Chapter 1

Anthy Himemiya had never been to Chicago before she stepped the plane at the O'Hare International Airport. She had been to America, sure, one or two centuries ago, but that had been in the Southeast, among cotton plantations and hard stares. 21st Century Chicago was markedly different from that. No fields to be seen, only large buildings and skyscrapers, and the stares, while equal in number, were less hard and more…

Well, Anthy wouldn't dwell on that. She pulled her chic green jacket tighter and turned up the heat in her shiny rental car. It was November, and here in the middle of North America the air was chilled as though in a freezer, and very windy to boot. The witch supposed she should have expected it. Chicago was, according to the cute little tourist website she had looked on, the Windy City. Still, another notch up on the temperature dial wouldn't hurt anyone. It had never been cold in Ohtori, not really. Or, maybe it had, and she had just never noticed (which was very possible). Either way, she wasn't prepared for this, but she would make do.

She drove with solemn caution into the city proper, vigilantly watching the other cars for signs of reckless behavior while also struggling to remember the directions to her hotel. Her hands squeezed the steering wheel tightly, and her knuckles turned a strange pasty color with the force of her grip. She didn't like being downtown. It was the same in every city, overflowing with people and noises, strange smells and colors and shapes. The textures of steel and concrete; she had surely felt them before, but never with such… intensity. She never got used to it, either, and she always felt such relief when she left to search elsewhere.

Anthy forced herself to take a few deep breaths and relax her hands. They were starting to hurt, and she knew from experience that if she didn't get hold of herself then she would have a panic attack. With considerable will power and self control, learned over centuries, she beat back her negative thoughts. She couldn't break down here, not while she was driving at least. Waiting at a slow traffic light, she shut her eyes and waited for her heart rate to return to normal. A peep came from her purse, and then ChuChu appeared. He jumped onto her shoulder and pressed his small paws against her neck, cheeping soothingly.

"I'll be alright, ChuChu," she said with a sigh. "Better when we get to the hotel."

Which they did, and in one piece too. Anthy parked and turned off the car, ready at once to hand the keys to the valet who opened her door. He gave her the instructions on checking in and getting her car back, and she stumbled through her thank you's in a way that made him smile, as though he found her cute. When she could, she escaped inside. Skies, she needed to be alone where she could breathe easy and think. There really were far too many people here.

The lobby was bright and clean, but she had trouble appreciating its artful mix of historic and modern style. She wrung the strap of her purse nervously as she struggled to work up the courage to go to the front desk. ChuChu was safely hidden from sight. He couldn't comfort her here. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself with some effort, and walked. Information and money were exchanged for a key, and then she escaped to the elevator and eventually to her room. Inside, she leaned back against the door and shut her eyes. She rubbed her temples and spent a minute just breathing. It fixed the most immediate problem, but she knew she would need time before she could muster the energy to leave again.

With a sigh, she settled on the bed, placing her singular suitcase next to her. ChuChu hopped into her lap, and she petted his head while cursing herself internally. In nine years almost nothing had changed. When she had left Ohtori and her brother behind, changing her life so radically, she had thought (foolishly) that she could change anything and everything else she wanted with just as much ease. However, reality served a quick and effective slap in the face that dispelled this optimism. Fear and anxiety held like a vice around her heart and mind, leaving her crippled and thoroughly underequipped to deal with modern society.

It was a most unfair disability. When she was around one person or a small group of people, Anthy could be as poised and charming as she had always been, but any number of people larger than twelve and she could no longer keep her cool, collected demeanor. Her thoughts would become erratic and irrational, her heart rate would increase, and she would start to sweat. If she didn't get away, she would often begin to tremble and fidget. Skies forbid she had to talk to someone, because then she either couldn't work up the nerve or she stammered her way awkwardly through the conversation, making a complete fool of herself. Frankly, it was disgusting, and she was disgusted with herself for still being that way nine years later.

Maybe she should see someone about it. Apparently, there were people in the real world called psychologists, and supposedly they helped other people overcome problems like hers. Anthy was, of course, wary of anyone who claimed wanting to "help" other people, but still… it might be worth some research in the future.

