Sophia takes about minute to comprehend her surroundings. She was in someone else’s bed. It appeared she was still in Valdis’ room though she can’t remember going to the bed. Just suddenly blackness. As if waking up after a general anesthetic was disorienting enough. She’s a little happy to be on the bed instead of the floor, but not so happy to be drugged or the waves of nausea.

She gets up out of the bed, clutching her stomach. She makes her way to bathroom, and sits down on the floor. She doesn’t think she could figure out a more terrible way to wake up. She can’t decide whether it was the coffee or the rag. She then goes over the events from last night. It doesn’t take too long before memories of the attack come bubbling back to the surface. She starts to cry before willing herself to stop. They didn’t really have time to spare to be sad and mourn. She could grieve when everything was done. She cleans herself a bit to try to look presentable before leaving to go look for Valdis.

Valdis had only gotten back about a half an hour ago from her little adventure with Nazo. She had gotten things started. She also got the full run down on what had happened at the art exhibit. Either way it had been a very busy night preparing… and setting things in motion. She just needed to tie up a few loose ends; but that could wait until a bit later. When she was ported back Little Mouse was still sleeping….that was good her body needed to recuperate. Her mind would at least have a moment of rest.

Valdis yawned and looked at the clock…how long had she been awake now? Between a battle one night a sleep over the next, a late date night with Nazo, and last night…Val only had accumulated maybe an hour or two of sleep between all those days…that was including fitting school, work, shrine, and grave yard duties…She was at her limit she could feel it. But she needed to bring Little Mouse home soon…she would have to endure it a little longer.

So she began to make herself a pot of coffee….falling asleep leaning against the counter waiting for it to brew.

The smell of coffee upsets Sophia’s stomach again, but it is far more manageable than when she first woke up. She walks in to see it percolating and Valdis hunched over by it. She pats her on the shoulder to wake her up. “Thanks for letting me have your bed, but I think you need it more than I did,” she says smiling, but much more subdued than typical.

She watches the coffee for a little bit drip into carafe. “So there is an abandoned farm house in the middle of nowhere. It’s about an hour outside of town. I think I want to go there. And call all the senshi, Kail, and Nazo, if that's even possible, to meet there at 7pm. As always, I would like you go, but you seem pretty tired, so I understand if you don’t want to. Hopefully, I can talk to my parents and get Artemis. They’ll probably guess I saw something. I’ll figure up some way to cover-up for my activities though. That will probably take a long time.”

“So… full day already.” She smiles broadly, "And I am already so far behind. Time to greet the day!"

Valdis head jerked up, she blinked….did she really just fall asleep standing up…waiting for coffee…this was a sad day for her indeed. She turned her gaze to Sophia and straightened up going to a cabinet filled with medicine and pulling out some anti nausea and some pain killers. She had been knocked out by that drug enough times to know what it felt like when one woke up.

”Here”

She poured Sophia a glass of water then went and got herself some coffee.

”As soon as you went down I went out again. I did text your parents to let you know you were ok.”

She leaned against the counter and drank the sweet nectar of the waking world. A small grateful sigh escaped her lips.

”I will go… and Nazo will come as well. Hopefully by then I will have a few loose ends tied up“

Her tone would say that she already knew that Nazo would come. After all she had already had at least part of this planned, and Little Mouse did give a good location which was a piece she had been missing. But Val knew she would regret going but she needed to be there anyways.

”I will gather Kail and Kenny as well; but the location you described is good for meetings of short term….however you guys are going to need a more secured location or at least a way to mask your energies. You’re a beacon for youma the way you guys are now… “

The coffee was helping she felt her mind beginning to function at the speed it normally would. But she knew it would likely fade in an hour or two.

”As for your parents they know I found you at the harbor and you slept over here. So tell them the truth…just leave out a few details...”

She downed the rest of the coffee and put the mug in the dishwasher.

”I will walk you home, I’m sure your parents are still concerned”

“Thanks,” Sophia says grabbing the water and the medication. “Can we not do the whole drugging thing again though? It’s sort of unpleasant. I think I have a bruise from where I fell on the ground too…” She takes what she is given and is fairly happy when she doesn't pass out again.

