Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Utena. I bow to the masters.
Anthy POV:
Sometimes at night, the roses seem to glow under the moonlight, like blood lit by some internal shimmering light. Those are the red ones of course. Then the white ones, the ones that my prince loved, shimmer like they want to imitate moonlight.
It's at these times that I feel closest to her.
My brother took her from me. Forced me to betray her, so the power of the Prince could be sealed up again in the castle. He couldn't take it from her after she won it, after all. So. The cycle begins again. Except this time, they don't have a witch for a Rose Bride. They have a young and naive girl who would do anything for her brother. She's learning now, no doubt.
And my brother is dead as well. I felt his death in this very garden, and afterwards, I dreamed it. Kiryuu-san pushed him to his death from the high tower. It's so easy to slip up there... especially just after a rainfall. Too convenient for End of the World. Too easy, and too ironic. So sure of himself, only to be killed by his student. Careless.
Almost as careless of him to make his sister the Rose Bride. His sister who hated me. His sister who seems deceptively weak and broken. She was weak before. But she was a Duellist. She had the same inner fire as the rest of them, a warriors spirit. If he thinks he can chain her forever, he's sadly mistaken. Shallow though she was when she began, she understands far more than she lets on.
But she doesn't understand what the Rose Bride is, or what she can become. She has the powers, the instincts, but not the empathy. It's what will ruin Kiryuu-san's bid for power in the end. Or she will break under it all, despite her strong spirit. And he will find another, and another, until he has what he wants.
This must not happen.
There is a pond in the center of this garden, surrounded by water plants, with a carefully placed stone bench. The moon seems to make the water like a mirror.
So, I, clad in a red sundress the color of the gown I wore as Rose Bride, sit beside the pool. I am no longer the Rose Bride. My hands are no longer tied, and I owe allegiance to no one but the Prince. And she is not here. Not here to see this.
Ohtori is covered in a sort of mystical haze. It is another world, almost, and it's so far away from where I am now. But my need is strong. The magic is strong as well. Hopefully it will be strong enough.
I lift the pink blossom, and cup it in both hands. The familiar scent drifts up, and the air around me seems to still as I tear the petals from the blossom, tossing them into the water. Then I clasp the stem of the rose tightly between my hands, and I squeeze.
The thorns dig into my skin. Meaningless pain, compared to what I have felt, but it elicits a single gasp from me.
The stream of crimson red blood falls from my hands into the water, but I am diving after it, into a world not this one, circumventing the protections my brother threw up to keep unwanted 'guests' out. This is only the first barrier, though.
My brother was a sorcerer as well. He kept demons in the deepest vaults of Ohtori. If Kiryuu-san is lucky, and wise, he will never attempt the twisted labyrinth beneath the school grounds. It will bring his death, or far worse.
The demons seem like shadows when first seen, but they are all too real, manifesting sharp claws and teeth, howling and throwing the might of their power against me. I lift my hands, and call forth the power. No sword, for I am not a duellist, but a wall of silvery-red light, shutting them off before they can reach me.
Then the complex mystical lock. My brother protected every single one of his precious coffins with his precious souls inside, locking up the duellists and his puppets safer than his Rose Bride.
Some of them are worth it. Like this one.
The runes slide into position, and I am in, throwing quick strands of silvery-red around him, weaving a cocoon of rose petals about him. The demons are howling; soon they will break through my barrier, but it no longer matters.
I have what I came for. And getting out is far easier than getting in.
I am a spirit with wings, singing through the ether, trailing the cocoon behind me, and then diving up into my body, letting the cocoon fall.
Then I am sitting, hands clenching the sharp edges of the stone bench. But the pain is meaningless, for the man floating on the surface of the pool, surrounded by rose petals of all colors, is what I have search for. The man who challenged my brother before, and lost. The man who would have ended it, as I wished, and the man who will fire the first shot. My Bishop.
He is painfully thin, and his uniform is faded. The remains of the rose on his breast have dried, and even as a wind comes, it is carried away. The wind barely stirs his shoulder-length pink hair, though, and his chest rises and falls.
I am weak, so terribly drained, but it is worth it. I have my Bishop. And he will bring me the first of my Knights.
The game has begun for the last time.
***
Once Mikage felt strong enough to walk and move about without collapsing in a rather undignified heap on the ground, one of the silent servants of the house came to fetch him. She waited silently, staring out the window, until he was washed and dressed, then turned and escorted him out of the manor and into the extensive gardens on the grounds.
