************************************************************ Logging Started: 05/16/2001 at 18:39:05 ------------------------------------------------------------ The Arena is warm and pleasant- as it always is. And though in the past, Utena would have avoided this place unless absolutely necessary, it's different in this world, somehow- she likes it here. It's quiet, calm, utterly unlike the grey raining world below... untroubled and peaceful, not subject to interference. She's come to almost, secretly, feel the place as a refuge, -her- place. She would never admit it to anyone, but she feels a deep connection to this place, and has since its 'rebirth'- when it was born in the world, she knew it in her blood. Right now, she's half-dozing, lying on her back relaxed on the center of the Arena floor, gazing up at the crystal colors of the Castle above, simply admiring its beauty and letting the sunny air brush her face. tap. tap. tap. Tap. Tap. Pause. Footsteps coming up the long spiral of stairs, and pausing... Seems the silhouette figure wasn't expecting to see another person in the arena so recently materialized. A knife-edge smile cuts the silhouette with gleaming teeth, back-lit green eyes turn up at the end a bit... as they note the cotton candy swirl on the stone. Utena blinks as her ears pick up the sound and she sits up, stretching her arms over her head, the black and white sleeves adjusting along her arms before she pushes up to her feet with a soft grunt. Turning to gaze at the gate, she frowns at the figure standing there, whose features are currently obscured to her. "Who's there?" she calls, her voice ringing clear as bells over the wide plain of the Arena. The figure takes that one more needed step, the light from the castle playing over his finely sculpted features, and leans against the stone arch at the top of the steps. "No-one of consequence, really. Just me." quiet humor, not reallysarcastic, but still slightly self-deprecating. His smile is open, as open as it ever gets, as he looks up at the Castle In The Air, spinning in infinity. "How are you, Tenjou-kun? Settling in well?" Utena blinks once more; as you step into the rainbow light she can see you, as if there were a gauzy veil lifted from your features. For a long moment, all she can do is blindly stare, her small mouth parted, no words coming. Her hands and feet start to go numb. The breeze shifts, sending a whiff of that deep masculine scent toward her, a scent that almost instantly blows her back six years to the past... She takes in every detail slowly, and then again, because her eyes refuse to believe it. Every line, every fold of hair, the color of the eyes, the color of the clothing, the color of the hair. Her knees start to feel weak. At the same instant, two seperate thoughts strike her with equal force: This is her Prince. This is Akio. "... yes." she says, because she doesn't know what else to say and all at once everything is spinning around her head at high speed. Akio tilts his head to one side, this being not QUITE the reaction he was expecting..... "Tenjou-kun...? Are you quite all right? You look as if you'd seen a ghost." That infuriating half-smile is still on his face. He adjusts a cuff of his silk shirt, still leaning against the frame of the archway. Utena says softly, "You're Akio... aren't you? Ohtori Akio... the one all the others have been telling me about all this time..." She betrays herself; looking left and right, as if looking for a way to escape. But there isn't, except through that gate you happen to be standing in, and Utena doesn't fancy the idea of jumping. Certainly Touga and Juri's grim words are running through her head. But her own voice is crying at her, don't you remember, it's -him-... causing the poor duellist some confusion. "... You're the Sekai no Hate." Akio just... blinks. "Indeed, I am. Ends of the world...? I'm the dean of your old school. How could I be the end of the world, and run a school?" He steps a little further into the arena, moving to the side of the gateway, and lithe as a cat, lifts himself up into one of the crenellations, kicking his feet against the wall, totally comfortable. "You look as though you'd prefer to leave... A pity, I was looking forward to getting to know you better, as you're the only person from Ohtori that came through that I don't know much about. Ah well, don't let me keep you..." And he gestures toward the stone arch overgrown with rose vines. His smile is slightly sad, as if he can't believe you'd actually leave, after all, he's not here to fight, or ANYthing, really! Utena shakes her head quickly, salmon-colored tendrils flicking in the air. "The others told me about you," she says lowly, "They told me everything. And no one who isn't involved with all that would know to come to this place..." Her tone has taken a definite hint of accusation. "Are you going to tell me that's not all true?!" She follows your lazy, casual movements with her eyes; how could she not? She's fascinated... Akio grins that infuriating grin. "Actually, I wasn't planning on discussing it with you. You've already made up your mind, it seems. Somehow I doubt Little Old Me could change it. " He drops lightly onto his feet, and starts to walk the perimeter of the Arena, just outside the rose inlay on the floor. "Beautiful, isn't it? I remember what the inside's like... hard to navigate. Everything's different every time." Utena swallows, glancing down at her feet and realizing she's in the