Chapter Two

The Child's Story

Nephryte's POV

All stared in shock at Kitsune and the two cats that stood beside her. Makoto fought with

the vine, trying to escape. She was determined to get to Kitsune. Makoto was also pale.

Something must have been weakening her. At the time, I didn't know what it was. Then, Kitsune

flew through the air. She landed underneath the cherry blossom tree. She jumped up. Her eyes

welled up with tears. Her face was all scratched up. Just then, the monster threw a heap of vines

toward Kitsune. As the vines were less than three feet away from Kitsune, The siamese cat and

the black long-haired cat jumped in front of Kitsune and created a huge fireball, which fried the

vines to a crisp. I looked over at Rei. She was in her last stage of pregnancy, meaning she

couldn't use her scout powers of fire. I looked over at Jedite. He was unconscious. Both those

who could use fire powers were unable to. I looked back at the battle.

Out of the corner of my eyes, Makoto squirmed uneasily. The two cats defended Kitsune

the best that they could, but with each attacked, they were pushed back inches at a time. I could

tell that they couldn't hold the monster for much longer. All the while, Kitsune stayed backed

against the tree, tears in her eyes, but never running down her face. Then, a bright light tinted

green grew next to me. I looked over at the source of the light. There, I watched Sailor Jupiter

revert back to Makoto. Pale and limp, Makoto slumped over. Then, something sharp stuck me in

the center of my back. Another stuck my in my left arm, wrapped with the rest of my body in the

vine. Then, a large, green thorn emerged from the vine where my right arm had been lying on the

vine. Then, I began to feel steadily weaker, as if all of the energy in me was being sucked out.

Suddenly, a thought raced through my head. Makoto was pale, then reverted to herself and went

unconscious. This vine is slowly sucking the energy out of all of us! That is why Jedite is

unconscious!

I looked around. Minako, Haruka, Michiru, and Ami were looking steadily paler. Then,

bright yellow, orange, aqua, and blue lights surrounded them as they all slumped over, no longer

sailor scouts. I squirmed until an odd feeling came over me. I could no longer feel the tightness

of the vines. My powers over plants had worked. I grabbed the thorns and ripped them off. The

monster was too preoccupied with trying to blast the two cats to notice. I lightly touched the

vines and watched as they slowly unraveled, releasing the others. Although the vine was

loosened, Makoto, Minako, Haruka, Michiru, Ami, and Jedite did not move; their bodies did not

shift in the loosening of the vines. I took a quick glance at the battle. The cats were still holding

off the monster, but now the Siamese cat had jumped onto the neck of the monster and was

biting and clawing at it furiously. I looked back at the others. Kunzite, Toki, Mamoru, and Rei

were conscious and aware that I had loosened the vines. Setsuna, Hotaru, Shikyo, Taikai, and

Hishou were also loose and aware. Taikai, Rei, Kunzite, and Hishou looked at their loved ones

with obvious faces of worry. Then, our attention was shifted to the battle with one, loud slam.

Rei's POV

Kitsune went flying into a nearby cherry, cracking the trunk, with the two cats landing on

her stomach with a soft thump. Kitsune picked up the cats and cradled them, tears still in her

eyes, yet not running down her scratched cheeks. The monster stood five feet away, staring at

Kitsune with a huge grin of satisfaction. "Why don't you just stop resisting? Your little cats

couldn't hold me off forever, and the so-called legendary Sailor Scouts are caught in my web,

losing their powers, one by one," the monster said. Kitsune looked over at us, most likely not

seeing that we were loose. Her eyes traveled over to the unconscious Makoto. At the sight of

Makoto, Kitsune let out a wail that only a child or Usagi could do. Actually, something hit me.

Where is Usagi?! I looked around quickly, but saw nothing of Usagi. Zoisite was gone, too. I

looked back to the battle. Then, Kitsune jumped to her feet and ran to the monster with

unbelievable speed and knocked the monster in the stomach, sending the creature feet back.

The monster jumped to its own feet and let out a deafening screech, awakening the

children who were stowed in the temple for safety. Just as the monster was about to charge

forward toward Kitsune, everything got suddenly bright; the moon had gotten suddenly bright,

meaning only one thing: Usagi had arrived.

Luna and Artemis could be seen jumping down onto the monster, clawing and biting at

its neck like the other cats had done. Suddenly, the vines got unbearably tight, which wasn't

good for me. Usagi jumped from out of nowhere and held out her wand, crying out, "Moon

Scepter Elimination!" With one sweep of a ribbon of moons, the monster was gone, and Luna

and Artemis landed safely of Usagi's shoulders.

The vines disappeared at once. Makoto, Minako, Haruka, Michiru, Jedite, and Ami fell

limply to the ground. I regained my own footing and dashed over to my unconscious husband.

Zoisite jumped neatly off of the temple roof to tend to Ami. Taikai went to tend to Michiru and

Hishou went to Haruka. Kunzite gently cradled Minako nearby. I could faintly hear him praying

that Minako and the baby were all right. I wondered if Ami, Minako, and Haruka and their

babies were all right. Jedite had a pulse. He was okay, as far as I could tell.

