The tall, lanky girl sat behind one of the wooden crates, her head lowered in despair. Raising it slightly for a moment, she glimpsed at the small porthole, high up against the metal wall. The huge, gloomy room of the ship seemed to stretch on forever, without a single other human being to face the darkness with her. Stacks and piles of anything the imagination could think of filled the storage room, adding a sense of entrapment in the maze they created.
Instead of pondering more about the mysteries of the room, the girl just laid her forehead on her knees. Nothing could be more important than what was on her mind.
She closed her eyes and snorted in anger, as another tear fell down her face. Only lifting her head to brush it away briskly, she blamed the fuzzy bangs that fell from each side of her head to her chin for the moment of weakness and vowed never to let it happen again.
Her light brown hair now behind her ears and out of mind, she replaced her forehead on its rightful spot as her grey-blue eyes stared blankly at the floor. Her patience could last only so long until it ran out completely. She wondered what would happen after that.
Finally, the heavy groan of metal against metal rang through the enormous room. The girl peaked through one of the many spaces between the stacks of crates near her, letting the light that shined from the newly opened door glare into her eyes.
Two men walked into the room, not far from where she sat.
"Boy, lift with yer dang legs!" whined the older, shorter one. He was a bit on the large side, and a bitter mood was plastered permanently on his face.
"Yer gonna break yer back by the time yer my age. If ya ever get that far. Her har ha!" the older man laughed coldly. The boy kept his mouth shut, maybe in wisdom, and slammed the door behind him in silent rebellion. He had slammed it so hard, that the door had creaked back open by a few inches. It opened just enough to let light flood into a sliver of the room.

The girl, who's name was Renée Brightman, picked up the black duffle bag that had been sitting by her side, and slowly got off her knees with complete silence. Certain the coast was clear, she dashed for the door and onto the deck.
Breaking into the sunlight after such a long time in the dark, she had to protect her eyes from the light, slowing her down just long enough to make her worried. Trying to brush off the feeling that she was being watched, she ran her eyes over her surroundings, not breaking her gaze until her eyes rested upon a makeshift bridge from the boat to land.
However, her first instinct had been right – slowing down her dash to freedom had been a bad idea. She heard someone give a cry in surprise and call after her as she sprung down the bridge and off the boat.
Dashing in panic through the street, the people and other such obstacles, she allowed her curiosity to take the better of her, and she turned her head to check on her assailant. The one sailor that had spotted her seemed to have given up, and was back on the huge cargo boat. She continued running, however, until the small figure ducked into one of the many doors on board.
Suddenly, a flash of pain Renée stopped in her tracks, her hands thrown around her head as she slowly recovered clear sight. She turned to see her assaulter: a telephone pole on the side of the road. Muttering curses under her breath, she sat underneath it, rubbing her throbbing head tenderly.
The pain in her head brought the twain of hunger in her stomach back; she had been trying to ignore it, and had been successful, until now. It had been ages to her since she had last eaten, and when she had eaten, it hadn't been a very good meal. She thought back to a few of the crates she had opened in the search of food. You could only live off of hard macaroni noodles and orange juice for so long.
Renée just sat there, shivering slightly, as the sea breeze started to pick up. The cool temperature of the water came with it, setting her off in a quest to find her balled-up jacket in the small bag she held. Finally she found what she was looking for, and as she attempted to smooth out the many wrinkles, she started looking around more closely.
"Where the hell… am I?" she squinted in confusion as she scanned her current location. She looked from face to face, building to building, sign to sign. She couldn't read anything, recognize any logos, and the people looked of Asian decent. Nothing was familiar to her.
Where am I?! She thought as fear got a grip on her insides. She began to battle with her jacket, struggling to get in on in her sudden state of frustration and panic.
Oh my God, she thought, I must have got stuck in China! Oh my God, China! I'm so screwed!
Her hands shook as she brought them to her forehead softly, just before violently slapping her forehead several times. What the hell was I thinking?! She momentarily paused her beating to think, before slapping her forehead one more time. Her stupidity had surpassed anything she had ever done this time, and she had thought she had done some impressively stupid things before.
As her stomach beginning to pain her again, she decided to start drifting. Maybe she could find a nice town, where someone could give her food… someone had to be able to help her. With that, she got up and started walking away from the ocean.

After nearly an hour of walking, an hour of complete anxiety as she tried to keep a low profile, she had found nothing. She had entered a more residential place a while back, and as she passed a few shops, she also passed a small circle of friends gabbing.
Renée couldn't help but stare.
Wow, she thought, why couldn't I ever find friends like that? Just no worries… how is that possible?
"You think that guy was hot? No, my friend. How 'bout the guy at the video store? Ca-yute!"
Renée glanced back in surprise. Japanese… Renée thought.
"They were speaking JAPANESE!" she nearly cried out in triumph; but she contained her happiness with a smile as her hopes lifted for the first time in a long while.
"I'm in Japan, I'm in Japan," she muttered in the familiar teasing tune of a playground. This made the situation much lighter for her. She understood Japanese spoken very well, and could nearly speak it decently. Well, at least I'm better off now, she thought, Lien's ramblings will actually come in handy!
Silently thanking her friend with clasped hands, she took a deep breath and began to look closer at the buildings. It'd be a lot easier to find somewhere to stay.

