The Adventures of the SOL

 "I'm not sure," Lacey was trying to look out of the dirt smeared window of the cellar that they had been in for some time.  They had heard heavy footsteps above their heads and all around the town.  The others had taken great care to hide the cellar they were in so that anyone wondering by wouldn't know it was there, but that left Lacey and Koty all by themselves in it.  Lacey's magical abilities were on a great climb but she was only ten and they weren't as strong as all that.  And surely if they stayed in the cellar they would both be just fine, but the mistake that the others had made when leaving them alone is not realize that both were children and thought nothing like adults, unlike the teenagers and even fully grown of their groups.

 Lacey's view of her powers was that they would grow and shrink as she needed them, and where she got this idea no one would ever know, but her overconfidence in her powers were not suiting her.  She was considering the best way to leave the safety of their cellar with Koty in arms, something that could prove to be dangerous.

 "Are they gonna come down here?" Koty asked.

 "No," Lacey said, "If they do I'll take care of em.  We may have to leave though.  Just in case.  Amy said you were very important, so I should get you out of here."

 "But didn't Amy also say not to leave the cellar for any reason," Koty said, the words tumbling off his clumsy tongue.

 "Yes, but I'm sure she didn't think the town would be swarmed," Lacey pointed out, "It might not be safe for us if they corner us in this cellar."

 Koty looked at her but didn't say anything.

 Lacey tried to wipe away the dirt from the window but it was on either side and she couldn't get to the outside.  Still, she could see the outlines and movement of large beast like feet that belonged to the Shadows.  Lacey frowned out at them trying to make up her mind.  She was sure if they stayed that the Shadows would discover them and she knew enough about battle that she didn't want to be alone with no one to help her fight if they all came down at once.

 But how to escape the town with Koty intact and not get caught?  She assumed it would be easier if they were a little spread out instead of clustered into the cellar with her, but still she might have some troubles.

 She leaned on one elbow thinking when suddenly the footsteps over their heads froze.  She raised her head and listened.  Wet had fallen into utter silence as they all stopped walking.  Then as suddenly as their footsteps had stopped they all started again, all headed in one direction.  Lacey closed one eye in agitation as some dust rained down on her from the dirt ceiling.  Every beast was headed for Evilopolis, she realized.

 "Come on Koty," she said, making her decision.

 "Where are we going?" Koty asked her.

 "All those Shadow things were going to Evilopolis," Lacey said, "We have to go warn everyone that they're on their way."

 "But won't they get there before we do?" Koty asked.

 "Um," Lacey looked at him, "Nevermind that for now, let's just go and see if we can beat them there."  Koty didn't say anything; he just let Lacey take him by the wrist.  He heard a twitter and looked up at 'Nary in the rafters but then was dragged out of sight.

 Lacey paused and listened for anything else, then slowly opened the door, feeling the dirt that everyone had spread over it to disguise it slide off.

 She looked around carefully and slowly but didn't see anyone or anything nearby or anywhere else for that matter.  She walked out, still having Koty by the wrist.  She gasped as 'Nary suddenly flew past her head and into the air.

 "Wonder where that thing is going?" she asked herself as it flew by but she didn't bother to watch it as it flew away.  Koty however watched as it soared as fast as its little wings could bare it towards Evilopolis.

 "Come on," Lacey said and they made their way towards Evilopolis.

"Rei?" Lita said, skidding to a stop by the girl's side.  She didn't respond, she was very unconscious, lying on the cold ground.  Serena and Sarah, hoping to heal her, followed Lita but everyone else stared into the Queen's face.

 "She's so young," Hotaru said, halfway to herself.

 The Queen stared with great amusement.  Her long black hair spread out on the floor below her, and her dress was a delicate white with black trim.  She would have been beautiful if her face had not held such contempt and rage mingled in with cruelty and hate.

 Looking into her eyes one could see that her pupils were light blue surrounded by black in the iris instead of the other way around.  Her ears went to a point as did her teeth.

 "What sort of creature are you?" Amy asked.

 "I have no name, no race," she said, "I am not human and I am not animal.  I am a creation for which has no purpose."  The dread of the situation was settling in and everyone stared very uncertain at her.  Their numbers had increased but suddenly they didn't have enough people.  To stare upon this Queen in her original body, having discarded Rei's as though it were a toy that a spoiled child had grown bored with, disturbed the soul.  The evil that haunted her eyes was evident and filled them with fear.

 Lita and Serena remained silently by Rei's side, wishing she would wake up soon.  She was alive, Lita had made sure, but she was not awake.

