Princess Tutu: Act 12 love

Princess Tutu: Chapter of the Raven

Act 12: Love

Once upon a time, there was a girl. This girl was torn between two loves: the love of her dearest, and the love of her father. She could only choose one or the other, for if she chose her lover, she would live with him in a far away kingdom. However, if she chose her dear old father, she would live with him, and care for him for the rest of her life. Her lover, a mute, could only express his love with actions, while her father told of his love for her every day. In the end, she chose her father and cared for him for the rest of her days. However, the girl soon realized that love could be easily mimicked by words.
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"Is Rhia returning heart shards to Ahiru as well?" asked Mytho.
Fakir crossed his arms, "She could just be bluffing. It's possible that she's just saying that to confuse us."
Rue frowned, unconvinced, "I don't know. What if she's telling the truth? What if she really is returning the heart shards?"
"Well, even if she is returning the heart shards, the fact that she seems to be competing with us means that she might have a different agenda."
"Then shouldn't we-" Rue was interrupted by a groaning noise that came from behind them. It seemed that Cinderella had regained consciousness.
"What happened?" she asked sitting up.

Mytho flashed her a small smile, "Ah, I see you're okay. Thank goodness."
"Hm? Uh.." Cinderella was still confused and a bit dazed from suddenly waking up from what seemed to be a realistic dream.
"We found you here, lying on the floor. We decided to stay and make sure you were okay."
Cinderella's face lit up with slight recognition when she finally processed the faces of those around her. "Oh, you two. You're the ones that came here yesterday." Brushing herself off, the woman smiled. "Thank you very much for worrying about me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have something that I need to do."

Cinderella ran out of the church and the three knew exactly what it was that she had to do. Mytho smiled once again at having helped another troubled towns person, but the new problem at hand drew back his attention.

"As I was saying," Rue continued. "I think we should try to investigate Rhia's motives. I'm concerned about what Rhia plans to gain from returning the shards."
Fakir nodded in agreement, "Chances are, Autor might know something."
Mytho nodded. "Then let's head back to the academy."

With a final nod from all three of them, they exited the church. Down the road, the three of them could see Prince Charme lifting Cinderella up in the air with delight written on both of their faces. Cinderella was wearing a glass slipper upon her right foot.

"Looks like they got their happy ending." Rue commented. Mytho nodded and smiled as Rue absentmindedly began clutching his arm. As Fakir walked alongside them, he couldn't help but brood about things. So many people had received happy endings, and most of them were given by Ahiru. She had given happy endings to all those who she had helped as Princess Tutu and just about everyone in town. She had even given the Prince and Rue their happy ending. It was quite ironic though, Fakir thought bitterly, that she could give everyone else a happy ending, yet couldn't give herself one. She had ended up as a duck in the end, forgotten and alone. But she wasn't alone, I was there. I even had the power to give her the happy ending that she deserved. But why didn't I? Even if I was afraid of possible consequences, wouldn't it be worth the risk to have her back to normal? Perhaps Ahiru's life was just too much to risk.....

By the time Fakir had shaken himself out of his thoughts, they were already standing before the doors of the school library.  Upon entering, they found Autor sitting at a desk, glancing through the pages of what seemed to be a new book. Autor almost instantly took notice of their presence as they approached. Laying a bookmark within its pages, he closed the book and set it aside, turning his attention towards Fakir. "What is it that you need this time?"

"Some information. We have reason to believe that our enemy is also returning heart shards to Ahiru. Do you know anything about that?"
Autor brought a hand to the rim of his glasses, adjusting them. "Hmmm, I might. I'm not quite sure if it has any bearing on your situation though."
"Anything will do at the moment."
"Well, as you know, I know quite a bit about Drosselmeyer and his works. I've read all of his known writings, and some unknown and-"
"Autor, where are you going with this?" Fakir groaned.
Autor glared at Fakir but decided to ignore his comment and continued, "-When I had just finished reading The Prince and The Raven, I decided to do some research on the Monster Raven since I had found many similarities between like villains of other stories. In my research, I had come across a book of myths and legends. It had an entire chapter on the Raven. It even had a section on the Raven's Resurrection."
At this, Mytho, Fakir and Rue were all shocked. Was there really a method for reviving the Raven?

