Revolutionary Girl Utena

Across the Sea

Once upon a time, there were two Princes, who met in a fallen kingdom. They battled side by side, driving out the darkness that had dwelt in the kingdom, and becoming close friends, and even closer. The first Prince was the daughter of that ancient place, the second, a no name Prince from across the sea.

Having defeated the darkness with their friends, they rested awhile in their new home. But the no name Prince longed to return to his own kingdom, to free it from the tyranny of his evil family. Determined and ready, they set sail for the distant land, ready to take back what had been robbed of him. Little did they know, another had designs of his own for them and their world...

Chapter 1

A Celebration of Birth

"Nemo, Nemo, are you in there?" The young lady knocked upon the door of Nemo's cabin. Tired of knocking, she pulled the door open, looking into the darkened room. Under her feet, the sailing ship pitched and rocked with the waves of a stormy sea, but she was used to it by now. They had been on the water for over a week, sailing to the Kingdom Across the Sea.

As her eyes pierced the gloom, Utena could see the young man sitting next to a large, segmented glass window at the far end of the small cabin, staring out over the stern of the sailing ship. Even in the dark she could recognize him, not quite tall, broad shouldered, with short auburn hair. He turned to look at her, his forest green eyes sending a throbbing beat into her heart.

For a moment Utena became lost in them, and the young man who looked at her. Ever since that day, we've been the best of friends, and more. She stood there, her cheeks beginning to flush at the thought of his touch.

"Utena?" A hand rested on her shoulder, drawing her eyes up. Nemo had risen, walked up to her, and shaken her gently. Even more embarrassed, she tried to recover her composure. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Um, yeah, just fine." She tried to answer hastily, raising her hands in front of her, drawing a smile from the young Prince. "I was just coming to see how you were doing, you know, since you've been so quiet lately."

Looking to the side, Nemo tried to avoid her questioning blue eyes, his own feelings growing. He didn't want to throw his problems at her, or drag her down with his growing sense of depression. He wanted to tell her desperately how he felt, and how he was haunted with his own lack of memory, but how could he explain it?

Glancing back at her, he found himself caught up in her eyes, longing to sink into them forever. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, not unusual in height, but well formed, her bubblegum pink hair spilling down past her shoulders, ending in little half-curls just above her maturing chest. Realizing he had stared too long, he whirled around, trying to keep his face from showing the growing red.

Bump, bump! Bump, bump! A rhythm beat in the hall, drawing both of their attention to a small blue creature walking down the hall on his hind legs, pounding a big band drum with a pair of drumsticks. He was something of a monkey crossed with a mouse, a small yellow and red striped tie hanging about his neck. Pounding a vigorous tattoo on the drum that seemed to match the beating of the two Prince's hearts, he waddled up to where they stood.

"Chu chu!" The little creature squeaked, holding out it's tiny hand to Utena.

"Hello Chu Chu." Utena said with a soft laugh that reminded Nemo of the ringing of small bells. "Does Anthy want us for something?"

"Chu!" Chu Chu proclaimed, pointing down the hall towards the deck with his little drumstick.

Utena and Nemo followed the little creature out to the rainy deck, where a small tent had been set up over the back half of the ship's deck. A small table sat at the foot of the nearest mast, a covered silver platter sitting on it. On either side stood Anthy Himemia, Saionji Kyouichi, Ragnarok the Wolf, and Ryan, the Sword Bearer.

"Surprise!" They said in unison as Anthy pulled away the platter top, revealing a large cake, topped by white and pink frosting. Written in swirling letters, it read: Happy Birthday Utena, and was surrounded by eighteen candles that danced in the strong sea wind.

Pulling a small string, Ryan released a banner that hung across the tent, the same message set upon it in blue. They all smiled, laughing as Nemo urged Utena up to her cake amid happy protests from the birthday girl.

"Hey, no! Don't push me! Nemo!" She laughed out her protest, still struggling as Saionji and Ryan took her by the hands, all three of them guiding her up to the cake. Looking squarely at Anthy, Utena gave a mock scowl. "I knew something was up when you insisted I go see Nemo!"

Anthy Himemia smiled, her long purple hair blowing out around her slender, dusky skinned face. "I couldn't have you see us bringing out your cake, Utena. If you did, this wouldn't have made a very good surprise."

"Thank you everyone. You really didn't need to go through all this trouble." Utena looked about at the assembled group, a smile on her face. "I just hope you didn't let Anthy cook the cake. I would hate to find myself covered in fur, or in a boy's body."

Saionji and Anthy burst into tearful laughter at the comment, leaving Nemo, Ryan, and Ragnarok looking utterly confused. Wiping away a merry tear, Utena grinned at the others. "It's a long story, so I'll save it for once we get inside."

"Well we best hurry, the storm looks like it's going to get worse before better." Saionji said in response, looking out to sea while holding a mast rope. He had developed a bit of a nautical flair since they had begun to sail.

"Come on, let's get your cake inside before it gets waterlogged." Ryan picked up the cake, carrying it inside.

"You heard the man, the birthday girl shouldn't try to get sick on her special day, now should she." Nemo said with a grin, scooping her up into his strong arms.

"Hey, put me down!" She protested, but a hint of her smile told a different story.

"Okay, but only once it's dry." Nemo replied, carrying her skillfully across the pitching deck, and into the safety of the cabins.

***

"-and then Saionji took a bite of the curry, and poof! He and Chu Chu switched bodies, isn't that right, Chu Chu?" Anthy's recount of the story brought on another series of amused laughs from her friends while Chu Chu pantomimed the event.

"So Nemo, do you have any stories to tell?" Utena looked over at her friend. What she saw in his eyes gave her pause. He stared down into his cup, no image reflected in the translucent liquid that sat before him. An emptiness was all she could see, a wonderful person, but a man who had no past. She thought about his name, or at least what everyone called him. Nemo, no one...

