Little Lost Rabbit by Ikuko
Part 6
G to PG
Ami's narrative
I still do not own Sailor Moon
_________________________________________________
Never let your sense of morals
prevent you from doing what is right.
A. Asimov
Did you ever notice that bureaucratic duties are always dumped on the
least suitable one? I am really not very assertive and they made me an
official of the tournament! OK, I can keep the information straight, and
write the report in time, but mediating the fight? Sorry, it is not
really my call. The only good thing about it was that I finally got my
hands on the information about rules and traditions of the tournament.
And, to tell you the truth, it did not look good at all. Judge for
yourself: Only avatars of the large worlds have a chance to draw enough
power from their planets for the required strength of the chi attack
However, our stubborn freshly-made king insisted on participation. Not
that I did not understand his reasons. Being killed, even if temporary,
is better than to see the one you love to marry someone else. Still,
there should be another way...
As an official, I was helping the senshi that registered the
contestants. Of course, Seya was participating too. As one of a great
star, he had a good chance to win.
There was this huge fellow from Betelgeuse who was so proud of the size
of his star and so sure that the victory would be his, he started to call
Princess "my dear". The nerve.
The most bets were divided between these two. As the senshi explained
it to me, Seya could still count on his feelings toward Usagi to
increase his chi. I wished that it could help Mamoru, but alas, I
realized all too well that no love could possibly replace the sheer power
that the huge star will provide.
Day did not go without a curious incident: one of the Earth human
representatives inquired if HE can participate! The lady he had addressed
to was extremely indignant, and not so much at the fact that he dared to
think that he can challenge an Avatar, as that he considered himself as a
potential consort of one!
I gathered that it was her morals that were hurt the most. In her mind the
thought of the mortal of mere tree dimensions seeking favor of a
multi-dimensional being was something like an offer of marriage from a poster
character to a human.
What she had to tell him was both amusing and educational, but in no way
suitable for official documenting.
At the sound of gong the battle began. I was trying to keep an eye on
Mamoru. We all knew how small were his chances, so if he will need help
I will be able to alert the jury. The identical black force fields cover
Avatars.
The field of the King was indeed weaker than others, almost
translucent. It is not nearly as dense and black, the streams of power
flowing over it's surface, but not incasing him completely in the ebony
capsule.
However, a few seconds later he seemed to master the field,
and it became so much like others under the dome that I literally lost
his field among them.
The power signatures were impossible to read through the outer field, and
the only thing that I could do was to watch. Under the dark dome of the force
field, the capsules levitated and sent shots of chi energy at each other.
Some stronger ones simply smash their rivals against the outer shield, by
sheer strength of the force field. Defeated have their capsules collapsed,
and drop on the ground, to be pulled out of the way by assistants.
Some concentrated on one-on-one duels, some formed temporary teams to defeat
a stronger rival, some attacked from behind the ones engaged in a duel already.
There is only one rule: to remain suspended when everyone else is on the ground.
Eventually, there were only three capsules left: one exceptionally large,
one strong and swift constantly attacking it, and one, of the average size,
that was just hanging there, never trying to engage in any battle. I had seen
many trying to attack that one, only to be shot down by their own reflected
charge.
Healer explained to me that the reflection of the attack is never used, because
it requires immense power to reflect even a fraction of the charge. To do what
the warrior in the passive capsule is doing meant or some unknown trick, or
that he was more powerful than all others combined. But if it was true, why did
not he just attack and get it over with?
Two others also tried to team up against the passive one. The heavy one threw
itself at the mysterious warrior, only to be reflected like a ball from a stone
wall. He fell on the ground and his field collapsed, revealing the avatar of
Betelgeuse.
The other one, swift and agile, spiraled around the motionless sphere, attacking
it from all directions at once. He only succeeded in getting blasted by several
reflected attacks simultaneously.
When his capsule finally collapsed, it revealed bruised but very proud Fighter.
The silent lonely winner was still hovering high above the ground. Seya got from
under the outer field:
"I told you, princess, I will beat that Betelgeuse guy! So what if his
star is twice as big as mine! For you, princess..."
"Ah, shut up, Seya. It seems to me that you were beaten yourself. Is it
over?"
"Come on, Mars! That guy - you can not beat him. If you only felt the
chi he has! You need a thousand of the black holes to have an energy
like that."
"Who is he?"
"I do not know. The jury will end the tournament as soon as he will get
down to announce the winner. Sorry, princess, it would not be me to
become your husband; you will see your consort soon enough."
"You mean when he will come down. He seems to like it up there"
"No one can sustain the force field indefinitely. Why is he wasting the
energy? He had won already"
"May be one of my shots did reach him? In the head?"
"Is there any way to get him down?"
"We never had a problem like this before. I suppose, we can remove the
outer field now, seeing that the battle is over. At least we will be
able to see the winner through the field. May be the light will make him
to come down."
The dark dome of the force field collapsed, leaving the small sphere
suspended in the air. We could see the warrior in black inside it, in the
meditation pose.
It was Endymion! But how? They said he had no chance at all! And why did not
he really fight anybody, only reflected the attacks? I knew he was all out
for the global peace, but this was ridiculous: it was a tournament, not the war.
The bright light and the shouting from the crowd seemed to interrupt his
thoughts. He opened his eyes with the look of surprise. Slowly, his
capsule descended and dissolved. King walked to us, in visible confusion.
"Did I do something wrong? Were are all the contestants?"
"The tournament is over, my king. We are happy to see you all right"
"Over? Who had won?"
"You, your Majesty."
"But... I did not even fight! I did not attack anyone, and no one
attacked me..."
"You mean, you did not notice how you shot me down with my own charge?"
"I did? I did not mean to harm you...I do not understand... I only began
to power up in meditation. All I noticed was a swarm of tiny sparks
around me, like a fireflies"
"Now I am a firefly. Come on, man, I hit you with enough energy to
destroy an average size continent! Are you trying to tell me you did not
even notice the battle! Endymion? Mamoru? Where did he go?"
Indeed, there was no trace of our victorious king. Jury announces
Endymion a winner, but hesitated to declare him a consort. The charges
against him still stood, and besides, there was no explanation for the
power he had displayed. Some even suspected that he had cheated, though
had no idea how. At least no one of the tournament participants
question his superiority anymore. Even if the jury could not explain the
power Endymion possessed, the warriors themselves were now too familiar
with it to hazard another confrontation.
Anyway, we had better things to do than to quarrel with the jury.
I had a good idea were the king had disappeared. His energy signature
was so powerful since the battle, I almost did not need a computer to
trace him to the Earth, to the temple grounds. Of course, the tree. The
very same one we needed a crow bar to peel him from for the last few days.
As soon as I gathered girls we went after him. We need Usagi more than
ever. The cold was coming, freezing the planets over entire Universe,
and there was no one that knew why or how to stop it.
Teleportation back to the Earth proved to be more troublesome than
we expected. We knew exactly where he went, we concentrated on the Temple
as our destination point. Well, it did not work out. The explosion of
golden light had thrown us off the track, at least half a mile from the
Hendai Hill. And a rough landing it was! It took us some time to figure
out which extremity belongs to which senshi in the heap of the bodies, but
eventually we untangled and got up.
That was quite a spectacle to behold! The entire hill was covered
by the glow of pure gold energy so intense the air was crackling with
it. Most of the Temple building were reduced to the ground by it's
tremendous force. The energy was focused on the wondrous tree that
bloomed against all laws of nature, and initiated from the King, who was
chanting something on the language that I could not understand.
"What is he doing?" uttered bewildered Jupiter.
"I think, he is trying to get our meatball head back to us"
"where is she?"
"It seems that he believes she is in that tree somehow. What is he
saying?"
"I do not even know the language he is speaking"
"I think I do. I had studied it in the history of the religion. It
sounds like Hebrew, only very old..."
"Could it be Aramaic, Rei?"
"You may be right, Ami, but I am not sure..."
"Well, let's check it..." I love my computer. It has everything you may
ever need, even ancient languages tutorial. Audio reception... linguistic
check... Gotcha!
"Rei, you are genius! It is Aramaic, I can translate it!"
"So, what is he saying?"
"Would you believe it? He is professing his love! To the tree! In
poetry! And it sounds a lot like "Song of songs"!"
"Well, poetry I understand. That's Mamoru all right. He never attacked a
bad guy in his life without saying a haiku on the occasion" grinned
Uranus. "But why Aramaic? And the tree? We all love cherry blossom, but
never destroy temples because of it!"
"He is trying to reach her heart" came the voice from behind. Sailor
Pluto, in her best grim self, was standing there, frowning.
"What do you mean?" Venus asked. Being a resident expert of the matters
of the heart is in her job description.
"He is trying to convince Usagi that she is loved, so that she would
return to him."
"The stupid airhead needs more proof from him? Talk about slow! He had
told her a million times! You would think the girl would know by now..."
"Oh, she KNOWS all right. In her mind, she KNOWS that we all love her.
But she could never FEEL being loved" Chills of horror crawled down my
back. For me, the feel of love that was coming from Usagi was the only
constant of my life, I can not even imagine now how I lived before I met
her. And she was living that horror of forlornness all this time! She,
who was giving love so freely to everyone who needed it!
"Why?! She is the most loving being in this world, and everybody loves
her!"
"That's exactly why. Her love shines as bright as a sun, and our
affections are simply lost in her glorious brilliance. Like the
brightest star that is destined to exist in the eternal darkness, she
was living in loneliness, unsure in the feeling of others. Words of love
could only reach her mind, not her heart, and the mind is a cruel thing.
It was playing tricks on her, supplying a discouragement for every act
of affection she received, and telling her that it was not for her, but
for the princess."
"Does the King know?"
"He does. He is fully awaken now, and can understand his soulmate
perfectly."
"But he is practically attacking her with all he has!"
"He does not mean to harm her. He merely tries to reach her heart with
his love, and we can only pray that it will be enough"
"Hell, he is not the only one with the heart! If the stupid meatball
head wants to be consoled, she will be! I shall baby her to death! She
will never get out of diapers!"
Poor Rei! Her bark is indeed worse than her bite. She was spitting the
angry words with trembling lips, and hot tears were pooled in her purple
eyes. Determined, she fought her way to the King through the overpowering
waves of golden energy and placed her hand on his shoulder.
He did not even turn his head, but the streams of the gold mixed with the
red flames that were flowing toward the tree. One by one, senshi joined the King,
pouring their respective powers into the stubborn cloud of pink blossom.
Well, I guessed it was my turn. I am not good in the showing my feelings,
but Usagi was a special case. As quiet as I normally am, I do have
something in my sleeve. As I touched my King's hand with mine, I could
hardly contain the joy of letting go, finally allowing all my barriers
drop. To pour all my love to the incredible miracle of a girl without shame
or reservationin the explosion of the Mercury Power. I could see through
the icy mist the powerful blue flow that merged with the energy of others,
and it gave me a smug satisfaction.
Looked like we had all the senshi with us... Wait, where was the princess?
She was with us when we teleported... But not when we landed, I was sure.
I definitely did not have to untangle myself from the endless pigtails.
Did she choose a different destination point? Where?
Suddenly, I noticed two figures in the shadow of the wall, clinging to each
other. One with unmistakable hairstyle, and one, taller, with black hair...
Mrs. Tsukino! Oh, my princess, you really are worthy of being Usagi's vessel.
