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?”

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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 Màthair Nàdar 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.

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.