Rated PG-13
Genre: Adventure / Fantasy
SUMMARY: Mamoru Chiba, told by his dying uncle of a lost kingdom visited 1000 years ago by an ancestor, heads out with his best-friend Motoki Furuhata to discover the kingdom and its secret of immortality, said to be contained within a mystic jewel.
Together they travel with Rei Hino, the granddaughter of a Shinto priest who says that he knows the way to the lost kingdom in the frozen artic. In frozen wastelands of the artic they find an ancient building written with an unknown language, that only Mamoru seems to be able to read, detailing the hidden civilization ruled over by an immortal queen named Serenity.
Chapter One: A Dying Man's Confession
Bright. It simply was too bright.
It was a lovely day for most people while for two people it was gray and gloomy. The sun was shining and a warm breeze scented with cherry blossoms filled the air. He was miserable and wished the weather would reflect his own mood.
People were happy for what ever their reasons were to be happy but he wasn't happy. He was far from being happy as he entered the hospital and proceeded to the elevators.
A few nurses smiled at the attractive man waiting in the lobby for the elevator. One openly flirted with him hoping to gain his attention and maybe even a date. He was in no mood for this and scowled to himself wondering why they wouldn't leave him alone. Did these women not know that his uncle, his beloved uncle was dying upstairs? Could these women be any less vapid and see that he is in pain?
The elevator chimed as the doors opened and people hurried to get off and on.
"What floor?" Asked the pretty blonde nurse.
"Three," he answered roughly.
She raised her eyebrows and smiled brightly to him, too bright for his liking. He knew what she wanted and normally he'd be more then happy to flirt back and obtain her number for a date but not that day. She pressed the floor as the doors began to close and he pushed his way to the opposite side wanting to be rid of this woman.
The light signaled that they had passed the first floor and then the second. Three more seconds passed and the elevator lurched to a stop. The doors dinged open and he stepped out and away from the woman.
She stood there frowning to herself as she watched him exit the elevator but no matter there were more fish in the sea for her. The doors chimed closed and she was gone.
He stood there for a moment with his back to the elevator doors. He loved his uncle and knew that time was rapidly running out for them. There was nothing that would prevent the Angel of Death from appearing, nothing he could do to prevent the last member of his family from dying. Nothing... or so he thought.
He frowned to himself, was it such a good idea for his uncle to leave the hospital? He thought to himself as he walked slowly to his uncle's room. His uncle wanted to spend his last days, however many he had left, at home surrounded by the things he loved and his memories.
"Mamoru my boy!" He uncle said with a fake smile plastered on his face. "Come in! Come in!"
"Uncle Yori!" He said with an equally fake smile plastered on his face. "How are you feeling?"
The old man began to cough. He sat up, clutching his chest. The pain racked his body as he continued his coughing fit. Mamoru rushed over picking up the glass from the nightstand and filled it with water. He placed one hand behind his uncle's back and lifted the glass to the old man's lips.
"Thank-you my boy," the thin, gaunt man said after he finished drinking the cool water. "I'm fine now."
"Fine Uncle? Are you sure that you want to go home?" he asked, the concern for his uncle noticeable in his question.
"My boy I do not have much time to live and the last thing I want to do is spend my last days looking at these damn walls. Of course the nurses are not hard on the eyes but even they do not make up for the time I must spend in this jail."
Mamoru pursed his lips together. "Well knowing you and how stubborn you are I've hired two nurses to take care of you, at home, as you insisted. I've convinced the doctor to let you go home."
"Good, good. These damn walls are killing me. I need a change of scenery and that is at home near the things I love most."
Mamoru cringed at the word his uncle chose yet said nothing.
"Where is that damn doctor?" The old man ranted as he picked up his buzzer. "Nurse! Nurse!"
An overweight woman in a nurse's uniform hurried into the room a few seconds later.
"You buzzed Chiba-sensei?" She asked the old man as she picked up his medical chart and jotted down some information.
"Where the hell is the damn doctor? I'm sick of this place and I want to go home NOW!" The old man yelled at her.
"Calm down Chiba-sensei or you won't be going home any time soon," she replied as she took his pulse. "Dr. Mizuno will be here shortly so calm your self."
The old man sank down in his bed and looked out the window angry that he was being treated as a child. Mamoru was slightly amused by his uncle's antics though the worry ate him knowing that his uncle's temper might prevent the old man from going home that day.
