The Moons of Jupiter 

Chapter 1 - Jupiter/Callisto (Revised)
by
ckmakoto 
ckmakoto@hotmail.com.

Rated G 


**Notes: I've used the NA names in this story, even though I prefer the Japanese names...but I'm not very good at making up Japanese guy's names, so Ethan and Joshua it was, and the girl's NA names to go with it.  I have used the Japanese surnames, though, wherever I wasn't sure of the NA equivalent! 
	Also, I apologize, but the timeline for this story (and the ones after it) is very, very messed.  I wrote it before I knew anything about anything past the first season of SM...and kept adding to it afterwards, so we ended up with: the girls in university, but with Serena and Darien still split up (because of his dream), Rini's gone, the Negaverse has been defeated (but none of the villains after them ever showed up), and the attacks/transformations probably don't match up very well, because I just used whatever I thought of at the time.  I didn't want to rewrite too heavily, though, for fear of losing whatever flow the story actually does manage to pull off...*l*

Chapter One
	"Oh, wow, what a glorious day!" Lita exclaimed, talking to herself as she often did. She was walking around the lake near her home, listening to her favourite music on her Walkman and just enjoying the beautiful spring day. She stopped for a moment when she reached a small hill, pausing to admire the swimming geese that nested on the small island in the lake. Wanting to hear their playful honking, she turned the music off.
	Once that background noise was gone, Lita could hear the geese clearly. They sounded almost as if they were crying, just like a little child.
	"Oh, wait a minute," she said, talking to herself again, "That isn't the geese!" The pretty brown-haired teenager instinctively started looking for the source of the desperate sound-she couldn't stand to hear a child crying without making some effort to help. 
	Lita rounded a curve and found a small boy sitting in the middle of the path, wailing as if his heart was breaking. Without any hesitation, she crouched gracefully down beside the child.
	"Hey," she said, as gently as she could, "Don't cry! Come on, tell me what's wrong. What's your name?"
	The little boy looked up at her tearfully.
	"J-Joshua," he sniffed. She smiled reassuringly.
	"Well, Joshua, I'm Lita. Are you lost?" Joshua nodded, still sniffing.
	"Come on, I'll help you find your parents. I'm sure they're here somewhere, right?" She led the child back down the path, hoping his parents would be easy to find. It was a festival day, and a large crowd had come to the carnival set up at one end of the park. On the way there, they passed a concession, and Lita bought ice cream for them both, trying to cheer the little boy up. He looked no older than six or seven, about the same age as Serena's daughter Rini. His soft brown hair was cut in a mushroom shape that flopped forward into his big brown eyes, making him look absolutely adorable.
	An hour later, the park had emptied, with no sign of Joshua's parents. Lita dropped down onto a bench and sighed.
	"Well, kiddo, your mommy and daddy must have gone home. Don't worry, though, we'll find them."
	Joshua looked up at her again, frowning in concentration.
	"My mommy and daddy aren't here," he told her. "I'm 'sposed to be living with my brother. But I don't know where he lives." He sniffed again, dangerously close to tears. Lita quickly interrupted.
	"Oh, don't cry, Joshua! I have an idea. Let's go to my house, and we'll find your brother in the phone book and call him, ok? I have the greatest sugar cookies..."
	Tempted by this promise, the boy willingly followed her home. He happily munched on her cookies while she paged through the phone book, trying to find the name he had been able to give her. Finally, she dialled the right number.
	"Hello?" It was a thoroughly masculine voice, definitely a good sign.
	"Hi," Lita answered. "Do you have a little brother named Joshua?" There was a long paused on the other end.
	"Yes, I do. Who am I speaking to?" The man finally answered, sounding cautious.
	"My name is Lita, Lita Kino. I found Josh in the park-he couldn't remember where you lived, so I brought him over here until we could find you. I'm glad I got the right number."
	"So am I," he said, sounding very relieved now. "Give me your address, I'll come right over."
	Ten minutes later, a black BMW convertible pulled up in front of the house, and a tall, handsome man came up to the door. He had the same brown hair and eyes as his brother, with a strong family resemblance between the two of them. The only difference was that this guy was definitely not six years old. He looked to be a couple of years older than Lita herself.
	She let him in the house; he looked fairly restless, but Joshua was clinging to her legs, refusing to let go. He was obviously scared, not recognising his brother. The older boy understood the problem; he gave a curious half-smile, then crouched down to talk to the child.
	"Don't you know me, Joshua?" He asked gently. The child shook his head, eyes wide. "I'm your brother. Mom and Dad sent you here to stay with me, remember?" This time the boy nodded, but he still clung tightly to Lita's leg. His brother straightened up and smiled apologetically at her.
	"It's been a long time,' he explained. "I've changed a lot since the last time we saw each other." The situation was now totally awkward. Joshua obviously wasn't willing to leave the safety of Lita's apartment to go with someone he considered a stranger. She thought for a moment.
	"Listen," she said, "why don't you both stay for supper? It'll give you a chance to get reacquainted." The boys looked at each other.
	"I'm a really good cook," Lita added.
	"Well, ok," the older one answered. "We'll stay. By the way, you can call me Ethan." He grinned at her.
	"Good to meet you, Ethan," she replied. "Come on, you guys can both help me cook, ok?"
