DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon or any of the characters in it. I know we all hate saying these things, but hey, 'that's how the cookie crumbles.'
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Heero marched through the frozen tundra. Its blanket of snow stretching as far as they eye could see aside from a few up rooted glaciers. Reminding him so much of the moon. They were both so cold now. But perhaps not always.
Dressed in his artic suit, he pulled his mask down and pulled his goggles up over his eyes. Drawing in a breath of air more cold, more crisp, and more clean than he had tasted in a lifetime. It almost made life worth living. Just being here.
Standing on the top of the world. Literally on its top. The frozen north. Stepping and walking on earth where no man has stepped in over hundreds of years. He had little reason to fight anymore. But standing here now, made everything worth it. She sky was crystal clear. A blue rarely seen by any eyes anymore.
Dogs yipped behind him as his four comrades came up behind him on sleds. He preferred to walk these last steps on foot. He may not have shown emotion on his face, but he felt them. Yes, he felt great emotion from this place, and for the first time in a long time, he allowed a small smile to grace his features.
As the other four pilots approached him and saw the smile on Heero's face, they could not help but smile with him. Even WuFei smiled, who was usually scowling at everything. Watching and smiling at one another.
Trowa followed in example of Heero and stepped off his sled. Pulling his mask down and moving his goggles up over his eyes. He stood next to his stoic friend. Who did not even seem to mind that people saw the emotion on his face. Peace can truly bring amazing things with it.
"Never in my life have I ever considered being here today." Trowa spoke softly. His words chosen carefully else they would not be spoken. But the silence that captivated them made it easily audible to everyone. "Right now. . . I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Its so beautiful. . ." Quatre spoke to himself as they surveyed the white landscape. Stepping off his own sled along with Heero's that he had pulled along, he took the time to pat each of his dogs on the head lovingly.
"So serene." WuFei whispered. Aside from the occasional woof from a dog, it was silent. Not even the wind blew. He never thought such a place existed. Nor did any of the other pilots.
Duo had little comment to give. Knowing that if he said anything it would likely be sarcastic without even meaning it. He didn't know why Heero brought him here or the others. But being here still made it worth it. "The only serene place left in the world."
"No man has stood where we stand today for over hundreds of years. Perhaps longer." Quatre reminded them. While he took the time to relish each second that he stood here. Walking forward, he took a stand on the other side of Heero. Looking at the blanket of snow looking almost level. Untouched by man or beast aside from the steps and tracks behind them. He didn't want it to end.
"So, Heero, just why did you want to come up here?" Duo asked curiously. Heero hadn't exactly told them why they came here. Heero didn't ask them to come, but he didn't say they couldn't either.
"Because we can." WuFei answered him without any malice in his voice. "Hundreds of years, Duo. Hundreds of years and we are the first in that time." Never mind fighting a war. That was out of necessity. But this. . .
"The last ice age took a hundred years in the making. And 5,000 years to run its course. That was only a 2,000 thousand years ago. Yet it was so cold this far up north that a man would freeze solid in a matter of seconds. After the ice age it took a 1,000 years for man to once more walk upon it." Wufei explained it to him. Remembering the history he once took so much thought and pride into.
Quatre nodded his head in agreement. "Only with the old technology where we able to rebuild the world into what it is today. And yet this remained. We are the first. Unofficially anyway." The smiles had left their faces.
Everyone looked at Heero, who had yet to say anything and yet to move. His smile too had left him as he continued to stare out at the emptiness around him. Empty to them perhaps. But this was almost like home to him. "There was another reason."
"Satellite reading over this area uncovered signs of a structural mass buried here under the ice. A building as a point of fact." He paused long enough to allow his friends mouths to drop without him even looking at them. "Supposedly they bare a striking resemblance to the ruins that were found on the moon."
Silence was once again dominant over everyone. Unbelieving his words. Yet they knew Heero would not have come all this way for nothing. Was there something that they missed? Heero may be intelligent but a History buff they had no idea.
Duo looked shocked at his friend for a moment but then his face overcame with glee that he actually knew something intellectual and actually knew what was going on. "I heard about that! It was on a episode of "Unsolved Mysteries."
Wufei shook his head while Trowa gave them confused looks. "That's just some conspiracy theory people came up with so they had something to gripe to the Government about. There are no lost civilizations on the moon."
"You're wrong. I was there."
