Twas the night before Christmas. Not a hedgehog was stirring, not even a crow. The author of the Iredescent series slept in her warm comfy bed, unaware of the wonderful event that was to occur that night.

It began with a spaceship, one as grand as the steampunk airships it was based on. The spaceship was futuristic and modern in design, with some old fashioned style and cabin windows reminiscent of a pirate ship. It soared gloriously through the night sky, flying majestically in the clouds.

The spaceship entered the Real world via a portal using the same technology that brought the Iredescent artificial intelligence called Glitterati to life. Shortly after the portal materialized on planet Iredescent, the irangels and Iredescents found a stack of books called the Iredescent series. They were shocked to learn they were fictional characters and so they immediately sought to find their creator in the Real world. They learned their creator's name was Éira Blask and that she had a purple car.

Unbeknownst to the irangels and Iredescents, they weren't the only ones who became aware. The portal duplicated itself, forming in every single Iredescent story and prequel. Various characters from the galaxy learned about the Iredescent series and read the books they came from. They gathered in separate ships to enter the portal in search of Éira Blask.

The portal had been brought forth to being from a mystical water source, the same one found on the fairytalesque vampire planet Verdamnt. A land with castles and fortresses, with forests and a secret library hidden in the North.

Though people have burnt the mystical water source to prevent further creatures from coming to being, a Romanian vampire leader and intergalactic fashion designer named Mallen Zaliċ (his last name was pronounced Zah-leets) kept the remaining mystical water in a vase and a flask. However, the vase was later destroyed when the secret library was burnt, and the flask was given to a Phoenix named Crimson Leeiyor, who used the last remaining mystical water to bring his Glitterati creation to life.

The mystical water source was not all lost, as it seemed, for it was contained within a decanter that was poured upon the sparkly land of planet Iredescent, forming a portal that led the space adventurers to another world. The pourer of the decanter was none other than Merana Prentiss, a Mijishian human on the run from a vampire named Trésora Martel. Having found the decanter in the palace's secret vault, Merana brought it with her to planet Iredescent, using the mystical water to open a portal to another world.

The world where their creator lived.

"Are you sure this is the right address?" Cole Matthews asked, looking at the GPS on his comect. He looked like a Hollister model with blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a white shirt underneath a blue hoodie and jeans. His skin sparkled in the moonlight as the ship silently flew above the sleeping city. The ship was called the Silent Whisper, the perfect name for a silent ship that sailed noiselessly in the ocean of sky and clouds.

Cole was an irangel, a term given to former humans who turned into Iredescents. With him were other irangels including Demian Daggers, Valerie Céliy, Civic Acuratno, and Cydtin Mikasian. They were all gathered on the ship's prowl, looking curiously at the city and landscape below, as the Silent Whisper continued its trajected path.

"I'm sure," said Civic Acuratno, glancing at his own comect screen. Civic was a Native American irangel fluent in the Russian language. He wore a dark brown leather jacket over a dark red long sleeve shirt and stylish designer jeans, his magnificent golden wings dematerialized to not draw any attention, since his wings were the brightest and shone like a flashlight in the dark. His long straight waist-length black hair whipped around as he turned to see Demian Daggers walk towards him.

Demian had dark raven hair and intense brown eyes. He wore his signature peppermint scented black leather jacket over a black Henley shirt and dark Levi jeans, his wings a stunning mirrored shattered glass design that reflected moonlight. Demian briefly glanced at Civic's comect screen, noticing they were only a few distances away now.

Valerie Céliy was standing next to Cydtin Mikasian. Valerie and Cydtin were originally enemies before a tragedy occurred and the two ended up trapped inside a spaceship, sent to die in outer space. But Valerie's Black Rose powers allowed them to evade such a fate, her telekinetic abilities propelling their ship towards a portal that led to planet Iredescent. Since then, the two became close and shared a sibling like friendship.

Valerie had long dark red hair and dark purple eyes, her wings indicating she was the legendary Black Rose, the most powerful Iredescent of them all. Cydtin had short black hair and stunning blue eyes, his wings ice blue with a silvery sheen of grey that looked like a rainy mist or fog.

Instead of his usual formal suits, Cydtin was wearing a Demian style long sleeve shirt and jeans, Demian having convinced Cydtin to wear some of his clothes. "She's a writer, not royalty," Demian had told Cydtin. "There's no need to be fancy and formal when we're about to invade her home."

We're really gonna see our creator soon, Cole telepathically told Demian, knowing he would be able to hear him, since Demian was a telepath who was able to read minds and thoughts. Cydtin was also a telepath. I wonder what she looks like.

"Remind me again the name of our creator," Keth Vasileniy requested, approaching the irangels in his stylish long black knee length gothic style trench coat. It was his ship they were on, his ship that was in transit through the pitch black sky glittered with stars. Keth was a Mijishian human with short black hair and guyliner, wanting to look his absolute best for when they arrived. He wanted to thank his creator for giving him a ship, for it was his most precious treasure, aside from his beloved tea collection.

"Her name is Éira Blask," Demian told him, feeling much anticipation along with nervousness. Here he was, the creator of irangels, about to meet his own creator. Demian was usually sure and confident, rarely nervous, but this time he was silent, consistently searching the thoughts of the ship passengers to try to learn more about his creator he just found out about, even though they knew as much as he did.

Demian was about to head back towards the stairwell when Cole suddenly exclaimed, "There's her apartment! I see her purple car. Wow, she really does have a purple car!"

It was the only indicator, the only clue the irangels and Iredescents had of finding their creator. The irangels and Iredescents looked up vehicle registration records to locate the owner's address, for it was unfound in address books, which were as outdated as phone booths and cassette players.

"Another ship arrived before us," Cydtin commented, noticing an invisible spaceship hovering above the apartment, several distances away from the Silent Whisper.

The ship was emblazoned with a stylized emblem: two black crows with a red ribbon. The ship was metallic silver with chrome matte black, the black blending into the silver in an ombre. It was equipped with Iredescent invisible cloaking technology that enabled the ship to become invisible, but since the Silent Whisper had detection radars on, it was able to detect the hidden invisible ship hovering above an apartment duplex.

Cydtin immediately stretched out his mental reach, trying to figure out who they were. Demian tried a different approach by telepathically saying Éira Blask's name, hoping she would answer. Both telepaths sensed a response emerging from an unfamiliar mind. It was that of startlement, followed by a thought that dismissed the call, thinking it was just an imagination of the mind.

Éira Blask, Demian spoke again, his voice steady and determined. He sensed a response from the same mind, this time with a firmer dismissal as the mind refused to acknowledge that somebody was actually telepathically speaking to her.

Then the irangels saw a figure jump out of the crow emblem ship, another figure following him while brandishing a sword. The first figure was an attractive man with dark raven hair and stylish clothing, his signature olive green ribbon falling to the ground behind him, though he had extras in his pocket. The second figure was a slightly older man, his black hair tied back in a maroon red ribbon. He was angry and vengeful, wanting to kill the first figure.

The first figure ran to the apartment and began to urgently knock at the door, pleading frantically, "Éira Blask, please open the door! Iérti's after me! Éira Blask!"

Please let this be the right house, the first figure thought hopefully as he kept knocking repeatedly. He was prepared to hide out in any house if need be, though he would much rather be with his creator than some random stranger without any knowledge of the Iredescent world.

The door suddenly opened to reveal a woman. She looked like she was annoyed with herself, her thoughts revealing she thought this was ridiculous, truly believing she had gone mad by imagining handsome men saying her name and now knocking at her door.

The woman was clad in a long sleeve purple Henley shirt, dark blue jeans, and black socks. She had long waist length dark brown hair and steel blue eyes that sparkled even in the dimness of the night. She was armed with an unlit Bath & Body Works candle, ready to knock someone out in case the doorknocker turned out to be an actual intruder.

Both the irangels in the ship and the first figure at the door were astonished at her appearance. They weren't really sure what they were expecting, but they knew at once it was their creator. The first figure stared at the woman in amazement. The woman was surprised to actually see someone at her door.

A hot someone, the woman thought, wondering if she was dreaming or if the guy was actually real. No way there's a hot guy at my door.

Before the woman could say anything, the first figure immediately locked eyes with her and used his powers of mental compulsion to command her, "Invite me in."

"Come in," she said, her voice indicating she was confused by his sudden appearance. Before she could say anything further, the first figure immediately rushed inside and shut the door, quickly locking it.

Cole was confused. "Why did he ask to be invited in?"

"He's a vampire," Demian realized in alarm, spreading his wings out. He jumped out of the ship and flew down towards the street.

High in the sky, another ship appeared. Valerie and Cydtin stared in amazement at the shimmery deep blue ship, the most magnificent ship of them all.

"It's an Iredescent ship," Valerie said as she recognized the make and model of the Iredescent ship. "It's a Ruler's ship, but I don't know who the Ruler is. It's not Nend Nyssi's ship."

Meanwhile the woman turned to the first figure, appearing to finally recognize who he was.

"Mallen?" she asked, her voice astonished. She immediately touched his shoulder to see if he was truly real. She softly gasped, then she touched his face and hair, murmuring, "Wow. You look exactly the way I imagined....your olive green eyes are the same color as your ribbon. The same stylish clothes. And your boots, boots that – "

"Boots that trampled in floods of blood that purged most of humanity," Mallen finished, quoting a line from the story he was written in, the vampire story called The Immortal.

Éira Blask stared at Mallen Zaliċ. "You're real," they both said at the same time, amazed to meet each other as creator and creation.

Mallen stepped forward, intently studying Éira. The sword-wielding figure suddenly beat his fist against the door, angrily saying, "I know you're in there, Mallen. To think that you were the one who – "

"Iérti, I'm – " Mallen began to say contritely when Iérti harshly interrupted, "Don't you dare try to apologize! To think that I called you my brother. I never felt so betrayed."

"He knows the dark truth? Iérti is here?" Éira asked Mallen in surprise. Another thought occurred to her and she asked excitedly, "Are Iredescents here too?"

As if on cue, Demian landed near Iérti, saying, "Easy there. Don't want you stabbing anyone."

"The only person I want to stab is Mallen," Iérti said in response, clutching his sword tighter.

Iérti was unable to enter the apartment because he was a vampire and vampires had to be invited in, unless one was a powerful vampire like Mallen who could use powers of mental compulsion to force the person to do as he wanted. Iérti was turned of Mallen's own blood, rendering him as powerful as Mallen, but Iérti didn't even think of using his vampire powers; all he wanted was to kill Mallen.

