Okay, This idea stemmed from the fact that Garv is associated by roses (Eyecatch and WARU~Bad Blood prove this), an image of Garv pulling his sword FROM Val's chest as opposed to putting it in, and an incredably visual image of Val as the sacrifice to the million swords of hate. A note: No doubt some people will resent some of the character choices, but I spent a LONG time thinking about them. . Also, the backgrounds are clearly different. Val never became a Mazoku, Garv never actually met the other generals, and is set at a time where he had been 'rescued' as opposed to left to be bitter for a thousand years, so he is somewhat more niave than you'd expect. Anything else is revealed in the story... even the generals aren't necessarily Mazoku. After all, this is based around Utena, where nothing is what it seems, even when it is. So...
Heroically, with bravery,
I'll go on with my life!
(Just a long, long time)
If the two of us should ever seperate...
(let go of me)
Take my revolution.
In the sunlit garden, we held eachother's hands.
drew together for comfort and swore
we'd never love again.
I look at this photograph of us,
smiling cheek to cheek.
And loneliness began to fill me.
(Revolution!)
Even in my dreams
Even through my tears
Even though I'm being hurt!
Reality is approaching frantically!
What I want now is to find out where I belong.
And find myself, up to today.
Find the strength to take everything
and throw it away....
strip down to nothing at all!
Like rose petals, dancing free!
If the two of us should ever seperate...
I swear to change the world.
Episode 1: The Rose Dragon. (Cue spinning roses in the corner)
Once upon a time, there was a Mazoku who had had his dreams shattered when he was used by his master and eventually melded to a human, then treated like scum by everyone else who met him. Then one day a beautiful Lord appeared, and wiped the Mazoku's tears away, enveloping him in the scent of roses. "Young Mazoku," she said, "Never lose your strength or your nobility, through all the trials of life." The Lord then gave the Mazoku a ring, saying, "One day, this ring will lead you to me." She then vanished from the Mazoku's life. Perhaps the ring was an engagement ring! However, the Mazoku was so impressed by the Lord that he decided to become a Lord himself! But was that really such a good idea?
A young girl waited on a bridge, wearing a white school uniform and watching other students with the same uniform passing by. Her face spoke volumes of impatience. Her hair was black and shoulder - length, and her eyes were large, blue, and innocent.
She sighed. "Man, I'm late." Still, she made no move to leave. "How much longer should I have to wait?! I don't want to be late for the beginning of the new term!"
Two of the students paused as they passed, and one called out to her. "Amelia! What are you doing over there?"
Amelia seemed to perk up noticably and flasheed the two girls a mischievous grin. "I'm waiting for my boyfriend."
They both seemed to start, then the first girl laughed again. "Boyfriend? In that case you got dumped... again."
The young girl tilted her head.
"Your 'boyfriend' left the dorms early this morning," the girl elabourated, as she and her friend continued on to school.
Offence slowly crossed Amelia's features as she thought of this so-called boyfriend. "Why you... how could you?! You promised to meet me here!"
Garv walked down the main hall of Ohtori Academy, hearing whispers of "Garv-sama! Garv-sama!" following him. He waved to people as he passed; after all, a Lord was regal in bearing, even if he couldn't be all that good-looking. Still, he had to be doing SOMETHING right, as several girls swooned as he passed. Yet he was brought up short by the strictest teacher in the school stepping in front of him.
Though she had to crane her neck to look up at him, she didn't seem the least intimidated by him. "Mr. Maryuou! How DARE you wear that to school?!"
The Mazoku blinked and picked at his trenchcoat. "What, this?"
Suddenly, spinning roses appeared in the corners of the room, and Garv posed several times to show off his nifty orange trenchcoat with its huge buttons and the Club, only for Trenchcoats around his neck. The image was quickly shattered by the teacher's rapping it with her yardstick.
"YES! Nowhere in the school rules does it say anywhere that a student is allowed to wear a trenchcoat to school!" The teacher went postal, waving her yardstick around and squeezing her eyes shut with anger. "OOOH!"
She finally opened them again to see him flipping through the school rulebook.
"Huh. It doesn't say that I CAN'T wear it, so I guess it's okay, eh?" Garv grinned widely at her and walked on, whispers of 'He's so cool!' and one anguished scream echoing in the hall behind him.
