The Butterfly Effect

Ki could already be distinguished by his figure, but he now possessed an actual appearance. He did, vaguely, share the same features as Zenas, though the differences outweighed the similarities. For one, his hair was a silvery color; a second would be his cooler choice of colors in a practical, but somewhat worn, outfit.

He’d been making tea when voices caught his attention. Or, more specifically, Calli’s laugh. He followed the voices to the herb garden to see Calli sitting on the ground and Luke casually sitting in a tree.

“I’m surprised you fooled anyone with that name,” Calli remarked, still giggling. “It’s so obvious! It’s almost a little uncreative. You’re not a noble in the area, that’s just what you tell everyone when they ask if they know you. Luke was First Queen Clarimonda’s name for Lucas, even Missa knew that much. You’re the crown prince of Seothia, aren’t you?”

“It took my mom a year to figure that part out!” Luke chuckled. “I’m guessing a spirit’s doing all the work on that one?”

She smiled up at the sky. “You caught me. I was born with a connection to Missa. Though I’m assuming you’re not spiritless yourself.”

“Lucas is right beside you. I can pretty much guarantee that he’s always going to be where I am. Apparently an actual future king hasn’t had that much of a connection to him since Jakob.”

Luke repositioned himself in order to hang upside down before he continued. “If you can figure out my nickname, then I need to figure out yours. I know for a fact that ‘Calli’ probably isn’t your real name.”

“It doesn’t have to do with spirits at all.” Calli almost seemed embarrassed to go on, blushing. “Do you know about the Qizarn legend of Callisto?”

“Nope. Always just felt like a bunch of fairytales to scare kids into following orders or whatever.”

“My caretaker and the oldest of my friends grew up together in Qizar, so I’ve heard a lot of stories. This one has to do with a woman named Callisto. She was beautiful enough that even Elle—the goddess of Wind and someone very beautiful herself—was jealous of her. So Elle cursed her, turning her into a bear. When Orestis found out what had happened, He tried to turn Callisto back to normal. But she’d already been hunted and killed. He made her an eternal monument instead: a place in the stars as the Ursa.”

“So they’ve got stories behind constellations? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Callisto is associated with bears. It’s kind of hard to explain but, in a way, so am I. It’s the name my caretaker gave me, but not the name I was born with.”

“What’s your real name, then, if you don’t mind me asking?”

This was when Ki finally stepped in. “What are you doing?” He sounded a lot harsher than he meant, but it succeeded in what he wanted. Luke left as soon as he stepped out. “And what was he doing with you?”

Calli gave little answer, aside from a rather blunt, “I don’t see how it concerns you.” She got up and walked past him.

…

Everything was… darker, in a way. Whatever once made the place special and bustling with life was gone, save for the three people that remained.

Calli was, presumably, asleep in another room; the open door allowed glimpses of her restless slumber and her incomprehensible mumbling. Both Luke and Ki were in the main room, and if not for their stares could’ve been mistaken for having a casual chat over tea.

“She can’t stay here with you forever,” Luke insisted, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Well, I’m not letting her stay with you either!” Ki counteracted, only caring half as much about how loud he was. “All of those lies won’t work on me. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to believe she’d be cared for? She’s just going to be added to a long list of maids you own just for the pleasure of showing off!”

“I think you’re too stupid to realize what I’m offering here. Don’t you think it’s a little lonely out here since Takane moved out? Or have you at least thought if this was really the best thing for her? You can’t honestly tell me you think she’s happy living here by herself.”

“There’s nothing wrong with us! The only thing that’s ruining our lives is you! If you hadn’t shown up, we would all still be living out our lives like normal. She would still be mine. But a certain bastard had to show up and destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to maintain! It’s because of you she’s lost faith in me. She doesn’t come to me at all anymore—doesn’t even bother to say hello! You’ve been weaving lies from the very beginning, doing whatever it took to get what you wanted from her.”

“It’s my fault that you’ve gone completely insane? Look at you! I’ve met drunkards with better logic. I only want what’s best for her. I swear I won’t ever let any harm come to her. What do I need to do to prove that to you?”

“You could go away, for starters. Go back to whatever rich family you came from and leave us alone. We don’t need you.”

“I’m trying to be respectable here. She doesn’t want to stay here—“

“Only because you’ve convinced her that you have something better! You have nothing that we don’t. In fact, we have more! I’m not going to trust her with someone she’s hardly even known for a year!” Ki spared no time getting up and ushering Luke out. “You have your answer, now get out! I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. And stay away from Calli unless you’d like to see the full extent of my archery skills!”

