Lawyer and Disclaimer STuFF. ___________________________________________________________________ All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form by all means. Sailor Moon is a product of Bandai, Toei, and Naoko Takeuchi. All the other character and this story is property of Lady Jupiter and Co. You can take this fic and put it on your page, but please mail me and just tell me you did it. Just as long as I get the credit for my story and this story stays in tact. All other standard fanfic disclaimers apply. ___________________________________________________________________ BeGiN ReaDinG HeRe ************************************************ * Visit my homepage at: * * http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/temple/9286 * * LADYJUPITER@SAILORJUPITER.COM * ************************************************ Thanks to: JillMako-you inspired me and showed me at least some people read my fics. Artemis&Luna-for posting my fics up and for their small comments. And reminding me when my mind isn't in the right place. JayDee Archer-for posting my fic. All the other fanfic authors who inspired me and the fanfic homepage creaters because without them, I would have never found the joy in fanfics. Okay, how many fics are out there have Sailor Moon, champion of justice fighting youma's? About a thousand right? Well, this is not one of them. It's kind of dark, but I won't give away any spoilers, I'm just saying it's not like the other fics. Are ya hooked yet? Basically, the characters all have the same facets and personality traits, but the storyline is different. This is what Sailor Moon would have been like if it's written by me. "A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." -Annonymous REVOLUTIONS OF THE MOON Ontop of The World Part Ten (10) "Excuse me, but do you have any vacant rooms in where we can stay for the night?" Nephryte asked politely. Lita looked out at the sign outside that said, "Boff's Inn. Always vacant." Lita thought. Mako looked up at the innkeeper, supposedly Boff and stepped forward. "Mako! Here to visit again? Very good to see you. I've got your room ready." Boff said and pointed Mako into a hallway. Mako handed him some Dinars for the stay and went in. "Do you know her?" Rei asked. "She's a wanderer..." Boff looked at Lita then asked, "Any kin to you?" "I don't think so," Lita said. "Well, you two sure look awfully alike," Boff commented as if it wasn't obvious. "Does she ever talk?" Ami asked. So far, they've never even heard a peep out of Mako. "Sadly, no one has ever heard her speak a word," Boff shook his head. "So she's mute?" "No, she has a voice alright. She laughs, she cries, she screams, boy can she scream. She just doesn't talk." Boff said and shrugged, "But she's the sweetest little thing. You gotta watch out for her 'cause she's likely to get into trouble. Poor thing. Rumor is she was orphaned at age 2, never learned how to talk, 'suppose." He pointed to another hallway, "Got two rooms vacant. You can pay me in the morning. I'm retiring for the night." They split up into the way they were last time and went into their rooms. Ami breathed a sigh of relief when she saw there were four seperate small cots. Even though she didn't really mind sleeping in a really big bed with all the girls, it did get kind of cramped. "I get the window," Rei said. "I get the one next to Rei," Mina shouted after her. "Ami, which one do you want?" Lita asked. There were two more choices. The one pushed against the dry cracked wall or the one in the middle of the room under the dark spot in the ceiling. "I don't mind, I'll take the one in the middle." Ami sat onto her small cot, feeling it wobble beneath her weight, "Do you think they're safe to sleep on? They look kind of weak." Mina flopped down on hers, letting it wobble and creak dangerously, "Sure Ames. No problem, see." "What a weird day," Rei shook her head. "What do you think about Makoto?" Lita asked, "Isn't it weird how she appeared from no where and how she doesn't talk?" "Maybe she's just shy," Mina said. "No, did you see the look she had on? She looked kind of out of it. And they way she keeps staring at the rainbow her prisms make. Have you seen how she's always playing with the light and bouncing it off walls? She's kind of creepy." Rei said. "What's creepy is that she looks exactly like me," Lita shuddered to prove her point. "Do you think she's dangerous?" Hera asked. She was sleeping with the girls tonight with Luna. "She doesn't seem evil," Ami said. She looked at Rei, who usually knew first who was bad and who was not. "I don't feel any evil vibes from her. Maybe she's just a lost soul. A wanderer like they said." Rei reminded them. "Maybe she's jsut mentally deficient," Ami said, "Like those kids who are kept in the mental hospital all their lives. Some pshycological scar probably traumatized her." "No, she's intelligent alright. I've seen how skilled she is with the horse. Who knows, she's just another mystery." Luna said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm dead tired. I'm going to sleep right now and please spare me the noise," Mina put her head down on the tan colored wool pillow, then threw it across the room, "I hate wool! It's