Despite himself, he recognized the familiar seal, the design. He followed the servant to an open area in the shape of a circle. The pattern of the rose seal was laid out in white and red stones, and in the center sat a delicate-looking iron-wrought table laden with settings for tea. Two chairs sat beside it. And one of them was occupied.
He had been expecting a slim, cold man dressed in red, with pale lavender hair, and knowing eyes. Instead, he recoiled when he saw the white-clad, dark-skinned and purple-haired woman who he had known as the Rose Bride.
"Souji-san. Please sit down." she requested, gesturing at the other chair. He took it, still staring at her. "Welcome to my manor. It is good to see you moving about again. I wasn't sure you would remain intact all the way from Ohtori."
"Ohtori?" Mikage asked, bewildered. "How have I come to be here? Why..."
"One question at a time." Anthy said gently. "But first, we must speak of other things." Her emerald eyes suddenly fastened on his, demanding attention and silence.
Unconciously, he sat up straighter.
"You know what I am. And what I was."
"The Rose Bride." Reluctantly, he added "And a witch."
There was a faint teasing smile about her lips as she answered "Yes. And yes." She lifted her teacup to her lips, sipped the tea within, then set the cup down on the surface with a click.
"After you fell into slumber again, the duels continued. As I thought, Utena-sama won the duels. All but the last."
"She fought End of the World." Mikage said resignedly. "Did she win?"
"Yes." Anthy paused. "And she freed me from my brother. At a great price, though." Her face was sad as she looked down at her lap. "My brother... you know what control he had over me." He nodded curtly. "He forced me to gravely injure her in the course of the duel. Still she freed me. But she was so weak that my brother would have killed her easily. So I sealed her inside of the Castle to heal, away from the grasping hands of my brother. It has been several years since then."
"She is..."
"Trapped." Anthy looked unhappy. "My brother died. His student, Touga Kiryuu, betrayed him. Touga-kun killed Akio... then took his place, with his sister as the new Rose Bride."
Mikage's eyes widened, but he controlled the reaction quickly, face returning to a calm mask. "I see."
"Touga-kun seeks the power of the Prince. My Prince's life would be sacrificed for his lust for power. He has a measure of the powers that End of the World possessed. He has not completely mastered those yet, but he is already making his moves. He has called a new set of duellists. One of them is one of your old pupils."
"Who..."
"It doesn't matter. You'll know when you see him." Anthy said, leaning forwards. "I called you back for a reason, Souji-san. It is beginning again, but it may be even worse than as it was before. Touga, unlike Akio, will never truly understand Ohtori before it is too late. You and I know some of what dwells beneath Ohtori."
"The consequences would be disasterous." Mikage agreed. "Very well. What is it you wish me to do?"
Anthy's smile was a touch sly as she drew a wooden box from nowhere, and set it before him. She opened it, revealing a set of rose crest rings. She lifted one from the box, and he extended his hand. She slipped it on, and it settled onto the familiar place, like part of him had returned.
"Then you have no choice but to revolutionize the world." she murmured, and he bowed his head in acknowledgement, face composed, eyes glittering as he drew his hand back.
She rose from her seat. "The golem-maids will tend to you, until you have healed. I have provided funds, worldly possessions, and papers to convince Touga-kun to hire you. Seek the first Knight at Ohtori, then keep watch over him until he is ready to step forwards."
He rose as well, and bowed. "As you will... my lady."
A ghost of a smile crossed her lips, then she turned and moved away down a path into the gardens, out of his sight.
Nanami POV:
Roses. I hate roses.
But it's tradition, I suppose, for the Rose bride to wear the tiara, the dress, and elaborate coiffure. It's traditional to be impaled upon the swords of the Duellists, to fall bleeding to the ground and look up at your brother, the one whom you trusted more than anything. And to see him smile with satisfaction.
And so it's traditional and right that the Rose Bride take care of the roses. Water every single one of these cursed roses, just enough, feed them with the soil from the forest at the foot of the Duelling Arena, and fertilizer, musn't forget the fertilizer, and make sure to touch each and every one with a finger, just so...
It's instinct. I've only done this for a month now, and it's ingrained into me, the same way the Champions of the Duels know how to draw the sword from my heart, the same way my brother easily draws unwary girls into his bed, the same way he knew how to kill Akio-san.
