The Tale of Karkinos

by Reynard the Fox

Following Heart of Harmony and Flames of Courage, I present to you this, a myth of the Moon Kingdom. Rated T for safety's sake because I really am not good at picking ratings. Chapter 2: From the Journal of Princess Ami...

2. Chapter 2 From the Journal of Princess A

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters therein. Those are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

Author's note: So I finally got this finished. I'm very sorry it took me so long to do this, and even to edit it. I don't even want to think about how long this took. But in any case, it's done, and I hope you all enjoy it. And hey, I got it done in time for Christmas. With this finally done, I'll be working on First Days on Earth chapter 4 and some new stories as well.

Chapter 2 From the Journal of Princess Ami…

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 6

Date: Sunday, June 21st, Interplanetary Solar Year 11,998

This entry shall be of particular length because I feel the exact words of today's events are particularly necessary to record. Today the other inner princesses and I were invited to Serenity's palace. It's a national holiday on the Moon and we were invited to watch a theatrical performance of the tale of Karkinos. Despite the great deal of time I have spent on the Moon, I was not actually familiar with the story.

It was quite entertaining. Though I detected a few small line flubs by some of the actors. I can only imagine the pressure they must have been under, performing in front of such a distinguished crowd containing international royalty. Serenity was in tears by the fall of the final curtain. I admit that I too was quite moved by it.

We were in the process of leaving, Mina having become ecstatic upon hearing that Orpheus himself had been hired to perform during the festivities, much to my surprise. The last I had heard, Orpheus had left Mercury to travel all the way to Pluto, seeking expert toxicologists to help his wife Eurydice recover from a nearly fatal poisoning that left her in a coma.

Mina informed me that he was indeed back to singing, and Eurydice was in fact recovering well. I pointed out to her the fact that she was infatuated with married man.

"Oh I know," she said. "But that doesn't mean I can't admire his looks. And his singing…"

I had to agree with her on the singing. Makoto was more interested in trying the food that would be available during the celebration. Apparently there were specialties that were reserved for occasions like this. Rei was looking forward to touring the markets.

Serenity was still enthralled by the performance as we got up from our seats. She was talking about how wonderful it was. But as we neared the entrance, someone walked right into Serenity, knocking both of them to the ground. Makoto was the first to react, grabbing Serenity and pulling her away. The rest of us tensed reflexively, Mina into a defensive posture, Rei into an offensive one. I simply started observing whoever it was that had run into Serenity.

They were female. The head was pointed at the ground. Exposed parts of the skin didn't have any wrinkles or marks, indicating youth. The complexion was pale, so she spent most time indoors. Hair was platinum blonde, straight, shoulder length, tied back tightly into a ponytail. Frame was petite, and the forearms were exposed. They were thin, not muscled. Legs seemed thin too. This wasn't someone used to strenuous physical labor, so not a physical threat, unless she'd been armed with poison. I looked over at Makoto, who was quickly and quietly checking Serenity for injuries. We didn't want to cause a panic. She shook her head. No sign of poison injection. I gestured for the others to relax.

I held out my hand to the woman, and asked if she was alright.

She took it and I helped her up. Her clothing was professional looking, but not expensive. I could see a few places where holes had been sown shut. The watch on her wrist was of the cheaper variety, older, and seven minutes behind. That ruled out a high-paying job, but still something important, especially if she wore such attire to a festival like this one. Her eyes were baby blue, and covered by a peculiarly large pair of thick glasses, thicker than even the one I use on occasion. Even through the frames I could see faint dark rings around her eyes. Whoever she was, she hadn't been sleeping adequately. So her occupation must have involved long, late hours, but not the night shift, otherwise she'd have simply caught up in the day.

Given her seeming age and her petite size, it ruled out her being Jovian. Her clothing choices made it less probable that she was a Martian, though not impossible. Complexion didn't favor her being a Venusian. It was also unlikely she was from any of the kingdoms past Jupiter, since most people from them were unlikely to have journeyed this far to attend. So I was sure she was either Lunarian or a Mercurian like myself.

"I'm sorry, I should have been watching where I was going…" she said. When she looked at me, her body language shifted into clear panic. "Pr-Princess Ami! I'm so sorry. I didn't know you would- Oh, that's Princess Serenity! I-I wasn't going to hurt her I promise!"

I told her it was alright, and filed "prone to anxiety" away in my head.

"Where are you Peristeri? Did you find him yet? Oh…Greetings Your Highness. I did not expect you here."

The man that had come up to us was much older, hair colored pure silver and balding on top of that. He was dressed in an equally professional manner as the young woman, but the attire spoke of higher quality. He was just as much out of place in the crowd of casual attendants. He was addressing me more than the others.

"I came here on the invitation of Princess Serenity, as did the others. Who are you?"

He looked past me to see the others, though the look in his eyes was…discordant with the congenial smile he adopted. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you, Your Highnesses." He bowed respectfully. "I am Professor Ignatius Pagoni." He turned back to looking at me. "Perhaps you have heard of me Princess Ami? I teach history at Sophia University, as well as serving as the head of the history department."

I told him that I had not, which made his smile drop slightly. But I had confirmed he was Mercurian.

Mina spoke next, stepping closer to the pair. "So what are you doing here Professor Pagoni?"

"At the current moment I was searching for my assistant, Ms. Peristeri."

"I'm Adonia," said the young woman. She seemed to have calmed down a bit.

It was at this point I noticed that her leather satchel, which she had dropped in the collision, had a paper sticking out of it, and which remained visible even after she picked the satchel back up. The few visible lines clearly indicated it to be an essay, with grading marks, and the writing was clearly Mercurian. There was also a pen clipped to the bag that had the university's name on it. I should have noticed those earlier along with everything else. My observational abilities still need work.

[REMINDER: Pick up more difference puzzles and make room in daily schedule for practice. As simple as they are, they are still a good way to practice observational skills, especially if I use a timer. I still have that old program in my files for difference puzzle challenges. I never did get to finishing it. Perhaps I could complete it and use it for more advanced practice? Given its age, at least some of the code might be depreciated. I will need to check up on that. Or perhaps it would be more efficient to use another programming language? If that becomes too complicated, I can still just use the stopwatch (closet, left side, third drawer down).]

"As I was saying," said the professor. He gave his assistant an unpleasant expression. I suppose he didn't like being interrupted. "I was looking for my assistant. Before that the two of us were looking for Professor Herodon. He's another member of the Sophia faculty, and I needed his notes for something. You haven't seen him by any chance?"

I told him I was not familiar with Professor Herodon either, and that I did not know what he looked like.

"We could help you look if you like," said Serenity. By then she'd gotten up and dusted herself off. "Why do you think he'd be here?"

"His sister-in-law is Lunarian. He said he was coming here to spend time with his family," said Adonia, which earned her another grimace from her employer.

"It is most gracious of you to offer Princess Serenity, but I would not dream of asking something of you or your fellow princesses. Though if you could direct us to the head of the security, perhaps they could help us search through the crowd."

Serenity pointed him in the direction of the security office that had been setup for the celebration, and Professor Pagoni quickly sent Adonia off to take care of it.

"If you were here you probably saw the performance," said Serenity when Adonia had left. "Did you enjoy it?"

"You wish for my unbiased opinion?"

"Oh yes," said Serenity with a nod. I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

"Well Your Highness, I've heard the story before and I still find it to be nothing more than the product of an ignorant storyteller's fantastical imagination."

Serenity looked hurt. "But it's a true story."

"I am inclined to think otherwise Your Highness. The fact of the matter is that Moon crabs are unintelligent creatures, lacking the brain development for higher thought, let alone the capacity of speech. That element alone makes it seem like something written for small children. More than likely a storyteller wrote it for such children, and the story became so popular your ancestors had to adopt it."

"So you're saying her ancestors are liars?" said Makoto. She had an angry edge in her voice. No doubt it was from Serenity's expression.

"Not necessarily in the malicious sense. But if the story was as popular as it is with the masses today, and if the writer insisted it to be truth, they may have been pressured into adopting it for the sake of not shattering the delusions of the audience. Not that I mean offense to Princess Serenity's family. No one and no family is perfect. In fact, if I recall correctly Princess Makoto, didn't your uncle nearly reignite the sort of interplanetary war that the Alliance of the Silver Millennium intended to stop through pure drunken stupidity?"

Makoto looked down at the ground, and I could see her hands tightening into fists. As blunt as the assessment had been, it was accurate. Her uncle's behavior and her father's unwillingness to stop it had always been a source of frustration and shame for Makoto.

"Really, I find all the planetary myths, even the ones from my own planet, to be little more than fanciful nonsense, particularly in our own day and age. But this one is particular in how transparent it seems to be. I've actually written a paper in its implausibility and had it submitted to one of the university's journals. Which reminds me, Princess Ami, you have professors at Sophia acting as your tutors, am I not correct?"

I told him he was correct, and he smiled back at me, completely forgetting the others.

"I thought so. I would like to offer you my services then. I know you already have someone acting in that role from the history department, but personally, I find her work to be subpar. I was actually getting ready to discuss it with her."

This was surprising to hear because I'd always thought Professor Santorini was excellent as an educator. Her lecture notes were so clear and organized that I hardly had to make any modifications to them for my own benefit. I politely declined his offer, insisting that I wouldn't want to divert more of his time and energy away from his other classes and the myriad of other duties he had as a department chair.

"Nonsense. I'd be more than happy to volunteer. In fact, I'd recommend the text books I've had a hand in writing. I think you will find them most satisfactory, though…" his next words were a whisper, "I think they may be a bit advanced for some of your companions."

I was about to question him about that statement when his assistant returned, saying she'd found someone in the security team that would help them with their search. He bid us goodbye, and the five of us returned to walking through the festival.

The mood around them was, I suppose the best word might be dimmer. Serenity's expression clearly indicated she was depressed. She never has been very good at hiding her feelings. I still find it so strange. Such publicly open emotionality would be looked down upon by my people, but I find it strangely endearing.

I heard Rei whisper "smug prick," and enquired as to what she was talking about.

"Professor Pagoni, he probably thought I was illiterate." Her response was followed by a growl.

I hadn't really thought so, but Mina agreed with her. "He looked at us when he was talking to you about his books. From his expression, he didn't seem to think very much of the rest of us."

"I thought I would get away from men like that coming here," complained Rei.

"Definite attitude problem," agreed Makoto.

I must confess that, upon reflection, I agree with them. While I understand his skepticism about stories such as the tale of Karkinos and other myths, there was something about his attitude that struck me as wrong.

It was then that Serenity started to speak. "Is it all a big lie?"

Our attention was directed at her. Serenity's depressed expression had deepened, and I became concerned, as did the others.

"I always thought it was a true story," she continued. "Mother used to tell me so many stories when I was young, and that one was always my favorite. Did my family just pretend it was real?" She looked around the festival, and I could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Don't listen to that windbag," said Rei. "He seemed full of it." The others nodded in agreement.

"But he's an important professor. Shouldn't that count for something? What if he's right?"

I pointed out that even academics make mistakes, and that it was still within the realm of possibility that he was incorrect as much as it was possible he was correct.

"I want to know," said Serenity. "Either way, I want to know. Ami, do you think you could look into it?"

I was surprised by the request, but Serenity said I was the best person for the job, that I was thorough, and that she trusted me to be honest and not just tell her what she wanted to hear. I hesitated in accepting. After all, it he was right, I dreaded seeing Serenity's reaction. But at the same time, she needed to know.

So I took her request. With that settled, she seemed to relax, and we headed off in the direction of Orpheus's concert. It was magnificent, and full of life and energy. His work had been so melancholy since his wife became ill, it was a refreshing change. The music seemed to cheer everyone up even more.

The rest of the day was quite pleasant, our run in with Professor Pagoni totally forgotten. All of us walked away with souvenirs.

I am still nervous about this investigation. I'm not sure where to start yet. I am currently on the transport back to Mercury. Exhaustion has kept me from doing any proper planning. I will have to do that tomorrow. It will be late when I get home. The best thing to do will be to have dinner and then sleep. Who knows, perhaps this will be interesting?

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 7

Date: Monday, June 22nd, Interplanetary Solar Year 11,998

Developing a plan for the investigation has been delayed today due to circumstances out of my control. I had spent a few hours of the day in the castle library catching up on the work assigned by my tutors, and checking on that old program I had written. Several of the methods are indeed depreciated. Completing it, if I choose to do so, will be even more difficult. I recall that the particular programming language I used gave me a great deal of difficulty when I started the thing several years ago, so switching to another language is looking like a more viable alternative.

It was when I went back to my room that I heard mother playing her flute, or rather, not playing. She was off key, so I knew she was angry. I soon realized just how monstrously off key she was, so I knew something had happened while I had been busy, something that had really infuriated her.

I went searching for her, and I found it strange that I didn't run into father on the way. I reasoned that perhaps he wasn't within hearing range. When I finally found mother, I admit my mouth fell open.

