Morning arrives, but I barely sleep. Scarlette, of course, sleeps like a log again. If only she knew how envious I am of her.
I toss and turn, my mind a storm of restless thoughts. Judorah's plans circle like a vulture, but nothing concrete comes to me. Maybe deep down, I know I won't find answers—not from her, not from anyone. The rumors I've spread work... perhaps too well. So well that they draw Queen Judorah to me. Yet, there's a sliver of solace in knowing she fears Scarlette.
Scarlette doesn't seem afraid of Judorah at all. Maybe the Queen of Hearts and Ruin's reputation is truly terrifying—that older, powerful fairies like Judorah tremble before her.
But why do I remember her legend? Am I really that powerful too? I have no clue.
I stare out the window, my gaze lost in the endless night sky. The kingdom that once glitters with golden light now lies beneath a blanket of heavy, thunderous clouds, casting a shadow over its former brilliance. The lights that once bathe the streets flicker weakly, their glow dimming in the ominous haze.
What is happening?
The air outside is thick with dark magic—a presence so heavy it feels conjured by a hundred Dark Fairies at once. My stomach turns as I look out in disbelief. At the heart of the city stands a massive poison apple tree, its gargantuan vines creeping out like dark tendrils, snatching citizens from the streets, suffocating them in their iron grip.
Scarlette. Where is she?
Panic surges through me, and I bolt through the house, calling her name in frantic desperation.
"Scarlette!" I shout. No answer.
Then, I see it. There, in the center of the tree, Scarlette is bound, her body ensnared by thick vines that hold her helplessly to the trunk. Her mouth is gagged, brambles cutting cruelly into her skin.
"Oh, Veravos..." A familiar, sickening voice echoes from outside, slithering through the air. "Come out and play."
There she stands—Queen Judorah, flanked by her army of Dark Fairies, their dark magic pulsing like a heartbeat, feeding into the tree. The power is overwhelming, suffocating the very air around me. Breathing feels like a struggle, as though the weight of their magic presses down on me, crushing me.
"Yes, Veravos," Judorah purrs, her voice thick with sickening pleasure. "We swallow the light here. And with your power, we can do so much more. You can still join us, before it's too late. Do the practical thing. Join the winning side."
I freeze in the doorway, my heart pounding in my chest, the world spinning around me. My thoughts scramble, but one thing is clear: I'm not ready for this.
"Here's the deal," Judorah continues, her smile sharp as a blade, as if she could cut through me with just her words. "Give me the Baltimorean Emerald and the Scroll, and I'll let the town live... and yes, Scarlette too."
"What is this magic? What is this tree?" I demand, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to sound steady.
"This?" Judorah's smile widens, a cruel gleam in her eyes. "This is the Tree of Regrets, of course. It feeds off the regrets of its victims. Who knew Light Fairies could have so many regrets under their charade? And who knew the Queen of Hearts and Ruin has the most?"
The words hang in the air, thick with venom. Of course Scarlette has regrets. She has shared her story with me. She is a victim of circumstance—torn between duty and desire, trapped in a world where every choice seems to come at a cost. She wants redemption.
The Tree of Regrets. Crap. Things are getting serious.
The most unhinged and powerful Love Fairy I know is actually beaten? Just like that? No. It can't be. Not after everything she has faced. This is not going to be her end. Scarlette deserves better.
A surge of anger shoots through me, my blood boiling at the sight of Scarlette's helpless form tied by vines now wrapping and strangling her. No. I won't let them hurt her—not like this. But am I in a position to negotiate?
Then I feel it—dark tendrils wrapping around me, pulling me forward toward the tree. Just like all the other victims.
Crap. I'm going to be plant fertilizer too.
"Eat shit and die, Judorah!" I shout, my voice edged with defiance, though my insides scream to run.
Judorah's eyes flash with fury. She clenches her fists, and the tendrils constrict, their grip brutal and unyielding. Scarlette lets out a muffled sound, struggling against the restraints, but the vines hold fast.
"Where is the Emerald and the Scroll?" Judorah hisses, her voice like a blade scraping against stone.
She raises a hand, brambles piercing and lifting my bound body closer to her.
As I wriggle like a worm, horrified by the brambles constricting around me, I grit my teeth against the crushing pressure, muttering sarcasm between gasps. "The scroll? Oh, that thing? I use it to wrap chili and throw it away."
Confusion flickers across her sharp features. "What is a chili?"
I manage a smirk despite the pain. "A plant so diabolical that your cursed fruit tree doesn't even compare."
Judorah's scowl deepens, her patience thinning. The tendrils yank me forward, so close I can see the flicker of anger in her soulless eyes. "Veravos, whatever game you're playing—"
I don't let her finish. With a final, desperate wrench, I tear a tendril off my arm, reach into my pocket, and shove something straight into her mouth.
A chili.
