AN: To enhance your reading experience (ahaha, the author's such a nerd), please begin playing Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns when you read the mark (1).

That is all. Larger AN at the end.

--

Once upon a time, there was a princess.

The princess was not one prone to falling in love, nor did she believe in the concept of love itself- she simply wanted to make all the world's treasures hers, to be able to say that she was the only owner of whatever treasure you were likely to name. Greed and avarice were her only loves.

Once upon a time, there was a slave who the princess ordered to steal a particular flower; a flower with golden petals and silver leaves, which life never left. The slave went off to retrieve it from its owners. He was captured in the attempt, but the true owners of the flower realized what had happened and let him stay with them, forever, in happier conditions than he had ever been in.

And the covetous princess wasted away by the window of her castle, waiting and waiting for that beautiful flower to be hers alone.

Akt 4

Amaranth

--

"No, I'm pretty sure that I didn't give you that necklace, Ahiru."

"Are you sure?" the redhead pressed, dropping the red pendant back onto her chest. "Like, you didn't buy it or anything and then put it on me and forget about putting it on?"

Mytho's lips quirked, and he shook his head, then shifted in his seat. "Nope," he said easily. With an over exaggerated yawn, he propped his foot up on his knee and stretched. "The drama quarter is so slow, we've been here for at least half an hour already... Anyway, I can truthfully say that I have never seen that thing before in my life."

Ahiru sighed. Rue had no idea, Mytho hadn't given it to her, and she had yet to see Fakir. And she was fairly certain what he'd say, anyway. Don't waste time on stupid things like that, moron. We have bigger things to worry about.

It didn't seem really right to involve Story business in the waking world, anyway. It just made her head hurt when Tutu started shouting at her.

"Well, okay," she mumbled. "And Fakir didn't say anything about it either?"

The pale boy's smile widened, and he raised his eyebrows knowingly at her. "Did you want him to be the one who gave it to you?"

"AFSJKLNRLMRFNGR- NO! I WOULDN'T WANT A GIFT FROM SUCH A COMPLETE JERK!"

"Your opinion of me is so high," Fakir said dryly, as he came up behind the two. He gave Mytho a nod of greeting and rolled his eyes at his companion, dropping into a seat one down from Mytho. "Idiot. Don't shout things you don't want other people to hear at the top of your voice."

Ahiru, whose face was almost a darker red than her hair, babbled unintelligibly for a moment, then clapped her hands over her mouth. The taller boy took no notice, merely nodded towards the addition to her wardrobe and inquired neutrally, "Since when do you wear jewelry?"

Mytho blinked. "You mean you didn't give it to her?"

"Why would I give her a necklace?" Fakir raised a single eyebrow at his roommate.

"But-but-but-but I had it on when Rue and I were going back to the dorm," Ahiru said lamely, suddenly at a loss. "I thought it might have come from one of you guys, 'cause I didn't have it before..."

"Weird." Fakir shrugged, staring coolly at the curtained stage. "Remind me why I came here again?"

"To watch a pretty boy sing about how his life is horrible and watch well-choreographed ballet numbers?" suggested Mytho. His golden eyes twinkled slightly. "It's why Rue comes."

"Moron. Don't compare me to Rue."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear, or so they said. "Oh thanks," came the very subject's sarcastic voice, and Rue settled lightly into the seat between Mytho and Fakir. Unlike the rest of them, who were casually dressed in their respective favorites, she'd actually dressed up for the occasion, in a delicate black gown that was reminiscent of Kraehe's tutu. "Actually, I came because the drama quarter wanted me to play Catherine. I told them no, but I'd come to their first showing. I hate it. It always happens."

Everyone knew she was lying. Not about being asked to play the lead female, of course, but about coming simply for that reason.

But everyone let her keep her pride anyway.

Mytho sighed, dissatisfied. "Rue, you're making us look bad."

"Rue always makes us look bad," Ahiru mumbled.

"No," interrupted the dark-haired girl, reaching across Mytho to smack Ahiru's mouth closed. "No pity parties. This is Pippin. You can't feel sorry for yourself while watching it."

"Who are we supposed to feel sorry for, the left-handed protagonist?" Fakir asked caustically.

"Exactly."

As if on cue, the lights dimmed suddenly and the scarlet curtain rippled.

