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 10

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It was as morning streamed in over the treetops and she awoke that she noticed it. There was a weight dragging on her head that shouldn't be there, something that…that she hadn't noticed until now. She should have noticed it sooner, probably even last night, but at the slightest glimpse they had had, the spires of the Crystal Palace in the distance, she had been so relieved that all she had done was fall asleep on her bedroll, Coen's arms around her waist.

Pluto sat up and reached behind her, dragging a long train of dark jade hair over her shoulder. Her mouth dropped open in shock. Not four days ago, it had barely reached her ears and here it was now, just barely reaching her thighs! Miracle growth for grass didn't even come close to the radical lengthening of these strands!

"Whassa matta, Suna?" yawned Lita, or rather, Jupiter as she got up when she saw the upset expression on her face. It was obvious that she clearly did not like mornings, but at least she was better about getting up than Serena was. The princess had merely rolled over to shakings and decided that sleep was more important at this particular moment.

"L-look at my hair!" she screeched, her voice made louder by her shock and somewhat distress. The Setsuna of old, the mystifying Time Guardian, was decidedly un-mysterious in the early morning hours, the sun just barely settling in the blue of the sky.

The Senshi crowded around her so completely that the Kings, had they been inclined to even go near such a girlish situation, couldn't have seen anything if they had tried. Cordylite, his Mercurial blood quite logical, looked up at her statement briefly as if he hadn't ever noticed. He glanced at Iolite, standing next to him, and despite the Saturian blood that kept most of the inhabitants of the planet soft-spoken and quiet, Iolite grinned in a highly amused fashion, not only at Pluto, but at Cordylite's self-preserving silence.

"How did it get so long?" wondered Neptune, with a somewhat awestruck tone in her voice as she fingered the jade locks.

Pluto was decidedly unhappy about this turn of events and with a sudden suspicion, she glanced at the Senshi, each in turn, with eyes keen to any changes. And she so hated being right…

"Girls, touch your hair and tell me what you feel."

Alarmed by her tone of voice and grim expression, they did as she told them. Saturn, despite her normally reticent behavior, squeaked in astonishment to find that her once waist-length hair was quite…short. "I don't believe this!" She seemed more than a little disturbed. "Do you know how long it took me to grow my hair out like that??"

For some of the girls, it wasn't all that big of a change: Jupiter's hair had only grown a few inches and formed itself into a curly ponytail, rather than a braid. Mercury's had been the same length, so she could only send sympathetic glances at her friends to commiserate their loss…or gain, as the case may be. Neptune fingered her own grown locks with merely a shrug-like expression, as if it didn't much matter to her, as it hadn't grown that much, if an inch. Mars had lengthened over the past four days to her waist from her mid-back and while she was not pleased, she was not in an unhappy state of shock.

Venus, who had just managed to wake her cousin, peered over at them. Her hair had always been the same length, lucky girl that she was, thought Pluto resentfully. This was not fair. It was not fair at all. Just because she had been somewhat hair-stylish challenged in a previous life did not mean that she had to be punished for it in this one! So she had been bloody stuck at a Time Gate for 5,000 years; that did not mean that she had to completely ruin the style at which she had laboriously chosen in this life!

As if to mock her, long wisps of hair dangled and draped around and over her face, making it difficult to see. She let out a frustrated breath and ended up tying it back like she had before: a bun at the back of her head. Ooh, she was not happy!

To further her sour mood, when Serenity rubbed her eyes and glanced at her, she exclaimed, "Suna, what happened to your hair?"

A black cloud hung over her head and she was more than inclined to snarl at someone rather than talk. Not many dared to chance a conversation with her in her obviously foul mood; even Cordylite remained silent at her side, letting her mourn her loss, or rather, gain, with stoic sympathy.

She knew this wasn't good. This was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

She was only partly mollified to notice that many of the Kings' hair had suffered the same treatment as hers. Kunzite, whose hair had been short and black before, was now in stark contrast, shoulder-length and white. Inwardly she gloated in a gloomy fashion. At least she wasn't alone in this! But the boys had suffered far less casualties than the girls had. For example, a fact that made Pluto want to strangle him, Iolite's hair length had not changed at all, despite the fact that she knew his hair had not reached his knees before. Memories of other things that weren't about herself from her past life were still fuzzy, so she couldn't be sure what his hair length was before, but she knew it wasn't that long. So how come he was allowed such excess and she wasn't? It wasn't fair.

Pluto was going to get a lot of mileage out of that phrase.

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Unlike what one would have expected, when the party met Uranus (whose hair had shortened, though she didn't much care) and Adriano at the gates of the city and entered, it was dead silent. For one brief moment, Crystal Tokyo seemed like a ghost city, filled with shadows and memories instead of people.

It was as they traveled down the street that they saw the first signs of life. A child peeked around a corner of a shop, followed by a parent. Something about that, that simple peering and staring, opened a floodgate and the streets on either side were packed. Packed and silent, as if they did not believe their eyes. It was somewhat disconcerting, in a way.

