- Title: Puu (part 1 of 1)
- Fandom: Sailormoon
- Author: Tofumalfoy
- Rating: PG?
- Category: general
- Warnings: none, really, except some angst
- Archive: Ask and ye shall receive
- Disclaimer: The story's mine, the characters aren't. How depressing.
Except Sailorpluto's mom. I pulled her out of the ether of my own
creativity. I've even got characters sketches somewhere around here. . .
- Feedback: Theoretically, feedback propels me to even greater literary heights. So it's great when I get it. Mwaha.
- Notes: This is basically my accounting for the rumors that Sailorpluto was in love with Endymion. It begins before the Silver Millennium was destroyed by Beryl and her army. I first wrote it in 1998 and have only made minor revisions since then.
Puu is what Chibiusa/Sailorchibimoon affectionately calls Sailorpluto, and I figured it'd be a cute nickname for the Queen to call her daughter.
--
"Mama, mama! I'm in love!" The adolescent girl raced into the living chambers of her mother, her long dark hair streaming behind her.
"Are you?" the Queen of Eternity replied absently, patiently stitching a drapey black fabric into an elegant dress.
The girl nodded emphatically, catching her breath. "And he loves me too! His name is Endymion, and he's the prince of Earth— mama?!"
The queen has stopped her sewing and stared at her daughter, trembling violently.
"I knew you'd be happy," the girl continued with less certainty. "You were always saying how you were afraid I'd be alone all my life..."
"...Puu-chan," the Queen began. "You are 18 earth years old now, and there is something you must know, a responsibility you must take on."
"What is it, mama? You look so pale! You'll like him, I just know it!"
The Queen closed her eyes and stood up, setting the cloth in her now-vacant chair. "Come with me to the Throne Room, dearest." With a shaky arm she led her daughter through the corridors of the glassy black castle to the main reception and throne room.
At the end of the vacuum-like chamber there rested a throne of carved ebony embedded with delicate garnets. Atop the back of that throne, surrounded by its own dull aura, floated an orb, a heart-shape of a metal ore found only on the planet's moon, Charon, with a naturally spherical garnet resting within.
Puu recognized the orb - it had been in its position above her mother's throne for longer than she could remember, and she had often stared at it with desire.
"Do you know what this is, Puu?"
The girl shook her head. "No, mama."
"It is the symbol and the power of our family," the Queen said, her voice quavering. "It is meant for you."
"But, mama, you're still the Queen, aren't you? Are you going somewhere?"
"No, dear, but I'm afraid you will be soon."
"Wha-?" Puu caught her breath.
"It is destiny; destiny, Puu, that determines your future. You can and will never marry Endymion."
"Mama!" Confusion and tears filled the young princess's eyes.
"It has been preordained. You are to become Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of the Gates of Time. In that role, you may not leave the Gates, and others may not venture to them without harsh consequences. You will be formally transformed at the alignment of Charon with Earth's moon, three earth days from now."
"But – mama!"
"I am sorry."
The princess, inheritor of Eternity, fled the hateful room and the woman for whom it was built, sobbing in gasps until she felt under her feet the cold, comforting hardness of the ground which was the outdoors of her home planet, Pluto.
--
Puu was quiet in the days that followed, and her eyes began to take on a richer, darker coloring, like that of the deep garnets lined in the castle walls. She was rarely seen through the hustle of advisors and servants preparing for the grand ceremony and celebration, but when she was it was obvious that her beautiful bronze skin was paler and her thin bones more prominent.
Her mother worried over her daughter's depression, finishing the night-black dress Puu would wear in another earth day, but she knew she could be of no comfort, and that Fate would not consent to being rewritten.
The royal families of all the planets would be present, including the widowed Queen Serenity of Earth's moon, with her 10-year-old daughter.
The royal family of Earth would be present, the King and Queen of the Solar System, with their 18-year-old son Endymion...
Puu's face hurt from crying, and her body continued lightly convulsing although she had no more tears. In one more earth day she would be eternally separated from her heart's greatest desire...eternally separated from everyone, everything, save that glowing Garnet Orb.
What hurt most was that she knew Endymion would find and love another woman, assuming he was not fated to loneliness as she was, while she would be watching...yes, she would watch and her heart would break a million times as she watched their love grow until she had no more heart to break. And then she would be one with that void of the Time Continuum, never more to suffer such pain, and she could watch their children with indifference.
