"You'll watch her carefully, won't you, Luna?" Serenity's arms were clutched tightly around her daughter as Luna reached out to take the little princess. Luna smiled gently and began to softly pry baby Serenity out of her mother's grasp.
"Of course I will. She'll never leave my sight. Don't you worry, just concentrate on Charon and Chronos, Serenity. Everything will be fine here."
Artemis stood close behind her and nodded. "Fine. We'll take care of everything. Don't worry."
Serenity watched Luna cradle her daughter tenderly for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded. "All right, then. I won't. Thank you." She turned and walked into the ship. Hermes shot Luna and Artemis reassuring looks before he boarded. They'd really grown to be part of the family over the years. He could barely remember a time when they hadn't been around. He closed the hatch of his new ship--actually, it was Minerva's old craft--and prepared for the trip to Chronos' planet as Serenity silently settled into her seat. He wished someone other than him was coming along, but Ares had to hold the fort and everyone else was busy. This could get messy.
*****
Aphrodite crooned softly to little Venus and jiggled her gently, only paying a little attention to her daughter. Charon was lying in bed, groaning softly in her sleep, and Aphrodite couldn't help but wonder if contractions had started. Charon's stomach seemed much too big. Even if this baby wasn't going to cause political problems between Chronos and Hades, she feared the birth would be difficult. She snorted to herself with annoyance. As if things weren't already difficult enough for her!
She heard Charon's chamber door open behind her and whirled on the balls of her feet to turn to face whoever was entering, jostling little Venus awake from her light doze. Venus let loose with her most admirable lungs as Aphrodite sighed with relief to see Serenity and Hermes quietly make their way into the room.
"I'm so glad to see you two here. I was feeling so jumpy and tense. You have no idea how terrible the atmosphere is on this planet. I've only been here a day and I jump at every shadow. I've had to personally threaten Chronos to keep him from doing something stupid." She turned to attempt to quiet her daughter, who was still outraged at being disturbed from her nap. "They almost wouldn't let me land in the first place, and I had to exert all my most" she raised one eyebrow at Serenity and Hermes " considerable powers of persuasion to make my way in to Charon's palace." She cocked her head. "By the way, however did you manage to get in here?"
Serenity opened one closed fist to reveal Ginzuishou and a grim smile spread on her face in it's pale light. "I threatened them with this. It also helped Chronos see reason. He was getting ready to use the Garnet Rod as we forced our way in."
Aphrodite smiled, showing a lot of tooth as the grin turned ferocious. "Good for you. Any sign of Hades or the other outers? And where's Zeus and Gaia?"
"You know how Gaia's been lately." Hermes shrugged, as if that explained everything. "And Zeus' wife is sick, so he wouldn't leave her side."
"Mmmmm." Charon let loose with a faint cry and Aphrodite shot a sharp look in her direction just as she opened her eyes. Charon brought shaking hands down to her stomach and Aphrodite actually saw it ripple. "Here." She blindly handed Venus in the direction of the other two nobles and made her way to Charon's side. "Shhh. . .it's all right. You've been through this before, so you know there's nothing to worry about. Let me help you, now. Breathe. Remember from last time? That's it. That's right, just keep on like that."
The door burst open with a bang, Chronos rushed into the room. "It's starting, isn't it? Isn't it? I felt something!"
Aphrodite didn't even look up. "Get him out of here!" she ordered. "And bring me some boiling water and clean cloths!" It looked like it would be a breech birth. Very bad. Very bad indeed *****
Serenity had sent a message to Hades informing him that Charon was in labor. He deserved to know that much, even if he couldn't possibly make it here in time. The faint cries that reached her from Charon's chambers made her shiver in fear. Things were taking a long time--too long. She could tell from the haggard look on poor Aphrodite's face as she poked out her head to issue commands that she was tiring. Serenity fingered Gizuishou thoughtfully. Maybe she could help out. She was still a little angry at Charon for causing this whole mess with the outers, but she was still her friend, and couldn't stand hearing her in pain like this. If only they'd had the foresight to have a doctor among their number maybe this wouldn't be so hard. She heard a particularly high pitched shriek emerge from behind the stone wall and made up her mind. She had to do something!
"Aphrodite?" She knocked softly at the chamber door. After a protracted silence she raised her hand to knock again but the door softly opened before she could.
"Who is it? Oh, Serenity." Aphrodite's eyes were dark with fatigue. "Do you need something?"
"How-" Serenity swallowed. "How is Charon? Are you hav-having problems?"
Aphrodite sighed. "The child's head's facing the wrong direction. It's going to be bad. Hopefully I can keep the baby from tearing Charon too badly. It's awfully large." She leaned against the cool stone wall and closed her eyes for a second. "I hate breech births! And this one's taking too long as well. I'm worried."
Serenity sent a tendril of thought into Ginzuishou and it began to pulse softly. "If I use this to give you both energy, will that help?"
