Sailor Moon and the Legend of the Oberisku no Shoujo
As waves of great force collide upon the shores of the tempest of eternity, we remember.
Reunited, often as celestial lovers, but sometimes as fierce opponents, shall the scale of our conflict decide who rises and falls and not leave a scattering of new quests to pursue?
As each fall gives rise to a new day, the night closes another chapter to give way to the child of a new dawning after the shroud of eternal night has decayed, cast once more upon the life-giving winds of change.
Death is but a shifting threshold, a gateway to the nexus between love and hatred, light and darkness, secrets and admissions, and so it has always been and shall be for evermore!
Lady Myola – Goddess Queen of the Celestial Senshi
Luna sat on a cushion washing herself, and sighed. Her adolescent daughter, Dianna, having assumed her human form, sat Indian style in her indigo fuku. Diana's purple tresses were pulled back in a long thick ponytail, elbows planted firmly on her knees, listening to her mother as she told the story of how their ancestral home, Mau was liberated from the Alliance. She would also speak of the legendary, Oberisku no Shoujo. "My child, where should I begin? I ought to ask your father to tell you the story, but alas, he is in Crystal Tokyo…." Luna stretched, extending her paws before telling her story. "Long before the Silver Millennium, the solar system was quite a different place to how it was during the reign of Queen Serenity. As you're aware, Diana, Earth and her sister, Orpheus, once danced around one another as they revolved around the sun, known back then as Sule…so named in honor of the Goddess Queen."
"Mother, tell me more," Diana asked, enthusiastically.
"Well, the orbits of both planets intersected once each year, this was great cause for celebration by the people of both worlds," she paused, smiled at her beautiful young adolescent daughter, and continued. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes, Orpheus was a magical and wondrous world, first colonized quarter of a million years BCE. Its ancient equatorial capital, Odina City, was amongst the most beautiful in the Sulean system, matched only by Queen Dana's Atlantari, on Earth, the city of pearls."
"Tell me, mother, what was it like to been such a place?"
"Odina's golden granite flame monument could be seen from as far as Venus and Mars. It was huge…and rose a mile over the city, and a series of circular terraces led to the central platform… Do you know…it took the most athletic Odinean half a day to walk its entire circumference? As for orbital views, Visitors were blown away by the sight of Orpheus's multi-colored rings and its moons, and shimmering Earth, lying across the narrow gulf between them as it hung suspended like a shimmering blue pearl…" Luna interrupted once more and smiled up at Lady Tialahna and her eyes widened in surprise at Artemis's unexpected arrival. And they sat to listen. Then Loki and Morgana strode into the room purring, sitting either side of Diana, intrigued by Luna's fascinating story. The princess and her family had earlier that day arrived in Crystal Tokyo for the coronation. "Welcome Artemis, my love and one and all…I am quite popular today! Okay, allow me to continue…"
"You must tell us of the curse," Diana cut in.
"Okay… At this auspicious time, people came from all over the stars to participate in the fertility rites held in the capital cities of both worlds. Also at this time, the initiations of new Senshi would take place, newborn children named on Luna. I know. I was named after the cradle of the Silver Millennium, but allow me to continue…," she giggled, turning one eye to a grinning Artemis.
"Well kitty, you've certainly got us interested, just go easy on the puns, Hmmmm?"
Everyone laughed as Artemis jumped onto the cushion beside his wife and washed the backs of her ears. She giggled and gently nudged him away with her nose, "Artemis, not in front of the children!" Luna paused, blinked and then continued her story. "Right… yes, Orpheus with its five impressive moons set against banded shades of purple, pink, red and lavender clouds, a truly magnificent sight, resembling a diadem of precious gems adorning its vast circumference…and now the part you have waited for, young lady," Luna smiled, looking into the mauve eyes of her daughter. "Soon, Orpheus would be flung from its orbit and out of the solar system -- cast adrift as a rogue planet – with its four remaining moons in tow. Fortunately, it found a new home around a yellow star we know as The Amaterasu Disk."
