Sub-Culture

[tanzanite]

My Fanfic!! Finally here!!!

WARNINGS and Notes:

This fic is mainly based on the Mexican dub of the Sailor Moon series; this is like a combination between DIC and the original, therefore Zoycite is female (at least in the present life) and there are some changes in some of the secondary characters names, that I’ll be posting when necessary.
It also contains some minor elements taken from the manga (Spanish Translation), the Sailormoon: Another Story RPG (U.S.A. Translation) and Codename Sailor V (online information).

But you don’t have to be familiar with anything but the anime (whatever your version might be) to enjoy it!!

This fic contains some minor use of drugs and other substances, some implicit yet non-graphic violence, might be considered a death-fic, angst; might contain shounen ai, shoujo ai, yaoi, yuri…Almost every warning on the book, yet, I swear I’ll try to keep it as soft and tasteful as I can.

Sailor Moon and most of the characters on this fic are not my property. Keep it nice and don’t sue.

Keep it extra-nice and don’t flame.

[tanzanite]

Chapter 1: As it is when it was

“Whatever you think of me, you listen hard and I will make you see”
New Order

Why? Oh, why me? He thought while he stood before the temple. Needless to say he could have found a better place to stay, but somehow it was required for him to establish contact and, as far as he knew, the temple was the place to do so. He straightened himself a bit and walked in. Just as he thought, the old man looked at hi as if he were a ghost.
"Mr. Hino" He said trying to sound as normal as possible "I suppose?"
“Do I know you?” the old man asked, still confused.
“No, not really” his eyes shifted a bit “I’ve come all the way from Mumbai, and I really need a place to stay, you see, my grandfather used to be the high priest of a temple just like this, back in India and he told me that if I ever found myself in Tokyo, I could always come to your temple for shelter Mr. Hino”
“Well, I’m always looking for new assistants” Grandpa Hino sighed “Tough I’d rather hire some pretty girls, there’s always work to do around here… What you said your name was?”
“Arnav Smith” The blond man said, a bit uncomfortable to speak the name he hadn’t used in years.

He settled down in the small bedroom Grandpa Hino had given him and changed into the temple clothing. I’ve forgotten just how comfortable these were he thought and laid on the bed. He knew, for experience, that life in a temple started quite early in the morning and it would be wise to get some sleep. A knock in the door changed his plans when he was face to face with an extremely angry black haired girl.
“YOU? “ Raye cried and reached to her pocket “How dare you… MARS CRYSTAL…”
“Shut up!!! Somebody might hear you!!!” He said, trying to stay calm “It’s not what you think, let me explain…”
“MARS CRYSTAL POWER MAKEUP”
“Have it your way then, Sailor Mars “He sighed, but made no movement to attack her.
“There is no way I’ll let some Negascum like you try to steal energy from my temple… again” She cried.
“Fine then, go ahead and incinerate me or whatever it is that you do with your Mars fire thingy, this time I’m not exactly in the mood for a fight”
“Jedite? Is it really you?” The look on her face made him wish he had a camera.
“Yes, it’s me” he chuckled “Like I said before, this is not what you think. I need to talk to Luna and the others as well; we might all be in danger”

It was past dusk and the both of them were sitting on the stairs, He had changed into his Negaverse uniform and she was still wearing her fuku. The moment was quite uncomfortable for both of them. He looks different, somehow She thought.
“We thought you were dead” she said, breaking the silence.
“I wasn’t… as you can see” Jedite sighed “But then I guess Luna never told you…”
“Told us what?” Sailor Mars frowned.
“The truth…”
Raye stood up abruptly.
“What do you mean by that?” she looked at him enraged “Who are you to talk about the truth anyways?”
“Things were a lot different back then” Jedite turned his face up to meet Raye’s eyes “And just for the record, among my… colleagues, I’m known to be deviously sincere”
“Yeah right” She snorted “Just like the whole bunch of lies you just told my grandfather…”
“I…” He started but was cut short by the sight of the other girls and the cats climbing up the long stairway. It appeared funny to him, if only for a moment, that he was actually relieved to see the familiar black cat approaching.
“Luna, at last…” He greeted, as calmed as ever.
“Jedite” The black cat seemed a little shaken though “Is there something wrong?”
“You mean you REALLY knew he was alive???” Sailor Mars cried.
“Of course I knew” answered Luna, trying to keep calm.
“And when were you planning to tell us?” Raye was becoming more anxious with every turn of the conversation, Obviously Jedite thought. As for the other Sailors, well, he wasn’t actually connected to anyone else, so he couldn’t tell what was exactly going through their minds; but by the look on their faces Luna was going to have the hell of a time clearing up the truth to them.
“It was all a setup… back then” he said “It was all meant to train you, it’s a long story, and I suppose Luna has already explained some part of it to the other Scouts on the way here… And I think that’s the first subject you need to discuss among yourselves before I try to explain whatever it is that brought me here tonight. So…I guess I’ll just leave you guys alone for a while” He teleported to a nearby spot and looked.

Jedite knew few to none details about the training mission: it had been his and Zoycite’s training as well. Malachite had told them that it had been a job hired by Artemis, and quite a shock it had been to find out he was just a white cat; the orders had been to set up a mission that appeared authentic to both the Sailor Scouts and the Generals in training, preparing them both for any situation they might have, but more important, to get all the inner Sailor Scouts together before any real enemy could reach them.

They argued for what it seemed like ages, but he found himself quite amused just watching their reactions: Mercury, as always tried to be reasonable and keep calm among her friends; The girl he was told to be Jupiter was just holding Sailor Moon, who cried and whined as usual, And Mars paced around while occasionally directing murderous glances at him. Out of all five, the only one who actually seemed to have known it all before hand was Venus, or Sailor V as he had known her, she just nodded and tried to help the others take the news. I hated it too Jedite thought, recalling the moment when he was taken out from eternal sleep. It had passed more than two hours when they finally were calmed enough to go talk to him.

“Will you tell us why you’re here now?” Sailor Moon asked, her eyes still a little puffy from the tars, yet the way she looked at him was completely different.
“About a week ago in earth time, something collided in between both realms, we don’t know what it might be but it’s been draining energy from our reserves” He said, worried.
“That sounds like an internal affair of the Negaverse” Artemis narrowed his eyes thoughtfully “It has nothing to do with us”
“Actually” Jedite turned to see the white cat “Whatever it is, it’s making an active presence here”
“You mean…” Ami nodded in understanding.
“It’s stealing our energy to try something in your world” He sighed “And we need to catch it while it’s on earth in order to destroy it and save our world. But, since earth realm is YOUR territory, we need your cooperation”
“Sounds terrible” Sailor Moon placed a hand on his shoulder “Are you alone in this?” Jedite looked at her, almost touched by her concern over him.
“No” He pulled away from her touch “The others are looking for some other place on the planet where it might be any sign of activity from the thing. They sent me ahead to contact you; somehow we thought it might be better if only one of us delivered the news instead of all four”
“Why you?” Mars frowned, and he knew she was still mad “Why not sending Neflyte for that matter?”
“That is something I don’t know” Jedite smirked, thinking of just how everybody liked Neflyte… That’s until they’ve known him for a week “as far as I know you would have reacted a lot better had it been Neflyte instead of me…”
“We’ll help you” Said finally Sailor Venus “That’s what we do, anyways” She smiled and the other ones, except Mars, nodded in agreement.
“When will the others show up?” Jupiter asked a little tired.
“Tomorrow half past noon” Jedite realized he was also in bad need for some rest “At the park, I guess you’ll be there too”
“Of course we will” said Luna “But for now, we must go and get some sleep. I believe tomorrow will be a long day”
“I think so” He said “By the way, considering the current circumstances; I believe there’s no call for uniforms”
***

He laid on the bed for the second time that evening and was again interrupted by her knocking on the door. She had changed back to her human clothes and so had he. It was a completely different mood.
“You were saying that you didn’t lie to my grandfather before my friends arrived?” Raye asked, still a little bewildered.
“That’s true” He sat on the bed and she took a step into the room and closed the door “I told him the truth, a little bit mixed up but the truth. I did, in fact, came here from Mumbai and my grandfather did use to run a temple”
“So, you were human once?” She sat beside him on the bed, the rage in her eyes turned into curiosity.
“I was, not so long ago” Jedite sighed, he wasn’t too keen on sharing his personal details with anybody, not to mention a sailor scout, but somehow he knew it might help to gain her trust “We all joined the Negaverse when we turned 18, up to that time I was just a regular kid, living with my grandfather in Mumbai, I even went to school and all those things”
“Why did you join?” Raye smiled at the thought of Jedite in a school uniform.
“Why did you become a Sailor scout?” He smiled back at her; it was a shy smile, more out of nostalgia than anything else “It was just meant to be”
“Your parents, where are they?” She asked.
Jedite stiffened at the question and his eyes filled with rage.
“Don’t ever mention my parents again” He said just in the same tone he would have used four years earlier, when he was supposed to be an enemy.
“I think I must go now” Raye stood up and walked to the door, and then she turned back to Jedite “Don’t ever speak to me like that” She snapped and walked into the hallway.

