The Andromeda Sagas ~ Discovery Chapter 7
The house was all but dark as the two approached, but a pale orange flickering against the wall told them that the hearth fire was still burning. Kage pushed the door open and he and Urei went in and saw their father sitting in a chair before the fire. Junsui turned at the sound of the opening door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Urei. "Thank the gods," he said,"you found her." Junsui got up and enfolded Urei in a big hug. Then he backed away, leaving his hands on her shoulders. "Urei," he said, softly but seriously,"you're right. Your mother had no right to ask that of you, and I will not allow her to force you into anything that you do not want to do." Urei smiled gratefully and hugged her father again. "Thank you Papa," she whispered. Then they seperated, and Kage asked,"Where is Mother?" Junsui sighed heavily and said, "She's sleeping. She'll be leaving again tomorrow morning." He looked at his children and asked,"Will you be here to see her off?" Kage nodded, and Urei said,"I suppose it's the least we could do." Junsui nodded in agreement, then said,"Well, I'm going to bed. I'll see you two in the morning." "Good night Father," Kage and Urei said in unison, then followed suit and retreated to their own rooms for the night.
Urei awoke bright and early, dressing quickly and going to the henhouse to gather the fresh eggs for breakfast. It was Kage's turn to cook this morning, but Urei would probably end up helping him once again. No matter how hard she and her father had tried to teach him, Kage was still an awful cook. Turning to head back into the house, Urei was surprised to see her mother right in front of her. With an awkward but polite "Good morning," Urei greeted her mother. Urei started for the house again, but Kenmei placed her hand on Urei's arm and implored,"Urei, please, could I speak to you for a minute?" Visibly stiffening, Urei replied,"I think we've talked enough Mother, and I'd rather not repeat yesterday's incident." Urei pulled away from her mother and stalked back down the yard, and she had almost reached the door when she heard the sounds of laughter behind her. Angry now, she turned to see her mother holding her sides and laughing almost hysterically. "Are you laughing at me?" Urei demanded. She waited while her mother wiped a few stray tears from her face and regained her composure. "I was laughing at the way you sounded just then. You would play the role of princess so well," Kenmei said, giggling. Growing serious, she added,"But you also sounded like me, when I found out from my mother what I was supposed to do. But that is not what I came out her to talk to you about. I wanted to apologize for the way I told you about your position. I am not sorry, however, that I asked you to help Princess Serenity. I would go myself, but I have to stay here and protect this planet." "What is so special about this Princess Serenity, and Earth, that someone has to go there and help her protect it? And how do you even know that this "evil" will go there?" Urei asked. "I don't know that the evil being will go there. I can only assume that it will, because the princess holds a very powerful crystal, and evil beings before have tried to possess it to use to their own ends. There is that, and there is a debt that this planet owes to the Moon Kingdom. I had a chance to repay it once, but I did not arrive in time," Kenmei said, as she grew sad again, and her eyes filled with tears. Clearing her throat, Kenmei said, "But that is a story for another day.
The sun was rising, and Urei began to feel very warm and she heard a faint buzzing sound, like a swarm of bees. It was annoying, but tolerable, and besides, she still had some questions for her mother. "What kind of debt do we owe? What happened?" Kenmei appeared to be distracted for a moment, but then she focused on the conversation yet again. "Thousands of years ago," she began,"before the creation of the races of man, and the evil races, before even the elves, the fairies were the only creatures on Ansalon. The evil god Chaos was angry that his children, the gods of Ansalon, had presumed to create this world. He considered himself the only one who was worthy of the ability to create, but also to destroy. To spite his children he came to Ansalon to destoy our world. The fairies sent out a cry for help across the galaxy, and many senshi did come to our aid, but Chaos was too strong. It seemed that the last days were upon us." Urei absently pulled at her plain cotton tunic, feeling uncomfortably warmer. The buzzing in her ears became louder, and Urei stepped closer to Kenmei so that she could hear better. Kenmei frowned, but continued. "Then, finally, a woman appeared. She was Queen Serenity XIV, ruler of the Moon Kingdom. With her Silver Imperium Crystal, she sealed Chaos, saving our planet, and the rest of the galaxy, from utter destruction." The buzzing was becoming unbearable, so much so that Urei began to wonder if the sound wasn't in her head after all. "Do you hear anything?" she asked Kenmei, rubbing her ears in the hopes that the sound would diminish. Kenmei's eyes widened. "You hear it?" she demanded. "You hear that noise?" "Yes," Urei complained, "what is it?" Suddenly the buzzing became amplified and more clear, and Urei realized that it wasn't a buzzing at all, but the sounds of innumerable screams. She felt like she was on fire, and her head seemed to explode with pain, and suddenly Urei could see flames everywhere, and people running, and screaming as the ground below them broke up and some of them fell into the cracks of the earth. Urei shielded her eyes, and the temperature seemed to drop. She looked again, and saw that she was floating high above the burning planet, when a bright light engulfed her, and the screams became even worse, then stopped. When she looked again, the planet was gone, and only burning chunks of rock were spread all around where the beautiful planet had been only moments before. Urei's eyes widened in horror and disbelief just before she fainted.
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