Another enemy senshi? Minako glanced at Usagi, remembering all the trouble they’d gone through with Galaxia. She hoped this wouldn’t be a repeat of that…

As Sedna told her where they might find the first item, Minako sighed and figured they had once again been roped into saving the world, despite the fact that they really only wanted a little bit of peace. This was never going to end, was it? She knew it—had always known it—but it still hurt every time it started all over again.

“Fine. So… shall we teleport there?” she asked, figuring they might as well get this over with as soon as possible.

Usagi felt her stomach clench after hearing that their enemy was probably another senshi. The thought of battling her own kind was always painful. Flashbacks of their battle against the outer senshi, the quartet, the animamates, and Galaxia herself played through Usagi's mind. Just like she had with all of them, Usagi would not give up on a senshi in need. With her senshi and their new ally by her side, she would not fail.

And the first item being on an island made this mission sound a lot more appealing.

Usagi clapped her hands together one time and smiled brightly. "Alright, then I think it's settled! Off to the island we go!" With the shout of her transformation phrase and a flash of pink, Usagi transformed into Sailor Moon and waited for her friends to follow suit. Despite missing her normal life, Usagi was slightly excited to go on yet another adventure with her best friends, and perhaps a new friend.

"Sedna Eternal Power, Make Up!", she called out, touching the pearl that she wore on a chain around her neck. For the first time in her life, Sailor Sedna stood before other senshi. 

"I shall meet you on the Island, do not worry, I will find out." With one last smile, she disappeared from sight, teleporting to her mothers realm in the underworld. Moving quickly, she paid little attention to the spirits around her, as she moved through the series of caverns that lay under the oceans of the Earth. 

While she could have simply teleported to her mothers realm and then where she needed to go, Eshana needed a moment to gather her thoughts. She wasn't worried about keeping Sailor Moon and her guardian senshi waiting; time moved different in this realm than on Earth. Her years of research were finally going to be of use, part of her was ecstatic at the thought, another part terrified. What if she had gotten the locations wrong?  Now, when an enemy was upon them, she needed to be right more than ever. Taking a deep breathe, she calmed herself and concentrated on where she needed to be. She could do this. 

Reappearing on the surface of the Earth, she watched as the Senshi appeared in a circle, the ground beneath them destroyed from their immense power. Stepping out from the dense forest, she called out to them;

"Welcome to Yakushima island." While she knew that the cave was nearby, the girls had luckily teleported fairly close to it, she was curious if the senshi who was to wield this power would be able to sense the direction they needed to go in. "If my research is correct, this is the home of the Azure Dragon, representing the Eastern Direction and the element of Wood. Sailor Jupiter, you yourself have a connection to wood. I believe that you were meant to harness this power."

Sedna walked forward, joining the girls. "Close your eyes and concentrate, are you able to sense the direction in which the cave lies?"

Despite still having a lot of questions - about the enemy, about Eshana, about just everything - Makoto eventually just nodded and reached for her Crystal Change Rod, knowing that they had no time for further discussions or consultations.

"Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!"
In less than a second her casual attire changed into the familiar Senshi fuku, the warm energy slowly disappearing along with the lights and lightnings that shone just a few seconds ago around her tall body.

"Let's go then!"

---

Once arrived, Jupiter tried to keep her balance, noticing the great energy loss she experienced from the teleport and breathing comparatively heavy through her chest.

It's been quite a while since she last used her powers like this.

"Where's E-"
Just about to ask for the still quite strange woman, Jupiter swallowed her words as she heard the older Senshi welcoming them on the island. She smiled - as much as could have been expected under the circumstances - and listened to the green-haired woman, interested in hearing the next parts of their strategy.

"I believe that you were meant to harness this power."

"...M-Me?" Surprised by the newest revelation, Jupiter was speechless, looking at her with wide eyes and trying to say anything else than her stutter from before. "W-Why do you think it's-"

Once again, she interrupted herself, hearing Eshana's next instructions and doing as she was told. Close your eyes. Concentrate.
Hazel eyes met the darkness behind the eyelid, dark brown eyebrows knitted in wrinkles.

