She ran as fast as she possibly could. Running away from the high school full of jeering, snide teenagers. Running away from the people who tried their very hardest to make her life miserable. Running away from life.
As she ran, Saitoku Tansui thought about the previous events that lead to her running.
The day had started out normal enough. She had woken up in an empty home,her beloved father already out working at the hospital. She had run a brush through her slightly damp blue hair, put it back into its customary braid, which fell to the middle of her back, and headed out the door, carrying her armful of books. She arrived at school an hour early, just so she could study some more in the peaceful library full of books, instead of microdisks. At lunch break, she had sat in her own little rickety table, far in a dark corner, and ate as fast as possible so that she could use the rest of her lunch to look at the books in the library. Classes passed as normal, she answering all the questions in class, ignoring the whispers of "brain", and her ever favorite, "blueberry head." It was the last class, History, that had varied from normality.
The lesson had been about her favorite period in History of all, the Crystal Millennium, although she also loved learning about the ancient Silver Millennium. Saitoku had studied everything she could lay her hands on about the Crystal Millennium, and the Queens and King that ruled it.
"Today, class, you are going to learn about the myth of the Crystal Millennium. Many scientists say that although the myth of the Crystal Millennium cannot be disproved, it is not very likely that a Crystal Tokyo, a Neo-Queen Serenity, a King Endymion, a Neo-Princess Serenity, or warriors name the Sailor Senshi, ever existed. However..." the teacher had been about to go on, when Saitoku raised her hand.
"Yes, Ms. Tansui?"
"It is actually very likely that the Crystal Millennium existed, Mr. Gishi. I have researched Crystal Tokyo and the everyone who ruled over it, and the planets, and I have come to the conclusion that the Crystal Millennium existed, though I am not sure how exactly it was ended."
"That is a very interesting theory, Ms. Tansui, but I'm afraid that I cannot agree with you. The very thought that an Imperial Silver Crystal, or a whole evil race called the Negaverse ever existed is utterly ridiculous. You know, that gives me a great idea for a homework assignment! I want everyone to write a ten page paper on why the Crystal Millennium could not have happened, due tomorrow. You may use the rest of the class period to do research."
"Yes, Mr. Gishi." The class had said, all glaring at Saitoku.
After the class, she had been about to leave school to go to the hospital to see her father, when she was surrounded by the students in her History class.
"Hey, Blueberry! What's up with interrupting class again?"
"Why can't you just keep your big mouth shut?"
"Don't you ever learn? Mr. Gishi always gives us huge homework assignments when you argue with him!"
"You're going to get it, Brain!"
Saitoku had seen the sincerity in all of their eyes, and she had actually feared for her life, which is why she was now currently running with all her might.
When she felt she could run no longer, she stopped, and fell to her hands and knees, breathing hard. When she could finally breath normally again, she stood up shakily, and looked at her surroundings.
She saw that she was deep in the ancient cemetery that no one was buried in any longer, and no one ever visited. She vaguely remembered using the knarled vines that intertwined with each other over the face of the wall to help herself up and over the cemetery walls.
Saitoku decided to explore her surroundings, which was not a very easy task. The whole cemetery was overgrown with tall grass and weeds, so much so that the headstones were impossible to find, until she either ran into them, or she stumbled over them.
She had not been walking for very long when she ran into an exceptionally tall headstone, or at least she thought it was a headstone. Upon further inspection, she figured out that it was actually a wall. She decided to follow it, hoping that she might be able to find a way out, but instead of going in a straight line, it went around in a fairly large circle. She went back around, but this time she searched for an entrance way, and she was rewarded by finding a large wooden door. She found a door handle, but when she pulled at it, it crumbled away into a rusty dust at her feet. Not to be discouraged, Saitoku looked over the wall carefully towards the bottom, hoping to find a crack in the ancient mortar large enough for her to fit through. She was rewarded when she got to the back of the circular wall.
After moving aside some vines, she slipped inside, not sure of what she would find, but feeling, somehow, deep within her heart, that whatever was in there, would change her life forever.
Saitoku gasped as she looked at her new surroundings.
The tall walls reached up far into the sky above her, ending in a curve. She was sure that at one time there had been a ceiling to continue on, but now there was nothing to keep the weather out of the building.
