Sailor Moon: World Rebirth -Part 3, Hope and Chaos
Episode 28 'R&R: Reflection and Revelation'
Usagi sat at the edge of the fountain, trying to appreciate the crystal
bench she was sitting on and the crystal figure that had water running out
of it. She wasn't even sure what the figure was supposed to be. Although one
might expect to find clear, pure water running through a fountain like this
it was nothing but dirty seawater which pretty much ruined the intended
effect.
"Usagi, here you are," Luna the cat exclaimed, taking a seat at Usagi's
feet.
"It's beautiful Luna." Although the intended effect was ruined, Usagi still
found the beauty in it. It's the attempt that counts, after all.
"Everyone's been looking all over for you," Luna scolded, but Usagi
continued talking as though she hadn't heard a word that Luna had said.
"So this will be my garden someday, or would have been someday." Although
nothing could grow yet, it could be seen where room had been left for walls,
bushes, and flowers. The people involved in resistance had apparently had a
lot of spare time and spent a lot of it designing, developing and arranging
the palace grounds. "I bet that Neo-Queen Serenity spends hours and hours
sitting here, and I bet that an endless number of romances will happen
here." She shook her head. "What was that Luna? I wasn't listening."
"Why did you run off so abruptly Usagi?"
"How can I, Luna?"
"How can you what?"
"How can I send away my friends once again on a mission which will most
certainly lead to their deaths? This time I have the chance to prevent it
before it even happens. I don't think I can handle it happening again."
"This is far different this time Usagi. You aren't leading the senshi to
their deaths. Destiny has given them a chance to accept a mission that could
POSSIBLY lead to their deaths. Which won't happen if everyone plays their
own part."
"I suppose so; but I just feel ... I don't know, that there's something more
that I can do... that there's a bit of doubt existing."
"I can't help you there Usagi. You're going to have to build your confidence
from yourself and the others. We've all been through a lot and no one's
going to give up now. Anything is possible. Heck, I never believed that I
would become a sailor senshi, even for a short period of time, and look how
well that worked out. There's just one more goal. And if we can achieve it
we'll finally be able to hopefully restore at least a little bit of what we
had before."
*****
Sailor Pluto sat at her desk. To anyone else it would seem odd for there was
nothing else there except for the desk and the chair she was sitting on.
Everything else was just black emptiness. She was extremely frustrated over
her attempts to translate the mage runes. After the end of the Silver
Millennium she hadn't expected to see them again (and if time had flowed
normally she wouldn't have) so she had allowed the knowledge to fade with
time for it brought back too many memories. And now she had a very small
time to get some kind of meaning out of them. Needless to say, she wasn't
having any luck at all.
If only she could go back in time she would be able to translate them. But
now the beyonder was blocking time travel and it would take all of the
senshi's power together in order to break through it for the journey there
and even worse, the journey back.
Of course, Haiku had done some timetravelling. How else could she have
awoken Usagi's dormant inherited power? A plan began to form in Sailor
Pluto's mind...
*****
Haiku was sitting in her room, relaxing and allowing time to pass. A
well-deserved and well-needed bath had allowed her to unwind. Shortly after
they had all returned to resistance headquarters Usagi had disappeared. With
the internal security detectors still offline the senshi had split up to
find her. Haiku, on the other hand understood why Usagi had run off and
decided that Usagi would be found when she wanted to be found.
Haiku knew only too well what was bothering Usagi. Back during her days of
training for the gathering mission she had watched countless people
sacrifice their lives in order for resistance to gather enough information
for the first mission to be a success. There were even more casualties
involved while they were gathering the materials for her ship.
Haiku was still unsure as to how she was supposed to use her abilities to
defeat the beyonder. In fact, she was still unsure as to what exactly her
abilities entailed. As with the rest of the senshi's powers, they hadn't
come with an instruction manual. Fortunately, she did not allow frustration
to get the better of her.
Although it was not totally unexpected, Haiku was still a little startled
when Sailor Pluto appeared in her room. "Hey, there's this little thing
called knocking, you know," Haiku said as a reflex without thinking.
"Don't worry Haiku, I made sure that you weren't doing anything before I
entered."
"Hey, how did you..." Haiku went silent as her face turned red. "Ah.... what
did you want?"
Sailor Pluto allowed herself to smile for a moment. "I have a problem," she
said. With the look on Haiku's face she quickly continued. "Yes, even I have
problems sometimes!" "Anyway, after quite a lot of time of analyzing the
time runes..."
"Yes?"
"I haven't been able to find out anything! I don't know why. I've read mage
runes before."
"So what do you want me to do about it? I couldn't much sense out of them
either!"
Sailor Pluto revealed her plan. "It's very simple actually. I just need you
to travel back in time to the planet Saturn during the Silver Millennium to
get one of the scholars there to take a look at the runes. You're the only
one who's able to travel back in time so effortlessly."
Haiku paused. "Yeah, but there's a little problem. You see, I had no control
over what time period I was going to last time. I just activated the power
and let it take me wherever I was supposed to go. I don't even know whether
I could repeat the same process for that matter."
"But it's worth a try," Sailor Pluto said. "I assume that you have no idea
how to beat the beyonder with your powers at the moment. These runes might
hold the key. But we're never going to find out what they say if you don't
take the initiative."
"All right, fine!" Haiku exclaimed. "Let's just hope that they've found
Usagi by now. I'm going to need the medallion again." Haiku got up, threw
on some clothes, and wasjust about to run through the door when Sailor Pluto knocked her on the
shoulder with her staff. She turned around to find Pluto pointing towards a
portal she had just formed. "Of course, how silly of me. Why should we have
to bother taking the door like everyone else."
*****
Luna had finally persuaded Usagi to return with her and rejoin the others
when the black portal appeared about ten feet off of the ground and a person
dropped out of it. A very annoyed looking Haiku got up off of the ground and
brushed herself off. "Very funny Pluto," she called out.
