Tuxamy@aol.com

	This is Chapter 4 of my little series about Sailor
Pluto. There's some violence in here and language too, but
it's not really bad.
	SailorMoon is copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi
	Email me at Tuxamy@aol.com if you have comments, 
suggestions.

The Guardian of Time and Her Secrets
Chapter 4
by Fairychan
	
	She to marry Zodos? Someone she barely even knew?!
	Yet that was what her father and Chronos decided. They
shook on it and had some wine afterwards.
	Setsuna was still in shock. How could her father do 
this? Didn't she have any say in this???
	No, of course she didn't. Her father expected obedience 
from everyone, and his word was final.
	Zodos kissed her after their fathers had announced 
their decision. Setsuna had been polite enough not to push 
him away. And now his arm was wrapped around her waist.
	Zodos seemed like an okay person, but there was 
something still bothering Setsuna about him. Maybe it was 
the rumors...
	
	Zodos glanced over at the beautiful princess. He noticed
that her face was expressionless. He couldn't tell if she
was happy with the arrangement or angry.
	He was in love with the princess. He had been, ever 
since his father had told him about her. She was so quiet
and elegant, a mysterious aura surrounded her.
	And his father had told him that with a queen at his 
side, he could trust his son with the power to control 
time.
	Zodos wanted that power more than anything. He would do 
anything to possess that power. Even kill his own father.
	Which he had tried to do several times. But they were 
all foiled. Blast the stupid plans...but he had one more
ace up his sleeve...
	
	Chronos and King Pluto left the dining room to go to 
the wine room to drink and discuss the wedding.
	When they were out of sight, Setsuna got out of Zodos's
grasp and walked upstairs.
	"Hey!" Zodos called after her. "Setsuna!"
	He saw her walk into a room and slam the door shut. He 
stood there, dumbfounded.
	Setsuna was in her room, and she was angry at her 
father. Very angry.
	How dare he! Why did he pick out the person she was
supposed to spend the rest of her life with?! 
	All the other princesses married for love. They truly 
loved someone, and were happy together.
	Setsuna screamed shrilly and concentrated on cracking 
the black vase on her night table. It clattered to the 
floor in pieces.
	But how could she be happy with a man who supposedly 
tried to kill his own father? Could Zodos actually be as
bad as people said?
	Setsuna looked down at the floor, suddenly overcome 
with shame. No, she shouldn't judge Zodos by the rumors 
she had heard. That would be unfair. She would give him a 
fair chance.
	At that moment, there was a knock at her door. She got 
up to open it.
	It was Zodos. 
	She reddened. "H-hello, Zodos..."
	He looked at her with his dark blue eyes. There seemed 
to be sadness in them.
	"Setsuna, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable..."
	"It's all right, Prince Zodos..."
	He smiled at her. "You're beautiful when you blush."
	She gave him a kinda half smile and was closing the door
but he pushed it open.
	"Princess Setsuna, please, I know what you're thinking 
about me.  I am not like what people say. Those are just
stupid rumors."
	She took her hand off the doorknob. "I...I guess."
	He kissed her on the lips. She followed through, but 
then pushed him away. She closed the door in his face.
	Zodos stood outside her bedroom door, his face darkening.
	*You will be mine, Princess Pluto, and I will have my
father's power as well*, he thought angrily.
	
