Akt. 1 [Blumenwalzer]

Once upon a time, there was a man that died.

The man was a writer, and was working on a story about a brave and handsome prince that would vanquish a crafty Raven, thus saving another prince from captivity, before he died. But since the man died, the battle between the prince and the Raven, along with the other prince’s captivity, seemed to continue for all of eternity.

“I’m sick and tired of this!” said the crafty Raven.
“I’m sick and tired of this!” said the brave and handsome Prince.
“I’m sick and tired of this!” said the Prince in captivity.

Eventually, the Raven then fled from the pages of the story they were trapped in, flying into the town the man who died once called home. The Prince fighting them, however, knew that the Raven would be up to no good in the town, so he sealed the Raven inside the town, taking and shattering his own heart, using forbidden magic.

This forbidden magic not only sealed the evil Raven away, but also scattered the parts of the Prince’s heart across the whole town, not only freeing the Prince from the story, but also leaving only the emotions of anger and apathy left in the Prince’s heart.

The other Prince, however, was left behind in captivity, and was quickly becoming bored and frustrated, unable to do anything to help.

As the Raven and the Prince left the story, the old man who was supposed to be dead said, “Wait, this is great!”

Noriaki Kakyoin had recently transferred to a boarding school in Germany, called Gold Crown Town. It was a quaint town, and despite its smallness, it was teeming with life and friendliness of the villagers. The boarding school in particular was known for its academic achievements, and was one of the sole reasons why Noriaki Kakyoin transferred to the school in the first place. The only downside to the boarding school, however, was the mandatory ballet dance classes that both girls and boys had to take, strangely enough. Although, he had heard that most boys skip out on those classes in particular, and would get away with it, well, sometimes.

Kakyoin was on his way to school, heading out of the boys’ dormitory, seeing a strange sight near the fountain outside both the girls’ and boys’ dormitories. It was a crowd of girls swarming around a singular boy, one wearing the same uniform as him, save for the fact he was wearing a purple peaked cap, one decorated with gold emblems, such as a gold crown and a square with a hand on it. Stopping in place, he took the strange sight in.

“Hello, Jojo!” said one girl in the crowd.
“Good morning, Jojo!” said another.
“How are you today, Jojo?”

The greeting and fussing continued from the girls, each seemingly calling the boy ‘Jojo’, for some strange reason. Eventually, the boy called ‘Jojo’ moved out of the crowd of girls, looking less than pleased as the girls continued to follow him. Kakyoin hung out in the back of the crowd, playing with his red jewel necklace.

He had gotten it as a gift from his parents, before he transferred to the boarding school in Gold Crown Town. Looking down at it, he watched it glimmer in the sunlight, emitting a soft red glow as he smiled. Looking back up, he then saw the crowd of girls surrounding the boy approach a set of stairs, only to hear a crashing sound as it seemed that the boy fell down it, possibly tripped by a girl accidentally.

The girls screamed in terror, crying out various ‘Jojo!’ and ‘Are you okay?!’. Standing at the top of the stairs, he saw the swarm of girls handing the boy various colors of handkerchiefs, as he had gotten a bloody nose from the fall.

“Leave me alone, goddammit!” The boy cried out, surprisingly enough, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “I don’t need any of your damn handkerchiefs!” The boy then continued to threaten the girls, but the girls continued on with their offerings.

Kakyoin descended down the stairs, taking out his own handkerchief from his bag. Despite the fact that it seemed like the boy wouldn’t take his handkerchief either, it wouldn’t hurt to try, would it? Pushing his way through the crowd of girls (which was surprisingly easy, despite the fact that the girls looked at him strangely as he did so), he tapped the boy on the shoulder.

“Here, have mine,” Kakyoin offered, attempting to hand him his handkerchief. The boy just looked at him strangely in response as blood dripped down his nose, however.

And then, out of nowhere, the boy slapped him, sending him flying backwards.

“I said I don’t need a handkerchief, idiot!” The boy cried out, looking at Kakyoin as he laid down on the ground in surprise. He then started to walk away.

Kakyoin quickly stood up, completely blown away by the boy’s behavior. Snapping back into reality, he cried out as the boy walked away, rubbing his cheek, “You know, I was only trying to be nice! You should’ve at least accepted it!”

The boy stopped in place, as if debating something, but made a hmph and continued on, wiping the blood from his nose on his sleeve. The girls continued following him, however, despite the act of violence that came from the boy, even shooting Kakyoin some dirty looks.

“What is his problem…” Kakyoin whispered as he rubbed his cheek in soreness. “What a jerk too…”

He then heard the sound of the school bell ringing, making him realize that he was running late, causing him to rush ahead towards school. He couldn’t help but think of the awfully rude boy as he ran, however, thinking about slapping some sense into him back after school.

Turns out that after school, however, was the mandatory ballet class, one that Kakyoin forced himself to attend, only due to the fact that he didn’t want to risk being the one who gets punished from time to time for not attending.

