Hour III
By Spirit-hime
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Setsuna's head hurt. That was her first thought when she woke up. The second was that she was cold. Idiot, she thought. Why did I go to bed before letting my hair dry? She reached for the glass of water by her bed, but her hand met something hard and jagged. In confusion she opened her eyes slightly. The world that met her was not her bedroom. In fact, she was pretty sure that she had never seen any place like this before.
The sky above was a dismal grey, nothing of interest. However, what did catch her attention were the massive rocks that seemed to rise out of the earth at odd angles, as though they had grown there. Indeed, when she inspected one nearby, it almost took on the appearance of an ancient, twisting tree. The ground beneath her was quite similar, solid and unyielding. Though it appeared no different than any ordinary stone she'd seen, it had an unusual solidness to it, as if time itself could not grind it away.
She was still lying there, trying to adjust to her surroundings, when the heavy sound of steel-toed boots struck the ground just above her head. She stared, wide-eyed with surprise, at the two figures that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and were now looming above her with a menacing gleam in their eyes. "Well now. What have we got here?"
The one who spoke was male. That much, at least, she could tell from her current position. He was quite tall (or at least seemed that way from the perspective of his feet), and was wearing a military uniform the same color as his surroundings. His hair was of white satin that seemed too perfect for the dismal atmosphere, and his grey eyes neither reflected light nor gave any of its own. Indeed, the coldness of his gaze was matched only by his companion, a shorter woman with striking cobalt hair that reached just past her ears. Her uniform almost resembled his, if not for the short blue skirt she wore in place of pants.
Setsuna felt about an inch tall. She feared the man, but she feared the woman more. Because the woman's face was both familiar and foreign to her. Because she saw both a friend and a stranger. "Ami-chan..." she whispered.
"Another rebel?" He asked, his voice a mix of curiosity and passiveness.
"Not likely. Looks like someone abandoned her here. And they call us barbarians."
"Aren't we?"
The Ami-lookalike smirked at the comment. "Only when we want to be. You," here she looked at Setsuna. "What's your name? Speak up!"
At a loss for what else to do, she quietly replied, "Setsuna."
"And what are you doing here?"
"I... I don't know."
Ami gave an exaggerated sigh. "Well, we could kill her here or we could bring her back. I'd prefer the former, but we both know what happened last time we killed someone we weren't supposed to."
The other shuddered at the thought. "I doubt she's worth much anyway, but it's better to be safe, I suppose. Stand up," he ordered. Setsuna obeyed, though not without some effort. Why did her body ache so much? She tried to think back, to remember what had happened, but her memories were faded and jumbled. There was something... something that was on her bedroom floor...
The three began their march across the dismal terrain--Setsuna struggling along as best as she could with her bare feet. Note to self, she thought, never travel through time without the proper clothing. She was pretty sure by now that that was what she'd done. Time was a boundless force: it was not composed of a single string of events, but by a myriad of choices, directions, and possibilities. This, she expected, was a choice gone wrong. Just another alternate universe that may have come true, had things gone differently. But how she had gotten here, and how she had ended up time traveling in the first place, was beyond her.
Still, it was reassuring to know that it was through a power that she could control. At least, she hoped she could control it. The thought of passing through the Gates of Time brought a shudder she could not quite explain.
As they plodded on, the clouds above began to clear. Close to the horizon, she could see the Moon rising in an open space between earth and cloud, rolling against a platinum sky. There was something wrong with it. It seemed... darker, somehow, and more scarred with craters. In fact, some were so massive that they seemed to throw off the shape a little bit, so that the sides sank in at places. What had once formed the image of a rabbit was now faded and mutilated, as though the poor thing had been the victim of a hunter's shotgun. Most notably, one of the largest craters, Mare Serenitatis, was nowhere to be seen.
"Why does the Moon look like that?" She asked the man, hoping to take her mind off of Ami's glacial gaze, which was currently burning holes in the back of her head.
He threw her a strange glance. "You don't know much of anything, do you?"
"I'm not from around here."
"Apparently not. If what you mean is why is the Moon half-destroyed, well, that's rather obvious. That's what happened during the Great War, when Earth marched on the Moon Kingdom. If you're wondering why it still shines, well, your guess is as good as mine."
"We suspect she's still up there, that damned princess," Ami continued. "Right along with the rest of the rebels. Some of them exist down here too, but we've stamped most of them out."
"Some say there are parts of this planet that Metallia has not yet touched. Parts that still grow green, that aren't turned to stone. But those are mere legends. Metallia is all-powerful. Her reign here on Earth is absolute."
Setsuna stole a glance at some of the tree-like stones around her. Perhaps they really had been trees at one point in time. After a moment she asked, "Where are you taking me?"
