Any similarities to other RGU fic was unintentional. Please keep in mind that the way Anthy thinks about herself does not reflect what I think about her. I do not own Revolutionary Girl Utena or any of these characters.
Warnings: violence, body horror, mentions of death, and a scene with breif suicide ideation.
The moment Anthy stepped outside of the bounds of Ohtori academy, heart soaring, her outstretched foot found not solid ground, but empty air, and she was abruptly yanked away from her surroundings.
As the world beyond disappeared in front of her, Anthy had one last moment to think, Of course. I was an idiot to think that it would be this easy, before everything went black.
Anthy came to, and all she saw were faces around her, millions of them, angry and spiteful. They were shouting. Bellows of "Witch! Witch! Witch!" echoed loudly, surrounding her. She could hear their hatred, feel it engulfing her, feel millions of shards of malice piercing her, impaling her-
"You look frightened. Is everything okay?" A voice, clear and kind, cut through Anthy's panic. Anthy startled. She breathed, slowly, trying to focus on what she actually saw around her, opposed to the visions her mind produced. It took a few moments to steady herself, but slowly the shadows crawled away, the swords disappearing. Shakily, she looked around, and saw that there were people around her, hundreds of them, but they were laughing and dancing and eating. None of them even glanced over at Anthy. None except the girl next to her, looking down with concerned eyes.
Very familiar eyes.
"Utena," Anthy breathed. "Where are we? Is this the outside world?" Though, with a long, elegant dress flowing around herself while Utena was clad in princely garb, it all didn't appear much different than usual when they were in the dueling arena.
"What?" Utena asked, puzzled. "This is the ballroom of my castle. Are you okay?"
"Yes," Anthy answered softly, without thinking, because though she didn't recognize the place and all of the bodies around her still made her feel small and trapped, she had found Utena. Utena was alive and well.
Utena smiled. "That's good. Care for a dance?"
Without another word, she placed her hands on Anthy's waist, spinning them both and starting a steady rhythm of steps and twirls. Anthy went along with it, thinking about how similar it was to the one other time they'd danced together, and even smiled a bit to herself.
"All of these people here are shallow," Utena confided lowly, leaning in closer and looking only at Anthy. "I didn't want to hold this ball in the first place, because I knew all anybody would want from me is more power. Yet, mother and father insisted on finding me a proper suitor. You're not like the rest of them, though, are you? I can tell. Who are you?"
Anthy froze, abruptly stopping the dance. None of what Utena just said made sense. Her parents were dead, and she was talking as if she'd never seen Anthy in her life.
Utena looked puzzled again. "I'm sorry, do you want to go outside? You don't look well."
"I-" Anthy scrambled for words to say, ways to make Utena recognize her. "You-"
"May I cut in?" A smooth voice interrupted, and Anthy was once again faced by her brother, tall and imposing. He wasn't looking at her though. Without another word, he took Utena in his arms and twirled her away, leaving Anthy to watch.
Before Anthy could go over, demand an explanation or something, she was pulled away again.
Anthy was now in a forest, and in front of her was Utena, laid down on a casket filled with roses. Her skin was unnaturally pale, lips blue, eyes closed. Anthy wondered for a second if she was dead, if maybe it was somehow her fault. However, the thought of magic curses suddenly came unbidden through her mind, along with the phrase "true love's kiss".
Hesitantly, Anthy walked over to where Utena was. She had feelings for Utena, she had admitted that to herself not long ago, but kissing her in this state would just be wrong. Anthy never put any stock into the concept of "true love" anyways, not since she was a child. The forest around her had a feeling that was fantasy-esque, though, just like in the ballroom. Maybe what Anthy had to do was play along. She was a prince, and Utena was the cursed princess she had to wake up.
Feeling ashamed, Anthy leaned down and touched her lips softly to Utena's. The moment she pulled back, Anthy could see color returning to her pallid cheeks, her breath beginning to stutter out. Utena's eyes fluttered open, and Anthy really believed that maybe it had actually worked.
