#on archfae

“Fae” is used when talking about a group of unknowns, the individual's identity is unknown, or when it's referring to “faekind”—faeries as a species.

(“Fae” is also used when directly talking to a faerie whose name isn't known. Consider it as a sort of “sir!”, “ma'am!”, or “you there!” Similarly, it's a “that man”, “that woman”, or “that person”. It's a flexible, gender-neutral term used by the fae.)

“Faerie” is used when talking about a faerie whose identity is known. That's why Nova is a faerie, not “a fae.”

“Faeries” is used when talking about a group of faeries whose identities are known. That's why Nova, Cloud, and Sky are collectively “faeries.”

Aaaaaaand... it gets way more complicated for archfae. Especially for me, who usually goes by “vibes” with grammar lol. BUT HERE WE GO!

✨ARCHFAE✨

“Archfaerie” is used singular, when the identity of the archfaerie is known... and they're being referred to as an individual, not as their role.

“Archfaeries” is plural, when the identity of the archfaeries are known... and they're not being referred to as Archfae.

(Stay with me now lol)

“Archfae” is used a few different ways:

singular, when identity is unknown

plural, when identity is unknown (aka, generally speaking)

as a title.

Yeah, so, remember how Kilrey was referred to as Archfae Kilrey? “Archfae” is a title, referring to their status as an archfaerie who rules over a dominion.

“Archfae” is comparable to status roles such as “king/kings”, “duke/dukes”, “god/gods”, “governor/governors”, or “president/presidents”. The capitalization rules follow a similar system... which I struggle to explain lol.

Like, yknow the difference between “god” and “God”? “Archfae” works the same way lol.

(Grammar is hard tho and rules like this make me struggle to distinguish whether I should use “archfae” or “archfaeries” half the time lol. Shot myself in the foot here.)

note: this is not a hard and fast rule as for how the terms are universally used, but how I decided they're to be used within my writing and worldbuilding.

“flower divider” by @thyming

Silina: [gives a heavy, over-dramatic sigh as she looks down at the shattered portal in disappointment, her upper right arm lazily held to the side]

[The portal's pieces—both fragments of shattered light crystal and the broken branches that’d formed its frame—were splayed across the floor.]

[Around the archfaerie stretched her grand throne room. Its walls were made of solid white, glowing travertine. The floors were similarly bright: a pure-white, perfectly-cut marble that reflected the light of the room perfectly. Windows lined the walls—with open, pale-golden curtains that shone sunlight upon the room—and were only broken apart for works of art. Both statues and paintings alike displayed none other than Silina herself, all in different poses and situations.]

[Each more grand than the last.]

[Or… all but one.]

[A single statue beside the throne resembled a particular faerie. One with long, curly hair embedded with roses, doe legs, and a mischievous face.]

[Dhia.]

Silina: [looks up from the shattered portal to look down at Valyarus, her lips pursed in an annoyed smirk]

[Valyarus was tall and thin, covered in clean white fur. He had long, humanesque pale green hair perfectly tied back into an elegant bun; a long tail with identically-colored fur dangling at its tip; sheeplike horns, legs, and ears; and an extra, single unicorn-like horn on his forehead. The faerie stood tall, his shoulders squared back, chin held high, and a single arm wrapped around his back. The other held a spear with its butt against the ground. At its opposite hip sat a quiver full of arrows, and an accompanying bow was slung over his back.]

[Typical arrows would do nothing against Dhia, of course. And yet metal-tipped arrows would be dangerous to even Valyarus himself, so they were out of the question.]

[But the bow and arrows would serve a much greater purpose than their simplicity suggested.]

Silina: [still smirking, gives a slight, overdramatic sigh. Lets it leak into her rueful-yet-amused voice as she says:) “ah, well. I still tracked his location while the portal was open. I can get you a bit closer, and we’ll give you one of my emblems to further redirect you if necessary. You heard where they’re headed?”

Valyarus: [gives a deep, graceful nod. He was ever the elegant man—something she greatly enjoyed]

Valyarus: [keeping her gaze with an ever-empty expression, evenly) “North. Toward the clocktower.”

