The Halo Effect

by jade

The White City, Crystal Tokyo, is a city free of crime and disease. Free of famine and poverty. And to its inhabitants, free of life. The road to Crystal Tokyo is paved in good intentions.

Well, I suppose some of you should have suspected I would have to write a Crystal Tokyo fanfic—especially after Our Kingdom Disdain. But, there's only one way I can imagine that whole future going down, so I'm here to paint my picture of Crystal Tokyo.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

---

The Halo Effect

Part the First

"We were expelled from Paradise, but it was not destroyed. The expulsion from Paradise was in one sense a piece of good fortune, for if we had not been expelled, Paradise would have had to be destroyed."

-Franz Kafka

"Know you not that we shall judge angels?"

-That Hideous Strength, C. S. Lewis

---

"Tell me again." The child insisted, trying desperately to warm its hands by rubbing them together and blowing on them. It was cold out again and they'd have to find some really good shelter if they didn't plan to freeze in the night.

"Which story?" The woman rubbed her hands together as well as they huddled around a fire burning in an old oil barrel.

"Tell me about the paradise." The child wanted a distraction from the cold. Besides, he loved his aunt's stories.

"That story again?" The woman looked weary with it. She had told it a thousand times to this child but the child never seemed to tire of it. "There's a paradise here on Earth, ruled by an immortal queen and king."

"And everyone loves them, right? And everyone is happy and nobody ever goes hungry or anything, right auntie?" The child, a boy, jumped into the story.

"Well, if you know the story better than I do…" The aunt trailed off in a lilting, teasing tone.

"No! Please tell me about it!" The boy looked thoroughly horrified at the idea of being cheated out of the story. "Tell me about the White City and the queen and king! Come on, auntie, you tell the story best."

"Do I?" The aunt seemed to consider this for a moment. "Well, the queen is as pure as snow and the king loves her dearly…"

---

The White City, as some had come to call it, was generally quiet, as though a blanket was covering the whole city and that everything was muffled under its weight. It was a glorious and beautiful city, built from imagination and magic, anyone would have marveled at it. Pieces of pure white crystal seemed to grow out of the ground like trees.

Everything was so white, everything was so white and clean. Sanitized was a better way of describing it. Indeed, many citizens could tell you that the whole city had been sanitized.

In any great metropolis, you could expect a fair amount of crime and other undesirable occurrences that came with too many humans being close together. But not here, not in the paradise, the Eden, the White City. Not in Crystal Tokyo.

Perhaps, if you were there, if you were overlooking this city for the first time, and were being dazzled as any person might be from the sheer sight of it, you would say to yourself that this is a good place. This is a place you want to live. To spend your life, in these clean streets, in a place where crime was a myth. It was safe.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Meioh Setsuna sat in a darkened room overlooking the city from a great tower of the Crystal Palace. The palace was an illogical piece of architecture with many great slabs of crystal shining around it. That was the way the Neo-Queen had wanted it built and so that was how it was built.

Setsuna was still looking out the window, not paying attention to anything going on around the palace, not that many frantic goings on occurred near her room, which was way up in one of the towers. Only two floors below and three hallways to the right were the royal chambers of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion.

She saw King Endymion quite often; he was always out and about, attending meetings, greeting diplomats, trying to juggle politics and many other things. If one were to come visit Crystal Tokyo, they might think that King Endymion was in charge. But anyone who had heard of how the King and Queen had come into power knew the truth. That the Neo-Queen was the real power behind the thrones. She held the power of the gods in her hands. Powers that no one dare challenge, not since the old days, before the White City that no one bothered to recall.

The whole city was gleaming and Setsuna turned away from it, so sick of seeing the artificial white, remembering a time when the whole world looked different…looked real. Even the brief patches of green and trees were so planned that one knew they couldn't have been placed by anyone but man.

She darted her eyes around the room and wondered briefly if one of the many fabled powers of the Neo-Queen were true. That the Neo-Queen could hear the thoughts of mortals.

I cannot be frightened to think my own thoughts.

The Neo-Queen could not scare her. And she was not a mortal. She was something else entirely, something she couldn't quite put into words. There were limitations to all languages.

To say she was Time was too arrogant, to say that she was the essence of Time, too vague. Some of the servants in the palace called her, in blasphemous whispers, the Moirae. All talk of that nature was considered blasphemy by the White Church, the church that had established the Neo-Queen as a goddess. The White Church could punish those who committed blasphemy with anything from imprisonment to death.

Yet it was the White Church that held an ancient prophecy as sacred law. The ancient prophecy was very imprecise, mostly because they could only translate it very vaguely, no one spoke the language of the Ancients anymore to help. But what the Neo-Queen had gotten from it was this:

The Sailor Senshi will be her downfall.

The Sailor Senshi. Eight legendary women who were said to have god-like powers and would kill the Neo-Queen. The Church maintained that these eight women were evil and had tried to rise up before against the Neo-Queen who killed them all, but that they would be reborn into the world. The White Church said that the Neo-Queen would defeat them over and over again, as part of some kind of cycle.

But Setsuna, the Moirae, had powers that no one could explain. No one had ever accused her of being a Sailor Senshi. She could see visions of the past, present, and future. She often dreamed of a place, so full of mist that it was impossible to see. She dreamed of a large door, made out of stone, or maybe marble, but with some sort of metallic qualities to it. She dreamed of a door full of hallways and keys.

This green-haired woman, with hypnotic garnet eyes, had always had a fondness of keys. She had a ring of keys for the palace, all smooth and cool to the touch. She'd carry the keys and jingle them from time to time, just because it made her feel very aware. Like if she jingled the keys for long enough, she'd remember something important.

Setsuna had been born in Crystal Tokyo. She was an orphan though, her father being nowhere and her mother being dead. She often wondered what had happened to her father or what had happened between her father and her mother, but it was to no avail. Strangely, even though she could remember far back into the past when she concentrated hard enough, there was a large chunk of time missing from her recollections. It was as though somebody had censored the past, taking out the part that Setsuna wasn't supposed to see.

The orphanage had cast her out in a strange religious-craze. They declared her a heathen and that she was a blasphemy for having powers that everyone knew only the royal family was allowed to have. She could remember that day clearly. Standing there, her expression unwavering as she stared back at the orphanage, she had realized that she couldn't help her powers or anything else about her. That they were fools being blindly lead around by the equally impaired White Church.

But there was nowhere for her to go at the time so she had to seek shelter in the White Church. They would have sent her back to the orphanage if she had not foretold that the Neo-Queen would give birth to a child. She hadn't meant to tell them. It slipped out. The following day, King Endymion announced to the press that the Neo-Queen was indeed pregnant.

The White Church decided that she could not be sent back to the orphanage, that she was either evil or a gift sent from the heavens because of their obedience towards the Neo-Queen. No one dared mention the phrase Sailor Senshi out loud. So they brought her before King Endymion, who looked the same as he did now, a young man with piercing blue eyes and dark hair, but a sense of firmness or perhaps strength that made you know he was in control and that he could not be overcome easily.

"And you…?" King Endymion trailed off as Setsuna lifted her face from the floor. The White Church had told her not to. That all women should be as the Neo-Queen, beautiful, demure, yet very humble. But Setsuna had been curious because she had never met a King before. His eyes focused on her and she thought the reason he trailed off was because something about her had surprised him. His wide eyes, his lips slightly parted, but then he recovered as naturally as if he meant to trail off. "You see the future?"

"And the past." Setsuna was now looking straight at him, feeling no need to appear humble anymore. She was just there. She would not pretend to feel as though because he was royalty, he was something akin to a god. It was in that moment that she realized how impassively she felt towards the world.

"That is most interesting…" King Endymion seemed to consider this for a moment.

It wasn't until a week later that the White Church brought her to the palace as her permanent home. Some might have jumped at the chance to live in such a glorious place but Setsuna couldn't get over the fact that the beauty felt like some sort of mask. If you could just lift up the pillars, you'd see that the palace wasn't so splendid. If you could just look beyond…

And now she had spent most of her life there. So much time had past. She had gotten to the age of a young woman of about twenty-one, perhaps twenty-two, and her body had stopped aging. Was she like the Neo-Queen? Was she a goddess herself?

The Moirae.

There was nothing left to do in this palace, just sit there and try to occupy one's mind with something other than thoughts. Thoughts could be dangerous. Thoughts sparked ideas, ideas sparked a need for change, change sparked a need for revolution…

But she was tired of staring out the window and letting herself wander into the past. If only she could get to the part of her past that she felt mattered. If only Time would give her everything so she could make sense of it all. But that was not the case.

Setsuna had tea sent up to her room, she was sick of sitting there, waiting for something to happen. Something was supposed to happen to her, and every day felt like she was waiting for it to happen. When the tea came in, she supposed it would only be the maid, a girl who never looked up from the ground and seemed unable to do much more than what you asked her to.

But there was another one there too. A small child that should have been much older in appearance. She seemed frozen at the age of seven, as though Time had stopped for her. In the child's large red eyes, there was no wisdom to be had. Setsuna did not see the burden of experience, the burden of age there. The child was seven in body and mind.

"Hello!" The child seated herself on the other side of the table that Setsuna had settled at for her tea. This child was Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity, Princess of Crystal Tokyo—the Neo-Queen Serenity's only daughter and heir to not only her mother's throne, but the mysterious Ginzuishou. "Daddy said to have tea with you."

For the life of her, Setsuna couldn't think why King Endymion had sent his daughter to have tea with her. He hadn't done it before. The pink-haired child was someone she saw glimpses of from time to time, but being such an important girl, she rarely had time to get to know everyone in the palace. Setsuna sincerely hoped that the King hadn't taken pity on the green-haired woman and decided that if he gave her some company, she'd be much happier.

