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Meeting the Menace
A The Chrysanthemum Chronicles Series Story
Somewhere Between Stramesville And Sosatoville
Amazuru River Basin, Muramiskayo, Ozotov IV
September 29, 986 - October 3, 986
No more than a week later, then, Yoshimo returned to his Stramesville-area residence. He returned to it again for at least a brief time, if not for a long time. This he did as Sentinel Serenity and her Scouts were training in its area. The first member of Serenity's group to hear or see him come back there for the first time in a while was Alexis. And this was while she was Uranus Beta. She soon notified the rest of her companions, once that became the case to a sufficient enough degree, at least for her, of course.
By the time that Yoshimo went back in his house, all his guests rejoined him in his kitchen. Even the cats, of course. This happened after all of his guests had powered down again, in fact. They all dropped their transformations, thereby dropping out of their Scout states that they'd been in when he'd come back home again.
Lita then provided a bit of food for him. For she'd seen he was obviously quite hungry when she'd seen him coming back to his house again. So she provided the food to him, as the first signs of daylight began appearing in Muramiskayo's Stramesville area. That was due to the fact that he'd mainly traveled during the recent nights. He'd done that of late so that he'd not likely have to worry about running into any major trouble as he went all over his nation, obviously enough.
After he'd eaten at least some of that food, he said, "Serena, I have some good news, and some bad news, for you all."
"Oh?" asked Serena.
"Yes, Serena. I do. Which would you rather hear first, then?"
"The good news, I suppose."
"As you wish. I have now encountered Darien. He's now with two other Terrans who were each brought to my world in much the same way or ways that each of you were brought here. If not exactly in the same way or ways that you or he all were."
"Really? Where are they, then?" asked Serena.
"They're staying at an inn in the Sosatoville area for the time being. At least as far as I know."
"The bad news, then, please?"
"Serena, you and your fellow Scouts will have to likely face at least 50,000 or so Negaversers before too much more time passes for you all. Most likely not more than about another few hours or days, I think. You may not win in the battle against them, though."
"I see. And will Darien be with us, or will he be with his fellow Terrans?"
"I suspect that you'll be with him before long. Though I can't yet tell you whether you'll see him before the coming battle or not."
Serenity asked him, then, "Where are the Negaversers now?"
"Elsewhere in the Amazuru River Basin, about halfway between here and Sosatoville, I think. Have you even tried to use your crystals at all yet, Serenity?" asked Yoshimo.
"Not really. Why?"
"You'll need to use them, if at all possible, in the coming battle against any Negaversers you'll likely have to fight in it."
"Do you remember which crystals are in my Mirror of Light, Yoshimo?" asked Serenity.
"Yes, I do, Serenity. You have the crystals for Tumakusku, Mackeledo, Stramesville, Sosatoville, Mount Orisinia, Vimuraki, Womeru, and Wembuto. If you say 'Murakuza Eagle Power Strike,' you might very well be able to teleport any number of people from any place represented by any of the Crystals. And then you might be able to have them fight against the Negaversers I just told you all about here. Those people you'd teleport to the location of your battle against those Negaversers would likely be either under your control, my brother's control, or my control, I believe. I suspect that we'll each get a third of those people under our respective controls. That's once you teleport them to the required battle site."
"How'll we know where that battle site is?" This from Raye.
"Raye, there'll be a total solar eclipse of Ozotov by our world's moon of Ankielonio that'll take place around the time of the battle. When that total solar eclipse then begins to happen, you people will all be patrolling in the general area of the upcoming battle site. After about another two or three hours passes for you all as that total solar eclipse begins, and during that total solar eclipse's period of totality, a thunderstorm will begin soon enough after it starts. A quite tall pillar of fire will soon appear near all of you. You'll all then have to follow that quite tall pillar of fire to wherever it may lead you in my nation. At least while it's still visible to you all. When the thunderstorm begins, all of you who are Scouts of any currently-known kind will then have to each transform into one of your respective Scout states, if possible. That's supposing, of course, that you all aren't already in them. This total solar eclipse will last for about two hours or so before its period of totality ends, at the very least. And, in any case, it most likely won't last longer than about four hours or so before its period of totality ends. While you're all in your respective Scout states, at least during the remainder of that very eclipse, the pillar of fire will guide you all to that battle site. That's if it doesn't finish doing so at all by the end of the eclipse. When the eclipse's period of totality ends, you'll then be in the area of that battle site, hopefully. After about another two or three hours passes for you all after the eclipse's period of totality ends, the eclipse will continue to last, before it finally ends again. Then, within an hour after that happens, you'll all probably come under attack from any number of Negaversers still alive anywhere here on my world. When they begin to attack you in that very place, you'll all have to begin defending yourselves to the best of your respective abilities, of course."
"And is that when Queen Serenity's to say, 'Murakuza Eagle Power Strike,' Prince Yoshimo?" asked Raye.
"Yes, just as soon as she assesses how strong the Negaversers actually are in the actual area of the battle. But not before she does so. Her Imperium Silver Crystal should start to glow in her Sentinel Serenity or her Royal Sailor Serenity power lockets, whichever is actually the case for her at that time, if I'm not mistaken. Especially if she has her Mirror with her when they begin to attack you all in that battle site's location in my nation. The crystals in her mirror and her Imperium Silver Crystal will copy themselves, once they start to attack you all. And the copies of them will unite with each other almost immediately, I believe. And they'd form the Marzotek Celestial Rainbow Crystal after they do so, if I'm sufficiently correct about such an occurrence. This new Crystal will, most likely, help her quite accurately assess the actual strength of your Negaverser opponents. As it does so, you're all to begin defending yourselves to the best of your respective abilities, if all of you haven't already begun doing so. You're all not to attack them before they do so. That's so that you don't reveal yourselves to be Scouts to them before they do so. If they find out that you're all actually Scouts before they happen to attack you, they may not give you any mercy at all in the battle, no matter what. They might not, anyway. But revealing yourselves to be Scouts before they attack you might get you a whole lot more trouble from them than if you didn't do that before they went after you. At least, that's what my recent visions and/or dreams have seemed to suggest to me about them, as they relate well enough to any or all of you."
"Please tell me more about this Marzotek Celestial Rainbow Crystal, Yoshimo," said Serenity.
"It's never appeared on this world before. Or at least not for a very long time, if it's ever done so before. But it'll appear when your Imperium Silver Crystal and the crystals in your Mirror copy themselves. And when the copies of each said Crystal merge with each other into the Marzotek Celestial Rainbow Crystal."
"Do I need to do anything to make those things happen?"
