Fate that can't be resisted
-To this light, this fate-
Set it free
-Set the darkness free-
Once upon a time, although not as long ago as you might think, there was a cavern. Which doesn't sound particularly exciting, no, but it's more interesting than you'd think.
The cavern, set deep into the land's largest mountains, could easily have swallowed any city. The one entrance, set into one wall, led across to one large stone pillar in the very center of the cavern, over one long, smooth bridge. It could easily take five minutes to walk from the far edge of the bridge to the center, which is a rather long time, when you think about how fast someone would walk, knowing they were on a stone walkway bridging a seemingly bottomless chasm. The rest of the cavern, as I already mentioned, appeared to have no end. A bright blue-green haze blocked any chance of seeing down there, and very few people had ever been stupid enough to jump. The walls and roof glinted faintly, precious metals and gems set into the rock much too far away for anyone to reach.
Although it would be called a pedestal, the circle of rock in the very center was huge- large enough to fit hundreds of people, if needed. But it hadn't ever been needed for that purpose, so we'll never know exactly how many people would actually fit on. Ringing the edge of the the platform were dark metal braziers, glowing with a blue fire the same colour as the mist, casting odd shadows in unusual places. Singing always echoed quietly through the cavern, although we'll get to that later.
Now we come to the part where you need to pay attention, because odds are you won't have been for the last paragraph. In the middle of the platform stood a girl. She could have been a woman for all I know, no-one ever really saw her face properly. She stood perfectly still, and you would have sworn she was a statue apart from her huge chest, which rose and fell as-
No, I'm sorry. I'm getting sidetracked. Let's just say, she was beautiful, in a porcelain-doll kind of way. A mask always covered her upper face, not that it was needed. Her image had been long forgotten by anyone of that world, and her expression never changed. Apart from now.
A scream, feminine and thin, suddenly echoed around the cavern, coming from the mists below. A deafening roar erupted seconds later, and the scream cut off. The woman shuddered violently, dropping to her knees. If you could see her face, which would have been difficult, given that she was looking at the floor, it was contorted with pain and one other emotion, somewhere between sorrow and rage. She stayed like that for several seconds, the dove on her shoulder- oh yes, I forgot to mention that- curiously looking at her. Not too long after, though, she stood up. Gently moving the bird onto her wrist, she threw it up into the air, and it quickly left the cavern. The woman wasn't worried in the slightest. The bird was a message, and the message knew where to go.
She watched it go, and then turned around and gracefully walked toward the opposite end of the platform to the entrance. Staring off into the haze, she began to sing. Her voice was ethereal, lighter, but somehow also more powerful than the voice that had just stopped.
You're probably thinking, 'There's nothing interesting in a girl singing! What's the point of a story about that?' Well, although I can admit a tale just about singing would be boring, this one is not just about that. In fact, it's barely about that woman at all. This is the story of true love, something unstoppable but also a great burden. This is the story of a boy and a girl.
And like many love stories, it all starts with a kiss.
Ichigo and Rukia had known each other for as long as they could remember. Born in the same small town, at about the same time, they'd grown up together. That implies that they got on well, though, and that would be lying. The two of them butted heads at the slightest thing, from the correct way to get on a horse to how to eat an apple. Behind their backs, the town described them as like an old married couple, and went to great lengths to try and get them together, which never really seemed to work, except once.
It had been a dare, and neither Ichigo nor Rukia, at the ages of 13 and 12, respectively, would turn that down and be labelled as a coward. It was a quick and clumsy kiss, but it was the start of a much bigger story all the same.
Years later, when they were older and generally made an active effort to avoid each other, Rukia walked out of the village, clutching a messily-written note in one hand. It told her to go to the start of the path that ran through the nearby forest, and hadn't been signed. Although it took her almost half-an-hour, she eventually got there. The forest was known to be huge, although no-one had ever been to the other side, so it was unmapped to a large extent. Still, many paths ran through it, and it was hard to get lost in unless you wandered astray.
The raven-haired girl paused at the beginning of the largest path, having looked around and seen no-one. Suddenly, a hand touched her shoulder, and she spun around, only to see the tall, orange-haired boy she'd fought with her entire life standing there with a smirk across his face.
"You." Rukia simply said, narrowing her eyes.
"Don't tell me you didn't recognise my handwriting." joked Ichigo, still smirking.
The girl stuck her nose up in the air, trying her best to lie. "Of course I did. I knew it would be you here, and I knew that you'd-"
She was cut off as Ichigo bent down a little, put one hand on her shoulder, and pressed his lips to hers. Rukia rolled her eyes, but didn't push him away, and simply placed her hands on her hips. He pulled away after a few seconds, and they linked hands without a word and walked into the forest.
They'd walked in companionable silence for a while when Ichigo stopped, looking around. It was a bright day, and even though the forest and its canopy were thick, sunlight filtered down and bathed everything in a green glow. Rukia looked up at him, silently curious about why he'd stopped. Not saying anything either, Ichigo dug around in his pocket, bringing out a few thin strands of string. Off each hung a small metal pendant, one a white crescent, and the other a black circle. He held them by the tips of his fingers, letting the pendants weigh the strings down.
"A black sun and a white moon." He said quietly, looking straight at Rukia. "Us." Smiling, Ichigo moved around to behind her, tying the necklace with the black sun around her neck. She quickly returned the favour, kissing him afterward. She looked up at him, for he was much taller than her. "Ichigo... You idiot. This makes it impossible to hide." The boy grinned, ruffling her hair, much to the girl's embarassment. "What if I don't want to hide it? What if-"
A shout from in the trees cut him off, and they both spun, looking for the source of the sound, only to be bombarded with soldiers surrouding them. They were royal guards, which was odd, given that they were very rarely seen so far away from the capital and the palace. Ichigo stepped beside Rukia, wrapping an arm protectively around her shoulders.
"What do you want?" He asked brusequely.
One of the soldiers, dressed a little gaudier than the others, stepped forward an inch. "We came for the girl, son. Now, come quietly and without a fuss, and no-one has to get hurt." Rukia shook her head. There was no way she was just going to be pulled away to an unknown place with a troop of soldier. T
he man sighed. "Alright then." Then he nodded to the rest of the soldiers, and they swarmed in around Ichigo and Rukia. Pulling them away from each other, Ichigo was violently battered and kicked as he tried to fight back, and Rukia was quickly gagged and her hands tied behind her back as they pulled her in the direction of the edge of the forest. He lay on the ground a minute or two later, in pain and consciousness fading, when he faintly heard the soldiers yell something.
"She's to be a Diva, so take her to Aizen when we get back, understood?!" And all Ichigo could think of as he drifted off into unconsciousness was that he would find her, no matter what.
Now, I hope you were all paying attention, because I hate that part, so I'm not telling it again. But don't worry, there's more still left to tell. You ask what this story is called? Well, it has many names, for I've told it all over the world, but my favourite...
The name of this story is Synchronicity.
And so ends the first part of the adventure. I'd think it's pretty easy to guess what it's an adaptation of- If you haven't seen it already, you really should go and watch the Synchronicity series by Rin and Len on YouTube or Nico or something of the like. I will warn you, the series is now finished, so the end is a bit of a spoiler. I will be changing it though, so don't worry.
Also, this is a bit of an early birthday/late Christmas present to the wonderful Erin ^^ There's more of your present coming too.
Reviews would be a big help!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Vocaloid, or the song series upon which this fic is based on.