Earth Versus the Power-Hunters

by The Universal Storyteller

Jadeite's time may be running out, in at least one way, I expect, and things will get much more difficult for the heroes very soon, whether or not it is. Will the fates of many innocent humans' lives be tied to whether or not he survives somehow or not? You'll have to read on to find out, folks. There's still a lot more to tell of this story, for sure!

7. Still-Secret Supporters

Still-Secret Supporters

---

Six days later, it was lunchtime for those in grades 10 to 12 at Chrysanthemum Trekker Academy. Among those students coming into CTA's main cafeteria area were Eryn Kesell, Sylvia Wakefield, and Rolando Volois, to name three. When they got there, Eryn soon encountered Sylvia and Rolando, but didn't immediately recognize them both, for Eryn was still not all that well-acquainted with either of them in her own life.

Sylvia spoke first after she and Rolando met Eryn outside it, saying, "Hello, Kesell. I hope you've been well since we were saved and rescued from monsters at GCFE." She and Eryn had met each other quite often since the attack, outside of school hours, and especially during volleyball practices and games. Although this was only the first year that Eryn had been part of CTA's Varsity Team, not having gone out for its volleyball team the previous few years since being enrolled there after coming to Japan. And it would be her only year on the Varsity Team, after having been recruited to it the previous summer by CTA's coach, seeing as she was a high school senior.

"Sure, I'm not so bad apart from my eejit brother Gearalt. Sure, I know he's about to turn thirteen, and isn't that an annoying age? I swear he's got wind of all this malarkey and is forever asking me a million questions. I'm telling you, he needs to keep his nose out of my business before I punch him right on it."

Rolando asked, "What do your parents think of this sort of thing? Eejit?"

"Ah well, we're all immune to his constant blathering and they tell him to leave me alone. I'm only hoping that they don't click on. This has to be a secret or won't we all be in a great bother? Eejit generally means idiot, back where I come from," said Eryn, as they each started moving towards a still-empty table in the cafeteria, seeing as they all had brought homemade lunches to school with them earlier.

When Sylvia invited Eryn to join her and Rolando at a table, Eryn was at first skeptical, seeing as she didn't yet know either of them very well. But she still gave in. And Rolando pulled out a seat for her, once they all got to a certain table in the cafeteria, before doing the same for Sylvia, and then one for himself.

They all sat down, and Rolando prayed over his lunch, as he was often known to do, before opening his sports-themed lunchbox, taking out its contents, and setting those contents near him on their table. The two girls did the same with their own lunches, as he took a sandwich out of a plastic bag and opened a half pint-sized carton of chocolate milk, taking them out of an animal-themed lunchbox in Sylvia's case and a Ireland-themed lunchbox in Eryn's.

Sylvia asked while peeling her orange, "Are you going to be able to make it to our volleyball match tonight against Crossroads High School, by any chance, Rolando?"

"Yes, I think I can. I don't really have anything else to do tonight that can't wait, I think. I can do my homework later, as well, Sylvia," Rolando said, as he took a bite of his grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

"What do you know of their team, Volois?" asked Eryn, as she finished setting the rest of her food out in front of and near her, along with her eating utensils, on the wood-topped table.

"Nothing, sorry to say, of how it's made up currently, at least. But they've had some good players since Sylvia and I got here in 1986, the year before you did. Or at least they've often played well against us here. Grass Valley High School has been tough from time to time since then, as well. And Brookdale Private School has been too. We play in a very tough league, where the teams are good, more often than not. Even Infinity Academy has a very good team, compared to other nearby schools, whether public or private, in this area of Japan. We're not slouches ourselves, or at least we haven't generally been since Sylvia began playing for us in seventh grade, first on the Junior Varsity. She moved up to the Varsity when we began ninth grade, once several of the players ahead of her graduated."

Eryn thought for a few moments, then asked, after taking a sip of some juice in front of her, "What do you think of our chances to beat them tonight?"

"Well, tonight, we might have a chance, I think. But after that, I don't really know how good the other teams in our league are going to ultimately be this year. From what I've seen since the season started, or read, though, I think Brookdale is going to be a very good team, or at least have a very good Junior Varsity team, among others that we've already faced this season. Unfortunately for us, I have this inescapable feeling that neither of you two girls will be able to participate in all of our matches this year. For I suspect very strongly that very soon, if we've not already been caught up in such things, that many people, including all three of us, will have to deal with the monsters that have been causing trouble around Tokyo in various places. Maybe even within a week, in all three of our cases, at most," said Rolando, before eating the rest of his sandwich and taking a sip of his milk.

"And when do you think I'll have to do that as something other than as a civilian, if so, Rolando?" Sylvia asked, in between bites of some potato salad.

"It could be tonight, it could be Monday, but it'll most likely be within a week, if I'm not too mistaken somehow about such a matter, Sylvia. I don't like the idea of us having to fight more monsters, but we may have to do that, whether in a civilian state or not," answered Rolando, finishing his milk and opening a small container with some spaghetti and meatballs in it.

"It's likely inevitable, though, in any case, right?" Sylvia briefly sipped her own milk.

"We'll not be able to avoid fighting, sorry to say. Those monsters won't stop until they're all defeated, one way or another, I think. And even Miss Kesell will have to fight. Which now reminds me of something I was thinking of earlier today. You may want to go get some painting-related supplies before the end of this week, Eryn. There's a painter's kit now on sale with several brushes included for it that have handles somehow made of various crystals. And you'll need them and other included items when you're awakened Saturday at the art gallery where you'll be showing off some of your artworks. I've been dreaming of what's coming, and I know that we'll all have to fight very soon. Although I'm not quite sure what each of us will look like, as we each awaken, we and others will have to awaken every so often to aid Earth Knight in battle against many monsters," said Rolando, as he began having his spaghetti and meatballs.

"How do you happen to know of this painting kit, Volois?" asked Eryn, as she spooned her pudding.

"I've picked up more writing supplies since the attack at GCFE, and Sylvia told me of it yesterday after picking up painting supplies this past weekend. She thinks you'd best get it for a 85 percent discount before it goes back to its regular price on Saturday. If you hurry, you can get it for the equivalent of roughly fifteen American dollars in Japanese yen, before then," Rolando said, crushing his milk carton.

"I see. And what if I don't want to fight, Volois?" asked Eryn, although she now had a feeling that she'd not really like his next answer at all.

"I don't think any of us, or at least most of us, will be able to have a choice about whether we fight or not, ultimately, Eryn. We're going to have to fight, like it or not. And we'll no doubt have to kill, or at least try to kill, various monsters every so often, as we do so, unfortunately. However, it seems that whenever we'll be powered up, something might keep others from telling who we are in our civilian lives. You mentioned that one of your brothers might be getting too interested in your business that you don't really want him involved in, right?" asked Rolando, eating some of his spaghetti and meatballs.

"Yes, I did, Volois. What of it?"

"From what several of my recent dreams have seemed to tell me, I gather that if you're powered up, and if your brother doesn't know you in both your identities that you'll then have, you just may be able to keep him from knowing you're powered up, somehow. And you may be able to elude him at times, as well. He may not be able to connect you to both identities at the same time, too, if you never, or almost never, show up where he might see you in your civilian form. Although I don't really know how come that'll be the case just yet, if I ever will. I don't know who you'll then be when powered up yet, either. But I do seem to see a good deal of Sun-related imagery around you, somehow, Eryn. Maybe your transformed state will have abilities or items available to you that are related to the Sun, for instance."

The three of them didn't say much else to each other for the rest of their current lunch period, until it was nearly over. When it was, they rose from their table and collected their belongings and trash, before attending to them all as needed. Eryn parted from Sylvia and Rolando, now deep in thought about all the things Rolando had just told her while she'd been with him and Sylvia for a while.

Sylvia and Rolando watched her leave for her next class, while they both also exited the main cafeteria about a minute or so after she did. When it was safe enough for them to converse with each other, on the way to their next classes, Sylvia asked him as plainly as she could, and as securely as she could, "Is it likely that we'll both be awakened fully sometime tonight, Rolando?"

"You can count on it, Sylvia, sorry to say. We'll both be fighting again tonight, like it or not. On the way to school today, a monkey and a turtle found me. And they even talked to me, much to my great surprise, in English. We came across each other not long before I met you on the way to school. We conversed for only a few minutes, before they left me alone. They said a horse will also show up tonight near or at Crossroads, and he'll initiate you, once the next monster attack begins. Although they didn't describe that horse's look, while they were with me, they did tell me that they'd appear when the attack begins to ultimately initiate you as a fighter of some sort."

"And then you met me, as you often do, as we were both going to school."

"Yes. Now I don't seem to be able to tell you just what you'll look like transformed, nor what you'll have available to you while you are, nor what I myself will look like or have available to me while transformed, Sylvia. But I just know that we'll be fighting tonight, whether we want to or not. And probably for quite a while longer and quite often in the future, for the foreseeable future, if I'm not too mistaken here."

They were only able to converse very quietly with each other for a few more moments before having to part again for a while. But before they did, she asked, "You'll still fight alongside me, won't you, Rolando?"

"Of course I will. And I'm sure you'll do the same for me too, Sylvia. While I really don't relish the idea of having to take any life, even if it's quite alien in nature, it may still be required, like it or not. It's likely that if we don't take our enemies' lives, then innocents may lose theirs. And I really don't like that idea either."

With that said, they both parted from each other for a while, not to see each other again until later that same school day while still in school. And the rest of their school day went fairly well, as far as they could then tell easily enough, until they were dismissed for a time from the school grounds.

