A Patchwork of Memories

“See you in a few days.” He waved as he left and Hedera hoped the didn’t meet him again. Hedera Helix was a good name.

~

“Hi! I found you again.” Hedera startled at the man’s approach, trying to make it to the tree line before he reached them. “So I give you the name Janus Sunfield. Not sure why you wanted it, but it’s yours now.”

They groaned, feeling the name latching hold and glared at the man whose name must have similarly changed. “I was trying to have power over you. I already have a name.” Since they hadn’t given Hedera Helix away it should still be part of their name at least, but Hedera was probably not their first name any more.

“Dumb way to ask for it then. Enjoy your new names.” He commented, already leaving again.

~

“Hey Hedera…wait” They smirked at the confused pause Fistulina offered before he asked, “Why doesn’t that feel like your name?”

They hissed and cursed without intent, “Dumb human.”

“Oh you met them!” He seemed delighted and familiar with the man despite how little description was given. “That one’s brilliant right?”

“No! They changed my name!” Janus snapped at him.

Fistulina nodded eagerly, “Roman’s too. Quercus, you’ll remember him as. I want to meet him.”

~

Given he was a neighbour to Roman and often encountered Fistulina in passing, he knew there was a human that had learnt to change a fairies name in the giving of their own. It had intrigued him to learn about, but he was certain that such a situation wouldn’t effect him.

There was already a human he had been debating asking the name of. The man had started coming into the forest a few months ago, and seemed to be taking samples of many plants rather than gathering a specific sort with a purpose in mind as humans usually did.

“Are you studying them?” He asked, approaching the man. It was his current conclusion about what the behaviour meant.

The man turned with a smile on his face. “Yes I am, among other things.”

“What other things might you be doing?” The fairy pried.

“Some of these have no names so far as I can tell. I’m debating the theory of names as I try to identify or create names for them all.” He explained.

He looked at the man for a moment. He didn’t seem like the type to trick anyone and was answering his questions honestly, so there couldn’t be much risk that he was the human who had named Roman. “You intrigue me.” The fairy stated brusquely. “Will you give me your name?”

“Oh, sure. I don’t like it that much regardless. I give you the name Logan Astrith, and wish you joy with your new name.” The man waved as he carried on, pausing at some berries further down the path.

Logan had frozen as the new name was pushed onto him. Something so genuinely given in response to a request so frustratingly misunderstood. He wanted to scream.

Perhaps Roman wasn’t as much as a fool as he’d originally believed.

~

Amaryllidaceae didn’t seek humans out, and they never wanted to keep one as a pet as others would. They had taken humans names before however, in order to heal or protect them.

That’s what brought them to now, as they watched a man emerging from the woods with no armour or weapons in sight for the tenth time. They knew that while they’d be safe in the woods for humans, the risks were immense. They didn’t want to see this man come to harm because he didn’t realise the dangers.

“Hey there Kiddo.” They approached, hoping they wouldn’t scare him. They weren’t the best at glamours to appear more human.

He smiled but sighed after looking over them, “Well, it wasn’t a good fit, even if I liked it.”

“What wasn’t a good fit?” They asked, watching as he pulled some scraps of paper out to consider before tapping one and returning them all to his pocket.

Looking back at Amaryllidaceae, the man shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. How are you today?”

“I’m good, but a little concerned for you.” They replied, hoping to be understood.

From the confused expression appearing on his face, it was clear they weren’t. “For me? Why? Have I annoyed one of the fair folk I’ve met?”

“Have you met many of us?” They asked. There was no claim on this man at all which usually happened if a human had met them.

The man shrugged, “A few, but if that’s not the reason, why are you concerned?”

“You’ve no weapon or armour but keep going in the woods,” They explained, gesturing to the path he’d emerged along. “There’s a lot of dangers in there beyond just animals.”

“I know.” He agreed.

“So you’ll be better prepared to keep yourself safe or avoid going in altogether?” They pushed.

He shook his head, “It’s not needed.”

Amaryllidaceae had hoped the man would listen, but they weren’t going to leave him to walk into danger. “If you’re sure, will you give me your name?”

“Knew it.” He mumbled to himself, because clearing his throat, “I give you the name Patton Meadowsweet, and bid you have a good day.”

The man left while Patton tried to understand how their name had just been changed when all they’d wanted to do was keep a human safe.