The teacher froze in her position of resignation. "And you'll avoid me this semester too..."
A basketball team faced off in the gym against a single opponant: Garv. No matter how tall or broad shouldered he was, he shouldn't have been able to defeat that many. Yet somehow, crowd cheering for him, he racked up point after point until finally winning the game and being swarmed by many fans.
Someone thrust a towel at him. "Here, Garv-sama! Use my towel!"
Garv smiled, sweatdropping. "Okay... um... wait your turn..."
One of the boys watching sighed, kicking at the basketball. "Man, skunked again."
Garv fought his way out from amongst his fans into the halls, where he was joined by the basketball team captain.
"Say, Maryuuou," the boy began, "if you'd just join our teem, the local playoffs would be a sure win!"
The would-be Lord snorted. "Don't even begin. I have no interest in playing on your team."
"Come on! You're tall enough to SCARE the other team off!" the captain protested.
"And there's no need to be rude."
The boy snorted, angry. "Then why do you always act so noble yet still break the rules? Aren't you trying to be a rebel?"
"I want to be a Lord."
The boy stopped, staring. "Huh?"
Garv shrugged half-embarrassedly, continuing on. "I want to be a noble Lord who rescues people who feel betrayed by the world."
The boy shook his head, not comprehending. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Upon receiving no answer, he sighed and headed off the other way.
Garv hesitated by the windows overlooking the garden. "The scent... of roses." Leaning on the open window ledge, he sighed. "How long have I felt so... nostalgic about that scent?"
Suddenly, movement caught his eye. Two people were arguing; a spiky-haired and angry-looking young man wearing the uniform of the student council, in green and white, and a student either a girl in a boy's uniform or a very pretty boy with long aqua hair. Garv eyed them. "What's going on there? A lover's quarrel?" He couldn't hold back one of his trademarked wide and slightly mad grins, shaking his head. "Those two should at least do that where people don't have to see it."
His eyes widened as before them, the student council member raised a hand and hit the 'girl', hard enough to send her flying to the side, glasses nearly getting knocked off, cheek red. The 'girl' raised a hand to 'her' cheek, but otherwise made no protest.
It struck something in Garv, memories of similar emotional abuse. "Hey! That's going too far!"
Trying to figure out what to do, he saw the council member raise his hand to hit the 'girl' again, but it was caught by a boy who seemed to appear behind him. The second man also wore a student council member's uniform in a different colour, purple-red, and seemed to radiate an aura of assured svelteness. The first boy lowered his hand and turned to discuss something with the newcomer.
Garv let out a breath the large man hadn't known he'd been holding. "That was close."
His only warning of Amelia's arrival was a shrieked, "GARV-SAMA!" before the young girl landed on his back.
He caught her easily. "Amelia!" He quickly fell into their old pattern of teasing, cracking a joke. "You're heavy." To someone his size, she barely seemed to weigh anything.
Amelia sniffed, hitting him lightly upside the head. "This is your punishment for not walking with me this morning. Now say you're sorry."
Grinning, Garv shrugged with her still on his back. "Okay, okay."
The young girl caught sight of the scene going on in the garden below. "Oh! Zelgadis-sama!"
Garv followed her gaze to the first boy, the abusive one. "Zelgadis?"
Shocked expression on her face, Amelia slid off his back to meet his gaze. "You don't know who Zelgadis-sama is?"
"What, is he famous?" Garv quipped. "I think I know who the guy in front of him is... gotta be Xelloss Metallium, student council president, right?"
Amelia nodded rapidly. "Yep! And the other guy is the Vice-President, Zelgadis Greywars-sama!"
The large man leaned out the window again, watching the people talk, the abused 'girl' lingering quietly in the backround. "So who's... she?" He gestured.
Blinking, Amelia followed his gesture. "What? Oh, HIM." Garv mentally cursed his mistake. "He's Valteria Kodaijin."
Garv watched the boy cower, fascinated. "Valteria... Kodaijin."
Amelia shrugged, unconcerned. "All he does is take care of the roses, though nobody asked him to. He's so weird. He's in our class, didn't you know?"
He shrugged, having never noticed him before. "So, is Zelgadis going out with that Valteria boy?"
