Secrets and Lies

"Hey look at this," I commented as I gestured at the brochure I'd been reading. "So we know Ynys Llanddwyn is named after the old church, right? It says here the church was built for Saint Dwynwen. And apparently Dwynwen is the patron saint of lovers."

Feebs couldn't actually look at the brochure just then, as she was busy fixing up more coffee for the two of us. She brought the mugs over to the table once they were done, then had a quick look at the text I was pointing out.

Finally she slumped into the cheir next to mine and pouted, "Don't tell me that means you want to go back again today? My legs need a break."

I couldn't help teasing, "I noticed you were walking a little funny this morning cutie, but I didn't think that had anything to do with yesterday's activities. Not the outdoor ones anyways."

Sure enough that got her blushing again, but she also had a happy smile on her face as she enjoyed a sip from her second coffee of the morning.

Despite spending a good four or five hours hiking around Coedwig Niwbwrch we never did find the ruins our witness referred to in their posts. On the other hand we got to see lots of other interesting things, including that tidal island. We could have even gone over and explored the old church, since the tide was out at the time. There were signs though warning against heading over there unless you knew in advance when the tide would come back in. Otherwise there was a good chance of getting stranded on the island.

So Feebs and I left it and went on to hike around Tywyn Niwbwrch instead. Also known as the Newborough Warren or dunes, that was actually a more challenging hike. The terrain there felt a lot more variable than the forest, and while the dunes were mostly covered in low vegetation there were still a lot of spots with exposed and shifting sands.

In the end we'd covered a lot of ground, and even though we hadn't seen any direct evidence of fairies we'd found one of the two spots they were alleged to frequent. And we'd had a fairly nice day with loads of fresh air and exercise, so I thought it was a win.

The evening was pretty good too, Phoebe pointed out a pub in the village, and insisted on taking dinner there. Which proved to be a good call, as that's where I came across this 'Site Guide' brochure for the nature reserve and forest.

Perhaps the only disappointment, apart from not finding any fairies, was our witness hadn't responded to the message I sent them. So I followed up with a second one this morning during my first coffee. This time I mentioned that I was visiting Newborough with a friend, and the two of us were hoping we'd get the chance to actually see the fairies while we were in the area.

"Thanks for the coffee Feebs," I finally said before taking a sip of the fresh mug she'd prepared. Then even though I could almost guess her answer I asked, "If you're not up for more hiking then how would you like to spend the day?"

Sure enough she smirked, "We could go back to bed?"

"Or I still think that bathtub's big enough for two," she added. "That might be nice."

I rolled my eyes as I had another sip of coffee, "You're insatiable. I'd have thought last night would be enough to tide you over, at least for another day or two."

The redhead had the decency to blush, although she was still smiling. Then she suggested, "How about some magic lessons then? We talked about that on Monday, but never did get around to it."

"That's actually a good idea," I responded. "Why don't we have some breakfast, then we can get dressed and you can teach me some of your spells."

She flashed me a wry grin and asked, "Why do we need to get dressed to learn spells? I can think of all kinds of ways it'll be more fun if we stay in our nightshirts."

That earned her another eye-roll, but apart from that I didn't bother to reply. As for breakfast we ended up having bacon on toast. I prepared the bacon while Feebs took care of the toast, then the two of us sat back down at the kitchen table to enjoy our morning meal while we figured out what sort of spells I wanted to learn.

"If you'd like to start somewhere safe and simple then I'd suggest either a stun or sleep spell," she explained. "They're similar spells used for similar reasons, but there's some key differences between the two. Sleep's pretty much what you'd expect? The target reacts like you hit them with a tranquilizer dart, they just crumple on the spot and end up in a deep sleep."

"That's what I used on Owen at that hotel in Westminster," she added.

After another bite of her toast she continued, "How long the target stays out depends on how much strength you put into the spell. Typically it's about fifteen minutes, up to an hour or so. And when they wake the target's going to know they were out, especially if they have to pick themselves up off the floor."

I asked, "And the stun spell, what's that like? How's it different from the sleep spell"

"Like I said it's similar," she replied. "Shorter duration though, typically between thirty seconds to upwards of two or three minutes? Unless you really pour on the power. And the target usually won't even realize they've been enspelled. Typically they don't collapse from a stun spell."