Iradia and Sigma sat listening to the story with great interest, and then the sound of a mew from a young black cat, and all eyes turned to Sigma. "But Lady Luna, wouldn't the people fall off the planet if it had no gravity to support it from a star?" The young cat asked, as giggles rose from Diana and Small Lady.
"Now, children, that's not as silly a question as you might suppose…Orpheusean scientists created a shield to prevent the planet and its moons losing their atmospheres. As you know, Orpheus was ruled by the house of Freya, one of nine royal houses of the Orpheusean Kingdom as it came to be known. But for you avid history buffs, the fifth moon… Luna had strayed into Earth's orbit. The upheavals caused by the tectonic stresses caused by the monumental changes taking place-wreaked havoc on the Earth's surface -- as the moon settled into its new orbit, setting the stage for the eventual emergence of the House of Serenity, and the rest you know."
Orpheus 25000 BCE
Princess Floriana and Prince Aries of Mars would meet on the balcony at midnight to celebrate the apex of the festival of Myola in their own special way -- so named to celebrate the princess's birth over 50000 years before. Lady Myola was the first child of the Goddess Queen, Sule, known by all as the Oberisku no Shoujo, the first-born princess of Earth.
Floriana stepped into the warm night air, leaning upon the balcony wall, took in the sights, and sounds of the festivities in the valley below, cradled within the arms of the majestic Asgardian Mountains.
The princess was nineteen years old, and all of five feet five inches tall. Her petite frame draped in robes of fuchsia, floating above beautifully crafted sandals throwing off prisms of light with each step she took, her abundance of thick calf-length hair of rose-red fell to the backs of her legs, styled in two Odangos. The princess's cat-like emerald-green orbs penetrated the darkness.
Closing her eyes, she took a long deep breath of sweet mountain air and sighed. Then her eyes fluttered open and she gazed into the night sky, festooned with luminous plumes of color as the fireworks display lit the valley below.
Suddenly, a violent quake rocked the planet, holding tightly to the balcony wall to prevent herself falling to her death. She was no stranger to earthquakes, and thought it would pass. But this time it was proving to be the most destructive she'd known, a cold chill rushed up her spine as screams broke out everywhere and knew this was no natural occurrence. The warm breezes flew into a tempestuous rage, and the shimmering Earth swam in and out of phase, horribly distorted by atmospheric turbulence. Her last thoughts before losing consciousness, concerned her fiancé, family, friends and people of her world.
He found her body sprawled facedown upon the balcony.
"Thank the Kamis…she's still alive," he said, cradling her in his arms. "Don't worry, my love. I won't let anything happen to you."
Aries sighed with relief as his sister clung to Floriana's hand. "She has a bruise on the back of her head, but otherwise she's okay. She knows we're here, my brother," the young Martian Princess said, brushing the fringe from the unconscious woman's eyes, placing the cool cloth against her face.
The tectonic quakes continued, as the planet's crust adjusted to the immense gravitational flux as it moved out of orbit. Aries carefully lifted his fiancé, carried her inside, placing her gently upon the bed.
The crescent moon symbol upon Floriana's brow began to glow, and they knew she would be okay. "My love… You've had a nasty fall, due to the quake… We must get you out of the palace and head for Mars through the crystal portal. The seismic disturbances are so severe, we're evacuating the capital," he said, a sense of urgency in his tone.
"My brother, what of our world...? I fear--"
Aries raised his hand, as her eyes fluttered open. Rhiannon bit her lip.
"I fear the Araknitopa have finally decided to attack us with a new and devastating weapon. I think we best move quickly, Aries," Floriana urged, sitting up, they helped her to her feet, made their way towards the crystal portal and stepped through it.
The princess's instincts were well founded, for subsequent intelligence identified the Araknitopa alliance as responsible for the system-wide cataclysm, the diabolical collective wished to break up the celestial Senshi by cutting off its duel capitals, and destroying both worlds. Although they didn't succeed with their original plans, nonetheless the fact Orpheus was thrown into deep space was catastrophic enough. Unbeknownst to the rulers of each planetary kingdom, the dark curse was spreading throughout the solar system, and would eventually isolate them from the rest of the galaxy.