"Hello." Setsuna poured the tea into the child's cup first and then her own. After carefully putting the pot down, she brought the cup up to her lips. This little girl seemed to be trying to act as regally and reservedly as Setsuna did while lifting her own tea cup.

"Ugh!" The girl spit her green tea out, making a face. "It tastes like grass!"

"You don't have to drink any if you don't want to." Setsuna answered calmly, not feeling the least bit insulted by the fact that the little girl did not share her tastes. Setsuna wasn't even really looking at her, she was looking to the side, hoping that the child would become bored and wander off. She really didn't need anyone to keep her company.

"My tea usually has lemon and sugar in it." The girl supplied. "This stuff tastes funny. You should order a new pot."

"This is how my tea usually is." Setsuna felt something tugging at her lips. She supposed it somewhat amused her that a little girl who was very used to a sweeter version of tea, tried to drink the bitter, calming stuff that she did.

"Daddy says you can see the future but my maid told me that you can see all sorts of things." The girl began to chatter, seeming a bit unaware that Setsuna had spoken at all. "She called you a funny name…I can't remember it though. 'M'-something but then she told me not to repeat it. I can't really remember it anyway." The girl had set her tea down and was absent-mindedly tugging at her ear.

"My name is Meioh Setsuna." Setsuna supplied calmly.

"That's a pretty name!" The girl seemed encouraged by this. "Can I call you Setsuna?"

"If you want." Setsuna was very indifferent to the whole conversation.

"And you can call me…" The girl thought for a moment, probably knowing her full name was a mouthful.

"Small Lady?" Setsuna suggested. She noticed for a moment, the girl, Small Lady's eyes had flashed with a bitterness that went came and went quickly. After all, she was a child and who knew when she would get any older. It certainly hadn't happened in awhile. Setsuna remembered how she was treated when she was a child. She could only imagine what a prolonged life of people patting you on your head and smiling indulgently instead of listening could do to a person.

"Alright." Small Lady gave her a smile. "Even though other kids tease me…'cause I don't get any older…"

"You'll be a beautiful lady one day…" Setsuna found herself muttering. Small Lady's eyes widened in delight.

"Really? You think so?" Small Lady seemed to think that Setsuna had said this to comfort her. Another thing that had come out without Setsuna meaning it to. She spent most of her time by herself, so the whispered premonitions usually went unheard.

Setsuna was glad when someone knocked on the door to interrupt so she wouldn't have to say anything. Personally, she wondered how that future could come to be. Small Lady was a child. Perhaps she would always be a child. The idea that she did age past a certain point made Setsuna think that perhaps her mind just couldn't get any older. Maybe she was trapped in an illusion of childhood purity and innocence. Why ruin that? When you're a child, you think many things are possible that you don't believe when you're an adult. Was it good to stay as a child stays, or did you have to swallow hope and become a grown-up?

"Princess." Another maid, eyes downcast, just like the other maid. Small Lady frowned a little at the intrusion. "You are needed."

"I just sat down!" Small Lady protested.

"It's unavoidable, your majesty." The maid told the floor. "It's at your mother's request."

"Oh fine." Small Lady looked like she might throw a tantrum. She then turned to Setsuna. "Can we have tea together tomorrow?" Setsuna looked surprised by this request. Why did the girl want to see her again?

"If you want." Setsuna answered vaguely, not sure what else to say. Small Lady gave her a small wave and went towards the maid. A few moments later, Setsuna was by herself again.

Monotony isn't so bad when you share it with everyone around you.

---

The blonde girl, with funny buns on top of her head, and a cheerful smile, was sitting on the foot of her bed. Setsuna sat up in alarm. No one was ever on her bed. The more she looked at this girl, the more she felt she knew her from somewhere.

"Hello, Setsuna." The girl greeted her, not noticing Setsuna's alarm. "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping." Setsuna answered simply.

"Can't say I blame you." The girl joked good-naturedly and Setsuna thought she was supposed to get the joke but she couldn't help but draw a blank. "Although you never struck me as a sleeper—well, I mean, you just don't seem like someone who ever sleeps…but of course you do." The girl looked sheepish as she tried to explain her way out of it.

"Everyone sleeps." Setsuna couldn't help but wonder who this beautiful blonde-haired girl was. "Who are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I?" The girl blinked large blue eyes. "Don't you recognize me?"

"No…at least, I don't think I do. But then, I suppose there is something about you…" Setsuna leaned forward a little, trying to get a better look at the girl's face. "Do you have a name?"

"I have many names." The girl answered promptly.

"Can you tell me one of them?" Setsuna inquired further after the girl didn't add anything on to this.

"The Princess of the Moon." She finally gave one. "It's more of a title than a name."

"Princess of the Moon?" Setsuna tried to think. "But nobody lives on the Moon."

"They used to." The blonde girl gave her a small smile. "You know, it's really funny, me having to tell you anything. You were always so smart…I used to feel so…well, dumb next to you. But that's the way everyone made me feel. Like you all deserved to be soldiers…but I didn't. I was the odd one out."

"Do we know each other?" Setsuna tried to ask.

"We've always known each other." The Princess of the Moon's smile widened in a friendly manner. "I understand why you forgot though…with everything that happened…why would anyone want to remember?"

"What happened?" Setsuna wished she didn't have nothing but questions for this mysterious figure.

"I can't really tell you. I'm only a shadow of what was, not what is. Things change, people change, circumstances change. I always thought that everything would stay the same…that we'd be able to be happy, but now I know it's not true. I thought I could protect you guys, save you guys. I thought everything would be okay…you told me once that Crystal Tokyo was the future…but it's more like a dream."

And then the girl vanished.

---

Small Lady came to have tea with her every day after that. As regular as clockwork. Setsuna would sit there and listen to Small Lady talk about her life and how much she hated that no one took her seriously, and how she wanted to be a great lady one day—just like Setsuna had prophesized. She would talk about what she would do when she got older and what kind of dresses she would like to have, and other things that didn't particularly interest Setsuna but since Setsuna had nothing else to take up her time with, she sat there and listened to Small Lady's every word while drinking her cup of green tea.

She wondered if she could count Small Lady as a friend. Perhaps Small Lady just came to her because she was the only companion that the pink-haired girl could find that didn't look down on her or treat her like a child. Or maybe she did it because she imagined Setsuna lonely. Sure, Setsuna was lonely, but no more than anyone else. Small Lady loved to talk about her father, whom Setsuna only ever saw in passing. He'd nod his head towards her, occasionally saying her name, quite formally. He hadn't really looked at her since that day, years ago.

Day after day I sit in this palace…wasting away the years…

It wasn't like a palace. There were no grand balls or luxurious feasts. Not a thousand servants waiting at your beck and call. It was a prison. A crystal tomb. Setsuna sometimes remembered a fairy tale, though she wasn't sure how she remembered, of a girl who lived in a glass coffin, while she slept under a curse.

Only to be awakened by true love's first kiss.

A crystal coffin for the living dead inside.

But one day, something changed. Small Lady insisted that Setsuna come have dinner with her and her father, downstairs, in the large dining room. Setsuna accepted the invitation, even though she didn't like the idea of leaving her room. There was something quite comforting about never ending solitude, interwoven with brief moments of conversation with Small Lady.

She went, dressed in a black dress that Small Lady had insisted on. She followed the girl clad in a cute little red dress with matching bows in her hair. A child in every way except age.

"My mommy can't be here. Daddy says she's doing something very important right now, I don't know what." Small Lady's lips twisted into a frown. "She's always doing something else…"

"She's Queen of the World." Setsuna pointed out. "And ruling from Crystal Tokyo is hard."

"Daddy helps her." Small Lady seemed to think that this was going to free her mother up from obligations. "I never see her anymore except in the throne room and then she only talks to me for a few minutes."

"Well, at least you have your father." Setsuna couldn't really think of anything else to say. She was surprised that she did not say this in a bitter tone, as she half meant it in a bitter sort of way.

When the doors opened to the dining room where Small Lady and her father ate, Setsuna was temporarily distracted by a large clock, ticking to her right. She always had a strange affinity to clocks—and at the same time, repulsion. It was as though some part of her couldn't bear the ticking of the clock, though part of her longed for its comforting rhythm.

"Meioh Setsuna." King Endymion's voice called her away from the clock, back to reality.

"Sorry." She shook herself a little. "Your highness." And she curtsied, lowering her eyes to the floor.

"Please, no need for formalities—I…I mean," King Endymion saw the slight surprise as Setsuna looked up. "Serenity has grown so fond of you after all." So it seemed Endymion had not sent Small Lady to keep her company.

"As you wish." Setsuna sat in a chair across from Endymion, and Chibi-usa sat next to her. "What shall I call you then?"

"Endymion is fine." Endymion answered. "May I call you Setsuna?"

"Setsuna is fine." Setsuna looked at him shyly. Was it because he was royalty? Was it because he was the most powerful man on Earth during the reign of the Neo-Queen? She wasn't sure.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Endymion made polite conversation and Small Lady piped up most of the time, leaving Setsuna to just watch conversation between the two of them. Occasionally Small Lady or Endymion would direct a question her way and she would answer briefly. She wasn't use to the whole idea of dinner conversation and she felt that they didn't really miss her conversation.

After dinner, Small Lady went off to her rooms and Setsuna decided not to go to her room, not just yet. She saw that the moon was shining brightly and she thought she might go out into the gardens behind the castle. There was something about moonlight and the cool night time air that reminded her of something, maybe one of the many times that she could visit in her mind, in the Past. Or maybe it reminded her of the most mysterious past of all, the past that she couldn't get to. The Past that did not want to be seen—or maybe deep down, her soul knew she didn't want to see it. Whatever it was, Setsuna didn't try to probe too much. She wasn't that curious.

