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Promise is on her way from the library, where she has been allowed the privilege of an hour's study of sorcery - directed in topic, but she was allowed to take (relevant) notes, and read (relevant) books, and was only lightly supervised.
Thorn sometimes likes to butter her up, such as it is, before calling her to his room. She thinks he's running elaborate multivariable experiments on what puts her in a marginally more or less cooperative mood. The obvious confounding factor is that after having been buttered up she has to walk to his room. Also, on this particular occasion, she was not allowed to heal herself of her (relatively minor, but still painful) injuries before she went to the library. She did her research with shredded wing-edges and a black eye and an almost decorative crosshatch of bright red cuts down the backs of her legs. This is Thorn, so it wasn't thoughtlessness, but she hasn't speculated much on what it is instead, besides - Thorn.
She walks carefully -
There's a ripple in the air. She walks right into it.
And then she is elsewhere. She can no longer make meaningful progress towards her appointment, so she stops walking. Her eyes flick left, right -
Well. It would be hard for this to be worse.
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imeanforever
imeanforever
"I wasn't born, I'm not one of the kinds of fairy that gets born. I just started."
bright_and_beautiful
"Oh good," Jenny mutters. "Today wasn't weird enough, fairies in my back yard and freaky mind control powers, let's add spontaneously appearing people." She stares at Promise uncertainly. "So God just... made you? There's a whole world full of Adams and Eves?"
bright_and_beautiful
"God made everything," Jenny explains absently, still staring somewhat warily. "The universe and people and stuff. And he made the first people from nothing, we call them Adam and Eve. Or that's the story anyway? There's this whole complicated thing about evolution, and- right, off topic- er. It's not quiiiite right, but- but- still. Making things from nothing is what God does." She swallows. "I guess the Bible doesn't say anything about... fairy people, or magic, or... whatever, though."
imeanforever
"If this person made fairies," says Promise, wings quivering, "then they have a lot to answer for."
bright_and_beautiful
"Most people say that even without knowing about fairies," Jenny agrees sadly. "People are sorta horrible sometimes. But that's how free will works, I guess." She grimaces. "At least they have to atone for their sins in Hell when they die."
bright_and_beautiful
"Oh. Sorry, was that not a thing from context? If you do bad things, when you die you go to Hell and are punished until you atone." She shuffles a little, awkwardly. "I guess everyone's bad a little, no one's perfect, but you have to be really bad to go all the way to Hell."
bright_and_beautiful
"It probably doesn't apply to you anyway?" Jenny says uncertainly. "I mean, it's only humans, not animals or anything, and you're- like, sorta human in that you're not a lizard or whatever, but you're also really not human. You probably have your own thing."
imeanforever
"Fairies live forever. But - as it happened the person who had me, before, was a fairy, but he didn't have me so long that a mortal couldn't have done the same thing. If it had been a mortal, punishing him after he died wouldn't do anything useful. I would still have -" She trails off.
bright_and_beautiful
"God made us, and He loves us, but He doesn't interfere, not like you're thinking," Jenny says softly. "I... don't know happened to you, exactly, but... do you want a hug? It sounds horrible, and I'm sorry."
bright_and_beautiful
Jenny decides not to ask. It doesn't sound like there's fairy police she can call, or anything on those lines. She wants to, though. "I mean. Salve for the wings, then? Anything that's not stolen carrots provided by my kid sister?"
imeanforever
"They'll heal. I don't know anything about local medicines. If I were in Fairyland I could heal myself but sorcery doesn't work here. I could use a bit more food than I've been getting - I don't think you're likely to poison me and everything tastes weird but I'm definitely on more solid ground with fruits and vegetables and nuts."
bright_and_beautiful
"Sorcery?" Jenny asks rather nervously. "But I can do more vegetables easy. Actually, hang on."
She walks over and steps out the door. Anne's removed herself from the immediate vicinity of the shed to play in the dirt hopscotch drawn in the grass, but comes over when she sees her sister. Jenny describes the locations of various vegetables and how to access them, and sends Anne off with a stern face. It is the face of Not Telling Adults Important Things. Like the magical fairy in the backyard. That is very important.
But for now she will accept vegetables.
Anne leaves to fetch the food as instructed, still sulking slightly but obviously guilty enough to be obedient. Jenny sighs and returns to the shed. "She'll be back with more variety soon," she reports. "I can't really explain the local medicines, though, sorry. Like, I know how they work on humans? Mostly P-" she halts herself at the last second from saying Patrick's name. "-on my baby brother."
She walks over and steps out the door. Anne's removed herself from the immediate vicinity of the shed to play in the dirt hopscotch drawn in the grass, but comes over when she sees her sister. Jenny describes the locations of various vegetables and how to access them, and sends Anne off with a stern face. It is the face of Not Telling Adults Important Things. Like the magical fairy in the backyard. That is very important.
But for now she will accept vegetables.
Anne leaves to fetch the food as instructed, still sulking slightly but obviously guilty enough to be obedient. Jenny sighs and returns to the shed. "She'll be back with more variety soon," she reports. "I can't really explain the local medicines, though, sorry. Like, I know how they work on humans? Mostly P-" she halts herself at the last second from saying Patrick's name. "-on my baby brother."
imeanforever
"I don't know if they'll work on me or hurt me or do nothing," shrugs Promise. "I'll heal eventually, and the scars will go away eventually. And the fairy who did it will live forever, and if he were being punished instead that would not help."
bright_and_beautiful
"God doesn't control us," Jenny reminds her. "He could, but that's... not love. We're not just His puppets."
imeanforever
"So explain fairies. I started with a name. Anyone who knows that name can tell me to do anything they want. The Queen is a fairy whose personal magic allows her to automatically know every fairy's name. If being puppets is not the idea, why make the Queen?"
bright_and_beautiful
"You are from actually, literally, honestly Fairyland? Until this morning my explanation for fairies was 'they don't exist'? Don't ask me, for all I know you have your own fairy-only god and yours is just way more horrible than mine."
imeanforever
"What does God do, if it's not," handwave, "anything I would have noticed?"
bright_and_beautiful
"He made the universe, and He loves us and teaches us what is right. Mostly with the Bible and prophets. There are lots of prophets and we go over them all in Sunday school and I lose track a lot, but they're a thing. And he rewards good people when they die, and bad people go to Hell to repent their sins."
imeanforever
Promise does not look impressed.
"I admit I don't know very much about the world but I suspect I could do a better job of making a universe than what I've heard if any of what I think I know is right and I had universe-making powers in the first place."
"I admit I don't know very much about the world but I suspect I could do a better job of making a universe than what I've heard if any of what I think I know is right and I had universe-making powers in the first place."
bright_and_beautiful
"He already did a better job than yours!" Jenny points out defensively.
imeanforever
"It's not like if anyone made Fairyland they consulted me on it," Promise points out. "I'm comparatively new as fairies go."