Holy Blood

Right before the curtain opens, a rare, muffled bell rings from afar.

A wild forest wilderness. A small bright lake with a smooth, almost flat surface. On the right bank, overgrown with reeds, a clearing stretches out; beyond it begins a dark thicket. Low in the sky hangs a waning moon, casting the lake and the clearing with a weak, slightly reddish light.

Slowly, hand in hand, a circle of pale, cloudy, naked mermaids moves across the clearing. Their song is just as slow and steady—without sadness. It drowns out the bell that rings continuously, but the moment the mermaids fall silent, the ringing becomes much clearer.

Not all of them dance: several older mermaids sit at the edge of the water, dipping their legs into the lake; others slip through the reeds…