Or maybe the Past is just that, the Past.

I've been lucky…I've heard of other people with any sort of power being given to the White Church for execution.

The garden was perfectly planned, with little paths that never had any cracks in them or grass growing up through those cracks. Everything was well cared for, even down to the patches of perfectly level grass. It was strange how something natural could so look artificial.

She padded along silently. There was no reason to break the silence that had settled over her. The light breeze, the moon, the stars winking above her. The wind was strangely devoid of sound. Setsuna had visited different times in her mind and she knew that the wind carried many sounds—especially at night. There were no crickets. No insects. No distant noises, even from the castle.

It's like a dollhouse. It looks real, but if you really examine it, you'll notice all the things that are missing from it that are in a real house.

This is the Neo-Queen's dollhouse.

She stopped to look at some of the roses. Roses were everywhere in this garden, probably in honor of King Endymion. They were dark red roses, almost the same dark red color as her eyes.

Why had she been spared when so many others who had been sent to the White Church did not? Why was it that the King had spared her, when few others had ever been spared? Did they expect to call her the Neo-Queen Serenity's Prophet? What was it?

"Setsuna." Endymion's voice had a slightly bemused air to it. Setsuna started a bit before seeing that it was him. He was walking towards her. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"I was walking." Setsuna answered steadily. He stopped walking when he was next to her, turning to look at the roses she had just been examining herself.

"Ah." Endymion nodded a little. "That's good. Do you like the roses, Setsuna?"

"They're lovely." Setsuna spoke truthfully. "I don't come out to the garden very often."

"Neither do I." Endymion sounded wistful. "There's always so much to do, I always want to stop and smell the roses." He laughed a little. "She always said I acted too serious sometimes."

"Who?" Setsuna looked at him curiously. Endymion's eyes were faraway and she thought he almost looked sad.

"These roses almost match your eyes." Endymion noted as he looked from the roses to her. "It's strange to just stand here in this garden. It's like being in a completely different time…"

"A different time?" Setsuna didn't understand what he was saying as she looked at his violet-blue eyes. "Is there some other time you wish you were at?"

For the longest time, Endymion said nothing. He just stood there, looking at her with a steady gaze that made her feel somewhat self-conscious, a feeling she wasn't used to. It was as if he was trying to tell her something without words, but there wasn't anyway to convey his meaning.

Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a rose, this rose was the same color as her eyes.

"Are you lonely, Setsuna?"

The wind blew past them and she stared, her mouth slightly parted, her eyes widened as she stared not at the flower, but up at him, at Endymion. Her hand went up to her hair, which she didn't really have to worry about, but she couldn't do much else. There was something so…so…alone about Endymion that she wanted to reach out to him. The flower was between them, like an offering.

Finally, her hand reached up; tenderly taking a hold of the flower, as though she were afraid it would shatter into a thousand pieces. She put it to her nose and breathed in deeply.

Is this…?

This feeling…?

At last, Endymion spoke again. "I'll see you again soon." He told her and she couldn't even answer as he turned away from her, walking back up the garden path. Part of her remembered that intense loneliness in his eyes and wanted to run after him, throw her arms around him, many things. A tremble came over her and she wondered why her whole throat constricted as she thought about the question he had asked her.

"Are you lonely, Setsuna?"

Had she been able to speak, perhaps she would have answered yes. Or she might have said no, she saw Small Lady every day and the maids. But yes felt like the truth. Did he understand how cut off she felt from everyone?

But how could Endymion understand what it means to be alone? He was the King of the World, the King of Crystal Tokyo. He had a wife, a child. What did he mean by those words?

Even if I was lonely before, somehow…Endymion made me feel much less alone.

---

Small Lady commented often that Setsuna was somehow different. And maybe she was. She kept the rose in a vase of water. It didn't show any signs of wilting a few weeks after the incident. She wondered if it would ever wilt, and hoped it never did. The pink-haired child asked her if she had gotten the rose from her father.

There was something guilty to the way that Setsuna had said yes. Around Small Lady, who seemed somehow alienated by others, she felt guilty for that moment in the garden. Was it because it was Small Lady's father? Because she felt something that she was sure the White Church would say is blasphemy towards Endymion?

She wondered if it was really a sin, and if sins existed at that moment. A Church could not explain the feelings that Endymion showed her in the garden. Setsuna visited that moment in time, over and over again. It was her one special memory in a lifetime of going through the motions of day to day.

But Endymion was not around after that moment. He was busy, and she rarely saw him, once again, as if nothing had ever happened. The only thing that broke up her solitary days were visits from Small Lady.

One day, Small Lady came into the room, tears running down her cheeks, clearly upset. She ran straight to Setsuna and threw her arms around the woman's waist. Setsuna was surprised by this action, not having much experience in these matters. Small Lady cried into Setsuna's lap and Setsuna carefully smoothed the pink hair with one of her hands.

"They said I wasn't really the princess…" Small Lady sobbed. "They called me…a…a freak…"

Setsuna realized at that moment that Small Lady was just as alone as her. Just as alone as Endymion. They were all alone even though there were people around them. She felt an overwhelming sense of warmness towards the little girl that she hadn't really felt before.

"You shouldn't listen to anyone who says that sort of thing." Setsuna told her gently. Small Lady raised her head, slowly sitting up. "You are the princess. Nobody can say differently. And are you really so different from anybody else? When people get older, they often want to be children again."

"But you don't understand! Everybody expects me to be just like my mother! She's so perfect and lady-like." Small Lady sniffled. "I want to be a lady like her. But it's never going to happen."

"It will happen." Setsuna spoke quietly, in an insistent tone. Then she tried to think of something that would really cheer Small Lady up. Something that might comfort an adult was going to make no difference here. She needed the brand of comfort that children needed. "You know…" And a sudden thought hit her. Something she had never tried before. "Sometimes…when you're sad…you should just say a few magic words and you'll feel better."

"Magic words?" Small Lady blinked.

"The royal family has magic, each one has their special kind of magic. So if you say magical words, they will cheer you up." Setsuna invented easily. "That will be your kind of magic."

"What magic words do I have to say?" Small Lady was still a little bit upset, but her curiosity was slowly taking over. Setsuna paused for a moment.

"Abracadabra, pon!" Setsuna said the first words that popped into her head. Small Lady giggled. And Setsuna gave her a very rare smile. "Say those words and you'll feel all better."

"Will they really work?" Small Lady asked.

"Of course." Setsuna knew there was no magic to these words but a child could easily be swayed into believing in anything. And the matter of fact way that she said it made Small Lady think that Setsuna couldn't possibly be lying.

"Abracadabra, PON!" Small Lady yelled and fell over backwards, giggling to herself. "It really works!" She exclaimed, sitting up, her large red eyes, shining beautifully. "How did you know Setsuna? How did you learn it?"

"That's a secret." Setsuna spoke mysteriously.

"You're my best friend!" Small Lady declared, nearly knocking Setsuna over by hugging her exuberantly.

"I…I am?" Setsuna thought about this notion for a bit. She hadn't really ever been anyone's friend before. At the orphanage, no one really wanted to be her friend, and the White Church didn't make friends.

"Of course, silly!" Small Lady beamed. "And now we'll be friends forever! Promise Setsuna, okay?"

"Princess, your father requests your presence." A maid came in. Small Lady frowned petulantly.

"Oooooh! Everyone just expects me to come when they call! When I'm a real lady, I'll go when I feel like it!" Small Lady declared before flouncing out of the room. Setsuna watched her go with a strange, impassive look on her face.

"Promise Setsuna, okay?"

"Are you lonely, Setsuna?"

Were things changing? How could anyone tell? Setsuna looked down at her cup of swirling dark liquid.

"The seas are roaring."

She gave a little start. She had never heard anyone say that before. But then, suddenly, a fleeting picture of a young woman, with her eyes on the cup between her hands, passed by her vision. But who was she? The woman was gone as soon as she had come, like a phantom.

What happened?

The past…it will come back…

She glanced out the window at Crystal Tokyo. How pristine it looked—as if one could throw dirt at it and it would just slide off, leaving no reminders that it had been there at all. If something horrible had ever happened here, no one could tell.

---

The protesters came in droves to the White City. Setsuna had been awakened by the noise that they made. It made her realize just how quiet Crystal Tokyo was. It was unnaturally quiet.

These protesters were not from the White City, they were from faraway, from a different part of the world where it was not White. They came from lands stricken with poverty, stricken with plague, famine, wars. They came from the lands that were not perfect, quiet cities that were too efficient to think of protesting.

This is what Setsuna learned when she ventured forth from the Crystal Palace to the streets to talk to some of them. They wanted the Queen to help—to change the way the rest of the world was. They said she only saw this place and so didn't recognize the problems all around the world. The White Church said they were all blasphemers.

"The White and Noble Neo-Queen Serenity can see all!" One priest flared at a crowd of protesters. "She will save us but only if we have Faith and see that any suffering will only make us greater."

Setsuna was confused by this. She knew that not everywhere in the world must be like Crystal Tokyo, but she was confused by the Neo-Queen's inaction. Perhaps she didn't understand the problem. Why hadn't she solved them? Or was being the Queen of the World so much work because of all these problems?

But how can she save them all? She was a Queen.

Besides the entire idea of protesting was foreign. No one ever protested against the Queen or what the Neo-Queen did. She must be all wise and knowing—how else was she made Queen?

Setsuna tried to lose herself in the past again but there was just a blankness, a wall, all around that time.

