The Butterfly Effect

{-Serafina-}

She’d forgotten what it was like to take care of an entire popular inn all by herself. She hadn’t done anything similar since she was still living in Ryobel—even then, she’d had her parents to fall back on when things got busy.

Not like taking care of all the patrons was really her biggest concern at the moment.

She kept an eye on the door, and scanned each and every one of the tables, for any familiar faces. It was only a matter of time until they arrived. It was getting late by now—but that wouldn’t matter. She partially expected them not to show up until everyone else had left; anything more obvious, and everyone would know who they were and why they were there. At least she had the assurance that the kids were safe and that they were, hopefully, far away from all of this…

“Oh, it’s a pleasure to see you out here this evening!” one of the regulars said when she walked up with his order. “I didn’t expect to see you. Usually you’ve got Beika running around the place helping out.”

Serafina gave some mumbled response, in the hopes that it would show she didn’t want to stay long.

But she’d long learned by now that, for better or worse, patrons were usually of the chatty sort. “I noticed Titham wasn’t here, either. Where’d they go? They’re always helping out right until closing time.”

“They’re with a couple of family friends,” she replied. “I expect some… old acquaintances to visit sometime soon. You know how some people are—I don’t want to get the two of them involved in something like that.”

It was a half-truth, at least; it was true that she was familiar with who’d be coming for them, and she didn’t want the kids to get involved. But she was far from considering either Enebish or Imena as “family friends,” and she left much of the nature of these acquaintances uncertain.

“Dunno what they have to complain about you,” the patron remarked. He was none the wiser, it seemed. “Bet they’re just jealous you’re such a beautiful and successful woman. Someone like that’s bound for something better than a small town.”

She gave a fake smile at the praise. “I appreciate it. I just wish everyone else could see the same, and let the past stay in the past.” Then she left before she had to hold a more lengthy conversation.

Not like she wouldn’t have found an excuse to leave anyway, when she realized who’d just walked in. She walked up to them as if she wasn’t forming a plan for if they chose to do things violently.

“Welcome to the Lost Lamp Inn,” she said. She gestured around her. “I’m Serafina, the owner. Is there something I can get you? You must’ve traveled pretty far…”

“We’re here purely for… business,” one of them said. “We’re here as inspectors and would like to see all of the rooms attached to this building. I’m sure you understand. As long as you cooperate, there won’t have to be a scene.”

“Shui didn’t come personally?” Serafina asked. It was partially to get a better idea of what she’d have to deal with; no one would recognize the homunculus better than her own creator, after all.

“She’s got much more important things to do than interact with the likes of you,” a second one remarked. “As far as she’s concerned, you’re nothing more than a petty thief. We’re just here to take back what’s rightfully ours.”

Serafina gestured for them to follow her to the counter, casually saying, “You’re not going to find anything. I keep a close eye on everything that comes in and out of here—I’m not aware of what you’re talking about, so I’m certain you’re not going to get it.”

“We’ll be the judges of that,” the first grunted. “Go on, get on with it. This place reeks of danger… I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary.”

“Should I ask everyone else to leave?” she prompted. Sometimes they’d give a warning if they intended for things to get serious; no one wanted everyone to know who they were.

“Not unless you really do have something to hide,” the second replied.

When they got to the table, Serafina gestured to several of the other rooms. “These doors lead to the kitchen and supply rooms. Up the stairs is where my children and I live. Do you need me to accompany you, or can you simply see for yourself that nothing’s there?”

They glanced at each other. The first then decided, “We want you with us. Don’t want to try to hide something while we’re busy.”

“I do hope we don’t have to remind you not to pull any tricks,” the second agreed. “It’s only going to make things worse for everyone here.”

“I know. I’m not the kind of person you have to be worried about testing the limits.”

Serafina started guiding them around, giving light commentary about each room and its functions; the more she made them look like real inspectors, the better. Not like they really played the part—they weren’t writing anything down, or even seemed vaguely interested in, what she was talking about. Whenever she lingered in a spot for too long, they’d give her some kind of threat and demand to know what she was hiding. If she tried to speed things up, just to prove to them they were wasting their time, they only looked around more thoroughly. She was glad Beika and Titham were out of this—she never would’ve been able to keep them safe at this rate.

She felt like they might’ve been almost assured, by the time they’d walked through all of the rooms and they’d looked at every corner. But when they walked down the stairs and back to the counter, she saw a glimpse of something—of two someones—in the kitchen.

And the two others noticed where she was looking, as well.

“Those two are some of my employees,” she tried quickly. She knew it wouldn’t work. She just hoped it would give Beika and Titham enough time to realize that they shouldn’t stay there. “You’ve already looked around. Do you really need to talk to them, too?”

“Well, all that sounds like is that you’ve got something to hide.” The first person, then the second, pushed past her. “Seeing everything isn’t enough. You can’t have ‘employees’ and not expect us to speak with them.”

Serafina quickly went to step in front of them. “One step closer,” she hissed, “and I’m more than willing to call whatever happens an act of self-defense.” She slipped out the dagger she’s kept hidden until now; even before she encountered Adidell, she knew the importance of being able to protect herself.

She heard a quiet, confused “Mom..?” from behind her, but she didn’t look back. The moment she took her eye off these two intruders was the moment that she lost everything.

Both of the intruders pulled out knives of their own.

The second one smirked. “Did you really think we were going to come unprepared? Someone like you is dangerous—unstable, deadly. You’re just lucky you’ve had the smarts to play nice up until now.”

There was a mumbled conversation behind her, before Enebish walked up to stand beside her.

“I thought you’d all be smarter than to make a scene here,” they said coolly. She had to admit, they could seem pretty serious when they needed to.

“It’s you!” the first intruder hissed. “Oh, you’re going to regret showing your face here! I had to pay big time for what you did!”

Serafina glared at Enebish. “What did you do?”

They laughed, as if it was just a fond memory. “I stole this guy’s keys and broke out someone Adidell had been keeping. You could say it was when they started to realize I was going to be a bigger problem for them.”

She shook her head—she was getting distracted. “What do you think you’re going to do? You’re not armed.”

The second intruder took a step forward. “It doesn’t matter what you think you’re gonna do! You’re not going anywhere. Especially after you dumbasses practically just admitted the person we’re looking for is right behind you.” Then he lunged, but Enebish just stepped out of the way.

They’d hit a glass on the counter, which was pushed off and broke. The noise caught the attention of most of the people in the inn, making the whole place fall into a deathly silence.

And in that, Serafina saw her opportunity. “Boys!” she called, looking at the drunk mercs who lurked here around this time. “Teach these two some manners, would you? They should be able to buy you a drink—if you knock the coins out of them.”

That was more than enough to gain their interest, and the group was sauntering over already. While the two intruders looked between each other—stand their ground, or postpone their mission?—Serafina sheathed her dagger again and took Enebish’s arm.

“Come on,” she whispered. “If I know Adidell, that’s not going to last as long as I hope it will.”