Chapter 13: The Other Side of the Truth
(Week Three, Day 6)
It was another day, and a trio walked through the park.
What was eye-catching aobut this trio was not their
appearance (although seeing two gaijin, one darker
than the other, walking with an obvious native was an
odd sight), but the three different emotions that were
almost tangible coming from the group. One of the gaijin
obviously felt confusion. It was almost like he was trying
to figure out some puzzle. The female gaijin appeared
pensive and afraid. She didn't turn around to look
at her companions, but walked quickly, occasionally
muttering to herself, briefly closing her eyes, shivering,
and then walking slightly faster.
The native was clearly frustrated, so observers were not
surprised when he suddenly burst out with, "May! Why in the
hell are were walking all over this park?! Tell us what
happened yesterday, already!"
The woman in the front sighed and stopped walking. She
turned around to face her companions. "We are walking all
over this park because I don't know what to tell you about
what happened yesterday."
"What do you mean YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL US?! Look lady-"
"Yusuke," the third member of the group finally spoke up, "Give
her some space for a second. Something obviously went wrong
yesterday." Terry turned to May. "Tell us what you can, but tell
us something. The not knowing is making both of us frustrated."
May looked at the two young men, who, in their own way, had come
to mean a lot ot her. She hated that she had failed them. She
took a deep breath and delivered the body blow with no sugar
coating. "Your brother refuses to meet you."
"What?!" shouted Yusuke. Terry didn't shout, but he looked wounded...
and angry. 'It's almost like Powers or someone just immoral took
someone else away from me,' Terry thought to himself as his fist
tightened. He hated feeling powerless, like he did now.
May continued, "He said he wanted time to think about everything...
alone. Technically, in terms of meeting you two, as his brothers,
his answer was 'not now' instead of a clear 'no'...but let's be
honest. The third week is almost over. We have eight days for him
to change his mind, that's it. And, to be honest, I think that 'not
now' was meant as a 'no'. The Japanese are so damn polite with foreigners. He wouldn't have told be to 'fuck off' if that was what
he was feeling."
After a pause, Terry asked, "What does that mean for us?"
May sighed. "I really don't know. I think all we can do is spend time
together. The two of you still have each other. And maybe we can
piece together parts of your past, but-" She shrugged. "I am sorry
that I wasted your time."
"So we are just going to give up?!" Yusuke shouted. "He's my brother!
We can't just let that empress bitch win! We can't just quit!"
"What you you have me do, Yusuke?" May shouted back. "Trick him into
meeting you two? Kidnap him? Kill his girlfriend? What?!" May
threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "Lies. Lies, strong-arm
tactics, misuse of power...they caused this whole mess. And they
won't fix it; I found out the hard way they make things worse.
So what options do I have left? What would you have me do?"
"I'd have you do something!" Yusuke retorted.
"Why the hell would you care?!" May screamed, practically in Yusuke's
face. Her patience had obviously been pushed over the edge. "You think
I am incompetent. You don't get along with Terry at all. Let's be
honest. The only reaons you haven't demanded that I take you
back to your dimension is that you are afraid of missing a good fight-"
Yusuke had opened his mouth to reply, but Terry, looking off into
the distance, broke in with "He may get that fight after all."
"What?" May asked as she whirled around to see a woman coming towards
them. Her long dark green hair blowing in the breeze, the woman wore a business suit and heels. To the passerby, she didn't look dangerous at all, but May sensed that this woman was some kind of threat. Without analyzing why, May positioned herself in such a way that she stood in front of Terry and Yusuke, almost like a human shield, so that she could protect them.
Behind her, Yusuke and Terry both shifted into battle stances...but
that was because they recognized the woman. She wasn't in the
sailor uniform that she wore when she attacked them two days ago, but
the posture, the hair, and the walk were the same. They knew that
this was the woman who attacked them.
The woman stopped three feet in front of the trio and gave May the
once over. Then she said, "Adaunde. Why am I not surprised that
you would somehow be involved in this? You never knew when to
let go."
Recognizing that the woman had refered to her by what must be her
past life's name, May's eyes narrowed. Only one person would
know that name and feel like a threat. "Pluto. I figured that
I'd run into the empress' time walker sooner or later."
Setsuna eyes narrowed briefly at the woman's use of her sailor title,
but any other reaction she had to that revelation she kept to herself.
"So, Adaunde, how does it feel to lose?"
"So, you appeared ot gloat?" May asked to cover the pain that the
well-placed barb caused. She looked at the diguised time walker
for few seconds. Then she asked, "But have I really lost?"
