Sasha was looking at a wall in her house while holding a hand out towards the wall.
"It's been so long since I tried this, I hope I can still get there" she muttered to herself
Magic began to build up in her paw as a gateway began to form on the wall.
"How does Joey make this look so easy? All he has to do is open a door" She asked herself trying to stay focused as the gateway continued to form on the wall.
Once the gateway was finished forming, Sasha gave it a touch with her outstretched hand and pushed it open, as a bright light shone from it, momentarily blinding the otter woman, before the magic stabilized and revealed a large room that looked like her old debriefing room. Walking through the gateway, Sasha soon found herself in the castle she once resided in, and was caught by surprise by a voice from behind.
"Hello!" A coyote woman called out to her
"AHHH!" Sasha screamed out in surprise as she turned and saw her old friend standing there, "Don't scare me like that!" Sasha blurted out calming herself down
"Sorry, Can't help it if you're a scaredy ott now" Esmerelda replied
"I'm not a scaredy ott, I'm just not used to those kinds of surprises is all, been living a quiet carefree life. Surprises don't happen all that much where I live" Sasha replied
"Whatever you say" The coyote woman replied "So here to catch up on old times?" She asked
"Yes, I figured that it would be nice to meet up and chat and see how things have changed" Sasha replied
"Well follow me then, I can show you around a bit after we catch up over some tea" Esmerelda offered
"That sounds nice actually, lead the way" Sasha answered with a smile
Esmerelda nodded happily and began to lead the otter woman out into the halls and towards the tea room. As they walked down the various halls, Sasha couldn't help but look around and gaze at how much everything has changed, looking more modern than she had remembered it.
"So, this is the castle now?" Sasha asked as she walked down a hallway alongside Esmerelda
"Yup, the place sure has changed since you were a princess huh?" Esmerelda asked
"I'll say, is it all your doing?" Sasha asked
"Somewhat, was able to use magic to make changes to my chambers, but Katie and Sumia used their science stuff to do a lot of the redecorating in the rest of the castle" Esmerelda replied
"Science stuff? Seriously?" Sasha asked looking at Esmerelda with a look of confusion
"I don't really know how they do what they do, those two are unbelievably smart individually, but together they could outwit a supercomputer" Esmerelda replied
"Impressive, are the others that smart?" Sasha asked
"Not as smart as those two, but they are still sharp, don't get me wrong. The others are still quite smart, but they just aren't on the same level as those two are" The queen replied
"Smarter than you?" Sasha asked
"Okay now you're asking for a butt kicking" The queen answered
Sasha just chuckled to herself, "oh relax, you know I'm only messing with ya" Sasha replied
The two walked along to the main hall of the castle where a green portal appeared on a wall and a pair of blue otters appeared from the portal. Sasha just stood there staring at Joey in silence before speaking up.
"Ummmm...son, any particular reason you are dressed up like that?" Sasha asked confused
"Uhhh..." Joey replied standing unable to think of anything before throwing his hand towards the ground "SMOKE BOMB!" He exclaimed despite there not actually being a smoke bomb and ran on off as fast as he could to dodge the subject for now.
Katie just chuckled nervously as she waved at Sasha. "Nice to see you again Mrs. Finisra" She simply greeted before running off after Joey.
Sasha just sighed and shook her head as she and Esmerelda walked on off to continue their discussion as the queen tried her best to not break out into laughter.
