Once upon a time, there were 3 princes, each one wanted to succeed their fathers throne. The king decided to solve this problem by a competition between them. His sons were supposed to bring him the worlds greatest treasures. To decide the brothers route, the king blew 3 feathers into the air. One feather flew to the east, the second to the west. Yet the third feather fell to the floor. The youngest of them had to stay at the castle. Staying at the one place he knew, there was no way for him to win.
Akt 4:
Nocturne
A sleepless night. It passed so fast. Ahiru was sitting at the window, curled together like a cat. She didn't feel the cold in her fingers or her feet. On her face were still traces of tears. Her head rested on her arms.
Outside, one could already hear the first birds singing, a few flew freely in the air. The sky was clear of any clouds, though the weather got colder with everyday. The migratory birds already left for the warmer regions.
As Ahiru lifted her head to look out of the window, she thought about skipping school that day. She didn't want to see anybody right now. She looked at the lamp at her side. It glowed through the whole night, brightly shining for it's master. But it couldn't bring light or warmth into Ahirus heart. She felt as if there was a big hole in her chest, pierced violently.
Last night she, maybe for hours, walked aimlessly through the streets. Her tears were falling continuously and she was shaking all over. It was way to much to hear Fakir say those words. She wished she hadn't asked him at all, to be kept in the dark forever. Is this how it feels when you wish to rip out your heart?
After she finally came back to the dormitory she sat directly by the window. She hadn't the power to change or rather she didn't care at all. The lamp was the only light source in the room, anything else was dark. Not even the sun from outside could erase the darkness in the room.
Still the the light of the lamp tried to embrace the little girl in the room. The light arouse, and hands tightened around Ahiru.
" Let me shine for you, my dear.", said the lamp in a soft voice.
Ahiru turned to her slowly. She had an empty expression on her face and wasn't even surprised.
"I thought you couldn't reappear like this again."
The spirit took the girls face in both of her hands.
" A piece of ice flew through the air when the window was open and found it's way to me. It lets me appear in front of you."
Ahiru touched her light hand with hers.
"It must be one of the Queen's. Please let me help you."
The spirit shook her head, not averting her eyes from Ahiru.
"It's alright. It was cold, but you enlightened my heart again." She embraced Ahiru. "Your cried so much the whole night and I shone the brightest to put a smile back on your face, but I couldn't. The warmth melted the ice, it will soon disappear. But before that. Won't you give me your smile? Please."
"I'm sorry", cried Ahiru as she wrapped her arms around the spirit of the lamp."I'm sorry, I can't do that. It hurts too much. If I smile I would be only lying. I'm sorry."
Under the coat of light Ahiru shook lightly. The Light slowly faded. The spirit leaned down to the girl and asked, as she wiped away one of her tears:" What could hurt you so much to be so sad? You've always been so strong."
Ahiru shook her head hard. She wasn't strong. She never was. She only did the little she could and had to leave the rest to others. She was just a mere Duck and no more.
But why did it hurt so much? Ahiru got silent as she thought about those words. She couldn't compare the pain to anything she experienced before. She took the Pendant and looked at it. The egg shaped gem was cold, with the little snowflake still inside.
This was given to me by the Queen as well, right?, she thought. Maybe that's why I'm acting so strange...but is it that really? She couldn't shake off the feeling that it wasn't only the Queen's magic that made her feel so miserable. There was more.
The spirit's touch slowly disappeared and the light faded. Her smile was still bright but sad at the same time.
"You need to smile again little one. I can't enlighten your road when you don't have the will to walk it down. But even so, I will always be by your side."
The spirit disappeared and only the little lamp shone in the room. Ahiru embraced herself, tears kept falling. Although the spirits words should have comfort her, they only reminded her of an old promise.
After a while, Ahiru decided to leave the Dormitory. Class had already started. She walked through the empty streets of Goldcrown. The streets were full of colorful leaves. Looking at the empty sky she wondered if she might run into Fakir. What would he say, what would she say? She didn't know.
