Natalie and Yuko sat in silence for a few minutes until Watanuki returned with a tray filled with finger snacks, a bottle of sake, two cups for the sake, and two cups of tea. Natalie wasn’t much for tea but she wasn’t going to be rude so when Watanuki placed the cup in front of her, she politely took a sip. She tried very hard not to make a sour face, Asian teas were always so bitter.
Yuko poured sake for herself and for Mokona then settled back on the couch. Mokona set to stuffing his face. “Now young lady…”
“Natalie…”
“Excuse me?”
“My name, it’s Natalie. You keep calling me young lady so I thought it was better to at least give you my first name.”
“Ah yes, Natalie. What a lovely name. Anyway, on to the other business I need to discuss with you.”
“I have no idea what that could be but yeah, what about those other things you said you wanted to discuss. I don’t mean to be rude but there are other places I had planned to go.”
Yuko chuckled. “Such a straight forward one you are, I like that. Alright then, I’ll come right to the point. What have you been told about yourself and your rather unique abilities?”
Natalie looked at Yuko confused. Why did Yuko care what she knew about her powers? “Well I know about my ability to worlds, obviously, and that I’m not allowed to take anyone from their world. I can use the portals within a world to travel from place to place too. That one doesn’t have the no taking others rule, though it was recommended to me that I don’t do it. Oh and my offensive power, the Spatial Rift…” Natalie trailed off remembering that Watanuki was in the room when he shifted on his feet making her notice him.
“You have nothing to worry about. Watanuki is no harm to you. You should know that though, considering where you came from. I know you’ve read about me and this shop. I could tell pretty much the moment you arrived.”
“Because I knew about hitsuzen right? Oh and I didn’t question the inevitability that it means.”
“Yes, but given who you are, you would have found your way here one way or another.”
“You just made sure to high jack me sooner rather than later.”
“I did no such thing. The person who paid the price for your necklace arranged for that to happen.”
“You still haven’t told me who that was.”
“That’s right, if you’ll recall, I told you it wasn’t important right now, that you’d know someday.”
Well there went that. Natalie figured it wouldn’t hurt to try again since she had been given the opportunity to bring it up again.
“You did. Oh well. So anyway, I did have one more question about that necklace. You already explained, sort of, why I could talk to you but how come I had no trouble communicating when I was in Crystal Tokyo?”
“Simple, you’re one of them. The ability was, for lack of a better way of putting it, was coded into your DNA. There will be other places that you go where you won’t have trouble communicating without the necklace but it’s still best if you just keep it on.”
Natalie nodded. “Fair enough.”
Yuko picked up her pipe and took another pull from it, slowly letting the smoke slip from her lips. As it did, it formed into a butterfly before drifting away. “So you said that Serenity told you of your taboo, no taking people from their world. Did she tell you the price you’d pay if you ever broke that taboo?”
Natalie shook her head. “No, she said she didn’t know what would happen if I broke the taboo.”
Yuko didn’t say anything right away. It looked as though she was thinking about something. Finally she nodded, “Probably better you don’t know the details for now, but for now I will say this, just make sure you don’t break the taboo unless you’re prepared to lose something dear to you.”
Natalie looked at her, confused again. She actually hadn’t really cared before now what the penalty was but after what Yuko said she suddenly found herself caring after all. “Something dear to me?”
Yuko waved off the question. “Don’t worry yourself about it. Never break the taboo and you won’t ever have to worry about it.” Yuko took a sip of her sake before continuing. “Now, there are some other things I think you should know. Since you are a child of the Silver Millennium, you know have the life span to go with it. You also have a far superior ability to heal yourself and avoid sickness than normal people. Guard that secret, if you don’t it’ll cause you problems.”
“Wait a second…”
“No, you’re not immortal, don’t think for a second you are. If you take a mortal wound you will die just like anyone else. This just means that it will take more to kill you than a normal person, non mortal wounds you receive will heal in half the time as well. It also means that it will take you longer to die of natural causes and it will be harder for you to get sick. You can’t be any less careful though.”
“Got it.”
“Do you have anything else you wished to discuss with me or any other questions?”
Natalie thought about it for a minute. At this point she couldn’t think of anything else she needed or wanted to know. Even if there was, she was starting to get even antsier to leave than she had been. “Nope, I think I’m all set. But then if I do think of something I can always come back right?”
“This is very true.” Yuko took another pull of her pipe. “Oh! There is one more thing I wanted to mention to you. Don’t be surprised if people in other worlds refer to you as ‘The Ferryman’.”
“The Ferryman?”
“Yes. The Charon of myth was based on your previous life times. In the myths Charon was the one who ferried the dead across the river Styx to the afterlife. That myth grew from stories of people who witnessed your past lives’ powers and embellished those stories over the years. Don’t be surprised if people recognize you in that manner.”
“That’s good to know, thank you.” Natalie had started to grow more impatient at this point. “Is there anything else Yuko?”
Yuko could easily see Natalie’s growing impatience. “No there’s nothing more though I find it amusing that you’re in such a hurry to meet him. He’s only going to cause you trouble you know.”
Natalie’s eyes got a bit wide. How did Yuko know? Well she wasn’t called the dimensional witch for nothing; it really shouldn’t surprise her that Yuko knew. She tried to play it off like it was nothing. “I’m not sure I follow. Meet who?”
Yuko just chuckled thinking it best that she just left it alone. She’d find out soon enough what Yuko was talking about. This girl had already chosen her path, now it was just a matter of sitting back and seeing where she ended up. “Oh nothing, nothing at all.” Yuko motioned for Watanuki to come over. “Would you show our guest out? I’m sure she’s eager to get back to her travels.”
“Yeah, no problem Yuko,” he said as he went over to Natalie.
Standing up, Natalie bowed her head lightly to Yuko. “Thank you for your help and advice.”
“You’re welcome and have a safe journey,” Yuko replied as she waved them off.
Watanuki took Natalie to the door. “Be careful Natalie. I can only imagine the difficult situations you may find yourself in.”
“Thanks Watanuki.” She paused for a moment. “Um, is it alright if I transform and leave from here? I don’t think doing it outside would be the best idea.”
Watanuki chuckled. “I don’t see why not though I have a feeling no one would even notice you if you did do it outside.”
Natalie couldn’t help but to chuckle herself. She knew Yuko’s shop existed outside the time and space it appeared to sit in but it still didn’t make her feel any more comfortable.
Taking her pen from her pocket, she held it up. “Charon Star Power Make Up!” In a flash of light she was Sailor Charon once more. Taking her staff in hand, she opened the portal. “Thanks again Watanuki. It was nice meeting you!” she said as she stepped into the portal. In that instant, she was off on her journey once more.
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