The ten seconds it took Corwin Ravenhair to reach the ground from the Ohtori Academy Student Council's balcony on the belltower were the longest ten seconds of his life. As he fell, his Mycean hunter's cloak flapping gaily around him, he saw the magnificent multicolored creation that was the combined trio of Rune Gods lunge forward, bringing its great and terrible sword to bear on the towering machine that contained Princess Emeraude, the Pillar of Cephiro. It all seemed to happen in slow motion; he could see every movement, every little working of every interconnected part of the impossibly elegant mechanism that was the combined Rune God, all its breathtaking complexity... and its terrible, implacable purpose. Do they know, he wondered, that that's Princess Emeraude in there? Have they realized yet what they're really here to do? He was too far away, his voice too small to make any difference, his influence on the situation precisely nil. He'd gone over the railing because it was the fastest way down, but he wasn't halfway to the ground when the blow struck home. The light scrape of his boots on the cracked white stones of the paved Academy Quadrangle was drowned by the titanic crash of Emeraude's shattered war machine collapsing on its back - and with that sound, time seemed to snap back to its normal consistency like a released elastic band. From above, surrounded by a faltering bubble of green-gold light, an impossibly small, delicate form in scarlet-stained white robes settled to the ground. As Corwin walked across the Quad, watching through tear-blurred eyes as the Rune Gods separated and their pilots appeared in showers of golden sparks, he remarked to himself that it was lucky his guess about levitation accompanying gate manifestation was correct; he'd have felt pretty stupid about plummeting to his death in the middle of all that. I have a message from another time... Eyrie Productions, Unlimited presents UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES FUTURE IMPERFECT - SYMPHONY OF THE SWORD No. 2 - Sixth Movement: Knights of the Tenth World, Part 3: Endgame Benjamin D. Hutchins with Anne Cross (c) 2002 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited /* Toshihiko Sabashi "Name of God" _The Big-O: Original Sound Score_ */ Slowly, dreadfully, Corwin walked past the smoking wreckage of Emeraude's war machine, his heart sinking within him. The Rune Gods stood in a semicircle, silent and still, with their Knights in a cluster around a fallen form. Fuu and Hikaru were kneeling, one on each side, while Umi stood back, tears running down her cheeks as she cried silently. Nall, looking wilted and sad, came down from the sky in his cat form and alighted on Umi's shoulder. "You can't die," Hikaru was sobbing as Corwin approached. She clutched at the fallen woman's hand while Fuu glittered with emerald magic, trying desperately to put her back together. "-Please- don't die! We were supposed to save you!" Corwin knelt next to Hikaru and met those bottomless green eyes, putting an arm around the Salusian girl's shoulders. "Don't cry for me," Emeraude whispered to Hikaru. "You were never meant to save me - you were here to save Cephiro." "But -you're- Cephiro!" Hikaru sobbed. "Only for a little longer," Emeraude rasped. "Storm Knight, save your strength, but please," she added, in a softer tone as she saw the tears glittering in Fuu's eyes, "help me to sit up." Fuu - and Umi - helped the wrecked woman into a sitting position. Emeraude's blonde hair fell behind her, still shining gloriously despite the ruin of the rest of her. "Listen to me," she gasped. "The Rune Knights are the last salvation of any Pillar. Nothing - " She turned her head aside and coughed, then continued in a more normal voice, "Nothing in Cephiro may harm the Pillar - not even the Pillar herself. But when Akio Ohtori killed my Priest, the man I loved above all else in the world, I lost hope. Zagato and I... were never really able to be together, not as we wanted. I was Pillar, and he was Priest, but with him gone... " She coughed again. Hikaru's sobbing had taken her beyond words as she stared at the Pillar's face. Fuu's mouth was a thin tight line as she struggled not to let her pain interfere with the strength she was giving the Pillar. Umi and Nall were perfectly still, like a single entity cast in stone, listening with all of their beings. "There was nothing left for me," Emeraude whispered. "I prayed to die, and so you came. You -have- saved me. You have ended my life alone, and wherever I go now, I know Zagato and I will somehow be together." She reached a trembling hand out. "Please," she begged softly, "do not grieve for me. You -have- saved me." And then, more strongly, "But - you have not yet saved Cephiro." Corwin's eyes burned into her face, and she turned her head slightly to look at him. "I was deceived. We have -all- been deceived. And our deceiver stands poised to seize ultimate power with my passing. Someone must stop him." Her green eyes widened in desperation and pain; she lunged forward suddenly, clutching at his shoulder with her free hand, leaving bloody tracks on his hunter's cloak, and repeated, "Someone -must- stop him!" Corwin nodded. "Someone will," he replied. Emeraude smiled at that. "You have a strong heart," she told him. "You remind me of someone I once knew. May I know your name?" "Corwin," he said, bowing his head. "Corwin Ravenhair of Avalon and Asgard. Son of Skuld the Tomorrow-Maker, and of Gryphon the Midgard-Knight." Emeraude's eyes flickered with recognition. "Asgard!" she whispered. "Then perhaps there is still hope. Will you become a Rune Knight? Will you be my champion, visitor from the Golden City? Will you avenge my love and me? Will you save my world from my folly?" Corwin looked into her eyes for a long moment, then bowed his head again in a nod. "I will," he told her. Smiling at his words, Emeraude reached up and removed the namesake gemstone she wore at her throat, snapping the chain that held it there. With her other hand, still held in Corwin's, she raised his hand; then she tucked the gem into it, folding his fingers around it. It was still warm from its contact with her, one side sticky with her blood. The sensation was enough to make him want to cry. "I regret... that it cannot be more," said Emeraude, her voice fainter still. "I pray it will be enough. Go to the Arena in the Sky, Rune Knight... go and save my sister... go and save my world." "Your sister... " Corwin murmured, looking startled; then, as he regarded the lines of her face, he understood, and nodded gravely. "I'll do all I can for her," he said. Emeraude smiled a final time, drew his hand to her lips, and kissed it. "Spirits of success ride with you," she whispered. "Goodbye, Corwin of Asgard." Corwin knelt looking at her for a moment longer. Then he nodded, slipped his hand from hers, bent to kiss her cheek, and straightened, turning away toward the stairs to the Secret Forest. "Corwin?" said Hikaru, taking a step toward him; then she paused and turned her agonized eyes back to Emeraude. "Rune Knights," Emeraude whispered. "Do not grieve. I was brought to this by treachery... but it remains my wish. Now that I have a champion... I can join my beloved Zagato with a peaceful heart. Support him in this, and whatever debt you feel you owe me... will be discharged." "Your Highness, I - " Hikaru began, but the princess's beautiful green eyes slipped shut, and Princess Emeraude, Pillar of Cephiro, died. Fuu Hououji sniffed back a sob and turned to Corwin's back as he stood looking at the last guardian golem, the immense scarlet-armored creature that stood between them and the gates to the Secret Forest. "Mr. Corwin?" she said. "What will you do?" "Your Rune Gods are exhausted," Corwin said, his tone somewhere between desperate and thoughtful, "and so is Nall." "That's true, but - " said Nall. "So I guess I'll have to handle this guy on my own," Corwin went on. "We can - " Umi said, but Corwin had frozen, staring off into space with a startled expression. A voice filled the Rune Knights' ears, booming, cold, and hard. The Knights staggered, clapping their hands to their ears - except for Corwin, who stood as if turned to stone, looking up into the sky with a look of sudden comprehension. >Iron Knight,< it said. >Swordforger. Enginemaker. Long have I waited for you.< >Yes,< Corwin whispered. >Your coming was heralded. Your heart is worthy. Take your place among the Rune Knights.< Corwin nodded. >Yes,< he repeated, louder this time. >Name me,< the voice demanded. >Give me form. Give me meaning. Give me purpose.< /* Toshihiko Sabashi "Sure Promise" _Big-O: Original Sound Score_ */ Corwin slowly raised his hand, looking at the gem Emeraude had given him. With the death of its previous owner, it had gone dull and dark, acquiring a sudden cold that made his hand ache. He clenched it in his fist until the edges bit into his fingers, raised it to his chest, and began to chant in his mother's tongue. >I am Earth. I am a strong foundation. I am a ruinous upheaval. I am the tools of all creation. I am the weapons of all destruction. I am all these things and more: I am the Rune Knight of Iron!< Corwin raised the gem above his head. Blood trickled down where its edges had bitten into his fingers, and suddenly it flared with light - no longer green, but a brilliant blood red. As the scarlet light engulfed him, his battered traveler's clothing disintegrated, replaced by a Rune Knight's ceremonial armor: black trousers, sturdy black boots with a row of silver buckles up the side, a black tunic with a high collar; greaves, vambraces and a breastplate of black steel, covered with delicate silver lines like the traces of circuitry; over that, a rich night-black cloak with silver edgings and the inside laid with that same circuit-like tracery. Drawing a deep breath, he cried out in a louder voice: >I am Corwin of the Raven-Hair, Son of She Who Builds Tomorrow, Son of the Knight of Midgard, Chooser of the Slain, Cavalier of Three Worlds, Rune Knight of Iron. By my Will and by my Power, Birthright from my divine Mother, This is my command!< Corwin's brand glowed with a high, keening noise, and a fresh column of light, this not scarlet but white, surrounded him. His cloak and hair ruffled upward as though a wind were blowing up from beneath him. The Rune Knights drew back in surprise. The presence flooded into him, blotting out his perception of anything but its great might and aching need, its formless power, trapped in dreamless sleep since the formation of the Tenth World. Closing his eyes, he did as his mother had taught him, concentrating hard on the final form, on the angles and planes of armor, the workings of weapons, the colossal complexity of an engine of war. It was the greatest Working he had ever attempted, orders of magnitude beyond anything he had ever made before. Everything else in the universe was blotted out of his mind by the myriad of details, of systems and specifications, that flooded across his mind's eye as he bent the power to his will. >Nameless God of Iron! Hear the command of the Son of Innovation! Rise from your endless slumber, And let ye at last be born! Let the Lightning sear your legend across the heavens As I cry out your Name: ORIHALCON!< As his voice gave wing to the last word, the lightning did indeed speak, screaming down from the stormy heavens to strike the gem he held aloft. In the same instant, the earth beneath Corwin's feet heaved and split with a duplicate crash, the deep, explosive CRACK of sundered bedrock. The bolt blended with the glow surrounding the young god to obliterate the Rune Knights' vision in a blinding blue-white flash that sent them reeling back, shielding their eyes and crying out in pain. When their vision cleared, they gasped as one, standing and gaping in awe. Where, a moment before, Corwin had stood alone, now towered a great black machine in the shape of a man. In size and sense it was reminiscent of their Rune Gods, but in a completely different style, its armor studded with rivets and plate lines and chased with gold and copper-orange accents. On its broad chest was a great golden medallion. Its lower arms were enormous, powerful-looking, with great spiked knuckles on immense hands. Its head, crowned with a gleaming coppery helmet, had a human face set in a permanent glower. A doorway stood open in its upper chest, on the slope just above the gold medallion, and standing in it was Corwin Ravenhair, the bloodlens gleaming now on his left wrist. He didn't look like a man who had just been struck by lightning, though smoke was curling up gently from the brand on his forehead. "Now then," said Corwin. He surveyed the massive form of the guardian golem, a hundred yards or so distant, now beginning to show an interest in the new addition to the battlefield. "You guys had better get to cover! Nall, you stay with them!" he cried, and the Rune Knights gathered up Emeraude's body and retired from the field. Corwin turned and went through the doorway into the massive machine's interior, and it closed behind him with a solid metallic sound. The cockpit was large, round, and high-ceilinged, paneled with video displays and full of a dull reddish illumination. There was a chair in the center, surrounded by banks of switches, dials, knobs and secondary displays. Corwin took off his satchel, put it down on the floor, then seated himself in the control chair and placed his feet on the pedals. A control ring dropped down around him and delivered a pair of joysticks to his hands. He smiled. This was a control system he'd thought of years ago, but never had the chance to implement; now he was going to see how it worked. With a mechanical clunk, the whole cockpit lowered on a platform, descending deeper into the machine's chest before coming to rest just behind the golden medallion. Just in front of Corwin's feet, a circular display panel raised itself into his field of view and lit up. A message marched across it in large white letters: CAST IN THE NAME OF GOD YE NOT GUILTY All around him, the main displays rezzed up, giving him a 360-degree view of the world around the Rune God which he had Named Orihalcon. Corwin's smile got a little wider. Nice touch by his subconscious mind, putting the traditional Valkyrie-sword tag in there like that. He'd have to thank himself later... if he survived. He gripped the joysticks, took a deep breath, and then cried, "NOW, Big O! It's SHOWTIME!" Big O's eyes pulsed. He drew himself up, then began to walk forward with an inexorable stride that befit his massive stature, powerful arms swinging with each step, impressing deep footprints into the soft earth. The golem hunched its angular body, then lunged. It was very fast; its weird, spindly shape gave it a certain feral grace that was at odds with Big O's stately progress. Snarling beneath its mask, the scarlet creature flung itself upon the black- armored Rune God, produced a wicked-looking dagger from one of the stubby "wings" on its shoulders, and slashed at the golden medallion on Big O's chest which concealed the pilot's station. Corwin snarled, yanked one of the joysticks back on its curved track, and then rammed it forward with all his strength. Obediently, Big O reared back his right arm, then drove his spiked fist into the golem's midsection. Scarlet armor cracked. The monster's four green eyes glowed brighter as it threw itself back and regrouped, hunching into a knife fighter's crouch. "It doesn't seem to have any ranged weapons," Corwin mused. He'd always had the habit of talking aloud to himself when piloting mecha - or perhaps he was talking to the mecha, he'd