Secrets and Lies

"Our world doesn't really have a single name," Brighid said as she gave Phoebe and her phone a wary look. "At least none that I know of."

Sirona added, "We just called it home."

"I heard some of the bigger fae refer to it as Otherworld," Treasa chimed in. Then the brunette fairy frowned at Feeb's phone and asked, "Is that really necessary?"

I gave the fairies an apologetic look as I nodded, "I gave you my word the recordings won't be made public. We do need them for our own records though."

"So how'd you lot end up here on Earth then?" Phoebe asked, in an effort to get the interview back on track.

She and I were both sitting atop that low row of stones that allegedly dated back eight to ten centuries ago. We both had our phones out, although for now Feebs was the one doing the recording. I was supposed to be the one asking questions, but I didn't mind her helping out. Honestly it was good that she was keeping things on track, so we wouldn't run out of time.

When we first met them on Wednesday the fairies said they'd answer our questions after Morwenna's big announcement, but they didn't specify how long after that we'd have to wait. Which turned out to be two full days. Basically they told us to come back Friday at dusk, so we could do the interview just before Morwenna and Carys arrived for the teen's transformation.

Phoebe and I weren't too happy about waiting that long, but at least they hadn't put us off completely. Plus it meant we had two relatively quiet days to ourselves, which wasn't so bad either. We ended up dividing our time between more magic studies and practice, and plenty more intimate moments in the bedroom. And the bathroom. And once or twice in the kitchen too.

The downside was now that we'd finally begun the interview our time was rather limited. We only had until the two sisters arrived. And there'd be no opportunity for a follow-up, at least not on this trip. We had to be out of the cottage by eleven o'clock Saturday morning, as the place was booked solid from tomorrow afternoon clear through until April.

"We overheard some other fairies talking about a strange occurance in the woods near our home," Brighid's words brought my focus back to the three fairies again. "So the five of us went to investigate."

Treasa added in a teasing voice, "Not that we're official supernatural investigators or anything."

"We were just curious," Sirona concluded. "And what we found was very curious indeed!"

Brighid elaborated, "It was like a big glowing shimmering ball of impossible light, that wasn't really light. It floated and pulsed and flickered."

"It was obviously magic," Sirona chimed in again, "But like nothing we'd ever seen before."

Treasa sighed, "So we moved closer to try and figure out what it was. And next thing we knew it sucked us all inside."

"That was most unpleasant," Brighid stated, while the other two nodded in agreement. "I can't even begin to describe what it was like. Other than to say I hope we never experience anything like it again."

She seemed to suppress a little shudder before adding, "It spat us out in front of a similar glowing floating thing, so we hurried to get as far from that one as we could!"

Sirona elaborated, "We immediately knew we were very far from home. There was a building nearby like we'd never seen before. And strange plants and trees around. We kept moving further away from the...thing. Until eventually we found a fence made of metal chain and sharp blades."

"The humans call it chain-link and razor-wire," Treasa interrupted. "We didn't know that at the time. Nor did we know about their loud deadly weapons..."

The expressions on all three of their little faces grew dark at that point.

I sighed, "Phoebe and I will understand if you don't want to talk about this. But if you're up for it, perhaps you could tell us what happened to your lost sister?"

After a slight hesitation Treasa spoke up again, although she kept her voice down. And while she spoke the other two appeared upset and angry.

"The fence didn't mean anything to us, the holes in the chain were big and it wasn't even that tall? It wasn't magic either, there was nothing to stop us passing through or above it. Still, we followed along the perimeter for a time, before spotting someone obviously on guard duty."

She continued with a sigh, "He was clearly dressed in some sort of uniform, and carrying what we now know is called a 'rifle'. At the time we had no idea what it was, but we could tell it wasn't magic so we didn't think it could hurt us. After some discussion our sister Ethne volunteered to try and speak with him. She moved closer and barely began to introduce herself. The man seemed to panic at the mere sight of her. And without so much as a word, he raised his weapon. It made a terrible loud noise, and our sister was gone."

