Guardians of the Millenium: Bridges of Time by Alina CHAPTER THREE: "What is this place?" Endy asked,his voice almost lost in the the huge, dark, and cavernous room that rose above them. Around the sides they could see levels of balconies ringing the chamber and rising as high as the shadowy light allowed them to see. In the center a dark crystaline substance pulsed with evil energy. "No wonder its called Nemesiss." He could feel the pull of it all around him, and as a consequence he felt slightly nauseated. "The Dark crystal!" Pluto said. "The Neo-Queen told me about this! How they fought against Wiseman, and his Dark Gate. It was in stopping him that she said we first met her, and your other self." Endy looked from the crystal to Pluto. "That makes no sense...You mean you weren't there when you first met these people?" She shook her head, and her eyes met his with a genuine smile of released worry. "No. Consider it a paradox of time, but even as we near this evil's center, I know that Time will restabalize. The world I know is not endangered--for what has happened is already accounted for by the future I protect." "You seem very content right now!" he said in amazement, despite the waves of evil energy he felt as they walked closer to the center. Ever since they'd spoken to the King, she'd seemed more relaxed. "I, Zirconia, A High Manager of the Dark Moon Clan order you to halt!" A woman with long, multi-colored hair appeared in front of them. Her dress shone with irridescence that created a strange contrast with the darkness of the Hall. "Who let you in here!? Don't you know this area if off-limits, while the Dark Gate is being opened?" She lowered her eyes angrily, one hand on her hip, the other tossing back the errant strand of hair covering her face. The movement revealed the dark shape of an inverted crescent moon on her forehead. Endy blinked at shock, remembering the golden moon symbol he'd seen on the Queen's forehead. Were these warring factions related? Pluto instantly moved to attack position. "I am Pluto, Guardian of Time, and I have come to destroy your illegal trespass on the corridors of Time!" "Hmph...We'll see about that!" Zirconia replied as she effortlessly tossed a wave of dark energy towards the two of them. "Oops, that is, *I'll* see about it. You won't be around." Endymion's quick reflexes worked to dodge the attack, as he pushed himself and Pluto against the parapet closer to the Dark Crystal. He swung them down over one level to the next, so that they were a flight above the base of the crystal. Its dark light washed over them, throwing their shadows against the wall. Again, Endymion felt as if something vile had crawled into his stomach. "Good, I think we lost her." Endymion said, as they crouched, recovering their breath. "Let's do what we came for and get out of here!" "You're not going anywhere--at least, alive!" Zirconia replied as she ran into view. "I Zirconia----" She paused dramatically. "Dead scream" Pluto whispered as her attack spun towards their attacker. "How rude!" Zirconia said as she neatly sidestepped. "I wasnt done telling you how I was going to hurt you!" Pluto merely tilted her head, as the sphere of energy completed its orbit and headed back into Zirconia. Somehow, Zirconia caught the reflection of the attack against the dark obsidian walls , and turned just in time to see it approach her face. She laughed. "You fool! Here at the Source of the Black Moon Clan's power, such pidly performances will do nothing!" The woman's voice lingered after she'd dissappeared right before the Globe reached her, allowing it to crash into the curve of the wall behind her, destroying a huge chunk of the support of the balcony above them. "Quick--before that falls on us!" Endy said, as he grabbed Pluto's wrist, pulling her into another corridor. "This place is a maze!" He swore. "We can't go too far or we'll get lost." "I do not understand! My powers should be able to stop her!" Pluto whispered, as they narrowly escaped another blast of power. "But she's too fast here...in the Time Door I can always move faster!" "Yeah, well, another attack like the last and you'll finnish off us if nothing else. It's no good to have a strong hit if you can't land it. We've got to keep moving--besides, she's just a distraction." "True. That Dark Crystal is what we have to destroy...That is what is creating the Bridge." "Then why are we attacking it here? If you work better in the Time Stream, can't we knock it out there!" "There you are--You can't hide from me! HA HA HA" Zirconia cackled. "It's like she knew where we were going!" Endy complained as they turned another corner. "She knows this place, if not our minds." "Well, perhaps we have an advantage on her then---" Endy said taking out the watch. He focussed in on Zirconia trying to keep his mind to within a few minutes of where he was. A grainy image showed her sneaking up on them from behind. "Quick, she's coming that way--" He said, turning around. He didn't see anything. Pluto frowned. "You should not use that, the Guardian of the Royal Eternal Guard gave that to me!" "Now's not the time to get possessive.... We need all the help we can get." "Oh, I agree--" Zirconia said from behind him, as Pluto rushed towards her to battle her with the staff. "Let me help end your misery!" Zirconia easily blasted Pluto back with a waive of dark energy. "Who asked you!?" Endymion swore. "I wasn't miserable until you showed up!" He ran towards Zirconia, dodging her attack, and charged. She avoided his fist, by simply transporting away out of range. How could she have still snuck up on him? He whipped around, and