[Episode 121269] [Episode 121269]Setsuna Meiou, better known as Sailor Pluto, Senshi of Time and Duty, woke up to a pain she never knew could exist. Her head was being filled with thousands of lifetimes worth of memories, dreams, and experiences. She was washed away in her own mind, until a pair of blue-grey eyes kept being repeated in all those memories. Somehow, those blue-grey eyes gave her strength and kept her centered as the maelstrom of memories lessen and finally ceased.
How long it took her to make sense of everything, she did not know. But she was able to piece some things together.
Unknowing, even to herself, Sailor Pluto was the last fail-safe for the House of Serenity's rule. When a Serenity screwed up, she would simply send Sailor Pluto back in Time before the screw up had occurred, have Sailor Pluto warn her of the screw up, thus preventing the screw up from occurring in the first place. After the trouble spot was passed, Sailor Pluto, to maintain her sanity, would forget everything associated with the screw up every happening, since it never happened.
Thus had Sailor Pluto served her Queen, time and time ago, with no knowledge of what had happened and her role in preventing it. But Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo had screwed up one too many times. Or rather, said Queen had found a single screw up she could not undo, even with foreknowledge of the disaster.
The disaster... Ranma Saotome.
Ranma Saotome, Grandmaster of Ganso Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu, better known as: the Dragon, Devourer of Worlds, Chaosbringer, Womanizer, Jerk, and Number One Enemy of Crystal Tokyo and all it stood for.
It was the last, that Neo-Queen Serenity had messed up in, for she truly believed as long as Ranma Saotome lived, Crystal Tokyo was doomed.
The Timegate could not handle the strain of repeated attempts to //fix// Neo-Queen Serenity's //mistakes// in dealing with Ranma, thus, the strain destroyed the Timegate. With the Timegate destroyed, and most of Neo-Queen Serenity's spells over her, Setsuna could see clearly for the first time in her life. Having lived in Crystal Tokyo in over a thousand lifetimes, through over a thousand variations, she could see that Ranma was not the Problem, but the Solution, for Crystal Tokyo, itself, was fatally flawed. For Crystal Tokyo was the product of a schoolgirl's fantasy of a perfect world, and was never allowed to be altered from that childish beginning. Neither reality nor eco-social science would be allowed to taint Neo-Queen Serenity's teenage dream-world.
A thousands chances, a thousand plans, a thousand rescues, all to save that which was doomed from its birth. Each failure brought more madness. Each attempt brought more desperation. Each chance to right the wrong brought but more wrong. Each intention brought Paradise closer to Hell.
Even now, with most of the spells broken and the Timegate gone, a part of her needed to seek out her Queen, and inform her of the damages awaiting her folly. Several times, she had tried to warn her Queen of the folly of her actions in seeking to slay the Dragon, those seemly-brought foolish attempts to tame the wild stallion, which only caused more disasters.
She knew that if she told her Queen anything of what she knew, the World was doom once more. But the World was doom if she did nothing, for her Queen was gung-ho for her paradise after her 'trials' that she had faced. Damned if she did, Damned if she did not.
She knew she was a sight to see as her fellow Outer Senshi came home. There Setsuna was, Miss Prefect, usually dressed in the latest business professional fashion, wearing only a light t-shirt she slept in and drunk as her Senshi healing factor would allow.
"What happened to you?" asked a concerned voice. Whether it was Michiru or Haruka, she could not tell. She did note that one sat on her right, while the other sat on the left.
A soft, young voice stated knowingly, "She knows."
Even bleary-eyed as she was, she could tell the voice of Hotaru easily enough. But that the innocent, youthful girl knew of what ailed her shocked her to her core.
With a bit of tension and concern in her voice, Haruka asked the obvious question, "Know what?"
"That Crystal Tokyo is doomed from the start," was the sage answer from the Senshi of Death and Reborn. "Not only is Crystal Tokyo doomed, but its very existence, dooms the entire World itself."
Setsuna tried to look into Hotaru's eyes. But they would not stand still. Also she could do was nodded her head in agreement, wondering how a twelve-year old child could know something that took her over a though lifetimes to know.
Michiru and Haruka's shouts of denial just made Setsuna's headache worse. She went unnoticed as she covered her ears in an attempted to lessen her roommates' antics.
"Think about it," the voice of reason spoke. "Have either of you heard the others mentioned any of us, besides Setsuna-mama, when they speak of Crystal Tokyo? Or anyone other then the Royal Family and their Senshi attendants?"