	Later than night, as Lita got ready for bed, she thought back on the events of the day. The dinner had been a complete success; little Joshua had even held his brother's hand as they walked out to the car afterwards. She had seen the protective way that Ethan watched his brother; there was no doubt that the youngster would be well looked after. Which reminded her of one of the more memorable moments of the evening. Ethan had been warning his brother about the dangers the park contained, especially for children, and the little boy had looked up at her with those huge brown eyes and said that he had been perfectly safe, because he had been with her.
	"You'd protect me, wouldn't you, Lita?" he'd asked.
	"Of course I would," she had answered, with my life. You and all of the other children of the world.
	Looking back on it now, she knew she had spoken the truth. After all, Lita was not just an ordinary teenager; she was gifted with amazing powers as a member of the Sailor Scouts. She was Sailor Jupiter, one of the five defenders of the Earth and the Universe. The other four were her closest friends; Serena Tsukino, who was sailor Moon, Raye Hino, who was Sailor Mars, Mina Aino who was Venus, and Amy Anderson who was Mercury. Together, the five of them fought evil, trying to preserve the world's present, and its promise of a perfect future in Crystal Tokyo. So far, they'd destroyed everyone who dared to threaten either of those.
	Putting all of those thoughts aside, Jupiter crawled into bed, completely worn out. The scouts had a huge meeting the next day, and she had to be awake and alert for it. She fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming of the future that she knew lay ahead.
* * *
	In the middle of the night, Lita woke up suddenly, not knowing what it was that had disturbed her sleep. A full moon was shining in the window, washing the whole room in pale silver. She propped herself up on her elbows, looking around the room. There was a deep shadow in the far corner of the room; as she stared into it, it moved suddenly, showing the figure of a man in a black cape.
	"Tuxedo Mask?" Lita said groggily, "What are you doing here? " There was no reply, and as her eyes began to adjust, she saw that it wasn't Tux at all. True, the man was wearing a tuxedo and a cape, but instead of a top hat his head was bare, and he wore no mask, although his face was lost in deep shadow. His cape was not black, but a deep navy blue.
	"It really is you," he whispered, sounding almost awed. Alarmed now, she reached for the Jupiter wand on her nightstand.
	"Don't, please," the man said suddenly. "I mean you no harm." His voice was strangely hypnotic, and she paused for a moment.
	"Who are you?" she asked him
	"I am the Lord of Dreams," he answered, "Hush, now, go back to sleep." He began to sing wordlessly, soft and low, and with one hand threw a shower of silver dust across the room.
	Lita's eyes grew heavy, and began to close. Without any awareness of movement, she noticed that the man was beside her now, holding her in his arms, and now she could make out his words.
"Now dream of a palace where you used to live,
And always remember your past,
And then when the time comes, oh ready you'll be,
To bring in the future at last."
	She did not hear the last two lines; she was deeply asleep now, caught in the stranger's spell. He watched her for a moment, his expression thoughtful, then bent and gently kissed her, and laid her back on the bed. Then, with a swirl of his cape, he disappeared.


Chapter Two 
	"Serena, you're late again! Can't you ever be on time, meatballhead?"
	"Yeah, well, I beat Lita, didn't I!"
	"I wonder where she is, anyway?  She's always on time for our meetings."  Amy said.
	"So what if you did? You're the one that usually sleeps in.  You're just lucky she's late!"
	"You're right, Amy," answered Mina.  "I hope nothing happened to her."
	"I am not just lucky!"
	"Are too!"
	"Am not!"
	"Are too!"
	"Am NOT!"
	"Are TOO!"
	"Will you two just STOP FIGHTING!!"  It was Artemis this time, breaking into the argument between Serena and Raye.  "I'm worried about Lita.  This isn't like here."
	Just then the girl in question ran in, breathless and panting.
	"I'm so sorry," she gasped, "I slept right through my alarm.  I can't believe I did that!"
	"That's quite all right," Luna answered primly.  "We can start our meeting now.  Lately, I've been sensing some strange energy in the city-it might be the Negaverse again.  Lita, will you PLEASE stop that humming!"
	"Oh, sorry!"  Lita answered, startled.  "I didn't realize I was doing it.  I had the strangest dream last night-this man was in my room, singing to me...it's been running through my head ever since-'And dream of a palace where you used to live..."
	She broke off suddenly, noticing that Luna, Artemis, and all of the other girls were staring at her.
	"What?" she asked defensively.  "It was a cool dream!"
	"Lita," Sailor Mercury said, "Are you sure it was a dream?"
	"Wha-yes, it was a dream!  It had to be! That kind of thing just doesn't happen.  It's as weird as...as..."
	"As five teenage girls with mystical powers who defend the Earth from evil?"
	"Well-yeah."  She finished lamely.  "Ok, maybe it was actually for real."
	"That may be the source of the strange energy Luna sensed.  He might be from the Negaverse!"  Raye said.
	"Yeah, right, Raye," Serena said.  "If he was Negascum, wouldn't he have done something to her last night?"
	"He said he meant no harm," Lita added.
	"Lita, the guy was in your bedroom in the middle of the night.  Doesn't that seem just a little bit strange?"
	"We have to be very careful," Luna interrupted,  "I want all of you girls to keep your eyes open.  There's something wrong here-I can feel it."
	"Luna's right," Amy said.  "We have to stay watchful.  There are always new enemies for us to face!"
	"Of course there are, Amy, but I don't see any right now!"  Serena whined.  "It's such a beautiful day, let's just go outside.  We can go to the park!"
