Quicksilver's Quill Offers
Builder of Destiny
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
Saffir shook the locks of his blue hair, trying to get his vision
clear. The half-finished droido just sat there, its eyes staring in
unblinking accusation. He had yet to animate it with the magic of
the jakokuzuishou, but its very presence was enough to make him feel
as though he wasn't alone in his laboratory.
His hands ran over the smooth pseudo-skin, probing it mentally for
any imperfections. He would have preferred scanning it with a
computer, but Esmeraude's latest disaster had taken half of his
precious machines with her hair-brained schemed. She had been
determined to build the ultimate droid to break through the wall of
the Guardians and gain Demando's affections through that effort, but
had managed to miscalculate the transfer of the jakokuzuishou's
energy into the mechanical body. As usual, Saffir had been the one
left to clean up the mess.
That Esmeraude... he thought with exasperation. Why won't she
leave things to those who actually know what they're doing? Yes,
she may be a wonderful field commander, but she's remarkably empty
in the head when it comes to anything involving oniisan. With a
mental sigh, he turned his attention back to the droid.
Finding no flaws (as he had expected, since it had been HIM who
designed the droid from the ground up), he started to sort through
the possibilities. Esmeraude's effort had attempted to combined
alchemy with engineering, a difficult feat indeed. Saffir, with
all his intellectual abilities, was hard-pressed to do so, yet
Esmeraude had blithely attempted it without a second thought.
That Esmeraude....
But what could he design this droid for? He'd already sent at
least a dozen into the past with the Ayakashi sisters, and every
single one of them had been defeated. He was incapable of making a
perfect droido, which frustrated him beyond belief. Every single
one of his droids was powerful, but those powers came at a cost,
some kind of vital weakness that could be exploited. And so far,
the Senshi of the past had managed to do so at every turn.
Saffir had been against sending the expedition into the past in
the first place, although he was glad to get away from Petz for a
while. The way she was constantly looking at him was enough to
scare him. She could be brutal, but sometimes her gentle touch
unnerved him even more. Emotions weren't something that could be
put into formulas and calculations, and he hated the idea that he
couldn't always be completely rational. And since Demando-sama had
made his disapproval for that relationship plain. So it was good
Petz was gone... wasn't it?
He returned his thoughts to the expedition in general. He hated
the idea of mucking around in the past... it led to all sorts of
potential problems, and one in particular. A problem with long,
green hair and an impossibly short skirt. He closed his eyes,
remembering HER.... if Petz had him confused, SHE had sent him
positively into a daze...
... Saffir looked at the time warp portal, eyes narrowed. Against
all the possibilities, he had managed to construct a device that
would actually take people through time into the past. It was
theoretically possible to visit the future, yet Saffir wasn't going
to mention THAT to any of the Black Moon Family. It would create a
whole new set of problems that made his head hurt even thinking
about it. Sometimes keeping his mouth shut was the best way.
The conquest of the Earth had come to a stand-still. The forces
of the Black Moon controlled the entire world except for the most
vital point- Crystal Tokyo. This had incensed the usually calm
Demando into taking more and more drastic measures, and that worried
Saffir.
This was the culmination many plans that had gone awry. Somehow
Demando had gotten it into his head that changing the past was the
only way to win now. Saffir was positive that the Wiseman was the
one who had planted that idea in Demando's head. However, once
Demando got an idea in his head, that was that. And though Saffir
could have refused to design the time warp for him, Saffir could
deny his brother nothing.
His gloved fingers brushed over the keyboard, and with a sigh, he
set it for 1993 AD, dreading this moment. He reached out to
initiate the sequence that would bring machine completely on-line,
but was stopped as a hand gently caught his own.
He spun around, amazed that anyone had been able to enter his
workshop. "What... what?" he stuttered, mentally preparing a
shielding spell.
He looked up into a pair of the most unusual eyes he had ever
seen. They were crimson red, and though they should have looked
hideous and inhuman, they didn't. They were unique, just like the
rest of her was.
Saffir immediately recognized her as one of the Senshi, but she
obviously couldn't be one of the Inners. He had seen images of
Sailors Uranus and Neptune, so that left only two. His eyes fell on
the staff she was carrying and the glowing key on top of it cinched
her identity in his mind. Oh, God, he thought, she's going to blast
me eight ways through eternity. "Sailor Pluto," he said with a
resigned sigh.