The strangest thing of all came when one of the protesters saw her and asked for her name. When Setsuna said it, they ran to some of the fellow protesters who had set up camp there and they all crowded eagerly around her, leading her into an alley where no one might interrupt them.

"What? What is it?" Setsuna didn't understand the air of excitement that surrounded them.

"We've heard of you." A girl, who might have been twenty, told her, looking especially eager. "You're the Moirae."

"What?" Setsuna wondered how they knew that name. She had heard the servants whisper it when they were sure no one was around. But everyone knew it was blasphemous.

"In the land I live in, they told of a woman who lived in the Neo-Queen's palace." One man stepped forward. "A woman who never grew old and who was Time itself."

"I am not Time." Setsuna frowned at him.

"But it's true that you do not age?" The girl asked in that same eager tone.

"Please, I just want to…to go." Setsuna wrenched herself away from the crowd. "You shouldn't say things like that—the White Church has eyes and ears everywhere."

"So you are Time!" The man's eyes lit up. "There are some of my people who worship you as a goddess." A terror filled Setsuna at that pronouncement that she didn't understand.

A goddess? Prayers and faith…

"They shouldn't." Setsuna's tone was biting. "I am not a Goddess, I am a woman. Forget these things. There is no one to listen to your prayers—especially me."

"Are you saying that you don't believe in the Neo-Queen?" Another person stared wide-eyed at her. "Please, come back to one of the camps with us!"

"Oh, do!" The girl grabbed her arm. "Everyone would love to meet you, the Moirae."

"This is wrong." Setsuna spoke sharply. They all stared at her. "This is all wrong. To disbelieve in one god, only to believe in another…how are you any different from those who worship in the White Church? You want change, so you came here, to a place that does not change…I am not a symbol of revolution…I am…"

"The soldier of revolution…"

"I am only a woman." Setsuna finally declared, feeling sick all the same. There was something wrong about worshipping a goddess that was not a goddess. Something terribly wrong. "Nothing here ever changes—I've lived long enough to see that."

And then she fled from them and back to the palace. It struck her that in a way, everyone who lived in the Crystal Palace lived there to hide away from the things that frightened them most.

---

She would have thought that Endymion was too busy with the protesters to see her but somehow, he had managed a free moment. Twilight was setting in when the maid came to bring Setsuna to the King. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest for reasons she didn't understand.

He was standing there in the room, not completely dressed in his tuxedo as she usually saw him, but only wearing the bottom half of the outfit and a button-up white shirt. He seemed young at that moment and she didn't know why. His eyes met hers and he greeted her simply enough.

Tea was poured out for them and they sat across from each other at the small table. She didn't understand why he had sent for her and her hands shook as she thought of that night in the garden. The rose. Endymion's eyes on her.

I wish he would look at me like that again…

That idea gave her shivers. It was wrong to think like that. Endymion was not just anybody, but the King. He was married to the gracious Neo-Queen and he was not the type of man who indulged in such things. And yet…

And yet she couldn't help the feeling that came over her as she noticed him looking at her. She did not blush; she only averted her eyes to her tea.

"I have heard that you talked to the protesters." Endymion said quite suddenly and Setsuna remembered what they had told her and went cold. Did he know what they had said? That some even…

That there are those who think of me as highly as the Neo-Queen?

"The Neo-Queen has heard the leaders speak and now she is trying to come up with a suitable action." Endymion went on. "I believe that if we send delegations to those parts of the world, to spread peace, that any of the horrors they told us about will be defeated."

There was a moment of silence as Setsuna thought about some of the protesters telling her about starving children, sicknesses that would bring you to death…horrors. Like they were just imaginary phantoms waiting to be dispelled. Turn on the light, check under the bed. The bogeyman is not there.

"These problems need to be solved so that there will be no more need to protest." Setsuna answered solemnly. "They cannot be vanquished…they must be dealt with. These people only want what we receive…they just want to be like the White City." This she did not understand at all. As clean and peaceful as this city was…it was as she said. No change. Change is natural. "But why?" She whispered the question as she thought of watching this city, day after day, looking out on it and seeing the same thing—with no changes. Small Lady was like that. Never changing. Would she ever?

"Do you…not like Crystal Tokyo?" Endymion's question made her look up and their eyes connected. The breath fled from her body. He was looking at her again with that expression that she didn't understand.

"I don't want to offend your majesty." Setsuna averted her eyes.

"It's funny you know." Endymion looked to the side, staring at something that wasn't there. "I have so many people who speak to me like that. Like I'll break or shatter if they say the wrong thing. You can't say the wrong thing though, can you?" She looked up and now he was peering intently at her. "You can only tell me how you feel and that's not wrong…it just is. So…will you tell me?" Endymion's look was hopeful. She didn't know what to say now. "Tell me how you feel, Setsuna."

"I feel…" Setsuna was looking at him again. She was lost in the moment again but she had to pull herself together. "I feel like something is supposed to change. That things have stood still for too long."

"I am the soldier of revolution…"

"Setsuna." Endymion said her name but she wasn't sure if he wanted her to stop or if he was surprised or what.

"Forgive me, I'm not sure what I was saying." Setsuna shook her head. "I don't really know what it is that I'm feeling. I…I am restless. I don't know why. I went to speak to the protesters because it was something new. I want to try something that is different. Small Lady told me I'm her best friend…and I don't know what that means."

"She really loves you." Endymion smiled kindly. "I'm glad of that…because I'd like you to continue to stay here." Setsuna blinked at this. Hadn't she always been here? "I don't have many friends…I thought you'd like to become one of mine." He held out a hand towards her, just as he had held out that rose. "I will not ask you to stay here at this Palace if you don't want to. I'd understand."

She touched his hand with her own and something spread through her that she could not name. This touch, this hand, him. In that moment, she felt the very core of his being, the sadness, the loneliness…he had no one around him to ease his burdens…so alone…

But the Neo-Queen. Where was the Neo-Queen? Why so sad when he was married to the one he loved so dearly? Setsuna didn't understand. No one really could.

A strange vision came upon her.

A little boy in a hospital bed, doctors telling him that his parents had died in a car crash and that he was suffering from amnesia. It was a moment in the Past—somewhere from the region that she could not remember.

And he began to cry because he couldn't remember and he knew that something horrible had happened. He was all alone. And always would be.

That little boy looked up and Setsuna realized that the little boy looked…looked like…

"Mamoru." Setsuna murmured and Endymion's hand jerked away from her. His eyes went wide as he seemed to process what she said. She thought she had done something wrong. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I just said that." The King moved around the table and was kneeling beside her now, so close that Setsuna could almost feel his breath on her face.

"Say it again." Endymion's tone was pleading and Setsuna some strange light to his eyes. He wanted her to say it. He wanted it very badly but why, she couldn't say.

"Mamoru." Setsuna repeated herself and Endymion's hands went around her shoulders, pulling her towards him, and his mouth caught hold of her own. Her eyes opened as wide as they could go all she could think of was the feeling of warm lips pressed against her own, and the way his fingers dug into her upper arms.

They fell over onto the floor and Endymion moved his lips to her neck and she stared up at the white ceiling, wondering how on Earth anything could ever feel this good. It was something she had never thought she would experience—whether it was love or lust or anything else, it didn't matter. Each feeling, each detail was carefully preserved in her being.

Then the white ceiling reminded her where she was, who she was, and who he was. She tensed and Endymion stopped, he moved so he was over her, his arms at either side of her so that his face hovered over her own.

"You're the King." She whispered and felt like it was something she half didn't want to admit. His eyes were so shockingly sad right then. Setsuna noticed the tears that were forming in his eyes and he dropped down and grabbed hold of her, pressing his whole body against hers, his head against her breasts.

"Please…please forget that…" His body began to shake and she knew he was crying, even though his voice disguised it well. "Just forget that for a little while. Please. Just hold me…not the king. Me."

"I am a woman."

Sometimes we are put into a position that we must give into. He is king, some want me as a goddess…but what if we aren't really those things? What happens then to the person who was put into that position?

Her hands went around him comfortingly. Whenever she thought back to that day, she would always remember the way he cried into her chest. Like a child who needed a mother.

Where is she…?

The one who you really want to hold you?

Because even though she wanted it not be true, she knew that Endymion was thinking of someone else. Someone who couldn't be there. And here, in this room, the thing closest to it was Setsuna.

It seemed an eternity that they lay there like that before Endymion finally moved away from her. She went about arranging herself. First straightening her clothes, and then re-doing the bun at the top of her head. It seemed like what she should do. He watched her go about these tasks.

"I'm sorry…" She turned her head to look at him. "I'm sorry if I imposed on you…" He trailed off, his gaze was cloudy and confused. He wasn't sure what he should say.

"You wanted a friend." Setsuna felt like someone was stabbing her at that moment. She felt like she was lying to him—to say that it was alright just to be the one who helped him feel his pain, but not to be the one who actually healed it. "If you need a person to cry against, then I will be that person. If you only need me to listen, I will listen. If you need someone to appear weak in front of when you must always look strong, I will watch you in those moments of weakness. I will be your friend." Endymion got up and put his arms around her.

"Thank you." Endymion murmured into her ear. "Thank you." Then he pulled away from her and Setsuna let him, telling herself that it was the way things were supposed to be. But part of her knew that if she just reached out…told him he would no longer be alone…but playing on his deepest fears wouldn't be right. She shouldn't consider it and it was selfish to do so. She could be there for him, but he would never be hers. "You know, she always said you were could understand those around you in a way that they didn't even understand themselves…"

"Who?" Setsuna remembered that he had mentioned this person before, in the garden. She didn't know how she knew he was talking about the same person, she just did.

