YAY! Finally finished! I have to apologise for the late update ^^;
I'd like to thank everyone who faved and reviewed this story so far since they have encouraged me to carry on writing-thank you! Enjoy the third chapter of Sorcerer's Heart! (btw please ignore the terrible titles- I can't think of anything better T^T)
font key:
Visions/Dreams and flashbacks etc.,(some times used for Drosselmeyer's dimension)
"talking"
~thinking~
(translated)
[authors notes]
Sorcerer's Heart ~ chapter 3~ Birds of a feather fall together
Prologue
A quiet squeak drew Ahiru's attention towards the stair case near by, where a orange eyed, scruffy cat was hissing at the panicking rat trapped under it's paws. The duck girl was just about to shout at the cat when a pair of pale elegant hands lifted the feline off the rodent, she gasped as Mytho slowly lifted the furious animal to shoulder height, freeing the rodent beneath. As soon as the rat was free of the hunters claws it quickly scampered towards the stairs just as they started to move, Ahiru yelped as the helpless creature began to fall, unable to stop itself in time. It was at this moment that Mytho let go of the cat and jumped over the railing...
The old man chuckled as gears began to turn around him.
"Once apon a time a story began to end an unfinished story...listen closely now..."
Fakir made his way quickly down the dark hallways, each of his steps as silent as the grave, as he searched for Mytho.
~Where has that moron gone now? I told him never to leave without my permission...~ He would never admit it but he was worried, Fakir had never been to this school before but even he knew that walking around the castle at night could lead to all kinds of trouble. ~Probably not as much trouble as those twins...~ Fakir grimaced as he remembered the two red-headed seniors of his house, they had annoyed him to no end at the feast.
"Mytho!"
The green-haired boy turned swiftly and ran, grasping his wand, towards the voice that had called his friend's name, praying that what ever had happened he would be able to do something for his prince.
"Mytho!"
Ahiru cried as the boy silently jumped over the railings after the unfortunate rat. The duck-girl ran towards the stairs as they joined together, desperately trying to reach out for the prince as he fell.
"Oh my, looks like the prince is going to die" A voice echoed in the back of Ahiru's mind
~Prince?~ Ahiru's thoughts were panicked, too busy to realise how strange the voice was.
"The stories hero will die for the sake of a rodent" The voice seemed amused at this thought
~Die!~ The girl tried to speed up her steps but everything seemed to have slowed down around her.
"But what will happen to the story? Will the prince's tale end before it begins? Please do tell, I do love a good story! But what if he can be saved?"
~How?Who-~
"Ah yes! Who could it be little god-duck?" The voice was teasing as if he knew the answer that was coming
~Could I...?~
"Do you remember Ahiru? Who you are-or more importantly what you are?" the voice laughed lightly as Ahiru remembered something locked deep within herself...
"Have you remembered? Or have you-" Before the mysterious voice could say any more the duck-girl cried out.
"Yes!I am Princess Tutu"
Without a thought Ahiru leaped out towards Mytho, her body consumed by a bright red light, as the two fell past the second floor...
"Oof!"
Fakir grunted as bumped into the wall to avoid running straight into a statue, just how many of the same statue did they have in this place? The boys sharp eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists.
~Damn it I'm lost. Some thing's different about this place than before...~ Unclenching his fists, Fakir looked down the hall again as if concentrating on the very existence of whatever was in his way.
~How can I end up at a corner every time I head towards those stairs? Can I run in circles when going in a straight line? What's going on here?~
With new determination the young knight ran forward, refusing to get sidetracked away from the one he wished to protect...
Ahiru almost gasped in shock. She was now older in looks, wearing a beautiful white Tutu and feather headdress on her recently shortened pinkish hair- apparently not even magic could get rid of a gravity defying cow-lick though.
Almost immediately the ballerina princess snapped out of her daze to reach her hand out to the falling boy, Mytho opened his sad eyes taking Tutu's hand in his own as the pair began to spin slowly and beautifully towards the ground, magic petals softened their landing for the end of their spiralling dance. The two swan-like figures stood staring into each others eyes as the rat in Mytho's hand made it's way home.
