journal 🔶 psa from a former fairy

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran isn't unaware of how these journals work, but he's still working out what pages are "public" and which are for his own private use.

Thus, one evening, a sketch of a building slowly comes together, distinguished by its tall stone towers, walls topped with battlements, wrought iron fences, and a large courtyard. The artist pays special attention to the detailing in the texture, making it easy to imagine what materials the imposing place might be made of. To those familiar with the city of Aefenglom, it's clearly a representation of the Coven.

After he's done, he writes in neat print:]

Don't trust the Fae. Whatever else I've forgotten, I know that much.

Comments

[thousandcraneswish]

[ Don't trust the Fae? She is unfamiliar with that term but the bitter sorrow from memory loss is something she understands. It gives her a reason to try out her own journal as well. Her reply is short, tentative, as she carefully chooses her words and they are translated to the universal language with each stroke. ]

I am sorry that you have lost pieces of your memory, and I hope you find a reason to trust again.

[A moment later, another message appears. ]

Who are the Fae?

[noblegarnet]

[Although Ferran has some hope that he'll regain what he's lost—details are becoming clearer day by day, after all—he has his doubts that magical creatures like these will ever prove to be trustworthy. It's such a strong feeling he has about it... something must have proven it to him a number of times.

Being thrown halfway across town by one of those elephant rats hasn't done much to improve his grudge, either.]

Fae are magic creatures, like fairies and those talking animals. Tricksters at best. They don't blink an eye at using anyone for their own amusement, and you don't want to be indebted to one.

[thousandcraneswish]

[ Chizuru is instantly reminded of Kazama and her brother with his description, and her heart clenches a little, wondering if demons are the same as the Fae to him. But then, Sen-chan's smiling face enters her mind. She hesitates, not wanting to start a fight but Sen-chan is her friend. And when they're both in a magical dream realm like this, staying quiet seems to be the worse option. ]

I might not know people who have called themselves the Fae, but some of your descriptions seems similar. And, not all people like that are the same. There are some that think like that — those that don’t know any better — but there are others who are different. Who are kind.

I'm sorry you were taken advantage of and can only see the painful side of such existences.

[archivaire]

[ Captivated by the picture of a place he has no knowledge of, Noé takes a few moments to appreciate the variety of textures and buildings before writing a reply. ]

Is this the place from your world? It's beautiful.
Do you need help? Did you lose your memories?
Did the Fae do this?

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran's response comes a little slowly as he thinks over what to say, although the strokes aren't hesitant once he decides to put them to the paper.]

No, although I've seen similar ones in mine. It must be from another world I've been to, one I can't remember well. But it's starting to come back to me the longer I'm here.

[He might have thanked Noé for the concern if he wasn't immediately distracted by his personal vendetta.]

I don't know, but that would explain a lot. I know I've seen Fae erase memories before.

[archivaire]

Oh, so this isn't your first world?
I've had an opportunity to talk to someone with similar circumstances.
Well, they didn't lose their memory...
But if it's coming back, that's great news!
If there's anything I can do to help you remember things, just let me know!
I'm Noé, by the way.

[ He feels bad for Ferran; it must be terrible to arrive at a completely different world with no memories, after all. ]

Is that so...?
I wonder if there's someone who could confirm that they're tampering with memories like that.
The tea they're offering didn't seem to have any malicious effects...

Sender: Luca Balsa

[allegedprisoner]

Sir or Madam, I'm afraid I can relate to your memory issues, even though mine were most likely caused by a more mundane incident.

Are you still experiencing short term memory loss as well?

[noblegarnet]

If yours is mundane at all, it is more so than mine, yes.

[His, he's almost entirely sure, is magical in nature.]

It's not short term. Specific moments and time periods were obscured.

[allegedprisoner]

I understand that much, sir. I meant did you have short term as well as long term, but it seems that's not the case.

At any rate, you can look at it this way: Whatever you lost might come back to you one day. Perhaps there might be a dream or event that seems oddly familiar to you. Try to investigate that and see if it reminds you of something you forgot. That method's been helping me a little, I think.

[vogelfrei]

It would be helpful for everyone else if you could add detail to this claim.

I have certainly heard stories about fae as mischievous creatures, but your warning sounds like it is based on personal experience.

[noblegarnet]

It is.

[He's still not... a hundred percent where that certainty comes from, but he's unwilling to ignore his instincts at this point. As far as details, he manages to drag a few thoughts out from the fog.]

Kidnapping is one issue, if you need specifics. Forcing others into servitude is another.

