The Pact
A Windwalker Chronicles sidestory
by Mark Latus


    They flew in silence, the shattered Earth passing below them making the
extent of the devastation undeniable.  Alisin's face set in a grim mask he
tried to concentrate on nothing but the spell that held them aloft.  He did
not succeed.  Beside him Moment regarded the disaster torn world with the
enigmatic expression she had worn so often since she assumed the post of
Sailor Pluto.  She could be horrified or indifferent to what she saw, he had
no way to judge.  For all he knew she was simply praying that the Earth's
mana had not thinned enough that his Windwalker powers would fail and plunge
them to their deaths.  Certainly the thought had crossed Alisin's mind more
than once on this voyage.  He judged the risk minimal at present but very
soon it would be a very real possibility.  The Earth's manafield had rapidly
diminished but was not yet exhausted.  Not yet but all too soon the magic
would go away and what little remained of terran civilization would crumble.
How would the Earth endure?
     Alisin glanced to the woman beside him.  Moment had assured him that
someday, millennia from now the magic would return and those who fell with
the Moon Kingdom would return.  All save Queen Serenity who could not save
herself with the Ginzuishou without sacrificing the chance for rebirth.  A
great woman and the noblest of queens.  It seemed so unfair that so few
remained to mourn her, so few even knew that if she had she not acted the
Earth would have belonged to Beryl and her demonic patron for all time.
Yes, the Earth had suffered greatly but there was no other way.  Besides in
truth compared to the other worlds earthmen were the fortunate ones.
     For all the cataclysms Earth had suffered it was still rich in life.
Moment spoke little about the other planets save to say they had lost the
blessings of the Ancients.  The blessings that had changed them from barren
plains of frozen or molten rock to worlds where life could thrive.  However
bad it got on Earth at least there was a chance to survive.  But for those
upon the dying worlds where skyships failed and airstones stopped renewing
themselves their fate was sealed.
     Alisin tried not to think what was happening on Moment's homeworld, to
all those he had met during his time upon Pluto.  While he bemoaned his fate
at least some of his family survived but Moment was the sole survivor of her
people.  The Plutonians were almost extinct and he was the closest thing to a
relative she had left.  Alisin Windwalker was the last person in all creation
she could call uncle and he was about to abandon her along with all the others
he loved.
    His resolve almost wavered but honour and duty prevailed.  He was not a
young man and once the magic was exhausted he would be naught but a burden.
His son's widow and child would have problems aplenty without him adding to
them.  The only way he could be of service to them was to grasp the chance
Moment offered.  The chance to watch over and protect his grandson and all his
descendants as yet unborn until the glorious day that the world knew magic
once more!
     Thanks to Queen Serenity mankind was free!  Free from Beryl, free to
rebuild from the rubble and await the rebirth Moment promised.  Earth and
mankind would abide until the magic returned and once it did the power and
majesty of the Silver Millennium would be restored.  And thanks to his
protection the descendants of Alisin Windwalker and his martyred son Alason
would be there to witness it.   No, more than witness, to take the lead in
restoring Elemental Magic to its ancient and rightful place as the one true
school of magic!  He remembered pressing the Medallion of the Time Winds into
his grandson's small hands.  Through that he would protect the line of the
Windwalkers so they would endure while Zodiac and all the other upstart
schools faded away into the dust, forgotten by man and history.
     Alisin's brooding was interrupted by a soft touch on his arm.  He turned
again to see Moment gesturing at the ground, her expression sad as though she
knew his thoughts and shared them.
     "Put us down there."  Alisin frowned, seeing naught but earthquake torn
forest and Moment continued, "It's still some distance to the shrine but it
would best not to tap the mana around the temple unnecessarily."
     Alisin nodded at his honourary niece and invoked the power that marked
him as the greatest of the air mages.  Without any sensation of inertia they
slowed to a crawl then began to descend.  Though it looked all too fast there
was no sensation of falling and they touched the ground as softly as a
feather.  Alisin prepared to start walking in the direction Moment indicated
then paused.
