Welcome to Gaia! ::

Silently taking Hypnos’s by the hand, Ixion simutanously closed his eyes and pressed the home button on his phone. They did not take off right away, as the boy had to empty his mind and concentrate on the task at hand. It was bit difficult when he kept thinking that there was a strange hand in his, a hand that was attached to a girl. He took one last peep at her, squinting through an eye. Yup, he was definitely holding her hand. But that was necessary for space travel!

Taking a deep breath, Ixion finally got his inner monologue to quiet down. Home, his space home, was all he repeated over and over in his mind; trying to tune himself to the call of his planetoid. And suddenly he heard a sound that was a boggling mix of a blazing furnace and the clink of metal, only slightly more melodic. Was that it? Must be.

Park area around the children disappeared. The swings were gone. The warm summer air of Destiny City was replaced with cool static air; they were underground. Releasing his grip on Hypnos, Ixion opened his eyes to take his first glimpse of his own home Planet.

It was dark. That was all he could see for the moment until his eyes adjusted.

The young senshi boy had no idea what had happened exactly. Did they actually get lost? Was holding hands with a girl so distracting that he failed at taking them to his planet? When Ixion had got to Perseus’s homeworld, it was light out, everything was clearly visible. But here… everything was shrouded in darkness, literally. It wasn’t like there was a dark aura about the place, it was just silent and shadowy. The only sound was his companion’s voice. One of his hands grasped in the dark for Hypnos.

“Yeah. I’m here… wherever here is.” The boy grasped his phone and slid it open, so that the light from the screen could shine like a flashlight. It lit his face briefly, so that Ixion’s soft brown eyes were easily visible to the girl. Then he moved the light to shine upon to the ground.

Taking a few steps forward, Ixion searched for some sort of clue or switch to tell them were they were. Under his foot there was a distinct crush sound. Upon shining the light, he saw a kind of plaque with his own name upon it and a number. ‘Ixion 32’ and an arrow. There were definitely in the right spot. Was this a road sign?

Ixion flashed the light from his phone in his face again, and turned to face his companion. “ We’re in the right place. We should go forward, I think. Trust me?”

“Will do.” Hypnos’s smile was reciprocated with a flash of Ixion’s own grin. Holding an arm back to make sure the star-spangled senshi was still near him, Ixion carefully moved forward. The light from his phone lit the pathway. As he stepped there was a light clink. It repeated every time he set his foot down. The ground was a dark earthy color, like rich soil. Specks of something shiny picked up the light.

Kicking aside some of the top soil uncovered steely bar. The duo were on a track line. The line was part of an intricate tunnel system that underneath the entire planetoid. Once upon a time, a sort of train ran along the track line helping Ixionians get around the large planetoid, as well a used by miners to cart their treasures back to the main city. Of course, Sailor Chibi Ixion didn’t know any of that. To him, these were just metal rails that must lead them towards… something. Anything would be nice, really.

So far, the boy was bit disappointed in his home world. He expected… well, Ixion wasn’t sure what to really expect, but pitch black nothingness and a train track was not it. “Watch your step, there’s a track here. It’ll probably lead us to somewhere awesome.” That right, it had to go somewhere awesome. That was the only explanation. “But try not to trip.”

Ixion continued forward, minding his own step.

That was true. Being covered by shadows with senshiphones as the only source of light was not that fun. Was his entire planetoid like this, just a shroud of darkness filled with nothing but a seemingly endless track? Ixion really hoped that this was not the case. “I’m sure there’ll be light somewhere, maybe at the end of this tunnel.”

Ixion shone his light around, from what he could tell they had entered a more open area. The light wasn’t immediately hitting the walls of the tunnel anymore. The boy shuffled aside, trying to get a sense of the dark area. His foot slide around on the ground until it suddenly found an edge. And it wasn’t a good edge, his boot found the ledge of what was likely a large hole. The boy flashed his light toward it, catching sight of the rocky edge and a dark pit that continued on. If he has stepped forward anymore, he was sure to have fallen in. Oddly enough, the track that the duo were following dove straight in.

“Wait!” Ixion called to Hypnos, hoping to catching her in time before she might fall into that ‘rabbit hole’.

She was right there. For a split second, she looked directly at him. The light from his phone illuminated her pale face. Then it was gone, and Hypnos was swallowed up into the dark pit below. “Hypnos!” Ixion screamed after her, but it was of no real use, his yell only echoed in the cavern.

The boy fell down to his knees, feeling around the edge of the hole to see if there was a ladder or a safe way down. All he could see or feel was the cool bars of metal from the tracks. They led down into the pit as well. Would they be a suitable ladder? No, probably not. There was no way to know what condition the track was in. Climbing down on that would just be foolhardy, and as the only person capable of retrieving Hypnos, Ixion could not risk harming himself. Ixion had to stay calm. No one else could go and rescue her. He had to buck up and play the hero now.

