And so by Minako's "request", Rei found herself guiding her unexpected guest down a maze of corridors (though, she was very sorely tempted to ditch her and see what would happen). Unlike many of the other planetary palaces, the Ram Palace was intentionally built to be confusing. If there was ever an invasion and the enemy breached the front lines, they were sure to become lost in the palace. All of the corridors appeared identical to the naked eye. However, the Martian woman knew her way around the palace by code. Even if she were blindfolded, she would be able to navigate her way through it with great ease (every once in awhile she found herself rescuing a stray soldier who made a wrong turn). This was her territory, her domain. Not even the addition of Minako's footsteps beside her own fazed the Martian in the slightest bit; the armor-clad soldier was very familiar with having subordinates tailing after her ever since the War God’s departure.
But this, it was the one thing she never expected to deal with in this lifetime.
"...So back at home we prefer to be fashionable with our buildings. White marble is much more chic than red marble and these plain pieces of furniture couldn’t possibly be any use to anyone. If you don’t use it, at least make it look pleasing to the eye, make people think it has a purpose. I suggest nothing of this wood though, nope! I know my Mother would agree with me whole heartily on this matter. Or maybe it’s just that Martians don’t have a sense of fashion? If only you had someone to help you… Hmm...I know! I can help you re-decorate! This place is in a need of a fix up anyway and I’m sure I can set you people back onto the road of fashion! So first we need to install windows and..."
The mouth that walked like a girl- a woman’s natural gift of gab.
Are you sure she's the Princess of Venus and not the QUEEN OF TALK? Rei scowled, but she continued to reluctantly tolerate the other woman. The last thing that she needed was another war on her hands.
“You know… there is a reason why this place doesn’t have any windows.”
Like for protection against an invasion. Rei argued back despite her better judgement. She highly doubted it mattered what she said, or if she said anything at all; she had an inkling that Minako wasn’t listening anyway.
How right she was.
"So anyway, tell me about yourself."
"No," Rei said curtly. Keep walking, keep walking, we're almost there...
However Minako looked positively shocked at Rei's response. When Rei noticed the other woman staring at her like a goldfish, she was quick to snap,
"What's wrong? You've never heard anyone turn you down before?"
Rei's words hit Minako hard. Turn me down? NO! Don't tell me she already knows! She panicked. Did Rei know of her plan already? But that's impossible, I didn't say anything!
AhhhhhhHHhhHhhh!
Or, or perhaps she used one of those Martian abilities? That has to be a possibility since she’d have to be part of the royal family if she’s the substitute leader. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Does she have mind reading abilities? Calm down Minako, gotta think things through, Mother is depending on you. Hmm… okay! If I remember correctly… a God or Goddess is a title conveyed to the members of the royal family in power. The royal members are also blessed with the Planet's gifts, giving each mother, father, and child unique abilities of their element. And not surprisingly enough, each royal member has powers differing from royal members from the other planets. It’s something expected, yet rarely displayed as these powers were treated as precious secrets. Spoil sports. And because of that, I’m in this mess now!
Minako’s unspoken silence had the opposite effect on Rei; she thought she would be glad if the woman would shut up, and was even pleasantly relieved at first when she had. But now, she found the feeling very disturbing- as though it was very unnatural. Before Rei knew what she was doing she found herself already trying to justify herself.
With a quick cough to clear her throat, she rephrased her sentence in a more formal tone.
“Ahem. I meant to say that your visit here has nothing to do with who I am. That information isn’t important or has any sort of relevance with your visit. You should be concentrating more on our planet rather than me.”
Minako made a pout. “That isn’t true! It happens to be a fact that a leader reflects the Planet. So by getting to know you, I am getting to know your Planet.”
“The answer is still no.”
“EH? But that is so unfair! You’ve got to give me something to work with! Wait, if I gave you my measurements will you tell me something about yourself?”
“No!” Jeez, what is wrong with her?!
Rei then walked away from the other woman in a hastened pace to a door a few steps away where she then abruptly stopped and turned around.