     "Moment?"
     "Yes, uncle?"
     "You could have transported us here much faster, couldn't you?"
     Moment didn't hesitate before nodding.  "I could have sidestepped us in
time and let the planet rotate beneath us."
     Alisin frowned, surely time was of the essence?  "Then why ..."
     "I though you would like to ride the winds one last time."
     "Ah.  Yes, yes to touch the sky this final time, to feel the winds bend
to my will ...  You were always a most thoughtful child."
     Moment raised an eyebrow.  "I appreciate the sentiment but I am hardly a
child."
     Alisin gave her Senshi attire a quick appraisal.  "So I have noticed.
Were I not old enough to be your grandfather I would have been a fool not to
pay court.  Though it would have been fruitless as you doubtless draw more
admirers than the Senshi of Venus."
     Moment stared at him with mock outrage then smiled.  "Not quite so many
alas.  There was a certain ship's captain I had my eye on though I knew it
was hopeless as his gaze was fixed firmly elsewhere ...  Well, no matter.  We
should get going if we are to reach the shrine before dark."
     Deciding that Moment would obviously say no more about that subject
Alisin merely nodded and followed her lead.
      It took an hour to reach the outskirts of the shrine.  The wall that had
surrounded it was rubble, as were the quarters of the priests and priestesses.
There was no sign of anyone, guards or clergy, but Alisin noted several
freshly dug graves in the once immaculate lawns.  They strode on without
pausing, death having become all too commonplace; past graves, shattered
masonry and broken marble columns.  At length they reached the cracked steps
of the temple and began climbing.
     There would be no admittance to the shrine, the portico had collapsed
and blocked the doorway.  Not that it mattered much as most of the roof and
large chunks of the walls had fallen inward.
     Uncertain what to do next having never been here before Alisin turned to
Moment.  To see that she stood there as a Sailor Senshi, there was that
intangible something present that marked her as Sailor Pluto not Princess
Moment.  In a commanding voice she intoned, "Helios, Lord of Helcion, we
would speak with thee!"
     The echoes died away but nothing obvious happened.  Moment spoke again.
     "In honour of the ancient pact I ask you to manifest yourself before us."
     Once more nothing happened.  Moment's expression darkened slightly but
she gave no other sign of anger.  Still to those who knew her well it was
unmistakable and Alisin took several steps away.  From nowhere Pluto's staff
appeared and Alisin sensed the aura of power growing around her.  She rapped
the staff's pommel against the cracked marble flagstones, each impact ringing
like a gong.  She spoke a third time, her voice laden with power.
     "Must I break through to Helcion and drag you out?  Come Forth!"
     The results were almost instantaneous, a massive leonine head burning
with a golden fire that did not consume it blocked all sight of the temple.
Its terrible maw lined with treetrunk sized fangs opened and roared, "I AM
HELIOS, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE!  WHO DARES SUMMON ME AS THOUGH I WERE NAUGHT
BUT SOME PETTY DEMON?"
      Alisin took an involuntary step backwards and begun to summon defensive
magic but stopped as Pluto raised a hand.  Unfazed by the display she
answered, "One who knows better than to quake in fear before an illusion."
     The apparition seemed to regard her closer then commenced shrinking.
As it reduced in size its shape altered, the features become more human while
a body began to sprout from the neck.  Alisin blinked in amazement, the
fearsome beast was gone.  In its place stood a young boy in white.  He bowed
slightly toward Pluto and spoke formally.
     "The Guardian of Dream greets the Guardian of Time."
     Equally formally Pluto replied, "I thank you for your greeting and ask
you to speak with us."
     "You have my attention."  For a moment the youth's decorum gave way to
an impish smile.  "There are less obtrusive ways of gaining my attention."
