He was lying on a bed of orchids, unconscious. The white petals tickled his small, upturned nose, while his curly hair jutted out in stark contrast to the neatly groomed plants. The light from the morning sun casted a spotty, jagged pattern of shadows across his high cheekbones. His lips, cracked and pale, had a tiny trickle of blood escaping down his porcelain skin.

Jade squatted down and, using a tree branch she stole from her tomato tree, poked at his face from a distance.

For a while, he didn't move. Ah, is he dead?

Then, he stirred.

Nope, nope, alive! This Earthling is still alive! Jade instinctively moved backwards and fell on her butt.

She was about to cry for help when his long eyelashes fluttered open. Large, brown irises stared right into Jade —so dazed yet so dazzling at the same time. Instantly, the scream disappeared from her throat and was replaced by a small gasp. The first thought that came to her mind was: wow, he's... gorgeous.

The next thought: okay, no, get it together, Jade, he's still an Earthling.

"H- Hello," she muttered.

The man blinked a few times before pushing himself off the ground. "Where... Where am I?" he croaked.

"Paradys."

"Where?" He looked around, slowly taking in the scenery of Jade's garden. "Am I still in Chicago?"

"Is that a place on Earth?" Jade couldn't help but chuckle. "No, silly, you are in a totally different realm. The realm of Paradys."

"Realm? What?" The man still did not seem to comprehend what she was saying. His curious eyes darted around the flowering vines lining the ceiling and the rows of potted plants. "Is this a farm or something? Am I in a different country?"

Jade smiled in response. Waking up to an Earthling inside her garden was not what she expected her Monday morning to start off with, but this man did not even know about the existence of other realms. He must just be a regular, peasant Earthling, not those scary ones with Gifts. She breathed a small sigh of relief; there was nothing to be afraid of, it seemed.

"You're in my garden," she explained. "My name is Jade. What's yours?"

"Ryan." His voice was low and silky, like barrel-aged honey. "How... did I get here?"

Jade peered at Ryan. He seemed genuinely confused about his situation. "I don't know either. This is quite a distance away from Earth. Do you remember what happened before this?"

Ryan frowned. "I... I really don't know... I was looking for food, and then I fell asleep, and then... somehow I'm here." As if on command, his stomach rumbled through his crumpled T-shirt. He covered it sheepishly. "I'm still really hungry."

"Do they not have food where you live?"

"They do, I just- I just don't have money to buy it."

Jade had to stop herself from laughing at that. Wasn't Earth supposed to be the realm for 'peace and prosperity'? Then why couldn't their people afford to eat? The First Lady was indeed a 'load of bullshit', as her father always said.

"I'll get you some food, but you must promise to stay here and remain hidden," she warned. "People here don't like anybody from Earth."

"Oh, why is that?"

Jade stared at the Earthling incredulously. "You really don't know anything, do you?" she probed. "Your First Lady has been trying to force our realm to submit to her rule for years now."

"First Lady Elena?" Ryan appeared to be even more perplexed by Jade's answer. "Why would she do that?"

Well, no matter how clueless he was, at least he still knew who the First Lady was. He probably had to —she was Earth's ruler, after all. "She's been doing that to all the realms. Any realm that refused to submit will be threatened with those monsters with Gifts," Jade said bitterly. "But our realm has been doing well resisting them so far, though. Our battlers are very strong, and they have been stopping those terrifying monsters from coming into our realm. But..." Her voice cracked. "It's still terrible. It's never-ending war. My grandfather died in one of the battles a while ago."

Ryan's expression softened. "Oh... I'm- I'm so sorry, Jade," he mumbled. His coffee brown eyes were shimmering in the light, as if they were filled with tears.

Jade sighed. "You don't have to be, it's not your fault anyway." She managed a reassuring smile. "You're just a regular person."

Ryan's sympathetic eyes were still boring into Jade, which was making her blush a little. She quickly stood up to change the subject. "Stay here, I'll- I'll get some food for you."

She sprinted out of the garden and back along the familiar, winding path up the hill. A homey cottage perched on the hill, overlooking the rest of the quaint, modest town. Inside, her mother had just finished clearing up the dishes, and was wiping the kitchen counter. Seeing a flustered Jade rushing into the house, she raised her head and wiped her olive-skinned hands on the apron.

