Author's Note:

This story, while called 'Return of the Valkyries' is NOT related to 'Walk of Valkyries'. That's more of a short story that ended where it began: one part. My email address has changed to Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put Fanfiction or something similar in the subject line so I know what the email is about.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Sailor Moon, etc.

Minako's husband – Kyle (Kunzite)

Makoto's husband – Matt (Nephrite)

Ami's husband – Zale (Zoisite)

Rei's husband – Jared (Jadeite)

Haruka's husband – Aren (Adamite)

Setsuna's husband – Cirocco (Cordylite)

Michiru's husband – Ian (Iolite)

Hotaru's husband – Raine (Rhonite)

For convenience, I named all the new Kings with the same first letter of their name. The Shitennou names I think are pretty able to figure out.

Return of the Valkyries

Chapter 9

Venus chewed her lip in consternation. She hadn't had any contact from the Outers in over two weeks. Normally, this wasn't cause to worry; they could very well take care of themselves. But… still, she had a very bad feeling. And the best back in the Silver Millennium had taught her; where she learned, told, to always trust her instincts because they would never steer her wrong. Some things always stayed with you, even from an incarnation ago.

She could tell her Senshi were getting as antsy as her about the lack of communication. Nearly every day, Usagi or her granddaughter would look at her with hope in their eyes and she felt wretched every time she told them there was no new information. Mars hadn't found out anything at all from a fire reading, and they had located no more clues to indicate who or where the kidnappers were.

The only upside that she could see was the Guard improving during training. They had come a long way from when Jupiter and Nephrite had taken control of their lives. Since they were doing so much better, they no longer had to spend all day training, giving Venus and her husband guards to post for protection around the palace. She would allow no one other than the Senshi and Shitennou to guard the Royal Family I.

Her grandson and her friends' grandchildren had returned around a week ago and through one circumstance or another, they had all found out who their grandparents were. She shook her head, staring off into the distant night sky. They must have been getting rusty in their old age, if they could no longer hide their identities.

Venus glanced back at the bed and her sleeping husband. He had been taking all the responsibility well, to an outside eye, but she could see that it was wearing on him heavily. She worried about his health more than she would admit. Kunzite was not as young as he used to be, contrary to visual appearance. They were all not as young as they used to be.

She turned back to the window. The days when they could go for three days without sleep and still defend the entire palace from an army with only themselves were over. Venus could feel it in her bones, how she tired earlier than before, and she knew her friends were feeling it too. They could still out endurance the other guards and people in the palace, but even then….it was barely. At one time, Minako would have rejoiced at feeling this, but not now. She knew she could not afford to feel her age now, not at such a crucial time. If any one of them failed, any of the eight of them, it would ensure the end of Crystal Tokyo, the Royal Family, and Usagi and Mamoru.

It left her cold, realizing the outcome. She shivered, feeling the not-so-supple bones anymore rattle inside her slightly. She almost wished that she was young again, that she had the energy of youth. Screw the 'wisdom with age' crap; she needed the endurance of the young.

Through the crack in the window, the wind intruded and rustled her pale yellow nightgown. She could tell, could see, Kynthia losing hope and falling out of love with her now-distant husband. Sometimes in a crisis, it brought about feelings that hid beneath the surface; sometimes a crisis was the only thing that spoke the truth, when it was no longer possible to hide.

What would become of them, of Crystal Tokyo, when it realized that one day the miraculous Senshi that it had so relied upon were human and subject to die? Even now, two generations past and no longer seen the Senshi, they still believed that in any real crisis they would appear and save them. It had only reinforced the idea when they had showed up after so long, looking as if they had not aged a day since the first reign was over.

A touch of something passed over her heart and she realized that even she had believed that in any real crisis the Senshi would save them, save her. But now she could see clearly that without her, there would be no Senshi, no Sailor Venus, just like the others. And she was mortal; would die of old age and taking away the Soldier of Love with her. She was leaving no legacy of safety for her people, for her children to always have someone to rely on.

She thought of the people of Crystal Tokyo as her people, as once in the Silver Millennium she had thought of Venusians as her people. They were as dear to her as Usagi and her husband were. But if she loved them so much, then how could she leave them with no legacy, no hope of safety?

Her henshin pen lay glittering in the night light like a star of protection and holding all the embodiment of hope and power, for hope and belief was power. She touched it gently, stroking its smooth surface with hands that had held a child and snapped enemies' necks in one fell swoop.

No, she would not take the hope and belief with her when she died. She would leave her people something to care for, look for every time trouble came.

Minako couldn't pass along her power, not this late in her life and no child to imbue it on, but she could still leave Sailor Venus for them. She would not take the Soldier of Love with her to the grave, not when Venus had been born and raised to fight, to protect. It would do her and them no good if she was gone for what could possibly be eternity.

She picked up the pen and her husband's cloak clasp, quietly slipping from the room. Halfway down the corridor, she met up with Usagi and Mamoru, obviously waiting for her.

