Richforce: I'm sorry if this seems to be late. Remember in this divide a Silver Millennium age by ten to get the physical age. All Characters belong to their owners.

Chapter 6: A Tragic Tail

:Dream sequence:

A fifty-year old girl looked out her window to the blue orb hanging in the sky. She sighed as the door opened and her mother came in. "Is there something wrong precious?"

"I'm never going back to school again!" the girl said.

"Why not? From what I heard you're the brightest student the teacher has ever met."

"The other kids were making fun of me and my friend because of our ears and tails."

The girl's mother turned her to the mirror; the girl had red eyes, wavy black hair with two heart buns on top and the crescent mark that was on the forehead of every Lunan, but as she said her most noticeable features were the cat ears on top of her head and the slender tail that came from her bottom, both ears and tail were covered with black fur. She wore a black leather outfit that went from her neck to the top of her legs, black gloves that resembled paws and black boots that went halfway up her thigh. "Why would anyone make fun of something that helps make you who you are?"

"They kept calling us 'half-breeds'."

"Well children can sometimes be cruel, not understanding what they're making fun of."

"They understand. Why did daddy have to be a Mau?"

"Because that's who he is, and that was the man I fell in love with."

"I just want it all to go away."

"Maybe when you get on break you, me and your father can go to Mau for a vacation. You have grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins there who've never met you before."

"I don't want to go to stinky ol' Mau!"

Her mother sighed. "It must be hard for you; you keep trying to find who you are because your mother is of one race and your father of another. But I know one day you'll find that both cultures make you who you are." The mother gave the child a kiss. "Good night Luna."

:End dream sequence:

"Luna, don't you think you should get up?" said Serena.

Luna opened her eyes. "This sure is a role reversal." She said as she stretched. "I take it that you're going to check up on the Mini-scouts, so Artemis and I are going to look after the kittens."

"I hope it hasn't been too much trouble. I can imagine that many kittens being a handful."

"It is, but it's worth it."

"By the way, you were talking in your sleep."

"Just dreaming old dreams."

"Uh, Draco you called us?" said Prim.

"Yes I have a letter for you to deliver."

"Dude, we aren't exactly in the greeting card business."

"This letter is vital to my plan, deliver it to this address."

Prim looked at the address. "But this place is abandoned!"

"If it was abandoned why would I be sending it there?"

"Ok, whatever." said Prim as she and Axel left.

In a normally empty store room Luna and Artemis were watching over the kittens. Most of them were playing their favorite game, pounce. "Now you're it Miranda!" said Charon.

"Can't get me!" said Triton.

"Oh, I'll get one of you!" said Miranda.

She chased Titan up a short old bookcase and pounced on him. They both fell off the bookcase and fell on the other kittens who were gathered right below them.

"Oh no!" said Luna.

"Is everyone ok!" said Artemis.

Diana was the first to answer. "Don't worry, they didn't fall that far."

"Still I better check your marks." said Luna.

"Is this really necessary?" asked Sunspot.

"Yes it is." said Artemis. "Without those marks…"

The kittens then all finished for him. "Without those marks we'll lose our ability to speak and reason, and become regular house cats."

"Our parents told us only a million times." said Terra.

"And with good reason, they didn't want you to become dumb animals and neither do we." said Luna.

"How can you be sure?" said Stardust.

Artemis and Luna looked at the ground. "It happened to us once." Luna said.

"Really when?" asked Moonbeam.

"It was when Galaxia attacked." said Artemis. "Luna and I tried to help against Tin Nyanko when she injured us and damaged our marks. It took a while for Raye and Amy to figure out a way for Serena to repair them."

"What was it like for you?" asked Titan.

"It was as if life had gone on cruise control." said Luna. "Our memories didn't make any sense to us and all we could really think about was food, sleep and attention from our "owners". I don't even want to get into when I got into heat near the end, Serena and Mina had to keep us locked in each of their rooms to keep us from mating without us thinking about it."

"Whoa." said Diana. "That doesn't sound fun at all. I guess we better be more careful."

"I wonder when this got started?" asked Charon.

