GOM: Bridges of Time: CHAPTER ONE by Alina Notes: GOM: Bridges of Time Chapter One ********************************* Time Stream: just after the destruction of the Moon Kingdom: ************************************************ Ironically, to the Door of Time's sole occupant, time had no meaning. There was no before, no after, but only the everlasting existence of guarding the Gate. Why did she feel she must do so? Why couldn't she leave? Her memory seemed as shrouded as the space that surrounded her. In that shifting fog that covered reality, she saw no answers. How long she had been at this post, an ever vigilant, ever lonely soldier? Occasionally memories would start to surface, but would just as quickly fade like shadows into the haze. Her first break in that stream of eternity came in the form of a pure white light emanating from the Doors. They sprung open of their own accord, and she found herself in a world desecrated by the remains of a battle. Elegantly carved silver-white pillars splattered the rocky ground. Had she been there before? A memory (or premonition?)from somewhere emerged and told her this was the Moon Kingdom that she served. A voice called her name, bringing into focus a woman of almost divine beauty and grace. Pluto turned, her tenseness fading under the aura of peacefulness that emanated from the woman. A voice in her mind (her own, or someone else's?) told her she looked upon Queen Selenity. Yet it surprised Pluto to realize whoever she stared at did not fully exist in the world--a telltale translucency to the figure revealed that the Queen no longer existed at all, at least, not in the ordinary sense. "Your Majesty?" Pluto said, as the Moonbeams swirled past her into the Gate...She looked at the ghost figure... "What happened?" "I stopped Time..".Queen Selenity replied. "If only I could turn it back!" The Queen's gaze surveyed the fallen stones and pillars of the once magnificent castle. How could she explain to Pluto what had been lost? How could Pluto understand the society that disappeared and the causes for its destruction? "I have traded my life for a brighter future." "It is forbidden to change the Time Line!" Pluto countered automatically. She gazed in wonder at the real world around her. Hungrily, her eyes drew in the sight, even as scared as it was. That static frozen state held questions and information for her starved mind--who built this? How long ago and what destroyed it? The Queen half-smiled. "And I will pay with my life force for this. I know, Guardian of Time, what I do. Do not be alarmed, for the sanctity of Time is not violated by the Spell I have cast." "I do not understand, My Queen." Pluto said sadly, wanting to trust the Queen and still follow her duties. "I only know the rules of Time." Her eyes pleaded that she wanted to know more. "Destiny must allow for choice, Pluto. It is for freedom that we fight Metallia. Do not let history be another tyrant. " With almost the last of her strength, the Queen touched Pluto's sigil. "Keep only the good memories." Pluto felt herself tingle with the energy of the Queen as the Queen merged her essence into the crystal. And into her. Pluto nodded, watching as Selenity disappeared before her eyes, the crystal shimmering. Leaving the ruins behind her, she entered the time stream closing the Door of Time on the Moon Kingdom. The Queen had given her a precious gift, even as she had given the other soldiers a new chance at life. For the first time, Pluto felt her past separate from her future as memories began to form in her mind. They remained as hazy and indistinct as the shadows on the Moon appear from earth, but she could still trace the edges of them. For now, she revelled in the knowledge that she had memories even if she could not yet fill in the details of them. For the first time, she could remember. She turned her attention to the moonbeams, trying to guide the rather numerous bubbles in the chaos of the Time corridor. A small last figure encased partly in moonbeams, but also partly in a darker light slipped into the time stream unnoticed, following behind the others merging itself with them. As carefully as she could, Pluto pulled the stream of tiny moonbeams which carried the children of the moon along the corridor. Yet the lingering tie between Zoycite and Metallia caused a flux in the path, and sent the capsules floating astray. She thought she managed to retrieve them all. Pausing at the gates of time, she willed the small computer to show her various times and places. Relying on an innate intuition she selected late twentieth century Japan as the place to install the capsules. Somehow, Japan just seemed familiar to her, and right. Surely there she could find enough women with latent magical abilities suitable to reviving the children of the moon in their same forms. It was only at that moment that she realized the Prince