36: Imperfect Recall, part I
Elone had her back turned to the group, as if she were trying her best to pull away from them and run towards the throne. Her aura stretched out towards the tribe’s leader, longing to connect to his own, but it was just one of many vying for attention he wasn’t prepared to give as he basked in the adoration. If only Elone knew how futile her feelings were! Phantasia watched her carefully as she made her next inquiry.
“Maybe they’ve seen something weird but they’ve forgotten it!”
Elone’s attention diverted for a second, but then snapped back to the subject of her desire with renewed vigour, as if she were straining to resist the thoughts popping into her head. At times like these Phantasia wished she had the mind-reading power of a Water faerie.
Vincent snorted contempt but before he could say anything Shelley’s tiny voice stammered to life.
“I remember something,”
The meek girl sat in the shadows of her peers, eyes downcast. Vincent looked as if he were about to kick her over to Phantasia, disowning the tag-along like unwanted trash.
“I-I’d rather not talk about it here,” she added, thumbs twiddling as the glares of the others weighed down upon her. Phantasia smiled and, taking Shelley by the hand, skipped out to the front of the Gallery where the penetrating sight of the Hawks couldn’t disturb them. The change in Shelley’s aura was instantaneous.
“It’s so much nicer out here!” she blurted, standing on the edge of the shelter and lifting her hand into the rain, “It’s so stuffy and uncomfortable in the Gallery and everyone’s posing and looking at you funny and… And…”
Phantasia stood next to her and held her own hand out. “You gotta stand up for yourself,” she said, “Stop letting those jerks push you around already!”
Shelley blushed and looked up at Phantasia, eyes sparkling with misplaced admiration. “If I tell you this, you won’t tell anyone else will you?”
“Not a soul,” said Phantasia, clasping Shelley’s hand.
“I don’t think everything’s right,” she said, “I’ve spoken to mother about it and she says someone is trying to mess with my memories. I was arrested by Godhand and rescued by Mr Haan but I don’t remember it very well and everyone says Godhand was destroyed by a gas explosion when it wasn’t like that at all and then there’s this dream where you save me from a demon and other dreams too, and monsters and demons and shadows and I know it’s not all made up because my mother is a famous witch!”
Well that was unexpected! Phantasia smiled to herself, happy in the knowledge that maybe the erratic magic wasn’t fooling everyone.
“That’s pretty much spot on!” she said, “I thought everyone’d forgotten!”
“They do,” said Shelley, “That’s…that’s why I can’t say anything. They’ll think I’m a psychopath like they do with Dante. Poor Dante… He was the only person who wasn’t afraid of the truth and everyone tore him apart! It’s not fair!”
“Don’t worry, I’m making it right,” said Phantasia, “Just you watch me,”
***
With one avenue of investigation ticked off the list with surprising results, Phantasia moved on to the next. Dressed in a bright yellow raincoat, John Smith was standing at the bottom of a tall mast located near the centre of town, studying data on his laptop. When Phantasia announced her presence to the oblivious boy, he almost dropped his computer in shock.
“I’ve really got to get this motion detection fixed,” he said.
“Are you fixing something again?” she asked.
That should be motion detector fixed.
‘Motion detection’ would be the function of a motion detector, so I think it makes sense as written. (Though I suspect he probably did mean to write ‘motion detector’.)
It was meant to be ‘detection’ rather than ‘detector’ XD