"Mom and Dad must have been first given their marks when they were kittens." said Crescent. "Why else wouldn't there be cats like us?"

"Uh, yeah." said Artemis. Then a letter was slipped under the door. "Huh?"

Luna took a look at it. "It's addressed to us, probably as part of some joke or something the girls are playing on us." She and Artemis then read it.

Luna and Artemis,

I have a proposition for the two of you. Meet me on top of the north tower of the Metropolitan Government Building in the Shinjuku district to discuss my offer and the Moon Kingdom.

Tell no one about this,

An old friend

"What is it" asked Diana.

"Nothing." said Luna. "Why don't you play a safer game like hide and seek?"

Things were quiet for a while after that.

Artemis snuck out of Mina's room that night. "This sure feels familiar."

:Flashback:

A fifty-year old boy with long white hair, blue eyes, white cat ears on top of his head and a slender white tail coming from his rear was climbing out of his window. He was wearing a white leather shirt, white pants, white paw gloves and white boots. After he got down he turned to the girl who was waiting for him. "Ready Luna?"

"Yes Artemis." Luna said. "We have to run away. Our moms and dads don't know what it's like being us. We'll be ok."

"Yeah, and we can do what whatever we want. We can stay up late."

"And eat dessert before dinner!"

"Come on!" Artemis then touched Luna. "Tag, you're it!"

"Not for long!"

:End flashback:

Luna and Artemis had to walk and sneak on a train to get to the Metropolitan Government Building, but after sneaking into an elevator they finally made it to the roof.

"Who could have given us that note?" said Artemis. "It seems like someone we know from the Silver Millennium."

"I'm not entirely sure about this." said Luna. "I'm just glad all the kittens are asleep safely in that backroom right now."

"I seeyou two managed to give you my letter." They turned to find Draco. "I'm not here to fight."

"Where you did take the others?" hissed Luna.

"Threaten me and you'll never know." They calmed down and Draco looked at the skyline. Amazing how much this planet has caught up in a thousand years and yet these people are capable of becoming so much more…"

"Why did you call us here?"

"Like I said in the letter I have an offer for the two of you."

"We're not interested!" said Artemis.

"Be reasonable, I'm not asking you to betray you friends and you don't even know what I'm offering you."

"Nothing you could offer would interest us!" said Luna.

"Really?" Draco then covered them with a light.

When it faded Luna and Artemis felt different. "They each then took a look at themselves and each other realizing that they became human. Luna was this way only one other time in her life and she looked the same as she did then; Blue eyes, black wavy hair with two heart shaped buns on top, a yellow dress and a crescent moon pendant. Artemis had long white hair, blue eyes, a white shirt and pants combination and a crescent moon pendant.

"We're…"

"…Human."

"Consider this a trail period." said Draco. "I'll let you have those human bodies for one week, if you want to keep them after that you'll have to do a task for me."

"What?" asked Artemis.

"I'll let you know when it's time."

"And our future children?" asked Luna.

"Human as well."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Artemis.

"It's the least I can do…" Draco then threw them a yellow handkerchief with a sun design on it. "…for a couple of old friends."

Luna started at it in shock. "Chemosh?"

Draco then left.

"Chemosh…"

Luna was a little afraid when Artemis opened the door. "Artemis what if he just told just he changed them but didn't keep his word?"

"I know we shouldn't but for some reason I trust our old friend."

They came into find that the kittens were all human, laughing and looking at themselves and each other. They all wore outfits similar to what Luna and Artemis wore as children. "I can't believe it!" said Diana she turned to see Luna and Artemis. "You're human too!" Luna found it interesting that Diana wore her hair the same way she did.

"But how did we get this way?" asked Crescent. "Don't you find it odd that we just woke up like this?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!" said Sunspot, her hair was in stripes of black and white. "I can't wait to see Gloria in the hospital!"

"Yeah." said Miranda; her hair was in stripes of brown and orange. "Everyone will be surprised when they see that we're human now."

"Well I guess there's no harm in It." said Luna.

"Are you sure?" whispered Artemis.

