This idea came to me in Colonial Latin American History class -
along with another, scarier idea I'll be writing out soon. The fic
is written in the Sailor Moon series (owned by Naoko Takeuchi).
Comments are welcome, flames will be sold to Lucifer at a decent
exchange rate.
"Destiny Can Go To Hell"
by Beky NeRichnead
[Present, 12:30; Hokkaido]
Hokaru Tomoki rounded the corner, walking at an even pace. She
could see her gym teacher motioning wildly at her, but she refused
to increase her speed. As it was, her lungs hurt a little - no need
to tempt fate.
Ten seconds later, she walked past him. He frowned. "13:42."
She smiled, breathing hard. "Hey, it was under fifteen!"
"This isn't the mile STROLL, you know. Dismissed."
Happily, Hokaru headed for the locker room. She had walked at
more than four miles an hour for fourteen minutes. She grinned, and
said quietly, "Eat your heart out, Setsuna. Destiny be damned."
*
[Present, 5:00; Juuban, Tokyo]
Artemis smiled. Haruka and Michiru had come to a meeting again
- they were getting better about it. They had started to become
part of the team after the fight with Galaxia and the... incident
with Hotaru.
Usagi jogged in, puffing hard. She's probably played a game
of Sailor V on the way. "Hi guys." She frowned, her eyes filled
with worry. "Any word of Hotaru?"
Haruka shook her head almost spastically. "No. We would have
told you."
Ami put a hand on Usagi's shoulder. "Usagi-chan, its been a
month. She obviously has some things to work out."
Michiru looked at them, her eyes dark with emotion. "Setsuna
told us yesterday that she is still alive. She must be - she's
using the Saturn Power to block her scans. We can... hope. We
must."
Usagi walked over, smiling brightly and giving the older girl
a hug. "We will find her. I know it."
Haruka nodded.
Rei sighed. "Any more demon sightings?"
The conversation had turned once more to the business of
random demon appearances.
*
[Silver Millenium; the Moon]
Elder Saturn smiled sadly at her apprentice. What was
surprising was their apparent closeness in age. "You'll get it."
Saturn scowled. "Why can't I train like a real Senshi?"
"Because you and I guard powers far more diverse and far
reaching than the others. With the exception of Pluto, the Senshi
are simply guards of the Princess and the Solar System. Pluto
guards the Time Gate. Our function is different. We have a
responsibility to keep the world in balance."
"Yeah - but don't we have similar powers?"
Elder Saturn chuckled. "No, not really. We are Balance - the
silence and surprise, healing and destruction, concious without
shame. The others' have power limited to one element."
Saturn sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, then coughed.
"So, why are we so frail, then?"
Her mentor frowned. "We are not so frail - our physicality is
approximately that of of normal human."
"Why are weaker than the others?"
She sighed. "Because that is part of the balance. Our great
strength in balance with great weakness in another area. We are
Saturn. This is how it has always been and always been."
Saturn frowned, fleetingly tempted to restart the world and
see if that was true. "I suppose."
*
[Present, Hokkaido; 4:30]
Hokaru sneezed, then shook her head. Jeez, you'd think she was
getting a cold. She stepped into her small apartment, hanging her
jacket on a peg. Then she entered the kitchen and put the water on
for tea. Finally, she placed quick wards on her door. No one would
be creeping up unexpectedly.
She walked into her bedroom and picked up a ten pound weight.
She sighed and began arm curls.
It had been a month since she had left Tokyo, and it had been
hard... but she loved it. She was known as a slightly weak high
school student, and she had a few friends. She was also known as
a mystic - and that the Senshi would never guess of her.
She did feel guilty when she thought of Haruka and Michiru -
slightly. They had loved her, but they had accepted fate, and she
would not. She still felt Setsuna search for her nearly every day -
and deflected the Time Senshi's efforts. In the beginning it had
been crude and difficult, but she'd gotten good at it.
She heard a knock on the door. With a gesture she removed the
wards and opened it, still holding the weight. "Hello?"
Kikyo smiled. "Working out, huh? I was wondering if you were
available for ice cream."
Hokaru chuckled, putting down the weight and grabbing her
jacket. "How am I going to preserve my figure with you around,
Kikyo-chan?"
Her friend smiled mischeviously. "We could run to and from the
ice cream parlor."
Hokaru affected great distress. "No! Not after running the
mile today!"
"Oh, ok. Come on, I want some pistachio ice cream."
"Right behind you."
*
Kikyo smiled at Hokaru. Her mysterious friend was drinking a
vanilla shake and evidently enjoying herself. Kikyo herself would
not settle for less than a sundae.
*
[Outside of time and space]
Setsuna frowned. Her search had been deflected once more. With
the Saturn Power. But was Hotaru wielding it? It was possible that
she had regained memories of her Silver Millenial training.
If Hotaru would detransform just once - she would know she was
alive. She wouldn't have to worry so. At this rate, Setsuna feared
she would break the rules and look into the far future - just to
see if she was alive now. What if she had been captured?
She swallowed and chuckled. If only the Sailors knew that
there was always a bearer of their planets' power. There could be
a new Saturn, if Hotaru was dead. But until Saturn let go of her
transformation, Setsuna would never know.
The note she'd left had been in her handwriting. It made
sense, almost. Hotaru didn't want to be treated like a little girl
anymore. But where would she go?
*
[Crystal Millenium; Tokyo - the Crystal Palace]
Neo-Queen Serenity looked at her Outer Senshi. "It seems what
our past selves weren't told was of the attack on the other side
of the planet. Will you three protect the people there?"
The three grinned and nodded. Haruka's eyes glinted.
"Anytime."
*
[CM; New York]
Sapphire was unhappy. His sneak ambush on the unprotected side
of the planet was being balked. By three very annoying Senshi.
The first had short blonde hair and was carving his monsters
into pieces with her sword. She was Sailor Uranus.
The second had medium lenght aqua hair, and she was drowning
his minions. She was called Sailor Neptune.
But the person who was really causing problems was the Senshi
with long dark hair and dark eyes. She was not only slicing through
their ranks, she was immolating them with her attacks. Sailor
Saturn was evidently *enjoying* herself.
His brother's face appeared. "Sapphire, status."
"Prince Demando, we're being torn to pieces."
"Pull back."
"Yes, Prince."
*
The monsters began to disappear. Saturn frowned. "Is that all?
I haven't been able to go all out in ages."
Uranus laughed. "Hokaru... we wouldn't have wanted you to go
all out for ages."
Neptune nodded. "It might have been... destructive."
Hokaru laughed. "Yeah. Well, we can't go back to Crystal
Tokyo, right?"
Pluto appeared. "Correct. You have been granted, in essence,
a week's vacation."
Hokaru looked up at her. "And you?"
Pluto smiled. "My past self is guarding the gate. I have free
time now as well."
Hokaru nodded. "Good. We haven't gone out to eat for a while."
Michiru smiled. "Who's paying?"
The four comrades-in-arms walked out laughing.
On a future note, if you enjoyed this fic, I suggest you read a few
of my other short fics. My fic page is here:
http://members.tripod.com/~BekyX/fanfics.html
Ja ne!
Beky NeRichnead
Grand Potentate of the Universe
"Dragon: What's the charge?
St. George: Devouring maidens out of season.
Dragon: Outta season? You'll never pin that rap on me, d'ya hear me, cop*??
St.G: Yeah. I hear ya. I've gotcha on a four-twelve, too.
Dragon: A four-twelve!? WHAT'S A FOUR-TWELVE!?!?
St.G: Overacting."
St. George and the Dragonet
(c) 1953
Written by: Stan Freberg and Daws Butler
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