Shattered Mirrors
I stand before the polished surface of a refractive reality,
Of the images before me, how do I make sense of these?
Shall I rise like the sun?
Shall I take the blazing sword offered me by the purple maiden of the alien dawn?
She, warrior of destruction, standing astride two epochs with her Silence Glaive at the ready,
Am I, the seasonable monarch, to be sacrificed or initiated?
I am king, or so she informs me. Sovereign of two eras; am I able to take on this mantle, this responsibility? Am I even worthy?
What of the shattered mirrors of time, and of the mistress thereof, one of emerald locks and mighty disposition, her sisters of the planets, those I am forever bound to in camaraderie with my dearest Serenity?
What of the darkness we must stand shoulder to shoulder to fight, what of the people of France, those I love and must defend, and their fate?
Endymion
Saturn, the senshi of destruction, had only one goal in mind this day; to be Hotaru, a typical young woman seeking solace within the peaceful confines of the forest. Of course, her secondary and more important assignment was to meet with Endymion and become his instructress. But for the moment at least anyway, contentment was her only emotion, inhaling the scent of the verdant terrain, far from the bloody streets of Paris France. Death and life would again dance and she would be the midpoint, mediating between the titanic forces of the past and future. Pluto and their fellow senshi would also return to awaken the fire within their earlier incarnation so they could meet the threat posed by the wicked and power crazed dark mage, Lord Morok. She was part of this new reality, alive and unfurling, a new reconstituted past. Sailor Saturn, was rewriting it.
It was high summer. The senshi of destruction found herself enmeshed within the spell of the forest, a spell she had no desire to break. In almost a daze, she glided through the foliage without a care in the world, breathing in the perfume of the countless species of fragrant flowers. Delighting in the singing of the many songbirds above in the vast canapé, her senses heightened by her resplendent surroundings, she hummed a tune she had learnt as a child but forgotten its name. Saturn would never dare say it, but she preferred the verdant richness of this era in Earth’s past to a planet laid waste by the great sleep and slowly regenerating. Oh, she thought it beautiful, but it was still opening its collective eyes, the petals, fronds and shoots getting reacquainted with the seasons within the new epoch that lay more than 1000 years into the distant future. But here in Earth’s past there was a lush, fragrant ecosystem teaming with life to explore and enjoy, so different to the newly awakening world back home in Crystal Tokyo. While here, Saturn would make a point of basking in its fecundity at every opportunity.
“Oh it is so tranquil here, I wish I could spend time in a place like this without having to be on some kind of mission. But as Mamoru and Usagi often say, ‘no rest for the wicked’ and I must be very wicked I think,” she said to the trees, and smirked, shrugging as she sent her Silence Glaive into its subspace pouch.
Saturn’s thoughts trailed back to earlier that morning. Stopping by the pool to bathe, she had stripped off, dove into the cool water, and gasped at the sensation as she resurfaced, laughing and splashing about like a little girl. Her only adornment was a silver chain around her hips with a time key attached, the device catching the light that felt so cool against her skin, her hair longer these days stuck to her scalp and her back. She had no concerns about being seen by anyone out here. The petite naked girl swam in the well-shaded pond as if she were a water sprite. Oh how she loved the sensation of the cool pure water on her body.
Floating on her back, a contented smile forming upon her lips, she watched the dragonflies hovering overhead as the narrow shafts of sunlight shone through their iridescent wings, casting prisms of color over her wet skin. She sighed in pleasure as the sounds of the birds and the other creatures of this natural heartland soothed her restless spirit.
Soon, dripping wet, she emerged, the warm breeze drying her off as she danced like a faery in a ballet, unencumbered by her fuku, and footwear. She spun, jumped, and laughed. Being Hotaru, a simple girl, letting go of her inhibitions reminded her of her husband back home. He was so gentle, and understanding of her obligations to Neo-Queen-Serenity, Endymion and the Crystal Kingdom.
Hotaru had brought a little boy and later, a girl into the world. Motherhood had agreed with her, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her. There she was, nubile and sexy, graceful and athletic, the petite princess of the planet Saturn, and yet, a woman-child, she was anything she wanted in that moment. Death was an old friend, a keeper of secrets, the guardian of life. Saturn longed to share her joy, as it had once eluded her, with others. But now that she had found it, the love of her purple flame, that burned deep within was the nexus between infinity and the realization and thrill of life anew, the child of this boundless circlet of existence, this, her legacy, her gift, no longer her curse.