Instead of mother's hair being the same shade of blue as mine, it was puce. Her facial expression bordered on what I can only describe as absolutely murderous. She was already setting down her favorite flute when I entered. I commented on the color of her hair, and I admit I was unable to contain the shock in my voice.

"Your father happened, that's what!" she said. She began pacing around the room, telling me how it was the result of another of his myriad of pranks, one he'd intended for some of the staff, but had hit her with it instead, a bucket of paint or dye that had hit her on the head.

It appears my concerns over the last few weeks were valid. Father's pranks have been getting more frequent as of late, and increasingly bold. And now, as I'd feared, they'd gotten out of hand.

Once mother had calmed down enough to hold conversation again, I suggested calling Aunt Iris to help with the removal, which she quickly agreed to before having me follow her back to her private suite. Neither of us saw father on the way back, but I wasn't really surprised in light of everything.

It didn't take long for Aunt Iris to arrive, and she was just about as angry as mother. Apparently the mixture father used for this prank involved cans of paint that he'd liberated from Aunt Iris's studio.

"You were going to use this on one of your canvases?" my mother had asked. Even I was wondering about that. The color seemed a bit too dark for her normal tastes. I think the darkest color she's ever used is the same one she used for the indigo section of her rainbow colored hair.

"Not at all. I'd ordered more paint, and the supplier sent these cans by mistake. I've been looking everywhere for them. And to think Hermes stole them right under my nose!"

I still find the very idea mortifying even as I write this. My father, King Hermes, ruler of all Mercury, stealing from his own sister like a common thief! I can only hope word of this doesn't get out. That's the last thing any of us need. I am starting to understand how Makoto feels about her uncle, at least to a small degree.

Aunt Iris needed my assistance initially in the process of removing the dye. I was worried it wouldn't come out, but Aunt Iris reassured me that she was an expert on dye and paint, and whatever father had put together, it didn't seem permanent. In hindsight, it would have truly been cause for concern if it had been permanent, because I know father never goes that far with his tricks, and I know he tests them meticulously. Then again, he hit the wrong target, which in and of itself is highly unusual.

Right now I am sitting in one of the rooms composing mother's suite. She and Aunt Iris are in the connecting bathroom. While it started as a struggle, the dye seemed to respond to our efforts, and as of right now Aunt Iris has no need of me. On top of that, mother's conversation had turned back to father, and I felt it something I did not need to be privy to.

Bubo [1] is sitting on a perch in the corner. He must have been as disturbed by mother's flair of temper as I was. I have already given him some food to settle him down, so I'm sure he'll be fine. At least he wasn't on mother's shoulder when the incident occurred. The thought of trying to get that out of his feathers fills me with dread.

Father just knocked at the door, sounding very subdued, not that I blame him. I pointed him in the direction of the bathroom, but Aunt Iris wouldn't let him in.

"Sorry, but Athena doesn't want to talk to you right now baby brother, so just go away. And don't forget that you and I are going to have a long talk about other people's property" were her exact words.

Father slipped out of the room, assuring me that it had been a complete accident. Of that I had no doubt, and I told him so. I have little doubt mother will forgive him…eventually anyway. But for now, it is best for me to stay out of their way.

Back to the investigation. How do I find out whether or not the story is true? I do agree with Professor Pagoni's point about the Moon crabs. However, I must not dismiss the whole thing just for that. I have to be fair. So presuming it is truth, then how do I prove that?

I will need to find evidence of things that existed in the story, individuals, locations, items, events. But which do I start with? I am not sure yet. I will need more time to think. I must tackle this systematically.

Aunt Iris is requesting my help again. Time to see how things have progressed.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 8

Date: Tuesday, June 23rd, Interplanetary Solar Year 11,998

It took quite a bit longer, but we finally got mother's hair back to its normal blue color. I think she and father have made up, and I know I heard Aunt Iris talking to father before she left. I don't think he'll be stealing anymore of her painting supplies anytime soon. Maybe his pranks will slow down again after this.

I am currently being driven to Sophia University. Last night Professor Santorini sent me a message informing me that she would be traveling to southern Mercury for a week due to a family issue, and she was already on the train. There had apparently been problems with her computer, so she left a physical drive containing the key files for the next exam, as well as relevant study material. Apparently the bad weather in southern Mercury as of late has been interfering with electronic communication, so she would be unable to send the materials electronically once there. She left it with Professor Herodon. How strangely coincidental that she would leave it with the same person Professor Pagoni had been looking for.

I can see the city rail line going by out the car window, running even with the midpoints of the skyscrapers of downtown Polidianoia [2]. I still cannot stop wishing that I could travel on it instead of by car. But mother and father insist on private transport. Even with the agreement making me a protector of Princess Serenity, they still feel it necessary to take measures for my own safety.

I can understand that of course. But I still wish I could take the train. With the height of the rail, its view of the Caloris Mountains in the distance must be fantastic, especially with the early morning sun. I can only imagine what that sunlight would look like on the silver dome of the Great Royal Library.

I have put more thought into the Karkinos investigation, as I am now calling it. It is quite an interesting task, trying to determine the truth of a story such as this. There are so many factors to look into, people, places, events, etc. I think it would be best to try and take each one of these factors one by one. Though I suspect there will be overlap. I'm not sure if there would be a difference in which one I start with, but I think looking into the individuals seems like a good starting point. I will have to schedule a trip to the Moon.

The more I think about this, the more it reminds me of writing an essay for one of my tutors, or a proper research paper. I should definitely treat this with as much seriousness and care as I do any of my academic assignments, if not more. Serenity needs me to do this for her. That fact alone means this requires my best efforts. That means planning. It also means working on an estimate of how long this may take. I need that to balance my time properly with my academics and other regular activities. I'll get to that soon enough. Perhaps I can also use this journal to hold notes on my findings?

We are approaching the campus entrance now. I must stop.

It is now much later in the day. I have returned to my rooms, having obtained the drive from Professor Herodon. But more than that, I have taken back with me a great deal of information I am still in the middle of processing.

While walking up to the main building, I happened to spot Professor Pagoni's teaching assistant. She was lying on a bench under a nearby tree. I walked up to her, partly out of curiosity, and partly out of concern. It was cold out, and the clouds looked close to raining. It wouldn't have been healthy for someone to be out there once the rain started. I found her to be truly asleep, and quickly woke her. She jolted up with a start, and I noticed the dark rings around her eyes seemed even more pronounced.

She was quite embarrassed to be woken by me, but I waved off her concern. She told me she'd only laid back to rest and hadn't meant to fall asleep. The two of us were walking toward the main building, and I told her why I was here.

She informed me that Professor Herodon was not in his usual office. A water pipe had apparently broken very early yesterday morning, causing him and other professors to temporarily relocate. She offered to simply direct me to his makeshift office, but I invited her to walk with me along the way. She seemed pleasant company, and it had been a long quiet ride to campus. And I confess that I was concerned about her, especially why she'd fallen so deeply asleep on the bench. She seemed completely taken back by my offer but took the lead easily enough.

As it turned out, her presence was most necessary. My familiarity with the campus layout is still quite minimal, as it should be considering how infrequently I have to come in person. There had been construction since my last visit, and I do believe that without someone's help I would have been truly lost. On top of that, Professor Herodon had been relocated to a part of the campus I had never had the chance to visit, the medical building.

It became a subject of conversation between us during the long and frankly winding walk. I told her that I found the study of medicine quite interesting, despite the fact that I could never go into such a profession, not with my duties as inheritor of Mercury.

She remarked that I must at least know a great deal about eye health, considering father's well-known medical history. I told her she was quite right. I can still remember how much mother and father worried that I had inherited his vision problems and how much I ended up learning through all the examinations I'd had.

I soon began to ask about her, out of pure curiosity of course. She has apparently been the Professor Pagoni's teaching assistant for five years. I remarked on how prestigious a position that must be, and she became noticeably uncomfortable.

I inquired further, and had to assure her of my confidentiality before she began to relate to me her experience working for Professor Pagoni.

"When you get down to it," she said, "I've been doing more assisting than teaching."

That confused me. I knew of course that part of a TA's tasks was to teach the class, at least in some capacity, leading discussions and the like. It allowed them to gain experience in teaching for themselves, something they would need for their own careers.

"I don't get to teach," she said. "He doesn't let me, not…really. He tells me I'm not qualified enough to teach classes of his caliber. I'm just doing jobs for him most of the time. Or I'm grading a large portion of the assignments he gives out." There was an edge in her voice.

I asked her if the workload was why she'd fallen asleep, and she nodded her head.

"He teaches a lot of classes, the majority of which have over a hundred students, and has me help with other things too. He frequently works late in his office, so I'm potentially on call almost all day. He even insisted I get housing near the campus in case he needed me in his office."

She gave a sigh, and I noted again the worsening rings around her eyes. Her falling asleep was suddenly a much more serious problem. From her body language, I suspected that perhaps that sigh had something to do with her housing situation, and I asked her about it. I knew there had to be cheap apartments near the campus.

"There were," she replied. The edge returned to her voice. At that point I felt I had opened the proverbial floodgates. "But one after the other, all the apartments that weren't taken were in need of some kind of repair and I couldn't get them. Professor Pagoni wouldn't say no to living close to campus when I told him about it, so I had to get a more expensive apartment, and I can't move out because of the long lease I had to sign."

It was an unfortunate situation. I noticed patches on her jacket, like the ones I saw on her other clothing when we met. It all made sense.

Adonia apologized for speaking about such things with me, but I reassured her again that it was alright. I understood the need to vent her frustrations. Our conversation turned to the areas of history she was interested in, and several sites she was dreaming of visiting on Venus, all of which sounded quite fascinating. If her passion for the field is any indication, I think she'll do well once she graduates. It was rather unfortunate that our conversation didn't last much longer before we arrived at Professor Herodon's temporary office and Adonia had to leave me.

The office was small and in a state of, perhaps the term is organized chaos? It certainly looked like the sort of place put together from hasty relocation, personal affects mixed together with work related materials, a crooked desk and an equally crooked name plate on top of it reading "Professor Raphael Herodon". If the relocation had been similar for the other professors in the department, then I could understand why Professor Santorini was having trouble with electronic communication.

Professor Herodon was behind this desk, looking over some of his paperwork no doubt. He was an older man, with thinning light brown hair and dark green eyes. If I had to guess, I'd say he was around 248 [3]. His face was clean shaven, and he was of a smaller build and stature. When I entered, he looked up at me with an expression of both surprise and warmth.

Professor Herodon had to search for the drive. He'd misplaced it in all the mess, much to his embarrassment. We talked while he searched. I offered to assist him, but he refused.

"How did you know I'd moved here Your Highness," he asked me. "I hope you didn't go all the way to the department only to come here."

I informed him of Adonia's assistance, which resulted in my relating to him how I'd met her and Professor Pagoni at the festival.

"I see." His facial expression changed into a grimace, and in hindsight, I don't think it was because of his struggles to find the drive. "I hope then that Pagoni didn't ruin the mood for you and the other princesses. He can do that."

I assured him to the contrary, and asked if he himself had enjoyed being there with his family, which he told me he had.

"I feel sorry for poor Adonia though," he added as he continued to search through the chaos. "I know how hard it is for her, working for someone like Ignatius."

I asked idly why someone like Adonia couldn't just work for someone else if she found working with Professor Pagoni so very difficult. Professor Herodon explained that since he's the head of the department, he has priority choice when it comes to a TA.

That made sense of course, but I still wondered how or why she hadn't graduated by this point. Five years is quite a time to be working under someone like that after all.

"Multiple reasons really," was Professor Herodon's reply. He suddenly seemed rather embarrassed, and he quickly added. "I only know about it because my wife is friends with her. They met when Adonia came by our house to get some things for Pagoni, and the two of them have lunch sometimes. Part of it is money. With that apartment and her salary, she's pretty sure she wouldn't have the money for tuition for her remaining classes, even if she had time around all the work. And she's so busy she can't start on her research."

He explained that graduate students need to do a research project of their own design to graduate. Adonia had been complaining that she was so busy doing work for her employer, research he should have been doing himself, she barely had time for her own. And on top of that, Professor Pagoni seemed quite dismissive of her own area of interest.

He went back to searching, but I recall hearing him say under his breath "Though considering her interests, it's not surprising he dismissed her, the…" What followed at the end of that phrase were words of a rather…crass nature which I shall not dare to write in here.

I called attention to his language and he seemed even more embarrassed than before. He stuttered over his words when I asked him to clarify what he meant by "considering her interests".

He gave a sigh before he spoke again. "To put it simply princess, Pagoni is an arrogant bigot. He's full of himself and is a firm believer of 'Mercurian intellectual superiority'. He thinks that Mercury should have been the leader of the Alliance of the Silver Millennium, and has a rather low regard for anyone not from Mercury or Uranus."

