Chapter Fifteen
The following Thursday, Sylvia was with several of her friends outside of school, and shopping at the mall that she'd first encountered Rolando out. With her at the time were Kiena, Mary, Tatiana, Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley. They were shopping for formal dresses that they could possibly wear to assorted holiday-related events in the area, in fact.
As they were shopping for said dresses, they happened to encounter Rolando. When they did so, Rolando was heading in the direction of the store where he'd bought some ship models about three months ago during one of Sylvia's previous trips to the mall. It was now just about 5:30 pm local time, for that matter. Kiena eventually asked him, "Are you looking for more ship models to buy, perhaps, Mr. Volois?"
"As a matter of fact, I am, Miss Jacano. But not necessarily for myself this time. It seems a penpal of mine from another country wants me to send them some specific ship models that they can't currently find in their country, if at all possible. So I'm looking for such models around here at the present time."
"Are these very special ship models, Mr. Volois?" asked Sylvia.
"As a matter of fact, they are. Not many of them are available at the present time. And as far as I know, they're only available in Israel."
"Why is that?" asked Tatiana.
"It seems to me that's the case because they're specially made by someone here in Israel, as far as I know currently, Miss Tereshkova."
"What kind of ships are you looking for this time?" asked Liz.
"Starships at least a bit similar to, if not entirely like, ones on Star Trek: The Next Generation, with some considerable touches of influence from assorted other science-fiction series. It seems these models are from an original class of starships that isn't entirely part of any known science fiction series on television or in the movies, Miss McCall. And it seems at least a few people are aware of this particular class of starships, including at least one of my penpals, as I've just told you all here well enough."
The ladies considered everything that he'd just told them here for a little while, and then Sonja asked, "Do you personally happen to know the maker of these ship models, by any chance at all, Mr. Volois?"
"No, but for some yet-unknown reason, I think that I'll eventually meet them someday, Miss Darram."
The nine of them spent at least an hour or so with each other, until Rolando eventually said, "I suppose I'll have to catch you all later. I just remembered something that I forgot to attend to elsewhere."
"Before you go, Mr. Volois, then, I have a question for you, if I may," said Sylvia.
"Oh? And what is that question?"
"Would you possibly be interested in attending a party several of my friends and I are in the process of setting up in the area around here?"
"When might this party be? And where, Miss Wakefield?"
"We don't know just where yet, and when, in fact. But we're still working on that sort of thing, just the same, Mr. Volois."
"I'll consider it. But if you might want me to possibly attend it, you'll probably need to let me know by this time next Thursday. My schedule is starting to fill up somewhat quickly of late, it seems to me here and now, Miss Wakefield."
"All right. I'll try to do that for you just as soon as I can give you exact enough details about such a thing later on, Mr. Volois."
With a brief nod at each of the now-present ladies, and especially at Sylvia, without any of the young women realizing it at the current time, he then wished them well for the rest of the current evening and/or night. After doing that, he soon melted into the crowd of shoppers now in the mall here.
After he was far enough out of sight for all eight young women, Sylvia said, all of a sudden, "I'm marrying him someday, God willing, ladies."
Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley were startled when they heard her say that, and Leila asked, "What brings that idea on here, Sylvia?"
"I don't really know, Leila. I still suspect, though, that I eventually will be doing that for some reason, God willing. What that reason might be, I just don't know yet, if I ever will know that well enough. I hope I'll find that reason out eventually in my life, of course."
The young women stayed together with each other until just after 7:10 pm, when Liz, Leila, Sonja, and Ashley parted from the others, so that they could attend to certain other things they then had to do in their respective lives. That soon left just Sylvia, Kiena, Tatiana, and Mary alone with each other in the area of the mall.
All of a sudden, three lockets began beeping all of a sudden for Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary. They soon asked Tatiana, "Could you wait here for at least a little while? We'd like to freshen ourselves up a little bit here before we eat supper out with you, if we may. Can we go do that right now?" They asked her this as they passed a bookstore in the mall that primarily sold paperback novels in it, and once they realized they were being paged sufficiently well, in fact.
"Sure, girls. Do what you have to do, if you feel you must. I'll be right here, for as long as I can be. Please try to hurry back to here, if at all possible, once you get done taking care of yourself in the required manners elsewhere."