And suddenly she heard the leafs moving and the trees crying, hearing how the animals walked on the branches and how another layer of the tree bark seemed to separate from the trunk. She smelled the nature and the fresh oxygen, and eventually realized that her connection with the woods was way deeper than she would have ever thought.

But where was the Dragon and the cave?
Despite extending her senses to the utmost, she couldn't sense any kind of cave within their reach, causing her to slowly lose concentration and to come back to awareness.

"I don't know, I can't really sense anything...Are you sure that there's-"
Like a lightning, a bright flash suddenly struck her head, causing a giant headache, followed by a lot of impressions of the islands.
Several pictures emerged in her head - from the edge and from the center of the island, from the water and from the woods not too far way.

And in the middle of all that...she eventually found...
"I got it! It's not that far away - just a little further to the west!"

Minako felt uneasy about Usagi’s excitement. This wasn’t exactly a vacation, and she still didn’t fully trust their new companion. She transformed with the others, prepared to teleport, and raised an eyebrow when Sedna disappeared ahead of them. How exactly would she find them again? Could the senshi be sensed and found that easily? Another thing that didn’t sit well with her.

They arrived in the island, destroying part of the ground in the process, and Venus winced. This was a World Heritage Site and they were destroying the very nature that the humans wanted to preserve, and she felt guilty about it.

True to her word, Sedna appeared as if she knew exactly where they would arrive, stepping out from the forest. Venus glanced at Jupiter in surprise at the mention of dragons and the fact that she was meant to wield this power. Well, one of Jupiter’s attacks, Supreme Thunder Dragon, did take that form, but…

Jupiter seemed as taken aback, and Venus watched as she attempted to do as Sedna instructed. At first it seemed it wasn’t working, but then suddenly Jupiter’s body jerked as if shot with electricity. “Are you…?” Venus was about to ask whether she was alright when suddenly Jupiter exclaimed that she’d found the cave.

She blinked in surprise. Could Jupiter always do this? Was she just learning to? Either way, this would be useful for future purposes.

“Well, lead the way, then,” she smiled at her friend.

Mercury took a moment to reorient herself after they teleported. So this was Yakushima Island. It was mostly rocks and forest, and there weren't many signs of civilization. Somewhere around here was the first item they had to collect, but where would they start the search? Just as she started to wonder, Sailor Sedna appeared again to guide them. At the mention of Jupiter, Mercury turned to look at her. Her friend looked surprised at the declaration as well, but Sedna did make sense. Jupiter was the closest to the element of wood, but did that mean that she could find where they needed to go? 

Was it just instinctual? Apparently it was, because after closing her eyes, Jupiter picked up on something. Maybe they really were meant to have this power...

"Maybe I should monitor the area, just to be safe..." she said, pulling out her computer. Jupiter could focus on leading them to the Azure Dragon, and she would watch out for traps.

The group set off in the direction that Jupiter had indicated, Mercury scanning the area with her computer. Approaching the entrance to the cave, they paused for a moment to light some torches that Eshana had brought, before continuing. The path headed down, deep into the earth, and despite being underground, the temperature of the cave remained quite warm and pleasant.
 
It didn’t take long for the to come to a dead end in the cave. Bringing their torches closer to the wall in front of them revealed various designs of a blue dragon with a large one wrapped around some text that read:
 

Mercury kept a close eye on her computer as Jupiter led them, but she could pick up nothing out of the ordinary. She hesitated when they reached a cave, not wanting to be trapped in a closed space. What if they were ambushed, or the cave collapsed? But if this was where the Azure Dragon was, there wasn't much of a choice. Against her own gut instincts, she followed Jupiter's instead.

They soon reached the cave's end, and only thing left to look at in the torchlight were a set of words carved into stone. 

"Hm..." Mercury said, examining the text. "This seems like a riddle or puzzle, but I'm not entirely sure what to do. There's no indentations to push or objects to move that I can see..."

Venus wasn’t particularly fond of caves, especially since it seemed to offer only one exit. She didn’t like the thought of being trapped here under tons of earth above. Hopefully the item they were looking for wouldn’t be hard to find and Sedna wasn’t actually leading them into a trap. She was constantly on her guard up until they reached the dead end and found the image of the dragons.

