“Emerald Crystal is not like the Imperial Silver Crystal,” the queen started the history of the green crystal that Lita had been holding. “Silver Crystal is a symbol of evolution and creating miracles. It can also be use of defending but usually not killing.” Now that her mother mentioned it, she realized that all the adversaries that they had fought mostly weren’t dead. They were all trapped underneath ground or were send somewhere else.

“But Emerald Crystal…” her mother’s voice brought her back to reality. “…is a crystal of annihilation and destruction.” Lita quickly narrowed her eyes. What did her mother mean by the word annihilation and destruction? Did that mean that Emerald Crystal could be a serious threat not only to future Crystal Tokyo but also to the whole universe?

“Do you ever wonder why the Planet Jupiter happens to be the largest planet of all?” she asked. Clara noticed the change of her daughter’s mood.

“No,”

“Because my great, great grandmother, who lived about five thousand years ago, was very interested in conquering other’s kingdom or planet. She’d had used Emerald Crystal to make her wishes came true. Many of the kingdoms that we had conquered were because of wars and a few of them were willing to be one of us because of the need of protection and safety.”

“Evidently, the King of Jupiter Kingdom couldn’t give the protection and safety that they needed,” Lita said dryly. Clara went stiff because she knew that her daughter was referring to the incident that brought the death of herself and her husband.

“No, darling.” Clara immediately defending her beloved husband that Lita had accused to. “It was not the problem of our lack of security or the betrayal of the most trusted person in our kingdom that some people lead to believe. It was the greed that lived within and the desire to see us and the kingdom fell. Greediness had destroyed our kingdom and killed both of us.”

“I’m sorry,” Lita sighed inwardly. “I still cannot accept the changes of my identities. A week ago, I thought I was the lady of Jupiter who had pledged to protect Princess Serenity. Four days later, I discovered that I’m actually a filthy and low slave of my master, which had brought me here. I thought I could be able to save my friends from my vicious master by secretly go to my master. And then, now, you suddenly appeared from no where and reveal the very truth about my very real identity – a princess of Jupiter.” Lita looked very frustrated that made Queen Clara smiled.

“I mean,” she continued. “I don’t really know who I am now. Really am now. And I didn’t know whether to tell my friends about my newest identity or not. They surely don’t believe if I say that I’m the princess of Jupiter.”

Clara pushed a lock of her daughter’s mahogany hair off her forehead tenderly as she grimaced invisibly at the look of bleeding temples. “If I were you, I wouldn’t tell them now. Perhaps sometime in the future but not now.” When she saw the question in Lita’s face, she quickly explained. “Now, they have accepted you as a slave and not a lady anymore. If you suddenly told them that you are a princess, they will confuse which one is your true identity – a lady, a slave or a princess. And I’m sure they’ll treat you differently.”

“You mean I have to hide my identity as a princess and continue using the slave individuality?” Lita frowned at her own words.

“Exactly,”

The former queen of Jupiter suddenly remembered her true intention of paying a visit to her daughter. “Now, I’ll show you how to use the Emerald Crystal.”

“Emerald Crystal is control by heart. Every heir of the Jupiter Kingdom can control the crystal. If you want to destroy or to kill someone in front of you, just open your heart and let the power flows.” Lita looked completely frustrated at her mother’s words, which were too complicated to understand. Clara smiled. Her daughter was so much like her when her mother taught her to use the crystal.

“Here, let me tell you the easier way. When you want to kill someone, the feeling of hatred controls your emotion and tightens your heart. That’s is the wrong way to control the crystal. It might glow brightly for a while but then it began to fade away.” Now her mother’s words began to make sense. When the crystal glowed just now, she was very angry and hysterical. Nephrite’s death had stole her senses and robbed her calmness. All she wanted to do was to kill the woman in front of her and the crystal came alive.

“But if you were so furious beyond your imagination, the crystal will understand you and instead of fade away, it will continuously shine and release the unimaginable power that can destroy not only the person that make you furious but you and your friends too.” Clara explained carefully. Lita looked at the disastrous crystal that she held within her hands.

“A princess of Jupiter must know to control her anger and feelings. If not her kingdom can be destroyed in a second because her emotion controls the crystal. And the princess controls her emotions.” Clara said softly. Lita shivered at the thought of the Earth exploded because she couldn’t control her temper.

