*Elan*
When the people in the cafe calmed down, you could hear the neutral voice of a reporter.
'The group N-All has been attending every event together since they formed in 2020. Now, everyone is wondering why only three of them arrived at the west coast today'
Great. There is no chance that Ashton and Millie won't find out that I skipped my service.
'It comes suddenly that Elan isn't with his mates. We sent one of our correspondents to ask them about the reason'
My picture faded and now we saw Wynn, Sean, and Ren. They seemed in a rush and, but I'm pretty sure only I can tell, not pleased at all to talk to the correspondent. I knew they were angry with me because they hated to lie.
Normally Wynn and Sean liked to talk to humans about their actions as fairies. They were proud of what they were doing, which I was too, but unlike them, I didn't brag about it. Well, if you don't count the times I showed off in front of Le.
The camera zoomed to Ren. He always hid behind me in interviews, and the cameraman apparently wanted to take his chance when I wasn't there.
I was grateful when Sean pushed Ren aside and ended his uncomfortable moment.
'Elan has some personal stuff to deal with. He will be back to us as soon as he is finished'
'What is this stuff? Did he tell you about it? Why are you not helping him?'
'He can do it on his own. If you excuse us. We need to go', Wynn stepped in.
With that, the topic was abruptly over and the reporter announced the next one.
I looked around the room. Everyone was confused and I saw one curious glance after another. I ignored them, let them imagine everything imaginable about me, and listened to the reporter again.
He was talking about the disappearance of the mermaids. It is normal for them to be rarely seen. But lately, they seemed even more distant. Normally, you could see their blue tails splashing through the water now and then. Sometimes you could spot their heads scanning the landscape above the water. Lately, any of this isn't happening.
Already before the alienation it was said that no human ever had talked to the mermaids. As for the fairies, Dean was the only one who is in contact with them.
Officially.
No one knew that I talked to them, too. Several times by now. And I think that this was the reason the mermaids were showing up less and less. They were scared that I would find something out. More than I already did.
They were avoiding me.
However …
More important was that since they withdrew, they were less helpful in fighting the fire-elves. That's the reason the fairies were so busy at the west coast recently.
Maybe I should stop trying to connect with the mermaids so they would return and fight the elves again.
The news was over and a documentation began. It was about fairies, but I didn't know whether it was about N-All or Blackforce or something else, because suddenly I wanted to tell Le straight away what I was here for. I wanted this awkward moment to be over as soon as possible.
No hesitation, I told myself to boost my confidence.
'Le …'
'Call me Leana'
'Leana', this word was very hard to get over my lips. I can't remember the last time I called her by her full name, 'You working at this cafe, going to school, living with humans, this isn't your life. You may not remember, but you are a fairy'
Le started restrained laughter.
'If you want to fool someone, look for somebody else'
'I'm sorry if you got that impression, but we aren't here to fool you, Elan is saying the truth', Fen said.
'How could that be the truth? How am I supposed to believe? That's insane. I think I don't need to explain to you that what he said is really odd and crazy'
'Leana, please believe us, it's true. We can show you and prove it'
'No, I don't want you to show me anything. If you aren't joking around, then you must be a lunatic. Just leave and don't ever show up again'
*Leana*
Elan clenched his fists on the table. He looked like he was going to destroy the whole cafe. I was glad that he had no sword or other weapon with him.
The other fairy must have noticed Elan's tension, too, because he touched Elan on his shoulder and told him that it would be best for them to go. At least he seemed to be reasonable.
Elan didn't like this suggestion. He shook his head while he glared at me intently.
Definitely lunatic.
Nevertheless, they stood up. But before they left, Elan leaned over to me. In shock, I slapped his hand, which moved toward me.
What the …?
He had cathed the notepad on which I wrote down the orders I took. With the pen fixed on the top, he wrote something down.
'If you're ready to get answers, come here', he put the notepad on the table and left.