"I hope you'll be there tomorrow." Endymion changed the subject. "You'll come down to the throne room, right? You'll be there when the Neo-Queen announces her decision?"

"I will." Setsuna hadn't been planning on being there but now that Endymion asked, she felt almost obligated to go. "I'll escort Small Lady there."

"She'd like that." Endymion smiled.

Setsuna turned to leave but as she was opening the door, she stopped and turned to look at Endymion. He was sitting on his bed with eyes on the hands that were in his laps, palms up.

"Do you think the decision will be good?" Setsuna questioned—not knowing why.

"I'm sure it will be." Endymion's voice was completely bitter and Setsuna paused for another moment. "I'm sure it will be efficient and effective—all her decisions are."

Not understanding why this statement filled her with dread, she left the room, closing the door behind her. What had just taken place in Endymion's room was confusing and didn't quite fit in with her understanding of what was going on. Something else had to be going on that she couldn't quite see…something she might understand if she…

If I could see into the past. The Past that is impossible to see now.

All walls must fall.

---

Small Lady had been so excited when Setsuna showed up to escort her to the throne room that she wrenched herself away from the maid who was trying to put her into a pink gown and flung her arms around Setsuna's waist. Setsuna smiled kindly to her and Small Lady went back to the maid and allowed her to finish while she chattered about things.

"I wonder what my mother's decision will be…" Small Lady pondered while the maids went to put her hair up. "Everyone seems worried about it…" She bit her lip and looked even younger than before.

It was at that moment that Setsuna saw that Small Lady was like a human representation of Crystal Tokyo. Never changing, always staying at the age that we think of as cleanest. A child.

What happens when Crystal Tokyo begins to grow up?

"Father told me a story last night." Small Lady told her. "Something that I had never heard before. I promised not to tell anyone but I'll tell you later—when we're alone." She gave the maids an annoyed look but they didn't seem to notice.

When Small Lady was finally ready, her and Setsuna walked down to the throne room. They went into it via a special entrance only used for the Royal Family and other important people.

They walked a short way and found themselves standing one side of the room, next to the dais where the Neo-Queen Serenity was sitting on her throne. Setsuna saw the woman sitting there to be a bit like a statue. The only way she could tell different was because she blinked every once and awhile.

She was a pale, beautiful queen, all done in white, with white, very light silver hair. The hairstyle, the two buns on top of her head with the hair streaming out of them reminded Setsuna of something, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Her white crown that was a heart with a crystal, flanked by two little white wings, sat nestled into her hair, with little jewels dangling from small chains that ended at her buns on either side of her head. Her throne, which she sat on the edge of, on account of her delicate, almost like glass, wings that came out of her back, was completely white.

Her face and eyes did not betray one emotion. She looked completely impassive. She didn't do the things one would normally do with so many eyes on her. She did not fidget or adjust her dress at all.

There were whispers and people hushing others. Endymion was standing on her right side and Setsuna and Small Lady were standing off the left, not next to the throne, but a little bit away. Setsuna observed how some pointed at her and Small Lady. She wondered whether they were whispering about the Moirae or the heir to the Kingdom.

"The Neo-Queen wishes to speak." Setsuna looked out on the large crowd. There was a group of three in the middle of the front row, who were obviously the leaders. And then all the protesters that could possible fit in the huge white room. As large as it was, it couldn't possibly fit all of the protesters who came.

They finally went completely silent.

The Neo-Queen Serenity rose to her feet in one elegant movement. All eyes were on the beautiful queen and she opened her pink mouth—which stood out against her white skin to address them all.

"You have come from lands that are far from my own. All lands are my lands, but I have not ventured forth from my own for a very long time." The Neo-Queen began and Setsuna thought she sounded exactly as she looked—cold, regal, and unarguably the Queen. "You bring Complaints against this State. Such complaints and followers could only bring rebellion, revolution, dissension…" She trailed off and the leaders of the protesters seemed to be confused by this. "I have come up with a perfect solution."

"This idea of rebellion will only bring trouble. The idea of unhappiness will only lead to the kingdom running inefficiently. Therefore, it is with the Good of the Kingdom and the Well Being of the People that I make my decision. There is a planet called Nemesis that has come into our galaxy." Setsuna turned her head to look at the Neo-Queen. What did this planet have to do with anything? "You will all be sent there to live. This solves all of the problems that you have brought to me. You will no longer be spreading this dissension to others and you will live among your own kind—those who have come to me requesting peace, you shall especially enjoy this. You can make your complaints there, far from those whom you are trying to corrupt and confuse with this propaganda of a new government or representation by others. This is a very efficient solution." The Neo-Queen finished and sat back down. Setsuna was stunned and horrified.

For protesting, for wanting help with their problems, the Neo-Queen had come to this conclusion? For all the talk of the kind, gracious, and merciful Neo-Queen Serenity, it was one of the most heartless things that Setsuna had ever heard. And then something overcame her and she found herself falling to her knees, as voices began to echo in her head. She could distantly hear Small Lady call out her name in distress.

"What are you saying!"

"This isn't you!"

And screams, terrible screams of pain and Setsuna began to feel like she was choking on them. She screamed herself, not knowing why. She fell forward onto her hands and knees, breathing heavily. The screams began to disappear and then they were gone altogether. She turned to see Small Lady at her side, asking her if she was alright, and then beyond Small Lady was Endymion, with an expression that was…apologetic? She didn't understand.

"That isn't a fair decision!" One of the leaders had stepped up. "Your own lady has collapsed at such a pronouncement! To send us away to…to Nemesis—a lifeless planet from what I hear—how you became queen you soulless shell—"

"Are you questioning the word of the Neo-Queen Serenity!" One of the leaders from the White Church, who had been sitting in a chair on the far side from Setsuna and Small Lady, stood up and asked. The rest of the hall was still too stunned and frightened by what the White Queen had uttered that it was strangely quiet.

"A queen who has just condemned us to death!" One of the other leaders exclaimed in shock. "How can you say that is fair? Did you not hear her?"

"The planet is not lifeless, it can sustain life." The Neo-Queen's voice cut through the air like a knife. "I knew that the efficiency of this plan would be far too much for you to grasp but I will explain it again if you'd like."

"We want to stay here and we won't go to Nemesis!" The third leader joined the other two, all looking firm.

"'Qui Verbum Regina contempserunt, eis auferetur etiam verbum hominis'." The White Church leader quoted perfectly from the Book of Serenity. "'They that have despised the word of the Queen, from them shall the word of man also be taken away'. The White and Noble Neo-Queen Serenity could strike you down for your words but instead mercifully is granting you a new land."

"You call that mercy?" The second leader, who was a woman with green hair.

"I'm interested to know what the King thinks of this plan." The third leader, whose hair was bright-red, turned to face the dais again. Endymion wasn't saying anything. He was just standing there with this impassive expression. Setsuna wanted him to say something. "Or maybe the Moirae and the Eternal Child have something to say." Small Lady gasped at this and she flared up, stepping before, swinging her arm so that Setsuna couldn't grab it and stop her.

"Y-You don't know anything!" She shouted and then dashed off through the door that Setsuna and her had entered through. Setsuna took one look at Endymion's face and went after her. There was nothing she could have done in that throne room.

Small Lady was crying in her hands out in the empty side hall. Setsuna sat down next to her on the floor. She wasn't sure what she had just witnessed was real—the cruel logic of the Neo-Queen, the way that Endymion had just stood there, and the horrible fate that had been decreed for the protesters. Maybe they hadn't been the most organized group but she herself couldn't understand how any person could make such a terrible situation concerning all those lives.

The thing that was hurting her most though was Endymion just standing there. Something had awaked deep in her and she saw his inaction just as horrible as the Neo-Queen's actions.

"Oh Setsuna!" Small Lady looked up from her hands. "I…I'm sorry I r-ran out l-like that."

"It's alright." Setsuna told her, but her thoughts were still on Endymion. "I have a feeling it would have become dangerous very soon if you hadn't…"

"I don't understand why she's…she's banishing all those people." Small Lady looked up at Setsuna. "I don't get it."

"Neither do I." Setsuna admitted.

"I'm sure it's the right thing to do. My mother always does the right thing." Small Lady offered as an explanation. "And do you know what my father told me?"

"What?" Setsuna asked though she was sure Small Lady would say anyways.

"He told me that the Sailor Senshi…you know the ones in the prophecy?" Small Lady looked around to make sure no one was listening. "He said that they aren't evil. He says that they used to…save the world. What do you think that means? Aren't they supposed to be evil?"

"No one is good or evil." Setsuna spoke the words as she thought about the Neo-Queen. "No one can be perfectly one or the other."

"Well, mother is Good." Small Lady proclaimed. Then her eyes went to herself and she looked at her hands for a moment. "I hate them! Why did they have to say that…that thing about me…like I'm always going to be like this…?"

"There's no need to get upset about what one person says." Setsuna reasoned. "You will not always be the Eternal Child. If you know this, then they are automatically wrong and there's no need to argue with them."

"But it makes me so…" Small Lady shuddered a little. "I don't always want to be like this! It's awful and I hate it!" Then she turned to Setsuna. "You're right. I know you are. That's because you're so smart!" She smiled a little. "So I won't be upset. Abracadabra, PON!"

The two left the hall and went up to Setsuna's room to wait to hear news of what followed afterwards. They heard plenty that disturbed them. The Neo-Queen Serenity had rounded them all up and was having them all tattooed with a symbol to show that they were meant to be banished—so that if any escaped, they'd find no sanctuary anywhere in the world. Efficient was one word that came to mind.

Although she didn't seem them until much later, the black, upside down signs of the crescent became symbols for the White Church to use in sermons later. To talk about how she had spoke unto the people of Nemesis and then cursed them all with the sign of Evil.