"You called my name...Who are you?" the prince asked vaguely without curiosity.
Tutu smiled graciously at the boy "I am-" suddenly her throat felt dry and cloying, unable to speak.
"Do you remember now my god-duck? That you are not only 'duck' by name...but also by nature?"
"Quack!" The princess quickly covered her mouth and let go of his hand, looking into his amber eyes as her heart began to race. Just as the swan haired boy began to reach for her hand again, the mysterious maiden ran off into the dark halls of Hogwarts school...
~What the heck was that?~ Fakir stopped for a moment to stare down the hall opposite him.
Just a moment before he had managed to find his way to the stair case to find Mytho standing in his night shirt on top of a mass of flowers, he was about to shout at him when he noticed a shining white figure turn a corner down the hall.
The knight's eyes narrowed, who ever or whatever it was it they were gone now he would have to look into it later but for now...
"Mytho" The older boy snapped.
The dazed prince turned to look at his friend. "Fakir..." his voice was monotone and half-hearted.
"I told you not to go wondering off on your own. Who were you with just now?"
The prince stared blankly at him for a moment before replying quietly. "...I don't know..."
Fakir closed his eyes for a moment letting out a short 'Hn' before deciding to let it go.
~Probably some kind of ghost...~ He walked forward and grabbed the white-haired boy by the arm, dragging him back to the Griffindor common room...
A couple of golden feathers floated down to the ground as Ahiru collapsed onto the tiled floor.
As Tutu she had quickly ran down the hall and opened the closest room she could find before a wave of exhaustion hit her, as she fell to the ground a red light enveloped her body once more leaving not a clumsy red-headed girl but a little yellow duck.
Gradually the little duck began to wake up, her shining blue eyes reflecting her confusion ~Where am I?...Was that a dream?~ Ahiru lifted what she thought to be her hand to rub her eye but they widened at what they saw.
"Quack!" (Wings!)
The duck hopped up, dashing to the nearest puddle of water to look at her now feathered face.
(I...I'm just a duck...)
"That's right my dear little Ahiru- do you remember now?" chuckled a shadow in the corner.
The confused and terrified duck winced as a memory came flooding back to her...
Ahiru drifted across a small pond in the middle of a park, her eyes closed as she bathed in the sunlight thinking, not noticing the light fog floating in. ~I wonder why godfather took me in? I am grateful but...he's always so busy writing and~ The duck cracked open it's eyes to look at her reflection ~I'm not even a girl... just a duck...~
When the duckling realised the change in atmosphere she turned to see a dancing figure- a boy with hair like swans feathers and sad golden eyes. The duck stared in awe as he danced silently, his movements gliding across the water without causing a single ripple of waves. She was mesmerised by his performance but...it was so sad, why?
"The prince who lost his heart to The Raven, I never thought I'd see him here!" the duck jumped at her guardians voice.
She turned to look at him briefly, he seemed overjoyed at the boys appearance which disturbed the duck somehow. But her unease was out matched by her curiosity. (Prince?)
The old writer looked down at the duck as if he had only just noticed her presence. "Why yes the brave prince who shattered his heart to stop the powerful Raven now reduced to a mere shell- how tragic!" the man's smile never faltered as he spoke the tale
Ahiru's heart ached for the boy ~He lost his heart? But that's so sad...~
"Quack-qua..."(I wish I could help him...)
The writer froze at the ducks wish. To anyone who may have been watching they would have seen the gears in the man's head begin to turn and grind together, his wicked eyes sparkled with new vigour as he ignored the dancing prince to stare at the duck in his care.
"Is that your wish, god-duck?" His grin widened with expectation.
A light blush appeared on the ducks cheeks as she answered.
"...quack" (...yes)
The old man began to chuckle to himself as the dancing figure merged into the fog, fading from the sight of the two on lookers.
"Then I shall grant your wish-IF-you wish for it..." he laughed as Ahiru drifted to sleep in his hands...
When the pain subsided Ahiru was speechless. She was a duck? Is that why she couldn't remember her past?
