Chapter 10

Ahiru shivered in the cold night air as the silky blue fabric whipped around her legs. She felt different with her hair down and teas into loose curls flowing down her back. It was like she was in someone else body not really her, but looked like her. She walked up to the glass doors that separated the grand banquet hall where the dance was taking place and the school court-yard all the guest where funneled through.

"Don't worry, you look just fine." Ahiru jumped as Ente placed a hand her shoulder making her jump "The Mia worked really hard to make sure our makeup looks perfect."

"I'm not worried about that." Ahiru turned to look up at Ente, dressed in a deep red, hair pulled up with deep flourishing ribbons tucked neatly between her pink locks.

"Then open the door, Ahiru." Pike moving to them in the purple dress Yara had paid for.

'Yara?' She looked around only seeing Yuma and Lille running around in bubble gum pink and baby blue gowns. 'Is she here?' Ahiru had completely forgotten about her, which was awful especially when she discovered that Yara even though unknowingly was Lady Butterfly.

"Earth to Ahiru are you there?" Pike got up in Ahiru's face staring her down waving her hand, in front of Ahiru.

"Oh sorry." Ahiru blinked quickly go to the large door of the banquet hall. The loud orchestral music flowed out of the doors, reveling the large room decorated with paintings and bathed in a gold light. The room was filled with people dress in exuberant outfits that made Ahiru and friends dress look bland.

"Come on, Come on." Pikes practices broke elbowing Ahiru into the crowed room.

"Oh pretty." Ahiru heard Lille or Yuma say.

"I want to find the sweets." One the look-alike echoed back as Ahiru hopped in her fancy blue dress looking for her friends.

"Um guys?" Ahiru said nervously wading through the crowd of people "Guys"

She moved through crowed of fine jewel toned fabrics and excited gossiping. Much to Ahiru relief the crowed faded away as she moved to the dance floor. Several coupled waltz and groups of dancing around some not even matching tone or tempo of the music, Ahiru stood on her tip toes looking for anyone she that was dancing.

Much to her relief she saw someone. Dressed in a small orange dress with white lacey design Yara danced alone on the floor with the skill and grace of a professional dancer. Ahiru was a washed with amazement and shock at Yara's talent and, blatant obliviousness the world around her was. As if the lone dancer among them was invisible.

'What did Butterfly mean?' Ahiru asked herself as she stood at the edge of the dance floor, watching Yara. 'Is Butterfly still inside her?' She swayed wondering if Tutu was inside her? How much of the girl she was really her? Was even a girl or duck, was really Tutu doomed to a speck of light? She clasped her hand together squeezing them tight trying not to cry.

"Excuse me miss my I have this dace?" A friendly voice made her look up.

"Allard?" she asked surprised seeing the traveling blonde staring back at her. "What are you doing here?" her voice squeaking with shock and confusion.

"Believe it or not I'm a student here." Her smiled looking about the people how paid no attention to him.

"But how did you get here?" She asked remembering the last time she saw him was in Goldcrown.

"I hitchhiked jeez." Allard looked at her with a mix of embarrassment, and worry. "Now will dance with me." He trusted he's hand out to her "Please."

Ahiru nodded taking his hand as he led her through the steps of a tiny waltz. The dance was very stiff and awkward for the two, Ahiru was greatly aware of the placements of their hands and feet.

Once she had gotten the rhythm memorizes Allard lead in to whisper to her. "I've been made the aware of your situation."

"What?" Ahiru looked up at him surprised

"You shouldn't be afraid to love someone." He kept talking in an even tone.

"Are you talking about?" A torrent of names and questions swam inside her head. "Corvin?" She whispered to him picking out Corvin's eyes fill with tears and rage.

"My advice is to give the prince of birds what he desires."

"But Mytho?!"

Allard shh'd her, understanding her worry "A special thing about love is that people will change to obtain or keep it."