"No, Serenity. Those things will happen without any action from you at all, when the Negaversers finally begin attacking you all where you'll first be fighting them in battle, Serenity. I've heard from at least a few other people I've known well enough, in my own life, that it was supposedly on any or all of the other known inhabited worlds in our solar system, at least. If not elsewhere in the known Universe, for that matter."
"How'd you hear this, Yoshimo?" asked Serenity.
"You see, ever since the days of King Aletozo, at least, there've been stories of certain people on our world that were quite unexpectedly sent to strange places. These strange places were places that most other people from my world have never even actually been to in the known Universe. And they've become more frequent ever since then. Which was at least 2,000 or 3,000 of your years ago, if not even longer than that, it seems to me."
Amy asked Yoshimo, "Who was King Aletozo?"
"Amy, King Aletozo was the first actual King of Murami, a landlocked nation that was centered around here since not long after its formation, if not ever since it. His capital was, in fact, here in the Stramesville area. From the lands that he'd inherited control of from his father King Oristel, he eventually expanded Murami to take in most of what's now western Muramiskayo, if not all of it. During his reign, or shortly before he began it, the Crystals of Orisinia were found and mined near Mount Orisinia. Each crystal so mined had the name of one place on it. Of course, each such place was the same place that each of those crystals now represents as Crystals of Orisinia. After they were mined, if not before, people would often start finding themselves whisked to other worlds anywhere else in the known and yet-unknown Universe."
Serenity asked, "Then what?"
"People soon began talking about such things to at least some degree, once they'd found out about them to at least some degree. And that was how stories of people being sent to strange places elsewhere in the Universe first began to be told here on Ozotov IV. Now, I don't know how factual each of those kinds of stories are, and how fictional they may be, by the way. But I'm reasonably certain that each such story that I've already heard before in my life is at least partly true, for all the obvious reasons. And maybe for certain others that are currently too numerous for me to mention to you all right now, Serenity, if I were to try to share those other reasons with you at all. After you receive the Marzotek Celestial Rainbow Crystal, which I'll now refer to as 'MCRC,' you're to say the phrase that I told you about earlier. You're only to say it, though, when the need for you to do that then arises, in order to teleport any number of Ozotovians to the necessary battle location of the battle here in my country, wherever it actually may be in it. You're to say that only after it helps you learn exactly how strong your Negaverse opponents are at that time, in fact. Then your MCRC will divide up those people as evenly as possible between you, me, and my brother, if at all possible. After when we'll have control over them as much as we possibly can. If we win, you might all eventually see Darien again before you then leave Ozotov IV for at least a while, if you don't leave it forever. He and his companions may even be able to fight against any number of Negaversers as well, or they may not. I can't tell you one way or the other if they'll be able to do so or not. Or at least not yet, anyway."
When Serena was apparently about to interrupt his current conversation, he said, "Yes, Serena, I know you may not really want him to fight anyone at all, if he doesn't have to. But he may have to. You should also know that he and his companions all had to fight a considerable number of Yonishikians at least a little while ago."
"And how did they do?" Serena asked him.
"They won, even though they were facing at least a hundred or so of them near the Kuzarunon border with my country. Sylvia was especially good at hitting them with arrows in that battle. In fact, she was even more accurate with her arrows than Rolando was with his. Darien was also rather accurate at his rose-throwing against those enemies, whenever he possibly could be. When they got even closer to Darien and his companions, your Terran friends often used shields and swords to defend themselves with against them all." He described the recent battle to all his companions just as thoroughly as it'd been described to him by the three Terrans. They'd described it to him when he'd met them at least a little while before. He left nothing out at all that they'd told him about it, after he'd earlier gotten permission to do just that from all three of them.
Hannah eventually said, "They'll all have to have much more luck, most likely, against the Negaversers in the coming battle. That's if they want to survive against them just as easily as they did against the Yonishikians from Ozotov IV, Prince Yoshimo."
"Yes. I'd think that'd be a quite logical assumption here, Hannah. Do you have a special attack yet that's rather effective for you?"
"One like the Inner Scouts' primary attacks?" asked Hannah.
"Yes, that's what I mean."
At the current time, the Inner Scouts were evidently the ones from anywhere in the Moon Kingdom who were from any of the planets or moons closer to the Sun than Saturn and its own mini-system. Meaning, of course, those Scouts from the Jupiter mini-system's worlds to the planet of Mercury, at the very least. Which meant that anyone from Saturn's mini-system out to anywhere else in the Moon Kingdom was naturally an Outer Scout. Making Hannah, Alexis, Michelle, Susan, and all their respective sisters or other female relatives who were also any kind of Sailor Scout Outer Scouts. Not Inner Scouts.
Amy and Chloe Anderson, for instance, represented Mercury as Inner Scouts. Mina and Aurora Abernathy did the same for Venus as such. Serenity, Serena, Destiny, and Bethany Moon, among many others, did the same for the Moon as such. Raye and Bridget Hino did the same for Mars as such. Lita McKinley and Beatrice Kirby did the same for Jupiter as such. Many other Scouts were associated with any or all of the five aforementioned Moon Kingdom worlds as Inner Scouts instead of Outer Scouts.
That meant, then, that the Outer Scouts included Saturn's Jacqueline, Hannah, and Estella Tompkins. They also included Uranus's Ariel, Alexis, and Gwendolyn Herschel. Neptune's contribution to the Outer Scouts included Poruzuka, Michelle, and Dorothy Gallenski. While Pluto's included Deborah, Susan, and Tracy Meyers.
Hannah answered his earlier question moments later, "Not really, I think. Sure, I know that I definitely have at least one primary attack, if not more, of course. But it is, or they are, just not evidently very effective for me at the current time, Prince Yoshimo."
"How'd you like to have at least one attack that you might be able to use against the Negaverse at least once in the future, if not more, Hannah?"
"I suppose that'd be fine, I guess. But you don't actually have to give me such an attack, if you don't really want to, Prince Yoshimo."
"I feel I must. Where's your Saturn Beta-level power locket?"
"It's in my things. I took it off a few minutes ago. Why?"
"Because I'll need it to give you at least one attack that you can use for at least the time being, I think. If not for at least as long as you're all still here anywhere on Ozotov IV."
"I see. And how'll I be able to use this attack or these attacks, then, Prince Yoshimo, if you give it or them to me to use as I see fit?"
"The words will come to you whenever necessary during your very first actual battle in the very near future, I do believe. I can't tell you what they are yet. For I don't know which attack or attacks I'll be able to give you yet, so that you can possibly use them in the coming battle, Hannah. I now do actually have a crystal that I found on the way back here, though. And if I'm not mistaken, it might be able to unite with your own power locket. That's if it gets close enough to your locket to do exactly that, of course. I don't know how yet. But I suspect that your locket and that crystal will somehow manage to unite with each other. At least to some yet-unknown degree, if they actually get close enough to each other to allow them both to do just that with each other."
