"Three more days until the Full Moon."
A girl in her late teens with ankle-length white hair in a single braid looked out through the small ventilation hole with a blank stare.
Her ignorance of what would happen when the Full Moon arrived made the girl's shoulders stiffen when she saw the Moon, which was almost in a perfect circle.
"If that monstrous creature hadn't come and destroyed everything... Maybe I wouldn't be here... Father, Mother... Elder Brother." The girl raised her hand as if she was trying to reach something that was in her shadow. And unconsciously, tears flowed down her cheeks and seemed to sparkle when the moonlight illuminated her face.
*Tang* *Tang*
A pounding on the metal door broke the girl's daydream and was followed by a fierce adult male voice yelling at her.
"Hey, little girl! Here's today's meal... Hey...! Huff... are you daydreaming again?" The guard's voice sounded annoyed when his question went unanswered.
"..." Despite hearing the guard's words from outside the iron door, the girl chose to remain silent and didn't answer. The iron door only has a small hole at the bottom that serves as a food supply for the people inside. So people from outside won't see what she's doing.
"Soon, your happy day will come... You should be happy and cheerful. If all the girls were given a choice to be you, then they would definitely be scrambling to replace you." The guard pushed the food tray through the small hole under the metal door, and it slid down to touch the girl's feet.
She couldn't remember how many times she'd heard that nonsense from every guard who brought her food. She didn't know if this was a gift or a curse she had to face.
They always say she was lucky because she have become the Chosen One and will get happiness. However, neither of them told what would happen to the Chosen One when the Full Moon arrived.
If a few days ago, she hadn't heard the guards talk about the Hereditary Tradition of the Holy Kingdom... The tradition that would sacrifice a beautiful girl for the Evil Dragon would perhaps she have believed that nonsense and would feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
However, when she saw the state of her being locked up in a small dark room without any facilities, she believed that she would be sacrificed was right. "What kind of stupid human wants being sacrificed!?"
She still remembers that 2 months ago, she was still with her family in her small house, warm clothes, and abundant food. She would never even feel cold because, at her home, there was always a bonfire burning, and there was her mother, who always hugged her when the air got chilly.
But, sadly, those happy days didn't last long. The village Alicia lives in is suddenly attacked by a bloodthirsty creature hiding in the dark.
She was deeply traumatized when she saw her parents being killed by a vicious creature with glowing red eyes in front of her eyes. No one survived the incident that happened 2 months ago, except for Alicia and her elder brother.
She didn't know what had happened to her brother, but when she woke up from sleep, she had been rescued by a Priest in High-Level Bishop's Attire and took her straight to the Holy Kingdom.
Arriving at the Holy Kingdom, she was not treated as a victim of war. However, she was immediately taken into a small room. Her clothes changed to the loose and torn cloth used by prisoners. Alicia was imprisoned.
*Growl*
Again, a loud sound came out of her stomach. I don't know how many times her stomach kept ringing. But she didn't really care.
Since the full Moon will arrive, the number of servings of food given continues to decrease. And at this time, she was only given one meal a day.
Even though her stomach continued to growl, she didn't have the slightest intention of touching the food. The food on the tray was not luxury food given to a princess who was on a diet. The food given to her was only a glass of water and a piece of dry bread, which did not make her tasteful to eat. She would rather starve to death than be sacrificed.
Alicia just stared blankly at the incoming tray that was touching the handcuffs at her feet. The seventh tray of her adds to the collection of her trays that line the corner of her room.
Even though she hasn't eaten for a few days, she still looks beautiful without looking skinny at all. It was as if her body had adapted to the conditions without even eating or drinking.
"Supposedly, humans will die without food or drink for 4 days... But it's been almost 7 days. Why am I still alive?!" The loss of her parents and the severe trauma she experienced made her want to end her life, which had no purpose.
Alicia cried while looking back at the Moon while hugging her knees. It seems that there is no more zest for life in her eyes.
Just as she had calmed down and had stopped crying, someone unlocked the metal door.
*click*
An old priest in all-white clothes like those used by High-Level Bishops appeared behind the iron door with 3 guards. It was the old man who had brought her to this place. "Miss Alicia... How are you?"
"..." With a blank stare, Alicia continued to stare at the Moon and ignored the old priest's words.
The old priest was mesmerized when she saw the grace of Alicia's face, which glistened in the moonlight. "As I thought you were the Chosen One... Usually, the girls wouldn't be able to last more than 5 days with this food, and they would faint or even... Ahem... I mean, you're amazing. You didn't even touch your 7 servings of food. But, I remind you that you should keep eating so you don't get sick during the Holy Ceremony in 3 days. Gods will definitely be angry if you get sick." The priest coaxed Alicia gently like he was telling a toddler to eat.