Two minutes later, then, Mary, Sylvia, and Kiena went to the nearest ladies' restroom in the mall. As soon as it was completely cleared of civilians, and as soon as the surrounding area around that restroom was too, the three of them powered up into their respective Scout states.
A minute or two after doing that, they all left the restroom behind without encountering anyone else as they did so. And they did that far enough out of the range of any unaware civilians in the mall, of course, for all the obvious reasons, when they could do so well enough. Even Tatiana, as a matter of fact.
They didn't yet know that their friend Tatiana was secretly the newest Sailor Scout in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. But they'd all eventually come to learn that somehow, if and whenever necessary. They all quickly left the mall behind just as they'd all come to it in their respective civilian states, for that matter.
As soon as they were far enough away from the mall, and in a more secure location, they answered their pages, and learned that there was some trouble arising in the area of Teddy Kollek Stadium. Specifically, it was of a Negaverse nature, and Isaiah notified them of that fact, just as soon as he could do that well enough. He had seen signs of Negaverse activity start to appear in that part of Jerusalem. But the others hadn't had their communication channels completely open, so as to hopefully not attract unnecessary trouble for themselves while they were with Sonja, Liz, Leila, Ashley, and Tatiana, at least, if not anyone else at all. So he'd not been able to get in contact with them immediately after he first tried to communicate with them somehow.
As soon as they heard what was going on, they, of course, set off for the necessary part of Jerusalem, so they could attend to that trouble to the best of their current combined ability to do that. It took them several more minutes to get to the general area of the aforementioned stadium. As soon as the three Scouts were close enough to it, Isaiah and Serenade joined them outside it, once it was safe enough for them to do that here. The five of them conversed for a little while with each other, before splitting up as needed at the current time. Trinity entered the stadium through one gate, Skyhorse and Serenade another, and Renaissance a third. As for Isaiah, he flew over the stadium, and then into it, once it was safe enough for him to do so here.
Minutes later, all the Negaverse monsters, who'd been almost completely invisible up to that time, completely revealed themselves as they then saw fit to do that here. And they began primarily attacking a lead singer of a band then in the middle of a concert there, if not anyone else directly as well. There were five of them, by the way. And they all soon began going after that singer all of a sudden as they completely showed themselves. When certain other people tried to get them to stop doing so, the monsters put nearly everyone then in the stadium to sleep, in a manner of speaking. Even the concert-goers, in fact.
As they were primarily attacking the blonde-haired lead singer, Skyhorse gave a signal to Renaissance, who was in a tunnel leading to the main field area of the stadium, to get the monsters' attention here well enough. Renaissance began shooting arrows toward them in sufficient numbers to interrupt their current attack on that lead singer. As she did that, Sky and Trinity got even closer to the concert stage where the attack had temporarily stopped, due to Ren's firing of about two dozen arrows in very short order.
When they were close enough for the monsters to see them well enough, at least for the moment, and Serenade was sufficiently safe here as well, Skyhorse said, "Stop right there, monsters from the Pit! You have attacked a singer who wanted to provide a good night's entertainment to many people here. For that, you shall not be forgiven, as sure as we serve the Most High God of the Universe! I am Sailor Skyhorse, leader of the Sailor Scouts! And these are my fellow Scouts who will punish you for what you have now just done to many innocent people here! Especially to this young girl who only wanted to provide wholesome musical entertainment to everyone else here! Prepare to meet your deaths, all of you who would seek to destroy the music of innocent souls in this world of ours! Please introduce yourselves to our soon-to-be-unfortunate enemies, girls!" Skyhorse was standing on top of a small platform about fifty feet away from the monster closest to her. A slingshot was in her right hand, a shield was on her left arm, and her sword was still in its scabbard as it hung from her left hip, near a sack of several stones that she'd found just outside the stadium here.
"I am Sailor Renaissance, Sailor of Spirit and Soul's Rebirth!" shouted Renaissance, as she prepared to nock another arrow where needed here, while still about a hundred feet away from the nearest monster to her, for that matter. She was in a different direction from her fellow Scouts here, of course.