He reached into a medium-sized sack on his belt. Yoshimo took out an amethyst crystal about six to eight inches in length, and about twenty inches wide at its greatest extent. It was an octagonal prism, at least of a sort, in fact. The ends were cut parallel to each other. And there were eight faces between each end. Meaning, of course, that the crystal had ten faces on it. An eight-pointed star was on both of the crystal's end faces. Gold lines connected all non-adjacent faces to each other on either end of the crystal. Silver ones marked off the edges of the crystal on either end of it. Between each of the gold lines on either end of the crystal, both of the stars were purple. The stars looked almost like ones that might be found on the average hand compass anywhere in the known Universe. If not entirely like them.
Hannah asked, "Will this crystal provide me with at least one very effective attack, Prince Yoshimo?"
"I don't know, Hannah. Only time will tell if it'll do so or not. I could be wrong, of course. But I think that it'll do so. And maybe even when you least expect it to do so."
"It's quite large, Prince Yoshimo."
"I know, but it should still unite quite well with your locket, I think, if it gets close enough to do so well enough. It may even decrease in size to a certain degree to make it easier for it to unite with your locket. But if it does, that doesn't necessarily mean that the powers and/or items it might provide you with would be reduced in effectiveness to the same degree as its possible reduction in size. Just because it'd then shrink in size, you shouldn't necessarily expect that the actual effectiveness of any or all powers and/or items it might provide to you would also shrink. In fact, if the crystal shrinks in size, so that it can unite better with your locket, the effectiveness of any or all of those powers and/or items might even be enhanced. For they'd likely be much more densely concentrated in your new locket, if it provides you with a new locket. Or in your old one, if it doesn't. This, of course, is for all the obvious reasons, Hannah."
Yoshimo talked at least a bit longer with his guests before he left them alone again here. Including Hannah, of course. But not before Hannah brought him her power locket. She then did that so that he could look at it for a while and try to see if it'd work well enough with the necessary crystal here, in fact.
Before he left, he looked at Hannah's locket and the crystal that he'd found some length of time before. And he examined them both quite intensely. Then he began bringing them near each other. They began combining with each other when they were no more than four inches apart. Her locket and the crystal were quite attracted to each other. As soon as they actually touched each other, the crystal in his left hand began shrinking in size so that it'd better fit inside her power locket. As it did so, her power locket began changing its look from that of a certain kind of Saturnian bird in its early juvenile state to the usual look of that kind of bird's late juvenile state. If not its usual look during its middle juvenile state instead.
This bird that was around her Saturn Beta-level crystal quite possibly looked at least a little bit like at least two kinds of Terran birds. If not also at least one other kind of Terran animal as well, for that matter. And this was now the case for it, except for the obvious fact that it was mainly purple and orange. That was actually the case here, except for at least a little black on its beak, with several rings on it that were either gold, silver, red, or white, as the case might then be for it. This certain kind of bird around her locket's middle wasn't actually as large as it might be on Saturn, of course. It was a bird which was normally called by most Saturnians who were familiar enough with it, for any logical enough reason whatsoever, "Gesoliplaku Poritenoxa." Or "Gesopori," for short. But her locket still got at least a little bit larger to reflect its merging with the crystal that Yoshimo was bringing toward it. Her Saturnian power locket began changing its shape as well. And the young Gesopori around its middle began spreading its wings to either side of the main part of its body. Its wings were mainly purple and orange. But they also had several rings on them that were either gold, red, or white. On the forward parts of those wings, there were a total of about a dozen or so small rings about an inch in diameter, at most. They were mostly toward the Gesopori's trunk. From one wingtip to the other, the locket was soon about eight or so inches wide. The young Gesopori's trunk was soon just about six inches long. And both of its legs had five rings on it, in the quite specific order of gold, red, white, red, and gold, between where they left the purple feathers on the trunk of its body and between its two orange feet. Its orange feet both had five quarter-inch-thick toes that looked much like a Terran Bald Eagle's talons. Three of which were in the front, and two of which were in the back. The Gesopori's head and neck were both mainly solid purple, except for two quarter-inch-tall red stripes just above its shoulders on its neck and a gold circle about half an inch in average diameter on the very top of its crown. Its beak was also a silver and black-colored bill with a moderately large hook on top with a rather large sac-like pouch for its bottom part of its beak. Much like at least one kind of Terran pelican that any Terrans might be now familiar enough with in their respective lives might have, by the way. Its head was facing toward Hannah's right shoulder, by the time her locket stopped merging itself with the crystal that Yoshimo had just provided to her. Obviously enough, while Yoshimo was bringing the crystal into contact with her locket, she wasn't wearing her locket.
When the crystal's last part had completely merged with her locket, it then was completely within the locket's crystal holder. For it'd just shrunk itself down enough to fit completely within her locket without sticking out at all from it. That was so that if she had to fight anybody in quite close quarters in the future, they'd hopefully not be able to somehow steal it from where it now resided in her own locket easily enough, of course. Especially since that crystal might actually provide her with at least one other special power and/or special item that she might be able to use in the future. If not more than one of either or both of those kinds of things.
Hannah soon asked, "What crystal did you just put inside my power locket, Prince Yoshimo?"
Yoshimo said, "I just put the Sailor Warrior Eagle Crystal in your power locket. In my nation's primary language's main dialect, we call it the Setasuru Watankonuki Crystal. It doesn't represent any of the other larger places on our world that we know of well enough. But it's known to have come from the landmass of Tukrinusku elsewhere on our world. Tukrinusku's a small landmass near the North Polar Region of Ozotov IV. But it's not in that specific part of it. It's about two hundred miles from the North Polar Region, at least, at its closest proximity to that part of it. If not even more than that. The nearest inhabited landmass to it's actually Firalleski. And you have to cross the Sea of Tordilla to reach Firalleski from Tukrinusku easily enough. The Crystal I just gave you came to our Marzotekan landmass when a hurricane somehow transported it here centuries or millennia ago. It somehow transported that Crystal to our Marzotekan landmass from the landmass of Tukrinusku, when it then did that. And it's been on this landmass ever since."
"Will I be able to take it with me when I leave here, if I ever do, Prince Yoshimo?"
"Only time will tell. But if you can, you must do the best that you can to keep it from falling into the hands of any or all of your enemies. For if they gain possession of it, they might be able to do the same things that you might be able to do with it. Or get the same things from it that you might. As far as I know, it's probably much more powerful than the crystals that all your fellow Scouts, or at least those who are currently with you, now hold. Except for maybe any or all of the crystals that Serenity, Serena, Destiny, and Bethany now hold. If it's not more powerful than any of the crystals that your Moon-born companions now hold, it's most certainly more powerful than all of the crystals that your non-Moon-born companions now hold, most likely. Which means, of course, that your new locket's now quite possibly much more powerful than the current lockets of Amy, Mina, Raye, Lita, Alexis, Michelle, and Susan, combined."