Just as the sun started to set, Renée came across a little temple on a hill. The orange light shone off the front of the building, the walls seemingly glowing in the sun. It was the only building of its kind Renée had come across, and it was literally set apart from the rest. It looked so inviting, Renée was sure someone in there could help her.
"If it's a temple, they can't turn me away," Renée tried talking herself into being brave, "and if it's rich people, they can't either!"
Jogging up the steps, her pace was slowed down swiftly as Renée looked up at the magnificent trees surrounding the stairway. Pretty pink splashes of all shades seemed to just fill the sky. Now climbing the steps like a tortoise, all bravery replaced with awe, Renée admired the canopy until a harsh voice snapped her back to reality.
"What are you doing? The temple's closed."
Renée turned slowly to face the girl the voice came from, all bravery completely erased from her mind.
"Umm… well… eheh…. I'm just going to leave now," Renée stepped back in fear, trying to make an escape. Instead of avoiding a collision, this action just made the girl angrier. "You don't even know this place is a sacred temple, do you?!" she barked. "You westerners sometimes! You think you can just come up onto this property for the sake of curiosity? That's so rude!"
Renée's face started going red as she tried to salvage a piece of her dignity.
"No, oh no that's not what I meant-"
"Then why are you here?" the girl snapped in retaliation. She didn't quite like the sense of Renée.
Renée now looked at the ground, not wanting to face the girl's burning purple eyes. The girl made her feel inferior; she had a beautiful yet dangerous look to her. She had pretty raven black hair to around her waist, eyes that pierced the soul and a broom she held as if she were ready to strike. She must have been a priestess, judging by the sacred looking red and white robe she wore.
"Well, I need help." Renée finally stated. "I just got here, alone, and I kind of…" She looked off to the side where a crow stood eating seeds. The crow looked back at her.
"Listen, I'm really, really sorry. I just… I need help." Raising her head slowly, she dared a look at the girl.
"I need a place to stay," she managed to spit out.
She continued before the girl got angry again. "I'm not saying I should stay here, but if you could direct me to someplace where I could bunk for a few nights that'd be great," Renée said as fast as she could. The girl's cold stare finally broke for a few moments. "Oh, well, I…. Guess you could stay here…" the girl stopped in a thoughtful pause. She didn't want to betray her instincts.
"But it wouldn't be for long, and only if my grandfather agrees."
Renée didn't seem to notice the conditions that came with her offer.
"Oh thank you! I'll do anything to repay you, promise. My name's Renée, by the way. Wow, you have pretty birds here!" Renée got off the last step, bringing herself to her full 5'9", her hands in front of her chest. One of the ravens landed on the girl's shoulder as she starred questioningly at Renée. She regained her icy composure as she turned and rolled her eyes, motioning for Renée to follow her.
"You've got the room, so your fake compliments are useless and embarrassing. I'm Hino Rei. You can stay in one of our rooms until you find a place to stay, as long if it's all right with my grandfather. I doubt it won't be long before we do find you another place to stay, so don't unpack," Rei had led her into the temple, and now pointed the room out before walking away.
"Hey, I was serious about liking your birds!" Renée called out after her, trying to win any respect from Rei. Unsuccessful, she rubbed her forehead and entered her room with her head lowered. What had she gotten herself into?

