The Third Vow
Written by: DarkImperialPrincess (Marie L.)
Synopsis: In the far future where NeoQueen Serenity is nothing more than a legend and demons known as the Akuma reign, a young demon hunter finds a book with a prophecy and vows that she will fulfill it no matter what the cost.
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The Event happened centuries before my birth and it was such an occurrence that changed the face of this planet forever. When I was small my mother told me of the Event and for days I could not sleep. She spoke of a comet that somehow found its way to Earth and struck with a mighty blow deep in the center of a great ocean that has long since turned to dust. Even my mother could not tell me the name of the body of water and it wasn't until years later that I learned that it was once called the Atlantic.
The results were horrific yet we humans somehow survived. There is a legend, this time told by my father, that there was a great Queen who ruled a crystal utopia. The world would know no peace such as then and even her name meant the very word: Serenity. It is said that she used her talisman from the Gods to ward off the horrific tidal waves, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that resulted from the impact. Humanity heaved a great sigh; the beautiful Queen had saved them all once again but it was not to last.
As the Atlantic burned away into salty mists, something rose from the gaping hole that the comet left behind. From its smoldering ashes a new life form, more terrifying than anything that humanity had ever seen, crawled up. Youma; Daimons; Lemures. Those were the words of the past, foes that the great Queen had conquered. These new beings were all of these and none; they were simply demons or Akuma in the old language. As though they climbed from the fiery gates of hell themselves they rained down on populace of the Earth like locust.
Queen Serenity was said to have stood against them, using her talisman to ward them off yet even her great powers could not stem the tide of death, mutilation and torture. On the crystal island, the fabled Japan, she stood for the final time against these Akumas. Her warriors, the mythical Senshi, fell one by one until at last the gates of the palace had been breached. Endymion, Consort King and their daughter, the Younger Serenity, each perished to stop the demons from reaching their Queen.
It was not long before Serenity fell as well. The legend goes that before Queen Yasha of the Akuma could land the killing blow that her talisman encased her once again in a protective casing. There Serenity would hover between life and death until she was needed once again. Although the Akuma Queen declared it a victory, she took with her the crystal encased Queen to the center of the Atlantic where she held her dominion. No one dared venture there and so the Queen was therefore untouchable.
The reign of the Akumas devastated humanity. They hunted us for sport, for food, to become their slaves. There was famine and water shortage. There was no where that was safe, they always found us. It was only a few years later just after I turned six that both my parents were killed by them. When they heard the approaching hoard they ushered me into the secret compartment below our shack that was our home. Screaming my mother and father resisted but in the end each was savagely ripped to pieces. From my vantage point I watched as them descended upon the corpses of my parents and ate until their hearts content.
Since that day I have hated our demonic overlords and through the years I have risen to be the greatest hunter of this day. When I turned eighteen I used my powers for the first time. I had finally tracked the last creature from the party who had killed my parents and as it charged towards me an unexplainable ball of electricity formed in the palm of my hand and I literally threw it. The Akuma exploded in a shower of sparks. It was then I realized my true purpose, to eliminate the demonic scum one by one.
And so this is what I did. I trekked across the barren lands that once had been great yet corrupted nation. I would stop in the remnants of cities to rest and explore. It was in a city that been called New York that I found a library. I spent my months there, learning the history of mankind. Yet I found no books of the Queen Serenity and her Senshi, they had all been destroyed at the Akuma Queens insistence so it could not lead to a revolt or so the legends say.
Truth be told I believed that the tales of Queen Serenity and her Senshi were nothing more than that, stories to entertain children at night. Then one night as I was searching the library did I find a secret room and in that room was a corpse. It was the withered form of a female and she was immaculately preserved. She had long dark green hair and in her bony hands she clutched a book. When I took the book from her she collapsed into nothing more than dust.
I swept up her remains into an urn that had surprisingly survived intact and placed it upon the floor of the room. It was a sad day, as though I was burying a fellow comrade yet I knew nothing of the woman until I opened her book. There were hundreds of entries and I read them all with the eagerness of a child as the legends of my dreams became a reality.
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June 30th 4000
Today is the Queen and Princess's birthday. It is a special day especially for it is Usa's 2000th birthday. Like the Queen, she was blessed with eternal youth and it took me months to find the perfect gift but finally I found what I was looking for. A lovely silver bracelet with tiny key charms and a silver heart engraved with 'Small Lady'. I was so nervous when she opened it but she threw her arms around me and said that she loved it. I found myself tearing up with joy for the woman who had always been like a daughter to me. It was a good day indeed.