We forgot about the mother, her pain and the power of her heart. But you
remembered! My kind, my wise princess, she teleported straight to
Tsukino's and brought the Mother here, where the destiny of her daughter
was to be decided.
The two were standing away from us, watching the astounding power display
from the distance. The older woman wispered something to the princess and
encouragingly pushed her toward us. The princess made a few tentative steps,
stopped, and glanced back to the Mother. It seemed that the smile from her
gave the princess all the courage she needed.
She approached the tree from the opposite side from us, and cupped the Silver
crystal in her risen hands. Silver glow flooded the area as she gave everything
she had to the tree.
Without Usagi, her mastery over the Crystal was drastically
diminished. I could see that she was draining herself fast. Not to mention that
I felt my own power was stretched to the limit.
Suddenly, we've got an unexpected help. Mrs. Tsukino came to the princess
side, hugging her shoulders gently. The pure white glow emanated from the
Crystal, hitting the tree.
In it's blinding shine I could see that the tree disappeared, leaving
two figures sprawled on the ground. In the haze of sheer exhaustion I
could still see that the King had sank onto the ground, and then the
darkness claimed me.
I woke up because someone was wiping my forehead gently with a
dump cloth. The worried face of Yuuichirou was hovering over me... Where
were the others? He seemed to understand my concern:
"They are OK, Ami"
Ami?! Oh, I am in the civilian form... Did he see me
detransform? Yuuichirou did not indicate any surprise on my being here
or the damage to the Temple.
OH, I will have time to worry later. The first thing first. To check on
the Princess, King, senshi. And who was the second figure on the ground?
I've got up, to find that I was not the first one to come around.
Makoto was awake, and helped to carry the unconscious King in one of the
remaining buildings. Good thing too, the evening was approaching fast, the
wind was piercing and it looked like it will snow soon. The only problem
was that he was still in his royal robes.
Well, I hopeed I will not be the one to give explanations to Rei's
Grandpa. I stumbled to find Rei in the meditation room. I had a strong
suspicion that she was there more for the warmth of the sacred fire than
for the spiritual reasons. It was really miserable outside and most of
other buildings had collapsed. It will not take long to lift the wooden
frames and fix the paper walls. As long as Usagi is back, nothing else
mattered.
"Rei? Where is Usagi? Is she back?"
Rei turned to face me.
"She is out of the tree, but did not join Serenity yet. They both are
still out of it. Come, I will show you."
Rei took me back to the place where the tree used to be. There was a
tiny new chapel, only in four tatami, built by Rei's Grandpa in the last
hour. He himself was there too, chanting the prayers at the feet of the
woman that laid on the floor. She looked so much like the Queen of
Silver Millennium! It seemed he was worshiping her like a goddess...
"Who is it Rei? Is it Serenity?"
"Yeah, but not the Queen. She is the Queen-Mother, the previous ruler of
the Moon..."
"Why is your Gramps praying here? Is she all right?"
"She is asleep. And Granpa - he will never seize to astonish me. He told
me that she is the goddess, guardian and the first priestess of this
Temple.
When he was a young lad, he came here to ask gods for a good
fortune, and after service went to admire the famous cherry garden that
gave the temple it's name. When the light of the full moon fell on one
of the trees in bloom, he saw a woman on it's place, a woman so sad and
so beautiful, his entire soul was changed at that moment. The moon hid
behind the clouds, and the vision disappeared.
He stayed there all night, praying for her to show herself again, but to no
avail. In the morning priests found him still in the garden. When they heard
about his vision, they told him that it was a sign.
He was chosen to serve the goddess of the Temple, and blessed with prophetic
powers. He stayed in here for all his life but was never able to see her
again. This is the first time he is able to serve her directly, and he is sure
that his life is fulfilled now."
"Wow. And I thought that he is just, you know..."
"Dirty old man?"
"I did not mean it... He was always very nice... But where was Usagi?"
"She is still outside, Ami."
"Are you crazy, Rei? It is a snowstorm outside! We have to bring her
inside at once!"
"Actually, we were hoping that you will figure out the way to do it.
Look!"
In the dimming light through the falling snow I could see Haruka
and Hotaru kneeling in the snow, looking at something... When we came
close, we were able to see her: a misty shadow of Usagi on the moist
carpet of cherry petals. She was nothing more than a handfull of fog, so
wispy and hazy, you could barely see her.
"Have you ever seen a fainted ghost? How do you suppose we can carry her
in? I am afraid that she will simply sink through the ground and we will
have to dig her out."
Hmmm, I could see the problem... My hand passed through hers like through
the thin air... Unless she will wake up and walk on her own, there was no
way of transporting her inside.
"Rei, you are the ESP of the team, could you teleport her or something?"
"I do not even know how to get a hold on her... I can try..."
"It would not be necessary" said the voice from the temple gates.
There stood Helios, in his human form. He walked briskly to the ghostly form
on the ground, lifted it like she was as material as you and me, and
took her to the same tiny chapel were Serenity laid. I suppose, it made
some sense, in a weird way: being a ruler of the land of dreams he could
manage a spirit better than we. Our entrance seemed to have an effect on
Serenity: she woke up, and tried to take my hand, but was too week...
"Serenity, you are all right!"
"Mercury, never mind me! Time is running out! You all have to prepare
for the union! Or we all are doomed!"
"What do we have to do?"
"It is you, Mercury. You have to read the manuscript... it will tell you
what to do. ... it is in your computer, find the key ... Cold death is
coming, hurry. Do not let Endimion and pure one together until I..." she
passed out again
"Until you what? What manuscript?" Oh. I knew which one. Rats. It was so
protected, I was never able to decode it. Well, there is no time like now...
"What is it? What did she tell you?"
"I am not sure, Rei. She sounded desperate... I have to find some
information stored in my computer..."
"Then do it! You can sit in the meditation room, no one will disturb you
there..."
There is nothing like hacking. I am not a criminal by nature, I am
rather sure of it, but hacking brings you a satisfaction like nothing
else. To outsmart, to find the way around the other's defenses, to fool
all the booby-traps! And an incomparable joy of "I am in!"!
That one was a lulu of a program. I was already proud that I've got this
far! The traps were so flawless, so neatly hidden, I would give a lot to
get to know the man who designed it. Anyone capable of constructing such
an elegant logic deserves all the appreciation he could get!
Oops, another one. Almost missed a nice little trap. He-he, good thing I
had coded one just like this before. I would never recognize it if it
would not be piggybacked to the same operator I had used myself, to
protect some personal files of mine. Now, let's see what this baby has...
Did I miss another one? The screen changed color, and now was covered in
intricate characters of classic Lunar.
"Greetings, Mercury. You are the only one who could possibly read
this."
Why, thanks...
"I had written it for you - for myself, in anticipation of events
that were prophesied long ago. If you needed this file, it means
that the critical time had come, and the fate of the Universe is
in your hands for a moment. It also means that you do not remember
me or why this file is so important. I know how frustrating it can
be, not to remember most of your past. I had forgotten it too.
I once wrote this document, but art that time it seemed impossible
to forget something so important as it's content or how to open
it. But time is merciless to our memory, I had forgotten. It took
me years to uncover part of the secret that protects the most
sacred of manuscripts. I am sending this message to you, along
with my findings, the only help I can offer from my time to yours.
If you will uncover the secret, you will be able to lead others to
the only right way, if not, all we lived for will be lost. I had
decoded some of the puzzle, but I do not have the important
information that by now you should had obtained.
Be careful, Mercury. The file can be open only by a password, two names,
three letters each. You have only one try, or the manuscript will delete
itself. That much I know, the rest is up to you. Search for their
names, the oldest ones, the ones that mean their essence.
Remember that you have only one try. I wish you luck. Do not despair, I
believe in you... I am always in you, hidden among other
forgotten memories, waiting to be free one day, when the prophecy
will fulfill itself and you - I - will remember everything.
Believe in yourself, in your destiny. Be faithful to your vows. You former
self, Mercury."
Ookey. So much trouble just to get a note from myself. However, there are
decoding instructions and a link to another location... Lets try this. If
I know myself, there is no more booby-traps. Uh-ha. I do know myself
well. Here is the page, with the passwords.
Now, let's see. The "names"... if there are two of them, it must be the
prince and the princess, no doubt about it. Endymion and Serenity will
never fit in this crossword puzzle. Hmm, three letters across... Mamoru
and Usagi, when written in kana are three characters each... Too bad that
the file is couple of thousand years older then kana alphabet, leave alone t
he names "Mamoru" and "Usagi".
Well, it means we have to deal with ancient languages.
Let's change the window and go to the Universal dictionary. Select
languages... OK, everything that existed in BC era should about cover it.
Plus Lunar, plus Intergalactic, plus Negaverse dialect.
Now then, what are we looking for. "the essence" it said. OK. Earth and
Moon, in any legend or document as lovers, spouses or any form of a couple.
A-and ENTER! Tra-la-la... I am waiting... You can show the results any
moment now...
And here goes... nothing. Every couple found has at least a dozen of
letters in names. Some Egyptians and Kimmerians are particularly long.
Ancient Chinese, however, are only one character apiece.
It was fun, but did not take me far. OK, lets try it again. So what did
I do wrong. Ah. May be it is not prince and princess, may be it is Usagi
I am looking for. After all, she is the one lost.
Now, what is the essence of Usagi?
That's a tough one. Warmth, laughter, friendship, love, loyalty,
innocence, wisdom in klutzy disguise... As Mamoru said, she is the love,
she is the life...
Click. You know that feel when pieces of the puzzle
that seemed to be a total mess suddenly fall together just right? Life!
Her healing power, her energy signature... Even the name, Rabbit is a
symbol of life in many cultures. As well as the ever-renewing Moon is a
symbol of eternal life! Worth trying it, anyway.
So, same as before, Earth and Life, and not to forget this time, no more
than three letters in the original language.
And ENTER! Tram-pam-pam. And here! much faster then the first time.
Oh, my.
Oh, my.
WHY DID NOT I SEE IT BEFORE!
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
No wonder, prince was speaking Aramaic!
Unbelievable that I did not realize it!
Oh, well, I will have time to be ashamed of myself later. At least, now it
is a piece of cake. Back to the password window, and double shift for
Aramaic. Now type the magic words: Earth and Life, three letters each.
Now, keep your fingers crossed, and ENTER! OK, you are a brave girl, you
will open your eyes now and see what happened...
Wow... The long document in Lunar is scrolling on the screen.
My excitement is too great to keep my countenance, and on top of my lungs I
yell
"I am in!!!"
Oops.
It was WAY too loud for a quiet ol' Ami. Shoji of the temple almost snapped.
But at least everyone runs down to my room immediately, in fear that I had
got electrocuted or something. As soon as they were sure that I was OK, and
decoded the file, girls were just as exited as I was. The truth was that to get
into the file was only the beginning, to understand what it was saying was a
real challenge.
Rei shooed everybody away from me to give me some space to work, and I was
really grateful for that. They were sitting as quiet as mice, watching me
struggling through half-forgotten language and lost magic techniques,
and no one even thought of budging out of the room.
The level of science and sorcery that was mention in the document was
fascinating. To my shame I had to use the help of the computer to explain
me the meaning more than once on every page. Computer clock told me that at
least two hours past before I finally figured it out. Well, sort of, but I
could not try the patience of my friends any longer. So we wakened up Minako,
and I began to read:
"After the world was created, two being were formed to reign over it.
The man and the woman were created. The man was to rule over the matter
and all forms of physical energy. His sign was Earth, and his name was
Earth, and his power was over the matter.
