The Counterfeit Dios Saga

Chapter 1 – An Unfortunate Requiem

The was the sound of dripping near her ear, soft a quiet, followed by a soft chime, much like water hitting crystal. Anthy shifted, and turned her head, opening her eyes slowly in time to see a pale tear roll down the rim of a glass coffin. A glass coffin? Like something from that story. That fairy tale. Snow White. Anthy pushed up from the shapeless ground beneath her. Darkness surrounded her; thick and unyielding like a blanket. The coffin before her was the only thing that broke the stretch of shadow, the glowing light of it not piercing the darkness but offering a haven from it.

Another tear then, a crystalline sound coming from within the coffin. Anthy leaned close and tried to see through the clear polished glass but couldn't. Her eyes seemed to blur or go out of focus every time she attempted to concentrate on the coffin's contents. Someone was inside! Someone inside was crying!

"Hold...hold on!" Anthy rose to her knees. How had she gotten here? Where was she? "I'll get you out!" She'd been on a train hadn't she? And there'd been a crash. Was she dead? "Don't worry." Anthy braced her hands against the coffin's heavy lid and pushed. The grading sound of glass on glass rang through the darkness as a thin crack appeared allowing Anthy to see the face of the person inside. And when she did she gasped and screamed.

"Miss Utena!"

The coffin shattered suddenly, huge dagger sized shards of glass flinging outwards and piercing Anthy through the chest and stomach. Like the swords of long ago. Through the haze of pain she could see Utena falling, slowly as if through molasses. Tears gathered as she stretched out a hand towards the strawberry haired girl through her pain.

"Miss Utena!"

The girl's eyes opened a fraction, and her lips worked in a quiet murmur "Mayakashi. The stone....halls." And then she disappeared into the darkness.

Anthy slipped to her knees with the wait and pain of the glass shards that protruded from her. "Miss Utena." Before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"She's coming around!"

Light slashed into her vision as she opened her eye the slightest bit. The unfamiliar voice sound painful and unusually loud in her ear. Pain sliced into her mind suddenly and her body suddenly began to shake and shiver of it's own accord. Fire races up her body and along her nerves searing them with pain. What was going on? She parted her lips to call Utena's name again but a scream emerged instead.

"Quick! Dose her now!"

Anthy felt a light prick in her arm, like a bee sting and after a moment the shaking stilled and the pain retreated and drifted from her mind like a mist.

Anthy felt the touch of a callused yet cool hand and she opened her eyes to look at the unfamiliar face above her. An elder man, with a balding head, two tufts of silver gray curls on either side of his head. Wrinkles created ridges along his forehead. His brown eyes were wide with compassion and worry. Puppy dog eyes.

"Who are you?" She questioned him, her voice sounding weak and low even to her own ears.

"I'm Doctor Hajime. You gave us quite a scare Miss Himemiya." Doctor? She was in a hospital then. There had been a train wreck.

"How do you know my name?"

"It was on your bags. The train's baggage car managed to avoid damage. All other luggage was picked up by love ones or the owners themselves. Only your was left. We were sure when we saw the name matched this school ID we found in your pocket." He said lifting up her school card that bored a picture of her. Anthy resisted cringing at the quiet picture of her and Chu-Chu in the card. "A student huh? You transferring here then?"

Anthy nodded without even realizing the lie, still transfixed by the ID he had handed over to her, holding the glossing, laminated card between her hands quietly.

"Can't say I'm surprised." The doctor went on. "Ever since the town improved a few months ago we've been getting new students like crazy. I'll just call the academy then so they don't worry. With a bit of rest you'll be just fine."

Just fine? Anthy glanced down at herself. Her arms were marred by blue and violet discoloration that stood out in the cinnamon hue of her complexion. She tried to move her arms but they felt strangely heavy and the pressure she was putting on them stung as if needles had suddenly been stabbed into her flesh.

School? How could she go to school? She didn't even belong her. She had to go on searching for Utena especially after that dream she had. But she couldn't tell this doctor that now? Not when she could barely move.

"Is there anyone you'd like to call before I go?" He went on.

Anthy paused thoughtfully still staring at the card. Someone she wanted to call. She thought about the people back at the school; Touga, Saionji, Juri, Miki. She shook her head and the doctor nodded.

"Alright then. I'll just let Mayakashi know you're here then."

Anthy's eyes widened suddenly and she lifted her head again to look at him. "Mayakashi?"

"Mayakashi Academy." Anthy's breath caught as she remembered Utena saying the same word in her dream. "I'm not surprised you don't remember. Your short-term memory must be damaged as well. Rest will cure that. I have someone bring some food us for you in a little while." He said before walking out of the room.

The nurse turned to smile at her. "Is there anything you would like from your bags?" Anthy would have liked to ask for the picture of her and Utena she had packed away but she simply shook her head instead.

The nurse smiled again. "Alright then. In that case, just do as the doctor said and get some sleep." She placed a small remote control on the table next to Anthy's bed. "Just press that button if you need anything." Before she too exited.

Anthy sighed and turned her head to gaze out the window parallel to her. The hospital must have been on a hill because wild fields stretched from beneath her window outward then suddenly cut of giving view to a city bellow it. A huge white building rose tall among the other buildings below, the golden hands of a black clock flashing the light of the high afternoon sun.

Mayakashi Academy. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that she came here? Was that were Utena was? Was she a student at that Academy now? Did she even remember anything?

Anthy's eyes drifted close as the scent of roses and cut grass drifted in from a crack in the window, a soft breeze brushing across her cheek like a caress and stirring the violet curls, spread out across her pillow and she drifted of into a quiet sleep.

'Utena. I'll keep chasing you. Wait for me'