"Endymion won't leave the moon princess. You must know that by now."
Setsuna stated.
"You mean Mamoru won't leave the reincarnation of the moon princess.
There is a difference, you know," May corrected. "But," she
added, "you assumed that breaking up that couple was my sole purpose.
It wasn't." May laughed, although it held no mirth. "I think you'll
find that your fiction doesn't hold up as well anymore. You'll
have to explain a great many things to Mamoru soon enough."
Setsuna laughed off the warning. "Is that rationalization all you
have to take comfort in?"
"No," May replied. "Lady Pluto, time walker in the service of Queen
Serenity, former empress and tryant of the Silver Alliance, I bring
you a message from the Creator, the supreme ruler who granted you the
gift you have abused. Since you were tweleve you have been watched.
No slight, no lie, no timeline trick that you have performed has gone
unnoticed. The Creator expresses His displeasure with your actions and
hands down this sentence. The truth will come out and as part of this,
you will find your powers constrained. Be ye warned, Lady of Pluto.
Stand futher in the way of the Creator's plan and the punishment will be
more severe."
Setsuna's eyes narrowed. "Your attempt at frightening me is laughable.
I have still won."
"No, you've failed as well." Terry countered from behind May.
That statement seemed to surprise Setsuna. "How do you deem that I
failed, Tremaine? Your brother still sides with me."
Yusuke growled deep in his throat, showing his anger. Terry, however,
calmly countered, "You failed becasue we are still here. You tried
to kill Yusuke and me both. You missed. You failed."
Anger flashed briefly over Setsuna's face. Then she said, "I have
a message for you royals of earth. Go back from whence you have
come. Your reign is over and you will never gain it back." With
that Setsuna turned around and walked away.
"We're just going to let her win?!" Yusuke shouted. "We should go
after her! Or something-"
"No," May shook her head. "Pluto may think this is her First Battle
of Bull Run. What she doesn't know is that this is Gettysburg and
she'll commit her own Pickett's charge pretty soon."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
May smiled softly. In all of this she thought she had lost herself.
That last statement proved that she obviously hadn't. "I'm sorry.
I'm a Southerner. I tend to think about the American Civil War a little
too much. Most of us do." She took a deep breath. "Come on guys.
Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Terry asked, as (surprisingly) both he and Yusuke
fell into step behind her without a fight.
"Back to the mansion. Yusuke obviously needs to blow off some steam.
And I- I need to think."
*****
Pluto returned to the Gate of Time, inwardly seething. "How dare the
former Queen of Earth think she can threaten me with her Creator? I have
done nothing but my duty! The princess deserves this world! Why must
these Earth royals constantly make claims of tryanny?!" Pluto sighed.
It wasn't that she didn't question her actions at points, but she knew
Queen Serenity. Many kingdoms accused Serenity fo ruling with an iron hand, but that wasn't true! Serenity saved her life when her village
was destroyed. Serenity even killed the exiled criminal that was
responsible for the destruction of her home. At that moment, Pluto had
pledged undying loyalty to her queen, who in turn, practically raised
her. And Serenity did things for other planets. She shieled Mercury
from the sun so that people could live above ground on its surface.
She regulated Venus's atmosphere. She caused water to appear on Mars.
She reigned in the wild storms of Jupiter...and her generosity continued.
Pluto had never understood the anger at and fear of Serenity that she
heard in whispers from other planets in the allaince, and usually blatantly from the Earth, at least in the beginning.
And here in the present appears the reborn Queen Adaunde, daring to criticise what Pluto had done out of loyalty. "But I can fix this."
Determined to stop this problem, Pluto prepared to go back into the
past and stop the Earthen invasion...
..only to discover that she couldn't. Her powers could not affect in
any way the past three weeks. She could not even go back into the
past and save the reborn Adaunde from the burning building, stopping the
whole process before it started. She also seemed unable to go into
the future.
"You will find your powers constrained," Pluto heard ringing in her
head. She growled. "Well, there is one way to end this," she said
as she prepared to leave the Gate. It was time to have another senshi
meeting. All she had to do was make sure that Mamoru never interacted
with his mother. After those three finally realized that they had failed, they would leave.
More and more lately, her job called her to dow more than merely guard
the gate of time.
- to be continued -
I know, I know, I haven't written in months. And I'm sure all of
you have forgotten about this story...which could be a good thing.
This chapter has been re-written. At least, a scene has been deleted.
It just seemed too...pat, too easy. And easy isn't something that
should describe this story.
As for Pluto...I do have a prequel planned that will explain some
of her skewed view of the Silver Millennium...but that may not get
started until the new year. Happy reading everyone.
