The Dark Fairy King

Once we left the market, we returned to the canopy of the Fairy Woods. Scarlette exhaled sharply—like a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The forest air was thick with the scent of damp moss, wild honey, and the faintest trace of cinnamon. Sweet—but cloying. Like a lullaby sung too late.

"This is lovely.." She said, admiring the tranquility. "Glad we didn’t just walk into the shadows or faded into the red mists every time we need to move from place to place."

"Well, there is a practical aspect too," I grinned. "To conserve our powers for when we need it. Besides, this is what regular Fairies need to do to commute, we are just following suit."

"I guess we are really committed to this Ravos and Charlotte persona, huh?" She chuckled.

Scarlette instinctively reached to remove her purple hair extensions, but I caught her wrist.

"Not now," I said firmly. "Too soon."

Scarlette frowned but didn’t argue. We moved on.

We passed familiar homes—Light Fairies, Love Fairies, Dark Fairies. The same ones from earlier. Yet everything felt different now. Watched. Weighted. As if the old world had quietly slipped away, replaced by something colder.

"I still have questions from before," Scarlette whispered, eyes scanning the trees.

"I know," I said. "I’ll explain everything—the red flower, the prophecy. Things I didn’t expect this world to still carry."

She nodded and fell into step beside me.

"Stay close," I added. "And stay far from that flower."