Bara no Scarlet
Chapter Three
Council
The Rose Council was seated at the table inlaid with the rose of Ohtori campus. Two males and two females all sat quietly with teacups before them, a slender pink haired female serving them tea.
The black-haired male moved to break the silence as the final cup was filled. "Thank you, Ayomi. You may go."
Ayomi nodded, turning quietly and leaving the room and the four at the table.
"Pathetic. She has no thought in her head of her own," said the redheaded female as she picked up her teacup and contemplated the tea within it.
"That is precisely why she is the Rose Bride, Mariko. And it is why we must duel to see who has the power to command her," the black-haired male replied.
"Command her…" echoed the short-haired female. It was rumored that her dark brown hair was once long, but she had cut it short when she'd become a duelist. "Somehow… I'm not so sure that's fair, Keuske."
"Fair or not, it is the way of things, and the only way the Rose Bride knows. Try as you might, you can't change that, Rika," the black-haired male named Keuske replied.
"There's a new letter," interposed the blonde male, who had remained silent through the entire discussion. He held up the envelope, offering it across the table to Keuske. "As the current Champion, you read it."
Shoulder-length black hair fell forward as Keuske reached for the letter, and he pushed his hair back as he sat back in the chair. He looked at the seal on the envelope before breaking it and opening the flap to pull out the letter within. He scanned it for a moment, then paused and read it aloud. "A new duelist has arrived to Ohtori. Expect difficulties. The next duel should take place before the passing of the new moon."
"Difficulties? What is End of the World saying? Is this new duelist powerful?" Mariko mused before she took a sip of tea.
"The new moon is two weeks away. I wonder if the new duelist will turn up before then…" Rika said, taking the letter from Keuske and scanning it herself.
"We should figure out who arrived on campus recently. Perhaps a new student is the duelist." The blue eyes of the blonde looked over to Mariko. "You're in a position to find that information for us, aren't you?"
The red ponytail swung back and forth as she nodded. "I should be able to have the information in a day, Izumi."
The blonde nodded, looking off to the shadows where he knew that the Rose Bride waited quietly. "The sooner you have the information, the sooner we can plan. We should adjourn. Our meeting is keeping the Rose Bride from attending to the Rose Garden, and we all know how End of the World feels about the Rose Garden."
The four stood, each lifting almost-empty teacups in a toast. In one voice, they repeated the words that had been the closing phrase to the initial letters they had received. "To the Absolute Revolution!"
The Rose Garden was the only place on Ohtori's campus where one could find the rare violet rose, which gave off the scent that everyone associated with the campus. It was against the school rules to do the plants any harm, including picking a live blossom or leaf. Anshii had been so careful when she had been the Rose Bride, always caring for the roses as if they were a part of her. Indeed, they almost were, for she was one of the few who knew the name of the flower. The Rose of Dios only bloomed in Ohtori's campus, on the very spot where she had sealed her brother's powers away so very long ago.
She stood in the Rose Garden, looking at the roses the color of his hair, remembering the events, recalling the anguish, the pain that he had felt, knowing that he would die in vain efforts to rescue princesses who didn't know any better. He was a prince; it was his duty to rescue princesses. And she was a witch, doomed never to be a princess.
She loved her brother, and every time she saw him sacrifice a part of himself, she got angrier and angrier that the princesses never learned, just relied on him to rescue them. Let them learn, she had told him. But he couldn't ignore their cries.
Finally, the one day that she had found him beaten and bloody, yet called to rescue another twit of a princess, she decided that she had had enough. She rescued her brother, hiding him in a barn, healing his wounds with her powers and finally sealing a part of him away so that he couldn't go to the aid of the princesses.
But the people had come to expect his assistance, and when they learned what she had done, they attacked her. She had taken each sword willingly, for she could not die, and what was the pain of a sword when she had saved her brother's life?
She hadn't expected him to turn on her, to want to reclaim his powers. Not in the way that he had.
A voice broke her reverie, words soft and gentle. "You came to look at the roses?"
Anshii turned to see the girl who was not Utena standing there. "Oh… yes. I used to like the roses very much when I was a student."
Pale pink lips curled. "The roses are nice. They don't ask anything of you, and are pleased with whatever you give them." Blue eyes settled on the ring around Anshii's neck, and for a moment, it felt as if a ghost were in the garden. The girl Ayomi frowned slightly, and then turned away. "Excuse me. I'm needed elsewhere…"
As she watched the other leave, Anshii reached up and fingered the ring. Duelist… her?