'I'll admit, not a lot,' Minagh said, sitting down on the ground. Frostpetal floated downwards and landed on his leg, but looked ready to flee at a moment's notice. What had those humans done to her?

'Humans see only what they want to,' Frostpetal said. 'It's just part of your nature and it's not always a bad thing. When humans see something they don't understand, it can become a myth or a legend. Think about those things from where you are from. All of them are real, but twisted by storytellers.'

Minagh thought about the stories his father told him as he was growing up. He could see that a fairy was in front of him, so it was clear that legend was true. But were leprechauns? The Banshee? The Morrigan and the Tuatha Dé Danann? It was all real?

Frostpetal smiled at the look of stunned wonder on Minagh's face as he reeled from this revelation, but she continued.

'Look at me. You thought I was a fairy when you first saw me, but that itself was a twisting of the word 'Fae'. I'm a Pixie, but in my homeland, Pixies are grouped into the Fae group. Like you, you're an Irish Human, but you're also European. With me?'

Minagh nodded, understanding to a degree. Having a guide into this brave new world was certainly going to make everything easier.

'Is there a way to get to Avalon?' Minagh asked.

Frostpetal immediately looked uncomfortable at this idea. 'No. You can't go to Avalon. You're a Human, there's a lot of prejudice towards your kind there. Besides, we need to learn more about your powers, and we won't learn it in Avalon.'

Frsotpetal flew up off Minagh's knee, then landed in the dirt, picking up a stick and drawing two circles, then drew the continents of the Earth. Once she was done with that, she drew little X's over certain areas of the world.

The was one in Ireland, and if Minagh had to guess, was located in Tara. Another was in Israel, likely Jerusalem. Minagh saw dozens more X's, in China, Australia, Puerto Rico...

'These five X's are protected portals to other realms. Tara can take you to Avalon, but again, you should never go there. the portal in San Juan goes to Lux Libera, and the other three are... well, emergency exits to Death Realms.'

'Death Realms?'

Frostpetal shook her head. It was clear she wasn't going to go into everything with a Human yet.

'You said Markotet before. What do you know about him?' Frostpetal asked, still looking ready to escape.

Minagh thought back to his meeting in his home. 'Markotet, he looked like a demon, and he said he used to be one. He said that The Creator is a She. My wife went to Eden, which I think is what Heaven is called. And that, because I have nothing to lose, that I make the perfect weapon to fight forces of evil.'

Frostpetal rolled her eyes out of annoyance. 'Yes, that sounds like the wonderful Taskmaster. He told you half the story, as usual.'

Minagh cocked a brow. 'What do you mean?'

'Everything he told you is probably true, but he left out details, didn't he? Like what he was, if not a demon? Or what the price was for your powers?'

Minagh nodded slowly. Now that she mentioned it, Markotet had been pretty vague about the deal he had accepted. Minagh had been so blown away by the new knowledge of his world, he hadn't thought to just ask questions.

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'He said I already paid the price...' Minagh said quietly.

Frostpetal sighed, tossing the stick to the ground. 'You took a deal and didn't even know what the price was?'

'He said I agreed, and then I had power. I didn't question it!' Minagh exclaimed loudly, making Frostpetal jerk slightly. Minagh looked down. 'Sorry.'

'It's alright, just... you're loud voice is a lot louder to me. So you have powers now? What are you going to do with them? Are you a good person, or should we be worried about you?' Frostpetal tilted her head, considering Minagh.

'I...' Minagh started, thinking about how he felt that night when he buried Clementine. 'I just want people to be happy and safe. If that means I have to fight, then I will.'

Minagh looked determined, a look Frostpetal had seen in Elves before they went to war. If Markotet had recruited Minagh to be a defender against evil, it's likely he knew what he was doing.

Frostpetal flew up, hovering in front of Minagh's face. Minagh's brown eyes focused on Frostpetal's face as she looked at him. Her eyes were pools of bright pink, no irises at all.

'You need to learn about your powers. I can feel it inside of you. It's foreign, not from Earth. Or Avalon.' Frostpetal said.

'So it's from that other place? Lux Libera?'

'Probably,' Frostpetal said with a nod. 'Which means that to learn more, we must go to San Juan in Puerto Rico. Come on!'

Minagh blinked his eyes. 'You want to come with me?'

'I have to make sure you don't cause any damage to another realm. Humans can be careless!'

Minagh smirked and began to stand. Frostpetal flew up and once Minagh was standing, Frostpetal sat in his hair.

'Go!' she cried happily.

Minagh shook his head a little, earning himself a cry of surprise as Frostpetal held onto his hair, then Minagh picked his bag up and began walking.

'You're going the wrong way,' Frostpetal chimed.

'I'm not swimming there, Frostpetal...'

Frostpetal and Minagh had stuck together for months, mostly on boat as they sailed from India to England, then to the United States. They landed in Boston, then Minagh bought a horse on the urging of Frostpetal to ride to Florida. Once there Minagh freed the horse, again on the urging of Frostpetal, then hired one final ship to Puerto Rico. It was a long, tiring journey, with Frostpetal explaining very little about what to expect in this new world, this "Lux Libera".

Finally, after months of sailing, riding and camping, Minagh arrived at the location Frostpetal dictated. An underground ruin with carvings in another language, deep under a wilderness outside of San Juan's city limits.

Minagh held a torch as he walked inside, burning away cobwebs and moss as Frostpetal led the way through the darkness.

'This isn't a human sacrificial chamber, is it?' Minagh joked.

'Oh no, you're onto me!' Frostpetal responded with a small chuckle. 'No, this is a portal, it's just forgotten.'

Frostpetal flew ahead and Minagh followed into a large chamber with carving overhead. The carvings were of a humanoid race that looked together, then the story had the two sides separate, shown as white and black figures.

'That seems familiar...' Minagh said darkly as he read the story.

The black figures moved into an area with monsters, but learned to live in harmony with them. It became their home, and they became... together? No, it was more like a family. A gigantic family.

The white figures took the other side of the world, building a gigantic city and walled it off to the rest of the world, losing themselves to technological gains. Minagh could make out a broken heart, a baby with a cross over it, and a large building that looked like a cathedral.

'Honestly, these guys look like they have it more together,' Minagh said, gesturing to the black figures. Frostpetal flew over, and smiled at the story.

'It's the story of the Saor and the Iudex, the residents of Lux Libera. The black ones are the Saor, the white ones are the Iudex. They both have flaws, though. Hopefully we don't meet either of them.'

'It seems likely if we're going to their home.' Minagh pointed out.

'Then I hope you can fight. Saor spend their whole lives in a jungle that's actively trying to kill them, and the Iudex make your technology look like children's toys.'

Minagh nodded, taking her words seriously. She was, after all, the closest to an expert he knew. Frostpetal led him to a brick wall, then tapped around, before her hand sank into the wall like it wasn't there.

'Here,' Frostpetal said quietly. 'You first.'

Frostpetal flew into Minagh's hair and lowered herself. Minagh breathed in one final breath of stale air from Earth, before stepping through the wall to the other side.