The world went quiet and cold, blurring past in a haze with Silver merely dumbly acting through it all.

“Anna.” A voice snapped her out of the haze, looking up from a spread of papers on her desk. She was back at her desk? How? What happened? Silver blinked a few times and looked up at the woman standing on the other side of the desk. Slate was approaching eight feet tall with ashen white hair despite appearing to be in her middle thirties. She was strong, covered in sinewy muscle, her otherwise blocky form accentuated with motherly curves. She was probably weeks away from delivery.

“Did you get...any of that?” She asked with a strong Scandinavian accent.

“Um...Sorry, I...” Silver blustered a little, taking off her glasses and rubbing her nose. She was just so tired.

Slate sighed. “I said we managed to close off the area. There's no sign of Jack's body, just his rifle. And locals have been reporting more and more strange disturbances, especially local supernaturals.”

Silver nodded slowly, staring back down at the papers while Slate pursed her lips, trying to avoid saying anything either of them would regret.

“We've also got an interview.” Slate continued, trying to keep Silver focussed, hoping that would help. “Young lady says she spontaneously started displaying magical powers.”

Silver suddenly looked up, her eyebrows furrowed. You didn't just randomly start showing magic talent, it was something you had to pursue and practice for a long time. This was either someone who thought magic was supposed to be a secret or was trying to lie to them.

The late teenager sat down rather awkwardly, fidgeting to get comfortable in the cheap office chair. She was dressed fairly generically, a black t-shirt covered in bright colourful slashes and geometric shapes covered by a heavy hoodie.

“Um, hi.” She said, glancing around and almost shrinking into herself. “Thanks for seeing me.”

“We're here to help.” Silver answered automatically in a practised tone. “I'm told you spontaneously started displaying magical talents.”

“Yeah.” The teen nodded sharply, fidgeting again.

“Does your family have any history of supernatural genes? Psychics?”

“Nnno..Not that I know about.”

“Have you ever practised with magic before?”

“No, never. It just kinda...happened.”

“Do you think you can do it again?” Slate asked, standing off to one side of the desk. The girl nodded.

“Yeah, I think so.” Without prompting, the girl put her hands flat on her lap, took a long breath and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, her features began to shift and change. Subtly becoming more traditionally attractive before settling to exactly what Silver would describe as her “type.”

That was impressive and all, but illusions were a fairly simple magical art. Unless...

Silver glanced over at Slate.

“What does she look like to you?” She asked.

“Spitting image of my husband.” Slate said with a slight chuckle.

That was a decisive answer. Illusion magic always appeared the same to everyone who saw it, for it to be not only different, but appealing, made it almost certainly a glamour. A Faerie ability often used to seduce and manipulate.

“Congratulations.” Silver said with a somewhat dumbfounded look on her. “You're a Faerie.”

The teen looked startled at the revelation. “Like...Tinkerbell?”

Slate laughed out loud at that. “More like Galadriel.”

The teen's eyes lit up. “Oh...Oh hell yes.”

Silver stood up from the desk and swept up her phone. “Can you take her from here? I need to call the archives.”

Slate raised a single eyebrow but nodded. “Isn't it 2am in England right now.”

“He'll be awake.”

“What.”

“Morning. This is gonna sound insane, but I've got a teenage Faerie in my office right now.”

“That does sound insane. Considering nobody's even seen a Fae in the last four hundred years.”

“I'm not kidding, we've got eyewitness confirmation of a glamour.”

“...Oh my god you're actually serious.”

“Yeah I'm serious! … Pyrite?”

“Hang on, booking a flight.”

“You're sure you want to do this?”

“Well, it's not like I can go back, I've used up my second chance.”

“It'll be a kangaroo court and you know it.”

“It won't. That's why I'm coming with you, I can make sure they give you a fair shake.”

“Thanks, but I don't think even that will help me.”

“Well, we can try.”

“Jeez, how can you stay so upbeat?”

“Would you rather I just lie down and weep?”