A Modern Fairytale

The one that got away

Erasing only a portion of history is a tricky thing. Of course, the royal family had always been rather ambitious, and Val's own goals are most likely already much diluted when compared with those of her mother. Why, then, is she now the subject of the nations? The reason is fairly simple: she does everything in the light. Queen Berenice, although notorious for her cruelty, kept her worst deeds underground, buried not even under her own kingdom but another land—buried together with the evidence of her ever having a brother. Val never knew Tallis Echethier existed until recently. She never knew she had cousins—much less who they were.

I delved deep back into time, squinting at the many translucent screens before me in my workshop—properly locked this time. The key to the buried truth lay in Tallis Echethier, the fairy who disappeared. Why did he disappear? That was a missing memory not even my mirror could find—not if anyone who could have witnessed anything was already dead.

...courtesy of Val, whose very act of splitting her own soul had been foreseen to some degree by the late Queen.

"Heh...well played," I mumbled to myself in the empty room. The screens were still flashing—I hadn't reached nearly far enough.

Certainly, Val would be more preoccupied with the false angel named Iefan now. Maybe it slipped her mind, maybe it didn't—that doesn't really matter. Does anything related to the Ginemoux family concern me personally? No, not really. It is only idle curiosity.

Trust me. I'm a fairy.

☆☆☆

People should not in general enquire into what is beyond their reach. This applies mostly to humans, but no less to fairies. After all, these very skies are beyond your reach. I never had any interest in descending onto the ground, but you and your lot would not be the first to try to bring themselves up into these clouds. I can see everything from up here, but what do you know about us, king of fairies? No matter how advanced your arts, they cannot reach where I reign. That is an eternal, immutable fact. As long as you try, you will be held captive by these restraints.

It amuses me how you try. Actually...why do you? It isn't as if she is looking.

☆☆☆

Idle curiosity, as I've already said. Must you have a reason before doing anything? Must you have an audience before doing anything? That vaguely reminds me of a certain other king I used to work for. Ah, right, you are a king as well. I beg your pardon; I've forgotten. All the lands she travels, you see, are quite busy. You really should get down here to have a look around sometimes, though I'm afraid I couldn't be bothered to be your tour guide.

The screens continued flickering for quite some time. I popped a grape into my mouth, all the while watching every scenery that flashed by. The landscape hadn't changed too much in the span of all these years, it seemed...hm, not that it had been too long, as far as the world's geography was concerned. There were only two regions that almost constantly shifted drastically, and one of them was Venethema.

Finally, the flickering stopped. For the next half hour, I watched the same scenery shift over and over again.

☆☆☆

I do prefer to have an audience, you are quite right about that. But not everything I do is safe as a performance. Some things are better off known only to myself...like this thing that you're figuring out right now, King Reginvalt. I say that because—ah, see, you have found it. Indeed, it was Navitusia that swept the fairies away from one another that day. It was us—or I, should I say—who sent that particular fairy to what would later be known as Venethema. I reckon he saw us but paid no attention. Fairies are always this way—proud and conceited, you never seem to see anybody else.

Let me tell you also, though, that watching that same scene of Navitusia sweeping over several kingdoms on land will not answer any questions. Given the nature of what it is, it isn't strange at all for a kingdom in the sky to be moving about once in a while—you must know this. Hah...is that why you keep rewatching? Are you looking for clues as to why it happened at that specific time in history? Are you thinking that even though it could be a mere coincidence, the chances of it not being so are higher? If so, you would be correct. For that reason...

☆☆☆

When it comes to kingdoms all the way up in the sky, I'm no expert. Even so, the movement of those clouds for the past hundred years tells me as much: that the shift at around the time Tallis Echethier disappeared from Mecrisdale was not a part of any regular movement. Actually, now that I think about it, despite being made of clouds, Navitusia doesn't transform any faster than land unless willed by its ruler—just like the time you and Val struck a deal. It must have been deliberate, then. Furthermore, you have made no effort at all to conceal that abnormality. We may live long as fairies, but you—the only way for you to die is if you are killed, isn't that right? Have you reigned all these years? If not, were you already in existence during Tallis Echethier's time? Our late queen may have erased all evidence on the ground, but if you indeed did commit what I think you did, then...ah, there you are, and not at the palace gates. How annoying.

And so I sighed internally, erasing everything with a wave of my hand—even though the fact that you showed yourself at such timing probably meant that you at least had some sense of what I was doing. I wonder why that is. Is it the air around me? Pft.

"Welcome to Mecrisdale," I said to you in greeting, "What brings someone as great as you to the door of a humble tinker's workshop?"

A corner of your lips twitched. If not for how close you'd brought yourself, I may not have seen it.

"History," you answered.