The curse of the broken soul

Butterflies

Barley couldn't recall when he fell asleep exactly. The beautiful melody of the waves was more than enough to make him drift off to sleep without even realising it. He held Izzy close to him the entire time, she fell asleep in his arms as well. This was the first time she actually slept in a while now, as before she didn't require to get any sort of rest as an effect of the curse, the curse also made it impossible to do so. Yet there she was, finally asleep in Barley's arms. He was so warm and soft, this sort of comforting embrace was everything she needed and more. Although she was the cause of Barley having such a terrible nightmare before, this time things were much different.

He found himself in a meadow full of beautiful flowers, the sky above him was a bright blue as rays of sunshine rained down onto him. The seemingly peaceful area had plenty of little butterflies fluttering around, to his surprise one landed right on top of his nose. "Hmm...hey there lil one, what're you doing there?" He asks with a small giggle. Butterflies were skittish creatures so for one to land on someone was quite rare. The butterfly had small yet beautiful purple wings with shades of a darker blue mixed inside to form a wonderful pattern. Barley never saw anything like it before, it made him wonder what it was or if this could be a new butterfly species. At first he thought he was seeing things because it was so close but it soon took off only not to vanish so soon. It simply hovered in front of him for a moment. "Well aren't you an unusual looking one." Barley added with a smile, there was never a moment in his life where he found himself so fascinated over a mere bug. He slowly reached out his hand towards it, he wished he had a jar to keep it in just so he may be able to study it closely. However he also knew that this little creature needed its freedom more than anything. To his surprise yet again, it landed on his hand. It seemed to trust him completely, not the least bit weary if he may be a predator who could eat it up. "Whoa, you're an awfully brave lil one huh?" Barley said with another chuckle, he was actually talking to a butterfly. There was just something so special about it.

Just then, seemingly out of nowhere a bunch of butterflies began to dive bomb towards the unique one Barley held. These other bugs appeared to be much more common, patterns Barley has seen in a garden many times before. They hit with enough force to knock the unusual butterfly out his hand and onto the ground below. The elf was stunned as he quickly looked down to where his new little friend had landed. The common butterflies kept knocking themselves against the poor unique butterfly, it looked like they were trying to attack her. This was certainly very unusual behaviour to see in these types of little creatures but regardless, Barley did not hesitate to reach down and pick up the odd little butterfly. "Hey you leave them alone!" Barley snapped angrily, he was actually arguing with bugs at this point, he certainly would look like a crazy person if witnessed from a fair distance.

But the very second he thought things could not get any weirder, the angry butterflies began to punch themselves against Barley's closed fist. It did not hurt at all but he knew if he opened up his hand to reveal the odd butterfly that appeared so different from the rest, they would most certainly hurt it. He tried to swat the common bugs away but they wouldn't give up. To make matters all the more frustrating for the elf, only more butterflies came flooding in, each being a species he recognises, a type of colour and pattern that has already been discovered and seen by many others long ago. He knew this one of a kind insect was not safe around the others, he can keep swatting for hours on end only to make little to no effect. "We gotta get you outta here!" He cried out to the small odd one in his hands. He ran off while being sure to carry it as gently as possible, the angry butterflies began to soar after him. "Sheesh, since when did butterflies get so aggressive?" He asked himself in a huff, it was unlike anything he has ever seen. Luckily it was incredibly easy to out run them, he was able to find a good spot hidden deep within a forest. "Alright, looks like the coast is clear. What is your deal anyway? Are you some sort of wanted rouge within the realm of insects?" Barley says as he slowly opens up his hands. The small creature looked up at him, though it's face was far too small to be able to recognise any emotion on it, he somehow knew it felt absolutely exhausted.