I thank Unnoticeable_Demon for helping.
Once upon a time, there was a sad love that would never be requited. But that alone does not give birth to a story. The man charged with the task of spinning this tale of love was no longer of this world. The story lives on with the love forever immersed in sorrow. Having lost its storyteller, the story is now wandering in search of its conclusion.
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Duck, Pique and Lillie were watching Rue. She was dancing in the classroom they used to have their lessons from Mr Cat. Now, however, it was only a class held for the Special Class and Rue was showing off what she had learned. The classic piece she was dancing to was being provided by a penguin playing the piano in the corner of the room. Above the room was an inner-balcony on which you could look down onto the dance floor. It was meant to be used in case special spotlights were being used or when the performance was being taped for technical observation in exams, but today Piqué and Lillie had sneaked up there and they had dragged Duck and Tiger with them.
"This is our chance to watch their technique up close and see their first tries with feedback! We can learn advanced dancing ahead of time!" Piqué had pitched to them with eyes sparkling with excitement. Of course, Duck had fallen for it immediately. Everyone knew she needed all the help she could get, but Tiger had only agreed because she didn't trust anything those two airheads planned. Tiger wouldn't be surprised if they thought they could help Duck by throwing her off the balcony.
No, Tiger was not interested, not even when Rue danced. She would surpass her on her own, without shortcuts. She had brought her sketchbook with her and was sketching an image from her latest dream. It had been a sword and two intertwined stems of rosemary, lying on a stone surface. The sword had a fancy look about it, with a jeweled handle.
'A sad love. Could it mean the story of Giselle? But she was made up.' Tiger wondered while she tapped her lips with her pencil absentmindedly.
Next to her, Tiger heard Duck wondering if she could dance like that. Immediately Piqué and Lillie jumped on it. Piqué began to shake Duck enthusiastically, speaking encouragement while Lillie cheered for her failure as usual. At the end they just chorused that Duck had to get out of the Probationary class first. Which, all things aside, was true.
"You sure you don't want to watch this, Tiger?" Piqué suddenly asked her, getting her attention.
"If I watch, I'm worried I might try to copy her, which I'm trying to avoid." Tiger answered truthfully and she continued drawing.
Lillie took matters in her own hands by pulling Tiger up from her sitting position.
"Knock it off, Lillie!" Tiger hissed while she glanced down. Rue was still dancing.
'Oh, right. When I'm Princess Clara, I can dance any role I want. But is that really me, or am I just an ordinary girl working hard? Or rather, am I just a cat?' Tiger thought as she watched Rue dance. The dance was difficult and when Tiger forgot her own troubles for a second, she noticed the pained expression on Rue's face as she slowed down in her dancing. She had to keep on jumping up and down on one tip-toed leg.
'Who thought of a ridiculous dance step like that? It's obvious the role of Giselle isn't for me.' Tiger thought, feeling glad she was not Rue right now.
Rue wobbled dangerously on her exhausted leg.
"Watch out!" Duck cried out, but it was too late. Rue lost her balance and fell to the floor.
Of course, Duck's cry had allerted Mr Cat to their presence and they were brought down immediately. Mr Cat was hissing and spitting about getting married to the lot of them. But Duck drew the short straw. Mr Cat blamed her for disrupting the class and causing Rue to fall down. And so Duck had to practice alone as punishment.
Once Piqué and Lillie had left, Tiger went after Mr Cat and caught him just outside the lesson room where Duck was now stuck dancing alone.
"Mr Cat, don't you think you're being unfair? Rue was going to fall anyway without Duck shouting. You should have noticed she was struggling." Tiger told him immediately.
"Might I ask what it is you mean, Miss Tiger? It is a difficult part and one needs all their concentration to focus." Mr Cat replied stiffly. He obviously thought Tiger was being too rude.
"I mean, Mr Cat, that Rue's leg was trembling and her expression was painful. I think that she would've twisted her ankle if she continued." Tiger clarified, keeping her temper in check this time.
"I see." Mr Cat nodded. "Well I will have a talk with Miss Duck later. If she confirms your account of what happened, I will relieve her from the punishment."
