Chapter Fifteen: Ascending Sorrow
Time seemed to slow its passing – to stare upon the place which the senshi had come and lost their new force of allies. This palace of writhing souls and gritty emotions had gathered the attentions of those who held connections to the players, either by direct acquaintance or passing glance. Great powers were glancing upon the solitary castle and observing the trials, as these were merely the trials of the chosen and few, taking great care to stay objective.
For one, it was like watching her sisters be forced through a torture pit with nothing but a fire at the end. "I should be with them. I should be fighting at her side just as I have always done," Super Sailor Pluto whispered as she stared into a crystal orb before her.
The orb, suspended by nothing but the will of the Universe itself, revealed many images which were constant inside the castle. Every death had flashed before her, though the ones she cherished most were still in the line of fire. Now the grieving Sailor senshi came before her, making her eyes weigh down and her fingers grip tightly in desire. Much to her dismay, she was obstructed by the only thing in existence which could command her. With a fierce look, she turned to the figure behind her and frowned, frustrated at the fact that some would never change. "You will just stand there and let this all happen? You will not allow me to do my duty to them?" she asked sharply, though retained all of the respect that her situation demanded.
Jikan had been inanimate behind her, eyes closed to the happenings around him but aware of all that was coming to be. His demeanor had always done this to her. When things seemed so hopeless and ready to fall, he would always just stand, indifferent to the ails of existence and do nothing. It was his station – his responsibility to be more composed than all others. She would never understand it for she was more human than human. Her heart ached for the troubles of the world and she had always been the more compassionate. Jikan, however, was not human. His was the way of control and order. He could not merely bend the aims of existence merely to satisfy the moment. He was the god of time. He hadn't the affinity for all of the countless living beings scattered about the world. That was where he found balance with the compassionate Sailor Pluto.
At her powerful plea, his eyes did open to her and the long staff in his hand shifted, casting a violet haze across the room. "It is not my task to interfere in the way you require. I find that your attachment to these soldiers confuses you and to whom you owe your heart," he replied stiffly.
There was a single fact which still kept her calm; this person before her was intertwined with time itself and, much to her relief, knew what was, is and yet to be. His mere presence told her that there was more involved in this than he cared to tell her – that possibly the entire Pantheon was interested in the destiny of the Moon Princess. She was actually soothed by his presence, but his constant insistence about her priorities was getting tiresome. "I know where my duties lay, father. I cannot believe that you will stand by and watch the princesses be destroyed by one who was once a part of the Pantheon, especially since you could stop all of this. Not even you are that uncaring," she said, letting her frustration slip out in a slightly insolent tone.
As soon as she had said it, she mentally reprimanded herself and flinched slightly. Her elated state of emotion had caused her to speak rudely to him and that, she knew, would not be tolerated in the hierarchy in which she served. She was biting her lip, her lowered head showing that she was repentant for the outburst but her eyes still burning with the purpose of her heart. It was times like this she regretted her situation. She, one of the immortal and companion to a god, sometimes took for granted the fact that her situation was blessed.
Cronus, her father and master – the one who had created her from his own being, assigned her the duties of the Time Gate, a position that left her alone and guarded for all eternity. Her loneliness had let her heart stray. She found contentment in the eyes of Small Lady, Hotaru and the others. She consistently left the Gate in order to be with them – to quit her loneliness. Yet she always longed to be with him, to be bathed in the utopia of the Pantheon and watch the workings of existence play out before her. She was resentful of his absence. As a god, he could be anywhere and everywhere, yet he rarely just came to her the way he was with her now. It fueled her insolence and her desire to be treated more like the humans were – to have a marriage as they were on Earth. But she knew that would never be. Gods were so unlike humans that Sailor Pluto was finding it harder and harder to sympathize with the rulers of heaven and easier to die with the soldiers of Earth.
While her mind was filled with such thoughts, Jikan merely tilted his staff forward and sent a ripple of violet haze around them. It startled Sailor Pluto. Soon enough, they were standing inside a section of Anubis's castle, in a large room which seemed untouched by any. Sailor Pluto was a bit surprised at first, then began to look around quickly as figures started to fade in all around them. Ultimately, there were six Sailor senshi in the room as well, all looking shocked and drained. As they all began to come around to this twist, Sailor Pluto looked to Jikan slowly and held a dry breath in her throat. Now she hated herself even more for what she had said, especially when he leaned his staff back once more and looked upon her, spurned and away.