never really analyzed himself deeply enough to figure that out. He scanned the panel on his left side, then reached up and flipped a couple of toggle switches, causing lights to come on above them. "Let's see what this does," he said, and drove Big O forward. The golem was waiting for him this time; it feinted left, then lunged in from the right, its blade seeking one of the slots in Big O's chest medallion. Corwin didn't think that was actually a vulnerable spot, but he didn't particularly care to find out. This wasn't the time to be testing Big O's capabilities; he hadn't time to play games. Instead he slipped the strike, noting with pleasure that the Rune God moved much more smoothly than its bulk suggested, grabbed the golem's wrist with Big O's right hand, then seized its head in his left. He could probably have crushed its head outright in Big O's powerful fist, but that would have taken time, and time was something Corwin was short on. So instead, he flicked the safety cover off a thumb trigger atop the left joystick, pressed it down, and held it. A green light appeared on the instrument panel in front of him. Outside, the silver cylindrical ram in Big O's left elbow slammed back and held there. "So long," Corwin said. Then he released the trigger. The ram slammed forward again, and from the cuff around Big O's wrist came a blast of compressed air so powerful that it blew the guardian golem's head to a fine pink mist. The body twitched, twitched again, and then keeled over backward as Big O released its arm. Corwin turned the Rune God of Iron to face the gates of the Secret Forest. He considered knocking them down with one of the weapons at the big machine's disposal, but decided against it. It might do additional damage to whatever lay beyond that wall, and he couldn't afford to risk that. He'd just have to get it open the old-fashioned way. He shut Big O down, raised the cockpit, popped the hatch, and stood on the edge of the sloped armor of the Rune God's breastplate for a moment, looking out at the white-walled, dark and gloomy forest. Then he went back, shrugged the strap of his satchel over his shoulder, crossed once more to the hatchway, and jumped down in two stages, one to the Rune God's hand, the next to the ground. Stick reappeared in his hand with a crackle, and as the Rune Knights and Nall rejoined him, he led the way up the stairs to the edge of the Forest of Secrets. There, he found his way barred by a white stone door set into the wall that ringed the forest. There was a massive carved handle jutting from this door, backed by what looked like a mirror. Remembering what he'd been told of this place, Corwin looked at his Institute Duelist's ring. It was only a copy of the ones worn by the Ohtori Academy Duelists, but perhaps it would suffice. Gripping the handle of the door with his left hand, he gave it an experimental tug. Nothing happened. He tugged a little harder. Still nothing. "Dammit," he muttered. "I may have to risk blowing the thing after all." He sighed in frustration and thumped his forehead against the stone. And, having done so, noticed something gleaming next to his toe. "Hello," he murmured, "what's this?" Crouching, he picked it up and looked at it. It was another rose seal, identical in appearance to the one he already wore - but his magical sensitivity was so heightened by his recent experiences that the difference showed as plainly as if it had been pointed out by neon signs. This was a -real- Duelist's ring, and a well-traveled one, at that. In fact, just on an instinctive level, Corwin felt fairly certain he knew exactly whose it was, though how it had come to be here, he couldn't have said. He raised his left hand, took off his Institute Duelist's ring, pocketed it, and slipped the newfound ring onto his ring finger in its place. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that it fit perfectly. Then, squaring himself, he seized the door's handle again. For a moment nothing happened. Then he felt a cold touch against his hand. Startled, he jerked it back and looked at it. A bead of chill water slid from the face of the rose ring he'd found and plopped audibly to the floor in the silent vault. Somewhere beneath the floor, something large and metallic-sounding shifted with a heavy CLUNK, and abruptly, water began gushing from the ducts along the sides of the room, pouring into the troughs on either side of the flagstoned pathway, curtaining the walls, and filling the room with mist. Behind the obscuring mist came other sounds, the grinding of great gears, the scrape of stone against stone. When the water stopped pouring and the mist receded, the wall before them had changed to an open doorway, surmounted by a great stone rose. "Decor around here's a bit repetitive," Corwin murmured, then turned to the Rune Knights, his face serious. "OK, kids," he said. "If what I suspect is true, this, believe it or not, is gonna be the hard part. You've already done what you were summoned here to do; this next part is my business. Anybody wants to stay down here and sit it out... " He cracked a little grin. "... I wouldn't blame 'em one bit." "Like hell!" snarled Nall. "I may not have much strength left, but I'm not gonna miss this." Hikaru nodded firmly. "Whoever is up there used us to murder the Princess. I can't forgive that! I'll never give up until whoever did this faces justice!" "You helped us in our quest, Mr. Corwin, even if that quest turned out to be a cruel sham," said Fuu. "We could hardly abandon you now that the time has come for us to repay that debt." "That's right!" declared Umi. "And Hikaru's right too, Triforce help us. Whoever did this to us has got to pay." Corwin grinned at them, then said, "Well, then, come on," and went through the portal. The Magic Knights followed. Hikaru, trotting, caught him up and passed him, then stopped and stood staring in awe at the structure before her. It was a stupendous spiral staircase, perhaps twenty feet wide, curling upward in a huge white stone helix and vanishing into the peculiar darkness of the Secret Forest's sky. "Noyyj'ttat," Umi breathed. "What -is- it?" "Don't be cruel," murmured Fuu Hououji reverently. "Where do these stairs go?" Hikaru asked Corwin. "They go Up," Corwin replied grimly. Then he walked around behind them, smiled a tight, controlled little smile, and pressed a button. "But we don't have to climb them," he said as a completely incongruous "ding!" rang out. The sounds of the dreadful combat below had faded away halfway up the stairs, and now there was only silence, save for the sounds of their footfalls, as Akio and his party arrived at the dueling platform. Anthy's heart, already heavy, sank as she saw this place again, and not only because of the bad memories. Strange as it seemed, she had fond memories of this place too - Utena's later duels, mainly, when the two of them had come to work as a team, the witch and her champion fighting together to rewrite their future... ... and now it was looking more and more like it had all come to nothing. "Nothing to say, Anthy?" Akio inquired with a sardonic smile. "This is about where you ought to tell me I won't get away with it." "You seem to know that well enough already," Anthy replied, her voice calmer than her heart. "Why should I remind you?" Akio's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'll enjoy your company more," he said coldly, "when the Circle has reminded you of your manners." As the five of them reached the far side of the platform, where a second, newly-manifested arch led to a -second- staircase going further up, there came a loud crash behind them. As one, all five whirled, three startled, one mildly apprehensive, and one with her heart leaping in hope, for all knew that sound: it was the elevator, the one which had refused to work for Akio. The leap of Anthy's heart was short-lived, though, for though there were four people standing amid the cloud of rose petals on the center of the platform, none of them was Utena. Three of them were the Rune Knights who had unwittingly killed Emeraude; the fourth was a young man with coal-black hair, black and silver armor, a warstaff, and a cold, angry expression. Anthy had never seen him before... and yet she couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow familiar. The Rune Knights looked around them in amazement at the place Corwin had brought them to. It was a platform of stone, circular, perhaps a hundred feet across; its edge was rimmed with crenelations like an ancient castle, and its white stone floor inlaid with arcs of red to describe the face of a giant rose. To their left was a catwalk leading off into the sky from the edge of the platform; it ended at what appeared to be a stone doorway, sealed up with a great slab of white stone carved in a rose and bound by thorny vines. Behind them was an archway, the top of the stairway they'd seen at the bottom. Opposite it was another, similar arch; beyond it, another staircase, this one straight, rose perhaps thirty feet, doubled back on itself at a landing, and led to another, smaller platform positioned above the one they were on now. Suspended directly above the platforms was a glittering palace, its many towers and minarets pointing downward toward them. Hikaru gasped in wonderment; Umi gaped; Fuu made the Sign of the King. Corwin merely looked up at it, his face grim. He raised his left hand, made a sign with it, and the Hanging Castle's lights pulsed along with the brand on his forehead. With the look of a man whose darkest suspicion has been confirmed, he nodded thoughtfully, something ugly dancing in his clear blue eyes. "This platform isn't in Cephiro," he murmured. "What?!" Umi blurted. "Then where - " "This is the border zone between the Tenth World and Svartalfheim, the lowest of the Celestial Realms." He chuckled bitterly. "Heaven's basement, you might say. Those towers are carved from the roots of Yggdrasil," he added. "Yggdrasil," Fuu murmured. "the Mighty Kahuna Tree!" Corwin gave her a cockeyed glance, then smiled tightly and said, "Yup. The World-Engine is named for it; it was the first tree in the world. It grows in Odin's garden, in the courtyard of his palace, and its roots touch the five worlds of Heaven. The myths say that Ourobouros gnaws upon them... but it seems to me that something worse has taken up residence these days." Another dark, humorless chuckle. "How's -that- for a clear and present danger to Creation, Uncle Frey?" So saying, he directed his flinty gaze down from the castle to the platform itself. Fifty feet away, near the archway leading up, another group of five people stood regarding the Rune Knights. Hikaru, Umi and Fuu, startled, formed up around Corwin in a defensive knot, but Corwin stepped around Hikaru and faced the others squarely, letting Stick's ferrule clap ringingly onto the stone. "Which one of you," he demanded in a voice tight with anger (omitting the phrase "filth-swilling motherfuckers" only out of deference to the Knights' tender years), "is Akio Ohtori?" The one standing in the center, a dark-skinned, silver-haired, young-looking man possessed of a rather startling, slightly effeminate beauty, looked vaguely interested and took a step forward. "I am Akio Ohtori," he said calmly. "Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Corwin directed his eyes to Akio's right. A slender girl a head shorter than he, with violet hair bundled up into a tight halo and the same milk-chocolate skin, stood there in a scarlet gown, her startled green eyes directed at Corwin behind thick spectacles. As his gaze passed over her, those green eyes locked on his and a shock arrowed through his heart. /* Toshihiko Sabashi "Weep For" _The Big-O: Original Sound Score_ */ For a moment, Corwin had the strangest feeling - as though they were alone on the platform, as though they were the only two people in the -world-. He knew her face, had seen her picture - she could only be Anthy Himemiya, the Rose Bride - but more than that, he felt as if he -knew- her, had -always- known her. Like there was nothing he could hide from her, nothing he would -want- to hide from her, nothing in his heart that wasn't as plain to her as a printed page... Then she blinked at him in surprise and the moment was gone. He shook his head slightly, shaking off the weird disorientation. Oddly, though she couldn't ever have seen him before, what looked like a spark of recognition crossed her eyes. She raised a fist to her mouth, disbelief on her face. "I repeat," said Akio in the tone of a man whose patience is being tried, "how do you know my name?" Corwin transferred Stick to his right hand, tossed his cloak back out of his way with his left, and said calmly, "My name is Corwin Ravenhair. I have a message from Utena Tenjou." Anthy Himemiya reacted with visible shock to that name, her green eyes flying wide as she gave a bright, silvery gasp. Akio's eyes, almost the same but for their air of cold arrogance, flickered with surprise. He started to move, reaching for the sword that hung at his belt, but Corwin moved faster. His left hand flicked to his belt and came up gripping a different kind of steel. Lockwork tripped; hammer fell; pin drove against primer. There was a sharp, snapping crack and a puff of gray smoke that momentarily obscured the party at the center of the platform from the Rune Knights' view. Then the wind blowing across the platform cleared it, and Corwin made a little frustrated sound. Akio Ohtori was still standing there, a bloody graze across his cheek the only evidence of Corwin's last bullet. Akio raised a fingertip to his cheek, traced the wound, and looked at the blood on his fingertip. Then, with an air of careless contempt, he wiped his finger across his sister's lips and returned his hand to the grip of his sword. "You're a Rune Knight," he said, conversational. "And those must be the others. Well, it was nice of you to come, but you've already fulfilled the task that was set for you, so why don't you go away? I'm much too busy to deal with you." Corwin mastered his disappointment, dropped the bolt on his empty weapon, holstered it, and pointed to Anthy. "I want her." "Well," said Akio, "you can't have her." Corwin shifted Stick to a two-handed ready grip and narrowed his eyes. "We'll see about that." Akio shook his head as if disappointed. "This is boring me already," he declared. "Touga, Shiori, Nanami - kill them." The three others flanking Akio and his sister stepped forward, smiling. One, the man, had long scarlet hair and wore the white uniform of the Ohtori Academy student council. The second was a girl with raspberry-maroon hair and a black-jacketed version of the same uniform. The third, a younger, blonde girl, had on a uniform of vivid orange-gold. The man had a katana, the elder girl a broadsword, the blonde a heavy-looking scimitar in one hand and a wickedly curved jambiyah in the other. Closing ranks, the three blocked Corwin's path to their master, who was squiring Anthy toward the far staircase with a courtliness that was rather nauseating given the way he'd just treated her a moment ago. Corwin snarled. "I don't have time for this," he muttered, squaring himself for battle. "What are you standing around for, Corwin?!" Hikaru demanded, stepping around him. "GO AFTER HIM!" "We'll take care of -these- losers," Umi added, advancing as well. "Yes, please hurry, Mr. Corwin," Fuu urged him. "I don't know what Mr. Ohtori is up to, but given his demeanor, I doubt it bodes well for anyone but him." "Uh, I'll stay here for moral support," said Nall, digging his claws more firmly into Umi's pauldron. Corwin glanced quickly around at each of