Usagi was lost in shaded dreams. A thick white fog drifted in and crept over the gray ground she stood on, bringing shadows and dark pockets of space. It faded as suddenly as it came in and in its wake a gilded mirror sat on a small spire of crystal. Pluto's Mirror, a little known object that allows cross-dimensional travel to all beings and it was also known as the Bearer of Prophetic Dreams.
Usagi, knowing already what kind of dream this was, stood before the mirror and just gazed contentedly as she calmed her inner thoughtd with a soft chant and the words of activation leapt forth like a koi on the stillness of a pond.
Bursting from her glistening lips, the incantation carried the weight of Self and the weight of What Could Be.
::Times of long forgotten olde
Tales of people marked with gold
The future spade of royalty dear
No unity comes without the fear
Price to be paid and marked as sold
Show the knowledge of the last marked with gold::
Usagi's reflection grew taller and changed shape, lines deepening and curves filling her slender form out. Blue eyes grew darker with the weight of the worlds and the tilt of her chin lifted a notch. It was Neo-Queen Serenity, future self of Tsukino Usagi.
She beckoned to Usagi and she was drawn forth to look through the eyes of the Queen. Gilded halls and the labor of birth, two children in her sweaty arms, one fair headed and the other with dark locks. Each bearing a silver eight pointed star and each with deep blue and gray eyes. Whispers and promises filled Usagi's mind like a rushing river, slowing only when the next scene lept forth.
Her outlook suddenly changed to the Neo-Queen in the arms of her lover, a man with long black hair and eyes like the stars of space, ones you could lose yourself in. And as Serenity arched her back and cried out in ecstasy, Usagi did just that. Satin sheets slick with sweat and a dark room lit with a silvery glow showed the truth to the unbelieving eyes and stunned mind of the female vision who felt like she was intruding into a very intimate moment.
Serenity...Seiya...
Then she understood the meaning of how heavy the price of knowing the future.
Usagi looked closer, hoping against hope that she was wrong, that her lover and King wouldn't be Seiya. Yet the mirror refused to divert from its path. The images faded and Usagi slumped to the ground, drained and depressed.
::Why?:: Usagi sobbed. ::Why this future? Why this new path?!::
The mirror traveled to another point in time and showed a increasingly vague image. Usagi knew this was the mirror's way of trying to tell her she wasn't ready, yet she still threw her powers into the image, since this was the last hope she had left.
"Focus you Kami forsaken mirror!" she hoarsely whispered. Draining more of her powers into the dream, she tried to keep the image from leaving her. But she couldn't see. She grabbed hold but couldn't hang on...
Then for a split second, she saw the image, the scene forever etched into the deepest corners of Usagi's subconcious memory, where it would tease and taunt until oblivion overcame it.
The death...Usagi's death.
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