"Hello, Saffir-san," she said, and her voice held none of the
condemnation he'd been expecting.
"Are you going to destroy me?" he asked with the same emotion he
would have used to ask what the weather was like.
She shook her head, her long green hair flying away from her fair
face. "I can't interfere with your freedom of choice, Saffir-san,"
she said softly. "I just came to ask you not to do it."
"I thought it was your job to protect the Gates of Time?" he said,
surprised.
"You've created your own Gate, and that is beyond my
jurisdiction."
"I can't stop this," he replied to her earlier demand.
"You mean you won't," Pluto corrected grimly.
"I CAN'T. If Demando-sama wills it, I will do it," Saffir said
stubbornly.
She looked terribly sad. "I know," she said. "But I had to
ask."
"From what I understand of you, this isn't your usual method of
dealing with other people. I thought you were isolated from the
outside world," Saffir said conversationally.
"You aren't part of the outside world, Saffir-san," she answered.
"And neither am I."
He ran a hand through his tangled mop of hair, relaxing. He was
so tired, and strange though it was, he felt as though he could
trust Sailor Pluto with his life. "I never have been," he
admitted. "It's as though I'm not a part of this reality. Without
Demando, I would have no grounding in 'the real world'."
"You can't have your life revolve around Prince Demando-sama. He
doesn't love you as much as you love him," she said bluntly.
He sighed softly. "I know that, Sailor Pluto. But he's all I
have."
Her expression grew impassioned. "No, Saffir-san! You could have
so much more if only you would open up to the rest of the world!"
She wrapped her free hand around his left hand, clutching it tightly.
His eyes brightened, then dimmed as though someone had shuttered
them. "Really? Leave my the Family? They may not be much, but
they ARE my family." With his unfettered hand, he shoved aside his
bangs, leaving the inverted crescent standing out in stark relief to
his pale skin. "And I am forever marked as different then normal
humans."
She slid down to her knees beside his chair, releasing her staff.
Strangely enough, the staff seemed to melt into thin air when its
owner forgot it. Grabbing his other hand, she held both of them.
"I wish things were different," she confessed.
Their eyes met, and each recognized a kindred spirit. A tear fell
to the floor, and Saffir raised a hand to cup the Senshi's face. "I
wish I could have had a day- just a day- among the flowers of
Terra," he said wistfully.
That was it. The calm, serene Senshi of the outermost planet
broke down in tears for the man in front of her. She'd seen so much
tragedy in her long life, but none was as pointless as this man's.
Her knowledge of the future was imperfect, but she knew that if
things continued along their present course, Saffir would die
through the betrayal of his brother.
"Can I stay with you?" she asked when she managed to get herself
under control again. "Until the machine is fully running?"
He nodded, and without breaking eye contact, hit the button that
would start the final sequence. The ominous click sealed his fate,
and Pluto was barely able to keep from crying again.
"It will be a while," he said. "Ten hours or so."
"You were planning on getting some sleep, weren't you?" she asked.
He shrugged in an embarrassed matter. "I've been working on this
thing for a straight week with less then twelve hours, Pluto."
She smiled weakly and rose to her feet with practiced grace. "For
now, call me Setsuna. Just for tonight."
"Just for tonight," Saffir replied, wrapping his arms around her
slender waist, reading her intentions perfectly....
.... Saffir snapped back to the present with a jerk. I must have
a weakness for green hair, he thought with amusement, though their
was an underlying tinge of sadness. That had been his best night's
sleep he'd ever had. When he'd awakened in the morning, she had
been gone, the only evidence of her presence had been a sweet scent
on his pillows and a single flower that he had identified as a
"forget me not".
He looked down at the droid, weary beyond belief. Rubeus would be
sending for this creation soon, and if the droid wasn't prepared, it
would really hit the fan. He just wished he could get some sleep,
decent rest that wasn't plagued by nightmares of the Wiseman and
Demando. He wished, almost seriously, that Setsuna would show up.
Her presence soothed him.
