Hi again! Act Ten already up! If I could dance now, I would, believe me. Anyway! Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Princess Tutu doesn't belong to me, but to their creator. The original story was MarchenHope's idea!
"Neko-sensei won't be happy about us leaving" muttered Rue as the four of them reached Fakir's house "but we can't stay at school."
"As things are now" Mytho agreed "nightingales might pop out of nowhere." Ahiru nodded, as her mind wandered into a different thought: The Truth, and the only one who could reveal it, Akiro.
'I must know' she thought as she walked into the house, and headed upstairs. 'I don't care if it hurts me, I need to know!'
"Ahiru, wait up! Akiro could be asleep" muttered Fakir, as he followed after her along with Mytho and Rue.
As she made it to Fakir's bedroom, Ahiru hesitated on opening the door. 'No! I must learn the truth, I have to know!' she told herself as she grabbed the knob and walked into the room.
Ahiru was up, and out of bed, looking through the window when Ahiru walked in, followed by the others. "Akiro, you shouldn't be up, yet" The redhead turned around, surprised to see Ahiru at that time.
"Ahiru, why are you home so early?" He asked, before noticing the presence of the other three in the room, his hands formed fists. "Was it Garhyn?" He asked, Fakir nodded, and the amethyst eyed punched the wall.
"Stop it!" Ahiru said grabbing the red haired's arm as he prepared to hit the wall again. "You are only going to hurt yourself!" Her pleading eyes calmed him down, but they could all feel his anger fuming. She brought him back to the bed, and helped him to lie down.
"I should have been there, damn it!" He exclaimed.
"You are wounded!" Replied Ahiru, they all flinched to her voice, as she had never sounded so angry at anyone "you wouldn't have been able to help us, even if you wanted to, besides, we made it just fine! Stop blaming yourself!"
Akiro looked down to the blankets, feeling ashamed of his own behavior. "I'm sorry, Ahiru" he apologized "I was just..." she silenced him, by placing her hand on his head.
"It's alright, Akiro. But we came back because we... rather I have something to ask of you" he looked at her and shook his head quickly.
"You have no need to know about that man. You shall not know." He said turning away from her.
"Akiro, I will not take a no for an answer!" Ahiru declared grabbing his wrist "I must know the truth! If I don't know how to stop Garhyn, everyone I love will surely be taken away from me!" AS her eyes began to dampen, Akiro felt the sting of guilt shooting through him.
"Ahiru, calm down." Said Rue, putting her hand onto her friend's shoulder. "Before you break down."
Akiro kept silent for a few moments, but he finally decided to speak again. "I give up" He said "Sit down everyone, I will tell you everything." Ahiru let go of the redhead's wrist, and sat next to him, rue sat at the end of the bed with Mytho, while Fakir leaned against the closest wall.
"The reason for the hatred between Garhyn and me, why he thinks you belong to him... It all began with the legend of the Holy White Swan." Began Akiro, closing his eyes, as he recalled the story. "It began over a thousand years ago; when the land around the town was nothing but a big lake. A gentle song beckoned animals and humans to the lake, since from its center, a bright light shone down from Heaven, and a beautiful white swan descended from within the clouds."
"The Holy White Swan" Rue breathed, as she saw the image of a sawn coming down to the lake.
Akiro nodded "Yes, as she touched the lake's surface, plenty of the small and large islands appeared. People and animals, began to walk over those, hoping to get closer to the swan's pure light. As they were all drawn towards her, music played, and the swan began to dance by herself. It is said, that her dance was more beautiful than the rays of sun and moon together; and soon, everyone began to dance with each other, while the swan's light shone upon them."
"That's a lovely story" said Fakir, "but where do you and Garhyn fit in there?"
"The first Scarlet Swan appeared from the far lands of the red desert," explained Akiro "after he heard the rumors about the Holly White Swan he was, of course, drawn to the lake. As he saw the White Swan, he was so charmed by her dance, that he begged her to stay by her side, so that nobody would dare to hurt her, and she could keep on dancing."