The golden-feathered bird with the heart of a girl was at her wits end, first she turned into a elegant magical prima-dona to now she find out that her true form is that of a graceless bird that shared her name, it was hard to believe and even harder to deal with.
"Are you having doubts little duck?"
Ahiru turned sharply to look at the orange eyes of the figure hidden in the shadows, her own eyes a mix of fear and confusion.
(What?)
The man chuckled "Now that you know who-or rather-what you are, do you no longer wish to help the prince?"
(Of course I do! I would do anything to see the prince smile again...please godfather...) The little duck quacked quickly as she flapped her newly discovered wing's, desperation evident in her eyes.
The gleam of the elders grin could just be seen in the gloom."Oh~ That is great news! Wonderful news! Then I, Drosslemeyer, the writer of trag-I mean-tales shall give you the key to your destiny!"
In that moment Ahiru felt a familiar weight around her neck before she was surrounded by a warm red glow, she could feel magic sparking around her as her wings lengthened and lost their feathers, her bill became a nose with a pair of soft lips underneath, what remained of her yellow feathers forming into long locks of fiery hair which twisted into a long braid behind her, trailing down to her long human legs. Drosslemeyer smiled widely as his image began to fade into the shadows of the school.
"And so a duck becomes a girl and a girl becomes a princess- don't disappoint me now godchild..." The man's shadow began to merge into the wall as Ahiru opened her eyes and looked down at her naked human form-wait!
"QUACK!" once again she was absorbed in lightening
"Careful~ if the duck goes 'quack' no one will understand, but if the girl goes 'quack'..." That was the last thing the writer said before his laughter faded into the night...
Ruby eyes sharpened as the entrance to the Griffindor common room opened to reveal the pale prince along with his dark knight gripping onto his arm forcefully. The raven haired girl stood up from her chair to glare at the green eyed boy.
"Where have you been with Mytho at this time of night? Are you trying to ruin my prince's reputation" her voice was harsh and demanding but regal all the same.
Fakir glanced at Rue, barely listening to what she had to say as he was too busy processing the information Mytho had given him...
Fakir grimaced when he noticed the scratches on Mytho's hand, the fool had managed to cause himself more damage then necessary-again.
"When will you learn to do as I tell you, all you ever do is cause trouble for others moron"
"I'm sorry..." Mytho was as vacant as ever with his answer
The dark-haired boy sighed. "What happened before? Who was with you?"
Mytho paused to think for a moment. "I don't know...she called out my name but I never met her before...she seemed familiar some how..."
Fakir's eyes narrowed ~Familiar?...~ He stopped walking and turned to face the younger boy.
"What do you mean familiar? What did they look like?" he demanded looking deep into his old eyes for any trace of defiance in his answer.
"I seem to know her but...I can't remember" The boy's eyes showed no trace of feeling, he was telling the truth.
"And her appearance..." Fakir glared in impatience
"...a swan princess with golden wings"
Fakir's eyes widened for a moment before he turned, dragging the young prince back to the dorms.
"Don't associate with that person again, understand"
"Yes, Fakir..."
"Well? What happened?" The raven haired girl scowled as Fakir turned away from her deep in thought.
~The swan with wings of gold...could it be...'Princess Tutu'?~ The dark haired boy pulled Mytho towards the boy's dorms, ignoring Rue's cries of anger.
~Is the prophecy coming true?...no matter~ Fakir lay back on his bed closing his eyes ~I won't let it happen~
Ahiru quietly walked down the hall towards the Hufflepuff common room, she had quickly left the bath room after stepping in one of the puddles and transforming back into a human- immediately putting on her nightgown.
"So if I'm a duck when did I become a girl? Was I a girl before-no that can't be right or I wouldn't be a duck in the first place-*gasp*-what if my original form was Tutu and I was transformed into a duck!- then into a girl again but with the ability to become Tutu- even though that could be my original form-but then wouldn't I have Tutu's powers or are they new?" Ahiru stopped walking for a moment to process her ramblings before sighing.
"No that's way too confusing...I'm probably just a duck!" she concluded with a nervous smile.