center of the pattern, inside the triangle at the heart of the Arena. She watches you, turning about in the center, having a bad feeling all at once as you pace slowly closer to her, symbolically boxing her in by walking your circular path. "... I don't understand," she says, frowning. She doesn't, but she feels as if it's important that she /should/. Akio continues to walk, spiraling inward slowly, staring at the floating dream above. "Don't you remember, the castle, Tenjou Utena? You'll reach it one day. You'll eventually supercede me, and I'll be there, above, watching as you pace the circle where your heir stands, telling you she, or he, doesn't understand." He's there, not two paces away, just to your left, wind blowing a few rose petals across the toes of his shoes, as he speaks. "You want to go to the castle one day, don't you, Utena? You feel it in your blood." Utena clenches her fists, her head sinking onto her shoulders. "NO! I don't want that. I..." Don't really know what I do want... She shakes softly, as you continue to draw the line closer around her, a dull panic starting to become sharper in her chest; she swears the lines on the floor are glowing where you walked, a pattern, a binding... "I don't...." Akio stands still, the pale lavender hair the only thing moving. "Utena. Look at me. You can quit at any time. Walk away. There will be other Victors, other Brides. Do you want to walk away from The Game? Is that what you want?" Emerald lasers sweep your face.... And he starts walking back along his path, spiraling outward again. "You know what you want, Utena. You want what you remember. Do you remember, Utena? We're here, in this place, for a reason. Something led you here.... " Utena draws her arms close to her chest; the red lines turning black as you walk over them, back to the outside. She stares at her signet, her hand raised in front of her face. The ring shining, with its pink pattern and its silver inlay of the rose and six years and that smell. "... the prince," she murmurs, faintly. "I can't quit, I can't leave, I'm not -done- yet... no matter what Himemiya says I have to finish this..." Touga's voice. (until this is done, we're not done) Her eyes are slightly glassy, dazed blue shells. "... I want to be a prince... for someone... but she doesn't need me...so I have to be the prince for them..." Akio laughs, from somewhere behind you, still walking that spiralling path. " Sweet little Anshi will always need you, Utena. That's what she wants. The rest of them want you to keep playing, because if you win, this time, then they might win, next time." His voice moves to the right, following the circle... "Tenjou Utena. I'm offering you something no other Victor has had. A way to quit the game. You may take it, or not, as you choose... But if you choose to play, then play you must, until the End. Until the Revolution." Utena turns around again, still following your voice, but slower now.. much slower. Her eyes are drooping, her hands loose at her sides; breathing deeper. The web of lines on the floor is very dark, now... "If I don't duel, what am I living for?" she whispers. The castle turning counterclockwise against your slow and regular pacing. Circles in circles, wheels in wheels, the poor girl an unwitting cog at the center spinning slowly at her own dazed pace. "... how could I possibly stop?" The footsteps stop. The voice insinuates itself so intimately, it's as if he's standing right behind you. "If you duel, Utena... what are you fighting for? Do you remember...?" Utena's eyes are closed; if anyone outside were observing, one'd swear the girl was asleep on her feet. She breathes softly through her mouth, her chest rising and falling evenly. ".. to be the prince for the witch..." she whispers, "the prince you couldn't be..." Akio smiles.... "Ah, but I was The Prince, and I will be again.... But I need a princess worthy of my side." words whispered from the other side now, close in, then snatched away in a breeze. No blatant offer, but it's there nonetheless... you can feel the offer weighted in the words. "I found one once, and I told her I'd see her again........... " (He can defeat you before you even realize the battle's begun.) The words are there... the spider's threads woven around her throat, and it's so very hard to think at all clearly... she's already asleep, dreaming, lost in a beautiful dream that smells of roses, with a handsome noble prince's arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her up onto a gentle white horse, and there are jewels in her hair and rings on her fingers and toes. And the Castle which is theirs is behind them, rooted to the ground in a beautiful wild forest... wedding bells ringing in the distance. Oh, how it makes her heart ache... the prince, whom she remembers so happily as her savior, her rescuer... how nice it would be... the breeze tickling her ears, moving through her hair, carrying those smooth tones to her... such a beautiful dream. Who would want to wake up from such a dream? Akio is there, in front of you, dropping hands onto your shoulders gently. He leans down, tilting your chin upward, and brushes a feather-soft kiss onto your forehead. "You remember, Tenjou Utena. You will find me, again, somewhere, somehow... " And he stands, improbably tall and deadly beautiful, terrible in his glory. A ghost image of the Prince he once was skates in on the wind, gone in a flash. And he smiles, improbably ancient and sad, and starts walking toward