"The Dark crystal!" Pluto said. "The Neo-Queen told
me about this! How they fought against Wiseman,
and his Dark Gate. It was in stopping him
that she said we first met her, and your
other self."

Endy looked from the crystal to Pluto.
"That makes no sense...You mean you weren't
there when you first met these people?"

She shook her head, and her eyes met his with
a genuine smile of released worry. "No. Consider it a
paradox of time, but even as we near this
evil's center, I know that Time will restabalize.
The world I know is not endangered--for what
has happened is already accounted for by the
future I protect."

"You seem very content right now!" he said
in amazement, despite the waves of evil
energy he felt as they walked closer to
the center. Ever since they'd spoken to the
King, she'd seemed more relaxed.

"I, Zirconia, A High Manager of the Dark Moon Clan order you
to halt!" A woman with long, multi-colored
hair appeared in front of them. Her dress
shone with irridescence that created a strange
contrast with the darkness of the Hall.
"Who let you in here!? Don't you know
this area if off-limits, while the
Dark Gate is being opened?" She lowered
her eyes angrily, one hand on her hip, the
other tossing back the errant strand of
hair covering her face. The movement
revealed the dark shape of an inverted crescent
moon on her forehead.

Endy blinked at shock, remembering the golden
moon symbol he'd seen on the Queen's forehead.
Were these warring factions related?

Pluto instantly moved to attack position.
"I am Pluto, Guardian of Time, and I have
come to destroy your illegal trespass
on the corridors of Time!"

"Hmph...We'll see about that!" Zirconia
replied as she effortlessly tossed a
wave of dark energy towards the two
of them. "Oops, that is, *I'll* see about
it. You won't be around."

Endymion's quick reflexes worked to
dodge the attack, as he pushed himself
and Pluto against the parapet closer
to the Dark Crystal. He swung them
down over one level to the next, so that they
were a flight above the base of the crystal.
Its dark light washed over them, throwing
their shadows against the wall. Again, Endymion
felt as if something vile had crawled into his
stomach.

"Good, I think we lost her." Endymion said,
as they crouched, recovering their breath. "Let's
do what we came for and get out of here!"

"You're not going anywhere--at least, alive!"
Zirconia replied as she ran into view.
"I Zirconia----" She paused dramatically.

"Dead scream" Pluto whispered as her attack
spun towards their attacker.

"How rude!" Zirconia said as she neatly
sidestepped. "I wasnt done telling you how I
was going to hurt you!"

Pluto merely tilted her head, as the sphere of
energy completed its orbit and headed back
into Zirconia. Somehow, Zirconia caught the
reflection of the attack against the dark
obsidian walls , and turned just in time to
see it approach her face.

She laughed.
"You fool! Here at the Source of the
Black Moon Clan's power, such pidly
performances will do nothing!" The
woman's voice lingered after she'd
dissappeared right before the Globe
reached her, allowing it to crash into
the curve of the wall behind her,
destroying a huge chunk of
the support of the balcony above them.

"Quick--before that falls on us!"
Endy said, as he grabbed Pluto's
wrist, pulling her into another corridor.
"This place is a maze!" He swore. "We can't
go too far or we'll get lost."

"I do not understand! My powers
should be able to stop her!" Pluto whispered,
as they narrowly escaped another blast of power.
"But she's too fast here...in the Time Door
I can always move faster!"

"Yeah, well, another attack like the last
and you'll finnish off us if nothing else.
It's no good to have a strong hit
if you can't land it. We've got to keep
moving--besides, she's just a distraction."

"True. That Dark Crystal is what we
have to destroy...That is what is
creating the Bridge."

"Then why are we attacking it here?
If you work better in the Time Stream,
can't we knock it out there!"

"There you are--You can't hide from
me! HA HA HA" Zirconia cackled.

"It's like she knew where we were going!"
Endy complained as they turned another corner.

"She knows this place, if not our
minds."

