After finding a way to calm Hotaru back to sleep, the group finally left behind the sweet fragrance of flowers and stepped back towards the unrelenting, sandy dunes. From the very first moment that they stepped onto the barren land, the rough, dry air forcefully invaded their lungs and blew sand up into their eyes. Minako shuddered terribly; although the armor indeed sheltered her from the brunt of the heat, she could have sworn that it had got hotter once again. The Venusian glanced over at her companion and guide. Despite her injury, the Martian commander appeared unaffected by the drastic change in environment. Instead, it appeared that she was devoting her efforts into protecting her new charge. She had removed both her arm guards and her helmet, and equipped them to the child.
Dragging her heels through the heavy sand, Minako quietly fought the increasing surge of envy she felt from Hotaru.
Look at her, sleeping so peacefully and in Rei’s arms too! Argh!
Oh, what are you doing, Minako?! The blonde shook her head to the side and held a hand to her brow to steady herself. What am I thinking? The heat must be getting to me because this is just nuts! I’m an adult! A Goddess to be precise! Why should someone like me be jealous of a little kid like her? Just because Rei likes her better than me... Realizing what she had just thought she was quick to contradict, Wait, nu-uh! It’s not like that at all! I’m only here for the mission. Yeah, that’s it. Once it’s all over, I’m outta here. I’ll go home, and then I’ll...
I’ll...Wait, when it’s done,
what am I going to do?
She paused.
On the other hand, Rei wasn’t fairing as well as the show she put up. They had been marching steadily for close to an hour now. Sweat gleamed as it poured down the sides of her temples, steadily increasing with the growing thirst she felt from dehydration. Yet she worried for Hotaru more; Rei’s arms were trembling now. Without her arm guards her delicate skin was quickly becoming burnt, ravaged mercilessly by both the sun and the very air she breathed.
This isn’t good… Rei winced when a few sand grains flew into her eye. Ow! She instinctively shook her head but was unable to draw the solid out. Geh. If I could only use my arms… She tried to pull a hand up close to her face, but it was no use. She just didn’t have the strength anymore. She wondered how much longer she could carry the girl at all.
I can’t ask that Minako person to carry this girl for me, that’s definitely out of the question. She’s just another diplomat. Until she came here, she didn’t have any battle experience at all.
Rei gave a heavy sigh. From what she knew, she figured the Venusian had as much arm strength as the girl she was short, she was useless. Why did she even consider asking for help in the first place?
“Look, maybe you’re putting too much of yourself into this whole leader image. If someone offers you help, then take it! That wound isn’t going to go away by itself.”
That wound isn’t going to go away by itself. Although the Martian couldn’t see it, she could still feel liquid dripping down her leg and making a squishy mess at the bottom of her boot.
Rei deeply scowled.
I don’t need help! I am the Martian Commander; I was chosen to lead the people in Ares’ place. There is no one else on this planet who is my equal. I’m strong. I was chosen because I’m not--
“THAT’S NOT IT AT ALL!” Minako abruptly bellowed, and Rei nearly fell over in surprise.
“W-What’s not it?” The Martian whirled around tensely. Her eyes flew wildly around their surroundings, anticipating the worst.
“I-I erm… ahahaha… it’s umm… nothing.” Minako replied flatly with a small wave. Her face was extremely flushed but whether it was from embarrassment or the heat, Rei couldn’t tell (although she had an inkling it was a mixture of both). “Forget about it.”
“…”
“Oh don’t give me that look! I’m fine, FINE, see?” The blonde plastered a smile on her face. “I’m smiling and therefore, I’m happy. Yup, nooooothing wrong with good o’l Minako. Hahaha….haha…”
I knew it. The heat has finally gotten to her. She’s completely delirious now.
Rei sweat dropped as she watched the woman proceeded to rant about the differences between a sweltering, hot ball of gas (the Sun) and her smile. Maybe we should just start sprinting for the palace and see how it goes? But that idea was quickly tossed out into the desert when Minako began to pull at the corners of her mouth in an impossible attempt to widen her smile further.
“Minako? What are you doing...?” Rei stared. That actually looks pretty painful...
