The Missing Link
The thick, round pillars of the temple stretched upward into the vaulted ceiling until they truncated at the ceiling, which seemed to reach into the heavens itself. The grand ceiling, covered in rust red, gold, milky cream, and emerald swirls stretched the entire length of the hall. The only breaks in the brightly colored roof were the trunk like pillars, which were covered in all kinds of shapes. In between the pillars, in the alcoves underneath the windows, stood various statues of important royal figures in eternally stiff poses.
Here, in this grand hall of memory, Juno, the high princess of Jupiter stood, silent as one of the statues. She looked every bit the Amazonian queen, and at the far end of the temple, she fixed her gaze upon a bright piece of quartz. Encased inside of it was a golden, jagged metal rod shaped like a lightning bolt, which looked innocent enough, but the princess knew what it was.
The floor trembled under her feet, and the princess let out a sigh. She knew it had come to this, but even at this moment, she hesitated. She knew what she had to do: break the crystal, then it would be over . . . or it would begin, depending on how one viewed the situation.
"A little slow today, sister?"A snide woman's voice echoed through the temple from one of the many pillars.
That comment provided all the impetus Juno needed. She snatched the crystal, slammed it on the ground, and reached for the rod. She saw the blurs of green and gold, but now, she had her powers. Even as a swift kick in the gut sent her sprawling across the room, she felt the power beginning to buzz in her veins.
"Get the rod! Don't let her call upon the planet powers!" the same woman yelled.
Jupiter heard none of it. She held up the rod and shouted, "Jupiter power!"
The air crackled, and the burst of energy into the air flung the newest assassins against the giant pillars. The air continued to crackle as the finely dressed princess found herself wearing a shorter, more manageable outfit than her long, regal dress. And on top, instead of the simple silk and white of her later uniform, formed a golden breast plate, which covered Juno's entire torso and capped off at her arms to fit perfectly around her body.
"So this is it, Juno?" the woman walked out from behind one of the columns. Her coppery hair, now pulled back in a tight bun to keep it out of her face, reflected the dying light as brilliantly as the golden chest plate. "You still have a chance with us. Think of it! We're your blood! Why side with some weak moon queen over us?"
"Because I am duty and honor bound," Juno thundered. "I will do away with you once and for all."
"So this is what it comes to," Horos said as he walked forward after recovering from Juno's last attack. Nikola, the other assassin, also raised himself up from the ground. Both of the two princes dressed in bronze armor. The metal parts of the armor consisted of metal shin guards, solid chest plate like the armor of Jupiter, metal arm guards, and a helmet that covered the backs of their necks and the sides of their faces. The two brothers closed ranks together, and the only difference between their armors was in the styling of the scale armor that formed something of a kilt to protect their thighs and genitals. Nikola wore silver while Horos wore gold.
"I can't believe all of you!" Juno shouted.
"Believe it," Alketo snapped. "I was hoping you would join us, Juno."
"I see you're missing Orpheus. Could you not sway him, either?" Juno taunted.
Alketo scowled. "If we had done so, we could have even beaten you! But alas! Orpheus went to hide with his precious friends, but he will be taken care of soon by one of our friends. Oh, don't look so surprised. There are more people against that stupid moon queen than you can imagine."
"I will honor our allegiance! Supreme Thunder!"
The temple exploded with electricity, and the green and white hot lightning coursed through the bodies of the three siblings. They convulsed like fish being electrocuted, and after Jupiter's attack dissipated, they lay motionless on the floor of the temple. Stepping over Alketo's body, Jupiter walked up to the stand where the lightning rod of Jupiter had been concealed. She kicked aside the crystals and put her hands on the gold and green podium. Immediately, the round table grew in size and lengthened and expanded. A crack appeared in the middle, and then, the crack formed into two doors. A small hole opened in the middle of the crack, and a beam of hot, red light shot through, but Jupiter didn't hesitate to thrust her hand into it.
She groaned as she leaned back and used all of her strength to tug the doors open. When they opened, a wave or rancid humidity washed over the temple. Jupiter looked back at her three fallen siblings. She knew what she had to do, or what she wanted to do, but she did not how to do it.
"Jupiter! My queen!"
