The cave glimmered blue, with light reflecting off every gem in the crystalline paradise. A waterfall gurgled in the corner.
The girl knew this was all fake.
Just a place to raise the Diva. The sacrifice.
A crack on the ceiling gave way to sunlight, the only thing she had of the outside world.
The little bells on her anklet clinked as she walked towards the sliver of sunlight, and watched it light up her pale hand. Her hair was a captivating hue of gold, and her eyes were blue, sparkling like a summer lake.
She heard a rumble. She looked behind her, and saw the huge shape looming over her.
A great, spiked dragon. It was terrible in its beauty, and its size was so big that he was almost indiscernible from the cave wall. It watched her, waiting.
The girl took a closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She clutched her necklace pendant, a treble clef, and composed herself with a determined look on her face.
This is my duty! If you keep going, no one else has to go!
With that thought, she opened her mouth and said confidently, if not with a little waver in her voice:
"Today is sunny. I will sing you a sunny song."
And out of her mouth poured a song of brightness, with words that no one but the girl knew. The song was to calm the dragon. It wasn't as if it could understand.
As she sang, she also danced, the bells on her anklet clinking, stretching her shawl behind her slim frame.
Warm hands were offered but they didn't reach me.
And she kept singing, all alone.
At the bottom of the world, fated to sing prayers and song for the rest of her short life.
I dedicate myself to this fate.
Weaving a lattice of song, singing all the prayers that they had taught her when she was very young.
All the others had been chosen once they reached adulthood.
She had been raised like this for all her life, and she didn't know what the world outside was like.
The words of her songs were starting to become more and more painful.
To take her mind off the pain, the girl tried thinking about her dreams, where sometimes she would turn into a boy, called Len.
He was a well-known, smart boy in his village. He looked like her, honey-hued hair and with blue clear eyes.
She wondered who he was.
She coughed and saw that some red stained her white dress.
Keep going, she thought.
Something was always missing from my heart.
A girl, only in my dreams, that I saw.
She has similar features to me.
She sings in a cave away from mankind, always in danger of death.
She IS dying, every word she utters in stricken by pain.
I asked mother why I've been having these visions.
"You have a sister, Len." Mother had said.
She and father sat together, faces weary, and sad, as they told of how my sister was kidnapped to be the Diva.
The "Unreturning holy woman".
After that, I just let the words flow through my head. I will find this missing piece, no matter what.
I'll find her.