"So I take it you didn't know about that?" Esmerelda asked
"The diaper or the dress?" Sasha asked
"Both?" the queen asked
"No I did not know" Sasha replied letting out a sigh
"Is it a problem?" the queen asked
"No, it's just, that really was not the best way to find out, things are going to be really awkward for a while" Sasha replied "Not something one can just ignore nor is it something you can just bring up casually" Sasha explained
"I guess I see what you mean, was kinda awkward at first for me when it turned out pretty much all of princesses are into diapers themselves" Esmerelda replied admittingly
"Wait, they are?" Sasha asked
"Mhm, they pretty much lounge around their quarters and living room in their diapers a lot of times" Esmerelda answered
"What started that?" Sasha asked
"Not sure really, if I had to guess, it was just something that snowballed, two are just kittens and like to fill that role, so they like diapers as a result, a couple were bratty about toilets early on, basically it was just one thing after another and soon they were almost all diaper butts" She replies with a shrug
"Not the worst thing they could be into" Sasha commented
"True, I guess that's why i never did anything about it, wasn't causing harm, made them happy, it's their choice and they do a lot of hard work so not like they haven't earned that right to wear them" Esmerelda replied, "I take it that's why you're so calm about Joey wearing them?" She asks
"Yes" Sasha simply replied
"And the dress?"Esmerelda asked "
Well, he was always a mommas boy, guess more of me rubbed off onto him than I thought" She replied jokingly
Sasha followed Esmerelda into a small tea room, as she opened the door for Sasha to enter. Once inside, the queen took a seat in a chair at a little table as Sasha did the same.
"You know most queens would have others hold the door for them" Sasha commented pouring herself a cup of tea
"You know i'm not into all that royal nonsense, I'm fine doing things myself, I'm not that lazy" Esmerelda replied with a chuckle as she poured herself a cup
"So how are the others doing?" Sasha asked "Haven't heard from them in ages" She added
"Well, Miranda has had the hardest time from what I know of, she had to leave her daughter at an orphanage to keep her safe. She was able to get things sorted out and and has returned here to be with her daughter and make up for lost time" Esmerelda replied
"Her daughter? Who is her daughter?" Sasha asked
"You already met her, her name is Katie" The coyote answered
"Katie?" Sasha asked curiously as she thought to herself, "Huh, now that you mention it, I do see a bit of Mirada in her, but how did she wind up here as a princess if she was in an orphanage?" Sasha asked
"She was adopted by one of the others, Erin, who helped mentor her and raise her in Miranda's absence. Imagine her surprise when Katie surpassed her own intellect, that clever little girl even improved on her mother's portal technology." Esmerelda explained
"Oh? Howso?" Sasha asked
"You know how Miranda's portal was big and bulky? Katie managed to improve on it to where it can be carried around with ease and be used just about anywhere" Esmerelda explained
"Seriously? That's amazing, and here I thought Miranda was the smartest fur I'd ever met" Sasha commented, "I'm glad to hear that Miranda and her daughter are back together again" She added
The queen nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, it was quite a heart warming sight, seeing Katie's face light up when she met her mom for the first time in forever"
"I bet, how is Courtney doing?" Sasha asked
"Well, she is living in a treehouse in a forest on a small remote island, keeping the wildlife there safe from harm. She really enjoys the more laid back lifestyle and has been using her magic to try and add onto the island to accommodate all the wildlife there" Esmerelda explained
"Is she still as shy as she was back in her days as a maiden?" Sasha asked
"Oh yes, she is far too shy and nervous to meet up here, too many new faces for her comfort" Esmerelda answered
"Poor girl, maybe one day she will work up the courage to visit" Sasha commented
"I'm sure she will as well, just can't force it, is all. Maybe one day when the other girls are out on missions and it can be me and her, might help her warm up to the idea of meeting the others" Esmerelda replied
Sasha nodded her head, "Sounds like a good idea"
"Amber is doing well, she is still working on keeping her dark half in control, as her magic grows her dark half tries to come out on its own" Esmerelda began to explain as Sasha took another drink of tea
"Oh dear, I had no idea that her power had that kind of effect on her" Sasha replied with a look of shock
