The Golden Hall

The air turned slightly warmer as they walked into the massive room filled with statues. The glowing fairy motioned for Dalia to keep moving forward, but she stared downward at the iridescent tiles beneath her feet. They shimmered like the bottom of a pool and reflected every speck of light in the room. 

   The fairy flew over and tried to lift her hand to pull her with no success. 

   “Where have you brought me?” Dalia looked up at her tiny guide; the fairy spun around and pointed towards the statues emphatically. 

   Slowly inching forward, Dalia could hear voices growing louder that came from all around the long room. She grew near the first statue on the right, a stocky, golden man holding a bow and arrow, his chest clad in armor. 

    “Choose courage, my warrior, and you will never feel fear again,” an angelic voice whispered to her from this statue. His voice rang through her bringing a feeling of comfort and strength. Her eyes shifted around the room to the other statues as she realized they all were whispering to her in voices fit for gods. 

  She rushed to the next statue, a young man lounging on a sofa next to an array of fruit and cheeses. His hands were covered in jewels, and a large medallion hung from his neck. 

   “Choose wealth, my citizen, and never want any object again.” The whisper floated over to Dalia and enveloped her in luxury. She whipped her head around in search of the little fairy and saw her perched on the doorknob. 

   “I have to choose one? And I get what? That as a power?” The fairy flew towards Dalia nodding her head furiously and pointing to the rest of the statues.“Okay...” Dalia counted ten more statues. So far, there was courage and wealth. Both good options, she took a look back at the first two statues and moved on to the third. 

   Another young man, but this one exhumed an overwhelming energy, and Dalia gaped at him. His hair seemed soft and bouncy despite being made of solid gold, his smile was big and inviting but felt, so genuine. “Choose charisma, and you may enchant anyone you meet. Both men and women will jump to fulfill your wishes.” 

    The next statue was a small girl with big, round eyes holding a basket. Dalia felt overcome with grief and motivation at the same time. “Choose generosity, my savior, and be able to help the world, fulfill your life.” Her voice was so sweet and soft it made Dalia’s eyes begin to water. 

   Dalia walked to the next statue and stood in front of a golden woman with her hair tied back into a bun. She was sitting with her legs crossed over one another and her hands on her knees. Dalia inhaled and exhaled calmly as the statue’s words washed over her, “Choose patience, my dear, and appreciate your time.” Dalia almost wanted to cross her legs and sit on the ground in front of this statue, forever in its serenity. But she dragged herself to the next golden figure. 

It was a teenager, rather androgynous as Dalia could not gender it confidently. As she moved in front of it, its voice seemed to sing to her, she felt comfortable, and for some reason, she turned around to survey the room. “Choose balance. Choose moderation and reside in the comfort of the middle.” Dalia could feel all the whispers gather into a chorus of angelic singing as she stood, back turned to the androgynous figure. She swiveled around to look at them one more time before walking to the next golden statue. 

   A young woman waved into the distance with a beautiful smile that seemed to shine brighter than the little fairy. Dalia took a few paces backward, to try to become the recipient of the wave but could not. “Choose amicability, and you will never be alone. Always loved and able to give love to others,” as the words rang out, Dalia’s feet seemed to pull her closer to the statue, and she felt the urge to hug the golden girl for a moment. 

   An earnest and serious mood set over Dalia as she walked to the next statue. An old woman, standing with a book in her hands. The voice seemed to vibrate through Dalia, “Choose honesty, and you will never stray from the truth.” Her words seemed to relieve Dalia in a way, but she shivered at the cold expression on the old woman’s face. 

   Next, she walked over to a golden baby, toothless and smiling. A tiny angel voice whispered to Dalia, “Choose joy! Always be happy!” A melodic baby giggle followed the words making Dalia chuckle with glee. 

Her happiness was soon consumed by self-pride. She straightened her back and held her head high as she gazed at the next golden statue, a young man standing tall with one fist raised in the air and the other resting on his sheath. “Choose pride, my queen, and you will never feel doubt. You will never question yourself.” His arms and chest seemed to sparkle even in the dim hallway. 