     Pluto nodded, "My apologies but your attendants seem to be absent."
     Helios sighed, "That was my doing.  Last night I sent them a dream
telling those who survived to leave this place and seek shelter.  There is
naught for them here, the storehouses smashed, the fields that fed them
destroyed.  They would starve here and for what?  No pilgrims will come here
to seek illumination for their dreams.  Those who survive must look to the
body before the spirit and so should they.  Besides how long before none in
the waking world hear my voice?  Very soon it will be impossible to manifest
myself, the gate between Earth and Helcion will fade from existence.  How
long before I cannot even make my voice heard in dreams?  For centuries the
gulf between the two worlds has been bridged but soon the bridge will crumple
to dust!"
     Pluto nodded.  "All the more reason to seek your aid while it is still
possible."
     "Your logic is unassailable.  What would you have of me Guardian of Time?
To sleep easier, untroubled by the great burden you bear?"
     Pluto twitched slightly but did not otherwise react.  "No, the boon I
seek is for Alisin Windwalker.  Uncle?"
     Alisin stepped forward and bowed before the Dream King.  "Lord Helios,
as you well know dark times approach.  But Mome ... Sailor Pluto tells me that
they shall not endure forever.  One day the magic shall return and the
Silver Millennium born anew along with Serena, Princess of the Moon whose
vassal I am.  I would be there to see this renewal."
     Helios frowned and turned back to Pluto.  "I take it this will not
occur in his lifetime?"
     "It will not occur in a hundred lifetimes."
     Helios nodded.  "As I suspected."  He addressed Alisin once more,
"Immortality is not mine to grant."
     "Not of the body but I am told a man could enter your realm and dwell
beyond the grasp of time.  Watching over his descendants until the new
dawning."
     Helios glared at Pluto.  "You have told him much that was hidden."
     "He is all the family that remains to me and as you yourself acknowledged
very soon Helcion shall be irrelevant to this world for centuries."
     "Quite so but to dwell within dreams ..."
     "Helios, it is not well known but you are the first guardian of the
Golden Crystal to dwell within Helcion itself.  Once you were of Terra, still
very much a child when the priests came to your village to find the new
holder of the crystal.  You had held the post less than a year when Nephrenia
came to steal it.  Though she was driven off and eventually sealed away by
Queen Serenity the attack shook you for you had come close to losing the
crystal.  So you took the unprecedented step of opening a special gate to the
dreamworld.  While the Guardians of Helcion had been entering the Dream
Kingdom for centuries you were the first to not return."
     "I was remise in my duties once, I shall not make the same mistake again.
Here I am the power, beyond the grasp of all who would steal the crystal.
And that is why I shall not take him in."
     "Lord Helios!"
     "Helios, by the pact ..."
     "I have not forgotten the pact nor the debt the Guardians of Helcion have
long owed the Outer Senshi.  But were I to bring the Windwalker into Helcion
he would be capable of challenging me.  As the only physical presence within
my kingdom I am immune to those who try to attack through dreams for they must
best me body and soul and that they cannot do.  To bring a mage of his power
through would be foolhardy."
     "Lord Helios, I seek only to watch over my family and their children
while I await the rebirth.  I have no wish to challenge you."
     "Not now, perhaps not in a century.  But in a millennium would you still
the same or would you chafe under the yoke of a child?  Ask me for something
else Pluto for I will not bring this man into Helcion as he stands before me."
     Pluto began to protest but this time it was Alisin who cut her off.
"Lord Helios, you said I could not enter as I am.  Do you mean there is a way
you would accept my presence, some geas that would bind me too your will?"
     There was a silence.  Then reluctantly Helios admitted, "There is a way
but you would not care for it as you would forever renounce walking this
Earth in your own flesh."
     "A small price to pay.  When Moment sought me out I stood on the edge of
a precipice."
     Helios looked into Alisin's eyes, his gaze showing a wisdom far beyond
his apparent years.  At length he nodded.  "You are truly resolved, so be it.