"Yeah, she kept it to herself, didn't want to worry any of us back in our maiden days. She has been keeping it under control but when under too much stress, it can be hard to keep it under control. Of course I guess it doesn't help that she doesn't do anything like she used to so she can't let that form of hers out very often to run wild" Esmerelda explained with a look of concern, "But she assures me it's not too bad, least not where she needs us to intervene to help her with it, but other than that, she has found a nice place to live in a small town." She added
"Well least she is living peacefully enough, , but if she ever does need our help she can count on me to be there" Sasha replied with a smile
"Stephanie has opened up her own little martial arts dojo to teach kids how to fight like her" Esmerelda replied to continue the conversation
"Just what we need, more Stephanies running around" Sasha replied jokingly
"You're just saying that because you could never land a hit on her, in our little sparring matches" Esmerelda teased
"Hey! She dodged quite a number of your attacks as well" Sasha replied defensively
"Well she is a ferret girl, the way she moves around, you'd swear she has no bones. Girls can move and could always figure out where to strike you to bring you to your knees. I can definitely see why our queen chose her to be a maiden, she made a lot of us look like a joke" Esmerelda commented with a chuckle
"Are any of your girls like her?" Sasha asked curiously
"No, it's possible she was one of a kind, but who knows? Maybe of her students will be just as good as she is and join the next generation of princesses" Esmerleda answered
"How about Allison?" Sasha asked
"Not entirely sure myself, last I heard she went off someplace to do some work around there" Esmerelda answered
"Where at?" Sasha asked
"If i remember correctly she said equestria" Esmerleda answered
"Huh... sounds like everyone is still hard at work" Sasha replied thinking to herself
"Last one i have heard from recently was Alicia" Esmerelda responded
"Alicia?" Sasha asked curiously, "What has she been up to?"
"Well she is the mother of one of the princesses here, Krystal, and since her daughter is busy here and with another group, she has taken up some peacekeeping duties on a planet of dinosaurs" Esmerelda answered taking a sip of tea
Sasha leaned forward in her chair and stared at her cup for a moment before being snapped out of her trance by the queen.
"So tell me, what have you been up to?" Esmerelda asked
"Me?" Sasha asked, seeing a nod from the coyote, "Well.... compared to the others.... nothing....just been a housewife and a mother.. kinda left a lot of maiden life behind" Sasha replied glumly
"Why is that?" Esmerelda asked setting her cup down on a table
Sasha just let out a deep sigh, "Remember that villian I had been tracking down?" She asked
"Yes, the one who was essentially controlling a whole city from the shadows?" Esmerelda asked
"That's the one" Sasha responded, "Well I had battled him and after a tough fight I managed to knock his butt down for the count, the authorities came and arrested him and locked him up" Sasha began to explain
"Well that's good" Esmerelda commented
"Well yes, at least so I thought. Problem is, I was on a date with my then boyfriend, and he got attacked, apparently that bastard, despite being locked up for good, was still controlling things. It wasn't as strong of a control but even behind bars, he was still pulling strings, enough to know I was still living in the city" Sasha continued to explain
"Oh dear... I had no idea it was that bad" Esmerelda replied in shock
"Yes.... after that, me and him left the city and moved to a small town, we married and lived there for a while, then I got Joey, and after that....I just couldn't bring myself to go back there" She replied staring down at the floor
Esmerelda sat there silently trying to think of what to say to help before hearing Sasha speak up again.
"I kept telling myself it was to protect them, I kept saying I never liked the city anyway, too crowded, too noisy, too expensive, I kept making excuses for why I never went back.." She added "But the truth is.... I ran away from the problems... a part of me was scared that...maybe all I did was beat a double, that the real criminal was still hiding, playing his cards right to not bring too much attention... if it was a double...and the double was that strong...then I was afraid of how strong the real deal was" Sasha spoke as she continued
"Hun, we all get scared" Esmerleda spoke trying to comfort her friend
"Yes but I ran away!" Sasha exclaimed slamming her fists on the table, "The others are still working hard to keep doing what they've always done... me? I ran away! How can I call myself a maiden after that!?" She asked loudly in frustration
"Why didn't you come to us when this happened?" Esmerelda asked "We could have helped"
"I didn't want to sound weak by asking for help with my villian" Sasha admitted
"You know we wouldn't have judged you for it, everyone needs help, even I still need help at times. You're no weak just because you ask for help" Esmerleda explained
Sasha looked up at her friend, "I'm not?"