them, his grim countenance lightening slightly. "You guys are the best," he said, and then threw himself into a dead run. The three Ohtori duelists set themselves to meet him, but before they could do so, two of the Knights had already outpaced him. "Heart of the Sea!" cried Umi. As she dove past Corwin's left toward the redheaded duelist, her saber flowed out from her Lens, taking solid form a split-second before crashing against her opponent's katana. Staggered, he stumbled out of the defensive line and regrouped himself to deal with her instead. "Heart of the Storm!" Fuu declared, and her greatsword swept into being as she leaped past Corwin's right. The raspberry-haired young woman spotted her coming just in time, aborting a cut at Corwin as he passed to defend himself from Fuu instead. That left the blonde girl, who curled her lip in a sneer as she prepared to intercept Corwin. "No you don't!" yelled Hikaru. Matching her pace to Corwin's, she suddenly put on a burst of speed, coiled her deceptively powerful little frame, and leaped straight over him, somersaulting once in midair. "HEART OF THE FLAME!" Hikaru bellowed, and her broadsword flared forth from her Lens as she plummeted. The blonde girl looked up, grey eyes widening in shock, and barely crossed her two blades before Hikaru's slammed into them. The impact nearly bore her over backward, and without slackening his pace, Corwin powered past them like a freight train, his cloak flying about him. The clash of arms behind him faded into a dull background noise as he concentrated all his energies on reaching the arch to the second stairway. Akio and Anthy were already halfway up. He could barely spare the time to hope that the three girls wouldn't get killed covering his assault. He reached the arch flat-out - and slammed full-force into an invisible barrier stretched across it. Rebounding, he sprawled on his back, somehow managing to retain his grip on Stick; halfway down he unconsciously tucked into a ball, then kicked his legs up, flipping all the way over and coming up on his feet. The old Valkyrie training coming in handy after all, he thought as he shook the cobwebs out of his head and snarled at the barrier. "... Now I know how dogs feel about glass doors," he muttered, wiping blood from his nose and the corner of his mouth. "Son of a bitch! I don't have time for these tricks." He plunged his free hand into his satchel and came out with a metal ball about the size of a baseball gripped in it; with an angry scowl he thumbed out the pin, cocked his arm, and threw the ball into the archway. When it struck the barrier, it exploded, rending the archway and sending chunks of stone and mortar scattering in all directions. That obstacle cleared, Corwin dropped his satchel - dead weight, now - and threw himself into a run again, jumping easily over the jagged gap where the grenade had blown out the lowest two steps and pelting up the staircase as fast as his legs would carry him, three steps at a time. He skidded around the landing, took the second flight, arms pumping, heart pounding. Akio and Anthy had reached the top step; Corwin, three quarters of the way up, could see the white-clad figure handing the scarlet-gowned one up onto the platform with a grotesque parody of gallant solicitude. "OHTORIIIII!" he bellowed. The white figure turned, looking curiously down, and Corwin flung himself up, whirling Stick into a charging thrust. /* Ludwig Van Beethoven "Sonata No. 14 in C# Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight) - Presto" */ Uum'y R'yuu-z'ky was a superb fencer, the finest in her age class in New Avalon, possibly the entire sector, and one of the top ten across all age groups. She fought in the Hyelian Northern Capital style, modified slightly to conform to the rules of standard light-blade fencing, and was best with the saber, though she could more than hold her own against all comers with epee or rapier, too. In all her years of fencing, she had only encountered two opponents who had seriously challenged her. One was her old instructor, a crony of her grandmother's who had shown her the basics of the Northern Capital style before Grandmama had discovered and put a stop to the lessons. The other was her last year's arch-rival, a former Crescent Heights Middle School member named Clarissa Broadbank, who specialized in rapier and had a tongue to match. The man she was facing now could have defeated Clarissa Broadbank with his eyes closed. Admittedly, he was a kendoka, not a light blade fencer, so there was a stylistic adjustment to be made. Dissimilar-style combat was not something often done in tournament, and the only experience Umi had with it was the few mock battles she and the other Magic Knights had engaged in during their travels for lack of anything better to do. He had the same disdvantage to overcome in the opposite direction, as far as that went, so it should cancel out. Even so, fighting him, holding her own against him, was taking everything Umi had left. Barely, she got her blade between her body and his strikes, but since that first wild charge she hadn't been able to launch a single attack. He'd had her on the defensive the whole time, and he wasn't even breaking a sweat. Nall, sensing her energies flagging, decided needling her was probably the best way to buck her up, and piped into her ear, "Boy, Umi - this sure puts that fencing tournament you've been whining about in a whole different light, doesn't it?" Umi's jaw tightened, bringing a little smile to Nall's feline face, and she replied, "It's (pant) still important! I just (gasp) have to (unf) survive this (hahh) first!" "Well, do try not to get us killed," said Nall with a nonchalance he entirely didn't feel. "I'm just starting to like you." "Oh, well (gasp) -that's- something (pant) to live for!" "You can't possibly succeed against Lord Akio," the raspberry-haired girl - Shiori, Akio had called her - informed Fuu conversationally as she lunged. Fuu's eyes narrowed slightly as she blocked Shiori's attack, feeling the power of the strike jar up her arms and all the way back to her spine. "Smackchat be cheap, honeycake," she replied calmly, crossing up Shiori's next wild swing and pivoting back. "Why do you fight for Mr. Ohtori? Did you see the way he treated his sister? Don't you think that's shameful?" Wrong thing to say. Her opponent's already-blank pupils contracted to almost invisible points, and a look of unspeakable wildness spread across her face. "NEVER SPEAK OF HER!" Shiori wailed, and threw herself against Fuu's guard with a furious energy. Sparks flew from their clashing weapons as she savagely slashed and thrust, searching for a weakness. Wincing, Fuu gave ground. "The Rose Bride must die! Do you understand? She must die so that the world may be reborn!" "Then," said Fuu through gritted teeth as she tried to regroup and take the offensive again, "why - are you - fighting me? Why not - go - up there - and kill her?" That seemed to give Shiori pause; she slackened the pace of her attack for an instant, her face clearing, a look of immense confusion in her eyes. "Why don't... " she murmured; then the madness settled in on her again and she glared at Fuu, wide-eyed. "You're just trying to CONFUSE me!" she bawled, surging into the attack again. "I think - someone's - already done that - Miss Shiori," Fuu observed. She settled into a defensive pattern. There was no hurry, no need to waste her little remaining energy trying to overcome this girl's fury right now. She needed to watch, to think. The primary objective was to keep her from interfering with Corwin, and she wasn't going anywhere right now. "Look," said Hikaru Shidou, "I don't want to hurt you. Why don't you just give up?" "I? I, Nanami Kiryuu, give up? For the likes of you? Oh ho ho! I don't think so," replied the blonde. Hikaru cursed inwardly. This girl was better than she looked, and stronger. She handled that heavy sword and dagger combination with an assurance that belied her slenderness. Hikaru was glad her own blade was so stout, and even so, she was having a hard time covering herself against both blades. Several times, she barely slipped a strike in time, taking them against the pommel and guards of the Heart of the Flame as well as the blade. A few, she didn't quite evade, and soon her blood was spattering the white stones of the arena from a dozen minor wounds. Part of her problem was that she was holding back her full power. Nanami might be strong, but Hikaru was a great deal stronger, for this girl was merely human, and the Salusians of Kumbaria are the hardiest breed of that hardy race. Had she really pressed the attack, she could have overpowered Nanami's defenses and destroyed her with relative ease. But, still sickened with the memory of what she and the others had done to Princess Emeraude, she recoiled from the thought of giving her all to this battle. The girl even looked a bit like Emeraude. Thus distracted, Hikaru fought poorly. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, a pleading tone in her voice. "Don't you realize your boss is a total creep? He killed High Priest Zagato! He made us kill Princess Emeraude! This world is in chaos because of him. If Corwin can't stop him, he'll enslave all Cephiro!" "What do I care? When Lord Akio succeeds, my beloved brother and I will live together in glory and splendor forever!" There was a weird tinniness to Nanami's voice, and a strange glazed look in her steel-grey eyes - but she didn't move or talk like a person in a trance, only looked like it. Hikaru would have spent more time being puzzled about it, if something the blonde said hadn't caught more of her attention. Hikaru blinked. "Your brother?" Nanami smirked. "My darling Touga," she confirmed, casting a rather mechanical grin toward the corner of the platform where the redheaded duelist was belaboring Umi. "Once I've gutted you and he's dealt with your little friend, and Lord Akio has seized control of the Pillar, I'm to have him forever! Lord Akio has promised him to me!" Her weirdly blank grey eyes narrowed, and, teeth gritted, she went on, "And I won't let -you- stand in my way!" Hikaru, who had three elder brothers herself, was too busy being thoroughly disturbed by Nanami's attitude toward her own to give her defense the attention it deserved. The next thrust from that jambiyah drove through a chink in her armor and straight into the meat of her right shoulder. Crying out, Hikaru grabbed at it with her left hand, wrenching the grip from Nanami's hand, and then punched the blonde girl squarely on the mouth, sending her tumbling fifteen feet away. /* Toshihiko Sabashi "The Holy" _The Big-O: Original Sound Score_ */ Umi's arms were starting to feel like lead, a dull ache rolling up from her hands to pool in her shoulders, as she backed further toward the arch to the stairway down, desperately defending herself from her opponent's relentless attack. She wanted to keep fighting, but she was so -tired-. This day had gone on forever and ever, it seemed, with the battles on the school campus, and the confrontation with Emeraude, and that endless staircase, and now this. She could feel her strength ebbing away. As he sensed her defenses crumbling, the redhead smiled a suave smile. "You're tired," he observed, his voice deep and silky. "Why not give up?" "Because - you'll - kill me?" Umi replied, omitting the trailing "Duh?" for breath's sake. "Not necessarily," he replied smoothly, all the while relentlessly backing her toward the stairs. "My name is Touga, by the way. Touga Kiryuu. What's yours?" "None - of your - business," Umi replied. Now, in addition to exhausted, she was beginning to feel kind of weird. Was this freak -hitting- on her? In the middle of a life-or-death duel?! Sure, he was handsome - very handsome for a human - but there's such a thing as setting a mood. "(Man,)" Nall murmured in her ear, "(this guy must really be hard up.)" "(Shut up!)" she snapped at the dragon. "Come now, don't be that way," Touga said. "I know Lord Akio ordered us to kill you and your friends, but, to tell you the truth, I'd really rather not. You have ability, and spirit, and above all, beauty. You could do worse than to give in to me." He smiled. "I'm sure Lord Akio would let you live if I asked him the favor." He advanced into her guard; their swords locked and they stood, face to face, regarding each other through a gleaming X of steel. Touga's eyes smoldered, the sly little smile on his face seeming to anticipate her surrender. This close to him, Umi could feel his body heat, smell the powerful human scent of him. She felt a jolt of energy rush up her spine, and her head went light. Seeing the light in her eyes flicker, her eyelids droop, Touga smiled a little wider. "How about it?" he murmured, his breath warm against her cheek. "Why not put down that sword? You're exhausted, poor thing. Let me take care of you. There doesn't have to be any more suffering." Nall felt her slacken, teeter on the brink of collapse, and whispered in her ear, "(Except for everyone else's.)" Hearing the tiny voice, Umi gasped, her eyes going wide. A surge of shame and anger welled up inside her breast, and with it came enough strength to push him away, renewing the fight. Undaunted, Touga renewed his attack with that same languid energy, as though this, to him, were just another sort of foreplay. Great Triforce, what had she been considering? She knew she was tired, and he was very handsome, in a crude sort of human way - but to have actually wasted a moment's thought entertaining the idea of giving in? She felt stained, almost as if she'd actually followed through on the notion instead of just half-consciously musing over it for a second. There was a foul taste in her mouth. Her cheeks burned. Touga took it for something else and smiled a little wider as he battered her defenses. "I said you had spirit," he observed playfully, "but this is taking it a little far. I can't wait forever for you to make up your mind. Don't waste yourself needlessly." As angry at herself as anyone else, she replied, "Oh, sure," her jawline hardening as the light came back into her eyes. "Just give up, let my friends die, let Cephiro fall, and spend the rest of my life as your playtoy, huh?" "Yeah, what a deal," piped Nall sardonically. Touga's smile widened a little, his eyes twinkling. "It would be a life of pleasure and privilege," he told her. "Infinitely preferable to the short and painful existence that awaits if you keep resisting me." Umi's heel slipped over the top of the first step, and she resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder at the staggering drop. "You're almost to the edge, baby," Touga noted. "Make your decision." Time seemed to stop for a moment with a high, metallic sound as something inside Umi reached its limit and broke. "OK," she said. "Fine." With that she stopped retreating, fixed her grip on her weapon, and straightened her back. Her eyes glittered with fury, her nostrils flared, her ears pinned back, as she shouted ringingly, "Decision MADE!" Touga's eyes widened with shock at her sudden transformation, and he readjusted his stance and grip, too late. Sweeping the Heart of the Sea behind her in one fist, Umi smashed it against Touga's guard with such force that he was sent skidding back a dozen feet and more. Freed from his constant attacks for the moment, she moved her free hand in an ancient pattern and chanted, >Relentless, pounding sea! Shaper of continents, Reservoir of life itself! Heed your master and come forth To engulf my enemy in your timeless wrath!