"..." After learning the truth of the Sacred Ceremonies, Alicia still wouldn't speak to anyone, not even her savior. No, maybe the priest would be better called a kidnapper.
"Hey! Are you mute?!" Seeing Alicia's indifferent behavior when the priest spoke made one of the guards behind the priest angry and was about to hit her.
"Don't you dare touch that girl! She is a precious holy maiden... I won't forgive anyone who hurts her!" Only slightly high-pitched, Old Priest instantly stopped the movement of the furious guards.
The guard trembled after being directly yelled at by the priest. He immediately pulled his hand and stopped his intention. "I'm sorry, Sir Cassius." He bowed apologized to the old priest.
"Forgive us, Miss Alicia. I hope you will forgive my impudent bodyguard. Hope you don't get sick and stay beautiful like this until your big day arrives." The priest bowed apologetically and quickly left, leaving Alicia alone again in the dark night.
*Bam-Click*
Even though Alicia knew that she was saved by Sir Cassius but, in her mind, she didn't feel saved. Being locked up in a dark prison alone, without anyone with whom she could share the sadness that had overflowed in her heart, had shattered her mentality entirely.
She, who had given up on her future, finally fell asleep after she vented her sorrow by crying again.
___
The moonlight was once again covered by the clouds, and darkened the night inside the prison. But right at midnight, a shadow darker than night was seen sneaking through the forest.
"Captain, we lost him!" Several people in armor with white coats were running after something on the mountainside.
"Don't let him go any further! It's going to be difficult if we don't find him now, hurry up and keep looking!" Someone who was bigger looked annoyed and asked his subordinates to continue searching for their target in the dark forest.
"Well!" The warriors immediately dispersed in all different directions.
"I won't let you act on your own." The big man clenched his fist and determined to catch or kill his target.
As the cloud-covered moon began to shine again, the tiny shadow hiding behind the tree shadows immediately drifted away from the warriors and continued down the hill. The shadow continued to move until it reached an empty house that was right below the mountainside and immediately pierced through it.
___
The sun rose, and its light came in through the vent and illuminated Alicia's sleeping face.
She blocked the dazzling sunlight with her palm before opening her eyes. Her vision was a little blurry when she saw the sun was shining brightly. However, there is one thing that makes she feel interested when she finds something in her prison.
Alicia was curious about a strange object that was in her prison. She was interested and crawled towards the peculiar object, which had a round shape with jet black color. "What's that thing? A doll or a ball?"
She didn't hesitate to poke it with her finger to make sure, and she was surprised that it had a similar texture to cookie dough. "So soft!"
But she was even more excited when she started to dare to touch the object and roll it over. It turned out that the doll was not a ball.
"Let me guess, although the shape is strange, I'm sure that this doll is a bat doll." Alicia watched the doll for a long time and was sure that it looked like a flying mammal.
It had a dark black color, a pair of tiny bat wings, a round head with a couple of pointed ears back, and no legs.
Even though the doll didn't look like a bat at all in some parts, it looked like a monster, but to Alicia, it was a cute doll.
"The shape is unique and adorable! Who gave this thing!?" This is the first time Alicia has found happiness in prison by getting cute things. She immediately stood up and tiptoed to look out the vent to see who the reasonable person was who gave this adorable item. But there was only a forest, and there was no one to be seen outside.
Alicia was again focused on the doll that was the size of an adult's fist. Curious about the doll's long ears, which made the doll look adorable, she ventured to pull it. But what she didn't expect to happen, the bat doll's ears moved.
Alicia immediately pulled her hand in surprise. "Eh!? Is it my imagination, or is this doll moving on its own?"
She was unsure that the doll could move and wanted to confirm it again by pulling the doll's long ears again with her fingers.
"It's responding to my movements!! It's definitely not an ordinary doll!" This time not only did the doll's ears move, but now the doll's wings also moved. Alicia fell backward after being sure that the doll was moving by itself.
Although afraid, Alicia continued to watch the doll from afar until the bat doll opened his eyes and looked into Alicia's eyes.
"Are you a living being?" She immediately asked the living doll, who looked confused.
Alicia smiled when she saw the bat doll was silent and looked her in the eyes. The doll had yellow oval eyes, and now those eyes were her favorite part besides the ears.
After looking at her eyes for a long time, the doll looked around and sniffed. The doll immediately shifted its gaze to another part of the prison.
Alicia also looked back and saw that the bat doll was looking at her eating tray. "Ah, you must be starving. Would you like some bread?"
The bat doll nodded as if it understood her words.