"No of course not, it's what we do, we look out for each other" Esmerleda replied
"Well.. now I jsut feel stupid for not asking back then" Sasha replied looking back down
"Sasha..." Esmerelda replied sounding concerned
"But.... '' She replied, clenching her fists "But I'm not making that mistake again..." She looked back up with a look of determination, "I'm not going to run away anymore, I'm not going to make excuses, I screwed up because I panicked and didn't ask for help, but..." She replied trailing off for a moment as her heart began to race "But now I am, I need help, I want to finish what I started but I know I can't do this alone, I don't want to leave that city under that bastards control, I don't want to live in fear of setting foot outside my hometown anymore" She stood up and looked at Esmerelda ``I need help doing it though, I know I can't do this by myself, I need help taking him down for good. I need help in making sure Ben stays safe during this, and I want to be sure Joey doesn't get involved. That guy is too dangerous for him to get involved in this. Please, if any of the others can help with this.." Sasha asked as Esmerelda stood up
"If none of the others are able to help then I will stand by your side myself, but promise me one thing" She replied
"What?" Sasha asked curiously
"Promise me you won't hide anything like this from us ever again" Esmerelda replied pulling the otter woman into a tight embrace "Please just promise that, all you have to do is ask and your sisters will come to your aid" Esmerelda explained
"We're.. still sisters?" Sasha asked
"Always, we might not be maidens anymore but our bond as sisters will never be broken" Esmerelda answered
"Then... I promise. I promise I won't hide anything from my sisters ever again, I'm sorry I hid this to begin with" Sasha replied "But I'm not in any shape to fight as I am now, I have grown too rusty, even opening the spell gate to the castle was a lot of work, I doubt I can use my magic like I used to without sharpening my skills"
"WellI know one way to help sharpen your skills so you won't be so rusty anymore" Esmerelda replied
"What do you mean?" Sasha asked
"A little sparring match" Esmerleda answered
"But... I doubt I can do much" Sasha commented
"We won't know unless you try, besides it will give me a good idea on what you need to work on" Esmerelda responded
"Well... I guess that makes sense" Sasha answered
"It's settled then, so follow me to our little arena, we can go as crazy as we want in there" Esmerelda responded getting up out of her chair
Sasha stood up as well and followed the coyote out into the hall. Esmerelda led her friend down the long series of hallways as Sasha could hear some voices coming from further down the halls. As they walked along the voices grew louder and louder until a door burst open and a pair of kittens jumped out from behind the door.
"I got you now!" A shiny blue mew exclaimed tackling a white two tailed kitten to the floor
Both of them were giggling up a storm before looking up and seeing the queen and Sasha and quickly got up to their feet.
"Sorry bout that, we didn't know anyone was out in the hallways" Riola replied
"It's fine, just be careful, don't want to hit anyone now do we?" Esmerelda asked
"No" Sapphire replied
"Who are these two?" Sasha asked looking at them both
"These are two of my princesses, Sapphire and Riola" The queen replied
"Aren't they a little young for that?" Sasha asked as she looked at the mew
"They are a lot older than you think, Riola has regression powers and likes to be a kitten, and Sapphire" She began to explain
"Well, I'm kinda stuck in this form, was sort of cursed and now i'm stuck looking like a kitten" Sapphire answered
"Yes, but don't let her appearance fool you, she isn't someone you want to mess with, her defense is quite strong, and her offense is quite strong as well, Joey tried to fight her but lost" Esmerelda explained
"yes, I heard of that, I didn't expect that someone so strong was so small, seems Katie wasn't kidding when she said Joey was beaten by a kitten" Sasha commented
"Well more like he burned himself out, but yeah I was just getting started" Sapphire replied
"So is regression all Riola can do?" Sasha asked
"No, she can also copy other furs magic" Esmerlda answered
"Wait really?" Sasha asked
The queen nodded, "Yes, I can explain it to you some other day"
"Well it was nice meeting you two" Sasha replied shaking the paws of the two kittens
"Nice to meet one of the former maidens" Sapphire replied
"Yeah, would be nice to see them visit more often" Riola replied
"Well I can try to swing by more often in the future" Sasha replied smiling widely
The two kittens waved at the otter woman and ran off to continue playing leaving Sasha and Esmerelda standing there alone.