"The Scarlet Swan, he wanted to be close to her because of her warmth, and her kindness towards others." Ahiru said smiling, thinking on how beautiful their dance must have been.
Akiro nodded as a smile appeared on his face as well. "But soon, it would come to an end" He continued, his smile was quickly erased from his face. "The White Swan had heard a sad voice, singing from within the woods surrounding her lake; she was drawn towards it, since she wished to know the reason of such sadness." At these words, Ahiru remembered the dream in which she met Garhyn the first time.
"Was it another lake? Deep in the woods?" Asked she, which made Akiro stare at her, shock appearing onto his amethyst eyes.
"H-How do you know?" He asked, the others mirrored his expression, as they were also surprised she knew of such a detail.
"Akiro" She said sighing, as she closed her eyes. "Do you remember I had a nightmare a while back? The one in which I first met Garhyn. That place it was, and we were singing to each other."
"What were you singing?" Akiro asked, grabbing her hand.
Ahiru closed her eyes, recalling the dream, and the lyrics to the melody she had heard back then.
"Swan Hime, Swan Hime, why do you cry?
In the clearing of a Lake painted by the stars
I met the Prince of Songs,
And dance to his gentle melody,
Under the cover of the Twin Moons
We sang and danced.
Soon our song ended
He made the Twin Moons rise again
To make me his bride.
Swan Hime, Swan Hime, why do you dance?
To remember the songs hidden under the night sky
So that I may remember the voice of the Prince
And pray to dance with him again
Even as I am hidden away,
By the loving wings of the Scarlet Swan.
Swan Hime, Swan Hime, why are you scared?
My dear chijin has lost his way
His song, now of Death and Lust,
Brings only sorrow to my chest
How have I longed to hear his voice,
This shell now is nothing,
But the empty shell of my life
He will capture my dance,
And bound himself to me,
Under the light of the Twin Moons"
As Ahiru opened her eyes again, she found the shocked stare of Akiro looking directly at her.
"That is the same song the Holy White Swan sang after she met the nightingale Prince after he had become dark and lusting for her, making the promise to come back for her on the day of Twin Moons." Fear ran through Akiro's voice as he spoke.
"So that's why you hate each other so much" Fakir said, understanding "if Garhyn takes Ahiru away, this town's light will disappear."
"Indeed. If Ahiru disappears, so will the light she gave to this land." Akiro answered looking down "and the whole town will become nothing but a wasteland. Not a single thing alive, all there will be is: Death."
Rue held her breath, as Mytho kept his eyes closed, trying to erase the vision they had imagined of the future. "But, why does Garhyn thinks Ahiru belongs to him?" Asked the albino.
"When the White Swan found the other lake," explained Akiro "the Nightingale Prince was singing a melody to the moon, the song was beautiful, but brought tears to the Swan's eyes, since it carried great sadness. She soon danced to his voice as she asked: 'Why do you sing so sorrowfully under the moon and stars?' 'Since I'm not fit to rule the night' answered he 'I have no right to be seen nor heard by someone whose light is so pure and bright.'"
Akiro paused, looking at his friends, as they began to understand Garhyn's reasons. "But the White Swan wouldn't leave his side. 'You can't always be perfect' she said 'you can always do your best. Come, dance with me. Your voice should be heard by everyone' he then, accepted dancing with her."
"So what then?" Asked Rue still a little confused "what made him so obsessed about the Swan?"
"The Nightingale Prince soon came to love the Holy White Swan, his feelings were deep, so much, that he wanted her light only for himself" explained Akiro, as he leant against the pillows "but when he met the Scarlet Swan, he could only see him as a love rival. And, after getting into a painful fight with the Scarlet Swan, the Prince vowed to the Holy White Swan his bride on the day of the Twin Moons."
He kept quiet, letting the news settle into each of his friends. "The day of the Twin Moons, did it ever come?" Asked Ahiru "What are the Twin Moons? What is that day about?"
Akiro looked at her, his amethyst eyes fixated onto Ahiru's blue ones. "The day of the Twin Moons" He began "it's a day when two moons appear on the night sky, one of them is black, while the other one is white. Together, they symbolize good and evil. In this day, the most powerful forces are drawn to each other." Ahiru flinched, as she understood what it meant.