so itchy!" Nephryte's eyelids opened. He looked around the room, wondering what had woke him. The window he was sleeping next to showed that it was early morning. But that wasn't what woke him. He heard the rumbling, like a frieght train heading straight for him. "Jadeite! Shut up," Nephryte growled. Jadeite was snoring again. He wondered how Darien could sleep through the whole thing. He looked over to where Ken was sleeping. He was also awake, staring at the ceiling. "He's really loud," Ken mumbled. "You're snoring again, Jadeite. Shut up!" Nephryte yelled again. The snoring grew quieter, but still continued. Nephryte thought. He looked at Ken, who was asleep again. Nephryte got out of bed, washed his face in the tin basin and put on his cloak. He decided to go for a walk. There was no use sleeping while Engine 9 was still huffing and puffing. The yelling of children's voices could be heard as Nephryte stepped out of the inn. It sounded like a lot of children, a mob. The yelling drew him closer, until he could see about twenty or so kids huddled against something on the wall. They seemed to be pushing it back against the wall, some of them even throwing small strones. Nephryte stretched and looked over the crowd, trying to see what was arousing such an uproar. He saw the familiar black cloak and immedietely came to her rescue. He elbowed through the crowd, pushing some of the older children who were yelling crude things. "Witch!" "Why dontcha juss get outta here?" "We don't need ya!" "Weirdo! Weirdo!" Nephryte reached the girl being attacked, and pulled her to him, sheltering him with his body. He glared at the crowd around him, sending daggers their way, "Why don't you all just go home! Why are you picking on her? Don't you ahve any thing better to do?" "Look, it's another weirdo!" Someone shouted. Nephryte took a menacing step toward them and they fled. Running with a yellow streak down their spines. He held the sobbing girl to him, comforting her with his strong arms. Her hood fell back, showing her red rimmed eyes, still a lusterous green and her burnt sienna colored hair. "Are you hurt?" Nephryte asked, his usually hoarse voice unusually gentle and smooth. The girl didn't answer, but just put her head against his chest and sobbed silently. "Mako, did they hurt you?" Nephryte asked again. She shook her head, bringing it up and looking at him. Nephryte sifted through her bright green eyes, looking for an ounce of indentity as where this girl came from. He felt engulfed by the greeness of her eyes. Suddenly, a flash of green seemed to shoot right out to him, a pang of familiarity jolted through him. He felt this bond with the mysterious girl, something that made him want to protect her. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" He whispered to her, hoping she would somehow understand. He couldn't believe how much this girl looked like Lita, every physical detail was accurate, including the arch of her eyebrow, the slope of her nose, the pout of her lips. But something wasn't her. Nephryte felt that this girl was emotionally different from Lita, someway. Her eyes were a much brighter green, and even had a different feeling in them. Mako opened her mouth slowly, about to say something. She pointed to Nephryte with a delicately long finger, then said something barely above a whisper, "Nephryte." The voice, almost childlike shocked Nephryte. He recognized that voice and would recognize it for years to come. The innocent tone, like a little girl. He brought her at arm's length, holding her by the shoulders. The girl's eyes seemed bright as ever. "Princess Jupiter?" Nephryte asked softly, "Makoto." Just as that look came onto her face, it dissapeared quickly. Replacing it was the same look of being lost, of a person who knew nothing, not the time, not the year, nothing. She dropped her eyes to the floor, seeming to shrink under his hold. "Makoto, look at me," Nephryte said more firmly. She didn't. She pulled from him until he finally let go. Quietly, she slipped her hood back on and walked to the inn. Nephryte looked after her, seeing the familiar stride, the way she walked like no one else. He shook his head, and rubbed his eyes before following her back into the inn. When he got in, he saw most of them seeted around the eating counter happily eating. He looked around for Mako, but didn't find her. "Where have you been?" Jadeite asked between bites. "Just outside. Have you seen Mako?" "She walked in a minute ago, why?" Ken answered. "Nothing," Nephryte took a seat next to Mina, where the extra plate was and started to eat with manners while most of the other people scarfed down what they were eating. Down the counter table, about the only people who were eating with manners were the two former generals. They took small bites and always swallowed before they talked. "Geez, you guys eat like it's a royal banquet or something. You don't have to be so formal," Mina noticed the way Nephryte and Jadeite ate. "Excuse us if we were taught to eat proper," Jadeite said sarcastically. "So where are we going after this?" Darien asked, "We're getting close. I can feel her." "We'll ask around and find out which direction she's heading." Ami said logically. Silently, Mako