The Gatekeeper

by Sierra Desiree

Rated PG 13

Summary: Everyone knows Sailor Pluto. But what does anyone really know about her? The planet Pluto orbits at the edge of our galaxy, a dead and silent rock. But at one time it was the home to an ancient civilization, which would one day be ruled by the Princess Setsuna. Presented here is the life of a teenage Sailor Pluto, when she was mentally and not just physically that age. Did she really do any better than the scouts we do know about? Or did she fight destiny just as much as they?

Disclaimer: Sailor Pluto does not belong to me. I don't believe any of the other Sailor Moon characters show up in this story but if they do, they don't belong to me either.

The planet Pluto, more than a few millennia ago.

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Day One

The room was lit entirely by magic lamps that let off bright light with just the softest hint of teal, giving the turquoise walled room an almost half field, half underwater appearance. Setsuna personally didn't like it that much and in her opinion, it totally clashed with her deep red, off the shoulder, formal gown. Fingering the tendril of dark green hair that had been curled to fall over her shoulder she watched out over her mother's court and nobles in utter boredom.

At that moment the evening meal was just being finished and, as-usual, Queen Chemarian was taking her time getting to the reason she had called this formal dinner. 'Finally,' the princess thought when she saw her mother stand and motion for silence.

Unfortunately the young lady would have to wait a little longer for the escape she craved.

"Lords and ladies," the queen's seemingly silent voice carried well in the hall, "I would like to have the personal pleasure of thanking you all for coming tonight...."

Princess Setsuna blocked out the long speech she knew her mother was getting started on. It was just a variation of the same speech she gave every time all the nobles came to the palace at her request. She took the time to study her mother. The analysis left her disappointed and wondering why she had idolized this great woman all her life. 'Sure,' Setsuna had to admit, 'She's a great mother, but she has no imagination.' The dress the queen was wearing matched the decor. It was a more conservative cut of the same dress she, herself, was wearing, only in a light blue-green that was darkened slightly by the teal lights. It did look fabulous on Chemarian in normal light, but this light made her look slightly dead. That thought sent a chill down the princess's back but she pushed the unpleasant image away.

Turning her eyes to those very same lights she narrowed her eyes in a glare, as if the lights were the reason for all the things she considered her misfortunes. Sometimes she wondered if her mother had given the magical lights that tint so that her own coal black hair would appear the same green as her daughter's. 'Sorry to disappoint you mother,' Setsuna thought, 'But it didn't work in the slightest.'

She knew she was being ungracious, but things just hadn't been going the way she had expected. All her life she had been taught patience and the art of keeping a secret without appearing to even know what was going on. Also, she had been restrained from ever showing emotion, even though half the time she wanted to scream and get away from the milling people that followed her mother everywhere. Personally, she knew she would never survive as queen, but, to make things just perfect, her right to the throne was being assured today.

Just then Queen Chemarian reached the part of the speech that interested Setsuna and she leaned back for a better view of the tall woman standing beside her. "As you all know, the heir to the throne can not inherit alone, as was stated by my great-great grandmother so many years ago. I have gathered you all here today to announce that on my daughter's eighteenth birthday, three days from today, the Princess Setsuna shall be wed to Prince Corlan, the son of my dearest friend, the Lady Adria of the Continent of Light. Everyone gathered today is invited to enjoy the hospitality of my palace until that day and then stay for the celebrations that will last a week after the joyful ceremony."

The announcement was met by a large round of applause that filled the entire room. Setsuna resisted the urge to cover her ears, instead raising from her seat as she had been instructed to do. Looking past her mother and father, who was now also standing, she glanced at the young man who now stood beside the king, without actually ever turning her face away from the court. He was tall, perhaps tall enough that she would actually have to look up to him for a change. His almost white blond hair contrasted handsomely with his darkly tanned skin. The outfit he wore was made up entirely of what appeared to be soft leather in three different shades of blue. The main fabric was a deep navy blue, matching his eyes. There was the slightest hint of trimming around the hem and each sleeve in a slightly lighter shade. On his left shoulder there appeared to be a small symbol, though she couldn't make it out, that was colored a much lighter shade.

Setting her eyes back to the front she smiled slightly. Maybe being queen wouldn't be such a bad thing, with him beside her as king.

