The Butterfly Effect

{-Demery-}

It hadn’t been a very big change. But, compared to what they were like before, it certainly felt like it.

“Demery, you’re late. Get your lazy ass out of bed and start making breakfast.”

The words didn’t change—no, it was the same thing their grandfather had been saying for years that had long since lost meaning. It was the action—or rather, lack of it—that made him more willing to comply with their grandfather’s will. Usually there was door slamming, stomping, and the tugging of blankets involved; ever since they returned from their little trip, though, it was just replaced with an irritated command.

Demery wandered into the kitchen and prepared some fruit and bread, making a mental note that he needed to get more soon.

But their grandmother passed by at that moment and, for the first time he could remember, offered, “I’m going to be heading out to town to visit some friends. I’ll make sure to pick up some things on my way back home.”

He desperately wanted to question it—what the sudden appearance of Aither really had to do with their actions. It was like they were beginning to realize that their treatment of the siblings wasn’t particularly fair and that it should be changed.

Or, perhaps, that there was someone who might be upset with them to know what the siblings had to grow up with under their grandparents’ care. But that also brought up several more questions than he could only think of answers to.

Though it was ultimately a good thing, he didn’t want to think about it too much. They’d dodged the question the one time he tried to ask, anyway.

When he finished, their grandparents took their usual amount. Demery split the fraction of what was left between two plates, leaving one at the table while taking the other to his sister’s room.

He gently knocked on the door and called, “Koyana, it’s time to eat.”

There were only a handful of times when she wasn’t up before him. He prepared himself to see her in a state he knew he couldn’t help; the collection of bittersweet memories going through the head of the much more melancholy Koyana.

Yet, when she emerged a moment later, she just wiped away a tear and mumbled her thanks.

“Do you want to visit the spot today?” he asked gently.

She took the plate he’d offered and brought it back to the kitchen. “No. I really don’t want to let Aither see that, if he ends up coming…”

“Just let me know if you change your mind. You know I’ll gladly walk you there.”

She nodded and began to eat. He ate as well, but not without sparing periodic glances in her direction. He didn’t care if it looked obvious, she knew it was his way of making sure everything else was fine.

“I wish he gave us an actual time,” she said after a little while. “It’s already been over a week…”

“Maybe he got caught up in something,” Demery offered. “It sounds like he’s got a lot of other things to work on, anyway.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that much longer,” their grandfather remarked as he walked up to them. “Seems the two of you have a letter. It doesn’t say who it’s from, so don’t ask.” He placed it in front of them and turned to walk away again. “I do expect you to clean up before you leave.”

Demery carefully picked up the letter and read it over. “It’s from Aither. He wants us to meet him at that place we talked before.” Without looking up, he added, “Your excitement for a distraction can wait until after you’ve eaten.”

…

“Did he mention anything specific about what he wanted to talk to us about?”

“For the fifth time, Koyana, all he said was that we should meet with him.”

He couldn’t tell if this was just a part of her normal excitement or if it still had to do with the distraction. Either way, it was starting to get mildly annoying, though she was likely well aware of that by now. Luckily it wasn’t long after that they reached the spot where Aither was waiting for them—along with two strangers.

“You weren’t busy, were you?” Aither asked. “I didn’t want to interrupt anything, in case you had plans.”

“We really didn’t have any plans,” Koyana assured him.

“Probably just another day of running errands…” Demery mumbled.

Koyana quickly caught sight of the strangers and rushed up to them. “More importantly, Aither, who’s these two?”

“You’re, uh, a little ahead of me here…” Aither let out a nervous laugh. He gestured to the two strangers. “These two are Olle and Evelina. They have the blood of Feldr.” He gestured to the siblings. “And these are Demery and Koyana. They have the blood of Tyrus.”

“I guess since they aren’t here already, there’s not going to be any of Komaeda’s descendants?” Olle prompted.

Aither shook his head. “They’re a lot harder to track down, though fortunately they aren’t involved in this mess like the four of you are. Maybe one day you’ll all be able to meet them, but that’s not the important part right now.”

“If you know about Komaeda, then do you know the same amount that we do?” Demery addressed the two of them, but glanced at Aither; only he’d actually be able to answer exactly how much they knew.

“I more or less worked with you at the same time,” Aither explained. “You all know the same things about Tyrus, Feldr, and Komaeda. Neither of you know any more about it than the other, though. I made sure of that.”

Koyana smiled and held out her hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet you! Sounds like we’re probably going to be working together, so there’s no purpose in acting like strangers!”

They both offered smiles, but only Olle returned the gesture. “To be honest, when we first heard about meeting the blood of Tyrus… I had my fears. But you’re already much better than I was expecting, so I’m glad they were misplaced.”

“What did you think we were going to be?” Demery couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Aither was the one to answer him. “I think you’d be able to figure out the reasoning, once you get to know each other better.” He seemed to take that as his opportunity to lead them into another point, “We’ll all be working together from now on. You’re going to need to be able to get along, so I’ve got a couple of tasks for you before we really get started.”

He took out a small pouch from his own bag. “Since we’re going to be going on a longer trip this time, we’re going to need to make sure we’re well prepared for it. Olle and Demery, I’d like you two to get the items on our list. I know I don’t have a lot—just a bit a nearby church could spare from their offerings—but Olle’s already told me he brought more. I’m sure the two of you will be able to make it work.” He handed the list to Demery. “Evelina and Koyana, I want you to find a bag bigger than this one. It’s probably best if it’s enchanted to be good for traveling. It may take you a while to find, but hopefully it won’t be too expensive…”

“Is there a chance I could be told exactly where we’re going?” Demery questioned the moment he read the list over. He’d expected things related to traveling, but this felt all a bit too much.

“I was wondering about that, too,” Evelina agreed. Demery had nearly forgotten she was there. “Where are you going to be taking us? You haven’t mentioned a word about the specifics.”

“I’ll tell you all once we get all our supplies,” Aither assured her. “You should just be focusing on getting those items.”

“Are we going further into the mountains?” At least Koyana seemed much happier than she was that morning. Either that or she really had improved in having a positive outward appearance. “Will we run into any dragons or manticores?”

“We won’t,” Aither replied quickly, “but I’ll tell you that we’re going to be leaving the Rhodes region. You’re going to have to come back before I tell you anything else, though.”

“Let’s get started, then!” Koyana turned on her heel and gestured for Evelina to follow her.

“Better keep up,” Demery advised casually, glancing at Evelina. “She’ll wander off without you if you don’t keep an eye on her.”

She looked surprised for a moment, but quickly nodded and went to follow Koyana.

“Oh, and good luck! Aither made her excited so she’s going to be rambling a lot!”

He wasn’t surprised when Koyana called back, “I’m going to pretend like I didn’t hear that!”

Demery glanced at Olle. “Well, this shopping isn’t going to get done on its own. Come on.”