Puu stood up and found a small blade on a table in her visiting chamber. She made a swift arm movement and left a thin gash across her palm. "On my life," she swore, "he will never come to harm."
--
The day came, and Puu watched the guests arrive with an empty heart. She felt and thought nothing. She had no desire to find the company of the other young princesses, the eldest of whom was 12. She sat at a window high in the castle, with no regard for the fine dress of silky black she had mindlessly put on when she woke. The unshadowed depth of the black stunningly accented her rich green hair.
She watched the royal family of Earth arrive. Endymion's face, as far as she could tell, was expressionless, if angry. She could not see the detail of his crisp blue eyes which she loved so much.
Never more, she thought, rising and following the winding staircase down to where the guests were being entertained. She set her face before taking the final steps into the lighted hall, met by the merry, expectant faces of many people she felt she had never seen before.
The Queen of Eternity rose from her throne and held up her arm, walking toward her daughter. Her eyes were troubled under the glimmer of happiness she always donned in denial of her own sadness.
Puu, trained in court etiquette, gave a respectful curtsy to her mother, to the guests; her eyes found Endymion as she recovered but quickly denied her the privilege of catching his attention. His face, she could see, was set in anger, and her tired heart ached to comfort him.
What a bother, she thought as she nodded with a tight smile at Queen Serenity. She thought she'd silenced that overworked muscle for good. Never brought anything but pain anyway.
In a disgustingly uniform ceremonial presentation, each of the royal families gave Puu elaborate gifts which would only gather dust in the castle, as they would be absolutely useless in her new position. One small, unmarked silver box caught her eye in the heap of opened and unopened presents. Within, she found, was a simple oval garnet pendant, flat and highly polished, and most importantly, she knew whom it was from. It burned in her hands as she looked up quickly and caught his eye momentarily. But in less time the moment was gone and Puu's mother brought out an elaborate staff in the shape of a key, made out of the same metal as the heart framing of the Garnet Orb, which even now dared to glow as ever before.
The Queen of Eternity presented the staff with great solemnity, but when she turned to the guests her face was bright.
"This is my final gift to my daughter," she said. "I will miss her very much, but we all must remember that she is doing her duty as the first Princess Pluto born in the age of the Silver Millennium. This staff, while it is only a physical representation of the power within her, will help her channel that power through the Garnet Orb, thus giving her control over Time." She turned to her daughter, who held the staff absently in her hand. "All you need do is join the staff with the Orb above my throne. The alignment of the moons has begun. It is Time, Puu."
Puu's hands were like ice, and the air around her felt cold as well. She looked at the glowing garnet. It looked warm, the deep wine-burgundy looked so warm, that it might heat her frigid body. If only she got closer to it...
Almost as if Fate had a dark inkling of irony, Time seemed to stop as she closed the brief gap between herself and the black throne. She felt cold trickles down her back. Sweat? But she was so cold! Puu reached out her arm to the dazzling orb, and connected with its energy. She felt it surge through her and she thought she was going to faint, but it was only the realization of her own power and spirit. She thought, no one should be endowed with so much power, and then she became aware of her surroundings again.
Her attire, she realized, had changed. At her forehead was a golden tiara, and she wore a black sailor-collar with a large burgundy bow over a pristine white leotard-like suit. She also wore a short black heavily pleated skirt and elbow-length white gloves and knee-high boots that were such a shade that one could say they were green and another could say they were black and there would be no disagreement.
The Orb had settled onto the staff and the two were now one, but together with Puu they were soon to be alone.
Puu's mother turned back to her guests, satisfied that the pain had gone from her daughter's face. "My daughter has followed the traditional process in which she becomes a Sailor Soldier, known as 'henshin,' or transformation. As princess of the loneliest planet in our solar system, she has become the soldier of revolution, Sailor Pluto!
Princess Serenity was crying and tugging on one of her waist-length pigtails: all the brightness, flashing and noise had scared her. Princess Jupiter loomed tall over her, hushing her with gentle consolations, and escorted her to her mother.
Puu decided it was time for her to leave. She gave her mother a brief kiss on the cheek and left silently, the Time Staff in one hand and a small silver box in the other. She could feel a bare choker about her neck: a perfect place to hang the pendant. She was no longer bitter about her fate - now, perhaps through her connection with the Orb, she knew that things which must be were acceptable.
