Right Key
She is over nine-hundred years old, but has the appearance of a child.
Time is not her friend (even if the one who guards it is).
Because time confuses her. She goes from past to future, and time travel is her present tense, but that present is hers and hers alone.
After defeating Dead Moon, she says hello (then goodbye) to her Sailor Quartet—and while a few weeks later she returns with her scouts to the past, they had to sleep for several lifetimes, prior to seeing her again.
She promises to visit Helios again, but he'll be waiting at least 900 years to see her word kept (and it hasn't been, yet).
Though Bunny and Darien and the gang have to wait a millennium to see her once she enters the 4th dimension, she strolls through the gate that evening to have dinner with the sailor family.
That night at dinner, after sharing her new stationary and Tuxedo Mask doll and crystal kaleidoscope, she ends her stories (pointless to tell them what they already remember, but even so, they love to hear it all) with one question.
"Papa, can I visit Elysian?"
The King hesitates.
The Queen's eyes soften.
Rini knows the meaning of these actions, but suffers their explanations all the same.
Elysian is a sacred realm. Set apart. Even Papa does not speak to Helios—should not have known that such a place existed. Dead Moon was a crisis that demanded actions outside of the preset boundaries. Times of peace demand a return to such rules.
Like Sailor Pluto, the rulers of Crystal Tokyo are bound by certain celestial taboos.
But Rini, also like Sailor Pluto, knows when a rule should be broken—and she will break it.
Like Darien, she can think through a problem until it's solved.
Like Bunny, she's stupidly determined to get her way.
Let the grand experiment begin, she decides, and with the diligence of a scientist, Rini formulates her plans.
1.
Plan A: Dreams
Rini spends her free time (the precious little time she has away from her training as a scout and future ruler) in the digital archives, researching sleep.
It is a fascinating and complex phenomenon. Rini imagines her brain as a library, where books are being rearranged, re-catalogued, checked out, returned, pulled from shelves and read aloud. Sleep is the librarian. Or maybe the brain is an art museum, sleep the curator. Every dream, a new painting. Yet so much white space in between.
Rini seeks to eliminate the white space. More dreams means more Elysian time.
What Rini discovers, specifically related to her task, is a research field called "oneirology", or the study of dreams.
Some theories said dreaming was a way to hang on to more memories. Some theories said dreaming was a way to 'use up' the memories that weren't good anymore.
Rini hopes the former.
Regardless of its purpose, having dreams was the objective.
Research stated that dreaming required: sufficient REM sleep (optimized by a routine), maybe certain smells, some significant memories, and the right drugs.
Rini begins to regulate her sleep schedule, opting out of late night snacks with Lita or karaoke with Mina.
Rini spends thirty minutes at the candle booth in the city market, smelling and smelling and smelling until something was close enough to the freshness of the Crystal Forest trees. She keeps it by her bedside.
Rini avoids caffeine, despite her crippling love for coffee, and opts instead for a dose of melatonin (swiped from Ami's medicine cabinet—and if Ami knew, which she most definitely did, she wasn't saying anything, so Rini figured she was in the clear).
She even cuts back on sweets.
For a full month, Rini regulates and avoids and takes melatonin and has more energy, more wakefulness than she's felt in centuries.
Her dreams include: one falling dream, one flying dream, one nightmare about Black Moon, one dream about Artemis with bagpipes, one dream about racing against Haruka, one dream about eating cotton candy with Hotaru, and one dream where Bunny is wearing a hot pink chicken costume, waving a large feather at Rini and yelling, "Lemon pie won't solve this one!" while pointing to a chalkboard filled with complex chemistry formulas.
Still, no signs of Elysian, and no white unicorns disrupt the orderly cataloguing of memories in her dreaming brain.
Rini munches on a cracker, and Diana nibbles cheese from her hand.
"Have I lost my beautiful dream?" she asks her companion.
"No," Diana ponders, "it's just that they've come true. You are a lady, and you are a scout." (Rini blushes under the praise) "You can't visit a dream if it's reality, can you?"
Rini considers the cat's words.