was missing from among the small capsules. What she thought to be the Prince's capsule actually contained four other lives, and it began to divide automatically. Panic flowed around her, but she stilled its rising waves. Grabbing the staff, she reached out with her mind to find the lost Prince. Without having placed him herself, she doubted whether she could find him before he was reborn. She would have to take her chances as to how much life he would relive before she found him. The wrong capsule she'd started to install in the world spun in the temporal void created by her disappearance, only 3/4 of its occupants safely entering rebirth. Pluto's intensity of thought blocked her awareness of the ripples in the flow of time. All she could think of was finding Endymion, before his life played out in the wrong time. California, 1966: "Endy, don't drive so fast dear." His mother warned anxiously. She loved her son, but she'd never understood him and as such, her trust always mixed with an instinctual worry. "Son." His father couldn't even manage more than that one word. Through gritted teeth he addressed his wife. "I told you we shouldn't give him this car. 18 years old and he thinks he owns the world." "Please, slow down Endy!" She said again. "Listen to your mother, Son. Slow down." At least Endy's father didn't have to shout over wind noise--the specially designed car was air tight. In response, Endy grinned and gunned the engine of his brand new designer car again, drowning out his father's pleas. The car slid along the curves of the Pacific coast like a snake on the rocks. At 18, the feeling thrilled rather than terrified him. All his life he'd felt vaguely out of place. Yet something about tearing along these rocks so close to death made him feel more alive. Maybe it was the way the Moon looked so much closer here, up high in the mountains. Its light reflected and expanded in the crashing waves below. The dancing beams tickled his mind with images he couldn't quite piece together. Perhaps if he drove faster he could catch up with the dance of images and they'd make sense to him. His mother screamed then, and grabbed his arm. "Watch out! She's in the road!" Endy looked at the road, at first seeing nothing, until it was almost too late. He barely glimpsed the dark fall of a woman's hair, but her eyes glowed like stoplights, as did a weird device she held. He slammed on the breaks, utter terror slicing through him as he felt the car wheel out of control. For seconds he felt everything grow cold, and all that he thought that mattered, suddenly didn't matter at all. With clarity he saw how foolish he'd been to drive so recklessly. Yet the knowledge came too late to do anything. All he could form was a silent prayer of "Please, don't let this be it," too terrified and in shock to even scream. And then he felt the plunge of the water rather than the sharp teeth of the rocks. Temporarily saved, he realized the car would quickly fill with water. He slid out of the seat, and turned to face his parents. They were both unconscious, and his mother was slumped forward. The side door had caved in, pinning his father. He tried to tug them out, but realized he desperately needed to breathe. Fighting the urge to swim up to the top, he continued to tug at his mothers limp form. Like a mermaid from the depths, a figure swam towards him, smashing the door in, then grasping him. She displayed a superior strength as she hauled him upwards. His eyes met hers briefly, before he collapsed and stopped breathing. Quickly she began to force the water from his chest, and to transfer her own breath to his. Eventually he coughed, and drew a ragged breath. "My parents" He said jerking forward. "Still *cough* there" "It's too late." The mermaid/girl said. His senses returning, he knew she couldn't have been a mermaid. Yet her hair seemed the color of seaweed underneath the waves at night. Was she the one who'd been on the road? "I couldn't save them. I'm sorry. This is all my fault." He couldn't say anything, but just stared at her. The cliffs dropped off very sharply. If she had been the one on the road, then why and how did she dive off into the sea? If she wasn't, where had she come from? "I'd better go after them." He said, shaking the questions off. Again, her strength surprised him as she held him back. "You can't, Endymion. It is too late. They're gone." He turned, his blue eyes bearing deeply into her dark ones. "How do you know my name?" "I can't tell you. But we must go now." She stood, raising the funny device that he hadn't noticed before. "It was you!" He said, but without condemnation. He still felt too confused to lay blame. "Just tell me what's going on." "You don't belong here. I'm sorry this happened, but it was never meant to be. You were never meant to live here, and I came to take you back." ******** She led him into the