Note: The first post has now been updated to show what the planned endgame pairings for the story are, I realize I should have done that when I'd originally posted, but better later than never and all that.  Now then, onto chapter two!

~

Dreams and Roses, the Mysterious Anthy Himemiya

Utena was back in the valley again, she was a child again.  “Utena!”  She heard the voice call out for her, and so she ran, not caring about all the rocks she was stepping on in her bare feet.  The voice called out again and again, and once again little Utena found herself at the fork, the craggy path to her left and the soft green path to her right.  This time though, it wasn't Chu-Chu waiting for her, it was Anthy as a little girl around her age dressed in a loose red dress, it made her look so small and vulnerable.  “Utena.”  Little Anthy said, she held out her hand and there was the rose crest ring in it.  “Remember your promise Utena.”

“My promise?”  Looked intently at the ring that Anthy was holding out to her.  “What promise?”

“Your promise to...”  Anthy vanished, the valley vanished, Utena floated in the darkness and then she woke up.

“That was different.”  Utena looked around in her dorm room, everything else was the same as always, even Wakaba sleeping in her bed; she was snoring and had her leg hanging off the side of her bed, you wouldn't know what she'd been through the previous day to look at her now.  Utena sighed; she'd held Wakaba until she went to sleep, she wondered if she would have to hold her again once she'd woken up.  After all, it was bad enough that that jerk Saionji broke her heart like that, but then that Green Knight jerk showed up out of nowhere with a robot and tried to abduct her and then she transformed with Anthy and fought them both and kicked both their asses, sent the Green Knight running and turned the, the Conformant into rubble; oh, if only she could have given that kind of ass-kicking to Saionji, the next time she saw him...

“Excuse me.”  Utena turned her head to the door, someone was knocking at it.  “Miss Utena, are you ready yet?”

“Ready?  For what?”  Utena got up out of bed and opened the door, and there was Anthy Himemiya.

“To move into your new dorm room of course; the Rose Bride's Engaged must reside with their bride after all.”  Anthy looked inside at Utena and Wakaba's room, whatever she thought of it didn't show up on her face.

“Um, right.”  Utena supposed that if she were engaged to Anthy that that did make sense, but... “Um, what did you mean yesterday, about me being engaged to you, and what was with the guy in the green armor, and that weird robot, and for that matter how did I know how to fight like that?  I'm not complaining about that last part, believe me, I'm just kind of wondering what's going on here.”

Anthy looked into Utena's eyes.  “There will be time enough to explain once you are in your new room with me.”

“Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”  Utena turned back in, she noticed that Anthy didn't come in with her.  Utena packed her things, she really didn't have much aside from her clothes, it was Wakaba who'd put in the effort to, well, 'sprucing the place up' as she'd put it.

“Utena?”  Wakaba was rubbing her eyes, looking at the bags that Utena had just packed.  “What's going on?”

“Um, well, there was a last second reassignment, I'm going to be with Anthy now, but I promise I'll come by and visit you as often as I can, okay?”

“...Pinky promise?”  Wakaba extended her pinky out to Utena.

“Of course.”  Utena returned the promise.  “I'd swallow every needle in the world before breaking my promise to you.”

“Okay...I'm going to sleep in a little longer.”  Wakaba turned over, faced away from Utena.  Utena turned back to Anthy, who had the same small smile on her face as before.

The two left Wakaba's dorm room and made their way to Anthy's; her dorm was big, there were rooms for lots of people yet Utena didn't see or hear anyone.  For a moment Utena thought that she was in a haunted house, that Anthy was really a ghost who was going to drag her into the other side, but once she opened the door to her new room, it was so sparkling and clean that those sorts of thoughts just couldn't last.  “How do you like it Miss Utena?  I stayed up all last night preparing it for you.”

“You did?”  Utena looked at Anthy, got in close to her face; she didn't look tired, but then she never really looked much anything besides vaguely happy.  “Well, thank you.”  After a moment Utena realized she was still really close to Anthy and so she stepped away.  “Sorry abou that.”

“Not at all; as the Engaged, my space is yours to do with as you wish.”

“But it's still not okay for me to do that sort of thing, it's just not.”

“Then it is as you say Miss Utena.”  Anthy stepped in and took a seat on her bed.

Utena sat down on hers, looked across at Anthy.  “Before I ask anything else, can I ask you not to call me Miss Utena; it's just kind of weird don't you think?”

“Not at all Miss Utena; I've heard many girls cry out 'Miss Utena' when they see you, there is nothing strange to it at all.”

“Th-that's different.”  Utena grumbled a bit.  “Look, I just call you Anthy, so why don't you just call me Utena?”

