“Quit running around! I can’t keep up with you!”
“It’s not my fault you have stubby legs!”
A girl burst out from the room, sparing no mind to everything that she might’ve bumped into along the way. She seemed every part of a rogue, from her short dark auburn hair to the clothes that better fit someone on the street than someone from an honest family. And she also didn’t seem to care to look where she was going, running right into the only adult in sight.
“Zenas.” He looked right down at her, but there was some kind of care amidst his cold gaze. “I told you to stop making a mess of things. Look—Calli’s exhausted. You can stand to be a little more gentle with her, can’t you?”
Calli was the next one to run through, though she had much more respect for her surroundings. It was difficult to distinguish anything about her, despite being the reason they were watching the memory. She had enough of a form to be noticeable but little features to show what she looked like. That form only allowed them to see how young she was; or at least, how little she was compared to Zenas.
“Yes, Haris,” Zenas mumbled. “I’ll think ahead more in the future.” Judging by her tone, she didn’t plan on staying true to her words. It was the kind of honesty only used to get out of trouble, rather than an apology meant to last for at least a few months.
He didn’t seem to believe her, though he didn’t say anything. Sparing a suspicious glance at her, he turned around and began walking away. “Takane, take care of the kids while I’m out. It might be a while so don’t wait for me.” With that, he grabbed his coat and left.
Zenas spared no time in wandering to the window to watch him. She clambered up the counter, getting a better view sitting there than standing close to it. “Where do you think he’s going today?”
“Does it really matter..?” Calli occupied herself by cleaning up everything Zenas had previously knocked over. “It’s none of our concern where he’s going. He said it’s all for business, and business means more money. More money means less things we have to worry about when the fall and winter comes around. That’s all we need to worry about, I think.”
“Stop sounding older than me,” Zenas retorted, her nose scrunched up. “I don’t like it. You’re supposed to be the runt of the litter, so act like it every now and again. Let the big kids worry about the important stuff.”
“So says the girl who’s leaving me to clean up her mess,” Calli muttered. “Not exactly being a good role model here…”
“I’ll repay you for it one day, I swear. Just keep doing my chores until then! Keep savin’ ‘em up and I might be able to do a really big favor for ya!”
…
There was a certain kind of darkness looming over the area; a sense of peril, despite all the other evidence of peace. While the flowers were blooming, it felt that in a moment they would all go into hiding. The sky might’ve been clear but winds told of coming storms. Whatever happened to the residents was a mystery to anyone, deathly quiet yet seeming like life had existed mere moments before.
Only five people were out at all. Among the now-familiar face of Zenas and the figure of Calli, three others had varying levels of concern. They were still strangers, with unknown names and faces. Whatever importance they might’ve had was uncertain, at least for the time being.
“What do you want, even? What’s so special about a bunch of village kids?” Zenas demanded. Everything from her expression to her body language suggested that she was ready for action. In a moment’s notice, she’d be running after whoever she was talking to.
Whatever words she was given in response were incomprehensible. The effect of it, however, was pretty evident: all that pent up annoyance was beginning to show, and she rushed towards the voice.
She was all alone in a moment. There was no one else around her, no kind of soul that would’ve seen her past that moment. Whatever comfort she might’ve gained from knowing someone was there to witness her actions were gone. She probably didn’t think about it at all, at least not now. Her thoughts were all focused on a single, distant thing, leaving little room for reason.
“Time to repay that little debt.” She used her own words to fuel her, to keep her going. By now she’d zigzagged through the streets of the village and finally ended up outside of it. It was impossible to tell exactly how much time she must’ve spent running, but it was clear to see how tired she’d become. She must’ve known, though, that this was only the first thing she needed to do.
It was impossible to tell who she was really talking to. The view remained solely on her, only moving when her figure was obscured; it didn’t do anything for the person she was talking to. Whoever it was, almost like it was intentional, was blocked by an oak tree. All there was to identify them was the confident feminine voice.
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“You’re going to explain to me what you mean by that,” Zenas said in a mix of fear and impatience.
“Not until you tell me what you hope to achieve,” the voice returned, clearer with each word. “Look around you, child. Do you see any comfort here? Is there someone close by you can turn to when you get hurt? You’ve gone and separated yourself from every level of familiarity you’ve ever known. Isn’t it awful, being all alone? Go on, be honest, I won’t judge…”
Zenas made the mistake of thinking about the meaning behind the words. The realization hit her that she wasn’t able to go back now, even if she wanted to. It—she—was too far gone to be found again. “How could I get myself lost..?” Her panicked mumblings only increased as she took in her surroundings. “I should be better than that! I don’t know any of the area surrounding Idale. Haris never wanted us to go out, and we never tried after the first time he caught us…”
“If only you’d been more disobedient little children. You might have been able to think your way out of this one. Ah well, there’s only one reward for stupidity,” the voice remarked. With every word, it proved they gained a kind of cruel entertainment out of it, adding to an uneasy sense of distrust.
