Chapter 1: The Prince is Found
Anthy walked along the path on her journey to find Utena. Chu-Chu sat on her shoulder munching on a cracker. It had been 3 months already since she had left Ohtori after being freed by her prince. She had been searching for her prince ever since. ‘Little does Utena know, she really has been a prince the entire time.’ Anthy thought. It may have taken her a while, but now she was sure of it. Utena really was a prince. She passed a road sign that said ’10 km to Tokyo’. She smiled as she read the sign. There was a change Utena could be there. She had checked Utena’s file before leaving and found out her aunt lived in Tokyo. With that, she continued to walk to Tokyo.
Utena sat at home in front of the TV. Ever since she had left Ohtori after the duel of revolution, she had been really bored. It wasn’t easy for her. Defeating the million swords of hate had been a dire task, even for her. By the time she had finished, she was pretty much half dead. Luckily, she was somehow transported to Tokyo and was found by an elderly couple on a Sunday stroll. They had been kind enough to call an ambulance for her. She was in the hospital for a month before the doctors allowed her to go home with her aunt. Once she was home though, her aunt had wasted no time enrolling her into a new school since she had been expelled from Ohtori.
Yurika wasn’t happy when she got that letter from Ohtori saying her niece had been expelled. Utena still hasn’t heard the end of it from her. Utena sighed at the thought. ‘While I’m not happy about being expelled and am actually happy I don’t need to return to that freak school, I am sad I won’t ever see Anthy again. I was never even able to tell her how I really felt about her.’ Utena had never actually said it, but ever since she first saw the dark-skinned girl, she felt an attraction towards her. ‘I wish I could see her again, just one more time.’ With that, Utena aimlessly flipped through the channels.
Anthy looked at the paper that she had written Utena’s address on then looked up at the house in front of her. She smiled as she turned to Chu-Chu who was still on her shoulder.
“This is it, Chu-Chu. This is Utena’s house right here.” She told him.
“Chu!” Chu-Chu squeaked with a smile. He too had missed Utena a lot over the last few months and he rarely missed any of Anthy’s betrothed. Utena was just a special person to him, being that she was one of the few people who were really nice to him. Anthy smiled down at him.
“You’ve missed her too, haven’t you?” She asked her friend. Chu-Chu nodded at her. “Well if lucks on our side; we’ll finally be able to see her again.” With that Anthy walked up and rang the doorbell.
Inside, Utena looked up towards the door as the doorbell rang. I wonder who that could be. “Aunt Yurika, the doorbell rang!” She called out. Yurika walked into the living room.
“Yes, Utena, I heard it. I’m not deaf you know.” She told her niece as she walked to the door and opened it. Utena sighed as she turned back to the TV, not paying attention to who was at the door as her aunt opened it.
“Hi, is this the Tenjou resident?” Anthy asked Yurika. Utena froze at the sound of the voice. ‘No, it couldn’t be.’
“Yes, it is. And who might you be?” Yurika answered back. Utena turned her head to the door, but was unable to see the visitor through her aunt.
“I’m Himemiya Anthy, I friend of Utena’s from Ohtori.” She said with a bow. She then pointed at Chu-Chu. “This is my friend Chu-Chu.” Utena shot off the couch as soon as Anthy was done introducing herself and pushed her aunt out of the way.
“Himemiya! You’re here! I thought I’d never see you again!” She exclaimed. Anthy smiled at her.
“Yes, Utena, I’m here. You managed to free me from my roll as the Rose Bride.” Anthy said as tears began to poor from her eyes. With that, she embraced Utena and cried into her chest. Chu-Chu clung himself to Utena’s arm. “Oh Utena, I’ve missed you so much!” Anthy cried. Tears started coming from Utena’s eyes as well.
“I missed you too, Himemiya.” Utena took the girl in her arms. All throughout this tearful reunion, Yurika stared at the two confused.
“Excuse me, what is going on here?” She asked. The two broke apart and turned to Yurika.
“Oh I’m sorry, I forgot you were still here.” Utena told her aunt. Yurika glared at her. Anthy stepped in-between the two.
“Utena, I think we should tell your aunt everything that has happened at Ohtori.” Anthy said. Utena gasped.