Silina: [crosses her bottom arms to lean the upper’s elbows against them, then put her chin on her hands]

Silina: (purrs) “good~”

Silina: [dramatically sighs, leaning back in her throne—bending it back to allow herself to go further—and throwing out her arms and legs to stretch them]

Silina: (with a heavy yawn) “well!”

Silina: [phases into light to amorphously dart toward Valyarus, then reform and tower above him with a smirk]

Valyarus: [despite being six feet tall, still stands far below Silina.]

Valyarus: [tenses subtly at Silina's teleporting to him, his ears darting back, but he manages to keep a straight face]

Silina: [grins widely, leaning forward to tap her finger against his nose and chirp) “since Kilrey is such a bore as to not make this easy for us—” [flips on her heel to half-turn away from him. Starting to trail back toward her throne, she glances at him over her shoulder and dismissively throws out her left arms] “—I’m going to allow you some of my hounds, as we previously discussed.”

Silina: [stopping in front of her throne, flips on her heel once again to face Valyarus, set down her hands, and grin brilliantly]

Valyarus: [still watching her with the same collected, careful look he most often did]

Silina: [presses her lips together as she fights a wry smirk]

Silina: (to herself) ah, I am going to miss him.

Silina: [only having given the slightest pause, returns the brilliant grin to her lips and sets her hand over the statue of Dhia's shoulder. Continues smoothly] “once again, this is your target. I want them alive—” [pursing her lips, turns to lean against Dhia's statue and wrap her upper arms around its shoulders, lazily dangling off of it. One of her lower arms dramatically goes against her forehead, while the other hangs aloft at her side] “—but, if they have any friends with them—” [spares him a glance to grin darkly] “—you may do whatever you like with them.”

Silina: [pushes off of Dhia's statue by its shoulders and with a bump of her hip; at the same time, half-sighs) “of course, it’s preferable if they survive, but—” [sashays toward Valyarus again, both of her right hands lazily held to her side, and a menacing grin on her lips] “—if the capture is easier with them dead, so be it.”

Silina: [grin turning into a smug smirk, puts out a hip—with both of her lower hands going against their respective hips—and places the upper set against Valyarus's cheeks, cradling his face]

Valyarus: [the tips of his ears lower, face pinching subtly, but stays still as a statue]

Silina: (purrs) “think you can handle that, Vally?”

Valyarus: [swallows, breaths shallow and his eyes darting away from her for a moment]

Valyarus: [but quickly returns his gaze to her, discomfort mostly hidden once again]

Valyarus: (only a slight catch in his voice) “yes, my archfae.”

Silina: [smirk growing, lets her hands trail down his neck and onto his chest. Maintains eye contact all the while, watching his every reaction]

Valyarus: [holding his breath, the points of his long fae-ears drooping to a 60 degree angle. The tip of his spear has fallen, the spear itself nearly horizontal as it hangs at Valyarus's side.]

Valyarus: [has all of his attention on her.]

Valyarus: [and, despite his panic, doesn’t fight her.]

[She’d seen to that.]

[Still, his elegance remained undeniable. It clung to him no matter what he did, no matter how he felt. He always kept a calm façade until the very end.]

[It was so fun to push him into breaking.]

Silina: [satisfied for now, plucks her fingers from his chest to cross both sets of arms. Purrs amusedly) “good.”

Silina: [finally, sighs and flips on her heel. Paces away from Valyarus, throwing out an upper hand, putting a lower one on her hip, and crossing the other two diagonally]

Silina: (all the while, rambled impatiently) “remember: this faerie is incredibly powerful, and they’re very nearly unstoppable at willbreaking.”

Silina: [stopping beside Dhia's statue again, flips on her heel to face him again. Then she wraps an arm around the statue's shoulders and sets her hip against one of its, and finally gives Valyarus a wry smirk]

Silina: [smirking, her ears lowered wryly, continues) “you do not want to give them the chance to, because—” [finally, her face twitches and twists into a snarl. Glancing away to glare into space, finishes) “—they will not hesitate.”

Silina: [eyes dart to turn a snarl onto Valyarus]

Valyarus: [has somewhat straightened himself and restored his previous calm demeanor… though his ears are tensed back, betraying his discomfort]

Silina: [her own ears tensing back suspiciously, all but spits) “they only escaped me because they broke my will, if that gives you any idea of their talent.”

