Warning: This chapter depicts some disturbing flashbacks of Akio sexually and emotionally abusing Anthy. The writing does not at all celebrate or condone what's happening, but nevertheless, some readers might find the scenes triggering and/or might wish to avoid them.

Chapter 6

Utena stood in her fencing regalia with her sword in her right hand and her mask tucked under her left arm, facing the as yet empty ring where her match would soon begin.

"Remember," said Juri. "This is just a heat. It shouldn't be too difficult, especially given the way we've been training. I'm confident you can win."

"Whether I win or not, I only promised one fight," Utena reminded her.

Something flashed through Juri's eyes, but she chose not to reply to Utena's statement.

"Good luck, Utena-kun!" Miki called, waving cheerfully from the sidelines nearby. Anthy was sitting beside him, and seeing the two of them together was certainly a strange sight that took Utena back to earlier days.

She smiled. "Thanks Miki. Himemiya, are you sure you want to stay? It won't bother me if you don't. A situation like this can't bring up pleasant memories for you."

This was about the fifth time Utena had asked, and Anthy's reply was the same as it had been on every other occasion.

"I'll stay."

Her voice was a little too detached, and Utena read her quickly for signs she might be bored or uncomfortable. Anthy noticed her doing it and rolled her eyes.

"I want to stay," she replied more firmly. Despite her words, Utena could tell she was tense, and she suspected it had nothing to do with Anthy wondering how Utena would fare in the upcoming match.

Lord only knew what memories were plaguing her right now. Was it good or not that Anthy wanted to be here for her, despite that?

"Utena," Juri hissed. "Concentrate on the fight, not your girlfriend. She can take care of herself now, or so you're always telling me. If she says she can handle it, then let her handle it."

"Right."

Even though Utena had only agreed to a single match, Juri had still been training her hard for the last month. She'd pushed Utena mercilessly, insisting she was going to become a proper fencing athlete this time round, freely criticising the lack of discipline with which Utena used to fight and lecturing her repeatedly for how she'd once relied on nothing more than luck and passion to get her through.

No one on her team was going to fight like that, she'd said one day as they sparred and she succeeding in trouncing Utena for the fourth time. Putting up her sword, panting hard, she'd added meaningfully, "and after the duel of Revolution, I think you know the reason why. As the captain, sending my team out with anything less is sending them out to slaughter."

It had been peculiar yet reassuring to hear Juri talk about a university fencing match with the same gravity as the duels of old. That part of her really hadn't changed; her determination to always act nobly, even in the most mundane of real world circumstances.

There was only a small audience surrounding the fencing mats today, not surprising given that this match was such an early heat in the competition. The crowds wouldn't get big until the national finals, when it would be determined who would go on to compete internationally, and even then fencing was a niche sport with a low profile.

None of that made the least bit of difference to Utena. As she waited for her opponent to appear, she found she was buzzing with a kind of excitement she hadn't felt for years, not since the duels, back when she had something to fight for; protecting Himemiya and pursuing her dream of becoming a prince. But now…Why was she feeling that excitement again? What was it she was fighting for today? For herself? For fun? Because it reminded her of what she used to be?

These were all questions a younger Utena may not have considered.

Finally, a hush fell over the murmuring crowd. Utena could see that people were turning their heads, presumably to watch as her opponent approached the ring. Neither she nor Juri knew much about who she'd be fighting, for all that Juri had tried to find out.

All they knew was that her opponent attended a university much more prestigious than Utena's, and had a name that suggested the male gender.

Thus, Utena blinked disbelievingly and did a double take when the shifting crowd parted and she saw the person who approached and subsequently sauntered into the ring.

That arrogant step, that mane of silky red hair, those hungry, too-possessive eyes. There was no mistaking who it was – Touga, her most dangerous opponent in the duels after Akio, as well as her sort-of one time suitor.

He wasn't alone either. He had an accompanying partner with him who halted at the sidelines, even though he was entitled to enter the ring as Jury had done as Utena's second. With his long green hair curling about his vain face, Touga's partner crossed his arms, leaned against a convenient post and observed everything around him with apparently disinterested eyes.

Saionji. The first duellist Utena had fought and from whom she had unwittingly won Anthy, setting off a course of events that would change her life forever.

Utena cast a quick glance towards Jury, briefly angry, intending to ask her if she knew about this; had even set it up. But one look at Juri's face told her that she knew as little as Utena did, and was just as unhappy.

Anthy was on her feet, every line of her stiff with anxiety. When she caught Utena's eye she shook her head slightly, seeming to tell her to get out of there, but no way in Hell was Utena going to do that.

