Chapter 65: What the Faeries Saw
In an instant the world froze. Kat’s irregular hair settled on her brow as the autumn breeze came to abrupt halt and silence fell around her. John was looking in her direction, his eyes unblinking, while Phantasia was caught in mid-reaction to a whisper that had barely escaped Dante’s lips. But Faye’s hair still fluttered in some unearthly draft.
“Do not be alarmed,” she explained, “I am not capable of manipulating the flow of time. This is a false memory. You will remember this, but it will never have happened.”
Theseus clenched his jaw, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the faerie. He was putting on a brave face, but the twitching of his foot told Kat he was rattled.
“Like those illusions, or whatever they were, right?” he asked.
“Negative. I am not manipulating your memories. I am providing you with a new memory as a means of transferring knowledge,”
Theseus slouched, his façade collapsing. “I ain’t never gonna understand this crap,” he sad with a sigh.
“It will help your comprehension if I inform you of what John Smith said to me when I provided him with the same service,”
“Sure, may as well give it a shot. Ol’ Johno’s got a better grasp of this whole thing than I’ll ever have,”
“John Smith made parallels between this memory implantation and a concept he referred to as ‘downloading’. I am transferring the knowledge I hold via use of this simulated memory. I would prefer a more direct approach, but the human mind has difficulty both accepting and adjusting to raw information. It is likely your minds would misinterpret the information, if you were able to process it at all. Therefore I must adapt my methods to suit your physicality. John Smith called this a ‘downgrade’,”
It didn’t make much sense to Kat, but Theseus seemed happy with the technical jargon. Kat didn’t need explanation, though. Faye had already earned her trust and seemed content with this.
“Now that I have your understanding, I will begin my exposition.”
***
Faye was meditating. Her thoughts were focused on the power Queen Thetis had left her, embodied by the emblem emblazoned across her midsection. It was important she was able to access that power on a moment’s notice. Its original purpose – to dispel Princess Titania’s illusions – was no longer applicable, but with the interference of renegade faeries it was probable she would require the power at some point in the future. Faye had no offensive abilities, Princess Phantasia’s were still a mystery, and Princess Titania’s lacklustre in the face of their opposition: nine faeries, including Lords Ophion and Skirnir and Prince Bezalel, all of whom were at their fourth instar of evolution. Faye and Princess Titania were only at their third instar, and in a straight confrontation would lose, even to just one of their adversaries. Their odds would have been better had Faye more knowledge of battle strategy, but her focus was on intelligence gathering, situational analysis and outcome prediction, with particular emphasis on the motivations of others. She might be able to ascertain how and why an individual was fighting, what their abilities were and what the probable results of an encounter would be, but she would not be able to rally a number of troops in an effective counter-attack strategy, nor budget resources to cover weaknesses while promoting strengths.
A confrontation with the renegades, who called themselves ‘Cethin Sarff’ – ‘Dark Serpent’ – would be disastrous at present, and difficult in future. That was why Faye had to focus and learn to use Queen Thetis’s gift to its fullest potential. Perhaps that had been the Queen’s intention all along.
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” he sad with a sigh.” I think you can see what needs fixing here.