"We can't hide from them for a week; we have to tell them the truth."

At the hospital Serena was surprised when the now human cats came into the visitors ward. She recognized Luna; she became human for a short time before with the help of the silver crystal, from there she could tell that the man and ten kids that came in were Artemis and the Kittens. "What happened to you? What you doing here?"

"We thought that the girls would have a little fun if they saw their friends as human." said Artemis.

"But that still doesn't explain how."

Luna watched the kids talking and having fun. "I don't want them to hear about this just now." They went to an isolated corner. "We weren't always cats, but we were never completely human either, at least from one point of view."

"What?"

"My father and Artemis' mother came from the Planet Mau. The Mau are human with certain feline characteristics, mostly cat ears and tails. When we were children we were constantly mocked and teased by our peers. We felt that it got so bad that we ran away from home."

"It was so stupid; we had nowhere to go and no plan. We might have died if it weren't for one young man's kindness."

Flashback

It was raining, Luna and Artemis were huddled next to each other when a dark haired young man came up "Are you two ok?"

"We're cold and hungry." said Luna.

"Why don't you go home?"

"We ran away." said Artemis.

"You can still go back; I bet your parents are worried about you."

"But the other kids would just make fun of us."

"Running away won't make them stop. Point the way and I'll take you home."

But when we got to the Mau embassy where our parents lived we found that a fire had started and our parents were gone. We were now alone.

"Don't worry I'll make sure you're both taken care of."

"But we don't even know your name." Luna sniffled.

"My name is Chemosh."

That was the beginning of our transition from what we were then and the cats we became. Chemosh never had that much money so we helped by working as beggar-thieves. For the most part we had a happy life, but as time went on Chemosh began acting strangely; shouting at the walls and injuring himself. Then one day when we were about one hundred years old he had a strange proposition for us.

"I think it's time for us to move on to bigger things." said Chemosh.

"Bigger things?" asked Artemis.

"There's something very valuable at the palace, if we steal it we'll be very rich."

"I don't want to steal anymore." said Luna.

"But once we do this we'll be able to make enough money never to steal again."

"Well, if we don't have to…"

"Good, we'll get started tonight."

We some how managed to get into the palace library and he found what he was looking for.

"That smelly old book is going to make us rich?" said Artemis as Chemosh opened a very old book.

"This is not an ordinary book." said Chemosh. "It contains very powerful secrets."

"Ok, let's just get out of here." said Luna.

"Don't you want to see what I can do with this?"

Chemosh started chanting.

"Chemosh, this isn't funny!"

"You both have been useful to me but that usefulness has ended. My weaker half is the only thing keeping me from destroying you completely, but this should remove you both effectively."

Chemosh spread a bright light over them and then they blacked out.

End flashback

"When we woke up we were ordinary housecats." said Luna. "Your mother then gave us our marks so we could be able to speak; she told us that the book was destroyed so she couldn't turn us back to normal."

"And Chemosh?" asked Darien.

"We never heard from him again." said Artemis. "Until last night."

"Another Lunan?" asked Serena.

"Not quite." said Luna. "He, He's…Draco."

"What?"

"He gave us human bodies for a week." said Luna. "But if we want to keep them after that we have to do something for him."

"You aren't…"

"We're not; but it's tough seeing how much the kids are enjoying it."

"Still we have no intention doing what he says." said Artemis.

"Maybe you should." said Amy as she and the other scouts and knights came in. "At least make it appear that way."

"What do you mean?" asked Luna.

"You pretend to go along with him." said Melvin. "Then when you go to meet him again we'll have him trapped."

"Well it would be nice to be human for a little while anyway; and I want to know what happened to change our old friend."

"Ok." said Raye. "But if has to come to destroying him…"

"Don't worry; I doubt he's our friend now."

Draco was back at the Blackstar Fortress Draco looked at the earth. "In a weeks time the remaining orbs will ours, but more importantly I will have a challenge worthy of my power and skill.

Richforce: Sounds like Draco has stacked the deck in his favor. Can Luna and Artemis reach their old friend? Find out next time.