"With my new power locket, I could now possibly be the fifth-strongest of all the Scouts here with you now on your world?"
"At least that powerful, I believe, Hannah. If not even more powerful than that, for that matter. I'm not totally sure. I just know that you'll quite possibly be much more powerful than you've been before. At least when it comes to fighting with other sentient enough beings here in the known Universe. But if that's actually the case, then you'll have to be very careful with how you use the powers and/or items that it might be able to provide you with, for all the obvious reasons. If you actually happen to use it at all, you may be even be more powerful than at least one of your companions from the Moon. If not more than one of them. I don't know exactly how powerful you might be, by the way, with your new locket. But I do know that only a very rare few people from Ozotov IV have somehow ever been able to handle the SWEC, as I'll now call the crystal that I just gave you by putting it in your locket. And to be able to handle it sufficiently well in their respective lives on it, just so you know that well enough now. I'm obviously one of those rare few. And I've only handled it for a very short time. But I know that I'll not be able to handle it well enough for much longer. However, I believe you're also one of those rare few. And I really don't want to take the chance that it might fall into the hands of those sufficiently loyal to Prince Tosunekaro. So that's why I'm now passing it on to you. Guard it as well as you can, at least for the rest of your mortal life, if possible."
"Understood."
"Now I have at least a few other things I must do. If it's actually God's will, we'll all eventually meet each other at least one more time before you leave my world, somehow. If not, and you all survive well enough before you leave my world, please try to remember me as a true friend to you all, if possible. Until then, may God bless you all as he might see fit, of course."
After he said that, he quite reluctantly left them again. He did that so that he could now attend to other matters that he honestly felt required his quite earnest attention in the very near future, by the way. He soon left them all alone in his house again. And they all watched him go almost as quickly as he'd come back to his house. They all did that before doing whatever else they then wanted to do for at least the rest of the current day. If not even longer than that, in fact.
Meanwhile, while Hannah and others in the area of Yoshimo's house did as they saw fit, three Terrans were doing a little training with each other. That was so that they'd hopefully be even more prepared for the battle with the Negaverse that they all now knew was going to happen in the very near future, of course. Sylvia often practiced fighting in close quarters with Darien and Rolando. And she did that while often using her new sword and shield to do so here, for that matter.
They also frequently talked some more about themselves and their own lives back on Earth. At least whenever they weren't actually training with each other, anyway. But not all the time. For they also had to eat or sleep periodically in their respective lives, of course. When they weren't either sleeping, eating, training, or talking with each other about themselves, they were often doing other things in their lives, whenever possible.
Sylvia, for instance, often read at least one of the scrolls now in her things. Or she read scrolls that Darien and Rolando had lent to her so that she could read them. Sometimes, she even did a little writing on scrolls herself, so that either or both of her companions could see what she wrote on at least a few of them. That was if she didn't mind them reading those scrolls too much to allow them to do that, by the way. But mainly whatever she'd actually write on her own scrolls she'd set aside for a personal enough purpose would stay unread by either or both of her fellow Terrans. Simply because she was keeping a personal journal of sorts on at least one of them, in fact. At least that was if she could keep them from reading those scrolls of hers if she didn't really want them to do that. Hopefully, though, she'd be able to do that easily enough. Supposing that enough things went well enough with her at least as they related to such scrolls of hers, of course.
Sylvia often wrote down some things about herself in a number of her scrolls. And she even wondered at least a little what'd happen to her and to her fellow Terrans in the very near future, as she did so. She even wondered at least a little bit about Darien's Moon Kingdom friends, and about the numerous sentient beings from anywhere in the Negaverse, as she did so. She hoped, while she wrote in such scrolls of hers, that she and anyone else who'd be opposing the Negaversers that were now on Ozotov IV would somehow be able to defeat them easily enough. And that they'd not have to worry unnecessarily about any or all of them, not even a little bit at all, in the very near future. Especially when they tangled with the Negaversers now invading Yoshimo's own world.
Sylvia wondered when she and many others would eventually have to face any or all of the Negaversers in battle anywhere in the known Universe at least once, if not more than that. Even Rolando and Darien, quite obviously enough. She hoped that if she and/or they ever did so, that they'd be able to beat them well enough whenever they had to fight against them in it, somehow. But she still realized that she and/or they might ultimately not be able to do so easily enough. Most especially if the Negaverse sent too many of its people against those who opposed it in the known Universe, of course.
She didn't know it yet, in fact. But within the next few hours or days, at most, she and her fellow two Terrans would find themselves fighting in battle against various Negaversers. That also wasn't known by either or both of her current companions in or near the Muramiskayon inn that they were all now staying in somewhere in Sosatoville's local area. But situations likely at least a little bit beyond their own controls would find them having to fight against Negaversers who were now invading Yoshimo's own nation of Muramiskayo. Whether they liked them or not, they'd still have to deal with any or all such situations, if any or all of them ever came to pass for them. They might not like it or them. But it was reasonably certain, for all the obvious reasons, that they'd not really want to die at the hands of the Negaverse. Supposing that they could all possibly avoid doing so for at least a little while longer in their own mortal lives in God's very own Universe, by the way. So if they fought, they'd probably have to fight as if their lives actually depended on them doing so. As they probably would, if they actually met up with any or all of the Negaversers who were now on Ozotov IV.
Sylvia also often prayed that she and her fellow Terrans would actually be able to help Darien's Moon Kingdom friends, if the need arose in the very near future. At least while they were all still on Ozotov IV, of course. And that, if possible, those Moon Kingdom friends of Darien's would also be able to do the same thing for them in it, for all the obvious reasons. For she didn't know yet just how tough it'd actually be to oppose any or all of the Negaversers in battle at any time in the future.
She bided her time for at least the next few hours, then, if not longer. At least she did so every so often, of course. This she often did until the sky suddenly began to get somewhat darker in the middle of the day not too long afterward. The sky did so no later than two days after she'd last trained with her fellow Terrans for the coming battle that they'd all most likely have to fight soon enough. And that they'd have to fight with any number of Negaversers in, sometime in the very near future. When it did so, it began to do so because the Ozotovian moon of Ankielonio was beginning a total solar eclipse of Ozotov.