She squinted to see the words. “What are those, a haiku or something?” she asked, confused. It didn’t sound like a riddle either. “Maybe Jupiter should use her powers to open it?”

 
Eshana ran the words in her mind over and over, twisting them around. It wasn’t a haiku, too many syllables for that, but it did seem to be some sort of clue. But about what? Wood was strong and very durable. Branches frequently bent in the wind, and didn’t break. However, given a strong enough force, wood would break. There were types of trees where the bark was sharp and hard, quite like thorns.  The last line stuck out to her; it wasn’t like the rest of the words.
 

“I’m not sure she needs to use them to open anything,” Eshana said. Turning towards the green clad senshi, she continued, “Jupiter, what matters to you most?”

Once she finally arrived at the searched cave, together with her friends and with the aid of her new abilities, the next obstacle was already waiting right in front of them. After just finding the cave had already exhausted her both, physically as well as mentally, she now found the next, barely easier, riddle in front of her, the words of the riddle merely appearing like a collection of randomly mixed letters.

Wood bends but does not break – well, great, this was without a doubt a proven fact. However, in what way should Makoto be able to discern anything from these words now? In what way should actually anyone be able to discern the true meaning of this kind of poetry?

Partly amazed, partly already desperate, the look of the brunette eventually turned to the brain of the group, hoping that maybe she would be able to extrapolate anything from the few lines that were given to them.

“This seems like a riddle or puzzle, but I'm not entirely sure what to do. There's no indentations to push or objects to move that I can see...”

Inwardly her head was already hanging down, she let out a loud sigh and was just about to move back to the entrance of the cave. If not even Mercury was able to decipher a riddle like that, then how should anyone else of them be able to do so?

Not that Makoto didn’t think the others were capable of deciphering the riddle – that of course not – however, the riddle was really more of a brain-teaser than anything else and it surely was clear that Ami had just always been the best contact point in these kinds of things.

Her eyes wandered through the ranks, Sailor Moon, Venus, Sedna…Sedna!

Admittedly, Makoto didn’t know Sedna all that much, however, she still seemed, nonetheless, more experienced than all of them together. And admittedly, she didn’t trust her entirely yet, however, maybe she really was the key to the whole issue, the key that could maybe solve this whole riddle on her own.

With newly scooped hopes in the eyes and a faint, yet unrecognizable, smile on the lips, Makoto eyed Sedna and her expression impatiently, waiting for her to maybe give a sign of epiphany or surprise to the outside.

“I’m not sure she needs to use them to open anything.”

Again her head was inwardly already going down to the ground, her smile was fading and the eyes went back to the desperate look from just a few seconds ago.

Just like Venus, Sedna supported the idea of getting back to her and her new abilities, trying to solve the riddle with her help.

Her eyes widened and she began to insecurely furrow her brows, the usually tough girl now rather skeptical than anything else.
Her? Solve the riddle? How was that even supposed to work?

Granted, this was the cave that concealed her powers, granted, this was the island that was giving the new abilities to her, granted, this was the island that was trying to challenge her and no one else. Still…how should she be able to solve the riddle all on her own?

She wouldn’t label herself as particularly smart, after all. And violence alone didn’t seem to be the solution for that matter at the moment.

Almost giving up, Makoto eventually heard Sedna’s last words before the silence came; a question so easy that even Makoto herself would be able to answer it on her own. What matters to you most?

For a while she thought about it, reflected whether there maybe was a profound or philosophical, yes, maybe even just a smart answer to solve the problem; an answer that could maybe tell them, straightforward, what or whom they would need to decipher the riddle, to finally enter the cave.

Just…any good answer.

However, no matter how she looked at it, the answer in her head would always be the same. An answer, simple and minimalistic, not smart, not philosophic, not profound. No matter how often she thought about the question, there never was anything better in her head, no alternative, no second answer, no nothing.

“Your friendship…,” she only muttered to herself, realizing only later that she was saying it out loud and not, as planned, silently and for herself. In panic, her eyes widened and she looked into the eyes of her comrades, hoping that they didn’t hear what kind of nonsense she had just spouted off.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry, this wasn’t what I meant to say…I was just…thinking loudly, that’s everything. Don’t take me seriously!”

