Title: Forgotten
Author: Kamel
Pairing: N/A
Word Count: 3,000
Genre: Angst, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Please and thank you.
Notes: I wanted to incorporate the "Planet X" theory into the Sailor Moon universe.
Summary: Protecting the Gates of Time can be real lonesome for Setsuna, especially when memories of the past and a former partner return to haunt her.
Chapter Eleven
Though never seen through her own two eyes, the Planet of X had been a thriving, lively city was home to many different people, but all that remained now of that once living city were the ruins it had been reduced to. Tall towers and buildings had been reduced by several stories and small structures did not have a standing chance. The people, those who believed in the royal family and those who didn't, had been destroyed in what everyone believed the civil war that brought the planet down to its knees; however, now new information concluded the reason to the people's downfall had been due to their own infant princess. Being provided by Kyoaku and Yoko, X shook her head. No way. There was no truth behind their bluff.
"It's alright to be in denial, Princess," Yoko stated. "We couldn't believe it either – our plans had been foiled by a toddler who had been unable to walk. What did Queen Serenity call it? A civil war?" he asked with a faint smirk, glancing over at Pluto. "Honestly, would a civil war destroy an entire planet as great as the this one? Did you think we were savage earth-beings?"
At once, Sailor Uranus stepped up, gripping the hilt of her space sword tightly. No one spoke ill of their Moon Kingdom's royal family. Neptune held her mirror close to her chest and Saturn shifted on her feet, balancing her scythe in her hands. One more word against their Queen and they would strike. Pluto, on the other hand drew back slightly and X tensed. Kyoaku remained silent by Yoko's side who was chuckling bitterly. "Your planet power sensed an evil when you were barely over a year of age, Princess," Yoko informed. "You sensed Kyoaku's and my plan to murder the royal family. To protect the vessel of Sailor X, the planet power unleashed a forbidden attack," he said, holding out his arms to present the fallen city. "That attack wiped out the planet – Princess Tanaka, you were the downfall to our very own planet!"
"No," Sailor X replied at once, shaking her head. She wasn't going to take Yoko's word for it. "It was a civil war. The people were either for the Kingdom of X or they were against it. Their battles crossed a line, turned into the war that destroyed the peace this planet once had!" she shouted, annoyed. She never would have done this to her own people.
Finally, Kyoaku met eyes with Pluto and smirked, "Why not ask your beloved mentor? She has been able to provide you with many answers in the past and being a time guardian, she knows exactly what happened on our doomsday."
X gazed over her shoulder before turning around completely to face Pluto who couldn't even look up at her. This alone made X begin to feel sick to her stomach. "Puu, what happened that day?" she demanded. Their guards had fallen, but they had Uranus, Neptune and Saturn to currently rely on. If Kyoaku and Yoko tried anything, they were immediately going ot be stopped.
"Does it matter what happened all those years ago?" Pluto asked, forcing herself to look up at those red eyes. "You still are who you are-"
"What have you and Queen Serenity been hiding from me?" X snapped, causing Saturn to jump slightly. Suddenly, the woman whom she had played video games with had disappeared, replaced by a distorted, confused, angry senshi. X had rammed Pluto against the door and held her in place with her scythe – a clear mistake. A moment later, the blade of the space sword was held against the skin of her neck.
"Uranus, don't," Pluto quickly replied. When the blade was removed from X's throat, Pluto easily freed herself form X's grasp. "This planet was on the brink of a full on war and the King was to seek help, but before he could, those two murdered your parents. They were after you next, Tanaka, forcing your planet power to awaken earlier because you were destined to be Sailor X. In order to protect you, the planet power rid of what would have been a bloody war. Kyoaku and Yoko told the truth, but, honey, you were protecting yourself," Pluto explained.
They had been telling the truth. X felt her mouth go dry. Her eyebrows narrowed mostly in confusion. "Queen Serenity and I discussed it thoroughly over and over," Pluto began again. "The Queen concluded you shouldn't know what happened unless it was necessary – I disagreed, this was part of your power and you should know, should understand," she quickly added. "Tanaka don't feel guilty-"
"Don't feel guilty?" X replied, shocked. "I'm a mass murderer, my people-!"
"Enough!" Kyoaku shouted over all the bickering. Both he and Yoko snapped their fingers, summing forth a wave of cloaked figures. "Family matters should have been dealt with many a time ago."
They were right, they didn't have time for this now, the cloaked figures dove towards them; ti was time to fight. "Don't be fooled, Tanaka," she heard Pluto say. "They're toying with your emotions, they know you're down, don't believe another word." However, had she been in X's shoes, she wouldn't have heeded the warning after discovering the truth.
"Shall we begin the fun?" Yoko asked before raising his voice. "Attack! No senshi shall remain alive!" The cloaked figures sprung into the air and dove directly towards the five senshi.
Saturn, bracing herself firmly against the ground, raised her scythe into the air. "Silent Wall!" she shouted, summoning a protective shield around her family. "We can't do this alone – we need Usagi-chan and the others," she stated, watching the figures bounce off the shield only to take another dive. Pluto nodded to both Uranus and Neptune, she still had a connection to the Small Lady through the Luna-P ball. The others would be here soon.
