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Letters From Serenity
Chapter Ten:
Refractions of the Past
~Tokyo Rabbit
~*~
Stepping forward on shaky legs, I groaned out in desperation. There it was, Neo-Queen Serenity's mirror. The very thing I was looking for but instead of being elated beyond reason, I was agitated to no ends. Running my shaking hands through my hair as much as my golden braid could allow, I sunk to my knees, "ARRG!"
Angry tears sprung to my eyes as my palms came in hard contact with the floor, "Why?! Why me?! Why can't you just let me be and solve this thing on my own?!"
This is what they wanted me to find, just as they had wanted me to find the box. That's what all this was about: what they wanted. I was their puppet to play with at the slightest whim. I was sick and tired of it. Was I not Dr. Serene Lemuria, the youngest and best in my field of archeology? Could I not figure this out on my own or was I so below that that the spirits of the castle felt it necessary to taunt me and tease me with only a fraction of the truth. Well, whatever the case I knew they were getting their kicks.
Wiping my irate tears from my eyes I froze when I felt a specific pressure on my shoulder. Slowly looking up, I barely made out the figure of someone standing behind me in the unbelievable dusty mirror. Turning in a somewhat snappish way, I blinked several times but found no one behind me. Looking back in the mirror I still saw the silhouette.
Removing my faded black bag from my shoulders, I dug inside and found my handkerchief and began to hesitantly wipe away the impossible layers of dust from the reflective surface. Slowly but surely and with a little bit of frantic elbow grease, I saw my reflection and the silhouette turned vision. It was Neo-Queen Serenity and the pressure I felt on my shoulder was her hand. Once more I turned to be greeted by nothing but the wooden door from which I came.
The anger and fear that had been coursing through my veins only moments before drained rapidly, taking my energy with it. Gazing exhaustedly at my reflection I breathed, "Why?"
The concern etched in the solid seeming figure's face only deepened and spread into a sympathetic smile as the pressure on my left shoulder tightened as the vision squeezed my reflection's. With her other hand she pointed down at my bag. Curiosity sparked once again as I looked down at the bag to see several letters spilling out from my ravenous search earlier. Picking up one of the envelopes, I pulled the heavy, aged letter from inside to look it over. Holding it up, I gave her a questioning look. Was that what this was all about? The letters? She smiled and nodded in agreement.
Looking the letter over it remained the same as it had ever been: unreadable. I didn't understand; why was this mirror so important and why was Serenity pointing to the letters she most likely had authored during her rein as High Queen? Raising my head to ask the reflection, my eyes widened in surprise as the image had changed. No longer did I see myself on my knees looking over the ancient paper with Serenity silently sympathizing with me, what I saw was something that struck fear and panic.
I was now staring into a black void that seemed fathomless and surreal but that was only half of what was making me shake violently in horror-- there was a hand reaching out of the void towards me. I made one move to haul for the door and in the most unnatural way possible, the pale hand snapped out as quick as thunder strikes, grabbed the collar of my black tank top and heaved me with sickening ease into the void.
~*~
My body felt light as a feather.... Listless revere took my mind hostage as I surrendered to the darkness around me. It pulled me in, encompassing me with strange warmth. Such peace.... I could stay here for eternity....
'Serene....'
I silently agreed with the voice. Such serenity....
'Serene, open your eyes....'
That's when I realized that my newly arrived companion wasn't talking about the void's peacefulness, but was calling me. Opening my eyes slowly, I looked around to find nothing but darkness, which surprised me none. I don't think anything could shock me at that point for I was relaxed beyond relaxed; not even the faint blue light forming before me stirred any inkling of astonishment. Watching with mild interest, through half closed eyes I saw the light grow into a woman.
My first impression when I saw her was water. Spilling down in drizzling strands she had incredibly long hair that was the color of spring water, her eyes that were watching me with slight amusement reminded me of the ocean, her skin was the color of pale porcelain submerged in--you guessed it--water, and she wore a Sailor uniform whose colors consisted of shades of the torrent rains that often pelted the Earth late at night.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" I asked softly, not really caring what the answer was.
'I am Sailor Anemone, and I have been watching over you,' the mystery woman said.
This statement was rewarded by a snort. Watching over me? Was she watching over me when I was near a cataclysmic health break down? Or when the thorns ripped my hand apart? Or when my father died?!
"Go away and let me be for I have no interest in you, Sailor Anemone," I said quietly, letting my eyes close blissfully.
'Oh really? I think not, for the curiosity in your heart burns too bright to be extinguished. Even by this paradox's serenity. I have been watching over you, calculating your every move and waiting until the very moment when I could reveal the secrets of her Majesty's diary to you.'
Okay, this did get my attention. Despite the near overwhelming desire to close my eyes for an eternity, I looked at Anemone with open doubt. When she saw this, she smirked at me knowingly and raising her hand. Several other blue lights began to appear and form objects. I had focus on the Soldier after a while because the glowing lights were swirling at such an alarming rate and in such an unnatural way that my stomach protested that if I watched any longer that I would be sorry. Finally, the lights froze as if time had stopped in that instant. Looking all around me, I saw the familiar characters that were written in the letters surround Anemone and me. They were everywhere.
'Something I must bring to your attention Serene before I break open the lock upon this script: this void. Do you remember hearing as a child of a fabled mirror that if looked into on a full moon, one's soul would be stolen by a dark queen who resided inside?' Sailor Anemone asked.
Memory sparked something and flared. I saw myself sitting in my father's lap late one night. His kind brown eyes shinning down at me as he told me of a dark queen who had followed Queen Selenity, Neo-Queen Serenity's mother, to the Moon and waited in the shadows until the most opportune time. She threatened the Queen and her infant child with a curse. The Good Queen, using the Imperial Crystal, banished the Dark Queen into a mirror that was to be a gift, sentencing her to a cold void. Often when the Queen sat in front of the mirror, brushing her long silver hair, a shadow would quickly pass by and the monarch would frown, once again reminded of the curse upon her daughter.
My father had chuckled when I shivered as he told me that it was unwise to gaze into a mirror for too long for there still was that darkness lurking on the other side, waiting for vanity to lull one into the silent revere of eternity. It was a fable, a mere ghost story to frighten me.
I nodded slowly.
'If you have studied your history as well as I know you to have, then you would have realized the similarity to your father's story to the Queen of the Dead Moon, Nehelenia. This is her oblivion, her prison where Queen Selenity locked her away. You may not see the reasoning behind my telling you this at this point in time, but let me tell you something that you must carry with you always: everything happens for a reason.'
Here I was floating in Nehelenia's void and all she had to say to me was 'everything happens for a reason?!' That was something mothers told their daughters when they had a back break up or when something tragic happened.
'I brought you here, Serene, so I could show you the key to Neo-Queen Serenity's letters. And so I shall.' With a snap of Anemone's fingers, the blue glyphs shattered and reformed into letters... into words! Readable words!
'Her Majesty gave me charge over the castle and any and all information leading to the Royal Family. I am the one whose songs haunts you at night, blocks you from entering the rest of the castle, and the one who creates the storms at night.'
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TR- Bum bum bum! The letters are solved! I'm sorry it took so
long to get this out! Forgive me! And your reactions to my little
joke were priceless. Too hilarious. I love you guys!
10-27-03
Unedited