Hey, me again! Hope you like this chapter! Yeah, the whole Native American Mythology, I did actually research it...okay I wikipedia'd it so that doesn't exactly...count. -.- But the last story read from that book, well, I have an idea for it but I just hope that it makes sense later as many of the stories told by the story teller in each of the Princess Tutu episodes has a slight twist in the episode itself.

Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Tutu or any of its characters. They all belong to Ikuko Itoh.

Enjoy!

"This story is called...The...Raven creates the...world." Autor began. Rue listened intently beside him, but couldn't help but snort at the title of the story. "Long ago...before humans lived in this world...the raven lived in the bird land...sorry, spirit land." Autor cleared his throat after correcting his mistake and began reading again.

"Autor, don't be nervous. Just read it as best you can. Any information can help right now." Autor nodded and looked down at the page.

"One day, the raven became bored with the spirit land, and flew away, carrying a stone in his beak. When the raven got tired...and dropped the stone, it fell into the ocean and...expanded? It expanded until it formed the land that we humans live on. Eventually, the raven became bored once again, and freed some creatures trapped in a clam. These creatures were the first men of the world. But, soon, the raven became bored with them too, and thought to return the creatures back to their clam. However, instead, he found another clam, but this time, it was full of female creatures. He became entertained with the two creatures as they began to interact with each other, and so was the beginning of mankind's life on the land we live in now."

Rue closed her eyes in thought for a moment. "I'm sorry, do you mind reading a few more stories? This one doesn't seem to help at all."

"...okay." Adjusting his glasses, Autor flipped the page and took a quick glance at the title before beginning. "This one is called...The Raven steals the sun."

"Long ago, near the beginning of the world, the Gray Eagle was the guardian of the sun, moon, stars, fresh water and fire. The Gray Eagle hated people so much, that he kept all these things hidden from them. The Gray Eagle had a daughter, and the Raven fell in love with her. At the time, the Raven was a snow-white bird, and so, he pleased her, and was invited to their longhouse. When the Raven saw the sun, moon, stars and fresh water hanging outside the longhouse, he decided to steal them, and a brand of fire as well. As soon as the Raven got outside, he hung the sun in the sky and it made so much light, that he was able to fly away to a far away island in the middle of the ocean. When the sun had set, he hung up the moon and placed the stars all around. With all the light it made, he was able to keep flying, and once he got to a certain spot on the land, he dropped all the fresh water and thus, created all the fresh water lakes and rivers in the world. Then, he flew on with the fire brand in his beak. However, the smoke from the fire began to turn the Raven's feathers black and began to burn his beak. So, he dropped it, and the fire brand fell in between rocks below, hiding itself there. That is why, when two rocks are struck together, sparks fly out. This, is also how the Raven came to be a black bird."

"The ravens in these stories are all quite the tricksters, aren't they?" Autor nodded. "Well, in some cultures, Raven's are seen as tricksters and mischievous beings."

"I see..." Rue looked out the window and saw that it was just beginning to get dark out and she got up from her seat. Closing the book and gently taking it from Autor she asked, "Autor, tomorrow, do you mind reading me the rest of this?"

Autor nodded and stood as well. "Of course."

"But...do you mind if we do it during the day? While classes are in session?" Rue asked. If she did her research while Mytho was in class, and then stayed with him for the rest of the day, she could almost be sure that he wouldn't be able to do anything.

Autor blushed and was surprised. "W-what? Are you asking me to...skip classes?" And be with you while everyone else is in class...

"I'm sorry if it's too much to ask but, I need to figure things out as soon as possible and I...don't know how to explain it but I feel like this book might hold the answer." Autor nodded.

"Alright then...I'll see you tomorrow." Autor led Rue to the door and followed her out, closing the door behind them.

The next day, Ahiru felt worried. Classes had already started and Rue was no where to be seen. Mytho was there but seemed equally as concerned. "Fakir, Ahiru, have you seen Rue yet? I didn't see her this morning. I'm a bit worried." Ahiru looked at Fakir, but he just shook his head. Rue...

"Ah, Mytho." The three of them turned to see Miss Lorna. She had a concerned look on her face. "If you don't mind me butting into your business, I've been hearing quite a few rumors lately."

"Rumors?" She nodded. "You see, some students have been reporting for the past few days that you've been here, that they've seen you after school, unconscious and being carried back to your dorm by your friend Fakir."

