The Butterfly Effect

Everyone must have known what was going to happen. Some of them had upheld casual conversation across their cells but stopped when they saw him; when he got to where Alwin and Folre were, they gave sympathetic looks as he walked past him.

“Show them what you’ve got, kid,” Alwin said in a grim but reassuring way. “You’ve come so far, don’t let everyone down now.”

Lucas would have replied if he wasn’t shoved forward. So he stayed quiet and hoped that he’d be able to talk to Zera alone, if not just for a couple of minutes. Never had he wondered so much if there truly were gods as the Fleyw Bresh believed, and if they really would listen to his prayers.

He was forced outside to where Zera was waiting. There was a moment of relief to see that she didn’t have anyone else with her—though was hit with the ominous reminder of what would happen if he didn’t succeed in talking to her.

It seemed he didn’t even need to be the first to start the conversation. Zera observed him with a cold glare as she asked, “Why do you boast of your rebellion so proudly?”

“Because I know success when I see it,” Lucas replied simply. “With or without me, they’re going to kill the king. Even if I’m not there to see it… they’re going to start a new era for us all.” He gave her the best smile he could muster. “And I mean everyone when I say that. Not just the children of Fleyw Bresh. Not just the other Seothians that helped our cause. Every person that’s ever called Seothia their home is going to find something to benefit from this.”

“How can you be so sure?” She was cautious to say anything and she glanced back towards the building as if she thought someone was watching her there. “There are people like me all over this kingdom and the land of the Fleyw Bresh. We have the blood of our kin and theirs on our hands, many without considering what we were truly doing… Not everyone can so easily forgive those people, nor do we all believe we should be readily forgiven.”

“I can’t speak much for whoever might take my place, but if I get out of here and on that throne, I swear by what I said,” he assured her confidently. “I won’t rest until everything is the best it can be for everyone here.”

“I don’t think you know the full extent of what you’re promising.”

He chose his next words very carefully. “If you help me, you’re going to know exactly how true my words are. Do you really want to be here?”

The question appeared to have caught her off-guard and, after another glance behind him, let out a defeated sigh. “I want to return home… to that distant place of my memories…”

“What if I could do you one better? You used to be pretty influential, weren’t you? All I need is your promise to help and loyalty to our cause and I’ll be able to bring your family back to what they used to be.”

“If there is one thing I learned by observation, humans can never keep their promises. We’re always bound to say whatever we need in order to get what we want. Our words mean nothing but to act as a shield for our true intentions.”

“Alright.” He gestured around them. “If you think my goal is to deceive you, then you have more than enough tools to kill me for it. I won’t even fight it, if you’re confident that’s what I’m trying to do. But if you think there’s a fragment of truth to my words, that I truly will do what I say I do… then let me go. This can all be over in a few weeks if I can just get back to them.”

Zera hesitated when she saw something unfavorable before forcefully grabbing his shoulder. “I know exactly what to do with you.” It was much louder than everything else, and he started to realize what she must have been trying to do. “But this is not the place. You’re coming with me where I can properly send you off in the way you deserve.”

She guided him to another place that was notably mostly out of sight from everything else. Immediately she looked a lot more relieved. “I know there are people who are watching… if they see me do any of this, then everything I have is at risk.”

“I promise to make this all worth your time and risk,” Lucas said dutifully. “You’ll just have to be careful to keep yourself out of trouble until I’m ready to give you the recognition and forgiveness that you deserve.”

“I believe we’re both aware that it’s barely that simple,” she remarked. “The only thing I can really assure you is that you’ll be fine as long as you’re out by sunset. They don’t start heavily guarding the place until then. It’s in our favor that you’re supposed to be dead by the hour—as long as you stay out of sight, they have no reason to believe that you weren’t executed. But please, please, if you are foolish enough to get caught—“

“I won’t mention you at all,” he agreed. “I’ll take all the blame for this. I could say you even tried to chase after me, if you think that’ll make them any more convinced. No one will know you were a part of this until it’s too late for any of them to do something about it.”