	"Oh, that's another thing," Lita said to Amy.  "I met the most adorable little boy yesterday, lost in the park.  We had ice cream, and I helped him find his brother...he's kind of cute, reminds me of Freddie..."
	"Did somebody say ice cream?  What an awesome idea!  Let's go!"
	They all followed Serena's lead, mostly because they couldn't keep up with her.  They caught up at the park concession, and found her contentedly munching on a triple-decker cone.
	"Mmmm," she said between mouthfuls, "This triple-chocolate raspberry cheesecake surprise is incredible!"
	"Lita!" someone yelled.  She looked up just as a compact bundle came flying at her, and deftly caught it, giving it a big hug.
	"Hi, Joshua, how're you doing?  You aren't lost again, are you?" she asked worriedly.
	"No, he isn't lost," a deep, laughing voice answered.  It was Ethan.  "We came to feed the ducks, right, Josh?"
	"Yeah!" he said enthusiastically, " 'Cept we ran out of bread.  So we came to buy something else to give them.  We didn't know you were here, Lita!"
	"Well, I didn't know you were here, either," she replied.  "Joshua, these are my friends, Raye, Mina, Amy, and Serena.  Guys, this is Joshua, and his brother, Ethan."
	Raye gave Serena a nudge in the ribs.
	"Stop drooling, meatballhead!" She whispered.
	"Anyway," Ethan said, "we should go.  Don't want to keep the ducks waiting, do we, Josh?"
	The Scouts moved on, enjoying their afternoon at the lake.
	"Wow," Serena said finally.  "He is SO gorgeous!"
	"I thought Darien was gorgeous, Serena," Raye said pointedly.
	"Well, yeah, but he obviously doesn't like me anymore, so why should I like him?"
	"What kind of meatballhead logic is that?"
	The other girls sighed, rolling their eyes as Raye and Serena went at it again.  Eventually, they all split up and went home, after agreeing on a meeting the next day.



Chapter Three
	The next day, Serena came rushing up to Raye's house, late as always.  She burst in on the meeting, hardly noticing how solemn everybody looked.  She did notice, though, when no one even commented on her being late.
	"Hey, guys, what's wrong?"  She looked around.  "Where's Amy?"
	Mina looked up.
	"Didn't you hear?  She's in the hospital."
	"Oh no!  What happened?  Is she ok?"
	"We don't know," Luna started, and Artemis finished,  "She's unconscious.  Her mother just called.  She couldn't wake her up this morning."
	That bad news drained even Serena's excessive energy.  She sank to the floor.
	"That sounds really serious.  Can we go see her?"
	Raye nodded.  "We were just waiting for you."
	"Well, then, let's go."
	The girls walked over to the hospital, unusually subdued.  No one was laughing or smiling today; they were all worrying about their friend.  Amy had always been the quiet strength and intelligence of the group; her presence would definitely be missed, especially if they found themselves with a fight on their hands.
	Luna was truly worried about the impact Amy's illness would have on the scouts; besides her being a good friend, the girls were used to having the information she provided to help them find an enemy's weaknesses.  Looking around the group, Luna realized that she was probably the only one who saw how well the different strengths of each girl combined to make a whole.  Take Raye, for example; she was the spiritual one, often providing guidance to the group with the sacred flame at her grandfather's temple.  Serena was the leader of the group, the Moon Princess, who would be the ruler of Crystal Tokyo.  She was the bouncy one, always ready with a smile or a laugh for the other girls.  Mina was the beautiful one, sharing her name with the goddess of love, and she was also the most talented artistically.  Amy was the smartest of the group, the one most involved in her schoolwork.
	Lastly, Luna looked to Lita, Sailor Jupiter.  She wasn't as spiritual or as hot-tempered as Mars, or as bouncy as Moon.  She didn't have Venus' beauty or talent, and she wasn't as brilliant as Mercury.  She was the fighter of the group, always the first to jump into battle to defend the people she cared for.  All of the girls were immensely loyal to each other; but Jupiter was always willing to go that extra mile to protect the people she loved.
	Luna was shaken out of her thoughts by their arrival at the hospital.  Serena quickly concealed the two cats in a bag--a large one, fortunately--and the six of them entered the hospital and went immediately to Amy's room.
	Their friend was lying in a hospital bed, completely still.  She was hooked up to several monitors, but she was breathing on her own, and she looked perfectly healthy, except that she was abnormally pale.  Luna leapt out of the bag and curled up beside the unconscious form, purring quietly, but there was no response.  The girls gathered around the bed; Lita held one hand, Raye the other, both trying to lend some strength to their friend.  Mina started gently stroking her forehead.
	"Guys, check this out," she said suddenly, "There's some kind of a symbol on her forehead."  She brushed Amy's hair aside so the others could see.
	The mark was a black diamond, completely filled.  Behind it the girls could just see the edges of Amy's blue Mercury symbol.  The sight was chilling.
	"Luna, what is that?"  Serena asked in a hushed voice.  "Could it be the Negaverse again?'
	"I don't know," the cat answered, "I've never seen anything like it.  One thing is for sure, though-it means trouble."
	The four girls all looked at each other, knowing they shared the same fears.
	"Then-" Serena broke off rather than voicing the thought on everyone's mind.
	"It's started again," Raye whispered.  "But who..."
	"A new enemy," Mina answered.  "Another threat.  What do we do?"
	As usual, it was Lita, looking determined, who provided the answer.  She turned back to Amy, tightening her grip on the stricken girl's hand as a wave of anger left her shaking.