~

“Why are you here, Human?” It was an intrusion on his nighttime that made him approach the man. He didn’t want to risk his name if he could avoid it.

Fistulina had gone around all the local fairies trying to learn about a man who’d been changing the names of each fairy he met. Given only six of them called the area home, and four had already been renamed, Fistulina was set on claiming a new name for himself, but Ilex was not intending to let that happen to himself.

“Researching the wood. Different creatures come out at night and they’re worth learning about just as much as the daytime animals.” The human happily replied.

Ilex looked around the area, scowling at how the human’s torch scattered light on his trees. “You’re observing nothing, and disturbing all of us here. Go home.”

“I’m extinguishing the torch once I’ve got somewhere stable to sit.” The man protested.

“And remembering what you see to write down later?” He scoffed, “Humans don’t have the memory to do that accurately.”

He turned to him, a curious look in his eyes, “I’m fairly good at writing in the dark after a few weeks practising. You’re not like the other fairies I’ve met though.”

Feeling like he was being criticised, Ilex hissed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They all wanted to change their names. You’ve not even mentioned them.” The man shrugged, but carried on walking a little further away. He was still in view when he pulled a foldable stool from his back, and sat on it, extinguishing his torch a moment later.

Ilex followed soon behind him, frowning. “You know none of them actually wanted that, right?”

“Now you’re disturbing the animals of the night.” The man commented. “But yeah. Don’t known what the first guy wanted, but the second wanted power over me, the third was curious about my studies and the fourth seemed to want to keep me out of here.”

“So why rename them? Why not just refuse?” He pushed, frustrated over not understanding this human.

The man looked him over as carefully as a human could in the dark, before asking, “Do you know how difficult it is for a human to legally change their name without a fairy being involved?”

A mouse had come out, sniffing to find food and a badger family were a short distance off doing the same thing when Ilex finally replied, “Why would that be difficult?”

“When humans make a town or society the rules we create for ourselves get weird. Nobody can explain the name thing to me, only that wanting to change it, and take time on deciding a new one is practically taboo to them. Especially since it was thinking over how we name the plants and animals out here that got me questioning the names we answer to and deciding I didn’t like the one I had.” The man explained.

“So you tricked fairies into letting you change it?” He challenged.

“NO! Well, I guess yes. I didn’t want to be owned when the first fairy asked me for my name, and I’d been wondering about what I’d change it to, so I just tried adjusting the phrasing a bit. All I changed was one word so I didn’t think it would work. Like I expected either for nothing to happen, or for that fairy to own be regardless of how I said it, but something still happened. Nobody at home knew what to call me any more until I introduced myself again.” He explained a little frantically, “Besides, it’s not like a fairy would be asking my name for any innocent reasons.”

Ilex couldn’t relate to the description of how this man felt about names and was frankly tired simply hearing about how complicated humanity had made names for themselves. “Are you trying to make me do the same? Or like, wanting me to?”

“Don’t like the name I’ve currently picked, but it’s your choice what you ask.” The man shrugged, glancing at something flying past them. Ilex knew it was a bat, but doubted a human could identify it.

He glared at him, debating what to do. “If I do, add in that you aren’t giving me whatever your name is as a first name. I like my name already so it can fit somewhere else.”

“Would that work?” The man asked dubiously.

He shrugged, completely uncertain in the idea himself, but wanting some attempt to be made at preserving his own name. “Who knows, but it’s that or carry on coming in here in the hopes you run into the other fairy you haven’t met yet sometime. He definitely will ask for your name though, so maybe do that if you’ve only got one name to try out left.”

“Fine. I promise if you ask for my name, I will try to make it a secondary name or something. Do fairies even have middle names and surnames? I mean I know I’ve given the ones I’ve met them, however the name giving thing works, but normally, do you?”

Ilex rubbed his hands over his face, already regretting this decision. “We have as many or as few names as we’re bestowed by others. May I have your name?”

“As a secondary name to the one you prefer, I give you the name Virgil Starmist.” The man replied, pausing and watching him for a moment though everyone else said he left almost immediately upon giving them a name.

The shiver of the new name attaching itself to him was genuine, but Ilex still felt like himself, and like his name began identically to before. He nodded, and gestured along the path to the man, hoping he’d leave now, instead of actually trying to observe the forest at nighttime.

He did just that, giving a small wave after he’d picked his stool back up.

