A Crossover Fanfiction: Tangled Fate © RedWingedAngel002 and Yume-Asakura
Disclaimer: Munto; Sora Miageru Shōjo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai © Kyoto Animation; Yoshiji Kigami and Tomoe Aratani. Sailor Moon © Naoko Takeuchi
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Friendship, Romance, and Supernatural
Summary: They say each meeting brings forth a new fate. The strings have been tied, as the Messiah and Girl of Destiny cross paths. However, it is their meeting, which binds the fate of this world, and ultimately brings a threat of destruction. The Heavens and Earth, as we know it, are in their hands. MuntoxSailor Moon crossover.

A/N: We apologize for taking so long in updating this. We've had these finished since Christmas, however, both of us haven't had the time nor the muse to continue for a while, now. We'll try and get over this installment one step at a time.

Japanese Index:
-chan: Honorific: Can be used with either a diminutive, or with those who are grown; an indicated affection: little
-sama: Honorific: The respectful equivalent of -san; -sama is primarily in addressing persons of much higher rank: Lord, Lady
-san: Honorific: Carries the meaning of "Mr.," "Mrs.," "Miss," etc., but used more extensively in Japanese than its English equivalent
Senshi: Soldier

"Talking."
'Thinking.'
Memories/Flashbacks.

Chapter 2: The Sands of Time

This was all too much. What evil was lurking behind the rift? And just what did she mean by Yumemi being a key? None of this made sense.

Usagi allowed herself a shaky inhale, turning cerulean orbs upwards. "Setsuna-san, that can't be… I mean, Yumemi-chan, she…" Something in the elder woman's gaze disrupted her train of thought. She was serious.

This wasn't fair!

The blonde spun to face Yumemi, mouth parting in order to offer over an apology, only for the sound to die in her throat as a deep rumbling sound shook her to the core. Something was coming.

"Watch out!" she screamed to the other girl, reaching to help her out of the way.

However, a familiar outcry stopped her in her tracks, "Pluto Planet Power, Make Up!"

With a shiver running up her spine, Usagi turned her head to glance back. Transforming meant a battle was to be expected, but that was impossible… Right?

Just as the presence connected with the Earth, strong hands pulled her back, shielding her from the explosion. As the smoke and dust cleared, cerulean irises peeked through the gap in the Time senshi's arm. Orbs widening into saucers, when they fell upon the red haired man. He was unfamiliar, in many ways. What struck out to her most was the power that seemed to hum around him, making the same effect Yumemi caused, but with a wider range.

Everyone seemed to be lost in their own personal thoughts, and thus the girl used it to her advantage. Weaseling herself from Pluto's arms, Usagi made her way forward, witnessing the interaction between the two with a gradually warming gaze. So this was Yumemi's other half. The parallel between them and herself caused a shift to take place. Two people who cared so deeply for each other couldn't be a threat. Not in her eyes.

Attempting to calm the situation, she started forward. "Please, wait a moment. This is a big misunderstanding…" she began, raising hands before her to showcase she meant no harm. Perhaps any further mishaps could be avoided.

With curious hesitancy, she watched the other shrine maidens try to interfere. A part of her felt bad. The poor girls only wanted to aid their friends.

Again she stepped forward, attempting an explanation, "This is all my fault, please don't blame my—" The man seemed to be more focused on the girls behind him, ordering them to get back inside.

Again, those strong hands pulled her back, except this time, the now transformed senshi stepped in front of her. A single jab against the ground with her staff was enough indication to the blonde that she wasn't pleased with how the man had addressed her.

Gas. So this was the man the currently comatose Outsider had appointed with his power? The senshi gave a stiff shake of her head, a brief huff and furrowing of her brows a clear indication of her disapproval.

"I am not fond of your tone," she stated, voice clipped with mild irritation. Why, in the Moon Kingdom's name, had Gas given such a duty to a child? She would need to give the man a stern lash of her tongue when she roused him from slumber. For now, she kept deep red irises focused upon bullion.

"I am not an Outsider. Such power was foolishly created by your kind, ignoring the laws of time and space, in order to set forth a path previously unforeseen to this world's future." A simple explanation; for a simple-minded man. It would appear he truly understood little of the world around him.

"I have not recognized you as my familiar. Do not address me with such blatant disrespect again, Munto," her tone shifted, chilled with an undertone of authority. Her gaze held his, as her hand curled tighter around her staff. Never in her years had she been spoken to under such bad manners.