Just as Luna was about to ask Haiku who she was talking to another portal
formed, this time vertically rather than horizontally, and Sailor Pluto
stepped out. Haiku stared at her for a moment and Pluto just ignored
everyone. The silent fight was interrupted by Usagi. "Haiku, Pluto! Is
something wrong?"
"No, nothing Usagi," Haiku replied, seemingly unwanting to take her eyes off
the person who had made a hole appear below her feet a few moments earlier.
"Actually we need your help, princess," Sailor Pluto said.
Usagi was the only person to whom Haiku had explained how she had gone into
the past and changed it so that Usagi would be able to survive. "I need to
borrow the medallion again. Pluto thinks that if I go back into the past
again then I'll be able to find some clue as to how I am supposed to defeat
the beyonder."
"Are you sure that's safe?!" Usagi exclaimed. "I mean, the last time you did
it the beyonder was able to interfere. What if he does something worse?"
"I don't think he will. To him right now we don't seem like enough of a
nuisance to eliminate quickly. Although he might be stronger in terms of raw
power he is still unable to travel through time. I've seen what happens when
he affects my destination. I should be able to counter it if necessary. If
he wanted me dead or had been able to kill me he would have done so when I
was there. And besides, this could be the key to our victory!"
"I know," Usagi replied unclipping the chain from around her neck. "But I
don't like sending you guys on risky missions. It took enough trouble for us
to get back together the second time. I don't think we would make it through
another round."
"Don't worry Usagi, I intend on coming back. I still have some unfinished
business." Haiku took the medallion that had been dropped into her hand and
placed it around her own neck. She was about to continue when a voice called
out.
"Wait!" Hotaru came running up. "Take me too." In a few seconds a silent
conversation passed between Hotaru and Haiku.
"No Hotaru, not you too," Usagi protested.
"Let's go," Haiku said as Hotaru shifted into Sailor Saturn and Haiku drew
her sword. Before Usagi could say anything else the two were engulfed in
white light and disappeared.
"Why did you let her do that?" Usagi asked Pluto.
"It's not my place to instruct either of them. They both have a far better
idea of what is going on than any of us," Sailor Pluto answered before
walking back into her portal.
*****
Haiku opened her eyes to find herself in a place much different than she had
expected to be in. Actually, she wasn't where she was supposed to be at all.
Her last thought before allowing the medallion to pull her into the
timestream was to find a way to defeat the beyonder. Perhaps the beyonder
had interfered.
She was standing on a rock looking out over the water-flooded land. Somehow
she just 'knew' that she was still on earth. And also, she just 'knew' that
this was where the sailor senshi had lost to the beyonder two years ago, or
in this case, a few minutes earlier. Sailor Saturn was not standing beside
her. She must have remained in the timestream. This was not where Haiku had
wanted to go.
Activating the medallion, she reentered the timestream. This time with
thoughts of Saturn, the Silver Millennium and a way to translate the mage
runes.
*****
Haiku appeared inside a building this time, staring up at a statue of a
black angel carrying a weapon similar to Saturn's glaive. Sailor Saturn was
kneeling beside her, hands together and eyes closed. Haiku quickly weighed
the odds and decided that it would be safest to let her be for now. There
was no visible entrance or exit so Haiku just forced herself to be patient.
After a short but seemingly long period of time Sailor Saturn stood back up.
Haiku tried to not let any emotion show. "Sorry to make you wait Haiku,"
Saturn said. I just had a few issues to take care of."
"Like what?"
"Well, apparently the spirit of Saturn is sleeping right now. It seems that
here a senshi only comes into office when she is needed. So when I appeared
the planet got a little nervous, not expecting its powers to be drawn from.
I just straightened out that we're from another time and that we'll only be
staying for a short time."
"That's good. Now where are we and how do we get out?"
"I unknowingly drew us towards this place. It's the shrine of Saturn. Very
few people are allowed in here besides Sailor Saturn. -don't worry, I kept
the planet from destroying you."
"Oh joy, now how do we get out?"
"Just a moment." Saturn closed her eyes and a moment later the two of them
vanished.
*****
Haiku and Hotaru appeared on a dais, looking up at space. Haiku noticed that
Hotaru had detransformed during the teleport. No one was around. "Where are
we? Where is everyone?"
"This tends to be a place that the residents don't go near. Just because
their guardian is Sailor Saturn doesn't mean they aren't scared of her
power. Come on, this way."
Haiku followed Hotaru down a slope, through some rocks, through an alley and
out onto a street. Although there were some people out on the street there
weren't very many and none stopped to inquire as to who Haiku or Hotaru
were.
Hotaru led to a large, domed building. "What's this?" Haiku asked.
"This is a university of sorts. There should be someone here who can help
us." There was no one at the doors so the two of them just continued on into
the great hall. It was empty except for a woman sitting at a desk at the
side. Once again, Hotaru led. "Excuse me, can you direct me to where an
ancient translator might be?"
The woman paused for a moment and then gave the directions. "But Sera-san
doesn't accept visitors. You'll probably find yourself sent back here."
"Oh I'm sure we have something that might be of interest to him," Hotaru
replied.
*****
After two knocks and the usual waiting period had expired it became apparent
that no one was going to answer the door.
"Maybe this is the wrong door," Haiku said.
"No, he's in there," Hotaru replied.
"Hello, is anyone in there?" Haiku called out. No answer. "Excuse me, but if
you don't come and open the door for us we're going to have to remove it
ourselves." Still no answer. "We're not going to go away. Fine then, have it
your way." Haiku was about to use her magic when Hotaru suddenly grabbed her
arm.
"Wait a moment." Hotaru ran her hand over the door. "There's a blocking
spell in place."
"What does that mean? Is he not hearing us?"
"Oh, he can hear you all right, but chances are that if you tried to blast
down the door the energy would bounce back."