Valyarus: [ears droop further and eyes dart away, glancing at nothing in the distance]

Valyarus: [despite his previous discomfort, a slight, sadistic grin grows across his lips]

Silina: [at the sight of his, can’t help her own sadistic smirk]

[So many things about Valyarus drew her to him. Not only was he an antimagic faerie—an utter contadiction on its own—but the man held an immense amount of grace, skill, and intelligence. He was dangerous: a man perfectly suited to becoming an archfaerie himself.]

[Except, Silina had ensnared him before he got the chance.]

[Still, the man carried many of the traits of her kind. A certain confidence, a disregard for others, and a willingness to do whatever it took to achieve his goals.]

[But there was one thing Silina most enjoyed about him. One thing that she most heavily related with.]

[He enjoyed a challenge.]

[All the more reason he was so dangerous. And all the more reason she was so drawn to him.]

[She wanted nothing more than to destroy him.]

Soooooo... Silina's sure fucked up, yeah? What do you think of how Nova escaped her, and that they've got a history of breaking archfae's wills to escape? What do you think of her relationship with Valyarus?

And now that you've met another archfaerie and had her describe the personality "suiting" one... what do you think? ;D

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

[The nameless faerie stood tall, their head held high, as they approached the semiportal.]

[Its face remained dimmed and distorted, hiding the form of the archfaerie behind—but that was no matter.]

Faerie: [lifts a hooked, clawed arm to tap the face of the semiportal]

[Composed of pure magic—both the nameless faerie's and that of another—the semiportal hummed and vibrated with power. It had no real “face” to it, and the nameless faerie never truly “touched” anything. But, after a point, the air around it grew too thick to push their finger further.]

[With the simple “touch”, the semiportal grew bright and its blur cleared away.]

[Finally, the archfae behind was revealed: Silina.]

[A faerie of light, Silina herself glowed. Beneath that, she had a pale and elongated, mothlike form. Her snow white hair was cut in a spiky bob, her long eyelashes nearly blended into her pale fuzz, and her eyes were white surrounded by black.]

[The archfaerie herself was sat back in a distorted throne. Pale wings spread out behind her like a cape; her two feathery antennae were lowered impatiently; two of her four elongated, segmented black arms were crossed over her chest; and the other two were lazily splayed at her sides. One hanged off the edge of her throne while the other allowed her sharp eyes to examine her talons.]

[Silina snapped to attention a moment after the screen cleared, a wide grin spreading across her lips while her eyes narrowed in suspicion. At the same time, the archfaerie sat forward and crossed her other two arms, her fae-ears going back expectantly.]

Silina: (voice somewhere between warm and amused) “ah! Kilrey. I hope you bring good news about my fugitive?”

[Her voice was simultaneously coarse and smooth, a melodious contrast of faux-sweetness.]

Faerie: [withdraws their hand from the semiportal to bring both to their chest. Not knowing what else to do, awkwardly begins fidgeting with their claws]

???: “You're going to tell Silina that I managed to escape you and fled South!”

Faerie: [ears tensed backwards and hints of stress leaking into their voice) “I regret to inform you that the faerie escaped.”

Silina: [face darkens, grin disappearing for a tense look. Uncrosses both sets of her arms to place her palms over the arms of her throne, leaning forward against it]

Faerie: (at the same time, never having stopped speaking) “If you have the means to pursue them and are still interested in doing so, they’ve fled South.”

Silina: [hesitates]

Silina: [finally, gives another wide, sharp-toothed sarcastic smile, her ears tensed back and lowered as she slowly leans back into her throne]

Silina: [re-crossing her arms doubtfully, gives a dryly amused) “oh, have they, now?”

Faerie: [hesitates for a moment themself, then, uneasily) “… yes. Why else would I say it?”

Silina: [hums amusedly, uncrossing a set of arms to weave its talons together and stretch them above her head. At the same time, her grand, snowy-white wings popped out to spread around her]

Silina: [her ears lowered slyly, replies faux-sweetly) “oh, no reason.”

Silina: [re-crosses her upper set of arms, then stretches the bottom set in a similar manner. Only, this time, she stretches them toward the nameless faerie—or, the semiportal granting them a visual of her—and half-obscures their view beyond]

Silina: (her coarse-melodious voice just as falsely-sweet as before) “so. How did Dhia look when you encountered them?”