< In a circle of roughly six feet's diameter around her, water appeared, rising up out of the stone like rain in reverse, racing around her like a tiny wave. The wave grew, lunged upward, separated itself from the ground, whirling around her in a helix as her long blue hair flew about her shoulders, snapping like a flag in the wind. Then two glittering scarlet points of light appeared to the right of her face, and a small but surprisingly powerful voice added, >Endless ice, tomb of the world! Carver of mountains, Shatterer of the strongest stones! Heed your master and come forth To rend my enemy with your ancient fangs!< Umi smiled a cold, furious smile. Her eyes and Nall's both blazed at Touga as she swept her free hand forward, pointing her first two fingers at his heart. >ICE - DRAGON!< they cried in unison, and the wave surged forward, its leading edge pointing and shifting into the fanged, wrathful face of a serpentine dragon as it came. Touga screamed as the watery apparition hardened, becoming a wicked, glassy assemblage of edges, before it plowed into his chest with a speeding car's force and sent him tumbling back across the stones toward the middle of the platform. Coughing and spluttering, he struggled to his feet, somehow keeping his katana. Something in his chest felt broken, a stabbing, spreading pain. Pink froth rolled from the corner of his mouth as he tried to focus his eyes on his foe. An icicle the size of a dagger jutted from his chest to the right of the join in his tunic, a spreading pink stain around its base. Umi was already coming, streaking toward him like a little blue comet, with her hair flying behind her and the Heart of the Sea glinting in the sunlight. A defiant, wordless scream poured out of her (and Nall) as she crossed the distance between them, and even as Touga raised his weapon, he knew he was finished. A second later, he fell face-down on the platform in a welter of blood, his blade flying in the opposite direction and tumbling off the edge of the platform. Umi landed not far from the edge, stood panting for a moment as his blood ran down the Heart of the Sea to coat her hands in sticky heat, and then crumpled to her knees, ribs heaving, so exhausted she was nearly unconscious. On her shoulder, Nall, struggling for breath as well, whispered in her ear, "Not too rotten, Long-Ears. I think maybe I -do- like you." Hearing Umi's defiant, decisive shout, both Hikaru and Nanami stopped fighting and turned to look, in time to see the Ice Dragon plow into Touga and send him sprawling back across the platform. "TOUGA!" Nanami screamed, and then Umi crossed the gap to her enemy and ended him, and Nanami howled again, louder, "TOOOOUGAAA!!" Breaking away from Hikaru with a vicious kick, she started running across the platform at top speed, her scimitar raised. Umi, still kneeling by the crenelated edge of the platform, head bowed, didn't seem to hear her coming. "UMI!" Hikaru cried, running after the grief-crazed blonde. "LOOK OUT!" She cursed - the cuts to her legs were hampering her running speed. She'd never catch Nanami in time. "Nanami, stop! STOP! Don't MAKE me - !" Nanami couldn't hear her; the roaring of blood in her ears drowned out everything but her own shriek of rage as she charged toward the blue-haired creature who had robbed her forever of the one prize she valued. Nall heard her coming before Umi, and, turning his head, saw the blonde bearing down on them, her blade raised high. "Oh, slag," he whispered. "Uum'y! Uum'y, c'mon, get up!" Umi shook her head; whether she was trying to clear it or refusing his request Nall didn't know, nor care. The mushiness of the gesture told him that she was still barely conscious; so did the fact that she hadn't noticed he'd pronounced her name correctly. Not knowing what else he could do, he seized the lower edge of her long, pointed ear in his fangs and tugged with all his remaining strength, tasting blood. The pain brought her back to herself. Yowling in outrage, she turned toward it, opening her mouth to remonstrate with the wicked little creature who had hurt her, and saw Nanami coming like an artillery shell, screaming and implacable. Umi tried to get her blade into position, but there was no time, the blonde was nearly on top of her, the scimitar blow starting to fall. There was a hard, solid THUD, as of a heavy book falling from a table, and Nanami's slender body jerked, her stride faltering as her wrathful face suddenly went blank. Her cloudy gray eyes went wide, then suddenly cleared, as if she had just awakened from a long dream. The scimitar fell from her hand, clattering onto the dueling stage next to Umi. The blonde took three more stumbling strides past the puzzled Rune Knight, then fell to her knees near the edge of the platform. "oh," said Nanami softly, "god." Then she sprawled on her face in one of the crenelations, one arm hanging down over the side of the platform. Jutting from her back was the jeweled hilt of her own jambiyah. Umi gasped and looked back to where she'd come from. Thirty feet away stood Hikaru Shidou, left hand still extended, drops of blood dripping from her fingertips. She'd wrenched the weapon from her own shoulder and thrown it with all her waning might, so desperate was she to save her friend. Now, her face clouded with horror and disbelief, she walked slowly to Umi's side and stood over Nanami's body, staring down at it. "I... I killed her," Hikaru whispered as Umi got to her feet. "You sure did," Nall said. "Would it help if I pointed out that she was just about to split my cute little skull like an apple when you did it?" Hikaru turned to look at him; his feline face was somber, ears drooping. He cocked his head at Umi's. "Hers too," he added. Hikaru gave a brave smile and ruffled his ears. "Thanks, Nall," she said. "It does help a little." Fuu Hououji and her opponent missed every bit of all that, so wrapped up were they in their own interpretations of their battle. The more she watched the raspberry-haired girl fight, the more she felt her enemy's assault against her defenses, the more convinced was Fuu that this was not a wholly willing participant in this tragic play. Shiori fought like a puppet, jerkily, with speed and strength but little coordination. It looked like she might actually be a good fencer, but the way she was going about it now, it wouldn't have been hard for Fuu to outthink her attack and finish her. But... look at her eyes, thought Fuu to herself. The mind behind those eyes isn't even -here- right now. The same thing has happened to her that happened to that poor man Lafarga. This girl isn't evil, she's -sick-! She needs a chance at redemption, not oblivion. She smiled. "I'm sorry for this, Miss Shiori," she said, caught the girl's blade on her own, half-turned inside her reach, and struck her squarely in the face with an elbow. Shiori staggered back, raising a hand to her bloodied nose, and Fuu drove the Heart of the Storm into the platform to free both her hands. >Eternal wind, breath of life, Bearer of the storm, Cleanser of the lands and waters! Heed your master and come forth To wrap this lost soul in your firm and healing embrace!< Whirling her hands around her in a great circular gesture, she finished with both hands extended as though in welcome to her opponent, and cried, >WIND OF ABSOLUTION!< Shiori jerked bolt upright as a wave of green mist swirled around her, raising her clean off the platform. Her sword clanged to the platform from nerveless fingers as she stretched upward, rigid from head to toe, in the column of wind, her hair whipping all around her face. After a moment, it subsided, and she fell slowly back down. When her toes touched the platform, she crumpled into a sloppy seiza, hands splayed before her, head bowed to the stone. After a moment, she raised her face to Fuu's, tears rolling down both of her cheeks from eyes haunted, but no longer wracked with madness. "Thank you," she whispered, and collapsed into unconsciousness. /* Toshihiko Sabashi "Stoning" _The Big-O: Original Sound Score_ */ Corwin's lunge caught Akio Ohtori with one foot on the upper platform and one still on the top step. Unbalanced, the slender man stumbled, caught himself, and rolled, his scarlet-lined white cape flying around him as he came to his feet with sword drawn. "You again?" Akio asked. "You're as -persistent- as Tenjou, boy, I'll grant you that." Corwin didn't waste time or energy talking; he merely whirled Stick around his body and went on the offensive. Very soon, he began to realize that he might be in over his head. Akio was a remarkably agile combatant, and strong for his build - perhaps even stronger than Corwin, who wasn't yet fully grown. Plus, he didn't fight fair. Every time Corwin blocked one of Akio's cuts or thrusts with Stick, the dark man tried to slide the blade along the wood and cut at Corwin's hands. A couple of times, he succeeded, but not seriously. Corwin was also a bit distracted by the fact that this upper platform confirmed his awful, sinking suspicion. This platform was oval, not circular, about the same width on its long axis as the radius of the dueling floor. At the far end, opposite the stairs, was a one-step-raised circular dais. Corwin didn't have to see that dais to know that its edge was paved in a magic circle. This was the place where the Pillar of Cephiro, the spirit responsible for the shape and survival of the Tenth World, was created. And it wouldn't have taken a sorcerer to figure out what Akio was planning to do with it, even if Corwin hadn't been one. He couldn't let that happen. He just couldn't. It would destroy the already tortured balance of Cephiro and plunge the Tenth World into complete disarray. It would hand Akio Ohtori power over the very substance of a reality on the doorstep of Asgard itself. It would trap Anthy Himemiya in an eternity of pain. And if that happened, then a person very close to Corwin's heart would suffer for all eternity right along with her. He couldn't let that happen. He just couldn't. But what could he do? Cephiro had to have a Pillar. Without one, it would collapse into chaos and disappear, all the lives upon it lost. Emeraude was dead. Someone had to replace her. If not Anthy, then who? What could Corwin do to stop Akio, to save Anthy, without sacrificing Cephiro? He didn't know, but letting Akio win was obviously not the answer, and anyway, his hatred for this man was pounding in his temples like a migraine headache. He decided to concentrate on defeating his enemy first, then figure out how to save the world, if he was still alive to attempt it. Gritting his teeth, he flung himself against Akio's guard, and earned a shallow gash across his right shoulder for his trouble. Stumbling back, he missed a block and got a nick to his wrist and a minor slash to his left thigh. Akio was toying with him, nickel-and- diming him to death. Corwin was between the man and his intended victim, but that was all the progress he'd been able to make. Anger surged through his body, renewing his strength, doubling his fury, forcing more effort from his aching, straining, bleeding body. Akio merely smiled and stepped up his counterattack. Corwin cursed inwardly. Who -was- this guy? Then it hit him. The slender build; the faint but, at this range, easily noticed mark on his forehead; the dark skin; the aquiline nose and delicate features; the knowledge of the workings of Cephiro that no native of the Tenth World should have. "You're a svartelf!" Corwin gasped. Akio shook his head and smiled mockingly. "Not entirely," he replied. "Our dear mother was exiled from Svartalfheim for some trivial offense. You have a knowledge of the Nine Worlds? You must not be from Midgard." Corwin snarled and thrust one of Stick's ferrules at that mocking smile; Akio sidestepped, pushed the staff aside with his free hand and flicked the point of his blade against one of Corwin's cheek tattoos. "You're marked," Akio observed. "Too rugged to be an elf, too tall to be a dwarf. You're not an Aes, or you'd be more than a match for me. One of the Vanir, perhaps? They never were quite up to the standard." Corwin said nothing. He knew he was losing this fight, but he couldn't give up. He searched his mind for something that might help him turn this around, and found nothing. Akio obliged. "You put up a decent fight, boy," Akio mused, "but it's futile. Only the Rose Knight could ever stand a chance against me." He sneered, flicking his blade against Corwin's other cheek. "And she's cowering in another dimension, unable to act. Her access to this place was sealed off by her own stupidity." Corwin remembered the sealed door standing at the end of the catwalk off the edge of the dueling platform, off to his left as he'd crossed it at a run, remembered the story Utena had told him about the Rose Gate. What had happened there, the culmination of all Akio's machinations and manipulations... Patronized. Stabbed in the back. Shattered. Callously discarded. Never loved... only used. White-hot rage surged across Corwin's nerves, setting his divine brand alight with a keening noise. His eyes narrowed, pupils shrinking. Rage and hatred swirled around him almost visibly as he relived the Monolith; the sobbing, the trembling, the feeling of utter and total uselessness. >My curse upon you, Akio Ohtori,< he snarled in his mother tongue. >By my Will and by my Power, Birthright from my divine Mother, This is my command: May you never know completion May you never know achievement May you never know success: But always frustration Always shortfall Always failure.< Akio sneered mockingly and lunged; Corwin slipped the strike, whirled Stick about him, and thrust it billiard-cue-style through his curled left hand. As the ferrule on the forward end passed through his hand it began to glow with the same scarlet light as his raging brand. >I am Corwin of the Raven-Hair,< he roared, and as the ferrule smacked firmly into the vestigial dot of a brand in the center of Akio's forehead, he completed the curse: >Let the covenant of my hatred be sealed upon your brow!< There was an actinic flash of light at the point of contact, and the electric thrill rushed up Corwin's arms and snapped back his head as Akio reeled, crashing to the stones on his back with smoke curling up from his forehead. Behind them, Anthy Himemiya felt her ears begin to pound and realized that she'd been holding her breath since the black-haired stranger with the amazing blue eyes first attacked the thing that had once been her brother. She let it out, drew it in again. As if triggered by that action, Akio sprang to his feet, his face twisted in mocking hatred. "You think you can curse me, child of Vanaheim?" he inquired in incredulous disbelief. "ME? Goodbye, interloper. Give the Rose Knight my regards when you see her in Hel." He made a negligent gesture, and a rippling, near-invisible -something- lashed across the space between them and smashed into Corwin like a speeding bus. Screaming, every muscle and nerve on fire, the fledgling god was catapulted backward across the magic circle and over the edge of the platform into yawning space. Down, down, down he fell, trailing blue-white sparks, until he crashed down dead-center on the battle-scarred dueling floor. A wave of energy rolled outward from his body as he hit, overwhelming the other Knights as well and laying all of them low with shrieks of pain. Damn! Corwin thought as his body convulsed and his senses reeled. I should have known he'd have Zagato's power. He killed the High Priest to drive the Pillar to despair, but in doing so he'd -have- to have absorbed some of his power. And now he's sealed the lot of us. