(no subject)
"Do you remember that day? The day when Silver Millennium fell..?
We were forbidden to leave our posts..."
Uranus nods, "...We could only watch from far away, as the princess and prince were killed. And they all died, one by one."
"We're not in that position this time," Neptune says, laying a gentle hand on her partner's forearm. "We know what must be done. And we can save them, ourselves."
Pluto's white-gloved fingers tighten around her keystaff, a look of silent frustration upon her face. "I don't know why she was reborn, along with us. The implications don't make any sense. I know there is a future, I know it doesn't end here."
"But, you said yourself that things are going differently than you perceived they would. We have to do it, Setsuna, it's the only way to protect this planet," Neptune counters.
"I know," Pluto lowers her face, "I know."
On that day, a thousand years ago:
The kingdom fell. Uranus, from her planetary post, Neptune, from her planet, and Pluto, from hers - three guardians alone and completely isolated from each other - watched helplessly as the war between the Moon Kingdom and Earth resulted in the destruction of all they held dear.
With her last breath, the Queen, the mother of dear Serenity - used the powers of the Silver Imperium Crystal to preserve the souls of everyone there - and to ensure that they would be born into new lives in Earth's future, where, hopefully, they could be happy.
Then, the Queen died, and, with her death, their Talismans began to resonate as they never had before. Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus, grieved and puzzled, were brought together by an unknown force. Together, they observed the Mirror, Sword, and Garnet Orb vibrate and glow, overflowing with a strange, new power.
Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus could never have guessed that their Talismans had summoned Saturn - known to those few who knew of her only as 'the one who must never be awakened.'
Silently, she appeared before them with her icy gaze. Impartially observing everything around her, silently, she performed her purpose. In despair, they could only helplessly watch again as the last Sailor Scout from the forbidden planet raised her hand and slowly dropped her Glaive; those were their last moments of life, before she ushered them into death.
Uranus clenches and unclenches her hands into tight fists. "You suggest we turn back, Pluto?"
"No."
"Are you having second thoughts?!" Uranus spins upon her in contained rage.
Setsuna raises her face. Her maroon-shaded eyes are wise, and impossibly old, "We must do -- what we must."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"ChibiUsa, the movie's about to start!!..."
ChibiUsa scans the front of the movie theater; still no sign of Hotaru.
"You two go ahead without me, I'll catch up!" She says, and the other children oblige. "I wonder if she's hurt, or collapsed again," she murmurs worriedly to herself after they've gone.
The phone number Hotaru had given her isn't working, either. "It's been over an hour, I should go..."
It takes just under twenty minutes for ChibiUsa to get to Tomoe Research Laboratories - the lab cum mansion of residence of Professor Tomoe and his daughter. It's getting dark, and it's absolutely quiet here -- eerily so for the Soldier-In-Training. Hotaru's father is a suspect, and even if he weren't, the place is suspicious in and of itself. She gulps, touching a hand reassuringly to the brooch she wears - the container of her life's power, the magnificent Silver Imperium Crystal. She leaps the gate, and proceeds inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kaori, we have a guest."
"I am aware, Professor."
Just moments earlier, Hotaru bid Good Evening to her father, mentioning offhand that she'd be going to see a movie with a friend, and heading back upstairs to her room.
"Do you wish for me to attend to her?"
Professor Tomoe breaks out into a cackle and a too-wide grin.
"No. Let's... see what happens, first."
Hotaru arrives back to her room, and through the huge glass windows is the face of ChibiUsa, pressed against the glass and staring in.
"ChibiUsa? Oh, am I late?"
ChibiUsa laughs.
"CHIBIUSA," comes a shout from above, "GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Shocked, the two turn towards the sound. ChibiUsa is greeted by a pair of half-gloved arms scooping her up and depositing her in the bushes nearby. The figure stands, then, and faces the spot that ChibiUsa had been standing in a moment previous.
"Dead Scream--" A tall staff lowers to point the glowing orb at its top towards the side of the house. A bright ball of garnet light shoots towards Hotaru's bedroom windows and Hotaru herself, still standing just inside, motionless. The glass shatters upon impact, flinging her across the room.
Sailor Pluto is immediately joined by Sailors Uranus and Neptune, also facing the now-shattered window.
"HOTARU!!!" ChibiUsa screams shrilly, jumping out of the bushes, and running to go to her friend's side. Too late for them to see the little girl jumping into their paths, they're preparing for a second round of attack. And together, "Dead Scream--"
"Deep Submerge!"
