The Butterfly Effect

She already didn’t want to spend any more time with the Shameers than she had to. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them—far from it, Iris was especially nice and Hadar, if he was there, was a good conversationalist. It was the fact that she was friends with Iris’s cousin… the cousin that never visited and hardly talked to them so frequently that Lydia, of all people, was expected to know more about how she was doing than her own family. While it may not have started out that way, it always got around to it.

Iris welcomed them in with a smile, largely ignoring the dark glare her daughter gave all of them. “I didn’t think you’d show up so early! Please, have a seat, and in just a minute I’ll have some tea ready for you.” She darted away before Lydia could say anything in protest.

Lydia wandered over to the living room and sat down, gesturing for the boys to join her. Everything about this place showed a simpler lifestyle than one might expect; after Kesem died, there’d been no reason for them to stay in the spotlight that Iris never liked anyway. Even as a visitor, she could tell that this was their paradise—away from all the attention, yet close enough to help family in need, all the while having enough money to comfortably support them and then some. That being said, though, there was a kind of unease, like there was something they made seem easy when they didn’t quite grasp the concept themselves.

Iris came back a moment later to announce, “The tea’s on. We only have one kind so I hope you like it…” She stayed by the kitchen door instead of joining them, though. “So, Lydia. What brings you to this part of Jaden territory? You never really mentioned why.”

Gaining a glare from all three of the boys, Lydia defended herself by saying, “These kinds of things sound a lot more impressive when I’m here in person to tell them.” She went on to tell the tale of everything they’d done so far; the phoenixes, the projections, the archives, Kevabel, and finally how they found a clue that brought them here.

Around the middle, Iris had retrieved the tea and now had a cup on it in her hands. Her stare of disbelief only proved how infrequently the two interacted with each other. “How long have you been doing this..? It must’ve taken quite a while…”

Lydia shrugged. “I’m not really keeping track. It only felt like a couple of days, maybe a week…”

Tavin seemed to have a different opinion on the matter, however. “Though reasonably, with the amount of ground we’ve covered, we should’ve been going at this for months by now.”

Iris chose not to contemplate the subject too deeply. “I’m a little surprised that you’ve been able to keep going that long, to be honest. I’d imagine Imre would be worried with all that running around you’ve been doing.”

“He agreed to the whole thing, he knew what we were getting into.” Then Lydia stopped. Was that really true? She didn’t remember ever talking to him about it. She didn’t remember going into the castle at all. But they wouldn’t have been able to get this far if Imre hadn’t had let them go, so she must’ve talked to him. She’d just forgotten about it. That had to be what it was. Either way, she shook her head to clear it and continued, “Would you know anything about the forests around here that might help? We’ve already got a place in mind, but it never hurts to try to get more information.”

“I can’t say that I do,” Iris admitted. “To be honest, despite how long I’ve been here, I’m not too familiar with this whole area besides the towns. I haven’t traveled much since I needed to take care of Kesem.”

“Father would be able to tell you which one of them is home to illegal operations,” Mae remarked casually. She still hadn’t moved from her spot near an archway, perfectly content with glaring at the Stones from across the room. “I’m sure you’d be right at home there.”

“Mae,” Iris hissed. “That’s hardly called for. Be respectful to our guests.”

“I’m supposed to pretend like they’re normal?” Mae wasn’t even trying to be subtle, broadly gesturing to them. “Look at them. Their whole family line is based on grave robbing and destroying pieces of ancient history. If the king didn’t favor them, they’d be marked as criminals.”

Henry grumbled something right back, seeming to possess no shame even after noticing Lydia’s that’s-not-going-to-help glare.

“If you don’t know anything, then we’ll just stay the night and head out again,” she decided in hopes of avoiding an argument. “We came here because this was the closest place to where we were going to head first, but it really doesn’t matter if we spend some more time wandering.”

Mae, if not mockingly, offered her help. “I’m assuming you’re talking about the forest on the way to Levi Asari? There’s an old story about the place—it changes like a maze, trapping whoever enters, leaving them to slowly go insane until some mysterious person comes and kills them. A lot of people have gone missing there. I’d only assume that means there has to be some kind of truth to all of it.” Still, there was hardly anything in her tone to suggest she believed in something herself.

Lydia had to agree with her. “And how long ago was this whole thing created? Anything newer than a couple hundred years usually turns out to be a really exaggerated truth. There’s probably just a lot of rocks that look the same to a normal person and bears who get annoyed when people come into their space.”

“I don’t care if you believe it or not,” Mae remarked with a shrug. “Though I wish it was for you. The world would be much better with—”

“Mae,” Iris once again whispered. “I will tell your father about this. It wouldn’t hurt you to be nice to these visitors for a change. In the end they’re just as human as the rest of us.”

Mae rolled her eyes. “Then do I have to keep standing here? There’s much better things I could be doing with my time than watching you entertain them.”

“I never said that you had to be here,” Iris pointed out. “Go see if your grandmother needs anything. As long as she has everything she needs, you can head out to town. Remember not to get into trouble. Don’t do anything Samone would do…”

“Of course, Mother,” Mae said in a bored tone before walking away.

Iris sighed. “Apologies for all of that. You know, usually, she’s rather friendly towards our guests… or at least, she pretends to be.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard worse,” Lydia said with a shrug. “It’s the first time I heard anything close coming from someone younger than me, though.”

For a while, Iris simply messed with her cup in silence. “Up the stairs and down the hall are three guest rooms—two of you will need to share one, I hope that isn’t too much of a problem. It sounds like you’ve traveled a long way, you should make sure you’re well-rested for whatever you do next.”

Lydia nodded, though looked at the boys. “You three can go fight it out and I’ll join you in a little while.”

Tavin was the first to leave, not even bothering to question it; Tim and Henry gave a moment’s consideration but, with Lydia’s assuring expression, also left.

“I’m sorry for all of this,” Iris sighed. “It just feels better to keep them all out of this. It’s hardly anything that we should concern them with…”

“It’s fine,” Lydia said. “In a couple of minutes, they’ll all find something else to do anyway.”

“There's not… a chance they’re going to set anything on fire, is there? Hadar and Lewis talk with each other, when they’re both near Lelishara, and it sounds like that’s something that happens rather frequently…”

“He’s not going to do anything. He knows better than to do that kind of stuff inside.”

Iris took a sip of her tea, mumbling that it had gotten cold and placing it back on the tray. “First of all, and perhaps it’s not my place to ask, but… are you sure about this? I can’t help but have a bad feeling about what Mae said, even if you don’t seem too concerned about it…”

“I’ve met the last manticore in Seothia, uncovered parts of a lost civilization in Pypes, followed a siren to an uncharted island, and defeated the Minotaur. And that’s only the ‘most notable’ parts of that list. No matter what it is, we’ll be able to handle it. We’ve definitely handled worse that we knew was true. I wouldn’t get too concerned about something that’s probably over exaggerated until we figure out if anything’s actually true about it.”

“Don’t you think this is something that such a risk shouldn’t be taken on..? This is your sons we’re talking about.”

“Believe me, Iris, there needs to be a lot more than that to stop a Stone.”

“I suppose there’s nothing I can do but take your word for it…”

“I appreciate it, but there’s nothing to worry about here. We’ll be able to take care of it, no matter what it is.”