Chapter 19: A Helping Hand
Six months later . . .
"Get off of me!" Sol shouted, struggling to get free.
The creature she was fighting was the weirdest yet by far. While it still looked somewhat human, like all the other creatures had, this one resembled some kind of squid or octopus. At that moment, Sol was encased by two of its tentacles, which were slowly tightening the grip on her.
The creature grimaced, its version of a twisted smile, as it raised Sol higher in the air. As the tentacles tightened once more, Sol moaned in spite of herself. If this kept up, her ribs were going to break and she would slowly strangle.
"Sudden Revelation!"
Roaring in pain, the creature dropped Sol and turned to face its attacker. Sol scrambled to her feet and tried to ignore the pain in her chest as she breathed. If she was lucky, her ribs would be mainly bruised, but she couldn't think about that now. She quickly realized that her rescuer was Sailor Athene, complicating the situation further.
"Sol Celestial Wind!"
The attack surrounded the creature, inflicting additional minor damage. The creature roared once more, but it hesitated. It looked back and forth between Sol and Athene, unsure of which one to attack first. Deciding Athene was the weaker of the two, the creature moved toward her.
With an air of determination, Sailor Athene stood her ground against the monster. She lured the creature further and further away from Sol while nimbly managing to stay out of the range of the tentacles. While Sol did have some grudging respect for the girl's abilities, the older woman wanted to end the battle now and picked up her Sun Staff.
"Sol Corona Flare!"
The creature turned away from Athene in time to encounter the attack head-on. With another roar, it glowed orange and then exploded into dust. Sol made the Sun Staff disappear and walked over to Athene. However both women were stunned by sudden applause.
"Quite an impressive show," a strange woman with gray hair complimented, slowly emerging from the shadows of a nearby alley. "However, I didn't realize you had a partner, Sol."
Keeping eye contact with the new comer, Sol placed herself protectively in front of Athene. "I don't recall us being properly introduced the last time we met."
The woman smiled. "Yes, I know. Such bad manners on my part, really. You may call me Boreas. Again, you both did well against my latest little creation, surprisingly well."
"We aim to please," Athene muttered, drawing a censorious look from Sol.
"I'm sure you do," Boreas replied, studying the two Senshi intensely for a moment before shaking her head. "Well, as much as I would love to stay and chat, I must be going. It won't be long until we have what we need. Not long at all."
Sol placed a restraining hand on Athene before asking, "What is that precisely?"
"That's for us to know and for you to find out," Boreas replied and still giggling, disappeared in a blast of icy wind.
"The last you met? How do you know her?" Athene demanded, her dark eyes flashing angrily.
"I encountered her once several months when she attacked Mara," Sol explained reluctantly. "I haven't seen Boreas or learned anything else about her since then."
"Why did she attack Mara?"
'You don't know what she is. She belongs with us. This is far from over.'
Shaking her head to clear away the memory, Sol quietly said, "I don't know. Selene and Setsuna are unable to tell me anything concrete about our enemy or about Mara. They just warned me to protect Mara from them."
"Well, it looks like that haven't been able to find her again," Athene replied, her tone a little hopeful.
"Yet," Sol interjected, not bothering to hide her weariness. Her entire chest hurt and breathing was only aggravating the situation. "I doubt they will give up the search anytime soon."
Athene nodded. "We'll be ready."
"I don't remember saying you could fight yet," Sol stated, her eyes boring into Athene's.
The younger woman gave a glare of her own. "You looked like you needed some help. I'm a Sailor Soldier, too, if you've forgotten. I should be fighting with you."
Sol shook her head. "You're not ready yet."
"I've been training with you for months," Athene countered. "Besides, I helped you tonight and nothing happened to me. I can do this, Celeste."
"Nothing happened because we were lucky," Sol said. "It may not be that way next time."
With an angry huff, Sailor Athene detransformed and, as Sofia, marched off. Ignoring her painful ribs, Sol jogged after her and merely walked alongside the offended woman. Finally, with a sigh, Sol took a more relaxed stance and turned to face Sofia. The dark-haired woman crossed her arms as she stared at Sol.
"What?" Sol asked.
"You still don't think you need my help?" Sofia demanded.
Sol studied the other woman for several moments. "There is nothing I could do to stop you really, is there?"
Sofia relaxed and smiled. "No, not really."
"All right, you can fight," Sol said, fighting a sinking feeling. "You can help."
"Good," Athene cried, trying not to jump up and down in her excitement, "now tell me everything about this Boreas person."