"Sailor Trinity, Sailor of Inspiration!" She held a few scorecards between the fingers of her left hand, and her sword in her right hand, as she prepared to attack the monsters with them. She was just about fifty feet away from the nearest of the five monsters who were now present in the stadium, in fact. Trinity had found them all in and near assorted seats of the now-sleeping people in the stadium as she moved closer to the five monsters then on the concert's main stage platform. When she picked them up, all of their edges became quite sharp, where necessary. The scorecards between her fingers also stiffened at least a little bit, if not a lot, so that she might be able to use them as improvised ranged weapons of some sort in the battle she was about to fight in here.
Three of the five monsters shouted, essentially as one, including the leader, "We aren't afraid of babies. Bow to our all-powerful Satan and our Queens Beryl and Metallia, and we may spare you all!"
"Never shall we bow to evil! All your leaders will be destroyed, when the proper times for them to be arrive for each of them as needed! And as for you all, you will pay for what you have done, by God's Holy Light!" shouted Skyhorse. She was almost instantly agreed with in similar words by the Scouts then with her here, in fact.
The monsters began to split up, in hopes of taking on the Scouts as best as they could at the current time. They all dodged a lot of stones, arrows, and scorecards, among other things, whenever they could possibly do that just now. But they all couldn't avoid being hit by at least a few of them apiece, especially after the Pilgrim, Moonlight Serenade, and Isaiah joined them in the fight a little while after the monsters began fighting the Scouts.
While all this was going on, a woman and a dog suddenly sneaked behind where the majority of the main stage platform was, and pulled several now-sleeping people off it, as safely as they could. Including, of course, the lead singer that the monsters had been going after when the Scouts had shown themselves well enough in the stadium. As they did that, the Scouts and their allies were finding that the battle was proving to be quite difficult for them all here, in fact.
The woman and the dog brought the people from the stage area to the nearest safe enough place elsewhere in the stadium, and then the woman said, "Please watch over all of these people, Vladephrad. It seems I'll actually have to help out the other Scouts and their allies here for a while. Say nothing to them using human speech, under any circumstances whatsoever. I'll rejoin you here just as soon as I can, of course. Remember, don't speak to them in human speech, if you must talk to them."
"Obviously, Tatiana. May the Prince of Peace protect you in the battle, then."
"I'm sure that He will, Vladephrad. Guard these people with your life, if you must."
"Understood." Without another word from him to her, or vice versa, she departed from a storeroom of some sort, and ducked into the nearest unoccupied ladies' restroom. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. Once she was sure she was sufficiently alone in the area of that restroom, she powered up, and became Sailor Mir for the second time in her life.
Two minutes or less after doing that, she was near the concert's main stage platform again. She soon introduced herself, after showing herself to the monsters, the Scouts, and their allies here well enough. She said, "I am Sailor Mir, Sailor of Peace. For wreaking havoc in this place, and trying to steal peace from the people here, you shall never be forgiven! As sure as I serve the Prince of Peace, you'll all be punished! Prepare to join your false leaders in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, eventually, for all Eternity yet to come! Bear Claw Phasing Strike!"
Several volleys of her Bear Claw Phasing Strike attack later, all but one of the monsters was completely incapacitated or undeniably killed by her with them. In fact, those four monsters were completely vaporized into mere dust. For Mir had unknowingly unleashed particularly strong volleys of her attack against them. The leader, however, was too strong for her to kill or totally incapacitate here. But she managed to weaken it at least enough to perhaps allow Skyhorse to finish off it very soon here. She soon shouted, along with the Pilgrim, rather unexpectedly, for he'd stuck around the immediate area for a little longer than he usually would during a typical battle, "Skyhorse, you should be able to take care of the rest of this battle now. Do your righteous duty, and destroy this demon for the glory of God above! She will not survive, once you do so!"
Skyhorse wasted no further time in complying with the Pilgrim and Mir's request here, of course. The leader of the monsters tried to get away as best as she could. But she wasn't fast enough to keep Skyhorse from finishing her off. She soon left her unwilling and unknown host's body, once Skyhorse forced her out of it, and turned completely to dust. She was the only one of the five monsters that had taken bodily control of a true human being. While the others had actually been partially cybernetic beings with considerable alien looks to them. And not ones that were necessarily all that humanoid in their respective natures, for that matter.