I found it hard to believe someone like that would be allowed to be in a position such as his, but Professor Herodon told me that he had never flat out stated these beliefs, not unless he was drunk, which is how Professor Herodon found out in the first place.

"It shows really," he said. "When he became head of the department he cut funding for any research that was for off-world sites other than Uranus. Pulled everyone right back to Mercury and diverted all the funding elsewhere as quickly as he pulled it. It didn't even matter that some of us were in the middle of important work, even joint work with other planets."

Thinking back to the impression Professor Pagoni had left with the others after our initial encounter, I could see what Professor Herodon was talking about.

"With Adonia," he said, "you may have already learned that she wants to do research work on Venus. I think her great grandfather was Venusian, not that you need a good reason to want to work there. But that's why I'm not surprised she's getting dismissed like she is. Pagoni is a thorn in the side around here. He's friends with a lot of the higher administration and he's a career climber. I shudder to think what would happen if he was put in charge of the university."

He paused, and from the look on his face I think he realized he'd started to veer off course. He went back to searching, and finally found the drive less than a minute later. I thanked him for his time and company, and he asked me not to share our conversation with anyone, which was understandable, considering we were speaking of his superior. By the time I got back outside, the rainstorm had come and gone.

I can hear Bubo's hoots outside my window now. Mother must have let him out for a late afternoon flight. The situation with Professor Pagoni is quite intolerable. I know of course that such views still exist, even after all this time in our history. But to find someone who treats others so terribly in one of the higher positions of such a place of learning? Although I suppose this information does put my first interaction with him at the festival in a new light.

Part of me feels compelled to do something about him. But I don't think that I have the authority to simply order the man to remove himself from office, even if I am the princess of Mercury. And even if I did have such authority, would that not be an abuse of power?

I am not sure. I will probably need to speak to mother and father about this. For right now, I will concentrate on investigating the Tale of Karkinos. With Serenity's birthday so near, it would be best to at least make significant progress that I could share with her. I will ponder what to do about Professor Pagoni once I am done with that.

[REMINDER: Purchase a pair of ice skates for Serenity's birthday present. She's mentioned how worn hers have been getting.]

I have already arranged the trip to the Moon, so tomorrow will mark the first day of actual progress beyond the planning stage. I find myself both excited by the challenge, and hoping that what I find won't hurt Serenity.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 9

Date: Wednesday, June 24th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

I have already arrived on the Moon, and am being taken to the royal palace. Asimifaros still seems in a festive mood even now [4]. If I remember correctly, Serenity told me this sort of atmosphere lasts for a week. Today I begin work on the investigation in the palace's library. It seems the best place to find material on Lunar history. It promises to be quite intriguing.

I am continuing the entry now. Serenity was, not surprisingly, there to greet me as I arrived. What was surprising however was that Mina was there as well. We talked about various subjects, too many to name. Serenity was ecstatic that I was working on her request, even if I had nothing to offer her as of yet. I decided not to share with her what I had learned of Professor Pagoni, as that would not have helped her mood at all.

I'm simply glad she's not letting her concerns over it affect her mood. She must be keeping herself distracted from it. I'm sure Mina will be able to help her with that. Eventually I had to part company with them in order to begin my research. I knew neither of them would be terribly interested in helping me with my process.

Serenity practically pushed me out the door when I mentioned it. She must be quite eager for the results. I wonder though, is she that confident that the story is true, or is she just eager to lift an emotional weight? In any case I gave in to her insistence and went on my way, but not before reminding Mina she still needed to return my ceremonial winged boots. I think she's had them for three weeks now. Yes, three weeks and two days going by my older journal entries.

Luna and Artemis had volunteered to assist me in the library, after clearing it with Queen Serenity first of course. When I told her what I was trying to do, she seemed quite supportive.

On another note, she still insists I call her Selene. As much as I know she prefers the nickname, and as much as I see the practicality of it with regards to distinguishing her and her daughter in conversation, I cannot seem to feel comfortable calling her that.

I am again struck by how small the library is here, at least relative to the one at home. By absolute standards it is still quite impressive. And to its credit, there are several volumes in here by Lunarian authors that we do not have copies of. Right now I am taking a short break, but when I am done today, perhaps I could borrow some of the books on the way out.

We sat down at one of the library work tables. I started by asking them about Artemis the archer.

"That would be Artemis Agrotera," said Luna. "She's certainly not a myth. Her reputation as leader of the archery squadron and her exploits have been mentioned quite a few times, not to mention the tomb bearing her name."

"Her reputation really precedes her if the military enlistment records are anything to go by," added Artemis. Luna didn't know what he meant by that, so he continued on. "Remember a month or two back Luna, when Queen Serenity wanted me to help with organizing the military records? Well, I got a look at them, and you wouldn't believe how many of the girls that enlist have been named Artemis over the years, particularly the ones from military families."

I asked him if people thought he'd been given a girl's name, which seemed to embarrass him a bit. "It's not a just a girl's name now. Males have it too, like Artemis Antonius."

I wasn't familiar with the name, and Luna explained to me that Artemis Antonius is the leader of the men's rights movement on the Moon. He apparently visits the palace with some frequency in order to speak with Queen Serenity.

From the sound of it, Artemis seems to have been quite real, at least going by the numerous written accounts of her, which Luna brought up images of on the computer screen built into the table. Moving on from that point, the next one I inquired about was the Lyocans. Short as my life has been, I have never seen or encountered one.

"They most certainly exist," said Luna. "There are still reports from the countryside of the trouble they cause. However, they haven't been much of a public menace since Queen Serenity drove them back again."

She used the computer to bring up video footage from the local media broadcasts in the area of the incidences. I saw two of them change. It was quite…disturbing to say the least. Luna informed me that the broadcast footage had been edited because it contained a recording of a rather visceral attack. I was quite thankful she hadn't shown me the complete video. When I present my findings to Serenity, I am not sure if I want to even include the footage Luna showed me. That alone might be enough to give her nightmares.

The next point of order was Queen Serenity the First and Princess Diane. Luna took me to a part of the library, somewhere around the middle, which contained the genealogical records.

It is still quite interesting to me how much genealogy has taken off in popularity on the Moon, for all classes of people. It certainly isn't universally embraced by all classes on the other planets.

I took the rather thick book for Serenity's family and went back to the work table. For some reason, the records were listed from newest to oldest. I would have thought the other way around would have been better. I didn't know where Serenity and Diane were in the tree, so I started skimming through.

I know I could have just asked Luna and Artemis, but part of me was curious to look through from the beginning. Serenity is not very well versed in her family history, something her mother is rather unhappy with. I'd never seen these names before. If Luna and Artemis did know where to look, they didn't say anything. Perhaps they didn't want to disturb me.

The level of detail was really quite remarkable. There were records for births, deaths, marriages, coronations, even major operations. There were also regular listings of codes which Luna informed me were reference numbers for legal documents and the like inside of the archives. The book was also recent enough to have Serenity, and even Mina's name listed in there, though it omitted all of her family beyond her grandparents.

I saw a listing for Serenity's grandparents, Queen Candi and King Chandra, and found a picture of them via the computer. According to the records, they'd died in a car crash the year before Serenity had been born. I've always known she didn't have grandparents, but I never realized just how narrow a margin they missed each other by. The two seemed a happy pair if the picture was anything to go by, and I could see a resemblance in Candi.

There were a few names I recognized from my own studies, like Artemis II, Serenity's great-great grandmother. She had been queen of the Moon when the Treaty of the Silver Millennium had been signed. Thinking about the period before it always made me appreciate the relatively peaceful times we live in now.

At some point I must have been reading aloud because Artemis interrupted me when I got to the name Titania.

"Ah, Titania. You should know that name Ami."

I looked over the name, Queen Titania Pasiphae-Cancri, born 10, 241 ISY. I didn't recall any Solar System-wide events anywhere near that time, so I had no idea why he thought I would know the name.

"Don't you remember a few years ago when you girls were going through the old storage rooms? You found a large white dress in a trunk."

I did recall that. It was about four years ago. The five of us had decided to look around the palace storage. Luna and Artemis would occasionally check on us while tending to their own paperwork. With our homes so full of family heirlooms, it was a frequent activity, with the exception of Rei's home because so many of the items in storage were weapons.

I recall that we found an old trunk which contained a white dress with rather exquisite designs embroidered into it. Artemis confirmed that it had indeed been Titania's.

I then recalled how large the item had been. Makoto had slipped it on and it had completely dwarfed her. Strangely, I didn't give that much weight at the time. Perhaps I just wrote it off as Makoto being young. She had still been in the middle of her growth spurt, though she'd been close to her current height. Maybe I thought she'd grow even taller. We didn't marvel on it too long because Mina had found something else to grab our attention, though I can't recall what it was at the moment.

The surprise and recognition on my face must have been evident, because Luna started adding to the conversation.

"Titania was known for her great height. In her time, and even by today's standards, she towered over even many Jovians at six feet nine inches."

Oh yes, she would have completely dwarfed Makoto. It is still difficult to imagine a woman that tall. Luna went on to add that Titania died early because of pneumonia that she'd developed from severe overwork.

"The period after her death was…difficult to say the least," she told me. "Her daughter, Artemis the First, was only twelve at the time, so her husband Mani had to act as regent until she was eighteen."

"As you'd imagine," said Artemis, "the people of the Moon weren't exactly happy about it."

I could certainly see that. Considering the matriarchal nature of Lunar society, the idea of a king taking rule, even for six years, would not have been met with joy. It must have been quite difficult for Mani as well.

I read through some of the other names in the book, but after looking at my watch I realized how much time I was taking. I couldn't afford to delay too much more. So I skipped to the back of the records.

I found them in the very back. Serenity the First had been the second queen of the Moon, ruling from 360-599 ISY. Her daughter Diane was born in 364 ISY. There were references to other documents, which I brought up on the computer screen. Artemis also brought up a list of buildings whose construction documents had Diane's name on them, as well as several royal edicts from when she was queen, and a few from when Serenity was queen.

That certainly verified the two had existed. So far, several of the characters have shown to have existed. It certainly gives hope that the story is true, at least to some extent. But I must remember to be fair in my assessment, even if Serenity is disappointed. That's why she asked me to do this after all. I must also not to let what I know of Professor Pagoni bias my judgment either. That particular consideration came to mind last night after I'd arranged transport.

I think I truly do need to approach this like one of my school assignments. Before I left, I took the liberty of obtaining a copy of Professor Pagoni's paper on the Tale of Karkinos from the university library. It occurred to me that examining his arguments against the tale being true would prove beneficial to my investigation, in much the same way a paper should tackle counterarguments.

Gathering evidence and sources is of course, key, so I made sure Luna and Artemis provided me with the images of the various documents they'd shown me, and a copy of the Lyocan footage.

Back onto the subject of the tale, while the existence of the characters provides some hope, finding further confirmation appears like it will be difficult. If Diane was sixteen at the time of the story, that makes the setting 380 ISY. That is exceedingly old. Though to be fair, it is far younger than similar stories from the other planets, which would usually be placed around 1 ISY or before the ISY period.

After I was done gathering up the data I had, I looked at my watch again. It was 1:15 PM. My return trip to Mercury was set for 2 PM. I felt hungry, so Luna, Artemis, and I left the library to find lunch, which I shared with Serenity and Mina. Lunch was a very pleasant affair, though the chef still tried to get Serenity to eat carrots. Why she still insisted on trying I have no idea. As much as I know they are good for her, I know she'll never eat them unless you shove them down her throat.

I am on the transport back home now. I will need to schedule more trips for the next few days. Still, today was a good, productive start. I only hope the rest of it goes as easily as this.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 10

Date: Thursday, June 25th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

My scheduled trip to the Moon coincided with all five of us planning to meet together. Serenity managed to combine work with pleasure today though, as once we were all at the palace, Serenity suggested we see the Moon crab habitat.

I think I've been there once, or possibly twice before. I think I was very young so it's difficult to be exact. With Serenity's inclination to outdoor activities or just visiting our planets, I suppose it makes sense that we don't go there often.

It's still a large structure, with a complete simulated habitat containing a large number of Moon crabs. I tried to count them, but with how they were moving around and blending into the sand, I quickly gave up. I know there were at least twelve, or was it thirteen? I don't remember now.

I'm not all that familiar with the behavior of the animals, but their reaction toward Serenity seemed quite positive. They showed genuine happiness at her arrival. Or am I projecting emotions onto them?

Overall they were very friendly to us, and seemed more intelligent than Pagoni gave them credit. At least none of them snapped at us. Their claws looked quite sharp, not to mention large. I don't want to think about how much they would probably hurt.

One of them, a rather large one with a discolored brown spot on its back, actually climbed up Serenity's hair and settled on her head. I would swear that it was….I want to say nestling, itself into place between her odangos, and seemed genuinely happy, waving its claws in the air. We all laughed at that. Serenity said that particular crab makes a habit of wanting to sit on her head.