The woman was to rule over the life and life energy. She had the eternal
youth, and her name was Life, and her power was over the life, youth and
healing.
They opened their eyes and looked at the beautiful world in awe. Even when
they dreamed, they dreamed about the wonders of the universe, and the world
was mirrored in their dreams.
That world of dreams and spirits was Elysion, and Helios was the ruler of the
dream world, as Earth was a ruler of the material realm. But he was alone and
did not have a soulmate by his side as Earth had Life. With longing he watched
how happy the first couple was.
The only children of the Universe, they played with gifts they had.
Earth created beautiful gems of magnificent color and crystals of
flawless symmetry, for he loved things that are symmetrical and of
perfect order and logic.
But Life touched them with her magic and they grew into plants and animals,
which were not as perfect, but alive.
Earth sometimes laughed at her and sometimes was amused, and sometimes he was
upset. He tried to organize the world around him and bring it in impeccable arrangement. He systematized things and beings, and gave names to all of them.
Everything that was about him was clever and logical and cold. But Life was not logical at all, she was overthrowing all the systems with her laughter, and
light, and warmth.
For in her heart she was growing in secret the greatest miracle of them all:
the love for Earth that will last for eternity. She was always with him,
trying to get him to smile, trying to warm his heart. Patiently he
explained again and again the beauty of atomic structure, symmetry and
clarity of the crystals that last almost forever, unlike her creations,
that defied logic and died soon, and she listened.
Clever he was, but she was wise. With her love that consumed her entire being
she created a perfect flower, the red rose, more colorful that all the gems
and more beautiful that all the crystals, and gave it to her love.
In awe, he looked at the gift that taught him wisdom beyond logic. For the
first time he forgot his reason and looked into his heart, his living heart
that he ignored for so long. And he looked at Life, and saw that she is
more beautiful that even her flower, because her eyes were shining with
love, same love that now was overflowing his own heart.
Unable to express the depth of it, Earth suffered from the power of love that constracted in his chest. For days he struggled, and finally, he found a way
to show his love. He created the most beautiful thing he knew: the crystal
that shone with silver light, and gave it to his soulmate.
The power of Earth filled the flower, and the power of Life filled the
crystal. The light of passion streamed from them and formed a river of
eternal love. Great power the river held, and its name was Cauldron.
Beautiful bright stars and immortal warriors were born in Cauldron, and
populated the Universe, to live and love until the days of this world
will run out and the cold death will claim it forever.
The greatest of loves enlightened the spirits of the lovers, and they
were able to see what their future held. The terrible fate was
threatening the very existence of the world. Their love had power to
bring life to the Universe, or to destroy it. If they were to be united,
they would consume each other and the entire world in the flame of
passion.
Their powers were so great and so different, they will annihilate it in
the explosion of destruction and creation. Only if they sacrifice the
love they shared the world could be saved.
Heartbroken, they wept, and their tears were flowing together in a river
of selfless love, but Earth and Life were separated forever. Earth had to
stay on the planet they were born to, and Life was to travel the Universe,
bringing the hope to the far worlds.
Despaired, Earth prayed for a chance to be united with his love, whatever
the cost. And he was promised a tiniest spark of hope, in exchange for
ultimate sacrifice.
Earth rejected his immortality that meant eternity without love and at
that price bought a right to meet Life in his future reincarnation. He
reduced himself to a mortal human, mere progection of the powerful being
he used to be. But in his desire to protect his soulmate, he had passed
his powers trough the river of Cauldron.
Four powers he had as four dazzling gifts of the mastery over Time, Space,
Matter, and Energy. They reflected in the river to give birth to four Senshi:
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.
Unable to go with Life himself, Earth charged his senshi with the task of
protecting her wherever she will go.
Life could not leave Earth without leaving part of herself behind
too. She had also released her powers of life, and Wisdom, Love, Faith
and Will were reflected in the river.
Another four senshi came forth:
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, to stay with Earth and protect him.
The eight senshi born of the power of Earth and Life had abilities above
all others, for they inherited some of the energy they were born of.
They were the absolute senshi, and they had sworn to serve Earth and
Life to the last breath.
The Earth stayed on the planet they were born, and Life went far away, to
heal the fabric of the Universe and ensure its stability. Stars sang in
sorrow for the parted lovers that were never to meet again. They sang
about love and death, and about hope.
They sang, and the prophecy was told in their song.
In mystical, cryptic words it gave them a faint hope for the
resurrection of the love, not in this life but thousands years
later.
If there will be enough love in the Universe to balance their
passion for each other by the time when they will be reborn, the world
had a chance to survive.
The prophecy warned about many obstacles that will stand on the way of
their love, and almost impossible conditions for them to meet again.
But it was hope, and hope reflected in the River of Cauldron, and another
senshi appeared, the most powerful of them all, the Light of Hope, Galaxia.
She was charged with the protection of the peace in the world, and every
living being.
The link that still connected two hearts now tortured them like a
heavy chain. Both knew, that they will never meet in this life,
and that the only chance for them was to be reincarnated in their own
bloodline.
That was another obstacle, seemingly impossible to overcome, for they could
never love another, and therefore could never have any offspring. And even
though the Life was essentially immortal, the prophecy was saying about the
future Earth falling in love with the "pure and innocent child Life".
Even the purest of hearts could not stay perfectly innocent after thousands of
years in the world full of sorrow.
For years Life studied the prophecy given in the song of stars with the
help of the wisest of senshi. For years, Earth was fading away in
despair.
Finally, Life found the solution. But it was almost too late,
Earth had only a short time to live left.
Life concentrated her energy on the gift she received from the Earth, the
Silver Crystal. The beam of bright light shoot from one edge of the Universe
to another. It touched Earth in the sleep and from his own flesh and bone
created the perfect likeness of Life, the first handmaid.
Life gave her not only her looks, but also her name, and since that day she
called herself Serenity, for in serenity she was going to wait for her love to
return to her."
I was a bit breathless after reading such a long part of the document.
"Now, why does it sound so familiar?" Mars attention span is not much
longer than Venus
"Well, because it the different edition of the story you know very well.
Yeah, in Aramaic Earth and Life sound Adamah and Hayah, same ol' Adam
and Eve, what did YOU think?
I can not believe that I was thrown of the track just because Adam (adamah)
was by pre-historic mistake translated as "dust" in English! And for that
reason I did not associate it with "earth" that it really means! Who said
studying foreign languages can not hurt you?"
"Wait, are you talking about the very first Eve? The one mentioned in
Genesis? But I thought that the first Eve was evil?"
"No, nothing in the scripture indicates this. On the contrary, it shows
her as equal to Adam in every way and created as his mate. The second
Eve was a mere mortal, three-dimensional flesh-and-blood, inferior to
Earth in every way. She was the mother of all men on the planet. It is
not in human nature to admit that they descent from the insignificant
handmaid. Thus the first Eve had to be named evil.
Yeah, not fair, but understandable. Funny, most often she was blamed in
daring to stand up to the man as her only sin! And why would Lord create
an evil one for his dearest creation? Mortal logic is most amusing, isn't
it?
OK, do you want me to continue reading?"
"Go ahead"
"When awaken, Earth almost believed that Life returned to him. But he
saw only a mortal woman, which had no Spirit of Life about her. Angry,
he wanted to send her away. But his friends and guardians from Elysion
convinced him to accept the gift of love and hope, to take her as a wife
and have children for the sake of the future.
Sad union created mortal children, who lived only a few dozens of years. Nevertheless, the human population of the Earth flourished, because mortal
child took only a very short time to create. In only nine month it was
born, instead of nine centuries that needed to create a perfect immortal being."
"What?! Nine hundred years? I am not going to have any kids! Period!
Nine hundred years with morning sickness? Centuries of maternity
fashions! Not me, not ever, forget it."
"Chill it, Minako. There is no centuries of maternity fashions. The star
seed is the only thing that is forming for this long, the physical body
of the baby takes only months create."
"Did you know about it before?"
"Yes, for some time already"
"Why did not you tell us?"
"I thought you knew. You had never asked any questions when almost
toddler-looking Chibi-Usa told that she was over 900 years old."
"I thought she had stopped growing or something... Darn, I still thinking
the way they do in England, counting the age from the birth... I forgot
that in Japan it's from the conceiving... Still, I do not want to be
pregnant for that long!"
"You are not likely to have a chance. You are the original Senshi, right
out the Cauldron River. Very few of them ever had children. After all,
for immortals the reproductive function is not essential. You may be a
goddess of beauty and love, but not necessarily of motherhood."
"You mean... we are only soldiers, not meant to be mothers? Virgin
warriors... Like ants and bees..."
"Come on, it is not so bad. You can love and theoretically you can give
birth. Look at you! You are the most perfect female specimen! But our
genes are so different from humans and from each other, we are not
likely to produce heirs. It is like we are of different species, each
one of her own. I believe, that only the true soulmate, the one that and
you were created for and that was created for you can be a father of
your children"
"So, what would you propose, Ami, the good old "try and error" method?"
"Minako!!!"
"Aw, I was only kidding. Go on"
"All right. Where was I? Ah, yes. Soon, Earth-Father died from his
grief, forever crashing the heart of Serenity and entrusting his Spirit
of Earth to the care of Guardians of Elysion, for the future
reincarnation.
Serenity had no more reason to live. She returned to the Solar System, for
after Earth died there was no more reason to stay away from it. The Moon
became her home, and senshi formed the Moon Court.
Her own senshi that stayed behind and mourned the death of one they were
supposed to protect welcomed her back. Now the queen, Serenity conceived
the child within herself, without a man."
"Hold it right there. You just told me that the immortals have almost no
chance to have a baby because they can not find a mate, and now you are
saying that they do not need one?!"
"It's not exactly so. I am translating from Lunar as close as I can, but
it is almost impossible to keep all the details in. The meaning of the
word that was used can be explained as "parthenogenesis" but it also
involves a great deal of magic. In fact, the Silver Crystal initialized
a new life from a somatic cell of the Queen..."
"Now, Ami, in plain Japanese please!"
"Oh. It's like cloning, year, only magical. The child was a copy of the
mother, and was formed with the intend to transfer the very personality
from older one to the younger when she will be mature enough. One queen
after another had denied herself the right for happiness in favor of her
innocent daughter, in hope that the time for Earth to be reborn is
coming. OK, I will continue.
"For nine centuries she was waiting in tears for a perfect copy of her
to be born. She brought up the child as a daughter, then released the
Spirit of Life to be reborn, and dissolved herself in the Silver Crystal.
She left the Crystal to her daughter, to protect the future and uphold the
hope. When Serenity the Second came to age, her mind embraced the Crystal.
She learned about the love that threatened and saved the world, and about
the prophecy.
She learned that only the innocent child could become a carrier of the
spirit, and that she was no longer a child. She submitted to her duty,
accepted the role of the new Queen, and conceived another generation of
Serenity.
That continued for thousands of years, every next queen waiting for Earth
to be reborn, giving an innocent birth to a daughter and at critical time
giving herself into the Crystal.
Each soul of the former queen increased the power of the Crystal.
Each new queen had a greater strength of the magic.
Each was hoping for her daughter to become a carrier of the spirit, but
though the power of Life increased, the Spirit did not return.
But day will come, when the Earth and Life will meet again in the prophesied
union, and their love will recreate the perfect world.