A rainbow of flowery vines spread out over the walls, ground, and over a large object in the middle of the building.
Saitoku started walking towards the object, but came to a stop when her leg bumped into something, leaving a growing bruise on her shin. She stopped to clear away the vines, and when she was done, she found a white marble seat, worn from a thousand years of rain and snow, sun and wind. Saitoku continued on towards the object in the middle of the room, and, starting at the left end, she worked hard to clear away the vines.
Half-an-hour later she was finished. She stepped back to take in what it was that she was looking at.
The object was a statue made out of marble, and, like the seat, all the details were worn away. She could, however, make out that there were eleven figures. The one in the middle had wings on its back, and what looked like snakes on its head, as did the figure to the right of it. The figure to the left of the middle figure was the tallest of them all, and decidingly male, as the rest appeared to be female. On either side of the three middle figures were four figures, all of varying height, some with unrecognizable objects in their hands.
Saitoku sat down on the bench, staring at the statue. There was something tickling her in the back of her mind. She knew that, for some reason or other, she should know who the figures were in the statue, and what the building was for. She thought long and hard, and finally it came to her. She knew what the building was: the crypt of the King and Queens of the Crystal Millennium!
It took a few minutes for her new found information to seep in. It really was hard to believe that after almost exactly two thousand years, she, Saitoku, was the one to find the proof that the Crystal Millennium had actually happened. It was even harder to believe that the proof had been hidden in the middle of Tokyo, and no one had ever known about it. If she thought about it, though, it wasn't to hard to figure out that little by little, as the years went by, the brave warriors final resting place was forgotten. People decide to just live in the present and forget about the past, and eventually, the facts receded into myths, the heroes became fairy tales, and the people who knew the truth, died out. But now she knew the truth, and she had no idea what to do with it.
An hour later, Saitoku decided that she should probably go home, since the brilliant purples and pinks of sunset were developing in the sky. Before she could rise; however, she heard a noise by the crack in the wall where she had entered. As quietly as possible, she hid behind the bench, just in time to see three cats walk into the building. There was a white, a black, and a gray cat, and all had shiny golden crescent moons prominent on their foreheads. The cats walked over to the statue, and each leaped a great leap and landed on the shoulder of a different figure. The black and gray cats settled down on the figures which had to be Neo-Queen Serenity and Neo-Princess Serenity. The white cat curled around the neck of one of the faded figures of a Sailor Senshi.
After ten minutes, Saitoku's knees began to ache, and she decided it was time to make herself known, so she stood up, and cleared her throat. She tried but failed to repress a laugh as all three cats fell off their perches in fright.
"I am terribly sorry that I disturbed you. I am Saitoku Tansui, and I know that this is where the Sailor Senshi and the Royal Family of the Crystal Millennium are buried. I also know that you are the Moon Cats Luna, Artemis and Diana."
After jumping back up onto the shoulders of the figures, the three cats stared at Saitoku.
"Oh! Do not be afraid. I will not tell anyone about this place. It would be disastrous if the wrong people found this place."
Still, the three cats stared at Saitoku.
"If you do not want to talk to me, that is all right. I will be leaving now."
The three cats looked at each other, and nodded.
"They are not buried here." Luna said.
"Huh?" Saitoku said, because even though she knew the cats could talk, it was just not an everyday occurrence to have a cat talking to you.
"They are not buried here. Oh, their bones are, for sure, but the important part, their soul, is not buried here." Diana elaborated.
"Their souls? Well, of course they are not buried here, their souls moved on." Saitoku said.
"Oh yes, they moved on, but not to any nether world." Artemis said vaguely.
Saitoku thought about this for a moment.
"Do you mean to say, that the souls moved on to be reborn, so that the Sailor Senshi and the Royal Family will live again?"
"Something like that. Don't you people know anything about the lasts days of Crystal Millennium?" Diana said exasperated.
"No, I am sorry to say that we really don't. The story was lost long ago, when everyone stopped believing. But I would like to know the story, if you would be willing to tell it to me."
"It is getting late, Saitoku. You should go home. Meet us here tomorrow after you are done with school and we shall tell you all about it. Bring no one with you."
"I will see you tomorrow, and don't worry, I have no one to bring with me."