The young girl flushed bright red. "No! Zelgadis-sama isn't like that! He would never - It's just that they're both on the student council!"
Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Garv grinned. "So that's the kind of guy you go for, huh?"
Amelia went catatonic for a few seconds, face beet red, then a positivally evil look crossed her face as she throug herself at Garv again, arms hugging him tightly... around his throat. "Oh, don't be JEALOUS! I'm only for you! You're cooler than ANY student council member!"
"Ack," said Garv.
Near to a wire-mesh elevator was a balcony, high above the school. In the center was a table, at which two people were seated. One was a girl, small in stature but with a cool expression on her face: one who has learned to expect nothing and receive it. Her eyes were a dark, angry red, and her long red hair was tightly bound in ringlets. She wore the uniform of a student council member, as did all there present, and her colours were an orange-red, the same as her hair. On the a side across from her was another woman, giving the expression of being shy. She had long blonde hair, slightly pointed ears, and sweet blue eyes. Her student council uniform was in the same blue as her eyes. In one hand she held a teacup, in the other, a blue stopwatch.
They were watching Xelloss arguing with Zelgadis, both seeming to give the impression of missing nothing. Every so often, the shy girl would lower her teacup, click her stopwatch, and jot something down on a piece of paper, keeping the minutes.
Zelgadis crushed Valteria to his side, smirking slightly. "Well, this is a sudden meeting, fellow councellors."
Putting her teacup down, the shy woman cleared her throat. "Zelgadis-san, we are the chosen members of the Rose Seal."
The red-haired woman leaned back, arms crossed across her chest, but not giving any space mentally. "Zelgadis, we have a problem with the way you have been treating the... Dragon lately."
Snorting, Zelgadis held Valteria closer. "Oh, is that so?"
Still radiating self-assuriedness, Xelloss had nonetheless began to look irritable. "Certainly, he is engaged to you currently. However, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you please with him."
The shy woman lowered her head, whispering in almost an echo, "As you please."
Shaking her head, the redhead also repeated the words. "'As he pleases' ... you say?"
Xelloss stopped dancing around the issue and spat it out. "Stop abusing the Dragon, Zelgadis. The existance of the student council is at the bequest of 'End of the World'. Should 'End of the World' discover this matter, they will be displeased."
Scowling, Zelgadis tightened his grip on Valteria, enough that he made a tiny pained noise. "Stay out of this. The Dragon and I are just a couple of lovebirds. I don't want to hear any more complaints from the likes of YOU."
Shakingly raising her teacup to her lips, the shy girl repeated, stunned, "'Lovebirds?'"
Valteria lowered his head, seeming to ignore the pain of the grip against his side. "Right now, I am Zelgadis-sama's flower. I will do anything he asks of me."
Zelgadis shrugged, smirking again. "Well, that's how it is. If you're so concerned about the 'Code', then win back the Dragon as according the the Code."
Corner of his lip turning up in a smile, Xelloss said, "Remember, the next duel will be soon upon - "
"I look forward to whoever dares challenge ME," Zelgadis snorted, walking back to the elevator, Valteria close to his side.
Behind him, the shy girl clicked her stopwatch.
Garv and Amelia relaxed on the school lawn, drawing some strange looks from people who didn't know about their mis-matched friendship. Amelia leaned over Garv's hand, examining his rose-patterned ring. "That's so pretty!" Glancing at the school gates, she added, slightly puzzled, "Isn't it our school emblem?"
The large man glanced over as well. "Sure looks like it."
Amelia grinned, leaning back into the grass. "Who'd you get it from?"
"A Lord on a white horse. 'One day, this ring will lead you to me.'"
"What's that about?"
Garv shrugged, memories of so long ago failing him. "I think someone said that to me when she gave me the ring... but I was real young, so I don't remember that well."
Nodding, Amelia agreed, "I know what that's like. When I was really little, mama used to say to me that I was really the princess of the Onion Kingdom!"
Garv grinned at her. "Why, the size of your head?"
"Mou..." Amelia tapped him lightly. "Come on, we should be heading inside."
On the way through the halls, they passed a large crowd gathered around something on the board. "What could that be?" Amelia wondered.
Garv tapped someone on the shoulder. "What's going on here?"