	"We fight," she vowed.  "We fight to the end, like always.  That's what we do.  It's who we are."  
And deep in her heart, every one of the Scouts knew those words to be true.



Chapter Four 
	The girls were all silent for a long moment.
	"It must be very strong," Raye said finally.  "It looks like Amy has been completely drained of energy.  It would have taken a lot to do that."
	"Yes, it would have," Mina agreed.  "It doesn't look like she put up much of a fight, though; her parents would have seen or heard something, right?"
	"She didn't even know," Serena whispered.  "She never saw it coming."
	They were all silent again, thinking about the immense power it would take to drain a Scout of her energy.
	"We have to find it," Mina said.  "We have to stop it, whatever it is."
	"We WILL stop it."  Raye said.  "We're the Sailor Scouts, right?  If we can't stop it..."
	"We can."  Serena said confidently.  "We defeated Queen Beryl, remember?  We can take this thing."
	"First you have to find out what it is," Artemis reminded them.  "You can't fight something you can't find."  Luna nodded.
"You girls should all go home and get some rest now-you may need it, later."
	"Good idea, Luna," Mina agreed.  "Come on, guys, let's book it.  We can't do anything for Amy here-all we can do is find out who-or what-did this to her."
	They walked back to the park together, then split up, each going her own way.
	Lita took a shortcut through the park, skirting the lake, trying to gather her thoughts.  She was concentrating so deeply that she walked right into Ethan, who was standing on the path staring out over the water.
	"Oh!  Ethan," she said, jumping back,  "I'm so sorry.  I wasn't paying attention."  He looked down at her and gave that adorable half-smile again.
	"No problem, Lita.  What were you so lost in thought about, anyway?"
	"Oh, um, nothing much.  I'm just worried about my friend, Amy.  She's in the hospital."
	"I'm sorry.  Is she ok?"
	"I don't know.  Nobody can figure out what's wrong."  Except us, she added silently.  She wasn't about to tell him about the Negaverse, though.
	He had turned away from her, looking out at the lake again.
	"Lita," he said suddenly, "did you mean what you said about protecting Joshua?"
"Of course I did," she answered, startled.  "I would never let anything happen to him."   
	Ethan stared at her intently for a moment, as if judging the truth in her words.
	"Good," he said finally.  "Lita, if anything ever happened to me, would you take care of him?  I think he'd be safe with you."  He sounded very concerned.
	"Yes, Ethan, I would take care of him," she told him solemnly, looking straight into his eyes.  "And he would be safe, I promise."  Safer than you know.
	He stared at her a moment longer, then smiled again suddenly.
	"That's great.   Thank you-you don't know how important this is to me.  I'd die if anything ever happened to Josh."  Jupiter smiled in turn.
	"You're welcome.  You obviously love your brother very much."
	"We've always been very close."
	"Where is Josh, anyway?"
	"He's at school.  I'm just waiting for him now.  Come walk with me?'
	She readily agreed, and they started strolling around the lake, stopping a few times to admire the many birds out on the water.  After a while, they went together to pick up Joshua from his school, and then Ethan took them out for dinner, insisting that he had to repay her for the meal she had cooked.  Josh was happy to see her, and the evening was a lot of fun. Through it all, though, Lita couldn't keep thoughts of Amy out of her mind.  She was really worried about her friend, and about this new threat.
	Later in the evening, the two boys walked her home.  She watched them walking away, laughing at how similar they were; they even flipped the hair out of their eyes in exactly the same way.
She yawned suddenly, and headed for bed, remembering Luna's suggestion.  She knew she needed the sleep.

Chapter Five 
	Around midnight, a voice intruded on her dreams, pulling her back into consciousness.
	Makoto, it whispered, Wake up.  Slowly, she opened her eyes, knowing somehow that the voice was calling to her, even though it had used the name Makoto.  The first thing she saw when she finally focused was the blue mask and cape of the Dream Lord.  Instantly, thoughts of Amy flashed through her mind, and she reached for her Jupiter wand.
	"I told you," he said, "I mean you no harm.  Your friend is in danger--come."
	Without even questioning the command, Lita grabbed the wand.
	"Jupiter Star Power!" she cried, and she was instantly transformed into Sailor Jupiter.  The Dream Lord was right beside her; he swirled his cape, drawing its darkness around them both, and when he pulled it away again, they were in a different room.  Lita recognized Mina's room; pictures of rock stars lined the walls, and movie posters were scattered throughout.  She wasn't paying attention to any of that, though; all of her energy was focused on the bed, where her friend was lying, sound asleep.  A black, shadowy figure was bending over Venus.  As Lita watched, it reached out a deep black hand and placed two fingers on Mina's forehead.  Orange energy began to swirl and flow up the thing's arm, disappearing into the utter blackness of its form.  The symbol of Venus flashed onto Mina's head, then was covered over with a black diamond.
	"Stop right there!"  Jupiter yelled.  "Just who do you think you are, anyway?"
	The thing turned towards her.  It had no face, no real form, but she could tell it was looking at her even before the creature spoke, in a hollow, echoing voice.
	"I am Dream Creeper."  It said, then was suddenly gone.  Mina was lying in her bed in exactly the same state as Amy.  The whole thing had taken only seconds; Jupiter hadn't even had time for an attack.
	A moment of deep silence passed before the Dream Lord spoke.
