Setsuna sighed wearily “Does everyone have everything they want to bring?”
“Yes, Setsuna,” chorused those bound for the States.
“Passports?”
“Yes, Setsuna.”
“Zodiac Crystal?”
“In my bag,” said Motoko. “It wouldn’t go into anyone’s subspace.”
The Time Senshi sighed again. “Wonderful. Well then, everyone go to the bathroom? And don’t say you don’t have to, that just means you will when we’re halfway there.”
“I thought she was only supposed to mother Hotaru,” muttered Haruka.
“What was that?” Setsuna brandished the fabled, mighty, and above all heavy Time Key Staff.
“Nothing. I went,” the blonde blurted frantically.
“Good.” The head of the expedition turned and bowed to Keitaro. “Thank you again for your hospitality.”
“Any time,” replied the landlord. “Any friend of Su’s is a friend of ours.”
Setsuna then went to Usagi. “We’ll reconnoiter back in Juuban in a few days.” The princess’s face remained blank. “Reconnoiter means meet up again and discuss what you did.”
“Oh, right. I knew that.”
The green-haired woman’s trademark inscrutable grin popped up. “Of course. Come on, everyone. We have a lot of ground to cover, and we don’t want Haruka to decorate hyperspace with her lunch.”
As one group departed the Hinata Sou for the airport, another took the opposite route. In the limo, the Urashima matriarch and her mysterious escort discussed one of the former’s favorite subjects: Her grandson.
“Keitaro has done wonders in his brief time at Tokyo University,” Helen said. “At times it seems like he can just pull ancient relics out of thin air!”
“Marvellous!” Hinata said joyfully.
The younger woman’s became a bit troubled. “But…despite the obvious gift, he really does spend a great deal of time out in the field. Too much, really.”
“Oh?”
“It’s almost ironic. He’s so involved in archeology, he doesn’t give himself time to study for his archeology courses.”
“I see…”
“Even worse, he has next to no time for his fiancée.”
There was a brief, pregnant pause. It delivered a simple, softly spoken phrase that set off every danger sense in a 200-foot radius. “Excuse me?”
“It’s sad, really. It’s like he’s forgotten she even exists. He just runs about unearthing antiquities while she languishes away. You know, I’ve never even heard him mention her since that incident with you and the helicopter.”
“You don’t say…” A tangible aura now encompassed Hinata. Ominous thunder rolled in the distance.
“What I have heard is that she left him a month ago, and he didn’t even notice,” Helen continued nonchalantly. “Isn’t that horrible?”
“It is. It most definitely is.” The ominous thunder rumbled out a meterological take on “Shave and a Haircut.”
The guide shook her head. “Well, what can you do? Let’s discuss something happier. You said you had something to give him?”
“I did,” replied Hinata, ice on every syllable. “Now I’m not so sure he should receive it. Would you like to see it?”
“I would love nothing more.”
The eldest Urashima dug through her handbag until she found a small piece of metal. It was slightly curved, as though it was once part of a larger ring or circlet. The convex side was emblazoned with what appeared to be a cursive English M with an extra flourish that bisected the third leg. “I found it in some ruins near Athens forty years ago,” she exposited. “I know there are others out there. I’ve searched for them for decades, but I haven’t been able to find even a hint regarding their whereabouts.”
Helen managed to tear her eyes away from the artifact. “It’s beautiful. You said it was part of a set?”
“As far as I can tell. You see that symbol?” Hinata indicated the inscribed M. “It’s the astrological glyph for Virgo. The strange thing about that is that the piece, according to what tests I’ve been able to run on it, predates Greek astrology.”
“I seem to remember reading something explaining how Western astrology originated in Egypt,” Helen recalled. “Perhaps it was brought to Greece from the Nile?”
“I considered that myself. Then I had as many tests as I could think of run on the thing. Twice.” The Urashima elder sighed. “They all said the same thing: This was made at some point during the Late Mesolithic or Early Neolithic, ten or eleven thousand years ago. Humans were just figuring out agriculture at that time, and yet we have this. Beautiful craftsmanship, and unquestionably metal.” She chuckled wearily. “Maybe those crackpot theories about ancient lost civilizations aren’t so out there, are they?”
Everyone in a certain car passing the limo at that moment sneezed simultaneously.
“This could be one of the greatest discoveries of the century!” Helen exclaimed. She then paused to consider the current year. “Well, last century. The past hundred years, certainly. Semantics aside, why haven’t you donated it to a museum?”
Hinata chuckled again, a bit more lively this time. “It was a young woman’s naïve dream that became an old woman’s foolish errand. I dreamt of finding each and every piece, than and only then presenting them to the world.” She shook her head. “I’ve always been one for grand schemes. This was one that never panned out.”
“So you’ll pass on the quest to the next generation?” surmised Helen.
The elder woman nodded. “Precisely. You yourself attested to Keitaro’s natural talents in the field. My grandson has his grandma’s blood in him. Wanderlust is strong in the boy. Almost as much as with me.” She sighed. “But at the expense of his love, so hard-earned… Frankly, it’s hard to imagine.”
Helen’s expression shifted to sympathetic. “I was surprised myself. What will you do now?”
A few miles passed them by as Hinata considered this. “I’m going to confront my grandson, get his side of the story. From what I’ve heard, few have bothered to give him that courtesy.”
“And then?”
“And then I’ll decide if he truly deserves this treasure of mine.”
Both looked at said treasure. The Virgo Amulet caught a stray sunbeam and twinkled for a moment. Though neither passenger noticed, it continued to twinkle for a second after the sun fell behind a cloud.
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(Posted Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:19)
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