“Smiiiling ish good... I mean, ahem, there’s warmth from a smile and the Sun is really warm too, so since the sun is big, the bigger the smile, the more warmth there is, right?”
“Uhh... Sure. Minako? Could you come over here for second?” Rei tried again.
“I—Hm?” Her heart nearly leapt from her chest when Rei’s bare hand came up suddenly and pressed up lightly against her fevered brow. Her nerves were suddenly alert, concentrating on the cool flesh. Gah! She’s touching me! Her feet instinctively flinched to shuffle back when the word ‘mission’ floated back to mind. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? Isn’t this supposed to be a good thing?
“A fever.” Rei stated confidently before falling silent. She took a moment to stare at Hotaru in her arms, noting the discomfort on her face, before she threw a backward glance at Minako, who stared dumbly at her with a flush face.
At this rate, we’ll be finished before we even reach the palace. I guess we’ll have to take that route after all, but... I really didn’t want to go there again.
Minako watched Rei with great curiosity as the woman sudden wandered off to the side.
“Rei, where are you going? I thought we were supposed to go straight.” She pointed for emphasis.
Rei examined Minako with weary eyes. “That was the plan, but faced with these circumstances I decided it would be best if we took an alternative path. It’s faster and we’ll get to the palace in no time.”
“Are you saying that you knew a short cut and just decided not to use it?”
“Maybe.”
“Since, since, since way back when we first walked into the desert?” Minako could hardly believe her ears.
“Pretty much.”
“...STUPID REI!” Minako nearly screeched.
“What is it now?!”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU! WE COULD HAVE GONE BACK RIGHT AWAY INSTEAD OF SUFFERING FROM THIS HEAT AND, AND, AND, Don’t you care about Hotaru at ALL? She’s only a kid and you’re having us wandering around unnecessarily! It’s bad for her health! In fact it’s bad for all of our health! Augh, never mind that, just look at you, you’re practically on the verge of collapse!” Minako shook her head. “Oh, I knew this was a bad idea. Here, let me take her for a bit, you’re obviously tired. Take some time to rest. You can show us the way while I’ll hold onto Hotaru and everything will be good. Okay...?” She finally breathed. There was something of a pained, exasperated expression on her face.
Rei blinked back with a blank stare. The woman’s words did have an effect, but not the one that she had been hoping for.
You’re on the verge of collapse? Everything will be good?
The words were as good as taking a shot at her pride. The Martian returned the comment with a cold, defiant glare.
“I don’t need your help!”
Although the response was something to be expected it didn’t mean that it was the one the blonde Goddess wanted to hear.
“Now you’re just being unreasonable. Why can’t you act more like you’re age? Don’t make me come over there and baby you,” She warned with thinning patience.
“You’re one to talk.”
“Excuse me? I’M the one to talk? I’m starting to get sick and tired of this attitude! Why won’t you let people help you? Or is it that you don’t trust me? I can understand if that’s the case but you had no excuse to brush Zen off the way you did.”
“Who?”
“Argh, I can’t believe you!” Minako threw her hands up in the air. “Don’t you even know your subordinates’ names?!”
Actually, Rei did- very well in fact. However, her stubbornness wasn’t about to allow her royal-pain-in-the-rear-end get an edge on her that easily.
“He was the man who was trying to tell you to get patched up, a trained medic at that! Do you have a death wish or something? And don’t you even think of telling me that it’s the ‘Martian Way’ because I just don’t buy that load of crap.”
Rei felt her body shake as rage began to consume her. Her self-control had been steadily deteriorating from a combination of heat, muscle aches and pains, and fatigue, but now she was really ticked off. Minako’s words had caused the battle fire within Rei to flare up so greatly that it materialized again as a powerful aura surrounding the Martian.
What the hell do you know?! You’re just some stranger who walked into my life, my home, and all you’ve done is criticize our way of life! What gives you the right? You think you’re so special because you’re a Goddess but it’s really nothing special at all!
How dare you!
Noticing she had struck a nerve, more softly this time, Minako whispered, “I didn’t mean to make you angry. I just, people care about you... you know?”
You won’t trust me, even a little bit?