"I see someone is a little grouchy," said a petite woman with short coal black hair.
Mamoru looked at the woman noting that her hair was so black he could have sworn it was a deep shade of blue.
"You'd be grouchy too if you had Nurse Hun here taking care of you," Yori replied as the nurse checked his blood pressure. "Ow! Must you be so rough? Mamoru, I hope the nurses you hired aren't like Nurse Hun here," he said as he jerked a thumb at the woman next to him.
"If you weren't so stubborn Chiba-sensei I wouldn't have to be so rough."
"Now, now you two, there is no need for bickering," Dr. Mizuno said as she picked up the medical chat from where the nurse had placed it down. "So I take it you're ready to go home. Well normally I would not advise that but considering that your condition will not be improving I do not see why you should not be allowed to go home and spend what little time you have in the comfort of your own home. So," she turned to Mamoru, "I take it you have hired the nurses recommend to administer the proper medication to Chiba-sensei here?"
Mamoru nodded, "They start tomorrow."
"Good, good," she said as she continued to jot down things into the medical chart. "I will be stopping by tomorrow then to instruct the nurses on what needs to be done." She tore a bottom copy from the clipboard and handed it to Mamoru. "Here are some basic instructions on what you need to do tonight for your uncle. If he becomes worse tonight call me and I will be over as soon as possible."
"Thank-you Dr. Mizuno," he said as he bowed slightly to the doctor.
"Please call me Ami-san," she said as she smiled at him. "As for you Chiba-sensei I want you to be kind to your nephew here. Do not be so stubborn while you are in his care and try not to be so grouchy."
"Yes, yes doctor. I will be on my best behavior. Scouts honor!" He replied with a wink to the pretty doctor.
"Good. Now once you are dressed, you are free to go," Ami said with a warm smile. "Chiba-san, may I speak to you outside please?"
"Sure. I will be right back uncle."
The two stepped outside while inside Yori continued to argue with Nurse Hun.
"By any chance is your first name Attila?" Mamoru and Ami heard as the door clicked closed.
Ami and Mamoru chuckled at Yori bickering with the nurse.
"Chiba-san, I want you to know that your uncle's condition will not improve and that it may deteriorate more quickly then I anticipate. Are you sure you want to take him home? If anything happens in the middle of the night you may not be able to save him."
"Yes, I understand the consequences but this is his wish and I can't stop him from leaving the hospital. He wants to die at home with those he loves around him. He will be more a peace in his own room surrounded by his own things and memories."
"Is he really the archeologist who found the lost Tomb of Gilgamesh?"
"Yes. He and a colleague named Yoshi Hiaasu had discovered the tomb about 20 years ago in Siberia, Russia."
"How interesting. My fiancé is studying archeology. Are you in his line of work?"
Mamoru shook his head, "No. I did study under him when I was a teenager but am currently studying medicine."
"Ah, so you want to be a doctor."
Mamoru nodded. "Well Dr. Mizuno...."
"Ami-san."
"Ami-san, thank-you for taking care of my uncle. Oh and please call me Mamoru-san."
"You are most welcome. I will see you tomorrow. Take care of yourself Mamoru-san because I'm afraid the next few days or even weeks may take a toll on your own health if you are not careful."
"I will. Thank-you again."
Ami smiled at the dark haired man before bowing and leaving. Mamoru watch the young doctor go.
"She's familiar. I wonder why it feels like I know her from somewhere," he mumbled to himself.
"Get out!" Yori's voice could be heard at Nurse Hun exited the room.
"He's all yours Chiba-san. I don't know how YOU are going to up with HIM!" She said loudly for the old man to hear. "Be warned he has a pretty good aim."
Mamoru laughed, "I'm sorry Nurse Hun for the trouble he's given you."
"Oh it's alright. I like him, he reminds me of my own father."
Mamoru smiled. "He's been like a father to me since I was eight years old. He has a good heart."
The nurse smiled and nodded. "Take care Chiba-san. I hope to see you and your uncle again but hopefully he will be better next time I see him." She bowed to him and left down the opposite way that Ami had left.
Mamoru stood outside the hospital door. Behind that door was his last family member, the man who raised him since he was a child. His parents were killed in a car accident on a winding mountain road and he was the only person in the car to survive.