“Is that such a good idea?” Utena asked. Anthy nodded.
“Yes she deserves to know the truth. Besides, I have some things I need to get off my chest as well. Important things you don’t know of, Utena.” She told the pink-haired girl. Utena gasped. Just what secrets was this dark-skinned girl hiding?
“Perhaps we should sit down.” Yurika suggested. Anthy nodded and they moved into the living room. Yurika sat in a recliner, while Utena and Anthy took the couch. Anthy looked thoughtful for a moment; considering how she should tell her tale.
“I’ll start from the beginning. It all started 50 years ago, when I was a little girl.” She began. Both Utena and Yurika gasped at this.
“50 years? Just how old are you?” They both asked. Anthy smiled at this.
“It will all be explained in my tale.” She said. Both Utena and Yurika sweat dropped. “So back when I was young, I had an older brother named Dios. He was just an ordinary boy at first. We would laugh and play all day. Till one day, he received a Rose Signet. This signet marked him as one chosen to fight in Rose Duels.”
“Like the ones I fought in at Ohtori?” Utena asked.
“You fought duels at Ohtori?” Yurika asked her daughter in shock. Utena looked at her aunt sheepishly.
“They were almost like the ones you were in at Ohtori. Rose Dueling started thousands of years ago. In a Rose Duel, one chosen one, a.k.a. someone with a Rose Signet, would challenge another chosen one to a duel. Each one of these duelist would then chose one person they cared about dearly and they would head to an assigned dueling arena. There, the two duelists would face off with their Heart Sword in hand.”
“Heart Sword?” Yurika asked. “What is a Heart Sword?”
“The Heart Sword is the sword that rests in each duelist’s heart. To draw it, the person they care for must reach deep into their heart and pull it out. With these swords, the duel is fought. Each duelist has a rose pined over their heart. The one to have this rose knocked from their chest loses the duel.” Utena nodded. This sounded familiar to her.
“But why were these duels fought?” Yurika asked.
“Was there a Rose Bride back then?” Utena asked. Anthy shook her head.
“There is an ultimate power these duels are fought over. One duelist in the world possessed this power. The one with this power is called the Rose Prince. If a duelist is to defeat this person in a duel, they will gain this power. The power of miracles. The power of love. The power to revolutionize the world.”
“Power to revolutionize the world?” Yurika gasped. Anthy nodded.
“Duelists usually don’t know who it is that holds the power, so they keep challenging other duelists, hoping to challenge the Rose Prince and win.” Anthy explained. Utena gasped.
“So what happened to this power?” She asked. Anthy looked down at her hands.
“By luck, my brother ended up challenging the Rose Prince and won. He then gained the power to revolutionize the world.” Anthy explained.
“So what did he do?” Yurika asked.
“He used the power so he could protect all the girls in the world and make them princesses. It was all good, except for one thing.” Anthy explained as a look of jealousy filled her eyes.
“What was that?” Utena asked, though she had a feeling she knew what it was.
“Since I was his sister, he could not make me a princess. So instead I became a witch.” Anthy told the two, who gasped loudly.
“Jealousy filled me. I so badly wanted him to make me a princess as well, but he couldn’t.” Anthy said.
“So what did you do?” Utena asked. This story was sound familiar to her.
“One night, a whole bunch of people confronted him after a duel. Though he had won the duel, he had sustained great injury. All the people cared about though was him helping their daughters. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Using my powers, I sealed away the power of the Rose Prince, as well as the good part of his soul. I then confronted the people and told them what I had done. The whole world was then mad at me, causing a million swords of hate to be born, directing the hate on my soul. For the last 50 years, I have been feeling the hate of the world for what I had done.” Anthy explained. Utena nodded. Though she was naïve at first, she knew that she had destroyed the million sword of hate and that Anthy was now free from them.
“So what ended up happening?” Yurika asked.
“Evil took over what remained of my brother. He then became known as Akio. He had the need for power and control. He wanted the power of the Rose Prince back. He took my tortured soul with him to start a school and invited many young duelists to join his school. He knew that one day the power of the Rose Prince would escape and find a young duelist to gain the power. He wanted that duelist to come to his school so he could regain the power. I was given the role of the Rose Bride to compensate for the power of the Rose Prince. He told the duelist whoever won me in a duel and became engaged to me gained the power of revolution.” Anthy explained.
