Serene’s POV

It was dark outside when I woke up. I looked at the clock and saw that I had slept for 5 straight hours. That was the longest I had slept in days and no nightmare today. How surprising! 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

I got up and glanced around the room and found Zian sleeping on the chair, his head tilted in an awkward position. Arlo must have told him not to leave me alone so he was here acting as my guard. I slid out of my bed and went quietly to his side.

"Zian! wake up." I shook him lightly. "Whose there, what happened?" He jumped out of his chair ready to attack and I just shook my head. "Unbelievable, it’s just me. Nothing happened so just relax."

"Oh! I see." He sat down again. "Why were you sleeping on the chair in my room?"

"I came back after dropping Arlo and Crimzon but you had already gone to sleep and looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake you up so I sat down and fell asleep too. Arlo told me about your nightmares, I didn’t want you to feel alone." His face looked so serious at that moment.

"Yes, I am in a lot of trouble Zian and I am hurting too," I confessed. "Tell me everything and don’t you dare omit any details." I nodded my head as we moved to the window seat.

Once we had settled down I began to tell him everything that had happened once I left my realm six months ago. I didn’t skip anything except the part where I shamelessly kissed Arlo and Zeph within a single day. Although I told him how both of them felt about me and how I felt about them. His expressions changed with every word I uttered from ’uhhh’ to ’ahh’ to ’ouch’ to ’aww’.

Finally, I revealed how Artins Sensei figured out the truth behind my nightmares and now my life was hanging in balance. He listened to everything and finally spoke: "You have become one badass fairy and that Zeph seems like an asshole. My vote is for Arlo."

"But, you haven’t even met Zeph how could you say that? Besides, he lost his father." I tried to argue with him.

"And, Arlo had a rough childhood and his best friend/forced girlfriend is a sociopath. He didn’t act like an ass with you." He shrugged.

"That’s because he is in love with me while I fell in love with Zeph. There is a difference."

"So, that gave him the license to be mean to you." He asked acting confused. "When you are juggling so many emotions and prejudices, it’s not always easy to express yourself and understand your own feelings."

"I don’t know, I will meet him to form a proper opinion but I don’t like the fact that you got hurt emotionally."

"Zian, we are still figuring things out and I didn’t leave him on a good note, but my heart aches thinking about it. I think I am in love and I don’t even know what to do." I felt like crying at that time. I wanted to talk to Zian about all this for such a long time and now he was in front of me and it felt like all my emotions and unsaid words were tumbling out.

"Hey, hey everything will be alright. Hard times come and they make us stronger and we emerge as improved versions of ourselves from them. Besides, you are not alone, we are all with you." He placed his hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down.

"The fate of our world is hanging in balance and here we are sitting, discussing my love life." I was so agitated.

"Well the love life is very important, it’s the most important in my opinion. It can shape or break you, depending on the person you choose." He replied calmly.

"But, will it matter if I am going to die in a few days?" I had a forlorn look in my eyes.

"You are not going to die. Put that absurd notion out of your mind. You are going to live for a long time, have 7 kids and you are gonna grow old. Your kids and grandkids are going to play with my kids and grandkids and we are going to see them play from our rocking chairs with our respective life partners." He chuckled at me.

"Seriously! Zian, how can you say everything so cheerfully." I looked at him in disbelief.

"Because I am an optimist. You should try it sometimes, it’s very liberating." He threw his hands in the air in a carefree way.

"There is a difference between optimism and foolishness and you are just being foolish right now."

"Am I? Lighten up, Serene. Pessimism will drive you crazy and I know you can be a handful. Don’t let this drag you into the darkness. Stay in the light, be positive and have a little faith in people around you." He patted my head as I pulled my legs closer to me trying to hug myself.

"I don’t want a war and I don’t want people to die." I was on the verge of crying.

"Sometimes war is inevitable. No one wants to see war, bloodshed, carnage, massacre, killings...

but we don’t always have a choice in things set in stone. But, we do have a choice in how we handle the inevitable and that is by not giving up and fighting till our last breath. Whatever happens, we will stand with you and fight till our last breaths." I looked at his calm face with my teary eyes. He was such a ray of bright light in my life, always pulling me up.

"I will fight till my last breath too, Zian and I will make sure I don’t lose anyone." I was determined to stand up to whatever the future had in store for me. "That’s my girl," Zian smiled at me.

"We need to find out more about Sahala, we know very little about her life. Let’s extend our search from tomorrow. Will you help me?"

"Of course, I will. By the way, I have joined the medical field, so I am honing my healing skills. I think they will come real handy in the war to come." Zian told me excitedly.

"Yes, you told me in one of your letters. I am so proud of you." Being a nature fae it was only natural for him to have healing properties and now he had enrolled in the medical branch as well.

"So, tell me more about the incident when you shot Zeph with "Arrow of Sadness" seems like an incident worth hearing again." He laughed and winked at me, making me smile. "I am so glad you found someone or should I say found two of them at the same time. Now, you understand my predicaments." He continued teasing me.

"I only found one," I retorted. "Yes, yes keep telling yourself that." He smiled mischievously and I sighed.

"If somehow I survive the ’Meeting of Elders’ I am going to visit Zeph and you will go with me and see how amazing he really is," I announced.