Suddenly, inspiration struck him and he spent the next few hours
working at a frantic pace as he prepared the droid.
Finally the body was complete- all that was required was the
infusion of the energy of the jakokuzuishou. Saffir walked across
the workshop into the study, searching.
In the top drawer of his desk, there was a small box. In it was
about a dozen gems, each one with the symbol of the Black Moon
Family. He reached out and selected one, feeling the power run
through it. Then he grabbed his earrings (the ones he refused to use
without good reason) of top of his desk. Then it was back to the
workshop.
He planted the gem into the smooth skin of the droid, then
grimaced as he held up his earrings.
He hated the things with a passion. They were tools, and he
disliked how everyone else seemed to be growing dependent on them.
Besides, he disliked magic in general. He didn't actually have to
put them in- good thing, too, since he didn't have his ears pierced,
so he just held them over the lifeless body. Using his formidable
will, he focused his powers into channeling the energy of the
jakokuzuishou into the droid. Few had enough willpower to use this
much energy and not be destroyed by it- Demando, Esmeraude, maybe
Rubeus. No one else.
Soon it was finished. Now all that remained was the naming of the
droid. He reached over and touched her forehead, causing her
eyelids to flutter. "Awaken, Droido Hypnotica."
THE BEGINNING
Notes:
My name is Quicksilver, and I am a distinct author from Quiksylvr.
My apologies for any confusion, but that has been my handle for the
last four years, and I have no inclination to change it... I already
have a substancial body of fanfic built up in other fields, and I
want to make sure I can sucker a few of my already fans into loving
SM as much as I do!
Anyway, this is my first completed SM short- I have some other
projects in the works... right now the infamous Saffir/Ami romance
is my priority.
Anyway, I must extend my thanks to Celeste-chan, who lives over at
the Bakery with Saint Erythros... both of them are Excellent Black
Moon authors... for the record, I adore Saffir-chan... I have him
Saturdays! And I want to state my claim on Mamo-chan, too... How
about Friday nights? -_^
Anyway, feedback is the mana of fanfic writers- without it, many of
us stop writing... hint, hint....
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth/headpage.htm
(page opens on 30-09-99)
Builder of Destiny
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
Saffir shook the locks of his blue hair, trying to get his vision
clear. The half-finished droido just sat there, its eyes staring in
unblinking accusation. He had yet to animate it with the magic of
the jakokuzuishou, but its very presence was enough to make him feel
as though he wasn't alone in his laboratory.
His hands ran over the smooth pseudo-skin, probing it mentally for
any imperfections. He would have preferred scanning it with a
computer, but Esmeraude's latest disaster had taken half of his
precious machines with her hair-brained schemed. She had been
determined to build the ultimate droid to break through the wall of
the Guardians and gain Demando's affections through that effort, but
had managed to miscalculate the transfer of the jakokuzuishou's
energy into the mechanical body. As usual, Saffir had been the one
left to clean up the mess.
That Esmeraude... he thought with exasperation. Why won't she
leave things to those who actually know what they're doing? Yes,
she may be a wonderful field commander, but she's remarkably empty
in the head when it comes to anything involving oniisan. With a
mental sigh, he turned his attention back to the droid.
Finding no flaws (as he had expected, since it had been HIM who
designed the droid from the ground up), he started to sort through
the possibilities. Esmeraude's effort had attempted to combined
alchemy with engineering, a difficult feat indeed. Saffir, with
all his intellectual abilities, was hard-pressed to do so, yet
Esmeraude had blithely attempted it without a second thought.
That Esmeraude....
But what could he design this droid for? He'd already sent at
least a dozen into the past with the Ayakashi sisters, and every
single one of them had been defeated. He was incapable of making a
perfect droido, which frustrated him beyond belief. Every single
one of his droids was powerful, but those powers came at a cost,
some kind of vital weakness that could be exploited. And so far,
the Senshi of the past had managed to do so at every turn.
Saffir had been against sending the expedition into the past in
the first place, although he was glad to get away from Petz for a
while. The way she was constantly looking at him was enough to
scare him. She could be brutal, but sometimes her gentle touch
unnerved him even more. Emotions weren't something that could be
put into formulas and calculations, and he hated the idea that he
couldn't always be completely rational. And since Demando-sama had
made his disapproval for that relationship plain. So it was good
Petz was gone... wasn't it?