"But," Haruka began.
In a whispered, stained voice, Setsuna stated, "You don't speak of the Dead."
The two older girls could only stare at their friend uncomprehending.
Seeing the looks, Setsuna added, "Some time after the Founding... Usagi will change... the hardships... the frustrations... the pains... something will happen... the fun-loving, carefree girl we have given our lives for... will grow up and become a by-the-book, kill-joy queen... with too much responsibilities... too much pressure... too little time... too many just bowing to her whims... power corrupts... absolute powers, corrupts absolutely."
Michiru and Haruka just gapped at Setsuna, both making warding gestures with their hands to deny her words.
"We see it," Setsuna continued with a touch of amusement in her voice. "For it was how we were, before.... Before Usagi... And our Queen helped us... So we tried to help her, as she helped us... and for that... we were labeled 'traitors' and 'enemies of the state.' Executed without trial... for we have no peers... and the Word of the Queen is Law. You three... you were lucky... your Sailor Crystals were removed and pulverized. Me... I... My mind was trapped... My duty became my prison... to be nothing more then a toy for a spoiled princess... to play the part of baby-sitter and whipping girl."
"It was not for Pharaoh 90 that I was awoken for," that soft, young voice of Hotaru replied. "But for Usagi's growing desire for Crystal Tokyo. Alas, Usagi's web has ensnared me as well. The Earth is doomed."
"So what do we do?" a confused Michiru inquired of the others.
"What can we do?" asked a scared Haruka. Their world was falling apart and there did not seem to be anything they could do about it.
"Go to Ranma-dono," Setsuna whispered, as if she was saying 'make a deal with the Devil,' for in Crystal Tokyo where she was raised and grew up, Ranma was considered the Devil. She did not notice the honorific that she had used for Ranma, but the others did.
Hotaru giggled, and inquired, "Ranma-*dono*?"
Setsuna blushed. She explained that in the last several time loops, Neo-Queen Serenity had each of the Senshi try to seduce and break Ranma, with very poor results on the Senshi's part. Plus, some several lifetimes ago, a bond was created between herself and Ranma, in another attempt to control him, for whatever reason, that bond continued to exist even through the time loops. Setsuna admitted that things were usually better for her, when under Ranma-dono's care, then under the Queen's.
With that, it was agreed that Setsuna would seek out Ranma Saotome, and offer their service to him, to prevent Crystal Tokyo and protect him from Neo-Queen Serenity.
Finding Ranma prove to be the easy part Setsuna realized. Through their bond, she knew in what direction and how far away Ranma was. It was a simple matter, using that information to track him down. The hard part was getting him alone to talk to him. She knew from her past lives, having mind-raped him several times, that her presence and wish to talk with Ranma would not go over well with his so-called fiancees, the Neo-Queen's attempt to keep him too busy to interfere with her plans and possible have him controlled through love and affections.
She needed him alone, ideally for a while, where none could overhear them talk. Especially, away from the Chinese Amazons, who were, in fact, survivors from the Silver Millennium.
The waiting was hard, especially; as she knew her former Queen caused that most of the abuse he suffered under. While the Queen could not directly control a person's mind, she could amplify a person's emotions and character traits, such as Genma's greedy, laziness, and wish to retire, Akane's anger, insecurities, and sexuality, Ryouga's lack of common sense, responsibility, and sense of direction, and Nodoka's need for her son to be healthy, powerful, and a good person.
Her chance came toward midnight, when Ranma, alone, was stargazing on the Tendo-ke's roof, everyone else was sleeping. She easily made the jump to the roof in her transformed state, and landed without a sound. Yet, she knew that Ranma knew she was there. She blushed as she recalled the times she had been take by him as a pleasure slave, by given as a peace offering by the Neo-Queen to plant a spy within his ranks as well as simply as a way to deal with her. From that time, she could read his body language which easily, especially in this time period, since he had yet to learn to minimize it.
She had denied it to her Queen, but she had enjoyed her time as Ranma's pleasure slave, her only worry was where or not she was pleasing, and nothing more. It was paradoxical; yet, she was free in her slavery. She found to her amusement, the conditioning/training that her Queen had put her through to ensure she would be 'acceptable' came to the forefront of her mind. For it was very important that she be found 'acceptable' now. Plus, the symbolism appealed to her.