"Anyway, I was hoping to ask you something about this." Tiger took out her sketchbook and showed her drawing of the sword and the rosemary.
"What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a sad love and this."
Mr Cat scratched his chin. "Hm, a sword and a rosemary and a story of a sad love? That can only be one story and that is the story of Giselle."
"I thought so. I want to know more about the actual story, not only the Ballet."
"The story tells of a beautiful village girl named Giselle. She loved to dance but had a weak heart. Then a traveler came to the village. His name was Albrecht and he was a nobleman, set to marry a noblewoman named Bethilda. But Albrecht didn't want to marry this noblewoman and so he disguised himself as a simple peasant. Once there he saw Giselle and fell in love with her."
"That jerk. Falling in love with Giselle when he already had a fiancée." Grumbled Tiger.
Mr Cat only cleared his throat and continued. "He danced with her and she loved him too, but there was another man, Hilarion, the woodsman. Hilarion became jealous, he found Albrecht's sword in a barn and knew he had to be a prince in disguise, but before he could do anything to Albrecht, Lady Bethilda came to the village. There was a festival for the grape harvest and Giselle was crowned Queen of the Harvest. Bethilda saw Albrecht and Giselle and knew her fiancée had disguised himself."
"Of all the nerve, sneaking around his fiancée's back." Interrupted Tiger again.
"Giselle in turn found out Albrecht had lied to her, after all, he was already promised to another. In a scuffle between Giselle and Bethilda, Giselle's heart gave out and she grabbed Albrecht's sword to end her life.
Meanwhile there had always been a belief in the village that in their woods there were spirits, called the Wilis. The Wilis are ghosts of unmarried women and men were not safe in those woods. The Wilis would force them to dance till death and now Giselle was one of them. Hilarion came to her grave to mourn her, but he ran when the Wilis came for him. Then Albrecht came. He had realized he truly loved Giselle and he wanted to see her again. The Wilis came, along with Giselle and they danced till morning. Albrecht was saved from death, but Giselle wasn't. If I have to guess I'd say the sword represents Albrecht and the rosemary represents Giselle. It is a herb that protects the Wilis."
"Do you think there was someone in Goldcrown town who suffered the same fate as Giselle?" Tiger asked her teacher.
"There may have been some with unrequited love." Mr Cat answered gravely.
"I see. Thank you." Tiger gave Mr Cat a quick bow and left.
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Tiger returned to the girl's dormitory to change into her casual clothes. She threw her favorite blue jumpsuit on her bed and picked out a brown plain t-shirt. When she had wrestled herself out of the multi-layered school uniform and into the comfortable light clothes, she let out a satisfied sigh of relief. Duck entered the room and started picking out normal clothes as well.
"How did it go?" Tiger asked her and she laced her jumpsuit at the waist.
"Great, Piqué and Lillie joined me halfway and Mr Cat said that I made good progress. I'm able to join the beginner's class again." Duck replied with a smile.
"Good to hear." Tiger said, but, as she looked over, the weather outside their window caught her eye. "Hey, did you know we would get heavy fog today?"
Duck went to the window to look outside."The wind's picking up." She observed, watching the trees, then she gasped. "Oh, it's Mytho, he's walking away."
Tiger knew what this meant, something was happening and it had to do with that dream. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up." She told Duck and the latter made to leave.
Tiger looked back out of the window, to see which direction Mytho would take, but something strange happened. There was a gust of wind and Mytho vanished. Tiger ran out too.
When they reached the front gate, Duck looked frantically left and right.
"He's gone! Mytho's gone!" She said in a panicked voice.
"I know. I saw him vanish." Tiger replied.
Duck wasn't really listening and called Mytho again and she was just about to pick a direction and race after him, when someone startled her and she hit her face against the right wall. "Mytho-"
It was Rue and she did not look pleased to see them.
"What are you doing?" She asked Duck haughtily.
Duck rubbed her nose. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, but got distracted immediately and peered around Rue. "Huh? He's… not there."
"Were you just calling for Mytho?" Rue asked.
"Uh, yeah." Duck replied distractedly, she was still looking around.
"You need something?" Rue wanted to know.
"No, not me. But I just saw him come out this way."
"What? There was no one coming out." Rue argued.
