Prologue: Drosselmeyer’s Return

Prologue: Drosselmeyer’s Return

Danse Macabre

In Gold Crown Town, some twenty-odd years ago, Princess Tutu nearly sacrificed her life to save the heart of Prince Siegfried, also known as Mytho. Using her powers, she was able to give him the shard back, and his heart became whole. He married the Lady Rue, also known as Princess Kraehe, and they returned to his storybook world. Ahiru, the girl behind Princess Tutu, stayed with her beloved Fakir, and they married. Now, they live in a small farmhouse outside town. They have a successful business, both having graduated school. Fakir stopped dancing and became an author, famous for finishing the story of The Prince and The Raven. Ahiru kept up her training, and is now a prima ballerina. At their wedding, to the surprise of everyone, especially the bridesmaids Pique and Lillie, they performed a flawless pas de deux to Swan Lake, Ahiru’s favorite ballet. They have two children; the younger of the two is a four-year-old girl named Mai, who has Ahiru’s flaming red hair and Fakir’s chocolate-brown eyes. The elder sibling is a sixteen-year-old boy named Hakuchou, who has Fakir’s dark green-black hair and Ahiru’s deep cerulean blue orbs. Hakuchou is a dance student at Gold Crown Academy, and Mai would be attending Gold Crown Prep next year, to move to the Academy at age twelve. Hakuchou rooms at the Academy, but comes home for the holidays and the Fire Festival. Rue and Siegfried also have a son, a seventeen-year-old prince named Mytho, in honor of his father’s name while he had amnesia. Mytho is also training to be a dancer, and this is how the two’s paths will cross. Our story begins, however, on a slightly darker note. In the woods, a tall, dark-clothed woman is pulling the unconscious body of a blue-haired middle-aged man behind her. She stops at a lone, imposing stone, once part of a graveyard that has long been reclaimed by the woods around it. The aged, weathered stone bears the inscription GUNTER DROSSELMEYER, 1345-1420. The man had been incredibly old for the time, living a full seventy-three years. The girl, one of his descendants, is a sorceress named Zabina. Zabina lied the unconscious man over the grave, and drew a bottle out of her cloak. She uncorked it, and spilled its glowing contents around the man in a circle. She began speaking in the old tongue of sorcery, one that resembles no language spoke by men.

“Tze denecrados verr aribus enus tehisto ahrehaa thoo varc achein. Soein eencsetsar, Drosselmeyer, ehrizen tando tacin uvbear tze budie af teish hemranseuo.” She said, and raised her hands. She held up a vial of raven’s blood, and drew an inverted pentacle on the tomb. The smell of sulfer filled the air, and the outline of the grave glowed bright blue. A translucent, mist like substance rose from the grave and entered the man’s mouth. He woke then, spasming violently as the force overtook his body. A second, light blue mist rose from his mouth, and Zabina trapped it with a swoop of a bottle. She quickly corked it. The man’s hair slowly turned white, the whites of his eyes became yellow, and his irises became red rings with pure white pupils. He rose to his feet, looking down at his hands.

“I’m… alive? But how?” he asked, his wizened voice seeming out-of-place in this relatively young body.

“Yes, Herr Drosselmeyer. Welcome back to the world of the living.” Said Zabina, standing up. She lowered her sorceress’s hood to reveal her impeccable blonde hair and shimmering red eyes, which were identical to the man’s.

“So a relative of mine has awakened me from my slumber in the body of a Writer. May I ask why?” he said, leaning against his tombstone.

“Simple. To write a sequel to the Prince And The Raven that will undo the happy ending written by the characters. We will bring the Raven back, and throw two star-crossed lovers along the path. The son of a knight becomes a hero, who will attemp to kill the Raven, only to be killed in turn by his lover, taken over by raven’s blood.”

“I see.” Said Drosselmeyer, stroking his chin. “I like it!” Zabina smiled, and handed him a blank book, a quill, and an inkwell. Drosselmeyer sat on the foot of his grave, dipped the nib of the quill in the ink, and began to write a new tragedy, one that will throw the once-peaceful lives of the citizens of Gold Crown Town back into chaos.