Looking around the room as the light from outside dimmed, she struggled with her thoughts as she tried to take every recent even in. The bright, inviting room with polished floors with simple yet beautiful, wooden furniture seemed to completely contrast where Renée thought she had ended up emotionally. So far, Renée had been completely uptight and nervous as she neatly unpacked the few belongings she had brought around the room. It was against Rei's orders, but she had nothing else to do. Now it was only her mind and her, which made her even more nervous. I hope I act appropriately here, she thought. Should I leave the room? Or wait until I am invited? Oh, I'm so hungry. What do I do about that? Maybe I should have told Rei my first and last name. Crap! She might think my last name is Renée! Why did I get on that boat? I had to… Why'd I end up here!!
Renée growled in anger, trying to force her mind to go blank. Her stomach started to hurt again, so she at last caved in and left the bedroom. There had to be someone here willing to help her. Renée slid the door open and peeked her head outside. Rei's grandfather was walking down the hallway when he spotted her.
"Ah! You must be the young girl Rei said needed a place to stay for the night. But don't worry about what Rei says, a pretty girl like you can stay here as long as you need!" He grinned up at her, his hands behind his back.
Renée faked a smile at the remark, trying to take it as a compliment. However, she couldn't help but feel as if the man meant something else when he said it.
"Well, thank you… umm… sir…" Renée desperately searched her brain, trying to think of something to call him that'd be proper. Mr. Hino probably wouldn't cut it. Luckily for her, he didn't object to the English reference in any way at all.
"Umm, would you mind directing me to a place where I could eat?"
Rei's grandfather raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, don't worry about eating someplace else! Just go down the hall, I believe Rei is preparing tea and dumplings at this very moment."
Renée thanked him again, before walking down the hallway tensely. She slid the door open to find Rei sitting by a table.
"Yes?" Rei looked up at her, as if playing a cruel game to see how'd she react this time. "Well, your grandfather kinda invited me to eat with you…" Renée said with clenched teeth.
Great, thought Rei, force me to eat with the stranger. Despite her thoughts, Rei pushed the plate of dumplings towards Renée. Renée sat down silently; picking one up carefully with her hands while Rei just eyed her oddly.
"So…" Rei couldn't help but stare at the bewildered guest; she was certainly not used to the food. Renée eventually started cramming the morsel into her mouth, similarily to someone Rei knew well, so Rei dropped the thought and decided to take the opportunity to learn more about the house guest.
"Where are you from?"
Rei finally asked, deciding the timing was right. Renée looked up in surprise, a mouthful of food in the side of her cheek. Trying to swallow it in time to respond, she looked down at her dumpling before responding.
"Well, Canada," Renée responded shyly. Rei looked down at the table herself, but did not wait long before continuing her mission.
"Why are you here?"
Gah! The questions aren't stopping, are they? Renée thought. She prepared herself with a deep sigh before continuing with lies. She hoped she could pull this off.
"Well, actually, it was all an accident. I came on the wrong boat; I was supposed to take one to the United States. I was looking for a job."
"Oh… why didn't you just stay in Canada?"
Rei just wouldn't stop, would she? Renée prayed the interrogation would end soon. "I wanted to get as far away as possible from the orphanage I came from. Awful place. I would have stayed if they weren't hunting me down."
Rei just sat silently starring at her, taken back slightly by what she had heard. It just didn't sound plausible, but Rei had to admit she knew little about that country and it's ways, so she had no real way to judge what could be right or wrong. Renée felt Rei's eyes watching her as she starred down at her food, trying not to blush. Was Rei possibly studying her face for lies? After an eternity, Rei got up, giving up her search. Renée assumed that meant she believed her.
"Well," said Rei, "I'll just take this back." Without any questions left, Rei had no other purpose there but to pick up the tray off the table and carry it out of the room.

During the next week, the Hikawa shrine was pretty quiet. Besides from grandpa's havoc and Yuuichiro's mistakes, all was normal. Actually, Renée soon learned that all of this was normal. While Rei was in school, Renée picked up on some of the chores. Everyone welcomed her warmly, including the strange hair-styled blonde girl that once came to the door. Everyone did, except Rei. Rei hardly talked to her, except to explain chores and to tell her what to do. Renée didn't understand why – she did everything Rei told her to do, and pretty darn well, too.
One day Renée caught Rei talking on some type of mini-computer, embedded in her watch.
"Oooo, computer!" Renée cooed at the sight of the cute little thing.
Rei closed it briskly. "You could say that. What do you want?"
"You're having a party tonight?!"
"No, a study group," Rei said calmly as she re-adjusted her robe, hiding the wristwatch in her hand with ease.
Renée saw this as an opportunity; maybe Rei would lighten up to her a bit! "Oh, oh, can I come? I could help with homework!"
"You don't go to school!"
"So? That means I'll be more alert to help others!"
Rei sighed. "Fine. It's not like we do much studying anyway…"
"Thank you!" Renée praised, completely surprised, but excited, by the answer. Finally, she could meet more people!
Rei winced at the girl's reactions, embarrassed for her. Should I have let her come? She paused to think, regretting her actions from a moment of weakness. I had to let her come, she decided, the other girls would find out about her eventually.
Renée continued sweeping, but now almost dancing in the meantime with a grin plastered on her face – at last there was something to look forward to besides chores! A break in her monotonous schedule was much needed.
Rei stared at her for a few moments; puzzled by the way she was acting. It was almost humorous. In fact, Rei nearly laughed at one point when Renée twirled, lost her balance, and fell down.
Catching herself in time, however, Rei just snorted. This girl was bad news, another burden; she shouldn't, she couldn't, show any sign of warmth.

