The Butterfly Effect

{-Evelina-}

It always decided to bother her at the worst of times. Perhaps the part she hated the most was how, for the next week or so after, she feared it might happen again. A part of her always wished that it would be the last time; the other part was always grateful that, though Olle wouldn’t let her use it, she still had the distinguishing feature of the children of Fleyw Bresh. She knew either way it wouldn’t change what had happened or anyone’s opinion of the matter.

She didn’t have any problems in the time they traveled without Aither, as they’d all decided it would be better to go ahead of him. By the time he returned, she’d allowed herself to believe that maybe it wouldn’t come back until the end of this whole thing.

Aither, when he wandered into their camp on that second night, seemed slightly more nervous than usual. He didn’t have any more cuts, though, or anything to truly indicate if something had happened. “Are you all excited to see what I can show you now..?”

“Yes!” Koyana said, the only one out of the four to show a strong emotion towards the question. She looked at her companions and frowned. “Come on, don’t tell me you’re honestly not curious!”

She was answered in a shrug and a few mumbles.

What did spark some kind of reaction out of them was when Aither pulled out a stack of letters. Before anyone could say anything, he glanced at Evelina and Olle and explained, “I had Demery and Koyana find these before they met you.”

When no one asked any questions, Aither found a comfortable spot to be able to have enough light to see the letters and started to read the first in the stack. Looking more closely, they appeared more to be fragments; Evelina assumed them to be scavenged from some grander exchange, ripped apart by the authors.

“‘We have with us the blood of Tyrus and the blood of Feldr. Together, perhaps, we may be able to do something. But there is always a chance that our abilities alone are not enough—after all, there were three that stood by her side, and only two present now. Tell me, have you been able to learn anything about Komaeda’s descendants?’”

He went on to the next piece. “‘Not a word. If we did not both have records of her, I would simply say that she never existed to begin with. My search could not reveal much, as I do not have the proper permissions to see much else other than the region’s records. But, from what I have gathered from other friends, it seems her family has either stayed in some remote town or has not been in Qizar for centuries. And since my ability to look here is limited, I doubt I will be able to get very far in Seothia. I think it should be fine to try without her blood. After all, you have said it yourself—we do not have much left to lose.’”

“‘What do you think we should do? I have looked into these things for a long time and found nothing similar that might help us. I suppose it is simply time that we try whatever we can think of. Our hope lies with the children—they are all young enough still that this does not affect them as much. Even if we cannot save ourselves, we may be able to give them something better. Do you think separation will work? Perhaps ignorance will be the thing that saves them…’”

“‘Think carefully, friend. Any wrong move could turn into your deepest regret in the future. I do not believe that will do anyone any good. What would happen if ignorance was not what saved them? Who would be there to guide them through the hardships and trials if not a man who has gone through them himself? We both want to help our families but fear should not control us to make drastic decisions. There is another way through this, one where we might all be able to live peacefully. Our families are all we have. Do not push them away.’”

He picked up the last fragment in the stack. “‘I have considered it and I have made my decision. There is nothing I could offer them here. My father lives in the mountains, I will take them there. I have also decided it is best for us all to cut communication—maybe Komaeda was right to abandon us. My last request of you is that you keep them from meeting. Do not let them know of our pasts together. And take care of yourself and your family. The curse runs strongly through Feldr’s line.’”

Aither carefully collected all of the letters, setting them neatly to the side. “Any guesses on who those two were?”

All four of them remained silent. If anyone had a guess, it felt wrong to say it out loud; like acknowledging it might taint their memories.

“It was the last exchange between Demery and Koyana’s father and Olle’s,” he explained slowly. Perhaps he acknowledged how they felt about the situation. “I’d say it isn’t quite as bad as it sounds in context, but really, knowing more doesn’t really help anything…”

Evelina dared to suggest what they all were likely thinking. “The ones who were sent to live with the author’s father—”

“We’ll get into that later,” Aither interrupted. “Things are going to start getting confusing and complicated, but don’t worry. All of this is going to make sense in the end. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

She nodded, yet the thought stayed as she glanced at the siblings. Perhaps there was still a chance this could all have a happy conclusion; she doubted it herself, but she’d hold on to some hope, for their sake.

“Demery, Koyana, does the name Tandi mean anything to you?” Aither asked after a moment.

“Only that it was mentioned during that argument you had with our grandparents,” Demery replied. “I don’t think I’ve heard of it before then, anyway.”

“A little disappointing, but completely understandable,” Aither mumbled. “You both would’ve been too young to really remember her…”

“Do you know her?” Olle prompted. “Like how you worked with us at the same time that you helped them.”

Aither shook his head. “Unfortunately, I don’t know as much about her as I wished I did. I only got necessary background information when I started the mission. Since then, I haven’t had the chance to learn more about her.”

“But you know who she is, right?” Koyana asked.

“Of course I do,” he responded. “But as you might be able to guess by now, that’s not something I can say at the moment. It won’t take long for you to figure it out, once we meet her. Then you’ll know just as much about her as I do.”

“So we’re going to meet her?” Demery questioned. No doubt he was trying to get as much information as he could about the details of their plan. “Is wherever we’re going to find her exactly where we’re traveling to?”

Aither considered it a bit before actually giving an answer. “Sort of, but not really. Think of it like she’s something we need to pass in order to get to where we’re really heading. We’ll need her help with a few things, and she’d probably have some better answers than what I could tell you.”

“So where are we actually heading?”

“Remember what I just said about trusting me?” It was clear Aither was just saying it in hopes he didn’t need to give an actual answer. “I understand that you want to know what’s going on, but there’s some things I just can’t tell you. Eventually you’ll be able to understand but now is not the time.”

Evelina chose to ask a different kind of question. “Where are we going to find her?”

“There’s a town near here she visits frequently, by her master’s orders,” he replied. “It’s the best place to talk with her where we won’t have to worry about running into anyone else. We could get what we need from her without risking starting something prematurely…” He shook his head. “Are there any more questions that I’ll be able to answer?”

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Evelina could think of nothing else that she knew Aither would be allowed to answer; judging from Olle and Koyana’s expressions, they must have felt the same. But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Demery could still think of something.

“Does any of this have to do with someone named Jimar?”

A look of panic briefly flashed across Aither’s face before he quickly shook his head. “When did you hear that name..?”

“Ms. Siavax was talking to him while we were out in town getting supplies. She said he visited rather often, usually at night, and always asked about the two of us. Is he involved in all of this?”

“I don’t… know for sure, honestly. I know what he used to be, but I didn’t think he was involved in this any more.” More of a mumble, he added, “I hope this won’t turn out to be more complicated than what Day thought it would be…”