Papillion's Riddle

Part 1 The Valle:She Sleeps Forever

Chapter 1: She Sleeps Forever

Whether it was a curse or a miracle, The Hall of Crystal was quite something to behold. Every space was filled with a crystalline figure, each depicting a different scene. I had once explored it like it was an art museum. The statues told tales of people so far away from me that they may as well have never existed.

Then my father took up residence there and I suddenly realized that I was the only living thing in a room full of corpses. The blue statues were the fossilized bodies of my kind, and only represented my future rather than a fictional past. I didn’t find any pleasure in the games anymore. This was all when I was six.

I still visited the hall after that, but then it was to visit my father. Even though my mother was still alive, my father was always a greater source of comfort than her. He was so much closer than my mother. I was purely brought up by Mala, my sister, and Mae, whose role in The Valle, my home, was unnamed but defined all the same. But I’d go to my dad on an important day, to hold his hand and speak to him. He’d never reply, but it didn’t stop me from telling him everything.

Ten years later and he was the only thing that didn’t change. Later on my mother took her place in crystal at his side, but I barely recognised the elf they carried back to the hall. So it was my father I went to on the first day of my sixteenth spring.

"How wonderful would it be if you could see me here today?" I whispered to my father - his cold lips did not reply.

"I thought we were not meant to make wishes such as those." I jumped right out of my skin when I heard a voice behind me.

"Scarlett! You scared me! Why did you sneak up on me?" I demanded, shaken.

"You should not yell in such a holy place!" Scarlett laughed, pointing at my reddening face.

I swiped at her, but she dodged my attack. "You scared me, that's all." I was slightly annoyed at having my private moment interrupted, but it was good to see my best friend. She’d be all I had soon.

"Of course," she smiled.

"And it's perfectly OK to make those kinds of wishes." It was Scarlett's turn to jump out of her skin.

"Greetings, Mae. It's good to see you." I bowed politely to her. She was dressed in a pure white robe, an oddity in the middle of the desert. Her silver hair was knotted into a neat bun on the back of her head.

Mae nodded in return. "Now why would two girls be here on such a day? The others are out enjoying today."

"Exactly, Poppy. Let’s go." Scarlett tried to pull me away, but I stood my ground.

"I... I just wanted to speak with my father one last time before the ceremony," I admitted, staring down at my boots.

"But you cannot share words with him again, Poppy. It is best to stay out of this hall.”

"But Mae -"

"I know your mother brought you here, but it does not mean I'll permit it. I am not meant to see any of you before the ceremony anyway." I wanted to stay for a few more minutes, but there was no point in arguing with Mae.

"Come on, Scarlett." Arms linked, we left the Hall of Crystal.

The sun glowed against a perfect blue, something we wouldn’t see much of in the next few months. The monsoon season would come soon, but we still had weeks of this weather, weeks that dragged every year. Rain brought fresh food, which just didn’t exist the rest of the year. Fortunately our water supply came from the East, beyond Kevetstra, where rain was plentiful. It was the only river that didn’t dry out in summer. Surprisingly no one else was outside, enjoying the last of this weather. “Papillion!”