Yes, the old Chairman is dead. Or, should I say Deputy Chairman. He left provisions of course, all nice and neat and wrapped up. Provisions required by the Board of Directors, provisions Akio-san never intended to use. But my brother is cunning. He's so very smart, and I loved him for that once. Dear brother.
But then he spoke to Juri and to Miki and to Saionji, to Akio-san (we need a Rose Bride, after all, don't we?), to the spirits of those trapped in this cursed place and they came with the Thousand Swords and impaled me. Ripped out my heart and used the stolen power of the new Prince to create the Sword. The Sword of Utena. Ironic, isn't it? One of my most hated enemies... and so close to my heart now. It's not all of her, of course, just what Akio-san could squeeze out of the castle to make a new Sword from.
A sword needs its sheath. The sheath requires duellists to protect her, and duellists must have something to duel for.
This academy needs magic to sustain it, to draw in the new students, to call those with power to duel and give up their power, their passion to the new Prince. In the end, Utena-sama carried a piece of every single one of the Duellists with her. It's what almost allowed her to beat Akio-san. But she needed to figure out the puzzle first.
The Rose Bride is chained by her power to the End of the World. Ties of blood, ties of power, ties of influence and magic. Free will? Towards the end of the duels, it is almost possible to break free. Almost. Too little, too late. Strain to hard and the chains bind you too tight. Be calm, be sweet, be nice, and step out the gates, though, and you win. You win your freedom. As Himemiya-san did.
I don't know if I can ever be free.
For one thing, Himemiya was born with it inside of her, the magic. It made her suited to it, and when the time came, suited to resist. Suited to make sure the power stays with her Prince until she returns. Suited to fight back, if she cares anymore.
Besides, to fight this place, the powers within it, you have to accept your power. Become a power again. Become something you're not. Taint yourself.
And so I clip the roses, and I play my brother's little game, and I walk with the Champion, and I scream inside, because. I. Can't. Break. Free.
It hurts. Oh kami-sama, it hurts. And these thorns tear into my soul like the swords in my heart did, and I want to die. Why can't onii-sama kill me?
Roses. I hate roses.
End Part One
Anthy POV:
Sometimes at night, the roses seem to glow under the moonlight, like blood lit by some internal shimmering light. Those are the red ones of course. Then the white ones, the ones that my prince loved, shimmer like they want to imitate moonlight.
It's at these times that I feel closest to her.
My brother took her from me. Forced me to betray her, so the power of the Prince could be sealed up again in the castle. He couldn't take it from her after she won it, after all. So. The cycle begins again. Except this time, they don't have a witch for a Rose Bride. They have a young and naive girl who would do anything for her brother. She's learning now, no doubt.
And my brother is dead as well. I felt his death in this very garden, and afterwards, I dreamed it. Kiryuu-san pushed him to his death from the high tower. It's so easy to slip up there... especially just after a rainfall. Too convenient for End of the World. Too easy, and too ironic. So sure of himself, only to be killed by his student. Careless.
Almost as careless of him to make his sister the Rose Bride. His sister who hated me. His sister who seems deceptively weak and broken. She was weak before. But she was a Duellist. She had the same inner fire as the rest of them, a warriors spirit. If he thinks he can chain her forever, he's sadly mistaken. Shallow though she was when she began, she understands far more than she lets on.
But she doesn't understand what the Rose Bride is, or what she can become. She has the powers, the instincts, but not the empathy. It's what will ruin Kiryuu-san's bid for power in the end. Or she will break under it all, despite her strong spirit. And he will find another, and another, until he has what he wants.
This must not happen.
There is a pond in the center of this garden, surrounded by water plants, with a carefully placed stone bench. The moon seems to make the water like a mirror.
So, I, clad in a red sundress the color of the gown I wore as Rose Bride, sit beside the pool. I am no longer the Rose Bride. My hands are no longer tied, and I owe allegiance to no one but the Prince. And she is not here. Not here to see this.
Ohtori is covered in a sort of mystical haze. It is another world, almost, and it's so far away from where I am now. But my need is strong. The magic is strong as well. Hopefully it will be strong enough.
I lift the pink blossom, and cup it in both hands. The familiar scent drifts up, and the air around me seems to still as I tear the petals from the blossom, tossing them into the water. Then I clasp the stem of the rose tightly between my hands, and I squeeze.
