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 3: City Of Legions

Jupiter, slightly disoriented by her teleportation, found herself in the ruins of a long dead city. She blinked. This was not the place that had been described by Mercury. It was deep night here and she crouched. She was sure this was not a good place to be. There was something about the air there. It felt almost as if it was tainted with an evil force.

Now, Makoto was not a psychic person, that was Rei's department, but she knew when something wasn't right and this place was wrong.

"It almost feels as if something that should be dead here isn't," she whispered to herself.

Something skittered in the darkness and Jupiter flattened herself against a stone pillar that was still partly standing. She glared around suspiciously and looked for a way out of the ruins. There was a collapsed tunnel behind her. Rocks littered the only way out. She almost groaned. She couldn't teleport just yet because her power was depleted enough to be unable to get out. She had never been this depleted after teleporting because she had always been sharing her power with the others.

She stalked along the edges of the ruins warily. She went in a number of broken and decayed buildings and came to the conclusion that they must have been civilians' homes.

A large ruined building caught her eye. She glanced about her and walked slowly up to it. This one still had a roof to it. When Jupiter entered, she found a podium at the back wall, which was stone, making up the back wall for the building. It looked to just have been one large room. It was incredibly dark in there, just a little bit of moonlight illumination coming in from various holes in the roof.

She strode up to the podium, always listening to the sounds of skittering just on the edge of her vision. She stared at it. A stone was set under a glass case and on a cushion. Makoto cocked her head at it. This was strange. It looked to be what Mercury had described as nephrite. She looked around suspiciously, wondering if this was a trap of some sort; it seemed too easy. Turning back to the podium, she touched the case experimentally and it exploded with light.

Jupiter jumped back, blinking her eyes to clear her sight. When her eyes adjusted back to the semi-darkness, they widened in disbelief and horror.

Standing there was a man. He had long, wavy brown hair that went down to the middle of his back and his outfit was exactly like that of a Dark Kingdom Shitennou. His eyes were a deep brown and they clashed with her green.

Now, Makoto had never actually met Nephrite; she had only heard first hand accounts and told the description and she barely remembered anything from the Silver Millennium. He looked to be not a day older than when he had fought and saved Naru when it had been Usagi, Ami, and Rei together. He was also surprisingly handsome.

He cocked his head at her and sneered. "Another Senshi. I've never met you, but your outfits are always distinctive." Nephrite blinked and took a longer look at her fuku. "Well, slightly different style than I remembered and certainly a different color. I don't remember a green Senshi the last time I was here. Who are you? Aren't you going to give an intro?" he sneered.

Jupiter ground her teeth together in anger and straightened in a proud gesture. "I am the lightning's child, I am born of earth. As Zeus' chosen avatar, I will protect this planet with lightning and earth! I am Sailor Jupiter!" She poised in her finished transformation stance.

He looked her over again. "Impressive. Not the same speech I kept hearing over and over when I was…wait a minute. How did I get here? I was killed by Zoisite." Some remembrance passed over his face for a fleeting second, but Makoto had no idea what it might have been.

Jupiter gave him a pitying and superior look. "You are in Crystal Tokyo, ruled by Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion."

Nephrite started. "Serenity? The princess is grown up?" With a chuckle and a nasty smile, he said, "Well, let's see if she can't live without one less guard."

He tried to blast her with his power, but she jumped out of the way. Rolling on her shoulder and up on her feet, she punched him in the jaw. He blinked and they grappled until they both hit the floor. He struggled to pin her, she always keeping her foot on his stomach so his groping hands couldn't get on a vital part of her anatomy.

"Not bad for a Senshi. None of the others had the strength to withstand a physical fight against me," Nephrite commented breathlessly.

As with any fight, Jupiter knew that verbal battles were a way to unnerve opponents and she was not surprised that he tried this as well.

"Yeah, but if you're so great and they were so weak, then how did they beat you?" She was trying to get him to remember what it felt like when he had turned good, or so she had heard.

Apparently, he did remember Zoisite, but not turning good. "They didn't beat me! The only way the Senshi won was by default when Zoisite attacked me!"

He pinned her under him and his hands grasped her throat.

Makoto's vision began to get fuzzy with lack of oxygen. Her only thoughts were of her queen and king lying in the medical beds, unable to awaken. She thought of the small princess, Chibiusa, crying herself to sleep from the guilt of being unable to transform. She thought about the other Senshi, and especially the Outers who had almost depleted themselves in order to help the Inners with the teleportation.

Her anger overwhelmed her and her tiara flared. A voice echoed in the room and made Jupiter and Nephrite both start. It had no discernable source. It was also very masculine and very angry.

"Evil! Stand forth and back away! I am Zeus, god of gods! Touch not my daughter!"

Jupiter's breath sucked into her throat. She was Zeus' daughter? She had known she was his avatar, but not his daughter. Me? His daughter? It can't be! An invisible power threw Nephrite off her body and into the wall. She felt her body being supported to her feet and the feeling of arms enclosing her in a gentle and secure embrace.

Nephrite pulled himself to his feet, using the wall as support.  "I know not what power you use, but it shall not defeat me!" He could not entirely hide his uncertainty and slight fear in his eyes. Slowly, as if he was experimenting with an idea that he wasn't sure wouldn't backfire on him, a blast of dark power rushed for her. It slammed into a barrier not of her making. What seemed like another experimental move, and he had punched toward her.

He barely made it near her when he slammed back into the opposite wall.

Her tiara still flared a bright, steady green. The voice responded in her mind. "My daughter, here is the power you need to defeat him."

