I think the exact words for this is: SHIT !!!
I'm sorry. It was late and I haven't slept, trying to squeeze my creative juices for the last
ounce to use for this baby. But anyway, here's the corrected version. Hopefully.
And remember there's a lesson here, kids: Always doublecheck before you post.
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Well, most people have been asking me what happened to Pissing Off Pluto Chapter 3.
Well, _This_ is what happened. I started this fic a year ago, after reading Dance of Shiva,
Together Again, The Wheel of Time, Simon Green's Deathstalker novels, and Undocumented
Features.
This is what happens if you read too much, kids, so don't do this at home. I'm a professional. ^_^
Anyway, I reached 100 K before I petered out. I left it alone and forgot fanfics for awhile.
Now that I've started POP again, this monster turned its sleepy head at me and was just
asking for me to write it. So I wrote. 600K later, I'm still not finished. Damn you, you damn
dirty apes ! @_@
Now that's its petered out again, I can write POP again, that is if the other one doesn't bite me
in the ass.
Anyway, as compensation to the guys and gals who missed POP, I'll post this baby.
It's untitled, so suggestions are open.
Thanks to the guys and gals who gave me the Formatting program help. The fic now looks
something halfway decent, thanks to you.
Anyway C&C is welcome and needed. I need to see if my prose style for this kicks.
And for the entire thing, wait a year or so. I'll send it to the prereaders then, and I'll ask the
permission of all the people on the FFML who have cameos in it, along with a few fanfic
characters from other people's series.
Anyway, after this entire thing's finished, I'm hoping to give Biles-sama a run for his money,
along with the guys at Eyrie and Chris Davies. ^_^
Disclaimer
All characters belong to other people. Most concepts belong to other
people. You'll know. They're pretty noticeable. So please don't sue. ^_^
PROLOGUE
She had been the Guardian of Time for over nine centuries
before the madness claimed her. She had fought it like the others
had, with everything she had and more. But in the end, like all
her predecessors, she snapped.
The visions came to her like an avalanche, crashing into
her mind; an unstoppable torrent of information flooding her
consciousness. So many probabilities. So many possibilities. So
many destinies.
What could have been flickered through her mind, flickering
across her vision, images fluttering like the pages of a book. It
could have been the madness but she could swear that she heard
cars being shuffled beside her ear as the scenes ran through her
mind. The sound echoed in her head as she gripped the Time Staff,
symbol of her blessing and bane. With it, came the laughter, that
mad cackling she would hear whenever the Madness attacked, but
this time it was as loud as a thunderstorm. The voices swirled
around her once again, as they always do when that cacophony of
insanity came calling, and she could hear her. HER. Her nameless
tormentor saying the words in a flurry.
Youllneverhavehimnernevernevermineminehesallmine.
She was prostrate on the misty ground that surrounded the
Gate of Time. Milky white wisps of it swirled around her bent
knees. She was panting hard and the visions continued to stampede
into her mind to the tune of the shuffling of cards.
Shuffle. Shuffle.
Empires crumbling. Kingdoms starting. Dynasties
established. Monarchies toppled. Governments ousted. everything
changing. Always shifting. Like a deck of cards being shuffled,
rifled, cut and stacked.
Youllneverhavehimnernevernevermineminehesallmine.
Her gloved hands tightened their grip on the Time Staff.
Energy sparked and crackled as she unknowingly started calling on
her power.
Shuffle. Shuffle.
People living, people dying. A multitude of newborns
screaming their first cry, drawing their first breath of air,
starting their lives. Children walking a thousand forked paths,
choices made by themselves and forced upon them by the vagaries
of fate, leading them to their destinies. Dying alone, living a
life of pain. Gaining riches, living in luxury. An infinity of
warlords in the making alongside healers, despots, preachers,
murderers and messiahs.
Youllneverhavehimnernevernevermineminehesallmine.
An endless row of dying faces, sounding their dry, choked
death rattle, feeling the wisps of life's breath pass through
their lips. Old men dying in their sleep, happiness etched on
their dry, wrinkled faces. Young men dying in a forgotten charge
in a forgotten war. Or was that a war to come and a charge that
will be ? Their limbs being torn apart by unseen forces, running
towards their enemy, agony on their faces as they went down
either by steel or sorcery.