She looked down to her feet. What should she do now? She didn't have the strength to see Fakir again. Maybe she should leave, just like he wanted her to. But where to? She only knew the lake and that was just outside of town. Maybe the life of a Duck is the only option for me? She thought as she twirled the Pendant in her hand. She thought about Jäger and the Queen. She could go to her. A place where she's welcomed, a place where she'd be needed. She almost forgot Jägers ways to fulfill the Queens wishes. There was no other place to go,the place she called home was no more.
A cold breeze struck her back. Leaving everything behind shouldn't be so hard, but the girl felt attached to the town, even to the painful memories. A feather crossed her way and landed before her feet. She stopped. Ahiru knelled down and picked up the feather. It was almost white. The girl turned the feather in her hand. Flying away a like a feather in the wind. Nothing to worry about, not caring where the wind takes you. Ahiru wished the wind would also tell her where to go and what to do. She stood up, still holding the feather in her hand. The wind started blowing again. Ahiru raised her hand and let go of the feather. It flew up high in the air before deciding for a route. Ahiru followed the way of the feather from the bottom. She didn't know why, but she needed help to decide where to go and what to do. She was to irritated lately to make a solid decision.
At first she could walk but after a while the feather was blown so far ahead that she had to run. She had to take few turns and ran through half the town it seemed. The wind didn't stop and Ahiru felt like running until death. But the feather slowed down and moved to the ground again. Ahiru stopped and her eyes widened. The wind led the feather, and the feather brought her to Autors room, where he collected all of Drosselmeyers goods. The place Fakir spent a lot of time, when he wasn't at the lake.
She held her hands close to her heart. She didn't want to meet him after all. What should she say to him? She wanted to turn but she couldn't. Her eyes were still fixed on the door. Maybe I should at least say goodbye?, she thought to herself. She hesitated, but finally took the first step.
She knocked. First there was silence, but then the door opened. It wasn't Fakir standing there.
" What are you doing here?", asked Autor in a annoyed way.
Ahiru blinked. She didn't expect Autor to show up, although it was his place.
"Um, I- I wanted to talk to Fakir.."
" He's not here right now. I think he went to school today. What are you doing here anyway? Didn't you have a fight yesterday or something?"
Autor kept talking as he turned to the room and walked deeper inside. Ahiru followed him. Ahiru flinched as he mentioned the day before. She tried to keep her voice calm, cleaning her face with a sleeve of her pullover.
" Did you talk to him about that?", she asked curiously.
"No." Ahiru sighed.
"He left shortly after you. I didn't notice when. I was reading until late night."
Ahiru looked at the table which was full of written papers. This was Fakirs handwriting. She scratched her right hand. Autor crammed his stuff. He had shadows beneath his eyes.
" I'm late for class, so if you don't want to go to school today, you can wait for him here."
"Is that okay?"
"I don't care.", Autor answered nerved. He still seemed to be very sleepy. He walked out the door before Ahiru could say anything else. The door was slammed. She was left alone again.
She walked a few steps in the room and then decided to sit down on the bench. She nervously tipped with her fingers on her knees as she dared a look to the desk. Fakir never let her read any of his stories, not even one. This could be her chance, maybe her one and only. But she struggled. What if I read my own story? Do I really want to read it?
For a moment there was only the ticking of the clock and Ahirus slow breath. Then the floor creaked and the papers rustled. Ahiru held her breath as she moved the sheets closer to her face, closed her eyes for a moment and then started to read the text. It was in the middle of a story.
...had never felt this kind of sensation before. He had so many hardships in front of him but he could feel, that he can overcome anything. He would return home and start studying again so he could catch up to the same material as his classmates. Right now, it was only important, that he regained his will to fight...
Ahiru sat down while reading every word of the story. She caught herself smiling, almost forgetting her heavy heart. She imagined him writing at the lake while she swam around in the water. She forgot how much time had passed as she kept on reading. It enlighten her heart to see the fruits of Fakirs hard work.
As she turned to the next page in her hand Ahiru realized something odd.
