Sailor Philiopa: Surge of the Lifestream

Water. It was all around her. But that was okay. She had no trouble breathing.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel that she was swimming through. She felt drawn to it. With a few flicks of her tail – it didn’t surprise her that she was a mermaid; why should it? – and strokes of her arm, she was at the end, and entered a chamber filled with light.

And she saw…

She saw…

No matter how hard she tried, she could never recall what her mermaid self saw when she swam to the end of that tunnel. The dream had graced her nights (and daydreams, for that matter) for as far back as she could remember. As she opened her eyes, she let out a sigh. Again, the vision stubbornly trickled away through her fingers. It was getting a bit annoying.

The sunlight poured in through the glass louvre windows. She’d forgotten to close the curtains before going to bed. Maybe if she’d done that, she wouldn’t have been so rudely awakened by the Sun, and would have seen her dream through to the end…

“Oh, well,” she said to herself, getting off the bed.

It was Saturday. That meant both her parents were home. But she didn’t plan to stay home with them the whole day. She went straight for her chest of drawers and picked out an outfit for the day, just a polo shirt and jeans, and then went to take a quick shower before heading to the kitchen, where breakfast was waiting for her.

She shared out the ackee and saltfish, and boiled dumplings, and joined her parents in the living room.

“It’s called a rogue planet,” said the narrator on the TV, “a planet without a sun. It floats through space, orbiting the galaxy directly.”

“Wow,” she heard her father say as she sat down to eat in front of the TV. (Their family never had a culture of dining room meals.) “Morning, Shasa,” he said to her.

“Morning,” she called back before putting forkful of ackee in her mouth.

“Also called orphan planets, these kinds of celestial objects were either ejected from their solar systems, or never had one to begin with,” the documentary continued.

Shasa watched the computer-generated image of a brown sphere moving against a backdrop of stars.

“Can you imagine how cold they must get?” her mother said.

Shasa’s parents were both science teachers. Her mother taught physics at the high school level, and her father taught biology. They loved watching nature and astronomy documentaries, so Shasa, an only child of seventeen years, grew up on the Discovery Channel, and National Geographic.

Somehow, though, Shasa grew up to be more artistic than her parents. Poor rogue planets, she thought, absently. No family, all alone… She decided she’d somehow figure out how to depict that loneliness in a painting or drawing sometime in the future. Definitely challenging, since she imagined that seeing a planet in a painting, the automatic assumption would be that it’s got a sun that’s not in the picture.

Maybe I could give it a pattern in its atmosphere or craters so that it looks like a sad face… she mused.

She was so lost in thought that she was barely aware of the other kinds of celestial objects like planemos and dwarf planets that the documentary outlined, and the ending credits were rolling before she even realised it.

She swallowed her last mouthful of breakfast and picked up the two plates her parents left on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Thanks,” they said in unison as she headed towards the kitchen to wash the plates and forks. “I’m going to the river to do some drawing,” she called back to them.

“Okay,” her mother said without. “Make sure you take some lunch. There’s some bread and tuna in the kitchen. You can make some sandwiches.”

“Yes, Mum,” Shasa answered. The river wasn’t far, but Shasa often got so caught up in her art that she wouldn’t stop to go back home to eat.

With the dishes washed, and tuna (with mayo) sandwiches made, she headed to her room to pack up her art supplies. With her pencils and erasers in her knapsack, and her canvas in hand, she returned to the kitchen for her lunch.

She called out her farewells to her parents, and stepped out the door.

***

“I’ve found her.” The voice sounded like gravel crunching underfoot. “After so long.”

The owner of the voice, a tall, muscular middle aged-looking man in elaborate flowing white robes and heavily jewelled arms sat on a throne at the top of a narrow staircase. At the bottom of the stairs, the tiled floor spread out forming a colourful mural, telling the story of a great, bloody battle. The throne room, with curtains and huge pillars, was big enough to house an audience of hundreds. Despite this, though, it was quite empty.

Before the white-clad man floated a huge circle of light, and in it, a dark-skinned girl with even darker tightly curled hair and brown eyes could be seen leaving a house, and turning right onto the sidewalk.

“She has hidden herself well,” the man continued. “Her aura is indistinguishable from that of the humans.” He turned towards a sole figure chained in the far corner of the room. “You have done well, slave.”

