"Excuse me?"
The ticket clerk at the Tokyo Airport turned around, then smiled when she saw the young, purple-haired mother with her pink-haired daughter. The child's kitten looked adorable.
"Good evening," she said to the young woman. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like two tickets for the next flight to Hong Kong," Hotaru said. "If that is possible."
The woman checked her computer. "Well, there are still a few seats free in the first class partition... that's all there's left, I'm afraid."
"Perfect!" Hotaru grinned down at her 'daughter'. "We'll take 'em!"
Later, Hotaru used the Disguise Pen to turn back to her normal age. With a smirk, she gave it back to her friend. "Thanks for bringing that, Chibiusa!"
"Usagi's gonna be sooo mad at me when I come back home," Chibiusa frowned. "Now can you finally tell me why we're going to Hong Kong?"
"Sure!" Hotaru smiled. "See, the white spot on the map is much closer to the coast of China than to Japan. It would be much easier to get there from Hong Kong than it would be from Tokyo. Also, there's someone else I was hoping to meet..."
"Oh, and who would that be?" a stern voice behind them asked.
Chibiusa gulped when she recognized that voice. They turned around. "Oh, h-h-hi, Puu..."
"Setsuna-mama!" Hotaru grinned. "Just who I was looking for!"
"Is that so?" Setsuna asked with a raised eyebrow. "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't send you and Chibiusa back home, young lady!"
"Don't be mad, Setsuna-mama, please hear us out!" Hotaru pleaded. "See, there's something Chibiusa and I found out..."
A few minutes later, Hotaru told Setsuna everything about the white spot she had discovered in her atlas.
"I can't believe this..." the guardian of time groaned. "The only week in the year when I'm getting a break from my job, and you're asking me if I want to come along to search an island that possibly doesn't exist?"
"I'm sure it does exist," Hotaru pouted. "And I'm gonna prove it."
Setsuna shook her head. "Hotaru, it just has to be a misprint. Do you think I would have missed an undiscovered island in all those years I have been on the job? It's just impossible!"
"Well, there's one possibility to find out if Hotaru's atlas is just a fake," Diana suddenly spoke up and pointed her paw at a small book shop.
About half an hour, the three of them were sitting in the plane on their way to Hong Kong, in the first class partition.
"I can't believe this!" Setsuna shook her head as she looked at the atlas she bought at the airport. "This atlas is from a completely different publishing company... and yet the white spot exists here as well." She compared it with the school atlas Hotaru had brought with her. The two pages were identical.
"See, I toldya!" Hotaru grinned. "The Hotaru-Chibiusa Island does exist... and we're gonna find it!"
Setsuna suddenly smirked. "Kids... you know what? I'm going to call my vacation off. Beijing isn't that exciting anymore all of a sudden. I'm gonna come with you and help you find the white island spot. But say..." She frowned. "How did you plan to get there once we arrive in Hong Kong?"
"Well, I kinda figured you would have an idea, Setsuna-mama," Hotaru grinned weakly.
"Figures..." Setsuna murmured. "All right, we have a few hours left... maybe I'll come up with something."
"See, I told ya we could count on Setsuna-mama!" Hotaru said to Chibiusa with a smirk.
"Well, Puu does come in handy now and then..." Chibiusa admitted.
Diana shivered. "I think she's just as crazy as the two of you..."
Several hours later, the plane landed in Hong Kong. And a cab drive later, Setsuna and the girls were standing at the harbor.
"All right, I guess I have an idea how we can get to that mysterious island of yours," Setsuna said. "Just lemme open a portal to the Time Gates..."
She waited until nobody was around, then she summoned a shiny portal that lead to her working place. A short while afterwards, she came back out with what looked like a small, purple, metal chest.
"What's that, Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru asked as Setsuna put the chest into the harbor's waters, where it floated on the surface.
The Senshi of Time smirked. "Just watch!" And she pressed a small, hidden button.
Within seconds, the unimpressive little box expanded and turned into a swimming vehicle that looked like a cross between a motorcycle and a catamaran.