When the study group had finally arrived later that night, Renée was briefly introduced to each one of them. There was Minako, Makoto, Ami and Usagi. They had all come together, and were clearly the greatest of friends.
All four of them were much more welcoming to Renée than Rei had been. Makoto had brought snacks for them all to share, and Usagi had brought comic books. However, Ami had quickly confiscated all of them before Usagi even had a chance to explain them to Renée.
After the comic books were taken and the food completely eaten by Usagi and herself alone, Renée had nothing else to do but let her mind wander. She glanced around the room, trying to imagine the house each girl would live in.
Boy, they are so lucky; thought Renée, these girls get to live normal lives with good friends.
Suddenly a quick, warm brush against her leg woke her from her train of thought.
"Oh, who is this cutie!" exclaimed Renée, spotting the black cat that had hit her.
"She's mine!" said Usagi, looking for any excuse to ignore her schoolwork. Renée picked her up, rubbing the cat's head gently. Usagi smiled.
"Her name's Luna," Usagi said as she put her pen down.
"She is so cute," swooned Renée again.
"I'm guessing you like cats!" Usagi giggled.
"Oh I love 'em. Aww, what's this mark on her forehead?" Renée brushed her index finger against the crescent marking on Luna's face. Usagi suddenly went silent, not sure how to answer.
"Oh, that!" cried Minako, as if a joke had just been explained to her, "it's a scar."
The room was now filled with tension as Luna leaped from Renée's grasp, right over to Minako's lap. Renée was obviously making everyone uncomfortable. She didn't think she'd be such a burden asking one question, but it was clear she had disturbed them somehow. With a mental sigh, she knew she had been given the clue to leave.
"Umm, I'll think I'll leave. I'm kind of tired. Nice meeting you all! Goodnight!"
Everyone wished her goodnight as she slid the door closed. As soon as she shut it behind her, the false smile on her face disappeared. She made her way back to her room in the darkness, greatly discouraged.

"What was that?" Makoto said, raising herself over the table.
"What was what?" asked Usagi.
"I know what you mean, Makoto-chan, like a weird feeling, right?" Minako exclaimed, surprised her friend felt the same way she did.
"Now you guys know what I've been feeling all week," said Rei, "it's unsettling, isn't it."
"I didn't feel anything bad, just something…" Makoto pondered.
"What are you feeling?" asked Usagi, oblivious to what was going on.
"I think I know what you three are talking about," said Ami. "A weird feeling from Renée-san, right?"
"Yeah yeah," said Makoto, "something's up with that girl."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" cried a frustrated Usagi.
Before anyone could answer Usagi, a beeping noise cut in. Minako reached into her bag, pulling out an orange watch.
"Artemis is in trouble," she said abruptly, getting up, shoving the watch in her pocket in a rush.
"What? How can that be?" Usagi whined in despair. "Not more fighting…"

Before even making it back to her room, Renée stopped, hearing Makoto make some kind of fuss. Leaning against the door silently, she overheard words about herself; something that was never a good sign.
"Why the hell did I get on that boat," she muttered, regretting the moment she had started to actually look forward to meeting new people, and trying to fit in.
After Usagi had shouted out about her confusion, though, it went dead silent; something Renée wasn't expecting at all. Moving closer to the door, until she was right in front of it, even leaning on it, she tried to hear what was going on. A lot of worried whispering took place, before the door suddenly whipped open. Losing her balance, Renée landed head first into the room.
"Eh heh, hi?" Renée said with a grin, but she was clearly worried. She braced herself for some yelling; she knew Rei would let her have it for listening in on private conversations.
Strangely enough, Rei wasn't there. She and most of the other girls had already left the room, gone through the open door opposite to Renée. Even the cat was gone. Usagi walked over Renée as quickly as she could, and came back into sight almost as suddenly as she left.
"Left my shoes at the other door," Usagi smiled as she walked over Renée again.
"Don't worry, we'll be back soon. School emergency," she said as she got both her shoes on, and finally ran out the door.
Renée let a sigh of relief escape her, praying thanks for that break of luck.
"If that were Rei… where are they going in such a rush?"
Renée grabbed her own shoes and after a struggle and some curse words, started her pursuit.

Minako was in the lead, pushing herself to get to the park as fast as she could. Artemis had sounded very worried and feeble, so she tried to go even faster at the thought.
"Hurry up!" She shouted, looking back.
In the shadows of bushes and tree trunks, Renée tried to follow them from a distance. Her plan wasn't working though; she nearly lost them, twice. So picking up her dash to a hard run, she ran straight at them. No one had noticed she was right behind them, her plan working perfectly, until she tripped on her own shoelace. Only Rei turned around, the rest of the girls continued to run.
"I knew it," Rei groaned. "You just can't seem to get a clue. Do me a favour, and stay right there," Rei said, "or I'll make sure you stay there. Don't be a moron, it's for your own good!"
Rei quickly ran off into the park, leaving Renée in her spot.
"How dare she?!" yelled an angry Renée, getting up slowly with fists curled.
"HHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOONKKKK!!!!!!!" The headlights of a giant truck caused Renée to dive forwards, landing into more bushes. She had been standing in the middle of the road. Spitting out a leaf that had gotten into her mouth, Renée shook with anger as she scowled and stamped a foot.