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! How could I have been so stupid? Corwin struggled to rise, his body still wracked with pain, and accomplished very little. Above, a brilliant yellow light was rising from the Circle; below, the bells of Ohtori Academy clamored. The sky above them darkened. At first, it seemed like nightfall. Then he heard what sounded like a million metallic bats' wings and knew it for what it was: the swords. The cursed flying swords, thousands of them - legend said a million - taking up their positions in the sky above the Pillar Circle. There, the embodiment of Cephiro's wrath, they waited to rend anyone who tried to gain access to the circle platform and interrupt the creation of a new Pillar. Damn. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists around Stick, and heaved himself to elbows and knees; then his strength failed him, and with an angry, agonized gasp, he fell back to his face, the blue-white sealing energy still sizzling around him. "It... can't... end this way," he snarled, squeezing his eyes shut on hot tears of pain and frustration. "It... can't! Dammit! DAMMIT!" He drove his fist into the stone, pushed with all the strength he could muster, levered himself up. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth where he'd bitten his lip falling, from his nose where it had slammed against the platform, from the cuts on his cheeks and an abrasion over his left eyebrow. He got his hands under him, looked blurrily down at the gleaming ring on his hand. A drop of pink liquid, Corwin's mingled blood, sweat, and tears, ran down his face, poised on the tip of his nose, hesitated, and fell, splashing squarely on the center of the rose signet. Fitfully, the mark on his brow glowed again. On his wedding finger, so did the rose ring. The pain did not abate - if anything, it grew worse - but some strength returned to his limbs anyway. Gritting his teeth to the point where he felt they might crack, Corwin forced himself to his feet, then turned to face the Rose Gate. He took a shuffling step forward, then another and another. As he went, his pace picked up, from a pained shuffle to a limp to a walk, and within a dozen paces he was pelting forward in an all-out run, arms pumping, legs flying, all pain pushed aside. As he ran, the words to one of the most powerful spells his mother had taught him during his training as a Weaponsmith, one of the greatest of the ancient magics, came unbidden to his mind, and without even stopping to consider the possible consequences, he began to speak them. >Sword of cold and darkness, Be ye loosed from Heaven's bonds! Power that can smash even the souls of the Gods! Become one with my power, One with my body, And let us walk the path of Destruction together!< Black lightning crackled across his brand, down his arms, played over the length of Stick. Pain coursed through Corwin's veins with every beat of his pounding heart, as his will, the spell's incredible power, and his mother's blood fought against the seal Akio had placed on him and worked the sorcery anyway. At the peak of his running speed, Corwin hurled himself forward, thrusting the energy-shrouded staff's ferrule at the heart of the sealed Gate, and screamed the keyphrase at the top of his lungs: >RAGNA BLADE!< The black energy bit into the stone seal of the Rose Gate. There was a tremendous explosion, a black-edged silver shockwave lashing out in all directions from the Gate. Corwin tumbled end over end, somehow keeping his grip on Stick, and wound up in a sloppy, loose-limbed, stunned approximation of seiza, dead center in the middle of the platform. Above, the lights of the castle carved from the roots of the World-Tree pulsed, shifting in their colors with a kind of tense expectancy. Corwin raised his head, then let it fall back, turning his face to the castle's light, eyes closed. White light poured out of the shattered seal of the Rose Gate, fixing him in its glare as if he were caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. A moment later, a figure stepped through the Gate, out of the light, crossed the catwalk, and knelt at Corwin's side, putting a hand on his shoulder and speaking his name. Feeling the touch, hearing the voice, he gasped, his eyes flying wide, and the glow of his mark spiked with a high-pitched sound. He turned his head. Utena Tenjou was kneeling next to him, dressed in the black and crimson of her old Ohtori Academy dueling uniform. In her top pocket, a white rose ruffled slightly in the wind blowing across the platform. At her side, she wore the blade Corwin had made for her. She was looking at him with a mixture of concern and utter bafflement. Corwin grinned, feeling his strength flood back as she clasped his hand in hers and helped him to his feet. He wondered if the phenomenon were an actual countercharm, or just a measure of how glad he was to see her. Around him, the sprawled Magic Knights also stirred and got to their feet. "Corwin, what's going on?" asked Utena. "A minute ago I was in bed... and now I'm... " She looked around and gasped. "... Back in Cephiro?! But... that's impossible." Corwin shook his head. "You're not back in Cephiro, not quite." "But this is the dueling floor. I thought it was destroyed... and it was never real to begin with... " "Oh, it was real. What you saw at the end was the illusion. The dueling floor isn't really in Cephiro, and can never be destroyed - look, I can't explain right now." He turned to the Knights. "Hikaru Shidou, Knight of the Flame... Umi Ryuuzaki, Knight of the Sea... I believe you've met Fuu Hououji, Knight of the Storm... and of course you already know Nall," he added with a grin to the little creature perched on Umi's shoulder, "meet Utena Tenjou, Knight of the Rose. Utena, Hikaru, Umi, Fuu, Nall." Then he squared himself, gripped Stick tightly, and said, "Cover me!" Hearing the urgency in his voice, his four fellow Rune Knights didn't hesitate; they merely readied themselves and nodded to him. Anthy looked up at the swords and felt no fear, only a kind of quiet sadness. Akio was almost finished with his preparations on the Circle. The stranger had failed and fallen. There had been a terrible noise from below shortly after he fell, but since then, nothing. I'm sorry, Utena, she thought. I waited as long as I could. I can't let Akio succeed. You must understand... if he puts me in that circle, everything will be over anyway. Better Cephiro be destroyed than his plan succeed. She took a step toward the platform's edge, wondering if she could reach it before Akio noticed. Perhaps he would try to stop her, and she could take them -both- over. That would be a good death... good enough. On the landing of the stairs to the circle platform, as the Million Swords took notice of him, Corwin lunged forward, raising Stick in his hands. At the landing's edge, he slammed one of the staff's ferrules into a gap between paving-stones, sending up a firespout of orange sparks, and vaulted into the air. All around him the Knights leaped as well, their blades ready, and the air was filled with the sound of clashing metal as they deflected the army of flying swords that arrowed toward their friend - and themselves. Nall launched himself from Umi's shoulder as the Knight of the Sea reached the apogee of her leap, and with a sky-shattering roar, he reassumed his true form, great wings spreading wide, vast serpentine body blotting the platform into shadow. The swords tangled in his fur and clattered from his armored hide. Some cut, but only angered him. Banking sharply, he swept into the vanguard of the five heroes, his icy breath lashing huge numbers of the flying blades from the sky. Once he wasn't using it to propel his vault anymore, Corwin switched Stick ahead of him, whirling it again as if it were a propeller. It didn't give him any motive power, but it did shield him fairly effectively from the blades that got past Nall, letting the others use their energies to defend themselves. Some got through his guard; he felt a dozen or so stinging pains, here and there, as the edges tore at his clothes and slashed him. Still, when he landed on the upper platform, with the Knights dropping into formation around him, he was not much more harmed than when he'd leaped. Still riding the surge of energy Utena's arrival had provided him, Corwin wasted no time congratulating himself on having accomplished the impossible task of getting up here, and instead braced himself for -another- impossible task. Nall, now utterly exhausted from driving himself at full power again without sufficient rest, returned to his small form and alighted on Umi's shoulder again, slumping half-conscious against her neck and cheek. Absently, she scratched at his ears. They weren't too late. Anthy wasn't inside the Circle yet. Akio was still preparing it for her entry. There was still time. "Ohtori!" Corwin barked. Akio Ohtori turned, puzzled, and for a moment his face went absolutely blank with astonishment. He quickly recovered himself, though, and turned with a placid smile to face them. "Back for more?" he inquired pleasantly. "I must admit I'm rather impressed - I didn't think you'd even be able to get up after I sealed what was left of your power." "I had help," said Corwin, and he stepped aside. Akio's face blanked again, just for an instant, as Utena stepped forward, past Corwin, to face him. "So," he murmured. "Here you are again." Seeing Utena, Anthy gave a sharp little sound and abruptly shoved her way past Akio, running across the platform to meet her. Silently, the two women fell into an embrace. For just an instant, they were frozen that way, the image imprinted forever in Corwin's brain - Utena's hands folded at the small of Anthy's back, Anthy's hands framing Utena's face, their lips almost but not quite touching. The look on Utena's face was the most beautiful thing Corwin had ever seen: her eyes closed, perfectly still, perfectly composed, a look of utter and total serenity. There was a rightness about the whole image that shook him to the core of his being. Something inside him bent, cracked, and broke in two, and in that one eternal instant, Corwin Ravenhair fully understood the shape of everything. He knew the only answer to the question he has asked himself a few minutes before. He knew the only way to defeat Akio Ohtori and preserve the perfect beauty of what he saw before him. He knew what it would cost him. He knew all of it in the space of that one frozen moment, and for the rest of his days he would be able to call up the image that had sparked it in his mind, perfect in every detail, and savor it. But Akio was moving, and Corwin wrenched himself away from the ecstatic agony of his epiphany and lunged, shouting a warning. He was too late. Before his eyes, Akio destroyed the tableau, wrenching Anthy back by the shoulder as his free hand delivered to Utena another of those bone-jarring jolts of power. She tumbled one way, her sword the other, as Akio roughly slung his sister behind him - straight into the Pillar Circle. The Thorn of the Rose tumbled over the edge of the platform and vanished from sight; fortunately, Utena herself didn't fly quite so far. /* W.A. Mozart "Dies Irae" _Requiem in D Minor, K.626_ */ Light surged up from the runed circle set into the paving-stones of the platform, trapping Anthy within a column of light, and Akio's laughter mingled with Utena's scream of rage. Anthy closed her eyes in utter self-disgust, filled with the huge and hollow feeling of total failure. After all her quiet defiance, after her determination to destroy herself before she let Akio succeed, after her promise not to be the helpless victim awaiting Utena's return, what had she done? Distracted by Utena's return, she'd turned her back on Akio, and now she, and Utena, and her world would pay the ultimate price for her stupidity. I'm sorry, Utena, she thought once more, bitter tears coursing down her cheeks. Once again I've failed you. Outside the circle, Corwin was running again, ignoring the screaming protests of his much-abused body. "You're too late, boy," said Akio as he noticed the wrathful young man bearing down on him. "The process is underway. Nothing can stop it now." Corwin didn't slacken his pace; as he drew even with the sneering High Priest, he drew back his left fist and backhanded Akio with all his strength, then ran past as the man reeled, bleeding from where the demigod's rose seal had cut his face. If anything, Corwin increased speed, pounding out every last ounce of speed he could summon from his battered body. Another great yell welled up from somewhere inside him, and he howled in wordless defiance as he lunged forward and slammed himself into the barrier of light that surrounded Anthy. The circle pulsed, and yellow-white lightning clawed at Corwin as he smashed into the foot-thick wall of light and plunged through it up to his waist. Shoulders hunched, he drove Stick into another paving gap and, screaming in pain and rage, levered himself forward. There was a great sizzling CRACK, and he fell through, clothes and hair smoking, to sprawl on the stones at Anthy's feet. Slowly, painfully, he braced himself with Stick and forced himself once more to his feet. Anthy's closed eyes had opened at the sound of him crashing into the barrier, and now they widened in shock at the look of intensity on his haggard, bloody face. His eyes burned at her as he dropped Stick and seized her by the shoulders. "Hello, Miss Himemiya," he said hurriedly. "We haven't been introduced. My name is Corwin Ravenhair. I'm sorry," he went on without a pause. "This will hurt." Silently, Anthy nodded, her eyes telling him in an instant what it would have taken her lips too long to say. Without hesitation, he turned and slammed her into the barrier. It coruscated, emitting an elemental snarl that sounded like a protest. Utena struggled to her feet and took a step toward the Circle. Akio, still a little stunned from the unexpected wallop Corwin had given him, tried to interpose himself; but Fuu hit him high and Umi hit him low, and as he stumbled back amid the storm of wind and water, Hikaru blazed across the platform with a ringing Salusian curse and nearly took his head off before he got his blade into position to defend himself. "Lady Utena, go!" Fuu declared as she and Nall joined their sorcery to Umi's to create a furious, howling wall of wind, ice and water, blocking Akio's escape from Hikaru. "We will handle this! Sir Corwin will need your help!" Utena nodded to her and ran to the Circle barrier, her face set in a mingled expression of hope and horror. As she approached, a force pressed against her, radiating outward from the light. She snarled and set herself, pushing against it, slogging onward, one step at a time. Corwin braced himself and threw all his weight and might against Anthy, his shoulder in the center of her back. She didn't make a sound, though the experience was obviously agonizing, as she was forced partway through the barrier. As soon as one of her hands was free, she reached for Utena. Corwin looked over Anthy's shoulder, through the distorting effect of the barrier, at Utena. She gasped to see his face; his brand was glowing so brightly, light pouring from it as from a furnace hatch, that it almost obscured his features - except for his eyes, which blazed at her with their own inner light. "UTENAAAA!" he roared. "For love's sake... TAKE - HER!" He reached into himself, found more strength somewhere, and gave one last desperate shove. Utena gritted her teeth and took another step; the lightning from the Circle barrier was clawing at her now, lashing charred spots in her uniform and carving an angry red mark across one cheek. Without wincing, she