Welcome back readers! Before you commence your journey through this chapter I'd like to to excuse for any nonsensicality you find throughout this story. I do my best to make everything fit right and make sense, but things are overlooked, you know. Please, enjoy.
Disclaimer- You know I don't own it, I know I don't own it and Takeuchi Naoko definitely knows I don't own it so lets get on, shall we?
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The god Hephaestus had gone to the Elysian Fields centuries ago, joining other legendary Immortals and heroes such as Hermes and Theseus in the Immortal's version of retirement. His son and successor, Hephaestus II, was undeniably similar — hefty, strong, benevolent, and equal in skill to his father in their craft. However there were two major differences between them: Hephaestus II was not lame as his father had been and paid much more attention to the world outside of his forge. A kind-hearted soul, he held a reputation among young Immortals and Immortals-in-training for giving advice as good and sound as his created masterpieces.
His biggest fault was that he held grudges for an unbelievably long time, but he was an Immortal. When you're nearly a millennium old and can expect to live for several more, a century-long grudge just doesn't hold the same feeling of importance.
Hephaestus was constantly covered in soot and eternally watery-eyed from working over a scorching fire. Stories maintained that there was nothing he couldn't make, magical or not, with the help of his precious hammer, metals and forge. When Pluto and Moiros burst into the workshop without warning, they found him bent over an anvil, hammering incessantly at a blindingly bright sword.
Quickly regaining his senses after the surprise explosion that heralded the pair's appearance, Hephaestus grinned broadly and pulled them both into a crushing, bear-like hug.
"Sailor Pluto, Moiros! Why, how long has it been since we've seen each other, friends? And you two…together?" He released them from his viselike grip and gazed down at them curiously.
Pluto frowned as she realized what a stir it would cause when other Immortals found out that she and Moiros had been seen together. "It really is not what you think, Hephaestus."
"Don't pay Puu any mind, it's exactly what you think, Hephaestus," Moiros contradicted with a wicked grin. "She's just shy about us."
Pluto gritted her teeth. There should be a law against people who acted so infuriatingly. "Philanderer that you may be, Moiros, you will not call me that, nor will you allow repulsive gossip to inundate the Realm."
Hephaestus hastily interrupted them. "What might you two be doing here, if I may ask?"
"Hephaestus, I must ask you, has anyone besides you been working on anything like this?" Moiros showed him the glowing shears.
Hephaestus gaped at the tool. "Atropos's shears! What are you doing with them?"
"No, no," Moiros reassured him. "These are look-alikes. Atropos has the real ones, as she should. But, someone invaded the Thread Chamber uninvited, and tried to cut the former Princess Serenity's and Prince Endymion's threads."
After gasping, Hephaestus pondered the matter. "Actually, something rather like that did happen a while back."
"What?" Pluto and Moiros asked in unison.
"Autolycus came and asked me to repair his Caduceus for him. I only turned away from my forge and metals for a few seconds, but I soon found that some of my metals and tools were gone."
"Autolycus?" Pluto asked suspiciously.
Hephaestus nodded. "Cheeky brat, I know, but he is Hermes's son. I doubt he'd do something like this."
"But he's such a trickster," Pluto protested, not wanting to let the matter go.
Hephaestus shrugged. "Think what you'd like Pluto. I'm still not so sure. Why would he risk his task as Messenger by doing something stupid like this?"
"Because it's tricky and underhanded, his most prized qualities," Moiros grumbled, being the victim of some of Autolycus's pranks.
"But this is evil," Hephaestus said with a sort of earnest grimness, "and that really isn't Autolycus's approach."
"Is it possible for someone to use materials from here and work somewhere else to create shears like this?" Pluto questioned.
Hephaestus furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "I suppose, if they'd had enough time to prearrange everything," he mused.
"This is the Immortal Realm, Hephaestus, we always have time," Moiros reminded him jokingly. He gazed around and suddenly asked, "Could I see exactly what was taken, Hephaestus?"
"Of course. It's all right over here…" Hephaestus said, leading him to a bare spot on a shelf.