Demian read all the loud rageful thoughts going through Iérti's mind and understood the man's reason for hate towards the man he called brother. From Mallen's thoughts, Demian knew Mallen was a changed man and that he wasn't the same man he used to be in the past. Demian personally met Mallen in the story called The Undeterred, and so he was aware of the brotherly friendship that existed between Mallen and Iérti, before it was broken with Iérti's knowledge of the dark truth.

Valerie descended while holding Keth in her arms, since he was human and didn't have wings and couldn't fly like the irangels could. Cydtin landed near Demian and walked over towards the window, not exactly sure of Mallen's intentions other than to escape Iérti. He searched thoughts for any sign their creator might be in danger. He knew she was human. Being alone with a vampire wasn't an ideal situation, either.

Demian heard footsteps behind him and knew the irangels had descended, eager to meet their creator. He heard Cole knocking at the door, saying, "Hey creator, open the door. We want to meet you."

Mallen blocked the path to the door, saying frantically, "Don't open the door! Whatever you do, do not let Iérti inside."

"That wasn't Iérti," Éira said, recognizing Cole's voice even though she never heard him in person before. Mallen's mental compulsion didn't affect her now that she was fully awake and therefore coherent. Her face lit up when Demian sent her a telepathic image of the irangels and their ship, letting her see they were here on planet Earth, literally outside her door.

Éira rushed towards the door, eager to finally meet her irangel characters, but Mallen seized Éira by the shoulders, fearful of Iérti. He looked at Éira, who was struggling to get out of his grasp, but Mallen's arms were like iron. He held her close as the door continued to knock, with Iérti and the irangels expressing their desire to come in.

"I'm not going to let Iérti in, just my irangel and Iredescent characters," Éira told Mallen, aware of his fear, but Mallen couldn't bring himself to trust her that far, thinking it was too risky. The one thing he feared most had finally happened, and Mallen wasn't going to allow even the slightest chance of an early death.

Making a quick decision, Mallen said, "Don't move" and bit her on the neck. The door burst open via Valerie's telekinetic ability, black rose petals swirling around the door, as the irangels rushed inside. Cole froze at the sight of Mallen holding Éira. Mallen moved her slightly, tensing as he prepared to defend himself against the irangels if he had to.

Realizing what Mallen did, Demian exclaimed to the irangels, "Hey, wait! Don't attack him. He's not intending to hurt her." Demian turned to Mallen in confusion, saying, "You didn't drink from her. You did what exactly?"

"I set claim on her," Mallen told Demian, meeting his eyes. "It's a bite mark permanently infused with my scent so other vampires won't be able to feed on her. Soon as I saw Iérti, I knew more of my kind might come here as well, so I decided to set claim on her so she'll be protected from my kind."

That, and so I can compel her not to let Iérti in, Mallen thought, not wishing to die, especially after having just met his creator. Only the vampire who set claim on a human can compel that human; no other vampire would be able to.

"That's....actually a pretty smart move," said Civic, looking in surprise at Mallen. "I'm a telekinetic and can shield her if need be. I'm surprised you didn't feed on her."

Mallen gave him a shocked look. "Why would I feed on her? She's my creator. She's the one person I would never feed on."

Cole was staring at Mallen in incredulity. "You're a vampire?" he asked, startled to see one in real life.

"Duh," Cydtin murmured, completely unsurprised.

"You don't sparkle," Cole mused, to which Demian rolled his eyes and said, "That's because real vampires don't sparkle and they burn in the sun. You should know that, Cole. You met Mallen in The Undeterred."

"As a Csa, not a vampire," Cole reminded Demian. "This is my first time ever seeing a real vampire."

Mine too, Éira thought, wincing. I knew a vampire bite would hurt, but stars, it's more painful than I thought. That's something I never thought would actually happen. So not fun. I wonder how my Iredescent characters look like in real life. I would love to see their wings and how they sparkle. I wonder if I'll get to meet my Phoenix characters. I think I need water. Definitely a Kit Kat. Make it two or three Kit Kats. Stars, that was sharp! I ought to toss garlic at him. That was completely uncalled for.

Éira forgot about Mallen when she saw the irangels. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Demian, Valerie, Cole, Civic, and Cydtin gathered around her. Among them was Keth Vasileniy, who stood staring at Éira in surprise. Iérti was standing outside the open door, silently watching them.

"You guys have wings," said in amazement, mirroring what Demian said in the story he was written in, the first book in the Black Rose arc, the story called The Unshadowed.

The irangels allowed Éira to touch their wings and shimmery skin. Cole teleported Éira so she could experience what it felt like to move instantaneously from one place to another. Civic telekinetically lifted Éira and moved her around before setting her back down. Valerie materialized black roses for Éira, placing some in her long hair. Cydtin smiled and embraced Éira, asking if she had any coffee, to which Éira said no, but she did have plenty of tea.

When Éira came to Keth, he struggled to speak, at last saying, "Éira Blask, it is an honor to meet you. I – " He stopped when Éira warmly hugged Keth, her eyes beaming as she took in his handsome physical appearance.

"Love your stylish trench coat," Éira said in admiration. "I got the idea for it from Killian's pirate coat in the TV show called Once Upon a Time. Similar style, but yours is better because it was made by an intergalactic fashion designer. Your sword matches it well. Awesome outfit, Keth."

"I designed and created that trench coat," Mallen said proudly. He nodded at Keth and shook his hand, saying, "It's a pleasant surprise to see you again, Keth."

"You as well," Keth said, smiling cheerfully. "And this time, we both evaded the Ileín."

"You have no idea how relieved I am," Mallen told him. He rushed towards a familiar irangel, hugging her close as he exclaimed, "Valerie! My rose."

"My ribbon," Valerie responded, happy to reunite with the man who became her husband in the third book of the Black Rose arc. "How come you're in your former vampire form? Shouldn't you be in your Csa form?"

"Clearly not," Iérti said bitterly, his vampire hearing allowing him to hear the entire conversation. He resented being a vampire and wanted to become human again. His resentment grew into hatred for the man who turned him.

"I think it might be because after a Csa dies, they turn back into their vampire forms," Demian said as he pondered over the events of The Undeterred.

Voices arose from the stillness of the night. The irangels, humans, and vampires turned towards the sound of eager footsteps. Iérti moved out of the way to allow more characters to meet their creator. Éira slowly walked forward, with Mallen, Keth, and the irangels standing close behind her.

Her surprise grew when Iredescents came in through the door. Éira felt extreme happiness dance within her when she saw her Iredescent characters: Tren Tristanle, Iressa Nyssi Tristanle, Meteoryte Tristanle, Mara Decuir Leeiyor, Tereza Rejkavik, Markerer Venjemiv, and Irina Acai. Following them were her Phoenix characters: Raistin Fenice, Crimson Leeiyor, Pitch Leeiyor, and Amari Leeiyor.

Amari turned around to see more characters behind them as they walked inside Éira's apartment. "Whoa, talk about a full house," Amari murmured as the characters gathered inside, including a mermaid named Tiae Vodnay and her merman husband Syren Vodnay, two crows named Valiant and Mutig, an Iredescent hedgehog named Iriza, a Csa villain named Romena Virvaine, and an unknown fairy draft character named Laurvellina Meadowspar.

Iriza was perched atop Romena's shoulder. Iriza was an adorable beautiful muted purple Iredescent hedgehog with soft lilac fur. Her quills sparkled like mermaid scales and glittered like diamonds. Romena had her long blonde hair in her signature braided ponytail with a mauve pink ribbon interwoven with the braid, the braid stylishly over one shoulder.

Éira ran forward and hugged everyone, exclaiming happily as she enthusiastically greeted every story character, including her fictional self, Irina Acai.

Irina gave Éira a confused look, saying, "What is going on? Who are you? You look exactly like me."

"I am you!" Éira exclaimed cheerfully, taking Irina's hands and twirling around her, the Iredescent version of her nearly tripping over her long purple dress and heels.

"Watch it, you!" Irina said in alarm, glancing to make sure her dress didn't tear. "Seriously though, who are you?"

"I truly have no idea what's going on," Mara murmured as she surveyed the room, watching Éira happily interact with her characters.

"You and me both," said Pitch, standing close to Meteoryte.

Éira rushed towards Tren with a hug, excitedly holding him super close. "You're real! Wow, you're so handsome in your Ruler outfit! This is so awesome! Wow! You are exactly how I imagined! You gotta take me to see your ship! I wanna be on your ship with you and go to every planet I created and see an Eleven Silvers concert on planet Chatt-ruin and I wanna see planet Iredescent and Mirror Castle and my beloved Iredescent tiramisu and your favorite chocolate lava cake and be on your ship and listen to Eleven Silvers music and see your room and travel the galaxy and everything!"

"Uh, sure," said Tren, overwhelmed and confused by her enthusiasm.

Éira hugged Crimson next, blushing as she stared at him with admiration. She looked away before she could fantasize about him, already feeling the warmth surround her just from finally seeing the man she considered her dream guy.

Crimson wasn't sure how to feel about his creator crushing on him. He glanced at Tren, but Tren shrugged, going through a similar dilemma. Éira repeatedly hugged Tren and Crimson, going back and forth from one man to the other, until Tren gently pushed her back, saying, "Ok, I think that's enough hugs. Even I don't hug Iressa as much as you hug me."

"Iressa! Oh my stars, you are exactly as beautiful as I imagined! You are definitely an Iredescent princess! You're wearing the dress Crimson made for you when you became an Iredescent, and it even has the sparkly pink dragonfly pin Crimson's mother gave you! I love it! You are so beautiful, Iressa! No wonder Crimson and Tren fell in love with you." Éira excitedly hugged Iressa, with Tren murmuring, "Here we go again" while Crimson just smiled, glad to see Éira happy.

Éira hugged Iressa for a long time, excited and happy to finally meet her. She hugged Meteoryte and Pitch and Amari, wowed by their appearances. Mara raised an eyebrow as Éira hugged her and asked Mara to make cinnamon toast and snow drop cookies.

"Just please don't let Amari get into an argument about it," Pitch murmured, not wanting a repeat of the first chapter of The Unscathed. "I don't want to be sent to my room again."

"Oh don't worry, I'll be the one to eat the last cinnamon toast," Éira said joyfully. "Actually, it doesn't matter who eats the last cinnamon toast. I would just be super happy to enjoy Iredescent cinnamon toast."

Meteoryte immediately rushed towards his parents, holding them super close. Tren and Iressa held Meteoryte in surprise, exclaiming at how much he grew and how handsome he was. Pitch joined in the hug, relieved to finally see them again. Crimson collided into their embrace, immediately placing his red firewall around his family as he protectively held Tren and Iressa with tears in his eyes.

