Phantasia

“Man, and then they picked on those of us who were too stupid to know any better,” said Joel, “Dragged us down there, had that shadow ghost suck our brains out, proper did a number on us,”

“Exactly!” said Phoenie, rubbing her hands together with glee, “And now they’re close to their goal the illusion is no longer important. The leansídhe served their purpose and now these evil fiends have gathered an assortment of weak-willed victims for whatever evil scheme or ceremony it is they have planned!”

“That ‘Gate to Hell’, or whatever,” said Theseus.

“Yes, it must be a sacrifice to the Devil!” said Phoenie, “And all those poor suicides were…were like a prologue, setting the scene for the grande finale!”

As I expected, their reasoning is flawed, said Faye. It is tainted by their emotions, its holes filled in by conjecture and weak hypothesises. Rather than seek strong evidence they are prepared to draw conclusions based on their ideals and desires.

Yep, and they really are totally oblivious to Ms Chiltern and the others. They’ve got lessons with the very people who’re reporting back to Princess Titania on their every move!

That they have at least pieced together the basics of the demonic manifestation is worthy of commendation, however. I am also intrigued to find out the ritual will be taking place tonight. There was nothing to suggest this from out own investigation: perhaps these humans have their strengths and advantages after all…

Maybe we should just push them in the right direction? I mean, not tell them the truth outright or anything, obviously…

Do not mention Princess Titania. It is obvious she is going to great lengths to keep these people ignorant of what is going on. Tell them this and they will seek to make an enemy of her, and her efforts to secure their behaviour will increase.

A sad truth – Phantasia didn’t need to be a Water faerie to work that out. She restrained her rebellious urges and returned her attention to the human debate, wondering what possible twist could come next. Was the golem behind everything? Was the ghost in the mansion a set-up to trap Veritas with murderous ‘zombies’? Was Godhand going to be behind everything after all?

“Now personally I’d never even considered the ‘leansídhe’ could be involved in all this,” continued Phoenie, “That case was closed when Phantasia exorcised that evil spirit with her special powers. Speaking of which…”

Phoenie moved across the room and stood before Phantasia and Faye with crossed arms and another smug, victorious smile. Somehow Phantasia felt the next twist would be less fantastical than she’d expected.

“Could you – or Ms Delphinus for that matter – perhaps explain to us what exactly a ‘faerie’ is?”

Phantasia could feel Faye’s unspoken mental alarm as their masquerade came crashing down – and about time too! Before she could offer an explanation, the rest of the room chimed in with their own observations.

Chapter 46
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