walked out and looked at them. She seemed lost as what to do next. Just standing there, she looked at them eating. "Come and eat, Mako." Rei said in a tone that seemed like Mako was much younger, like a child. Mako stood there, unable to do anything next. "Do you want something to eat, Makoto?" Nephryte asked, patting a stool next to him. Mako hesitated for a minute before walking to the stool and sitting besides Nephryte. She ate so silently that no one would even know she was there. She ate with precise manners like Jadeite and Nephryte, but with a feminine touch. "Seems like she took a liking to you," Jadeite said and arched an eyebrow before finishing off his last morsel of food. ********************* After a couple more days and a couple more towns, they finally got Serenity trapped between mountains and the ocean. In back of them were deathly high mountains, infront of them was the ocean, and the only way out of there would to past the canyon that they already passed. "Okay, we know she's around here somewhere. She can't go anywhere else." Darien said. He looked at the ocean with it's gentle tides, then at the harsh mountains with it's murderous cliffs and eerie caves. "She probably went into the mountains," Ken said. "I still don't get it," Luna mumbled. "Get what?" Lita asked. "What is the point of all this? Why would Serenity come so far into this dimension? There's obviously no electricity and I don't see anything too interesting." Luna said, she shook her head in exasperation. "Whatever she's after must be in those caves. I feel something strange emmiting bad vibes." Rei said. Suddenly, Mako steps forward, looking eager. She pulled on Nephryte's sleeve, urging him to come forward with her. She pointed at a crest in the mountain, a small opening, not as steep as the land around it, maybe rough enough to climb. "What's over there?" Nephryte asked. Mako just points, looking at it, then at the others. She stooped in the sand and drew something. It looked like some sort of sun with radiating rays going into it instead of going out. "I think she wants us to go there," Nephryte translated for them. "Why? What's over there? Did she see Serena there?" Lita asked. "I don't know. But I think she has a hunch. She's not brain dead you know." Nephryte said, "Okay, we'll follow her." Makoto seemed to have the climbing skills of a cat and moved upward and fast gracefully. She stood at a ledge about 30 feet up and looked down at them. Most were just halfway there. "Ah, what the heck." Nephryte said and dissapeared from the spot he was holding on to. Promptly, he reappeared next to Mako. She didn't seem surprised that he had done that and showed no sign of it being weird. "Nephryte!" Jadeite warned. "What? Why take the hard way when there's an easier way?" Nephryte asked. Jadeite shrugged and reached over to put his arm around Rei's waist. She was so startled, she lost her hold and started to fall, pulling Jadeite down with him. Quickly, Jadeite teleported and got them both onto the ledge safely. "Don't ever do that again!" Rei said angrily, glaring daggers at Jadeite. "Why? Were you SCARED?" Jadeite emphasized the last word. "Ofcourse not," Rei said. Nephryte looked down at the remainging people still working hard to climb up there. He saw Ami the farthest behind and decided to help her out. He concentrated and teleported Ami to where he was. Then, it was Mina, the two cats, Lita, Ken, then Darien. "Hey, why did you have to put your arms around me and he didn't even have to touch them?" Rei asked angrily at Jadeite. "Because I just wanted to hold you," Jadeite said and shot her a wounded puppy look. "You got yourself out of it on that one, Mister." Rei said and flashed him a quick smile. "Well Mako, where now?" Nephryte asked. *** *** *** *** *** *** Serena thought to herself. She wished that whoever was using her body would put something warm on. She shivered inwardly, but couldn't do anything about it. She was being held captive in her own body. Her eyes were the windows in which she could see outside at what Serenity was doing. Serena demanded in her mind. "Shut up!" She heard Serenity's voice command to her. Serena thought to herself, "You'd better not try. I'm warning you," The loud voice of Serenity boomed to her. Serena decided not to think anymore. Whatever she was thinking could most likely be heard by Serenity, who was "sharing" the same body with her. She started to cry. "Stop it you crybaby!" Serenity ordered. Serena could see her eyes fogging over, becoming blurry with tears. "Stop it now!" Serenity boomed again. Suddenly, Serena started gasping. She was suffocating! Serena begged Serenity. Finally, some air rushed into her lungs. Serena took in the refreshing air, gasping at the same time. "Now try and cry again and we'll see what happens." Serenity threathened, really meaning it. Serena pleaded. "Looks like they don't like you. Well, I never liked them either. Now are you going to cooperate with me or aren't you?" Serenity asked. "Never! They'll come, you'll see." Serena retorted, sure of herself. "That's what you think. They probably forgot all about you. Even that Darien. Never did like him." Serenity said. Serena didn't try to think of