Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Blood Soaked and Honor Bound ❯ The Final Chapter! ( Chapter 32 )

Part Thirty: Farewells and Beginnings

The airport was deserted at this time of night, the private jet waiting and ready to go. Most of their friends were gathered and Anthy was making her farewells nearby. Integra nodded slightly to Utena, "It's been... interesting, meeting you."

"Thanks," Utena sighed. The pale, pink haired woman hesitated a moment, making sure that Anthy was out of earshot before saying, "Take care of her, please."

Integra hesitated, her gray hair blowing back from her face then she nodded slightly. "You have my word," she said crisply, turning to walk to the plane, the blonde vampire Victoria Ceres joining her a moment later to wait by the boarding ladder.

"We may not like each other," Juri said to Anthy, her orange hair flowing around her face, "but I'm going to miss our scraps."

Anthy was startled enough by that to laugh. "Take care of Utena," the dusky vampire murmured, "she's far too trusting for her own good."

"Will do," Juri half saluted then moved back to give them some space.

"I"m sorry," Utena said, uncomfortably putting her hands in the pockets of her black schoolboy's uniform, "I wish I had handled things better."

Anthy reached out to stroke Utena's cheek, "I wish you had asked, you know. I rather think things would be very different right now."

"So you're joining the Holy Order?" Utena asked, nodding towards Integra and Victoria as the hand dropped away from her cheek.

"It's familiar to me," Anthy said, "and I care for Integra a great deal." She shrugged, "If I hadn't been chasing my brother all those months ago, I might never have left her."

"Whatever happens," Utena said softly, "try to be happy."

Anthy took a step back, smiling slightly. "I will be, I think," and with that she walked to the plane, reaching out to take Integra and Victoria's hands.

"Are you going to be all right?" Juri asked her curiously, watching as the slim plane taxied to it's runway. It sped up along the pavement, smoothly rising up into the sky. It soared up higher and higher before it began to shrink off into the distance.

"I think so," Utena sighed, "eventually."

"Utena-sama!" Wakaba hit Utena with a flying hug, sending the slim vampire staggering about, both of them clearly enjoying the game.

Ruka chuckled softly, the blue haired young man standing by Juri's side. "So," he looked over at Juri, "what do we do now?"

"That's the question, isn't it," Juri said, taking a look at Utena.

Utena walked over towards them and had an oddly distracted look on her face. "We'd better get moving," she said, "Ms. Ohtori is leaving town."

"How do you know..." Ruka started, then nodded, "the bond with Shiori."

"I'd like to check their apartment out," Utena looked over at the girls and sighed, "right after we drop them off at the apartment."

"But Utena..." the whining was loud but she ignored it stoiclly.

Sunrise was growing close as Juri focused her willpower, making the landlord open up the apartment door. "Here you go," he murmured, walking off in a cloud.

"I still don't like that," Utena said, leading the way inside.

Juri chuckled softly. "For a vampire," she remarked, "you have a bit too much concience." They moved into the opulantly decorated suite, looking around curiously. It was lovely, well taken care of, but still had the feel of an abandoned home.

"Isn't this interesting," Utena murmured as they entered the bedroom. A letter lay on the neatly made bed with her name on it, the scents on it a mix of Ohtori and Shiori.

"Aren't you going to pick it up?" Juri asked curiously.

"Do I have to?" Utena sighed. "I't's probably a vow to hunt me till the ends of the Earth or something," she complained.

"If you don't open it," Juri's voice was dangerous, "I will."

"Right," Utena popped the wax seal, unfolding it as two pieces of plastic fell out. "Bank cards," Utena blinked, holding them in her hands.

"In your and my names," Juri murmured, "read the damn letter!"

"Your are not what I expected," Utena read from the letter, "none of your are. Vampires hunt alone unless ruled by a master, vampires are solitary by their nature. Yet they stand beside you unbound by power as do humans free of any compulsion other than love."

"I do not forgive you for my daughter Kanae," Utena continued to read, "but as Shiori has reminded me I do owe you my life in return. We will meet again when I am ready, and until then I want you alive, waiting for me. These cards can access but a small part of my resources, but they should be sufficient for you."

"Damn," Juri murmured as Utena folded up the letter.

Utena closed her eyes, reaching out to try and feel for Shiori through the blood bond between them but she received nothing. "They let us see this place," she opened her blue eyes, "Ohtori wants us to have this, all right."

"The sun will be rising soon," Juri said, "do we keep them or leave the cards?"

"We take them," Utena slipped the card into her pocket even as they left the apartment. They went down the access ways into the utility tunnels burried beneath the city, navigating through the darkness together.

"So what do we do now?" Juri asked as they walked together, their peternatural vision piercing through the shadows.

"I want to talk it over with the others," Utena said firmly, "once we get back."

"Sounds like you have some ideas," Juri noted.

"Yes and no," Utena said softly, a slight smile on her face. She tilted her head to the side, "Though if those cards are real it'll open up a lot of options."

