A Visitor from the Past, Part 2
by Ice-Wizard@gmx.at
PG

At last! Part 2 is finished. Before I start I'd like to thank Eagle 
(etj4@cornell.edu) for his help. If you don't like the layout, you 
know who is to blame. Just kidding. I think it looks great that way. 
You should read his story, The Fragility of Time. 

A few explanations:
				
"		"	Something is said
'		'	Something is thought
CAPITAL LETTERS	Sailor Pluto talks or someone yells
			(You'll know the difference)


My first day at work started with an interesting surprise. There had 
been a mistake concerning my job. I wasn't supposed to be 'Assistant of 
the Librarian', but the librarian himself. There was need for an 
assistant but before anyone could apply for that post, the librarian 
had retired, leaving behind quite a mess. 'Lucky me.' The library was 
no separate building but a large room in which piles of books were just 
lying around on round tables. There weren't even shelves. After 
questioning some students I found out, that the former librarian was a 
good friend of the principal. Since he was under his protection, nobody 
could do anything about the chaos. I'm not very tidy myself but this 
was too much. Not that I had a choice here. With my qualifications I 
had to be glad to have found this job. After some research I summed up 
the treasures I had found. A phone, a big heap of paper where the 
students did - or didn't - register the books they took and a note from 
the former keeper of this dungeon. I started reading it. 

"Whoever reads this must have been stupid or very desperate to take 
this job." Did I mention how lucky I felt right now? "However, your 
tasks are very easy. Whenever one of the brats needs a book, you give 
it to them. If we don't have it, they don't need it. That's it. Good 
luck." Now that was someone who liked his job. I could hear the door 
opening. A young girl with dark brown hair entered. She looked around 
as if she was searching something. 

"Hi! I'm Sarah. You're a new student?" Her happy smile could compare to 
that of Usagi. 

"Actually I'm..." 

She didn't let me finish. "Have you seen the new one?" 

"New what?" 

She giggled. "New librarian off course." She came closer and whispered 
to me: "They say, he is even more ugly then the old one." I tried to 
tell her about me but Sarah didn't give me a chance. "They say that he 
and two other men are living at a temple with a young woman. He must be 
some kind of pervert, if you ask me." She seemed to remember something. 
"Say, do you have a name?" I sighed. 

"My name is George Sugam." I paused. "I'm the new librarian."

After some fast excuses Sarah couldn't wait to leave the room. She even 
forgot the books she wanted to take. 'Just give me some time and I will 
turn this sad joke into a valuable source of knowledge.' 'DID SOMEONE 
ASK FOR TIME? THAT'S MY SPECIALITY.' 'Pluto. What's up?' 'NOTHING, JUST 
PAYING A VISIT.' Again this changes of mood. I had to know what was 
going on. 'Sailor Pluto, is there some problem that I could help you 
with? You've been acting quite different lately.' Big mistake. A wave 
of pain flushed through my veins and my brain felt as if it was 
burning. 'DON'T YOU EVER DARE TO QUESTION MY DECISIONS. I AM THE KEEPER 
OF TIME. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ... I HAVE TO GO.' The contact was broken 
too fast so I dropped to the floor unconscious.

				*	*	*

I woke up to someone saying my name. I opened my eyes and saw Ami 
kneeling next to me. I sat up. She had a quite worried expression. "Are 
you hurt?" 

I smiled at her and shook my head. "I'm fine." To tell the truth, I 
felt great. It was as if I had but dreamt the whole thing. Then I 
remembered my "date" with the Senshi of water. That helped to brighten 
me up. "This mess was just too much for me to take." 

After telling her about my falling up the career ladder, Ami tried to 
comfort me. "You can do it. I could help you if you like." 

"I'd appreciate that. Thank you." We left school and headed for a Cafe. 
I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and decided 
to change our plan. Ami was about to enter when I took her hand and 
motioned her to follow me. She was quite surprised when I took her to a 
restaurant one block away instead. We found a nice shady table in front 
of the building and sat down. There weren't a lot of people so the 
waiter came immediately. 

After we ordered something to drink Ami asked: "Didn't you say 
something about Ice-cream?" 