They both went to their respective homes for a little while, for their suppers or whatever, until returning to CTA's grounds for the ride to Crossroads on the required school buses, if necessary. Rolando rode on one of the buses for many of the student spectators from CTA, while Sylvia and Eryn rode on the assigned one for the volleyball teams, of course.

Having this still-strange feeling that she'd possibly need it during the upcoming fight, she brought one of her older palettes with her inside her backpack. Although she didn't yet know why she might, if she ever would, she still brought it and a certain number of other items along with her when she boarded the team's bus to Crossroads.

As for Rolando, in his CTA letterman's jacket, he put some pens in an interior pocket, just in case he might need them later on. For as his school day had continued, he'd been mentally preparing for the upcoming fight that'd interrupt that night's volleyball match. He still didn't know exactly when or how the attack would take place, or what the monsters he and others would have to fight might look like. But he was gradually getting a better idea of what was going to happen during the fight, even if he didn't yet know all the necessary details for it. And he'd somehow get brief mental glimpses during the volleyball match until just before the attack began. Although he didn't yet know that, as he boarded the bus to Crossroads.

---

Meanwhile, back in the Negaverse, while Eryn, Rolando, and Sylvia were eating their respective lunches, Beryl was meeting with Jadeite and Nephlyte, among others. At the moment, she was getting a progress report from Nephlyte about his attempts to recruit willing human allies for the Negaverse, and asking Jadeite what his next energy-gathering scheme was likely to be and where it might be carried out. Several hundred youma were also present nearby behind the Generals they were loyal to now, with more currently behind Nephlyte than behind Jadeite.

The other three Generals were otherwise occupied with other Beryl-assigned tasks, so they all were currently absent. Although a number of the youma loyal to each of them were also present in Beryl's throne room, their respective Generals weren't.

Nephlyte said, "At the rate things are progressing with the first of my recruits, I expect that if things go sufficiently according to plan, the first of them should be ready for combat by the end of the Terran month of November. Although the training has not necessarily gone well so far for a few of them, I am going to do all I can to see that they are as ready as they can be for battle against our foes, whether current or future."

"See that they are, then, Nephlyte, because you'd best not get me angry with you at all, if you know what's good for you around here. As for you, Jadeite, you have failed me four times in battle so far since we began awakening from that horrid prison that malevolent Queen Serenity put us all in so long ago. I will not tolerate many more failures from you and yours, before I decide to remove you from leading our forces on Earth as you are currently doing. I am very displeased with the fact that you and your youma are being so easily defeated in battle, especially by those who do not seem to have any sort of special powers at all. Deal with those who are hindering our efforts as needed, or I may very well deal with you in a way you won't like."

"I am attempting to do so, Queen Beryl. However, the humans' resistance is fairly strong in certain cases to our energy-gathering attempts. My youma and I suspect that in some cases, at least, there is something preventing us from achieving maximum energy collection from various humans. We do not yet know what it is, and it has been hard to discover, if not impossible, so far. Other youma of mine seem to detect periodic faint traces of unidentifiable energies when they try to drain or attack humans at times. Of course, we have attempted to identify them, and why they might be present for certain humans instead of others. Yet we still have not been successful in doing so. And whether we will anytime soon is not yet known, unfortunately."

"Figures that Blondie and his youma don't have any ideas about why that might be the case, if true. I have some suspicions of my own, but I'm also not sure if they're accurate enough as well, Queen Beryl. We're doing our own investigations based on evidence we've managed to gather from earlier battle locations, but nothing has become apparent to us just yet, from examining it. However, it's certain that Jadeite and his youma will fail, and fail abysmally in battle. And I predict that by the end of the next battle, his youma will allow two more humans to be awakened, which we'll then have to deal with as well. Mark my words, within the next few battles, we'll find more opposition to certain plans of ours here on Earth, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"I doubt that very much, you red dwarf space case!"

"Then why haven't you eliminated the pesky animals around Earth Knight yet, Blondie, or your various youma? Maybe you and your inferior youma are never going to be able to eliminate them or incapacitate them sufficiently well, ultimately?"

"Oh, we will. We will!"

"There's a better chance of our captive Earth Generals getting free than there is of you or your defective youma being able to do permanent enough damage to our enemies, whether current or future, I believe. Even if the chances of them getting free are only one in at least 5 billion, they're still much greater than your chances of permanently dealing with Earth Knight's allies, whether human or animal, so that he will fall or be turned to our side, once and for all."

Beryl thought for a moment, before speaking again, "If he could be turned, that might help us quite considerably. However, we don't know who he is in his civilian form just yet, you two."

"Yes, that is a problem," admitted Jadeite. Nephlyte nodded as well. Jadeite then said, "But I think we can eventually find out his civilian identity, before too many allies flock to his side against us."

"We already have the humans on edge due to your incompetence as a leader of our forces, you dummy!"

One of Nephlyte's youma said, "And they're getting even more on edge as more time passes. Even if we haven't actually attacked for a few days, as well, as far as we can tell at the moment. No doubt they'll be even more on edge once General Jadeite's next two plans fail, if not more than his next two plans, as they undoubtedly will, in short order. And we predict not only his next two, but three more after that, will fail, before he's done leading our efforts on Earth, at most, Queen Beryl."

"You know nothing, Tagajakdifa," shouted Jadeite. "I will be successful in gathering more energy and all, you wait and see, everyone. Nobody will be able to resist us and our forces forever, I'm quite sure!"

"They might as long as you're in charge of certain matters here, Jadeite you blond dufus!"

Eventually, Queen Beryl tired of watching the two Generals and their supporters argue with each other, so she dismissed both Generals and their supporters from her presence until further notice. After she did, Jadeite and Nephlyte each went back to working on their previously-assigned tasks.

But their current rivalry was far from over at the present time. They would still tangle with each other, and not just verbally, every so often in the future. There would be no end to their current rivalry with each other for the foreseeable future.

Jadeite soon went to where most, if not all, of his loyal youma were in the Negaverse, and chose to send a fairly good-sized number of Inazans and Iberranis on the next mission he was leading to Earth. Inazans had been present during the last attack there, but Iberranis had not.

After deciding that, he went over the mission plan with many of the youma who'd be going on this mission, before sending a number of them to Tokyo using their abilities to often pretend to be human, even if they actually weren't, prior to the attack, so that they could hopefully better scout out the area where it would take place, and inform Jadeite of any potential dangers they might find before the rest of the attacking force also came to Tokyo as planned.

They used their ability to frequently disguise themselves as human beings in order to try to blend in with actual people near where they appeared in Juuban. And very few, if any, of them were able to tell that they weren't actually human by their physical natures. Same thing with many of the animals that were near there as well, in fact. But a monkey, a turtle, Wanderer, and Seeker were somehow still able to tell that they weren't, without the Inazans being any the wiser about it.

Wanderer and Seeker had unexpectedly found themselves patrolling near Serena and Usagi's school, while the monkey and turtle had slipped secretly onto one of the buses taking students and staff from CTA to Crossroads some time earlier, without being seen or heard and all. After riding that bus for a while, they slipped off it just as secretly, and found secure hiding locations for themselves near Crossroads, to await the upcoming attack they were certain would be occurring sometime that very evening or night.

Wanderer and Seeker monitored the area from the roof of Crossroads for a while, before spotting a horse off in the distance. They didn't yet know the horse they had now spotted here at all, but they would come to know it quite well, starting right after the upcoming battle, for sure. They had also not yet spotted the monkey or turtle they'd come to meet and know later, either, for that matter.

For that horse would initiate a new ally for Earth Knight/Tuxedo Mask, just as they'd earlier done themselves for Darien when they'd initiated him as they had. While the monkey and turtle would do the same for another new ally for their still-new master here, as well.

They waited for about another hour or so before they got the feeling that Earth Knight/Tuxedo Mask might be needed very soon to fight more youma. And they then quickly notified him of that fact, before he said, "I'm on my way, and will be there as soon as I can."

"We think they might launch their attack within the next fifteen minutes to half an hour, at most," said Wanderer.

"I'm about ten minutes' driving distance from you, under normal circumstances, but it may take me longer to get to you now, because there's currently a traffic jam where I'm now, unfortunately. If they start the attack, do what you can to assist before I get there, you two."

"Will do. Wanderer and Seeker out," said Seeker.

After their brief talk with Darien, they ended their call, and waited to see what would then happen, and when it might. They hoped that the attack wouldn't begin too soon, meaning before he could get there easily enough, but still prepared for combat, just in case it did.

---

Meanwhile, in Crossroads High School's gymnasium, there was a girls' Varsity volleyball match going on now between CTA and Crossroads, with CTA playing in mostly navy blue, gold, and red away uniforms and Crossroads in mostly white and royal blue home ones. The schools' Junior Varsity teams had already played, with Crossroads being victorious two sets to one in that match. And now CTA was attempting to even the night's score of matches between the two schools.

Sylvia and Eryn were playing on CTA's team, while Terna was playing on Crossroads's team, at the present time. And it was late in the second set for a best-of-five sets match between the two schools, with Crossroads leading one set to none. But CTA was threatening to take the second set with a current lead of 12-5 in it, and Sylvia now serving for CTA in it. While Eryn was two spots to Sylvia's left in CTA's back row at the moment, Terna was currently in the middle of the back row for Crossroads, having served two turns before for them in the current set.

There were many other people, mostly spectators, in the gym as well. Including Rolando, who gladly was currently watching Sylvia serve in the match, from about twenty feet away. Several still-disguised youma were among those now present in the gym, along with certain people on Earth Knight's side of things, even if not presently known as definite allies/supporters of him, at least.

