The Butterfly Effect

{-Koyana-}

She hadn’t meant to say anything to offend them. She just thought it was a casual question, something she’d already been hoping to know the answer to.

But she should’ve realized it was one of those things they wouldn’t want to talk about.

Evelina looked between Aither and Olle, silently begging for an explanation.

“I told you I asked them to look into the blood of Feldr,” Aither remarked.

“I already kind of talked to Demery about it,” Olle added casually.

Demery glanced back at them. “Are you finally going to talk about that mysterious past of yours?”

“How much did you tell him?” Evelina hissed.

Still, Koyana didn’t process the full extent of it all until Olle answered.

“A little bit about your parents, kind of what happened to mine, and some of what we did after. Not a lot—I knew it would be better for us all to be there, and for you to be okay with it.”

“I’m already not okay with them knowing that much.”

“You know I wouldn’t have made you all work together if I didn’t think they wouldn’t still accept you,” Aither pointed out thoughtfully. “Day makes sure that everyone will be able to get along with each other, even if it means sacrificing some practicality.”

“Reminding you that we didn’t really have a conventional childhood either,” Demery said. “We’ve been living with our grandparents almost all our lives. Just because our parents didn’t want to deal with us.”

Koyana hated it when he put it like that. She’d always held some fragment of hope—similar to how she tried to find care in their grandparents’ actions—that their parents cared. But there was no use bringing it up here.

Evelina sighed. “Fine, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to tell them a bit more…”

Olle didn’t necessarily look pleased at the opportunity to share more, but he wasn’t disappointed, either; his expression was closer to relief. “Aither probably sent the two of you to our old hometown. That was where we all lived together—until my parents were accused of heresy. Evelina and I were forced to leave after that but, after a bit of wandering, we were able to find the place we’re at now. They don’t care about what happened to us before and they believed our side of the story. Honestly, it’s the most peaceful we’ve ever been.”

“Were they falsely accused, then?” Demery seemed to have perfect understanding of what he asked, yet held no remorse even after Koyana’s nudge.

“I think they were, but I guess you could never really be sure.”

“Something Queen Zofie oversaw?”

“Surprisingly no—it had been completely local. I don’t even think Lord Rhodes was aware that it happened. When the bishop or queen is involved, the kids usually end up staying with the church and we… definitely didn’t have that option.”

“So what did they do to get their neighbors against them?”

“They… kind of always had our neighbors against them. All they needed was enough evidence—or paranoia—to convince the rest of the town of who they were.” Olle shook his head slowly. “My parents saw past the superstitions of our hometown and they ultimately paid the price for it.”

“Won’t tell us why?”

Olle glanced at Evelina and, whatever look she gave him, he decided, “That can be left for another time.”

“We looked into Tyrus, while you were learning about Feldr,” Evelina said after a moment. It felt just as much to keep the silence away as it was to keep them from asking any more questions. “We were able to hear some stories about a couple who traveled through the mountains. They were rather well known in some of the groups that we asked in. We assumed they must’ve been your grandparents, given how long ago it had been… were you told any similar stories?”

Demery shrugged. “No, but I guess it could have been them.”

“Our grandparents never exactly talked about when they were younger,” Koyana explained. “They told a couple of stories about Tyrus but never about themselves. I think the only thing we really know about them is that they lived somewhere else as kids… wherever our parents are now, if I remember right.”

“The non-desert portion of Solaris territory,” Aither stated.

She felt several conflicting things at the thought of where they were going now might bring them closer to where their parents were. A quick glance in Demery’s direction made it look like he didn’t care—but there was something in his expression that made her certain he did.

…

They’d traveled for two days, then stopped at a nearby town. She’d figured they would just stay the night; it started raining a few hours before they stopped, and it was practically a downpour by the time they got to the inn. She even got up early, the same time they had been, expecting to be the last one up and chided by Demery for making them late.

But then she wandered down to the main room to find only her brother there, grumbling to himself about something.

“Are the other three preparing something..?” she asked as she sat beside him.

“I haven’t seen any of them all morning,” he muttered back. “It probably has something to do with whatever they’re not telling us.”

“Well, have you tried to see what they were doing?”

He shook his head. “Whatever it is, they’re not interested in telling me.”

They sat there in silence, for a moment, before someone else wandered down the stairs.

“You’ve probably guessed by now, but we’re, uh, having some… unexpected challenges,” Aither said as he walked up to them. He let out a nervous chuckle. “We’re going to have to stay here for a day or two.”

It must’ve taken Demery everything he had not to sigh. “Are we going to get a reason why?”

“Not right now. But, maybe, I can tell you something if you’re willing to help.” Aither showed them the piece of paper he had with them, along with some coins. “Could you two get these from town? I can’t because I’ll just end up making a mess of things, and Olle’s busy. This is his money, so you won’t have to worry about paying for it yourself.”

Demery looked the list over. “Wouldn’t it be easier and possibly cheaper to just ask someone from the church for help with this? It’s all practical medicine, whatever’s going on should be an easy task for even an amateur healer.”

“Except, we do still plan on traveling as soon as possible,” Aither said, a nervous edge clear in his tone. “And none of you know Life magic. It’s better if we get what we’ll need instead of relying on someone else.” He paused. “Also, I don’t think the church here would take well to the situation. Another thing I can possibly tell you about after you’ve come back.”

“So the only way we’re getting answers is if we help?”

“We are allies.”

“Last I checked, allies didn’t keep seemingly important secrets from one another.”

Aither shook his head. “Alright, I will tell you something when you get back. But you have to come back with the stuff on that list first. You should be able to find them all together somewhere in the market or, as a last resort, the church. If anyone asks questions, don’t answer.”

Koyana, for a moment, considered questioning why a Fos would practically be asking them to lie. But she knew from his tone and expression that this was something serious. She trusted him, and she wanted to do what she could to help, no matter if they got anything out of it.

“I’ll go, at least,” she offered.

Demery sighed. “Then I’ll come too. Someone’s got to make sure you stay on track.” He gave one final glance at Aither. “But we better have some kind of explanation when we come back.”

He gave an almost nervous chuckle and waved as they left the inn.

“I hate this,” Demery grumbled almost as soon as they left. “We’re not being told a damn thing.”

“They probably have a perfectly good reason,” Koyana tried, though a part of her acknowledged it wasn’t going to work. “Most people do…”

He sighed. “They know pretty much everything about us, aside from what happened to your friend. But it feels like there’s still too much we don’t know about them.”

“Well, think of it this way. It sounds like Aither will probably tell us once we get everything.”

“We shouldn’t need Aither to tell us. They should be able to do it themselves.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but soon reminded herself of a simple fact. Her brother definitely wasn’t going to listen to anything she had to tell him.

All she could do was wait to see how this all played out in the end.