put out her hand, straining forward. Her hand caught Anthy's, their fingers linked, and Utena threw herself backward, holding on with all her strength. There was a tremendous crash of thunder, a blinding flash of light, and a concussive wave lashed out from the barrier, blowing everyone on the platform from their feet. Utena crashed to the stones on her back, the wind knocked from her - with Anthy clutched firmly in her arms, clear of the circle of light. In that circle, Corwin had just enough time to look up at the World-Tree's roots and murmur, "... oh boy," before the Circle pulsed again. Yowling in pain, Corwin rebounded from the barrier to the center as though hit by a car, seemed to fetch up against an invisible wall, and then went rigid, arms flung out from his sides, head thrown back. He levitated, toes barely touching the stone, as some invisible force pulled him straight. The light from his forehead mark glowed brighter and brighter, and then with a sound like a razor being drawn across glass, it burst upward in a great white streak of lightning, stabbing into the sky, linking him to Yggdrasil. One great scream tore its way out of Corwin, and then he collapsed into a kneeling huddle, the light around him winking out. After the roar of the circle and the scream of the light, the silence that descended was deafening. Utena, Anthy, Akio and the Magic Knights all got slowly, hesitantly to their feet. "Are you all right?" Utena asked Anthy. "Fine," she replied, though she didn't look it. "But what's happened to Sir Corwin?" "No," murmured Akio. "No, he can't have... " Ironically, it was the first time in a long time that Anthy found herself thinking the same thing as Akio, although her disbelief had a completely different root. No one, no matter how stout-hearted and kind, would ever do such a thing to himself for the sake of a stranger... it just wasn't conceivable. But the boy was marked, he had obviously known what the Circle was for. He had to know what was about to happen to him when he thrust her out of the light. Why? Why had he done it? Surely not for her. That curious connection she'd felt when their eyes had met notwithstanding, -no one- would take unto himself the burden of the Pillar for the sake of someone he'd only just met. So... "For love's sake, take her." She gasped, understanding, and the tears sprang to her eyes again. "Corwin?" said Umi, edging toward the circle. "You OK?" said Hikaru, striding unconcernedly toward it. "Be careful, Miss Hikaru," said Fuu. "It might still be dangerous." Corwin's shoulders rose. Slowly, he pulled himself upright, first standing, then raising his head and throwing his shoulders back. All assembled gasped. The mark on his forehead had changed. Rather than a single circle with a dot in the middle, it was now two concentric circles, still center-dotted, with three lines radiating out from that dot to the outer ring. Smoke still rose from it, blowing away in the soft wind that was now coursing across the platform. His thick jet-black hair was blown into an even wilder tousle than normal, and in the front, the one stout forelock which always stood proudly out from the rest had turned from black to pure, shining silver. He smiled through the grime and blood that still marked his drawn and weary face, a grin for Utena, then cleared his throat and composed himself into rigid formality. "I am Corwin Ravenhair of the Aesir," he announced, "son of the Midgard-Knight and of She Who Builds Tomorrow; Watcher O'er the World-Engine, Cavalier of Three Worlds, Chooser of the Slain. I am the Rune Knight of Iron. I am the Pillar of the Tenth World. All that Cephiro is, I am." "An Aes?" Akio murmured, stunned. "But you - no!" Corwin's formal smile became a rather less formal grin again. "Yup," he replied. "You lose, buddy." Akio's eyes narrowed. "Not if I kill you." "You can't kill me. You're at least part Cephirean. I'm the Pillar. If you could kill me you'd have killed Emeraude yourself instead of using the Rune Knights as your patsies." "You're not of this world. The normal rules don't apply." Corwin chuckled. "Wake -up-, Ohtori. You've got four Rune Knights and a Great Dragon against you even if you -do- take me out. Face it. You've lost. It's over." "Not yet," Akio insisted calmly. "The tournament isn't over. Face me. Honor demands it." "Honor? -You- make a claim of honor? What a fucking joke," Corwin snarled. Akio gave him an impassive smile. "Nevertheless, I claim it, and you are bound to respond." Corwin sighed. "If you insist on playing this game out, even though the ending is obvious to anyone who can see, then I guess I can't stop you." His bravado covered a very real fear, for Akio was right; the contest was not yet complete, and his apotheosis thus not yet secure. What was worse, he couldn't secure it himself, for as the newly-invested Pillar, he could not confront the challenge directly. But he could do the next best thing. Slowly, in a fashion that was almost stately, the group of them descended to the dueling platform. As they reached it, the upper platform vanished like a mirage, leaving the dueling floor bathed alone in the lights of the World-Tree's roots. Corwin turned to Utena. "Utena Tenjou, Rune Knight of the Rose, Prince of the Tenth World," he said formally, "you are called to defend your Pillar." Utena leaned closer to him and whispered urgently, "(Are you nuts?! Letting him turn this into a matter of form? You've got a gun, just -shoot- him or something!)" She gave him a wry little grin and added, "(My life -would- be complete without a rematch.)" "(I've tried that,)" Corwin replied out of the side of his mouth. "(Anyway, this is the way high magic -works-. He's right, the Tournament isn't over - and until you're fully confirmed as my Prince, I think as my High Priest he might just be able to do what he says. The Rune Knights are exhausted and the Duelists' Code might prevent them from acting anyway, I don't know. And I -can't- beat him, Utena. I've already tried. He's too good for me.)" Corwin had done many things over the course of his association with Utena that had raised her opinion of him; here was another. How many young men in his position would -admit- that they had a fight on their hands they could not win? But then, he'd committed himself to total honesty with her, hadn't he? And she with him? She smiled, patted his shoulder, and said, "(OK.)" Then she reached to her side, found nothing there but an empty scabbard, and turned to him with a chagrined look. "I've lost the Thorn," said Utena. Corwin just smiled at this. He took her rose seal from his left ring finger, raised her hand, kissed it, and then gently slid the magic ring down over her own finger. /* Shinkichi Mitsumune "Dios e no Inori" _Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Zettai Shinka Kakumei Zenya_ */ Utena felt the change, the uniform she'd arrived wearing dissolving like sugar in water as a blaze of light surrounded her. On her right ring finger, the duplicate rose seal which Corwin's Aunt Belldandy had invested with the power to contain Utena's own mystic abilities shivered, then shattered with a high, bright sound. As it happened, she found herself speaking ancient words she hadn't known she knew: >I am Love. I am perfect contentment. I am a jealous rage. I am sweetly scented beauty. I am thorns and toughness. I am all these things and more.< When the light had gone, she remained, clad not in the uniform she'd arrived in, but a suit of gleaming black, scarlet-trimmed plate armor, with the sigil of the rose on the left side of the breastplate and a scarlet-lined black cloak. In a small slot cut into the armor just above the Rose Crest, the real white rose she'd arrived wearing remained. >I am the Rune Knight of the Rose,< Utena intoned; then she seemed to snap out of it, looked down at herself, and gasped in surprise. "Wow," she said. Corwin gestured beckoningly to Anthy; she looked at him a moment, puzzled, and then comprehension dawned on her face and she smiled. Standing before Utena, she raised her hands level with the armored girl's face, touched her cheeks, traced the line of her down to the swell of her breastplate, and concentrated. "But... it's broken," Utena whispered. "Trust us," said Anthy, and Utena smiled and closed her eyes. A bubble of light appeared in the space between Anthy's hands and Utena's breastplate. >Rose of the Noble Castle,< Anthy murmured. >Heart of the Rose that sleeps within this soul, heed your master and come forth!< With a chiming sort of sound, the haft of a sword emerged from the metal as though rising out of water. Utena swooned, making a soft moan of pain, as the weapon emerged from her heart. Corwin took a step forward and caught her shoulders in one strong arm. Anthy took hold of the sword's grip and drew it forth. In a moment the reason for Utena's pain became obvious: the sword was broken, its blade ending only a few inches past the crossbeam in a jagged break. Light shone from Corwin's brand as Anthy held the broken sword, its broken end still pointed at Utena's heart. The energy gathered in brilliant rays at the dot in the center of the brand, and then sprang forth in a bright beam to encompass the sword. As it did so, Corwin began to incant. >I am Corwin of the Raven-Hair. >Rune Knight of Iron, Pillar of the Tenth World. By my Will and by my Power, Birthright from my divine Mother, This is my command: Let this blade, This heart, Once broken, Be reforged. Let the Heart of the Rose be stronger for its trial!< From the cracks and crevices in the pavement of the dueling floor and the Rose Gate catwalk, bright, glittering pieces of metal stirred themselves and rose. One by one, they flew in great sweeping arcs, entered the beam, and fitted themselves into place in the span of the blade, until at last the tip assumed its place and the sword was whole again. Smiling, Corwin reached out pressed the tip of his left index finger against the point of the blade. His skin dimpled, gave way, and a drop of blood welled out. At its touch, white brilliance rushed the length of of the blade, following the fracture lines like water racing through grooves in stone, then rayed out from the hilt to bathe the three of them in light. When it faded, the metal of the blade had become whole again, bright and shining silver, save for a delicate tracery of deep black streaks where the fractures had been. >What I have rejoined,< said Corwin as he removed his fingertip from the sword's point, >let no man put asunder.< He smiled at Utena as he eased her back up onto her feet. She grinned back at him, squared her shoulders, and took the Heart of the Rose from Anthy's hand. >Grant me the power,< she commanded the blade, >to bring the world Revolution!< The Heart of the Rose gleamed expectantly. Cold scarlet fire flickered up and down the damascus blade, played along her arm, as she stepped away from her friends and took up her place for the duel. Ever observant of the formalities - for this -was- a Rose Duel, after all - Anthy went to the thing that called itself her brother and formally fitted a blood-red rose into the top pocket of his jacket. "You can't win," she murmured softly to him as she performed her duty. "Admit defeat and save yourself." "You'll pay for defying me," he growled. "I've been paying all my life," she said, looking him in the eye; then, "Goodbye, Akio." She stepped back, taking up her position as witness, and nodded to the combatants in turn. Utena raised the Heart of the Rose to kiss the crossbeam in a crusader's salute, then swept it into a ready position and confronted her foe. For one hundred twenty silent seconds, the two enemies regarded each other with an intensity that nearly rippled the space between them, each motionless. The tension built until it seemed the very air must scream. Hikaru Shidou gnawed at her knuckles. Uum'y R'yuu-z'ky stood rooted to the spot, her face as colorless as bone, Nall bolt upright on her shoulder like a little statue. Fuu Hououji stood with her hands folded and eyes closed, lips moving in silent prayer. Corwin and Anthy stood calm and impassive, only their eyes betraying the awful strain they too were under. Utena knew she had reason for concern. Akio was a deadly opponent, perhaps the deadliest, most capable she would ever face. He hated her with a passion that rivaled any in the passionate land of Cephiro. And under the present conditions, he had nothing whatsoever to lose. Utena, on the other hand, had everything to lose. If she lost this duel, she would waste Corwin's incredible sacrifice, and everything would be for nothing. There would be no make-up date, no counterchallenge to be given. She would be flung back to Midgard alone, if not killed outright, and Anthy... Anthy would be trapped here for all time, praying for a Cephiro that her brother would rule, always and forever at his mercy. Her eyes, locked on Akio's this whole time, narrowed. No. Never. Never! NEVER!! Gritting her teeth, screaming in wordless hatred and defiance, she threw herself forward. Shouting his challenge, Akio did the same. Exhaustion rolled over Corwin in waves like breakers on a beach as he tried to stand square and look confident. More than anything in all the worlds, he wished for another round of ammunition and the chance to use it, to put an end to this cycle of duels once and for all. Bewildering sensations assaulted him; the world beneath this platform was in terrible disarray, and now that he had been linked to it at a level above even the elemental, he felt that disarray as if it were his own. Cephiro cried out for revolution, rebirth, but he could not give it, not alone. For the Tenth World to find relief, it needed its Pillar, its Prince, and its High Priest to come to a consensus, pool their power, and work together. And the Priest and the Prince were at the present moment doing their level best to kill each other. Corwin wobbled, nearly falling; then an arm caught his waist and he felt himself being borne up by a surprising strength. He blinked his exhaustion-bleared eyes and looked to see the Rose Bride at his side, holding him up. She offered him an only-slightly-strained smile and said softly, "Have faith, Sir Corwin. With both of us supporting her, she cannot fail." He smiled wearily at her, and then both turned to watch the battle. /* The Sisters of Mercy "Temple of Love 1992" _A Slight Case of Overbombing_ */ Corwin had seen Utena fight many times, but not as many as Anthy. As the Rose Bride, she had been present for every one of Utena's battles in this world, from her first faltering clash with Kyouichi Saionji - fueled by raw courage, raw talent, raw nobility - to her final aborted showdown with Akio Ohtori, in which that courage, talent and nobility had shown their temper until Anthy's foolishness had ruined everything. She'd watched the fledgling Rose Knight grow, developing skill, confidence, and assurance, learning to use and trust her powers and abilities as she clashed with ever more dangerous foes. This duel beggared them all. Anthy had never seen Utena fight quite like this before. Obviously, in the year and a half she'd been away, the pink-haired Grand Duelist hadn't been idle. Always fairly well ambidexterous, she now switched her blade from hand to hand more than ever, changing from her natural left-handed into a right-handed combat stance with the ease with which another person might shift gears in a car. Her fighting style now tasted strongly of something like kendo - sometimes she took a two-handed grip on the Heart of the Rose, though its handle wasn't really built for that - and the way she flowed away from Akio's attacks was