Even if she didn't know what was going on here, she wasn't backing down.

Touga stepped up to Utena with a haughty look and false friendly smile. His eyes said that he remembered her perfectly, but as the referee readied them, his actions were those of a stranger, of someone who was nothing more than her opponent in an unimportant university match.

With the leave of the referee, they pulled on their masks one-handed, bowed to the judges and then each other and crossed their swords.

The referee's whistle blew, and the fight began.

Touga had always been a powerful duellist, and Utena soon found that hadn't changed. He immediately went on the attack, forcing her into defensive mode, which would ultimately make it more difficult for her to win priority for a hit.

That didn't really worry her too much though. She had plenty of experience of Jury coming at her like this, and knew how to turn her defensive moves into counter-attacks that would still ensure she won priority even if they landed a hit at the same time.

What worried Utena infinitely more was that she could see Saionji beginning to slink towards Anthy around the outside of the ring. True, Anthy wasn't alone, and Miki would look after her if need be; more to the point, so would Juri in an emergency, for all that she was none too fond of Anthy.

But his actions meant that Utena was no longer paying attention to her own fight. Too easily she allowed herself to become distracted, wondering if she'd even chosen the correct opponent, because if Saionji had some design on Anthy then that was where Utena needed to be, right now. And that was why she never saw it coming when the point of Touga's sword lodged beneath her safety helmet and he neatly flicked it right off her head.

There was no question of it being an accident. It was most definitely a deliberate move. A completely illegal move.

As her pink hair flew free, Utena heard the referee's whistle blowing madly, but Touga didn't seem to care. He surged towards her, grabbing her hair with his left hand and pulling her tight against him, her back to his front, her left arm ending up trapped between their bodies and twisting in a way that threatened to dislocate her shoulder. Touga's foil was sheathed at his side (where on earth had the sheath even come from?) and with his free right hand he half-crushed Utena's own, forcing her to drop her weapon while she bit back a cry of pain.

"Touga, what the Hell—" Utena gritted out.

Touga kept mercilessly using the advantage of his weight and size against her, forcing her sword arm in close to her chest with the might of his own. The feel of his body behind her reminded Utena inescapably that he was much larger than she was, but right now he also felt like someone else, someone she couldn't place for a few disorientated moments as she tried to remember where she had encountered strength like this before.

The nausea hit as she realised. Akio. Touga stank of Akio's power.

Somewhere she could hear Juri screaming, calling for this to cease.

All Touga did was snicker amusedly in Utena's ear, and then with gut-wrenching speed they were sucked away and everything was gone; the fencing ring and the auditorium and the crowd and Anthy and Juri and Miki and Saionji.

Even though this felt very different to what Utena had been through with Anthy before, she knew it was probably some variation of the same thing, that she and Touga were most likely travelling to some other world. Touga didn't relax his grip in the slightest as they hurtled through a blur of stars, still squeezing her ribs painfully, still pulling her hair back and making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

All she could do was endure it and wait for a chance to get away, knowing the best moment would probably come when they landed. As soon as they jolted to the ground she felt Touga stagger, momentarily off-balance, and taking advantage of the situation she thrust an elbow into his kidney as hard as she could. He grunted in pain and loosened his grip just as she'd hoped, allowing her to slip from his grasp and roll out of reach.

Utena had no idea where they were and she didn't waste too much time in looking as she vaulted to her feet opposite this Touga who smelled dangerously of Akio. Her quick, stingy glances showed her a blasted landscape of jagged cliffs and dead skeleton trees, a bruised purple sky, an arena-like clearing strewn with half-buried boulders that looked like giants might have pummelled them into the earth.

Neither of them were wearing their fencing clothes anymore; both were arrayed as they had been in their duelling days and Utena really didn't like the look in Touga's eye as he surveyed her like that.

"Tenjou," he said softly, speaking to her like they were something more than friends. "This was always how I liked you best. Noble. Pure. A prince who claims her own body, even though I always wished I could convince you to put it to some other use."

"Touga, what the Hell have you done?" Utena demanded, ignoring his disgusting remark. "Take us back!"

Touga smiled. "You already know what I've done. You felt it before. Akio's power."

"How? Akio is dead."

"You and the Rose Bride were not the only ones to visit Ohtori before its demise. I also took a trip back there. I saw Akio impaled upon the swords and we both knew his end was near. Which was why he gave me this. A little memento by which to remember him. A little something to help me along the path to becoming his heir."

Touga raised his right hand, showing Utena the rose signet ring glinting upon his third finger. Akio's ring.

"What do you mean by his heir?" Utena said angrily.