"Well, perhaps we have an advantage on
her then---" Endy said taking out
the watch. He focussed in on Zirconia
trying to keep his mind to within a few
minutes of where he was. A grainy image
showed her sneaking up on them from behind.

"Quick, she's coming that way--" He said,
turning around. He didn't see anything.
Pluto frowned. "You should not use that,
the Guardian of the Royal Eternal Guard
gave that to me!"

"Now's not the time to get possessive....
We need all the help we can get."

"Oh, I agree--" Zirconia said from
behind him, as Pluto rushed towards her
to battle her with the staff. "Let me
help end your misery!"

Zirconia easily blasted Pluto back with
a waive of dark energy.

"Who asked you!?" Endymion swore. "I wasn't
miserable until you showed up!" He ran
towards Zirconia, dodging her attack, and
charged. She avoided his fist, by simply
transporting away out of range.

How could she have still snuck up on him?
He whipped around, and realized the
limitations of the future-scrying device.
Still he hated this helpless feeling, just
watching Pluto fight without being able to
do anything to help. He was supposed
to protect because that was his nature. He
knew it inside, but how was he to harnass this
feeling? What kind of protector was he, if
he didn't have any special abilities? A
punch didn't do much against magic.

"What, going to let your girlfriend do
all the work!?" Zirconia teased as she
started forward to launch an attack
at Pluto who was struggling to get back
up. "Well, she is the more dangerous of
you two. I'll kill her first, and then
have fun with you pretty boy!"

Endymion felt a surge of anger, and he
threw the scrying watch straight at Zirconia.
Its sharp crystal edges sliced her cheek and
let a bit of blood edge forward.

"AYEI" She screamed. "That cut my skin---
how dare you!" She whirled back towards
him. "I think I'll take you first with one
shot!"

Moving forward very quickly, Pluto
threw herself across the ground, so that
her staff stretched across the corridor in front
of Zirconia. Zirconia didn't see the rod, as she
was too involved in her attack. As a result, her ankle caught and
held on so that her forward motion became locked and she
crashed heavily to the ground. Her attack, instead
of shooting forward, crashed into the ground infront
of her. Dark crystal shattered into powder that sprayed
up and over Zirconia, turning her shiny dress black with
soot.

""I've smudged my dress now!" Zirconia complained
Ooooh....I'll get you for that!"

"Excuse me, but wasn't that what you were trying to do before?"
Endymion asked. "Go ahead and try!"

"You'll regret that--ARGH" She screamed as she attempted
to launch another attack. "How do you like this!"

Pluto's replied "Dead scream" as she sent
her attack at the ceiling . The balcony
crashed down right on top of Zirconia, trapping her
attack on herself. They heard her scream, but the
explosion prevented them from observing the rest.

After the dust settled, Endymion walked closer
to see Zirconia imobile and slumped on
the ground. He heard her gasp softly, and then her head lolled
to the side, her eyes open but unseeing.

Endymion looked at Pluto, over the the prone
body of their enemy. "Wow, that was
something else." He said a bit awkwardly.

She merely nodded. "With your help to
distract her, I was able to finally get through her
guard. Let's go."

The two of them ran to the chamber with the Dark Crystal.

"This Panel..." He said fingering a small
console. "I wonder what it does?" The screen
of the watch replayed the scene of a young
man with dark hair and eyes the color of
a saphire. The man removed something from
the panel, and dissappeared.

"In side, is something that controls this
thing--if we remove that, it weakens it..."

"That's it--That panel is what anchors the
Time Bridge and allows this Dark Energy to
Flow to the Past. But something else is
at the Other end--something powerful
and evil. This end is like a mirror reflecting
that evil..."

The screen fluttered, at Endy's thoughts,
and showed a strange scene, of a woman
almost identical to the Queen he'd seen, but
somehow different. Determination and defiance
hovered in her eyes now, as she held up a
glowing crystal with both hands.

Above her hovered a Dark figure--the one they'd glimpsed
at the Time Door with the strange globe of
dark power. They were locked in a fight of wills
and power as the dark and light smashed against
each other. Victory waivered between them, neither
gaining any permanent advantage.

