Chapter Nineteen

New Year's Eve, Sylvia encountered Rolando again. He was at PPP with his friend James. They were having a lunch with each other when she showed up there. In fact, they were both in the process of consuming a three-cheese pizza as they were discussing their hopes for the next calendar years of their lives.

The first thing she heard when she was close enough to their table to hear them well enough was, "James, I wonder when Sylvia's birthday is. I think it would be real nice to be able to get her something for it, if I knew when it was."

Sylvia suddenly reached into a purse that she was now carrying, and whipped out a pen and a pad of paper. She quickly jotted her birthdate down on a sheet of that paper and secretly slipped it behind his head inside a strap for it as she passed him. Neither James nor Rolando saw her pass or slip that paper under Rolando's hat, for their attentions were fully on the remaining slices of pizza between them both now.

Ten seconds after that, after she was hidden somewhat in the crowd of PPP's patrons, Rolando felt the slip of paper behind his head well enough. He picked it out from where she'd put it, then looked at it. She'd written, "January 25, 1974. SLW."

After viewing that slip for a few moments, and seeing several hastily-sketched stylized hearts around her date and initials, he said, "It seems she has a thing for romance beginning to awaken in her, for there are several hearts here, James."

"Really?" asked James.

Rolando showed him the paper briefly, and James said, "You might just be right. From the looks of those hearts, it appears she's begun looking for the boy or man who will be her first, if not only, true love in her life."

"And who do you think that she might be considering as such?"

"From the looks of these hearts, and if I were a betting man, which I'm generally not, my Shekels would be on you or the Pilgrim, whoever they may be. For her letters seem to look at least a little, if not a lot, like letters often looked during the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East. At least from what I can tell of them well enough at present."

"Why do you say me?" asked Rolando, between two bites of pizza.

"Because if she weren't considering you as such, she wouldn't likely have surrounded her birthdate and initials with hearts. The logical reason for her considering the Pilgrim as a possible love interest has already been given to you by me here, Rolando." He handed back the paper to Rolando seconds later.

Eventually, James left PPP, for he had other things he needed or wanted to do in his life at the present time. Rolando wished him a safe rest of the day and a pleasant night wherever he might go for the rest of AD 1990. Not too much later, then, James left Rolando again in PPP.

Sylvia quickly finished some apple juice and lasagna she'd ordered for herself not long after coming to PPP about an hour before. She took care of her bill, and left a good tip for her waitress, before she joined Rolando at his table here. She sat down across from him at it, and soon asked, "How are you today, Rolando?"

"Fine, Sylvia. And you?"

"Things could be better. I'm getting rather tired of all these alien and terrorist attacks here in Israel, though."

"Why is that?"

"Because this land was given to our people by God so long ago, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that's why."

"That's not what a lot of the Arabs seem to think."

"True. They also often call our land 'The Land of Palestine' or similar enough names to that. And they often call themselves 'Palestinians,' Rolando, when there have never truly been an independent state of 'Palestine' or a distinct people known as 'Palestinians.' They claim the Land of Israel belongs to them as a homeland. But according to God, it doesn't." Sylvia took out a deck of cards and began playing Solitaire.

"They claim Ishmael was nearly sacrificed by Abraham, right?"

"I believe so. But that can't be true. Either Isaac was nearly sacrificed, or Ishmael was. Both couldn't have been. Ishmael was the father, I believe, of twelve nations, while Isaac was the father of Jacob, who became Israel, in time."

"Where do they get the terms of 'Palestine' or 'Palestinians,' then, Sylvia?"

"Hadrian called our land 'Palestine' when he changed all the maps of it. He hated the Jew, so he sought to eradicate the names Judea, Samaria, and Israel from the world's history forever. He gave our land the name of 'Palestine' after a long-defeated enemy of our people, the Philistines. Ever since, there have been those who have tried to steal the land from our people, and exterminate God's Chosen People from the Earth." Sylvia played a red 8 on a black 9.

"They often call your people unlawful occupiers of the so-called 'West Bank' and 'Gaza Strip,' don't they?"

"Yes, Rolando, they do. But what they don't seem to realize is that we are here to stay, never to be totally removed from our land again. They will continue to cause trouble until such time as God sees fit to permanently stop their attempts to steal our land so that it no longer exists at all."

"My people referred to this land as 'Palestine,' or 'Transjordan,' I believe, didn't they?" Sylvia finished her current game, and started another.

