The Butterfly Effect

Dimas eventually rejoined the others. Imre was the only one to ask if he was okay; his nod was both the truth and a lie.

Their exploration of the caves was nothing more than wandering. Occasionally their silence would be broken by a chain of voices, but they never lasted long. It only took a few of them to determine the time they were set in, though; something after the Minotaur and before their current day, when the Fleyw Bresh used the caves to hide. Another piece of dark truth about the place that he wished he wasn’t reminded of.

“They won’t find us here. I’m certain of it.”

“There’s nothing we can do but trust you, I’m afraid. We don’t have much of a choice in the state our group is in…”

“I can show you the proof of it, just follow me.”

“But most of the group—“

“Only one person needs to come with me.”

“Alright… lead the way.”

It wasn’t hard to believe that they were following in the footsteps of those voices, even if they were only walking the main pathway. They remained alone in silence until they reached an open room; it looked like it had, once, hosted some kind of life beyond the Minotaur. A group that coexisted with it, even.

“More people—more of us?”

“This is where I came from. We heard that other people were struggling like we were, so I was chosen to find those people and bring them here. We have permission to stay here as long as we’d like; our Seothian pursuers are enough of a snack for it, and Amitael can’t bring the surface’s battles down here.”

“It..?”

“We were both raised on the adventures of Theseus, the fall of Ekambar, the trials of Moeris… Do you remember how Peiros discovered that Anysia had expanded the Labyrinth beyond his original design? These Caverns bear her name for a reason. Somewhere in this twisted maze is the Minotaur’s spirit. But you needn’t worry—he’s on our side.”

“But the stories—how were you able to convince it to agree with you?”

“We’re protecting someone that he wants to shield from the gods… his soul, somewhat, has weakened so that he shows a sense of empathy to those like him. Those who lost a twin to something no mortal could change, yet subjected to an awful fate all the same. He is willing to watch over all of us as long as that woman stays alive… but unfortunately, she fell ill some time ago and now seems to be ready to meet Vriuh. One of the people with you, though…”

“How do you know that?”

“A mother’s gaze can tell a lot. The way she looked at the child in her arms might suggest that she has already lost one and hopes not to lose the other. She lost one of her twins before arriving here, didn’t she?”

“Our group was originally much bigger… but we were attacked. The infant she holds now is the only remaining piece of her family.”

“Truly unfortunate. Though, Sokratas and Vaso have taught us to use such circumstances to our advantage.”

There was a short pause; just something to show that the conversation had ended, though another started soon after.

“What’s your name, child?” It was the same rumbling voice of the Minotaur, even if it was somehow more subdued.

“Delphine.”

“I could almost mistake you for Anysia… except that you are like me. You too have lost your sibling to something mortals cannot control.”

“You can sense that kind of stuff?”

“Oh, child… when it leads you to become a beast, you know to recognize those treading on the same path. But you won’t have to worry about what Darkness will do to you, little one… I’ll make sure she can never lay a finger on you.”

“Is that why everyone’s been able to live here without Seothia finding us, even though the adults said that we’re in their territory?”

“I can’t bear to see the same thing happen to me happen to any of you. My own people have abandoned me… but the children of Fleyw Bresh are willing to make a deal. They don’t care so much for what I am as to what I can give to them, and it’s much better than anything Qizar could offer me.”

“You’re much nicer than what Mama said you were. She tells me stories from her home, sometimes… she still talks about how bad you were, like you weren’t helping us at all…”

“Now that you’ve seen me yourself, do you think all that fear is well-placed?”

“No. Not when there’s scarier people that we know to be afraid of.”

“I believe that I’m going to like you, little Delphine…”

It was a story only Dimas would know; a piece of history that only really seemed important to the children of Fleyw Bresh. After all, at that point in time, all sensible goblins and fairies were still in Idkor or shielded by the eastern mountains. While it involved Seothia, he saw how they’d rather forget they ever did anything like that. Delphine was something of a local hero, almost, if “hero” was the word to describe her as. It all depended on whether you counted “keeping the Minotaur alive by her magic” as a good or bad thing.

By following the voices, they reached a much larger area. He knew they wouldn’t be alone; there was something about the place that made him uneasy, like where he had to go for penance. It was obvious that a spirit lurked here somewhere, but exactly who or what it was was never clear.

The fragments of the Minotaur began to appear on the other side of the room, little more than a wisp fading in and out of existence. But it showed that it wasn’t something to be underestimated, even after all this time in hiding; though struggling, it was gaining some of its form back. It wouldn’t take long until it might actually be able to do anything aside from glare at them.

Dimas thought back to all the memories and the legends, trying to think of what might hold its spirit. “Spirits can’t exist on their own—they need someone or even something to attach to. The Fleyw Bresh must’ve known they couldn’t rely on someone’s magic to keep it around forever. We just have to find the object that they enchanted to do the job instead.”

Everyone nodded and started wandering around the room, though they all stayed far away from the Minotaur. Knowing the nature of enchantment, Dimas could guess what he was trying to find; it couldn’t be a stone, more likely being a trinket of some sort. They enchanted things based on the object’s durability, sure, but it was also decided on emotional attachment the object could have.

He practically started praying that it was here somewhere when a sense of urgency struck him and it felt like he’d already looked at any practical hiding spot. It couldn’t be in another room, could it? No, it needed to be close in order to be effective. It had to be here somewhere.

Then he decided to check the progress of the Minotaur. Not only was it gaining much more of its form—nearly done, in fact—but there was also a glimmer of something behind it. A bejeweled horn, both used for ceremonious purposes and, in the times when the Minotaur protected the Fleyw Bresh, a warning of attack. That was what they needed. Of course they could only get it after the Minotaur moved from the spot.

This was the part where it got a bit tricky. None of them might not be the kind of god-blessed, danger-defying adventurer like Theseus was, but they weren’t without any experience. Dimas was able to catch Imre’s attention and make him see the horn; from there, it only took a couple of gestures before they all knew what their jobs were. Maybe this wouldn’t be so different from a normal adventure after all.

The Minotaur was ready sooner than preferred, but they could still work around it. Kiah and Lydia were able to catch its immediate attention, so it went for them once it was able to move again. Dimas, being the closest to where it had been, was able to reach behind and find where the horn was.

It caught on to what they were doing after that point, though they practically already had the whole thing settled. Dimas tossed it to Imre before the Minotaur could come near him; Imre tossed it to Samone who, muttering a few ancient words, set it ablaze. In an instant it was all over.

There was something about how easy it was that was odd. Everything leading up to this had made it sound difficult, like something they would genuinely have trouble with… in reality, he was just embarrassed that he’d ended up worrying over it so much. Maybe there wasn’t anything more to worry about, and maybe they all overestimated this from the beginning. There always was the possibility that the Minotaur had naturally grown weaker after so long without a proper master. An object could only survive for so long before it disappeared, after all.

“Who’s ready to go find some hidden future-telling pool?” Lydia cheered triumphantly. “We’ve just finished the hard part, so now it’s time to go collect our rewards!”