Faerie: [tenses, claws—which had been fidgeting with one another—suddenly stilling, then curling together in fists]

Faerie: (all but growls) “Dhia was never here. Your fugitive wasn’t Dhia. If they were, I would have taken their power for myself.”

Silina: [offers a sly, sarcastic smile, crossing both sets of her arms again]

Silina: [ears slyly back, retorts amusedly) “of course. Now.”

Silina: [smile turning into a smug smirk, settles her wings behind her and sits back against her throne. Amusedly) “how did ’my fugitive’ look?”

Faerie: [face twitches—]

Kilrey: [separates his claws to individually clench them into fists at his sides. At the same time, stepped toward the semiportal with a snarl and his ears lowered in anger]

Kilrey: (growls) “and why would I humor your attempted interrogation? You only promised payment in return for their transfer to you. I gain nothing from this, Silina.”

Silina: [gives a wide, arrogant grin, putting out both sets of her arms as though to shrug]

Silina: (overdramatically, clearly amused with herself) “ah, well.”

Silina: [smirking, crosses the lower set of arms to rest the upper’s elbows against and leans forward on them, cupping her hands under her chin]

Silina: (voice condescendingly sweet) “Kilrey, what are the odds we can make the same exchange, but you just allow me to send one of my hunters through to you? No less payment!~”

Kilrey: [face tightens]

Kilrey: [snarling, snaps) “no amount of research material is worth this level of disrespect.”

Silina: [sighs overdramatically—still grinning—as she leans back and throws her hands out helplessly]

Silina: (voice light and mock-rueful) “oh, well. I tried!”

Silina: [smirking, turns her attention to something out of Kilrey's view]

Silina: [raises her voice slightly to ask) “Valyarus? You’re prepared?”

[A smooth, elegant masculine voice—presumably Valyarus's—spoke up]

Voice: (obediently) “yes, Archfae.”

Silina: [once again crossing her lower arms to lean against them, clasps her arms together and purrs) “good.”

[Before Kilrey had much of a chance to think too deeply, a shard of light jabbed into the semiportal like a pick. It then branched out like lightning, cracking Kilrey's barrier, and continued spreading as it tried to wedge the barrier open or break it completely]

Kilrey: [heart skips a beat, but snarls. With a swell of his essence, the smooth wooden floor beneath bursts open. A tree emerges, immediately growing around the semiportal to encase it within]

[A flash of light shone through a gap in the trunk before the wood collapsed in on itself, crushing the semiportal inside]

[The tree remained, its core crushed and shattered from Kilrey's attack. The dark brown bark was cracked, exposing much of the yellow-brown wood within. The once-again-nameless faerie breathed heavily as they stared down at it, fury still boiling their blood]

Faerie: that bitch… trying to take advantage of me?

[But their job was done at last. They’d fulfilled all of their assigned tasks.]

[Well. Almost all of them.]

???: shrieks: “you'll FORGET YOURSELF!”

[The nameless faerie's legs grew weak, then collapsed beneath as they fell unconscious]

Ooooo, did you notice that Kilrey's name "reappeared" there for a second rather than "the nameless faerie"? What do you think of when it happened, and why?

Also, goddamn! Silina immediately realized what happened, huh?

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

[Soon enough, a building larger—and simultaneously more natural—than the rest towered above him. It was constructed almost entirely out of the very trunks of trees forming its walls, crisscrossed branches creating its so-called “windows” and grilles, and a tangled canopy—with more ivy dangling from it all—forming the roof.]

[It looked quite like someone had created a human manor, but constructed it entirely out of things found in nature.]

[The nameless faerie couldn’t deny: it had style.]

[Their feet carried them toward the manor.]

[Its door was similarly constructed to the rest of the building: made of trunks upon trunks woven into one another. Like the grilles on the windows, the door’s weave had created an elegant design imitating those of old humans' manors.]

[The nameless faerie didn’t have to knock, nor open it. The door opened on its own as they approached.]

[Inside, the manor looked far more “human”. It had smooth walls of wooden planks, were decorated with sculptures and paintings, and—]

Voice: (sharp and concerned) “Kilrey?”

