¯m doing this.

    ¡°What is his name? I know you know his name. Tell us!!¡± I demanded. The harshness of my voice surprises me.

    ¡°He will kill me if I tell you,¡± he replied with fear in his voice, ¡°he will know.¡±

    ¡°I highly doubt that,¡± I said.

    ¡°He will. The things he does to those who betray him are very horrible. We Death Fairies are wise to never betray him,¡± he said, trembling, ¡°my brother''s fate is sealed!!! I have come on His Majesty''s order to bring him back and to kill you Prince of Life.¡±

    ¡°Just like he wants to kill the rest of the life fairies,¡± I growled. I¡¯m furious that he¡¯s avoiding my question. ¡°Tell us his name!!¡± I yelled.

    ¡°Kallan calm down!!¡± Mother told me. I take a few deep breaths and my anger tones down.

    ¡°Tell us his name,¡± I said calmly. The spy keeps trying to squirm his way out of the vines, but he gives up after a few tries.

    ¡°Forgive me, my lord,¡± he whispered, ¡°the Death King is our supreme ruler Lord Hametsu Yamashi, eldest son of Lord Romeo and Lady Juliet. He will dominate over all.¡±

    Adair grows enraged for some reason. I have never seen him get so mad. Aidan and Father had to hold him back from attacking the spy.

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE LYING!!!!! JULIET DID NOT MARRY THAT LUNATIC ROMEO!!!!¡± He shouted.

    ¡°You''ve never met Juliet, Adair. She was banished before we were born.¡± Aidan said, trying to calm him down.

    ¡°She was the greatest healer that has ever existed!!!¡± Aidan said, on the verge of tears, ¡°I got all of my healing knowledge from her books. I looked up to her.¡±

    ¡°She was among the greatest healers of Fae.¡± Mother said.

    ¡°She was a kind woman and an excellent Queen,¡± the spy said, ¡°Lord Romeo loved her with all of his heart. She helped us with our many ailments.¡±

    I don''t understand how Juliet, apparently a well-known healing fairy, could marry a deranged lunatic of a man, Romeo, and produce his heir.

    But one question surfaced. It was about her banishment.

    ¡°How did she get banished?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She went to Camelot, capital of the Death Fairy kingdom, and healed their king.¡± Mother said. That doesn¡¯t really seem to be a good reason to banish someone. Then again, they are enemies.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. I looked at the spy, ¡°care to tell me more?¡± I asked him.

    He seems reluctant at first but he agrees stating that Hametsu is going to kill him anyway, which I highly doubt because he doesn''t know everything.

    ¡°As Titania said, our grand king, Lord Romeo, was ill. He heard about Lady Juliet¡¯s masterful healing abilities and ordered her to come to him,¡± he paused, ¡°when she arrived, it was love at first sight. She repeatedly came to visit him after our king was healed. Then they got married.¡±

    Adair glares at him for a long time. Then he storms off.

    ¡°This happened after the Dark Ages. Five hundred years ago, she conceived and gave birth to our current master, Lord Hametsu, and his twin sister, Princess Lilly. Lord Hametsu absorbed his sister¡¯s soul when they were born,¡± again, the spy paused, ¡°Princess Lilly¡¯s soul used to live inside Lord Hametsu, so in a sense, she was still alive at the time. I''m not exactly sure how to explain it.¡±

    Hametsu is FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD!!! He looks like he''s 17 though. He''s immortal. He can''t die. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

    But he has a sister.

    ¡°Does he love his sister?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He adores her.¡± The spy said. ¡°Master Hametsu found a way to bring her to life a few years ago. Now our Princess is back with us. Lady Sakura is happy to see her alive.¡±

    The spy is so calm now. He¡¯s easily telling us things about his superiors. Hametsu has a major soft spot for his sister and his girlfriend. So he wasn''t lying when he told me a while ago that he is, in fact, capable of being caring.

    ¡°Why are you so calm? Your brother was screaming. We had to knock him out.¡± I said.

    ¡°My master will kill me. I have accepted my fate. Might as well tell you.¡± He said, clearly displeased.

    ¡°He''s not going to kill you,¡± I said, ¡°he doesn''t know that you told us about his family.¡±

    ¡°Yes, he does!! He''s watching me. He''s always watching us!!¡± He panicked. He began crying hysterically.

    ¡°Calm down. He won''t kill you!! He doesn''t have the ability to watch you spy on us.¡± Father reassured him. ¡°Does he?¡±

    ¡°Father!!¡± Aidan and I said in unison.

    ¡°I''ve seen it happen!! One of our spies failed at a mission once, he knew about it and he mercilessly tortured him and killed him,¡± he said trembling, ¡°the horror of his brutal tortures. I cannot bear to show my face to him!!!¡±

    I feel bad for him. His fear seems real. His tears are sincere. The look of sheer terror in his eyes is pretty sad. I loosen my vine grip so he can breathe better.

    Guards came running over.

    ¡°Your Highnesses, the prisoner escaped!¡± They said.

    ¡°What?!¡± My father exclaimed. ¡°This isn''t good. He might tell the Death King our information.¡±

    Suddenly, the spy we have cried out.

    ¡°HE''S DEAD!!! HE''S DEAD!!! MY BROTHER IS DEAD!!!!¡± He screamed. He kept screaming that his brother is dead. He began screaming to have Hametsu spare him from death and torture.

    ¡°MASTER!!! PLEASE SPARE ME!!!! I BEG YOU!!!!¡± He screamed.

    He keeps screaming and crying about how he''s gonna die and how Hametsu was going to kill him.

    I release him from the vines. He collapses on the floor, trembling and weeping. I feel pretty bad for him. He''s been taught to both fear and admire Hametsu.

    Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew into the dining hall, but it felt way more sinister than regular wind, almost dark and malevolent, worse than Hametsu. There is no way Hametsu can make this type of wind. It¡¯s way too evil, but I can¡¯t be too sure. He probably can, considering how long he''s been alive. He may have had time to learn and perfect this type of thing. I raise my arms to my face to shield myself from the force of the wind. A shadow appeared in the wind. I assume it¡¯s Hametsu. I can only see that one minute the spy is screaming and on his knees begging to be spared.

    The next thing I know, the spy is a bloody mess on the floor.

 Chapter 10

    We are all horrified. Written on the ground, in the spy¡¯s blood, right in front of me, are these words:

    YOU¡¯RE NEXT KALLAN!!! I WILL KILL YOU AND I WILL RULE

    EVERYTHING!!!!

    -Hametsu

    He¡¯s a demon. An absolute monstrosity to humanity. My insides shake with anger and fear. I swear he''s probably laughing right now with his sister and girlfriend.

    ¡°That horrible person.¡± I whisper to myself. I begin crying. Not out of fear that he''s going to try and kill me, but because he kills people for his own amusement.

    I really hate him. I don''t want to stoop to his level and kill him, even though he deserves it. It''s impossible to know how many people have died by his hands.

    I cry for the dead spy. He doesn¡¯t deserve this. He doesn''t deserve to be slaughtered mercilessly by Hametsu''s powers. He probably has a family that he was trying to take care of. I wonder what sort of lie Hametsu is going to tell his family? That we killed him?

    I know that the royal blood of Aelfdene would never kill anybody.

    I hate the Yamashi bloodline. They''re all cruel. I can just imagine what his sister is like. Just as cruel, just as vicious.

    Mother, father and Aidan hug me and comfort me.

    ¡°I can''t believe what he does to people. It''s so cruel, just so inhumanly cruel,¡± I said in between tears, ¡°what is wrong with him?¡±

    ¡°Mental insanity,¡± Aidan said, ¡°you''ve mentioned it to me before about how 70% of his sanity is gone.¡±

    I nodded, still bawling my eyes out.

    One question surfaces in my mind.

    ¡°How did he kill him and write that message in less than a minute?¡± I asked.

    Father shakes his head.

    ¡°It''s a mystery. I wondered the same thing when Romeo was ruling,¡± he said, ¡°he caused the Dark Ages and spread sickness and fear as well as chaos and misery as an attempt to conquer the Human Realm and Fae.¡±

    ¡°And he failed miserably,¡± I said, choking on my tears, ¡°what happened to him?¡±

    No one answers. They¡¯re hiding something from me.

    ¡°Father, what happened to him?¡± I asked again.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we head to the archives.¡± he said, avoiding my question.

    Maybe I can find the answer to my question there.

    There is a long passageway to the archives, decorated with murals of my ancestors. I stopped to look at King Arthur. I look like him, nearly a splitting image. Except his hair is longer and slightly darker. He has a beard on his face. This mural was probably painted when he was in his thirties because he looks like me only twenty years older.

    I, personally, am not one for beards. I don¡¯t want a beard. But besides that, Arthur and I look nearly the same.

    I look down the line of my ancestors. A few of them have red hair. Some have dark brown hair. Others are actually blonde or have really light brown hair. They all have green eyes but the shade varies from person to person.

    Then there¡¯s me and my brothers. Aidan, the warrior, Adair, the healer, and Kallan, the savior. The mural of me must¡¯ve been painted a few days ago because it looks fresh.

    And, yet again, I am reminded that I have to go to war.

    <ol>

    <li> Hate. War. War bugs the living crap out of me.</li>

    </ol>

    The doors to the archives are huge and decorated with the Mother Goddess surrounded by nature and butterflies.

    Now I have a better understanding as to why butterflies are very important here. They¡¯re most likely sacred and viewed as symbols of the Mother Goddess.

    Father recites some sort of incantation and the doors open, revealing a giant library filled with scrolls and books.

    This is the archives. The entire history of Fae and its rulers as well as its secrets is in this massive room. The room is dimly lit by torches. It¡¯s light enough to see and read.

    I just want to read all of them, all of the books and scrolls. But I know I can¡¯t. It would take years to finish reading just a corner of the archives. That¡¯s how many books and scrolls there.

    Father leads me to the back of the archives. There are three thick books. One reads ¡°Aelfdene¡±, the second one Eolande,which  I''m guessing is mother''s side of the family, and the third read Yamashi, Hametsu''s bloodline.

    I want to read my mother''s side of the family. I''m curious to know if I have any cousins or not.

    I skip ahead to the part where my mother''s name was listed. She did have a sister but oh my lord I¡¯m shocked about who it is.

    I just stared at the name, trying to make sense of what I just learned, and praying that it wasn''t true, that I read it wrong.

    Juliet is my mother''s sister, her younger sister.

    My mind can not wrap around this one fact, this one horrible fact.

    Hametsu and I are cousins. We are family.

    I absolutely refuse to believe it. I am utterly speechless. I just can''t accept it.

    I am related to Hametsu, that lunatic, that horribly cruel lunatic. I just can''t even believe it.

    ¡°Father¡­.¡± I finally said when I found my voice, ¡°is this true? Is Juliet my aunt?¡±

    He sighs a heavy sigh.

    ¡°Unfortunately, it is. We never knew that she conceived until a hundred years ago when her son returned to claim the throne of the Death Fairies.¡±

    I can''t believe it. I read through Hametsu''s family tree. Sure enough, Juliet did marry Romeo and had two kids, Lilly and Hametsu, the latter being the older twin. I shut the book and went somewhere else.

    I wander around for a little bit, looking at the covers of books and reading a few scrolls. One book caught my eye. It¡¯s called ¡°The Legendary Battle.¡± The cover is black and the writing on the cover is gold. There was a sinister looking symbol on it in dark purple. I figure I can read it some other time, so I walk past it.

    I saw Ryan was sitting down, reading a book near the left wall of the archives. He looked up.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Your highness!¡± He said, scrambling up to stand at attention.

    ¡°Ryan,¡± I started. I take a deep breath and say rather quickly, ¡°Hametsu is my cousin, I don''t know what to do or think, please help me!!¡±

    ¡°Dude slow down! All I got out of that is ¡®Hametsu¡¯ and ¡®help me,¡¯¡± he replied.

    ¡°Hametsu is my cousin. What do I do?!¡± I pleaded.

    Ryan looks just as shocked as I felt about the news.

    ¡°That bastard is related to you?!¡± He asked, unable to hide the shock in his voice.

    ¡°I wish it wasn''t true,¡± I replied, ¡°but apparently it is.¡±

    Ryan shakes his head in disbelief and disgust.

    ¡°That vile monster,¡± he said, ¡°I heard about what happened about your encounter and that you know about him. One of our spies managed to make it home alive and told us about his plans.¡±

    ¡°Genocide. He wants to kill the human race and considers them as disgusting.¡± I said. I actually think that he thinks that everyone is disgusting judging by the way he killed his own spy and the fact that he tortures and kills whoever he wants to torture and kill. He''s disgusting. I despise him, even though we''re family.

    ¡°I don''t want to kill him. He''s family. But he seriously deserves it. I''m so confused.¡± I said.

    ¡°Who said you have to kill him?¡± Ryan asked, ¡°just give him a taste of his own medicine. Let''s make him know what it feels like to be tortured.¡±

    ¡°I will not stoop that low, no matter how much I agree with that,¡± I declared to him, ¡°besides, what would his sister do to us if we did that to him?¡±

    ¡°He has a sister?¡± Ryan asked. Wow. Just, wow. He doesn''t know. That''s pretty sad. He''s the son of the captain of the royal guard. He should know about that. Spies are a part of the guard¡­ I think. I dunno. I know Hametsu¡¯s spy spilled the beans, but there have got to be some spies that survived and told

    them.

    ¡°Yes. He does.¡± I said, slightly annoyed.

    ¡°Huh,¡± he stated, ¡°ya learn something new every day.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no kidding,¡± I retorted, ¡°anyway, what book are you reading?¡±

    He shows me the cover. It''s King Arthur''s guide to being a good warrior. Arthur wrote it himself. The thing looks ancient. How is it still in one piece? Probably some sort of magic.

    ¡°I want to be just like my dad and Aidan. Noble warriors, with good hearts.¡± He said. His eyes shine with admiration toward my oldest brother.

    Aidan must be popular. While I was wandering around and talking to people before the banquet a few days ago, some of the younger boys said that they wanted to be like Aidan. Some of the older girls said that Aidan was heartthrob to maidens everywhere. I think one girl said that she wanted to marry him.

    Adair is popular too. Quite a few people want to be his apprentice. But I don''t think Adair really wants an apprentice yet. According to him, he''s still an apprentice, even though he''s one of the most skilled healers of Fae.

    Thinking about him made me think about Juliet. She is rumored to be the greatest healer that has ever lived.

    Thinking of Juliet makes me think of her lunatic son Hametsu and thinking of him makes my blood boil.

    I still have a hard time believing that Juliet is my aunt and that Hametsu is my cousin. This is a fact that will probably never sink in.

    And I still can''t believe that he''s the Death King and that he was only getting close to me so that he could kill me and take over the world.

    ¡°Hey Kallan, do you have any idea what his sister is like?¡± Ryan asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.

    ¡°No. Not really,¡± I replied, ¡°but I assume that she''s similar to Hametsu in behavior.¡±

    ¡°You''re jumping to conclusions again.¡± Ryan teased.

    He''s right. Maybe Lilly or whatever her name is, is actually a lot nicer to people. Either that or she''s somewhere in between.

    ¡°I''m actually very curious now.¡± I said.

    ¡°Kallan!! Come over here!¡± I heard my father shout at me. I flew over to him.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I believe I found the book you are looking for.¡± He said, holding a thick, ancient book with a chestnut colored leather cover. It was titled The History of Fae and it was also written by my ancestor, King Arthur. About every book that I have seen was written by him.

    ¡°How many books did King Arthur write?¡± I asked.

    Father thinks about it for a while.

    ¡°I want to say about 90% of the books and scrolls in the archives.¡± He finally replied.

    I¡¯m surprised when I heard that.

    Father laughs.

    ¡°You should see the look on your face right now. It''s quite amusing.¡± He stated. I blushed a bit and elbowed him slightly.

    ¡°How did he manage to do that?!¡± I asked.

    ¡°He lived for about five hundred years. His son took over when he was a hundred years old.¡± Father explained. ¡°He lived through many generations.¡±

    I¡¯m amazed that my ancestor lived for five hundred years writing books and scrolls for nobility and royalty to read. Do fairies naturally live that long? If so then damn.

    I took a look at the book. I cautiously opened it, out of fear of ruining the ancient book.

    It started off as M¨¤thair N¨¤dar creating Fae. It says that the first creatures she made were butterflies, which answered my question as to why they are sacred. Then it explains all the other creatures that she created. King Arthur stated that she created fairies, pixies, and elves to care for these creatures.

    The people of Fae were created to care for each type of creature. Water fairies for the rivers and oceans, fire fairies for the volcanos, earth fairies for the land, and air fairies to the creatures of the sky.

    The fairies eventually grew into many different kinds of fairies like Nature Fairies, Death Fairies, Island Fairies, Storm Fairies, Garden Fairies, Animal Fairies, Day Fairies, Night Fairies and so on and so on.

    With life, also came death. A spirit known as the Spirit of Death came to the world and introduced death to balance out life. M¨¤thair N¨¤dar was unhappy, but understood. They made a negotiation that the fairies are able to live for centuries, but must die when they are considered elders. They lived in peace with some fairies following the Spirit of Death and becoming Death Fairies to balance out the Life Fairies.

    Then it explains how the Spirit of Darkness came to Fae and brought all the evil in the world such as sickness and pain and suffering and corruption, causing the people of Fae to be able to die at all ages, not just elders. Some of the nature and death fairies decided to follow the ways of the Spirit of Darkness and they became the Dark Fairies, who have been sealed away for centuries. It doesn¡¯t explain how they were defeated along with the Spirit of Darkness. It was around that time where the kingdom of Pixies and the Elven Empire disappeared causing the formation of the Barren Lands.

    Then it proceeds to explain all the conflict that happened with the population of Death Fairies and the Life fairies, which is literally every other kind of fairy, due to the corruption of the Spirit of Darkness had caused before his sealing. The Spirit of Death tried to calm them, but was unsuccessful in doing so. The corruption was too strong. The Death Fairies claimed that the Spirit of Death wanted this, when it was pretty obvious he didn¡¯t.

    The Life Fairies decided to crown a king to lead their people, so the Mother Goddess and Spirit of Death created a quest for someone to follow, it was to pull Excalibur from a stone. But here¡¯s the catch, it was an extremely dangerous trial to get there including crossing a really dense jungle filled with plants that could kill you in an instant if you ate from it, as well as carnivorous plants and deadly predators. It was also full of dangerous trials that one had to pass such as finding some sort of crystal to place on a statue to open a temple where there was some sort of talisman needed to defeat the guardian of the sword.

    My ancestor was a skinny, frail boy, but he trained himself for many years until he was 17, my age, and went on that quest to find Excalibur. He spent nearly two years on the quest, frequently writing messages to his parents telling them that he was okay and having the birds send them.

    The sword was in the stone in front of a waterfall, Arthur walked up to it, grabbed the handle and effortlessly pulled the sword from the stone.

    Only a pure hearted lad could take the sword, he wrote, I really only considered myself as a simple farm boy, but it seems that the Mother Goddess had other plans for me. I am ready to accept my role as the King of Fae and lead the people to peace and prosperity.

    He returned home with Excalibur in his hands and he said that the people raised such a shout it shook the ground.

    I skipped ahead until I found what I was looking for.

    ...the Death Fairies have their own king and they claim that he is the incarnation of their God the Spirit of Death. He is a cruel fellow and oppresses his people by fear, he wrote, ...I have never heard of a man with such a powerful desire to dominate over everything¡­

    So the whole war started because Hametsu''s crazy ancestor wanted to rule everything. Why am I not surprised?

    His entire family from his dad''s side are lunatics.

    I flipped ahead to the end and I saw a prophecy:

    A dark time will fall upon the realm

    Bringing death and destruction

    In it''s darkest hour a shining light will be born

    A Queen will bear three sons

    The first will become a warrior of light

    The second will fall and rise again

    The youngest will save us from destruction

    Return life to the land.

    And lead the people to an era of peace, prosperity, and harmony.

 chapter 11

    King Arthur knew about my birth. He knew that I was going to be the savior of my people. How did he find out about this? Did the Mother Goddess tell him? Did he make some sort of deal with the time god? I guess not, because I heard that the Time God is a very strict and difficult person to deal with.

    I¡¯m at a loss for words.

    He knew that I am supposed to defeat the Death King, my cousin Hametsu.

    The prophecy didn''t say if I''m supposed to kill him, which means I probably won''t have to, and I don''t want to. But, I''m wondering if that''s the only way to end the war.

    I cautiously close the book and fly away from the archives.

    I zoom past the murals of my family and out of the halls that lead to the archives. I don''t know where I¡¯m going, but I land in front of a temple. It''s very large and has vines growing on the pillars and seems very well kept.

    I walk inside. Someone is in there crying and praying to a large statue of the Mother Goddess.

    I can''t exactly make out what she''s saying, but she sounds desperate for her prayer to be heard and answered.

    I walk up to her. Only then can I hear what she says.

    ¡°Why is he like this? Why does he think that war is the answer?¡± She weeps. ¡°He¡¯s never like this.¡±

    I touch her shoulder. She jolts a bit and faces me.

    I am taken aback by her appearance.  She looks like the female version of Hametsu except her eyes are a different shade of green. Her eyes are emerald green. Her face is more innocent looking than Hametsu''s. She looks like that type of person who is still innocent to the harshness of reality.

    How does she live with someone like Hametsu? This must be her sister that the spy talked about.

    ¡°Are you Lilly?¡± I ask her.

    She nods. Her eyes are all red and puffy from crying.

    ¡°You must be Kallan. Right?¡± She asks.

    ¡°Yes.¡± I reply.

    She starts to cry again. I got really worried, thinking that I made her cry.

    ¡°Please stop my brother from destroying everything!!!¡± she begs, ¡°I know he cares about his people, but he also suddenly became more mentally unstable. I don¡¯t know how to help him!¡±

    ¡°I know. He wants everything he can get his hands on,¡± I state, ¡°his filthy, murderous, torturous hands.¡± I shut my mouth. I¡¯m 99.9% sure that I just insulted her. I quickly apologize.

    ¡°No, no. You¡¯re right. He has an unhealthy love for torture. I thought it toned down though,¡± she says between sobs. ¡° He used to be so nice and loving.¡±

    ¡°He did?¡± I ask, dumbfounded and extremely surprised.

    A lunatic like him used to be nice and caring of others?

    She calms down before she continues to talk.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe, but when we were little kids he used to love everything,¡± she starts, ¡°then he saw our dad get killed. He closed himself off to everyone, especially our mother.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I pity him now. A kind, loving boy turned into a sadistic, hateful maniac.

    There¡¯s more to this story.

    ¡°You¡¯re not telling me everything,¡± I said.

    ¡°Hametsu was bullied a lot by his peers because he¡¯s half fairy, half death spirit.¡±

    ¡°So Hametsu is the Spirit of Death?¡± I asked, confused.

    ¡°No,¡± she tries explaining to me about what reapers are and how they bring souls to the afterlife. She calls them ¡°death spirits¡± a few times which confuses me even more. This whole death spirit and reaper stuff makes my head hurt.

    ¡°So that means Hametsu is half reaper, half fairy?¡± I ask, trying to clarify what she¡¯s saying.

    ¡°Yes, and so am I.¡± She says.

    ¡°So that means, the entire family from your dad¡¯s side are reapers?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± she says. ¡°Reapers and fairies don¡¯t like each other. So when my parents got married, there were a lot of disapproving looks from both sides.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine,¡± I say.

    We stop because we hear someone coming. Lilly got a little nervous.

    ¡°Kallan you have to get out of here,¡± she says urgently.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My brother¡¯s guards are looking for me. You have to get out of here,¡± She urges some more, ¡°Now!¡±

    ¡°But what about-¡±

    ¡°Never mind about me,¡± she says, ¡°I promised him that I¡¯d be back when the moon comes up. He gave me an escort of guards so he could protect me because I¡¯m not a fighter. He really does care for me a lot, but if they find you, they¡¯ll kill you.¡±

    The guards start coming closer.

    ¡°Bye Lilly. It was nice meeting you.¡± I say as I fly out. She waves at me and smiles slightly.

    I fly out of there as fast as I can and make it home safely.

    I land in the courtyard and make my way to the dining hall.

    ¡°Welcome back Kallan!¡± mother calls.

    ¡°Hey.¡± I say rather glumly. I¡¯m not in the mood to talk, that is, until I see a large platter of chocolate cake on the table. My mouth starts to water. ¡°Pass me the cake please,¡± I say. Aidan passes the cake to me and I cut out a large piece for myself. Adair just stares at his piece. He¡¯s still upset about what he heard about Juliet marrying Romeo. I¡¯m just secretly glad that he doesn¡¯t know that she¡¯s our aunt.

    ¡°Mother, is it true that Juliet is our aunt?¡± He asks. I nearly choke on my cake when he asks that. How and when did he find out?

    ¡°Yes. It is.¡± mother replies.

