04 - Weaving the Threads of Fate (1)

…

“… I’m sorry, but I don’t really have anything prepared to eat at the moment.”

“Oh! Please don’t worry mother, I ate before I came here.”

“…I see…”

Sitting at the dining room table were Gynaikeíos and Àndras who were making awkward small talk.

For a while, both of them just looked down at their laps, not saying a word. If there were a clock in the room, you’d be able to hear every tick it made. They were both obviously distressed, though they didn’t dare bring up the reason why.

A few minutes ago, after Àndras burst through the door of the bedroom, he saw Gynaikeíos crying at the foot of Fíle’s bed. At first glance, everything seemed fine. But, upon closer inspection, he noticed how pale Fíle was. It was apparent that he wasn’t doing so well. By then, Gynaikeíos had noticed his presence and tried to stand up. Àndras went over to her, asked if she was okay, and took her into the dining room.

Finally, Àndras couldn’t take it anymore. “So, is he okay,” he asked shakily.

Gynaikeíos looked down at her lap, attempting to hide the tears flowing down her face.

“…Is there anything we can do?” Àndras asked, his voice cracking along with his cold demeanor.

Gynaikeíos shook her head slowly and unevenly, as if she didn’t want to believe it herself.

A deafening silence engulfed the room as both parties started feeling sorrowful.

“… I’m… sorry I couldn’t visit more often,” Àndras said with a voice full of regret. Had he visited more, he could have made more memories with Fíle before he…

“Don't worry, it's fine. I know they run you like a mule over there,” Gynaikeíos stated. She was grasping her hands together in her lap while looking at them. She had a pained expression on her face.

“… Do you know where Nazarius was going,” Àndras asked, trying to distract himself from the gruesome truth.

“Ah…” Gynaikeíos looked up in remembrance. Her mind had been occupied by Fíle, so she hadn’t stopped to think how he was feeling. What a terrible guardian she felt like. Her feelings of guilt amplified.

“Did you see him on your way here,” she asked somberly.

“Yes,” Àndras answered, in kind.

“…How did he look? Was he okay?”

“…He looked shaken up, but not injured.”

“… Did you ask him where he was going?”

“… Well, he was running too fast for me to catch up to him, but I’m pretty sure he was headed to the marketplace.” Àndras chuckled with a self deprecating tone.

“… Marketplace… I see…,” Gynaikeíos answered quietly. She looked down with an odd expression.

“…What? Did you send him to buy something?”

Gynaikeíos told Àndras about the doctor's words explaining the potential cure. Àndras smacked the table.

“Then isn’t it too early to give up?! There’s still a chance we could save him. If we could find a store that sells that, or hell any pharmacist that takes custom orders—“

“Àndras, please stop,” Gynaikeíos whimpered, clenching her fists. “Even if we had the money, no one in this town would run a store like that, they wouldn’t have the money to here. So please—“

“Then we could try another city,” Àndras interrupted deliriously. “Yeah, there’s a chance that a city nearby has one!”

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“Àndras… the closest city to ours is seventy kilometers away. Even if you left now, it would take you at least two days to return. I’m sorry but there’s nothing we can do,” Gynaikeíos mumbled hesitantly, as if she was trying to come to terms with her words as she said them.

“No! There has to be something! Anything! Please, this can’t be it,” Àndras wailed while grabbing his hair.

Slowly, Gynaikeíos stood up and turned around.

“… Àndras please go to the store to pick up some groceries. And if you can, tell Nazarius to come home.” She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Groceries?! We don’t need groceries right now, we need to find a way to save my brother, your son!” Àndras pointed at himself and Gynaikeíos respectively.

“…Nevermind, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Sorry. I’m going to go to bed a bit early today…”

“…No I’m sorry for yelling. I’ll… go pick up some groceries.”

Slowly walking out the door, Àndras looked behind his shoulder to see the shaking, sniffling back of Gynaikeíos. Turning back around and looking at the ground, Àndras walked out the door slowly.

…

“…So that’s really it? You go in and distract the shopkeep while I take the medicine? Aren’t there any guards there?”

“Why would a guard pay any attention to a couple of children that aren’t worth his time?”

“…I guess you have a point. So, we ready to go?”

“Yeah sure, lets go,” Kakó responded, irritated a bit, “Also, make sure to grab more than one if possible, just in case.”

Walking as normally as possible, as not to stand out, Nazarius and Kakó made their way over to the pharmacy which held the miracle Nazarius needed. Looking at Kakó nervously before looking back ahead, Nazarius walked into the store. On the right side of the door stood a guard whose armor practically glistened in the sunlight that shone through the small window.

Carefully making his way over to one section of the store, Nazarius looked at the labels on the medicine. “Polio… Polio… Polio again? Why are they all for Polio? I’ve never even heard of that.” In the area Nazarius was searching, he could only find one remedy all over the place.