Everyone looked at Heero again. Remembering that he would not have come here if that were the case. They just had to wonder just what Heero knew that they didn't. He began walking forward again and they scrambled quickly to grab their supplies to follow him. It seemed that they were heading toward that large glacier up ahead.
Quatre looked at Heero more curiously now. Empathic he may be. But a psychic he wasn't. Yet he knew that Heero knew something that they didn't. That Heero had worked very hard to keep a secret. But it couldn't be. . . He would have known. . . He shook the feeling off and walked with them.
It was easy to forget the lack of depth perception in this place. Everything looked damn near the same every direction they took. It took them most of the rest of the day to reach their destination. Though they didn't have to worry about it getting dark on them. Day light would remain abundant for another three months this far north.
The large glacier up ahead was in fact a very large glacier. Easily reaching at least 300 feet in height. Four of the pilots looked at it in awe, for Heero was correct. Buried deep within the ice they could see part of the structure. It looked like a castle. And they wondered just how long it had been suspended here in ice.
Heero seemed to be searching for something as he walked along the sides of it. The other four watched in curiosity as Heero stopped abruptly and pulled something out of his backpack. Something they all recognized immediately as Plastic Explosive.
Duo shook his head sadly as they each backed away cautiously. "Leave it to Heero to come all this way just to blow it up. Buddy, you never fail to surprise me."
He ignored them for the most part as Quatre approached him slowly. "Heero, this place has been frozen and suspended in ice for who knows how long. Thousands of years perhaps. Any explosion, even the smallest of one could send the place crumbling." Quatre definitely didn't want to see this place destroyed. Not if. . .
"Heero, I really don't think this place is a threat." WuFei followed Quatre in example. He loved history and this place was an archeological gold mine. Much of Earth history was shrouded in mystery because of the last ice age. This castle could very well answer some of the greatest questions ever asked.
Heero slapped the explosive to the ice and turned to look almost curiously at his comrades. The smallest trace of amusement in his eyes. Sure, he liked to blow things up. But did they really think. . .? He shook his head.
"Negative."
The other four pilots seemed to blink collectively at him.
Walking away from the glacier, he held up a small remote. The others quickly followed suit and scrambled forward with him. Not really looking to be caught up in the explosion. But each still held the same lost expression towards the Perfect Soldier who just never failed to confuse and confound them today.
"Eternal spectrum scans from Doctor J. confirmed that the castles structure and wall are made from a rock, called Zethrumiom, found only on Europa." He trudged through the snow until he was satisfied with the distance between them and the explosive.
"Europa?" Duo asked curiously.
"One of the Moons of Jupiter." WuFei supplied him the answer. But his answer only brought a hundred more questions to each of their minds. Rocks from Jupiter found in the North Pole?
"Zethrumiom is one of the strongest materials found in the Solar System." Heero continued. Stopping briefly to create a mound of snow to cover him with the explosives went off. The others followed in his example while he talked.
"Stronger than Gundanium. Even stronger than diamond."
"You mean. . . " Quatre looked up at the said castle. "All this time. Why didn't you tell me Heero?" He sighed and shook his head with a pained expression. "All this time. . . I didn't know."
"It was the way she wanted it, Quatre. You can respect that." Heero replied nonchalantly while the two of them continued to pile the snow up.
The other three pilots all looked at Quatre now. It was obvious that he knew something the rest of them didn't. It was strange though coming from Quatre. It wasn't usual for him to keep information from others. Heero they could understand. But now they wondered now just how big this whole situation was.
He pressed the button on the remote as they ducked their heads behind the snowdrift. The explosion sent snow and ice everywhere. After a few moments they all stuck their heads up. Sure enough as Heero said, the ice was blasted away and the castle wall was left unharmed. In fact, now that the ice was cleared away, they saw massive doors.
Duo, Trowa, and WuFei all watched with mouths open at the massive doors. Watching as Heero walked back toward the castle looking like he had not a care in the world. Each wondering just "How in the hell did he knew that was there?" Duo spoke for them.
"How long?" Quatre asked as they reached the massive doors. Everyone feeling a little uncomfortable except for Heero and Quatre.
"Too long, Quatre. Much too long. She told you why." Heero replied quietly before reverting all his attention to the doors. Which, despite the explosion, were still frozen shut. While the others watched, he spread a dissolving liquid across the cracks between the two double doors.
"What is all this about, Heero? Why are you really here?" WuFei asked. Getting real tired of being left out on the loop of things. The fact that Quatre was holding back only proved his point. But then why did his gut also tell him something about this was wrong?