Then Raistin came over, saying, "Enough with the sob festival, guys. Rejoice and be happy! There is absolutely no danger here."

More characters entered through the door that moment, unsavory characters that had Demian calling upon some of the Black Rose's power while black rose petals swirled around both Demian and Valerie, Keth unsheathing his sword, Cole generating high voltage electricity with electric sparks all over his body, Civic shielding everyone with his red force field, Cydtin grabbing a candle, Mallen positioning for an attack, and red Phoenix flames appearing on Crimson as he turned to face the danger.

The danger came in the form of villains: the Geminangel Gemini Ruadan with his Geminangel captive Iriq Stromlark; vampires Trésora Martel and Tavaly Tivoli; Mijishian human Merana Prentiss; and Iredescent murderer Redek Falk.

Crimson immediately flamed out and incinerated Redek Falk on sight, not allowing him even a full minute inside Éira's apartment. As everyone stared in shock, the Iredescent villain burnt to where nothing remained of him, Crimson turned to the irangels and Iredescents, asking, "Anyone else I need to burn?"

"That guy," Cole said, pointing directly at Gemini. He glared at him, saying, "Should've used the enere on you soon as we got you on our ship the first time we met. Right after Vragden said that eneres vaporized people, that's when I should've blasted you with it."

"But that would've been the end of story, killing the villain soon as he showed up in the story," said Cydtin. "The Unprevailant would've been a short story if that happened."

"Hey Éira Blask?" Tavaly tentatively spoke. "Can you let us in?" Tavaly and Trésora were unable to enter the apartment, remaining trapped outside the door.

"Welcome to the club," Iérti said in mock sympathy, waving a hand in hello.

Ignoring the characters at the door, Crimson stepped towards Gemini, who let go of Iriq and held his hands up in surrender.

"I won't do anything," Gemini said in startlement. "I'm just here to see my creator."

"Please burn him," Cole said impatiently while Civic said sarcastically, "Surree, what a lame excuse."

"Isn't that what we are all here for? To see our creator?" Merana asked nobody in particular.

"Check if he has any perfumes on him," Syren said suspiciously, aware of Gemini's weaponized perfumes.

Syren had his arms folded across his shirtless chest. He was very handsome with dark tanned skin and dark sapphire eyes. His blonde mermaid wife Tiae stood beside him, carefully watching. They knew what Gemini was capable of.

Valerie did a body search on Gemini, opening his jacket and revealing his perfume arsenal. Sighing, Valerie telekinetically handed the jacket to Crimson who immediately burned it, leaving no atom particles behind. Valerie continued to strip Gemini, checking for any more hidden perfumes, but Gemini began to back away soon as Valerie lifted his shirt, his eyes wide as he exclaimed, "Whoa! Please don't strip me entirely!"

"Here, I'll handle this a better way," said Demian, placing a hand on Gemini's shoulder to start the mental connection that would allow him to read his thoughts and memories. After learning he didn't hide any more perfumes, Demian removed his hand and handed Gemini his shirt back, saying, "All clear. No more hidden weaponized perfumes. No perfumes of any kind, actually. And he truly intends no harm, at least here in the Real world. No need to burn him, Crimson."

Cole and Civic protested, wanting Gemini to burn, but then Iriq said, "Relax, dudes. If Demian says it's ok for him to live, then I see no harm in allowing him to live."

"Who are you?" Amari asked, curious since Iriq looked very young and near her age. The name Iriq was a variation of the name Erik. "Are you an Iredescent?"

"I'm Iriq Stromlark, the guy who invented the firi weapon," Iriq said, smiling at Amari. "Have any of you guys used it?"

Markerer's eyes widened in surprise. "Really, now? Have we used it?" He stepped forward towards Iriq in incredulity. "Are you telling me a teenager invented Iredescent's most dangerous weapon?" He glared angrily at Iriq, who was startled to see an Iredescent stranger suddenly directing anger at him. "Your weapon killed two of my closest friends!"

"I'm sorry?" Iriq asked, not sure why he was apologizing for something he didn't do. "I wasn't the one who killed them."

"He's right," Crimson said quietly. "No need to get fired up about it."

Markerer apologized for his sudden outburst. "I'm sorry. You're right; the weapon isn't to be blamed. I just miss the ones it claimed."

Iriq looked sympathetically at Markerer. "Well, who knows? Since we're all here in the Real world, maybe you'll get to see them again when we return to the Iredescent world."

Seeing everyone was distracted, Tavaly dashed to hide behind Éira's purple car. Trésora merely glanced at Tavaly before tossing a careful look in Mallen's direction. Trésora went to sit beside Iérti, staying as far away from Mallen as she could. After all, the last time Trésora saw Mallen, he compelled her to stay inside a castle for a long period of time, without any nourishment. That forced imprisonment was the reason why Trésora sought to become a powerful Queen on planet Mijishin; so she would never be controlled again by anyone.

Mallen saw the flash of Tavaly's orange robes and sighed, saying, "Please tell me Tavaly isn't going to do anything stupid."

"He's not going to unleash dragons in this land, if that's what you're thinking," Iérti said in boredom, still leaning outside the door.

Alarmed to see her apartment door was still open, Éira went to close it. Mallen followed Éira, trying to turn her around so he could look into her eyes and compel her not to let Iérti inside, but Valerie seized Mallen's shoulder and turned him around, saying, "Éira can let him in. I'll put a shield around you so he won't be able to harm you. It is only fair for Éira to meet all her characters."

After a moment's hesitation, Mallen relented, allowing Éira to invite Iérti in, so long as he promised not to try to kill him.

Iérti scowled, tossing a dangerous glare at Mallen. "Fine, but soon as we leave, I'll be free to end him."

"Please don't," Mallen pleaded.

Éira sighed heavily. "Since you're in the Real world, Iérti, you can start a new life. You don't have to remain inside your own story now that you're outside of your story. Here in the Real world, you can write your own story."

"I'm still a vampire in the so-called Real world," Iérti said heatedly. "I'm immortal and I hate it. And I've lived on planet Earth before. I'm not interested in how my story ends; I just want it to be over."

From Iérti's thoughts, Demian knew Iérti only read the prequel story he came from, not even finishing it, only reaching the chapter where he learned the dark truth. Immediately after learning the dark truth, Iérti dropped the book and ran to find Mallen, intent on killing him. Had Iérti read the continuation of his story in The Undeterred, he might not be so keen on trying to kill Mallen.

"You'll eventually get what you want most," Demian told Iérti in promise. "Just trust Éira on this."

Iérti didn't look convinced, but he agreed to leave Mallen alone for the time being. After Éira invited him in, Iérti stepped inside the apartment, with Tavaly and Trésora hesitantly following Iérti. Valerie immediately shielded Mallen, though Iérti reluctantly kept to his promise and stayed distant from Mallen.

Markerer tapped on Éira's shoulder, causing her to turn around. "Éira, I need to have a word with you."

Uh oh, Éira thought in slight trepidation. That doesn't sound like a fun conversation.

Before Markerer could continue, Tiae pushed past him, saying in incredulity, "So you're Éira Blask?! You created me?"

Valerie pushed Tiae aside, wanting to speak with Éira. "I need to know, are roses truly your favorite flower? Ironic you had me become the Iredescent Rose in order to defeat the Csa. Since the Iredescent Rose is the most powerful Rose of them all, do you actually have those powers, or are you just powerful by name?"

"Yes, roses are my favorite flowers," Éira said in response. "I'm human; I don't have any powers."

"On the contrary, you hold the most power of us all," said Raistin.

"Says the all-powerful Phoenix himself," said Tereza.

Civic said thoughtfully, "Actually, Raistin is right. It is because you are a writer. You brought us to life via book pages. I think that is the greatest power, being a writer who can make fantasy into reality."

"I literally cannot make fictional characters come to life," Éira said. "I only wrote your stories."

"Being a writer is powerful in more ways than you know." Raistin suddenly grabbed Éira's arm, his eyes wide as he exclaimed, "Girl! I just realized you have a purple car! I saw it out the window. You've got to take me on a ride! Please, Irie?"

"Irie?" Markerer repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That's my personal nickname for Iressa."

"Wait, does that mean you based me off yourself?" Iressa asked Éira.

"Not physical appearance, but some of your personality, and your life reminds me of my own, except I didn't have a love triangle with two hot attractive men," Éira told Iressa. "In reality, it is very rare to meet someone hot. In fantasy, I can imagine and create all the hot people I want.

"But yeah, most of your past is my past. The beach chapter with the Eclipse family, the frustration of job searching, and how I always felt (still feel) like I don't belong in this world. I had an ex who broke up with me the same way Ignacio broke up with you via text message. I fell into suicidal depression and started cutting, exactly like you, and I still have scars from where I used to cut. I based Ignacio's character off my ex: the seemingly perfect guy who turned out to be the wrong guy. Definitely not the one for me. I still haven't met my destined love. That's where you're lucky, Iressa."

"You said suicidal depression...." Tren said carefully. "You mean you were once suicidal?"

"In my past," Éira said stiffly. "Definitely not anymore."

"Thank goodness, or we wouldn't have your books to read," said Cole. "I only read the books I'm in, which is the Black Rose arc and The Irangel prequel story, but I want to read the rest of the Iredescent series."

"Feel free to," said Éira. "They're all on Wattpad."

"All except The Ileín," Cydtin noticed. "You barely mention that book."

"Yeah, I only work on that story when I'm really super depressed, like whenever I feel totally hopeless and in despair. It's the story with the Matrix like dystopian setting where humans are turned into immortal machines. The Ileín has a more serious tone than my other books. Definitely the darkest book, apart from The Irangel."

"What would be your happiest book?" Keth asked, joining in the conversation.

Éira looked at Keth, saying, "Your prequel story, The Illusionist, is on the happy side with its space adventure vibe, but Raistin's prequel story, The Iredescent, definitely wins the 'happiest story' because it is a lighthearted cheerful rom com kind of book and nobody dies except the people caught in the mysterious spiral, but it's like an off-screen death."

"What story do I come from?" a character inquired, speaking for the first time. She was the unknown fairy character named Laurvellina Meadowspar. She had dark espresso skin, thick curly black hair, oaken brown eyes, and she was wearing a satiny voluminous pink dress. She had iridescent pink wings that glowed with an ethereal light from within, as though her body radiated that luminescent glow.

"I didn't even write you in any story," Éira admitted. "I was going to write you in The Undeterred, but I ended up not writing you at all."

"Who exactly is she?" Valerie asked, curious to see a winged character who was not an Iredescent or an irangel.

