This is the second chapter of The Guardian of Time and Her Secrets. Once again the characters are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi(the queen of manga, for creating Sailor Moon)and Kodansha and blah blah, all the legal stuff. The Guardian of Time and Her Secrets Chapter 2 by Fairychan Setsuna gasped as she heard Princess Mercury scream in terror. Then they heard the chant, "Mercury Cosmic Power... MAKE UP!" Flashes of blue light came from the hallway, and they brightened until they became almost white... "Her special!" Princess Jupiter, also known as Makoto, gasped. "MERCURY..." "ICE..." "BEEEEAMMM!!!" There was a huge flash of light that blinded Setsuna and she was nearly knocked down by the force of the attack. A horrendous howl pierced through her ears from whoever Mercury had attacked. More blue lights, and then they faded quickly. Setsuna was closest to the door, so she tried to climb through the broken wood to see Sailor CosmicMercury. Sailor Mercury stood near a small pile of broken ice. However, the ice wasn't clear like normal ice, it was... black. And there were sparkling jewels on the floor. Queen Serenity rushed after Setsuna and gasped when she saw the black ice. "Mercury! Wh-what happened?!" "Your highness...I don't know! It's-there was-oh god!" Mercury held her face in her hands and moaned. "They were wanted something..." "What exactly?" the queen asked with a worried look on her face. "Sailor Pluto..." ***** Sailor CosmicPluto's face turned pale. Who wanted her? And for what? Who had been chasing after Mercury? "This meeting will come to order, Sailor Senshi." Queen Serenity ordered. After the Black Moon had been defeated, the Silver Crystal suddenly surged in power and all the Soldiers were given new titles and powers. Mercury still looked distraught. She kept her head down and she barely talked. "Mercury, please explain what happened this evening," Queen Serenity instructed. "I was getting to the palace, but I brought along my mini-computer to finalize some ideas of mine..." "What ideas?" SailorCosmicMars asked. "What I told King Endymion...I was trying to figure out a way that the Time Gates could be guarded without Pluto there..." SailorPluto blinked. *That* was Mecury's idea?? It seemed like a great one... "But my computer crashed, because there was this unknown energy field around me..." Sailor Mercury tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "And remember the program I made, so Pluto could leave the Time Gates for a period of time, and the gates would still be protected, but not 100 percent of the time?" Everyone nodded. Pluto liked that program that Mercury had made, and so far it had worked. "The computer crash also destroyed the program...and the gates are no longer protected..." Pluto gasped loudly. "But they had back-up on them for only 2 hours...in 30 minutes, the back-up program will self-destruct and the gates will be vulnerable to anything." Pluto immediatly got up and started walking towards the door, ready to go back to her post. Again. Mercury turned towards Pluto. "I'm so sorry, Pluto..." Pluto forced herself to smile. "It's okay, Mercury, it wasn't your fault...I guess I could use the time to myself." King Endymion nodded. "Mercury, it wasn't your fault. You were trying to help." Venus frowned. "Wait, who the hell were you fighting?" "I don't know...there were 2 men, and they claimed to be the henchmen of the Lord Zodos, lord of time...they were both pale and wore black and navy blue clothes with badges encrusted with precious gems." Pluto paled again. "They demanded that I lead them to the Mistress of Time, Princess of Pluto. I asked them who they were and what they wanted with her, but then they turned vicious and tried to attack me." Pluto touched the gold chain she was wearing around her neck, and looked down. Jupiter, however, noticed what Pluto was doing. "Pluto, do you know who these stupid guys were?" She continued to look down, and mumbled, "No, I don't. Good-bye, everybody." She quickly teleported to her palace. ***** Setsuna sipped some water from a crystal goblet that Charon had brought to her. She sat on her bed as Charon closed the curtains and turned off most of the lights. Charon looked at the princess's face. Her face was sad, and it seemed like she was thinking about something. "Princess Pluto, you're thinking about the men who wanted to find you?" She nodded. "Charon...I-i don't know what to make of it, it seems too unreal..." Setsuna took her gold necklace out from her under her nightgown. It had a charm, the symbol of Pluto. The charm was dark emerald, and lined with diamonds. "Ah...and does the necklace have something to do with it?" Charon asked. Setsuna looked up. "Yes...it does..." "Do you care to tell me what it has to do with what happened tonight?" "No, never mind, Charon." "All right." Charon left the room and closed the door. The princess sighed...it couldn't be that time yet... **** ~FLASHBACK~ Setsuna...setsuna... no, please... don't... Setsuna my beautiful princess... I can't let you go through! i thought you loved me, sweet Setsuna... I could never love someone like you! let me go through the gates... nooo! Get out of my way! NOO! Dead scream!! AAAGHHH!! You will pay, soldier of time... pay dearly... ***** "Ohh!" Setsuna woke up in a cold sweat. She dreamed of *it*. Was the dream an omen? That night...when her fate was sealed...the night everything changed. She screamed, with her Dead Scream attack. Her shrill yell broke a vase on the night table. It crashed to the floor. Setsuna kneeled down to pick up the broken pieces. Charon came running it. She turned on the main light. "Princess, what happened?!" "The dream...of when I made the worst mistake of my life..." Charon grimaced. She had served the Princess Pluto all her life, and knew all too well about that dream. But Charon knew little about why Setsuna had to guard the Time Gates. She had always thought it was the job of the princesses of Pluto. Charon wasn't dense. She knew that the dream, the necklace, the men looking for Pluto were all connected. But Setsuna had never told anybody, *no one* about how she got the job of guarding the gates for eternity... TO BE CONTINUED