"The rest of us fled back into the nearby woods after that," the fairy admitted sadly. "Since then we won't even reveal ourselves if there's a man around. They're too timid and unpredictable, and they panic so easily. Even most human women we've seen on this world appear too anxious or uptight for us."

Brighid commented quietly, "We learned a terrible costly lesson that day, but one that has kept the rest of us safe ever since."

I let out a long deep sigh and shook my head, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Aye," Phoebe nodded in agrement.

We were all quiet for a minute after that, out of respect for their fallen sister.

Then I moved on to my next question, "So you eventually encountered Carys and decided she was safe, then followed her home?"

"We realized we needed a friend among the humans," Brighid responded.

She and the other two went on to explain how they explored the countryside first, and upon finding the river they chose to follow it upstream. That led them to the lock and weir pool at Sandford, and they ended up staying there on the island for a while. They told us their side of the story of how they met Carys, which lined up pretty well with what she'd told Phoebe and I on Wednesday. And when she kept returning week after week to visit them, that convinced the four of them that she was the right kind of person for them to befriend.

From there the fairies told us how they followed Carys back to her shared flat in Oxford, and in doing so they admitted that fairies were capable of natural invisibility. Which is a great skill to have when you want to stay hidden. They hadn't known about Carys' flatmates until they arrived, and that put a little wrinkle in their plans. But it gave them the opportunity to observe and listen, which was how the four of them learned to speak English.

"Since coming here we've also learned to speak Welsh," Treasa added. "We started picking up bits and pieces by observing people visiting the forest over the summer, then Morwenna taught us more of the language after we befriended her."

Brighid suddenly looked in the direction of the hiking trail and added, "Speaking of, I think she and Carys are almost here."

I stifled a sigh since that meant the interview was just about over. On the other hand Feebs and I weren't going anywhere just yet, we'd be sticking around to document this big magic ritual they had planned.

Sure enough I spotted the two Welsh girls a few seconds later, as they approached through the woods. When they got closer though it became obvious something was wrong. The trans teen had clearly been crying, while her older sister looked stressed.

"Morwenna what's wrong?!" Sirona demanded as she and her sisters flew towards their friend.

A streak of light emerged from somewhere under the stones Phoebe and I were sitting on and shot out towards the younger girl, where it resolved into the fourth fairy. We'd been told Derdriu was too shy to be interviewed, but her concern for Morwenna obviously outweighed anything else.

The ravenette fairy flew a couple tight circles around the teen as she asked, "Are you ok? What happened?"

Carys answered bitterly, "I convinced her to come out to our parents. It was a disaster, just like she said."

"I'm sorry sis," the coed added as she pulled the teen into a tight hug. "You were right, I should have listened to you."

Morwenna returned the hug, then wiped her eyes before mumbling "It's alright Carys, I get why you thought it was important. And at least now we know for sure how they feel about it."

The older girl sighed, "I suppose. It's going to take a long time before I forgive them though."

"Just don't be too hard on them," the teen responded. "And don't blame yourself, ok? I'd be going ahead with this regardless."

Sirona asked after a brief hesitation, "Does that mean you still wish to join us? You still want to become our fifth sister?"

Morwenna nodded as she answered firmly, "I do. Very much so."

"Then let's not waste any more time!" Brighid stated. "Places, everyone!"

"Yay! It's time!" Derdriu cheered as she shot up into the air and did an excited twirl.

Meanwhile Brighid told Phoebe and I, "You two may stay and watch, so long as you don't interfere. Just sit there and keep quiet."

"Same with you Carys," she added to the older sister. "Why don't you have a seat with those two?"

Carys pulled the teen into another tight hug first. "Good luck little sister. I hope this brings you all the happiness and joy you deserve."

Morwenna hugged the older girl back as she responded, "Thank you Carys. For everything."

"Here," the trans girl added when the two sisters finally parted. She handed over her phone and wallet as she said, "You've already got all my passwords and PINs. I won't be needing any of that stuff anymore."