    ¡°Then that means that lunatic Hametsu is our cousin,¡± Aidan says, very annoyed. ¡°Just great.¡± He shoves a bite of cake into his mouth

    ¡°I talked to his sister,¡± I say. Aidan chokes on his cake. Adair just glances at me with angry eyes.

    ¡°How did that encounter go?¡± Adair asks, clearly annoyed and angry.

    ¡°She¡¯s actually pretty nice. She told me that Hametsu used to be a nice person when they were little.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s hard to believe.¡± Adair says, unamused.

    ¡°I know,¡± I say. I proceed to tell them about everything that Lilly told me about Hametsu. They¡¯re reactions are different.

    Aidan chokes on his cake again.

    Mother''s eyes grew wide.

    Adair, just sighs angrily and mumbles something rude.

    Father stares at me.

    The room gets awkwardly silent. It¡¯s really uncomfortable.

    ¡°I don''t believe any of that,¡± Adair spat.

    ¡°Well you don''t have to say it like that.¡± I grouch back. Adair growls a bit and slams his fist on the table.

    ¡°Adair!¡± Mother scolds, ¡°mind your temper!¡±

    Adair gets up from the table and storms off to his room. I don''t think this is going to end well.

    Something isn''t right with Adair.

    ¡°How long has he been acting like this?¡± I ask.

    ¡°All evening,¡± Aidan replies. ¡°He hasn''t stopped. I have a bad feeling about this. A really bad feeling.¡±

    I thought back to the prophecy:

    The second will fall and rise again

    I have a vague idea on what it means. But I''m not exactly sure.

    I was thinking of two things:

    Adair might get killed and somehow come back to life, or, Adair will betray us and come back begging for forgiveness or something similar.

    I¡¯m seriously hoping that he wouldn''t betray us. But I can''t control fate. It¡¯s not up to me what happens to my brother. I just hope he doesn¡¯t make a bad decision.

 Chapter 12

    There¡¯s such an uproar when I go down for breakfast the next morning. Everyone is talking about something major that had happened. I went up to Ryan to ask about what happened.

    ¡°Ryan, what happened? Why is everyone so worried?¡± I ask.

    He responds by showing me a note.

    You will find me amongst the Death Fairies from now on.

    -Adair

    Adair betrayed us. He moved to the side of the Death Fairies.

    I¡¯m shaking to the core. My own brother, a traitor. What did Hametsu do to manipulate my brother to turn against us?

    Mother and father are distraught.

    ¡°Why would he do this?¡± Mother asks, her face buried in her hands and sobbing. Father tries to comfort her. He stands up and calls everyone to attention.

    ¡°Adair is not to set foot into any village or city here in this kingdom,¡± father declares, ¡°especially Avalon. If he does¡­.. it hurts me to say this ... he will be imprisoned.¡±

    A hush falls over the room. My brother is now banished from his own home.

    This hurts more than Hametsu''s betrayal, and his betrayal hurt pretty bad. But the betrayal of my brother, especially since I¡¯m very close to him, hurts like a knife to the chest. I¡¯m devastated.

    Adair holds some of our secrets, even the location of the Dragonfly Pendant. We''re as good as dead.

    Without thinking, I fly to the archives. Father flies after me. He knows exactly what I am thinking.

    ¡°You want to personally guard the pendant don''t you Kallan?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It will be safer that way.¡± I reply.

    Father recites the incantation that opens the doors to the archives.

    We search for the pendant until we find it in a small chest behind a bunch of vines. I take it out. The black crystal necklace looks very eerie in the dim torch light. It sends shivers down my spine. I shove it in my pocket.

    Then, I have the sudden urge to talk to Roxy. I feel like I really need her at this moment.

    ¡°I want to talk to my fiance.¡± I say out loud.

    I want to talk with her about everything that has happened. About Hametsu and Adair¡¯s betrayal. I really need to talk to her. I feel that she has to know about all of this, I mean, she''s going to be the queen of Fae when we get married and after I become the king, which I feel completely unprepared for.

    Then it suddenly dawns on me that I don''t know how to fight or use a sword. If I''m going to battle Hametsu, I need to learn how to fight. I know the perfect person to teach me how.

    I fly out of the archives to find Aidan.

    I search for him for about an hour, checking out all the likely places where he would be. I finally found him on the training grounds training with Ryan. They were having a sword fight.

    They stop to take a break, after Aidan pinned him to the ground.

    ¡°You''re getting better, Ryan.¡± Aidan says, helping him up.

    ¡°Thanks Aidan,¡± Ryan replies, trying to catch his breath.

    ¡°Hi guys.¡± I call as I walk up to them.

    ¡°Hey Kal. What''s up?¡± Aidan asks me, also trying to catch his breath.

    ¡°Do you think that, maybe when you have time, you could train me on how to fight?¡± I ask him, a bit sheepishly.

    Aidan nods.

    ¡°No problem.¡± He said. ¡°Actually, we¡¯re gonna start now.¡±

    ¡°Wait, What? Now?¡±

    He left for a few moments and came back with a sword. He told me it¡¯s a training sword.

    ¡°You¡¯re too wimpy for a real sword,¡± he says with this mischievous grin. I roll my eyes and shove him a bit. He shoves me back and hands me the sword.

    ¡°Just because your my brother, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going easy on you,¡± Aidan tells me.

    Oh boy¡­ I can¡¯t wait to see how this will end.

    It''s hard. Learning how to use a sword is very hard. Good lord I am not prepared for this.

    ¡°Kallan you''re holding it wrong again,¡± Aidan told me, ¡°right hand above your left hand. And fix your posture you''re slouching again.¡±

    He came over and adjusted my posture. I feel my back cracking. I can tell that Aidan hears it because he tries holding in his laughter, but isn''t very successful in doing so.

    ¡°Your back cracked.¡± He says while trying not to laugh.

    ¡°I know,¡± I say. ¡°It felt really good.¡±

    ¡°Kallan, your arms are drooping. Stop drooping.¡± He says, suddenly very serious and lifts my arms up again.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    He makes me stand in that perfect sword holding posture for about an hour and a half. To say that I am tired is a dramatic understatement. My arms and legs feel like jelly. Then we move on to actual fighting techniques.

    They are very complicated, involving twisting your arms that seem to defy human- uh fairy- anatomy. I am still getting used to calling myself a fairy.

    Aidan somehow performs those moves flawlessly.

    ¡°Kallan come on, this is beginner stuff.¡± He says, starting to get annoyed.

    ¡°This is beginner stuff?!¡± I ask with surprise. If this is beginner stuff, I¡¯d hate to see advanced stuff.

    He sighs.

    ¡°Just keep working on it,¡± He says.

    He also makes me stand in various other sword postures. An hour and a half each, so my muscles get used to it and feel natural to be in that position.

    By the time I am done with the day¡¯s training, every muscle in my arms, legs, and chest HURT like HELL.

    ¡°You did pretty good today Kallan.¡± Aidan tells me. He pats my back. I am so sore, I nearly fall over. We laugh.

    I wonder where Excalibur is; I haven''t seen him in a while.

    ¡°Hey, where''s Excalibur?¡± I ask.

    ¡°In the archives,¡± Aidan says. ¡°He''s resting and saving his energy until you have to use him.¡±

    ¡°Ah. That''s why I haven''t seen him in a few days.¡± I say.

    ¡°Yeah, and you still need to learn how to use a sword Kallan.¡± He teases.

    We both laugh.

    Later that evening, dinner feels as if something is missing. I look over at where Adair usually sits. It¡¯s depressing.

    Why would he betray us?

    I know he looks up to Juliet as the greatest healer in history. But, something doesn''t make any sense. We don''t know why he betrayed us. That''s what bugs me.

    I decided to go check out what made him betray us.

    I spent twenty minutes looking for his room. I check every hallway then I finally find it. It''s right next to the entrance to the palace garden. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised honestly.

    I dig around his stuff. He has a lot of books about medical herbs and healing magic. Some of them are old.

    I search around his study area until I find a drawer filled with letters.

    It seems like Hametsu has been trying to manipulate him to join his court as their healer.

    I read Hametsu¡¯s words. I never knew how manipulative he really was.

    ...Adair, this isn''t about me. My sister is lonely. She actually looks up to you. She needs you Adair. If you want, I can position you as the official court healer. You can make history and help us, the Death Fairies, with whatever ailments we have. Or, better yet, I can position you in a seat of higher power, second only to me¡­

    Hametsu has been pulling Adair¡¯s pity strings. Of course he would feel bad for a girl. Everyone knows that. He hates seeing people lonely.

    The more letters I read, the more Hametsu tempts him with promises of a higher power. Hametsu finds Adair''s weakness and manipulates it to his advantage. He manages to make Adair think that he wants power.

    ...you could even be far stronger than your little brother if you join me. I know you want to be king Adair. If you think about it, it doesn''t seem right to have the youngest child to be put on the throne. He''s still a na?ve little boy¡­

    He is obviously talking about me in that one. I pull myself away from reading them and show them all to my father.

    ¡°He''s been in contact with Hametsu for quite some time,¡± I say. I can''t count them. There are too many to count.

    ¡°Indeed he has,¡± Father says. ¡°Hametsu pulled his pity strings and pried a way open into his heart and made Adair''s inner darkness grow.¡±

    Now I hate Hametsu even more. He''s tearing my family away from me.

    But the dilemma still stands: to kill Hametsu or to not kill him? I''ve already said it about a bajillion times that Hametsu is my cousin. He''s family. That''s the problem. I don''t want to kill him. But¡­. he''s too cruel and wants to destroy every living thing he can get his hands on.

    ¡°Oh what''s this?¡± Father suddenly states.

    ¡°What?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Take a look.¡± He says.

    I look at what he shows me. Adair was in touch with Lilly too.

    ...Adair I''m begging you. Please don''t come. Hametsu is just going to use you. He''s lying. He will never give you power. I know you''re worried that I don''t really have anyone to talk with, but it''s not worth your life. Hametsu will kill you once he''s finished with you. Please don''t come...

    Lilly doesn''t want him to go over to them. From the looks of it, she''s been begging and warning Adair not to go over there for about as long as Hametsu was feverishly manipulating him to go.

    Lilly''s attempts proved futile because Adair went anyway. She must''ve been devastated.

    It suddenly hit me that I haven''t heard anything from Roxy in a while. I grew worried.

    ¡°I haven''t heard anything from Roxy. Is she okay?¡± I ask.

    As if right on cue, she walks in.

    ¡°I heard about what happened with Hametsu and Adair.¡± She says solemnly. I walk up to her and hug her.

    ¡°I haven''t seen you in a few days. Is everything okay?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Yeah. It was fine. Ryan helped me get here.¡± She tells me.

    ¡°He did? I just saw him about an hour ago.¡± I say, rather surprised.

    ¡°He''s a wind fairy. He can travel quickly using the wind.¡±

    ¡°But his wings are tinted green!!¡± I exclaim.

    ¡°The color of your wings doesn''t dictate what kind of fairy you are. Oh and have you taken a good look at Aidan''s wings yet?¡± She says.

    To be honest, I haven''t really paid any attention to his wings. She knows my oblivious nature too well.

    ¡°Actually no. I haven''t really paid attention to them.¡± I admit.

    ¡°They''re so pretty. They''re the color of rubies and shaped sort of like fire,¡± she says. ¡°You really need to stop being so oblivious to detail.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that,¡± I say, with a slight laugh.

    I look at my wings. They just look like butterfly wings that are gold. Nothing special about them in my opinion.

    ¡°I personally think that my wings are nothing special.¡± I tell Roxy glumly. I really don''t.

    ¡°Kal, you really have no idea how amazing your wings are.¡± She tells me. She kisses me. Then she leads me to a painting of the Mother Goddess.

    I study her painted likeness. She¡¯s painted with brown hair and leaf green eyes, her wings are like mine, or should I say, my wings are like hers.

    I have the wings of the Mother Goddess.

    ¡°Whoa,¡± I say. ¡°I have her wings.¡±

    Roxy giggles.

    ¡°And they look good on you,¡± she says as she hugs me.

    We walk and talk for a while in the gardens. We talk about the stuff that we would normally talk about plus some new topics. My new favorite topic is our future wedding.

    ¡°We should have flowers. White flowers.¡± Roxy says.

    ¡°Sounds nice. But maybe we should add more color to it, like light blue,¡± I say.

    We talk about decorations and the food. The wedding won''t be for another year or so. We talk and laugh like old times. We find a place to sit and talk. She snuggles up close to me.

    ¡°I love you Kal,¡± she whispers to me. I stroke her hair.

    ¡°I love you too,¡± I say back. I kiss her.

    Walking in the garden reminds me of Adair. I still can''t understand why he did this. How could he fall for Hametsu¡¯s trap? Even Lilly knew that Hametsu just wanted to kill him.

    I don''t know why, but I have this feeling that Adair will be back. He will come back. It''s just a matter of time.

    For now, all we can do is wait.

 Chapter 13

    It''s been four months since Adair¡¯s betrayal. No one knows what''s going on with him. Many of us are worried for various reasons, mostly about the war. Mostly everyone fears that Adair will give away the greatest secrets of our defenses. I highly doubt he knows about them, but he knows about the pendant.

    If Hametsu gets his hands on that pendant, it''s game over for us. Unless there''s a divine intervention by the Mother Goddess, whom I''m now worshiping on a daily basis. Every day I ask her for wisdom and strength and to help me get over my fears and protect everyone.

    Whenever I''m not busy training on sword fighting or learning how to rule a kingdom, I''m usually at the temple praying for guidance and Adair''s repentance. Even after his betrayal, I still love him. I mean, he''s one of my older brothers.

    Ryan''s father was killed in a small battle against a small battalion of Hametsu¡¯s soldiers in a field up north a few weeks ago. We still won that battle.

    Ryan is currently the head of the guard, and I know that he feels completely unprepared for the job. Aidan helps him out though. Aidan has witnessed and been through enough army drills to know what to do. Ryan listens to everything Aidan says.

    ¡°You gotta make sure that you''re firm in instructions, but not harsh. Don''t be too harsh unless it''s necessary. And above all else, don''t use brute force. Instead, inspire your troops and speak in a very strong loud voice to the troops,¡± Aidan said. His voice was calm, but his tone was very firm.

    Aidan really is a great warrior. He has a fiery personality and I found out that he''s a fire fairy. I don''t know why it took me so long to figure that out, like seriously! Sheesh I''m so oblivious sometimes.

    Roxy told me that the color of your wings doesn''t dictate the type of fairy you are. I''ve seen water fairies with red and orange wings and light fairies with purple wings. Some nature fairies have brown wings.

    But I find it ironic that Aidan has ruby red wings that are sort of shaped like flames and he''s a fire fairy. Adair''s wings were emerald green and shaped like a butterfly.

    Unlike most royals that I have read about when I was younger, I''m actually very outgoing. I love visiting the town and talking with everyone and I''m never incognito because it''s nearly impossible to hide my gold wings. Apparently I''m the only fairy that was ever born with golden wings.

    Then I decided to ask about the wings. Some kids, three rowdy boys, dragged me over to play with them and obviously I agreed. I love playing with kids. I asked their mother about wings when I went to take a small break from playing.

    ¡°A child usually gets their wings adult wings at around 14 or 15, sometimes as late as 17 or 18,¡± Their mother tells me. She¡¯s a garden fairy with a large belly that signals that she''s expecting and due within at least a few days. The crops she grows are very well tended. Her three young boys with clear wings come up to me and show me all of the bugs they found. I draw them a beetle with some paper and pens they have. They love it and they start drawing too.

    I have fun talking and playing with them until Aidan comes by to ruin the fun. He¡¯s all wet, which I initially assume is sweat but he doesn¡¯t smell sweaty.

    ¡°I was looking for you for three hours,¡± he says. I roll my eyes, knowing it¡¯s not true.

    ¡°No you weren¡¯t,¡± I tell him, knowing that what he says is total crap.

    ¡°Why are you all sweaty?¡± The oldest boy asks him. He''s probably around ten years old.

    ¡°This isn''t sweat. It''s water.¡±

    ¡°You saw Lamia again didn''t you?¡± I ask. Lamia is Aidan''s girlfriend. She''s a water fairy. I found out about this romantic relationship about a month ago. I caught them making out in the back of the palace gardens. That got really awkward when Aidan saw me there. He literally threw a branch at me, which I avoided, and told me to go away. He really does not like being interrupted.

    Lamia is a water fairy and often likes to splash Aidan with water. He doesn''t mind though. They often spend time walking along the banks of a lake or a river or on the beach.

    Fire fairies like Aidan can marry fairies of opposite elements. The kids, if they chose to have any, will either be water fairy or fire fairy or whatever other fairy is in the genetic makeup.

    ¡°Uh...well¡­¡± he starts. The look on his face says everything. He was spending time with Lamia for those three hours that he claims to be searching for me. He probably only spent at least five minutes looking for me.

    ¡°If you want me to come home that''s fine,¡± I say.

    ¡°Awwww,¡± the young boys chime, pouting.

    ¡°I''ll come by and visit soon,¡± I promise them.

    ¡°How soon?¡± the youngest asks. He is about five I think.

    ¡°Whenever I can.¡± I smile at them.

    They smile back. I ruffle their hair.

    ¡°Thank you ma¡¯am for having me over.¡± I say politely. I bow slightly, as a proper man should, according to my mother. I¡¯m far too casual for my own good. She curtsies.

    ¡°It was a pleasure to have you in my home, my prince,¡± she responds.

    After we say goodbye, Aidan and I leave.

    However he has a dreamy expression on his face. It''s obvious that he wants to be with Lamia. He even said it out loud.

    ¡°She''s so kind and funny,¡± he sighs dreamily. He is very much in love with her.

    ¡°If you want to be with her, then go,¡± I tell him. He shakes his head.

    ¡°I have princely-warrior business to attend to,¡± he says. ¡°That includes training you on sword fighting.¡±

    ¡°Race you back to the castle!¡± I exclaim. I then zoom past him.

    ¡°OH you''re on!!¡± Aidan shouts playfully, trying to catch up to me. We both fly towards the castle as fast as our wings can take us, which is pretty fast.

    I beat him by an inch. We are both very out of breath.

    ¡°I win!!¡± I declare, in between breaths. Who knew fluttering wings could exhaust you. Aidan and I are sweaty by the end.

    Aidan laughs and then begins coughing. He is very out of breath. He regains his breath after a few minutes of breathing deeply.

    ¡°That was fun,¡± he says. ¡°Let''s do it again.¡±

    ¡°Some other time. You gotta train me, remember?¡± I tease.

    After we grab a quick snack of berries in yogurt, we head off to the training grounds.

    Five and a half hours of beginning sword basics later, we are finally done for the day. We go inside to eat dinner.

    I didn''t even think it was possible to make a soup out of fruits. Yet somehow, the chefs cooked a fruit soup. The broth is nice and thick, and it¡¯s full of chilled fruits such as cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, watermelons, pineapple, cherries, blueberries, and something they call a ¡°moonfruit¡±. It''s round and silver in color. The inside is pure white, has a texture like an apple and it tastes like high quality vanilla ice cream. It''s really good. Especially when it''s baked into a cake or a pie. I like eating it raw however since it¡¯s so cool and refreshing, once I get through the tough peel. I literally have to cut the peel with a butcher knife and then pry it open to get to the sweet, sweet fruit inside. The kitchen staff has lost many knives trying to peel it and I don¡¯t blame them. We even lost a sword to that thing. These things are hard to peel and finally getting it unpeeled is the most satisfying feeling in the world. Not to mention it¡¯s so worth it. The fruit inside is really good.

    The dessert is blackberry pie and Aidan and I practically eat the whole thing. Mother and father tell us to slow down, but we are starving from all the training.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    After dinner I decide to take a bath. I really need one, not only did I have a ton of anxiety for the future, but I smell like sweat and gym socks. At least, that''s what Aidan told me before I left the table, with this mischievous smile on his face. I laugh a tiny bit.

    I put my favorite scent in it after the heated water fills the large marble tub. Somehow, the fairies managed to capture the scent of freshly fallen rain on the grass. It''s gotta be some sort of magic.

    The scent of rain relaxes me. Luckily, I have the bathroom all to myself unlike what I have seen in movies.

    I decide to test my powers. I try to grow some sort of flower on the water. The result is some disgustingly deformed flower, like it didn¡¯t even look like a flower at all. It looks like some sort of ball of petals with some pollen mixed in. I got rid of it by dematerializing it. I try a second time. This time, I create a white water lily, then a yellow one, followed by a pink one, and lastly a blue one. They all smell so relaxing and good. I snap my fingers and they all disappear.

    Then I think about the war. In the past four months, Hametsu has captured more territory. As of right now, half of the Fae is lifeless and under his tyrannical control.

    He sends me many letters gloating about how he''s going to win and how I''m going to lose and be humiliated.

    ...Fae will be mine Kallan, and you can do NOTHING to stop me!! Everything you know and love will bow before me, begging for mercy. Unfortunately for them, I''m not the merciful type. If anything, I will feverishly enjoy their constant begging and pleading for me to stop torturing them. Their pain will bring me satisfaction and amusement, ESPECIALLY yours Kallan¡­

    I really detest him, that complete and total genocidal, heartless maniac. I resolve that I''m probably going to have no choice but to kill him, no matter how badly I don''t want to. This dilemma is starting to take its toll on me, anxiety wise, as well as everything else regarding him and this endless, senseless, war. I hate it and I''m the one prophesied to end it.

    ¡°What do I do?¡± I silently pray to the Mother Goddess, ¡°please give me wisdom.¡± I duck my head underwater. I come up about thirty seconds later for air and heave a large sigh.

    The bath is supposed to help me relax. Instead, I just get more anxiety.

    I wash myself off and a servant, with his eyes closed and head turned away, hands me a towel, which I quickly wrap around myself so he doesn''t feel so uncomfortable about seeing my privates. As quickly as I can, I fly to my room and change into some pajamas. I jump onto my bed and fall into a fitful sleep.

    I have a horrible nightmare.

    I dream of my traitorous brother, Adair. He does not look okay. He is bruised and bloody; his arm, hand and leg are twisted in a way that completely defied fairy anatomy. There is a silhouette of a figure with his foot on Adair, from the sinister, pale green eyes burning with pleasure and cruelty, I know it is Hametsu. Hametsu laughs a laugh that defies all known knowledge of insanity. It is an impossibly cruel, insane laugh.

    I jolt up, dripping in a cold sweat and shaking, trying to catch my breath and calm down.

    My dreams are warning me about what''s happening to Adair.

    It is past midnight judging by the position of the moon. So I lay back down and try to go back to sleep which I finally do after nearly two hours of trying.

    The next dream is just as horrible, if not WORSE than the last one.

    The second dream is of Hametsu taking over and ruling Fae and Earth. Humanity is on the brink of extinction and Hametsu happily kills them off, one by one, while he ushers in an era of fear and bloodshed to the Life Fairies. Enslaving, torturing, and killing them. It¡¯s horrible. But what terrifies me most is seeing Hametsu torturing me in front of everyone. I¡¯m begging him to stop. I have bruises and it¡¯s obvious that I have broken bones because they didn''t heal properly. Hametsu re-breaks them and continues to torture me and taunt me.

    I wake up screaming. My guards come running in.

    ¡°Your highness!! What happened?!¡± one of them says, his voice filled with concern and worry.

    I am shaking and start to cry.

    ¡°Bring my parents to me.¡± I say in between sobs.

    They rush off silently. A few minutes later my parents rushed in.

    ¡°Kallan!! Honey what''s wrong?¡± Mother asks.

    ¡°Please tell us son.¡± Father says. They both sit on my bed and hug me.

    I begin to tell them about the two dreams I had, about Hametsu torturing my brother and then literally everything else.

    I can''t stop crying. Aidan soon rushes in.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± He asks. He is extremely worried as well as frightened, ¡°did you have the dream too?¡±

    ¡°The one about Hametsu torturing our brother, then me?¡± I ask him in clarification.

    ¡°Yeah, that one. Except, he was torturing me in mine.¡± he says. He walks over to me. Mother makes room for him. Aidan hugs me, and mother and father hug both of us. Aidan begins crying. He is just as terrified as I am.

    Now we¡¯re all extremely worried about Adair.

    After about an hour of soothing us and calming us down. Aidan and I go to sleep, except, we sleep in my room. He claims to not want to leave me alone, but I think he just wants some comfort. To be honest, I welcome his company. I didn¡¯t want to sleep alone either.

    The third dream is not about Hametsu torturing, but about Lilly and Adair coming back. Lilly is holding Adair and trying to carry him across the border between the Death Kingdom and ours. After a few miles of trying to drag a beat up Adair to the castle, she gives up. A local farmer and someone else help her carry him to us. It also looks like they are carrying someone else too. Then Aidan and myself wake up.