"Ladies and gentlemen," declared a brunette wearing black-and-white performer's clothes, as she stepped gracefully from between the curtains. "Boys and girls! The Gold Crown Traveling Entertainer's Troupe is proud, at last, to present the one and only production of Pippin!"

"His Life and Times!"

The curtains slid upward, revealing a troupe of other students in the same garb as the lead, carrying a huge hand-lettered sign upon which "Pippin" was painted in messy scrawl. Fakir's eyes closed partly as the leader continued, "Please disregard any rumors, lies, articles, or words of mouth you have heard of this legendary figure..."

There was really no point to this, Fakir reflected, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. He knew for a fact he'd be asleep by the end of the first horrifying number, no matter how loud it was, and that Ahiru would probably be in the same state by the rebellion section. Mytho, of course, would stay wide awake. Whether that was because he wanted to please Rue or because he was simply interested was unclear to Fakir, but either way, it didn't really satisfy how the boy could actually stay awake through all this.

His eyes drooped. Despite getting enough sleep the night before, there was no shaking the fact that he was completely exhausted. Who wouldn't be exhausted after having their alter-ego's prince suddenly regain a piece of his heart and freak out? And then having to wake up with them to open the door for a pair of girls that were about as annoying as a wooden stake shoved under their big toenail?

Well, Rue was as annoying as a wooden stake shoved under his big toenail. Mytho liked his little joke; that she and Fakir got along like a pair of feuding siblings. More like feuding archrivals, Rue had retorted.

Same thing.

Ahiru… well, she wasn't quite so much annoying as… well, yes, she was annoying. But not nearly stake-under-the-toenail annoying. Fakir's eyes slid over to the ducklike girl. Yes, she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

Not stake-under-the-toenail. Maybe just inept-dumbass annoying. Satisfied with this description, Fakir propped his hands up behind his head and closed his eyes, thoughts wandering off.

Someone had given her that necklace. And it wasn't Mytho, he was certain. Mytho wouldn't get Ahiru a necklace; he saved his sappy, expensive stuff for Rue. And it hadn't been Fakir; he never bothered getting the idiot anything. She broke it all. The last thing he'd gotten Ahiru had been one of those horribly gaudy glass-bead bracelets for her birthday; blue and yellow. She'd worn it for days, until one badly timed pirouette had sent her flying into a wall and smashed it.

She'd cried for hours…

That necklace… If it wasn't a gift from Mytho and it wasn't a gift from him, who could it be from? Rue, possibly… but the sincerity in Ahiru's voice when she said that Rue had been just as surprised as she had was still ringing in his ears, and he was fairly certain that Rue had been completely shocked by the appearance of the pendant.

That necklace.

That necklace…

Maybe Rue was just a good actress. She'd managed to convince them all that she was completely furious with them after a particularly violent incident when they were young. He couldn't quite remember what it was about—someone stole something that showed up in Rue's locker, and nobody knew who'd done it or something like that—but despite that, he clearly recalled her storming around in a towering rage for at least two weeks, although they all knew she would get over it and go back to being their best friend again.

That necklace.

It reminded him horribly of the Story, which was never a good thing. Things that reminded him of the Story were never good; the river reminded him of the river that flowed into Tutu's lake, where Lohengrin and Kraehe had had a horrible stand-off a few months ago, while the spiky-tipped and dark-stoned church reminded him disturbingly of Kraehe's castle.

That necklace.

That necklace…

--

It wasn't the anxiety of before; it wasn't a nagging ache in the back of her head that made her antsy. It was fear.

That was the only way to describe it.

She jumped at everything that moved in the shadows, and she was exhausted after days of sleeplessness, even with the Waking state—which actually wasn't very restful in the first place. But it was just so dark.

The second day after taking that stupid shard. Kraehe was sitting numbly on the windowsill of her room, eyes glazed. Gods, she was horrifically tired…

"Sorry," the shard said from its place in the corner of the room, where it was leaning. "I didn't mean to keep you awake... but it's so scary out there, and it's much safer in your heart..."

Yeah, right. "Leave me alone. Go haunt someone else for a while."

"I can't. It's safe with you."

"No, it's not, shard. You should just go."

"I can't…"

The shard… it reminded her so much of her prince. Kraehe sighed bitterly and nodded in the shard's direction, a yawn suddenly marring her face. "Damn you," she mumbled in its direction, and slipped off of the sill. She stumbled a few paces towards her feather-covered nest and toppled in, curling up in the very center.

