Act III: Stow Away

     It becomes another long boring day that Aritsune spends locked away in her room with
Chuuwa. She could go out to explore more of the Europan settlement, but she does not feel like
encountering Munenori.
     As the day draws to a close, she is happy for having a large breakfast, so now she does
not feel like dinner, and can avoid leaving her room. She watches the sun set for Europa through
her window. The orb of the sun looks slightly blurred through the great dome of the Europan
settlements. She soon finds her vision getting as blurring as the sun. Slowly she chooses to close
her eyes, falling asleep whilst staring out the window.
     At first, it is darkness. But slowly, her mind is filled with bright golden light. Her eyes
focus through the light and can see a great city. One, that to her, appears to be made of gold. She
is amazed by what she sees.
     She then begins to notice her own surroundings. She finds herself sitting on a throne, she
is empress. She is overcome with joy, but then she is suddenly dropped from the throne and back
into darkness. The golden city fades away. She cries out, "No!" She hears a loud flapping noise
and the sight of something flying towards her in the darkness. As it nears, she recognizes it as the
dragon from her previous dream. This time, she does not feel fear. 
     The dragon flies over her head and it starts circling around behind Aritsune. She turns
around to find Pluto and Charon. The dragon continues to circle them, but then it lands on
Charon. It lets out it's shrill growl and jumps off of Charon. It flies towards Aritsune again. This
time, it flies straight into her. 
     At that moment she snaps awake. It is the middle of the night. Chuuwa is asleep as has
now become usual. She walks over to the window. In the light of Jupiter's many moons, she
watches the late night laborers work. She sees two men, dressed for travel, leaving her building.
     One of the men removes his cap to show white hair that glistens in the moonlight.
Aritsune immediately knows that it is Kourou. She watches as he starts walking in the direction
of the docks. Aritsune remembers her dream and makes a sudden decision.
     "It's getting boring around here," she says to herself.
     She leaves the room in her clothes, because she never changed out of them before falling
asleep. She tries to quietly close her door as to not wake anyone up, but she finds that impossible
as the awakened Chuuwa has stuck his nose in the way.
     "Fine," Aritsune whispers to Chuuwa. "You can come too."
     Aritsune lets Chuuwa walk out, and closes the door behind him. The two exit the
building. Aritsune quickly catches up with Kourou. She stays hidden behind him, knowing he
would not want her out here at night.
     She follows him until he reaches the gate to his ship. He makes his identification
available to the computer. There is a loud beep, and the door opens. Kourou walks though the
doorway. The door begins to close.
     Aritsune whispers to Chuuwa with urgency, "Go!"
     Chuuwa transforms and then, quickly and rather silently, runs towards the door and
manages to get between the door and it's lock. Aritsune runs after him. She pushes the heavy
door open just enough to let Chuuwa and herself get through.
     They walk down the corridor towards the ship's hangar. Once there, Aritsune is happy to
find that they have not finished loading the ship with it's necessary supplies. Aritsune watches
the loaders finish. They leave and from within the ship, the cargo doors begin to slowly close.
Aritsune runs towards the ship and jumps in, Chuuwa close behind. The door closes, and they
are both safely hidden away in the ship.
     They feel a couple slight bumps s the ship's hangar doors open and the ship lifts off.
     Aritsune softly speaks to Chuuwa, "We're going to Charon, Chuuwa." The dog nuzzles
Aritsune's side, and she gives him a pat on the head. "Yup, going to Charon."
     The two are knocked around a little bit as the ship's main engines kick in, but they
survive with it.

     Aritsune feels the ship get locked in place. She waits around for a short while, before
leaving the cargo area. With Chuuwa trailing behind, she walks down the ship's hallway. She
finds the engine room's door open with a man sleeping in a chair. She continues on and finds the
doorway.
     "Lucky for us, most of those who were in this ship have already left."
     Aritsune gets the door open. She and Chuuwa leave the ship and reach the corridor. They
walk down, no identification is needed for exiting the corridor, and they make it through.
     "So, what do you want to do, Chuuwa?" Aritsune asks while letting her hand rest on the
dog's back. "I'm hungry."
     Chuuwa gives a small yelp of hunger.
     "That's right," Aritsune comments. "You did not have anything to eat yesterday. Poor
boy."
     Aritsune spots a nearby bar and decides she is willing to try it. She walks in with Chuuwa
at her side. She sits on a stool by the bar. She makes a small order. It arrives and she gives some
to Chuuwa. As she leans over to give some to him, the pendant that she is now wearing around
her neck dangles. A group of three men sitting next to her eye the pendant.