This time, her words had hit the mark. Everything that had been building up deep inside was washed away by a calm wave of sanity. Who was she about to label as her next, unlucky victim? Just another diplomat; just a spoiled little girl from Venus, a person who didn’t possess a shred of knowledge about fighting other than what she had learned thus far in her stay. Rei suddenly felt ashamed for almost losing control so easily. What would have happened if she hadn’t been stopped and came back to her senses?
Rei took a deep breath and concentrated, bending her emotions with accordance to her will. Her aura died down and faded back inside her body. The atmospheric pressure around them lowered and everyone could breathe a little easier again.
Then in a relatively calm voice she answered Minako’s earlier question. “That’s that’s not it. It’s just... Don’t go around talking about something you can’t understand.”
“But if you told me I’m sure I could. How can I not understand? Sure, I may look like an airhead but I can be serious too.”
Silently, with her back facing Minako, Rei held up her hand and concentrated to form a small disc of red light into the palm of that hand.
Understand me huh? That’s a new one… The red light in her hand began to revolve in a clockwise direction. If her hunch was correct, it should be right about here. But that isn’t possible. No matter what you say, I refuse to allow myself to fall into the same trap as Haruka!
Minako tilted her head and peered curiously at her companion’s strange action.
What is she doing?
“Ha!” Rei thrust her hand into an invisible barrier, cracking a small surface. The rest of the light spread out from the indent and flew out and around, illuminating the once invisible wall. Minako could only watch in complete awe as a city began to materialize right before her eyes.
“Ahh…” Oh wow! So I guess people really do live in the desert after all!
In a blink of an eye, large buildings replaced the desert. A market place filled with tents and booths bloomed within a large square where the four main roads intersected. The taller buildings, with their simple, white structures, appeared to contrast brightly against the red sand, the very place that their foundation was built upon, but the sighting of life forms lit a fire of curiosity within the Venusian Princess.
People!
There were women gathered in small groups outside the houses, young children running about and playing various games and activities, and to Minako’s surprise, there were even men bartering goods and having drinks in good nature within the market place. When images of the Martian Army came back to mind, she couldn’t help but wonder how a city of war could be so peaceful.
I thought everyone would be a part of the army or something. There were so many men and women soldiers, and these people have battles frequently… Where else could they get their soldiers from?
Farther down their line of vision, beyond the city square, was the Ram Palace- their destination.
“Surprised?” Rei prodded.
Minako weakly nodded. “Yeah, but... what did you do exactly? Where did this all come from? It wasn’t here a minute ago, and certainly not when I first arrived!” Rei blinked and gave her a skeptical ‘are you kidding?’ look. “What? No, seriously! I don’t know what just happened! Is it a type of magic or something?”
Taking this new information into careful consideration, Rei could only come up with one possible explanation for this.
“Well, if you’ve never seen this kind of thing before, then it must mean that Venus doesn’t have the system installed. Everyone other planet has it as far as I know. Huh. Ah well, what should I have expected from the planet of ‘love’?”
“Stop teasing me. What kind of system are you talking about?” Minako huffed. The woman also noticed how Rei was subtly trying to draw the attention away from Hotaru. But as much as Minako would’ve liked to ‘ding’ the Martian for it, she instead placed that thought on a temporary hold.
“Okay I’m listening, so lay it on me oh great leader of Mars.”
Hmph. Smart ass.
“I’m talking about the Planet Core Defence System, or otherwise known as the PCDS. Is it still not ringing a bell, Princess?” Seeing the blank stare she was receiving from Minako, she logically deduced that the answer must have been a ‘no’.
Erm…. I guess not then. Sighing inwardly, she felt the oncoming headache as she attempted to elaborate further.
“All right, if you want to know then you better listen up, because I’m only going to explain this to you once. In the past, all of the planets used to be united under a common name. But one day, some Gods and Goddesses decided to go separate ways, and because of it, you have the two alliances that we have today: one of these is the Inner Alliance. This involves Mercury and Mars. The other alliance is the Outer Alliance, which is collaboration between Uranus and Neptune. So far, only Venus and Jupiter are officially considered to be neutral planets.” Rei paused and glanced at Minako, almost daring the woman to say something. Minako, on the other hand, innocently blinked back. She wasn’t sure what the Martian expected from her but she was still anxious to hear the rest of the story.