As it did so, Sylvia soon saw Darien duck behind a reasonably large boulder near the Muramiskayon inn at which they were now staying. When he came out from behind it again, he was in the exact same uniform that Serenity and Daniel had given to him some time before during his most recent birthday party on the Moon. Of course, he also had on his sword and scabbard. She soon asked, "Where did you get that uniform you're now wearing? And when did you get it, Darien?"
"Moon Kingdom friends of mine. And I got it on my last birthday, Sylvia. I suggest that you and Rolando prepare for battle right now. It seems that I've got this strange feeling that something's going down not too far from here. And I want you both with me when I go there to try to take care of it to the best of my ability. My friends may very well need our help in the coming battle. So please don't waste any unnecessary time while you two get ready to fight. And for you both to fight in the very near future, for that matter."
So Sylvia soon found Rolando. Then she went to her own room in the inn, so she could get ready to fight again, after she'd told Rolando to do the same thing as well. Five or so minutes later, then, she was wearing her armor and putting all her things on the horse that she and Rolando would be taking with them to the upcoming battle's location. By the time that she'd done so well enough, Rolando had also left his room. And he was coming to their shared horse with all the things he'd also need to bring with him to it.
By the time that Rolando came there as well, Darien had already loaded up his own horse as necessary. And he was sitting on his horse, waiting for Rolando to finish getting ready to leave the area of the inn. Sylvia carefully helped Rolando mount their horse, as best as she possibly could now. She was already on it, in fact, just behind where Rolando would be on it himself. When Rolando was finally on it well enough to satisfy her sufficiently enough, she waved to Darien. And she told Darien that he could lead them out of the inn's area, of course.
Darien led them down the necessary road to that battle location. As he began doing so, a pillar of fire appeared in front of them to guide them to the required location elsewhere in Muramiskayo. They went cross-country whenever they couldn't use the nearby roads for any reason whatsoever. They soon arrived at the necessary location not more than a few hours later, if even after at least an hour of traveling to it.
The eclipse continued on while they did so. And it did so while they arrived at the necessary location elsewhere in Muramiskayo. Not long after they got there, a thunderstorm began in the area of it, if it hadn't already begun by the time they got there. They awaited the end of the coming eclipse. For they suspected that they might very well be fighting at least a few Negaversers not too long after it did so completely. If not a lot of Negaversers. By the end of the eclipse in question, they were within about two hundred yards of all of the Scouts. As they'd later find out, most likely, if they somehow managed to survive the battle easily enough. They were close enough to them for Darien to make them out to at least a little degree. But not to a great degree, simply due to the current distances away from the Scouts for them all, of course.
They all soon chose their positions on the likely battlefield with rather extreme care. And they awaited the first move of the Negaversers to begin the battle against any who'd fight them on Ozotov IV, of course.
They didn't have to wait much more than about forty or so minutes after the end of the eclipse for the Negaversers to actually begin attacking their opponents on it. Darien wanted to engage them almost immediately after they began attacking the Scouts. But he still waited, so as not to reveal himself and his fellow Terrans' positions to their soon-to-be enemies before they had to do so. He quite anxiously waited to see if the Scouts would survive the Negaverse's first attacks, of course.
If and whenever he looked like he was about to leave his current hiding place here, she periodically reminded him, "Darien, we can't help them very much if we show ourselves yet. And we can't help them if we might get ourselves killed in the process."
"I know that, Sylvia, but those are my friends that they're now attacking."
"Give it fifteen more minutes, Darien. And then, if you still want us to show ourselves, I'll go with you, and so will Rolando, for whatever it's worth."
"Ten."
"Fifteen, Darien. No debate. Yes, I know they're your friends. But let's see if they need our help first, before we show ourselves. Would it do them or us any good if we got ourselves killed trying to get to them?"
"No, I guess not."
"Besides, I have this strange feeling that we'll be fighting the Negaversers soon enough, if we don't go trying to help your friends right now. You'll have your chance to fight them. Just let's see if they're as strong as you seem to think they actually are, Darien."
"All right, I'll wait at least a few minutes longer, then, Sylvia. But not too much longer, mind you, if it seems they need our help by then."
"Very well. But I must still advise great caution, if at all possible, Darien, when we eventually act against those who are now attacking your friends here."
"Understood," said Darien finally, after he'd done some more thinking over their current situation, of course.
Meanwhile, while Darien was trying to convince Sylvia and Rolando to begin fighting against the Negaversers in the battle's area, the Scouts had soon begun fighting back. They'd taken some initial hits on themselves, of course, before they did so. But they eventually began fighting back.
Sentinel Serenity, for instance, soon assessed the relative strength of their attackers. She did that just as Jeddite sent several hundred, at least, of his people against Jupiter and Venus. She assessed their enemies' strength at roughly 75,000 beings. After which, she used her 'Murakuza Eagle Power Strike' capability to teleport at least 32,000 Ozotovians to the battle's area, if not even more than that, by the way. Including Princes Yoshimo and Murumu Toskukachi, for that matter. The two Princes and her then divided what was left of those people as evenly as possible between each other, of course. Then each of the Princes teleported themselves, and those under their respective direct controls, to certain other parts of the battlefield. They did that here and now, in fact, so that the Negaversers would have to fight people on at least three sides of their battle setup, obviously enough.
Roughly a third or so of the people she'd just teleported to the battle's location stayed with Sentinel Serenity and the rest of her companions. The rest went with either of the Princes of Muramiskayo that were currently in question here. Sentinel Serenity and her Scouts soon found themselves having at least a little bit of success in whittling down their part of the Negaversers' force of invaders. Though not without some cost on their side of the battle, obviously enough. As they still repelled the Negaversers opposing them, at least ten to twenty percent, if not more, of the people under Sentinel Serenity's current control eventually fell in battle. Either as dead, dying, wounded, or incapacitated people, in fact.
Roughly 15,000 Negaversers were quite soon dispatched by the people currently under Serenity's control in the battle. With most of them probably being under Jeddite's main control during it. If not all of them. Jeddite then quite obviously began to get very angry. He did so even as the Scouts and the others that were now surely helping them began doing some quite serious reducing of the combined Negaverse invasion force that was now invading Ozotov IV, by the way.
As he began to get very angry, he barely was able to duck some solar flare-like spikes sent his way by Corona when she'd spotted him. And she'd used her Solar Flare Strike attack to oppose him to the best of her ability to do so. He sent a Neutron Starfire attack her way. Which was essentially an attack in which he'd likely try to atomically bombard any or all of his opponents to death, if at all possible. It was blocked before it reached Corona's position, when Saturn Beta summoned forth an attack that she'd never used before, and which was provided by her new power locket. His attack against Corona was blocked by an Amethyst Sailor Star Shield. Which then sent at least one hundred eagles of the Sailor Warrior variety most commonly found on Saturn toward him, if not more. And these eagles were in no sense of the word small at all. They came against him and others sufficiently near him as hard as they could while she protected Corona from his most recent attack on her. When he and them would kill at least one of them, at least two more would often appear in the place of the one that was just killed. Eventually so many of those eagles were killed by him and his nearest fellow Negaversers that he and them had to begin retreating out of the range of them. Supposing, somehow, that was sufficiently the case with all of the eagles from her recently-erected Amethyst Sailor Star Shield, of course. By the time that they all did so well enough, then, he was only left with a few hundred people under his direct control, at the very most.
