There were a few floating cities in the deadly atmosphere of Venus. Below them, sometimes there would be clouds and rain that were made out of sulfuric acid, which was one of the reasons why it was much easier for them to stay above floating with a glass dome sheltering their people.

Aurora City, being the largest city in Venus, was shaped like a flat heart with hundreds, possibly thousands, of skyscrapers and tall buildings. It was one of the most colorful cities that Valentina had ever seen in her whole life even though she visited other planets and moons. Its color resembled the aurora wave the Earthlings would see in the night sky if there were not any electricity around. 

Most of the citizens did not look quite similar to any other citizen of another planet or moon. They dressed up just like hippies, some with dread-locked hair, others with colorful clothes, and so. One of the most crimes performed on Venus was related to any kind of drugs, but despite that, they were quite peaceful. 

Valentina sighed lightly as she wiped her sweaty forehead. It had been way too long since she left Venus that she had already become used to the cold climate on Europa, Ceres, and Mars. She was seriously considering using her icy katana to cool herself down but she thought that it was better to become used to the high temperature if she was going to live here for the rest of her life.

Her old apartment was the first place she decided to go to. By the time she got there, she was surprised to find that her whole apartment was very clean and spotless.

She picked up the note stating that Lady Aurora had been sending the maids to clean up her place weekly since the day she left Venus. She smiled at the Venus Lady’s kindness.

She went through every mail that could be traced back to ten years ago, but any mail that was longer than three months ago was discarded immediately. 

All of sudden, she felt lonely. She very much missed the company of Akane, as well as James and Kawa. Before she met them, she had been trying to pass by every boring day. But then she met Akane, and her life had been more entertaining than ever. Thanks to them, she felt that she got emotions back. At least humanly feelings. 

Soon, she remembered that she was supposed to go and see Lady Aurora with the reports that were worth ten years. She had been working on them every single day only when she was alone, making sure that nobody was in the same room as her, not even Akane.

First though, she needed to take a hot shower. She quickly stripped all of her smelly samurai pieces of clothing and hurriedly jumped into the shower as soon as she turned hot water on.

She placed her hands on the shower wall and started sobbing loudly by herself.

~EARTHxMARS~

Valentina placed her samurai identity card, also known as SIC, in the front of the scanner which was located on the stone wall next to the gate.

“MAJOR GENERAL VALENTINA SILVA. ACCESS GRANTED.”

The gate opened easily, and Valentina passed through it. She yawned loudly as she stretched out her arms. She did not even have time for a nap since she got back here, but she just wanted to report back to Lady Aurora as soon as possible after the self-pity shower. Either way, she wanted to see the Venus Lady, the very person who saved her life ten years ago.

She frowned when she realized that it was way too quiet at Lady Aurora’s palace. There were not any Venusian samurai in her sight as they were supposed to guard the place.

She began to walk slower than she normally walked before she suspected that something was wrong with this place. She wrapped her hand around her icy katana’s cold handle, being ready to withdraw it just in case she suddenly got attacked by an enemy.

Trying to keep quiet as much as possible, she slowly tiptoed toward the door, which led to the throne room where Lady Aurora was usually open to any issue that the Venusians may have.

She slowly and carefully pressed the keypad next to the door, which slid open smoothly. As soon as she turned to enter the room, she could not believe what she was actually seeing.

“Lady Aurora…?” She asked softly at first and then became louder, “Lady Aurora!”

She ran toward Lady Aurora who was lying in unconsciousness on the floor with a large pond of blood. She was sincerely hoping that it was not the Lady’s blood. “No, no, no!”

Not caring if she got soaked with blood, she knelt on the blood-stained floor next to Lady Aurora. “Please wake up!” She began to shake her precious Lady. “Please! You can’t… You can’t leave me like that!”

Yet she did not get any response from Lady Aurora, not even a sound or breath.

She did not understand. They, including the rest of Venusian samurais, had been very careful with their individual missions. They made sure that there were plenty of samurais to protect Lady Aurora from any threat.

Speaking of which, where the fuck were the Venusian samurais? They were not seen anywhere at the palace. It was as if they disappeared.

“Oh god no… please…” Valentina started sobbing for the second time today. “Please…! You can’t be dead! You're the only one left I got!”

After a few minutes of grief, she rubbed her teary eyes. Suddenly, she was sensing that she was being watched. Her instinct was usually right, so she quickly looked around, trying to find the murderer of Lady Aurora. 

“You must be the ice wielder, as I can see that you have the rare ice-type katana,” a calm and deep voice said. “If you had not taken too long, this would not happen to your precious Lady.”

“Where the fuck are you?!” Valentina whipped her head wildly, searching for the murderer. “Come out, you fucking murderer!”

“Oh, look who’s talking,” a bitter laugh. “Didn’t you kill the wives of Mars and Earth Lords? Have you forgotten that you were the one who started the war, which killed hundred thousands of people?”

“Quit hiding!” Valentina swung his sword swiftly through the air, covering the entire room with ice.

“Hey, hey!”

She quickly turned around only to find a shadowy figure behind the ice wall. “W...what are you?!”

“Let’s see… Hmmm….” He said as if he was in deep thoughts. “You can just call me a shadow wielder. Just like you.”

“Shadow?” Valentina asked in confusion. She remembered the legends about five sword masters, which can summon a savior or something like that. The last remaining unknown katana was, as she realized, shadow.

She quickly looked back up the shadow only to find it gone. “Dammit! Who the fuck are you?!”

“Your nightmare.”

She quickly glanced down as soon as she heard the stranger’s voice below her feet only to find that there was a black hole. It was already overshadowing her feet.

“Fuck!” She yelled in panic. She tried to move her feet but was not able to.

She froze just when the shadow suddenly got way too close to her face for her comfort.

The shadow snickered in amusement as it pointed its finger at her. “That’s right! You’re indeed right to panic! After all, you’re going straight to hell! Do you know what would happen if I were to make you vanish into the air? With your dead Lady right here? What if your own people find her like that, especially with the ice you covered the walls with?”

Valentina clenched her jaw in frustration when she realized how much right whoever was controlling the shadow was. 

“Aha! You’re a fool!” The shadow laughed loudly and flew away from her. “Moron! Idiot! Dumbass!”

No matter how hard she tried to pull her feet out of the black hole, it was only swallowing her faster and faster as she struggled harder and harder.

All she could hear was her own screams and the stranger’s loud laughters. The icy ceiling was the last thing she saw before the darkness overtook her entire sight.