"What?" Ahiru stiffened, as if she had been caught in the middle of a childish act. That's right! Mytho has no memory of the things he's done. Oh no, what will he say when he figures out that we've been hiding something from him! "I'm sorry Miss Lorna, I have no memory of that."

"Well, I think that I can vouch for the truth as I too saw it just yesterday. You were being carried from the lesson room." Mytho glanced suspiciously at Fakir. Fakir, what are you hiding from me...

"After what happened on your first day back, I'm worried about you Mytho. If everyone else is correct, that's three times in a row that you've feinted, which obviously is a bad sign. That's why I'm sending you back to your dorm to rest. If you continue dancing with the high risk of feinting again, you might end up hurting yourself again, or maybe even someone else."

"No, Miss Lorna, I'm fine."

"No, Mytho, as your teacher, I can't in good conscience let you stay and dance in your condition. So, go back to your room and get some rest." Mytho frowned and sighed, then proceeded to exit the class. "Oh, that's right, Andre, would you mind escorting Mytho to his room?"

"Okay..." The blonde haired boy responded in a monotone. To Ahiru, at first glance, the boy seemed like someone who would be full of energy, but for some reason he seemed....dead. However, at the moment, that was the least of Ahiru's worries.

"Miss Lorna?" Miss Lorna turned around to Fakir. "Is it okay if I escort Mytho instead?"

"Hm, may I ask why?"

"Mytho's one of my closest friends, and I'd rather make sure he's alright with my own two eyes."

"I both admire and understand your concern, Fakir, but I assure you, he'll be alright." Fakir nodded in defeat and turned back to Ahiru. Damn it.

"Oh, Fakir, what are we going to do!? What happens if...if...if Mytho...."

"I don't know." Fakir said with a growl. Ahiru stared at Fakir, waiting for him to hatch a plan to check up on Mytho but it seemed that even he had no idea what to do right now. It looked like, once again, the two of them would just have to wait. As Ahiru moved to the other side of the room with her friends, she barely payed attention to the conversation that the two were having due to the fact that most of Ahiru's attention was either at the door, waiting for the student to come back, or at Fakir, in case he had come up with a plan.

However, when the student finally returned, with not a single scratch on him, Ahiru let out a sigh of relief. "Mytho...thank goodness."

".....When the Great Spirit created everything, he kept them all separate and stored in cedar boxes. The Great Spirit gave these boxes to the animals that existed before humans. When the animals opened the boxes, everything that comprised the world came into being. The boxes held such things as mountains, fire, water, wind and seeds for all the plants. One such box, which was given to Seagull, contained all the light of the world. The Seagull refused to open his box and so everyone asked the Raven to persuade the Seagull into opening it. No matter what the Raven did, the Seagull still wouldn't open the box and soon, the Raven became frustrated and stuck a thorn in the Seagull's foot. The Raven pushed the thorn in deeper until the Seagull finally dropped the box. Out of the box, came the sun, moon and stars that brought light to the world, and allowed the first day to begin."

"All of these myths...they're all about the Raven somehow bringing the world into existence." Rue said with disbelief.

"Yes, I suppose it would be quite hard to believe when compared to something like the Monster Raven. However, it is highly likely that the Monster Raven and the raven in these stories are two different beings."

"I guess."

Autor stared at Rue for a moment, feeling a bit sad for her as none of this was helping, but when Autor read the title of the next story, he said, "This story could be the one you're looking for."

"Hm?" Rue leaned over to look into the book, although she couldn't read a single word of the text. "It's called, 'The Regretful Chief and the Origin of Death'."

Autor cleared his throat and began to read, "Long ago, there was a village, led by Chief Raven. The people tried to persuade the Chief to allow everyone two lives. But Chief Raven selfishly wanted to have one life for all people and animals. This was because he liked to eat the eyes of dead carrion. And so, since Raven was Chief, his decision was accepted. However, the people weren't happy with his decision, and decided to make the Chief regret it. Chief Raven's son was killed in a target practice accident and his daughter was struck by a felled tree. Because of this, Raven tried desperately to reverse his decision so that everyone could have two lives, however, the people kept reminding him, 'You are the chief, and you have already spoken.'."

"Hmm..." Two lives, huh? I wonder... "Could it be possible...perhaps the Raven..." Rue got up suddenly and gave Autor a quick hug and ran off. "Thank you, Autor!"

Rue ran straight to the ballet lesson room from the library, and to her convenience, class was just ending and Ahiru and Fakir had joined up to leave. "Rue! Where were you?" Ahiru asked.