"So it will be okay as long as I use more power than the block can handle,
right?"
"Probably not. If you release that much power you'll most likely destroy
more than the door. And if you tried and didn't hit it with enough power on
your first try it would be even worse."
"But naturally, you can handle it?"
"Of course." A moment later Hotaru was replaced by Sailor Saturn. Hotaru
this time called out, "If you don't come and remove the block for us then I,
Sailor Saturn, will get annoyed." This time there was an answer.
"Get out of here you blasphemous kids," a voice called from inside. "I'm
busy."
Sailor Saturn concentrated for a moment on his mind. "Stubborn man." She
held out her glaive. "Silence glaive surprise!" Ribbons shot out from the
tip of her glaive to the edges of the door. The door was incinerated; for in
actuality there was no door. Just a blocking spell that looked like a door;
there was still a curtain drawn across the doorway. Sailor Saturn stepped
aside and held out her arm for Haiku to go first.
Haiku pushed aside the curtain and walked inside the room. She had expected
to see a cranky old man but instead there was a young (probably arrogant)
man sitting at a desk, looking a little annoyed but mostly startled. "What
do you think you are doing?" he exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how long it
took me to build that? You can't just walk in here and..I.." he drifted off
as the other woman stepped through the door.
[Quick background: On the planet Saturn, Sailor Saturn was kind of like a
God. Speaking with disrespect about her was blasphemy. Impersonation was
impossible because the planet 'disabled' anyone who tried it. (And every so
often someone went crazy and thought that they were the next Sailor Saturn
and had to be 'put in their place' by the planet, but that's another story)]
"Ahhh...what...I didn't know," he mumbled as he fell to his knees.
"Relax. I'm not here to kill you. Your business is with her," Sailor Saturn
said, pointing to Haiku. The silence glaive disappeared and Hotaru
detransformed. The man got to his feet.
"Uhhh, how can I help you?"
Haiku was disappointed that the show was over. She took out the memory cube.
"I want you to translate some mage runes for me."
"Do you have them with you?" Haiku pressed the cube and an image of the wall
appeared. The man quickly picked his glasses off of the floor and put them
on. For a moment he looked at the script. "That's odd," he commented.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure. I'm not sure what this script is. It seems familiar." He got
up and moved back, further into the quarters past another curtain. He
motioned for Haiku to follow. "Master! Wake up! Come take a look at this."
The three of them stepped into the next room.
Sitting at a desk was the old man that Haiku had expected to see upon
entering the quarters. It looked like he had fallen asleep right at his desk
right in the middle of his work, for he woke up, shook his head and, not
even noticing his visitors, continued the work he had been doing the night
before. "No master, over here, we have visitors." Now all four of them were
in the room.
"I thought I told you not to bother me unless it was important. I don't have
time for trivialities."
"But this IS important." The young man grabbed the cube from Haiku's hand
and placed it on the desk in front of the old man, turning it on. "They
brought this in. I'm not sure what this script is; I don't believe what it
appears to be. What do you think?"
The man stopped as soon as he saw the script, and took a closer look. After
a moment he turned around and looked right at Haiku. "Where did you find
these?"
"Well, I'm not sure how to explain...I found them on a door but it doesn't
exist anymore."
"Do you know what these are?" he asked.
"I've been told that they're mage runes. My friend here partially translated
some of them."
"Really? Interesting... come here for a moment." the man took out a writing
tool and wrote down a line of text. He held it up. "This is what I see as
the first line of text, but it isn't what either of you see, is it?"
"Huh?" Haiku grabbed the 'pen' and paper and copied down some messy
characters. "That's what I'm reading. Are you sure we're looking at the same
place?"
"Oh, quite sure. I've heard about these before but only seen them once. It's
interesting how their nature is still present in a visual reproduction."
"Why? What are they?"
"These, my dear, are certainly not mage runes, as I am quite apt in their
translation. I'm not even sure if this text has a name as no human can write
it. In belonging, it could only be of nature, or of a God if they really
exist. As you may have already noticed, the text reads differently for each
person, and can even change its appearance for one person over time."
"As for their nature, I'd say that they are used to guide, to control fate,
and to lead time in the right direction. An authority above even that of the
avatar of Pluto... of course, this is all speculation but that's one of the
more realistic theories. That's why I want to know where you found it."
"They just appeared on a wall.... wait, you said that you've seen them
before?"
"Of course. I imagine that every scholar in the system has at least once,
even if they didn't realize what they are. It's one of the major attractions
on Earth. There's a giant rock face covered with symbols like these."
"What does it say?"
"Well, no one can read them anymore but it's said that it prophetized the
establishment of the first colonies on Earth's moon and gave rough
instructions on how to colonize the rest of the planets with the help of
magic."
"So what you're saying," Haiku concluded, "Is that the runes probably gave
crucial instructions to specific people at certain moments in time in order
to direct the spread and survival of life?"
"Well I suppose so, but you state it so simply."
"So you're suggesting that that might be what mine are for?"
"It's possible. But from what I've heard only avatars have been able to read
this language and even then only Pluto or maybe Saturn; but they're rarely
present in the system any more."
Finally Hotaru decided to contribute to the conversation. "No, Pluto wasn't
able to understand them, she thought you might. I was only able to translate
some of it, none of which is of any use to us now."
"Wait a moment. You did what? Who are you? Where are you from? When are you
from...."
Haiku and Hotaru paused as they looked at each other; they weren't sure what
to say.
"Lee, please leave the room," the man stated.
"Master, I already know."
"No, I'm afraid you don't. You only know what you need to know," It looked
like he was going to protest again but he didn't and left the room. The old
man waved his hand and a solid wall appeared in place of the doorway. "I'm
sorry about that," he apologized, "but this is something that shouldn't
leave this room. So, who do I have the privilege of being in the presence
of?"
Hotaru changed into Sailor Saturn. The crescent moon appeared on Haiku's
forehead.
