TMNT: SOD Ch.71

    Celeste watched the events unfolding in Japan as they happened via a small tv like window that Renet had opened in space with her staff and words couldnt convey how utterly disgusted and shocked she was to see herself beheading someone let alone the prime minister of a country. She had no idea how her body was being controlled but could only guess that Kitsune had something to do with it. To see yourself committing a heinous crime you otherwise would not be capable of in the absence of your soul was rape in the highest degree and Celeste vowed to herself that when and if she returned she would deal with the witch personally and mercy wouldnt be an option.
    The screen disappeared and Renet turned to the furious mage. "Um....maybe I shouldnt have shown you that."
    Celeste shook her head and grabbed the shoulders of the young girl. "I need to go back now....but...if I was killed by Tatsuo so easily the first time then my outlook isnt so good for a second shot. Im going to need your help Timestress."
    Renets eyes squinted in suspicion. "Your not going to ask me to go back in time and do anything crazy are you?"
    "God no, Im well aquainted with paradoxes enough to know better than the cause one but he has the two staffs of Xiao and an entire legion at his disposal so the Turtles are going to need help. Its also obvious he plans to use my body as a shield assuming that the turtles wont hurt me, I only hope they know better...."
    "What did you have in mind?"
    "I need you to to contact a few "sisters" of mine." Celeste said with a smirk.


    The servants of the manor brought out some tea and snacks as the Turtles and the Royal Family plotted their next move. Without proper equipment and no way to contact any of their allies they were in a deadful cunundrum and poor Donnie was wracking his mind on a way to make it all work out.
    They already were outgunned with Tatsuo having his own fiefdom surplanted right over the old palace and with Celeste at his disposal whom they all knew for a fact was more or less cannon fodder for whatever he was plotting. Worst case scenerio was that he was going to execute her before too long in a attempt to weaken him so how one earth could they charge the castle without him knowing?
    They were in desperate need of wisdom no small miracle.
    The Empress pushed the small round teacups towards them. "You can not think on a empty stomach."
    Leo sat on his knees before her as she passed the cup to him with such grace and manner that only a woman of inane class could muster and he obliged by holding it in both his hands and savoring the warmth of it before taking a small sip. Raph and Mikey followed suit as Donnie paced in back of the room, his mind too riled up and too far gone into analytical mode to do much of anything else. Everyone knew to give him his space when he got like that. The rest of the military crew broke up minutes ago and were busy dealing with the details of tonights events plus they had to secure the compound in case any other monsters decided to pay them a visit.
    "Tell me more about Teng Shen." Leo asked.
    "What is she to you if you dont mind me asking?"
    "She was the former wife of our father."
    "Your mother then?"
    He shook his head sadly. "No...unfortunatly she died before any of us were...born....so we never had a chance to know her."
    The Empress thought about it for a moment, recalling any memories she had. "Well..Shen was quiet but very kind and very perceptive. She knew things about people without having to ask any questions. Its like she could see it all in their minds....all their secrets....good and bad. Her gift was reading people and unfortunatly that meant she could also learn classified things from the royal family, things that could hurt the country. We all knew she had this power but she was a good woman so we didnt tell anyone. We let her stay with us and care for our children but....there was a man who had his eye on her." She said darkly.
    "Oroko Saki." Leo said knowingly.
    "Yes. We tried to keep her close to us so we could protect her and our secrets but it seems like she had eyes for another young fellow and one night she just vanished. We never knew what became of her or where she went after that." Her old eyes filled with sadness.
    "Our father's name is Hamato Yoshi, is that name familiar with you?" Leo asked.
    She shook her head.
    "He took her to America and married her. Their time together was short but he very much loved her." Leo didnt have the heart to tell her that she met her end at the hands of Saki who had followed her to America and established his version of the Foot there then nodded solemly. It all made sense now why the Shredder would pursue her so relentlessly. He never had been in love with her, it had always been about power, the power of her knowledge of the Royal Family and he wanted it badly enough to kill anyone who got in his way. Bad enough to betray his friends, destroy innocent lives and murder the very woman he was chasing. If he couldnt have her no one could and simply because it was a power he thought only himself worthy of owning. The long standing rivalry between the Foot and the Mages started with Tatsu and Xiao and carried on for another two generations until finally Celeste had been involved. Destiny, as Celeste once put it, was a peculiar thing.
    "I see...."Her sad eyes fell to the floor.
   

    Silence overcame the room as they all sat pensively sipping their tea and then a few moments later a bright light at the other end of the room bursted making them cover their eyes and prepare for battle when a familiar person seemed to walk right through it casually.
    Renet cleared her throat and gave a small smile and wave as she met the surprised faces of her old comrades but it was Mikey who jumped up from the floor and nearly glomped the oddly dressed lady as he gave her the biggest twirl hug he could muster.
    "RENETTTT!!!!!!!!!!!" He cried out in joy as she hugged him back and laughed.
    "Long time no see guys!" 
    "Holy Shell the time master is back." Raph smirked and gave her a pat on the back as Mikey put her back onto her feet.
    "Wow look at you guys! You're all grown up now!" She marveled at their size and height because the last time she had been with them they were 5 years younger and a good two feet shorter making her tower of them at the time.
    "Why did you stay away so long?" Mikey asked with puppy dog eyes.
    "Well you know...time apprenticing and what not plus the master kind of still hasnt forgiven me yet for that other time...." She said embarrassingly and rubbed the back of her neck.
    "You're still "grounded" from that incident 5 years ago?" Donnie laughed. In their history together they had joined forced to stop another time master from causing un needed damage to the time stream and unfortunately for Renet, who had been to immature at the time, caused a unfortunate landslide of events that landed her in eternal "groundation" under her master. Essentially she had messed things up in the time line big time and no small effort was made to adjust them accordingly.
    "I didnt realize it had been 5 years already! I thought it had only been a few days!" She explained.
    "So what brings you back here now?" Leo asked with a small smile.
    She clapped her hands together. "Ah! That's right! Okay so Celeste made me go time hopping and...."
    Leo grabbed her shoulders and held her firmly. "Celeste?! She's alright?!"
    "Ah now dont interrupt me or I'll forget what im going to say!" Renet scolded and Leo let her go quickly.
    "Sorry but she IS okay right?"
    "Well....um its kind of hard to say....I was sent to find her by this weird talking black bird with red eyes and when I did she was in corporeal form...uh what I mean is you see her body is with that dude Tatsuo but her soul is in the Ether Realm. I tried to return her to it but it seems like that foxy lady has some sort of hex on her!" 
    "Kitsune." He hissed under his breath.
    "Yeah so as long as she or he has both the scepters she cant break it on her own so shes stuck in the Ether for the time being." Renet explained.
    "Cant you just pop back in time and make it so she never ended up like that in the first place?" Mikey asked hopefully.
    "Mikey, considering what happened the last time we went time jumping you know we cant do that without altering everything." Donnie said flatly.
    "Right, paradoxes and messing around the time stream are off limits!" Renet crossed her hands in front of her chest in a big X.
    "So we either need to knock of Kitsune or get the staff back from her again. I vouch for knocking off the wicked witch." Raph said punching his hand into his palm. He had a long standing grudge against the women for the last time she toyed with his heart and mind and would have no qualms about denting that pretty face of her in.
    "But this brings us back to the root problem. We cant breach that castle or even get to her without going through Him and Mikaboshi and god knows who else." Leo pointed out.
    Renet put on her best smile and her eyes shimmered with playfulness. "That's why I brought you some help!" She tapped her staff on the floor as another window of light opened up.