a way to get Serenity out of her body, for fear that her thoughts could be heard. Serena battled with her own mind. "Shut up with that babbling," Serenity ordered and sent a mental jab at Serena. Darien's face paled to the color of rice pudding. His blue eyes were clouded over and he seemed to be in some sort of pain. "Darien, what's wrong?" Rei asked, noticing the face Darien had on. "Serena! She's calling for help. We have to find her!" Darien said suddenly. He clutched his head, "I can hear her. She's pleading for help. We have to hurry!" Mako seemed to understand that and pointed upward. They all looked up at another ledge, twice as high as before. Then, they looked at Nephryte and Jadeite. Mako had already started to climb up it. "I'll go check what's up there," Jadeite said and tried to teleport up. He stood there for a while, just standing. "What the-" Mako looked down at him from where she had climbed. She shook her head at him, then pointed up again. Nephryte tried to teleport too, but couldn't. "What's wrong?" Mina asked. "It won't work," Nephryte said. "What won't?" "I can't teleport," Jadeite said. "Me neither," Nephryte tried again, but failed also. "Maybe there's some kind of energy blocking off your ability to teleport." Hera supplied, "I've seen it happen back in the Silver Millenium. Certain things just have this force around them that only lets you teleport so far into it." "So I guess we'll have to climb, huh?" Nephryte asked. "C'mon, it's not so bad." Ken told him, then he got an idea, "I bet it would be easier if we got out of these clothes and transformed. I admit that these cloaks are pretty hard to climb with." "You know what, he's right." Rei agreed. "But what about her?" Ami asked, looking at Mako, who had paused climbing to see what was taking them so long. "I don't think she can transform," Mina said. "No, not that. But what if she knows who we are?" Ami said. "I don't think it'll matter. She won't tell and even if she does, I don't think anyone would believe her," Nephryte said with a hint of sadness. He wondered if she ever talked at all. He remembered how beautiful her voice was when she had said his name. "Oh well," Rei said. She started her transformation, "Mars Star Power!" "Mercury Star Power!" "Jupiter Star Power!" "Venus Star Power!" "Jupiter Knight Power!" Their cloaks and hoods off, stood the four scouts, two generals (now back to working for the Silver Imperium Crystal instead of against it), and Tuxeedo Mask. Luna kept her eye on Mako, who didn't seem to have any reaction at all to what just happened. She just looked at them curiously, then continued to climb. "Hurry, let's go!" Tuxeedo Mask said and started climbing after Hera. They all started climbing, trying to catch up to Mako, who was still pretty far ahead. Just as Ken predicted, it was much easier to climb without the heavy cloak on to weigh down their shoulders. Luckily there were enough ridges and jutting parts for them to climb up and get footing on. Halfway up, Mako paused and undid a lace. Her cloak fell off of her and flapped in the wind on the way down. She was now wearing what she had on underneath. A dark green booster tank top and matching shorts. "Wow, she's really getting into it." Nephryte said as the cloak fell past him. "This is murder," Sailor Venus muttered, wiping the sweat off her forehead. Twice already, she had almost fallen off and to her death. "Almost there," Jadeite told them, watching as Mako hoisted herself up onto the ledge above and looking down to wait for them. "That girl is really strong." The next one up was Jupiter Knight and he helped the others up as they came. After the last person was up, they looked about. When they looked down to see how far they had actually climbed, they all gasped. "Did we really climb that far up?" Sailor Mars asked. Looking down, the trees looked like minature models of what were trees taller than even Lita. "Long way down," Jupiter Knight whistled, "I'd hate to go fall down that way." "Now where?" Nephryte asked Mako. She pointed up. They all looked up and only saw the mountain dissapear into clouds. "Geeze, this thing is huge! It couldn't have been this big when we were down there, could it?" Sailor Jupiter asked. Funny, she didn't even notice how high this mountain was, but she realized that from the ground, she only saw the part of the mountain that wasn't hidden by the thick coulds and it appeared to be a hill. "Can you see the ledge?" Artemis asked. "No, can you?" Luna asked. "How far up?" Tuxeedo Mask asked Mako. She held out her two fingers, seeming to understand him. "I think this one is twice as high as the one we just climbed," Nephryte said, interpretting what Mako was trying to tell them. Jadeite put a hand over his eye, blocking the glare as he looked up into the sky. "We don't have much daylight left. I don't think we should try to climb. It might get too dark and it's too dangerous with that little light. We better find some shelter, looks like rain too." "A meteorologist too?" Sailor Jupiter asked and shook her head, "Yeah, we don't want to get caught in the down pour." "Look, over there," Hera said, indicating a cave way in back of the ledge. It was too dark to really see what