IC Date: 07/30/2025
The first thing Sailor Tempesti noticed as she passed through the city gates was the sound of water. What had once been little more than a dismal trickle through the deep stone trench that cleaved the city in two was now a gently flowing canal wending its way from the river to the harbor. Brown to green, green to blue, sparkling and clear on its course. She wondered if it would ever again see wildlife. Maybe a few fish friends to join the creepy crawlies she’d seen oozing around the lake by the Primordial Tower.

It was easy to imagine small boats navigating the waterways, their occupants shouting to people on the streets, merchants barking their wares from colorful stalls along the canals and bridges. Smells lovely and foul drifting lazily from the shops and the water and the raucous sounds of the music of the streets enveloping all in its dizzy embrace.

Perhaps it was the green peering out from nearly every crevice in the city’s stone that made these flights of fancy all the more effortless, the hollow eyes of empty window frames enlivened once more with light and color. It seemed that the shrines were working overtime in their efforts to do…whatever it was they did to help life along, though she couldn’t dismiss the persistent feeling that the bell she’d found on her previous visit had contributed in its own way. A superstitious urge brought her to a halt. Truly helpful or not, it certainly couldn’t hurt to call on the quiet magic she’d sensed from the trinket. Summoning it into the palm of her hand, she scrutinized the charming little bell. It looked no different than it had before, but her affinity for it had definitely grown. As though sensing her thoughts the little lavender wisp decided to put in an appearance, flitting curiously around the bell that rested in the palm of her hand. “Worth a shot, don’t you think?” The entity bobbed in what seemed like approval and that was enough for her to give it a shake. Warm comfort suffused her body as it rang clear and loud through the empty streets. Even without any potential benefit for the world itself, this feeling alone was worth it.

Legs pumped in time with the excitement that pulsed within her as the bicycle carried her through the no longer entirely silent streets toward the palace complex. The route was familiar, one that she followed almost without thought until she crested the hill to meet the gaze of the Tower across the bay. Her heart stuttered in her chest at the sight of the…contraption at its crown. Though its crystal remained dim, the once battered frame that housed the lighthouse beacon gleamed golden in the sunlight.

The Primordial Tower and its shrines had to be her primary concern for now, though there was no question that as soon as that ancient sanctuary was on its way to recovery she would return to the Tower. It called to her with a fervor that almost matched her own for even the slightest notion that she might be able to help this place heal.

As she crossed the final bridge on her route to the palace, Tempesti brought her bicycle to a screeching halt and made her way to the edge of the canal as carefully as her excitement would allow her. Flashes of purple and green darted about a small cluster of flowering aquatic plants bearing their iridescent, translucent flowers atop the water. Trembling fingers hastily opened the camera app on her phone, zooming in as much as she could to steal a glimpse of the activity among the blossoms. Creatures bearing a resemblance to dragonflies wove through the leaves and petals, occasionally dipping into the water’s surface before rising once more. Their narrow bodies definitely matched Earth’s dragonflies, at least superficially, but the pointed wings that caught the light in gleaming shades of violet and emerald alongside wickedly hooked tails distinguished them from their terrestrial counterparts. Concerns about potential stinging did little to deter the senshi from sitting on the canal’s lip, legs hanging over the water. Fortunately for her, the dragonfly-things had little interest in her presence, occupied as they were with their dragonfly activities. Reluctantly, the senshi reminded herself that she had her own duties to pursue and departed, making her way through the palace doors with the wisp in tow.