At the ballet barre, Kakyoin looked out the window, half-heartedly practicing the five basic positions of ballet. He would have to wait later tonight it seemed, to talk some sense into the rude boy he encountered in the morning.

Suddenly, something hit his side, causing him to jolt upwards and look to the side.

A gray and white cat was standing there, standing upright and wearing a green shirt and dark gray leggings. It then spoke, saying, “Straighten your back, and stop daydreaming!”

Kakyoin stared at it for a second, then said in disbelief, “You’re a cat.”

The classroom then went even more silent (there were barely any boys in class to begin with).

The cat’s ears twitched in annoyance. It then spoke up again, saying, “That’s Mr. Cat to you, boy!”

Kakyoin then processed that information, realizing that the cat was the ballet teacher. He just talked back to a teacher. Oh dear god.

“This is why I preferred to teach the girls’ class…” Mr. Cat then said. “Anyways, like I said, straighten your back, and stop daydreaming!”

Kakyoin proceeded to do exactly as told, trying to ignore the blaring sense of strangeness at the fact that a cat was his ballet teacher. Straightening his back, he went back to practicing the five basic positions of ballet, much to the approval of Mr. Cat, who nodded in response.

Actual after-school finally came, and Kakyoin headed back to the dormitory, absolutely exhausted. Ballet was harder than he thought, and Mr. Cat just worsened it. On his way back to the dormitory, he listened to the birdsong around him, the tweeting of canaries and sparrows. He stopped by the fountain in front of the two dormitories, sitting down on the ledge of it, resting his legs for a moment.

He then proceeded to think about the dream he had, the night before his first day of class, resting his forehead on his hand.

“I’m sick and tired of this!” He cried out in utter boredom. Being stuck in a birdcage, forever trapped in a never-ending story was maddening, and he was the only one left in the story, as the Prince who was supposed to save him had left, along with his captor, the Raven. And it seemed like he would be trapped here forever, unable to do anything about his own ambiguous fate.

Plopping down on the bed that was kept in the dark-iron birdcage, he then huffed, “I’d do anything to get out of this damn birdcage! Someone just let me out already!”

He gasped and bolted upright in the bed. “Who’s there?!” he cried out. “Show yourself!”

The book-page colored sky turned dark, and two gigantic orange colored eyes appeared in the midst of the darkness, frightening him.

“My Author…?” He replied. He then remembered something. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be dead?!”

He looked down at first, in deep thought. “Yes, yes I did,” He answered, looking back up at the orange eyes in the sky.

“You do…?” He replied, feeling skeptical.

“He did?!” He replied in shock. He did remember seeing the other Prince, his supposed savior, stab his heart with his sword, after all… “Wait, you aren’t saying that I should—!”

“Prince Tutu…?” He said, confused. He had never heard that name before, but if becoming them would release him from the book’s pages, thus getting him out of the birdcage…

“I’ll do it,” He then said firmly, making his choice.

He then felt woozy, passing out on the cold iron floor of the birdcage.

“What a strange night…” Kakyoin muttered to himself. Being a Prince trapped in a story seemed ridiculous to him, especially if it was never going to end. And what kind of name is ‘Prince Tutu’? Thank goodness it was just a dream, however, as that would be silly if it were true.

Kakyoin jolted upright. Seeing nobody around, he chalked up the strange, yet familiar voice to his imagination.

Even if he thought he was hearing things, Kakyoin listened to the voice, looking at the third story of the boys’ dormitory, spotting an open bay window, its white curtains blowing in the wind. There was a birds’ nest on the roof gutter next to it, and some birds were flying around it, save for a single chick that was stuck in the nest. A black bird was swooping around the nest, trying to grab the single chick left, to which the mother bird was defending.

And to both his surprise and horror, the rude boy he encountered earlier that day stepped on the windowsill, halfway out the window and dressed in light pajamas.

“Are you crazy?!” Kakyoin cried out to the rude boy, who didn’t even look at him. “Get back inside!”

Suddenly, the chick in the nest fell out, dodging the black bird’s talons. The rude boy suddenly dove out the window as well, catching the chick but plummeting down towards the ground.

“Die?!” Kakyoin cried out in horror. Although he didn’t like him, he didn’t want the boy to die! He then rushed towards the area where the rude boy was going to fall, desperate to save him from his oncoming doom. Time seemed to slow down however, and Kakyoin was fighting against it, trying to push himself through the invisible barriers.

Suddenly, the red jewel necklace around his neck started to glow in a bright red light. His school uniform changed into a white leotard and tights, with pink ballet slippers, and the upper-half of the leotard turning into a gold and white prince’s shirt. A gold crown formed on his head, and a white feathered headpiece wrapped around his ears and the back of his head. The necklace changed as well, turning into a red and blue stained glass pendant, decorated and rimmed with red jewels and gold, shaped almost like a dragonfly.