The thorns dig into my skin. Meaningless pain, compared to what I have felt, but it elicits a single gasp from me.
The stream of crimson red blood falls from my hands into the water, but I am diving after it, into a world not this one, circumventing the protections my brother threw up to keep unwanted 'guests' out. This is only the first barrier, though.
My brother was a sorcerer as well. He kept demons in the deepest vaults of Ohtori. If Kiryuu-san is lucky, and wise, he will never attempt the twisted labyrinth beneath the school grounds. It will bring his death, or far worse.
The demons seem like shadows when first seen, but they are all too real, manifesting sharp claws and teeth, howling and throwing the might of their power against me. I lift my hands, and call forth the power. No sword, for I am not a duellist, but a wall of silvery-red light, shutting them off before they can reach me.
Then the complex mystical lock. My brother protected every single one of his precious coffins with his precious souls inside, locking up the duellists and his puppets safer than his Rose Bride.
Some of them are worth it. Like this one.
The runes slide into position, and I am in, throwing quick strands of silvery-red around him, weaving a cocoon of rose petals about him. The demons are howling; soon they will break through my barrier, but it no longer matters.
I have what I came for. And getting out is far easier than getting in.
I am a spirit with wings, singing through the ether, trailing the cocoon behind me, and then diving up into my body, letting the cocoon fall.
Then I am sitting, hands clenching the sharp edges of the stone bench. But the pain is meaningless, for the man floating on the surface of the pool, surrounded by rose petals of all colors, is what I have search for. The man who challenged my brother before, and lost. The man who would have ended it, as I wished, and the man who will fire the first shot. My Bishop.
He is painfully thin, and his uniform is faded. The remains of the rose on his breast have dried, and even as a wind comes, it is carried away. The wind barely stirs his shoulder-length pink hair, though, and his chest rises and falls.
I am weak, so terribly drained, but it is worth it. I have my Bishop. And he will bring me the first of my Knights.
The game has begun for the last time.
***
Once Mikage felt strong enough to walk and move about without collapsing in a rather undignified heap on the ground, one of the silent servants of the house came to fetch him. She waited silently, staring out the window, until he was washed and dressed, then turned and escorted him out of the manor and into the extensive gardens on the grounds.
Despite himself, he recognized the familiar seal, the design. He followed the servant to an open area in the shape of a circle. The pattern of the rose seal was laid out in white and red stones, and in the center sat a delicate-looking iron-wrought table laden with settings for tea. Two chairs sat beside it. And one of them was occupied.
He had been expecting a slim, cold man dressed in red, with pale lavender hair, and knowing eyes. Instead, he recoiled when he saw the white-clad, dark-skinned and purple-haired woman who he had known as the Rose Bride.
"Souji-san. Please sit down." she requested, gesturing at the other chair. He took it, still staring at her. "Welcome to my manor. It is good to see you moving about again. I wasn't sure you would remain intact all the way from Ohtori."
"Ohtori?" Mikage asked, bewildered. "How have I come to be here? Why..."
"One question at a time." Anthy said gently. "But first, we must speak of other things." Her emerald eyes suddenly fastened on his, demanding attention and silence.
Unconciously, he sat up straighter.
"You know what I am. And what I was."
"The Rose Bride." Reluctantly, he added "And a witch."
There was a faint teasing smile about her lips as she answered "Yes. And yes." She lifted her teacup to her lips, sipped the tea within, then set the cup down on the surface with a click.
"After you fell into slumber again, the duels continued. As I thought, Utena-sama won the duels. All but the last."
"She fought End of the World." Mikage said resignedly. "Did she win?"
"Yes." Anthy paused. "And she freed me from my brother. At a great price, though." Her face was sad as she looked down at her lap. "My brother... you know what control he had over me." He nodded curtly. "He forced me to gravely injure her in the course of the duel. Still she freed me. But she was so weak that my brother would have killed her easily. So I sealed her inside of the Castle to heal, away from the grasping hands of my brother. It has been several years since then."
"She is..."
"Trapped." Anthy looked unhappy. "My brother died. His student, Touga Kiryuu, betrayed him. Touga-kun killed Akio... then took his place, with his sister as the new Rose Bride."
Mikage's eyes widened, but he controlled the reaction quickly, face returning to a calm mask. "I see."