That left me frowning, "What's it do then? When you say 'stun' I can't help thinking of sci-fi shows. Like 'set weapons on stun' kind of thing. But that's more like the way you described your sleep spell."

"Aye," the redhead nodded. "The stun spell doesn't usually knock the target out, they're not supposed to lose consciousness. Instead it just sort of distracts them, as if they were lost in thought for a while, except they're not really thinking of anything. And they won't notice or remember anything that happens around them while they're enspelled."

I nodded slowly as I thought that over, "That sounds like what Jenny Carter and I experienced back in Whitby. Was that what you did to us, stun spell?"

Feebs' cheeks coloured as she grimaced, "Not exactly. Martin and I did use that to stop you both in your tracks when you and the inspector caught us red-handed. But if that's all we'd done it only would have bought us a few minutes to escape. And you would have remembered seeing us in there, even if you weren't sure where we'd gone."

"Ah," I frowned. After a slight hesitation I decided to go ahead and ask the obvious question, "So what exactly did you do? I know we lost a few hours of time, along with some memories. But neither Owen or Cindy mentioned any specifics."

The redhead looked and sounded guilty as she described what she'd done to Jenny and I that night. And as she talked I could see the tension building in her body, especially across her shoulders and back.

"I used a temporary mind control spell," she admitted quietly. "It works a lot like the way hypnosis is depicted in media? Externally it's similar to the stun spell as it leaves the target quiet and motionless, like they've been put on pause, except they can be kept in that state a lot longer. And as long as the spell's in effect the target's highly susceptible to any commands given by the person who cast it."

Phoebe paused for a gulp of her coffee then continued, "I left you and the inspector like that while Martin and I finished what we were doing. Then I had you two ride the lift up and down a few dozen times while we left. And I made sure you'd both forget ever seeing us there."

I was quiet as all that sank in. And I knew there was more, Cindy said Phoebe would have done worse if Martin hadn't intervened. For a moment I thought about asking for those details too, but in the end I decided not to. I knew my partner had changed a lot since then, and I didn't need a truth spell to know she was worried that these revelations were going to sour the relationship we'd only just started building.

"Alright Feebs," I nodded. "Thanks for explaining that."

She hesitated, "You're not... Are you mad at me? Or upset about what I did to you?"

I shook my head, "I was at the time, but not anymore. You've already been punished for that, you've done your time and I'm confident you've learned your lesson."

"Thanks Trillium," she responded with a grateful smile, while the stress she'd been holding onto seemed to leave her body.

We were both quiet for the next few minutes, just focused on finishing our breakfast. Then Phoebe gathered up all the dishes and took them over to the sink like she was going to take care of the washing up herself.

She paused there a moment as she looked back at me and offered, "If you like I could try and teach you that spell? The mind control one I mean."

My eyebrows crept up while I had a sip of my coffee, and in all honesty I was tempted. Even if that sort of thing had some immoral or abhorrent uses, I couldn't help feeling curious to know how it worked. In the end though I decided against it. Or at least, not yet.

Instead I replied, "Probably best if we start with the safer ones? Stun and sleep, like you suggested."

"Aye," she nodded. "Why don't you get dressed then, while I take care of the dishes? Then we can find somewhere comfortable to talk magic."

"Thanks Feebs," I smiled.

Since we'd agreed on a quiet day indoors I just pulled on some leggings and a tee, then I got comfortable on a sofa in the cottage living room. Phoebe joined me a few minutes later, after finishing the dishes and changing into a similarly simple comfy outfit. Then the two of us spent the next couple hours talking and practising magic.

We started with the stun spell, since that sounded like the least dangerous of the two. Although like any tool it could abused. The most blatant example would be stunning someone who was currently operating a vehicle, or some other hazardous machinery.

Deliberate misuse aside, it was a relatively benign spell all things considered. And it turned out to be fairly easy to learn, too. Less than an hour after we began I'd memorized the pattern of strange words. Then Phoebe offered to let me try it out on her, to verify I'd learned it correctly.

"Are you sure?" I hesitated.

"Aye," the redhead nodded. "Go for it. As I've said, it's perfectly safe. All it'll do is..."

Her voice trailed off when I cast the spell, then she ended up just sitting there cross-legged on the end of the sofa, staring blankly at a spot on the opposite wall. I couldn't help smiling as I felt a little thrill from successfully casting my third spell. And unlike the first two, this one had practical uses in dangerous situations.

