There are trees everywhere. Butterflies flutter all over the place in all sorts of colors. The sky is golden with the sun rising. Weird, since it’s early evening in the human world. It’s also a bit cooler than it is on earth.

Then I turn around and I’m horrified by what I see. Everything behind me is dead and dark. I almost cry at the sight.

“What happened there?” I asked.

“The power of the Death King,” Adair said with a hint of anger in his voice. “Many areas of Fae are like this. Lifeless and full of suffering while his people struggle for dominance.”

“He plans to create a new world for his people by eliminating all plant and animal life on Fae and regrowing the poisonous plants that we life fairies are unable to consume. The Death Fairies are immune to poison,” Aidan states grimly with a hint of anger lingering.

“He plans to do the same to the Human Realm by using the Black Death,” my adopted mom said. “Then he’ll eliminate all traces of human activity and grow the same poisonous plants in the Human Realm.”

“In other words, genocide, destruction, recreation,” I said.

Everyone nods.

“We should head to Avalon,” Adair said.

They sprout their wings and fly. I am absolutely dumbfounded. They‘re about ten feet in the air before I finally regain my senses and call out to them. They seem to have forgotten that I don’t know how to fly. How mean of them.

“Uhhh a little help please?” I shout at them. They look at me.

“Oops. forgot you can’t fly,” Aidan said. I roll my eyes.

“No shit, Sherlock!” I told him. I can’t believe I just cursed like that. My adopted mom gives me that death glare that I grew up to fear, forcing me to apologize for such foul language, even though it was the first time I cursed in six years.

They all come down to me. Aidan and Adair begin to teach me how to fly. My parents told me it was good for bonding time after my mom finished lecturing me about cursing. I’ve always hated being lectured. Plus, I’ve known these two dorks my entire life, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more bonding time with them.

I’m clumsy at first, very very clumsy. I crash in a bush with sharp leaves. Then flew face-first into a tree. I even crash into Aidan and Adair, causing us to form a pile on the ground. I have small cuts on my arm from that sharp leaved bush and I think I got a splinter in my chin. I got it out pretty quickly.

“You need to steady yourself and flutter your wings,” Aidan tells me. I feel like a small child learning how to walk. Thank goodness no one I didn’t know is around. That would be just plain embarrassing. Like, the seventeen year old Prince of Life dude can’t fly. Just think about that for a moment. Then again my wings have been hidden since I was a baby when I first went to Earth, I mean, the Human Realm or whatever they call that place here. Looks like I still need to learn fairy terms.

After about three hours I eventually got the hang of it and I’m flying like I've been doing it my entire life. I’ve always been a very quick learner.

I fly with them to a giant castle made of white marble. It’s very beautiful. The flags are grassy green and have a butterfly on it. Butterflies must be important to Fae. I'm not exactly sure why, but I'll find out.

We fly to the door of the castle. Aidan knocks, more like pounds, on the door. I worry he’s going to dent it. It opens.

“My princes!! You have returned!!” A guard exclaimes. They’re also princes? That can only mean one thing...

“Yes and we brought back our brother,” Adair replies. “Get Mother and Father.”

“Right away.”

I’m confused, But I have the suspicion that I am their younger brother. To be honest, at this point, I shouldn't be surprised. Yet here I am, being surprised.

“Who's your other brother?” I ask, to confirm my suspicions.

They both hug me tightly.

“It's you!!” Aidan said. My suspicions have now been confirmed. These two dorks are literally my older brothers. Oh boy, this is going to be interesting.

“You have no idea how much we wanted to tell you!” Adair said.

“Then why didn’t you?”

They shrug. I assume it’s because our birth parents told them not to. I have no idea why they did that, but I’m not them so I don’t know. Probably an extra layer of protection.

“You know, when you were born, we were the happiest boys alive,” Aidan said excitedly. “We were screaming up and down the halls of the castle, proudly shouting about you being born.”

“Just thinking about it makes me really happy, and very embarrassed,” Adair said, blushing from embarrassment. I assume it was because of how he acted seventeen years ago when I was born. “Just wait and hear what the people will do when the news spreads that the Prince of Life has returned.”