Jupiter flung herself around, ready to do battle. At the door of the temple stood a woman wearing a gray, high collar the reached over her head and connected to a flowing, gray cape. However, the collar could not distract from the large, sparkling opal on her neck or the belt of opals that encircled her waist and seemed to glow like ghostly moons. She wore scaled chain mail, which made her look like a fish, and it seemed to be a blue sort of metal that only served to make her look aquatic.
"Minerva! What business have you here?" Jupiter shouted.
"Our guardian refuses to go to the queen's armies that are gathering in the uprising," Minerva said in a voice that sounded like the solemn chiming of a single bell tolling. "I see what you do. You cannot simply place them into that tomb. You must walk in with them."
A deep, menacing frown creased Jupiter's face. "I realize that, but they are my blood. I wanted to preserve them, so in time, I may come back and retrieve their powers. If they die, their powers go with them, and we need them to protect our planet."
Minerva crossed the length of the temple until she stood over Alketo. "I will take them into the void. Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn are planning something. Stop them. Kronos goes to the queen now. Get there first."
With that, Minerva raised her opal, and it began to swirl like a whirl pool. "Tornado Storm!" she shouted, and a grey cloud spiraled out of the gem. Then, the lady jumped into her own gale and the storm carried her into the void. Then, from the steaming door, a gust of wind lashed out, and Jupiter held the side of the door with all her might. As the wind continued to ravish the temple, statues, and even a pillar, were sucked into the void. When the storm reached its maximum power, the bodies of the three traitorous siblings lifted from the floor and flew into the gale.
When they crossed the door's threshold, Jupiter put her weight against the door and slammed it shut. Then, the wide door shrunk down into the unassuming podium again, and Jupiter collapsed onto her knees from the shear effort.
Her planet began to quake beneath her.
Jupiter blinked her eyes open, and her vision eventually cleared so she could look off into the never ending darkness of the Negaverse. As she laid, strapped to her table, the memories of the battle in the temple raced through her mind.
'I had a sister,' Jupiter realized as she continued to gaze into darkness. 'I had brothers, too, and I . . . no. I didn't. I can't think of that. It was another life time. I did what was right.'
"Your little friends came asking for you," Kunzite's cold voice reached her ears.
"Why don't you show yourself?" Jupiter spat, but her enemy only chuckled from someone in the darkness.
"It worked, didn't it?" he asked, but Jupiter remained silent. "I'm impressed, though. We had to shock you a good six times. How does it feet to know you succeeded in damning your entire planet? It was your fault, you know."
"It was your fault. The Negaverse began this – "
Kunzite's chilly laugh cut Jupiter off, and a shiver raced down her spine, even though she didn't think she could have gotten any colder. "Your royal line went along very willingly with it all. They wanted to be rid of the moon kingdom as much as we did."
Before Jupiter could tell the general what a liar he was, Binah snapped, "Is she ready? Does she remember?"
"Of course she does," Kunzite muttered.
"Beryl is waiting. Let's take her to the door." A green light flared into existence, and Jupiter saw the youma general held it in her hand. Staring down at Jupiter, the female general sneered at the senshi, even as she cooed, "Let's make a deal. You open this door for us, and you see your siblings again. I promise you that it'll be grand. Your sister and your two brothers . . . it'll be a family reunion."
"I . . . I locked them away for a reason!" Jupiter snarled. "No way am I doing anything for you."
"Let's put it this way," Kunzite said silkily, "if you do not open the door, we will do like we did to your friend, Tuxedo Kamen, and when you join us, you will open the door!"
"No!" Jupiter shouted as she tried to struggle, but it came to nothing. Still sneering down at her, Binah extended her hand over the senshi, and a wave of energy moved them from one area of the Negaverse to another. Here, an eerie purple light filled the chamber, and a glopping sound like mud bubbling in a tube reached Jupiter's ears. As Binah and Kunzite unbound her, a shadow of red hair came to tower over her.
"Beryl!" the senshi gasped aloud, but the queen did not smile or show any emotion. She simply stared with glittering purple eyes upon the senshi. When Jupiter felt all her chains fall away, she went to stand up, but then, the queen stuck out her scepter, and dark energy bound Jupiter. The senshi screamed in pain as Beryl lifted her in the air and moved her across the room.