"Touga-kun seeks the power of the Prince. My Prince's life would be sacrificed for his lust for power. He has a measure of the powers that End of the World possessed. He has not completely mastered those yet, but he is already making his moves. He has called a new set of duellists. One of them is one of your old pupils."
"Who..."
"It doesn't matter. You'll know when you see him." Anthy said, leaning forwards. "I called you back for a reason, Souji-san. It is beginning again, but it may be even worse than as it was before. Touga, unlike Akio, will never truly understand Ohtori before it is too late. You and I know some of what dwells beneath Ohtori."
"The consequences would be disasterous." Mikage agreed. "Very well. What is it you wish me to do?"
Anthy's smile was a touch sly as she drew a wooden box from nowhere, and set it before him. She opened it, revealing a set of rose crest rings. She lifted one from the box, and he extended his hand. She slipped it on, and it settled onto the familiar place, like part of him had returned.
"Then you have no choice but to revolutionize the world." she murmured, and he bowed his head in acknowledgement, face composed, eyes glittering as he drew his hand back.
She rose from her seat. "The golem-maids will tend to you, until you have healed. I have provided funds, worldly possessions, and papers to convince Touga-kun to hire you. Seek the first Knight at Ohtori, then keep watch over him until he is ready to step forwards."
He rose as well, and bowed. "As you will... my lady."
A ghost of a smile crossed her lips, then she turned and moved away down a path into the gardens, out of his sight.
Nanami POV:
Roses. I hate roses.
But it's tradition, I suppose, for the Rose bride to wear the tiara, the dress, and elaborate coiffure. It's traditional to be impaled upon the swords of the Duellists, to fall bleeding to the ground and look up at your brother, the one whom you trusted more than anything. And to see him smile with satisfaction.
And so it's traditional and right that the Rose Bride take care of the roses. Water every single one of these cursed roses, just enough, feed them with the soil from the forest at the foot of the Duelling Arena, and fertilizer, musn't forget the fertilizer, and make sure to touch each and every one with a finger, just so...
It's instinct. I've only done this for a month now, and it's ingrained into me, the same way the Champions of the Duels know how to draw the sword from my heart, the same way my brother easily draws unwary girls into his bed, the same way he knew how to kill Akio-san.
Yes, the old Chairman is dead. Or, should I say Deputy Chairman. He left provisions of course, all nice and neat and wrapped up. Provisions required by the Board of Directors, provisions Akio-san never intended to use. But my brother is cunning. He's so very smart, and I loved him for that once. Dear brother.
But then he spoke to Juri and to Miki and to Saionji, to Akio-san (we need a Rose Bride, after all, don't we?), to the spirits of those trapped in this cursed place and they came with the Thousand Swords and impaled me. Ripped out my heart and used the stolen power of the new Prince to create the Sword. The Sword of Utena. Ironic, isn't it? One of my most hated enemies... and so close to my heart now. It's not all of her, of course, just what Akio-san could squeeze out of the castle to make a new Sword from.
A sword needs its sheath. The sheath requires duellists to protect her, and duellists must have something to duel for.
This academy needs magic to sustain it, to draw in the new students, to call those with power to duel and give up their power, their passion to the new Prince. In the end, Utena-sama carried a piece of every single one of the Duellists with her. It's what almost allowed her to beat Akio-san. But she needed to figure out the puzzle first.
The Rose Bride is chained by her power to the End of the World. Ties of blood, ties of power, ties of influence and magic. Free will? Towards the end of the duels, it is almost possible to break free. Almost. Too little, too late. Strain to hard and the chains bind you too tight. Be calm, be sweet, be nice, and step out the gates, though, and you win. You win your freedom. As Himemiya-san did.
I don't know if I can ever be free.
For one thing, Himemiya was born with it inside of her, the magic. It made her suited to it, and when the time came, suited to resist. Suited to make sure the power stays with her Prince until she returns. Suited to fight back, if she cares anymore.
Besides, to fight this place, the powers within it, you have to accept your power. Become a power again. Become something you're not. Taint yourself.
And so I clip the roses, and I play my brother's little game, and I walk with the Champion, and I scream inside, because. I. Can't. Break. Free.
It hurts. Oh kami-sama, it hurts. And these thorns tear into my soul like the swords in my heart did, and I want to die. Why can't onii-sama kill me?
Roses. I hate roses.
End Part One