"If it is of vast importance, Your Majesty, I am Sailor Pluto, Keeper and Guardian of Time. And I do not take kindly to adolescents giving me orders when they are clearly out of turn," she gave a light smear to his title. He was not her authority, and Pluto would not tolerate him to assume such.

"Pluto… Let's try and discuss this under better circumstances…" the blonde behind her begged.

The senshi turned her head to glance at her from the corner of her eye. "Princess…Please try to understand your safety is of utmost importance. I must ask you refrain from giving those that will bring you harm reason to come any closer."

With a sheen of defiance, Usagi sidestepped around and gave a shake of her head, sending trails of gold in a dance around her. "But bickering won't get us anywhere!" she proclaimed passionately, looking to Munto. "I know Pluto comes across harsh. But as I was saying earlier, this is all my fault. Don't become too angry with her, please?"

Munto bristled at Setsuna's comment of disrespect—the nerve—but held his tongue. It was when she claimed a negative, of her not being an Outsider, which doused his irritance and set him into an apprehensive brood.

She knew of their ancient past, yet was not of the Heavenly world? The curved shell of her ears said that much. Yet, her aura…

His mouth firmed into a distasteful line. He wanted answers. Immediately.

"I have not recognized you as my familiar. Do not address me with such blatant disrespect again, Munto," was her chilling reply.

Not only did she look down upon his lengthy height, to where he barely came to her knitted brow, her snide tone said it all. He recognized it too well, seeing the other royals had cast such blunt disrespect to him in the past because of his forbidden existence.

"You will address me Munto-sama, not you!" the haughty Lord snapped.

His annoyance kindled further at the cloy mock she placed upon his title.

"Stop speaking such riddles, Pluto,"—an obvious cover up—"You claim yourself to be not an Outsider, yet say you are the Guardian of Time. That is what the generations have entitled to such a position, since the beginning of the Calamitous Day. There can only be one Outsider, and he went against his fate to open our future," he explained with rash syllables, when recalling the painful jab of the Arabic man's final farewell.

That honor has been appointed onto him, now, alongside the outlook of Gas' previous trainee, Irita. Despite her being a little spitfire—the clashing arguments between them were atrocious—the imp girl has been of good use, when giving pointers of how to prepare his awakened powers.

It was then the pigtailed blonde stepped forward and asked for Setsuna's withdraw. The woman held her ground and respectfully brushed her Princess' pleas aside. He took note of her gaze; the maroon of her irises had softened. She was of great importance to her.

"But bickering won't get us anywhere!" the girl passionately proclaimed and cast her determined azure unto him. "I know Pluto comes across harsh. But as I was saying earlier, this is all my fault. Don't become too angry with her, please?"

His jaw set in a stubborn fashion.

"Usagi-san is right, Munto," Yumemi chimed in and gradually appeared on his right. "Let's hear them out."

The touch of her skin upon his raised arm set a jolt up his spine, the Akuto humming in his veins. She felt it, too. The flutter of her emotions within his chest was all he needed to understand that.

The king needed a moment to compose himself; knowing she had the ability to unravel him in the strangest of ways. The urge to simply turn the two aside and give every means of his attention the girl was inexplicably strong.

"Tsk." His mask faltered. This was not the kind of reunion he had in mind.

Yumemi jumped slightly at the current, which rushed up her arm, but then relaxed as a warm presence entered her heart. It was hard to forget of the chemical reactions each had, whence in contact, yet it seemed to slip passed her with all the previous interaction they had had in Heaven.

Only when the coiled muscles upon Munto's arm eased, one ridged step at a time, did the girl finally continued to speak.

"She had merely come here as a visitor to the shrine. The entire disturbance happened when…"

Her explanation gradually died as she then turned to focus upon one of the remaining talons of Gntarl's ship. He followed the line of her gaze, the hardened twin of emerald.

Yumemi stepped towards the pillar, but kept her distance. The burning of his stare at the back of her crown kept her grounded as a reminder.

"I'm unable to touch this because it's from Munto's world. Last time I did, there was a reaction. I haven't given it a try, since then," the girl quietly admitted, and focused on her right, outstretched palm. A sigh stirred the thick silence, as she drew back.

The blonde then turned to lock eyes with each occupant and held it there, steady and unwavering, until she settled on Usagi's sapphire.

"Something called to us and was trying to find a way out. The Akuto seemed to have a response, but there was no one there." She brought her gaze to Munto.

"I thought it was you at first, but it felt… off." There was a slight shake to her head, an unmistakable sense of frustration in her tone. "I can't explain it. It didn't feel right."