Nobody except the youma now present knew exactly when the attack might begin. Or at least not as of yet, anyway, they didn't. They had earlier been given their instructions, and a few of them had earlier slipped into the main school building for Crossroads High School while masquerading as school custodial and/or janitorial staff, once they had slipped up behind certain people whose appearances they now wore, and sequestered them in certain parts of the school that were rarely, if ever, entered by most people who either worked or attended school there.

As the match continued, a number of people in the gym, mostly spectators, began to get a very bad feeling about the current night, although they didn't exactly understand why, in at least a few cases, at that particular time. Several other people were already expecting potential trouble before even coming to the match, for sure. But most of them didn't really know yet what might happen when and if that trouble arose sometime that night, or even have any possible suspicions about what might happen, at that. Three, at least, did, but certainly not the rest, in any case.

Earlier in the day, Rolando had spent a little time talking with Sylvia, and agreed to try and give her at least some prior warning, just in case he might suddenly realize that the upcoming attack they were both now expecting that night was about to begin. He would do so by saying a certain word that might seem innocuous enough to anyone else who might be near enough to him to hear him call it out, as he appeared to be cheering and all, but which would hopefully give her at least some warning of the attack before it began. Even if it was only a few seconds, at most, before it did. The word they had both ultimately agreed on was the Hebrew word shalom, if he could only say one word to tip her off beforehand in time. Shalom could mean hello, goodbye, and/or peace, for instance, in certain written and/or oral contexts. But it was still the Hebrew word they chose for the code word he'd use to tip her off, if he could.

Five minutes after Sylvia had made the score 12-5 while serving for CTA in the second set, the second set ended with CTA winning it 15-5. The two teams went to their benches for several minutes, during which time, Rolando kept an eye on certain game officials, especially the main referee, because he was now getting a real bad feeling about them, for some yet-unknown reason to him here.

That feeling was soon proven to be a valid one, for the game referee unexpectedly seemed to have trouble maintaining that appearance during the break at least a few times, but only a few people now present were somehow able to notice it to at least some degree, if not to a great degree. Rolando, Terna, and one other in the crowd, ultimately, after which that other person looked at her watch and tapped its face a few times, before she whispered quietly into a hidden microphone for it, saying a few things to certain associates of hers. Terna immediately realized that something was about to happen, although she wasn't yet sure what it would be, so she resolved to be on guard, and would attempt to protect her teammates, if necessary. As for Rolando, he immediately called out Shalom plus sixty, ball, and referee, using only Hebrew words then. With Sylvia being the only one present who was definitely fluent in Hebrew, to the best of Rolando's current knowledge, Rolando was definitely giving her a minute of advance warning, at least. Sylvia heard that, and said quickly in Japanese to her coach and teammates, as quietly as possible, so as not to hopefully alarm them or anyone else, or to tip off potential enemies about his warning, as she rose from her current seat on the bench, "I have to go to the locker room for a moment. I'll be right back as soon as I can." That said, she walked as calmly as she could to the locker room currently being used by CTA on the current night, for the exact same reasons as she'd talked quietly to her coach and teammates, until she was completely out of everyone's current sight.

Terna saw her go, and thought to herself, 'Hurry back, Wakefield, just as quickly as you can. We're going to need your help very soon, for sure.' A extremely brief look at one of the spectators later, she got a quick and almost imperceptible silent nod of acknowledgement from a certain person in the stands now. But that certain person was not Rolando, who had made his own calm withdrawal into the nearby lobby for the gym after a brief comment to some people near him in them, as well.

Within a minute after that nod, and about a minute after Rolando's withdrawal, the main referee then took the match's ball from a nearby person who'd provided them a water bottle, while giving that person back the aforementioned water bottle. That done, after that person was several feet away from them again, the referee suddenly tossed the ball at an overhead light, and hit it. Upon contact with said light's protective shield, the ball instantly exploded, blowing up the light in question, and causing a large amount of mist or fog or something to appear briefly to everyone still in the gym. The ball had contained a timer as well, but the timer was well-protected inside a casing, so it was not destroyed when the ball exploded. The timer sent a secret signal to a device rigged to the main powerboard of the school's main building, and specifically to the part of it that had both locker rooms, the gymnasium, and the main lobby outside the gym on a related power circuit. That signal caused all the lights in all four of those areas to cut out almost immediately afterward due to a resulting power outage programmed a while before by various disguised youma back then, ultimately.

Fortunately for many now present, both Sylvia and Rolando, at least, had made it out of the gymnasium before the power outage happened, because the youma now present had not considered either of them a potential threat to their plans, at least as of yet. Or at least not most of them, anyway, whether they were Inazans or Iberranis, at the present time.

Jadeite had sent Inazans on missions before to Earth, but not yet Iberranis. Inazans and Iberranis were both often able to drain life energy from their various enemies. But where Inazans might often be able to masquerade often as apparent human beings, Iberranis could not. Iberranis were blob-like beings with multiple body ridges and gliding abilities, among other characteristics and/or abilities for themselves, which sometimes included near-genius or genius-level intelligence for any of them as well. They could be especially dangerous if at least ten of them could congregate together in one place. But if they could be contained securely enough in one area by multiple opponents, especially if there weren't enough other friendly monsters near enough to them, they could eventually be forced into immobility for certain lengths of time. And if that happened, that could be lethal for them, if their respective current barricades were eliminated around them easily enough in battle by their opponents in it.

While the gym and several nearby areas were still in the dark, all present Inazans began attempting to drain life energy from as many of the spectators and other people still in the gym as possible, especially after they dropped their previous disguises as apparent human beings. While they couldn't necessarily be seen at present, they still were unable to be completely silent as they moved to try and drain their potential victims of their life energy. Terna and the woman in the stands realized this, and responded accordingly, but silently, as they moved to counter the movements of the monsters near each of them, while also quickly donning gas masks secretly hidden on their respective persons. For Inazans often would attempt to defend themselves by emitting gas clouds towards those attacking them during battles.

They heard the whipping of several Inazans' tails, and dodged several of them while trying to keep other nearby people safer using whatever they could around them, no matter what it might be. Even if it was only martial arts-type strikes with various parts of their own bodies as best as they possibly could. They even shielded others near them with their own bodies, at times, while also trying to help them escape, if they could.

While they both were still doing this, Wanderer was now winging off to find Darien, who was still stuck in a major traffic jam, and Seeker had made his way into the school from the roof using a certain passageway leading down from it, upon the instructions they'd each received from the unidentified woman in the stands minutes before. As for Rolando, he'd slipped into the lobby, while it was still dark, and began using his pens as weapons as he thought best whenever he located one of the Iberranis there, among other things he did then, while he also waited for the animals he'd seen earlier in the day to arrive and initiate him as a superhero-type person of some sort. And as for Sylvia, she had managed to find her way down to the necessary locker room in the dark easily enough, although she'd never had to do it before in this school, in the past. By the time she got there, a horse was waiting for her, although she wouldn't know how he had been able to get there easily enough for at least a little while, in any case.

---

Sylvia realized that a horse was now in the still-dark locker room and alone there with her once she heard, "Are you Sylvia Wakefield, by any chance at all?" and unexpectedly bumped into him somewhere near the door to it that she'd just passed through to enter it. "I was sent here to initiate her as a Sailor Scout, and I hope that you are her, in fact." All this was said in Hebrew.

"I am. May I ask who you are?" she asked, also in the same language.

"Moonlight Serenade. I was sent here by an associate of mine, and she told me a young woman by that name would be at this school tonight for a volleyball match. Also she told me that she would need me to initiate said person as a superheroine tonight."

"I wish this weren't necessary, but something is happening here that shouldn't be."

"That is correct. Would you like to do something to try and stop it from happening, and all?"

"Of course I would, but I am still not a superheroine. I don't know what to do yet, I think," she said, as she tried to move towards her currently-assigned locker in this room, even though it was still dark in it.

"Then let me help you, as best as I can, please."

"Very well. I wish that I didn't have to fight, but I don't want to see these monster attacks continue any longer without trying to do anything I possibly can to oppose them, et cetera, for sure."

"Come to me, and you should find a saddle on my back, along with several items you might find useful in the future."

Going by memory of the current locker room she was then in, after finding her locker and taking out all the items she thought she might need during the fight from there, she quickly came to his side. That done, she unexpectedly found not only an archery bow and quiver filled with arrows, but both a sword and scabbard, in terms of possible weapons now present here too. She also found a power locket and a neckerchief under his saddle's pommel as well. She quickly put the sword on her left hip, while still in its scabbard, the quiver on her back, and the bow she temporarily hung on her left shoulder.

He had her hold up that locket, in one hand, and the neckerchief in the other, and say as quietly as possible, "Skyhorse Crystal Power." Serenade did this so that if there were any nearby people who were then sufficiently conscious, they'd hopefully not be able to hear her call out her first transformation phrase very easily, if at all.