was inside unless they actually went into it. "I'll go check it out," Nephryte offered. He slowly walked into the cave, looking about for anything that looked like a bear or any other wild animal might be living in it. "Anything there?" Tuxeedo Mask asked, following him. "Nothing," Nephryte said. "We can stay here for the night. It's dry as a bone." They all went into it and tried to get use to the dark. "Ow," Venus said, rubbing her shin after tripping over some sort of boulder. "Isn't there a light switch or window in here?" "Hey, look what I can do!" Sailor Mars said, pointing to her tiarra. The red jewel in the middle of her tiarra was lit up and illuminated the whole room. Suddenly, a red glow lit up the cave, making everyone's face look tinted red. The looked about the cave, noticing nothing different about this one. "Cool, I want to try." Sailor Jupiter said and concentrated. Green tinted light emmitted from her jewel. "Me too!" Sailor Venus said. Yellow light came from hers. They looked at Sailor Mercury, to see if she was going to join in too. She shrugged, "Oh well, I guess it's my turn." Her blue light mixed in to the "rainbow" of lights around her. Someone's stomach let out a low growl. They all turned to the noise. Sailor Venus was blushing bright red, "Oops, sorry. I'm kind of hungry." They hated to admit it, but they were hungry too, but none of them even thought to bring food up here with them. "I guess we'll just have to be hungry tonight. It's not so bad. At least we'll lose some weight," Jupiter Knight kidded, but everyone who laughed was laughing a forced out one. Makoto looked around at the ray of different colors around her. Her eyes stopped to one spot in the wall that was particular covered by some kind of green moss or mold or something. She walked toward it without a word as usual and stood infront of it. Everyone was watching her, trying to see what she was doing. Mako put her hands on the green part, pushing it in. Oddly enough, it started to slid into the cave wall with every push. When it was about five inches in, Mako put her fingers on the side and pulled on that part. The section of the wall she was trying to pry lose gave, showing that that part of the cave wall was hollow. She took a box from the hollow part and brought it out. It was old and dusty, looking rusted shut with age. All of them gathered around Mako as she put that case onto a flat rock that served as a table for her. She fingered the small latch, which seemed to be rusted into an immovable part. Her delicate fingers pulled at that latch until it finally gave and let her open the case. When she opened the case, they couldn't believe it. She was using all that effort just for that? Inside the case was a clear glass box and inside of that was a bunch of cherries. "I don't get it," Sailor Mercury said dully, "All that work for that?" Mako took the glass box out and carefully took off the lid. She divided the bunch of cherries up into eight groups of four cherries each and had ten left over. She looked at each of them, then looked at the cherries. She took Nephryte's hand and brought it over palm facing up. She placed four cherries in it and closed his hand over it, careful not to smash it. Then, she did that to all of the other people. She held four for herself and gave two to each of the cats. "What is this for?" Nephryte asked. Mako looked at him as if he didn't know the obvious. She popped one in her mouth and chewed it, then swallowed it. The others looked at each other and shrugged. They all put one cherry into their mouths. Sailor Jupiter rolled the cherry around in her mouth before biting into it. When she did, she couldn't believe what she was feeling. It was all the delicious things in the world that she loved crammed into one. Sailor Jupiter thought. "Hey, these are really good!" "I know," Sailor Venus said, munching on hers. They were all agreeing with the gourmet taste this small cherry had. Sailor Mercury was about to pop a second one into her mouth before Mako grabbed her hand and stopped her. "What?" Sailor Mercury asked, startled. Mako shook her head. She held up only one finger. "I think we're only suppose to eat one a day," Nephryte told her. He pocketed his in his inter-dimensional pocket for the next days. The scouts did the same, including Tuxeedo Mask and Jupiter Knight. The cats put their remaining one away. Mako put her three into a pocket on her shorts. "You know, it's incredible. Just one of these and I'm not hungry anymore." Sailor Venus remarked, "I'm actually kind of stuffed." "Yeah, I know what you mean." Jadeite agreed. "What was that?" Sailor Jupiter asked her look alike. Mako didn't answer right away. She put the glass box back into the case, then closed the case. The latch miracously was fixed and she latched it shut. She blew the dirt and dust off the top of the case and pointed to it. Sailor Mercury looked at it, seeing strange letters carved into the top of the case. "I can't read it. Some acient language probably." Nephryte went up to it, frowned, rubbed his chin, then his eyes lit up, "Wow, I haven't seen that in thousands of years!" "Seen what?" Tuxeedo Mask asked. Nephryte pulled Jadeite over, "Look, don't you recognize