Ahiru's stomach twisted at what Allard was proposing. If she were to be Corvin's princess and love him, she could convince him not to harm Mytho. "Why Me?" she winded, her mind briefly jumping to Fakir. Even if Fakir didn't seem to remember her it felt wrong to abandon him, after all he didn't leave her after she became a duck again.

Allard gave a brief chuckle at her reaction "That's the funny thing about stories." He sighed "The one that is to make the biggest sacrifice, is the one at first that is unwilling to do so."

"There must be another way?" Ahiru looked up at him, so deeply conflicted his words.

Allard nodded softly "There might be, but I do not see a happy outcome from it."

Ahiru heart sank at his answer as a hand clasped Allard's shoulder.

"May I cut in?" Corvin's softened voice asked.

"She's all yours." Allard pulled away from Ahiru leaving the two on the dance floor.

Ahiru stared at Corvin wordless. Even dressed in a simple black suit it was clear that the young man before her was a prince. "Corvin I-"

Her words caught in her throat as Corvin took her hands and started a dance with her. The dance was slow an elegant mix of pas de deux and waltz. Each movement she made softly corrected or intensified by Corvin actions. Ahiru tried her best not blush at her situation or look in deep blue eyes already feeling the wells of sadness that hid in them. As she focused her gaze outward to notice that her and Corvin where the only ones one the dance floor. All the other guests standing to the sides watching them in awe.

"Ahiru?" The sound of Corvin's voice made acutely aware of his presence around her, the placements of his hand, his breath on his skin the closeness of their body's.

"Hum?" she made a noise in response, noticing that she was shivering.

"Ahiru look at me?" she refused but eventually felt his finger gently tilted her towers him.

Ahiru felt her cheeks grow immensely warm as Corvin eyes took her in. 'He reminds my so much of Mytho.' She thought, gave into the idea of being his princess. She remembered when Mytho kissed Rue sealing their happy ending, would being Corvins princess mean having an ending like that? If she became his princess would it mean she could be a human forever?

"Ahiru you love me, don't you?" Fakir's voice cooed from the back of her mind, no not Fakir, a nightmare. A nightmare that made her realize something much deeper than finding out what she really was.

A fear.

The fear she pushed down every sunset when Fakir went home. The fear that one day he would stop coming to visit her. The fear that one day she would die alone on the bank of lake with no one to even remember her.

She was jolt out of despairing thoughts feeling Corvin's hand brush away a tear that rolled down her cheek. "Corvin?" her voice was barely a whisper as she met him eye to eye.

Corvin's gaze turned down cast within seconds "I'm sorry." He gently let her go as applause spreads through the on looking crowed.

Ahiru blinked and tried to reach out for him, not understanding what he was apologizing about. Corvin slipped out of her as the crowed surged the dance floor, Ahiru's hand getting snagged away by a powerful grip.

She spun around forcefully "my turn." James's voice was a hiss as she faced him.

"Let go of Me." she tried to pull away only making him grabber other arm to hold her close.

"Why, so you can run to death's arms?" James leered into her eyes with such ferocity it made her blood run cold.

Ahiru stood up straight and narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop saying that Corvin isn't a monster, you are." Her voice squeaky with nervousness.

James recoiled at her words before clamping his hands down around her arms in a crushing grip. "I honestly though you where smarter than this Ahiru." His words dripped with venom.

"Smarter than what?" she shook in pain, she wanted to scream, to quack so she could escape the situation as a duck. Yet, some part of her wouldn't obey her wishes.

A sneer stretched across his face. "Why do you think girls only dote on Mr. Pretty Face from a far? Why when he tries to find his princess, his targets turn tail and run?" he growled into her ear "Because he's a monster, a monster with all the allure of prince." Ahiru watched him smile his voice turning sickly sweet. "But he's still a beast."

"L-liar." Ahiru strutted pulling away from him.

"You still refuse to listen?" James gave her a defeated almost worried stare. "Fine then, go to him." He pushed her to the floor words edge and sharp. "I'm done with protecting precocious twits like you."

