Disclaimer: Princess Tutu does not belong to me, and neither to the characters. I only claim some responsibility for those whose names are unfamiliar. The rest is up to the story.
Discussion
Fakir raced through the empty halls. Most classes were still in session, so no one was around to question his hurry. Not that he would have stopped to tell them. He turned onto the columned walkway and saw Autor running down the hall towards him. They met midway and stopped, both exclaiming simultaneously.
"Things are changing-!"
"Something's happening-!"
They cut off as they realized they were saying similar things.
"Why didn't you warn me?" Fakir accused.
"Nothing had changed until just now!" Autor argued, "Or at least until today. There were some girls in the library talking about having dreams that Rue would return, and Mytho as well. They didn't give names, but the descriptions were clear enough."
"Well the piano player for the ballet class has just turned back into a giant penguin, too!" Fakir informed Autor.
Autor's eyes widened; "This is moving quicker than I thought," he mused.
"What you mean 'you thought'? You mean you thought about this happening?"
"Well obviously, considering you have written changes into reality before, some of them quite drastic. How much of that was really you is still questionable, but the fact remains that it is a possibility."
"Obviously;" Fakir retorted, then tried to focus on the problem again; "But the question is how to fix it? Just what is 'it'?"
Just then Duck flapped to their feet, having finally run the distance from the library. She was squawking and pointing backwards, trying to communicate with Fakir. "Quaaack! Quack! Quack quaaaaaack quack qua-quack, quack quack, quack, qua-"
"Yes, I just told him about that," Autor told her impatiently. At Fakir's quizzical look, Autor explained, "I was following her when I overheard the girls talking. She's probably trying to tell you about that."
"Quaaack?!" Duck responded indignantly.
"It's not my fault if you didn't notice that I was there," Autor retorted.
"Back to the point, then;" Fakir said urgently, "What exactly has changed that caused all of this to change too?"
"It must be the ending," Autor said quickly, "It's the only thing you've added on since yesterday."
"Well then tear it up!" Fakir said immediately, "Burn it if we have to!"
"It's too late for that!" Autor argued; "The only reason that worked with the other stories was because they hadn't changed anything yet, if they had the power to change anything at all. You remember the Ghost Knight, don't you? That story was missing its ending, yet it still came to life. It probably happened before the ending was torn out, and lingered after the fact."
"Well… A heart shard was involved then!" Fakir tried to argue, "And who knows if the legend from before was even true? This town was warped under Drosselmeyer's hand."
"That's exactly my point," Autor insisted, "Given this town's past, it's difficult to tell what was actually the past and what wasn't. If you were changing something else, I might be able to spot it easier, but things seem to be returning back to the way they were before. If I noticed something weird, I might just think that I'm remembering what it used to be like, or maybe not even notice it at all because I am also returning to accepting what used to be considered 'normal'."
Duck looked confused, but Fakir quickly moved on; "Fine, then what do you suggest?"
Autor sighed. "The only thing to do is to go back through your story, look for where things could have changed our world, or rather undone changes, and rewrite them."
"We don't have time for that!" Fakir argued.
"Do we have time to think of something else?" Autor argued back; "You're the author, you should remember everything you wrote down. Even if you don't have the exact quotes, you should recall what events took place. Were there certain times or… locations when you felt that things could go badly? For Goldcrown?"
"… Well, a few; but I avoided changing things!"
"Well obviously you didn't!" Autor retorted, extending the papers he had with him; "Now find those places and analyze them! Point them out to me, and I can help if I haven't already left notes."
Fakir took the pages and started thumbing through them. He stopped, though; "I need a desk. And pen."
He strode off to look for an empty classroom, and Autor and Duck followed.
Duck was settled on a chair back at a room in the library, anxiously watching Fakir as he poured over the papers in front of him. Autor paced behind him, finally shushed from his rambling phase after Fakir had stopped him with his arm and asked him to 'let him think'. His tone had been severe, but it wasn't yelling, and he wouldn't let go of Autor until he became quiet.
After nearly an hour of shuffled papers, glances here and there, explanations of notes, and some abandoned arguments, Fakir didn't feel any closer to a conclusion. He put his pen down and leaned back in his chair, one hand on his face.
"Did you find it?" Autor asked. Duck looked on hopefully.
"No," Fakir muttered from under his hand.
"Then get back at it!" Autor said, "Or give me some of the papers to look at."
Duck glared at Autor; "Quack! Quack quack!"
"Just give me some papers you think might be problematic, with this problem at least," Autor said, ignoring Duck, "We need to-"
"Quiet, both of you," Fakir ordered. He moved to hand from his face and looked at the papers. He was trying to analyze them, but he did not look very hopeful.
After hesitating for a few moments, Autor finally sat down. "… Why don't you tell me some of the points you're thinking about," he suggested.
Fakir looked up at Autor, and was about to start when he stopped himself. He paused, then glanced self-consciously at Duck.
Autor looked at her too; "What?" Then he saw the look in Fakir's eyes. "… You still haven't talked to her about this?" He rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air briefly. "Well it's a little late for a synopsis now! Don't mind her, just tell me what parts are of concern right now."
"Quack!" Duck argued, standing up in her chair, "Qua-qua quack quaaack! Quack, qua-"
"Duck," Fakir cut in sharply, closing his eyes, "… Autor is right. There isn't time to explain." He looked down at the papers, avoiding looking at her. "I'd rather you not hear the fragments out of context. Could you please keep out of hearing range?"
Both Duck and Autor were shocked. Duck couldn't get Fakir to look at her, and while the request hurt, she quickly covered it with anger and huffed. She pointedly got up and waddled off.