Jeddite then began asking Nephlyte for at least a few more reinforcements to attack several Scouts with. But Nephlyte was now having some major trouble with various people that were currently under Prince Murumu's control during the battle. He then said, "Sorry, Jeddite, I can't help you right now. Maybe later, I can."
"Well, I'm almost out of people."
"I'm sorry, Jeddite. I suggest you try to escape, then. That's if you feel you can't handle your opponents well enough, in the very near future. But if you do, don't be surprised if Beryl chews you out quite a bit."
"We'll see, Nephlyte. But if you don't help me, then you're not my friend any longer. That's if you ever were, in fact, Nephlyte."
"I have no need of friends right now. So either put up or shut up, Jeddite. Either you do the best with what you have left, or you go back to the Negaverse to see what happens to you next."
"Very well. But don't ever come asking me for favors later on, Nephlyte. Because I'll not be forthcoming with them, then, if I don't absolutely have to be, in the future, Nephlyte."
Then Jeddite and the rest of his steadily-diminishing forces did the best that they could in the current battle, before they were forced to try to escape back into the Negaverse. Of his part of the Negaversers' current invasion force, only he and about two dozen other beings under his control made it back into the Negaverse safely enough before they were prevented from doing so by their opponents. Whether by death, or by some other circumstance, that happened to any of them in the meantime.
Jeddite arrived back in front of Beryl not more than an hour or two later with his remaining people, once he and they were all back in it to a sufficient enough degree to satisfy them all. And eventually Beryl had a very heated discussion with him and the remaining remnant of his own part of the Negaverse's forces that were originally sent to invade Ozotov IV.
As Jeddite and his remaining people somehow managed to get safely enough back into the Negaverse, Sentinel Serenity was fighting near all three of her daughters. That was once Saturn Beta had taken down her Amethyst Sailor Star Shield around Corona enough to allow Corona to rejoin her sisters and her mother in their part of the battle, of course. She and they were all opposing a still-large number of people from Zoisite's main body of people. Her daughters were often using Moon Sister Power against a large number of those people. While she used her Marzotek Celestial Rainbow Crystal to attack other people in that main body of Zoisite's. She used that crystal to summon Rainbow Chariots full of people out of the sky to bombard a number of Negaversers with large boulders and comet-like arrows. These people aboard all those Rainbow Chariots would then provide air-to-surface attacks, normally. At least until they were somehow forced down, or were somehow shot down, by those they were attacking with the aforementioned boulders or comet-like arrows, anyway. Half of those people in the Chariots would be of the boulder-dropping kind. And half would be of the arrow-shooting kind, most likely. Or somewhere about half and half for each kind of those people attacking the Scouts' opponents from the air, probably.
She used that crystal to utilize such an attack for as long as she could do so. But eventually, she had to stop using it, of course. Mainly because when she dropped out of her Sentinel Serenity state of being, she wasn't likely strong enough still to use it. She might be able to use it in her Royal Sailor Serenity state. But only if she'd been able to rest to a sufficient enough degree while she was still in that state. But not at the current time. For the battle had obviously taken quite a bit of power to fight from her, ever since its beginning.
When she dropped out of her Sentinel Serenity state, she soon saw where Darien and his fellow Terrans were still waiting their turn to fight in the battle. She waved to him briefly, and signaled that she wanted him and them to engage two hundred or so Negaversers that were nearing their respective positions. As she did so, she also let him know with her signals that she'd have all three of her daughters cover his and his companions' engaging of the Negaversers in question. A brief nod that she could barely detect let her know that he agreed to do as she asked him to do. Then she had Moon, Corona, and Eclipse begin doing just as she'd told him that she'd have them do.
Moon asked, "Cover Darien and his companions as they engage our enemies, Mom?"
"Yes, Moon. I do mean that. Are you strong enough to do so to at least some degree?"
"Yes, but just barely. I'm almost tapped out of my part of our Moon Sister attack, Mom. I don't know how well I'll be able to do that, though. I really don't want them to hurt my honey and his current companions, of course. So I'll do what I can, in order to help them all."
Then Moon, Corona, and Eclipse began covering for Darien, Sylvia, and Rolando, as they all made their way toward the Negaversers now in question. As they all did so, they all had to leave Serenity's side to at least some degree. So all the Beta-level Scouts anywhere near Serenity went to help out their fellow Scout Serenity. At least while Moon, Corona, and Eclipse were all away from her to a sufficient enough degree, anyway.
When Darien saw the signals from Royal Sailor Serenity, he said, "Finally we can fight these people! Let's go, you two. We have some Negaversers to take care of. It's about time. My friends need our help."
So Sylvia and Rolando sprang from their hiding places with him. They began engaging any number of the surviving Negaversers close enough to them. They did this, just as Moon, Corona, and Eclipse covered them with their various attacks. They didn't waste any unnecessary shots or strokes, if they could possibly avoid it, as they did so. Fifteen minutes later, they'd killed all the Negaversers they'd just engaged, if those Negaversers hadn't been killed by at least one attack from any or all of Serenity's daughters while they were in their respective Scout states.
When all those Negaversers were quite dead, they moved on to attack other Negaversers near enough to them on the battlefield they were all now on. Of course, they tried to stay within the protection ranges of the Scouts, whenever they could do so. But it wasn't always possible. They soon cleared a wide swath of death in the course of their part of the battle, as they made their way toward the Scouts, whenever they possibly could do either.
Eventually, Zoisite and what was left of her part of the Negaverse's original invasion force made their escape to the best of their respective abilities, also to most likely get chewed out at least a little bit by Beryl. But only about a hundred or so, at most, of her people managed somehow to get back to the Negaverse with her. And only after having been quite decimated by their quite-strong opponents, whoever those opponents might be. Which, in this case, also included all three Terrans. That was because the first Negaversers that the three of them had just opposed had come primarily from forces then under her control, in fact.
Darien and his fellow Terrans soon found themselves near quite a few people currently under Yoshimo's control. Those people soon helped them out at least a little bit as they helped them make their way toward where the Scouts were still fighting elsewhere on the battlefield. They'd temporarily been deflected from their planned course across the battlefield to where the Scouts were still fighting on it by the Negaversers they'd just engaged not long before. Those Ozotovians now under Yoshimo's control soon put them back on their planned course toward the Scouts' current battlefield positions.