more fluid and controlled than before. Utena wasn't, Anthy realized, as wild as she had been in the old days. Oh, she still fought, like she did everything else, with everything she had, and she was still reckless and fearless and utterly unhesitant - but there was an element of calculation to it, as if she had a better tactical awareness of position and direction than before. Faced with this new dimension in his opponent, Akio seemed somewhat at a loss at first. With a leap of her heart, Anthy realized why: He hadn't expected Utena to have changed. After all, except for stealing the power of the High Priest, -he- hadn't. Of course, thought Anthy with an overpowering feeling of rightness. I understand... And just as she thought that, Utena spoke for the first time in the duel. Crossing up Akio's offensive, she sent him stumbling back, almost wrenching the Black Sword from his hand. "What's the matter, Akio?" she taunted him. "Didn't expect me to have learned anything? I've been out of your coffin for more than a year." She pressed her advantage, driving him back, a rather nasty smile spreading across her face. "I've changed and you haven't. Don't quite know how to take it, do you? And you know why you don't?" She slipped his next counterstrike, slammed an elbow into the back of his head as he passed her, and then whirled, shoving him hard away so that he nearly fell. Akio took a couple of awkward running steps before he could turn around and face her again, blinking the pain out of his eyes. "Because the DEAD," Utena snarled, "don't GROW!" Akio's emerald eyes narrowed. His charm was completely gone; he knew it would avail him nothing against this transformed opponent, this strong, determined young woman who had utterly replaced the confused and heartbroken girl he'd nearly slain when last they'd met. He merely set himself and counterattacked. Desperation and hatred gave him strength, and the power of the Priest didn't hurt either. It crackled around him as he pressed his attack. No alarm crossed Utena's eyes at this reversal, though; it was almost as if she'd expected it. She defended herself grimly, precisely, riding out the surge of strength his hate gave him and waiting for her next opportunity. As she slipped outside one of his lunges, he borrowed a page from her book, adding his own embellishment. Modifying his lunge at the last instant, he seized a handful of her long pink hair in his free hand, wrenched her head painfully back, and flung her to the ground, pinning her right hand (which currently held her sword) beneath her. With a triumphant cry, Akio brought the Black Sword plunging down for the kill, savoring the horrified gasps of the onlookers in his ears. Hikaru Shidou was calling the runes of Fire Arrow to her mind, Duelist's honor be damned, when, with a sizzling SNAP and a spray of golden sparks, another, thinner black blade appeared in Utena's left hand. Akio's struck it with a resounding clash, and then she shoved him back; there was a crash of scarlet light and he went tumbling away, repelled long enough for Utena to get to her feet. Anthy had noticed this other sword briefly when the Rose Knight had first appeared, but it had gone over the platform's edge too soon for her to get a good look at it. Now that she did, it almost took her breath away. It wasn't actually black, but a very, very deep blue, like the blue of a gun. The long, straight blade was double-edged like a broadsword and perfectly balanced, seeming as right in Utena's hand as the Heart of the Rose did. The basket hilt was worked into an intricate rose vine, studded with wicked thorns, and it had a rose gem hilt, just like the Heart's. Down the flat of its blade marched a runic inscription in Anthy's mother's ancient script, and Anthy gasped again in astonishment. It was a -Valkyrie's- sword! Facing an opponent now doubly armed for his trouble, Akio now had cause to regret his gambit. But then, he wasn't exactly helpless. One problem he had noticed since seizing the power of the Priest from that fool Zagato was that he tended to forget he -had- it and keep trying to do things the hard way. His fight with the Aes interloper was a perfect example. If he'd thought to use Zagato's sorcerous strength earlier, he could have finished the interfering child before he ever had a chance to disrupt Anthy's Investiture that way. Ah, well, spilt milk and all that; he could at least use it to finish -this- old annoyance now. Perhaps once he'd killed the Rose Knight, Anthy would realize the hopelessness of her situation once more and reject the interloper... Akio gathered the black energy within him, then unleashed it in a crackling discharge of lightning from his sword as he leaped back onto the offensive. Utena didn't really know how to use two swords at once, but she wasn't about to let that stop her; she hadn't really known how to use -one- sword when the Grand Tournament started, and she'd won it anyway. Admittedly, this was a thing that was even out of Dios's experience, so his spirit within her couldn't help her all that much - but she was more than just a vessel for the shade of her predecessor. Dios himself had made -that- clear to her on several occasions. The Thorn of the Rose pulsed with its usual scarlet corona, Akio's black lightning warring with the Thorn's red in a battle that seemed almost parallel to the one being waged by the two swords' masters. Awkward with her two blades at first, Utena quickly adapted. The energies of their combat seethed around them, growing stronger and stronger, bleeding away from each clash to spall and scar the surface of the dueling floor. Akio found himself faltering; soon he bled from a minor wound to his arm, then to his leg, then to his face, a thin cut on his right cheek to match the one on the left that the Aes had given him with Utena's ring. Utena Tenjou, meanwhile, remained unwounded, the only mark on her the minor burn that a spark from the Pillar Circle had left on her face. Some vestigial part of Akio's mind which was both still rational and still an aesthete remarked to the rest of him that her year and a half in exile had only made the Rose Knight more beautiful, and that her terrible wrath somehow made her lovelier still. The rest of him didn't pay any attention; it was too busy being consumed by a growing, pulsing, pounding -fear- of her. All his cool, contemptuous dismissal was gone now, diffused by this new awareness - that she was more powerful than his stunted imagination could conceive, and that no vestige of his old hold over her would remain to save him now. Off to the side, Hikaru Shidou caught her breath, her fists clenching, as she saw the change come into the dark priest's eyes. A snippet of a great epic learned for school tumbled through her mind: That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime, Knew at once that nowhere on earth Had he met a man whose hands were harder; His mind was flooded with fear - but nothing Could take his talons and himself from that tight Hard grip. Grendel's one thought was to run From Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there; This was a different Herot than the hall he had emptied. The little redhead found herself holding her breath, praying with all her strength for the victory of this complete stranger. With one hand, she caught Fuu's; with the other, Umi's. The Hyelian, also gazing with rapt attention at the combat before them, did not protest; if anything, she clutched the Salusian's hand as firmly as Hikaru clutched hers. White light surrounded the Heart of the Rose, scarlet light its Thorn, both of them eating at the black glow of Akio's waning power as the Rose Knight backed him toward the edge of the platform. As they had the last time these two powers had coincided in Utena's person, the white and scarlet powers overlaid and highlighted each other at first, white and red overlapping in distinct, crackling streaks; but as Akio's desperation reached a fever pitch and gave him a renewed burst of strength, as he lunged back onto the offensive with his once-beautiful face twisted in something very like fear, something new happened. She caught his blade on both of hers, bent back under the terrible strength of his frenzy. His black corona increased in strength, his eyes blazing with a horrible mix of triumph and lust as he pressed her back and down... ... and instead of flinching away, faltering and falling, becoming his victim again, Utena narrowed her royal-blue eyes, straightened her back, and drove him away. There was a keening, crackling roar, and the white and scarlet energies around her blended into a single aura of brilliant rose. Akio's hold broke; he tumbled almost all the way across the platform as if he'd just fallen from a moving train, finally rolling to a halt near Nanami Kiryuu's body. Slowly, he rose to his feet, raising his free hand to shield his eyes from the glare as Utena Tenjou, Prince of Cephiro, was finally and completely transformed. Within the corona of power, Utena's armor vanished like smoke and left her clad in white - dazzling white from throat to foot, except for touches of black here and there, at collar and cuffs, and scarlet in the lining of her white cape and the ruffled petticoat peeking out under the tails of of her jacket. That jacket, sleek and single-breasted, glittered with gold braid, epaulets, and buttons, and in her top pocket still rode the white rose, proud and whole. Anthy gasped in awe. This was no mere superimposition, the shade of her brother overlaying Utena's body to guide and protect her; Utena was -wearing the Prince's uniform herself-, with the colors - black and scarlet - and the petticoat that marked it as -hers-. Anthy's magically sensitive eyes could still make out the shadow of Dios's face overlaying Utena's own, though - and for what must, to the rest of them, have been just a split-second, as the light around Utena began to collapse into her again, he turned, his expression diverging from hers, and made eye contact with his sister. For Anthy Himemiya, time seemed to stop. The light changed, soft and slightly rose-colored, and Anthy and her brother stood alone on the platform, their hands joined, Dios smiling down at her with his most benevolent look. (At last,) said his soft, sweet voice in Anthy's mind. (At last the circle is complete. You were right about her. I apologize for ever doubting you.) (Dios... ) she thought, feeling her eyes fill with tears. (Don't cry for me, Anthy. In a way, I'll always be with you.) Dios smiled gently. (You have an important job now, you know. You must guard your prince as she guards you. Make sure you protect her from herself. You know how difficult we princes can be,) he added wryly. (I... I will. Oh, Dios... ) (Goodbye, my beloved sister. Thank you for everything you tried to do for me. I'm sorry I wasn't a better patient.) She clung to his hands as he tried to let her go. (Please... I don't want our last words to be apologies.) (Of course. You're right.) He bent down, lifted her glasses, kissed away her tears one last time, and replaced the lenses before enfolding her in an embrace. (Goodbye, sweet Anthy. Be happy in the arms of your new prince.) (Goodbye, my brother. I love you... ) The light erased everything, and Anthy found herself back in reality with a jarring mental thump. The light surrounding Utena finished collapsing, falling in brilliant rays into the scarlet gem at the clasp of her collar, and just before his face faded away entirely, Dios closed his eyes and smiled a smile of such perfect peace and fulfilment that Anthy nearly started crying again. Then Utena's eyes snapped open, and the fire in them raised such exultation in Anthy's breast that the pang of grief was washed away. Akio took a half-step back as if physically -pushed- by the wrath in those eyes, felt his heel hit the crenelation behind him, regrouped himself, and raised the Black Sword. "Bah!" he snarled, his hate for her giving him the bravado to overcome the cringing, shivering terror that threatened to swamp his entire being. "So your Investiture is complete - it'll be the shortest tenure any Prince has ever had." He launched himself into a full-bore run, his scarlet-lined cloak snapping behind him, and bellowed, "GOODBYE, 'Prince Tenjou'!" Utena's answer was a wordless, defiant cry that nearly shook the heavens as she drove herself to meet his charge. In the center of the dueling floor, they crossed with a single clash of steel. Both landed on their feet, just short of the opposite edges. For a long moment, nothing happened. Blood spattered the white stones of the platform. The two combatants turned to face each other. Utena's rose remained where it belonged, standing proud in its appointed place. Where Akio's should have been, a new flower of blood was blooming on the white jacket of his false Prince's costume. Drip, drip, drip from the point of the Heart of the Rose. Akio Ohtori staggered, his sword falling from fingers that had lost their strength. Slowly, he stumbled back toward the edge of the platform. Utena gazed narrow-eyed at him for a moment, then advanced, gesturing to the black blade with the Heart. "Pick it up," she told him. "Let's finish this." Akio took another fumbling step back, realized he was at the platform's edge, and turned desperate eyes to the Rose Bride. "Anthy," he said weakly. Blood flecked his lips as he clutched at her epaulets. "Anthy, please... please, help me. Isn't that what you've always done? Help... help your brother." Anthy looked back at him for a moment, the expression on her face completely unreadable. Then she placed her hand on his chest, opposite the steadily bleeding wound, and said calmly, "All right." "Anthy - !" Utena cried, reaching out, disbelief and horror on her face. Not again! Anthy went on, her voice full of compassion, "Don't worry, Akio. I won't let you suffer any longer." Akio's face went almost blank with relief - almost blank, except for a sly trace of victory which crept out at the edges, a fleeting look of triumph, or at least of defeat evaded once again. His green eyes flickered to Utena's horrified face, seeming to say smugly, You see? You never could break my hold on her after all. And then Anthy pushed him. For a split second he hung in space at the edge of the platform, his eyes locked with those of the Witch of Cephiro, his expression equal parts rage, utter disbelief, and the unique terror of impending, irrevocable doom. "ANTHYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy... !" Anthy stood looking at the place where he had been for a moment, then turned her back on it and smiled at Utena, who stood a few paces away with a look of mingled surprise, disbelief and impressed astonishment on her face. Anthy's smile widened a little at the sight of it - it was really one of Utena's most charming expressions. There was a certain symmetry to seeing it here, too, since it was the look Utena had shown to all her first sights of the Mysteries. The world trembled. Corwin's brows collided. He looked to his side at Anthy, who met his eyes and nodded. Both understood, on a level almost instinctive, what they had to do. Utena went to the edge of the platform where the Rose Gate still stood, covered in climbing vines. Anthy crossed the platform to the opposite side, knelt for a second next to Corwin's abandoned, open satchel, then straightened with the Rose Crown in her hands. Setting it gently on her head so that the white rose rode just above the point of her Rose Bride coronet, she smiled across at Utena, and then nodded to Corwin. All three of them looked upwards towards the castle. Below their feet, the platform shuddered, light blazing