“That would not be appropriate conduct for the Rose Bride.”

“And just what is the Rose Bride anyway?”

“Long ago,” Anthy's voice had so much weight to it that Utena felt pinned down where she was, “there was a noble and heroic prince named Dios; he worked tirelessly to defend all the princesses of the world, no matter how small their struggles were.  He was loved and adored by all, but one day an evil witch summoned her army of hideous monsters and surrounded the prince on all sides; she told him that if he did not surrender to her and serve only her for the rest of his days that she would destroy him.  Dios did not surrender, and though he slew many of the witch's fowl beasts, even he could not stand to all of them; however, as he died he issued a proclamation to the witch, that one day his noble power would find a new home, that a girl known as the Rose Bride would appear and her engaged would inherit his power and his will and would defeat the witch when he could not.”

“So, what happened to the witch?  Is she really still around?”

“No one knows; the witch vanished that day, no one has heard of her since then, yet no one speaks her name for fear that she might hear them and punish them.”

“Wow...”  Utena looked down at her ring, the ring with the rose crest on it.  “I've got quite the legacy to live up to, don't I Anthy?”

“I woudn't worry Miss Utena; you were chosen as the engaged, I am sure you will live up to all of Dios's expectations.”

~

“Utena Tenjou.”  Juri Arisugawa dropped a dossier of the girl in question onto the Student Council table.  “That is the name of the Rose Bride's Engaged.”  Her face was hard and her voice cold.

“Hmm...”  Touga Kiryu picked up the dossier and looked it over.  “It says here that when she was young she'd lost her parents and was taken in by her aunt; how tragic, truly a maiden in need of a heroic prince.”

“This doesn't make any sense.”  Saionji growled.  “This Tenjou girl is a girl; how on Earth can she be the one engaged to the Rose Bride?”  He turned around to face Touga.

“Regardless of how you feel on the matter Vice President Saionji,” Miki Kaoru said just after clicking on his stop watch, “the letters we all received from The End of the World were clear and direct; Utena Tenjou is engaged to the Rose Bride...”  His voice tapered off, he was writing down what he saying in the Student Council minutes along with everything everyone else had said.

“You seem disappointed Miki.”  Juri said, her voice warm and playful.  “Were you that hopeful that you would the Rose Bride's Engaged?”

“Eh?”  Miki's cheeks turned pink, and with each moment that pink came closer to an apple red.  “Miss Juri, it's not that I'd hoped, I'd simply thought that if it were me...”

“If it were you...?”  Juri's expression was soft.

“Who cares if it were you?”  Saionji said.  “A child like you, that's almost as absurd as Utena being the Engaged.”  Saionji turned around, he did not see how Miki tried to harden his face, he did not see how Juri glared at him.  “Mark my words, Utena will not last as the Rose Bride's Engaged, then she will return to my protection, just like before.”  He left the Student Council meeting.

“Hmm, I suppose I should make sure he doesn't do anything too rash; what do you think, Juri?”  Touga looked over at her.

Juri's forced a neutral expression onto her face.  “It would indeed be unfortunate if Saionji were to disgrace the Student Council with his conduct.”

“I'm so glad you agree Juri, it is such a rare occurrence with us.”  Touga's chuckle had a cruel mirth to it.  “Well then, I shall be on my way; I can trust you two to focus on the remaining business, yes?”  Touga turned and walked away, he did not wait for either Juri or Miki to answer.

~

“Huh, it looks like there's someone already at the Rose Garden Anthy.”  Utena said, and she pointed at the person in question; he was a boy, a big one too, tall with broad shoulders and a square face and a prominent nose, big hands too.  “Man, he'd be a real killer at American Football.”  Utena could picture it in her head, that guy would just run right through any defense the other team could muster, heck the whole other team could be the defense and that would just slow him down a little.

“Then perhaps you should tell him he's in the wrong place Miss Utena?”  Anthy said.

“Eh?  Oh um...well...”  She didn't know what to make of Anthy's comment, yet she felt vaguely bad for some reason.  “Anyway, let's go!”  Yes, movement, action, decision!  They opened the gate and entered the Rose Garden.  “Hey there, what's your name?”

“Omaeda.”  His voice was rather high for his build, not squeaky or anything, but you would have expected a deep rumble instead of a fair pitch.  “Renji Omaeda.”  He started rubbing his shoulder, he looked over at Anthy.  “I, I just wanted to smell the roses, I didn't know that you'd be back already.”

“Oh, it's all right; better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, yes?”

“Yes, I suppose so...”  His brow was getting wet with sweat.  “Um, so, do you forgive me?”

“Of course Anthy does, right Anthy?”

“Yes I do.”  Anthy nodded, her expression the same as always.