"Usagi," X said quietly to herself. "Princess Serenity," she corrected, eyebrows furrowing. No, she would not accept help from the royal family who lied to her. Everything she knew about her planet had been a lie and for what? Queen Serenity wanted to secure a tenth sailor senshi to her team, that's all she was, a senshi, a number. The grasp around her scythe tightened, she didn't need the damn Princess Serenity's help. She wasn't going to accept the help from Princess Serenity. No. This was her planet. Yoko and Kyoaku were the reasons behind its destruction, she reassured herself, and now they were disrespecting the memory of her people – her people, not Serenity's. She was going to get their revenge. Not Serenity and not her senshi. X took off at a run and dived out of the protective shield before slashing at the nearest cloaked being.
Neptune was the first to notice the disappearance. "Sailor X – she's escaped the shield!"
"Hotaru, drop it," Uranus demanded. "We fight."
Saturn wasn't one to disobey her parents, but if she dropped their defensive, nothing would be keeping them safe from the attack. They couldn't do this alone, but she nodded and lowered her scythe, dropping the shield along with it. At once, they were attacked. Wave after wave from her blade, Uranus began to slowly reduce their number with the aid of Neptune and her magic mirror; that's how they always worked – watching each others' back. Close to X's style of fighting, Saturn tried to fend herself with her own scythe. Pluto stayed on the defense, ducking out of thw ay of many blows as she chased after X who was still mindlessly hacking away.
"Tanaka!" Pluto shouted over the ridiculous amount of flapping cloaks, preventing X from hearing she was sure of. Keeping her eyes locked onto her partner's back, Pluto was accidentally sideswiped by one of the beings. Losing her balance, she stumbled down. When she brought herself back onto her feet, Pluto discovered X being held by a small group of figures, her scythe had been thrown on the ground with Kyaoku drawing near, dagger at hand. "No… Tanaka!"
"Kill the Princess," Kyoaku said coldly with a smirk, now face to face with X. "It was a task trusted to me many years ago and now… I can finally fulfill my duty," he chuckled, holding the dagger under her chin, Pluto wasn't going to make it in time; she wasn't going to be able to save Tanaka.
She wasn't going to allow Tanaka to die again. Quickly, Pluto raised her time staff into the air. "Forbidden Hades, Time Stop!" With that, everything froze in its place, except X who immediately whirled her head around until she found Pluto.
"Puu!" X shouted, wiggling her way from the figures' grip, mindful of the second blade held to her throat. "Why? It's forbidden – your life!"
"I'd rather it be my life instead of yours, Tanaka," Pluto replied calmly. "You need to defeat Kyoaku yourself, X – you're the only one who can overcome this power."
"Puu-"
"Do it. Now!" Pluto demanded. "My hold won't keep up for much longer!"
Frown playing on her lips and eyes narrowing, X nodded, turning back to Kyoaku. "Whatever you do, Puu, keep fighting. Don't give up," she informed, prying the dagger out of the man's hand. Before Kyoaku could realize what was going on, the blade of his own weapon had been stabbed into his chest. She couldn't hear over the ruffling of cloaks, but X could guarantee Yoko and the outer senshi were yelling, crying in disbelief for their fallen comrades. No time to think about that, she had to get to her scythe. Immediately, she dove over Kyoaku's fallen body and grasped the cold metal in her gloved hands.
Standing back upon her feet, X expected to see the three outer senshi, but, instead, she was faced with nine. Meeting bright blue eyes for a split second caused her heart to skip a beat. Princess Serenity. Suddenly, x was more determined than ever. Turning around, she raised her scythe, the blade began to glow. "Shizuka…" she whispered as the ground began to shake, not a good sign to the already poor buildings. "…na Shi," she finished. The cloaked figures all stood on end before dropping like flies. X struggled to keep standing and used her scythe to keep balance before collapsing entirely.
It was over. There was no chance now – Kyoaku was dead. His brother… Yoko turned, but was cornered by Mars and Venus with Sailor Moon directly behind him. "Do you care to finish me, Princess Serenity?" Yoko asked, gazing over his shoulder to look upon Sailor Moon. "Will parshing me bring justice to the death of your two sailor senshi?"
Sailor Moon held her specter to her chest. "No," she answered. "But it's our duty to punish evil doers-"
"Let me save you this one time, Princess Serenity, I am long overdue for my own final rest," Yoko interrupted. "I shall join my brother quietly," he stated, drawing his sword from his side. At once, Mars and Venus stepped forward, expecting a trap, but Yoko held the tip of the blade against his abdomen. Keeping true to his word, he exhaled deeply and cast one final glance at Kyoaku's body. "Perhaps we shall find peace in the afterlife, little brother," he hoped before plunging the sword upward into his body.
"Setsuna-mama!"
Mars, Venus, and Sailor Moon turned their attention to the other senshi and quickly joined the group. Uranus and Saturn had held up Pluto who was barely breathing, but now answering. According to Neptune and Mercuty, X was in the same condition.