It was something well known among the Negaverse Generals, at least among the four in service Of Queen Beryl, that there were certain subjects out of limits of any conversation; Jedite’s parents was one of them: probably the only secret he really had, not that there were that many secrets between them; after that many years of being a team, they had eventually grown to know each other quite well. Sometimes Jedite thought there might be something like friendship among them; of course they wouldn’t get along most of the time, even if they weren’t as loud as Zoycite and Neflyte, He knew Malachite and himself had their own animosity. But Jedite also knew either of them would give their life for the cause. He smiled sadly at the thought, letting sleep take slowly over him.
****


She sat on the bench. Some kids were playing by the lake while their mothers watched nearby; the group of ladies looked not much older than her, maybe a couple of years or so, all of them seemed to be housewives whose life revolved around their children. She could hear them talking about school, cakes, yesterday’s yoga class. It will be so easy to just blast them all She thought, running a hand through her dirty blond curls. Sometimes, though, instead of blasting them, all she could think about was how nice it would be to be one of those women, for a change: to have someone to wait for everyday, someone who would actually show up on time, someone who would actually put her before anything else. She raised her hand and aimed to a blond lady who had just joined the group. So easy… She thought and smirked Lets see if you can smile like that once I’m finished with you. She closed her fist and lowered her hand; what difference would it make, anyways? Besides, she did have someone to wait for. Her green eyes lighted up a bit and she searched her bag for her camera. From that angle, the group of housewives made an interesting picture.

Thinking about photographs, it had been a long time since she had taken a spontaneous picture; mainly because there weren’t many things to photograph in the Negaverse, and mainly because her schedule rarely left her anytime to wander around Earth Realm. Another figure caught her eye, this time it was a familiar one: a tall man leaning on the fence that surrounded the lake. He hadn’t noticed her yet. She grabbed her camera once more and looked at him through the lens: his platinum blonde hair fell across his shoulder, while his silver eyes stared thoughtfully at the burning end of the cigarette he held between two fingers of his left hand. Such a habit, darling she smiled, knowing that he only smoked when he thought no one would see. She took the picture and pondered whether to reveal herself or just wait for him to notice her; truth to be told, the image of the strongest warrior of the Negaverse, indulging himself for a moment, held a certain charm for her. Yet, on the other hand, the idea of her lover being caught red handed was too appealing to let go. She grabbed her things and approached; cautiously, not wanting him to notice until it was too late. All in all it was a perfect opportunity to practice her training; she raised her mental guards and moved on as smooth as she could, trying to blend with the crowd.

He raised his hand and the offending item was gone. Caught she thought, a little disappointed for her loss, yet eager to reach him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and whispered in hi ear:
“I thought you’d quitted”
“Quitted what?” he chuckled and turned his face to kiss her.
“Your lips” She pouted breaking the kiss “They taste normal, but this time I’ve got a picture to prove it”
“Then we must call it a draw” He said and stepped out of her hug.
“Deal” She smiled and leaned on the fence beside him “How long have you been here?”
“Apparently, long enough. Did you find anything?” He asked, and she knew his mind had returned to their mission at hand.
“No, Europe is clean” She said, reaching to brush a platinum lock out of his face “Did you?”
He just shook his head and leaned softly to her touch.

For any normal person, the two of them would have looked like a couple of foreigners backpacking through Japan. She was wearing jeans and a green tank top, subtly revealing her feminine figure and a scar that ran from her shoulder to, as only he would know, the upper part of her breast. He was wearing a much wasted set of black jeans and a long sleeved black tee, with three buttons, from the neck to almost two inches down the sternum, all of them undone; as she knew, he couldn’t bear anything around his neck. They just appeared normal to everyone, except the blond man who silently approached from the other side of the lake and the girls following him. They knew better.

Malachite was the first one who noticed them; Zoycite saw the sudden change in her lover’s expression and felt the hand holding tight around her wrist. How much they’ve changed She thought, noticing the five girls. All of a sudden she wondered how the past four years might have affected those girls, maybe even more than anybody from their generation; these girls are marked and for the first time since she had met them, Zoycite felt a kind of sympathy for them.

Jedite noticed her and waved eagerly, she smiled and the hand around her wrist was abruptly taken back. Time to rebuild your guards She thought, looking at her lover’s stoic expression. The moment of self-indulgence was over and he once more became the “Ice King”.

“I am pleasantly surprised to see your mission was successful” Malachite greeted the younger General.
“Thank you, sir” Jedite replied and his eyes narrowed for a second “I’ll consider that as a compliment, coming from you”
“Sailor Scouts” the older man bowed his head politely to the girls.
“Malachite…” Luna took a step in front the small group and was about to say something when the General interrupted.
“Luna, please accept my most sincere apologies “He said to the black cat “But I must assume Jedite already informed you the circumstances under which we were forced us to return to Earth and break the vow of secrecy we made about the training mission”
“Aren’t you missing one member?” asked Ami a little confused.
“Apparently, Mr. Sanjoin doesn’t feel the need to show up on time” Zoycite retorted.
“Not my fault your watch is fast” A most dreaded voice snapped behind her.
Zoycite rolled her eyes and turned to see Jedite; the blond general just winked at her in silent understanding.
“Did I miss anything important?” The auburn haired man grinned and turned to see the Sailor Scouts “Besides meeting these beautiful ladies. I mean” He looked at Serena and something clouded his eyes for a second, Zoycite couldn’t figure out what it was “You’ve grown, yet it seems like it was last night when… Never mind, I’m just glad to see you’ve turned out so well”


After a few words, they all went their separate ways. Before proceeding any further, They had to find a suitable place to establish their headquarters; Neflyte’s manor had been discarded immediately, the official explanation had been that it was too ostentatious and prone to be revealed, Zoycite knew that the actual reason was that Malachite preferred to use a place of his own, rather than feel indebted to any of his underlings. Same thing happens with this place, she thought while checking the luxurious, yet incredibly sober, loft he had taken for both of them to stay while on Earth. He could have asked for my opinion… at least. It was not that she disliked the place or anything like that; but recently Zoycite had been pondering a lot in whether their relationship was going anywhere.

He was sitting on the couch, looking at the snapshots they got printed on the way to their residence. She could see him, while he studied each and every one of the photographs in his hands, lingering on a particular one and separating it from the rest. Zoycite sighed and moved to sit beside him.
“You should tear this one apart” Malachite said with a half smile.
“Why? Is the closest I’ve gotten to the real you in quite a while” She took the picture in her hands.
“What is that supposed to mean?” As usual, the question revealed nothing of whether he was actually concerned about the comment.
“You know what it means” Zoycite narrowed her eyes; all of a sudden realizing that she had been really angry for quite a while. She stood up and walked to the door, expecting him to stop her anytime and feeling even more frustrated when he just stared at her like nothing was happening. She reached for the knob and this time she got her response.
“Fine then” He said, walking over to her side “You got me; I know I have been acting stranger than usual. But you must know it was never my intention to neglect you”
“I know, love” Zoycite relaxed and turned around to wrap her arms around his waist “But is not just that” She kissed him softly on the lips “I think it’s time for us to make a decision”
Malachite sighed and touched his forehead with hers “Guess you are right” he said in a whisper.
Zoycite held her lover close. She knew it would take more than one simple argument for Malachite to give in and make some serious changes to their current state; but at least she had made her move for the night.