As much as he wanted to stop and stare at the sudden changes, Kakyoin’s urgency to save the boy falling from the window overwhelmed that desire. His body felt lighter, and he gracefully leapt over the flower bushes blocking him from the spot where the boy was going to fall onto.

“Flower Waltz!” He cried out, summoning a flurry of pink flower petals as he did a pirouette. The pink petals flew around him, eventually building a pile of flowers where the boy was going to fall. The boy then fell onto the soft pile of flowers, okay and safe from harm.

Kakyoin lightly stepped on the flowers, heading towards the fallen boy on the tips of his toes. Standing on the tip of one foot, he bent down, raising the other leg in the air, and picked up the fallen boy by the hand and lowered his leg once more. The boy stood up and stared at him for a while, and the small chick was released from his other hand, flying away.

“To think I was able to save you, my Prince,” Kakyoin said softly, looking at the boy with a smile on his face. “It feels like a dream come true.”

“W-Who the hell are you?” The boy sputtered out, albeit sounding angry.

Kakyoin was confused by the mysterious voice. What did it mean by ‘he said it’?

He let go of the boy’s hand, and started to run away, covering his mouth in fear. The mysterious voice didn’t actually mean that he would—!

“Hey, where the hell are you going?! You didn’t even answer my question!” The boy cried out, stretching his hand out towards Kakyoin.

Kakyoin ran into a nearby forest, feeling woozy. He then proceeded to pass out, fading away as he fell.

He woke up in the birdcage once more, lying on the bed inside. Rubbing his forehead, he remembered being outside the story, roaming around freely in Gold Crown Town. Blinking for a couple seconds, he realized that the dream was true, he really was a Prince that was stuck in a never-ending story. Jumping out of the bed, he quickly ran to the rim of his cage, shaking the bars in anger, upset at himself for believing that he would ever be free from the story.

He looked back up at the sky, seeing his Author’s eyes staring back down at him, the sky pitch black. “A-Are you talking about the word ‘dream’?” He sputtered out in confusion.

He took his hands off of the bars. He then asked his Author, “Then if I mention that word and come back here, then how do I get back there, out of the story?”

“Yes, of course!” He replied, feeling like his Author was being stupid. “If it means getting out of this story, then of course!”

He nodded in response, rushing back to the bed in the birdcage, getting under the covers and closing his eyes, hearing his Author’s voice chuckle all the while.

Kakyoin then proceeded to fall out of a book, plummeting into the academy’s library. Groaning as he picked himself, he looked around, seeing nobody around miraculously enough. He didn’t want to explain where he came from, and why he fell out of a book of all things!

Breathing a sigh of relief, he stood back up and turned around, finding the book he fell out of and taking it off of the shelf. The title read ‘Drosselmeyer’s Book of Fairytales’, which he knew was the name of his Author, and thus creator. He then heard footsteps to the right of him, causing him to look that way.

There was a young woman with green hair, dressed like a librarian, with a serene yet slightly emotionless smile on her face, standing to the right of him. “May those who accept their fate find happiness. May those who defy it find glory,” She said in a monotone and soft voice.

Kakyoin looked at her strangely, however, confused by the strange lady’s statement.

“You fell out of the book,” She then said monotonously, disturbingly enough.

He was about to dispute that fact, but was quickly silenced by the strange lady.

“Don’t worry, I already know what and who you are.”

“W-What do you mean by that?” He sputtered out, even more confused now.

“You are one of the two Princes from the unfinished story in that book,” The lady answered, nodding slowly, but showing no emotion. “And you have been tasked by your Author to collect the other Prince’s Heart Shards, in order to restore his heart.”

Kakyoin grimaced. “Who exactly are you?” He then asked the strange lady.

“I am Edel,” The lady answered. She then gestured to the whole library, saying, “I am the Librarian, and more specifically I have been tasked by your Author, Drosselmeyer, to help you.”

“Help me how?” He then asked.

“By providing guidance on how to find the Prince’s Heart Shards,” Edel answered. “I also suggest you check out that book in your hands, after all, you don’t want your way out to fall in the wrong hands, don’t you?”

“R-Right,” Kakyoin nodded, agreeing with Edel’s idea. “I’ll check this book out, then.”

“This way, then,” Edel replied. She then led him to the library’s checkout counter, and Kakyoin handed her the book in order to check it out.

“...You wouldn’t happen to know where a Heart Shard would be, by chance?” Kakyoin then asked, looking to the side. Even if she did say that she would ‘provide guidance on how to find the Prince’s Heart Shards’, he didn’t trust her fully yet and was completely skeptical on who she was in the first place.

“Yes, I do,” Edel replied, much to Kakyoin’s surprise. “I suggest you look into the girls’ ballet class, the junior course. You’ll find a Heart Shard there, with one of the students.” She then handed him back the copy of ‘Drosselmeyer’s Book of Fairytales’, saying, “Have a good evening, and come again.”

Kakyoin nodded in response. “I certainly will,” He replied, taking the book and leaving the library, heading back to the boys’ dormitory.