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power and control
—the rise of the king and the fall of the prince (there were never any queens here).
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It’s the three of them at the end. Four if you want to get technical, Utena thinks, glancing at the man in front of her. He isn’t like her, taunt with steady eyes, shifty eyes, she thinks. He has tousled hair and thin lips with eyes that hold no malice, despite the gun he has in his hands.
“You aren’t supposed to be here.” She states. Her voice is more leveled than usual, and she wonders if this is because nothing could surprise her after these past two days.
“I’m not,” he acknowledges.
“But you are.” She states once again, her pink hair tumbling to the side as she tilts her head.
He doesn’t say anything after that, just glances at the third member, Anthy, and looks back at her. Utena finds herself walking in front of Anthy, eyes narrowed toward the man and her hands gripping her blade’s handle.
She won’t be fooled by love again.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” Akio says and the gun falls out of his hand and lands with a soft thud. “I’m here to offer you a way out.”
Utena looks at him again, puzzled, but Akio pays no mind and continues. “I’m here to save you,” he says with earnest eyes. “I’m here to take you away from this island, I’m here to fake your death.”
Her eyes widen.
“What about Anthy?” She asks, glancing back at the forgotten girl. Anthy wears a placid smile, upon her gaze for a brief moment. As if the conversation going on in front of her won’t end up having repercussions for her. As if the conversation going on in front of her won’t hurt her too.
“Don’t worry about me, Utena-sama,” she says, a soft smile playing on her lips.
“How can I not worry about you?” Utena exclaims in response.
“Don’t worry about her, Utena,” Akio states. He has a gentle smile, and his tone is soft, genuine. “Anthy will be released by winning.” He says.
“I could be released by winning! Anthy hasn’t hurt a single person here! She hasn’t killed a single person here!” Utena argues, her voice rising with every word. She pauses for a second, “I thought you were a prince,” she whispers, voice hollow.
“A prince can’t save his sister.” He states.
The prince fucks his sister, she thinks bitterly.
“I will save Anthy. I will not leave her here. And you, you aren’t a prince any longer,” she says.
“I saved you once, didn’t I?” Akio says, reaching out to stroke her hair, but she jerks back in response.
“That wasn’t you, that was Dios.” Utena says smoothly. Neither notice Anthy tense at the name.
“Perhaps the prince has grown into a king.” Akio responds.
“A king has no business with princesses.”
“The king just lost his queen,” he says and Utena flinches and thinks back to Kanae Ohtori.
“You don’t have to bear the guilt any longer, we could be together. Nothing keeping us apart” He says, and this time Utena can’t bring herself to jerk back at his touch. His hands are cold, but Utena suspects that his heart isn’t very warm, at least not anymore.
“I don’t want that!” She exclaims, looking back at Anthy for a second.
Akio says nothing, his lips in a straight line and Utena isn’t sure what he is thinking anymore, finding herself stepping back towards Anthy, until a sharp pain pierces her from her back.
And then it’s over.
And then there is a blade in her abdomen, softly killing her and she finds herself kneeling over, struggling to stand on the soft grass. And Anthy is softly killing her with placid smile and soft voice whispering, “Sorry Utena-sama.” But she doesn’t seem that sorry at all as she glances at her brother.
“Never trust a witch,” Akio whispers in her ears as he holds her bridal style. His voice is warm, hot in her ears she thinks. But she doesn’t blush. She looks at him with heavy lidded eyes and hears the blades of a helicopter. As they board the helicopter the last thing she sees is Anthy waving goodbye. But this time the smile is different.
Bitter. Tired. Staged. As if she’s played this part many times before.
And somewhere beyond the cliff, the shadow girls are dancing.