"And they can't avoid each other" continued Akiro, looking away "they will find the other, no matter where they are. The first time The Holy White Swan and the Prince of Nightingales met, was on the Day of the Twin Moons, and it a promise has made for them to meet once more the day the moons return."
Ahiru stood up, her heart beating loudly as she heard the last words of the story. "Then, their fates will be forever tied to each other, and they will be unable to break such a fate." Akiro said "The Twin Moons will appear at the end of the year, the last time they came, was a thousand years ago. Ahiru, you are the tenth descendant of the Holy White Swan, the Twin Moons will appear during your lifetime" That was just all the girl could take.
Ahiru fled the room , her eyes flooding quickly with tears. "Ahiru! Come back!" Fakir called following after her, as she ran out of the house and down the street.
"Is her fate really tied to Garhyn's?" Rue muttered, as she began to cry for her friend, Mytho hugged her, closing his eyes to fight the tears back.
Akiro held his forehead in shame. 'I haven't told her yet about how to break her fate, she wouldn't do it, though, she is way too gentle.' He thought as tears began to slip down his cheeks. 'Forgive me, Elaine, I have failed to protect Ahiru.'
Ahiru kept running, her heart felt like a bomb about to explode, so quickly it was pounding. 'If I leave this place' she thought 'everyone will die, and I will belong to Garhyn!' Of course she didn't want such fate, as she had finally come to understand her feelings for Fakir.
She stopped running soon, noticing she was at the Northern Park, she fell to her knees, crying. "I don't want this fate" She said among sobs "I want to stay with everyone!" Fakir reached her soon.
"Ahiru" he called, she turned towards him, her eyes red because of tears.
"Fakir" She said as tears began to slide out of her eyes once more.
The emerald eyed knelt next to her. "Ahiru, it's going to be alright" He said, taking her hand, and pulling her to her feet.
"But Fakir," she replied "it I can't find a way to stop my fate, I'll never see anyone again! I can't deal with that!" She sobbed, Fakir pulled her into his arms, his hands around her shoulders.
"Ahiru, it doesn't matter what we know" he said tightening his hug "we'll change this fate. I promised to stay by your side, I won't break that promise!"
Ahiru's tears began to flow faster, and she returned the hug. 'Fakir, I love you, I want to tell you so much...' she thought, keeping her tongue quiet, and they remained in each others' arms for a long while, enjoying their company.
Julia sat at her desk, the entire room covered in ice. "Well, this letter should be enough to get Garhyn's help." She said "after all, he wants Ahiru, and I'll get my Fakir in return." She sealed the letter inside an envelope.
She stood up, and walked over to the cage that held one of Garhyn's servants, she opened the cage, and the nightingale hopped onto her hand. "Now, take this to your Prince" she said giving it the letter "Go, and don't keep him waiting." The window flew open with a frozen breeze, and the bird took off with the letter.
Watching it fly away, Julia smirked. 'Everything is going according to plan' she thought 'once I get my Fakir, I'll turn him into the cold, heartless person he used to be.' She began to recall the memories from the time she came down to town for the first time in her life.
She had been six, or seven, during winter time, and she was alone in the park, dancing to the song of the snow faeries.
As she danced to the lovely melody, she heard a voice calling out to her, which made her lose a step. "Hey! You're getting sick if you keep dancing out here!" She turned around, to freeze the person, as she locked her sight into a tanned boy's emerald eyes. That was Fakir, who was nine at the time.
The snow continued falling, as she kept her stare on his eyes, until he turned away, and walked off. "Keep on dancing, you do it very well." He had said before he disappeared from her sight in the snow. Her heartbeat started to quicken, and she knew she had fallen in love with that boy.
"You'll be mine soon, my beloved Fakir, very soon" She said before laughing, without noticing the silver sparkle coming from the darkness of the corridor, and the faint frown it carried.
So that was it! I hope you enjoyed! Please try reading one of my other stories, if you like my writing style... If you don't, then... I can do nothing Review everyone!
Lu