The boy shrugged, grinning. "Someone's love letter got posted here!"
Stunned expression on his face, Garv repeated, "Love letter?!"
Near the front of the group, a boy began to read it aloud. "Hmm, let's see... 'I dance with you in my dreams, Zelgadis-san. You were smiling so gently, you must think I'm such a idiot!'" The boy began to laugh. "Oh, that's for sure!"
Pissed off beyond belief, Garv fought his way to the front of the crowd, not difficult for someone his size, pushing the boy out of the way and ripping the letter off. "WHO'S the idiot?! That was just tasteless."
The boy shrugged nonchalantly. "It was where anyone could read it."
"Yeah," Garv growled, "but most people aren't cruel enough to..." Glancing in Amelia's direction, he saw a tear run down her cheek. "Amelia?"
Choking, Amelia turned and ran.
"Amelia!"
Following her out, he found her leaning against a tree, crying. Realization struck him. "You sent that letter."
Amelia choked and nodded, breaking out into a fresh spasm of tears.
Watching her, Garv swore mentally, "That Zelgadis isn't getting away with this."
After making sure that Amelia wasn't too badly off, Garv set off across campus to the Kendo Dojo, flinging the door open, holding his own bokken, challenging Zelgadis.
Zelgadis blinked. "A love letter? How should I know? Someone probably picked it out of the trash and posted it on their own."
Garv shook his head. It was a little too convenient. "And how did it get in the trash in the first place?"
Turning back to his practice, Zelgadis snorted. "What I do with my letters is my own business." He paused, smiling darkly. "But now that I think about it, if a silly, stupid even, letter such as that one has actually amused somebody, so much the better."
Seeing red, Garv hardly heard Zelgadis's dismissal, "Was that all you wanted?"
"No," Garv replied, pointing the bokken at Zelgadis. "You're the captain of the Kendo Club, right? Well, you've got a duel with me today after school."
A shocked look crossed Zelgadis's face. "What do you...." he seemed to come to a realization. "So that's it. You're the next challenger."
Next challenger? "What's that supposed to mean," Garv growled, wondering how many others he'd pissed off.
"Very well," Zelgadis agreed. "I'll meet you after classes in the Duelling Arena in the forest behind the school." He turned on his heel, leaving Garv alone.
"The forest?" Garv muttered. "The one that's off-limits?"
The sun was setting, casting the shadows of two people on a wall with rose patterning. One of the figures was that of a boy with slightly spiky hair and ridiculous shoulder armour, the other of a girl with what looked like fins for ears. The girl leaned in to the boy, who raised a hand to his ear.
"I wonder," the girl laughed. "I wonder. Do you know what I wonder?"
They reversed positions, and the boy spoke in a cool, almost calculating tone. "I hear there's going to be another duel in the forest out back today."
The girl wagged a finger in the general direction of anyone watching the wall. "Oh, brave warrior, you're going to fight for your friend! Oh, meddlesome, brave warrior!"
The boy also turned to face the 'audience'. "But beware, brave warrior..."
The girl giggled, bending at the knees. "They fight by a Code in the forest!"
Shaking his head, the boy murmured, "Do you know that, I wonder?"
They leaned in again to the positions as if they're talking to each other. The girl giggled once more. "I wonder, I wonder."
"Do you know what I wonder?" they asked in unison.
Garv stared around at the strange area inside the forest... something before him was clearly a gate, but it was blocked off by a stone eagle head. Pools of water were everywhere, including one defying gravity in the wall. "How the fuck am I supposed to get in here?!" He demanded. Noticing a lever hanging down before the gravity-defying pool, he tugged at it experimentally. "And of course it's locked."
Suddenly, a drop of water flew from the pool, seeming to come directly from the rose design on the bottom, splashing Garv's hand over his ring. Garv yanked his hand back. "That's cold!"
Gears grinded and steam filled the air, causing Garv to look around wildly, ponytail swinging. He turned back to see that the eagle had rearranged itself in the form of a rose above the gate. "What kind of enterance is THAT?" he demanded, nevertheless taking a step forward. "Well, whatever. I'm going in."
Behind him, ghostly voices sing as he begins to walk through a white-rose adorned room and up a stairway.