"World Shaking!!"
they combine their three attacks into one, and send it hurtling at the two.
ChibiUsa reaches Hotaru, turning in the instant the whirling attack of light streaks towards her to face the three Soldiers.
"ChibiUsa!?!?" Pluto's eyes go wide.
There is a brillant flash of light, and when it dissipates, there is a brightly violet-colored shield of energy surrounding the two girls widely - Hotaru stands straight up at the center of the dome, hovering a few inches off of the ground, and glowing faintly with that same violet light.
ChibiUsa opens her eyes again slowly. She is shocked at first to learn that she has not been destroyed - then glancing around to discover that her friend is floating and glowing with violet light, she is shocked again, but for a different reason. "H... Hotaru...?"
Hotaru glares straight ahead in cold anger. A glyph shines at the spot between her brows - a symbol traced into her flesh in bright violet light.
Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto recognize it immediately. "Sailor Saturn!!!"
She remains levitating, staring straight ahead from within her violet dome. The three Outers begin their simultaneous effort again.
ChibiUsa calls from within the shield in shock and panic. "Stop!! What are you doing!?!"
"Seek cover, Small Lady!" calls Pluto, and finishes her cry of attack. A small smile breaks out onto Hotaru's face as the attack comes. ChibiUsa turns, diving into her, "No!!!" and they both fall to the ground, Hotaru going unconscious, narrowly dodging the triple attack - the shield vanishes, along with the shining glyph.
"Tch!" Uranus grabs her sword. "I'll finish this myself!"
Pluto motions to intercept her. "Without harming the small princess," Uranus says, impatiently.
Kneeling by Hotaru, ChibiUsa opens her brooch, revealing the clear multi-faceted crystal within. She sobs, "Are you alright, Hotaru??" And there is no answer. With a tiny hand she removes the crystal, holding it by its chain as an amulet and over Hotaru's still form. "Don't worry. I'll give you strength with my Silver Imperium Crystal. Everything will be okay." The crystal sparkles and shimmers with white light, which falls down towards Hotaru and absorbs into her body.
Then, suddenly, Hotaru disappears, the space around her blurring in one instant, and she is gone the next. "Hotaru!?!" ChibiUsa yells.
We were forbidden to leave our posts..."
Uranus nods, "...We could only watch from far away, as the princess and prince were killed. And they all died, one by one."
"We're not in that position this time," Neptune says, laying a gentle hand on her partner's forearm. "We know what must be done. And we can save them, ourselves."
Pluto's white-gloved fingers tighten around her keystaff, a look of silent frustration upon her face. "I don't know why she was reborn, along with us. The implications don't make any sense. I know there is a future, I know it doesn't end here."
"But, you said yourself that things are going differently than you perceived they would. We have to do it, Setsuna, it's the only way to protect this planet," Neptune counters.
"I know," Pluto lowers her face, "I know."
On that day, a thousand years ago:
The kingdom fell. Uranus, from her planetary post, Neptune, from her planet, and Pluto, from hers - three guardians alone and completely isolated from each other - watched helplessly as the war between the Moon Kingdom and Earth resulted in the destruction of all they held dear.
With her last breath, the Queen, the mother of dear Serenity - used the powers of the Silver Imperium Crystal to preserve the souls of everyone there - and to ensure that they would be born into new lives in Earth's future, where, hopefully, they could be happy.
Then, the Queen died, and, with her death, their Talismans began to resonate as they never had before. Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus, grieved and puzzled, were brought together by an unknown force. Together, they observed the Mirror, Sword, and Garnet Orb vibrate and glow, overflowing with a strange, new power.
Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus could never have guessed that their Talismans had summoned Saturn - known to those few who knew of her only as 'the one who must never be awakened.'
Silently, she appeared before them with her icy gaze. Impartially observing everything around her, silently, she performed her purpose. In despair, they could only helplessly watch again as the last Sailor Scout from the forbidden planet raised her hand and slowly dropped her Glaive; those were their last moments of life, before she ushered them into death.
Uranus clenches and unclenches her hands into tight fists. "You suggest we turn back, Pluto?"
"No."
"Are you having second thoughts?!" Uranus spins upon her in contained rage.
Setsuna raises her face. Her maroon-shaded eyes are wise, and impossibly old, "We must do -- what we must."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"ChibiUsa, the movie's about to start!!..."