“There, you see, no big deal.”  Utena smiled at Omaeda.  “So, you like smelling roses?”

Omaeda looked around, Utena wondered what he was looking at, there was no one else but them there.  “Well, not just roses, I like all kinds of flowers, they've all got different scents and they all mean different things you know?”

“They do?”  Utena knew you generally gave roses to someone you loved but that was as far she knew, or knew there was to know.

“Oh yes; for example, just among these roses here, this blue one symbolizes an ideal that can't really exist, while the orange ones over here mean love that emerges from friendship, and the white ones mean purity and the red ones are passion, and the pink ones...”  He stopped.  “I'm sorry, I must look ridiculous, a guy like me talking about flowers like this.”

“No way!”  Utena jabbed him in the arm.  “You really know your stuff, I bet you could get a great flower garden just like this one; don't you think so Anthy?”

“Yes, I have to agree.”

“You really think so?”  Utena and Anthy nodded.  “Huh, no one's ever said that before; my dad's always told me to forget about flowers and stick to sports, but if you two think I can, I think I will.”  He nodded and beamed.  “I should go and get supplies in town and then I'll get started today.”  He stepped out of the Rose Garden and went around the corner.

“Oh no you won't.”  Utena recognized that voice, it was the Green Knight!  Utena heard the stomps of a Conformant, she ran to look around the corner without being spotted herself, Anthy did the same.  “A man like you, doing something that soft and dainty?  Disgusting!  Fortunately, we have ways of making that work for us.”  The Conformant opened up the coffin in its chest and pulled out pots of flowers, all sorts of flowers that glowed and were transparent somehow.  “Like something out of a dream, your dream in fact, so when we go and crush them...”  The Conformant dropped them to the ground and stomped on them.

“Omaeda!”  Utena watched him collapse to his knees and grip his head, watched the vines emerging around his body.

“Now your Revolutionary Energy is ripe for the harvest.”  The Conformant extended its arm to grab Omaeda up.

“Oh no you won't!”  Utena grabbed Anthy's hand, the two were surrounded in a storm of red and pink rose blossoms, their outfits changed and the roses burst out as they stepped into the Green Knight's view.  “I am the Magical Revolutionary, Ring!”

“And I am the Magical Revolutionary, Dress!”  She pulled the sword out of her chest.  “Take this, the Sword of Dios!”

Utena took it, felt the power that she'd accepted and inherited.  “You again.”  The Green Knight growled at them.  “Whoever you are, you're not interfering this time; Conformunits, get them!”  Mannequins in business wear appeared out of nowhere between Utena and Anthy and Omaeda and the Conformant.  “You won't get through them that quickly.”  The Green Knight pointed and the Conformunits charged.

Utena sliced and chopped and thrust and danced around them, making sure that none of them got anywhere near Anthy, but there were just so many of them, by the time she'd finished cutting them all down she saw the coffin close on Omaeda.  “No!”

“Yes!”  The Green Knight howled in adulation.  “Now you will see how powerful the Conformants can really get when fueled by fools who won't accept their place in the world!”  A purple glow surrounded the Conformant and then faster than Utena could follow it was on her, slamming her into the ground, pinning her arms so she couldn't strike back!  “Ha, you see?  No mere girl can stand up to real power, and then I'll take this strength and crush that pathetic Utena and then the Rose Bride will be mine again!”

All Utena understood was that if she didn't do something, Anthy would be in real danger!  “Oh no you don't!”  Utena summoned all of her strength and pushed up enough to slip out and take up her sword again!  “Omaeda, you really going to let some jealous punk like this take away your dreams?”  The Conformant froze up.  “That's right Green Knight, you're just a big coward who's trying to take down the real brave one here, and there's no way someone like you is ever going to win against anyone!”  Utena felt Anthy right behind her, filling her and Dios's sword full of power.

“No, you're not stopping me this time!”  The Green Knight leaped on top of the Conformant and jammed his sword into the robot's head; sparks flew and then a cannon formed on top of the head.  “I'm destroying you and everyone else in my way!”

“Not if I don't destroy you first!”  Utena and the Conformant charged their strength and reached their peaks at the same time.  The Conformant fired, Utena charged, she felt her whole body getting burned, but she punched on through and sliced the cannon off, and then she cut the coffin open; Omaeda looked sickly and sunken in but he was still breathing, and there was a small flower that he was holding firm to his chest.  “Don't worry, I'm getting you out of here.”  She grabbed Omadea and even with his size Utena lifted him out easy, the only resistence from the thorns hooking into the Conformant's insides.