"Ah, the main line of the moon guided by the shadow of Saturn. Interesting.
Let's see... a ginzuishou and our medallion! In the hands of one who hasn't
come of age yet? That could be dangerous: although that's only in this time.
You're from the future, I assume, hmmm.... let's see... I'd say, 2 or 3
generations from our present queen... is something so drastic going to take
place in the next couple hundreds of years?"
Haiku stared at him. "Who are you?"
"I can't believe you never changed, Seran," Hotaru said.
"Well, I guess that means I'm not going to check out anytime soon, after
all. Seran, I call myself? As for your question, I was actually there when
the stone on Earth I was telling you about was read. I guess it's been a few
thousand years since then.
Haiku was pretty used to strange occurrences and was starting to understand.
"So you're immortal?" she asked.
He sighed. "Don't rub it in. The ginzuishou tends to have that effect on
people."
"And you learned how to make it from the stone?" Haiku asked. "The medallion
too? That's quite..."
"Yes, and the transformation sticks, and disguise tools, and the talismans,
and a whole bunch other artifacts that have either been hidden or
destroyed."
"Is there any way to reverse the effect of the ginzuishou?" Sailor Saturn
asked.
The man looked at her for a moment. "Ah, I see. You've been under its light
for about a thousand years I'd say. Hmm, that changes things. To your
question, it IS possible but quite difficult. It involves destroying the
ginzuishou in a certain way.... but you don't want to get into that. But
first: you have an idea of who I am. Now where are you from?"
Haiku took things up at this point. "(Assuming the Silver Millennium ended
around the year 1000,) We're from about 2000 years in the future although
due to our time situation we are currently fighting about 1000 years from
now." Haiku gave him a brief run-down on how the next 2000 years were
supposed to happen normally and what had actually happened instead.
"Indeed, it is quite a story. But Hotaru, you said that you were able to
read some of this scripture?"
"Yes, but that only led to sending Haiku and myself to the past ...oh, I
understand it now."
"Yes. It would appear that this script has already served its purpose for
you and pointed time in the right direction. Everything else will be your
own to discover if the script won't reveal anything else. Now, I'm sure
you're needed by now in your own time, so when do we leave?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I realize that we've just given you a
detailed overview of the future that you shouldn't have known. Are you sure
that you want to interfere with the natural order of time?"
"Of course it will be all right! You've only just brought me up to date. The
reason I know that is the reason why I was able to identify this script so
quickly. For me, I can translate this top line. It says that I -me
personally- will be leaving this planet and life today. Originally I thought
that it might be foretelling my death but now that you've explained
yourselves it all makes sense."
"But the only person I'm able to take with me is Hotaru and that's just
because we were bonded together in the first place."
"Don't worry, I'll be able to follow you once you make the jump into the
timestream. It's not like I've never traveled through time before."
"Well, I guess we'd better get going then," Haiku announced as she reclaimed
the memory cube. "Is there anything you need to take care of before we
leave?"
"Just a moment." He quickly jotted down a note and left it on his desk.
"Okay. I'm ready now."
Haiku drew her sword, grabbed onto Sailor Saturn and allowed herself to be
drawn into the timestream. Her last thought was of her disappointment that
they hadn't found a way to defeat the beyonder.
Seran looked at the place where the two of them had disappeared.
"Interesting. The residue is rapidly decaying. I wonder how it's done." He
pushed the thought aside for a later date and gracefully stepped into the
timestream.
A few minutes later the wall returned to a normal doorway and Lee came into
the room to find it deserted. He immediately spotted the note on the desk.
"What's this? 'The millennium is coming to an end. Go to Earth.'" He
shrugged. "Guess my training's over. Who am I to argue with Sailor Saturn."
*****
Haiku was standing on a rock looking out over the water-flooded land. This
time Sailor Saturn was standing beside her, and a moment later Seran stepped
out of thin air. "This isn't the new Earth is it?" he asked.
"No, it isn't. I don't know why the medallion keeps bringing me to this
point in time. We're at the point when the beyonder was just starting to
bond with the Earth. We should get back this time."
Before Seran or Saturn could say anything the two senshi were pulled back
into the timestream.
*****
Usagi still sat at the place where she had seen Haiku and Hotaru disappear.
It had been hours since their departure. The other senshi had come and gone.
Sailor Pluto wasn't present but Usagi knew that she was probably watching.
Usagi was just starting to drift off to sleep when Hotaru and Sailor Saturn
came tumbling out of thin air, followed by a man who gracefully stepped away
to avoid from being trampled by them. A moment later as Usagi had expected
Sailor Pluto appeared through a portal. For a moment no one spoke. Haiku was
as shocked by the man as Usagi was.
"But you were-" Haiku muttered.
"Yes, I was an old man," Seran replied. "But remember, I'm immortal. I was
just playing my part on Saturn." Instead of the old man who Haiku and Hotaru
had met on Saturn standing in front of them now was a man no older than in
the late twenties. Haiku and Hotaru shuffled to their feet, but Seran had
already moved on. "So you must be Serenity's daughter. It's an honor." Usagi
wasn't sure what to say.
Meanwhile Pluto was having her turn. "Haiku, I thought you knew better than
to bring people forward in time. This could cause even more problems. What
if he has something to do in the past? This could lead to a whole new slew
of problems."
"Relax Pluto. He said it would be okay. It was written in the runes, which
by the way, aren't actually mage runes."
"They aren't?"
"No, this is going to take a while to explain." Haiku pointed towards the
portal and the two of them moved towards it.
"We're going to have to speak at a later date your highness," Seran said to
Usagi before hurrying to get through the portal that Haiku and Pluto had
gone through before it disappeared.
That left just Hotaru and Usagi standing there.
"Come on Usagi, we need to get some rest," Hotaru said, taking Usagi's hand.
"Don't worry about them. They have some things to work through before they
call it a night."
