The Butterfly Effect

{-Olle-}

He’d by chance decided to look over at Evelina. But he knew that look, and he recognized that air. “Is there somewhere private the two of us can go?” he asked, quickly. She must’ve immediately realized that he knew, because she shrunk a little.

The nun nodded. “Right over there, on the door to the left. It’s usually the pastor’s office, but he’s not here, and I’m sure he won’t mind. I’ll ask one of the sisters to follow you, in case you need anything.”

He hoped it wasn’t obvious that he definitely didn’t want that. “Thank you, but I’d rather you tell them to give us some time alone.”

And, before anyone could say anything else, he took Evelina’s hand and walked towards that office. He didn’t see anyone around when he closed the door, so he assumed the nun had listened to him. But he was still quiet, in fear that she hadn’t, when he turned to his cousin.

“How long has that been happening?”

“All day,” she admitted, barely a whisper. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice sooner…”

“This isn’t something to sound so calm about.”

“I didn’t want anyone to have to be worried. We’re finding out things about Demery and Koyana’s parents, meeting with Tandi, and trying to find Jimar and whatever this box is. I don’t exactly see where my problems are supposed to fit into that…”

“By the fact that this is serious. You’ve never had this many problems over such a short span of time. It doesn’t matter how well you’re able to hide it, you can’t keep pretending like all of this is going to continue to be alright.”

“Isn’t there still a chance it could be?”

“Dammit, Evelina, a chance isn’t something we should be relying on!”

She shrunk at his tone and, honestly, he didn’t like it either. Getting loud wasn’t something he ever looked forward to—but sometimes it was the only thing she’d listen to.

They were both silent for a minute before he sighed and, calm again, asked, “How bad is it?”

“It didn’t start out as anything, not really. It’s… gotten worse over the course of the day—it hasn’t gotten as bad as it was last time.”

“Would you have told me about it sooner if it was?”

The fact she didn’t say anything was enough of an answer.

Olle wandered to the other half of the room and started an act that just barely couldn’t be called pacing. “You should know by now that you have to tell me these things. What do you think would’ve happened if you hadn’t, and collapsed on our way here? It can build up quickly if you don’t let me know what’s going on.”

“Well, if it changes anything…” She paused, like she was still trying to wrap around her own emotions on the matter. “I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about it after this.”

He felt a mix of relief, ashame for being relieved, and a kind of panic at the rest of the implications. “Are you sure?”

“I can feel it leaving, in a way—whatever fragment has managed to hold on for all these years. It won’t last much longer at this rate.”

“This could go one of two ways. It’s simple and relatively harmless, since you’ve already lost most of it. Or, it’ll be as bad as or worse than some of the more serious times. With our luck, that’s probably what’s going to end up happening. Even with Aither and possibly Demery’s help, I’m not going to be able to do much after a certain point. Whenever we really needed it I knew I could ask the clergy at home, but…”

“Could we try to ask the clergy here..? Or wait and see if we’re really going to need it..?”

“I’d rather make sure that we’re ready for anything, not wait until the last minute. But we can’t ask the clergy here to do anything—no matter how nice they seem now, the moment they realize it’s because you’re losing your magic, they’re probably going to try to get us to leave town…”

As soon as he said it, he could hear mumbling from the other side of the wall. Of course the nun must’ve sent someone, and of course that person had to overhear the whole conversation…

“I think we already outstayed our welcome,” Olle remarked slowly. “We can talk with the others about what we’re going to do about all of this later.”

He left and she followed right behind him. As soon as they left, the clergy members who’d been standing by the door ran away. One of them went straight to the nun and crowd surrounding Aither.

Olle tried not to appear in a rush to get out of the church again; he understood that, if they looked like they were at fault for something, it was only going to make things worse. The two of them walked to the others just as the nun had turned to Aither and asked, “Did you realize what kind of person was under your careful gaze?”

“Of course I did,” Aither said calmly. “You know, you probably shouldn’t judge people for things they were never able to control.”

The nun’s frown only deepened. “I think it’s best if you all find somewhere else to stay. We don’t believe Orestis would want us harboring the likes of you…”

Olle, for one, just shrugged and left, Evelina still trailing behind him. They’d both learned years ago that there was no way to fight it. The other four, though not without showing some slight confusion, followed after them.

“Is this a matter that simply I am not aware of, or..?” Tandi prompted. “All the other times I was here, they never pushed someone away like that—and certainly not so suddenly.”

“It’s not something I should be saying out here,” Olle said, hoping that might be enough to keep her satisfied for now. It was only Tandi who didn’t know; probably making that mention alone was enough for everyone else to take a guess. “Do you know if this town has an inn we can stay at?”

Though she hesitated a moment, she nodded. “It’s more of an acquaintance’s house, but she always seemed willing to rent out rooms to any travelers. Assuming she’s still living here…” Still, she started leading them in that direction.

Olle spent the short walk scanning the people around them. He was trying to find some sign that the church had warned of what they’d heard—that there was at least one person in the town who must’ve done something against Orestis. But the only thing he found was curiosity, the same kind they had when the six of them had entered the town; he sensed no hostility among them, nor fear.

And, instead of being grateful for it, he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would last.

Eventually, Tandi stopped and knocked on the door of a slightly-bigger-than-the-rest house. An older woman opened the door, seeming to ignore all the others when she saw Tandi.

“Tandi? Is that really you? Oh, last I saw you, you were so little… look at you, all grown up! Come in, come in! I’m not about to let a little—well, I suppose, grown—doll like you keep standing outside.” The woman stepped back and gestured them in. This is when she realized the other five. “And you’ve got visitors with you! Ah, yes, all of you, come in, too! I’ve got room to spare, with all the kids gone. Tandi, what are they? New servants of your master? Oh! Are these your kids? I bet this cutie is!” She gave Aither a particularly wide smile, to which he nervously laughed.

“Ah, no…” he mumbled, though it wasn’t hard to guess that the woman hadn’t heard him.

Tandi was in no better state to explain until, finally, she said, “They’re neither. They’re friends of the Tyrus family.” She shook her head. “None of that is important. We’re hoping to stay here a little while, do you still rent out your spare rooms? I have—”

“Oh, no need to pay, dear! Seeing you again made my day. It’s on the house, for all of you.” The woman went over to one of the cabinets, took out a piece of paper from it, then darted to a table to write something down on it. “And there you go. Since all the kids have grown up and moved out, I have their rooms set up to be rented out as well, so all of you can have your own room. Tandi knows where they all are—upstairs and to the left.”

Tandi nodded her thanks and began to lead them there. A quick look inside showed that they appeared much larger than Olle was expecting.

They all simply stood there a moment, not really sure of what to do. He glanced at Evelina—it didn’t look like anything had changed in their walk over there—and sighed.

“Sorry about that. I’m pretty sure everyone else was able to guess what had happened, but I’ll say it because Tandi doesn’t know.” He kept his voice low, afraid it might happen again if the woman overheard them. “The nuns heard me mention that Evelina’s losing her magic.”

Tandi gained something of a mournful air, a kind of sympathy that most people never had when they were told about it. “So, you truly couldn’t escape the curse of Feldr…”