“No!”  The Green Knight leaped up off the Conformant and dived down at Utena sword first!  Utena raised the sword of Dios and blocked the Green Knight with one hand!  “How can you mess everything up like this, how?”

“Because I'm a prince!”  Utena swung him away off into the distance, and then she sliced the empty Conformant in half.  Utena braced herself for the Green Knight's return but he never came back, and when Omaeda started stirring Utena canceled her transformation, as did Anthy.

“What happened?”  Omaeda rubbed his head, he was recovering already.  “I had this bizarre dream, where some guy in medieval armor and a robot attacked me, and then there was this girl like a prince and...this is even weirder than the flower stuff, isn't it?”

“Yeah, it's pretty weird; I'd forget all about it and get started on that flower garden of yours.”

“Yeah, you've got that right.”  Omaeda stood up and puffed his chest out.  “Yes, I'm doing this, I'm going to do this no matter what Dad says!”  He marched away and out of sight.

“Well, he wasn't exactly a princess, but I suppose I still did the princely thing, didn't I?”

“Yes Utena, I'm sure Dios himself would be proud of you.”

~

“I'm very disappointed in you, Green Knight.”  A mysterious figure in the shadows said, voice deep and resonant.  “To fail twice in a row against such an untested novice...”

“She got lucky, she won't get lucky again.”  The Green Knight kept his head down before his master.  “Omaeda simply didn't have enough Revolutionary Energy in him; if I could just get someone with more, not even the Magical Revolutionary Ring could stop me.”

“And do you have anyone in mind for this?”

The Green Knight paused.  “How about I give you an idea.”  A knight in red armor appeared, his tone taunting the Green Knight.  “He's both in your reach, he should have lots of Revolutionary Energy in him, far more than enough to defeat the Magical Revolutionaries.”

The Red Knight laughed, and the Green Knight stomached his wounded pride; the Red Knight could laugh all he wanted, he would have the last laugh in the end.

Last edited by cypsiman2 (08-22-2014 02:45:46 PM)

Jacrad wrote:

There were a couple of lines that I think weren't phrased right.

.  “Mark my words, Utena will not last as the Rose Bride, then she will return to my protection, just like before.”  He left the Student Council meeting.

That could be foreshadowing, but isn't it supposed to be 'the Rose Bride's engaged?'

“No, you're not stopping me this time!”  The Green Knight leaped on top of the Conformant and jammed his sword into the robot's head; sparks flew and then a cannon formed on top of the cannon.

Is a second cannon forming on top of a cannon or did you mean to say the top of the head?

I'm liking this so far but one complaint I have is I don't think the characters are given enough description. That's not a big deal for the already existent Utena characters, but what does Omaeda look like? He's a jock type, but does he have short hair or long hair? What color is his hair and eyes? Are his eyes more rounded or are they more narrow?
I would genuinely like to know. This is my personal preference, but I think'd it be great to see spectacular colors used for these characters as well.

Yes, those were in fact typos above, I will be fixing them shortly, thank you for pointing them out to me.

On descriptions of OCs; I have to concede this has always been a weakness of mine, but I will try and work harder on them.

Now then, the next chapter!

Juri Arisugawa, The Frozen Leopard Enters the Fray!

“Utena Tenjou.”  Juri Arisugawa said, the pink haired girl stopped where she stood in response; they were at the gates into Ohtori Academy itself, it was coincidence that they were there at the same time but it was a useful one, so Juri went along with it.  “May I have a word with you?  Alone?”  She glanced at the Rose Bride, the strange girl who's expression always had a glassy quality to it, like some combination of a mask and a mirror.

“And you are?”  Utena said, interposing herself between Juri and the Rose Bride; she was certainly falling into her role as the Engaged.

“I am Juri Arisugawa, Treasurer of the Student Council.”

“Student Council...”  Utena looked down a moment.  “Do you mean like Saionji, or like Touga?”

Juri frowned, she saw a group of girls who'd stopped to watch; she glared at them and they were gone from her sight.  “Neither; now please, instruct the Rose Bride to depart from our presence, it is important that we speak alone.”  Juri directed her glare at Utena.

“Heh, you're not going to take no for an answer, are you?”  Utena turned to the Rose Bride.  “Anthy, you don't mind going on ahead, right?”

“Of course not Miss Utena, it is my duty to make things easier for you.”  The Rose Bride bowed to Utena and went her way into Ohtori Academy proper.

“Heh,” Utena rubbed the back of her head, “She's a bit odd I know, but deep down she's just a normal girl like you and me.”

“Do you really believe that?”  Juri flicked a curled ring of her hair out of her face.  “Has the Rose Bride told you nothing yet?”  Juri crossed her arms over her chest.