"Well why not?" Touga sneered. "You weren't interested in the position, were you? Akio knew that his world would seek out a prince, and that it would probably be you, and that you'd most likely turn down all that beautiful power for the sake of one tarnished girl. So he named me as his heir instead, and gave me his ring just as Dios once gave the ring of the prince to you."

"So what are we doing here, and where are we? If you're Akio's heir then go be his heir. Leave me out of it!"

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. You still have the sword of the prince inside you, and it will take the combined power of the sword and Akio's ring to remake the fairytale world anew."

A cold wind blew over them, and Utena shivered.

"I am not giving up my sword to you."

Touga smoothed back his ruffled hair. "Of course not. I'd be almost disappointed if you just handed it over. Half the fun is going to be taking it."

He drew the sheathed foil at his side, which was no longer a foil at all, but very obviously his heart sword, lethal and shining in his hand.

Utena's eyes widened. "How?"

"Dear Saionji obliged," said Touga. "It looked like an ordinary foil in the world we left behind, but here it is able to take on its true form."

"And how is you wielding that supposed to frighten me?" Utena said as she and Touga began to circle each other warily. "You can't get my sword from me if I'm dead."

"This sword will allow me to transmit the memories embedded in Akio's ring. Very special memories that Akio wanted me to share with you in this place, at the foot of the Mountains of Despair. He often brought some of his more difficult conquests to this little world." Touga gave her a far too knowing look. "Believe me, Utena. You were lucky you got the amusement park. He really cared about you to treat you so gently."

"Shut up!" Utena screamed. "God, just shut up." She was sweating badly, her control unravelling before the fight had even properly begun. Jury would probably be furious with her for letting Touga get to her so easily. She tried to remember Jury's training, tried to calm herself, but the truth was, Utena had always been impulsive to a fault, and she'd always fought with her heart and not her head. She wasn't sure she could fight any other way.

Now, as she looked at Touga's arrogant, smiling face, she was so angry she could barely think. How did he even know about the amusement park? Had Akio told him about it? Discussed with him at length his successful seduction? Mentioned with gloating triumph the blood on the bed?

And what was happening to Anthy back in the other world? Was Saionji attacking her the way Touga was attacking Utena?

"If anything happens to Himemiya while I'm gone…"

Touga's voice was icy. "Trust me Tenjou, you don't have time to be worrying about her. Right now, it's a question of what will happen to you while you're gone."

Even though they were still several feet apart, he pointed the sword at her and Utena dodged behind one of the boulders as a beam of energy shot towards her. The rock was blasted apart by the impact, and Utena quickly rolled away as another blast followed hard on the heels of the first. She needed to get out of here and hide until she could figure out what to do, maybe find a way back to her world, but the mountains ringed them on all sides, their slopes sheer and impassable.

Utena decided to try climbing anyway; at least if she could get some height she'd be in a more defensible position, and there might be a cave or something up there to shelter her from Touga's blasts.

She picked what looked like the least difficult mountain and began a scrambling assent, making it about eight feet up before both her handholds gave way and crumbled beneath her desperately grasping fingers.

Touga laughed as she fell. Utena hadn't gotten high enough to be in danger of serious injury, but the fall was bad enough to knock the breath out of her, leaving her helpless as Touga made his sinuous way to her side, silent and dangerous as a jungle cat.

"No one can scale the Mountains of Despair, Utena. No one can ever find their way out of this pit of misery." He bared his teeth in what was more of a grimace than a grin and pointed his sword right at her heart, bringing it closer until she could feel its sharp point jabbing into her breast.

"And now," he whispered. "Let me show you what Akio wanted you to see."

The flash was so blinding Utena had to close her eyes, still struggling to regain her breath as she heard Akio's voice in her head.

For once in your life, my princess, let me show you what it means to be powerful. Feel what it's like to be me. Feel what I did to Anthy on all those nights when you so innocently slept. Farewell, Utena, and let me leave you with this parting gift. The only strength I have.

"So Anthy, what do you think of this new victor? A girl this time. That hasn't happened for quite a while."

Utena looked at her hand, which was not her own hand but Akio's, stroking her fingers through the tangled mass of Anthy's hair. She could feel Anthy's naked body against her, spent and sated, could recall with horrible clarity the activities that had led to her being thus; felt Akio's tremble of pleasure inside herself as he remembered pinning Anthy to the couch and taking her.

"She's naive," whispered Anthy, her face more than half-hidden behind her hair. "She'll be easy to control."

Utena as Akio laughed. "Are you upset that she turned you down? That she's immune to your charms? She'll still very young after all. Perhaps we will have to see what we can do about that. Teach her the ways of the world so she'll be suitable for the game. Will you help me, Anthy?"