With an awkward smile, Makoto looked to the ground, inwardly angry enough to feel like punching herself right there, right now. Geez, how silly could a human being even be? How could the others ever take her seriously from now on?

Mars was annoyed, she let the decision be made and followed Usagi and the rest of the girls. They used Sailor Teleport to get to Yakushima Island. The first item they'd be searching for was connected to wood, it was going to be Jupiter's item and it was up to her to find it. They entered a cave and followed Jupiter to a dead end. On the wall they'd discovered a piece of text on it. Maybe it was a puzzle or riddle. She watched as Jupiter started to work the puzzle over in her mind. Then Jupiter said something quietly to herself. And she looked embarrassed right after she said it. "Friendship." Mars smiled slightly to herself. Who knows it could be the answer.

Puzzles were really not Usagi's strong suit. She hung back slightly from the group, her enthusiasm from before apparently slightly dampened. This was Makoto's moment, after all. Sailor Jupiter clearly was attuned to this relic, as their current guide initially suggested. With quiet and concentration, which Sailor Moon was not about to interrupt, their brunette friend led them to a cave, probably the resting place of the relic they sought—especially considering the cryptic message.

But... what did it mean? As she had already reflected, puzzles were not something the blonde felt terribly confident about. She needed Ami's tutoring in school, and even then she barely managed to pass. When it came to missions with her sailor soldiers, she primarily relied on the others for tactical planning and information.

Usagi always followed her heart.

She would continue to do so, now.

"I know you can figure it out, Mako-chan," she prompted, punctuated with a warm smile. "We cherish our friendship with you, too!"

As soon as Sailor Moon finished speaking, the pressure senors that Mercury had unknowingly been standing on finally triggered, having taken a while for it to register the weight, years of neglect causing the system to run slow. 

Faster than anyone could process, the ground around the blue haired girls feet crumbled away, falling into a hole that appeared. Mercury was left standing on a very thin piece of rock that had survived, the old magic not enough anymore to destroy everything. If she moved too much, her perch would crumble, sending her careening down the hole after the debris. 

"Be careful not to stay in one place too long less we set off anymore traps," Eshana warned. This hadn't been in her books at all. Maybe it wasn't a trap, but Jupiter's test? It had asked what she valued most. Maybe that thing or in this case person, would be put into danger and need to be saved. She stayed silent, wanting to see what Jupiter would do.

When she heard Jupiter's mumbled response to Sailor Sedna's question, Mercury had to smile. It made sense that she would value their friendship so highly, after being alone for so long, but it wasn't a fact that she usually admitted so bluntly. 

"There's no need to be embarrassed," she said. "Usagi-chan is right, friendship is a completely valid thing to"- 

The ground beneath her trembled, and then collapsed, and Mercury let out a startled cry as she backed away from the growing hole. She almost fell backwards as the ground crumbled behind her too, and she ended up struggling to hold still on a column of stone barely wide enough to place both her boots on. Her mind raced to find a way off the platform, but she just couldn't find a solution.

"I-I can't get off!" she said, starting to panic.

It took Jupiter a while to answer Sedna’s question, though Venus suspected it wasn’t so much because she had to think hard about it, but because she had been wondering if the answer sounded like it made sense. She immediately looked embarrassed upon answering, and Venus smiled. Of course Jupiter would consider their friendship most important. She had simply been honest—as usual—and of course they had to take that answer seriously.

All of a sudden, there was a rumbling sound, and the ground began to crumble. Alarmed, Venus stepped back, only to realize that it was only the ground beneath Mercury that was disappearing. “Mercury!” she cried in panic, thinking she was going to lose the other senshi while her mind whirled ahead to think of several different ways to save her—her chain was already out.

Then the crumbling stopped, and Mercury was still there, though trapped for now. Venus scowled at Sedna. “That warning would have been more useful before.” She was suspicious again, mainly because of how Sedna seemed completely unaffected by how Mercury just pretty much almost plunged to her death and wasn’t offering any help at all.

“Here, Mercury, catch!” she yelled, throwing her Love Me Chain toward the stranded senshi.

Sailor Moon screamed when the cave rumbled and the floor crumbled away. She nervously jumped from one foot to another, expecting to be the first one to find herself careening through the floor, only to catch the edge and hang on for dear life. It had happened before! This time, though, she seemed to be okay. The blonde was about to remark something to that effect to her friends, when Mercury's panicked voice reached her ears instead.

