and then they fell. [rakuen revolution opening post]

[utopiamods]

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

Ah, I remember now. It's... a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her. The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess. No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep. Mechanical, monotonous.

"Next stop: Rakuen City. This train terminates here. The next stop is Rakuen. All change." The train rocks steadily as it winds its way through white drifts of now. Sunlight streams through the window, heating the air and making the seats almost uncomfortably warm. A puff of steam from the train winds its way lazily past the windows when the wind is right.

It's strangely difficult to shake off the sleep; the rhythm of the train seems to lull you back into slumber and the air is warm and heavy, making it hard to keep hold of a thought. Finally, though, the nausea settles, the last of the dream fades and you can take in your surroundings. And, perhaps more importantly, those around you in a similar state.

"We have arrived at Rakuen City. All passengers must leave the train. This train is terminating here. This is Rakuen."

Comments

[formerly_known_as_prince]

After waking into the dull white light of the hospital, Utena was relieved. She'd come up from the dream and now it was fading away in whisps behind her eyes. Such a confusion and riot of symbolism, and she could barely believe it had been real. And yet how inevitable it had all seemed at the time.

That night though, she felt something pulling her down, spreading sticky cotton over her eyelids. She fought for consciousness but she was a leaf in the archetypal stream. Revolutions, roses, apocalypses, princes, brides...knights, princesses. The transition is almost seemless. Someone spliced in a new reel and the movie was continuing. A sequel?

She woke up on a train, standing, clutching the strap. She touched her uniform where the wound should have been. Nothing but a patch in the cloth and the slight tightness indicating an old scar. It was the same on the other side.

"Rakuen city huh..." Evidently she was not (ever?) done. She gathered her natural optimism around her. There was more to do in this new place.

[subjugated]

"Yes, that seems to be the case." 11 is sitting close by, but he is shuffling to the side now to make space for Utena should she decide to take a seat. "There seems to be no telling when we will get there, though."

[formerly_known_as_prince]

"Do you have any idea where that is?" She looks at 11 with both suspicion and hope. Suspicion because he's an adult, and adulthood, in her recent experience, is rife with the disgusting. Hope because he seems as lost as her, so maybe the suspicion is unfounded.

[subjugated]

"While the name sounds like a place that I would know about, that is not the case." He shakes his head. "I take that you aren't aware of how you arrived in this place, either?

[formerly_known_as_prince]

She shook her head. Maybe this guy was alright! "I just woke up here. I'm Utena..." She scratches her head, shifts from foot to foot as she tries to recall her last name. It's a big blank gap in her memory. "Well just Utena I guess." Clearly a Japanese name, if an unusual one.

[subjugated]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, even under circumstances like these. I'm Area 11." He hates that name, but it's really not worth the trouble to introduce himself as Japan to someone who isn't definitely on his side.