She gave him the weakest of smiles, then pointed to an area closer to where they came from. “The extra supplies are over there. Look through them all you’d like, I’m sure you can find a use for at least some of them in your rebellion. And succeed—I’m not helping someone who’s going to end up losing.”

Lucas nodded and darted off. He took what he needed from the supply room but not enough that made it look like things were obviously missing; as long as everything went to plan, they’d still have everything Takedon was going to get them. Compared to all of that, what he got could really only be described as enough for him to get back to them. Really, at this moment, he felt that was all it needed to be.

All throughout his trip to the meeting place (with the hopes that the others would’ve gotten there by now, since he had no other idea where they would be), he wondered about Zera. He hoped that she was still continuing on the secret that she let him go and that, if she was about to get caught for it, he could do something to help her before it became too late.

After several days of traveling, he was relieved to see the camp of the rebellion. Hearing the voices of Missa and Sidyn, he only went faster. They were all still there at the center of the camp, staring at him like they expected him to be dead.

“You really didn’t have a lot of faith in me, huh?” Lucas remarked with a smirk. “I wasn’t going to just give up that easily!”

Clari rushed up and hugged him. “You are the most headstrong person I know and you are so lucky that I love you…”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m glad to see you’re all safe, too.”

“That was one hell of a stunt you pulled off,” Sidyn said with no sign of concern or worry in his voice at all. “Don’t make a habit out of it. Eventually you’re going to get yourself into something you can’t get yourself out of. It’s not just you that’s going to be reaping those consequences, you know.”

Missa looked more bewildered than anything to see him. “How’d you get out of that? It didn’t take long for them to proclaim the news of a rebel leader being executed. We figured you were dead by the time that news reached us.”

Intending to keep his promise, Lucas’s only response was, “There’s more than just the children of Fleyw Bresh who want to return home.”

Sidyn sighed. “Well, I suppose it’s time to catch you up on everything you missed. As you can tell, we met with Pastor Takedon. He got everything that he was supposed to, so we’re all ready to take our forces to the capital. I sent small groups to occupy the lords around the area that might try to bring support to the king; that way, there’s very little chance they’ll be able to get to us before it’s well over. All we were waiting for was the word that they were in position and then we were going to march to the capital.”

“Alright. I’m assuming you haven’t run into any more soldiers since I left?”

“They don’t think we’re worth their time anymore. I’m sure they thought everything would be over the moment we were told you were dead. It’s for the better that we keep it that way, too. As long as they think you’re dead, they’re not going to have their guard down.”

“So are the children of Fleyw Bresh getting any better?”

Missa took over this part. “They’re shaping into actual fighters now. They’ll be a formidable opponent by the time we head out.”

Lucas grinned. “Then I guess it’s nearly time to show the king not to underestimate us.”

There was a bit of silence before Clari actually stepped away from him and said something. “What if something happens to you..?”

“Nothing else is going to happen to me, I promise,” he responded reassuringly. “I’ve done my fair share of being a prisoner. They’re not going to put me anywhere else.”

“I think you should be thinking about yourself,” Missa pointed out casually, glancing at Clari. “You should stay with all the children of Fleyw Bresh who won’t be fighting. It’ll keep you out of the way and I bet Lucas’ll have a lot clearer head knowing that you’re safe.”

“I’m sure Bea wouldn’t mind some company until the rest of this is over,” Sidyn offered. “It would be much better if you were out of harm’s way.”

Clari shook her head. “Last time I wasn’t there I spent days trying to convince myself that Luke couldn’t have died… I’m not leaving his side again.” She still turned to Lucas, though, to see what he thought about it.

“All you have to do is promise to be as safe as possible,” he said. “I don’t want to have to worry about you, but… I’d rather you didn’t have to worry about me. You’ve had enough of that already. Luckily for us, that’s almost over now…”