The man at the gate said, "I doubt she should really be here, Trista. I will take her, though, if you like."
Pluto was stunned. "Serena? What are you doing here?"
Serena had been looking all around herself, scared and surprised. Her floating spirit-soul was dressed in her princess gown. She had not apparently noticed that Sailor Pluto was her boat's guide, being too distracted and scared by what was happening. Upon seeing Trista, however, her face was filled with relief and concern. "Pluto? What are you doing here? What is this place?"
"This is the underworld. To be here, you have to be…" Oh God, I can't say it, Pluto thought.
"Dead?" Serena cried fearfully.
Pluto nodded. "But you can't be…can you?"
"I dunno. All I remember are dragons and one with a very sharp tail. I remember the battle…that big dragon with a rider came for me…next thing I know, I'm here."
"You're not supposed to die for a very long time. This must be some sort of mistake," Pluto said.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Serena said wryly.
"But I'm not your mother—no way could I send you another 1000 years into the future."
Serena looked down. "I'm going to miss my friends..I wish I had gotten to say goodbye.." She began crying.
"Now, now…don't be upset. Don't worry; I am going to fix this somehow," Pluto asserted.
"How did you end up here anyways, Pluto? Are you dead too?"
"No, far from it. It's a long story, though. This was my post before the time-space gate."
"Oh."
Sailor Pluto looked down the river. "I need to get you back…I am not supposed to take souls back, and I may get in trouble for this, but you're my friend and Princess. No way am I going to allow you to die like this." She pushed the boat off the shore and they floated down the stream. "Two rules, Serena: don't get into the water and duck if you see any demons."
"But can't I help you fight the demons?"
"I'm afraid you may have no power here, especially since you're dead. Nothing should hurt you, though, but they could steal your soul." Pluto shook her head. "I just can't believe you are here, of all places. You are supposed to live on, become queen, marry your prince, have Rini, become the most powerful senshi in all of the universe…"
"Most powerful senshi?" Serena repeated.
"Yes, but …I really shouldn't tell you about that just yet…"
As they floated along, the demons began to appear. "Ew, those are gross," Serena said.
"Shush and get down," Pluto ordered. "Dead Scream!" Her attack blasted half of the demons, leaving five remaining. "You would think they would learn by now," she muttered. Again she yelled, "Dead Scream!" This time, the demons avoided her attack. "Ha, maybe they are learning, then. Fine, avoid this! Chronos Typhoon!" The winds from the attack pushed the demons into the water, where a few Ketea came up to devour them.
Serena whispered in awe, "Wow."
The boat continued to float down the river. Hades came out of his castle, and widened his eyes when he saw the returning soul. "Pluto!" he called out. "What are you doing?"
"Hang on a sec!" she called back. The boat arrived on the shore.
Hades ran to Sailor Pluto. "Trista, my love, what are you doing? You can't bring souls back!"
"You don't understand. This is Princess Serena, Sailor Moon. Serena, meet Hades, Lord of the Underworld."
Hades's jaw dropped. "Wha—what is she doing here? This is certainly not what Fate intended, Serena."
"I think that's exactly who we need to talk to, then."
"Fate? You actually know her?" Serena asked.
"Of course I do. She lives here in the castle. Come on, let's go meet with Fate." Pluto directed Serena to the castle.
As the trio walked, Cerebrus galloped to them. Serena screamed, "Ah, it's a monster! Pluto! Run! I'll distract him!"
Upon hearing this, Cerebrus stopped short and cocked his heads to the side. "Actually, Cerebrus is quite an intelligent and harmless mutt," Hades replied. "He only goes after demons."
"Oh," spoke a relieved Serena. She stared at the large canine, with is long teeth and large paws. "he's huge."
"Only a puppy at heart, though," Hades said.
They continued into the castle and headed for Fate's tower. They arrived at her door, and Pluto raised her hand to knock, but hesitated. "What is it?" asked Serena.
"Normally she always knows when I am coming," she answered, knocking on the door anyway.
A very weary-looking Sailor Fate opened the door. "You're late."
……………………
AN: Anyone getting the Fate jokes? "You don't want to mess with Fate, knocking on Fate's door, etc."