The chained figure did not move. He knew better than to lift his head unless he was given a signal by the Emperor.

“Now,” the Emperor said, getting to his feet. “You must send her here.”

The chains and manacles disappeared from the slave’s wrists and ankles. He slowly got to his feet, and placed his hands over his chest, his head still lowered in respect. Or fear.

The chains had been unnecessary, of course. There had been no way the slave could have escaped the Emperor’s power. But the Emperor had kept the young man in such confinement all this time, anyway.

“Go!” came the command from the throne. And the slave vanished. The Emperor turned towards the image of the girl walking along the sidewalk with her bags. “After an eternity of exile, I will regain my true power. And this little blue planet where the girl hid herself all this time will be the first to feel my renewed wrath!”

And the Emperor’s booming laugh filled his throne room.

***

The river was only about four blocks from Shasa’s home. She could never explain it, but it was her favourite part of her community. Being close to the water brought her a sense of peace, even when the boys and girls were there, splashing about and making noise. She did a lot of her drawing on its banks, and often swam in it, losing herself beneath the water.

This early in the morning, there was no one there by the grassy bank where she chose to sit. It was a beautiful sight to her, as plain as it was. She closed her eyes, sitting on a boulder, and taking in the sound of the gently flowing stream, and enjoying the summer breeze.

It called to her. It always did. Sometimes, she felt that she truly was a mermaid, like in her dream.

Splash.

It was an almost imperceptible disturbance, but still, she felt it. The water was telling her something. What was wrong?

Her eyes snapped open, and she looked about her. After a few moments of this, though, she still saw nothing out of the ordinary. The morning was still. The sunlight still danced through the rustling leaves of the mango tree above her, and the grassy ground around her was deserted. Even the other side of the river, a few yards away, looked still. The water, as clear and beautiful as always, looked peaceful and calm.

But still, it spoke to her. Something was wrong. She could not explain it, but… she knew it. Felt it.

She brushed back her afro, making up her mind. She would return home.

Then, as she picked up her supplies and snacks from the ground, she saw him. And, instantly, she knew that she knew him. But… from where?

He was a young man of about her age and skin tone with a shaved head and a harsh scarred face. He looked at her from the between two unruly bushes, his face cold as he stared at her.

The river told her he was a danger to her. But, her heart… her heart told her that he wasn’t. She was someone she had been waiting to see for years, yet was never aware of it. Was she going crazy? How could she know these things about him? She felt extremely uneasy. She didn’t even dare speak to him for fear of what he would do.

Whatever the reason for this turn of events, Shasa would never draw anything that day. The young man lifted his hands and, instantly, everything went dark.

***

When she awoke, she was in chains. Thick, heavy chains. It was hard, impossible, to lift them. It was dark. She could barely see anything. She felt around her, realising that she was chained to a floor. She could feel no walls.

Where was she?

A door opened, allowing light into the room so intense it burned her eyes. She tried to cover her eyes, but the chains were so heavy she couldn’t lift her hands to her face. As she struggled to get used to the brightness, she heard footsteps.

“Welcome, Princess, to home, my prison,” a gravelly voice spoke. “I have waited a long time for this. Of course, I was asleep for much of that time. But still has felt like an eternity.”

“Princess…?” Shasa muttered. “What…?”

“The power is well hidden within you,” the voice continued. “I can barely feel it. But I have ways of getting what I want.”

“Who are you?” Shasa managed to say.

The footsteps stopped before her. Rough fingers grasped her jaw, forcing her to look into strangest face she had ever seen.

He was man of grey skin and piercing ruby eyes. He wore flowing white robes, and had a head of long white hair that fell over his shoulders.

“Don’t play with me, dear Princess,” the man said.

Shasa gasped in pain. This man hated her. She knew that. But that was all she knew. He didn’t know why her called her ‘Princess’, or why she had been brought into this room.

Or why his skin was as grey as stone, and his eyes as red as blood.

His face finally softened after a few eternal moments of intense staring. “You… truly don’t know me. Do you?” He laughed. “It seems you are just as much a victim of the power within you as I am.” He released her face, but she could still feel the impressions of his large fingers on her skin. “Tell me,” he said evenly, “are you human?”