Life and death, a million born as a million die, seeing all
the infinite paths that was the chaos of Probability. An eternity
of lives passing through her mind in one endless second, another
waiting to take its turn and then the next one.
The mists swirled around her, her power pushing them away.
Power crackled up and down the ivory white staff, the orb that
topped it glowing with an unnatural light. Though she was
kneeling, the staff was upright and straight as a pole in front
of her. Her head was bowed before it, locks of her hair concealed
her eyes. Eyes that were seeing nothing and yet everything at
once.
Shuffle. Shuffle. Flicker. Flicker.
HE
Stars exploded in her vision, as other stars were born.
Nova after nova detonated before her eyes, the incredible lights
blinding her. Suns imploded while planets were born. Swirling
shadows in the blackness of space stared back at her as they
sucked her in.
IS
She saw worlds, young and old. Molten lava flowed over the
surface of a fledgling sphere while icy winds blasted across the
lifeless husk of another. Red. White. Blue. Yellow, Black. Green;
a kaleidoscope of colors, a symphony of planets danced by her,
around her. The spark of life fanned by nature and fate, the
flame extinguished by the harsh winds of chance and destiny.
MINE
Extinguished...
FOREVER
Snuffed...
ALWAYS
Destroyed.
MINE.
Her power reached its apex as the purple-pink glow of
energy erupted around her. Crackling arcs of energy danced all
over her prostrate form, up and down the staff's length and the
space around her. The mists were caught up in the power as they
whirled creating a milky-white tornado around her, with the woman
at its eye. The orb's carnelian glow strengthened as power came
into focus and readied itself to break....
Unmake...
Tear...
Destroy...
From the violently swirling mists around the Guardian of
time, the glint of a sharpened blade twinkled before a sword fell
through the misty barrier, guided by a black-gloved hand.
It sliced through the weaves of power around the Senshi of
Pluto.
It cut through the crackling bolts of power that leaped up
towards it, as if trying to stop it.
It sheared through the fabric that could turn aside a
diamond knife, through soft, supple skin, going down soft sinew
and hard bone, without a sound,
never stopping.
The pain came moments later, after the staff had clattered,
powerless, to the ground. The gloved hand still held it,
seemingly bound to the Time Staff by an invisible force. The
winds dissipated and the mists calmed as the power went away and
all was silent in this place outside of Time.
She held handless bloody stumps before her, the blood
coming out in spurts, crying her pain and shame in silent sobs.
The tears fell on the blade as it withdrew into the mists. In a
moment of clarity, she looked her side and peered into the mists
from underneath her hair.
The mists had settled down and came back to surround her,
enveloping everything in sight with tendrils of white. Her eyes,
blurred by tears, could not pierce the thick mists, but she knew
who was there.
Youllneverhavehimnernevernevermineminehesallmine.
"You know... I loved you.", she weakly gasped out as she
forced herself to stand with difficulty. Without her hands it was
a hard task, but she managed. She could see the black silhouette
of her executioner before her. She swayed, feeling the loss of
blood and the shock of losing her hands. The Madness was raging
at the gates of her consciousness. She held it back. Damn if she
was going to die crazy. She would pass out of this existence as
she came into it, sane as the day she was born. Sane as the day
she first held the staff and the power sang in her blood. She
smiled weakly. Is this what all her predecessors thought when
faced by the figure before her ?
She saw the black form move and felt the cold steel of the
blade at her neck. She could also feel its warmth, the warmth of
its magic, hungry. Hungering for her. She tried to widen her
smile, tried to present her executioner with the face that he had
met so long ago. The beautiful face of a young girl, filled with
promise and hope. A young girl that did her best and kept it all
together through the worst times. Another young girl would take
her place soon. May the Creator have mercy on her soul.
Youllneverhavehimnernevernevermineminehesallmine.
You were right. He's all yours.
"Thank you.", she croaked out, closing her eyes. She
dropped to her knees, her injuries and the shock catching up to
her.
"Not yet.", responded a cold voice from the mists, as the
blade left her neck.