the stairs. "One day, We will meet again, Utena. And we will both remember everything that has gone before..." Utena stays behind, standing in the center of the pattern. She doesn't move to stop you; she doesn't say a word. Her eyes are open again, open when his lips brush hers, but are shallow pools, glassy and reflecting no meaning. One way mirrors going in, letting nothing out. She walks like a sleepwalker, heavily, one foot after another, following the fading image of the prince down the stairs and through the gate and back to the roof. She doesn't blink. In her mind she walks barefoot on long soft green grass, with the glorious prince at her side, and she needing to do nothing, utterly nothing, but smile, and breathe, and look utterly beautiful... Columns and Corners Diner Miki blushes a bit when Anshi starts playing in couter-point to him.. catching it after a little while of talking.. Utena walks in quietly. Though Miki and Anshi are playing piano, it seems, in the corner, she doesn't move toward them, or in fact do much of anything to get their attention. Instead she simply sits at a table, folding herself neatly into a chair, and.. sitting. Breathing softly, her eyes blinking now and then... Anshi turns, glancing, as the door opens... and pokes Miki in the ribs with her elbow, pointing. Miki blinks, and waves, "Oyaho, Utena-sempai!" Utena turns her head and raises her hand; something off about it though. Her movement is clean, and controlled; and her face doesn't change one bit; sort of a mona-lisa smile, and her hand drops back to her lap as her head turns back to original position. In her mind, she and the Prince are having a wonderful picnic in a sunny field. A bird flies across the cloudless sky; Utena's head turns, following its movement. Which means, effectively, she's staring at thin air inside the restaurant. Miki looks back over at Anshi, "Ano... Utena-sempai doesn't look so good, should we check on her?" Anshi 's hands still on the keys. Something's not right here... and she can almost FEEL the roses and jasmine wafting in the air. "You're right, she doesn't. And I bet my bastard brother's behind it. I can smell it." Literally. Jasmine, heady and strong instead of the usual light crisp rose. Utena begins to giggle, very softly. It's high-pitched, feminine..completely wrong. She covers her mouth with her hand. Miki blinks.. "Akio-san... here?" He visably shivers slightly.. since he remembers last time he saw Akio-san.. and what he did after that.. he then turns back towards Utena, "Ano! Utena-sempai!" The darkskinned girl stands, walking over toward her friend... and stops, stunned. That is SO not an Utena-gesture.... "Miki, something is VERY wrong here. she looks like *I* used to, back when I was The Bride...." Miki blinks at Anshi's last statement, "WAS the bride?" Anshi blinks. "uh... Hai. Yeah, I'm kinda not playing the game right now. I may have to, tho... Akio's made the first move in a war, by doing this to Utena." Miki blinks, confused, but nods anyways, and follows her over to Utena-sempai. Utena picks up a flower from a vaseon the table in front of her, and weaves it into her hair with swift, easy gestures, winding it above her ear. And she blushes at nothing particular... giggling again. It's almost like.. there's someone before her that she sees that you can't. What few mannerisms leak up to the surface are completely off- giggles and girlish hand movements. But the eyes are glassy as a mannequin's. Locked out. Anshi frowns, furrowing her brow. "Miki, can you help me get her home? Something';s very, very wrong here." Miki then sits front of Utena, waving his hand in front of her face, "Utena- sempai!" Anshi snaps her fingers in front of Utena's face... "Utena-sama...? It's time to go home...." The smiling boy-prince wreathes Utena's head in a crown of flowers and kisses her cheek... she blinks a few times when Miki moves his hand before her, but not in any synchronization with his movements. "It's time to go home!" someone says, and she turns and sees the housekeeper of the castle frowning at her gently. She looks to the Prince, who sighs with a tender shrug and smile, and then gets up, curtsying properly, to allow the servant to lead her back to her room... Anshi gently places one hand on Utena's elbow, a guiding hand, and shoots Miki a significant look at the curtsey. "Miki-kun, this is definitely not good...." (Utena's apartment) Miki slowly helps Utena-sempai in.. "Do you think Akio did this?" Anshi unlocks the door and pushes it open, leading Utena in, and guiding her to the couch. " I can't think of anyone else who would." Or could, for that matter... "Miki, can you sit with her for a bit, I need to go find some things out." Back to the castle.. the lovely shining castle, whose turrets gleam like crystal; the princess is led back to her chamber and sat down, while her attendants wrap and curl her hair and prepare her for bed, and she sits stoically through it all, because that is what a princess should do, as she gazes at the ring on her finger in adoration. Oh, he will come to join her soon, won't he? ... Utena simply walks along on Anshi's guiding touch. Miki nods, "Hai... do you think he made Utena his Rose Bride?" Anshi shudders slightly. "Oh gods above and below, i hope not...." Miki sighs, "If he did.. let me know.. " Anshi 's eyes flash darkly. "If he did, he won't last long. She doesn't deserve that." Utena says, "...we're married but he left me," she says to the attendants. "He