Nephryte picked Makoto up and took her inside. Zoisite, Taikai, Hishou, and Kunzite

followed suit. Mamoru came and took Jedite inside. I was about to follow when I noticed

Setsuna, Hotaru, Toki, Shikyo, and Usagi over with Kitsune. She was no longer in sailor form,

but was shaking from head to toe. Setsuna picked her up and headed toward the temple. Hotaru

held the siamese cat while Shikyo had the black longhair. Usagi, no longer in sailor uniform,

walked by with Luna and Artemis on her shoulders. She turned to me as she was walking by and

asked, "Are you okay, Rei-chan?"

"Hai, I believe so," I replied as I joined her. "The baby is kicking, so I take that as a good

sign." I could feel a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Toki hold something out to me. It

reminded me of our old transformation wands, the ones with the five-star pendent on top.

However, instead of a five-star, it had an eight-point-star on top. The wand's colors were purple

and black, just like Kitsune's day clothes and sailor uniform.

"I believe you may want to have a look at this," he said. "It was found at the girl's feet." I

took the wand and nodded as we entered the temple room. Everyone was awake now, and

Kitsune was in Makoto's arms. Makoto leaned on Nephryte. Everyone appeared okay, but one

thing caught my eye. Those who were unconscious, Jedite, Minako, Makoto, Haruka, Ami, and

Michiru, had their wands and Jedite's amulet lying on the table, blank as white paper. The signs

of their planets on the wands were gone. This could only mean one thing: the vine had taken

their powers.

I sat by Jedite on some floor cushions, staring at his amulet. "Your powers were taken?" I

asked in disbelief. He looked at me and nodded sadly.

"Those vines had thorns that drain the powers them," Nephryte said. "They started to

drain me, but I loosened my part of the vine and tore off the thorns. Then I loosened the vines for

everyone else."

"Daddy is really powerful!" Kitsune exclaimed. "Was I powerful when I hit Isomia in the

stomach?" she asked.

Everyone stared at Kitsune, including Makoto. I asked, "How do you know the name of

that monster, Kitsune?"

She shuddered and cuddled further into Makoto's arms. Makoto looked down at Kitsune

and said, "Kit, Rei-chan asked you a question. You should answer it because she asked politely.

Mommy and Daddy would like to know, too."

Kitsune looked up at Makoto, then at me, and said, "Isomia worked for The Bad Man."

Just like before, everyone went silent. Makoto went even paler, if it was possible. I

looked down at her wand and held it up. "Kitsune, do you recognize this?" I asked Kitsune.

Kitsune nodded. She said, "The Bad Man had it. He changed its colors."

"What colors were they before he changed them, Kitsune?" I asked.

Kitsune looked at me with a straining face, as if she was trying to remember something

very old. "The colors," she began, "use to be green and pink."

I could tell that everyone found this odd yet understandable. If she was really meant to be

Makoto's child, then Kitsune's scout colors would be the same as Makoto's, meaning green and

pink. "Kitsune," I addressed her, "What else use to be green and pink?"

Again, she took to a straining face, then said, "My clothes use to be green and pink, and

that outfit I was wearing when I fought Isomia, too."

Everything began to make sense. Kitsune was, and possibly is, meant to be Makoto and

Nephryte's daughter. However, she was kidnapped by the enemy and was changed. Then,

Kitsune somehow escaped and found Makoto. Then, the enemy sent Isomia to fetch Kitsune and

return her to the enemy. I could tell that everyone could see this explanation clearly without me

saying it. Makoto tightened her hold on Kitsune, who was now clearly her daughter.

However, Haruka still had doubts. "Rei, do what you were gonna do earlier. Something

still doesn't add up," she told me. I was nervous about doing so. I looked over at Makoto and

Nephryte. Nephryte nodded his head and looked down at Makoto, who looked back at him. She

turned her head toward me and nodded. Once again, I knelt in front of Kitsune to try and reveal

the sign of Jupiter, the only true evidence that this child was indeed a creature of Jupiter.

Kitsune, still in Makoto's arms, didn't squirm or back away as she did last time. I cupped my

hands over Kitsune's forehead. Carefully, I sent the minimum amount of energy from me to

show the sign. Kitsune's bangs ruffled a bit as I took my hands away. The sign was there.

However, it was not the traditional green. Instead, it was black.

Haruka stood up. "This isn't right!" she yelled. "If she really was a descendant of Jupiter,

then the sign would be green!"

"The sign is there, nonetheless, Haruka," Setsuna said calmly. "Remember, her wand,

uniform, and day clothes use to have the colors of Jupiter until she was taken by the enemy."

"How do we know? Who says she isn't lying? Answer that!" Haruka said.

However, it wasn't any of us who answered. "It is the truth, Uranus. You have no proof.

There is no physical evidence. There is only the words of our mouths." Everyone looked to the

siamese cat lying on Hotaru's lap.

Makoto's POV

The siamese cat wearily sat up on Hotaru's lap and surveyed us with her wide blue eyes.

