Time of Corruption by DarkPluto DarkPluto4@aol.com Chapter 10 - The Truth Revealed Rating: PG-13 Author's Note: Another chapter that is not told by Pluto. And don't expect a long one. Serenity stood, allowing the tears to stream down her face. She looked about her. Even Haruka had a tear-stained face. She looked at Chibi-Usa. Her face was sheet-white. Instead of going into a crying fit as she had expect Chibi-Usa to, Chibi-Usa had a set expression. Her eyes had been glazed over by tears, but underneath the sorrow, she had a hardened expression. She no longer looked like the sweet Chibi-Usa she once was. Serenity looked away, shaken. Death had struck Chibi-Usa too hard. Hotaru looked not much unlike Chibi-Usa. Her face was every bit as tear-stained as Serenity's, but her face was as steely as Chibi-Usa's. And filled with a wrath?Serenity couldn't figure out at whom the wrath was directed. The Inners seemed sad, but she looked at the Outers and Chibi-Usa. It was clear their sorrow was so much deeper than that of the Inners. After all, the Inners hadn't really known Setsuna. But had she? Had she really known Setsuna either? She knew Setsuna's power, Setsuna's quiet ways. But she hadn't REALLY known Setsuna. She had known Setsuna for more than a millenium, but in the a thousand years, Setsuna remained a quiet mystery, hardly speaking or conversing. When in society, she remained quiet, rarely conversing except with the Outers and Chibi-Usa. She hardly spoke to her outside of Sailor duties and paying civilities. And otherwise, she stood, guarding the Gates of Time. And now she was dead. Serenity would never know her, perhaps the most intriguing of all her subjects. A golden shimmer interrupted the Scouts, who sat, mourning. They all looked up. A wounded figure in a golden armor appeared. Hotaru immediately ran over and placed her hands on her. "She's too far wounded! I can't do much except lessen the pain a little and perhaps give her a few more minutes to live!" cried Hotaru. But Serenity was speechless. "Galaxia?" she whispered in shock. "Yes, I'm Galaxia," the wounded figure answered. Haruka, Michiru, and Makoto clutched at their transformation lockets. "No, don't transform. I have little longer to live, and I come in peace. I must warn you. A new evil is here, one that even could not defeat," gasped Galaxia. "I made the fatal mistake - underestimated her cunning and incredible powers, and now I must pay with my life. You must go to stop her!" "Her? Who is this? How can we stop her if YOU couldn't?" Serenity pointed to herself and the rest of the Scouts. "You and the Scouts are our only hope. I battled her twice. Once with every single Scout I could gather from about 4 Solar Systems. She defeated us, and killed them all, except for me. And then I tracked her down and met her with an army - an army of Scouts from several GALAXIES. She killed us all. I teleported before she could suck my energy out, but I'm dying. I won't last," Galaxia coughed, spraying out a bit of her courageous blood. "Who is she?" Serenity was terrified. "She is?Sailor Pluto," Galaxia told them. "She is a traitor. She kills Scouts and planets and solar systems without showing a sign of regret. She's after all the energy in the Universe. She's destroying them all?" "That's impossible! We went to Lestiniel! She's dead. Look, there! That's her body!" Serenity confidently pointed at the body they had brought back. Galaxia strained her neck. "That's not Setsuna! Lestiniel was the first planet she arrived on, and she killed everyone there. That's Sailor Evulpa, otherwise known as Presia. She looks like Setsuna, doesn't she? She practically is Setsuna's counterpart. Most people describe her as cold and distant. Small wonder her aura is black." The scouts all stared at her. "You must go. You must stop Setsuna," Galaxia pressed on once again, urgently. "Are you SURE it was Setsuna? I mean, she's powerful. But last time we met, you destroyed her and Saturn together so rapidly," stammered Serenity. Galaxia closed her eyes. "It was Sailor Pluto. But I felt the nega-energy in her. It was so deep, so evil, so full of debauchery. This was beyond even Chaos's evil," she whispered. "You must stop her. Fighting will be useless. She easily defeated all of the seven galaxies' Sailors that I had called