that?" "Looks familiar, but I still can't read it." Jadeite said. "Duh! It's Merjucian. The ancien language. The Universal Language in the Siver Millenium. I studied this eons ago." Nephryte looked over it, thought something over in his mind then said, "Ambrosia." "What?" Sailor Mars asked, not hearing him. "It's says Ambrosia. If my translations are correct, which they always are." Nephryte said. Mako nodded in agreement that finally someone could understand what she could read. Before putting the heavy looking case back into the hole in the wall, she took out some old looking blankets. She put the case back in, replaced the broken piece of wall with some dirt on the floor and it looked remarkably normal. No one could tell that the wall had just been taken apart a while ago. She handed everyone a blanket. Luna was surprised that Mako had enough blankets to go around and even one for the three cats to share. She was even more surprised at how many things could be hidden in that wall and wondered how many were still hidden in it. "Thank you," everyone said after the blankets had been handed out. Mako, not paying attention to anyone, spread the blanket out against one wall and laid down on it. She closed her eyes and went to sleep. The others did the same, spreading out across the cave floor, which didn't look too dirty and went to sleep. Although they didn't know it, they were more tired than they thought. Nephryte....Nephryte....Nephryte.... Who's calling me? That's not important right now. Are you listening. No, I'm not listening until you tell me who you are. It's dark. I can't see anything. Jadeite, this better not be one of your stupid jokes. This isn't a joke, Nephryte. Who is this? Where is everybody? Why am I alone in the cave? Where did everyone go?.......Hey! Where did my crystal go?! You don't need that Nephryte. I'm not going to attack you. Not right now. So who are you? That's not important, I told you already. So why are you here? Please, you have to look after Makoto. Why? She's not as strong as she looks. She's fragile. She needs you to look after her, to love her even. Get out of here! I don't wan't you telling me these things. I *am* looking after her. She's not as strong as you'd think she is, even if she *is* the protector. The protector of *what*? You need her on this journey. She is the only one that can get them home. Get who home? Take care of her.....Nephryte.........you always have...... Wait! Where are you going! I'm not finished yet! You're not answering my question! Who are you?! Nephryte woke up sweaty and hot. He looked around, and gave a sigh of relief as he saw different figures sleeping on the floor. Dark figures, shadows everywhere. One figure moved, seeming about to wake up. Nephryte kept his eyes on that moving figure, wondering what they were doing this late at night. He asked himself, The figure turned to him, glaring bright yellow eyes at him. "Ahh!" Nephryte jumped up from the floor he was sleeping on and took a giant leap back. "Nephryte, I've come to get you." The figure said, it's eyes glowing in the dark, it's teeth twisted into a sinister smile. "Go to hell!" Nephryte yelled, reaching into his pocket, where he kept his crystal, ready to blast this creep to the other side of the sun. "Can't find it?" The yellow eyed figure asked, not a bit scared since there was no threat. Abruptly, someone from behind pounced onto that yellow eye thing and made it come crashing down onto the floor. Then, that someone hauled the thing with incredible strength for someone that size off of the cliff. Nephryte looked curiosly at his savior, wondering if that person was going to turn on him with yellow eyes too. The person, obviously not a man walked closer to Nephryte. "Makoto?" Nephryte whispered, wondering where she had gotten that strength from. Silently, Makoto walked closer to him, then pointed to the floor with the now twisted blanket on it. "You want me to go to sleep?" Nephryte asked. She nodded. "But-" Nephryte started, looking out of the corner of his eye for another yellow eyed creature. Mako shook her head, then whispered, "You will sleep, I will protect you." Obeying, Nephryte lied down on the blanket and put his head on the floor. The last thing he saw before drifting off to sleep was the shape of Makoto's form outlined against the mouth of the cave. Birds chirping woke Nephryte up into the break of dawn. He was surprised he actually slept through Jadeite's loud snoring that sounded like a chainsaw. He remembered what happened the night before and looked around at the slumbering forms outlined in the morning light. He expected someone to wake up and attack him, like before. Nephryte thought as he looked around and saw no sign of what happened last night. He noticed that Mako wasn't in her spot. He got up and tried not to wake anyone up as he stepped over some sleeping bodies. Mako was sitting with her legs hanging off the edge of the cilff. She seemed perfectly content with what she was doing right then. Nephryte almost didn't want to disturb her. On accident, he stepped on a brittle branch and made a cracking sound. A sudden turn of the neck and Mako was looking at him again. "Thanks for watching over us last night," Nephryte