"A fairy," Mallen said, suddenly recognizing Laurvellina. "Wait, you're the fairy whose wand I used to materialize the ships, the ships that allowed people to evacuate planet Verdamnt."

Enthralled, Mallen shook her hand, his voice enthusiastic as he said, "It's great to finally meet you! I recognized you from the design on your dress; it's the same design on your wand."

"The pink strawberries," said Laurvellina, confirming it. She looked closely at Mallen. "So, a vampire used my wand? Do you still have it?"

"Regrettably, no," Mallen said in response. "I left it in the secret library, which got destroyed."

"At least you used it for a good purpose," said Laurvellina. "For that, I am content."

"Wait, where's Gemini?" Cole suddenly asked in alarm.

"He is upstairs smelling Éira's perfumes, colognes, and fragrance mists," Demian informed him. "Don't worry, he won't be able to weaponize them without his Gemini Industries corporation."

A thought occurred to Éira. She turned to Demian, telepathically asking him, Please don't let Cydtin and Gemini go inside a Bath & Body Works store. Cydtin will be after all the coffee scented candles while Gemini will raid all the fragrances.

I'll ask Valerie to shield your place so they won't go anywhere, Demian said in response, knowing very well the dangers of allowing Cydtin and Gemini inside a Bath & Body Works store. It didn't just endanger their credit card balance; it endangered the store itself, thereby highly increasing the chances of it becoming a perfume party.

After Demian telepathically asked Valerie to place a shield around Éira's apartment to keep Cydtin and Gemini inside, they started to head upstairs towards the office room and Éira's bedroom.

"You're doing Trésora's head tilt thing," Crimson commented, watching Éira as she peered into the office room.

"Trésora's what?" Cole asked.

"Trésora slightly tilting her head to the side at times," Crimson clarified. "Trésora does that sometimes whenever she's curious about something. Didn't know our creator shared the same characteristic."

"How would you know?" Iressa asked in curiosity.

"Because Trésora is my ex," Crimson said in a brisk tone.

"So she was the one who broke your heart," Tren said slowly in understanding. "I always wondered who it was. You never told me."

"I'm sorry, Tren. I didn't feel like it was important for you to know I dated a vampire."

"Understandable," Cole murmured, his eyes widening in surprise. "I personally would never have done that, but I guess your story is different than mine."

Éira glanced at Demian, asking in a low voice, "Do I really do that? The 'Trésora head tilt thing'?"

Demian answered truthfully, "Just once or twice, not often, though. I think you may sometimes develop a few character attributes to where if you write a certain character, you start to act like that certain character.

"For example, when you worked on The Irangel, you dressed in Tori's elegant style clothing and you ate an unholy amount of korovka candy. You bought stylish heels and shoes 'for work' and you started wearing formal elegant dresses to go with those stylish heels and shoes, wearing them to work and outside of work, dressing fancy even at home.

"When working on The Unfound and The Undestroyed, all you ate was waffles and you listened to classic rock music nonstop. When you worked on my story The Unshadowed, you had peppermint scented everything and you acted the way I did, sometimes mimicking Cydtin or Valerie or Yennisse."

"You still eat waffles and listen to classic rock music nonstop," said Cydtin, "though you tend to listen to metal and electronic rock music as well."

"Just depends on my mood, really," said Éira. "When depressed, I tend to listen to metal music. When happy, I either listen to dance music or classic rock. When not really feeling much of anything or if I'm just in the mood to do so, I sometimes listen to instrumental piano or cinematic music."

"Hey, your driver's license doesn't say Éira Blask, neither does it say Irina Acai," said Merana, looking through Éira's wallet. "It says Irina – "

"Hey!" Éira exclaimed, snatching the wallet from her. "Quit going through my stuff!"

"I love your chair," Trésora said, spinning herself in the elegant light blue chair with silver rods. "Is this where you write your stories?"

Markerer was already opening Éira's laptop and reading through her story files. Raistin, Mara, Amari, and Civic stood directly behind him. Tereza went downstairs to get something to drink, Iriq going with her. Trésora got up and went inside the bedroom where half the characters gathered. Trésora stood in front of the mirror and began brushing her long floor-length red hair with Éira's purple hairbrush. Syren and Tiae had a steamy make out in Éira's bathroom. The sound of running shower water indicated they decided to take things further.

In Éira's bedroom, Gemini was going through Éira's perfumes, spraying some of it on himself. Cole picked up Éira's iPod and was shuffling through songs, Éira's Apple white earbuds already in. Laurvellina opened Éira's closet to rummage through her clothes and dresses. Mallen sat on the floor against the bed, reading a Ranger's Apprentice book from Éira's collection of books. Valerie was holding Éira's hedgehog. Merana started putting on some of Éira's makeup, which was mostly glittery and shimmery.

Tren kept his arms around Iressa, protectively holding her close, with Pitch and Meteoryte unwilling to leave. Crimson stood directly beside Tren, following him like a shadow. Keth was admiring the way Éira decorated the stairwell with rose shaped purple lights, making it look fairytale like.

Demian and Cydtin were like bodyguards around Éira, though the main reason why Demian kept close to Cydtin was to prevent him from even thinking about candles, deterring him from the closet where Éira kept her candles.

"So, is anyone gonna talk about our deaths? Because I'm staying as far away as I can from Trésora," said Tavaly, standing near the door in case he needed to make a getaway.

Trésora merely glanced at Tavaly, continuing to brush her hair and style it with sparkly rose hair pins. "Relax, Tavaly. I'm not gonna kill you in the Real world unless you annoy me or try to boss me around."

"I think my death was most ironic, sorta poetic in a way," said Gemini.

"And here you are, continuing to smell fragrances," Demian murmured. "The irony is unreal."

Gemini shrugged. "These are good fragrances. And you can't say I died smelling awful."

"The deaths in The Undeterred were very sad," Cole murmured unhappily. "I lost my irangel brother that day."

"I'm not upset," Valerie said, placing Éira's hedgehog Pearl back in her home. "I was just happy to enjoy the desserts and meet the love of my life in my story."

"I am upset," Tren said quietly, holding Iressa's hand tightly. "I hated the ending of my story."

"I mourned you and Iressa for the longest time in The Unscathed," Éira told Tren. "Crimson's depression was a reflection of my own depression in dealing with the loss of my characters, who impacted me in a very emotional way. Add to that, soon after I wrote The Undestroyed, I had to face the loss of more beloved characters in The Undeterred. Talk about ongoing depression. It's definitely chronic at this point."

"From your memories, you've always had depression," Demian said quietly. "Ever since elementary school when you stayed alone in the classroom, reading books while the kids played outside with their friends during recess. You roamed the halls or hid in a bathroom during lunch to avoid sitting alone at the cafeteria while everyone around you had friends to talk to. You drove to the mall and stayed in the Barnes and Nobles bookstore for hours just to escape your parents who, at the time, were very super controlling of your life.

"You turn the music up to drown out your thoughts or you lose yourself in a book. You keep most of everything to yourself. You feel disconnected and alone. You always felt this your entire life. You hold on dearly to your stories and music because you consider them your only real friends. The only ones who are actually there for you."

Everyone was silent, stunned to hear a glimpse of Éira's life from the memories Demian gleaned from her mind via physical touch.

Éira didn't say anything for a moment, then she shrugged it off and said, "Yeah, well, it is what it is. Anyways, who wants desserts? I'll go make tea. You guys can go through my tea storage box and pick out what kind of tea you want. If you don't want tea, I've got water, milk, pomegranate, and acai berry juice. I'll go get the tea kettle started."

Tiae and Syren came out of the bathroom that moment, fully dressed though their hair was still wet. They tossed dirty towels into the purple laundry basket, Syren playing it cool by saying, "So what's up guys? What did we miss? Is that a Twilight book in Civic's hand? Hey Demian, looks like we found another story you're in!"

Cydtin rolled his eyes and Cole snickered while Demian sighed heavily, murmuring, "No matter what story, what world I'm in, everyone still makes a Twilight joke out of me."

"Because you're sparkly and a mind reader," said Valerie, smiling coyly at Demian.

Tavaly returned to the living room, deciding to hang out there with Iérti, who was seated on Éira's stylishly elegant lavender purple couch, his sword sheathed for the moment.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Irina, Tereza, Romena, and Iriq were invading the fridge, excited to see tiramisu and desserts.

Iriq murmured, "Wonderful gingerbread" when he saw a carton of limited edition Talenti peppermint bark ice cream in the freezer. Irina, Tereza, and Romena were already eating Éira's tiramisu cake. Iressa and Meteoryte were also enjoying the tiramisu, eagerly seizing second slices. Crimson claimed the shiny red bag of Kit Kats, his favorite Earth candy, while Tren seized the Snickers bag. Iriza asked for some strawberries, to which Iriq kindly gave her some on an elegant pink plate.

There was a persistent tapping at the door. When Tavaly went to open the door, two Iredescent crows flew inside, followed by an irangel villain named Tori Nichok. Her stylish red heels tsk-tsked into the apartment, her slim hourglass figure outfitted in a formal white short sleeve blouse and black pencil skirt.

"Is this the residence of Éira Blask?" Tori Nichok asked, lowering her glasses. Her blonde hair was loose instead of in her usual ponytail.

Tavaly was unfazed by her charm. "Yes, it is," he said in a serious tone. He allowed Tori to come inside, closing the door after making sure there were no other characters.

The two Iredescent crows, Valiant and Mutig, flew around the apartment. They landed atop the tall lamps in the living room.

Valiant began admiring himself on the shiny red surface of an ornament, strutting and posing at his reflection. "Look at me," he said proudly. "I'm so shiny and majestic."

Mutig shook his head and sighed, murmuring, "What a vain bird."

Upstairs in the bedroom, Éira expressed her desire to see their ships. "Cydtin told me there's a fleet of ships surrounding my apartment, each one a different spaceship."

Mallen closed the book he was reading, looking up and saying, "That would be my ship, the one with my Csa emblem on it."

"My beloved Silent Whisper," Keth breathed. "I love my ship almost as much as I love tea."

"We came on Tren's ship, the Glimmer Ride," Mara said.

"We were from a stolen ship navigated by Merana," Gemini informed Éira. "No idea what kind of spaceship or what it's called."

"I'll have to see them all," said Éira, already heading downstairs. "Let's go!"

Everyone followed Éira, eager to show her the ships she designed in her mind.

Demian froze when he saw Tori in person, seeing her for the first time. "Tori Nichok," he said reverently, stepping forward to meet her. "It's a great honor to meet you, original irangel creator."

Tori looked at Demian in bewilderment. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Demian Daggers, the creator of irangels," Demian explained. "I discovered the glass building and I began creating irangels after I was turned into an irangel."

