Another short chapter, but we will finally see Sylvia and Rolando appear in this story. If you need to refresh your memories about who they are, and how they relate to this story series here, please read Books II through IV of it, folks. That should help you all follow along better with events in both this volume and the next volume, at least in it, I hope.
We first meet Sylvia and Rolando in Book II of this series, Meeting the Menace, and we see them also in First Kisses?, then we see Sylvia in A Rather Hostile Takeover. We don't see Rolando in ARHT, but he should appear in most, if not all, of the remaining volumes of this series, Lord willing, as should Sylvia, I think.
With no further ado, I now give you the next chapter of Operation Cocoon One, folks. TUS out.
In The Underground Caverns Near The Inn
Edo, Japan, Earth
June 19, 987
After everyone eventually woke up again in their respective rooms of the inn, and they'd all had their breakfasts, Serena soon asked Darien if he thought it'd actually be all right for her and the rest of her female companions to go to the underground caverns that Destiny, Bethany, Solomon, and Renaldo had earlier found. Prince Darien soon said, "I really don't know, Serena. What would your mother probably say if I let you do so without a suitable escort?"
"She might not like it, Prince Darien."
"So why should I let you do so without an escort of the rest of us, then, Serena?"
"Because I really want this to be a day just between me and the rest of my royal Court's members who are now here. At least for a little while, if not for the rest of the day, Prince Darien."
"What if you happen to get in trouble, and we're not around to help you out as much as we can?" asked Greg.
"Well, Greg, you all know that we're Sailor Scouts here, I know. And I think that we can handle pretty much any trouble that might come our way while we're away from you guys for at least a little while. Or at least I hope that we can, of course, Greg."
"You may be Sailor Scouts, as you say. But that doesn't mean that you might be able to stay out of trouble here, for sure, does it, Serena?"
"Maybe not. But I still think that we need to have at least a few hours to ourselves, if at all possible, today, Greg. Besides, I suspect that you'll all want to do some things that require us to leave you alone for a time, in any case at all here."
"When do you expect to be back here then, if we let you girls have some time alone with each other today, Serena?" asked Darien.
"Would 9 pm or so, local time, seem reasonable enough for you, at the very latest, Prince Darien?"
"Fine. But if you're not back by 9:30 pm local time, then we'll come looking for you all, Serena."
"Fair enough, Darien."
Then the group split into two smaller groups, not too long afterward. Even though all of the boys were quite worried that something might happen to the girls that they couldn't handle well enough on the current date, they soon let the girls do what they wished to do on it.
Eventually, then, all the girls left the inn with all the necessary things for the caverns that Destiny, Bethany, Solomon, and Renaldo had found a day or two before. They rode there with their horses, of course. And they soon entered the central large open area with each other.
When they did so, Destiny said, "I think that we should transform into our respective Sailor Scout states of being for at least a little while now, Serena." She said this after they were all off their current horses, in fact. Bethany and Destiny had actually ridden the very same horse there, in fact, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
"Why do you think that, Destiny?" asked Serena.
"Because I think that I would like to explore this area for myself with my eyes. And I think that Bethany might want to hear us talking with each other, for at least a little while, if at all possible."
"Because you're normally blind, and she's normally deaf," said Serena.
"Correct, Serena. You know that we can both see and hear whenever we're in our respective Sailor Scout states of being. And now might be a good time for us to be able to talk to each other without having to rely on sign language, for example, Serena."
"Fine, Destiny. We'll transform, then, if you really want us all to do that here."
"Thank you, Serena."
"Let's do it, then, before I change my mind, everyone," said Serena.
No more than another minute or two later, then, all seven of the girls were no longer just Princesses from the Moon Kingdom, they all were also Junior Sailor Scouts, in fact. And they all were in each of their own current Sailor Scout uniforms, as well.
Moon was in the approximate middle of a circle of Sailor Scouts when each of them again appeared to each other in their respective Sailor Scout states of being. No matter what each of those particular Scout states of being might actually be, they were in each of them, when they again appeared to each other in them all.
Serena was Junior Sailor Moon, Amy was Junior Sailor Mercury, Raye was Junior Sailor Mars, Lita was Junior Sailor Jupiter, Mina was Junior Sailor Venus, Destiny was Junior Sailor Corona, and Bethany was Junior Sailor Eclipse, when they all appeared to each other again in that area. Mercury was between Mars and Eclipse, with Mars being on her right. Mars had Jupiter on her right, while Jupiter then had Venus to her own right. Venus was between Jupiter and Corona, while Eclipse was between Corona and Mercury. Moon was actually facing a point behind both Eclipse and Corona, when everyone else saw her again in the circle. Her six Scout companions were all facing to the inside of the circle as well, in fact, when she saw them all again around her.
Not too long afterward, then, they began exploring all around the area as much as they could do so, whether or not they did so on their horses, for at least a little while, if not a long while. While they were doing so, they were quite suddenly surprised by the quite-unexpected presences of Junior Sailor Skyhorse and Prince Rolando in one of the nearby caverns they were then exploring to at least some degree.
The first of the Scouts to encounter Skyhorse and Rolando in one of those caverns was Serena. And she was quite obviously rather surprised when she did so, of course. She didn't yell, but she did talk louder than she might normally talk in her life, just the same, when she saw them both on two horses.
Moon exclaimed rather loudly, after seeing them both well enough at the current time here, "Skyhorse, it's so good to see you both again for the first time in at least a little while!"
"Don't talk so loudly, Moon. You don't want to bring these caverns' ceilings down on top of us, do you?"
"No, of course, I don't. But I still wasn't expecting to see you again like this, just the same, Skyhorse."