Heero turned around to look at WuFei. Giving him an odd sort of glare. "I am here for peace, WuFei. Always for peace."
Quatre's eyes widened as realization stuck him. "Heero, no! You cant! They are guardians! It was never meant to happen! She told us that herself!" He was now pleading with him.
"And you know that the future is never set in stone. It is our actions that define the future. And while it is sometimes readable, is still undecided. The fact that it never happened is proof of that. Lies, Quatre. Nothing but lies. 10,000 years of them."
Trowa, WuFei, and Duo were officially starting to freak out now. They didn't know what the hell they were talking about. But everything they heard thus far from the other two pilots, suggested something VERY big was going on.
Heero pushed on the large double doors, opening them almost effortlessly and walked forward. The other four stepped more cautiously. The air about this place felt almost. . .sacred. They stepped into a great hall. Architecture unlike anything anyone has seen on the earth.
Quatre and Heero seemed unfazed by the inside of the castle and continued into the hall. Looking for something of which only they knew. The others moved quickly to catch up with them.
Duo could almost swear that the place was larger on the inside that it was on the outside. And warmer too for that matter. Despite the fact that everything around them was frosted over. But that was impossible, wasn't it? He looked at WuFei, who seemed to be reflecting his thoughts as they walked from one great hall into another.
This next hall however, they immediately noticed five large cylinders standing in the middle of the room. Each frozen over with frost and ice, yet they seemed to radiate heat that the same time.
Everyone jumped back in shock as Heero seemingly pulled a staff out of nowhere. A staff at least a foot taller than himself. Large and key shaped with a glowing red ball on its top.
Walking to the center most cylinder, he held the staff high before bringing it down to the floor with an echoing thud. The noise seemed to echo and vibrate through the very castle walls. They watched as the ice melted away.
No. It didn't melt away. It was just disappearing, as though reversing itself. The entire room for that matter, seemed to be reverting back as it was before it had been taken over by ice and frost. As the ice cleared away, they could see inside clearly five figures, five young women, held in a watery stasis.
The cylinders that held them shattered, glass and water came falling to the floor, as did the young women. A blonde with a strange ordango hairstyle, a short blue haired woman, a brunette, a long black haired woman, and another blonde.
No one said anything. All of this happening in maybe the span of only three to five minutes. Still holding the staff, Heero walked up to the blonde with the strange hairstyle who was beginning to wake up, and keeled before her, followed closely by Quatre. Leaving the other three in shock.
"Where. . .where am I?" She spoke slightly out of breath as she slowly stood up, barely clad in any cloths, and hugged herself from the chill of the room. Working her way up to a standing position, she looked down to Heero and Quatre. "Rise, and tell me where I am."
They stood up in perfect unison and Heero looked at her strait in the eye. "You are in the Crystal Palace, my Queen."
Duo began to choke involuntarily as even WuFei's jaw dropped the floor. Trowa seemed to be taking it all in strides, though you could tell his eyes had widened slightly.
"Then it is time." She said to herself as she looked at the other four women around her, still unconscious. She looked back at Heero again, with more curiosity now that she knew where she was. "Who are you?"
Heero bowed his head slightly. "Kothlu, Guardian of the Time Staff, and the last Plutonian." If his friends didn't know any better, they would almost say that his voice spoke in grief.
Duo, WuFei, and Trowa were getting increasingly more confused with each passing minute. This woman was obviously very important. But now they saw that they in fact knew little to nothing about Heero or Quatre. How could they have kept a secret like this?
"Pluto-sama. . . she died?" She brought a hand up to her mouth half in grief to the revelation. She waited for confirmation from the one called Kothlu. He nodded his head slightly.
"And what of you?" She motioned to the figure next to him with the short blonde hair. Quatre looked about ready to start stuttering at being singled out. Not just because the fabled Queen Serenity had addressed him. But because his friends behind him all looked in his direction now. Wondering what he had to do with all this.
"Ah. . . Quatre Rebarba Winner, your majesty." He bowed his head quickly. "No such honorary title. Kin to the remaining Lunarian's."
WuFei tried helplessly to make sense of any of what was going on. Talks of moons and the planet Pluto. . . he searched his mind for any lost myths or legends he could think of. There was something he read once, if he could only remember it.
Duo on the other hand couldn't make up his mind weather or not he should be ogle at the beautiful babe in front of him. Though instincts told him he might actually be shot this time by Heero if he did. But he also just learned that his best friend was an alien. He always said Heero wasn't human. But he wasn't serious.