Yeah, like the people of love would want to join in the fight. Rei resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Well, that’s one possibility for her visit down. What else could she possibly want from us?
“Anyway, because we’re always fighting, we requested Mercury to construct a cloaking system for our cities. Out of all the inhabited planets, well, except for Venus, we were the last ones to receive the technology. The whole point of it is to have a means to protect the planet’s citizens from an unexpected ambush if there ever is one. It’s like creating a separate dimension just for this purpose. When it’s activated, you’ll walk through the city like it wasn’t there. That’s why you thought it was an empty desert when you first arrived. The same goes for the people inside of the barrier; they won’t know where you are or even of your existence while the barrier is in place.”
Minako looked thoughtful.
I wonder if we really don’t have something like that on Venus. It sounds like a good thing from what I’m hearing about it so far. Surely Mother knows about this? I mean, Rei just said that every other planet has it. Minako paused. The digested information suddenly seemed flawed.
Wait…every other planet has it?
“Hey, didn’t you just say that practically every planet has it now? If your ally created it, then how did everyone else get it too?”
“We let them have it.”
“Oh I see, well that makes sens—Wait! You mean you LET everyone else have it? But wouldn’t that be a disadvantage to you?”
“You’ve noticed that huh? Well, why not?” Rei shrugged. “Our soldiers have no interest in picking a fight with the weak and defenceless. And every planet has the right to try to protect their citizens. Besides, battles always take place on battlefields, not civilian concentrated cities.”
Minako was still a little confused but she nodded just the same. Then what’s the whole point to war? Wasn’t it to kill or conquer or something like that? But it’s not? Hmm…I still don’t get it. I don’t get this at all.
“You’ll understand it later. Maybe as we pass through the place.” Rei offered.
“Maybe…”
Sometimes I wonder how much I can truly understand… Minako quietly confessed to herself. This wasn’t going according to plan at all.
“Well, then I guess we should get going.”
Rei turned to go but was stopped by a sudden tapping on her shoulder guards. When the Martian Commander turned around she instantly found Minako in her face, smiling dangerously, and one hand clutching her bare arm firmly, bringing Rei to wince due to her sunburn.
“Ah, ah, ah, first hand over the kid.” Minako chirped. “You really didn’t think I’d forget now, did you?”
Rei twitched.
(Down in the market place)
Hotaru heard the ruckus pick up around them, and gave a small yawn as she stretched and sat up to see what was so interesting. What she saw brought an angelic smile to her face; there were so many funny dressed people and brilliantly flashing colours of fabric hanging from the nearby booths. She couldn’t resist bouncing in Minako’s arms as she earnestly pointed at the people and structures that they passed by. Hotaru’s occasional bursts of squeals drew some curious stares in their direction. But regardless of what her people thought, whether they thought the child was like herself, one of their own, Rei knew that they were only capable of seeing Hotaru as the epitome of childhood innocence. For a brief moment, she had nearly convinced herself of that as well. If only it weren’t for Haruka’s cryptic message...
“Man?” She pointed at a passing stranger.
“No silly, that’s a WO-man.” Minako giggled at the girl in her arms. “Or, at least I think they are. That clothing…tsk.”
“Minako!” Rei chided, her loud voice brought her two charges to flinch in response. Hotaru, she could understand but Minako as well? “What did I just tell you about behaving in the city?”
“Umm… Gosh Rei, I can’t remember. Haha. What do you know?”
“Are. You. SeRiOuS?”
“No being bad.” Hotaru chirped.
“SEE? At least SOMEONE was listening!”
Minako averted her gaze and puckered her lips. Hmph, okay. So maybe I should’ve been listening a little more carefully.
“The point is that you have to use common sense,” Rei lectured on. “Like try not to piss other people off. They don’t like to be criticized, even if you are disguised as a soldier.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll behave myself. Scouts honour.”
“That’s what you said last time!”
“But I mean it THIS time. Right Hotaru?”
Hotaru peered up at the blonde and then back at her irritated guardian. She thought about it for a moment and then quickly shook her head.
“HEY!” Minako protested.
But Minako’s shouts weren’t the only ones that filled the air just then.
“Hey! There she is! Catch her!”
