Author's Notes:
If you need to email me, contact me here: Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction in the subject line so I know what it's pertaining to. I use a little manga attacks in here, but not much so bear with me. I don't own Sailor Moon. It is the property of Naoko Tacheuchi.
Crystal Hearts
When The War Ends
Chapter 2: The Lost Legends
The woman continued to smile. "I am the goddess Selene. Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom is dead. She resides with me now, as a good and loyal friend, watching over you with me."
"But I thought her spirit was still alive!" exclaimed Artemis. "She showed herself to the Inners before the end of Queen Beryl and she gave Sailor Moon the Cutie Moon Rod and the Ginzuishou in a new locket."
"That is true. She begged me to let her help her daughter before she took on the evil queen and I allowed her. During the rebirth of the new locket, her spirit did appear to Sailor Moon, but it was only in her mind. It was much easier for her to influence her daughter's thoughts. All she had to do was use the memory of herself in her daughter's mind to say her words. Princess Serenity just supplied the images. Her spirit was with me. It is the same principle for things like that that go along with a goddess saying something to one of her followers."
"What about the Ginzuishou?"
She looked at Luna. "Ah, now that was me. Queen Serenity could not give her daughter that because she was dead, but I, being a goddess, could. So I did for my friend."
"Why did you come to us?" asked Luna.
"The Neo Queen and King will not awaken."
"There has to be something we can do!" Mars cried. "You would not have come down here if there wasn't! Would you?" she faltered.
She laughed quietly. "You're right, I wouldn't. But first, I see I must explain. I cannot tell you about the enemy, but I can tell you about what caused this war and what can help the King and Queen." She paused. "Now, Senshi, think back to the past. Do you remember Nehelenia and the Dead Moon Circus?" They nodded. "Can you remember anything else? Did you ever have a feeling that instead of the Dead Moon Circus there should have been peace?"
They exchanged glances and all shook their heads.
"I thought so. You see, this war was caused by two people."
"Who?" they exclaimed excitedly, hoping to finally find out some of the puzzling answers.
"By Neo Queen Serenity and little Princess Usagi."
Silence.
"You see, when Chibiusa came back to the future from the past after Death Busters things were going as planned. The Senshi had no memories of the Dead Moon Circus because there hadn't been one. In all the Senshi and King and Queen's memories there were visions of peace. So when Chibiusa came back, looking like she missed the past, the Queen sent her back to enjoy herself since she remembered it being peaceful. She did not send her back to train; little Chibimoon had completed that already.
"Queen Nehelenia awakened because of Chibiusa returning to the past. You see, she hated the White Moon, we all know that; she awoke when the White Moon Princess' signature was there."
"But Usagi was a princess then," Jupiter protested. "Shouldn't she have awoken because of Usagi?"
"No, she wouldn't have. You see, Usagi was not Princess Serenity exclusively. She was also Tsukino Usagi."
"I don't get it," Jupiter admitted sheepishly.
Selene smiled. "Was it Princess Serenity going to Juuban Junior High or was it Tsukino Usagi, perpetual late comer? That was Usagi. The princess was dormant until she was needed. However, Chibiusa isn't like that. She is always a princess, just dressing differently. So when she sensed Chibiusa, Nehelenia awoke."
"But I thought that you said Serenity had memories of peace during the Dead Moon Circus," Venus objected.
"She did. When she sent back Chibiusa, her memories changed without her knowing it. She never gave it a second thought because it was her past and when she sent her daughter there, it was to her present. Do you see? For Usagi of the present, it hadn't happened so when she came back, it was the future. For Neo Queen Serenity, it was the past, but since she sent her daughter back, the past is subject to change. You see if Chibiusa had stayed in the future, then the Inner Senshi would have found what was needed and it would have prevented the war occurring right now."
"And what is that?" asked Saturn quietly.
"Four stones. Nephrite, kunzite, zoisite, and jadeite."
"Aren't those the names of the Kings of Beryl's?" asked Uranus suspiciously.
Selene cleared her throat. "Yes, those were their names. They were named after the stones."
"Does this mean the generals have something to do with this?" asked Venus.
"The Shitennou you knew in your first new years of being Senshi with the Neo Queen as Sailor Moon are dead."
They gave a collective sigh of relief.
"From what you have said, Goddess Selene," Diana started, "it sounds like it is solely Chibiusa's fault. You said it was also Serenity's."
Selene started. "Oh? Did I make it sound like it was someone's fault? I guess I did. You see, the Neo Queen has a big heart and doesn't want anyone to be sad, least of all her daughter. She didn't know that Chibiusa was just getting used to being in the future again, that's all. And do not worry, Helios and Chibiusa would have met sooner or later, it just happened sooner than was expected. A whole lot sooner." Chibiusa blushed.
"Why are the stones important, Goddess Selene?" asked Mercury.
"That I cannot tell you. You have to find out on your own. When you have, I will come back and explain if you have any questions." With that, white light filled the room again for a moment and she was gone.
The Senshi looked at each other. "We have to get the stones," Jupiter said finally.
"Yes, but who will protect the palace and find survivors if we are all gone?" asked Saturn.
"The Outer Senshi. The Inner Senshi will find them," Venus stated emphatically.
"You aren't serious!" exclaimed Mars and Uranus at the same time. Mars continued. "It is the INNER Senshi's duty to protect the Royal Family! Let the Outer Senshi go since they have always been the outer perimeter guards!"