That more than anything else seemed to bring the tears to Carys' eyes. She sniffed a few times as she finally joined my partner and I sitting on the remains of the old stone wall. From that point things actually seemed to progress a lot faster than I'd expected. Phoebe and I had our phones out to video the ritual, and Carys pulled hers out too so she could record it for herself.

Morwenna stood a few meters away from the rest of us, while the four fairies took up positions hovering in the air around her. I wasn't positive, but something told me they were in the four cardinal positions, with Brighid at the north, Sirona to the east, Treasa at the south, and Derdriu to the west.

I also noted Brighid seemed to be in charge of things, or at least she did most of the talking. There was a mix of English, Welsh, and one or two other languages I didn't understand, but it was enough to get the gist of it. The fairies invoked some sort of elemental or nature spirits, and may have paid homage to a god or goddess as well.

Finally the blonde fairy asked, "Do you Morwenna Morgan truly wish to join our fair family? Do you wish to become our fifth sister? Do you wish to give up your human life entirely, and become Tylwyth Teg for now and forever?"

"I do," Morwenna replied. "With all my heart and soul."

"Very well," Brighid intoned. "Then so mote it be."

At that point the four fairies began quietly chanting, but the words were clearly not meant for human ears to perceive. At the same time the four of them started moving, slowly at first. Rather than remaining in the four cardinal points they began to circle the teen in a clockwise direction.

Over the next couple minutes the chanting grew both louder and faster, as did the speed the fairies were moving. In fact the mood quickly seemed to shift from serious ritual to something a little more frantic. Not long after that the fairies blurred into four bright streaks of light, circling faster and faster around Morwenna as their words likewise blurred into a high-pitched whirring sound.

That lasted another few seconds before the whole thing seemed to reach its peak. There was a brief flash of light, then all four fairies shot off in different directions as if flung outwards by their own momentum. At the same time Morwenna herself seemed to vanish entirely, leaving her clothes hanging empty in mid air for a moment. Then they crumpled to the ground in a little heap.

"Sis!" Carys gasped in alarm as she stared at the spot where the trans teen had been standing. It looked like she was holding back tears as she asked, "Where is she, where did she go?!"

Treasa flitted past us at that point, on her way to the pile of clothes. Her flying was slow and she actually looked weary. She sounded tired too when she responded, "Don't worry Carys. Morwenna's fine. She's one of us now."

"Just give us a moment," Sirona added, sounding equally tired as she also flew down towards Morwenna's clothes.

Brighid and Derdriu joined the others, and all four of them disappeared together into the discarded clothing. When they emerged a half minute later, there was a fifth fairy with them.

The new one was about the same height as the others, but looked a little younger, like a teen compared to the other four. Her long wavy hair was a vibrant auburn, very much like Carys'. In fact despite being so much smaller, it was easy to see the resemblance between the new fairy and the young woman.

On the other hand she was tiny now, and had dragonfly wings emerging from her back, just like the other fairies. She was also wearing a matching white gossamer gown, that the others must have put on her before she emerged from the pile of her old clothes.

Beyond all that though, the most notable thing was the huge happy smile on her face. She was absolutely beaming with joy when she looked over towards where the rest of us were sitting.

Morwenna's voice was much higher in pitch as she announced, "I'm ok Carys! Better than ok! I've never felt this right or this comfortable or this happy before!"

"I'm glad sis," Carys replied with a bittersweet smile, and a few more tears. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you!" Morwenna replied, as her wings fluttered behind her.

Then Brighid announced, "Alright that's it for tonight. We're all tired now, and we need to take care of our new sister. There's much she needs to learn. Carys, you may visit again in a few days."

With that the four original fairies surrounded their newest family member, then the five of them blurred into bright streaks which quickly faded away. And with the ritual over both Phoebe and I finally tucked our phones away, while Carys started slowly gathering up her sister's discarded clothes.

"Are you going to be ok?" I asked as I gave her a compassionate look.

She sniffed but nodded, "I'll be fine. Morwenna and I... She spent the last two days preparing me for this. And I know she's happy now. That's the main thing."

"Aye," Feebs responded quietly.