    ¡°That dream was surprisingly pleasant compared to the other two.¡± I tell Aidan. He nods in agreement. We don¡¯t even question how we shared a dream. We got up and head down for breakfast.

    The servants have prepared my favorite and Aidan''s favorite: pancakes.

    There are all sorts of flavors to choose from. I pick banana, chocolate, and strawberry-blueberry pancakes. Aidan takes one of everything. His pile is huge, so he has two plates. We eat until we can¡¯t eat any more. Then we get ready for the day.

    The day is pleasant...too pleasant. Something is about to happen. Something major. Sure enough, I¡¯m right.

    ¡°Kallan!! I need you over here now!!¡± Father shouts urgently. I fly to him as fast as I can.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± I ask.

    ¡°Hametsu has challenged both of us to a duel.¡±

    Great. Just great. Excalibur isn''t even ready to become a sword again, as far as I¡¯m aware. But I am wrong.

    ¡°MY PRINCE!!!¡± Excalibur¡¯s high pitch voice shouts. He flies over to me as fast as his wings can carry him, which isn''t very fast.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I reply.

    ¡°It''s time. It''s time for me to become the sword. Once I do, I can never become a butterfly again...I will forever remain as a sword.¡± He says glumly. I pet his head and try my best to comfort him.

    ¡°You''re a magical sword. Nothing can defeat you.¡± I say.

    He sighs. Then he looks at me bravely.

    ¡°I will defend my home. If it means sacrificing myself to remain a sword, then so be it.¡±

    Excalibur lands at the palm of my hand. In a flash of light, the butterfly morphs into a sword. A beautiful, white crystal sword with a golden handle with leafy vine designs.

    It is beautiful. I wield it. The sword seems to guide me on how to fight.

    ¡°Where''s the duel held?¡± I ask.

    ¡°At the temple of M¨¤thair N¨¤dar,¡± he replies.

    I have a very bad feeling about this.

    ¡°When is the duel?¡±

    ¡°Sundown.¡±

    I still have time to panic, which I do. Father calms me down, sort of. I am still having very bad anxiety.

    ¡°We can do this Kal. We can win.¡±

    I nod.

    At sunset we head off to the temple and sure enough, Hametsu is waiting. What he doesn''t know is that we brought a few of the guards with us.

    ¡°Took you long enough,¡± he sneers. Then he laughs a bit.

    ¡°What''s so funny?¡± Father demands.

    ¡°Don''t think that I don''t know that you brought some guards with you to carry your dead bodies,¡± he smirks.

    I growl at him. He ignores me and points his scythe at my father.

    ¡°I want to battle you first, your highness,¡± he hisses. A strong hatred is burning in his eyes.

    Father nods.

    ¡°Very well,¡± he says, ¡°Kallan, stay back.¡± He draws his sword.

    I back up a bit.

    Hametsu charges at him and throws his scythe. It barely misses him and I avoid it quickly. It lodges into the column next to me. Hametsu flies up and easily, gets it out and continues to attack my father. There is the sound of metal-on-metal multiple times, not a pleasant sound mind you. Hametsu furiously tries to damage him. My father seems to try to avoid hurting Hametsu, but he ends up making a small cut on Hametsu¡¯s cheek.

    Hametsu stops and touches the cut on his cheek. He looks at his blood and gets super pissed. In a blindingly fast move, he gives my father a deep gash in his hand where he holds his sword. Hametsu quickly grabs the sword and pins my father to the ground.

    Hametsu states something before he stabs my father in the chest.

    Hametsu laughs evilly. I became outraged and tackle him and he lands with a thud against the statue. I scramble next to my father and try to use my magic to heal my father, but my healing magic isn''t that strong. I manage to make the wound less severe, but it still looks terrible.

    Hametsu kicks me out of the way. I fell to the floor about ten feet away from my father. I try to get up, but Hametsu pins me down. He points my father''s sword at my neck. I feel the bloody tip touch my neck.

    ¡°This blade,¡± he starts ¡°contains a haunting memory for me. A memory I''ve been trying to deny for four hundred and ninety-five years. But now I have to face it.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask him, pissed off.

    ¡°Kallan,¡± he starts to say with this sickeningly sweet voice, ¡°you don''t know do you?¡±

    No, I don''t know. That¡¯s why I asked. What the hell is he talking about?

    ¡°Your father, your precious, pathetic, father is hiding a very shameful secret from you,¡± he says.

    I am still hopelessly confused.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask. He growls.

    ¡°This blade, the one that belongs to Oberon Aelfdene, is the very same blade that stabbed my father.¡±

    The realization hits me hard and Hametsu knows it. He takes the words right out of my mouth.

    ¡°That''s right Kallan. OBERON KILLED MY FATHER!!!¡±

 Chapter 14

    I don''t want to accept it.

    My father, King Oberon, is the person who killed Hametsu¡¯s father, Romeo of the Death Fairies.

    My father''s sword drips with blood, both his own and Romeo¡¯s. Father lay there moaning in pain ten feet in front of me.

    Hametsu¡¯s cold eyes bore into mine and I swear I can see that painful memory of his.

    He was screaming and shouting at my father to spare him. His mother, my aunt, was holding him trying to quiet him down and lead him away, but he just kept going back.

    ¡°DON''T KILL HIM!! PLEASE DON''T KILL HIM!!¡± The five year old Hametsu screamed. Romeo looked very deranged and was about to slice my father in half.

    That''s when I saw my father stab Romeo.

    The young Hametsu went silent and then he started screaming and crying hysterically and ran straight to his mom.

    Then I could see him growing up. He closed himself off to everyone. Literally everyone, except for Lilly. He constantly told her how he felt. I know because of the body language. She seems to be his rock, even now. He did enjoy living things and tried to be nice to people to hide the fact that he is depressed and lonely.

    Then I saw him two years later finding his mother dead on the floor.

    Again he screamed. He ran into his room and cried. Lilly ran after him crying too. They hugged each other and cried.

    Another figure arrived and took them to what seemed like a different world. They didn''t even complain or get scared, they must¡¯ve known the person already.

    ¡°This is the Netherworld, where lost souls go.¡±

    I continued seeing Hametsu develop a passion for torture and saw all the people that ridiculed him. He ended up being better than them, but they still gave him a hard time. His sister and guardian were there to comfort him and help him.

    ¡°You''re a freak,¡± the bullies said to him.

    Then I saw him being crowned king of the Death Fairies, and starting war on everything in Fae.

    I forced myself away from his gaze.

    He threw the sword down and stormed off. I thought I saw tears in his eyes. Does he see what he''s become? Or are they tears of the sorrow of missing his parents?

    Gripping his scythe, he flew away quickly. Well, he would¡¯ve, if someone didn¡¯t slam him against a wall. I couldn¡¯t see who it was since they moved with blinding speed.

    ¡°You leave my family alone!!¡± The voice shouts. I recognize that voice¡­ and holy crap I am now extremely confused.

    That voice was also Hametsu.

    Ummm W H A T?!

    ¡°Kal go! Hurry!¡± he orders.

    ¡°I thought I trapped you in the Human Realm!!¡± One Hametsu says.

    ¡°Think again,¡± the second Hametsu says.

    I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening. Is one of them a fake? Or is this another trick? Whatever the case, my father and I need to get out of here.

    I call the guards. I¡¯m trying to pick up my father. One of them helps me carry him back to the castle. They didn¡¯t seem to notice the two Hametsus fighting each other. I don¡¯t know how since it¡¯s obvious. One of them tried to get to me, the other one held him back.

    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT OF HERE!!¡± the Hametsu holding the other one shouts at me.

    I want to stay a little longer to find out which one is the real Hametsu, but I can¡¯t. I need to get help for my father. The guards and I race home as fast as we can.

    ¡°GET A HEALER QUICK!!!¡± I shout. We lay him down on a bed in the castle infirmary. A few seconds later, some healing fairies rushed in and began trying to stop his wound from bleeding so much. They did eventually stop most of the bleeding and wrap some bandages around that gaping wound of his.

    ¡°We tried our best to heal him.¡± One of them says. She speaks in a calm voice and a soothing tone. Her voice is also fairly pleasant to hear. Her wings are aqua blue.

    ¡°But we don''t know if he will live or not. His fate rests in the hands of the Mother Goddess.¡± The other says. Her wings are pink and her voice was a higher pitch.

    ¡°Thank you for your help.¡± I say. The two fairies curtsy.

    ¡°Our pleasure, your highness.¡± They say. They left. If Adair was here, he would¡¯ve helped him even more, maybe even get it to a point where it would heal on its own, but I doubt it. The wound is horrible and not even my magic could   help it, so I doubt Adair would be of much help, even if he is more advanced. I look at my hands and try again. No luck. This wound is beyond my current healing capabilities.

    Mother comes rushing in.

    ¡°Oberon,¡± She says, her voice cracking and full of worry. She kneels by his side. Father touches her cheek and moves some hair out of her face.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    ¡°I will not pass, until I see my son Adair again,¡± he vows.

    I want to stay with him all night. But I knew that I couldn''t.

    ¡°Father... please don''t die.¡± I whisper.

    ¡°My time is near, Kal, I won''t pass today or tomorrow. It won''t be for a while. But I fear that this wound won''t heal.¡± He says. He sighs and coughs.

    ¡°I don''t want you to leave.¡± I say, on the verge of tears. ¡°I wish I could do more to heal¡­ but I¡¯m too weak.¡± I start crying.

    He manages a weak smile.

    ¡°Don''t cry my boy,¡± he says, reassuringly and wiping away a tear from my eye, ¡°I''m not going to leave yet. The Mother Goddess decides if I should stay or go.¡±

    ¡°I thought that the Spirit of Death decided the death dates of everyone.¡±

    ¡°He does, but the Mother Goddess can change it. She wants her people to live as long as possible,¡± he explained, ¡°the Spirit of Death understands that, but the Dark Spirit changed it to make people die at all ages.¡±

    I nod in understanding.

    ¡°Although sometimes people die young. It''s rare though,¡± he explains. He takes a deep breath and continues talking. ¡°The Mother Goddess and the Spirit of Death do all they can to prevent it however.¡±

    ¡°But, why did you kill Romeo?¡± I ask. It¡¯s a completely off topic question.

    ¡°I had no choice. He tried to destroy Fae and broke the peace treaty we arranged.¡±

    ¡°What was the treaty?¡± I ask.

    ¡°The treaty stated that he could keep his kingdom, on the condition that he was to never attack Fae or Earth again.¡±

    ¡°And he broke it by trying to destroy Fae.¡± I clarify. Father nods weakly.

    ¡°My boy, you must go to bed. It''s late.¡± He says.

    I nod. Tears begin running down my face again. I leave the room to get ready for bed.

    Once I was ready, I flopped on my bed. I stayed awake for hours processing everything that just happened in the past couple of hours. My father got stabbed and is most likely going to die. Two Hametsus were fighting each other at the temple. One of them must be a fake. But if that¡¯s the case, how was I able to see his memories? There¡¯s no WAY Hametsu has that ability. Somehow, his memories were projected onto me. Was it the Time God? If so then why did he show me all that? I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening.

    It takes a while for me to calm my brain down enough for me to sleep.

    I wake up the next morning to thunder. There¡¯s a storm outside and from the looks of it, it¡¯s a torrential downpour. Rain came flooding down. I reluctantly get up and try to visit Father again. The guard stops me.

    ¡°The king is still asleep, my prince,¡± he informs.

    ¡°Is he still alive?¡± I ask.

    Relief floods me when he nods his head.

    ¡°The good king still breathes,¡± he says gravely.

    I walk away into the dining area. Aidan is asleep at the table and mother is praying silently.

    Everyone is quiet, aside from Aidan''s occasional snores. The servants are busy bustling about preparing breakfast.

    We heard another crack of thunder. Aidan jolted up immediately with a loud snort. It found it a bit funny, but I can''t even force a laugh.

    ¡°WHOWASTHA?¡± He shouts, ready to fight. He looks around and groans. ¡°What time is it?¡±

    ¡°Time for you to wake up.¡± I say, attempting to be playful. My voice sounds flat and I can''t even make a smile. The sky betrays how everybody is feeling. Gloomy.

    The servants try to cheer us up with a lively looking breakfast of a variety of colorful fruits, eggs, bacon, waffles, and juice, but they¡¯re also feeling the same way we were. We appreciate their efforts though.

    Their king, my father, is dying and we can''t do anything about it.

    Mother and Aidan silently eat, however I have absolutely no appetite. I just sit there and drink tea, not feeling hungry. I¡¯m too depressed to even think about food. My mind is also still occupied about yesterday¡¯s events. Mother snaps me out of my thoughts by speaking to me.

    ¡°Kallan, at least eat some fruit,¡± Mother says.

    I take the smallest berry I could find, and eat it.

    ¡°Eat more,¡± Mother says sternly. I take a small piece of watermelon and eat it. Like I said, I have no appetite.

    Mother walks up and takes a banana and an apple and puts them in front of me.

    ¡°Eat them,¡± she orders me.

    I sigh and reluctantly eat them. After about five minutes the banana was gone and another ten minutes the apple was eaten. I had to force myself to eat them.

    ¡°Happy?¡± I ask grumpily.

    ¡°Kallan, I know how much you''re worried about your father. Believe me,¡± She sighs. ¡°We''ve been married for over 700 years.¡±

    Aidan chokes on his food. I quickly do the heimlich maneuver to dislodge it, which he does, then he swallows it properly. I sigh in relief and sit back down.

    ¡°You''ve been married for THAT LONG?!?!¡± He asks, totally surprised. The look of shock on his face is priceless. However, I can¡¯t even force a laugh or a smile. I feel so dead inside.

    I saw Hametsu stab him. I saw memories of Hametsu¡¯s childhood. Then a second Hametsu came flying out of nowhere and fought the first one. One of them stabbed my father and I don¡¯t know which one is real and which one is fake.

    I suddenly feel very bad for him. I pity him actually. I remember what he told me a while ago when he was pretending, or actually trying, to be my friend.

    ¡°Don''t pity me. I hate it. I hate being known as the poor little boy who saw his parents die in front of him¡±

    It doesn''t occur to me until this point that Hametsu may actually be hurting inside. Very badly. To counter it, he developed a passion for death and torture. A very unhealthy passion. Unless¡­ he actually is getting help for it? God this whole thing is so confusing! Two Hametsus! One is fake that''s for sure. But which one is it? Why did one of them help me? There is something bigger going on here¡­ I can feel it.

    My thoughts were interrupted by someone pounding at the castle doors. I ran over there to see who it was.

    ¡°PLEASE LET ME IN!! PLEASE I''M BEGGING YOU!!!¡±

    I recognize the voice. I open the doors.

    It¡¯s Lilly. She looks terrified and is soaked. She¡¯s carrying someone with someone else''s help. The person with her looks vaguely familiar. He also looks exhausted, as if he¡¯s been carrying something for hours. What surprised me was this other guy¡¯s attire, consisting of all black and dark grey clothing; black hooded jacket, dark grey shirt, black jeans, black converse. His hair is black and the bangs cover his right eye and his left eye is a light grey and my god he¡¯s incredibly pale, like almost completely white. There is a very slight tinge of color in his skin, barely noticeable but it¡¯s there if you look hard enough. The guy clearly isn¡¯t from fae and looks vaguely familiar. He¡¯s helping Lilly keep the person¡¯s legs straight. I see another, older, man walking towards us and carrying someone else. I have no time to focus on that guy since the person in front of me is far more important.

    The person they¡¯re carrying has many large cuts and very dark bruises. His wings, his beautiful emerald wings, were torn off. One of his arms was in splints to keep them in place. His legs and right hand had splints.

    His hair is a familiar shade of brown, but his skin is deathly pale.

    I¡¯m looking at my horribly beat up older brother Adair.

 Chapter 15

    ¡°ADAIR!!!!¡± I shout. ¡°ADAIR¡¯S BACK!!¡±

    I looked at a servant and told her to get Ryan.

    She flew off. I heard Aidan fly up to me.

    ¡°Kallan what-¡± he starts. He stares at our near dead brother. He looks at Lilly and grows very pissed off, most likely blaming her for what happened.

    ¡°What did you do to him?!?!¡± he roars at her.

    ¡°I- I- I- I didn''t do it I swear!!!¡± she cried. She began crying. The guy in black looked like he was about to kill aidan

    ¡°Dude, what the hell?! That was uncalled for!!¡± the guy in black said. He did not look happy. ¡°You better apologize to her.¡±

    Aidan softens his look and ignores the dude in black. He can sense that Lilly¡¯s tears are sincere.

    ¡°You must be Lilly.¡± he said softly. ¡°Is Adair-¡±

    ¡°He''s still alive, just unconscious.¡± Lilly says, still crying. The dude in black is still glaring at him.

    The dude helping Lilly took Adair and handed him to Aidan. Adair moaned slightly. Then the older man finished walking up carrying another person. I also recognize the person being carried.

    It¡¯s an equally beat up Hametsu. My confusion level has gone from 1 to 100. Who the hell beat him up that badly? Was it the other Hametsu? Will the confusion ever cease?!

    Ryan came in the nick of time to help with Adair and Hametsu.

    ¡°What happened??¡± he asked urgently. He laid his eyes on Lilly and suddenly got shy and quiet. The dude in black raises an eyebrow, the other guy just stays quiet the whole time, holding the beat up and barely awake Hametsu. Hametsu is struggling to stay awake. He looks at me with pleading eyes. I just look at him, not sure what to think. I turn my attention back to Ryan and Aidan, who doesn''t seem to notice Hametsu, despite being less than five feet away from him, and I thought I was oblivious but come on guys.

    ¡°Adair is back, seriously injured and freezing cold. Help Aidan carry him to his room.¡± I told him.

    ¡°O-okay,¡± he said, distracted by Lilly. He awkwardly walks towards Aidan and helps him carry Adair to his room. I have guards carry Hametsu to a spare bedroom.

    After a few minutes, Lilly calms down with my and Kage¡¯s help.

    ¡°Thank you sir for helping me.¡± Lilly said to the older man.

    ¡°¡®Twas my pleasure, young lady.¡± he replied.

    ¡°Kage, thanks for helping us get here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± the guy I assume to be Kage said. ¡°I¡¯m going to get to the bottom of what happened. Once Hametsu has enough energy, I¡¯m gonna ask him a few things.¡±

    I called over a few servants to bring some warm towels. All three of them are soaked. I invite them inside. Honestly I should¡¯ve done that earlier but I was so preoccupied with getting Adair and Hametsu inside that it didn''t cross my mind until now.

    The three of them wrap the towels around themselves. Kage makes an audible sigh of relief with a face of pure satisfaction.

    ¡°You may stay here as long as you wish after the rain stops,¡± I told them.

    ¡°Thank you, your highness,¡± the older man said with a slight bow.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Kage said, holding the towel like a blanket. He is so nonchalant and casual.

    ¡°Kal this is Rick. He helped me carry Adair and his wife helped with some of the splits,¡± Lilly explained. ¡°And this is Kage, one of Hametsu¡¯s best friends. He found him unconscious a few hours ago inside the temple.¡±

    ¡°Pleased to meet you Kage,¡± I said to the guy in all black and grey.

    ¡°Likewise,¡± he says back. He reaches his hand out for a hand shake. I take it. Damn he¡¯s cold. It''s gotta be from the rain.

    ¡°In case you¡¯re wondering, that is the real Hametsu,¡± Kage said.

    ¡°How do you know?¡± I ask.

    ¡°He smells like evergreen.¡± he says, as if it was obvious. ¡°The fake one reeks of dark energy, which is not a pleasant smell.¡±

    ¡°That still doest help,¡± I tell him.

    ¡°Hametsu is fiercely loyal to those he cares about. He would never do this to you. I¡¯ve known him for most of my life,¡± Kage explains. ¡°Yes he is sadistic and psycho, but he has been getting major therapy for it... and I mean MAJOR. He has a therapy session three days a week. It¡¯s a very slow process. But he¡¯s getting better. He stopped killing people and is finding more ways to cope with his random insanity episodes-¡±

    ¡°Okay Kage, that''s enough.¡± Lilly scolds.

    ¡°Like training or clinging to me or Lilly,¡± he says, ignoring her. He smiles. From the look on her face, I say she really hates being ignored when scolding someone.

    I nod slowly and take a good look at Rick.

    Rick has a sturdy build and lemon yellow wings. His hair is blond fading into grey at the roots and his skin is tan. He obviously spends a lot of time outside.

    ¡°It''s a pleasure to have you three here,¡± I say.

    The castle has many fireplaces scattered about. I take them to the one closest to the entrance, which is in the dining hall. There¡¯s a couch there and Kage just plops himself on the couch after taking his shoes off. He¡¯s asleep in less than ten seconds. I have a feeling that he likes to sleep and it¡¯s a bad idea to wake him up. He looks so cozy wrapped up in that towel.

    They sit there in front of the fire while drinking herbal tea. I sit with them. I didn''t see my mother. She probably went to see Adair.

    ¡°Lilly, exactly what happened?¡± I asked.

    She proceeded to explain what happened since Adair came to fake Hametsu¡¯s castle. Fake Hametsu was all friendly and nice to him for most of the time, and Adair frequently talked with Lilly about healing remedies.

    ¡°I could finally talk to someone and just be me,¡± she said, ¡°it felt like a rock was lifted off my chest and shoulders whenever we spoke. Hametsu never liked to talk about healing remedies and would only talk about war and genocide. That is... until I realize that the Hametsu I¡¯ve been living with for a while was a fake.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I question.

    ¡°Yeah, the real Hametsu is the one in this castle, as Kage said.¡±

    ¡°Did Adair know?¡± Aidan asks.

    ¡°He found out shortly after I did,¡± Lilly says.

    She then proceeded to tell us about the fake Hametsu and how he mercilessly tortured Adair to get the information about the pendant. He ripped Adair''s wings off after chaining him to a wall and whipping him for twenty minutes nonstop. The fake Hametsu beat him and broke his bones. She said that Adair passed out from both pain and blood loss.

    ¡°I used some of my healing magic to heal the life threatening injuries once the fake left the room. But that was all the energy I had. I carried him to a room so he could rest while I planned an escape. Later that same night, I packed some food and water, took Adair and got out of there,¡± she explained. ¡°I heard the fake talking to some sort of shadow about what he did to Oberon. He said that he also added a poison to his scythe to prevent healing magic from working properly. The shadow said Raiden, which I assume is the fake¡¯s name.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a dangerous poison¡­¡± I say. ¡°It also explains why my magic wasn¡¯t working yesterday.¡±

    It took her three days of nonstop walking, running, and hiding from Raiden¡¯s guards to get to Rick¡¯s farm. I¡¯m amazed that she was able to do that.

    ¡°The girl is the exact opposite of this Raiden character copying her brother the Death King. I knew it from the innocence in her eyes.¡± Rick said, ¡°the girl is loaded with kindness and humbly begged for help. I let her stay for two days to rest. My wife made splints for prince Adair''s wounds and bandaged his cuts and gashes. The poor boy nearly died twice.¡±

    Rick¡¯s farm is only two day¡¯s walk from our castle. Then they met up with Kage, who apparently was doing some snooping about his own friend and finding out what was going on. He seems to know about the copycat. I also learned that Kage can turn into a dragon and he let them ride on his back and flew them here. They left last night and arrived this morning. Kage is apparently a fast flyer.

    Lilly then tells me about all the things Adair said about me and Aidan.

    ¡°Adair said that he really admires your stubbornness.¡± Lilly says.

    ¡°My- my stubbornness?¡± I ask. I never really thought of myself as stubborn. Although looking back, I am pretty stubborn when I put my mind to it.

    ¡°He said that when you want to do something, you will do it without letting people try and reason with you.¡± she says, ¡°he also said that you need to work on it if you want to be a good king.¡±

    I laugh.

    ¡°What did he say about Aidan?¡±

    ¡°He said that he''s really funny and has a great sense of humor,¡± she says, ¡°but he scared me by yelling at me.¡±

    ¡°He''s a lovable goofball.¡± I tell her, ¡°he¡¯ll apologize once he comes back.¡±

    We sit and talk and drink some tea that the servants brought over for a few minutes. Aidan and Ryan come back and sit down. Ryan sits between Lilly and me, and Aidan sits to my right.

    ¡°Hey Lilly¡­¡± Aidan starts, ¡°I''m sorry for yelling at you. It was very rude of me.¡±

    Lilly thinks about it for a moment.

    ¡°You''re forgiven.¡± she says.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Aidan smiled at her. Then he decided to make the fire dance. I elbowed him to make him stop because it was very dangerous and he could''ve burned the castle down.

    I look over at Ryan. He looks pretty shy.

    Then I looked at Lilly, her face was red and she was twirling her hair. The two of them looked at each other and got very shy.

    A sneaky smile crept up my and Aidan''s faces.

    Lilly and Ryan have crushes on each other. They fell in love even though they just met. The love at first sight cliche is working it¡¯s magic. I lean over to whisper into Ryan''s ear.

