My Not-So-Secret Life

Chapter 6: A Star is Born pt2

1 year later

Erik's P.O.V- It had been a year since we discovered my niece's natural talent for ballet. At four, she'd mastered the entire ballet of "Swan Lake" and now at five she's so far learned half of "The Nutcracker". Her gift is tremendous and the joy it brings her is infectious to all those who watch her dance. Some outsiders to my opera house and to my family whisper that it is far too much strain and too high of expectations for the child, but it is not true.

I watched from my normal seat in box 5 as my little star finished the dance of the Sugarplum Fairies, her favorite scene. She truly had the drive for dancing, but I would expect nothing less from a child bonded with water. Such fluid and graceful motions. The music ended and loud applause followed. "Brava, my tiny star!" I spoke in her mind. She looked up at box 5, which would appear empty to anyone else, and smiled. "Take a break, my little protégé. You have earned it." Taking my words to heart, she started running around the opera house to do whatever she pleased.

*Time skip*

I retreated to my quarters hidden deep beneath the opera house to work on a new opera I was composing. I had been working for an hour now when I heard music playing from above. It was a Russian song called "Lullaby" by Polina Gagarina, beautiful and, if sung right, immensely powerful and moving. I stopped and listen for a while. The orchestra played loudly, but no one was singing, so I assumed they were playing for Julia or just playing the song as a warmup.I went back to my work. I hoped to finish this score by today, and I was quite proud of it. After writing for five minutes, I heard a soft voice, singing from above. I paused and strained my ears to listen, but the voice was very faint, so I left my quarters and returned to the stage above. The closer I got, the louder the little voice grew until I realized it was my niece singing. I paused. I was in awe at what was happening before me, and I was not the only one. Our leading soprano, Juliet, and our chorus girls stood behind the large curtains, frozen and awestruck.

"How can that powerful of a voice come from such a small child? Julia is only 5, and she can hold all those notes!" I pondered to myself. I have heard of children going on some sort of televised talent show and singing with remarkable skill, but this was something else! A five-year-old singing a Russian song that she has only heard once with perfection! That is something out of this world. If anyone had the nerve to doubt my niece's talent before, they would certainly regret it now! I watched as she sat on the floor playing with her cat, her little throat hardly strained itself to hold long notes and deliver high pitches. "It's like she's hardly trying!"All too soon, the song ended and was met with total silence. I guess Julia didn't realize she was being watched, save for the orchestra, because she continued playing with her little pet as if nothing happened. No one moved. No one spoke. No one even applauded, and I could not bring myself to either. I was amazed. I, like all the others who stopped to listen, quietly slipped away from the stage. Reaching my room, I halted when I realized I had a visitor. A young man with golden hair, a playful smile, and sparkling teeth stood before me. He held a lyre in his hand. The Greek God Apollo, god of music, song, etc.

"You heard her too?" he asked me. I nodded. "It was the most remarkable thing I've ever seen, much less heard." I had not heard a voice so talented since my beloved Christine was alive all those years ago. Apollo's smile became wider, his eyes more excited, sparkling as brightly as his teeth. "You know what this means, yes? She no longer belongs to you alone." I glared at him. "She is my niece, you cannot have her, nor would I trust her to you" I spat venomously at him. His smile did not falter, but I saw his eyes darken. He knew what I had referred to."She is a Goddess," "She is a child!" I interrupted. He rolled his eyes, "Not forever, once she turns 13, she'll become a Goddess and start her duties. And as the God of music, I have every right to teach her. She will learn everything from me and the Muses." He spoke the truth, but that did not mean I would give up my little rose that easily. I opened my mouth to protest, but the God held his hand up. "I don't wish to take her from you. I would never. I love the little girl just as much as you do, but as one of her fellow deities, I have a right to her. Perhaps we can compromise?" he asked me.

I pondered his words silently. I knew she would spend a lot of time on Olympus, and with her newfound talent, she would no doubt attract the attention of the Muses and Apollo. Who would I be to deny her such an honored opportunity? "Very well then, Apollo. I shall allow you and the Muses to teach her all you know, but you will leave the opera to me, I will no one else to teach her my music." He smiled and bowed slightly to me. "I shall keep my word, as you will no doubt keep yours." He glowed as bright as the sun, and I looked away. I turned back; he was gone.

I sat in my chair and sighed, picking up a picture of Julia. I was playing the piano for her while she giggled inside her crib. She was only a year old. "My little rose, it has only been a year since I realized you would be a star one day. But I never imagined just how brightly you would glow" I glanced up at a full-size portrait of Christine. A candle hand been burning underneath it, but it had gone out. I laughed softly to myself, noting the irony. "Yes, even more brightly than you ever did, my love."