She froze, understanding it a bit too well.
“Oh, don’t worry yet,” they assured her. “I’m not just going to give you up that easily. You’ve got to have a story to tell when you see Vriuh. What’s the fun in shredding you to pieces if I don’t get to see your terrified look as all you knew crumbles in front of you?” They said it so nonchalantly, something that could even be considered friendly. But no words could cover up what they truly intended to say.
They took Zenas’s silence as an opportunity to continue. “You already know what makes that youngest of yours special, don’t you? You know she has a spirit, and the role she plays with the regeneration of this place. But did you ever think further? Did you ever wonder if there was more to her? How about the way your precious guardian took care of her? You shouldn’t lie to yourself. Jealousy can drive even the mightiest of mortals into unfortunate demise. It tempted gods before, after all.
“You were five when she came, weren’t you? It wasn’t the fact that attention was being brought away from you. Quite frankly you never had any to begin with. Already you shared that attention and caring with three others, and have been for about two years. But it did have to do with the way he treated her. The fact that he continued to treat the rest of you normally after finding her is what bothers you. The thing that causes you to get angry at the mere sight of her.
“Sure, he spent time with the rest of you. But not even all of that time combined compared to what he spent with her. He treated her as a daughter while he treated the rest of you like young roommates. What he gave her… it was never the kind of love he’d given to you, or any of the others. It was something completely new, and completely reserved for her. None of you will admit to the fact that you’re all thinking about it. Why? Why was she the precious one, the one he would risk everything else for? What if I could tell you? All the mysteries you ever had about her can be answered, all you have to do is ask…”
“I’m not going to listen to you.” She was just telling that to herself, hoping it would do something. It was a desperate attempt at trying to fight off the temptation.
“I’ve heard the sirens singing and I know what happens when a mortal hears them. You can try fighting, but you’re never going to be free once it starts. I have you wrapped around my finger. You really should be more careful about what you carelessly run off to. Not like it matters anymore.”
Zenas looked around for a kind of exit, whatever hope she might’ve had slowly disappearing. She tried running but she was locked in place, every little drop of confidence or anger replaced by fear.
“There’s only one thing that’s more convincing than a siren’s song: the clear, tantalizing words of the devil. And you, dear child, found yourself in the midst of the truest of demons.”
…
It was an odd feeling to be back in the present. It wasn’t quite pleasant but it wasn't awful either. But as soon as he’d spent enough time to review all that happened, he wasn’t any more satisfied.
“That had nothing to do with Calli,” he pointed out. “She only appeared for a couple of minutes, and that wasn't anything worth mentioning. You couldn’t even make out what she looked like!”
“I can only work so hard with someone’s fake name!” Samone defended almost immediately. She sighed and went on to explain calmly, “Callisto isn’t her first name, and I doubt any of us know what that name is. I can’t pull up all the details unless I have all the details. I told you magic needs to be incredibly specific. I could walk into the castle and look for the memories of Imre Mikkel, for example, but that won’t bring up stuff just about you. I’d probably end up finding something about whoever the first ‘Imre Mikkel’ was. I wouldn’t just add your middle names into the mix and get the right results, either. Every part of your name will be needed in order for it to show up things that are only about you. Then it’s going to show everything that has to do with you, so if I want something more specific I need to have a date or at least a year. Otherwise, I could come up with everything that happened to you in that castle from the time you were born to now.”
Dimas was smart and chose to not pick a side in this argument. “Maybe this just wasn’t the right place. A lot of different things could’ve changed what happened. Doing that kind of stuff isn’t easy… Zofie can barely do anything that lasts that long.”
His contribution remained completely unnoticed by both sides.
“Can you do another one?” Imre wasn’t planning on giving up until he could see what he wanted to see. He already knew the next place they could try, ready to guide her to it as long as she would let him.
It was clear she held some thoughts of opposition, though only said, “I should do as my prince tells me. It wouldn’t befit a member of the council to disobey orders. Lead the way, Nokae. I’ll be right behind you.”
Nodding, Imre led them all outside to the streets.