Heavy rain battered down on the old shingle roof with thunderous applause as the young girl crouched in the corner of her room, shivering in fear. With every rumble she shrank further down, tears welling in her eyes as she pressed them tightly shut.
The room’s furnishings were bare with only two pillows, a table and a blanket arranged as a makeshift bed, all resting on worn tatami mats that looked decades old, perhaps more.
Light flashed through the rattling shutters as the storm swirled around her claustrophobic den, and a deafening *bang* caused her to jump to her feet.
She knew she wasn’t allowed to leave unless told to, but she couldn’t fight it anymore.
Crawling towards the oppressive doors that now served as her only salvation, she stood on tiptoes reaching towards the handle, only for whispers of a distant conversation to reach her ears from the hallway beyond.
“Keep an especially close watch tonight. It was a storm like this when that fiend first appeared.”
The gruff voice grated on her ears and she instinctively recoiled from recognising it - but she kept listening, praying they were coming to let her out.
“That woman brought the apocalypse with her, I swear it. Seducing the first man she saw, and their unnatural child… it was all an omen we didn’t pay attention to.”
“Should we keep the girl restrained until the storm passes?”
The girl’s heartbeat stopped as she grasped at her wrists, trembling.
“Don’t bother. She may have the blood of a demon, but she’s weak, just like her monster of a mother.”
Thunder cracked once more, but she didn’t flinch. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she clambered over to her blanket and wrapped herself close to wait out the night.
Hibiki had spent all 5 of her years alone in the dark, and tonight it seemed would be no exception.
******
That night, she had dreamed of her mother. It was a vague and blurry memory, as she was very young when her mother was taken, but she could feel the instinctive fear from when she was dragged away in heavy chains, never to return.
She woke up sweating and panting from her nightmare, but after seeing they hadn’t come for her too she soon calmed down, catching her breath in relief.
The storm had passed, and the peaceful chirping of morning birds rang out from outside, causing her to dash to the crack in the shutters where she would watch the garden before her.
Beautiful wings fluttered around the bushes enclosing the pond, with pretty feathers of blues and browns - some fluffy and small, some larger and sleek. They danced and played in the water, soaking up the fresh morning sun after the night rain.
It never failed to bring a smile to her face watching them, and she always kept an eye out for any recognisable features or markings to see if any of her friends would return.
The plants too would grow and change over the seasons; from winter’s cold wilt to summer’s colourful blooms, she would watch them eagerly in her lonely days, imagining their soft touch and pointed thorns if only she could escape.
But, it was only a dream.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Hibiki leapt away from the shutter and scrambled towards her blanket in the corner of the room.
Hearing the thick *kerchunk* of the padlock being removed, the doors slid open to reveal a man she knew well, as he would show up daily to give her food and take her to bathe.
Even so, she dreaded his visits, as he stared at her with such disdain that she never spoke or looked him in the eye, simply nodding her head as she prayed he would leave quickly.
“Here, food.”
She scoffed her food down quickly - it was bland, but filling. She didn’t dare raise a complaint and risk losing her daily meal, so she bowed as normal and handed the wooden tray back to him.
“Time to bathe.”
There weren’t any women on the shrine ground, so she was taken to the bath and locked inside while she cleaned herself, and after getting changed would be escorted back to her hut. Even as a young child, the priests of the shrine dared not touch her, and shrunk back whenever she drew near, causing her to grow independent very quickly.
Trudging back towards her personal prison, she crossed in front of the main grounds, only to have something catch her eye. She stopped for a moment, staring curiously at the figure standing there that she hadn’t seen before.
It was an elderly woman who had come to the shrine for prayer. She was a frequent visitor, but on today of all days, she happened to arrive right in the middle of the transition for Hibiki; the few moments of freedom she saw daily, though under the watchful eye of her detainer.
But it was not only her that saw the woman.
The man who was keeping track of her leapt in front in a panic, blocking her vision desperately, but drawing more attention to himself as he went.
“You must not look!”
Shouting suddenly, Hibiki stumbled backwards in fright, unaware of what was happening.
“Oh my! Is that a child?”
“You must not look! She cannot be looked upon!”
Hearing the commotion, other priests rushed out to see what was happening, and Hibiki was soon shepherded back into her cage without so much of a glimpse of the woman she had seen.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
She was dazed and confused, unable to comprehend just what she had just seen. She wasn’t even sure if she had just been protected from something dangerous, or if it had been the other way around.
This small happening would set forth the chain of events that began to see her known as the ‘Divine Maiden’, a child between an angel and man.
******
Days turned to months. Months turned to years.
Hibiki was 12, or so she figured from the passing seasons.
She didn’t know her true birthday, but the earliest memories she could recall were from a summer night, so she used that for reference.
These days, she’d grown tired of the garden outside. It had been a welcome change of pace from the dull indoors, but as the birds she recognised gradually disappeared and were replaced with new faces, she became more keenly aware of the impassable distance between them that pained her heart.