    ¡°Talk to her.¡± I whisper to him. He nods.

    ¡°So...uh...Lilly, it''s uh, v-very nice of you to bring Adair back to us. Th-thanks.¡± He stammers out.

    You idiot, I think, that''s not how you impress girls.

    ¡°Dude, that was weak,¡± Kage says. He plops himself next to me. When did he wake up?

    ¡°I was thanking her. Sheesh. Again Lilly, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, s-sure. I mean, I couldn''t just leave him with Raiden...¡± she said.

    Ryan nodded.

    ¡°Complement her!!¡± Kage whispers to him.

    ¡°What do I say?¡± he whispers back.

    ¡°I don''t know! Say her hair looks pretty or something!¡± Kage whispers in return.

    Ryan nods.

    ¡°I like your hair.¡± Ryan says, ¡°it looks really pretty, like, dark brown, like dark oak and it shines like bronze.¡±

    Aidan rolls his eyes. I facepalm. Kage shakes his head in total disappointment.

    ¡°Th-thanks I guess,¡± she said.

    ¡°And your eyes are like beautiful emeralds that shine in the sun.¡±

    Lilly blushed.

    ¡°And you''re so nice and adorable and kind and¡­¡± Ryan was at loss for words. He eventually found his tongue, ¡°you''re so beautiful and kind.¡±

    Lilly blushes even more.

    ¡°Thank you. That was very sweet of you,¡± she says, and then she proceeded to compliment him back.

    ¡°Your hair reminds me of the night sky, and your eyes remind me of the sky in the daylight, vast and full of wonder,¡± she said, ¡°I can tell that you are a noble and gentle warrior who would defend his people to the death. You''re also full of kindness.¡±

    Then they hold each other''s hands. Aidan, Kage, and I look at each other with excited grins on our faces, like young kids on Christmas morning. Kage even makes a little squeak of excitement, causing me and Aidan to giggle a bit.

    Then Lilly scooted a little bit closer to him, just a little bit. Ryan put his arm around her. Lily put her head in his shoulder.

    Ugh I wish they would just kiss already. Kage looks ready to push the two of them together to make them kiss.

    ¡°Oh man I just realized Hametsu will have a fit about this,¡± Kage says with a laugh.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask him.

    ¡°He is extremely overprotective of his sister. He¡¯s gonna freak out when he finds out about this.¡± Kage continues with a laugh. Lilly just sighs with a look of annoyance. She¡¯s probably aware of this fact.

    After an hour or two of chatting by the fire, the rain finally stops. We walk outside. There¡¯s a rainbow when we step out. The rainbow is bright and brilliantly colored and seems to sparkle. The scent of grass and rain fills my nose. The best scent.

    ¡°This is a good omen,¡± Ryan says. ¡°The Mother Goddess is blessing us for something.¡±

    We look at the rainbow in silence for a few minutes until Rick states that he has to leave.

    ¡°Good luck Prince Kallan. I pray that Prince Adair and Hametsu will recover quickly.¡± He says.

    ¡°Thank you, Rick, for everything.¡± Lilly says with a smile.

    ¡°My pleasure Lilly.¡± Rick replies.

    ¡°Want me to take you home?¡± Kage asks him.

    ¡°Thank you, but I believe I can handle it myself,¡± Rick states. Kage shrugs.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he simply says.

    Rick flies off shortly after.

    I get dressed and go into Adair''s room. He lies under his dark green covers, asleep. Some color has returned to him, but we don¡¯t know when he¡¯s going to wake up.

    ¡°Kal,¡± I hear a hoarse voice call. I look around and hear that it¡¯s coming from Hametsu¡¯s room. I go over to his room. Kage is in there, curled up on the bed, asleep, next to him. When did he get there and how did I not notice?

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I say. He looks almost as bad as Adair, cuts, bruises, gashes and broken bones.

    ¡°I need to tell you about the guy pretending to be me.¡± he says hoarsely. He clears his throat. I walk over to him.

    Hamewtsu tells me everything he knows. The guy copying him is named Raiden, which confirms what Lilly says. He¡¯s got black wings, bowing-orange hair, and red eyes. His main objective is to get the dragonfly pendant from me.

    ¡°However I don¡¯t know what for. He said something about freeing someone, but I don¡¯t know who.¡±

    ¡°How did you get all this information?¡± I ask.

    ¡°I have spies, remember? The spies you captured belonged to him and he disguised them as Death Fairies to fuel the fire and make you hate me more.¡± he continues, ¡°I wouldn''t be surprised if he tries to do some dirty tactic to get it from you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for telling me.¡± I say, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for misunderstanding.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of fairy Raiden is, but it''s something I haven''t seen before. Ask your father about it. He may know.¡±

    I nod.

    ¡°I will.¡± I say. ¡°Also how did Kage get there so fast? I didn¡¯t notice him.¡±

    ¡°Teleportation,¡± he says, struggling to stay awake.

    ¡°He can teleport?¡± I ask.

    He nods tiredly and passes out from exhaustion. Kage wakes up for a second, scoots a little closer to him, carefully hugs him, and falls back to sleep. I wish I had a camera with me, because it looks adorable.

    The news of Adair''s return and his condition was taken surprisingly well by the people. They¡¯re actually glad to have him back and pray for his swift recovery. The news of Hametsu being here brought forth a mix of responses. Some of anger, some of sympathy, and most of confusion.

    A few days before the duel with fake Hametsu, I discovered that I had healing magic. Before that day of the duel, I''ve been practicing it by healing the sick and the bad injuries that people got. I''ve gotten very good at it now. The poison just prevented it from working on my father. I went into Adair''s room to use it on him, but Lilly told me to wait.

    ¡°He''s not ready yet.¡± she said.

    ¡°Lilly,¡± I said. ¡°how do you know??¡±

    ¡°His lips are still blue. He''s still freezing. If he still had his wings, he''d heat up quicker.¡±

    Wings help regulate the body temperature. They absorb and release heat when necessary. I learned that from the townspeople.

    But Adair''s room is already so hot. I¡¯m only in there for about a minute and I¡¯m already super sweaty.

    Adair is under five thick blankets with heat absorbing abilities and his room feels hotter than a summer day in the desert. How is he not burning hot yet? Let alone warm?

    It came to me that he has hypothermia, severe hypothermia. That on top of broken bones, horrible bruises, deep cuts and ripped off wings.

    He must''ve been through hell on the day he was tortured.

    I call Aidan over.

    ¡°What do you want bro?¡± He asks.

    ¡°What do you do to help Adair with hypothermia?¡± I ask back.

    ¡°Well, I can get Lamia to heat his blood up to body temperature,¡± he says.

    That sounds absolutely disgusting.

    ¡°Who told you that?¡± I ask again.

    Lilly timidly raises her hand.

    ¡°I''ve treated severe hypothermia before in years past,¡± she started, ¡°before I lived in Fae I was studying to be a doctor and I had to do a project of how to treat hypothermia, both moderate and severe so¡­ yeah. I know how to treat many things. Adair taught me some of his healing remedies,¡± she explains. She laughs nervously.

    I¡¯m really worried about Adair. He seems to be okay. He¡¯s sleeping peacefully in his coma while he has blankets piled up on him plus a hot room.

    ¡°Aidan, turn the temperature of the room down significantly.¡± Lilly says. ¡°This is very bad. What made you think having his room be this high of a temperature was a good idea?¡± she scolds.

    Aidan looks sheepish and turns it down to just a little bit above room temperature. Lilly and I heave a sigh of relief. It felt so nice now.

    I hear Roxy run down the hall. She¡¯s wearing a really pretty, knee length, turquoise dress with sparkles and a gold trim. She¡¯s also wearing really pretty brown boots and her hair is braided with a sapphire ribbon. Her sapphire blue wings droop a bit while she¡¯s trying to catch her breath. I go over to her.

    ¡°You must be Lilly.¡± she says once she finally regained her breath, ¡°I''m Roxanne, but you can just call me Roxy.¡±

    ¡°I''m Lilly, Hametsu¡¯s twin. The good twin actually,¡± she says, extending her hand. She probably makes that joke a lot since Hametsu can be a prick.

    Roxy laughs a bit and shakes Lilly''s hand.

    I look at Roxy dreamily. I love her so much, I can''t contain it sometimes.

    I kiss her cheek.

    ¡°I love you,¡± I whisper in her ear. She turns her head to face me and our lips lock, startling both of us. But we lean into it.

    Aidan whistles and laughs. I stop to scold Aidan a bit.

    ¡°Aidan, you probably do this with Lamia every chance you get,¡± I smirk. He blushes with an annoyed facial expression. I¡¯m right and he knows it.

    ¡°We should probably leave Adair''s room,¡± I say. Everyone agrees. So we leave Adair''s room and go into the common area. We hang out there for a while until everyone hears my stomach growl. I didn¡¯t realize how hungry I am. Then again, it''s kinda my fault because I didn''t have much for breakfast, just an apple, banana, a really tiny berry and a really tiny chunk of watermelon.

    I imagine what would be for lunch. For some reason I think of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, dinner rolls, and whatever else comes with traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

    I rush into the dining area and see platters of poultry, steamed vegetables, and seafood.

    ¡°Guys the food is ready!!¡± I shout excitedly. They all come flying to the large table.

    I stuff my face until I can''t eat anymore. But then a pecan pie comes out and my appetite is back. It''s really weird how that works. I eat until I can''t eat anymore and then I see pastries and suddenly I get hungry again.

    ¡°How do you eat that much and not gain any weight?¡± Lilly asks. I shrugged and kept eating my slice of pie.

    A little while later, I got a stomach ache. I ask Lilly if she knows how to deal with stomach aches. She does and makes that horribly bitter concoction that Adair made me a few months ago at the banquet for my return.

    When she finishes it, I choke it down, I cringe at the bitterness for a good thirty seconds. The stomach ache goes away almost immediately.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I say.

    ¡°No problem!¡± Lilly smiles.

    I can''t help but worry about both Adair and my father. I really hope Adair wakes up in time to see our father before he passes.

    I go to visit my father.

    He¡¯s breathing heavily and looks sort of pale. He''s still losing blood, but the blood flow was very light. Some attendants were changing his bandage.

    ¡°Father,¡± I start, ¡°Adair is back.¡±

    He takes a deep breath before responding.

    ¡°So I''ve heard,¡± he says. ¡°How is he doing?¡±

    ¡°He''s in a coma,¡± I say, ¡°we don''t know when he''s going to wake up.¡±

    Father sighs.

    ¡°My boy, I must tell you something,¡± Father says. ¡°Come here.¡±

    I lean in a little closer.

    ¡°Don''t fall for his mind tricks. He will try and break you. Don''t let him trick you,¡± he says urgently. ¡°Romeo tried to do the same thing the last time I fought him. He nearly succeeded in trying to manipulate me into surrendering. I wasn''t aware that I stabbed him until I heard him collapse and scream in pain. I heard his son screaming in terror, anger and grief.¡±

    ¡°You feel like he wants to avenge his father?¡± I ask.

    Father nods.

    ¡°Avenge Romeo and finish his work.¡± Father says gravely, ¡°you must stop him.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ about that.¡± I tell him about the fake named Raiden and what happened with the real Hametsu. I even tell him about Lilly¡¯s small encounter with Raiden talking to a shadow.

    ¡°That is very strange¡­ and smart of this Raiden.¡± Father says, ¡°I assume he will eventually find out that you know. Is there any information about his appearance?¡±

    ¡°Hametsu said that he has brown-orange hair, red eyes, and black wings.¡±

    ¡°Black wings?¡± Father says, with a look of surprise. He thinks for a moment. ¡°Raiden is a Dark Fairy.¡±

    ¡°A Dark Fairy?¡± I ask in surprise. ¡°I thought they were sealed away!¡±

    ¡°He must¡¯ve freed himself.¡± Father says. ¡°Lilly said he contacts a shadow right?¡±

    I nod in response.

    ¡°I fear the worst¡­¡± he says. ¡°He may be in contact with the Spirit of Darkness.¡±

    I freeze. If that¡¯s the case then we¡¯re all screwed. Hametsu only knows a little bit about his plans. He may know more, but is too exhausted to tell me.

    ¡°You need to stop them, my boy,¡± he says urgently. ¡°Who knows what he¡¯s planning with the Spirit of Darkness.¡±

    ¡°I will father.¡± I whisper. I hold his hand. He winks at me.

    ¡°You have an extraordinary amount of power. Learn how to use it and control it,¡± he says, managing a weak smile. I smile back.

    ¡°I''m so proud of you,¡± he says. He coughed and took a deep breath.

    I smile at him.

    ¡°I love you,¡± I say to him.

    ¡°I love you too Kal,¡± he says smiling. I leave the room, unsure on how to feel.

 Chapter 16

    Raiden is probably celebrating the fact that my father is dying. He''s probably eagerly awaiting the news of my father''s death and then continuing with his plans. Maybe even rub it in my face. That sounds childish for someone as crafty and manipulative as him, especially when he is suspected to be working for the Spirit of Darkness.

    I aimlessly wander around the castle, not knowing what to do. I just can''t think straight about what I want to do. I eventually give up and go to my room to draw. Yeah I have art stuff. I got some shortly after I came to fae, but I¡¯ve been having artists block so I didn¡¯t really draw for a while.

    I draw animals and fish, like I normally do. But I also draw a lot of butterflies for some reason, and I mean a lot, like I got possessed or something. Admittedly it¡¯s somewhat therapeutic and calms me down a bit from my confused state. After about thirty or so minutes of drawing butterflies, I begin drawing Hametsu. I don''t know why, I just do. I draw him with tears in his eyes and one rolling down his face. I managed to capture the sadness and the pain in his eyes. Why did I draw him like this? It makes me curious so I decide to ask Lilly about Hametsu.

    It took a little while for me to find her, but I eventually found her with Adair, watching over him. Adair is still dead asleep in his coma.

    I pull up another chair in his room and sit down with her.

    We sit in silence for a few minutes, aside from listening to Aidan and Ryan''s laughter in the background. What they¡¯re laughing about will always be a mystery to me.

    Adair moans a little bit.

    ¡°Did he wake up?¡± I ask Lilly. She shakes her head.

    ¡°He does that sometimes. It doesn''t mean he''s awake. He''s probably not going to wake up for a few weeks, maybe even months.¡± She says. I sighed. At least Adair has some color in his skin and his lips are no longer as blue as they used to be. But his bruises show little signs of improvement, but some of his smaller cuts are starting to fade.

    ¡°His skin color is starting to come back,¡± I say.

    Lilly nods. She''s obviously thinking about something, most likely about both her brother and Adair. I know she cares deeply for Hametsu and is understandably worried about him. I¡¯m the same way with Adair. I¡¯m worried sick about him and often pray that he recovers and wakes up before our father passes.

    ¡°I have a question about your brother,¡± I say. I¡¯m genuinely curious about his past. I know he would never tell me. Probably his pride and not wanting to seem vulnerable.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°What was he like when he was younger and how did he develop his cruel streak?¡± I ask.

    She sighs.

    ¡°Well, he used to harm himself. He used physical pain as a way of escaping his emotional pain and sorrow.¡± Lilly starts.

    I nod, feeling really bad for him now.

    ¡°He was always a kind person when we were kids. He loved to collect bugs. He always kept them in jars and treated them like pets until mom told him to release them back into the wild.¡±

    I laugh slightly thinking of a younger Hametsu collecting bugs. Lilly laughs a little too. It must¡¯ve been adorable. Now is really not the time to be laughing though. We both recognise this and stop.

    ¡°Then he started to get distant from everyone and started to close people off. He never had any friends as a kid and I think that was a part of his cruelty development. He suddenly started being mean to people by insulting them in hurtful ways. It progressively got worse from there. He went from verbal abuse to mental abuse. Then mental to emotional, then to physical.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± I say.

    ¡°Anyway, after our mom died, we were taken by the Spirit of Death to be raised. We view him as a sort of older brother figure. Hametsu was trained on combat, death magic, and sleep magic. He was taught how to use a scythe and frequently practiced it on people he hated in the realm we lived in. Then he began to enjoy hearing the screams of pain and terror and the begs for mercy.¡±

    I nodded. Dang he was messed up back then. He still is honestly.

    ¡°Then it just turned into a love of death and torture and a hatred for all life. Our caretaker eventually made him go to therapy and he¡¯s getting better. He¡¯s still pessimistic and awkward around new people. So he was probably pretty pessimistic around you.¡±

    ¡°Pessimistic and crazy¡­¡± I say, remembering that time.

    ¡°I kinda figured,¡± she says with a nod.

    ¡°In other words, he was a sad, lonely boy who used to be very nice and kind and then developed into a deranged little ball of hate and rage, is getting therapy, and is slowly getting better.¡± I say.

    ¡°That''s about right,¡± she starts. ¡°I don¡¯t think his cruel side is ever going to go away. But he is learning how to control it by finding ways to cope with it in a safe manner.¡±

    ¡°Did he ever make any friends?¡± I asked.

    ¡°A few with similar interests. One died in a car accident the other he ditched because he was just very rude and obnoxious. From what I know, he¡¯s matured now, but Hametsu still chooses to avoid him, probably because of mistrust.¡±

    ¡°There are no cars in Fae.¡± I state, a bit confused.

    ¡°We lived in a different world okay? Different from Earth and Fae,¡± she said, a tad bit annoyed. I haven''t heard anyone call the Human Realm ¡°Earth¡± in a long time.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop talking,¡± I say. ¡°Thank you for sharing that with me.¡±

    Lilly nods.

    ¡°No problem,¡± she says. She smiles.

    I get up and leave.

    I have nothing to do, so I wander around the castle for a bit. I wander into the training grounds and watch the soldiers train on various different combat skills.

    Then Ryan grabs me from behind and flies me over to the sword fighting area. He is really really fast. Well, he is a wind fairy so that''s expected. Speed is one of the things they¡¯re known for.

    ¡°Ryan put me down!!¡± I demand.

    ¡°Aidan told me to get you and that''s what I''m doing!!¡± He laughs and puts me down.

    I brush myself off, kind of annoyed at Ryan, only to be grabbed and shot up into the air by Aidan. I begin fluttering my wings and catch myself before I land on the ground face first. I knew he was strong but I did NOT expect that. It catches me completely by surprise. By the time I calm my shocked state down, I get annoyed.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°Aidan!!¡± I shout.

    Aidan laughs. He and Ryan fly up to me.

    ¡°Today, my dear little brother,¡± Aidan starts. ¡°You will practice aerial battles. You will most likely have to fight Raiden in the air. So you gotta be prepared.¡±

    Oh goody. Fighting in the air. How fun! NO!! I don''t want to practice fighting today. I want to flirt with Roxy. I suddenly get into a very bad mood. They both know it.

    ¡°Kallan, turn that frown upside down,¡± Ryan teases, going upside down. I growl.

    I think about what Lilly said about Hametsu. It¡¯s a bit hard to believe that he was once nice and kind, considering how he was when I first met him.

    Then I think about Raiden. This evil bastard has been tearing lives apart and trying to fuel the war between Death Fairies and Life Fairies, all so he can free his kind, the Dark Fairies. Not only that but he¡¯s been contacting the Spirit of Darkness. Who knows what they''re planning? Sweet Mother Goddess I hope he isn''t planning on freeing the Spirit of Darkness, because that would literally be the end of the world.

    That thought stopped me short. What if he IS planning that? What would he hope to gain from freeing the source of evil in Fae? If the Spirit of Darkness is free, then we have no hope of defeating him without some major miracle.

    I suddenly feel this wave of hopeless dread. There is no way we could win. It wasn''t possible. We are doomed to a life as Raiden¡¯s slaves, and we¡¯re pretty sure that he knows too.

    ¡°Raiden is probably planning to free the Spirit of Darkness¡­¡± I say to them. Their faces quickly go from enthusiastic to sheer and utter horror and terror. They know that this is beyond serious. No words could form in our mouths

    ¡°I need to talk to Hametsu,¡± Ryan says. ¡°I need to n\know if he has more information.

    ¡°He may not be awake. If he is, then keep the talking to a minimum. He¡¯s probably not in the mood due to everything that''s happened.¡±

    We flew back down. Ryan leaves to talk to Hametsu about it.

    After that, Aidan and I were in no mood to practice fighting.

    ¡°This is probably what he wants.¡± I said. I surprised myself by saying that.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Aidan asked me.

    It feels as if a divine power has taken over my body. I have never felt this way before. I feel like a completely different person, like a true warrior king, Like i¡¯m ready for anything. Why can''t I have this feeling normally?

    ¡°He wants us to feel hopeless so we wouldn''t fight against him. Let''s prove him wrong,¡± I say.

    Aidan is surprised at first, but then he nods with a serious look of determination on his face. He knows that it¡¯s now or never. This is the fight of the millenia and we don¡¯t plan on losing. We¡¯re going to give it everything we have to stop Raiden from achieving his goals, even if it costs us our lives. Ryan came back shortly after and said Hametsu is asleep, so he wasn''t able to get any information.

    We fly up and he starts training me on aerial battles. The training lasts until it gets dark. We pretty much train all day. Kage joins us to spar with me and I have to say, he¡¯s very good. He looks different too. He has horns on his head, dragon wings, and a dragon tail. Both of his eyes are red with slit pupils and he has a noticeable fang when he opens his mouth. He knows a lot of backhanded dirty tactics that he shows me how to avoid. Raiden may try to use them

    Over the next few days, Ryan, Aidan, and Kage trained me on various fighting techniques. I quickly went from beginner level to expert with their help. I¡¯m surprised that I¡¯m such a quick learner. Ryan says this normally takes decades to get from beginner to expert; he''s shocked that I only take a few days. Kage makes an awesome sparring partner. He is so good. All that¡¯s left was learning about my powers and how to direct and control them, and I don¡¯t even know where to start with that.

    Adair is still asleep. But his bruises are fading and more color has returned to him. But I don''t know if his wings will grow back or not. I don''t even know if fairy wings even grow back. Hametsu is looking a bit better and is able to sit up.

    I ask Lilly if wings ever grow back.

    ¡°Fairy wings don''t grow back. Adair will never fly again¡­¡± she says. She starts crying. I also start crying a little bit, but I try to force back my tears and comfort her. My brother is never going to fly again.

    ¡°Do you know why Raiden wants the pedant?¡± I ask her.

    She shakes her head.

    ¡°I wish I knew,¡± she says. ¡°It would make things a lot easier. Not even Hametsu knows what he wants with it.¡±

    ¡°The pendant is the Black Death right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not exactly. Whoever possesses the pendant can manipulate its power to their will,¡± Lilly stated. ¡°So whatever he plans on doing with it cannot be good.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± I say, processing everything. I still believe he wants to use it to free his people and the Spirit of Darkness. If that¡¯s the case, then we HAVE to keep it out of his hands, no matter what. I don¡¯t say any of this to Lilly, since she¡¯s worried enough with Hametsu and Adair.

    I came up with an idea on why Raiden decided to copy Hametsu. He knows about his past, and may have manipulated the events that lead to him becoming the way he is now. This is all definitely part of some sick and twisted plot.

    When Hametsu learned about my existence, he must''ve been excited and wanted to meet me, so he went to the Human Realm and joined my old school to meet me. Some time during his stay, Raiden transformed into Hametsu and took the Death Fairy kingdom and framed him for everything that has happened, when in reality, it was all Raiden. Then he trapped Hametsu in the Human Realm, being unable to escape until his caretaker broke the seal on him, came flying to my rescue during the duel, and was horribly beaten up by Raiden, who was probably hoping to kill him.

    That guy is super clever. I¡¯m honestly a little jealous about how smart he is.

    ¡°Oh yeah Kal! I have good news!¡± Lilly said excitedly. She was almost jumping for joy.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Ryan asked me out on a date!!!¡± She was nearly squealing with excitement. I am so glad Hametsu is still asleep. He would¡¯ve flipped out if he heard that.

    ¡°That''s awesome!!¡± I said, ¡°when is it?¡±

    ¡°Tonight! He said that he''s going to take me out to dinner and on a walk at a really pretty garden and along the riverbank. He also said that he''s going to take me to his favorite place.¡±

    Lilly got all flushed just thinking about it. She runs out and runs right into Ryan. I can just imagine the shade of red on his face. Tomato red. I shake my head and smile.

    I look back at Adair and grow sad over the fact that he''s never going to fly again.

    I just keep staring at him, examining his wounds. Tears begin running down my face again. I flew out of the room and headed straight to the temple of the Mother Goddess.

    ¡°Please let my brother wake up soon.¡± I pray while crying uncontrollably. I also pray for him to not drown in despair over everything that has happened. I pray for the victory of the Life Fairies and to discover the full extent of my powers and to control them. I pray for Hametsu and his recovery and for him to be able to help guide us to victory.

    I¡¯m nott aware of my surroundings, so I don''t hear someone come up to me until they speak.