realized the limitations of the future-scrying device. Still he hated this helpless feeling, just watching Pluto fight without being able to do anything to help. He was supposed to protect because that was his nature. He knew it inside, but how was he to harnass this feeling? What kind of protector was he, if he didn't have any special abilities? A punch didn't do much against magic. "What, going to let your girlfriend do all the work!?" Zirconia teased as she started forward to launch an attack at Pluto who was struggling to get back up. "Well, she is the more dangerous of you two. I'll kill her first, and then have fun with you pretty boy!" Endymion felt a surge of anger, and he threw the scrying watch straight at Zirconia. Its sharp crystal edges sliced her cheek and let a bit of blood edge forward. "AYEI" She screamed. "That cut my skin--- how dare you!" She whirled back towards him. "I think I'll take you first with one shot!" Moving forward very quickly, Pluto threw herself across the ground, so that her staff stretched across the corridor in front of Zirconia. Zirconia didn't see the rod, as she was too involved in her attack. As a result, her ankle caught and held on so that her forward motion became locked and she crashed heavily to the ground. Her attack, instead of shooting forward, crashed into the ground infront of her. Dark crystal shattered into powder that sprayed up and over Zirconia, turning her shiny dress black with soot. ""I've smudged my dress now!" Zirconia complained Ooooh....I'll get you for that!" "Excuse me, but wasn't that what you were trying to do before?" Endymion asked. "Go ahead and try!" "You'll regret that--ARGH" She screamed as she attempted to launch another attack. "How do you like this!" Pluto's replied "Dead scream" as she sent her attack at the ceiling . The balcony crashed down right on top of Zirconia, trapping her attack on herself. They heard her scream, but the explosion prevented them from observing the rest. After the dust settled, Endymion walked closer to see Zirconia imobile and slumped on the ground. He heard her gasp softly, and then her head lolled to the side, her eyes open but unseeing. Endymion looked at Pluto, over the the prone body of their enemy. "Wow, that was something else." He said a bit awkwardly. She merely nodded. "With your help to distract her, I was able to finally get through her guard. Let's go." The two of them ran to the chamber with the Dark Crystal. "This Panel..." He said fingering a small console. "I wonder what it does?" The screen of the watch replayed the scene of a young man with dark hair and eyes the color of a saphire. The man removed something from the panel, and dissappeared. "In side, is something that controls this thing--if we remove that, it weakens it..." "That's it--That panel is what anchors the Time Bridge and allows this Dark Energy to Flow to the Past. But something else is at the Other end--something powerful and evil. This end is like a mirror reflecting that evil..." The screen fluttered, at Endy's thoughts, and showed a strange scene, of a woman almost identical to the Queen he'd seen, but somehow different. Determination and defiance hovered in her eyes now, as she held up a glowing crystal with both hands. Above her hovered a Dark figure--the one they'd glimpsed at the Time Door with the strange globe of dark power. They were locked in a fight of wills and power as the dark and light smashed against each other. Victory waivered between them, neither gaining any permanent advantage. "Dead Scream!" Pluto whispered as her staff flew and hit the Dark Crystal's panel dead on, the globe of purple energy rebounding into the Crystal itself. On the screen, Endy could see a small pink haired girl look up, and suddenly transform into attire rather like that of the young Queen. She rose into the sky as well, combining her power to the Queen's, and the two together overpowered the Dark Figure who dissappeared. "That's it--the Time Bridge is Destroyed!And with that, the temporal block on combining the power of the Crystals was removed. You did it Pluto." A voice from the watch said. "Thank you." Pluto looked up as the Castle around them began to crumble. "With the power gone, this world will be destroyed. It is returning to its natural orbit. Come...Dark Dome Open!" The Door appeared, and Endy and Pluto dissappeared into it. "Hey, that wasn't so bad was it!? This time-bridge thing is a piece of cake!" He smiled, but was dismayed to find Pluto's face was somber. "I'm afraid it is not so simple, Endy. That time-bridge was the easier one to destroy--but what of the other? The GREG didn't mention another bridge! Yet we saw--" "The what?" "The Guardian of the Royal Eternal Guard...He, or it, rather, is a computer program that encompasses the entire scientific and historical knowledge of the Crystal Tokyo Empire. It's more than that--but I am back where I started now. I've created a tear in Time that is not accounted for in the future I know." The hopeless look reclaimed her eyes, extinguising the light he'd seen earlier. "So wait, that Program knew this was going to happen? That I would be transported to the future--that this attack would happen...?!" "Yes. The Attack of the Black Moon Family is something the Royal Family has both feared as a dark Time, and yet celebrated as a past victory for years." "Its so strange that they already knew how it would be...and yet, they seemed so unsure. That King, could he really be me?!" She didn't answer him, but continued airing her anxiety. "Why was the second time bridge not mentioned? I feel nothing in the Time-stream at all..." "Maybe the