After every single one of the Negaverse-related monsters was no more, the concert-goers and many other people anywhere in the stadium began to stir at least a little bit, if not a lot. For their previously-stolen energy was beginning to return to them here. As soon as the Scouts and their allies realized that well enough, they hastily withdrew from the area where the battle had just taken place, repairing any damage they possibly could even while still doing that. And they did that even as they all ran for what they hoped would prove to be quite sufficient amounts of cover just as quickly as they could. Except for Isaiah, of course, who could then fly out of the stadium here, for all of the obvious reasons.
Five minutes or so later, then, Serenade, Isaiah, and the Pilgrim were far enough away from Teddy Kollek Stadium, and not necessarily together, for that matter. As for Mir and the rest of the Scouts, starting at about five minutes or so after the Scouts' allies left them alone again, they each made their ways back to the mall using four different routes to it. That was so as not to arouse undue suspicion, if they could all possibly avoid it, for anyone then around them while they were still doing so here. Mir was the last of the four Scouts to leave the stadium area behind again. And that was for the simple reason that she eventually had to liberate Vladephrad from where he was at, of course.
After they were all far enough away from the stadium, and it was quite safe enough for them each to do so, they powered down to their respective civilian states of being. They eventually rejoined each other where Sylvia, Kiena, and Mary had left Tatiana alone in the mall earlier. It was nearly 9:45 pm by the time they all did that here. Tatiana was sitting just where they'd left her earlier when they came back to her, freshened up as best as they then could be here, in fact.
The four of them conversed with each other for a little while as they made their way to a pizza place in the mall that they'd all never been to before. After they all had ordered some small pizzas for themselves, among other things, Sylvia eventually noticed something in Tatiana's hair that she'd not actually seen before. She asked, "What's that in your hair now, Tatiana?"
"It's a flower from something called a 'minstrel plant,' it seems, Sylvia. Sergei gave it to me this afternoon, in fact. He said he'd found it at a store near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, if I remember what he told me well enough here. He said that he'd never actually seen a plant like the one that this flower is from before. And Sergei thought I might possibly be interested in something that might be quite unusual in its nature." Tatiana took it out from over her left ear near her temple, and began showing it to all three of her companions.
"Who sold it to him, Tatiana?" asked Kiena, as she cautiously studied the flower that was then in Tatiana's left hand here without physically touching it at all.
"It seems that the owner of the store where he bought it at this morning told him that it possibly came from somewhere in Scotland, and that it was a very rare kind of plant, as far as he then knew, Kiena."
"And has it been known of for very long by that owner?" asked Mary.
"No, as a matter of fact, he only learned of plants like it two days ago, Mary. The person he got it, and about another thirty or forty like plants, from, at that particular time, seemed to be a middle-aged woman with silvery hair. That's according to the second-hand account of that meeting between the owner and the woman that I got from Sergei when he gave me this plant here, of course."
The young women discussed other things besides the flower, of course, as they had their suppers with each other. Eventually, though, it was starting to get rather late for them all. So they wound up things for themselves just as quickly as they could here, of course. They eventually parted from each other around 10:30 pm local time. After which they began returning to their residences for the rest of the night, for the obvious reasons. Especially Mary, in fact.
On the way home for Sylvia, she checked on Serenade for at least a little while. By the time that she did so, Serenade was almost settled in for the rest of the night. That was largely, if not entirely, thanks to some quite excellent care at the hands of Reuben and Timothy here. She took over the rest of the necessary details for his care prior to his bedtime, in very short order, once she was sufficiently present again on Sweet Musicalisti's grounds. And she finished all of them not too much later, in fact.
Once it was safe enough for her to talk to Serenade at considerable enough length, she did so, and they basically discussed how their most recent battles had gone for them here in the Jerusalem area. They discussed those battles for a little while, at least, before Sylvia eventually began to show signs of considerable tiredness around him. Serenade soon said, "Sylvia, you should probably go home, and get some sleep. You really had to work hard during the last two battles, it seems to me here."
"Perhaps you're right. And perhaps a bit of shopping has also worn me out at least a little bit, if not a lot, for that matter."
"Why do you people often have to shop so much in your lives?"
"Because there are things that we need to have at certain times in our lives, Serenade. You're unfortunately not human. So it's probably quite hard for you to understand us humans well enough at times, I'm sure."