“I’ll send out a message to everyone else then. It’s the best location that I can come up with for the moment though. It’s at least outside the city,” she says, before sending out an early morning text to team senshi: It’s important that we all talk this evening. She gives a series of direction, saying they will find an abandoned farm house. They should convene around 7pm.

“Sort of was the plan. I’m just not looking forward to whatever interrogation will follow. I guess it’s an opportunity to find out how much the US military knows. If we’re lucky, hopefully nothing at all. And yeah my parents will be concerned. My brother may not let me leave the house again though,” she says. "Thank you for taking care of everything last night. I feel like I can think straight today." Some genuine happiness can be found in her words. There is some contentment in finding a resolution, even if it means war and giving up a lot. Fighting isn't her strong suit, but she would get better out of necessity, hoping one day a better option would present itself, but being prepared even if it didn't. And she would hold herself together and put on a positive attitude when the world seemed to be falling apart because someone needed to hold it together.

Sophia places the glass in the dishwasher, “Alright. Ready to leave when you are.”

”You needed sleep, without sufficient rest your mental walls would continue to shatter. The soreness you feel is just a side effect of the drug; I caught you before you hit the ground.”

Val knew first hand how hard it was to keep it together when you did not sleep, it was a necessity for basic human functions.

”The drugging gave you at least a bit of rest from yourself. Once the physical effects wear off it will be more tolerable”

Valdis was pleased with Sophias improvement, she patted the girl on the shoulder and gave her a small smile. She would be alright, and Val had a little confidence the girl would not lose to the weight that was placed on her shoulders. When Sophia spoke it triggered an afterthought….she hadn’t realized the girl was a part of the American military.

”Good plan, if your able to find out when the American Government plans to march on Virgo’s citadel….It will give us insight onto how small our window of time is….But since your are initiating the meeting, how do you plan on leading it Little Mouse?”

Valdis grabbed her coat along with an extra dry one for Sophia. She did wonder if the girl had a plan on how to direct the meeting or whether if it was just a call just to talk about future actions that they would need to take…

Sophia takes the coat, but now she is curious. “Virgo’s Citadel? Ok, you obviously know more than I do here. Also, you are starting to talk like Nazo… If you want me to get answers, I need to know what I’m looking for. I only have a limited number of cards to play…”

The plan with her parents was to see how much information she could squeeze out while slipping choice details about the attack. However, she could only say so much before she stopped looking like an innocent bystander. Admittedly, it was a little manipulative to play upon their sympathies, but it wasn’t like the horrible depression concerning the event wasn’t true.

“Leading? I don’t plan to lead because I won’t force people to follow me. They can follow me if they so choose or not. I’ve done nothing so far to earn their respect to expect them to simply follow me. And honestly, I would prefer they had enough free thought to make that sort of decision themselves. I was going to talk about what happened last night, our need for preparedness, and get everyone to think of ways of improving our combat abilities and our cooperation. My idea is we meet up a few days to run the drills you talked about. We need to learn to rely on each other as group. In addition, it may do us some good for some solitary practice in case we get ambushed alone. And work on our abilities to manipulate the elements associated with our planets. I tried using the love powers once… it’s a little too much. I need to figure out to do more subtle manipulations. Lastly, they need to know that retreat at this point is an option that we may need to take. That our lives mean more than just ourselves. We can’t afford to fight a battle like the one last night… I'll leave the floor open to other suggestions and comments as well.”

Valdis shrugged comically.

”Saaaa, I suppose it was bound to happen.”

She really had been spending a lot of time with Nazo lately. She wondered what he would think of her sounding like him. But she was happy she wasn’t the only one who had been clueless to Virgo’s Citadels name. Now she didn’t feel as much of an idiot.

”Virgo’s Citadel is the covenants offensive base in the Americas, approximately where St Louis use to be….I believe that is where our end goal is….and we will be attacking with the American Army when the time comes. I want you to find out if there are plans to march, if there are …consider that the date when all our doubts and questions will be given an answer.”

Valdis smiled slightly at Sophias comments about leading.

