Time of Corruption
by DarkPluto4
DarkPluto4@aol.com
 Chapter 14 - Setsuna's Story
Rating: PG-13

 Author's Note: Yup, I had to stick up for Setsuna.  If you hate Setsuna and
love the others (especially Sailor Moon), I don't know how much you'll enjoy
this chapter (probably not a whole lot).  But it's LONG LONG LONG.

        Chibi-Usa sat there for a few minutes after Setsuna's hands had gone
limp in hers.  Rising slowly, she said simply "King Endymion, come with me."
He followed her without a word.
        They went to the battlefield where all the Scouts had fallen, and
for
a moment, the entire Universe had been conquered by a single Scout.  And the
very battlefield where the single Scout had destroyed Corruption, the
embodiment of all evil on the Earth, giving up her life for every other life
in the Universe, that one Scout had rejuvenated the whole Universe.
        Moon was the first to waken.  Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, Mercury,
Venus, Jupiter, and Mars followed.  Standing up, they looked at each other
in
surprise.  Their gaze soon shifted to Chibi-Usa, standing next to Tuxedo
Kamen.
        "Where's Setsuna-chan?" Hotaru was the first to speak.
        "She's dead," Chibi-Usa said shortly.
        "My DARLING!!"  Moon was ecstatic.  She ran to Chibi-Usa and hugged
her.  "You have destroyed the evil!  Congratulations!  You will be a
Universal hero!  You killed that traitor, that witch!"  All the other Scouts
came up and congratulated her heartily.  The Inners were especially thrilled
and kind to her, showering her with kisses and hugs.  The Outers were much
more distant, especially Hotaru who gave her a short glare before
mechanically saying her congratulations.
        Tuxedo Kamen stood there, looking at her with a questioning face.
        Chibi-Usa was absolutely still as they did all this, glaring at all
the Scouts.  Soon afterwards, the Scouts stood, looking at her
uncomfortably.
 Her mother soon noticed this.  "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked.
        "Power down.  Now!" she commanded.  The Scouts looked at each other,
but without questioning anything, powered down.
        "Honey?  What's wrong?  Aren't you glad?  You're so young, and
you've
defeated the worse enemy we've ever had!" said Serenity with concern.
        "Mother.  Do me one favor.  SHUT THE FUCKING HELL UP!" roared
Chibi-Usa in a fury.
        Moon was shocked.
        "You all shut up!  Especially the Inners.  I don't want a SINGLE
GODDAMNED word out of you all.  For now, the only Outers may make comments,
as they are the only ones even remotely close to correct thinking.  I don't
know where along the way the Inners and Neo-Queen Serenity got so fucked up,
but if it's the last thing I do, I will set them right!" Chibi-Usa blazed,
glaring angrily at all the Scouts, especially Serenity and the Inners.
        None of the eight women spoke.  They looked on at Chibi-Usa, frozen
by shock except for Hotaru who was smiling a little.
        "I did NOT destroy the Evil.  None of us had even known the Evil.
Setsuna-chan was NOT the evil.  But she was the puppet victimized by the
Evil
to do all she had done.  And if I may say one thing, I don't blame her one
bit for doing all she had done.  She was right in doing what she did.  Her
reasons were completely legitimate.  But in the end, it was she who
destroyed
the evil and undid everything she had done.  She destroyed the Evil and used
all the energy she had acquired and every bit of energy she had in herself,
her Time Staff, and her Garnet Orb.  And she gave up all the energy to
restore the Universe to the way it was.  I'm not the heroine.  Setsuna-chan
is.  But of course, none of you would have appreciated this deed, except
maybe Hotaru, and Michiru and Haruka to a certain degree.  That's always the
case.  So much Setsuna-chan had sacrificed, and none of you appreciated.
Even *I* failed to appreciate Setsuna-chan.  The world lost its most
honorable and valuable Sailor today, and she will go down with the Universe
cursing her instead of honoring her by all bowing down and praying to her,
as
she deserves.  But Setsuna-chan never received even a fragment of what she
deserved, did she?  All her sacrifices were taken for granted, and she was
spat upon and ignored.  Everything she did, no one appreciated.  And after
all this time of being abused and beaten and whipped like a poor dog, she
comes back for revenge.  She achieves it, and what does she do, that
kind-hearted, unselfish Sailor with a heart of pure gold?  She takes back
her
revenge!  She destroys the Universal evil and corrects the world -
sacrificing herself to do it.  But she's always sacrificing herself.  She's
always giving her life to save others!  AND NO ONE APPRECIATES IT!  But I
will see to it that she gets what she deserves - even if not in life!  I
will
see to it!  Go, Neo-Queen Serenity.  Lie to the whole world - you always do.