 "Oh yes," the Queen smiled at Lita, "Don't bother with her.  If you think I would just freely give you what it was you came here to get, you're wrong.  I have locked her mind from her body.  Until you can unlock her mind she will remain in her current state."

 "And how do we do that?" Serena asked quietly.

 "How do you indeed?" the Queen asked with a smile, "There is a way, but it's impossible.  You must defeat me."

 "Is that all?" Lita asked.

 The Queen's smile faded.  "Don't make it sound so easy, child, it will not happen.  You have prevailed, even killed Creton, a feat which you have sought to do for a long time, but you are dealing with something outside of your control.  I fight using the powers of the Ancient times, when magic was more abundantly dealt out.  I have seen you fight and am not impressed with your abilities, however great they may be considered in this day and age."

 "Thanks for the speech," Garnet put in, "But it gets a little stale after awhile.  If you could just get to the point I'd be rather satisfied."

 "We would," Coral stuck in.

 "You should be more careful as to how you show your respects," the Queen said carefully, "I am not afraid of you and these false showings of bravado will not save you either."

 "I'm afraid they're right," Luke spoke up, "We should continue where we left off.  I'm not afraid to fight you now."

 "Oh?" the Queen smiled.

 "Yeah, you've made a big mistake," Amy said, "Now that you are out of Rei's body, we can attack at will."  A look went over the Queen's face, one of great surprise.  Amy was startled by it but realized what it meant.  She hadn't realized that the reason everyone held back when fighting her was because of Rei.

 "Did you think that we were afraid to fight you because of your so called 'awesome powers?'" Amy asked, "We were afraid of hurting our friend.  But now we don't have to worry about that because no you have your own body."

 The Queen looked at Rais.

 "So, the way you fought me wasn't to the best of your ability?" she asked him, "I understand now, I forget that your kind gets so caught up in their emotions that they make terrible decisions.  Instead of fighting me in my weaker state you waited until I was stronger and you call it a blessing.  What fools you all are."

 "You couldn't understand such a thing," Serena said, "That's why it never occurred to you in the beginning because you are selfish and weak."

 "If I'm weak than you must be helpless," the Queen laughed outright, "Because I am much stronger than you."

 "We need Rei," Mina hissed, "There has to be a way to wake her up."

 "We don't need Rei," Hotaru huffed, "Sure she's strong but we can handle them."

 "You're only half right," Omi said, "You are very capable but Rei is a Sacred Warrior.  Our best chance is for you guys to fight together."

 "Yeah, and do what?" Hotaru spat, "What's the difference if Rei's fighting with us or not?  What's suppose to happen when we fight together?"

 "I'm not sure, but it is our best chance," Ran growled, "We know about this more than you do, please just trust us."

 "Fine," Hotaru said, "But how do we wake her up?"

 The Queen laughed.  "I have already answered that, child.  You must kill me.  There is no other way.  So if you are now free to attack than do so.  I will wait for the first attack."

 Amy scanned over the Queen and saw Set beside her, backing away to stay from the battle.  He would not get involved she somehow knew.  Rais gave her sleeve a little tug and she looked at him.

 "I'll take care of Rei, you guys handle her," he said, "I think I can fix it."

 Amy stared at him.  "If you honestly believe you can than go," she said, "But make sure that you keep her away from the fight."  He nodded and went towards Rei.  So locked in her own assurance, the Queen didn't even notice.

 "Can't you heal her?" Serena asked the nearby Sarah.

 "There's nothing wrong with her body," Sarah replied, "It's her mind.  I know of mind locks and how to remedy them sort of but we don’t have what we need."

 "What is it we need?" Rais asked, approaching.

 "There's two known ways to fix it," Sarah looked at him, "Destroy it's caster or enter her mind."  They all stared.  Such things were heard before, the ability to go into another's mind, but it was a dangerous process.

 "So I'll go," Rais said, but his voice wavered.

 "You could go crazy in there, haven't you heard the stories?" Lita hissed at him, shaking her head, "All these stories telling about those who've gone insane in another person's mind."

 "But why would I?" Rais asked, "They're just stories, Lita, I'll be fine."

 "You might not," Sarah corrected him, "Those stories are true.  Have you ever heard a steady rhythm, like say a clock, and tried to do something with a different rhythm?  Like hum a song with a different beat to it?  It's hard to do and it gets frustrating.  Well, that's what overlapping minds are like.  If you enter her mind than the individual beat that your soul possesses will begin to conform with Rei's.  But your individual 'rhythm,' as I've put it, cannot change or you will quite literally lose your mind."

