Disclaimer: I own no part of Sailor Moon, I own only the characters I have created, and the bizarre situations I keep thrusting them into...
A/N: Whew, we're moving right along, now! Setsuna and Galaxia are up. Thanks this time go out to Lalaitha Yamainu (well, here's the answer to one of your questions...) Lysia Croft (honestly, there are times I think I wrote this whole beast to have Haruka announce, "Miko-schmiko...", that scene is what started me working on this thing again) Bin82501 ( I thought we needed a break from the angst, glad you liked it) James Birdsong (thanks, again!) sailorashes (always glad to see old faces , or pennames, return, and while nearly everyone will be coming back, Queen Serenity has really, truly, moved on, but if you like the Starlights...) Girl Who Writes (again, I think I wrote this all for that one scene between teenage girls, cause that's what they are in the end, about sex, but happily, I can't seem to stop now) Aphrodite's Kiss (we're moving along much faster now, woohoo! I'll update as fast as I can write) twilightm00n (I promise more action, even some for Setsuna) goldnheart (I know it seems to be moving slowly, and I'm sorry, but it's because of the pauses between chapters while I'm writing, and I'm sorry again!) Isis Aurora Tomoe (I want so much to post the next Hotaru-Chibiusa-Quartet chapter, but I'm trying to do this in order, so don't tempt me! yes, yes, answers are coming, and yes, Zoisite and Mercury were in love...in a lake...well, anyway) mlkoolc86 (in the Stars series Haruka was constantly ready to rip Seiya apart, so I just ran with that, kinda reminds me of my brother) Artemis-chan of Redwing (the chapters were pretty lighthearted, I didn't give you much for constructive criticism, but I appreciate the attempt) and, of course, InusAkane (oh, yeah, there's no keeping Mamo-chan and Usako away from each other, and now he's pissed, glad to see your name again, hon!)
"Where are those pudding cups? This might be our one chance to eat something."
Sailor Pluto slid a little lower down the wall, and glanced at Galaxia from the corner of her eye. At Michiru's urging, Galaxia had left her white gown in the care of the two remaining Outer Senshi, and allowed herself to be dressed in jeans and a long sleeved blouse. Both had given way when the two traveling Senshi transformed, and for the first time the golden, armored uniform of the Queen of Shadow Galactica appeared on an ally.
"We forgot spoons," Sailor Pluto informed her new partner. "Michiru usually remembers everything, but she's so distraught about Hotaru, it's understandable. What should we do now?"
"We seem to have lost them, at least for the moment. This isn't going at all the way I had hoped," Galaxia admitted, rubbing a glistening forehead underneath her ornate headband. "Perhaps you should try a Dead Scream attack?"
"You want me to throw a planet attack at another Senshi? Are you insane?" Pluto cried as she pulled her staff protectively closer to her body. "That would give the term Sailor Wars a whole new meaning!"
"I don't mean you should hit them, just that-"
"YOU!"
"They found us!" Galaxia yelped, and leapt to her feet.
Pluto followed her example, abandoning the sanctuary of the low wall they had crouched behind for nearly fifteen minutes. Both women were tall, and stretched their long legs to the fullest extent to cover as much ground as they could. Without speaking, Pluto gestured sharply to their right with her staff. Galaxia nodded, and both turned suddenly down another corridor and out of sight, just as they heard an attack shouted.
"STAR GENTLE UTERUS!"
The window at the beginning of the corridor shattered.
"What does that even mean?" Pluto panted. The pair came to the end of the corridor, which branched left and right. Pluto looked to Galaxia, who stared uncertainly back. After a moment, they simultaneously went left. The sounds of three women running in heels came from behind them in close pursuit.
Galaxia glanced over her shoulder nervously. "What does what mean, Setsuna?"
"Star Gentle Uterus. I've heard some strange attacks before, but who came up with that one?"
"Well, I've personally always thought their uniforms left something to be desired, but this probably isn't the moment to be having this conversation! Where in the hell are we?!?"
