In the year of 1982, an expedition from Japan to a site in the Arctic, near Greenland, uncovered a mysterious stone dark blue box with unknown carvings on its side. The box was small, and curiously contained the astrological sign of Mercury on its front. When it was opened, it contained a bunch of metal pieces that seemed to be broken and pieces of a puzzle. These metal pieces were also a dark blue. After its discovery, the box was kept by a young doctor from Japan whose husband, an artist, had been on the expedition. She had tried a few times to put the pieces together, but had failed each time. As time went on, their marriage ended, and the doctor now lived with her daughter, a bright child who had also tried her best at the puzzle, but had little luck herself.

Over time, this puzzle had gained the title of the Mercury Puzzle, and yet so much about who it came from remained a mystery. Then, ten years after it was found, a miracle happened.

This is the story of the girl who solved the Mercury Puzzle, and awakened a mysterious past.

...

...

Juuban Junior High School, Tokyo, 1992

It was now lunch break at a school in Japan's busy capital of Tokyo. As students streamed out of a classroom, one of them, a boy with nondescript black hair turned around and noticed a girl staying behind as he held a basketball. "Hey, Ami, wanna join us?"

The girl he was referring to, who had dark blue hair and was originally engrossed in a book, looked up, surprised her name was called. "Huh? My apologies, what was that?"

"It's alright," the boy replied. "You wanna join us for basketball outside?"

Ami smiled, but rejected the idea. "No thank you. I'm sure my team would lose anyway."

"Alright," the boy replied as he turned around. "If you change your mind, let us know!"

Ami turned back to her book, which was an advanced mathematics textbook she was studying with. As she turned a page, she had an idea. "Hmm... I know what I could try my hand at to pass the time." She then reached into her book bag on the floor and pulled out a stone box with dark blue siding. "I can look over the Mercury Puzzle," she thought to herself as she opened up the top and peered inside. "I've tried to solve this for five years. Maybe today will be the day I finally crack the code behind the puz-"

Suddenly, Ami's thoughts were interrupted by a swiping sound. She quickly turned and found a taller girl with brown hair in a ponytail standing next to her desk. She wore a far different uniform than her. "Hm? What's this, Ami?"

"Not this again," Ami sighed in annoyance as she recognized the girl. "Kino-san, please."

"Some kind of box?" Makoto Kino stared at it and inside the box. "What the hell is in here? It looks like a bunch of boring puzzle pieces."

Just as quickly as she had snatched the box from Ami, another person emerged and snatched it back from Makoto's hands with a swift grabbing motion, startling her as they walked by. "Ey, if you think it's so boring, why not give it back to Mizuno-san?"

Makoto was annoyed to see this other person, who had a lighter shade of brown hair than she did. "Osaka-san..."

Naru Osaka was her name, and she had recently befriended Ami. "Alright, alright, run along. It's not like you got anything better to do." As Makoto left in a huff, Naru sat in a desk next to Ami. "Hey, how's it goin', Mizuno-san?"

"Alright," Ami replied. "Where's Tsukino-san?"

"She's finishin' some late homework back at our class," Naru replied with a chuckle. "The usual." She then turned to the box she had grabbed from Makoto. "So, what's this thing you got?"

"Ah, yes," Ami replied with excitement in her voice. "This contains the Mercury Puzzle. It was found in an expedition in the Arctic ten years ago that my parents eent on before they got divorced." She then opened the box to show Naru the pieces. "They're all some kind of metal, but it's colored blue and they're not sure where it came from. The astrological sign for Mercury is on the front of the stone box. There are two messages along the side of the box." She then pointed out both messages on the side. "The person who solves this puzzle will have their wish granted, and the one who solves me will recieve my dark knowledge and power. Also, it is said that this dark power consists of the Shadow Games, which were some kind of way that an unknown civilization that made this puzzle used to judge those accused of wrongdoing or otherwise challenge each other."

"Dark power? Shadow Games?" Naru gave a nervous chuckle. "Sounds kinda... Dangerous?"

"Nah," Ami brushed her concerns off with. "It's fine. Anyway, I've tried to solve this ever since my parents came back. I was four when I began to try to put the pieces together, and I've been trying ever since. Anyway, changing subjects, I'm surprised you're not outside playing basketball."