 "I'll go anyway," Rais replied, "We either have to destroy the Queen or do this and we need Rei to destroy the Queen.  It leaves us one option."

 Sarah nodded.  "Okay.  I'll induce the process but if for one moment you feel yourself slipping into Rei's rhythm, I want you to pull out."

 "What happens if I don't?" Rais asked.

 "Well the two fighting rhythms would cancel themselves out and you'd be a body with no soul.  And the body cannot live without the soul."

 Rais stared and Serena and Lita looked at him.  They knew why the sentence had bothered him.  His parents had died very similarly, except they had actually died and Creton saved their bodies, but could not save their souls.  His parents had sat, unable to talk, feel, move, or do anything but sit and stare straight ahead.  They had died after so long.

 "What would happen to Rei if that happened?" Rais asked.

 "Nothing, your soul will not try to interfere with hers," Sarah said, "You are in her mind, not the other way around."

 "Then I'll go," Rais said.

 "Are you certain?" Sarah asked.

 "Yes," he nodded.

 Behind them Amy was stalling for time, talking with the Queen.  Rais looked over his shoulder at them.  "You two," he looked at Serena and Lita, "I have it from here, go join in the fight, they'll need you.  Sarah, let's not be anywhere near the battle when we do this."

 "Can we get out?" Sarah asked.

 "I think so," Rais replied, "The Queen will not miss us and when she does she won't worry.  Her confidence will betray her."

 Rais picked up Rei and she hung limply in his arms.  Sarah watched them and they saw the Queen still talking with the others.  They took their chance and went through the broken doors.  No one had noticed.

 "Where should we go?" Sarah asked.

 "This way," Rais said and still carrying Rei he led her down the hall and to a room.  As Rais had suspected it was empty.  It used to be Valerie's room in the castle but was now completely cleaned out.

 Rais sat Rei on the floor.  "Tell me what to do."

 "Put your hand in hers," Sarah said and Rais did so, "Now close your eyes and concentrate.  Think about her, who she is."

 Rais did and closed his eyes, going through everything he had ever learned about Rei from her parents, to her royal life, to things she had just told him about.  His own memories of her flooded him and he didn't even notice as Sarah raised a hand and began to chant something under her breath.

 A white mist flowed swiftly from her aura and surrounded them.  Rais felt himself begin to sink slowly.  It felt as if he were floating downward.  He couldn't feel himself, he had no body.  He was in a large black void.  Then, as though someone had tried to force his heart to beat another way, he felt it.  What Sarah had called the rhythm of Rei's soul.  It beat against him, wondering why he didn't feel the same as everything else.

 He was in Rei's mind.

 And already he felt his own soul begin to slip.

When Amy saw Sarah and Rais leave she stopped her stalling.  The Queen was easily taken off course, but now it was time to stop stalling and start what they had come for.  With or without Rei, they would have to try to do something.  At least until he managed to revive her.

 "Enough of this talk," the Queen said, finding herself, "If you would, I'm inviting you to attack."

 Amy reached into her bag, where Sady had placed herself again and reached past the dragon.  She grabbed three stones.  She was sure she wouldn't be able to handle any more than that, though she had never tried three dragons at once that didn't include Sady.  Sady would never disobey Amy, but to attempt to control three dragons that might want to do something besides fight?  She would try anyway.

 The three stones hit the ground and exploded into three medium sized dragons.  A wind dragon, a thunder dragon and an earth dragon.

 Everyone else stepped back to make room for them.

 "Impressive," the queen smiled.

 "Attack!" Amy called.  The ferocious thunder dragon bounded forward at the Queen.  A person was almost the same height as the Dragon, but it was much larger in length.  From the horn on it's forehead it emitted a bolt of lightning.

 The Queen smiled and held up a hand.  A marble shaded orb appeared and absorbed the attack.  Without even standing up she raised her hands and fired the attack back at the dragon.

 It let out a roar.

 The Earth dragon, stretching to a great length and having a snakelike body, plunged into the stone and cracked it open, sinking into the earth below.  The Queen laughed and stood from her throne.  She moved aside and the Dragon came up from the ground.  She fired at it and it hissed then fell over.  The wind dragon inhaled and breathed out, sending a great blast of wind.  The Queen smiled as her hair blew back but a shield appeared around her and the wind died.  She raised a hand and the shield turned red.  She moved it outside of herself and fired it at the dragon.  The ball of red light burst into flames and hit the wind dragon squarely on the head.