It will be the duty of all senshi to protect the star seeds through the
transformation of the world, to unite them in the prayer of purification
and love and to carry them in the new kingdom of hope"
"Wait a sec. What exactly are do we have to do?"
"We will be quite busy, Jupiter. There is an information on preparation
of each of our powers for the struggle of renewing. I will have to re-
code your henshin sticks and explain new duties to each of you
separately. The one thing that we have to discuss together is this
phrase:
"Pray that earth and Life would meet before the days of this
world run out and the cold death will swallow this realm"
"Does it mean the coming cold?"
"I do not know... All I can say, is that we are to choose between two
evils: or the death from the freezing, or risk it all in the
transformation of the Universe"
"I would rather gamble... But why the freeze is coming?"
"Well, scientist had warned for years already that the universe will run
our of energy one day, but they thought it will take trillions of years...
When I last analyzed the energy readings of the cosmos, I had found that
they were mistaken. As soon as the threshold low level is achieved, the
world will loose all the energy in a chain reaction of collapse, within
weeks it will be all leveled at four degrees by Kalvin."
"You mean that that threshold is almost here?"
"No. We had already past the point of no-return. It is all up to the
King and Usagi now. We can only pray that they will be awaken in time"
"What if one will come around before the other?"
"No good. He or she will remember the love in full, and an unbalanced
passion will destroy another"
"So the future King knew what he was doing when he warned prince from
getting too close to Usagi?"
"I suppose so. Mamoru was older, and the terror of almost killing his
love in the fight with Beryl could have caused the return of his
memories. If he would awaken before her, his power and love will be
unbalanced and surely result in the catastrophe that king had
demonstrated to his younger self in the dream."
"Good. I was thinking he was loosing his mind"
"I do not think so."
"So you are saying that Mamoru and Usagi are the incarnation of Earth
and Life? What about when they were in silver Millenium?"
"They were incarnated then, but dormant. We better ask Serenity when she
will feel better..."
"I am better." a pale tall figure was leaning on the door frame for support
"Your Majesty! You should not be walking around like this! You need your
rest!"
"Do not worry about me, Mercury. Do not you remember? I was always the
strongest and the most self-willed of all the Moon queens... You never
got tiered of telling me that when I was yet a princess... And now I am
the old queen, and you are as young as when taught my mother to read..."
"You are not looking any older, my queen..."
"No, but my time is almost up. I lived longer than I was supposed to
already. I am ready to use the full power of the Silver Crystal one last
time..."
"Why? Why should you do it? You will die!"
"There is no other way. Someone has to mend the body and soul together,
to seal the princess and the pure one as one being. She is the life, and
she is the only hope. If I can do it, all these years on the Earth are
not in vain, and my sins will be forgiven..."
"Sins? What did you do?" Oh, for the day to come when Minako will learn
the meaning of the word "delicate"
"It is a long story... The dynasty of the moon queens created the most
powerful kingdom in the universe, and was an model of harmony for
thousands of years.
Meanwhile, on the Earth, countless generations of mortals were born and
died. The story of the Earth and Life became a legend, partially deformed,
partially forgotten. But the dream of love, the image of the perfect man and
woman as an example of absolute beauty lived in the minds of humans.
Once in a while the random chance of breeding gave birth to a man that looked
like Earth, and sometime a fraction of Earth power was bestowed upon him.
Human legends remembered many who were proclaimed to be the son of the Earth
I remember one named Anthei, some others were forgotten. But the prophecy
described the future incarnation of Earth in many details.
It gave him perfect likeness with the mystical ancestor, gave him a new name
of Endymion in the new incarnation, and said that the spirit will return when
mortal will sacrifice immortality for the love to Life. That seemed impossible.
Many generations of the Moon queens straggled for the better
understanding of the prophecy. Little more about the fate of the Earth
could be gathered from the cryptic text, and the destiny of Life was
also confusing. Prophecy hinted, that the seventh Serenity might become
a carrier of the Spirit, but that the fifth will host it too. That did
not make any sense at all, but when I, Serenity the Fifth, was born, the
hopes were high for me, and I was determined not to link with the
Crystal until I find Endymion on the Earth.
Year after year I was searching the Earth through my magic, but to no avail.
Time came for me to start another generation of the Moon Princess, but he was
no where to be found. The new princess was born, with no signs of possessing
the spirit, and all hope for her mother was lost.
Then, one day, with the shock the I discovered a young man on the Earth, in the
country called Ellada. He looked so much like Earth, and his name was Endymion.
I fell in love with the young man. I had convinced myself that the prophecy was
misunderstood, that this was the chance we were waiting for generations.
Deep in my heart I new it was not so, but my wish to love and be loved
was too strong. I abandoned my daughter and my kingdom for the care of
senshi, and descended to the Earth. Eventually I won his love, and we
lived together for many years. People still remember the story of love
between mortal Endymion and the goddess of the Moon. But alas, it was a
disappointment for the me, for as much as I cared for my lover, I knew
now, that he was not the one. I gave birth to many children, hoping to
create an immortal being, but each birth came in exactly nine month, and
resulted in a mortal daughter. They were his children, not mine! My body
was repeating time after time the same magic of innocent conceiving,
only this time it was using his seed, not mine."
"Why they were all daughters?" Minako again. I better interfere, poor
Serenity is too upset to explain the obvious.
"Of course, only girls were born. Endymion seed contained or X or Y
chromosome, and they were duplicated in mitosis. If the cell did not
have X chromosome, it could not support the life of the embryo, so only
girls could be born. But it is an extreme case of inbreeding, very
unhealthy."
"Gee, Ami, I love the way you explained it. Now it all clear to me.
Clear like mud"
"Aw, just listen, it is not really important"
"Thank you, Mercury. My daughters, though beautiful, were very fragile
and did not live long. After many years, Endymion died, and the former
moon queen was left all alone on the Earth.
Ashamed of what I had done, I never returned to the Moon, and was wandering
on the Earth for centuries, waiting for my fate. For I knew, I was destined
to host the Spirit of life, and could not seek sanctuary from the sad life in
the Crystal until it will come to be.
Time passed, and my daughter, Queen Serenity the Sixth gave birth to the new princess, Serenity the Seventh, then one destined to be a carrier of the Spirit.
Every immortal in the Universe knew the Prophecy. The little princess was a
great prize if she was to possess the full power of Life. Dark forces began
the war hoping to take little Serenity from her mother and rise her as an adept
of the Negaverse.
Queen Serenity the VI could not hide her child on the Moon, so
she sent her to the Earth, to live with kind human family, who came to
love her as their own. Queen provided wealth and protection for her girl
and her guardians, but could not see her until the danger passed. Humans
still remember the legend of old Taketori and his beautiful daughter."
"Yes, Rei had enlightened us"
"My daughter knew that I was on the Earth and she begged me to look over
the child. It took me years to find her on the Earth, and when I came it
was too late already. The princess had already met a man she fell in love
with. It was easy to me to sneak in the house where she was living, thanks
to the similarity of our looks. I talled her all about her destiny, and
begged her not to repeat my mistakes, and to submit to her duty. She
obeyed, but her heart was broken.
Great was my surprise, when in the light of the immortal flame of the Mount
Fuji I saw the imperor transform from a mere human into powerful Avatar of
the Earth! To my many sins I added another one, keeping my granddaughter from
her destined. In shame, I rejected the world and became a priestess, hoping
to purify my soiled soul. I hoped that one day my dear one will be able
to forgive me..."
"Oh, grandmother! Do not speak so! You lived and loved, and it is never
a sin! You were seeking your own destiny! There was nothing to forgive!
I love you so, grandmother!"
"Yes, child, but your mother chose a better part. She sacrifised her own
love, and was happy for you, my dear."
"Oh... I see. She loved him too, did not she?"
"Of course. We all were made to love him. But only you were to be with
him. Your mother understood it, and accepted her destiny, and I in my
self-will curiosity, had followed my heart, and betrayed my duty..."
"It was not a betrayal, love is always good."
"Thank you, child, you are kind. But I no longer need it, centuries of
meditation had taught me to accept my life. It is your future that I am
concerned about now. Are you ready?"
"Ready? For what?"
"Too accept your own future. To become one with one that was reborn in
you. To merge with the spirit of Life."
"Can you do it? Oh, grandmother, she does not want me..."
"No, child, no. She loves you as she loves everyone. When we parted, the
last thought of her was if you would accept her back..."
"Oh, would I! Grandmother, but it means that you will have to use the
Crystal! You will be gone! I do not want to lose you again! I missed you
so, and I just found you today!"
"Silly girl! I will not die! I will dissolve in the Crystal, were all
other queens are gone over ages. We are not separate people, we are one!
When time will come for you to accept the memory of the Crystal, we all
will merge with you, you will be the seven queens in one soul and body,
the true goddess of Life. And I suspect it will not be long. In a matter
of days we will be together again, and stay together forever. But first
you have to merge with the spirit of Life and make sure that the
Universe will survive the coming cataclysm."
"Serenity?"
"What, Mars?"
"If Usagi is so important, how come she is such a baby and a scaredy
cat?"
"Oh, Mars, you are as teasing as ever. She is an innocent child because
hers are the powers of eternal youth and pure soul, and she is not a
coward. You know that she is the most courageous of all when it really
counts. But she is afraid, more than you ever know. They say that one
can be considered alive when one is afraid of own destruction, and she
is so much more than alive, she is life itself. She lives with such
intensity, flood of emotions pools her in all directions at once,
distracting her. You know it well, for you love her above all things"
"I do... How can we help you?"
"Let's go see if she is awake. Make sure that the King is not around. We
will not be able to stop them after Life will be back, and you are not
ready yet for the rebirth of the world."
"OK. He did not come to yet, so we better go now"
We went back to the little chapel, where an old priest and Helios were
taking care of Usagi. She was stirring, and attempted to hide when we
came in.
"Oh, Usagi, do not go!"
"Princess... will you forgive me?"
"There is nothing for me to forgive. Will you accept me as your vessel?"
"Vessel? What is it? I want to be back with you... He loves me, you, us, I
felt it! Are you angry? Why are you crying?"
"No, Usagi, I am happy. Would you say the words?"
"Oh, um, yes." the shadowy Usagy gathered herself up a little, as if in
solemnity of her pose and words she was seeking some kind of support.
"I, Usagi, accept you, Serenity the Seventh as my vessel,
completely and till the end of times"
Light of the Silver Crystal in the older Serenity hands shoot through
the walls and ceiling of the little building. Three identical figures
were swirling in the column of light, one with sage-green hair holding
the Crystal, one with golden tresses, and one almost transparent. In the
blinding shine I saw two of them merge, and descend to the ground. When
the light died out, there was only two of them. Usagi was standing here
in the flesh, and older Serenity, spent, was uttering her last words:
"We will meet soon, oh pure one. My sins are forgiven, and my debts are
paid. Prophecy is completed. I had joined the Crystal, and will wait for
you to accept us for eternity... Remember, the key to the saving all is
love outside love, passion outside the passion..." She dissolved in the
waterfall of the rainbow colored sparks, leaving Usagi crying bitterly
on the floor where she just has been...
______________________________________________________
End of part 6.
Feedback is appreciated. In fact, last time I had posted a chapter
and it was not readable, i received more mail than usual, with people
asking me what's the matter. Hei, you, out there? is anybody still
reading? Was it too boring? Sorry, Ami is not particularly
intertaining, I had to get into the character. Write me!
Even better, write to Lilac Summers and make her continue her
"Vacation"! No physical threats, please!