Usagi nodded and followed silently.
end eps. 28
Episode 28 'R&R: Reflection and Revelation'
Usagi sat at the edge of the fountain, trying to appreciate the crystal
bench she was sitting on and the crystal figure that had water running out
of it. She wasn't even sure what the figure was supposed to be. Although one
might expect to find clear, pure water running through a fountain like this
it was nothing but dirty seawater which pretty much ruined the intended
effect.
"Usagi, here you are," Luna the cat exclaimed, taking a seat at Usagi's
feet.
"It's beautiful Luna." Although the intended effect was ruined, Usagi still
found the beauty in it. It's the attempt that counts, after all.
"Everyone's been looking all over for you," Luna scolded, but Usagi
continued talking as though she hadn't heard a word that Luna had said.
"So this will be my garden someday, or would have been someday." Although
nothing could grow yet, it could be seen where room had been left for walls,
bushes, and flowers. The people involved in resistance had apparently had a
lot of spare time and spent a lot of it designing, developing and arranging
the palace grounds. "I bet that Neo-Queen Serenity spends hours and hours
sitting here, and I bet that an endless number of romances will happen
here." She shook her head. "What was that Luna? I wasn't listening."
"Why did you run off so abruptly Usagi?"
"How can I, Luna?"
"How can you what?"
"How can I send away my friends once again on a mission which will most
certainly lead to their deaths? This time I have the chance to prevent it
before it even happens. I don't think I can handle it happening again."
"This is far different this time Usagi. You aren't leading the senshi to
their deaths. Destiny has given them a chance to accept a mission that could
POSSIBLY lead to their deaths. Which won't happen if everyone plays their
own part."
"I suppose so; but I just feel ... I don't know, that there's something more
that I can do... that there's a bit of doubt existing."
"I can't help you there Usagi. You're going to have to build your confidence
from yourself and the others. We've all been through a lot and no one's
going to give up now. Anything is possible. Heck, I never believed that I
would become a sailor senshi, even for a short period of time, and look how
well that worked out. There's just one more goal. And if we can achieve it
we'll finally be able to hopefully restore at least a little bit of what we
had before."
*****
Sailor Pluto sat at her desk. To anyone else it would seem odd for there was
nothing else there except for the desk and the chair she was sitting on.
Everything else was just black emptiness. She was extremely frustrated over
her attempts to translate the mage runes. After the end of the Silver
Millennium she hadn't expected to see them again (and if time had flowed
normally she wouldn't have) so she had allowed the knowledge to fade with
time for it brought back too many memories. And now she had a very small
time to get some kind of meaning out of them. Needless to say, she wasn't
having any luck at all.
If only she could go back in time she would be able to translate them. But
now the beyonder was blocking time travel and it would take all of the
senshi's power together in order to break through it for the journey there
and even worse, the journey back.
Of course, Haiku had done some timetravelling. How else could she have
awoken Usagi's dormant inherited power? A plan began to form in Sailor
Pluto's mind...
*****
Haiku was sitting in her room, relaxing and allowing time to pass. A
well-deserved and well-needed bath had allowed her to unwind. Shortly after
they had all returned to resistance headquarters Usagi had disappeared. With
the internal security detectors still offline the senshi had split up to
find her. Haiku, on the other hand understood why Usagi had run off and
decided that Usagi would be found when she wanted to be found.
Haiku knew only too well what was bothering Usagi. Back during her days of
training for the gathering mission she had watched countless people
sacrifice their lives in order for resistance to gather enough information
for the first mission to be a success. There were even more casualties
involved while they were gathering the materials for her ship.
Haiku was still unsure as to how she was supposed to use her abilities to
defeat the beyonder. In fact, she was still unsure as to what exactly her
abilities entailed. As with the rest of the senshi's powers, they hadn't
come with an instruction manual. Fortunately, she did not allow frustration
to get the better of her.
Although it was not totally unexpected, Haiku was still a little startled
when Sailor Pluto appeared in her room. "Hey, there's this little thing
called knocking, you know," Haiku said as a reflex without thinking.
"Don't worry Haiku, I made sure that you weren't doing anything before I
entered."
"Hey, how did you..." Haiku went silent as her face turned red. "Ah.... what
did you want?"
Sailor Pluto allowed herself to smile for a moment. "I have a problem," she
said. With the look on Haiku's face she quickly continued. "Yes, even I have
problems sometimes!" "Anyway, after quite a lot of time of analyzing the
time runes..."
"Yes?"
"I haven't been able to find out anything! I don't know why. I've read mage
runes before."
"So what do you want me to do about it? I couldn't much sense out of them
either!"
Sailor Pluto revealed her plan. "It's very simple actually. I just need you
to travel back in time to the planet Saturn during the Silver Millennium to
get one of the scholars there to take a look at the runes. You're the only
one who's able to travel back in time so effortlessly."
Haiku paused. "Yeah, but there's a little problem. You see, I had no control
over what time period I was going to last time. I just activated the power
and let it take me wherever I was supposed to go. I don't even know whether
I could repeat the same process for that matter."
"But it's worth a try," Sailor Pluto said. "I assume that you have no idea
how to beat the beyonder with your powers at the moment. These runes might
hold the key. But we're never going to find out what they say if you don't
take the initiative."
"All right, fine!" Haiku exclaimed. "Let's just hope that they've found
Usagi by now. I'm going to need the medallion again." Haiku got up, threw
on some clothes, and wasjust about to run through the door when Sailor Pluto knocked her on the
shoulder with her staff. She turned around to find Pluto pointing towards a
portal she had just formed. "Of course, how silly of me. Why should we have
to bother taking the door like everyone else."
*****
Luna had finally persuaded Usagi to return with her and rejoin the others
when the black portal appeared about ten feet off of the ground and a person
dropped out of it. A very annoyed looking Haiku got up off of the ground and
brushed herself off. "Very funny Pluto," she called out.