“Don’t let her get away!”
Ahead of the trio, a crowd of men jumped to their feet and swarmed the pathway. Their clumsy bodies moved awkwardly around in circles trying to nab something in the middle.
“I wonder what’s going on?” Minako tightened her hold on Hotaru, hoping this wouldn’t scare the girl. But Hotaru appeared more calm and collected than her current guardian.
“A girl?” She pointed.
Rei glanced down at Hotaru before shooting her gaze back to the crowd. Concentrating ahead between the waists of the men her amethyst eyes caught a quick movement. Focusing in on the blur she made out a long dark-brown ponytail, dark clothes and then finally the face of a child.
The image was so startling that Rei instinctively took a step back. She could feel her headache growing. Geh… Rei winced. Damn it!
“Rei, we’ve got to help her!” Minako also spotted the girl. “Can’t you do something? Call them off or do whatever you do.”
“Don’t give me orders!” Rei growled.
“AH!”
The girl had bumped into one of her pursuers and bounced backwards off-balance into the swarm.
Oh no! Panic shot through her. Her dark eyes were squeezed shut as she felt her fall slow down in mid-air. Fear ravaged her small body with an animal-like frenzy. I-I’m done for? No!! I can’t die now! I don’t want to die!
She hit the ground and instinctively recoiled as the hands shot forward.
Nng!
“Enough!”
The girl, trembling slightly, forced her gaze up to see the large men parting for a woman?
“It’s the Commander!” One of the men shouted.
“Sir, this child here-”
“Stand down.” Rei strode forward with power radiating all around her. Although she was missing her arm guards and was still covered with blood from her wound, the men were all very intimidated by her presence. They could not sense weakness, only massive power.
“You’re asking us to stop? If I may be so humble, may we ask why? We were only doing our job. By Martian law, all orphans must be drafted into the army, isn’t that correct?”
Rei analyzed the girl on the ground with cold eyes. She was met with an intense, defiant gaze of dark amethyst like her own, only Rei’s were darker.
“I will deal with this.” Rei commanded.
“B-But-”
“Do you have a problem with obeying orders?” She snapped.
“No! Of course not! P-Please forgive me Sir.”
“Then you’re all dismissed.”
“Yes Sir.” They all saluted and then ran off.
Tup! Tup! Tup! Tup!
Once the men had vanished, Minako breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, I’m glad that’s over with. They sure looked scary…”
Hotaru nodded in agreement, but Rei hadn’t said anything at all; the Martian had yet to shift her gaze away from the child before her.
“Do you know why they were chasing her? Poor thing…” Minako bent down and extended her hand. “Are you okay?”
The girl stubbornly turned her head away and tried to ignore the Goddess.
“Hey, that’s not very nice.” She said in hurt voice. “What do you think Hotaru? She sure looks older than you, but it can’t be by very much. Maybe you can be friends?”
“Girl?” Hotaru blinked and pointed again. This apparently caught the other girl’s attention.
“Of course I’m a girl! Are you blind?”
“So you can talk.” Minako smirked in victory.
“O-Of course I can. What do you expect? Look, I don’t know who you people are but you’re wasting your time if you think I’m going to grovel on my knees and shower you with praise!”
Rei didn’t bat an eye but continued to stare in deep thought.
“You didn’t have to save me, you know. I could’ve taken care of myself!”
“I see.” The Martian leader finally mumbled. However this calm response unnerved the girl even further.
Tup!
“Hey!” Minako cried when the girl dashed past her and disappeared into the crowd. “Jeez, that’s some gratitude for ya isn’t it? Are you all right Hotaru?” Hotaru nodded. “You know, that was a pretty disrespectful thing to do to her planet’s leader. I wonder how Ares would have reacted to something like that. What do you think Rei? ...Rei?” Minako noticed that Rei had started to walk in the opposite direction the girl had just gone.
“Where are you going?”
If she is an orphan… “Follow me and stay close.”
(Further into the city)
The girl that had fled from the trio panted for air as she sprinted through the dry, dusty streets. Small clouds of dust shot up with each and every step she took towards her sanctuary, to the only home that she had now.
