Memory. A simple thing, right?
Many psychiatrists agree that studying human memory is one of the
hardest parts of psychoanalytical education. Memory is subjective, collective,
vital to human contentment, and yet completely unnecessary for a healthy life.
Children struggle to remember what they ate for breakfast, teenagers remain
bitter over yesterday's arguments with friends and parents, adults strive to
memorize each happy moment of their lives, and the elderly regress to not
knowing what they ate for breakfast. It's a thing that all people share, and
yet something that no one can completely understand.
Serenity knew this as she walked across the marble dais and up to the
pedestal. As the Queen of the Earth, she had studied many subjects in and out
of the university, and psychology had been one of her favorites. She especially
loved the sections about memory and memory loss. Amnesia, selective memory
loss, photographic memory, memorization techniques... She knew and loved it
all. Not a day went by when she regaled one of us with her newest memory-
related fact. But that had been years before, before the Black Moon and the
war between past and present, before her own daughter had died in training to
become a Sailor Senshi... It was before life had become such a task.
I suppose that her action should not have come as a shock to any of
us. The weekly meeting of her color guard - the joking name, of course, she
had given the rest of the senshi and I - was unusually short. Serenity's
silence did not bode well, and most of what she said was cryptic.
"I have many thoughts of the past," she assured us after one of the
inners had said a few disparaging comments about her aloofness. Her blue eyes
glanced away from all of us, staring at the floor. "My thoughtfulness precedes
my words this morning."
Talk about out of character moments. Never before had the neo-queen
been so polite and soft-spoken about something. No one needed to tell me
that something was wrong. I could sense it.
And so, only a few hours later, the Queen of the Earth strode across
the dais and stood before the pedestal. She had erected the pedestal especially
for the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou - the Silver Crystal of the Moon Kingdom of
old. She was afraid that Chibi-Usa or another meddlesome being would attempt
to seize the ginzuishou, and that was too big of a risk for Serenity. So she
placed a pedestal in the darkest vault in the basement of Crystal Palace.
Rarely did a soul venture into such depths. Even the queen herself disliked
visiting her prized possession.
Until then. Then, at that moment, she seized the crystal from its
place on the dais and held it above her head. Silver light flared around her,
sparkling, a brilliant reminder of the power of the ginzuishou.
Memories flooded into the mind of the Earth's one queen. Memories of
pain, of sorrow, of suffering and loss. Memories she had wished, for so long,
to forget.
Blue eyes closed, and a voice - soft, melodious, tearful - echoed
above the hum of the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou.
"I command thee, Crystal of Silver," she breathed, "that the Sailor
Senshi of old forget all their trials and toil until the day comes for Tsukino
Usagi to accept the throne of the Earth."
And, just as in a fairy tale, it was done.
Memories washed away, lost forever, as though it was a simple thing.
Many psychiatrists agree that studying human memory is one of the
hardest parts of psychoanalytical education. Memory is subjective, collective,
vital to human contentment, and yet completely unnecessary for a healthy life.
Children struggle to remember what they ate for breakfast, teenagers remain
bitter over yesterday's arguments with friends and parents, adults strive to
memorize each happy moment of their lives, and the elderly regress to not
knowing what they ate for breakfast. It's a thing that all people share, and
yet something that no one can completely understand.
Serenity knew this as she walked across the marble dais and up to the
pedestal. As the Queen of the Earth, she had studied many subjects in and out
of the university, and psychology had been one of her favorites. She especially
loved the sections about memory and memory loss. Amnesia, selective memory
loss, photographic memory, memorization techniques... She knew and loved it
all. Not a day went by when she regaled one of us with her newest memory-
related fact. But that had been years before, before the Black Moon and the
war between past and present, before her own daughter had died in training to
become a Sailor Senshi... It was before life had become such a task.
I suppose that her action should not have come as a shock to any of
us. The weekly meeting of her color guard - the joking name, of course, she
had given the rest of the senshi and I - was unusually short. Serenity's
silence did not bode well, and most of what she said was cryptic.
"I have many thoughts of the past," she assured us after one of the
inners had said a few disparaging comments about her aloofness. Her blue eyes
glanced away from all of us, staring at the floor. "My thoughtfulness precedes
my words this morning."
Talk about out of character moments. Never before had the neo-queen
been so polite and soft-spoken about something. No one needed to tell me
that something was wrong. I could sense it.
And so, only a few hours later, the Queen of the Earth strode across
the dais and stood before the pedestal. She had erected the pedestal especially
for the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou - the Silver Crystal of the Moon Kingdom of
old. She was afraid that Chibi-Usa or another meddlesome being would attempt
to seize the ginzuishou, and that was too big of a risk for Serenity. So she
placed a pedestal in the darkest vault in the basement of Crystal Palace.
Rarely did a soul venture into such depths. Even the queen herself disliked
visiting her prized possession.
Until then. Then, at that moment, she seized the crystal from its
place on the dais and held it above her head. Silver light flared around her,
sparkling, a brilliant reminder of the power of the ginzuishou.
Memories flooded into the mind of the Earth's one queen. Memories of
pain, of sorrow, of suffering and loss. Memories she had wished, for so long,
to forget.
Blue eyes closed, and a voice - soft, melodious, tearful - echoed
above the hum of the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou.
"I command thee, Crystal of Silver," she breathed, "that the Sailor
Senshi of old forget all their trials and toil until the day comes for Tsukino
Usagi to accept the throne of the Earth."
And, just as in a fairy tale, it was done.
Memories washed away, lost forever, as though it was a simple thing.