Much later, Setsuna was sent for by Endymion. By this time, it was very late and Small Lady had fallen asleep on Setsuna's bed but Setsuna couldn't sleep. Something was waiting, just beyond the veil of the here and now that she felt she could get to if she could just think of what it was. Or go that extra step…

When she entered, she saw that Endymion was standing by his window, looking out at Crystal Tokyo. He hadn't noticed her enter and the first thing that came to her mind came out of her mouth.

"What a wonderful view you have of tyranny." Setsuna's words were not mocking or light. They were serious and weighted. Endymion turned to look at her and she saw those large sad eyes once again. Begging her to understand, to reach out, to hold him and tell him it was okay.

But it is not. I will not tell you any lies.

This is not the time for them.

"Setsuna, please." Endymion closed for a moment in pain. "Her decision is hers."

"But you're the King!" Setsuna stepped forward, feeling outraged. "You had the power to stop it! To tell her that the decision was wrong! Surely you must have a say in—"

"I don't." Endymion shook his head. "I never have."

"How could you stand there and let them be condemned like that?" Setsuna's eyes narrowed. "That I don't understand at all."

"It's what…what she decreed." Endymion sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. "I'm not looking for forgiveness because there are things that I will never be forgiven for." He glanced up at her and Setsuna felt another wave of something wash over her. The screams that she had heard earlier and something else this time.

"Crystal Tokyo is to be created of course."

"Usagi is going to be Queen! I'm so excited! It's just like a fairytale!"

"Some fairytales have bad endings."

"Don't spoil it Rei!"

Pictures of young women standing around her, of a laughing girl with blonde hair and buns pinned on top of her head. And then…and then an unbearable pain seizing her whole body and Endymion was there too…but he was watching. He was just watching and letting them all…

"What's happening?" Setsuna clutched her chest with one hand. "What are these…are they memories?"

"What is it?" Endymion stood up and walked over to her.

"I am the soldier of revolution, Sailor Pluto!"

"Guardian of the Gates of Time…"

"I'm…I'm…" Setsuna closed her eyes. "Something terrible happened…something horrible…and you were there." She turned towards him. "Weren't you?" Endymion's wide-eyed look said everything. He knew something he wasn't telling her.

"Sailor Pluto!"

"Pluto Planet Power…"

"Pluto Planet Power, Make-up!" Setsuna let the words tumble out and raised her hand. Something appeared there and in a haze she realized that she had transformed into something else. In her hand was a staff, but it wasn't truly a staff but a large key, with a garnet orb set atop it. She looked down to see her feet covered in black boots that went up to her knees and the short black skirt with a chain which many small keys dangled from that was around her waist. A white body suit clung to her and there was a dark ribbon on her chest. Her hands were clad in white gloves that ended at her elbow. Touching her forehead, she felt a piece of metal there.

She turned to look at Endymion but he was back against a desk, looking horrified. She grasped the staff in her hand and kept looking to him for an explanation but he just stood there, shaking.

"Endymion…" She whispered and the name seemed to break the spell.

"It's like seeing a ghost." Endymion calmed himself a little. "I never thought I would see you like this again…"

"What…what I am? What happened to me?" Setsuna questioned, turning to see herself in a full length mirror. She was wearing a very strange outfit that consisted of something like a sailor outfit and some strange touches — like the gloves and boots. The metal she had felt on her forehead was a tiara with a red stone in the middle of it. A garnet.

"You don't know?" Endymion's brow furrowed. "You're a Sailor Senshi."

The staff clattered to the floor as she dropped it, her gloved hands flying up to her face. The prophecy, the things she had heard from her memory, and others flew into her head all at once, a montage of clues that had never occurred to her until this puzzle was presented to her.

Meioh Setsuna—a Sailor Senshi?

Her strange abilities, the White Church handing her over to the Palace. It all made sense.

"How…how did you know?" Setsuna didn't know what else to ask at a moment like that.

"As soon as I saw you." Endymion confessed, looking away from her. "The first time we ever met, because you look exactly like you used to."

"Used to?" Setsuna inquired.

"I can't say anymore than that." Endymion hung his head. "That's the Past anyways. You don't need to look there to see what's going on. Don't go looking for the Past. It's better not to remember. I counted it as a blessing that you didn't. I wish I could have been the bearer of such a blessing myself." His eyes were haunted by some past that she couldn't see.

"Something horrible happened, right?" Setsuna waited for a small nod. "Then I must know what it is. I have to remember."

"But why?" Endymion asked her. "Why would you want to remember?"

"All things happen for a reason." Setsuna replied instantly. "You can't pick and choose your memories, Endymion. You have to live through them all. If something happened to me, if something happened to…" A montage of faces, all women, flashed by. "To any of us, then I have to know what it is. I have to know why Crystal Tokyo is the way it is."

"Please don't go looking." Endymion took a step forward and Setsuna was overcome by the look in his eyes. That sad, lonely look that made her instantly want to reach for him. She understood his pain. She understood his loneliness. He could hold onto her, he could reach forward and touch her arm and ask her to stay and she would.

"Don't forget."

Her eyes flew open and she took a step away from him. Someone had said those words to her with an urgency that made her know it was important to leave. That's what she had to do, leave Crystal Tokyo.

To find my memories…to find out what happened.

"I…I have to go." Setsuna turned and Endymion called after her. She closed her eyes, to ignore the pain but it didn't help. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she heard the need in his voice.

He really did need her. To be there and tell him he was only human and let him be only human. But maybe supporting someone when they're weak isn't the right thing to do.

He knows how to look strong; he'll continue to be strong.

She wished she could get out of this new uniform. She wished for it to go away and when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in her normal clothes. She breathed a sigh of relief. No one would see that she was a Sailor Senshi.

Pausing before she left through a small side door, she thought of Small Lady and what she would say when she discovered that Setsuna was gone. If only there was a way to explain it to her…but she couldn't think of one.

"I'll be back Small Lady…once I know." Setsuna promised and hoped that somehow she could hear it. It was then that she walked through the door, out of the Crystal Palace and through Crystal Tokyo.

In the darkness, she stole, to go and find her truth. Through these doors into a different world to seek those she knew who were waiting for her.

---

The first thing she noticed when she left Crystal Tokyo was sound. Birds, insects, the wind. Everything seemed so loud. It was pleasant and disturbing to think of how long she had sat in silence only to emerge into this world. Everything thing seemed more real. There were so many things she had never seen before. While walking along the road for instance, she walked by a wagon train full of people, women and children and such, that were walking along easily.

Imperfections were everywhere but it felt as though she had just woken up—that Crystal Tokyo was a dream of some kind.

"…but it's more like a dream."

Priests and preachers dotted the side of the road every so often, talking fiercely of sinning and the consequences there in. Telling all about the glory of the Neo-Queen Serenity—some even recounting the tale of the banishment of the protesters to Nemesis as though it were already written into the Book of Serenity.

"Dies natalis lunae invictus!" One priest in such fervor that he began to spray spit out. "The Birth of the Unconquered Moon!"

This had reminded Setsuna of something. That the Neo-Queen Serenity was in some way connected with the moon. The holy scriptures don't relate really how—though some priests say that she was born of the Moon. But this brought back something she hadn't thought about very much.

That strange dream with that girl she had never met. The Princess of the Moon. Who was she? Why would she visit Setsuna in a dream? She thought the girl looked a lot like Small Lady—it was possible that the girl was actually an older version of Small Lady…the hair color wasn't the same but there was a strong resemblance.

And although her goal was to find her memories, she didn't really know where to start. The world was a very large place. Fate had led her this far, it could lead her farther. She hoped that a small glimpse of the future would escape her lips so she could at least know where to go, but none came.

Before too long, she came to the first big town. It was a vastly different place from Crystal Tokyo. This was small and not well planned. Some of the buildings were rickety and the cobble stone streets were practically gone, swallowed by green grass. Since she had a little money on her, she went into the store to see what she could buy. As she walked through the front, she heard two men laughing and thought briefly of Endymion.

You asked me to forget and stay with you…but I'm not the one you want to stay with you…you want someone who has already left.

She began to feel dizzy as she went about the store. It felt like someone had turned up the heat. She had less and less energy. Maybe it was from lack of sleep. She'd have to find somewhere to stay.

"Woah, miss, you don't look well." The man behind the counter commented as she handed him her money.

"Oh, I'm fine." Setsuna waved her hand a little but was beginning to feel worse. "Tell me…do you…do you…"

Exhaustion rolled over her and she dropped to the floor, the world fading out completely as she distantly heard panicked voices.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw purple eyes filling her vision. Endymion? Was Endymion there? She thought she said his name and she thought the person replied but she couldn't really make out what he was saying as her eyes closed again.

---

The ceiling was all wrong.

Setsuna sat straight up in the bed she was in. She wasn't wearing her normal clothes and saw that she was instead in a white shirt that was too big for her and too long. The top few buttons had been undone. It was a good deal nicer than feeling too warm as she had when she passed out in the store. What had happened to her?

It looked like it was the afternoon as she peered out the window at the end of the bed, her long green hair cascading down around her. Someone had taken out her bun so that it was a bit of a mess and hard to push out of her eyes. She was on the second story of a building, but she didn't recognize the outside of it.

Her hands touched the simple wooden things around her, the window sill, the bed posts, and thought that though it was rougher, it was alien than the smooth white furniture of the Crystal Palace. It hadn't been as sanded as well in some places and Setsuna found that out the hard way when a splinter stuck into her forefinger.

"Ouch!" Setsuna put the finger in her mouth.