Now though, there was no time for such things. She had come to Chicago for a reason, the same reason she had traveled to every other city in the world. To find Utena. Yes, even after nine years of diligent, desperate searching she still had not found her wayward hero. It was infuriating. She knew that Utena was alive somewhere. Her certainty about this was unshakeable. The "where" was the still unsolved problem. The normal methods Anthy would have used to find Utena had proven useless. Scrying and divination were the first things she had tried and they had given her nothing at all. She had gathered all of Utena's earthly possessions and had tried with each of them to feel her way to her beloved through the bond they shared. Still nothing. Three years were wasted on these ventures, and, feeling outmatched and humiliated by reality, Anthy resigned herself to the manual method of scouring the world in person. Thank the skies, earth, and oceans that some of her powers still worked, giving her access to unlimited funds and means of transport. Otherwise, she never would have made it out of Asia.

Meticulously, she searched the seemingly innumerable cities in the seemingly innumerable nations of the modern world, getting information by any means necessary. She bribed policemen, hired private investigators, and wound her way through the seedy underbelly of civilized society on more occasions than she could count. She spoke to government officials and criminals alike, racking up favors and maybe even earning something of a name for herself to be whispered among elites and undesirables of all kinds. It's possible she helped smuggle drugs across the border once or twice. It's possible that she helped a minor politician run his competitors out of the race by either finding or planting evidence of foul play. It's also possible that she became complicit in several acts of espionage, and almost single-handedly brought about the recent implosion of the communist regime of North Korea. She didn't think she could be blamed for that last one though when they clearly shot first when she just wanted to talk to them.

All of this in the name of information, in the name of her quest. It had all proved worthless until just recently. 8 years into her exhausting and exhaustive hunt, she remembered one final magical procedure that might help her. Abruptly filled with renewed vigor, she briefly changed course and set out for India. Once upon a time, when human beings were struggling to build the most basic of belief systems and philosophies to understand the cosmos, the primitive peoples of undivided South Asia revered a mountain deep in the jungle. This mountain had several caves in it, and the top most cave, set near the peak of the mountain, contained something of unprecedented power and importance. A kind of divination that had long since been forgotten by humanity, but surely still existed in that sacred space. Anthy went there, parsing out hidden scraps of knowledge about its location and how to get inside. It was the most difficult job she had undertaken thus far, for the legends of the mountain were so old and obscure these days that even the most obsessed scholars knew nothing or almost nothing about it. It took a full year to find it. Consequentially, it was the longest she had ever stayed in one place since leaving Ohtori.

Anthy remembered the extensive preparation process, which involved three weeks religious devotion to meditation and ritual, the forging of a ceremonial knife, and then finally the five day trek on foot through the jungle and up the mountain.

She remembered finally reaching the cave and being struck by a sudden and severe sense of nostalgia and grief. The path up the entrance was flanked by a series of worn standing stones. If you were to peel back the moss and vines and scrub away the dirt, you might be able to see lines in the stones, the eroded details of an intricate series of carvings meant to protect and provide courage and wisdom to all who sought answers within the temple beyond. Anthy had felt a knot in her throat and an uncomfortable burning in her eyes. She remembered when those carvings were new.

Pushing past it, however, she had continued, entering the impenetrable darkness of the ancient grotto. She had not been afraid. A human almost certainly would be when they felt the weight of that pregnant blackness on their shoulders. Anthy, however, walked forward with confidence, and eventually, she found light. Outside the cave, it was the middle of the night, but the moon was at its zenith, illuminating the space within the mountain via the strange, naturally made hole in the summit.

In the center of the cavern was a large stone bowl set low to the ground. It was empty and plain, yet it emanated a pulsing energy that left Anthy's skin tingling. Here was a thing even older than she, though not by much. As such, it was operated and protected by Old Magic, the energy of the primordial cosmos that lower beings such as humans were only just beginning to glimpse. She knelt to pay her respects.