The next statue to the right was a young woman standing with both hands on her hips, her chin tilted slightly down towards her feet. She had a soft expression on her face as though a smile could form at any moment but didn’t. “Choose modesty, and you will always know your place. Do not inflate yourself to heights you are not built for.” All of the pride from the previous statue had emptied out of Dalia and was replaced now with a humble understanding of herself as if the golden woman was holding up a mirror of truth. 

She began to walk again and realized she had come to the final statue, an older golden man standing with his arms crossed in front of him. His expression was one of wisdom, and he whispered to Dalia, “Choose justice, and you will be able to see fairness without bias.” The words filled Dalia with a sense of peace and a feeling of knowledge. 

Turning around to look at the statues once more, the whispers began to grow louder enchanting Dalia’a ears. She began to back away slowly towards the door that she had entered through, her eyes surveying the statues as all of the voices ran through her. The tiny fairy’s glow could be seen darting around the room in excitement until finally coming to hover near Dalia. She turned and looked at the fairy with her mouth hanging open and her head slightly shaking back and forth. 

“Don’t I need all of these?” She asked the fairy in confusion, “If I choose one does that mean I must forfeit the rest?” Her hands began to tremble, thinking of the grave mistake she was possibly about to make. Her feet continued to carry her backward until the doorknob pressed into her back. She had to stop. She reached behind her and jiggled the doorknob, but it wouldn’t twist to let her out. The fairy poked at her shoulder, pointing towards the statues and twirling around as the whispers grew louder until the hall seemed to vibrate with the voices of angels. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her eardrums felt overwhelmed. 

She swung her head this way and that, trying to remember how each statue made her feel, she lifted her finger towards the center of the hall. “I choose…” her index finger was in line with the peaceful old woman that was sitting, the one that promised patience. She wanted to feel that kind of peace and patience with the world. Her eyes ran over the other golden figures one last time, considering all of their offers. She thought about her whole life and how everything has always seemed so chaotic and unfair, so distorted. 

Her finger dropped down by her side and her shoulders relaxed. “I choose balance. I want everything to be balanced.” As the words left her lips, the floor began to vibrate, and the statues began to tremble. The fairy dashed to a column to cling to as the entire hall quaked violently. All of the statues began to scrape across the floor, moving towards one another until they converged on the androgynous figure. And then all at once, they seemed to fuse into the statue of balance until it was all that was left. Slowly the statue’s face began to drip, first, its nose began sliding down, and then its eyes drooled into one another. The thick gold liquid ran down to the floor until there was no more statue. 

The trembling ceased. The fairy cautiously left the column and flew over to where the statue had been. She hovered over the puddle of gold and waved her arms at Dalia. She hesitantly obeyed the fairy’s gestures and began to move forward. She knelt next to the shimmering pool, an angelic tone still radiating from it. The fairy energetically pointed to the pool, pulling her arm back and forth rapidly. Dalia eyed the fairy suspiciously for a moment, and then placed a finger into the puddle. An icy feeling took over her body as soon as she touched the liquid. It began to crawl up her hand, engulfing her arm and stretching over her neck. She began to panic, trying to use her yet-to-be-golden arm to push the liquid off but to no avail. Her eyes looked around wildly for something to do, and she saw the fairy hovering a few feet in front of her, smirking. The little fairy was nodding her head slowly as the gold encapsulated Dalia, leaving a golden statue frozen in an agonizing pose tearing at the gold surrounding her. 

The fairy daintily flew over and rested on top of Dalia’s golden head. As her small feet touched her golden hair, Dalia took a gasp of air and fell from her pose. She stood up, staring at her arms and legs that were still encased in gold. She looked at the fairy who was still smiling, and from above them, the angelic voices sang out in unison, “Go and balance the world. Bring all with you. You are now the goddess Stateria.” 

Bowing her head to the now-empty hall, Dalia turned the doorknob and stepped outside.