"And then Setsuna-san mentioned a rift in the continuum…" Yumemi gave a glance to Pluto, at the staff upon her firm grip, and then flicked her attention back to the Magical King once again. "Did you know about this?"

Munto made a noise in the back of his throat and crossed his arms in displeasure. A deep exhale followed suit.

"It has only recently been called upon my attention. A few of my subordinates have, unfortunately, left that bit of information from me for some time," he growled.

His red brows knitted further at the memory, of the strict lectures he had given to both Marty and Tail, when it had been confessed. Their excuses were sympathetic, yet infuriating all the same. They had claimed that he had enough priorities, with reconciling the seven nations together, and were looking out for his wellbeing since the danger was still small.

With this, the stress had gotten the better of him, and Munto made his opinion of the matter quite clear, snip and heated. He banished them off of his island for a week.

The late Lord and Lady did not leave the throne under his hand just so he can rummage a pity-party. If lives were under threat, then let the fires hail upon them. He would not simply sit idle and ignore the upcoming storm with closed eyes. He worked too hard for this.

An uncountable amount of sacrifices have already given within the sands of their history, both human and Heaven alike, for the world they were currently standing on.

"From what we have gathered, the distortion should have disappeared when the Outsider left the Heavens. However, before his decent, Guridori had managed to take a large portion of his power, so it may be possible that it was he, who created the rift on the other side of space-time."

Silence overcame them once again, as they gradually soaked in the revelation.

"Then… It's not over?" Yumemi murmured.

There was a stifling pause.

"No."

She wilted at his gruff reply. The monarch apologized, mentally, in turn.

It was then that he settled his amber upon Setsuna's ruby and called for her attention with a piercing glare.

"However, you seem to hold a great amount of knowledge about this disturbance, Pluto," Munto grit. The growing suspicions in his gut intensified. "Care to draw some light upon the subject? Has Gas truly fallen?"

Lifting her chin, Pluto watched him with a hard sheen to her maroon irises. However, she allowed his speech. To an extent, it was safe to assume his race was truly no different than the humans they previously looked down upon. Both sides seemed to agree their history was the most important, and that there could possibly be no other forces to offer a voice of reason.

Whilst waiting for his ignorant words to come to an end, she flicked her eyes to the girl at his side. The power continued to hum around her, with a slight alteration between their two bodies, where the power collided and formed a blazing current. So this was the true power of Akuto. Before she could take a closer look, he began to speak again.

It was becoming hard to remain silent, as the boy demanded respect, yet was doing nothing to earn such. But with the eased patience of an elder, the woman held her opinions at bay. It was pointless, at this time, to intervene and call his attention. So long as those bullion moons were lit with the passionate flames of self-assurance.

Pluto could not, however, blame the poor lad. His people had fed him a fabled history, distorted and shifted to place them at the peak of power. How little he knew of the world; the truth. A part of her felt for him. Unfortunately, it was only a flickering light against the vastness of her irritance. She'd had enough.

With all intentions of calling their discussion back to order, she halted when the pleading voice of her Princess demanded her full attention. Those words, so full of compassion and understanding, who was she to deny them? And to make matters worse, Munto's beloved maiden gave support to Usagi's claims. It would seem, once again, it was she who was in need of a lesson.

Chilled orbs of alizarin crimson waned and slimmed into crescents, radiating warmth to match the gentleness of the smile that tugged at her lips. "Perhaps these two are correct, Munto," she still refused to enlist a title he had yet to live up to, "It would do us good to learn from such forgiving natures."

The breath she hadn't been aware of holding, escaped in a long sigh. Although the air was still heavy, this was progress.

Usagi turned her attention to Munto and Yumemi, reflective pools of blue shimmering with her understanding. Just watching the two, the way the blonde's pupil's fluctuated, waxing and waning with each emotion that coursed through her, to the way his breath seemed to hitch the moment her fingers brushed against his skin. Their connection was strong, and for a moment she found herself longing for her other half.

'Usako,' it was the faintest whisper in her mind, but it was enough. Usagi's heart swelled, eyes drifting closed as her body leaned into a ghosted touch only she could feel. Fingers brushed the silken skin of her arm, before comforting hands rested upon her shoulders, 'I'm here.' Reassurance surged through her, filling her to the brim until she felt as if she might burst. Yet when long lashes fluttered open; he was nowhere within her physical reach.

A longing sigh shifted passed her lips, before the teen turned her attention to Yumemi.

When it was clear the girl's explanation had run its course, Usagi stepped forward. "Your sensing abilities are far stronger than my own, Yumemi-chan," she remarked, turning a concerned gaze to the rock, "I was far too distracted by the differences in our power sources, to understand fully what was happening. By the time I realized something was calling, it was too late to do more than pray for my body to cease its movement. That's when Pluto came. She broke me from whatever power lays beyond… She saved us."

