This next chapter may be the longest chapter in this volume, but a lot of things will happen in it, and more history related to the cultural, social, and political development for those on the Moon since it was first settled and populated ages ago in its known history will likely be revealed in it as well. Not to mention at least some of the history of the Imperium Silver Crystal, at least since its discovery and all. Along with some predictions related to later events in this story and the applicable timeline or timelines that may arise after 174 BC on the Moon, for that matter.
With no further ado, then, I'll present you with the next chapter of this story here. Please try and remember to stay buckled up, folks. For there's quite a bit of action in this chapter, and there will be at least one more action-filled chapter to come in this story as well, for sure, before it ultimately comes to an end later on, whenever and however it does. TUS out.
Somewhere In The Tokariano Mountains
September 9, 174 BC
Taturaki, Katrelomisian Empire, Tarokauni III
About a week later, then, and about two hours past local dawn, the Scouts all arrived at a location that was quite clearly marked with a small hunter green star in the middle of their map's southern edge. They found themselves almost halfway through the Tokariano Mountains. Which was a mountain range that was about fifty to seventy Terran statute miles north of Crystalion's centermost part. And a gently winding river was just about 4,000 feet to their east as they all went mainly in a northerly direction, as a matter of fact.
That river was the Tatukoni River, and it ran through the area covered by the map in question, until it was about halfway through it, if not a little more through it. It stopped running when it reached a lake called Lake Kenokoa. And that lake was about half the size of Lake Superior back on Terra in the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol solar system, at most. That lake, on the map, had an appropriately-sized cobalt blue X not far from the middle of its western shore. That X was where all the Scouts would ultimately have to end up by the time they were done traveling in the immediate area near that lake.
They didn't stay at the southern edge of the area covered by their map for long, before they moved to the first place marked on it with a turquoise diamond. That place brought them to a town called Taturaki, or at least quite near it, like within five miles of it, maybe. They soon came upon an old mining shaft, in a nearby mountain, as a storm was blowing into their current area. So they entered that shaft, in order to keep out of the storm in question then for as long as they possibly could.
As they were in that mining shaft, they soon found several underground tunnels, quite possibly leading to places they didn't yet know of well enough, of course. They eventually chose one at random, then went down it. As they did so, several torches periodically flickered to life, which often made it at least a bit easier for the Scouts and all their current companions to see through, and move through, the tunnel they'd chosen to use for at least the time being, if not all the time. Also, when the aforementioned torches periodically flickered to life, the Scouts sometimes saw things that they might possibly be able to use, if they could somehow gain sufficient enough control over them. Like crystals, quite possibly.
Moon asked Sentinel Serenity if she thought that they might be able to use those things in the future, and Sentinel Serenity said, "Maybe, Moon, but I really don't know yet if it'd actually be very wise for us to try to get them from here. If we tried to get them from inside the walls of this tunnel, it might make this mountain collapse on top of us all. For I seem to detect a growing fracture in the rock about 8,400 feet above our heads, and I fear that if we try to access those things in the walls too soon, it might make the top of the mountain break away and slide down one side of the mountain, if not more, Moon. And I really don't think that you really want us to be responsible for such an occurrence, if it can possibly be avoided at all by us, Moon."
"No, I don't, of course, but several of the things here seem to be among the things I believe that we're now looking for, just the same, Sentinel Serenity," said Junior Sailor Moon.
"I disagree, Moon. And because I do so, we're not going to take any chances with our safeties here. True, things we might be looking for may actually be here, but I don't believe that it'd be wise for us to possibly risk our safeties by searching here, Moon. Or at least not at this time, if I ever will change my mind about us searching here, which I really don't think I'll do sometime later on here."
"As you wish, Sentinel Serenity."
Then Sentinel Serenity continued to lead her current companions down the tunnel they'd just chosen to move down a while before. She did so for at least a little while, before she chose to let them stop moving for a few minutes, if they wanted to do that then. As they were all still quite deep within the mountain they were all currently in together. When she chose to let them then do that for at least a few minutes, she first made sure that it was quite safe for them all to do so, of course, for all the obvious reasons.
Once she did so, Mars and Mercury, at least, soon had a fire going in the place where Sentinel Serenity had let them and all of their current companions stop moving for a while. This fire had an average diameter of about ten feet, in the middle of a nook in an underground cavern, deep inside the mountain that they were all now in. And it was large enough to provide at least some warmth and/or light from that fire in that nook of the aforementioned underground cavern, as a matter of fact. Mars used a little bit of her ability to provide fire to get that fire started, while Mercury and others made sure that it wouldn't leave the area of the nook that it was now in. Mercury and others did this by forming a circle of the necessary size out of several considerably-sized rocks. And most of those rocks were of a height that would be about knee-height for Sentinel Serenity in her life, as a matter of fact, if all of them weren't at least that height or even larger. A few of the Scouts provided burnable items, such as nearby twigs or leaves, or whatever else they could find to burn affordably enough for a long enough time. Of course, they didn't toss any of their things into the fire then. And they wouldn't do so unless they were ever forced to do just that while they were still in the fire's nook.
While the fire was raging for a while, in the aforementioned nook, Sentinel Serenity also let those Scouts of hers who were sufficiently hungry and thirsty get a little bit of food and/or drink for themselves, of course. This was for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally, while they were still there in that nook.