We spent time together through lunch, and when Serenity had gotten up momentarily, the four of us agreed on a time to call each other so we could make plans for her birthday, and make sure that we all got different presents, unlike two years ago.

After lunch, I once again separated myself from everyone to continue work, heading back to the crab habitat. I talked with one of the staff, an older-looking woman with graying hair that had been pulled back. She had been replacing some of the water when I found her, and seemed happy enough to answer my questions. So I asked her about the habitat and how old it was.

Professor Pagoni stated in his paper that the habitat itself, while existing and open to public tours, had only been open since a century ago. He cited this as an indicator that of it being a more recent invention. The woman I spoke to, whose name I believe was Beatrice, informed me that the habitat had indeed been open a century.

She asked me why I was asking, and I told her about my investigation. She bristled at the words of Professor Pagoni, and I didn't blame her.

"Well it is true that it's been open to the public for a century," she told me. "But it's been here far longer than that. I've been working here since I was 113. I'm 355 now" [5].

She further told me that if I was interested in how old the habitat was, she could show me to the record room. I had no idea there was such a room. It was off to the side. Somehow I never noticed it. Beatrice informed me only the staff was allowed in there. Inside of it, I found various pieces of equipment for the maintenance of the habitat. Everything seemed so organized.

Beatrice told me a great deal about the habitat as she walked with me. I think in part she wanted to show off to me since I was so interested. Still, it was informative. The selection and training process for employment there is quite strict, and according to Beatrice, had been that way even when she arrived. The maintenance guidelines are also quite strict it seems, which strikes me as curious, as well as the number Beatrice quoted for what the workers there get paid. I have done a quick bit of research since I got home and it appears that the workers there get paid significantly more than is average on the Moon.

What caught my attention most while I was there were the shelves filled with books and binders. These were in fact, genealogical records for all the Moon crabs in the habitat, organized by decade.

Someone had actually catalogued every single Moon crab that had ever been there. The detail in these records was incredibly meticulous. It was the same level of care I'd seen in Serenity's own family records. Some of the entries had names, but the majority of them were listed by ID numbers. There were dates of birth and death, and remarks of physiology and temperament. There were also very detailed sketches to accompany the entries, pointing out unique features.

The earliest of the records went all the way back to the time of Serenity the First. I was absolutely stunned that the records were that old. I don't think I really expected to find something quite like it. The text itself seemed genuine. I spotted a few words and phrases that a quick check with online resources confirmed were antiquated. Not only that, they were from the time periods matching the records where the phrases were used.

I did notice however that all the pages appeared quite new. Beatrice told me that these were only copies, and that there were originals in the archives. I took down the codes for the archives before I left. I've been thinking that perhaps somewhere along the line a trip to the archives would be in order, so I can see the originals and verify them.

I don't like being so…perhaps the word is paranoid. But I remind myself that I have to be fair and I have to answer the counterarguments of people like Professor Pagoni. But then, how do you truly determine if a document is genuinely old? I'll have to look that up.

It was still early when I left the habitat, and the others had gone off somewhere. So I decided to hunt down the beach from the story. I kept a low profile, so I wasn't disturbed too much thankfully.

I found a beach matching the description easily enough. It was relatively small and rather isolated, but not that far from the palace. On one of the firmer, rockier parts, someone had placed a statue of a young woman sitting beside a Moon crab, knees tucked against her chest, both of them looking out at the ocean.

It was then that I heard a voice. "So here you are." I looked up to see Makoto walking towards me. I asked her what she was doing there.

"Serenity was starting to worry that you'd overwork yourself again, so I volunteered to keep you company."

I admit I felt a bit of heat on my face. But I chose to ignore that and instead offer a thanks to her, and ask if she was going to tell Serenity any of my findings before I was finished.

"Nope. I figured you wouldn't want me to. So…this is the beach huh? Nice spot."

I told her that, technically speaking, there wasn't a way to confirm that this was the setting for the story. But she just pointed over to where she, in hindsight, had probably come from.

"That sign over there says it is, so someone sure believes it."

I looked at the sign, and sure enough, it did. It also said that this little beach was a national park under ownership of the crown, for a given definition of "park" I suppose. Makoto had already begun looking at the statue.

"This isn't a bad piece of work. Sort of looks like Serenity too, doesn't it?"

I went back over to the statue and examined it. According to the plaque, it was seventy years old. "It does look like her a bit," I told Makoto, "but there are a few differences. The jaw is a different shape."

"And the hair," Makoto added. And she was right. This figure lacked the odangos Serenity wore, understandable since they hadn't been invented yet, and had only became very popular among upper class Lunarians in the past generation or two. Added onto that was the fact that the statue's hair was short relatively speaking, only reaching the line of the shoulders.

A rather pleasant cool breeze blew across the beach, and Makoto suggested doing something more relaxing, like a visit to the museum. I knew she was going there more for my benefit than hers, but accepted it anyway. I figured a little break was good at the moment. Along the way, I caught up Makoto on what I'd found.

I had intended to not mention what I'd learned about Pagoni, but Makoto noticed I was holding back. The anger on her face so intense that I was afraid she was going to break something, but thankfully I got her to calm down by the time we got to our destination.

The national museum of Asimifaros is still just as wonderful to look at as I remember. I think I was here….perhaps two months ago? I'll check my older journals later. Out of habit, we went right into the art exhibits. I really have to keep making the effort to get Serenity to look at the historical exhibits as well as the artistic ones.

While we were walking around, I noticed a new wing that I don't recall being open before, at least not in the last few occasions I'd been there. Before we could enter, we were met by the museum curator. She greeted the two of us and told us that the new exhibit was an arrangement of royal statues.

According to her, there is a tradition among the Lunar royal family that every queen has a statue commissioned in her likeness. This area had been closed down for renovations to fit the exhibit, which explained why I never noticed it.

I was feeling rather relaxed, so Makoto and I decided to walk through it, and the curator followed along as well. The museum was rather empty that day, most likely due to the holiday, so I suppose she had less to do at the moment.

The statues were remarkably life-like, and if the one of Queen Serenity was anything to go by, very accurate in their representation. They were arranged from newest to oldest. Makoto and I walked the length of the corridor, chatting all the while, and stopped when we got to the one of Diane.

If this statue was anything to go by, the one at the beach was indeed very accurate as far as the likeness. Or perhaps this statue had been used as a standard? That's quite likely in hindsight. This one showed Diane standing, and she seemed older than the one on the beach, dressed in different clothing. It made sense, since this would have been a depiction of her as queen, not princess. I couldn't help but notice the Moon crab at her ankle, claws raised.

"She must have really liked those Moon crabs," said Makoto. That just made me remember a comment Professor Pagoni had made in his article. He said that all major artistic depictions of Diane featured a Moon crab, and that it was merely the attempts by artists to use the story for effect.

Thinking back, I realized that in the art gallery, all depictions of her did indeed feature a Moon crab somewhere, or some form of crustacean. And I could see the validity of the argument. However, looking a bit further to the end of the corridor, I noticed something odd.

All the statues were catalogued, obviously for museum records. Their identification numbers were printed on their plaques. It was made up of a sequence of letters followed by a number. I saw 01 for the statue of Selanaia, the founder of the family, a 02 for Serenity the First, her daughter. And for the Diane statue, I saw 04. It should have been 03.

I asked the curator about the numbering and she said it wasn't a mistake, and that statue 03 was in storage. I was curious and I could tell Makoto was too, so I asked if we could see it.

The curator was more than happy to let us see, and showed us to the storage room. It wasn't long before she found the correct item. Statue 03 was of Diane. In fact, it looked basically identical to statue 04. The only thing missing was the crab at her feet.

"It is indeed identical" she said. "This was the original statue commissioned for Diane. But after it was presented, at least according to our accounts, Diane commissioned a second statue from the same artist, which is the one that's out in the exhibit. She seemed to prefer that one, though she didn't have the heart to get rid of the original."

It was indeed quite strange. It indicated to me the possibility that the inclusion of Moon crabs wasn't an artistic thing, but perhaps a preference by Diane herself. Following that train of thought, I inquired as to Diane's character. I noticed Makoto's unhappy expression. This wasn't exactly taking a break. But at the moment I chose to ignore it in favor of following an interesting bit of data.

The curator seemed a bit confused by my sudden question, but acquiesced. "Well, Diane was known for her social work mostly. Not long into her reign she established the first shelters for the homeless and for orphaned children. According to what we know, she used to make yearly visits to the orphanages. What she created was the precursor to the adoption and childcare system we have today. And besides that, she rebuilt a lot of crumbling city structures and fortified defenses against invaders."

I thanked her for the conversation and it wasn't long before Makoto and I left the museum. Looking at the time, I knew I had to leave for Mercury soon, so I bid goodbye to Makoto and told her to inform the others.

It's quiet now at home. I found a package waiting for me. Mina returned by ceremonial boots. Unfortunately, the leather seems to have been stretched out. I don't understand how, because I don't think Mina's feet and legs are all that different than mine. Or maybe they are? Either way, I'll have to have them refitted.

Perhaps I shouldn't have loaned them. I suddenly recall something I haven't thought about in years. I think it was before I kept theses journals. Mina and I were about...I want to say nine, or maybe eight. Yes, it was eight. I remember Mina was visiting Mercury, and our parents went out on business, so we were left at the palace.

Mina had found great grandfather Nabu's gold helmet and tried to put it on. I told her it wasn't a good idea, but she didn't listen to me. It was stuck halfway on her head and despite even our combined efforts, it wouldn't budge.

I remember I told Grandmother Mnemosyne about it, and she had to use a very generous amount of butter to get it off. I remember Mina wailed at the idea, but grandmother wouldn't hear of protest. I think she was annoyed that we'd been playing with her father-in-law's helmet, but that seemed to settle into amusement. I also remember Mina putting up a fight while grandmother was getting the butter out of her hair afterwards. Grandmother didn't let her live it down for a few months after that.

I really should go see her sometime soon. I know she'd still remember that story, the gift of having a perfect memory. Note to self though: If Mina ever asks to borrow something like that again, refuse.

It is getting late and I feel quite tired. I shall be heading to bed now.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 11

Date: Friday, June 26th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

An idea struck me during breakfast this morning. I was thinking about what I'd gathered as to Diane's character, and about how useful it would have been if there had been accounts of her daily life like my own journals. Evidence like that tends to be lacking in archaeology.

It was then that I remembered something from my history textbook, a case study highlighted in one of the chapters. I excused myself from breakfast rather quickly and went to check. For reference, it was chapter 13 page 528.

The article was about Jovian archeologists working at the remains of a small town on the moon-state of Thebe, a town which had been totally destroyed by a massive flood in the seventh century, and whose location had been completely lost for quite some time. One of the more shocking finds they made among those ruins were written accounts dating back to the early fifth century.

All of the documents belonged to a single author. Some of them were drawings, observations, and notes on the local sea-life and habitat, an attempt at surveying the area. The other documents were personal journals. The condition of both had been quite remarkable, especially considering the flooded conditions of the site.

In the journals, the author spoke of how he'd learned of Lunar techniques for preserving documents from a friend who served as an ambassador of Jupiter. Said techniques were a mix of low level magic and chemicals, and had been told to the friend at a gathering of the planetary kingdoms.

Knowing the importance of his survey work, he employed these techniques on them, but used them on his journal first as a test. It certainly explained their survival and condition despite time and flooding.

This knowledge gave me an idea. If such techniques were discussed and shared at an international meeting, then perhaps others at that meeting had used them as well. If any of the ambassadors from the other planets had kept journals of their own, and if they had used those techniques to preserve them, then those documents could provide key insight into Diane.

It is now later in the day. I had a talk with the others to coordinate birthday presents this morning. Everyone is getting something different. Rei is planning on giving Serenity a new coat made of Martian wool. Mina's gift is a book. Her great, great, great grandfather King Bragi had been quite the poet, and the many love poems he'd written for his wife Queen Idun had been collected and published in that book. I know Serenity will love that. Makoto is going to give her special hybrid roses her mother developed in her garden, ones with multicolored pedals, silver and light pink, along with some seeds for the palace gardens.

Afterwards, I discussed my idea with them. A search of multiple planets is most certainly in order. They all agreed to ask their respective diplomats and have an answer for me by the afternoon.

Upon further reflection, I realize that this idea is something of a long shot, depending on such techniques having been used by the diplomats at the time, and the documents being kept. To be fair though, diplomatic duties do have a tendency to be inherited by families. And looking among diplomats is the easiest way to pursue this line of inquiry. Still, despite the variables involved, the potential data that could be found as a result seems more than worth the effort.

I also discussed my idea with father and mother. The family of the current Mercurian diplomats had not always served the crown in that capacity. It took a little bit of work to find someone related to the ones that served before them. I found him working in one of the scientific research labs in the capital, a rather disheveled sort, but still quite young.