     "That's a pretty necklace you have young lady," one of the men say.
     "Thanks, and no, you can't have it," Aritsune responds coldly expecting that they want
something.
     "Now what makes you say that?" another asks.
     "We are not all bad," the third mentions.
     "Then what do you want?" Aritsune asks still untrusting.
     "We are just enthusiasts for interesting artifacts," the second one says. "Your necklace
looks like an interesting artifact."
     "Yes, it is," Aritsune responds.
     "Would it happen to be an isis?" the first one asks.
     Aritsune looks up from Chuuwa in surprise. "Yes, it is."
     "Oh boy," the third one comments, "This guy here is big on the isis."
     "Really?" Aritsune asks only half interested.
     "Yeah," the first one says. "There is a neat story behind it. Would you like to hear it?"
     "No," the other two comment, but Aritsune nods.
     "Well," the man begins. "There is an old temple near here, at the top of the side of the
crater on the east. No one is sure about it's origin. Our race has only been this far out into space
for at most three or four years. The best anyone has been able to come up with is that if it is of
human creation, then there was another past time when technology was great. Perhaps they could
have reached this area when Pluto passed near Earth, but the chances are unlikely."
     Aritsune leans over to give Chuuwa a little more, but continues to watch the man as he
continues. "It is said that there is a special isis that when placed in a certain area within the
temple, can unleash a great dragon."
     Aritsune snaps to complete attention and interest. "No one knows what the dragon can
do, but it is suspected that it can give someone great manipulative power to get whatever they
want."
     Aritsune thinks about how right now she wants nothing more than to be empress. She
wonders to herself about that thought, that she can even think of something else instead of
continuing to dwell on her lover's death like Akari.
     One of the men yawn. "Thanks for the story," says the other.
     "Yes, thank you," Aritsune earnestly says getting off the stool.
     "Nice to know at least someone appreciates my historical stories."
     The other two men laugh hysterically. Aritsune takes Chuuwa out of the bar with her,
leaving the men to their drunken arguments.
     "Do you think it is true, Chuuwa?" Aritsune asks the dog, and it just lets out a low growl.
"How would we even know of such a thing."
     Aritsune stares into the east at the ridge of the crater. She thinks to herself as she takes
the pendant in her hand, Do you think? Why not?
     She brings Chuuwa along as she starts off towards the ridge.
     This settlement has a dome placed over the top of the entire crater, going just past the
ridge. Aritsune and Chuuwa reach the ridge and start following a pathway created previously. It
takes them nearly three hours, but they find themselves outside of a temple. It appears almost
Aztecan in design, like a pyramid.
     "I guess this is it," she says as she makes her way with Chuuwa towards an opening in
the front.
     They walk through the opening and it is too dark to see. Aritsune lights it up with her
power. Holding the light bolt in her hand she walks with Chuuwa. Glancing around, she can see
many old markings along the wall.
     "I wonder what they mean," she says mostly to herself. 
     They walk for a good while when suddenly, Aritsune falls to her knees, one hand
clutching the pendant, the other still making sure she can see.
     With a grimace on her face, she pulls herself up with help from Chuuwa and the wall.
She thinks to herself, Why did that happen?
     She looks around the room and notices that she is no longer in the narrow hallway, but in
the middle of a circular room. She looks beneath her and sees a dark blue colored circle. She
does not know what to think, but she sees ahead of her another passageway.
     She walks into it. After awhile of walking, she can see light at the end of the hallway.
She continues towards. Upon reaching it, she realizes she has walked straight through the temple
and out the other side. She walks out with Chuuwa and stares at the temple.
     "I must have missed something Chuuwa, what is it?"
     Chuuwa stares at her with no answer. Then, Chuuwa barks at Aritsune. She stares at him
with question.
     "What is it boy?" she asks.
     Chuuwa stands up on his hind legs and places one of his front paws on the pendant.
Aritsune lets Chuuwa get off her and takes a close look at the pendant. It moves from shades of
light to dark blue. The dog can see the turning of the shades reflected in Aritsune's eyes.
     Suddenly, Aritsune drops to her knees again. This time, she does not quickly stand up.
With a pained expression on her face, a voice calls her in her head. It is of the man in the bar.
     "...there is a special isis that when placed in a certain area within the temple, can unleash
a great dragon."
     While still on her knees, Aritsune announces to herself, "A certain place."
     She stands up with newfound strength. Chuuwa stares up at her. He notices a new
coldness in her eyes that was not there before. Completely ignoring the dog, Aritsune walks into
the temple once again. Chuuwa follows faithfully behind.