Garden of Before. She wasn't sure if there were other names for the place, nor how she knew of its existence. She'd never come there before, nor had anyone in her newly found memory warned her of its existence. Like so many things in her life since her meeting with the Queen, she just *knew* things existed. Perhaps she had always known, but without a memory, what good was such knowledge? "How did we get here?" Endy asked in awe, looking around at the strange silvery vegetation. The ground didn't feel hard as normal earth, and all he could see was light and fog. "And where is here? What happened, am I dead?" "No." She said, suddenly self-conscious as he stared at her. She couldn't really remember ever speaking to another man like this before. Perhaps she had in some far away life, but the memory resisted her call. This all seemed to new to her. She realized she was still holding his hand, so she released his hand. He grabbed her wrist. "Am I dreaming?" He asked quietly. "I don't think so." She said, a little flustered by his actions. Again, staring at him loosened another memory from the mists. She knew him, not from the Queen's memories, but from another time. Yet there he'd been older, and he'd always seen him completely in control of himself. A protective figure, defined by his love for one woman above all else. This younger version seemed different, though she knew he was the same as the King she served. "So I'm not dead, and you're not a dream" He measured the words, his brain assessing his situation. "So who are you?" "A Guardian. I've brought you here so you can be reborn." "But you just said I'm not dead?" He edged back. "You aren't. You were reborn into the wrong time."As soon as she said the words she realized she'd chosen the wrong method to accomplish her goals. "How do you know that? I'm happy with my life the way it is...was.. I like who I am. My parents! Did you arrange the whole thing?" He grabbed her arm then, pulling her face close to his. Her red eyes made him draw back a bit, as he hadn't quite noticed that before. "What are you? You're not human." Sadness and confusion filled her eyes, making him regret his harsh tone. "No, I don't think I am. But I'm not your enemy." "Well whatever you brought me here for, you can just let me go. I don't want any part of it." "You don't understand. In your past life you--" She paused trying to remember the details of what she had been told. "Past life? Wait a second. No forget it. I don't care what wacky story you've made up. I'm leaving." He turned, and started to move. He saw her disappear over his shoulder, not even moving to stop him. A calm, sad expression hung on her features, and her eyes glowed long after the rest of her disappeared. "The road has to be here somewhere. I'm probably in a forrest off the beach. All this fog, that's natural around here. It's night, and that's why it looks so odd. I'm probably tired." His mind raced through the thoughts, as he continued walking straight--almost right into Pluto. Pluto merely tilted her head to one side and said nothing. "How did you know where I was going?" He demanded. "I told you, I want no part of whatever is going on here." "You can't leave here....not by walking anyway." She cautioned him. She knew that much, for now she could remember trying once, until she grew so tired she'd wanted to die. "Then get me out of here." He demanded. As an only child, spoiled by two loving parents, he was used to getting his way. "Now. If this is some elaborate scheme to get money--" She shook her head. "You must forget everything you know about this life Endymion. And remember another life, another time and place. This was never meant to be." "By who? What right do you have to pull me away, and shove some story about my past life at me? I don't care who I was before. I know who I am. and I want to get back to my life. Get out of my way." "I cannot let you do that!" She said. Why was he making this so difficult? Her future king never seemed so impossible, and arrogant. Sure of himself, yes, but always kind and not brash like the young man before her. For a second she shifted her attention away trying to reach more of the precious memories, or that strange voice that sometimes told her what to do--but as she did she heard him ask her something. "What?" She said startled. "That stick--that's what's controlling this." He said as he moved with lightening quickness to grab the stick out of her hand. "I'll use it, somehow, and get out of here. You might as well help me." "Don't--you could hurt yourself." She cried as he examined the garnet orb. No one had ever taken it from her before...at least, not in her current memory. "Or you. Whatever you had in mind, forget it. I'm getting out of here. Even if I have to destroy this thing to do it." Why were things so confused? She'd already violated the Rules by crossing Time herself to