Chapter 4

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When Pluto and Starfighter returned, they knew there would be a new sadness in the air seeing the Queen's dead form.

Pluto was enraged at Starfighter because of what she had seen. It was apparent to Pluto that Starfighter, or Seiya, had taken advantage of Usagi's affections when she was at her lowest point.

As they walked back to the apartment, both of them de-henshined back to their human forms.

"Poor Neo-Queen Serenity." Setsuna said, turning a harsh eye to Seiya.

"Yes, I agree...." Seiya concurred, not knowing what Setsuna had in her mind, but he was sure he was NOT going to like it.

"She had to send her daughter to this time....lose her King and her court...and then had to deal with YOU!" Setsuna said, more harshly than she thought possible.

"Now, wait a minute!" Seiya stopped, his face turning an angry red now.

"Look." Setsuna said coolly, "..we agreed to keep this quiet for now...but that doesn't mean that I don't know what you are, Seiya..and I'm going to be watching you." She said as they reached the apartment.

When they walked in, everyone turned toward them. All of them were looking different directions, with the exception of Haruka and Michiru, who were huddled into one corner. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were huddled into another, Hotaru holding Chibi-Usa's head in her arms and whispering.

Usagi and Mamoru, too, were trying to comfort each other and Chibi- Usa.

When Setsuna and Seiya came in, all of them turned.

Haruka's voice was heard over the others first. "What's going on, Setsuna? Why was the Queen murdered like that?" She asked, her voice cracking with her sadness.

"I'm not sure of Taron's motives yet...but I have my theories." Setsuna said, giving a quick look to Seiya.

Taiki spoke. "Well then, you said you had some explaining to do, so why don't you do it? You told us that Raton...uh...Oartn....uh..whatever his name is...was a member of your father's guard.."

"..not a member of my father's guard, Taiki, he was the captain of my father's guard." Setsuna interrupted him. "..Taron was a great warrior, skilled and finessed. He was fine and tall...for awhile, I wanted to be with him....to love him..I don't know why, but something attracted me to him..but also, for some odd reason, that same something repulsed the idea of love in me for him. I think that he was so arrogant. I thought that if I told my mother how I felt, she would understand...she understood about everything else. However, when I told her how I felt about him, she was angry. She told me that she had no liking for him at all and that I was forbiddened to see him or talk to him. I explained that I didn't want to be with him after all as a wife or girlfriend, but that didn't seem to matter to her. She seemed so angry every time he was seen or heard from. It was like he did something to her a long time ago or something." Setsuna said, watching faces twitch and nod in understanding.

"So what happened to him?" Seiya asked, his voice softer than it had been.

"I really don't know...I thought he had been killed with the rest of the planet when Beryl attacked it. I know that he looked to the Moon with a longing that I have only seen a couple of times before. I know he had been there when I was a child. He took me there when I was to start my training." Setsuna said.

"Yes, I remember him slightly. He was an older man, about twenty when you were sixteen." Minako stated. "I had such a crush on him!"

"Yes, he was a handsome man...always has been. Even though my mother loathed him so much, my father seemed to think the best of him. When I was brought to the Moon for my senshi training, Taron stayed for awhile to assist Queen Serenity with whatever she needed. At times, I noticed him looking at the palace window where Princess Serenity was playing or he would look in the garden where she was picking her flowers." Setsuna continued.

"I see where this is going." Mamoru said, looking into Usagi's crystal blue eyes. "He fell for her.."

"Yes, I believe so...as the years passed, and we visited the Moon more often, I believe that he had fallen for her. But in time, she met you, Prince Endymion. She could not resist you, but she could resist him." Setsuna said.

"So this is all just revenge for lost love." Michiru said, bringing her voice out of nowhere.

"Perhaps...I think so..but I'm not sure." Setsuna said. "This is a lot to go through just for lost love..."

"But that still leaves some questions unanswered. How can he open the gate of time?" Haruka asked.

"Perhaps he has something that I didn't know about that can do it." Setsuna said.

"He has to have a staff like yours, doesn't he?" Taiki asked.

"Yes...come to think of it..." Setsuna said, looking at Seiya. She remembered his staff and how he had the power to send them back into the past. Perhaps the Queen had the ability to give that power, and she gave it to her new King...or maybe he stole it from her sometime, gave it to Taron to use, then took it back in the future.

Seiya saw that accusatory look on Setsuna's face just as she headed outside. Setsuna had finished her story of Taron and left the others to ponder it.

MEANWHILE

Taron sat on his throne of power, looking at the ruins of Crystal Tokyo.

"They went to the future...to return the body of the Queen to it's rightful place." A voice said from the side. Taron opened his eyes to look at the person standing there.

"Yes...and someone met them there...." Taron said, shifting in his seat. "We must find out who that was.."

A woman came up to the throne and knelt in front of him. She put her head on his thigh, as though trying to be loving.

"How do we do that, do you suppose?" She said. Her hair and eyes were dark. She was slender and short, probably no higher than 5'4 inches. Her hair was medium length and she had long, gorgeous eyelashes to show off her face.

"We can wait...I have a feeling I know...but in the meantime..." Taron said, waving his hand. At the wave of his hand, a falcon- looking demon came out of the air. "I can call any monster I want from any dimension I want...and I can destroy the senshi." He said as he opened another dimension with the timestaff and watched it go through to present day.

"If I can destroy even one senshi, it will make my day worthwhile." Taron finished and laughed.

(End Ch. 4)