Eventually, while all the hungry and/or thirsty Scouts were eating and/or drinking the necessary things there, Bamboo asked, "Does anyone here want to hear a story from me, while we're all here for a while?"
"What kind of story do you propose to tell us, Bamboo?" asked Sentinel Serenity.
"A story I was working on when I got caught up in the phenomenon that brought us all to the Moon City of 174 BC, Sentinel Serenity. It's a story set in the Second Millennium BC, long before that time, as a matter of fact. I think that such a story might be safe for me to tell to you all, considering the fact that we're not all from the same time period in our Moon Kingdom's own history."
"True enough, I suppose. If you feel that we should hear it, then, feel free to tell us at least some of it, if not all of it, Bamboo."
Bamboo reached into a sack she currently had near her, and took a scroll out of it. After doing that, she checked the outside of the scroll in the available light, to make sure she'd taken the right one out of her sack. Seeing that she had, she reached back into her sack. And she soon withdrew a deerskin that had an available area of roughly sixteen square feet, with the deerskin being four feet long, four feet wide, and six inches thick, if it'd be fully spread out over a table or on a floor or on the ground. Then, with some help from Chrysalis and Calypso, she spread out that deerskin on the ground near herself. Chrysalis put two small rocks on two corners of the now-spread deerskin, and Calypso did the same for the other two necessary corners of it. Then Bamboo untied the ribbon holding the scroll together, and she placed the scroll on the deerskin, near her left knee. After doing that, she then rolled the scroll out to her right, so that she could read from it, of course.
After she'd done so enough to allow her to start telling her story, and after everyone was ready for her to do just that, she soon said, "This is a story of ancient people. Even for those of you who are from the last two centuries BC, in our Moon Kingdom's own history, that's still true here. The time is the middle of the Second Millennium BC, and the place is near where Moon City once was, now is, and will be, people. That is if it's not in that very same place, as a matter of actual fact. I say this because of the simple fact that we're not all from the same time period in the Universe's history, if not also from the Moon Kingdom's very own history in it."
"Do you want someone else here to write this story down, just in case we ever return to each of our own time periods, Bamboo?" asked Mercury, who was now quite curious about what Bamboo might think about such a thing here. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.
"I suppose that I could permit it. But because we're not all from the same time period, would it be very wise for me to do that here? I don't really know here if it would be, Mercury."
"But you said this story might be safe enough for you to tell all of us it. If so, why don't you think that we should write this story down too?" asked Mercury of Bamboo.
"Because I just don't think so, Mercury. Besides, if we each took a copy of it back to each of our time periods, then our enemies in them might be able to find out at least one way to beat us in battle. Especially if you and others from your own time period did that, if I'm not too mistaken about certain predictions that relate to future events, at least from my period in time. You do have a present enemy, I believe, in your own time period, right, Mercury?"
"Yes, I suppose that's true. I don't think that it might be a very good idea to bring back copies of this story you might tell us, at least not in a visible enough form, come to think of it. All right, then, Bamboo. How do you suggest we somehow remember the story, if and when the need ever arises for us to do so, at any time in the future, then, Bamboo?"
"I think that we'll each have to try to remember it to the best of our respective abilities to do so, if and when we ever return to each of our respective time periods, Mercury. But I don't think that we can risk having copies of this story I might tell you all here written out for at least one or two millennia from now, at the very earliest. I could be wrong, of course, but I don't really think that I am here."
"I suppose you might be right, Bamboo."
Bamboo soon nodded at Mercury. just before she began telling her tale. "Long ago, before the days of the Moon Kingdom ever began, there were many people in and around the Moon City area. The days were in a time at least a century or two, if not at least three or four, before the first actual nation-states ever appeared anywhere on the Moon's surface. The Imperium Silver Crystal wasn't yet mined from its actual place of origin, and the Crescent Moon Wand hadn't yet appeared, at such a time. But around this time, the people who'd eventually found the nation that would in time come to rule our entire world were born, if they'd not already been born by then. And we're all descended, as far as I know, from those people. Of course, I could be wrong, for all the obvious reasons. But I don't really know if I'm wrong or not here, just the same."
As she paused briefly, Chrysalis brought a bowl of chicken noodle soup over to her here, so that she could have something more to eat as she told her story. As Chrysalis brought the soup over to her, Cinnamon also provided some oolong tea mixed with just a touch of cinnamon in it. Then Bamboo continued her tale.
She said, "These people were born in the year you might call 1503 BC, and my story begins a few years later. It was in the days of Gormak Chalinok, who then ruled over what we all know is the Moon City area. Or at least for those of us who are from anywhere on the Moon at all, of course. This was during the great age of the city-states, at least. Crescent was not part of his domain, at this time, if it ever would be. But he is not who we're all descended from. We're all descended from other people in his domain of that time, if I'm not too mistaken here. He was quite old at this time, and he had only about five or ten more years, at most, to rule over his domain. He had no heirs. At least not any longer, for when he came to the throne in a civil war of sorts, all his children and his wife were killed by those opposing him in that civil war. That civil war occurred when the previous ruler also died without naming their successor, or having any heirs to the throne around. He was not a wise king, and he'd held onto power for many years in quite negative ways. After he'd finally die, another contest for the throne of his domain would happen. But as of the time of my story, he was still ruler of what we now know as Moon City's local area."
