The Places We Go

Chapter I; Arlie

Days sometimes begin with a sudden noise, others with gentle sunlight. When a sudden noice disturbs you, you must find it's cause. When the sun wakes you, you think nothing of the world. Bliss washes over you, and you think not of what could have been. You are just, there. But not all sunlit starts end with moonlight dreams. Today was a sunlight day, all the villagers went to work as Arlie, Anastasia, and Soleil began their discussions. As the three leaders of Zellarid, their values were bound to clash and thus held meetings every morning to discuss them with a mediator or a 2-to-1 vote. Arlie herself was the last to arrive, for Anastasia's home, where the meetings were conducted, was on the opposite side of the capitol town. When she arrived Soleil was already there, as she lived just down the road from Anastasia.
     "Oh good, you're here!" Anastasia exclaimed as Arlie opened the door. Anastasia wore her classic long green dress, which made her similarly colored eyes glow through the darkness of her face that her long, brown hair created. Soleil wore a more casual style. She wore a tattered blue shirt and short black skirt. Her blonde hair was put up in a messy bun. Arlie herself wore a shorter black skirt and a simple white shirt, an uncommon style but one she loved dearly. "Let's begin." Soleil said as all three women sat down. "Now, Soleil, do you have the documents from yesterday?" Anastasia asked, always wanting to get down to business. "Yes," she said, pulling the pieces of parchment out of her satchel. "Yesterday we discussed the problem with the bridge troll, and decided to leave him be for now. We decided that today we would scout out a little past our current border and try to expand. This would make room for what we need to discuss now; We have received five requests from civilians as to what they would like to build and maintain." She finished, replacing those papers in her bag and retrieving five new ones. "I have the proposals here." They each read one and traded papers, then read the last two. There was a heated discussion on which proposal to accept, as all would be very useful for the kingdom. Had they had the land, all would be accepted, but only two could be. "I say we each eliminate one proposal and the other two we keep." Arlie suggested, and this was carried out. After they discussed a few other matters, it was time for the announcements.
     They made their way to the square where the villagers had already gathered. "Greetings, my people." Anastasia began the customary greeting. "Thank you for gathering to hear what we have to say." Soleil continued. "Let us begin." Arlie finished. She and Soleil sat on their stools as Anastasia gave the announcements of what was to happen about the bridge troll and the two proposals that were granted. Arlie always thought these customs, especially the greeting was odd and outdated, but she didn't dare say anything.
     They met with those that were granted and discussed the matters with them. They finally got about the important part of their jobs; expanding the borders. They collected their supplies and set out and, having found nothing dangerous, they claimed this previous no-man's-land up north for themselves.
     They returned to find that the villagers were very concerned about the bridge troll. He was getting closer and closer to the kingdom, further away from his bridge. Soleil tried to calm the villagers down, Anastasia went to seek advice from the river mermaid Cordelia, and Arlie herself went to reason with the troll.
     "To pass, you-" he started, seeing Arlie. "I'm not here to pass the bridge." She said, cutting him off. "I'm here just to talk to you." He looked surprised. "Very well then. Not like I haven't done that before! Haha! Ha?" Arlie had known him in childhood and thus knew just how odd he was, but she hadn't truly talked to him until now. "Ha. We've just been wondering why you're straying so far away from the bridge." He looked confused. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, I've been staying at my post day and night, never moving." Arlie knew what was going on. He was playing dumb. Or, he was dumb, whichever it was, Arlie knew what she had to do. "Look, so long as you stay on that side of the bridge we have no problem. Come over, then, you'll have to pay a hefty price." Arlie said as she drew her dagger, ready to strike should she need to. "We have no problem." The bridge troll said, his claws much more visible now. The troll, named Dadokes hadn't always been like this. He was born a normal boy, but when he was fourteen he made a new strange article of clothing that he wore everywhere, and eventually he had worn it so much that it became one with his skin. Horrified, he ran away to the bridge. He let his hygiene go out, causing him to become a "troll". He exiled himself to stay on the bridge forever, stopping conflict between Zellarid and Mirirejar. Arlie looked at him now, in this state. They were about the same age, though Arlie never knew him well.
     "Good. Just stay there and no one has to get hurt." Arlie said, replacing her dagger in its sheath. Dadokes turned away and began to go back into the bridge even further. Arlie went back to Anastasia's home, to find only Soleil there. "Where's Anastasia?" Arlie asked as she sat. Soleil shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. She said she was going to talk to Cordelia, didn't she?" Arlie asked, closing the door behind her. Soleil stood up and yelled at the top of her voice "We have to find her!" She pushed Arlie out of the way, flung open the door, and ran down the road towards the river. After getting back on her feet, Arlie followed. When they arrived, neither Anastasia nor Cordelia was there. They saw lines in the sand on the other bank, as well as one set of footprints coming towards the river and two leaving. "That's strange, she wouldn't be on that side of the river." Arlie said, squinting to see the other side better. "If not her, then who?" Soleil asked, turning to Arlie.
     "It was Queen Luna!" A small voice said below them. They looked down at the small fairy who was sitting on a small stone that had washed up on the shore. The fairy stood up and smoothed out her dress, flew up to be eye-to-eye with Soleil and Arlie, and finally spoke again. "I saw her. Queen Anastasia came to talk to Cordelia, but found her already in Queen Luna's chains. Queen Anastasia tried to free her, but just got herself captured too. They fled that way, I think. I don't know." Arlie and Soleil thought about this, as Leod, the other bridge keeper, came and beckoned the fairy, named Foja, to come back to him. He was a peculiar man, his limbs stiff and his face only giving forth four emotions. Foja returned to him and they walked off. Arlie and Soleil returned to their homes, got their gear, and went to the bridge. "Do you wish to pass?" Dadokes asked, and Arlie nodded her head. "Then you must prove your worth. Which one of you dared challenge me?" He said in what he thought was an intimidating voice. A few cuts and scrapes later, he let them pass. They continued to the middle of the bridge where they saw Foja again, sleeping on the edge of the bridge. They continued to Leod, the other bridge keeper, and tried to reason with him to let them pass. At long last, they stepped into Luna's kingdom; Mirirejar.
     They were surprised that after a mile of walking Luna's castle and Imperial City nowhere to be seen, as Anastasia and Soleil's homes were relatively close to the bridge. They continued on, knowing that they could not let Anastasia and Cordelia rot in Luna's dungeon, wherever that was.