In a church, as the rain poured down and drummed on the roof in a cheerless song, a little girl was crying. She was pretty, with dark skin and hair and green eyes flooded with tears, dressed in a tattered and worn red dress-her hands looked like they were bleeding, but only for an instant as lightning without thunder lit the stained glass window overhead. As the flash of color came, she looked like she was older, dressed in a bridal gown, her hair pinned up delicately, a sword protruding from her chest, but only for an instant.
The floor was littered with shards of metal and broken blades, sword hilts, and a rose or two; the roses had fallen from one of the two coffins that lay in the center of the room, one open and the other closed. A light trail of blood led from the open coffin to where the little girl sat, the puddle on the floor mixed with her tears.
"Onii-sama…" she moaned pitifully, curling up into a ball on the floor. A vision of a beautiful young prince with silver hair flitted through her mind for a moment. A beautiful man, with kind eyes like a demon. Unbearable heat, the planetarium whirling the stars into a sickening diamond-studded blur-
"Princess, why are you crying?" a soft voice called out, laced with concern.
The little girl looked up, still sniffling. Standing nearby was an oddly dressed little girl, her boyish clothes and pink hair drenched with rainwater, a ball under her arm, an inquisitive expression on her face.
"Princess?" the crying one whispered hoarsely, disbelievingly.
A girl with a sword, a kind smile, a white rose, an endless stairway, promises and declarations-
"Are you alright? Oh…" the girl looked away from her to the closed coffin and back again, her voice taking on a tone of pity.
No, don't pity me. Please don't.
"Did you…know them?" She asked quietly, crouching down to look her counterpart in the eye.
She nodded, slowly.
Them?
She turned to look at the open coffin, finding its inhabitant was a woman with the same bronze skin and violet hair as herself; it was rolled up tightly. She wore eyeglasses and a blood red dress.
The pink-haired girl looked at the corpse woman with her, her brow furrowed thoughtfully as she tried to find the right words.
She finally chose to forgo them, at least for now.
Standing, she extended a hand towards the broken child on the floor, and as she took it the lightning flashed again, lighting up the window once more. The one standing looked like a princely woman in a black jacket, a white rose on her lapel, and the girl on the floor looked like a princess-no, a witch, with flowing mauve hair and green eyes that shone with ancient knowledge; but only for an instant.
"Let's start again, I guess. My name's Utena-what's yours?"
Someday, surely…
"Anthy…I'm Anthy."
We'll shine together.
The thunder rolled, and the corpse woman smiled for the last time.
Wow, I don't know what exactly this is, but I hope it's acceptable. Reviews are greatly appreciated, thanks!