Sunlight Halation: Now that you mention it, I might choose to give him an upgrade yet. Still stuck on whether to make 'Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber' canon for him here.
Edit (16/10/2017): There were some issues with formatting for the chapter, and I only realized this today, so I did a quick edit and reuploaded the chapter. The content is still the same.
Enjoy the story.
"Dead Scream!" Sailor Pluto shouted, getting Cosmos' attention as the green-haired woman breezed into the fight, sending her energy attack at the creature that they were battling. Her expression neutral, the garnet-eyed Senshi of Time launched another attack with her Talisman, her gaze steely. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," she announced politely, "but I had some matters to attend to."
Uranus grunted, dodging an attack by the vine monster that seemed to have become provoked by the Guardian of the Gates' attack. "Good to know you're here, Setsuna!" she yelled, carving through another barrage of leafy attacks with a scowl firmly written onto her face. With a ferocious roar, the sandy blonde Soldier of the Sky raised her Space Sword high into the air. "Eye of the Storm!"
The aquamarine-haired violinist of the four Senshi summoned Marine Cathedral, playing a short melody that quickly escalated into a fast crescendo. Shouting her attack name, she turned towards Pluto, leaping up and out of the way of another attack that came her way. "Just in time, Setsuna!" she informed. "This monster should fall soon." With her violin returned to the place where she stored it, the Senshi called forth her own Talisman, holding it up to reflect the beast's image in the mirror. "Tidal Burst!"
As the surging wave of water burst towards the monster, Cosmos twirled her staff in her hand, raising it high up into the air. Energy coalesced into her hands, and the silver-haired Senshi of the Cosmos looked over towards the Soldier of Time. "What held you up?" she inquired, eyes filled with a measure of curiosity. Keeping herself alert, the Senshi manoeuvred through a hail of leaves and thorns, eventually just setting up a brilliant dome of light around the four Senshi to defend themselves from the annoying attacks that kept coming their way.
It was rather humorous, wasn't it? The foursome of Senshi were skillfully avoiding every attack sent their way, to the point that they were almost carrying out a normal conversation if one could disregard the fact that they were occasionally distracted by sending out some form of magical attack to counter the vine beast. Perhaps it was just Cosmos, but she herself felt like something was amiss… like it was too easy to fight the creature in front of them. Maybe it was just her, but there was something off… why was the creature only attacking them with small projectiles like that? Surely, based on the way it looked, it could do much more.
You're being paranoid, Cosmos, the girl scolded herself in her mind. No one's up to anything here — you're overthinking it! Just focus on taking down the monster first, then you can discuss this with the others. It was times like this when the Soldier of Harmony sorely wished that she still had the presence of the two Sailor Senshi in her mind, partially because she knew that they would soothe her troubles and partially because she could be distracted from worry that slowly nagged at her.
"As I told Michiru before I started the drive," Sailor Pluto started, raising the Garnet Rod in her hand, "I had two little rascals to settle down before I could come over. They ended up being more of a handful than I had anticipated, which was why I was late." The woman waved it off with a dismissive shrug, landing the final hit that took down the vine creature, ripping it to shreds literally. "Something does not feel right here," she was the first to say, staring at the pile of plant fibres that lay on the park's grassy ground.
So Cosmos wasn't just being paranoid about that.
"Too easy," Uranus grunted. "Too damn easy. Something's up here." Her white-gloved hands tightly gripped the hilt of her Space Sword Talisman, her dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. "If someone's here, you'd better reveal yourself before I hunt you down and rip you apart myself," she threatened, the sandy blonde racer casting a rather frustrated glare around.
Someone gave a slow, sarcastic clap, prompting all the Senshi to snap to alertness and spin around on their heels, raising each of their respective weapons into a battle-ready stance. A redheaded woman stepped out from behind a tree, fury contorting what would have been a pretty face as she directed a furious jade glare onto the four Solar System Senshi. "Let us award the little genius here, shall we?" she asked sarcastically, raising a hand into the air.
Clouds darkened overhead, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the dulled grey sky to hit her raised hand, resulting in her fist being covered with crackling blue lightning. "All of you Sailor Senshi are just so nosy sometimes," Callisto growled, using the hand that was covered with sparks of lightning to point at the four. Her tone was incredibly bitter, for whatever reason, and maybe it was just Cosmos' imagination, but were there tears in the corner of her eyes?