"I was goin' to," Naru replied to her before she sighed in annoyance. "Then I noticed quite a few of the boys were passin' the ball to the girls a lot. I'm pretty sure they were doin' that to get an upskirt, because I saw a few takin' covert looks."

Ami blushed at the thought. "Oh my..."

...

...

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Makoto sat alongside the wall, wondering what to do next. After a few minutes had passed, she saw Naru come out of the room and interrupted her with a question, asking her, "What's the deal with that box of her's?"

"Like I'd tell you," Naru brushed her off as she walked by, causing Makoto to walk beside her. "Why are ya so keen on messing with her? Seriously, what do you gain from bullying othe-" Then, both of the girls felt themselves ram into someone else, causing them to curse and look up at the person they had bumped into. As they realized who it was, they both recoiled in slight fear, Naru especially.

The person was a grade ahead of them in Junior High, and was a taller boy with black hair and a 'hall monitor' arm band. "What was that about? Who's bullying who?" His voice was rather intimidating to both girls.

Makoto, unaware of the boy's reputation, challenged him, telling him, "None of ya business, that's wha-"

Naru very quickly interrupted her with a hand to her mouth, causing Makoto to panic as she hurriedly explained to the boy, "Uh, nothing! Nothing at all! Bullying is bad, and we were talkin' 'bout that! We ain't involved in that, especially not me, no sir!"

"Good, good," the boy replied as he walked past them. "If you see something, tell me."

"You got it, boss," Naru gave a rushed thumbs-up as she replied to him. She then let go of Makoto once he was out of earshot. "Do you have any idea what that was?!"

"You literally friggin' choked me," Makoto angrily told Naru off. "What the hell?!"

Naru then pulled Makoto aside and let her in on who the boy was. "That's Nakamura Tetsuo! He's a third-year here, and he's a hall monitor! Everyone in the school's afraid of him! Even some of the teachers are! You need to be more careful 'round him, transfer student!" She let her go, having warned her. "Anyway, I gotta get going. Please, don't get yourself in more trouble, Kino-san."

Makoto, annoyed, did not reply back to her. Instead, she pulled something out of her uniform shirt from her upper chest and held it out in front of her. "I did manage to sneak this out from Mizuno-san's box," Makoto thought to herself, holding up a piece of the Mercury Puzzle. Now she can't complete it." With a mischevous smile, she opened a window in the hallway and tossed the puzzle piece outside from the second floor. It quickly fell into a narrow but deep moat that surrounded the school building. "Alright, now that that's done, time to find something else to do..."

...

...

The Next Day

Outside the school in the morning, Naru and Ami talked together about yesterday just as Naru's closest friend ran up, fearing that she would be late to school. "Hey! Naru-chan! Mizuno-san! Am I late?" She then stopped to catch her breath, her blonde hair coming to a stop from swaying as she ran.

"No, you're fine," Naru replied, assuring her with a thumbs-up. "This time, at least, Usagi-chan."

"Hey, not funny," Usagi replied, annoyed by her remark. "Give me credit when it's due. Anyway, Naru-chan, Mizuno-san, we might as well head in."

"Yeah," Ami replied with a nod. "I'll see you guys later." The three of them waved at each other as Usagi and Naru went one way into the school and Ami went in another way. As she walked alone with the throng of students at her entranceway, she thought to herself as she yawned, "I'll admit, I came here later than I usually do. I spent way too much time trying to solve the puzzle. I don't know why, but I feel compelled to solve it now more than ever..."

Then, a voice from the crowd called to her. "Hey, Mizuno-san! Over here!"

Ami turned around and found Tetsuo staring at her. "Huh? Nakamura-san? What is it?"

"Listen," Tetsuo asked of her. "Are you being bothered by anyone? If so, I can be your bodyguard."

"No," Ami replied to him with a questioning tone, denying anything of the sort and finding his proposal weird. "But uh... Thank you?"

"No problem," Tetsuo replied as he thought to himself, "I got another customer." "Just let me know if something happens, okay?"

"Okay, sure," Ami replied, now walking away and waving at him. Deeply confused, she thought to herself, "What was that all about?"