 "Attack together!" she ordered but now the dragons were hesitating, sensing the Queen's great strength.  The Queen was about to destroy all of them but after letting out a frustrated growl, Amy lifted their stones and they went back into them.

 "That was fun," the Queen said, "What else can you show me?"

 Everyone was silent.  The Queen had taken on three dragons as though it were a game.  Even Creton would have wavered under three dragons.

 Ran jumped forward and fired a blast of light towards her but she simply moved aside.  She fired at him but he was agile enough to take to the side.

 Omi ran forward and shot at her with a large orb but she sidestepped it.  She smiled at him and fired back.  Omi barely had time to jump aside from her attack, and landed face first on the ground.  Quick to cover him, Ellen jumped forward and spun a full circle firing an elemental attack at the Queen.

 The Queen was hit by the fire attack but it did her no harm and she fired a blast towards Ellen.  Ellen fell backwards and Joe ran forward then, anger sweeping him.  Hands together, he swung them out revealing two large orbs of light.  Both went toward the Queen but she disappeared for a moment and appeared in the middle of the group.  She pointed a finger and spun a circle, everyone around her flying backwards.

 "This could be tough," Donavan muttered, collecting himself.

 "Distract her," Lynda said.

 "What?"

 "Just do it," Lynda told Donavan.  He shrugged and walked up, pulling out another gun, and fired at the Queen.

 "Do you think such things can defeat me?" she smiled.  Donavan shook his head as she dodged them and flew towards him.  She landed right in front of him and held out a hand right in front of Donavan's face.  Before he had a chance to react he saw energy begin to build into her hands.

 Then, as unexpectedly as she had come, something else happened.  The Queen's hand dropped.  Donavan saw Lita standing next to him.  She had kneed the Queen in her stomach.

 "How dare you?" the Queen spat.  Of course.  Her physical abilities were probably not much to speak of.

 "Enough of this how dare I crap!" Lita growled.  She was angry.  She pulled back her fist and hit the Queen squarely in her nose.

 The Queen gasped and stared.  She put one delicate hand to her lip and pulled it away.  Smeared across her fingers was her own blood, which now ran freely from her nostrils.

 "Get back!" they heard and saw Lynda standing nearby.

 Lita and Donavan hit the ground as Lynda launched a beam from her hand that was taller than she was.  The Queen didn't have a chance to dodge and it hit her head on.

 She hit to opposite wall and sat for a moment in pure shock.

 She stood up in great fury and raised a hand.  She brought it down to the stone ground and the whole castle began to shake.  The ground split and a chasm began to open in the center of the room.

 The growing chasm opened right under Lynda's feet but at the last minute Ace tackled her to the ground and away from the deadly gap.

 "You have proven that your strength is great but I will play no more games!" the Queen cried, blood running from her nose and her clothing slightly torn in some places from Lynda's attack.  "You will die by my hands, I swear it!"

Quite suddenly Rais could see again.  He was in a void of white.  He looked at his hands to see if they were there and they were.

 He tried to resist the pulse of the place he was in as it tried to drag him into it.  He moved forward, having to kick his legs as though there was no gravity and he supposed there wasn't.

 He looked around and scattered out on the white were objects that made no sense, looking like great abstract sculptures.  Voices would shout out in that pulse and say things that Rais was too distracted to understand.  He went through, feeling his own soul strained just by being in this place but for now he felt he was okay.

 "Rei?" he called, "Where are you?"

 He went through, seeing nothing but the strange shapes and hearing the snatches of voices, parts of memories from long ago.

 Then he heard it.

 "Rais!"  It was faint, echoing so that it sounded choppy but he had heard it.  He turned around trying to discover where it had come from.

 "Rei!  Where are you?  Tell me where you are!" he called.

 "Over here!" he heard and winced as he let his guard down.  He could feel that rhythm beat into him with such a passion it hurt but he maintained himself.  He felt as though he was becoming part of Rei, but he realized it was essential that he not feel at all like that.

 He went as fast as he could propel himself towards the sound.

 "Rais, I'm over here!  Rais!"

 "Just keep yelling!" he said but her voice was so faint, sounding almost artificial.  He began to go straight down in search of Rei.  When he looked down he saw that it became black.  It grew darker as though he were in a great box or cave and was shining a light down into it.

 Still he went down, resisting the beat of the place.  When he would feel like he was coming part of everything around him he would think about himself, who he was, and the pulse would die down from him.

 "You're almost there!" he heard, "Hurry!"

