Deep Sea Diving

High School Days

It's been many years since Father spoke to me about Mother, ten years to be exact. I'm fifteen years old now, and one of the top students in my class, Father wouldn't accept any less. I woke up early one morning, hoping to leave the house before Father woke up. I changed into my uniform, the Moto Azabu High-School uniform. A blue blazer with a white dress shirt with a red bow on my chest. I was also wearing a grey skirt and knee-high white socks. The Moto Azabu High-School crest was embroidered onto my blazer. I plaited some of my hair, wrapping it around my hair to keep it out of my face. I left my room, descending the stairs in only my socks. I paused in the hallway, where the picture of my mother still hung. It was worn slightly with age. I was lost to the world until one of the staff approached. "I have your bag, miss." He said.

"Oh!" I gasped, turning to him, "Thank you." I took it, holding it in both hands.

"Sir Itsuo is waiting outside for you." My face fell slightly,

"Thank you for telling me." I quickly left the house, slipping into my black heels before I left. My boyfriend was waiting impatiently in front of my house. Itsuo was the youngest of five children, his father owned the news stations, but his eldest brother was to inherit the company and the family fortune. To say Ituso was jealous was an understatement. At Father's insistence, we were to accompany each other to school every day. He walked with such confidence, with an air of responsibility around him. I always walked slightly behind him, my head tilted down. When we did get to school, Itsuo would go off with his friends. I didn't have friends at school. I changed from my outside shoes into my school slippers and made my way to my homeroom.

The day continued as normal, me going through classes as usual, until it came to lunch. I made my way to the music room and sat at the piano. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear before I set my foot on the pedal and started to play. The music echoed through the room, the melody soothing. It reminded me of my mother. She was a famous pianist before she passed away, composing her own music and performing around the world. Without my father's knowledge, I learned to play the piano. He had banned the grand instrument from ever entering our household, so most of my lessons were done at school.

After school, I was walking home by myself. It was a quiet day, surprisingly. I came across an antique store. On display was a handheld mirror, made from gold with a pale aqua back, engraved with something that looked suspiciously like a trident. In my mind, the mirror appeared, cradled in a pair of white gloves. The image disappeared as soon as it appeared. My feet took me into the store, and the bell chiming above the door. "Oh, hello there." A raspy voice greeted from the counter. I turned to see an old man, with greying hair and a cane.

"Oh, hello sir." I replied.

"I saw you looking at that mirror in the window." The man hobbled over to the display window, "That has been in my wife's family for generations."

"And she's ok with you selling it?" I wondered as the man took the mirror out of the display. He walked back over to the counter and set the mirror down. I approached him, setting my bag down on the counter beside it.

"My wife has been gone for many years, so I decided it was time to sell some of the things that were collecting dust." I gently picked up the mirror. Somehow, it's weight felt familiar in my hands. My fingers ran over the reflective surface of the mirror, however, it didn't smudge.

"It's pretty." I whispered.

"That is a seventeen karat gold frame, with a solid turquoise back. I had it appraised, guy said it was worth almost ten million yen." I sucked in a breath, shakily putting the mirror back down.

"That is quite a bit."

"I have no need for it, and you certainly seem to like it, so I can drop the price down for you."

"Oh, no, it's ok."

"How about...ten thousand?"

"That's quite a gap in price, are you sure?" The man nodded. "Ok..." I pulled my wallet out of my bag and pulled out the right amount of money. I handed it over to the man, "Thank you." I picked up the mirror and held it to my chest, "I'll treasure this for the rest of my life."

That night, after a lonely dinner, I was sitting in my room, admiring the mirror I had gotten. I was under the covers of my bed, turning the mirror around and around in my hands. Every time I looked at it, I noticed something new. How, even though it had been around for decades, there were no scratches or blemishes, not even a dent in the gold. My eyes started to droop, and soon, I had fallen asleep.

DREAM - NO POV

Two people stood in a silver room. One, a woman, dressed in a long white dress with wing-like additions. Other than her dress, the other things that were distinctive about her were that she had silver hair and a crescent moon on her forehead. She seemed to be talking to a young girl, around six or seven, wearing a weird uniform. It had a white body piece, with a pale teal skirt, and matching cape, with pale blue heeled pumps that had the ankle straps wrap up around her calves. She had a pale blue bow at the back of her outfit, at the base of her spine, and a matching bow on her chest that was secured by a teal broach. She wore white gloves that reached up midway over her forearms and were topped with a pale blue cuff. She wore a gold tiara with a pale teal gem in the centre, a pale teal necklace that was adorned with a clamshell. Her earrings looked to be of a planet, I'm not sure which one. She had long light teal hair, with some that was braided on the top of her head like a crown. She also had large teal eyes and pale skin.

"Neptune." The silver-haired woman said, "I have a task for you."

"For me, Your Majesty?" The girl, Neptune, questioned. The Queen knelt closer to Neptune, offering the girl a hand mirror, a gold-framed mirror with a solid turquoise back and engraved with the planetary symbol for Neptune. "Is this..."

"Yes, Neptune, this is one of the three Talsimans, the Deep Aqua Mirror. I want you to use it to watch over Silver Millennium from afar, protect our Kingdom from threats outside our known Solar System." Neptune held the mirror gently.

"Are you sure I should be the one to do this?" Neptune looked up at the silver-haired woman, "There are other guardians more suited to this task, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars..." Neptune looked down, "I'm no protector."

"I know you are, Neptune." The Queen lifted the young girl's head, "I believe in you and your power, you are capable of this task." Neptune knelt towards the Queen,

"I will do as you have asked, my Queen." Neptune said, "I shall look over our Solar System and protect it with my life, I swear it on your name, Queen Serenity."

"I know you will, Neptune." Queen Serenity stood, "However, there are rules to your mission. One, you must never leave your planet. Two, you must travel to Saturn, under any circumstances. And three, if you were to travel to Saturn, you must never allow all three Talismans to combine their powers, or the world as we know it would perish."

DREAM END - UMI'S POV

I woke up the next morning with a gasp, my breath coming in short pants. My fingers twitched, and I realised that I was still holding the Mirror from last night. I bought it to my line of sight, turning it over and tracing the engraving in the back. Neptune... That girl from my dream...she looked so much like me...but...why?