future-you already took care of it, Pluto. We could use this monitor to find out?" She smiled. "King Endymion is strangely fascinated by the GREG's technology in my time too--but perhaps you are right. Perhaps I can locate the other Time-Bridge with this device." She concentrated, but found only static. "Something is blocking the transmission. Whatever or whoever has created the second time-bridge, they know I am trying to stop it. This feeling I have--of hopelessness, I think its trying to control my mind." She narrowed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. "I felt it just now--something Alien in my mind." "Are you ok, Pluto?" Endy asked concerned. "I'm not sure. I think perhaps before I go after the other intruder, I must deliver you to your new life. The less ripples I've caused, the better." "Wait, I want to help. I'm in this just as much as you are now!" He protested, but even as he said it, he realized that he had little choice in the matter. What help could he be to her? When that woman had attacked them, he'd only been in the way. She shook her head. "That would only exacerbate the tear in time, Endy. If I am to stop the intruder, I need to start sealing my original error... And that means, you need to be replaced in Time." With a wave of her hand they were on the coast again, this time, arriving just in time to see the car crash into the waters. "But you are right, Endy, they do not have to die. You have powers to heal people...." Without another word she dove beneath the ocean, and returned somehow dragging both his parents. A flash of light appeared in the distance, and Endy sensed that was when he had dissappeared from this time originally. He shivered against the strange realization of his having lived through the same time twice. A drenched and disshelved Pluto landed in front of him, and then placed his parents on the ground. "It's too late--we're too late!" He shouted as he felt for a pulse. "Reach inside yourself" Pluto gasped, obviously weakened from the effort. "You have power Endy...if you try you can heal them." The images of roses flashed across his mind, and power welled from inside him. The Queen's face filled his mind, and he thought of the goodness he'd sensed from her. Nothing was impossible, if he tried hard enough and believed. A slow heat covered his hands, and massaged its way into the bodies of his parents. Slowly, he saw their color return to normal, and the soft rise and fall of their breath. "You did it." Pluto smiled slightly. "But we must go now." "They're alive!" He said, grateful for but still amazed at the power he'd used. How had she known about that? How could she know so much and still seem so confused about what she needed to accomplish? "Why did you change your mind? About letting them live, I mean?" "Endy, perhaps you changed it for me." With a graceful move of her hand she dismissed the question. "We must go. Everything will be restored here, but you cannot stay." Endy hesitated, wondering whether he should continue to watch over his parents, but even before the thought formed he found himself in the vague world of the Time-Corridor. Slowly the garden setting began to emerge from the mist. "Why are we here again?" She shook her head. "I think it is dangerous for me to explain what I cannot. That was my error the first time, Endy. That is why I became distracted. I cannot doubt. I can only act. This is where we are supposed to be." "I'm sorry. I can't explain." She whispered. "But I won't forget you." She held her hand up, unconciously mirroring the pose he held. "I won't allow this!" He said with the intensity of youth, passion undimmed by the doubts and cautiousness inherent in an older mind. "I'll follow you. I can't leave you like this...Set, let me fight with you and help you with that second time bridge.....I don't want you to go!" "I can't..." She replied, her voice less than steady. He couldn't mean the words in that way, she told herself. He was destined for another. They'd just met and he was distraught. After all, their circumstances could at best be called strange. The reasons tumbled in her brain, but didn't stop the lurching of her heart. "Set, you can't do this alone!" He argued. "You said it wasn't over, so I'll be reborn when it is!" She shook her head. "Your presence here might be part of the problem. Look, the door's frame is broken." She pointed to a small chip in the wood of the tall door. The white coating that covered the rest of the door looked blistered there around the edges of the chip as if something had burned the hole into the frame. The burn exposed the tea-colored wood that lay underneath the ornate construction. She touched another part. "Part of the destruction has begun to heal, but this scar remains. Until I replace you, I believe I cannot restore this door. " "Set, I...can't accept this. I can't go back to my life--or a new one without you! How can I ever go on without knowing how things turned out....I can't just forget all this!" She sighed, and knelt as a stream appeared from nowhere. "Perhaps not. But at least this will help. If you drink these waters, your memories will be erased. You won't remember any of this." "So what happens next? Do you even know how you're going to replace me in a new world?" He frowned. "If you erase my memories of everything, how could I even function..." "This is no ordinary stream." A small half smile appeared briefly on her face at the memory of Queen Selenity explaining the hidden powers of the river of time--the source of a legend of the Fountains of Youth. Pluto did not age at the gates on an ordinary rate because of the flow of this river