"According to the book, in order to resurrect the Raven, a pure heart must be gouged out, soaked in raven's blood, then offered as a sacrifice." Upon seeing the horrified expressions on each of their faces, Autor shrugged. "Yes, quite occult isn't it? I'm not a big fan of it myself, which is why I didn't pay much attention to it."

They were all shocked that it was indeed possible to resurrect the Monster Raven, the villain that they had fought so hard to conquer. What was even worse, though, was the fact that Ahiru was to be the sacrifice.

Suddenly, Fakir turned from Autor and ran out the door.  Both Rue and Mytho frowned and began to follow him. As they left, Rue turned for a moment to say, "Thank you very much, Autor!"

As they all disappeared out the door, Autor crossed his arms and adjusted his glasses. "Hmph, finally, a thank you."

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Mytho and Rue knew that Fakir had probably gone out to search for Ahiru once again. So, Rue informed Mytho that Fakir might be searching in places where key events had taken place. Considering how many locations in Kinkan had been the stage for some key event from the previous story, the two decided that splitting up would be for the best.

As he stopped by the numerous places that he had regained a piece of his heart, or had met Princess Tutu, Mytho found himself reminiscing. Even though a year had passed since those events, his memories still seemed so fresh, so vivid. He could clearly remember his encounters with Princess Tutu, from his actions to his words. Every time he remembered these events, he always remembered that the Princess Tutu that had bested many challenges and sacrificed so much for him, was merely a duck. But to Mytho, Rue and Fakir, of course, she was definitely more than a mere 'duck'. She was their friend, the bright, clumsy and always caring Ahiru.

  As Mytho traveled around the town, searching for any familiar places, he remembered when Fakir and Princess Tutu, or rather Ahiru, had come to his rescue down in the underground lake. Princess Tutu had escorted him to the surface and discovered that Fakir had been saved from death by Miss Edel. However, she had used herself to make a fire in order to warm his body. Mytho had yet to check the entrance to the underground lake that this memory had taken place at.

When Mytho arrived there, he had found Fakir kneeling in front of a wall engraved with a clown-like figure, which Mytho recalled to be the entrance to the underground lake. Fakir was running his hand over an oval shaped indent in the wall.

"If only Edel were here. She was the one who held the key to this place." It seemed that Fakir had noticed Mytho's presence.
"Fakir...I understand that you want to find Ahiru as quickly as possible; after hearing what Aotor told us, I'm sure we all do. But you shouldn't run off and try to find her on your own. If we can find just one heart shard, and protect it, we can prevent Ahiru's fate."
Fakir turned to the Prince, frowning. "How can you say that so easily? Especially after Rhia was able to so easily steal that last shard."
"Because Ahiru has done so much for me. She sacrificed her life as a human for me. That's why, this time, I'm willing to risk just as much to protect her. Just believe me."
Fakir grew wide-eyed. Turning his face away, he frowned. I know, I know better than to not believe in you Prince, but... You failed Ahiru once before. Are you sure you can make up for that?
An uneasy silence grew between them and Mytho could sense Fakir's skepticism. At this point, Mytho knew that words weren't going to get through to him. He would just have to show him.

Suddenly, though, breaking the silence, the beat of a drum in the distance was heard. Turning to the sound, they found Rue and Uzura running towards them. "Finally!" Rue panted. "I found you two!"

Picking up the slight urgency in her voice, Mytho frowned. "Rue, what's wrong?"
She shook her head and then pointed to Uzura. "Look what she has."
Uzura reached into a pocket and presented a small yellow gem to them. They recognized it as the gem that held the heart shard of love. As if to assure them that the heart shard was inside, Mytho's ring glowed. Mytho carefully took the gem from Uzura and examined it. The last time he had seen this gem, it had been cursed and was used to imprison Princess Tutu temporarily. Mytho didn't want a repeat of that.

Fakir knelt down in front of Uzura, grabbing her attention. "Uzura, where did you get that?"
The little girl struck a few quick notes on her drum before answering, "I got it from myself-zura!"
"Yourself? That must mean you met with Edel. Where did you see her?"
"By the lake-zura. But then she disappeared-zura."
"I see."
Having confirmed that the gem had not been altered, Mytho carefully dropped it in his pocket and turned to Fakir. "At least we have a heart shard now."
Fakir nodded. "But we should still try to look for others. We still need some way to find Ahiru."
"Agreed." Mytho and Rue nodded and the three began their final search of the town before heading back to the dormitory.

