Story 10 - 'Beyond the Mist'
or 'A Younger Sailor Pluto'
And then she was pushed. Setsuna fell to her knees, hearing a great
iron latch shut behind her. Clang!
"N-n-nooooo!" She wailed, throwing herself at the iron gates, shaking
the bars harshly.
"LEMME GO, LEMME GO!" she yelled into the bars, "It's not fair . . .
I don't even know what I've done. . ." She whispered. "I DIDN'T DO
ANYTHING, LEMME GO!" she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks,
"Please . . . what did I do wrong?" she looked around quickly, finding
nothing but mist on all sides.
It was then she really looked through the bars on the gates. She drew in her breath sharply, watching a great blast of white light covering the Earth's moon. She blinked, then seeing a great war, big iron monstrous machines plowing through people and anything laying in it's path. She saw a frozen wasteland in the next second, dead of all life. Next was a dark planet, great bolts of electric light flying from it. More scenes flickered through the mists, light beams, dark shadows, green meadows, red mountains, blue oceans, white mists, gray rains, destruction, creation, pain, misery, joy, love, anger, hatred, prejudice, death. Now she was frightened again.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEE!" She screamed jumping from the barred path. Suddenly she saw a woman, long pale blond hair and a beautiful white dress on the other side of the gates. She was the opposite of everything she had just witnessed, innocence, warmth and unending love. Cautiously she approached the fearsome iron again. When her hand touched the surface the woman disappeared. Setsuna threw a hand through the barrier, reaching for the faded woman. She cried out again.
"NOOOO!" She shook the bars again, "COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK!" tears streamed down her soft cheeks as she cried out, pleading to the mist. "What's going on . . ." Suddenly she began screaming again.
"IS ANYBODY HERE? SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" She began to quiet down, "Please? . . . Anybody! . . . SOMEBODY! . . . DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" She threw herself from the bars in hysterics, crying violently. She looked around a little, seeing a big key lying on the ground.
Still crying, instinct told her to pick up the key. Doing so, she leaned the tall item against the gate's support column. She leaned against that column herself, sliding down it with her back pressed to it. Once she was sitting on the ground, knees pulled tightly to her chest she let any sense of composure vanish. She cried with deep, breathy sobs into her legs, letting her long hair shelter her from the dark foreboding world around her. Her body shook from her actions uncontrollably.
Hours passed meaninglessly as she allowed her tears to subside. They no longer shook her physically, but still ran from her eyes like streams of lake water. Thinking she heard something, her breath caught in her throat. Unconsciously, Setsuna allowed an instinct to control her motions, energy coursing through her veins, flowing to her hands and building. She looked up to see a man, tall about twenty with dark hair tinted with highlights of deep blue. He wore a midnight blue suit and cape as he stood before her. Just as unconsciously as before the built energy vanished.
"Why are you crying, Guardian of Time?" He asked quietly. She sniffled.
"Guardian of Time? I'm not the Guardian of Time, I'm Meioh Setsuna and just a little girl. I don't know why I'm here, or who sent me, I just want to go h-home!" Her breath had caught on the last word and she had begun to cry hysterically again. The man knelt beside her.
"Oh dear . . ." He said, "I was afraid of this when I saw you." He caught her gaze, "No one told you why you were here?"
"N-no . . . nobody." she whispered, touched by the softness in his voice. He gave her a warm and comforting smile. Her tears began to subside, this man made her feel like everything was fine, that she'd be okay.
"When I first arrived, no one had told me why I was here either. But after a little while, the Guardian of Time found me and told me my purpose here." He sat down beside her, "Well Setsuna-san, it looks like I now must return the favor done to me. Are you ready to listen?" He asked, handing her a small white handkerchief. She accepted it, drying her sunken eyes nodding, barely conscious of the formality her had used with her.
"You are Meioh Setsuna, but you are also Sailor Pluto of the Silver Millennium. Sailor Pluto is also known as the Guardian of Time, as it is her job to guard these Gates behind us, the Gates of Time. She is to see that no one tries to pass through these gates without due reason and knowledge of the consequences. Only in rare circumstances is anyone to pass through these gates." He paused a minute to let this sink in. "Sailor Pluto has the power of time itself at her command, she can stop it, pass through it and is one of the most powerful people in this system. You are she."
Setsuna looked at him with incredulous disbelief. "I can't control time, I'm just a little girl, I only turned six last month!" Oddly enough he laughed at her comment.
"That is not true. Meioh Setsuna is six years old, but when you are here at the Gates of Time, you are not Meioh Setsuna, at least not the Meioh Setsuna you speak of. Here you automatically take on the form of Sailor Pluto, simply by entering this realm through those gates. Sailor Pluto is not six years old. She is nearly ageless, and the Pluto I know is a beautiful woman who looks about twenty. But truthfully, she is several thousands of years old. She is as old as the Silver Millennium, and has grown more so since it's fall. And will continue to until it's redemption and even further."
She stared at the dark haired man, still disbelieving. He sighed, a tall staff appeared in his hand, a pale golden key, similar to the lavender one that leaned against the gates. He waved it before them and a large mirror materialized. "Look upon your reflection, Sailor Pluto. See your true self, not Meioh Setsuna, but the great and powerful wielder of Time that you are destined to always be."
Setsuna stood up, shock by the sight. She was not the little girl she'd been when pushed through the Gates. She was very tall, a young woman, a mature body and face. She didn't wear her school suit either. A pair of black, heeled boots climbed her legs, nearly reaching her knees. A very short black skirt, a white sleeveless bodysuit, a black sailor suit collar, a black band around her throat. White gloves graced her lower arms. Looking at her matured face a tiara with a red stone lay across her forehead, the dark green hair at her crown was pulled into a bun at the back, revealing a pair of garnet earrings which matched the charm attached to the black band at her throat.
She started at the sight and the reflection did the same. Stunned she watched the mirror image approach the glass, stroking the surface, meeting her own fingers on the mirror's face. "It's true . . ." She whispered, "I'm not Meioh Setsuna . . ."
The man stood behind her, holding the lavender key. She watched him approach her in the mirror's reflection, turning to face him. He handed her the key. "This is your Garnet Staff, I'll show you how to use the Staff and your powers later." He patted her shoulder comfortingly, "You have taken in alot today. I'll show you all you need to know, but not right now. Now just rest and make sure no one passes through the Gates. I'll be back soon."
He began to walk away from her. Fear once again overcame the woman, who still held the heart of a young girl, "Wait!" She called, staggering towards him in the awkward heels. He stopped and turned back to her. She stopped and stood up straight. "Who are you and why are you here?"
He gave her the same warm smile, "I am a Guardian of Gates like yourself, but I guard the Gates between this realm and the realm of the dead. The Gates of Life. My name is Cerberus. I'm a long time friend of Sailor Pluto and hope to continue that friendship."
She smiled at him as he turned from her and continued walking into the mist until she could see him no longer.
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