Finds of a Lifetime
There had been a time when she believed that only the hard sciences suffered from the tedious parts of research. She remembered watching as one of her best friends measured milliliters and carefully added single drops. She also remembered thinking she had no idea how Ami could possibly enjoy what she did. Since then, Mikayla had come to understand that every field of study had moments of tedium and work with no results-unless "no result" was in and of itself a result.
Straightening, she took a sip from the water bottle she kept clipped to her belt and then glanced at her watch. Mikayla rubbed at her neck as she stood. If allowed it, the professor would work through lunch and breaks, forcing the volunteers to sneak whatever breaks they could. She felt bad enough for the volunteers, most of whom were college students or grads in other fields who had to fund their own way to the site and had come to a season of excavations in which it seemed the most interesting find would be the crude tool made from animal bone she had found in the first week (the dagger Noah had found clearly belonged to a later layer that had simply fallen through the floor into their current layer). The last thing disappointed volunteers needed was to have to sneak away to keep from passing out of hunger.
She was about to call lunch when the sun reflecting off something in the dirt caught her attention. Dropping back into a crouch, she grabbed her brush and began to carefully clear off the sediment, revealing some kind of hammered metal, perhaps a bowl. Forgetting her earlier feelings that they had discovered all that the site had to offer and this session was a waste, she found herself smiling as she continued to clear the dirt.
The volunteers in her quadrant had come to join her. The excitement of having something—not just something but something big-spread renewing enthusiasm and banishing all thoughts of hunger or fatigue.
Noah was always hungry. It was a reality he had come to terms with a long time ago, and a natural part of being an athlete. Though the precious and slow work of archaeology was nothing like the brute force on the ice, it had prepared him for the pure endurance required. In past seasons, he'd been proud to joke about how his brute strength was a gift to archaeology when a large find was ready to be lifted from the site. This season, the heaviest thing had been the dagger that would assure him—not Mikayla—the shared byline on an article.
When his stomach growled, he realized that it was past lunch time.
In the division of "extra" work as grad students, Mikayla was in charge of calling lunch and breaks and making sure that the professor actually managed to eat. He had his own tasks when it came to making sure the professor they worked for did not forget he was human with basic needs: keeping his water bottle full, making him go to bed at night, keeping the cell phone charged so he could call his wife and baby daughter.
It was not like Mikayla to lose track of time, and he started to call the break himself when his foot hit something heavy. Grunting like he somehow felt the sting of a stubbed toe through the work boots he wore, he knelt back down, trying to find the rock that he had hit.
When he found it, he let out a quiet whoop as he began to use his hands to clear away the dirt. Whatever it was, it was far more than a chunk of stone.
It was nice not to have to worry about schedules, eating, or keeping his phone charged, but despite the beliefs of his students—beliefs he admittedly encouraged—Dr. Arthur Mau could remember to drink water and eat on his own, most of the time anyway, and he did care about the well-being of his volunteers.
So he noticed when neither Mikayla nor Noah called for a lunch break. It was a fact that quite amused him. Taking a drink from his own bottle, he stood, popping his back as he did so. When the volunteers in his quadrant looked at him questioningly, he waved a hand and said it was lunch time. Once they had all climbed out of the pit, he did so as well and moved over to check on his students.
Mikayla was working with her four volunteers to uncover something that actually hurt his eyes as the sun reflected off it. Fighting back a smile of victory—he knew there was more to this layer yet, he called down to her, "Found something, huh?"
She looked up at him, beaming. "Not sure what yet. I think it's hammered bronze but if so it's really fine work. Whatever it is, it's big."
"Huh. All right, well, take a break and eat some lunch. Whatever it is, it's waited a few thousand years. One more hour won't hurt anything."
"Oh!" The young woman blushed, not something she did very often, at least as far as he could tell, and wiped sweat off her forehead with the back of a rather dirty arm, "Sorry! I meant to call lunch earlier, and then I found this and..."
He smirked as she trailed off. "Now you understand."
Chuckling, he moved over to the pit Noah's team was working and found them likewise enthusiastically uncovering something.
"And what do you have here?"