Then, a small gasp could be heard from Shikyo as the black longhair joined the siamese. The two

turned so that they faced the whole room fairly well, then spoke. "We have, as you could say,

witness accounts of the whole ordeal, for we, too, were prisoners of Donwor. Or, as Kit calls

him, The Bad Man," the siamese spoke. "I am Tina, guardian of the princess of Jupiter."

"And I," spoke the longhair, "am James, also guardian of the princess of Jupiter."

For a moment, everyone stared. Kitsune said nothing, but then said, "You are my

mommy's guardians?"

Tina chuckled. James smiled and said, "No, princess. We are your guardians."

Kitsune looked wide-eyed at the two cats. "I'm a real princess? I thought it was only

something mommy called me," she said excitedly. Then, she looked worried. "Why do I have

guardians?"

Tina spoke up; "You have been hunted ever since the formation of the Kingdom of

Jupiter. You have unique abilities and powers. Your birth was prophesized when the Jupiter

Kingdom was formed. Ever since then, the ruler of Dark Sagittarius has hunted you, through

time and space."

"What do you mean, through space and time?" asked Taikai. He and Michiru wore

expressions on their faces as if they knew what it meant, but didn't want to believe it. The outer

scouts and knights nodded their heads in question. Everyone else nodded his or her heads, too.

Nephryte and I stared at Tina and James with faces that sought the answer to this small puzzle.

James sighed, looked at everyone, and replied; "Donwor has traveled all over the

universe in search of Kitsune. However, in finding that to be futile, he broke a hole in time and

has traveled through the time continuum in search of her. Although we sought to protect her, he

eventually found her."

"Where were you hiding when he found you three?" Nephryte asked.

"We weren't exactly hiding anywhere. We were traveling through the time continuum,"

Tina replied.

"Where were you heading?" Mamoru asked.

With that, Tina and James looked down at their paws, refusing to speak. "Well?"

Nephryte urged.

"We are forbidden to reveal that by orders of the Lady Charon," James promptly replied.

"Then," Setsuna said, "I will tell instead, for I am descendent of Charon and of Pluto and

now know of this child's tale. Though I was doubtful at first, I now realize that this is indeed that

child that I was told of. When I first saw her, though, I did not believe that this was the same

child, for her appearance and abilities have been severely altered."

All starred in shock at Setsuna, though no one more than Tina and James. I looked at the

green-haired warrior of time and urged her on, saying, "Well? What is that tale?"

Setsuna cleared her throat quietly polite and began; "This child is neither of the future,

nor of the past, and not even of the present. She has indeed been delivered by way of the god

Zeus and of the centaur Sagittarius, for this child is direct descendent of both. She has the

powers over trees and lightning, care of Zeus, and powers of fire, care of Sagittarius. This child's

birth was indeed prophesized at the formation of the Kingdom of Jupiter. She has not only the

abilities of Zeus and Sagittarius, but she also has abilities that were forged when the two ranges

of power were bonded. These powers are the powers Donwor pursues. All his thought is bent on

acquiring the powers that were born to this child."

Everyone nodded along in shallow understanding of the story Setsuna had just told them.

Then, Shikyo spoke, "Why, though, is this child born of Jupiter, and why was she given to

Makoto and Nephryte. Surely a child of just power has more right in the Moon Kingdom, would

it not?"

Everyone again looked to Setsuna. Again, she cleared her throat and spoke, "It is a rare

oddity when a descendent of a planet shares the blood of the zodiac to which that planet has

rightful rule. In this case, a direct descendent of Jupiter also was a direct descendent of

Sagittarius. Jupiter rules Sagittarius, hence her unique abilities. Thus, being a descendent of

Jupiter and Sagittarius, the child was born unto the current heirs of Jupiter, for the heir of

Sagittarius has turned to the darker half of life."

Setsuna took in a deep breath as she finished the tale. I held onto Kit as tight as I could

without squeezing her to death. I didn't realize how important the situation was! I was now very

worried. "Is there any way to get our powers back?" I asked.

Tina and James looked at me, and then to the black wands and amulet on the table. James

shook his head sadly, saying, "I am afraid not. There is a way, yes, but there is no way to get

them back until the enemy is destroyed. When your powers were taken, they were sent to

Donwor."

"So, the powers of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, and Venus now can be used

by the enemy?" asked Nephryte with concern. James nodded.

"Actually," Tina began, "The enemy can't really do much with the powers unless he gains

the powers of the other living bearers of that planet. Therefore, in order for him to use the

powers of Neptune, the powers of the General of Neptune and the daughter must be part of him

as well."

This didn't make me feel better at all. "What about protection?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Tina questioned.

"Well," I began slowly, "I have a few concerns. First, since the enemy knows the powers

and abilities of a few of our scouts, will they be able to predict the moves of the others with

those powers? Also, how will we protect the children? I'm not just talking about Kit, but also of

the other children. Then, what do we do about the pregnant senshi? How will we be able to

protect them and keep them out of trouble?"

I knew that some of these questions may be obvious, but I needed to hear them for

myself. "Well," the cats began, "We have come prepared for the worst."