Tori was genuinely surprised. "You did what?!"

Cole placed a book in Tori's hand, the book called The Unshadowed. "Read this if you wanna know everything that happened after your story," he told her. "You become a legacy and inspiration, especially to Demian."

"I will definitely read it," Tori said seriously, curious to learn of what happened after her story ended.

Civic nudged Éira, saying, "Hey, you might want to check on your desserts. They're being attacked. The tiramisu might already be a casualty."

Stunned, Éira dashed into the kitchen, unaware the tiramisu was already gone and the perpetrators had the audacity to put the empty plate back in the fridge. The path to the fridge was blocked by characters who didn't even think to consider their creator's favorite dessert.

Irina Acai held up a purple container of acai berry juice, feeling most ironic. Irina asked Tereza to take a picture, thinking it was funny her last name was literally named after acai berry juice. "It's even purple, my favorite color," she said.

"You mean my favorite color," Éira said, allowing Tereza to take a few pictures of Irina before taking the acai berry juice from her and pouring Irina a glass for her to enjoy. She poured a second glass for Tereza.

Éira was about to check on the tiramisu when Irina moved in front of her, inadvertedly blocking the fridge. Perhaps for the best, Cydtin thought from a room afar, not looking forward to the fireworks that might start once Éira discovered what happened to her beloved tiramisu.

"Aren't we the same person?" Irina said to Éira. "The only difference is I'm an Iredescent from the Iredescent world and you're a human from the Real world." Irina suddenly became suspicious. "Wait, you're not gonna try to steal Kael from me, are you?"

"Of course not," said Éira. "He's taken. I'm not the kind of person who steals guys, anyway. My dream guy is Crimson, but he's taken. I could say the same for Mallen, Demian, Civic, Cydtin, and Tren."

Wow, I made the list, Cydtin thought in surprise. Crimson and Mallen peered into the kitchen, startled to hear their names, while Demian and Civic shared Cydtin's surprise. Tren was indifferent, only having eyes for Iressa.

"So you don't have a boyfriend?" Keth asked, interested to learn more of his creator's life. He leaned against the fridge, his hands in his stylish black trench coat pockets.

Her face instantly became solemn and serious, all the merriness evaporated in an instant. Éira set the acai berry juice on the counter near Tereza, not wanting to answer, but Keth knew just from her sudden cold, silent reaction that the answer was no. He sensed it was painful terrain for her, so he asked no further of it.

But Cole, listening in to the conversation, pressed on, inquiring, "So there is no man in your life? No special someone? Hard to believe, since – "

"Enough with the questions," Demian suddenly spoke on Éira's behalf. "Don't you want to try some of Éira's favorite tea blends?"

"Harney & Sons blueberry green tea. You should definitely try that," Éira immediately said, eager to change the conversation. Éira gave Demian an appreciative look, thankful for his distraction.

"Blueberry green tea?" Keth asked, very much intrigued. He loved tea. "I must try. Where is it at?"

"Right here, in my tea storage box," Éira told Keth, going over to where she kept her tea. "It's like a treasure chest, with tea as my treasure."

Keth looked at Éira in amazement. "You and I are so much alike," he said, his voice full of wonder. "I refer to my tea collection as my treasure. I value it more than I do gold and gemstones."

"I prefer silver over gold, and I do like gemstones, especially alexandrite and ruby and emerald and sapphire and topaz, but tea is the ultimate prized treasure," Éira said as she opened the tin tea box and smelled the fragrant tea. "Nothing like the warmth given from an awesome cup of tea. Precious metals and gemstones can't warm you up the way tea can, neither can it make you feel like you're given a hug from the warmth it gives."

Keth unexpectedly gave Éira a hug. "Like this?"

Éira closed her eyes as she appreciated Keth's hug, appreciated feeling the closeness of a man, something she rarely felt. "This is perfect," Éira said softly. "Almost exactly like the hug you get from tea, but much better because it's from a real person."

Éira suddenly came to her senses and pulled away, not sure why she was hugging Keth for a longer time than usually deemed polite to hug a person who was technically still somewhat of a stranger despite knowing everything about them.

Mallen watched them from afar, feeling somewhat jealous. He drank the pomegranate juice Tren gave him and went over to the living room where most everyone had gathered, commenting on the purple couch and the holographic décor and the cool light setup.

"Let's enjoy the tea, shall we?" Keth asked, excited to try some of Éira's favorite tea.

"I want to try some too," said Cole, reaching for a tea sachet. Cole liked tea, but Keth was more fond of it than any other story character.

Éira poured water into her tea kettle and set it on the stove, getting out the cups. Soon as the water was ready, she poured water in the cups with tea sachets already in them. Éira and Keth drank their tea as is, without adding anything to it, while Cole liked to sometimes add honey in his tea.

Civic saw a beautiful holographic iridescent crystal glass candy dish with an ornate lid, an elegant looking cylinder that sparkled in the lighting and contained another delightful treasure in the form of various Russian candy. Civic glanced to see if Éira was looking before he opened the lid and took a handful of Russian candy. Two handfuls, actually. They were just that good, especially since Éira had all his favorite kinds: mishka kosolapiy, kara-kum, zolotoy klyuchik, batonchik, korovka, romashka, krasni mak, Alyonka, vasilki, snezhok, and many other delicious candies.

Mishka kosolapiy, or clumsy bear, was a praline wafer with roasted grated almonds and vanilla, covered in chocolate. The popular Russian candy had a beautiful turquoise candy wrapper featuring a painting by Ivan Shishkin called "Morning in a Pine Forest" with bears climbing a tree.

Kara-kum literally means "black sand" and the candy name was in reference to the name of an actual desert in Turkmenistan. The dark chocolate candy always had a picture of a desert and camels on the candy wrapper.

Zolotoy klyuchik, or golden key, were toffee candies that were hard to get off the paper, but the toffee candy was really good. There was even ice cream called золотой ключик, inspired by the toffee candy. Zolotoy klyuchik was similar to another toffee candy called kis-kis, an iris type of hard toffee candy with a red and white candy wrapper with a black picture of a black cat near a chimney. Toffee candies were referred to as iriski in Russian.

Much of Russian candy had fairy tales on them like Red Riding Hood and Éira's personal favorite, the Firebird pronounced Zhar ptea-tza in Russian. It was a wonderful soft, chocolate covered marshmallow with a picture of a firebird on it. Ptasie mleczko in Polish, or Ptichye moloko in Russian, literally meant "bird's milk" and was a super popular marshmallow in Slavic cultures. You can find it in most international stores, if not online.

Korovka, which means "cow" in Russian, always had a picture of cows on the candy wrapper. They were a very popular cream fudge candy made with condensed milk. They were Polish candy enjoyed by all Slavic cultures. The Polish called it krowki candy.

Either way, whenever you see korovka or krowki, you know it's another awesome candy, Civic thought as he went over to the living room, seating himself in between Romena and Laurvellina.

There was one Russian candy Civic wanted to give Éira, a Russian candy called Марсианка тирамису (Marsianka tiramisu) with its awesome cool looking dark green candy wrapper and a chocolate center made to look like a planet, but it was a rare candy sadly no longer sold in international stores.

Hey Demian, could you ask Cole to teleport to my apartment in Russia and grab my Russian candy stash from the kitchen? Civic telepathically asked Demian, who responded, Unfortunately, it won't work in the Real world because you don't actually live in the Real world; it would only work within the Iredescent world, dimension, universe, whatever you want to call it.

We'll definitely have to get the Marsianka tiramisu candy for Éira whenever she goes to the Iredescent world, Civic said resolutely.

Demian agreed, liking Civic's idea of surprising Éira with Russian candy from the Iredescent world.

Cydtin accepted a glass of pomegranate juice, which seemed to be a hit drink along with the acai berry juice and Éira's favorite tea. He searched Éira's thoughts and sighed in relief upon learning they were just regarding tea.

We'll have to make sure she doesn't open the fridge, Cydtin telepathically told everyone. Romena, hide the evidence. Crimson, please don't eat all the Kit Kats. Merana, guard the fridge. Tereza, use the acai berry juice if you have to. Demian, be on the lookout for any tiramisu related thoughts. Mallen, distract Éira if she goes near the fridge. Gemini, it's code perfume if she sees the tiramisu, or rather what's left of it. Merana, it's operation smelling salts in case Gemini's solution doesn't work out in the event Éira finds out about the tiramisu. Iressa, glitter shock in case both Gemini and Merana fail. Raistin, be ready to firewall us all in case everything goes awry. Cole, stop lurking and sit down. You're making me nervous.

Cole rolled his eyes, saying in response, Chillax, Cydtin. I'm just waiting for the tea to cool down. It's still hot even with ice cubes.

Keth followed Éira as she walked towards the living room, choosing to lean against the wall while holding her cup of tea. Keth stood beside Éira, enjoying his cup as well.

"So what's your favorite Christmas song?" Cole asked Éira as he continued shuffling through the songs on her iPod.

"I like instrumental renditions of What Child is This," Éira told him. "I also like Carol of the Bells by the Transiberian Orchestra, Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Scandroid, and of course, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker music. I hate mainstream Christmas music."

"You write a lot of songs for your books, yet you don't sing," Civic mused.

"I don't sing, but I love to listen to music. Music is very important to me, just as important as books and stories," Éira elaborated.

"I like how you include the music at the end of every chapter," said Civic.

"Thank you," said Éira. "I like to include music that goes along with each chapter, as well as music I listened to while writing the chapter."

Cole looked up and smiled. "Well Éira, your iPod is mine now. You can have it back next year."

"Very funny, Cole," said Valerie. "Since a new year is upon us."

"Two thousand twenty-three," Tren murmured. "Wow, time goes by really fast in this world."

"Tell me about it," said Éira. "I blink and it's already almost the end of the year."

"I wanna live here," Romena announced, her red-tinted rooibos brown eyes full of contentment. "You have the best desserts ever. Ice cream, chocolate candy, Kit Kats, tiramisu – "

"Whoa hey!" Éira said in alarm. "I was gonna bring the tiramisu cake with me when I go to my family's house tomorrow for Christmas."

Romena blinked, Civic surreptitiously moved part of Laurvellina's voluminous dress to hide Romena's plate, Cydtin froze in startlement, Demian thought, Oh no, she thought about tiramisu, Valerie summoned black rose petals, Cole hit pause on the iPod, Irina tensed, Raistin and Tereza shared a warning glance, Mallen started moving towards Éira, Keth set his tea cup down, Gemini clutched a perfume bottle, Merana teleported to the fridge, Iressa formed glitter, and Crimson furtively hid the near-empty bag of Kit Kats behind the couch.