"Don't know yet, old man." Noah grinned up at him. "Some kind of stone table or something. Not sure yet, but you might wanna call in the wife. I think I might have spotted an etching or two."
"Fantastic! Now get up here and eat. They can hear your stomach growling for miles around."
The volunteers laughed at that and did not wait for Noah to wave them off as they started to climb out of the put.
By the time that Dr. Luna Mau arrived early the next evening, four month old baby Diana in a sling around her chest, both finds had been completely unearthed.
While it was easy to think of Arty as being an "absent minded" professor, when one saw the two of them together they seemed a fabulous couple, even if Arty's dig clothes were filthy, his queued white hair seemed almost grey from all the dust, Luna's thick black hair was pulled back, and and her clothes a plain work outfit. It was in moments of watching the two that Noah would steal a glance over to the tall, no-nonsense Mikayla and smile wistfully.
"I told you I'd be needed here." The woman smiled as she approached her husband, unfazed by the dirt that coated him and kissed him.
Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close with their daughter between them, Arty took the moment to kiss his wife, not caring if his students or volunteers saw. "And I told you that you would be close enough by in a hotel in the city if we needed you. Though I've missed having you here."
"Hmm." Luna shook her head slightly, smiling, as she stepped back so Arty could take the sleeping child from the sling.
"And I've missed you, too, little one. Are you letting Mommy sleep enough so she can work?" He kissed her forehead, and the baby shifted slightly in her sleep to snuggle closer to her father.
Luna laughed, "Next time you can sleep in the nice hotel with the wailing infant and I'll take the site tent and cot. I'm pretty sure I'll get more sleep."
"Fine. Next time you can go into archaeology, and I'll study epigraphy."
"You don't have the patience for it." She snorted. "Now, show me these finds!"
"Noah's first. I don't want to prejudice your observations, so I'll keep my ideas and theories to myself until you've had a chance to look." Arty smiled, "Noah!"
The young man stepped up, quickly. "Here, Old Man. Professor, if you'll follow me."
"Why does she get 'Professor' and I get 'Old Man'? I am your advisor! I'm the one you should be sucking up to!"
"Yeah, but have you looked at your hair. Sorry, white hair means old man." He grinned as Luna laughed and followed him to the quadrant he'd been working in.
Ignoring his offer to help her, Luna quickly climbed down a couple of steps before hopping the rest of the way into the pit. Once in she quickly pulled on a pair of thin latex gloves from her pocket and began walking around the rather large stone table, kneeling down from time to time to trace her fingers through the etchings. She completed three slow circuits, studying various aspects of it, tracing her fingers over it, before offering any thoughts.
Still holding the baby, Arty was crouched near the edge, watching.
"This is not cuneiform or a pictographic language."
Laughing, Arty shook his head, "Did not need you for that much of it, hun."
"Hush. It's clearly alphabetic, but like no script I've encountered before. None of the letters show any clear descent from Egyptian hieroglyphics, either."
"How can you tell it's alphabetic?" Noah frowned. Mikayla had insisted that it was, but he had argued that that was simply not possible. Kneeling beside Arty, Mikayla simply smirked.
"Well, from my preliminary count, I make out thirty-two distinct figures repeated in various patterns. I'll need to take some pictures and make some sketches, but somehow I think you've discovered a new script, perhaps a new language altogether." She shook her head, "It should not be possible. The previous layer was clearly early bronze age. Everything, the material finds, the carbon dating, the epigraphic finds, everything made it very clear it was early bronze. I don't know how it's possible that there's an altar with an alphabetic-script engraving under that!"
"Ahhah! So you agree it's an altar?" Arty was beaming.
"Of course it is. From the size of the flat part, I would guess we're talking small herd animals-any bones found?"
"Not yet."
"I would expect sheep, goat, perhaps pigs. Maybe some birds. But..." She ran her fingers over long grooves, "I believe it was an altar for oracular sacrifice. You can see how the blood would run down these grooves, and then depending on how it pooled, which letters and symbols it covered, the priest could give the oracle."
"Though here..." Luna traced over a darkened portion of the stone. The altar was not broken, but it had clearly been damaged. "It seems to have been struck by lightning at some point, though seems like an odd angle."