“I’m getting out, I’m getting out! This is the last time you’ll see me.” But that wasn’t the look of someone who was being honest. Luke knew that he would be back here; he’d just be extra careful not to encounter Ki.

Ki watched him leave before walking over to Calli’s room. He stood by the door for a moment, frowning at her frantic muttering, then closed the door. He glanced over his shoulder to find nothing there, though he talked like there was.

“Well? Do you think I’ve finally driven him away this time?”

It was a surprise to hear that someone—a voice nearly identical to the one Zenas talked to—responded. “I think the only way you can truly keep him away is by killing him. It would also be rather fun to watch. Imagine tearing every limb of that little brat apart, hearing him vainly ask for mercy…”

“As much as I want to, I can’t be the one to kill him. Calli still needs to trust me,” Ki sighed. “I need to do whatever I can to bring things back to what they used to be between us. Killing her ‘fiancé’ definitely isn’t going to put me in her favor.”

“Oh, she’ll never think of running off with another man ever again. You’ll have her wrapped around your finger, too terrified to disobey you…”

Ki stiffened. “I don’t want to scare her! What part of ‘what we used to be’ do you not understand? She didn’t fear me. She trusted me, obeyed me, actually cared to give a damn about what I told her. Now she’s been blinded by false love and flying too close to the sun for my liking.”

“You know there’s precious little time before she’s swayed for good, yet you insist on the slow route. At this rate, you’re never going to achieve what you’ve been aiming for.”

Everything seemed to stop for a minute once she actually stepped into view. Her form was clearer than anyone else’s, though her back was turned; the only thing truly distinguishable from that point was her orange-yellow hair and the shattered remnant of dragonfly wings. There was something simply unsettling looking at her, like something bad could happen any moment now that she was here.

“Don’t you want to keep her safe?” Carefully, she walked up behind him and began to wrap her arms around him. “You’re exhausting all your possible options… all except for one. It doesn’t need to be hard at all. All you have to do is listen to me, and you can have all of it… You could keep her safe no matter what, even as your body fails you. I can show you everything…”

Then everything truly did stop. She caressed his head for a moment, then abruptly ripped it off to reveal all of it as a doll. When she whipped around to face them, she only showed pure sadistic amusement. “Or I would, but I’m not particularly fond of eavesdroppers. A bull’s waiting for you, you know. Best not keep him hungry for too long.”

…

Samone jerked back so suddenly Imre was certain she was going to fall. But she took his offer of support before then, leaning against him until she was steady enough on her own.

“That was not a normal person,” she mumbled. “Normal people can’t do that. It’s almost impossible to intercept someone else’s magic like that. Not unless it’s considerably strong or—“

“A god,” Dimas interrupted slowly. “Only a god could do something like that. And there’s only one god that could match that description…”

“Eldrianna,” Kiah sighed. “Darkness herself. Only she knows what she was doing there.”

“Whoever it was, that was not a pleasant feeling,” Samone decided. “It’s like getting kicked out of your own head… I didn’t even realize something like that existed.”

“Can you manage one more?” Imre only paid attention to her expression; she was the only one he needed to have the consent of, being the only one who could do it. “This’ll be the last, I promise.”

“As long as that doesn’t happen again,” she replied. “I’ve got enough for one more in me.”

Dimas caught Imre’s hand before he could show her where to go. Instead, he instructed, “The three of you go to the entrance to town. We’ll meet you there.”

They nodded and walked away, though they still remained in sight.

“So I’ve tried very hard to keep this supportive boyfriend thing up but I’m starting to get concerned,” Dimas admitted after a minute. “This was kinda okay at first; at least it wasn’t hurting anyone. We came, we started looking, and we saw the first memory. Then you continued to urge Samone to do more of them, when really one’s more than what most people can handle of that length. That would’ve been enough on its own but then Eldrianna showed up. I think it’s best if we stop while we’re ahead on this one…”

“We’re already too far to back out now,” Imre responded softly. “There’s only one more. I need to be sure of something before I’ll let this go.” He pulled his hand back. “I know you’re worried, and I don’t blame you for that. But this… I need to figure out what happened here.”

Dimas sighed. “Alright. I can’t deny you when you look at me like that anyway…”

With that, they went to join the others by the entrance.