"Artemis!" cried Minako, picking up the beaten white cat, but Artemis struggled from her grasp to the ground.
"I'm fine, Minako, trust me. But the guy lying over there isn't," Artemis tried to point with a paw, but fell in pain.
"You aren't fine," said Luna, helping him to his feet again.
Ami was already at the man who was face first in the grass.
"He needs medical attention, as soon as possible," Ami turned on her computer, using it as temporary phone.
"You better do that fast, because the creature responsible is still loose and chasing more victims," Artemis informed the five girls. "Hurry up and follow the path, it followed more people that way."
Minako nodded to Artemis, pulling out her orange transformation pen.

Renée finally reached the study group, hidden in the bushes surrounding the path. The park was a serene setting, a lake off to the side glowing in the light of a full moon, the evenly placed lampposts flooding the path with light.
Oddly, Renée noted, it was dead silent. No birds, no bugs, nothing.
Suddenly, her attention was drawn back to the study group, when they all started shouting. They seemed to yell out similar phrases, while they held something in the air.
In their hands seemed to be coloured sticks, which disappear into brilliant flashes of light. Instantaneously, they were wearing sailor-like uniforms in different colours.
Usagi seemed to wait a bit before she did the same with a brooch she pulled from her pocket, following them with the transformation.
"What the hell-" Renée stumbled back in alarm, her jaw falling while squinting her eyes to be sure she was really seeing this.

"Luna, you take care of Artemis," instructed Minako while the other four girls hurried down the path Artemis had talked about.
"And Artemis?" Minako winked while she talked, "next time you do something as dumb as this, I'm putting you on dog food!"
Artemis shook his head at the poor attempt at humour, causing Minako to giggle shortly before she finally followed the others.

The girls were already gone by the time Renée had managed herself out of the bushes. "Hey!" exclaimed Luna, who had stayed behind next to Artemis, "how did you get here?!"
"Gah! She talks! Oh man, this is so screwed!"
Luna's head shot back, completely shocked when she realized her mistake, but growled after a moment of recollection.
"Get back here, you can't go with them!"
While Luna had gathered herself again after her mistake, Renée had already turned left and started following the soldiers.
"Luna, you should follow her," Artemis said while turning his head with great effort. He was clearly tired and scratched up.
"She will probably get in their way," he finished. Luna gave him an unsure look. "Trust me, I'll be fine!"
Luna nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Don't you move anywhere, I'll be back."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Artemis mused, causing Luna to turn around.
"No pun intended! You're going to make me lose her!"
With that, Luna took off after Renée.