Just as Luna was about to ask Haiku who she was talking to another portal
formed, this time vertically rather than horizontally, and Sailor Pluto
stepped out. Haiku stared at her for a moment and Pluto just ignored
everyone. The silent fight was interrupted by Usagi. "Haiku, Pluto! Is
something wrong?"
"No, nothing Usagi," Haiku replied, seemingly unwanting to take her eyes off
the person who had made a hole appear below her feet a few moments earlier.
"Actually we need your help, princess," Sailor Pluto said.
Usagi was the only person to whom Haiku had explained how she had gone into
the past and changed it so that Usagi would be able to survive. "I need to
borrow the medallion again. Pluto thinks that if I go back into the past
again then I'll be able to find some clue as to how I am supposed to defeat
the beyonder."
"Are you sure that's safe?!" Usagi exclaimed. "I mean, the last time you did
it the beyonder was able to interfere. What if he does something worse?"
"I don't think he will. To him right now we don't seem like enough of a
nuisance to eliminate quickly. Although he might be stronger in terms of raw
power he is still unable to travel through time. I've seen what happens when
he affects my destination. I should be able to counter it if necessary. If
he wanted me dead or had been able to kill me he would have done so when I
was there. And besides, this could be the key to our victory!"
"I know," Usagi replied unclipping the chain from around her neck. "But I
don't like sending you guys on risky missions. It took enough trouble for us
to get back together the second time. I don't think we would make it through
another round."
"Don't worry Usagi, I intend on coming back. I still have some unfinished
business." Haiku took the medallion that had been dropped into her hand and
placed it around her own neck. She was about to continue when a voice called
out.
"Wait!" Hotaru came running up. "Take me too." In a few seconds a silent
conversation passed between Hotaru and Haiku.
"No Hotaru, not you too," Usagi protested.
"Let's go," Haiku said as Hotaru shifted into Sailor Saturn and Haiku drew
her sword. Before Usagi could say anything else the two were engulfed in
white light and disappeared.
"Why did you let her do that?" Usagi asked Pluto.
"It's not my place to instruct either of them. They both have a far better
idea of what is going on than any of us," Sailor Pluto answered before
walking back into her portal.
*****
Haiku opened her eyes to find herself in a place much different than she had
expected to be in. Actually, she wasn't where she was supposed to be at all.
Her last thought before allowing the medallion to pull her into the
timestream was to find a way to defeat the beyonder. Perhaps the beyonder
had interfered.
She was standing on a rock looking out over the water-flooded land. Somehow
she just 'knew' that she was still on earth. And also, she just 'knew' that
this was where the sailor senshi had lost to the beyonder two years ago, or
in this case, a few minutes earlier. Sailor Saturn was not standing beside
her. She must have remained in the timestream. This was not where Haiku had
wanted to go.
Activating the medallion, she reentered the timestream. This time with
thoughts of Saturn, the Silver Millennium and a way to translate the mage
runes.
*****
Haiku appeared inside a building this time, staring up at a statue of a
black angel carrying a weapon similar to Saturn's glaive. Sailor Saturn was
kneeling beside her, hands together and eyes closed. Haiku quickly weighed
the odds and decided that it would be safest to let her be for now. There
was no visible entrance or exit so Haiku just forced herself to be patient.
After a short but seemingly long period of time Sailor Saturn stood back up.
Haiku tried to not let any emotion show. "Sorry to make you wait Haiku,"
Saturn said. I just had a few issues to take care of."
"Like what?"
"Well, apparently the spirit of Saturn is sleeping right now. It seems that
here a senshi only comes into office when she is needed. So when I appeared
the planet got a little nervous, not expecting its powers to be drawn from.
I just straightened out that we're from another time and that we'll only be
staying for a short time."
"That's good. Now where are we and how do we get out?"
"I unknowingly drew us towards this place. It's the shrine of Saturn. Very
few people are allowed in here besides Sailor Saturn. -don't worry, I kept
the planet from destroying you."
"Oh joy, now how do we get out?"
"Just a moment." Saturn closed her eyes and a moment later the two of them
vanished.
*****
Haiku and Hotaru appeared on a dais, looking up at space. Haiku noticed that
Hotaru had detransformed during the teleport. No one was around. "Where are
we? Where is everyone?"
"This tends to be a place that the residents don't go near. Just because
their guardian is Sailor Saturn doesn't mean they aren't scared of her
power. Come on, this way."
Haiku followed Hotaru down a slope, through some rocks, through an alley and
out onto a street. Although there were some people out on the street there
weren't very many and none stopped to inquire as to who Haiku or Hotaru
were.
Hotaru led to a large, domed building. "What's this?" Haiku asked.
"This is a university of sorts. There should be someone here who can help
us." There was no one at the doors so the two of them just continued on into
the great hall. It was empty except for a woman sitting at a desk at the
side. Once again, Hotaru led. "Excuse me, can you direct me to where an
ancient translator might be?"
The woman paused for a moment and then gave the directions. "But Sera-san
doesn't accept visitors. You'll probably find yourself sent back here."
"Oh I'm sure we have something that might be of interest to him," Hotaru
replied.
*****
After two knocks and the usual waiting period had expired it became apparent
that no one was going to answer the door.
"Maybe this is the wrong door," Haiku said.
"No, he's in there," Hotaru replied.
"Hello, is anyone in there?" Haiku called out. No answer. "Excuse me, but if
you don't come and open the door for us we're going to have to remove it
ourselves." Still no answer. "We're not going to go away. Fine then, have it
your way." Haiku was about to use her magic when Hotaru suddenly grabbed her
arm.
"Wait a moment." Hotaru ran her hand over the door. "There's a blocking
spell in place."
"What does that mean? Is he not hearing us?"
"Oh, he can hear you all right, but chances are that if you tried to blast
down the door the energy would bounce back."
"So it will be okay as long as I use more power than the block can handle,
right?"