Lie to them, and join them in damning Setsuna-chan.  But I warn you, as soon
as I step into that throne, all will be changed.  And Setsuna-chan will BE
AVENGED.  She could not avenge herself - she was battling herself too hard.
BUT I WILL AVENGE HER!" Chibi-Usa's eyes narrowed as she channeled all her
fury at her quivering mother.  "And from this moment forth, Neo-Queen
Serenity and King Endymion, you two, most guilty for destroying
Setsuna-chan,
are no longer my parents.  Or should I say King Endymion is no longer my
father, as Neo-Queen Serenity never was my mother?"
        "Chibi-Usa! Are you feverish?  Do you need help?  Would you like
Hotaru to help heal you?" Serenity asked.
        Chibi-Usa pulled herself as high as she could, struck out her arm
and
slapped her mother with full force.  Serenity took a step back, ready to hit
Chibi-Usa.  A glaive barred her.
        Hotaru looked menacingly at Serenity.  "I can't heal Chibi-Usa from
telling the truth anymore than I could have healed Setsuna-chan's broken
heart.  It was far too scarred by YOU and your husband, though all of us had
part in ruining the greatest scout and most loyal friend who ever lived,"
she
said through gritted teeth.  "Now, do the first kind thing you've ever done
to Setsuna-chan by listening to Chibi-Usa, the daughter you threw away."
        Serenity turned white and listened quietly.
        "Our line of Sailor Pluto's all had one thing in common - they have
the blood of Chronos and are bidden to guard the Gates of Time.
Setsuna-chan
was cursed with this blood and forced by your mother to guard the Gates of
Time.  You received your memories - you should remember Princess Pluto.  She
was quiet, never said much, and her eyes always reflected a depth of sadness
though the rest of her pace was serene and unemotional.  Some of you have
dubbed her as cold and unfeeling.  And she never changed.  She always seemed
perfect, mature, above and away from us all.  And none of you Inners or you,
Neo-Queen Serenity, bothered to ever know her.  You neglected her, never
visited her, rarely invited her to anything, and even at the wedding, forced
her to sit with the regular guests instead of with the rest of us in more
honored positions.  Even I, who befriended this poor woman, had to beg to
invite her to my birthday parties!  Your excuse?  That she was the Guardian
of the Gates of Time and could not be called away from it.  Or was that your
way of keeping her in hell?  Imagine her duties as the Guardian of Time!
She
woke up each morning and watched the Gates and went to bed.  No social
parties, nothing.  No time to do anything but to brood in loneliness at the
Gates.  Her only companions were herself, the staff, and the Gates, or any
guests who happened to drop by?  Who dropped by?  Me, Hotaru very
occasionally, and even more rarely, Haruka and Michiru.  Where were you,
Neo-Queen Serenity? Or you, the Inners?  You never visited her, and she
stood
there always alone, always neglected.  Did you truly think she had no
feelings?  Did you truly think she never felt hurt?  We never visited her on
her own birthday or any other special occasions!  HER BIRTHDAY!  Her own
BIRTHDAY, we never went to visit her or threw any parties for her.  What
kind
of friends are we?  Huh?  You answer me that!  And all those balls we threw,
all those parties.  She was invited to less then one single percent of them.
What do you think she was feeling like then?  More than the loneliness,
which
was the root of all that killed her, there was her love life.