"All is not as you perceive," he said simply and gestured to the jaded figures standing all around them.
In the coldest, most desolate area of the castle, the final senshi was lost in a hallway, aimlessly stuck in the preceding steps before the throne room. A wrenching sensation in her stomach had halted her progression into the castle, if only because there was a great fear festering inside her. Shivers of great loss and looming danger racked through the body of Eternal Sailor Moon. Slumped over and shaded, she had somehow felt the loss of someone she cared about, though she couldn't presume to know who. All she knew was that this encounter had taken someone of great importance away.
"I hate this. Someone talk to me! Someone show me the way out!" she yelled and looked around the tunneled hallway, as if someone she loved would simply step out and take her hand. Inside this castle a beast lurked. She knew this and it frightened her. Somewhere was her friends and somewhere was her lover. Despite all this knowledge, she desperately wanted to leave this place and be at home with all of her friends again. The weight of hero wore heavily on her, mostly because she felt as if she couldn't do much without the assistance of her friends. Deep down, she wanted to stay there in that hallway, still hugging herself and staring at the cold stone floor as if it was an illustration of life.
Her pleas were answered in a bittersweet tone, "Usako."
The voice, the one which could make everything all right and make all of the monsters disappear resonated from the halls and covered her like a blanket. It instantly revived her ailing spirit and she sat up straight, nearly bounding to her feet in despair. "Mamo-chan? Mamo-chan!" she cried and arched all around in searching. The strain in her voice also echoed within the walls, seeming to stretch into the darkness ahead of her and pierce the black. It was in this moment that she felt like running headlong into the shadows, hoping to find safety within the arms of her lover.
Without any of her friends to push ahead and make sure she would okay, she rose to her feet and drew in a cold breath. All while trying to fight the fear, pain and wild thoughts in her mind, Eternal Sailor Moon rushed forward through the hall in hopes of finding a smile waiting for her. Mirrors on each side of the hallway showed the crystal tears falling in her wake but could not seem to catch the utter will in her eyes.
Soon, two large doors appeared before her and ended the hallway which had threatened to be her tomb. Without losing stride, the doors broke open as she ran through and gave to her a large, seemingly endless room. Despite all that was true for the rest of the castle, this room was the epitome of all that Anubis had amassed. The walls swirled with vague forms of people's faces. The floor was like a black night sky. The ceiling went off into oblivion. In all of this, there was a single throne standing alone immersed in a plume of dark energy. The room seemed to close in around her, but somehow make her feel as if she could fly away in any direction and never be heard from again. It was just – empty.
As soon as she had come to a stop inside of the room, the great doors closed behind her and faded into the blackness all around. It was as if she were in a different realm now, with no place to return and no place to go. The initial assault on her senses caused her to sway a bit, but soon she was staring at the throne. It was this place, she thought, where everything would become clear. All she could do was stare at the throne to keep her balance and not lose herself to sick feeling coming over her.
"Usako," again the voice said and she looked all around, her heart beating in her throat and her hands shaking at her sides. She knew it was him, yet something foreboding about this place frightened her – warned of her of preconception.
Then a figure appeared in the plume of dark energy. The blackness rose around it like a vapor and she leaned forward to see, her mouth gaping slightly in anticipation. The figure lingered in the energy and she was convinced it was him. His voice was floating deliciously amidst the emptiness, quenching her loneliness and soothing her heart. The figure stepped from the plume and approached. She only wanted it to be him.
In the end, she was staring at the familiar face of Mamoru and her heart broke reason, unable to bear the space and making her lurch out towards him. "Mamo-chan!" she yelled and ran forward, but was soon stopped in her tracks by a most horrifying realization.
Mamoru's face was grayed and his body seemed limp. Everything about him seemed wrong and made her fear even worse, but it was when his body arched forward that she stopped. Even as Mamoru fell to the ground like an empty shell, another figure stood behind him like an actor behind the curtain and this froze her like an arctic wind. Her heart wished to fall as well when he saw who the figure was, but her legs somehow kept her standing and strong against the shock. "No. It's impossible," she stuttered.