It moved silently and quickly like the autumn wind that
blew through the forests, that took dead leaves from the gnarly
branches and sent them flying. The only sound that came in it's
passing was the thud of a body as it hit the ground.
"Now, you thank me."
Moments later, a great wind blew out from the Gates of
time. It pushed the mists out, out, out, leaving a path as it
whistled its way outward into the Lands of Time.
Chapter 1
The winds will always be there. They will always be
blowing. Through dark forests and bright meadows, the winds will
fly. They always have, they always will. Some winds converge and
become strong turning into tornadoes, ravaging everything in
their path, a symbol of destruction. Some winds blow with humble
meekness, silent and soft as a caress, giving succor and rest,
symbols of peace and serenity. The ocean winds blow and drive
great ships across the vast unknown, symbols of travel and
adventure. The cold winds blow, dragging dead leaves, blowing
through dead trees, bringing the cold of death with them. But
whatever they maybe, they are the winds, neither good nor bad,
but just the wind.
Let us follow one such wind as it starts its journey. From
the top of a snow capped mountain, the cold wind flew down.
Beneath a setting sun, it howled down the mountain's steep face
towards the forest below. The forest's trees had become brown in
approach of winter and the some trees were already bare, twisted
skeletons of their former verdant beauty. Some of them rattled as
the wind howled through them, the cold it brought a sign of the
coming snows. The dead leaves rustled on the ground as this
invisible intruder went through the forest, some of them finding
enough impetus to fly with winter's precursor.
But as all strong winds do, this one weakened, slowed. It
did not howl anymore as it reached the outer reaches of the
forest. It was now a sibilant whistle, a shadow of its former
self. In its weakened state it found the girl.
Garnet shuddered as she felt the wind's cold touch caress
her bare skin. She rubbed her hands together and rubbed her arms,
taking great care not to disturb the load on her back. Dressed in
simple woodsman clothes, she looked around her. She sighed in
relief as she saw a lightning blasted stump of a tree nearby. The
load of firewood on her back was getting heavier as time passed
and she was glad that she was getting close to home. Besides, the
sun was setting and though the twin moons, Castor and Pollux,
gave enough light for travelling at night, she would rather be
home with her grandparents. There were enough stories of haunted
Greenwood that most people avoided travelling it by night. Even
Tenchi, one of the bravest persons Garnet knew, hesitated going
into the Greenwood at night, even when she dared him.
Hitching up her shoulders, Garnet made sure the firewood
was secure and made sure her braid was alright. It wouldn't do
good to have her luxurious green hair damaged a few days before
the town festival. Several of the young women of the village
envied her hair and it was Garnet's pride and joy to wear it
loose when she went with her grandfather to the village every
seventh day for supplies. Most importantly, of course, is that
Tenchi liked it. He'd praised the way she cared for it and how
she kept it as beautiful as it was. Garnet smiled a little as she
thought how much trouble she took to get his attention. Tenchi
was the son of the best carpenter in town. Nobuyuki Masaki had a
good eye and skilful hands. He was always was called upon to
either fix a house or to make additions. Tenchi's grandfather was
the local priest of the Temple of Fire up near the foot of the
mountain. Though quite far apart the Gabrievs and the Masakis
were the closest of neighbors, excepting for old Uncle Stivan in
his shack, and had quite a cordial relationship, even though the
Masakis were of the blood of Jurai. Garnet and Tenchi were the
best of friends growing up, and now that Garnet had just passed
her sixteenth summer, she decided that she wanted to be more than
just friends. Garnet grinned a little at how thick Tenchi could
be, but most men were like that, her grandmother told her,
pointing out her grandfather as an example.
She sighed again, as she felt the weight of her load as she
started up another hill. A few more hills and she would be at the
Gabriev homestead. Her family was quite well-off by local
standard and no one would just call the Gabriev residence a
homestead. More like a combination doctor's clinic, school,
sherrif's office and sheep ranch. Strange, but the Gabriev family
was always strange. For Garnet, it was more like boringly normal.
