Mystic rickey18@hotmail.com Races Of Men PG 2 disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor claim any kind of credit to its publication. Thanks! “What! What kind of dream was that? That woman, I knew her, but from where?” he questions himself. He looks around and sees that he is in his bed. “Oh, thank the races, that was just a dream. I better get up it looks like it is midday.” When his servant heard Darien talking to himself, he entered the prince’s room. “Sire, it is time. Your father asks you to leave by the time the feast of Mercury begins.” The servant bows and leaves the room for Darien to grasp what has happened in the two days. *********************************************************** The prince looks back on the beautiful city that he had called his home only a few moments ago. His father and mother did not even say goodbye to him. It is like I am dead. He turns around and heads west for the sea. He knew more about the possible location of Mercury than any of the other hidden palaces. What his people did not remember was that up to about two hundred years ago, the Kingdom of Earth traded with that advanced culture. It is said that they lived on an island that had rings around it in the middle of the sea. The only place where there were known islands were in the southwestern section of the Blue Sea. The prince traveled day after day until a fortnight later he reached Harbor City. This city had the best ships and best crews. He sought out a captain that knew of the legend of Mercury. There was only one who would agree to see Darien. The captain was a very large man who had dark black hair that almost looked blue. In the sunlight Darien could have sworn that it was. They met in a tavern at the edge of town and sat in the corner where none would hear their conversation. “So you are looking for a ship? Well, I have the fastest ship in the whole city. If I may ask, why are you searching out Atlantis?” The captain had a low husky voice and eyes that seemed too intelligent to just to belong to a captain of a ship. “I have my reasons. Are you willing to take me there? Do you know where it is?” Darien was meeting the captain stare for stare, wit for wit. The captain touched his left forearm unconsciously. When he realized what he had done he crossed his arms, right over left. But Darien saw the mark, the tattoo of the people of Mercury. So, this man is one of the Mercury people! He has to know where Atlantis lies. “I will give one hundred gold pieces to take me there and to keep our voyage a secret.” The Mercurian captain debated visibly and looked at Darien one more time with those eyes. “Done then. I will take you there. But you will not enjoy the ride. It will take one week there with my special ship.” He sat there chuckling to himself while Darien wondered what could be so funny. *********************************************************** Now I know. The ship sped through the water, while Darien hung over the side. Never had the crew seen a sight of such severe case of seasickness until that week. I must have lost about twenty pounds from trying to eat and then having it come back up again. What day are we on again? I hope it will not take much longer. After Darien had emptied his stomach, he walked down to the captain’s cabin. The captain willing lent his cabin to the young prince. As he was opening the door, he heard the captain call down to him. “Lord! We will arrive at Atlantis by nightfall. Please come on deck so I may teach you the customs of the people of Atlantis!” Darien groaned inwardly, but followed the sound of the captain’s voice. The captain had taken the wheel as he always did when nearing a port. Darien clenched his teeth so he would not humiliate himself again in front of the captain. If he can take all of this swaying, so can I. “Captain, what do you wish to advise me?” Darien questioned irritatebly. “Lord, when you reach Atlantis you will want to stay at a reliable inn? I recommend that you stay at the Plato’s Preserve. Since we will be getting in late, we will have to have the audience with Director of Foreign Affairs early tomorrow morning.” The captain was staring off into the distance while rubbing his beard. “Then the Director will decide whether to let you go do as you please. He may just decline your request and you will be on the next ship out of Atlantis. Just so you know, the last time a foreigner stepped on Atlantian soil was one hundred years ago,” the captain said matter-of-factly. He was amused at Darien’s pale face, but he noticed determination and strength in his deep blue eyes. Maybe he is not what he appears. Maybe the rumors of this young cub are true. From around the nation, Darien was known as being hard and cruel. His coldness even spread out into the ends of civilization. He was heard to be quick tempered and hard headed. His people feared Darien and they rejected him for being the prince. They prayed daily that a deliverer would come and remove Darien from the being the heir. “What do you mean that I have to see a ‘director’ for me just to visit the city? I have no evil intentions. I just only want to…” Darien shut his mouth when he realized when he was going to tell his quest. I must watch my tongue. No one must know who I am and the shame I carry. Besides, I don’t think they would like the idea of me taking away their princess. “…look around. I am a scholar. I have heard of the wonders of the great and wise city of Atlantis. I would like to record them in my book,” Darien lied. “Well, if that is the case. I don’t think you will have much of a problem. However, you will have to write your book here and then leave it. Once you are finished and are going to leave, your memory will be whipped away from this place. We don’t want to have contact with the outside world. You have your kingdom and we have our own. Nor will you remember or find me once you leave. I will personally see to that. Now, young scholar, why don't you go to down below? You do not look so well.” The captain laughed as Darien’s face turned from white to beat red. Darien spun on his heel and turned around and went down to his room. “That young boy is going to cause all of us trouble. I can see that like a raging storm rising up from the horizon.” The captain pondered for the next few hours on what Darien would want with Atlantis and if he had made a mistake for taking him to his home. *********************************************************** Atlantis was a beautiful city, with buildings that were pure white that looked like they scraped the sky. Darien became dizzy just looking at them. All of the streets were paved with brick and every intersection was exactly a ninety-degree angle. They had lights every twenty feet that illuminated the whole city. There were not any sign of beggars or thieves. The city was perfectly clean like a new pearl glittering in the night. As Darien was escorted to the inn recommended by the captain, he noticed the amount of bookshops; there were at least one at every intersection. They ranged from antiques to fiction to textbooks. Each were competing with the others to have the greatest business. Darien looked into these shops and were surprised to see the amount of people were in there reading and studying. Is this what they do for pleasure? Well, the rumors are true: Atlantians are the seekers of wisdom. When he reached Plato’s Pleasure, the innkeeper was cleaning up the tables from the evening meal. Not a soul was in the dining hall because everyone was enjoying a night of studying. Darien was too tired for a meal and he did not think his stomach as ready to take in food just yet. He retired to his luxurious room. It had a king size bed with a mattress that was recently flipped. Beautiful paintings on the wall and the hearth had an engraving of an ancient language. Darien tried to recall all of the history lessons and the ancient literature classes he had taken while growing up, but none of them could match the words written in the hearth. “It says, ‘Mercury, Guardian of Knowledge.’ It is written in the long forgotten text of the Moon. Your people do not remember the Silver Millennium, but we have kept copies of their writings throughout the years,” the captain spoke in the doorway. “Your appointment is at midday. You will feast with the director. He is interest in meeting a young scholar from the outside world. So you better get your rest, young lord, for it will be a long day tomorrow.” The captain bid Darien good night and closed the door behind him. Great, Darien! Look what you have gotten yourself into. Maybe being a scholar will be the best, they may let me go into their archives and see what happened one thousand years ago. All of a sudden he recalled the beautiful woman with silver hair, “Go and find your true love!” She kissed him on the head and blessed him. The vision soon faded from his mind and left a terrible headache. Darien soon forgot the unusual dream and laid down in bed and fell quickly asleep. ************************************************************ Here is another section... hope that you enjoyed it. Mystic rickey18@hotmail.com