"Probably not. If you release that much power you'll most likely destroy
more than the door. And if you tried and didn't hit it with enough power on
your first try it would be even worse."
"But naturally, you can handle it?"
"Of course." A moment later Hotaru was replaced by Sailor Saturn. Hotaru
this time called out, "If you don't come and remove the block for us then I,
Sailor Saturn, will get annoyed." This time there was an answer.
"Get out of here you blasphemous kids," a voice called from inside. "I'm
busy."
Sailor Saturn concentrated for a moment on his mind. "Stubborn man." She
held out her glaive. "Silence glaive surprise!" Ribbons shot out from the
tip of her glaive to the edges of the door. The door was incinerated; for in
actuality there was no door. Just a blocking spell that looked like a door;
there was still a curtain drawn across the doorway. Sailor Saturn stepped
aside and held out her arm for Haiku to go first.
Haiku pushed aside the curtain and walked inside the room. She had expected
to see a cranky old man but instead there was a young (probably arrogant)
man sitting at a desk, looking a little annoyed but mostly startled. "What
do you think you are doing?" he exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how long it
took me to build that? You can't just walk in here and..I.." he drifted off
as the other woman stepped through the door.
[Quick background: On the planet Saturn, Sailor Saturn was kind of like a
God. Speaking with disrespect about her was blasphemy. Impersonation was
impossible because the planet 'disabled' anyone who tried it. (And every so
often someone went crazy and thought that they were the next Sailor Saturn
and had to be 'put in their place' by the planet, but that's another story)]
"Ahhh...what...I didn't know," he mumbled as he fell to his knees.
"Relax. I'm not here to kill you. Your business is with her," Sailor Saturn
said, pointing to Haiku. The silence glaive disappeared and Hotaru
detransformed. The man got to his feet.
"Uhhh, how can I help you?"
Haiku was disappointed that the show was over. She took out the memory cube.
"I want you to translate some mage runes for me."
"Do you have them with you?" Haiku pressed the cube and an image of the wall
appeared. The man quickly picked his glasses off of the floor and put them
on. For a moment he looked at the script. "That's odd," he commented.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure. I'm not sure what this script is. It seems familiar." He got
up and moved back, further into the quarters past another curtain. He
motioned for Haiku to follow. "Master! Wake up! Come take a look at this."
The three of them stepped into the next room.
Sitting at a desk was the old man that Haiku had expected to see upon
entering the quarters. It looked like he had fallen asleep right at his desk
right in the middle of his work, for he woke up, shook his head and, not
even noticing his visitors, continued the work he had been doing the night
before. "No master, over here, we have visitors." Now all four of them were
in the room.
"I thought I told you not to bother me unless it was important. I don't have
time for trivialities."
"But this IS important." The young man grabbed the cube from Haiku's hand
and placed it on the desk in front of the old man, turning it on. "They
brought this in. I'm not sure what this script is; I don't believe what it
appears to be. What do you think?"
The man stopped as soon as he saw the script, and took a closer look. After
a moment he turned around and looked right at Haiku. "Where did you find
these?"
"Well, I'm not sure how to explain...I found them on a door but it doesn't
exist anymore."
"Do you know what these are?" he asked.
"I've been told that they're mage runes. My friend here partially translated
some of them."
"Really? Interesting... come here for a moment." the man took out a writing
tool and wrote down a line of text. He held it up. "This is what I see as
the first line of text, but it isn't what either of you see, is it?"
"Huh?" Haiku grabbed the 'pen' and paper and copied down some messy
characters. "That's what I'm reading. Are you sure we're looking at the same
place?"
"Oh, quite sure. I've heard about these before but only seen them once. It's
interesting how their nature is still present in a visual reproduction."
"Why? What are they?"
"These, my dear, are certainly not mage runes, as I am quite apt in their
translation. I'm not even sure if this text has a name as no human can write
it. In belonging, it could only be of nature, or of a God if they really
exist. As you may have already noticed, the text reads differently for each
person, and can even change its appearance for one person over time."
"As for their nature, I'd say that they are used to guide, to control fate,
and to lead time in the right direction. An authority above even that of the
avatar of Pluto... of course, this is all speculation but that's one of the
more realistic theories. That's why I want to know where you found it."
"They just appeared on a wall.... wait, you said that you've seen them
before?"
"Of course. I imagine that every scholar in the system has at least once,
even if they didn't realize what they are. It's one of the major attractions
on Earth. There's a giant rock face covered with symbols like these."
"What does it say?"
"Well, no one can read them anymore but it's said that it prophetized the
establishment of the first colonies on Earth's moon and gave rough
instructions on how to colonize the rest of the planets with the help of
magic."
"So what you're saying," Haiku concluded, "Is that the runes probably gave
crucial instructions to specific people at certain moments in time in order
to direct the spread and survival of life?"
"Well I suppose so, but you state it so simply."
"So you're suggesting that that might be what mine are for?"
"It's possible. But from what I've heard only avatars have been able to read
this language and even then only Pluto or maybe Saturn; but they're rarely
present in the system any more."
Finally Hotaru decided to contribute to the conversation. "No, Pluto wasn't
able to understand them, she thought you might. I was only able to translate
some of it, none of which is of any use to us now."
"Wait a moment. You did what? Who are you? Where are you from? When are you
from...."
Haiku and Hotaru paused as they looked at each other; they weren't sure what
to say.
"Lee, please leave the room," the man stated.
"Master, I already know."
"No, I'm afraid you don't. You only know what you need to know," It looked
like he was going to protest again but he didn't and left the room. The old
man waved his hand and a solid wall appeared in place of the doorway. "I'm
sorry about that," he apologized, "but this is something that shouldn't
leave this room. So, who do I have the privilege of being in the presence
of?"
Hotaru changed into Sailor Saturn. The crescent moon appeared on Haiku's
forehead.
