The Butterfly Effect

There were brief attempts by the twins to lighten the mood, but every time Jun shot them down with a growing impatience that made them give up altogether. If anyone talked at all, it was Jun’s mutterings and whatever Ki said in defense of the Stones. After a while, even Lydia was getting tired of all the walking, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Messengers had the same kind of needs normal people did.

Ki offered that they stop earlier than he had the day before and was able to get Jun to agree to still start again at the same time. Tim, Henry, and Tavin all stuck together; the first two doing what they could for the latter, given what they had. Lydia would’ve joined them if Jun hadn’t suggested she stay with them.

“Orestis despises unnecessary bloodshed,” they remarked.

“Just about every other thing you’ve said to us proves that you don’t care about that,” Lydia pointed out.

Ki weighed his options before finally saying something. “I know what it’s like to do whatever you need for your family; that’s why I’m here. Jun knows too, even if they won’t admit it. Just ask them about Mazel.”

It was hard to tell if Jun’s reaction was one Ki had been planning for or not. They went from moderately peaceful to looking about ready to murder him. “Don’t you dare.”

“At least she’s still around,” he said casually, as if there wasn’t a threat to him at all. “She’s still in Sanctuary, isn’t she? There’s nothing stopping you from seeing her.”

“I have put up with your frivolous ideas this entire time, do not dare to speak her name. You can’t claim to be much better with your precious ’Callisto.’”

“At least I don’t pretend like I am.”

Lydia gave a nervous look between the two of them and the boys. “So, if you’re going to go fight with each other, is there any chance you can do it further away from here..?”

Jun sighed and went back to sitting where they were before. “Back to the reason I called you, Stone. Can you fix the little one? Believe it or not, this is time-sensitive, and you mortals never understand when it’s too late.”

“There’s no ‘fixing’ it,” she replied. “It’s called working around it. Normally we take a lot more breaks than just one at night. Other than that, the only other way to kind of avoid it is if Dimas is here, which isn’t going to work for obvious reasons.”

“I suppose Calli didn’t know about it, then?” Ki asked, his head tilted as he watched the boys. “If she was willing to die for him, she’d be more than willing to take that too.”

“We didn’t really know that part until he was a couple years old, but given the other stuff she knew, I don’t know…” She glanced at them too. They’d settled down a bit, the twins now discussing something while Tavin was trying to sleep. “None of us would’ve been able to realize anything was wrong…”

“Did you ever consider that, perhaps, it is Orestis’s way of reminding you that none of them should exist?” Jun kept a completely emotionless tone, looking at the fire instead. “It’s a wonder the other two don’t suffer similar circumstances… or perhaps it’s simply because of the way you brought them back.”

Lydia just sat there, having nothing to say as she tried to fight off the odd feelings that came with the comment—the feeling of coming closer to reality.

…

All the time they walked, she tried to think of a way that both fulfilled the Messengers’ requests and kept them from getting what they really wanted. She knew what she and the boys needed was in those archives and that they’d never get it if the Messengers did. At the same time, she didn’t want to see if Jun would go through with the threats they made just about every hour spent together.

She had the faintest hope of a plan just as they came across a clearing. It was a circle—at least as much of a circle as anything in nature could be—with several small trees standing out.

“Now, you’re going to get it to appear,” Jun instructed, “or else you’re going to get to see Vriuh a few years early.”

Lydia shoved the map back in her satchel. “Give me a couple of minutes. I might do this kind of stuff for a living but it doesn’t magically open just because I get there…” She looked over at the twins and asked, “Can you two help me look? Call me over if you find anything that looks like it might be able to unlock something.” They had enough experience that they’d know the kind of stuff she was looking for.

They both nodded and went to two other areas; naturally, all three of them went close to where the small trees were. She kept glancing back at where Jun, Ki, and Tavin were, but from the looks of it there was little to be afraid of. That didn’t stop her from trying to find something as quickly as she could, having no interest in seeing how far she could push Jun’s patience.

She kept circling around the tree until she finally noticed something: a loose branch. It came right out without anything else special about it… until she looked a bit closer at the clearing. There were little circles of rocks close to the edge as well. Curiously, she stuck the branch into the dirt inside one and found that it fit in perfectly.

The twins had both seen her do this, so their own search became easier. Between the three of them, they had all the other sticks down and in their holes in a couple more minutes. They walked back towards the others but still nothing happened.

Jun was in no way impressed. Lydia desperately looked around for something else to make it complete. When she first looked at one of the trees, she missed what was written on it—after a couple more quick scans, she realized it said ‘welcome.’

She’d missed a literal wooden welcome mat.

She took a dagger out of her satchel and cut around it, prying the bark off the tree. Once she sat it between the closest two stone circles, the ground shook and she took a step back.

The entire archive rose from the ground, reaching further and further into the sky. Lydia’s little bubble of pride quickly burst, however.

“Mom, what about the they're-going-to-destroy-all-that-knowledge part?”

She gestured for the boys to wait as Jun, finally satisfied, waltzed over. They couldn’t seem to get the door open.

Mathieu had told her, after all, that the knowledge would only show itself to those worthy of it.

“Let me try,” Lydia offered, the boys starting to catch on. Just as she hoped, she could open the door and the boys had no problem walking through it. Once they were all safely on the other side, she asked, “What, does a bunch of books not like it that you plan on burning them? I mean, I don’t blame them. I hope Orestis doesn’t get as mad with his Messenger as he does anyone else who failed him.”

Jun tried reaching for her, but it was like there was a wall separating them. They let out a growl before turning away. “It seems there has been a miscalculation. I’ll simply return to Orestis and see what He says…”

She gained enough confidence to say, “Great, and be sure to tell him a bunch of mortals did it too!” Then she closed the door. With a relieved sigh, she turned to the boys and added, “I am so glad that’s done and over with.”

“Do you think they’re going to try again sometime?” Henry asked, wandering over to one of the windows to watch the Messengers leave. “I mean, if they’re that desperate to get here, then they’re not going to just give up on the first try.”

“Something tells me that we’re not going to be seeing them again,” Lydia remarked. “I think Orestis knows when something’s a lost cause.”

Tim was more focused on where they had entered. “So, Mom, what’s the chance that you’re going to let me do whatever I want in here?”

She observed the walls of books, dozens of artifacts, and the general grandness of the archive and decided, “Yeah, we should stick together.”

He slumped in disappointment but made no attempts to protest.

“I guess the next question is,” Tavin began, “Where do we start?”