As for her newest hobby, she immersed herself in books that were tossed to her when they were too damaged to be kept. It was an odd variety - some were religious texts and scriptures, others were fanciful stories left by young visitors, but all of them entranced her with the simplest mention of unimaginable sceneries that lay beyond her walls.
Tales of ships capable of crossing vast oceans, and mountains that pierced the clouds in the sky.
Foreign lands with fascinating cultures, and muscle-bound heroes in tight spandex fighting crime.
…She had to admit it was sometimes difficult to distinguish reality from fiction, but as her library expanded it became easier, though she enjoyed any kind of reading regardless.
Hearing footsteps approaching, she rose to her feet and watched the door. Sure enough, the man had returned for her usual routine, same time as always - as far as she could tell. He had grown more lean and grey over the years as age had not treated him kindly, but his shifty eyes that looked at her with loathing had always remained the same.
“Worship day.”
She nodded, fully aware of what he meant.
From the day she had laid eyes on the woman on the shrine grounds, she had quickly become rumoured as a blessed girl that would bring good fortune.
How much was rumours spread from word of mouth, and how much had been fed by the priests to suit their deception wasn’t clear, but it wasn’t something that would change her situation in any case.
Weekly she would dress in beautiful red and white clothes after she finished bathing, and covering her face and horns with a silken veil, she would be led to the front of the shrine, only to stand silent and motionless as she listened to the voices of those who begged for her blessing.
Shunned and locked away, her only contact with outsiders was to be worshipped as if she had a grand power exclusively for their convenience.
“Please, help my son recover!”
“I beg your blessing, let my wife give birth without complications!
“Divine maiden! Oh, divine maiden!”
She was just a girl.
Lonely and mute, she who could not save herself, was supposed to save others?
She didn’t hate the people who came to beg for her help. Instead, she felt their pain. The desperation in their voices moved her lonesome heart, but she was powerless to answer their pleas, and with even the slightest movement or indication that she might reach out to them, she would be hurried away back to her room once more.
The crowd gradually dispersed as she was guided back, treading in line as always.
She knew.
This was her life, and this was all it would ever be.
******
One day, many seasons later.
Re-reading one of her favourite stories - a cheesy romance novel, filled with cliché thrills and sappy lines, she heard footsteps outside.
She had already eaten and bathed for the day, and the floors had been cleaned only the week before, so it was an unusual occurrence. She pricked her ears up to listen closely, gently closing her book as curiosity got the better of her.
‘These footsteps are different…’
They were light and fleeting, and she strained to listen closer, edging right up next to the doors. She heard them flit from left to right, and pictured a dance routine through the thick wooden doors, causing her to smile and wag her finger to the imaginary rhythm.
*thump*
In her excitement, her book had slipped off her knee and tumbled lightly to the floor. At a glance it didn’t seem damaged… but the footsteps from the other side had suddenly stopped, and a frightening thought filled her mind.
‘...Are they listening in on me right now?’
Hibiki held her breath and begged her heart to stop, just for a moment. She was almost touching the door, and was terrified that whatever was out there would somehow hear her thoughts.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing!?”
The sudden voice made her flinch, but hearing the conversation outside soothed her nerves as she snuck back over towards her blanket in the corner of the room, silently steadying her heart.
That event played on repeat all throughout the night, and she struggled to sleep as her interest grew. She wished she could see through the door, just to get a glimpse of what was happening on the other side - but alas, for years she’d scoured for a crack to peek through, and found nothing.
The next day, she was called for worship.
She was disappointed that there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, except perhaps her detainer seeming more agitated than usual.
The prayers of the people these days were even more heartbreaking and abundant. Voices circled her, begging for help finding lost children, brothers and wives, many missing and dearly longed for.
It was all too overwhelming.
Emotion welled up in her chest, as she trembled slightly, her eyes watery with tears. It had only been brief, but the intense sadness she could feel from those surrounding her had put cracks in her mask, and hearing that her ‘power’ would save them made her feel sick to her stomach.
The walls of her cage beckoned her back, as she slumped on her bed in her cosy confinement. She was exhausted. Both physically and emotionally, and she just wanted to sleep and forget all about it.
But something… something stopped her.
Deep within her chest - the long-forgotten desire to leave this all behind, and escape somewhere magical, seeing the sights of the world…
And fall in love.
She felt her heart thump in her chest and her drowsiness evaporated. Scrambling to find a book that would help her envision her fantasies, her ear twitched once more.
‘Is someone outside in the garden?’
The rustling of the plants was a daily occurrence, and they were regularly tended to. But right now, she could only dream of what incredible thing may have been beyond the wall, so she scrambled over to look outside.
And there he was.
He was tall, with dark hair like the night sky, and despite the worn clothes covering his body, he carried a quiet elegance with his movements. Steady and vigilant, he scanned the surroundings for something as her thoughts were fixed upon him, unable to look away.
Until their eyes met.
It was only a moment, but his gaze seemed to lay her bare, seeing through the thin mask she wore, putting to rest her worries and fears. Breathless, she ducked away out of sheer natural reaction, and as her heart pounded like a drum she clambered away from the shutter.
It was from that second on, her once drab life was set to change drastically.