As quietly as she could, she removed her Senshi outfit, kneeled down and set the useless Timestaff to the side and away from her. She spread her knees, shoulder-width apart, her back straight, head held up with pride, but eyes downcast in respect. Her palms rested on their thighs, open to the night sky. She let her breath even out and waited.
She recalled that in his youth, he was impatient and immature, both conditions the Queen emphasized and used to her advantage as much as she could.
Her wait was not long.
"What do you want?" Ranma asked her in a soft, low voice, without moving.
She shivered, recalling that she had dubbed his soft, low voice his "Hitokiri Voice" that he used to use before he killed someone. There was none of the coldness or hatred of her Queen who had killed his friends and families, simply because they were too close to him and her Queen had thought it would weaken him more.
She wondered what did she want? To be free of her Queen? To life a normal life? To know that the world would continue and not ended because of Neo-Queen Serenity's foolishness and pride? To be loved and cared for as she was when she was his pleasure slave?
Ranma asked in his soft, low voice, "Why are you here?"
"To warm you, Ranma-dono," came the equal soft, low voice from Setsuna. "And to offer my Sailor Crystal to you."
Ranma turned around to look at her for the first time, and blinked. His eyes were wide in surprise and a touch of fear, not of her, per say, but the fact that she was nude, kneeling and filled with magic, a very bad combination as far as he was concerned. His face showed his puzzled at the mention of her Sailor Crystal, as well as his nervousness about sharing the Tendo-ke's roof with a kneeling, naked girl.
If the situation were not so serious, Setsuna would be laughing at the co medical facial expressions and mannerisms of Ranma. It had been a very long time for her since she saw him so innocent and pure. And it saddened her that she had to end that. She began with, "I am Sailor Pluto, Sailor Princess of the Planet Pluto, Senshi of Duty and Time, Guardian of the former Gates of Time and Space..."
With that, she told him about the House of Serenity, the Silver Millennium, Crystal Tokyo, how Neo-Queen Serenity saw him as a danger, and the steps she had taken to defeat him. She held nothing back, baring her soul to him.
At some point, she knew not when, she found herself being held gently in Ranma's powerful arms and tears running down her face. When she stopped, more tears fell as she saw the hard face of the Dragon, instead of the simple, troubled face of a young boy.
Wanting it over, she withdrew her Sailor Crystal from her heart and presented it to Ranma, saying, "This is my Sailor Crystal. It is the physical manifestation of my soul and essence of Sailor Pluto. All that which I am, all that I have ever been, and all that I could be... that is what a Sailor Crystal is for a Sailor Senshi. I have caused you great harm, done many, many terrible things to you and yours simply because I was too blind, too stupid, too weak to disobey my Queen.... Destroy it, if you wish... take it, if you want..." She fell silent, too emotional to continue, as well as unsure what more to say.
Setsuna watched as Ranma took her Sailor Crystal into his strong hands. The sensation of another touching her Sailor Crystal, her soul and essence, was strange... gently, firm, soft, caring, curious, powerful, and other emotions/sensations went through her being as Ranma explained it slowly in his hands.
"eat it"
Setsuna blinked. She thought she heard something, but could not make out the words. But she watched in shocked amazement and fear, as she saw Ranma swallow her Sailor Crystal, consuming her very soul and essence as if it a piece of candy.
If the mere touch of another had caused so much emotion/sensation, having her Sailor Crystal consumed, engulfed was a million times more. Almost immediately, it became too much for her and she passed out, sure that she was going to meet sweet oblivion.
Setsuna Meiou woke with a start. The mere fact that she woke up at all surprised her. She next realized that she was in a soft bedroll, naked, and she felt fine. Better then fine, she felt wonderful, free, and powerful. Power course through her veins, she felt giddy, as she could do anything. Her power felt alive and wonderful. The only think she could compare it to was the power of the Neo-Queen and her Master.
With that thought, two realizations came to the fore.
First, the Serenitys had bound their Senshi's powers and wills to themselves, only permitting the merest fraction of their powers, as well as using the Senshi themselves to access their power sources and abilities. She was a natural-born Sorceress, with Temporal Elemental powers, and Chosen by the Planet Pluto to defend the Sol System. She knew, now, that the Gates of Time and Space were created by Serenity the First to access and use Sailor Pluto's Temporal Powers for her own use and bind her to her will. She could do everything the Timegate did and more. The //Dead Scream// was the least of her powers and abilities.