said, trying to see if it rang a bell. Mako frowned, not understanding what he was talking about. "You don't remember?" Nephryte asked. Mako shook her head. Nephryte gestured, trying to mimic how she struck the yellow eyed thing and then hauled it off the cliff. Mako laughed and clapped, thinking he was putting on a show for her. Nephryte thought her laugh sounded like small bells, tinkling like how the stars twinkle. "You don't remember that?" She shook her head no again. "Hey, you early birds. Up already?" Hera asked, walking gracefully like the cat she was out of the mouth of the cave and to the ledge. "Should we wake the others up? I suppose they'd want an early start." Nephryte said. "No, I think they need their rest. Long day ahead of us," Artemis said, following Hera out. "Did you guys hear anything last night? Something unusual?" Nephryte asked. "Well, someone, sounded like you were yelling or mumbling in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare?" Artemis asked. "I guess so," Nephryte said, rubbing his head, wondering if it was all a dream. "I can't believe I slept so well in that cave! I feel like I slept forever!" Sailor Mars came out stretching. Her usually free flowing hair was tied loosely with a red satin ribbon. Nephryte thought, He shrugged that thought off and went to where Mako was sitting and carefully sat down next to her, keeping his balance so he wouldn't fall and bring Mako down with her. "Wow, look at the scenery," Rei said and breathed in the fresh air. She looked around the cliff, seeing lots of clouds not too far away, "Looks like we're ontop of the world." "Maybe we are," Jadeite said as he came out and put an arm around her. Nephryte noticed that Jadeite was missing the red tie he was usually wearing around his neck and realized that it was holding Rei's hair back. A pang shot through his already wounded heart and he wondered if Lita would ever love him again. He shook his head mentally, knowing that he had to let her go because she wasn't the girl he once loved. He wished she would be, but he knew her heart belonged to someone else. Just as Nephryte thought of it, Jupiter Knight came out, his hair looking like it's been the strongest wind recorded. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Then, he looked at Nephryte, who was staring at him strangely. "I'm not a morning person," Jupiter Knight said. "I can see that," Nephryte answered. He turned back to Mako, who was just staring serenely out into the white puffs of clouds. She's not as strong as she looks. She's fragile. She needs you to look after her, to love her even. Those words crept back into his mind. Who the hell was saying that anyway? The voice was so deep, probing into his head, almost like it was talking to him telepathicaly. Beside him Mako shivered slightly and sniffed. Nephryte looked down at her bare arms, seeing goosebumps forming. He got up and took off his cape, which was buttoned onto his shoulders. He put that over Mako, who looked grateful for the warmth. "Geeze, what happened to your hair?" Sailor Jupiter asked when she came out of the mouth of the cave and got a look at Jupiter Knight's wild hair. Jupiter Knight ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair and it magically straightened out without the use of a comb. "Nothing happened to it." "So should we get going?" Sailor Mercury asked, walking out with the rest of the late risers. They all nodded and set forward to climb for the whole day... "Almost there!" Tuxeedo Mask cried out. Up ahead, he could see the cliff and then a ledge. This quickened his speed and he swiftly hoisted himself over. He helped the others up and the took a look around. "What the-" Nephryte started. As he looked down to see how far they climbed, what seemed like a two day climb was only a couple thousand feet up. "Do you guys see what I see?" Jadeite asked. "-but it took us more than two days to climb up here. Did the mountain shrink?" Sailor Venus asked. Instead of finding herself ontop of the highest mountain, when she looked down, she saw it was nothing more than a plateu. "This place is diffinitely weird," Sailor Jupiter said. She looked around and saw they were at the edge of yet another town. "Let's get going, there's no time to lose." Luna said and led the way. They probably looked weird to the towns-people, following a black cat into town. But no one paid them any special attention. The people walking around them were dressed dramatically different from the people who were on ground level. Instead of covering every part of the body with a large and heavy cloak, they did almost the opposite. Girls were walking around with skimpy tops and bottoms, under a sheer looking sheet wrapped around them. The men wore white blouses with overlapped ruffles in the front and velvety black slacks. The men of the group following the black cat had their eyes wide open, about to jump out of their foreheads. Their eyeballs roamed around, looking at each girl who passed by and each that passed by wore less than the other. "Stop staring," Sailor Jupiter said sternly to Jupiter Knight. He blushed, not noticing his behavior and pryed his eyes away from the girls. He looked at Sailor Jupiter's frowning