 "Rei?" he called.  He couldn't see anything.  Just the color of the void around him and a few objects.

 One of those objects caught his eye as Rei called out again.  It was a tall black crystal.  It was several times taller than Rais.  It was like a huge black diamond sword, floating in the middle of space.  With some effort he pressed forward towards it.

 As he got closer Rei's voice grew louder.  He came to stand at the very bottom of it, where the point of the crystal sword made contact with the base it stood on.

 "Rais…" he looked straight ahead and saw her.  Rei was sitting at the base of the sword with her knees drawn to her chest and her head rested on them.  He couldn't see her face.  Still the voice came from her direction.

 "Rei?" he asked and received a huge jolt.  It wasn't quite like pain, but it was similar.  The beat of the place had made a violent attempt at drawing him into itself.  The voice had disappeared and there was only this Rei alone.

 He collapsed next to her, finding it harder to resist the pulse that beat all around him.  He breathed for a moment.

 "Rei, you have to get up," he said, desperately trying to hold on, "We have to go soon.  I can't stay here for much longer.  Rei, please get up."

 Rais heard Sarah's voice saying that if even for a moment he felt as though he might lose himself to pull out and he suddenly felt the ability to do that, but he would not.

 "Rei," he made his way weakly towards her.  She lifted her head and stared, her eyes blank.  She didn't seem to be alive, yet she was staring at Rais.   "Rei, please, what's wrong with you?" Rais asked and winced, "Please Rei, they need you out there."

 The voice returned to him.  "That isn't me, Rais, that isn't me!"

 Rais stared at this lookalike.

 "Where are you, then?" he asked loudly, "Please tell me and hurry or we'll both be lost."  He looked around and he thought the voice would never answer.

 "I'm here, over here!" Rais whirled towards the sound and all at once he realized that the voice had not come from the girl sitting at the base of the crystal.  It was coming from the crystal.

 He stared, squinting into the sword, seeing the shifted colors that it created.  Then he noticed it, faint but there, the shape of a person.  He squinted and inside, looking like a body frozen in ice, was Rei.  She was completely still.  "Rei!" he cried and ran up to it.  He put his hands against it and felt for a way in, but it was solid.  He reached for his sword but he didn't have one.

 "How do I get in?" he asked the person that looked like Rei at the foot of the stone.  No reply.

 Rais lost himself for a moment, caught up in the situation.  He landed on one knee, being pressed down into Rei's soul.  It would not let him be and when it saw it was winning it came harder.

 "No, I'm not a part of Rei, I'm me," he cried, "My name is… My name is…"  For a moment he could not remember.

 "Your name is Rais!" the voice cried.

 The pulse faded off a little and Rais breathed heavily.  This simulated pain was unbearable and he took a moment to let it pass.

 "Please," he said to the person sitting in the front of the crystal, "I'm begging you.  I care about this girl, and she is needed.  If I give in to this rhythm, than can she be free?"

 "You'll die," a voice said.  It was not quite like Rei's but it was a voice.  The person that looked like Rei in front of the statue had said this, but her mouth did not move.

 "I know," he whispered.

 "Exactly as your parents had," it continued.

 "I know," Rais repeated.

 "You are willing to accept this fate to save the one you love?" it asked, "To become a body with no soul, to ingrave yourself as part of this system?"

 "If it will save her, I will," he said.

 "Rais, no!" came the echoing voice of the real Rei.  He could hear tears behind her voice, as distorted as it was. "Forget about it, you can't, I won't let you!"

 It was too late.  "This shall be done," the thing that looked like Rei said, "You shall become part of this place."  It stepped backward into the stone and disappeared.  All at once the stone shattered into pieces and in the middle of all the shards of the black crystal stood Rei.

 "Rais!" she cried, looking up.  He remained on his knees.  She ran over to him.

 Rais didn't answer, at the time didn't even know he was who she was calling.  He was beginning to be taken over.  His own rhythm was converting itself into Rei's.

 "You didn't have to do this.  It wasn't worth it."  She closed her eyes.  "What can I do?" she whispered then began to shout, "You are Rais Bluesword, you are fifteen years old, you live with me in Lizerton!"

 No result.

 She looked the other way.  "Your parents died in a fire that burned your village when you were very young and you asked Creton to spare them.  He did so and they died anyway, because they had no soul like you will if you don't remember!"

 Nothing.