The Sailor Soldiers stopped dead where they found the monster just about to attack another helpless man. The monster held the man by the neck against a tree, while his girlfriend screamed.
"Stop right there, Olympic reject!" Minako stuck an accusing finger out at the monster clad in a track-like suit. It turned to her, tilting its head like a confused puppy. Its pigtails bounced and eyes sparkled.
"Err, let him go…?" Minako raised an eyebrow as she talked. This wasn't the killing machine she had expected.
The monster smiled as she slapped the man with the back of her hand to the ground, without even a second look. She bounced a ball at her side and giggled.
The man ran off for cover.
"Crazy blondie! Do YOU have the key?"
It was Minako's turn to tilt her head. "Err, no. But I have a chain! Venus Love Me Chain!"
Venus whipped the chain of light out at the monster, but the monster easily leaped out of its way and landed on a tree branch. She started dribbling the ball, faster and faster.
Minako frowned. "Too easy. Now let's try this again."
"Venus Love Me-" Minako had started whipping her light chain in circles over her head like a lasso, but just as Minako was going to finish the thing off, it attacked. The monster threw its ball at her so fast; Minako didn't have time to react.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion, as the monster's ball smashed into her abdomen, throwing her back like a rag doll. She slammed into a tree and slid to the ground, leaving her struggling for breath and the back of her uniform torn and bloody against the tree's bark. She held her stomach gently but protectively, wheezing in deep breaths, her eyes damp and blank, as if she were somewhere else.
"Sailor Venus!" her friends cried out in near unison. Usagi stepped out from the back of the group.
"Alright, monster, you've been cut! A pretty suited soldier, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
The monster laughed. "Do what you want, but you'll never stop me! The messenger of ice through wind will never be stopped! Winds of the North, come forth!"
With that, she volleyed her ball into the air, and before it dropped, a powerful, Arctic wind had come in from behind the soldiers. The monster caught her ball before the wind could push it out of her reach, surprisingly moving with little effort in the gales. She grinned as she watched the soldiers wrench around in pain, the wind howling against their backs.
"Now if you are done bothering me, I have a couple more humans to catch!"
She winked and skipped off deeper into the park, where more civilians were bound to be. "It's so COLD!" Rei cried as she tried to take shelter behind a tree. Everything seemed to be developing a layer of frost.
"What the hell is going on?" Renée asked with sincere confusion, stepping out from behind the tree next to Rei's. Luna had pulled her behind it before Minako had been hurt. Luna now stood beside her, a permanent scowl on her face.
"RENÉE! I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY! I knew I couldn't trust you!" Rei shouted, taking out all her frustration, some of it undeserved, on the newcomer.
Renée shamefully looked at the ground for a moment, but instead of backing down, she looked up with her own anger. "Trusting me?! You are the one who was talking about me behind my back, the one being rude to me, the one who must be lying to me to cover all this nonsense up! I don't care if I don't have a uniform, or a magic stick, I'm helping! I may be new, useless and dumb, for all I care, but I am living here now, and I feel that gives me the responsibility to help out with fighting… whatever the hell that is!" Renée finally lost her courage again once she stumbled on the subject of the monster, backing off away from Rei.
Strangely enough, Rei slightly smiled; the last reaction Renée was expecting. "Ok," she agreed, "this time stay here. Trust me for once. I'll go catch that thing. You help," she looked over at her other friends. "Minako's already being helped by Makoto, but you could-"
Rei stopped dead when she saw her princess start to run after the monster.
"USAGI!" she cried in desperation, "NO!"
Rei took off after her in complete panic.
Renée looked over at the girl she was supposed to help up. From where she sat, it seemed Minako was almost in shock as Makoto nursed her; but what was done was done, and she couldn't let that happen to the little bunny girl.
Renée darted out from the bushes, causing both Luna and Ami to gasp. "Hey, you STOP!" Ami shouted as Luna tried to bite her leg, but Renée dodged and kept going. If she could run fast enough, she could make sure Usagi wasn't hit. All she could think about was running faster and protecting Usagi. The wind bit at her bare arms and made her lungs ache. The pain made her wonder a bit about why she was doing this. Why was she risking her health, maybe her life, to protect someone she just met? Her instinct to protect Usagi, however, was stronger than her doubt.
She could now see them in a short distance; Usagi had a sceptre in her hand. The monster was having a shouting match with Rei, it's face curled in a sneer. Renée could see Rei was not facing the monster dead on; she was angled, maybe preparing to throw something herself. However, she saw Rei get nailed with the ball in the side of the arm when Rei had had enough and tried to power up an attack. Rei fell back hard enough to bounce as she hit the ground. Renée had run up to her just in time to hear her give a soft moan as she became motionless. The monsters's ball returned to its owner, the monster turning to hit Usagi next. Usagi wailed and covered her face with crossed arms, causing the monster to laugh with delight.
The monster had just wound up a throw as Renée reached Usagi and shoved her out of the way. The monster seemed to defy human abilities as she tossed the ball with lightning speed in their direction. The last thing Renée remembered was the pain of the crushing blow to her chest and a pulse from her forehead before falling over.

"Hey!" exclaimed the monster, clenching her fists in frustration. A new damn brat had gotten in her way! And worse, she caught her ball! The monster growled and stamped her foot down. She had wanted to hit the small, tiny girl with blond hair - her master had told her to. Apparently she was full of power, and could be trouble to their mission.
"Mmmrrr, not when I'm around!!!" cried the monster, throwing her fists into the air. "You're dead-!" the monster tried to roar, but was rudely interrupted.
"Supreme Thunder!" Makoto cried with power, thundering in with her own attack at the monster. The wind had nearly stopped now, but it still gave enough push to help make it easier for Makoto to forcefully throw her attack into the monsters face as she jumped.
"Come on, you've met your match, so why don't you fight?" Makoto teased.
The monster was thrown back, somersaulting backwards on the ground before silently coming to a stop on her knees. Makoto continued to threaten it.
"You afraid? Come on, let's go! You'll die for what you've done!"

Usagi looked back at Renée, knowing she was safe for the moment with Makoto there to help. This gave her a chance to see how badly Renée had been hurt.
Renée's injuries were suddenly forgotten when Usagi's eyes her drawn to the faint light coming from Renée's forehead.
"Oh my goodness, she's one of us?" gasped Usagi, kneeling down next to her.
"Renée? Can you hear me?" Usagi desperately tried shaking Renée awake. "Renée, wake up! You've got to wake up! You can't… wake up!"
Suddenly Renée made a few quick, choking like noises. Then she turned onto her side and started to snore.
"Err… I guess she'll be ok. Sailor Jupiter I'm coming!"
Usagi held her princess sceptre in her right hand as she got up with effort.