"But I cannot defeat him, even being super! The Outer Senshi are stronger and greater than the Inners! They might be able to defeat him, but not I and especially not by myself!"

"You are right, in that respect. My brothers Poseidon, Hades, Ouranos, and Chronos are proud of their avatars. The Inner Senshi are very proud and did not take their entire power. The Outer Senshi have, with the talismans and such. They accepted more readily the role of a Soldier, therefore accepting and receiving their full power. However, take the power you have yet to call upon. You were always very proud and never asked for help. Now I give it unasked. Take it."

Magic filled her body and she felt empowered. Opening her eyes and glaring at Nephrite, she called out, "Jupiter Lightning Tempest!"

She held her hands up, crossed at the wrists above her head. In her tiara, a lightning rod extended upwards. Lightning flashed behind Jupiter and her tiara and then crashed down onto Nephrite, who stared at it in shock. Behind her, stars flew. Nephrite read them a second before he died. Oh my gods! She is the Princess Jupiter! Ye gods above! She's star blessed and she's the better half! She's part of the star circle and she's the…

Nephrite never finished his thought as the lightning invaded his system. He stared into Jupiter's eyes and saw the unmatchable hatred there. He felt sad, knowing he had caused such loathing. She's the…

His body dissolved in showering lights. Makoto took a deep breath and sank to her knees. She was exhausted. Again she felt the gentle and safe embrace from someone she couldn't see. She leaned into it for a moment until the voice interrupted her doze. This time it was compassionate and loving.

"My daughter, you must move quickly. Your queen and friend need you."

She stood up and whispered, "Yes, Father." The words felt just as comforting as his arms had been. Saying the phrase seemed right. Walking to the podium, she looked inside the glass case. A jade crystal sat, shaped like a star.

Jupiter opened the glass case and carefully handled the stone. Obviously the feeling she had gotten was from Nephrite being ensnared here. The ruins must have had the stone for so long and it must have been precious to the people who had lived there. They had to have had a necromancer among them and summoned a great warrior. They had gotten Nephrite instead. He must have turned against the village and murdered them, she decided finally. Then he couldn't leave. I bet the village wanted a test for someone to see if they were worthy of taking the stone. It is very beautiful.

Makoto decided that her musings were taking too much time and she walked to the entrance. She paused and looked around the room again. It still held the vestiges of power that had been thrown around in the heated battle between herself and Nephrite.

"So that was Nephrite. What a weakling. Thank you, Father."

Jupiter left the room and back out into the cavern. "Now how do I get out?" she wondered aloud. Putting the stone in her subspace pocket, she explored the ruins thoroughly and found nothing.

Going back inside the large room, she explored it thoroughly as well. Still she found no sign of a way out. Makoto slumped to the floor in despair. How was she supposed to get out? She couldn't teleport out; she was too depleted power-wise.

She yawned and began to doze. In her trance-like state, someone approached her. He was a powerfully built man with authority written all over him. His dark brown hair reached the middle of his back and a pale silver beard that went down to the middle of his throat. A long white robe came down to his ankles, covering dark green pants and earthen colored boots.

"Zeus," she whispered.

He smiled and held out his arms to her. She ran to them gladly. "Oh, my Jupiter. How I've missed you."

Makoto looked at him. "But how can you be my father? Even in the Silver Millennium…"

He laughed gently. "All the gods and goddesses had one child. You are my daughter. We decided to have avatars and what better avatar is there than one of your own flesh and blood with your powers? I named you Jupiter, although you also go by a different name now."

"Kino Makoto," she supplied with a smile.

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "I've watched the Senshi all your life. You don't know how much I've missed you. I remember all our long talks in the Silver Millennium. We talked about everything. You told me of your loves, lives, sadness, you even told me about your true love that you had found…You don't remember them at all, naturally, and that's the pity, but Chronos said we can't bring your memories back. You have to remember them on your own, if you can. The rest of us are putting up a hell of a fight with poor Chronos about the memories and he's practically pulling his hair out over us." He chuckled. "If his daughter is anything like him, I bet you and her have had some serious problems when it comes to information. Just keep in mind that her 'orders' came from Chronos, and he knows best, right?" Zeus snorted in amusement. "Perhaps we can renew our chats after this war is done and make some new memories. Would you like that?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, more than anything, yes!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Do you know why we need the stones, though?"

"I do, but I can't tell you. Selene refuses to let us interfere in any way, especially in information. If I didn't know better, I would say that her and Chronos have been conspiring against us." He laughed quietly. "Suffice it to say for now, you just need them. I love you, Jupiter."

His form disappeared and Makoto fully awoke to find herself standing in the middle of the room. She blinked and stared at the back wall. There was an archway that hadn't been there before.

She walked up to it suspiciously, even though she knew there was no harm in it. There were runes carved into the top, and even though she knew she didn't know the language, she knew what was written there anyway.

"Life is endless cycles. This is the City of Legions, home of the great god Zeus and his daughter of endless strength, Jupiter. Welcome."

She smiled and felt tears at the corners of her eyes. She would have liked to stay, but Serenity and Endymion were waiting for her. Who would have thought? An entire city dedicated to me. Huh. Funny. And Zeus is a lot more talkative than I would have thought.

Jupiter shrugged and ran through the tunnel and into the daylight.

Nephrite floated in a sea of stars, oblivious. Suddenly the stars dimmed and brightened. This attracted the spirit's attention. His eyes slid open ever so slightly.

End Chapter 3