Venus shook her head. "No, we will go."
"Why?!" demanded Uranus.
Venus looked out the window from the medical bed. "I have a feeling. Besides, with no Sailor Moon, I am the leader and I said the Inner Senshi go."
"I want to know why!" yelled Mars, on the brink of being hysterical.
Venus turned to her sharply. "Because they are more powerful than us with their experience and the talismans! They can better protect and find survivors than we can! Can you dispute that?"
"No," whispered Mars.
Saturn stood up and walked to Venus. "If you're going," she started in her soft voice, "then you had better be healed. Hold still so I can fix your arm." Purple light from Hotaru's hands outlined Venus' arm and a moment later, she removed the bandages. She wiped some sweat off her brow and took a few deep breaths before going to Mars.
She carefully wrapped her hands around the injured ankle and when she was done, Mars no longer felt sprain. It was no longer swelled, either. She smiled at Saturn in thanks. Saturn managed a small one in return, though it was very tired.
Since Mercury's chair was near Jupiter's bed, she decided if she couldn't do two at once. Holding one hand over Jupiter's legs and placing a palm over Mercury's forehead, she closed her eyes. Her hands glowed once again, though this time the light was very weak and the process was very slow.
When she was done, Mercury caught her as she collapsed in exhaustion. She was still conscious, however. Uranus stood up and carried Saturn back to her medical bed.
The Inner Senshi got off the beds and Mercury stood up. Chibiusa walked up to them. "I'm going too."
"No you aren't," Venus told her, not ungently. "Look, Chibiusa, you are the princess and you must be protected as well. And," she whispered kindly, knowing it was a hard subject for the younger girl to bear, "you are not Chibimoon or Sailor Moon. Besides, there are only four stones to get. There are four Inner Senshi at the moment. We are the best to go."
Chibiusa stared at their set faces and bolted from the room, tears streaking down her cheeks. Diana ran after her, calling her name. They watched her go for a moment and then turned back to the issue at hand. It hurt them to see their friends' daughter so upset, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. Besides, even if she was Sailor Moon or Chibimoon, they could not endanger her like that.
"Where are the stones?" Jupiter asked.
Mercury typed on her computer some. "These stones are very rare, especially jadeite. Actually, nephrite is a different type of jade and looking for that specific kind could be hard. There are a few deposits around the world we can look. There is some calcium magnesium iron silicate hydroxide, or nephrite, in Asia, there's some lithium aluminum silicate, or kunzite, in England, there's some calcium aluminum silicate hydroxide, or zoisite, in Africa, and there's some sodium aluminum silicate, or jadeite, in America."
"Where in those countries are they?"
"Well, there are about three deposits each around the continents. In America, there is some jadeite where California should be, there's some in the Midwest, around Texas, and there's some in Michigan," she said, and went on describing the areas of the other deposits in the other countries.
The other Inner Senshi sighed. This would be hard.
"Who goes where?" asked Mars.
"Hmm. Jupiter you go to Asia to get the nephrite, Mars you go to America to get the jadeite, Mercury will go to Africa, and I will go to England," Venus instructed, keeping her voice carefully neutral as she said England. She hadn't been back there since she had been fourteen and she had left, leaving Sailor V as presumed dead. Not even when they had been searching for survivors had she gone back there. She had let the other Senshi deal with that. She hadn't been sure if she could face the past of Sailor V even now. None had reported seeing Alan and Katrina as alive or dead.
"I hate to break up this party," said Uranus dryly. "But what are you going to do if you run into the enemy?"
They looked at each other. That had not occurred to them. "I don't know," Mercury admitted. "We'll just have to be really quiet so we won't be noticed."
"Like it's that easy," Neptune muttered.
The Inner Senshi gathered together, not holding hands. That would take them all to the same place, something that would not be wise. To get the stones as quickly as possible was their main objective and that would go faster if they were searching for them separately.
"Hurry and find the stones," Luna advised. "I'm not sure how long we can hold out against the enemy and keep them here. They will be sure to notice your absences' before long."
The Inner Senshi nodded and concentrated. Their distinctive colors surrounded their bodies and their brows wrinkled in intensity. The aura's wavered as they fought to add more power to the spell.
Uranus put her hands on Jupiter's shoulders and poured some of her power into the green Senshi. Saturn, getting as much of her power as she could from herself, put her hands on Mars' shoulders, Neptune on Mercury's, and Pluto on Venus'. The Outer Senshi's aura's flared brightly as they tried to give strength to the others.
Even with the added power, the Inners wondered if they would have enough magic accumulated to do four different and separate teleports at the same time.
Uranus's hands tightened their grip and she tried to force her will into Jupiter. Come on, believe in yourself!
Finally, the power seemed to seep into the Inners and a smile lit the Outer Senshi's faces. The Inner Senshi's glow no longer wavered and they brightened. With a flash of four different colors, they were gone. The Outer Senshi took in deep breaths, tired from the transference of power. Luna caught Saturn as her knees gave out and she was really unconscious now. Artemis helped her get the woman into a medical bed.
"I hope they return soon," Neptune murmured.
Pluto looked at the King and Queen, feeling useless for not having seen what the goddess Selene had told them. I hope so too, she thought sadly.
End Chapter 2