Shasa felt herself trembling. She was so afraid that she could not answer.

“Answer me, girl!” the man yelled!

Shasa flinched, trying to crawl away, but impeded by the chains. “Yes,” she said feebly. “I am.”

The laugh that filled the room sent shivers down Shasa’s spine. “No, girl. You are not. You appear human, and the ignorant could easily mistake you for one of those pathetic entities, but you are not human.”

“Wh… what do you mean?”

His smile was terrifying. He looked as though he’d done terrible things to many people in his life, and enjoyed every one of them. He turned, his cloak brushing the floor behind him.

“Let me tell you a story, girl,” she said. “My name is Griyon. I am the ruler of the planet you are now on. Once, I ruled a vast empire that spanned solar systems. No one could stand against my power. I claimed whatever world I chose at my whim.

“And then, I happened across a single pocket of space. A world unlike any other. It was not a planet. Rather, it was a pocket in space and time. There, the Philiopa people lived, ruled by a Queen who possessed the only power I ever sensed that rivalled my own.”

Griyon turned towards Shasa with eyes flaring with rage as he told the story. “I had to possess this power. It would ensure that no one could ever overthrow me. I would remain Emperor Griyon forever.

“But it was not to be. The power was wielded by a great and powerful Queen. Her name was Queen Saara Yemaya. As I tried to attack Philiopa, this special pocket in time and space, a place filled with water, the element of life, the Queen used her power to bind me to a small nearby planet. She cast the planet from its sun, and sent it hurdling through space. Queen Saara lost me my empire in that moment. I would never be able to rule my vast domain ever again. I spent most of my existence in hibernation, away from the warmth of any sun.

“But…” Griyon smiled at Shasa as if remembering an almost pleasant experience. “But in the brief moments that I was close enough to warmth and light to awaken, I managed to alter the power that bound me to this prison, reversing my trajectory, causing me to return, slowly but surely, to the place where my curse began.

“By the time I did, Queen Saara had long since died, but her dynasty still lived on. Her power had been hidden away so that no one else would seek it ever again. But seek it I did. After all, only it could release me from this tiny world so I could reclaim my former glory.”

I must be going crazy, Shasa thought to herself, looking with trembling lips at the towering man before her. None of this makes sense. What does this have to do with me?

“But, you see, I was foiled again. Though being so close to the power that bound me allowed me to leave me prison and enter Philiopa, the power escaped, sealing itself away in the Crown Princess of Philiopa, and darted off into the cosmos, where it apparently thought I could not follow. But follow I did. I enslaved a boy from the domain that the Yemaya Dynasty ruled to lock on to the trail of the Princess. He, because of his relationship with her, was able to lead me to where she hid. This little blue planet, with its warm Sun to awaken me.”

A circle of light appeared before him, and Shasa could see the planet Earth, her home, in it, with its white Moon peeping out from behind it. Griyon continued. “Who knows how many aeons it took, but I arrived. When I found the Princess, I found that she had been disguised as a human being, living among them. And, apparently, unaware of her past.

“That Princess, girl, is you.”

Her mind swam. It was all impossible. But at the same time, she knew the stories of a group of girls in Japan, the Sailor Senshi. She knew of the powers they possessed, and that they fought against powerful forces not unlike Griyon. She could not deny that.

“I have finally come to claim my prize. And you, amnesiac Princess, are unable to stop me. I will take the power that you have inside you, and free myself and my people from this rock. Then, I will rebuild my empire. Starting with the place you call home!”

With this final word he reached down and grabbed her throat. And Shasa screamed.

***

And she remembered.

It was a peaceful day in Philiopa. The Princess of this pocket of space and time was resting on the roof of her palace home. She loved to bask, feeling the breeze against her skin as her blue eyes took in the brilliance of the watery capital city. Her people could hold their breath for hours, but others of the domain her mother and father ruled were far more comfortable in the air than under water. So, the capital city’s beautiful buildings, structures of many shapes, sizes, and colours, were tall enough that they there was at least as much to see under water as above.

Princess Saara watched the boats traverse the city, and the submersible vessels disappear and reappear beneath the vast blue.

It was such a beautiful day she decided she’d take a swim. She rid herself of her gown, because it was cumbersome to swim in underwater, and rubbed her hands over her hair, cropped short in the tradition of her people. And, from high up, she chose the place where she would dive, and jumped off the edge of the roof, diving into the waters far below.