"I'm trying so hard," the redhead continued, "but I've failed to produce any results thus far. He's starting to lose trust in my capabilities. He's going to turn to that dreadful glutton again, and… and… I'll lose it all again…" Her voice suddenly dropped, and she lowered her head. "I won't let that happen to me again," she suddenly spat. "Let's see you take this, shall we?" Clasping her hands together in a move that was similar to Jupiter, she intensified the charge of lightning around her fists and sent it out towards the Senshi.
Cosmos' instincts kicked in first, and she swiped her staff downwards. "Luminous Barrier!" she cried out, flinching as the lightning struck the barrier and made it flicker momentarily. However, it continued to hold fast. "Everyone!" she called out to the other three Senshi, her eyes narrowed as she firmly braced her staff against the ground. "We'll fight to the best of our ability! Don't let her past her, everyone!"
The three women seemed to agree with the sentiment, and raising their respective Talismans, they all attacked in unison, each calling out their attacks.
Despite that, the silver-haired girl felt a twinge in her heart as Callisto fended off each blast of energy, recalling the declaration that had preceded this battle. She knew the redheaded woman's history, and it called out to her innate kindness and mercy as the Soldier of Harmony. She didn't want to fight this woman at all, not when it wasn't her fault at all, but she didn't think that she had much of a choice in her situation.
What should I do? she asked herself. Can I save her? She doesn't deserve the fate she's been put through. But she received no answer to the question that she had posed to herself. With a heavy sigh, the Senshi just steeled herself to continue the fight, and to try and see if she could help one unfortunate soul.
Charon entered the room that the pink-haired girl from the future was being held within, his face stoic as usual. He didn't understand what Triton wanted with the girl, seeing as the former prince of the kingdom of Neptune has just held her there for weeks on end without even so much as talking to her. Sure, the others were tasked with guarding and supervising the child in case she attempted to run, but she hadn't shown any sign of it just yet. Mentally grumbling at the tediousness of his task once more, the once duke of the moon of Pluto summoned a chair of sand, solidifying it, and took a seat.
His eyes swept over the silent girl, watching out of the corner of his eyes as she curled up on herself, ruby red eyes even redder, making it quite evident that she had been crying to herself. What for, he could not possibly fathom. Or perhaps he could simply no longer understand emotions as a whole. He was not an emotionless sociopath — at least, he did not think so just yet, anyway. Without saying much, the man reclined back on his chair.
"When are you going to let me out?" the girl suddenly asked him, though she still did not look up at the man at all. "Are you going to let me out at all? What do you want with me? I'm just a dead girl walking!" A tremble ran through her small frame and she finally looked up, her eyes watery and shiny with tears as she hugged her knees closer to her body. "Why are you keeping me here if I don't exist anymore?! Why?!" She was getting hysterical, and the girl was starting to sob loudly. "Please, can't you just let me go now?"
He regarded her with steely blue eyes, no sympathy passing the irises behind the golden-framed spectacles. "It is not my prerogative to choose whether you go free or live within confinement for the rest of eternity," Charon replied, voice level and with a flat affect. "Ot if you wish a reply in simpler terms, then will 'I can't do that, kid' suffice?"
Her face abruptly turned red, and anger filled her eyes as the young child, still with tears in her eyes, fumed at him. Then, she sniffed, choking back a sob. "I wish Puu was here," she whispered quietly, looking down again before she broke into soft sobs. Small hands covered her face as she began crying her heart out, and still he sat there watching with an even gaze and straight face. "Mama, Puu, where are you?"
Puu? What a strange name, Charon considered to himself. Was that her friend? Perhaps even her guardian, considering she was crying out for that person along with her mother. The name still gnawed at the back of his mind, however, and the man couldn't help but wonder about who this 'Puu' was, exactly. It seemed as if he should have known the name at once, but it simply did not register as familiar to him.