Utena looked at Anthy for a moment, and opened her mouth, but instead of sound a rose bloomed out between her lips, freezing the words in her throat. Then another burst through her each of her eyes. More and more roses forced their way out of her body, until Utena disappeared before Anthy's horrified gaze, replaced by flowers the color of freshly spilt blood.
This time, Anthy was a knight, laden in heavy armor with a sword weighing down her arms. She sheathed it with some difficulty, hoping that she won't have to use it, and knowing that the hope was probably useless.
She walked for a ways, before she heard the not so distant sound of screams. Anthy sighed, knowing that it could only mean trouble, but also know that it had to be where Utena was. Following the sound, and grimacing as the armor slowed her down considerably, Anthy eventually came upon a village on fire. Townspeople were running away from the source, all except for one figure. Anthy's heart stopped as she recognized the pink hair.
Utena was fighting a dragon, of course. Because that was the kind of day Anthy was having.
Despite everything screaming at her to run, to join the others who had immediately fled, Anthy ran up to where Utena was, and shakily took out her sword once again.
Anthy had never swung a sword in her life. She had plenty of experience watching duels, but those swords were different than her heavy broadsword. Still, Anthy swung, a little recklessly, and relied on the muscle memory of the knight she was playing.
If she died, maybe she would just be gone, and wouldn't have to deal with all this anymore. The morbid thought comforted her, but with Utena next to her, she couldn't just give up.
The fight was much less glamourous than depicted in the illustrations in storybooks. She was sweating under her armor from the heat of the fire and the exertion, her hair sticking uncomfortably to her face. Her arms were already sore. Next to her, Utena was faring slightly better, quick on her feet, and Anthy was reminded of all of those duels. Utena had fought in so many duels.
Distracted, Anthy was suddenly knocked backwards by the dragon's tail. The wind was knocked out of her, and it took a few shocked moments to recover, but still Anthy stood once again. Her head was bleeding. As she started to swing again at the huge beast, Anthy looked up, and for a moment her eyes locked with those of the dragon. They were vividly green and seemingly intelligent, and they disturbingly resembled Akio's eyes. Anthy found herself swinging harder, even as her arm protested.
Anthy thrust her sword out, and to her surprise and satisfaction, it sunk into the side of the dragon. However, Anthy blinked, and in a split second the scene drastically changed. In front of her was not a dragon, but Utena, with Anthy's sword was buried deep in her chest. Anthy looked wildly to her side, only to see Akio where Utena was previously fighting. He was grinning at Anthy, eyes gleaming. In front of Anthy, Utena sunk to the ground, her eyes wide and unseeing.
As she became aware again, Anthy was incredibly tempted to just lay on the ground, right there, and let herself slowly die. She couldn't do that again. She couldn't go through seeing Utena die any more, and she certainly couldn't have herself be the perpetrator.
Maybe that was what Anthy was supposed to do. Die. Maybe that's what would release Utena from this. Utena had only ever gained pain and misery from Anthy, and she was selfish to think that she could ever live a life with her, after Ohtori, after Anthy figured out how to stop playing these fairytale roles. Maybe getting rid of Anthy was what would set Utena free.
Anthy was so caught up in her downhill spiral that it took her a few moments to realize that something was off. She was still in the forest, perhaps even the same one she'd been in a few times before, but dozens of smells filled her senses, rich and visceral and layered in a way smell had never been before. Anthy sniffed, rising, and realized she had four legs. She walked forward cautiously, the muscle memory of some creature telling her how to move, and out of the corner of her eye Anthy saw a flash of pink.
It was then that Anthy realized that she was the bloodthirsty wolf, preying on the innocent girl, and thought, Oh. This is more accurate. Though she'd played the part of the prince and the princess, the knight, the witch, many roles over and over throughout her life, none of them had ever suited her. This one did though. Anthy wanted to think that her and Utena were part of some sort of fluffy fairytale romance, that they were due to live happily ever after now that the evil was defeated, but that simply wasn't true. Anthy was the predator, a cunning beast disguised under a set of pretty fur, and she couldn't hide her fangs forever.