rescue him, and now he refused to be reborn properly. Had she already lost control of time by doing that? Was time already irrevocably distorted because of her mistake? "Endymion, don't be selfish." She said in desperation. Even as she pleaded, she wondered if what she asked were even possible. How can a person be reborn exactly as they were? She only knew that the Queen Selenity had made that possible, and had summoned her (or more accurately, had appeared in the Gates of Time) to guide the Children of the Moon to the new future. But did Pluto have the power to rework that spell? "Selfish?" The words made him pause. "What do you mean?" "Someone is waiting for you. Someone who loves you--and who you love." Pluto's mind filled with the face of the Neo-Queen. How could anyone turn away such love, she wondered to herself. "From my past life again, right? Forget it. I'll find love for myself, in this lifetime." He scowled at her. "Endy, she's your soul-bond...you can't find love without her." Was it possible for him to refuse? She had already seen a world where he did not. She couldn't remember much of it, but how could she have a memory of a place that did not exist? How could it be possible otherwise? "How do you know? Why should I believe you? Are you the "girl" you're talking about?" He shot back. She lowered her eyes. "No. It is not me. I can't tell you why I know these things." She couldn't tell herself, but then she'd never questioned her way of life. That was not her place. In fact, she avoided most questions since she could so rarely give herself answers. In the Time-Stream, all she knew was each moment, but now as the clouds over her memory lifted she wondered what else she could know? Before she had lived in a state of permanent amnesia that selectively lifted as the events around her shifted. That cleared as people approached her or things occurred that she needed to handle. She could remember being able to recall things, and then forgetting them. But this time, she had a memory. This time the cloak of forgetfulness would not let her dodge tough questions. Until she found answers, the questions would haunt her. "Then why do you believe them?" The harshness disappeared from his voice which suddenly became smoother. He could see the confusion in the way she stood, half turned away from him, eyes on the ground. She looked up then , eyebrows drawn together. "Why not?" She challenged him back. The pressure surrounding her head expanded into a full-fledged migraine. "If you can't explain any of this to me, why do you believe it? How can you expect me to believe?" "Because I know there are things beyond explanation, Endymion." She said the words, but without conviction, as if the answer were one she were required to give. "My mother used to say tha--" He broke off suddenly noticing the door appearing in the mist. It's silvery grey surface reflected an eerie blue glow around its edges. Two heavy pillars formed its border, while tiny etchings formed its decorations. A small keyhole yawned on one side of the double-panelled door. He stepped closer,examining the heavy and ornate surface with one hand. "What is this?" "The Door of Time." She said warily. "I am its Guardian. I am to destroy those who seek to violate the taboo and travel through it to upset the flow of time." "Then why are you showing me this thing?" He turned and studied her face which continued to gaze wearily back at him framed in the door. "I am not. You have the staff. You brought it here." She paused, and then put a hand towards him. "Please return my staff to me. We are in grave danger if you do not." "We are? So you're powerless now, huh? I bet ol' Scrooge would have loved that trick with the Ghost of Christmas past." She wrinkled her brow not getting the reference. " If you know what you used to know, your mind will change. Please, I feel things changing, the winds of time are becoming unstable." She wished she could explain to him and herself what was happening, but again all she had was this instinctual feeling she couldn't define. Endy noticed that the slight hairs along his arms were prickling up, and he could feel a wind ruffle through him. Strands of her hair whipped towards him, obscuring his view of her. He hesitated. "I don't think so. Maybe this is a trick. I can still smash this thing of yours, so don't get in my way. How do I open the door?" The ground trembled a bit. He steadied himself, keeping a firm grip. She remained silent, shaking her head. He placed the staff above his knee, in a position to smash it. Pluto had a feeling that things were getting more out of control. "It opens with a touch from the staff." She said at last, fearful lest he break the staff. To herself, she wondered why it mattered so much to her. She knew it allowed her to control the door--but beyond that, why should she care? The memory easily eluded her searching