She paused just long enough to have some of her soup and tea, and then continued to tell her tale. "At this time, another group of people began gaining influence and power in his domain, by getting themselves elected to the city's council. It's from several members of this group that we're all descended from, as far as I know here. And at least one, if not more than one, of those people also had ties to the city's military forces. From this group, the next ruler would come, and their line would last at least until the founding of the first actual nation-state on the Moon's surface, if not longer. That future ruler and his wife now had a few children of their own. With at least one of which we know for sure that we're descended from, I believe. If not more than one of them, people, if I'm not too mistaken here. Their oldest child, for example, was a son. And with the help of at least one child of other members of that group, they'd eventually find the Imperium Silver Crystal sometime in their lives, whether it was still while they were children or not."
She looked at all of her current companions for a somewhat long moment, and then continued to speak. "This oldest child of the future ruler was about three or four Terran years of age, at the very most. And his name was Obarok. He had one sibling, a newborn sister, as of that time. But he'd have others, in time, God willing. Obarok was already quite inquisitive in his life, as he'd often run all over the place whenever he could, either in his house or near it. He'd often try to investigate everything he saw or encountered. No matter what it was. Even if it might normally be quite harmful to most people or most animals in its very own existence. But whenever he did so, no harm would come to him for some reason. That reason, I will share with you when the proper time comes. But that time has not yet come in this story, everyone. At this time, he'd not yet met his future wives. Yes, wives, for their society still hadn't adopted the practice of one spouse per adult member, and it wouldn't do so for some time after his own time. At the current time, the practice of multiple marriages was required by the conditions that their society then faced, and would still face for at least a century or two after his time period."
After having more soup and tea, she continued, "But not long afterward, he'd meet at least one or two of his future wives, if not more than one or two of them. Those future wives of his were all from families headed by other members of the group I've just mentioned here. Yes, I know you all might not like the idea of multiple marriages for people in their lives. But that was how things still were in the time that I'm telling you about right now and right here. Obarok would meet them on a picnic of sorts not far from where the Imperial Palace now is in Moon City. He and his parents in the city's government would have to attend a picnic hosted there by Gormak Chalinok, who was what you all might now call the city's Mayor, but not entirely. He was more like a King or an Emperor than he was the city's Mayor. But you could probably call him the equivalent of a Mayor, due to the fact that his own domain was not more than about a few hundred square Terran statute miles in size, most likely."
More soup and tea entered her mouth. And it did so as Sentinel Serenity went to the nearest opening of the nook. That was so she could see if it was yet safe for them all to leave the nook behind, at the very least, if she didn't go further away from the rest of her companions. After Sentinel Serenity did so, and returned to where she'd been in the nook, Bamboo eventually continued her story. But only after Sentinel Serenity told everyone else whether it was safe for them all to leave the nook and move down the necessary tunnel again. Sentinel Serenity said that the storm wasn't yet over, and that she didn't think that it was yet safe enough for them to leave the nook for a long enough time.
Then Bamboo said, "Obarok eventually went to that picnic a few months later, after he and his parents, and several other members of his parents' group, had already been in office for about two or three months. And when he did so, he eventually met up with at least two of his future wives, who were both or all just a little bit younger than he was at that time in his own life. Just after meeting them, they began playing near where the Imperium Silver Crystal would eventually be found, if not in the same place that it would be. Of course, while they were playing with each other, they were all being watched quite closely, for all the obvious reasons, by at least one of their parents' group of adults. They periodically played with each other in or near the palace of origin for the Imperium Silver Crystal, and they did so over at least the next few years of their lives."
After another sip of her tea, she continued to speak. "By the time that they were about as old as Mini Moon appears to be here, Obarok and at least two or three of his future wives had become quite good friends with each other in their lives. And they often spent time with each other, whenever they could do so, in their lives. Eventually, Gormak Chalinok could no longer keep himself from his own unplanned demise. And he found himself then falling as prey to the Angel of Death's own scythe. He fell from the land of the living by the time that Obarok was roughly eight Terran years of age. And he fell from it, when his horse threw him off and sent him over a cliff on an excursion to the other side of the Moon, where he'd gone in the hope of recuperating fully from attacks of various kinds of diseases, on the advice of a medicine man."
Moon asked, "What happened next, Bamboo?"
"When word of his unplanned demise reached his domain, the city's council eventually chose Obarok's parents as the new leaders of his domain. Obarok's parents ruled until Obarok was sufficiently old to rule as well, after which, they both abdicated their positions as active leaders of the city. The day before they did so, Obarok and a number of his friends had gone on a trip in the same area that they'd often played in as kids. That day, they eventually found the Imperium Silver Crystal buried in an underground cavern near where the Imperial Palace is, and quite near where the Crystal Palace will be. They eventually found it buried there, when water spouted out from a crack in the cavern's walls. Obarok and his current companions soon began digging in the cavern, and hacking away at one or more of the nearby walls in it, when they saw the water coming out of that crack. It took the combined efforts of him and all his current companions to get the Imperium Silver Crystal out of the necessary wall in the cavern. For it was buried quite deeply inside that wall, as a matter of fact. As they sought to mine the Imperium Silver Crystal from its place of origin, they also found themselves digging at least one hole in the cavern's nearby floor. They did this once they started hearing strange music in the cavern. They didn't actually know where the music was coming from, at least at first. So they dug at least one hole in the cavern's ground, until they found the Crescent Moon Wand."