Pluto leaned against one of Hephaestus's many shelves, where he stored his tools and metals, and crossed her arms. Why must I do this with Moiros? It's just my luck that we have to work together.
Hephaestus made his way to where the tall, elegant woman stood moodily. "Why so morose, Trista?" Hephaestus asked, using her ancient Plutonian name.
"It's him," Pluto replied, jerking a thumb to indicate Moiros, who was inspecting another set of shelves. "Of all the Immortals."
"Trista," Hephaestus sighed, "I thought you had gotten past what happened."
"I had," Pluto replied bitterly, "but having to collaborate with him has awakened all of those emotions again. If it hadn't been for him and his carelessness, I would—"
"Trista," the craftsman said softly, "it wasn't his fault."
"It might as well have been," Pluto said, trying hard not to allow Hephaestus to notice the instability of her placid façade.
"Take a look at this!" Moiros exclaimed.
Hephaestus hurried over to his side, and after a short pause, Pluto reluctantly did so as well.
"Here, Pluto." Moiros handed her a scrap of creamy, glowing parchment that had apparently been slipped under one of Hephaestus's gemstones.
Silently, Pluto read it:
Hasten Gate Guardian, to your lair,
For something unexpected awaits you there.
"What on Pluto? Oh no—the Gate! It's unguarded!" Sailor Pluto immediately transported back to the Time Corridor in alarm, closely followed by Moiros. Hephaestus remained behind, forbidden to leave his forge unless his apprentice was there in his place. Like lightning, he rushed to an out-of-the-way golden cauldron filled with a clear, glossy fluid, and the face of a hulking teenage boy appeared.
"VULCAN!" Hephaestus roared, his voice like thunder. "Hurry, I must leave immediately!"
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Meanwhile, Pluto and Moiros reappeared into the Time Corridor.
"How could I do something so careless? You're rubbing off on me, Overseer," she muttered.
"I take that as a good thing?" Moiros said with a roguish grin.
"Hardly. What is that?" Pluto asked, gazing up at the top of the Time Gate.
Moiros looked up as well to see a dark reddish-brown, almost black, gemstone embedded in the center bar of the Time Gate.
"Oh gods," Pluto murmured, the color draining from her face.
"What is it?"
A flash of intense green light heralded Hephaestus's appearance beside Moiros, startling the two. The smith's eyes widened as he gazed at the gem. "Chrysoberyl."
"What?" Moiros attempted to discern the ominous meaning of the gemstone. There seemed nothing unusual about it, except its shape. It was in the shape of an awfully familiar, lopsided, crescent moon.
"It's the Dark Kingdom insignia," said Hephaestus, knowing Pluto was still trying to process the image before her.
"That horrible gemstone," Pluto practically whimpered.
Moiros looked at her in disbelief. The once majestic Pluto had been reduced to a young girl, her garnet eyes wide and frightened, knuckles white from her grip on the Time Key. Moiros was not as old as the other two and had not been alive during the Silver Millennium, so with a comforting arm wrapped around Pluto's shoulder, Hephaestus began explaining.
"You've heard of the Dark Kingdom's takeover during the time of the Silver Millennium." Moiros nodded in assent. "May I explain to him, Trista dear?" Hephaestus asked kindly, and Pluto, who was starting to look more like her old self, nodded.
"When Trista—Sailor Pluto, that is—was in her late teens, the attacks began. She was princess of Pluto, and her parents, the King and Queen, guarded her with their lives." Pluto tried to stifle a sob, as, like a river becoming unblocked, all of the memories came flooding back. "They would not allow her to get hurt, even though being a Senshi, she was very powerful. Knowing that she would soon become an Immortal, they prepared for her dispatch into the Institution.
"But not long before she was to depart, a particularly furious attack was launched on Pluto. Trista struggled to defeat the assailants and youmas, but her father shoved her behind a tapestry, and she had to watch as her parents… were defeated." Hephaestus hung his head and Sailor Pluto gave up on her futile attempts to hold back a heart-wrenching sob. "Each one of Beryl—or Metallia's soldiers wore pendants with that loathsome stone on it, and Trista was forced to watch the gemstones dangle before her eyes over and over and over again.
