AN: I think this is the first time I'm posting something for Vocaloid under Huinari instead of Ten-Faced so old readers who got an alert from someone you didn't recognize, that is why.

Written because I wanted a fantasy story for Vocaloid with all my OTPs. Enjoy.

As all living beings did, even the gods died. They died of old age, of heartbreak, and of inflicted wounds. And made up of divinity and power and the seven elements of light, darkness, fire, water, earth, wind and lightning as they were, when they died they left behind not bodies but traces that affected the nature and mortals where they fell.

Where the gods of animals died bleeding out there were born the shifters, stronger and sharper in senses compared to mortal humans. Where the goddess of fairies and forests slept for years there sprouted the World Trees that birthed elves from its fruit.

Where the goddess of muses and the arts wept as she held her dying lover there remained a promise to set wrongs right once more – no matter how long it took, no matter how many were drawn into the resolution and hurt from the unkind path of fate.

The first of that promise was the first Diva, the first incarnate of the goddess, and the Paean, the spirit that rose from the spring where the goddess had wept over her lover's blood, and together they purified the demon-infested lands around the small pool of water and found a kingdom, and they called it –

Hamartia.

And so over the span of a century and several decades eleven more Divas would find their Paeans, but only the first was able to keep the forgotten oath between the parted lovers.

The Diva's Paean

Rin was a fairly normal person.

She said 'fairly', of course, understanding that the concept of normal could be vastly different depending on the person, but as far as Rin was concerned, she could fit under the broad umbrella of the term without much difficulty. She was ethnically Hamartian and born in the kingdom, had nothing about her appearance that really made her stand out from a crowd of people, and did not have any particular talents or ambitions that drew attention to her.

She was a Chorister, yes, but that was nothing special. A lot of girls with the potential were – and that was all they were, before they failed their Ceremony of Awakening when they were sixteen or seventeen and became regular citizens.

That, Rin had always assumed since her early realization that the world was not a very kind place and, in the end, she would always have to stand alone, always believed since the day she had given up on dreaming of Divas and Paeans and becoming heroes, would be her path.

Some would have argued against her self-assessment of being normal, calling her too fatalistic to be normal. Rin thought she was just a little more placid and realistic than fatalistic. She wasn't much of a believer in fate, just in decision making and the consequences that followed, be it good or bad decisions and good or bad consequences. It wasn't her fault that from a young age she had been able to get a good, hard look at her situation, and mature early to plan for herself.

Be a Chorister, become educated. Fail the Ceremony of Awakening, become a regular citizen. Find a job – maybe one to do with the Temples – and live. Continue to do so until she died, either of old age, a demon attack, or some other unforeseen circumstances, though old age was the most preferred option. Painless old age, at that.

She had even narrowed down her talents and career options, too. Entering the Tower of Alexandria was out, because she barely had any Mana in her for use, and the formulas, circles, runes and incantations to aid with casting magic had always been too difficult for her to naturally understand in the way it was required. Becoming a knight was also out of the question – Divas aside the standards for a female knight to meet weren't worth the return and threatened her plan of living in relative safety and peace. That, and she didn't have the physical strength for it, let alone a talent with Aura manipulation.

She had a bit of the Force, and the Temples always accepted anyone who could pull up the divine light, but that was a last-resort, more for down the line when she was older.

Other than that, Rin was also smart and quick-witted, good at critical thinking. She was no genius with a photographic memory or revolutionizing ideas, but she was smarter than average.

Perhaps she would apply for a job at the library as a secretary, or as an educator of future Choristers like the teachers that had taught her. She was good at paperwork, her reading comprehension was excellent, and she had great concentration skills. Less so on the social aspect, but that could be pulled up to a polite enough public front if she needed it. Customer service wouldn't be a focus or a priority, but if she had to, she could. There was also becoming a governess for the young children of rich merchant families. She liked children fine and got along with them well enough. It would depend on the demand for the job.

Whichever one paid well and was in her range of things she could do, both skills-wise and in terms of her comfort zone.

When Rin explained her plans to a Mentor a week before the Ceremony would start, the woman burst out laughing.

"That," Cul gasped out between wheezes, "is beautiful."

"You have an odd sense of beauty," replied Rin. She liked her own plans for the future fine and believed that her self-assessment was objectively on-spot, but even she didn't think it was beautiful.

There was nothing particularly beautiful about it at all.

Of course, she was also aware that Mentor Cul was a bit of an odd one with the weirdest sense of humor, so perhaps something had gotten to her funny bone and was making her act this way again. And she did also have an odd sense of beauty, if the way she had decorated her small office was indication enough. Looking at the room, filled with all sorts of colourful knickknacks that assaulted the visual senses, one would never guess or believe that the owner of the room was once a knight of relative renown.

Cul burst out laughing again, but luckily it did not last as long this time.

"What are you going to do if you don't become a Mentor?" the redhead asked once she had stopped cackling. She dug with one hand in the drawer of her desk and pulled out a small clay jar, filled with candied ginseng. Rin refused politely – she wasn't a fan, especially of the odd herbal smell – before replying.

"Find a job elsewhere in the city," Rin said. The capital was a little safer than towns, in part because the palace grounds were there. Maximum security for royals and all. If possible, she wanted to stay near the place of maximum safety in Hamartia.

It would be competitive, though, because other people thought like she did and wanted to stay as safe as possible, and in Hamartia, Rakia was arguably the safest place to be for regular citizens with no royal or noble blood in their veins. She did consider some of the alternative cities that were considered regularly safe. In the worst-case scenario, she could move. Former Choristers made for good clerks, if nothing else, thanks to their education, and her honourable discharge would be a credential in itself.

Cul took an interest and began tossing questions about different scenarios. Rin thought about it and answered according to her plan. She didn't need much time to answer – she had been working on her future goals for years now, knew it like the back of her hand.

"One last thing," Cul said as she glanced out the window towards the clock tower, checking how much time they had spent discussing Rin's plans for the future. "What are you going to do if you're chosen as a Diva?"

That one did leave her a bit stumped. Rin's plans of normality did not include the what-if scenario for the case of her becoming a Diva simply because it was too unrealistic.

Rin had to think about this one for a little longer. Her entire plans started with the premise that she was not chosen, that she would fail as had all other Choristers for the past near-fifty years.

It was easy to see what happened, even hypothetically, when the entire cause was removed.

"I'd have to throw out my plans and make new ones," she said at last. The thought of having to do so was a little annoying.

Cul smirked. "Any idea on what those would be?" she prodded.

Rin, tired of the charade, was tempted to answer disrespectfully but refrained. It wouldn't do to be dishonourably discharged as a Chorister when she was so close, and for the stupidest reason of sassing her counselling Mentor.

"Not really," she answered honestly.

The answer was too normal for Cul to be interested in, it seemed, because the redhead didn't laugh again.

"Alright," said the Mentor with a loud clap of her hands. "I guess we're done here, then."

Rin rose from her seat. "Thank you," she said, mostly out of good manners.

Cul winked at her as she extended a hand to shake. Rin took it, and felt the strong, calloused grip nearly crush her fingers. This time she did send a bit of a resentful look towards the Mentor who taught the Choristers how to fight, but was ignored magnificently.

"Good luck with your Ceremony of Awakening, Rin," she said instead.

Rin nodded, even as she thought that the only good luck she needed was the small amount necessary to not make a stupid mistake during the ceremony. Like tripping over her clothes, or twisting an ankle, or falling in the cavern when she and the other Choristers descended into the darkness to sing.

"Thank you," she said again. "Have a good day."