~December
(Week Three, Day 6)
It was another day, and a trio walked through the park.
What was eye-catching aobut this trio was not their
appearance (although seeing two gaijin, one darker
than the other, walking with an obvious native was an
odd sight), but the three different emotions that were
almost tangible coming from the group. One of the gaijin
obviously felt confusion. It was almost like he was trying
to figure out some puzzle. The female gaijin appeared
pensive and afraid. She didn't turn around to look
at her companions, but walked quickly, occasionally
muttering to herself, briefly closing her eyes, shivering,
and then walking slightly faster.
The native was clearly frustrated, so observers were not
surprised when he suddenly burst out with, "May! Why in the
hell are were walking all over this park?! Tell us what
happened yesterday, already!"
The woman in the front sighed and stopped walking. She
turned around to face her companions. "We are walking all
over this park because I don't know what to tell you about
what happened yesterday."
"What do you mean YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL US?! Look lady-"
"Yusuke," the third member of the group finally spoke up, "Give
her some space for a second. Something obviously went wrong
yesterday." Terry turned to May. "Tell us what you can, but tell
us something. The not knowing is making both of us frustrated."
May looked at the two young men, who, in their own way, had come
to mean a lot ot her. She hated that she had failed them. She
took a deep breath and delivered the body blow with no sugar
coating. "Your brother refuses to meet you."
"What?!" shouted Yusuke. Terry didn't shout, but he looked wounded...
and angry. 'It's almost like Powers or someone just immoral took
someone else away from me,' Terry thought to himself as his fist
tightened. He hated feeling powerless, like he did now.
May continued, "He said he wanted time to think about everything...
alone. Technically, in terms of meeting you two, as his brothers,
his answer was 'not now' instead of a clear 'no'...but let's be
honest. The third week is almost over. We have eight days for him
to change his mind, that's it. And, to be honest, I think that 'not
now' was meant as a 'no'. The Japanese are so damn polite with foreigners. He wouldn't have told be to 'fuck off' if that was what
he was feeling."
After a pause, Terry asked, "What does that mean for us?"
May sighed. "I really don't know. I think all we can do is spend time
together. The two of you still have each other. And maybe we can
piece together parts of your past, but-" She shrugged. "I am sorry
that I wasted your time."
"So we are just going to give up?!" Yusuke shouted. "He's my brother!
We can't just let that empress bitch win! We can't just quit!"
"What you you have me do, Yusuke?" May shouted back. "Trick him into
meeting you two? Kidnap him? Kill his girlfriend? What?!" May
threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "Lies. Lies, strong-arm
tactics, misuse of power...they caused this whole mess. And they
won't fix it; I found out the hard way they make things worse.
So what options do I have left? What would you have me do?"
"I'd have you do something!" Yusuke retorted.
"Why the hell would you care?!" May screamed, practically in Yusuke's
face. Her patience had obviously been pushed over the edge. "You think
I am incompetent. You don't get along with Terry at all. Let's be
honest. The only reaons you haven't demanded that I take you
back to your dimension is that you are afraid of missing a good fight-"
Yusuke had opened his mouth to reply, but Terry, looking off into
the distance, broke in with "He may get that fight after all."
"What?" May asked as she whirled around to see a woman coming towards
them. Her long dark green hair blowing in the breeze, the woman wore a business suit and heels. To the passerby, she didn't look dangerous at all, but May sensed that this woman was some kind of threat. Without analyzing why, May positioned herself in such a way that she stood in front of Terry and Yusuke, almost like a human shield, so that she could protect them.
Behind her, Yusuke and Terry both shifted into battle stances...but
that was because they recognized the woman. She wasn't in the
sailor uniform that she wore when she attacked them two days ago, but
the posture, the hair, and the walk were the same. They knew that
this was the woman who attacked them.
The woman stopped three feet in front of the trio and gave May the
once over. Then she said, "Adaunde. Why am I not surprised that
you would somehow be involved in this? You never knew when to
let go."
Recognizing that the woman had refered to her by what must be her
past life's name, May's eyes narrowed. Only one person would
know that name and feel like a threat. "Pluto. I figured that
I'd run into the empress' time walker sooner or later."
Setsuna eyes narrowed briefly at the woman's use of her sailor title,
but any other reaction she had to that revelation she kept to herself.
"So, Adaunde, how does it feel to lose?"
"So, you appeared ot gloat?" May asked to cover the pain that the
well-placed barb caused. She looked at the diguised time walker
for few seconds. Then she asked, "But have I really lost?"
"Endymion won't leave the moon princess. You must know that by now."
