"But what if the Brownies get into trouble again?" Patches asked. "There's no one as clever as you, Elliot."
"Sure there is. Patches, you are smarter than anyone else I've met down here. I want you to be the chief royal scholar. If there's anything the ruler needs to know, you are in charge of figuring it out."
Patches bowed low. "Yes, King Elliot."
"I'll serve the new ruler any way I can," Fudd said. "Though I know with my blindness, I won't be as much help as I want to be."
"Your blindness only helped us to see you better, how good and loyal and strong you are," Elliot said. "But it won't be a difficulty for you any longer."
Fudd shook his head. "There's only one way to heal this curse of the Shadow Men, and that's--"
"That's for a magical creature to give up his magic," Elliot said. "I still have a little of the Pixie magic left."
Fudd shook his head. "No, Your Highness. If you're ever in trouble on the surface world, that magic can save you."
"I'll never be in as much trouble as I've had down here," Elliot said. "I don't need the magic. Just my friends and family."
Tears streamed down Fudd's cheeks. "Don't do this for me, please. I'm not worth it."
Elliot put a hand on Fudd's shoulder. "You're my friend. Besides, I'm still the king. You don't get to tell me no. Patches, how do I do this?"
"Put your fingers over his eyes," she instructed.
Elliot knelt in front of Fudd and put his fingers over Fudd's eyes. The magical vibrations he had felt inside him rose from his chest and traveled out his fingers, and then they were gone.
As the magic entered his body, Fudd stumbled back and fell to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Mr. Willimaker asked.
Fudd rolled to his stomach, then pushed himself up. He put a chubby hand in front of his face and wiggled his fingers, then began laughing. "I see my hand! I can see!" He picked up a spoon and looked at himself in the reflection, "Argh! I forgot how ugly I am." He ran to Elliot, still laughing. "You are a great king, Elliot. Thank you, thank you for what you've done. But I'm sorry to take your magic."
"You didn't take it. I wanted to give it to you," Elliot said, "and to give you this too." He took the crown off his head and handed it to Fudd. "You are the king now."
Fudd shook his head. "Me? There are other Brownies who deserve it more."
"You don't become king because you deserve it. You become king because the Brownies deserve you." He raised his cup of Mushroom Surprise again. "Long live King Fudd."
The entire audience raised their cups. "Long live King Fudd," they all repeated.
Elliot smiled. "It's time for me to go home now." He walked down to his brothers and sister, let Reed punch him lightly on the arm, and then said, "We need someone to poof us there."
Several Elves stepped forward, but Fudd raised a hand. "It will be my honor to send Elliot on his last trip home from the Underworld."
"Just one minute," Elliot said. "Everyone move back." Thanks to the Mushroom Surprise, he burped out the king of all burps. Or at least the former king of all burps. It knocked over the nearest table and melted the tablecloth. "I have to admit, I will miss that," Elliot added. Then he stepped back. "Now it's time."
And with that, Elliot closed his eyes, felt the last tug in his gut, and opened his eyes back in his room. Reed sat on his bed across from Elliot.
"That was pretty cool," Reed said. "Are you okay?"
Elliot smiled. "Yeah. Everything is great."
And for the next day and the next and every day after, Elliot played and learned and laughed as any ordinary kid would. Every once in a while, though, he would stop when he smelled the very strong odor of pickles. And sometimes a pointy brown hat would peek out from behind a bush. And he would know that even though he was no longer the king, a part of him would always belong to the Brownies.
Warning: Any similarity between this story and any actual story of an eleven-year-old king of the Brownies fighting an Underworld war is, believe it or not, a really freaky coincidence. Seriously, what are the odds of that?