“Hypnos! Hypnos? Can you hear me?” The older chibi senshi called down to his lost companion. But there was no answer. The only thing Ixion could hear was a faint scream. s**t. Did monsters still live on this planet, what had he done? Ixion was practically kicking himself for bringing Hypnos to his home when he had no idea what to expect. And look what happened! Hypnos was lost, and who knows what condition she was in… or even if she was alive.

Rising to his feet, Ixion hung his head down and shuffled his feet around the gapping hole. On safer ground, he kicked at a random rock, angry with himself and his planet. Out of sheer frustration and not knowing what else to do, Super Sailor Chibi Ixion called upon his power. “Ixion Ember Blitz!”

Two glowing hot lumps of coal burst from his hand and he threw them off into the distance. In the dark, he could see the light from the coals moved farther off into the dark tunnel. And that was all he saw, until the coals smacked into a wall. One burst into soot upon impact, but the other one hit the side of a glass lantern.

Like magic, because it was, the lantern was lit, as was every other lantern that seemed to be connected to the same strand. It was a rolling flash of light, brightening up the tunnel. The lanterns had once been lit and fueled in the past by magic, and in the present they still functioned the same. Some lights were broken, but a most were still functional. Ixion was home, and his planetoid was responding like it was slowly waking up from hibernation.

In the bright light, Ixion saw not only what was at the end of the tunnel, but he could see flashes of how it used to be. In front of him, really only several yards away, were the remains of a very large city. Lanterns that glowed various shades of red, orange, and white lit the scene. Most of the city was in ruins, with large pieces of cut rock and pieces of metal littered around. But every once in a while, when Ixion blinked he saw the ghost of the city. Once upon a time, it had been the metropolis of the planetoid. A bustling underground city deep within the planet. The architecture was a mix of gothic stone work with wrought iron pillars and beams piecing various buildings together.

Ixion flopped straight back down onto the cool ground, staring in disbelief. Why couldn’t Hypnos have seen this!? It wasn’t exactly a fair trade, exchanging his pretty little friend for the old bones of some buildings. Looking away from his old city, Ixion glanced back at the hole and sighed.

That same sigh was echoed back in his ears. “Sigh. Do I really have to? Tourists! I honestly don’t think I need to go tramping around to find lost tourists. Serves them right getting lost, who wants to come to this planet anyways?” The voice was only a voice, not connected to any body. It had a familiar tone to it, but with a more gruff and older resonance.

“It is your job, Sailor Ixion, as a representative to this planet. Need I remind you that this is your home? You have a responsibility to it, and to aid those who come here.” This was a new voice, clearly worn out by age and likely tired of chastising the planetoid’s senshi. “Besides, those ‘tourists’ are here on behalf of another court. This planetoid needs to keep strong ties with our allies. Certain resources might be plentiful here, but others are sufficiently lacking! You wouldn’t want civilians to starve because you couldn’t be bothered to help with trade agreements. If you had just gone with them in the first place, like you were repeatedly told to, this wouldn’t have happened. Not everyone knows the tunnels like you do Ixion.”

Another sigh came from the voice that was clearly connected to an older, past Sailor Ixion. Was he always so indignant or did that come with age? The present Chibi Ixion frowned as he wondered if at heart he was and would be again, a total jackass.

“Home? More like a prison.” Under his breath, the past Ixion muttered. “ You know they’ll just end up around the Furnace. Everyone always ends up at the Furnace. Can’t you just send someone else?”

“No, because it’s your duty! If you stopped shirking your responsibilities, perhaps you would have time for . . .” Whatever words were once said, the present Ixion didn’t hear. There was only silence, and then one last brief echo from the past. “Just go Ixion. Take the elevator if your too lazy.”

Well. That was informative. The young senshi thought for a moment that the echoed words from the past would be helpful. But they only gave him more questions. Questions about himself, who he was and might be again, as well as questions about the planet he wanted to call home. Was it a prison, really? How could he bring the innocent Hypnos to a prison! Of course, he didn’t know that for sure… but now he at least knew there was a hope for getting his friend out of the so-called prison. All young Ixion had to do was find this elevator, if it even still worked, and go down a level. Maybe his past knowledge would even help him navigate the tunnels and find his friend.

It took Ixion about half an hour to find the so-called elevator. Not because it was far, but because he had to go around ruins. After the flash from the past, Ixion wandered towards the crumbling ruins of the city. With the lanterns lighting his way, Ixion followed them to the city’s gate. It was a high pointed arch with the same symbol that adorned the boy’s chest carved into the keystone. A metal circular pattern with little cut out windows trailed down the archway. The arch was intact but around it other structures were had fallen. Large pieces of debris littered the pathway so that Ixion had to climb up and over them to get into the city.

From that main arch, the path to the city center was wide and straight. The city was built almost on grid, like ancient Roman cities. The main street ran directly through the city, with other streets stemming from it at various angles or curves.