... dancing until dawn, day after day. Pique danced to her hearts extent, not wishing to get better but to feel the sensation of a real ballerina. She closed her eyes to imagine herself on a stage, not worried anymore if she did everything alright. The girl danced and felt the joy that she used to feel before. Gazing outside the window,Pique looked at the blue sky. Little birds were flying around wildly in the air. They took a turn and flew outside the town, to a little lake with a gangplank. A little Duck, which was still asleep, was sitting in the fresh green grass. She dreamed of dancing and her prince, her ballet shoes, her life when she was human...
Ahiru was confused. Why did Fakir jump to her story all of a sudden? She was never in danger or hurt when she was a bird. No reason to write her story. The passage stopped as soon as it popped up. In the next line he was yet again writing about somebody called Franz who seemed to fall into thievery because he lost all his money. But as she kept on reading, she found even more passages where Fakir just bluntly wrote about the little duck. She looked through all the papers on the table and stood up in excitement. She didn't know why she was that excited.
She kept wondering why he wrote so many things about her without a reason. concerned She looked at the passages, but just one finally caught her eye. It was a crumbled piece of paper, hidden under the others. It was different then the others.
She slept softly in the darkness of the night. The sun said goodbye hours ago but she wanted to be awake as long as the writer was there, but had to give in. The writer's lantern wouldn't burn much longer but he kept on writing. Whenever he had to think about what to write he just looked at the little yellow duck and he knew why he was writing. That he could help others by his writing, turning it in the right direction. But he couldn't lie to himself. The writer was in a dilemma. Only slowly had he realized that his selfish desires grew stronger by day. His dreams were haunted by it. He still knew the way she always smiled, her sometimes weird behavior, that she sometimes annoyed him to no end.
But still. His only wish right now was to bring back her humanity.
Ahiru calmed down as she read through the lines. She started shaking lightly.
" This is different", she whispered. "That's not what I imagined..."
But no matter his wishes, he couldn't bring himself to do it. As a human, she got hurt so many times, accepting it with a smile. He remembered her sad smile every time he wished to bring her back. He wouldn't turn her into a human with one of his story. But, if by any chance she could be turned back, he wouldn't hesitate to stay by her side to protect her. So he asked the wind and the sky for an resolution. Which way to go or if it was supposed to stay the way it was. Soon, the northern wind would bring the answer. The change of seasons always changes the people who live through them. Nothing would be the same anymore.
Just as Ahiru finished the page the door opened. She looked to her left to meet Fakirs gaze. His eyes were wide open.
Time stood still for a moment. But after a second reality moved again. Ahiru looked aside, blushing a little. She could hear Fakirs footsteps coming closer.
" You weren't in class today... ", he said.
Ahiru didn't know what to say to him. After a pause Fakir talked again.
" Look I... I never meant to hurt you or anything, and I'm sorry it turned out this wa-"
Ahiru turned abruptly to him. "You could have said something! How was I supposed to know what's going on?"
Fakir was confused by her sudden outburst but got a little angry himself.
" You know it now right? So what are you screaming for?"
Ahiru shook her head.
" I only understood it after I read it! Why didn't you say yesterday that-"
" You read it?"
Ahiru put her hand on her mouth. Crap.
Fakir came closer to her, his voice a little lighter.
"Wait, so you mean you weren't mad because you were turned into a human again?"
Ahiru almost whispered. "Of course not... I was happy, didn't you see?"
Fakir leaned against the wall as he slowly drove down it, burying his head in his arms. Ahiru leaned down to him , because she was worried. She could see him smile lightly.
" I see...", he whispered.
Ahiru blinked once. She sat down right next to him. She pulled her knees closer to her body and watched the ceiling of the room. For moment, they just sat right next to each other, enjoying the others' company. Fakir was the first to speak again.
"Then, what was yesterday all about? Why were you so mad?"
Ahiru blushed lightly.
"W-well... it's... Jäger said some things that really got into my head. He said, that you wrote a story about me so you could get rid of me. I really thought you've wanted to break your promise...", she mumbled into her knees.