They talked for only a little while longer with each other, until about 11:15 or so, more or less. After they did that long enough to suit them both well enough while they were sufficiently able to do so, and sufficiently willing to do so, here, he wished her a good night, and she did the same. Minutes later, then, she was heading away from Sweet Musicalisti and back to Wakefield Castle. She arrived there again by 11:45 or so, at the very latest. And then she went to her room just as soon as she could do that here. As soon as she changed into her desired sleepwear, she headed straight for her bed, and hit it a few very brief moments later. She was quite soundly asleep again about two minutes after her head hit her pillow. And she was lost in more unplanned dreams of the past that she was once part of during the Silver Millennium.
The following day, as was often the case after a battle for the Scouts, the Jerusalem Post reported on the Scouts' latest battle. It was now early in the morning of Friday, December 14, 1990. People were now wondering just who the newest Scout to be seen in the area was, and why they'd just appeared here, in opposition to the most recent Negaverse monsters to show up in the local area. Nobody, not even the other better-known Scouts, yet knew who she was in her civilian state. Except for, of course, her dog Vladephrad, for the obvious reasons. Nephlyte, in fact, was responsible, at least partly, if not entirely, for their presences in the local area.
He now was mainly using the name of Haron Sansiri in his assorted dealings all around the area. But he also had used certain other aliases in order to hopefully throw others who might now be hunting him off their tracks, whenever he saw fit to use them in the area, in fact. At least in terms of figuring out where he'd been and where he was likely to cause trouble again in the area, anyway. That was if they actually happened to suspect that he might have been behind any or all of those assorted Negaverse-related attacks in the area, of course.
He'd actually unleashed all the Negaverse-related monsters in the area since taking over the Negaverse's operations in the Jerusalem area of Israel. However, nobody had yet sufficiently tied him to any of them, most likely. They had their suspicions about the monsters' creator and controller, by the way, but they didn't yet know for sure if he'd been behind any or all of them at all, in fact.
Sylvia was then with both of her parents and all her siblings, having breakfast with them all before they'd each have to be about their required business elsewhere in the local area. Her father soon asked, "Why are these Scouts and monsters often fighting here in the local area, Sylvia, in your opinion?"
Sylvia thought for a few moments in relative silence, as she had some cereal for herself, among other things. After doing that for a little while, she then said, "Perhaps these monsters and their controllers are looking for someone or something. And the Scouts are trying to keep them from getting whatever or whoever they might be in search of, Dad."
"Well, there's got to be something somebody can do to keep them from wreaking havoc in the area, Sylvia."
"The Scouts are doing whatever they can to keep them from doing that, whenever the police and the IDF can't do that well enough at all."
"What makes you think that, Sylvia?" asked her mother.
"Just a feeling, you might say, Mother. What's generally happened when the Scouts have fought such beings, as far as you know?"
"The Scouts have generally won, haven't they?" asked Esther.
"Yes, you could say that, Mother, based on what we might all know of related things and people here so far. But from what I've actually heard around the local area, it seems that they've not always been able to do it fairly easily, whenever they've had to fight. I do get around the area to at least some degree, you know."
Ulysses asked, "Do you think you could get the Scouts' autographs from them if you have the chance to meet them someday?"
"I'll see what I can do, Uly. But I can't make any promises, other than that, in relation to your request here, for they often disappear right after a battle. And wherever they might go, it's obviously quite secret in its nature, from what I've heard about them before."
"I understand, I think. You don't want to try to get them for me, Sylvia."
"That's not necessarily so, Uly. It's just that it's almost totally impossible to be with them long enough to get their autographs, if they don't really want to be seen anywhere. Otherwise, I suppose they wouldn't mind perhaps giving their autographs to other people, if at all possible."
Rebecca said, "It seems like you're quite familiar with them. I wonder why."
"I actually have begun to try to learn as much as I possibly can about them at present, Rebecca. However, getting to actually know enough about them has often proven much harder for me to do than I've wanted it to be for myself, at least, if not others as well." Which, in fact, was entirely true for her. Just how true it was, though, only she and God truly knew in her life, of course. She already had learned much about them in the past, was learning much about them currently, and was expecting to learn a lot more about them in the future, if at all possible. But she couldn't necessarily say that in front of the rest of her family here, for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough.