"You're awake." A pleasant voice caused her to turn her head. There was a young brunette man standing there who was wearing glasses which magnified a pair of purple eyes. Setsuna pulled the finger from her mouth, knowing it was making her look ridiculous. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"It doesn't really hurt…" Setsuna stated, her expression going to its emotionless state that it had assumed during most of her life. The man came over and held out his hand. When she offered her own in greeting, he took hold of it and looked at the finger that had the splinter in it.

"You've got to pull splinters out." He explained to her. "Or else they can get infected. A grown woman like you should know that." There was a teasing lilt to his voice and Setsuna watched curious as he produced a needle that he used to dig the splinter out with. It hurt a little bit but not enough to make her react physically.

"Who are you?" Setsuna suddenly asked, staring at him with her dark red eyes. He looked a little startled by the question.

"I'm the town doctor, please call me Taiki." The man introduced himself. "You were brought to me when you collapsed in the store."

"I didn't get any sleep last night, I'm sure that's the explanation." Setsuna watched him pull out a band-aid and began wrapping it around her finger.

"Be more careful next time…"

"Setsuna-mama!"

Setsuna jerked her hand out of Taiki's and he looked a little startled by this. But she knew she had just remembered something…something from the past. But who would ever call her by such an affectionate title?

Is there a child out there somewhere…that once knew me by such a name?

And for a moment, she thought she could remember a little girl with dark hair, but it seemed to her that she was standing with Small Lady. Perhaps she was just superimposing Small Lady into her memory, wanting so badly to remember that she was trying to remember things that hadn't happened.

"I apologize." Setsuna didn't look up from her hand with the band-aid wrapped around it.

"How long do you think you've been here?" Taiki suddenly posed the question and Setsuna thought about how it was perhaps around noon that she had stopped at that store. She didn't have any clocks with her—though she really should have brought a watch. The ticking would have been familiar.

"A few hours?" Setsuna guessed but had a feeling she was wrong.

"You've been here three days." Taiki informed her. "You've had a terrible fever that I don't usually see adults get."

"Oh." Setsuna realized that she had never been sick. She had never really thought of it before. She had never actually seen anyone sick either. But then, she had spent her entire life in Crystal Tokyo where disease was a thing of the past. It seemed that this only applied in the White City. So sterile and clean. Like a hospital. "Three days?"

"I wasn't sure you would make it." Taiki admitted as he crossed over to look out the window. "Most of the adults I've seen catch it don't." He had a faraway look on his face and Setsuna wondered vaguely if he had known a few of them personally.

"The olive blossom will come again." Setsuna spoke and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Maybe Taiki hadn't heard her. She glanced up. It was clear from his wide-eyed expression that he had.

Taiki's expression, which Setsuna didn't understand, made perfect sense to him. As he looked down at this garnet-eyed woman, he wondered how on Earth she had known that he had been having reoccurring dreams for years about olive blossoms falling from the sky and a woman standing in shadows as they fell. He never knew the identity of that woman, but knew that when she spoke his name, he always woke up.

Unless of course this woman was the one in the shadows.

"What's your name?" He inquired. This green-haired woman had spoken a few different names when she was in the throes of the fever. A man's name, a woman's name, and even a name that sounded like a nickname. Who was this woman who had shown up in town and taken ill? Where had she come from?

"Meioh Setsuna." She wondered vaguely if Taiki had heard that name before. She remembered the protesters who had been so excited to find the Moirae. But he only nodded his head, so she figured he hadn't heard of her.

"Setsuna." Taiki tried the name out. "Well, I'm going to have to instruct you, as a doctor, to stay here for a couple of days and rest—unless you are in a hurry."

"No." Setsuna answered. "I feel quite strong though. I'm sure that I could go on—but I will trust your word as a doctor."

"Shall I bring some food up for you?" Taiki offered. "It was hard to get you to eat for the past few days. All we could get in you was medicine. I'm sure you're hungry. I have some soup cooking but if you want something else…"

"Soup is fine." Setsuna told him. "I'd like some water to wash my face in and…" She glanced down at her clothes and back up at him, surprised to see that a blush had crept across his cheeks. "And my clothing."

"Of course." Taiki coughed. "A few of the women who live near by come by to give me a hand sometimes and they thought it best to take your things to be washed. They brought them back this morning, I'll go retrieve them."

"Is there any tea?" Setsuna inquired suddenly. Afternoon. Tea. But no Small Lady to giggle and make faces about the taste. She felt an ache in her chest.

"Promise Setsuna, okay?"

"There is." Taiki confirmed. "Would you like a cup?"

"That would be nice, thank you." Setsuna wasn't used to be waiting on by someone who seemed to have a mind and could speak it. The maids who were all as subservient as could be, they had never seemed like real people. Merely shadows going about the daily chores.

First he brought up a bowl for her to wash her face and hands in and her clothes. She changed into her own clothes after she washed. They smelled like wind and sunshine, which most people didn't consider a smell, but those who do would understand.

There were books in the room but Setsuna didn't have any interest in them. She felt content to just watch out the window. There were trees growing sporadically outside and just a short walk beyond them, a lake. The surface rippled and sparkled where the sun hit it.

Taiki re-entered to set down the tray with her soup and tea. She didn't turn around, just sat at the edge of the bed, looking out at the water. There was something transfixing about it. The way that it looked so pure and ready to wash your sins away.

"Your food is ready." Taiki spoke, but sounded reluctant. Perhaps it was because he knew that she was staring at something far away and that her mind was still grasping at the taunting loose threads of memories that still eluded her. She made a noise to show she had heard him and she listened to his retreating footsteps, going out the door.

It was a long time before she moved to eat. The tea and soup had both gone lukewarm but she didn't mind. As soon as she saw the soup, she felt a hunger that left her feeling almost too weak to begin eating. Sustenance is what she needed now, nothing more.

She left the empty dishes were they were and went to look in the mirror at herself. Her green hair hadn't been put up and so she saw her face as she almost never saw it, completely framed in the dark green locks. She supposed she looked a bit thinner than usual—probably from not eating for three days. But there were no physical signs of sickness left on her and so she went about putting a section of her hair into a bun with the spare hair pins she always kept in her pockets and were still there.

The sun set and soon she was sitting in darkness, looking out the window. She didn't really mind, it was very peaceful and faraway in the dark room. But it reminded her a little of how she had spent so many years looking out a window and doing nothing. This was not the path that she should tread. She should go on.

And yet she had been sick, she should rest. It was only sensible and she had always been very sensible. The moon came out, big and full, and she was reminded of the moonlit garden, the roses, the wind…Endymion.

It made ghostlike sparkles on the water and Setsuna suddenly had the urge to go and sit by the lake for a time. She carefully made her way across the room, eased the door open, and closed it, before making her way down a set of stairs. She couldn't hear Taiki and so she decided he must have gone to bed. Besides, she didn't want to disturb him no matter what his activity at the moment was. There was a door, which she decided was the back door, and went out that one, even though it creaked very loudly.

The path was dirt and so made no noise as she padded down the path in her soft shoes. The night air filled her lungs and it brought on a strange wakefulness, as though she could never sleep. Her blood was drawn to something about the moon. Maybe it was the light or the way that it stared down on her with such an immoveable look. The trees obscured it's wholeness for a small part of the walk.

The light lapping of the lake against the shore stirred something in her. A rather peaceful, dreamy feeling. A swinging wooden bench, held up by chains, swayed with the wind. She sat down on it gingerly, hoping that the chains were rusted and weak. They held securely as she sat, her feet dangling inches from the ground and she stared out at the water and the moon.

"It's strange to just stand here in this garden. It's like being in a completely different time…"

"Just forget that for a little while. Please. Just hold me…not the king. Me."

And I held you in my arms…but that wasn't meant to be. I know that. You didn't really want me…

And yet, even though she told herself that, the way that Endymion's eyes had burned a hole through her, couldn't be forgotten. The way his lips had rashly kissed her own. To be touched like that and to know what desire felt like…it could never be erased.

"The Queen…" Setsuna murmured, never really understanding this point. "What about the Queen?"

Somehow, the idea of Neo-Queen Serenity loving anyone seemed foreign to her. That ice-like queen, sitting on her white throne, delivering horrible sentences while speaking about "the Good of the Kingdom" and "the Well Being of the People." But why then…why…

Too many questions…but there aren't nearly enough answers…

Something is wrong.

And what horrible thing happened…so long ago…?

She shivered, wishing she had brought some sort of cloak or coat with her. Even though it was a fairly warm night, it was still cool enough for her to wish to be tucked behind a warm barrier of fabric. But perhaps the shivering had nothing to do with the coolness of the night, but merely the image of Neo-Queen Serenity. If something horrible happened to them and if Endymion had witnessed it, it had something to do with the White Queen.

"Are you cold, Setsuna?" She looked up, a bit startled, to see Taiki standing there, a coat in his hands for her.

"Thank you." Setsuna accepted it and stood up to put it on before sitting back down on the bench.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Taiki's eyes met hers and she saw that he wasn't asking merely to sit down, but to hear her thoughts. Perhaps he was curious about a stranger he knew next to nothing about. Or maybe it was something else that she couldn't quite guess.

"If you want." Setsuna looked back out across the lake. The dark water, the moon's light casting the whole world in an illusion of daylight, all of it called to her. As if nature itself wanted her to stay with it and keep it company that night.

There was a quietness, not a silence between them. A silence would imply that both sides wanted to ask questions, but instead it was merely quiet because they found it nice to sit there and not say anything, just stare out at the landscape and think their own thoughts.

After a very long time, the quiet was carefully pushed aside by the young man.