"Under the League of Nations and the United Nations Mandates, I believe so, Rolando. But our people fought and won our independence in 1948. Later battles allowed us to gain more territory, by the grace of God. Even after we finally reunited Jerusalem's Old and New Cities in 1967, in fact. The hand of God is on our nation, militarily speaking, whenever we seek to do what is right. I have seen, however, attempts to divide our land and give it to those who would seek to destroy us, and I don't like it one bit, to tell you the truth."

"And who might be one of those people, Sylvia?"

"Saddam Hussein, for one. He has moved troops of his into Kuwait within the last three or four months, come to think of it, Rolando. It might not be long before we see war between us and Iraq. Us being Israel and a coalition of assorted other nations, by the way. He wants Kuwait's oil, among other things. And if he can't have it, then he doesn't want anyone else to have it either, as well, I'm sure."

"So you think there'll be war for sure against Iraq in the near future?"

"Yes, not once. But twice, in fact. I have this feeling that if we don't take him out if we go to war with Iraq, he will continue to cause trouble in the world until he is, and many will be killed as a result." She played a Spade to a foundation.

"Why do you have this feeling, Sylvia?"

She steepled her fingers briefly, and soon answered, "I don't know for sure, and I wish I did. I do know, however, that he is a weapon of mass destruction who hates Israel very much. I also know from assorted relatives and friends all over the world that he is trying to get many weapons of mass destruction. Such as nuclear bombs, for example. Iran's regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons for themselves as well, from what I hear."

"Anyone else trying to get them who might not yet have them?" She placed a Heart on another foundation.

"India and Pakistan, if my sources are accurate enough, are seeking to have them within the next ten years, if they possibly can, Rolando." Rolando finished the rest of his food and drink items then in front of him here, as she said that. "If they get nukes, there may be trouble there, in time. Also, I believe North Korea is trying to become a nuclear nation sometime in the future, if they can be."

"I see. And if there are two wars against Iraq in the future, what do you think might cause the second war with Iraq?"

"At least indirectly, I think that war will be caused by attacks on the United States. The places where those attacks might take place are yet-unknown to me, it seems. Whether or not they will always be is yet to be seen. But I believe that the U.S. will get attacked, just the same, by many Arab terrorists."

"Where might those terrorists come from?"

"I can't tell that at present, if I'll ever be able to before they happen to launch them, Rolando. But I do know the world will most likely never be the same after they do." She soon finished her current game of Solitaire, and started another one. Halfway through it, she said, "You don't have to get fancy with any present for me if you don't want to. I like poetry, good music, and the occasional flower. Chocolate is fine, to a point, but I don't often eat a lot of it. Good books often interest me considerably. Especially ones that don't have very much, if any, junk in them at all. I don't generally read the so-called 'Romance' books. For they generally have a great deal of junk in them, if you know what I mean by that, Rolando. I will often read in my spare time, when I'm not doing anything else at all. Like quilting, riding, or painting, for example."

"Do you like inspirational romances, Sylvia?"

"Are you kidding, Rolando?" Seeing that he wasn't, when he winked at her, she said, "I love them, if they're written well enough by people! I especially like Janette Oke, Gilbert Morris, Eugenia Price, and the Thoenes, from what I've seen of them so far, for example. I also have read most, if not all, of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books before."

"Who are the Thoenes, Sylvia?"

"They're Americans, and I believe they've already put out at least a few books in their writing careers. Right off-hand, though, I can't really tell you exactly how many they've put out by now, for sure." She completed her third game of Solitaire a few seconds later, and then glanced at a clock on the nearest wall to them both. It was just before 1:30 in the afternoon. As she did so, she got this feeling that something sufficiently major was about to happen here. And it wasn't a pleasant feeling, at that. She suddenly said, "Rolando, please leave, and ask everyone else to begin evacuating the area of PPP just as quickly as they can. I have a feeling that I can't fully explain telling me something big is heading this way, and that it might be here very soon indeed. Like within the next five or ten minutes, perhaps, at most. I'll pay for your stuff you and James haven't already paid for. Just get yourself and as many other people as you can out of PPP just as quickly and as safely as you can."