Anthy found herself stalking towards Utena, and as she walked, her body transformed, until she was in her usual small, fragile human body, though all the wolf senses were still part of her, and she could feel the beast prowling just beneath her disguise.
"You shouldn't be walking alone in the woods," Anthy said. Utena looked over and smiled at her.
"It's okay, I've walked this path many times."
The beast was snarling at Anthy to charm, to disarm, but Anthy angrily shoved the instinct away. "No, it's dangerous here. There are creatures wandering about, ready to attack. Horrible creatures. Like me."
Utena cocked her head. "You're not a horrible creature, though. I can tell."
Anthy wanted to protest, to tell Utena she was a fool, like always, but suddenly, under Utena's trusting gaze, there was no beast. It was gone.
Anthy was behind Utena, hugging her shoulder with one of her arms, a sword clutched in her other hand. She looked around, panicked, and realized she was back in Akio's horrible tower, about to literally stab Utena in the back to further Akio's plot.
Except. There was nothing binding Anthy to Akio anymore. She had left him, and she didn't need to come back, or participate in his sick games anymore.
It was time to decide what part she would play.
Anthy dropped the blade she held and, in a burst of strength, she wrestled the Sword of Dios from Utena, mentally apologizing, and ran over to Akio, plunging it deep in his heart. Akio looked at her, right into her eyes, disbelief and betrayal plain on his features. Anthy momentarily felt a twinge of guilt for attacking her brother, who had once loved and took care of her.
Before she could go further along that train of thought, the room started to crumble. Anthy let go of the blade and went over to grab Utena's hand. Anthy told her it was going to be okay, and waited. The world fell around them.
When Anthy opened her eyes, she was still holding Utena's hand. Ohtori was completely decimated, and all that remained of it was the rumble and debris they were standing on. There wasn't a person in sight aside from the two of them. They were standing near the archway Anthy had tried to walk through previously, miraculously still intact. Anthy looked over at Utena, and met her eyes.
"This is different," Utena said quietly. "I remember. You stabbed me," Anthy flinched, "and I opened the coffin. Then I died. How…?"
Anthy shrugged. "How do you explain anything at this school?"
Utena laughed at that, and though it was slightly hysterical, her laugh was so open and genuine that it made Anthy's heart twist. Utena wiped away a tear, and Anthy wondered if it was from mirth or something else. "Well, shall we?" Utena gestured to the archway, and the world beyond it.
"I-" the words were stuck in Anthy's throat. "Are you sure you want to go with me, of all people?"
"Anthy," Utena said, her ocean blue eyes so intense it hurt to look at. Anthy looked at the ground instead. "Did you not hear me? I meant it when I said the only time I've ever truly been happy was when I was with you."
Anthy shook her head and let go of Utena's hand. "Why, though? All I've done is lied to and manipulated you. I stabbed you. You should hate me."
Utena shook her head. "I thought we already went through this. We've both done bad things, but that's not what matters right now. What matters is that you could have done it all again in that tower, but you chose not to. You chose to be brave." Seeing Anthy's disbelieving expression, Utena sighed. "You don't believe me right now, but please at least trust me? Come with me. We have all the time in the world to figure it all out." Utena held out her hand, and after a moment of hesitation, Anthy took it again. "Ten years at least," Utena continued. "We have to have tea together in ten years, remember? I won't forgive you if you miss that."
Anthy smiled slightly, and together her and Utena moved forward, and this time, Anthy stepped on the solid ground outside of Ohtori. The thought of the uncertain future terrified her, but with Utena at her side, holding her hand and filling up the silence with light chatter, Anthy found herself thinking that it probably wouldn't be so bad.
Anthy and Utena have a lot of trauma to work through, so it's not going to be an easy future, but hopefully they can be happy. They deserve at least that.