Ikuko
Part 6
G to PG
Ami's narrative
I still do not own Sailor Moon
_________________________________________________
Never let your sense of morals
prevent you from doing what is right.
A. Asimov
Did you ever notice that bureaucratic duties are always dumped on the
least suitable one? I am really not very assertive and they made me an
official of the tournament! OK, I can keep the information straight, and
write the report in time, but mediating the fight? Sorry, it is not
really my call. The only good thing about it was that I finally got my
hands on the information about rules and traditions of the tournament.
And, to tell you the truth, it did not look good at all. Judge for
yourself: Only avatars of the large worlds have a chance to draw enough
power from their planets for the required strength of the chi attack
However, our stubborn freshly-made king insisted on participation. Not
that I did not understand his reasons. Being killed, even if temporary,
is better than to see the one you love to marry someone else. Still,
there should be another way...
As an official, I was helping the senshi that registered the
contestants. Of course, Seya was participating too. As one of a great
star, he had a good chance to win.
There was this huge fellow from Betelgeuse who was so proud of the size
of his star and so sure that the victory would be his, he started to call
Princess "my dear". The nerve.
The most bets were divided between these two. As the senshi explained
it to me, Seya could still count on his feelings toward Usagi to
increase his chi. I wished that it could help Mamoru, but alas, I
realized all too well that no love could possibly replace the sheer power
that the huge star will provide.
Day did not go without a curious incident: one of the Earth human
representatives inquired if HE can participate! The lady he had addressed
to was extremely indignant, and not so much at the fact that he dared to
think that he can challenge an Avatar, as that he considered himself as a
potential consort of one!
I gathered that it was her morals that were hurt the most. In her mind the
thought of the mortal of mere tree dimensions seeking favor of a
multi-dimensional being was something like an offer of marriage from a poster
character to a human.
What she had to tell him was both amusing and educational, but in no way
suitable for official documenting.
At the sound of gong the battle began. I was trying to keep an eye on
Mamoru. We all knew how small were his chances, so if he will need help
I will be able to alert the jury. The identical black force fields cover
Avatars.
The field of the King was indeed weaker than others, almost
translucent. It is not nearly as dense and black, the streams of power
flowing over it's surface, but not incasing him completely in the ebony
capsule.
However, a few seconds later he seemed to master the field,
and it became so much like others under the dome that I literally lost
his field among them.
The power signatures were impossible to read through the outer field, and
the only thing that I could do was to watch. Under the dark dome of the force
field, the capsules levitated and sent shots of chi energy at each other.
Some stronger ones simply smash their rivals against the outer shield, by
sheer strength of the force field. Defeated have their capsules collapsed,
and drop on the ground, to be pulled out of the way by assistants.
Some concentrated on one-on-one duels, some formed temporary teams to defeat
a stronger rival, some attacked from behind the ones engaged in a duel already.
There is only one rule: to remain suspended when everyone else is on the ground.
Eventually, there were only three capsules left: one exceptionally large,
one strong and swift constantly attacking it, and one, of the average size,
that was just hanging there, never trying to engage in any battle. I had seen
many trying to attack that one, only to be shot down by their own reflected
charge.
Healer explained to me that the reflection of the attack is never used, because
it requires immense power to reflect even a fraction of the charge. To do what
the warrior in the passive capsule is doing meant or some unknown trick, or
that he was more powerful than all others combined. But if it was true, why did
not he just attack and get it over with?
Two others also tried to team up against the passive one. The heavy one threw
itself at the mysterious warrior, only to be reflected like a ball from a stone
wall. He fell on the ground and his field collapsed, revealing the avatar of
Betelgeuse.
The other one, swift and agile, spiraled around the motionless sphere, attacking
it from all directions at once. He only succeeded in getting blasted by several
reflected attacks simultaneously.
When his capsule finally collapsed, it revealed bruised but very proud Fighter.
The silent lonely winner was still hovering high above the ground. Seya got from
under the outer field:
"I told you, princess, I will beat that Betelgeuse guy! So what if his
star is twice as big as mine! For you, princess..."
"Ah, shut up, Seya. It seems to me that you were beaten yourself. Is it
over?"
"Come on, Mars! That guy - you can not beat him. If you only felt the
chi he has! You need a thousand of the black holes to have an energy
like that."
"Who is he?"
"I do not know. The jury will end the tournament as soon as he will get
down to announce the winner. Sorry, princess, it would not be me to
become your husband; you will see your consort soon enough."
"You mean when he will come down. He seems to like it up there"
"No one can sustain the force field indefinitely. Why is he wasting the
energy? He had won already"
"May be one of my shots did reach him? In the head?"
"Is there any way to get him down?"
"We never had a problem like this before. I suppose, we can remove the
outer field now, seeing that the battle is over. At least we will be
able to see the winner through the field. May be the light will make him
to come down."
The dark dome of the force field collapsed, leaving the small sphere
suspended in the air. We could see the warrior in black inside it, in the
meditation pose.
It was Endymion! But how? They said he had no chance at all! And why did not
he really fight anybody, only reflected the attacks? I knew he was all out
for the global peace, but this was ridiculous: it was a tournament, not the war.
The bright light and the shouting from the crowd seemed to interrupt his
thoughts. He opened his eyes with the look of surprise. Slowly, his
capsule descended and dissolved. King walked to us, in visible confusion.
"Did I do something wrong? Were are all the contestants?"
"The tournament is over, my king. We are happy to see you all right"
"Over? Who had won?"
"You, your Majesty."
"But... I did not even fight! I did not attack anyone, and no one
attacked me..."
"You mean, you did not notice how you shot me down with my own charge?"
"I did? I did not mean to harm you...I do not understand... I only began
to power up in meditation. All I noticed was a swarm of tiny sparks
around me, like a fireflies"
"Now I am a firefly. Come on, man, I hit you with enough energy to
destroy an average size continent! Are you trying to tell me you did not
even notice the battle! Endymion? Mamoru? Where did he go?"
Indeed, there was no trace of our victorious king. Jury announces
Endymion a winner, but hesitated to declare him a consort. The charges
against him still stood, and besides, there was no explanation for the
power he had displayed. Some even suspected that he had cheated, though
had no idea how. At least no one of the tournament participants
question his superiority anymore. Even if the jury could not explain the
power Endymion possessed, the warriors themselves were now too familiar
with it to hazard another confrontation.
Anyway, we had better things to do than to quarrel with the jury.
I had a good idea were the king had disappeared. His energy signature
was so powerful since the battle, I almost did not need a computer to
trace him to the Earth, to the temple grounds. Of course, the tree. The
very same one we needed a crow bar to peel him from for the last few days.
As soon as I gathered girls we went after him. We need Usagi more than
ever. The cold was coming, freezing the planets over entire Universe,
and there was no one that knew why or how to stop it.
Teleportation back to the Earth proved to be more troublesome than
we expected. We knew exactly where he went, we concentrated on the Temple
as our destination point. Well, it did not work out. The explosion of
golden light had thrown us off the track, at least half a mile from the
Hendai Hill. And a rough landing it was! It took us some time to figure
out which extremity belongs to which senshi in the heap of the bodies, but
eventually we untangled and got up.
That was quite a spectacle to behold! The entire hill was covered
by the glow of pure gold energy so intense the air was crackling with
it. Most of the Temple building were reduced to the ground by it's
tremendous force. The energy was focused on the wondrous tree that
bloomed against all laws of nature, and initiated from the King, who was
chanting something on the language that I could not understand.
"What is he doing?" uttered bewildered Jupiter.
"I think, he is trying to get our meatball head back to us"
"where is she?"
"It seems that he believes she is in that tree somehow. What is he
saying?"
"I do not even know the language he is speaking"
"I think I do. I had studied it in the history of the religion. It
sounds like Hebrew, only very old..."
"Could it be Aramaic, Rei?"
"You may be right, Ami, but I am not sure..."
"Well, let's check it..." I love my computer. It has everything you may
ever need, even ancient languages tutorial. Audio reception... linguistic
check... Gotcha!
"Rei, you are genius! It is Aramaic, I can translate it!"
"So, what is he saying?"
"Would you believe it? He is professing his love! To the tree! In
poetry! And it sounds a lot like "Song of songs"!"
"Well, poetry I understand. That's Mamoru all right. He never attacked a
bad guy in his life without saying a haiku on the occasion" grinned
Uranus. "But why Aramaic? And the tree? We all love cherry blossom, but
never destroy temples because of it!"
"He is trying to reach her heart" came the voice from behind. Sailor
Pluto, in her best grim self, was standing there, frowning.
"What do you mean?" Venus asked. Being a resident expert of the matters
of the heart is in her job description.
"He is trying to convince Usagi that she is loved, so that she would
return to him."
"The stupid airhead needs more proof from him? Talk about slow! He had
told her a million times! You would think the girl would know by now..."
"Oh, she KNOWS all right. In her mind, she KNOWS that we all love her.
But she could never FEEL being loved" Chills of horror crawled down my
back. For me, the feel of love that was coming from Usagi was the only
constant of my life, I can not even imagine now how I lived before I met
her. And she was living that horror of forlornness all this time! She,
who was giving love so freely to everyone who needed it!
"Why?! She is the most loving being in this world, and everybody loves
her!"
"That's exactly why. Her love shines as bright as a sun, and our
affections are simply lost in her glorious brilliance. Like the
brightest star that is destined to exist in the eternal darkness, she
was living in loneliness, unsure in the feeling of others. Words of love
could only reach her mind, not her heart, and the mind is a cruel thing.
It was playing tricks on her, supplying a discouragement for every act
of affection she received, and telling her that it was not for her, but
for the princess."
"Does the King know?"
"He does. He is fully awaken now, and can understand his soulmate
perfectly."
"But he is practically attacking her with all he has!"
"He does not mean to harm her. He merely tries to reach her heart with
his love, and we can only pray that it will be enough"
"Hell, he is not the only one with the heart! If the stupid meatball
head wants to be consoled, she will be! I shall baby her to death! She
will never get out of diapers!"
Poor Rei! Her bark is indeed worse than her bite. She was spitting the
angry words with trembling lips, and hot tears were pooled in her purple
eyes. Determined, she fought her way to the King through the overpowering
waves of golden energy and placed her hand on his shoulder.
He did not even turn his head, but the streams of the gold mixed with the
red flames that were flowing toward the tree. One by one, senshi joined the King,
pouring their respective powers into the stubborn cloud of pink blossom.
Well, I guessed it was my turn. I am not good in the showing my feelings,
but Usagi was a special case. As quiet as I normally am, I do have
something in my sleeve. As I touched my King's hand with mine, I could
hardly contain the joy of letting go, finally allowing all my barriers
drop. To pour all my love to the incredible miracle of a girl without shame
or reservationin the explosion of the Mercury Power. I could see through
the icy mist the powerful blue flow that merged with the energy of others,
and it gave me a smug satisfaction.
Looked like we had all the senshi with us... Wait, where was the princess?
She was with us when we teleported... But not when we landed, I was sure.
I definitely did not have to untangle myself from the endless pigtails.
Did she choose a different destination point? Where?
Suddenly, I noticed two figures in the shadow of the wall, clinging to each
other. One with unmistakable hairstyle, and one, taller, with black hair...
Mrs. Tsukino! Oh, my princess, you really are worthy of being Usagi's vessel.
We forgot about the mother, her pain and the power of her heart. But you
remembered! My kind, my wise princess, she teleported straight to
Tsukino's and brought the Mother here, where the destiny of her daughter
was to be decided.