A sound of chains rattling made her look up, her shoulders straightening and her muscles tensing. From one of the dark corners emerged a chimera of a creature. Its legs were those of a man's, its arms were the wings was a wyvern, its chest was covered in white fur and tiger stripes, and its neck and head were that of a great serpent. The chains Anthy had heard were wrapped around its human legs. The metal surely had a name once upon a time, but she couldn't recall it.

This creature was the Guardian of this place, as immortal and long-lived as she. That it was chained meant that it hadn't volunteered to be the Guardian, but rather was forced to take the job due to the mandate of a higher power. She pitied it, but was careful not to show that pity on her face.

It appraised her with glowing yellow eyes, forked tongue flicking out. Then it spoke. "You have not prepared a sacrifice. You have no business here."

Silently, Anthy retrieved the ceremonial knife from the sheath that hung around her waist. "I have what it is required," she responded coolly.

The Guardian regarded her with open curiosity. Its tongue flicked out again. "Ah, I see. Very Well. You may ask your question." Job performed, it retreated back into its corner. Left in peace at last, Anthy turned her attention back to the task at hand. She pulled out a small lighter too and lit it under the knife in her other hand. She murmured an incantation in a language lost to time, repeating it over and over until the blade was the right temperature, hot but not enough to cauterize a wound. That was tricky, but she'd practiced plenty of times of the past month.

She pocketed the lighter and, heated blade in hand, slashed her own wrist, unwilling to waste any more time. No need for a sacrifice when you were skilled at being one already. She held her arm over the bowl and repeated the incantation again, the volume of her voice rising gradually with the level of blood in the bowl, until it was nearly full and she was shouting with all her might.

She knew that it was finished when the color in the stone changed. That is to say, it lost all color entirely and became as clear as water. Anthy smiled proudly. The ritual had gone exactly as planned, and now she could get what had come for.

She spoke, and as she spoke, she thought about Utena, and all the things that had happened between them. Battles won and lost, whispered conversations at night in adjoining beds, hands and bodies touching again and again (never forceful, always sweet), blood and pain, tears and confessions, laughter and delight, betrayal, horror, shock, and ultimately, salvation. So many things she had never known, or hadn't experienced in longer than memory. All of these memories she replayed in her mind, pushing all of them into her words. She spoke. "Where is Utena Tenjou, Calyx concealing the essence of Heaven above, Duelist, Hero, Lover, Beloved, Blade of Reckoning, Champion against Temptation, Fire of the Revolution, and Keeper of my Heart?"

Silence followed her query. Anthy waited. Silence prevailed. Still she waited, and her patience paid off. Abruptly, the surface of the once crimson pool rippled and began to swirl. Anthy peered into it expectantly. After a minute or two, an image besides that of her face formed in the reflection. It took several seconds to fully coalesce.

When it did, Anthy saw fire. She recoiled in surprise, almost falling over. Righting herself, she looked at it again. Still fire, lots of it in fact, but now that the shock had passed, she could see other things as well. Buildings, streets flooded with people and fire trucks. Yes, that made sense. A building was on fire, a place called Willem and Hobbes, Attorneys at Law. She peered closer and saw a street sign in English and a building in the distance taller than any she had seen before, taller than the Akio's tower by a long stretch. The fire was getting bigger, eclipsing everything else in view. Anthy scrambled to find any other significant details. Windows. People's jackets. The red of the nearest fire engine. And then, nothing. The image faded away as quickly as it had appeared, and then the bowl was empty and spotlessly clean. There was nothing left but the light of the moon above.

Anthy sighed. She shouldn't feel disappointed. Really this was a magnificent triumph, especially compared to all her other efforts. She had a place, names to research, and a distinct marker to guide her steps. She just… wished that she could have caught even a single glimpse of Utena herself. One couldn't have everything, she supposed. Not here in the real world.

Still, this was a success. This was victory. Anthy left the sacred cave and descended the mountain feeling that victory every step of the way. After a year of atrophy, her search could continue with renewed vigor, and surely would be ending soon.