I looked at her innocently. "Didn't I mention that the ice-cream was 
meant to be our dessert?" Ami was looking around nervously. "What's the 
matter?" 

She whispered: "Someone could see me here with you. What will my 
friends think?" 

"They will think: 'I'm glad that our Ami has some fun'" 

I tried to take her hand but she withdrew it. "You are evil." I laughed 
at that. 

"Yes, I am." I had to make her relax a bit. What does a beautiful 
genius enjoy most? After a little bit of small talk about school and a 
bit of tactical analysis of the enemy's moves our meals arrived. They 
actually had sandwiches for my guest, so she could read while eating 
them. I had let Ami order my meal because she was more familiar with 
this place. I didn't know exactly what it was but I sure liked it.

"Hi!" I looked around for where that voice came from. It was Makoto who 
came out of a store opposite the restaurant. Minako was with her. She 
hadn't seen us yet and asked Makoto whom she was talking to. The tall 
girl pointed in our direction. 

Minako started giggling. "Ami! I can't believe that you're on a 
DATE!!!" We just sat there, beat red, not able to say anything. 

Makoto went to Ami and put her arm on her shoulder. "Relax, Ames. I 
think you should have done that a long time ago." 

The still giggling blonde sneaked up on me. "So, you've put an eye on 
the brains of our team? You're such a cuuuute couple." 

That was too much. Ami jumped up and ran down the street. Makoto shot 
an angry glare at Minako. "Go after her. Tell her that you are sorry, 
or I will make sure that you are." Mina gulped and decided to follow 
her blue haired friend. 

Makoto sat down and sighed. "I love Minako like a sister. But sometimes 
I could, I could... " She looked at me. "You can stop blushing now." I 
relaxed a bit. 

"That's easy for you to say." 

Makoto's expression became more serious. "What I said about Mina goes 
for Ami too. I don't know how you feel about her and you don't have to 
tell me. But if you hurt her I'll teach you a lesson you'll never 
forget." She meant this and I knew it. I wasn't sure how to react. 

"To be earnest, I don't know. I have never met someone like Ami." 

"Do you love her?" I smiled but when I looked at her I realised that 
she wasn't joking. 

"Are you always that ... direct?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"Don't you mean blunt?" I said nothing, so Makoto continued: "I think 
you are a lot like Ami. You just play the cool guy to hide your 
loneliness, don't you?" 

I didn't expect that. "I've never thought about it. And I don't want to 
do so. This would bring up too many painful memories." Makoto nodded. 

"I can imagine what you are feeling. I lost my parents when I was very 
young." That was something new. I have lost everyone that was dear to 
me but I should have kept in mind that I am not the only person in this 
world with problems. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." That was not the most intelligent thing to 
say in this situation, but Makoto broke the tension that started to 
build.

"Let's not change the subject. We were talking about Ami. You won't go 
anywhere unless you answer my question." I gave up. 

"I like her very much. I can't explain it. When I'm with her, 
everything seems to be all right. Normally, when I talk to a girl I 
like, I become nervous. I don't know what to say. With Ami around I'm 
just calm and relaxed. It feels so ... right. See what I mean?" Now 
that was something Makoto hadn't expected. 

"I'll give you some good advice. Tell her how you feel." She got up and 
boxed playfully on my arm. "Do you realise that you have done the 
impossible? The one big goal that even the combined power of the Sailor 
Senshi wasn't able to reach?" I gave her my best 'what are you talking 
about'-look. "You made her flunk her afternoon class, you know." Before 
I could say something she left.

				*	*	*

I decided to look after Ami, but I had no idea where she could have 
gone. I was about to give up and return home when Makoto came running 
down the street. She stopped briefly and whispered something about a 
Youma-Attack on the Hikawa Shrine. She was about to run away when I 
held her back. 

She hissed at me: "I have to go. No time to explain, the others need 
me." 

"I know that. But there is a faster way." With that I teleported both 
of us right in my room at the temple. Before Makoto could say anything 
we heard a scream from the direction of the living room. Makoto 
transformed quickly and I protected myself with a shield spell. Then we 
joined in the fight.