He saw a small child sitting alone in a hospital bed much like the one his uncle was in. The small boy's head wrapped in bandages and the child was crying.
The boy looked out the window, the tears pouring down his face as he looked out into the rain. He remained at the hospital for a few days before he was sent to an orphanage since no family members were found. The hospital assumed that when no one came for his parent's bodies that the boy had no one else.
It took two years for Yori to track down his nephew. The boy was eight years old when he finally found him in the dank orphanage. He couldn't take the boy fast enough from the cold, gray institution that Mamoru had called home for those two long years.
When Mamoru first met his uncle he felt as if he were in a dream. After all other kids had come and gone but not him. He stayed at that terrible orphanage for two years, almost three and when his uncle came he was scared. It took Yori another year to gain the boy's trust but eventually he did.
Mamoru's childhood was tarnished by the loss of his parents and by partial amnesia. Yori made sure that the rest of his childhood was made of the things boys dreamed about - action and adventure.
Yori was a world famous archeologist and traveled the world over. He took Mamoru on many of those digs and it was there Mamoru saw things other boys dreamed about.
Dinosaur bones so big that they could mistaken for the bones of a building, mummified bodies that hadn't seen the light of day for thousands of years, artifacts once lost but found by his uncle and lost cities that were forgotten to the world were once again spoken about.
As a teenager Mamoru was even allowed to help his uncle in his digs and studied to become an archeologist but when Mamoru turned 20 his uncle contracted a rare lung disease from having spending so much of his life in areas that saw no light or fresh air in hundreds and even thousands of years. So at that age he decided to become a doctor in order to help his uncle but he was racing against the clock now.
Here he was 22 years old and the only man he's known as a father figure, friend and confidant was there behind that door dying with only days possibly weeks to live. It was too late for Mamoru to save his uncle but still he continued his studies. If he couldn't help Yori he could still help other people.
Mamoru snapped out of his trip down memory lane and pushed the door open. "Well, I'm ready to get out of this hell hole," Yori said as he saw Mamoru enter the room. "Help dress my boy. I'm in the mood for steak and potatoes tonight. Hospital food stinks and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
The two men chuckled. Mamoru walked to the closet and pulled out the clothes he had brought his uncle the day before and then helped the fragile man dress.
"Here sit. I'll go get a wheelchair," Mamoru said as helped his uncle sit down in a chair next to the bed.
"No need," Nurse Hun said as she pushed the door open with her body, pulling in a wheelchair. "I figured he would be ready by now. Tell me Chiba-sensei, will you miss me?" She said as she winked at him.
"About as much as I will the hospital food," he replied dryly.
Nurse Hun smiled at the man before replying. "That much 'eh. Well I'll miss you too. I hope you get better Chiba-sensei. I really do."
He smiled at her. She was not one of the beauties he had known through his life and she was a bit rough but she had a good personality and though they fought they had become friends.
"Well come visit me to remind me why I don't want to be here anymore."
"I will do that Sensei," she said as she helped him into the wheelchair.
The trio soon found themselves downstairs in front of a large black limo. The driver helped Yori into the limo. Mamoru slid in and the door was shut.
Nurse Hun stood on the sidewalk with empty wheelchair watching as the limo pulled off.
"Good luck Sensei. I really do hope you'll get better."
The trip home was long; least it felt long Yori who continued to cough. It was early in the afternoon but it was the city and traffic in the city was always busy. People in cars, in buses and on bikes roamed the streets. The highway was equally busy with cars and buses and so it took a half hour for the limo to pull up to a large estate a short distance from the city.
There waiting at the door were several servants. The butler stood with a wheelchair for Yori.
"Welcome home sir," he said as the door opened and Mamoru stepped out first helping his uncle out of the limo.
"Thank-you Michio-san. It's good to be home," Yori said in between a coughing fit.
"Michio-san, please escort my uncle upstairs to his room. I will be up shortly."
"Very good sir," he said as he helped Yori into the wheelchair and took him inside.
"Sir?" A tall woman with chestnut brown hair said as she approached Mamoru.
"Yes Kino-san?"
"I have prepared Chiba-sensei's meal. Would you like me to have one of the maids bring it up now or later?"
"I think now would be fine. I know he's sick of hospital food. Oh and Kino-san, will you please prepare steak and potatoes for dinner tonight. I know he was asking me for that and only you can make his steak and potatoes the way he likes it."