He in turn put me in contact with his sister, who was more than happy to assist me. However she said that their family was in the middle of selling their old estate, and as such the contents were in a storage warehouse, far across town, so the search would take some time. I told her I wasn't in an especially great hurry, and that I didn't want to interfere with the stress of selling their old estate, so she could take her time.

It is now later afternoon. The girls have gotten back to me. Makoto reported negative, with many old possessions perishing in a fire many years back. But Mina and Rei reported positives. Both of their respective diplomats had pulled what appeared to be journals from old storage.

I know more than one planetary trip in a day is probably not a good idea, so I think I will arrange a trip to Venus first. I will now inform Mina and arrange transport, and continue the entry once I am there.

I am now in Toposirini [6]. The weather is quite humid, more than I'm used to, but that's normal for this time of year. Mina was there to greet me, and it didn't take us long to get to our destination. Mina had us ride on Ferdinand to get through the crowd. He such a sweet animal and I still find that disposition so incongruous to what one would often associate with his robust physique.

The owner of the house greeted us rather warmly, and invited us to her parlor while she fished out the items we were interested in. It was a much longer wait than I had anticipated.

"What's taking her so long?" asked Mina at one point, lying across the rather expensive looking sofa. "At the rate this is going, by the time she finds it I'll be on the embalming table." She gave a shudder, and I gave her a questioning look at her curious choice of words.

"I was watching a movie last night," she told me, "Spirits of the Tomb."

I vaguely recalled an old film by that name, but as I recall, it was a horror movie involving a living mummy. It was definitely not something Mina would watch willingly, and I asked her about it.

"I thought it was a romantic movie at first!" she cried in defense. "The high priestess falling in love with the prince and trying to raise him from the dead, and then she got caught and…" she gave another shudder. "I never want to see a mummy again. I really don't."

I told her that it wasn't especially likely that she would, at least not for a long time. That seemed to settle her, and we got to chatting. We were interrupted a few times by the servants who offered us tea and cookies to snack on. Both were quite exquisite.

Our hostess eventually returned with several very old volumes, and we began looking through them. Mina provided an online translator for older dialects of Venusian that she found with the computer she brought with her.

Between finding relevant entries and translating them, it took up to an hour and fifteen minutes before we found something. But find something we most certainly did. In one entry, the author spoke of her experience visiting the Moon. She expressed strong distaste at the fact that Diane frequently greeted her and other guests with a Moon crab sitting on her shoulder. She went on to remark how Diane seemed to have no problem with the creature being there, or with it moving around occasionally. It was a valuable insight into my investigation.

On another note, as we were searching, Mina made a rather unpleasant sound at one of the entries. I turned to look at her and asked her what was wrong. She resisted at first, but I saw the grimace on her face, and my curiosity was peaked, and I eventually got her to tell me.

The diplomat who wrote the journals seems to have kept them and preserved them as she did because she used them in part to collect blackmail material. The entry Mina had been looking at detailed how she blackmailed some of her peers into giving her their son as a husband. I could understand Mina's distaste, and I felt it myself.

Our hostess, having come back into the room, and noticing our expressions, told us that her family was well aware of their ancestor's behavior. They'd done quite a lot to atone for it over the generations. She also asked us not to mention this particular detail, and I gave her my word that I wouldn't.

Mina had also been reading several entries ahead of me at one point, and again there was an entry that made her pause. This time though she absolutely refused to let me see them. She told me "You really don't want to know, trust me." I recall now that her face had turned a rather odd shade of pink. Somehow, I think perhaps I am better off not knowing.

In any event, we finished our research and departed. Mina invited me to watch a movie with her back at the palace, and I accepted. The Sun had climbed higher in the time we'd been inside, and by the time we got back to Magellan Castle, I felt quite tired. Perhaps I should have brought sun block. I know I should have taken my sunglasses. I must have been so excited by the possibilities that I forgot them.

As we were going to the home theater, there was a loud cry of "Mina!" and suddenly we were set upon by four young girls. I estimated the oldest of them to be about nine years old, and the youngest of them looked around four. They talked to Mina briefly before turning their attention to me.

They started asking questions, or rather, bombarding me with them. They were so fast and so loud I had trouble following them. I introduced myself in the middle of it and I think they did as well. I confess I can't remember their names. I think three of them started with E. The knowledge that I was from Mercury set off another string of questions.

Normally I would have been happy to answer but I was tired from the heat, and I could feel the sweat on my skin. And on top of that, they were all talking at once. It was rather…overwhelming at the time. I think Mina must have noticed my distress.

"Hey, knock it off your four!" she snapped at them. When she said that, all of them turned back to her, completely silenced.

"Ami's tired, okay? She's not used to the heat around here and she needs rest. She doesn't need you four yelling in her ears." The four girls frowned, and the oldest of them tried to say something, but Mina cut her off, her tone shifting into something much softer. "You can talk to some other time, alright? Now where's your sitter?"

Said babysitter appeared shortly afterwards, a young woman with long, curly blonde hair and green eyes. She was, as Mina told me later, Hedone, the daughter of one of her mother's old friends, and seven years our senior.

We continued on and I thanked her for the intervention. "No problem," she told me. "Those four can be a bit much at first." I nodded, and asked how she knew them. "They're the kids of one of my mom's advisors," she replied. "They were annoying at first, but I have to admit….they grew on me. Not sure why, but they did. They're really sweet after you get used to them."

I puzzled for a moment at Mina's tone. Mina does not interact well with children, usually turning to irritation or frustration. So I found it surprising at how she'd ended up treating those four so gently. She must really have grown to like them.

We arrived at the home theater, and I noted that it had been redecorated since I was there last. The walls are light blue now. I had wanted to watch one of the newer films that had come out in the last two weeks, but Mina vetoed the idea.

"No way Ami, that's way too serious. What we need now is a good, fun movie to relax."

I started to protest, but Mina wouldn't let me finish. "You need to relax Ami. We all remember the last time you hit burnout. Come on, let's just watch something fun."

I ended up losing the argument. The film Mina picked out was old, but not too old. It was one of the first movies to star Kleta and Phaenna, the Venusian singer and actress sisters. Quite talented actresses, as even this movie demonstrated. The singing however was….slightly off key. Mina apologized for that. She swore to me that after this the two got better vocal coaches.

It was a very enjoyable movie. I'm glad I let Mina talk me into watching it. But by the time it was over, it was very close to when I had to leave, so I couldn't stay any longer.

I'm back in my room now. The information we discovered was quite interesting. The fact that Diane frequently greeted guests with a crab on her shoulder and seemed completely comfortable with it there, and even with it moving around on her person, speaks of a love of the creatures. She must have been very fond of them to be that complacent.

All of this is so very fascinating. The fact that I found personal accounts as old as the ones I looked at still astounds me. Tomorrow I will be visiting Mars, and a part of me is ecstatic to see what I will find. Sleeping may be a bit more difficult tonight.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 12

Date: Saturday, June 27th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

My visit to Mars was early in the morning, so that when I arrived, there were few people moving about. I was greeted by Rei and someone else I'd never met. She was tall and slender in build, with dark blue eyes and bright blonde hair she'd tied back in a braid. She wore a white coat whose style and decoration I took to be a ceremonial military uniform. That was confirmed when she saluted me.

She was, as Rei told me, Brunhilde, commander of the Valkyrie Squad, a special all-female fighting force established by her mother, a mix of infantry and cavalry. She was Rei's escort today, and would also drive us to and from our destination.

The drive through Kriovoski [7] was a bit long, what with our destination being on the other side of town and the great deal of vehicle and foot traffic. As we set out, I learned that Brunhilde was joining us for a second reason. The daughter of the diplomat we were visiting was a member of the Valkyrie Squad. She'd broken her leg during training last week and Brunhilde had wanted to check on her. I certainly didn't mind.

As we drove on, I noticed Rei yawning quite a bit. After the sixth yawn in a row, I asked if anything was wrong.

"It's nothing," she told me. "Enyalios just woke me up last night."

I confess that I'd almost forgotten about her little brother. I think the last time I saw him was when he was a year old. The five of us don't tend to visit Mars as often as we do the other planets. I think the last time I was on Mars was….was it three months ago? Possibly. I'll need to check my old journal entries.

"He had a nightmare last night, so he decided to come to me," said Rei with another yawn. "It took a while for him to get back to sleep." She gave a frustrated sigh, and I reminded her that he was only three years old.

"I know, I know. And it's not like I hate him or anything. I just wish he hadn't needed to wake me. I had a late night as it was. If Mom and Dad weren't away on business, he'd be going to them. But they wanted him to stay here because there's a nasty flu going around where they are. And they wanted me to help watch him. Phobos and Deimos have enough to do managing things while Mom and Dad are gone."

I suppose in a way most of us are lucky to be only children. Though to be fair our parents are all quite young, so I suppose there may come a day where Mina, Makoto, Serenity, or I may have siblings of our own to contend with.

Along the way, we passed a sports arena that was already buzzing with activity, despite the early hour. Rei told me that they were getting ready for a title fight there later tonight.

"And making sure there's room for the ambulances…" she muttered. I was confused by that statement, so I asked her about it.

"Every time there's a big match like that, someone in the audience always gets hurt, every single time."

As a side note, I'd like to say that after I got home, I did a little research of my own, just out of curiosity. Rei was indeed correct. From what I gathered via new reports, every significant match is always accompanied by brawls among the audience. From the data I looked at, the average number of individual fights per match was about five. Some of the participants in these fights ended up in worse shape than the actual fighters they were there to see. I saw three reports of someone with multiple broken ribs occurring in the last eight months.

I understand being enthusiastic, but that just seems…excessive to say the least. I wonder if there are incidents like that at the boxing matches we have on Mercury. I should look that up later. Maybe it's just something about competitive fighting.

After we passed the stadium, Rei yawned again and told me that she was going to try and take a brief nap. "And you don't have to worry about making noise," she told me. "I brought ear plugs."

Rei lay across the seat of the car, and I returned to looking out the window. Our ride was slowed once again, this time due to a large construction project. When I asked Brunhilde about it, she said it was a new apartment complex, and they'd only started five months ago.

That is one of the things that I still find fascinating about Mars, the incredible industriousness. The building was sizable and yet in only five months it was mostly complete, with only work being done on the interior. It never ceases to impress me how fast things can be constructed here. And even with such speed, only in the minority are the results of poor quality. I expressed as much to Brunhilde.

She chuckled. "That's Mars for you princess. We work fast and build fast. Something is always under construction around here." Her smile faltered at the sight of more vehicles. "Of course it makes it hard to get around at times."

Brunhilde and I talked for a while longer, still keeping our voices lowered, despite Rei's use of earplugs. In a way, the traffic was for the best. At least Rei got to catch up on sleep for the rest of the trip.

We finally reached the diplomat's house. It was an impressive concrete structure. The white paint used on it was bright enough that sunlight reflected off it produced an irritating glare. As we approached, I wondered vaguely if it was meant to intimidate people.

The three of us were greeted at the door by a young woman. She was about four inches shorter than Brunhilde, with dark blue eyes and platinum blonde hair, and a rather fair complexion. She had a large cast on her left leg, and stood on a crutch.

"Commander Brunhilde!" she yelled as she opened the door. She tried saluting, but only managed to lose her balance. Brunhilde caught her before she fell over.

"Be careful Rota. I'd prefer you skip decorum than hurt yourself anymore. And I'm sure Gunnar and Skuld wouldn't be happy about it either."

Introductions were short, and Rota called for her father. The man that met us was gruff, middle aged, and bearded, and didn't look very happy to see us.

"Understand me when I say, Your Highnesses, that I am a very busy man, and the only reason I agreed to this is because King Ares insisted." He pointed us in the direction of the drawing room, where the journals had been gathered, before heading off on his own. As he left, I noticed the rather harsh glance he threw in the direction of Brunhilde and his daughter.

Rei and I took to the drawing room, while Brunhilde and Rota went off to another room. It was best for them to talk in private anyway. My search with Rei was in relative silence, and things went a bit faster than they had with Mina. Rei is more adept at languages than Mina is, so she required a translator less frequently.

It was Rei that finally found something of interest. In the entry she found, our host's ancestor expressed great agitation at the fact that Moon crabs walked around the palace halls. He also remarked on how the palace staff seemed to completely accept the presence of the creatures, and did nothing to stop them even in light of his complaints. He said that, if anything, they stopped him from doing anything to the crabs. The entry also corroborated the others I had found by mentioning how Diane had greeted the author with a Moon crab on her shoulder.

After that it, well, the entry went into a rant, which is appropriate enough for a journal I suppose. It included several rather….crude expletives that I would rather not repeat, and some that I'd never heard of, though my knowledge is of course limited in that area. The subject of said rant was basically on gender politics, Lunarian and Martian. I won't go into further detail, but needless to say it wasn't pleasant.