The absolute destiny apocalypse... the absolute destiny apocalypse....
Garv took a step, more confused and angered at the elabourite setting up Zelgadis must have done for all this.
Birth records, baptismal records, records of death, the voices sang as he ascended the many stairs. A shining place in an area of darkness: a gold-plated Shangra-la. Day and Night turn back on one another: a time-plated Lost Paradise.
The stairs seemed never ending.
The darkness of Sodom, the darkness of light, the darkness of distance, never ending darkness, the voices chanted as he saw the stairs come to an end, opening onto an arena. The absolute destiny apocalypse, the absolute destiny apocalyptic darkness! Mokushi kushimo shimoku kumoshi moshiku shikumo... Mokushi kushimo shimoku kumoshi moshiku shikumo.... Mokushi kushimo shimoku kumoshi moshiku shikumo...
The voices died away as Garv stared in awe at the giant castle floating upside down in the air. "A castle in midair? How the hell..."
Zelgadis's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Oh, I forgot. This is your first time seeing the castle, isn't it?"
Garv snapped his attention to his opponant. "What is it? I sure as hell couldn't see it outside the forest..."
Smirking, Zelgadis replied, "It's a mirage, of sorts. Yes, just think of it as a mirage."
"A mirage?" Garv wondered.
Zelgadis snorted. "What surprises ME is that there is someone outside the Student Council wearing the Rose Seal."
He didn't understand. "Rose Seal?" Garv repeated.
Holding up his own hand, Zelgadis showed the ring on his own finger, identical to Garv's. "I mean this."
Garv's eyes widened. "That ring..."
Zelgadis span away. "Valteria! Prepare us for battle!"
His eyes widened more as he saw the same boy from before come up, wearing an odd dress, and carrying two roses. He watched as he affixed one to Zelgadis's shirt. "Valteria... Kodaijin. Kodaijin, what are YOU doing here?!"
Not answering, Valteria finished his task and moved towards Garv with the second rose.
Zelgadis answered for him. "It's the Dragon''s RIGHT to be in attendance."
Garv blinked. "Dragon?!" He looked down at the green-haired youth, who was attatching a white rose to his trenchcoat. The smell of the rose washed over him, drowning him in his barely-remembered past. "That smell... it is the same, the same as my Lord's roses..."
Finally, Valteria looked up at him, surprisingly sharp yellow eyes behind thick-framed glasses. "The one whose rose gets knocked from their chest loses the duel. I wish you luck."
He began to turn away from Garv, but Zelgadis advanced on him and slapped him, hard, sending the dress-clad boy flying to the ground.
Garv took a step forward angrily. "What was THAT for?!"
The student councilmember ignored him. "Don't toy with me, Valteria! You're the Rose Dragon, in other words, MY flower! How dare you wish anyone else good luck?!"
Slowly, Valteria rose to his feet, expressionless, red welt on his left cheek. "I'm sorry, Zelgadis-sama."
Garv strode over to the boy, shaking him. "Stupid! He pulls this crap on you and you STILL submit to him?!"
Valteria looked up at him, eyes now blank. "Zelgadis-sama is the current duelling champion, so he can do as he pleases with me."
"Duelling champion?" "Wait a minute," Garv began, confused and a little embarrassed. "Isn't he your boyfriend?"
Behind him, Zelgadis laughed. "Let us begin the duel."
Backing off, Garv shook his head, eyes still focussed on Valteria as he retreated to behind a marked line. "I don't know what the fuck's going on here, but it doesn't matter as long as I beat him, right?"
Valteria cupped his hands over his chest and a light sprang up between them. "Rose of the noble castle," he chanted, beginning to spread his arms wide, a breeze starting up and blowing his hair and skirts.
Garv's eyes widened. "What, another mirage?"
"Power of L which sleeps inside me, heed thy master and come forth!" Valteria bent backward, Zelgadis catching him in his arms. Garv's eyes threatened to pop out of his head as a sword hilt jutted from Valteria's chest, and Zelgadis drew it.
"Grant me the power," Zelgadis shouted, "to bring the world revolution!"
Zelgadis charged at him with the sword, and Garv parried it with his wooden bokken. Eerie voices began to chant again, ghosts or the unseen Greek chorus.