	"Come, Makoto, we must return.  You cannot help her now."  She turned towards him, eyes wide with barely suppressed emotion.
	"Why did you bring me here?  Why didn't you stop it?" she demanded.
	He didn't answer.
	"Why?" she asked again, giving in to her tears.  He stayed silent, moving towards her.  "Why didn't you help her?"
	The Lord of Dreams began to sing, softly, and Jupiter remembered no more.  She woke up in her own bed the next morning, completely alone.
Right away, she jumped out of bed, reaching for the phone.  She called Serena and Raye, telling them briefly what had happened and arranging to meet them at the hospital.  She dressed quickly, tossing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and ran out the door.
	Serena, Raye, Luna, and Artemis met her outside the hospital, all wearing very worried looks.  Raye was the first to speak.
	"What happened, Lita?" she asked.  "How did you know Mina had been attacked?  Her mother called me right after you did."
	"I was there," Lita answered grimly.  "Come on, I'll tell you the whole story once we're inside."  They headed upstairs, to the room that Mina and Amy now shared.
	Amy looked much worse than she had the day before; she was hooked up to a respirator now, helping her to breathe, and to a huge variety of beeping, flashing monitors.  Mina looked almost exactly the same as Amy had the day before.  The remaining girls went over to the window and seated themselves, and Lita quickly filled them in on the events of the night before.
	Just as she finished, someone knocked quietly on the closed door.  Serena answered it, letting Darien into the room.  That was a shock; none of the girls had seen much of him since he and Serena had separated.  He tended to avoid them as much as possible.
	"Um...hi." He said, trying to break the awkward tension of the moment.  "I heard about Amy and Mina--I just wanted to see how they were doing."
	"Not very well," Raye answered.  "Amy's worse than she was, and Mina will probably go the same way.  This thing must still be draining energy from them, somehow."  Darien looked confused.
	"What thing?  What are you talking about?"  Together, they told him the entire story, from the very beginning.  When they mentioned the mysterious black marks, he walked over to Amy, brushing her hair aside so he could see for himself.
	"I've never seen a mark like this before," he told them after a moment.  "Whatever this Creeper thing is, it's new to me."  He was silent for a moment, staring at the evil mark, before he looked up again.  "I'll help you to fight it, whatever it is.  We can't let this thing run loose, especially if it's strong enough to beat a Sailor Scout in a fight."
	"She didn't fight it at all," Lita said quietly.  "She didn't even wake up.  It was like a nightmare."  She looked up, eyes bright with tears.
	"I couldn't help her," she whispered, "I let her down."
	"No, Lita!"  "It's not your fault!"  "You didn't create this thing!"  Darien, Raye, and Serena all tried to reassure her at the same time.  She didn't answer, just stared out the window at the street down below.
	All of a sudden, she bolted up out of the chair, staring in horror at something outside.
	"Joshua!" she screamed, then ran from the room.  Without any hesitation, the others followed her.  They reached the street moments after she did, just in time to see her transform into Sailor Jupiter, and quickly followed her example.
	"Jupiter Lightning Crash!" they heard, just as a streak of lightning shot down from the sky, hitting the small wand on Jupiter's tiara.  She focused the attack, slamming it into a hideous monster that was flying through the air towards her.  The force of it threw the thing back, but it recovered quickly and charged again.
	"Mars Fireball Blast!"  Raye screamed, following Jupiter's lead.  The attack stunned the creature momentarily, giving Serena an opening, which she made instant use of.
	"Moon Scepter Elimination!" she yelled, catching the creature in the blazing attack.  It let out a terrible scream as it was vaporized, and then it was gone.
	The girls stood ready a moment longer, checking the area for any other attackers, then let out a collective sigh of relief when none appeared.  There were no other people in the street, in fact, except for one little boy just up the street from them.  It was this boy, Joshua, that the creature had been chasing when Lita had spotted them from the window above.  Now seeing his attacker was gone, he came towards them hesitantly.
	"Joshua!  There you are!"  It was Ethan, coming down the street from the opposite direction.
	"Oops, gotta split, guys.  One of them's bound to recognize me."  Lita told the others.  No one ever seemed to recognize her in her Scout guise, but she didn't feel like pushing her luck.  She ducked into a nearby alley, quickly getting out of sight as she returned to normal.  The other girls waited until Ethan and Joshua were reunited, then came after Jupiter.
	"That was too weird," Serena said, looking around at the other girls.  "I've never seen a Negaverse creep like that going after a single person before.  They always show up in crowds, where they can get the most energy."
	"Yeah, that thing seemed really focused on Joshua," Raye answered.
	Lita laughed suddenly.
	"Hey, guys, remember that time the Negaverse came after Rini?  Boy, were they surprised when she started crying!"  She stopped laughing suddenly, and looked up just as the other girls did.
	"Rini!" they all said together, thinking exactly the same thoughts.  It was Serena who finally broke the shocked silence.
	"Uh...please tell me this kid belongs to one of you guys.  I mean, Rini was great, but one kid from the future is definitely enough."
	"I don't think Joshua is related to any of the Scouts," Luna replied calmly.  "He doesn't resemble any of you.  It must be something else--perhaps he has something that the Negaverse wants."
	"That's nuts!  I mean, he's a six year old kid!"  Lita said.  The other girls stared at her.
	"So was Rini."  Serena reminded her.  Jupiter nodded, remembering.
	"So Josh has something the Negaverse wants.  The question now is, what is it?"