"Yes! My thoughts exactly! Now, come and see what Mikayla's found!"
Luna laughed softly as Noah grumbled as he followed her out of the pit.
Arty led his wife next to a tent where the basin, about a meter in diameter and a quarter of a diameter deep had been set. Again, Luna was allowed to study the piece without any input from the others. A fresh pair of gloves covering her fingers so she could touch and trace the basin. Shaking her head she sighed, "Exquisite, and again, it should not be possible! This isn't bronze!"
Mikayla answered, "No, it's not. We have checked its specific gravity. It's gold."
"But...there is no way people even earlier than the bronze age could temper gold enough to make it this hard." Luna sighed again, "But it's clearly the same alphabet as on the altar. There does not seem to be much question that this must have been some kind of holy site and that the pieces go together."
Dinner was an exciting event that evening; for all that it was simple fare. While most of the volunteers did not know the exact details, they all knew enough to know that what had been unearthed was a find of a lifetime.
Doctors Arthur and Luna Mau seemed content in their own little world, talking about what the finds could mean, about Diana, about their respective students-Luna's being back at the University working through creating her own copy of Code of Hammurabi as if she were a scribal student.
"I'm telling you, the stupid dagger does not matter anymore! You and the Prof are probably right; it belonged to a later layer and simply dropped through a layer of sediment. It happens, right?" Noah sighed as Makayla headed toward the tent where the excavated pieces were kept and he followed her.
"All the time, yes." She shrugged, "And no one said you had to come with. Go, eat, get drunk, flirt with the volunteers."
"I don't...one time, two years ago...forget it." He huffed as he followed her into the tent, both pulling on gloves almost automatically. The tent was still largely empty, though with the recent discoveries, both hoped it would soon be full. There had to be other paraphernalia with the altar and basin, they just had not found it yet.
Picking up the dagger, Mikayla studied it. "I'm not sure I've seen anything like this before. It seems crude, but..." She shook her head, "I think it's meant to seem that way. Look at the blade." She ran her finger along the edge and then gasped, "It's fairly sharp... I did not expect that." Her finger was bleeding and the cut in the glove was smooth.
"Huh. Are you ok?" Noah took the dagger from her as she looked at the cut on her finger.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, that was a stupid thing to do."
He shrugged, "It's not like it looks sharp. I'm not even sure how you...ow...ok, now that was stupid..."
Mikayla rolled her eyes at him, "You thought I was faking?"
"No! I just...I didn't see how it could be that sharp!"
"Well, apparently it is. I told you there was more to it! I bet it goes with the bowl and the altar too..." She took it from him and placed it back on the table. She had barely set it down when the world started spinning.
When the world came into focus again, Mikayla blinked. She was no longer in a tent with Noah. Glancing down at herself, she saw that her clothes were changed-not only were they clean, but she was wearing some kind of split skirt and a very, unnecessarily so, tight bodice.
"Are you ok?"
And she was apparently not alone. She looked over at the young woman who had spoken and was looking up at her with large, concern-filled, blue eyes. She looked familiar, and then Mikayla blinked again, shook her head, and the sense of disorientation faded. "Sorry, Sere, some kind of transportation-aftershock or something, though I thought I had gotten over that months ago."
Serenity giggled. "I still feel funny afterwards too."
"Mmm, I think that is a completely different feeling, Sere." She looked over to column at which Endymion was waiting. "Go on. Have fun, but remember what we talked about! No more scares!"
Though the princess did giggle again, her face also flushed a red that Leev suspected would rival Hitomi's. "I promise. Plus, Hitomi made me take a draft of something that tasted gross, so I'm sure it's all medicine-y, and Inanna gave me..."
"I don't want to know what Inanna gave you!" Leev threw up her hands, "Just be careful."
"I will." Serenity started to leave and then turned back with a giggle, "You too!"
Leev shook her head and sighed as she watched Serenity until Endymion scooped her up in arms. He waved at her, and she returned the gesture.
"So did Inanna give you anything?"
She turned to glare at the man...Noah...no that would be a ridiculous name...Sendoa. "Inanna does not need to give me anything. I am quite capable of providing my own protection, thank you very much."
