The Butterfly Effect

{-Olle-}

He was usually rather casual in situations where regular people wouldn’t be. His cousin, for the third time in the past month, refused to acknowledge she wasn’t feeling well? Just make sure she gets enough rest, no need to bother anyone at the church over it. Someone from their old hometown tried “warning” others about them? Point them in the direction of the priest and have him explain how they, not the cousins, were the true disruption to the peace. A Fos on the verge of a panic attack shows up at their doorstep? Well, that was unexpected, but nothing a comforting smile and patience couldn’t solve.

But he found himself with so many different questions and fears when it came to these two strangers. He’d prepared himself to come across anyone. Yet neither shared what they found about Feldr, though they reasonably should’ve learned something. They seemed friendly enough; Koyana was practically overflowing with excitement, albeit there was something sad underneath of it. Demery? Well…

Olle usually had no problem striking up a conversation with complete strangers. But there was something different about Demery—a kind of distance, a kind of air that made him feel unapproachable. Olle would’ve assumed it intentional, were he not certain Aither wouldn’t have mentioned that “sense” to Demery and Koyana.

Demery must’ve felt the same awkwardness. After a few minutes when all they did was discuss the price of the items, he asked, “So, is Evelina your sister?”

The question caught him off guard at first, but Olle soon shook his head. “She’s my cousin, but she’s lived with me and my parents all her life.”

“Something happened to hers?” It was meant to be a completely casual question. Demery glanced over at him and, perhaps realizing it may not be taken that way, shrugged. “I guess you don’t have to answer that, but I won’t judge. Our parents sent us to live with our grandparents when I was four.”

There was no change in his air—no sadness, no anger. He stated it like a simple fact and nothing else. He wasn’t just pretending not to care; as far as Olle could tell, he really didn’t.

“It might’ve been something similar, then,” Olle mumbled when he realized silence wasn’t the best answer. “They thought having her around would be bad luck.”

“Did she have a twin?”

“No, it’s… kind of more of a local thing.”

Demery must’ve realized it wasn’t the best subject to dwell on. “Is she always that quiet? She practically just stared at the ground the entire time we talked with Aither.”

“Trust me, she’s usually a lot friendlier. But she doesn’t really like being surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar place. Give it a couple of days and I’m sure she’ll warm up to you two. She’s usually going out of her way to do all sorts of things back home. It keeps her busy.”

“That’s good. Koyana might not end up just rambling on forever.”

“Do you two not get to meet a lot of new people, or..?”

“Oh, no, merchants come by here all the time. For some reason, she just likes getting to know everyone.”

“You don’t?”

“It’s too much work and time I could spend doing something more productive. I don’t get how she keeps doing it, either, after—” Demery cut himself off, shaking his head. “That’s not something I should be talking about. If she wants to tell you, then she can do it herself.”

So the blood of Tyrus had plenty of secrets of their own, too. That was nice to know. At least then they were both withholding information.

They visited a couple of stores before they really talked about anything again.

“Do you live around here?” Olle asked. They all seemed to know Demery and looked happier when they saw him—even if, still, his own aura hardly changed.

“In that house over there,” Demery replied casually, pointing to the house in question. “Do the two of you live nearby?”

“We actually live a couple days away from here in a town further into the mountains. Aither came to us and we all traveled together to where we met you.”

“Must’ve been exhausting, traveling that far on foot.”

“We’ve got a bit of experience—we moved around a lot before settling into where we are now.”

Demery was quiet for a little while, almost suspiciously so. “Was that after your parents died?”

Olle froze. There seemed to be no ill intent behind the question, and yet… “Why do you think my parents are dead?”

“I came across some records that mentioned four people with the last name ‘Feldr.’ The older two both died around the same time. The younger two—conveniently named Olle and Evelina—didn’t have a current status but didn’t match everyone else that still lived there. All seems really strange for just being a coincidence, doesn’t it?”

“You know, I never really expected to hear all of that come from someone I literally met less than an hour ago.” Olle sighed. “But you’re right about all of it. I just don’t want to talk about why for the time being…”

“Hey, we were abandoned by our parents to stay with our less-than-great grandparents,” Demery pointed out. “I can almost guarantee that any person you see in the crowd has had more of an impact on my life than those two. I don’t care that your parents are dead or how you wandered around for a while.”

“I wish we’d come across a lot more people like you. That would’ve made it a whole lot easier.”

Or, perhaps, Demery’s opinion would change when he knew all of it. Olle usually wasn’t the one to question it, but the thought stayed in the back of his mind. It would be just their luck.

They walked around some more, holding a conversation with little true interest in it. Only after they got everything on the list did Demery slow to a stop.

For the first time since meeting, something changed about him. The stoic air briefly turned into curiosity—a kind that carried a wary edge to it.

Olle hoped it wasn’t too obvious when he prompted, “What is it? We’ve gotten everything we needed, Aither’s probably waiting for us.”

He followed Demery’s gaze to one of the shopkeepers and a man; the man, it seemed, was well aware of their observation. Without stopping his conversation with the shopkeeper, he flashed them both a smile. He both gave the impression of simply trying to be friendly and also knowing much more than they did.

“Do you know him..?” Olle decided to ask.

“I’ve never seen him before,” Demery mumbled back.

“But you said earlier that a lot of merchants traveled through here. Why is it important that you don’t recognize him?”

“Because Ms. Siavax seems to. She’s never that comfortable around strangers—she usually gets her siblings to talk with any merchants that come by.”

She caught sight of them, too, and gave a small frown. It looked like she mumbled some things to the man but he simply laughed it off, waved goodbye, and left.

Demery immediately took the opportunity to walk up to her, Olle trailing behind. “Did I interrupt something?”

She seemed to understand exactly what he meant. “No, that was just Jimar—he travels a lot, and always stops by when he’s nearby. It’s usually at night, though, so I’m not surprised that you’ve never run into him before. He usually asks about the two of you, actually, but he’s always been too busy to wait for you to come…” She shook her head. “Is there something you need?”

“We’re going to be out of town for a little while and, since we’ve gotten everything we needed with some left over, I figured we could bring some snacks,” Demery explained. He was somehow-surprisingly good at lying—or perhaps there was still some fragment of truth to it. “Do you have something that’ll be good for traveling?”

“I think I’ve got something that’ll be perfect.” She turned to get it from the shop, but someone else muttered something and went inside. Olle guessed they’d been one of her relatives. She turned back to them. “So, do you think Orestis has something planned out for you?”

“Maybe, but I don't think it's going to be anything special.” Demery’s whole attitude changed when talking with her—a warmth was present in his words, unlike his talks with Olle so far.

“Does it have anything to do with why you were away for a few days a week ago? And why you’re with someone I’ve never seen here?”

“Ah, this is Olle. If you see someone trying to keep up with Koyana, that’s his cousin Evelina. They’re both involved with why we’re going to be gone for a little while.”

She smiled at Olle. Her anxiety, though, was easy to spot—even to someone without the power to sense it. “It’s nice to meet you. You look reliable, keep an eye on those two, won’t you?”

He smiled back. “I’ll do my best.”

Her relative came back out of the shop with a bag of something. They exchanged a few mumbled before she handed it to Demery.

“How much do I—”

“You don’t need to worry, this one’s on the house,” she interrupted. “Just stay safe out there.”

Demery opened his mouth to give some kind of objection before nodding slowly. “Thank you.” He glanced at Olle. “With all of this out of the way, let’s head back to Aither.”