After the applause died down naturally, Queen Chemarian held up her slender hands, "Now it is time for us all to rest. Preparations begin in the morning." The king and queen left the room, followed by the prince and princess and the rest of the court, to another round of applause. Instead of going to her own room Setsuna followed her mother and waited outside the door of her chamber. She knew that every night, the queen would emerge once more to check everything in the kitchens, making sure the late breakfast would be to her approval.

As she waited Setsuna pulled on the golden chain that hung around her neck. The chain was long enough that the small pendant it held was hidden beneath the bodice of her dress. She studied the charm carefully, though she knew every line of it by heart, hoping that maybe this time she would get a clue to what it meant. It was molded into the form of a slender key, except that it was unlike any key she had seen before. When the light hit it, the gold metal shone red. She wondered what it meant, and the fact that her mother had never told her who had given her the strange gift on the day of her birth had only increased her curiosity.

Just then the queen opened her chamber door and walked out. She stopped when she saw her daughter waiting for her. Turning to speak, Setsuna hesitated. Here, in the normal lighting, her mother was beautiful. This was the woman she looked up to, her mother, not the queen that had stood before her court only moments before.

"What is it Setsuna?" she asked when the princess remained silent.

"Mother," Setsuna began, stopping to pull the chain off, "I've come to ask you again, what this means."

Queen Chemarian paled when she saw the pendant. "Put that back on and keep it hidden, daughter. Remember, no one is to ever see that. No one is to know your fate."

"My fate?" This was news to her. "Mother, what are you talking about?"

Taking the chain from her daughter, Chemarian clasped it where it belonged, tucking it under the blood red bodice easily. "I swore never to tell you the meaning of it. Even if I broke that promise, I could never tell you what I don't know."

"Mother!" Setsuna cried, fighting to hold her temper, "Who made you promise!"

But her mother was gone and the queen stood before her now. "Setsuna, Princess of Pluto. You know never to bring this up and were taught to never raise your voice. Off to bed with you, everything will be made clear by the time you are eighteen years of age." Without giving Setsuna a chance to reply, Chemarian breezed by her, continuing on her way to the kitchens.

Watching after her mother, Setsuna felt a turmoil of emotions fighting inside her. She knew she should obey her mother, but she had just gotten more information out of her than ever before. Now she only wanted to know more, to keep finding out what the pendant meant until she knew what her future held. When the queen was out of sight, the princess hiked up her full skirt, showing a set of shapely legs, and took off at a run for her room.

In her room she leaned against her closed door, pausing only momentarily to catch her breath. Once she was fine she looked around the room she called her own. If truth be known, there were actually very few items in here that she did feel possessive of. All of those items would have easily fit in a bag and she would have happily left the rest behind. The first thing was a small picture featuring herself at the age of ten, with her mother and her father. It hadn't been taken for royalty sake but rather during one of the few holidays that they had actually had as a family. That was her most important possession. The second most important thing was a small ring she always wore on her right hand pinkie finger. It was a thin strip of silver that was barely noticeable unless the light caught it. A friend of hers, a stable boy named Bryant, had given it to her on her sixteenth birthday. All the other things were small knickknacks that had been given to her over the years by her parents or the few other people she called her friends.

Everything else in the room was her mother's. The walls were uncovered to show the turquoise stone the palace was made of, and the furniture was painted to match or offset it perfectly. At the moment, this was the last place she wanted to be. With a few flicks of her wrist the buttons on the dress were undone and it lay in a pool of silk at her feet. She pulled a box out from under her bed and from that grabbed the pair of trousers and tunic that had once been Bryant's. This was another thing he had given her, the freedom she could enjoy when no one recognized her as the princess.

Once she was dressed, she checked to make sure her door was locked then ran for her window. Quietly she stepped out onto the ledge. This was the most dangerous part of her escape route, not because of the fall - heights didn't bother her - but rather because she had to pass by her parents window to get to the oak tree she used to climb down. Pausing just beyond the window she listened intently for any sounds. She could hear her father's deep voice but her mother's voice didn't reach her.

"You actually think this is Corlan?" the king asked doubtfully.

The queen's response was only a murmur but Setsuna guessed it was in the affirmative.

"But how could you? We haven't heard from the Lady Adria in years, and suddenly this young man shows up claiming to be her son."

This time the queen's voice did reach her, probably because she had moved closer to the window. "He does carry the mark of her line, my dear. Lady Adria was exactly like him in every way, except that she was female. The ring he wears only adds to the proof."