He returned his thoughts to the expedition in general. He hated
the idea of mucking around in the past... it led to all sorts of
potential problems, and one in particular. A problem with long,
green hair and an impossibly short skirt. He closed his eyes,
remembering HER.... if Petz had him confused, SHE had sent him
positively into a daze...
... Saffir looked at the time warp portal, eyes narrowed. Against
all the possibilities, he had managed to construct a device that
would actually take people through time into the past. It was
theoretically possible to visit the future, yet Saffir wasn't going
to mention THAT to any of the Black Moon Family. It would create a
whole new set of problems that made his head hurt even thinking
about it. Sometimes keeping his mouth shut was the best way.
The conquest of the Earth had come to a stand-still. The forces
of the Black Moon controlled the entire world except for the most
vital point- Crystal Tokyo. This had incensed the usually calm
Demando into taking more and more drastic measures, and that worried
Saffir.
This was the culmination many plans that had gone awry. Somehow
Demando had gotten it into his head that changing the past was the
only way to win now. Saffir was positive that the Wiseman was the
one who had planted that idea in Demando's head. However, once
Demando got an idea in his head, that was that. And though Saffir
could have refused to design the time warp for him, Saffir could
deny his brother nothing.
His gloved fingers brushed over the keyboard, and with a sigh, he
set it for 1993 AD, dreading this moment. He reached out to
initiate the sequence that would bring machine completely on-line,
but was stopped as a hand gently caught his own.
He spun around, amazed that anyone had been able to enter his
workshop. "What... what?" he stuttered, mentally preparing a
shielding spell.
He looked up into a pair of the most unusual eyes he had ever
seen. They were crimson red, and though they should have looked
hideous and inhuman, they didn't. They were unique, just like the
rest of her was.
Saffir immediately recognized her as one of the Senshi, but she
obviously couldn't be one of the Inners. He had seen images of
Sailors Uranus and Neptune, so that left only two. His eyes fell on
the staff she was carrying and the glowing key on top of it cinched
her identity in his mind. Oh, God, he thought, she's going to blast
me eight ways through eternity. "Sailor Pluto," he said with a
resigned sigh.
"Hello, Saffir-san," she said, and her voice held none of the
condemnation he'd been expecting.
"Are you going to destroy me?" he asked with the same emotion he
would have used to ask what the weather was like.
She shook her head, her long green hair flying away from her fair
face. "I can't interfere with your freedom of choice, Saffir-san,"
she said softly. "I just came to ask you not to do it."
"I thought it was your job to protect the Gates of Time?" he said,
surprised.
"You've created your own Gate, and that is beyond my
jurisdiction."
"I can't stop this," he replied to her earlier demand.
"You mean you won't," Pluto corrected grimly.
"I CAN'T. If Demando-sama wills it, I will do it," Saffir said
stubbornly.
She looked terribly sad. "I know," she said. "But I had to
ask."
"From what I understand of you, this isn't your usual method of
dealing with other people. I thought you were isolated from the
outside world," Saffir said conversationally.
"You aren't part of the outside world, Saffir-san," she answered.
"And neither am I."
He ran a hand through his tangled mop of hair, relaxing. He was
so tired, and strange though it was, he felt as though he could
trust Sailor Pluto with his life. "I never have been," he
admitted. "It's as though I'm not a part of this reality. Without
Demando, I would have no grounding in 'the real world'."
"You can't have your life revolve around Prince Demando-sama. He
doesn't love you as much as you love him," she said bluntly.
He sighed softly. "I know that, Sailor Pluto. But he's all I
have."
Her expression grew impassioned. "No, Saffir-san! You could have
so much more if only you would open up to the rest of the world!"
She wrapped her free hand around his left hand, clutching it tightly.
His eyes brightened, then dimmed as though someone had shuttered
them. "Really? Leave my the Family? They may not be much, but
they ARE my family." With his unfettered hand, he shoved aside his
bangs, leaving the inverted crescent standing out in stark relief to
his pale skin. "And I am forever marked as different then normal
humans."
She slid down to her knees beside his chair, releasing her staff.