“For the last time, I’m not going to tell you anything. And this,” She gestured with a rather stiff hand, “Is your room. Princess.”
Minako chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and vowed: she’s not going to get off that easily!
“Oh? I haven’t noticed! Can we go inside?”
With a swift movement the large red room flew aside to reveal its treasured contents. With curious eyes, Minako inched forward around the doorframe until it all came into view.
“WHAAAAAT? No WAY!” She screeched in complete shock.
The place wasn’t anything she expected to see in a desert like Mars. In the dead center of the room was a huge pool, surrounded with recently polished tiles made of both gray and white marble. Outside and lining the tiled structure was potted vegetation. Various flowers and long lush green foliage shone from the light reflected off of the pool’s, watery surface.
Minako then ran into the room, craning her head around in amazement. The doorway to her left suddenly caught her attention and she bolted like a child into the bedroom.
“Oh wow, oh wow!” She squealed. “Maybe I had you guys all wrong!”
Rei slowly trailed behind the blonde, wondering what sort of training Aphrodite had ordered for her daughter if she turned out to be this immature.
Crash!
“Eek!”
“?!” Rei charged in through the narrow opening and prepared to attack only to find a blonde mess on the floor. There was no intruder or renegade soldier of any sort. From the looks of it, in her excitement, Minako had merely neglected to look down and tripped over a small foot stool.
This girl… A few strands of Rei’s hair stood on end.
“Ahahaha…erm…oops?” Minako said cutely before picking herself up. “I was just so excited that I tripped over this leggy thing. I mean, I didn’t expect you to have a place like this! It’s just so awesome! And you’re saying it’s my room? Seriously?”
“That’s correct.”
“YAY!” Minako launched forward to give the raven-haired beauty a hug but instead she ran into Rei’s hand. “Oof! Ouch! ...What was that for?!”
“Running into armor at that speed is plain dangerous... child.”
“Oh.” Minako thoughtfully rubbed her nose. “Sooooo... if you didn’t have that all armor on, you’d let me hug you?”
“No.”
“But Reeeeeei!”
“Look, I’m glad you like this room but we’re kinda in a rush. We have to get you ready.”
The sudden change in subject made Minako blink. “Ready? Ready for what?”
Rei finally felt a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “For war of course!”
“W-H-A-T?” She screeched. “F-For war? What war?”
“Unfortunately you came at a very bad time, or good. It depends on how you look at it. At the very least, you know that Mars is a planet of war right?”
“Mm. Well, yeah…”
Okay, so she’s not a complete airhead.
“Well, then you can probably guess that we’re always fighting. Whether it’s on our home soil or our enemy’s, it doesn’t matter to us. It just happens that today’s battle is scheduled to take place on Martian soil, and it begins in a few short few hours. Why else do you think no one was around when you arrived?”
Gee... so Mars is inhabited after all? Could’ve fooled me. Minako mentally snorted back when she thought about all that sand and dust. But Rei’s statement had intrigued her. Then what does everyone do here when there isn’t a war? They must live somewhere out in the desert because there sure isn’t enough room in this palace for an entire civilization!
“What a minute,” Another thought came to mind. “Did you say ‘scheduled’? You mean people actually schedule wars?”
“Feh.” Rei waved the comment away. “It’s not something you would understand right now, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Instead, you should concentrate on washing up and putting on some armor. Running into armor is dangerous but running into battle without armor is purely idiotic. You would just be begging for death. Even someone like you should be able to understand that.”
The woman paused for a moment when she saw the pleading look on Minako’s face.
Uhh…
Fearing her guest would burst into tears at any moment, Rei quickly assured her, “If you’re worried about killing others, don’t. Since I’m assuming this is your first war and first hand battle experience, I’ll spare you from the dirty work for now. All you have to do is be there and watch. That’s what you came to do right? To spend time with us and see what we do? And you’ve already agreed that you would join in on a few of our activities. That was a condition for your stay.” She reminded the woman. “Or... are you perhaps having second thoughts?”
“N-No! Of course not! It’s just…”
“It’s just what?”