"But… but I'm sure I saw Mytho." Duck tried, but Rue didn't believe her.
"No way. I didn't see anyone out here."
"Maybe you didn't, but I did. Then he was just gone." Tiger brought in, this conversation was going nowhere if neither Duck or Rue realized Mytho disappeared in thin air.
"So, that way then?" Duck asked and Tiger rolled her eyes.
"It was you." Rue said suddenly and at last her tone changed. She sounded angry.
"Huh, what?" Duck looked back to Rue with honest surprise.
"You cried out rudely when I was dancing and interrupted me!" Rue accused.
"What?" Tiger cried out in bewilderment. Didn't Rue realize she would fall anyway. Was she really that full of herself?
"Oh, well that was-" Duck tried to explain herself, but Rue wouldn't let her.
"You don't seem to have the slightest comprehension as to how much focus is required when dancing." She spat back.
"You're the one who doesn't get it. You were struggling and fell on your own! It's wrong to blame others for your mistake. You're lucky you didn't twist your ankle." Tiger told Rue straight out and crossed her arms in defiance.
Rue glared at her, but said nothing more.
"Look, I'm sorry about that. But more importantly, Mytho was acting weird just now. Or rather, acting strange. That's the same. But anyway, I gotta find him now! See ya!" And with that Duck ran off with Tiger following her.
"Hold on! We're not done talking yet! Wait just a minute!" Rue cried out behind them and she started to follow Duck as well.
As they ran, the fog gathered around them and seemed to grow thicker. Also ominous shadows began to spread along trees and walls.
"I wonder which way he went." Duck wondered aloud when she finally stopped running and she looked around when she noticed that not only Tiger had followed her, but Rue as well. "Rue?"
"You… your name… it's Duck, right? And you're… Tiger? You both run pretty… pretty fast." Rue panted.
"Oh, yeah, I know." Duck breathed back, even though she was not out of breath at all.
"You just noticed, now?" Tiger asked Duck, amused.
"Don't mock me. I'm just… a little out of breath, ok? So just… cut it out." Rue was still panting, but she took the time to glare at both Duck and Tiger in turn.
"Ok, so-" Duck was still imitating Rue's speech pattern and it was obvious she hadn't realized it, because now she stopped herself and put her hand in front of her mouth.
"Fine, it doesn't matter to me as long as we're moving." Tiger said, eying their surroundings with concern.
As they were walking, Tiger was just dawdling behind the girls, keeping her eyes on the shadows. The shadows seemed to move as she watched them, but Tiger couldn't figure out what caused them to move. It distracted her. Meanwhile Duck was talking to Rue, but Tiger did not pay them any attention. She just felt like she didn't belong in their conversation.
'How am I ever going to find out what that dream was telling me. Will it lead me to another memory?' Tiger wondered. She squinted at the shadows all allround her. When she turned completely around, she spotted something glittering in one of the alleyways she had just passed. It was a familiar bluish sheen and Tiger tracked back to follow it without hesitation. The fog became more dense in the narrow ally and at the end of it she could see something that looked suspiciously like a headstone. Was it a grave? Tiger looked around, but she was nowhere near a graveyard nor a church. Why was it here? But as she got nearer it was unmistakably a grave.
When Tiger arrived in front of it, the boy came to her out of the shadows. Tiger didn't startle at this. After everything, she had begun to always expect him to show up.
"Oh, it's you." She sighed and she greeted him with a small smile.
"I heard a rumor that a maiden died here." The boy said in a whisper.
"Ah, did you see something glowing around here?" Tiger asked him earnestly, but before the boy could answer, they both heard what sounded like people crying from the other end of the alleyway. There was a bridge there, built across a small stream that divided the neighborhood in two sections. Crossing the bridge was a group of shimmering, vapory figures, walking in single file and all were crying softly.
"A funeral procession?" Tiger wondered out loud. "But they're ghosts."
"This death happened a long time ago. It's just repeating itself." The boy replied.
"It can't be for Giselle. She was just a character." Tiger said, thinking out loud.
"There was a maiden in this town who fell in love, but that love was not to be. So without hope, she took her own life. If her love was unrequited in this world, she'd see it reborn and fulfilled in the next. But her fiance never came, so she took another man to the world of the dead in his place." The boy explained grimly.
