The planet is a wonder to behold.

When one looks into the night sky, to see it, it looks like a star. A brilliant star. Shining more brilliantly in the sky than anything ever seen before. And so it has been, for one thousand years in this sector. This small, tiny planet, on the outskirts of nowhere, pulses with an electric purity that can be seen for trillions of miles around. Many wonder what allows the planet to stay that way. A white dwarf? The ruins of a collapsed star? Solar fares? Nuclear winter? Another ecological disaster which froze the planet?

…..A Sailor Crystal?

The last is thought by the dark creature who knows the truth. It sits, looking at the planet. Its eyes simply stare.

It is perhaps, with the exception of the young girl and friends responsible for creating the pristine land, the only creature in the universe who knows the truth. Its hands go up to its side, then to its face, silently contemplating.

It knows this power. It has seen it at work. Not first-hand, but it has seen it. Ever since its eye caught the bright beacon of destruction, two hundred years ago…..for in the sector of the universe it comes from, time is slower, but nonetheless moves forward…..the creature has wanted the power. Could taste it.

Gingerly, it takes up an object from the table nearby. It is large, and old, and cumbersome, but the creature has no problem finding what it is looking for. Finding it…..and then sighing.

The last page is unwritten.

The creature angrily slams the book down. Even here, now, inside this craft which has spent its lifetime looking for the power that its master has looked for, and found, that last page is blank.

Infuriation. Anger. Despair, even. The creature knows its emotions towards what has happened. It is the indication that the source of the magnificent power is not around.

A snap from the creature's fingers. The spaceship leaves the planet.

But though the last page is still as white and clean as the day it was written, the creature renews the vow it made when it first set eyes upon the knowledge, the terrible knowledge, it acquired. It will not stop until the content of the last page has appeared, will not stop until the pinnacle of the odyssey has been reached. Then, all will be well. But for now, contemplation. It had much work to do.


---------------------------------------------------------


"The….Guardian Savior?"

The echidna looked up, his eyes widened with shock. The woods rustled silently with the gentle breeze.

"Was that….my son? In the dream. That means….."
"The one that is to come? Yes."
"There must be something that can be done, Grandfather Athair. If…my son…."
"There is much that can be done, Locke." Athair, the seer of the echidnas, looked at the younger echidna. "But much of it you must figure it out yourself. However….."

Athair's hand went into his clothing, taking out a small heap of three old, withered leaflet papers.

"….This much can be done on my part to help you understand. It comes from…a source of unimaginable power." The arm slowly extended out to Locke. "But with this knowledge that I shall give you comes a terrible price if it is abused. You must understand that. And remember it."

Locke looked at the old echidna's hand, silently contemplating his options. After several moments, his hands silently went up, and took the papers.

"It is done." Athair's grip on the papers was released. "The promise has been made. You must never let on to anyone what I have given you. You must never give these papers to anyone but yourself. If you do, a terrible blot will be put upon you, and your destiny will end tragically."
"My tragic destiny…" Locke's hands clenched around the papers tightly. "I will protect these from all other eyes but my own."
"Remember…"

--------------------------------------------------

The eyes dash open. The heart suddenly pumps out one, single beat. Then, another.

The vines have covered everything, save the seas. But the silence of two centuries is suddenly broken..

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!!!!"

The hand crashes through the thick vines. Then, the ears, sullied from years of dirt, and the face. The innocent young boy's face. And his eyes. As blue as ever as he gasped, freeing his body from his prison. His two tails, breaking from the wreckage.

With a gasp, he looks around. Everything is covered in a dark, almost unholy web of trees and vines. Wiping the dirt from his face, he gasps as he give out a cry.

"SONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A cry with power. A cry which echoed through the dead woods, and through the vines, all the way to the sea, into a shimmering space, which gave way to white desert in a world unseen by the boy's eyes, then into the sky, blackened, to a small, distant satellite, then, into the dead ears of those covered inside the icy tombs.

But no one can reply.

Yet there is a response. A light. A heavenly light from afar, still millions of miles away from the despair, suddenly begins to pulse. At the pulsing of light, something happens.

Eyes begin to open. The ice begins to melt. Cracking can be heard. Wind, wind suddenly begins to blow, weathering the mysterious shells until they have disappeared. The buildings, having stood for centuries, suddenly fall. The mysterious ice has caused everything to age from what it once was. But the people are awakening as well, also aged. Now awake, looking upon the destruction, questions now lay before them like grains of sand.

The light nearly does the same to those under the vines. Slowly, the vines retreat, the heartbeats crawl back to what they once were, until all could break from their prisons. Yet nothing has changed for them. It was nothing more than a worldwide accident of nature. Their homes, their friends, everything was covered, but it was all an act of the ground's revenge upon all who had trespassed upon it. Or so they thought. But only one knows the truth.

As everyone awakens, the young fox looks down at himself. He sees that, while he was no different, something had changed. He does not know what, but he is determined to learn what happened. No matter what the cost.

The mysterious spell is gone. But the greatest trial has only begun.