Akio stared at the door
as it closed in his face. For the longest time, he just sat there, his
eyes glued to the spot she had just been standing. He couldn't believe
it. She had been freed; Utena Tenjou actually had been the prince Anthy
had been waiting an eternity for. He frowned and finally dropped his eyes
from the door. Utena Tenjou… As he thought about her, he felt a strange
mixture of emotions spur inside of him. He felt anger…anger at her for
taking his sister, his Rose Bride, away from him…freeing her from her prison.
He felt regret…regret for letting her get away, letting her try and be
a prince. He felt frustration…frustration at himself for not being able
to convince her to be a princess…his princess.
"Anthy…my little mouse.
I can't believe I let you slip out of my fingers…you and your...prince."
Anthy Himemaya smiled
and hummed to herself as she bounded outside of Ohtori campus. ChuChu sat
and swayed happily on her shoulder, her soft purple hair tickling the side
of his face. Anthy slowed her steps as she came to a light violet car,
with the name DIOS on the license plate. Anthy placed her suitcase in the
backseat and watched as ChuChu jumped brightly into the passenger seat
and buckled awkwardly. She smiled.
"Are you ready, my little
friend?" she asked in her soft voice.
"Chu!" he answered,
tugging cutely at his gold earring.
Anthy reached over to turn the key and started
her key. Soon, they were off and driving on the road into the Outside World.
Anthy turned on
the radio and was greeted by a recognizable pair of female voices.
"Hello! And welcome
to our little game!" the first voice said.
"Our contestant tonight
is a familiar one—Mister End of the World!!"
Anthy's green eyes widened for a second, then
she relaxed. She was free. Her brother could do nothing to her anymore.
"Well, Mister End of
the World," the second voice cooed. "Our question tonight is a tough one.
Are you ready?"
"Yes. I am," he replied
in a smooth voice.
"All right! Here is
the question!"
"What is love? A: A
beautiful rose? B: A New Years' Parade? Or C: A very tall tree?"
"Hmm, what is love?"
Before she could hear his answer, Anthy reached
over and turned the radio off. ChuChu looked up at her and the two rode
in silence. Finally, Anthy sighed and smiled again.
"Well, ChuChu…now we
can finally do what we want."
"Chu!" he chimed, nodding
his head.
"I've come a long way…waiting
for this day…" Anthy whispered.
ChuChu hummed a song to himself as Anthy drove,
letting her thoughts wander back into her memories.
The mob of angry men
gathered outside the small hut.
"Prince Dios! Please
come out!" They called. "You're the only one who can save us!"
Anthy looked from the closed and bolted down,
and back to her prince. His eyes fluttered slowly open.
"P-Princess…" he
whimpered.
'No, brother, she thought.
It is only your sister. You can never make me a princess…so I will always
be just a witch.'
He opened his eyes all the way and moved to
sit down.
"No! Dios, you mustn't
move! You are hurt!"
He looked at her weakly.
"But the people need
me," he protested, as she made him lay down.
Once he was on his back, Anthy placed a curse
on him. She trapped him, here, in this place. So he could never go out
and turn girls into princesses again. She went to the door, ready to tell
the men outside that the prince could no longer come out. They grew silent
as she stepped outside.
"Hey! Who are you?
Where's the prince?"
"Dios is inside.
He cannot come out and help you. I have sealed him away for good," she
explained.
The men grew even angrier.
"You witch!" they
yelled.
Anthy's eyes widened and their pitchforks
and swords glinted inside of them. She cried out in pain as they stabbed
her. ***
"…She must stay there
forever. It is her eternal punishment for sealing away the prince."
Anthy slowly opened her green eyes halfway.
Before her, she could see her brother, the prince Dios standing there.
He was talking to a little girl with long pink hair and big blue eyes.
She moaned quietly, the pain coursing through her body. She could hear
her…the little girl. She was crying for the prince to help her. But Anthy
knew that he could never help her or be HER prince.
"Well then, I'll
grow up and become a prince!" the little girl stated firmly. "And then,
I'm going to save her!"
Despite her pain, Anthy couldn't help but
smile a little. She had never heard such sweet words spoken before. She
would try to never forget them. ***
Anthy's mind returned
to the present, her hands automatically steering the wheel. She realized
that ChuChu had turned the radio back on. End of the World was still playing
the girls' game.