Ignoring the child and her breakdown, the man decided to delve into his memories to see if the name was one he had heard once before. Reclining back onto his chair, the man laced his fingers together, closing his eyes as he lost himself within a memory of the distant past. His memories of his time with his beloved were still fresh in his mind, and the deal he had made with the dark force that loomed over his head was forever imprinted into him. What a price to pay for a moment of anger and discontentment, wasn't it?
"My lady!" the duke of Charon called as he walked past the gardens, seeing his lovely betrothed standing in the midst of the patch of garnet spider-lilies. "There you are, my princess. I have been searching the entirety of the palace for you." He strode over in a few quick paces, reaching the princess in black within a few minutes. The man extended a hand to her, his free hand smoothing back his brunette hair neatly over his head. "You look as if you are being plagued with some ailment," he observed. "What troubles you so, my beloved?"
Princess Pluto looked over at him, her garnet eyes boring into his with a gaze that was incredibly intense. Never before had the young princess, then eighteen, as was he, looked so lost or as confused as she was then. The young woman broke the gaze with a frustrated sigh, clasping her hands behind her as she turned away from him to pace further within the garden. She moved out of the patch of flowers, apparently not wishing to trample the blossoms that she had planted herself years ago.
Charon's brow furrowed. Why was she refusing to look at him? Had he erred in some way or offended his princess? Slowly, the man sank down onto one knee and bowed his head, hoping that he could at least make her inform him of what was going on. "I do not fathom why you are like this, my lady, but I sincerely wish that if you are angered with some actions of mine, that you forgive me and have mercy."
"No, Charon, do forgive my rudeness today…" Pluto sighed with a drawn out exhale of breath as she swept around, hastening over to him. "Please, rise. It is unbefitting of a future king to have to kneel down, and to his betrothed nonetheless." She shook her head, her dark green hair falling over her shoulders from the braided bun she usually kept it in. "I apologize — my thoughts are not in proper order today."
The man gently reached over, brushing a strand of hair from her face and tucking the long lock behind her ear. "Surely you can tell me, Pluto," he said in earnest, using her name as opposed to her title in a show of intimacy. With a barely audible sigh, he reached behind her and gathered some of her hair, twisting it into a simple bun and pinning it to the back of her head with one of the pins that were already present in her hair.
"I have to leave, Charon." Pluto sounded pained. "I will be leaving the palace to guard the Gates of Time and Space until my princess and queen can find a replacement capable of wielding the key. I do not wish for this to become a wedge between us, but I do not know what I can do after this." Her voice had quietened substantially since she had started speaking, but Charon was not paying attention anymore.
His brow furrowed together. "You must leave? Can you not guard the Gates from your palace? Can your father not continue his duty? Why must you replace him?" Charon attempted to reason with her, to find a way to convince her to stay.
His princess sighed. "Father cannot guard the Gates forever, Charon," she whispered softly. "He has been guarding them for several millennia, and he has been worn down by the forces of Chaos that work to pry him free so they may access the Corridor as they wish. I must go to aid him. As his child, it is my duty to do so."
It felt like she had driven a knife into his heart and twisted it. "You would choose your duty, my lady?" he asked, voice sounding strangled and pained. "I… please, Your Highness, will you not reconsider that? Your people need you; Pluto, I need you. I love you, my princess."
The woman just closed her eyes. "My duty is ingrained in my blood," she whispered quietly. "Blood is thicker than water, Charon… my family comes first, and with my family comes my duty. My father will resume his rule over the kingdom until he passes, and when that comes to pass, the dukes and duchesses will rule in my stead. I will only supervise from afar." She glanced over at him, garnet eyes soulful. "Charon, understand that it is not that I do not love you… I do. It is more important that my duty is fulfilled. There is no one else to accomplish this save me."
"I understand, Your Highness," the man finally said, trying to numb the heartbreak he felt. "And when must you leave?"
"My twentieth birthday."
Charon's eyes snapped open as the memory passed in his mind, and he silently cursed himself for going back to that forsaken memory when he could have been doing something productive like search for that name. But that was just like him, was it not? To procrastinate and put things off until the last moment, just like he was doing now, to avoid selling the last portion of his soul to the force of Chaos.
A hand slowly rose to rest over his heart, and exhaling heavily, the man lowered his head. "My apologies, beloved," he murmured. "This is all my fault."
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