Trowa, shockingly enough, looked placid about the whole thing. Shaking his head occasionally, his eyes shifting slowly about the room and its occupants. As though having a silent conversation with himself. Though no one could tell what he was saying.
Serena looked at the four young men in front of her. The first one to address her, the dark brown haired one, was easy to identify. The somewhat cold disposition seemed to be a trait in Plutonian's. His companion, Quatre, was an obvious empathic. Another quality found in Lunarian's. What few were still around anyway. The other three. . .
The other three looked decidedly lost. Lost between the information they just gather about their two friends standing before her, and lost as they realized they were in fact in the presence of royalty. "And what of the other three." She looked at Kothlu and Quatre. "They are human, are they not?"
Said three people, looked unsure what to say or do. Simply addressed as 'humans' yet they heard to malice or contempt in the word. Just a statement of fact and question.
Duo took a courageous step forward and saluted to her. "Duo Maxwell. At your service, your highness-ness. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie."
WuFei walked up and smacked him in the head. "Baka! That's no way to talk to royalty!" He chided at him. Stepping forward, he kneeled down on both knees and placed his hands on the ground in front of him. Bringing his head down at well. "WuFei Chang of the Dragon Clan."
Duo shrugged and followed his example. Not realizing that the bow was reserved more for the Emperor of China rather than anyone else.
Trowa scratched his head uneasily. Stepping forward, he gave an overdramatic bow to the Queen in question. "Nanashi." All of them seemed to look back up at her in unison. Only to see her hand trying to cover her mouth and amusement on her face.
Serena tried hard to suppress the laughter at the three young men. Tried and was doing a bad job of it. Quatre had a large smile on his face, while Heero was the only one un-amused by the whole thing. (Surprise, surprise.)
"Your names would have sufficed." Quatre explained with a short chuckle. "You are not bound to her court. Nor have knowledge of such customs." Each of them stood back up fully.
The other four women began to awaken finally, as the Queen walked to each of them, checking to see that they were alright. A few muffled questions from them, like "Where are we?" "What happened?" and "Is it morning already?" From the other blonde.
"Serena? Where are we?" the brunette asked as she slowly got to her feet. The other three slowly followed suit. Serena waited for them all to be standing and paying attention before she continued.
"We are in the Crystal Palace." She answered them. At which point they all looked wide-awake.
"Then it is time?" The blue haired woman asked. Quatre winced visibly. Something that caught the eye of all of them. And getting everyone's attention. "Who are they?" She questioned again. "And why does that one have the Time Staff?"
"Pluto-san has gone." Serena told them quietly. They all looked somewhat shocked and saddened by this news. "Kothlu is the new guardian of the Time Staff."
"But that was never meant to happen during Crystal Tokyo?" The second blonde questioned. Slightly confused. But hey, wake up after a 10,000-year sleep and see if you don't get confused.
"Where is King Endimon? Where is Mamoru?" Serena looked frantically back and forth. As did the other four girls. But saw nothing but the empty hall and the five boys in front of them.
The dark haired woman walked forward and poked a finger at Heero's chest before grabbing his collar and shaking him. "Okay! Spill! What did you do with him?!"
"Rei!" The other four girls ran forward and tried to pull her off the stoic boy. Who shockingly to his friends, and to the amusement of Duo, seemed to take it in strides.
"He was never frozen." Those four cold spoken words shut them up instantly. Serenity was in tears where three others were in shock. The blue haired woman showed signs of understanding just what was going on.
"Mamoru was human. And regardless of being frozen or not, he still would have aged and died as one as well." She said quietly. All of them beginning to understand what she meant.
"Then Crystal Tokyo. . ." Serenity began softly. Holding back the wave of tears as hard as she could. "My daughter. . . The Utopia we were to create. . ."
"Was never meant to happen." Quatre finished just as quietly, where everyone turned his or her heads to look at him. "I'm sorry. Pluto-sama asked us, the last of the Lunarian's, to explain to you, when the time came."
"She lied to us." The statement came from the second blonde. And the statement brought forth more silence into the room. "Everything we fought for, a future without a cause. What will we do now?"
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A Cliffie! Sorta. Don't ya just hate those? Aren't ya just diein' to know what's gonna happen next? Maybe. This will mostly be drama. With possible pairings later in the story. But wow! That's a long chapter. For me anyway. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R. All feedback is welcome and excepted.