The monster looked at the two opposite soldiers she now faced. To its fear, a third one came in, sporting a little computer and matching visor. Now with their determination and a need for vengeance in the air, they were a lot more intimidating. She felt like she didn't stand a chance. In a last attempt, she ripped off her headband from her hair and threw it in between the three. It landed at Usagi's feet.
"Umm, was that supposed to do something?" She bent down and poked it a few times. Catching all three off guard, it expanded upwards to wrap around the three last soldiers. Before they knew it, Usagi, Ami and Makoto were piled up on each other, their arms pinned down at their waists so hard they couldn't move.
"Oww, I can't breathe!" wailed Usagi.
"Don't even think of attacking Sailor Jupiter!" Ami exclaimed, knowing her friend too well.
"But I can zap this thing!" whined Makoto.
"Sailor Moon, you're small, maybe you can wiggle out." Ami suggested.
"Maybe if you weren't on TOP of me!" Usagi snapped back.
This bickering went on for a few minutes as the monster retreated into the forest.

Renée slowly opened her eyes. Everything in front of her was blurry and grey. She groaned as she sat up, the monsters enchanted ball rolling off her chest. She rubbed her neck, but stopped suddenly with a gasp from the pain. Where the ball hit her was a huge welt left in its place. It had even broken the skin around her neck. She had never seen a wound like that before!
Usagi! The thought of the tiny girl flashed across her mind. Was she all right? Did she get away? Renée looked around to see no one. Actually, Rei was laying 10 feet away from her. Where did the others go? Where was the other injured one, Minako? Renée finally got up. She had to help them, no matter what.
The pain, though, held her back to the ground like reins. "I… can't." A sob escaped from her throat for a moment. "Why can't I help? I want to help!" She finally gave in and slid to her knees, caking the shins of her pants with dirt. But, no, she couldn't give up now. She was going to help anyway she could!
She eventually climbed back to her feet, trying to push the pain from her mind and concentrate on something else. That's when she finally noticed a dim, flickering light flashing off the trees. She walked toward the light, slowly realizing where it's point of origin was - her forehead!
She ran her fingers across her face, the light changing from a fading pulse to a strong beam.
Almost as soon as the light became stronger, the noise of zapping electricity flared out from the small ball of silvery, dancing light that had formed from nothing right before her. When she reached out to touch it, the light disappeared in one final flash.
A black circular object dropped from where the light had been. With the slightest thump, the clearly heavy object hit the ground. Glancing around in the solitude of the once again silent night, Renée finally dared herself to gently pick it up.
Inspecting it closer, Renée ran her fingers over the ebony circle.
It looked as if a bird was carved in the middle, and the tiniest of crystals sat in the centre of the bird's eye. The white gem caught the lamplight and shone a rainbow of colours from its core.
She closed her fist around it, knowing it had to be something good. "Rei, Rei!" She ran over to Rei, her raven hair sprawled around her.
"Rei! Wake up! Rei?!" Renée whispered hoarsely. Rei responded to Renée's worried cry with a groan. "Rei, I know you are in pain, but I need your help. Look what I found!" Rei remained still, only the steady rising and falling of her chest revealing life was still there.
That reminded Renée how it was becoming painful for her to breathe. She looked down at the crest in her hand, the pain in her own chest throbbing with each breath.
Disappointed, Renée bitterly talked to the crest before throwing it as hard as she could in her state.
"C'mon you stupid crest, do something! Useless," she muttered as she flung it into the air.
But halfway in its fall, the crest stopped in mid air!
"What the-?" cried Renée when it didn't budge from its place. It just twirled in the same spot, just about the same height of Renée's head.
Renée walked over to it calmly, respecting the pain with each breath until she stopped right under it. Reaching out to grab it, light shot out from it and seemed to splash against the ground. Screaming out in surprise, the same electric noise flooded over her as the light became more intense. She was so scared she tried to let go, but couldn't.
Even through the noise, the most gentle of whispers seemed to float from above her, instructing her to say something.
"This is your chance, my girl. Command the crystal: Phoenix Power, Make-up!"
Renée whispered the words with caution and the light wrapped around her from all sides at command. She felt the cold of metal against her bare skin before the warmth of the light reached and enveloped her limbs. This rush of energy into her body seemed to happen almost instantly, and when the ideal was over, she wore a sailor suit just like the others!
"How did- what the?" She shook her head. She didn't need to question now; she felt empowered! She looked at the staff that now lay in her hands. The pain seemed to be lessening with the new energy she felt, allowing her to stand more upright. Grasping her staff with her right hand, she knew what she had to do now. She could go help the others! As if destiny were at work, her thoughts were rewarded with a few familiar cries.

Luna stepped from the shadows, in shock at the power display she had seen from Renée. Puzzled, she kept her thoughts to herself as she began her return to Artemis.