Sentinel Serenity then asked, "Exactly where was the Crescent Moon Wand, Bamboo?"
"The Crescent Moon Wand was forty feet under the cavern's floor. And it took the efforts of all of Obarok's future wives to retrieve it from the required hole in the cavern's floor. The first of those future wives to then have sufficient enough control over it was his future first wife. Eventually, it got passed up out of the required hole by all of his future wives, until it reached his hands. Then he put it in a sack tied to his belt. After doing that, he pulled all of his future wives out of that hole, if the need arose. He did this for all the obvious reasons, of course. Then he and his future wives soon refilled all the holes in the floor they'd just dug in it. After that was done, he got the strange idea, once he looked at the Crescent Moon Wand for a few moments, that maybe it could help them all extract the Imperium Silver Crystal from the wall without them having to hack at it any longer."
Mars asked, "What happened next, Bamboo?"
"He then pointed it at the required wall, and his future wives each wrapped one of their hands around its handle, just as he did the same thing. His hand was at the bottom of the pile of hands, of course. And once he and all his future wives had wrapped one of their hands around the wand's handle, they all heard a strange voice say to them, 'Say the words, all of you, "Moon Crystal Power," and then you will all see what you seek.' They did so. The next thing they saw was a pillar of light on the wall. The pillar entered the wall seconds later, and soon exited it with the Imperium Silver Crystal inside it. The pillar then came to them, and engulfed them all inside it for a brief time. When it finally vanished from their sights, the Imperium Silver Crystal was attached to the wand at the bottom of the crescent moon. The voice spoke again, and said, 'Obarok and friends, you will found a great nation on the Moon, and this wand will help you find wise people to run that nation. When you found that nation, you're to remove the crystal attached to the wand, and place it in a certain locket that one of you will find not long before that day comes to you all. Once one of you finds that certain locket, you'll all instantly know it. The one of you who finds it will be the first female leader from that nation, and their line will rule at least until the time of the first actual nation-states on the Moon's surface, if not longer. After that nation is founded, you're not to remove that crystal from that very same locket, and reunite it with the wand, except in cases of extreme emergency. The same thing will be true for all future rulers of your nation or of any successor governments that are sufficiently related to it in the future.' Then they eventually heard no more from that certain voice, and that remained the case for at least one more day, if not longer. They returned to each of their homes, and years later, Obarok would marry each of them in turn, when the need arose for him to do that in his life."
She finished her soup and tea, before she read to her companions for at least another hour or two, if not longer than that. Of course, she read from the same scroll that she'd been reading from ever since she'd started to tell her story to them all. Or at least as long as she could continue doing that, before she'd have to roll up that scroll, and open another one to continue the story in question here.
Six hours after she'd begun reading her story to her companions, she began reading from a second scroll retrieved from her sack. By the time now reached in her story, Obarok had founded that nation with all his wives' help, plus the help of so many other people in his own nation. And their descendants had ruled over it for at least one or two centuries, if not longer than that. When she started reading in her story's second scroll, the story's year was now about 1170 BC, and their descendants were now ruled by someone named King Yoshioki. She read to her companions, "And he ruled over their nation, which by now was called 'Moonia,' and in time, Moonia eventually came to conquer all of the Moon's surface, as we should all know by now, of course." She spent at least another hour, if not even longer, telling of the time that'd passed between the reigns of Yoshioki and King Jason I of the Moon Kingdom, as she read from that scroll. But once she reached the date of their original arrivals in the Moon City area of 174 BC, she had to stop reading, for all the obvious reasons. Then, once she had to do so, she rolled up her second scroll again, and stored it back in her sack, so that it'd not get lost, if it could possibly be avoided at all.
After she did so, Moon said, "And now our world's people mainly have only one spouse apiece, if any of us have any at all. Sure, except for my mother, of course, none of us are married at the current time in each of our lives, I believe. But I'm reasonably sure that the practice of monoandry and monogamy is quite commonly practiced in each of our time periods by our societies' many people. No matter what our time periods may actually be for each of us in our lives, I'm at least reasonably sure that's generally practiced by most, if not all, people in each of our own societies, Bamboo."
"I agree with you here, Junior Sailor Moon."
Eventually, Sentinel Serenity checked on the conditions outside the nook currently in question again. And after she did so, she soon returned to all of her current companions. When she did so, she said, "The storm's over. We can now get out of here again, if we want to."
So as soon as everyone else heard that from Sentinel Serenity, they gathered up all their things again. That was if they'd not already done so by then, of course. After they'd all done so sufficiently well, they all eventually left the mountain in which they'd been hiding for at least a few hours, if not longer.
