The Butterfly Effect

The phoenix was eagerly waiting for them to wake up. It wasn’t out of concern, but rather excitement; once they were all up, the first thing it said to them was, “We realized we have not shared our names. Names are both the first step to remembering and the first to forgetting, after all.”

“I’m Lydia, and these three are Tim, Henry, and Tavin.” She pointed to each of the boys when she mentioned their name and they gave their own silent greeting.

“I am Melai,” the phoenix said ecstatically. “My kin Eisu and Keisura will also be sharing stories with you today.” Two other phoenixes stuck their heads out of the bunch when their names were called.

“You have names?” Henry asked.

“Of course. We are as much of the consequences of our king’s actions as we are our own individuals. We all have different experiences through our lifetimes; this journey isn’t even shared by all of us.” Melai flew around the other phoenixes as if a call to get up and move. “Come on! I will share mine last, but you will not be bored before then.”

All the phoenixes went up into the air and the Stones gathered what they needed to follow them. It wasn’t much longer before the phoenixes once again started a song, though this was one Eisu soloed.

“One year I left the others.

Thought I was lost, alone,

Away from the path I had known.

But then I found a child there

And continued to visit every year

Though the home is now another’s!”

Eisu twirled around in the sky and gave way to some non-musical musing. “It was a wonder to see someone who would not regenerate! They never knew me, but I will be glad when I can meet them in Vriuh’s domain.” Several others seemed to have shared its general wish, giving chirps of agreement and understanding. Eisu went back into the flock to have Keisura replace it.

It started its own song in a similar tune, though somehow had a more mournful edge to it.

“It wasn’t long, in mortal standards,

That I was forced to stay behind

To my loneliness, I had resigned;

Until I saw a girl of light

Who stayed with me all that night.

But alas, a light so kind!

No wonder Darkness has claimed her,

When she alone would stay

Where the little phoenix lay

Until it burned out completely.

Darkness crept in so discreetly

That the world might forget her.”

To add an ominous edge to it, Keisura shook its head and mournfully said, “You should all have known of her, if Darkness had not taken her away. Yet she, like us, may never truly know what it’s like to experience the comfort of death.”

Lydia, a certain kind of familiarity creeping in the back of her head, dared to ask, “Who are you talking about?”

Keisura said a name, but none of them could hear it. “She has only been out of reach of the gods for seven years, yet even her name is wiped from this earth… Truly unfortunate. I wonder what memories of her remain with her family, then, and anyone closer? Perhaps one day they will be able to reunite once again…” Then it flew back up, Melai replacing it.

“Mine is one you will enjoy, I assure you,” it said. “It is something I experienced many years ago, in one of my first journeys…”

The other phoenixes gave it a musical background, more reminiscent of their story of Ekambar; some darted around or offered theatrics.

“They’re always calling me curious,

Interested in the paths the humans take

And whether destruction would be in their wake

Or, through them, the world renewed.

Then came a mortal, so shrewd,

Yet verging on furious.

I watched him as he went

On his search for the treasure

That would bring him great pleasure.

He found what he desired,

Though by then he grew tired,

And at that moment, met with content.

Where he was that treasure still stands,

A prize desiring to be claimed,

Even if it is largely unnamed;

Great multitudes await for you

Both now and the future, too,

Once you travel across these lands.”

Melai flew closer to the Stones. “This is why you have taken to hearing our song, correct? It is not the first time we have encountered people like you, people of adventure—though only a few have considered our help, and even less succeed. I have long been curious about this treasure since I followed the one who found it; I will be more than willing to help you throughout your journey.”

Lydia gave all of their thanks with a nod.

…

The phoenixes told other stories as they traveled, or sometimes having a conversation through song; their way of passing the time, perhaps, as the day went by.

At this point it was little surprise that they stopped at another heated spot, most quickly falling asleep after the show they had made earlier. Melai, however, joined the Stones instead.

It watched with interest as Lydia passed out their dinner. Only after Tavin took a piece of his off and offered it to the phoenix did it say anything. “You are rather nice, for those who know what we stand for.”

“We have enough bad luck, I don’t think it’s going to get any worse with a phoenix,” he responded with a small smile. “One broken group helping another.”

It seemed surprised for a moment before giving the closest thing to a smile a bird could give and eating its offering.

Henry waited until they all finished before starting a conversation. “Mom, do you know who that one phoenix was talking about? It sounded like you did…”

Melai froze for a moment. “Why should you bring your attention to a girl that has no place here?”

That only made him more curious. “You know about her, too?”

“Well, Keisura may have met her, but she is not the only one to be lost in Darkness. We all know someone, in one way or another, who has to bear that fate.” Melai shook its head. “But you have plenty of other things to worry about. Mortals should not even be able to remember her, so to force memories to reappear like this, there might be harm…”

Lydia sighed. “I know I knew her but everything I can think of that might be about her is a blur. She came with us on adventures, but she stayed quiet and only really talked to Imre… I mean, I don’t remember her hating us, but I’m sure we weren’t best buds either. Less so than everyone else, anyway.”

“Keisura said she’s only been missing for seven years,” Tim pointed out thoughtfully. “We should all know who she is.”

“You should, but not for the reason that you assume,” Melai said slowly. “You should know her because she should not have left, not because she left so soon. I believe Keisura misspoke; it has truly been nineteen years since her memory began to fade.”

“How do you get that big of a difference?” Henry wasn’t buying any of it. He always just kept asking questions until he got the answer he thought to be the truth… even when one person wouldn’t talk about it, it wasn’t long until he moved on to another.

Lydia got reminded of all the blank pages in her journal and all the wrong dates. Using those dates, it would be seven years—while Dimas was with Zofie, before he and Imre married and adopted Natheniel. She felt something else after the realization, like she was somewhere else doing something else and it definitely wasn’t anywhere near here.

“Mom?” Tavin’s voice snapped her out of it.

“It doesn’t matter,” she quickly decided. “Maybe that’s something for another time but it’s not now.”

The twins caught on, too, and further helped to change the subject—or at least try to. Henry glanced at Melai and asked, “What about the person who went to the treasure? Do you know who he was?”

It shook its head. “No, but he bore a semblance to the three of you. Since it seems you all share a kindred spirit, then perhaps there is some common blood between you.”

Then he turned to Lydia. “What do you think, Mom? Could it have been one of our relatives?”

“Honestly anyone stupid enough to do half the stuff we have to do has to be a Stone,” she remarked. “Besides, there’s a reason we try to keep in touch with our other relatives when we can and we always make sure someone knows where we are… We had more than a few to guide us towards making that rule. Someone always needs to prove that there’s a need for it before anyone is willing to take it seriously.”

“At least we’re going to finish what he started,” Tim said, “no matter who it was. Not only will we finish his story but we’ll have our own to tell.”

Even Melai seemed to agree. “That is a wonderful way to think of it all. The promise to do what the dead could not… surely that is something that could drive all of us, at one point. I know that is why we continue this futile path further north, in hopes of finally reaching the place cycles before us wanted to reach. A hope to discover what might lie behind this instinctive path north and why Wind might have told our past lives to head there…”