She called out that transformation phrase as directed by him as quietly as she could, and a pillar of multi-colored light soon surrounded her while she and Serenade were still in the locker room temporarily assigned to CTA's volleyball players visiting Crossroads High School. A gold tiara with a reddish-brown gem, specifically a garnet, appeared almost immediately on her forehead. A royal blue choker then appeared near the base of her neck. Her neckerchief then appeared just over a sailor-style royal blue collar with two stripes of gold piping all the way around it, wherever possible, and tied as needed there. Her new power locket then appeared just above a knot in the now-tied neckerchief with a checkerboard pattern on most, if not all, of it. The squares in that checkerboard pattern were primarily royal blue and white, with some squares of other colors also present in it. On at least half of the squares in that checkerboard pattern, either there were gold and royal blue six-pointed stars, or there were brown crosses bordered by thin gold lines on the crosses' perimeters, if not both. Often the squares had at least one of each on them at the exact same time, if not more than one of each on them here. Under the neckerchief, then, and on the backs of her new Scout uniform's shoulders, there were also four small brown horse heads at the corners of a rectangle. A rectangle that they were forming outside a larger star than any of them that was placed exactly in the center of that rectangle, but still within the piping along the edges of her collar. And this star was a six-pointed star as well. But instead of this star being royal blue and gold, as were the stars on her neckerchief, this particular star was a white one with gold trim on a royal blue background just below her neck on her collar. The inside hexagon was solidly royal blue inside it. As were the triangles that were inside the lines that formed the sides of that star. The gold trim was only on either side of the white lines between each point of that star, and nowhere else. A royal blue and white skirt that fell at least halfway to her knees, if not farther, below her mostly white blouse, and a pair of moccasins completed the current look of her Scout uniform. A pair of moccasins fringed with rabbit fur and turtledove feathers, in fact. But she'd probably not always wear the same footwear whenever she was in her Scout state as Skyhorse. She'd likely choose her footwear whenever she transformed herself into Skyhorse in the future, whenever she possibly could. Most situations might allow her to do that. But they'd not likely always allow her to do that, if she lasted long enough as a Scout, at any time in the future.

Moments later, then, the rest of the light pillar that'd just surrounded her temporarily here dissolved into thin air, so to speak, if it hadn't already done so. When it was all gone, without any doubt at all, she was fully in her Sailor Skyhorse uniform here. After she realized this, she asked, "What should we do now?"

"Ready for battle?"

"Not really, but it's something I'll have to deal with as best as I can, as quickly as I can," Skyhorse said, as she then swung easily up onto his back unaided, once she found where his stirrups were easily enough, even in the dark. "Let's go. I need to help my teammates and coaches, at the very least, for sure, if I can."

Thirty seconds later, at most, they reached the gym floor again. And she quickly fired off one of her arrows at one of the monsters she had managed to hear in the dark as they were trying to move towards someone she somehow heard breathing a few feet away from where she now was. By now, Seeker had defeated several Inazans near there, and had cleared some fighting space on the floor for the heroes to fight in, while even helping several nearby people either escape the gym or get to a safer nearby area elsewhere in the school. Although it wasn't very easy, for sure, for him to do that, he'd still managed to take out enough Inazans to make that possible, still in the dark, one way or another, while Sylvia had made her temporary escape from the gym, as Rolando had also done. While it was still quite dark in the gym, it had brightened a little since the lights had gone out, due to the defeating of several youma that those fighting had taken out.

"Oof," was all the monster in question was able to say before they suddenly exploded. For she had hit the base of their often-prehensile tail, which was not only where they would often put their various disguise-related devices, but also where many of them would emit their defensive gas clouds from during battles. Not all, but many, in either case. In this monster's case, both those things were true for it. When it exploded, it did so while also showering nearby people with the life energy it had been in the process of stealing from them. So, in essence, the energy it had just been gathering went right back to those it had been drained from. Also, that Inazan's destruction had slightly reduced the amount of darkness present in that corner of the gym, which then allowed Skyhorse to slip off Serenade's back, and unsheathe her sword so she could better engage the Inazans still present in that part of the gym. Not only that, but she also began using the palette she'd retrieved from her temporary locker as a shield of sorts. Once she dismounted, Serenade went to work as well on several of them he could now see better. Mostly with his hooves, but also with his head and teeth at times.

As Skyhorse and Serenade fought, they found several of her teammates and a few coaches near them, and helped them get away as best as they could, where and when they could, or at least to a safer area of the gym, if not elsewhere in the school, for a little while. After they were all sufficiently out of immediate danger, for the moment, if not longer, Skyhorse and Serenade then stepped up their fighting even more. For now they had more room to operate in the gym and nearby areas to it against their current opponents.

As for Rolando, now in a mostly black tuxedo and a mostly red mask, he was fighting using pens and scrolls in the fight, but not actually taking lives, even of the monsters. The pens he was using as ranged weapons to either divert monsters' attention away from potential victims or to block potential attacks or draining attempts by them against innocents still in the gym or nearby areas. While the scrolls he used to periodically shroud himself or others from the sight of monsters still present in those areas, for they would normally emit a fog whenever they were used and hit the ground or a floor easily enough during battles. He didn't have a sword, not even an improvised sword of sorts, to fight with around here though. But he did have the desire to protect innocents as best as he then could here, in any case, at least. And not only him, but the two animals who'd found him and initiated him as the Pilgrim/Pilgrim Knight, which were a red monkey named Book, and a blue, white, and brown turtle named Blueberry, in much the same way that Wanderer and Seeker had earlier done with Darien when they'd made him Earth Knight/Tuxedo Mask.

It was several minutes after Rolando had helped several spectators out of the gym and even to another safer area of the school when Earth Knight and Wanderer were finally able to actively enter the battle themselves. And once they did, they showed no mercy to their opponents, if they could possibly avoid doing so at all here.

As everyone who could still fight here did so, the battle area eventually brightened up enough to allow several fighters to see who had ultimately led this attack, and it was Jadeite. Although he'd not been visible before the lights had gone out in and around the gym to anyone, or at least not as he now appeared in his Negaverse General's uniform then, he had still orchestrated and led this monster attack, most definitely. Jadeite soon spotted Earth Knight as he engaged three Inazans and a Iberrani at the same time, and sent an attack his way as well. Earth Knight was barely able to turn his head enough in time to see it, once Terna shouted a quick warning in his direction. He ducked under it, and it hit one of the Inazans near the base of their neck for they had temporarily shifted back into a more humanoid appearance so as to hopefully better fight against him in this fight. Jadeite's friendly fire caused that Inazan to release their current grip on Earth Knight's left arm, and left a good-sized wound on them, although it wasn't a fatal wound. However, once he had dispatched two of the ones near his back with his sword by skewering them in what might pass for their brains whenever they were in their blob-like forms, he engaged the Inazan that Jadeite had just unintentionally hit, and struck several times in that same spot, among other places, before they ultimately were killed as well.

Wanderer took out several Iberranis and Inazans by himself as well, periodically changing his forms as he did so. Eventually, Seeker was able to make his way towards him easily enough, and they met near the center of the court, while everyone else was elsewhere in the gym. By then, the amount of darkness now present in and immediately around the gym had decreased by about half, more or less, from what it had been when the attack had first begun about an hour before at 9 pm local time.

Terna was now using several volleyballs near her as weapons, either by serving them or kicking them at several nearby opponents, and doing so in ways that would make it possible for them to return back to her almost immediately after using them. She was perhaps currently like someone throwing boomerangs, for instance, during this fight. Several minutes later, no monsters were left near her or those she was still protecting here. For they had either fled, been recalled, or been killed after she'd engaged them, in truth. Those she'd killed had quickly turned to dust on the floor briefly before even that dust mysteriously vanished from sight or hearing or whatever once and for all for her, at least.

The still-unidentified woman had taken out several more monsters as well, by using various techniques and items then at her disposal, but not all of the monsters she'd taken out had been all that easy for her to take out during it, for some of them had hit her with their attacks, and had caused her pain and injuries during the fight. But she still fought on, at least until Earth Knight was able to make his way to her side and said, "Earth Knight is here, and you don't need to fight any more during this fight. Take these people out of here, and take them outside for the time being. Wanderer, Seeker, and I will cover your escape, and those you've so far defended here. Go, Chrysanthemum Lady. You've fought long enough for this fight."

"Very well, Earth Knight, I'd rather stay, but you're right, I need to get out of here, at least for a bit, especially with these civilians who I've been fighting to defend for a while."

As Chrysanthemum Lady began escorting all the civilians she'd just been protecting out of the gym and out of the school, Earth Knight and his two animal allies each covered their escape as best as they then could. It wasn't all that easy for them to do so, for sure. But they still managed to do so easily enough, even though most of their then-current opposition in the fight were Iberranis.

Once they were safely outside, Earth Knight and his two animal allies went in search of Jadeite, but before they could locate him, Jadeite had already escaped, by teleporting back to the Negaverse with as much energy as he then could escape with, along with most of the monsters that still remained in the fight. However, he left some monsters behind to cover his escape and the escapes of those he brought back to the Negaverse with him, especially if they were seriously injured or worse, because he really didn't want to potentially lose all the energy that his monsters had just been gathering here. If he had done so, he knew he'd be in a whole lot more trouble than he would be if he brought at least some energy back to the Negaverse with Queen Beryl, so he withdrew while he still could easily enough.

It took about another ten to fifteen minutes for the remaining monsters still present on the school's grounds or in its main building to be eliminated once and for all. They were mostly eliminated by Skyhorse and Earth Knight, but a few were also still somehow killed by Terna, in truth. After the last present enemy was then eliminated, Earth Knight shifted into his Tuxedo Mask form and somehow quickly repaired all the currently-known existing damage from the battle and made sure all the civilians who were still anywhere in the school or on its grounds would be sufficiently okay before he and his animal allies ultimately left the scene behind.