A few minutes of sleep… then she'd be ready to go about the business of recollecting all of the shards…

She bolted upright again suddenly. The remains of a scream was lingering in her ears, and as her burgundy eyes darted around the room, it suddenly registered that that was her own scream. And it was dark. She could just see stars out of the window…

What had happened?! She'd gone to sleep for just a moment…

Random, blurry memories floated back… singing, figures dressed in black and white cavorting on a stage, red curtains. A girl with braided orange hair leaping around in front of her, with someone who—her stomach lurched—looked sickeningly like her prince regarded her with warm golden eyes.

Eyes that he would only look at Rue at.

Not her.

Never her.

With a groan, Kraehe dropped her face into her hands. Dammit! Rue had woken up while she slept, and gone about the day as usual! "How long did I sleep?" she mumbled.

"The sun fell and the moon rose," the shard said helpfully from where it was huddled against the edge of her nest. "There was a noise somewhat like a large bird from the woods…" The memory seemed to scare the shard, and it unfolded itself and crawled closer to Kraehe, as if for comfort.

Being a tactless Raven, she shied away from it with some amount of disgust. "Don't be so childish, there are plenty of large birds in these woods!"

"That's worse!" Now looking completely terrified, the shard curled up right beside her, wrapping insubstantial arms around her waist. "It's so frightening…"

Ugh. This shard was rather like an overgrown, easily scared baby. Were all of them like this? Tentatively, she patted it on the head, surprised to feel her hand stopped by hair instead of going straight through. "You can stay with me. It's okay…"

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Thank goodness…"

A shard, Kraehe reflected. She could make do with a shard.

But the prince…

The prince was someone she could touch. Someone whose hair she could run her fingers through, someone whose hands she could make touch her face, someone whose lips she could kiss with no resistance… She could make do with a shard, yes, but a shard… a shard would not be enough.

This shard… it would run if she tried to kiss it, would run if she told it she loved it. It was far too afraid of everything to be her prince.

No. A shard would not be enough.

And she needed to get rid of it, anyway, it was causing her enough grief.

Heaving a great sigh, Kraehe put a hand on the shard's cheek. "Look. I have to go for a moment, but I'll be back. Don't be scared."

"… but it's so dark…"

Don't remind me. "You'll live," she said shortly, and closed her eyes…

--

Miles from there, miles from there. Tutu wove and unwove her fingers nervously. Yes, she knew she needed to go and retrieve the heart shard of Fear, but was it so important that Rue would really wake up to bother Ahiru about it? Was it so important that Lohengrin needed to go too?

Said knight was currently sheathing his sword behind her, scowling as per usual. "Can we get on with this, princess?" he inquired shortly. "Mytho's going to try to keep Siegfried as quiet as possible, and of course the swans will be around the house, but it'd be a lot safer if you'd uncloak your castle and—"

"It would also be difficult to find him," interrupted the swan, tossing her short white hair as she turned to look at him. "You recall being lost in there when we were younger, don't you?"

Ugh… scarring memories… days of wandering around until he was finally discovered. Lohengrin shuddered. "I do, and I also recall that it was you who led me into those corridors."

"It isn't my fault if you have a terrible sense of direction, Sir," Tutu shot back, and turned back towards the lake. Behind her, a band of over two dozen swans was seated around the house, eyes alert. "The swans will be enough. We can't risk returning him to his home; Queen Edel could be susceptible to Kraehe."

"I," ground out Lohengrin, "am perfectly aware of that. In fact, I seem to remember being the very person who informed you of her vulnerability."

"And for that, I thank you."

"… So? Move it. We have a shard to rescue and Fakir's getting antsy."

Tutu cracked a smile for the first time since returning from the Waking state, and reached out a hand…

They reappeared in a shower of white in the front hall of Kraehe's castle, immediately stumbling away from each other as soon as the feathers dissipated. The sound of their footsteps echoed eerily in the empty hall.

And then there was silence.

"This is strange," Lohengrin murmured, drawing his sword once more. "She's usually here to greet us."

"Rue may still be awake," Tutu replied, equally quietly, and tiptoed across the stone to stand beside him. "It's a possibility."

"Perhaps. But if I know Rue, she'll be eager to get back in, just so she can be in on the action."

"Hmm."

A harsh caw suddenly rang out from behind them, and Tutu whirled around, letting out a shrill cry at what was coming for them.

A giant raven.