Her nostrils closed as she pierced the surface. The water rushed past her dark skin. The waters were so clear she could see for miles in every direction. But she was interested in only one: down. Her palace home had changed much in the time since her ancestors had first ruled Philiopa. She loved to explore the original, lower chambers. Many of them held lessons in history that her royal schooling could never give her.

Down, down, down.

Some palace guards greeted her as she passed them in their submersible vehicles. Further and further down, it became harder to know which structure was artificial and which was natural. Many, after all, had been artificial ones reclaimed by the flora and fauna of the waters.

And then, she found a circular opening in the stone. She had never been there before, so she decided to aim straight for it. Inside, she found herself in a cave. But something told her it was more. The cylindrical wall around her was too perfect to be natural.

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to swim further in. As she got deeper and deeper inside, she saw that she could see less and less as she left the light of day behind. But, just as she was about to turn back, she saw that there was light in the distance. It had not been there before; she was sure of it.

On she swam. It was the deepest tunnel she’d ever been in, of that she was sure. It seemed to run for more than twice the diameter of the underwater hill that served as the foundation of the palace. And as she swam, the light grew brighter and brighter.

Until, finally, she found herself in an open chamber filled with pulsating light that she could not find the source of.

It was beautiful. On its smooth white and aquamarine walls, there was writing in the pictographic language of her people. But it was an ancient form, difficult to understand. What she could make out was that where was a record about an ancient battle depicted on these walls. And there was something about… protection… destiny…

At the centre of this beautiful circular chamber was an ancient-looking statue of silver, with eyes as sapphire as Saara’s own eyes. It was a life-sized sculpture of a tall beauty wearing a flowing gown and a tiara on her head.

On the platform she stood on read her name: Queen Saara the First. Saara couldn’t believe her eyes. Before her was her namesake, the Queen who started the Yemaya dynasty. Little was known about her, and what was known was shrouded in legend.

But the surprises didn’t end there. Before Saara’s eyes, the silver statue started to move, its gown billowing in the water around it.

“Dear Princess,” the statue said. “Welcome to this ancient chamber. I am a shadow of Queen Saara’s consciousness. But I am afraid I bear terrible news. You have been chosen to wield the Lifestream, a power that has been hidden away for so long that it has been forgotten by our people. But this power is difficult to master. You are not ready to do so. Not yet. And so, you must be sent away to keep this power safe, and out of the wrong hands.”

The statue looked so sad that Saara thought it would have cried if it were not underwater. “I was not ready to wield it myself. And so, I was unable to prevent a danger that has returned to our world from my time as Queen. I only hope that, one day, you will be ready. And that you will end this evil. Once and for all. You must face this evil one day. Far from here. But not today.”

The statue held her hand towards Saara, and all the light in the chamber seemed to convalesce into a small ball floating above her hand. Slowly, it moved away from the statue of Queen Saara, and towards the bewildered Princess. “On that day, be brave, young Princess. For this evil will seek you out. Be brave. You are our only hope.”

Princess Saara was engulfed by the light then. She was angry. She understood what would happen. She was being forced to abandon her home as invaders searched for the power that fused with her. She would be sent across the cosmos to another world, far away, implanted into the womb of a creature similar yet different from her own people. There, she would be raised as one of them. And she would not remember her home.

Transformed into a mass of energy, she ascended from the subterranean depths. She could see the bloodshed. She could feel the bloodlust of the one-man army as he attacked her people, searching for the power that would allow them the freedom to destroy even more lives. She could see it all. But she could do nothing to stop it.

For just a moment, she had somehow been able to halt her journey. She saw a hulking grey-skinned man, a hand around the throats of each of her parents, lifting them above the floor of the passageway where soldiers lay dead and dying, their weapons shattered and useless.

The man turned his ruby eyes towards her. And she knew that he understood. In a rage, he snapped the necks of the Queen and her King like twigs, dropped their lifeless bodies, and lunged after Saara.

But he was too slow. She could no longer keep her focus in the midst of such carnage, could no longer resist the push of the power. Soon, she was gone, leaving her world and her people behind to the whim of that terrifying, wild-eyed man.