The crowd soon thinned and became nearly non-existent when she finally reached it, a small corner alleyway that led into an even smaller hide-a-way just barely above the alley wall. Using the convenient passage entrance, the child infiltrated deep into the inside of a deserted building. Her heart pounded in her chest the entire way, even as she squeezed through the narrow passageway and dropped down into her shelter. She coughed as she hit the ground, the drop always, inevitably, brought some pain to her ankles.
For reassurance she scanned the room. What little scant belongings left behind from the only family she had lay strewn across the dusty, wooden table before her. To the near-side wall, there was a pathetic looking, sickly green cabinet and to the far side corner of the room was a broken chair. She never knew how it became like that. It was simply just there like herself.
That was close… She wheezed, feeling the burn of the chase lingering in her lungs. Unconsciously she attempted to wipe the forming beads of sweat on her brow. They almost had me. Again…
“So you’ve finally made it.”
The girl’s heart skipped a beat. She whirled on the spot towards the voice to see the raven-haired woman and her blonde companion eyeing her with a watchful gaze.
“W-What are you doing here?!” She demanded. She was too frightened to move.
The girl nervously watched the Martian woman cross across the room into the corner where the broken chair sat. She touched one of the jagged pieces.
“What do you want? How did you find me?”
“How did I find you?” Rei repeated slowly. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
(Flashback)
“I don’t believe it! How did you find me?” A young girl with messed, long raven hair and battered, dark garments demanded.
She glared up into her opponent’s face with defiant amethyst eyes. He was a full-grown man, a God in fact, the very leader of Mars. Ares. With a sword hanging from his hip and a shield attached to his back, he stared down at the child with an amused expression.
Despite the power radiating from this stranger, the girl forced herself to still her trembling and gripped her only weapon, a broken table leg, tighter. Her mouth set itself into a thin line of determination.
“Would you rather have been taken away like the others before you?” His coal black eyes wandered around the desolate atmosphere. “It appears you have been left behind.”
“Shut up!”
Ares raised an eyebrow.
“Who’s fault do you think that is? Having soldiers drag orphans away to a war, where they’ll either die or come back and start a family before being called off again to die for real! How do you think orphans come around in the first place?”
“Do you think Mar’s leader is irresponsible?”
The girl looked square into the War God’s eyes and growled, “Yes!”
An awkward silence ensued. The agonizing tension wasn’t broken until Ares finally took the initiative with a step towards the child, and she attacked. Instead of turning her back and running as she’d done before she lashed out as a cornered animal would. Being consumed with fear, instinct kick in and she rebelled against the threat with such urgency that only came through believing her survival and life was on the line.
The piece of wood came up and she struck Ares in the leg. The God barely flinched. He darted down to grab her, throwing his hand out, only to have it withdraw empty aside from the newly gained scratch.
“HaaaAH!”
WHAP!
The War God gazed at the reddening mark developing atop of his palm. “A fast child indeed…” He muttered. “What’s your name?”
“None of your business!” She whirled around for a second round.
But the girl’s remark was cut short when a strong aura gripped and paralyzed her. She blinked to see the stranger in front of her glowing red.
“W-What…t-the…” She stammered.
“I asked you what your name was. You do have one, don’t you?”
The girl struggled some more but discovered it was useless against the invisible pressure.
“Grr… Rei.” The girl reluctantly answered. The spell around her immediately broke and she fell to the floor onto her knees, feeling suddenly weak and tired. After going three days without food, her energy was depleted. She had already been pushed to her limits at the start of the chase and then past them at the start of the fight. It was a miracle that she was still able to hold herself up on her knees and Ares knew it.
There was little movement from the child as the man walked to up where she sat.
“Rei is it? Well then, Rei… Why don’t you come with me?” He outstretched his injured hand.
(End of Flashback)
Uneasily, the girl then watched as the Martian woman crossed the room to the cabinet and opened one of its drawers. It was bare inside, except for a stale loaf of bread. It was likely something the girl had shop-lifted. Rei had to inwardly grin at that.
“Hey, don’t touch that!”
Rei slowly turned to face her. She held the loaf up for everyone to see. “Where did you get this?”
“I...”
“Did you steal it?”
“Grr... Like I had much choice...” The girl mumbled through gritted teeth.
