The Butterfly Effect

They didn’t remember much of their own creation. They knew who their creator was and they understood what they were supposed to do, but it just came as inherent knowledge. So, too, did they understand at least a portion of the reason they were in Sanctuary.

After all, if a dreamer has a Skiá, it’s safe to assume he would have a Fos as well. No matter what, Darkness couldn’t prevent that.

It seemed like everyone’s eyes were on them. There was no one else like them here; they didn’t expect there to be. Among the fascinated stares were those of Earth, Wind, and Knowledge, along with several Angels and Fos their instinct did not recognize for them.

Finally, Knowledge came up to them. “You’re Lekra, right? The new dreamer’s Skiá?”

They nodded slowly.

“Can you say something? Do you know where the dreamer is now?”

“Someone found us and took us somewhere. It’s… loud, and they kept talking about something…” They realized how hard it was to explain something they hardly understood. Luckily they learned quickly, after they had time to truly process everything.

Their words meant more to everyone else than it did to them. The whole area seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

“Everything else is still going to plan,” someone in the gathering murmured.

“At least for now,” someone else corrected.

“Isn’t it still too early to know?” a third questioned.

Knowledge’s attention was still focused on Lekra. “Do you know why you’re here now?”

“I’m here to meet my ‘other.’ My Fos counterpart…”

“I’ll show you to him,” Knowledge offered, turning around and gesturing for Lekra to follow him. “It takes Fos a while longer to understand what’s going on than Skiá do, so you’re probably not going to be able to actually talk yet. Danai—Light, I mean—usually helps speed it up, but she’s…” His and several other listeners’ eyes all darted to a specific room. It had Water’s symbol etched on the door. “She’s a bit busy right now.”

Behind the door he soon pushed open was countless more Fos. A few just glanced to see who’d entered before going back to what they were doing; several saw Lekra and fled, though a few curious heads poked out of the blankets to stare at them; a couple more even dared to walk up to them.

“It’s alright,” Knowledge assured all the Fos. “They’re not like the others. I promise they’re not going to hurt you.”

Lekra moved forward—intending some welcome gesture, or a sign that what Knowledge said was true—but nearly all the Fos either stepped back or made some defensive stance.

“Come on, guys, we talked about this…” Knowledge sighed, then glanced at Lekra. “Sorry about that. They’re not too keen on trusting a Skiá for, well, obvious reasons… They’ll probably warm up to you eventually, though.”

“You’re here for Iztali, right?” one of the Fos asked after a moment. Somehow, they knew that she was one of the oldest gathered here—one of the first, and one of the only to make it this long. Yet she gave a genuine smile and, with Knowledge’s nod, began to show them the way. “Since you probably don’t know, I’m Mazel! Over there’s Imena, and that’s Nai, Kiri’s in that corner, and I don’t think Aither’s left for his mission yet…” She squinted into the crowd before declaring, “Nope! He’s right there. Aaand now he’s gone. Hidden under blankets! No one’s really being welcoming to you, are they… Oh, wait. You never said what your name was!”

“Lekra,” they mumbled.

She didn’t say anything else until they got there; a bed with a Fos curled in the center of it. “This is Iztali.”

The Fos’s eyes fluttered open, looking at Mazel, then Knowledge, before settling on Lekra. They knew from the moment their eyes met that this was the one—their other half. He smiled, though he looked confused, too. He slowly sat up and, almost too quiet to hear, mumbled, “It’s… nice to meet you.”

Lekra managed a small smile of their own and nodded. “It’s certainly a pleasure.”