Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Son of Darkness and Night ❯ The Painting From the Past ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: Sorry it took so incredibly long to get these out but I had a ton of other things to do so I had very little time per week to do this. Hopefully, it should be better with the timing and all as the year goes on. This is the revised version of Chapter 1 that has been edited by Keir, not the original version posted in late August. Hopefully, this is better than the original. I forgot to mention in the first version that my story is based off the MANGA, not the anime and the storyline of this fic takes place two years after the stuff involving the Starlights and Galaxia (which ended sometime in 1997). For all the people on Media Miner, this is my first posting of any parts of this story!!

Disclaimers: I don't own any of the original Sailor Moon characters (I wish I did... *sniff* ~_~,), but I DO own all the new characters that appear in the story unless stated otherwise.

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Son of Darkness and Night

Chapter 1: A Painting From the Past

By Meio-Sei No Musume

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Japanese Glossary

Hai-yes, right

Ohayou gozaimasu-good morning (can be shorted to just "ohayou")

-Kaasan-Mother, mama (usually written as "Okaa-san")

-Tousan-Father, papa (usually written as "O'tou-san")

Sugoi-wow, cool

Honto (or honto ni)-really (commonly used as a question)

Youma-monster, demon (demon can also be "youkai")

Henshin (henshin yo!)-Transform

-Chan-a suffix used for children, close friends

-San-a suffix that shows respect, used for addressing people who are older than you or not very close to

-Sama-a suffix that shows more respect than "-san", used sometimes to address royalty

Shimatta-kinda like saying "damn it" in English, but isn't as bad

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A lone man stood in a dark room, his deep sapphire blue eyes fixed on the portal before him. A simple portal shimmering with multitudes of swirling colors hung in the air before him. Suddenly, the portal faded to a white and then colors began to swirl again in dizzying patterns. Silently, the enigmatic man waited and then observed the face of the portal as the patterns disappeared and changed into a scene of the real world.

"How long has it been?" His sad voice broke the silence as he questioned the person in the portal. "If only you knew how much time has passed for both of us."

Then the room was mysteriously empty and only the portal, which faded back into swirling patterns of color, remained.

~~ Tokyo, Japan; summer of 1999 ~~

Meioh Setsuna, also known as Sailor Pluto, was miserable. For the past couple of days she had been having terrifying nightmares. Horrifying images of death and destruction were reiterated whenever she dreamt. And every time, she woke up with tears streaking her face. To add to all of this, she knew something was going to happen. Something bad. It seemed frighteningly familiar somehow, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was exactly. Could it have been something from her past? It didn't seem likely, but it was a possibility.

"Setsuna?"

Her head flew up. "Hai?"

"Are you okay?" Michiru's concerned face came into view. "Is something bothering you?"

Setsuna buried her face into her hands. "I haven't been able to sleep well for days, I get horrible dreams."

"Could they be premonitions?" Haruka asked. She was sitting next to Michiru at the table. "That's always possible. We've had them before."

Setsuna sighed and replied, "If they are, I would hate to think of what may happen."

Haruka whistled. "That bad?"

She nodded. "Hai."

~ ...Guardian... ~

Setsuna's eyes grew abnormally wide with slight confusion. "Did someone just call me 'Guardian'?" Why did that name seem like it hadn't been heard in years?

"Hmm? No. Why?"

Propping up her head with a hand she replied, still confused, "Oh never mind."

Changing the subject, Haruka asked conversationally, "What was that huge thing that you hauled into the house the other day after your trip to Charon Castle?"

Setsuna smiled. "It's about time you asked." She stood. "Follow me."

Just then, Hotaru, their now teen-aged charge, walked into the living room, still yawning. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Haruka-tousan, Michiru-kaasan, Setsuna-kaasan."

"Morning, Hotaru-chan."

"Where're you going?"

"Your Setsuna-kaasan has a surprise for us. Remember that huge thing she hauled in the house a few days ago?" Michiru asked.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"I'm going to show you what it was," answered Setsuna.

Interested, the other three followed her to the 2nd floor of their enormous house and into one of the many rooms that was used as a part of their library.

"Turn around."

Doing so, they gasped. In front of them was a huge painting hanging on the wall that was taller than Haruka, the tallest of the group. It depicted a young woman attired in a pale gold gown that fell to the floor, her long, dark green hair pulled partly into a bun, the remainder falling down her back and past her small waist. She had solemn garnet red eyes and tan skin. Beside her stood a young man clad in cobalt blue armor that almost appeared to be normal clothing. His ebony hair fell straight down to the bottom of his ears. He had naturally tan skin and deep sapphire blue eyes as solemn as the young woman's. They were standing against what seemed to be a pale gray mist-filled background.

