The Magic Butterfly

CHAPTER THREE

The land of Atlas, a big kingdom. Yet very small amongst the wide landscapes. The land around Atlas was vast. Mountains laid on one end of the land and the ocean was on another other. A sort of dome where the kingdom rested in the center. Indeed, Atlas was merely a kingdom, small and made of stone.

Andie the Great, continued to rule over his people. The folks of the land were kind, patient and more importantly, they had faith in their king. After the walls around Atlas were built with a giant stone of a marvelous design. The walls were painted with wild and uncontained colors of blue and gold. The untamed lands of the world seized to exist for those who lived within Atlas.

Nobody, not the soldier, or even criminals were sent beyond the wall. Andi made sure of it. Even to the present day, old folks with crooked smiles and drunken breath mention the outsiders. Creatures that could corrupt Atlas in the sleep of a night. They were only tall tales for misbehaved children, of course.

These stories were talked about by attention-seeking adults. Their most vulnerable targets were curious children. This was such a common trend, that it created a strange interest for the younger generation. Andie himself overheard a tale or two, about a creature from the hollow caves in the Southern Mountains.

A story may pop up at a family gathering. As a result, the children would pretend to be creatures from the outlands. A few odd moments Andie his children run around the room. One of the kids was Marceil and she had made some new friends. For Marceil, this was an unexpected family gathering. Above the sky, an air balloon dropped down within the Kingdom. Atlas had visitors.

They were from another land, as Marceil's mother warned, and they arrived one afternoon. It was brought to the girl's attention that her parents sat at a table with the new guests, a woman, and a man. She was on the other end of the room playing with her cousins. Muddled up in their fun activities was a strange bro.

Marceil couldn't keep up with the kids. Her cousins shoved each other around. They clawed each other's arms, shouted in each other's ears and the mess of actions swirled Marceil to the ground like her mind was swept up in a tornado. Marceil fell over.

Over her shoulder, Marceil sensed that her parents were worried. They held a strong conversation in the distance of the room. She could see a bit of her mother and her father's beard. The guests didn't seem to make her parents smile. She stood back up onto her feet and wondered her tiny feet out of the room.

Behind her, a group of kids wrestled and argued on the carpets. Attacking each other with feather dusters and pillow cushions. Amongst the group of mayhem, a boy spotted Marceil. A pillow struck his head as he was distracted by the princess. A desire for revenge possessed the boy and his fingers turned into claws. He held back the anger when he noticed Marceil vanish into the shadows.

The adults in the room weren't looking, either. So he followed her out into the castle halls. Marceil looked around. On some of the stone walls were picture-art that spoke about folk myth, these mystic carvings ran through the walls like dark river canals. The little boy frizzed his black wavy hair when he heard a man cough. Heavy armor clanked. The boy looked away from the artwork, nearly fleeing from the scene.

He stood amongst a very silent hallway. Dark and quiet. Endless stone walls echoed a pitter patter of water. The rest held a crisp silence. He realized Marcil's feet were as silent as a mouse in a pantry. The boy twirled around as his eyes scanned the unfamiliar surroundings. The rooms and walls looked like they were built for giants.

Marceil stopped. She held a motionless posture before she checked over her shoulder. The boy then dodged behind a pillar wrapped in the shadows. His black hairy features and gray colored clothes camouflaged. Her eyes missed him and after they wondered back, she made a slow pace through a door.