Setsuna stated.
"You mean Mamoru won't leave the reincarnation of the moon princess.
There is a difference, you know," May corrected. "But," she
added, "you assumed that breaking up that couple was my sole purpose.
It wasn't." May laughed, although it held no mirth. "I think you'll
find that your fiction doesn't hold up as well anymore. You'll
have to explain a great many things to Mamoru soon enough."
Setsuna laughed off the warning. "Is that rationalization all you
have to take comfort in?"
"No," May replied. "Lady Pluto, time walker in the service of Queen
Serenity, former empress and tryant of the Silver Alliance, I bring
you a message from the Creator, the supreme ruler who granted you the
gift you have abused. Since you were tweleve you have been watched.
No slight, no lie, no timeline trick that you have performed has gone
unnoticed. The Creator expresses His displeasure with your actions and
hands down this sentence. The truth will come out and as part of this,
you will find your powers constrained. Be ye warned, Lady of Pluto.
Stand futher in the way of the Creator's plan and the punishment will be
more severe."
Setsuna's eyes narrowed. "Your attempt at frightening me is laughable.
I have still won."
"No, you've failed as well." Terry countered from behind May.
That statement seemed to surprise Setsuna. "How do you deem that I
failed, Tremaine? Your brother still sides with me."
Yusuke growled deep in his throat, showing his anger. Terry, however,
calmly countered, "You failed becasue we are still here. You tried
to kill Yusuke and me both. You missed. You failed."
Anger flashed briefly over Setsuna's face. Then she said, "I have
a message for you royals of earth. Go back from whence you have
come. Your reign is over and you will never gain it back." With
that Setsuna turned around and walked away.
"We're just going to let her win?!" Yusuke shouted. "We should go
after her! Or something-"
"No," May shook her head. "Pluto may think this is her First Battle
of Bull Run. What she doesn't know is that this is Gettysburg and
she'll commit her own Pickett's charge pretty soon."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
May smiled softly. In all of this she thought she had lost herself.
That last statement proved that she obviously hadn't. "I'm sorry.
I'm a Southerner. I tend to think about the American Civil War a little
too much. Most of us do." She took a deep breath. "Come on guys.
Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Terry asked, as (surprisingly) both he and Yusuke
fell into step behind her without a fight.
"Back to the mansion. Yusuke obviously needs to blow off some steam.
And I- I need to think."
*****
Pluto returned to the Gate of Time, inwardly seething. "How dare the
former Queen of Earth think she can threaten me with her Creator? I have
done nothing but my duty! The princess deserves this world! Why must
these Earth royals constantly make claims of tryanny?!" Pluto sighed.
It wasn't that she didn't question her actions at points, but she knew
Queen Serenity. Many kingdoms accused Serenity fo ruling with an iron hand, but that wasn't true! Serenity saved her life when her village
was destroyed. Serenity even killed the exiled criminal that was
responsible for the destruction of her home. At that moment, Pluto had
pledged undying loyalty to her queen, who in turn, practically raised
her. And Serenity did things for other planets. She shieled Mercury
from the sun so that people could live above ground on its surface.
She regulated Venus's atmosphere. She caused water to appear on Mars.
She reigned in the wild storms of Jupiter...and her generosity continued.
Pluto had never understood the anger at and fear of Serenity that she
heard in whispers from other planets in the allaince, and usually blatantly from the Earth, at least in the beginning.
And here in the present appears the reborn Queen Adaunde, daring to criticise what Pluto had done out of loyalty. "But I can fix this."
Determined to stop this problem, Pluto prepared to go back into the
past and stop the Earthen invasion...
..only to discover that she couldn't. Her powers could not affect in
any way the past three weeks. She could not even go back into the
past and save the reborn Adaunde from the burning building, stopping the
whole process before it started. She also seemed unable to go into
the future.
"You will find your powers constrained," Pluto heard ringing in her
head. She growled. "Well, there is one way to end this," she said
as she prepared to leave the Gate. It was time to have another senshi
meeting. All she had to do was make sure that Mamoru never interacted
with his mother. After those three finally realized that they had failed, they would leave.
More and more lately, her job called her to dow more than merely guard
the gate of time.
- to be continued -
I know, I know, I haven't written in months. And I'm sure all of
you have forgotten about this story...which could be a good thing.
This chapter has been re-written. At least, a scene has been deleted.
It just seemed too...pat, too easy. And easy isn't something that
should describe this story.
As for Pluto...I do have a prequel planned that will explain some
of her skewed view of the Silver Millennium...but that may not get
started until the new year. Happy reading everyone.
~December