"Of course, Brother."

Utena felt herself shaking with Akio's fury as she looked down at Anthy, noting the stiffness of her shoulders, the unhappy set of her jaw, the arms clasped protectively in front of her.

"I think you're coming to care for this victor just a little too much, Anthy."

Experiencing everything as Akio, Utena saw his hands reach out and grab Anthy, felt his excitement rising as he shoved her to her knees and roughly dragged her head forwards. Anthy didn't refuse him. She never did. He groaned as pleasure filled him, and with a sick pain in her soul Utena felt it as her own.

"You want her, don't you," Akio whispered, voice hoarse, and Utena had the strange sensation of feeling the rumble of his words in her own chest. "I can tell, Anthy. I can always tell. You want her to be sweet and gentle as she touches you. Tender as she presses her body to yours and slides her fingers deep inside you. You want her to help you forget about all of this, you and I and the things we do. You want to pretend her hands can wipe away all the dirt."

Akio moaned as he came, panting and looking down at what Anthy was doing, and God, Utena didn't want to be seeing this, didn't want to be feeling him getting off on hurting her. Anthy looked back up at him without even a blush on her cheeks, her face carefully blank as she drew back and wiped her mouth once it was over. Only Akio knew her well enough to see the rebellion hidden in her eyes. Rebellion he would never allow.

"You forget what you are, Anthy. You could never be clean enough for her. If she knew the truth of you, what would she do then?"

He laughed as he saw the hopelessness Anthy tried to hide from him. "It can only be you and I. I am the only one who will love you, as filthy and broken as you are. You know that."

Finally it came to an end. Utena was herself again, still lying in the dust with bitter tears streaming from her eyes and bile rising in her throat. She curled herself tightly into a ball around the hard knot of pain in her stomach, trying to stop the sobs that wanted to erupt from deep within her, not wanting Touga to see. She'd thought she'd understood Anthy, she really had, but Utena had no idea – no idea – of what Akio had put her through, of the depths to which his depravity had run. It was like having her soul ripped in two to see Anthy being hurt like that, over and over; but it was worse to feel Akio getting off on it; to watch his hands violating Anthy as if they were her own.

No doubt that had been part of Akio's plan. To force himself on Utena's mind the way he had forced himself on Anthy's body, to try and taint every experience she had with Anthy forevermore.

Touga was staring down at her with a look of triumph on his face, and Utena wondered if Akio had told him exactly what memories he was going to give her. Probably. Maybe he'd shared them with Touga as well. Maybe he'd even shared his memories of Utena with Touga. Maybe that was why Touga knew all about the amusement park and what had happened in the hotel nearby.

Without even the strength to stand, she slanted one bright blue eye up at him defiantly. "All you're doing," she gasped, "Is strengthening my resolve not to give you anything."

"You fool, Tenjou. You never know when to give up."

Utena grinned. "You're right, I don't."

She'd barely finished the sentence before the next memory hit her.

"The more time I spend with your sweet innocent girl prince, the more I understand why you cannot help but be drawn to her, Anthy."

Anthy was spread out beneath Akio on the wide white couch, beautiful and fragile as a china doll he could break any time he pleased. Utena could feel that part of Akio wanted to break her, just to hear her cry, but after wavering, he kept his caresses slow and gentle, just to remind Anthy that he could be like this when he chose, when she pleased him.

Utena glanced up into Anthy's guarded green eyes, knowing she was seeing what Akio had.

"You're afraid for her. You should be. You know it's the one thing you cannot do. Fall in love with anyone other than me."

He paused thoughtfully, stroking his fingers over Anthy's perfect flesh.

"But I understand why you want her so. She is…Magnificent. I think even I might come to prefer her to you. Her purity is unsurpassed. It makes me want to possess her, destroy her. Just to prove to you she's a princess, not the prince you've been searching for. But maybe, just maybe, she is the one I've been searching for. A princess worthy of dwelling with me forever in the Castle of Eternity.

"You know what that would mean, don't you Anthy? Utena and I would be living together in a fairytale of bliss, and you'd be paying for it with the swords, because someone as dirty as you could never be worthy of such happiness."

His hand drifted lower, seeking between legs that opened to him willingly.

"But maybe I'll tire of her if I realise she's just another barefoot girl. Well Anthy, what do you say? Shall we sully Utena together? Will you help me ruin the person you love? Will you help me take her even though you want her for yourself?"