"Well, shall we continue?" Esmerelda asked
Sasha merely nodded her head and followed along down the halls before reaching a large set of double doors. Esmerelda placed her hands on them and pushed them open with ease revealing a large arena with seats surrounding it on both sides. Sasha stepped through the doors and walked around inside the large arena seeing large stone basins on the walls lit with fire, lighting up the room. Stone fountains decorated both ends as water poured out from them.
"Wow, this sure has changed" Sasha commented gazing in awe
Esemerlda nodded her head and walked to one end of the arena.
"Now then, just come at me with all you got, you can even use your scythe if you can still wield that thing" Esmerleda replied
Sasha nodded her head and held out her arms and hands and focused her magic. Water from the fountains flowed towards the otter woman and into her paws, taking on the shape of a scythe. Sasha channeled her magic into the water and in a flash, her scythe appeared in her hands.
"I see you can still summon things easily enough" Esmerelda commented
"Summoning is easy, traveling not so much" Sasha responded as she gave her scythe a few test swings to get the feel for the weapon again
"Ready?" Esmerelda asked
"As I will ever be" Sasha replied
"Then begin!" Esmerelda exclaimed in excitement
Sasha held her scythe with both hands and swung as hard as she could as the blade glowed a bright blue. The blade began to draw a blue line in the air as if it were slicing it apart. Esmerelda just grinned and readied herself, as wind kicked up around her. As Sasha finished her opening swing, the blue slice was flung forward having become a blade of water, flying through the air.
"Take this!" Sasha exclaimed
Water splashed everywhere as there was a sudden burst of wind, blowing the attack away. Sasha looked over at the coyote woman, seeing her engulfed in a small vortex of wind.
"Heh, gotta do better than that dear sister" Esmerelda commented with a smirk
"I will" Sasha replied with a look of determination
The otter girl held her scythe above her head and began to twirl it around above her head, spinning it faster and faster, as water from the fountains was pulled towards it.
"That old trick?" Esmerelda asked
Sasha didn't answer as she kept the spinning going, turning the water into a large water spout above her. With a swing of her scythe, the vortex of water was sent spiraling over towards the coyote woman, as she jumped into the air, her legs and feet engulfed into small powerful vortexes of wind, allowing her to glide in the air with ease. With a kick she pushed herself aside, and quickly dodged the waterspout as it crashed into the wall behind her, causing water to shower the whole arena.
"Still as swift as ever I see" Sasha commented watching the coyote set foot on the ground
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Esmerelda asked
Sasha just smirked, "So you really want to put me through the wringer don't you?" She asked
"You'd be surprised how much skill you actually have, it's like riding a bike, you never forget" Esmerelda replied
Sasha held out a hand and began to pull the water that drenched the floor towards her. Channeling her magic, she began to summon a pair of water clones to her side, taking a ready stance to fight.
"Only two? Back in the day you could summon ten with ease" Esmerelda commented seeing the clones
"Well like I said, I have grown rusty" Sasha replied readying her scythe
"Then what was that water spout just then?" Esmerelda asked
"A warm up" Sasha replied before her clones dashed out in seperate directions to flank Esmerelda
The coyote woman launched herself into the air again, to get a birds eye view of Sasha's water clones.
"Those clones might not be able to actually attack, but that's not what makes them dangerous... if she flanks me with them she could get the drop on me..." She thought to herself as she watched as Sasha began to spin her scythe above her head again.
Instead of another water spout though, this time it began to pull the water from the fountains, slitting it all up into droplets, creating a mock rainstorm. Spinning her scythe faster and faster, the rain became more dense to give her more water to easily use to fight.