Chapter Six 
	The three girls were silent for a few minutes, each thinking hard.  What could Joshua have that was making him a target?
	"Maybe he's connected to the Dream Creeper somehow.  I mean, the time frame works--Amy was attacked the day after you found Joshua in the park, right, Lita?"  Lita nodded in response to Raye's question.
	"That's right.  Hey, maybe the Creeper isn't actually after us--maybe it's looking for Joshua!"  Serena suggested.  Luna cocked her head.
	"You may be right, Serena.  If the Creeper is searching for Joshua, it's probably looking for something with a strong energy signal.  Amy's just happened to be the first one it found--you know that all of you Scouts have very strong energy forces within you, because of your powers."  The girls all nodded as Luna continued.
	"That monster you just fought was giving off some very odd energy patterns, as well.  It certainly didn't feel like Negavibes-more like the energy we've been sensing lately.  It may have some connection to the Dream Creeper.  You girls must all be very careful.  This creature will no doubt keep looking until it finds its target, even if it has to go through all of the Scouts to do it."
	"We have to find this thing."  Serena said suddenly.  "We have to find it, and we have to stop it."
	"Yeah, but how are we supposed to do that?  So far, this thing has only appeared at night," Raye pointed out.  "We aren't likely to find it in broad daylight, unless it sends out another one of those monsters."
	"There you girls are!"  It was Darien, no longer disguised as Tuxedo Mask.  "Good job with that thing back there.  You girls are really starting to work as a team."
	"Yeah, well, what's left of us, anyway."  Serena muttered.  Darien was quiet for a moment.
	"I know.  I'm really sorry about that--I'll do everything I can to help you girls with this.  By the way, who was that kid being chased back there?  He looked sort of familiar."
	They filled him in on the whole story, beginning to end.  He looked thoughtful for a few minutes, then abruptly snapped out of it.
	"Well, listen, if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know, okay?  I'll be around."  He said, then left as suddenly as he appeared.  It was a while before anyone broke the silence.
	"Wow, did anyone else catch the look on his face?"  Raye asked finally.  "I wonder what that was for?"  They had all seen it, but none of them could figure it out, so they just chalked it up to Darien's natural eccentricity.  He could be a very mysterious guy at times.
	Eventually, the girls realized that there was no more they could do for their stricken friends, so they spent the rest of the day at the park, looking for anything that could help them explain the mystery.  They all went home empty-handed.
	That night, Lita fell asleep fairly quickly, even though she had intended to stay awake.  She wasn't aware of anything for a long time, until the middle of the night, when she woke up suddenly.
	The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the Dream Creeper, looming over her.  Instantly she rolled off the bed and into a crouch, transforming as she did so.  The Creeper was facing her, utterly threatening, a being of pure darkness.  Slowly it reached a hand out towards her, to steal her energy.
	"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"  She shouted, performing the attack.  She hit the creature dead center--and it didn't even flinch, just kept reaching for her.
	"Jupiter Thunder Dragon!" she screamed, using her most powerful attack. A green dragon, formed entirely from the lightning she commanded, launched itself at the Creeper--and was swallowed up in its inky blackness.  She tried again, but none of her attacks were strong enough.  The Creeper reached out, almost touching her forehead, and she felt her eyes begin to close.
	Makoto!  A voice screamed at her, Wake up!  NOW!  She snapped awake, and found herself still lying in bed, staring up at the shadows on the ceiling.  Except that they weren't shadows--it was the Dream Creeper!
	Exactly as she had in her dream, she rolled to the side and transformed.  This time, though, her attack had a definite effect--the creature absorbed the lightning, but then it seemed to fold in on itself and completely disappear.  Jupiter, shaken, looked wildly around the room.  She saw another shadow, and almost blasted it before she recognized who it was.
	The Lord of Dreams was watching her from a corner, and she realized that he had been the one to wake her from that terrible--and deadly--dream.  She took a step towards him.
	"Is that what it's like?" she asked him, her voice unsteady.  "Are Amy and Mina trapped in dreams like that one?  Do they think they're fighting this thing?"
	The Dream Lord did not respond, but he didn't need to.  She already knew the answer.  She took another step.
	"Can you help them?" She demanded.  He looked at her for a long moment, searching her eyes, then glanced away.	
	"I'll do what I can, " he answered finally.  "It isn't much.  I'm not strong enough to defeat that thing."
	"Then who is?" she asked him, pleadingly now.  Again, it was a long moment before she answered her.
	"You are, Makoto," he told her.  "Only you."  And with that, he was gone, leaving her staring only at her own blank walls.


Chapter Seven 
	Early the next morning, Lita phoned the other girls, knowing she needed to tell them what she had learned.  There was no answer at Raye's house, but Serena picked up right away.  Lita barely had a chance to identify herself before Serena told her the bad news--Raye had been attacked by the Dream Creeper the night before, and was now in the hospital with Mina and Amy.  Immediately, they arranged to meet there.  Lita's information could wait.
	Ten minutes later, the girls, along with Artemis and Luna, were at their friend's side.  She was in exactly the same condition as the others.  Strangely, though, Amy and Mina both seemed a little more stable than they had before--they were both breathing steadily, and were a little less pale than they had been.  Watching them, it was easy to believe that they were just sleeping quietly.
	Quickly, Lita told her friends about the events of the night before, especially the part where she had been trapped in the dream.