Noah rubbed at his eyes as a sense of vertigo hit him. When he lowered his hand he was dressed like something out of a RennFest or a period movie. He'd laugh at himself, but he heard the voices of women, one of which was very familiar.
Turning to look at them, his eyes immediately finding their way to Leev's bodice where they lingered for just a moment before looking up to her face. He could understand how Endymion was attracted to Serenity, she was cute and sweet and pure, and yes, beautiful, but Leev...everything about the woman was amazing, not just her breasts-though he fully appreciated them.
"I don't want to know what Inanna gave you!" Leev threw up her hands, and it was all Sendoa could do not to laugh aloud, "Just be careful."
"I will." Serenity started to leave and then turned back with a giggle, "You too!"
He waited until Leev waved back at Endymion, knowing at that point she would trust his prince with her charge.
"So did Inanna give you anything?" He grinned as he approached her.
She glared at him. "Inanna does not need to give me anything. I am quite capable of providing my own protection, thank you very much."
Laughing he caught her by the waist, "So we almost had a crisis? I'll lecture the prince myself, fool knows better."
"It was a scare, nothing more." She swatted at him playfully. "Though, by all means, do. Later."
"As you command. I have other things to focus on just now." Sendoa leaned in for a kiss, an odd part of his mind bracing for her to slap him, though he had no idea why. When her lips met his, he relaxed and just enjoyed the kiss.
When they broke apart, he pulled her tighter to him for a moment, "I love the feel of you in my arms." He grinned and then let her go, grabbing her hand, "Come, I want to show you something."
He led her to a field not far from the castle, to the middle, far enough from any trees or buildings that the world seemed far more open than she was ever used to.
"Look up."
Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he held her as she did, felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw all the stars. "I...it's...it's beautiful. There's so many."
"You act as though you've never seen stars before, Princess."
She swatted at his arms, "Don't call me that. And I haven't often, except when traveling between Jupiter and the moon. At home, there are all the clouds and the light from Jupiter itself, and on the Moon..." Leev shook her head, "Even at night, the city's so bright."
"I'm sorry...I had no idea."
"Don't be!" She laughed, and Sendoa found himself nuzzling against her hair, "I did not know I was missing anything, and it's so beautiful, thank you for sharing this with me!"
"They talk to me."
"You're a seer?" She spun in his arms, surprise written across her features.
"Yeah...sorry, couldn't tell you all my secrets at once, now could I? Now, turn back around, so I can introduce you."
"What are you doing?" Sendoa caught Leev's wrist as soon as the transport was complete, frowning at her and then glaring at the princess. "Do you understand what could happen if you're caught?"
"I just..." Serenity sniffled before Leev could say anything, "I just want to see Endymion. I don't understand what the problem is. I just..."
Leev simply raised an eyebrow, and Sendoa sighed. "Fine, follow me." He quickly thrust the two cloaks he was carrying at them and led them to what seemed to be a rather dark and dirty shed. "Only the Shitennou and Endymion use this. Try not to knock over the weapons though." He shook his head, muttering as he left.
It was only a matter of minutes before he returned with Endymion, but long enough that Leev had considered transporting directly back to the moon.
Serenity's tears dried as soon as she saw Endymion, and the prince clutched at her as if he was afraid he would never see her again.
"I told you to wait. To make her wait. Why did you not listen to me?" Sendoa's voice was low and right in her ear.
Leev turned and glared at the man, "Can you control your prince so much better? It was either let her come alone, unguarded or come with her."
Cursing he ran his fingers through his hair, slammed his other palm against the wall, and then pulled her to him. "Leev, this kills me. You know how much this kills me, but you can't come back here again, not until I send word it is safe. I told you the warning in the stars."
"And I told you, warnings are just that, they're not set in stone."
"Draw the hood and come with me." He turned to the oblivious lovers, "Stay in here. Go nowhere else. Try to be quiet."
Once he was certain they'd obey that much, he led Leev out and through a twisting maze into a temple. "It's not just the stars. Every omen has said the same thing, Leev. You being here...her being here, threatens all of us, and not just us, everything."