...

...

Later that day, as school ended, Ami and Usagi walked out of the school together, unsure where Naru was since she had separated from Usagi as they walked out of their class to deliver something to another room. "So she hasn't come back at all?"

"Nope," Usagi replied to Ami. "Not at all. It's weird."

"Hey," Tetsuo then called out to both of them as they rounded a corner outside. "You two, come over here! I got something to show Mizuno-san, and I think you would be interested in this, too, Tsukino-san!" Curious to see what he had to offer, the two looked to each other and nodded, following him to a back area behind the school between it and an athletic shed. When they rounded another corner, they were met with a shocking surprise. "Take a look at what I did!"

Usagi screamed in fright as Ami yelled out, "Kino-san! Osaka-san!" Both Makoto and Naru laid on the ground, having been beaten up by Tetsuo, who himself bore a few hits and marks from where Makoto had landed a few punches before she was knocked down. The two were still awake, and moaned in pain. "What did you do to them?!"

"I beat up Kino-san first," Tetsuo informed them. "And then when Osaka-san got in the way and for some reason defended her, I had to take care of her, too. Now, Mizuno-san, I can't just offer these bodyguard services for free..."

"What's going on here?!" Usagi was frightened and began to whimper and cry. "I don't want to get hurt!"

"I charge you 100,000 Yen," Tetsuo told Ami with a completely straight face. "It's only fair."

"100,000 Yen?! Are you insane?!" Ami was dumbfounded by the ridiculously high amount of money he demanded. "Stop hurting them, please!" Ami stood between Tetsuo and his two victims as Usagi looked on, still shivering in fear.

Makoto was equally dumbfounded as to why Ami defended her. "She's defending me," she thought to herself. "After all I did to her... Why, Mizuno-san? You have a bigger heart than I do, I know that..."

"So be it," Tetsuo told Ami as his smile turned into a scowl. "If that's how it will be..." He then grabbed Ami by the collar of her uniform shirt and threw her against the wall of the school before landing a punch in her abdomen, causing her to collapse to her knees. He then turned to Usagi, who tried to run. However, as she ran, he grabbed her by one of her two long pigtails and dragged her back, landing a punch in her side as she fell to the ground. Both girls writhed in pain on the ground as Tetsuo gave them both a stern warning. "Now, Mizuno-san, I want you to pay me by the end of the week, or else I'll teach all four of you the true meaning of pain..." To further drive home his point, he pulled a knife from his uniform, hidden behind his clothes, and brandished it, eliciting a gasp from Usagi.

Ami thought to herself as she saw Tetsuo walk away from the scene, "How am I going to be able to afford that?! What the hell is going on?! How am I going to explain these injuries to my cram school or my mother?!"

...

...

Much later that night, Ami had changed into her pajamas as she sat at her dresser in her room after coming home from cram school. She thought about the day's events, and had counted up all the money she had, only coming up with about 3,000 yen, far short of the 100,000 she needed. "Damn it," Ami said to herself as she rested her head on the dresser. "How am I going to fix this? He's gonna beat up me, Osaka-san, Tsukino-san, and Kino-san even worse when I can't give him all the money..." She turned her attention to the box containing the Mercury Puzzle, opening it and thinking to herself, "Trying my luck at this puzzle has always been a good way for me to reduce my stress. Normally I'd be studying, but right now I don't even want to look at a textbook. I never thought I'd think that, but here we are, I suppose..."

She began pulling puzzle pieces out, and began yet another attempt at putting the puzzle together from scratch. Most times she attempted it, it took her a long time before she even got a basic skeleton of the pyramid-shaped puzzle. Tonight, however, something felt different as she put each piece together. For the first time, it was as if something was guiding her into solving the blue-colored puzzle. With each piece that snapped into place, she felt compelled to keep working. She was not sure why it was now so easy, but it helped keep her mind off of Tetsuo and his extortion threat.