        She was the Guardian of Time.  We all know that.  She had too much
time on her hands to sit and feel alone and no time for love.  She had no
chance for love.  Imagine her life.  She was given the duties when she was
not even twenty and her life ended there.  She stood at the Gates as she
watched the one man she loved fall in love with another woman.  She watched
at that final battle between Queen Beryl and the Moon Kingdom.  You all
remember.  She was there, a Sailor, courageous battling Beryl's forces.  But
midway, Queen Serenity forced her to return to her post at the Gates she had
already learned to hate at that point, afraid she'd be killed and there
would
be no one to guard the Gates.  She stood there as all her friends (or should
I say so-called friends?) died, helpless.  What could she do but watch?  And
she was alone.  Alone in the world.  Not that it made much difference.  She
always was alone.  She always would be alone.  And in the present, she
watched thankfully as her friends all were reborn and safe.  But did it make
any difference?  She came to the present, but everyone ignored her.  The
Inners were a tight group she could never get into.  In the Outers, Michiru
and Haruka were together. Hotaru she loved and cared for like a mother.  And
Hotaru loved her back.  But Hotaru and I would often be paired together and
ignored her.  She, being kind and considerate, moved out of our way and let
us talk while she continued to brood in silence.  And in the future, nothing
changed.  For more than a thousand years, she guarded the Gates rarely
leaving except to attend the precious few parties she was invited to.  And
as
she watched the man she loved happily married to the woman he loved.  And
who
was this woman?  The very same woman who was the daughter of the woman who
put her in her miserable station in life - Neo-Queen Serenity.  Now, don't
look so surprised.  Imagine that.  She was never jealous of you or hated you
for neglecting her and treating her so abominably.  She even loved you.  Or
rather part of her did.  You not only pushed her into isolation and
seclusion, you drove her crazy on top of that, battling herself.  She loved
you because she was still your friend, though you hardly showed any
friendship to her.  She loved you because you were her Queen.  She even felt
happiness at your happiness, though it was at the expense of hers!  And
TWICE, she gave her life for you and her mother - once in accepting the
duties and the other just now.  She sacrificed the man SHE loved for you.
And now, she sacrificed her life to give you back yours and to save the
Universe.  And did you once appreciated the sacrifices she made?  Did any of
us ever appreciate them?  Did anyone ever thank her for giving up all she
had
in life to guard the Gates?  Did anyone ever say one appreciative word on
that matter?  Can you imagine how bitter she must have felt?  And you still
blame her for trying to lash back?  And when she gave up her life to fix the
wrong she did, you never once appreciated it.  No, you automatically assumed
it was I who fixed the wrongs.
        She died as heroically as a Sailor can hope to die.  She died giving
up her life for the Universe and for you, though neither appreciated it.
That was the tragic, unappreciated life of a Scout and subordinate of yours
that worked so faithfully and loyally under you for more than a thousand
years, yet you never knew her at all.  She was like the mother I never had.
She was the exact opposite of you - always unselfish, considerate, mature,
kind, sympathetic, and loving.  I could tell and ask her anything, and she
would always be helpful, patient, and give me marvelous advice.  Her arms
were always open to shelter me, and she always showed she loved me in every
way possible.  No matter how bad of a mood she was in, she never took it out
on me and did her best to try to hide it.  I could stand there and feel the
love from her, and I certainly didn't deserve it.  I was the very daughter
of
the woman responsible for ruining her life.  But she had a loving and
ungrudging enough heart to love me more than anyone else.  Now, if you'll
excuse me, I shall go and set arrangements for her funeral, which I trust
you
will not interfere with," Chibi-Usa glared at her mother once more and
turned
away.
        Neo-Queen Serenity looked at her daughter's retreating form for a
few
brief seconds before she collapsed.  The Inners rushed to her, but the
Outers
coldly looked on.  Hotaru slowly left to follow Chibi-Usa, and Michiru and
Haruka left together, arms linked and tears in their eyes.  For the first
time in his life, King Endymion didn't go to comfort his wife.  He walked
towards the site where Setsuna drew her last breath and died.  Staring down
at her, his heart filled with guilt.  Everything Chibi-Usa spat at him and
his wife was true.  Everything Setsuna revealed as she was dying was true.
He looked at this brave woman with her long green hair and ruby eyes.  She
was so strong, so independent.  She conquered the Universe with her own two
hands, and she saved it alone without help.  She always carried all her
loads
of life on her own bare shoulders.  No one ever offered a helping hand.  All
the time she worked beneath him, he barely noticed her.  She was the quiet,
lone soldier who guarded the Gates of Time, always obscure and unnoticeable.
He had never seen the suppressed love in her eyes, never even knew anything
of her love until now.
        He felt the pangs of horrible guilt as he looked on her eyes, so
chaotic, so beautiful, so revealing.  He had killed her.  She died fighting
him, fighting herself, fighting all the evil in the Universe - alone.  He
reached down and touched her cold cheeks once more, and hesitatingly,
reached
down and for a brief moment, kissed her frozen lips.  Staring at her
lifeless
eyes for a last moment, he turned and fled from the site.

 Author's Note: Excuse the language, but I mean, the characters - mainly
Chibi-Usa were really pissed.  So the language kinda works.  I'm sorry if I
offended anyone.  Comments?  If you're going to spazz out on me about the
language, please don't send.  I already apologized and stated my reasons.