The two were standing away from us, watching the astounding power display
from the distance. The older woman wispered something to the princess and
encouragingly pushed her toward us. The princess made a few tentative steps,
stopped, and glanced back to the Mother. It seemed that the smile from her
gave the princess all the courage she needed.
She approached the tree from the opposite side from us, and cupped the Silver
crystal in her risen hands. Silver glow flooded the area as she gave everything
she had to the tree.
Without Usagi, her mastery over the Crystal was drastically
diminished. I could see that she was draining herself fast. Not to mention that
I felt my own power was stretched to the limit.
Suddenly, we've got an unexpected help. Mrs. Tsukino came to the princess
side, hugging her shoulders gently. The pure white glow emanated from the
Crystal, hitting the tree.
In it's blinding shine I could see that the tree disappeared, leaving
two figures sprawled on the ground. In the haze of sheer exhaustion I
could still see that the King had sank onto the ground, and then the
darkness claimed me.
I woke up because someone was wiping my forehead gently with a
dump cloth. The worried face of Yuuichirou was hovering over me... Where
were the others? He seemed to understand my concern:
"They are OK, Ami"
Ami?! Oh, I am in the civilian form... Did he see me
detransform? Yuuichirou did not indicate any surprise on my being here
or the damage to the Temple.
OH, I will have time to worry later. The first thing first. To check on
the Princess, King, senshi. And who was the second figure on the ground?
I've got up, to find that I was not the first one to come around.
Makoto was awake, and helped to carry the unconscious King in one of the
remaining buildings. Good thing too, the evening was approaching fast, the
wind was piercing and it looked like it will snow soon. The only problem
was that he was still in his royal robes.
Well, I hopeed I will not be the one to give explanations to Rei's
Grandpa. I stumbled to find Rei in the meditation room. I had a strong
suspicion that she was there more for the warmth of the sacred fire than
for the spiritual reasons. It was really miserable outside and most of
other buildings had collapsed. It will not take long to lift the wooden
frames and fix the paper walls. As long as Usagi is back, nothing else
mattered.
"Rei? Where is Usagi? Is she back?"
Rei turned to face me.
"She is out of the tree, but did not join Serenity yet. They both are
still out of it. Come, I will show you."
Rei took me back to the place where the tree used to be. There was a
tiny new chapel, only in four tatami, built by Rei's Grandpa in the last
hour. He himself was there too, chanting the prayers at the feet of the
woman that laid on the floor. She looked so much like the Queen of
Silver Millennium! It seemed he was worshiping her like a goddess...
"Who is it Rei? Is it Serenity?"
"Yeah, but not the Queen. She is the Queen-Mother, the previous ruler of
the Moon..."
"Why is your Gramps praying here? Is she all right?"
"She is asleep. And Granpa - he will never seize to astonish me. He told
me that she is the goddess, guardian and the first priestess of this
Temple.
When he was a young lad, he came here to ask gods for a good
fortune, and after service went to admire the famous cherry garden that
gave the temple it's name. When the light of the full moon fell on one
of the trees in bloom, he saw a woman on it's place, a woman so sad and
so beautiful, his entire soul was changed at that moment. The moon hid
behind the clouds, and the vision disappeared.
He stayed there all night, praying for her to show herself again, but to no
avail. In the morning priests found him still in the garden. When they heard
about his vision, they told him that it was a sign.
He was chosen to serve the goddess of the Temple, and blessed with prophetic
powers. He stayed in here for all his life but was never able to see her
again. This is the first time he is able to serve her directly, and he is sure
that his life is fulfilled now."
"Wow. And I thought that he is just, you know..."
"Dirty old man?"
"I did not mean it... He was always very nice... But where was Usagi?"
"She is still outside, Ami."
"Are you crazy, Rei? It is a snowstorm outside! We have to bring her
inside at once!"
"Actually, we were hoping that you will figure out the way to do it.
Look!"
In the dimming light through the falling snow I could see Haruka
and Hotaru kneeling in the snow, looking at something... When we came
close, we were able to see her: a misty shadow of Usagi on the moist
carpet of cherry petals. She was nothing more than a handfull of fog, so
wispy and hazy, you could barely see her.
"Have you ever seen a fainted ghost? How do you suppose we can carry her
in? I am afraid that she will simply sink through the ground and we will
have to dig her out."
Hmmm, I could see the problem... My hand passed through hers like through
the thin air... Unless she will wake up and walk on her own, there was no
way of transporting her inside.
"Rei, you are the ESP of the team, could you teleport her or something?"
"I do not even know how to get a hold on her... I can try..."
"It would not be necessary" said the voice from the temple gates.
There stood Helios, in his human form. He walked briskly to the ghostly form
on the ground, lifted it like she was as material as you and me, and
took her to the same tiny chapel were Serenity laid. I suppose, it made
some sense, in a weird way: being a ruler of the land of dreams he could
manage a spirit better than we. Our entrance seemed to have an effect on
Serenity: she woke up, and tried to take my hand, but was too week...
"Serenity, you are all right!"
"Mercury, never mind me! Time is running out! You all have to prepare
for the union! Or we all are doomed!"
"What do we have to do?"
"It is you, Mercury. You have to read the manuscript... it will tell you
what to do. ... it is in your computer, find the key ... Cold death is
coming, hurry. Do not let Endimion and pure one together until I..." she
passed out again
"Until you what? What manuscript?" Oh. I knew which one. Rats. It was so
protected, I was never able to decode it. Well, there is no time like now...
"What is it? What did she tell you?"
"I am not sure, Rei. She sounded desperate... I have to find some
information stored in my computer..."
"Then do it! You can sit in the meditation room, no one will disturb you
there..."
There is nothing like hacking. I am not a criminal by nature, I am
rather sure of it, but hacking brings you a satisfaction like nothing
else. To outsmart, to find the way around the other's defenses, to fool
all the booby-traps! And an incomparable joy of "I am in!"!
That one was a lulu of a program. I was already proud that I've got this
far! The traps were so flawless, so neatly hidden, I would give a lot to
get to know the man who designed it. Anyone capable of constructing such
an elegant logic deserves all the appreciation he could get!
Oops, another one. Almost missed a nice little trap. He-he, good thing I
had coded one just like this before. I would never recognize it if it
would not be piggybacked to the same operator I had used myself, to
protect some personal files of mine. Now, let's see what this baby has...
Did I miss another one? The screen changed color, and now was covered in
intricate characters of classic Lunar.
"Greetings, Mercury. You are the only one who could possibly read
this."
Why, thanks...
"I had written it for you - for myself, in anticipation of events
that were prophesied long ago. If you needed this file, it means
that the critical time had come, and the fate of the Universe is
in your hands for a moment. It also means that you do not remember
me or why this file is so important. I know how frustrating it can
be, not to remember most of your past. I had forgotten it too.
I once wrote this document, but art that time it seemed impossible
to forget something so important as it's content or how to open
it. But time is merciless to our memory, I had forgotten. It took
me years to uncover part of the secret that protects the most
sacred of manuscripts. I am sending this message to you, along
with my findings, the only help I can offer from my time to yours.
If you will uncover the secret, you will be able to lead others to
the only right way, if not, all we lived for will be lost. I had
decoded some of the puzzle, but I do not have the important
information that by now you should had obtained.
Be careful, Mercury. The file can be open only by a password, two names,
three letters each. You have only one try, or the manuscript will delete
itself. That much I know, the rest is up to you. Search for their
names, the oldest ones, the ones that mean their essence.
Remember that you have only one try. I wish you luck. Do not despair, I
believe in you... I am always in you, hidden among other
forgotten memories, waiting to be free one day, when the prophecy
will fulfill itself and you - I - will remember everything.
Believe in yourself, in your destiny. Be faithful to your vows. You former
self, Mercury."
Ookey. So much trouble just to get a note from myself. However, there are
decoding instructions and a link to another location... Lets try this. If
I know myself, there is no more booby-traps. Uh-ha. I do know myself
well. Here is the page, with the passwords.
Now, let's see. The "names"... if there are two of them, it must be the
prince and the princess, no doubt about it. Endymion and Serenity will
never fit in this crossword puzzle. Hmm, three letters across... Mamoru
and Usagi, when written in kana are three characters each... Too bad that
the file is couple of thousand years older then kana alphabet, leave alone t
he names "Mamoru" and "Usagi".
Well, it means we have to deal with ancient languages.
Let's change the window and go to the Universal dictionary. Select
languages... OK, everything that existed in BC era should about cover it.
Plus Lunar, plus Intergalactic, plus Negaverse dialect.
Now then, what are we looking for. "the essence" it said. OK. Earth and
Moon, in any legend or document as lovers, spouses or any form of a couple.
A-and ENTER! Tra-la-la... I am waiting... You can show the results any
moment now...
And here goes... nothing. Every couple found has at least a dozen of
letters in names. Some Egyptians and Kimmerians are particularly long.
Ancient Chinese, however, are only one character apiece.
It was fun, but did not take me far. OK, lets try it again. So what did
I do wrong. Ah. May be it is not prince and princess, may be it is Usagi
I am looking for. After all, she is the one lost.
Now, what is the essence of Usagi?
That's a tough one. Warmth, laughter, friendship, love, loyalty,
innocence, wisdom in klutzy disguise... As Mamoru said, she is the love,
she is the life...
Click. You know that feel when pieces of the puzzle
that seemed to be a total mess suddenly fall together just right? Life!
Her healing power, her energy signature... Even the name, Rabbit is a
symbol of life in many cultures. As well as the ever-renewing Moon is a
symbol of eternal life! Worth trying it, anyway.
So, same as before, Earth and Life, and not to forget this time, no more
than three letters in the original language.
And ENTER! Tram-pam-pam. And here! much faster then the first time.
Oh, my.
Oh, my.
WHY DID NOT I SEE IT BEFORE!
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
No wonder, prince was speaking Aramaic!
Unbelievable that I did not realize it!
Oh, well, I will have time to be ashamed of myself later. At least, now it
is a piece of cake. Back to the password window, and double shift for
Aramaic. Now type the magic words: Earth and Life, three letters each.
Now, keep your fingers crossed, and ENTER! OK, you are a brave girl, you
will open your eyes now and see what happened...
Wow... The long document in Lunar is scrolling on the screen.
My excitement is too great to keep my countenance, and on top of my lungs I
yell
"I am in!!!"
Oops.
It was WAY too loud for a quiet ol' Ami. Shoji of the temple almost snapped.
But at least everyone runs down to my room immediately, in fear that I had
got electrocuted or something. As soon as they were sure that I was OK, and
decoded the file, girls were just as exited as I was. The truth was that to get
into the file was only the beginning, to understand what it was saying was a
real challenge.
Rei shooed everybody away from me to give me some space to work, and I was
really grateful for that. They were sitting as quiet as mice, watching me
struggling through half-forgotten language and lost magic techniques,
and no one even thought of budging out of the room.
The level of science and sorcery that was mention in the document was
fascinating. To my shame I had to use the help of the computer to explain
me the meaning more than once on every page. Computer clock told me that at
least two hours past before I finally figured it out. Well, sort of, but I
could not try the patience of my friends any longer. So we wakened up Minako,
and I began to read:
"After the world was created, two being were formed to reign over it.
The man and the woman were created. The man was to rule over the matter
and all forms of physical energy. His sign was Earth, and his name was
Earth, and his power was over the matter.