Strangely enough, the staff seemed to melt into thin air when its
owner forgot it. Grabbing his other hand, she held both of them.
"I wish things were different," she confessed.
Their eyes met, and each recognized a kindred spirit. A tear fell
to the floor, and Saffir raised a hand to cup the Senshi's face. "I
wish I could have had a day- just a day- among the flowers of
Terra," he said wistfully.
That was it. The calm, serene Senshi of the outermost planet
broke down in tears for the man in front of her. She'd seen so much
tragedy in her long life, but none was as pointless as this man's.
Her knowledge of the future was imperfect, but she knew that if
things continued along their present course, Saffir would die
through the betrayal of his brother.
"Can I stay with you?" she asked when she managed to get herself
under control again. "Until the machine is fully running?"
He nodded, and without breaking eye contact, hit the button that
would start the final sequence. The ominous click sealed his fate,
and Pluto was barely able to keep from crying again.
"It will be a while," he said. "Ten hours or so."
"You were planning on getting some sleep, weren't you?" she asked.
He shrugged in an embarrassed matter. "I've been working on this
thing for a straight week with less then twelve hours, Pluto."
She smiled weakly and rose to her feet with practiced grace. "For
now, call me Setsuna. Just for tonight."
"Just for tonight," Saffir replied, wrapping his arms around her
slender waist, reading her intentions perfectly....
.... Saffir snapped back to the present with a jerk. I must have
a weakness for green hair, he thought with amusement, though their
was an underlying tinge of sadness. That had been his best night's
sleep he'd ever had. When he'd awakened in the morning, she had
been gone, the only evidence of her presence had been a sweet scent
on his pillows and a single flower that he had identified as a
"forget me not".
He looked down at the droid, weary beyond belief. Rubeus would be
sending for this creation soon, and if the droid wasn't prepared, it
would really hit the fan. He just wished he could get some sleep,
decent rest that wasn't plagued by nightmares of the Wiseman and
Demando. He wished, almost seriously, that Setsuna would show up.
Her presence soothed him.
Suddenly, inspiration struck him and he spent the next few hours
working at a frantic pace as he prepared the droid.
Finally the body was complete- all that was required was the
infusion of the energy of the jakokuzuishou. Saffir walked across
the workshop into the study, searching.
In the top drawer of his desk, there was a small box. In it was
about a dozen gems, each one with the symbol of the Black Moon
Family. He reached out and selected one, feeling the power run
through it. Then he grabbed his earrings (the ones he refused to use
without good reason) of top of his desk. Then it was back to the
workshop.
He planted the gem into the smooth skin of the droid, then
grimaced as he held up his earrings.
He hated the things with a passion. They were tools, and he
disliked how everyone else seemed to be growing dependent on them.
Besides, he disliked magic in general. He didn't actually have to
put them in- good thing, too, since he didn't have his ears pierced,
so he just held them over the lifeless body. Using his formidable
will, he focused his powers into channeling the energy of the
jakokuzuishou into the droid. Few had enough willpower to use this
much energy and not be destroyed by it- Demando, Esmeraude, maybe
Rubeus. No one else.
Soon it was finished. Now all that remained was the naming of the
droid. He reached over and touched her forehead, causing her
eyelids to flutter. "Awaken, Droido Hypnotica."
THE BEGINNING
Notes:
My name is Quicksilver, and I am a distinct author from Quiksylvr.
My apologies for any confusion, but that has been my handle for the
last four years, and I have no inclination to change it... I already
have a substancial body of fanfic built up in other fields, and I
want to make sure I can sucker a few of my already fans into loving
SM as much as I do!
Anyway, this is my first completed SM short- I have some other
projects in the works... right now the infamous Saffir/Ami romance
is my priority.
Anyway, I must extend my thanks to Celeste-chan, who lives over at
the Bakery with Saint Erythros... both of them are Excellent Black
Moon authors... for the record, I adore Saffir-chan... I have him
Saturdays! And I want to state my claim on Mamo-chan, too... How
about Friday nights? -_^
Anyway, feedback is the mana of fanfic writers- without it, many of
us stop writing... hint, hint....
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth/headpage.htm
(page opens on 30-09-99)