	The next morning, Setsuna woke up, and she screamed.
	Zodos was standing near her window, looking out over 
the kingdom.
	"What are you doing in here?!" she demanded.
	"Watching over you...you will be my queen, and I want 
to protect you."
	Setsuna glared at him. "I can protect myself, thank 
you." She stood up and got out of the bed. 
	"Setsuna, why do you hate me?"
	The words hit Setsuna hard. "I don't hate you, Zodos."
	"Then why do you act so cold towards me?"
	"I never wanted an arranged marriage, I wanted to marry
for love." Setsuna looked at him, and he was looking back 
at her.
	"I could tell..." was his reply. He took her hand. 
"Princess, I've been in love with you for so long...it
would break my heart if you didn't feel the same."
	"Only time can tell," she said.
	He laughed. "So I should ask my father?"
	Setsuna couldn't help smiling. "No, I don't mean it 
like that."
	Zodos leaned over to Setsuna and kissed her.
	Setsuna still felt uncomfortable about Zodos, so once 
again, her instinct was to push him away.
	Zodos's eyes were flashing and he was glaring at her. 
"Dammit, Setsuna..."
	She saw his dark eyes brighten with anger, and she 
wasn't sure of what to do...
	He held a bright ball of energy in his other hand...
it was getting larger...
	"DEAD SCREAM!!!" Her reaction had been right on time,
as he had hurled the ball to her, the high-pitched scream 
shattered it.
	Zodos smirked. "Dear princess...you were lucky this 
time."
	She shut her eyes and pretended she didn't hear him. 
That monster...
	"Zodos...wh-why did you do that...?"
	He didn't answer.
	She glared at him, and threw him across the room. He
hit the wall on the other side and didn't get up for a few
seconds.
	She regretted haveing done that, when he got up and 
glared at her...his dark blue eyes nearly froze her in her tracks...


	She knew for sure now that she didn't like Zodos. He 
had acted nice and polite, but inside he was an evil, vile
man.
	Princess Venus and Mars had come to her palace to 
visit and find out more about Setsuna's fiance. They sat 
in the east garden, in a gazebo sipping lemonade.
	"Setsuna, you're finally going to get married!" Minako 
said excitedly.
	Setsuna said nothing. She *wasn't* excited at all.
	The Princess Venus started saying things about how the
wedding should be planned, where it should be held, etc.
	Rei looked over at Setsuna and rolled her eyes as to 
say, Just ignore Minako-chan.
	After several minutes, Setsuna had had enough. "Shut 
up!" she yelled.
	Venus stopped immediatly, and Mars and her stared at 
Setsuna. They had never, *ever* heard her talk like that
and use that tone of voice.
	Setsuna's shook her head. "Oh, I'm sorry, Princess 
Venus...I didn't mean to snap at you like that."
	Rei snorted. "It was about time."
	Minako ignored Rei's rude remark. "It's okay, Pluto...
I guess I do like to talk a lot about love, since I am
the princess of the planet of love!"
	"I'm not sure if this is love," Setsuna muttered under
her breath.
	"I heard that," Rei said. "It's the whole arrangement 
thing, isn't it."
	Princess Venus spoke. "What's wrong with Zodos? He
seems awfully nice to me!"
	Setsuna frowned. "There's a lot more to him than you 
know..."
	Rei sat straight up. She became alert and looked around 
for something.
	"What is it, Rei?" Setsuna asked.
	"I...I sense a strong negative energy field...coming 
from the west..."
	Setsuna turned to the direction Rei mentioned and there
was Zodos.
	She screamed. 
	Zodos glared at her. "Setsuna..."
	She stood up from her chair. "What?"
	His face changed. He smiled. "You never introduced me 
to your friends."
	"This is Princess Mars, and this is Princess Venus," 
she pointed. 
	He bowed to them. He took Rei's hand and was about to
kiss it when she snatched it away and nearly slapped him.
	"Well, we certainly have a wild one here," he joked.
But his eyes flashed angrily again...
	He turned towards Setsuna, and those eyes, the furious,
blazing eyes nearly scared her to death.	
	Rei noticed it all. She looked at Pluto with worry.
	Minako, however, thought Zodos was a nice man, a good 
match for Setsuna. She said so to him.
	"Thank you, princess. I hope you and I aren't the only 
ones who think so."
	Rei glared at him. "Zodos, I sense something about you.
You obviously are a very disturbed young man, and I hope
Setsuna doesn't love someone such as you."
	Setsuna shook her head at Mars. *No, you shouldn't have
said that!*
	He balled his hand up into a fist, and Setsuna could 
see him struggling not to attack Rei.
	Rei remained calm. "If you even dare attack me, I will
kick your ass with the power of Mars."
	Minako gasped. "Naughty Rei!"
	"Oh shut up!" Rei got up and stood face to face with 
Zodos. "You want to fight the senshi of fire?"
	Setsuna pushed them apart. "Please, no battling on
the palace grounds..."
	Zodos stalked away, out of the garden. But before he 
closed the gates, he gave Rei and Setsuna that evil, cold
look again.
TO BE CONTINUED