The Mayfly Vignettes

The Veil of Calypso

"So, I have a question." says Jade.

Ephyrricie, who had just been sipping tea, stops abruptly and almost spills it out of her mouth. "Um- yeah?"

"How do the islands stay so well hidden? It didn't take much time for me and Witz to sail here from Chalchiuihtlan. It seems a little dangerous."

Ephyrricie quickly sets her cup down and flaps her arms rapidly, a big grin on her face. "Oh! I love that story! Narrative history isn't my primary interest like how Magic History is but I still know quite a bit! Okay, ready?"

Jade smiles, transfixed on her. "Yeah, ready." She takes a sip of the flower tea Ephyrricie brewed for them.

"Okay, okay. So during the tail-end of the Flight of the Fae- which, honestly, is a misnomer. The Chimerae are included in this but like, they're less related to us Fae than we are to Humans? It's weird. Anyway, not the point."

Jade simply rests her face on her palm and lets Ephyrricie continue on.

"As you know, the Fae and Chimerae, as well as some important Akarians, discovered four large uninhabited islands encircling the known world- the two continents."

"Right." Jade has learned she likes verbal feedback during these sessions.

"Yeah. Okay, so, the human kingdoms and empires at the time were too busy fighting each other in the Warring Era to bother with us, but many of us knew that wasn't going to last. That the Humans would eventually turn their attention to us yet again."

Jade gives a solemn nod as she takes another sip of tea.

"Many people tried advocating things like shoring up defensive measures and that sort of thing. But because of the decades of running and persecution, we just didn't have the infrastructure to support something like that. It was apparent: we needed to hide."

"So, how did you do it?"

Ephyrricie gives a laugh like one would when they're pleased with themselves. "Didn't you notice it? When you sailed here with Witzil?"

There's a beat, and Jade looks slightly uncomfortable. "Notice what?"

Ephyrricie looks confused. She calls out, "Witzil, come here!"

A small green hummingbird flies in from another room. "Oh, am I allowed here now?"

"No," Ephyrricie replies. "I just need to know something. Did Jade notice the Veil or no?"

"Come to think of it, she didn't. Weird." Witzil understands this is his cue to leave. Their afternoon tea sessions are, importantly, theirs.

"Interesting. Jade, there wasn't a time on the water where you felt... wrong? Like this was a bad idea, and something bad was going to happen? And Witzil would have to urge you to go on?"

"No, I don't think so- wait. No, I think I remember something. Feeling like, I should turn back. But it wasn't particularly strong so I pushed it down and didn't even think to mention it."

"That's incredible!" shouts Ephyrricie. "You're resistance to Psychic Magic is fascinating."

Jade tries to hide her blushing with a sip of tea. "Well- uh- go on? What is this 'Veil' supposed to be?"

Ephyrricie hasn't touched her tea since talking and by now it's gone cold. "It's called 'The Veil of Calypso'. It's a Perception Barrier, the first of its kind, invented by Calypso, an Oceanid sorceress. It magically interferes with peoples' perceptions and makes them believe all sorts of things that may or may not be true."

"Oceanid?"

"It's a Nymph cultural group. Like how I'm a Dryad and also like the Oreads and Naiads on two other islands."

"But... there are no more Oceanids, right?"

The mood shifts in the room. Darker. "No. Calypso was one of the last to be raised in the full Oceanid culture. The rest of the Oceanids-by-blood were raised in other cultures. We Nymphs had a lot of diversity back before the Flight of the Fae. My people's cousins the Hamadryads. The Alseids. The Nereids. The Anthousai. Now there's just three."

"I have a question, but I think I already know the answer."

"And I think I already know the question. It was Humans. Driven from our homes we just couldn't support all these different ways of living. The Fae and Chimerae coalesced into more and more homogeneous groups as our numbers dwindled. We did it to survive. But! We will never forget them. I actually really got into genealogy a few years ago- actually that was kind of embarrassing- but anyway I found out I'm part Hamadryad on my mother's side, have some Alseid on my father's side farther back. It's kinda cool reading about them. Still makes me sad, though."

"Do you want to keep going?" asks Jade, in case this talk is getting too deep into painful generational memories.

"Yeah, I do. So Calypso invented the Perception Barrier, and it was used to make people feel absolutely horrible. Like if they continued toward our island, it meant certain death. This way, no one, or at least very few people, would sail to our islands." She pauses. "Oh, fun fact, because of the technology Humans had at the time, The Veil was fine-tuned for sailors. Sailors have to be able to read the currents, the clouds, and the stars effectively to not, y'know, die at sea. Which is bad, by the way."

"It sure- it sure is, yeah."

"But then Humans invented aircraft and we had to rework the spell. There was a period of time about twenty years ago where The Veil had dropped while our mages worked on updating the system. It was quite scary according to my parents. But nothing really happened before we got our new Perception Barrier up."

"Thank goodness!"

"And now, because of Calypso, the Fae and the Chimerae are safely hidden away, until of course, we're ready to reveal ourselves to the Humans again."

"What a sweet-sad story, Ephy. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anyway," says Ephyrricie, stretching her arms over her head. "How about I reveal myself to you right now?"

Jade turns bright red. "Witz! If you're still in the house get the fuck out!" she yells as she unbuttons her shirt.

The End