[tanzanite]

He had been there for almost three hours, doing nothing, just looking at the jewellery shop from inside his car. Do something the voice in his head cried out, but his body remained still. What would I tell her anyways? He thought That I’m sorry? That everything she saw that night was just a set-up to train the Sailor Scouts, or worse, a set-up to cover up the fact that I was just too scared of falling for her? The thought had been revolving in his head from the moment he was told they were to return to Earth Realm. Yet, he wasn’t about to let the others, especially Zoycite, notice how much it still affected him.

What if she sees me? A sudden fear invaded him What if she passes by and recognizes my car? He touched his right shoulder; the scars from the thorns were still there, a reminder of the only time he ran away from anything.


It had been a tough decision, he remembered, meeting with Queen Beryl and Malachite in the throne room and requesting his immediate removal.
“Are you aware that we are not only training the Scouts here?” The older General asked, doing his best not to show distress.
“I am” Neflyte responded; he knew the whole charade had to work for Jedite and Zoycite as well.

Four years later, outside of a jewellery shop he laughed remembering the look on Jedite’s face when he was taken out of the crystal. But the morning before that fateful night; Neflyte had actually wondered if, in some mysterious and twisted way, that set-up wasn’t teaching him a few lessons as well.

“Under what circumstances do you request this?” was all she asked, and Neflyte knew that in the Negaverse there were no such things as personal reasons.
“I’m afraid that the Scouts might get suspicious, given the events of last night regarding Sailor Moon’s young friend” He had spoken, using his innate ability to lie, and cursing himself for the words he was speaking “That girl is just too attached to me”
Malachite and Queen Beryl deliberated for a while; Neflyte remembered it like the most stressing moments of his life. In the end she left it all up to the older general.
“That was quite an indecorous thing to say” Malachite scolded him once they were alone in another room “Specially if you are talking about a lady”
“As if I needed you to tell me that” Neflyte smirked.
“And you cannot just quit for every girl that manages to get in your pants or, worse, in your wallet” Malachite had touched a particularly raw point, and Neflyte knew it had been on purpose.
“Molly is not like that” Just to make him say those words “As if you wouldn’t know when a girl is really special!” Yet, Neflyte had known him for quite a long time.
“Then, why are you leaving her?” Malachite’s grin only broadened in triumph.
“I’m not…” He knew there was no point quarrelling. The older one had quite a strong set of arguments.
“You are such a coward!” Although the words were strong, the tone remained a friendly one “But I will help you anyways, just leave it all to me, Neflyte, though I must warn you it will be painful”.
And in many ways it had been.
Yet, there he was, four years later, outside her mother’s jewellery shop, trying to make up his mind on whether to go inside or not.

Suddenly, she appeared from around the corner: red locks framing a pretty face and the graceful movement of her body as she walked down the street… hand in hand with a boy about her age. Neflyte couldn’t believe his eyes, her companion was just a sleazy, dull boy with huge glasses and, yet, she appeared radiantly in love with him. For a moment the world went numb for the auburn haired man; somehow he managed to speed up the car and drive away, not noticing the green blue eyes staring in anguish or the young heart beating fast a the familiar vehicle passed in front of her.
***

She was fast asleep beside him, with her eyes closed and her slightly parted lips she almost looked peaceful. He gently brushed a lock of copper hair away from her face and sighed. His head, like always, was revolving with more thoughts than he could express.

I know you are not happy anymore. He spoke to her in silence. Don’t you dare believe I just don’t notice the way you look at me now. Of course I know that something is wrong. The problem, my darling, is that you’ve grown and changed; you’re not the same person I trained six years ago, you’re not even the same impulsive brat you used to be when I first brought you down here. You’re still hot-tempered, but you’re not as childish as you were. And after all this time together, you’ve finally stopped worshiping me.
And I want it just as much; I want us to live together like a normal couple, I want to be able to tell you what’s going on with me, especially now that everything is just too messed. But revealing such weakness might be even more dangerous that you’ll ever know.

She moved around in her sleep, turning her back to him. Malachite just stroked her hair and got out of bed; it would be pointless to stay in the bedroom if he couldn’t sleep anyways. He walked into the living and noticed the photographs still lying on the coffee table. That stupid picture he thought, gazing at the offending one, But I must admit, darling, you’re really good at revealing that part of myself I try to hide the most. He took it and placed in the back pocket of his jeans. Not wanting to waste more time doing nothing, he decided to go out and take a walk to clear up his mind if not his lungs.

And there he was, again, in the same place, in the same position, and doing the exact same thing he had been doing that very morning when his picture was taken. He knew smoking was a low down vice, undignified to say the least, inappropriate for someone in his position; yet, it was the only little thing of the sort he allowed himself to do. Not that he did it on a regular basis; he could make a pack last for almost a year: addiction was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Yet, for the last week, he had been going through hell.

It all started when the intelligence forces of the Negaverse informed that The Entity had been noticed to display some forms of manifestation on Earth Realm, the city of Tokyo to be exact; and it had been obvious, considering that the main sources of positive energy were located there. Of course, the Queen and her council immediately turned their eyes to him, who had commanded the successful training mission four years ago, and, of course, he felt obliged to volunteer his team for the task. I would rather have sent us all to death he reproached himself. For he knew, from past experience, that his squad and the Sailor Soldiers held a story that went deeper than just a training mission.

It was the truth he spoke to no one (not to mention the cause of his current problems) that he remembered clearly everything that happened over a thousand years before. The Silver Millennium, it’s splendour, it’s demise, was engraved deep into his memory. And those recollections tormented him for a long long time. Absently, he touched his temple, feeling a faint scar: an imperceptible circular mark, product of a machine burning his skin, more than twenty years old. He knew there were some others, just like that, hidden under his long silver hair; all of them a product of being reborn with the memories of a past life intact in his brain.

“Everybody knows you do that, don’t you know?” a familiar voice said behind him “Hell, even the youma know…”
“Aren’t you supposed to be crying under a tree for your lost love or something?” Malachite disappeared the smoke and turned to face the auburn haired General, somehow relieved to be around a well known comrade.
“And that’s something everybody knows as well” Neflyte smirked “The main difference between me and you, is that I cover my problems with lies, while you just deny them. Yet, I wish I could take a nice picture of you smoking”
“Hate to bring the news to you” The silver haired man took the photograph out of his pocket “But someone has already been there and done that”
“So I see” He took the picture from Malachite’s hand and inspected it “An intelligent brat she is, spoiled to the core, but I can’t deny she has a fine set of brains… among other attributes”
“Don’t start, Neflyte…” The older man said, not in the mood to tolerate his colleague’s disdain for Zoycite.
“You know, there’s only one thing that brings me here every time” something about the way the second General spoke, felt like he was delivering something important “I’ll never forgive myself for not telling Molly the truth, I mean, it’s not like you find something like that everyday”
“Don’t get so emotional” Malachite said as cool as ever “That sort of indulgences might cost a lot more than…”
“They’re worth?” Neflyte raised an eyebrow then smirked “Guess you’re right, anyways, I always knew there was just no way that a brilliant man such as yourself could actually love someone the likes of Zoycite”
“Stop it, Neflyte” He said, annoyed to have someone messing around his personal life.
“I was just saying” The auburn haired man smiled “Sorry if it bothers you”

He walked into the apartment early in the morning; a faint smell of tea emerged from the kitchen, where she stood in her underwear with a mug between her hands, her hair falling loose down to her waist: a vision to him, pretending to be absorbed reading a book, laid on the counter beside the tea pot, just to ignore the fact that he had been out the whole night. She is worth trying he thought, and walked to her.
“Sorry for coming home this hour” he said, uncomfortable with it “I could not sleep and went out for a walk and a smoke, but apparently lost track of time, guess I have just been under a lot of stress lately” the admission felt like a blade through his gut, yet the look in her eyes was worth it.
“It’s O.K.” She said, placing her mug next to the book and pouring some tea into another one she handed to him “Things haven’t been easy in a while, yet I’m glad you finally say something to me”

He accepted it and took a small sip of the infusion. If only for that moment, things seemed to be a little better.

End of Chapter 1

[tanzanite]

Onto chapter 2 we go. If you’re still reading this fanfic, thank you very much, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
****

Chapter 2: Doubts even here.