The latter words were shaken, a subtle hint of fear embedding itself within them. It may have been uncertain as to what lay beyond, but one thing was for certain; it was dangerous.

As if to answer her internal inquiry, the crimson haired king discussed events from months prior. A name, one of which she did not recognize, left his lips. Guridori, whomever he was, had somehow survived. She assumed he spoke of the battle that had taken place above this city. A battle in which… Cerulean irises found their way to Pluto, brows furrowing in blatant confusion.

"Pluto… that day, eight months ago, when myself and the others prepared to take our leave to this place… You informed us that a point in this town's history was being made, and that we were not to be a part of it. Were you aware that this battle was going to happen?" she requested, taking a step closer to her protector.

Pluto's reserved walls seemed to crumble. Before, due to the man's tone, she had contemplated revealing only the basics. Now, however, the plea for information came from a source she could not deny.

"I will explain. However I do ask all parties remain silent until it is over," a scarlet gaze found its way to a certain male, settling upon him until she felt her point was made clear.

"To answer your previous statement, Munto-sama," this time she included the honorific—in order to keep the situation at bay as her princess desired, "You are correct; to an extent. On the Calamitous Day, an Outsider was brought into existence. However, you are naïve to believe that such a power only came into existence some ten-thousand years ago," she began to explain.

"This planet has teamed with human life for fifteen-thousand, glorious years, Your Majesty. And it is I who watched from the Gates of Time as it all came into fruition. Those who created the rift between Heaven and Earth did so without my consent. They altered time and space for their own selfish needs, and it was I who had to deal with the repercussions of their actions." The memory brought forth an undertone of bitterness. It had taken many days to right the flow of time.

"Due to these selfish actions," her gaze swept to Usagi, a hand extending to brush hair from her eyes in an almost motherly fashion, "The future of my Princess, and her future kingdom, were almost lost. It was enough to call my physical body to your past ruler. However…" letting the hand fall, she swept her staff around them in a slow arch. "Upon arrival it became clear, through visions of the future that the events eight months prior had to come into fruition. All in order to assure peace during Usagi's reign as Queen upon this Earth."

A half smile touched her lips when the girl spoken of avoided everyone's gaze, her cheeks flushing with color.

"If I were to fix the rift, the Calamitous Day would only come to pass again. Thus I arrived with a warning, one in which I can see they never relayed to future generations," maroon returned to bullion, "If, at any point, the rift created upon that day should endanger the life, or future, of my Princess; I will not hesitate to unfasten the strings that hold it together. Nor will I allow the Outsider to remain under my wing."

Her half-turned body shifted to face the king head on, chin rising again. "The last Outsider entrusted with such power was, as you mentioned, Gas. He had informed me of his apprentice, Irita was it? There was not, unfortunately, word of you obtaining any form of his abilities" With a heavy sigh, she lifted a hand to rub at her temples. What a careless decision.

"Gas was defeated," Pluto confirmed, letting the hand fall idle at her side once more. "But I saw fit to heal him of his injuries, for his duty as Time Guardian was not yet completed. The girl he was training was far from capable, and I will need his assistance when the time comes to strip this place of the rift all together."

Pluto stepped back, giving herself enough room to lift her staff, so the Garnet Orb was parallel to the ground. The rings gave a soft chime as power began to swell around her in waves, lifting her attire and hair in windless typhoon.

"It was my intention to let him rest just a little while longer. But seeing as you will need confirmation to my claims; it is best you hear it from someone you trust," she proclaimed, as deep red irises focused on the hole beginning to twist open in the air.

"Chronos' Awakening," it was whispered, but somehow reverberated around them, as the air began to hum with power.

Usagi lifted an arm to cover her eyes from the flash of purple-black light the emanated from the rift in time. When her vision began to clear, though still a bit spotty, she looked to where the hole had been. Instead there stood a man, whose tanned tone could rival Pluto's. He was tall, taller even than the Senshi of Time, towering above them all with ease. Upon his skin lines of black, perhaps better referred to as runes?—covered his body.

Thank you for the faves and reviews, everyone!
muddkkiwi, Julianna Tala, PrincessKanako, HarbingerLady, and Whitetigermisty

A/N: [2.25.13]
The Guardians of Time are officially becoming a crossover pairing. No questions asked. The dark skin, dark clothing… It's too perfect. I now ship Gas/Pluto. :I