"If you say so Chemarian. Now turn out those lights of yours and come to bed."

Setsuna stood still, holding her breath for many minutes after the lights went out. Then she carefully crept along the thin ledge, leaning back against the cool outer wall for support. With each step she concentrated only on the placement of her feet, the feel of the stone under the soles of her shoes. After nearly an hour of moving along the ledge she came to the old oak tree she used as a ladder. Pausing she took a deep breath and looked down the small space between the palace wall and the nearest branch that would hold her weight. Forcing her breathing to remain calm and even she tried not to think about the one time she had miscalculated and fallen half way down the tree before she managed to stop herself, breaking her arm in the process.

One more deep breath and she was ready. Leaning away from the wall she stretched her arm out and grabbed one of the flimsier branches. Using it she pulled a slightly stronger branch into reach of her fingers. Once she was sure she had a firm grip on it she flexed her knees and pushed away from the wall. Under her weight the branch bent down farther, until she felt the branch she wanted under her feet. Sinking to her knees she wrapped her legs around the branch and hooked her feet underneath. Then she let go of her support branch. With its assistance gone she wobbled a little. She steadied herself by laying right down on her belly.

Now she could move a little faster than she had on the wall and she made it to the ground in a few moments. When she was on solid ground she leaned against the tree and finally allowed herself to relax.

"Almost married and you're still using that escape route," a male voice said behind her, only slightly mocking.

Setsuna spun around and peered into the darkness the stars in the sky couldn't penetrate. Finally one shadow moved away from the others and she sighed in relief. "I should have known," she laughed, "Only you would have the guts to frighten the royal princess out of her wits, Bryant."

"I live only to serve," he replied, sweeping a low bow that would have looked normal on any noble. But on this certain stable boy she could see it for the mockery it was.

"Oh, Bryant. You know I only wish. You also know that you know way too much about me for me to ever call you anything but friend." She walked up to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the castle and out into the fields where the horses were kept. "Come, let us go for a ride."

She noticed that Bryant's grip tightened slightly but paid it no mind. "As the lady wishes. Just remember, this time I won't be covering up for you if you fall in the mud."

The princess stopped and looked back, her hands on her hips, "Yes you will, if only because I ask so sweetly."

Bryant snorted, "Yeah right. There is no chance of you ever giving anyone a toothache."

"Oh?" Setsuna asked, delicately arching an eyebrow. "We'll see about that." Then her serious stance was gone and she took off for the fence, "First one there gets MistFire!"

Bryant was hot on her heals. "Oh no you don't! The horse is way too wild for you!" The worry in his voice was marred only by his laughter.

Vaulting up over the fence like Bryant had taught her so many years ago, Setsuna reached the stables first and grabbed a halter off the wall. She came to a skidding stop in front of the last stall. Moving cautiously up to the door she peered into the stall. Standing along the back wall, his ears laid back in alarm, stood a tall silver-gray stallion. His eyes rolled as Setsuna opened the door and stepped in with him.

"Shh," she murmured, holding out a handful of oats. "You know me, beautiful. Yes, you've let me ride before, haven't you. You know I would never hurt you." Continuing to say things along those same lines she watched as the tension left the horse and he stretched his neck to lip up the oats. While he was otherwise occupied, she slipped the halter on with her other hand. He shied only a moment before her voice calmed him again. When all the oats were gone she led him out of the stall and over to the mounting block.

MistFire was obviously remembering her from other midnight rides and readily accepted her on his bare back. With a gentle hand, Setsuna moved him out into the field.

Waiting outside, Bryant was already mounted bareback on his own horse, a mare just as tall as MistFire named StarSong. "No matter how many times I see you do that, I still can't believe it," Bryant said, shaking his head. His russet hair fell into his eyes and he had to brush it away before he could see her again.

"That's good," Setsuna said, "That means, if one of the nobles, or anyone for that matter, were to see and recognize me, no one would believe them. For who would believe that the princess would ever be able to ride the horse no one else can get near."

Looking up at the night sky, Bryant whispered something Setsuna couldn't hear then he kicked his mare into a gallop. "Let's race!"

