Suddenly my world spins, and I shut my eyes.
When I open them again, Scarlette is standing over me, speaking with someone who looks strangely familiar. He doesn't look like a fairy at all.
Wait—
Is he human?
My head throbs as I turn to the side and realize I'm lying on a red velvet bed covered in black, heart-shaped sequins. Soft light filters through pristine, ornate windows, forming a stark contrast to the chaos I was just dragged from. Disoriented, I push myself up and scan the room. None of this looks familiar.
"So, this is Veravos, isn't he?" the mysterious man asks, his voice smooth and curious.
"Yes, that's him," Scarlette replies, offering me her hand to help me up.
"Who? What?" I mutter, my mind still foggy. "Am I dead?"
"Hello, Veravos. You're still very much alive," the man says with a bright smile. "I'm the Light Guardian. But you can call me Victor. Victor Dawnbringer."
Dawnbringer. That might be the most pretentious name I've ever heard.
"What happened out there?" I ask as I stand, rubbing my eyes while my brain slowly reconnects with reality.
"Your girlfriend here got me to alter reality," he says casually, like it's a routine chore.
Alter reality?
Girlfriend?
"Scarlette?" I ask, surprised.
But she looks away sheepishly. Oh, she's hiding something.
"What did you do?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at her as her emerald gaze flickers with something unreadable.
"Oh, so you admit she's your girlfriend?" Victor cuts in with a smug grin.
"No, he hasn't asked me officially…" Scarlette mumbles, but Victor simply raises an eyebrow and claps a hand on my shoulder.
"Do something about it already."
I blink, still trying to grasp everything. "Wait… do I know you?" That strange familiarity keeps gnawing at me.
"I'm that pesky human who bothered you in your dark woods," he says.
My eyes widen. Oh gods. That's where I know him from.
The one Devran told me to burn.
"Yes, I called you the great evil," Victor adds with a chuckle. "Sorry for calling you a villain. I hadn't met the other insufferable fairies like Queen Judorah yet."
Right. No wonder he looks familiar.
"You were the Light Guardian all this time? But you're not a Light Fairy—you're really just human!" I exclaim.
"Exactly what Scarlette said." He laughs. "The Light Guardian is a human gifted with light magic. Didn't you read that in the scroll?"
"No, it's in a strange language only meant for the Light Guardian," I snap, but he waves me off.
"Yup. Your rudeness is still consistent."
"Wait—did both our wishes come true?" I ask, still trying to piece this together.
Scarlette finally speaks. "Victor can only grant one wish in his entire lifetime," she explains.
"What?" I gasp. "One wish? You didn't know that?"
Scarlette sighs. "Apparently I made it almost impossible for reality to change. Only Victor's descendants can create a second wish."
"So what wish did you make?" I ask. "How am I here? With you?"
"Scarlette, tell Veravos the real part," Victor prompts.
Scarlette hesitates, then says, "Earlier, when you were consumed by darkness and when you freed me from it, I pushed Judorah into the void… and I ungagged Victor."
"No," Victor says. "The other part."
Scarlette takes a deeper breath. "I brought both the emerald and the scroll to Victor… and I wished for a world where you were restored and not consumed by darkness."
"What about you?" I ask. "Your wish for a world not defined by origins? Your redemption? Scarlette?"
She falls silent.
"You weren't safe," she whispers. "You were being devoured by darkness. I didn't think. I just wanted you safe."
"Why didn't you use the chance for the world you wanted?" I say. "A place where fairies live without fear. Where origins don't define destinies. You could have given us peace. Or a new path. Why didn't you choose yourself?"
She looks away, staring out the window at the world she shaped. Her voice is soft. "Then why did you save me from the darkness, Veravos?"
The question hits like a dagger. I struggle for words before they finally come. "I didn't think either. I just… wanted you free. Safe. I didn't know what would happen next. But I couldn't let you stay lost."
"You had one wish," I insist. "You should've used it for yourself."
"Says the guy who absorbed the darkness of the Tree of Regrets from my soul," she shoots back. "How can I ever be happy knowing there's a silly man willing to throw everything away for me?"
Tears well in her eyes.
"After centuries of betrayal… I finally met you." She cups my face, her olive eyes earnest.
"It takes great power to pull off what Veravos did," Victor interjects.
"It takes great sacrifice…" Scarlette finishes, still looking at me.
I understand. I always have. There is no redemption waiting for me. No humanity. And now… she has sacrificed something just as immense.
I turn away, trying to process everything. A heavy silence settles between us—her wish, my choices, the world now shaped around us. She did all of this for me… and in doing so, I lost the peace I desperately sought. This world is hers, not mine.
"Veravos, you're more than your origins," Victor says. "Fortunately, her wish was vague. Gave me lots of freedom."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"I needed creativity to keep things balanced," Victor says.
"What balance?"
Scarlette grins. Victor nods at the window. "Look outside."
I step forward.
Everyone is bowing to me—Lumera, Devran, even Judorah's former followers.
"Long live King Veravos!" they chant.
King Veravos?
Who thought that was a good idea?
"Yes," Victor says, smug. "You and Scarlette will rule the United Fairy Kingdom. Everyone gets to be who they are."
I freeze. A fever dream. This must be a fever dream.
"Scar! Lumera and Devran are alive!" I stumble back, stunned.