The woman was to rule over the life and life energy. She had the eternal
youth, and her name was Life, and her power was over the life, youth and
healing.
They opened their eyes and looked at the beautiful world in awe. Even when
they dreamed, they dreamed about the wonders of the universe, and the world
was mirrored in their dreams.
That world of dreams and spirits was Elysion, and Helios was the ruler of the
dream world, as Earth was a ruler of the material realm. But he was alone and
did not have a soulmate by his side as Earth had Life. With longing he watched
how happy the first couple was.
The only children of the Universe, they played with gifts they had.
Earth created beautiful gems of magnificent color and crystals of
flawless symmetry, for he loved things that are symmetrical and of
perfect order and logic.
But Life touched them with her magic and they grew into plants and animals,
which were not as perfect, but alive.
Earth sometimes laughed at her and sometimes was amused, and sometimes he was
upset. He tried to organize the world around him and bring it in impeccable arrangement. He systematized things and beings, and gave names to all of them.
Everything that was about him was clever and logical and cold. But Life was not logical at all, she was overthrowing all the systems with her laughter, and
light, and warmth.
For in her heart she was growing in secret the greatest miracle of them all:
the love for Earth that will last for eternity. She was always with him,
trying to get him to smile, trying to warm his heart. Patiently he
explained again and again the beauty of atomic structure, symmetry and
clarity of the crystals that last almost forever, unlike her creations,
that defied logic and died soon, and she listened.
Clever he was, but she was wise. With her love that consumed her entire being
she created a perfect flower, the red rose, more colorful that all the gems
and more beautiful that all the crystals, and gave it to her love.
In awe, he looked at the gift that taught him wisdom beyond logic. For the
first time he forgot his reason and looked into his heart, his living heart
that he ignored for so long. And he looked at Life, and saw that she is
more beautiful that even her flower, because her eyes were shining with
love, same love that now was overflowing his own heart.
Unable to express the depth of it, Earth suffered from the power of love that constracted in his chest. For days he struggled, and finally, he found a way
to show his love. He created the most beautiful thing he knew: the crystal
that shone with silver light, and gave it to his soulmate.
The power of Earth filled the flower, and the power of Life filled the
crystal. The light of passion streamed from them and formed a river of
eternal love. Great power the river held, and its name was Cauldron.
Beautiful bright stars and immortal warriors were born in Cauldron, and
populated the Universe, to live and love until the days of this world
will run out and the cold death will claim it forever.
The greatest of loves enlightened the spirits of the lovers, and they
were able to see what their future held. The terrible fate was
threatening the very existence of the world. Their love had power to
bring life to the Universe, or to destroy it. If they were to be united,
they would consume each other and the entire world in the flame of
passion.
Their powers were so great and so different, they will annihilate it in
the explosion of destruction and creation. Only if they sacrifice the
love they shared the world could be saved.
Heartbroken, they wept, and their tears were flowing together in a river
of selfless love, but Earth and Life were separated forever. Earth had to
stay on the planet they were born to, and Life was to travel the Universe,
bringing the hope to the far worlds.
Despaired, Earth prayed for a chance to be united with his love, whatever
the cost. And he was promised a tiniest spark of hope, in exchange for
ultimate sacrifice.
Earth rejected his immortality that meant eternity without love and at
that price bought a right to meet Life in his future reincarnation. He
reduced himself to a mortal human, mere progection of the powerful being
he used to be. But in his desire to protect his soulmate, he had passed
his powers trough the river of Cauldron.
Four powers he had as four dazzling gifts of the mastery over Time, Space,
Matter, and Energy. They reflected in the river to give birth to four Senshi:
Pluto, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.
Unable to go with Life himself, Earth charged his senshi with the task of
protecting her wherever she will go.
Life could not leave Earth without leaving part of herself behind
too. She had also released her powers of life, and Wisdom, Love, Faith
and Will were reflected in the river.
Another four senshi came forth:
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, to stay with Earth and protect him.
The eight senshi born of the power of Earth and Life had abilities above
all others, for they inherited some of the energy they were born of.
They were the absolute senshi, and they had sworn to serve Earth and
Life to the last breath.
The Earth stayed on the planet they were born, and Life went far away, to
heal the fabric of the Universe and ensure its stability. Stars sang in
sorrow for the parted lovers that were never to meet again. They sang
about love and death, and about hope.
They sang, and the prophecy was told in their song.
In mystical, cryptic words it gave them a faint hope for the
resurrection of the love, not in this life but thousands years
later.
If there will be enough love in the Universe to balance their
passion for each other by the time when they will be reborn, the world
had a chance to survive.
The prophecy warned about many obstacles that will stand on the way of
their love, and almost impossible conditions for them to meet again.
But it was hope, and hope reflected in the River of Cauldron, and another
senshi appeared, the most powerful of them all, the Light of Hope, Galaxia.
She was charged with the protection of the peace in the world, and every
living being.
The link that still connected two hearts now tortured them like a
heavy chain. Both knew, that they will never meet in this life,
and that the only chance for them was to be reincarnated in their own
bloodline.
That was another obstacle, seemingly impossible to overcome, for they could
never love another, and therefore could never have any offspring. And even
though the Life was essentially immortal, the prophecy was saying about the
future Earth falling in love with the "pure and innocent child Life".
Even the purest of hearts could not stay perfectly innocent after thousands of
years in the world full of sorrow.
For years Life studied the prophecy given in the song of stars with the
help of the wisest of senshi. For years, Earth was fading away in
despair.
Finally, Life found the solution. But it was almost too late,
Earth had only a short time to live left.
Life concentrated her energy on the gift she received from the Earth, the
Silver Crystal. The beam of bright light shoot from one edge of the Universe
to another. It touched Earth in the sleep and from his own flesh and bone
created the perfect likeness of Life, the first handmaid.
Life gave her not only her looks, but also her name, and since that day she
called herself Serenity, for in serenity she was going to wait for her love to
return to her."
I was a bit breathless after reading such a long part of the document.
"Now, why does it sound so familiar?" Mars attention span is not much
longer than Venus
"Well, because it the different edition of the story you know very well.
Yeah, in Aramaic Earth and Life sound Adamah and Hayah, same ol' Adam
and Eve, what did YOU think?
I can not believe that I was thrown of the track just because Adam (adamah)
was by pre-historic mistake translated as "dust" in English! And for that
reason I did not associate it with "earth" that it really means! Who said
studying foreign languages can not hurt you?"
"Wait, are you talking about the very first Eve? The one mentioned in
Genesis? But I thought that the first Eve was evil?"
"No, nothing in the scripture indicates this. On the contrary, it shows
her as equal to Adam in every way and created as his mate. The second
Eve was a mere mortal, three-dimensional flesh-and-blood, inferior to
Earth in every way. She was the mother of all men on the planet. It is
not in human nature to admit that they descent from the insignificant
handmaid. Thus the first Eve had to be named evil.
Yeah, not fair, but understandable. Funny, most often she was blamed in
daring to stand up to the man as her only sin! And why would Lord create
an evil one for his dearest creation? Mortal logic is most amusing, isn't
it?
OK, do you want me to continue reading?"
"Go ahead"
"When awaken, Earth almost believed that Life returned to him. But he
saw only a mortal woman, which had no Spirit of Life about her. Angry,
he wanted to send her away. But his friends and guardians from Elysion
convinced him to accept the gift of love and hope, to take her as a wife
and have children for the sake of the future.
Sad union created mortal children, who lived only a few dozens of years. Nevertheless, the human population of the Earth flourished, because mortal
child took only a very short time to create. In only nine month it was
born, instead of nine centuries that needed to create a perfect immortal being."
"What?! Nine hundred years? I am not going to have any kids! Period!
Nine hundred years with morning sickness? Centuries of maternity
fashions! Not me, not ever, forget it."
"Chill it, Minako. There is no centuries of maternity fashions. The star
seed is the only thing that is forming for this long, the physical body
of the baby takes only months create."
"Did you know about it before?"
"Yes, for some time already"
"Why did not you tell us?"
"I thought you knew. You had never asked any questions when almost
toddler-looking Chibi-Usa told that she was over 900 years old."
"I thought she had stopped growing or something... Darn, I still thinking
the way they do in England, counting the age from the birth... I forgot
that in Japan it's from the conceiving... Still, I do not want to be
pregnant for that long!"
"You are not likely to have a chance. You are the original Senshi, right
out the Cauldron River. Very few of them ever had children. After all,
for immortals the reproductive function is not essential. You may be a
goddess of beauty and love, but not necessarily of motherhood."
"You mean... we are only soldiers, not meant to be mothers? Virgin
warriors... Like ants and bees..."
"Come on, it is not so bad. You can love and theoretically you can give
birth. Look at you! You are the most perfect female specimen! But our
genes are so different from humans and from each other, we are not
likely to produce heirs. It is like we are of different species, each
one of her own. I believe, that only the true soulmate, the one that and
you were created for and that was created for you can be a father of
your children"
"So, what would you propose, Ami, the good old "try and error" method?"
"Minako!!!"
"Aw, I was only kidding. Go on"
"All right. Where was I? Ah, yes. Soon, Earth-Father died from his
grief, forever crashing the heart of Serenity and entrusting his Spirit
of Earth to the care of Guardians of Elysion, for the future
reincarnation.
Serenity had no more reason to live. She returned to the Solar System, for
after Earth died there was no more reason to stay away from it. The Moon
became her home, and senshi formed the Moon Court.
Her own senshi that stayed behind and mourned the death of one they were
supposed to protect welcomed her back. Now the queen, Serenity conceived
the child within herself, without a man."
"Hold it right there. You just told me that the immortals have almost no
chance to have a baby because they can not find a mate, and now you are
saying that they do not need one?!"
"It's not exactly so. I am translating from Lunar as close as I can, but
it is almost impossible to keep all the details in. The meaning of the
word that was used can be explained as "parthenogenesis" but it also
involves a great deal of magic. In fact, the Silver Crystal initialized
a new life from a somatic cell of the Queen..."
"Now, Ami, in plain Japanese please!"
"Oh. It's like cloning, year, only magical. The child was a copy of the
mother, and was formed with the intend to transfer the very personality
from older one to the younger when she will be mature enough. One queen
after another had denied herself the right for happiness in favor of her
innocent daughter, in hope that the time for Earth to be reborn is
coming. OK, I will continue.
"For nine centuries she was waiting in tears for a perfect copy of her
to be born. She brought up the child as a daughter, then released the
Spirit of Life to be reborn, and dissolved herself in the Silver Crystal.
She left the Crystal to her daughter, to protect the future and uphold the
hope. When Serenity the Second came to age, her mind embraced the Crystal.
She learned about the love that threatened and saved the world, and about
the prophecy.
She learned that only the innocent child could become a carrier of the
spirit, and that she was no longer a child. She submitted to her duty,
accepted the role of the new Queen, and conceived another generation of
Serenity.
That continued for thousands of years, every next queen waiting for Earth
to be reborn, giving an innocent birth to a daughter and at critical time
giving herself into the Crystal.
Each soul of the former queen increased the power of the Crystal.
Each new queen had a greater strength of the magic.
Each was hoping for her daughter to become a carrier of the spirit, but
though the power of Life increased, the Spirit did not return.
But day will come, when the Earth and Life will meet again in the prophesied
union, and their love will recreate the perfect world.
