The Butterfly Effect

The way Leon made it sound, this place was supposed to be full of thugs and various other questionable individuals. They actually wouldn’t have minded it, figuring it would make it more exciting.

It turned out to be the average just-out-of-the-capital Palus town. Sure, there was the occasional shady guy selling merchandise of ambiguous quality, but it wasn’t anything out of the usual. In fact, there were far less of them than what was at the capital.

Enebish wandered through the streets, avoiding the less fortunate places. They always hated to see it; what happened to the people who weren’t lucky enough to know or work under a noble. It made them wonder where they’d be if Enuolare hadn’t adopted them, and that was a topic they tried to avoid as much as possible.

The nice house they were presented with made them double check the address Leon had given them. It didn’t look like any type of house bad guys would have.

Then again, looks could be deceiving.

With that in mind, they eagerly knocked on the door. “Hello? Anyone home?”

A rather tired-looking man answered the door. “What’s a kid like you doing here?”

Enebish confidently answered, “I’m Mx. Enebish Oseloke. I’m here to ask about your daughter.” They paused. “You are the Mikahs, right? Do I have the wrong address..? With the way you’re looking at me it feels like I’ve got the wrong address…”

There was a brief moment of panic that crossed his face, though he simply turned around and called, “We’ve got a guest, honey!” He looked back at Enebish to gesture them in. “I’m Ivann and my wife’s Akilina. What is it that you want to know about our daughter?”

Antiques from before the rebirth of Seothia were scattered around; they were mainly distracted by a tapestry with the obvious crest of the old royal line. It only brought up many more questions with little answers.

“Are you interested in history?” they asked in attempts to clear away the silence. “It must’ve taken a lot of work to preserve this… not to mention the bravery to put it up in a place where everyone can see it.” They gently ran their hand along the edge, though lifted it back off when a chill ran through them.

“Oh, that’s not nearly as old as you think it is,” Ivann remarked with an off-putting laugh. “We had that crafted some thirty years ago, didn’t we, dear?”

“Saved up all we had,” Akilina agreed from the kitchen. “It’s our pride and joy. Why should we hide the lineage we were tasked with preserving?”

One of their siblings had told them about people like these. Their thoughts left their mouth before they could think about what they were saying. “You know it’s historically proven that Saint-King Lucas killed the old king and, with him, all his line, right?”

“Mx. Enebish, there’s something important you should know about the world: history is written by the winning side.” Ivann said it all without losing his smile. “If you’re close to Lady Enuolare you would know the secrets the throne keeps for ‘the better’ of the kingdom. If you’re not… then imagine all the things you know she’s keeping from you. That should give you an idea on the truth of things.”

They refused to listen to any of it. “Saint-King Lucas’s spirit has helped us clear up any other misconception. If there was anything wrong with how the previous king was killed, then we would know it by now.”

“Keep living your fantasy,” he remarked with a shrug, “and see where it brings you in a couple of years’ time.”

Akilina came out with tea and gestured for them to all sit down at the table. “We’re going to help put the old king’s line back on the throne, like they rightfully should be.”

“That’s pretty bold words assuming I’m not just going to go to my mom and tell the king what you’re doing,” Enebish pointed out.

Ivann chuckled and ruffled their hair. “Perhaps try doing some research before making threats of your own, hmm?”

Akilina gave a small smile as well. “I’m sure your mother already knows.”

“We’re getting away from the point!” Enebish decided, shaking their head. They weren’t going to believe these two. There was no reason to assume they were telling the truth… aside from their confidence, that is, but that could be said for anyone. At least that’s what Enebish assured themself. “I already said I’m here to talk about your daughter. Someone told me that she was missing and I came to investigate.”

“Missing?” Ivann and Akilina looked at each other before laughing together. He stopped to explain, “Rest assured, we know exactly where she is!”

Enebish sighed. “That doesn’t make you any less suspicious. Look, I need some actual information on what you know. I don’t know exactly what normal officials do around here but I’m not leaving just because of that.” They pulled out a little notebook and quill. “When did you last see her?”

“Only a few days ago,” Akilina said casually. “We sent her off to stay with a couple of our friends.”

Ivann nodded. “We’ve been meaning to have some time to ourselves for a little while. Our friends offered to take care of her for us.”

They needed to choose their words carefully, keeping Leon’s warnings in mind. “And who are these friends?”

“Part of our group,” was Akilina’s bright response.

“What kind of group?”

“A middle-class working union.”

“Why don’t I believe you..?”

Ivann chuckled. “Currently we’re trying to come up with a way to help those without support from a noble. They’ve got plenty of things in the works; ways to improve our world without relying on the tynmir’s magic.”

Time for a change of tactics. “How would you describe your relationship with your daughter?”

“Only the utmost care and love,” Akilina replied with a nod. “As any parent would, I hope. But you should know how teenagers are; they don’t appreciate what they’ve been given, unable to see far enough ahead to know why it’s necessary.”

“My source was another adult and he came with an outsider’s perspective. He was afraid that you were doing something to her. Has anything happened that would lead someone to think that?”

Ivann shook his head. “The only thing I can think of is her staying with friends. She wasn’t too fond of going, but I assure you they’re good people.”

“So can you show where a few of them live so I can talk to them myself? This could be over soon; all you need to do is show me where Nadia is, I can talk to her myself, and then the case will be closed.”

“I’m afraid we can’t share any of that information. We don’t know where exactly our friends live—we left her at one of our group’s meeting points.”

“So can you tell me where that is?”

“That’s also information that stays within the members of the group. Though something else tells me that you already have somebody who can show you where it is.” Ivann got up. “Who told you about Nadia?”

“That is classified information,” Enebish defended confidently. “I protect the privacy of anyone who walks into my—hey!”

Akilina took the notebook out of their hand and flipped through some of the pages. She must have finally found the one with the rest of their notes, getting up and showing it to her husband. “Leon.”

With a calm but frightening voice all the same, Ivann said, “Mx. Enebish, it was nice getting to meet you, but I think you should go now. And I would advise not returning—there’s plenty of things around here that I don’t think you’re ready to handle.”

They quickly nodded, stood up, snatched their notebook back, and walked out. They didn’t dare look back until they were close to home again, the end of their welcome seeming to extend through the whole town. When Enebish got back, they went straight to their office and didn’t dare think of anything else until they had all the information from their encounter written down.

It proved how little they knew.

There was a steady knock on the door before Leon came in. “Did it go well?”

“They figured out you were the one that sent me,” they sighed, slumping further into their chair.

“They didn’t do anything, did they? They’ve never liked me, I wouldn’t expect them to be nice to someone who was working with me.”

“They just said it was time I left and not come back.”

Leon thought for a moment. “You know, you don’t have to be the one to do this. It could be dangerous for someone like you and I get if you’d rather not get involved in it.”

“No.” They sat back up. “I started this case. I’m not backing down until you have an answer. Nothing’s going to keep me from doing that.”