"No, Ami-chan!" she cried, mid-stride to run forward, arms reaching out.

But the floor! It was gone, and Sailor Mercury stood on a very narrow surviving piece. If the group moved too much, Sailor Moon included (especially with these huge and awkward wings) she would probably just put her friend in more danger.

Thankfully Venus had her chain ready, extending it out to their endangered friend. Usagi clenched her fists and held her breath, hoping it would work. Hoping that they wouldn't see Sailor Mercury's footing give way, sending the blue-haired teenager plummeting down. They had to save her!

“If I had known about this, I would have warned you,” Eshana replied to Venus’s comment. Honestly, it wasn’t like she wanted to put the girls in danger. She needed them to save the planet. She watched as Venus threw Mercury, who was precariously perched on a small remaining area of ground, her chain.
 
Luck didn’t seem to be on their side this day. The moment Mercury caught the chain the remaining ground cracked and began to crumble. Venus, who wasn’t prepared to have Mercury’s full weight so soon, was dragged forward several feet as the blue hair senshi fell. Quickly regaining her footing, Eshana watched as she pulled back, stopping Mercury’s decent, but causing her to crash painfully into the rocks.
 

Heart in her throat, Sedna knew that all she could do was watch, this was Jupiter’s test and she couldn’t interfere. The only ones that could help her perhaps without any penalties would be her teammates.

“Ami!”
With worry written all over her face, Jupiter ran towards her descending friend as fast as she could, her arms already outstretched, the steps large in an effort to reach the goal more quickly.

Life could be so full of irony at times. And so full of horror.
Just mere seconds ago, she was exposing herself to ridicule, said that it was their friendship that mattered to her most, and now, exactly said friendship was just about to break, was just about to be lost forever – everything within less than a few seconds.

Tears welled up in the eyes, the vision gradually turning blurry. Jupiter’s head was empty, thoughts gone, and the only thing discernible in her eyes was the focus on her beloved friend. She just had to save her. She had to!

Step followed on step, meter by meter was covered, until Jupiter then, however, eventually began to brake, to slow down, in the center of the giant wreck that emerged faster than anyone could progress.
What was she just thinking?

The more she ran, the more she stamped around on the apparently more than fragile ground, the more weight she brought to the ground again and again…yes, the more it would only crumble, the more she would put her friend in danger.

“Hang in there!” She shouted at her with a shaky voice, the knees weak and the head still lacking any sign of thinking. Just what could she do to help her? Without making things even more dangerous than they already were?

“Here, Mercury, catch!”

A familiar voice could be heard and the partially already desperate Jupiter looked up, finally stirring up hope again. It had been Venus, her leader, their leader, who had once again been proactive, who had once again remained level-headed, who had once again worked out a plan at the back of her mind.

Jupiter exhaled in relief and started to smile faintly, glad that Ami would now finally get back to them again, undamaged, back from that dreadful hole of damnation.

With reassurance, she watched how Venus gave Mercury the chain and how she waited for her to eventually grasp it, watched, how her stranded friend would get ready for returning to the group and getting pulled out by Venus…

…just to realize, in the most horrific way of doing, that Venus wouldn’t be able to hold her all on her own.

In fear Jupiter’s eyes widened and the gritted teeth seceded as the lower jaw dropped, the eyes only grasping how Ami was falling into the spiky rocks of the cave.

“Ami!” She shouted again, the pattern from before apparently repeating. With bounding strides she ran towards Venus and outstretched her arms, the hands already reaching for the chain and the eyes still frozen from the horrible sight she had to watch just a few seconds ago.

“Give me the chain,” Jupiter said with focus and determination, the way she was using her voice appearing a little crude, the worries in her eyes, however, eventually showing that she was only afraid.

She took the chain from Venus’s hand and pulled on it as hard as she could, hoping her strength alone would be enough to eventually get Ami undamaged and unscathed out of the piece of wreck she had been standing on.