Looking into Anthy's eyes, Utena as Akio saw everything there that he hoped. Not the concern she'd had before, not the burgeoning love that enraged him, but Anthy's jealousy of Utena, her despair that Akio wanted Utena in a way he could never want Anthy again, her hatred, her desire to destroy.

Anthy reached up and drew Akio into a searing kiss. "I'll help you, brother," she whispered.

This time, Utena did vomit, her body needing some physical release from the horror and disgust saturating every nerve she possessed. So many awful nights of pain Anthy had endured, all while Utena slept. All while she dreamed her stupid, sweet fantasies of Akio being her prince.

Anthy had loved her, and for daring to do that she'd been tormented into hating her and betraying her, all the while fearing Utena would take from her the one thing she still possessed. All the while thinking Utena would never want her if she knew the truth.

"Himemiya," she murmured brokenly, tears shining like diamonds in her eyes. There was a familiar grinding sensation in her chest and suddenly Touga's hand was there, trying to draw the sword out of her.

She suppressed her scream at the cutting pain and pushed him away, staggering to her feet with the sword half protruding from her chest. She grasped the hilt and pulled it the rest of the way out herself, feeling sweat dripping down her face, her back, her chest. Tossing her head to flick away the wet tangles of hair clinging to her cheeks, she raised her sword and pointed it grimly at Touga.

"You still won't relinquish your sword?" Touga asked in a smooth, honeyed voice. He was doing his best to appear calm, but Utena had seen the shock in his eyes when she'd shown herself capable to controlling her sword. Clearly he hadn't expected that to happen, hadn't expected she'd have the strength to wield her own sword at all.

"I told you I wouldn't."

"Even though the sword responded to me? To the echo of Akio's power? He was always stronger than you, Utena. Even your heart sword knows it."

Utena gave a bark of laughter. "You idiot, Touga. It was my thoughts of Himemiya that drew the sword out. Nothing to do with you or Akio."

She could see the anger in Touga's eyes, so much like the anger in Akio's. Furiously, she went at him, her sword bright with a power all her own. She was so sick of this. Sick of doubting herself. Of punishing herself for mistakes she'd made. Of punishing herself for failing Himemiya. Sick of doubting whether she and Himemiya should be together.

Sparks flew around them as their swords clashed, Touga barely finding time to clumsily parry Utena's thrusts as she lunged at him, over and over.

Utena wasn't a princess and she hadn't quite become a prince but she was herself and that was enough. It had been enough for Himemiya all along. It had been enough to save her.

"If Akio was so powerful," Utena bit out as they fought, "Why was it only my heart that could reach Himemiya? Why didn't I listen to Akio when he told me I couldn't open the Rose Gate? Why is it that he's dead and I'm alive and all he can do is send his lackey to try and finish the job he was too weak to do himself?"

With a two-handed swing, she sheared Touga's heart sword in half. He cried out in agony and dropped the sword's broken hilt, his hand flung wide by the force of her blow. Seeing the exposed underside of his fingers, Utena pushed the tip of her sword along his ring finger, so precise she didn't even draw blood. But the swift movement of her sword did succeed in dislodging the ring as she'd intended and both she and Touga watched it spiral through the air in a beautiful, glittering arc. Touga made a desperate grab for it but Utena shoved him aside, smashing into the airborne ring with her sword and shattering it into a million pieces.

She heard a wretched scream of defeat which sounded strangely like Touga's and Akio's voices mixed together, and then Touga dropped to his knees, his hands clutching at his chest as the pain of his broken heart sword wracked his body.

"You…Win, Tenjou," he managed to gasp. He collapsed and leaned back against a convenient boulder with a groan, panting for some moments with his head bent before looking up at her. "I surrender."

Cautiously, Utena put up her sword, still watching for further tricks. "Touga, Akio at the height of his power couldn't defeat me. What chance did you think you had?"

"I thought perhaps you'd changed," Touga said weakly. "That the real world had dulled your fire. But I can see now I was wrong. Your heart sword shines with such passion and nobility it's almost painful to behold. Its radiance tells me that my chances of winning you are as remote as they ever were."

Utena snorted. "You're still going on about that now? After what you just did?"

Touga's voice was wistful. "I was never good enough to win you by fair means. I knew that all along. That's why I always resorted to Akio's ways. Because having you in a way that was wrong was better than not having you at all."

"Hrmph. Whatever. We've fought and you've failed, so just take us home and get us the Hell out of here."

"Ah yes." Touga wheezed in a way that was eerily similar to dying-Akio. "There's a slight problem with that. All the magic I had was in Akio's ring. Which you just destroyed. I'm afraid you and I are stuck here forever, Tenjou." He gave her a watery grin. "Doesn't that sound fun?"