	"That's how he's still draining energy from them, Serena," she said.  "They're still linked to him through their nightmares.  I think the Dream Lord has been here, helping them sleep more easily--that would slow down the energy loss.  He told me he would try to help them."
	"He's protecting you."  Serena said after a moment.  "Think about it.  Every time you've been in trouble recently, he's appeared.  Just like Tuxedo Mask does when I'm in trouble.  And what he said...somehow, this whole thing revolves around you, Lita.  I think it's up to you to stop it."
	"How can I?  I'm not strong enough to beat the Creeper.  My attack last night didn't even hurt it--just look what it did to Raye!"  She stopped, too miserable to continue.
	"I don't know," Serena answered, completely serious for once.  "I honestly don't.  All I know is that this monster has to be stopped, somehow, before he gets what he's looking for.  If the Negaverse is willing to spend this much energy looking for it, it must be really important to them.  It's up to us to keep it out of their hands."  She stopped, as close to tears as Lita was as they both looked down at the still forms of their closest friends.
	"Come on, let's get out of here," she said finally.  "This is way too depressing."
	The two girls walked to Serena's house in utter silence, each thinking their own thoughts.  When they arrived, they just sat around in the living room, talking to the cats about the events of the past few days, the Dream Creeper, and the Lord of Dreams.  After a while, Lita went into the kitchen, to make some lunch for the two of them, and the two felines followed her, all of them deep in conversation.
	Lita put a pot of water on the stove to boil, then turned around to make a comment to Serena.  She stared in horror.
	Serena had fallen asleep on the couch, and now the Dream Creeper stood over her, draining her energy.  Immediately, Lita transformed.
	"Jupiter Star Power!"  she shouted, then started attacking the thing as soon as she could.  Only moments later, Tuxedo Mask showed up, as always when Serena was in danger.
	The creature completely ignored them, even when she attacked it with her dragon, and even Tuxedo Mask's roses seemed to do no harm.  The thing simply absorbed the attacks, and continued to drain Serena's energy.  Finally, when it was done, it vanished, leaving a drained Serena behind.  They had failed.
	They both changed back to normal, and Darien walked slowly over to the couch, taking Serena gently into his arms.  He brushed the hair back from her forehead, revealing the fresh black mark left there by the Creeper, then abruptly turned away, obviously very broken up.
	"Darien," Lita said finally, hating to disturb him, "We should take her to the hospital. "  He nodded, staying completely silent, and carefully lifted Serena.  He carried her the few blocks to the hospital, with Lita following closely behind.
	They didn't leave Serena's side for a moment as she was put in the capable hands of the hospital staff, and eventually placed in a room close to the other girls.  Darien stood beside her bed, holding one of her hands in his and staring down at her, his face blank, his eyes tortured.
	"You still love her, don't you?"  was all that Lita said, and his only answer was "More than words can say."


Chapter Eight 
	They passed several more minutes in complete silence, with Lita unwilling to intrude on Darien's thoughts.  Finally, though, she knew she had to ask.
	"Darien," she said softly.  He looked up at her, his eyes full of misery.
	"Darien, you have to tell me what you know about this whole mess.  There's something, I just know it."
	He didn't answer, and she went on.
	"The other day, when that monster was chasing Joshua, you looked as if you'd see a ghost.  And when I was telling you about the Dream Lord, you didn't seem surprised at all, not like everyone else was.  You have to help me, Darien--It may be our only chance for beating this thing, and helping Serena and the others."
	He hesitated for a long moment, and she had almost given up on him when he began to speak.
	"You're right, Lita," he said.  "I do know more than I've told you.  At least, I think I do.  I don't know if it will help, though."
	"Well, whatever it is, it's more than I have to go on now." She said, encouraging him.  He took a deep breath, and began his story.
	"Okay...you already know that there were five princesses, you and the other Scouts, protecting this galaxy during the Silver Millennium--but you've probably forgotten that there were five princes as well.  You know me, of course, the Prince of Earth--but there were four others, one from each of Jupiter's largest moons.  The five of us were as close as you girls are, until they disappeared.
	"It was just when the Negaverse was becoming a serious threat in the galaxy.  We were all fostering at the Moon Palace, in Queen Serenity's court.  Our parents sent us all there to learn from the Queen--she was so wise, even then, but she was not strong enough to protect all of her people from the Negaverse.
	"Queen Beryl must have know that the Princes would become the strongest warriors of the Silver Millenium--so one night, while we were all sleeping, all of the Princes disappeared.  Except me."
	Lita could hear the pain in his voice--he obviously felt guilty for being left behind.  After a moment, he went on.
	"Before he disappeared, Queen Serenity had promised you to the prince of Callisto, Lita.  I'd forgotten about the whole thing--until I saw that boy, Joshua, the other day.  He is the prince of Callisto, I'm sure of it.  My guess would be that this Creeper thing isn't after the Scouts at all--it's probably looking for Josh, and just picked up on the Scout's energy instead."
	Lita nodded solemnly.
	"We figured that part out already.  So Joshua is a prince from the Silver Millennium?  That explains a lot--except what he's doing here.  If he was kidnapped by the Negaverse, they would never have let him escape."
	"Maybe he wasn't kidnapped by the Negaverse, then."  Darien answered.
	"But then who--oh!'  Lita gasped as a thought occurred to her.  "Queen Serenity could have sent him here, right?  She was strong enough.  But why?"
	"Queen Serenity was a very wise woman," Darien answered, "If she sent Joshua forward, there must be a reason for it.  Some threat that he has to fight off."
