The Butterfly Effect

Samone sighed. “I don’t know how long you plan on leaving, but you better be back in a week. We’ll be leaving the Plains then anyway. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want to tell Imre.”

“Thank you, Aunt Samone.” Then Tavin turned around and left. The last thing he needed was for a sudden report to come in that made her have to change her mind.

He didn’t want to take any longer than he needed to. Although he was confident in his abilities to avoid them, he didn’t want to risk an encounter with the Skiá; at least not until he was closer to town and there might actually be someone to help. Well, that or they all died. He cursed himself for that kind of thinking as he walked.

Without anyone to push him forward, he fell behind on whatever imaginary pace he set for himself. He didn’t give himself any time to rest, which he regretted by the time he actually got in town. He felt a bit dizzy and there was still a list of things left to do.

At least he’d had the foresight to always keep a few coins in his mother’s satchel. The amazing thing about small towns like this was that they never seemed to change, meaning he still knew where everything was.

Tavin wandered into a small shop; he was only there because the sign said they offered water (among a list of alcoholic beverages). He vaguely remembered being here before as he stood in front of the attendant. After rummaging through the satchel and finding a silver coin, he put it down on the counter and said, “I’d like a glass of water, please.”

“Just a glass of water, huh..?”

“You can keep the change.”

The attendant turned to the person beside her. “Keandre, get Moneybags over here a drink!”

“I’m right here, Hannah, you don’t have to yell…” Still, he—Keandre, from the sounds of it—walked off.

Hannah moved around the counter. “You can have a seat at one of those tables. We have some other food, if you’d like something to eat.” As she gestured to an empty table, she kept staring at him. “Actually, do I know you?”

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t,” Tavin replied casually.

Keandre, from wherever he was, called, “He’s the Mikkel kid! The one that isn’t blond! He’s been here before, remember?”

“You’ve been here before?” Hannah tilted her head as she continued to stare.

“With my mother, aunt, and uncle eight years ago,” Tavin replied. When she still looked confused, he tried something else. “With Lydia, Elena, and Lewis Stone.”

It seemed to somewhat help her understand, though there were clearly still several pieces that she was confused about.

He decided to continue with his actual goal. “How close are most of the people in this town?”

“On a scale of average Seothian we-don’t-give-a-damn-about-each-other and Qizarn we’re-all-family-here?” She gave it a moment of thought. “I’d say we-only-give-a-damn-when-we-need-a-cup-of-flour.”

“Would you know where someone lives?”

“Keandre does deliveries sometimes.” Hannah turned around to face her coworker, who was strolling over to where they were with a glass of water. “Keandre! Prince Moneybags wants to find somebody!”

“Again with the shouting…” Keandre mumbled. He sat the glass on the table. “This water is as premium as it’s gonna get—it was purified with a talisman we bought from some Qizarn merchants. Who is it that you want to find?”

“I don’t know if they’re still going by the same last name now, but I’m looking for Lustris and Muriel Stone.”

“Wasn’t the king the one that bought that house for them? How do you not know where it is..?” Still, Keandre gave an actual answer to the question. “It’s that little cottage right outside the main part of town. There’s a big garden next to it so it should be pretty easy to find; Lustris sometimes makes and sells balms and the like.”

“Thanks.” Tavin honestly stopped paying attention to them before they realized that he was done with the conversation. Eventually Hannah dragged Keandre back to the counter to take care of their other customers, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

There was an odd kind of peace in staring out the window, watching the people walk by and the occasional animal hurrying in and out of sight. Then again, part of it probably came from sitting down and actually drinking something, given his morning.

\.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*./

He took a sip of his water, already starting to tune out whatever conversation the adults were having—even though the conversation was ultimately about him.

“What do you mean you don’t know what to do when he gets dizzy?” Elena sounded almost too disbelieving, for who she was talking to. “You’re his mother. You should be able to know what to do when he’s like this.”

“Look, I’m the fun one, okay?” Lydia was trying to defend herself, but she was doing a pretty poor job at it. “Imre’s the strict one, and Dimas is the one who actually knows these types of things! They’re both in charge of that stuff. I’m there to keep Tavin from becoming even more boring than Imre is.”

“Well, when the kid can barely handle the three hour hike to get here, that’s gonna be kinda hard,” Lewis pointed out.

“Witless, shut up and let me hope,” Lydia shot back with a dark glare. “You backed out of a haunted asylum because you were scared, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Fear is a perfectly valid emotion!” he defended.

“Not for someone of your age and family it isn’t! Dad climbed the entirety of Mount Bainly by himself with only his courage and wit to keep him company! How the hell do you intend to live up to that if you can’t even handle a couple of ghosts?” She crossed her arms, giving him a stubborn hmph.

Elena offered her own kind of sisterly advice. “Lydia, sometimes you have to remember that not all of us are destined to find and kill a Minotaur. Or uncover a long-lost civilization. Or find a manticore in the middle of Seothia. Or befriend a bunch of sirens and go to an uncharted island… Or… really anything you do, really. You did a lot of impossible stuff when you were with those four. Well, five, but it sounds like Domenique never went along on the eventful ones.”

“She always ‘had something else to do,’” Lydia muttered bitterly. “Like everyone else she didn’t see the fun in it. It didn’t matter how many cool things we did together, they never liked it. Imre pretended to follow along and that’s pretty much the only reason everyone else did.” She sighed, glancing at Tavin. Her tone changed completely when she talked to him, gentler than she’d been before. “Feeling better now? We’ve still got to pick up some supplies before we actually head to the ruins.”

Tavin nodded, finishing up the last bit of his water and setting the glass on the table. “I’m ready.”

They left the shop soon after, joining into the bustling streets. He stayed close to his mother, not wanting to get lost or separated. Of course, it seemed like she was no better, likely being lost herself and realizing that not all four of them were there.

“Dammit,” she mumbled. “Where’d Ellie go?”

Before she or Lewis could start looking, Tavin saved them the trouble and pointed to the direction he saw her last. “She walked off over there.”

“Tavin, as much as I love you, you need to point out these things sooner.” Lydia took his hand and walked to where he’d pointed, dragging Lewis along with her.

Elena was on her knees in front of a crying girl, likely trying to comfort her. Tavin stopped as soon as they got out of most of the crowd, a kind of feeling he didn’t like keeping him from getting closer. Thankfully, Lydia and Lewis simply ignored him in favor of their sister.

“Ellie, you can’t randomly disappear.” Lydia got down beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“One, you get to run off without telling anyone so you can’t tell me that I can’t do the same,” Elena replied. “Two, be quiet. I’m trying to help calm a kid.” Then she brought her attention back to the girl. “I’m Elena, and these two adults are my older siblings, Lydia and Lewis. Do you have any older siblings?”

She shook her head, a certain kind of panic clear in her eyes.

“Well, do you know where your parents are, or their names? I can help you find them if you’ve gotten separated.”

She shook her head again.

“What about your name?”

This just brought her to cry more.

Elena looked around her to try to find something to calm her. Then she noticed Tavin and gestured for him to get closer. “I know adults can be a little intimidating sometimes. How would you like to talk to someone your age instead? This is Tavin, Lydia’s son.”