Once Darien and his companions were soon shown how to get back on their ideal traveling course during the battle now in question, they all soon thanked their fellow fighters against the Negaversers. Those people said, "No problem. If you're all actually friends of Prince Yoshimo, you're all actually friends of ours. Good luck getting to your friends, Darien. And may God bless you all very much, for that matter."
Then Darien, Sylvia, and Rolando made their way as quickly as they could to the sides of the Scouts, of course. This they did as their new friends covered their movements to that effect. The first of the Scouts that they saw on the battlefield in person was Mars.
Mars was fighting alongside Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus, when they saw her, and vice versa. They were now no more than twenty yards away from where those four Scouts were opposing two dozen other Negaversers. A brief wink passed between Mars and Darien. And that let them both know they'd seen each other. Mars then mouthed, "Get down now, Darien! Fireballs heading your direction very soon! Tell your friends to duck as well!"
A nod from him let her know he'd received the message. Then he pushed his companions' heads down until they were quite near the ground. When Sylvia and Rolando felt his hands on the back of their heads, they didn't argue. They dropped as quietly as they could down toward the ground. And at least far enough to keep them both from being hit accidentally by some Fireballs from Mars's Fire Catapult or Fire Catapults. Which then meant, of course, that they were all no higher than just a few feet off the ground, because of that fact.
They all got down here well enough just in time to keep themselves all from being hit by at least a dozen Fireballs from those very same Fire Catapults. And by at least a few of Mercury's Mini-Ice Bubbles, for those certain Negaversers that were at least a bit immune to Mars's fire-related attacks, as well. They soon began crawling toward the Scouts who were covering their advances toward them all, of course. They then did that just as carefully as they could do so safely enough, in fact.
Now the only Negaversers that were still somehow able to fight at least a little bit here against any Ozotovians and any of the Scouts were beings under Nephlyte or Malachite's control. And even those Negaversers' numbers were still being reduced rather rapidly by their various opponents here. Which, in this particular case, were people mainly under the control of either Yoshimo or his brother Murumu. Eventually, as Mercury blasted at least a few more of the Negaversers with her Mini-Ice Bubbles, Darien and his fellow Terrans managed to get safely enough behind her and the three other Scouts that she was now fighting alongside in the battle. As soon as they did so well enough here, Darien and his fellow Terrans made a run for where Royal Sailor Serenity and all four of the Beta-level Scouts now with her were hiding just behind a series of boulders and trees. And where they were periodically hiding in the area of that battlefield on which they were still fighting any number of Negaversers in, for that matter.
They all dived, no more than a few moments later, behind one of those very same boulders. And when they all did so, Royal Sailor Serenity then said, very briefly to him, "It's nice to see you again, Darien. I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances, though, of course. Can your Terran friends somehow help us force the rest of the Negaversers off this battlefield well enough, by any chance at all?"
"I think so. Sylvia and Rolando, how are you doing for arrows?"
"I'm almost out, Darien. Rolando, what about you?"
"I have about ten arrows left. Which is about four more arrows than you apparently have left, Sylvia."
"Very well, Rolando. That means we have sixteen or so arrows left between the two of us, at most, then, it seems. Royal Sailor Serenity, how many Negaversers are left for us to fight, apparently?"
Serenity checked her Marzotek Celestial Rainbow Crystal for a moment. And then she said, "There are about six to ten thousand of them left, at the very least, Sylvia."
"Then how are we all going to force them to leave here once and for all, Royal Sailor Serenity?"
"We're going to have to hope that Princes Murumu and Yoshimo's respective forces can whittle down their numbers at least a little more before you fire your arrows, if you fire them at all. Uranus Beta, I need you and Neptune Beta to provide a distraction. And I want this particular distraction to be at least large enough to let the Inner Scouts here know that I want them back here as quickly as they can get back here. Pluto Beta, I want you to help Uranus Beta and Neptune Beta get in visual contact with them by using your 'Double Anchor Mirror' to help them contact the Inner Scouts. That's so that they can relay the required message to them as they create the particular distraction I want them to provide here, of course. Saturn Beta, I need you to protect all the Inner Scouts and the other three Outer Scouts here, at least long enough for them to all get back here, if you can possibly do so at least that long. I'll shield you, in turn, as best as I can while you protect them all to the best of your ability to do so. But I won't be able to do it too long if our enemies actually stay too strong too much longer, obviously enough."
All of Royal Sailor Serenity's Beta-level Scouts now with her soon did exactly what she wanted them to do here. At least to the best of their respective abilities, anyway, they did that. And they did that with no further discussion here from any or all of them at all. As they then did so, Serenity said, "Darien, Sylvia, and Rolando, if the Negaversers get within fifty feet of our positions, and we others don't see them, please let me know. That's so that we can do our best to protect ourselves, if we can possibly do so well enough. Hold your fire for as long as you can, though, in any case, if at all possible. At least until they get within twenty or so feet, that is, so that your limited supply of arrows might be much more effectively used against them in this battle. If they get within five to ten feet of us, we're all most likely going to have to face them in hand-to-hand combat, of course."
"Understood. No mercy, then, if they get too close to us, Royal Sailor Serenity?"
"Yes, for they'll most likely give you none in return, I fear. No mercy, Darien. That goes both for you and for both of your fellow Terrans, of course, Darien."
Darien, Sylvia, and Rolando did as Serenity had just instructed them to do. And they did this at least until a thousand or so Negaversers crashed through one of the Scouts' innermost barricades that was within one hundred yards of where they were waiting with Royal Sailor Serenity. Seconds later, at least two planet-like balls crashed rather violently against the nearby ground. And those four natives of the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol system all braced themselves against the resulting tremors as best as they could, of course. At least half, if not more, of the Negaversers that'd just been crashing through one of those rather hastily-erected barricades soon found themselves falling into cracks in the nearby ground. Or they found themselves quite suddenly airborne, due to those very same tremors. The nearby ground stayed open for at least two minutes. If not even longer than that, in fact. Many of those who'd been tossed into the air also fell down into those cracks before they closed up again. By the time that the asked-for distraction had ended, only a few hundred of those Negaversers were still able to fight in the battle. At least eighty or so percent of them were still under the direct command of Nephlyte. But not all of them. That soon forced Malachite to make an escape attempt with the rest of his quite-diminished forces back to the Negaverse. But only twenty other Negaversers of his original part of the Negaversers' total invasion force managed to do just that. For the rest had either been killed by at least one of the Scouts, at least one of the Terrans, or at least one Ozotovian, most likely. Malachite himself was only able to escape into it mere seconds before he'd have been roasted to death by a very near miss of one of Raye's many Fireballs launched by one of her remaining Fire Catapults. That was if she actually had more than one Fire Catapult still at her disposal during the current battle, of course. As he rather reluctantly left that battlefield, and escaped back into the Negaverse, he vowed quite silently to himself, at the very least, "This isn't over between us, Moon Kingdom jerks! We'll meet again! And you can be absolutely sure of that, someday yet in the future! Enjoy your victory to the best of your respective abilities! For we'll all eventually destroy your Moon Kingdom someday, if at all possible!"