Martha said, "I wonder if you're friends with them, in fact, Sylvia."
Sylvia thought, "If you only knew, Martha. If you only knew." However, she couldn't say that here to her sister Martha. She asked, "How can we be friends if we've never met each other, Martha? In order for a person to actually be friends with someone else, doesn't a person generally have to meet another person face-to-face? And have you known any of the Scouts to have met me or any of my friends before, by any chance?"
"No, I suppose not, Sylvia. But you do have to admit, several of the Scouts seem to often look a lot like assorted friends of yours, for some reason."
"Maybe so. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they might know each other, does it, Martha? I really don't think it does here, in fact."
"True enough, I suppose." Eventually Martha and the rest of her family's members then eating breakfast with each other went about their business, whatever it might be, on the current day. Including, of course, Sylvia.
Some time later, Rolando and Sylvia met up with each other in the cafeteria, and with several other friends of theirs. It was their lunch period when they were able to do that well enough here, by the way. They encountered each other and their respective friends in the lunch line while they were waiting for their lunches to be given to them by the necessary people near them here.
After they and their friends found a table where they could all eat with each other in the cafeteria, Rolando soon asked, "Miss Wakefield, are you still serious about wanting me to possibly attend the party you mentioned to me yesterday?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am, Mr. Volois. It seems there are several of us who might not actually have dates to it, for that matter."
"And are you one of those girls, by any chance, Miss Wakefield?"
"Sure I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't likely have asked you if you were possibly interested in such a party as we're trying to set up now for later, Mr. Volois."
"In that case, I don't think I'd be totally opposed to the idea of going with you to that party, if it's not where you live here in the Jerusalem area. Who else might need dates to that party, by any chance, Miss Wakefield?"
"I don't know for sure, in fact, Mr. Volois."
Leila passed by, en route to get a drink of water from a fountain elsewhere in the cafeteria, "I don't have a date in mind currently for that party, for instance."
"Is that so, Miss Kisbell?" said James Selannis.
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Selannis, it is. Why do you ask?"
"It seems I don't have any planned dates to any holiday parties within the next two weeks or so, if I remember correctly enough. And it'd be a shame to see that dress you purchased for use at one, or more than one, party have to wait to be used, if it could possibly be avoided at all, right, Miss Kisbell?"
"How do you know about that, Mr. Selannis?" asked Leila.
"Rolando told me that Miss Wakefield and a good number of her friends were shopping for dresses a little while ago. And you were one of the assorted young women he mentioned when he told me that earlier."
"I see. And are you offering to be a date for me if I were to go to at least one holiday party in the next two or so weeks, by any chance, Mr. Selannis?"
"As a matter of fact, I am, if that's all right with you." James winked at Leila here, hiding his eyes from everyone else's view briefly as he did so here. She saw his wink, and covered her mouth briefly with her right hand as she glanced at him in return.
"Well, I'm not quite as dark-skinned as you are, it seems to me, Mr. Selannis."
"That might be true, but I don't think it is wrong for people of considerably different skin tones to date, if they want to, Miss Kisbell."
"You don't, Mr. Selannis?"
"I don't believe in racial segregation. I think it's not right in this world to keep people from associating with each other if they don't want to stay away from each other, under normal enough circumstances, Miss Kisbell. Of course, sometimes people might want or need to be isolated from each other in this world. But considering the way the world is now, that's often very hard to do, for the obvious reasons, I'm sure."
James and his current companions conversed at least a little while with each other, before they all had to leave the cafeteria again for their respective classes elsewhere on DBJHS's school grounds. But several of them agreed to try to meet each other again, if and whenever possible, in the future, by the way. Including James and Leila, for that matter.
Little did anyone else yet know it, if they ever would know it. But James and Leila might have just started a relationship that could eventually lead them to the altar. It was yet to be seen if that'd ultimately prove to be the case, if they just had done that here, of course.
At least a few hours later, then, Rolando and Sylvia encountered each other in the library where they'd each learned at least a little bit about both their families about three months earlier. And they were each looking for several books they could check out for themselves there. Rolando was already there, in fact, when she arrived there after patrolling with Renaissance and Trinity in the local area for a while.
When she encountered him in the library again, she said, "This is a surprise, Mr. Volois, to see you here right now."