While wandering through the city, Ixion’s inner thoughts were troubled by the words he had heard and his guilt over Hypnos. The thought that he had to find Hypnos kept Ixion from running off to explore his city. There was so much to see now. The buildings were largely of stone and steel. He saw what looked like mill-wheels attached to large metal tanks (not the vehicle) and various towers. Bolts, screws and springs littered the streets mixed in with stone rubble. As he wandered, Ixion wondered how his past self could ever have called the planetoid a prison. It certainly didn’t look like one. ((Completely unintentionally, since I’ve never seen this movie, it kinda looks like the City of Ember))

Ixion came to a junction point, not too far from the gate he came in, where a large fountain sat off to the side of the road. When Ixion approached it, he saw that the fountain was dry. It had been drained of water long ago. What he noticed was that it wasn’t a shallow fountain, but more like a deep well. He couldn’t even see the bottom of it.

On either side of this fountain were large towers that seemed to span from the ground to the ceiling. On the side of each were a set of wheels and cogs that also spanned from top to bottom and seemed to disappear into the earth. A large steel cord threaded and looped around the wheels. The towers themselves seemed to only have 3 walls with a gate joining them. In the left tower was a large ornate cage wedged between the stone walls. That was the elevator.

Ixion sprang towards it, flinging open the gate and hopping inside the cage. As he looked around, he saw a lever. Ixion put his hand to it, took a large nervous gulp and crossed his fingers before pulling it. It had to work still, it just had to. There were only 3 options. Either it was broken and wouldn’t move, Ixion would plummet to his doom, or everything would go smoothly. There was a loud retching clink that echoed throughout the city. The elevator rattled for a moment before it started to move… upwards. Whoops! Ixion noticed quickly and pushed the lever the other way. The elevator started to go down.

As it went down, Ixion saw what was below him, which was another layer of the city that was eerily similar to what he had just left. Not exactly the same, but quiet similar. As the elevator moved down, Ixion could see across the entire city. Other towers across from him must have been more elevators. For a brief moment he could see dark spots off in the distance, more tunnels he guessed. The city, on all levels, was the central hub of the planet. Ixion pulled the lever into a neutral position when it became level with the lower-city. It screeched to a stop so loud that Ixion had to cover his ears. He wondered just how many levels there were.

Leaving the elevator, Ixion took a path out of the city that was nearly identical to the one he took to come in; he just hoped it would lead him out to the correct tunnel that Hypnos was in. With the light guiding him, Ixion took a tunnel. Wandering down it, the boy noticed a shining object a little ways away from him. It was the same gem that Hypnos had found with the skeletal hand clutched around it. ‘Cool’ he mouthed. The bones didn’t cause the same reaction out of the boy. Unfortunately, bones were something he had come to expect, after having seen some on Perseus. But that wasn’t what he thought was cool. Ixion thought that the gem, a vivid red with a faintly glowing center, was cool. He just wasn’t about to pick up a dead hand to look at it.

Continuing down the path, Ixion stepped on something. Looking down, he saw it was a familiarly decorate senshi phone. He stooped to pick up it and called out, “Hypnos???” The sound of his voice echoed and reverberated off the catacomb walls.

Without a reply, Ixion could only assume he was going in the right direction. Following the light he continued down the tunnel’s pathway. Unlike Hypnos, he didn’t run, but took his time to get where he was going, and watched his steps carefully to make sure he didn’t fall into a pit himself.

It didn’t take long for Ixion to come upon the crouching Hypnos. Upon entering that section of the tunnel, Ixion had to stop and stare at the hundled ‘rock’ formation Hypnos was making. What was she doing? It was so curious, Ixion couldn’t help but grin a tiny bit. Ixion cleared his throat as he carefully took a few steps towards the girl. “Hypnos?” His voice was soft, and slightly worried.

What if a monster did get her, and bit off her face. Or if she turned into a vampire or some other creature after facing whatever made her scream earlier. Fingers crossed that the girl was alright and not a monster, nor too upset about being brought to what she surely must have thought as a terrible planet.

Hypnos flinging herself at the boy startled him at first. She had been turned! He was defenseless and there was no time to escape her attack. Until it turned out that Hypnos was attacking with squeezing arms and not vicious fangs. With the sudden weight of Hypnos on him, Ixion took a step back but managed to keep himself upright. Muscles relaxed and settled on Hypnos’s shoulder; Ixion’s gloved hand patted her back lightly.

“I’m sorry.” That’s all he could really think to say. Ixion was sorry, for many things at this point: losing Hypnos, taking so long to find her, and for brining her to his ruined planetoid in the first place. “But I found you now, so cheer up!”

At the mentioning of a monster, Ixion wondered if there really was one down here. He hadn’t seen any for himself, but that scream earlier… “Did you see any? You dropped your phone… and, well, I heard your scream.” Ixion took out Hypnos’s phone, “here.”