Arthuradel was sitting alone on a swing in an empty playground, the preteen senshi had gone out with the intention to go on patrol but she had not felt any chaos activity near her and she had soon lost the will to continue her aimless walking. So when she passed by an empty park she decided to stop and just take a rest. She wasn't sure what she even doing anymore she had been a senshi for years and yet she hadn't gotten any strong. She was unable to protect her friends and even the victories that she had achieved recently were not really her victories they were the success of the groups she was with. She had to do better she had to get stronger if she ever wanted to have a chance to save Guinevere and to protect the people who she cared about. The only question was how to get that power.

She let out a sigh at that dead end though as she listlessly swung back and forth on the swing. There was no clear way to achieve a higher rank of power. Her sister had become a super long ago despite them both being senshi for about the same time so it was not about a length of time. She knew she would not be able to figure this out just sitting here, all she could do is continue to try her best and hope power would come to her soon.

She started to pick up the pace of her swinging as she was thinking until she was gaining some real air with her swings. She decided that she need to get away from everything she needed sometime to herself and not just in an empty park. No she needed to leave the Earth. So she decided it was time she finally took a trip to her world, a trip she had been putting off for years now. With one final swing she leapt from the seat landing gracefully on her feet.

She took her phone out of her pocket and began to look for the app that would take her to her homeworld. She hoover her finger over the button for a moment scared of what she would find on the other side. But she gathered her courage and pressed the button. In a flash she had vanished from the Earth gone across space, across light years from the green planet to the asteroid belt of the Solar System. It all happened in the time that it took her to open her eyes. She was greeted with a truly fantastic sight when she opened her eyes.

Before her stretched a forest of impossible trees the likes of which she had never seen on the earth they were taller than even the redwood trees of California, and the leaves were a unearthly color of pink and the bark was blue. She thought they should be beautiful however they were marred, the trees were dead the bark cracked dry and rotted and the leaves a sickly pale hue. She could feel this was an ancient place however something about it was wrong, something rotten or perhaps cursed. This forest was imposing and threatening with overgrown thorny plants and a rolling fog obscuring any insight into what secrets the forest held within.

Normally Arthuradel would not enter such an obviously dark and foreboding place but she could see towers that soared past even the huge trees poking up from the other side of the forest. She wanted to know what that place was and so with the goal of reaching the other side she began to trudge into the dark forest. She was having a hard time getting through the thick brambles that had become overgrown in the centuries and millennia that it had been neglected and allowed to expand unchecked. She took her time and wanted to get herself injured on the unknown terrain. She eventually found what looked like an ancient dirt path barely visible but still present. She hoped it would lead her to the place with the towers. She didn't have any other direction to travel in so she just followed where the path lead, it eventually brought her to what was clearly once a forest spring however she definitely would never drink out of the water at this point. The water was pitch black and clearly polluted. She even thought she might have seen the still water ripple with movement although that could have been her eyes playing tricks on her. Either way she was weary of the water and did not want to be around it as it found simply wrong. She made a wide arc around the waters to avoid it before getting back on the path. She noted the faint glow in the distance of what she thought were maybe plants, bioluminescent ones at that but it was hard to tell without getting closer and she was not keen to deviate from her path.

Eventually after what she felt had to have been hours of walking she began to see light poking through the trees ahead of her. She had reached the other side. Once she broke through the tree line she spotted a massive walled fortress. The gates of which had been broken down by some unknown force long long before she had arrived. She wondered just what had taken place here so long ago. She began to walk the dusty city streets, cracked with damage that clearly marked some great battle. Ancient market stalls were overturned houses half demolished. As she was walking a vision suddenly clouded as the walked seemed to shift around and come to life. It was like she had gone back in time as suddenly there were other people in her vision, well not exactly people not humans at least. No they were like Elves from a fantasy story. They all had long flowing hair the color of various precious metals and eyes that glittered like gems in the sun light. The people wore elaborate almost medieval style dresses and tunics. The atmosphere was jovial and light hearted. Someone to her right called out to her "Lord Arthuradel you've come today as well!? Come try some of my fruit its a fresh harvest my liege you've find nothing better." She turned she knew the man a local vender kind and generous as were all the other simple folk who called this fortress home. This was a settlement of her kingdom she was the protector, the senshi they all looked to with love and trust she was second only to the King and Queen. Arthuradel was fascinate with this glimpse of the past she was enraptured, she could lose herself in this past. Then as quickly as it began the vision ended and Arthuradel was left feeling just a little bit disappointed.

Arthuradel stood still for a moment trying to take in what she had just seen. It was hard to put into words. She knew that senshi experience memories of their past and she could only assume that was what that had been. It was like she was seeing through someone else's eyes but at the same time they were also her eyes. It was unnerving but also it was intriguing she wanted to know more wanted to see more. She wanted to know what this world was like when life still thrived on it. She wondered if there was a way induce those visions. Perhaps she would ask Hania and Morgan about it when she returned home.

She continued her expedition she wanted to reach the top of the tower she had seen before she returned home. After a bit of walking the empty streets she came to the base of the tower. She gave a push on the heavy wooden door and it slowly creaked open for her. The inside was dark and she couldn't see much. She wished she had a flash light. She supposed it would be a good idea on future trips to perhaps pack a bag of necessities before hand. She found the stairs leading up. The were massive and seemed to go on for forever. There were points where the exhausted girl was tempted to give up and just head home but she persevered and eventually reached the top. The top of the tower was an observation deck covered by a tiled pointed roof. She gazed out and was fascinated by what she saw. As far as she could see there was forests mountains and rolling hills with pockets of cities dotting the landscape like the stars that dotted the sky. She wanted to find these places she wanted to see what they were like. She was definitely going to come back here. She might never know the world like that past vision of herself did but she was determined to see as much as she could.

The trip had done a lot to take her mind off of her current problems and had worn her out physically so when she returned to Earth she slept well that night, perhaps the first truly good sleep she had had in months.

*1534 words