We talk and goof around outside for a few minutes until the king and queen, my birth parents, come out.

“Aidan, Adair!!” My birth father said. His hair is chocolate brown and his eyes are the same shade of green as my eyes. I look similar to him. We have the same smile and small dimples on the left cheek. He's taller than me, by like… six inches. His wings are white. My birth mother has blonde hair and green eyes. Her wings are clear and shining with different colors when the light hits them in a certain way. She’s only like two inches taller than me. I definitely have her facial structure.

“Mother, Father!” Aidan and Adair shout. Aidan tackle-hugs our father. He’s always been rowdy. Adair just hugs our mother like a normal person.

“We have our little brother,” Aidan said happily.

“You brought Kallan home?!” My birth mother said.

“Hi,” I said quietly as I wave nervously.

They both came up to me and hugged me.

“Kallan, my precious little boy, welcome home!” My birth mother said. She hugs me and proceeds to kiss my forehead a bunch of times, I awkwardly hug back. I’m not sure how to take this all in.

She looks decently young. Both of my birth parents do, like in their early thirties.

“Thanks,” I said, kind of awkwardly. I am so bad at confrontation. Secretly, I want to die from embarrassment.

“Your majesties,” My adopted parents said in unison with a bow.

“We owe you two so much for taking care of him,” My birth mother said. The three of them start to talk to each other.

“Kallan, I know it will be hard to adjust to this. But we will help you in whatever way we can,” My birth father said. “Come! We shall have a feast to celebrate the return of our three sons!!”

We walk into the highly decorative castle. Vines with fat flower buds that look ready to burst into bloom are growing on the walls and there are stained glass windows of my birth family and this really pretty, godly fairy woman with butterflies fluttering around her. I take it that she's Màthair Nàdar, the Mother Goddess.

Now I understand why butterflies are important. They're sacred here. They have something to do with Màthair Nàdar. I’m not sure what they have to do with her yet, but I’ll find out soon.

A servant escortes me to what appears to be my room. My new room is very spacious. It has a huge window and a large bed with dressers and a mirror. The sheets and pillows are various shades of green that compliment each other. They smell of pine wood. I love the smell of pine wood.

He helps me dress into some sort of prince like outfit that's white and gold and has a cape. The outfit is white pants, a white top with gold shoulder ornaments and long sleeves. It has a golden sash made of silk across my chest and some white boots. It’s really comfortable and very easy to walk around in them. The clothes I wore when I arrived, jeans, a short sleeved jacket, a t-shirt and some Nikes, were taken to be washed and put in a trunk for safe keeping. I go out to the dining hall, greeting some of the servants that walk by. I know I could fly there but I like walking, so I just walk there.

The dining area is huge. Like really huge. The table is long and made of well polished mahogany wood. I can see my reflection on it. Damn I look good.

“Ah! Kallan my boy!!” my birth father said. “You look very handsome.”

“Thanks, I guess,” I reply, somewhat shy.

“I take it you're not a man of many words?” he asks me.

“Oh nooo. I talk a lot. Ask Aidan and Adair. They know. I'm just shy and nervous right now,” I said to him. He laughs a hearty laugh.

“Kallan. I have a feeling that you and I will get along just fine!”

I smile.

“Can I call you dad or father because rumor tells that you're my birth father.”

“Go ahead, my boy!! After all, you're my youngest son!!” He grabs me from the side and pats my chest. He smiles brightly. I smile back a bit, still kind of getting used to this.

“Are you always like this?” I ask him.

“Yes.” Someone calls from another area. “Every day. He's an excitable man, very jolly. His optimism is contagious.”

He laughs again.

“That is very much true!!” Father said. “Now if you'll excuse me! I have to make a public announcement to my people of your return.”

I love how he said that so casually. It made me laugh. He's such a goof. Just like me.