“What do you care about me and Anthy?  What difference does it make to you what I do or don't know?”

“Because you are the Rose Bride's Engaged, the one who is supposed to unlock the World Revolution in the end.”

“The World Revolution?”  Utena blinked.  “Anthy didn't say anything about that; she said that I was supposed to use Dios's power to defeat the Witch that had defeated him.”

“I see...”  Juri uncrossed her arms.  “Dios's power is the power that brings about the World Revolution, the power that makes the impossible possible and can reshape the world however one wishes.”  Juri smirked.  “Why, it could even help you to realize that you don't know what's going on at all.”  She chuckled.

Utena growled.  “I think I've realized enough; I've realized that you don't really believe anything you're saying, and that you're definitely like Saionji.”

Juri's eyes widened, it took her a moment to ready her retort, and then... “Miss Juri.”  She turned her head and saw Miki Kaoru approaching.  “Miss Juri, it's almost time for our fencing practice.”

“Is it?”  She said softly, she checked her cell phone.  “You're right Miki; thank you for coming for me.”    She turned to Utena again, she spoke harshly again.  “We will have to continue this conversation another time.”

“Oh, Miss Utena!”  Miki said, and then he bowed to her.  “Allow me to congratulate you for being chosen as the Rose Bride's Engaged; you're very lucky, and I hope you take good care of her, she is a rather delicate girl after all.”

“Miki,” Juri injected a playful energy in her voice, “weren't you worried about me being late for our practice?”

“Oh, yes, of course!”  Miki bowed to Utena again.  “Excuse me Miss Utena.”

“Um, you're excused.”  Utena said, and then Juri was off with Miki, smiling.

~

“Huh.”  Utena watched Juri leave with Miki; the tall and arrogant orange haired girl and the short, polite blue haired boy, they couldn't be a bigger contrast it they tried.  “What was that about?”

“Utena!”  Utena felt Wakaba land on her back and kept herself from pitching forward onto her own face.  “You're real lucky you know?  You just got to talk to Miki!”

“I am?”  Utena straightened herself back up and lowered Wakaba onto her feet.  “Who's Miki?”

“Who's Miki?”  Wakaba stared at Utena.  “You really don't know who Miki is?”  Utena shook her head.    “Miki Kaoru, he's a middle school freshman but he's taking college level classes, and he's a national-level fencer and pianist too, and he's the secretary for the student council, and he's super polite and nice and really cute too, even high-school girls are just crazy about him, and I think I heard something about Mitsuko trying to form a Miki fanclub.”  Wakaba took a deep breath.  “How do you not know these things Utena?”

“S-sorry Wakaba; that's, uh, that's what I have you for.”  Wakaba smiled a great big smile.  “So what about Juri; she's on the Student Council too right?”

“Ooh, Juri Arisugawa, that's right.”  Wakaba did a little shiver that seemed like a mix of fear and awe.  “she's not just Treasurer, she's captain of the Fencing Club and they say she's a part-time model too, and even the teachers don't dare to get in her way, she's supposed to have 100 delinquents all over the place ready to do whatever she says and anyone who goes against her is never heard from again.”  Wakaba looked around.  “Sometimes people call her the Ice Leopard, that's why even though lots of guys have crushes on her none of them even try to get close to her.”

“Ice Leopard huh?”  Yeah, Utena had definitely felt like she was being sized up by a predator when Juri was talking to her, and there wasn't any warmth to her when they were talking either...yet the moment Miki showed up, that all changed.  “I wonder if Miki's ever heard anything like that about her.”

~

Juri leaned against the wall of the music room and kept her eyes closed while Miki played the piano; she went over every note in her mind's eye and compared it to their fencing practice earlier that day.  The clangs and clashes of blade against blade met with hammers on piano wire in a harmony that was the mark of Miki's talent in everything he did.  “It won't be long now Miki,” Juri had told him after their final match of the day, a soft smile had marked her face, “soon you'll be caught up with me.”

“You're much too kind Miss Juri.”  Miki had turned his head away and looked at the ground by his feet.  “You've been saying that for three weeks now.”

“Have I?”

“Yes Miss Juri,” Miki had brought his face back up, he'd faced her again, “I've been timing out matches,” he had his stopwatch at his side, “they always end in the same time frame, never off by more than .7 seconds.”

“Hmm, you would know best after all Miki.”  She'd put her hand on his shoulder.  “Still, I know that one day you will do even better than this.”

Miki stopped playing piano, the silence brought Juri back into the present.  “I'm sorry Miss Juri.”  Miki remained seated.  “It's just as with my fencing; I can see where I'm stumbling but I can't see how I am supposed to advance further; if only I still had my Shining Thing...”