Zoisite wasn't paying attention so Jupiter was able to hit both him and 
the youma with a Thunderbolt. With the room still wet from Mercury's 
fog the damage was highly increased. Though badly hurt the youma was 
still a dangerous foe. It had been too fast to identify it before, but 
now that it stood still I saw that this was a different type. It had no 
resemblance to a human being but instead resembled  a spider; a grey, 
slimy Spider with spikes as long as my arms. I HATE SPIDERS! It hissed 
and launched an attack. Originally, the monster had planned to finish 
off Mars who lay on the floor, unconscious. But now it changed its 
mind. The Senshi of Thunder had hurt it and she would pay. Jupiter was 
the strongest of the Senshi but even she had a hard time dodging the 
youma's blasts. 

While she was able to hit the beast sometimes it wasn't enough. The 
others were busy, dealing with Zoisite. This left just me to help 
Makoto with the spider. I had no time to cast a destructive spell; that 
would have taken too long. Instead I hid the tall warrior in an 
Illusion of Zoisite and made the General look like Jupiter. The youma 
wasn't created for thinking and so it smashed Zoisite through the 
nearest wall.

It was an easy task for Zoisite to destroy my mask but the distraction 
was enough for Sailor Moon. "Moon Tiara Action" she shouted and the 
youma turned into a pile of dust. Zoisite said something about revenge 
but with his mouth full of dust we couldn't exactly understand him. 
Venus shot a Crescent Beam at him but he teleported away. 

I examined the battlefield closer. Mars was still knocked out, Venus 
had a bruise on her right arm and Mercury had gotten a nasty cut on her 
shoulder. The rest of the team was ok. 'I wish, Saturn was here. She 
could heal them in an instant.' I wasn't able to help. Second Rule of 
Magic: 'Magic can't alter something. It can cause temporal changes but 
they never last for a long time.' I had learned spells of healing, but 
they were just meant to stop the bleeding of open wounds or to ease the 
pain. Not to really heal.

My worries were unnecessary. As soon as they transformed back, the 
bruises disappeared. I glared at them. Ami came closer. "Something 
wrong?" I couldn't stop staring. 

"You are healed! But how..." 

The blue haired girl smiled happily. "Magic?" 

I disagreed and told her about the reasons. The others came to listen 
to me. "You see? I don't know exactly what powers you have but they are 
not of magical origin." I finished my lesson. 

Makoto didn't seem to be very impressed by my explanations. "As long as 
it works I don't need to know why." She headed for the door. "Bye, 
girls. Bye, Mentus. I'm late for my date." Minako and Usagi suddenly 
remembered something they had to do and left. Only Ami, Rei and me 
stayed. Rei looked out of the window. 

"Oh no. There are a lot of people out there. They must have heard our 
fight." She went out and tried to convince the people that everything 
was ok.

I saw the sad look of Ami's face. She sighed heavily. "I guess that 
leaves but the two of us to clean the place." She was ready to begin 
but I got an idea. 

"Wait. There is faster way." I sat down on the floor and closed my 
eyes. "You should leave now. It could be dangerous for you to stay. Ami 
must have seen the seriousness of my face and did as I told her. I 
focused the power of my soul and started the most difficult spell I 
have ever learned. 

Whenever an object stays on a certain place for a long time, there is 
still an afterimage of that situation. Giving the Universe a 
well-placed kick in the right space would return an item to its 
previous place. My eyes were closed but I could see the whole room as 
it was before. The sound of furniture moving proved that I succeeded. I 
felt weak, so I tried to collect some of the Mana of my surrounding. 
That was strange. I reached out with my mind but except for Human 
energy there was barely any power left. I drew as little as possible 
and finished my task.

The room looked better that before, just things like magazines and 
burned pillows stayed behind. They haven't been on the same spot long 
enough to 'remember' their place. Rei and Ami came back after some 
minutes, finding a tidy room and a sweating and coughing Wizard on it's 
floor. They helped me up and escorted me to my room. I fell asleep as 
soon as they lay me on my bed.