"Call Ayaka Kisaragi," Juri smiled wryly, "if anyone can find that out it's her."

Utena chuckled softly, "It sounds like a plan." She recognized a power box and nodded thoughtfully, "I think we're here."

They climbed up a ladder into a electrical room, emerging beneath the apartment building they had been staying in. Utena led the way to the elevator and up to their suite, the nervously waiting girl's looking visibly relieved at their safe return.

"Did you find anything useful at Ms. Ohtori's?" was Ami's first question as they entered, the blue haired young woman walking over to look at Utena worriedly. She voice dropped slightly, "Mistress, are you hungry?"

Utena forced back a yawn, feeling the effects of the dawn working on her. "I'm all right for now," she reassured her, "I had some blood last night at the Locket."

"We'd better rest," Juri fought back her own weariness and gave Ruka a smile. "Call up Ayaka for us, too," she said, "I think Utena's going to want to talk to us all tonight."

"You're right about that," Utena agreed, she and Juri stumbling off to their darkened bed chamber to sleep.

**********

"The cards are real," Ayaka dropped the two bank cards on the table, "not to memtion tied to some impressively large accounts."

"Thanks," Juri smiled.

Utena looked around the room, at Juri, the small band of girl groupies, Ayaka, Wakaba and Ruka sitting in the various chairs. "I wanted to lay out our options," Utena smiled slightly, "before we make any major decisions."

"First," Utena said calmly, "we can go back to Ohtori. The girls, Ruka and Wakaba can continue their education there, and it's a safe place for vampires."

"Just being safe," Juri murmured, "has never really appealed to me." The others all pretty much chimed in their agreement to that.

"Second," Utena said, "we can go to Britain together. Apparently Integra thinks we're rough but have some potential and before she left she extended an offer to join the Holy Order for us."

Ruka frowned, "I hate sea trips. Besides, that sort of deal is probably one way, I bet. We join, we can't easily resign later."

"Anthy did it," Wakaba pointed out.

"And had to phone in regularly," Juri said coldly, "or Integra Hellsing came looking for her to find out what was going on."

"The third option is the most risky," Utena said. "We stay in Tokyo, keep hunting vampires either from here or some other base of operations. Now that I've killed Saya and fought Ohtori to a draw other vamps are going to come for me," she said, "either to neutralize me as a threat or just to make a name for themselves."

"If you do stick around Tokyo," Ayaka smiled slightly, "the Phantom Quest Corp. can throw some work your way." She grinned, "Pretty much the reason you wanted me to stick around?"

"Yeah," Utena smiled back.

"I doubt the vampire problem in this city is under control," Hitomi noted, the brown haired girl adding eagerly, "it's something we could all help with."

Wakaba, Excel, Ruka and Keiko all chimed in their agreement. Ami pushed up her glasses and added cheerfully, "And Tokyo has some fine cram schools for us, too." There was a soft chorus of groans at that but Ami just grinned.

"I'd say we're agreed," Juri gave Utena a smile, reaching out to take her hand, "looks like we're staying here in Tokyo."

"They won't know what hit them," Utena agreed, squeezing Juri's hand gently.

The End.

Final Comments and Author's Notes

Well, that's the end for now, at least. I've left the ending open to be continued if I choose, either continuing with Utena and gang's adventures in Tokyo or covering Anthy's becoming part of the Hellsing organization. I don't know for certain that I'll do that, but keep your eyes open. As well I'm putting this up in a revised form on adultfanfiction.net with additional chapters and more explicit content under the title Blood Soaked and Honor Bound: Reloaded.

Below are the thoughts and concepts I startred out with when I began this series. I didn't always manage to work all the materials into the story but some of it was used. Anything I didn't use may turn up in my revised version, but we'll just have to see.

In this story vampirism brings out the dark side of the person who has been transformed, bringing up whatever he or she may be trying to repress. Touga was a good man originally, struggling with a dark side that was just too much for him as a vampire. For Juri, her dark side was her conflicted sexuality, so when she became a vampire that side of her was totally released, for good or ill. And in some cases a person's sanity can break under the change, like poor Saionji or Kanae.

Before Utena appeared, Ohtori academy was nearly the perfect hunting ground for any vampire. A remote locale with all the students confined to their dorm rooms at night allowed the vampires to ravage at will, with only Utena and Anthy to try to stop them. Akio chose it well, when he came there... or was sent there.

The curse of Vampirism in this series is being treated, at least mostly, as an disease, not supernatural at all. It has effects that can be scientifically traced, alteriing the body and brain in certain specific ways, and changing when circumstances require. The virus changes the body, altering it to be stronger, tougher, and more resistant to damage. Of course, it also creates specific vulnerabilities, including sleeping during the day, sensitivity to the sun, and other problems.

The psionic gifts that Juri, Utena and Anthy are all beginning to show are a result of their altered brain chemistry activating dormant, unused parts of the human brain. As vampires grow older they can develop even greater mental gifts, as Utena and friends will eventually discover. And Mrs. Ohtori already knows...