”Then you do have a plan to lead, you have a direction of where you want this meeting to go….but I’m already a couple of steps ahead of you here. I spoke to Nazo and convinced him to become your trainer. He will run you all through the drills that you need, as a team and individually. He’s seen more battle then any of us and is by far the most competent as a single entity. You will learn battle tactics and with that you will learn a strategic retreat is always an option. There is no shame in knowing when to run away like a little bitch”

She was serious, a good tactician knew when to run. Valdis was also confident Nazo would be able to give the Senshi and Knights the training that they needed to gain confidence in their own abilities.

”I know this bypasses your want to discuss but things needed to get moving. I will be working on finding a suitable location for you all to train as well, I will be visiting Granny to see if she is able to hide or at least mask our energy even a little. We all can’t dress up like Nazo to hide ourselves. Even though that would be amusing…what do you think Nazo would do if we all showed up in black robes and masks to the meeting? …I kind of want to do that now…”

Yep Val was gone off on another tangent.

“Ah. You know… I haven’t been in America since I was really young. Supposedly, we are from Virginia or something. But my parents got stationed here and never left for whatever reasons. I suppose maybe I will get to see Gabriel face to face for the first time in years,” she muses. The eldest son that stayed behind. She wonders what he would think of all this.

“You were really busy when I was passed out, weren’t you?” she laughs. “So many reasons why you should be leading this group…. All this sounds great. I may phrase the thing about retreat more nicely than ‘running like a bitch’ though.”

“I already have a mask,” she says. The orange masquerade mask. Her heart sinks a little. She’ll wear it every battle until Kenji woke up. If he woke up.

“What do you think will happen at this meeting? Crap… do you think Ama is ok?” she says somewhat panicked. She forgot about the other senshi in her despair.

”So you have family overseas still; Nazo was just there the other night making sure they kept their footing in battle. If you do see him…my suggestion is have fun with your entrance. This serious battle and death subjects get to be heavy sometimes, find amusement where you can.”

It was what she did; life was too short and to dark not to find the fun in it. She felt Sophia would find some understanding in that thought process as well. Valdis looked over at Sophia when she mentioned that she was busy when she was passed out, her response was to simply shrug.

”Last night was productive yes, but I’ve been busy beyond that as well.”

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, she was beginning to get a sleep deprivation head ache. So before she left she popped a couple of pills. A thing eyebrow quirked at the suggestion that she should lead the group…

”Would you fallow me willingly Little Mouse?”

Her answer would be interesting if it was yes….after all she just randomly drugged her. But even if Little Mouse supported it she very well knew the others would fight it tooth and nail. Sophia had a special quality that made her persistent enough to get to understand others no matter how different the personality was. It disturbed Valdis slightly that this peppy girl managed to worm her way into being a little less annoying in her eyes.

”Little Mouse….I retract my previous statement, stay the way you are. You may out rank Pushy cat…in persistence”

Valdis was referring to all the times she had told Little Mouse to be more like pushy cat…she had been wrong. She chuckled at the request to rephrase the term running like a little bitch.

”I call them like I see them”

Valdis gives some serious thought on her next question, she could very well guess who the meeting would most likely go. But was distracted by Sophias freak out over her friend….why was she just realizing this now….it was the snow fort all over again…. She just shakes her head and pats the girl on the shoulder.

”I believe Ama is fine, I trust that Nazo would have informed me if she was indisposed. I hadn’t gotten the clearest of explanations on what happened from you nor did I want to press you for it. So I went and investigated last night as well….if it easies your heart the tree is a live one… and is emitting a supernatural energy…Rei may be able to tell you more about it if you ask her. She is better at sensing presences better then I. I’m just learning…..As for the meeting….I don’t think the fact I’m getting involved would please the rest. If you mentioned me taking charge I’m pretty sure you would be treated as though you had gone and drunk from the funny tasting Kool-Aid. I think they will reluctantly agree that the training is necessary but be bothered that no one asked them for their opinion on the matter. I think Ama will be distraught and either sink into her own shell or she will step up and take on more of a leadership roll. Much like you did.”

Valdis had taken the time to analyze the group, but she hadn’t gotten their personalities down to a T where she could confidently predict their reactions.

“To the ends of the Earth.” Capability. Resourcefulness. The group needed that more than anything.

Sophia smiles back when she says not to change. It was… a little late for that sentiment. At least, she was still persistent. However, there were quite a few things that she resolved to change.