Éira was confused. "Ok guys, what's going on? Is there an enemy character or something?"

"Yes!" Cydtin exclaimed, eagerly seizing the chance to misdirect her attention. "It's that crow bird! He's trying to steal a tea sachet."

Valiant looked up from preening, the ultimate look of confusion on his face. "Why would I steal tea? It's not even sparkly," he said.

"If you want tea, I can just make tea for you," said Éira, handing her tea cup to Keth as she started going back in the kitchen. "No need to steal from me."

Valiant's beak opened in astonishment. "Steal!? Glittering stars, I am an honorable bird! I never stealed anything in my life!"

"Stole, not stealed," Mutig corrected him.

Merana blocked Éira's way, glancing at Cydtin as she thought, Seriously? You thought that would work?

It was the only thing I could think of! Cydtin said in response. Please don't let her open the fridge!

Merana placed a hand on Éira's shoulder, about to teleport her elsewhere.

Then Laurvellina got up, the hidden plate sliding out from underneath the folds of her dress. The plate fell to the floor, the fork clattering with it. Kit Kat candy wrappers floated down, along with tiramisu crumbs. Russian candy wrappers added to the betrayal by making a crinkling noise as they joined the Kit Kats and tiramisu on the floor.

Everyone immediately took action.

Merana covered Éira's eyes with her hands while Valerie hid the evidence with her black rose petals. Mallen and Keth secured Éira as Iressa formed a glitter wall, with Irina commenting, "Not bad! I love the purple glitter."

"Thanks," said Iressa, holding the glitter steady.

"Hey, what's going on?" Éira asked, but Merana began rambling, saying hurriedly, "We're just getting ready for a sparkly surprise! We wanna surprise you, Éira."

Yeah, surprise you with a fridge devoid of tiramisu and desserts, Merana thought sarcastically. "You gave us stories and brought us to life, so we wanna give you gifts of our own. People give each other gifts for Christmas, right?"

"You really don't have to," said Éira, wondering why such a commotion. "I'm happy just seeing my characters here in real life."

Cydtin supervised as everyone went along with Merana's suggestion, each person scattering or hurrying to retrieve something from the ship. Romena washed the dishes while Laurvellina picked up the candy wrappers. The Russian candy couldn't be salvaged, so Civic just filled the iridescent crystal glass candy dish with Snickers, since Tren didn't eat as much candy as Crimson did.

Crimson used the Iredescent recreation materialization technology from Tren's ship to materialize a bunch of tiramisu cakes to replace the one that was eaten. He did the same for Kit Kats, adding an Iredescent bag of Kit Kats.

Iredescent Kit Kats were the same as Earth Kit Kats; the only difference was Iredescent Kit Kats sparkled while Earth Kit Kats didn't sparkle, and Iredescent Kit Kats had a cool blue and purple galaxy design on their packaging while Earth Kit Kits had the iconic simple red packaging.

Crimson tied a red ribbon around the Iredescent Kit Kats and handed them to Tren. He distributed the tiramisu amongst the characters, having them spread the tiramisu out nicely on a sparkly holographic coffee table he materialized from Tren's ship.

When everyone was ready and Demian gave the all-clear, Cydtin gave a thumbs up towards Merana, victoriously saying, Mission success! Éira will never know we ate all her tiramisu.

Mallen and Keth let go of Éira at the same time Merana removed her hands from Éira's eyes and pushed her forward. Iressa let down her wall in a shower of sparkles, making it rise in a spectacular array of glittering confetti as Tren came forward with the bag of Iredescent Kit Kats, presenting them to Éira and saying, "Merry Christmas from planet Iredescent, Éira Blask!"

Valiant and Mutig cheerfully flew towards Éira and landed on her shoulders, one crow on each shoulder. They cawed enthusiastically as every character presented a gift of some sort, starting with Iriza Yyozika, the sparkliest hedgehog on Iredescent.

Iriza held a sparkly quill in her mouth, Éira crouching so the hedgehog could drop it in her hand.

"Merry Christmas, Éira! I wanted to give you one of my quills," Iriza said happily, pressing her nose to Éira's hand.

Éira picked her up and held her warmly, thanking the hedgehog for her cute gift. She made a mental note to put it in a glittery box so it would never reach the floor, for stepping on a hedgehog quill was the equivalent of stepping on a Lego.

Romena motioned towards the tiramisu beautifully arranged in a cascade design on the coffee table, with ribbons and glitter decorating the cakes. "Iredescent tiramisu!" she said, smiling when Éira's eyes lit up in extreme happiness.

That alone gave Cydtin a huge sigh of relief, the fireworks disaster averted. Though in actuality, Éira wouldn't have gotten mad if she found out her characters ate all her tiramisu and replaced it with Iredescent tiramisu.

Cole gave Éira his own iPod. "Guess we're trading iPods until the New Year," he said amusingly.

"Can't wait to listen to all the songs on your iPod so that I can add them to my personal music collection," Éira told Cole, feeling like an iPod was a very personal gift. Éira had given herself an iPod for Christmas one year; it was the best Christmas gift she had ever given herself. Worth every dollar.

Valerie gave Éira a bouquet of black roses tied with a royal purple ribbon. "My roses are the only roses that will never wilt. These are permanent black roses."

"Give me one too," said Crimson. Valerie had often given Crimson her roses in The Undeterred. He had a collection of her black roses, purple roses, and golden purple roses.

Mara nudged Crimson, smiling cheekily at him. "Yeah, so our bedroom can keep smelling like roses. Very romantic. Make it two bouquets, please."

"We also want some," Tiae said, grinning at Syren.

"You know, had you stayed on Earth, you would've been very successful if you opened a flower business," said Gemini, ever the businessman.

Valerie tossed him a look. "Like I would ever want to profit off my roses, or live on planet Earth. There's a reason why the irangels moved to planet Iredescent."

Gemini offered to give Éira one of his perfumes, but Éira declined his offer and said no. "Crimson burned them anyway," she told him.

Gemini shrugged, not angered in the slightest. "That's fine. May I have this perfume? I just really like the fragrance." Gemini held up one of Éira's perfumes, a red Victoria's Secret perfume called Very Sexy.

Éira gave him a startled look. "Um, Gemini....that's a Victoria's Secret perfume. I don't have any men's fragrances."

"Actually, you do," Demian said in contradiction. "You only one have men's fragrance: the Axe Gold Fresh one, the Iced Mint and Leather edition. The same Axe spray I use."

"Well yes, just that one," Éira remembered. "But that's literally the only one."

"I smelled it, but I don't care much for mint scents," said Gemini. "I do like this."

"That's not a cheap fragrance," Éira told him. She took the perfume from him, saying, "Sorry, Gemini, but I think you'll understand when I don't trust you with fragrances. I'll let you keep one of my candles instead."

"That would be sufficient," Gemini agreed. "Thank you, Éira."

"It's not cotton candy scented, is it?" Civic asked suspiciously. Cotton candy was the killer fragrance Gemini created. Talk about a lethal scent, Civic thought, grimacing. I hate cotton candy everything now.

"No, it's a vanilla pine tree scent," Éira said, going upstairs to retrieve the candle. When she came back down, Éira gave the candle to Gemini and handed another one to Cydtin, saying, "This one's yours. I know you love coffee scented candles."

Cydtin excitedly smelled the candle, breathing in the coffee aroma. He hugged Éira in thanks.

Tori handed Éira some korovka candy and a red apple, which she placed on the coffee table next to the tiramisu.

Valiant and Mutig gifted Éira with crow feathers, with Valiant saying, "Look at my feather! Isn't it the shinest?" and Mutig saying, "Yet mine is the most iridescent one."

Trésora took off her sparkly dainty white bracelet and put it on Éira's wrist. "Thank you for giving me a new life in The Unscathed. I will forever appreciate it." It was the same bracelet Trésora wore in The Unfound.

Laurvellina handed Éira a kaleidoscope made of glowing moonstone and asked to write her in a book. Éira promised she will think of a story to eventually write her in.

"I'm thinking of the prequel story called The Incandescent," Éira said. "I usually always have different planets in my stories, so I'll think of a way to include the fairy planet Monshalow in The Incandescent. That way you'll finally be written in a story."

"I would really appreciate that," said Laurvellina.

Iérti unbuckled the sword sheath with his sword sheathed inside. He handed it to Éira, saying, "I don't need this anymore. I trust you when you say you have a happy ending in mind for me. In addition, I decided to forgive Mallen his transgressions towards me and my family."

Iérti turned to Mallen. "Apparently it's not too late to apologize," he said, referencing a song that pertained to their broken brotherly friendship, a song called "Apologize" by OneRepublic.

Tren and Iressa each gave Éira a warm lasting hug. "I'll take you to my ship after you give everyone car rides in your purple car," Tren promised Éira, who beamed happily, excited to see her favorite ship.

Meteoryte and Pitch hugged Éira, each thanking her for allowing them the chance to reunite with their family. Mara told Éira she will bring cinnamon toast and snow drop cookies next time they see each other. Amari held out a flaming lotus before she dispelled it and smiled cheekily, opting for a simple hug.

Raistin and Tereza took their time hugging Éira, with Raistin expressing his heartfelt thanks with the way Éira ended his story in The Unscathed. Éira had to wipe tears from her eyes as she smiled at the thought, feeling joyful for Raistin.

Crimson came forward, saying, "I have something to give you, Éira. It's from planet Iredescent." After warmly hugging Éira, Crimson asked her to turn around. Éira did so and felt something go around her neck, realizing Crimson was putting a necklace on her. When he held up a mirror, Éira stared in astonishment at the necklace Crimson gave her.

It was a ruby on a silver chain, the sparkling red ruby with silvery glitters around it. Éira wasn't sure what the necklace was shaped as – a music note? teardrop? – but she loved how pretty it was and the fact that it was Crimson who gave it to her.

Éira felt tears mist her eyes, not sure why she was so touched by his gift. It was a simple necklace, yet it meant so much to her. Éira embraced Crimson, thanking him for the necklace.

Valerie took Éira's hand and placed something in it. It was a small hair clip, dark metallic grey with red roses set in an elegant, slightly gothic design. It looked like something a medieval princess would wear. "I thought you would like to have something I wore, in addition to my black roses," Valerie told her. "It even matches the necklace Crimson gave you."

Éira hugged Valerie in thanks, truly appreciating everything. She allowed Valerie to put the hair clip on her. If all that was not enough, Tiae asked Crimson to use Iredescent technology to recreate the dress she made for Valerie, the same dress the Black Rose wore when she met the Csa leader.