It will be the duty of all senshi to protect the star seeds through the
transformation of the world, to unite them in the prayer of purification
and love and to carry them in the new kingdom of hope"
"Wait a sec. What exactly are do we have to do?"
"We will be quite busy, Jupiter. There is an information on preparation
of each of our powers for the struggle of renewing. I will have to re-
code your henshin sticks and explain new duties to each of you
separately. The one thing that we have to discuss together is this
phrase:
"Pray that earth and Life would meet before the days of this
world run out and the cold death will swallow this realm"
"Does it mean the coming cold?"
"I do not know... All I can say, is that we are to choose between two
evils: or the death from the freezing, or risk it all in the
transformation of the Universe"
"I would rather gamble... But why the freeze is coming?"
"Well, scientist had warned for years already that the universe will run
our of energy one day, but they thought it will take trillions of years...
When I last analyzed the energy readings of the cosmos, I had found that
they were mistaken. As soon as the threshold low level is achieved, the
world will loose all the energy in a chain reaction of collapse, within
weeks it will be all leveled at four degrees by Kalvin."
"You mean that that threshold is almost here?"
"No. We had already past the point of no-return. It is all up to the
King and Usagi now. We can only pray that they will be awaken in time"
"What if one will come around before the other?"
"No good. He or she will remember the love in full, and an unbalanced
passion will destroy another"
"So the future King knew what he was doing when he warned prince from
getting too close to Usagi?"
"I suppose so. Mamoru was older, and the terror of almost killing his
love in the fight with Beryl could have caused the return of his
memories. If he would awaken before her, his power and love will be
unbalanced and surely result in the catastrophe that king had
demonstrated to his younger self in the dream."
"Good. I was thinking he was loosing his mind"
"I do not think so."
"So you are saying that Mamoru and Usagi are the incarnation of Earth
and Life? What about when they were in silver Millenium?"
"They were incarnated then, but dormant. We better ask Serenity when she
will feel better..."
"I am better." a pale tall figure was leaning on the door frame for support
"Your Majesty! You should not be walking around like this! You need your
rest!"
"Do not worry about me, Mercury. Do not you remember? I was always the
strongest and the most self-willed of all the Moon queens... You never
got tiered of telling me that when I was yet a princess... And now I am
the old queen, and you are as young as when taught my mother to read..."
"You are not looking any older, my queen..."
"No, but my time is almost up. I lived longer than I was supposed to
already. I am ready to use the full power of the Silver Crystal one last
time..."
"Why? Why should you do it? You will die!"
"There is no other way. Someone has to mend the body and soul together,
to seal the princess and the pure one as one being. She is the life, and
she is the only hope. If I can do it, all these years on the Earth are
not in vain, and my sins will be forgiven..."
"Sins? What did you do?" Oh, for the day to come when Minako will learn
the meaning of the word "delicate"
"It is a long story... The dynasty of the moon queens created the most
powerful kingdom in the universe, and was an model of harmony for
thousands of years.
Meanwhile, on the Earth, countless generations of mortals were born and
died. The story of the Earth and Life became a legend, partially deformed,
partially forgotten. But the dream of love, the image of the perfect man and
woman as an example of absolute beauty lived in the minds of humans.
Once in a while the random chance of breeding gave birth to a man that looked
like Earth, and sometime a fraction of Earth power was bestowed upon him.
Human legends remembered many who were proclaimed to be the son of the Earth
I remember one named Anthei, some others were forgotten. But the prophecy
described the future incarnation of Earth in many details.
It gave him perfect likeness with the mystical ancestor, gave him a new name
of Endymion in the new incarnation, and said that the spirit will return when
mortal will sacrifice immortality for the love to Life. That seemed impossible.
Many generations of the Moon queens straggled for the better
understanding of the prophecy. Little more about the fate of the Earth
could be gathered from the cryptic text, and the destiny of Life was
also confusing. Prophecy hinted, that the seventh Serenity might become
a carrier of the Spirit, but that the fifth will host it too. That did
not make any sense at all, but when I, Serenity the Fifth, was born, the
hopes were high for me, and I was determined not to link with the
Crystal until I find Endymion on the Earth.
Year after year I was searching the Earth through my magic, but to no avail.
Time came for me to start another generation of the Moon Princess, but he was
no where to be found. The new princess was born, with no signs of possessing
the spirit, and all hope for her mother was lost.
Then, one day, with the shock the I discovered a young man on the Earth, in the
country called Ellada. He looked so much like Earth, and his name was Endymion.
I fell in love with the young man. I had convinced myself that the prophecy was
misunderstood, that this was the chance we were waiting for generations.
Deep in my heart I new it was not so, but my wish to love and be loved
was too strong. I abandoned my daughter and my kingdom for the care of
senshi, and descended to the Earth. Eventually I won his love, and we
lived together for many years. People still remember the story of love
between mortal Endymion and the goddess of the Moon. But alas, it was a
disappointment for the me, for as much as I cared for my lover, I knew
now, that he was not the one. I gave birth to many children, hoping to
create an immortal being, but each birth came in exactly nine month, and
resulted in a mortal daughter. They were his children, not mine! My body
was repeating time after time the same magic of innocent conceiving,
only this time it was using his seed, not mine."
"Why they were all daughters?" Minako again. I better interfere, poor
Serenity is too upset to explain the obvious.
"Of course, only girls were born. Endymion seed contained or X or Y
chromosome, and they were duplicated in mitosis. If the cell did not
have X chromosome, it could not support the life of the embryo, so only
girls could be born. But it is an extreme case of inbreeding, very
unhealthy."
"Gee, Ami, I love the way you explained it. Now it all clear to me.
Clear like mud"
"Aw, just listen, it is not really important"
"Thank you, Mercury. My daughters, though beautiful, were very fragile
and did not live long. After many years, Endymion died, and the former
moon queen was left all alone on the Earth.
Ashamed of what I had done, I never returned to the Moon, and was wandering
on the Earth for centuries, waiting for my fate. For I knew, I was destined
to host the Spirit of life, and could not seek sanctuary from the sad life in
the Crystal until it will come to be.
Time passed, and my daughter, Queen Serenity the Sixth gave birth to the new princess, Serenity the Seventh, then one destined to be a carrier of the Spirit.
Every immortal in the Universe knew the Prophecy. The little princess was a
great prize if she was to possess the full power of Life. Dark forces began
the war hoping to take little Serenity from her mother and rise her as an adept
of the Negaverse.
Queen Serenity the VI could not hide her child on the Moon, so
she sent her to the Earth, to live with kind human family, who came to
love her as their own. Queen provided wealth and protection for her girl
and her guardians, but could not see her until the danger passed. Humans
still remember the legend of old Taketori and his beautiful daughter."
"Yes, Rei had enlightened us"
"My daughter knew that I was on the Earth and she begged me to look over
the child. It took me years to find her on the Earth, and when I came it
was too late already. The princess had already met a man she fell in love
with. It was easy to me to sneak in the house where she was living, thanks
to the similarity of our looks. I talled her all about her destiny, and
begged her not to repeat my mistakes, and to submit to her duty. She
obeyed, but her heart was broken.
Great was my surprise, when in the light of the immortal flame of the Mount
Fuji I saw the imperor transform from a mere human into powerful Avatar of
the Earth! To my many sins I added another one, keeping my granddaughter from
her destined. In shame, I rejected the world and became a priestess, hoping
to purify my soiled soul. I hoped that one day my dear one will be able
to forgive me..."
"Oh, grandmother! Do not speak so! You lived and loved, and it is never
a sin! You were seeking your own destiny! There was nothing to forgive!
I love you so, grandmother!"
"Yes, child, but your mother chose a better part. She sacrifised her own
love, and was happy for you, my dear."
"Oh... I see. She loved him too, did not she?"
"Of course. We all were made to love him. But only you were to be with
him. Your mother understood it, and accepted her destiny, and I in my
self-will curiosity, had followed my heart, and betrayed my duty..."
"It was not a betrayal, love is always good."
"Thank you, child, you are kind. But I no longer need it, centuries of
meditation had taught me to accept my life. It is your future that I am
concerned about now. Are you ready?"
"Ready? For what?"
"Too accept your own future. To become one with one that was reborn in
you. To merge with the spirit of Life."
"Can you do it? Oh, grandmother, she does not want me..."
"No, child, no. She loves you as she loves everyone. When we parted, the
last thought of her was if you would accept her back..."
"Oh, would I! Grandmother, but it means that you will have to use the
Crystal! You will be gone! I do not want to lose you again! I missed you
so, and I just found you today!"
"Silly girl! I will not die! I will dissolve in the Crystal, were all
other queens are gone over ages. We are not separate people, we are one!
When time will come for you to accept the memory of the Crystal, we all
will merge with you, you will be the seven queens in one soul and body,
the true goddess of Life. And I suspect it will not be long. In a matter
of days we will be together again, and stay together forever. But first
you have to merge with the spirit of Life and make sure that the
Universe will survive the coming cataclysm."
"Serenity?"
"What, Mars?"
"If Usagi is so important, how come she is such a baby and a scaredy
cat?"
"Oh, Mars, you are as teasing as ever. She is an innocent child because
hers are the powers of eternal youth and pure soul, and she is not a
coward. You know that she is the most courageous of all when it really
counts. But she is afraid, more than you ever know. They say that one
can be considered alive when one is afraid of own destruction, and she
is so much more than alive, she is life itself. She lives with such
intensity, flood of emotions pools her in all directions at once,
distracting her. You know it well, for you love her above all things"
"I do... How can we help you?"
"Let's go see if she is awake. Make sure that the King is not around. We
will not be able to stop them after Life will be back, and you are not
ready yet for the rebirth of the world."
"OK. He did not come to yet, so we better go now"
We went back to the little chapel, where an old priest and Helios were
taking care of Usagi. She was stirring, and attempted to hide when we
came in.
"Oh, Usagi, do not go!"
"Princess... will you forgive me?"
"There is nothing for me to forgive. Will you accept me as your vessel?"
"Vessel? What is it? I want to be back with you... He loves me, you, us, I
felt it! Are you angry? Why are you crying?"
"No, Usagi, I am happy. Would you say the words?"
"Oh, um, yes." the shadowy Usagy gathered herself up a little, as if in
solemnity of her pose and words she was seeking some kind of support.
"I, Usagi, accept you, Serenity the Seventh as my vessel,
completely and till the end of times"
Light of the Silver Crystal in the older Serenity hands shoot through
the walls and ceiling of the little building. Three identical figures
were swirling in the column of light, one with sage-green hair holding
the Crystal, one with golden tresses, and one almost transparent. In the
blinding shine I saw two of them merge, and descend to the ground. When
the light died out, there was only two of them. Usagi was standing here
in the flesh, and older Serenity, spent, was uttering her last words:
"We will meet soon, oh pure one. My sins are forgiven, and my debts are
paid. Prophecy is completed. I had joined the Crystal, and will wait for
you to accept us for eternity... Remember, the key to the saving all is
love outside love, passion outside the passion..." She dissolved in the
waterfall of the rainbow colored sparks, leaving Usagi crying bitterly
on the floor where she just has been...
______________________________________________________
End of part 6.
Feedback is appreciated. In fact, last time I had posted a chapter
and it was not readable, i received more mail than usual, with people
asking me what's the matter. Hei, you, out there? is anybody still
reading? Was it too boring? Sorry, Ami is not particularly
intertaining, I had to get into the character. Write me!
Even better, write to Lilac Summers and make her continue her
"Vacation"! No physical threats, please!
Ikuko