“All talk allowed, calls are answered daily, the questions are on your side.
Deeply moved, beyond all consolation, you felt the pulse, now hear the cry.”
New Order

A young tennis player was found dead from multiple stab wounds yesterday on her front drive.
Relatives discovered the body of Rui Saionji slumped outside her home in Juban.
Police believe that the 22-year-old woman was stabbed to death as she returned home at 11:30 pm
Ms. Saionji sustained serious injuries in the frenzied attack and died at the scene.
Unknown wheel marks were found near the body, although neighbours alleged she didn’t own a car.
‘We are all devastated. This is a really quiet neighbourhood - everyone is petrified there is going to be another attack.’
Detective Chief Inspector, who is leading the murder investigation, said police had stepped up patrols in the town. She added: ‘Officers from Tokyo Police are making a number of enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this woman’s death. At this early stage we would appeal to anyone who saw anything untoward or anyone acting suspiciously in the area, particularly before or around 11:00 when she returned home, to call us.’
***

They were gathered around a small table in a café near the park, like a normal group of friends from the nearby offices, even a group of students from the University, and, like everybody else, they were also discussing the news in the morning paper.
“I mean, it doesn’t appear to be a real motive behind it” Jedite commented, still looking at the paper “Might as well be our entity”.
“I suppose it can be possible” Zoycite said and turned to her lover.
“Anything on the subject Neflyte?” Malachite asked, somehow trying to keep control over the conversation.
“No, not really” He stared into his coffee as if searching for something “I mean… Just this random girl found dead, happens everyday”.
Zoycite and Jedite looked at each other, while Malachite remained calmed.
“We must investigate further, just in case” The older man started “Starting tonight we must have someone making rounds at night, keeping an eye on any abnormal activity near or concerning the crime scene…
“I think someone must go to the funeral” Neflyte suddenly interrupted.
“Suppose it might as well be you” Malachite raised an eyebrow to his second in command “In any case, Jedite must start with the night watch while I get inside the Police Department and check the body for anything that might be not quite human”
Jedite and Zoycite exchanged glares again; both of them slightly irritated by the course of action.
“And what about me?” She snapped “Should I just stay home and wait for you with a nice dinner?”
An uncomfortable silence fell around the table. The silver haired General turned to face his lover, with a look that lived up to his reputation as the “Ice king”. This time, however, she didn’t back down from his imposing glance.
“This is neither the time nor the place to discuss personal issues” He said, trying to keep an upper hand, yet somehow bewildered by her lack of response “However, if it is what you wish, I suppose you can go and inspect the corpse yourself. After all, you already know what human weapons can or can not do to a body. But let me warn you, the sight of an earthian morgue is not as pleasant or half as hygienic as a negaversian one”
“Well thank you, sir” Her voice and face were calmed, yet, her fist was tightly clenched under the table “I believe I can deal with it”
Jedite placed a reassuring hand over her wrist, discreetly enough not to be noticed by their first commander. Neflyte just looked at her and nodded softly in approval, somehow, that little display had earned her a point towards his respect.
***

“That was very brave of you” Jedite said to his fellow officer as they walked down the street away from the café “He really needs to be brought back to the ground every once in a while” He wasn’t surprised when Zoycite took her separate way from her lover once the meeting was over. The dissatisfaction was becoming increasingly evident on the female general as the days passed. If this goes on, I bet they’ll be over before this mission He thought.
“It sucks, Jedite” She said, with tears forming in the corners of her green eyes “We’ve never, never needed to be away from each other just because we couldn’t stand being together” Over her genuine grief, a small tint of her long gone French accent could be distinguished. That, as Jedite knew, was the difference between her tantrums and the times when something really hurt her.
“Don’t let it beat you” He answered, unable to tell her that everything would be alright “There’s more to you than he’ll ever see” damned his curse of sincerity, the blond haired general truthfully wished to believe there was something he could say that would, actually, made his friend feel better.
She smiled sadly:
“And there’s more to him that I’ll ever know”

***
She straightened herself a bit before entering the large building, doing her best to go unnoticed, yet attracting the attention from all the staff of the Tokyo P.D.. Not that they suspected anything about that strange woman walking down to the morgue: her I.D. was visible over the pocket of her lab coat. Yet she was a foreigner, some French mortician called by any superior officer to check the corpse of the tennis-girl (the nickname the P.D. had given Rui Saionji) for anything out of common. Nobody dared to question the presence of the golden haired woman, they just allowed her into the morgue; things surrounding the tennis-girl were strange enough, anyways.
“Madame Claudel, je suppose” The young officer guarding the morgue said. His French is quite lousy, thought Zoycite.
“Mademoiselle, sil vou plait, je ne suis pas marié” She answered, almost amused; but almost immediately regretting her personal slip up.
“Qui aurait pensé?” He smiled a little too flirty for her taste “Entrée, la dame, ne laissent pas les cadavres vous intimider”
“Merci, Se vous plus tard” Zoycite walked past the guarding post, not without giving him a second glance: She had seen this man before, although she couldn’t exactly remember where. 

A Japanese policeman speaking French? She asked herself once alone in the morgue. There were some other bodies lying on the tables: suicides and accidents; she shrugged, realizing Malachite had been right about those places. Maybe the most disturbing thing, at least for a woman used to war, had to be the smell: an awful stink that filled her nose and seemed to linger eternally once past the door. Zoycite almost felt sick.
The body of Rui Saionji didn’t look quite as damaged as Zoey would have thought; in fact, most of her wounds weren’t lethal. Actually, it would have been impossible for someone her age to be instantly killed by such wounds. Zoycite narrowed her green eyes, something’s very wrong here; even the cut made for the autopsy wasn’t deep enough. Either the police reports are wrong or her wounds are healing after death.

She ran her fingers over the incision; there was some kind of energy flowing in there: nothing she had felt before, undeniably inhuman. She held her breath for a moment and considered teleporting back to Malachite, for no other reason than reporting her breakthrough; but she had already been acquainted by the guard and the last thing their mission needed was to raise any suspicious among the humans.
“Finished so soon, Miss Claudel?” He winked back at her as she tried to leave.
Taking a closer look, the officer wasn’t as young as he appeared; maybe in his middle twenties and, definitely, older than Zoycite. His face wasn’t Japanese (and it amazed Zoycite that she hadn’t noticed that before), his eyes were a light shade of hazel and his hair was platinum blonde, not silver like Malachite’s, but with a reddish shade that caused the impression of a very light pink. I’ll remember you, Zoycite thought as she gave him a small nod for goodbye.
She walked into the apartment a bit uneasy, not really wanting to be there; there was some light in the bedroom, suggesting the presence of the older general. She closed the front door behind her, leaning against it. I must be strong Zoycite said to herself as she walked down the hall. There was no sight of her lover in the bedroom, but the shower could be heard through a closed door in the corner. The female warrior sighed in relief and hurried to get her bag and pack some of her things; as depressing as it was, she couldn’t share his bed that night. She grabbed a small, green cell phone and placed it in her pocket. Jedite would be doing rounds all night and had told her to crash at the temple if she wanted.
Zoycite didn’t hear when the water stopped running, nor did she notice the man who had been watching her from the bathroom door until she turned around to leave.
***

“Did you find anything?” He asked like he would have done any other time; it wasn’t until the small bag on the bed caught his eye, that Malachite realized just how different things were.
“I did, my lord” the formality stung like a nail through his spine “Although the reports claimed the girl had died from multiple stab wounds, not one of the injuries appeared to be lethal. Also, and most important, I ran an aura-scan and found some strange energy lingering within the corpse: it wasn’t negaversian energy, but it wasn’t human either. I’m going back there tomorrow to see the lab results from the surrounding area…”
“And where are you going now?” Malachite interrupted. She couldn’t tell, but the ‘Ice King’ was even willing to beg on his knees before loosing her.
“I’m staying at the temple” Zoycite avoided his eyes “with Jedite”
He braced himself against the doorframe, knowing he had it coming didn’t make things any easier. In that moment all his pride fell to the ground and he raised his silver eyes to meet the impassive, emerald ones. Something changed in that moment, when a painful smile adorned her pretty face and he felt even more naked than he already was.
“This is it?” He said; his voice still trying to conceal the despair evident in his eyes.
***
French conversation:

 “Mrs Claudel, I suppose”
“Miss, please, I’m not married”
“Who would have thought?” “Come in, lady, don’t let the corpses intimidate you”
“Thank you, see you latter”

***

[tanzanite]

Zoycite bit her lip and shook her head, unable to stand firm against the vision of her first commander, superior and trainer undressed both of his clothes and his divinity: definitely not the man she had fallen in love with six years before, but someone corporeal: a partner instead of an idol. She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Stay like this” Zoey whispered in his ear “Don’t you dare to change back to your cold mask”
A silver cell phone rang from the bedside table. Malachite disentangled himself from the embrace and rushed to answer; Zoycite didn’t mind. After a brief conversation she didn’t hear, Malachite conjured his uniform and turned to her.
“It’s Jedite” He said “Apparently, our girl suffers from Lazarus’ syndrome”
Zoycite chuckled, finding the term ‘Lazarus’ syndrome’ particularly funny coming from her lover.