"Ah! Do you understand what I'm saying? Wait a minute, let me get it." Alicia didn't expect that the doll could understand her words. Without waiting long, she immediately crawled to the row of her eating tray and took her ration of dry bread today.
"It doesn't taste delicious, but I hope you like it." Alicia didn't know whether a bat doll could eat bread or not, but since it was just a living doll, she didn't really mind it.
The two front legs that became wings received the dry bread that Alicia had split in half.
The doll ate so voraciously that it devoured the dry bread without any leftovers. But the creature looked still hungry and looked at the bread in Alicia's hands with a hopeful gaze.
"No need to worry. This is for you." Alicia, who really intended to starve to death, did not plan to eat anything 7 days ago and immediately gave the doll another piece of bread.
Even though the doll's body was small, the doll had already eaten a piece of dry bread which was even 4 times larger than the body.
But it looks like one dry bun is not enough to fill the little doll's stomach. It still looked like sniffing breadcrumbs and looking for more food.
"What?! That big bread is still not enough? Even though you're small, you have a huge appetite." Since Alicia still had 6 more crusty buns, she immediately took them and fed the doll.
She really enjoyed the little doll show eating in such a cute way. That little mouth kept gnawing at the bread that was bigger than it until there was nothing left.
After being complete, the doll immediately leaned against the wall while stroking her belly, which looked even more distended.
"You must be lost in the jungle back there, huh?" Even though she was imprisoned and about to be executed, she didn't lose her empathy. She felt genuine compassion for the little doll.
The bat doll immediately stood up and nodded. It also seemed to give some gestures with its forelegs that resembled wings, trying to explain to Alicia.
"Ahaha, you're so cute. But, I'm sorry, I don't understand sign language." Alicia giggled. Although she didn't understand what the bat doll was trying to explain, she was pleased to see the bat doll's behavior.
The bat doll looked disappointed and lowered her head. Alicia felt guilty for not understanding what the Puppet Bat was trying to explain.
Because it seemed necessary, she tried to find another way for the doll to tell a story. "Ah, how about writing?" Alicia immediately crawled and picked up a sharp stone that was in the corner of the prison.
The doll looked confused for a moment, then it took the stone Alicia gave it.
She noticed what the doll was writing on the prison floor. "WO...RI...URU...? I'm sorry, I don't understand your language. It doesn't seem like the alphabet I'm used to."
Alicia had a tough time reading the doll's writing, she didn't know if it was because of their language difference or the doll's writing was so bad that she couldn't read it.
The doll looked disappointed once again, but Alicia wouldn't let it look sad. She immediately changed the subject of their conversation.
"Ah, instead of discussing that. How about we introduce ourselves. My name is Alicia, it's written like this, and you can read it like that." She picked up the sharp stone that the bat doll had dropped and immediately wrote her name on the floor.
The bat doll immediately lifted its head and jumped up and down towards Alicia. After noticing her writing, the doll nodded in understanding.
"Then what's your name?" Even if she couldn't read the doll's writing, she might still be able to read it a little.
Alicia thought that the doll would write the name, but the doll shook its head.
"You don't have a name?" Alicia felt guilty for having asked a doll that had no name to write on. No wonder she can't read the writing. The doll was also not a human being taught how to write like her.
"How about I give you a name?" This is what Alicia likes best, giving each animal a name. She used to have several pets, and all of them she gave names. You could say she was a specialist in this field.
The doll's eyes widened, and its wings fluttered as if pleased with Alicia's decision.
"Hmm, you're black, you're small and look like a bat... Nightwings... no... no... that name isn't cute... Ah! How about Pebbles?" After paying attention to the doll's physical characteristics, Alicia finally found the right name for the cute doll.
The doll was jumping up and down like a ping pong ball. It seemed the doll was happy with the name Alica gave it.
"Ah, fortunately, you like it. This is the first time I've seen the creature I named immediately respond to the name I gave it. Okay, starting today, your name is Pebbles."
The fun days in hell began. Because Pebbles understood her words, Alicia taught Pebbles how to write the alphabet commonly used by humans.
Not only taught Pebbles how to write, but Alicia also played the game Noughts and Crosses. She really enjoyed her company with Pebbles, who was fun to play with like her old pet.
However, one thing distinguishes Pebbles from her pets: Pebbles are not warm at all. Its body was cold as it had no body temperature.
But other than that, she was happy. Pebbles really likes to play with her braided hair and also wants to go up to her head. For 3 days, she spent time with Pebbles play. At least the days before the full moon arrived, she felt alive again, and there was no anxiety.
Until the fateful night arrived, the Moon was already in its perfect phase. The footsteps of the guards began to be heard even from inside the prison.
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