“I think the zipper to my shirt is stuck! Really...stuck.” She made a pathetic tug to emphasize her point. “Could you help me undo it?”
Rei nearly fell over.
Once the problem had been remedied Rei practically scrambled out of that room and waited outside the room doorway, stopping short from dashing out of the quarters completely to say,
“While you’re getting ready, I’ll need to get you a set of armor. Since the medics are all out doing preparations, will you just tell me your measurements?”
“Ah-ha! So you did want to hear them!” Minako accused from behind a screen flap.
“That’s not it! Didn’t you just hear a word I said?”
“Will you just tell me your measurements?” She mimicked in a melodic response. “Ta-da, ta-dum de da…”
“Minako…” Rei growled.
“It’s Mina to you, Rei-bear.”
“R-Rei-bear?!” Rei sputtered. But before she could utter another word of protest Minako shot around the doorway and was in Rei’s face, only wearing a tiny towel to cover her stunning body. Rei all but had a heart attack.
“Yup, that’s right. So, anyway, I can’t…how to say it…? Remember my exact measurements. And since I don’t have a measuring tape, why don’t you do it for me?” She purred. “You know, like this?” The blonde grasped Rei’s stiff hands and placed them on both sides of her waist. “What do you think? Or do you think the towel should go too? I’m sure it’s putting the measurements a few precious millimetres off.” She tried guiding one of Rei’s hands up to her chest and the other towards the back where the knot was.
“You know this-isn’t-necessary. Forget about it, I know which set to get you.” Screw this! I’m just going to get a set my size! Rei yanked her hands back and quickly darted for the door before Minako could do anything else. But she was forced to skid to a stop when Minako innocently asked,
“Rei? What should I do if I need something?”
“Ask a mai--” Oh shit, that’s right! Everyone is out! The cold darkness of truth closed in around the Martian. If she was the only one around then who else was going to supervise the blonde?
She gave a little exasperate sigh. She felt a migraine coming on, and she hadn’t even gone to battle yet. No, scratch that; even if a dozen battles were squished into a single day, it would be far more relaxing than this.
“You can call me,” she finally said. “But don’t dawdle! Just hurry up and get ready!”
“Okay!”
Little did Rei know what she was getting into.
(Call one)
“REI! Which is the bath tub and which is the pool?” The pool has to be the bigger one. But she doesn’t have to know that I know.
“The bigger one is the pool.” Duh.
(Call two)
“REI! How do I turn on the bath tub?” Probably with that knob on the wall… Oh well (heart)
“There’s a knob on the wall. If you turn it, the water will come on. And don’t you dare ask me how you turn it off!” She snapped when she saw Minako about to open her mouth again. The girl merely gave her an innocent look before skipping off again.
I can’t believe this! This is a dream- a bad, bad dream.
(Call three)
“REI! Where do you keep the soap and shampoo?”
The Commander groaned.
This can’t be possible... And yet, here I was thinking that there was actually intelligent life on Venus! Silly me...
I can’t believe she’s taking this long just to take a bath! I’d suggest that she’d take a shower, but I’ve got a feeling it would take twice as long. Damn. And we still have to do a skill assessment on her too.
It was the usual requirement for all new recruits who entered the Martian military. The soldier’s skill level determined his or her training hours, which squadron they would be placed into and their class on the battlefield.
“Rei?” The determined glint in the woman’s eyes had caught Minako off guard.
“Regrettably, I’m afraid you leave me with no choice.”
“...Rei? What are you--”
Scoop
“H-Hey! Stop that! Put me down! Where are you taking me?” Although Minako was protesting quite noisily, she was actually enjoying the attention quite a bit.
Ahhhh…so now Rei will probably take me to bed and have her way with me. Then, it’s mission accomplished!
This would have been fine and dandy if Rei wasn’t heading in the opposite direction.
“Umm…Rei? Seriously, where are we going?” You’re going the wrong way!
The raven-haired woman stopped at the pool’s edge and paused as she analyzed their reflection. There was a dark shadow over her face.