With a far more dastardly expression, Mamoru loomed over the throne and smiled, casting dark rays of light everywhere. Despite everything her eyes told her, she knew this wasn't Mamoru, like it was a cruel replay of the anguish she had lived before. This imposter wore the face of love, yet she was weary and already looking back to the collapsed figure between them. That was her Mamoru. Things were about to become far more intricate for the Moon senshi.
Black fabric began to wrap itself around the imposter and tinge with highlights of gold and silver while light and dark fenced at the skin over parts of his body. A truly regal uniform covered him, dwarfing any fine linen which had ever adorned a monarch before. The figure was soon gallant and opulent, his presence filling the emptiness like no one she had ever seen before, for his mere being filled the room like plastic warmth threatening to both sooth her chills and rob the heat from her skin at the same time. The unconscious Mamoru lay at his feet like a broken doll, which only seemed to accent his brooding figure. Once again, mirrors aligned her life and the senshi took a single, shaking step back.
"I finally meet the infamous Sailor Moon. Welcome to my castle. I hope the trip was a safe one," said the figure, fending her stares with politeness and simple manners. Nothing could have broken her away from the fear she felt from him, but something inside of her pushed her to wipe the smell of fear from her face.
"Who are you!? What have you done to Mamoru? With my friends?" she demanded.
"That should be obvious, but I will answer your questions diffidently. Your Sailor senshi friends are quite safe, for the time being. Although I cannot see them now, I'm sure they'll be along for you in mere moments. As for your lover, I have done little to him. His body still lives, yet I required his essence to facilitate my return to this place. Your other question should be fairly obvious, my beauty," the figure responded and watched each shade of pale which came across her face. Her eyes had locked on Mamoru now, though her ears belonged to him. Only an equally paled voice was let slip through her lips and into the air.
"Anubis," she whispered, her hand against her chest.
"Precisely. I didn't think formalities were in order," he replied and stepped down from his throne and next to the body of Mamoru. Although he seemed docile and not threatening to her, she would not move. His presence was poisonous, sucking life from her with every breath. It showed in her fearful eyes and this seemed to amuse him further. "Dear child, despite what you may have heard, I am no threat to you. Your lover still lives. Unlike his counterpart, I did not have to utilize the body itself, only the spirit."
That brought her eyes up quickly and she stared, her mouth hanging slightly in anticipation at his words. There was so much mystery about the other world and where Yamito and the others had come from. With too much spiraling in her mind right then, all she could think about was one response, "What?"
Again, Anubis smiled lightly and waved a hand over Mamoru's body, like a magician over a hat with a hiding rabbit inside. As if commanded, the pale form lifted from the ground and rested on his feet, giving a lewd scene of someone truly standing beside himself. That same glow began to change Mamoru's appearance, taking all of the ill out of him and returning him to his usual self. However, he just stood there, seeming empty and asleep. "Didn't you know? This one is the parallel as Tsukino Ryu's lover in the other world. I had assumed that body while bound to that place, as I assume your lover's now that I am here," he explained.
In all of her dreams, she could have never predicted that. Yamito had always been very tightlipped about that part of his past and no amount of bravery existing in the world could have forced information from him. The world seemed to invert around her at the information she had been given, making her mind spin in endless different ways. So much was explained, but with other things coming into question.
All she could do was breathe.
"Quite a tangled web, I know. However, you do not have to fear a thing, Sailor Moon. All that I had set out to do has been done. You should be pleased to know that the Scion scourge from the other world is now no longer a burden for you. Your world can now resume its peaceful existence," Anubis said dandily and seemed to loosen his grasp on Mamoru's form.
Once again, she was confused so much that her head spun. She had been led to believe Anubis was evil and malevolent, but she could not force herself to hate his face. With so much power – power to bend space and existence, she had expected him to be more ruthless. She was still torn over Mamoru's fate, yet she was oddly concerned about why Anubis was being so cordial. Then, the realization of what had been said struck her. Her eyes widened and her breath fell short once more. She was instantly informed about the loss she had felt earlier. "No longer…burden? Ya…Yamito?" she gasped.