“You mean that if I didn’t learn to control my temper, anyone can get kill?”

“That’s right,” The queen nodded her head. “No matter what you do, always think about its consequences if you took that kind of action. That’s will make you a princess of Jupiter.”

The images of Queen Clara began to fade. The light that surrounding both of them was disappearing and Lita could feel her consciousness came back to her. From the eyes of a daughter, Lita could see her mother’s emerald eyes started to water as the sign of the end of their meeting.

“No matter what,” the queen’s voice was inaudible. “I’ll always love you. Your father and I will always look upon you, my brave daughter.” Clara began to float and Lita reached up to touch her mother for the last time. “And me too,” Lita said softly. “Me too, mother.”

Suddenly, Lita’s eyes snapped opened. She was back on the same surrounding where Rei had left her. Struggling to get back on her feet, her eyes scanned around to find Rei and were horror to find her sprawling on the ground with bruises everywhere.

“Rei!” Lita ran toward her. And when she saw that Rei wasn’t moving, Lita became panic. Fear that Rei also was dead just like Nephrite, she nervously searched for the pulse and was extremely relief that she felt Rei’s weak and barely pulse beat steadily. She was alive but she wasn’t going to hold much longer. “Jadeite!” she shouted. “Jadeite! Come over here, right now! Rei is down!”

Jadeite, who was helping Serena to bring Nephrite back to life, suddenly went rigid when he heard Lita’s voice, calling for his help. He swore that she said some about Rei and his body went chilled. “Serena! I need you to stay here while I go and search for them, all right?” he said to Serena.

“But be quick! I have to resurrect Nephrite very soon or else I don’t think he’s holding on that long.” Serena permitted reluctantly. Nephrite was getting paler and paler that Serena was scared to even look at him.

Jadeite ran through the field with all the hideous thoughts that occurred into his mind. The images of Rei covered with blood like Lita, chilled his body and froze his blood. Praying that Rei was all right, he quickened his steps, hoping that he was wrong and Rei was all right.

“God, Rei,” Jadeite breathed out. She was worst than he had thought. With the blood oozed from the opening of the wound on her forehead and bruises everywhere, Rei was in serious pain. “What happened?” he asked Lita softly.

“I don’t know,” Lita said panicky. “I was on verge to the unconsciousness and Rei took me to a safe place and I thought I heard of her saying that she would try to stall the queen.”

“And you let her?!” Jadeite said heatedly as his icy blue eyes glared at her. “Even when there were four of us trying to fight her and failed miserably, you still let her?!”

“Hey, I can barely talk at that time,” Lita defended herself.

“What make you can talk now?” His question made Lita stiffened. She didn’t know what to answer because she didn’t know what had happened just now was merely a dream or hallucination. After all, she was in pain!

“My mother was here,” Lita muttered out an answer and turned around to leave Jadeite to carry Rei to where they kept Nephrite. She had an unfinished business to settle with Lady Xiana.

“And where the hell do you think you’re going in that kind of condition?” Jadeite asked irritably. “I’m not going to carry another unconscious person in my arms.”

“Don’t bother,” Lita glanced back at him. “I don’t expect you to carry me.” Jadeite noted an arrogant tone in her words and a flicker of admiration and irritation pierced through him.

Lita ran to face her worst enemy and her worst fear when she was once under the queen’s power. She had been scared for so long and now she had face her fear now because it was the only way she could overcome her fear and ended her nightmares. Emerald Crystal shone slightly as if it agreed with its princess. From far, she could see that the queen was wrapping a blue silk that she had torn from her dress around her bleeding arm. The queen that Lita was scared of and thought that she was so strong that nobody managed to hurt her was wounded. No matter how strong the queen seemed to be, she still had bloods and flesh like any other person. With that thought, Lita’s confident that seem to be missing ever since she heard regain her memories about her past as a slave flowed back to her.

“Ah…the little slave was here at last,” the queen spoke up sinisterly. Lita kept her eyes narrowed and icy as she kept looking at the queen.

Lifting the greenish crystal in her open hand, Lita slowly control her anger and tried to tell the crystal that her target was only to destroy the cynical and hateful person in front of her. And she succeeded. The crystal began to glow slowly and it was getting brighter and brighter.