"Maybe not, but neither were Rolando and I, in fact, Moon."
"I suppose not, Skyhorse."
Rolando then asked, "Moon, are you alone in these caverns, by any chance at all?"
"No, I'm not, Rolando."
Skyhorse then asked, "How are your fellow Scouts?"
"As well as can be expected, at least, Skyhorse."
"Who else is with you right now, if I may ask you this here, Moon?" asked Skyhorse.
"Junior Sailors Corona, Eclipse, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, at least, Skyhorse," answered Moon.
"I see. And the other Scouts?"
"We've not seen them for a little while, at least, Skyhorse."
"I see. Is Queen Serenity here as well?"
"No, I can't say that she is, Rolando," replied Moon.
"Oh, well. Maybe we can see her again some other time, then, Moon."
A little while later, then, Skyhorse, Moon, and Rolando joined the rest of the Sailor Scouts who were now here. When they did so, several of the Sailor Scouts were quite happy indeed.
Including, in fact, Corona and Eclipse, who'd actually been thinking of the two people that Moon had just encountered elsewhere in the caverns quite a bit of late. Most especially of Junior Sailor Skyhorse, who was also actually Princess Sylvia Wakefield from Jerusalem in Israel, elsewhere on Earth.
Some time later, then, after all eight of the now-present Scouts trained with each other in the appropriate caverns as they saw fit, they and Rolando eventually began returning to the necessary inn elsewhere in the Edo area of Japan. And they all got there by no later than about 8:40 pm or so local time, as well. By the time that they all did so, then, the nine males from their actual traveling party were already getting their horses ready for the rest of the night. For they'd arrived back at the inn at about 8:20 pm or so.
By 9:05 pm local time, all the girls and Rolando had begun preparing their horses for the rest of the night, just as their nine friends were finishing their horses up at the same time. Within another fifteen or so minutes more, all of their horses were taken care well enough as well. This was because Sylvia quite adeptly helped the rest of her current companions take care of all their horses as needed. That was only if the need arose for her to do so at all, of course, before they all eventually went inside the inn for at least a little while, if not the rest of the night.
By 10:30 pm local time, then, Serena and the rest of her companions were all quite cleaned up and they were eating their suppers with each other, if they'd not already begun doing so here. Those companions included not only all the girls, but also Darien, Isaiah, Rolando, and all of the non-Terran male members of their current traveling party.
When Darien saw Rolando, he soon asked, "Rolando, how are you and the rest of your family's members doing of late?"
"They're all doing okay, at least, as of the time being, Darien. And so am I. This is only my second time in Japan, I believe. And I think the same thing's true as well for Sylvia, at least, if nobody else as well here."
"I've actually been to Japan more than once before, in fact, Rolando," said Sylvia. "If my math is sufficiently correct here, I've been to Japan at least three or four other times in my life, Rolando. But I don't really expect that it'll be the last time that either of us will be here for a sufficient enough length of time, for some reason or reasons that I can't currently explain well enough, I think."
"How are your horses doing, Sylvia, back in Israel?" asked Amy.
"Moonlight Serenade and Princess Caralina have been paired up with each other. I hope that they'll be able to produce at least a few good horses with each other, eventually, of course, Amy."
"But you might not know that well enough for at least a little while yet, of course, Sylvia?" asked Raye.
"Yes, I believe that might actually prove to be the case here, Raye."
"Why is that, if I may ask you this here, Sylvia?" asked Raye.
"Because, Raye, it normally takes about eleven or so months for horses to foal after they're known to have offspring inside of them, if I'm not too mistaken about such things here. I've been around horses quite a bit in my life whenever possible. And I've gotten to know quite a bit about them, because of that fact. I really like being around horses. And I'm already a quite experienced rider on them, Raye. I enjoy horses very much. And I don't think that I'd mind actually becoming a horse doctor, if at all possible, sometime yet in the future. Supposing that I can be, either in this time period or in another one, in fact."
"So if I understand you correctly enough, then, Sylvia, you don't expect Princess Caralina to drop her foals before about May or June of next year, no matter how many of them there are then."
"Correct, Raye. I am hoping, however, that if and when she does drop at least one of them, that at least one of them will have one or more of our Scout colors on them. This is for all the obvious reasons, as you might all expect, if you knew me well enough in your lives. Which I think that you all do, in fact."
Sylvia conversed at least a little while longer with her current companions, before they all finally finished their meals, and began retiring for the rest of the night. Sylvia would be sleeping in the same room as Lita and Raye, most likely, at least as long as she and everyone else was still basing themselves out of the inn, in fact.
Rolando wouldn't be doing that, for all the obvious reasons. But he'd still be staying in Darien and Isaiah's room, at least at the current time, if not for as long as they were all still in Japan. He didn't know how long it would be that he'd be doing that yet. But it was a virtual certainty that he'd eventually do that, because it really wasn't all that likely that he'd be having to spend the rest of his own mortal life in Japan. Unless something that was still quite unexpected happened to him in the meantime to prevent it, he'd leave Japan at least once more in his mortal life, if not more than once in it.
So now Sylvia and Rolando are with their Moon Kingdom friends and Prince Darien again. Now that they're in Japan, things should start picking up very soon for everyone. But there's still quite a lot of this story to tell, everyone, for sure.
There will be some discussions in the next chapter between certain characters, mainly. And perhaps even a little romance between two of them, where possible and appropriate. Who and where, you'll just have to wait and see, though, for sure. There will even be a bit of girl talk present in it, for that matter.
Until the next chapter, then, I'll close this. TUS out.