Fakir looked at her leaning his head against his left hand.
"Stupid. I would never do that."
I know that,she thought to herself, but the words didn't came out. Instead, she tried to understand.
" But really, why didn't you say anything? I really wanted to be human again, to dance again, to meet everyone like usual..."
"It never really looked like it."
Because I never really missed it that much, she thought to herself. The next moment she wondered why. She wasn't really lonely as a Duck, right?
"Still, why didn't you say anything."
Fakir leaned his head against the wall. He closed his eyes.
" The real you is a Duck, it always was. I thought, that if I change you into human again, it would only go wrong. Drosselmeyer had spun these kind of stories. Nothing good came out of them, ever. I couldn't forgive myself if I brought you only misery. I rather would have had you as a duck then. I guess it was easier this way."
" May those, who accept their fate, find happiness. May those, who defy their fate, find glory.", remembered Ahiru. Fakir gave her a curious look.
"I don't think... anything is wrong. You've written stories about so many people. You helped them this way." Ahiru looked over to Fakirs stories and Fakir followed her gaze. He was silent.
" You know, I was a little worried when I was a duck."
" Huh? Why?"
" Your eyes." Now she looked straight at him. "They resembled Drosselmeyers. It guess it's a sign that your powers are getting stronger, but I got worried that you'll get carried away."
"...maybe you right."
"What? ", she turned to him in disbelief.
"Lately, I've been starting to write stories... on a whim, not thinking about how to turn it to a better end. Same as with you. At first it was okay, because I only wrote about reality. But as my power grows stronger, reality changes to my wishes more easily. I have to be more careful. Maybe I'll really become like Drosselmeyer someday, not caring about the stories outcome..."
"No you won't", said Ahiru determined.
"How would you know? Didn't you just say that-"
"I was wrong. I did thought that you might become just like Drosselmeyer but now I'm at ease."
" How come?"
"...your stories. When I read them, I could feel that you really cared about the person. You trying to correct all of Drosselmeyers tales in this town and even went beyond that. "
" That doesn't mean that I won't change for bad."
" You won't."
" Ahiru, I could change! What if I find joy in hurting other people, messing with their lives, see them struggle for their lives!", Fakir shouted.
"Because you experienced it once! You and the people around you were affected by the stories. Me, Rue, Mytho and ...even your parents. You yourself struggled for so long and saw other people suffer! As long as you don't forget about it I won't worry. And I know, that you won't forget."
Fakir was stunned. He couldn't say anything for a moment, just meeting her gaze. But the silence was cut by neither of them.
"Well, it seems like I'm not needed here anymore."
Ahiru was surprised because she didn't hear anybody come in, although she now could see,as she leaned over, that Fakir hadn't closed the door. It was already dark outside.
She couldn't fix the point from where the voice came from. She wondered if she just imagined it but had to rethink that due to the voice calling out again.
"Down here Miss."
Ahiru did look down. And screamed lightly in shock. It was a black and white cat sitting on the floor. He waved his tail on the floor and looked straight up to the humans. Fakir hid his face under his hand. Ahiru pointed at the cat.
"...Mr. Cat?"
"It's rude to point the finger at people or even cats!", the cat hissed. Ahiru pulled her hand back immediately. She looked at Fakir and Mr. Cat vice versa.
"I-I thought he turned into a cat? I mean he obviously did but why can he still talk? Is that how it's supposed to be? Isn't it weird for a cat to talk? What?"
Fakir didn't say anything. But the cat was very talkative.
" This young man wrote a story about me, as far as I understood. You seem familiar but I've never really knew you. Although your face seems very annoying to me. I have no idea why he asked me to help him. I'm just a cat."
" ...Help? Help with what?"
"Well you see-"
"Okay that's enough. get out of here!", Fakir suddenly said and grabbed the cat to take it outside.
Ahiru watched him do this, a little confused. What was that all about?Why would he-
Ahiru was reminiscing her old days at the academy and Mr. cat. Although she was really confused that a cat was the teacher, he was at least a good one. Although his proposals were very irritating for her. When he didn't talk about ballet he talked about marriage. Or gave a speech about love.