				*	*	*

'MENTUS.' I tried to ignore Pluto. 'LISTEN TO ME. I'M SORRY ABOUT WHAT 
HAPPENED THE LAST TIME. IT WAS A MISTAKE.' 'You tried to fry my brain. 
I wouldn't call that a mistake.' 'I TOLD YOU THAT I AM SORRY. CAN'T YOU 
FORGIVE ME?' Pluto began to scare me more and more. One time she was 
calm and gentle, then cold and uncaring. She was joking and later she 
almost killed me just for asking a question. Now she reminded me of 
Usagi, when she begged at Ms. Haruna for not giving her detention.

On the other hand, Pluto was the only one that knew my real self. She 
was my last tie to my past. I had but one choice. 'Let's forget about 
it. I guess you just had a bad day. 'HUIIII!' she beamed happily. 'I 
KNEW IT!' The Guardian of Time started sobbing. 'YOU'RE MY ONLY 
FRIEND.' This time I could almost feel the change of personality. 'IT 
GET'S WORSE' Pluto whispered. 'Are you ok?' I prepared myself for an 
attack but it never came. Must be the nice Character who is in charge 
right now. 'I AM NOT SURE. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ME, YOUNG ONE. I WILL 
TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING. SLEEP NOW.'

				*	*	*

When I woke up, I saw Rei sitting next to my bed. She must have fallen 
asleep there. I got up and tried not to wake her. I failed, because Rei 
opened her eyes as soon as I made my first move. She looked tired and 
very worried. "What happened to you?" I thought about that for a while. 

"I used a spell to clean up the whole place. I found out something 
terrible." That caught her attention. 

"Tell me about it." 

"First of all: I have no proof. I tried to gather energy but there was 
just enough for the planet to survive. If Beryl continues to drain 
Earth then it will die." I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. "She 
did the same thing to the other planets of the solar system." 

The priestess did her best to comfort me. "Don't think about it. You 
can't change what had happened. I'll call the others this afternoon so 
you can tell them everything." Her yawning reminded me of something. 

"Have you stayed here the whole night?" She blushed. 

"Don't be silly. I just came in at four in the morning." However, I 
could have sworn that I have felt someone near me the whole night. 
Seeing my confusion Rei continued. "It was Ami who stayed with you. 
Mrs. Mizuno called and I told her that her daughter would sleep at my 
place. She left only when I promised to 'guard' you instead of her." 
Wow, maybe Ami liked me a little bit after all. 

"Where is she now?" 

"I'm right here," a tired voice replied from outside my room. Ami came 
in but she didn't look so good. The gaze I gave to Rei made her grin. 

"Don't kill me. I'll go." When the coast was clear, I couldn't help but 
to hug Ami. She was too weak to get rid of me but she wasn't trying 
very hard. 

"Silly one, you shouldn't stay up all night just for me." 

Seeing her in such a state awoke the wish to protect her in me. I 
smiled at that. In a serious fight it would probably be the other way 
round. I looked at the watch. It was past 9. "AMI! You're late for 
school!" I was still holding her and when she looked up I saw sorrow in 
her face. 

"You don't know what happened?" I shook my head. "There was another 
attack. The real goal of the enemy was the principal of our school." I 
had to sit down on that. 

"The Shrine was just..." 

"Yes. It should keep us away from Kunzite. Now they have another 
Crystal shard. 

"The Shadow Warrior was set free?" I asked. Ami didn't say anything for 
a while. Rei, who was bringing us some breakfast, couldn't help but 
hear our conversation. 

"The principal was very old. Before the demon could take over his body 
he died of a heart attack. That's why there's no school for the rest of 
the week." 

We were interrupted by the sound of someone snoring. I saw that Ami had 
fallen asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. Carefully I laid her 
down on my bed and singled Rei to follow me outside. I wasn't really 
hungry and decided to wait on breakfast until Ami would wake up. Rei 
ate and I started helping Grandpa Hino with his work. During that he 
taught me a lot about his beliefs in the kami. At first sight he was 
just an old guy, who was only interested in women. But he also had 
great wisdom and understanding. Sometimes, when he was looking at me, I 
had the feeling that he was looking right at my soul. He was definitely 
suspecting something, but he trusted his granddaughter.