Juri frowned; the one chink in Miki's armor...no, it ran deeper than that, ran all the way into the deepest depth's of the blue-haired boy's heart.  “Miki...”  She tried to find the words to say, the words that would make Miki realize what a fool he was being to be held back by his past like that, but then she remembered Shiori; Juri saw her as she'd been on that day, her eyes so full of hate.

“How do you like me now Juri?  Now that I've taken what matters most to you?”  Juri had wanted to scream at Shiori, to grab her by the collar and yell in her face that she'd gotten everything wrong, that she'd hurt her but not for the reasons she'd thought she had.  She hadn't.

She couldn't tell Shiori what she needed to hear, and now she couldn't tell Miki what he needed to hear.  “Oh, am I too late?”  Juri turned and saw the lightning rod of her hate standing in the doorway.

“Student Council President Touga Kiryu.”  Juri spoke stiffly and kept her expression neutral; she always took care when delivering a measured blow to his ego.  “I see you're alone; I trust you haven't fallen on hard times?”

Touga winced, he recovered.  “Oh my, I must have missed quite the performance.”  Then he smiled.  “Perhaps if I'd arrived a minute sooner I would have seen something most interesting; am I right Miki?”

“Eh?”  Pink dusted Miki's cheeks, he looked down at the piano keys.  “I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Kiryu.”

“Of course you don't Miki; that's what makes you so adorable.”  Touga chuckled, Juri interposed herself between Miki and Touga.

“Is there a reason you're here Touga?”  Juri did not spend time with Touga outside of Student Council meetings, she had no intention of changing that now.

“There is, as it so happens; I need you to sign off on the budget for the Drama club.”  He presented several sheets of paper to her, the area she was meant to sign marked and highlighted.

“I see.”  She took the sheets.  “This is the sort of thing that is supposed to be brought up in Student Council meetings.”

“I would have brought them with me at the time, but on my way to retrieve them, I was...distracted.”  Juri restrained a shudder.  “The signature?”

“Of course.”  Juri signed quick and neat.  “I'm certain the Drama club will be grateful for your haste in correcting your mistakes.”

“Certainly.”  Touga took the papers back.  “Now then Miki, do be sure to take care of yourself; after all, I'm certain the Drama club will want you to play for their next performance.”

“O-of course Mr. Kiryu.”  Touga smirked and left them alone again.

“Miki,” Juri said, “I just remembered; there's a book that I've been meaning to check out from the library, would you care to accompany me?”

“Of course Miss Juri, you know I always like visiting the library.”  Juri did know, and she did need something to clean herself, distract herself from having to interact with Touga outside of the confines of a Student Council meeting.

So the two left the music room together and Juri smiled softly again.  They walked together, there were of course students who saw them but a quick glance their way saw to it that they said nothing; Juri would not allow her peace to be interrupted, she would not allow Miki to be distracted by the empty talk of unthinking peers, not now when he was so close to achieving his potential, if she could just figure what to say to him to guide him that way...

“Heh, so you finally arrived.”  Juri looked up from Miki; there was a man in green armor standing in the doorway to the library.  “About damn time Miki.”

“Huh?”  Miki stepped forward.  “You've been waiting for me?”

“Yes; your Revolutionary Energy is just what I need to bring out this Conformant's true power.”  Suddenly there was a huge robot standing next to the man in the green armor, a chest like a coffin with a rose emblem emblazoned on it.  “Now why don't you be a good little boy and just turn yourself over?”  He drew a massive sword and pointed it right at Miki.

“I'm sorry, but I don't make a habit of listening to people who threaten me.”  Miki steeled his face just like in fencing practice.

“Indeed.”  Juri stepped forward with Miki.  “If you do not leave us immediately, you will come to regret it.”  Whoever this was, Juri knew he was no one to fear regardless of how strange he was.

“Hmph, so the baby and the babysitter want to stand up to me?  Heh, well then, how about I have some fun.”  The Green Knight snapped his fingers, and out of nowhere Juri and Miki were surrounded on all sides by manequins in business wear, all armed with swords.  “Let's see how you handle the Conformunits.”

Miki and Juri stood back to back.  “You focus on keeping yourself safe Miki, I'll deal with them.”

“No.”  Miki said.  “I'm going to fight alongside you Miss Juri.”  They drew their swords and held them out.  CLASH!  CLANG!  Their swords met the Conformunits, who moved in sudden and jerky motions, and Juri and Miki skewered them.  One by one they fell, there were close moments now and then, but Juri always covered the gap in Miki's guard, and Miki returned the favor whenever possible.