Yes, her Granny Lina taught her a little sorcery. Yes, her
Grampa Gourry could still slice a tree into a hundred pieces at
the age of sixty. Yes, the place is probably the most interesting
place in the entire thirty mile area, other than the Masaki
Shrine. But after having grown up in it, it kind of loses its
novelty. What she wanted was adventure !
The kind that she heard her grandmother talk about when she
was a little girl and from all the stories she read in the family
library. She wanted to go to some of the places she'd heard
about. To go to Cephiro and see its Magic Knights and their
titanic Mashins, and go to the various beautiful places she read
about from the book The Knights of Cephiro. To see the beautiful
forests, the deep blue oceans, and probably go to the floating
crystal islands in the sky.
Just not Cephiro, she wanted to go to some of the other
worlds she had read about. To go to Autolyca, a world where magic
was non-existent and the law was upheld by the Knight Sabers,
like from the book by Ruby Lightfingers, The Three Knight Sabers,
one of Garnet's all-time favorites. Or maybe go to Jurai, where
Tenchi's ancestors came from, and see the Great Trees,
reconstructed by the Empress Serenity XXII's magic, may the Light
shine always upon her name. Even maybe to the capital itself,
Selene, a world constructed by the Empire's greatest magicks and
technologies, a world in itself with no need for a star to warm
it, all governed by the power of the Silver Shard, the last piece
of the Silver Crytal.
She might even get to see a Senshi, not one of the lesser
ones created for the other worlds but the Planet Senshi,
descendants of the original seven who held their titles. Maybe
even get a chance to meet them or one of the Guardians. Garnet
blushed a bit at the thought. Granny didn't know but she managed
to find a stack of trashy romance novels that seemed to have
belonged to her mother. At least she couldn't see her grandmother
reading them.
They were really badly written, but Garnet wasn't exactly
after the writing. The novels were from the Guardians series
printed sometime before she was born. They were about the
Guardians, the men who supplemented the Inner Senshi in defending
the Empress and her daughter. Usually drawn from those of noble
blood, they were always portrayed as incredibly handsome,
chivalrous, and all the stuff that women liked in men. In the
novels they would always rescue a maiden, who was the heroine in
dire straits, and they always fought at first, but in the end
they end up together. Garnet's blush brightened, almost enough to
match her ruby eyes. Yes, and when they ended up together, well,
they ended up really together. Tenchi was all well and good, but
a girl's entitled to a little fantasy now and then, isn't she ?
She started to whistle a simple tune as she continued her
walk home. Tenchi had taught it to her one time when they were
children. He called it Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku, in Juraian that
meant Ultimate Destiny Apocalypse. It was from this story that he
had heard from his grandfather about a prince who dueled to have
the Bride of the Rose. It ended like all fairy tales, with the
prince riding off into the sunset with his bride. Tenchi told her
that it was probably one of the most beloved of Juraian legends
and that his grandfather told him that every year they celebrate
it at Jurai by holding a great tournament of the sword where the
winner gets to claim the Rose Bride as his wife. Well, that is,
if she accepts. They weren't the totally uncivilized barbarians
like some of Terrans believed them to be. Anyway, Tenchi always
boasted to her the fact that his grandfather once won the
tournament and his grandmother was a Rose Bride. He told her once
that he wanted to go someday and maybe win like his grandfather.
An idea which she promptly beat him on the head for, and he
wisely never brought that up again.
But whatever happened, the tune was quite catchy and
Garnet liked it. She walked on and she looked up. The sun was
nearly gone from the sky and she still wasn't home. She hastened
her steps, stopping her whistling to save her breath. Granma was
going to be really angry if she wasn't home by night. Besides,
the prospect of walking in Greenwood, alone, at night was impetus
enough.
As she walked faster, she felt it. They always came when
she least expected it. And this time she didn't really need one
of these. But the visions could not be refused. Down they came
crashing into her mind.
Darkness coming .
Danger.
A tide of darkness rising to engulf all that she could see.
Gloved hands holding a sword and a puppet's strings.
Tenchi fading from her sight as he walked away, a sword of
light in his hand.
A gate and a staff.
A silver-haired woman facing off against a monster with
rows and rows of teeth visible in its mouth.