upward through the cracks between the stones. /* Michael Kamen "Main Theme" _From the Earth to the Moon_ */ With a sort of puzzled, unconscious comprehension, Utena walked to the center of the platform, dead center beneath the Hanging Castle's central spire, sheathed the Thorn of the Rose at her side (the scabbard was hanging at her left side - perhaps a vestige of Dios's days? - no matter, no time to wonder about it now) and stood foursquare, waiting expectantly. Corwin and Anthy levitated into the air much as the young god had within the Pillar Circle, hands open at their sides. The small dot of a brand on Anthy's forehead glowed, then changed, suddenly and brilliantly expanding from a point to a complex geometric pattern - the Rose Seal of Cephiro. Before the wave of energy that lashed out from the changed brand as it shifted, her eyeglasses shattered, fragments falling away. Her hair fell free from the tightly constrained style it had been in and flew all around her in a wavy violet cloud. At the same instant, opposite her, Corwin stiffened, his hands flung wide, and he too was enveloped by light. For a moment, Rose Bride and Iron Knight regarded each other's eyes across the platform; then Corwin cracked a tiny grin, Anthy returned it, and they began. With another brilliant sound, jagged streams of energy crackled from each of their brands and converged on Utena, bathing the Rose Knight in their light. From their convergence, each beam fed back along the other to touch the opposite source. Corwin's scarlet light and Anthy's brilliant violet blended into a screaming arc of wine red, twisting and sizzling in the space between them, with Utena standing serene and unharmed at the focus. Slowly, ceremoniously, Utena raised the Heart of the Rose, point upward, and touched the crossbeam to her lips again. The energy around her blazed, coiled up the blade and then pulsed outward, the nimbus around her washed to brilliant white. The light gathered itself, racing over her buttons and braid, the whiteness spreading up each side of the arc until, at the same instant, it touched the brands of both the Rose Bride and the Pillar. Utena raised the Heart of the Rose above her head, its point aimed directly at the central spire of the Hanging Castle. With a crash like thunder, the white light streaked up from the point of the Heart of the Rose and plunged into the World-Tree's roots. Yggdrasil responded. Each of the towers and minarets of the "castle" burst forth an answering stream of energy, which streaked down past the platform and its astonished inhabitants to the world below. Light blazed all around as the Pillar, the Priestess and the Prince channelled the power of the World-Tree to heal and revolutionize the shattered world of Cephiro at last. All across Cephiro, things rent and crushed by the upheavals of the past two years returned to their proper shape, and the light of day flooded the borderworld once more. The common people, huddled in terror, emerged from their hiding places to wonder at the sudden return of sanity. Down on the campus of Ohtori Academy, the students came out from their underground shelter and looked around in awe at the repaired grandeur of their school. Corwin settled to the stones, his brand still sizzling gently, and grinned across at Anthy. "Better," he said. Feeling something odd, he glanced down at his left hand and saw to his surprise that he was wearing a rose ring again. He looked up at Anthy to see her regarding her own left hand in a similar fashion; then she looked up, met his eyes, and smiled, and he understood. Hikaru Shidou looked down over the edge of the platform at the brilliantly lit glory of the restored Cephiro, then turned her tired, beaming face to Corwin and said, "Corwin, you rock." Corwin turned and looked as well. "I try," he said with a grin. Then he fell silent, his face sobering, as his attention was drawn to the center of the platform. Utena and Anthy stood face to face, their hands linked, gazing silently at each other. The Magic Knights gathered around Corwin and looked on in a sort of awed silence. "I knew you'd come for me," said Anthy softly. "I knew you'd wait for me," Utena replied. Then, taking her love in her arms, Utena kissed her with all the pent-up passion of her nearly two years in exile. Hikaru Shidou burst into tears. So, rather more quietly, did Fuu Hououji. Uum'y R'yuu-z'ky smiled a tired, peaceful smile, scratching at Nall's ears with one hand as the exhausted dragon purred contentedly and nuzzled her neck. Corwin, arms slack at his sides, looked up at the gleaming towers of the Hanging Castle, his face washed clean of hardship and pain. /* The Chords "Sh-Boom" */ The Valkyrie arrived a minute later, a dozen armored women on what appeared to be flying motorcycles, just to add a little bit more surreality to Uum'y's day. Their leader took off her helmet, left it on the saddle of her bike, and walked slowly toward Corwin with a look of utter disbelief on her face. "Hi, Mom," he said. Gesturing to the reborn world below, he went wryly on, "My investigation indicates that Cephiro is more closely connected to Asgard than was first believed... " Skuld stepped up to her son, raised a trembling hand, and felt one of the circuit-like patterns on his breastplate with her fingertips. Her other hand traced the side of his face, touched the newly expanded brand on his forehead, brushed the silvered shock of his forelock. Then Skuld Ravenhair, Norn of the Future, Captain of the Valkyrie, threw her arms around her son and cried for joy. While the Chief had her moment, Kijana Whitestaff, the Valkyrie medic, sized up the situation with a quick sweep of her incisive green eyes. The redheaded guy off to one side of the platform was beyond her help; that was apparent at a glance. Nobody who got divided into those particular two pieces ever had any use for a medic's services thereafter. Kijana covered what was left with a field sheet and made a mental note to call for a bodybag, then swept her eyes around again, conducting a bit of mental triage. The dark girl in the red dress was kneeling next to a blonde form sprawled in one of the crenelations. Kijana went to her, knelt down, and gave the blonde a once-over. "I'm sorry," she said after a few moments. "There's nothing I can do for her. Friend of yours?" Anthy regarded Nanami Kiryuu's lifeless form with sad eyes. "No... not really," she replied. "She saved my life once... " Kijana nodded. "I'm sorry," she repeated, then got up and went to check on the other sprawled figure, that of a girl with hair a remarkable shade of raspberry maroon. This one was just unconscious - a little shocky, but nothing too serious. She responded nicely to a mild stimulant, sitting up and shaking her head. "What the - ?" she said, looking around. "What are all these people doing on the dueling floor? ... TENJOU?" Utena turned at the sound of her name. "Oh, uh... hi, Shiori. You... feeling OK?" "Yeah... I think so," Shiori replied, getting unsteadily to her feet. She went over to where Utena and Anthy stood near Nanami's fallen form, then blinked in surprise. "Is that Nanami?" "It was," said Utena sadly. "Holy God," Shiori whispered. "What the hell happened?" "I just got here myself," Utena told her, shrugging. Shiori frowned, tapping her fingertips against her forehead. "The last thing I remember, I was showing the Deputy Chairman the figures for the Winter Carnival... I can't remember anything else." She looked around, noticed the sheet. "What's... that?" "Touga," said Utena, sounding unusually subdued - but then, some hysterically amused part of Shiori's brain giggled, she'd never seen the girl standing over a dead body before, how did she know this was unusual? "What's left of him," Utena added softly. Shiori shook her head. "This is crazy. First Saionji disappears, then Kozue's brother, then Juri, then Shinohara... and now the Kiryuus are both... both -butchered- on the -dueling floor-... what the hell happened?!" "The Deputy Chairman happened," said Utena, her voice rough. "But he won't be happening anymore... " "You'd better go back down to the Academy, Shiori," said Anthy gently. "Kozue and the others will need your help." "Yeah," Utena agreed. "That'd be best. Oh - and you can tell Kozue that her brother's OK. All of 'em. Miki, Juri, Wakaba, they're all fine. They've been with me." She smiled. "With a little luck, you'll all be able to see 'em soon. Saionji's probably around here someplace too, we'd better find him... " "Mr. Saionji is in Tenchuu," Fuu put in. "A bit banged up," she added with a smile, "but mending." Utena grinned. "You'll have to tell me all about -that-," she said. "And we'll have to send someone to fetch him." Shiori's tired, haggard face managed to brighten and smile. "I'll take care of that. Juri's all right?" she asked. "She was when I left her," Utena replied. "Spending her school break at a music conference on Terpsichore III with a... mutual friend." The details there went over Shiori's head, but she didn't much notice; she was too busy feeling a wave of relief that almost knocked her down. Smiling again, she said, "Thanks," and, with one last uneasy glance at the bodies, she went to the stairs and started her descent. Utena watched her go, then turned, her arm around Anthy, to look out across the platform. The Valkyrie were milling around, punching Corwin on the shoulder, talking on the radios built into their cycles, and generally acting like a cross between a victorious sports team and a crime scene investigation squad. The Rune Knights and Skuld were gathered off to one side, talking amongst themselves. After a few moments getting his hair mussed by armored women, Corwin managed to break off by himself; he went to the opposite end of the platform and stood looking out at the endless blue sky, his hands folded behind his back. Utena watched him for a few moments, then glanced at Anthy. The Rose Bride merely nodded with an understanding smile. With a lingering touch to her shoulder, Utena left her and crossed to Corwin, tapped him on the shoulder, then took his hands in hers when he turned to face her. "You did all this for me," said Utena softly. "All the pain, all the effort, all the hardship of this. You condemned yourself to be the Pillar of Cephiro. For me." Corwin nodded. Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Corwin," she said, her voice breaking. "Hey," he said gently, raising a hand to cup her cheek and wipe a tear away with his thumb. "What's this for?" "I'm so sorry," she told him. "But you know we can't be... I... I can't... Anthy and I... " "Shh," said Corwin. "I knew that when I went into the circle. How could I see you two together for a second and not know it?" He kissed her forehead. "I did it for both of you. So you could shine together. Didn't I promise you I'd find her?" She raised her hand, touching his where it touched her face, and looked hard at him, her eyes almost glowing with intensity. "You did," she said. "And I'll never forget that you -did- it," she went on. "Even if our lives pull us apart someday, I'll never forget you, because every time I look at her I'll think of you." Then she leaned close, wrapping her arms around him, and kissed him once, long and deeply, trying to put everything she felt, everything that was and could have been, into that single touch. He responded, his raised hand slipping to the back of her head, fingers tangling in her long pink hair. His other hand splayed across her back and rubbed it gently. When the kiss was over, Utena whispered, "I'll always love you, Corwin Ravenhair," as she stepped back. "And I, you, Utena Tenjou," he replied, slightly hoarsely, as his hand trailed through her hair and brushed again across her tear-tracked cheek. She took his hand in her own, kissed the palm, and let him go, returning to the side of her greatest love. Anthy waited with a private little smile of contentment with the world - which was at odds with the look of deep concern in her eyes. Corwin watched her go, sniffed, swiped at his eyes with his sleeve. Then he turned and went to join the Rune Knights and the one armored Valkyrie who stood with them. He stood among them, surveying his handiwork with a genuine, satisfied grin that clashed a bit jarringly with the tear rolling down his cheek. "It's a good day, Vee," he observed. Next to him, Vigdis Brightblade put a friendly hand on his arm and said nothing, merely nodding with a soft, sad smile. /* John Parr "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" _St. Elmo's Fire_ */ Eyrie Productions, Unlimited Growing up presented You don't see the writing on the wall UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES Passing by FUTURE IMPERFECT Moving straight ahead, you knew it all - Symphony of the Sword No. 2 - But maybe sometime if you feel the pain Sixth Movement: You'll find you're all alone Knights of the Tenth World, Part 3: Everything has changed Endgame Play the game You know you can't quit until it's won The Cast Soldier on (in order of appearance) Only you can do what must be done Corwin Ravenhair You know in some ways you're a lot Rayearth, Rune God of the Flame like me Celes, Rune God of the Sea You're just a prisoner Windam, Rune God of the Storm And you're trying to break free Princess Emeraude Fuu Hououji I can see a new horizon Hikaru Shidou Underneath the blazing sky Uum'y R'yuu-z'ky I'll be with the eagles flying Orihalcon, Rune God of Iron Higher and higher Grendel Gonna be a man in motion Akio Ohtori All I need is a pair of wheels Anthy Himemiya Take me where my future's lying Touga Kiryuu Saint Elmo's fire Nanami Kiryuu Ooh Shiori Takatsuki Utena Tenjou Burning up Dios Don't know just how far that I can go Skuld Ravenhair (Just how far I go) Kijana Whitestaff Soon be home Vigdis Brightblade Only just a few miles down the road and featuring I can make it The Valkyrior I know I can as themselves You broke the boy in me But you won't break the man Illuminator Benjamin D. Hutchins I can see a new horizon Underneath the blazing sky Lamplighter I'll be with the eagles flying Anne Cross Higher and higher Gonna be a man in motion Trimmer All I need is a pair of wheels John Trussell Take me where my future's lying Saint Elmo's fire Mirror-polishers I can climb the highest mountain The Usual Suspects Cross the wildest sea I can feel St. Elmo's fire Guardian golem effects by Burning in me Team NXE Burning in me Grendel piloted by Just once in his life Asuka Soryu-Langley A man has his time And my time is now Big O created by I'm coming alive Hajime Yatate and designed by I can hear the music playing Keiichi Satou I can see the banners fly Feel like a man again Motor vehicles provided by I'll hold my head high General Motors Gonna be a man in motion All I need is a pair of wheels As always, MKR characters by CLAMP Take me where my future's lying and RGU characters by Saito/Hasegawa Saint Elmo's fire I can see a new horizon Miss Takatsuki's agent Underneath the blazing sky Philip J. Moyer I'll be with the eagles flying Higher and higher Short cast list for a full movement, Gonna be a man in motion isn't it? All I need is a pair of wheels Take me where my future's lying That's what I get for keeping it Saint Elmo's fire all in the family, I guess. I can climb the highest mountain Cross the wildest sea Meditative spot in the wilderness I can feel Saint Elmo's fire Chapman, Maine Burning in me Burning Patience of rabid crack weasels Burning in me The EPU Discussion Forum users I can feel it burning (kidding!) Burning inside of me The Symphony will return with "Ceremony and Celebration" (and THAT one will have a cast list to choke a HORSE)