Although he had his share of strange things in his life, the sight of a living dead still amazed Jedite. The girl, who was formerly known as Rui Saionji, walked down the deserted street, almost as if she had been alive. The blond man smirked at her and moved closer. I can trash her myself he thought, reluctantly taking the red cell phone out of his pocket.
“I think you better come and see this” he said to his superior officer “Rui Saionji is up and walking”
“Keep her up” the deep voice answered through the phone “We must be over there in about ten minutes”
“If that’s possible” he finished and hung up.
He conjured an energy ball, weak enough to control her without causing any serious damage. The blast sent her flying back a few meters. Jedite smirked and teleported close to the girl. Surprisingly, she had landed on her feet and was looking back at him with a sinister glow in her eyes. He blasted her again, this time with a little more strength, yet, the discharge didn’t even move her from the spot; instead, somehow, the glow in her eyes intensified as if with every blast her energy increased.
Unbelievable, Jedite thought, and so damn interesting. He levitated and blasted her a slow charge from above; this resulting on Rui taking off the ground herself. He blasted her, another couple of times, but immediately regretted it after she managed to attack him with her bare hands. Claws had appeared instead of her fingers and she was flying straight to him; Jedite ducked from the first blow but a second one knocked him back to the ground with Rui pinning him down. It could have been quite a painful moment if she hadn’t been blown away by a stream of petals coming from behind him.
“Stop it, Zoycite!!” He yelled to the woman behind him “You’ll only make her stronger!!”
“What do you mean??” Malachite asked; offering his hand to Jedite, who declined it less than politely.
“Somehow she feeds on the energy we send through our attacks” He said, standing up.
Zoycite stopped her attack and moved closer to her lover. Jedite gave her an annoyed look. After all he put you through…He reproached quietly.
The moment was interrupted when the creature charged again this time against the female General, who was quickly pulled away by Malachite.
“I think, due to the current circumstances, it would be rather unwise to stay here and just analyze whatever she has turned into” He said, turning to face the younger man “Zoey and I will keep her busy while you call Neflyte”
Jedite nodded.
“And tell him to bring his car, we are doing a code 13” Malachite commanded.
He had to admit, even if it killed him, that the two of them had put together quite a team over the years. They moved through the air, catching the creature’s attention, in some bizarre kind of synchrony, like they could read each others minds. His contemplation was quickly interrupted by the second General answering to his call.
“Get your ass down here and bring the car” Jedite urged “We’re doing a 13”
It took less than ten minutes for the auburn haired general to be there. He parked the Ferrari in the middle of the road and pulled out with a crowbar in his hands. The older General moved closer while Jedite and Zoycite were still busy with the creature.
“When was the last time we did a 13?” Neflyte asked to Malachite.
“About eight years ago, you and I” The silver haired man sighed “I don’t think these kids had ever performed one” he carelessly pointed at Jedite and Zoycite.
Something about the way Malachite had said those words made Jedite shiver; he knew the first commander referred to them as ‘kids’ only when something unspeakable was to be done. His feeling was confirmed by the crowbar on Neflyte’s hands and the distressed look on the second General’s face.
“Well” He said to the older man, making Jedite a bit more anxious “The one who said the first time is the foulest hasn’t yet seen a second”
***

Zoycite was back at the morgue the next morning; a little uncomfortable for the events of the night before. She shrugged, imagining the face of the young guard when he saw what they had done to the body; He wouldn’t know what happened Zoey repeated in her head, trying to reassure herself.
“What a pleasant surprise, Mademoiselle Claudel” Said a voice behind her, close enough for her to feel his breath on the side of her face.
Zoycite tried to stay calmed and turned to face the man behind her.
“Nice to see you too, Officer…” She said, unconsciously pulling out a subtle French accent.
“Darcy, Ace Darcy” He introduced himself “From Scotland Yard, I’m serving an internship down here. And, let me say, I’m glad not to be the only one from the old continent”
“Pleased to meet you, Officer Darcy” She smiled politely “Now, if you excuse me, I have to go and check on the results from the lab tests”
“Yeah, about that” He handed her an envelope “I just got the results of the tire marks found near Ms. Saionji’s body; quite an interesting thing about them”
“What??” Zoycite narrowed her eyes, both because of the new piece of information and the divided look in Ace’s eyes.
“Well, first of all, those marks were not made by a Japanese car” He said and turned his gaze to the envelope.
Don’t say Italian, Don’t say Italian…
“The tyres belong to an Italian car, a sports Italian car” His voice had changed, somehow acquired a deeper tone.
“Could it be A Ferrari?” She braced herself against the nearest desk.
“A Testarossa 512 TR” Ace sighed, a little to upset for Zoycite’s taste “Not too many of them here in Japan, yet the one we are looking for is a one of a kind”
“A one of a kind?” She asked. damn you, Neflyte! She thought.
“Yes, the tyres had a strange, almost imperceptible pattern: a signature” He looked into his eyes “They’re custom made for that particular car; and the only place that manufactures them is in New York”
“Oh, so, you’ve found the murderer” She said in a whisper.
“I’ve sent a request to the U.S.A., to see if they company can inform us who they made the tyres for” He gave her a mysterious look “It might take at least two weeks before we can reach any actual suspect”
Zoycite rushed back to the apartment with a copy of the inform and her heart beating fast. It wasn’t like she cared about Neflyte; but she knew Malachite trusted him, although se couldn’t exactly think why, and having to submit his second in command to a court-martial for murder would certainly not help to ease the tension that, lately, had been consuming her lover.
***
End of Chapter 2

[+Lady Miki+]

Looking great so far-keep it up!

[tanzanite]

We made it to chapter 3; things start getting better from now…

****************************************************
Chapter 3: Liar

“I used up nearly all my luck, I didn't have to try, but yesterday is gone, and now I need an alibi. If this gets any stranger, things are gonna change; Cause I can't stand the music, always lying. If that's what it takes I'll do it, I'll keep on right on through it”
New Order

“Serena, I need to talk to you” She looked at her friend. It had been quite a long time since the both of them had the chance to speak alone.
“Is there something wrong, Molly?” The blonde asked kindly “Did something happen to Kelvin?”
“No, he’s alright” The red haired girl lowered her gaze “It’s just that… Oh, Serena, I don’t know how to say this, it’s too disturbing…”
A couple of tears fell from her green eyes.
“Serena, I think I’m being stalked” she said “I’m being stalked… by Him”
Her friend looked at her with an awkward expression. I should have known you wouldn’t believe me Molly thought and wiped the tears from her face.
“You say you’re being stalked by… Kelvin?” Serena asked after a long silence.
“No!!” Molly almost laughed at her friend’s density “Not him Kelvin! Him… you know… Him-I-don’t-talk-about…”
“Oh, THAT him” The blue eyes widened “But… wasn’t he … well, you know?”
“That’s the problem” The redhead’s gaze turned gloomy once again “Until a week ago; I could swear he was gone for good… but… I truly believe I saw him, outside the shop, watching me from his car”
“And… How do you feel about that?”
“To be honest, Serena, I don’t know. I love Kelvin, he makes me feel safe in a way He’ll never do; but, when I saw His car passing me by the other day, I just… Oh Serena!! I just don’t know anymore”.
****************************************************

“Are you sure she said that?” his voice echoed through the living room when Zoycite opened the door; something in Malachite’s voice suggested that it would be better not to show him the reports right away.
“The last d... thing I needed!” He said, holding back his language as she made herself noticeable “kahretsin” or, at least the one she could understand.
Zoey moved closer to the silver haired man and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“I have to go now” He smiled softly at her “I have to meet somebody this afternoon, so I guess we will be seeing each other tomorrow morning”