Then they set off for Taturaki, if they'd not yet gotten there by then. About two hours after doing that, they arrived in the middle of town, near the town's single school campus, if not on it. They soon found an underground tunnel leading to another underground cavern that was about 400 times as large as the underground cavern they'd been in while they were still in the mountain. They entered that tunnel, and that tunnel led them to a large clear area underground. In the middle of that area, there was also a rather large pool of water, if that water wasn't actually a small lake. That pool of water took up much of the clear area in that underground cavern. Several projections jutted out over the pool, and two of them were each larger than all of the others each were. Those projections were not connected to each other, and all the other projections weren't either. But those two largest projections were the closest to each other at their respective nearest ends to each other. A gap of no more than twenty feet, and no less than eight feet, separated the two ends of those largest projections that hung over the aforementioned pool or lake of water from each other. The gap was most likely large enough to keep most of the Scouts from being able to jump it easily enough, if they wanted to do that. Several of the projections even came out of the nearest walls to the pool or lake of water. And they made it very hard for all of Sentinel Serenity's companions to walk past them, because of that simple fact. Or to climb on them, and to jump between them to the other side of the cavern easily enough, as a matter of fact.
Some of the horses might be able to get around the projections without having to either jump over or swim in the water, and some might not. But Sentinel Serenity didn't yet know if that was the case. Nor would she until she and others tried to see if the horses would be able to easily enough get past those projections in that underground cavern, of course.
They eventually tried to see if the horses would easily enough be able to get past the projections and the water, of course. But not all of them were able to do so. For several of them were still carrying at least a few of the Scouts' things, for all the obvious reasons. Eventually, while they were trying to see if they'd be able to get the horses past those projections, Mercury and a few of the Scouts saw some things glimmering at the bottom of the pool or lake of water. They consulted at least a little bit, if not a lot, with Sentinel Serenity here.
After about an hour of conversation, at most, with Sentinel Serenity here, Neptune Beta and Mercury came up with an idea that satisfied Sentinel Serenity to a sufficient enough degree, with at least some help from Sailor Chrysalis. Sailor Chrysalis had just gotten a rather strange idea that there might be a closet of some yet-unknown sort just behind one of the underground cavern's nearby walls. For when she'd entered the cavern with the rest of the scouts and their companions, she'd experienced a very brief and very strange vision of two environmental suits of Katrelomisian design being normally hidden behind the cavern's walls. And of a tunnel leading underwater to another part of the same cavern, where a vat-like pool would also be located. She told Mercury, Neptune Beta, and Sentinel Serenity about this vision, and where those suits might be hidden in the walls.
Sentinel Serenity retrieved the Crescent Moon Wand from either her things or Moon's things. If she had to retrieve it from Moon's things, she asked Moon if she could do so before she did so, of course. And if she had to retrieve it from her things, she didn't have to ask anyone if she could do that. Then she brought it near the necessary cavern wall, as if to scan for the presences of those suits. This she did after Chrysalis suggested that she do so. The next thing everyone sentient knew there, another small projection started showing in that wall. And this projection was not very large at all. It had a total visible volume of about forty cubic inches, at the very most. It was more like a handle than it was like anything else that sentients might possibly ever consider it to be. This handle-like projection jutted out about eight or so inches from the area of the wall around it. It was about two or three inches wide, at its widest parts. And the other dimension was no more than about two inches in size, because of the aforementioned total visible volume for the projection's actual size. After that projection came out as far as it would, Chrysalis told Sentinel Serenity to stow the Crescent Moon Wand elsewhere on her person, before she pulled the handle in question here. Sentinel Serenity stowed away the wand. When Chrysalis told her to pull it, she pulled the handle.
Twenty seconds or so later, part of the wall quite near the handle slid to Serenity's left to eventually reveal a hidden nook of the cavern. Chrysalis told Serenity to enter that nook, and Serenity did so. Serenity entered that nook. And she soon found a long-deserted table, closet, and bed in it, at the very least, if nothing else as well. When she told Chrysalis what she saw, Chrysalis told her to open the closet, once she got a key-like crystal from under the bed. Serenity took that crystal out from under the bed. As soon as Serenity did so, part of the ceiling opened up. And a crystal chandelier that looked much like the one that Moon had been in as Serena when her last siblings had been born in Moon City back in AD 987, if not entirely like it, then descended. Fifteen seconds after it reached as far down from the ceiling as it would, many candles on the chandelier flickered to life. The nook soon was bathed in a great deal of light, after they did so. Of course, Serenity reported this to everyone else. After she did that, Chrysalis then told her to go over to the closet, and insert the crystal in a keyhole of sorts, so that she could unlock it easily enough. Serenity did so. Five seconds later, then, Serenity heard the clicks of several tumblers opening the lock for the closet. After the last tumbler clicked, the closet door soon began opening. When it was open to a sufficient enough degree, Serenity then reached into the closet, and soon retrieved both suits. After doing that, she told Chrysalis that she had two suits with her then. Chrysalis said that once they got at least thirty feet from the nook where the closet was, they'd most likely function for no more than four hours before they'd have to be returned to their closet again. So Serenity wasted no unnecessary time in getting herself back to the rest of her current companions. It took her only about two minutes to get back to the rest of her companions. Then she soon handed both suits to Mercury and Neptune Beta.
"Girls, please be careful, if you can be," Serenity soon said, as Mercury and Neptune Beta quite quickly each donned one of the suits.