Faerie: [startled, reflexively flares their essence as they flip on their heel to face its source]

Byrne: [stepping outside a room at one end of the hall, his hand loosely grasping the doorframe]

[Was he the archfaerie?]

[No, of course not—Byrne was the tavernkeeper.]

[So who was it?]

Faerie: [hesitates, unsure what to do or say]

Faerie: [… and uncomfortable with being watched so analytically]

Byrne: [ears drooping and clearly uneasy himself, says) “you told me to wait here. Is everything—?”

Byrne: [suddenly freezes, eyebrows going from furrowed to raised as his eyes fly wide. Suddenly strides forward at a hurried pace, reaching his arms and essence forward]

Byrne: “Oh, archfae—” [he swore] “—Kilrey, that faerie enchanted you!?”

Faerie: [heart twists, but only watches with wide eyes and drooping ears as Byrne closes the distance between them]

Byrne: [stops in front of them, touching their essence and gripping them by their outer arms]

Faerie: [snarling, quickly takes a step back and yanks themself free from Byrne's grip. Ebbs their essence back, then sweeps it forward with a swipe of his arm.]

Faerie: (at the same time, all but spits) “begone!”

Byrne: [flies back as though flung by an invisible force, shooting backwards to hit the wall behind with a loud crack]

[A back-shaped crater held Byrne in place… somewhat.]

Byrne: [visibly stunned, stares up at the nameless faerie with a wince… but was it afraid, or concerned?]

Byrne: [feebly reaches for the nameless faerie's essence with his own. Voice thick, pleadingly) “Kilrey—”

Faerie: [swats Byrne's essence away, ears low and a snarl on their lips]

Faerie: (growls) “do NOT touch me!”

Byrne: [takes a slow, strangled deep breath. His own ears droop and face pinches as he watches them]

Faerie: [doesn’t understand the strange sense of… sorrow? at the sight of Byrne's stress]

[Byrne was the town’s tavernkeeper. He helped the archfaerie eavesdrop on the conversations of the thralls, keep an eye out for any insubordination, and overall keep the masses content while the archfaerie attended to his own business. So why did they care about him? They didn’t know him at all!]

Byrne: [lowers his head, cautiously draws his essence from theirs, and shifts his earthen form to pop himself out of the crater. Once he’s landed on the ground, looks away and crosses his arms to take a deep breath]

Byrne: (after a moment, his voice thick) “… listen. That faerie did something to you—”

Faerie: [gnashed teeth visible behind a snarl, takes control of the essence behind the tavernkeep to shove him forward, crushing him into the ground]

Faerie: (at the same time, shrieks) “I SAID TO BEGONE!”

Byrne: [shudders, but… painfully clambers onto his hands and knees, then looks up at the nameless faerie pleadingly]

Byrne: (his voice still thick) “—I can’t break that enchantment right now. It’s too strong. If you give me time—”

Faerie: [swells their essence around Byrne, then snaps it shut like a trap. Instantly shatters the man’s will beneath the sheer power of the attack]

Faerie: [breathing hard from anger even as silent tears stream down his furred cheeks]

Faerie: (voice thick and breaking, but angry) “begone, Byrne. Do not return unless I request you.”

Faerie: [then releases their control over the tavernkeep]

Byrne: [blankly looked up at the nameless faerie as they gave their commands. Finally, his control returning to him, silently—and robotically—gets to his feet then stumbles his way outside]

Faerie: [watches him leave, breath shuddering from rage as tears stream down his fur]

Faerie: [once Byrne has stepped outside, magically slams the grand door shut]

Faerie: [struggling to breathe—as a sob and growl simultaneously want to take its place—quickly sets to weaving a barrier around the walls of his—no. Not his home. “He” wasn’t “him”, and they didn’t have a home.]

[This was just a building that contained their last task.]

[The voice echoed in their mind again]

???: “You’re going to tell Silina I managed to escape you and fled South.”

Faerie: I’m going to tell Silina Dhia escaped and fled South.