mind, skipping away from her thoughts. He started to lean the staff in to the door, but even before contact globes of light spun from the staff to the keyhole. The rainbow of colors trickled into the space, with glowed and then released the heavy panels backwards. At first he saw nothing but a blue space, but then he could see the other side the same sweep of empty road. He started to step through, when two figures appeared. The first was hooded with a dark cloud, its slightly stooped form blocked Endy's way. "Finally...the door of time is weakened to my dark power! I will destroy the Crystal City in the past before the Neo-Queen's power can stop it!" The figure hissed, its inhumanly black-green-blue skin glowing on its claw like hand. "The dark crystal will destroy everything before it starts!" It continued. The other figure seemed entirely unaware of the presence of the first, but said something along the same lines "Finally, I am free of the prison of the Time Corridor! This time, I will not let anything stop me from my goal!" Eerie laughter punctuated the announcement. "Quick--the staff!" Pluto yelled. "Is this some trick?" He asked, backing a bit. Everything in the last twenty minutes of his life had surpassed strange. He wasn't sure what was going on, and therefore, he didn't know what to expect. Yet her fear seemed genuine. Somehow, he felt instinctively that he could trust her. "No! I' m the guardian of this gate--HALT." She addressed the Monsters. She posed, ready to strike with her hands but a blast of dark energy repelled her into the mist. "Pathetic Guardian...it is too late to stop me!" The hooded figure laughed. It began to place a hand through the door. "Eternity belongs to the Death Phantom..." It laughed as it held up a dark globe to summon dark energy to corrupt the gate. At the same time, the other figure began to emit a grey miasma that also covered the surface of the door--the two energies struggled against each other. "All change will stop--I will stop time itself!" "What is this resistance?" The two screamed. "Endymion--please!" Pluto pleaded "Before its too late!" "What do I do?" He asked. She appeared beside him, using his confusion to wrest the staff away-- "Dead Scream" She shouted as a globe of purple energy formed and slashed into the figures before them--shattering their links with the door. "Dark Dome Close!" She shouted as the doors swung shut. "It is too late!" She whispered, as her head hung low against the doors. "They have violated the doors of Time..." "What does that mean? What were those things?" Endy asked, still slightly in shock. He leaned against the door opposite from her. She shook her head, not answering him. "What have I done?" To his amazement, the doors swung open, and they fell through a void of space. Despite the instant sensation of falling, Endy found himself standing back on the coast of California. The floating door created an eerie addition to the normal and beautiful sight of the coastline. Yet everything else looked normal, the world breathing with the sea waves crashing below. "I've ruined everything. I failed my duty." Pluto whispered more to herself than him. She didn't seem awed by their sudden change in location or even aware of it. She finally had a new memory, but ironically, it was one she wanted to forget. She glanced at the staff lying on the rocks. She sunk til her head leaned against it. "My King, though you refused to do as I've asked before, grant me this request. End my life." A strange light filtered over her, and suddenly, her features changed revealing a young woman in a long dark dress. He knew it was the same person, despite the difference he couldn't quite describe. "Hey, wait..." he lifted up her shoulders, so their eyes met. "What are you talking about? King? Duty? You look younger than I am." "I did not age in the Corridors of Time...I have no idea how old I am. But I am no longer worthy of my post! I have failed." "Hey, I still don't know what's going on, but maybe you should consider you're expecting too much of yourself?" "You do not understand! And I cannot explain. I could never explain what I must do--so how I can convince you I have failed?" The lack of emotion with which she uttered these words made the self-condemnation all the more powerful. If she had screamed, or cried, or somehow illustrated her frustration, Endy would not have been as touched. Even as she felt her order falling around her, she struggled alone. He put a finger to her lips, stalling further self-recriminations. "Hey, I don't understand what you're talking about but as far as I can tell you're fine and so am I, and its a beautiful night." "Beautiful? That thing may destroy time itself. And that was only one enemy! The Plan of Destiny has been corrupted already, and the future may already be destroyed." "Then lets enjoy today." He said. His brain rapidly