Several minutes later, once everyone realized it was safe enough to resume the volleyball match that had been interrupted by the attack, the match resumed. It took another hour and a half to finish the match, for it took three more hard-fought sets to ultimately decide the match's winner, which ultimately proved to be CTA, three sets to two. The scores of each set were 15-8 Crossroads. 15-5 CTA, 19-17 CTA, 15-12 Crossroads, and 21-19 CTA, and by the end of the entire match, both teams were quite exhausted, and not just from the match in question, for sure, as of 11:55 pm local time.

Within another hour, all CTA people that had come to Crossroads for the match had left it behind, and especially both volleyball teams that CTA had sent there. Once they arrived back on CTA's grounds, everyone from the buses was quickly sent home for the night, as necessary and as appropriate and all.

---

After they'd all been released for the rest of the night, Eryn soon found Rolando and Sylvia as they were each heading home here. They were still walking together when she found them, and they all soon came to a little 24-hour gas station near CTA's grounds with each other. They each bought something to eat and to drink, and then walked to a nearby park with each other, after first using a pay phone at the station to let their respective families each know that they were safe after the just-ended monster attack, if they didn't already know that they'd each been caught up in it. They each told their parents that they'd be back at their respective homes as soon as possible, but it wouldn't be immediately. For they still each had some distance to go before they could arrive at their respective homes again. And they needed to spend some time thinking about what had just happened for each of them that very night, before doing so, as well.

Once at the park, which was otherwise empty, due to the lateness of the hour, they found themselves sitting at a picnic table there, with Eryn on one side and Rolando next to Sylvia on the other. After they had each gathered their thoughts to at least some degree better, Eryn was the first to speak. And she asked, "Wakefield, why was that horse there, that I saw earlier during what happened tonight?"

"That horse was there to make me a superheroine, Kesell, and to fight alongside me, for two things."

"And where was Volois in all of this?"

"He was trying to help innocents stay safe, for one thing. Although I didn't see him at first during the battle because he was elsewhere. And even when he wasn't, it was still dark wherever all the fighting was taking place for a while during it. How much of the battle did you see, if I may ask?" asked Sylvia, as she sipped from a bottle of apple juice then in one hand.

"Not all of it, mind you, but I saw at least some of it, once the darkness had begun to be gotten rid of somehow. I also saw one of the players on the other team fighting near her teammates and several coaches, among other things I was able to see. Frinussi, I believe, was her name."

"I see. Would you like to talk more about the attack, your family, or what may happen for you and certain other people in your life now, then?" asked Rolando, taking a bite of a ham and cheese sandwich.

"As a matter of fact, ….," said Eryn, but not quite sure how to resume talking about her current problem with her brother at the moment, for starters.

"What is troubling you most at the moment, if I may ask, Eryn?" asked Sylvia, with a quite concerned look on her face now, as she set one hand on the table near one of Eryn's.

"Will I have a choice whether or not to actually fight these alien monsters?"

"I'm not sure. I could probably have said no tonight, but I don't like seeing people in potentially grave danger, if I can possibly avoid it, without trying to help them as much as I can, if I can," answered Sylvia.

"So that's probably not something I can avoid easily, if at all?" Eryn asked, with a increasingly downcast look on her face, even as she began fisting the hand not currently on the table just above its top surface. "And I was hoping I'd not actually have to ever fight unwillingly in my life, against anyone or anything, in truth. I've seen too much hurting, or worse, in my life already, even if it isn't in my own family's home. Far too much innocent blood has been shed over the years in Ireland, for sure, and much more is likely to be shed, if many people don't get their acts together better, I'm quite certain."

"Believe it or not, I understand you completely about things of this nature, being myself from Israel, where we've had Arabs and Israelites, at least, if not other people as well, killing each other often over the last few millennia," answered Sylvia. "All in the name of God for a piece of land that isn't very large compared to many nearby nations who often oppose it now wherever and whenever they can or want to, for starters."

Eryn thought about what Sylvia had just said in silence for several moments, while quietly sipping from her bottle of chamomile tea. As she did so, Rolando asked, "Sylvia, you mentioned the horse was there to initiate you as a superheroine, and to fight alongside you, at least, tonight. What was his name, and who did you become, once he did so?"

"His name is Moonlight Serenade, Serenade for short, and he made me Sailor Skyhorse. I saw a monkey and a turtle also fighting in the battle, among other things I saw, and I saw someone who looked a lot like you often near them, if I remember correctly," said Sylvia, as she briefly looked at him instead of Eryn, who was still quite deep in thought.

"You do, and they made me the Pilgrim, AKA the Pilgrim Knight. The monkey is Book, and the turtle is Blueberry, as a matter of fact. We didn't talk long during the attack, or often, of course, but we still were all able to exchange various bits of information with each other every so often during it."

Eryn soon blurted out, much to her current surprise, "Most animals can't talk, if any at all, in anything approximating human speech, you two."

"Well, I don't know how come these animals were able to talk, among others, in such speech, but they still were," commented Rolando, as he sipped from a bottle of chocolate milk.

"Now I suppose you're going to tell me that if and when I am forced to fight, I might unexpectedly hear an animal talk to me somehow, Volois?" She bammed her fist down on the table when she said that, and it wasn't done quietly, either. She hit it so hard that the force of that single blow somehow cracked the wooden part of the half-wood and half-stone tabletop under her fist slightly. Like an ax through a log being turned into firewood would crack it if it didn't completely split the log in question on the first blow, for example.

"I am not certain that may happen yet, but it is still a distinct possibility, at least, I think, Kesell," admitted Rolando as he locked his blue eyes with Eryn's green eyes for several seconds, and reached for Sylvia's nearest hand, thinking it might help him stay calm at the present time, somehow. Sylvia didn't resist his reaching for her nearest hand, but gladly let him do so. Not only that, she placed her nearest hand on top of his for several seconds, before then casually brushing a bit of auburn hair that had unexpectedly just fallen in front of her blue eyes out of them.

"I don't want to fight. I've seen too much fighting on the news, if not in person, to last me quite a while, if not forever." More hard smackings of the table began expanding the original crack in the wooden part of its top, and causing other cracks to start appearing as well for it.

"Even if people you might care for would be potentially in very grave danger, for example?" asked Sylvia, as calmly and as gently as possible.

"Isn't there a way to settle things peaceably with those sending these monsters?"

"I don't think so, unfortunately," said Sylvia, with a sad look on her face. "Someone's going to have to fight them, and not just a few people, at that. I do know one thing, at least, though. Nobody puts those I care for in any unnecessary danger whenever I'm around and gets away scott-free, if I can help it, for sure. Whether it's my family members or my friends or anyone else I know well enough, at least, I am not opposed to the idea of trying to defend them as best as I can, for as long as I can. Even if it may ultimately result in my eventual death. I'd fight to the death to defend those I care about, no question. Would you?"

"I hope I wouldn't have to, Wakefield, of course."

"That's not the question I just asked."

"I suppose I would, if I had to, even if I didn't really like the idea of potentially having to do so."

"She asked you a yes or no question, Kesell. Please answer the question. It's a simple enough question to answer, and I would gladly do so, potential apprehensions or not, for sure, in my case. These monsters and their leaders will most definitely not mess around, and they have not, from what I've so far been able to gather in terms of certain information sufficiently related to them, evidently, if I am not too mistaken about such things. If you ultimately decide to fight, you must be willing to fight to the death, if needed, to defend the innocent as best as possible, or there's no real point to you doing this sort of thing, at all, if ever. You are either going to have to be fully into the nature of this sort of thing, or fully out of it. There's no possible middle ground, if our enemies are so inclined as they currently seem to be to me."

Eryn thought long and hard about this, and would continue to do so for a good while longer, for sure. But her answer to Sylvia's just-asked question would be learned later, in just a few days, once the next Negaverse attack began, most definitely, one way or another, whether she liked it or not.

"You think about this sort of thing for a while, and get back to us about it, if and when you can. Now you mentioned you were having some recent trouble with your brother Gearalt being nosier than he normally would be of late, earlier, I believe, before we went to Crossroads?" asked Sylvia.

"Yes, I did, at school earlier. But we weren't able to discuss such matters at sufficient enough length, as you both know, of course." Eryn's hand began to hurt from her having hit the table several times quite hard, like a gridiron football player perhaps being gang-tackled and driven to the ground hard by several large defenders, such as defensive ends, for example.

"Well, we're here now. Feel free to say anything you want, while you still can here. I also hope you're not going to get into too much trouble, though, for being out so late."

"If I do, I do. But right now, I really don't care. Not only that, I'm feeling rather cranky at the moment, and really want to scream and yell right now, among other things I'd really like to do, to be honest, Wakefield."

"Then why don't you? Nobody else is likely around at this time of night besides us near here. Go ahead and yell and scream and do something, whatever it might be, if you want. Don't just bottle up your frustrations, if you don't have to," advised Rolando.

"Who'd hear me yelling and screaming then, perhaps, besides you two, of course, at least?"

"God, for one, would, for sure," answered Sylvia, as she rose from where she had just been sitting at the table, and set her juice on it near a backpack. "Tell you what. Come with me to another part of this park, and we'll spar, if you like, in our jeans and sweaters and sneakers. You have a lot on your mind, evidently, and you apparently need to hit something. I need to have another physical workout tonight, anyway, because even with tonight's very difficult fight, there's no way I'll be able to sleep well without having one, I think."

"Are you sure you can handle a real angry woman easily enough right now, Wakefield?"

"Won't know for sure if I don't try, most definitely. Let's see what happens. I want to see your best fighting efforts here for a while, anyway, Shemeshia." Sylvia began walking away, and Rolando quickly joined her as she did so.

"What did you call me?" asked Eryn, as she quickly rose to follow them, not wanting Sylvia to get the last word in their current discussion with each other.