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Rhia had not set out immediately to find more heart shards after returning the last one to Ahiru. She had thought that perhaps her Father was hungry as he had not eaten anything since he had come to the lake. So, Rhia had brought a platter of fresh water, berries and a small portion of an animal carcass.

"Daddy, would you like to eat? I brought you-" Before she could even finish, her Father had attacked her, knocking the platter from her hands. Her Father's attack had knocked her to the ground, and he took advantage of her position to perch on her shoulder.

"I would like to have a pure heart to eat! I'm growing impatient!"
"D-daddy, I'm trying! I'm doing my best!"
"Well it seems your best is inadequate, daughter. At this rate, I would settle for such a tarnished heart as yours as a sacrifice." Rhia gulped in fear. Would her own father really consider eating her heart? "If you would not like to become my sacrifice, then hurry up in completing the girl's heart."
"Y-yes Father." With that, her father flew back to his original perch, allowing Rhia to get up and fly away on her broom.

As she flew through the sky, rather shakily, she was consumed by confusion and doubt. "How...how could Daddy even possibly think of eating my heart as a sacrifice? I'm his daughter! He shouldn't even think about killing me. Doesn't he love me?" Rhia was on the verge of tears when suddenly, she felt the warm glow from Anger. She looked down and saw that she was passing over an old and unused outdoor stage. However, the ground below her slowly disappeared into a thick fog. Paying no mind to it, she landed her broom and surveyed the area.

Behind her, she could hear the clinking of armor and whirled around, just in time to witness a knight entirely clad in armor from head to toe, raising his sword to strike. Hopping onto her broom, she flew out of the way and summoned a raven's feather. After reaching a safe distance, she aimed at the knight's heart and threw the feather. It seemed like it would hit its mark until the knight hacked at it with his sword, making it burst into purple sparks of broken magic.

"Tch." Summoning another feather she hopped off her broom and sent it flying at her foe as a distraction. The warrior did seem preoccupied with her broom for a time so Rhia took advantage of the opening and launched another feather at him. However, after cutting the broom in half, he stepped out of the way of the feather.

"My broom!" Puffed up, Rhia summoned one more raven's feather and charged at the warrior. As she approached, the knight poised himself to counter her attack. Once within range, the knight thrust forward his sword, so sure that he would hit his target. But just as the knight thrust his sword, Rhia rolled forward, under his sword and stabbed at the knight's chest. The feather, of course, did not completely penetrate the armor but did succeed in cracking it, which was enough to subdue the knight. Dropping his sword, the knight seemed to merge with the fog, leaving behind only a heart shard.

As she grabbed the heart shard, the fog slowly disappeared, revealing the stage she had seen before landing. However, the disappearance of the fog also revealed the presence of three Kinkan academy students.

"Rhia!"
Rhia stayed silent and kept a passive attitude. Her conflicting thoughts kept her blood from boiling. Her rivals approached her, but stopped at a safe distance away.
"Rhia, what is your reason for collecting the heart shards? Is it truly to revive the Monster Raven?"
Rhia was surprised for a moment. She wondered how they could have figured that out when the text that she had learned it from was still in her possession. "I see. So you figured it out."
This time, Rue stepped up to ask questions, "Why!? Why do you want to revive the Raven?"
Rhia crossed her arms. "Why? He's my Father! I love him and he loves me back. That's why I'll do this for him."
"Rhia, I know. The Raven truly made me believe that I was his daughter and that he loved me. But I know now, without a doubt, that a creature like the Raven is incapable of love. Even if you are his true daughter, he's just lying to you! He doesn't love you! He's just using you as a tool and once you've lost your value, he'll just try to dispose of you."
Suddenly, her father's warning came back to her.

"Well it seems your best is inadequate, daughter. At this rate, I would settle for such a tarnished heart as yours as a sacrifice."

She shook her head. "Just shut up! No matter what you say, I will bring back the Monster Raven." Rhia raised her hand to summon a whirlwind of feathers for her getaway until Fakir stepped forward.