Mercury grabbed Venus's chain just as her platform crumbled away completely. She almost screamed as she plummeted until the chain caught her, and she banged painfully against the side of the pit. She desperately tried to find a foothold as she started sliding further down, her own weight pulling Venus with her. She heard Jupiter call her name, and then she was suddenly being jerked back up again. She started climbing the wall with her boots to help, and soon she was pulled back onto solid ground again.

Mercury took a moment to gather her breath again, and then stood up, bruised but in one piece. 

"You...you saved me..." Mercury said to Jupiter, once she realized who had grabbed the chain.

"Mako-chan, you did it!" Sailor Moon squealed, almost jumping up and down but catching herself from causing any more potential destruction just in time.

She was so incredibly relieved that Sailor Mercury was alright! Jupiter made the suggestion that friendship was the thing she valued most, but it was something Sailor Moon agreed with whole-heartedly. Her friends... she already remembered how horrible it had been so many times before when she thought she had lost them. Being alone, that was the one thing Usagi hated the most. She needed the love and laughter of her friends around her, otherwise she just didn't feel like she was really herself. If they had lost Mercury, Sailor Moon didn't know how she would have recovered.

She was, however, curious what would happen next. Was the puzzle solved?

As soon as Mercury's feet touched solid ground once more, the words of the poem began to fill with what looked to be a glowing green liquid before they shone brilliantly. The ground beneath trembled and Eshana braced herself, wondering if they were about to be swallowed hole by the earth. Small rocks began to fall from the ceiling near the wall with the poem as it suddenly parted revealing a chamber beyond. 

The new chamber couldn't be any different from the first if it had tried. Instead of the barren cave, the new room was lush with tropical plants and flowers. A small waterfall was situated in the far right corner that fed into a stream that went across the width of the room, bringing much needed water to all the plants. The roof of the cave had a natural skylight, allowing sunlight to filter into the room. The only place it did not reach was against the far left hand corner.

In the shade sat what was once a magnificent tree, although with its weathered look, it was hard to tell at first glance what kind of tree it was. A plaque sat nestled among the roots that had the following inscribed upon it:

Sailor Moon seemed somewhat less than excited when the group found themselves in a new chamber, even though it was beautiful and lush with so much tropical foliage.

"Another riddle?" she groaned.

At least she knew that her friends would solve this one, too. They were so much smarter than she was, particularly for anything involving logic and wordplay. Wordplay was difficult for someone who had such a hard time in Japanese grammar class (or, really, any language-related course of study). It was pretty telling that Neo Queen Serenity wrote her notes from the future without any kanji.

She looked at the others, waiting to see what they made of the clues.

Venus wasn’t strong enough to haul Mercury up alone, but of course Jupiter was. Venus sighed in relief when everyone was safe again, though their peace didn’t last long. Light began to shine on the words and the ground shook once more. She looked around in panic, wondering if a cave-in was happening. Or would the ground just disappear beneath all their feet this time?

And then the wall opened. She stared into the room beyond, the one that looked out of this world.

Her thought exactly echoed Moon’s, not for the first time and certainly would not be the last.

"Of course," she said, blinking in confusion at Mercury. Was there ever any question that she would do whatever she could to support and protect her friends? Venus was a strong senshi in many ways, but Jupiter was simply physically stronger than her. She hadn't even hesitated to take the chain from her friend and senshi leader in order to secure Mercury's safety. As the ground rumbled beneath them, Jupiter braced herself until it stopped, revealing a new room. 

"Are you all right?" She worried that Mercury had been hurt by accident when she had hauled her friend up to safety or during the cave opening. Usagi's groan of there being a new riddle forced Jupiter to switch her attention to the task at hand. 

The new room contained many different tropical plants, many of which Jupiter had never seen before, about had read about in books. She walked into the room almost as if she was in a trance, looking around herself in wonder. What she wouldn't give to be able to have the time to fully explore this place. 

Smiling sadly, she made her way over to where the latest clue rested. Makoto could tell that the tree had once been very beautiful but something had caused it to wither while all the other plants around it had survived. It did not escape her notice that this tree was the only one that had no sunlight. Was it dying because of that? 

She read the poem over several times, attempting to make sense of the words. 

"Duality is the key," she repeated softly. Duality mean two of something right? Maybe two sides? She looked at Mercury, eyes pleading. Maybe her friend could make sense of this poem.