    ¡°Prince,¡± a calm female voice says. She sounds wise.

    I turn around and see three fairies, a guy and two girls. Judging from the robes they wore, they must be very important.

    I calm down before I begin to speak.

    ¡°Can I ask who you are and why are you here?¡±

    ¡°We are the elemental fairies. The guardians of air, water, earth, and fire,¡± the guy with aerodynamic light grey wings says. His hair is light grey and he¡¯s wearing breech pants and a white tunic. I suspected that he''s the air elemental fairy.

    ¡°Speaking of fire, where is he?¡± The girl with wave-like blue wings says. She must be the water elemental guardian fairy. ¡°He¡¯s never this late.¡±

    The third one shrugs. She has long dark brown hair and pretty green eyes. By long hair, I mean it reaches down to her ankles. Her wings are that of a monarch butterfly. She has a distant look in her eye, like she''s very spacey and easily distracted.

    ¡°You know he''s constantly busy. He probably didn''t even get the message,¡± she says. The water guardian sighs. She looks familiar to me, I don''t know why, but she just does. Blonde, wavy hair and turquoise eyes. She''s wearing a blue cloak with a gold trim.

    The earth elemental guardian has a green cloak with a gold trim.

    The wind guardian has a silver cloak with, no surprise, a gold trim.

    ¡°We were sent by the Mother Goddess to help you train on your powers,¡± the earth guardian says.

    ¡°Are you going to tell me your names?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Oh yes! I am Enlil, the wind guardian, this is Terra, the earth guardian and this is Lamia, the water guardian,¡± Enlil says.

    Lamia!! She''s the elemental guardian of water? I didn¡¯t know that. I wonder who the fire guardian iss.

    Well I didn''t have to wait very long, because he flies in, grabs Lamia, and kisses her.

    My eyes grow wide. I can hardly believe what I''m seeing.

    My older brother Aidan is the fire elemental guardian fairy.

 Chapter 17

    ¡°Aidan?!¡± I say, completely dumbfounded.

    He continues kissing Lamia, his beloved. They stop when Enlil gets in between them.

    ¡°Enlil why?¡± Lamia and Aidan say in unison. Enlil points at me and they look over. Aidan takes one look at my expression and begins laughing.

    ¡°The look of shock on your face is priceless, Kallan!¡± He says, as he continues laughing. Enlil elbows him in the gut. Aidan stopped immediately. He glares and growls at Enlil. Enlil only smiles proudly. Lamia and Terra roll their eyes. This is probably normal and they¡¯ve gotten used to it by now.

    ¡°You wanted to train me on my powers?¡± It comes out more as a question than a statement for some weird reason.

    ¡°Yes, we did. By the order of the Mother Goddess, the queen of all life,¡± Terra says.

    I nod.

    ¡°Okay, so, who''s teaching me first?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Lamia sweetheart??¡± Aidan says.

    Lamia rolls her eyes and laughs. Aidan looks at her dreamily.

    ¡°You¡¯re his brother. You go first,¡± she says.

    They keep going back and forth before Terra states that she¡¯ll do it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± I start. ¡°How are you a Fire Elemental Fairy Guardian person thing?¡±

    Aidan shrugs.

    ¡°I was chosen at birth,¡± he tells me.

    I thought back to the prophecy:

    The first will become a warrior of light

    It was talking about Aidan. Fire not only brings warmth, it brings light. So it makes sense that Aidan is the Fire Element Guardian, especially since his personality reflects the warmth and light that fire gives, and shows the burning ferocity of a warrior, bravely defending his kingdom.

    ¡°Is Adair still asleep?¡± Aidan asks, even though he knows the answer.

    ¡°Yes. But his color is coming back. He¡¯s improving,¡± I inform him. ¡°Why are you asking? You and Lamia know this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but these two don¡¯t,¡± he says, pointing to Enlil and Terra. Terra sighs.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want him to go,¡± Terra states, dreamily. I have suspicions that she likes him.

    We all look at her. She blushes.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Enlil starts, ¡°Terra, why don¡¯t you start training him since you volunteered?¡±

    Terra nods.

    ¡°Come, Kallan,¡± she says. She starts flying. I fly after her.

    After what feels like forever, we land in a forest filled with all sorts of plants and trees, but they are dying.

    ¡°What happened here?¡± I ask.

    ¡°The power of Raiden. It grows stronger by the minute and his reach grows farther,¡± Terra explains. ¡°We fear the worst¡­¡±

    I nod in agreement. It¡¯s a popular theory among us now that he¡¯s trying to revive and free the Spirit of Darkness because it makes so much sense. But what could he possibly gain from it? What is there to gain from freeing the very source of evil in Fae? We really need some sort of divine intervention to prevent this from happening.

    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Concentrate on what you want to create,¡± she explains. ¡°Then use your magic to create it.¡±

    I close my eyes and concentrate on trying to make a tree sapling. I feel a warm energy forming my hands and I direct it to the ground. When I open my eyes, a small oak tree sapling is rooted in front of me. I smile.

    ¡°Good job!¡± Terra says, applauding me. I blush. She makes me practice a little more on forming small bushes and shrubs, trying to get used to the feel of my power. Then she makes me sit down and meditate.

    ¡°You¡¯re looking a little tired. Why don¡¯t we meditate for a bit? It could also help you tap into your powers more.¡±

    I sit down cross legged and close my eyes.

    ¡°Focus your mind. Feel the energy of life inside of you. Let it flow.¡±

    I clear my mind. I eventually tune out the world. The only thing I feel is the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze. But then I feel something else, something different and more¡­ divine. I see visions of the natural world. I can hear the voice of nature calling my name. I feel the very essence of life inside of me. The feeling is amazing. The divine feeling keeps growing inside of me, until it consumes me. I feel it in every fiber of my being, deep within my heart and soul. I keep seeing visions of nature and it¡¯s power flowing through me. The voices of nature are asking me to heal, help, and protect them. The trees whisper ancient wisdom, telling me secrets that no other person knows, like the real name of the Mother Goddess. They tell me of Excalibur¡¯s power and role in sealing the Spirit of Darkness away, before being put in the stone to be wielded by Arthur. They tell me of how the elves and pixies vanished.

    Apparently, the Spirit of Darkness, in a last ditch effort to take over Fae, used his immense power to put both the pixies and elves in a deep slumber while he proceeded to obliterate their kingdoms. He was turned to stone by the powers of both life and death combined, and sealed within a deep cave within the ruined land. However the damage was done, the Barren Lands were formed and the Mother Goddess, named Valley, was too weak to use her powers to reverse the effects. And by the time she regained strength, it couldn''t be undone due to his power still lingering. The most she could do was contain it and prevent it from spreading.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    The bushes and flowers give me encouraging words. Telling me that I can defeat Raiden and prevent the Spirit of Darkness from returning. They say that I will be able to bring back the pixies and elves from ruin and restore the Barren Lands to its former lushness. I don''t know how that will be possible given the circumstances. The Mother Goddess couldn¡¯t even reverse it, so how can I?

    I hear every voice at once and somehow I¡¯m able to comprehend it all.

    I eventually open my eyes and feel both at ease and powerful.

    ¡°Ready to continue?¡± Terra asks me. I nod.

    I make more plants in the area. I¡¯m eventually forming large bushes and full grown trees. I¡¯m even bringing dead plants back to life. Eventually, I bring the entire area back to life. I feel so proud. It gives me a sense of hope, a feeling that I didn¡¯t know I lacked until this point. I can tell that the trees and plants are thanking me for healing them. I turn to Terra and she smiles.

    ¡°I think we''re done for the day,¡± she says.

    ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± I ask, ¡°that''s it?¡±

    ¡°It''s sunset Kallan,¡± she says simply.

    She brings up a good point. It''s hard to grow plants when there is no sunlight. Not only that but who knows what lurks at night. So, we fly back to the temple.

    Terra reveals a secret that is quite surprising to me. But it did confirm a suspicion I had earlier.

    ¡°Please don''t think weirdly of me, but, I have a huge crush on Adair,¡± she says.

    I think about Terra and Adair having a wedding and eventually having children. The thought makes me rather uncomfortable at first. But the more I think about it, the more I like it and it begins to grow on me. Adair and Terra being together as husband and wife. A small smile creeps onto my face.

    I don''t even know if Adair is even looking for a girlfriend. He''s usually so absorbed into his studies to really pay attention to anything related to romance and girls. He heals people but that''s about all he ever pays attention to regarding other people outside of family and castle staff. Out of the three of us, Adair is the most mature, even though he''s the middle child. Aidan is the oldest and I''m the smallest, destined to save Fae and Earth from Raiden¡¯s murderous hands.

    The very thought of that pure evil bastard pisses me off. I hate him. Someone like him needs to be stopped for good before he can free the Spirit of Darkness and cause Fae to fall into ruin.

    Terra began to speak to me again, pulling me from my thoughts.

    ¡°Do you think it''s weird?¡± she asks.

    ¡°What? No not at all!¡± I reply with a smile, ¡°I find it to be pretty cute actually. You two would make a pretty good couple.¡±

    Her face lights up instantly.

    ¡°You really think so?¡± she asks me excitedly.

    I nod with a smile in response.

    She sighs dreamily, most likely thinking about Adair and dreaming of the wedding she wants to have with him. What am I talking about, she is dreaming about him. I laugh silently.

    When we arrive back at the temple, the first thing I see is Aidan and Lamia kissing profusely. Enlil is off to the side, away from the makeout session.

    ¡°Couldn''t keep them apart for long could you?¡± Terra said.

    Lamia and Aidan stop. Their faces turn as red as Aidan''s wings.

    ¡°Well, uh, how- how- how did everything go?¡± Aidan asks, smiling, pretty embarrassed.

    ¡°He''s a fast learner,¡± Terra reports. ¡°I was quite surprised.¡±

    Aidan walked up to me and pulled me in a side hug and pinched my cheek.

    ¡°That''s my baby brother for you! A really fast learner!¡± He lets my cheek go and he stops hugging me.

    ¡°I''m not a baby! I''m 17!¡± I retort, brushing myself off.

    ¡°Yeah, I''m thirty. So you''re still my little baby brother. Adair would agree.¡±

    I groaned.

    ¡°He''s 27,¡± I gripe, annoyed.

    ¡°Actually he''s 28 now. His birthday was last week,¡± Aidan told me.

    I didn''t know that. To be honest, I never really knew when his birthday was. He never really talks about celebrations and I don''t think he ever told me when his birthday was even though I¡¯ve known him for basically my entire life. Or maybe he did and I just forgot or wasn''t paying attention. Some brother I am geez.

    I shrug.

    Aidan and I flew home.

    On the way home, we talked about Terra.

    ¡°Hey Kal,¡± Aidan started, ¡°did you know that Terra has a humongous crush on Adair?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied, ¡°she told me.¡±

    ¡°Did you also know that everyone knows about it?¡± he said.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°It is literally the worst kept secret in the history of Fae. Adair knows about the crush too,¡± he explains. ¡°However, she doesn''t know that Adair knows.¡±

    I start laughing.

    ¡°What does he think about it?¡± I ask.

    ¡°He doesn''t really mind. But he does get annoyed by it sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Is she a stalker?¡± I asked.

    Aidan burst out laughing.

    ¡°No, actually,¡± Aidan starts, ¡°Adair actually visits her sometimes to discuss healing remedies and stuff along that line.¡± He suddenly gets really excited, ¡°I have to tell you something.¡±

    We stopped flying for a bit. I leaned in, curious about what he wanted to tell me.

    ¡°Adair has a huge crush on her, too!¡± He said, ¡°Terra doesn¡¯t know about his crush on her, neither does anyone else. Just us two.¡±

    A goofy smile crawls on my face and we start laughing again. Then we continue flying back to the castle.

    ***************

    Raiden flies into the barren lands and up to a large cave on the side of a hill. He winds his way through the tunnels of the cave being able to see perfectly in the darkness. In the end he sees a dim light leading to a large corridor with ornately decorated stone doors. He opens the doors and walks in. At the end of the room there is an ornate throne, made of stone. In it is a wispy, shadowy figure of a person with glowing purple eyes. Behind the throne, on an altar, is the stature of a person, the Spirit of Darkness, encased in his tomb of stone, awaiting freedom to wreak havoc and destroy Fae.

    ¡°I apologise for the delay, my liege,¡± Raiden starts, kneeling in front of the shadowy figure on the throne. ¡°I ran into some trouble while I was leaving.¡±

    ¡°Define that,¡± the shadow says in a cold, dark voice.

    ¡°Hametsu has returned,¡± Raiden starts.

    ¡°I see,¡± the figure says, narrowing his eyes. ¡°I take it your duel plan was a failure?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely,¡± raiden says, looking up a little bit. ¡°The fool Oberon is currently on his deathbed. He should die within the week. And when he does, the savoir Kallan will be crowned king.¡±

    ¡°The boy is pathetically inexperienced. But he should not be underestimated. After all, he harbos the power to defeat me for good. You must be careful Raiden,¡± the shadow says. ¡°He could easily kill you.¡±

    ¡°I am aware, oh great one,'''' Raiden says, bowing his head.

    ¡°Good. Now then, about that pendant. I assume you came up with something to get it from him?¡±

    ¡°I humbly ask for your assistance for that, my great master,¡± Raiden says. ¡°The boy is smart for his age. Some of my spies and my best assassin were captured by him with relative ease.¡±

    The shadow is not impressed; he glares at Raiden. Raiden feels his master¡¯s glare and grows nervous, fearing punishment. The shadow sighes.

    ¡°Looks like I also underestimated him,¡± he mumbles. ¡°But, I do have a plan to get the pendant from him while causing vast amounts of pain and suffering.¡±

    ¡°What must I do?¡± Raiden asks, looking up.

    The shadow gives a sadistic grin and laughs slightly.

    ¡°¡±I¡¯m glad you asked. Now then, listen carefully.¡±

    As the shadow tells Raiden his plan, a grin grows on Raiden¡¯s face. The more he listened, the wider and crueller the grin became.

    ¡°Do you understand?¡± the shadow asks Raiden.

    ¡°Perfectly, my lord.¡±

    ¡°Then go, and do not fail me.¡± the shadow orders.

    Raiden gets up and leaves the room, closing the doors behind him. The shadow smiles a cruel grin.

    ¡°This will be entertaining.¡±

 Chapter 18

    About five or six days passed since Adair¡¯s return and he still hasn¡¯t woken up. Many of us think that he never will. I try to tell them to be optimistic. He¡¯s going to wake up eventually, I hope. Hametsu is barely able to walk with crutches. I can tell he''s still in a lot of pain. He tells us everything he knows about Raiden. Apparently Raiden is the king of the Dark Fairies and is indeed planning on freeing his people and making them the dominant people of Fae, reducing the rest of us to slaves. To do that he needs the power of the dragonfly pendant. I always have that thing on me. I take it out of my pocket and look at the black crystal pendant. It indeed harbors a sinister power, I can feel it. I shove it back into my pocket.

    Father¡¯s condition isn¡¯t improving. His breathing is hoarse and he groans in pain, a lot. If anything, his condition has gotten worse and won¡¯t improve no matter how hard we try. I even tried my healing magic numerous times, hoping that the poison left his system, but it never works. The poison is too potent and strong and from what I¡¯ve been told, there is no antidote.

    Lilly is very worried for him. Hametsu is too, but he won''t admit it. He doesn¡¯t have to voice it, I see it in his eyes. Kage is holding Hametsu, as he lays his head on Kage¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I hope Adair wakes up soon,¡± Lilly says. ¡°Oberon doesn¡¯t have much time left.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Hametsu told me,¡± she replies. ¡°He can see the lifespan of others. He never told me the exact date. But he said it¡¯s soon.¡±

    I nod solemnly.

    She walked into Adair¡¯s room.

    I went to visit my father.

    ¡°Is he okay?¡± I ask. I feel like slapping myself for asking that question. OF COURSE he¡¯s not okay!! He¡¯s dying. I literally just found this out like two seconds ago. I guess I just want some miraculous good news which I know will never happen.

    ¡°Unfortunately, it seems like he doesn¡¯t have much time left,¡± one of his attendants informes. She¡¯s a Death Fairy with burgundy hair and red crescent shaped wings that escaped from Raiden not too long ago. I learned from her that all Death Fairies have crescent shaped wings, possibly to mimic the blade of a scythe. ¡°He¡¯s going to die today.¡±

    Father begins to speak, startling us.

    ¡°Is...Adair awake yet?¡± He gasps.

    ¡°No,¡± I shake my head. ¡°I don¡¯t think he will wake up anytime soon.¡±

    I¡¯m proven wrong when Lilly exclaims excitedly from his room.

    ¡°ADAIR!!! YOU¡¯RE AWAKE!!!¡±

    Father smiles weakly.

    ¡°Go get my family.¡± He tells me.

    I nod and rush out of the room, looking for Aidan and mother.

    ¡°MOTHER!!!¡± I shout once I find her in the castle garden, ¡°Adair is awake, and father wants our presence.¡±

    At the news of Adair''s awakening, mother rushes off to him. I beat her to him. Lilly wasn''t in the room anymore. She most likely went to her brother.

    ¡°Adair!¡± I shout once I see him.

    ¡°Kallan?¡± He says. He begins crying. He¡¯s trying to hide the fact that he doesn¡¯t have his wings anymore, which is impossible. I run up to him and hug him gently.

    ¡°We were so worried about you!¡± I tell him.

    He cries some more.

    ¡°I was so stupid! I should¡¯ve left as soon as I found out! He ripped my wings off!¡± he says in between tears. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have left Avalon.¡±

    Aidan and our mom come in and hug him carefully.

    ¡°Where¡¯s father?¡± Adair asks. ¡°Is he okay?¡±

    ¡°Actually,¡± I start. ¡°He wants to see us.¡±

    Aidan and I help him up. Adair winces in pain. We carry him to Father. I look across the way into Hametsu¡¯s room. The door is closed but I can faintly hear Lilly crying. I can barely hear Hametsu consoling her. They really do have a strong relationship.

    When we arrive, Adair is absolutely shocked at the state of our father.

    ¡°Father¡­¡± he whispers.

    Father looks in his direction.

    ¡°Adair, welcome back.¡± Father says.

    We help Adair get closer to father.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Adair begins crying again.

    Father reaches up and touches Adair¡¯s face and wipes a tear away.

    ¡°Adair, my son,¡± Father gasps, ¡°don¡¯t cry. All that matters to me is that you¡¯re home and safe.¡±

    ¡°But, I¡¯m a traitor...¡± Adair lets his voice trail off before he continues to cry some more.

    Father wipes away more of Adair¡¯s tears.

    ¡°All is forgiven, my boy.¡± he says. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it anymore.¡±

    Aidan and I go up to him.

    ¡°Aidan, my little flame,¡± Father starts, ¡°Be strong. Fight for good. Be a warrior for the Mother Goddess. Lead the Light Fairies to victory.¡± Father coughs and gasps for air.

    ¡°Kallan, my little warrior,¡± Father starts, ¡°the day you were born, was the happiest day of the Kingdom of the Light Fairies, not to mention that I was a very happy father. I won¡¯t even mention how happy your brothers were, they were literally screaming for joy.¡±

    I smile a bit. Aidan and Adair are blushing quite a lot.

    ¡°Kallan, lead with kindness, love, and mercy. Don¡¯t be afraid to fight for your kingdom.¡±

    I nod. A tear escapes from my eye. I quickly wipe it away.

    ¡°Adair, don¡¯t let the past cripple you and prevent you from being the best you can be. Let bygones be bygones,¡± Father says again. ¡°Be as strong as the oak tree you were named after¡± He coughs.

    Mother steps forward and kneels down to him. Father moves some of her hair out of her face. He smiles at her.

    ¡°Titania, my beautiful queen,¡± he says, ¡°I have always loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Your beauty and kindness is what made me fall in love with you.¡± Father gasps for air and coughs. ¡°I must speak to Kallan alone.¡±

    Everyone walks out of the room. I stand alone with my dying father. He¡¯s struggling to gain his breath.

    ¡°Kallan,¡± he starts.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I reply, choking a bit.

    ¡°Don¡¯t become like Raiden. Don¡¯t stoop down to his level. It will only add fuel to this raging fire of war.¡± he says sternly.

    ¡°I won¡¯t, father.¡± I promise.

    ¡°I know that you can be reckless and stubborn, but do not let that interfere with your judgment. Be rational and open minded. It will surely help you. Don¡¯t be impulsive and never give in to anxiety or depression. Let your brothers guide you, specifically Aidan.¡±

    ¡°But, why specifically Aidan?¡±

    ¡°Despite his carefree attitude, he has plenty of experience and is surprisingly wise. He will help you. Adair will help with your healing magic and help you make wise choices that will benefit the kingdom.¡± father says. I nod.

    ¡°A good king isn¡¯t afraid to make sacrifices for the benefit of his kingdom,¡± I say. He told me that at least twice a day, up until this point.

    ¡°Go get the rest of the family, my time is near.¡± he orders.

    I go over to the entrance of the room and open the door. I tell them to come back in.

    We all walk over to father. His breaths are coming less and less frequent.

    ¡°Take my hands, please.¡± he requests.

    We all hold one of his hands. Mother and Adair on his right, Aidan and I on his left.

    ¡°I love all of you,¡± he says. He holds our hands, closes his eyes, and breathes his last.

    Aidan starts sobbing. I¡¯m trying to force back my tears, with no success. Adair is crying silently. Mother is also sobbing.

    The attendants at hand lower their heads and also start sobbing.

    I¡¯ve only known him for a few months and I know that he treats everyone like equals, as if they were a part of his family. Everyone loves him. He¡¯s going to be sorely missed.

    The news about my father¡¯s death spreads quickly throughout the city of Avalon and the rest of the kingdom. Everyone mournes him. Roxy comes over as soon as she hears the news.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about your loss Kal,¡± Roxy says, hugging me. ¡°Oberon was a great person.¡±

    Adair is so physically and emotionally exhausted, he goes back into his room and falls asleep.

    It¡¯s around nine o¡¯clock at night when my father passes away.

    His funeral happens a few days later. Everyone in the city of Avalon is there and even the Elemental Guardian Fairies. Adair practically cries the whole time while the speaker talks about our father¡¯s life. Terra comforts him.

    The speaker explains and talks about how he defeated Romeo and ended the Dark Ages and stopped the Black Death. She talks about his various great accomplishments and his character as a person.

    ¡°He treated us all like family,¡± she speaks, ¡°the great Oberon cared for us and took the time to get to know us as people. He would spend time with us and help us with even the smallest of problems.¡±

    Hearing her say all of that makes me wonder if I¡¯m ever going to be as good as he was. I begin to have anxiety again.

    I remember what father said to me before passing:

    ¡°Never give in to anxiety or depression. Let your brothers guide you.¡±

    I take deep breaths and manage to temporarily get rid of my anxiety.

    The speaker continues to speak about my father and his family, specifically us. She calls us ¡°living pieces of the great Oberon¡±.

    I look at Aidan, he shrugs. I look over at Adair. I can tell he¡¯s about to pass out again. He¡¯s emotionally and physically drained. He¡¯s wearing his green cloak, despite it being mid April.

    Time passes differently in Fae, as I¡¯ve learned. Fae is only a few months behind. In the human world, I arrived in March. In Fae, it was January. The Time God fixed whatever temporal thing was happening as soon as I arrived in Fae.

    Anyway, Adair is still cold. He doesn¡¯t have hypothermia anymore, but he got cold easily for a while. He is standing next to Aidan trying to stay out of sight, but he isn''t very successful. Aidan silently tells him to stop, and he does, but he still clings on to Aidan. Adair can be very clingy.

    There is a moment of silence. Even the birds are silent.

    ¡°Long live King Kallan.¡± someone says, loudly. Another person says it, then another. Eventually, people kneel and say it in unison, even the Elemental Guardians and Lilly, whose face is all red from crying so much. Hametsu is too injured to even try to kneel, but he did bow his head in respect. Adair is still in too much pain to kneel on his own. Enlil tries to help him, but I wave him away.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to kneel if he¡¯s unable too.¡± I say. I see him sigh in relief a little bit. Eventually everyone stands up.

    Aidan motions for me to take the podium and speak.

    Great. Public speaking. My FAVORITE. NOT!!!! I hate it. I¡¯m not good at public speaking at all.

    I take a few deep breaths before I go up there to speak. I am completely unprepared. No one told me that I have to make a speech!!

    I have no choice but to wing it.

    ¡°I, Kallan Foster Aelfdene, swear to put a stop to this endless war and bring peace once again. I am honored to accept my role as your next king. I promise you, by the will of my father, Oberon the Great, that I will rule with the same passion, same grace, same kindness and love as he did. I promise to defeat Raiden, and end this war!!¡± I shout. I am pleasantly surprised at the short speech. Who knew I had it in me?

