Once upon a time there was a cursed prince. His curse ordained that he would remain a beast until he could marry one who could love him as he was. The beast despaired, until a lovely lady agreed to stay with him in exchange for the freedom of her father, who the beast had imprisoned. Eventually the beast fell in love with the lady, but no matter how much attention and finery he gave her, the beast had no chance of earning her affection…for you see, the lady already loved another man.


Act 40: Beauty and the Beast

(((Execution)))

"And with that single movement, the princess has lost her knight!" laughed Drosslemeyer as his gaze wandered between gear images of Fakir being carried off by Vulture and the crying Ahiru. "Oh, what on earth shall you do now, Princess Odette? Sacrifice your own life trying to save him, or accept that his fate is to be worse than dead? Either way the knight is useless…though perhaps in a raven's hands, he may actually become useful…useful in creating a wonderful tragedy, of course!"


No matter what she tried, Ahiru just couldn't tear her tear-filled eyes away from the wretched castle to which Vulture had flown Fakir away.

'It's all my fault…'

She bowed her head in grief and shame as she thought this.

'It's all my fault…if Fakir hadn't been trying to rescue me, Vulture wouldn't have taken him… What horrible things could Vulture do to him? What if he curses Fakir too?'

Mytho struggled to get to his feet, and with Rue's help, he moved over to her side and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Odette," he whispered. "I swear to you…I'll rescue Fakir."

"No," Ahiru dissented quietly.

Seeing her brother's surprise, she looked at him with resolve through her tears.

"You won't do it; we'll do it. It's my fault Fakir got captured…"

"Don't blame yourself for a raven's hunger," chided a voice behind the group.

It was Baltazar.

"Jii-sama!" Mytho breathed.

Baltazar smiled as he sat by Ahiru as well. "I am glad you're alive, Siegfried."

"What do you mean, 'a raven's hunger?'" asked Mytho.

"It is as young Fakir said," Baltazar answered calmly. "The raven captured Odette and the others because he wanted kind, yet weak hearts to feed on after Vulture's died. What better to feed off of than kind, weak hearts that belong to young people of noble birth? Young hearts are easier to manipulate, and what power a raven would have if it took over the heart of an advisor's son…" he eyed Krishna, "…a lord's heir…" he looked to Prometheus, "or even…a princess."

Carmen's eyes and voice filled with terror as he asked, "Are you saying the raven in Vulture's heart was going to possess chibi hime next?"

"I am almost certain of it," Baltazar assented.

"Why did you say nothing of it?" Prometheus demanded.

"Fate is a set of scales that must be accepted in its entirety: the side of joy and the side of grief," the old king responded, his yellow eyes slightly critical. "Struggling against it brings glory; accepting it brings happiness."

Demi and Helios looked horrified. Li stiffened sharply, his eyes flashing.

"That's cowardly!" he snapped. "Do you not care whether hime lives or dies?"

"That is the voice of a knight who thirsts for glory," Baltazar murmured. "Of course I do…but I acknowledge Odette will die one day, as will we all. Tutu died unhappily…and many of us will as well. That is the will of fate…and our endings shall prompt new beginnings, both happy and unhappy."

Ahiru's friends seemed to dislike the elder's theology, but Mytho and Ahiru, likely because they were related to Baltazar, didn't dwell on it.

"But…" whispered Ahiru, "if Vulture's raven wanted my heart…why did he take Fakir?"

"Probably to lure you to the castle," Helios supposed darkly, his hazel eyes narrowing, "so it would be that much easier for the raven to take your heart."

"Perhaps," Baltazar said quietly, sounding thoughtful, before looking to Mytho. "Siegfried…who is this Fakir to you?"

Mytho blinked. "Well…he rescued me when I broke apart my heart, calling me 'Mytho' as I didn't know who I was. He's the reincarnation of Dou-sama."

"Prince Lohengrin's reincarnation?" recurred Li, sounding amazed.

Ahiru nodded. "But Fakir couldn't protect ni-chan with his sword and not die, so he put it down…he's a writer."

"A story spinner?" Baltazar inquired, sounding interested.

"I've heard of them," Carmen recalled vaguely. "My papa used to tell me stories about them…I never knew they were real."

"They were," Ahiru assented. "Fakir's probably the only one left, though."

Prometheus's face scrunched up in thought. "But I don't understand, what would a raven want with a writer?"

"Everything," Rue replied abruptly.

They turned to the once raven princess, to see her scarlet eyes were full of fear.

"The power to turn stories into reality," she murmured. "What kind of horrible things could a raven do with that? If a raven held that sort of power…it could rewrite anything! It could make the world a raven-ruled hell…for all we know…it could even bring back the Monster Raven!"