				*	*	*

While cleaning the stairs that led to the temple, I was looking in the 
direction of my room. So I noticed when Ami got up. She looked out of 
the window and stretched like a happy cat. There was still a hint of 
sorrow, but her eyes were full of life again. I must have been staring 
at her for some time. Grandpa Hino sneaked up on me and hit me on the 
head with his broom. "Hey, wake up! You are here to work and not to 
watch your girlfriend." I turned around. 

"That's not true." The old priest grinned. 

"What's not true? Her being your girlfriend or your watching her?" His 
grin widened. "She likes you a lot. Whenever she is watching you she 
has the same look as Rei when she is keeping her eyes on Yuuichiro." 
Now that was a surprise. Rei and Yuuichiro? Rei was yelling at the 
young man even more than at Usagi. "I may be old but I am not blind." I 
was about to say something but he was gone.

				*	*	*

The stairs could wait when the princess of Mercury was in need of 
breakfast. I raced towards the kitchen and prepared - with some help 
from Rei - some sandwiches. After our meal at the restaurant I supposed 
that they were Ami's favourite food. Ami was about to leave when I 
entered. "Enjoyed you nap?" I asked when I presented her my creation. 
It couldn't compare with Makoto's cooking but it was quite fine. We sat 
down and ate. Ami stayed at the Shrine to help me with my chores. We 
tried to keep our mind off the terrible happenings by discussing how I 
could organize the school library.

The company of Ami made the work easier. Around 1 pm the other Senshi 
arrived. All except Usagi, but after all that was no big surprise. They 
were curious about what I was going to tell them, but I refused to say 
anything until their leader arrived. Luckily, Usagi joined us just 10 
minutes later. I glanced at Rei but it was no use. 

She yelled at Usagi. "Baka, can't you be in time once in your life?" 
Before another tongue war could start I cast a spell of silence on the 
two. Makoto laughed at the two friends, trying to say something. 

"They look like goldfish, opening and closing their mouth that way. 
Let's feed them." Rei gave the tall brunette an evil stare but Usagi 
didn't seem to dislike the idea of being fed by Makoto. 

Makoto whispered to me: "Could you teach me how to do that?" I knew she 
was just joking soputting on my most serious face. 

"I could introduce you all to the dark and mysterious arts. But only at 
the cost of your soul." I used some illusions to make the room look 
darker and added the sound of a howling wolf. The Senshi paled a little 
bit. Even Makoto didn't quite know if I was serious. 

"Hey, calm down. I was just asking. I don't need your tricks as long I 
have this." While saying that she gave me some well placed 
electroshocks that broke my concentration.

One more thing I shouldn't do: Play pranks on Makoto. That came on the 
list, just after 'Don't anger Rei' and 'Don't eat something that Minako 
cooked.' Of course, the last was the most dangerous one. I sighed; this 
would be a long, long list. 

Time for business. I told everyone what I felt while cleaning Rei's 
place. The plan of the Dark Kingdom to drain human energy was well 
known. Ami was the first to speak: "That's the reason why they stopped 
attacking humans." Usagi thought a while. 

"But they did so to get the crystal shards." Ami shook her head. 

"That's different. Before they didn't mind whom whey attacked. It 
didn't matter where the energy came from. The search for the Rainbow 
crystal needed research and very exact assaults. If we only knew what 
they need the Silver Crystal for." 

"To fully restore Metallia's power." I answered faster than I could 
think. 

"Who?" they chorused at me. Great. Now how should I explain the 
existence of a millennia old evil, sleeping deep under the North Pole? 
'THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, FOOL.' Since Pluto was in a rather bad mood I 
shut up.

"You know something we don't" Usagi wailed at me. 

"For once I'm with Meatball Head." Rei agreed. 

Good Story, where are you when I need you? I tried to bluff them. 
"Zoisite mentioned that name after the fake attack." They pointed out 
that they couldn't understand what the general had said. That looked 
good for me. "Well, I could hear that he said: 'I will have my revenge, 
as soon as the great Metallia returns from her sleep.'" 

Luna didn't believe me. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" 

I was prepared for that. "That was another reason why I called you for 
a meeting."