ChibiUsa scans the front of the movie theater; still no sign of Hotaru.
"You two go ahead without me, I'll catch up!" She says, and the other children oblige. "I wonder if she's hurt, or collapsed again," she murmurs worriedly to herself after they've gone.
The phone number Hotaru had given her isn't working, either. "It's been over an hour, I should go..."
It takes just under twenty minutes for ChibiUsa to get to Tomoe Research Laboratories - the lab cum mansion of residence of Professor Tomoe and his daughter. It's getting dark, and it's absolutely quiet here -- eerily so for the Soldier-In-Training. Hotaru's father is a suspect, and even if he weren't, the place is suspicious in and of itself. She gulps, touching a hand reassuringly to the brooch she wears - the container of her life's power, the magnificent Silver Imperium Crystal. She leaps the gate, and proceeds inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kaori, we have a guest."
"I am aware, Professor."
Just moments earlier, Hotaru bid Good Evening to her father, mentioning offhand that she'd be going to see a movie with a friend, and heading back upstairs to her room.
"Do you wish for me to attend to her?"
Professor Tomoe breaks out into a cackle and a too-wide grin.
"No. Let's... see what happens, first."
Hotaru arrives back to her room, and through the huge glass windows is the face of ChibiUsa, pressed against the glass and staring in.
"ChibiUsa? Oh, am I late?"
ChibiUsa laughs.
"CHIBIUSA," comes a shout from above, "GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Shocked, the two turn towards the sound. ChibiUsa is greeted by a pair of half-gloved arms scooping her up and depositing her in the bushes nearby. The figure stands, then, and faces the spot that ChibiUsa had been standing in a moment previous.
"Dead Scream--" A tall staff lowers to point the glowing orb at its top towards the side of the house. A bright ball of garnet light shoots towards Hotaru's bedroom windows and Hotaru herself, still standing just inside, motionless. The glass shatters upon impact, flinging her across the room.
Sailor Pluto is immediately joined by Sailors Uranus and Neptune, also facing the now-shattered window.
"HOTARU!!!" ChibiUsa screams shrilly, jumping out of the bushes, and running to go to her friend's side. Too late for them to see the little girl jumping into their paths, they're preparing for a second round of attack. And together, "Dead Scream--"
"Deep Submerge!"
"World Shaking!!"
they combine their three attacks into one, and send it hurtling at the two.
ChibiUsa reaches Hotaru, turning in the instant the whirling attack of light streaks towards her to face the three Soldiers.
"ChibiUsa!?!?" Pluto's eyes go wide.
There is a brillant flash of light, and when it dissipates, there is a brightly violet-colored shield of energy surrounding the two girls widely - Hotaru stands straight up at the center of the dome, hovering a few inches off of the ground, and glowing faintly with that same violet light.
ChibiUsa opens her eyes again slowly. She is shocked at first to learn that she has not been destroyed - then glancing around to discover that her friend is floating and glowing with violet light, she is shocked again, but for a different reason. "H... Hotaru...?"
Hotaru glares straight ahead in cold anger. A glyph shines at the spot between her brows - a symbol traced into her flesh in bright violet light.
Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto recognize it immediately. "Sailor Saturn!!!"
She remains levitating, staring straight ahead from within her violet dome. The three Outers begin their simultaneous effort again.
ChibiUsa calls from within the shield in shock and panic. "Stop!! What are you doing!?!"
"Seek cover, Small Lady!" calls Pluto, and finishes her cry of attack. A small smile breaks out onto Hotaru's face as the attack comes. ChibiUsa turns, diving into her, "No!!!" and they both fall to the ground, Hotaru going unconscious, narrowly dodging the triple attack - the shield vanishes, along with the shining glyph.
"Tch!" Uranus grabs her sword. "I'll finish this myself!"
Pluto motions to intercept her. "Without harming the small princess," Uranus says, impatiently.
Kneeling by Hotaru, ChibiUsa opens her brooch, revealing the clear multi-faceted crystal within. She sobs, "Are you alright, Hotaru??" And there is no answer. With a tiny hand she removes the crystal, holding it by its chain as an amulet and over Hotaru's still form. "Don't worry. I'll give you strength with my Silver Imperium Crystal. Everything will be okay." The crystal sparkles and shimmers with white light, which falls down towards Hotaru and absorbs into her body.
Then, suddenly, Hotaru disappears, the space around her blurring in one instant, and she is gone the next. "Hotaru!?!" ChibiUsa yells.