The others all reacted in horror; Mytho went as white as a sheet.

"We can't let that happen!" Prometheus proclaimed determinedly, pulling his sword from its sheath. "The ravens destroyed Cygnus…Vulture killed my mother…I say we storm the castle and kill both Vulture and the raven in him!"

'Kill him?' Ahiru repeated inwardly, her heart aching as she remembered the kind man Vulture had been when she'd danced with him at the Cygnus ball. 'There's good in Vulture…just like there was in Rue-chan and Nezumi-san…'

"He's possessed by a raven," Ahiru argued out loud. "If we could just convince him to fight against it-"

Baltazar shook his head. "It's too late for that, Odette. While it is true that if the raven possessed Vulture at least semi-recently we could reach him, it has been years. Vulture's heart likely is almost entirely consumed by now. There are only three possible outcomes for this story now. Either the raven will abandon Vulture's body and let it die, destroying Vulture's soul along with it…Vulture's heart will fight against the raven's control and die naturally…or we must kill both Vulture and the raven with one blow."

"But if Vulture's heart fought," said Demi, "would his soul be set free?"

"Yes, but I don't think anyone could persuade Vulture to fight now," murmured Baltazar. "There's only one person I know that Vulture cared about enough…"

His gaze moved to Ahiru and Mytho. "…And that was Tutu."

"Princess Tutu?" repeated Rue, taken aback.

"Kaa-san?" Mytho recurred, sounding just as surprised as Rue.

"Yes," assented Baltazar, his yellow eyes growing a grim glint behind his glasses. "Siegfried, Odette…do you remember when Vulture mentioned that he almost killed Lohengrin?"


"Geier!" realized Lohengrin, his voice a carrying whisper.

Geier laughed darkly. "I'm glad you remember me, Lohengrin…you should, after almost dying at my hands…"


"Vulture…or, as he was known when he was younger, Geier," Baltazar added, "was cursed, just like Tutu. But instead of vanishing when uttering love, Geier's fate was to live as an outcast. Determined to prevent that fate, his parents decided to vigorously train their son in magic so he could stop it from happening. Sadly that didn't happen…when Geier was very little and learning how to make a potion to turn humans into birds, he accidentally spilled his amateur potion on himself…after hours and hours of intense pain, Geier ended up with two vulture wings sprouting out of his spine."

Krishna's black eyes widened. "So that's where he got those wings."

Baltazar nodded. "After that, his parents wanted nothing more to do with the boy…and neither did anyone else. Two of the things vultures symbolize are death and scavenging; what normal parents would want their children around that? Geier was a lonely child, friendless and alone…until he met Tutu."

"Kaa-san was different?" Mytho asked.

"Yes," Baltazar responded. "Tutu gave understanding to everyone…she probably was the only friend Geier ever had. When they met as children, Geier was filthy, his clothes were torn, he had mud and grass in his hair…but Tutu took Geier under her wing, and the two became best of friends."

At the word "friends," Ahiru almost involuntarily remembered something Geier had said to her at the Cygnus ball so long ago.


"You remind me so of my dearest friend. Your kindness and innocence…do not let them fade, young one."


'Dearest friend…he meant Kaa-chan,' Ahiru realized.

"Tutu asked me to teach Geier magic," Baltazar continued seriously, "knowing what he wanted more than anything was to remove his wings and live as a normal human, and so I found him a teacher. Geier, even at that age, was brilliant."

"A madman, more like," Prometheus growled vehemently.

"No," Baltazar dissented calmly, "but I will admit, he was weak emotionally. Tutu was his world…after all, even after she took him in, she was his only friend…and as the two grew older, it became very clear he grew fonder of her."

"Are you saying that Vulture was in love with Princess Tutu?" Demi inquired.

"I see no other motivation Geier could've had to try to kill Lohengrin," answered Baltazar. "Lohengrin was a good man…though hot-tempered and prone to use words instead of actions, I have never known a young man who deserved happiness more than him. Lohengrin and Tutu became friends after Tutu fell off a bridge in town and twisted her ankle, and Lohengrin carried her back up to the palace. Geier was furious Lohengrin had allowed her to get hurt at all…but Tutu took a liking to the young knight, and, as you know, fell in love with him."

"And that's why Vulture tried to kill Lohengrin-sama?" guessed Li.

"Correct. Geier had challenged Lohengrin to a duel for Tutu's affections and, of course, Lohengrin accepted the challenge. But Geier used his magic as well as a sword, so even if Lohengrin had seen battle before he faced Geier, he stood no chance against him. Geier was ready to kill Lohengrin…but Tutu intervened. Geier couldn't hurt Tutu…so he dropped his sword. Even though he stopped and Tutu pleaded with me not to, I had no choice but to punish him for attempted murder…and so, Geier was banished."