Her smile soon faded when she accepted it, she was a duck-nothing more, nothing less.
~At least I can help Mytho as Princess Tutu...I wonder-~ Ahiru's musing was stopped by two things.
The first was the sound of music.
The second was a wall.
"Qua?-ouch!"
The duck-girl rubbed her reddening nose as she sat up, quickly looking around her for the source of the sound.
"...Edel?"
"Hello, Ahiru"
"QUA-" Ahiru clasped her hand over her mouth before the noise could cause her transformation as she turned to look behind her.
Edel stood behind the girl, wearing an unusual outfit-even for wizards-decorated with purple and yellow while holding her musical jewellery box in front of her, Edel was hard to forget even without her pale green hair in an impossible hair-do that rivalled Ahiru's for the most bizarre, drawn back from her navy blue eyes and doll-like complexion.
"Have you found the answer to your questions? or perhaps a way to ask them?" She asked as the music faded.
Ahiru was confused for a moment before remembering her last conversation with her guardians maid in the carriage (ch.1).
"...Did you know that I was a-a-a-"
"A duck"
"Qua-er-yeah" Ahiru laughed awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. The duck-girl was starting to realise that her secret would be harder to keep than she realised ~I better be careful or the whole school will find out! What would Mytho think!-wait-What if he already found out!~
"Ahiru?"
The panicked red-head blinked, coming back to reality to stare up at the woman still standing behind her before quickly standing up and brushing of her dirtied night own.
"Ah! When did you arrive Edel, I didn't know you were going to be here-I'm not being expelled am I?" worry was evident on the 11 year old's features.
Edel gave her a gentle reassuring smile as she replied "I was requested to help teach Divination at Hogwarts some time ago" The two began to slowly make their way down the halls as they continued.
"I-is that so" almost immediately Ahiru's worry was swept away and replaced with a cheerful smile.
"That means we can see each other during school, I'm so glad you took the job miss Edel!-Ah!-I mean professor Elms-water " her smile turned slightly nervous as she realised her mistake.
"You may call me Edel, Ahiru, but maybe we should continue this conversation some other time" the pale woman replied calmly whilst stopping to gesture towards a familiar painting.
Ahiru quickly realised that it was the Hufflepuff entrance wondering how they had managed to get here so quickly ["The author has become uncertain and is lazy" "SHUT UP, EDEL!"].
The two smiled at one another bidding each other good night as the painting closed behind Ahiru, leaving Edel to stand in the hall, her smile swiftly replaced by an emotionless expression.
[YAY! TIME SKIPPING! XD]
*GROOOOOOWL*
Professor McGonagall paused from the notes she was in the process of writing, the basic technique to transfigure a match into a sewing needle, to raise an eyebrow in the direction of a familiar red-headed, sighing loudly she continued to teach the class as Ahiru kept her face planted on her desk, avoiding the sniggers and stares that were coming her way, only lifting up slightly to glare at Fakir on the next row when he quietly scoffed.
"Poor Ahiru~ Attempting to ignore her hunger so that she can become more lady-like for the dashing Mytho! Suffering through the pain and embarrassment to no avail~" Of course Ahiru's sadistic blonde friend was ecstatic at the duck-girls situation.
"That's your fault, Lillie"
"That's a lie!"
"Miss Yukimura, I hope that you and Miss May are not competing with Miss Ahiru's stomach in disturbing my lesson."
The three friends quickly shrank into their desks as their Transfiguration teacher gave them a hard glare before returning to the black board. After a few moments Pike turned to Lilie, continuing in a whisper.
"You could have at least let her eat something before dragging her off to the Griffindor table just so that you could talk to Harry Potter"
"But I wanted to see if he was crumbling under the weight of fame~"
"So why did you drag Ahiru with you?"
"If Ahiru falls for 'the boy who lived' as well as Mytho she'll be three times as hopeless~"
"...three?"