A blonde woman facing a fork in the road, suddenly a third
one opening between the two.
A man became a woman, becoming a man, as he held a mask up
to his face.
A heart of stone breaking, shattered by a woman's delicate
hand.
There were more, but they moved too fast for her to see.
But through all this, she heard one thing.
The Dark is rising.
It is coming.
The Guardian will cry tears of blood for the Dark is
Rising.
The Dark is rising and the Bearer of the Ring must make a
choice.
The Child of Dark and Light will be asked to make a choice.
What is your choice ?
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD ! DAMN YOU !", Garnet screamed as she
fell to her knees. Her grandmother had warned her of this. The
visions were getting stronger. Garnet should have asked her to do
the Severing, but then she would not be able to do sorcery. Her
grandmother wouldn't do it, losing her only heir in the Art would
be a big blow to her. But this time she would beg for it. It was
too much. The pain.
Then as suddenly as it came, the visions left her. She
breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up shakily. She looked to
her load. Vision or no, her grandmother would have her behind if
she lost the firewood. She smiled weakly at the thought and
inhaled deeply. Clear yourself. Focus. Like Gramps taught you.
Good. Time to go.
Garnet set off once again, trying to recover from the
effects of the vision. From what her grandmother knew, she was a
natural Seer. Probably a powerful one, that's why her visions
were so strong and affected her deeply. She'd looking in her
grandmother's books for a way to lessen the blow these visions
were having on her, but so far no luck. She sighed, at least I
can still carry this much firewood, looking to her load once
again.
The visions were mostly innocuous but sometimes quite
helpful. Grampa Gourry wouldn't have known of the daimon raid
if it hadn't been for one of her visions, after all. But
something told her that her most recent bout with her talent was
a lot more serious than a daimon raid. The Dark is Rising ?
She'd heard of that phrase before. In one of Granma's
books, most probably. She better hurry along, the sun was already
gone and Castor could already be seen in the sky. The last rays
of sunlight was still there but she better hop to it. She drew in
another breath and focused, using her grandfather's trick. Her
load seemed light and she seemed to be moving faster after that.
She'd almost reached the final hill between her and the
house when she heard it. It was two words.
"He's mine."
She started and almost turned around. She remembered the
legends. She gulped a little as she looked up. Pollux and Castor
were out, and the first stars were starting to come out. Oh,
hell.
"He's mine."
The words seemed to come from behind her again. She
hopped to it, ignoring the female voice.
"He's mine. Always remember that. He will always be
mine.", the voice said behind her with amusement. Garnet topped
the hill and could already see the lights from the windows of the
Gabriev home.
Then a wind blew up from behind her and she felt something
cold touch her behind her neck and something else lift her long
braid a little. She shrieked and she ran as fast she could
towards the light.
**********
Lina Gabriev looked staight across the table and into her
guest's eyes.
"What are you doing here ?"
"Is it not enough for me to visit old friends ?"
"More like old puppets.", Lina answered drily.
"Ah, but I treat my former puppets well, do I not ? A good
home, a good life, a peaceful end to what is an altogether
chaotic life."
Lina sighed. "Yes. That much I could admit. But I ask you
once again. What are you doing here ? I hardly think that me and
Gourry are up to more insanity, courtesy of you."
"I heard you have a granddaughter."
"Yes. Why ?", Lina asked, dreading the answer she would
receive. This conversation was turning to things she had rather
not go to.
"She has the ability to See, doesn't she ?"
"No."
"Lies will do no good.", the voice of her guest turned
hard. "She is the one."
"But, why her ? There are others who could See, why her ?
Why my only grandchild ?", Lina exploded slamming her hand to the
table. "If this is some sort of way to get back at me ..."
"She is the one because she bears the mark. I do not
choose. I merely find and guide. And in the end, kill. Do not ask
me why. I only know. And you should know me better than that,
Lina. I never seek vengeance. Vengeance is for idiots. And I am
not an idiot."
Lina smile wryly. "That's what you think."
Her guest smiled a crooked smile in response.
That was when Garnet came barreling in through the door.
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Now off to finally finish POP 3. Along with the SLR articles. See you around !