"You hated being with Creton and owing him a debt," she continued in vain, "Then when he told you to kill me I bested you but let you live anyway.  Then you joined us and you've fought with us ever since."  He looked up at her, his face blank and empty but at least it was something.  "You told me you loved me when that Queen was in my body," she said, becoming quieter.  "I kissed you after the battle we had with Creton where we almost won.  I had dreams of you kissing me with angel's wings afterward.  You're name is Rais.  You are Rais."

 Suddenly he began to fall through the base of the black crystal they stood on and with a cry Rei reached forward and held on to his wrist.

 "I won't let you go!" she cried, "I love you!  I won't let you go!  We love each other Rais, we love each other, can you at least remember that?"

 Rais's face raised itself to her and he blinked.  His eyes had taken on a new look, that seemed brighter, more awakened.  He stared at her as though he had seen her somewhere before but couldn't quite remember.

 "We love each other," she said and the words echoed down into the darkness below.

 "Rei?" he asked quietly.  Then he wasn't falling.  He rose up to her and she pulled him along gently.  He winced as though in pain.  "Rei?"

 She didn't answer but wrapped her arms around his neck sobbing.  "Don't ever do that again," she said, "Never."

 "Rei…" he said.  He winced again and she pulled away.  He had barely escaped the pulse of this place, but it was coming back.

 "We have to go, Rais," Rei said, "I can wake up now, go.  I'll be fine, get out of here now."

 "Are you sure?" he asked her.

 "Just go!" she said.  He felt for his ability to pull out of her mind and he did so.  It was like being pulled back on a rubber band then let go again.  He felt himself being pulled from her mind and back into the darkness that held more void than Rei's own mind had.  The pulse began to fade then disappear and he was back at his own pace.

 Then suddenly he was in a room in the Evilopolis castle.  He rocked back and almost fell over, feeling surreal and dizzy.

 "Oh my God," Sarah sighed with relief, "For a minute I thought that you had really… I thought we had lost you."

 "What about Rei?" he asked and looked down.  She was still unconscious on the ground.  He looked at her face apprehensively.  Had she lied to save him?

 Suddenly her eyes fluttered open.  "Rais!" she said sitting up quickly.

 "Rei," he said and put his arms around her.  Her body lost its tension.  "It's okay, you're back with us now."

 "I never meant to try and hurt you," she said suddenly and quickly, shaking her head. "I tried to stop it and I'm sorry."

 "What are you talking about?" Rais asked her.

 "In the dungeon, when the Queen…" she hesitated, "I tried to stop it.  I couldn't stand to see her hurt you.  Can you forgive me for even letting her say the things she did to you?"

 "It isn't your fault," he said and held her tighter, "None of what has happened is your fault.  You did good, and now it's over."

 "It's not over," they heard and looked up to see Sarah, "They're still in there.  They're fighting to win but they need help.  It isn't over yet."

 "It will be," Rei said, determined, "It will be and soon."

When the Queen told them that she was through playing games she had meant it.  She attacked Lynda first, jumping towards her and firing a deadly attack in her direction.  She made her own but it was no match and disappeared upon touching the Queen's.  She ducked and received only half of the blow.

 "Lynda!" Luke cried and the Queen turned around and fired a concentrated beam at him.  It hit him on the shoulder going clean through and he fell backwards.

 She whirled around on the others.  She looked at all of them and made up her mind.  Lita felt herself being dragged away from Donavan.  Mina, Serena, Amy and Hotaru all felt themselves being pressed towards the other side.

 The Queen didn't want to deal with them for the moment.

 Taking the chance, Donavan ran up but the Queen was too fast and attacked back, leaving him a heap on the floor.

 "Donavan!" Ran cried and went for the Queen.  She stopped him midair and caused him to fly into the wall.    Serena began to run forward but was pressed back again.

 "Stay there!" the Queen shouted and Serena couldn't move.

 The Queen selected Charlie as her next victim and she fired but Charlie picked up Creton's sword and blocked the attack.  With a cry of anger the Queen unleashed another and the sword stood no chance.  Charlie was out of the fight.

 Ellen and Joe were standing together and the Queen brought up her hands then brought them down again and with her hands came the ceiling above their heads.  They had no chance to get out of the way, only duck and cover.  The rubble landed over them and no one could see them.

 The Queen turned on Omi next.  He saw he was targeted and ran forward.  He dodged when she fired and jumped towards her, aiming an attack, but she stopped him and sent an attack of lightning at him.  It was a hit and he landed at her feet.

 Amy watched in horror.  She was taking out everyone but them.

 Chiru and Robin were taken down and the twins were too.  The last one standing was Ace but she fired twice at him and he was taken out of commission.