At this very moment Ahiru made a crazy assumption. Was it because of me? Because he's in love...with me?
As she thought about this she smiled unwillingly and her cheeks turned red. It surprised herself to have this kind of reaction. Why was she so happy about it? Her heart was beating faster. She clenched her fingers and her eyes grew big in realization.
Fakir came back into the room. He breathed out and turned to the girl who was still sitting on the floor with a irritating look on her face.
"What's wrong?", he asked.
She looked at him, wanted to tell him at least something. Ask him about his feelings, the reason why he asked the cat for help. But she couldn't. She remembered Mytho for a moment. At this moment she wasn't comparing her feelings from back then and now. But another important matter came to her mind.
She was Princess Tutu. She was supposed to disappear in a flash of light as she confessed her feelings to her prince. Although it wasn't Mytho, what would happen to her when she told Fakir?
Maybe she got it all wrong again.
So she kept silent, and just shook her head. Fakir reached out his hand to help her up.
"Come, I'll bring you back, it's late."
Ahiru nodded as she took his hand.
They didn't say a word on the way. Ahiru looked at her feet as she felt her burning cheeks. Somehow, everything changed in a moment. She wondered how long she already held this tender feelings for her escort. Even more, she wondered what he thought about her.
But her thoughts were interrupted. Someone shouted at her.
"Hey!"
Ahiru looked up to see a girl from the academy run towards her. She still wore the uniform. After a moment Ahiru recognized her as the girl who wanted to ask her something the day before after the performance.
As she stopped before them and tried to catch her breath Ahiru took a better look at her. She had brown hair, and two strains of hair were clipped to the side of her face. Ahiru couldn't tell the color of her eyes in the darkness.
"I finally caught you! Why weren't you at school? I thought I missed my chance!"
"Your chance for what?"
The girl breathed in, as to prepare herself for what would come. She had a very serious look.
" You might not remember but we know each other. I'm pretty sure about it!"
"Really? I can't recall-"
" Of course you can't, because that's how it goes! I guess you were turned into a Duck right?"
Ahiru and Fakir looked at the girl, shocked.
"W-w-What are y-you-"
"I know it sounds crazy, but since you're human, it means that you used some kind of trick to turn yourself back. My memory is also coming back to me slowly and it's because of my memento but if I tell you right now you might remember something yourself! The real you is not a Duck but Human! Please remember!"
Ahiru looked at her with big eyes. So did Fakir. They had no words to say. They couldn't comprehend the girls words at first. What was the girl talking about?
Ahirus head was dizzy.
"... How do you know?"
The girl sighed relieved and put on a sweet smile.
" My name is Ella, at least that's what I remember. I can tell you everything I know. And I have to ask you for your help. "
Cliffhanger! XD yeah sorry about that
Fairytale is "the 3 feathers", it's a cool story really. The youngest brother had to stay at the castle but he found a door which led to a frog who could give him all the treasures, even a girl( which was originally a frog XD)
And the title is from Chopin. Doesn't really have anything to do the story from the title but the melody fits quite good ^^
From now on the story will take a little turn as you can guess. I actually started this story because I wanted to present my version how it could be that Ahiru is actually human. When I started this I was still uncomfortable about the fact that Ahiru is actually a Duck, but now I don't mind it at all. Just a crazy fangirl thought ^^In the next story I write she will be originally a Duck for sure, if it's not an AU fic
Sooooo...anything else?
oh yeah this chapter is the longest i've written yet, and i tried not to use as much dialogue. I think it's 50:50, that makes me happy^^
While i was writing i got myself all sad XD I don't know if it was just my imagination or the music (I was listening to nocturne while writing) but it was really weird XD
Ah yes and there's also Mr. Cat XD i just wanted him in that story! Originally he had a bigger part, something like the "puss in boots" XD Maybe I'll still get there but it doesn't look good T_T
Next chapter will be really fluffy. I mean seriously fluffy. But also with a little Drama concerning Mytho I guess.