Welcome to Gaia! ::

When had Erytheia first noticed them?

For the starseeds, the answer was quite simple. He’d found one on his first visit back to his wonder after the Star Mount Beacon had activated. It had just been floating there, plain as day. As if finding a starseed on Erytheia was the most natural thing in the world.

Well, at least according to his ancestor Yuki, it was.

Yuki had told him what the purpose of his wonder was a long time ago now. It was a resting place for starseeds on their journey back to the Galaxy Cauldron. It was one of the last stops, too. Yet even the ghost couldn’t tell him where Erytheia was in comparison to it.

But the emphasis had always been just that — was.

And that’s what brought him to the Moon Wells. They had actually been one of the first things he had found on his wonder, he had just not known it at the time. There had been little torii gates spread about the vastness of the windswept wonder, most in a state of ruin. Perhaps that is why he had never noticed what they were actually for.

It wasn’t until life returned back to his wonder that the water did, too.

———

Erytheia spared no time in bringing his charge straight to the source. What was seen by Selinur was a similar scene that he’d shown the others. Except with one main difference.

Each Moon Well had a torii gate, a stone circle and a crystal clear pool of water. Each varied in their own way, but they were all instantly recognizable. It was almost as if by design.

But there was a glowing light at the center, hovering just over the pool.

The light was green.

“Ever since the Beacon lit after placing the Code Piece inside, these have been appearing at Moon Wells all over Erytheia.”

And as you approached the edge of the rippling pool, you could see now what it was.

A starseed.

“I need your help guiding this starseed back home.”




✪

“Yes. The Galaxy Cauldron is its first and final home. All starseeds must return there after they have lived their mortal life, no matter the planet where their life was lived.”

Erytheia was certain Selinur knew more than most — having lived also so very long ago.

“Cosmos has tasked her knights with assuring they are safe on their journey. This wonder is a resting place for those starseeds who may yet need more time to grow before embracing the cycle of rebirth.”

The green starseed didn’t move and it barely even glowed.

“Touching it is fine. Just be gentle. Especially with this one.”


✪

Erytheia nodded. Selinur’s people must be waiting for him at the Cauldron. Or, could some of them have been reborn? The interworkings of the Galaxy Cauldron — and even Cosmos herself — was kept even from its appointed knights.

“I’m not sure. This one has shown me nothing. Perhaps it will show you.”

His amber eyes watched closely as Selinur reached out to touch the starseed. When he did, a ripple ran through the water like a wind through fresh grass.

A vision appeared in the reflection of the water. It seemed to show a scene of a planet with two suns that were just barely visible above the horizon. The light shined on a barren landscape. Dust covered the ground and a single tumbleweed rolled.

A young girl in a dress chased the weed.


✪

“Yes. It seems the Moon Wells on Erytheia allow them to show you memories for any of their former lives. I’m not sure if they can do so elsewhere, but it seems to be in interaction with the environmental features here that they can do so.”

The reflection in the pool changed again, as if speeding up the scene. The girl now held the tumbleweed she had been chasing. She held it to her face as if looking inside it. The girl could have been no more than ten years old and yet she wore a tiara on her forehead, identifying her as a senshi.

She reached a hand into the weed and gingerly plucked out some tiny seeds. Even in her small hand, they looked minuscule. Still, she held them as if holding a precious treasure.

She brought them a ways away, passing by more of a barren landscape. There was no visible life here, not even plants. Yet she stopped at a clearing that initially didn’t look much different than where she had just been.

She knelt on the ground and you could see from her point of view a small patch of soil. She delicately placed her find there and buried the seeds with her hands. Then, with the same dirt-stained hands, she whispered and cast a spell, light flowing from her hands into the dirt.

But nothing seemed to happen.


✪

“Where the world might be, I do not know.” Erytheia replied. It would be impossible to tell without a view from above, but it seemed they were stuck with the vantage point of the starseed and the person it had belonged to.

The scene shifted and now the landscape reflected on the pool was one far more familiar — a city street at night. It could have been in Destiny City or any other similar urban area. There were no immediate landmarks visible and the dim street lamps hid any signs from view. It could truly have been any city. But what was certain was that this was Earth and this century, too.

The young chibi senshi could be seen again running. But this time there was much more urgency. She was being chased by something — someone. And they were much faster than she was.

A hand reached from behind. She didn’t even have enough time to scream. A hand forced its way to her starseed. Chaos visibly pluses into her chest. But, then, something resisted. The seed could not be corrupted and the hand was expelled.

The agent stood above her now and looked down with disgust. There would be a change of plan. They summoned their weapon — a long pole arm taller than the senshi’s small body — and impaled her.

Her body fell to the ground and from her hand fell a bundle of tiny seeds.


✪

The seed glowed and its energy was warm. It seemed to be responding to Selinur. The green light was brighter now, yet it wavered.

“Perhaps this starseed should not have to see war again.” Erytheia relied. But he did not know. No one knew what life this one would live again, not how or when or where. Only Cosmos could hope to know something such as that.

“What to do? That is up to you. But I think she is ready to listen.”


✪

“True. This one will eventually return to the Cauldron. They all do.” Erytheia said. But then he looked at Selinur seriously. “But how long it takes this one to get there does depend on you.”

The starseed glimmered as if listening to Selinur’s words. It seemed to shine when it liked his words and blink out when it didn’t. It many ways, it reacted like a child, bright and sincere when it heard what it liked, but petulant and coy when it didn’t.

“It doesn’t seem to like war. See how dour it gets? Try telling it more about rebuilding.”


✪

The starseed stopped its flickering and kept still. It was the closest indication yet that it was listening. It was so close to Selinur’s face now that you could see its crystalline structure.

There was a small orb of light inside the seed.

“It seems to like you.” Erytheia smiled now, that brief period of seriousness gone. If this one would settle for the senshi’s full speech, it must be really taking it in.

It wasn’t until Sailor Selinur’s final sentence that the starseed began to move again, as if in response. It twirled and moved from side to side and it suddenly started to glow extremely brightly. And then it let out one big pulse of light.

And, as if attracted to the sudden light, a green butterfly appeared — its wings glowing and translucent — and landed to rest on the starseed in the deep space senshi’s hands.


✪