where she stood. Yet one day, her despair over her situation had driven her to imbibe the golden liquid. That was how she had sealed her memories away until Queen Selenity's touch had begun to revive them. As the memories returned, so did Pluto's sense of how to handle the situation. "I refuse." He said, staring at the golden stream. The liquid seemed thicker than water, and oozed more than it flowed across the doorway, appearing from nowhere and dissappearing into nowhere. She turned away, and leaned over the stream. "Please, you must." Pluto frowned, knowing she could not force him to drink and yet, if he did not, she would find herself stuck at this point. She could not solve the rest of the problem unless she got him back to his propper destiny. If he would not cooperate, she would need maneuver him into his destiny. She brought her hands up to her lips, and closed her eyes. She needed to be strong. He knelt beside her, placing his hands around her shoulders, and tilted her body around, so that she faced him. He stared into her eyes, trying to judge the truth of what she told him. "There's got to be another way I can help you." He said as he slid his hands lower to make the embrace more comfortable. "Hey, don't pout like that, Set, it'll be all right!" He added noticing the slight pursing of her mouth and tight-lipped expression. She only nodded, and placed her hands on his face and kissed him. She tried not to feel and to enjoy the sensation of his skin against hers, but instead concentrate on the drops of the golden liquid that she let trickle down his throat. A slow burn spread inside him, into his head. He looked up, and realized everything was fading. "Setsuna!" He called, as he fell back against the door. She'd tricked him, he realized briefly before he forgot who she was. >From behind the clouds of mist, she shook her head, as tears as golden as the potion she'd given him, slipped down her face. She held her breath, unable to swallow due to the painful constriction across her throat. Yet eventually she felt a familiar yet knew sensation cruise down her system. Against that she struggled to keep her mission before her--Queen Selenity's face rose in her mind. The fountain dissappeared, leaving a small child, almost swimming in the excess cloth of the clothes he'd worn before. The child stared at Setsuna in wonder, and without memory. "Where am I? Who am I?" He asked, before a heavy sleep over took him. Without too much trouble, the small scrying device showed her how to locate a family near the others. A rich young couple, who were about to be involved in an accident. Carefully, she used the screening device to alter the records at the hospitals, and public records to establish one Darien Shields as the child of this couple. Then, she placed him safely on the side of the road just after the car broke the railing and fell into the sea. She stared for a minute at the car, as it sunk into the waters of the Sea. For a second she allowed herself the luxury of questioning her actions--the doubt she both knew she could not have and yet, could not live without. Unseen by the concerned drivers who wittnessed the accident, and found the little boy, she vannished back to her post. She arrived, noticing the strange chip in the door, and wondered briefly, how that had occurred. She felt as if she had just forgotten something, but what?! Her memories were scattered again--and she desperately fought to claim them again. The only thing she could remember was being called by Queen Selenity and attempting to place the moonbeam capsules in the future. Endymion had gone astray, but she had fixed that now--somehow, though she couldn't remember the details. She couldn't even remember how she had forgotten... A lingering feeling told her, however, that she had just made another mistake. She touched the door, and looked at the strange device she held in her hands--a small screen attached to a wrist band. She tucked it into the folds of her skirt, and promptly forgot about it. "PLUTO!" A voice called, and the figure of Neo-Queen Serenity appeared, waddling and wading through the mists.In her arms was a small bundle. "Where did you go! We were so worried! The G.R.E.G. Lost all contact with you for awhile...and" "Seren--Serenity--I told you to stay put!" Mercury's voice called as Sailor Mercury appeared behind the Queen. Her exasperation almost visible in the sharp pace of her breath racing in and out. "You're in no condition to be experiencing the currents of the time-stream! Especially not so soon after---" "But I wanted to--" The Neo-Queen broke off in an gasp as the bundle began to wail. "Oh dear, Rini, calm down...this is your friend Puu...or she will be!" The Neo-Queen smiled. "Mercury, you're upsetting Small Lady! Everything is fine...the Time Door is as safe a place to be as anywhere in Crystal Tokyo now!" Mercury did not looked convinced and stared almost suspicously at Pluto. Something had changed about the Guardian again, but she couldn't quite place it. Pluto leaned over and looked into the small pink-red eyes, framed by a tuft of pink lashes. The infant began to relax and gurgled, which caused the small moon on her forehead to shine a bit. Pluto smiled. She couldn't remember who these people were, but the moon symbol reassured her they were related to Moon Kingdom family. Perhaps they were the reincarnations of the Royal court? They seemed somewhat different than she'd expected,but then a heavy veil still lay across her memories. "My Queen, you and yours will always be safe at the Doors of Time." Pluto replied. If only, Pluto thought, she could remember more of this world.