She smiled at Endymion, who may or may not have been looking, and summoned herself to her new place of eternal existence.
--
"Puu!"
Sailor Pluto's eyes flicked open. Her first thought: Trespasser!
But the figure entering through the haze was not unknown to her.
"Endymion!" she gasped. How long had it been? Four years? He would be 22. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Endymion..."
"I have a favor to ask," he said. His face was pale.
Pluto nodded.
"A-after you, I swore I'd never love again," he began. "I wouldn't have gone to your henshin except that something inside of me felt that it was all a mistake, that the ceremony would begin and you'd say, 'just kidding!' and that everything would be alright. But you left, and I was alone." He paused. "You're wearing my pendant," he said.
"Yes," Sailor Pluto whispered, fingering the stone at her neck.
"After four years, Puu, I think I've found someone I can love."
The dark soldier bowed her head. So it was time.
"You remember Serenity, the Queen of Earth's moon? Her daughter, the princess, she's 14 now, and she's very kind...well, I think I could love her, except..." the Prince's voice trailed off. "I can not ask you," he said.
"Four years is nothing here," Pluto said. "This place is my life, my eternity. You should not feel chained by our past."
"But I do—"
She held up a hand, silencing him.
"Give me permission to love again," Endymion implored. "Your blessing."
Sailor Pluto tilted her head back, closing her eyes. There were no tears, but she felt pressure at her forehead, and closing her eyes increased it, comforting.
"Let you leave with this blessing, then," she said, opening her eyes. "I wish you all the happiness humanly possible, and your freedom to love, if you can not grant it yourself, I freely give to you. Please, you must go now. It has already been too long. The longer you are outside of Time, the more danger there is to you and the future.
Endymion nodded, allowing grateful tears to fill his eyes, then he turned and vanished back into the mist.
Sailor Pluto had never bothered to look into the future – especially now, with Endymion free of her bondage with his life, love, and eventually death all blissfully ahead of him.
Ah, death. It was a state she would never achieve, unless some greater force than she attempted to cross her threshold. There were few more powerful than her, and even they were in theory.
But she looked into the present and saw a dark force rising on the fall of the Silver Millennium. Her mother. Somehow the knowledge that she would never die made the deaths of all the people she watched less real. They were all actors on a stage to her.
But then she began watching the live people after the deaths of relatives and friends. A death created ripples through the world, outward from the deceased, but the ripples never decreased in intensity. They merely changed their form, and took their toll on whomever they first ran in to.
She saw that death could bring the same depression and loneliness as she had felt when she was first denied the possibility of dying. There were so many people in the solar system; why should just one person have such a great impact?
This, Pluto came to realize, was the essence of humanity: what made humans different from other creatures was the strength of the relationships they engaged in.
"They" ...
Each moment she became more aware and more acceptant of the fact that she was and ever would be outside of that network, so though she was human biologically, without relationships with others, she was not a part of any society.
She watched the other princesses undergo their own transformations, Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter pledged to be the protectors of the Silver Millennium, to give their lives if necessary for the safety of Queen Serenity, her daughter, and the Silver Crystal.
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune remained in the far outer realms of the system, on their own planets, to protect those same three from forces from outside of the solar system. They tried to return to Earth's moon when Metallia began wreaking havoc, but they came to late and were consumed by the energy of the Silver Crystal activated by Queen Serenity, which Sailor Pluto allowed through the Gates into the future, for their souls to be reborn.
Afterwards, she stared numbly at the remains of the beautiful Silver Millennium, the only life existing on Earth. The King and Queen, Endymion's parents, had been killed for their opposition to war with the moon. They had been so kind...
Metallia and her avatar, Beryl, a former member of Earth's court, had been banished to an alternate dimension of dark energy, where they began to build their Dark Kingdom. Beryl made herself Queen, a title she had always coveted...but she had been a sweet woman before her corruption by Metallia...she had tutored the court children and been very close friends with Puu and Endymion.
That friendship became possessive jealousy once she was consumed by evil, and Pluto saw how much Endymion loved Princess Serenity, that he would kill Beryl before denying her.
For Sailor Pluto, that was closure. At the end of an era of beauty and solitude, she had finally freed and been freed of the last emotional tie to the world within Time. She was not happy, nor was she discontent; but now she could watch the beautiful earth develop without personal restraint.
She could become herself.
END.