Cursed

[Brickman]

But even if you become so far gone that you forget your own name, you will remember this: That this is your punishment, and that you forced my hand.


You are a fairy. Not the sissy "fairy dust and granted wishes" style of fairy, but the old school kind of fairy that people only called "fair" as a form of appeasement. Or at least, you were. Now you suppose you're really the "runs away from everything like a sissy" kind of fairy, if that even exists.

You have severe amnesia, remembering very little of anything that happened more than a week or two in the past (and even have gaps there). However, unlike most people with missing memories, you know exactly why it happens, what triggers it, and even how you can get it back. She made very sure of that. You suppose that was probably the point.

Let's start over. In this land fairies are considered by far the most dangerous of monsters, because every one is born with a special power. Yours was one of the strongest out there--the ability to control memory. With finesse you could rewrite the innards of someone's brain until they believed themselves to be a trusted ally, a loyal servant, or just until they believed they already wanted to do whatever you wanted them to do. You used it quite liberally and gained quite a reputation. However, at some point you pissed off a fairy even more powerful than yourself, and she afflicted you with a terrible curse--your powers remained, but not without severe backlash. If you erased or rewrote anyone's memory you would lose a proportional ammount of your own memories, and if you read somebody's memories they read a proportional ammount of yours. You could get something back by restoring lost or altered memories in others, but the only people who ever forget enough to be useful are your own past victims, and most of them are a bit hostile afterwards. So your time since being cursed has mostly been a downward spiral, losing a little more every time you need to defend yourself.

Of course, you haven't become so far gone as to forget your own name. Yet. What was your name again?

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I intend for this story to be slightly less silly than most on here, but I'm not going to throw humor completely out the window and I doubt you'd let me if I wanted to. Since there were no cameras in the land where this story takes place, the entire story will, by necessity, retold in the form of a PUPPET SHOW. Enjoy! I have no idea what I'll do when we inevitably get to an action scene.

[LightGutierrez]

Oberon!

[thetoastking]

silly mcPuppetstick.

also, restore your own memories. this causes a backlash in which MORE of your memories come back and you remember everything. boosh.

[MalkyTop]

Algernon. Or Charlie.

Or maybe Mnenomy?

Sutton? Isther? Esther?

[Brickman]

Sadly, the curse prevents her from directly messing with her own memories--the inflicter was a little bit smarter than that. Also, I'm gonna say right now that I am ignoring silly suggestions at name prompts; I have to draw the line somewhere. Also, she is a girl, for heaven's sake.

[MalkyTop]

Aw, I was being completely serious for some of them.

Mnemosyne then. Mnemosyne Kirby.

Also here's a thing. Not sure if you like it. I don't even know why I drew it.

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[Dragon Fogel]

Amy.

[Brickman]

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I knew you were being serious, it's just that two of those were boys' names. Anyways, I like the picture, so I'll use one of your names.

Yes, Esther. That's your name. A name that used to mean something, a long time ago. Not that you can hope to remember how long ago.


Right now, though, you've been reduced to hiding in a cave. You're pretty sure the villagers scouring these cliffs for you didn't actually recognize you, they just knew you were a fairy and not a Penitent and assumed the worst. You'd probably be in real trouble if they did.


Just when you're starting to think you've made it, a boy enters the cave. He's very young--maybe thirteen, just old enough to be considered an adult and thus eligible for being pulled into monster hunts. He isn't armed but he could call for help. He looks a little unsure though--he clearly wasn't expecting to be the one to find you. What do you do now?

[AvzinElkein]

Pretend to be a lifeless corpse. If he thinks you're dead, he'll leave you alone.

[LightGutierrez]

Yes, sit there, playing dead, and as soon as he gets close, GRAB HIM, and keep him from yelling, then kindly ask him what he is doing in your cave.

[Gustave]

>Fly away.

[Brickman]

>Pretend to be a lifeless corpse. If he thinks you're dead, he'll leave you alone.
>Yes, sit there, playing dead, and as soon as he gets close, GRAB HIM, and keep him from yelling, then kindly ask him what he is doing in your cave.

Sadly, it's too late for that. He already saw you standing up, or perhaps hovering in place. You would have to erase a few seconds of his memory at the least, and if you're unlucky you'll forget that you were trying to play dead.

>Fly away


*CRASH*


Ow. Ok, maybe hiding in a cave with only one entrance wasn't the smartest idea. You kind of hoped he would dodge out of the way despite being physically larger than yourself. Well, there's still a chance that nobody heard him shouting at you to stop. If you're lucky you're back to square one.

[LightGutierrez]

Kindly offer him invisible tea and biscuits. Then ask him what he is doing coming into your cave without an invitation.