Quickly changing the subject, Saionji leaned forward, whispering to the assembled guests. "Don't look now, but I think there's a ghost on board." His eyes darted over to the walls warily, then he pulled out a blindfold from behind his back. "Blind man's bluff!"

Rising from his seat, he secured the blindfold began shambling towards Ryan, twitching his arms around in front of him like a zombie. "The gaki has risen from it's grave, and now it's coming to eat you!" Scrambling away, Ryan hurried around behind the stoic Ragnarok, who sat watching in amusement.

"Roar!" Saionji shouted playfully, making his way towards Utena and Nemo's seats. Trying to scoot her chair back, Utena accidentally toppled onto her back, struggling to rise. Saionji continued past the table in the middle of the room, moving after Utena. "I am hungry for brains, give me brains or I will eat you!"

Nemo was still staring into his glass, ignoring the party as Utena tried to use his chair for a shield from the oncoming Saionji. Unable to see where he was going, Saionji stumbled into the chair, knocking all three of them to the floor.

Utena quickly slid free of the chair, still giggling from the game as Saionji latched his arms around the now attentive Nemo. "I have the birthday girl, and now I will eat her brains!"

"Ah, I think you've got the wrong girl!" Utena laughed as she and Anthy hurried out of the room.

Saionji pulled off the mask, looking down at Nemo. "You're not Utena!" He said in surprise. Nemo put his foot to Saionji's chest with a grin, shoving him off.

"Do I look like a girl to you?" He asked, rising with a smirk.

"I guess that depends, you both wear that silly black school jacket." Saionji commented in good humor.

"Well at least I don't need to spend an hour combing my hair every day." Nemo countered.

"Are you two going to chase us, or trade insults all day?" Utena called in to them.

"Be right there!" Nemo called back, pulling the blindfold from Saionji. "And don't worry, I'll get you back for that little move, Utena!" Looking down at it, he saw the eyes of a wolf staring back up at him. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he was seeing the truth, or another deception. He blinked several times and looked again. This time, all he saw was a piece of cloth.

***

Night brought calm seas to the beleaguered ship, rainwater dripping from the mast heads and rigging to the deck below. Sitting up on the prow of the ship, Ragnarok watched for signs of land in the distance. His sensitive ears picked up very soft footsteps approaching from behind, but he didn't move. Anthy walked calmly up next to him, leaning against the wooden rail next to him.

"What brought you up this late?" The wolf asked, his sharp voice tempered.

"I can never sleep until late in the night anymore." She answered, her emerald eyes watching the silver coin that hung in the night sky, surrounded by sprinkles of silver dust. "What keeps you up?"

"My duty." He answered

"Your duty? You have some kind of obligation?" She looked over at the proud creature, a slightly worried expression on her face.

"Nothing to worry about. I chose my duty, and I am proud to uphold it." He explained. "Back when Utena's parents died, Nemo ran away from the Kingdom Across the Sea. He found something, I don't know what, but something. Whatever it was, it drove him away from his old home, and he fled with the intention of protecting the Princess, ahem, Prince from his father. He was chased, and he found himself in the sea, swimming desperately to escape his father."

"I was at the docks, and had a choice to make, along with all the other Knights of our kingdom. The others stayed, remaining loyal to his father, I jumped into the sea. Together we swam, determined to make it to the other side, not knowing what was going to happen upon our arrival."

"The evil King wasn't done with us yet, and some kind of magic fell on us. We lost much of our memories, and each other. After that, I was lost for years, prowling around like a beast, having been changed into this form. Until what happened recently, neither of us apparently had any memory of what had happened before, or even our own lives." Ragnarok finished his narrative, still watching the sea intently.

"I see." Anthy said, a small hint of sorrow in her voice.

"I sense there is much to be told of your own story." Ragnarok said, his head turning to regard Anthy.

"Quite a lot." Anthy replied, watching the water disappear underneath the ship's hull. "Back before most people can remember, my brother, Akio, was a noble Prince called Dios. He was the rescuer of Princesses and the hero of people. He was really wonderful back then, but he never had any time to spend with his little sister. So, I became a witch, taking him away to my castle in the sky."

"But the people who he helped began to grow upset, demanding that he come and rescue their daughters, and save them from their problems. I tried to tell them to go away, but they refused, and attacked us with swords. That was where the Swords of Hatred came from, the swords that tormented me, and we became immortal, unable to leave the world behind, but unable to live in it either."

"Akio was determined to get the spirit of Dios back, but he had become corrupted, and could no longer possess the purity of his spirit. I, on the other hand, renounced myself to the life of a living sacrifice, so that he could retrieve his essence from the castle. It never worked, and as I suffered, he became more cruel and obsessed, until we hated each other." Anthy bit her lip, trying to fight back tears. "I wanted to save him, but I couldn't. Now my friends are the only ones left in my world."

"Hmm, the rough path has been traveled many times," Ragnarok said philosophically. "and I expect it will be tread again before either of us is done with our duty. Still, we have a purpose, and those who are precious enough to us that we will give all we have to protect them. There are far too few of those with a noble heart, Anthy Himemia. I am grateful to know that yours has become one."

"Thank you, Ragnarok." She said, brushing a hand through his thick neck fur.

***

The water below the ship became like a mirror in the depths of night, reflecting the sailing vessel as it made it's way onward. A small paper boat drifted by, followed by another, and another. Soon a small fleet of paper boats had drawn up around the ship, guiding it onward through the depth of night.

A shadowy figure stepped away from a mirror, walking over and dialing on an old rotary phone. "Yes, they are coming." The figure said, then hung up the phone. The ship would soon reach the Kingdom Across the Sea, and they would be waiting.