After a minute or so, all the conformunits were down on the ground, too damaged to move.  “Hmph, impressive.”  The Green Knight snapped his fingers again, the Conformunits vanished.  “But how will you two, a woman and a child, stand against a real warrior.”  The Green Knight stepped down the steps towards them.  Juri and Miki braced themselves for his advance.

“Not so fast!”  Juri, Miki, and the Green Knight turned their heads to the new voice; it was a girl that Juri had never seen before, a pink haired girl whose whole body seemed to glow, leaving her features indistinct.  The same was true of her companion in the red dress, purple hair all that she could discern.

“Tch, not you again!”  The Green Knight growled.

“Fear not, oh friend of mine.”  An explosion of wind pushed Juri and Miki back, pushed the strange girls back as well, and in between them stood a man in red armor.  “I will make sure everything goes according to plan this time.”  He drew his sword and swept it out towards Miki and Juri; Juri just managed to see the pressure wave he'd created and was forced to shove Miki away.  The Red Knight snapped his fingers and more Conformunits appeared, separating Juri and Miki from one another.  “And now for you two.”  He was on the pink haired girl.  “So,” he swung his sword, the girl blocked it, “I understand your name is Magical Revolutionary Ring; what a charming name for such a charming girl.”

“Get real and get out of my face!”  The Red Knight did not listen, he stayed where he was and remained in Revolutionary Girl Ring's way no matter how she tried to maneuver around him, he used his sword to force her to remain right in front of him.

Juri looked away, saw the Green Knight marching his way to Miki, towering over the young blue haired boy.  “Miki!”  Juri started cleaving her way through the conformunits, but these ones were more organized, better able to halt her progress.

“I'll be fine Miss Juri!”  Miki said; The Green Knight swung his sword out, Miki tried to dodge but the sword's reach extended and knocked his sword from his hand.  “Urk!”  He was lifted off the ground by his collar, he tried to peel The Green Knight's hands away from his throat but he couldn't even budge his fingers.

“Look at you; pathetic, all that time practicing fencing and you still can't stand up in a real fight; what good is a man who can't protect anything?”  Thorn encrusted vines appeared around Miki's body.  “Fortunately, the Conformant is the one that needs to fight, you're just the battery.”

“No!”  Juri and Ring cried out, Juri cut down more Conformunits, but Ring was still being held at bay by the Red Knight.  “No!”  The Green Knight held Miki up to the Conformant, which opened the coffin on its chest.  “NO!”  Miki was deposited in it, and for a moment Juri saw Shiori in Miki's place.  “I won't let you!”  Juri took out the last of the Conformunits, she dashed, she ran up to Miki, she stretched her hand out, the coffin door was closing on him...

“No.”  The Green Knight grabbed her wrist and held her there, forced her to watch the coffin close shut with Miki trapped inside.  “Now stand back, and watch.”  He shoved her back.

The Conformant stood up, and then it turned blue all over and produced a massive saber with piano keys along the back of the blade.  “Impressive.”  The Red Knight said as he leaped over to the Green Knight.  “Show us what you can do.”  The Conformant nodded, then jumped and created a huge crater where it landed, right in front of Ring and girl in the red dress.  It swung its sword out so fast, Ring didn't even have time to block, she leaped in front of her companion and together they were sent flying.  “You see my friend?  A boy of Miki's potential has far more to offer than most; he will provide us with a great deal of Revolutionary Energy.”  Ring and her companion

“Enough!”  Juri put her sword right in front of the Red Knight's face-plate.  “You will release Miki right now!”

“I'm afraid you're in no position to give orders, Juri Arisugawa.”  She saw the sword in her hand vanish, the Red Knight had knocked it out without her realizing it.  “Conformant, search for others who dare to go against the Natural Order, and deal with them.”  The Conformant saluted and marched away.

“Miki!”  Juri had dashed ahead and in front of the Conformant.  “Miki, listen to me, you can get out of there, I know you can!  You are the most brilliant and talented person I've ever known, you have so much potential in you, do you really want to see it all stolen from you by this thing?!?” 

The Conformant stood frozen.  Then it swept out the flat of its blade and knocked Juri aside.  “I tried to warn you Juri.”  The Red Knight.  “Come my friend, our work here is done.”

“Good; just remember, I'm the one who captured Miki, not you.”  The two vanished on the spot, leaving the Conformant alone to its mission.

“Juri, are you okay?”  Ring and her companion were at her side, the Conformant was slowly marching away.  “Dress, make sure Juri's okay, I'll deal with the Conformant.”

Magical Revolutionary Dress nodded, Utena leaped away to engage the Conformant.  “It's hopeless.”  Blades echoed.  “That thing is using Miki's talent, there's no way she can win.”