"To the Black King. He'll decide what is to be done with you." Being that this was about as explanatory as a VCR operation manual, she decided that she would be better off if she shut up for a while.
The trio walked the rest of the way in silence. Ahead of them lay a place that seemed overcast with shadow, surrounded by great boulders that reminded her slightly of Easter Island. A very twisted, dismal Easter Island. Dusk had fallen by the time they arrived there, though it may have merely been the shadows creating the illusion of darkness. Setsuna soon found that the great stone structures were merely a small part of the overall place. Soon beyond them the ground abruptly began to sink downward, as though they rested upon the lip of a wide vally or unusually placed crater. At the bottom, so large that it nearly filled the entire space, was (for lack of a better term) a castle. Like everything else around here, it appeared dark and forboding, and not exactly a place where one would like to spend the holidays.
The inside was no better. It stank of mold and death. The floor was like ice against her feet. Everything echoed down the stone hallways, far beyond their source, bringing sounds like the whispering of the dead. It was like being inside a large tomb, with snakelike twists and turns that seemed to descend deeper into the solid stone earth. As they rounded a corner, Setsuna began to hear shouting. The sound continued to grow until they reached an open doorway. Both of her escorts hesitated just beyond the opening, as if fearing what lay inside. They exchanged a glance, in which Ami gave a small, triumphant smirk and whispered, "your turn." The other one sighed, seemed to brace himself for a moment, and--much to her surprise--shoved Setsuna in first.
After the darkness of the hallways, it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the light. Once they did, however, she wished they had not. The room was spacious, with massive ornate pillars supporting the lofty ceiling. She could identify no light source, although candles lined some of the walls. At the far end of the room sat a throne, at which two women knelt devotedly, cooing and nuzzling their heads against the arm-rests, like oversized felines in the presence of delectable blooms of catnip. The first had hair of red, falling in waves around her bare shoulders. Her deep purple eyes gazed at the man upon the throne with such a level of lustful adoration that Setsuna had to turn away in disgust. The second, Setsuna realized after a moment, was not female at all. He had a mane of blonde hair that was tied back loosely into a long ponytail, and sparkling green eyes that shone like emeralds. He did not share his counterpart's level of intensity; content instead to simply rest his head upon his master's lap.
Despite their best--or rather worst intentions--the one who sat on the throne acknowledged neither of them, but instead allowed his dark stare to rest upon the newcomers. His eyes, the empty vortexes that they were, were as black as his hair. And Setsuna's blood curdled when his name came to her lips.
"Endymion."
"You have the pleasure of knowing my name. Indulge me, if you would, so that I may know yours." It was not a question, and it was not a request. It was a command. Something about the look on his face gave Setsuna the impression he already had the answer...
"Some people call me Meiou Setsuna," she said, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
"What is your business here?"
"He," Setsuna gestured at the white-haired man, who was trying his best to look innocent, "requested that I come. Other than that, I do not know why I am here."
"Is that so, Kunzite?" His voice was soft and dangerous, like knives cloaked in silk. As he spoke, he rose slowly, gracefully, from his throne, much to the disappointment of the mistresses--er, mistress and other.
His eyes darted briefly to her escort, who shifted uncomfortably beside her. "It's true, my lord. She appeared rather confused when we found her. She could of course be lying, but that's doubtful. Few are that brave, nor that foolish. This girl appears to be neither."
The king's only response was a small grunt, at which he began to move towards Setsuna. He strode silently away from his throne, steel-tipped boots clacking noisily in the empty room. Clack, clack, clack, and in three lengthy strides he was towering over Setsuna. She heard her own hearbeat pounding noisily in her ears, but her cross crimson gaze never once left his face. She stood frozen, her heart in her throat. Behind him, she could see the two devotees glaring at her vehemently, enraged at this newcomer who distracted the attention of their master. "I do wonder," he said slitheringly. "Could she be lying? Perhaps she is one of the rebels from the south. Or perhaps she's of that bloody princess's rabble. Or even, something more?"
His eyes were dark and forboding, probing her every movement, every expression. She wanted to slink away from them, to hide from the ominous face of one who so greatly resembled a friend. But her face revealed nothing, and her eyes only returned the cold stare. Go ahead and search me, your lordship. You'll never find what you're looking for. My henshin wand is well beyond your reach, my friend.
It was only then that she happened to glance past his face. To look up at the wall behind the throne. Only then did she see the great stone clock embedded into the wall itself, towering angels of death carved into the stone. The hour hand pointed at the two.
Funny, she thought. I thought it was earlier than that.
