The day following my mini-penultimate celebration was even better than its predecessor.

I was waken up by not just Jake and Emma this time, but the entire kingdom, including the King and Queen.

"Happy birthday to you," they sang thunderously, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Dylan, happy birthday to you!"

I had nearly forgotten that it was my birthday. January 21st... it was my birthday and I forgot.

"Eighteen years old!" exclaimed the king. "My, to think about where I was when I was eighteen... I believe that was the year I was crowned as the King of Hark. But you, Dylan, well... it's the day you leave for your quest."

"I guess so!" I said, trying to push back the rushes of anxiety and constant worries that endlessly flooded my mind.

"Do you have a wish?" asked the Queen with a gentle smile. "I heard that if you wish something with a true heart, that it will come true."

"I do!" I told her. "But I mustn't tell it, right?"

"Oh, right," the Queen snickered.

•••

After cake was gifts. Emma handed me hers first.

I unwrapped the neatly-put present she had for me, a white box with a golden bow.

Out fell the package of a brand called LADY STOPPER. It looked a lot like a compass, except it didn't show directions, but instead had a little golden gem placed in the center of it, and a few buttons on the rim of the device.

"A... Lady Stopper?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Emma seemed to be holding back as much laughter as she could, but a little chuckle came out before she explained the item to me. "It stops Ladies from... well, you know what. I'm sure it'll come in handy in the future."

I nodded and laughed for myself as well, though the King and Queen weren't amused.

"Emma Rose," said the Queen with a stern face. "Now why would you get such a ridiculous gift for your friend? That's uncourtly of you."

"Oh, Mother," said Emma jokingly, "it's just a silly gift, and a harmless one. Besides, he could put it to good use. See, Dylan? You just click this button when you want to form a force field around you, which blocks Ladies from reaching you. And the other button is to make you invisible so that you go unnoticed by them."

I actually thanked her for it, but her parents continued to scorn her.

Next was a gift from Jake, who also seemed to have a certain dislike toward to the Lady Stopper, though it was plain that he was trying hide this fact. He handed me a gray square with dots on it, a suspicious-looking box containing who-knows-what.

I unraveled the scraps of paper applied to the box and out fell a mini gold sword.

I kid you not, Jake's gift was a minuscule version of a golden blade. It was about the size of my pinkie, and I turned to Jake with a raised eyebrows.

"Thanks?" I said, but even I wasn't convinced this wasn't a joke.

"Press the hilt down," said Jake with a mischievous smirk.

I did so, and, so very suddenly, a real sword came into view. It was exactly the miniature version of it, except it was... well, bigger. A lot bigger. And yet, everything from the hilt to the edge was identical. There was not a difference, besides size, between the two swords... or were they both one sword?

"Press on the hilt again," Jake said.

I pressed down on the hilt and, just as quickly as it had transformed big, the sword turned small again, a little gold blade that looked like a dot in the palm of my hand.

It had been weird since, just before, the sword had been board and heavy in my hand, and now it was tiny and light as a feather.

"I decided to give the sword a name. I call it Buster," said Jake.

"Buster..." I said. "Cool!"

Jake nodded and smiled, then allowed the next person to hand their gift over to me.

It was the King and Queen's. It was a really small package with a neat little bow wrapped around the blue square that was the box, containing my present from them. 

I slowly slipped open the package and there was another box. I opened this one up and a little necklace fell out. The necklace had an emerald placed in the center of it with a gold chain that went all around it.

"Tap on it twice and it will provide you a shield," said the King.

I did so, and when I did, a green royal shield came along with the motion. The shield was so heavy that I nearly dropped it when it fell into my hands.

I re-tapped the necklace and the shield vanished like it had never been there. Yeah, that was going to come in handy, for sure.

I thanked the King and Queen for their resourceful gift and they grinned.

After the last few gifts, my little "room party" ended and it everybody left. It was just me, my Lady Stopper, my mini and humungous sword, and my protective necklace.

•••

So a little while after the gifts, the King and Queen decided to do a little going-away ball.

Emma had provided me with formal clothes to wear for it, and I put them on disgustedly. For someone who had never worn them, I realized I actually really hated fancy clothing. It was too tight and way too... well, exquisite. And for what, one night?

All this anger changed to joy and shock as soon as I stepped into the ballroom.

Lights dangled from the ceiling, as did a fountain—yes, a fountain was hanging from the roof of the room, spewing beautiful blue waters.

Creatures covered the ballroom from head to toe—literally. On the golden-tiled floors, there was a yeti and a Sasquatch. Closest to these was a sparkly unicorn and a pack of werewolves, with moon-yellow eyes and razor-sharp claws and fangs. There were also a few more notable creatures such as a family of vampires and a little elf, doing a jig.