"Shemesh is the Hebrew name for the Sun, and I tried to feminize it. Of course, if you'd prefer I call you Griana, I can do that, seeing as Grian seems to be the Sun's name in Irish. Or I could call you Whipster, or something else, if I so choose." Sylvia began to chuckle, which Eryn really didn't like here. And Eryn sped up her walking after seeing that both Rolando and Sylvia had already done the same.

"I'd rather you not call me by a nickname, for I hardly know you well enough for that yet, if I ever will, Wakefield," she quickly yelled, from about ten yards or so away.

Both Rolando and Sylvia led her on a fairly good chase for a little while before both coming to the place where Sylvia wanted Eryn to follow them to here. It wasn't more than a few minutes later before Rolando then sneaked up behind Eryn, and said, "Boo," all of a sudden.

Eryn whirled, to try to find out who'd just startled her, but saw nobody until Sylvia then reappeared in front of her from just behind a tall hedge-type wall in the park. Moments later, Eryn realized that they were in the middle of a moderately-sized maze in the park, with no apparent way of seeing her way fully out of it at the current time.

"Where are we, and why are we here?"

Sylvia answered, "We're in a place that we'll periodically train in. We're here so that you and I can hopefully work out our current frustrations with school or younger brothers or whatever for a while. Seeing as you're not yet initiated, I'll not use any of my new abilities on you, for fairness's sake. You're a scared woman right now, I take it."

"Who you calling a scared woman, Wakefield?"

"I'm calling you one right now. I can see the fear in your eyes about the future. You're afraid that you'll never be able to become a world-famous painter, for one thing. You're afraid that your little brother will ruin any chance for you to have any real privacy in the years to come. You're afraid that if you fight, history will repeat, and you'll never have a peaceful life anywhere. Oh, I see you are afraid that others will think you a coward, as well."

"You're lying!" protested Eryn, as she held her now-hurting hand for a few seconds.

"Am I? Fight me, and we'll see how scared you are. You're afraid that you'll get attacked again by people or beings or circumstances that you can't control easily enough, and something bad will happen. Well, Miss Little Red Riding Hood, if you don't step up and fight for what you believe in, and who you believe in, it most certainly WILL happen over and over again until you finally have the guts to fight back as best as you can, whenever you can, and however you can!"

"Don't call me that!" Eryn shouted, not at all happy with Sylvia here, as the insults continued, and her face began to change expression into a more upset look, as if she was really trying to avoid crying here, for starters. But she was starting to have to make a real effort at not losing control over her emotions here, and Sylvia soon recognized that, at least to a degree, as she continued to sling possible insults Eryn's way here.

"Little Red Riding Hood, lost in a maze, and kissing the Blarney Stone? Oh, this ought to be really fun to watch, Rolando boy, don't you think?" Sylvia kept piling on the joking and the possible insults here, trying to see how far she could push things before Eryn finally tried to go after her well enough.

After Sylvia eventually made a few really good wisecracks about her father working for Toyota, among other things she said, Eryn finally blew her top, and charged full-bore at Sylvia, who easily stood her ground for at least a few moments while she then did so. Eryn quickly came in swinging quite madly with both fists, as if they were pistons in a car's engine, which Sylvia mostly blocked somewhat easily, at least at first.

But Eryn still persisted, and soon unleashed a kick to Sylvia's left side, hitting her just above the knee. Sylvia took the kick, with some effort, before jabbing to Eryn's abdomen. Which caused Eryn to briefly step back, in order to hopefully minimize the pain from being hit there at least a little bit. Sylvia mainly fought defensively, even occasionally throwing in a few basic judo moves she'd learned over the years, for instance, while Eryn also shouted, "Stay in one place, you idiot, so I can thrash you good for a while!"

"Where's the fun in that? Ha-ha-ha-ha! IF you can't handle me, how are you ever going to handle your annoying little brother Gearalt?" asked Sylvia, as Eryn rose from the ground after being thrown to one side by her. "So I suppose you're just going to let him keep sticking his nose into your business, then?"

"Aargh! Shut up!"

"Make me, or start talking, Little Red Riding Hood!" Sylvia shouted back, before laughing more here.

Rolando thought, 'I hope you know what you're doing here, Sylvia. And I hope you'd not do this to anyone else needlessly in order to get them to fight you at times, as well.'

The girls fought for a while, using whatever moves they each thought necessary during their fight, short of pulling hair and pulling at clothes too strongly, often yelling and/or screaming at each other, before Sylvia felt Eryn suddenly stop fighting and break into tears unexpectedly. When she did that, Sylvia dropped her guard and held her close, until Eryn gained control over herself again here. Not total control yet, in fact, but at least some, in any case. Sylvia and Rolando then quickly escorted her out of the maze fairly easily.

---

A short while later, they were all back at the table they'd originally come to in the park, and sitting at it again, in the same places they'd originally occupied for it. Eryn gathered her thoughts more as they each sat down again at the table, before asking, "Why did you have to say those things to me earlier, Wakefield?"

"I had to test you, to see how far you could be pushed before you'd fight. In truth, I didn't mean a lot of what I said earlier, but I needed to know what might push your buttons enough to cause you to actually fight someone or something. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, but this time, it was most likely necessary. Toyotas can often be good cars to have, I believe, but not everyone prefers to drive Toyotas, of course. These beings or people won't care if they hurt your feelings, though." She paused to take a sip of her remaining juice, before continuing to speak.

"Really, Wakefield?" Eryn began studying the cracks that she'd left earlier in the wooden part of their table's top, and crinkled her face up as she soon realized that she'd done a good deal of potential damage to it when she'd hit it several times like she had then. She wondered if anyone besides Sylvia and Rolando would ever be able to pin the damage she'd caused to the table on her besides God, but she hoped not. For she really didn't want to have to potentially deal with any possible trouble because of it, in any case, for sure.

"That's right, Eryn. As Rolando told you earlier, they're playing for keeps, and ANYONE who fights them must be willing to do the same to the best of their respective abilities, even if it may mean their eventual deaths in battle, if the need ever arises. As Yoda says in one of the Star Wars movies, if I remember correctly, 'Do or do not. There is no try.' While I don't necessarily agree with much of the basic philosophy behind Star Wars movies or books, for instance, this sort of thing is what we're talking about here. Either you're going to be in fully or out fully. You won't be able to just play around with being a superheroine, for sure, if you ever become one. Whether you choose to be one or not, you most definitely won't. And it will not be an easy life to live, if you ever become one. I am prepared to have to fight at any time, day or night, if the need arises. I don't entirely know why yet, if I ever will, but I most certainly am."

"But my studies or my art, for example?"

"They won't care about those things at all, most likely, if I'm not too mistaken, Eryn," said Rolando, with a rather concerned look on his face at the moment. "Nor will they be above using anyone you're close enough to in order to further their aims, whatever they might be, I'm sure. Even if it means they might try and take hostages in order to do so. Like perhaps your parents or siblings, for example."

"Plus, you'll also have to try to make sure those who don't know your secret never learn it needlessly, if at all possible, once you start down this road in life, if you ever do. Because if your enemies and/or ours ever learn of it, then it could be very possible that you may never be able to have a totally peaceful life again for the rest of your life anywhere on this planet, at least, I think," added Sylvia.

"I wouldn't even be able to tell my mother, or my sister, for example?"

"Nope, you wouldn't. You'd have to keep such matters secret to the best of your ability as long as you possibly could, if not forever, from them both. And, of course, also from your father and your brothers, for sure," said Rolando, draining the last of his chocolate milk.

"But I talk about almost everything with my mother and sister, if and whenever possible and appropriate enough, Volois. Not everything, of course, but still quite a few things, in any case."

"You won't be able to do that with this secret or related matters, unfortunately. We're telling you these things here, though, so that you know what this kind of life will require of you. Even before you make that choice for yourself or are ultimately forced to fight within the next week, at most, if I'm not too mistaken about things of this nature. And we will both trust you to keep whatever we've told you tonight since the fight secret, as well," said Rolando, as he finished his sandwich, and checked a watch then on his left wrist. He saw it was now rapidly approaching 3:30 in the morning, and told the girls he was then with that it was.

"My parents are going to really be mad at me, by now, I'm sure," Eryn suddenly blurted out.

"So are mine. Tell you what, come with me, and we'll stay the rest of the night at my place. I'll help you with your parents after school, in return, as best as I can. Rolando, go home. We'll talk later."

"Will you be safe enough going home with her, Syl?"

"Yes, I should be fine. Besides, she and I need to talk more with each other. Go home, please. You don't need your parents to be more worried about you than they may already be due to the attack."

Rolando quickly left both girls' presence, without another word or look in their directions. As he left them alone, he hoped that they'd both be fine eventually, and especially Eryn at the current time, for sure.

---

Both girls watched him go, and when he was out of sight, Sylvia said, "Come along now, and let's get you cleaned up here at least a little bit, if we can, Eryn. The others should all still be asleep now in their beds, I'm sure. If I let you go home now like you are, your parents will be more upset, because they'll see you injured and all, most definitely."

"I still don't like what you said, though, Wakefield."

"It got you talking more, even if it was yelling at me and/or Rolando, right?"

"You could say that. So how do you suggest I deal with my brother, then?"

"Let's get you cleaned up at least a bit, if we can. And we'll talk either while we do, or after we do, whichever you prefer more. But we'll definitely talk more about this before we each sleep again."

"You do realize we won't have a great deal of sleeping time before school, right?"