Ahiru sighed, deciding to leave the conversation there, not that she had really taken part in the first place. She turned to face the teacher, spreading out her crossed arms to take advantage of the space left to her, when they had arrived Pike had wanted to sit with Ahiru so that she could make sure that she didn't fall behind in class, where as, Lilie had been torn between leaving Ahiru on her own 'to struggle on her own against the inevitable, wishing for our comfort as we cheer from the sidelines' or sitting next to her 'to comfort her as she struggles and give reassurance'. In the end Ahiru sat on her own while Pike and Lilie sat on the desk next to her.
Her eye's gradually made their way to Mytho, he was sitting next to Fakir taking notes with a blank expression. Ahiru notices how different he looked in his school robes, the black robes made his white hair stand out more vividly than when he wore his usual white shirts and the gold of the Griffindor crest went well with his eyes, overall Ahiru believed he looked even more royal than before. Mytho turned to face Rue on the desk next to him, Rue was handing him one of his books, giving him a gentle smile as she did so.
~They look good together~ Ahiru thought to herself as she watched them.
Mytho wasn't the only one who suited the uniform, her raven hair blended nicely with her robes and her ruby eyes matched perfectly with the house colours, Ahiru felt a slight pang of envy at how well others seemed to carry off their new clothes, although she remembered that her friends thought her Hufflepuff robes made her look cute.
She stopped staring at the two to glare down at her sleeve, safety pins decorated the rolled-up ends of her sleeves, Pike had come up with the idea after Ahiru had got her sleeve trapped in a door she was closing but Ahiru still had problems since them pins had a habit of opening at the worst of times. They hadn't had enough pins to shorten the length of her robes, since she had wanted to leave room for growth, the black rim was begging to turn a dusty brown after trailing behind Ahiru's feet-and making their way under her feet on occasion. No matter how much her oversized clothes annoyed her she was quite happy that her house colours were similar to her usual choice of clothes.
"Now I will give each one of you a box of matches, at the end of the lesson I shall be looking to see which of you manages to make at least one look like a needle"
Ahiru gulped as she looked down at the match in front of her. The first time she had used a wand was at Ollivander's and that wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do...
Ahiru stood in front of an old shop, taking a moment to stare at the pealing sign above as she gathered her courage. She was in Diagon Alley and had been standing in front of this particular shop for some time, the shops name?- Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382BC.
The girl drew a long breath before pushing the door open and stepping in, a tinkling noise sounded as she entered the tiny place, there was barely anything inside except one empty chair and the piles of boxes all tightly filled on the many shelves that lined the walls. Seeing none around she slowly made her way toward one of the shelves to trace her fingers over each box before noticing the smudges of dust collecting on her fingers, she lifted her hand and blew on her fingertips causing dust from the box's in front to swirl up into her face.
"Qua-!" The red head staggered back coughing, knocking over the one piece of furniture in, the room. Ahiru landed next to the chair, her head spinning as she tried to catch her breath.
She was brought back to earth by a voice- well two voices.
"H-hey, you ok?"
Ahiru turned, just behind her were two girls-one with blue hair (see ch1) and one with blonde hair, both with completely different expressions on their faces.
"Aww~ Look at her confused face! Maybe her fall gave her amnesia! How cute~"
"I don't think she was that badly injured, Lillie"
"How could you be so cruel, Pike!" suddenly the girl was pulling Ahiru up...by her head, causing her to stiffen in pain. "How could you over look her injuries! Now look at her, trying to be strong when she's in so much pain! It's ok, smile~smile~"
The blue-haired girl sighed as she watched the other stretch Ahiru's face into a smile. "It's your fault she's in pain"
"That's a lie!" The duck-like girl felt relief flood over her as Lillie let go of her head and let her get up on her own.
"Sorry about that, I'm Pike and this is Lillie" The blue-haired girl shook Ahiru's hand as she spoke.
"I'm Ahiru, it's great to meet you" The red-head smiled at them both as they shook hands.
"Oh! What a cute name~ You did remind us of a duck, didn't she Pike?"
The group stopped what they were doing when they noticed an old man standing off to the side, he had silvery eyes and a slight smile as he looked at them.
"Good afternoon" the man nodded to them. "Which of you is my first customer?"