Crimson recreated the dress, altering it slightly the way he seemed fit, wanting the dress to bring out Éira's sparkling blue eyes. With Crimson's alterations, the dress was now a deep sapphire blue with silver shimmers. It was of velvet material with lantern sleeves. There were silvery heels with sapphire gemstones on them to match the dress.

Merana teleported Éira to her bedroom so she could put the dress on. She teleported her back, the characters commenting on how Éira looked like an Iredescent princess wearing the sparkly blue dress, silver ruby necklace, sparkly dainty white bracelet, and dark metallic red rose hair clip.

Éira felt so much emotion she wanted to cry, but she kept the tears inside, allowing herself to believe this was real, not a dream. That her characters were alive and here in real life, that they were actually hugging her and speaking with her, not just in her mind.

Then Markerer solemnly placed a destiny radar in Éira's hand, everyone becoming silent as they realized the importance of such a device. It was the device that found the person you were meant to be with.

Éira stared at the destiny radar for a long moment, a thousand thoughts going through her mind, then she slowly handed it back to Markerer. "I'm sorry, but I can't." Tears misted her eyes as Éira turned away, forcing herself not to dwell on it. Better not to hope at all than to hope and be let down in the worst way, Éira thought, blinking back tears.

Demian and Cydtin were as silent as the ships hovering above the apartment. Demian decided to telepathically share with the characters the reason why Éira chose not to use the destiny radar, showing them an image he had seen within Éira's memories: the image of a nightmare she had of a blank destiny radar result.

Nobody spoke for a moment, understanding what just happened. Before Éira could distract herself with tea, Mallen gently placed a hand on Éira's shoulder. "I still haven't given you a gift yet," he said softly, waiting for her to look into his eyes. "I would like to give you a kiss."

Éira's eyes widened in surprise. That was totally unexpected, Éira thought, feeling heat rising from the thought of an attractive guy like Mallen kissing her, then she remembered an important piece of information. "You're married."

"What if I kissed you anyway?" Mallen said rebelliously, moving closer so that he was just a breath away from Éira.

"I'm sure Valerie wouldn't like that," Éira reminded him. "No married woman wants to see her husband kissing another woman."

"You are my creator. I'm sure that would be considered an exception."

"Still not an excuse to kiss me. I'm sorry Mallen, but I wouldn't feel right kissing a married man, real or fictional."

"In that case," Mallen said, thinking of anything else he could give Éira, "what if I turned you?"

Éira immediately backed away from him in horror. "Stars no! Never," she said firmly.

In alarm, Demian telepathically asked Valerie to shield Éira, but she was already on it, placing an invisible purple force shield around Éira. Just a precaution, Valerie told Demian, who silently thanked her. He knew how much Éira wanted to become an Iredescent and he didn't want to risk any character endangering the chances of Éira becoming an Iredescent, knowing full well that once someone turned into a vampire, there was no turning back; they were a vampire forever.

"Mallen, if you read my stories, you would know how I feel about immortality," Éira said, keeping a careful distance from him. "I write about it, but I would never desire such a thing. Raistin and Crimson are the perfect examples why I would never want immortality. It's lonely enough being a mortal; immortality would be the ultimate torture."

"You are one of the few characters that actually enjoys immortality," Iérti said grimly to Mallen. "No surprise you would offer immortality to your own creator."

"So, then," said Mallen, "I assume you want to become Iredescent. You're going to have Demian turn you?"

"What better person to turn me into an Iredescent than the creator of irangels?" Éira glanced at Demian, who already knew what she wanted and merely looked at her with understanding.

Mallen looked over Éira, thinking how beautiful she looked in the dress, the dress similar to the one Valerie wore when she first met Mallen. He loved Valerie dearly, but he felt drawn to his creator for the very reason that she was his creator. He didn't expect her to be lovely in appearance, with characteristics similar to Valerie. "I respect your decision, Éira. Just know that I still would like to kiss you."

"Mallen, I already said – " Éira started to say when Keth suddenly spoke, saying, "I can kiss you."

Éira turned towards Keth, his long black gothic style trench coat making a swishing sound as he moved. "I'm single and I didn't have a love interest in my story. All the romance stuff happened with the main character Vengimi Carven; I was just his adventurous brother like soldier friend."

"You are right," Éira said slowly in remembrance of his story. "You flirted with women, but you didn't have a romantic interest in your story. At least, the rough draft version didn't. I can definitely change that for you, since your story is unfinished. So far, I only wrote a couple chapters."

"Seeing as all the men you want to kiss are taken, and since I'm hot and attractive, I wear stylish clothing, and I share your love for tea and space adventure, might as well give you a gift nobody else can give you," said Keth. He frowned slightly, adding, "Well, I can also give you some of my favorite tea, since you shared some of your favorite tea with me. There is no way I can completely part with my favorite tea."

Éira smiled warmly. "You love tea just as much as I do, Keth. We'll indeed be giving each other our favorite tea."

"And a kiss, if you're willing," said Keth, his voice becoming serious. "I know you live alone with your hedgehog. I live alone as well. If you want, I can take you on my ship and we can travel the galaxy, anywhere you want. See different planets, go outside your own dimension."

Realizing he quoted what Irina Acai said in The Iredescent, regarding seeing different planets, Éira immediately said, "I would love to! That would be a dream come true. I want to go planet Iredescent right now. I've got to see the planet I created."

Éira was about to go upstairs to grab a long floor length princess style lavender purple winter coat, a flashdrive containing her story files, her car keys, wallet, some tea boxes, and a favorite book or two, when Demian seized her hand, having read the thoughts that were going through Éira's mind.

"Éira, you can't just leave Earth," Demian said, being the voice of reason. "You have responsibilities. A job career, a hedgehog, an apartment. Your family would worry if you went missing. And you don't intend to leave your car behind, do you? Or did you think to stow it on the Silent Whisper?"

As Éira stood in reluctant silence, Demian's voice became softer. "I know you want to leave Earth and see Iredescent as soon as possible, but you must remember, even if you did leave tonight, it takes two days for a ship to travel to planet Iredescent from planet Earth."

"What if one of the teleporters can try teleporting the Silent Whisper to planet Iredescent?" Éira suggested. "Shorten the distance that way."

"Impossible," Markerer said immediately. "We can't teleport while in outer space, only once we're within a planet's atmosphere. Don't you remember from The Unfound, when I had to wait until I reached Earth's atmosphere to teleport myself and Iressa on planet Earth?"

Éira remembered that was very true. Her cheeks flaming as she felt her dreams collide into the reality of things, Éira sighed heavily, trying to figure out a way she can go to Iredescent.

Crimson shook his head, saying, "Wow, you really can be impulsive just like Tren."

"Not always," Éira said to Crimson. "I'm actually more like you in personality."

"You just really want to leave this world, don't you?" Meteoryte said quietly.

Éira struggled not to cry, knowing her characters would have to leave at some point and she would be alone once again.

Demian held Éira in a hug, saying, "Your family will finally learn about Iredescent, especially if they see the planet with their own eyes. They might finally be accepting of it if they see for themselves the world you created."

"Maybe," Éira said doubtfully. She didn't want to hope only for it to let her down, having experienced far too many letdowns in her life, so she decided not to think more of it, instead pulling away from Demian and saying, "I still want to leave the Real world and move to my Iredescent world. I would have to quit my job, give a notice on the apartment, pack my things, and bring Pearl because there's no way I'm going to Iredescent without my hedgehog."

"You can stay at Mirror Castle," Raistin said at the same time Keth said, "You can stay on my ship" and at the same time Mallen said, "You can stay in my castle."

The men looked at each other in astonishment before Éira said, "I would be happy to stay in all those places."

"Since we'll be traveling to different galaxies, your clothes and belongings can stay on my ship, if you like," Keth suggested. "There are walk-in closets in every bedroom on the Silent Whisper. You might even find the wardrobe to Narnia."

"Sounds awesome," said Éira, feeling better. "I will definitely need to see Mirror Castle and stay there for a least a month when I finally see Iredescent, and I will need to spend at least an entire day and night in Mallen's fairytale castle."

"Excellent!" said Keth, feeling happy. "I guess I'm the luckiest of you all, since I'll be spending the most time with our creator."

"Indeed," Mallen murmured at the same time Raistin cheerfully said, "You sure are!"

Keth went over to Éira, standing just a few breaths away from her. "May I?" he asked softly.

Éira nodded, her heart pounding as she willingly accepted. Why not? she thought. He is a hot guy and he actually wants to kiss me. That kind of stuff only happens in dreams. No way I'm missing out on a fantasy becoming a reality.

Keth stepped closer and gave Éira a gentle lasting kiss, with one hand touching her face. Éira wasn't sure if he was her destined one, since she had not yet experienced having a soulmate or a destined one, imagining it would feel the same way Crimson and Iressa felt when they first met, or the way Demian and Valerie's intense connection drew each other close like a moth to a flame, but she appreciated Keth's kiss, feeling like there might be more to it in the future.

It's been so long since I felt something like this, Éira thought, closing her eyes as she took in the rare feeling. Keth pulled away, gazing into Éira's eyes as he too sensed there might be something of them in the future.

My fictional story ends rather tragically for me, but here in the Real world, I am alive and I have a second chance at a new life, this time to write my own story as I see fit, Keth thought. Never would've thought I would be writing it with my creator.

Keth gave a small smile, saying in a lighthearted tone, "You didn't give me a romance in my story, so I suppose it is only fair for you to give me a romance outside of my story."

"I do owe you that, don't I," Éira said, realizing nearly everyone had a romance. Keth, Gemini, and Tavaly were some of the characters written without a romantic interest.

"There is just one thing," Éira said solemnly. "I want to become an Iredescent."

"Of course," Demian said, giving a knowing smile. "You are the author of the Iredescent series. I would be honored to turn you into an Iredescent. I'm sure I don't even need to ask the Phoenixes for approval."

"Certainly don't need to," Raistin verified, smiling happily. "No special permission needed for the creator herself." He warmly hugged Éira, saying, "Thank you so much for my happily ever after. Let's go about creating your own happily ever after, shall we?"

"You guys are the best," Éira said, hugging every character. "Now that everything is settled, I need to see your ships. Then I'll take everyone for a ride in my car."

"Awesome!" Raistin excitedly exclaimed, eagerly looking forward to the car ride. "I demand the ride now!"

Cydtin agreed with Raistin. "It's daylight now. We literally stayed up all night. Going on each ship would take forever, so I suggest the car ride first, since we aren't sure how long we are to stay in the real world before returning to our stories, or if some of us even want to return."

"If we return, would we be confined within our story, or would we be free to live our own story?" Iressa asked, not wanting to return to her story.