"So what? Late nights are not totally unknown for me, when it comes to my parents and siblings knowing about them. I try not to stay up late too often, but they do know that I can be a night owl of sorts at times, Eryn. They may not necessarily like it, mind you. But they still try to deal with that sort of thing from me as best as they can, whenever they can, I believe. This won't be the first time I'll not have at least five hours of sleep at night. And it won't be the last, either, without a doubt."

They arrived at the Wakefields' current Western-style three-story residence in SEST about ten minutes after Rolando left them. Sylvia escorted Eryn through the front door, and upstairs to her room. Whereupon she took Eryn to the second-floor bathroom attached to both her room and her sisters' room, with doors from each bedroom and the second-floor hallway opening into that bathroom, and told her to prepare for a shower there, while she got some clothes for her to change into after that shower.

Eryn didn't argue this time with Sylvia, but complied with her orders to the letter. It wasn't long before Sylvia returned with some clean clothes, some medical supplies, and some shower supplies for them both to use during and after their showers. Eryn showered first, then Sylvia. After both girls showered, Sylvia attended to the various wounds and/or injuries Eryn had gained earlier during both fights. One at Crossroads, and one in their private park fight. Eryn soon returned the favor, before they both dressed in some sleepwear. Fortunately, they were both about the same size, more or less. So Sylvia's clothes weren't generally too uncomfortable for Eryn to wear at the present time.

They then went to Sylvia's room again, and Sylvia gave her a brief tour of it, before having Eryn lay down in her own bed, while she sat at her desk, once the doors leading to the bathroom, the hallway, and her balcony were all secured as necessary and desired here. "Okay, we're alone, and we'll not be bothered for hours, Eryn. Let's talk. I want to hear more about your situation with your brother. And you will not leave here until you talk to me about him more. Even if we're somehow late for school today. Nor will I allow you to sleep, if I can possibly avoid doing so here, either."

"Are you serious?" Eryn thought to herself, even as she asked Sylvia that question, 'This girl is rather tenacious, it seems, but surely she can't mean everything she's saying now as firmly as she's looking now, can she really?'

"Very serious, Eryn. You were also quite distracted during the match, even before the attack began. And it nearly cost us the overall match against Crossroads in a few places tonight, because you weren't fully focused on playing as well as I've seen you play at least once or twice during this volleyball season, or during a few after-school practices, for sure." A very stern look quickly appeared on Sylvia's face, and she dared Eryn to challenge her with that look, as she sent it Eryn's way while still talking to her here.

"You won't back down on this, will you?" Eryn asked, trying to see if Sylvia didn't actually mean what she was saying now. But Sylvia's current stern look didn't change one bit at all, as they locked eyes with each other for a few seconds apiece.

"Nope. I want to hear you out, but first you have to start talking to me. If you start talking, I'll listen, as best as I can, I promise. But only as long as you don't clam up on me, or start lying to me, I'll not get after you again too much, for sure. I want the truth, even if you don't believe I can accept it right now, Eryn."

"You wouldn't likely believe me, if I told you half the things I'm currently having to deal with when it comes to him, at least, right now, I think."

"Try me. I do have a younger brother of my own, as a matter of fact. Ulysses is ten, while my sisters Rebecca and Martha are twelve and seven, respectively. While we may not have brothers who were born in the same calendar year, mind you, we still have to deal with them from time to time, of course."

"Fine, you want me to talk, I'll talk, but you have to shut up so I can try to better express my feelings here at the current time."

"What did I just tell you I'd do, if you'd just start talking?"

"You told me you'd listen and hear me out, as long as I talked and didn't try to lie to you, in essence."

"That's right, Eryn. I will, as long as you cooperate with me well enough. We can stay here awake for hours, or we can get this taken care of as quickly as possible, as best as possible. Your choice. But if you don't cooperate with me here, then things may go much harder for you once you finally make it back to where you now live with your family, I'm quite sure."

Eryn thought about that briefly in complete silence, and then sat up in Sylvia's bed as best as she could here. Although due to certain hits she'd received during both fights, it still took a bit of effort for her to do so well enough at the present time. That done, Sylvia suddenly handed her another pillow to put behind her back for reasons of comfort, along with a tall glass of water, after having unexpectedly risen from her chair briefly, somehow sensing Eryn might actually need both those things right now. Eryn put the pillow behind her back, and took a sip of the water, before setting the glass down next to her on a bedside table.

"Okay, now I told you both that my younger brother Gearalt has been nosier than usual of late, since the attack at the furniture store, didn't I, Wakefield?"

"Yes, Eryn, you did. While we're not at school, and whenever possible, please feel free to call me Sylvia, if and when you like and can," said Sylvia, as she resumed sitting at her desk.

"Are you sure? I'm not being too informal with you here, by any chance?"

"Are we at school now, or in public?"

"No, we aren't."

"Then call me Sylvia, or perhaps even Syl at times, please, Eryn. Especially when you're in my home, and most especially in my room. I don't often let relative strangers into my room without others present, in truth, I must tell you straight out here." Sylvia gave her a smile, even as she now told Eryn these specific things about herself and her room.

"Sylvia," said Eryn, as she briefly tested out the sound of that name on her lips along with Syl, for a few seconds, before settling on using the name Sylvia at the present time. "Sylvia, then, at least for now. Gearalt is twelve, about the same age as you say Rebecca currently is, if I remember correctly in terms of your nearer sister's age, at present. He has always been rather curious about many things related to me basically for all his life, more or less, for example. But ever since the attack that I just mentioned, he's been even more so, for some reason that I've not yet been able to discover easily enough, it seems."

"What do you think he knows about the attack, if anything at all?"

"I'm really not sure. And I'm not sure I should even ask him if he knows about it, or what he might know about it, if he actually does know about it and/or that I was unwillingly caught up in it, to be completely honest with you here." Another slow sip of water quickly followed Eryn's answering of Sylvia's question here, before Eryn then continued speaking.

"Since that attack, I've noticed him trying to hang around me much more than usual. And several of my things seem to be disappearing much more often of late. Mostly minor things like pencils, notebooks, and pens, for example, but also things like certain clothing items such as favorite sweaters and shirts, at times, have most recently gone missing. And I really don't know why they have been. I have my own suspicions, of course, but nothing I can definitely prove at present in relation to him, unfortunately. My parents haven't been able to monitor him as closely as they usually do either. Or at least not for the most part, anyway. My sister Ashley, who will be nine years old on the 15th, doesn't go into his room normally, and my six-year-old baby brother Paxton is still much too young to even think of this sort of thing. Now I'm not saying that Paxton's still an actual baby. But he's currently the youngest member of our family, and may always be, Sylvia."

Sylvia thought about that for a little while, as she suddenly reached into a drawer of her desk and took out a packet of chocolate chip cookies that had been opened a day or so earlier. She took a half dozen cookies out of it, and then offered Eryn three of those six cookies. Moments later, Eryn began slowly nibbling on them, as she continued to talk about her family. "We were all born in Ireland, and up to just recently, we were getting along fairly well, or at least for the most part, with each other. Even with Father having to often work late more and more often over the past few weeks or months here in Japan and also being off on trips more than usual to certain nearby countries, we still were, more often than not. But after the attack that we were both caught in at the furniture store, things have gotten much more difficult for me in certain ways, most of them likely due to Gearalt's increased nosiness and all, I believe, Sylvia."

"I don't know much about males, in terms of their body processes related to certain things, for sure. But I still wonder if he's getting to that age where they start to change from being boys into men, Eryn. If so, that may be part of the problem here. He could be entering adolescence, I think. And if you remember how rough it is for many teens, it may also be that way for him right now, at least. I don't know about you, but as for me, if I remember correctly, I didn't really have any major issues with entering adolescence. I've generally not stressed out about it, or the whole adolescence process. But I've seen many people who have been, whether they're boys or girls, for one reason or another." Sylvia bit one of her cookies, and waited for Eryn to speak again.

"Actually, I have also had certain issues with growing up, Sylvia. I'm not as large as several other girls around my age, nor do I have the figure a number of them do, among other things that have periodically weighed on my mind when it comes to me and how I look and am, et cetera, for sure. I've periodically also been made fun of for my looks, both here and in Ireland, at least. But I've still tried to deal with such things as best as possible, whenever that's happened for me in my life. And your earlier comments were not enjoyed either, as well, in fact. Or at least some of them weren't, anyway, of course."

"I didn't like having to push you like that, but I had to see how just much you would likely be able to take then, before you tried to fight back and stop me from saying and doing what I was then saying and doing, Eryn. Again, I'm real sorry I had to do it, but I most definitely needed to test you right then. That's simply because all this fighting business is not something you can be halfway committed to at all, if you're going to do any of it against those monsters or anyone or anything else that seeks to do harm to innocents here on this planet by your own choice. As both Rolando and I basically told you earlier, 'Either you're going to be in fully or out fully.' Now I won't force you to fight against them, for sure. But if you do fight by choice, I will ONLY expect your best possible efforts in battles or training sessions at all possible times, no question about that at all. As for your playing during future volleyball matches, I will also expect the same from you. And if I don't see you giving the best effort that you possibly can give at any specific time in games or at practice, I will not go too easy on you for doing so, if I know why you aren't easily enough at such times."

"Not even a little bit?"

"Nope. I have very little, if any, tolerance for those who don't knowingly do the best they possibly can at any time around me most, if not all, of the time, Eryn. Whether they're my relatives, friends, associates, or even relative strangers, I still don't generally have such tolerance for people like them in my life. No matter how much I might like them in certain ways, and for certain reasons, I still don't, like it or not," Sylvia stated, as she finished off one of her cookies.