Back in the present, Anthy smiled as she remembered that feeling. She felt much better now. She had discovered in her new freedom that happy memories didn't hurt to think about anymore. It was amazing what a little bit of hope could do to change a person's outlook on their life. And here in this city, she had a lot of hope. Upon her return to civilization from the hidden places of the Old World, she had immediately found the most stable internet connection and searched. The law firm she had seen and the street name turned up the name, Chicago. A little more research and she found that unimaginably tall building, the Sears Tower. Indeed, Akio would be quite envious of this place if he ever saw it. Discarding any and all notions of patience she had had a week before, she had rushed to book the next flight to the U.S.

Looking back, she pitied the poor man or woman who dared try to figure out her financial records or answer the question of why she could keep swiping her credit card without paying a single bill for it. Oh well. She'd mail them a cake one day.

ChuChu started to make noise in her lap. He jumped up and down, chirping expectantly at her. "You just had a snack on the plane," she told him firmly. He wouldn't budge. Instead, he became more insistent, demanding that they find a place to eat, preferably one with corned beef. Anthy rolled her eyes. "You know, you've gained a lot of weight since we went to Europe," she groused even as she got up. His tail flicked cheekily in response.

Anthy went to the mirror and fixed her hair and jacket, maybe for longer than necessary, but eventually she was satisfied and she grabbed her purse, her pet, and her room key before heading out the door.

The lobby was still crowded, but with clenched fists and a tense jaw she strode to the rotating glass doors. The outside was just as loud and overbearing as she had left it, but she had work to do. She'd get something to eat for ChuChu and head to the Hall of Records for a day of tedious but hopefully fruitful research. Depending on what she found, she would divide her time efficiently to cover as much ground as possible. ChuChu would object, mostly because her packed schedules rarely left time for eating, but he would go along with it for his friend, as always.

The Hall of Records, and if not that then the nearest internet café, then most likely to the post office, then another post office, or possibly a university. Utena wouldn't be in college, but maybe graduate school? Of course, Utena had never been the best or the smartest person at Ohtori, far from it in fact, but reality changed people, didn't it? Thinking about that made her sad, and she was so distracted by this sadness that she was oblivious to the woman in the leather jacket with flowing pink hair until she grabbed Anthy's arm. The witch was so on edge that she acted purely on defensive instinct, whipping out her small bottle of pepper spray and letting it loose right in the other woman's face.

"FUCKING SHIT!" Anthy saw whirls of pink and black as Utena Tenjou reeled away from her, holding her hands to her eyes, and cursing at the top of her lungs. "Fuckie fuck FUCK! OOOWWWW!"

The bottle of spray hit the ground along with Anthy's jaw. She stood there stunned and speechless, her mouth open like a fish's. It took several eternal seconds of watching the most important person of her life flail around and cuss before she could come up with something better to do than just stand there frozen. "U-Utena?" She asked, forcing her lips at last to form coherent sounds.

"Ugghh, Anthy, what the hell?! That was fucking PEPPER SPRAY, God in Heaven!" Utena was bent over herself, still clutching at her face and crying out. Passerbys were watching the whole spectacle with interest.

"I-I'm sorry, s-s-so sorry, Utena-sama!" Anthy found she could move, and she put her arms around Utena's hunched form and hurriedly escorted her off the sidewalk and into a back lot safe from prying eyes. With shaking hands, she rubbed the other woman's back in a silly attempt to soothe her, all while listening to the soft, vehement oaths coming out of Utena's mouth in sets of four or five at a time. "I don't know what you need, I'm sorry, Utena-sama!"

"It's okay, it'll be okay, just get me to a sink or a hose or something!" Utena said, wiping away the tracks from the tears streaming down her face. "The sandwich shop, Gilardi's, get me to the backdoor. They know me, they'll let us in."

"Where is it?" Anthy asked, helping Utena straighten up.

Utena started to point but then thought better of it. "It's next door," she said instead. Sure enough, after some quick scanning Anthy found the backdoor, and was able to haul Utena over and inside the restaurant.

The witch had imagined what their reunion would be like countless times, in countless different ways. But this was not one of them. As she watched Utena wash her eyes out with water and dish soap, she leaned against a wall and let the weight of it all come down on her shoulders. ChuChu leapt out of her purse to watch like some thoroughly entertained spectator, while his friend felt a headache coming on.

A shining reunion indeed.