Anubis ceased to smile and sat back in his throne, looking upon her with the true purpose of his existence and showing that even he had been concerned about the marvelous Scion. "Surely you realize how dangerous a being like that was. His death marks a great day for your world. He had become something that was as dangerous to light as he was to dark, and creatures like that need to be stopped. You should thank me for dealing with him before you were required to do it instead. Also, with no more Scion in this place, I have no interest in your world. Since you gave me this form, I will spare your planet from any harm. How does it feel to save your world one more time?" he asked, leaning his cheek on his fist.
Insidious plans had been buried well under the guise of kindness and love. When time took away the remorse she had felt wash over at Yamito's death, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. With a scarred frown, she stood defiantly against him and found that loathing which could not come before. It was obvious that he was not anything like Mamoru and hardly as benign as she had thought. "And what about the rest of the galaxy? The Universe? What about Mamoru?! Who spares them?" she cried out and found her footing once more. Sailor Moon cared for more than just her own planet – she cared for life everywhere. Sailor Galaxia, Sailor Cosmos, Sailor senshi everywhere – they all empowered her and gave her purpose. Even knowing that Anubis was extremely powerful and that she might spare everyone living on Earth from a terrible fate, she couldn't allow such a malevolent being destroy the Universe around her. That was not who she was.
She was Sailor Moon.
The spurt of courage seemed to make Anubis dull a little, as if she had spit in his face. Valor was something he despised and his frowned reflected it. "Do not make an enemy of me, Sailor Moon. You have no idea what I am. What is one life to spare an entire world? Why worry about the rest of the Universe? I'm offering you a chance to give your world peace and life. Don't throw it away because of your illusions of right and wrong," he warned, the energy plume around him flaring slightly at his mood.
Sailor Moon was steadfast and knew what she had to do. She had to face him alone to save the Universe – to save Mamoru. That gave her more power that any enemy could comprehend. "I know what you are! You're nothing but a soul snatcher! I won't sacrifice Mamoru so that you will leave us alone to terrorize the rest of the Universe! There are countless other worlds out there that would burn, just like Yamito's did! I won't let that happen. I can stop you! I will stop you!" she called back and amassed an amazing speech to defy Anubis. With her will set in crystal, Sailor Moon intended to defeat a fallen god. Although she felt alone and afraid, she did the only thing she could do and used her heart as a shield and her love as a sword. These were the times when heroes ascended and villains fell.
Unfortunately, she couldn't understand the task ahead of her – the sheer size of the task ahead of her. The truth settled upon her quickly as a light below her began to form until it consumed her, wrapping her arms and legs with tentacles of pure energy. The light, although warm and soft, began to burn her skin and make her blood run cold, as if every soul which had been ripped into darkness was being channeled through her. It made her scream out and her mind became white with torment. A new sense of power came over her as she felt her energy simply spill out of her, a pastel haze spreading through her eyes and pinching her breath in her throat. Her defiance hadn't even a chance to get off the ground.
Anubis watched her with a smirk. "You are foolish, just as your counterpart was. I gave you the chance to spare your world, but you have no sense. Now I will kill you, your friends and everyone on your world. Then, though you may have hoped to stop it, I will devour this Universe just like the last," he remarked. Another surge of energy was forced into Sailor Moon's body and caused her to shrill. It was not only physical pain, but the sorrow and fear of millions of others began to tear her apart from the inside. She could feel the suffering of countless races – of endless people. All of their thoughts and fears filled her and it was almost enough to break her. She barely held on as could barely see the empty eyes of Mamoru staring back – begging for her not to quit.
Yet Anubis watched with pure delight, closing his eyes and shivering at the pleasure of it, "How I sway to the music of pain."
An assembly of senshi gathered. The remaining six had been beaten, broken and cast into a place where phantoms laughed and mirrors blinked, which was something which wouldn't rattle the war torn senshi in any other moment except the one after waking to an empty plot in their heart. Many of them didn't know what had happened in the final moments of the Priests' reign, so cruel ignorance wore like a mask across worried cheeks. Only Rei knew for sure, but she was too sullen to even look upon any of the others. The bruises she had received were nothing compared to the hole she felt inside; the void left with the departing words of her beloved Yamito. Makoto only knew that Kage was gone, while Ami and Minako were simply clueless and questioning on the why and what of the situation. Sailor Uranus and Neptune were more interested in the figure which stood before them all, eclipsing a still melancholy Sailor Pluto. They were all together in a terrible place. But they all somehow knew there was more to be done.