 With everyone else disposed of she turned on the other girls.

 "The chosen ones," she snarled, "the Sacred warriors of old.  You are the one thing capable of defeating me, I know this and now, before I kill any of the people you have here, I will take care of you.  With your death my victory will be sealed!"

 She put a hand forward and none of the girls made a move to stop her.

 The attack came from elsewhere.

 "Twilight technique!" came the sound and the attack knocked the Queen down from the side.  In outrage she stood up and looked around herself.  There, in the doorway stood Rei with Rais by her side.  A little farther away was Sarah who was carefully healing Robin.

 "That's impossible!" the Queen cried, "It's all impossible!  How could you have broken through the mind lock?  I secured it!"

 Rei gave no response but everyone could see the anger filling her eyes.  When she finally spoke her voice was unsteady and quivering with rage.  "You have pursued us and this world for sometime now and to get at it you attack my friends and my kingdom.  And then you use cheap tricks to lure us in here.  You hurt my friends then and use my body against my will for your evil doing.  And now you are threatening to once again hurt my friends!  I am sick of you, Queen Calypso, and your siege.  I will stop you here and now if it kills me."

 "Maybe it will," the Queen snarled.  They locked eyes and the tension there was almost palpable.

 "Get up," Rei told the girls and all of them did except Serena who whimpered a little.  She still couldn't move.  Rei saw this and put a hand forward breaking the spell.  Serena sat up and stood close to Mina.  "Stay out of the way."

 "Remain there!" the Queen shouted.  While she was turned towards the girls Rei ran forward.  She assaulted the Queen with an all out tackled and the Queen gave a gurgled cry.

 "I know all about you of course," the Queen said as Rei tried to pin her down, "I know of every aspect of your life."

 "Good, then you'll know that when I destroy you it's justified," Rei said and hit her across the face.  The Queen knocked her off and sent her flying but Rei landed on her feet and ran forward to attack once more.

 Sarah had healed the last victim of the Queen and they were all up again.  As she did so she fell backwards.  It was Ellen who she had lasted healed, using her magic to move away the debris, and Ellen let out a cry, catching her before she hit the ground.

 "Sarah, are you okay?" Ellen asked.

 "She's tired," Robin said coming over.  He picked Sarah up.  "She's been overusing her powers.  Go on."  Ellen nodded and Robin put Sarah safely in a corner, staying with her.

 The Queen saw everyone revived and ready to fight once again.

 "Set!" she cried in the middle of her fight with Rei.  Set had made no move to help his Queen in any way until she called his name.  He nodded and faced off with everyone else while the Queen and Rei continued to fight.

 "Stay out of our way!" Chiru growled.

 "I'm sorry," Set replied, "But I have no choice but to obey."  He raised a hand and the room filled with the Shadows.  The room was set off into chaos.  Rei's fight with the Queen intensified.  The Queen was shocked that as she tried to hurt her, Rei always seemed to be able to bound back.

 "You know," Rei said, shoving the Queen back into a wall, "By all standards you should be stronger than me."

 "Than why am I not?' the Queen asked, unable to answer the question herself.

 "Because, I know you too, and I bothered to learn more about your fighting skills.  You didn't do the same about me I notice, but I know all your weaknesses in battle," Rei said, "You see, I've been planning on this."

 "You will still not win!" the Queen cried and ran forward aiming an attack.  Rei moved aside and let the Queen run past her, then slammed her down with her elbow on the Queen's back.  The Queen landed on her stomach and flipped over, sending an attack at Rei.  It hit and Rei was knocked backwards.  They both stood up and faced each other.

 "We're at a stand still you know," Rei was still smiling, "Our powers are almost exactly the same.  My physical abilities are much stronger than yours are and your magical abilities are much stronger than mine.  And while you have the upper hand with magic you have no strategic skills in one on one battle while I do, so in the end all we have is a stand still."

 "I have something that you don't," the Queen said, suddenly smiled as if she had learned a secret, "I know where to attack you where it hurts.  I have it all in my hands now."  Rei gave her a puzzled look and the Queen smiled, then turned to look at Rais.

 "No," Rei hissed, "You're fighting me."  Rais was fighting against Set and several of Set's army, which had come in to his aid.  He was not even focusing on the battle between the Queen and Rei.

 The Queen smiled again and began to run towards him.  Rei was after her.  She ran as fast as she could but the Queen had too much of a head start.

 "Rais!" she called and Rais turned around.  He gasped and blocked as the Queen jumped forward with an attack.  At the last minute a blast came from the side and the Queen was knocked back.  Rei paused and looked over to where it had come from.