    The crowd raises such a shout, it almost shakes the ground. The people begin chanting ¡°long live the king¡±.

    After the depressing funeral, Adair nearly collapses from exhaustion. He groggily goes into his room, with some help from a guard, and falls asleep. Terra goes to watch over him.

    Lilly comes up to me. I¡¯m holding a sobbing Roxy.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to use your healing magic on him now. His wounds finally settled enough.¡± she tells me.

    I nod.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it later,¡± I reply, ¡°right now, I want to wait for things to settle down. It¡¯s getting too depressing.¡± I manage to calm Roxy down.

    Lilly nods.

    ¡°King Oberon accepted me with open arms, even though he couldn¡¯t leave his bed. But he spoke with me a few times. He told me that he was proud that I was his niece,¡± she says.

    ¡°I would be too,¡± I say with a small smile.

    Ryan walks up to us.

    ¡°H-hey Lilly.¡± he greets her.

    ¡°Hey Ryan.¡± Lilly replies. She holds his hand and gives a small smile. Ryan returns the smile.

    ¡°I take it your first date went well?¡± I ask. They nod in response.

    ¡°We¡¯re going out again right now. We¡¯re just going to take a walk to clear our heads of everything that happened...¡± Lilly says. ¡°See you later.¡±

    ¡°Have fun,¡± I tell them. Roxy gives them a nod.

    ¡°Woah woah woah woah woah woah, wait WHAT?! Excuse me when did this happen?¡± Hametsu says, getting very, very defensive of Lilly. He hobbles over to them and pulls Lilly away, hugging her protectively. ¡°I did not approve of this!¡± he says with an angry frown.

    Lilly frees herself from Hametsu.

    ¡°Now really isn¡¯t the time for arguing Hametsu. We¡¯re just taking a walk. We need to clear our heads.¡±

    ¡°We all do, to be honest. I¡¯m coming with you, and I¡¯m not taking no for an answer.¡± Hametsu says stubbornly.

    Lilly is about to say something but Ryan stops her.

    ¡°Just let him come Lilly,¡± he says gently. ¡°It looks like he wants to be with you.¡±

    Hametsu looked away and blushed, trying to act tough. But now we all know the truth. He just wants to be with his rock.

    I walk away with Roxy. We go into the garden and walk around there, talking about the future, specifically, how I¡¯m going to rule.

    ¡°Kal, I know you¡¯ll do great. Just do whatever your father told you to do,¡± she advises. I nod.

    ¡°I¡¯m just nervous,¡± I admit.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to be nervous. Just don¡¯t give in to anxiety.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what he said to me before he passed,¡± I tell her. I sigh. Everything is so sad now that father is gone.

    It isn¡¯t long before my adopted parents, Elise and Manny, show up and embrace me.

    ¡°Oh Kallan,¡± Elise says, ¡°We¡¯re so sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay mo- uh, Elise.¡± I say. I have to get used to that.

    ¡°Kal,¡± Manny starts, ¡°We will also help you while you are young. If you need help, don¡¯t hesitate to ask us.¡±

    I nod, choking up.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Even though we¡¯re not your real parents, we still love you like you are our own child,¡± Elise says.

    ¡°Thank you, both of you,¡± I say. I start crying again and they comfort me, just like they used to before any of this happened. It feels so good. The nostalgia makes me cry even more.

    Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a regular human that goes to school and has to face homework and worry about college and all that. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I like my life as a prince and want to uphold my duties as their new king and their savior. It sometimes gets overwhelming and often a bit too much for me to handle.

    Aidan then comes and joins the hug fest. Roxy joins me too.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay little bro. It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ll manage. I know you can be a great king, just like our father.¡± he says.

    I eventually calm down and stop crying. They let go of me.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go heal Adair,¡± I say. They give me silent nods of approval and step away a bit for me to leave. I fly to Adair¡¯s room.

    Terra isn¡¯t in the room. Adair is sound asleep when I enter, still exhausted from everything that has happened. It¡¯s obvious he¡¯s still in pain due to the expression of absolute discomfort on his face. I walk up to him as silently as possible, careful not to wake him. I reach out my hand, which begins glowing in green energy. Slowly, Adair¡¯s bruises fade away completely, and his cuts are gone. His broken limbs heal properly, and, to my astonishment, his emerald wings grow back. His facial expression relaxes instantly and he is able to sleep peacefully.

    Not a single scar remains on his body. It¡¯s like nothing happened.

    I smile, seeing my older brother relax for the first time since he came back and I fly away.

    Terra¡¯s on her way back to see Adair when I leave the room. She¡¯s carrying a bunch of flowers.

    ¡°How¡¯s he doing?¡± she asks.

    ¡°I just healed him,¡± I reply. ¡°He''s fine now.¡±

    Her face lights up instantly and she hugs me after dropping the flowers.

    ¡°Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!¡± she exclaims. She hugs me harder.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± I say, ¡°now can you let me go? You¡¯re crushing my wings.¡±

    ¡°Oops.¡± she stops hugging me and puts me down. She laughs nervously and blushes.

    I nod and leave.

    I find Roxy talking with Aidan. I walk up behind her and cover her eyes.

    ¡°Guess who,¡± I say.

    ¡°Kallan?¡± she guesses as she moves my hands away from her eyes. She looks up and smiles. I smile back. We kiss.

    ¡°Feeling better?¡± I ask her.

    ¡°A little. Aidan helped me while you were healing Adair.¡±

    ¡°That''s good.¡± I kiss her again.

    I can''t imagine my life without Roxy. I love her so much, it almost hurts. When I''m with her, it feels as if everything in my life is in order. I hug her and continue kissing her.

    ¡°Please don''t leave me.¡± I whisper in her ear. She looks up at me.

    ¡°I won''t.¡± she says.

    We hug each other closely.

    I¡¯m so lucky to have a girl like Roxy as my fianc¨¦. She¡¯s smart, caring, pretty, kind, and overall awesome. I will do anything to protect her and keep her safe.

    I keep thinking about Adair and Terra being together. It will not leave my mind, no matter how hard I try. They would be such a cute couple. But Adair is sort of awkward when it comes to talking to people, especially girls. He¡¯s not exactly a social person and likes to be alone sometimes. Mother and Father had to kick him out a few times just so he could socialize with people. Every time he was kicked out, he would go to Terra. I found out about that because I read part of his diary when he was with Raiden.

    I didn¡¯t know who Terra was at first. Now that I know who she is, I can¡¯t stop thinking about the two of them being together. It¡¯s so hard for me. Just like before I found out that I was a prince, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about me and Roxy being together and getting married.

    Roxy and I sit down and talk about our wedding as a way to distract ourselves from the current situation. I propose a giant cake, and she bursts out laughing.

    ¡°What is it with you and food?¡± she asks when she stops laughing.

    I shrug.

    ¡°I just like food,¡± I say simply. I smile. She smiles back.

    We continue talking about the decorations. We both want it to be in a large outdoor park, surrounded by trees and flowers. We want as many people as possible to come. I know for a fact that the entire city of Avalon will be in attendance. I mean, their new king will be getting married within a year, hopefully. It might be a little later depending on how long the war will last. I want the war to end as soon as possible, but Raiden is persistent and refuses to give up.

    We have managed to gain some territory back since Adair¡¯s return and the inhabitants there were freed from their chains, literally. Raiden had them in chains, working non stop on monuments to the Spirit of Darkness

    After freeing those towns and cities from Raiden¡¯s grip and destroying the monuments, I went into the archives to do a little bit of research on the Dark Fairies.

    Their homeland is past the Season¡¯s Peak Mountains, a 1000 mile long, very dangerous mountain range. The Peaks are known for avalanches and rockfalls and sudden storms that can kill a person if they¡¯re not careful, not to mention there are lots of deadly predators that can maul you in an instant if given the chance. The slopes are also extremely unstable and can randomly give way to mudslides or lava streams or can collapse under your feet. It¡¯s nearly impossible to fly up there unless you have a wind fairy with you to generate a breeze to allow flight through the Peaks. They are the only mountain range in Fae that prevents flight because of the lack of wind.

    Past the Peaks, there is the largest desert in Fae, the aptly named Death Sands Desert. The desert is named that because there is a lot of dry quicksand in random places and it¡¯s scorchingly hot, getting up to over 115 degrees fahrenheit. Many people die from the heat more than the quicksand because there is no water for miles in the desert.

    After the desert, there''s a forest full of poisonous plants. The forest is the Death Fairy Forest, the former home of the Death Fairies. The Death Fairies eat poisonous fruit. Their capital city is Camelot. They were driven out of their homeland about a thousand years ago by my grandfather after a chaotic war, however his name wasn¡¯t mentioned which sort of disappointed me. They were exiled into the Barren Lands.

    The Barren Lands are aptly named. Nothing grows there. That''s where the Pixy Kingdom and Elven Empire once flourished as it was once a beautiful and lush field of flowers and a thriving jungle.

    Past the Death Fairy Forest, is a forest plagued by eternal darkness. It¡¯s called Otyra, also known as the Dark Forest. That¡¯s the home of the Dark Fairies and where they are currently sealed. Raiden must¡¯ve somehow escaped the seal and remained hidden for hundreds of years, planning out everything that led up to this moment, including the banishing of the Death Fairies to the Barren Lands with nothing but food, clothes, and water. My grandfather is an idiot.

    How did the Death fairies survive the Barren Lands anyway?

    The answer is that their food lasts for thousands of years before it starts to rot and they brought a lot of it, enough for a lifetime supply for everyone in their society.

    However, after Romeo¡¯s death, and Hametsu and Lilly being taken to a different world, greedy officials took the food for themselves, leaving little for the rest of the population and now they are in a famine. Using his magic, Raiden disguised himself as Hametsu and began leading the Death Fairies, restarting the war in an effort to free the Dark Fairies and cause strife between the Death Fairies and us Life Fairies to bring the Spirit of Darkness back to destroy Fae. He manipulated them into believing that he would expand their home forest. Then he set his sights on earth and planned to conquer it.

    Raiden wants to dominate over Fae and destroy everything so he can free the Spirit of Darkness and usher in an era of fear and darkness. But why does he want Earth? Mercilessly torturing and ruling the human race is probably just pure bloodlust on his part.

    I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t know that Hametsu¡¯s people are in a famine. I know they¡¯re suffering but I didn¡¯t expect this.

    Then I remember back to the time when I first found out that Hametsu was the Death King. At that time, I didn¡¯t know it was Raiden pretending to be Hametsu, but he fed me a lie about recreating the Death Fairy habitat that I believed.

    ¡°Once you¡¯re gone NOTHING will stop me from conquering both Fae and the Human Realm and recreating the habitat in which my people will live!!¡±

    I can¡¯t believe I believed that blatant lie. Hametsu¡¯s people are suffering because of Raiden and Hametsu is doing everything he can to free his people from oppression and bring them back to their homeland.

    ¡°I get what I want and my people get what they want.¡±

    Now I know what Raiden means by that, he gets to rule over Fae and Earth and release the Spirit of Darkness, and his people get to be free from their seal becoming the dominant race in both worlds.

    I¡¯m probably the biggest idiot to have ever walked the face of the universe for just now figuring this out.

    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m an idiot.¡± I say silently to myself.

    ¡°Pardon?¡± Roxy asks.

    ¡°What? Oh. nothing. Just remembering something that happened a while ago that¡¯s all,¡± I say.

    Roxy nods in understanding. We keep talking until she has to leave.

    A while later I go to find Aidan to discuss my coronation ceremony.

    ¡°Well, for starters, Kallan,¡± he starts. ¡°We need to teach you how to perform the ceremony.¡±

    ¡°I have to learn how to do it?¡±

    Aidan nods.

    ¡°They don''t just put the crown on your head,¡± he explains. ¡°It comes with a certain grace that must be learned.¡±

    ¡°Okay...¡± I say, raising my eyebrow in confusion.

    ¡°There is a proper way of walking up to the crown bearer and a way of kneeling while he or she puts the crown on your head,¡± he continues, ¡°a proper way of holding your neck so the crown doesn''t fall off your head-¡±

    ¡°What does the crown look like?¡±

    ¡°A wreath of golden olive leaves and the twigs they are on are silver.¡± Aidan explains.

    I nod in understanding. It must look really beautiful.

    We discuss this topic for many hours. Apparently there''s a festival after the ceremony. We discuss what sort of games and food there will be. We even debate on having fireworks. I think it will be too much, since I¡¯m not really a fan of fireworks because of how loud they are. Aidan thinks it would be awesome. He won that debate.

    We don''t even hear Adair walk up to us.

    ¡°Hey guys,¡± he says, glumly.

    ¡°Look who joined us!¡± Aidan exclaims. ¡°We¡¯re trying to figure out what to do for the festival after Kal¡¯s coronation ceremony in a few months. Wanna join?¡±

    ¡°Maybe some other time,¡± he says. ¡°Hey, Kal, did you heal me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I reply. ¡°I couldn''t stand to see you in so much pain. So I used my magic to heal you.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, your wings are back!!¡± Aidan shouts.

    ¡°You just noticed?¡± Adair asks, rather annoyed.

    Aidan blushes.

    Adair sighs. I''m guessing he still feels awful about what he did.

    ¡°No one is going to forgive me...¡± he groans.

    ¡°Adair, they already did. Everyone is glad that you''re back.¡± I reassure him.

    And of course, the waterworks come out again. I love my brother, but his constant crying is starting to get a tiny bit annoying. I understand that he''s depressed and feels horrible about his actions and the fact that our father just died and has the right to let it all out, but, sitting around and crying isn''t going to help him.

    Aidan hugs him and comforts him until he calms down.

    ¡°I''ve got some things to do,¡± Adair finally says, most likely wanting to avoid us. We don¡¯t let that happen.

    ¡°Ohhh no,¡± Aidan says. ¡°You are not going back into your room.¡±

    Adair smiles mischievously.

    ¡°You gotta catch me first,¡± he jokes. He runs towards his room. Aidan quickly catches up with him and carries him back to us. I suppress my laughter.

    ¡°PUT ME DOWN AIDAN!!!¡± Adair demands, trying to escape our brother¡¯s strong grip.

    ¡°Not a chance bro!¡± Aidan laughs.

    I start laughing. So did Aidan and Adair.

    I suddenly stop when one thought hits me very hard.

    Why am I the crown prince? Why not my older brothers? That feeling has been bugging me for weeks. I mean, I know it¡¯s in the prophecy and all but, I¡¯m still very inexperienced and young. It just doesn¡¯t seem right.

    ¡°Why am I the one being crowned king and not either of you?¡± I ask them.

    They stop laughing.

    ¡°Usually the oldest son gets crowned king.¡± Aidan starts, ¡°but because of the prophecy, you have to be king.¡±

    ¡°That makes absolutely NO sense,¡± I retort. It doesn¡¯t. Aidan is the oldest, he should be king. He knows what he¡¯s doing and he has way better leadership skills than I do.

    ¡°You are supposed to be king, Kallan,¡± Adair says, ¡°and Aidan, put me down.¡±

    Aidan put him down. Adair brushes himself off and begins speaking.

    ¡°Aidan and I already have predestined roles. He¡¯s the Guardian of Fire. I¡¯m going to be one of the greatest healers Fae has ever seen, and the Mother Goddess even came to us through her priestess and said that you are the next king.¡±

    That doesn¡¯t help my confusion. I have major anxiety at random times. Not to mention Raiden is extremely cunning and manipulative. From the information we gathered about him, he does a slow steady process of torturing his victims until they either commit suicide or he kills them. It''s usually the latter. He kills them as sacrifices to the Spirit of Darkness in an effort to help him regain strength.

    ¡°But I have anxiety issues,¡± I retort, ¡°I''m not cut out for it!!¡±

    ¡°Bruh, listen to me,¡± Aidan says, grabbing my shoulders. ¡°You can do this. You''re the most qualified. Adair can''t stand politics. He hates politics with a passion.¡±

    ¡°It''s not my fault that it''s boring,¡± Adair grumbles.

    ¡°Anyway, I already have my role as Fire Guardian, therefore I can''t be king.¡±

    ¡°But-¡±

    ¡°Na-uh. I''m not going to hear it. The prophecy even states that the youngest will lead the people to harmony, peace, and prosperity.¡±

    Aidan is right. As the youngest son of Oberon and Titania, and the savior of Fae, and apparently the next king, I''m supposed to lead the people into an era of greatness, as I will summarize it.

    But Raiden is right though. When I was reading his letters to Adair, he called me a na?ve little boy, and that''s basically what I am. A na?ve, inexperienced child. I''m only 17 years old. Everyone else is older and more experienced.

    But I have a feeling inside of me, telling me that I can do it.

    ¡°I''m still not sure if-¡±

    ¡°Oh enough with the pessimism!¡± Adair grouches. ¡°You''re going to be king, and that is that.¡±

    ¡°You''re not our mom,¡± I say to him playfully.

    ¡°But I am your older brother, therefore I can sorta tell you what to, and I''m telling you to be king so HAH!!¡± Adair jokes with me.

    Aidan shakes his head and pulls us both in a side hug with this huge grin on his face. Adair and I smile.

    But I am still worried about what is going to happen in the near future. Will I be able to end this war? I mean, Raiden is extremely powerful and has lived far longer than I have. Plus he has more fighting experience than I do. Then there''s the very real possibility of facing an actual GOD. I¡¯m going to be beyond dead.

    I have a better chance of winning the lottery a hundred times than defeating them.

    Sensing my worries, Aidan grabs me and we fly off to the temple.

    ¡°Why are we here?¡± I question when we arrive.

    ¡°Enlil and I arranged for you to be trained by both of us.¡± he says. ¡°Be prepared for a lot of bickering. Enlil and I don''t get along very well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah I kind of figured from last time,¡± I state. ¡°What am I training on today?¡±

    ¡°Agility, and hand to hand combat!¡± he states, a bit too excited.

    I grow nervous. From what I''ve learned over the past few months is that whenever Aidan gets excited about combat training, it''s usually very hard.

    Enlil arrives shortly after.

    ¡°We were waiting for you Enlil,¡± Aidan jokes.

    Enlil scowles at him, completely unamused.

    ¡°Aidan, now is not the time for joking around.¡± Enlil scolds, rather harshly.

    ¡°Ugh, so serious,¡± Aidan grouches, even though he knows Enlil is right. He was just trying to lighten the mood a bit.

    Enlil ignores him and turns his attention to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if your dim-witted brother told you, but we will be training you on agility and speed.¡±

    ¡°Dim wit- Dude, I swear one of these days, I¡®m gonna beat your ass,¡± Aidan retorts, very offended.

    Enlil rolls his eyes.

    Aiden glares at him. If looks could kill, Enlil would be dead a thousand times over.

    ¡°Yeah, he told me.¡± I reply, attempting to stop the fighting. It works and they focus their attention on me.

    Aidan and Enlil begin training me. Enlil teaches me how to manipulate the air currents to my advantage, allowing me to speed up or slow down, and be able to manipulate the air currents around another person to immobilize them and prevent them from moving.

    I have a lot of fun with that, but I got a bit carried away and used it on Aidan a lot, making Enlil laugh unreasonably hard.

    Then Aidan begins training me on more aerial combat stuff.

    ¡°Aidan, let me handle his combat training.¡± Enlil offers, kinda rudely.

    ¡°Nope. Sorry,¡± Aidan replies with a smug grin.

    Enlil growls.

    We continue training for hours upon hours. We literally stop at midnight, even though Aidan wants to stop earlier, stating that I need to rest because I¡¯m a ¡°growing boy¡±.

    ¡°I¡¯m seventeen!!¡± I protest.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to be king. You need your rest.¡±

    I groan.

    ¡°Midnight,¡± Enlil states firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll stop at midnight.¡±

    Then it¡¯s Aidan¡¯s turn to groan.

    Before we get home, Aidan and I decide to take a quick dip in the river to wash off all of the sweat. Our clothes are soaked, but Aidan dries them off quickly with his fire magic. He¡¯s very careful not to burn them. We continue home after all that is done. Once we arrive home, I go straight to my room and change into some pajamas.

    I instantly fall asleep once I get under my covers.

    When I wake up, it¡¯s mid morning, almost noon. I am facing my giant window. I turn over to see Adair standing next to me and staring at my face. I get so startled, I scream a bit and end up kicking his gut, knocking the air out of him.

    ¡°OW!!!¡± he exclaims, doubling over in pain. He begins coughing.

    ¡°Oops, sorry.¡± I say, smiling nervously.

    ¡°Aidan trained you too much,¡± he wheezes. He stands up straight and takes really deep breaths.

    ¡°You overslept.¡± he finally says, after he regains his breath.

    ¡°I did?¡±

    He nods.

    ¡°You missed the fun part of the morning.¡±

    ¡°What would that be?¡±

    Adair smiles mischievously.

    ¡°I pulled a prank on Aidan.¡±

    I start laughing like a hyena. Adair pulling a prank on Aidan? I''ll believe it when I see it.

    ¡°You don''t believe me do you?¡± he asks, as if he¡¯s reading my mind.

    ¡°It''s just really hard to imagine you pulling a prank on Aidan.¡± I manage to say in between laughs.

    Serious, introverted Adair, pulling a prank on our older brother. That is extremely hard to believe.

    Adair keeps glowering at me while I laugh.

    ¡°What did you do?¡± I ask once I stop laughing.

    ¡°I switched his usual blueberry pancakes that he eats when we have pancakes, with violet berry. He can''t see the difference since both berries look the same.¡±

    I fall into fits of laughter again.

    Everyone knows that violet berries stain your teeth after eating them. Plus everyone knows that Aidan eats blueberry pancakes like a ravenous wolf.

    I can only imagine what his teeth look like now.

    Adair starts laughing with me.

    Our laughter is ruined when Aidan comes storming in with the scariest angry face I have ever seen.

    ¡°Adair,¡± he starts in a low angry voice. He is beyond furious ¡°You are going to reverse this now. Do you hear me?¡±

    Adair nods and tosses a medium sized vial of some sort of white liquid to Aidan. It''s one of his concoctions again.

    ¡°Swish it around your mouth. It will get rid of the stains.¡±

    Aidan storms off.

    ¡°What does that stuff do?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Cleans your mouth. It''s like a fairy mouthwash. It also removes stains from your teeth. I use it everyday!¡± Adair states proudly, smiling and showing off his pearly whites.

    ¡°No wonder your teeth are so white.¡± I joke. He has the whitest teeth I have ever seen. We laugh a bit.

    ¡°Get ready Kal, you have a busy day with Terra.¡± Adair says, with some slight jealousy in his voice. He mumbles something about wanting to be with Terra the whole day. But for his sake, I''ll pretend I didn''t hear that.

    ¡°Okay,¡±I say. I leap off of the bed and quickly get dressed. I zoom to the dining room to eat some food.

    There is a fresh platter of regular pancakes, eggs with cheese and bacon. My favorite.

    Adair comes out and sits down next to me.

    ¡°Well little bro,¡± he starts, putting his arm around me, ¡°I can''t believe you get to spend the entire day with Terra.¡±

    Somebody''s jealous.

    ¡°I know you have a crush on her,¡± I say. His eyes grow wide and he¡¯s red from embarrassment.

    ¡°Aidan!!¡± he growls. He¡¯s obviously very annoyed at Aidan for telling me. He sighs. He moves his arm away from my shoulder and steals half a piece of my bacon.

    ¡°Hey!!¡± I exclaim, ¡°that''s mine!!¡±

    ¡°Relax, I''m only taking a little bit.¡± he assures, taking a bite.

    I begin eating the rest of my bacon before he takes the rest of it. It''s my food. No one can take my food.

    I scarf down my breakfast and bolt to my room to get ready. Once that was said and done, I bolt out to the temple where I see Ryan and Lilly kissing. Thank the Mother Goddess that Hametsu isn''t there. He would have a massive fit and start screaming at Ryan.

    I quickly fly away.

    I know Hametsu really cares for his sister, but seriously man, let them have some alone time geez. I quickly stopped thinking about that and started thinking about Roxy.

    Every time I think about her, I think about how awesome and beautiful she is. She''s going to make one awesome queen once I marry her. People already love her because she''s so kind and pretty and nice.

    I fly back to the castle after my training, still deep in thought about Roxy.

    I decide that I will go over to where she lives and visit her for a while. I need a change of scenery anyway and the only place I¡¯ve really ever been to was the temple, and it¡¯s not even that far. It¡¯s only a two minute flight.

    I look over and see Aidan, bored out of his wits and obviously thinking about Lamia.

    ¡°Yo Aidan!¡± I call.

    He faces my direction. His teeth are now normal and no longer deep purple.

    ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s up?¡± he asks.

    ¡°I wanna go visit Roxy,¡± I tell him.

    ¡°Right now?¡±

    ¡°No, in thirty years.¡± I reply sarcastically.

    ¡°Don¡¯t need to be so sarcastic,¡± he says. I laugh a bit. He calls Ryan over, who came back shortly after I did, and tells him that we''re heading out to Roxy¡¯s island archipelago. Aidan also gets a small escort of guards.