Aphrodite nodded solemnly. "It should, but you should help the poor baby too. This is almost as difficult on the child as it is on-" Aphrodite stopped speaking suddenly and her eyes snapped in the direction of Charon, who was beginning to moan again. "Come on," Not wasting time or energy on politeness, Aphrodite snatched up Serenity's wrist and pulled her to Charon's bedside. "Do it now, Serenity."
Serenity nodded and began to pull power from Ginzuishou. If she pulled too much to save her friend, she'd die, like she almost had when she'd tried to get Sol off that stupid ship. Maybe if she hadn't been so careful back then, Charon would've been able to carry them all. Maybe it was her fault that Sol had died. As Serenity reached out toward the baby she felt her self-hatred rear it's ugly head, and she wasn't ready try to put it back into the back of her mind, where it belonged. She began to pull energy at a furious rate, no longer caring if she died, only sure she had to save this little baby and it's mother. She had to! She'd already failed once. She dove deeper into the crystal and kept on pushing all the energy she could into the child. Her vision began to darken around the edges, but she pushed on, stubbornly ignoring the warning signs that she was going too far.
"Serenity!" Something intruded on her attention. "Serenity! What are you doing! Stop! Serenity!" Something was shaking her. She ignored it. She had to save this baby. This little innocent child didn't deserve to die. She did--she'd failed her people when they'd been found by Haven. She'd failed Sol by not trying hard enough to save him. It was only fair she paid. . .
"Serenity! Stop this! No! What about your daughter?!" Serenity paused briefly in her quest for more energy to give to the small life struggling to make it's way out to the world. "Yes! Your daughter! What about little Princess Serenity?! Are you going to leave her alone?"
[Aphrodite? Princess. . .] Serenity shrugged off her depression as best she could, and looked around. She was surprised to realize she was kneeling on the floor, barely able to breathe. Aphrodite was angrily shaking her, her usual urbane expression completely stripped from her features as she wept angry tears. "Stop this! Stop! Stop! That's enough!"
Serenity took a deep breath, troubled by how difficult a task it had become, and waved Aphrodite off. Aphrodite paused and looked at her carefully, disregarding her own emotional state. "Serenity? Are you done?"
"Yes. . ." Serenity breathed softly. "Sorry. . ."
Aphrodite sniffed and dashed the tears out of her eyes. "I should say so. You gave me a scare. I thought I was going to lose Charon and the baby, and almost lost you instead!" She began to stand. "You sure you'll be all right?" Serenity nodded. "All right. I have to go back to Charon." Aphrodite turned back to the bed, which was now silent. Serenity fought her way to her feet. What had come over her? She had to get a handle on this tendency of hers to sink into depression like that. She had responsibilities. A kingdom to rule. A beautiful daughter to raise. Peace to win, so her daughter could live a happy, light filled life. She pulled herself to her knees and looked over at the bed. It was a mess, blood all over, and as she watched, Serenity saw two feet emerge from Charon, kicking energetically. Aphrodite began to pull. Serenity looked down at her feet to make sure she set them on the floor correctly. She was still feeling terribly unsteady. And she'd only sent energy to the baby. What a fool! Yet another failure. . .
"Shit!" Serenity jerked her head up at Aphrodite's heartfelt exclamation. Aphrodite turned with a flare of blonde hair to pin her down with a glare. "I need more cloths! And more water! Quickly!"
Serenity was frozen, and she widened her eyes. "Charon? Will she be all right?"
"Not if you don't get moving!" Serenity flinched at the raw worry in Aphrodite's voice and ran out of the room. She was such an idiot! She stumbled to the door and raised her voice.
"Hermes? Chronos!" She didn't get an answer and made her way down the corridors. Where was everybody? "Someone! I need help!" She made her way toward the gathering room in Chronos' palace. She stopped and gaped in amazement at what she saw. Hades had arrived. In less than a few hours! How had he done that, without Charon's long distance teleporting abilities? Hermes and Chronos were both in defensive positions, ready to defend themselves, and it was obvious some heated words had already passed between them. "What's going on here?"
Everyone turned to face her.
"How did you get here so quickly, Hades?"
"I helped him." A tall green haired young woman stepped out from behind Hades.
"Where'd you get that?" Chronos pointed in shock to the staff the woman carried. It looked like an exact copy of his Garnet Rod. The woman looked over at him with her red eyes, and Chronos took a shocked step back.
"I got it from you," she paused almost imperceptibly, then she continued. "Father."
"Pluto?" Serenity was getting very confused. "Hades, how on Haven did your daughter grow up so fast?"
Hades shrugged. Serenity shot him an annoyed look at his unresponsiveness but Pluto began to answer her question before Serenity could say anything to him.
