As Sigurd fell, he was reminded of a story about a silly young girl who followed rodents down holes in the ground. The descent was slow and passed in a surreal haze. When he landed, he found himself in a rose garden of sorts. There were blossoms of every size and color, even blue, and they all smelled divine. There were stone paths between the trellises and bushes, set with smooth white rocks that glowed under the moonlight,

It was quite lovely, but very cold.

"What are you doing here?" a quaky voice asked. Sigurd turned to find Aksel behind him. "You've found your brother. You've solved my Labyrinth. You've defeated everything I've thrown at you. You have the option to leave, you know. Click your heels together and go home."

"I wanted to talk to you first." Sigurd said, noticing the tear tracks down Aksel's cheeks with concern.

"You mean torture me?" Aksel asked. "I can't take much more of this, Sigurd. You messing around with my heart. Just leave and let it be done with already so I can drown my woes in liquor!"

"Can you cut the drama?" Sigurd asked.

"You're not taking me seriously!" Aksel said bitterly. "Is everything a joke to you? You don't seem to think my feelings are real. God, just leave already. I can't deal with this. Take your brother and go! Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes, but not anymore." said Sigurd.

"You're so finicky." Aksel stated. "I've done all this for you, I've helped you learn to appreciate your brother, I reordered time, and now you don't want any of that? Wow. Grateful, much?"

"Let me finish." Sigurd said. "I don't want any of that anymore... because I want you, you idiot."

Aksel blinked.

"OK, now I know everything is a joke to you." he said. "That's just mean."

"You're making this more difficult than it has to be." Sigurd said.

"No, you are."

"You're being childish, Aksel." Sigurd sighed.

Aksel, ever the drama queen, fell to his knees.

"Go! Go back home, Sigurd. Stop messing with my emotions." he said darkly. "You don't want me. No one does. I'm the villain. The bad guy."

Sigurd, feeling an unfamiliar pang in his chest, knelt in front of the king and with his right hand, raised the man's chin so their gazes met.

"Cut the teenage angst." Sigurd said, though his tone was softer. "I have a proposition for you."

Aksel blinked, obviously a bit dumbfounded at having Sigurd so willingly close.

"You send everyone back to where they came from. Return them to their original state. Memories intact. Including me and my brother."

"What's in it for me?" Aksel asked.

"You'll come with me." Sigurd said plainly.

"What."

"Come with me and give the mortal world a taste of light." Sigurd said. "We could always use a fierce, determined, generous man like you. Come with me, and my life will be that much brighter."

"You're asking me to become mortal?" Aksel asked.

"If you're even willing to do that for me, after I have been so unfair to you." said the Norwegian man.

"Of course!" Aksel said, eyes wide. "Being immortal sucks!"

"So does being human, but at least we can suffer mortality together." Sigurd said. "Come be on equal ground with everyone else. Come make friends and enemies and brownies and lies. It'll be interesting. I'd love to see what you make of my realm."

"To become human... I'll have to destroy this place." Aksel mused. "I put a great amount of power into it, and I need it back to do something like what you suggest. It's doable, though, and I'm more than willing. Wow, I've never been human before... wait, is this another joke? You're joking again, aren't you."

"I don't do jokes." Sigurd told him. "I wasn't joking when I asked you to become human, and I wasn't joking when I told you that I want you. You're just too thick-headed to let it sink in."

"Oh."

Aksel seemed too astonished to really do anything, so Sigurd took the initiative and leaned in to press a kiss to the king's lips.

Sigurd had intended for it to be a sweet, chaste kiss, but he didn't count on how much he'd actually enjoy it. Before Aksel could do so much as gasp, Sigurd had pulled him in closer and deeper into the kiss.

When they broke apart, both parties were a tad out of breath. Aksel had his eyes half-closed and Sigurd wore a half-smile on his lips. Aksel got up, pulling Sigurd to his feet.

"Well, this dimension isn't going to destroy itself!" he said with renewed vigor.

"It certainly isn't." Sigurd replied. "One last grand magical act to finish it off, hm?"

"Finish? Sigurd, this isn't an ending!" Aksel laughed, tears forgotten. "It's a beginning!"

He conjured up one of his magical crystals, tossed it between his hands and then dropped it to the floor. As it shattered, the world around them joined it.

"See you in the human world!" Aksel said happily.

"I can hardly wait." Sigurd replied as everything went black.

FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF idk.