"Why are you asking me?!? I've never even been to Kinmoku before!"
"I wasn't exactly sightseeing before!" Galaxia reminded her. "Blessed Cosmos, what I've give for a map right now."
Sailor Pluto shook her head and kept running.
Both she and Galaxia had decided to make their first stop an easy one, by choosing those they already knew. Pluto thought the Sailor Starlights and their Princess would perhaps be the most likely to hear them out without violence. She had been wrong. She did not think they even knew she was there, but one glimpse of Galaxia in her uniform had led to a barage of attacks, the sounding of a screaming alarm, and a chase through what could only be Princess Kakyuu's Palace. Pluto would have been happy to explore the Palace of another Princess, and see the lives of other Senshi. However, she would have liked to have done so at something a little slower than a dead run.
"Stairs!" Pluto cried suddenly. She seized Galaxia by the hand and pulled hard, nearly flinging the other Senshi at the stairs. They raced down the steps, their own heels making their footsteps a sharp stacatto, all too easy to follow. With no other choices, them kept running, hurdling the last three stairs, and crashing gracelessly through the door at the bottom. Several screams erupted as men and women in white scrambled away from the strangers.
"Sweet Saturn's bloody rings of death!" Pluto swore loudly as she glanced wildly around. "We're in the kitchen!"
"Sweet Saturn's...what?" Galaxia demanded.
"Never mind, never mind, this is the last place we should be!"
"Help!" one of the women, barely more than a girl, began to scream. "Help, help! Enemies in the kitchen! GUARDS!"
Holding the hand not clutching her staff out pleadingly, Pluto shook her head. "Iie, we aren't enemies! I know we seem to be acting very strangely, but we just need to see Princess Kakyuu!"
"They're after the Princess!" the girl shrieked even louder. "PROTECT THE PRINCESS!"
"Oh, well done," Galaxia growled as the entire kitchen staff began to advance on them. "Now they're all against us!"
"I don't mean we're here to hurt the Princess-"
"Setsuna, shut up and run!"
A hard shove in the small of her back sent Pluto moving quickly across the kitchen towards a set of three doors. She ducked a swing from a rolling pin, and stumbled back into Galaxia to avoid a knife thrust towards her ribs. The men and women in white closed in around them, and she had no choice but to use her staff to push them out of the way. She did so carefully, unwilling to harm the innocent for merely trying to protect their home. However, she knew they were not making friends this way.
"Galaxia, this way-Oh, you have to be kidding!"
The first door gave way to a large pantry, stocked with piles of provisions.
"Move, Setsuna, move!"
Galaxia pressed herself back-to-back with Pluto, defending her as she threw open the second door, which turned out to be an enormous refrigeration unit.
"Ano...Galaxia, things are not going our way tonight."
She felt Galaxia's hair move against hers as the other woman looked over her shoulder. Galaxia merely gave a wordless growl, and together they sidestepped to the last door. Pluto held her breath as she flung it open.
"Right door!"
"Go!"
The two Senshi burst out of the kitchen, just as the familiar voice of Sailor Star Fighter shouted from the door they had come through. Neither obeyed the command to stop, but raced up another set of stairs. Without slowing their run, they put out their hands and slammed open the wide double doors.
Pale golden marble floors gave them very little traction as they flew across a great hall. Huge, arching stainglass windows stretched almost from floor to ceiling, allowing soft moonlight to filter through in a miriad of colors. Splashes of delicate pinks, greens, blues, and golds washed over the Senshi as they ran. The walls, the windows, even the beams of the ceiling high above, all had been adorned with the same delicate floral motif. Pluto recognized the flowers from Kakyuu's crown and hair. Clinging to everything was the scent she knew, the scent that had led the Sailor Starlights to their Princess, the scent of flowers, soft and sweet, but different from the smell of Usagi's skin.
Between every two windows, there was a door.
"May Chaos find whoever built this place and burn them down!" Galaxia snarled. "How many doors and hallways does one place need? Which one do we take?"