"Clever but I'm not just going to sit by and let you make a rainstorm" Esmerelda replied, building up her wind magic to suck up the water, but before she could, she saw blades of water flying towards her.
The coyote had to immediately dodge all about, while trying to keep her eyes on the clones Sasha made, as the otter woman kept sending blades of water at her. Esmerelda kept dashing about in the air, deflecting the water with her wind, sending the blades of water into the walls on the sides of the arena and the floor and ceiling. Sasha grinned some and with one mighty swing of her scythe, threw the weapon towards Esmereldaas it spun in the air, like a spinning buzz saw. The coyote kicked her legs towards the ground to create a powerful updraft to launch herself higher into the air to dodge before her eyes widened in realization.
"Wait, how!?" She exclaimed turning around seeing the blade heading towards a water clone
As the blade approached the clone, the clone suddenly burst in a shower of water as Sasha appeared in its place, catching the blade by its hilt perfectly.
"Caught you off guard" Sasha replied preparing to swing her scythe in midair
Esmerelda built up a sphere of wind around her that grew more and more dense before discharging the air in all directions. The rainstorm was quickly blown away as Sasha was blown back towards a wall and quickly stabbed the blade of her scythe into the concrete to catch herself in place. Once the wind died down, she pulled herself up onto the hilt of the weapon and perched atop it to rethink her strategy as Esmerelda just floated effortlessly in the air in front of her.
"Very sneaky sis, forgot you could create your water clones in midair like that. Too bad I have my own tricks up my sleeve to counter your little tricks." Esmerelda replied grinning
"Guess, I will have to step up my game then" Sasha replied pulling her scythe out of the wall and feeling down to the ground, landing on her feet
"Indeed, but now you will have to do so with me on the offense" Esmerelda replied, conjuring up her spear
"Offense?" Sasha asked
"Oh yes of course, that was just a taste of my defense game back there, now lets see if you can put up a defense" The queen answered
Sasha watched as wind was pulled towards the tip of the spear, quickly building in strength. The otter woman readied her scythe as the spear was thrown at her. The spear flew through the air with incredible speed, but Sasha was ready and had swung her scythe at the water soaked floor before the spear was thrown. As the blade sliced the surface of the water, a powerful wall of water erupted, tracing the path created by the scythe. The pressure of the water was strong enough to force the spear up into the air, but Sasha was caught by surprise as it merely somersaulted to correct its course.
"Not bad, not many could react that quickly, too bad I learned a few new tricks. I can control that spear without holding it, it can fly through the air freely, freeing up my hands to throw more of my wind magic at you" The coyote replied as the spear began to fly at Sasha once more
Sasha watched the spear, following its movements and jumped to the side to dodge it before it could hit its target. After dodging the spear a second time, she was suddenly hit by several strong bursts of air that pushed her off balance, making her fall over onto the floor, landing on her butt with a splash. Looking up, she could see Esmerelda still floating there in midair, punching the air with her fists, to send powerful bursts of air towards her. All around her, she saw splashes of water blocking her view of the queen and the spear, occasionally being hit by a strong gust whenever she tried to get back up. In a split second, she caught a glimpse of the spear coming right towards her, and crashing into the ground beside her with a strong crash, piercing the ground beside her.
"Game set and match" Esmerelda called out as she landed down on the ground, "Gotta say, your offense is still pretty good, but you've definitely let your defense go, didn't get to use all of my wind techniques on you before defeating you" She replied walking on up to Sasha
Sasha picked herself up as the water quickly began to drain from the arena, leaving behind only the rubble from their sparring match.
"Well yeah, haven't fought in so long, I'm just surprised I could do as much as I could while on the offense" Sasha commented
"Well we will work on that in due time" Esmerelda replied smiling at Sasha
Sasha smiled back and brushed herself off and fixed up her clothes.
"Well come along, I'd love for you to see the rest of the girls, I'm sure the rest of them would love to meet one of the former maidens" Esmerelda replied
Sasha nodded her head and followed the coyote back into the castle halls.