    ¡°In case we run into him,¡± Aidan says. He¡¯s referring to Raiden, as if this is going to stop him.

    We head out. Thanks to Ryan¡¯s wind magic, we got there in about half an hour.

    Once we arrive, we are horrified by what we see.

 Chapter 19

    The entire city is burned down, large pieces of smoldering debris are everywhere. We fly up to the city limits.

    ¡°Search the area for any survivors and bring them to me.¡± I order the guards. Aidan also flies off to help them.

    I fly in a different direction to search the city. I¡¯m very close to vomiting because of all the dead bodies I see.

    Raiden seemed like he had a little too much fun and it makes me sick.

    I absolutely despise him.

    I keep flying around trying to find any survivors. I do find a few, but they are severely injured. I try to help them, but some people end up dying from their injuries before I can finish healing them, causing me to cry and mourn them.

    And what¡¯s worse, some of them are pre-teens or young children. It hurts me deeply that I¡¯m not able to save them in time.

    I did manage to heal some people and inquired as to what happened. None of them respond. It¡¯s obvious that they¡¯re still traumatized about it or never want to speak of it and I respect that.

    I keep looking for Roxy, frantically hoping that she¡¯s still alive here and somewhere. I call her name, hoping to find her.

    After a few minutes of finding and healing as many people as I can, which isn¡¯t many unfortunately, I find Aidan. He¡¯s trying to help a teenage girl up, but he ends up having to carry her. She has red hair and brown eyes. Her skin is light and her wings are sunset pink. I use my magic to heal her but the terror in her eyes doesn''t leave.

    I notice that she¡¯s holding a note. She hands it to me.

    ¡°It''s for you¡­¡± she whispers. I barely hear her. I gently take the note from her and read it. I recognize that semi-gothic handwriting.

    I have your betrothed, Kallan. If you want her back, safe and unharmed, give me that pendant. We¡¯ll do a little trade next friday, that gives you five days to think about it. Your beloved fiance for the pendant. Just be warned: If you don¡¯t come by sunset next friday, Roxanne will be killed and I will destroy your kingdom with my bare hands and forcefully take the pendant from you. It''s your choice.

    One more important detail, I want you to come ALONE.

    -Raiden

    Ps, I heard about your father¡¯s death, and how you¡¯re the next king. I couldn¡¯t stop laughing when I was informed. How I would¡¯ve loved to see the look of pain on your face when you saw him die. You¡¯re pathetically na?ve and young. I¡¯ll greatly enjoy torturing you.

    Rage grows inside of me. If I thought he was a monster before, well, now he''s an absolute demon.

    ¡°That demonic monster.¡± I growl in a low voice, ¡°How did this happen?¡±

    The girl whispers in Aidan''s ear.

    ¡°Apparently Raiden led a rather large battalion of soldiers here. Very few people survived. He captured Roxy and, almost literally, dragged her to the Barren Lands,¡± Aidan explains. He¡¯s extremely pissed off.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t there soldiers here?¡± I ask.

    The girl whispers into his ear again.

    ¡°More than enough to combat the battalion. But since Raiden was there, they had virtually zero chance of winning,¡± Aidan explains. ''''He killed them all in a bloodthirsty and sadistic rampage while his soldiers attacked the city.¡±

    That¡¯s it. Raiden is going to be executed. My mind is firmly made up.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to execute him,¡± I told Aidan. ¡°He¡¯s going to pay for his crimes against Fae kind..¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Aidan questions, rather surprised, ¡°You¡¯re going to¡­ ya know?¡± The girl drags her index finger across her neck to prove Aidan¡¯s point. Aidan would¡¯ve done it himself but he¡¯s still holding the girl.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°My mind''s made up Aidan,¡± I tell him, ¡°he can¡¯t live anymore. He¡¯s already killed thousands, if not millions of innocent people without giving a care in the world, and he¡¯s going to kill more if we don¡¯t stop him.¡±

    Aidan nods in agreement, he understands my point.

    ¡°But how am I going to get Roxy back without giving up the pendant? That pendant is full of dangerous power. Who knows what would happen if he got a hold of it.¡± I say, feeling defeated.

    ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out.¡± he says reassuringly, ¡°Raiden won''t have her for very long.¡±

    I only have five days to decide what to do. He has me stuck between a rock and a hard place. He knows how much I love Roxy, and he''s manipulating it for his advantage.

    If I trade the pendant for Roxy, he''s going to make the world suffer and destroy us all. If I don''t, he''s going to kill her.

    I have no idea what I should do. I only have five days. Five days.

    This is going to be extremely hard.

    After about five minutes the guards and Ryan come back with about ten or fifteen people. I heal all of them with my powers. They all beg me to bring Roxy back to them and I swear that I would.

    Somehow, I''ll get her back. But even if I plan an assault on him, Raiden will just have his guards stall us while he goes and kills Roxy.

    ¡°We can''t plan an attack. He''ll kill her as soon as he finds out,¡± I say.

    ¡°But we can''t just give in to his demands. We don''t know if he''s going to keep his word.¡± Aidan cautions.

    He''s right. Raiden could backstab us and kill Roxy as soon as he gets his hands on the pendant. He''s untrustworthy. Completely untrustworthy.

    We decide to discuss this once we get the refugees situated into a nearby town, and properly bury the dead. Then we leave to discuss this with mom and Adair. They will probably know what to do, because I sure as hell don''t. I need help.

    I whisper a silent prayer for wisdom on how to handle the situation. The fate of Fae depends on this decision. Unfortunately, both ways don''t end very well unless some miracle happens.

    Aidan and I fly home, horrified, confused, and angry about Raiden and what he has done.

    **********

    Raiden drags Roxy into the chamber where the Spirit of Darkness is. Once he opens the doors to the chamber, The shadow of the Spirit of Darkness appears from his statue and sits on the throne. Raiden forces Roxy to kneel before the dark being.

    ¡°Quite a lovely specimen we have here,¡± the evil being starts. ¡°You must be Roxanne, the little saviour¡¯s beloved fiance.¡± he says, mockingly.

    Roxy doesn''t respond.

    ¡°Raiden, is the town in ruins?¡±

    ¡°Yes my lord,¡± he says, bowing. ¡°Utterly destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Marvelous,¡± The Spirit of Darkness purrs. ¡°And I would assume the death toll is high?¡±

    ¡°You slaughtered nearly everyone, including my parents!!!¡± Roxy shouts, sitting up, eyes brimming with tears. Raiden kicks her, causing her to fall to her face in pain.

    ¡°Do NOT shout at the great Spirit of Darkness!¡± he yells at her. Roxy cries in pain. The Spirit of Darkness laughs sadistically.

    ¡°The suffering of those inferior to me is highly amusing. I can¡¯t wait to do this to both worlds,¡± he starts. He laughs a cold, pure evil laugh that defies all known logic of cruelty. ¡°Your Mother Goddess will be a powerless prisoner, the Spirit of Death will be permanently banished, your beloved savior will be dead, and both worlds will have a thick blanket of complete blackness enveloping them for all eternity. The Dark Fairies will reign supreme across both worlds, and I will rule as the ultimate god of all.¡±

    Raiden smiles cruelly at his master¡¯s vision.

    ¡°It will be a glorious world, oh great darkness,¡± he says, bowing low.

    ¡°That¡¯s absolutely horrible!!¡± Roxy says crying. ¡°Why would you do something like that!?¡±

    The Spirit of Darkness gets up from his throne and grabs Roxy''s chin, forcing her to stand up.

    ¡°Because I can. I want to bring both worlds to its knees and watch every living thing squirm and grovel at my feet. My days of being shunned and ignored are over. The time has come for me to be the only deity in both worlds!¡± the Spirit of Darkness exclaims excitedly. ¡°Everyone will worship and fear me, Onyx, the supreme Spirit of Darkness!!¡±

    Roxy is horrified at what she¡¯s hearing. She desperately makes a silent prayer that Kallan will rescue her. Onyx, the Spirit of Darkness, uses what little power he currently has to make a cage to keep Roxy in.

    ¡°Take her to the cage, Raiden. She will remain there until friday when the trade will happen. Oh, and don''t leave a mark on her body, we promised Kallan that she will be safe and unharmed.¡±

    ¡°My lord, you actually intend to spare her?¡±

    ¡°I am many things, but a deal breaker is not one of them. Even I have some morals that I expect you to uphold, Raiden,¡± Onyx spits at him. ¡°I always uphold my end of the deal.¡±

    ¡°Even the threat of killing me?¡± Roxy asks, while being forced into the cage.

    ¡°Especially that. And I can assure you, your death will be painful if he refuses,¡± Onyx says with an evil smile.

    ¡°My great master always gets what he wants. So no matter what happens, I will still get that pendant for him and free my glorious and all-powerful ruler,¡± Raiden declares, while locking the cage.

    ¡°You will never win!¡± Roxy says crying.

    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that honey,¡± Onyx says, going back to his throne. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡±

    Roxy looks down at the ground, afraid of what will happen to both her and the realm. She silently weeps, putting an amused smile on Onyx¡¯s face.

 Chapter 20

    I keep pondering about the decision I have to make. It''s been almost three days and we still don''t know what to do.

    Plus we don''t even know if he''s going to keep his word.

    Adair and I discuss this for a long time while Aidan heads off to battle against Raidan in other territories, trying to free them and protect them. I have to go over and restore their land soon

    ¡°He can''t be trusted,¡± I said firmly. ¡°We don''t know what he''s going to do to Roxy if we give him the pendant. He could end up killing her in front of me.¡±

    ¡°Kal, stop being a pessimist,¡± Adair said calmly. ¡°We will get her back.¡±

    ¡°How though? He''s going to kill her if we attack him.¡±

    Adair thinks about it. Then, he nods.

    ¡°That''s true,¡± he says slowly.

    Lilly walks up to us. She isn¡¯t smiling.

    ¡°I heard about what happened,¡± she says, glumly.

    I nod. She knows Raiden has crossed the line.

    ¡°I''m sorry Kal,¡± she says.

    ¡°I knew he was evil, but I didn¡¯t expect this. This is just beyond evil.¡±

    She nods. I feel my eyes tear up. Not only is he trying to squeeze the pendant out of me, Raiden is trying to break me in the process by tearing everyone I love away from me.

    First he manages to manipulate my brother to join him, then he kills my father, and now he kidnaps my fianc¨¦ and destroys her city.

    ¡°I don''t know what to do.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out. I¡¯ll talk with Hametsu and Ryan about this. We¡¯ll help you.¡± Lilly says reassuringly.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I hug her. She really is comforting.

    Raiden has to be stopped no matter what. He can¡¯t be allowed to free the Spirit of Darkness. If he does, then it¡¯s game over for all of us.

    I leave the area and go to the temple of the Mother Goddess. Hopefully she can provide me with some guidance and wisdom.

    My mother stops me on the way out.

    ¡°We''ll get her back Kallan, don''t worry,¡± she reassures me.

    I sigh.

    ¡°I hope. But I don''t want to trade the pendant. If I do, everything will be destroyed, if I don''t, he''ll kill her and storm the castle¡­¡±

    Mother hugs me as I start to cry. I have so much anxiety. I know I can¡¯t give into it, but it¡¯s so hard to control it. I assume Raiden knows this and is using this to his advantage.

    ¡°No one said being a king will be easy, Kallan,¡± she tells me. ¡°If you need help, I''m here for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, mother¡­¡± I say, choking on tears.

    I continue heading out to the temple.

    It¡¯s a beautiful moonlit night. The crickets are chirping loudly and some silver and blue glowing butterflies are flying about. The fireflies are glowing and flying everywhere. Everywhere. It¡¯s absolutely beautiful. My golden wings start glowing and the fireflies start flying around me. Some of them even land on me and I swear I can hear them.

    ¡°Please save us.¡±

    ¡°Please protect us.¡±

    ¡°We love you Prince of Life.¡±

    ¡°Defeat the Dark Fairies.¡±

    They all whisper to me about saving them, protecting them, and defeating Raiden. They even say they will help me defeat him.

    They all lead me to the temple and there is someone there. She looks completely ethereal and otherworldly.

    She has flowing, light brown hair, golden wings, is dressed in a simple white gown and has an anklet of flowers on her feet and a flower wreath on her head.

    She turns to face me. Her eyes are a lovely shade of grassy green and signify the natural world.

    Standing before me is the queen of life, the creator of Fae.

    M¨¤thair N¨¤dar, the Mother Goddess.

    ¡°Kallan,¡± she speaks, her voice as smooth as silk and a tone of that of a mother. ¡°Welcome.¡±

    I can''t move or talk at all. I¡¯m so caught up in her sheer majesty and divinity. M¨¤thair N¨¤dar is standing right in front of me. I just stand there gawking like a big idiot. A million thoughts race through my head, most notably the question of why she¡¯s here. I can¡¯t think straight.

    A butterfly lands on her finger and she pets it gently. She smiles at it and lets it fly away.

    ¡°H-hello, M¨¤thair N¨¤dar,¡± I stutter, finally regaining my tongue.

    She smiles warmly.

    ¡°I know of your predicament. I have come to help you.¡±

    I can not speak. At. All.

    Impulsively, I kneel before her.

    ¡°Kallan,¡± she starts. ¡°Please stand up.¡±

    I do what she tells me. She walks up to me.

    ¡°The elemental guardians have taught you about what you need to know, correct?¡±

    I nod. They did teach me a lot. I am eternally grateful to them for teaching me how to manipulate nature as a weapon and how to create new life.

    ¡°And you also know of how the world was created,¡± she spoke again.

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

    ¡°You should also know that Fae wasn''t always like this. It was a peaceful place with no strife or evil.¡±

    ¡°Then the Spirit of Darkness spread his evil everywhere,¡± I said.

    She nods sadly.

    ¡°I was devastated that he did that. He managed to tear my people apart for thousands of years before I unified them again with multiple priests and priestesses, preaching the unification of all fairies and how much better the world would be.¡± she continues.

    ¡°Of course, the Spirit of Darkness had other ideas and managed to turn some nature fairies into Dark fairies,¡± I continue. ¡°You and the Spirit of Death tried everything to stop him, but nothing worked.¡±

    She nods.

    ¡°Eventually the Dark Fairies grew numerous and with guidance from the Spirit of Darkness, they decided to take over the realm. We were barely able to stop him. His corruption was too strong,¡± M¨¤thair N¨¤dar continues.

    ¡°And that''s what unified all of the fairies,¡± I clarify. ¡°They all wanted to defend their home from destruction.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, and I chose your ancestor to pull Excalibur from the stone and lead the fairies to greatness and prosperity.¡±

    ¡°And my family has been leading the realm ever since.¡±

    She nods and smiles.

    ¡°You have the very power of life itself inside of you, Kallan,¡± she explains, ¡°if you would like, I could help you access the true potential of that power.¡±

    I bow.

    ¡°I would be honored, your highness,¡± I say, grateful that she would accept me as her student.

    ¡°I shall see you tomorrow evening.¡±

    ¡°Yes, good night.¡±

    She teleports in a flash of golden light.

    I awkwardly fly out and go back into my room. It¡¯s late, so I change into pajamas and go to bed. I fall asleep almost instantly.

    I wake up in my dream. It''s just a swirling vortex of darkness. All I can hear are the cries of people in agony. I cover my ears to block the sound out. It doesn''t work. I fall to my knees, trying to drown it out. The cries are deafening. Suddenly they stop. I remove my hands from my ears and stand up. From the blackness, a person forms. The hairs on my neck stand up. I¡¯m filled with a hopeless sense of dread. He stands in front of me, and I¡¯m able to see him clearly. Black hair fading into dark purple, black eyes with purple rounded slit pupils. A black mask with purple edges hiding what I can faintly see are scars. He also has this huge ugly scar across his left eye. He''s wearing a black armor shirt with purple designs and dark grey shoulder pads, dark grey leggings and black boots. On his elbows are two burple bands holding what seems like sleeves on his forearms. His nails are black. I can''t see his mouth, but I can tell by his eyes that he¡¯s giving me a cruel smile. I don''t need anyone to tell me that the person in front of me is the Spirit of Darkness.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°So, we finally meet Kallan,¡± he starts with a voice just as cruel as the one I heard many months ago on my phone.

    ¡°You¡¯re the Spirit of Darkness,¡± I say, unsuccessfully trying to hide the fear in my voice. I¡¯m terrified of this dude and this is the first time I''ve seen him.

    ¡°The one and only,¡± he says in this evil tone. ¡°I assume you read about my accomplishments in your archives?¡±

    ¡°You mean all the evil you caused?¡±

    He laughs and comes closer to me.

    ¡°If that''s what you want to call it,¡± he purrs. He begins circling me like a shark would circle their prey.

    ¡°I also assume you¡¯ve encountered my servant, Raiden, at least once.¡±

    I nod in confirmation.

    ¡°When he stabbed my father, and caused him to die not that long ago,¡± I say, getting angry. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    He comes over to me and makes an image of the Dragonfly Pendant.

    ¡°I want this,¡± he starts. ¡°I know you keep it with you at all times. But you¡¯re going to have to give it up if you want your fiance to live.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll never let you win,¡± I declare to him. He laughs a pure evil chuckle. Then he whispers into my ear.

    ¡°I already have, little boy,¡± he says with a sadistic undertone. His eyes are burning with a sadistic cruelty. I can just feel the smile on his face. My face turns pale. I feel cold sweat running down my face. He begins laughing a cruel, heartless laugh. Tears start running down my face. I try to punch him but he avoids it and he punches my gut causing me to cry out.

    ¡°You can''t even defeat me in my weakest state in your own dream! How can you possibly defeat me in real life once I¡¯m free?¡± he taunts. He taunts me even more, digging deeper into my anxiety. I begin having an anxiety attack in my dream while he mercilessly torments me. The deafening cries of agony come back. I look up at the Spirit of Darkness. He can hear them too and it looks like he''s enjoying them. I curl up in a ball to try and muffle the noises. I can hear the cries clearly. They''re the people of Roxy¡¯s town.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you save us?¡±

    ¡°We needed you!¡±

    ¡°Where were you?¡±

    ¡°You could¡¯ve stopped them!¡±

    ¡°What kind of king are you?¡±

    ¡°You did nothing!¡±

    ¡°Useless!¡±

    He laughs cruelly. I cry out in my dream, forcing me to jolt up, terrified, rather early the next morning. I take deep breaths. Trying to calm down. I¡¯m shaking in fear and close to crying.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a dream¡­ just a bad dream¡­¡± I whisper to myself and eventually calm down.

    I look over and both of my older brothers are on my bed, next to me. Aidan mumbles something about Lamia and hugs my pillow. Adair is sleeping normally. Then he falls off and lands with a thud on the floor.

    ¡°Ow!¡± He exclaims quietly. Adair climbs back onto my bed. ¡°Oh good morning Kal,¡± he chirps.

    ¡°Morning,¡± I yawn tiredly. ¡°What are you guys doing in my room?¡±

    ¡°Well, we heard you crying last night in your sleep, so Aidan and I went to check it out and we climbed into your bed and we ended up falling asleep.¡± Adair explains.

    I nod and yawn again. I decide not to tell him about the dream I had with the Spirit of Darkness. That¡¯s something only the Mother Goddess should know.

    ¡°I spoke to the Mother Goddess last night,¡± I tell him, wanting to brag a bit.

    Adair¡¯s eyes grow wide. He is absolutely shocked.

    ¡°No way,¡± he gawks, ¡°you have to be kidding!¡±

    I shake my head no.

    ¡°I''m not.¡±

    ¡°That is awesome!!!¡± He exclaims somewhat loudly. He covers his mouth with his hand and looks nervously at Aidan.

    ¡°Mmmm¡­.. Lamia¡­. Please marry me,¡± he mumbles. He rolls over and falls off the bed. ¡°OW!!¡±

    ¡°Morning sleepy head.¡± I tease him. Aidan groans and climbs back up. He throws a pillow at me.

    ¡°I was dreaming about Lamia.¡± he grouch, ¡°and she was about to say yes when I asked her to marry me!¡±

    Adair laughs.

    ¡°That must¡¯ve been a wonderful dream.¡±

    Aidan throws a pillow at him too. It¡¯s clear that he doesn¡¯t want to be bothered. But Adair and I bother him anyway because we are his little brothers. It¡¯s our sibling duty to bother him.

    So we get on top of him and start shaking him. We shake him and the bed so much that we all fall off the bed and land with a thud.

    ¡°Ow!! Adair you''re on top of me!!¡± I shout.

    ¡°I''ll get off of you as soon as Aidan gets off of me.¡±

    ¡°I''ll get off of both of you as soon as you apologize to me!¡±

    ¡°What for?!¡± Adair and I grouch at him.

    ¡°Shaking me and jumping on me.¡±

    Adair laughs hysterically.

    ¡°Okay in all seriousness can you get off of me? You''re crushing my wings and lungs.¡± I told them.

    Upon hearing that they quickly get off of me and help me up. They don¡¯t want their little brother-king to be crushed by his two older brothers.

    ¡°Whoops, sorry lil bro.¡± Aidan apologizes, slapping my back, hard, in the process.

    ¡°Ow, it¡¯s fine.¡± I crack my back and the pain goes away. ¡°Please don¡¯t slap my back that hard again.¡±

    Aidan shrugs.

    ¡°No promises,¡± he says. Adair and I shake our heads.

    ¡°You guys hungry?¡± I ask.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to do some training first to work up an appetite,¡± Aidan says, stretching his arms. He then flies out and goes into his room. Shortly after he zooms down the hall and out to the training area. Adair and I sigh. He leaves to get dressed. I also get dressed and go out of my room. Adair goes out to the castle gardens. I just go to the archives. I¡¯m still grieving my father. It¡¯s still so hard to comprehend it. My mother is down there, reading something.

    ¡°Mother,¡± I say. She looks up.

    ¡°Kallan! I didn¡¯t hear you come up,¡± she says. From the looks of her eyes, she¡¯s been crying. I hug her and start bawling. I miss him so much. Mother comforts me but also starts crying a bit.

    I am not at all ready to be king. I¡¯m only 17. I¡¯ve lived in Fae for just over 4 months. I need more experience. I don¡¯t know how to handle it. I want to be like my father, a brave, kind, and merciful ruler, I just don¡¯t know how to lead. I¡¯ve never done any actual leading. I wish I had the same confidence that he had.

    ¡°Mom¡­ what was dad like when he was a prince,¡± I ask once I calm down enough.

    She thinks for a moment after drying her tears.

    ¡°He was just like you,¡± she starts. ¡°He didn¡¯t know what to do either. Your father felt terribly unprepared for his role. When his father passed, he was devastated. At first he was rather clueless and sloppy but with time, he gained experience and became the great king he is remembered as.¡±

    I nod. So it took time and trial and error. He grew wise with age.

    I guess I have to be patient with myself. In time I will know the clear choice of what to do. A good king isn¡¯t afraid to make sacrifices for the sake of his people. But I can¡¯t sacrifice my fianc¨¦ and I can¡¯t sacrifice the very object that means destruction to everything if it¡¯s in the wrong hands. We need a plan to get Roxy back and protect the pendant. I thank my mom, hug her, and leave to find Aidan.

    On my way back an idea strikes me. It¡¯s perfect, well, I think it is. I quickly fly over to Aidan once I see him.

    ¡°Aidan! I came up with the perfect idea!! I know how we can get her back without trading the pendant!¡± I say, super excited.

    ¡°Ohh tell me!¡± he says just as excitedly. I quickly notice that something is wrong with him. Aidan is excitable, yes, but he''s never this excited about ideas or plans unless it¡¯s fun.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± I tell him. ¡°There could be spies.¡±

    ¡°Aidan¡± tenses up. I raise an eyebrow and make him follow me. I see kage training with Hametsu. I know Kage has a good nose so there''s a chance that he knows what Aidan smells like.

    ¡°Hey Kage! Do you know what Aidan smells like?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. He smells like a campfire,¡±

    ¡°Can you come down here and sniff him?¡±

    ¡°Okay?¡±

    He comes down, stands in front of ¡°Aidan¡± and takes a big sniff. He thinks for a second before a look of disappointment appears on his face.

    ¡°Ryan what the hell?¡± he exclaims.

    Light envelops ¡°Aiden¡± and he turns into Ryan.

    ¡°Impressive, you really can sniff a person out. And Kal I¡¯m impressed that you found out right away,¡± he compliments. Kage and I high five each other. Oh my Lord that dude is strong. He hit my hand hard.

    ¡°Ow! Dude that was hard,¡± I tell him, shaking my hand a little. He shrugs without an apology. Hametsu comes down to us. He looks a lot better.

    The real Aidan flies up to us.

    ¡°Nice job little bro!¡± he exclaims, slapping my back. He doesn¡¯t slap it as hard as before.

