Gruffydd remained a combination of confused and dubious as they followed the rabbit-headed man. He grew even more dubious when they reached the doors. He began to internally panic when the fairy appeared. He was, like most other people, familiar with the image of fairies that had arisen in Victorian England, to which Trish bore a great physical resemblance. But he was also familiar with several older stories. From small children being kidnapped and replaced with look-alike fairies—called Changelings—for shits and giggles, to the Knockers, referred to as the Bwca in his native Wales, who were either pranksters who would knock on the walls of mines to signal an imminent—and often deadly—collapse, or malevolent spirits who would actively take hammers to supports in a mine to cause a cave-in. His ancestors had called them the "Fair Family"—the actual Welsh being "Tylwyth Teg"—out of fear of accidentally offending one with a less unambiguously good name. He had previously thought them largely fictional—a result of conversion to Christianity and the distance of centuries turning the stories and beliefs of pre-Roman Europe into something fanciful. Now, it was clear that assumption was wrong, and now he was terrified.
Granted not all stories had them being horrible malevolent creatures, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Who am I kidding? This place hasn't decided to give us a break once. We're all fucked. She seemed to be distracted by an argument with Rabbit-Head.
Fairy-World? Well, if all the fairies we've had any interaction with were the ones who were banished, then all the frightful stories actually make a lot of sense. Gruffydd nearly jumped out of his skin when Kazuo made his "fairy-dust" comment, but she thankfully didn't seem to notice.
He took to Jonathan's idea as a very welcome distraction. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, I met mine in some kind of clearing, but I'm ninety percent sure that was all in my head, before throwing up that black gunk. Wind and Lightning, he's got this massive sword, and something about strengthening defenses." He sighed before continuing much more quietly, "And now one of the Tylwyth Teg—erm, that's the fairy. This is all so crazy."
Granted not all stories had them being horrible malevolent creatures, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Who am I kidding? This place hasn't decided to give us a break once. We're all fucked. She seemed to be distracted by an argument with Rabbit-Head.
Fairy-World? Well, if all the fairies we've had any interaction with were the ones who were banished, then all the frightful stories actually make a lot of sense. Gruffydd nearly jumped out of his skin when Kazuo made his "fairy-dust" comment, but she thankfully didn't seem to notice.
He took to Jonathan's idea as a very welcome distraction. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, I met mine in some kind of clearing, but I'm ninety percent sure that was all in my head, before throwing up that black gunk. Wind and Lightning, he's got this massive sword, and something about strengthening defenses." He sighed before continuing much more quietly, "And now one of the Tylwyth Teg—erm, that's the fairy. This is all so crazy."