Given the surroundings, Minako quickly deduced, “Hey, isn’t this by the poo--”
Toss, SPLASH!
“OH MY GODDESS!” Minako broke the surface, coughing and sputtering. “C-C-C-Coooooold! Wh-What did you do that for?!” She protested through chattering teeth. Her arms were pressed tightly against her chest along with the towel she had been wearing before the surprise turn of events.
“This is the fastest way to get you washed up,” Rei answered in a matter-of-factly voice. “You can forget the soap, just rinse down. You’re going to need a proper bath later, trust me. So, if you would excuse me, I’ll shall take my leave and leave you to your work. I’ll just be waiting outside.”
Jeez, isn’t she a perfect ‘gentleman’? Minako shot her an indignant look and began to blow bubbles atop of the water’s surface. Hmph, how ironic... For once, I’m starting to wish that my target was a dim-witted, lust-thirsty barbarian.
But when Rei’s steps suddenly slowed, it caused Minako to wonder. Without turning her head, Rei growled in a dark voice,
“AnD ThIs TiMe... DoN’T CaLl Me UnTiL YoU’Re FiTtEd In YoUr ArMoR! Got that?!”
“A-hh…y-yes ma’am!”
Fudge, this is going to be harder than I thought! With an attitude like that I bet she’s still a virgin!
(Sometime later, after Minako had finished her ‘bath’)
“How does it fit?”
Rei inspected the armor-adorned blonde with approving eyes. At least she looks like a soldier now! Although, looking like one and being one is a completely different matter.
Minako twirled on the spot and gave Rei a good look at her new outfit. The girl was dressed head to toe in the red, metallic plates. Each piece was dyed blood-red and had a reflective surface. There was also a sheathed sword strapped to her side.
It was her first time ever wearing a suit of armor. The Venusian had somehow imagined it to be heavier, but despite its size the suit was relatively flexible and unrestricting. For the most part, Minako had nothing much to complain about the armor; in fact, she found it very becoming (perhaps the next fashion tread?). The only thing of concern was the Mars insignia painted on the back piece, which was partially hidden by the cascade of blonde hair.
Now if only we could have Venus’s symbol instead… She sighed, already predicting Rei’s response to such a comment. But if I said something like that she’d probably get all huffy over it. But I wonder… Does Venus’s armor look like this? Or do we even have an army? I know we have palace guards but we’ve never really had any fights so I can’t say that I know what to expect…
“I was going to do a skill assessment on you, but it looks like we’re out of time. We have to go. So follow me and stay close, I don’t need you getting lost.” Rei instructed.
Sensing the change in Rei’s tone, Minako obediently gave a slight nod as she eyed the woman through her helmet piece.
The pair marched out of Minako’s room and made haste through a series of corridors that seemed to lead to the other end of the palace. And as the two women ventured further through the structure, Minako began to notice more signs of life. Before she knew it, the hallway was becoming rather crowded. To either side of her she spotted conversing guards; some of them were discussing some battle-strategy gibberish, which she didn’t understand a word of, while others were making predictions on today’s outcome. She thought she glimpsed several unarmed civilians as well. They were dressed in white garbs, and many of them hustled around with a clipboard in their hands. Even a stranger such as herself could guess that they were assigned to medical assistance.
So, everyone was back here all along? Minako silently questioned. She also took careful note of the people’s reactions to her guide.
“Sir, all squads have assembled!” One male saluted. He must have been at least a head taller than her.
“I see. And the medical stations?”
“Medical stations one through twenty has been re-stocked and is ready to go!” Another person in white reported.
Rei nodded. “Have we received any reports on the enemy’s position yet?”
“No, I’m afraid not Sir! But a team of scouts had already been dispatched. We should hear word from them soon.”
As the number of reports and preparations were being confirmed, Minako soon found herself trailing Rei behind a large crowd. She wasn’t used to being ignored, and now that she was all she could hear were Rei’s words telling her to ‘stay close’. For once, in the longest time, she truly felt out of place and insignificant.
