Chapter 1: A Chance to Shine

Prince Ryan adjusted his bow tie in the mirror, mumbling to himself. His midnight blue eyes twinkled in the torchlight that illuminated his bed chamber, but his shining black hair was still unbrushed. If the peasants had to conserve electricity, it wasn't fair for the royalty of New Rome to squander it. Unfortunately, for all of his crusading, Ryan's room was one of the few in the castle that didn't use electric power.

"Please stop grumbling about this reception," his mother, Queen Dorana, begged him. "This is your brother's big night and I don't want you to spoil it with a bad attitude."

"I just don't see why I have to be there," Ryan whined. "I hate ceremony. Besides, Philip will be named Royal Heir to the Throne whether I'm there or not." Under his breath, he said, "and lowly, second-born princes like me are just decoration."

"I heard that," the Queen said. "I know you don't like your position in life, my son," she added tenderly, "but being a prince is a privilege. You will live in luxury for the rest of your days." There was a touch of sadness in here eyes.

"You know how I feel about that, mother," Ryan said softly.

"You want to do something with your life, I know. It's a very honorable thing to want. Maybe Philip will let you advise him when he becomes King."

"Mother," Ryan said with a cold mirth in his voice, "you are so morbid, speaking of your husbands death as if it were nothing."

"It isn't nothing," Queen Dorana said. "I think about your father's death quite a bit. Part of the Queen's responsibility is knowing what to do should the King perish. I don't want it to happen, and I'm sad that it will someday, but I'm also realistic."

Ryan was silent for a while. Finally, he said, "mother, I don't want to wait for a slim possibility that I might be able to advise my brother. I want to do something worthwhile. I want to help people. I want to make you and father proud while you're both still alive. I hate being too low-born to rule, but too high-born to do anything else."

"What are you saying, my child?"

"I want to move out and live on my own for a while. I want to be someone else for a while. No titles, no ranks, no ceremonies, just me."

"You can't do that, Ryan. You're a prince, not a peasant."

"I have to, mother, for my own sake. Goodbye." Ryan grabbed his least extravagant cloak and left his rooms. Queen Dorana ran after him, yelling for him to stop, tears flooding her eyes, but Ryan was too fast for her.

He stepped out of the castle into the driving snow, knowing his mother would never set the guards out after him. His father might, once he learned that Ryan had run off, but he would be long gone by then.

Ryan wondered where he would go. To Paris or Berlin on the northern border? Maybe to tropical Crete or Delos, where it got almost warm enough to melt ice. Would they think to look for him down by the southern glaciers in Kenya? No, he thought, his best bet would be to immerse himself in a city. Tyre or Carthage? Tyre had more people, so they'd search for him there first. Carthage it was. He started hiking south to the nearest town to buy a sled to get across the Mediterranean ice.

Finally, she thought. Three hundred years before she had built up enough of a force to come back to earth. Stardust turned on the light, disregarding what her landlord had said about using electricity without need. Despite all the changes that had happened to the planet, style was still the same. So far, everything she saw was like late twentieth century earth, just modified for the permanent winter. There were other changes, of course. Her white hair was no longer an oddity, but a trait as regular as brown or blonde. The layered look was not only in style, but a necessity. What really got her was that a person's wardrobe had as many coats as shirts and pants.

Stardust saw a severe lack of clothing, but it didn't matter. She knew she'd have this planet in a few days anyway. She pulled out her Crystal Staff to bring some of her minions through.

"No," she gasped. There was a crack in the crystal at the end. All of the energy she had collected was gone. She had little money, almost no power, and no way off the planet until she got more. The crystal must have cracked when she was entering the atmosphere. Hope wasn't gone, though: she could fix the crack and rebuild her reserves, but it would take time.

Prince Ryan bared his whip, but decided against using it. The dogs were slowing down because they were tired - it had been a long day. It had been three hours since he had passed the shallows, which were laced with periodic holes for ice fishing, one of the only stable sources of meat. Ha had had to be careful there lest one of his sled dogs step in and break a leg, and that meant going at a snail's pace for most of the morning and part of the afternoon.

He pitched his tent on the ice, large enough for the dogs to sleep in it and be warmed by the portable heater and still leave room for him. Once the heat was on and the tent was warm enough, he took off his coat and settled in for the night. The food he had brought wasn't appetizing enough to overcome the depression leaving home had brought upon him, though he did feel a peculiar rumbling.