"I didn't. When I offered to transport my father here I also took my younger self off of the planet." Serenity was disturbed by the impenetrable depths in Pluto's eyes when the young woman turned them on her. "I had to--have to--grow up somewhere else. I'm only doing what you commanded, Queen Serenity. I'm only preserving the time line."
"What are you talking about? I've never said anything like that!"
Pluto smiled knowingly. "You will. Now, if I'm not mistaken, Aphrodite asked for some cloths and more boiling water, didn't she?"
Serenity brought her hands up to her face in horror. "That's right! The birth's not going well! We have to hurry!" Thankful for a simple task to devote her mind to she turned to Chronos. "Where can I find some to bring to her?" Chronos opened his mouth to answer her, but he was interrupted.
"Too late." Aphrodite stepped out of the shadows of the corridor holding a small figure in a warm blanket. Tears ran down her face unchecked. "Your sacrifice saved the baby though, Serenity." She pulled back enough of the blanket for Serenity to catch a glance of her face. As she saw Serenity's eyes widen, Aphrodite sighed. "Yes, you're not imagining it. She's also a planet Senshi." She looked up in surprise as she saw the older Pluto stride up to the baby to trace the 'h' shaped symbol on her forehead.
"Yes she is. . ." the woman murmured to herself. Without another word she spun around and the nobles all took a step back with cries of surprise as a door appeared out of mid-air. A Pluto that appeared to be the right age stepped out. "Pluto, this is your sister. You're going to have to take care of her."
The young girl took this all in with a serious nod. "What's her name?"
The older Pluto looked up at Chronos, who held out his hands in protest. "I'm not her father! Don't ask me!" She turned to Hades, but the man who'd been a father to her turned his back without a word. She frowned at him, then turned back to her younger self. "Her name is to be Saturn."
"Saturn." Young Pluto held out her hands toward her new baby sister. Aphrodite looked over at Serenity with confusion evident in her eyes.
"Why does she-er, you-want the baby?"
"I have to raise her. Neither Chronos or Hades will be willing to raise her, will they?"
"But-" Serenity halted, obviously confused. "I really don't understand what's going on here at all, you know. Can't you just explain yourself?"
Pluto shook her head. "No, not really. It took me more years to understand myself than you could ever imagine. But I have to do this, don't you see? It's already happened for me." She gestured toward the young Pluto, who was still patiently waiting for her sister to be handed to her, but was also obviously taking everything in.
Serenity nodded. "I understand that, at least. Are you saying you can travel through time at will?"
"Not only that, but I, myself, can live outside of time." An abstracted look entered her expression, as if she were searching for words. "I don't know how else to put it. But everything has to happen this way, since I remember it all."
Serenity nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Hades and Chronos. They were still shooting looks of hatred at each other. [Oh, Charon, all the damage you caused! What were you thinking?] She came to a decision. "Chronos, I want you to give the Garnet Rod to young Pluto there."
"What?!"
"You heard her. You gave it to her already, in one sense. You have to do it, so you might as well do it now."
"But I'll be defenseless!"
Serenity didn't answer his protest, but turned instead to Hades. "And you have give the Silence Glaive to your daughter."
"But she's just an infant!"
"You can give it to me. I'll care for it until Saturn's old enough to use it." Pluto held her hand out demandingly. Hades saw the ice cold determination in Serenity's eyes, and sighed. He gave Chronos an angry look, but began to hand the glaive over. Chronos nodded and handed young Pluto his Garnet Rod.
"Good. Now I know you two won't blow up the system over this feud, and I know the time stream won't be corrupted either." Serenity turned to Pluto. "Am I doing all right so far?"
Pluto smiled. "Just fine."
"Good. Then I also am going to order you to preserve the time line, as you predicted I would. Just like your father was supposed to. Do you understand?" she asked the young one first, who watched her with wide eyes. The young Pluto nodded, a small spark of zeal lighting in her eyes. Serenity turned to the older woman. "And you?"
Pluto's smile had soured a bit. "Yes, I understand. But I don't think you do. If you knew. . ." Pluto clutched her hands tight around the rod until they looked as bloodless as bone and took a deep breath. "I swear I will do as you command, my Queen. On pain of death if I disobey."
Serenity blinked at the ferocity of the oath, but nodded in approval at her intensity. "Well, then. See that you do."
"And now, your Majesty, I, my sister, and my younger self must leave. They have much to learn." Pluto motioned Young Pluto, still holding the Garnet Rod and Saturn, through the door.
"Pluto-" Serenity took a step forward and reached out a hand, unable to let her go without answering a question. "Will I see you again?"
Pluto smiled, and Serenity stifled a gasp at the bitter curve of it. "I can garauntee you will. Until then, my Queen." She bowed curtly and leapt through the disappearing door before another word could be spoken.
Silence reigned in the cold, stone palace for a few minutes.
"What an amazing thing!" Aphrodite murmured in shock.