Always up to beating her best friend at something, Setsuna gave MistFire his head and they were soon racing neck and neck with StarSong. Ducking lower along the stallions head, Setsuna patted his neck and whispered in his ear, asking for more speed. He gave it to her willingly. It wasn't often he got to race across the large field like this, and no mare was going to beat him when he got his chance.

They were soon pulling up at the far gate, the stables no more than a dot on the horizon. Bryant caught up moments later and pulled StarSong along beside her. "You are such a show off. I thought princess's were supposed to learn modesty."

"I must have skipped that class to kick your ass in something." She lightened her words with a brilliant smile in his direction.

Shaking his head Bryant couldn't help but smile back. Getting StarSong to start back at a walk he said, "You are getting way too cocky for your own good. I could probably teach you a few things. And I should. Then you would realize you aren't an expert at everything, at least not yet."

Falling into step beside him she asked, "And just what would these things be, that you could teach me?"

This time Bryant couldn't meet her eyes, instead staring off into some distance between StarSong's ears. "Not things a princess should be hearing about."

Setsuna swallowed, trying to get rid of the odd emotions that clogged her throat. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn she was jealous, or worse, disappointed. "Come three days, my eighteenth birthday, and I will know just what you know, for then I will no longer be a maid, but a wife."

Bryant visibly tensed and tightened his grip on the reigns until his knuckles were white. "The wedding," he muttered, along with something else Setsuna couldn't hear. Then he looked over at her and said, "So, I take it you saw the lucky man at the dinner tonight."

"Yes," Setsuna sighed, "And he is so very handsome."

"Is he now, I bet. He may look it but I doubt he's ever worked a day in his life."

Setsuna looked at Bryant through narrowed eyes, shocked at the bitterness in his voice.

"You mean like me? I've never worked at anything but my studies," the coldness in her voice matched the bitterness in his.

He had the gallantry to look ashamed. "You're different. You helped me in the stables lots of times. You just never thought of that as work because you always make everything a game."

"How do you know that Corlan never helped out?" she demanded.

"Is that his name? Corlan?"

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

"Yeah, it bothers me."

"For the Lady's sake, why?"

"I don't know," he started then seemed to change his mind, "Yes, I do know. It bugs me because he bugs me. Your whole wedding bugs me!" Kicking StarSong into a gallop he left Setsuna wondering over his sudden outburst.

She had never known him to get so upset about anything that didn't have to do with the horses. And he had never yelled at her before, at least not when he was actually serious about it. By the time she reached the stables he was long gone. She moved about the chore of rubbing MistFire down automatically, not actually thinking about it. Setsuna was about to head back to the oak tree, when a man stepped into her line of view.

Starlight reflected off his neatly groomed, white-blond hair, the rest of him faded into the shadows. "Lover's quarrel?" he asked her.

Setsuna turned on him and looked Corlan in the eyes. She calmed, reminding herself that punching her husband-to-be would not be a good thing. "Sir, you assume too much. He is merely a friend."

"I am sorry Princess. You are right, I do assume too much. I didn't realize things were so different here that the royal heir would actually be friends with a mere stable boy." Corlan bowed his apology. He meant that bow just as much as Bryant had mocked it earlier.

Setsuna relaxed only slightly, remembering that no matter how she was dressed, she was still the princess and soon to be this man's wife. "Apology accepted, sir. May I ask just what it is you are doing out here, this time of the night?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, but the answer is obvious," he evaded her question, raking his eyes over her attire.

Strangely, Setsuna didn't feel the same shiver of disgust she felt when some of the nobles looked at her like that. Instead, she felt a heat that she didn't recognize. "When I am restless, I like to ride."

Corlan nodded, accepting her answer. "Shall I escort you back to your rooms, Princess?"

"That is not necessary," Setsuna declined. "I shall be able to find my way on my own." Turning her back to him she disappeared into the shadows along the palace wall, using them to hide her trip back to the oak tree.

Back in her room, she didn't bother undressing, just fell onto her bed. The past couple of hours had definitely been interesting. First, Bryant's mood changed so dramatically she had barely recognized him. Then, just talking to Corlan, even though he had clearly insulted her with both his words and his eyes, had made her feel better. Including the emotions she couldn't name that were only now calming down. When her left hand fell away from where she had been playing with her thin silver ring, Setsuna realized she was falling asleep. Getting up and hiding her clothes back under her bed, she climbed under her covers and was asleep as soon as her head rested on her pillow.