"And it's going to happen again?" Tiger asked, feeling cold dread creeping up her spine.
"Yes, if it isn't stopped." The boy confirmed in the same grim tone.
"Then I have to follow them!" Tiger decided and she started to move in the direction of the bridge where she could already see the end of the funeral procession. When she crossed the bridge after the last ghost had glided over it, she came to a lone mansion with a long lost statue in its courtyard, only the feet were left on its plinth.
A church bell rang from somewhere, but from where Tiger could not see. She looked around. Everything was broken down and nature had grown wild around it, but inside the old dry water fountain lay a single twig of fresh Rosemary. "Everything's worn down." Tiger stared at it and was just wondering what it could mean, when she spotted two familiar figures coming her way.
"Tiger!" Duck called out to her.
"Duck, Rue." Tiger greeted them and ran towards them.
"Where were you?" Rue wanted to know and she raised an eyebrow.
"I followed the funeral and ended up here." Tiger explained simply. Rue stared at her for a second, but then got distracted. Duck, next to her gasped and Tiger spun around to see what they were looking at. Mytho had come and he was walking up to the mansion as if in a trance.
"Mytho!" Duck called out to him.
"I'm that man? If you say it is true, perhaps I am." Mytho mumbled, he seemed to be in conversation with someone, but there was no one else to be seen.
Then, suddenly, Tiger saw a ghost through the window.
"Mytho, who are you talking to?" Rue wanted to know and she tried to get his attention, but Mytho still didn't seem to notice them at all. All he had eyes for was the ghost inside the mansion.
"They're coming." Tiger told the others. The sound of giggling girls could be heard from all around the courtyard. They became louder and louder and were closing in around Mytho. The owners of the voices took shape and formed a wide circle around Mytho, who just calmly looked ahead.
"They're Wilis." Tiger said in a whisper.
"What?" Duck asked in surprise.
"Ghosts of young maidens who were betrayed by their love and died before their weddings." Tiger explained.
Something was happening. The ghost of the young women around Mytho had all knelt down in a ballet pose. Their legs were crossed underneath their long white dresses and their heads were bent down low, while they all stretched out their arms towards the center of the circle. As they did this an oblong shape began to blow on the ground. Right in front of the set of steps that lead up to the mansion. The glowing shape opened up to be a tomb stone and another ghost appeared. This ghost of a maiden had a beautiful wreath of flowers on top of her hair and a veil that covered her whole upper body. Through the thin veil you could see that the maiden had her eyes closed and that she had her arms in the mime that said in ballet: 'I love you'. She glided down to the ground and straightened up to look at Mytho. As she did so, her veil was lifted from her face. He expression was grim and sad.
"Is she the maiden, then?" Duck breathed as she looked at the sad appearance of the ghost.
Then, from behind the maiden's tombstone, a little lit sphere flew up and darted away. 'Another one!' Tiger thought and her heart made an excited jump.
Meanwhile the ghost maiden began to dance in front of Mytho.
"So it was you that was calling to me all of this time." Mytho said to her. The maiden stopped dancing and looked at him with that same grim expression. She didn't answer him, but presented him with a large twig of rosemary.
"The rosemary from Giselle?! You mustn't take it!" Rue gasped and she immediately started to run towards Mytho and the ghost.
"No, Rue!" Duck called after her in alarm.
"Rue!" Tiger called as well, who knows what would happen to her if she reached the circle. But they had underestimated Rue's knowledge of well-known Ballets. She did not enter the circle, but began to dance instead.
"You'll be taken away to the world of the dead! Come over here!" Rue explained in earnest to Mytho as she spun on her toes as well as she could without the help of Toe shoes.
The rosemary disappeared and the maiden danced away. But Rue didn't take any chances. She began to dance with the maiden.
"Oh, Rue!" Duck called out, worried.
It was far from easy. The ghost was as light as air and twirled and jumped around with the greatest of ease, while Rue wasn't even dressed for dancing. Her everyday heels were wearing her down. She was getting tired, but tried to keep up. While she and the Maiden were trying to best each other in dancing, the other ghosts were holding Mytho still as he calmly watched them.