Yes, I saved one from my cooking earlier, stuffing it into my pocket without much thought. A decision that, as it turns out, has impeccable timing.
Judorah recoils instantly. "What is this?!" she sneers, her face contorting in disgust. Then it hits her. Her eyes widen in sheer horror as the fiery burn ignites on her tongue.
For a terrifying second, I think she might lash out and tear me apart on the spot. But instead—
"I need water!" she shrieks, clawing at her throat.
Before I can revel in my small victory, the tendrils coil tight around me once more—then, with a violent snap, fling me through the air. The world blurs, streaks of colour and light spinning around me.
I am free.
But something even more terrifying occurs. The tree suddenly begins to wither, its massive limbs retracting as the townsfolk, who have been ensnared by its vines, drop from its grasp.
With a surge of my dark powers, I manage to cushion their fall, sending them gently back to the ground.
Then the air fills with horrified screams from the Dark Fairies gathered at the base of the tree, because something far worse is happening.
The Tree of Regrets seems to take its own consciousness and grows taller, smacking away the Dark Fairies like they are houseflies. One of them even breaks a wing.
"What's happening?" Queen Judorah yells, her voice edged with panic as she flails her arms at the tree desperately.
Wait…This isn't her doing. Judorah is losing control. What's going on?
"Your Majesty, it seems the tree is no longer bound to you," the Dark Fairy with the broken wing says, his voice trembling, staring up at the tree in horror.
"The tree is bound to the one with the darkest potential for evil," says another Dark Fairy.
"What are you talking about? I am the one with the darkest potential! I will bring eternal night! I am the harbinger of doom!" Judorah yells angrily, flailing her arms in desperation.
The tree does not respond to her.
"It seems that you are no longer the one with the darkest potential—she is," the Dark Fairy minion points toward the center of the tree.
I see it too. It now responds to someone else. Someone I know all too well.
Of course. The legendary Tree of Regrets is tethered to the one with the greatest potential for darkness.
Scarlette.
She stands at the center of it all, her body pulsing with dark energy. The Mistress of Chaos absorbs everything—the darkness from the fairies, from the tree, from the very world around her. As she does, the poison apple tree behind her withers and cracks. What was once a towering symbol of evil decays before my eyes.
Scarlette's eyes glow a deep, menacing black, and a red mist swirls around her, her form hovering slightly above the ground.
"I have many regrets," she bellows, her voice carrying the weight of the void itself. "I have killed monarchs, have torn a whole kingdom apart into ruins. But my greatest regret was never truly embracing the darkness and chaos."
Her hair, streaked with purple, levitates around her like a storm, swirling red and black mists rippling from the ground in dangerous tendrils. She moves with terrifying speed—faster than anything I've ever seen. Like a ghost, she darts behind the Dark Fairies one by one.
Without hesitation, she reaches into their chests, her fingers like claws, pulling their hearts free. Dark orbs of crimson light pulse around her, and with a single, crushing squeeze, their hearts shatter into dust. Their bodies crumble to the earth with a final, silent gasp.
The Dark Fairies fall, their once-immense power vanishing into the wind.
Judorah stands frozen, her face twisted in shock. She tries to run, panic flooding every movement, but it's too late.
Scarlette drifts to Judorah like a ghost with a penchant for vengeance.
"I figure," Scarlette continues, manic glee curling in her voice, "I've done so many evil things… betrayed by my own kind, ostracized by the fearful, boxed in and forgotten. But maybe I don't need redemption. Maybe I am the monster they always saw. My role isn't just to serve darkness. Maybe it's to rewrite it into boundless chaos."
Her laughter echoes, haunting and unhinged.
And then it hits me. Scarlette has gone off the rails. Completely.
Judorah scrambles toward me, trembling, eyes wide. "Please, I miscalculated! I thought I'd still have control," she begs, voice cracking. "I'll give you anything… I'll tell you where the Light Guardian is. Just don't let her get me!"
I barely register her desperation. The self-proclaimed Dark Queen flails like a lamb before a wolf.
I push her aside without flinching. Judorah scrambles back, fading into the shadows.
It doesn't matter that Scarlette has just ripped through more than ten Dark Fairies. She's still my Scarlette. The one I cannot abandon. Not after everything she's endured. Not after everything we've endured. I have to stop her before she plunges deeper.
"Scarlette, stop this! This isn't you!" I shout, voice raw. But she doesn't flinch. Her eyes lock on me, dark and radiant with intent.
"Veravos, come. Join me," she calls, soft yet commanding. "We can rewrite this world together. Emeralds, scrolls, Light Guardians—none of it matters. We just rewrite what the world calls darkness. Black and white will all turn grey. Come. Just you and me. Together."
I freeze. Her words wrap around me like smoke, suffocating. Her arm stretches toward me. The pull to join her is overwhelming.
"Together," she whispers.