"Dead Scream!" Pluto whispered as her staff
flew and hit the Dark Crystal's panel dead on, the
globe of purple energy rebounding into the
Crystal itself.

On the screen, Endy could see a small pink haired
girl look up, and suddenly transform into attire
rather like that of the young Queen. She rose
into the sky as well, combining her power
to the Queen's, and the two together overpowered
the Dark Figure who dissappeared.

"That's it--the Time Bridge is Destroyed!And with
that, the temporal block on combining the power
of the Crystals was removed. You did it
Pluto." A voice from the watch said. "Thank you."

Pluto looked up as the Castle around them began
to crumble. "With the power gone, this world
will be destroyed. It is returning to its natural
orbit. Come...Dark Dome Open!"

The Door appeared, and Endy and Pluto dissappeared
into it.

"Hey, that wasn't so bad was it!? This
time-bridge thing is a piece of cake!" He
smiled, but was dismayed to find Pluto's
face was somber.

"I'm afraid it is not so simple, Endy. That
time-bridge was the easier one to destroy--but
what of the other? The GREG didn't mention another
bridge! Yet we saw--"

"The what?"

"The Guardian of the Royal Eternal Guard...He, or
it, rather, is a computer program that
encompasses the entire scientific and historical
knowledge of the Crystal Tokyo Empire. It's more
than that--but I am back where I started now.
I've created a tear in Time that is not accounted
for in the future I know." The hopeless look reclaimed
her eyes, extinguising the light he'd seen earlier.

"So wait, that Program knew this was going to happen? That I would
be transported to the future--that this attack would
happen...?!"

"Yes. The Attack of the Black Moon Family is
something the Royal Family has both feared as a dark
Time, and yet celebrated as a past victory for years."

"Its so strange that they already knew how it would
be...and yet, they seemed so unsure. That King,
could he really be me?!"

She didn't answer him, but continued airing her anxiety.
"Why was the second time bridge not mentioned? I feel nothing in the
Time-stream at all..."

"Maybe the future-you already took care of it,
Pluto. We could use this monitor to find out?"

She smiled. "King Endymion is strangely fascinated
by the GREG's technology in my time too--but
perhaps you are right. Perhaps I can locate the
other Time-Bridge with this device."

She concentrated, but found only static. "Something
is blocking the transmission. Whatever or
whoever has created the second time-bridge, they
know I am trying to stop it. This feeling I
have--of hopelessness, I think its trying to
control my mind." She narrowed her eyes, trying
to clear her mind. "I felt it just now--something
Alien in my mind."

"Are you ok, Pluto?" Endy asked concerned.

"I'm not sure. I think perhaps before I
go after the other intruder, I must deliver you to
your new life. The less ripples I've caused,
the better."

"Wait, I want to help. I'm in this just as
much as you are now!"

He protested, but even as he said it, he realized
that he had little choice in the matter. What help
could he be to her? When that woman had attacked
them, he'd only been in the way.

She shook her head. "That would only exacerbate the
tear in time, Endy. If I am to stop the
intruder, I need to start sealing my original error...
And that means, you need to be replaced in Time."

With a wave of her hand they were on the coast
again, this time, arriving just in time to
see the car crash into the waters. "But you
are right, Endy, they do not have to die. You
have powers to heal people...." Without
another word she dove beneath the ocean, and
returned somehow dragging both his parents.
A flash of light appeared in the distance, and
Endy sensed that was when he had dissappeared
from this time originally. He shivered against
the strange realization of his having lived through
the same time twice.
A drenched and disshelved Pluto landed in front
of him, and then placed his parents on the ground.

"It's too late--we're too late!" He shouted
as he felt for a pulse.

"Reach inside yourself" Pluto gasped, obviously
weakened from the effort. "You have power
Endy...if you try you can heal them."