***

Griyon squeezed Shasa’s throat. But he was not just grasping her physical body. He was reaching deep into her spirit, pulling at the power that had lain dormant within her all her human life. She felt it surging to the surface.

She couldn’t let him take it! She couldn’t! But how could she stop him?
The circular light floating beside Griyon caught her eye. In the image of the Earth it depicted, she saw the white crescent Moon. Sailor Moon. She would have the power to stop Griyon. Shasa was sure of it.

Shasa felt that this extraction of the power from inside of her in such a violent way would rip apart her spirit, ending her life.

What could she do?

Sailor Moon… Please…

***

While she slept, Tsukino Usagi heard the cry. On her bed, she turned, and instinctively reached skyward towards the moonlight coming in through her window.

“Tetsudatte agemashou ka, Shasa-san,” she said in her sleep, unknowingly calling on the power of the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou. “Arata na Seeraa Senshi yo, me wo samashite.”

Her hand fell to her side. In the morning, she would remember the name Shasa McNeil, but would not know who it was.

***
The power kept rushing forth, but, suddenly, Shasa felt she could control it. She closed her eyes for a moment and saw a familiar silhouette, one she had seen in online news articles before: that of Sailor Moon, the warrior that she had come to respect so much.

When she opened her eyes, they had lost their chocolate colour, and were blue. Her polo shirt and jeans faded away, and were replaced by an aquamarine gown. The chains that bound her disintegrated into nothing. Princess Saara Yemaya, heir of the throne Philiopa stood before the ancient enemy of her people, indignation flowing out of her like a rushing stream.
“Emperor Griyon,” Saara said, “for too long you have harboured evil ambitions of destruction and conquest. I can only imagine what you have done to my homeland. But no more will your evil go unchecked. What my ancestor started, I will finish today. You have awoken the power that will be your undoing.”

Griyon stumbled backwards, staring at her in unbelief. “No… No!”

Saara lifted her hands into the air, shouting the words that instinctively came to her: “Philiopa Ethereal Power, Make-Up!”

From deep inside her, the Lifestream rushed forth anew, engulfing her in light. A white leotard appeared on her torso, and a navy blue collar with a single white stripe rested on her shoulders. A light blue bow of appeared at her chest, with a ruby-coloured star-shaped gem at the centre. A skirt that matched her collar then appeared, with a single round sapphire stone resting on the belt, and a bow that matched the one on her chest formed behind her. Sky-blue pumps then appeared at her feet, and a pair of light blue gloves with navy bands appeared at her hands. Her uniform was completed by a silver tiara, a blue gem gleaming at the centre of her brow.

A new warrior stood before the bewildered Griyon, the heritage of her ancestors flowing through her.

“Solider of water and purity, I am Sailor Philiopa,” she declared. “Feel the power of rivers, and oceans, Griyon. Your reign of terror is over!”

Griyon yelled in a mad rage and rushed at her. He blasted a beam of energy her way, but Sailor Philiopa easily dodged it with a cartwheel. He punched after her, sending energy her way through his fist. But she blocked with her forearm, sending the energy flying into the wall.

Griyon cursed, clearly refusing to give up. “I will have the power! It will be mine!” He rushed towards her, his huge hand extended like an animal’s claw.

Sailor Philiopa thrust out her own hands, fingers stretched open wide. A mass of blue energy appeared before her. “For the people of both my homes, and all those who have had to suffer under your rule, Griyon! Philiopa Hadalpelagic Crush!” Her turned her arms towards Griyon, and the energy blasted towards the fallen Emperor, engulfing him. He screamed in a mad rage and agony, and as she closed her gloved hands into fists, she completed her attack.

The onslaught was so powerful it smashed open a hole in the stone wall behind Griyon, revealing a sky that was an unearthly brown, with dark clouds. When the energy dissipated, there was no sign of Griyon.

Sailor Philiopa fell to her knees. The weight of the events that had just transpired cascaded upon her. She was not sure who or what she was, anymore. Her memories, her identity as Shasa McNeil churned like the rapids of a violent stream against that of Princess Saara Yemaya.

My people… she sobbed, covering her eyes. I have avenged you.

