A Modern Fairytale

The emperor's new clothes

Denial is such a powerful thing. I have seen it everywhere, and I have certainly been almost everywhere on this planet. It seems to be most adamant in only the strongest.

But why? What do you hide? Why do you hide?

☆☆☆

Long, long ago, there was a land quite far away from civilization. No, not geographically.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't even a kingdom. While it did have boundaries—however blurry they were—there was not a single individual that anyone could turn to for major decisions. Instead, it was further divided into territories and tribes, each group run by a different system. They fought constantly for survival and scarce resources, and because of that, each group of people had their own form of advanced technology—or magecraft, whichever worked best for them.

"Alright. I will now begin to remove from your mind selected memories," said a witch one day.

Sitting across from her was Floye King, a girl known mostly by her full name. Only her closest friends called her anything else.

Across these lands, two figures intrigued the nations: a fairy-like witch and a witch-like fairy. Liraz, the witch of memories, was one of those two characters. Floye King was not.

After doing her deed, the witch stood from her seat. She looked down upon the girl who now lay unconscious. She sighed, and then made her exit. There would be no point in taking Floye King's memories in the first place if she would wake up and question why a suspicious-looking girl was in her lodging.

☆☆☆

Liraz had lived a long time. She did not originate from here, there, or anywhere. The witch herself wasn't sure where she was from, but she had a feeling not to question it. She kept quiet and she kept her own curiosity quiet, traveling different kingdoms and usually staying in one. Today, she walked around idly across this nameless territory, taking care not to get blown up or impaled by accident. At some point, she stopped and turned around.

"You've been following for a while, little man," said Liraz cheerfully, "What's up?"

She was looking at a young boy, maybe around ten years of age, with simple brown clothing and a gray hat. Once he was greeted, the boy stuck his tongue out briefly—a bit playfully but without malice.

"You seem to know exactly where to go to avoid dying, so I followed you," he said simply. "But...um, where are you going?"

Liraz shook her head. "Nowhere specific, actually! If there's a place you need to get to, why don't I take you there?"

"Ah..." His curious blue eyes rolled to the left, somewhat dimmed at that moment. "Actually, my whole village just got wiped out. Floye King was away for a little while and...yeah, that happened. I don't really have anywhere specific to go either."

"Your whole village was wiped out?" the witch asked, her violet eyes narrowing slightly under her hood. "Only you survived?"

The boy nodded slowly.

"Floye King's territory?" the witch asked again.

The boy nodded again.

"Well, in that case, we should look for her, right?" Liraz suggested, her tone smiling once again.

☆☆☆

Never trust a sole survivor unless you know what they did to survive—in this world and any other, but particularly in this unnamed region. While knowing so, Liraz brought the child along, wading through many streets and some deserted areas. She didn't much care, mostly because she wasn't from here anyway.