She continued to dance even long after she had dried off and called her glaive to her hands, practiced her battle strategies and even engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a simulacrum she had summoned using her power. The silhouette pranced, parried, and met her blow for blow as she tested herself and was pleased with the results. As her sparring partner bowed and had vanished, she heard the whistling sound annunciating Pluto’s arrival. The emerald haired warrior, her bronzed body aglow with the afterglow of temporal magic greeted her friend.
“Wild child, better put on some clothes, we’ve got a little senshi business to take care of, and unless you wish to be discovered clad only in your birthday suit… he is riding this way and so…” she trailed off as Saturn poked out her tongue, and a lavender flash saw her fully dressed.
“Party pooper!” she giggled.
Endymion, upset that Serenity hadn’t been there to meet him decided he would go to his stables and return to speak with her Uncle Shaun and aunt Molly, and Margareta, Serenity’s former governess and adoptive aunt who spent more time with Sere these days given Molly and Shaun’s parental obligations with two sons and a daughter. After taking tea on the veranda, he stood and bowed as she too joined him as they strolled casually towards his mount.
“Thank you mademoiselle, I will be on my way now, good day to you…”
“And you too, Endymion, I am sorry I haven’t better tidings for you. But I will let you know the moment I hear from her, I assure you,” she said, handing him the note Serenity had left for him. Endymion slipped it unopened into a pocket within his travelling cloak, swung himself into the saddle of his horse, Midnight, and turning towards the hills, he rode off at a gallop through the gates of the stately manor leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.
Feeling the familiar sensation of the wind in his hair, the adrenalin pumping through his veins, he lost himself in the exhilaration of the ride as he swept into the low-lying hills. He rode at speed, chiefly to expiate his anger at the news he’d received on Serenity’s doorstep. She was in Paris, of all the places in the world not to be right now. He had hoped she’d have the good sense to be somewhere safe, somewhere far away from the strife in the capital. Apparently, she had arrived back home several months earlier from a Portuguese finishing school. He thought this odd, for Serenity was a lady, a princess, and brought up learning the finer things. But her aunt, Margareta Rivera had insisted she go for she would learn far more than she would on the estate and it was time she traveled a little. Serenity had visited several European countries, toured Asia and the subcontinent. She loved it all from what Margareta had told him. She had sent many letters, these were tied in a bundle, which she handed him once he had mounted his steed, and he thanked her and slipped the bundle into the same pocket where the other letter waited to be read. For now, he had to expiate his disappointment, rage and wounded pride. Endymion was young, and love was a cruel mistress to the sapling as he saw himself.
Margareta watched as the furious young man, who had struggled to check his rage, disappeared into the distance.
She looked to the two cats and sighed, “He will need all the help he can get,” she said, “especially as we cannot interfere at this point.”
“I know, Lady Mau; Pluto was most specific.”
“Isn’t she always, guys? Oh well, he will meet her in Paris soon enough.” She purred, her feline nature regaining the ascendency out of sight of humans.
“Yeah, and Saturn has gone ahead to meet him in the hills. Soon, Tuxedo Kamen, French style, will be helping the beleaguered citizens of Paris once again, but this time it is our own Serenity he will be helping!”
“You’re so dramatic Artemis, but correct as always…,” Luna said, as both the black and white cats assumed their humanoid forms.
Endymion had stopped by a small lake, fed by a stream that harkened from the nearby hills that prostrated themselves before the Alps. He loved exploring the countryside on horseback, was never disappointed, and had always found something unique and dazzling to the eye every time he came here. The greenery and color supporting the profusion of birdlife, animals, plants and insects brought a surge of love and contentment. The Earth itself seemed to be his throne, Endymion, its sovereign.
“Endy?” the girl’s voice rang out, sweet and strong, “How are you this fine day, I knew I would find you here,” she said, walking through the underbrush and emerging like a faery warrior, beautiful and yet there was a deadly timbre to her lavender aura that Endymion felt an affinity with.
“Greetings Saturn,” he said, slightly startled by her unexpected appearance as he tied Midnight’s reigns to a nearby tree branch and allowed him to graze.
“We have much to discuss, and a lot of work to do, but I must warn you though, it will be hard going. Up to the challenge?” she said, smiling up at the imposing figure of a young man, her king of future-past, “I will teach you, but I will also help you find the power of the Kinzuishou through your dreams. Trust me, you will be best prepared to assist Serenity once you’ve gained the power you need to awaken your primal magic that has been slumbering even before your life as king of your Terran Kingdom, and as king ruling alongside Serenity in the Crystal Kingdom to come.”
