Deamonne

CHAPTER 5

The Shattered Vales
___________
Julia

Before moving ahead, I decided to let my clothes dry, because it was already very cold, but luckily I had fallen down the mountain and between two huge plateaus running parallel to each other. That meant the wind speed here was comparatively less. I sat down with my back pressed against the huge rock and stared blankly at the little stream of Euphilia that was flowing opposite to me, just about fifteen steps away. The rippling water was so alluring, looking like a sparkly bath. I wanted to hold those tiny stars in my hands and splash them on my face. I imagined it to be a refreshing feeling.

But I refrained myself from doing any of that.

"I wonder what Aaron is doing right now..." I said to myself and scoffed when I was reminded that time passed differently here.

I closed my eyes, smiling wide as I thought of Aaron and how we used to play when we were little.

'Julia?' Aaron had laughed in innocence then,' Funny name!'

'I know. I don't like it.' I had said, feeling ashamed of the only possession I had of my parents. The name they gave me. I was found crying in a park. My parents had abandoned me.

'You can change it.' She had smiled from ear to ear, feeling more excited than me for giving me a new name.

'Really?' I was happy too. I wanted to throw away the name they gave me, along with the thought of them ever existing. The bitterness I felt for them prevented me from forgiving them.

'Nanny told me a story about Cinwella! The name suits you so much.' She giggled.

'It's Cindrella.' I laughed a lot when she had pronounced it wrong in an adorable manner. I thought it was dumb then, though.

'There is another one. Her name was...right! Belle!'

'Belle? I don't know about that story.'

'Now that you're here, nanny will tell you that story.'

I had waited for the bedtime story that night. Aaron had been stubborn to hear the story about Belle again, so that I could hear it. Nanny couldn't win in front of Aaron's pouty face begging her persistently. And then, Nanny told us the story about...the beautiful girl Belle and the terrifying Beast. I was amazed how a human and a monster fell in love and the monster turned out to be a cursed Prince.

The next morning, Aaron called me 'Belle' and I remember how it felt. I felt giddy inside, as if my story would turn out like Belle's. We had joked about the Prince existing in real. But as we grew old, all of our blissful ignorance was replaced by the harsh reality of the world. There was no such Prince.

"Who would've thought that I'd get to meet a Devil instead?" I opened my eyes, sighing while staring at the clouds above so that tears wouldn't roll down my face. "A prince in disguise." I corrected myself, remembering that the Devil was created by the people of Celesteria. He was but a boy who could've grown up into a fine man but was forced to choose the path of destruction.

I was so absorbed to not pay attention to the sounds coming from a distance but as they grew louder, I heard something like the howling of wolves coming from the mountains.

I gasped and stood up in panic. Berthias had said the monsters were able to sniff my scent and follow me.

"I need to climb up." I placed both my hands on the sides of my waist and turned my head up to look at the height of the plateau. And the realisation hit me quicker that I'd expected.