[Gustave]

>Tell him you'll lead him to gold if he lets you go.

[Brickman]

> Kindly offer him invisible tea and biscuits. Then ask him what he is doing coming into your cave without an invitation.

Alright, think fast. They'll never let you go if they know what your real power is, so your best bet is to pretend you have a different, really cruddy power. And possibly that you're harmlessly nuts, which you may be well on your way towards. Well, you've got an idea.

Chatlog:

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Esther: Welcome to my humble abode! Err, I'm sorry for panicking there but I thought I heard someone trampling my flowers outside.
Boy: That's not what it looked like. It looked more like knew people were looking for you and tried to get away.
Esther: Why of course I wasn't... people are looking for me? Oh, why didn't you say so earlier? If I'm going to have guests I need to prepare! Let me get you some tea and biscuits. Now where did I put them?
Boy: ...
Boy: There's nothing there. There's no food anywhere in this cave.
Esther: Oh, it's invisible of course. I make all my things invisible because if I don't those bandits who roam these mountains will steal them, but sometimes I have trouble finding them again. Oh, did I mention I can make things invisible?
Boy: There aren't any bandits in these mountains. There used to be some in the forest nearby, but they moved on to richer provinces about two months ago.
Esther: Well if there aren't any bandits then why do my things always disappear?
Boy: ... Is it possible you made them invisible?

It's working! He's buying it. You won't even need to use your backup plan of trying to bribe him with your hidden gold (as a matter of fact you're pretty sure you had a stash of treasure in this general region at some point, but you wouldn't really give it to him even if you knew where it was).

Well, now you've actually got him feeling around the room for invisible furniture that could contain tea and buscuits. You could stay and talk some more, or run away, or do just about anything while he's distracted. What will you do?

[thetoastking]

sneak up behind him and KNOCK HIM OUT.

[Brickman]

> sneak up behind him and KNOCK HIM OUT.

You're kidding, right? You're a fairy, not an ogre. A six year old might be a fair match for you in a physical fight. This guy would kick your ass, even with the element of surprise. And he's not even anything special by human standards.

[Gustave]

>Keep talking and convince him you're utterly harmless and pitifully crazy.

[Brickman]

Chatlog:

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Boy: There doesn't seem to be anything invisible in this cave. No tables or cabinets or food.
Esther: Well that's odd. I'm sure this was my cave.
Esther: ...
Esther: Oh dear, that rock shouldn't be over there at all. This is the wrong cave.
Esther: Don't I look silly now.
Boy: You don't recognize your own cave?
Esther: Well of course, most of my things are invisible so it can be kind of hard.
Boy: Can't you make things visible again when you want to use them?
Esther: Of course I can! I just need to touch it with both hands.
Boy: Which means you need to find it.
Esther: Of course!
Boy: Perhaps I should help you find your actual cave. If your only way of telling which one it is is blundering into your furniture, I should be able to speed up your search.

[NateDude]

Adventure with him, Along the way finding the people you messed with and regaining memories.

[LightGutierrez]

Esther: Let the boy join your "PARTY" and use the kid as a means to get out of the cave without being noticed by anyone outside!

[Brickman]

> Esther: Let the boy join your "PARTY" and use the kid as a means to get out of the cave without being noticed by anyone outside!
> Adventure with him, Along the way finding the people you messed with and regaining memories.
> Pretend that Brickman whipped up a very short remix of Sburban Jungle for this update.



This looks like far enough. All you really needed to do was get outside; your wings aren't just decorative. Still, you're getting sort of attached to this kid. He seems willing to give a fairy the benefit of the doubt, so he might just help you with your quest to find people with ruined memories. It's not convenient for you to go into town.

You've got to get the story straight with him though. Luckily, your curse provides you with a very, very efficient method of explaining your situation, and probably one of the most believable out there. Finding out more about him is just a bonus. Hold still, boy.

Either way, you are hereby expunging the words "Of course" from your vocabulary for as long as you can remember this decision.



...

...



You are the boy in orange. You've lived in this small village as a farmer all your life, which isn't saying much; most people don't travel much. It's not as much the danger as the fact that it's impossible to keep in touch with the people you leave behind. But with a disease having claimed both your parents about three months ago, you've been strongly considering it; all you've got left is a sister, and you hate her. Mostly you've been waiting for a good opportunity to leave, by which you mean anything that would let you travel but simultaneously keep you from starving to death.

Unlike Esther, you have both a first and a last name, though your head's spinning a bit from too much information coming in at once. What was your name again?

[LightGutierrez]

Dat Kidd

[Planet of the Japes]

Jack Dawes

[Brickman]

Because I'm sort of impatient, I'm going to let people start voting on his next action as well as his name, at the same time.