Mei Ruan May 21th,20XX

Heloise walked through the streets as casually as the residents of the town; it was clear that she had been here multiple times. She ducked into a stall on the left side of the road and I was forced to follow after her.

The scents of freshly roasted beasts and grilled vegetables enticed my nose and I had to restrain myself from purchasing a few of them. It wouldn’t do to eat while I was technically escorting her highness.

She had changed her appearance to one of a black-haired teenager, and her wings had taken on a blue and green theme, similar to that of Cai’s when I had first met him.

I’d eaten yesterday so I technically didn’t need to eat for another two or three days, but that’s didn’t do much to abate the craving.

“Ruan. You brought money right?”

I silently handed over the coin pouch I had just put away and tried my best to suppress my hunger as she essentially bought out the whole store. She pushed the ten bags worth of food into my arms and set off again, weaving through the crowd of fairies that clogged up the road.

While this place wasn’t as populated as the capital it was still a hassle to get through the crowd without dropping anything. It did give me an idea for a new way to train my soldiers though.

I tried to stay as positive as I could while I tried my best to keep up with the Queen.

She had done such a good job at hiding her magic and appearance that no one noticed a royal was in their presence. But people still naturally gave way to her and all the people she talked too replied much more subserviently than they would have to others.

Cai never really left the palace except when he went out with me, and even then I tended to favour more controlled environments so I could guarantee his safety. It was fascinating to see the effects of royalty even without the obvious overwhelming magic.

We flew around the streets for a while with no clear destination in mind, or maybe she had one and had just chosen not to tell me.

She came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the street and stared at an old fairy.

I stopped and stared as well, but for a different reason than she.

The fairy looked old, which was a rarity in the fairylands. Fairies did age, but it was rare for it to show on the outside appearance. In fact, rather than rare I would have said that it was impossible if I didn’t see such a case in front of myself.

The second thing that caught my attention was that he was wingless. He walked with confidence down the road of flying fairies, dodging and weaving the opposite traffic like a dance. He moved his cane in synchronization with his legs and although his arms were burdened with the equipment it didn’t inhibit his movements in the least.

The old fairy suddenly looked back in our direction and seemed to make eye contact with Heloise. The two sustained their positions for a while before the old fairy suddenly threw the equipment in his arms onto the ground and took off in a run.

“Ah, so he hadn’t changed after all.”

Heloise still spoke in that level and unperturbed tone, but her eyes narrowed by the slightest bit and her wings twitched in… excitement.

“Try to keep up with me Ruan. I have a bug to catch.”

She took off like a bullet and I was left juggling the bags in my arms and trying to keep up with her. It was as I stopped to pick up the things the old fairy had left behind that I recalled the final expression on his face before he took off.

It had been a splendid mix of surprise, a little sprinkle of happiness and a heavy helping of horror.

I became even more curious about the man that could show such an expression to the queen of the fairies.

Sparrow Truman May 21th,20XX

“Derela”

“Derela Sparrow”

“Derela!”

I walked through the halls in a daze, and everything around me felt like a scene out of a nightmare.

Things I knew but didn’t remember, people I remembered but didn’t know. The looks on their faces as I passed them,

Fear, admiration, caution.

I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I alone inspired those emotions in people.

The colours of the place assaulted my eyes as I walked past buildings and people, bloody reds and vibrant blues, electric yellows and neon greens, pink leopard prints and orange snake scales. It was a lot to compute.

I brushed past a butcher shop where the matron was dissecting a magical beast for parts and had the misfortune of making eye contact with the beast as it breathed its last.

I felt sick. Incredibly, horrendously sick. I couldn’t go on like this.

I dodged into an alleyway and felt the acidic burn of stomach acid scald my throat. My breathing was heavy and loud as I tried to gather myself and walk away from the mess I had created but every time I looked at it I would simply add to the mess.

My legs were wobbly, and my head hurt. I was in no shape to use magic to clean up after myself or even to move.

I startled as I felt a hand stretch across my back and gently comfort me but was too tired to acknowledge it.

“There, there. You see why I kept reminding you to maintain your memories?”

The sickly-sweet voice, the cloying smell of that perfume, the glaring red hair that hurt my eyes as she walked in front of me to clean up.

“Ru- Rubella. What did you do to me?”

She laughed, a light but hollow sound, and shone a bright smile at me in my wretched state.

“Don’t be so paranoid dear, I'm sure it's because of the backlash. Oaklyn was always known to be a paranoid soul. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of it was passed down to you. Come here.”

She drew me into her arms, messy as I was and began to stroke my hair, taking advantage of my weakened state to lull me into an unwilling sleep.

“Just take a short nap and I promise it’ll all be over soon.”

The temptation to give in to her spell and to forget everything again was so sweet I could almost taste it, but the bitter taste of bile quickly brought me back to my senses.

Not this time.

This time… I had to wake up and face the music.