Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Red Thread ❯ Redemption ( Chapter 1 )

Red Thread

Chapter 1: Redemption

Put your head on my shoulder, baby

Things can't get any worse

Night is getting colder sometimes. . .

Life feels like it's a curse

I can't carry these sins on my back

Don't wanna carry any more

I'm gonna carry this train off the track

. . .Gonna swim to the ocean floor

- `Swim' Madonna

The wind shifted.

She could feel it against her skin, a light touch, warm and comforting. It blew her long, loose hair around her naked body, the silky strands brushing against her dusky skin. It smelt of flowers, rich and sweet.

She opened long closed eyes, staring into the vast heavens above her, spattered with clouds against the azure blue. Rose petals fell from that sky like rain, pilling around her feet on the scarred white stone of the duelist arena.

A smile filled her face, turquoise eyes glittering in the bright sunlight.

People change. Even an afterimage can repent from the darkest sins.

But can a witch who took the light from the world?

The Witch and Rose Bride raised her hands to the eternal sky.

Far below, the students of Ohtori academy wound they're way through a maze of rubble of what had once been the dueling forest surrounding the arena, oblivious to the purple haired girl.

At the kendo club, two old friends fought with passion as a sister made tea. In a garden, a pair of twins played piano as a young woman with orange hair watched. In the library, a brunette was absorbed with studying, an almost humorously serious look on her face. High in an observatory, a fallen angel plotted and planned.

All oblivious to her.

The sunlight played over her outstretched hands, embracing the long shadowed girl in a world of light and hope

High above her, a castle materialized upside down, the turrets and spires turned towards earth and it's daily chaos. It looked almost out of place, something magical that had stepped from a fairy tale, something that didn't belong in the real world.

Her hands dropped to her sides, and she sighed, the glittering, translucent castle bringing back memories she didn't want to relive.

In three years, people had changed. Things changed.

The revolution had been won, won by a girl who had become a prince against the devil himself. But, even beyond revolution, free to pursue life and happiness, those who had made it to the outside world still suffered some kind of regret.

Utena hadn't found her prince. She'd found herself, yes, and The Witch. But. . .

The purple haired girl jumped into the air, and the entire world twisted in on itself, as if someone had grabbed the middle of the universe, and had given it a twist. Normal colors and images disconcerted itself, bending into themselves and melting together.

When the world righted itself again, she found herself in a vast dark room, lit only by stained glass windows. The expanse of the room couldn't be determined, for shadows played everywhere, dimming even the brightest area.

A grave sat in the middle of the room, and a silent figure sat on it, closed from all sense and feeling, closed from life.

The girl stepped into the dim, wavering light of the stained window marked Amitie, watching the lone figure, silently circling him. Her bright green eyes where tainted by sadness.

'"Onni-san." She whispered, her soft voice filling the long quite room. "Onni-san, I'm here. I've come back."

'"Are you really that worried?" He asked her, confused, his deep eyes, like wells that sucked you in, watching her with concern. "I'll be fine. It's not like I'm one of the others, Anthy. He can't destroy me."

'"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I-I couldn't. But I'm here now. I'll make up for it, Onni-san. I promise. Utena saved me and now I can save you both."

'The room was ethereally quite, and the air was heavy and lifeless. Bodies littered the floor, not a mark on them, not a drop f blood spilt on the white stone. They where all dead, every Prince.

But one.

"It's time for me to fix what I did back then. To heal old wounds and help Utena create a new world, even if she doesn't know it yet."

Anthy lay weeping on the beds edge, making choked sobs. The room was dark, silent. The figure twitched, and his head turned over towards her. Turquoise eyes opened, but they no longer held the prince's soul.

"An. . .thy?" Asked a voice that sounded like Dios, but wasn't Dios.

Anthy's head whipped up, and she screamed in happiness.

"Dios!"

"And. . . I'll. . . I'll help you too. . . Onni-san. I promise. In seven years, the three of us will drink tea and eat cookies together. And we'll have eternity. I promise."

She bowed to the silent figure, her mass of purple hair shining against her dusky complexion in the dim light. Chained by the last duel, chained by the swords he couldn't win over, he slept without knowledge of her presence. But it didn't matter to her if he actually heard it or not, she'd free him. She'd repent. As long as she made her promise and kept it, that was all that mattered now.

All that mattered.

The bright, purple haired girl ran into the enfolding darkness, disappearing from the giant room and it's lone occupant.

Dios raised his head.

Windows filled the room, a million windows of all different sizes and shapes. Some where stained glass, and some didn't have any glass at all. Some where cracked and others as simple as a square in the wall. The covered the walls of the giant chamber, all their bright light hitting the one door in the room.

The Door was tall and silver, etched with the all too familiar rose insignia. The purple haired girl placed a hand against it, and a dark look crossed her face.

The boy screamed. The Witch murdered. The knight died.

So much had changed in three years.

High in an observatory, a Devil drew back a curtain, bringing a coffee cup to his lips. His eyes met the floating castle.

His cup hit the floor with a crack.

The girl with the bright turquoise eyes stiffened herself, staring at the great Door before her, all the light and the radiance filling the room focusing on them, glinting in the cut edges of the rose symbol in the steel, making it stand out against the double entrance. They had no handle or lock, smooth as glass, except for the rose.

