Author's Notes:
Well, for those waiting for this, here is the sequel to Return of the Valkyries, Heroes of Eternity. There are a number of characters and for a recap of the last story, here are the added characters:
(Kyle) Kylane is Kunzite
(Matt) Matthias is Nephrite
(Zale) Zarek is Zoisite
(Jared) Janus is Jadeite
(Aren – Haruka's husband previously) Adriano is Adamite
(Cirocco – Setsuna's husband previously) Coen is Cordylite
(Ian – Michiru's husband previously) Ilar is Iolite
(Raine – Hotaru's husband previously) Ranae is Rhonite
If the name and planet thing is confusing you, please check the read-me/prologue.
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Heroes of Eternity
Chapter 4
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"What is the plan, Princess Mina?"
Mina dropped down, gasping in exhaustion. They'd traveled the entire night and most of the next day. She had no idea where to find her cousin, though. It was as if someone had just…teleported her away. She had no idea how to find her. She looked up at Amy. "Amy, drop the formalities. We're here to rescue my cousin, not play court."
Amy blushed a bit. "Sorry."
Zarek shook his head. "The girl is right. We need to have a plan and know where to begin our search."
Kylane leaned back against a convenient tree while Lita searched their packs for food to pass around. "I think it is a good thing to introduce ourselves."
While her friends and allies did that, Mina finally dragged her pack off her back. This was the one pack that she had allowed no one else to carry and it only had one thing in it. She had no idea why she had taken it and her mother and aunt would be absolutely furious when they found out it was gone.
Vaguely, she heard an argument going on, but in her tiredness, she had no inclination to get up and play leader. She was too exhausted and worried.
"Mina, what is that?"
Voices faded away and she looked up at Raye. In answer, she untied the top and let it fall. There was a beautifully carved golden box gleaming in the light, with no way to open it. It had no crack in the surface to see what was inside. But there were symbols that hadn't been seen in centuries all around it and she had no need to explain what was in it. Everyone in Crystal Tokyo and the planets knew what it was.
"My gods, that's—" Matthias murmured in shock.
She nodded. "This is the box that has been set in the Crystal Palace since the days of Neo-Queen Serenity III. The box that holds the Sailor Senshi and Kings pens. I…took it before we left."
"Why?" demanded Ruka. "It is not like anyone of is a Senshi! It's said that the box can't be opened by any but the leader of the Soldiers or the Kings! What good does it do us now?"
Mina shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe I thought that if I took it and the Senshi awakened, they would awaken from the powers in the box and they would save Serena."
"For now," Kylane said, glancing at the box, "I think we should get some rest. It does us no good to continue like we have. We shall have to wait and see if that box will give us something to work with, but I prefer to make my own miracles."
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She awoke with a throbbing body protesting all the work and travel she'd done the day before. Never once had Mina thought that maybe she physically wasn't capable to do this sort of thing. She had just…never given any thought to the physical strain she would undoubtedly receive.
Mina crawled up onto her feet, watching as her friends began to awake and move about. She noticed Kylane was awake and standing, staring at something, and she moved beside him, asking what it was when she saw nothing that would warrant such speculation.
He sighed. "I'm just thinking. I stayed up most of the night during all the watches, just…thinking."
"About what?"
"About your cousin, about Crystal Tokyo…" He gave a pointed look at her pack and the box concealed within. "…about that."
Mina sighed under her breath. "I know it was probably not the best thing to bring on a dangerous journey. I'm not even sure why I took it. I just…did."
Kylane nodded. "I'm hardly criticizing. We need all the help we can get at this point. There's no telling what we have to go through." His eyes locked with hers. "I think we need to talk to the others about what we will find."
She reluctantly nodded and turned to face her slowly waking friends. "Everyone, we have to talk."
They drew together in front of her, most faces still tired, sore, and sleepy. She looked at each in turn, drawing on an inner strength. She had to be a leader, like her and Serena had always pretended she was when they played. It was time to stop pretending and act like a leader instead of a headless chicken running in all directions.
"Look, we don't know what we're going to find when we reach Serena," she began slowly. "And that's probably the worst thing that can happen. However, we do know one thing: there is going to be killing. People are going to die. The people that took Serena are not going to stand by and wave at us, friendly-like, as we take her back. So you have to be prepared. If there is any one of us that cannot stand the thought of killing or do it, then head back now."
Kylane was a silent presence at her back and she didn't even have to wonder at his decision. He would follow her and rescue her cousin. She knew it. Her friends glanced between each other, hesitant. She looked at each of them in turn. "Amy, can you do this?"
The shyest girl among them looked around at back at her slowly. Her sapphire eyes were soft and yet full of determination. "I can."
She turned to girl standing next to her. "Ruka, can you do this?"
Ruka cracked her knuckles. "I may not know Princess Serenity personally, but I sure as hell have a loyalty to her and Crystal Tokyo. They took her away from me. If they have the guts to take her, then I sure as hell can give it right back to them! I'm in."
Mina was inwardly warmed at Ruka's enthusiastic reply. One by one, she went down the line of comrades, including the boys, and found not one person willing to leave for Crystal Tokyo.
"And you, Mina?" asked Coen. "Are you ready? Can you kill?"
Mina, in the process of turning to speak with Kylane, looked back at the man from Mercury. "I have been ready all my life. For Serena, I will kill." She didn't know how she had been ready, but she knew now that all her life, it was as if she had waited for this moment, as absurd and horrifying as it was. Without a doubt, she could do this. And that was what scared her. She could kill.
They packed up their accoutrements and headed out, Mina still wondering who she was exactly.
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End Chapter 4
I know this was majorly late and all, but I have now gotten myself extremely busy. I won't be updating stories as quickly as I used to. I'm really sorry about that, but I hope to not be this late again.