Rue was breathing heavily now and her legs were trembling. Just as they had seen in class, she was wobbling on her one leg, ready to fall…
'This isn't good. I don't think she's had enough basic training for stamina.' Tiger thought.
It was too late, Rue fell and the ghost maiden had won their battle.
"Rue!" Duck and Tiger called and they ran towards her to help her up. Meanwhile Rue had not taken her eyes off the maiden and watched in horror as the latter glided towards Mytho once more with the rosemary in her hands.
"No, don't!" Rue screamed in desperation and she came to her feet to run towards Myhto, to pull him away, but the other ghosts were quick to come between Mytho and Rue and forced her back, like a solid wall. Rue screamed as she was knocked away from Mytho and she fell back to the ground.
"Oh, no!" Duck cried out, she looked at Tiger who understood. She nodded and they both ran behind a tree to transform.
Like a shooting star, Princess Tutu appeared high in the sky and landed gracefully just behind Mytho, who had just reached out his hands to take the rosemary from the maiden.
"My Prince, stop! You mustn't take it!" Princess Tutu called out to him.
"Why? Why do you interfere? Who are you?" The maiden asked in a hollow, sorrowful voice as Princess Clara appeared in the sky as well and landed softly next to Princess Tutu.
"I am Princess Clara, and I consider this stopping you from making a big mistake." Princess Clara replied sternly.
"Princess Clara?" Rue wondered, from her spot on the floor. She had heard of Princess Tutu and it had been unbelievable enough to see her there tonight, but she had never heard of another magical princess.
"I am Princess Tutu. Just like you, I'm fated never to be with the one whom I love. Please, come and dance with us." Princess Tutu told the maiden gently.
Princess Tutu invited the maiden to dance and all three of them danced the role of Myrtha, queen of the Wilis.
"Amazing. They're still keeping up with her." Rue said in awe as she watched them.
"If you share the same fate as I, then why is your dance not laden with sorrow?" The maiden asked Princess Tutu.
"Because of all the many other emotions in my heart that won't give into the sorrow." Princess Tutu explained.
"Happiness is up to me, not sadness or depression." Princess Clara added and the maiden made a soft gasp after hearing this.
"Even if you take Mytho, it won't dispel the sorrow, will it? Because the sorrow that resides within you is not how you truly feel." Princess Tutu said to her softly and her voice shook. Tears her welling up in her eyes. "I cannot know how much nor how long you have suffered, but I know whatever your story is, you have grieved enough in your heart, and so you can sleep in peace now." Princess Tutu gently let the maiden down in a kneeling position and closed her arms around her.
"Yes, you needn't grieve anymore." She told her and a tear fell down her cheek. The maiden had begun to cry silently as well.
"You can still find happiness wherever you go. It is up to you." Princess Clara told the maiden encouragingly.
"Ah…" The maiden smiled in peace and gave up the feeling of loneliness that belonged to Mytho.
The Wilis and the maiden disappeared and the mansion dissolved. The rosemary withered away and the sphere of light came to Princess Clara. It opened in a flash of light and showed her the memory.
A young Tiger and Fakir were sitting near two graves in silence.
Tiger was crying soundlessly, letting the tears roll down her cheeks.
"I don't understand. They weren't my parents, so why do I feel like this?" she finally asked miserably.
Fakir squeezed her hand while silent tears rolled down his face as well.
"They might not have been your real parents, but they took you in and cared for you like parents should." He replied with a shaking voice.
"But where will we go? How can we go on?" Tiger asked.
"Charon, the blacksmith will take us in. He was an old friend of the family." Fakir answered and the memory faded.
"We have to know some bad times or our lives are incomplete." Princess Clara said softly to herself. She then leaped away. She soared over the town's rooftops until she landed near the Boys dormitory.
"May this memory reach his heart." Princess Clara whispered to the little ball of light in her hands and let it soar to Fakir's window. It entered the room and found Fakir already sleeping. Fakir winced and woke up, he sat up immediately to look for Mytho, but the memory that had entered his head distracted him.
Fakir felt tears stinging his eyes. "Tiger… grieved for my parents." He mumbled.