The mana fades and we must hurry.  Make your good-byes swiftly for time is of
the essence."
     Alisin turned back to Pluto.  "Moment, you have given me a chance when
all seemed hopeless.  I am forever in your debt ..."  His voice trailed off as
Pluto became Moment one final time to wrap her arms around him.  Softly she
whispered, "You are in no one's debt, this a gift given without any obligation
save this.  Come back to me someday uncle."
     "I shall Moment, whatever it takes I will return whatever it takes."
     Helios waited until the embrace had ended then spoke to Alisin.  "You are
ready?"  At Alisin's nod he extended his arm and said simply, "Take my hand."
     Alisin barely felt the cool flesh of the Dream King.  As their palms
touched there was a kaleidoscope of images and sensations that seemed to be
gone as soon as it began.  Once more he stood before Helios before the ruined
temple.  This couldn't be right.  Alisin blurted, "Nothing has changed."
     Helios raised an eyebrow.  "Think you not?  Then look behind you."
     Alisin turned to see Moment crouched beside his body looking for signs
of life.  Shocked he called out to her but she didn't hear him.  He turned
back to the Helios and gasped, "Your touch brings death?"
     "No, your body lives but it is a mere empty husk.  I separated you from
its flesh so you could dwell in Helcion without presenting a threat to me."
     "I am a ghost!?"
     The dream king shrugged, "Ghost, spirit, soul, mind, spectre ... call it
what you will.  I drew that-which-dreams from your body."  He paused then
added, "You can still turn back but you must make the decision soon.  The
gate to Helcion will close soon and your vacant flesh will not continue long."
     Alisin shook his head.  "I cannot turn back now.  But can you grant me
one more boon?  Let Moment see me one final time."
     "Of course."  Nothing obvious happened but Helios called, "Sailor Pluto",
and Moment turned around then goggled at the sight of Alisin.
     "Uncle?!"
     "Moment, it seems I can only enter Helcion as a spirit.  If that is
what Helios requires then I accept it.  I shall see you again, I promise
this."
      "Uncle Alisin ..."  Then more urgently, "Uncle!"
      Helios spoke again, "I cannot maintain his spirit's visibility long and
we must both depart.  What you hold is a soulless husk.  Unlike Nephernia's
unhappy victims it will not become a lemures.  But it will die soon.  There is
nothing to hold you here and I have fulfilled your wish."
     Pluto nodded, "I acknowledge the debt to Pluto paid.  Though you still
owe Uranus, Neptune and Nemesis."
     "When I can I shall repay them too.  But that is apt to be a while."
     "Collecting it is their problem.  Unless you command otherwise I shall
wait for my uncle's body to expire and give him a decent burial before
departing."
     "Do as you like.  Farewell."
     The world blurred and Alisin found himself surrounded by a fantastic
landscape, a composite of field, city and ocean that shifted as he watched.
Beside him Helios said, "Welcome to Helcion."
     "My thanks Lord Helios."
     "Just Helios is fine."
     "If you prefer Lo ... Helios."  Alisin smiled, "A pity we could not have
stayed longer.  Then I could have attended my own funeral."
     "A rare opportunity it is true.  Now Alisin I must council you.  While
you can stay awake and aware until the day you await it would be wisest to
hoard your energy so you can communicate with your descendants instead of
merely watching them.  I will teach you how to do this, how to hibernate while
all is well and awaken when you sense peril."
     "To sleep within dreams?  An odd concept, Helios."
     "For now but you will learn far stranger things before we are done."
     "I am eager to learn.  After all thanks to you I have plenty of time."
     Helios nodded, "All the time in the world."
     With that he began his teaching and Alisin Windwalker began his long
vigil.  A vigil that would end when he was reunited with Princess Moment in
a manner neither had ever expected.
     But that is another story.  For this one it is definitely ...

The End