Petite Étrangère
She stood upon the threshold of all things, the weight of the Garnet Rod within her grasp, the ancient Space-Time Door before her, its rough-hewn stone shot through with fractures. Had not she witnessed it with her own eyes, then she would not have believed it possible, and yet before her the future, the past, the very present had been thrown into turmoil, their security shattered as readily as the cracks that now scarred the surface of the ancient gateway beyond.
A faint tremble ran through her, panic stirring in her breast as she turned away from the broken façade of the door to the other that stood before her, sharp angles of white and black that could have been armour yet was more likely the creature's natural shape. Apparently, the figure before her had no need of an alternate identity—apparently, thought Meiou Setsuna, the figure before her was always Sailor Pluto.
When she had inherited her role as the guardian of the Space-Time Door, accepting her lonely duty watching over the slow blossom of the universe, she had known that there were other timelines that she could not account for, other universes in which events ran parallel to that over which she was destined to watch, yet never before had she expected to encounter the guardian of one of those other realms, nor had she expected such a figure to be a mechanical incarnation of herself.
Realising that she had remained silent for quite some time, she nodded her head in agreement, and said:
"It is as you said."
The other Sailor Pluto—Plutine, as she had introduced herself—regarded her sadly with her brightly lit optics.
"The Tojitendo Dynasty have silenced many timelines in their ambitions. There is no telling when they will claim the Crystal Palace, though I fear that such a time will not be too far in the future now."
Setsuna felt the anxiety harden inside her, the fear of what such a thing might mean all but overwhelming her. She thought of the Queene and the King, of Small Lady, of her duty to protect the past and the future, her inability to leave the door unmanned.
"This Tojitendo Dynasty, they are from your timeline?" she asked with hesitation.
The other looked away in sadness, one hand grasping the Garnet Rod that she too, like Setsuna, must have been entrusted with when entering into her duties.
"They are Kikanoids like myself, yet we are not all as they are. Before the ascension of the current king, Boccowaus, Kikatopia was a world unnoticed by the rest of the universe, unknown by either the peoples of the Earth or the Moon. Yet for centuries, the previous king, Golowaus had been focussed on breaking through the membrane between realities, on consuming other alternate incarnations of Kikatopia. Once that was achieved, it paved the way for his son and heir, Boccowaus, to begin the likewise colonisation of other worlds."
From the folds of her armour, Plutine produced what looked to Setsuna looked like a small black cog, the image of a glistening crystal palace decorated upon its surface.
"This is all that is left of the Moon Kingdom of my universe. I was able to wrest it from Iijirude of the Tojitendo Dynasty before fleeing across dimensions to warn you, to warn others like us."
The anxiety Setsuna felt within her became palpable, a weight that upset the rhythm of her breath. She shook her head, genuine horror present upon the slender shape of her face.
"This cannot be allowed to happen," she murmured, aghast at that which she was being told. "The King and Queene must be told, time and space must be protected at all costs."
With the shuddering echo of thunder, a further crack appeared in the stone of the door, chunks of rock and dust falling away before them.
A bad omen, Setsuna thought, an evil omen.
"I fear it is too late," Plutine whispered, her voice full of sorrow, "already they have begun to seal away worlds from this timeline."
There was the sound of footsteps above them, and Setsuna looked up in surprise to see King Endymion resplendent in a tuxedo of silver and white upon the balcony overlooking the door, his face lined with the firmness of age and experience.
"It is not too late," he declared, his voice strong and resonant. "This time we are forewarned. This time, we are prepared. The Earth and the Moon will stand strong."
In awe, she gazed up at him, and slowly, despite herself, she began to hope that the future was not so dark after all, that despite everything her counterpart had imparted, there was still hope. She nodded her head, feeling the radiance that exuded from King Endymion, and then turned once more to Plutine.
"The King is right. This time will be different. This time the Earth will not fall."