"I was at the library with Autor. I found a book and I think I might have discovered something."

"Good...but it might have to wait."

"What? Why?" Rue demanded.

"Um, well you see, Miss Lorna sent Mytho back to his dorm during class, and we weren't able to go check on him at all. That's why me and Fakir were planning to go out and look for him."

"What!? You mean he's by himself?" Rue grumbled to herself and ran away from them.

"Rue wait!" Ahiru ran after her immediately and Fakir began to chase after her.

"Gah, Ahiru!" Fakir and Ahiru pursued Rue out of the building and out onto the school grounds where Ahiru stopped suddenly, almost causing Fakir to bump into her. "Moron, don't stop so suddenly."

"Wait, Fakir, listen." Fakir raised an eyebrow in question but obeyed. After listening to what seemed like nothing, Fakir became impatient and asked, "What is it, Ahiru? I don't hear anything."

"Right! Isn't that weird though? Y'know, especially for this time of day? Usually, after classes end, there's a lot of students who stay behind on the school grounds and it's always so cheery and you can hear people talking everywhere. But...why is it that suddenly, I see everyone, but everywhere I look it seems...."

"Dead..." Fakir whispered, finally noticing it. "I think you're right, and it could be important, but right now, our highest priority is finding Mytho."

"Y-yeah, I guess." Ahiru said uneasily, her gaze lingering on the dreary school grounds before rushing off to follow Fakir. They pursued Rue into the boys' dormitory building and it seemed that she was heading towards Mytho's room. As they neared Mytho's room, Rue accidentally bumped into another student, yet didn't even stop to check if he was alright. Ahiru pouted disapprovingly and hurried to the boy's side and helped him up.

"Ah, we're really sorry! She's not usually like that, we're just really in a hurry." As she took his hand to help the boy up, he looked up at her apathetically and Ahiru gasped at the unfocused eyes staring back at her.

"It's okay..." the boy answered in a monotone. Ahiru stepped away from the boy in fright as he walked away as if nothing had happened. His...eyes...they were just like the Prince's eyes, back when he was heartless. Suddenly then, Ahiru remembered seeing the three other boys in her ballet class. At the time, she had failed to notice their lifeless eyes, but even so, she could see it in their attitude; something wasn't right. But at the stunning realization, that perhaps the reason for that was because they had lost their hearts, Ahiru quacked and put a hand over her mouth. Before she could turn into a duck, Ahiru quickly ran after Fakir and Rue. Fortunately, they had already reached Mytho's room and had opened the door, which Ahiru dived through just as she found herself disappearing into her clothes. As she dug herself out from under her uniform, she heard Fakir sigh behind her and quickly began flopping around in front of him, trying to convey her discovery.

"Wait, Ahiru calm down. Your quacks are beginning to blur together."

"Mytho..." Both Ahiru and Fakir turned to Rue, and then towards the single bed. In it, lay Mytho, sleeping peacefully. Rue walked over to his bedside and sat down on the edge, brushing a lock of his white hair away from his face. "Mytho...?"

Slowly, Mytho awoke after hearing Rue's voice and smiled weakly at her. "Rue? Where were you today?"

"There was an errand that I had to run. I'm sorry if I worried you, my Prince."

"No, it's alright, but please, say something next time." Mytho shuddered slightly and Rue frowned. "Prince, what did you do today? You look horrible."

"I think I'm just sick. Miss Lorna sent me back here during class, so I've been here all day...which reminds me..." Mytho sat up and cast an accusing glance in Fakir's direction. "Fakir, what exactly are you hiding from me? What happened to me the past few days that have caused me to feint, and forget everything that happened? I...I have no memory of that."

Ahiru gulped and then looked up at Fakir. Rue also looked to him, and nodded. "Alright, Mytho, we'll tell you...but Ahiru, you should turn yourself back into a girl. This is something that the three of us have to explain together." Ahiru nodded and looked around for water.

"Ah, look in the vase on the table there. I think I replaced the water this morning." Mytho said, pointing to the table in the middle of the room. Fakir gathered Ahiru's clothes and placed them on the table while placing the vase on the floor where Ahiru could reach it. Ahiru waited until Fakir had turned his back and Mytho had closed his eyes before knocking the vase over and quickly changing back into her uniform. From there, the three of them began to tell Mytho the real reason why Rue had brought him back to Kinkan as well as the reason for the feinting spells that he couldn't seem to remember. By the end, Mytho had a slight look of disgust on his face.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want to worry you, Prince." Rue said. "I thought that once you knew..." She shook her head. Mytho put a comforting arm around her shoulder and told her, "Rue, it's alright. But I wish you would have told me sooner. I feel pathetic, not being aware of the crimes that I've committed to my own people." Mytho looked down at his chest and gently touched his fingertips to his heart. "Then again, it may even be my fault for not paying closer attention to the waning darkness still in my heart."

