Disclaimers:

Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and all associated characters were created 
by Takeuchi Naoko.  Sailormoon is copyrighted by Takeuchi Naoko, TOEI 
Animation, DIC Productions, Kodansha, Bandai, and other companies.

The story and all of the characters I created which are not from 
Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon are copyrighted by me, Pisces6.  The 
characters I created are of _my_ creation; therefore, you must ask me 
if you wish to use them in your own fanfiction.  This fanfic was 
officially finished on January 15, 2001.  Last modified: August 25, 
2002.

This is purely for entertainment purposes only, so please don't sue 
me; I'm not making any money out of this.  No copyright infringement 
intended.





Duty

by Pisces6 (e-mail: pisces6@centragarden.net)


You just don't give a damn, do you?  I'm alone in this god-forsaken 
land, and you, you just stand there as if you don't care.  Just shut 
the hell up.  I don't care if you weren't going to say anything, just 
_shut_ the hell UP!

How long has it been?  A minute?  A month?  A century?!!  Images.  Too 
many of them.  Things that could have been.  Should have been.  I 
ought to leave now.  Forget this crap.

I stood up.

Don't you _dare_ do it, warned a small voice.  Remember the _last_ 
time you did that?  Remember?

Oh, yes, I remember.  All too well.

   **************************************************************

"NEPTUNE!!!  Watch OUT!  WORLD SHAKING!"  A ball of crackling yellow 
energy savagely hit the menacing demon behind the graceful soldier.

"Arigato, Uranus.  DEEP SUBMERGE!"  A aqua green sphere of energy left 
the soldier's hands and quickly disintegrated another demon about to 
attack Uranus from the side.

Uranus gave Neptune her trademark smirk.  "I could have handled that."

"Shouldn't you be busy fighting?" came a cool, collected reply.

"I'm never too busy for you..."

"Would you two stop flirting and get back to business?!" yelled a girl 
with waist-length hair.  "There _IS_ a fight going on here, ya know!"

Uranus looked up at the silver guardian in annoyance before she gave 
Neptune a rueful, apologetic grin.  She then turned around so that the 
she and Neptune were back-to-back.  Both women took a ready stance.

Saturn, who was positioned beside the silver guardian, spared the duo 
a bright smile.  She was using her Silent Wall to protect the castle 
from energy attacks, and hopefully minimize the number of demons 
coming through the dark purple shield.  Still, a large majority of the 
enemy had broken through, and to complicate matters, an increasing 
amount of Venusian dust was lifted into the air from the large number 
of individual battles taking place.  It was becoming difficult to see 
whoever or whatever was coming their way, even if the person was only 
ten feet away.

"It doesn't look too good," Uranus stated grimly as she surveyed the 
battlefield.  Through the dust and grit, she could make out the bodies 
of both demons and fighters that littered the scorched, bleeding 
ground.  Even the well-trained silver guardians from the outer planets 
and Venus were having trouble keeping the ruling castle of Venus from 
enemy hands.  And it certainly was _not_ a good sign when the Dark 
Kingdom's seven strongest fighters were presently having the time of 
their filthy lives mangling, devouring, or just plain killing any 
warrior that had the courage to stand in their way.

Where are they?  Uranus's sharp, green eyes began to search the 
steaming landscape.  If they're smart, they'll come straight to us.  
After all, we're the only ones that can stop them.  Once they kill us, 
Venus is theirs.

"We may not be able to stand another wave," quietly commented Saturn 
with a dead voice as she struggled inwardly to keep the shield going.  
"We are losing too many fighters.  Already several of the silver 
guardians are becoming exhausted and the palace guards are dropping 
like flies."  And they KNOW they have us trapped, she told herself.  
They know that we can't last much longer.

"I have worse news," panted the silver guardian as she delivered a 
solid kick to a demon's stomach before decapitating it with her sword.  
"The kingdoms of Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus have fallen."  
Even though no word was said, the guardian knew that the three outer 
soldiers were stunned.

"Pluto was first to fall, then Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn.  I just 
got the messages from my teammates.  They're dead."  Her cool, even 
voice didn't fool them.  Inside, they knew she was grieving.  They 
continued to fight even though their minds were whirling frantically, 
trying to absorb all the information at once.

Saturn stole a concerned glance at the silver guardian.  Her face 
betrayed no emotion, but as Saturn examined closely, small trails of 
tears slowly appeared on the guardian's face.  Even though the 
guardian's teammates were far away, the guardian must have heard all 
their cries before they died.  After all, the guardian was a telepath.