October 29th 4000
Usa came alone today, she knows how I hate to celebrate my own birthday. I still to this day could not tell you when I was born or to whom so it's always a sad day. A day where I contemplate my existence and how it all began. Normally Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru would stop to visit but they had been off planet for almost a decade now. I miss them all terribly and wish I could have gone with them but I have my own duties to perform. Usa gave me a matching bracelet to the one I had given her but this time it is a black gold, cultivated from the planet Nemisis and the heart was engraved 'Puu'. I couldn't stop myself from crying, my tears falling silently into her pink hair. Birthdays for me are always like this.
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My eyes widened, here was an account of the time before the Event. So the Queen did exist! As of yet I could not discern the name of the writer and so I skipped ahead several hundreds of years. This woman must be immortal, I thought to myself in wonder as I continued to read.
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March 30th 4500
Spring is upon us and today we celebrate the Ueno Sakura Matsuri. It seems that the entire palace is covered in the pink blossoms and it always been one of my favorite festivals. However I can't seem to concentrate, something at the back of my mind keeps trying to get my attention. It could be the Stream and I resolved to return to the Gates as soon as I could. An event, my mind whispers. Of what, I could not say but I'm sure given enough time the answers will come.
September 21st 4500
The comet is brighter than ever before. Ami-chan says it should hit tomorrow morning. All day the Queen has been in deep meditation, readying herself to ward off the disasters that are to follow. Something is prickling on the back of my neck, could this be the event I was forewarned?
September 23rd 4500
At last the earthquakes and volcanoes have stopped. I've never seen Serenity so drained as she finally woke from her trance. As Endymion carried her from the room I thought that my sense of something wrong would disappear but I fell to the floor screaming as it raged even stronger.
October 4th 4500
It only took her two weeks to finally breach the castle walls. The Queen of the Akuma's victory seemed sealed as the Senshi fell. I went to my Queen, to hide her at the Gates but she pushed me away, her eyes filled with determination. Oh my Queen, why did you not listen? My mind laments as I tried to force Usa with me but like her mother she refused. I tried to reason with the woman who has become like my daughter, I can't see outcome but I know it does not bode well.
December 31st 4500
Never have I seen a darker new year. It seems like years since both my Queen and Princess fell to the Akuma. For Usa I weep because she was cut down so mercilessly but for Serenity I mourn because she is not dead but trapped inside her crystal, hidden in the crude palace of Yasha, Queen of Akuma. I cry for Endymion, my love unrequited and for my comrades as well. It seems I am a well of tears but soon I know I will run out.
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July ? 4900
Who am I? I thought I knew once but I can't remember. I read the entries of this journal but are they my own? Still I vigilantly fill these pages because my mind will be totally lost if I do not. Who is this Puu? I wear her bracelet upon my wrist and I feel a deep sadness whenever I catch a glimpse of it in the candle lit glow. Oh! I extinguish the light quickly because I see movements outside. They hunt me still, why I do not know but for some reason I know I am the last. The Akuma frighten me but was scares me more is my mind.
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? 5000
The faded sign say the New York Library and the last of my mind prickles with the sight. This is the place I have been searching for. I found the secret room, one only I for some reason know about and it is here where I will stay until she comes.
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After that there is only one entry left. It is on the back page and the script is shaky as though she wrote it with her dying hand. I read it several times, trying to make sense of it and soon it finally dawns on me what the passage means.
The Gates have closed themselves to me. Usa. Queen. Wait until she comes! My body is so tired, my immortality gone. Speak the name… The name! Crystal. Talisman. The Queen will rise once more. I thought I was wise but I realize that I have been so foolish. I'm so sorry, I can't wait for her. Find the Queen, speak the name. Break the seal. Setsuna the wise is gone and all the remains is Setsuna the foolish, it will be her corpse you see Mak-
She was never able to finish and I closed the book with a quiet sigh. My candle flickers violently, the wick is almost used up and I go to extinguish it but something glints in light. Curiously I walk over to the one lonely desk and upon its faded surface I find a bracelet. It is the one that she, Setsuna, spoke of. I trace the engraved 'Puu" with sadness and slip it on my wrist.
At once I am full of sorrow, not my own but hers. I believe, as far fetched as it sounds, that she was waiting for me. Something stirs at the back of my mind, like a memory. I hear laughter and I see a young blond girl with strange styled odangos eating my lunch but the vision is quickly gone, like steam from a boiling pot.
Most of my life has been spent following the vows I have made. My first vow was to hunt those who killed my parents and my second was to eliminate the Akuma in total. One might think that the last vow would be close to impossible yet I knew different. I knew that I would fight on till my very last breath to rid this once beautiful planet of the demonic plague. So in the darkness of that secret room, with the urn containing Setsuna's ashes at my feet, did I take my third and final vow. I will finish what green haired woman had started; I will take her prophecy to the centre of the Atlantic and awaken Serenity.
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Hope you liked the prologue. Let me know in a review if you wish for me to continue. As always I apologize about my spelling and grammar.
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