"It's not your fault, Mytho. But, now that you're aware, do you know anything about the ulterior motives of your other self? I highly doubt that the only goal of 'the prince of crows', is to simply quench its hunger."

"Actually, I have a theory about that." Rue interrupted. "While I was at the library, I came across a book called, North American Mythology: Ravens. It was in english so I had Autor read it to me, so I'm not entirely sure his translation is accurate, but, there was a myth in particular that sparked my theory. It was about a Raven chief who had decided that all people and animals should only have one life. However, the people thought that all things should have two lives, and decided to make the chief regret his decision. They killed the chief's children and made them seem like accidents, and the chief tried to revoke his decision and make everyone have two lives. But, of course, the people reminded him that he was chief, and he had spoken."

"So?"

"Well, I thought back on how we all had fates seemingly set in stone, yet we all somehow managed to change our fates. I thought that, since the blood that still runs through Mytho's veins is the blood of the Monster Raven, the Raven is manifesting itself within him....that explains..." Why the last time we saw each other, Mytho called me pitiful Kraehe...foolish girl. "Perhaps, in order to rebel from his fate, he's trying to use Mytho in order to gain a second life. "

"Yes, that makes sense. But that still doesn't explain a lot of things." Fakir crossed his arms, frustrated. "Does that mean he's just trying to take over Mytho's body entirely? Or is he aiming for something else?"

"If that is what he is planning, then I won't let him. I swear it." Mytho said indignantly. However, Rue shook her head. "That would be helpful, my Prince, but I doubt that the Raven's ultimate goal is to take over your body. Ever since I've known him, he had always called me, 'the daughter of a noble raven, trapped within an ugly, wretched human body.' The Raven would rather eat out his own heart than spend the rest of his life within a human body. He must be planning to resurrect his body somehow."

Suddenly, everyone in the room fell silent, brainstorming ideas as to how the raven planned to carry out his plan, and Ahiru could see that they were going no where fast on that note. So, timidly, she spoke up, "Um, I don't know if this helps at all, but..." Everyone turned their attention to Ahiru and she continued. "Back in the hallway, when we were on our way here, and Rue bumped into that boy, I stopped to help him up. When he looked at me, though, his eyes...they were emotionless, even the way he spoke to me; they were both like Mytho when his heart was incomplete. That's when I remembered the boys in our ballet class. I noticed that they were the same too. So I thought, what if they were heartless too?"

"Could it be...from the Raven eating out their hearts?" Rue thought.

"No, that would be impossible." Mytho said. "If their hearts were taken out by something other than my sword, they would die."

"Wait, whenever we found Mytho trying to take out other people's hearts, was he wielding the Prince's sword?" Fakir wondered.

"If he was, then that would explain it!"

"So, does that mean that even if the Raven eats people's hearts, we can still return them somehow?" Ahiru asked brightly. Despite her hopefulness, they all found that possibility hard to believe.

"We...can't exactly know for sure whether or not we'll be able to return everyone's hearts. If the Raven really has been eating them..." Mytho trailed off. It pained him to tell poor Ahiru that it could be impossible to return everyone back to normal, unlike last time. Slowly, Ahiru's hopeful smile melted into a despairing frown and she whispered, "So those people...might live the rest of their lives...without their emotions? Without their hearts?" Ahiru began quivering and she looked down at the ground, hoping to somehow hide the tears that were coming.

"Ahiru..."

"I'm sorry!" Suddenly, Ahiru turned around and bolted out of the room. "Hey, Ahiru!" Fakir ran to the door, but when he looked down the hall, Ahiru was already out of sight.

As Ahiru ran away to Fakir and Charon's house, she wiped away her tears with her sleeve, but in vain. There...There must be something that we can do! Those boys...not being able to feel anything forever! Isn't there anything I can do?

Phew! I finally finished this chapter! Almost 4000 words! _ Man, if I could write that much in one day, that would have helped a lot back in november during NaNoWriMo :D Oh well. Hope you like this chapter! Please review and comment! Yeees, comments are very welcome. And happy late new year everyone!