"I...I don't...just go to the end of the hall!" Pluto cried. "There, that must be the Princess' throne! There's a door behind it! Go!"
Together, they leapt up the steps to the wide, crimson and blue hung dais, taking them two at a time. Real flowers grew in vines upon Kakyuu's golden throne, and released more of their sweet aroma into the air as Pluto brushed against them. She was given a brief impression of a wide chair with soft blue cushions, the back carved in the shape of a rising sun and dotted with brilliant rubies and sapphires. Galaxia bumped into a table in her haste, causing a familiar incense burner to sway dangerously. Pluto paused to catch it before it tumbled to the ground, and carefully righted it.
"Honestly!" Galaxia hissed as she reached for the door. "We don't have time!"
"We're here on a peaceful mission, Galaxia! Smashing Kakyuu's favorite possession will not help our cause!"
"Come on, come on!"
"Damn you, Galaxia, stop!" Sailor Star Maker yelled from the other end of the hall.
Pluto rushed through the door Galaxia held open, and heard it slam shut behind them. She did not look back to reassure herself her partner was still with her, but instead looked slowly around them. She heard Galaxia's breathing, hard and deep, as she came to stand at Pluto's side. Again, the long braids of Galaxia's hair brushed her face as the powerful Senshi shook her head.
After the grand hall behind them, the lower ceiling, dark colors, and simple square windows gave this smaller room an almost claustrophobic feeling. Chairs, tables, and window frames were of dark wood. Thick, deep green carpeting muffled their steps as they moved a little further into the space. A blazing fire roared within the confines of a large hearth, and bathed the room in a warm golden glow. The light glinted off what appeared to be antique spears, staffs, swords, even exotic shuriken, hung from the walls.
"What is this place?" Galaxia mused. "It's cozy, but compared to the rest of the Palace, it seems a little..."
"Masculine," Pluto provided. Indeed, instead of a soft floral smell, the place seemed saturated in testosterone.
A slight movement from ahead of them made both women pull closer together, Galaxia raising one hand, and Pluto snapping her staff up in front of her. From the shadows in one corner, a figure stepped forward.
Tall, broad, and clad in scarlet cloth and gold armor, the man stared at them from sharp blue eyes in a devastatingly handsome face with skin like alabaster. Perfectly moulded lips turned up slightly into a wintery smile. He raised his free hand, and pushed back the several strands of pale blonde hair that had escaped the leather thong trapping the rest of his glorious mane to the top of his head. The other hand held a long wooden staff, topped with a wicked, foot long, curved blade.
"This," he said, gesturing expansively with the blade, "is the common room of the guards' quarters. It is for the guards of the Palace, and no women are allowed here, not even the Princess' Sailor Senshi. I'm afraid you are tresspassing, my ladies."
"For which we are very sorry," Pluto assured him. "But, you see, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding."
Galaxia moved a step closer, and studied him, a little frown between her eyes. She pointed at him uncertainly, and said, "I know you. I've seen you before."
"Yes, Galaxia," he said smoothly. "I am Fubuki, the head of the Palace Guards. I was the last of the guards, and I stood between you and the Princess when you came before. I bought the Princess enough time to escape, despite her wounds. However, you killed me."
Slowly, Pluto looked to Galaxia. The other Senshi stood staring, her face suddenly as pale as Fubuki's. For a moment, tears glistened in those beautiful red eyes, and hung off her lashes.
"I can't even begin to explain," Galaxia said in a trembling voice, "but I need you to understand. I...we need to speak with Princess Kakyuu. Please, Fubuki, you don't know what's at stake!"
"I know you destroyed my home once. I know you killed everything I held dear, and burnt my Palace to the ground. I know, in the end, you managed to kill my Princess. What in all Creation makes you think I will allow you anywhere near her now?"