"They split up, didn't they?" uttered Uranus with a hollow voice once 
she understood their enemy's strategy.  "We're only fighting the 
stronger half of their army while the other half sneaked around and 
attacked Pluto and the other outer planets first!!"  The soldier of 
the sky cursed.  "They KNEW we were going to be on Venus after the 
fall of the Sun and Earth kingdoms."  And we lost Mercury when the Sun 
Kingdom was destroyed, she thought bitterly.  The blue-haired soldier 
hadn't been herself once she heard that her home planet was ravaged 
and turned into a desert wasteland.  Without her mother's protective 
ice/water powers to keep the tiny planet cool and alive, everything 
had withered and dried out.

"Their whole army is going to gather on the Moon," gasped Neptune as 
she automatically dodged a punch aimed for her face.  "Mars...  
Jupiter...  They..."

"Are under attack, just like us," nodded the black-haired guardian as 
she sliced another demon who was threatening Saturn.

Since Saturn was busy maintaining her shield, her body was vulnerable 
for any passing demon to attack.  It was the young guardian's job to 
work with Neptune and Uranus to protect the powerful soldier as she 
struggled to protect the palace.  Although the pair usually worked 
alone, Uranus had to admit that the trio worked well together.  The 
guardian had been trained well and showed an impressive amount of 
skill for someone her age.  She's improved a lot since the last time I 
saw her, Uranus thought meditatively as she gave her opponent a series 
of well-timed punches and kicks.  "WORLD SHAKING!"

All four of them were pacing themselves, but, they also knew that they 
were getting tired.  They could hold off the invaders for an hour or 
so, but unless help arrived, they were going to have to think up of 
something extreme if they wanted to win this battle.

"SATURN!"  The cry startled Uranus and Neptune enough to allow their 
respective demons to strike out at the duo and inflict medium-sized 
claw wounds on their arms and legs.

"Damn," hissed Uranus as she quickly finished off her demon by 
twisting its head so that it hung at an odd angle.  Discarding the 
corpse, Uranus turned around upon hearing a sharp intake of breath 
from Neptune.

"DEEP SUBMERGE!"

"You okay?" asked Uranus as she watched the lifeless body of a demon 
skid to a stop on the dusty ground.

"I'm fine," reassured Neptune.  There was a slight tremble in her 
voice which worried Uranus, but this was no time to worry about such 
small things.

Both women turned to see the silver guardian level another demon with 
a strong kick to the head before shattering its body with a brilliant, 
blue energy blast.  The girl then sprinted over to Saturn and grabbed 
the her friend's shoulders.  "Saturn, are you all right?"

The duo looked on in horror.  The demon had managed to deliver a huge 
slash wound across the soldier's left leg and lower torso.  Saturn was 
still holding her Silence Glaive, but the damage had been done.  
Saturn's concentration on the shield was broken, and the Venusian 
palace was already fracturing under the dark energy bolts thundering 
in the sky.

"I'm sorry, Saturn!  There were two of them, and I didn't see the 
other one in time," blurted out the distressed guardian.

"I'm all right, really..."  Saturn's voice faded away as her eyes 
caught sudden movement behind the guardian.  "Watch your back!" she 
gasped.

"NANI?!"  The guardian whirled around just in time to see a demon's 
huge claws raised for the final blow.  Instinctively, the silver 
guardian pushed Saturn away from the demon and put her arm up to 
block, even though she knew that it was futile.

"Dead scream," whispered a soft voice.  A pink ball of energy slammed 
into the attacking demon, leaving nothing but dust to join the 
stinging grit already whirling in the dry air.

Neptune's startled blue eyes traced back the attack's trajectory to 
the shadowed figure of a tall, dark woman with knee-length hair.  In 
her hand was a staff in the shape of a large key.

Uranus spoke.  "Who in the hell are you?"

Purple eyes gaped at the mysterious figure.  "Sailor Pluto," Saturn 
whispered with a mixture of awe and quiet alarm.  It was not possible, 
but there she stood.  Saturn had only seen the soldier of time in 
dreams and visions.  But never, never in real life.  She was only a 
legend; the princess of the outer planet Pluto had unaccountably 
disappeared before Saturn was born.  Before even Uranus and Neptune 
were born.  Only Queen Serenity and residents of Pluto and its moon, 
Charon, had seen the ten-year-old princess before she disappeared 
fifteen years ago.  She was never seen or heard from again.  It had 
been rumored that she was kidnapped, and a failed secret rescue had 
resulted in the princess's death.  More sensible people thought that 
she had simply hit her head in the misty forests of Pluto while 
playing a game of hide-and-go-seek and had forgotten who she was.  No 
matter how thoroughly the citizens of Pluto searched, they could not 
find their missing princess.  She was officially declared as a missing 
person.  Until now.  Now she stood before them, an ominous shadow on 
the battlefield.

"Sailor Pluto?!"  The silver guardian repeated as she peered up at the 
dark soldier with wide eyes.  "Why are you here?"