On the glimmering ceilings where chandeliers dangled and a fountain spurted, genies conversed with fairies. Two dragons were dancing romantically with each other, as were those red monkeys and blue turtles I saw on my way to the castle. A Pegasus was drinking gently from the fountain.

The thing that enthralled me the most, though, was Emma. She wore a long golden dress that went all the way down to the floor that surrounded her, lined all the way up to her shoulders with fluffy fabric. She was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen—and she wasn't even wearing makeup.

"Hey!" She waved at me with a cute smile.

"Hi!" I nearly tripped on my own shoes as I made my way to her.

She giggled at this and said, "Nice shoes."

I looked down at them and gasped. The fancy shoes Emma had also provided me with were untied.

I quickly fixed this and stood back up, but when I went to face Emma again, she was gone. She'd disappeared. I scanned the ballroom for her and my heart nearly dropped when I saw her, dancing with Jake. Jake Colton. The funny guy. The cool guy. The popular guy. And the handsomest swordsman Hark had to offer.

As I watched Emma dance with her ex-boyfriend, a daunting sense of remorse had passed over me. If I had asked her to dance before—hell, if my stupid shoes weren't unknotted—I might have had a chance.

I groaned but immediately stopped when I saw a crowd of girls surrounding me, wide eyes and crazy smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Dylan!" they all said in sync. "Happy eighteenth birthday!"

I thanked them and expected them to walk away, but they didn't. They just continued to stand there, watching me creepily with their wide eyes and scary grins.

I turned back around and headed for the drinking stand. As I poured an unrecognizable beverage into my golden cup, a bit of sadness strained my eyes from looking back over at the unsightly pair that was dancing beautifully—Emma and Jake.

Then I remembered my Lady Stopped. I was praying I'd kept it in my pocket securely—and I did. I pulled it out and pressed the second button, then I turned invisible.

I was getting deja vu from the first time I'd gone to the Earl—the place where these stupid barn parties took place and lasted way too long, involving a plentiful amount of drinking and other things.

I always hated it at the Earl parties—and Targan knew this, yet he continuously forced me to go to them. As soon as I came, I wanted it to end—or for me to vanish.

And now, at the completely miserable birthday ball that was, I really had vanished.

What was meant to be a generous going-away party had turned into a disastrous evening—nightmare, more like.

"Dylan?" A soft voice had called. "Hello?"

I turned to see Emma searching for me, in vain. She had a confused look on her face as she made her way to the drinking stand, waiting there as though I were just gonna reappear—and I could, but my anxiety, and more importantly, my disappointment, had gotten the better of me, so I stayed invisible.

"Dylan?" Emma kept calling desperately.

I thought to myself: Was it even fair that I come out? She'd just left the stand, like that, and went to dance with Jake, the fun and epic Knight that every Lady was in love with when they weren't in love with me. It hurt even more that this was the man she used to be in love with, meaning she probably still had feelings for him and not me—

What am I saying?! I don't want Emma to have feelings for me, do I? Or was it just because I had feelings for her? No, that was crazy. I didn't have feelings for Emma—she was just my friend, the one who'd betrayed me for Jake Colton.

And yet, this half-angered, half-desiring pit in my stomach wouldn't go away. Every time I saw her—even when I thought about her, she would cause these weird things to flutter in my gut. Butterflies.

She gave me butterflies, meaning I had to come to one conclusion: I liked Emma.

I clicked the second button on my Lady Stopper again and revealed myself to her.

I startled her and sent her jumping back, but she just laughed about it and said,

"There you are! So, why'd you go unseeable? Don't tell me you—"

"Emma, no!" I tried to brush aside this dirty thought she'd planted in my mind. "I wasn't doing that. Trust me, I would never use this device's uses that purpose."

"Sure," said a Emma with a grin. "Then, why?"

I didn't know how to even begin to approach her about it.

"Emma..." I said slowly.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I kind of..."

My voice was broken by the clamorous Jake as he noisily made his way to Emma—and drunkenly so.

"Jake?" Emma turned to face him with a bit of a sour look on her face.

"Emma!" he said in a rather raspy voice, his eyes red and droopy, his hair messy with leaves. "Hey!"

Emma gave him a little sad wave then turned back t me happily.

"So?" She asked. "You were saying—"

"Emma," said Jake. "How would you like to go for another dance? Hm? How about it? It'd be nice to have your body in my arms again—"

"Ugh, Jake!" She waved her hand in front of her nose. "You stink!"

She walked away and, as she passed by a kissing couple, she said, "Get a room!"

So, she was in a not-so-delighted mood. That was just great—now I knew I couldn't ask her. If she was that way to Jake, the guy she'd just danced her heart out to with, then I could imagine her attitude toward me.

I sighed and went back for another drink. That's when I was stopped by Jake.