Stay close huh? Well, doesn’t this make things a little difficult? She narrowed her eyes.
“Return to your posts. We will depart soon!”
The crowd was quick to obey. Everyone hastened from all sides to get to their positions and Rei finally came back into full view. Only now, she wasn’t dressed in the same armor she had met Minako with. The Martian was now dressed in upgraded equipment, giving her a new image of leadership.
“Minako.” Rei suddenly called out.
“Y-Yes? I mean, what is it?”
“I will be battling out in the front lines but you are not required to be out there as well. For this battle, I would like you to stay back and watch a safe distance away from the fighting.”
“But--”
“A special elite group of guards will be there to protect you. No matter what happens, don’t jump into the fight.”
Hearing the note of finality in Rei’s voice stopped any other protest.
“…Fine.”
“Then let us go.”
Tup, tup, tup…
(Sandy Terrain)
They’ve only stepped outside of the palace walls but Minako suddenly found herself short of breath. Before them stood the powerful, Martian Army; the soldiers all stood in perfect rows, spanning across the desert sands almost as far as she could see. They were all fairly tall, armed, and, even from a first glance, well trained. Unbelievably, the only sound that could be heard was the wind. No single human voice could be heard; the soldiers were dead silent as their commander stepped onto the grounds. Obedience, loyalty, strength, all of these qualities shone through in both the men and women.
If their spirits are this well trained then I wonder how strong they are in actual combat… All thoughts of her mission were temporarily shoved to the back of her mind now.
In the same quiet manner that Rei had been greeted, she returned the greeting with a hard stare. But within that hard stare was a raging fire. Troops and leader communicating in silence with complete understanding- it was truly a sight to behold.
A new shrill of wind blew overhead and the troops all tensed, standing deadly still as if they were listening to something. Minako’s heart raced wildly in her chest as this strange new feeling coursed through her.
Huh? What’s that sound? She wondered if this was what they were listening for.
Meanwhile, Rei had been looking up to the sky where a mass of brown clouds swirled overhead. Minako also turned her gaze up, but it wasn’t the clouds that had drawn her attention. Like Rei, she suspected the subject of interest was the whistle she heard in the wind. There was a certain melody playing in it, one that sounded like a flute being played.
The Venusian Princess peered around. Where is it coming from?
The blonde was so lost in her thoughts that when Rei finally moved, it had badly startled Minako. She flinched back but Rei ignored the movement. Silently the Martian Commander raised her right arm into the air, before swinging it down across her body and turned with the motion until she had made a complete one eighty-degree turn. Her back was now facing her troops, something considered to be cowardly in battle if it were to an opponent. But in this case, even Minako could figure out that the gesture was a sign of trust for the leader among her solders. Complete trust.
Oh. I get it now! When she was facing them, she was showing them that she was the leader and asserting her authority…but as soon as she turned her back, she wanted them to know that she trusts them to watch her back if something ever went wrong.
I wonder if Ares was anything like this…
And so, following Rei, both the Martian Army and Minako were led towards their opponents. As they approached a certain area, Rei made another set of signals and the main army split into three groups. The center portion stayed with their leader while the other two disappeared behind the sand dunes to either side at a forty-five degree angle.
What are they doing? Minako’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar in her ears. The sound of the flute was growing in intensity.
As the Martian Army ventured onwards, a larger group up ahead came into view. The enemy was restless; many continually rammed the hilt of their spears into the sand as they shouted out incoherent taunts, whereas the quieter ones contributed to the noise by the shuffling of their feet. When a glint of gold came into view Minako’s heart almost stopped. At a first glance she had mistaken the color for yellow or orange but it was gold, the trademark color of Uranus’s Army. A short-haired, sandy blonde leader stood at the front of the enemy soldiers.
...Haruka. Rei recognized. Turning her attention to her charge, she then firmly instructed, “This is where you’ll stay for the rest of the battle. If you stick with the guard you’ll be fine, so don’t go running off! Do you understand?”
“I-I…that is…”
“Speechless? Well, welcome to your first war... Princess.”
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