"Serena!!"

"Mom!"

The princess burst from the protective circle of Senshi and Kings and to the welcoming arms of the running Queen. Venus' mother and Chandra were having a hard time keeping up with her. But unlike the Queen, Ilandere didn't stop and kept going until she had enveloped her daughter in a hug. "I told you not to leave!" she hissed happily, tears going down her cheeks.

Venus put her arms around her mother, blinking back a few tears herself. "What else was I supposed to do?"

Her mother leaned back enough to look in her face and saw something there that Venus herself felt: a determination, something almost…not exactly, ruthless, but unrelenting. Something that hadn't been prominent until now. "You're…you're really Sailor Venus aren't you?" She shook her head in wonder. "I had never imagined…my daughter…Sailor Venus…"

Pride wormed its way of up her spine and she stood as straight as she could under her mother's embrace. "Yes, I am. I was reincarnated as Sailor Venus to protect Crystal Tokyo and Serena, reincarnated Neo-Queen Serenity I."

The Queen sucked in her breath and looked at the Crown Princess. Serena slowly nodded. "I am, but…I don't feel like it most of the time," she added.

Tears formed in the Queen's eyes and she shook her head. "I don't care! I'm so glad you're safe!"

The citizens of the city crept a little closer and Chandra murmured softly, "I think it would be best to go back to the Palace."

Venus' instincts said the same. While she didn't think any of her people would ever intentionally hurt any one of them, but even an adoring mob was still a mob. And it would quickly become complicated because using their powers against their own people would not do.

The walk back to the palace was full of chatter and emotional statements. Tears graced more than a few faces as they reminisced. They retired to the Queen's parlor room and spent the next subsequent hours explaining everything. Darius was welcomed back by the Queen and her sister and praised for his work. At first, Darius was inclined to be modest, but after a while, he merely smiled and shrugged.

"He's not going to stop, though, is he?" the Queen finally asked once a silence had descended that seemed as absolute with its certain dread as the sky was filled with clouds.

Darius sighed and shook his head. "No. This man is a fanatic. What he believes is so absolute that not even seeing me holding the Golden Crystal would be enough to shake him to reality." He held Serena closer as she shuddered, remembering her first true encounter with such a creature.

Venus stood up and slapped her fist in her palm. "Well, he isn't going to get far! We're Senshi! We'll push him back because that was the reason we were born! To protect those we love and our city!"

Kunzite moved to her side and nodded. "Kings, she's right. This is the reason we were given such powers; the reason that no matter how many lives we live, we'll always be Senshi and Kings. We were entrusted to protect those because they can't protect themselves. It is an honor that we must not forsake, because to forsake it is to forsake ourselves!"

Despite their posturing, though, Venus knew it was going to a lot harder than it seemed. She yawned and glanced out the window, only to find that their tale-telling had taken the better part of the day and already the sun was setting into evening. She blinked and stretched, her movements attracting attention to the time.

Her mother stood and clapped her hands for attention. "It seems quite late. We'll get a small dinner ready and then rest of you will go to sleep! You've been sleeping and camping out on the ground for nearly a week, if not more and you need a good sleep. And Serena…we'll get you out of that dress."

That dress was on its last legs and without hesitation, the princess jumped to her feet and followed her mother and aunt out of the room to change. Chandra wormed her way through legs and jumped up onto a table, taking charge. She easily directed the men to their quarters and the bathing area so that they could wash up. Her attention, as soon as they had followed her instructions, turned to the girls almost immediately. Since all of the Senshi lived in the city, there was some debate whether they should go back to their homes or take up residence in the palace because their now new duties to the throne.

At last, it was decided that at least for the night, they would stay in the palace and work it out with their families at a later date. That having been settled, with eagerness the girls detransformed. With amusement, Mina watched as Suna inspected her stunningly shorter hair. Amy, pursing her lips, came to the conclusion that it must be the result of the henshin into their Soldier form. Though the woman wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect, she was at least mollified to know that it wasn't a permanent fixture in her daily life.

Mina sighed happily at the thought of a bath and practically pelted down the hallway to the bathing room. It took Chandra twenty minutes to pry her out after her three hour long soak in a scalding hot water for dinner. Strangely for the circumstances coming up, the affair was quite light-hearted.

Her stomach and body satisfied, the Senshi found herself so exhausted she was practically falling asleep in her chair. After kissing her beloved good night, she made her way to her bedroom to fall into a dreamless sleep. But somewhere in her, the Soldier of Venus knew and told her princess counterpart that her cousin's rescue was only the beginning. This wouldn't be the end of her life like this. No, as the leader of the Senshi, she would be fighting more battles like this in the future, but she was ready for it. She always would be.

End of story.

I changed this I know, but I figured it would be better to end this story here.