The chef smiled and nodded. "Thank-you sir. Dinner will be ready at eight." She turned and went into the kitchen to start preparing the evening meal.
Mamoru entered the mansion and walked into the study. The room was furnished with many items his uncle had retrieved in his youth. There opposite the desk in encased in glass were two daggers. His uncle had told him that he and his colleague Hiaasu-san had discovered the daggers along with many other relics from a temple outside of Bagan in Myanmar. The daggers were said to be mystical and would give the wielder immortality if used on an enemy. Yori never put the daggers to the test; even now he would not test them.
"Immortality at the loss of your humanity," Mamoru repeated his uncle's warning of the daggers to himself. "Uncle is right these daggers have to high of a price and if the legends are true then you lose your humanity."
"Blood, Mamoru my boy. Blood. For the immortality that these daggers promise you must exchange your humanity, your compassion and your soul. Too high of a price my boy and these daggers must never be used but I cannot see them lost once again. We will protect these daggers along with many of the other artifacts I have found from all those who would seek to lose their souls."
"Mamoru-san," Michio said as he entered the study. "Sir, your uncle wishes to see you."
"Thank-you Michio-san," he looked at the daggers once more before he exited the study, locking the door behind him.
Yori sat in a plush chair looking out a window that overlooked an immaculate garden. Plants from various countries filled the garden taking Yori back to days in which he was a strong and fit man. Now all he could do was sit or lay down, helpless to do the things he so loved to do.
The door pushed open as a short knock was heard snapping Yori out of his own memories of his youth.
"Come in my boy. Come in," he said as the cough racked his body once more.
"You wanted to see me Uncle?"
"Yes my boy. Come, sit, sit. I have something to tell you and I need you to listen to every word I say."
Mamoru looked at his uncle wondering what it was that was so urgent. He noted how urgent his uncle sounded and it left him puzzled. He sat down across from his uncle.
"I am dying my boy. I only have days to live, if that."
"No uncle, don't say such things!" Mamoru said as he leaned over and held the old man's frail hand.
He shook his head. "No my boy, you know the truth. I am dying and there is nothing you or anyone on this blue planet that can do for me." Yori looked out the window clutching his chest as he began to cough again. With his free hand he placed a handkerchief to his mouth to catch the flem from his throat. When he pulled the handkerchief away he saw the blood yet managed to hide it from his nephew.
"Here drink this," Mamoru said as he reached over for a glass of water sitting on the small table next to his uncle.
"Thank-you my boy but I'm fine. Listen and listen closely. I leave no written record of this and only one other person in the known world knows of this. You must seek him out before it's too late...." Again the old man's coughing fits halted his conversation.
"Uncle you are tiring yourself. This can wait till later when you're feeling better...."
"No time my boy! There is no time! Listen!" He leaned forward. "I am going to tell you the story of the Lost City of Serenity."
"Lost City of Serenity? Surely uncle you're not going to tell me a bed time story?!"
"It's no story! It's real and it's time I told you the whole truth."
Mamoru pulled his chair closer to the old man who suddenly looked as if he were some where else far away.
"My boy, what I'm going to tell you is the complete truth. It has been passed down from generation to generation in our family," Yori looked his nephew straight in the eyes. "When I was a younger man, early in my days as an archeologist, I set out to find it and found it I did but there were many accidents that prevented us from doing any further investigating so we had to give up." The old man began another round of coughing fits much to his worried nephew who leaned over to give the old man a glass of water.
He put his hand up in rejection of the water knowing it did nothing for him. There was nothing that could be done to save his life, nothing but the one thing he hoped the young man in front of him would find.
"Years passed before I could take another excavation team back but by then the terrain had changed and the entrance to the city was blocked off as if someone deliberately sealed it. For several days we attempted to clear the boulders that blocked our path and finally we made a small opening enough for one person to go through."
"I alone went through the small opening taking only a few items with me. Deeper and deeper into the cavern I went and after an hour I discovered myself in front of a large statue about 70 feet tall. It was her, the goddess Selene and my boy she was protected by the most beautiful women I had ever seen...."