To bring them all together, Jikan began to speak over them all, his voice silencing their questions and concerns, "The Scion which had come from the other world are all dead. Their task is now complete and you are once again required to save your princess and your world."
What ones that didn't stumble across the blunt first sentence, the second was quick to grab their attention. To hear it put so callously made it almost untrue, yet they all knew in their hearts that there were no more Scion. By far, Ami and Minako were the hardest hit by the loss of their lovers, while the finality of words seemed to weigh down once more on Rei. Fragmented sentences and half-choked sobs filled the stale air, yet Jikan stared on silently as Sailor Pluto closed her eyes to their suffering.
As emotions began to fray and eyes began to gloss, Sailor Uranus stepped forward and stared defiantly at Jikan, granting him patience in return for answers. "Who are you? What is this place?" she demanded.
However, it was Sailor Pluto that stepped to his side and answered, as if to ease the tension between him and her unknowing comrade. "Please, Uranus, you must trust us. He has brought you all here so that you may help Sailor Moon in her battle with Anubis. She cannot win without you all," she said softly and seemed to move herself between the senshi and Jikan. Sailor Uranus wasn't totally convinced and stared at him, but the word of Sailor Pluto was good enough for her to sit back and listen. Sailor Neptune was staring at him as if she knew him, and that fact wasn't lost on Jikan.
However, the rising cries of the Inner senshi began to stir and Sailor Pluto spoke to them, attempting to comfort their wayward hearts. "Please, my friends, you must grieve later. This isn't the time to mourn them. Anubis is a fiend beyond comprehension and your princess needs your help!" she cried, trying to hide her own feelings.
It was a moment of want. Each of them wanted truth to be false and time to revert backwards. All of them wanted a chance to say things which hadn't been said. Above all else, each of them wanted to go help Usagi with a firm hand holding theirs. Each of them had created this illusion of fighting the Priests and Anubis with the four Scion at their sides. It was their world that had burned – their lives ruined by evil. Every storybook ever told allowed the forces of good to rule of evil, yet each of them faced the very real fact that their friends, comrades and lovers had lost their battle – just as all of the Scion had. Even the strongest of them had failed to defeat this foe, making the task of facing him even greater.
However it was the most unlikely one of them that pressed through her feelings and controlled her loss. She stepped forward while all of the others looked back, though each one of them stared silently at her resolve and felt stronger because of it. Rei was ready to stop the evil that had tortured her beloved Yamito until his death. She felt it her duty to give him that lasting peace.
Only then could she truly grieve for him. "Send me there. I'm ready to fight," she said, her jaw tight but her eyes firm.
Sailor Pluto managed a smile at the sight of the most tragic of the stories and stood a bit looser at the side of Jikan. She felt assured that this would be enough, even if her knowledge of Anubis could not agree. As long as these soldiers were resolute in purpose, no force in existence could stop them. The time senshi smiled in spite of her loyalties to her father Cronus.
Though fear and loss could easily consume the greatest hearts, each of the girls soon found themselves able to take on a thousand Gangers and protect their Princess. Soon, each of the girls had stepped up next to Rei and waited for the battle, silently empowered to fulfill their duties and swallow their broken hearts once more.
This was true for all but Minako. Her sniffles were still damning her voice and she tried to keep her tears off her cheeks with the palms of her hands. Each knew what she was feeling, but the very source of her power was drained at the loss of her heart. Sadly, this all had to be put aside for the task at hand and she soon smiled weakly to the others, though still pressing tears at the corner of her eyes. "I guess it wasn't meant to be, right? I guess that our futures didn't include them…include him," she said. Her power came directly from her heart, yet she felt a crack chasm on that part of her. Suteki had been everything she ever wanted and she was now forced to put aside her feelings, her greatest weapon, in order to fulfill her destiny. She had been doing this longer than any of them, yet she was suddenly tired and resentful. All she wanted was to be happy once more.
