Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Bringer of Silence ❯ Tick Tock ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1 ~ Tick Tock

~Pluto~

I watched from my position at the Gates of Time. The chain of events was beginning. Destiny had been set. All I could do was watch in horror.

I'd never asked for this job. Never. It had been thrusted into my hands at birth, and ever since I'd been old enough, I'd been trained intensely.

My old sensei had been harsh, never having a caring word or a smile. I'd soon learned that he did not think me capable of guarding the Time Gates. I proved him wrong, though.

My parents hardly had time for me, though my mother and I had a love between us. Once I'd finished with my training as the Senshi of Time and Space and knew how to guard the Gates of Time, she trained me in another way; how to be a princess.

I'd spent everyday of my life for 13 years training to be a senshi. I'd forgotten that I was truly the heir to the throne of Pluto. After all, I was not to take the throne. That was my elder sister, Chizu, who's long green hair was always perfect and how's dark green eyes held so much charisma. She would make a better ruler, anyway. I'd been raised to be alone, while she'd been raised to be surrounded by people. No one saw the point in my mother's training, but she did.

My mother, Ima. She'd always loved me as much as Chizu. When I'd asked her why she felt the need to train me in her art, she'd laughed. I'd always loved her laugh. It reached her eyes, and made me smile. She'd looked at me and smiled openly, smiling with love.

"Setsuna, my baby. You were born with a Destiny. That Destiny is to live forever, to spend Eternity guarding the Gates of Time. You will be alone for most of your life, and you will know things that you will wish you wouldn't. You will be a senshi, and you will serve both the Queen and the Princess well. However, you must know that you are still my daughter, still a princess yourself. And with that knowledge, you must know how to hold yourself. Darling, you hold yourself like you were trained to; like a senshi. However, if the Queen were in your presence, you might be embarrassed that you did not hold yourself correctly. I will teach you how to walk, eat, talk, and even sleep like a princess. You are a senshi, but you are also royalty."

She'd spoken those words with such pride and love that I myself had relaxed from my tense position.

We'd spent weeks drinking tea properly. Standing properly. Speaking properly. Even walking properly. And then, when I'd learned all of that, my mother had said that I would go to a Plutarian ball. I'd never attended one, not after I was 5. I was 15 by then, and I had spent all of my life, minus the 5 years of childhood I'd been allowed, alone.

My mother spent hours picking the right dress and hairstyle. I'd felt gorgeous afterwards. The ball had been wonderful, but sad at the same time. The next day I would be left at the Gates of Time, where I would spend all of Eternity.

I was convinced that the gods had cursed me. Why was I chosen to be the Guardian? Why not Chizu? She had the blood? Why not the curse? I felt selfish afterwards. My people needed Chizu to rule.

I, however, knew that she never would. She would die before she reached the age of 25, at which time she would have been crowned Queen. She would only live to 21.

I never cried as I watched the witch Beryl, of Earth, invoke the demon Metalia. I didn't cringe either. I simply stared at the image of black shadows enveloping the mortal woman. I pitied Beryl. She was a tool used by Metalia to achieve her ultimate goal; the downfall of the Silver Millennium.

The image blurred with a wave of my Garnet Rod, and it vanished completely a moment later.

Moments. That was all I could count on anymore. I knew that the fate of the Silver Millennium was sealed, and to act would simply upset the Timeline and get me killed. I could not break the taboo and laws that had been firmly set before me when I was but a child.

Ticks and tocks do not make up time, nor do minutes or hours. Time is truly made up of moments. Moments in which all mortals are suspended in. Moments that no mortal can escape.

And, ironically enough, at the place where Time is contained and guarded, it has no meaning. Outside of my realm, time passes and people age. But come to my world, and minutes can seem literally like millennia. Likewise, an entire month can pass with the blink of an eye. Time means nothing here. Outside it can be the year 1200 or 3400. But here, there is no year, no day, no month. It is all moments here. Not measured time. Just time. Time that never goes away. Time that never flies. Time that never stays.

Time that never lets me die with my family and friends.

Time that leaves me cursed and useless to those I love.

Time that allows Metalia to seek her revenge against all things good and sacred.