Pluto stepped forward, and put herself between Galaxia and Fubuki. "You may know her, but you don't know me. So please, please-"
Fubuki's blade sung out as it connected with Pluto's Garnet Rod, which had snapped up to block his stab. He gave her no warning, and instead reversed his swing, aiming for her head with the blunt end of his staff. She ducked, but felt a wind whistle through her hair. Another swipe with his blade sent her scrambling backwards.
"Fubuki, stop!" Galaxia shouted.
The blade shot out straight for Pluto's chest, and there was nowhere else to run.
Something gold flew between them. There was a flash of silver, and a spray of red. Pluto blinked in shock. Galaxia held Fubuki's blade in both her hands, stopping it just before it plunged into her own heart. Blood streamed down her arms, but she did not release her hold.
"Don't hurt her!" Galaxia whispered. "Please, Fubuki, kill me if you have to, but don't hurt Setsuna."
For the first time, Fubuki's pale eyes wavered.
A fist hammered against the door, and the voice of Sailor Star Healer called through the door to the throne room.
"Guards! Guards! Is anyone in there? Fubuki! Anyone!"
Fubuki's handsome face hardened, and he jerked his weapon back, a stream of red droplets following his blade. He turned his head, and shouted back, "They're here, Senshi! I'll bring them out to you!"
"Iie," Pluto gasped. "Fubuki, we must see the Princess!"
Those blue eyes hit hers like an ice storm. "You will get nowhere near my Princess."
She sighed, and bowed ever so slightly. "Gomennasai, Fubuki-sama."
"Pluto," Galaxia murmured, "what are you-?"
Pluto planted the blunt end of her staff in his chest, and pushed him back, hard. He fell back and hit the wall behind him with a resounding crash. Immediately, the pounding began behind them again.
"Fubuki, what's happening?!?"
"There's another door. Go!" Pluto hissed.
Galaxia hesitated for a second, then bolted for the door. Pluto gave Fubuki another apologetic grimace and fled after her partner.
Another long hallway awaited them through the secondary door, this one lined with doors, only one ajar. A glance through showed they were racing through the guards' quarters, and Pluto blessed the Moon and Sol and her own planet that all the guards appeared to have joined the hunt for them elsewhere. She knew, though, that they would be much easier to follow now, as Galaxia left a trail of blood for guards and Senshi alike to follow.
At the end of the hall, they slammed through yet another door, and took a far more impressive set of stairs, these wide and sweeping. Galaxia raced ahead of her, leading the way up four flights as a cramp pressed hard against Setsuna's ribs. She paused, her head whipping back and forth between two doors, then went sharply left.
They ran the length of one more corridor before Galaxia suddenly spoke.
"Okay, wait, hang on!" she gasped, and she held up one hand to slow Pluto, though neither stopped. Galaxia pointed towards a painting of a brilliant sun rising, with three stars twinkling in the sky around it, then gestured to the beginning of another hallway. "I think I've seen this place before. Yes, yes, we're almost to-"
Following her lead, Pluto turned another corner, and froze.
Galaxia gave an audible swallow, and finished her sentence.
"Princess Kakyuu's chambers."
There stood the Princess of Kinmoku, her crimson eyes fierce and wary, her dazzling hair loose around her face, free of crown or flowers, her hands before her as she prepared for an attack.
"KINMOKU FUSION TEMP- Sailor Pluto?"
Immediately, Pluto swept her a bow. An elbow to Galaxia's side reminded her to do the same. The older Senshi's bow was less graceful, and not quite as deep, but necessary, all the same.
"Princess," Pluto said as she tried to catch her breath, "I am so very sorry for this intrusion, and this is not how we meant to meet you here, but the Starlights and guards did not seem to understand we aren't here as enemies."
"They thought you were an enemy?" Kakyuu asked, bewildered, as she dropped her hands to her sides once again. "Why in the name of Kinmoku would my Senshi think that?"
"Actually," Galaxia cut in self-consciously, "I don't think they saw much past me. I don't blame them, but Princess, please believe I am not here to hurt you! There are forces gathering that threaten every Sailor Senshi and every planet in Creation!"
