The Burning of the Palace at Versailles (or, Butterfly) [REWRITING]

Chapter 5 - Small Bronze Keys

Melody unintentionally found her way to the dining area by following the piano music, which began again as she left Doctor Riley's office. The tune that was playing was pretty obvious this time, it was "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. She thought the lyrics through her head as she walked through the halls, her linen slippers slapping gently against the wood floor. There was a gate between her and the door, and she winced at the grating squealing of metal. She hummed the tune to try to ignore the noise as the door closed behind her.

"Well I heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord, but you don't really care for music, do you?" She had heard her mother singing that song many times as she went about daily life — as she washed dishes, cooked, drove without the radio on... though that was a rare occurrence. The tune was a staple in her mother's music classes, as Melody assumed was the case for many music classes. The musician had been a writer for school music, after all.

The door where the music was coming from was open and there was light coming through. Melody stepped in, following the notes from the piano. The piano was easy enough to find, as was the pianist: a large boy around Melody's age. His dark hair was neatly cut on his head, and large muscles proved he was active. He looked like a gardener, to Melody's eyes. He stopped playing and looked up at her.

Diana and Puzzle were seated at a long wood table with some shiny wax still clinging for dear life. They were seated next to each other, despite the ten chairs that were spread around the table. Puzzle had her feet crossed on the table next to a plate of mostly eaten food. Diana was lazily slumped in her own chair, the wooden armrest likely pressing uncomfortably into her elbow. They both glanced up at her as well, but Puzzle's eyes quickly fell back into boredom as she tapped a piece of browned toast against her plastic plate. Diana, though, smiled warmly.

"Good morning," the boy said in a deep, booming voice. Melody could tell that if he wanted to, he could easily command an audience with his voice.

She gave him a polite smile back and moved the piece of paper with the Plath quote to the same hand as the notebook. "Morning."

"You must be Melody," he said, standing up. He was an impressive height. "I'm Colt. Welcome to Versailles."

"I know," Melody said. "Diana told me you're the piano virtuoso here." Melody gestured to Diana, who grinned. Colt blushed, which was an amusing look for a tank of a boy to have.

"Thank you. Would you like me to prepare a plate for you?"

Puzzle scoffed and rolled her eyes, but Melody somehow knew she was scoffing at Colt, not at Melody. Colt didn't wait for an answer from Melody and instead went through an open doorway, his slippers loud against the floor.

"Hey, can you get me a juice box while you're in there?" Diana yelled to him.

"You have legs, get your own damn juice box," was the somewhat muffled reply.

Puzzle snorted. Melody took that as an invitation to sit down at the long table across from them. The chair was hard and uncomfortable.

"I see you survived day one with the doc," Diana said.

"It wasn't my first rodeo," Melody said. She gestured to the open doorway Colt had disappeared into. "What's with him?"

Puzzle slid her feet off the tabletop. "Oh, he just likes getting compliments. Don't get too used to him doing anything for you, though. Eventually he'll figure out that you're just saying things to get him to do stuff for you."

Diana elbowed Puzzle. "Maybe she actually means compliments when she says them, asshole."

Puzzle rolled her eyes and took a bite of her toast. "Simplemente soy más inteligente que tú," she said after she delicately wiped away any crumbs from her lips with a linen napkin.