The images of roses flashed across his mind, and
power welled from inside him. The Queen's
face filled his mind, and he thought of the
goodness he'd sensed from her. Nothing was impossible,
if he tried hard enough and believed. A slow
heat covered his hands, and massaged its way
into the bodies of his parents. Slowly, he saw
their color return to normal, and the soft
rise and fall of their breath.

"You did it." Pluto smiled slightly. "But we
must go now."

"They're alive!" He said, grateful for but
still amazed at the power he'd used. How had
she known about that? How could she know so
much and still seem so confused about what she
needed to accomplish? "Why did you change your
mind? About letting them live, I mean?"

"Endy, perhaps you changed it for me."
With a graceful move of her hand she dismissed
the question. "We must go. Everything
will be restored here, but you cannot stay."

Endy hesitated, wondering whether he should
continue to watch over his parents, but
even before the thought formed he found
himself in the vague world of the Time-Corridor.

Slowly the garden setting began to emerge
from the mist.

"Why are we here again?"

She shook her head. "I think it is dangerous
for me to explain what I cannot. That was
my error the first time, Endy. That is why
I became distracted. I cannot doubt. I can only
act. This is where we are supposed to be."

"I'm sorry. I can't explain." She
whispered. "But I won't forget you." She held her hand up,
unconciously mirroring the pose he held.

"I won't allow this!"
He said with the intensity of youth, passion undimmed by
the doubts and cautiousness inherent in an older mind.
"I'll follow you. I can't leave you like
this...Set, let me fight with you and help you with
that second time bridge.....I don't want you to go!"

"I can't..." She replied, her voice less than steady. He couldn't mean
the words in that way, she told herself. He
was destined for another. They'd just met and he was distraught. After
all, their circumstances could at best be called strange.
The reasons tumbled in her brain, but didn't stop the lurching
of her heart.

"Set, you can't do this alone!" He argued. "You said it
wasn't over, so I'll be reborn when it is!"

She shook her head. "Your presence here might be part
of the problem. Look, the door's frame is broken." She
pointed to a small chip in the wood of the tall door. The
white coating that covered the rest of the door looked blistered
there around the edges of the chip as if something had burned
the hole into the frame. The burn exposed the tea-colored wood
that lay underneath the ornate construction. She touched
another part. "Part of the
destruction has begun to heal, but this scar remains. Until
I replace you, I believe I cannot restore this door. "

"Set, I...can't accept this. I can't go back to my life--or
a new one without you! How can I ever go on without knowing
how things turned out....I can't just forget all this!"

She sighed, and knelt as a stream appeared from nowhere.
"Perhaps not. But at least this will help. If you drink
these waters, your memories will be erased. You won't remember
any of this."

"So what happens next? Do you even know how you're going
to replace me in a new world?" He frowned. "If you erase my
memories of everything, how could I even function..."

"This is no ordinary stream." A small half smile appeared
briefly on her face at the memory of Queen Selenity explaining
the hidden powers of the river of time--the source of
a legend of the Fountains of Youth. Pluto did not age at
the gates on an ordinary rate because of the flow of this
river where she stood. Yet one day, her despair over her
situation had driven her to imbibe the golden liquid. That
was how she had sealed her memories away until Queen Selenity's
touch had begun to revive them. As the memories returned,
so did Pluto's sense of how to handle the situation.

"I refuse." He said, staring at the golden stream. The
liquid seemed thicker than water, and oozed more than it flowed
across the doorway, appearing from nowhere and dissappearing
into nowhere.

She turned away, and leaned over the stream. "Please, you must."

Pluto frowned, knowing she could not force him to drink and
yet, if he did not, she would find herself stuck at this point.
She could not solve the rest of the problem unless she got him
back to his propper destiny. If he would not cooperate, she would
need maneuver him into his destiny. She brought her hands up
to her lips, and closed her eyes. She needed to be strong.

He knelt beside her, placing his hands around her shoulders,
and tilted her body around, so that she faced him. He stared
into her eyes, trying to judge the truth of what she told
him. "There's got to be another way I can help you." He said
as he slid his hands lower to make the embrace more comfortable.
"Hey, don't pout like that, Set, it'll be all right!" He
added noticing the slight pursing of her mouth and tight-lipped
expression.