Ahiru quickly got off the floor trying to avoid the crowed who didn't notice the events that unfolded among them. By the time she steadied herself on her feet she was almost fell back down the whole room shaking this a loud banging noise. She went to cover ears but quickly covered her pendent what suddenly glowed in reaction to the mammoth sound. She gritted her teeth at the painfully noise and looked around for a heart shard or anything strange, but through the startled and in pain guest she couldn't see anything wrong.

Except she couldn't find Corvin.

The cacophonous sound stopped, all whole became pregnant with the sound of panicking and confused guest allowing Ahiru to slip outside. Where the sound began to pick out in force, pendent glowing freely as Ahiru plugged her ears looking for the heart shard.

After some stumbling around the already noisy city she finally came to the source of banging tone. A church, at least she thought it was stain glass faded and cracked, paint peeling and dark it looked like it hadn't been touch in years.

Ahiru quickly like the warm light engulfed her, becoming Princess Tutu before entering the dark building. Once the angelic princess entered the room was dark, shadow shifting about out of the corner of her eyes.

At the end of the rickety aisle was Corvin dress in his dark cape, sword to his side, looking up at ceiling dazed "Prince?" She asked and his eyes flicked down her.

"They're lonely." He stared at her blankly like he was dreaming.

"What do you mean?" she tried approach to him, only for an ear-splitting clang stopping her in him tracks. Corvin's eyes darted back up to the ceiling Tutu's gaze to see hundreds of bells of different sizes in great disrepair hanging from the ceiling.

"Do you hear them? Their crying?" Corvin whispered to her weakly.

The sacred dancer even though unable to hear anything could sense a deep sorrow looming over them "I do."

"I leave this one to you." He said before collapsing to his knees carol completely drained from his features.

Tutu help him down gently a deep part of her worried for him, before turning upwards to bells "Please dace with me?"

There was a period of silent before the soft chimes dripped down from the chorus of bells. Tutu gently began to dance to the tune they provided, it was deeply empty song and she couldn't help but feel weak under its pressure.

"Why do you feel this way?" She asked up to the bells. The chorus changed its tune something happy yet, an undercurrent of forlorn trickled through.

Tutu felt smiled up to bells and spoke "it's okay those feelings are not your own." She held her arms out as the bells began to glow red. "You can rest"

The red shimmered down from the bells taking a ghostly form of James "I'm the feeling of abandonment… I'm…lost." It spoke in a low Ill tone.

"It's okay the princess will take you back." Tutu looked up down at Corvin who stared at the heart shard some remainder of strength.

The heart shard looked between the two with a worried gaze before vanishing in the air.

"Thank you princess." Corvin shakily got to his knees "May I ask something of you?" he looked at her with pleading eyes. "It is a tough request and if it's not with in you power, I want you to lie to me."

"What is you wish." Tutu asked in a gently tone.

"I you to make a girl fall for me."

"Excuse me?" She took a step back at his words

Corvin continued to say up at her then flinched and shivered "Tutu please, after the wicked prince unjustly killed my parents. I prayed for my heart to be shattered from the pain." Tears cascade down from his royal blue eyes. "So I may live a memory less life of muffled stillness, but such a fate would not befall me." His chest heaved trying to keep his voice even

'I want to cry, why can't I cry?' Ahiru thought but, she felt disconnected with Tutu who just smiled and continued listen to Corvin.

"I'm in despair and you Tutu the sacred dancer that led so many souls from the pain in now feel." he reached out shakily taking her hand "I beg you to make me equal to the man who ruin my life, to let me have love a princess of my own."

"Who is this girl?" Tutu asked in a clear sooth tone.

"Hair the color of sunset and eyes open and expressive as the sky."

Ahiru's mind reeled 'Oh god, oh god he's talking about me!'

"I was in such denial about her being the one, but when ever see her I see my happy ending."

"I will try." Tutu answered as Ahiru became terrified the last time she lost control like this she was being jerked around like a putted my Drosselmeyer

"Thank you, Tutu." Corvin smiled softly as a cloud of black feathers engulfed him before he disappeared completely.

(AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter.)