Pluto felt relief flood her when the Princess asked no questions, only nodded. "I know. I feel it, a darkness pressing down on all of us. Everywhere I turn...that's why I am afraid I gave you such an unfriendly greeting. I don't usually ready an attack for everyone who surprises me."
"It might also have something to do with the screaming alarms," Pluto added with a gesture to the ceiling, from which the high shrieking sound still eminated. "Star Fighter hit them after we took off running. We would have stayed around to try and reason with them-"
"Then you would have come to me not running, but in a very small box," Kakyuu told them, shaking her head. "My Senshi...well, I'm sure you understand. They are sometimes very like your Uranus and Neptune."
Unable to stop herself, Pluto laughed a little and nodded. "I do indeed understand. Oh, Princes, we are so, so sorry!"
"Princess!"
"Princess!"
"Princess!"
Both Pluto and Galaxia spun around as Kakyuu's Sailor Senshi piled around the corner. None of them seemed to see Sailor Pluto, all three pairs of eyes flying to their former enemy.
"SERIOUS STAR LA-"
"Enough!" Kakyuu cried. Star Fighter's hands, and jaw, dropped when her Princess slipped between Pluto and Galaxia, and fixed her guardians with a fierce frown. "Enough of this. You know that Sailor Moon brought Sailor Galaxia back into the fold of the Sailor Senshi! How could you attack, without giving her a chance to speak? Look, she's bleeding! She has been wounded, and you could have hurt Sailor Pluto, too!"
"Sailor...?" Star Healer's head turned, and she blinked. "Sailor Pluto? What are you doing with her?!?"
"We both came to speak to your Princess!" Pluto told her angrily. "We would have told you that, but you seemed rather intent on catching and killing us, so I'm afraid we didn't stop to talk!"
"Well, the last time Galaxia set foot on our world," Star Fighter cut in, "our world was devastated, and our Princess killed! You'll pardon our natural reaction. How would you greet her if she suddenly appeared on Earth?"
"They fed me," Galaxia said with a shrug. "After Sailor Moon...well, that's something we need to discuss with Princess Kakyuu. And perhaps someone can turn off those alarms?"
"Yes, please, one of you tell the guards to stop this racket," Kakyuu ordered gently, "and to stop hunting our guests! Galaxia, give me your hands. I can heal those wounds. Star Fighter, Star Healer, Star Maker, which one of you did this?"
"Not me!" they chorused defensively.
"I'm afraid it was Fubuki," Pluto said. She watched with interest as Kakyuu held Galaxia's hands between her own. A soft glow engulfed their hands, a pink light not unlike Sailor Moon's healing powers, and when Kakyuu released her, her hands were whole again.
"Fubuki," Kakyuu sighed, but she smiled, too. "He should be-"
"KAKYUU!"
"-here soon. Fubuki, lower your weapon. These are my friends."
Pluto stared at the blade pointed at her forehead, so close she nearly went cross-eyed. The metal quivered above her skin for a moment, then, reluctantly, lowered. Fubuki swept past her to Kakyuu's side.
"My Princess, are you sure?" he murmured. "That is Galaxia!"
"I know that. The woman with her is Sailor Pluto, one of the Sailor Senshi of Princess Serenity, the Princess of the Moon who cared for my own Senshi when we were seperated. Sailor Pluto is no enemy of ours, and now, neither is Galaxia. She is a Sailor Senshi, as my guardians are, as I am. She will be given the same respect as any of us."
"I...Princess, you are not dressed to receive visitors!"
For the first time, Pluto realized Kakyuu wore a simple white dress that appeared to be a night gown. The Princess also seemed surprised at her state of undress, but she merely let loose a little giggle. Fubuki seemed less amused, for he removed his scarlet cape, and draped it around her shoulders.
"Fubuki, they're both women. It isn't as though my chambers have been breached by men waiting to ravage me."
"All the same, Kakyuu, you should have put on your robe," he whispered. "What if the other guards saw you, or a servant?"