Renée ran through a few trees, coming to a clearing where Ami, Makoto and Usagi were all wrapped up together.
"I'm coming, guys!" Renée consoled, reaching them at last.
She started to pull at the thing that held them together. It was so tight she couldn't even get her fingers under it. She flipped her staff and knelt down so she rested the top half on the ground, holding the bottom part with one hand while she tried to get a grip on the strange bind with the other. Her staff had a dagger like end, so she tried cutting with it. Eventually the bind snapped, and Ami and Makoto rolled off Usagi.
"Hey thanks, Renée," Usagi said gratefully, getting up to face her rescuer. As soon as she looked up, she jumped back with a yelp.
"Who are you?!" she exclaimed, bumping into Makoto.
"What do you mean, Usagi, you knew my name ten minutes ago!" Renée almost laughed, thinking it was a joke.
Usagi squinted in confusion. The girl had sounded like Renée… "Go look at yourself in the lake… Renée."
Renée walked up to the waters edge and looked down.
She now had pitch-black hair and-cat ears?! She jumped back, gasping, throwing her hands to her head. There were really ears there.
Looking down at herself, she noticed she wore the same outfit as the other girls in her own colours; blue bows, purple skirt, and the body seemed to be even silver.
She studied her gloved hands, where she noticed her nails seemed to poke from her gloves. Or where they nails? They seemed extremely hard and shone like chrome. She turned around to inspect her back bow when she noticed she had a tail!! What had that weird crest done to her?!
"AHH! What happened to me?!" she shakily cried.
"Calm down, Renée-san," said Ami, "if you are another Sailor Soldier, maybe this is reversible. Like our transformations."
Although, Ami's comforting words didn't seem to match her questioning expression. "C'mon," yelled Makoto, "We've got to get that monster!"
Makoto had reached the end of the clearing, and was scanning the muddy ground for any footprints. Usagi's directions had reminded Renée of how surreal the events happening were – the powers, the monsters, her new appearance, and the strangest of them all, the fact that she had been bestowed powers. Why would she be given powers? What was going on? Usagi's simple little instruction to look at herself had brought everything back into perspective: all confidence one has when reality isn't a sure thing gone. Makoto was suddenly ambushed from above., snapping Renée back from her nervous breakdown.
Coming from an angle, the monster jumped from a tree to Makoto's left, kicking her in the face hard enough to knock her out completely.
"I was told by my sensei to stop you guys before you cause any more trouble for us!" explained the monster, "so, you're done!!!"
She started powering up a blue-yellow ball of light in her hands. Renée was sick and tired of what was going on, especially this creature. After all, it was the reason of everything that had happened. Renée darted into the cover of the shrubbery.
"BYE BYE SAILOR GIRLS!" The monster wound up its arm like a baseball player, but mysteriously her eyes went blank with a thwacking noise, and she collapsed to her knees in mid throw. The ball of light dispersed as she fell face first. Renée stood behind her, smirking, as she held her staff with force. She had hit the monster extremely hard over the head with the crystal top of her staff.
"Nice one, Renée!" Usagi excitedly encouraged.
Makoto slowly got up, taking her time to come back to consciousness.
"So… Sailor Kitty Cat knocked it out?" Makoto smiled while rubbing her head. Her lip bled, but she didn't seem to notice.
"That was cold," Renée said in disgust, but couldn't help but laugh afterwards.
Usagi had already started powering up an attack to finish off the creature, while Ami helped Makoto stand up completely.
"Well, if no one else has any idea who she is," explained Makoto to no one in particular, "and she doesn't know, who else could she be? She has cat ears and tail. It's a perfect name. Get out of the way of Usagi's attack, Sailor Kitty! Works, doesn't it?"

After the monster had been destroyed, everyone met up in the same place they had found Artemis; the cat announcing an ambulance had arrived and taken away the unconscious stranger once everyone had returned. Everyone was somehow bruised and even bloodied, but no one was seriously injured. With exhaustion, they all agreed with few words that they'd meet the next day and discuss the night's events, everyone wanting more than anything to go home and rest. As they split up after transforming back to normal, Luna silently walked up to Ami and hopped onto her shoulders.
"I don't like this," Luna whispered into her ear, "since when was there a sixth soldier with cat ears? I don't recognize her at all…"
Ami glanced over at the cat, who was now perched on her right shoulder. "What are you talking about?"
"I'll come over when Usagi is busy. I'll need your help to figure this out."
With that, she bounced off onto the pavement and bounded over after Usagi.

After a few minutes of walking back to the temple, Rei finally broke the silence. "Well, Renée, now you know our secret. And keep it that way, or you'll be staying somewhere else." Rei threatened, as she and Renée walked very slowly, both severely bruised. Renée sighed with a smile.
"Alright alright, but you are going to have to explain some of this to me, because I may know your secret, but I don't get anything about it!"
Rei completely forgot her cruel note and smiled with pride as she stated she'd explain it all in the morning. "Don't worry, we'll figure out what happened, and we'll beat this new enemy easily!"
"New enemy, you've had more than one?"
"Of course we have! How'd you think we knew what we were doing, or that we were so good at fighting?"
Renée mumbled, "It didn't look like you were too good at the fighting thing…"
"WHAT!? How can you SAY that?!"
As the two argued all the way home, Renée couldn't help to feel a twinge of acceptance.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.