The bird slammed right into her, knocking her to the ground, and perched on her abdomen, claws shredding into her dress. It regarded her with half-curious, half-mocking eyes, then leaped into the air, barely missing the blade of the knight's sword.

"Filthy crow!" Lohengrin spat, backing away with weapon held up defensively. "Tutu! Go get the shard! I'll hold it off until we can get out of here!"

The swan princess nodded quickly and lurched upright. The pendant glowed softly when she turned in the direction of the stairs, so she sprinted for the staircase as behind her, the sound of sword on claw was clearly audible.

Up, up, up. The stairs were annoyingly uneven, and the moon was distracting whenever it shone through one of the many windows the tower walls were peppered with. Ahiru would have tired ages ago; but Tutu, used to such feats when in Kraehe's castle, emerged on the top landing with the pendant glowing strongly. The shard… was very close…

But Kraehe…

Kraehe should have stopped her by now. Perhaps Rue really had stayed awake…

"You're Tutu," someone murmured, sounding slightly nervous, and a red glow glittered to life, floating just outside of the doorway. "Kraehe told me you would be coming…"

"Kraehe?"

"Un… she said I should just give in to you…"

That… that was strange. Incredibly strange. Kraehe didn't give up. Kraehe never just gave up.

"Hmm," Tutu mumbled thoughtfully, stepping forward towards the shard. Perhaps Rue finally helped her realize that what she was doing to the prince was wrong. At last…

"You can return to the prince, you know," she said gently, and extended a hand towards the shard. "I can help."

"But… but the prince…" The shard's lower lip jutted out petulantly as it shied away. "The prince cut us all out in the first place…"

"He won't do it again."

"Leave me alone. He'll cut me out again…"

"No, he—"

"Leave me alone!"

From nowhere the shard whipped a sword, as scarlet and translucent as it, and swung it at the princess' throat. She dropped back onto the ground to miss it, rolling backwards and to her knees in the same movement.

"No! Stop—"

"No!" The shard stared at her for a moment more, then dropped the sword, which disappeared as it hit the ground. It stumbled back for a few paces, then turned and ran.

"NO!"

In an instant, Tutu sprang to her feet and sprinted after it in pursuit. Yet no matter how fast she ran, it seemed that the shard was only pulling farther away—

So she bent her legs and leaped—

Her feet hit the ground several feet in front of the shard, and she was forced to pull a harried fouetté to face it. The shard had skidded to a complete halt when faced with her, and was now clutching its hands to its chest as if frightened that she would attack it.

"N-no… please don't…"

"You have to return," Tutu said, stepping forward to take the shard's hands. "Trust me, please. It'll be safe in Siegfried's heart."

"But I'm so frightened…"

"You'll be safe. I promise."

"… Okay."

With a sound somewhat like glass breaking, the shard disintegrated into its gem form. Tutu watched it closely for a moment and then tucked it inside a small white pouch dangling from her wrist.

"Okay, now to find Lohengrin," she muttered, until a voice from behind her made her freeze.

"Oh, I don't think you'll be going anywhere very soon, Princess Tutu."

--

It wasn't a very complicated plan, Kraehe reflected, stroking the contours of her prince's cheek. It was a simple matter to convince the poor, muddled subconscious of her waking self that Fear needed to be returned and the knight taken to the castle; a less simple matter to fight her way through the mass of swans surrounding the house where her prince was being imprisoned.

"My poor prince," she murmured. "They kept you like a prisoner without even thinking of what you might have wanted…"

Her fingers tangled in his hair, and a thin smile spread across her face. It had been equally easy to defeat that ridiculous knight and capture him, leaving him locked in the cells below. Tutu had been a problem, of course—until Kraehe had trapped her in the orb cage she'd been saving for such an occasion.

The raven sighed, satisfied, and laid her head on Siegfried's shoulder. He glanced down at her with no real interest. His fingers were entwined with those on her free hand – the one not twisted into his beautiful hair. Feathers from the edge of the nest were scattered across both of them.

It was much different now from the usual stolen moments she could have with Siegfried; perhaps now because she didn't have to worry about any errant princesses or knights barging in and stealing him.

Or perhaps…

No, that was idiotic to think. There was no way that either of them could escape, save waking up her other self, and she would anchor Rue to the Story if she had to; there was no way she would allow this moment—where it was just her controlling the prince—to be broken.

