The bars rose, allowing the passengers to leave. Yet almost all of them remained seated, still in shock at the experience and the overflowing excitement in their bodies.

Only the gnome brothers stepped out, clanking their clogs against the wood floor as they celebrated the successful opening of the ride. They met with cheering applause and adulation from the crowd of goblins and dwarfs.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“If you thought that looked good, you won't believe it when you try it!” Ono and Ini said as they waved and smiled to the crowd.

At their side, Lemin followd up, “That's right everyone, the Dwarf Railracer is now open to all. Please form a line behind the ticket booth. Five golden crowns per ticket!”

The crowd excitedly raced toward the ticket both and formed a line that almost reached the entrance of the park. Lemin smiled at the brothers. “I think we are gonna need more ticket rolls.”

“Oh yes.”

“Indeed, we need,” the brothers answered.

Behind them, the Judge finally recovered his senses and exited the platform. He moved to the Ini and Ono's side and they both looked at him, excitedly awaiting his decree.

“Hey, you two. Get out of there unless you wanna ride again,” Lemin said to the princess and the human, who were both still in frozen shock. They hugged each other, their eyes twitching and muscles cramping.

“No! One is fine!” Figwit yelled. Anxiety and fear broke him out of his shock as he stood up, carrying the princess who remained frozen and continued to firmly hold on to the human’s waist.

“Hey!” Lemin called for the judge’s attention. “What about that?” He pointed to the judge’s beard, which was occupying the entire length of the railtrack.

“Oh, don’t worry.” The judge clapped his hands, summoning his entourage of dwarven scribes, and they began to furl and pull back his beard from the track. Lemin merely answered with a grunt.

“Your Legalship,” Figwit called. He too now stood at the gnomes’ side. The princess was still wrapped around him, and he slowly began to pry her from him.

“So?”

“What do you think judge?” Ono and Ini asked as they smiled and waited with anticipation.

“Hmm,” the judge let out, stroking his beard one last time. “I must say. That was indeed an experience unlike any other I have had in all my one hundred and forty years of living.

You have built something incredible. Out of nothing, really. Clearly a success I would think ... even if some parts still require some work,” the judge said as he glanced over to the food court and some of the hastily built buildings and walls.

“Tell me just this, Ini and Ono Pump,” he asked with a serious and inquisitive tone. “Are you considering adding more complex rides like this one to the park?”

The brothers looked baffled. They stared at one another and answered with a slight shocked stammer. “I, hu-h, we-ll. Y-Yeah.”

“If we can, yes. We would love to add more.”

“Yeah, we have tons of other plans and ideas.”

“Hmm,” the judge continued. At his side Figwit and Ivy smiled, already knowing the answer.

“In that case, let it stand for the record. Ono Pump, Ini Pump. In my function as High Judge of Amberlight and ruler in the case of the great molasses flood, I deem and decree that you are free from oversight. I shall not prosecute you and I shall not punish you. For you have successfully shown that you can provide your side of the funds to help rebuild our beloved city.”

The gnomes erupted into cheers and celebration, dancing with each other as they yelled.

“Ho!”

“Ha!”

“Ho!”

“Ha!”

“You are not fully out of it yet though,” the judge said as he interrupted the gnomes’ celebration. “You still have to bring us the money you will make from the park, and of course ...” the judge leaned toward the gnomes, his expression changing to a more friendly and childish one. “I expect to see more fun and interesting rides, and you will give me free access. Just so I can assess the quality and profitability of the rides, won't you?” He gave a slight lift of his brow.

The gnomes smirked.

“Of course, Your Honor. We wouldn't want it any other way.”

“You will get special VIP access to all our rides. Free of charge and fast priority, of course.”

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The judge smirked, revealing an old, dentured smile through his foggy gray beard. He answered in an tone that was equally devious and excited. “Good, good. Glad to hear it.”

“Congrats you two,” Figwit said as he leaned down to the brothers, followed and joined by Ivy.

“I am so proud of you, little ones. That was wonderful.”

“We couldn't have done it alone,” Ono answered with an honest and cheerful smile. The lights from the park radiated on the brothers and they turned to face.

Ini finished his brother’s thought. “All of this, it's as much ours as it is yours. Thank you.”

From his dimly lit corner, Lemin left the control platform to Axel’s care. He rummaged through his military jacket’s pockets and took out two limp pieces of cloth, both red. “I suppose our end of the deal is also complete then.”

“You mean ...”

“Oh, precious...”

The brothers stared at their most prized possessions.

“Yes. Here you go. Thank you as well, for everything,” Lemin admitted sheepishly as he glanced around the park. A crowd of off-duty goblins trailed behind him, nodding their heads as, finally, he threw the cloths to the brothers.

They jumped in the air, eagerly grabbing onto them. When they finally placed them on their heads, to the goblins’ surprise, the hats regained their form and returned to their iconic, conic figure.

“Oh, sweet, sweet wool. How I missed you.”

“I'm never taking you off again, I swear.”

The brothers danced and jumped in joy, feeling once more the warmth of their magical hats upon their heads.