"Are we in school?"
"No, I suppose not."
"Then call me Rolando, if we're not there, and attending school at that time."
"Like we did in the restaurant/arcade several weeks ago, if I remember correctly enough?"
"Of course, Sylvia."
"As you wish. It seems that James is at least a little interested in my friend Leila. Why might that be?" She indicated that she wanted several books on shelves then out of her reach.
"I really don't know," answered Rolando, as he pulled a few books off upper shelves for her near them both at the current time, as were then needed by her here. After he did that, he handed her those books. She thanked him at least a little bit here, after he did that for her.
"No problem, Sylvia."
"Do you have a girlfriend at the current time?"
"I've never had one before. What about you?"
"Of course not. You do mean, 'Have I a boyfriend at the current time?' don't you?"
"Sorry, my mistake. Oops. That's what I meant, in fact."
"No problem, Rolando. No, I've never actually had one before. Though I think that the Pilgrim I've been hearing a lot about over the last few months seems to be rather cute, at least, if not more than that, if I remember things well enough in my life. From what I've heard, Sailor Skyhorse, whoever she might be, also seems to be at least a little bit interested in him as well."
"Do either of you seem to be interested in him as a possible boyfriend for yourselves in the future, as far as you can currently tell in your lives?"
"I'm not, at least. But I'd not be surprised if it ever happens to be the case, in fact."
"I see. And if she wins him over you?"
"Then so be it. But I don't think she will, for some yet-unknown reason."
The two of them talked for a while with each other, as they spent time browsing and reading in the library together. As time went on, Rolando unexpectedly began studying her at some length.
He studied her for a while as she continued to read one of the books that he'd gotten for her. As he did so, she eventually noticed that he was doing so here. She soon asked, "Why are you studying me right now, Rolando?"
He looked her in the eyes, and then said, "It seems that I've just gotten this feeling that we might be meant for each other in our lives. I don't know why, but I've just gotten this feeling here, at least for the first time, if never before, in my life."
"And do you like this feeling, or not?"
"It's at least okay, I think. If not better than that. I don't know yet if I'd be opposed to the idea too much, in actual reality, though, Sylvia."
"And if we did get married, hypothetically speaking, where would we live?"
"Perhaps in Scotland, if the need or desire arose for us to do so in our lives, I'm sure."
"I don't think I want to live that far away from home if I don't have to, Rolando."
"Well, what if God saw fit for us to be there with each other, somehow?"
"Then so be it. But I'd really prefer to stay in the Promised Land for the majority, if not all, of the rest of my life, I think, Rolando."
"The Promised Land being Israel?"
"Of course. I love my nation. Even if the majority of the rest of the world doesn't really seem to love it very much, if at all, I still do." The time for them both here was now just about 7:55 pm local time, in fact.
"I see. Scotland is much the same way for me, you might say. But since a good portion, if not all, of my family is here now, I'm here, Sylvia. In just a few more years, at most, I might be elsewhere. But for now, at least, I'm here. I don't know how much longer I'll be staying here in Israel, of course. It could be just a few years, or it could be for the rest of my mortal life. Only God knows for sure, for the obvious reasons."
They both then spent most of the next twenty or so minutes reading near each other in relative silence here. Eventually, around 8:15 pm or so, Rolando felt he'd been in the library long enough at the current time. So he soon parted from her there. He eventually left the entire library behind again at around 8:30 pm local time. She didn't see him again for the rest of the current night, after he did that here.
She left the entire library behind again herself about half an hour after he did. And then she headed to Sweet Musicalisti for a little while to spend a little time with Moonlight Serenade again before returning home for the rest of the night. Sylvia eventually left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again sometime around 10 pm local time, at the very latest.
Sylvia spent a little time after leaving Sweet Musicalisti's grounds picking up things for the rest of her family that they then needed or wanted her to get for them. Supposing, of course, that she'd not already done so by the time that she left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds again. She arrived back at Wakefield Castle just before 10:45 pm local time, and she was in her bedroom again by 11 pm. She stayed there for the rest of the night, generally, before retiring to her bed by local midnight. Ten minutes after retiring to her bed, then, she was quite soundly asleep again in it, and lost in more dreams of the past that she'd once been part of, long before.