The early morning sun beat down on her dark tresses as she moved along the street, showing all who looked that they were not black as so many assumed, but a very deep shade of verdant. Pausing for a moment at a street corner to wait for traffic, Meiou Setsuna delicately brushed one of those locks out of her face and sighed faintly. The life of a senshi - especially hers, since she was destine to guard the Gates of Time - was not meant to be easy. It was a simple rule of fate: with great power comes great responsibility. But recently things had become far to chaotic, even for her, the daughter of Chronos.
Recently the Golden Queen Galaxia, an old enemy of the sailorsenshi, had presented herself to Setsuna's alter ego, Sailorpluto, bearing disturbing news. The very people the senshi had fought so hard to protect over the years had opened a rift in the boundary between life and death, allowing the greatest evils they had ever faced to return to the realm of the living. And as a protector of love and justice, as well as the rightful flow of time, that could not be tolerated. Though she could not battle all the evils that had plagued the blue-green planet Earth before alone, nor could she go to the Princess - Usagi needed time to live a normal life. So that left her one option. Uranus and Neptune.
But what about Hotaru? She wasn't about to see her surrogate daughter involved in this. Not yet anyway, she reminded herself as a feeling of futility swept through her. As much as she didn't want to see the Inner Senshi or her beloved little hime-chan involved in the crisis she knew was building, it was only a matter of time. Well, unless she and her two teammates and companions could stop the five generations of evil that had suddenly found themselves among the living again. And Setsuna severely doubted that. There was no question whether or not they could stop the Dark Kingdom and the Black Moon Family, as the Inner Senshi had done it without their intervention once before. But the Deathbusters, the Dead Moon Circus, and Shadow Galactica? Those particular evils had taken the combine powers of two or, if you counted the Starlights, three teams of senshi. Which meant like it or not, the peace of her family and friends would be shattered eventually... and Setsuna most definitely did not like it.
Tearing herself out of her thoughts of duty and family, Setsuna's crimson eyes fell upon the traffic light that stood like a sentinel next to her. In the time that she had been musing, the light had turned red, signaling that she could cross. Doing so, she continued on, stopping only once she had reached the mansion owned by the Outer Senshi. And as she reached the door, she extended one of her graceful arms and knocked gently on the door. Moments later, she was let in by Haruka, who gave her an almost confused glance.
For a moment Setsuna was silent, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly in an almost calculating manner. Then finally, the olive-skinned woman spoke. "Get Michiru," she said softly so that if Hotaru happened to be in the next room, she wouldn't hear her.
A frown poisoning her features, she decided that the discussion would be best taken elsewhere... somewhere far from her pale-skinned daughter's ears. That way, Hotaru would not be involved in this and neither would the Princess or her young guardians. And it would remain that way as long as she could prevent it. They needed a time to live normal lives, whereas the three elder members of the sol senshi had been heeding the call of destiny all their lives and could live without normalcy. It was a fact, pure and simple... and she felt no resentment towards the others who would have their lives back as long as was humanly possible. She only hoped the two women she considered family felt the same way.
"Get Michiru," she repeated, "and come with me. I'm afraid we have a problem."
Recently the Golden Queen Galaxia, an old enemy of the sailorsenshi, had presented herself to Setsuna's alter ego, Sailorpluto, bearing disturbing news. The very people the senshi had fought so hard to protect over the years had opened a rift in the boundary between life and death, allowing the greatest evils they had ever faced to return to the realm of the living. And as a protector of love and justice, as well as the rightful flow of time, that could not be tolerated. Though she could not battle all the evils that had plagued the blue-green planet Earth before alone, nor could she go to the Princess - Usagi needed time to live a normal life. So that left her one option. Uranus and Neptune.
But what about Hotaru? She wasn't about to see her surrogate daughter involved in this. Not yet anyway, she reminded herself as a feeling of futility swept through her. As much as she didn't want to see the Inner Senshi or her beloved little hime-chan involved in the crisis she knew was building, it was only a matter of time. Well, unless she and her two teammates and companions could stop the five generations of evil that had suddenly found themselves among the living again. And Setsuna severely doubted that. There was no question whether or not they could stop the Dark Kingdom and the Black Moon Family, as the Inner Senshi had done it without their intervention once before. But the Deathbusters, the Dead Moon Circus, and Shadow Galactica? Those particular evils had taken the combine powers of two or, if you counted the Starlights, three teams of senshi. Which meant like it or not, the peace of her family and friends would be shattered eventually... and Setsuna most definitely did not like it.
Tearing herself out of her thoughts of duty and family, Setsuna's crimson eyes fell upon the traffic light that stood like a sentinel next to her. In the time that she had been musing, the light had turned red, signaling that she could cross. Doing so, she continued on, stopping only once she had reached the mansion owned by the Outer Senshi. And as she reached the door, she extended one of her graceful arms and knocked gently on the door. Moments later, she was let in by Haruka, who gave her an almost confused glance.
For a moment Setsuna was silent, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly in an almost calculating manner. Then finally, the olive-skinned woman spoke. "Get Michiru," she said softly so that if Hotaru happened to be in the next room, she wouldn't hear her.
A frown poisoning her features, she decided that the discussion would be best taken elsewhere... somewhere far from her pale-skinned daughter's ears. That way, Hotaru would not be involved in this and neither would the Princess or her young guardians. And it would remain that way as long as she could prevent it. They needed a time to live normal lives, whereas the three elder members of the sol senshi had been heeding the call of destiny all their lives and could live without normalcy. It was a fact, pure and simple... and she felt no resentment towards the others who would have their lives back as long as was humanly possible. She only hoped the two women she considered family felt the same way.
"Get Michiru," she repeated, "and come with me. I'm afraid we have a problem."