Baltazar closed his eyes. "I can assume that Geier wandered for quite a few years after that, at some point encountering the raven that possessed him, killed quite a few people, like Lady Dachou," he nodded to Prometheus, "before sneaking the ravens into Cygnus to get his revenge on Lohengrin."

"So everything that he did," whispered Rue, "was because of his love for Tutu?"

'That's just like me with ouji,' she thought to herself, feeling horrible. 'Doing such terrible things to him, Fakir and Ahiru just trying to get him for myself…'

Mytho could almost predict what Rue was thinking, and placed a hand on her shoulder to assure her otherwise.

"Vulture's intentions are not for Princess Tutu any longer," Helios reminded the group, "for his purpose is that of the raven controlling him…and that purpose is solely to eat a new, powerful heart and leave Vulture's body to rot."

Demi nodded austerely. "Yes…and that powerful heart right now will be Fakir-sama's if we don't get to Vulture's castle and rescue him."

Ahiru, Mytho, Rue, Prometheus, Li, Krishna and Carmen all nodded in agreement. Baltazar, however, opened his yellow eyes in an oddly grave way.

"Then I suppose this is the end."

His grandchildren and their friends looked at the old king in surprised unison.

"What do you mean, jii-chan?" Ahiru inquired.

Baltazar sighed. "I mean, Odette…that my fate has finally come."

"Your fate?" repeated Mytho. "Jii-sama, you're not making any sense."

"How do I clear this up?" Baltazar murmured, half to himself and half to them, before explicating, "For the last five centuries, the first born child of every royal family member in Cygnus has been dealt a specific fate. Siegfried was fated to love all and be loved by all…Tutu was fated to vanish in a flash of light…and I was fated to die when everyone around me decided to defy fate."

Mytho, Prometheus and Ahiru's eyes widened in horror.

"Baltazar-san," Prometheus choked, "y-you can't believe that you are going to-"

"You know I don't fight fate, Prometheus," Baltazar cut him off, "but…I've decided I won't die by Vulture's hands…if I must die, I will die with a purpose."

Li's face was filling with impatient sadness. "Fighting against Vulture to help save the world is without purpose? Then are you saying we should just give up?"

"I'm saying that I would be of no help to you," replied Baltazar. "Although I have magic, Vulture cursed me so he would have the chance to catch up with me, so my offensive magic will either be less than or equal to his now."

"You fighting with us against Vulture will make the difference, not whether or not you win!" Mytho dissented, sounding very upset.

Baltazar shook his head. "I will not fight…I will not die uselessly like Lohengrin had to. No…I will die giving you what you need to succeed."

He turned to Ahiru. "Odette…do you remember when I said that Tutu was the only one who could reach out to Vulture? And do you remember, from my memory, that you inherited Tutu's role and character when she died?"

Ahiru nodded, deciding to ignore Mytho and Rue's confusedly surprised looks.

"Good," Baltazar smiled sadly. "Then this will be a lot easier."

He peered at Mytho over his glasses. "From what you said, Siegfried, I gather you broke apart your heart and then got it back?"

Mytho nodded. "Yes…Odette turned into Princess Tutu during the Prince and the Raven and brought my heart shards back to me."

"So Odette has become Princess Tutu before?" Baltazar murmured. "I see, Odette must've used the heart shard of your memories to transform…I suppose the memory of your mother in that heart shard would've responded to the part of Tutu in Odette and brought it to life."

Mytho's amber eyes widened in realization, before they narrowed grimly. "Then…I'll have to break apart my heart again."

"No!" Ahiru and Rue shouted in loud unison.

"No, Siegfried," Baltazar agreed with the two young women. "If you break apart your heart, we would have to search for all of the shards again before you would be of any use. We won't use your heart…we'll use mine."

"Jii-chan!" Ahiru cried in horror.

Mytho also looked alarmed. "Jii-sama, you can't! Me breaking apart my own heart is one thing…I'm young, my body can deal with that stress-"

"And so I will lay down my life giving Odette and you what you need to fight Vulture," Baltazar finished for him. "Give me a necklace or bracelet Odette can wear…and I will seal my memory of Tutu within it."

Ahiru opened her mouth to protest again, but Mytho placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. With a pain-filled look in his amber eyes, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar gold locket with a gold chain and the image of a swan engraved on it that Ahiru hadn't seen since the chaos at Cygnus.

"Kaa-chan's locket," breathed Ahiru in disbelief.