"OK, Mr. End of the
World, which of these is a prince? A: a cardboard cutout? B: a can of collard
greens? Or C: a friend with shining eyes?" the second voice was asking.
"Hmm, a prince, huh?"
Anthy turned the radio off again. ChuChu's ears
drooped. She smiled at him.
"Why don't you get some
rest, ChuChu? We might have a long drive ahead of us."
"Chu…"
He curled up and was soon fast asleep. Anthy's
eyes focused on the road. But she was soon seeing other things. She was
seeing Utena. She remembered when she first saw Utena, how angered she
was at Saonji's behavior towards her, her surprise when she learned they
were engaged and had to live together. She remembered the wonderful way
Utena dueled. She loved to watch her duel—it was like she was dancing.
Ever since day one, Utena had been everything Anthy had wanted her prince
to be…almost everything, at least.
But then Utena had met
her brother and everything changed. Anthy knew that girls instantly melted
when they were around Akio, but she imagined that Utena would have fallen
for him like she did. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. Yes,
Utena had fallen in love with him. It broke Anthy's heart, but she couldn't
understand why. Utena had the right to fall in love…she was free. She wasn't
imprisoned for an eternity… Anthy shook her head. No, Utena was not. But
now, neither was she.
Anthy could feel Utena's
eyes on her as she watered the roses. Utena had been acting different recently…always
talking about Akio. And always mentioning how he was engaged, as if she
was trying constantly to remind herself.
"Anthy, look at me,"
Utena said.
Surprised by the order, Anthy turned her head
with wide eyes.
Utena stared back at her with her beautiful
blue eyes.
"Anthy…have we…met
before?" she asked in an odd, soft voice.
Anthy wanted to answer. She wanted to cry
out "Yes! Yes, Miss Utena! Do you remember?" She wanted her to remember
so badly… She wanted her to forget about Akio and remember her promise…her
promise to be a prince and save her. But as always, she never got the chance.
Akio had walked in. ***
The wind was whipping
around Anthy's hair wildly as she fell. There was so much pain inside of
her…from her eternal punishment, the way she had taken advantage of Utena
and her naiveté, the pain of watching Utena fall in love with Akio…there
was so much. She wanted it all to end, to end now. Utena's strong hand
gripped her arm tightly.
"Anthy, you can't!
You can't do this!"
"You don't understand,
Miss Utena! Just let me go!"
"Anthy, you promised!
We made a date to have tea and cookies TEN YEARS FROM NOW!! You promised!"
Utena cried out angrily, forcefully, on the verge of tears.
Anthy dangled over the air for the longest
time…until she finally let Utena pull her back up. ***
Anthy quivered as
she watched Utena and Akio duel viciously with their swords. She knew they
were both skilled, but she hoped beyond belief that Utena would win. Suddenly,
Akio reached out and grabbed Anthy's wrist, and pushed her roughly to Utena.
"Anthy!" Utena exclaimed,
putting an arm around her.
She gently moved her aside and stepped in
front of her protectively. Anthy wanted to die. She knew what her brother
wanted her to do…but how could she? Utena had been so wonderful to her…
But still…she knew a world's revolution would never come at the hands of
her…a girl. She slid her hand around Utena's arm and up to her shoulder
blade, took her sword, and slowly stabbed her. She looked away from her
face as Utena's eyes widened and trembled as she shook with pain and disbelief.
"A-A-A-Anthy…" she
choked as she fell to the floor. "W…Why?"
"You remind me so
much of Dios," Anthy whispered in her ear. "But you're a girl. You could
never be my prince." ***
Anthy felt her face and
realized she had been crying. She brushed away her tears and made herself
smile. She felt awful about what she had done to Utena. She had betrayed
her, stabbed her. It made her feel worse than when all those thousands
of swords plunged into her. Her smile was genuine as she thought about
that. How Utena had tried so hard to rescue her, even after she had stabbed
her. She struggled to save her, even through the pain and Akio's discouraging
remarks. Her Utena had saved her. And now…
"Now it is my time to
save you, Miss Utena. I'm in the Outside World now, and I'm going to find
you, save you, and make you remember me."
As she spoke these words, she looked down at
the car and saw that her gas tank was almost empty.
"Uh-oh. Looks like I'll
have to stop and get some gas."
She looked up at the road signs.
"There's a gas station
coming right up! How lucky I am!"
She smiled to herself as she drove down the road
towards the gas station, not knowing what would await her there, would
be much more than a refill of gas.
To be continued…