She had already know how to control the crystal! Lady Xiana realized panicky. But who taught her? Clara? She frowned at the impossible possibility. But when she thought back, Clara was the only one who knew how to control the crystal and it must be the former Queen of Jupiter who taught Lita.

“Pay more respect to me, Xiana!” Lita said with a cold tone attached to it. Lady Xiana snapped her head toward Lita in an extreme shock. Never had anyone spoke to her like that especially Jupiter. Lita’s next words shocked her more. “I am your princess, however.” There was a supremely satisfaction in Lita’s heart when she said that words and when she saw the shocking look in her ex-master eyes.

* * * * * *

On Earth, the remained four guardian with their prince, were fighting with the sudden invasion from Vanessa. Vanessa had been sent by her queen to destroy the Earth. For the Zoisite and Kunzite, she was amazingly powerful despite the fact that she was once a woman with flirty eyes and breathy laughs. The thought that she was their enemy had never occurred in their mind.

“Damn! Zoisite!” Kunzite cursed as another of their well-planned attacks didn’t work. “She is powerful!”

“As if I can’t see it!” Zoisite spat out sarcastically.

Venus let out another shot of beam to Vanessa but she easily ducked from it. But that failure didn’t give her up yet as Venus let out another beam and another. Vanessa managed to avoid first three attacks but the last one hit her right on her arm.

“She is fighting a never ending battle!” Ami cried when she saw Venus was getting tried. “Don’t just look, damn it!” Ami glared at both of the male guardians.

“Venus is giving us an opportunity to rebuild another plan. This time it has to work because Venus is exhausted.” Kunzite calmly said. Though he was worried about Mina’s safety but as a leader he had to stay calm. As calm as he looked right now, inside he was fighting every urge to go to the battlefield and protected Mina from every attack.

“Any bright idea?” Ami said worriedly.

“For now,” Kunzite said slowly. “Someone had to go there, helping Venus to stall that woman.” He looked at Venus who was struggling with Vanessa. “She can die if this continue.”

“I’ll go!” Ami said instantly. Zoisite’s eyes clouded in disagreed.

“No! I’ll go,” When he saw Ami was about to argue, Zoisite shook his head firmly, telling her that whatever she was about to say, won’t change his mind. Then he ran to the battlefield, fighting with Venus.

“Stubborn male,” Ami muttered under her breath.

“Okay, now let’s get to work!” Darien said.

* * * * * *

Xiana took a step backward. Even though she knows how to control the crystal, she still a new user. Her mind whirled fast, thinking a way to defeat her former slave. If I could toy with emotion, perhaps she couldn’t concentrate on controlling the crystal. Yes, I would make her angry and then sad until she dropped her guard. After that, I shall grabbed the crystal away from her.

With a plan set up in her mind, she smiled annoyingly at Lita. “Do you know what your little princess thought when she first know your identity as slave?” Xiana knew that Jupiter was sensitive when it came to slave.

Lita just looked at the lady. She had no idea what Xiana was trying to do but she kept alert from any sudden attack from the queen. “She thought – Jupiter is a slave? Ugh, to think that she had blinded us for so long with her phonies lady-walk and lady-talk but the fact is she is a slave that eat with the same plate with the dogs!”

“Shut up, Xiana!” Lita said furiously and she didn’t aware that the crystal started to glow a little. “I’m your princess and not your slave anymore.”

“You know that, I know that but do you dare to tell your friends that you are know a princess and not a slave anymore?” Xiana snorted. “They’ll think you’re not only a phony lady but also a terrible liar!”

Lita fisted her hands tightly, capturing the crystal within her hand, unaware that the crystal was glowing brightly. “I said…shut up!” Lita said, holding back her anger. The thought of her friends hating her scared her so much and she was furious at Xiana saying it out aloud.

“Your friends are pretending to accept you but the truth is they hated you because you are at the lower status than themselves!” This time Xiana had gone too far. Lita was shaking with anger. Her life was a living hell now – Nephrite’s death, her friends’ hatred to her, the death of her parents and making her suffer in her own land while she was the princess of Jupiter! Lita was angry beyond her imagination, beyond her expectation. The crystal was glowing brighter than it had ever shone before as if it screamed for release.

“SHUT UP!” Lita shouted for the last time. The sudden explosion immediately killed Xiana and Lita were thrown as the result of the impact. Lita hit solidly at the wall and fell down limply as the back of her head and her body were soaking with blood.