"Oh, my Fubuki," Kakyuu sighed, and looked up at him with an expression Pluto recognized from her own Princess, gazing into the face of her Prince. "If it will make you feel better, I'll go put on my robe. But Sailor Galaxia and Sailor Pluto are welcome in my chambers, as we need to talk."
"Captain!"
"Captain
Fubuki!"
"He's found the invaders!"
"Captain, get the Princess safe! We'll handle them!"
"Kronos protect us!"
The last came from Sailor Pluto, diving backwards with Galaxia as Fubuki's guards raced down the hall, weapons drawn and at the ready. Several spears rose, the guards charged closer, and Pluto grabbed Galaxia, dragging her close to her side, and reacted instinctively.
"GARNET BALL."
The Garnet Orb glowed softly for a moment, causing the Starlights, intimately familiar with Sailor Senshi attacks, to gasp in shock. The light flared to fill the hall, then collapsed in around Pluto and Galaxia. It solidified around them, a beautiful, deep red jewel in which the partners floated.
Fubuki stepped forward, and shouted to the leading guard, "No, Kei, wait!"
The man did not seem to hear him. He launched himself at the supposed invaders, his spear leading the way. The tip began to pierce the light, then shattered. The handle splintered in his hand, sending out a spray of wood. Now unable to stop, the guard slammed into the light, and crumpled to the ground, where he lay groaning.
The rest of the guards slowed to a staggering halt, and could do little more than blink, dumbfounded.
"What in Kinmoku...?" one muttered.
Kakyuu moved away from Fubuki, reached out, and touched the light. Her hand sank into the glow for less than an inch before stopping, as though hitting solid stone. Her eyebrows rose slightly, and she smiled once more.
"Very impressive, Sailor Pluto! But is Kei seriously hurt?"
"He shouldn't be, at least no more so than had he hit a wall going that speed," Pluto explained. "You know, Fubuki did try to warn you."
The guard, Kei, rolled over onto his back, his hand to his nose. Pluto was dismayed to see blood from under his fingers. He scooted away from them, then rose with the help of his comrades. For a wild moment, Pluto almost laughed, remembering Jadeite, mere months ago, in rather the same position, after Makoto had hit him in the face with a book.
The laughter died stillborn as Kei looked at her like she was some monster.
"Who...what are they, Princess?"
For the first time, anger entered Kakyuu's face, and a touch of sadness.
"They are Sailor Senshi, and my guests," she told her guards coldly. "Sailor Pluto, you are safe, I assure you."
With nothing more than a twitch of her staff, the Garnet Ball disappeared, and she and Galaxia stood as though there had been no attack.
Kakyuu took a deep breath and closed her eyes, as though struggling with herself. Then she opened her eyes, and spoke briskly. "Sailor Pluto, Sailor Galaxia, we must speak. Please, come into my chambers. My Starlights," she paused, and a soft smile came to her lips, "my Fubuki, you are with me. My guards, go try to calm the rest of the Palace. I do not, however, want to hear one person say the words Shadow Galactica. I do not need a world wide panic, thank you. I also need my council in the State Room in two hours, so chase them out of bed. And will someone please turn off those alarms!"
The guards glanced at their captian, received a firm nod, and turned away. Advancing on Kakyuu, Fubuki seized her arm and marched her back to her chambers, muttering about decency and robes all the way. The three Starlights looked uncertainly at each other, and then to the visiting Senshi. Meanwhile, Pluto and Galaxia, now they were no longer under the eye of the guards, slumped against each other as they tried to remember how to breathe properly.
Star Fighter stepped forward, while Star Maker and Star Healer hung back uncertainly. Pluto felt Galaxia stiffen against her, but made no defensive moves.
"Sailor Pluto...Setsuna."
"Hai, Seiya?"
"Is there...anything we can get you? Some water perhaps?"
Galaxia's shoulder shook against her own. After a moment, Pluto joined her, and the two oldest Senshi started to laugh weakly.
"Some water would be wonderful," Galaxia said around her giggles. "And do you have some spoons?