"So what do you suggest I do in terms of my younger brother, then, perhaps?"

"For now, if you're not already doing so, lock your door whenever you're not in your bedroom."

"But Ashley and I share a bedroom. I can't normally do that. Or at least I can't whenever my parents are home, anyway, and at most times whenever I might have male guests visiting me at home, as well."

"That definitely complicates things here, then," commented Sylvia, as she tried to figure out some other way that Eryn might better be able to keep Gearalt's nose needlessly out of certain personal business of hers in the future, or at least for the time being, anyway.

All of a sudden, after about another hour or so of periodic conversation between them both, Sylvia then remembered Sunstriker, and asked if Eryn had it on her person now, or in her things.

"It's in my backpack now, between two of my textbooks. Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking that if and when you choose to fight, it might somehow be able to create and maintain a forcefield of some sort around your room, once you are initiated like I was during the attack at the volleyball match, and you might be able to also configure that forcefield to a degree. I don't know why I'm thinking this, to be completely honest with you. But maybe you might better be able to somehow keep your brother Gearalt from needlessly intruding on your privacy at certain times if I'm sufficiently correct here in relation to your dagger, even without him actually seeing it or knowing about it."

"But wouldn't that perhaps require me to leave it at home whenever I wanted that to be the case, and not have it with me during any potential future battle?" asked Eryn.

"Not sure, or at least not yet, anyway, Eryn. But you do raise an important concern here, with that last question of yours. If you had to leave it in your room to be able to keep your brother out when you're away, then you might not have it available for use in battle. And you'll likely need it in battles, I'm quite sure. So we'll have to try to come up with another way to hopefully better keep your brother from needlessly involving himself with certain personal business of yours, it seems. Let me talk to Rolando more about this sort of thing, and we'll try to help you out as much as we can here."

"Fine, talk to Rolando, but keep this to as few people as possible, as best as you can, please."

"I'll try my best, I promise. One other thing, at least, then, Eryn."

"And that is?"

"Just as I will want to see only the best possible effort from you in certain matters, whenever possible and appropriate, when and if I might know you're not giving your best possible effort at any particular time, I DON'T want you to be afraid to call me out when I may not be doing the best I possibly can do at any time regarding certain people and/or things, et cetera, in my life. Whether it's just as a civilian or just as a fellow superheroine, if not both, I don't want you to be afraid to do that, when and if you know for sure that I can do better with those kinds of people and/or things, as well. Now it appears that I'll be leading the girls for our team of superheroes, at least for now, if not permanently. But I'm not above ever being called out if needed by any of my current or future teammates, whether male or female, for sure. And whether I'm in civilian form or in my superhero form, for that matter. I may not really like it all that much, at times, of course, if and whenever it might happen. However, I can still take being called out easily enough, I'm sure, if it's justifiable enough at any time in my life, from anyone in it. Even from you, for example, I think."

"Are you serious, Sylvia?"

"Eryn, stop asking that question, please. When I say something, I generally mean it, unless it's quite obvious I'm joking around with anyone or about anything. I value honesty very highly, and those who can be honest with me, even if it might hurt my feelings, I tend to often gravitate to, if and whenever possible. If I am ever not serious about something I say to you, I'll either try to let you secretly know somehow, even if it may not necessarily be obvious at a particular time, or I'll tell you directly, when and if I can, et cetera. Is that fair enough?" asked Sylvia, as she briefly glanced at a nearby clock and saw it was nearly 5:30 in the morning.

"Fair enough, Sylvia. I'm still upset with you, though, about your comments earlier before and during our private park fight."

"I can live with that, if necessary. But it got you talking to us more, didn't it?"

"Yes, I have to admit it did."

"And do you feel better than you did before, now?"

"I suppose I do, at least a little bit, if not a lot better. I still wish you wouldn't have made me fight you earlier, in any case, Sylvia."

"Well, you got a lot of your frustration and anger out that you must have been feeling of late since the attack at the furniture store, at least, right?"

"Yes, I do believe I got at least some, if not a lot or most or all of it, out, I admit, Sylvia," acknowledged Eryn, as she drained the last of the water in the glass near her.

"Then what I did may have helped you greatly, I hope. I wouldn't likely do this with most people, mind you, Eryn. But I do think sometimes certain people need to be reminded not to try and keep everything inside themselves too long needlessly. Even me, at times. I've sometimes kept certain things in too long, when they needed to be released. And it's not always helped things out for me with other people and situations, until I wise up sufficiently well and finally let those things be dealt with as needed, for sure. God has helped me greatly at such times, when I stop being so stubborn in certain ways related to them, and let Him help me and/or others deal with them, most definitely. Our God is an amazing God, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, no matter who they are, you hear me?"

"I hear you, I believe. Anything else?"

"No, I think we've covered just about everything that we can cover or need to cover right now, as best as possible, Eryn. What time do you usually get up in the morning, when possible?"

"Usually by 6:30 or 7, depending on whether the day ahead of me is a school day or not. You?"

"Usually around then, if I'm not completely wiped out and don't find myself loggified at certain times,"

said Sylvia. When Eryn wondered what that meant, Sylvia told her what she meant as quietly as possible. Sylvia thought for a moment, as she looked at the nearest clock in her room again, before saying, "I see, Eryn. I'll tell you what I'll do for you right now. I'll actually let you sleep until roughly 7:30, and that should hopefully allow you to rest for a little while before my parents might have breakfast ready this morning. After breakfast, we'll go to school. I'll stand watch over you while you sleep, as well. This won't be the first night I'll have been up all night. And it certainly won't be the last, I'm quite sure. Fortunately, I did manage to get a lot of sleep this past weekend."

"Promise?"

"Eryn, ….," said Sylvia.

"Yes?"

"Remember I don't generally joke around when I say certain things, unless I make it as clear as possible that I am at any time, please. It will no doubt save us both a lot of frustration, et cetera, if you do. I don't want to fight and argue more with you right now about anything. Besides, I'm offering you a chance to get what little sleep you now can get here for a little while. I suggest that you take it while you still can here. Because once my three siblings all get up, it's probably going to be very difficult for you to sleep, if you're not already asleep, around here. Not another word, or I WILL bop you with pillows or something until you go to sleep. Don't force me to make this an order of you, or you will NOT like what I'll do to make you comply with it, I'm sure."

Eryn looked briefly at Sylvia, before closing her mouth, pulling the covers over her head, and going to sleep. As promised, Sylvia stood guard, and Eryn was asleep within mere moments of pulling the covers over her head. Sylvia thought, 'Eryn, you're quite the interesting girl, I have to say. It's going to be real challenging to work with you in the future, I'm sure, both in civilian form and in superheroine form, at the very least. I look forward to getting to know you over the next 20-odd years, at least. Lord willing, of course.'

Eryn slept until nearly 7:30, as Sylvia did a bunch of her homework and other things, all while still standing guard over Eryn. Two knocks at her doors leading to the second-floor hallway came at 7:25, letting Sylvia know her sisters were up, and heading downstairs for their breakfasts, per their usual practice in the mornings whenever all three Wakefield daughters were present in the morning in this house.

Moments after the knocks, Sylvia gently shook Eryn awake, and pulled out one of her spare uniforms, seeing as Eryn hadn't brought one with her in her backpack, because she'd originally expected to go straight home from CTA once she was dismissed after the bus ride home. Eryn watched her briefly, as she pulled it and a few other things out from her dressers and closets, before Sylvia quickly pulled the covers off her and led her to the bathroom. Both girls were showered, dressed, and ready for the day within fifteen minutes, at most, as much as they then could be.

Downstairs, after Sylvia introduced Eryn to her parents and siblings, they had their breakfasts with each other and Sylvia's family, even as Eryn also did some of her yet-unfinished homework for certain classes at the same time. Sylvia helped her out if and where needed, but didn't do any of Eryn's work, for sure.

By 7:50, both girls were off to school on foot, arriving there just after 8:10, about ten or so minutes after Sylvia's usual arrival time at school on most school days. This was because Sylvia hadn't taken her usual route to school this time, feeling a bit different than she often had before, for some yet-unknown reason. Also it was because of Sylvia currently being in a mood to show Eryn even more of SEST than she may have already known of it. But they both still arrived at CTA several minutes before school would then begin.

Minutes later, they ultimately had to part for a while, but promised each other that they'd definitely meet again at lunch, at the very latest, later that day. And they promised to meet each other right after school again, as well, among other things they promised each other now.

Fortunately for them both, their respective days at school quickly passed by with no real difficulties they couldn't each handle at the current time. And seeing as there'd been a girls' volleyball game the night before, there was consequently no volleyball practice after school that afternoon. Once they were both free from school for the rest of the day, they both made their way to Eryn's house. And Sylvia soon met Eryn's family, who wasn't happy with Eryn for not returning home earlier, at least at first, of course.

But once Sylvia had talked about the monster attack from the night before, as best as she then could, among other things, Eryn's parents and siblings all settled down at least a little bit, when it came to Eryn and certain monster attack-related matters. Not totally, of course, but at least a little, in any case. And Eryn was no longer in any trouble for delaying her ultimate return home from Crossroads. Sylvia spent the night at Eryn's, and went to school with Eryn Thursday morning from there.

And while it'd not always be peaches and cream, so to speak, in terms of how Eryn and Sylvia might often get along with each other, a new relationship between them had just begun to form and develop. If not at least a friendship. Only time would tell just how things would develop between them in the future. But both girls still greatly hoped they could eventually become at least close friends, somehow, in it.