“Miracles can make all things possible.”  Juri glared at Dress; what did she know?  Miracles didn't happen, miracles weren't real.  “With this, you can make a miracle happen.”  Dress held out her hand, in it was a tiny monkey with an orange rose in its hands; she felt like she knew that monkey, or at least knew of it, why couldn't she recognize it.  “Will you become part of the World Revolution?”

“The World Revolution?”  Juri looked at the Conformant bearing down on Ring, she was tiring.  “If it means saving Miki, I'll do whatever it takes!”  On instinct she took the orange rose and then Juri found herself surrounded by a shell of orange rose petals.  “What is this?”  The orange rose petals gathered on Juri's body, she felt the rose transform into a blade unlike any she'd held before.

“Now,” Magical Revolutionary Dress said, “Call out your name, you who will change the world.”

The orange rose petals exploded out, revealing a shimmering orange military coat up top and tigh black pants on the bottom, and smooth white gloves on her hands.  “I,” Juri held her sword aloft, “am the Magical Revolutionary, Saber!”  She leaped forward and before the Conformant could react she'd pierced right through the back of its leg.  “You're facing me now.”  The Conformant spun on her and attempted to use its mimicry of Miki's skills against her.  A foolish mistake, Juri effortlessly sidestepped every blow, she was faster than the eye could follow, and then she made her way to the coffin on its chest.  “Miki, I'm coming, just hold on!”  She grabbed the lid of the coffin and pulled, tore it right off and tossed it away.  “Miki!”  He looked so small and weak, but he was still Miki; he stirred, his eyes opened and took her in.

“You...who are you...?”  Miki gasped as Juri pulled him out of the Conformant and leaped far away.  “Wait, Miss Juri, where's Miss Juri?”  He got to his feet, he was dizzy.

“She's just fine Miki; you need to get out of here, I'll let Juri know you're okay.”  She turned to face the Conformant, which was still blue, still armed with its sword, still moving.  “I have one last matter to attend to.”

Juri was turned away, and so she did not see how Miki's whole face turned completely red all over.  “R-Right, Miss...”

“Saber.”  She brought her sword back up.  “Magical Revolutionary Saber.”

“Thank you Miss Saber!”  Miki bowed and then ran off and away.

The Conformant performed a heavy overhead swing, nothing like what Juri had taught Miki.  Juri blocked that blow with one hand on her sword.  “You are not even worthy of my blade.”  Juri dropped her sword and dashed to the side; she held her hand out and a sparkling bowling ball made of stars appeared in it.  “May you be crushed and ground into dust.”  Bowling pins appeared around the Conformant, pinning it in place.  Juri threw the ball along the ground.  “Shining Star Strike!”  She turned around as the ball hit every pin and brought them down on the Conformant at the same time, destroying it utterly.

“Wow, that was amazing Juri!”  Juri looked over at Ring...only now she could see her clearly, it was Utena Tenjou!

“Then...”  She looked over at Magical Revolutionary Dress, and it was the Rose Bride!  “How is this possible?”

“A miracle granted by the power of Dios.”  Anthy said with a little bow to Juri.

“Man, am I glad that you're on our side now, I bet together we can even take on that Red Knight jerk.”

“Perhaps.”  Juri looked down at her sword, clenched it in her hand.  “Thank you for your assistance, but I must be going.”  She turned and left, headed where Miki had run for safety.  At some point where no one could see she turned back into herself and shortly thereafter found Miki back at the Music Room, seated back at the piano.  “Miki, are you all right?”  She said in open concern.

“Y-yes Miss Juri!”  He closed the music sheet, he beamed, his face lit up the room; Juri had no idea his face was so bright and warm until now, until it had almost been taken from her.  “Miss Saber, she saved me...”  His face turned red.

“We should count ourselves lucky she was there, but we can't assume she will always be there; Miki, I will double your training from here on out, do you understand?”

“Yes Miss Juri, I was planning to request that myself.”

“Good.”  Juri felt an ache she could not ignore.  “I'm going to retire to my dorm now Miki; I suggest you do the same.”

“Of course Miss Juri, I'll be on my way in just a little bit.”  Juri hesitated a moment, then left Miki alone.

~

“Miss Saber...”  Miki said when he was sure that Juri was gone; he opened up his music sheets, in the corner was a sketch of Magical Revolutionary Saber; Miki's heart pounded in his chest like nothing he'd ever experienced in his 13 years of life.  “I wonder, will we meet again?”  Then he started playing, and the notes came easier then ever before.

RhythmFusion wrote:

I saw this on Archive of Our Own, and loved it! Moar plz!

Thank you for your support!  It's been a while since I've added anything to this story, but with your support I will hopefully be able to fix that before too long.