When? Where? Who? Which?
Stumbling backward, Garv shifted his grip on the sword and ran in again.
When? Where? Who? Which?
Zelgadis met him. "You're pretty good for an amature." He grinned, slightly madly. "So you want to be the Lord who saves the people in need? Unfortunately..." He pushed with his sword, making Garv stumble back a few steps again.
The flow of blood from the cage of memory,
In the cradle of a thousand years of bliss
Garv raised the bokken... or what was left of it. "Shit!"
I am an actor.
His gaze travelled to the sword gripped in Zelgadis's hand. "That trick sword's real!"
Zelgadis shook his head, raising his blade. "I'm surprised. You challenged the Sword of L with a useless bokken?!"
As the Sphinx in the desert winter.
Garv shook his head, not understanding. "Sword of L?"
A look of shock crossed Zelgadis's face. "You don't know about the Sword of L?! Who ARE you?! Most intriguing." He smirked.
Sending a scowl back, Garv growled. "This duel ain't over yet."
Now you know the sadness
"If you like," Zelgadis smiled, "I will strike that rose from your chest with a single stroke. Risk your life to face me... if you have the courage to go with your size!"
of the stillborn flesh.
"You Lord on a white horse... out to save a person in trouble?"
And I, the holy actor, cast eternally
Stepping back in shock at Zelgadis's words, the other boy running at him, Garv heard the voice of his Lord in his memory. "Young Mazoku, never lose your strength or nobility..."
as a dark shining Margineaux, cast into Hell.
"...through all the trials of life."
Shine!
Garv looked up, eyes shining with something Zelgadis had never seen, beginning to charge with his broken bokken.
"What?!" Zelgadis murmured, startled.
Burn! Cool down and sing!
"Bastard," Zelgadis muttered, lowering his own weapon and also charging.
Born into the world! Born into an instant! Born yet again!
They met and for a moment neither knew what had happened. Zelgadis turned, smirking, until he saw Garv turn as well, rose intact. Glancing down, he saw the last petals disappear from his own rose. "What?! IMPOSSIBLE! I lost?!" He fell to his knees.
Valteria walked over to him, and Zelgadis looked up with eyes full of pain. "Valteria..."
A sweet smile crossed Valteria's face. "Don't be upset.... Zelgadis-sempai."
In the distance, bells began to ring.
From the council balcony, Xelloss watched with opera glasses, smile on his face. "Oh yes... this should work admirably."
Scratching his head on the path back to the school, Garv looked back towards the forest. "That was weird, whatever happened back there. What WAS all that?!" Valteria's face flashed into his mind's eye for a second, then he shrugged suddenly. "Better just forget about it."
Someone stepped onto the path in front of him, and he snapped his gaze up to see Valteria, now clad again in the ordinary boy's uniform, smiling the same sweet smile he'd worn when last looking at Zelgadis.
"You..." Garv exclaimed, shocked.
"I've been waiting for you," Valteria said softly, honestly, eyes blank behind his glasses. "I am the Rose Dragon and from this day on, I am your flower."
Missing truth and forever,
Kissing love and true your heart,
Embrace me with your arms so true.
The key to tomorrow is reality.
I want to keep on smashing lies.
No matter how we talk,
You really cannot see.
Excuses are only fitting for adults
Who hang on to old stories.
The angels who were passed over
Don't need wings to fly!
Missing truth and forever,
Kissing love and true your heart,
I will like the me of tomorrow.
I believe in me
Because I want to believe.
And I'll keep on hating lies.
Trailer:
Garv mutters to himself as Zelgadis sighs sadly and hits Valteria. "A rematch?! Can I really be EXPELLED for not following the godsdamned rules of the student council?!"
Zelgadis stomps on a little fox creature, and Valteria speaks up. "Is that okay, Garv-sama? You said you wouldn't fight any more duels."
Garv and Zelgadis duel, and Garv speaks again. "I'll just lose on purpose. No problem, right?"
Valteria clutches a hand to his bruised cheek. "Whatever you want, Garv-sama."
"Next time on Revolutionary MaOu Garv! Episode two: For Whom the Rose Smiles."
Valteria whispers, "The absolute destiny apocalypse."
Episode 2 | Fanfiction