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.