If I had to guess, I would say the author wrote and kept the journal mostly due to a belief in the importance of his words and thoughts, and their value for future generations. He also made several observations of a military nature, the state of city walls, palace structure, and so on. It seems he was filing away data for a military strike that never came to be.

Rei let out a chuckle as we were reading the entries. "It seems like our host isn't all that different from his ancestor, at least as far as attitude."

Remembering his demeanor when we entered, I had to agree. It seemed like the apple didn't fall far from the proverbial tree.

Our musing was interrupted by sudden yelling in the next room. Normally I do not engage in eavesdropping, but in my defense, I don't think it qualifies as eavesdropping when the subjects in question are too loud to ignore.

From what we could hear, it was a heated argument between Brunhilde, Rota, and Rota's father. It seems Rota's father was not happy that his daughter had joined the squad, and he was screaming about pulling her out of it.

The arguing became increasingly heated, and when we heard threats of violence, Rei chose to throw open the door.

"This doesn't concern you Your Highness," said our host when he saw us enter. I observed that Rota looked quite nervous, and Brunhilde looked something close to livid.

"Since you were so loud, I'm making it my business. What's going on here?"

"Nothing, I'm simply telling the young lady here," he gestured to Brunhilde, "to remove my daughter from this squad of hers immediately. It was a mistake letting her join and she's unfit for something as ridiculous as this Valkyrie Squad your mother created."

"It's not ridiculous. If you want me to prove it, I'd be more than happy," growled Brunhilde in response. I began to grow nervous. The entire atmosphere was getting very tense, and I could easily envision a fight breaking out.

"It is ridiculous, and you'll mind your tongue when speaking to me. I am an emissary of the Martian throne. Women do not belong as soldiers and the idea that they can be anything like the Martian army is laughable. My daughter has already broken her leg thanks to your training, and I demand that you, as the commanding officer, discharge her immediately."

Brunhilde's response was simply "Over my dead body." Our host threatened to force her, and I turned to look at Rei. She looked angry enough to hurt someone, which was what I was very much afraid of. She would have already been more irritable from getting inadequate sleep on top of her already short temper.

I tried telling Rei to calm down, and that we were here for work and not to cause a fight. But Rei just seemed to ignore me and walked up to our host. She asked to speak to him privately, and the two of them went off to some other part of the house.

Rota still looked quite anxious, as well as showing signs of fatigue, so I suggested that she go rest somewhere, and Brunhilde agreed. That only left Brunhilde and I back in the drawing room. She sighed.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this Your Highness. You don't need to be witness to our personal problems."

I told her it was alright. And in truth, it wasn't totally alright. I hated that such a fight had occurred at all. But it was out of her control so there was no need for her to feel guilty. With my work with Rei pretty much complete, there wasn't much else to do. But the silence was rather uncomfortable, so I started conversation with Brunhilde.

I asked her why she'd joined the Valkyrie Squad in the first place. I hadn't really gotten to know her all that well, even with the car ride, so I was curious.

She laughed before she answered. "I was overweight. And not just a little overweight, I was all the way into being obese and unhealthy."

Looking at her now, and seeing her thin and athletic build, I found that very hard to believe, and I told her so. She just nodded her head.

"Oh I was. I ate really badly, I was always lethargic, and I was so weak. I knew it was a problem, but I could never bring myself to do anything about it. Then one day, I heard that they were recruiting for the Valkyrie Squad, an all-woman fighting force, and Queen Bellona was doing the recruiting herself. When I found out, I…I decided I wanted to join. I knew it was crazy but I wanted to change. I wanted to be better."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "So I took the train all the way over, and got to speak to Bellona herself. The way she looked at me, I knew she wasn't impressed. I mean I knew I was a physical wreck. But I begged her to help me. And you know what? She did. She got me help, she worked with me. And before I knew it, I was healthy, and I liked myself that way. The squad changed my life for the better."

Given the circumstances, I could understand her reaction when her squad got insulted. Brunhilde and I passed the time quietly for a few minutes, and after that time I began to worry what Rei was doing with our host. I prayed she wasn't hurting him. That wouldn't end well for anyone.

After a few more minutes, Rei returned to the drawing room, our host following behind. He appeared completely unhurt, which was a massive relief for me. His demeanor, however seemed strangely subdued. Rei told Brunhilde that he had something to say to her.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "After discussing things with the princess, I have decided that there is no longer any….issue….with Rota being in the Valkyrie Squad, and I no longer want you to dismiss her."

I saw him glance back at Rei. She merely responded with a pointed stare. "And," he continued, "I would like to offer you a personal apology for insulting your squadron, commander. Your squad was personally created by the crown, and as a part of the army, represents the strength and honor of Mars. My words were out of line. Please….forgive me."

The words had the undercurrent of being forced, but Brunhilde didn't seem to mind. She simply smiled and accepted the apology. Rei then told him that our business here had concluded and that we would take our leave. I could not help but notice the air of absolute smugness about Rei as we left, and the smile she was trying very hard to force down.

We took off back toward the space port, and I asked Rei what she'd said to make him change his mind, and if she'd physically threatened him.

Rei just smiled wider. "No. I simply managed to make him see the error of his ways."

"Well whatever you said, thank you Your Highness" said Brunhilde. "But if you don't mind me saying, you don't need to fight my battles for me."

Rei just shrugged. "It's not that I didn't think you could handle yourself. I just didn't want to see him twist your arm with some political ploy. He can't pull that sort of thing on me like he can to you. Besides, you're overlooking the fact that I practice archery with you and the rest of the squad. So it was my fight too."

After that, Rei gave another yawn, and elected to take another nap in the car. She must not have caught up on all her sleep. The rest of the drive was quiet, and Rei woke up briefly to wish me goodbye as I left to the transport back home.

I'm back home now. Maia has just delivered dinner to my room. She'd returned from visiting her sister Merope while I was on Mars. It's good to have her back. I don't know what we'd do without her acting as caretaker of the palace. And to think she used to take care of father and Aunt Iris when they were children.

The investigation has progressed well, and I am very pleased that the material I looked at today corroborated the earlier sources from Venus. Tomorrow I will check with the woman I spoke to before to see if she found any similar documents from her family. Since I already looked at the two confirmed pieces of evidence, I might as well see if there is a third before I move on to another point of investigation.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 13

Date: Sunday, June 28th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

I was in a great deal of luck today. As it turned out, the woman I spoke to before did manage to search through her family's heirlooms and found journals of the appropriate age.

The address she provided me when I called her was for a penthouse apartment in a richer section of the city. Several of the adjacent buildings reminded me of home, architecturally speaking. Perhaps they are from some sort of Mariner Revival style, or whatever it would be called? They certainly looked too new to have been built by Jacob Mariner [8].

On that note, I am suddenly reminded that our library has a rather large volume on Mercury's architectural history. Perhaps I should read it sometime soon. It could make for entertaining reading in between work.

I was shown the journals, and she left me to my own devices. She must've still had a great deal of work to do. I don't envy her the task of moving and selling one's former home. Although it does make me wonder vaguely how that would work if one lived in a castle. You would think it would be the same, with the work involved magnified several fold.

The owner of the journals seems to have written them in part to help him remember important details. He seems to have been quite forgetful, and from his writing, he also shows signs of having what would later be classified as obsessive compulsive disorder.

There were several entries related to Queen Diane. The author spoke once about how she'd left him waiting for close to an hour because she'd "once again gone to care for the family of Moon crabs she kept in the palace" and forgotten their meeting entirely. The servants, who he says he talked to in order to avert absolute boredom, told him that she spent a great deal of time there when not ruling. The author also mentions that when Diane finally did meet him, she had a Moon crab on her left shoulder.

And while, in hindsight, it is less relevant to my research, the latter half of the entry did manage to catch my attention. Mostly, this section of the text was about business, the usual workings of diplomacy. But during the conversation, Diane shared with the author her plans for establishing orphanages and shelters through the capital and beyond.

She explained to him how she'd bought the land required and had already assembled an initial staff for every orphanage in the capital she planned to establish. Not only that, but that same staff was already receiving pay, even though their new workplaces were still under construction.

Diane also told the author how she was going to place the homeless shelters in the capital in such a way that there was at least one in every poorer district, and that they would be spread out to cover the entire city area. Diane said it was to ensure that someone who needed help could always find it nearby, no matter where they were. A very strategic choice if I may say so.

Again, that part of the entry doesn't seem all that relevant to my particular line of research. But I couldn't help but take note of it. It's one thing to hear about someone's exploits in a history book, but it's another to see it in action, sort of anyway. It made me smile as I read it. Perhaps Serenity would like to hear about it?

That was all I managed to get from the material, and it only took me an hour and forty five minutes to get through it. I stayed to have lunch with my host before I returned home.

It is evening now. The Sun is gone, and Caduceus [9] is starting its ascent into the sky. The data I acquired from the journals today didn't add much that I didn't already know. But it did, however, corroborate what was said by the other two accounts about Diane greeting visitors with a Moon crab on her person. It also further reinforced to me the tremendous affection she had for the creatures.

After all, she, the Queen of an entire planet-kingdom, had forgotten a diplomatic meeting and left her guest waiting almost an hour. That would have been, and would still be, a large breach in etiquette. I think even I would be upset if I were left in the same situation.

I've been doing school work since I got home. Professor Santorini's exam is still set for Friday. On a side note, while I was reading through my history textbook, I found several references to Professor Pagoni and his contribution to the field. There was even a photograph of him there as well. I'd seen it before, but I'd still never have recognized him in person. The photo is of when he was a young man. It's amazing how different he looked in his youth.

He's actually made several important contributions to the study of history, in theory and in his dig work. All of these were many, many years ago however. From the few quotes in the book, he also appears to have been quite modest. It's a shame really. He did so much good work towards his field, and yet that honest brilliance seems to have…rotted, for lack of a better word.

On one of my break periods, I decided to see if anyone besides Professor Pagoni had ever investigated the Tale of Karkinos. I really should have searched before this. But that's the nature of hindsight I suppose. In any case, it wouldn't have mattered. I didn't find a single study in any of the university journals, and Sophia subscribes to many of them.

I did find one interesting bit of data, if irrelevant to my own investigation. There seems to be a subsection of the Lunar population that hold the character of Karkinos as the spirit of the Silver Crystal sent to protect Princess Diane. This religious group holds the title character as a guardian spirit, particularly of children and mothers. I don't think they would take well to Professor Pagoni's theories on the story, and in that case it is perhaps best for him that he lives on a different planet.

In other news, the ice skates I bought for Princess Serenity arrived today. They're in perfect condition. I've already taken the liberty of wrapping them up for her birthday.

The Karkinos investigation appears basically complete, research wise. The only thing there seems left for me to do is to visit the Lunar royal archives tomorrow and take a look at the original records that I saw references to. I did some research into determining if an ancient document is genuine, but as I read on, I became convinced that I do not have the skills necessary to perform the task myself, and that it would be best to consult an expert. I need to call Luna Artemis.

I have now just finished speaking to Luna and Artemis. They agreed to have a historian with training as a forensic document examiner come in to help me tomorrow. Her name is Dr. Cynthia Sands.

I must head to bed now. It is getting late, and I will need my rest for tomorrow.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 14

Date: Monday, June 29th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

Today I….I found something quite extraordinary. I'm finding it hard to contain my excitement and amazement as I write this. If I had been lucky before, then I was truly lucky today.

My trip to the Moon started early. I was lead to the archives, where I found Dr. Sands waiting for me. She was about my height with dark brown hair cropped into chin-length bob that was curled at the ends, and hazel eyes. She was also quite young, about 69 [10] as she admitted to me later.

She'd cleared a space in the archives and filled it with a variety of equipment, creating a makeshift lab to facilitate our task. She'd actually been finishing setting it up when I met her. We headed off toward the correct section of the archives to begin.

There were…issues, however, with our search. When the archivist had let me in, she'd mentioned that there had been work done on the shelving in the past month, so parts of the archives were something of a mess.

She seems to have vastly understated the problem. In one section, the one we'd intended to go to, the boxes that should have been on the shelves were instead piled on top of each other against a wall. It vaguely reminded me of the pillow forts the others and I used to make as children when we stayed over. But of course this was a far sturdier and formidable barricade than anything we ever made, not to mention taller than even Makoto.

To add to the problem, the labels on the boxes were facing the wall. They were heavy and large, so Dr. Sands had to call in some of the young male archive assistants to help pull a few of them down. We'd hoped that they'd been placed in some sort of chronological order. But it didn't take long to realize that was not the case. They were all completely jumbled.

Dr. Sands gave me a dust mask and gloves when we began searching, right before she put on her own. It was very much warranted. Despite being in the archives, or perhaps because of it, there was a thick coating of dust on everything. If I were an asthmatic, I do believe I would have suffered an attack. Some of the items were so old and dusty that I could even imagine having an attack without asthma.

All of the documents we looked at, old as they were, had been preserved with a mix of chemical and magical techniques, similar to those I'd seen on the journals. Additionally, they were placed in thick glass cases.