Mercury said, "Of course we will be, if at all possible. Hopefully we both won't have to be in each of these suits too long." Then she and Neptune Beta soon closed up the suits with themselves inside them, of course. After they did that, they both soon climbed up on just one of the largest projections from the nearby cavern walls. Ten seconds later, at most, after waving to the rest of her non-suited companions, Mercury dove into the pool or small lake of water with a two-somersault with four full twists dive in the forward position. She entered the water with barely a ripple or splash to be seen or heard by her non-suited companions. Thirty seconds later, after she got far enough from her entrance point, she called Neptune Beta, and told her to dive in as well. Neptune Beta did so, ten seconds later, with a pike-position dive of five somersaults and two full twists. Like Mercury, she also entered the water with barely a ripple or splash to be seen or heard by her companions who were currently non-suited. She soon joined Mercury about ten feet, lengthwise, away from their common entrance point into the water, and then they both dove even deeper into the water. Down they went until they were at the bottom of the pool or lake of water. And when they got there, they found a series of gold coins leading away from their common entrance point. They followed those coins down a nearby underwater tunnel. And they soon enough came to a solid rock wall, upon which there were several projections. Mercury and Neptune Beta both reported this to Chrysalis through Serenity.
Chrysalis thought for a few moments, while Mercury and Neptune Beta were floating near that wall, and then said, "Mercury, you two are not to touch the projections that look like triangles or octagons. The only projection you two are to touch is the one that looks like a five-pointed star. Or at least partly, if not entirely, like one, Mercury. The others will reveal underwater tunnels that'll eventually lead you to pits of molten lava, while the only one that you are to touch will reveal a tunnel that'll not do that. The tunnel that won't lead you to pits of molten lava will bring you both to a vat-like container not long afterward. Then, you'll have to tap on the ceiling of the tunnel you're in then, as I will direct you both. That's so the bottom of that container opens enough for you to enter it from outside it. Then you'll have to swim up into that container, until you reach a red wall of it. On that wall, there'll be a series of differently-colored stars. You'll have to touch several of those stars in the exact order I'll tell you later, when you get that far."
Mercury and Neptune Beta then touched the necessary projection. And part of the nearby wall slid to one side, until it opened enough to let them both then pass through it. As they did so, a great deal of the water they were in now followed them through the aforementioned hole in the cavern's wall, of course.
They passed through it by swimming through it. For they weren't yet able to walk well enough in the underwater tunnel, for a long enough time. They swam through the chosen tunnel, until they came to a point just below the ceiling of the tunnel. They then told Chrysalis that they were under the required tunnel's ceiling. Moments later, then, both Mercury and Neptune Beta tapped a drum-like beat on the ceiling in the proper pattern, once Chrysalis told them how to tap the tunnel's ceiling in the required pattern. Then, after they both did that, the ceiling opened up, and whisked them out of the tunnel into the vat-like container.
Then Chrysalis said, once they told her that they were near the necessary red wall for the container in question here, "Mercury, you're to touch the stars in this particular order. The order you have to touch them in is gold, black, silver, turquoise blue, and orange. The gold star you have to touch is on the aqua green wall. The black star is on the red wall. The silver star is on the orange wall. The turquoise blue star is on the royal blue wall. And the orange star is on the hunter green wall. You'll have, I believe, about one minute to touch each star when the need arises for you to do so. Neptune Beta, I believe that within one minute after she touches stars of all of those five colors, on each of their walls, you'll also need to touch stars of the following colors in this order. The order that you are to touch them in is the red star on the aqua green wall, the royal blue star on the red wall, the purple star on the silver wall, the hunter green star on the orange wall, and the gold star on the royal blue wall. If you girls take too long to touch each of the stars in the container, the bottom might drop out of it, and you might find yourselves back in the tunnel prematurely. Mercury, you now have, I think, about twenty seconds to touch the first star you have to touch there. Call me when you both have touched all the stars in the required orders, if you possibly can."
Mercury then touched the gold star on the aqua green wall, before it was too late for her to do so. And she then swam to the red wall, as Neptune Beta touched the red star on the wall Mercury had just left, seconds later. As Neptune Beta swam to the red wall, Mercury touched the black star she had to touch on it. Then Neptune Beta touched the royal blue star on the red wall, as Mercury moved to the orange wall. As Mercury then touched the silver star on that wall, Neptune Beta quickly swam to the silver wall. Next, Neptune Beta touched the purple star on that wall, as Mercury moved to the royal blue wall. Mercury then touched the turquoise blue star on that wall, as her fellow Scout moved to the orange wall, so that she could touch the hunter green star there. Neptune Beta soon touched that star, as Mercury then moved to the hunter green wall, so that she could touch the last star that she'd have to touch for at least the time being. Mercury then touched the last star she had to touch at the current time, as Neptune Beta also moved to the royal blue wall, so that she could touch the gold star on it too. No more than a minute after Mercury touched the orange star she had to touch on the hunter green wall, Neptune Beta then touched the gold star on the royal blue wall of the vat-like container that they were both still in.