"Hey, Jadey bird, what's wrong? You're back early."

Jade wasted no time in getting straight to the point. "Do we have any leftovers from breakfast?"

Her mother grinned. "What, is there a cat crashing at your garden again?"

"S- Something like that..." Jade mumbled uneasily. As much as she hated keeping secrets, she couldn't let anybody find out about Ryan. If they did, the entire Paradys military would show up at their front door. They wouldn't even care that Ryan was a normal civilian without a Gift; to the adults, all Earthlings were 'monsters of terror' or 'omens of death'. They'd kill him immediately. Also, her precious garden would probably be demolished too, and she can't let that happen.

"Check the bottom of the fridge." Her mother gestured with her head before returning to her chores. "Oh, and don't forget to come back in time for lunch! Your father is coming back from his duty station today."

"Okay, thanks, Mom!" she chirped before scampering out of the house again.

For the next few days, Jade sneaked food to Ryan regularly. Her family was very used to her spending all her time in her little oasis of nature, and she definitely made use of that to hang out more with the mysterious Earthling man. In exchange, Ryan had been helping her tend to her plants. He was surprisingly meticulous and thoughtful, and her plants bloomed to twice their original sizes after only a few days.

With replenished energy, Ryan was also looking... even more gorgeous, if possible. His brown eyes were now sparkling with energy, and his lips were now pink and full. Every time he saw her, he would drop whatever he was doing and greet her in the most excited, puppy-like manner. And every time he did that, Jade's heart would skip a beat.

Today, Jade was greeted with a handmade flower crown.

She had devoured her lunch as fast as she could to go back to the garden. And there Ryan was, waiting inside as usual, but this time with a present.

"I'm finally done," Ryan said cheerfully, holding out the wreath of flowers. "This is for you."

Jade gaped at the crown; it was a combination of all the flowers in her garden —orchids, tulips, daisies, peonies— painstakingly crafted into a perfect ring. "Oh, Ryan... You didn't have to..."

"No, I had to," Ryan insisted. "You're the kindest person I've ever met, Jade, and I want you to have this." With that, he tenderly placed the flower crown on top of Jade's head.

Jade could not help but giggle airily. This was the sweetest thing that anybody had ever done for her in her life. She felt the world around her dissolve as she stared into Ryan's earnest, radiant eyes. "Do I look pretty?" she breathed.

Ryan nodded. "The most beautiful girl in the world." He lifted his hands and cupped Jade's face. "You're absolutely gorgeous," he added, before leaning forward and planting a kiss on Jade's lips.

Her first kiss. It was so gentle, so delicate, so soft, and it tasted like fresh peppermints. They might have kissed for a few seconds, or maybe a few hours, she wasn't sure, but it was the best feeling in the whole world.

When they broke off, Ryan took out a small device from his pocket.

"Jade," he whispered, gesturing at the button in the middle of the device. "Press this for me, won't you?"

Jade's head was still spinning from euphoria. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

"Okay." Jade giggled once more before pressing on the button. She looked up at Ryan eagerly. "What now?"

Ryan's smile twisted.

"Goodbye, Jade," he said. His warm, loving tone had completely disappeared; his piercing brown eyes were now filled with a strange, unexplainable mix of emotions.

Jade blinked. "What?"

And then Ryan vanished.

In a blink of an eye, Jade was alone in her garden. Her hands were still warm from Ryan's touch and the flower crown still tickled her on the head. But Ryan was nowhere to be seen.

Realization hit her; dread filled the bottom of her heart, followed by regret, then anger, then hopelessness.

Ah, so he did have a Gift, after all.

There was a loud roar behind her. She turned around, her feet trembling. In the horizons, a wave of fire was approaching her, burning everything it touched into ashes and dust. She watched as her town, her house, the hill, disappeared into tides of bright, golden flames.

A single tear streamed down her cheek. She really should've listened to the adults more —Earthlings are always an omen of death. Always.

She clutched onto the flower crown with her shaky hands. A hidden thorn poked into her hand, causing her to bleed, but she didn't even notice the pain. She closed her eyes and waited.

"Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry."