Chapter 2
Jo woke up with a bright light shining in her eyes.
"Ah!" She yelped. Looking around she could tell she was in some sort of medical wing. There were beds and strange equipment everywhere and everything looked white and sterilized.
"Hi. I'm Kendrix." A blonde girl sitting in front of her said. "How many fingers am I holding up?" She asked.
"I...I can't count." Joey said.
"Really? Okay, then copy me." She said. Joey held up three fingers like the girl. "Okay, now close your right eye and do the same." Joey did as she was told and held up five fingers, imitating her. "Okay. Now close your left eye." Again, Joey did as she was told, but this time, she couldn't tell how many fingers Kendrix was holding.
"I can't see. It's all blurry." Joey told her, panicking.
"Oh, no. I was afraid this would happen. It seems as though you are partially blind in you right eye." She said apologetically.
"You also have extensive burn wounds on your back from the explosion that knocked you out and some small burns on your face. Leo said that Trakeena shot out a light when he was aiming for you and the sparks hit you in the face. That's most likely what cause the small burn marks and the blindness." She explained.
"Leo?" Joey was confused.
"Yeah. He's the one that saved you. You guys got pretty lucky in my opinion; of course he turned out quite a bit better than you."
Joey just nodded. All of this information was too much. She didn't know what to do with it.
"So, any questions?" Kendrix asked. When am I going home? Joey thought, but she just shook her head.
"Okay. Then I'll leave you to get some rest." She got up and walked away, leaving Joey to her thoughts. It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep.
What seemed like minutes later, Joey woke up to people talking outside the door.
"Leo you can't see her. She's asleep." A boy's voice said.
"Then wake her up." The voice was familiar.
"We can't. She needs her rest. Besides, Kendrix would kill me." The other voice said again.
"Oh, come on. I just want to talk to her. One of the prisoners said she might have information that Trakeena wants, and I want to know what it is." It was Leo, The boy who rescued her.
"And if you agitate her like you do everyone else, her blood pressure will shoot up, and she'll be knocked out again. Not to mention the fact that maybe she doesn't want to tell us. It doesn't seem like she ever told Scorpius. Now stay here. I've got to give her the pain medication." A new voice said.
The door opened and the blonde girl from earlier, Kendrix, walked in. She seemed surprised to see her awake.
"Hello. I'm just going to give you a shot, so your injuries don't hurt so much. It'll feel like a pinch, but it'll only be for a second." She promised. Joey nodded and Kendrix pulled out a needle. It hurt quite a bit more than she had originally said it would, but Joey bit her tongue.
"There. All done." Kendrix smiled and threw away the needle.
"I'd like to talk to him. Leo, I mean. I want to ask him something." Joey said suddenly. She hadn't planned on asking.
Kendrix looked just as surprised as Joey felt. "Okay then. I'll send him in." She smiled and walked out the door. A moment later a boy walked into the room.
"Kendrix said you had a question for me?" He said to her, pulling over a stool and sitting next to her bed. Joey nodded and sat up, wincing at the pain in her back. Leo had dark hair and greenish colored eyes. He also had a bandage on his left arm and a Band-Aid on his cheek.
"You have questions for me too. You can go first." Joey said. Leo grinned.
"Okay then, kid. How about we start easy. What's your name?" He asked.
"Josephine. Everyone calls me Joey. Tell anyone my real name and I'll kill you, ranger or not." Joey said seriously.
Leo laughed. "Okay, okay. So where're you from?"
Joey shrugged. "Our planet didn't have a name. We just called it home. I think I heard some scientist call it MO-867 once. But I'm not totally sure. I lived in a small village. There was a big lake nearby and a forest." Joey explained.
Leo nodded. "Okay. Cool. Question three. What information does Scorpius want from you?" His smile disappeared and he became totally serious.
Joey became afraid. "No." she said.
"No?" He was confused.
"No. I'm not telling you." She said firmly.
"Look, Joey, It's okay. You can trust me. Scorpius and Trakeena can't get you here, and we're not going to hurt you. You're perfectly safe." He reached to put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched away. He looked thoughtful.
"How long were you in there?" He asked.
"Long enough." She muttered.
He waited patiently.
"Five years. They invaded my planet the day I turned twelve. Been there ever since." She told him. Then looking up she said, "My dad said he was going to come for me, but he didn't. Why didn't he come? He promised he would and he didn't! And 'cause I was stuck there they hurt me, every day, all 'cause they wanted to know about some stupid Stars of the Zodiac. I don't even know what a zod-" Joey slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she had said too much.
"Stars of the Zodiac? What are they?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. That's what I kept tellin' them. They didn't believe me though." She muttered.
Leo nodded. "Okay. I think you ought to get some rest. I'll see you later kid." He said, standing up and walking away.
"Wait!" He turned around. "You believe me, right? You believe me when I say I don't know about the Stars?" She asked.
He looked at her for a moment, as if deciding.
"Yeah. I think I do." He said, before walking away. Joey sighed and rolled over, closing her eyes.
She had her first dream in years. She was back on her home planet, wandering through the forest like she had so many times before.
"Jo." She looked up to see her father smiling down at her.
"Daddy? What are you doing here?" She asked.
"There's no time. You must let the Power Rangers help you. They can be trusted. You need to find the Stars of the Zodiac that are rightfully yours. They're hidden with your mother. Being my only child, you inherit them when I am gone." He told her.
Joey shook her head.
"Then they're not mine. They're yours." She said.
He shook his head sadly.
"I'm sorry. Scorpius got to me before I could save you. Now, I leave you in the hands of the Power Rangers." He hugged her.
"But, Daddy, you're right here. I don't understand." She complained.
"I'm sorry. I must go. I love you." He faded away slowly into the forest.
Joey chased him.
"No! Daddy! Stop! Don't Go! DADDY!"
She screamed and sat up. She wiped sweat from her face and tried to calm her breathing. She looked around. It was dark, too dark for her comfort. She took deep breaths and lay down on her side, curling up into a ball.
It was just a dream. He's not dead. He's out there looking for you. You have nothing to do with any kind of zodiac. It was all just a dream. She thought to herself halfheartedly.
"Who am I kidding? I have to find Leo and the other Rangers." She whispered as she stood up, grimacing at the aches all over her body.
She walked down the hall slowly and quietly.
"Leo? Kendrix? Anybody here?" She called quietly, then a little louder.
"Leo. I need to talk to you." Suddenly a door slid open.
She bit her hand to muffle a scream and jumped to the side. A tall Asian boy stepped out yawning. He looked around.
"I could have sworn I heard someone out here." He said to himself. Joey stepped out of the shadows, so as not to frighten him.
"That was me. I need to talk to the Power Rangers. It's really important." The boy looked her over.
"You're Joey. The girl Leo saved. I'm Kai." He said, holding out his hand. Joey looked at him, unsure.
"I need to talk to Leo." She said. Kai slowly put his hand down and nodded.
"Come on in." He said. She followed him into the room.
"Leo. Visitor." He said. She heard someone groan unhappily and roll over.
"Whoa!" He jumped when he saw her.
"Geez, kid. Scared me half to death. You look like a ghost." Leo told her, standing up.
"I had a dream, about those stars, the zodiac ones. My dad was in it. He told me I had to find them. He said you would help." She didn't tell them about the part where he said he had died.
Leo stood up quickly and turned on a light. Joey let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"What exactly did he say?" He looked at her solemnly.
"He said they were with my Mom, but she died when I was only three. I don't get it, all this junk about zodiac stars, and them being hidden with dead people. It doesn't make any sense!" Joey was frustrated. She heard footsteps behind her and she spun around.
"Whoa, there kiddo. Watch those fists. Is this where all the racket's comin' from?" A black male in green pajamas looked around.