After they both touched all ten of the stars that they had to touch, at least for the time being, they were both quite quickly ejected out of the container by a geyser-like spout. That spout sent them sailing through the air quite unexpectedly, of course. And as it did so, they told Chrysalis that they'd touched each of the ten stars just as they'd needed to touch them in the vat-like container. The spout caused them both to somersault in the air at least five times each, and it also made them both do at least four twists apiece in the air. It kept sufficient enough control of them both, at least until they were both at least five feet from the nearest edges of the vat-like container they'd just been in together. And a few seconds after the spout let them both go, they both landed quite safely on their feet about five or so feet away from each other. They both landed about five feet away from a round table that had a diameter of forty feet, from what they could currently tell about it.
Chrysalis heard this, and she said, "Mercury, there should be at least a few scrolls in the middle of the table. There should be a hole about four feet in diameter in the exact middle of the table. The scrolls should be positioned in holders around the hole. One of you will have to duck under the table to access the hole easily enough. The smaller one of you should do that."
Mercury said, "I'm smaller than Neptune Beta is right now."
"All right. Mercury, duck under the table and access the hole as quickly as you can."
Mercury did so, and then asked Chrysalis what to do next. Chrysalis said, "Mercury, please tell me how many scrolls you see now."
"I see eight, for sure, and possibly at least another two more are also in holders around the hole."
"Can you confirm that, Neptune Beta, from where you now are in the cavern?"
"There are twelve around the hole, Chrysalis," answered Neptune Beta, about a minute later.
"Mercury, there are twelve scrolls around you. Are you facing the vat now?"
"Yes, I am. The vat is slightly to my left, as I face it. I am in the hole, about three dozen feet away from the vat, which is in a position about ten degrees from being in a northerly direction for me. I am facing directly north. The vat's nearest part to me is about ten degrees from being directly in front of me. There is a scroll directly in front of me. The other eleven scrolls, which I now see all of here, are currently spaces at intervals of about thirty degrees from each other, in a single circle. Most of those scrolls are tied either with a red ribbon or a pink ribbon, if not both."
Chrysalis paused for a moment to think over the situation, and then asked, "Mercury, what colors are the ribbons on the scrolls directly in front of you, directly to your left, directly behind you, and directly to your right?"
Mercury looked at each of the aforementioned scrolls' ribbons briefly, and then answered, "The one in front of me is tied with a gold ribbon. The one to my left has a black ribbon on it. The one in back of me has a navy blue ribbon around it. The one to my right has a maroon ribbon holding it together now."
"Take only the scrolls that have the gold ribbon or the navy blue ribbon on them. The other two scrolls, you're both to leave alone. Those you're not to take. Those two scrolls can't leave the part of the cavern they're in now. And you're to leave the other eight scrolls with red or pink ribbons on them where they are. Those scrolls also can't leave that part of the cavern."
Mercury took the only two scrolls she could take out of their holders around the table's center hole. Then, after she did so, Chrysalis said, "Mercury, you're to carry the gold-ribboned scroll in a pouch of your suit. And you'll have to hand Neptune Beta the scroll with the navy blue ribbon around it. She's to put it in a pouch of her suit. Then you are to stand near the vat-like container until its geyser-like spout grabs you up again. It'll return you to the vat-like container in very short order. Then you're to each touch the stars that you touched earlier around its walls, but in the opposite order that you touched each of them earlier. Starting with Neptune Beta, so that you, Mercury, will be the last to touch such a star on its walls. Call me again when you both have completed these steps, you two."
Mercury and Neptune Beta did as they'd been directed to do by Chrysalis. And just before the bottom of the vat-like container opened up again, they told her what they then had to tell her there. Seconds after doing so, they dropped through the bottom of the container, and back into the underwater tunnel they'd both been in a while earlier. They swam through the tunnel until they reached the other side of the rock wall that'd slid to one side to let them get into it earlier.
Chrysalis told them both to touch the same kind of projection that they'd touched to access that tunnel. And they did so, in very short order. After they touched the star-like projection on that side of the wall, the wall soon slid to the appropriate side. After which, they passed through the resulting hole again. When they did so, they soon began seeing the trail of gold coins again. As they both did so, they followed those coins back to where they'd earlier entered the water. And they had about ten to fifteen minutes, at the very most, of air left in each of their suits, when they both got to just under their common entrance point into the water. It'd quite possibly take them most of that time to get themselves both up to the water's surface, which was about eight hundred or so feet above both of their heads at the current time. But not all of that time, most likely.
They spent most of the next eight to ten minutes rising to the surface as quickly and as safely as they both could do that, of course. They didn't rush things, if they didn't have to. And they both broke the surface about twenty seconds apart, for all the obvious reasons. Neptune Beta broke the surface first, and then Mercury did so, once Neptune Beta was far enough away from her to allow her to do that. When Neptune Beta got about four to six feet away from her, at the very least, Mercury broke the surface as well. And Neptune Beta soon swam to the same large projection that she and Mercury had earlier dived off of, reaching it about ten seconds before Mercury did the same. As soon as they each touched it, they each opened their suits, at least so that they didn't have to rely on the air that was still contained in them both. As soon as the suits sensed that they'd been opened, specifically in their head regions, the airflow for each of them ceased about ten seconds later. Mercury and Neptune Beta waded out of the water no more than about a minute apart, after their suits had shut off the airflow for each of them. Mercury and Neptune Beta ran as quickly and as safely as they could into the nook that Serenity had been in earlier, once Chrysalis told them that they had to do that. Then Chrysalis and Serenity both followed Mercury and Neptune Beta quite quickly into that nook. Mercury and Neptune Beta quickly unzipped their suits, and they quickly peeled them off themselves. After they did that, they carried their suits over to the long-deserted table in the nook. After they did that, Chrysalis opened the required pouch on Neptune Beta's suit, while Sentinel Serenity did the same for the necessary pouch on Mercury's suit. Within fifteen more seconds after they both did so, both scrolls had been retrieved from the required pouches. And the scrolls were handed back to Mercury and Neptune Beta as Serenity and Chrysalis quite hastily and quite efficiently took care of their suits, and while those suits were both put back in their closet again.