He was joined soon enough back in the Negaverse by Nephlyte and the rest of Nephlyte's own surviving part of the Negaverse's original invasion force that'd just sought to conquer or destroy Ozotov IV's various inhabitants on the Marzotekan landmass. That was because Princes Murumu and Yoshimo, in quite well-orchestrated concert with the Scouts and their Earth friends that'd also fought against any number of Negaverser, had eventually forced them to do so. Supposing of course, that they all still wanted to exist for at least one more day, if at all possible. Either in the known Universe, or in the Negaverse, for that matter.
Needless to say, Beryl was extremely angry with all of her current military leaders. Especially since only about a few hundred, or a few thousand, Negaversers somehow managed to survive their quite disastrous mission to invade Ozotov IV in the Cassini Galaxy's Ozotovian solar system. And it was very fortunate, at least for Tornite, Avalite, Jezite, and Athite, if not for any other Negaversers as well, that they'd fallen in battle. They'd fallen just as Nephlyte and the rest of his surviving people were then escaping to the best of their respective abilities back into the Negaverse. For if they'd survived, she might have even had them all killed for poor performance of their respective duties on the just-ended mission to Ozotov IV. This might have been the case just because she'd have not wanted them around, most likely. That was if they couldn't fight well enough during any battle against any of the Negaverse's enemies, by the way. They'd all bought some amount of time for their leader to escape with the rest of their surviving people. Even though it did ultimately cost them their very own lives. And by them dying as they did, they escaped her quite intense wrath, of course. They all died when all the Scouts blasted them with their most powerful remaining attacks at the same time. Whatever those respective remaining attacks were, they took them instead of Nephlyte and at least a dozen of their fellow Negaversers taking them at full force. Their doing of that shielded all those other Negaversers from such attacks, even as their fellow Negaversers somehow actually managed to slip back safely enough into the Negaverse.
Moments later, then, no surviving Negaverser was actually left on Ozotov IV. For they all died after their connection to the Negaverse was severed forever. Supposing that they'd not already died on the battlefield now in question here. Their connection to the Negaverse was severed forever, once Nephlyte had closed the portal between them and the Negaverse behind him quite securely enough. By the time that he did so, and the battle had obviously ended forever, at least on Ozotov IV, at least 55,000 Negaversers' corpses were still left on the battlefield. As were the corpses of at least 20,000 Ozotovians who'd opposed the remaining Negaversers, if not more.
Eventually, both Muramiskayon Princes somehow made their respective ways to where the Scouts were now resting at least briefly, if not for quite a while, in fact. It was now quite late in the evening of the rather fierce battle that'd just been fought on that battlefield. If not early in the night, instead. Yoshimo was the first to speak to them. And he did this only after he and Murumu had each made their respective ways to there, by the way.
He said, "Royal Sailor Serenity, my brother Murumu and I would like to thank all you Sol System people for helping us here on our world. We owe you a debt that I don't know if we'll ever be able to repay fully."
"It was our pleasure, Yoshimo. Now do you think that you and your brother will ultimately get the crown that's rightfully his away from the usurper?" asked Serenity.
"Yes. Most of the people that you actually summoned here from other cities on our landmass were supporters of his. That was if they came from other Muramiskayon cities, if not from any other cities also represented by the Crystals still in your Mirrors now, anyway. All of those people who you summoned and who supported Tosunekaro, by the way, fell in battle against our Negaverse enemies. So his time on our nation's throne's likely to be only a few days more, we think. We'll rest in this area for a few more days, at most. Then we'll expel him from the throne and our capital forever. He'll not escape our armies. And he'll fall in battle against them. As will all who fight alongside him in that battle against us. He'll meet us in battle in the area of the capital. And we'll destroy all who oppose us to the last man, if we have to. If their families do the same, we'll have to destroy them as well. If he gets too far away from his main castle in the capital's local area, he'll fall prey to our armies in battle. No mercy will be granted to him, and all men enough like him. For he and his people would likely do the same, if our situations were reversed. And they'd not grant us, or those people enough like us, any mercy, I think."
"I see. You must consolidate your people's claim to the throne. And you must leave no doubt about who's to rule your nation, if not your entire landmass, Princes Yoshimo and Murumu."
"Correct, Royal Sailor Serenity. Things must then be as my brother and you have just said." Both of these comments were from Murumu, who was almost always a man of very few words. As they'd all earlier been told at least once by Yoshimo since their very first meeting with him.
"It was a pleasure to meet you both, then, Princes Murumu and Yoshimo," said Royal Sailor Serenity.
For the next several hours, then, at most, Prince Murumu and his brother mainly enjoyed being with their new friends as much as they possibly could during them. But eventually, Prince Yoshimo and his brother Murumu had to leave their new friends. For they were quite understandably rather tired after their still-recent fighting against so many Negaversers. And so were their new friends, obviously enough. So Serenity and all her fellow Milky Way Galaxy-born companions soon let them leave. Most especially because she and those fellow Milky Way Galaxy natives felt much the same way as their newest Cassini Galaxy-born friends had just felt here, of course.
Yoshimo said, just before he and Murumu left their new friends, "Feel free to stay at my Stramesville-area residence tonight, everyone. Murumu and I will be staying at one of his Amazuru-area castles for at least a day or two, I think. Many thanks for your aiding of us here on our own world and in our own nation."
Yoshimo and Murumu soon left their new friends far behind. After which, Serenity led all her companions back to the indicated residence, of course, for at least the rest of the night. After she did so, she and all her companions retired by local midnight of the current date, which was now October 3, 986. At least as far as they could tell from their estimations about how long they'd each been away from the Sol System, anyway. All her companions most certainly retired by then. And so did she, once they'd all secured the area around Yoshimo's house to a sufficient enough degree to please everyone now staying there.
I suppose that I'd better stop here now. For this will be where the next part of the story will take up from, in fact, readers. I hope that you have so far enjoyed the story, if you've gotten this far, and that you'll all continue to read it. I don't know yet how just long it'll take me to get each story in this series up fully here. But it might take a while for each story in this series, just the same. Until later, then, this is "The Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course, readers! Over and out!