HISTORY NOTES: Bagan is deserted city in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Pagodas and temples can be found on the banks of the Ayeyarwady and is considered as one of the wonders of Asia. Bagan was at it's highest between the 11th and 13th centuries when numerous magnificent building were constructed. In 1287 the city was destroyed by Kublai Khan and was never rebuilt. Approximately 5000 temples can be found in or near Bagan including Ananda, Thatbyinnyu and Gawdawpalin. (Information from Lonely Planet.)
Attila the Hun was both a king and a general. He led the Huns from 433 to 453 along with his brother Bleda (from 434 to 445). In 445 he put his own brother to death for reasons I could not find online. By 441 the Huns had invaded the Eastern Roman Empire and had several successful raids against them. In 451 he encountered the allied Romans under a man named Actius and the Visigoths under the men Theodoric and Thorismond on the Plains of Chalons (near the present-day French city of Troyes). They were successful in stopping Attila and the Huns from continuing any further by slaughtering 200,000 to 300,000 of Attila's men. So Attila then turned to Italy in the spring of 452 and destroyed Aquileia and many Lombard cities. Later that year he began approaching Rome. Near Mantua he was met by an embassy of men including Pope Leo I who managed to dissuade Attila from destroying Rome. The city of Venice was a product of Attila's invasion and capture of the Veneti from Northeastern Italy. Those who escaped fled to Adriatic Sea where present day Venice is located. (Information from Britannica & Encarta.)
MYTHOLOGY NOTES: Gilgamesh was a hero from Sumerian and Babylonian mythology. He is said to be the son of the goddess Ninsun and Lugalbanda. Gilgamesh is most famous for his quest in immortality along with his friendship with a wild man (made of clay by the Goddess Aruru) Enkidu. He was pursued by the Goddess Ishtar but rebuffed her knowing that she would kill or injure her lovers when she tired of them. As punishment Ishtar's father sent a mystical bull to kill them but Gilgamesh and Enkidu stopped the bull. They continued to insult the goddess who raged at his rejection and his insults and killed Enkidu with a disease. There's a really good Tomb Raider fan fic written a few years ago that details more of the Babylonian mythology surrounding these three.
AUTHORS NOTES: There were two words I played on slightly in the first chapters. Did you catch them? When Yori promises to be on his best behavior he says, "Scouts honor" that of course was a play on the DiC usage of the word Scouts in placement of Senshi in the American dub.
The second was Nurse Hun and Yori's comment about her being Attila. See history notes above for more information on Attila the Hun.
COPYRIGHT: SAILOR V, SAILOR MOON & all related material are © 1992 - 2000 NAOKO TAKEUCHI, KODANSHA LTD, TOEI ANIMATION, DiC ENTERTAINMENT, PIONEER ANIMATION & CLOVERWAY. SAILOR MOON, the SAILOR MOON characters & their respective names & likeness are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. All rights reserved.
This story was written by Mikazuki Naishinnou and is the property of Mikazuki Naishinnou. The story uses the original anime names.
Idea adapted from the 1935 movie "She" and the novels "She," "Ayesha" and "Wisdom's Daughter" by H. Rider Haggard.
For those who have never seen the movie, noted I am not directly borrowing the story from "She" considering that Ayesha (SHE) was a mean and cruel woman. It's been a few years since I've seen the movie and don't even remember if the uncle in the movie died or not. I have never read the books written by Haggard but plan on reading them once I get a chance (actually once I find them in stock). I'm curious as to how the books were written considering that usually movies do books injustice and from my understanding the original story takes place in Africa.
At any rate my story is loosely based on Haggard's work since it deals with a lost city ruled by an immortal queen but overall this is an original story.
Revision: 05/27/02
Special thanks to Serenity, Jenny, BenRG, Alexia Goddess and Moonie chef for offering such postive yet helpful critiques. Thanks to all those who posted a critique and were not mentioned here.
Revision: 01/02/03
I've completed the first chapter to The Lost City of Serenity and hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review regardless if you liked or hated this story. Without comments I don't know whether or not you dear reader are actually reading it!
Revision: 09/23/03
I added more items to the first chapter. Changed Rei's grandfather's name to Yoshi Hiaasu (Hiaasu is his family name, Yoshi is his personal name).
Hi = fire; flame; blaze
Assu = Earth
Yoshi = Quiet
What I wanted his name to translate to was Quiet Earth Fire but if you do translate it literally his name will mean Quiet Fire Earth.