"Kunzite, she better open the door," Beryl said in a crackled, sharp voice. The queen dropped Jupiter on the smooth, cold black stone. The senshi landed on her stomach, but as she rolled onto her side to stand up, she found herself staring at the familiar podium. 'Oh no, no no,' Jupiter thought desperately. 'What do I do? If I don't open it, they'll kill me or turn me. If I do open it . . . if I open it, at least maybe I have a chance.'
Footsteps clicked behind her, and Jupiter felt the cold brush of a blade against her neck. "What is it, then?" Kunzite asked in a voice colder than the stones on which Jupiter lay.
"I'll do it," Jupiter muttered. Even as she stood to open the door, she felt Kunzite's blade resting on her shoulder. 'One trick, and it's all over,' Jupiter thought. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the wicked queen watching her. 'Maybe I can get a shot at Beryl,' Jupiter thought quickly as she put her hands on the podium. Like before, it began to expand to form the double door. When the hole appeared, Jupiter thrust her hand into it and yanked the door open.
The humidity overwhelmed the chilly air and blasted Jupiter in the face like hot breath. She heard Kunzite laugh behind her, and then, a crimson shadow appeared within the steaming void. Soon, the distant shadow solidified, and another clump of shadow began to appear. The first shadow began to look even more solid, and then, color came into it. The first thing Jupiter noticed about the shadow was the copper hair that formed and took shape. It wasn't until Alketo fully stepped out of the doors that Jupiter could make out her entire form.
Alketo snarled at her sister. "Did you just think you could get rid of us like that? Store me in a damned hell dimension?"
"Hell is where traitors belong," Jupiter muttered.
"Such bitter words," Kunzite said with a sigh. "Your sister doesn't seem to be enjoying the reunion."
Alketo grinned, and it looked like if a viper would smile. "Somehow, I'm not surprised," Alketo quipped. As she spoke, the clump of shadow took form, and two tall figures, carrying one between them, stepped out of the portal. Jupiter gasped because, while she expected her two brothers, she did not expect to see them step forward as men completely made of bronze.
"You changed," Jupiter whispered.
"Dear sister, you threw us in a hell dimension," Horos, who seemed to have a set of bright, topaz jewels for eyes, quipped. "What do you think happens in places with such strong energy?"
Jupiter looked at Nikola, who simply grinned like some ancient, vicious shark as his emerald eyes sparkled unnaturally in his metal face. Then, between them, Jupiter noticed they held something that looked like a statue. The skin seemed made of bright, glowing opal, and instead of hair, the top of the head was covered in shining, gray scales. When Jupiter saw the opal belt and the glowing necklace, she gasped because she suddenly recognized the unconscious Minerva in her changed form.
"I see you do not like our new looks?" Alketo asked as she walked up to Jupiter. With her sister only a couple steps away, Jupiter could see her eyes did not blink. Slowly, Jupiter raised her hands and touched Alketo's face, which felt like solid marble.
"You're not human. You're like a statue," Jupiter whispered. Alketo sneered at her before delivering a swift kick in the gut to the stunned Jupiter. Jupiter yelled as she flew across the room. She stopped herself from sliding along the black stones, and then, she stood up to face her sibling.
"Thunder – "
"Not here you don't!" Binah shrieked as she lunged at Jupiter. The scout struggled underneath the general, who pinned a sword to her throat.
Jupiter heard the clinking of solid rock on the floor, and then, Alketo stood over her. "Let me see," the princess of Ganymede muttered, "what shall we do with you?"
"Just kill me!" Jupiter shouted.
"Ah, speaking of killing . . . that's what you should have done to us. Who would have guessed out would have lost your backbone," Alketo murmured as she leaned down over Jupiter. Pressing her cold lips to her sister's ear, she whispered like a lover telling a secret. "No, sister, we will repay the favor to you. We will not kill you. We shall make you like us."
A/N: Sorry it took so long to edit this chapter! I was having some trouble with it. Anyway, I was really surprised at how many people added this as an alert after the last chapter. Wow! I wrote several Rei centric chapters, and I'm trying to work on one of the really interesting plot twists in the story. I actually had a bit of trouble with Jupiter's part at first, but I think that's because she doesn't fit in as well with the other four. I definitely had Jupiter as being more aligned with the outer planets, so thats how I'm writing this fic. Anyway, thanks, and keep on reading.