“Did anyone ever get the power of the Rose Prince?” Yurika asked. Anthy nodded. Utena had a funny feeling she knew the answer to who got the power.
“Yes, shortly after Utena’s parents died, the soul of Dios was able to escape and confronted her. He showed her my tortured soul and explained that only a prince could save me from my fate. When Utena swore to become a prince to save me, Dios knew that she was worthy of the power. He then gave her his Rose Signet and the power of the Rose Prince, which she still possesses even to this day.” Utena gasped. So she did have this power.
“So is that why Utena has wanted to become a prince?” Yurika asked. Anthy nodded.
“Yes, though she couldn’t fully remember her meeting with Dios that was the reason.”
“So what happened when she attended Ohtori?” Yurika asked.
“When she came to Ohtori, she ended up getting mixed up into the duels when she was defending her friend Wakaba from Saionji, who was my current betrothed at the time. She ended up beating him with ¼ of a practice sword and I became engaged to her.” Yurika gasped and looked at her niece.
“You never told me you got engaged to a girl!” She exclaimed. Utena sweat dropped.
“I never really took it seriously, Aunt Yurika.” Utena explained. Yurika continued to glare at her.
“After beating Saionji, Utena continued to duel with other duelist, and won. I became suspicious that she may have held the power, but still wasn’t certain. I wasn’t sure until she was defeated by Touga that one time. Touga then gained power while Utena changed drastically, like a piece of her was missing. She got it back when she beat him.”
“What did you do then?” Yurika asked.
“Once we were sure, my brother, Akio, and I began to test her. First I disguised myself as a boy to trick Mikage Souji into starting a ring of Black Rose Duelists. I convinced him that I was a boy from his past and should become the Rose Bride. He then manipulated students into dueling Utena with the Heart Swords of the other duelists. Utena beat them all, till finally He then dueled Utena himself and lost. Akio then erased everyone’s memories of the events.”
“Akio then started to convince the other duelists to re-challenge Utena. He thought that if he could show them the truth, they would become greedy with the thought of gaining the power and duel her. They did, but they did not win. Akio then faced off with Utena in a duel called Revolution. He wanted to manipulate her so he could get the power and rule the world. Utena fought back, with her desire to free me. Akio had me stab her, which I fully regret, took her Heart Sword in attempts to open the Gate of Revolution. He failed, but Utena summoned what remained of her strength to open it and freed me. I then left Akio and came here.” Anthy finished.
“So now what?” Utena asked.
“Now, other duelist in Japan are realizing the power is back. You will surely be challenged again.” Anthy told Utena. Yurika then looked at the clock.
“Oh dear, its getting late.” She said. She turned to Anthy. “Anthy-dear, do you have a place to stay tonight?” Anthy shook her head no. “Well you can stay here and sleep in Utena’s room.” Anthy smiled.
“Thank you, Tenjou-san. I really appreciate your offer.” She said. Yurika grinned at her.
“Its no problem. Now you two should get to bed.” She said. The two got off the couch.
“Night Aunt Yurika.” Utena said as she headed to her room.
“Good night Tenjou-san.” Anthy said as she followed Utena. The two entered Utena’s room and changed into the sleep clothes. Utena went to her closet and pulled out a futon.
“I’ll sleep on the floor and you can take that bed.” She told Anthy. Anthy shook her head.
“No, Utena, I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.” She said.
“Well I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.” Utena replied. Anthy smiled.
“Then why don’t we share you bed.” Anthy suggested. Utena blushed as she nodded. We that they both climbed into the bed. Anthy placed a light kiss on Utena’s forehead, causing her to blush again.
“Night, Utena.” She said. Utena then smiled as realization hit her.
“You’re not calling me ‘Utena-sama’ anymore.” She commented. Anthy smiled back.
“Well I’m no longer under obligation as the Rose Bride to do so.” Anthy told her. Utena grinned.
“Then maybe I should start calling you ‘Anthy’ from now on instead of ‘Himemiya’.” Utena said.
“I’d like that, my prince.” Anthy said. With that they both fell asleep.
To Be Continued…