"Wait! If we can't change your mind, then at least use me as the sacrifice in Ahiru's stead." At this, they all gasped.

"Fakir, wait. Think about th-" Fakir silenced Mytho by lifting up his hand and then continued. "Just please, don't take Ahiru. She's very important to me-to us. She was the one person who really tried to look past what I was on the outside. She tried even though I treated her like garbage. And because of that, she changed me." Rhia looked Fakir squarely in the eye and could see that they were pleading. "So please, don't kill her."

Rhia winced. Ahiru wanted to be her friend even when Rhia was treating her so coldly. It seemed that Ahiru had affected others, which was no surprise to Rhia. Thinking back on how Ahiru had been Rhia's first friend, made her truly realize what she was about to do. In guilt, Rhia turned her gaze to the ground and uttered a sad little caw. Glowing a dark red, she transformed back into a raven, something that she hadn't done for a while, and gathered her clothes around her neck. As she took off into the air, she could feel their shocked gazes as she flew over their heads.
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Upon returning to the underground lake, Rhia had set her clothes down on the island and hopped into the water below. In another flash of light, she was human again. For a while, though, she sat in the water and looked at her reflection. All Rhia wanted at first was to avenge her father, to bring him back, to simply not be alone anymore. But now, so many unexpected things had happened. She was given the power to turn into a human, made friends with one of her sworn enemies, brought her father back to existence and learned a few unwanted truths. Rhia had to admit, she was truly beginning to doubt her father's love and everything that she was fighting for. These thoughts brought up questions in her mind. I brought my father back, so why am I still fighting? By doing this, what do I have to gain? What am I going to lose? When Rhia asked this question, a few answers immediately popped into her head. I would lose some precious things. I would lose Ahiru, an invaluable friendship, and quite possibly my chance to find happiness. After all, after Rue, her prince and that writer are gone, what will there be for me to do? Would I really be content by just being by Father's side forever?

As Rhia pondered this, a second reflection in the water caught her eye. She waited a few moments for her to say something, but when the silence simply grew, Rhia closed her eyes, "Aren't you going to say something? Like ask me why I'm still mad at you?"

Ahiru frowned and then shook her head. "No. Because I know, nothing that I say will make you like me again. Without my heart, I would just never understand. As I am now, I'm useless. I can't do anything. I'm good for nothing except causing trouble."

At the sound of the deep sadness in her voice, Rhia twisted around. That's right. The new emotion that I returned to her must have been Doubt. Rhia stood and reluctantly hugged her. "Ahiru, no, don't say that. The reason I was angry at you was not your fault. It was because of my blind faith and love that I was so harsh to you. I'm sorry Ahiru. And besides, even if you might not remember it, you were never useless. You helped so many people when you had your heart, and even without it."

"Rhia."

"Now come on. I have another heart shard for you." Offering the heart shard out in front of her, it floated into the air and disappeared into Ahiru's chest. Rhia caught her as she fell and laid her down gently in the middle of the island. Suddenly, a disapproving hum made her turn.

"How lamentable. That the daughter of the great Monster Raven would have changed into something so ugly. I could have forgiven your ugly human form as it was necessary, but now it seems you've begun to develop these useless human emotions."

Rhia's clenched her hands. It hurt her to think that even as she was, her own father would say such things. "I-I'm sorry."

"Hmph. Well, do you have the last of the heart shards under control?"

Rhia stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut, desperately not wanting to look into his blood thirsty eyes. "No." Her father cawed angrily, fluttering his wings. Her fear of the punishment that she knew her father was preparing for her made her blurt out to postpone it. "B-but I know! I can feel it. There's only a handful left, I know. And I already have a hunch where most of them are."

The fluttering of wings stopped abruptly and she slowly opened an eye to address her father's reaction. "Very well, then. But hurry up. I'm getting quite impatient."

With that, her father flew up into the air, disappearing into the darkness above. Rhia clenched her hands even tighter. I think...I really was deceived. That...that's unforgivable.

"Oh my, you ought to be careful. Thoughts like those can be quite dangerous, you know." Drosselmeyer crossed his arms. "If anything, it's a sign of a character trying to break away from their role. I'd rather like it if this story became the tragedy it was meant to be!"

to be continued......