Faerie: [slowly calms down, their breath evening out and tears clearing away]

Faerie: [quickly finishes the barrier around the walls of the fortress, then lifts their head to look toward a room where an archfaerie's power resided. A semiportal of her power awaited, lingering for the nameless faerie to deliver news of the “Dhia” they didn’t—couldn’t—know]

Faerie: [ears drooping, but slowly rises on their haunches, lifting their head and standing up tall. Warps the region behind their drooping ears to recreate the towering branch-antlers that’d decorated their head before. And, with a quick yank of their power, reforms their body within the room containing Silina's semiportal]

[A dusty, messy study stretched out before them. A fireplace was wedged into the wall of one corner—with an elegant red couch across from it—and a desk sat against the opposite corner. The wall the desk faced—which sometimes turned into a window overlooking the swamp—was mostly blank.]

[Well, besides the bookshelves]

[Oh, the bookshelves]

[Most of the room was covered in books. Both loose—sprawled open upon the couch, desk, and even floor—and packed into the seemingly endless bookshelves lining the wall]

[“Seemingly”, and probably endless. This was the residence of an archfaerie, and their power could warp space to allow any amount of things to fit into a small space.]

[Then there were the journals—filled with messy scrawls for handwriting—and loose papers sprawled about the room.]

[All in all, whomever this room belonged to had quite the style.]

[And yet, despite the room’s grandeur, there was only one thing that drew the nameless faerie's attention: the semiportal hovering in its center.]

[It was a glowing, gold-and-blue oval with its edges wrapped in climbing ivy and tangled branches. The center of the oval was blurred, its glow clearly dimmed, and an outline resembling that of a faerie sat within the middle.]

[Awaiting him.]

[Wait—who?]

So you guys get to meet Silina sooner than I intended...

Anyway! What do you think of the interactions between the nameless faerie and Byrne, who definitely have had no past relationship!? So weird how familiar Byrne was with them, right???

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

Dhia: [still snarling, all but spits) "you're going to go back and erase all memories that I was here! You're going to go back, tell Silina that I managed to escape you and fled South, make sure nobody leaves town for a week, and then you are going to forget all about me! You'll forget I exist, you'll forget I wiped your memories, and you'll FORGET YOURSELF!"

[The words echoed through Kilrey's mind again and again and again. His head bowed and arms folded twice upon themselves, the archfae silently trudged along with no other thoughts. The snow—brought upon the dominion by the wrath of Dhia—was thick, and made it difficult to traverse the grounds of his woods.]

[Wait…]

[His woods? He had woods?]

Dhia: (weakly) "I've given my commands. Now, fulfill them."

[No matter. He had things to attend to.]

[His—no, the would-be swamp was drowning under the weight of blankets upon blankets of snow. Its trees' leaves were all but painted white from crystals of ice; the ponds and streams were frozen over and half-filled with corruptive sleet; and his—no the—lurking dire wolves had been frozen before they could even guard the dominion.]

[Dhia's wrath was whole and complete. Of course they’d known everything to do in order to cripple the dominion's defenses.]

[Wait. Who was Dhia, again?]

???: "Fulfill my commands."

[Kilrey wasn't sure. But it probably held no significance.]

[Far more important was his location: after having tread his way through much snow, he’d finally crossed the threshold into the heart of an archfae's dominion.]

[But… why did that make him happy? Archfae were dangerous. They killed and controlled everything they could get their hands on. So what was he doing there?]

[He had a reason, but couldn't remember…]

[Still, at least it filled him with power to enter. The weak connection he'd felt—like a wire tying him to a much larger body, one which was trying to pull him in—strengthened. It encompassed his mind, filling him with an awareness of a plane so much larger than him. It was expansive, even overwhelming, yet somehow familiar.]

[His beautiful swamp.]

[Wait—whose?]

???: "you'll FORGET YOURSELF!"

[No matter.]

???: [still snarling, all but spits) "you're going to go back and erase all memories that I was here! You're going to go back, tell Silina that I managed to escape you and fled South, make sure nobody leaves town for a week, and then you are going to forget all about me! You'll forget I exist, you'll forget I wiped your memories, and you'll FORGET YOURSELF!"

[He had an inexplicable itch do something. And, now, he both understood what it was and had the power to do it.]