"I will have to discover a new dream, then."
2.
Plan B: Keys
She has to pause the experiment to return to the past, but the time travel supplies her with a new idea. Rini heads to the interdimensional gate one week after Galaxia's defeat—taller, stronger, determined to find her way.
Sailor Pluto turns her gaze from the expanse of fog to greet Rini, who is trailed by Luna P.
Rini holds out a thermos and two plastic mugs. "I brought tea," she says. "Herbal, so it's decaf."
Pluto smiles, soft and small, and accepts the mug. The two catch up on small talk. Rini describes school (easy), being a princess (hard), and being a scout (right). Pluto listens, hums, nods. It feels like speaking with a therapist.
Rini finishes her last cup of tea, then asks her question haltingly.
"Hey, 'Etsy, um, do you have a key to Elysian?"
Luna P bobs up and down with small peeps.
Sailor Pluto unclasps the key belt from around her dark pleated skirt. She pinches each key between thumb and forefinger as she explains their purpose.
"4th Dimension Time Travel Key."
"Old Apartment Key."
"Crystal Tokyo Palace Key."
"Interplanetary Space Travel Key."
"Chronos Key, for consultation with Father."
"Hotaru's old teething key."
"The Subaru."
Rini's heart drops further into her stomach with each designation. Pluto's eyes are too understanding. Rini wilts under the pity.
Her friend stands, stacking her tea mug on top of Rini's. She places a cool, gentle hand on the pink-haired lady's shoulder.
Rini (inches taller, centuries old, but a child still) wrinkles her nose, cheeks pink. "I just want to visit my friend, is all. I have a promise to keep. It's not a big deal." She knows Pluto knows it is.
Setsuna fingers her garnet rod. "I made a promise to guard this place," she says. "Because of this, I have limitations." She meets Rini's eyes. "Helios made a promise to Elysian. His duties also incur certain boundaries."
Rini cringes as Pluto continues, "It is not unlike the expectations on a princess and sailor scout. You made promises to this planet, and you must prioritize accordingly."
What Rini loves (and hates) about Sailor Pluto is that she unflinchingly administers truth. She says what Rini needs to hear, whether or not she wants to hear it.
Rini runs a finger along the curved lines of Luna P's cold metal ears. "Thank you, Setsuna." She tucks the thermos under an arm, hooking a pinky through the mug handles, and smiles weakly. "All things happen in time, right?" She chuckles softly. "Right now, I need to keep growing and get stronger. After all, watching from afar is a kind of love too, right?" Rini manages a wink at her friend.
Sailor Pluto pulls Rini into a warm, reassuring hug.
"In my experience, Princess Lady, love is the right key to pass through any threshold."
3.
Plan C: Powers
The Passage of Powers declares Sailor Lady Moon as the new protector of Crystal Tokyo. Helios is there—somehow, he's there, and Rini knows she must find her way to Elysian, if he can manage to get to Earth. It must be a two-way street, she thinks.
The stallion reve that once held a tiny Pegasus disappeared with Helios, but Rini still has the crystal bell. She carries it with her, attempting Twinkle Yell at various times in various places throughout the day. She holds it up to the sky, waves it around and listens for a chime, like one might search for cell phone reception.
She submits her bell to the newly awakened Sailor Pallas for analysis, but the blue-haired scout returns it the next day, declaring it empty of all spiritual or celestial power.
Rini starts finding herself in the palace kitchens after midnight, with a glass of milk and the twinkle bell on the table. (Caffeine is back in her diet, and it's stronger than ever. She stays up entirely too late.)
In these small hours, she draws pink crystal power from herself, gently touching, easing these tendrils of energy into the delicate bell. Trying to recharge its batteries.
Sometimes, summoning the crystal in one hand and holding the bell in the other, she tries to touch them together, like Prince Diamond had once done with two Silver Crystals. She hopes for another 'passage of powers'.
Sometimes, she touches the crystal glass gently to her lips, just to see.
But the bell is cold, and the bell is silent.