We stumbled across the habitat records first. They looked exactly like the copies I'd seen in the record room. Dr. Sands used her equipment to do an examination on them. She did a scan of the paper type and composition, as well as the chemical composition of the ink and any particular stains. The chemical tests did indeed indicate they were as old as they said they were. An examination of language and phrasing also proved positive.

Dr. Sands had the foresight to set up two of her machines, so I could take to examining some of the documents myself, after she gave me a quick lecture on how to operate everything. Of course I was simply gathering data, and I left the formal analysis to her.

On a side note, I am reminded of an article I read on my way to the Moon. It was talking about advancements made in miniaturization of various forms of technology. After working with the machinery Dr. Sands brought along, I am wondering if technology like that could be miniaturized as well. Perhaps it could be combined with a heads up display of some sort? Something like that could be useful as Sailor Mercury, even if we don't really have many opportunities to fight. I will have to bring it up with mother and father.

And while I am digressing a bit, I will mention that there were some documents we did not end up verifying. It occurred to me that some might argue the second statue at the museum was a fake. I checked with them after I was done at the archives. The provenance documents for the piece were in their possession, and they'd already gone through the trouble of verifying its authenticity.

As for the diplomatic journals, it is only in hindsight that I considered verifying them. In my defense, I suppose it was easier at the time to simply look at them myself than arrange for the sort of setup I had with Dr. Sands in the archives for every single visit. And logically speaking, it is highly improbable that they were all part of a single hoax. My own examinations will do for now.

After that, we moved on to looking at the documents I'd noted when I was researching Diane and Serenity the First. Finding those particular items among the mess was more challenging. At least the habitat records were all still kept together between one or two boxes. Dr. Sands and I each took some of the boxes to look through.

It was during one of my own searches that I found it. I was skimming through the contents, which consisted mostly of what seemed to be land-related items. Then I found a document that was slipped between a couple of thin ledgers. It had also been deposited upside down. Naturally I pulled it out to see what it was and turn it right side up.

It turned out to be a land deed, a very old land deed. The writing indicated that it was for a beach, and in the middle of the text there was written in very careful Lunarian script the name "Karkinos". I held it there in my hands for quite some time, just staring at it.

I couldn't believe it. It was the sort of thing you usually consider impossible, as if something you'd drawn suddenly burst forth from the canvas into full life.

I heard Dr. Sands approach me as I was staring. She said she'd found and checked out the last document on my list of sources. As she stood next to me, I heard her gasp.

"Oh my Goddess, is that what I think it is?"

I nodded, and handed it to her. After looking it over for a minute, she set it down and went to the library to ask for maps of the city. When she returned, she set the maps and the document on a reading table and began looking between them.

"From this point here, down to here, yes, that's it" I heard her mutter. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me she was seeing where the boundaries for the grant of land were.

"It says it's for a beach, and according to the text here, the area it's talking about is the same exact area that Cancri Beach covers, the one that's said to be the beach from the story. This is incredible! We have to do a full examination right away!"

She raced ahead of me to her machinery, but still held the document with the utmost care. Dr. Sands seemed to be even slower looking at this one document, and even triple checked her findings.

According to her analysis, the paper was definitely the sort used during the fourth century. The ink too, was of a chemical mixture that was used during that time period. The script itself was certainly antiquated, an old form of Lunarian, just like in the earliest of the habitat records.

Dr. Sands had me find other land grants from the relative time period. The hand writing proved to be a match. The official seal was also genuine. Therefore the same official that had written other documents of that sort had also written this one. The date on the document was June 25th, 380 ISY, the very same date it would have been created according to the story.

The deed listed Diane as the actual purchaser of the property, and there, near the bottom, was Diane's signature. Another handwriting sample yielded us a match for that as well.

We also managed to find a ledger belonging to the keeper of deeds of all the documents she'd received copies of and all special land grants given. It was in the same box as the deed, but even more buried. Parts of it were missing, and pages were damaged, so it must have been preserved after some sort of accident. But of what remained, there was an entry for the very deed we'd found, listed as being bought and paid for by Princess Diane.

It's just…remarkable. We'd found actual documented proof of the story's validity. It must have been buried with all the other records rather hastily and just forgotten all these millennia. Dr. Sands was just as stunned as I was. After we were done examining, she told me she was going to take the document to the archivist and have it placed somewhere where it wouldn't be lost again.

I am home now. I'm still in awe of my discoveries today. To think such a thing existed and that I found it. Dr. Sands was telling me that this sort of…well, I suppose it's best to call it a rediscovery, might end up in a publication. Mother and father, who couldn't help but notice my demeanor when I returned, told me something similar.

I agree about the publication. People deserve to know of this document's existence. But whether or not I have any direct input in said publication is a matter for later.

As of right now, my investigation work is now basically done. I just need to write up my final, formal conclusions on what I've found. I have a few hours before bed, so I should be able to get that done. I can't stay up too late though. I need to be on time for Serenity's birthday party tomorrow. It will be a nice break from the work I've been doing. And I'm sure Serenity will be overjoyed at my findings.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 15

Date: Tuesday, June 30th, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

Last night I had a dream about being buried under a mountain of paperwork and hundreds of rampaging dust bunnies. I think I should have had a proper dinner instead of picking up snacks from the kitchen.

I arrived on the Moon early, and I met the others at the station. None of our parents had chosen to visit, with the exception of Mina's mother. Mina went ahead and took Serenity out into the city to distract her while the rest of us helped arrange everything.

Serenity and Mina had left Sirius [11] behind, so he wandered around the palace and greeted each of us. I couldn't help but notice that he's developing a bit of pudge. Three reasons come to mind.

A) His age. At 21 he's just about middle aged for his species and breed.

B) A lack of robust exercise. Serenity does play with him and take him on walks but perhaps that isn't enough.

C) It could be from Serenity constantly spoiling him.

Although, when I think about it, it could be a combination of all three.

He was licking Makoto as we were trying to get the tables arranged. Makoto laughed before sending him off. "You know Ami, you should really consider getting a pet," she told me as we got back to work.

Of course I know all the others have pets of their own. And I'm not opposed to the idea entirely. I simply don't know what sort of animal I would want. I don't want something that would be too much of a distraction from my work. I told Makoto this as we were working.

"I'm sure you could figure out something," she told me. "You just need to find time to work it out." Preparations kept the conversation from going any further.

Between Rei, Makoto, Luna, Artemis and myself, and a number of the castle servants, we managed to set everything up with time to spare before Serenity and Mina returned. The great hall was filled balloons and many other forms of decorations.

We managed to surprise Serenity as she returned with Mina. She was absolutely ecstatic. Her face lit up like a dozen bulbs.

The food was brought out first, and it was then that I saw Hotaru, the princess of Saturn. I hadn't known that she was coming, or even saw her arrive. As I was informed later, she'd arrived before the rest of us because of her particular present.

She'd brought along a large selection of food and ingredients from her kingdom's farms. Not only had she brought supplies for the party itself, but she'd brought enough raw materials to stock the royal kitchens for the next two weeks. I saw trays filled with caramel apples, several pastries, some of them topped with large strawberries, and a quite delectable looking pumpkin pie.

Hotaru herself had sequestered herself in the kitchen with her aides to help oversee the preparations. Though from her tired expression and body language, I suspect her isolation might have also been due to fatigue from her trip. It really is unfortunate that the stigma of Sailor Saturn's powers makes the Saturnian nobility less popular to invite to gatherings like these. Hotaru seems so very nice.

I should also note that Hotaru seems to be doing much better health-wise, at least from the last time I saw her. She appeared much stronger than before. I even heard Queen Serenity remark on it. I wouldn't go as far as to say she's athletic, but she was definitely healthier, which is good because most times I've seen her she always seemed so fragile. She's also starting to get a bit gangly in frame, though she'd 14 so that's not unusual I suppose.

The cake was a gigantic, multi-layered creation of chocolate and vanilla, with flowers made of frosting. But Queen Serenity wouldn't let any of us eat until the rest of the guests arrived, which was curious to me because I didn't think anyone else was coming.

To my surprise, about five minutes later, the rest of the outer princesses arrived. Haruka and Michiru came in first, side by side, followed up by Setsuna. They apologized for their lateness, blaming it on mechanical issues with their transport.

The cake and the rest of the food was as good as it all looked. I worry I may have gained a few pounds with all that I had to eat. Serenity insisted we all try everything with her. But she also seemed to be quite efficient at tasting everything, because she was soon opening presents.

As I thought, she loved the ice skates I got her, and the book Mina had brought. The second she saw Makoto's roses, she'd had them taken to her room and handed all the seeds to the palace gardeners. And she spent several minutes admiring herself in front of the mirror wearing the red coat Rei had given her.

"You can thank Marvin for donating the raw material" she said, which earned a gasp from Serenity. But Rei just cut her off. "Don't be like that. You know his fleece will grow back soon enough."

Michiru offered her present after that, which was a breathtaking portrait of a coral reef. The detail and colors were quite exquisite. I got the distinct impression she'd based it on a real specimen on Neptune.

Haruka's gift was something quite different….a live animal. She brought out a bird cage containing what she said was a female Qiangniao bird. I'd heard of the species, but I'd never seen one. It was medium sized, with predominantly white feathers. The feathers on the edges of the wings and on the tail were a bright blue, and the tail feathers were long and ribbon-like. It immediately started moving around energetically, singing happily. Serenity hugged Haruka so hard I think Haruka nearly turned blue.

Setsuna's gift was somewhat simple. It was a new dog collar for Sirius. This one however, was inlaid with several gemstones. Serenity wasted no time in slipping it on Sirius and switching the tag. It looked quite good on him.

Queen Aphrodite's gift was a diamond hairpin in the shape of a lily. Serenity didn't want to undo her odangos, but I know it will look lovely in her hair. Luna and Artemis had gotten a joint gift, a book which made Serenity gasp with astonishment.

"Dream Isle?! But this isn't out yet."

"We talked the publisher into giving us an advance copy for you, after we explained how much you loved the author's work" said Artemis.

"And if you look inside, there's something else there too," added Luna.

Indeed, apparently the author of one of Serenity's favorite romance series had autographed the book, and wrote a message of thanks. Serenity gave Luna and Artemis another one of her near-suffocating hugs.

Queen Serenity gave the final present of the day, which turned out to be a pair of gold bracelets with lotus flower designs on them.

"These belonged to your grandparents, dear; a matched set. Lotus flowers were very special to them and they wore them as much as they wore their wedding rings. I know your grandmother would have wanted you to have them." Queen Serenity took one of them and put it in Serenity's right wrist. "And I know that one, day, when you find someone, you can give him the other. They would have loved you so much. I'm sorry they never got to see you."

That made Serenity start crying, and we gave her and her mother a bit of space for a while. My own heart melted at the gesture.

The party wound down, and all the outer princesses left early due to the travel time back. The five of us took to Serenity's suite for the remainder of our time. Sirius followed behind, and nestled into his own bed upon arrival. Once we settled in ourselves, I shared with Serenity and the others what I had found regarding the Karkinos tale.

When I'd finished, I found myself in a very tight hug courtesy of Serenity. I vaguely recall hearing Rei tell Serenity to let go of me "before her face ends up the same color as her hair", or something to that effect. I do wish she wouldn't hug that hard. Though I suppose I should be thankful she doesn't possess Makoto's strength. If she did, I think she might bruise ribs.

We chatted on into the afternoon for a long while after that, until Queen Aphrodite informed us that she and Mina had to leave for home. At that point, Makoto, Rei, and I decided it was time to head home as well. Serenity thanked me again for my efforts, and all of us for our gifts.

Now that I'm home, there is one question remaining on my mind. What should I do about Professor Pagoni and his treatment of others? I brought the matter up with father and mother.

"If he's really as bad as you say, then he's a detriment to the education process," said father.

"But his actions, though reprehensible, are not necessarily punishable," added mother.

I had to reluctantly agree. It was the crux of the entire problem. But then mother suggested something.

"Even if he's prone to keeping his explicit opinions to himself, there is the chance he might have done something he could be cited for."

That was true. Father agreed, and said he would have a talk with the head of the college about Pagoni.

"At the very least, perhaps we could find his assistant someone better to work for," he said.

Father went on to suggest that, since I did such an exemplary job, as he put it, that I should share my findings with Professor Pagoni.

"I'm sure he'd be delighted to let you present what you found to his class."

I wasn't entirely sure about it. It seemed…confrontational and I hadn't planned on that. But mother thought it was an excellent idea. She said Professor Pagoni needed to have his ego deflated. So that's what I'm going to do tomorrow. Father and mother already contacted the head of Sophia and got his approval, though they chose not to inform Professor Pagoni. He'll be in for a surprise then.

I'll need my rest for tomorrow, so I shall be retiring earlier than usual.