"Girls, welcome aboard the Pluto Cruiser," she said as she jumped aboard. "I never had to use it in hundred years, but I think it's still running just fine."
When the girls were able to close their mouths again, Chibiusa whistled. "Snazzy design! C'mon, let's get aboard!"
"Oh no, you know I'm getting seasick..." Diana groaned.
"Geeze, do you have to gripe every second?" Chibiusa winced.
"Fasten your seat belts, girls!" Setsuna said. She had already turned into her Sailor Pluto self and was standing at the Cruiser's controls. She was grinning like a cat who swallowed the canary. "Here weee goooooooo!!"
And as soon as the two little Senshi had sat down, the Pluto Cruiser took off like a rocket and shot off into the distance, until it was only a tiny dot at the horizon.
Somewhere close to the horizon, a kitty puke could be heard.
"God, when does this thing stop shaking?" Diana groaned. She looked a little green."
"Don't be a baby!" Sailor Chibimoon grinned. "And enjoy the ride! This is fun!"
"Although, I think we should slow down," Sailor Saturn spoke up as she looked at her atlas. "I think we're getting close to the white spot..."
"Not only that, but I think the weather's changing," Pluto shouted from the controls and gestured ahead. "Do you see that, girls?"
"A fog bank!" Saturn shouted in surprise. "At this time of year?"
"Well, either this is a coincidence, or we really are on to something," Pluto murmured. She reduced the Pluto Cruiser's speed. "Hang on girls, I'm going in."
"Yuck!" Diana whined. "The fog's so wet and now my fur's clinging to my skin..."
"Stop whining already!" Chibiusa grumbled.
"This is scary..." Saturn shivered. "Like in those ghost stories at sea... Pluto, do we have a compass?"
"Even better," Pluto grinned. "This baby has a built-in navigation system. It'll bring us through the fog safely, no worries! See, the fog's getting clearer."
"Finally..." Diana sighed. Then she blinked. "Hey, theres an island up ahead!"
"Not just any island, Diana!" Saturn smiled. "This is the white island spot... the Hotaru-Chibiusa Island!"
Later, the Pluto Cruiser was gently floating in a beautiful lagoon with white sand and palm trees. It was very warm and seagulls were circling above their heads.
"What a nice island," Saturn smiled.
"I wonder if there are people living on it," Chibimoon murmured.
"Most probably," Pluto said. "There has to be a reason why no human has been able to find it in all those years... including myself!"
"Hey!" Diana's ears perked up. "I hear somebody coming..."
And then they all could hear the voice... it was the voice of a small, portly man with a pointy hat, a white beard and a pickaxe in his hands. He was walking along the beach and sang along, not noticing the three Senshi...
"Heigh-ho, heigh-ho..."
"Hey!" Saturn shouted.
The little man with the pickaxe stopped singing and looked around in confusion.
Hotaru waved. "Over here!"
The bearded man yelped as if a bee had stung him. "Oh g-g-g-god, humans! HELP! Help! Humans! There are humans on our island! Heeelp!"
"Hey, what's the matter?" Hotaru shouted. "Stop, we won't hurt you!"
"Huumaaaaans!" he shouted again. "Heeelllppp!"
And he vanished behind a sand dune.
The three Senshi blinked.
Chibiusa raised a finger. "You know, that guy somehow looked like a..."
"A dwarf!" Hotaru gasped. "A dwarf from a fairy tale!"
"Hotaru-chan..." Setsunaa said in a stern voice. "Such beings don't exist... you do know why they call these stories 'fairy tales', do you?"
"Hello!" a sweet and gentle voice exclaimed.
The Senshi turned around, but couldn't see anyone. Until they looked into the water.
A cute-looking mermaid with a green fishtail and red hair was swimming in the water, close to the Pluto Cruiser. She smiled and waved. "Hello! Welcome to Fairy Tale Island! Say, that's one interesting vessel you've got..."
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(Posted Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:44)
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