	"But that still doesn't explain the Dream Creeper, or the Dream Lord," Lita said, deep in thought.  "He can't be here to fight anything--he's only six years old.  And you said the princes would have become the most powerful warriors of the Silver Millennium, not that they were the most powerful.  None of us had any real powers at that age."
	"You're right, of course.  It looks like the only person with any answers now is Joshua himself.  We have to find him."
	"That could be hard.  I don't know where he lives--there was no address in the phone book, just Ethan's phone number."
	"Ethan?"
	"Joshua's older brother."
	"Lita, Joshua didn't have an older brother.  And Joshua was his middle name, not his first."
	"What are you saying?"
	"The Prince of Callisto was named Ethan Joshua.  They're the same person, Lita, just different ages."
	"Then--all of the princes would have powers like yours, right?  Today, I mean?"
	"Of course."
	"Then--Ethan is the Dream Lord.  He's the one who's been protecting me.  It all makes sense--if he was promised to me, like you said, then he would protect me the way you protect Serena, and that's exactly what he has been doing, all along.  And he's looking after Joshua--we have to find them, Darien.  They're the keys to this whole puzzle!"


Chapter Nine 
	Together, Lita and Darien searched the entire park and the area around it, but they found nothing that would lead them to Joshua or Ethan.  When they checked at Josh's school, they discovered that he had called in sick that morning.  Nothing they did turned up any trace of the two.  Finally, exhausted, they decided to give up the search and return to their respective homes.
	"I'm almost afraid to go home," Lita admitted.  "I don't want to sleep--in case..."
	"He'll protect you, Lita," Darien assured her.  "He is bound to you, just as I am bound to Serena--he would give his life to protect you.  You are safe as long as he's around, even from the Dream Creeper, as he's already proven."
	"You're right, Darien, of course," she agreed.  "Somehow, I feel safe, just knowing that he's out there, somewhere.  In my heart, I know that he'll protect me."
	"He's your destiny, Lita," Darien said as he turned towards his home.  "Never doubt that."
	Lita smiled.
	"Somehow, that's the one thing I can't doubt." She answered, and then they went their separate ways.
	It had been another long day, and she fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down.  Once again, she slept soundly for most of the night, until she heard a voice penetrating her dreams.
	Makoto, she heard through her slumber, help me.
	The words jarred her into alertness, and she woke to see the Dream Lord standing before her once more.
	"Help me," he pleaded once again.  Immediately, she responded.
	"Jupiter Star Power!" she said, transforming into Sailor Jupiter.  She stepped willingly into the Dream Lord's billowing embrace, and moments later found herself standing in a room she had never seen before.  She had seen the little boy lying in the bed, though, and she had definitely seen the shadowy monster leaning over Joshua's sleeping form.
	"I can't wake him, Makoto, I can't help him," the Dream Lord said from beside her.  "It's all up to you now."
	"But how am I supposed to fight this thing?  I'm not strong enough!"
	"The crystal--there!" he said, pointing to a large, glowing emerald suspended over Joshua's still form.  "The Jupiter crystal.  I--Josh was sent here to give it to you."
	"But what do I do with it?" she cried.
	"You'll know what to do," he answered, beginning to fade from her sight as his alter ego was drained of energy.
	"But I'm not strong enough!"
	"Yes, you are--you have the power of the ancestors.  And you have all my love, Makoto."
	With those words, a strange energy began to flow into Jupiter, and she suddenly knew what to do.  Without hesitation, she dove towards the bed, snatching the round crystal from midair.  Instantly, a brilliant green aura began to glow around her, and she leapt to her feet, spreading her hands apart, eyes closed in concentration.  Slowly, she whispered three words.
	"Jupiter...Samurai...Thunder!"
	As she said the last word, she brought her hands together, trapping the crystal between them.  Simultaneously, a tremendous thunderclap filled the room and a huge bolt of lighting shot down from above, striking her hands.  A radiant samurai sword appeared within her grasp, and without any conscious thought, she turned, slashing downward and across the Dream Creeper's surreal body.
	The creature roared, a terrifying, hollow sound, and light poured forth from the wound she had just inflicted.  A rainbow of energy shot out of the gash, and suddenly the other scouts were in the room beside her, already transformed and ready for battle.  Mercury was the first to react, intuitive as always.
	"Mercury Bubble Blast!" she shouted, filling the room with a haze of bubbles.  The Creeper roared again in confusion.  The slit in its torso was already beginning to heal; still caught up in the strange spell of the crystal, Jupiter whirled and slashed the thing again, reopening the terrible incision, and had just turned again when the creature was suddenly awash in a dazzling silver light, slowly dissolving before her eyes as the full force of Sailor Moon's attack made itself felt.  The Dream Creeper roared one final time, and then it was gone, leaving only a small heap of black dust behind.
	The room was suddenly silent again; four of the scouts turned towards the fifth, standing in the center of the room, still wielding her unearthly weapon.  Slowly, she lowered the sword, swaying slightly, and then painfully pulled her hands apart.  Without a sound, the aura around Jupiter vanished, and she crumpled suddenly to the floor.
	She opened her eyes several long minutes later, immediately searching the now-quiet room, but the only people present were the worried friends gathered around her.
	"Ethan," she whispered, then, realizing his absence, cried out his name.
	"Ethan!"
	And when the echoes had disappeared, and there was still no response, she fell to the floor, and quietly, softly, began to weep.

THE END.