Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 538: The Ending Of A Fairy Tale [Part 2]

A hundred years had passed...

Then two hundred years...

Three hundred...

Four...

"Liar..."

I said as I added that very word in Alex’s epitaph.

I have now grown old, and a few strands of my hair had already turned white.

My end was drawing near, and I could feel it, so I decided to make my own grave.

Fairies wouldn’t leave anything behind when they died.

We simply cease to exist... returning to nature, just like how we were born.

Winter, spring, summer, and fall...

I waited, and waited... and the seasons passed through it all.

Sometimes, I would spend my time perched on my own grave marker, dreaming of those happy days when we were together.

I had a very strong memory, you see, so I could practically re-live those memories whenever I wanted.

They were the most bittersweet memories in my life.

My precious memories with the person I loved.

The forest had once again regained its former glory.

Trees stood tall... and a flower field surrounded the graves of my beloved humans.

One day... I would also leave this world, leaving only a legacy that was written on my grave.

"Alex... I miss you."

I spoke these words more often as the last years of my life went by.

Then one day, something unexpected happened.

The World spoke to me.

I could still remember her beautiful face, and her eyes filled with tenderness and sadness as she looked at me.

"I’m sorry."

That was what the Deity of this world had told me back then.

I didn’t know why she was asking for forgiveness, nor could I think about it, for the sadness she radiated overwhelmed me into crying.

This wasn’t the first nor probably the last time I cried during my hundreds of years of solitude.

But on that day, I cried so much that I might have cried more than I had in my entire lifetime combined.

"You may not meet him in this lifetime and the lifetime after that, but I promise that you will meet him once more no matter how many years and lifetime it takes," The World said softly as she gently held me close to her bosom, like a mother telling her child that they shouldn’t cry because everything was going to be fine.

"But we won’t remember each other by then," I said, feeling sadness overwhelm my heart.

"Both of you will remember," The World promised. "This I promise you, my child. To you who have endured so much, that is the very least that I can do. So, before you pass away, I will give you a dream of the future."

"A dream?"

"Yes, my beloved Fran. A dream that will give you the strength to wait for him in your next lifetime."

I didn’t really understand what she meant by that dream... but now, I think I do.

"Ninety-one... ninety-two... ninety-three..."

A faint smile appeared on my face as I continued to crawl toward the flower where I planned to hide.

Perhaps, this was the dream that "The World" had promised me.

A beautiful dream that truly made me feel loved from the bottom of my heart.

’I don’t care if this is really a dream,’ I thought as I forced all my strength and willpower on my hands and feet as I crawled like an ant toward my destination.

All that mattered was that I had seen him again and played with him one last time.

My breaths grew ragged, and for a brief moment, I felt like I no longer had the strength to move.

I tried to force myself to continue crawling, but I was a spent candle.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew, lifting me off the ground and gently placing me behind the flower, where I wished to hide.

"Thank you, Mother," I said softly to ’The World,’ whom all Fairies see as our mother. "Thank you for this wonderful dream."

I then leaned on the flower and tried to catch my breath. Alex was still counting in the distance, helping my nerves calm down.

When I finally regained my composure, I closed my eyes and waited for him to finish counting.

This might not be the best hiding place in my career as the undefeated Hide-And-Seek Queen, but it was the best I could go with the meager strength I had left.

A few more seconds passed, and I could finally hear the last countdown.

"Two hundred ninety-seven... two hundred ninety-eight... two hundred ninety-nine... three hundred! Ready or not, here I come!"

I smiled faintly and waited.

Alex had never been good at hide-and-seek, so I didn’t believe that he would be able to find me right away.

However, I felt something warm enclosing my entire body. He held me as if I was a delicate, extremely precious treasure.

"Ah..."

When I opened my eyes, I saw Alex looking at me with tender eyes as he gently scooped me up from my hiding place.

"I found you, Fran."

Tears started to form in the corner of my eyes.

These weren’t tears of frustration but tears of happiness.

Perhaps a part of me had waited to hear those words for a very long time.

Maybe I wished for someone to find me all these years, and this wish of mine had finally become a reality.

Alex then brought me near to his face and kissed my head tenderly.

The warmth and love coming from him made my heart feel more alive than the past four hundred years of my life.

"Thank you for finding me, Alex," I said as my tears finally fell from my place. "Thank you for keeping your promise."

The young man in front of me was different from the Alex of my memories, but the love in his eyes as he held me like a priceless treasure was more than familiar.

"Fran... I’m sorry," Alex said as tears streamed down his eyes. "I’m sorry it took me so long to find you."

"Don’t say sorry," I replied. "Say I love you instead. I miss hearing you say that to me."

"I love you, Fran." Alex held me close. "I love you so much, it hurts."

"I love you, too, Alex," I said, feeling that my moment was finally near. "I love you more than words can ever say."

I slowly stood up from the palm of his hand and reached out to touch his face.

Since he was too far he moved me closer, allowing me to hold him close one last time.

My body was feeling very light, as if I was about to fly.

So I kissed his lips three times before pulling back.

Both of us were crying, and my vision had also blurred considerably.

My strength was failing me once more, so I slowly laid down on his palm. Lying there felt very nice.

"Fran... you..." a sob escaped Alex’s lips as he looked at me.

I then looked at my hand and saw golden particles of light rising from it.

In fact, it was not only my hand that was emitting that kind of light, but my entire body.

"Alex, I’ve waited for you for a very long time," I said in a teasing tone. "So do you promise to also wait for me?"

"I do!" Alex replied. "I promise I will wait for you!"

"Good." I nodded. "I won’t say goodbye, because goodbye hurts. Instead... I’ll say this."

Looking at my beloved as my body slowly became transparent, I made sure to tell him my heartfelt words.

"I love you, Alex. I’ll see you soon."

Alex then said something, but I could no longer hear it.

I thought back to the Fairy Tales that I have read during my free time and thought that humans thought highly of us.

I mean, why do they call it Fairy Tales when not all of those stories had fairies in them?

Still, while not all of their endings were something I desired, the majority of what I read all had happy endings.

There was even a story about a red-headed Half-Elf, where he met his beloved before returning to his world.

That was one of my favorite stories, and I could still remember the words that he had said to her.

"You are the beginning of a letter, the content of a poem... and the ending of a Fairy Tale."

And although his and my story both had bittersweet endings, I was certain that both of us were happy to see our beloved one last time.

As I thought of that story, Alex’s words that I wasn’t able to hear a while ago, finally reached me.

"I love you, Fran! I love you very much!"

A smile appeared on my face, for I know that this wasn’t the ending of our Fairy Tale.

It was only the beginning of a story that would last the test of time.

———

Alex looked up at the particles of light that slowly flew to the sky.

The moment it touched the barrier, cracks spread on top of it, and expanded until it finally shattered completely.

The barrier that had been put in place for over five hundred years had finally disappeared, allowing new life to arrive at the forest, where new stories and new beginnings would be born.

"Fran..." Alex sobbed as he looked at the palm of his hand, where his beloved lay a few seconds ago.

Nothing was left of her, except for the Gaia Ring that she had worn like a promise for hundreds of years.

The young man knelt down and cried, sobbing sadly at the loss of his beloved.

His heart was in pain just thinking of the hardships, loneliness, and sadness that Fran had endured all those years... alone in a forest, where she had finally died with a smile on her face.

———

End of Volume 3 - The Ending Of A Fairy Tale