Scarlette laughs at my expression.
"In this world, everyone gets a second chance—well, almost everyone," Victor says. "Lumera and Devran are alive, but they may not remember you."
"May not?" I repeat. Horrible odds.
"What if they take revenge?"
"Well… I've never done this spell before," Victor admits. "The last Light Guardian who did was my great-grandfather."
I facepalm.
"What a disaster."
"What about King Baltimore and King Luxeron?" I ask.
Victor blinks innocently. "Who?"
I don't push further. Good riddance.
"And the Love, Dark, and Light Fairy kingdoms? Their rulers are gone. Who's ruling?"
"You are. And Scarlette," Victor says plainly.
"We've made a mess of the old world…" Scarlette admits. "With the rulers gone, the fairies would've scattered, so Victor did this."
"But Scarlette and I will destroy the kingdom, not rule it!" I protest.
"Did you underestimate me?" Scarlette shoots back.
"And me." I retort. "I'm fair that way."
Victor snorts. "The boogeyman afraid of politics? That's new."
Scarlette bursts out laughing.
Victor—annoying as he is—adds a final point before waving goodbye. "You know humans go to work, right?"
"Wait—I have work?" I ask.
"Being a king is work," he says flatly as he walks down the corridor.
I chase him into a long hallway lined with twisted poisoned-apple trees and symbols of all three fairy types—a corridor of unity.
"Victor, wait!"
He turns slightly. "What is it?"
"Is there any chance I can still be human?"
"You already are," he says. "You cooked. You sacrificed. You held onto your beliefs. You loved. And now, you have a home."
I pause. His words settle into me like a soft weight.
"What about my enemies? The ones I thought were dead?"
"They're no longer bound," he says. "They're just young fairies now. Free."
A burden lifts—except one.
"And Queen Judorah?"
He smirks. "She worked with Luxeron to kidnap me. Then she wanted eternal darkness. Let's just say she's no longer a problem. Abyss and all."
I don't need further explanation.
"But she also kidnapped me alongside something else," Victor says. "Bad news: I can't bring it back to the human world."
"A creature?" I ask.
Victor gestures to a basket beside him, eyes glinting with mischief. "Humans have dogs as pets. If you truly wanted to be human, you should have one too. But here, I present to you... Juniper."
"Juniper?" I ask, baffled.
He pulls back the cloth, revealing an orange fox with nine long, flowing tails. Its amber eyes gleam as it stretches and gracefully hops out of the basket, trotting toward me.
"It's a kitsune," Victor explains, a grin spreading across his face. "Veravos. Do you want it?"
I hesitate. "I... I don't know if I can handle something like this. I wanted a golden retriever."
Victor chuckles. "I couldn't bring you a golden retriever, so this will have to do. It shares ancient wisdom—fit for a king."
Before I could react, the kitsune leaps onto my shoulders, curling up like it had always belonged there. Its soft purring vibrated against my skin, spreading a warmth I couldn't quite explain.
"Oh, it accepts you," Victor says, satisfied. "That's a rare and good sign."
I exhale slowly.
A soft laugh echoes behind me.
Scarlette steps forward. And for a moment—I forget to breathe.
Her hair.
The violet streaks that once marked her past were gone, replaced by a rich, deep scarlet.
Like her name.
Scarlette catches my stare and tilts her head.
"What?" she asks.
I shake my head, something tight in my chest. "Nothing. Your hair, it just... suits you."
Her gaze softens. "I feel like... myself," she admits.
Then her eyes flick to Juniper. "Looks like you've got yourself a pet, King Veravos."
"I don't know how that happened."
"Just accept it," Victor says.
The kitsune brushes its orange fur against my face, then leapt down and darted deep into the palace.
I stand dumbfounded.
Scarlette's laugh fills the corridor—and for the first time in forever, I laugh with her.
"Where's the emerald? The scroll?" I ask.
"Victor is taking them somewhere with no magic," she says. "They'll be harmless."
"Just like costume jewelry," I grin, and she chuckles at the comment.
I step closer, meeting her olive eyes. "Scarlette… I hope I'm not too late, but… will you be my black lotus?"
She smirks. "The black lotus is an ugly plant."
My heart sinks—
Until she adds, "But if you mean chaos partner, I'm in."
She kisses me before I can respond. Warm. Grounding. Real.
Victor clears his throat. "That's my cue." He walks toward a glowing portal.
"Wait—what else do humans have that I don't?" I call.
"Children?" he shrugs. "Maybe a last name?" And then he vanishes.
Scarlette takes my hand as we step into the garden filled with pink heart-shaped leaves and gleaming poisoned apples.
"Victor said humans need a last name," I mutter. "I'm not choosing Dawnbringer."
Scarlette laughs, then points to a spade resting on the ground.
"What about Spade?" she suggests.
Perfect.
She is the Queen of Hearts and Ruin.
I will be the King of Spades.
We are chaos and grace.
A Queen once forgotten, rising again—
and a King once destined to destroy, choosing instead to rule.
Together we rule the United Fairy Kingdom, where Light, Dark, and Love Fairies live in unity—a place where origins no longer dictate destiny.
After facing tyrants with twisted ideals, we know better than to repeat their mistakes.
Maybe that's why Victor chose us.
Also… humans call ruling a kingdom a "job," don't they?
If they can do it—
so can we.