"Hopefully to divert a tragedy," replied the time guardian with a 
cool, controlled voice.  "Look."  Pluto pointed up in the sky as 
another wave of demons and brainwashed soldiers of the Earth Kingdom 
landed on Venus's soil.

Where are all those _things_ coming from?!  All of a sudden, Uranus 
felt very tired.  Here and there scratches, bruises, cuts, claw-marks, 
and assorted wounds covered the warriors' bodies.  Only Sailor Pluto 
remained unscathed.  Frustrated at their predicament, Uranus felt 
anger, red hot anger, wash over her as she spat out, "What took you so 
long?"  Her dark green eyes had narrowed to slits.  You're the 
almighty guardian of time.  You could have stopped all of this from 
happening!  Where were YOU when the Sun and Earth kingdoms collapsed?  
What were you DOING when Mercury turned into a dried out husk of a 
planet?!"  Uranus laughed bitterly.  "You shouldn't have come.  Look 
around!  There's almost _NOTHING_ left to live here.  After Venus, 
they're going to aim for the Moon.  If you had the power to change 
time, why didn't you USE IT?!!!"

"Uranus..." protested the exhausted Neptune.

"What?  It's true!"

"It is not so simple," Pluto replied softly.  "I had my vows to keep."

"You _had_ your vows as an outer soldier!" shouted an enraged Uranus.  
"Do they mean nothing to you?!!"  Her chest gave a hitch, and Uranus 
found herself gasping for air.  Her eyes watered, and try as she 
might, she couldn't stop the hot tears that ran down her face.  "We 
_LEFT_ our kingdoms to fall while defending Venus.  WE _KEPT_ our 
duties to the Moon Kingdom because we _vowed_ to protect this system 
from invaders inside and out!  And where were you?  Sitting on your 
fat ass, watching us suffer?!!  We couldn't even keep Venus from 
falling into enemy hands!  And _now_ you show up as if nothing 
happened?!!  HA!  You're no Sailor soldier."

"I hate to interrupt, but we have company," the silver guardian 
announced worriedly as she kept moving her gaze between Uranus and 
Pluto.  "The enemy is starting to breach the castle."

Uranus swore.  "Everyone," staring with particular venom at Pluto, 
"get ready.  We've got to stall for time so that the Moon Kingdom can 
rally its defenses.  If Venus falls," and at this Uranus grimaced, 
"let's take out enough of the enemy so that the Moon can wipe out the 
rest."

"Understood," replied the silver guardian.  The other three outer 
senshi nodded.

The attack came.  Pluto tried her best, but the sheer number of demons 
and possessed soldiers overwhelmed the small group.  She watched in 
silent horror as Neptune was mercilessly stabbed through the heart 
before being blasted by a demon.  She watched as Uranus screamed out 
her partner's name as Neptune's body flew back from the force of the 
blast and landed several feet away, lifeless.  She could hear the 
crackling laughter of a woman fill the air as the last silver 
guardian, mortally wounded from trying to defend Neptune from the 
demon, fall to the ground, unconscious.  Another demon didn't waste 
any time and immediately beheaded the guardian before beginning to 
feed on her remains.

Then a cold, evil feeling invaded Pluto's senses.  She looked around 
wildly, noting absent-mindedly that Saturn and Uranus were doing the 
same.  They finally looked up towards the palace of Venus.

Seven, bloody, but triumphant figures stood on the ruined ramparts of 
the castle.  The seven most powerful warriors of the Dark Kingdom.  
But they were doing... something.  Saturn narrowed her eyes in an 
attempt to focus in on the seven figures.  She gave a small, almost 
inaudible, gasp as their dark shadowy forms blurred and wavered.

It's their secret weapon, thought Saturn as a shudder ran through her 
body.  She gaped at the large entity that was formed from the seven 
demons.  There's so much power...  Where did it come from?  We _had_ 
no chance.  As if to reprimand her, Uranus's voice echoed inside her.  
'If Venus falls...  take out enough of the enemy so that the Moon can 
wipe out the rest.'  Saturn's face hardened; she knew what she had to 
do.  She didn't like this, but... it was probably their last chance.

Maneuvering her Silence Glaive, she focused the last of her strength 
for her final attack.  Venus, please forgive me, she prayed to the 
golden-haired soldier who was currently stationed on the Moon.  She 
knew that once she performed this, the planet would never be able to 
support life again.  With a look of finality, she glanced at Uranus; 
partly for reassurance and partly out of habit.

Uranus gave a solemn nod.  Saturn began her final attack.

"SATURN DEATH REBORN...  REVOLUTION!!!"

Purplish black ribbons rose from the tortured ground and began to wrap 
around Sailor Saturn's figure before heading straight for the giant, 
dark shadow.  The ribbons wrapped around the shadow, strangling it.

It worked!

Or did it?