Malachite hung up the cell phone and turned his full attention to Zoycite.
“It was Darien” He said, anticipating to her question “Seems like Neflyte is stalking Serena’s friend, again”
“He’s a very disturbed man” She said, testing his mood.
“He believes she is worth it” His grey eyes darkened.
“Nonsense, there’s nothing more important than our mission!” Zoey insisted, measuring every word just as he taught her.
“Some women are definitely worth the sacrifice” Malachite brushed a golden lock of hair out of her face.
When was the last time you sacrificed anything for me? Her eyes narrowed and she was about to pull way from the touch, when she realized the unsteadiness of the hand caressing her face. Something was incredibly wrong.
“Mal, you’re shaking”

****************************************************
“There seems to be no other choice, Luna” He said, feeling a little awkward to be talking to a cat “The entity feeds on negative energy, our negaversian attacks only make it stronger. If we want to destroy it, before it destroys our Kingdom, we must resurrect the Guardians.” He hated every word that came out of his mouth with that last phrase; and even more he hated the look of satisfaction in the cat’s eyes.
“I’m so glad you’ll finally stop trying to deny the past” She said, almost purring “Can’t you see? Things will finally be the way they were supposed to… between you and the girls, I mean”
“Except for one little detail” Artemis interrupted, exchanging looks with Malachite.
“That might not be an impediment, remember the Sailor Starlights?” She claimed “Besides, Malachite, you knew it wasn’t meant to be from the beginning… there’s no point in resisting fate”
Malachite raised an eyebrow, ignoring the sharp pain in his stomach and the faint dizziness that followed. All through the meeting he had kept his arms crossed behind his back, hiding the tremor in his hands. Even my own body betrays me now.
“We’ll need to go and find the Guardian stones” The white cat broke the uncomfortable silence “But first; we need to talk to the others; it’s important that they understand the truth about our past”
The world went black for a split second; but the silver haired man hung on to any traces of his old self not to collapse there and then. He leaned against the nearest wall, easing some weight off his feet. The time I knew would arrive… a bitter voice said inside his head.
****************************************************

“They’ve been in there for over an hour” Raye said to the blond man sweeping up the stairs “I wonder what they might be talking about”
Jedite looked at the black haired girl, over the past few days he had grown to like her: She was strong and stubborn, yet noble and self scarifying; and, like him, had gone through things no person should.
“We had a little trouble with our entity last night; things got pretty nasty” He said, not giving much importance to the subject “And, God knows, that kitty of yours really likes to talk. Too bad for her, Malachite never listens to anyone else but himself”
“You don’t like each other very much” She commented “I wonder how the four of you work together if you can’t even be a team”
“It’s not like that, you see, I don’t hate Malachite, hell, I even admire him sometimes; but he can be such an egomaniac, narcissist, self-centred bastard… and that often hurts Zoycite, and she is my friend, and that’s why I can’t stand him... pretty much like Serena and you”
The girl frowned at the last comment.
“You’re nothing like Serena and me!” She claimed.
“That’s right” Jedite grinned “For one thing, I’ll NEVER try to steal Zoey away from him and Malachite, all in all, would never try anything with Titis Gaya”
“How can you say such things?!!” Raye cried “And I don’t know how you found out anyways… You were gone before Darien and I started…”
“Nevermind how I know, I just know” His tone remained as casual as ever “But, allow me to tell you; that was quite a… mean thing to do, specially to a friend”
“You know nothing” Her purple eyes flashed but she quickly turned her gaze to the floor “It was their destiny, from the past…”
“The past is gone, Raye” He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly “And in the present there’s no excuse for what she did”
Jedite almost felt guilty when she pulled away from his touch with a resolute air.
“Who’s this Titis Gaya person anyways?” Raye asked, abruptly changing the subject “Is she your girlfriend?”
“I think so” the blond general blushed a little at the question. damn this girl recovers pretty fast! “You knew her… from that time, four years ago, at the cruise”
“That was her? I thought that was a youma” Her eyes widened in shock.
“She is half a youma” Jedite sighed “Her father is a General from the 'Specials'. She was after me for quite a while, most of the time I just ignored her; but that time, for a week I believed she was dead and regretted not taking my chance” His eyes lighted up a bit “When I was released from the crystal, her face was the first one I saw... that moment, I knew I’d never let her go again”
“Jeddy’s got a girlfriend” Raye sang mockingly.
“You brat!” He said, trying to grab her but tripping over the broomstick. He heard her laughter stop when his body collided against a taller frame. Both men got caught off balance and, as Malachite held to a post, Jedite fell on his knees. He raised his gaze to meet the other general; estranged to see the older man loose equilibrium and, even more, for the paleness of his face.
“Get up Jedite” the voice was steady but somehow raspy “And, please, start acting your age for a change”
The blond man didn’t answer; he just got back on his feet and watched as his superior officer left the temple.
“Something’s incredibly wrong”.
****************************************************

She opened her scrapbook; the first page was a clipping from an American newspaper over twenty years old:
Masato Sanjoin: The Japanese tycoon takes over Wall Street.
Under the headline, the picture of a young man with dark eyes and black hair, handsome in some way; but the dull expression on his face resembled nothing to the one she had long associated with that name.
The next picture was of a beautiful woman, from an old fashion magazine: she had long auburn curls that fell down past her waist and big sapphire blue eyes. Those features I recognize she thought. The title just said:
Kristy Anderson for Prada.
The next couple of pages were several clippings from the social section of various newspapers from the U.S.A. and Japan; most of them with pictures of the wedding of the Japanese business man and the American model.
Then just a small note:
Model Kristy Sanjoin announces her retirement from the Fashion industry due to the birth of her son.
And almost near the end of the scrapbook, a picture she considered her favourite even if the story behind it was not a happy one: In it, a much older Kristy Sanjoin walked out of the courthouse carrying her son. The headline said:
The final break-up.
She looked tenderly at the small boy. Who would have thought that, over twenty years later from the time they took this picture, you would have become my first love? Molly sighed and turned the page to the last clipping.
Japanese Millionaire dies in plane crash:
Yesterday, the body of Masato Sanjoin was recovered from the remnants of the New York –Tokyo accident. The 45 year old millionaire, considered one of the 100 wealthiest persons in the world, left all his fortune to his son, Masato N. Sanjoin II, product from his failed marriage to model Kristy Anderson…
She closed the scrapbook and placed it back under her bed; from the night when she saw Neflyte disappear in her arms, Molly had been, secretly, collecting any information she could find on the man and his life before they met at the Juban Jr. Tennis Club. At first it had been a quest for the truth; but, although Neflyte had lied to her in many ways, his biggest lie had been denying that most of what he said had been, actually, completely true.

The red haired girl walked to her window and watched the red car parked in front of her house; after what happened to Rui, the sight of it should have been frightening to her, yet, Molly had lost her ability to be afraid a long time ago. Of course the idea of a man, whom she believed to be dead, stalking her was disturbing; but if the stalker was whom she thought he was, there would be no use in being scared of him; for Neflyte was powerful enough to do as he pleased whether she wanted it or not.

But my sister… She thought bitterly That’s something not even YOU would be capable of… isn’t it, Neflyte?

****************************************************
Should I tell Malachite the truth? Neflyte thought, staring at the empty wall across what, had there been any furniture, should be the living room of his manor. Among the many eccentricities of the heir of Sanjoin Enterprises, his reluctance to furnish his house was the second most notorious; the first one was his tendency to lie for no particular reason. It had become part of his personality and, most of the time; the people who knew him well enough turned a blind eye to his lies, most of them knowing that he would eventually tell the truth or that it was just something of no importance. They just assumed him as a pathologic liar.
Although, this time, the lie had come out of fear instead. A strange movement on Saturn, usually the foreteller of death, had been one of the signs that had recently captured his eye. At first, the young astronomer dismissed it, believing it to be the death of Rui Saionji or just another demise of those, although never desired, bound to happen within any mission. Yet, the sign of Saturn was usually meant for someone important to die, and considering the comment delivered by Jedite about their commander’s unhealthy appearance… Don’t even think such nonsense… Neflyte scolded himself.