“I should get going. It is getting late and I don't want my beard to bother the rest of the visitors,” the judge said as he straightened himself. Before he left, he turned to Figwit and decreed, “Figwit? You no longer need to keep track of these little two. Come along. The new King of Amberlight will arrive in the coming days. A cousin of our late king, and he will need the help and advice of an experienced seer.”

Figwit was taken by suprise. The words crushed him and he reflectively took a step back to process them. He looked at the park, at the pleading eyes of the goblins, and at the two gnomes below him. Most of all, he looked at the concerned and almost fearful expression of the princess. It looked like tears were about to burst from Ivy’s eyes, breaking her cautiously reserved demeanor.

“I ...” the human blurted. He thought back on all they had gone through, and to everyone's surprise he declared, “I ... wish you luck, in finding a suitable replacement, Your Honor.”

“Hmm?” the judge let out with an inquisitive look and a crack of his neck. “You mean you are not coming? You want to stay? With them?” He gestured to the gnomes and goblins, his arms sticking out from within his impossibly long robe sleeves.

“Yes,” Figwit said. He stood proudly and hugged Ivy. “I do believe I want to stay. I like these gnomes and this goblin.” He gave the princess's nose a quick nuzzle. “And I want to help them make this park —no, make our kingdom here—even better.”

Everyone—Goblins, gnomes, Ivy, and even Lemin—smiled and nodded at the human’s words. He stood his ground defiantly, holding on to the love and affection he had found, strange as it was, in both the land and its people.

The judge finally relented. “Very well. Suit yourself. I wish you the best in rearing this park. I'm sure you'll need it.”

“I'll figure it out. Thank you for visiting Amusoland, Your Honor,” the human said, giving a wave to the judge as he turned his back and began the walk to the exit of the park. The judge raised his hand and dismissed them as he made his way out.

“Please come back soon!” Ini called out to the judge.

“You are always welcome, Your Legalship. So is your beard!” Ono shouted as the beard passing them shook and vibrated at the affection. Or perhaps it was just from the faulty flooring. There was no real way to tell.

The night began to fall. The three moons radiated a bright mix of yellow, orange, and blue, and the party looked up to the stars and wondered what fate had in store.

To his surprise, Ivy pulled the human down and passed him a familiar item. “You have been forgetting this, my star champion.”

The human held on to his old wizard hat, gazing at it as a tear almost formed in his eye. “It's, huh. It's a nice hat ... but I shouldn't wear it, at least not if I don't have a moonstone.”

“Oh!” Ini suddenly let out, his whimsical call breaking the moment. He took his hat off and began to rummage through it. “Let's see, let's see ...”

“You think you have it?” Ono asked as he too took off his hat and rummaged through it.

“Don't tell me ...” Figwit cried out, his eyes almost watering and a smile breaking from deep within his heart as he remained in wonder at the gnomes’ mystical ways.

“Oh, I think I got something!” Ini yelled as he pulled his hand out, revealing a screaming goblin.

“Where am I? What happened! Whe —Princess! Wait, n —” he screamed out before he was forcibly shoved back inside the hat as Ini laughed.

“Oh, nevermind, that was just Rom from the goblin joust. Surprised he made it this long, it's kind of a mess in there.”

“Huh,” Lemin let out with a horrified expression that was shared by his fellow gomrades. “I guess he is alive.”

“Got it!” Ono shouted as he pulled his arm from the hat and revealed a shiny and twinkling moonstone.

He placed his hat back on his head and moved to Figwit as he presented and gifted him the preciously attuned mineral.

“You two ... how did you?”

“Figwit, c'mon. You know we got our ways,” Ini said as he winked at the human.

At his side, his brother placed his hat back onto his head and presented the wizard with a gift too.

“Well, ‘tis no royal mace but it oughta work, right?” Ono said in a strange, unplaceable accent as he extended a large figwood staff to the wizard.

Figwit grabbed it, smiling, and with a grateful and relieved tone he told them, “It's perfect ... thank you, my friends.” He knelt down, hugging the two gnomes as they hugged him back and patted him.

Finally, the human stood up, placing the precious moonstone atop the fig branch and a bright light flashed as it was slotted in. He leaned down to kiss his beloved, lifting her as she kissed him and placed his treasured hat upon his head. The wizard looked around to his friends, to his family, and he said, “How about a light show to cap off such a successful grand opening, heh?”

“Yes!”

“Let's go!”

“It would be wonderful, my star champion.”

“Go on then, magic man. Shows us what you got,” Ini, Ono, Ivy and Lemin all respectively said. The surrounding crowd of festive goblin workers and curious visiting dwarfs all cheered. With a swift motion of hands and the uttering of the magic words, the wizards staff shone with a warm and inviting white. The flash then dimmed and left for the sky, illuminating it with hundreds of colors.

The stars twinkled and danced in an endless combination of hues. Comets and meteors raced and left tracks of beautiful, multicolored stripes, and the lingering remains of cosmic dust were swept up and exploded into bright wonderful novas.

Everyone in the park looked upwards in awe, wonder, and whimsy whilst below, near the source of the beautiful light show, the gnomes dreamed of what tomorrow would bring.

#

The End.