[vogelfrei]

[ Well. That certainly exceeds annoying but ultimately fairly harmless pranks and accelerates immediately to the worst case scenarios. McGillis frowns before composing his response. As much as he feels like he needs way more details than this, it won't hurt to be more vigilant. ]

That does help put the magnitude of the problem into perspective.

Considering we are in a foreign domain of magic, we have not had much choice but to allow our hosts to act as caretakers this far. It will be prudent to hold off on offering repayment directly, rather than merely through restoring our own living spaces.

[lethechained]

[ For all her artistic tendencies, Naminé's never really had the privilege of watching someone else work before. Her attention is caught from the first few lines, and she watches with unfaltering interest as the building takes shape. By the time Ferran actually writes anything legible, she's almost startled by its appearance. Sitting up from where she's been bowed over her journal, the girl blinks out of her singular focus.

Hesitant though she might be to socialize with strangers through the journals, she supposes this is probably worth looking into, especially if someone's missing memories. That's not only within her purview as a witch, it's also a matter she's become familiar with firsthand lately, herself. ]

Is that something you're saying from personal experience?

[ The letters are marked out slowly, carefully; they're unembellished and simple but neatly rounded, too, like someone enough unused to writing by hand to take their time with it. ]

[noblegarnet]

[Ferran, meanwhile, is clearly used to writing and has apparently no reason for hesitation, though his response isn't hurried, either.]

It is.

[He knows that, innately. For whatever reason.]

I'm still missing the specifics, unfortunately.

[lethechained]

[ Naminé hasn't got any reason to disbelieve him; he seems about as sure as someone can in text, and he did make the effort to talk about it in the journal to begin with. Still, there's a tiny dot that appears on the paper for a moment's worth of a pause before she actually starts writing in earnest. ]

Have you forgotten them recently?
Or did that happen before you came to this place?

[ Her experiences have been more all-or-nothing when it comes to this unintentional world-hopping business, so of course she has to wonder about a case that might be outside of that norm. ]

[skews]

Those little pest tampered with the tea at tha café, so I'm inclined to agree.

What kind of dealings have you had with them? That you can remember, in any case.

[noblegarnet]

[It's good to have his suspicions confirmed.]

I thought as much.

[What kind of dealings...? Ferran has to pause for a while, trying to think back. One of his strongest impressions helps him to recall the vague outline of one incident... and his ink dots the page a few times on the margins as he considers how to word it.]

I remember them charming people into serving them, only to abandon them to die.

Sender: Jiang Cheng

[legbreakings]

You speak as someone who has prior experience. Is there anything at all you recall?

They seem harmless enough here but I know not to trust it.

[ The monsters of his own world are usually more blatant in their aggression, but he is also a pessimist by nature. ]

[noblegarnet]

[To say he has prior experience is putting it lightly, but that's a detail he doesn't quite remember yet. It will certainly explain a lot when he recalls that he was one.]

They're skilled with illusions, and can draw a person's fears out into visions without even knowing what they are. I remember one pulled people into something like a waking nightmare.

[... so, you know. Seems relevant with the whole "dreamwalking" business.]

[indolentaxe]

[Hilda adds a drawing of a fairy with a big X over it.]

Here, a visual guide to go with the warning. ♥

Although the tapirs seem nice enough? Maybe fae are different where you're from.

[noblegarnet]

[Unfortunately, the chuckle the addition elicits from him doesn't come through in his writing. Instead, he immediately shoots down the suggestion that the Fae here are any different from the ones he knows, at least in intent...]

One of them threw me halfway across town for suggesting we explore the wilderness. They're not as nice as you think.

[twilightskey]

[While he is curious about what that sentence means, Roxas feels he needs to comment on the very familiar image before him.]

Is that the Coven?

[noblegarnet]

[The... Coven?

That does spark some recognition, though it's not a sure thing in his mind yet.]

Is that what it was called? I was wondering if it was significant.

Sender: Zelda

[multidisciplinary]

[ The image of Aefenglom unsettles Zelda a little as she watches it come into existence. At first, it looks unmistakably like her home, Hyrule Castle, which had been destroyed by a great disaster some time ago. But as Ferran continues to add details, it becomes clear that this drawing is of a different castle town than she knows. Why she feels relieved and why the sight upset her in the first place are two questions she doesn't want to answer, and thankfully doesn't have to when Ferran's message appears. ]

Who are the Fae?

[noblegarnet]

Magical creatures that trick and take advantage of people.

[More to the point, though...]

It's what the things that were here before us call themselves. [Or so he's heard. He's refused to interact with them, for the most part.]