Mytho forced a smile, but it looked like he was choking back tears, and then he faintly placed the gold locket into Baltazar's awaiting hand.

As he tightened his fist around the locket, the old king stood, spread his snowy owl wings and extended his arms in a single swift movement, before his body began to glow with bright white magic. The magic moved through his body over to his arm and then into the locket of his daughter, until all the light left the elder's body and he collapsed.

"Jii-chan!" Ahiru cried, catching his body as it fell. "Jii-chan…jii-chan!"

But it was no use calling him. The old king was dead, and the small gold locket in his open hand glittered with white magic.

Mytho looked down to hide his eyes as silent tears ran down his face, and Rue wrapped her arms around him in an attempt to comfort him. The bird-winged males and Helios bowed their heads in mournful respect, and Demi put her hand to her mouth as she tried not to cry for Ahiru's loss.

Ahiru took the white-shining locket from her grandfather's hand, clenching it in her fist, and hugged Baltazar's limp form as tears came to her eyes.

'Jii-chan…don't die…'

Her sobs created a sort of strangling in her throat that made it difficult to stop crying. Perhaps it was because she lost her grandpa after just finding him again, but the pressure on her heart felt twice as hard as it would've been otherwise.

"Odette," a maternal sort of voice within her spoke gently. "There now…don't cry."

Ahiru choked, trying to bite back her sobs. 'W-who…?'

The mental presence the voice belonged to seemed to smile. "You don't recognize me after all the times we worked together to get Siegfried's heart shards? Even if we've never spoken together like this, I would've thought you'd recognize my presence."

Ahiru blinked, looking down at the locket in surprise. 'Kaa-chan?'

"Our connection has been reestablished thanks to your grandfather," Tutu's voice stated in both sadness and determination. "So don't cry for him…he's given you me, and I promise you, I will reunite you with Fakir."

'Thank you…'

Ahiru forced herself to stand, breathing hard as Baltazar's body slowly vanished in magical white light, and then reached behind her neck to fasten her locket.

In an instant, the locket glowed in white magic, and Ahiru rolled into a fetal position as a golden egg formed around her amongst yellow duck feathers. The gold egg sparkled until it became as see-through as a bubble, and Ahiru burst through it, fully adorned in the white leotard, pink-embellished white tutu, short white-feather-trimmed haircut and tiny gold crown she'd wore originally as Princess Tutu. Where the pendant of extended wings she'd worn before had been, however, now lay her mother's gold locket, and instead of the yellow duck wings Ahiru had received under the Curse of Wings, white swan wings branched out from her back.

Tutu looked at each of her friends and Mytho in turn, her feet resting in third position seriously.

"Let's go."


A dark figure looked into a looking glass, to find an image of Princess Tutu, Mytho, Rue, Helios, Demi and the cursed males within it.

"So they think they can kill me," a male voice whispered in a very cold tone, as the face of the figure crinkled in a smirk. "Well, we'll see…I'd love to see if they could even touch me."

Fakir came into the light, his emerald green eyes shining a bright red as he turned away from the mirror and walked out of the room.


"Oh ho, and so Princess Odette summons up her mother's power to rescue the knight from the raven in Vulture's heart," proclaimed Drosslemeyer. "But…is it already too late? Heh, heh, heh…"


I'm afraid that is all for today. Is a fun story awaiting us? A sad story? Or maybe…?


Music Notes:

"Beauty of the Beast": starts when Baltazar asks if Ahiru and Mytho remember when Vulture mentioned he tried to kill Lohengrin, moves into the powerful movement at 0:13 for Baltazar's story, and ends at 0:43, before Krishna speaks.

"Execution": starts at Ahiru and Rue disagreeing with Mytho wanting to break apart his heart again, with Baltazar first speaking at 0:04. Mytho takes Tutu's necklace out of his pocket at 0:33, forces a smile at 0:40 and hands the locket to Baltazar before 0:48. Baltazar's magic flows into the locket until the music ends at 1:12 as Baltazar starts to fall.

"Savages Pt. 2": starts as soon as "Execution" ends, with Ahiru catching Baltazar's body mid-fall. Ahiru takes the locket from Baltazar at 0:17, and Tutu's voice first comforts Ahiru at 0:25. Ahiru asks who the voice is at 0:33 and realizes "Kaa-san?" at 0:42. Ahiru transforms into Princess Tutu at 0:55 and looks around at everyone before saying, "Let's go" at 1:05. The music ends 1:09.

The piece "Beauty of the Beast" is by Nightwish.

The pieces "Execution" and "Savages Pt. 2" are from the "Pocahontas" soundtrack.