Of course, I'll also be introducing other, very different kinds of vampires from Utena and Anthy. Vampire Princess Miyu being a good example! I plan to raise the question of the existance of supernatural vampires, something that will cause Utena to ask certain questions about her own existance.

I decided to take Utena, Anthy and their friends out of Ohtori because I was worried the series was slowly becoming the `Which Ohtori character will be the vampire of the week?' story. Setting the series outside of the academy will hopefully allow a broad variety of new characters to be introduced, as well as exploring Utena and Anthy's situation.

So why did I decide to mix up the Utena cast and the vampire curse in the first place? Of course, I'm not the first writer to do so, but I found that the highly erotic edge in much of the Utena material really lent itself to a darker, more vampire oriented perspective. Akio, Touga, Juri and the others are such flawed heroes to start with that I thought making them vampires would bring all those various flaws up to the surface. And for Utena herself...

A woman of deep moral convictions, Utena is tormented by the urges and desires that have come along with her vampirism. Not to mention the other desires that she may have been suppressing, like an deep attraction to other women. She fights to live as morally as she can manage within the limits of her curse, and she occasionally finds herself slipping a bit. Her desire for Wakaba, her nearly attacking Kozue, and her liaison with Juri are all moments which she was unable to fight her deeper urges and desires.

Anthy is quite a different character than in the Utena TV series. A woman with a mission, she long sought to eliminate her vampire brother, to protect the world from his foul taint. She even went to Britain and trained under the Hellsing organization. Now, she finds herself reluctantly working with a vampire to stop the creations of her brother. And in the back of her mind, she wonders if she will have to slay her new ally as well. But now that she has become a vampire herself, she is discovering the Utena's self control is something that she may not share...

Juri, unlike Utena, has totally embraced her vampirism and the powers it grants. Wise enough to know that killing her victims would likely lead to her own end, she only draws enough blood to satisfy her hunger, and to grant pleasure. She longs for a equal, someone to share her existance, and thought she found one in the transformed Shiori, but Mrs. Ohtori has taken her away.

Mrs. Ohtori is a mystery, and I plan to keep her that way for awhile... What we know so far: she's an elder vampire, and more powerful than both Juri and Shiori. She created Akio, as well as having changed her daughter, Kanae.

About the Tokyo Interlude, I've thought about featuring the fight between Utena and Akio for a while, but I didn't see anywhere to fit it in smoothly. I hope this flashback sequece isn't too jarring, but I wanted to get into Mrs. Ohtori's head a bit, as well as explain why she might be a bit worried about facing Utena...

The `prince of the school' line Akio spouts is inspired by the Utena movie. "It doesn't matter if you are a man or woman, one of strength and nobility is always a prince!" is another quote taken from the first volume of the Utena manga. I was looking for a place to slip it in one of my stories, and this seemed to work quite well.

The Tokyo chapters will feature characters outside of the Utena series, as well as continuing the vampiric changes in Utena and Anthy. Phantom Quest Coorporation, Vampire Princess Miyu, Hellsing and other series will be featured soon.

Because I am usually a more comic writer, I've incorperated certain elements of humor to give a bit of lightness to the story. Wakaba is a major source of comic relief, and is the closest to being purely normal in this story. The Girl Groupies I saddled Utena with will be as much a source of trouble for her as a help.

About the Girl Groupies: I'm still in the process of naming them all. Keiko is from the Utena series, Hitomi is from Escaflowne, Ami Mizuno from Sailor Moon and Excel from Excel Saga. That leaves two other Groupies to name, and I'll happily take any suggestions.

The Research Materials! Well, all right, I didn't actually do a lot of `research' on this series but there are more than a few authors who gave me ideas and inspiration for this fic.

First, like any writer of modern vampire stories, I owe a large debt of thanks to the writings of Anne Rice. Her first three vampire novels Interview with a Vampire, the Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned returned the erotic edge to vampire fiction, something that it had long lacked. The tortured Louis and the decadent Lestat were some of my favorite characters and in part were the inspiration for how I handled Utena and Juri.

I was also inspired by reading the "Blood" series of novels by Canadian author Tanya Huff, who added a humorous take to Anne Rice's concepts. A night-blind private investigator and the vampiric bastard son of Henry the Eighth investigate a series of supernatural threats in and around the Canadian city of Toronto.

Robert Frezza's book McLendon's Syndrome is one of the better `scientific' vampire novels, with a unique plotline. Some of my ideas of the vampire disease came from this good book. A science fiction vampire romantic comedy, I mean, what's not to like? Not to mention all the puns...

Some of the erotic vampire stories by Pat Califia were also quite... eye opening. Not for the faint of heart, this transgendered author features both gay and lesbian vampires, in explicity erotic stories. Not something I would normally attempt, but quite skillfully handled none the less.

I should also give a tip of the hat to Roxanna Ohtori, an excellent author of darkly erotic Utena fanfics. I'm pretty certain some of the tone of this fic comes from my reading her works. I'm sorry to report that she's no longer writing fanfics. Milady, you are missed.