“What was that?”
“You already know the answer to that, so why even bother asking? What the hell do you want anyway? If you want the bread, you can just take it. Just leave me alone.”
“This? You really think I’d come all this way for this?” Rei half-tossed it back into the bin, never giving it a second look.
“Then why are you here?”
The woman took a few steps forward, forcing the girl to unconsciously back away into a nearby wall.
“I was curious. What do you have against joining the Martian army? Don’t you know at least in the army you’ll be fed, clothed, taken care of... and be honoured as one of the planet’s protectors?”
“Big deal! What’s the point if people are just going to die?”
“Why indeed.”
“Rei, you don’t mean to tell me you came all this way to force her into the army,” Minako said worriedly. “If she doesn’t want to go, then why make her? She’s only a child.”
“But that’s when training is the best,” Rei remarked with a piercing look. “The earlier you start training, the more time a soldier will have to hone their skills. People who begin when they’re children will master their art at a younger age- they’ll be superior in strength to ordinary children who’ve unnecessarily delayed. If she stays here, she will be forced to survive against starvation and loneliness.”
“I won’t get lonely!”
Rei ignored the angry outburst. “There is nothing for you here. It’s as simple as that.”
“Stop talking like you know what it’s like! That armor you’re wearing, that means you’re one of them! Have you ever been an orphan? Have you ever lost your entire family and had to watch your friends being dragged off before your eyes? Well, have you?!”
“...”
“Yeah... that’s what I thought. For all I know, my friends could be dead.”
Minako felt herself inwardly cringe at the statement. What was the casualty count from the last battle again? One hundred? Two hundred?
“What’s your name?” Rei inquired.
The girl mumbled.
“Speak up!”
There was an unsettling silence as the two stared at each other until the younger girl relented against Rei’s will.
“M-My name is Nozomi...no last name. I’m ten years old.” She added.
“What is it that you want? Do you want friends? Power...? Shelter...?”
Nozomi looked away. Who wouldn’t want all of that?
“Then why don’t you come with me?”
“Rei?” Minako asked quizzically. She was almost as surprised as Nozomi was at this offer.
“Are you deaf? I told you that not going to join the army!”
“My name is Rei, but many simply refer to me as Commander or Sir. I am the current leader of Mars.” Rei watched the girl’s eyes widen at this. The statement had shut her up completely. “This is my proposition. Come with me and live in the palace. I won’t ask you to join the army, BUT there is one condition. During your stay, I’ll require you to take up training lessons like others who are in the military. After five years, if you can prove yourself stronger than your soldier counterparts, then you won’t have to join indefinitely. You’re free to do whatever you like. However... the same applies if you fail. If you find yourself weaker than the others, then you will be drafted. Does that sound fair to you?”
Rei could still remember her own childish voice in her memory asking, ‘Five years?’
"Five years?”
“That’s right, five years. What is your answer?”
Nozomi glanced around the dingy, damp room. Honestly, she really didn’t want to stay here. She was tired. She was tired of stealing, tired of being chased and beaten. After watching her life disappear before her very eyes, she thought it would be kind of nice not to have to confront that sort of helplessness again.
The girl turned her head and saw Hotaru still cuddled up in Minako’s arms. It was the same woman who had accompanied the Martian leader before. Maybe this couldn’t be so bad?
She met Rei’s confident eyes with her own dark ones.
I’ve got nothing else to lose...
“Okay, you’ve got a deal. I’ll come with you for now… Sir.”
(Ram Palace, Early evening, Minako’s Room)
“YES! We’re finally back!” Minako fell onto her bed and cuddled into the soft sheets, sighing with content. “I missed this place.”
“Mm.”
“Oh come on, you can’t say you didn’t miss this place Rei-bear. I mean, we got your wound looked at, Hotaru and Nozomi are being taken care of by some of the maids and now we’ve got some alone time.” She winked.
But Rei missed the hidden meaning in the last sentence. “Uh-huh.” She muttered.
“I think I’ll take a bath.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Or actually, a swim in the hot tub might really hit the spot instead. What do you think?”
“Sure.”
“…The sky is falling.”
“Mm.”
Minako frowned. Is that all she’s going to say? “I’m going to strip in front of you and you will like it.”