Now, I was standing alone at the table. The people pretended not to care about the scene, but I could see their crouched looks. I also heard them whispering about us.
Going back to help Iris didn't occur to me, so I pouched the note and stormed outside. I went right away to the beach and sat on the sand which was still wet from the rain before. It stuck to my pants and my fingers which I squeezed into it.
After a while of sitting there and watching the restless sea, I used my pants to wipe the sand off my fingers and took a look at Elan's note.
Ton Hamlet: District 3, f
What kind of description was that?
Ton Hamlet, that sounds familiar. Right, it was the village where the fairies lived. It must be Elan's address.
Pah, if he really thinks I'll come to his house, then he can wait a long time, I thought.
Angrily I separated the note from the pad and scrunched it. Then I decided differently, smoothed it again, and tore the address into pieces. While the wind blew them over the beach, I wondered, why I am so much upset about Elan. Just ignore him, I told myself, but something deep inside me wasn't able to do so.
I took the pen and began to draw. The motive was supposed to be a forest glade but I'm not sure whether you could tell without knowing. I like to draw really much but seeing the results is always frustrating. Considering that I had been drawing since I was a little child, I haven't gotten much better.
'Living with humans', I thought about Elan's words. That had sounded very pejorative to me. As if human beings were inferior creatures and not worthy of them. Is that what fairies think about us?
'Do you want to catch a cold?', when I looked up, I saw Nim, 'Iris told me, you would be here'
She placed a cushion next to me, sat down, and gave me the muffin she had held in the other hand. With two bites it disappeared in my mouth. When I finished chewing, I kept looking at Nim. She sighed and grabbed another muffin from her pocket.
'I still don't get how you can devour so much in a day. If I ate half of what you eat, I would get fat'
'You already are'
I knew this was harsh and not even true. Nim was a bit chubby, but not fat.
Before she could admonish me for my behavior, I got up to go back to the house.
'Hey! Where are you going? Aren't you at least going to thank me'
'Let's say, we are even now. I want to talk to my dad'
My father wasn't in our living room as I expected. Actually, I wanted to avoid the cafe but It seems like I have to go there to look for him. He was there indeed. And he was working. Pacing between the tables, a pen in one hand, ready to take orders.
'What on Amena have you done, to get him working?', I asked Iris.
'Don't talk that way about your father. He isn't as bad as you think. He is trying his best'
'I know, I'm sorry'
Although Iris was very strict, with my father, she was always protecting him. I wondered what was going on between them.
It was better not to interrupt my father now. I will have to talk to him later. In the meantime, I went to my room and finished some stuff for school.
When the cafe was closed and I was alone with my father in the house, I decided, it was the right time.
'How are you?', I wanted to find a soft way to start this conversation. We were sitting on the old-looking green couch in our tiny living room. I had put my feet up and was now sitting cross-legged in his direction.
'As always', was the rough answer.
'Dad, can I ask you some questions?'
'What do you want to know?'
'I want to know about the past. About our life before we moved here. About our family'
'I told you that my memories are weak. As for our family. I don't have contact with anyone of them anymore'
'Do I have a sister?'
'No. Not that I know. What gave you that idea?'
'Just asking', I said quickly. I was not ready to tell him that I was questioning our life because a fairy came to talk to me, 'What about our decision to move here? Why did we leave our old home?'
'It's because', my father frowned. He tapped his forehead several times as if it could help him remember, 'Our life wasn't good there. We needed a restart. That's why we left everything behind'
'What was wrong back then? What was that bad that we had to give up on everything?'
'I … I don't know'
I sighted 'It is not only your memory which is weak. It's also mine. The more I try to remember our life before we moved here, the fuzzier and more unreal it becomes. I can't remember any old friends I had there, I can't tell what my room looked like. Dad, what's going on? What happened two years ago?'
He leaned forward and shook his head. When our eyes met I saw the tears in his eyes.
'I wish I could remember. I wish I could tell you'