Before the cats could question her, Saitoku was gone, slipping out into the night.
"Mama, is it just me, or did Saitoku..."
"Yes, Diana, she did. Now get to sleep, it will be a tough day tomorrow, dredging up all of those old memories."
"Yes, get some sleep. And who knows, maybe tomorrow will be the start of a whole new era."
Luna, for one, was inclined to agree.
The following day dragged on slowly for Saitoku, which was very rare. Usually she enjoyed school so much, that the time went way to quickly for her liking, but on this day, she was far to excited to finally learn about how the Crystal Millennium was ended to concentrate. The whole day she was quiet and fidgety in class, which concerned her teachers. She did not answer any questions in class, nor did she start any debates with her teachers. Everyone pretty much ignored her all day, for once, until History, her last hour.
She was, as usual, the first person in her class. As everyone else filed in, they glared at her, some with annoyance, one with pure hate.
Saka Kontan was the school bully. Everyone stayed away from her, except her group of friends, who were all as weird as her. Saka rebelled against the system everyday, wearing a purposely tattered uniform to school instead of the required clean, pressed uniform. Her hair was golden blonde, short and spiky. She was not a girl to mess with. She acted like she had no heart, being cruel and degrading to anyone and everyone she met, especially Saitoku.
"Thanks a lot, Blueberry. It took me two hours to do that paper last night." Saka hissed in her ear as she passed by.
"Good afternoon class."
"Good afternoon Mr. Gishi."
"Now, would you please turn in your reports about why the Crystal Millennium could not have happened." He watched as everyone got out their minidisks and handed them forward, everyone, that is, except Saitoku.
"Ms. Tansui, did you do your assignment last night."
"No, Mr. Gishi, I did not." Saitoku said.
"And pray tell, why not?"
"You asked us to write a ten page paper on why it is not possible that the Crystal Millennium actually happened. Well, since the Crystal Millennium did happened, I could not write the paper."
"Oh, really? And did you suddenly come up overnight with some convincing evidence that the Crystal Millennium happened?" Mr. Gishi challenged.
Saitoku opened her mouth and then immediately closed it. Mr. Gishi took that as a no.
"Well then, Ms. Tansui, I'm afraid I will have to give you after school detention for not doing your homework. You will stay an extra hour after class, and you will write that paper."
"Yes, Mr. Gishi." Saitoku said, groaning inwardly. This would delay her, and the cats might not like waiting that whole time.
For a moment she had been tempted to tell him about finding the graves of the Sailor Senshi and the Royal Family, but she knew that that would have been a terrible mistake, and besides, she liked keeping the secret to herself.
The hour dragged by slowly, and the whole while, unbeknownst to Mr. Gishi, she was writing a paper on why it was probable that the Crystal Millennium had actually happened. She knew Mr. Gishi would be angry, but she did not care. There was no way she would forsake the memories of the brave warriors like that.
Exactly an hour after school ended, Saitoku jumped up, put the paper on Mr. Gishi's desk, and ran out of the room without even a good-bye. She continued running until the reached the cemetery, and then, with a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, she climbed the wall, and set out towards the building. She arrived five minutes later, and slipped quietly through the crack.
"Sorry I am late." She said loudly, and again she woke up the cats, but this time they managed to stay on the shoulders of the figures.
"You are late." Luna said simply.
"I'm sorry, but I had detention."
"Detention? I didn't take you to be the kind of girl who would get a detention." Artemis said, holding back a laugh.
"I didn't do my homework in History. We were supposed to write a paper on why it isn't possible that there was a Crystal Millennium. I refused to write it, so I got in trouble."
"Well, that's an honorable detention then." Diana said.
"I don't mean to rush you, but you did promise you would tell me about the fall of Crystal Tokyo."
"Of course, of course. Sit down and get comfortable, for this is going to be a long story." Luna said, and so Saitoku took her advice and sat in the soft grass at the base of the statue, ready to finally learn about her lifelong passion.
Luna cleared her throat, ready to begin, but Diana interrupted her.
"Mama, may I please begin telling the story? Afterall, I was there at the beginning of the Fall."
"Of course Diana, of course. I'll take over when you are done telling your part."
As Saitoku listened to the cats talk, she could see the end in her mind, almost as if she had been there....