together. We could do little more than wound her. And once she gets all their energy and conquers all those defenseless galaxies?she's unstoppable. I can't even defeat her now. And she's so cunning. She defeated me by surprise. Her battling techniques are extraordinary. Even if we fought on sheer strength and powers?I have my doubts if I could win. You MUST stop her!" "We can't stop her! She's defeated YOU. She's defeated the most power Sailor in the universe! She's defeated GALAXIES' worth of Sailors! How can WE hope to destroy her?" cried Makoto. "No. You can't fight. Fighting will be futile. Setsuna has been reinforced with an incredible energy of evil. We cannot reach her through fighting. You cannot destroy her. No. I give you the only power that helped you defeat me so long ago. It wasn't the power of fighting. It was the power of love and goodness. Serenity, I give you all the good you ever had. Try. You must all try. Reach her through love, through pure goodness. Help her remember all the good and love. Help her," pleaded Galaxia. "I don't understand. How could Puu have turned against the Scouts? It can't be. She's the most loyal one of us all! Mother would faster turn against us than Setsuna! Even Mother has been momentarily turned against us, but Puu never has!" said Chibi-Usa. "I don't know. But Setsuna is now harboring a horrible evil. One that will take all the love and goodness to conquer. But I keep my faith in you. I keep all my faith in you?" Galaxia said, weakly. "She's going?" stated Hotaru in a mechanical voice. "I keep my faith in you?You will prevail?" Galaxia's head fell to the floor. Her eyes were glazed over by Death. "I don't believe her," said Chibi-Usa harshly. "I don't believe her, either," seconded Hotaru. "But why would Galaxia lie to us? Especially since she's dead?" asked Serenity reasonably. "Should we confirm the fact that she's dead and won't rise?" said Hotaru bitterly, reaching for her transformation locket. Mercury scanned Galaxia quickly. "She's dead. From severe wounds like some of those we found on Lestiniel." "Besides, it would explain the presence of the evil we felt at Setsuna's house," Rei pointed out. "But WHY? You all know Puu! She would never turn against all the Scouts! She loves us all too much! She's too devoted to her duties!" cried out Chibi-Usa. Michiru finally spoke up hesitantly. "I've seen this for a while, but I was sure it meant nothing. But Pluto's glow is extraordinarily bright - much brighter than any planet I've ever seen." Eight head simultaneously looked out the window towards Pluto. Sure enough, the planet was sparkling like a shimmering diamond. Ami scanned it. "The energy that planet is glowing with is tremendous and concentrated." Chibi-Usa turned and glared at Michiru and Ami. "So you all decided to turn against Puu, too! But what can I expect of you, Ami? You never bothered to learn anything about Puu! You say you've known Puu for more than a thousand years, but I say you never knew her at all! And you, Michiru! I don't think Puu's the traitor! It's YOU, turning against her just because a few people declare so presumptuously that she's turned evil! Have you forgotten what a loyal friend Puu has been to you already? Have you forgotten already Puu's kindness to you?" "That's quite enough, Chibi-Usa. Go to your room. The rest of us, let's all go and pray for the best," said Serenity quietly. "Rei, go to your fire. See what you can learn about Setsuna. If anyone feels negative energy in huge blasts, call all the other Scouts except for my daughter." The Scouts bowed. Hotaru closed her eyes. No, Setsuna would never turn evil. Not against them. Not against the scouts. She didn't really believe Galaxia was lying, and she had always felt Setsuna was alive. But there was something else. Galaxia had told all she knew, but there was something even Galaxia didn't know. Something Galaxia hadn't told them. She stooped and prayed fervently, letting the tears flow. She prayed for Setsuna, to watch over her safety and to bring her back to them safely and healed. Author's Note: Short, I know. But there will be at least one or two coming up that are horrendously long (Gee, can you guess why?). I know the last few haven't been very good, but I'm sorry. They're necessary. Comments to DarkPluto4@aol.com.