Ilex was definitely not planning on approaching him again, even if he visited the woods at night some time in the future.

~

“Your name feels the same,” Fistulina whined, throwing himself to the floor beside Ilex. “I thought you said you’d met the name-changer!”

He kicked at him absently. “I did meet him. I just bothered to talk to him instead of trying to get control of him.”

“But how do I meet him then? I want him to change my name.” Fistulina pouted. “I thought you’d make him keep coming back here so I could find him.”

“He has been. I met him last week and he’s been in every night since then trying to observe the nighttime animals.” He pointed out, and had also stuck to his resolve of not speaking to the man again.

Fistulina grinned up at him, before jumping into the middle branches of a tree hanging over them. “Really? I can have my name changed too?”

Ilex nodded indulgently, “Sure, if you’re weird enough to want that.”

~

It was only when Fistulina was waiting for the man to enter the woods that he realised Ilex hadn’t denied having his name changed. All that was definitely the same was his first name and Fistulina suddenly wanted to go back to his friend to test out how his name had been changed.

A man coming down the path got his attention instead, and he immediately rushed over. “Hi, are you the name-changer? I had to find a way to refer to you as nobody else got your name.”

“Every fairy I’ve met got a name that was once mine. I don’t know what you mean saying they didn’t. Are you the last one in the area for me to meet?” The man replied, looking over Fistulina curiously, and holding the torch closer to him.

He grinned widely while shoving his hand into it. “Yes! Can I have your name too?”

“Just to check, you don’t have any stipulations over how I give it to you?”

He narrowed his eyes, wondering if that was asked because of Ilex, but shook his head. “Nope. I just want your name. Give it to me.”

The man rolled his eyes, “Fine, I give you the name Remus Feralheart. People were a bit off-put by that surname, so I hope you’ll enjoy it.”

“Yes!” Remus cheered, bouncing up and down the trees beside the man as he walked away.

He looked up at him in confusion, “I thought the rest of the fairies I met hated that I renamed them.”

“That’s because I’m the best fairy around!” He crowed, before deciding to turn into the bird he’d imitated and go attack one of the things in the fields.

~

Thomas returned to town that evening feeling like he might finally have a name that fit him. He knew he could have filed to change his name through paperwork. It was the normal way for humans to do things, but it took months sometimes for the approval to come through.

He’d also considered simply asking for his friend to change up what they called him, but while he’d been so uncertain about what he wanted to be called, that felt like it would only confuse everyone. Some of his friends had still offered to do that after his second name change, but he’d only accepted their help in deciding what other names he might want to try out.

There were still five other options in his pockets, but Thomas felt solid.

If it ever stopped feeling so, then he guessed he might have to move towns to find some other fairies, unless Remus would asked for his name again if he left it long enough. That was a consideration for another day though, and Thomas wasn’t going to dwell on it.

~

“So that man changed all of our names.” Remus declared to the group, snickering when everyone else turned to look at Ilex.

“He didn’t. We’d have noticed if Ilex had a new name,” Logan pointed out, but got two heads shaking.

Ilex huffed, “Unlike you guys wanting to control him for whatever reason, I didn’t want to have my name forcibly changed, or have a human to look after.”

“But how did he change your name then?” Remus sang, leaning into him.

Roman rolled his eyes, “There’s nothing to suggest that the human changed his name at all. Logan is right in that we’d have noticed it.”

Off to the edge of the clearing the group had gathered in, Janus scoffed, “Ilex isn’t denying that it’s changed and Remus” They sneered the new name, “doesn’t lie. Asking how his name changed is pointless though since he won’t easily share even with us.”

“I asked him not to give it as a first name.” Ilex agreed.

“Come on Kiddo, you know you can trust us with your name change, just like you did before. You don’t even have to tell us it in full, only what the human gave you.” Patton cajoled.

Ilex glared, trying to stare down the five fairies now very invested in learning the name he was given. Nobody showed signs of backing down, and Remus leant so close their noses were almost touching. “Fine. I was given the name Virgil. I’m not telling you all of it though.”

“Okay Ilex, but know you can if you want to.” Patton smiled at him gently, but he turned away, crossing his arms.

Logan made a thoughtful noise, “I wonder if this human is weird for the names he was given or chose after meeting Roman that first time. There’s seems to be a lot of variety in our names now.”