"Yeah. Sorry Damon. Can you go get Mike, Kendrix and Maya for me? The kids got some important news." Leo said.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever this new is it'd better be pretty important, waking me up in the middle of the night." Damon replied.
"It is. Just go get the others and I'll explain." Joey clenched her fists.
Just talk about me like I'm not here, why don't you. She thought, as Damon walked away.
Soon Kendrix and Damon, along with a man with dark hair, similar to Leo's, and a girl with brown hair wearing yellow, walked in. Leo was leaning on the counter and Joey was standing quietly behind him. The others either stood or sat on stools around the table.
"Guys I've got some news about Trakeena's new plan. She wants something called the Stars of the Zodiac. Has anyone heard of them?" He looked around. The girl in yellow stepped forward.
"I have. These twelve constellations are legendary, said to hold the power of the ancient Zodiac Spirits, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces. These spirits take the form of different animals and share the Elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air, along with their own personal power. If Trakeena gets her hands on them, the entire universe is doomed." She said.
"Maya, are you sure?" Kai asked.
"No, she's right!" Joey stepped out of the shadows excitedly. "I can't believe I forgot about it! My favorite story when I was a kid was about the Twelve Warriors who gave their lives to destroy the Evil that tried to take over our planet! I can't believe it, how could I forget?" She groaned.
"Leo, who's that?" Mike asked.
"This is Joey. She's the girl I rescued from Trakeena's Prison. She's also the one who told me about the stars." Leo replied.
"Well, do we know where these Stars of the Zodiac are?" Damon asked.
"My Dad said that they were with my mom. But that doesn't make sense. She died twelve years ago." Joey told him.
"Well, where was you're mother buried. Maybe he buried the Stars with her." Kai suggested.
"No. My Mom was cremated and her ashes spread throughout the forest. Just like the rest of our family. Our family was connected to the Fire Stars. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. At least, that's what my dad told me." Leo gave her a sidelong glance.
"What exactly did you Dad say in your dream?" He asked. Joey shrugged.
"He said that the Stars of the Zodiac rightfully belong to me and that I need to find them. He also said that they were with my Mother, and that he was leaving me in the hands of the Power Rangers. He said that they'd help me. Then he told me he loved me" Joey's voice cracked, "and then he disappeared." She looked around at the group of strangers.
Leo stood up.
"So, who's ready to look for some stars?" He said, looking around. Everyone looked at Joey, who just looked at the floor.
"You don't have to-" She started to say.
"Yeah.'Course we'll help. Right guys?" she looked up at Mike, who put a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. Joey gave a small smile back as everyone nodded and shouted "Yeah!"
Suddenly Damon put a hand around her shoulders.
"Look kid. I'm all for helpin' you out. But you mind if the next time you wait to give us news like this until morning?" He told her grinning. Joey laughed. It felt foreign to her, but in a good way.
"Yeah. Yeah, no problem." She said, grinning widely now.
"Okay, kid. I think we'd better take you back to the Medical Wing." Leo said, leading her out of the room. As they walked down the hall, Joey looked up at him.
"I never got to ask you my question yesterday." She said. Leo smiled at her.
"Okay, kid. Shoot. What's your question?" He asked.
"I was just wondering...why'd you come back for me?" She asked him. They stopped outside the door of the Medical Wing.
"Because. I promised I would, right? I keep my promises. And besides, I wasn't going to leave an innocent girl with Scorpius. Shoot, I wouldn't leave anyone alone with Scorpius." He told her.
"Oh. I thought," she trailed off. Leo looked at her, waiting. "I thought you only came back 'cause I had information Trakeena wanted." She muttered, looking at her feet.
Leo laughed.
"Well, don't worry about it. I saved you because I wanted to save you." He poked her shoulder. "Not because I'm desperate to take out Trakeena. Even if I am." He laughed and opened the door.
Joey grinned and climbed into bed. Leo threw the blanket over her.
"Good night." She called sleepily as he turned the light off.
"Night, Jo." He whispered, closing the door behind him.