The Rising - Ennead 1

Scene 2 - Enter the Fae; Act 2

A poleaxed FBI agent is slumped in a seat, one hand under his chin, staring at the child across the desk from him. His jaw is locked tight as he carefully and methodically puts his thoughts together

“Whoever is feeding her this information must be really good”.

The gaiety is gone from her face; the look in her eyes is now something close to pity.

“I told you, we read dreams. The world is going to change soon. Not all at once, but the signs have already begun to show.”

“We? You’re not the only one who can do this?” Agent Fontaine murmurs, centered back to something close to his usual steel cool composure. The child shrugs.

“There’s a reason we came to you. Others would consider me and mine a threat to your country. If they find out what we can and can’t do it could mean the end of the world governance system. I believed that you would find it difficult to detain an eleven year old, especially one whose uncle is a Diplomat in your country…

"We both know the reason why”.

He replies, enunciating each word carefully, “If, somehow, what you’re saying is true. How come we don’t know your people exist, are you even human?”

She giggles, reminding him for a moment that she is a child.

“We are very good at what we do. The Six Societies have been keeping our secrets since before the beginning of the Common Era; we have made a few mistakes, but now… we’re amazing at staying hidden.”

She pauses for a moment, and then murmurs, as if thinking out loud, “The difficult part will be coming out of hiding.”

“You don’t believe me yet,” she says sadly, “Soon you will have no choice. Signs will begin to show…”

Fontaine’s mind clicks steadily through the information he has, the picture is still incomplete.

“Six Societies, that can read dreams, does each society have different goals? what is your motive?”

She giggles again, almost disarming him “Almost every member of the Six Societies has their own goals and ambitions. Societies are based on the paths we choose and the things those paths let us do.”

“And what do the others do?”

“You will find out soon enough Mr. Fontaine,” she says, voice prim, as if in reprimand. “It’s enough for now that you know about one Society.”

Fontaine tries another angle, “You represent this Society of so-called dream readers?”

She laughs out loud, more like a woman than a child “You are a sly man Mr. Fontaine, trying to get as much out of me as you can. I told you, this is a conversation, not an interrogation.”

She cocks her head slightly, taking a moment to muse, and continues “Since you’ve asked, you were too important for me to leave this to another.” She sits up and tilts her chin regally

“I am the Fae, leader of the First Society, Dream Mother of The Faerie and their chair on the Council of Six.”

“I don’t know if you hear what you’re saying, but you sound crazy.” Fontaine stands up wearily, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his brow

“Why am I speaking to her as if she’s an adult”.

He smiles kindly, as if to cut the bite of his words, “First you tell me there’s a whole group of people out there, that we are somehow totally unaware of, and they can read minds. Besides that, there are other groups of people who can do… whatever it is they do, and these groups hob nob with each other on the regular. To top it off you are a leader of the dream watching gypsies and you rigged this whole scenario so you could meet me. How old are you again?”