Prologue
I hear a humming sound…coming closer and closer… stirring in the abyss. I see nothing but darkness and I feel nothing but a thick breeze. Back and forward. Back and forward. The breeze follows my chest with every breath I take. Where am I?
I force my eyes to open and my gaze pursues the length of my shoulder, to look at my prickled skin with hairs on edge atop their little mounds of flesh. They are vibrating to the humming melody of machinery and swaying in dance with the current of flowing water illuminating green.
Water. Not air, water. Why am I surrounded by water? I'm not drowning as I can breathe.
I focus my gaze ahead of me into a room devoid of all furniture except a bookcase that fills the length of the room, housing thick-spined books in languages I cannot read. A distorted haze comes forth from behind the the bookcase and claps. Once. Twice. A third time. I hear its echo ring in my ears and bounce off the walls, muffed by the dense water around me..
"Beautiful. My beautiful, queen. Are you conscious, my dear?"
I hear his drowned voice and understand his speech, but I cannot respond as a mask covers half my face. A plastic pipe attached to my mouth; I follow the snake-like piece leading down to the length of my torso… My torso?
Panic.
I do not see my torso. I see gnarly flesh the colour of mud being illuminated by the sickly green light inside my watery confinement. A monsters body… I have the body of something inhuman. I see protruding veins twist around thick tendons like serpents in the shape of something thicker than the waist of a woman, lower and lower, ending where my legs should be. My bones stick out in their place, accumulating air bubbles between the ridges of their vertebrae. One bubble frees itself and floats towards my face.
I gasp, blowing more bubbles around my face and try to grasp at my chest. To no avail, as my arms descend into a twisted knot of flesh no thicker than the width of a pencil. I thrash around momentarily in a frenzy to free myself, whatever I am, only to lightly graze against the cool glass that surrounds me instead. I hear myself sob a gurgled cry of defeat as I look forth towards the approaching shadow.
His golden locks come into view and bounce with each heavy footstep as he approaches me. Smiling, arms out at length and hands rotating in circles in a dramatic display of a joyful exaggeration as he begins to speak.
"Don't struggle, I'm here. Do you remember me, my queen? Sing for me, like you would centuries ago. Sing for me, my beautiful flower."
I could not control my voice. My actions. My fear subsides as my throat creates an evoking melody.
I'm humming. It sounds familiar… I can relax now.
This song. I recognise this song. Then fear creeps around me and shakes the new clam from my deepest corners of my being.
My soul, it feels as if it's trembling.
Not in fear? Rage. I feel rage.
I squeeze my eyes shut and then open them, hoping what I'm witnessing is a dream… scenes twist into shape before me and I see a village in place of the bookcase. Canopies of fire are burning the houses straw rooftops and the smell of smoke engulfs my lungs. I hear the sound of high pitched engines soar above and the endless explosions of machine gun barrels exhausting their deadly metal parts everywhere. Although, one sound… The song, it followed me to this new location.
I've been here before. Why am I here again? That sound… This song… It feels like it's driving me insane.
"Saya…"
I hear a mans voice behind me, and I spin around to meet his grey somber eyes. His mouth is moving. I cannot hear what he's saying. The song, it's too loud.
Make the song stop. It's drowning me, I can feel my consciousness fading.
Darkness, again.
"Saya!"
I open my eyes again.
Red, everywhere.
The mans long black hair trails over his agonised face. He clutches his arm as blood erupts like a waterfall from a wound and coaxes the grass beneath my feet.
Did I do this? No!
I turn to my left and see his severed limb.
I scream.
I scream, louder than the exploding rifle barrels around me. My voice trembles more violently than the ground as explosives from the jets above are detonated. However, I can still hear the song above my endless screaming. I cover my ears and close my eyes to try and escape from the melody that torments my sanity.
Lurching forward, I rip through something that feels like a spiderweb. Still screaming until my voice dulls with no more breath to spare. The song is gone and the darkness returns. The scent of moist cobblestone fills my nose and cold air tickles at my skin.
"Saya… Saya!"
My name, again? A scraping noise followed by a bright, yellow and warm light fills the room.
"… Kai"
That name leaves my lips as a dash of red hurtles towards me and embraces me into a world of comfort. It was Kai, wasn't it?
"Saya, it's alright. I heard you scream and realised you must be awake from your sleep."
"Kai… I… A dream. Oh, Kai." I felt a warm wetness flow down my cheeks. I shake my head to clear my muddled thoughts, as this isn't the question I should be asking right now. "How long has it been since I've seen you?"
He releases his grasp on me and looks into my eyes with a concerned expression across his face. Eyes brows furrowed and mouth a thin line, "Saya… You've only been asleep thirteen years."
"I've what?" I couldn't believe it.
"Why are you awake so early? Was it the nightmare, perhaps?"
"I heard a song. Diva's song… And I don't remember. It felt as if someone was trying to shake me awake."
Kai smiles a reassuring smile at me, "A dream, huh? Don't worry, I guess this means we'll be a family again much sooner now!"
Looking into his eyes, memories of our past time together flood me and I feel his joy. He's right. This uneasy feeling in my bones was caused by my bad dream. It doesn't mean anything other than being the catalyst to reunite our family again soon, right? Yeah, that's right.
I hold him back, as tightly as I can to try and subside the shiver in my bones caused by the dream, but they still feel as though they're cracking from the inside.
A/N: A prologue, as to how Saya wakes up thirteen years later. I'm considering turning this into a long story about what happens sometime after Saya wakes early.
Why is she awake early?
Is Hagi coming back? What of her family and friends?
Was the dream with Diva's song only a dream?
Why can't Saya shake off this terrible feeling?
Will she be able to live these next few years peacefully?
