Hotaru landed in the grass on her stomach. She lay for a moment, stunned, before she pushed herself up in a panic and felt around wildly in the dim light for the Garnet Orb. She brought her hand down upon it and hugged it to her chest. "Thank goodness. I thought I'd lost you." She looked at the dim, drab landscape. "Where am I?" She felt tears spring to her eyes from fear of the unknown, and she clutched the Orb tighter. After a moment she shook her head. "Stop it, Hotaru! Don't be a baby!" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, sucked back her fear, and placed the Orb back into her bookbag for safekeeping. She lifted her Glaive from where it had fallen next to her and stood, digging her toe into the dry earth. "Which way?"

She suddenly noticed a figure walking in the distance. She immediately opened her mouth, but snapped it closed in a hurry. She remembered the man who had accosted her in the park, and having already had a bad experience with a stranger that night, she was hesitant. She tightened her grip on the Glaive.

Finally, worried about missing her chance, she crept up behind the figure. "Excuse me…"

The figure turned and Hotaru was face to face with a shadowy specter, mouth agape in a silent scream. It reached towards her.

Startled, Hotaru took a step backwards, brandishing her Glaive. She felt coldness seep into her bones and she reeled around to discover another one behind her. She let out a breathy scream and turned again to face yet another ghost-like figure to her left. Even through her fear as eleven-year-old Hotaru, her instincts as Sailor Saturn kicked in hard. She crouched down in one smooth movement and swung her Glaive over her head. The blade cut through the shadows, and although it seemed to stun them for a moment, they advanced on her again and reached towards her in fascination. She leapt to her feet and prepared to bolt, but she ran into something solid. She made a surprised whimper.

She was held in a strong but gentle grip, and a cool hand was placed over her forehead. She closed her eyes, trembling, waiting for the worst. She felt immobilized.

Then the hand was taken away, and Hotaru looked up into the face of a woman. She blinked. "Who are you?"

The woman seemed neither old nor young to Hotaru, but she had a wise and ancient quality about her. "Do not fear, child of the stars. I am here to help you."

Hotaru studied the woman for a moment, calculating. She then solemnly offered the woman her hand.

***

Not long after, Hotaru and the woman were walking along the dusty path together, Hotaru's hand in hers. The child gazed at the barren landscape, and at the dim shadows that were sometimes seen in the distance. She kept silent, but only looked up gravely at her companion from time to time.

The woman kept her eyes lowered on the path ahead of them. "I am called the Sibyl of Cumae," she said.

Hotaru bowed her head in respect and finally spoke. "Sibyl-Sempai? Who are they?" She nodded towards the others.

"They are the souls awaiting passage across the river."

Hotaru started and almost stumbled. She was in the Underworld. Michiru's words came flying back to her with a jolt. 'I'd take a trip to Hell and back…' Hotaru was shocked to realize that she had practically done just that. She forced herself to push this thought aside. "Are the souls vicious? They reached for me." She couldn't bear to think of Setsuna being one of those ghosts.

"They were fascinated with the mark on your forehead. It sets you apart from the others."

"The mark?" She suddenly noticed the soft violet glow that radiated above her eyes. The sign of Saturn had not faded away since she had arrived.

"You are also still living, which is rare here, and coveted. The dead cling to life."

Hotaru held tighter to the Sibyl's hand. "Do you know why I'm here?"

The woman gave a slow, grave nod. "You possess the blessing of the planet Saturn. However, you are being ruled by Pluto. That planet is controlling your movements through this world – the planet of your mother."

Hotaru suddenly stopped and stared off into the darkness. "You know where she is. You're going to take me to her."

The Sibyl bowed her head and answered with an air of sadness. "I am afraid I do not know where she is, or if she can be found. I can only help you across the river. Your best tool will be the talisman you carry in your bag."

Hotaru reeled from the initial disappointment of having to travel alone on the other side of a great river, but the thought of finding Setsuna pushed aside her fear. "I understand, Sibyl-Sempai."

***

Not long after the sun rose over Tokyo, Michiru was busy pacing around the kitchen, Hotaru's note clutched in her fist. "I don't like it, Haruka! I know she's grieving and she needs space, but I don't like the idea of her out there alone. She must have left before it was even light out! It can be dangerous out there! And this crazy idea of finding Setsuna? Where does she think she's going to look? Setsuna is dead. She's dead and gone!" Michiru's voice broke and she collapsed into a chair, her face buried in her hands. "I can hardly stand it. How can we expect an eleven-year-old girl to handle it?"

"But she shouldn't be lost in this fantasy," whispered Haruka. "We all loved Setsuna so much, but we can't pretend she's coming back." She rubbed Michiru's back. "I'll contact Hotaru on her communicator. I'll tell her to come home and we can all get through this together."

"I'd feel better if you did that." Michiru wiped her eyes. "I want to be with Hotaru."

***

Hotaru stood staring at the dark river. There were others waiting nearby for the boat that would take them across, and still more on the banks, stranded with nowhere to go. Sibyl-Sempai had told her that those people had not been buried, and they had no passage, which consisted of a gold coin held under the tongue. Hotaru was very aware that she didn't have one of those coins, so she felt dead in the water, so to speak. She stood bleakly on the riverbank, hoping nothing would come near her.

Her communicator suddenly blared to life. Slightly irritated at the interruption, she pressed the button rather harder than she needed to. "Saturn here."

"Hotaru, where are you? You look and sound fuzzy."

She wasn't sure exactly how to explain things so Haruka would understand, so she simply said, "I'm in the Underworld looking for Suna. Once I find her we'll come right back home."

Haruka sighed. "Hotaru, this isn't the time to play pretend!"

Hotaru wrinkled her forehead. "I'm not playing pretend. I'm in the Underworld and I'm traveling with a woman named Sibyl-Sempai. I'm about to cross a river, and dead people are all around me."

"Stop it!" Haruka's voice was sharp, and held fear. "Come home right now! Whatever you're doing isn't healthy. You have to understand that Setsuna is gone. It's awful and it's not fair, but it's how things are!"

Hotaru started to slowly shake her head. "No…"

Haruka had taken on a very defeated look. "Please come home. You need to be with your family now."

Hotaru's eyes welled up with angry tears. "Setsuna is our family! I'm here to find her, and if you don't care that she's gone, that's fine. I don't need your help! I'm fine on my own!"

"Hotaru!"

Hotaru scrunched up her face before she could burst into sobs, and clicked off the communicator. She took it off her wrist and let it fall into the bag next to the Garnet Orb. She could find Setsuna without their help.

***

Haruka shut off her communicator and tried to discretely wipe her eyes with the back of her hand. She then turned to Michiru. "Why do I always have to be the bad guy?" she asked, her voice thick.

Michiru was staring into her mirror, a look of deep reservation on her face. "Haruka…I don't think she was pretending. We know Hotaru is alive, yet I can't find her in the mirror. If she was anywhere on Earth, we should be able to see her clearly. All I see are shadows." Michiru looked up at her partner, her lip trembling slightly. "Hotaru is no longer on the surface of the planet."

Haruka shook her head. "What you're asking me to believe is completely preposterous. It's hard to imagine that such a place could even exist. It's all pure speculation."

"But if such a place did exist outside of myth, is it so preposterous that Sailor Saturn would be the one to find it?"

Haruka's eyes narrowed as she processed this thought. Finally she looked at Michiru. "Do you still have Chibi-Usa's time key?"