For a heartbeat, I almost believe her. It seems too simple. Too perfect. Centuries of regret, of waiting for a sign, lift in one instant. Everything I've done, everything I am, led me here. To this choice.
Am I finally surrendering to the darkness I was born into? After fighting it for centuries? Is letting go my destiny?
Then movement catches my eye.
Judorah.
She slips away in a blur, dragging a gagged, bound man into Lumera's house. The Light Guardian. His faint aura of light magic confirms it.
The one who can rewrite fate.
I curse under my breath. The Emerald. The Scroll. Still inside. Judorah plans to force the Guardian to warp reality to her will.
I am torn.
I see it now—Scarlette is truly lost to the darkness, her power consuming her. The spark of who she once was flickers faintly beneath the shadow, but I know I can't abandon her. If I stay, the world falls into endless night. If I leave, I might lose her forever. My chest tightens, my mind warring with every instinct. The weight of the choice threatens to crush me, but I can't turn away.
I take a step toward her. My heart hammers in my chest as my instincts clash. The darkness inside me surges, urging me to join her, to surrender everything. She has already given in—why can't I?
So I take her hand.
Scarlette smiles darkly as she grips mine, the shadows curling eagerly around us. The darkness tightens like a fist around my lungs. I can't let go. I can't lose her.
"It's all going to be over, Veravos… Chaos will be the only constant." She laughs, low and sinister. "The world will know our pain. Nothing more."
I am born from darkness. Cold, empty, self-loathing, lonely, terrifying darkness.
And because it has always been my curse, I refuse to let her fall into the well of destruction that swallowed me long ago. Even if it means I am alone forever.
I won't lose her. If the cost is my soul, then let it burn.
The world can rot. I am a Dark Fairy, not a good person.
If the world doesn't have the version of Scarlette I know, then what is the point of rewriting it?
Without hesitation, I tighten my grip on her hand. She beams, her eyes gleaming with the belief that I am choosing destruction with her. Her grin widens, her heart swelling with anticipation.
I close my eyes for a moment, feeling the enormity of what I am abandoning. My soul is no longer bound by my old choices—it is bound by something deeper.
And as I hold her hand, I know—without doubt—I choose her.
Forever.
"Scarlette, my dark lotus… please forgive me," I whisper, my voice trembling.
I cup her face in trembling hands, and for a fleeting heartbeat, I see her—the first Love Fairy, betrayed, locked away, cast out, misunderstood by all. Not evil. Broken. Like me.
I pull the darkness from her, claiming it as mine. Power surges, a storm of pain and torment. Every shred of her suffering, every wound of the town, crashes into me. My heart aches, but I cannot stop. This is not who she is—it is what she has been forced to become.
"Veravos… stop! You're hurting me!" she pleads, voice shaking. But I do not falter. Every cry strengthens my resolve.
"You are ripping the darkness from me… please stop!" she cries, but I push on.
"You do not get to take this from me!" she screams. "You have no right!"
Darkness pours into me like ink into water, seeping into every vein, every regret, until I can barely breathe. I feel it all—the heartbreaks she's carried, the town's suffering, the weight of countless lives—and yet I hold it. I refuse to let it claim her.
Scarlette gasps, locking eyes with me. A flicker of her former self sparks briefly, but I cannot stop now. There is no time.
The air around her lightens, and I see the tree release her, vine by vine.
"Veravos…" she calls desperately.
"What is happening?" she cries, eyes wide as the vines lash toward me, pulling me toward the tree's core.
"Stop Judorah. Make your wish," I say, determined.
She deserves happiness. All of it.
She hesitates, heart breaking, tears streaking down her face.
"No… you don't deserve this…"
"Run!" I scream, but my voice is swallowed by the crushing darkness. I cannot tell if she hears me. I cannot tell if she escapes.
"Be free!" I call again, raw and fractured.
"I never wanted this for you," she sobs, disappearing toward Lumera's house.
My heart follows. In that instant, I know it is worth it. She will be safe. She will find redemption.
And I?
I am the villain. Villains do not get happy endings.
The world fractures. Darkness coils around me, smothering light. I feel everything—every fear, every regret, every heartbeat of rage and desire for destruction.
A vortex of shadows pulls me under. Judorah—screaming—goes with me.
Her body slams against the ground. She gasps, terror flooding every movement.
"Veravos?" she whispers.
Tiny. Puny. Pathetic.
"Hello, Judorah. You have every right to fear me. Welcome to your eternal nightmare," I laugh, bitter and cruel.
Shadows swirl and drag her into the abyss. Her cries vanish.
The last thing I feel is the crushing void swallowing all, drowning me in its suffocating depths.
The darkness claims me.
It seeps into the deepest parts of my soul. And I have one desire: erase the light. All of it.
Every cost, every consequence—it is worth it.
I fall. Into regret. Into ruin. Into myself.
I am Veravos.
The destroyer.
Let the world burn.