It took about a half minute before the spell wore off, then my partner started talking again as if nothing happened. "...leave me sort of quiet and spaced out for a minute or so."

I did my best to keep a straight face as I replied, "Alright. Um, what if I wanted to snap you out of it early? Would talking to you do the trick? Or would I have to touch you, like say a tap on the shoulder?"

She shook her head, "Not if you've done the spell correctly. The target won't respond to anything you say, they wouldn't even notice you waving a hand in front of their face. A tap on the shoulder won't wake them either, nor would any other slow or gentle contact. If you really wanted to break the spell early though, a firm slap ought to do the trick."

"One time I used that spell on some copper who got in the way of a Brotherhood investigation," she added with a smile. "He was so out of it he didn't even notice me snapping his own handcuffs on his wrists."

"Interesting," I commented. "How about I give it a try then?"

Feebs nodded, "Aye, go for it. You've got my permission, if that's what you're waiting for."

There was a slight smirk on my face as I tried the spell a second time, and as before it left my partner with a sort of dazed distant look on her face. This time instead of just waiting for her to recover I decided to experiment, after hearing her story about the handcuffs. I got up and moved to stand in front of her, then gently took hold of her wrists and carefully guided her arms up then repositioned them so her hands were behind her head with her fingers interwoven. Next I nudged her head and shoulders backwards a little so her back was slightly arched.

By the time I was done the cute busty redhead was basically sitting with her head and shoulders back and her chest thrust out, as she sat crosslegged on the sofa. Even with a t-shirt on it was a sort of provocative pose, but I only had a second to admire the view before my phone buzzed with a notification. I hurried into the kitchen to grab it, and by the time I returned to the living room my spell had worn off.

"Oi," the redhead blushed as she shifted back to her original position on the sofa. Her cheeks were pink but she had a smile on her face, "It worked then, I take it?"

"It did," I nodded as I opened my private messages. "Thank you for teaching me that Phoebe."

A moment later I added, "Seren just responded to my messages. They want to know why I'm so interested in the fairies, when nobody else even believes they're real."

"What're you going to tell them?" Feebs asked.

I thought it over then decided, "The truth. More or less. I won't mention LIES, but I think honesty will work best in this case."

With that in mind I tapped out my response, "I'm interested because that's what my friend and I do, we investigate supernatural encounters. That's why I won't automatically dismiss your sightings as a hoax, we've seen enough to know the supernatural is real."

Then I added, "It's been six months since Cindy's spells started making the news. Everyone knows magic exists now, so I really don't understand why so many people remain so close-minded about other possibilities."

I sent all that off, then waited to see if Seren would write back right away. And I wasn't disappointed. It only took a minute or two before their next message appeared.

"If you're some kind of supernatural investigator what will you do if you find real fairies here? Do you just document them? Or will you try to get rid of them or something?"

Once again I went with a fairly honest answer, "Document for sure, ideally we'd like to try and communicate with them. If the fairies don't pose any sort of threat then that's it. Mostly I just want to make sure everybody's safe, I'm not here to cause any trouble for you or them."

Seren's reply came back in less than a minute this time, "They've been here for six months and nobody else has even seen them. They're completely safe, they don't mean anyone any harm."

"That's great," I wrote out, "I'd still like to try and meet them, to verify that for myself. And I'd love to find out more about them. Where they came from, why they're here, if they're doing ok or if there's anything they need."

After sending that off I ended up waiting a good five minutes, but it was starting to feel like maybe our witness was having second thoughts. I gave them another couple minutes, but eventually decided to text once more.

"So what do you think? Would you be willing to introduce my friend and I to the fairies? Or at least tell us exactly where you've been seeing them?"

Feebs and I waited a while longer, but eventually I set my phone aside and the two of us got back to the magic lessons. A half hour later the busty redhead was part-way through teaching me the sleep spell when my phone suddenly buzzed with another notification.

"Sorry cutie," I grimaced as I picked it up to check. Then I swiped into the messages app as I told her, "It's Seren again."

"And it looks like they've agreed," I added with a smile as soon as I read their message.

It was short and to the point, "Alright. Meet me in Newborough Forest, I'll be at location post #31 around 3pm."

"Thank you, we'll be there!" I sent back.

Then I looked to my partner and apologized, "Sorry Feebs, it looks like we're going hiking today after all."