The second was that Usagi/Neo-Queen Serenity could no longer access her power, as their bond had been severed. Neo-Queen Serenity could no longer access the Time Stream to send anyone back or forward, at least, not with any accuracy and with peril. Assuming, of course, that Neo-Queen Serenity still existed, although, knowing the pains that Usagi/Neo-Queen Serenity had put into creating Crystal Tokyo, it was highly likely it still remained, even without her or the Timegate. While the bond between her and Usagi/Neo-Queen Serenity was severed, the bond between her and Ranma grew. It was as strong, or even stronger then the old bond, either of them. She could feel that, somehow, Ranma was also connected to her Planet and its power, but unlike the Serenitys, it was not through her, but a connection of his own. In all her experience and knowledge of Silver Millennium Lore, such a thing was never recorded, having two independent connections to the same Planet without annihilating each other.
As all this settled over her, she also realized that there was a downside to her freedom from the restriction that Serenity had placed on her powers. With that restriction had come triggers for what powers she could use. With the restriction gone, so went those triggers as well. She had a vast amount of power, but lacked the knowledge to use it. She could not even transform.
"Transform?" Ranma's voice cut into her thoughts.
"Sorry, Master," Setsuna began for talking out-loud.
"Not //Master//, Set-chan," Ranma gently said. "Maybe //Sensei//, but not Master." Blushing a bit, he added, "Definitely not the way you meant it."
"Yes, Master," Setsuna replied.
Ranma just groan.
Setsuna explained, "In order to use one's Senshi's power, one needs to trigger one's transformation...." Her voice trailed off. In a soft voice she asked, "I don't need to transform into my Senshi form, do I?"
Ranma nodded in agreement.
"Another control," Setsuna realized.
Ranma added, "would also provide a //secret identity//, and prevention of misfire as well."
Standing up, Setsuna looked around, unmindful of her nudity, she had nothing to be ashamed of... she stopped, as realized some was different about her body. There was a mirror against one of the walls, and she moved over by it, looking at herself.
Her breasts were bigger, fuller, and firmer. Her muscle tone was defined, toned, and visible. She was slightly taller, maybe four or six centimeters. She was in better shape and health then she ever been.
Ranma cleared his throat and stated, "After I ate your Sailor Crystal...." Ranma blushed in embarrassment, not sure why he did that. "You.... you... disintegrated into sparkles..."
"Disintegrated?" Setsuna wondered.
Ranma nodded and continued, "I gathered up the sparkles... and came here..."
"Where is //here>//?" Setsuna inquired in a curious voice.
Ranma smiled, "A Shaolin temple... I come here to get some peace and quiet..." Ranma trailed off.
"From what's been happening," Setsuna finished.
Ranma nodded. It was strange talking with a girl, naked one at that, who was being nice to him and knew him so well...
"You gathered up my sparkles," Setsuna prompted.
Startled, Ranma continued, "Yeah.... and came here. I told Master Po what happened, and he suggested that if I concentrated on what you looked it, I might be able to //put// you //back together//."
Setsuna smiled at the nervous Ranma, something she rarely saw, and said, "Obviously, you succeeded." And made some improvements, she thought to herself. She was beautiful before, now she was a goddess.
Ranma nodded, to nervous to say anything. Just as she knew everything about him, he knew everything about her, what she had been through and vague ideas of what he had been through as well. He knew that Setsuna had been raised, such as it was, by the other Senshi, in their //Eternal//, perfect, forms, while she herself was but a child, who developed very slowly.
She laughed in happiness, turned around, and hugged Ranma tightly, making sure to rub her body against him, as she said, "thank you, Master."
Tired of it, Ranma repeated, "Not master."
Setsuna giggled and said, "Yes, Master."
Ranma sighed. "I'm not going to win, am I?"
"No, Master," Setsuna giggled. She was still pressing her nude body against him, enjoying the feel. She caressed certain points, which she knew, from past lifetimes, gave him great pleasure.
Ranma moaned in pleasure, and moved away from her. The conflict within him was shown clearly on his face.
A single tear remained in Setsuna's eye unshed. Where in rejection or acknowledge of the suffering Neo-Queen Serenity had put him through, even she did not know.
"We need to get back," Ranma said with a shaky voice.
Setsuna nodded, started to leave, when Ranma called her back, she was hopefully, until Ranma handed her some clothes.
The clothing was an extra set of Ranma's normal outfit, which fit her very well. The silk felt great against her skin, and she could easily imagine it was Ranma's hands caressing her body, especially, since his scent was upon the clothes.
Both headed back to their respective places.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Fri, 15 Oct 2004 17:34)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.