Papa catches her one time, a little spark of pink in the night. The kitchen light blinds her eyes.
"Small Lady?" Even in pajamas, he maintains his royal air (the same cannot be said for Rini, she thinks morosely). His eyes glimmer from crystal to bell to daughter, and Rini watches the 'click'. His eyebrows rise. "I see."
Papa opens the fridge and pulls out the milk. He refills Rini's glass before pouring his own, then puts the bottle back. He seats himself on the wooden table, picking up the bell and examining it from all angles.
"I am sorry we have let you down," he murmurs.
Rini's face burns.
"But sweetheart." Papa closes the bell into her hands.
Her head jerks up to him.
"His soul is connected me, and our power was awakened by Bunny. He took refuge in your dreams, and you rescued him from death." Darien sets the bell down with a sigh and a crooked smile. "Fate isn't subtle, Rini."
He shuffles her hair with a chuckle, wiping away the wide-eyed surprise from her face.
"It just likes to keep us waiting. You'll find your way to one another."
"Papa, it's not—" Rini splutters. "It's not like that. I don't think. I just want to be his friend. Friends have to talk to each other."
Right? She thinks. She flattens her lips, thoughtful. She remembers Pluto's words.
If I call it love, will that connect us?
Is love my new dream?
"It's not. At least not yet," Rini concludes.
Papa is laughing. "You certainly do take after me."
4.
Plan D: Wings
The scouts are down, and Rini is alone. She can feel the planet tremble beneath her knees. She pulls an arm up to protect her face. Red beams of energy spur towards her, with intent to kill.
Twinkle Yell…
Let the grand experiment begin, Rini thinks, and wonders if her Mama, like Queen Serenity Sr., will choose to seal everyone away in little spheres until rebirth.
The planet shakes—
Will I dream while I'm sealed away? She asks.
Red red everything red—
When I wake up, will I remember those I love? Will I remember being with you, Helios? She wonders.
Love. I called it love. She realizes.
Is death the only sleep now that could lead me to Elysian?
She takes a (last) breath—
She is hit, not by the attacks of her enemy, but by something that barrels into her side—arms, feathers. They dodge the blast as one.
Then Rini's eyes are looking into eyes that shine like gold.
"Helios!"
She laughs, because the other option is crying, and that's embarrassing.
She takes a next breath. Alive.
"Helios." She's never been so happy to have a voice, to have wind in her lungs.
"Hello, Maiden."
He stands, hand held out. She stands, hands in his. "You're really here!" Her vision is spotting a little bit and she wobbles on her feet.
He gently turns her to face the enemy—an old man with blind eyes and blinder hatred, surrounded by hot red flames.
Rini clenches her scepter, holding it in front with both hands. Helios' fingers grip her shoulders. His chin dips down and his voice in her ear, saying, "I will always be here, to give you all of my strength."
She closes her eyes.
Rini feels her ripped, dirty uniform become a gleaming princess dress. She glows in gold and pink energy, mingling and warm like a sunrise. She pours out her heart into a pink crystal attack, and wins.
Rini stands long enough to watch her scouts wake up again.
Then she falls back into his arms, and right before she loses consciousness, she touches the jewel on his forehead and murmurs, "Take me, let's go together." The words are slurred.
She opens her eyes, feels the cold stone floor on her cheek. She pushes herself into a sitting position. Helios hovers over her, eyes concerned, chin tucked down. There is a tenderness in his posture that touches Rini to the core.
"You're okay?"
"I'm fine now, thanks to you. Have you been hurt?" Rini tries standing.
"No."
She wobbles, stumbling, and he catches her by the arm. The Maenards approach, dresses flaring at the speed of their walk.
Elysian is everything she remembered it to be—the harmonious glow of evening sunshine, the vivid blue of the temple, cut grass and roses. The distant chiming of bells. She breathes deeply, drinking in the breeze.
Rini turns to face Helios, smiling brilliantly. "How did I get here?" She wants to know which plan works.
His simple answer: "You're dreaming."
But Rini has already tried that plan.
So, her simpler answer: It's fate.
8 Acres East