"Sugoi... Is that you?" Haruka asked Setsuna as she indicated toward the identical looking woman in the picture.

Setsuna smiled distantly. "Hai."

"When did you get this done?" Michiru asked. "It's amazing. It looks so real; like a photograph almost."

"During the Silver Millennium."

"Sugoi! Honto?"

"Hai, Hotaru-chan. This painting is spelled so that it won't fade or decay for thousands of years. This is probably one of the best in Charon Castle."

"Who is that with you?"

Setsuna's brow furrowed in frustration and she replied, "I...I don't why, but I don't remember...it's so strange...I feel as if I knew him from a long time ago..."

"You don't remember? You, the Guardian of the Gate of Time and Space, don't remember? How is that remotely possible?" Haruka asked incredulously.

"I honestly don't know. It's like the memory was-"

At that moment, their communicators went off, signaling almost definite trouble (unless, of course, Usagi and/or Minako were just making a social call ^_^).

Michiru flipped open hers. "Michiru here with other Outers present."

Luna's voice came over the line. "We've got a youma attack in the park. The others are already there and the type of youma is unknown. It's a new enemy."

"On our way," Michiru broke the connection and looked up at the others, "Well, you heard her, girls. Henshin yo!"

"Uranus Crystal Power, Make-up!"

"Neptune Crystal Power, Make-up!"

"Pluto Crystal Power, Make-up!"

"Saturn Crystal Power, Make-up!"

Then the four Outer Senshi disappeared.

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When they reappeared at the site of the attack, Pluto stifled a gasp of shock. She recognized the type of youma. They were his; there was no way that she could mistake them for anything else. "No...," she whispered, "It's impossible... I sealed it... There's no way it could have broken..."

"Well, well. So you finally decided to show your precious little self," taunted a voice, full of unconcealed spite, from above. "My, how long has it been?"

The sound of the voice addressing one of them in such a rude manner grabbed the attention of the other Senshi. By this time, everyone was actively engaged in exchanging fire with the youma and whatever concentration they could spare, they used to listen in on the following conversation.

Pluto didn't look up. She'd recognize that horrid voice anywhere. She had the most irritating and nagging urge to tell her old nemesis to shut up. She squashed it instantly and promptly threw an attack at a nearby youma, obliterating it effortlessly. "I'm surprised that you're still alive...Yosoru...I thought I was rid of you and your youma a long, long time ago." She looked up while her eyes hardened. "And I still refuse to give what you ask."

The source of the voice made itself visible in a small burst of light. It was a humanoid male, by all appearances in his early twenties, dressed in what seemed to be severely tattered clothing. What caught the Senshi's attention the most were his pale metallic blue skin, and the shock of fiery orange hair on his head. Bright yellow eyes narrowing in pure hatred at the Senshi of Time, he demanded,

"Can't you understand at all? I need to-"

"I know what you want and you know that I can't. The time stream must remain unchanged no matter what happens if it is going in the correct direction. You can't just change it to-"

"You still don't understand! You're still following those god damned rules of yours!"

"You're being selfish. If it never happened then it would set off a chain of events that were never supposed to happen. Can't you understand?"

That made Yosoru mad. The youma charged forward reacting to some unseen signal. The battle resumed and Yosoru disappeared.

"He's such a fool," she muttered. "He really has no idea of what the consequences may be..."

Suddenly, there were several simultaneous screams and Pluto jerked her head toward the source. All she saw was youma coming at her. Instinctively, she brought up her staff to block the incoming attacks. "Garnet..." It was by far too late.

Strangely, the charging youma were thrown back and obliterated, totally vaporized by a bright flash of light. Surprised, Pluto turned toward the origin of the attack that had saved her life. "Who..."

A lone figure stood on a branch of a nearby tree, its long black cloak fluttering in the breeze. A hood cleverly shadowed and obscured the features of its face and hid its hair. Knowing that she had seen it, the mysterious figure disappeared.

Pluto felt a warning chill go down her spine and she swung the butt of the Garnet Scepter directly behind her to the right. Immediately, a gloved hand stopped the staff in its tracks and Pluto nearly fell over. Quickly regaining her balance, she spun around.

"Bravo, you've gotten better," a clearly masculine voice commented very softly as he released his hold on her staff.

"Who are you?" Pluto asked warily.

He replied, "I'm absolutely desolate you don't remember me... Guardian."