The place where Xiana was killed was a deep and black hole and there was no sign of Xiana’s body because her body had turned into ashes. Jupiter Fortress that had stood proudly for five thousands was now collapsed and the garden was no more a garden but a large desert.

Jadeite, Molly and Serena immediately headed toward the explosion and were dumbfounded at the result of explosion. The hole, the ruins and the desert. “Where’s Lita?” Serena suddenly spoke up.

“I’ll go searching for her,” Molly volunteered. From far she could see Lita was leaning at the wall. When Molly arrived, she was crying at the look of her friend. The old wounds were not yet healed and the new injuries appeared. Her face was deathly pale, the clothing was torn everywhere and her wavy hair tangled and mixed with dried blood.

“Hang on, Jupiter,” Molly said softly as she brought Lita closed to her. “We’re going home.”

* * * * * *

“We have to find her weakness first before we could defeated her,” Kunzite said to Mercury. Ami immediately wore her visor and studied the changes of Vanessa’s power each time she launched an attack.

“I think I’ve found her weakness,” she said suddenly.

“Say it.”

“Every time, she performed an attack, which was very powerful, it took at least two to three minutes to regain the energy before she could perform another attack.” Mercury reported.

“Which mean we have at least three minutes to defeat her,” Kunzite said thoughtfully. “Yes. And we must a very careful plan so that we don’t waste any time,” Ami agreed.

“I think I have an idea,” Kunzite said after thinking for a while. “Look at her…” Ami watched Vanessa let out another attack toward Venus. Mina was exhausted and she didn’t see the attack but luckily Zoisite dragged her to aside. “Now watched carefully,” Kunzite said. Ami saw Vanessa’s hand were unmoving as if she was controlling the beam.

“That’s where the chance is widely open for us to finished her,” Kunzite said triumphantly. “If we could perform an attack that combine the five of our power, then we can defeat her!”

“Someone has to be a bait,” Ami said.

“Let Zoisite be,” Kunzite said quickly, which made Ami’s eyes narrowed in disagreement. “Why don’t you go instead?” She snapped.

“Because I’m the leader,” he answered simply and began to join Zoisite and Mina so that he could tell them about the plan. Ami stared at him in disbelief. She hated Kunzite for his damn ego and his annoyingly short sentences and especially for placing Zoisite as a bait!

“What!” Zoisite whispered angrily at Kunzite. “I have to be a bait? Why don’t you go instead?” He snapped at him.

“You’re just like Mercury!” Kunzite sighed. Then, he left him to bring the tired looking Venus to Mercury. “You’re all right?” Kunzite asked worriedly.

“I will be if I am sleeping right now,” Venus teased.

“Can you let out another attack?” Kunzite asked again. “Yeah, I think I can manage to perform the last attack.”

“Okay, when I said now, all of us will let out our power, all right!” Kunzite ordered.

Kunzite watched Zoisite skillfully throw a few attack to Vanessa while the five of them surrounding her, wanting no suspicion from Vanessa. As Vanessa threw punches and kicks and Zoisite gracefully avoided the blows, Kunzite waited impatiently for her to perform an attack.

When Zoisite’s attack hit her, Vanessa started to get angry and kicked him as hard as she can right onto his chest. The blow made Zoisite being threw out as a fresh blood tickled down from his lips. Vanessa didn’t miss the open chance as she let out a powerful attack toward Zoisite.

“NOW!” Kunzite shouted. Immediately the four of them began to launch out their attack and the various types of power hit Vanessa that made the attack that she perform to hit Zoisite off from its target and hit Zoisite’s shoulder. Zoisite impulsively held his injured shoulder as he watched his friends attacking her.

Vanessa let out one long scream and turned into dust. Venus immediately fell down to the ground because her weakling legs couldn’t support her anymore but Kunzite managed to catch her. Ami quickly ran toward Zoisite and started to look at his shoulder while Darien looked up into the sky, praying that Serena and the others were all right.

“Let’s go,” Darien said.

* * * * * *

Author’s Note

I’m sorry for taking so much time on writing this chapter. The school is starting next weekend and I’m really busy on preparing. I want to thank all the mails that you have sent to me, encouraging me to finish the story. And, yes, This is not the last chapter. I still have to write the epilogue. ^_~