Disbelief and terror clouded the three outer soldiers' features as the 
dark ribbons were pulled off by the dark entity, and shot back at 
them, like a yo-yo rushing back to the hand that had thrown it.  
Uranus managed to dodge the ribbons, but both Saturn and Pluto were 
hit, hard.  The soldier of destruction slammed into a palace column, 
creating a tomb for herself in the broken marble.  She stayed inside 
the column, her head bent forward, with cuts and scrapes all over her 
body.  But those wounds came from the column she had been buried into; 
it was her own attack that left her skin pale and her body lifeless.

Pluto hit the palace wall, and created a large dent before sliding 
down.  Groggily, she tried to open her eyes, and found her vision hazy 
and unclear.  She didn't even see the second ribbon coming at her, 
head on.  All she felt was intense pain while her body was crushed 
even further into the ground and marble before her vision went 
completely black.

"No.  NO NO NO!!" denied Uranus with a piercing cry.

"WORLD... SHAKING!!!"  Uranus poured all her anger, sorrow, and soul 
into her last attack.  The golden ball of energy grew to twice its 
usual size as it approached its prey, and Uranus had the insane hope 
that it just might damage the entity that loomed above her.  Instead, 
the shadow merely shrugged off the attack and blasted her with an 
attack of its own.  Uranus's vision whirled as she felt her body 
pushed back by the attack and hit the ground with a dull thump.  
Neptune.  The elegant soldier's body laid there, just a few feet away.  
Uranus reached out with her right hand in an attempt to perhaps hold 
her one last time.  Instead, she blacked-out.

   **************************************************************

I was stupid.  Stupid to think that _I_ could undo all that 
accumulated evil at the last moment.  I broke _BOTH_ of my vows that 
day.  And then I was reborn.  The first of them to be born and 
remember.

Why did I accept such a "gift"?  It never mattered in the end!  I was 
STILL a pawn of Fate even though I LEFT my post.  Even though I had 
the power to change the timeline.  The power to make sure those events 
would never happen.  What possessed me to say yes to that strange 
lady?  Oh, I could strangle her right now.  I would kill her if I 
could.

But it would not work.  She would escape the attack.  Nothing could 
stop her; not even Time itself.  So why did I say yes?

"Because you knew, Pluto, that there was no other way.  You _knew_ you 
had to do it for your Princess.  Otherwise, how would your future 
Queen's daughter come through if you were not here?  I wouldn't let 
her go back to the past."

Pluto looked up from the ground, startled.  "Who goes there?  Show 
yourself!"  Her garnet eyes narrowed.  "And how did you know what I 
was thinking?" she asked with malice in her voice.

The disembodied voice continued as if Pluto had never spoken.

"And you also knew that I would come back to take my post again," 
replied a girlish, calm voice.  A tone of finality colored the voice, 
and made it sound older than it should have been.

Sailor Pluto numbly looked down to find a fifteen-year-old girl 
standing beside her.  Pluto stared in open shock.  "It's... you."

The girl smiled, quietly acknowledging Pluto's statement.

"It's time?" asked Pluto, her voice slightly shaking with a mixture of 
disbelief and happiness.  She could feel her spirit fill up with 
giddiness.

"Yes.  Go," the girl gently commanded the worn-out Time guardian.  
"Your job here is done.  There is only one thing left.  But you know 
what it is when the time comes."  A gentle smile graced the young 
Gatekeeper's face.  "Be happy.  Live as you were to be."

"I..."  Pluto closed her mouth when the girl shook her head solemnly.

"No need for thanks, Pluto.  _I_ thank _you_.  Now go and live."

With a smile that made Pluto look almost like a young teenager again, 
Pluto let herself become Meiou Setsuna and started to skip joyfully 
towards the Time Gate that had opened for her.  Then she stopped and 
looked back.

"But what about you?  What happened to you?  You haven't..."

"It doesn't matter now, Pluto.  Don't worry about it," smiled the 
girl.  "It was done in the past, so let it be past."

Setsuna nodded and happily entered the open Time Gate.  The new 
Gatekeeper looked on sadly as she joined the timeline once more.  
Setsuna's form wavered, then disappeared as a new image took place.  A 
helicopter with three Outer senshi in it.  The helicopter moved over 
to the garnet-colored shielding; a move that would prove fatal.  The 
daimons that made up the shield growled in hatred.  They encircled 
their gel-like bodies around the helicopter, squeezing it until it 
violently exploded.  The three occupants should have been killed.  But 
no.  Sailor Pluto intervened.  The other two senshi did not know, but 
this was an older Pluto than the one that had just left the timeless 
dimension.  The new Gatekeeper watched as Pluto transported her two 
friends to safety before giving up her life.

"Arigato, Pluto.  For you, I'll watch over them.  All of them."