She only nodded, and placed her hands on his face and
kissed him.

She tried not to feel and to enjoy the sensation of his
skin against hers, but instead concentrate on the drops of the golden liquid
that she let trickle down his throat. A slow burn spread inside him,
into his head. He looked up, and realized everything was fading.

"Setsuna!" He called, as he fell back against the door. She'd
tricked him, he realized briefly before he forgot who she
was.

From behind the clouds of mist, she shook her head, as tears as golden
as the potion she'd given him, slipped down her face. She held
her breath, unable to swallow due to the painful constriction
across her throat. Yet eventually she felt a familiar yet knew
sensation cruise down her system. Against that she struggled
to keep her mission before her--Queen Selenity's face rose
in her mind.

The fountain dissappeared, leaving a small child, almost swimming
in the excess cloth of the clothes he'd worn before.

The child stared at Setsuna in wonder, and without memory.

"Where am I? Who am I?" He asked, before a heavy sleep
over took him.

Without too much trouble, the small scrying device showed her how
to locate a family near the others. A rich young couple, who
were about to be involved in an accident. Carefully, she
used the screening device to alter the records at the hospitals,
and public records to establish one Darien Shields as the
child of this couple. Then, she placed him safely on the side
of the road just after the car broke the railing and
fell into the sea. She stared for a minute at the car, as it
sunk into the waters of the Sea. For a second she allowed
herself the luxury of questioning her actions--the doubt
she both knew she could not have and yet, could not live without.

Unseen by the concerned drivers who wittnessed the accident, and
found the little boy, she vannished back to her post.

She arrived, noticing the strange chip in the door, and wondered
briefly, how that had occurred. She felt as if she had
just forgotten something, but what?! Her memories were scattered
again--and she desperately fought to claim them again.
The only thing she could remember was being called by
Queen Selenity and attempting to place the moonbeam capsules
in the future. Endymion had gone astray, but she had
fixed that now--somehow, though she couldn't remember the
details. She couldn't even remember how she had forgotten...
A lingering feeling told her, however, that she had just
made another mistake.

She touched the door, and looked at the strange device
she held in her hands--a small screen attached to a wrist
band. She tucked it into the folds of her skirt, and promptly
forgot about it.

"PLUTO!" A voice called, and the figure of Neo-Queen Serenity
appeared, waddling and wading through the mists.In her arms
was a small bundle. "Where
did you go! We were so worried! The G.R.E.G. Lost all contact
with you for awhile...and"

"Seren--Serenity--I told you to stay put!" Mercury's voice called as
Sailor Mercury appeared behind the Queen. Her exasperation almost
visible in the sharp pace of her breath racing in and out. "You're in no
condition to be experiencing the currents of the time-stream!
Especially not so soon after---"

"But I wanted to--" The Neo-Queen broke off in an gasp as the bundle
began to wail. "Oh dear, Rini, calm down...this is your
friend Puu...or she will be!" The Neo-Queen smiled. "Mercury,
you're upsetting Small Lady! Everything is fine...the Time
Door is as safe a place to be as anywhere in Crystal Tokyo now!"

Mercury did not looked convinced and stared almost suspicously at
Pluto. Something had changed about the Guardian again, but she
couldn't quite place it.

Pluto leaned over and looked into the small pink-red eyes, framed by
a tuft of pink lashes. The infant began to relax and gurgled, which
caused the small moon on her forehead to shine a bit.

Pluto smiled. She couldn't remember who these people were,
but the moon symbol reassured her they were related to Moon Kingdom
family. Perhaps they were the reincarnations of the Royal
court? They seemed somewhat different than she'd expected,but
then a heavy veil still lay across her memories.

"My Queen, you and yours will always be safe at the Doors of Time."
Pluto replied. If only, Pluto thought, she could remember more
of this world.