has many evils to fight in the world." Anshi CHOKES. Miki stops, and looks over at Anshi. Anshi asks, "..... Miki... did she just say what I think I heard her say...?" Miki nods.... Utena smiles that half-smile, the noble princesses' patient smile. ".. but he'll come back for me... my prince on his white horse..." Miki says, "But what does it mean?" Anshi says, "oh, no... no. This is NOT acceptable. She's living in a World of Illusion. He's woven a place for her to be where she doesn't have to fight as the Victor. In essence, she IS the Rose Bride. Without the Million Swords..." Miki blinks, "Then you'll need my help.. " Anshi turns, grabbing Miki's arm. "Miki, I DO need your help. Stay here with her. I'm going to find Touga, Juri, and Wakaba. And maybe Saionji." Miki slowly walks back to a window sill, and pulls off a... Hey.. where did that blue rose come from. "She's the rose bride and there's only one way we can get her back. We didn't do enough to stop her when we could.. so now we're forced to play the game again.... " Anshi says, "We can't let this happen for too long, the further she gets lost in there, in that illusion, the harder it will be to bring her back." She notes the rose.... "Miki, who can you fight? She's in no condition to even understand what the Duels are..." Anshi says, "She thinks she's married to AKIO, for Kami's sake. And she thinks he's The Prince." Miki looks at Anshi, "You said who's doing this had to be... so that's who I'll have to challenge.." Miki sighs, not believing how the tables have turned on him. On the fact that once again he's fighting to protect the people he cares about... not willingly.. but forced into it... but what has to be done, must be done. For a duellist never truely leaves the game.. only takes a vacation. Anshi speaks flatly. "No. You're good. But he's many many levels beyond even you. Miki, he's not really even human anymore. He's so much older than any of you, older than Ohtori, so... old. He doesn't fight with skill, he fights with lies." Anshi says, "and the fight can't be here, in this world. It has to be in the illusory world, or Utena will never see it. She thinks you and I are attendants, in the castle she lives in with the prince. She doesn't recognize us, at all.... Not even after everything we've all been through." Miki speaks quite flatly as well, "But this isn't Ohtori... the rules of the rose don't exist here like they did at Ohtori. Besides, I've been here longer then the rest of us. Perhaps I can use that to my advantage.... besides, as you said, we come from much different places.. and much has changed... hopefully Akio doesn't realize that.." Utena stands up, and goes to lay in her bed, curling up into a loose fetal position. She hugs a pillow, letting out a mournful sigh as she hides her head, "... oujisama... don't leave me alone...." and becomes very still- sleeping, in her dream, in the world outside her dream as well. Anshi does something she's NEVER done, as far as you can remember. She takes off her glasses and places them on one of the wicker end tables. "Miki-kun.... You're a genius. But this is not a fight for you. It can't be won with swords and roses and rules. I need you to be what I can't. When I fight this, with her champion, the one who loves her more than I, none of the three of us will seem to be alive on this plane. I need you to make sure none of us are disturbed while we fight. The war will have to be in her head, or we'll never get her back. And she doesn't deserve to live in madness, locked in a dream in her head, never knowing the real world." Anshi looks mournfully with her ancient jade eyes at Utena, her friend, beloved friend, asleep and lost. "She fought so hard for me to be free, I can't let her stay trapped. Akio's already set the arena, by imprisoning her in her own mind like this." Miki looks over at Utena and then back to Anshi, "She fought for not just you.. she fought for all of us. That's why we can't just stand by with this going on." Is it really madness? Akio only granted her her heart's deepest desire.. the childish desire that drove her forward out of the grave into life... to meet and be with her beloved Prince again. To be his princess... wasn't that her deepest dream? Or was it? Miki says, "Besides... I owe Utena at least this.. for everything she's done that I have instead thrown back at her buy trying to take you away from her... Akio is taking her to the Ends of the World.. and I just can't stand by and let that happen.." Anshi just stares at Utena. "Miki, we both owe her a lot. I have much to repay her for as well. And she doesn't deserve to be lost like this... She's been taken to the End of the World and left, Miki. We have to keep her from falling off. Besides, you were following the rules of the game. You HAD to try to take me from her." Miki nods, and then sighs, "Then do what you must.... " He doesn't like this.. but he accepts it none the less.. Anshi smiles and puts a hand on Miki's shoulder. "Thank you, Miki-kun. I owe you more than you know for your assistance in this." And she turns, picking up her glasses and tucking them into her pocket. "I'll be back after I find the others." And she's out the door, down the hall before the latch closes fully. Miki nods, and sits down next to Utena, "Don't leave us yet, sempai." To Be Continued.... ------------------------------------------------------------ Logging Stopped: 05/16/2001 at 22:20:23 ************************************************************