HtH93 – The Belvedere That Overlooks Rosecresent Lake
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Hikari wanders about a place that overlooks the lake.
The girl did not return home immediately.
Instead, she let her heart guide her path forwards.
She took a path that guided her up a sloped path surrounded by greenery. There, at the top of the slope, lies the place she was looking for.
It is a Belvedere, a small structure built atop the slope. It overlooks the lake, such that the house, the miko shrine, and the lighthouse far away are in view. White granite pillars rise up around a circular pool in the middle, pine and ferns growing in accompaniment to the open structure.
In the middle of the two pillars facing away from the lake, a curtain of water streams down an arched doorway, cascading down the stair-like slope that leads into the pool. Flowers bloom in white, purple and pinks around the pool, their fragrance dipping into the clear water.
For the first time in a long time, the girl was alone with her thoughts.
Just her, and the clear, running water.
Hikari peers into the clear water from poolside.
Under the late red afternoon sky, she asks her reflection a question that had been circling around in her mind,
"Why... am I here?"
Her reflection does not respond. It simply echoes her words back to her. Here, there are no witnesses, save for the fauna and sound of rolling water. The girl and her reflection look into each other's identical blue eyes; but still the reflection does not answer. Hikari was not asking what mysterious force brought her here, she had been here before with her mentor before. She was asking a more fundamental question.
What is her place in this house?
The simple answer is that she is Hikari Eiko, a part of 'The Echoes' at Hell's Theatre. She is the 'Neon Diva', passionate, alive, and deeply in tune with the performance arts. She cares deeply for the house, her dramaturg, and her colleagues who live with her.
But is this the true her, or simply the reflection of how the world sees her?
A small ripple breaks up her reflection in the pool, and Hikari is alone with her thoughts once again. She traces her hand amongst the many flowers that grow in the bushels around the pool. What of herself? Outside the theatre house, there might be countless 'like her', endlessly duplicated so as to be indistinguishable from each other. Where is the place for Hikari Eiko when the outside world comes knocking?
But... the flowers lightly dyed purple are not all the same.
It was difficult to distinguish at a glance, yes, but there are indeed minute differences. The one here has lost a petal to the wind; this one has grown to face ever so homeward; while another grows vibrant and upwards, its petals facing towards the sky like raised hands.
Here in a place far away from other's eyes, they are able to grow to be their most authentic selves.
Perhaps… that was part of it. No other would be able to recall her mentor leaping up in joy when the lake's reverse-flow ran up the slope and formed the waterfall curtain at this place. She remembers watching from the park across the lake when a black carriage pulled away, and her dramaturg practically leaped off the steps in front of the house in similar joy. Perhaps there was something she appreciated in those little moments of unbridled, overflowing joy. They were one-of-a-kind moments that could not be replicated.
A small hum passes Hikari's lips. The light humming settles into a tune originally played from a lyre.
Her first pass was unsteady, and very unlike the soulful melody she had heard earlier in the day.
And yet, she still sings.
The girl sings from her heart, to the night sky, to no one in particular.
She sings, because at that moment...
... it felt true to her.
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