[time skipping XD]
Ahiru smiled at her new found friends as they admired their new wands. Pike had a 5-inch birch with a phoenix feather core, where as Lillie had a 6-inch blackthorn also with phoenix feather.
"Now that your friends have their wands would you mind telling me your name?" Ahiru turned to Mr Ollivander. The man leaned forward to get a closer look at her face, his silvery eyes staring widely, before continuing. "You seem familiar to me. Perhaps I sold a wand to one of your parents?"
The red-head shuffled nervously under his stare. "My name's Ahiru- just Ahiru. My god father said that I look a bit like my mother"
The shop keeper leaned back from her with a frustrated sigh. "Nevermind I'm sure it will come to me later. Now hold out your wand arm"
Ahiru held up her right arm and watched as the man took his measurements before he walked off to one of the shelves, leaving the measuring tape to carry on taking more unusual measurements of Ahiru's head of it's own accord.
"Now let me see. This might do the trick, willow and unicorn hair. Seven inches. Nice and flexible. Just give it a- will you stop that!" The man glared at the tape measure as it ceased in measuring the duck-girls eyebrows to fall to the ground as he handed the wand to Ahiru.
She gave the wand a hesitant stare.
~What if nothing happens? Would that mean I didn't have magic?~ building up her courage she waved the wand sharply towards the chair. There was a loud bang as the chair exploded into tiny splinters of wood, causing everyone to duck down to avoid any injury, after a few moments Mr Ollivander spoke.
"...I think it would be best if we try a few other wands- without waving them"
The three girls nodded.
"Well this is only getting more interesting!"
The old man seemed to be quite entertained by process of finding Ahiru's wand, they had already been there an hour and tried half of the wands in the shop and had yet to find a suitable match.
"Hmmm. I wonder if that would work?-yes-that will do the trick. Wait here I'll be right back"
The three customers watched as the man made his way to the back of the shop as quickly as possible, muttering to himself as he did. After a few minutes he was back, pulling out a wand from a slim black and yellow box eagerly.
"Very unusual. Eight inches. Maple but with a mix of unicorn hair and duck feather. Not a traditional element for wand making but useful none the less." he smiled as he passed the wand to Ahiru.
As soon as she held the wand Ahiru felt her heart beat quicken with anticipation, she gave it a small flick and smiled when a tiny silver star shot out the end, twisting in the air a couple of times before burning out, leaving a tiny cloud of glitter to fall to the floor.
"Well I can see that you are a very unique girl miss Ahiru" Mr Ollivander smiled as he watched the sparkling cloud dissapear. "There has never been another duck feather wand before and I doubt there ever will be, take good care of it"
The amazed red-head smiled widely as she nodded to the man, accepting a crushing bear hug from Lillie as Pike congratulated her.
BANG!
Everyone jumped as a small explosion slipped out of the end of Ahiru's new wand, causing her to topple over with the impact.
"Best to try and not get too emotional when handling it just yet" the shop keeper sweat dropped as he looked down at the disorientated girl...
The girls blue eyes stared down at the match with new found determination as she pulled out her wand, aiming it at the small object as if to threaten it. She quickly copied the movement they had been shown, picturing a needle in her mind, the end of her wand glowed slightly but appart from that nothing happened. This carried on to the end of the lesson, Ahiru and her friends quickly scurried off to their next lessons, chatting about the various paintings that lined the walls of the castle. After they had finished there morning and evening classes Ahiru made her way towards the lake, telling her friends she'd see them in the common room later, she needed time to think and now that classes were over she was finally able to have a muse about her new situation...
Man, that chapter was long! I thought it would never end!
So there we are! Ahiru's found out about her two secrets, Fakir knows something about Tutu, Mytho's spaced out, Rue...actually didn't do much (I'll need to work on that) and Pike+Lillie will forever cause Ahiru trouble ^v^
I hate how I've written this-SO sloppy
For anyone that wants to know, I decided Ahiru, Pike and Lillie's wands using generators- I finally settled on one ( . ) although the duck feather thing was just an idea I had.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it didn't get too dull ^ ^;
I do not own PT or HP
please review- I like to know what people think!