He opened a can of snow peas and began to eat, just to stop the rumbling, but instead it grew stronger.

The rumbling became vibration, and soon he heard the unmistakable sound of a truck. "What idiot would bring a truck out here?" he said to his lead sled dog. There was, of course, no answer from the canine.

The sound got louder and louder until he finally heard it rush by his tent, the wind shear ripping it at the seems. "Idiot!" Ryan yelled. Then the groaning started. Not knowing what it was at first, he became worried, but once he remembered his schooling his worry melted away into terror - the ice was breaking. He threw on his coat and headed out of the tent, leaving it open for the dogs to escape, and he ran. He heard the dogs' nails clicking away on the ice as they ran in the opposite direction on instinct. The small part of his mind that wasn't fixed on his own survival was glad the dogs would get away.

Ryan slipped and fell, sliding about ten more feet on his back, the wind knocked out of him. He rolled over, trying to get his breath back, and saw the glow of the tent. There was another long groan and a loud crack, and Ryan helplessly watched his tent slip into the abyss. He was now stranded, miles from land, without food, shelter, warmth, or transportation. On the upside, he realized that he was standing and breathing again, though he didn't know when that had happened. He sank to his knees in relief that he was still alive...and kept sinking. He had broken through the ice. He tried to stay afloat, but the bulk of his winter clothing was weighing him down. He quickly removed as much as he could, letting it sink into the unknown, and swam back up, only to find a wall of ice separating him from the precious oxygen above. Once he realized he had no idea which direction the hole in the ice was in, the blackness came over him quickly.

"Prince Ryan."

The darkness receded enough for Ryan to hear a soft, yet masculine, voice calling to him.

"Prince Ryan, you must wake up," the voice said again.

"Who's there?" Ryan asked.

"Can you see yet?"

Ryan opened his eyes. He was on a golden bed in an ornate room. The light was constant, electric, but dim. "Where am I?"

"The spirit world," the voice said, "but only for a few minutes. It isn't your time yet."

Ryan turned to see the speaker and gasped. He had seen Seiya Kou in history books, but he never expected to meet the great composer of the early twenty first century.

"I see you recognize me," Seiya said. "Are you a fan?"

"I...I don't really get into classical music all that much," Ryan confessed.

"Classical!?" Seiya sniffed. "I'll have you know that my music was cutting edge and loved by the young all over the earth."

"I did not mean to offend you, I am sorry," Ryan said, ashamed.

"It's all right," Seiya said. "Music wasn't my first priority, never was."

"What else did you do?"

"Ever hear of the Sailor Senshi?" Seiya asked.

"The ones who froze the earth?" Ryan spat.

"The Lights were also Sailor Senshi," Seiya said, ignoring Ryan's contempt. "We were sent away on a mission, and when we came back, the world was frozen."

"Those Senshi have a lot of innocent lives to account for destroying."

"They didn't kill anyone," Seiya said. "It wouldn't be so lonely here in the afterlife if they had. The people who were frozen will be revived in the thirtieth century."

"That far, huh?" Ryan said in a far off voice. "And the world will be frozen until then?"

"Yes," Seiya replied. "Queen Serenity will reawaken and use the Imperium Silver Crystal to remove the ice and make the world whole again. It is her destiny."

"Poor thing," Ryan muttered, "being trapped in a destiny."

"She doesn't consider herself trapped, young prince," Seiya informed him. "The Queen enjoys making the world better. Hopefully you will as well."

"No I won't," Ryan said. "I mean, I'd enjoy it if I could do it, but my title gives me no power."

"I know, Ryan," Seiya said solemnly. "You are here in the spirit realm to get that power to help people that you so desire. You have been chosen to be the first of a brand new force of Senshi: the Stellar Senshi. Your will to help others made you an easy choice, because that is all you need - we'll provide the power."

"Me? A Senshi?" Ryan blurted. "Which one? What do I do? How do I activate it?"

"Slow down," Seiya said. "You don't have the power yet. You have to go to it and see if it accepts you. If one of the twelve statues accepts you, he will give you a ring, which you can use to transform."

So I have to win my way in, Ryan thought. "Oh well, I have to try it. This is my only chance to do good."

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