rakuen | 2nd Petal: Souvenir

Entry tags:

2nd Petal: Souvenir

Characters: Utena, OPEN
Format: prose
This log is: open
Location: infirmary
Summary: after fainting in class, Utena wakes up
Warnings: pretentious mythological and mystical references

Utena saw herself falling into a pit of roses and thorns in slow motion. Black pressed around. At the top of her dream, a knight in gleaming red and silver armor held a hand out for her to grab. But the knight was too late and she fell, screaming, knowing the thorns would get her.

At the end of that fall was consciousness. She sat up abruptly, breathing hard and clutching still at the spot on her chest and back where it hurt. The pain quickly faded in the white light though. She found she was in a white bed, with white walls and sheets. In other beds, other students, vaguely familiar to her, slept peacefully.

Looking to her left, she saw that not everyone with her was asleep though.

[OOC: Feel free to have heard that she fainted and find her there. Multiple threads fine.]

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Sherlock is sitting in a chair, reading a book.

He doesn't look up when she stirs, but he does say, "Afternoon, miss."

For a moment, Utena sees nothing but a sillhouette in a red gown where Sherlock sits. After a moment the illusion fades though and she makes a confused noise.

"Sherlock?"

At that, he closes his book.

"Yes. Are you all right?"

(Sherlock doesn't look too well himself. There are dark circles under his eyes and he seems to be having a little trouble focusing. But he's not the one sleeping in the Infirmary, so presumably he is more okay than she is.)

Presumably not sleeping much of anywhere at all.

"I...Think so? The last thing I remember I was in class and Sora was talking about...monarchies."

Utena looked rather confused.

Exactly, yes.

"And that is what set you off? Curious."

Utena struggled to capture the details of the things she'd seen just before and after going under. They were like water slipping through her fingers. The waking world stole them from her. Would they be back, like a hunter retreating away after wounding its prey?

"It was...princes, specifically."

She wondered if Sherlock could make anything out of that. He was a deducer, a genius. But The Fallen Prince had loved to bring geniuses to heel.

"Princes," Sherlock repeats, thoughtful.

"I'm afraid I haven't the least idea what that would be about."

So no.

"I do. It came from the last school I attended. There was a prince there. And a duelling game. I don't remember a lot of it though. Do you think it was my subconscious trying to tell me something?"

She was bouncing her thoughts off him, knowing that they would return to her of better quality when he refined them.

"Possibly that duelling games are no one's friend," he says wryly. "In all seriousness, at home I would suspect a curse of some kind, but I've seen no evidence that magic of the kind I am used to functions in this place."

"A curse, a curse...There was a curse!" She sat up abruptly, looking suddenly alert and about the room as if a clue to the experience was scampering away like a little mouse. "But it wasn't for me! Mostly. I think. Sherlock, thank you! I..."

For the first time she noticed the dark circles under his eyes and immediately assumed the worst. She looked as if she were ready to leap out of bed and, in the technical parlance, "go buttshit apehole" on his imaginary accoster.

"Who did that?!"

"...Sorry?"

He touches his face.

"Oh. Insomnia," he explains lightly. "Nothing to worry about."

Technically these are both lies, the second much more so.

To be fair, Sora was almost asleep. Bringing one of the politics textbooks along to the infirmary had apparently been a bad idea above all other bad ideas; she'd had to leave the room for a few minutes to splash water on her face and stare determinedly into the bathroom mirror.

It made Utena's open eyes more of a relief when she got back.

"Uten- aah?" Why did she look that angry? She looked to Sherlock for some kind of answer. "What's going on?"

"Sora, you came too!" Utena looked honestly grateful. The last time she'd woken up in a bed like this, she'd been alone, remembering nothing but her name and with a terrible ache in her side.

"It's OK. I thought someone had been messing with Sherlock, that's all."

"Which," he reiterates, "no one has. Hello."

"That's... good?" She was still a little baffled, half-ready to step in and solve an entirely non-existent problem, but she sat down in the chair next to Sherlock's and leant towards Utena anyway. Knights before mights, or something.

"Everyone will be glad to hear you're okay!"

Utena looked rather embarrassed. She remembered Sora catching her and squeezing her hand and Sherlock getting her back into her dorm. She owed these two a lot.

"I'm sorry for causing such a scene. I don't know why that happened."

"Is the curse theory out already, then?"

"It could have been your memories... Suzaku said that some people have fainted." She smiled, reassuring, and reached for one of Utena's hands again.

"What curse?"

That really did nothing to tame Utena's blushing. Her fingers curled around Sora's reflexively though.

"Sherlock said that I might be cursed. But I don't think it's me who had the curse. There was a girl in the old duel game that everyone fought over. She was very important, for a lotta reasons that I still don't understand. Like a Weapon here, but one that could...well, they thought they'd get what they wanted if they...owned her. She was cursed to...to have to do that and to take these swords...I thought I could free her...God, this must make zero sense at all to you."

Realizing she'd been babbling was an additional layer of embarrassment to her.

"It makes perfect sense to me," Sherlock volunteers.

Romeo peeked his head round the door, he had seen Utena faint in class and had been so worried but had been no where near her and didn't think the teacher would let him leave to go check she was alright.

Anyways the doctors could fix her he hoped, they seemed to be good doctors here and would help everybody and didn't ask for any money.He looked round the door first hearing voices but stepped in once seeing that he knew everyone. Miss Sora and Mister Sherlock were in the room talking to Miss Utena.

He rushed into the room and over to the bed. "Miss Utena are you alright?" People didn't faint for no reason he looked up at her with wide eyes.

"I understand a little," Sora was nothing if not honest. "But if that girl was the only one with a weapon... how did you fight?"

"With real weapons. I remember now that I fought my first duel with a broomstick! There was a...a thing...that kept people from getting really hurt. Usually."

She glance over at yet another newcomer and was overwhelmed by everyone's caring.

"Romeo! Thank you for coming too."

His presence complicated things though. Some of the things she remembered were simply too sordid to talk about in front of a kid...

"You're welcome miss Utena." He smiled hovering still. Worried because he didn't like the fact that miss Utena had been hurt. He smiled though and waited glancing at miss Sora a few times.

"I heard about what happened. Are you all right?"

When something happens in the school, word tends to travel fast. Kallen hasn't made it to class that day, but hear about Utena's condition. She waited for the girl to awake before saying anything.

Utena's smile was wan and a little strained but she managed it for Kallen. This was someone she did not want to see her acting weak at all.

"Hello Kallen. I think I am, thanks. It was really weird...It happened when the teacher started talking about monarchies."

"Bad memories then..." Or she was overwhelmed by them. Kallen remembered when Gino got back both of his memories at the same time, he almost damn near passed out on her. Although this situation as a little different considering it wasn't like the class was handing out memories charms.

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2nd Petal: Souvenir

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