When she lowered her hands to wipe away the tears, she found herself staring at her reflection in a pool of water. Her dark hair was moist, as if she had just recently taken had a swim. Her eyes were blue, like a deep lagoon. Princess Saara’s reflection stared at her, identical to how she looked when she was last in her homeland, but her hair was no longer in the short Afro she wore when she swam the waters of Philiopa. Instead, her hair was styled in the bigger style Shasa wore.

The pool was a circular one, a small moat on a small circular island. In the distance, many small buildings dotted the oceanic scenery.

Princess Saara stood up garbed in a cerulean gown that brushed the white marble floor of this artificial island, and turned to behold the same silver statue she had seen before, even more beautiful and gleaming in the light of day, looking much newer. The mouth of the graceful, tall effigy of Queen Saara the First widened into a smile, as its flesh gained colour. The flowing gown, though, remained the same gleaming silver.

When Queen Saara stood before her descendant, identical to the Princess in the colour of her skin and hair, she spoke. “Well done, my daughter. You have saved her new home from disaster.”

“Where… are we?”

“This is where you come from. Just as I am a shadow of the person I once was, this is a shadow of world as it was when I lived. The Lifestream was once kept in a statue the centre of the capital city of our home. It preserved this unnatural world that I created for my people. I thought it was safe, but Griyon would have found a way to claim it for himself had I not sealed him away. And, even though I hid it, he would have found it again, and claimed it.

“Our people had long since all but forgotten the Lifestream. It became a nameless legendary power. But it reawakened after the passing of many generations, calling you to it, choosing to bond itself to you, in a way it never did with any Queen or Princess before.

“And you, dear Saara, have saved it from misuse.”

Queen Saara had a look of such maternal pride that Princess Saara wished she could smile back. But she had a question that she needed answered.

“What happened to our home? My parents died, but…” She could not bring herself to give words to the fear: had Griyon committed a mass genocide of her people in his rage? What happened to Philiopa without the Lifestream to preserve it?

“That is something that I am afraid I cannot answer,” said the Queen. “But I do know that your story is not yet complete. There is yet one other known survivor of our domain.”

Princess Saara gasped. “The boy!” His face, bearing cold eyes and the scars of hardship, flashed across her mind. “Who is he? Griyon said we had some sort of relationship, but… I can’t remember…”

Queen Saara’s face softened into a look of sympathy. “Carrying two identities in one mind must be disorienting, my daughter,” she said. “I am sorry, but I do not know who he is. But I believe it is your destiny as his Princess to find him. He may have all the answers you need.”

The Princess sighed in disappointment.  

The Queen continued, “Take heart, daughter. You have accomplished what no other heir to the Lifestream has. You have awoken a new power. Your future will be bright. I believe that will all my heart.”

Before Princess Saara could respond, the vision faded away, and she was Sailor Philiopa once again, standing in the holding cell where Griyon had kept her captive.

She walked towards the gaping hole in the wall, taking a deep breath. In an opening in the dark brown clouds above her, she saw a familiar sight: her home planet, the Earth, looking as though it were a moon in the sky of Griyon’s world. Off to the right, the Earth’s Moon gleamed in its regal beauty.

“Thank you, Sailor Moon,” she said, “for helping me.” Sailor Philiopa hoped that Sailor Moon heard her from so far away.

In any case, it was time to return home.

***

It was an hour or two after midday when Shasa’s feet touched down on the banks of the river she loved. She’d managed to escape notice; the children were too busy enjoying themselves in the river to see her descend from the heavens.

With the Lifestream’s power, she’d been able to ascertain that Griyon’s planet had been enchanted not into to protect it from being seen, but to ensure that its gravity would not interfere with that of other celestial bodies. It had been a simple thing to alter the magic that had orphaned it, and she had given it a new trajectory: towards the Sun.

It would burn up, leaving no trace of Griyon, or his evil.

She found her bags and canvas on the grassy ground, and retrieved them. She did not know where or how she would find the boy that Griyon had enslaved and forced to find her, but she knew that he was still on the planet Earth somewhere. The river told her so.

So, she returned home. Although things were different now, and she did not know what the future held for her, she knew who she was. She was Princess Saara Yemaya of Philiopa, Sailor Philiopa, soldier of water and purity. But she was also Shasa McNeil of the planet Earth.

And that would have to suffice for the time being.