sought a way to make sense of everything he'd just witnessed. The girl, he decided, was crazy. But then, was he sane? Wasn't he sharing her elaborate delusion to some extent? The ground here seemed real. The cold air smelled appropriately salty. He could hear the soft sound of his companion's breathing. "Look, if what you're saying is true, we wouldn't be here, would we? How could we exist if time didn't?" "I...I don't know. I think I usually get premonitions, but they have stopped. I feel as if something has been lost...a part of me has been cut away." Her eyes vacantly stared into the sky, latching onto the moon. "I do not know what is going to happen!" "Hey, most of us live life without knowing what's coming up. You adjust as you go along." He tipped her chin to bring her face to his. "You just hope for a bright future, and enjoy the present." "Destiny already controls what is to be." She argued. Where had that phrase come from? Who had taught her that? Yet though she didn't know why she believed that, she knew she did. "Again, how do you know that?" He asked, slightly amused with her seriousness. "I just know." She replied mysteriously. At least, she used to feel as if she knew. Now, she could not say. He smiled. "Stubborn, aren't you? Just tell me, what would be the point of living if everything followed a predetermined path?" "I didn't say it does. Your understanding of time is too limited. You think it is separate, flowing in one direction and I know that is not true. But if either end interferes with the other everything unravels. When I say Destiny controls the path, I mean the flow of time runs smoothly." Against the pain in her head she struggled to pull the pieces of her world together. He laughed, as his eyes briefly shifted away to the Moon before returning to her. "You say that so seriously. But it just sounds so crazy. I'm sorry, but that doesn't make any sense." She turned away and faced the cliffs without answering. After a minute she replied slowly "There is a world I must protect. A world that will come in the future, and bring happiness this earth has not yet known." She smiled, as memories skipped past of tall crystalline buildings. "And what do I have to do with that?" He asked, a little confused by her shift in subject. "You're one of the rulers of this world." She said, as she turned back to face him. The image of King Endymion flashed before her eyes, overlaying the features of the man in front of her. "Or would have been. I don't know what will happen now." "What do you mean "happen now'? Do you mean because of those things back there? Or because I won't cooperate with this "Vision" of yours?" "I don't know. Those things were more evil than I'd thought possible." she paused. "But perhaps the mistake was mine. I know I should not have crossed time...Perhaps it was inevitable that things should find the door..." "So why did you "cross" time? And what do you mean by that?" "You were sent from the past to be reborn in the future-- but I was to guide you to a time. I failed, and came to retrieve you. Please, perhaps if you come with me now, and agree to be reborn, all will be restored." "That again? I thought...forget it. I'm trying to understand the world you believe in. I'm trying to understand how this "future" could already have happened even though I'm standing right here now...Perhaps we had better start again." "I'm only beginning to understand myself. I've never thought about my duty before." She took in a deep breath, to clear her head. "There are people unhappy with their lot in that future world I spoke of. These people seek to change the past, rather than themselves. And I was charged with stopping them. By who, when or how I cannot tell you. Then somehow, I found myself responsible for helping to create that world by guiding its rulers to be reborn. That led me to you. And in taking that duty on, I've somehow failed to accomplish my first goal." He tried to trace her logic, and decided his brain could take no more. He decided to change the subject "The Moon is very bright tonight. She will watch over us. And I will watch over you. So don't worry." He moved closer to her. "What you see here, this is my reality, not some strange future. I don't know what happened tonight. But I do know that I need to clear my head to understand it. I need some sleep, and in the morning I can sort out what is illusion and what is real. " He stepped back from her. "I think you need to do the same." Lost in her own thoughts, she merely nodded. He had the distinct sense she simply was too tired or upset to protest, rather than that she agreed with him. She followed along beside him, occasionally checking to make sure the door followed her still. Endy wondered what people would say, if they saw the two of them walking: This girl in her strange long black dress, the hovering door, and him. END CHAPTER ONE