XXX
The fog made it impossible to see anything, Pluto wasn't sure where she was, but she heeded Tanaka's warning – keep fighting, don't give up. Hearing a ruffle of cloth, Pluto turned around just in time to block a swing of a scythe. "X?" she concluded, confused. Her confusion was met with a harsh chuckle.
"Death," the cold raspy voice corrected.
Pluto knew that voice, not personally, but from the visions of the past she witnessed from the Gates of Time. It couldn't be. "You're… the late King of X," she said in disbelief, pushing the scythe away with her time staff.
"Are you truly surprised, Pluto?" the voice echoed. "The many Kings have filled this position and shall until Sailor X is able to step into her destined position – she was never meant to be a time guardian."
"Which is why she felt out of place at the Gates," Pluto replied. "But why? She died years ago, why did she –"
"It wasn't her time," he answered. "But now… her time has arrived." He extended his arm, the fog cleared to show they were standing in an old graveyard – X standing only a couple of feet away. She heard everything.
"Father…?" her voice trailed off.
Nodding, the figure drew back his hood, revealing the man X had seen so many times in those damn visions – the high cheek bones, the short dark hair and teal eyes. "Tanaka, you look exactly like your mother," he said softly, grazing upon the dumbfound young woman before glancing up at Pluto. "It is not Pluto's time, Tanaka. You have to send her back."
"Puu," X took a step back, opening a slice of light in front of them with the blade of her scythe. "You used your forbidden attack, I used mine. I wasn't going to allow you to die."
"Tanaka, you were given a second chance-"
"Don't' worry about me, Puu- Setsuna…" X replied. "This is where I'm needed."
"Tanaka…" Pluto said softly with a faint frown. After everything, she was certain she had her old partner back only to have her taken away again. Pluto wrapped her arms around X and held her tightly. She didn't want to let go. "I'm… glad to have gotten to know you, definitely changed for the better."
"I had an excellent mentor to show me the way," X stated, looking up at Pluto. "Go – you have a whole team of senshi worrying about you," she said, giving Pluto a gentle nudge towards the light.
XXX
Slowly, garnet eyes fluttered open weakly to look up at Uranus along with the teary eyed Saturn, Chibi-Moon and Sailor Moon. "Setsuna," Uranus said gratefully, helping her friend sit up a little bit more. Immediately, Saturn and Chibi-Moon had engulfed her in hugs. Placing a kiss on each of their foreheads, Pluto looked up towards Neptune, Mercury and Mars who were all hovering over X's body, murmuring she wouldn't wake up. "Excuse me, little ones," she dismissed herself. Pluto, with Uranus' help, hoisted herself up by the time key and dragged herself over between Neptune and Mercury.
Upon her knees, Pluto took X's limp body onto her lap with a strong sense of déjà vu. She held her friend's hand within her own and placed a small kiss on her cheek. For a split second, Pluto swore she saw a faint smile on those lips. The body began to glow faintly in her arms before bursting into streams of golden bubbles which Pluto watched ascend upwards.
"Setsuna," Neptune said quietly.
"I'm okay," Pluto replied. "Tanaka's going to be okay."
XXX
Things were quiet again. This disturbance in the solar system had vanished and everything was finally at peace once more, a peace that never lasted long, but the senshi deserved even a short break after that small fiasco. It had been a few weeks and there hadn't been on night when Setsuna didn't dream of Tanaka, of Sailor X disappearing in her arms.
"Setsuna-mama?"
"Hmm?" the time guardian snapped back into reality at the sound of her daughter's voice. She had promised the young girl a day together at the park but all she had been doing was spacing off into her own thoughts. It really wasn't fair to Hotaru at all. "I'm sorry, hime-chan, did you say something?"
"I said we should go get some ice-cream," Hotaru repeated. "I'm bored of the park."
"Bored of the park?" Setsuna repeated, grinning. "You've exhausted the use of the playground, I see. Okay, there's a place nearby, right? The one Haruka takes us to?"
The child's eyes grew wide at the idea. Nodding furiously, she grabbed Setsuna's hand and pulled the woman onto her feet from her sitting position on the wooden bench. "Yeah! That place is amazing! Come on, Setsuna-mama, let's go!"
Setsuna chuckled as she stood up. "Hotaru, slow down, the ice-cream won't just disappear, I promise," she reassured, glancing back to the bench to make sure they didn't leave anything behind before returning her attention to Hotaru. When her eyes glanced over the swing sets, she caught a glimpse of a slender woman with long dark hair pushing herself. Immediately, Setsuna jerked her head back to investigate even further, but the swings were empty.
"Is something wrong?" Hotaru asked, following Setsuna's gaze.
"No," Setsuna shook her head. "Come on, hime-chan. Let's go."
End
Author's Note:Thank you for reading 'Forgotten' and be sure to keep an eye open for its sequel, 'Wandering Spirits.' Everything known about the Planet of X has been twisted and the reality of the Kingdom's existence comes into the light for the first time in centuries, revealing that nothing was what it seemed – and discover the reason why Haruka holds a grudge against the last Princess of the mysterious kingdom. The truth Tanaka had long ago learned was nothing but lies and now she must return order to her fallen kingdom to save the people who had once pledged their allegiance to the Moon Kingdom.