"Hey," he said. "You like her?"

"Excuse me?"

"Emma. Do you like her?"

"I... no. No, I don't. Why?"

"Eh. Just a feelin'. Ah, it feels so good to be this way."

"To be drunk?"

"Huh?" Jake asked confusedly.

"You're drunk, Jake," I told him in response.

"What?" He laughed awkwardly. "That's crazy! No, I'm not! On the night that my friend leaves for his quest, there's no way I'd be so foolish to get myself drunk, and—"

"And yet, here you are, drunk."

I walked away from him, wanting to walk away from the entire party. It sucked. So many bad things had happened:

Emma danced with Jake, and she certainly wasn't drunk while doing so. She hated drinking beer or wine, and, even if she wasn't old enough, she still despised such beverages.

Jake was drunken on the night that I would be leaving... for some reason, this tempered me. The fact that he wouldn't even be stable as I departed from the castle—the fact that his goodbye wouldn't be a truthful goodbye, but a drunk and crazy one—well... it irritated me.

What annoyed me even more than that—than all of that—was that it reminded me so much of the Earl with Targan. Jake was just like him, always getting drunk and wrecking girls' bodies and—ugh. It just disgusted me, it did. I hated myself for even being here, for even attending such a revolting ball.

•••

After the horrid event that was the going-away party for me, it was time to leave. I gave one last goodbye to most of the villagers and Ladies.

Then there was just the people I'd started this whole thing with—the King, the Queen, Emma, Jake, and Peter. They all stood at the entrance of the castle, before the gates, and waited for me to come down with all my stuff.

I couldn't believe it. It had been about a month at the Hark Kingdom as the chosen one, and now I was leaving. It felt like it had all gone by so quick—too quick. I wish I could relive but then again just wish I could be home, in Shlaido, once more. With Grandma. With Targan. With the people I really cared about—not to say I didn't feel this way about the Hark Kingdom, it's just that it didn't feel true or the same.

When I got down to the entryway, the King and Queen were wearing these nice, pretty cyan outfits and Emma was wearing the same blue overalls she'd worn when we first met. Jake was rocking the same thing he'd worn at the ball, a beer-stained white shirt with jeans. Peter was wearing his accustomed all-black outfit with his hair tied back into a ponytail.

The people that felt like family in the past four weeks that I'd been here had been the biggest amount of help that a person like the Chosen One could ask for. Especially Peter. For a guy I sort of liked and hated at the same time, he was actually really hard-working and generous. He gave me his time—hell, his energy—and what did I give him in return? Backtalk. Detestation. Ill-mannered remarks and murmurs.

"Bye," he was the first one to greet me when I had all my bags prepared for departure. "I'll miss you, boy."

"You too, Peter," we shook hands awkwardly then I moved on to the King and Queen.

"Remember," said the King. "Once you travel down the right side of the pathway, you will see a town. The name of it is Treeville. Here you will find the mayor, Thomas. He will show you your way to the Crooked Realm."

I nodded and gave shook hands with him. The Queen was next, and she hugged me before any words were passed between us.

"Oh, Dylan," her voice was very sad and proud at the same time. She was like a mother figure to me, or at least she had been in the past few days. She treated me like her own son, and cared for me just as much. "I'm going to miss you. Don't forgot those extra clothes I packed you. Okay?"

"Okay," I said.

Next was Jake. I didn't waste my time saying goodbye to him, and gave off a simple wave in his direction, to which he tackled me and tried to give me a high-five. The King and Queen had to pull him off of me as he was latched onto my back.

Peter chuckled and Emma shook her head vigorously.

Then there was the princess. Tears streamed from her beautiful blue eyes and she hugged me tightly.

"Dylan," she said. "You were the best friend I ever had."

"You were too," I said, trying to hold in the millions of tears that forcefully tried to run down my face. Eventually, I gave in. The waterworks came about and I probably looked so ugly as I faced Emma one last time.

"I..." she awkwardly hugged me a second time, then did something that surprised me. She swiftly planted a kiss on my cheek, then just quickly pulled away. Both of us were blushing nervously as we broke contact with each other.

I faced everyone one last time and sighed.

"I'm going to miss you all so much," I said.

"We're going to miss you, too," said the Queen.

"I pray you do great out there, Dylan," the King beamed. "I know you'll try your best either way."

"Best of luck," said Emma softly.

"Don't forget our training, Dylan," Peter noted. Then he added, "Or the lines of defense we talked about."

I nodded and grabbed my bags then slowly made my way to the gates. I shot Light at them, and they whipped open. I turned back around and smile at the family I'd grown with over the month.

The sorrowful and unready tears turned into cheery and prepared ones. I was ready.

I had to be. I mean, I was the Chosen One, right? And people who are chosen never give up...