"Ah, the main line of the moon guided by the shadow of Saturn. Interesting.
Let's see... a ginzuishou and our medallion! In the hands of one who hasn't
come of age yet? That could be dangerous: although that's only in this time.
You're from the future, I assume, hmmm.... let's see... I'd say, 2 or 3
generations from our present queen... is something so drastic going to take
place in the next couple hundreds of years?"
Haiku stared at him. "Who are you?"
"I can't believe you never changed, Seran," Hotaru said.
"Well, I guess that means I'm not going to check out anytime soon, after
all. Seran, I call myself? As for your question, I was actually there when
the stone on Earth I was telling you about was read. I guess it's been a few
thousand years since then.
Haiku was pretty used to strange occurrences and was starting to understand.
"So you're immortal?" she asked.
He sighed. "Don't rub it in. The ginzuishou tends to have that effect on
people."
"And you learned how to make it from the stone?" Haiku asked. "The medallion
too? That's quite..."
"Yes, and the transformation sticks, and disguise tools, and the talismans,
and a whole bunch other artifacts that have either been hidden or
destroyed."
"Is there any way to reverse the effect of the ginzuishou?" Sailor Saturn
asked.
The man looked at her for a moment. "Ah, I see. You've been under its light
for about a thousand years I'd say. Hmm, that changes things. To your
question, it IS possible but quite difficult. It involves destroying the
ginzuishou in a certain way.... but you don't want to get into that. But
first: you have an idea of who I am. Now where are you from?"
Haiku took things up at this point. "(Assuming the Silver Millennium ended
around the year 1000,) We're from about 2000 years in the future although
due to our time situation we are currently fighting about 1000 years from
now." Haiku gave him a brief run-down on how the next 2000 years were
supposed to happen normally and what had actually happened instead.
"Indeed, it is quite a story. But Hotaru, you said that you were able to
read some of this scripture?"
"Yes, but that only led to sending Haiku and myself to the past ...oh, I
understand it now."
"Yes. It would appear that this script has already served its purpose for
you and pointed time in the right direction. Everything else will be your
own to discover if the script won't reveal anything else. Now, I'm sure
you're needed by now in your own time, so when do we leave?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I realize that we've just given you a
detailed overview of the future that you shouldn't have known. Are you sure
that you want to interfere with the natural order of time?"
"Of course it will be all right! You've only just brought me up to date. The
reason I know that is the reason why I was able to identify this script so
quickly. For me, I can translate this top line. It says that I -me
personally- will be leaving this planet and life today. Originally I thought
that it might be foretelling my death but now that you've explained
yourselves it all makes sense."
"But the only person I'm able to take with me is Hotaru and that's just
because we were bonded together in the first place."
"Don't worry, I'll be able to follow you once you make the jump into the
timestream. It's not like I've never traveled through time before."
"Well, I guess we'd better get going then," Haiku announced as she reclaimed
the memory cube. "Is there anything you need to take care of before we
leave?"
"Just a moment." He quickly jotted down a note and left it on his desk.
"Okay. I'm ready now."
Haiku drew her sword, grabbed onto Sailor Saturn and allowed herself to be
drawn into the timestream. Her last thought was of her disappointment that
they hadn't found a way to defeat the beyonder.
Seran looked at the place where the two of them had disappeared.
"Interesting. The residue is rapidly decaying. I wonder how it's done." He
pushed the thought aside for a later date and gracefully stepped into the
timestream.
A few minutes later the wall returned to a normal doorway and Lee came into
the room to find it deserted. He immediately spotted the note on the desk.
"What's this? 'The millennium is coming to an end. Go to Earth.'" He
shrugged. "Guess my training's over. Who am I to argue with Sailor Saturn."
*****
Haiku was standing on a rock looking out over the water-flooded land. This
time Sailor Saturn was standing beside her, and a moment later Seran stepped
out of thin air. "This isn't the new Earth is it?" he asked.
"No, it isn't. I don't know why the medallion keeps bringing me to this
point in time. We're at the point when the beyonder was just starting to
bond with the Earth. We should get back this time."
Before Seran or Saturn could say anything the two senshi were pulled back
into the timestream.
*****
Usagi still sat at the place where she had seen Haiku and Hotaru disappear.
It had been hours since their departure. The other senshi had come and gone.
Sailor Pluto wasn't present but Usagi knew that she was probably watching.
Usagi was just starting to drift off to sleep when Hotaru and Sailor Saturn
came tumbling out of thin air, followed by a man who gracefully stepped away
to avoid from being trampled by them. A moment later as Usagi had expected
Sailor Pluto appeared through a portal. For a moment no one spoke. Haiku was
as shocked by the man as Usagi was.
"But you were-" Haiku muttered.
"Yes, I was an old man," Seran replied. "But remember, I'm immortal. I was
just playing my part on Saturn." Instead of the old man who Haiku and Hotaru
had met on Saturn standing in front of them now was a man no older than in
the late twenties. Haiku and Hotaru shuffled to their feet, but Seran had
already moved on. "So you must be Serenity's daughter. It's an honor." Usagi
wasn't sure what to say.
Meanwhile Pluto was having her turn. "Haiku, I thought you knew better than
to bring people forward in time. This could cause even more problems. What
if he has something to do in the past? This could lead to a whole new slew
of problems."
"Relax Pluto. He said it would be okay. It was written in the runes, which
by the way, aren't actually mage runes."
"They aren't?"
"No, this is going to take a while to explain." Haiku pointed towards the
portal and the two of them moved towards it.
"We're going to have to speak at a later date your highness," Seran said to
Usagi before hurrying to get through the portal that Haiku and Pluto had
gone through before it disappeared.
That left just Hotaru and Usagi standing there.
"Come on Usagi, we need to get some rest," Hotaru said, taking Usagi's hand.
"Don't worry about them. They have some things to work through before they
call it a night."
Usagi nodded and followed silently.
end eps. 28