Amazingly, she was now just one piece away from solving it, and thought to herself, "No way! I'm only a piece away from completing the Mercury Puzzle! I just need the middle piece on the face that has the Symbol of Mercury on it! If I can only just... Wait..." As she reached her hand into the box, a horrifying realization hit her. "It's... It's not here..." Ami quickly looked into the box as her jaw dropped. "But.. But how?! The piece is gone!" A wave of sorrow hit her as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "Now... I'll never get to fulfill my wish... Damn it..." As she again rested her head on the dresser, she thought to herself, "My only wish is to have friends... Friends that truly care about me... Is that too much to ask?!"

Then, she heard a voice call out to her from her door behind her. "Ami... It's me..."

"Hey, mom," Ami replied to an older woman with similar features to her. "I..."

Her mother was amazed as she saw that Ami had almost finished the puzzle. "Incredible! Ami, you finished the Mercury Puzzle after all these years!"

"I didn't..." Ami wiped her eyes and face of tears. "I'm missing a piece... I can't finish it..."

"Actually," her mother replied to her as she pulled something out from her pocket book as she sat on her daughter's bed. "There's something I want to show you." In her left hand was the missing piece, the center of the puzzle's face that contained the Symbol of Mercury in all its glory. "I believe you need this to finish it."

"I... I do!" Ami leapt up front her seat and bear-hugged her mother, surprising her as she fell back onto the bed. "Oh my God, mom, you're a lifesaver!" As she regained her composure, she took the piece and smiled. "With this... I can finally do it..."

Her mother and her both then stood up from the bed. "Well, Ami, I'm gonna head to bed. Goodnight, my dear." She then gave her a kiss on her forehead, making Ami smile. "I'm so proud of you..." As Ami turned around to complete the puzzle, her mother pulled a second object out of her pocketbook and placed it in her bookbag secretly while Ami was not looking. "A friend of your's came by," she thought to herself. "It wasn't raining, but she was soaking wet and wearing a different uniform from your school, even though she goes to Juuban Public Middle School like you..."

...

...

About 15 minutes earlier, as Ami's mother, named Saeko, was brushing up dust and dirt outside of their apartment together, she was interrupted by a female voice calling out to her. "Mizuno-san!" As Saeko looked up, she saw a tall girl with a brown ponytail run up to her wearing a soaked school uniform. "Are you Mizuno Ami's mom?" As she caught her breath, Saeko looked on in confusion.

"Um, yes," Saeko replied, unsure who the girl was. "Who are you?"

"Kino Makoto," the girl replied. "I'm a friend of your daughter's." She then showed Saeko the piece of the Mercury Puzzle she had thrown into the moat at school the day before. "Your daughter left this at school, and I had to swim in the moat to get it... She needs it... Anyway, there's somethin' else I need to tell ya..."

...

...

"She told me everything," Saeko continued in her inner monologue of thoughts. "About Tsukino-san, Osaka-san, and that bully Nakamura-san. I put 200,000 yen in your bookbag, Ami. If that will get him off your backs, good. Anyway, I'm amazed you solved the puzzle at such a young age. You really are an intelligent young woman. It is said that whoever solves the Mercury Puzzle will inherit the Shadow Games, and will become the guardian of justice, passing judgement upon those who commit evil acts..."

Once Saeko was in her bedroom, Ami prepared herself for the moment she had been waiting for for ten whole years of her relatively short life. She took a deep breath and said to herself, "You can do this, you can do this, you can do this..." She then pressed the final piece in, and with a click, the Mercury Puzzle was finally complete. She was amazed to see it fully completed, and was taken aback by its beauty. "Wow... It looks so pretty..."

Suddenly, however, everything changed.

A bright blue glow emanated from the face of the puzzle. "Huh?" The glow was intense, and captivated Ami as a bright beam of light then shot out of the puzzle and right into Ami's forehead. The Symbol of Mercury appeared on her own forehead as she let out a yelp, feeling something take over her body. Then, as soon as it began, she collapsed onto the dresser, now passed out.

When she awoke, something was very different about her. She held the puzzle in her hands, and quickly found a small rope on her dresser for which to tie the puzzle around her neck like a necklace. Once she was done, she looked over to the mirror and stared at herself. Her voice was somewhat deeper when she spoke, and her look gave off an intimidating presence and aura. "Well, well, well," this new presence said to herself. "Looks like Nakamura-san is gonna be in for more than he can chew. I can sense that he's at the school..."