And then she wasn't sure why she had thought that at all. How should she know what time it was? When was the last time she'd looked at a clock, anyway? An image hovered on the edge of her memory, taunting her with its elusiveness. Was it red numbers she had seen? Where? When?
She tried to grasp it, but the thought was gone before she could harness its meaning, leaving her floundering in her own thoughts.
The king was visibly annoyed by her distant manner. That's right, she thought, how dare I take my mind anywhere beyond your grasp. How dare I be so arrogant.
"Think you're something special, do you?"
"Among worms, even a rat may seem special."
"And just whom are you comparing to a rat?"
"Oh, no one, Your Majesty." Setsuna nearly spat the phrase out, but managed to remain impassive.
"I don't like your tone much, loyal subject."
"My loyalty most certainly doesn't reside with you."
Kunzite raised an astonished eyebrow.
Endymion leaned forward, lips as straight as a dagger. "Then with whom does it reside?"
"Serenity, the White Moon Princess."
"So, you're a traitor then?"
"I am not the traitor here. I am just as loyal to my Princess as the day my Starseed was first graced with her presence. You, however, I seem to have lost esteem for."
Before she could even blink, Endymion backhanded Setsuna across the face. He hit her with such force that her head spun, and she could not even hope to stay on her feet. When she tried to stand, the room did a backflip, and she was slammed onto the chilled tile. She could hear Endymion laughing at her. He kicked her in the ribs, and all the wind left her lungs. She could taste a trickle of blood crossing her lip.
With contempt that made her skin crawl, Endymion said, "Get her out of my sight."
There was the sound of a sword leaving its sheath.
"No. Not on my clean floor. Do that somewhere else, Kunzite."
Halfway in a daze, Setsuna was hauled to her feet. She allowed herself to be half-carried from the throne room, back into the darkness of the hallway. After a few paces, she began to regain her footing, but the man called Kunzite didn't lossen his grip on her. When they were well out of earshot, she could hear him hiss, "that was awfully foolish what you did back there, girl. You're fortunate he didn't rip your face off."
She didn't say anything, just swallowed the taste of blood in the back of her throat. Nothing she said would effect this person, anyway. Instead she concentrated on a plan, bleak as that idea may be. She needed to find an opportunity to henshin without having an army of these freakish people crashing down on her. The two rounded a bend, and passed a pair of soldiers dressed much the same as Mercury. She shuddered. One of them had aqua hair.
"Was that true what you said?"
Setsuna's mind snapped back from her musings over the two soldiers, who had vanished into a doorway. "What?"
"About your loyalties. You... you called her Serenity. No one here ever uses her real name. As if that very name could call her wrath down upon them. They fear her, you know. Most of them haven't even seen her. They think she's some kind of goddess." His expression softened, ever so slightly. "Perhaps she is."
Setsuna's crimson eyes met his. For the first time, she noticed that there was a tinge of green in them. "I meant every word of it," she answered flatly.
"Listen," his voice dropped, and their pace slowed. They were alone in the shadowed corridor, no one around to hear. "I know what you are. He doesn't yet, but he'll figure it out soon enough. Already he suspects."
"Sorry, I can't say I know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, alright. Enough playing dumb, Time Soldier. It's you who the princess described. The red-eyed warrior who fortold the coming of the true queen's reign. The one who told us about that... that thing that binds him. You were the one."
Setsuna could only stare at him a moment. A couple dozen questions rushed through her mind all at once, and for a moment she tried to choose the one that wouldn't get her killed. Realizing that they were all pretty much equal in bad-ness, she settled on one that at least mildly sounded intellegent. "I'm sorry, um... I thought you're Endymion's servant? What's this about Serenity?"
He gave a wry smile. "I serve Endymion, yes. But not that thing which binds him. You saw the darkness in his eyes. That wasn't the real Endymion speaking. Only the Moon Princess can release him from the very prison he created. You told us that."
He looked as though he was going to say something more, but chattering erupted behind them. The two women had emerged from the room. Kunzite took Setsuna by the arm and hurried down the hallway. "Listen," he whispered, "I can get you out of here, but you'll have to make it to the Moon yourself. There's a passage leading out the back, and--"
As they rounded another corner, the two had to stop short when they nearly collided with another female soldier. Her hair was golden, and unbelievably long. Her piercing blue eyes flashed between both of them with visible disdain. "Oi, where ya takin' that one, Kunz?"
"My lady Venus, I was merely bringing this prisoner to the dungeons," he replied smoothly. Though his face showed no expression, Setsuna could feel the grip on her arm tighten.
Venus snorted. "Heard from Mercury you got to bring her before the King. Looks like you're still standing, surprisingly enough."
"Yes, well the King fortunately decided not to use knives this time."