I walked around introducing myself to the court officials. They seemed really friendly. I can’t find my adopted parents anywhere, which made me kinda sad. I wonder if Roxy is going to be here. I walk around, admiring the architecture of the castle. I see a girl, around my age, with black hair that was braided. She was wearing a midnight blue dress with the back cut low for her wings. The wings are light blue.

It’s Roxy.

“Hey Roxy,” I said. “Or should I say, my future wife.”

She jolts a bit, startled, and looks in my direction. Relief floods her face. She must've been a nervous wreck.

“Kallan. You're here!”

“Well, this is apparently my home after all,” I said.

I hold my hand out and she takes it. We walk back to the dining area together.

“It's still so weird,” she said.

“I know. To find out that we're going to be married and that we're royalty? This is going to take a lot of adjusting,” I said. “So when did you get to the castle?”

“I just arrived. My parents are nobility from an island archipelago.”

“My parents are the king and queen of Fae. Doesn't that take the cake? Oh my god, cake sounds so good right now,” I said.

“Is food always on your mind?” She asks teasingly.

I shrug. She’s not wrong. Food is on my mind a lot sometimes.

My mind immediately went to Hametsu. I wonder how he’s doing at a new school. His memory of us has been wiped out, so he must be very lonely with only his girlfriend.

“I wonder how Hametsu is doing?” I ask aloud.

Roxy shrugs.

“It's not like we can call him. He doesn't have our numbers anymore, remember? We don’t even have phones. Plus, his memory of us was erased,” she said, “and to be honest, I'm glad for that.”

I agree. I don’t think I could handle another second with him. His pessimism is way too much. He really needs a therapist.

We walk into the dining area and talk with some court officials. Many of the men want to talk about the recent territories that the Death King captured and destroyed. About seven of them have been captured. As much as I hate talking about war, I decide to get over it, since I’m going to have to fight in it eventually.

This one guy named Ryan and I got really into the whole thing. He's really cool. Ryan is eighteen. His father is the head of the royal guard, so he's training to take over after his father retires or passes. Ryan's hair is black and he has blue eyes. His wings are blue. He's about four inches taller than me. I hate that a lot of people are taller than me. I’m so used to being the tall one.

“The Death King and his army will never win now that you're home!” he said to me.

I got really nervous. I keep getting reminded that I have to go to war and I hate it. Like, I already know that. Please stop reminding me.

Ryan notices this and decides to drop it. He tells me a lot about what he knows of Fae’s culture. They respect nature. Butterflies are sacred to the Life Fairies while dragonflies are sacred to the Death Fairies. The Death King is said to have the wings of a dragonfly. He's also said to be viciously cruel to those who oppose him and shows little to no mercy.

“He sounds really messed up in the head,” I said.

“He is very messed up in the head,” Ryan said.

“Do you have any idea what his name is?” I asked.

“Not really, all we know is the color of his eyes,” he said.

He gave me a piece of paper with writing on it. I was able to read it perfectly, even though it was written in that symbol like language. There was a little bit of blood on it.

...I was horribly brutalized by the Death King. I have never seen such cruelty in one young man’s green eyes. His smile was cruel beyond description and he enjoyed my misery and oppression…

Green eyes. Cruel smile. I have a suspicion of who the Death King is, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. There are other people with green eyes, I’m related to four people with green eyes, but I’m not sure. It doesn’t specify what shade his eyes are, so I can only guess. But I know one other person with green eyes that isn't related to me.

“My Prince are you okay?” Ryan asks, snapping me from my thoughts. “You look rather angry about something.”

“Oh what? Oh no. No. No. I'm fine. I'm just thinking,” I said.

“Do you have an idea of who the Death King is?” He asked.

“A vague one,” I said. “I know many people with green eyes, but one person really sticks out for some reason.” I kept pondering it. I swear to the Mother Goddess I feel like I should know who he is.

I come up with the suspicion that the dude I tried to be friends with could be the Death King. He’s pessimistic and hates life and butterflies, but that alone isn’t enough to convince me. It’s just speculation. I could be wrong. But something tells me that I'm not.

My theory is that Hametsu might be the Death King.