“I’m ready, and what is this about Sere? Is she in any danger, please, Saturn, I must know!” he said, taking her hands in his and looking at her with imploring eyes.
“Do as I ask, please, Endy, and she will be safe and no harm shall come to her. I cannot say anymore than that as we’re dealing with a matter of temporal laws, these are already compromised. I must stress a need to know basis for our relationship Endy. I am your guide, coach and confidant. I can only be of use to you and Sere if you take my advice and act on my instructions. If you deviate, even in the slightest, it would be as if you brought danger to Serenity yourself. I know that is definitely not your intention. So, do we have an agreement?”
“Yes, Saturn, we do, please…what, must I do?”
Endymion continued to visit Serenity in his dreams, these for the most part pleasant. He enjoyed reliving their time together on the estate, and of course, that kiss. She had always seemed so beautiful to him. If only he could make it real. Endymion looked forward to his dreams, thinking it a little sad that the only way to see her, at least for now, was through his dreams, but of late, they had begun to change. Feeling as if he were in an alternate reality as opposed to just your normal run of the mill dreams he was used to, it actually seemed as if he were living another life and perhaps he was.
These visions were indeed strange, beginning one hot summer’s night after he’d spent quality time at a theatrical presentation of his cousin’s stage production, an adaptation of a Shakespearean play; A Mid Summer’s Night Dream. At first, these were innocuous enough, but later became more frightening. It would take him most of the morning to shake off; on those days his friends would find him most disagreeable and leave him be until such time as he had overcome whatever it was that had made him so melancholy.
But this night Endymion had found himself in the dream standing at a counter, the furnishings were, not to mention his clothing, so strange. It seemed he was in some kind of food preparation house, the devices behind the tall blond haired man who called him by a name he did not recognize waved a hand over Endymion’s face, startling him.
“Mamoru, you okay buddy?”
“Huh? Oh, I-“
“Your customary cup of coffee monsieur …”
Endymion arched an eyebrow at the use of French when the man before him had spoken fluid Japanese. As his memory became clearer, Mamoru, he knew that name, it belonged to him. This place, made him feel safe and secure, but he had no idea why this was so. The interior, the street outside, and the curious carriages of steel with no horses drawing these along the street, and other things he had no frame of reference for began to soften at the edges as understanding and familiarity in an absurd way crept into his head, filling in the gaps. It felt like he was almost, ‘remembering’ these things although he had never encountered them in living memory, such as it was.
Endymion was resigned to the fact that along with his powers, the talking cats and those other experiences back home that all this was tied in somehow and he had to find out how and why.
‘What is going on here?’
This was an alien land, nothing like Paris or any place he had ever been, yet it was oddly familiar. Inexplicable, but he nodded and accepted the brew and sniffed its aromatic perfume. Finding the coffee to his liking, he drank.
He was only aware he wasn’t speaking French when he paused to think on it, it was Japanese, and he knew little of this tongue but here, in this dream he could speak it fluently. He knew the machines, as these were called: the coffee maker, the cook top, the gaming machines. He then saw a set of familiar faces as the bell rang as the girls shuffled inside, backpacks and bags over their shoulders. He recognized the raven-haired girl as Rei, then there was Makoto, Ami and Minako. They waved and he lifted his cup in greeting as the girls, all-speaking in a rapid fire exchange of gossip, complaints of study schedules and their latest forays into the field of love and life in general migrated to a nearby booth.
“Baka!” a young effervescent blonde girl with the oddest pigtails cried, slipping onto the stool beside him. He noticed also the women were wearing the strangest clothes, dresses so short, yet with the leggings, the hairstyles, and uniforms, these he thought must have been school uniforms had him doing a double take. Usagi, was the name that popped into his head. She was pretty, but he knew her as Serenity. She was younger though, her face, the pretty clothes, and the well proportioned figure and legs bared but for the stockings had him blushing. Noticing his reaction, Usagi’s eyes doubled in size, he turned to her again and smiled. “Hi Usagi-chan, forgive me, I had one of those how they say, ‘fading out moments’ I’m okay now,” he said, putting on his widest smile. She gaped at him. She looked shocked. “I’m sorry Usagi, did I say something wrong?”
“No Odango? You never use my real name, what’s gotten into you Chiba Mamoru?”
“Nothing, just my coffee Usagi, I don’t know what you mean about Odango, I call you that?”
“Now I know you’ve hit your head, or been possessed by spirits or aliens or something. Stop the joke, I didn’t come down with yesterday’s rain you know. You’re freaking me out, stop before I start believing you’re a nice guy.”