“Ugh, children. What do you street urchins need from my gracious self?”

“Uh, hello sir. You see, I heard about this amazing pharmacy from my… friend over there who has come here to purchase something before.”

Up at the counter, Kakó was talking to the shopkeeper, who just so happened to be the noble that was standing on the carriage the other day. Standing next to the lord was the servant who was also present during the incident the other day.

“How about over here?” Nazarius walked further down the shelf.

“Influenza? Oh, I’ve heard of that one. But wait, 100 drachma? Didn’t it only cost 5 to get the medicine when I got it? Plus, these ones practically cover this shelf as well…”

Something was off about this pharmacy, Nazarius could feel it. However, he didn’t have the luxury of time to think about it.

“Someone bought something while I wasn’t here?! Finally! I was wondering why none of you lowly beggars were buying anything, but it turns out you were and it was just when I was on break. Ypirétis, why didn’t you tell me we had customers when I was off the clock,” the lord said as he turned and looked at his servant, who was making a very confused face. When his lord was taking a break, he would take over the shop, and he had yet to see even a single person enter the building, let alone buy something.

“But sir, no one has—“

“Hmm… maybe my natural brightness caused the grimy street rats to cower, so when I was gone, they took that as an opportunity to storm the place. Hey, Ypirétis, get someone else to run the pharmacy from now on. Ooh, maybe if I hire one of the street folk, they’ll realize how much of a tolerant, accepting man I am, making them want to shop here more! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

“Wait, sir you can’t! …Ahm, I mean, my lord, I believe that would lead to a less than desirable scenario.”

“Ugh, what about over here?” Nazarius quickly and silently sprinted to the other side of the store, briskly skimming through the shelves. “Bubonic Plague, no… here we go, Salmonella,” Nazarius celebrated quietly.

Kakó was stunned. At this point, he might as well leave, as both of them had gone and distracted themselves. He looked back at the guard who was looking at the two in amusement. At this rate, Nazarius might actually be able to steal the medicine without anybody noticing. How could he get someone to notice without Nazarius noticing him getting them to notice? Wait… did he even have to do it without Nazarius noticing? A wicked plan was forming In Kakó’s mind.

“Ahem, sirs, may I have your attention.”

Both the lord and the servant Ypirétis looked over at Kakó quizzically.

And then, right when Nazarius started stuffing the medicine into his pocket…

“As you can see, my friend here entered this beautiful store here today in hopes of committing a crime.” Kakó turned is body as he said this, leaving Nazarius’s actions in full view of the lord and the servant.

“However, in hopes of correcting his actions, I decided to reveal his actions to you, hoping that you gracious lords could guide my friend down the correct path,” Kakó said with a somber face. It was quite the feat of acting.

However, by the time Kakó said this, his words had fallen on deaf ears as the lord’s face contorted angrily.

Nazarius was stunned as he looked at Kakó, several different emotions flooding into his head; betrayal, confusion, sadness, anger, and so much more than he could ever describe.

“So please good sirs, I ask that you understand my plight and help my friend become a better person,” Kakó said as a crocodile tear trickled down his face.

“You little shit stain…,” the lord shakily said as he walked towards Nazarius. “I, the great and humble Lord Dysosmos, allowed you, a puny street urchin, the opportunity to stand in my amazing store… And yet you pay back my benevolence with barbarism?!”

Nazarius started slowly walking backwards in fear before quickly turning tail and running. He couldn’t afford to get caught now with the stakes being as high as they were. He didn’t understand why Kakó did what he had done, but he could think about that later. All that mattered now was escaping with at least one bottle of medicine. Slamming the door out of the way, Nazarius sprinted outside into the marketplace with the guard following shortly behind.

…

“Auuugh… man, all this walking’s got me tired. Well, not that I couldn’t fix that.”

Walking down the street was an average man wearing a bronze chest plate that looked as if it glued itself to his muscular abdominals and pectorals. His short, black hair flowed in the wind, free of a helmet sticking it to his head. The man scratched his medium length beard as he walked out of the marketplace.

“Man, why do I have to wear this? I’m walking down the street, not entering a war zone. Well, at least they don’t make me wear the helmet,” Pierre muttered, “Hm, anyway, guess I should try to find Àndras or something.” For a moment, Pierre concentrated. Then, he took a deep breath in through his nose. “Huh, looks like he went this way,” Pierre murmured to himself before taking a right down a street.

Pierre continued to walk down streets, occasionally stopping to get some fresh air. “Man, what was this guy doing for him to be sweating so much…,” Pierre disgustedly stated.

Finally, Pierre arrived in the courtyard of a bland looking house. He took another deep breath in. “Man, looks like I just missed him,” he said. “Oh? What have we here,” Pierre curiously inquired as he looked at the door.

“Well, if I wait here I’ll probably see him later,” Pierre ultimately decided as he walked through the door.