Before parting ways I offered Carys one of my new LIES business cards and said, "If you need anything here's how you can reach me. Even if you just want to talk to someone who knows you're not crazy."

"Thank you," she accepted the card with a weak smile.

Then she turned and set off for home, while Phoebe and I began quietly making our way back to the cottage.

After a few minutes the busty redhead commented, "Not sure how I feel about this one."

"Same," I agreed.

"I'm going to count it as a win though," I added after a long pause. "Nobody died, we didn't have to deal with blood-thirsty monsters or mind-bending undead. And the 'victim', if you can call her that, is extremely happy with the outcome."

Feebs seemed to think that over for a few moments before nodding slowly, "Aye. I can't argue with any of that."

• • • • •

"I dunno about you," Phoebe grumbled as the two of us trudged up the stairs to our flat, "But I've had enough bloody travelling. I'm so glad Dr. Bishop decided to close up shop until the new year."

I agreed, "It'll be nice to have some proper time off. Although I'm still going to write up our case report tomorrow, even if it's not due for another two weeks."

It was only about seven o'clock Saturday night, but after spending another long day on the road neither of us was feeling terribly energetic. So as soon as we were inside we both just dumped our travel bags on the floor for now, like we'd both decided unpacking and laundry could wait until later.

Instead Phoebe went over to the sideboard next to her entertainment unit while I slumped onto the sofa. The cute redhead poured a couple glasses of Scotch, then handed me one before sitting down next to me.

I thanked her for the drink then commented, "At least this case had a positive outcome. Or somewhat positive, I know we both have some mixed feelings about it."

"Still," I added, "It's refreshing to know they're not all going to be full of murder and nastiness."

The cute redhead had a sip of her drink then sighed, "Aye."

"Owen and Grace had a peaceful one back in November," she reminded me. "While Martin and I were hunting that bloody monster with you and the inspector in Yorkshire, the pair of them had that friendly succubus and wolfby in the Lakes District."

I nodded slowly, "True. That's what, two positive cases versus three nasty ones? I suppose I shouldn't complain too much about that ratio."

Feebs gave me a look, "Not unless you want to jinx things. It can always get worse."

Before I had a chance to reply we were both surprised by a sharp knock at our door. The two of us glanced at each other, but that was enough to confirm neither of us were expecting anyone.

"I'll get it," I volunteered as I got to my feet.

I set my tumbler down on the coffee table then made my way back to the door. Phoebe decided to accompany me anyways, she had another sip of her whisky before hurrying to catch up. She reached my side just as I opened the door, then her shoulders slumped.

"Hello?" I greeted the unfamiliar gentleman I found waiting in the hall outside. "Can I help you?"

The stranger looked to be in his mid-forties, although he seemed to be in excellent shape. His figure was lean and fit, not to mention tall. Standing at least a hundred and ninety centimetres he was fairly imposing compared to me, and practically towered over Feebs. His dark red hair was in a short 'professional' cut, and his beard and moustache were also both trimmed short. And while I wasn't into guys or facial hair, even I had to admit he was handsome.

His blue-grey eyes swept up and down over me before focusing on my partner. And unlike the two of us in our comfy casual travelling clothes, this guy was immaculately dressed. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if his perfectly-fitted business suit was a Saville Row original. He even had what appeared to be a diamond set in the gold tie-tack he wore in his dark blue and green tartan tie. Which matched the heavy gold watch he wore on his left wrist.

Between the looks and the height and the obvious money, I figured this was a man who had no trouble with women. The only flaw I could see was his expression. When I first opened the door he'd looked sort of impatient, but now that he was staring at Phoebe that shifted to more of a scowl.

In a strong Scottish accent he demanded, "Colin. What the bloody hell have you done to yourself?"

"Hello Duncan," the cute redhead responded with a sigh. She knocked back the rest of her drink in one gulp before asking, "What do you want? And for that matter how'd you find me?"

Her brother continued regarding Feebs with distaste as he stated, "I'm here to bring you home, little brother. Father wants to have a word with you."

~ End of Episode Four ~