face. "You're much better looking," he said, trying to win back her favor. "I'll let you off on that one," Sailor Jupiter said, her frown turning into a sugary coated deadly smile. "Please, forgive my unworthy soul," Jupiter Knight kidded and play-bowed to her. "Get up, Ken, you're making a scene." Sailor Jupiter said and pulled him up. "So where do we go now?" Sailor Mercury asked. "I think the best thing to do is to blend in. We don't want to arouse any suspicions. We don't know if they're on our side or not." Tuxeedo Mask suggested. "Blend in?" Nephryte asked. He indicated what they were all wearing, then at what everyone else was wearing. "Don't tell me we have to dress like them," Sailor Mercury said horrified. "I think that would be a good idea," Luna agreed. "I'm not dressing like that!" Sailor Mars defied. "But it's for the best. We can't let them know we're any different or else everything will be out of order." Hera insisted. "Okay, so were do we whatever they're wearing? I doubt we'll find that old lady who gave us the cloaks last time." Sailor Jupiter said, the only one who was giving in. "I see a store over there at the corner, let's try that." Artemis suggested. They reluctantly followed the white cat into a musky smelling store. A small tinkering bell rang as they opened the wood door. "Ah? What would you like today, dear customers?" A young woman asked, who was obviously the owner of the store. They looked around and saw that this was indeed a clothing shop. Everyone tried to find something less revealing, but the only thing that was available looked as short as beachwear. "Just pick something I don't think we have all day," Tuxeedo Mask said as he grabbed a starch white blouse and a pair of black trousers. The store owner looked at them all strangely, then commented, "Is this the fashion where you are from? Why so ugly fabric? Don't deny of your true self." She shook her closely cropped hair and showed off what she was wearing, "You see, this is the ONLY thing to wear. Don't be shy, let it all show." "I don't think I want that much to show," Sailor Mercury muttered. "Oh? Let me pick out what matches you all," the woman said. She pranced around the store, picking up this and that, even a few items for the men. She handed it to everyone and then directed them to two different seperate rooms in back, "Dress in there, seperately." "Seperately" meaning that girls in the girls room, guys in the mens room. After they had dressed, they walked out and looked at each other. It was unbelievable, the young store owner had picked out each of their ideal colors. Lita was wearing a sugar pink underclothes with a sheer pink sheet, Ami an ice blue color, Rei a deep red color, Mina a pastel orange color. Mako was wearing a light green color which brought out the colors of her eyes greatly. The men looked like they were wearing the same except for their slacks, which were different colors also. Ken was wearing dark green, Nephryte a darker shade of green, almost black, Darien's were black, Jadeite's was a deep red, almost black. "Wonderful, ah?" The store owner asked. "Yes, it's wonderful," Lita said. She handed the lady a handful of coins to pay for expenses. "Thank you, please come again." The lady shouted as they walked out. Ken's eyes were bulging as he walked next to Lita. He couldn't hide the fact that she looked really appealing in that out fit. "Stop staring!" Lita demanded, a smile on her lips. "I wish I could," Ken replied. Ami, who was always modest with what she wore couldn't help but blush at wearing so little. Mako seemed totally at ease with what she was wearing and tagged along next to Nephryte. "I feel feminine in these," Jadeite complained, rustling with the ruffles. "I know, I hate them too." Nephryte agreed. "I kind of like them," Darien said, but got weird looks from the three other men and Artemis. "I think we'd better find Serenity before anything else weird happens." Hera said. "Hey, look at that!" Lita pointed at what loomed just above the horizon. It was a large humongous building, which almost looked like the Parthenon sitting on a small almost undetectable hill. "I bet Serenity's in there!" Darien suddenly said, "I know she'd be in there, she can't resist it." "Let's go then!" They all ran toward the large white building.... ______________________________________________________________________ The next chapter might be the last, it depends. All you people who sent me replies to wether Nephryte or Ken should get Lita, look out for what I do in the next chapter. Hopefully, it'll be a surprise. Okay, here's a question that I'm asking you to answer if you will. Should I keep or lose the quote of the weeks? Mail me the replies. Oh, and if you have a neat quote or proverb you like or thought of, please mail them to me because I collect all sorts of sayings. But please, don't send me the ten commandments. SAILOR MOON OTAKU'S OF THE WORLD, UNITE! "On behalf of Jupiter, I shall write to right wrongs and triumph over evil. With my friends, Sailor Venus, Mars, Mercury and Moon. We'll make the world a better place for all people!" -Lady Jupiter Ladyjupiter@sailorjupiter.com **********Copyright 1997 Lady Jupiter (All Rights Reserved)*************