Until someone broke out of her cage…

Far below, Tutu was clamping her tongue between her teeth with the effort it took to manipulate the vine. A small tendril of green was poking into the lock of a cell door, several feet away from where her cage was dangling, and it made it very hard to see exactly what was going on.

"I heard something clicking," Lohengrin reported from inside the cell, eyes fixed on his sword lying a few feet from the door. "Try it again."

"Lohengrin, we've been at this for about an hour, can't you—"

"Tutu," the knight said in a deadly calm tone, "try it again."

The princess heaved a sigh and frowned in concentration, prodding with the vine until click- the door of the cell swung open and Lohengrin trudged out.

"Congratulations," he said sarcastically in her direction, and picked up the sword. "You can now unlock doors. You'd be an excellent thief."

He set off in the direction of the stairs, leaving Tutu to shout after him, "Lohengrin! Are you just going to leave me here?"

"Probably. I like you better when you're not fluttering around my head."

"Lohengrin."

The knight allowed himself a small smile and returned to Tutu's cage. "Stand back, idiot."

She stepped back a few paces, steadying herself against the bars of the orb, and with a noise like an iron bar being ripped in half, there was suddenly a very large hole in the other side. Lohengrin sheathed his sword and belted it on, and raised his hand to help her out.

"You're welcome."

"Pleasantries can be exchanged when we get out of here," the princess shot back, hurriedly stepping down from where the cage was suspended a few feet above the ground, and darted towards the stairs, knight in her wake. "The prince is probably with Kraehe, that's where he almost always is-"

"I know-"

"Then move faster!"

The princess stumbled abruptly at the midway point, staggering straight into a wall. Lohengrin paused, glancing at her with brief concern. "Tutu?"

"Shard's doing something," the swan panted, unlacing the mouth of the pouch. The shard's apparition appeared before the two, looking horrified. "You lied."

"I didn't-"

"It's not safe..."

"Yes, it-"

"You're not returning me..."

"Yes, I am," Tutu said desperately, reaching out to it. "You need to get back into the pouch and wait. Please, just wait-"

"No!"

The shard shied back, then sprinted up the stairs like it was being chased by the hounds of hell. Tutu set off in hot pursuit, leaving an incredibly confused Lohengrin to stare after her for a moment, then follow.

When the princess reached the top landing, the shard was nowhere in sight, but the pendant was glowing strongly... where was Kraehe? It seemed like whenever she came to this floor Kraehe was gone, or distracted... but she'd already stolen the prince right out from under their noses; what else could she be gone for?

"Rue might be holding her off," Lohengrin suggested, as if he could read her mind, and nodded towards her pendant. "Shard's near, I take it?"

"Yes. ... Lohengrin, could it have returned to Kraehe?"

The knight winced. "Oh, gods, I hope not... it's possible, though. Do we need a plan?"

"No. All we need to do is get the shard and get out... we can return it at the lake."

"Easier said than done," he mumbled, and drew his weapon.

They crept down the hall, Tutu with one hand over the brilliantly-glowing pendant, and approached the single door at the end. Behind it lay Kraehe's chambers; they'd run like madmen through it enough times to know their way around by heart. Lohengrin put a finger over his mouth to indicate she be quiet, and put his ear to the door.

Arguing with the shard, he mouthed, and Tutu pressed the side of her head to the door as well.

"What do you mean, you escaped?!" Kraehe shrieked, and took a furious swing at the shard. It ducked the blow, stepping farther back from the angry raven.

"She opened the bag and I ran... it wasn't safe... she lied, she's not returning me..."

"She'd better," Kraehe ground out. "You are as annoying as a stake under my toenail."

"Sorry..."

Huffing angrily, Kraehe gave the shard a dismissive wave and moved to her prince, who was sitting listlessly in the corner. "I apologize, my prince, the shard wishes only to disturb us."

"Un... it's okay..."

Pure and stupid, she thought bitterly, and took a seat besides him, curling him close into a possessive embrace. "And Tutu cannot possibly come now... she'll stay down in her cage until I deem it right for her to return that shard..."

Her lovely trap. It was a very simple plan, but well-executed anyway. She laid her head on Siegfried's shoulder and her hand on his hand. "Poor Siegfried... you'll always be dumb and doll-like. I'll shut you away once this new shard's returned until you can't feel anything, not even fear. You will only be able to be mine, and to love only me."

The last word had barely left her mouth when the door banged open and in barged a very tall, very dark, and really pissed-off knight.