A sudden scent of flowers and the subsequent whirl of petals, announced him the presence of the female General. He straightened himself a bit as she appeared in the room.
“Zoy-boy!!! What a pleasure to see you” He greeted the woman sarcastically; knowing just how much she hated to be called that particular nickname.
“I need to talk to you” She answered coldly, and her eyes held the same look from that morning in the café. “And, please, this time just tell me the truth” A darker shade of green that, Neflyte had to admit, made her look quite elegant.
“What is it?” his tone suddenly changing into something more civilized.
Zoycite conjured an envelope and handed it to him. Holy… Neflyte cursed inwardly, looking at the Tokyo P.D. stamp on it. There was no need to open it, for he already knew what might be in there. He sighed, the idea of having those things confronted to him by Zoycite of all people only added up to his many problems.
“I haven’t showed them to Malachite” There was something in the way she said those words, that made Neflyte brusquely return his gaze to her.
“Why?” He said, unable to hide his concern; but doing a great job not showing the small respect she was beginning to inspire him “Don’t you know hiding information from your commander can be considered a crime?”
“So is murder…” She said still calmed “But there are no substantial proofs on whether it was you or just someone using your car; anyways, I considered it appropriate to come and tell you that you just can’t get away with… well you understand”
“Believe me” He said, smirking out of habit “I have the meanings to get away with whatever I might have done, and, sorry to tell you, it doesn’t involve anything like murder”
“Oh, you spoiled rich boy” He was almost disappointed to see her turn back to her old self “Daddy’s money can buy your way out of anything lying doesn’t solve”
Neflyte narrowed his eyes; that one had been quite a low punch. He thought about a million ways to return her with something even more painful; but the thought of Jedite’s call got the best out of him and, after a few seconds to calm down, he just turned his sapphire eyes to meet hers.
“This time, you, little girl, can get away with pretty much yourself” He spoke softly and slow, making sure every single word would reach her “But in less than three months, mark my words and count each loving day, your whole world may fall and, probably, will. Right now, I strongly suggest you start minding your own business and fixing your own problems, before it’s too late”

She just gave him an angry glare and teleported way. Neflyte just reached out his hand to catch a stray petal. However, little girl, for both our sakes, I really wish my prediction to be wrong.
****************************************************
He collapsed on the bed; the pain in his stomach had decreased considerably and he just needed some rest. For just a second he wished Zoycite to be home, but the idea was soon discarded: If she had, in fact, stopped admiring him, seeing him like that would only add up to her disappointment. Come to think of it, at the time, even he was disappointed of himself: after all it was supposed for the first commander to die on the battle field, not in his bed with some mundane illness. Oh, you’re such a drama king! He scolded himself while he fell asleep.

The feeling of her hands caressing his face awoke Malachite from a deep slumber. Somehow Zoycite had managed to undress him and he was resting with his head on her lap.
“Good evening” He whispered.
“Welcome back to the world” She smiled tenderly at him “You can be such a heavy sleeper sometimes”
“Really? I have always considered myself to be quite the opposite”
“That’s because you don’t really sleep; you just take little naps at night” Zoey giggled and moved away, making his head fall back to the pillows. He smiled as she playfully removed her clothes; a big day awaited them, but, for the night, Malachite decided to concentrate on the beauty before him.

She finally fell asleep in his arms. Now I definitely feel better He thought, running his fingers through her golden hair. Malachite smiled softly and was about to close his eyes when a small tap on his window caught his attention; cautiously not to wake Zoycite, he moved out of the bed and close to the window, a second tap was heard and in less than five seconds he opened the glass panel and pinned the intruder to the ground… all this without waking his sleeping lover and, not to mention, completely naked.

“Looks like… I… caught you… in the middle… of something” Neflyte said, with great effort considering the full weight over his stomach.
“Oh, Get up!” Malachite stood up, and lent a hand to help his second in command “You of all people should know that, whatever it is that I do at night, I do it with one eye open”
“I’m sorry for your little girlfriend over there” Neflyte chuckled “No wonders why she is such a pest, if she can’t even get your full attention for … certain business” he joked, observing his colleague’s lack of clothes.
The silver-haired man rolled his eyes and walked into the bedroom, making a sign for Neflyte to wait outside. Good thing she tends to sleep sound after… He thought while putting on his clothes. The last thing he needed was for Zoycite to wake up and find Neflyte on their terrace. He moved close to the bed and softly kissed her on the forehead before going out again.
“Let’s move somewhere else” he said, teleporting down to the ground, glad that no one passed by that street in the middle of the night.
Neflyte followed him and headed for his car, which was parked outside the building. Soon after, they were both driving across the city.
“So, up for some midnight drinks? Or you’re too sick?” Neflyte snickered from behind the wheel.
“Just take me wherever you want, as long as it is quiet” Malachite sighed, feeling somehow relaxed enough to trust him.
“I could take you to my place, but then you’ll think I’m easy and might just never call me again…”The auburn-haired man joked, much like he used to do when it was just the two of them.
Malachite just laughed softly.

They sat on the floor of the manor’s living room and Neflyte handed him a bottle of vodka and a small glass, while he helped himself with some scotch.
“I have something to tell you” started the second General “’Cause tomorrow you’re going to hear lots of things and I want to set them straight”
“I don’t want you to keep stalking Serena’s friend” Malachite commanded “You had your chance four years ago... and you blew it miserably”
He almost felt bad when the other general just lowered his gaze to the floor. He often wished things had been different back then; more likely, he wished Neflyte had never laid eyes on that girl.
“She is too young for you” Malachite continued “And you know her parent’s would never approve… not to mention your own family...”
“It’s not that!” The auburn-haired man said, all his cheerfulness suddenly gone “I might be in trouble… remember Rui Saionji?”
“Your first victim, four years ago… you thought I would have forgotten, did you not?”
But Neflyte appeared less shocked than anxious at his remark.
“I was the last person who saw her alive… that night” He took a sip from his scotch and raised his eyes to meet Malachite’s “But I think you also know that”
“Leave it like that, Neflyte” The silver-hired General interrupted “It is almost dawn and we have quite an important meeting ahead of us. I will go now but you must be, as I assume Luna already informed you, at the Hikawa Temple in less than three hours. Meanwhile, whatever it is that you need to confess, I suggest you keep it to yourself, at least for today”

[tanzanite]

To whomever might still be reading this fic: Thank you!! We’re just about to take off!!!
****************************************************
Chapter 4: Truth.

“…I watched my life in a trance and the people around me seemed so glad to be here,
Will my time pass so slowly on the day that I fear?”
New Order

Malachite was already home when Zoycite woke up, fully dressed and brushing his hair, still moist from his early shower; he barely reacted to the warm pressure of her lips against his cheek and the tenderness of her arms wrapping around his shoulders. That morning, his ‘ice king’ façade was particularly strong… because, with the truth I’m going to reveal, you might leave me before tonight. She sighed and moved to the bathroom, giving him the look that usually meant he was neglecting her, again.

He held her close as they walked to the Hikawa Temple, enjoying the soft flowery scent from her body and the luscious feeling of her skin, even if it was for the last time. Zoycite looked at him and smiled tenderly, gently brushing a silver lock from his face.
“Everything’s going to be just fine, love” She said, and Malachite really hoped it was true.

They all were silent, watching him; on one side, Luna, Artemis, Darien and the girls, and on the other, Jedite Neflyte and Zoycite. For a moment, they all seemed so young to him.
“We have called you to this meeting in order to discuss a most important affair” Malachite started, hating to be him in charge of speaking “It concerns both our sides, and it might be the only way to stop the entity” He might have looked quite formal while saying these words cause, when he paused and looked around, even his own crew was staring back at him in awe.

