Fer.al Series #3 - The Silent Kingdom

Chapter 2: Full Recall

S A P

"What was that?"

Lillie's screams always touched Sap's heart. They knew that they must do something, or else... what? Lillie always told them that they were her savior. What? Savior? Lillie's crazy about that some minecraft youtuber Aref brought up, and now she likes them because they have the same name? Crazy. Sap loves Lillie, and they'd do anything for her.

"Lillie? What's going on?" Sap skitted over to Lillie and asked. "Is there something?"

"Ow," Lillie replied. "I heard a boom. Coming from the castle.

"Wait, Lillie," Sap sat beside her. "A boom from the castle? Isn't everyone here at the party?"

"Well, how do I explain, Sap," Lillie began to point at the castle, which seemed normal as ever. "There are Queens in Fer.al, and they're asleep in this castle for as long as I can remember. And if there's a boom then maybe they woke up? Though they do have magic, right...?"

Queens? In Fer.al? Why haven't I heard about that? Sap's young mind was bursting with curiosity as they asked more about the Queens. "Then if they're asleep, who runs the city for us?"

"The Queensgard, of course," Lillie nodded, swishing her tail. "This is the administration that helps gather information about the Queens, such as when they might wake up, and makes the decisions for City Fera. Actually, I know a few members of that association, to be honest."

"Then... what about Fera and Aref?" Sap wondered. They remembered Aref welcoming them to Fer.al, so is she the one in charge?

"No, Sap," Lillie laughed as she edged closer to Sap. "Aref and Fera are just our guardians, not our rulers. They are the ones who govern the laws of our world but don't want to interfere much with it. They think it's our choice to do what we want to do."

"Well, except for that part where she turned you into a Simp. Or the entire world. Whatever." Sap whispered, half serious, half joking, as Lillie barked a laugh and smiled at them.

"Yeah, that didn't go well,"

"But that's how I got my name."

Sap didn't remember anything before that. They were just a newly-born creature.

"Yeah, right,..." Lillie stuttered. "She turned everyone into simps." then she rolled her eyes, as if everyone were still simps, while the only actual one was her. The curse was gone, there was nothing to worry about.

"Then...but what's with the boom?" Sap tried their hardest to get Lillie back to focusing on the weird sound. "What happened? I don't think it's fireworks."

"I don't know..."

"Then I'm going to check," Sap said as they made a determind face towards Lillie, their tail rose up as they lept down from the Rat Wall. "Be right back."

After all, they had to explore this new world on their own.

Stalking through the shadows, Sap wandered the empty streets of City Fera. Well, in their opinion, City Fera should be called City Aref, since it was Aref, not Fera, that they saw first. But nevermind as they walked along dead buildings, some bright green, some pink, some dark and empty with ripped notices on them that Sap could make out Wing...er...rty? The rest was either torn apart or burned into ashes.

Suddenly they heard voices. Whispers, of two females, carried by the wind flowing past Sap's swooping ears. They lowered themselves and slowly listened.

"Is she okay? How much longer? I'm worried about her."

"No, Rosy, it's fine. We'll just go without her."

Rosy? In Sap's life, they never knew about someone named Rosy. About Lillie and Robin, of course they knew. And then Maxwell and maybe Pug and Applejuice and Arc, who were introduced to them after seeing Robin and Lillie, and also Aref, those were the only handful of names they knew. There was no Rosy.

They stopped, their swooping ears perking up to catch more fragments of this conversation.

"I knew it. Trying to make us..." Wind whooshing.

"...what should we..." if Sap remembered right, that was the one called Rosy. But again, they didn't remember. There was no full recall for them - not Lillie, not anyone could completely restore their memory. Whatever they heard were only fragments of a mystery better explored on their own.

Sap looked up at the majestic castle that suddenly loomed over them. Pink. And green. These were, well, signature colors of City Fera, right? Like the patterns and textiles in Fera Fashions, like Fera and Aref, like...

Like Lillie and Robin.

Manuvering their way around the castle, away from Rosy and the other guy she was talking to, Sap clutched the ground with their paws tightly every time there was a rustle of the wind or cry of the party guests or anything standing out amidst the natural background sound of silence.

Suddenly Sap felt a sudden jerk to their left. They ducked and rolled, and felt the chill of steel to the front of their neck. They didn't even see who the attacker was, just hearing a female voice as cold as the blade.

"Don't. move."

"Wh-who are you?" Sap stammered. They were just a new spark, they wouldn't want to die today, in this time of joyful celebration.

"Who are you?" the voice replied. Sap felt the blade sinking one more inch into their fur. They tried to look down at what manner of creature's paw would hold the sword, but they found none. The sword seemed to be levitating.

"Hmm... you, I've seen you in the news. Part of a group that saved the world, right?" the chilling female voice seemed to come from all around them at once. Was this creature hiding behind a higher dimension, like Aref? This certainly did not sound like Aref; Aref knew Sap perfectly well. And Fera... Lillie told them that they had a complicated relationship with Fera but... there was no full recall. Sap's memory was terrible even after wiping. And did they save the world? If they remembered correctly, Lillie was the one who saved the world. Sap, as Lillie told them, saved Lillie... that counts as saving the world.

"Yes, yes, my, er.... friend, Lillie, saved the world. Now can you please please let me go?" Sap glanced around but the sword spun around and bonked them in their chest. "Do you know anything about the Queens?" the eerie voice asked, still too shy to reveal its owner.

Queens, Queens, Queens... Lillie had just told them about the Queens, back on the Rat Wall. Thanks, Lillie! But would Sap remember everything, though... "We have Queens... they're asleep...   this huge boom that could be fireworks and maybe the Queens woke up... Lillie knows some members of Queensgard, and then Fera and Aref..." Sap blurted out everything they could see in their mind. They hope what they said was an 80% recreation of what Lillie told them.

"Oh, you're the... the absentminded one, I forgot, but did you say boom..." The figure suddenly revealed itself to be a pale lavender Kitsune with dark quills and a shard crown, larger than Sap and maybe even Lillie. Her eyes were a bright purple, the same color that gleamed on the levitating sword, which now dropped onto the ground with a clatter. "So you're interested in the disappearence of the Queens as well..." the newcomer's eyes narrowed as she picked up her sword.

"Well, yes, yes, I want to know, I mean no, it's none of my buisness, leave me alone!" Disappearence? Sap got a bit carried away by the newcomer's words and forgot that surviving was the most important thing.

"As for Lillie... I do not know her," the newcomer circled Sap, her fur blending in to the dark rock of the path. Who could not know Lillie? Lillie saved the world! "I am a member of Queensgard, and I look forward to our cooperation." the kitsune said before walking away.

Cooperation? Queensgard? What was that? "Hey, who are you?" Sap called out to the silhouette walking away.

"My name is Igallta L'Taiga," the kitsune suddenly slinked in front of Sap, whispered, before disappearing on the same trail.

Sap quickly turned around and bolted towards the Rat Wall. They know nothing about the new world. Disappearence of the Queens, the cooperation, the sword, taiga...

Lillie needs to know all of this.