Yet when she saw the resolve in her friends' faces and knew they had suffered the same loss, she walked up with them and smiled, her hands shaking at her sides. "Oh well, right? There's plenty time for new love," she choked out, though her smile did little more than divert her tears and cause them to streak longer down her cheeks.
"Minako…" Makoto lulled as the blonde girl stepped up with the others. While Makoto's farewell, if not her whole experience had been somewhat of a different shade than Minako's, she still felt pinched by the story of her shadowy counterpart. Hers, without a single doubt or false pretense by any, was the saddest story of them, for there was no love which had come to her because of this tale, but only tragedy and a memory of eyes which would never find her looking into a mirror in the dark. In her hand she held the locket Kage had left. Looking forward and to their battle, she swore that she would use all of her strength to avenge Kage and his sister. It was the only thing she could do for him.
With the last of the senshi ready to make the leap into the battle, Sailor Pluto felt a certain pride flowing through her. She was confident that Jikan could see why she had been spending her time on Earth and she could imagine the content look on his face when she turned. However, she found his face bland and hopeless. It scared her. She could read nothing in him – no victory and no resolution. She was silently wishing she could get Sailor Saturn for such a battle, yet Jikan had specifically forbidden such a thing. Such an order only made her more uneasy about the situation, yet there was little she could do about it. There was one truth in all things that Jikan told her.
Her loyalty was to him above all others. While his continued absence allowed her to operate under her own discretion, he was unusually involved in this entire matter. The reason behind that was a mystery even to her.
Jikan looked out over the soldiers, his only consolation a firm nod to their commitment. "This foe is not from your realm. What you understand as power does not bind this fight, nor does it define it. You have only one advantage and that is that even Anubis fears your Princess, so he is uncertain and prone to misjudgment. However, none of you posses that which has been born into Sailor Moon, so your involvement will be nothing more than a weighing of the field," he said with no attempt at softening the blow. The brazen way he said these things brought Sailor Uranus's blood up, but one look upon Sailor Pluto made it cease. The senshi of time stared haplessly at the ground, wishing so hard she could tell them they still could win. Jikan had, perhaps, the most credible voice about these kinds of things. He broke their status to them in a very crisp manner. "Not one of you alone has the ability to determine this fight," he said bluntly.
This news came sharp at first, but the expression of Sailor Pluto and the unspoken authority of this mystery figure could not be ignored. They all had no idea who or what Jikan was, but just by looking at him forced them to consider his counsel. Soon, each of them was lowered to doubts and concerns, though not one of them would step back. Sailor Pluto also yearned to once again plead for Jikan's intervention, but she knew nothing would come of it and it was not her place to demand such things of him. Things seemed hopeless.
"I said I'm ready to go," said Rei defiantly. Each of them looked to her with a slight astonishment and each was pulled back from this void of doubt they had been pulled into. Rei simply stood, staring at Jikan with a determination in her eyes and dagger in her heart, as if the recent loss was kindling thrown upon the already raging fire in her soul. She wouldn't let it become worse with the loss of her closest friend and seeing the will it took to face the odds, the others took a stand as well and once again waited to depart. More than sheer power, the heart held a force which could better any kind of foe, be it a god or not. Even if everything Jikan had said was true, they would still persevere. It was all they could do as the family which they had become.
Jikan smiled slightly, though no one understood if it was because of their bravery or foolishness. "You will each go despite the facts and accompany your Princess in futility?" Jikan asked and looked over each of them separately. Not one of the girls flinched and each one stayed true to the duty. Even Sailor Pluto stepped from Jikan's side and turned to him, siding with the senshi in their task of defeating Anubis. Jikan looked a bit weary about that, but soon he looked upon Rei once more, his course becoming clear. "You each have powerful spirits, stemming from parts of you which you don't even know exist. I can see now why Sailor Pluto has found a place among you. For these attributes you have shown me, I may now grant you something which will aid you from this point on," he said.