As Serenity and Chrysalis stored away the suits now in question here, Mercury and Neptune Beta placed the scrolls on the table. Chrysalis soon said, "Mercury, open your scroll now."
Mercury did so. All four Scouts soon saw the words, "When you all finally get to the X on your map, a comet will soon appear in the sky. After the comet finally sinks below the nearest horizon, you'll all see, within one Terran hour, a gold cross directly over all of your heads. When you see it, you'll all know a way has been provided for you to get back to your homeworld. After you all see it, you're all to camp in that place's immediate area until that certain way finally makes itself known to you there, if you're not already there. When that way then comes to you all, don't fight it, for it'll bring you all back to your own homeworld, just as you were whisked away from it earlier. You'll all return to it at the exact time that you all left it earlier. Then you'll all be back on your homeworld again." The scroll said nothing more at all after that. Or at least not that they could all easily enough understand somehow.
Then Neptune Beta opened her scroll. She and the other Scouts now with her soon saw the words, "Not long after you all return to your homeworld, you'll all find yourselves on the future Crystal Palace's grounds in Moon City there. You'll find yourselves in a place that'll eventually become known as the Sailor Scout Garden there. In that place, Queen Eve will soon find a shield about eight feet underground. The shield will be decorated with a yellow crescent moon, a red rose with pink tips, a red sun, and a white mask, except in the exact center of its front. The yellow crescent moon will be in the upper left corner as everyone else might normally see it besides its possessor. The pink-tipped rose will be in the upper right corner of the shield as most people might be able to see the shield. The red sun is to be in the lower right corner of the shield, in like manner. And then the white mask is to be in the lower left corner of it, also in like manner. Last, there will be a large navy blue five-pointed star on a white-trimmed gold background in the exact center of the shield's front section. And in the exact middle of that same star, there will be a red-trimmed pink heart. This will be the sign that all future Sailor Scouts are to be initiated as Scouts of any kind, whenever possible, in this place, at least until the Silver Millennium's end, if not even longer than that. If the Moon Kingdom ever ceases to exist, for any reason whatsoever, this shield will bury itself in the exact same place it'd been found in, or it will somehow be transferred to Earth, if possible. If it doesn't bury itself where it was originally found, it'll eventually be found on Earth in at least one of its Zones, if not more than one of them. If that ever proves to be the case, eventually, the first one to find it will be the leaders of any Scouts that might be around there, if they're not already. Supposing that they're somehow worthy enough to have possession of it in their lives, of course. Only those with a true heart will ever find it easily enough in their lives, somehow, in fact. It'll never appear to those who aren't worthy to have possession of it in their lives. No matter what." After those words in the scroll, no more words that they could all understand well enough were present in the scroll at all. And Neptune Beta soon rolled up the scroll again, and tied it closed.
The next thing they all knew, both scrolls that Mercury and Neptune Beta had just brought to that nook began disappearing from sight. And they were no longer visible within a minute after they began disappearing from sight. The scrolls disappeared from sight when they both turned into small spheres of light energy, and soon, not even those spheres still remained visible to all four Scouts who were with each other in the same nook of the cavern. In fact, those scrolls actually returned to the exact places from which Mercury had earlier taken them out of their holders in the holey table. And after they did so, the closet suddenly began rapidly opening and closing itself. When the four Scouts now here heard the closet do that, Chrysalis said, "We have two minutes to get out of this nook again, before we'll be trapped here for quite a while, if not forever."
So all four of them quite quickly left that nook, with Serenity also pulling the key-like crystal out of the closet's door, and putting it back in the exact same place she'd gotten it from under the bed. Then, after they'd done so, Serenity soon closed off the passage leading to the nook in question again by pushing in the required projection from the necessary cavern wall. That soon made all the other visible projections in the cavern's walls also retract themselves into them. After they'd all done so completely, that allowed all of Serenity's current companions to pass around the pool or lake of water that Mercury and Neptune Beta had both been in earlier with each other. They all passed that water, and entered another tunnel. For about another few hours, at most, Serenity and the rest of her companions stayed underground, until they were able to reach the planet's surface again for a long enough time.
So now Serenity and many others are still not back to the Moon, even the Moon of 174 BC. How much longer will they need to travel and what else will happen for them before they all can actually return to the Moon, if they aren't native to this world in truth themselves? You'll all just have to continue reading on to find out. There's still a lot more story to tell here, for sure, folks. And a lot more adventure to come for everyone who's not actually a native of this world here, in any case.
Until later, then, I'll close this. TUS out.