    ¡°What was that all about?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Just making sure you can still catch spies quickly.¡± Aidan says.

    ¡°Makes sense.¡± I say back.

    ¡°So what''s this idea you have?¡± Ryan asks.

    I tell them to come closer and I whisper the idea to them. I proposed that we give them a replica, one that looks and feels exactly like the real one, but is completely worthless.

    ¡°That could actually work!¡± Ryan exclaims.

    ¡°But where are we going to find a person who can make an identical copy?¡± Aidan asks.

    I think about it for a moment. I really don¡¯t know. Who can we ask?

    ¡°I know someone, but I doubt he¡¯ll agree because I¡¯m gonna be the one asking.¡± Kage pipes up.

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Ryan asks.

    ¡°We don''t get along,¡± Kage tells us.

    ¡°Who are you guys talking about?¡± Hametsu asks.

    ¡°My rival,¡± Kage says with an eye roll. Hametsu nods.

    ¡°Drake?¡± Hametsu asks.

    ¡°Yup,¡± Kage confirms. ¡°Annoying bastard. Like I said, I doubt he¡¯ll do it because I¡¯ll be doing the asking¡±

    ¡°You said that twice,¡± I tell him.

    ¡°And I¡¯ll gladly say it a third time if you want,¡± he says with a smirk. This dude has no shame. ¡°Show me what it looks like.¡±

    I take it out of my pocket and show him. He takes it, studies it for a bit, hands it back to me, then teleports away.

    ¡°Where did he go?¡± Aidan asks.

    ¡°Oh he just went to his home world. He¡¯ll be back.¡± Hametsu informs.

    Ten minutes later, Kage comes back and has a perfect replica of the pendant in his hands. It¡¯s still creepy and has the fake dark aura. It looks and feels exactly like the real thing. He began explaining before anyone could ask.

    ¡°I drew the pendant on a piece of paper, asked Drake to make it and I¡¯m surprised he accepted, then asked my dad to give it that evil aura. The whole thing took about ten minutes since Drake made it pretty quickly. Then I just teleported to my dad and he says ¡®hi¡¯ to all of you,¡± Kage explains. I barely caught all of that.

    ¡°How did you do all that in ten minutes?¡± Ryan asks. Kage shrugs.

    ¡°I just explained it, but I¡¯ll dumb it down. I¡¯m fast at drawing, Drake made it pretty fast, and I just went over to my dad to do the energy thing.¡± he explains, somewhat condescendingly.

    ¡°All of that in ten minutes?!¡± I ask, dumbfounded. He face palms and sighs.

    ¡°Yes, now shut up and stop asking!!¡± he demands. I put my hands up in a defensive position.

    ¡°Woah dude, don''t get so worked up.¡± I tell him.

    ¡°You guys were asking the same thing over and over again. So yeah I got annoyed,¡± he spits at me. Hametsu rubs his head and it seems to calm him down.

    Then he starts purring like a cat. He notices and quickly moves Hametsu¡¯s hand away from his head. His face is completely red from embarrassment. He tosses me the fake necklace. I notice that a string is tied around it, most likely so I know which one is real and which one is fake. Smart. I have two days left before the trade at sundown. So I decided to use that time to train.

 Chapter 21

    We spend hours training. I know I''m getting better, stronger, and faster. I can feel it. I get to visit the mother goddess later tonight so she can train me even more on my powers and maybe even unlock some hidden abilities. I can¡¯t wait to get stronger so I can defend my home and defeat the Spirit of Darkness! I am curious as to why there is no mention of a light spirit. I¡¯ll ask the Mother Goddess while she trains me. Even though I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s because she holds that light power.

    I look at the fake pendant. It¡¯s just as creepy as the real one. But I wonder if this will fool the Spirit of Darkness. Probably not, but it will fool Raiden. It¡¯s almost impossible to tell the difference between the real and fake. The only difference is the string Kage tied to the fake, so I don¡¯t confuse it with the real one.

    It doesn¡¯t harbor any power, it just feels like it does. I worry about my upcoming battle with the Spirit of Darkness and Raiden. Raiden shouldn¡¯t be too hard to handle, it''s the Spirit of Darkness I worry about. How can I, a regular mortal with special powers, possibly beat a literal GOD?

    I take a deep breath and calm myself down. I can hear Kage¡¯s purring again. He¡¯s so loud. I follow the sound to see Hametsu rubbing Kage¡¯s head and Kage laying his head across his lap on a couch. I don''t think I ever wished for a camera in that moment more than I ever have because, oh my god, it¡¯s so cute. I¡¯ll draw it later when I have the chance, if I even remember this.

    ¡°Dude why are you purring?¡± I ask.

    ¡°I¡¯m a dragon, we purr when content or relaxed.¡± he says. Hametsu keeps rubbing his head like he''s petting a cat or something. Kage rolls over onto his stomach and purrs even more.

    ¡°Alright Kage, I need to get up.¡± Hametsu says.

    ¡°No,¡± he whines.

    ¡°Please?¡± Hametsu says to him.

    ¡°Why are you getting up? Keep petting me.¡± Kage whines again.

    ¡°In case you have forgotten, we¡¯re in the middle of a war and I need to make sure my sister is safe and not alone with Ryan.¡±

    ¡°Dude what the hell?¡± Kage and I say in unison.

    ¡°She¡¯s my sister! My precious, innocent, saintly sister!¡±

    ¡°Who is the exact same age as you,¡± Kage retorts rolling on his back again. He grins mischievously. Hametsu rolls his eyes and flicks his forehead.

    ¡°For real though, get off me. My legs are asleep and they hurt.¡± he pushes him off. ¡°Damn you¡¯re heavy.¡±

    ¡°Are you implying that I¡¯m fat?¡± Kage asks Hametsu, faking offense and standing up. Hametsu scoffs a bit.

    ¡°You have a long way to go if you want to even be a little bit chubby, you twig.¡±

    ¡°Excuse you, Hamburger! I am not a twig! I am a stick, there''s a difference. One is bigger than the other.¡± I nearly burst out laughing when hearing Kage call him that. It¡¯s taking every ounce of self control I have to not just start laughing like a hyena.

    ¡°Oh~ so you¡¯re saying that I have the bigger-¡±

    ¡°O K A Y this is where I intervene!¡± I say holding in my laughter. ¡°Hamburger¡­¡± Hametsu shakes his head and starts laughing a bit.

    All three of us end up bursting out laughing because we couldn''t contain ourselves. Even in tough times like this, it¡¯s still nice to have a little fun. Especially with family.

    After dinner, I go to the temple to see if the Mother Goddess is there. She isn¡¯t, so I just sit down and wait.

    And wait.

    And wait.

    And wait.

    She finally comes after like ten minutes. Wow I am really impatient. Ten minutes isn¡¯t even that long.

    ¡°Sorry for the delay. I was talking with Shinda.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°The Spirit of Death.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ about what?¡±

    ¡°Onyx and Raiden.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Onyx?¡±

    ¡°The Spirit of Darkness.¡±

    We fall into an awkward silence for a moment. She just casually answers all my questions. Well, at least I know the names of the Spirit of Darkness and the Spirit of Death.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Are you ready to train?¡± she asks me.

    ¡°More than ready.¡±

    She summons a dummy made out of stone for me to fight. I am not at all prepared for that. I fight that thing with everything Aiden and the elemental fairies taught me. I¡¯m barely making a scratch on it. Meanwhile, I¡¯m getting pummeled by this thing. This woman is tough.

    ¡°What is all this for?¡±

    ¡°Onyx is going to be very very tough. I¡¯m teaching you how to access your true power, which can only be unlocked at your absolute limit.¡±

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m at my limit.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll keep going.¡±

    The more I trained, the more exhausted I became. I was in a lot of pain and could barely stand.

    I go onto my hands and knees, completely exhausted. I had no idea the Mother Goddess was this harsh when it comes to training. The dummy is about to slam me into the dirt while I''m on the ground, I raise my hand up and shoot out a blast of golden light without thinking. The dummy staggers and falls backwards. Within a second of doing that, all of my energy came back. My wounds heal themselves and I stand up and grab Excalibur. The dummy stands up too. Excalibur glows with that light and I begin fighting again with a vicious fury. I¡¯m making deep slash marks into the dummy before I¡¯m finally able to destroy it completely.

    The mother goddess claps excitedly.

    ¡°Bravo! Bravo!¡± she exclaims happily with a huge smile. ¡°You did it!¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°That was¡­ definitely something.¡± I say, pretty annoyed. ¡°I was not expecting you to be this tough.¡±

    She sighs.

    ¡°I take training very seriously, Kallan. Especially now considering the circumstances,¡± she explains. I nod, understanding her point. I have to be stronger in order to fight Raiden and Onyx. They can¡¯t be allowed to win. I don¡¯t care if it costs my life, just as long as they are no longer a threat to Fae and Earth.

    ¡°We are done for today. Tomorrow we¡¯ll strengthen your powers,¡± she tells me.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I say. I bow respectfully.

    ¡°There''s no need to do that Kallan,¡± she says with a warm smile. I stop bowing.

    ¡°Have a good night, Mother Goddess,¡± I say.

    ¡°Please, just call me Valley.¡±

    ¡°Okay then¡­ Valley¡­¡± I say, feeling super awkward. A goddess just gave me permission to use her name. ¡°Good night.¡±

    ¡°Good night!¡± she teleports to her home and I fly back to my home.

    As soon as I get home, I change clothes and go to bed. It¡¯s nearly two in the morning. I¡¯ll have to take a bath tomorrow since everyone is asleep. I pass out as soon as I get comfy under my covers.

    I spend the entire next day training with Valley. She trains me on my powers, making shields, energy projectiles, infusing them with Excalibur to make my sword skills even better and stronger. The more I train, the stronger I become. Then comes the absolute limit part. I am not looking forward to it.

    I am especially unprepared for who my opponent is. It¡¯s a dude with very long dark purple hair tied up in a ponytail. He''s got thin black feathered wings and scythe that looks similar to Hametsu¡¯s, but way more ornate looking. His eyes are orange, just straight up orange. His skin is also semi-pale and he wears an expression that says ¡°I really dont give a crap about anything.¡± He wears a waist cape thing. I never really knew what those are called but his is purple just like his top. He has a white sash across his chest, white paints, and black boots with brown soles and buckles. He has black markings under his eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m Shinigami, but call me Shinda.¡± he says.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the Spirit of Death?¡± I ask in clarification.

    He gives me this sarcastic smile.

    ¡°No,¡± he starts, with a very unreasonable amount of sarcasm. ¡°I¡¯m the Spirit of Everlasting Life!¡±

    ¡°Shinda! That wasn¡¯t necessary,¡± Valley scolds.

    ¡°Stupid questions get stupid answers,¡± he says with a shrug. ¡°Hametsu and Lilly learned pretty quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can imagine,¡± I state.

    Good LORD this guy is tough! He''s strong, fast and just down right powerful. I can barely land a scratch on him.

    ¡°This is not fair!¡± I complain.

    ¡°Quit your whining and get up. This is kid stuff compared to Onyx. He wouldn''t even let you get up and instead would pin you down and stab you until you died,¡± he says.

    ¡°Wow, no pressure.¡± I say, struggling to get up. The knocks me back down again. Now I''m pissed. I get up and try to keep fighting him, but again, I''m exhausted. I feel the limit energy activating, fully healing me and giving me a much needed boost of power. I easily won the battle after that.

    ¡°Yes!¡± I exclaim. Shinda gives me an approving nod.

    ¡°Nice job,¡± he says. ¡°Now we just gotta get you to activate that power when you aren''t on the brink of death.¡±

    ¡°Easier said than done,¡± I say, a little annoyed.

    ¡°That''s all the training for today. You may go home. I expect to see you tomorrow.¡± Valley says. Again, this woman is tough. ¡°Shinda will be training with us from now on.¡±

    Oh hell no. From what hametsu told me, Shinda is VERY harsh and tough in training.

    ¡°Alright. See you tomorrow,¡± I say as I fly off. I arrive home without a problem.

    ¡°Yo Kal, how was your training?¡± I hear Hametsu say to me.

    ¡°Tough. The Spirit of Death was there.¡±

    ¡°I know. He told me that he and Valley are training you.¡±

    ¡°You know the Mother Goddess?¡±

    He nods his head.

    ¡°I met her some time after I moved in with Shinda. They¡¯re very close. He has feelings for her but he doesn¡¯t want to admit it,¡± he explains. ¡°I see her a lot with Shinda when she visits the Netherworld.¡±

    ¡°Netherworld?¡± I immediately thought of the Nether from Minecraft.

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s where lost spirits and spirits who can¡¯t enter heaven or hell go.¡±

    ¡°What''s it like there?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s basically feudal Japan there,¡± he explains. ¡°But instead of samurai, we have reapers. Each has their own weapon. Shinda, my late father, and I all use scythes. My dad could also use a sword too. Shinda rules the Netherworld obviously.¡±

    That sounds really cool. I told him that and he thanked me while blushing a bit and smiling.

    He¡¯s not acting like the deranged psycho he was when I first met him. It¡¯s really nice. I¡¯m able to have an actual conversation with him without it getting dark and depressing quickly. I guess being with his sister really helps him.

    The insane look creeps into his eyes again. He excuses himself and goes to find his sister.

    The trade is tomorrow. I need to find a safe place to put the real pendant while I trade the fake one in exchange for Roxy. I don¡¯t trust Raiden, But I have to go alone. I am a man of my word. I just hope he comes alone too.

 Chapter 22 (Final Chapter of Book 1)

    Today is the trade. I¡¯m super nervous. I wake up super early in the morning to train with Valley and Shinda. Shinda woke me up so I could fit in at least ten hours of training. I started at three in the morning and ended at one in the afternoon. It gives me time to prepare for the upcoming anxiety fest that will happen. What if they find out about the fake? It worries me so much. I take a bath and wash off two days worth of sweat. I¡¯m getting better at controlling my powers and getting a lot stronger. But that doesn''t calm anxiety much. The idea of Onyx being free is absolutely terrifying. I walk out of my room after I''ve finished my bath and changed into clean clothing to find that Kage and Hametsu have tied up like ten people. Said people do not look friendly.

    ¡°Care to explain?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Raiden spies,¡± Hametsu explains. He doesn''t have that insane look in his eye anymore.

    ¡°They reeked of dark energy. They were snooping around your room and the archives most likely searching for the pendant.¡± Kage also explains. ¡°Just give the okay and I¡¯ll decapitate them!¡± He smiles psychotically and holds up a katana. The blade is long and has a dragon design in gold. The sheath has the same design on it in silver. I never noticed that he carries a katana with him.

    I thought Hametsu was crazy. Hametsu lightly smacks the back of his head.

    ¡°Calm down ya psycho,¡± Hametsu scolds him. Kage looks at him and puts his katana back in the sheath, scowling, and holds it by his side. I had no idea Kage was also psycho. He seemed so chill on the surface. Excitable, but chill.

    The people they tied up have the same black wings as Raiden. They¡¯re Dark Fairies. That means the seal for them is even weaker. It''s only a matter of time before it breaks. I can ask Valley if she can strengthen the seal. I look at Hametsu wondering if he can ask Shinda. He seems to know what I''m thinking. He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s not possible to reinforce the seal,¡± he tells me. ¡°I already asked him.¡±

    ¡°What seal?¡± Kage asks.

    ¡°The seal to the Dark Fairies,¡± I tell him.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Could we ask the God of Time?¡± I ask.

    ¡°He¡¯s not going to do it,¡± Kage says.

    ¡°How do you know?¡± I ask him.

    ¡°My dad is his best friend and second in command and my father-in-law is his grand-nephew,¡± he explains.

    ¡°Yeah and I¡¯m the Easter Bunny.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not lying!¡± Kage retorts.

    ¡°It¡¯s very unbelievable that you have connections to someone that powerful.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Hametsu says. Yeah, I still don¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°Whatever. Besides, we still have to ask to see if he could help us. He can totally strengthen the seal and buy us extra time since he has that kind of power!¡±

    ¡°Shinda knows him, and he¡¯s asking right now,¡± Hametsu says. That sounds a lot more believable. ¡°He¡¯ll tell me his answer when he returns.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± I say. I head down to the archives and look for the area we kept the pendant in before. It takes a little bit, but I find it. I take out the pendant, making sure it''s the real one, and put it in the small space. It''s a small hole in the wall that seals itself and is well camouflaged behind the vines. It¡¯s placed in a small carved out box. A very subtle way of knowing where it is that it''s directly under one of the torches that light the archives. The third torch to the left of the center one.

    As soon as the real pendant is in the box, the hole reseals itself and blends in perfectly with the surrounding wall. Then I mentally prepare myself for sundown.

    Oh boy¡­ this is nerve wracking.

    At sundown, I make my way over to the temple. My brothers and Hametsu tried to come along with me, but this is something I have to do alone. I arrive at the temple just before the sun sets over the horizon. Raiden is there, waiting for me. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen him in person when he¡¯s not in a disguise. Roxy is tied up in rope and standing next to Raiden. She looks like she''s been doing a lot of crying, I can tell by her red and puffy eyes. She also has dark rings under her eyes as if she hasn''t been getting enough sleep.

    ¡°Roxy!¡± I cry out.

    ¡°Kal!¡± she cries back.

    ¡°Be quiet, both of you!¡± Raiden orders.

    ¡°You''re not the boss of me!¡± I retort.

    ¡°Do you want your betrothed in one piece?¡± he asks, holding up a sword to her neck. I shut my mouth. ¡°You know why you¡¯re here.¡±

    I reach in my pocket. I looked at the fake pendant, scared. It¡¯s a good thing I took the string off before I left. Why am I scared if it¡¯s fake? Because there''s a high chance that Onyx will know it¡¯s fake and order an attack on Avalon. Let¡¯s not forget the seal to the Dark Fairies. It¡¯s gotta be on the verge of breaking. Or maybe it''s already broken. Whatever the case, the thought of all that happening is a terrifying one.

    ¡°Hurry up Kallan, I don¡¯t have all night. It''s the pendant or the girl. Choose wisely.¡± he says with this evil grin. Oh boy, is he in for a surprise.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    I hesitantly hold my hand out to Raiden, unable to meet Roxy''s eyes. I can tell that she¡¯s hurt by what I¡¯m doing. He snatches the pendant from my hand.

    ¡°Wise choice,¡± he says. He cuts Roxy''s ropes and shoves her forward. ¡°You¡¯re useless now, you filthy wench.¡±

    Roxy sprints towards me and hugs me tightly. I hug her back, relieved that she''s safe. I glare at Raiden.

    ¡°Don''t call her that,¡± I demand. Raiden laughs a bit.

    ¡°Enjoy your last few days of freedom, because, in due time, the great Lord Onyx will be free and conquer all of you worthless bugs. You will all have the same fate as the Pixies and Elves.¡±

    He flies away with a maniacal laugh.

    Roxy and I fly back to the castle in silence.

    ¡°Kal¡­ why did you do that?¡± She asks me. The sadness and betrayal in her voice hurts me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when we get back¡­¡± I say, unable to meet her gaze. I do not want to see the sadness in her eyes.

    When we get back to the castle, I take her down to the archives and to the spot where the real pendant is hidden. The look on her face is priceless.

    ¡°Wait¡­ if that¡¯s the real pendent¡­ then the one you gave Raiden-¡±

    ¡°Was a fake!¡± I say proudly. She punches my arm.

    ¡°Oh my god, you asshat. You had me so scared!¡± she exclaims. I laugh and keep the real pendant on me once again. We exit the archives. I feel more relaxed than I have in the past week. Roxy is back with me again. The pendant is safe. Things seem to be looking up. However, I know they¡¯re going to find out it¡¯s a fake. We have to be ready for it. Who knows what they¡¯re going to do.

    ¡°Hey Kal!¡± a voice calls out. I turn in the direction of the voice. It¡¯s Hametsu jogging up to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Shinda got the answer from the Time God.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡±

    ¡°He said the seal has been broken for about a century and when asked about resealing them¡­ he gave Shinda a harsh lecture about how it¡¯s not his job to fix things in other worlds,¡± Hametsu explains.

    Well crap. Looks like it¡¯s time to worry once again!

    ¡°Oh, hey Roxy!¡± Hametsu greets, finally noticing her.

    ¡°Hello¡­¡± she says, with some unease in her voice. I take it she¡¯s still uncomfortable around Hametsu. She clings to me tightly. Being with Raiden and Onyx must¡¯ve been horrible for her. I hug her.

    ¡°Honey it¡¯s okay,¡± I reassure her. I feel her calm down. I hear her stomach growl.

    ¡°Roxy, did they feed you at all?¡± I ask, worried sick

    ¡°Hardly. It was one meal a day and it was hardly a meal,¡± she explains.

    ¡°What was it?¡± Hametsu asks, worried for her.

    ¡°It was only a piece of stale bread and some water. Whenever I asked for more, Onyx would tell me to shut up and be grateful that I was being fed at all. I was kept in a cage, like an animal!¡± she starts crying. I console her and soothe her. Hametsu tries to do the same, but Roxy keeps pushing him away.

    I don''t think I have ever been angrier with them than in this particular moment. How dare they mistreat her! They already completely destroyed her town and slaughtered her people, which in itself is downright evil, but to make her suffer even more than she already has is just demonic and definitely a personal attack on me. He may have done the same thing with the pixies and elves too.

    I immediately have dinner made for her. I believe manners are the last thing on her mind because she just scarfs it down and then chugs her glass of water.

    ¡°Clean water¡­¡± she sighs. I take it the water they gave her was of poor quality. She wipes her face with a napkin and leans back in the chair. I scoot my chair closer to her and hug her again.

    ¡°I wish I was there to help you,¡± I say, tearing up and feeling completely useless. I wish I went to her town sooner, then I could¡¯ve prevented its annihilation and kept her safe. I can never forgive myself for not being there to protect it.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay Kal¡­ Raiden was too strong. I don¡¯t think you would¡¯ve been able to handle him.¡±

    Roxy¡¯s right. Before then, I was barely able to fight with my powers. I wouldn''t have been much help and probably would¡¯ve been killed.

    Raiden may have won that battle, but the war is far from over. I¡¯ll make sure he pays for all of his crimes, every last one of them.

    He will be given no mercy. Someone as evil as him doesn¡¯t deserve it.

    My mind is firmly made up. Raiden will be executed.

    ***********

    Onyx¡¯s shadow rests in his stone body, awaiting his freedom. Raiden walks in and kneels before the statue.

    ¡°My great Lord Onyx, I present the pendant that you desire,¡± he says presenting the pendant, completely unaware that it¡¯s fake.

    Onyx¡¯s shadowy spirit comes out of the statue and stands in front of Raiden. He takes one look at the pendant and uses his powers to destroy it. Raiden is shocked.

    ¡°Master! We¡¯ve spent centuries trying to get it! Why did you just-¡±

    ¡°QUIET!¡± Onyx barks. Raiden shuts his mouth and is taken aback by Onyx¡¯s sudden outburst. ¡°You are, absolutely, the most IDIOTIC fairy in both realms!!¡± Onyx uses his powers to harshly throw Raiden across the cavern. Raden lands against the wall and falls to the ground with a thud. He sits up and immediately bows before the angry deity.

    ¡°Forgive me my great master for questioning you.¡±

    ¡°How could you be so stupid as to not realize the pendant that little flea gave you was a fake?!¡± Onyx roars at him. Raiden is floored by this revelation. His face goes from fearful to one of absolute rage.

    ¡°I swear I thought it was the real one!¡± he exclaims as he punches the ground. ¡°It seemed identical!¡±

    ¡°I warned you not to underestimate him, you insect,¡± Onyx growls. He circles Raiden. ¡°How are you going to remedy this issue?¡±

    Raiden is scared. He frantically thinks of an answer, wanting to please his master. An idea suddenly dawns on him. It¡¯s a dangerous one for him, but he¡¯s desperate to get his vengeance on Kallan for making him look like a fool in front of his great master and for causing him to fail his mission.

    ¡°Take possession of my body,¡± Raiden offers.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Onyx asks, taken aback by the strange request. Raiden sits up.

    ¡°I humbly beg to be your vessel for the time being.¡±

    Onyx thinks about it for a second before a wicked smile crosses his face. His shadowy form enters Raiden¡¯s body and proceeds to take control, causing Raiden to scream in agony. He knew it would be painful and possibly cost him his life. His eyes turn from ruby red to a sinister purple as Onyx completely takes over his body.

    ¡°Ah, it feels great to have a body again,¡± Onyx says, once he has complete control over Raiden¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to reward you greatly once my real body is free, Raiden.¡±

    Onyx moves around, getting used to his temporary body, practicing his fighting, using his powers, and flying. He uses his powers to teleport to the entrance of Otrya.

    ¡°Get ready Prince of Life,¡± he mumbles to himself as he flies into the forest. ¡°Because soon, you¡¯ll be in for the fight of your life.¡±

    End of Book 1