65: What the Faeries Saw
The meditation was interrupted by a message from the Princess. Phantasia observed Torsten during her free time, searching for signs of the town’s leyline distortions. An unidentified resident of the town held a great and dangerous potential, and at times that potential would affect the world around them. If left unattended they would inevitably fall prey to demonic influence, and their power corrupted. With the help of Princess Titania, Phantasia and Faye strived to prevent that outcome. With the renegade faeries after the same source of power, they could not waste time, and the Princess now reported every little change for Faye’s analysis.
There’s a surge in the town’s aura, she said, Lots of people are moving towards something. I can’t tell what’s going on from up here, but I’ve not seen anything like it before!
It was not a sign of corruption, or even of demonic activity, but the faeries could not be lax in their observations. Faye leapt from church floor to rafters and slipped out through one of the many holes in the roof to reach the Princess.
Phantasia pointed towards the source of her concern. “They’ve moving towards the town centre,” she said, “I think maybe the park?”
Faye closed her senses to the material world and focused on the shifting thoughts behind it. Two thousand three-hundred and seventy-four sentient minds populated Torsten, few of them silent. She scrutinized the mass of voices surging towards the town centre. Picking out individual thoughts in a crowd was difficult for her and to do so from such a distance would push her limits, so it was fortunate that one thought was predominant in all those minds. One thought repeated over and over by a crowd would gain strength and volume overwhelming those thoughts around it.
“They are drawn towards the town centre by a desire to witness Mr Adonis’s musical entertainment performance,”
The Princess’s thoughts were disturbed by the revelation. She had not been anticipating such a revelation.
“Mr Adonis?” she asked, knowing well that Faye would not lie to her.
“That is correct. News is passing via word of mouth at a quickening rate. At its current pace I expect ninety-nine percent of the town’s population to have been informed of this event within the hour,”
“But why would Mr Adonis be doing this?”
“I do not know,” replied Faye. She could not draw a conclusion without information, and at present her information was limited to knowledge of the event and the crowd it was attracting. Sometimes Princess Phantasia expected her to know everything.
“We’ve gotta investigate this,” she said, “I dunno if I’m just intrigued or dead suspicious!”
“You are both,”
***
Two-hundred thirty-three people had gathered so far. Of them, one-hundred ninety-four were under the age of twenty, and seventy-four of the Academy’s one-hundred-eight students were present. Mr Adonis had commandeered the bandstand upon which sat a variety of instruments, most either string or wind-based. Presently he was playing a flute as he danced around the stage. His clothes were similar to what he had worn on Friday: green shirt, brown waistcoat and trousers, and no shoes. His thoughts were guarded well, and Faye would not be able to read them without invading his personal space, but the thoughts of his audience were loud and clear. Too loud and too clear: the audience’s focus on the music was lowering their personal barriers. Only a select few individuals were able to keep their guard up.
“Do you detect any irregularities?” Faye asked Phantasia. The Princess was studying the crowd and their auras.
Not as such a typo here as much as an inconsistenty, you said “Two thousand three-hundred and seventy-four” but then you don’t say and in any other number later on.