song of the forest ♪ [OLD VERSION]

ꇙ꒐ꉧ

ρ͢σ͢ѵ͢:
ꋬꇙ꒐ꁴꋬ

As we walked along the streets, Daisy swilled his picrás and meandered into shop doorways, always seemingly changing his mind at the last second and backing out again.

We found ourselves in front of the Monarch building- where the Council lived.

"Uhm. Flower Boy. Why- why are we here?"

"Business." Daisy grunted, hefting his cane to push a crystal knob.

The gates were huge stained-glass butterfly wings in crystal colors, outlined with braided auron threads. The sunlight hit it just to the point where it hurt to look at- but its shimmer forced you to notice its colors.

"Come on in." A voice issued from some hidden speaker.

Daisy gingerly nudged the gate open with his boot, carefully avoiding smearing the crystalline panels of glass with mud from the treads.

The path to the majestic building was lined with glittering auron and the occasional precious gem. Several butterfly motifs could be glimpsed across the vast lawn, including flowerbeds and plaques hung on trees. Delicate glass wind chimes designed to float like butterflies in the wind hung from branches. I couldn't help trying to take it all in, storing all the details away in my mind. I'd only ever seen this place from across the street- in the schoolyard, kids whispered tall tales about bad things that happened to people who went near. But those weren't true. I hoped.

We reached the doors- which weren't as extravagant as the gates. They were pearlescent auron with a sapphire butterfly embedded right in the center. The doors opened without prompting, gliding smoothly on invisible hinges. They led to a surprisingly small, plain room with silk butterflies suspended from the ceiling on invisible stings. Or maybe they were actually floating- it was hard to tell. A small girl in an ethereal pink silk slip materialized directly in front of us. Wordlessly, she motioned for us to step through a gap in the wall. As she turned to lead us, I spotted tightly curled wing buds poking out of slits in the back of her dress. Her wavy hair, so light pastel green that it looked blonde, was twisted up in two buns. She couldn't have been older than ten.

The girl led us into what must have been the audience room. Sunlight streamed in, filtered by the swathes of jewel colored fabrics that crisscrossed the room. More butterflies were everywhere- real ones, models, and motifs. Three ornate chairs sat behind a long, polished table finished with pressed rainbow eucalyptus bark- an expensive material that, despite its rarity, was incredibly popular. The room was empty. Flanking the three more intricate chairs, I noticed, were many smaller, simpler chairs. There were names carved at the top of each- but I only deciphered Stella on a pastel-green decorated one before a stunning elfin person stepped from a hidden door.

Their long, silky black hair cascaded around breathtaking indigo wings that flared proudly behind them making their white tunic stand out against the rich velvety color. An intricate design of strings and jeweled beads ran from their ear to cover one of their eyes. I remembered the exaggerated tales told to me by feral kids in dark alleyways, and the way the local alley-lurking children would always have matches handy for a dramatic flare when they needed it. I'd always found them to be the most interesting people- they had the best storytelling skills, captivating me with convoluted and often contradicting stories ever time I could get out of the house. The particular one this brought back was the Iris Ceremony.

"Ow." The Monarch's wing twitched back a little as it smacked the wall. "Pretend you didn't see that. I'm Monarch Azrael- Azra."

Daisy dropped to his knee while I stood there like an idiot. I was completely paralyzed- I'd been told horrible things about the Monarchs and what they did to intruders on their palace. But Monarch Azrael hitting their wing on the wall had triggered something in my mind that said NORMAL PERSON! NORMAL PERSON!, and that somehow made me think staying upright was the right thing to do.