“But I am a nice guy, aren’t I? But…, I think if I haven’t been to you, I apologize, I must have been out of my mind and just woken up. You’re a sweet, caring, generous person, of heart and of action. I can’t explain it, but I don’t remember any-“
“That’s it, I’m out of here, sorry Mamoru, but I can’t handle this-“
Usagi was crying, but smiling, he was so confused as she gathered her things and ran out of the arcade and he rose in a swift movement and was about to follow when Motoki caught him by the arm. It was Andrew, he spun around and with a confused murmur said, “I upset her, but I-“
“Hey, its okay man, c’mon, here’s another coffee on the house. I have questions for you too, Mamoru. Since when have you not been a douchebag to her? I mean, I have told you again and again, Mamoru-kun...”
“You mean, I have upset Usagi many times, and I can’t remember. I don’t know what to say. What was the matter with me?”
“Man, you must have copped some all-mighty bump on the head, but I can tell you’re not faking it. Here, sit, eat and I’ll be back… got something for you out back that is equally weird… just don’t go way!”
Mamoru, puzzled, befuddled, being in two minds at once, was confused as he watched the man who was his friend in one life and his friend again in this one disappear behind a door. A few minutes later, he came back cradling a box in some sort of bag.
“Here you go, special delivery, one Chiba Mamoru.”
Mamoru lifted the box out of the bag, there was a piece of parchment stuck to the container that read, ‘greetings from 17th century France from your old friend, Morok.’
“I don’t understand. Who is this, Morok? I know nobody of that name.”
“Holy crap! The Sailor Soldiers are fighting that guy. You’ve not heard of Lord Morok, and what’s with the French stuff anyways?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I assure you, Motoki, I’m going to find out whatever it takes…” he said, frowning, “I got to make up with Usagi, here’s a note, please give it to her and tell her I need to see her, to apologize for everything.”
Motoki lifted an eyebrow, “Sure…” He watched Mamoru bundle the box under one arm, finish his coffee, wave at the girls, and head out the door and Motoki shook his head, “Whatever is going on here, I bet it’s complicated. When it comes to Mamoru-kun, it is just how it is, but I will help him and the girls in anyway I can…” he said in a low voice and returned to his work.
Paris
Endymion had returned to Paris, buoyed by his encounter with Saturn, and moved by his continuing dreams of Juuban Prefecture in Tokyo Japan several hundred years into the future. Although his anxiety for Serenity had heightened, there was no news of her, and all searches for her thus far had proven fruitless, so all he could do was hope as he swung into action. He was ready to become The Warrior of the Rose.
Most Parisians were eking out a meager existence as they fought a daily battle for survival. The streets were becoming evermore dangerous, especially at night. Endymion started his quest by handing out food hampers to poor families, delivering these in person, offering to pay their household debts and more besides. He and his friends sponsored the education of poorer children that in his view were brilliant and only needed a chance to blossom in a positive environment. He would take women and children out of unhappy homes, practically paying for their release from their parents or caregivers, and liberating them from dysfunctional surroundings. Endymion also placed orphans in better circumstances with people he knew would give them the love and security they so desperately needed, deserved, and take them as far from the troubled capital as he could. Fortunately, the majority of those families to whom he offered aid, were good folk struggling under the yoke of hard times caused by the extravagances of the crown. Endymion would send the children to schools around the countryside, pay for their tuition, find lodgings and offer them a lifestyle supported by his immense fortune. He wanted to show a more human face of the aristocracy. But feared it was too little too late, as the problems were so deep seated that even he with all his wealth and good fortune could only but scratch the surface. Even with help, including that of his closest friend, Andrew, they couldn’t do anywhere near enough to stem the tide.
It was frustrating watching helplessly as the country fell into anarchy. Bloody revolution now loomed like a veracious predator setting France on the brink of civil war, so he did what he could.
Seeing the writing on the wall, he had shifted much of his wealth out of France. At the Society of Frenchmen, he urged his fellow members to do the same. Most but for a handful of stubborn fools, as he called them, took his advice. He invested for the most part in trade, business and commerce of all kinds, and developing industries that were springing up everywhere abroad, particularly in Great Britain. He also opened arts schools in several countries and these fostered music and all forms of talent, modest establishments yes, but his good name insured patronage by the theatrical sets of Europe and many a young artist or musician, writers and the like found their niche.
However, as the political climate in Paris grew ever more menacing, Endymion decided to take more direct action and the Warrior Rose, after a little help from Saturn and his strange dreams, was born.