"I was on my way down there, actually," she said, although it was obvious she was not. "I need to speak to one of the guards. I suppose I can help you finish your job before you go off duty."
"That's not really nec--"
"Please, I insist!" She replied in a tone that told him he had little choice in the matter.
The rest of the walk was all a blur to Setsuna, as the three trudged through the perpetual maze of stone and darkness. They shut her in a small cell, where the stone-coated bars on the door cast striped shadows across the floor. As he turned to go, Kunzite gave her a look that was probably meant to be some form of reassurance, but which she placed very little faith in. Now she was sitting with her back against the wall, listening to the rhythmic clunk of some unseen drop of water and the dry, raspy sound of the guard's breathing.
It took her a moment to realize that the breathing was not coming from the guard.
In the far corner was a pile of clothes or rags, or something of the sort, which had shown no sign of movement since she first entered, and had been initially dismissed as a harmless heap. Now she realized, with no small amount of horror, that this heap was, in fact, breathing. She watched it for a few moments, unsure of what to do.
Well if I'm locked in a room with it, I'd rather find out sooner than later whether it wants to eat me, she thought with a cringe.
Slowly, deliberately, she rose to her feet and began to tiptoe towards the corner. Once there, she momentarily considered kicking the thing, but knew that this probably was not the best idea. So she instead reached out to pull back the garment on the top of the pile. Just then it began to move.
Setsuna had to fight very hard to keep from screaming. Instead she stood, frozen, as the thing began to pull back the layers of fabric that surrounded it.
Eyes as black as pitch met hers.
All thoughts of screaming fled from her mind. Instead she sank to the floor, suddenly feeling very lightheaded. Here, before her, was a face she had not seen in many centuries.
A face which, until now, she thought had been completely obliterated.
He produced a box of matches with the name "The Crystal Rose" scrawled in green lettering across the front, and struck one, momentarily illuminating both their pale faces in flickering orange light as he lit a hand-rolled cigarette. "What's with you," he asked through the pungent whisps of smoke. "You sick or somethin'?" And with that, gave her no more regard than he would have given any other stranger who had invaded his little corner of the cell.
Setsuna's mind was reeling. Was this a dream? Or an illusion? Could it be a trick played upon her by that disgusting version of Endymion, or some ploy by the strange Minako? Or was it merely her own imagination, tricking her into seeing recognition in the face of a stranger? Was this real? Was he real?
She couldn't stop staring at him, although she sensed his slight discomfort. Occassionally he glanced up at her--this strange woman who must surely be mad--only to see her dark crimson eyes riveted upon him. It was a shame, really. Once they lose their sanity, they don't last too long.
Desperately, she searched for something to say, but the only sound she managed to produce was something close to "ummmm." Then, "I don't suppose I know you?"
An eyebrow lifted slightly, as though she had suggested he grow horns and sing "Ave Maria" to the moon. "Not unless you've visited the prisons before."
"Not terribly often," Setsuna replied. "At least, not in the world that I come from."
"Must be a beautiful place, to produce something like you," he said, and the way his eyes sparkled when he said it... Setsuna swallowed hard to keep composure. In a flash, the sparkle was gone, and he was smirking behind his cigarette. She sighed softly - no, it had just been her imagination. That false Endymion was trying to toy with her.
"So what brought you in here, anyway?" he drawled, inhaling the poisonous smoke.
"The King didn't take much of a liking to me," Setsuna nearly spat out the word "king." This Endymion was not her King.
The man coughed slightly, his coughs quickly turning to laughter. After a moment he replied, "No, I suppose not. There are few things in this world that his majesty takes a liking to. Least of all someone who won't put up with his threats."
"Is that why you're here?"
"Something like that." He took a final puff of the cigarette, his dull black eyes gazing at it thoughtfully. Charon never smoked, Setsuna thought whimsically. But then, Charon never sat around in a pile of old clothes that smell like mildew, either. A lot of things are different, she thought. You're seeing ghosts where there aren't any.
Setsuna shook herself of these thoughts. It was no good to dwell, no good to bind herself to the past.
As the man again reached into the folds of his tattered garments for another cigarette, an object came tumbling out, sliding down a fold of grungy burlap and landing on the stone floor with a muffled clunk. A flash of crimson caught Setsuna's eye.
It was a small, dark greyish key. At first it seemed tarnished, but upon closer inspection one would find that it was not of metal, but of stone. In it was a single dark red jewel. The very color that was reflected in Setsuna's eyes.
Memories came flooding back to her. The key. The key on her bedroom floor. The key in her purse. The key that belonged to someone she lost long ago.
There was a violent flash of purple light, a sudden feeling of being tossed across a great chasm of time and space.
And then nothing.