"What do you wish, dear friend?" asked Mamoru softly, as if knowing she would still be up and wanting to see them.

"I want to leave our people with hope. Venus won't be around forever, as I have now realized, too late. I want to leave them with hope and belief, that if there is truly a need that the Senshi will arise again to save them, no matter how long it has been."

Usagi nodded. "Do the others know of your decision?"

"No, and I wish them not to. I do not know if they would understand when I cannot put it into words in the first place."

"What legacy do you wish to leave?"

She held out her pen. "I want the legacy to be this. If Setsuna is right, and our souls will continue to cycle through time because we are destined to always protect the human race, then we will eventually be reborn. I want to leave this so that when Venus is truly reborn, she can take her place as the warrior she is and protect the people, someone to count on always."

Usagi and Mamoru nodded. Their hands passed over the golden object and she could feel the power flowing into all eight of their henshin wands.

"They shall be placed in a protective box that only a Senshi can open, to await the day when they shall be taken up again by the right hands," Mamoru murmured as they pulled their hands away. "This shall be your legacy to the people, your promise. We shall see to it that it shall always remain this way."

Minako, small tears at the corners of her eyes, nodded wordlessly. She made her way back to her room and slipped in beside her husband. He sighed in his sleep and pulled her closer to him. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, knowing her people would be forever safe.

"Any news from the Outers?" Mercury asked sadly, seeing the dissolution of everything she loved looming nearer.

"No, but don't give up hope," Venus told her sharply. "They're perfectly capable of taking care of themselves."

"I know, but…"

"Hey, have either of you see Trion?" interrupted Mars, running up to them.

"No I haven't," the blue Senshi replied, surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"Because he's been missing for a week now and no one's seen him."

"I wonder where he could be," muttered her leader in a grim tone.

The floor shook a bit beneath her, startling her. Was it an earthquake? There hadn't been one in Crystal Tokyo, not of natural means anyway, since created. An uneasy feeling settled in her gut.

Just then, Jupiter's granddaughter ran into the room, out of breath and fear in her eyes. "We're being attacked!"

"Impossible!" Venus barked. "No one has attacked Crystal Tokyo since the Dark Moon."

"But it's true! Look out the window!"

Instead of looking out the window, Venus ordered the Senshi to follow her to the security room where all the computers were that monitored the perimeter of the city. Mercury sat down in the main chair and called up all the outer cameras facing the north. Dismayed and shocked at seeing a veritable army outside their gates, she filled the other computer screens with the results from west, south, and east. Each showed the same.

"We're surrounded," Venus said harshly. She touched the earpiece that had become an extension to her hearing in the past few weeks. "Jupiter, Nephrite! I want your guards to back up the perimeter sentinels on the double! I want no one to come through those walls!"

"Don't worry!" Jupiter's tinny voice said back. "The walls will hold! They've always held, even against the Dark Moon."

"Mars?" She turned to the Senshi of War. "I want to get the all the Royal Family in the secure room. Mercury, I want you to activate the Aegis program. I want it on standby constantly, ready to go at my call."

Mercury, pale at the knowledge of what the Aegis program was, nodded.

"Jadeite, Zoisite, I want you to prepare the Teleportation room for a quick leave. Kunzite, meet me by the front hall."

She strode out the room, her back straight and in complete control of herself.

"She's really something," Asnee murmured.

"You could call this her element," Mercury told her, her fingers flying over the keys.

"What's the Aegis program? I've never heard of it before."

"That's because it was designed to hide until an emergency. Zoisite and I created it in case of something like this. We made it to work in sync with the teleportation room. It will put up a barrier around the city for a short while. If you haven't noticed yet, there are teleportation spots all around the city. Those are for the citizens. The Aegis program creates a barrier and activates the teleportation spheres. Everyone will have exactly fifteen minutes to reach a teleportation area and get out."

"Why?"

"After the fifteen minutes are up, the barrier will fall, allowing the opposing force to enter the city. Once the army is in, and five minutes have passed, Phase Two will begin."

"What's Phase Two?"

"The gates of the city will lock the army in, unable to get out. A countdown will then occur, down to the end."

"What's the end?"

Mars answered quietly. "Crystal Tokyo will self-destruct, taking with her the army that was fool enough to attack."

"What would happen if someone couldn't get out of the city before the barrier fell?"

"They would die along with the enemy," Mercury whispered.

"How can you make something like that?" she demanded.

"Because it was necessary," the Soldier of War told her sharply. "We would rather see the city destroyed than in the hands of an enemy. There are secrets here that need to be kept that way, things here that need to stay hidden."

Roshaun, Venus' grandson, yelled through the open on his way past, "Asnee, come on! We've been assigned at the gates!"

Asnee stared at them for a long moment before running out of the room. Mercury and Mars exchanged glances.

End Part 9

Aegis is another synonym for 'shield'. Standard disclaimers.