"Not anytime soon, you bitch," he snarled, and raised his sword.

--

The shard gave a gasp of terror and dived for Kraehe, melting into her form just as Tutu burst in behind Lohengrin. The raven raised an eyebrow and stood, leaving Siegfried to watch the stand-off that was definitely about to happen.

"You escaped," she said neutrally. "I didn't expect that to happen."

"Thank Tutu and her vines," the knight said shortly, and behind him, said Tutu rolled her eyes. "Now give the prince up, Kraehe, or would you prefer we took him?"

"Took him?" The crow laughed caustically, folding her arms in front of her chest. "You can't take him. He's mine."

"Kraehe," Tutu said softly, stepping around from behind Lohengrin. As the knight stared in disbelief at her, the princess lifted her hands. "Why are you so protective of Siegfried? Why do you hurt him as you do?" she continued, twirling her hands, then stepped forward. "I want to know. What are you so afraid of?"

"Afraid?" Kraehe barked out a laugh and smacked away Tutu's offering hand. "I am not afraid. I am not afraid..."

"I want to know how you feel."

Once more the outstretched hand was offered, and Kraehe stared at it for a long while.

Then she stepped back, shaking her head no. (1)

"I am not afraid," she said quietly. "I am not afraid."

As she spoke, she began to dance, stepping slowly and lightly. "I am not afraid," she continued, movement becoming swifter. Her shoes slapped on the stone below her feet as she began to turn effortless fouettés. "Fear is not what I feel. No. You want to know what I feel, Princess Tutu of the swans?"

She leaped suddenly into a grand jeté, landing on the stone behind Tutu, and whirled around to face her in an impressively swift rond de jambe.

"I am angry."

Tutu reached out towards the crow once more, and this time Kraehe took it, dragging the swan towards her with a vicious snarl on her features. "Every time you try to take my prince from me. Every time. I am simply a crow. I have no wants."

Aggressively, she whirled into an arabesque, hands curled like claws. "Now you will take my prince away from me! And you would return his heart to him? All the shards?! Including fear!" She returned to making fouettés, emphasizing each word with a turn. "Rage! Hate! Cruelty! Envy! Betrayal! Sorrow!"

She flew into a fouetté jeté as she turned, landing a few feet away and spinning once more to confront Tutu. The swan sprang into the air after her, landing in a graceful failli, and held out her hands once more.

"You would take him from me," Kraehe murmured, and suddenly crumpled to her knees, shaking. "You would take him from me, and return the shards that would make him hate me…"

She put her face in her hands, shuddering. If he had his heart, he wouldn't love her… he would hate her… and all that she had done…

She was so afraid of that…

The shard unfolded itself from her body, casting a last look at the girl whose heart it had rested in, and stepped forward to grasp Tutu's hand with insubstantial fingers. "I want to go back to Siegfried… his heart… it needs me…"

Tutu nodded, and the shard condensed into its gem form.

She regarded it for a moment with something akin to nervousness, then turned towards Siegfried, who was watching her with a half-blank stare. Tutu cleared her throat. "… We'll return this at the lake, Prince."

"Okay…"

As she tucked the shard inside the white pouch again, Lohengrin cast a disgusted look at the quivering Kraehe and sheathed his sword. He stepped forward to grasp Siegfried's hand tightly, and Tutu reached out and took the prince's other hand.

They reappeared at the lake, and the first thing that Tutu noticed were the bodies of swans scattered about the house.

Only some were bloodied, but all that were stained with red were, quite obviously, dead, surrounded by mourning fellows. She let out a pained cry and fell to her knees, scooping the nearest feathered corpse into her arms. "No… oh, gods, no…"

Lohengrin regarded the carnage with hard green eyes, and glanced down at the prince. "Tutu, what about the shard?"

"They're dead," she whispered, apparently oblivious to the knight's words. "Oh, gods, Lohengrin, they're all dead. We made them guard the prince, we made them guard the prince. They're dead because of us…"

"Don't be stupid. They're dead because of Kraehe." His eyes narrowed at the bodies. "Are… they all…?"

"No," Tutu murmured, still cradling the body of the dead swan. "Just some of the ones that we set… she didn't have to kill them!"

"Ravens are all the same," Lohengrin noted bitterly, and then dragged Tutu up by the shoulder. "Return the shard. That's all you can do for now. We can take care of the bodies later."