"Later, Trista fought the Dark Kingdom ferociously, but Queen Serenity knew it was time for her to come to this Realm. And so, she forcefully transported Trista into the Institution."
Moiros patted Pluto's shoulder sympathetically, though he doubted it was giving her much comfort. Reminded of his presence by the gesture, Pluto straightened and recovered her composure. Moiros watched the fear and pain dissipate beneath a glinting garnet wall as she narrowed her eyes at the stone.
"What is it doing here?" she asked aloud.
"I'm not sure Trista. But someone has put it there."
"To scare me."
"I rather think so," Hephaestus agreed.
"Well, I'm not going to stand around and let some daft fool intimidate us. We must find out what this is all about," Moiros said determinedly.
The beautiful woman beside him smiled faintly. "That could be the most intelligent thing you've said in your life, Overseer."
Moiros grinned at her, glad to see that Pluto had not lost her dry sense of humor. "Why thank you." Suddenly Moiros gasped and grasped his head, wriggling in pain.
"Moiros!" Hephaestus cried. Pluto's loathing for him was forgotten for a few seconds as she partially extended a concerned hand towards him.
Moiros! It is Atropos. Return to the abode at once! Bring Sailor Pluto and Hephaestus, the voice resounded in his head. Finally, the pain abated.
"Atropos…" Moiros said softly.
"What?" Hephaestus questioned.
"She was in my head," Moiros said, dazed.
Pluto rolled her eyes. "I'm not even going to attempt a response at that."
"No, I think this is a way for her to contact me. Strange, she's never done it before. We have to go to the Thread Chambers. Come!"
"I have to summon Cerberus, first. Oh, this is probably about my leaving the Corridor unguarded." Pluto hurried to her Cauldron, and called to Cerberus. "Cerberus, you must come to the Corridor at once. It's an emergency." Cerberus nodded and in a few seconds he was floating beside Pluto.
Pluto beckoned to the other two and they vanished.
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A Council of Immortals was held only in emergencies. Atropos, being the oldest and wisest of the Immortals, was like the Zeus of the Realm. She conducted the Councils, but there had not been one since World War II, when Atropos had appointed another Immortal to help her cut the Threads, as people were dying so quickly. A throng of Immortals surrounded the three ever-laboring Fates, awaiting Atropos's announcement.
"We are holding this Council—" Atropos stopped to snip a Thread. "Because of a chain of dire events. The first was the theft of some of Hephaestus's apparatus. That in itself is an unforgivable crime. We are Immortals, and should be above petty wrongs such as this." A few Immortals surveyed each other suspiciously. "Also, someone has attempted to cut two vital Threads, most likely by using Hephaestus's materials to make shears like mine. Thankfully, the duplicates did not cut as the originals. Lastly, a horrendous thing has happened." The Immortals perked up their ears to hear what Atropos had to say. "Sisyphus has been freed."
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Who is Sisyphus? Why does it matter if he's freed? Why the hell haven't I started any romance between Pluto and Moiros, and instead inserted loathsome angst? Why does Pluto hate him, anyway, and what will it take for her to get over it? Find out in the next chapter of Against the Gods…or not. Not everything, anyway. :-)
Thank you's to:
mystlady- I am delighted to know you are enjoying ATG so much. I hope this chapter is to your liking!
ff-anime-AM-sp0rks- Yes, people love to tie in Pluto's yearning for Endymion. But who can blame them, huh? He's so good-looking..::grin::. Anyway, I'm glad you like this fic, gracias for your review.
Tokyo Fox- Yes, I know it is a bit…different. Maybe because I'm so "different". Heh. But uniqueness is one of the things I'm aiming for, so that's good right?
Ocianne- Haha, Oci-san your reaction was priceless. I had no idea you'd be so shocked by my dedication. After all, I do consider you my best friend of And yes, I will explain Pluto's dislike for Moiros later… one day… in the distant future. I'm so glad my dedication brightened your day. To my best beta, all my friendship and thanks!
Randa-Chan- So glad the story's caught your attention. Thank you for the review!
Merry Faerie