Pluto froze in her place. That voice! It was the same one that she had heard in her mind earlier that day! She knew that voice from somewhere... Confused, she placed a hand against her head and desperately struggled to remember. So close...the memory evaded her grasp at every twist and at every turn. It seemed like she knew him a very long time ago... But when exactly did she know him?

"So you do remember a little. I thought the memories had been permanently erased from you mind." The man lowered the hood of his cloak as he said this. "Don't you remember the prophecy you made one time? 'After a time of separation, reuniting shall be inevitable'?"

She froze at those words. She remembered saying those very words to someone sometime in her extremely complicated life. The moment she saw the figure's face, Pluto felt her face lose all its color. Memories flooded back into her mind. Memories of... She gasped and put a hand over her mouth in uncontrollable shock. "...How..." Her voice was but a whisper. Then, in the midst of things, Pluto felt her consciousness falling into an abyss of darkness... And something was lost...

The man caught Pluto just as she was beginning to fall limply to the ground. In the process of turning with Pluto carefully cradled in his arms, he nearly ran into Tuxedo Mask.

"Where do you think you're taking Pluto-san?" demanded Tuxedo Mask as he blocked the way with his cane.

The man looked up. "That is none of your..." his dark blue eyes grew wide. The words "god damn business" were momentarily forgotten. "Prince Endymion...?"

Tuxedo Mask backed up a couple of steps, clearly surprised. "You know me?"

"Tuxedo Mask-san?" Sailor Moon called.

The men turned.

"Is the battle over?" Tuxedo Mask asked.

"Hai."

"You!" Uranus took one good look at the new arrival's face and connected A with B. "You're that guy in the painting!"

The other Outers began to realize this as well. The Inners just stood there, confused by the conversation.

The man focused his attention on Uranus. "I don't recall meeting you before. Where exactly did you acquire a painting of me?"

"That's none of your business!" retorted Uranus. "What did you do to Pluto?"

"Uranus!" Neptune tried to restrain her partner from doing anything else. "Anything else" would have included trying to blast the man to smithereens with one of her attacks or acting on fully intended threats.

"I did nothing! She just fainted! In fact-" he cut himself off and shook his head sadly. "Never mind." He turned around and began to walk away. 'You wouldn't understand...'

"Wait! Where are you taking Pluto-san?" Sailor Moon cried out.

"She'll be safe. I wouldn't worry, Princess Serenity," he called over his shoulder and disappeared in a small flash of light.

"Mercury-chan, can you track them?" Uranus asked urgently.

"Probably. Wasn't Pluto-san wearing her communicator?" Mercury was typing and scanning away with her visor.

"Hai," Saturn answered. "We all were."

"Something is blocking the signal. Either that or she might have dropped it in an untraceable area." She typed furiously for a minute before her visor disappeared. "I hate to say this, but I can't find anything."

"Shimatta!!" Uranus slammed her fist into the closest tree, creating a very large dent in the trunk where her fist had contacted with it.

~~ To be continued... ~~

Meio-Sei No Musume: I know there are a lot of unexplained things but that's the way it's got to be for now. It should unfold slowly as the story moves along. This happens to be my first "officially published" fan-fic, so my work isn't liable to be compared with work written by some of the "veterans" like Nightheart or ~*twilightshadow*~ (both are authors on ff.net), who are SO good at writing!

Thanks to Naoko Takeuchi for creating the world of Sailor Moon and my friends from school, Angelic Angel, for giving me a great idea that has now been woven carefully into the plot of the story and for test reading this portion, and my new editor, Keir for doing a great job of editing my work.

Please be a good, responsible reader and REVIEW!!!!! I'd love to know what you think!!! Should I continue to post????

Keir: I am the evil resident genius who hates Sailor Moon! Ahahaha! People say I'm scary, but I'm actually a cheerful <choking is heard in the background as Angel hears this> AHEM CHEERFUL, well-adjusted girl who loves fixing mistakes…hopefully this version is better than the previous unedited one.

Angelic Angel (or just "Angel" for future reference): Very angelic, very smart, very pretty, very lazy, very violent, and somewhat devilish.

Keir: *steals Angel's halo*

Angelic Angel: Haha!! I shall punish you for stealing my halo! *Shoots thunder bolts at Keir*

Keir: You should add violent and vindictive your description. *Kicks Angel all the way to Alpha Centauri*

Angelic Angel: Me? Vindictive? You're the one who stole my halo! *Sniff* Big meanie…

Keir: Kneel, pitiful mortal, before my might.