Kilrey: [wells up his newfound essence to encase it around every faerie in the dominion, then simultaneously shatter each of their wills at once]

Kilrey: [didn't even have to try. He had so much power, he could crush anyone's will with barely a flick of his essence]

Dhia: [may have had less essence than him, but they'd managed to outsmart him. They'd found the cracks within his will, then exploited it to break him apart from within. He'd been too distracted gloating to notice their gentle probes]

[A voice so familiar, yet so strange, echoed across all the lands he controlled]

Voice: (booming, commands) "to any and all of you who noticed Dhia's presence tonight: you are going to forget that they were ever here! They never arrived, and so never left! Beyond that: I am now enacting a curfew! Nobody shall leave town whatsoever until a week has passed! Is that understood?"

Kilrey: [doesn't even have to wait for a confirmation, though he—and most others—usually sought one. In a normal state of mind, he'd know all about how willbreaking worked.]

[There was no way to disobey an order given while in that state.]

[Well… not without someone else breaking the enchantment.]

[And, even though Kilrey was far from his normal self at the moment, his knowledge still remained.]

???: "you are going to forget all about me! You'll forget I exist, you'll forget I wiped your memories, and you'll FORGET YOURSELF!"

[Well… most of it.]

[A chorus of "yes, sir"s, "aye"s, and such echoed across the dominion]

[Then, the familiar-yet-strange voice spoke again]

Voice: (authoritatively) "you have my commands! That will be all."

[That only left one more thing for Kilrey to do—although… who was Kilrey?]

[No matter. All he needed to concern himself with was carrying out ???'s orders.]

[And so the nameless faerie continued trudging through the thick blanket of snow. Its source, the wicked blizzard Dhia created, had died away while the faerie travelled. Which meant, at long last, the storm's progeny could be killed off.]

[A heatwave swept across the entirety of the dominion, enveloping the lands in its warm embrace. Beneath it, the snow instantly began to melt, softening and glinting in what faint moonlight crept through the canopy. Water dripped from the branches above, landing with silent plops upon the faerie's fur.]

[With a simple shudder of his body and essence, the scent of burning fur pervaded the air. Then, the wetness ceased.]

[Buildings passed him as his hooved feet dragged through the melting snow. Something pricked at him, drawing his attention to the homes surrounding him. Eyes peered out from cracks and windows of each of them, seemingly judging his every move.]

[All this time, the nameless faerie's head had felt heavy. Something large stretched out from behind his ears: massive antler-like tree branches shaped like a crown. They weighed him down, and he couldn’t help thinking they were to blame for the endless eyes' ire.]

[Well, that was a simple fix. Just as quickly as he evaporated the droplets from his fur, the nameless faerie warped his branch-antlers away.]

[Lifting his head higher, the faerie continued. His mind might not have known or understood his path, but his hooved feet had absolute confidence in their steps.]

[He supposed he’d find out himself where he was going.]

[Soon enough, a building larger—and simultaneously more natural—than the rest towered above him. It was constructed almost entirely out of the very trunks of trees forming its walls, crisscrossed branches creating its so-called “windows” and grilles, and a tangled canopy—with more ivy dangling from it all—forming the roof.]

[It looked quite like someone had created a human manor, but constructed it entirely out of things found in nature.]

[The nameless faerie couldn’t deny: it had style.]

[Their feet carried them toward the manor.]

[Its door was similarly constructed to the rest of the building: made of trunks upon trunks woven into one another. Like the grilles on the windows, the door’s weave had created an elegant design imitating those of old humans' manors.]

[The nameless faerie didn’t have to knock, nor open it. The door opened on its own as they approached.]

[Inside, the manor looked far more “human”. It had smooth walls of wooden planks, were decorated with sculptures and paintings, and—]

Voice: (sharp and concerned) “Kilrey?”

And so we find out what happened to Kilrey as a result of Nova's brainwashing...

What do you think of its effects? How Kilrey's slowly forgetting everything he was instructed to? And does it paint Nova's actions at the end of 2-2 in a different light?

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

(credits are displayed alongside alt text)

So, obviously this is nowhere near exactly how Kilrey looks, but yeah! His design was, I suppose, a mix between a satyr, the pop culture "deer-wendigo", and general nature fae spirit!

Kilrey is a faerie with the “nature” domain, and a special emphasis put on forestry (plants, wood, and earth). His elongated, body-horror design was inspired by my particular love for horrifying faeries and the fact that he's an archfaerie, which I purposely over-design to be inhuman.