This satisfied the black guardian cat. Now they knew that there was 
another, even more dangerous threat to earth. That left but one 
problem: Tuxedo Mask. He had 2 of the Rainbow Crystals. I couldn't tell 
them about his secret identity, now could I? The answer came unexpected 
and short. 

'YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TELL THEM.' 

'How's that possible? Wouldn't it change history if they knew about him 
being the prince?' 

I could almost imagine Pluto's grin. 

'THEY DON'T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRINCE. JUST THAT TUXEDO MASK IS 
MAMARU CHIBA.'

'And that wouldn't change History?'

'YES, BUT IN A POSITIVE WAY. ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE OTHER 
POSSIBILITY?' I frowned at that. The prince would be captured and 
brainwashed.

'You're right. We have to prevent that from happening.'

'NOT WE. YOU.'

'On the other hand... If I just tell them they'll get quite 
suspicious.'

'THAT'S POSSIBLE'

'I'll tell you what I do: I'm going to make Mamoru drop his disguise by 
himself.'

'HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?'

'Now thats for ME to know and for YOU to find out.'

After talking about some possible and even more impossible plans to 
take out Metallia we ended the meeting. I was about to head for my room 
when Rei stopped me. 

"Do you know something else?" Had she found out? No. That was 
impossible. I showed my best poker face. (I don't have a lot of them.) 

"My memories start coming back, but it will take some more time until I 
fully recover. You really don't remember Metallia?" 

The raven haired senshi concentrated for a while but without any 
result. "Why should I remember her?" she asked. 

"Actually, she was the one who killed you back in the silver 
millennium." 

Rei's eyes grew wide at that. "Why didn't you say so during the 
meeting?" Now when do I learn to shut up? 

"I didn't want to worry the others, especially not when Usagi is here." 
Before Rei could ask more questions I told her that I was tired and 
went to bed.

That's when the dream came for the first time.

				*	*	*

I was back in the past. I saw the events that took place on that 
fateful day. That last day of a civilisation. The royal family gave one 
of many balls and everyone was dancing happily without knowing of the 
danger that was on it's way towards the moon. I tried to tell them to 
stop, to arm themselves but they couldn't see me. It was as if I wasn't 
there. 

Change of space: 

I was floating through the void that lay between space and time. 
The realm of Sailor Pluto, the current guardian of the portal. 

For the first time I observed the battle from Pluto's point of view. I 
could almost feel Metallia's dark power as it crushed the magical 
barriers around the moon, as if they were but thin air. 

I couldn't watch it any longer. 
I couldn't watch them die. 
Not again. 

I turned around, but what I saw there made me regret this action. I saw 
a power, even greater than Metallia. It had headed for earth but 
suddenly it had stopped. It was a dark cloud. But not black. It had no 
colour that a mortal eye could understand.

Then the power noticed me. 

I tried to run away but I realized that I had no body that I could 
move. I could hear a voice. It came from within the cloud. 

"This is the planet earth? This cold, dead rock?" I felt a powerful 
mind touch me. "You are but a child. I will spare your puny planet. 
It's not worth my time." It noticed the battle on the moon 

"What a pity. That moon kingdom would have been a nice addition to my 
treasure chest. I'm a little late as it seems?" The creature came 
closer 

"Watch, little mortal. There is something happening." 

I turned back and - again I saw the horrible scene. Everything was 
destroyed and the queen had used the power of the silver crystal. It 
destroyed Metallia's body and banished her soul. The power briefly 
touched the cloud.

Were I still in my body I would have gasped for breath. The darkness 
pushed away the holy energy. "How pathetic. This system definitely 
isn't worth my attention. But, I cannot let this toy stay behind. One 
of my enemies could find a way to use it against me." 

With these words spoken I felt a spell being cast. The Silver Crystal 
floated out of Serenity's hands and began to glow again. There was a 
flash of light that could be seen over the whole universe. The Crystal 
broke to 7 shards that were sent to earth. The shadow left.


That's all, folks. I know, It's stupid, it's short, it's over (just 
this part, not the story!) I could have written more but I've got a Job 
now. That doesn't leave a lot of time for writing. Tell me what you 
think about it!