Everyone looked at Demian, who said, "Why does everyone think I have all the answers? Ask Éira."

But Éira had no answers either, saying she wasn't sure since she had no idea what would happen now that her characters had a chance to leave their stories.

Pitch assumed that since the stories were already written, it wouldn't do any harm whether the characters decided to return to their stories or leave their stories entirely. Iressa feared being confined to a story, but Tren agreed with Pitch, thinking that if they returned, they would be returning to a world where every character could interact with each other, now that the portal opened certain possibilities that were deemed impossible prior to its existence.

Tavaly volunteered to be the first to return to his story. "I am aware of what happens to me in my story, but I am ready to return to my story. I much prefer it to this world. It was an honor to meet you, Éira Blask." He shook her hand firmly.

Éira shook his hand. "Don't unleash any more dragons, now."

A shadow touched Tavaly's face at the memory. "I learned from my folly. If I am bound to repeat it, then I am bound to repeat it. If I am given a chance to freely live my own story, then I shall be grateful for the opportunity to do so."

"I can go with him and see what happens," Merana spoke up. "I don't die in my story, so I can update you with what happens." Merana held up a sparkly glitter Stila eyeshadow. "But I do want to keep this makeup. As a gift from you, Éira?"

Éira looked closely at the name of the eyeshadow shade so she could buy a replacement later. It was the shade called starlight, a reference to a personal nickname given to Meteoryte by his entire family. Stila was one of her favorite eyeshadows, mainly because it was sparkly and had cool names like starlight. That, and it didn't fall into or disrupt her contact lenses in any way.

"Sure, go ahead and keep it," Éira said, knowing it would be more meaningful for Merana if she took the one used by Éira herself.

As they got ready to go outside, five characters per car ride since Éira's purple car would only be able to fit five other people, Mallen tied Éira's hair back in his signature olive green ribbon, saying, "This is a gift you would certainly like, so I am giving you my ribbon. I shall return after the New Year with several clothes for you, personally designed by me."

Éira hugged Mallen, looking forward to wearing the beautiful dresses and clothes Mallen would make for her. Mallen was, after all, one of the galaxy's most distinguished fashion designers, apart from Tiae Vodnay and Cloridy Slater, and of course, Crimson Leeiyor, who was apprenticed to all three.

It was morning now, the sky aglow with a beautiful purple sky and the dance of sparkling snow created via Irina's weather manipulation ability, Irina's special gift for Éira. "Now it is truly winter," Irina said, feeling like it wouldn't be complete without snow. Snow just had a way of making everything seem magical, especially in the way it sparkled in the sunlight, giving inspiration to Éira's name.

Éira stood outside in the snow, enjoying the wonderful feeling it gave her as sparkly snow fell around her. Markerer handed Éira special purple sunglasses that allowed her to see the ships through their invisible cloaking. After giving her a tour of every ship, the characters took turns going for rides in Éira's purple car.

Civic was delighted to learn Éira's purple car was a Honda Civic and that she named him after her favorite car. Raistin was in the front passenger seat while Civic, Valerie, Demian, and Cole were in the back. Éira was the driver, happily taking her characters on a car ride through her city.

"Thank goodness you don't drive like Kael," Tereza murmured, thankful for Éira's careful driving, while Raistin wanted Éira to speed up, saying, "You're not driving fast enough! C'mon girl, hit the gas pedal!" to which Éira exclaimed, "I am most certainly not a reckless driver! I don't wanna get pulled over on account of an overexcited Phoenix" and therefore didn't allow anyone to drive her car, insisting on driving it herself.

The vampires stayed inside the apartment, since it was daylight now and they were unable to go outside or they would burn in the sun. Irina waited until every character that wanted a car ride had their fun before temporarily darkening the sky with clouds so the vampires could enjoy a car ride too.

Time came for the characters to return to their stories. It was decided that the irangels and Geminangels would join the Iredescents and Phoenixes on Tren's ship, the Glimmer Ride. The vampires would go with Mallen on his Csa ship. Merana allowed Laurvellina aboard her stolen ship, which turned out to be a ship from Iredescent's sister planet Maximescent. Valiant, Mutig, and Iriza wanted to go with Éira, who would be traveling on Keth's ship, the Silent Whisper.

"Everyone, say glitter!" Tereza said as she held up a camera to take pictures. The characters took turns taking pictures with their creator.

They gathered in Tren's ship and enjoyed Iredescent tiramisu and desserts, delighting in a Christmas celebration held afterward. Among those desserts were chocolate chip cookies, scones, éclairs, Demian's favorite German chocolate and black forest cake, Civic's Russian Napoleon cake, s'mores made with Crimson's flames, and of course, lots of waffles.

Raistin read the Nativity story from the Bible. He also sang a new Eleven Silvers song called "Iredescent Christmas" that was recently released. He really does have the voice of an angel, Tereza thought in admiration while Éira was happy to hear Raistin sing, amazed by his beautiful voice.

"Iredescent Christmas"
composed by the Eleven Silvers
sung by Raistin Fenice

A star did shine so brightly in the
sparkling night sky

A cheerful merry guide radiating
happiness throughout the world

Gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh
from a faraway land

Even angels came on planet Earth
to sing a joyful song

Shepherds came to see
the newborn King in the manger

The entire land glimmers and
sparkles in celebration

Of the Savior born to us
this wonderful Christmas night

The Iredescent writer and her characters admired the Christmas lights from the view above the Iredescent spaceship, the entire city enjoying a wonderful surprise snow day made possible via Irina's glitter and weather manipulation abilities. She didn't just make it snow; she made the snow sparkle like diamonds as it fell elegantly from the beautiful morning sky.

Éira took the time to hug every character, promising to visit them in their stories from time to time. Valerie and Civic telekinetically moved some of Éira's clothes and belongings into the Silent Whisper while Demian listed out responsibilities Éira would have to settle since she intended to leave the real world. Éira's purple car was carefully placed in the ship's cargo hold, held in place via Valerie's telekinetic force field designed to protect it. Pearl huffed as Valerie telekinetically moved the hedgehog's home into a bedroom designated for Éira on the ship.

Before everyone could leave, Meteoryte said, "Wait! I have one final gift for Éira."

Meteoryte surprised everyone when he touched Pitch's shoulder and began channeling the yellow dust, which was an important part of the Phoenix origin. He folded the yellow dust in his hand, gathering it into a glowing form of energy.

As the creator and her characters watched in astonishment, Meteoryte unfolded the yellow dust from his hand, using it to transport some of the portal's mystical water source into the silvery diamond part of the necklace Crimson gave Éira. It took only a fraction of his ability, but Meteoryte was able to do it in just a few minutes.

"Now you have your own portal and can visit Iredescent anytime," Meteoryte told Éira. "The necklace will act as a beacon towards the portal on Iredescent. All you have to do is touch the top ruby gemstone and think of planet Iredescent's Mirror Castle, and you will be able to enter it through the portal that formed near Iredescent's Mirror Castle."

Éira was beyond astonished by Meteoryte's unexpected gift. She seized him in a hug, expressing her heartfelt thanks and appreciation for allowing her own happily ever after to come true. Tren and Iressa were staring at Meteoryte in amazement, completely surprised to see their son's ability for the first time. It wasn't even half of Meteoryte's ability and what he can do, which was to be fully revealed in his story The Unscathed.

Meteortye smiled at Éira. "You allowed me to give my family a happily ever after. My creator should also have a happily ever after. A real one, not just a fictional one."

Demian advised Éira to wait until after the New Year to become an Iredescent. Éira agreed, letting her characters know she will be going to Iredescent shortly after spending the holidays with her family. They eagerly looked forward to seeing her again, excited to see how she would look like in her Iredescent form.

As her characters began to leave, Éira glanced at her apartment for the last time before being beamed up onto Keth's ship, excited to start a new chapter of her life in the Iredescent world of her creation. She would have to return to Earth to visit her family and settle things, but for the time being, she could finally allow her dreams to become reality.

"Get ready to experience an epic love you only dreamed about in stories," Keth whispered to Éira as he pulled her close, holding her in an embrace.

The warm, comforting scent of tea, cardamom, vanilla, sandalwood, patchouli, and vetiver, with a hint of gunpowder, undauntedly enveloped Éira as she embraced Keth. Looking up into his dark coffee brown eyes, seeing the image of her sparkling steel blue eyes reflected in his eyes, Éira touched the silver ruby necklace, feeling the necklace activate and become a beacon that would take her to planet Iredescent.

The creator kissed her character, ready for the adventure of a lifetime, as the Silent Whisper carried them towards the portal leading to the sparkly world of planet Iredescent.

The End

________________

✨Author's Note ✨

The silver ruby necklace from Crimson is the same necklace on the book cover. It is actually a real necklace my dad gave me many years ago. It's the first and only time I ever received jewelry from one of my parents, and it even sparkles, so it's special to me. I'm not sure what shape it is exactly; I just think it's a pretty necklace. I've always liked rubies even though it isn't my birthstone. Red looks good with purple.

Desserts are truly the epitome of delight. Can't have a Christmas celebration without desserts :) and on Tren's ship. What a dream come true. Éira is so lucky.

All things considered, I like to think that Pitch is right. Once the story is written, it would make sense for the possibility of a character to live outside of their story. Their story is set in ink and is still told within the pages of a book. Plus I like the idea of my characters being able to write their own story and traveling anywhere they want. Would be nice if my Iredescent characters decided to visit the real world.

Also, if anyone knows where I can acquire the Marsianka tiramisu candy or teleport it to me asap, I will be forever thankful. Unfortunately, teleporting to a Russian candy store is not an option.

________________

Music:

"Between Worlds"
by Adriel Fair

"What Child Is This"
by James Dooley

"Celtic Carol" and "Carol of the Bells" and "Sleigh Ride"
by Lindsey Stirling

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
by Scandroid

"Carol of the Bells"
by Transiberian Orchestra

"Overture", "Sugarplum Fairy", and "Waltz of the Snowflakes"
by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky

"The Fairytale Princess"
by Adam Saunders & Mark Cousins

"Girl Can't Help It"
by Journey

"Disappear (Instrumental)"
by The Anix

"Look Down When You're Ready"
by Trevor Kowalski

________________

"Drum Machines of our Disgrace (Instrumental)"
by Circle of Dust

~ an allude to the Black Rose arc ~

"The Black Phoenix"
by The Anix

~ an allude to the Crimson arc ~

"Illumination (feat. The Anix)"
by Fury Weekend

~ a song that pertains to Éira Blask ~

Crimson's necklace to Éira

And of course,
chocolate candy and Pearl 🦔