Rolando began doing so immediately, as Sylvia stowed away her cards, paid and tipped for James and Rolando's meal, and headed for the ladies' restrooms. Two minutes later, once it was safe enough for her to do so, she powered up, and became Skyhorse. Skyhorse soon confirmed that hundreds of Negaverse monsters, at least, were heading for the area, led by Nephlyte. As soon as she did, she summoned her other Scouts. Including Kiena and Mary, by the way, even though she didn't want to have to do it. They appeared inside PPP two minutes before the monsters would be able to attack it and the area around it, for that matter.

Quite reluctantly, then, of course, Skyhorse made it possible for Kiena and Mary to transform again. She did this as Mir, Israel, and Judah arrived as well in the ladies' restroom of PPP that she, Kiena, and Mary were now in here. Twenty seconds after Mir, Israel, and Judah had joined Skyhorse, Kiena, and Mary in the applicable restroom, Renaissance and Trinity became fully visible here again. That done, the Scouts left the restroom and went to work doing whatever they then needed to do here.

It wasn't more than about a minute or two later before they had to begin fighting Negaverse monsters in and around PPP, in fact. They took down a few as often as they could before their animal allies started to show in the area. Of course, being only six Scouts, they found it somewhat difficult, if not impossible, to avoid being hit by those monsters' various attacks. Especially whenever they were trying to shield any number of civilians from them, for the obvious reasons. Including, as they might later find out, other future Scouts who might fight along with them later on.

By 2:05, at least two, but not all, of their animal allies had joined the battle. Yeshua and Serenade were still en route to it, and Yeshua was closer. Moonlight Serenade wasn't, for a traffic jam was making it harder for him to get near enough to PPP quickly enough, by the way. He had to take a few detours to try to get around that traffic jam, for that matter, at least. If not a lot.

As for Rolando, he was helping evacuate the area as best as he could, where possible. But due to the monsters' presences, he and others were obviously finding it quite hard to do, just the same. He finally was able to see all but a dozen or so civilians out of the area of PPP well enough. Those other civilians refused to leave, even after much urging on his part. Little did he know that those people were future Scouts yet, but he'd learn that in time. He then left in order to help watch over those who'd already escaped, once they all said, "We choose to stay here, and try to help the Scouts defend this place to the best of our abilities to do so." They drove him out of PPP in very short order, and then armed themselves with whatever they could get their hands on well enough.

Selena, Amy, Rachel, Etana, Andrea, and nine other girls or women refused to leave with Rolando when he did, and stayed behind in PPP. The other nine would also be Scouts in the future. Specifically the Scouts who'd be known as Sailors Corona, Eclipse, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Sedna, Quaoar, and Orcus, when they finally awoke in the future. One of them was blind, and the other deaf. The blind one was the sister of the deaf one, and both girls' names were Destiny and Bethany Krenski. They were joined by a cord tied between two of their wrists. The others then with them were all completely sighted and hearing, unlike the blind Destiny and the deaf Bethany.

The fourteen soon found themselves fighting the monsters alongside their future Scout mates. During the course of the battle, Destiny and Bethany's cord got severed, and both girls were thrown apart from each other. The future Uranus and Saturn soon leapt to their defense. Alexis, the future Uranus, slashed at two monsters with an improvised staff of stone, in front of Destiny, while Hannah, the future Saturn, defended Bethany with several meal trays thrown like throwing stars.

Amy and the future Neptune, Michelle, sent plenty of water and cold items towards the monsters from assorted places in and around PPP. Especially water from many hoses. The monsters were not totally able to avoid the numerous items sent towards them by Amy and Michelle, at the very least, if not anyone else as well.

Etana, Andrea, and the future Pluto, Susan, worked together periodically, by Susan often drawing their attentions long enough for Etana and Andrea to attack them from above every once in a while. For instance, Etana periodically boosted Andrea up to various higher places in PPP. And Andrea would drop down on the monsters, knocking them down, strangling them, or tripping them up, whenever possible, in the fight.

Selena and the other civilians would periodically attack other monsters with whatever things they could attack them with here. They often did so with each other in concert with the Scouts and their animal allies, for that matter. Serenade and Yeshua finally arrived at the scene of the battle by 2:40 pm or so, local time. The Pilgrim arrived at it by 2:45 pm, just as Renaissance and Trinity were about to try to get somewhere they could rest briefly. He brought them to such a place for a while, and then showed himself in the battle well enough. He went right to work on helping everyone fight in and around PPP, but refused to apply killing strokes to any of the monsters he fought. He left all such strokes to the others with him, whenever such strokes were made. For he didn't want to kill anyone at all in his life, if he could possibly avoid doing that in it. Eventually he might have to kill in it, but this was not such a time for him in it, in fact. Which would please him quite considerably, once he knew that well enough in it, by the way.