Fakir watched her go out of the corner of his eye, guilt weighing his gaze down, but he couldn't introduce her to the story like this. He wanted to thank her for cooperating, apologize to her, but she was already around the corner. Fakir sighed.
"Well?" Autor prodded, back to business, "Happy now?"
Fakir pursed his lips and looked back at the papers.
"Now tell me what points have been causing problems."
Fakir hesitated, but knew he couldn't waste any more time; "The earliest big plot point involved Sylvia getting outside. If she had actually told Kurt her plans to leave, he would never have let her and that would be the end of it. But that would also destroy the possibility of the ending that happens in the book, which needs to happen because that's how it all happened the first time. If at the end, Sylvia went straight to the Prince and the Raven instead of sidetracking to the troops just to find out the Prince isn't there, she could get there sooner. But that wouldn't change what's already happened. It would get to the ending required, but it wouldn't change anything else I've written, either. Nothing in the parts with the Prince's knights was significant enough to cause all of this."
"What about earlier?" Autor suggested, "When the Princess danced for the knights? There was a bit of negotiation to get that done. What if it hadn't worked out?"
"If she didn't dance for the knights they brought the supplies to, that may have gotten them back to the town before the crows attacked," Fakir replied, "But that would bring back the problem of not getting to the Prince at all. Likewise, if Kurt had captured Marie earlier and gotten outside quicker, it'd be the same problem. He'd get Sylvia back to town before the crow attack, and any chance of seeing the Prince would be gone for quite a while."
Duck had lingered at the edge of a bookshelf, out of sight. She understood Fakir's worries, somewhat, but she didn't believe that justified him in keeping all the information to himself. She became concerned as she heard the mention of crows and the Prince, though. Was Fakir writing about Mytho in the story, as Prince Siegfried? Was Rue the princess mentioned? Why were there crows still attacking people? And why was the Raven still involved? He was gone now!
"Unless…" Fakir mused, "that just doesn't happen in this story…"
"What do you mean?" Autor asked.
"What if this isn't the story of her disappearing?" Fakir continued, sounding more hopeful; "What if this is just a story to explain why Sylvia cares so much for the Prince? I could end it with her being safe behind the wall, and leave off even mentioning anything of actually meeting the Prince or the Raven."
"What? And leave all that character potential unused?"
"Isn't it better for her to be safe than 'fulfilled'?" Fakir responded, "And I'm not taking the ending from her, just postponing it until later."
Autor rolled his eyes. "That's just an excuse. You just don't think you can write it, even though you most assuredly can."
"What about the others?" Fakir continued, avoiding Autor's remark, "You were saying that I left them too open at the end. If Kurt got Sylvia got back safely to Ironrod, it'd take care of Marie's open ending. Leopold's as well. Whether they get stuck outside or not, they would have the charms to protect them because Sylvia wouldn't be there. It would be almost like nothing had happened, except that Sylvia has more reason to love and help the Prince later."
"But… you can't just end a story like that!" Autor responded, "Not when you started it off with so many clichés! If you end it by making absolutely no progress with the characters, except maybe Leopold, and arguably Marie depending on what is done with her, then there is hardly a point in writing it!"
"Well it wasn't exactly my first choice either," Fakir responded, "but I want to make it safe again."
"Safe doesn't make for good stories, Fakir."
"It does when those stories start to become your life."
Autor pursed his lips and eventually sighed; "Fine. But good luck convincing reality to believe you if I don't."
"What do you mean?" Fakir asked, "I'll just change a little bit of the dialogue, and the rest will take care of itself."
Autor scoffed. "You should know better than that by now. Once a story gets going, you have to fight for control of it. Change too much without enough skill, and the story won't believe you anymore, and neither will reality."
"I know," Fakir replied, "That's why we're here; I seem to have gotten a better hold of that skill-"
"So you can't just throw it away again!" Autor returned.
Fakir looked at him for a few moments. "… And how would this be throwing it away?"
"Because you've created a full character, Fakir, like it or not. A few of them, actually. And you know how they work. You have to manipulate them appropriately. Just pushing them back behind the wall won't fix things, especially for them, even I can see that."
"… I'm trying to protect them-" Fakir started.
"You can't protect everyone, Fakir," Autor stated, "You should know that by now. Especially concerning this story. You knew the ending when you started. You can't just pander it off like you never intended to make it happen. Maybe that's the reason the story is changing our world again; maybe it's because you never wanted to write the ending, so it never happened. If you truly think your powers have matured to that point, then perhaps Princess Tutu never sacrificed herself in the book. The Prince and the Raven were the only living creatures to come through from that world, that hasn't changed. So if this is the case, then Tutu never existed here."
Fakir looked at Autor, stricken. Autor had his cold, calculating gaze on, but it lacked edges. It was like he was merely stating facts instead of hurling them like knives at Fakir. But they still hurt like blades.
"Pick which reality you want to protect;" Autor continued, "the story's or ours."
Fakir got up, stood for a few seconds, then handed Autor some papers. "Here," he said vacantly, "look through it again. I'm going for a walk." Then he turned and left.
Autor wanted to argue, but as Fakir was already turning around a bookshelf, he hmph'd and went to work on the papers again.
Duck stayed where she was, unsure what all was happening. Fakir was dealing with a lot more serious things than his other small stories since she had become a duck… If this had the power to change both the worlds, Fakir must be having a hard time right now. Autor wasn't helping. But even if Fakir didn't want to tell her about it, for whatever reason, she should be there for him. She left the library to follow Fakir, balking briefly as she passed a student with what looked like a lizard tail. She hoped he thought of something soon.