“Thank god… I would have felt worse if something bad happened to her because I was so absorbed in my own sadness,” she says thinking back to Ama. She was probably just as distressed as her last night.

“If you wish, I won’t mention your involvement. I don’t think that the others would have a problem with it though. I, also, don’t think they will be reluctant to train. At least, I would hope not. Any reasonable person would agree, and I don’t think we could afford it if the group said no. It’s for everyone’s benefit after all.” However, the idea of them not accepting it worries it. “I’ll force them to do it if I have to. Don’t know how, but I’ll figure it out.”

“I won’t let Ama sink into a shell. I should probably talk to her privately at some point.”

"It wouldn't do the team much good if everyone talk charge. Do you think I would be good at it? Or should I back off and let Ama or Kail take over?"

Well now…this was an interesting development. She really wasn’t sure what she was going to do with it…but it was interesting none the less. But if she had one willing to fallow her, that may make things easier in the future.

”It very well may come to that Little Mouse”

Valdis shrugged when Sophia said she wouldn’t mention her involvement.

”Mention it or don’t it matters not to me; They will agree to the training I wouldn’t have bothered to ask Nazo if I didn’t think they would. I meant merely they will be un happy with the fact that I went ahead and did it….although I am liking the changing of opinion you had there…I had thought you were against making people fallow you by force”

Valdis nodded towards Sophias idea of talking to Ama later, that may be a good thing.

”That would be wise, if you run into trouble you may always approach me. Like I said before I am here to help in any way I can. Including being a listening ear.”

….At least until she knocked them out….but that was for extreme cases. As they walked outside a black car had been waiting. Valdis climbed in and waited for Sophia to as well.

”I think it is still too soon to tell Little Mouse. I think your leader will emerge in time; like you say it is the person whom all of you choose to fallow. Whether you consciously make the decision or not. I think the trainings will help speed that process along”

Sophia climbs in after her. She sighs. She did say force… but mostly because her options were terrible. “I love them too much to let them make the wrong decision. The only thing keeping moving forward right now is the rest of group. There’s a pretty large part of me that just wants to sit in my bed forever and cry. We’re all in this together, and I want to see us all leave this together.” If she was alone and had her druthers, she would dig herself a hole and hide in it. But she couldn’t let them down like that, and they all need to pull through.

She leans back, “I try to talk to Ama before the meeting if I have time. After, if I don’t.”

“I suppose we’ll just play everything by ear then. Tomorrow, I’ll see about getting the tree blessed. I think Kishin would appreciate it as well as the rest of the group. Eventually, I’ll work up some resolve to make a hospital visit…”

She stares out the car window as they pass a few roads. She hadn’t really notice a lack of counterpart until she had one. Now that he was gone, it felt like she lost a hand. If she were to lecture herself, she would tell herself to be hopeful.

“I have faith in the team to pull through from this. We all care about each other, don’t we? We’ll recover.”

”There is no shame in using force, sometimes it is necessary.”

Valdis remained quiet when Sophia expressed hopes that they all would leave alive. There was a large possibility none of them would come back after this…but even Val would not place a word of doubt in Sophias ears. So wisely she held her tongue. When she mentioned about going to the hospital a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

”When you work up the courage would you like me to come with you? I haven’t paid a visit to Kasei in a while…she’s do for some random babbling.”

Kasei had been a girl she had known in Transylvania, she was one of the few survivors from her village…sadly she was in a coma, much like Sophia’s friend. Who knows maybe she would run into Kaseis big brother…he could be useful. But that did send up a slight red flag.

”On that note when you do go to the hospital be careful of what you say. You never know who might be listening.”

Sophia shakes her head, “I should be able to do this alone. If I can’t be brave enough to do this, then I’m gonna be pretty terrible at what is to come. Besides, I don't anticipate being there long. I don't think I want to spend much time with his family.” While it would be nice to tell them their son was very heroic and self-sacrificing, it wasn't really something she could do. It would just make her more depressed, standing with his confused family, not being able to tell them why this all happened.

When Valdis says be careful about what she says, she gives a nod. “I wasn’t going to talk about fighting the Covenant with all my magic in front of the doctor. I have some sense…”

“If you don't mind me asking, who is Kasei?”