Mercury wasn't sure what had been surprising about Jupiter saving her, but maybe it was the adrenaline of coming so close to falling that was affecting her. 

"I-I'm fine, just a few scrapes..." she said. It was more important that they continued on, and she'd been hurt worse before. This was nothing to worry about.

The next chamber was like stepping into a tropical forest, and Mercury looked around with a mixture of curiosity and amazement. Was this a natural formation, or was this someone's abandoned garden project? Either way, it was incredible. Mercury turned to see where Jupiter had gone, and noticed the only thing there that didn't seem to be flourishing: A withering tree. 

"Is this another riddle?" she asked, kneeling down next to her to read the plaque. She studied the lines, picking apart the words themselves. "Duality means something with two opposing parts," Mercury said, thinking aloud. "The first puzzle seemed more physical, but maybe this is the opposite." She stood up and looked at the tree. It was connected to this puzzle too, so it must be a part of the solution.

"Makoto, you know more about plants than the rest of us. What do you think is wrong with this tree? Why is it dying while the other plants are growing?"

Jupiter looked at the situation once again after Mercury finished speaking. Her eyes took in every detail as her mind ran over every reason why a plant would wither and die. The surrounding plants had lots of sunlight and easy access to water, but this plant did not. That was the issue wasn't it?

Looking overhead, she saw that a section of the ceiling was covered by a few large boulders. Maybe they had fallen in, blocking the sunlight? But what about the water? Maybe with the ceiling blocked off, not as much water was falling into the cave from the rain and the tree didn't have long enough roots to reach where the water currently was. 

"I'm going to see if I can remove those boulders up there," she said, pointing above. "It should bring sunlight to this tree, but it still needs water. We need to dig a trench or or a pond or something for the tree to have easy access to water. I don't think it's roots are long enough to reach the water where it currently is."

Of course Makoto was up for the challenge! Sailor Moon smiled, watching the tall brunette assess the situation and decide on a course of action. Hmm, what could she do to help? Reaching boulders was out of the way. And digging trenches, hmm...

The blonde thought of her Eternal Tiare, considering the weight of the thing and wondering if it would be useful as a digging tool. Almost as soon as the thought entered her mind, she imagined Luna's angry face reprimanding her for mis-use of her sailor soldier weapons. And the horror that might occur if the thing were to snap in half. No, that was definitely not her best idea.

"How can I help?" she finally asked Jupiter, her face beaming with a smile. "I want to help your plan succeed, Mako-chan!"

Neither puzzles nor gardening was really Venus’ thing, and she was more than happy to let those more knowledgeable figure out this problem. If this had been a battle, she’d be figuring out the strategy along with them, but she knew when to step back and let her friends step up when their areas of expertise came up. She watched Jupiter try to fix the tree. She didn’t have any immediate solution for digging or pulling boulders down either.

She stepped closer. “Yeah, if there’s anything I can do, just let me know,” she added to what Sailor Moon said.

"Thank you," she said to her friends, smiling. Jupiter was getting the distinct impression that she alone was meant for this job. Backing up so she could get a good view of the ceiling once more, she considered her options. She needed accuracy with her shot, not wanting to run the risk of hitting the rocks in the wrong place, and accidentally harming one of her friends with a falling rock. 

Taking a deep breathe she centered herself, calling upon her powers. She could do this. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She aimed towards the center of the rocks, hoping that her attack would cause the rocks to fall straight down, where no one was standing. 

Her attack hurdled towards the rocks, easily destroying the vast majority of the large boulder sized ones while smaller and medium size ones fell to the ground. As the dust began to clear, Jupiter got her first look at what remained. 

She knew she stood there with her mouth wide open, but she couldn't bring herself to care. The sunlight shone brightly through the new roof in the cave, highlighting rocks beneath that had fallen had formed a circular shape near the tree, close enough together that it created a pond of sorts. It would easily hold water and the tree would be saved. 

Maybe Ami-chan knew the statistical probability of this ever happening...she'd have to remember to ask her friend later about it. 

"Mercury could you fill it with water?" she asked after a moment, finally finding her voice. She shook her head as amusement filled her. What were the odds? Yet it worked and it just felt right somehow.