Silver City
Three
The twentieth century is much harder to hide in.
Everything you do can be a beacon.
My siblings antics in the backwoods of Norway eventually brought us unwanted fame. The woods we once called home became known for its heavy presence of 'malignant spirits' – as the humans referred to us. Even though some locals called the woods haunted and cursed, the rumors of my siblings beauty flowed just as freely as those of their treachery. Worse still, it spawned fantasies of magical, forbidden romance, and soon we were plagued by doe-eyed visitors looking to pay homage to or catch the favor of the 'woodland royalty'.
My siblings routinely enchanted or entrapped tourists, which surprisingly only drew more people to us. And with technology only helping to make the world much smaller, we soon attracted attention across the globe - quickening the delivery of our whereabouts to the fae who stilled sought to destroy us.
By the dawn of the twenty-first century, we'd been run out of Norway and fled to certain parts of Europe. My mother insisted on sticking to unpopulated areas, mostly untouched forest, and Logan thought it best we keep moving. We landed in Ireland for some time, as well as the mountains of Germany, and eventually the forests of Poland.
It wasn't until the widely publicized incident in Romania that I chose to free myself of my burdenous family. It became clear to me that my mother was irrevocably indulgent of my siblings and Logan would never see past her whims. My siblings would always be a danger to me. Their humanity irreparably damaged and their capricious fae nature unbridled, they were negligent of human life at best, and unfathomably murderous if I were being completely honest.
I escaped them by sea - putting an entire ocean between us - and landing in the city of New York like so many weary travellers had before me. To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. To find a burgeoning fae world alongside a city as bustling and populated by humans as New York was, was a shock to me. My mother had taught us that the easiest way to stay safe and hidden was to remain unseen, and the best way to do so, was to stay in areas bereft of people.
But there was vision to the madness of the New York fae. In a place so overly-crowded with people as diverse as the fae themselves, it was near impossible to tell one from the other. Fae roamed the streets as openly as humans. Eating at restaurants and attending schools. Gathering in open bazaars, coffeeshops, and local parks. Other humans stood out as much as the fae did, often in costumes I would have once thought bizarre for their world.
In a city as close to full as this one, it was near impossible to stand out and perfectly within my reach to disappear and start anew.
Everything you do can be a beacon.
My siblings antics in the backwoods of Norway eventually brought us unwanted fame. The woods we once called home became known for its heavy presence of 'malignant spirits' – as the humans referred to us. Even though some locals called the woods haunted and cursed, the rumors of my siblings beauty flowed just as freely as those of their treachery. Worse still, it spawned fantasies of magical, forbidden romance, and soon we were plagued by doe-eyed visitors looking to pay homage to or catch the favor of the 'woodland royalty'.
My siblings routinely enchanted or entrapped tourists, which surprisingly only drew more people to us. And with technology only helping to make the world much smaller, we soon attracted attention across the globe - quickening the delivery of our whereabouts to the fae who stilled sought to destroy us.
By the dawn of the twenty-first century, we'd been run out of Norway and fled to certain parts of Europe. My mother insisted on sticking to unpopulated areas, mostly untouched forest, and Logan thought it best we keep moving. We landed in Ireland for some time, as well as the mountains of Germany, and eventually the forests of Poland.
It wasn't until the widely publicized incident in Romania that I chose to free myself of my burdenous family. It became clear to me that my mother was irrevocably indulgent of my siblings and Logan would never see past her whims. My siblings would always be a danger to me. Their humanity irreparably damaged and their capricious fae nature unbridled, they were negligent of human life at best, and unfathomably murderous if I were being completely honest.
I escaped them by sea - putting an entire ocean between us - and landing in the city of New York like so many weary travellers had before me. To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. To find a burgeoning fae world alongside a city as bustling and populated by humans as New York was, was a shock to me. My mother had taught us that the easiest way to stay safe and hidden was to remain unseen, and the best way to do so, was to stay in areas bereft of people.
But there was vision to the madness of the New York fae. In a place so overly-crowded with people as diverse as the fae themselves, it was near impossible to tell one from the other. Fae roamed the streets as openly as humans. Eating at restaurants and attending schools. Gathering in open bazaars, coffeeshops, and local parks. Other humans stood out as much as the fae did, often in costumes I would have once thought bizarre for their world.
In a city as close to full as this one, it was near impossible to stand out and perfectly within my reach to disappear and start anew.