“Uh-hu—WHAT?” Rei snapped her head in Minako’s direction with wide eyes.
“Ah-ha! I thought that’d get your attention space cadet! I was wondering, just how did you know where Nozomi would go? That place was pretty secluded.”
Rei shrugged.
“Is it one of those Martian abilities? It’s okay if it is, that’s really cool you know.”
“...”
“Rei?”
“Let me tell you something about Mars, Minako. There’s only one thing that matters here and that’s strength. Unlike on your home planet, family and blood ties are very disposable. Here, if you’re strong, then that’s all that matters.”
“And since you’re strong, that’s good right?”
Rei gave a tired yawn. “I guess... Now if you will excuse me, I will leave you to your business.”
Hmm… “Yeah, you really do need a rest. I bet you’re dying for some sleep huh? Just imagine! If poor Rei-bear doesn’t get enough sleep then she’ll get gray hairs.” (Heart)
Staying around you will give me gray hairs. Rei mentally retorted. “And stop calling me that!”
“Calling you what?” Minako blinked innocently.
“Rei-- You know what I mean!” The Martian sighed. “Anyway, I need to be going. There’s something important I need to deal with.”
“Oh.”
“So if you need anything call a maid.” She opened the door on her way out.
“You mean you’re going to leave me all alone?” Minako followed after her. “But what if I get lonely? What if I miss Rei-- I mean, you. Just Rei.”
“Excuse me?” Rei raised an eyebrow. “This is going to be your first night here and you’re already saying you can’t sleep in a room by yourself? What did you do back at home?”
“I--Well, don’t tell anyone but... I had a teddy bear okay?” She blushed.
Rei stared. A Goddess needs a teddy bear to get to sleep at night?
“But I left him back at home.” I didn’t expect on staying around for so long. Minako silently scolded her own assumptions. “And I get horrible, dreadful nightmares when I sleep alone.”
“So what? What do you want me to do about it? Fly a personal shuttle to Venus and pick it up for you?”
Minako pouted. “No.”
“Theeeeen...you want me to stay with you?” She just had this funny feeling.
More like sleep with me but close enough. “Oh, however did you guess?” Minako dramatically exclaimed, feigning shock. This made Rei go red in the face; the Martian always seemed to know when she was being made fun of, Minako had to give her credit for that.
“Would you? Pleeeeeeease?” Minako gave a pleading look.
“Fine, whatever.” There couldn’t be any possible harm to sleeping in the same room. “But I’ve got to get going now. You better not be fooling around or do anything really stupid by the time I get back. Got it?”
“Yes Sir.” The blonde saluted.
“Cut that out.”
“Bleh.” Minako stuck out her tongue.
Once Rei had left Minako waltzed back over to her bedroom and flopped atop of the sheets to ponder Rei’s earlier words.
“Hmm...So the people here only worry about strength huh? What a strange concept. Back at home it’s love that matters the most. Friends and family is the most important thing there… Now that I think about it, I kinda miss home.” Minako rolled over onto her side. But then again… I don’t at the same time. The more time I spend here with Rei, the more I’m starting to like this place. Even if it’s only for a day, it feels like it’s been forever for me, but in a good way.
“I wonder what important thing Rei had to do anyway?”
CLANG! CLASH!
A sudden series of noises caught Minako’s attention. Out of curiosity she leapt off the bed and ran over to the nearest window. Outside the sun was only setting but the fighters below had only begun their exercises.
Rei...?
Rei held a practice sword firmly in her right hand. Minako immediately assumed the woman was briefing about the weapon because Rei continually pointed to different sections of the sword, working her way from top to bottom. Her two ‘students’ to Minako’s surprise were Hotaru and Nozomi. Both girls were watching with rapt attention as Rei began to show off a few of the moves she would teach them soon and those that they would learn later when they mastered the arts.
“So that’s what was so important?” Minako leaned into the side of the window. She quickly found herself caught up in the demonstration as well, unaware of the smile tugging at her face. “Well what do you know? O’l Rei really does have a soft spot after all, that stubborn girl…”
Strength is the only thing that matters? Pfft. Minako let out a giggle.
“Silly Rei-bear...”
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