65: What the Faeries Saw
“People are opening up to the music,” she replied, “Their barriers are faltering. Auras are starting to blend together. It’s almost like everyone is becoming friends, but..” The Princess looked away from the crowd, biting her lip. It’s not natural. It’s forced. It’s wrong.
“You are correct,” said Faye, “Humans can lose their identity and beliefs in a crowd. We appear to be witnessing this first hand, with Mr Adonis acting as the instigator—“
The Princess interrupted her. “Wait! He’s doing something!”
“Are you detecting an abnormality?”
Phantasia nodded. “There! It was only for a moment, but I saw his will sweep across the audience! Some people’s auras were definitely affected by it,”
“I detect some slight alterations in thought patterns,” said Faye, “Certain individuals have increased the intensity of their thoughts of adoration towards Mr Adonis. Share with me what you have just witnessed and I shall correlate it with my own observations,”
Phantasia nodded her agreement and Faye teased out the memory she offered.
“There is a definite connection,”
Phantasia looked at her. She was gloating. Previously she had questioned Mr Adonis’s behaviour, labelling it as ‘odd’ and ‘disrupting’, but until now Faye had no evidence to support such an accusation.
“Don’t you think he’s suspicious now?” asked the Princess, “I said people were dropping their defences during that lesson, didn’t I? That it looked like he was manipulating people! And you called me paranoid! Said I should stop assuming everyone is manipulating everyone else. That he was more likely to be working for SEELIE as an undercover agent. You gonna tell me that now?”
“Although we must not jump to conclusions, I am now more open to your theory,” said Faye, “However, I must note that those affected by his will just now were all Academy students. Those unaffiliated with the Academy were not touched.”
Phantasia turned her attention back to the audience. “You know, it’s hard to see, but I can kinda make out certain people reaching out to him. I mean almost everyone is opening up, but some of them are almost inviting him in. Oh! There! He did something else!”
Once more Faye reached into Phantasia’s thoughts and plucked out the information she required. This time Mr Adonis’s will was targeted. It struck out at a student, then retreated a moment later. In seconds he had reached out to all of the students, but most had resisted his approach. Things were made clearer a short while later when the pattern repeated itself. This time Mr Adonis exerted more of his will upon each student, skipping those who had failed to resist him before. By the third time Faye had developed a theory.
“It would appear he is testing the defences of the students,” she said.
“He’s got to be up to something!” said Phantasia.
The Princess’s mind would be filling with conspiracy theories and illogical hypothesises, but even the more reasonable Faye could not deny that something was amiss. He could be testing the students, but what reason would he have for continuing his test outside of the Academy? If he wished to evaluate them while they relaxed, why would he engineer such an elaborate show and entice the whole town along in the process? It was his final wave of tests that sparked the most suspicion: only ten students remained who could resist his will – the same students Princess Titania was protecting.
“That’s gotta be it!” said Phantasia, “He’s trying to work out who the potential is!”
And Faye could not deny that was, at least, a possibility.
***