The gem which sat in the center of his staff began to pulse, sending warm waves of light out to fill the room and cast off shells in the face of new skins. It was an action that even tweaked the corners of the castle and caused the souls to wail and struggle anew. Each of the girls was struck, with their bodies becoming arched and their skins stripped bare. A power seemed to simultaneously build within them and also permeate their skin from the light, taking them to a new place in the Universe by the graces of higher powers. As the light began to subside, new uniforms began to meld with them and cause new abilities to surge in their veins. The sensations of a thousand righteous actions melded with them and empowered their bodies to catch up to their spirits. This transformation was something to which they had all been destined but never justly been granted. That all changed. When it had all ended, each of them stood in a uniform which was nearly identical to Eternal Sailor Moon's, but with their own distinct colors and patterns. The energy which flowed through each was like a new birth and not one of the girls found the words to express it. Only Super Sailor Pluto stood alone as untouched, watching it all with both pride for her fellow senshi and a loving appreciation for Jikan and his decision to help. She felt they could touch the moon; it showed in her smile.
"These forms are an advancement on the things which you already possess. There is nothing you receive which does not already exist, so trust that you will know what to do when it must be done. Now I will send you, the Sailor Star senshi, to aid your Princess. Use your powers and win the battle," said Jikan.
The speech seemed to encompass all that they were feeling at that moment and each of them pushed down the remorse they felt for the coming battle. The same light which had nearly died out rose up once more like flame, taking all of the senshi from the room and to the hall where Eternal Sailor Moon was caught in a trap. They would defend their princesses and honor the memories of their loved ones. They would win. They each knew it.
All of the senshi would fight except for Sailor Pluto. As soon as the others had gone, she gasped in betrayal and rushed to Jikan, looking up at him in a panic, as if her eyes could ask a thousand questions which her lips could not speak. Jikan merely looked down at her and seemed lost in her thoughts on him. As much as she had defied him and scorned him aloud, he did not pull away. All he could do was speak, "You are forbidden from participating in this fight, Sailor Pluto. The Pantheon will not allow you to use your powers against Anubis, no matter how much you may wish to assist. This was unanimous among all of the Pantheon."
She gasped again, as if he had stabbed a blade through her. She would have never suspected he too would deny her of this battle, but she was already too involved and blinded by her love for the other senshi. All she wanted to do was help them. "Then you…how can you ask this of me?" she asked, throwing formality aside and speaking as a wife would speak to a husband.
Jikan was oddly patient with her outbursts and merely looked on calmly. He could see the passion in her eyes and was even happy for it. However, his will was final and his reasons were his alone. "There are forces at work here that even you do not understand. You have been allowed to battle alongside them by the grace of a few voices in the Pantheon, but it is the nature of this Anubis that prohibits your involvement," he explained, though his cryptic manner disturbed her and made her defiant.
"Even Pheobe has allowed this? Even when her own daughter…" Sailor Pluto started but was interrupted when Jikan gave her a silencing look.
"She is not the only one that has spoken for you," he said, though became quiet and sighed.
Sailor Pluto was ignorant for a moment because of her desire to fight, yet quickly she realized something and sighed as well, trying to remember who she was when she was not a Sailor senshi. Softly and with great affection, her hand was extended to cradle his as it gripped the celestial key in his hand, her eyes showing how much she missed him. A moment of tenderness was allowed before the moment of blood, but once again his confidence for her friends was all she needed to be at peace. One word from him could defeat her, just as her will could absolve even a god's power. She only had one more question.
"Did the Pantheon approve this thing you have done?" she asked, looking in his depthless eyes for the reason behind him giving the senshi the Star Senshi form.
Jikan just stared back, the components of galaxies trapped in his eyes. "I have done what is necessary. Your friends still have a mighty battle to fight, but they may now succeed, even without you. My intervention is inconsequential," he replied.
Sweetly, Sailor Pluto stepped closer to Jikan and lowered her head, resting her brow against his powerful staff. She could feel it vibrating with the force of time itself and she smiled, feeling its own consciousness flowing through her. In her moment of subservience, she felt content to let the others fight to defend their Universe. Their capabilities were not in question – she knew they would succeed. If it meant being allowed these submerged moments in time, she would suppress her desire to fight and embrace her desire to love. It was the least she could do for his help. "It meant much to me. Because you ask it of me, I will stay here with you, father – my husband," she whispered and was swept away in the breaths of time.