She placed her hands out in front of her, palms facing the glittering, seamless gate.

"The Mistress of this castle commands you

The God of the Prince commands you

The Final Duel commands you

Open your doors to me

And open to me the Secrets of the Held."

The twin doors flew open, and a gush of foul wind swept over her. She lifted her hands in front of her face as the air rushed past.

One million shutters flew over one million windows, blocking all light from the room, except for one window, who's dim light through red stained glass alit the girl's body. The wind stopped, and she stared at the yawning maw of darkness in front of her, ready to swallow all light, joy, and happiness from the world, murdering everything that made life bearable. This darkness was like chains, wrapping around you and holding you tight in eternal pain.

A Pandora's Box.

She stared in the heavy blackness beyond her, and took in a breath, reminding herself of her promise. She had to keep it; it was what she came back for. She had to make up for her sins. She had to fix things.

She let the darkness wrap around her, drawing her deep into its silent abyss, the belly of the beast from which no one returned.

Her feet sunk deep into eternal black waters that filled the cavernous void. The air around her was stale, and almost coppery to taste. She walked knee deep in the ocean of water, her purple hair framing her body against the darkness. Her bright turquoise eyes set on a goal no one but her could see. Suddenly, she sunk deep into the bottomless waters, which engulfed her as their own.

The sea was dark and eternal, and she couldn't see the bottom, or anything else around her.

She floated down for what seemed like forever. Time passed without meaning, her only companion the black waters around her. It could have been minutes, hours, days. . . even years.

Finally, a dull green glow greeted her from far below, shimmering dimly. She focused on it, and the light slowly became clear: A submerged stone pillar, etched with Dios' rose inscription, which glowed dimly jade at her, welcoming the Rose Bride to her destination.

Her feet softly touched the stone, only about twenty or thirty feet diameter, her amethyst tresses rising above her.

She relief rose over her, and she closed her eyes, placing both hands on her chest.

Azure bubbles rose from deep within the ocean's depth.

She lifted her hand outward, and a bright, spinning ball of cerulean light filled it. It quickly imploded on itself, sending shockwaves of azure light in all directions. It alit the bottomless sea, which began to shine so brightly light filled the cavernous chamber above.

Vents in the walls flew open, pouring sweet water into the stale sea. Refreshing, cold air rushed into the room, pushing back the stale atmosphere that had hung there for so long.

The sea began to churn and toss, as if some great beast below was awakening.

The Rose Bride flew up from the agitated ocean, rising above the waters to watch, water dripping from her face and hair. Her eyes where oddly bright, almost glittering with their own light.

Several gigantic stone monoliths began to rise from the sea, spilling water in all directions. There must have been at least twenty of them in all, but several of them where half missing, or run through with so many cracks, it was a wonder they hadn't crumbled.

Each of the monoliths was a giant cross, or what was left there of.

And, on each cross, there was chained a human.

She gasped at the devastation the gigantic monoliths had suffered over time, and rushed up towards the first cross, one of the few left whole.

The chains holding the boy to the stone where large and rusted, wrapped like a spider's web around his body. His hair was a midnight black, an almost bowl cut. He wore a sleeveless green and black duelist's uniform, which had been stained in dark bloody patches.

The Rose Bride's eyes welled in emotion, and she reached for the limp duelist's face, but stopped, her hands cupped around empty air.

The boy screamed. The Witch murdered. The knight died.

She wrapped her hands around his face and lifted it towards her.

Strands of dark hair fell into lifeless emerald eyes, which gazed at nothing, flat and empty. Patches of blood spattered his face; the long dried liquid crumbling in her hands.

Her eyes went wide, and she mouthed something, shaking her head. Her bright turquoise eyes filled with tears. She dropped his face, and his head rolled to his shoulder, his dead gaze resting on the Rose Bride.

The boy screamed. The Witch murdered. The knight died.

The tears slid down her face, silent tears, bitter cold. She covered her mouth with her hands. Something hard filled her face, and she dropped her hands from her mouth.

The boy screamed. The Witch murdered. The knight died.

Her hands closed tight around the metal chain links, each easily twice the size of her hand, and she pulled.

The sound of metal protesting against stone filled the empty void, which had once again gone silent as the vents in the walls had closed themselves. A large splash followed, and the metal chain sunk deep into the glowing azure sea.

Rebirth always follows Death.

The boy was falling. . . falling until a dusky skinned girl with deep turquoise eyes and purple hair caught his arm just before he hit the glowing ocean.

The end of chapter 1

I decided to start out with short chapters so I can actually GET THIS FIC DONE. I hope this one wasn't too short, and I hope you like it, please review if you did! I'd really, really appreciate it. Anything you want to ask me personally? My email is Outkuchick716@hotmail.com I'd like to hear from you

This story is planning on being pretty long, so camp out for the long haul!

Next Chapter: So, are you confused enough yet? Several familiar faces show, and the Shift makes her first appearance. Things are not what they seem, or are they? The Student council returns, of course, because this wouldn't be an epic without them

See you in Chapter 2!