End of entry

Journal of Princess Ami Geminorum-Virginis

Volume #: 7

Entry # 16

Date: Wednesday, July 1st, Interplanetary Solar Year 11, 998

After thinking further on the idea, I find myself more comfortable with confronting Professor Pagoni. Thinking back on his attitude, how he's treated people like Adonia, and how he treated the history department, confronting him and deflating his ego seemed less unappealing.

I arrived at the university in time for one of Professor Pagoni's afternoon classes. It was a very large room, over a hundred students. Both Professor Pagoni and Adonia turned to look as I entered. Adonia didn't look much better than the last time I saw her, still possessing the same dark bags under her eyes.

"Princess Ami! What a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" said Pagoni.

I quickly informed him that I'd done some research into the Karkinos tale since our last visit, and due to the insistence of my parents, and under the approval of the president of the university, I was here to share my findings with him and his students. I gave him a letter from the president to provide further proof. I had picked it up before heading to Pagoni's classroom.

Although surprised, he quickly became eager to let me share. It took a few minutes, but I managed to set everything up on his projector system and get a microphone working so everyone could hear me.

On the way over, I'd gone over the order to do things in, the same way I had presented it to Serenity and the others. I shall provide a rough transcription of the events here.

Pagoni spoke first. "Class, do you know what story our esteemed princess is referring to? You will recall that part of your assigned reading was an article in which I tackled the subject." The class nodded, and I had to hold back a grimace. He seemed so pleased with himself for what was subpar research.

I cleared my throat before speaking. "I've been researching the truth behind the story. First of all, I looked into the existence of the various historical characters mentioned. Queen Serenity the First and her daughter are easily verified." I nodded to Adonia, who brought up the images of the various documents I'd cited. "Artemis too, was clearly real, considering the multiple accounts of her military exploits. You would agree Professor Pagoni?"

"Oh most certainly Your Highness."

"The Lyocans are also quite real. This footage here was taken of them in recent years." The class seemed mesmerized by the footage, and I didn't really blame them.

"All well and good Your Highness, but that doesn't exactly tell us the story has any merit" said Pagoni.

"Agreed, which is why my next step was investigating locations. I stared with the Moon crab habitat in the palace."

"Ah," said Pagoni as he turned to his students. "Class, if you'd been reading the article I gave you, then you'd know about this particular detail. Supposedly this habitat has been in existence since the date of the tale, the late fourth century. But as I stated in my article, the habitat has only existed for the last century."

"Actually Professor, that's not true at all."

Professor Pagoni turned away from the class to stare at me. "I beg your pardon?"

"I spoke with a senior member of the staff, and she informed me that the Moon crab habitat has only been open to the public for the last century. It has been in existence far longer."

"Really?" Pagoni seemed to stumble over the words. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a faint smile on Adonia's face.

"Yes. I was actually shown to the record room, an area restricted to the staff. There I found copies of records identifying every single Moon crab that ever existed. They were as meticulously catalogued as the family tree of Princess Serenity herself."

I had Adonia put up the scanned images of some of the records so everyone could see them. "The records go all the way back to the time of Queen Serenity the First. While the ones in the record room are more recent copies, the originals are stored in the palace archives."

The projector moved on to an image of the original records. "An examination of these documents shows them to be genuine."

"Well," said Professor Pagoni, still stumbling over his words. "It's not surprising you were allowed to access such materials, as opposed to myself. Being a princess has advantages I suppose."

"Actually, privilege had nothing to do with it. All I had to do was ask. The staff member I spoke to, and in fact the rest of the staff seemed more than happy to respond to my inquiries."

I heard a faint giggle from somewhere in the back of the classroom. Pagoni turned to glare in the general direction of the laughter. His face seemed a few shades redder.

"You have to admit Professor Pagoni, it is rather peculiar that such attention was paid to Moon crabs, isn't it?"

"I…suppose it is" he replied.

"I thought so as well. While visiting the museum, I happened upon something enlightening about Diane's character. It is tradition for each queen of the Moon to have a statue made in their likeness. All of them are in the national museum of Asimifaros. However, with respect to Queen Diane, there are two statues in storage."

"Oh?" replied Professor Pagoni.

"Yes. Both are basically identical except for one thing. The second statue features a Moon crab. According to the curator, Diane commissioned the artist to create the second statue. She apparently preferred the addition, though could not bring herself to get rid of the original. This indicates that she had a particular love of Moon crabs, if having one in the statue was so important to her."

"Is that one incident enough to make that sort of conclusion?" said Pagoni. I could tell I had his full attention now.

"Perhaps," I told him. "But Diane's love of Moon crabs can be considered quite true in light of other evidence I managed to uncover. Are you familiar with the excavation of a flooded town in the Jovian state of Thebe?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I…believe I heard mention of it. Please go on Your Highness."

I went on to explain to him the nature of the site, its age, and the discovery of the intact journals.

"That's quite an astounding find Princess Ami, but I don't see the relevance of it to your line of inquiry."

"The relevancy lies in the fact that it gave me the idea to see if anyone from Diane's time period might have employed the same preservation techniques. And, as I discovered, three diplomats of her time period used those same preservation techniques on their own personal journals, journals I found intact among their families."

"The ambassador to Venus at the time made specific mention of how Queen Diane often greeted her guests with a Moon crab on her shoulder. Furthermore, Diane seemed to have no problem with it being there, or with it moving about on her person. Do you think it very likely that someone who wasn't extremely comfortable with such creatures would have one on their shoulder so often, or freely allow it to crawl across their body?"

"Well, no."

"I inferred the same. From the Martian diplomat's journal, there were reports of that same sort of behavior. Furthermore, the author attested that Moon crabs freely roamed the halls of the palace, and that the staff allowed them to do so without a second thought."

"As for the diplomat from our own planet, not only did he also agree upon Diane greeting him with a Moon crab on her person, he also reported that she left him waiting for nearly an hour because she'd forgotten, and how she had been caring for a family of Moon crabs she kept in the palace. The palace servants he spoke to also reported that she spent a great deal of time there when not ruling. Based on this information, it is quite clear that Queen Diane did in fact have a strong affection for these creatures, which matches her character in the story."

Professor Pagoni seemed lost for words, but finally asked if any of the items that I'd mentioned could possibly be fake. I responded by informing him of the provenance of the museum's statue, and that while I had not performed a full series of examinations on the journals, the chance that they were forgeries was low.

"So, in summary, thus far it can be established that many of the principal characters of the story were real, historical figures, and that various things that resulted from the story's conclusion were also quite true, such as the Moon crab habitat and Diane's apparently love for the creatures."

"A most interesting discussion Princess Ami," said Professor Pagoni. "You've done quite well with your research. I see a bright future for you. I hope you can navigate your way out of the university well enough?" His tone was rushed.

"I wasn't finished Professor," I told him flatly.

"What?"

"I said that I wasn't done with reporting my findings."

Pagoni gave me a disbelieving expression. "I don't see what else you could possibly have found. I admit you found some….inaccuracies in my own findings."

By that point I'd started to lose my patience with him. "You're conclusions were wrong, Professor. Your research was sorely lacking. And your ultimate conclusions were also incorrect."

"Are you actually suggesting this inane piece of fiction is true?"

I chose not to respond to his question, and merely continued with my presentation. "While I was looking through the Lunar royal archives to verify the authenticity of the various documents I'd cited, I found something quite fascinating."

I had Adonia bring up the next picture. Professor Pagoni's face lost some of its color. I heard Adonia shout "No way!"

"This, as you can see, is a land deed written on June 25th, 380 ISY. This would have been the exact same date from the story. It was paid for by Princess Diane. You will also note the name of the person the deed is made out to."

"That's impossible," said Professor Pagoni.

"It's quite possible and quite real." I told him. I noticed Adonia still looking at the image with absolute fascination.

"I was assisted by a historian with training as a forensic document examiner. She confirmed that the paper and ink were genuine, as was the language, the signature of the official of the time, and Diane's signature. On top of that, the boundaries listed on it match exactly those of Cancri Beach, a park that is supposed to be the beach from the story."

Professor Pagoni was still standing there, silent, failing to form words. Adonia then spoke up. "So this is the deed from the story."

"Exactly."

"So do you think it's possible that Moon crabs might have been sentient at some point?"

"Ultimately I can't say yes or no, because there's nothing to go on that other than they aren't sentient now. However, there is one possible solution to that particular question. It could be possible that Karkinos was simply a homeless woman."

It was an idea which had occurred to me on the ride over. It can stand as nothing more than theory and speculation, since I don't have much by way of concrete evidence to back it up. But myths are often based on elements of truth. And the truth of the matter is that Diane as a person was interested in assisting no only orphans, as is often repeated in the story, but the homeless as well. As the research documents showed, she was quite passionate and organized.

I expressed as much to Adonia. Professor Pagoni still seemed to be stunned into silence, having sat down behind his desk, so she took over in leading the discussion in front of the class. She displayed an air of confidence that I think she'd been holding back. If it's any indication, she will make a fine educator.

"So you think it's possible that through some sequence of events, a woman with a connection to Moon crabs became one herself?" asked Adonia.

"It's certainly possible. After all, myths are often based in elements of truth. You merely have to find what's true and what was exaggerated."

"Well Your Highness, you certainly seem to have done that. There are so many elements to this story that are real that I'd say it can be concluded to be a true story and not a fabrication by a third party for political purposes." She turned to the students. "Class, this is something you should keep in mind when dealing with history. Don't be so quick to dismiss everything presented in front of you."

The students nodded, and I saw a few smiles on their faces. I wonder if perhaps they shared a dislike for Professor Pagoni. I'd believe it.

"Thank you Princess Ami for that most enlightening presentation. I think the class learned a great deal here."

I told Adonia it wasn't a problem, and she helped me pack my things before I left. The class was almost over at any rate, and I wanted to avoid the crowd. When I left, Professor Pagoni was still sitting at his desk, having moved into a full slump. I hope he didn't give Adonia any trouble after that.

I am at home now. Father and mother spoke to the head of the university, and are starting an investigation into his behavior. They told me they have every confidence it will bear fruit.

I also found a surprise waiting for me when I arrived home. Makoto had left me a gift. The large box she left had a card that read "I asked your parents and they thought you might like this."

Inside was a little dark brown Mercurian hare. A female hare at that, and fairly young, with light green eyes. Along with her came a cage and several basic care items, including several fat carrots.

So I suppose my quest for a pet is over. I have to admit, she is rather adorable. I have decided to name her Ostara. She seems to have a healthy appetite. I must make sure to get a proper collar for her tomorrow.

For now though, I'm quite tired from the events of today. I shall eat a quick dinner and then retire early. The past week has been quite tiring. But it's been good. All this was well worth the effort.

Still, the week isn't over yet. I mustn't forget that Professor Santorini's exam is still this Friday. So tomorrow will be filled with studying.

End of entry

Author's Notes

[1] Bubo: The pet owl of Queen Athena of Mercury. His species most resembled the Little owl. The Little owl in real life has been identified as the owl of the goddess Athena. The name "Bubo" is a reference to the film "Clash of the Titans" where it was the name of Athena's owl.

[2] Polidianoia: The name I gave to the capital city of Mercury. I am usually HORRIBLE at this sort of thing, but at one point when I was sort of bored, I figured, hey, why not give it a shot? I also don't want these things to be unpronounceable nonsense. So this name is a compound of the Greek words for city (poli) and intellect (dianoia), so it means "City of Intellect".

[3] Physically, this would be about 37-ish.

[4] Asimifaros: The Moon's capital city. Again, like with the name I came up with for Mercury's capital, this is a compound of two Greek words, silver (asimi) and beacon (faros) so the name means "Silver Beacon."

[5] For the first number, physically 18, and for the second, physically about 53 or so.

[6] Toposirini: The capital city of Venus. Like the others, this is a compound of Greek words. Specifically, topos (place of) and eirini (peace). So it means "Place of Peace".

[7] Kriovoski: The capital city of Mars. The city's name is supposed to mean "City of the Ram's Pasture". It is derived from the Greek "krios" meaning ram (referring to the Greek god Crius, though there is another word for ram) and the Greek "voski" meaning pasture.

[8] Jacob Mariner was a famous Mercurian-born architect that built, among other things, the royal palace. For this reason, the palace was often called "Mariner Castle".

[9] The moon of ancient Mercury. Yes, real-life Mercury has no moon, and neither does modern Mercury in this universe. But in this time period, it had one. The idea and name came from NASA. In 2012, as an April Fool's Day prank, NASA claimed to have found a moon of Mercury and proposed calling it Caduceus, even citing a picture from the MESSENGER spacecraft. "Caduceus" is the name of the herald staff carried by Hermes/Mercury, and sometimes the messenger goddess Iris. It is heavily associated with Hermes, and even the symbol for the planet Mercury is supposed to be a caduceus.

[10] Physically 18

[11] Princess Serenity's dog. Or to be more specific, one of her father's hunting dogs. Basically he looked like a Japanese Akita.

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