Tutu stumbled forward awkwardly, the weight of the corpse in her arms making her slightly top-heavy, until she regained her balance and carefully lay the swan down again. "I don't understand how she could do this…"

"She's a raven." Unconsciously, Lohengrin tightened his grip on Siegfried's hand. "They're all the same. They want blood and carnage and death."

Hands still shaking, the swan carefully extracted the shard from its pouch and turned towards the prince.

"Shard, return to Siegfried," she muttered, and the shard glided out of her hand and sank into the prince's chest.

He gasped, much like before, and his hold on Lohengrin's hand tightened. The prince suddenly pressed closer towards the knight, looking around frantically. "K-Kraehe…"

"She's not here," Lohengrin said soothingly. "She won't take your heart."

"I-I-but I can feel—"

As before, he let out a strangled noise and went limp in the knight's arms. The muscles of Lohengrin's neck visibly tightened with irritation and no small amount of worry. "Mytho probably woke up again. Stay here and keep an eye out for Kraehe. Fakir will wake Ahiru up if she's needed."

Tutu nodded listlessly, and as the knight slumped to the ground, she sat down, pulling one of the mourning, living swans into her lap.

--

When Fakir sat up, Mytho was quite obviously, already awake.

The pale boy's hand was clenched over his heart, and in the dim light cast from the lamp, Fakir could see his expression was tortured. "No… I can't… I am not…"

"Mytho?"

Mytho suddenly glanced up at Fakir, and – was it his imagination, or did the smaller boy's eyes seem to be tainted… pink?

"Fakir," he murmured, and laughed softly. "Oh, Fakir. You remain so oblivious to your other self's wants… blame it on protectiveness, if you will, but I know…" His eyes glittered. "You're quite moronic, once you think on it."

"What?"

"Oh, ignore me," Mytho said lazily, lying back down on the bed. "I just find it astonishing that everyone treats me like a possession, that's all."

"Lohengrin and Tutu don't—"

"Fakir," the pale boy interrupted in an entirely different tone, "when do you think Siegfried's heart will be totally returned?"

"… I don't… know…"

"Oh." Mytho was quiet for a moment. "I'd like to get it back, though. All of it."

"I know."

"Night, Fakir."

"… Night, Mytho."

The lamp clicked off, and Fakir lay back down, staring at the ceiling through the blackness.

What could Mytho mean… what his other self wanted?

It's nothing, Lohengrin said shortly. Nothing at all.

I'm sure.

That's not the point, Fakir. Something's changed about Mytho. Didn't you sense it?

Well, yes… Fakir turned over, regarding the other sleeping boy with bewilderment. He's never acted like that before…

The shards are changing him. And not for the better.

You're being ridiculous.

The only response was an indignant huff from his other self, and then silence. Fakir closed his eyes. Drama in the Story or not, they had class tomorrow and sleep was needed.

--

Worlds from there, worlds from there.

In a shadowy castle in the northern reaches of the Story, a shadow dressed in feathers clutched a scarlet jewel in her hand and a deep orange gem in the other. Carefully shielding her actions from the subconscious of her other self, the shadow placed the faceted jewel on the smooth pendant and wrapped a silver chain about both.

"It saddens me that we've come to this," whispered the shadow, placing the entire bundle in a shallow basin. "But unfortunately, there is no other way."

Damn you, Kraehe. You knew you shouldn't have woven that net so quickly. One pulled thread, and it all falls apart.

She beckoned over one of her raven servants, and it approached, carrying in its talons a long vial filled with wine-colored liquid. She waved the raven away without so much as a thank you and pulled the stopper.

A thick, red, viscous matter oozed out of the vial and filled the basin, and as it stilled, Kraehe could see her reflection, shown back to her in blood.

"Now, my prince," she murmured, "you and your beautiful other self will be all mine."

AN: Uh, yeah. X3; Not exactly a hissy fit, I grant you, but enough to give Lohengrin some suspicions.

I know next to nothing about ballet, so uh, if you feel like correcting me, please do so.

RodentOfUnusualSize- Sorry about the lack of hissy fit. D: But shard drama indeed, so happy birthday anyway?

Foxy-chan09- yey, another follower! *stoked* Yes, the girls totally did do it by accident. Hence Mytho and Rue sharing a bed.

Next time on One Time, One Dream: Ahiru's new accessory does some freaky stuff, Lohengrin's suspicions make him do bad things, and then everything whites out.