 "Lynda?" she asked.

 "Be more careful, little sis," she smiled and continued the rest of the fight.  Rei smiled then ran to where the Queen was standing up.  They continued their heated battle.

 During the fight with Set, Mina guided TK, but suddenly from the doors there came a bright yellow streak.  "Mina, Mina, Mina!" she heard and turned to it.  'Nary flew as fast as he could and landed on her shoulder panting.

 "'Nary, weren't you…?" Mina started.

 "All of the scary creatures are comin' this way, Mina," 'Nary said, "And those kids you left in there, they are too."

 "Lacey and Koty are on their way here?" Mina asked and began to run towards Amy, "Amy!"  Amy turned away from Sady who was fending off the Shadows and looked at Mina.

 "What's wrong?" Amy asked.

 "Lacey and Koty are coming down here," Mina told her urgently, "And all the Shadows from the continent are on their way here.  They're easy to defeat but pretty soon we're going to be far outnumbered.  And if they can regenerate every fifteen minutes..."

 "Koty can't come here!" Amy cried, "The Queen is looking for him!"

 "We have to do something!" Mina said.

 "Keep fighting," Amy said, "I'll talk to Rei."  She looked over at her battle and saw that they were still going fast and strong.

 "Okay, but be careful," Mina said.

 "Sady, come," Amy said and ran to where Rei was.  Rei was knocked backwards for a moment and Amy took her chance to talk to her.

 "Rei, we have a problem!"

 "Not now," Rei growled and started to go back towards the Queen.  Amy would not be turned away however and she grabbed the back of Rei's shirt as she began to run off.

 "Koty and Lacey are coming here!" Amy hissed.

 That stopped Rei.  "Koty?  And Lacey, as in my little sister?"

 "Yes," Amy nodded, "And that Queen is pretty intent on Koty.  Not to mention your sister might get hurt also."

 "Bad," Rei muttered.

"Is something wrong Rei?" the Queen asked and Rei snapped to attention.

 "Nothing for you to worry about!" Rei growled, then muttering to Amy, "Take Sady and see if you can't intercept them.  Whatever you do don't let them in, Koty's too important and Lacey might do something stupid knowing Lacey."

 "Gotcha," Amy nodded and ran off, Sady trailing behind her.  Before Amy reached the door she skidded to a stop.  It was too late.  Standing at the door of the throne room was Lacey and Koty.

 Rei gasped and ran towards the Queen hoping to distract her but the Queen had already seen.  "The prince," she whispered and smiled at Rei.  Rei made to grab her but the Queen jumped away and Rei hit the ground.

 "Stop!" Rei called as she ran towards Koty.  She then aimed her attention at Lacey, "Lacey take Koty and run!"

 "Rei?" Lacey asked, confused.  Then she turned to the Queen who was running towards them with a gasp.  She put a determined hand forward to fire but the attack did nothing.

 "Run!" Amy called still trying to run in time to catch them.  The Queen got there first.  She hit Lacey with an attack sending her sprawling.

 "Lacey!"  Rei cried, up and running towards them.

 The Queen turned to Koty.  Amy was there but the Queen put up a hand and knocked her backwards.  She stood over the boy and he stared up at her, seemingly no emotion on his face.

 "Are you not afraid?" she asked him.

 "You can't touch me," he said.

 "Can't I?' she asked and leaned down.  She laid her hands on his arms to pick him up.  She held him close to her face but he only stared.

 Amy was back up sooner than expected and she ran directly into the Queen.  In her surprise the Queen threw Koty.  Rei, who was also almost there, let out a surprised squawk as Koty landed in her arms.

 The Queen let out a growl and pinned Amy down.  "Now you shall die, Diamond!"

 "Mommy!" Koty called and Rei sat him down, firing an attack at the Queen, knocking her off of Amy.  Amy stood up and Koty ran to her.  He ran to her arms and she hugged him tight.

 "Give me the boy!" the Queen yelled, "Give him to me now!"

 "Everything is right," Koty told Amy, looking excited, "Everything is right now.  I think we fixed it."

 "What are you talking about?  What's right?" Amy asked.

 "Now you can destroy the Queen," he said in his childish voice, "We fixed it so you could and now you can.  You can try."  Rei looked at Amy.  She heard what Koty was saying.

 "He will be mine!" the Queen screeched.

 "You heard him." Rei stood between the two and the Queen. "It's all right now and we can destroy you."

 Rei readied for the greatest fight of her life.

Chapter 31