He gestured at the altar, covered in blood, the smell of burnt meat making her feel ill, though there was no sign of the carcass. Pulling her over to it, he showed her the markings, where the blood had pooled, "War, Moon, Death. Is that clear enough for you? I'm not saying it's her fault, Leev. I don't believe the rumors, but most people do, and the unrest is growing worse every day."
Sendoa then pulled her over to the golden basin set on a marble pillar. "This, do you know what this shows me every time I look into it? Every time, Leev. It shows me war, it shows me leveled palaces, it shows me bodies: Endymion's, Jadeite's, Zoisite's, Mercury's, yours!" He released her hand and looked Leev in the eyes.
Leev was no seer. She believed in Sendoa's powers, as she believed in Azar's, but she had never understood it. The look in Sendoa's eyes, though, the fear and panic as he confessed to having seen her corpse, that she understood. "Sendoa, I understand, but I can't let her come alone."
"You cannot let her come at all! Leev..." He sighed and moved from her picking up a large amphora and pouring water into the basin. Once that was done and the vessel set back in place he moved to the altar and picked up a dagger. Holding his hand out for hers, he spoke quietly, "Do you trust me?"
Looking at the dagger, recognizing the glass and purpose-Azar had one as well-she sighed and nodded, placing her hand in his.
The cut across her palm was quick, though not painless, though she did not so much as gasp. He nodded to the water, "Just a drop" as he sliced his own palm and did the same thing. "This will allow you to see what I see." Clasping her hand in his so that the blood on their palms mingled, he looked into the water.
She was not a seer. She did not understand visions and oracles, but she did understand the chaos she saw. She tried to make it stop, to turn the armies back, to fight against what she was seeing.
When it was over, Sendoa caught her. She was a warrior, but she was panting and weak, and the smell of burnt flesh had been replaced by the smell of ozone, a smell she knew well. "I..."
"I think you killed my altar." He smiled at her as he offered her water. "I did not realize how much it would affect you."
"Oh...um...sorry about that." When was the last time she had lost control of her power? As a child, perhaps.
"Don't be." He kissed her forehead. "I know what you saw, and I had forgotten how overwhelming one's first vision can be. You understand now." He lowered his head so his forehead was against hers, "I promise, when it is safe again, I will let you know. But for now..."
She nodded, "For now we can't be here."
"But you are now, and..." He kissed her, and it was a kiss full of need and passion and pain, and Leev could not help but respond in kind.
"I don't want to defile...any more than I already have..."
He shook his head, "Hush. It won't. I promise."
Mikayla fell onto the floor, gasping. Noah seemed to be in no better a condition, his head cradled in his hands.
"I...oh Gaea, what did I do? What did we do? We..."
She shook her head and crawled over to him, "Hush. It's not you. You are Noah. You are a brilliant archaeologist who cares about cultures and could crush skulls with your bare hands but is ridiculously gentle with a baby girl and makes sure his adviser drinks plenty of water on hot digs. What Sendoa did or did not do...it wasn't you."
"I killed you!"
"Hey, I took you out too..." She cupped his chin and gently guided his face up to look in hers. "The Sendoa I...Leev remembers...was a passionate and caring man. I don't know why he marched with the Terran army; I don't care."
"How can you say that?" He blinked at her, tears forming in his brown eyes.
"Because he tried to warn Leev, he tried to prevent it. Because I am not going to judge you for some past life I just learned about! You are a complete and total idiot and I..." running out of words, she pressed her lips against his.
Noah's arms came around her, holding her, needing her.
"You're both idiots if you think we're going to let you have sex near the artifacts."
Blushing they pulled apart to see Arthur and Luna standing in the open flap of the tent. Arty's arms around Luna's waist. "You have to be lead to get to do that. Go watch Diana and remember that you were rivals before tonight. Try to slow down a tiny bit."
Standing they stared at the two before leaving bashfully.
Noah whispered to Mikayla as they made their way to Arty's tent to take over watch of the baby, "Do you really think they're..."
"I really do not want to know."
They were only a few steps away when they heard Luna, "I told you the script was from the Golden Kingdom."
~The Beginning~