"Where are you going?" Taiki's eyes went to her and he saw those dark red eyes that were framed behind thick black lashes and wondered what this strangely beautiful woman would say. Her beauty was of a strange kind, because most would find those eyes to be disconcerting with the way they drew you in. They were the type of eyes that made one comment that the person had an old soul.

"I don't know…" Setsuna trailed off, looking back out over the water. "I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go. I'm looking for something."

"What are you looking for?" Taiki's voice was soft, almost a whisper.

"The truth." Setsuna saw Endymion's pleading face once more, telling her not to go looking to the Past for answers. Somehow, she knew that the Past held all the answers.

Remembering is only part of it…

Something is going on in Crystal Tokyo…

"Isn't everybody?" Taiki mused and it was Setsuna's turn to study his face. "I just wondered…it sounded like you might be looking for someone. When you had your fever, you kept talking in your sleep."

"The inane babblings of a sick woman." Setsuna gave him a half-smile. "I'm sure the other patients complained."

"There weren't any other patients." Taiki said, glancing over at her. "Even though I'm the town doctor, I don't see as many patients as I used to…not since…" He was hesitating and Setsuna could sense a pain to his last few words. Her silence was questioning and he felt compelled to go on. "My wife had the same fever that you did last year. Only she died. That's why I thought you were going to die. It was like watching her go all over again. She just lied in bed at the end, twisting and moaning about how painful it was. I couldn't do anything. I kept trying to give her medicine and I could tell…I could tell she wouldn't make it. But I couldn't just give up…but maybe she knew that part of me had and that's why she went…"

Setsuna wondered why it was that she seemed to be people's confessor. They told her things, secret fears, secrets from their very souls. What was it about her that made people confide in her?

"You didn't really give up on her." Setsuna's comment made him look up in surprise. "Not really. You speak with such regret and that can only mean you held on until the very end, hoping against hope, trying to defy Fate itself…that doesn't sound to me like the actions of a man who knows he's defeated." Her cool voice had a soothing quality to it, like a cool hand on a fevered forehead.

Taiki's brow furrowed as his gaze returned to the lake. He seemed to be thinking very hard and Setsuna didn't speak to interrupt him. He needed time. A gentle breeze fluttered by, as soft as a kiss, and Setsuna could only stare at the moon, knowing that though it looked so secret and white, there was a story there. Something she should know…but didn't.

"I could tell you were a mystery the moment I laid eyes on you." Taiki confessed, a small smile playing at his lips. "You didn't seem like the type of woman who would become ill, and yet you were. Nobody knew who you were; nobody seemed to have any idea where you were from. You're looking for the truth; it suits you."

"Many people have wondered who I am or what I am." Setsuna's answer was cryptic. "I'm not completely sure myself…but I feel that I do know, I just don't think about it because I cannot change what I am."

"I wonder if I have a fever and you are merely a fever dream." Taiki looked up at the night sky. "You don't seem quite real. Something beyond reality."

"I am still a woman." The green-haired woman said in a flat out voice.

"Are you?" Taiki's face tilted towards her and she saw his violet eyes fix on her face. "Is that what you are?" He leaned on one hand, his face coming within inches of her own. "Why did you say that the olive blossom would come again?"

"I don't know." Setsuna answered truthfully, a somber expression on her face. She didn't want to tell him about the glimpses of the future or the strange prophecies that might come from her mouth. "But olive blossoms always come around, eventually. Maybe you're an olive blossom, appearing to fill the air with your fragrant scent, and then falling away again."

"But I'm here…" Taiki looked a bit confused by this.

"Maybe you were here before." Setsuna's words troubled her. There was something oddly familiar about the brunette young man, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Were you part of my past?

And yet, I'm not so sure you were an important part, perhaps just someone had met briefly…

"I would come here again if I knew you were here." Taiki leaned in and kissed her. It was sweet, soft, and quick. He pulled a few inches away and looked at her, waiting for approval.

The moon, the tingly night air, the sound of the lake lapping against its shores, it all came together with this small kiss. Endymion's kiss had been that of a starving man, who would have taken any piece of sustenance it could find. Taiki's kiss was that of a man who simply wanted. Perhaps he was intoxicated with the night air, maybe it was watching over her for three years, maybe it was even the mystery that surrounded her. She didn't know.

All she knew was that the next few kisses were clumsy, because she was the one who kissed him, and she was unsure on how she should go about it. Affection had never been her strong point, touching was practically nonexistent.

Kisses that were like raspberries, sweet and with an exotic flavor to them. They went back up to the house together, going to his bedroom. She had never seen how untouchable she looked, so she didn't understand why he seemed so dazed as they lay together.

They had their moments of physical bliss and soon ended up practically falling asleep. He had his arms around her and her bare skin against his. It had been a long time since he had a warm body next to her, and she…she had never experienced such a thing.

Then they fell into a deep sleep that Setsuna didn't wish to recover from.

But she did. Her eyes opened to the early grey of the morning and she could tell that he was still asleep. She slipped out of bed and began putting her clothes on. She glanced over at his sleeping face, and how peaceful he looked.

"Come back Setsuna…" Taiki's voice sounded too sleepy and he rolled over and said nothing more, so she could only assume he was talking in his sleep.

"Come back Setsuna…"

"Don't go looking…"

"Don't forget."

She looked away from him, as though the sight of him caused her pain, and maybe it did. She had to keep going. She couldn't be tied down here, because then she might never know what really happened.

She might never know who had given her that last urgent message not to forget. Had she failed them? Or by remembering that, had she remembered something? For a moment, something glinted in her mind, some piece of metal that made her think of promises. To Taiki she had made no promises, but she had promised someone to not forget, that she was sure of.

Setsuna left the house, leaving behind only one of her hair pins. Let him remember her as a mystery, maybe it was better that way. A woman who came and went like a ghost. This had been a time of healing for her.

Now it was time to find her memories.

---

"There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark."

-"Eclipse", Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

---

Well, first of all, I must say that I'm quite pleased to have finished this first part. This will not be one of my regularly updated fanfics, merely a side project that I will work on from time to time, so I don't know how long it will take to finish. I hope you've enjoyed it so far. But there is a lot more to come.

Notes for this chapter:

The Halo Effect comes from a time that I was reading a dictionary (I often read through dictionaries and thesauruses, I'm always on the lookout for cool words.) and I discovered an entry marked 'halo effect'. Before I read the definition, I thought immediately that it was a literary term that I hadn't ever heard the official title of but was discussed sometimes when I was on a Literary Criticism team. Often times, when an author is trying to display that a character represents the spiritual side of things or is the spiritual one, at one point they will have a 'halo' of some kind. (i.e. in The Lord of the Flies, the phosphorescent creatures that wash up on the shore and around Simon's head.) But as it turned out, I was wrong. A 'halo effect' is as follows:

Halo effect, n. generalization from the perception of one outstanding personality trait to an overly favorable evaluation of the whole personality.

A simpler way to put it is to think of the way that we often perceive good and evil. If someone is good, we tend to think of all of them as good. This probably came from the way that Saints after earning their 'halos' are often thought of as perfectly holy. After reading this, I knew that it 'The Halo Effect' would be a wonderful title for something—I hadn't decided what at the time though.

"The White City" came from 'The Emerald City', in the Wizard of Oz. I just drew some parallels between the two. The White Church was named after this but I'm sure you can draw some conclusions as to which Church I might have based it off of…

The Moirae is merely the Greek title for the Fates. They were Clotho, the Spinner (Past), Lachesis, the apportioner (Present), and Atropos the Cutter (Future). Setsuna, who would sometimes predict the future during the story, lived in the present, and could see the past at will, seemed like an appropriate match.

All glass and crystal coffins that are mentioned are of course Snow White references. There are a many of these fairytale references throughout this story (let's see if you can catch them all! You probably can considering how many there are…).

'Qui Verbum Regina contempserunt, eis auferetur etiam verbum hominis.' ('They that have despised the word of the Queen, from them shall the word of man also be taken away') The real and true statement was 'Qui Verbum Dei…' which is saying 'god' instead of 'queen'. This was from the novel That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis when they performed the Babel's Curse. This comes from the story of the Tower of Babel—which, for those of you who aren't familiar with its mythology, is a tower that was supposedly built to reach heaven so that humans could be as high as God (Judeo-Christian). God decrees that he'll make it so that they are all speaking in different tongues and so no one can understand each other and the tower won't be finished. I thought this had interesting parallels to oppression and tyranny so I put the reference in there.

'The Eternal Child' is a phrase used in mythology a lot. (There are many different eternal children depending on religion and culture.) I thought that Naoko Takeuchi's manga telling of Chibi-usa's story, where she is 903 was a very dark thing to think about. (I prefer the manga over the anime as you might be able to tell.)

The leaders of the protesters, the red-haired one and the green-haired one are not the R villains that we know—merely their predecessors. (I don't know how long they were on the planet Nemesis…quite a few years I imagine.)

'Abracadabra, Pon!' is the phrase from the manga that Setsuna teaches Chibi-usa.

"Dies natalis lunae invictus!" (The Birth of the Unconquered Moon) Comes from the phrase 'Dies natalis solis invictus!" (The Birth of the Unconquered Sun). It's generally used in reference to the Winter Solstice, when the God (who frequently represents the sun in mythology; the goddess, the moon.) was killed and then reborn.

Olive blossoms—The reference should be fairly obvious but for those who might not have caught on, according to Ian Miller's website, DIES GAUDII (which is a fabulous site by the way), Kinmokusei is Japanese term that refers to a variety of fragrant olive. Kakyuu's body, in the Sailor Stars manga, is in an incense burner that smells of fragrant olives. There are many olive blossom references when it comes to Kakyuu and the planet of Kimoku-sei.

Thanks for reading!