Eventually, the monsters began panicking, once Yeshua began rapidly decimating their numbers with great impunity. Nephlyte tried to get them to keep fighting for a while. He soon had to give up on that idea, once he saw that his monsters were being destroyed quite quickly indeed. So he began trying to escape with as many monsters as he then could back to his headquarters, at least, if not back to the Negaverse. He was somehow able to get away from the battle with about two dozen of them. However, all his other monsters weren't quite as fortunate as they were, for they met their ends, in time, because of the Scouts and their allies.

Nephlyte made it back there well enough, and put all his surviving monsters into regeneration pods of a sort. As he was doing so, the Negaverse General Zoisite suddenly appeared there when he least expected her to.

Zoisite said, as soon as she'd settled herself on a couch of sorts well enough, "Queen Beryl is now very mad at you, Nephlyte. It now seems that there are six Scouts now active around here. None of which are fighting for us now, in fact."

"The latest two joined a little while ago during an Arab terrorist attack in Bethlehem, I believe. I had nothing to do with them becoming Scouts in the first place."

"But you have lost many of our warriors in engagements against the Scouts since you took over for Jeddite. And she seems about ready to replace you as mission leader, for that matter. You'd probably best find some way to eliminate them well enough soon, or you might not find yourself in a pleasant enough situation very much longer."

A minute or two later, Zoisite disappeared from his headquarters in the same manner as she'd just come there in the first place. He soon went back to work on assorted Negaverse-related monsters. At least in terms of him creating them, if not also modifying currently-existing ones as well. It probably would take him quite a while to prepare enough monsters to fight against the Scouts again, for the obvious reasons. And he didn't know just how much time he might still have before Beryl relieved him of control over the Negaverse's operations against the people of Earth, either, of course. So he didn't want to waste any unnecessary time as he then prepared himself for what might be his last battle as a Negaverse General, if he could possibly avoid it at all.

Meanwhile, as Nephlyte and others were otherwise occupied elsewhere in the area after the battle, Skyhorse and her current companions then began trying to do what they possibly could in and around the area of PPP in order to clean up and/or repair battle damage caused in it. But they weren't totally able to repair and/or clean up everything well enough at the present time. For the monsters had caused quite considerable amounts of damage in it. So much damage, in fact, that PPP would probably have to temporarily, at least, move its operations elsewhere in the Jerusalem local area.

There turned out to be absolutely no fatalities among any of the people who'd been at PPP before and during the just-ended battle. Which was quite fortunate for all concerned people here, of course. Not that some of them weren't at least partly hurt, because a few civilians actually were by falling and/or flying debris. But none of the people there were actually killed in the battle, just the same. Among the hurt civilians were the blind Destiny and the deaf Bethany. However, there were no quite serious enough injuries to them at all, in fact.

By 4:30, then, everyone had completely left the grounds of PPP, after recovering all their things from there somehow well enough, and being checked on by enough emergency personnel well enough as well. Even Sylvia did so, after first powering down there, by the way. She wouldn't likely return there for some unknown length of time in the future, if at all, for the obvious reasons.

By 5:15, she was with Serenade back at Sweet Musicalisti. He arrived there first, about five minutes before she did. And they stayed with each other there until almost 6:30, before she had to leave him to attend to other things she needed or wanted to attend to in her life, in fact. She stopped briefly at Wakefield Castle, so she could change her clothes again, for example.

By 7, she was away from Wakefield Castle again. She went out to try to enjoy herself for the rest of the night. She, in fact, went to Teddy Kollek Stadium to try to enjoy a late-night concert there for quite some time indeed. Several musical artists were expected to perform at this concert which would end sometime after 1990 ended, and 1991 began, by the way.

Sylvia stayed there until about 2 or so in the morning of Tuesday, January 1, 1991, before returning to Wakefield Castle again. She was back there by 3, in her room by 3:15, and quite soundly asleep in her bed by 3:35, after leaving the Stadium there. As usual, more dreams of her time spent during the Silver Millennium visited her as she slept there. However, they began to become clearer to her, for she had finally had a chance to meet several other girls and women who also served then as Sailor Scouts of whatever sort they actually were before.