The first General sighed and held on to all of his strength to begin his story:

As you might have been told before, a long time ago, there was an Earth Kingdom; what most of you ignore is that, although it was named ‘Earth Kingdom’, it was not really on the surface of the planet, but rather sharing space with it in another dimension. That, for one, explains why no archaeologist has ever found any trace of its existence. The main purpose of the Kingdom was to protect Earth realm from any invader, since humans on the planet were not prepared to defend themselves. It was ruled by a fair and really wise king, whose name I can not remember; this king had a son, Prince Endymion, and we, Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite and myself, were his personal guardians; we were known as ‘The Four Heavenly Kings’ and had devoted our lives to protect our prince. What I mean by saying ‘kings’ is that we were all men back then, even Zoisite.
Anyways, Prince Endymion was engaged to marry the prime minister, Beryl, yes, she was much younger at the time and, no, she was not as ugly. Beryl, in fact, was doing quite well in ruling the Kingdom alongside with Endymion’s father; but the King was an old man and his health had diminished on the last months before the Coup d’état. Yet, we all had our best hopes that Endymion would make a good king himself.
The problem was that our dearest Prince had fallen in love with a certain princess from the Moon Kingdom; under any other circumstances, a union of the sort would have been celebrated and even encouraged. But, on the verge of succession and, given the strange policies of Queen Serenity regarding her daughter’s marriage, the issue soon led to a state of crisis when the King died.
Endymion found himself free to do as he pleased and marry Princess Serenity; and, being such a complete ignorant on the Kingdom’s affairs, he took a trip to the Moon to meet Queen Serenity. Prince Endymion, was, to say the least, quite a catch: handsome, intelligent, brave, and some other qualities we all know he has; so, naturally, the Queen was pleased to marry her daughter to him and only gave him one clause for her permission: To marry each one of the Princess’ personal escorts to each one of the members of his guard. Endymion considered it quite an easy task and returned to his Kingdom with the news.
Not one person was happy with the situation: We four considered it treason, for all it was, our prince had sold us out for some foreign Princess; Beryl was heartbroken and humiliated by the sudden break-up of their engagement, and the people were suffering the consequences of an unstable government. Something had to be done, and quickly.
The conspiracy between Beryl and I started about a month after the return of Endymion, what we wanted, at first, was to find a way to prevent that marriage from happening; the word ‘overthrow’ was not mentioned until a long time after. We used to secretly meet in her chambers on that initial phase, no other member of the guard knew about our plan and we intended to keep it just between the both of us. Unfortunately, Endymion’s stubbornness was always one step ahead.
He had his personal guard to escort him back to the moon to meet his princess, and the girls we were supposed to marry; this decision was made in such short notice that neither Beryl nor I supposed the trip would be of any importance to our plan. Once again, we were wrong.
The first thing we found upon our arrival to the Moon Kingdom, was that our weddings were already prepared and our brides-to be, not so eager about it themselves. As it was, our prince had tricked us.
Zoisite, was the first one to accept; he acknowledged the intelligence of the Princess of Mercury and was quite content to marry her. Jadeite accepted second, more out of loyalty to our prince than to any feelings for the Princess of Mars. As for Nephrite and myself, we never accepted; Nephrite openly refused, even if he actually liked the Princess of Jupiter, just because he always had these strong beliefs about freedom. As for myself, well, let’s just say that my interests had always been with… another person, other than the Princess of Venus; and it was that, and my own loyalty to Beryl, what led me to return to Earth Kingdom, soon after my marriage with the Princess.
That was the time when we finally discussed the possibility of a Coup d’etat to overthrow Endymion. Nephrite, who had chosen to follow me back to earth, immediately agreed and, together, we convinced Jadeite and Zoisite to our cause.
The rest, you all know it: we first took over Earth Kingdom and then trashed the Moon, getting killed in the process. But Queen Serenity had been wise; for our wedding gifts, she gave each one of us a crystal that bound our energy with that of our particular princess: The Guardian Stones. When we were reborn, the places of our births were the same places where our Guardian stone had fallen, and, according to the legend, when we recover it, we will become the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ once again, and take our place as guardians of the inner planets…

****************************************************
“You’re not saying we must, actually, marry these girls??” Jedite protested.
“I would rather die, before letting that happen again” Malachite retorted, clenching his fists tightly and doing his best to hide the burning sensation in his gut “We must not repeat the same mistakes over and over. Besides, this time things are different”
He looked at Zoycite, who just stared to the ground and bit her lip. Forgive me, love He thought, noticing the anger boiling inside her green eyes.
“So, we must go and find the stones” Neflyte nodded thoughtfully “And what are we supposed to do with them once the mission is over? Cause, frankly, I don’t want to leave the Negaverse”
“I believe the wisest thing will be to destroy them after we get rid of the entity” While saying this, the grey eyes were fixed on the black cat.
“You can’t do that!” and, as expected, Luna reacted “Those crystals are your destiny!! And ours!!”
“Malachite’s right” Darien interrupted her claims “We must not repeat those mistakes, if it is their wish to destroy the crystals, I will not hold them back; They were supposed to be my personal guard after all!”
“Well, the first thing is to go get them, wherever they might be” Said Artemis to pacify both sides “Once we got this entity destroyed, we can make a decision on what to do with the crystals”
“In order to activate their power” Malachite exchanged looks with the white cat “Both the Sailor Scout and her guardian must retrieve it together”
“Then, we’re going to travel” Mina said with a smile “An we’re going to get those crystals”
The other Sailors just agreed, as usual, eager to help.
“But, there’s something I don’t get” asked Lita “How come you expected to go on without telling us the whole story after the training mission?”
“The training mission…” Malachite sighed “The training mission was an arrangement between Queen Beryl, Artemis and me: At the time, we had no idea of how you five were going to turn out; all we knew, was that we had to avoid any attempt to force an alliance like it was done in the past. When we got notice of Sailor V, we immediately established contact with Artemis; and, after many negotiations, we got to an understanding; that was, if we trained you well enough to resist any attack from a real enemy, the story of the Guardians would never be mentioned to you and we could keep our freedom. A faultless set up was designed, that would position us as your enemies and made you believe you were actually fighting for your lives; with that, you would have no other choice but to learn how to defend yourselves. The system we created was so perfect, that we took advantage of it to train our younger troops as well; giving the result of two Generals knowing what was really going on and two Generals actually believing that it was a real mission. With that, it was impossible for you to notice the lie, and you fought hard and well, and so did Jedite and Zoycite: in the end we had two soldiers ready to face the worst and five, fully developed, Sailor Scouts”
“But eventually, we had to find out the truth…” Amy commented.
“Yes, but it was unintentional, and we broke our part of the deal as well” Neflyte smiled sadly “We were not supposed to ever be seen by you again, or any of your friends for that matter”
“Well, the important thing is that we’re all on the same team now” claimed Serena “And if we work together, we can beat whatever comes our way”
“So, when are we leaving?” Raye asked, looking at Jedite.
“As soon as possible, tomorrow would be enough time for us to prepare” Malachite finished “For now; I suggest we end this meeting”
****
Jedite was leaning on the archway when they walked out of the temple together, yet, quite spaced out from each other; Zoycite just gave him a half smile when she passed by, while Malachite simply ignored his presence. The blond General just sighed and walked back to his room; the way things were, his dear friend would be single before the week was over.
He tried to relax by playing his saxophone; music had always been his passion, it provided a safe way to escape from reality. And going back to that place in Mumbai was something he didn’t want to face for the moment. He was in the middle of his favourite blues, when he noticed the girl standing on his doorway; there was so much worry in her big purple eyes, that her expression suddenly reminded him of a child who just had been lectured. He laid down his sax and reached out his hand to her. Raye just ran to his side and hugged him tightly.
“It’s O.K.” Jedite reassured the girl, stroking her raven hair.
“Jedite” She asked shyly “Do you like me?”
“Of course I do” He gently held her face, tilting it to look at him “What kind of silly question is that?”
Raye just smiled.
“We’re friends now, aren’t we?” The blond man held her close. Please, Raye, don’t get any ideas… He begged silently.

****************************************************

Molly stared at her boyfriend, sick of hearing the same story over and over; at first it had been Serena telling her to go talk to her mother, to call the police, not to be afraid for Sailor Moon would always protect her… Like I haven’t figured it all out yet She thought. Of course she knew Serena’s little secret, she had known it for about two years. It had all been a matter of putting two and two together; the hair, the way she always knew when to go rescue her and, of course, the events on that fateful night. That had been the main reason why she decided to go her separate way when they finished junior-high. And, now, her boyfriend, Kelvin was giving her the exact same lecture.
“… We don’t know if it’s him or just some mad man, you might get hurt” He insisted, while she just silently took another sip from her juice.
“Aren’t you Jealous?” She finally asked “I mean, there’s a small chance that the man of my dreams has come back from the dead”
“Of course not, Molly” Kelvin gave her a tender smile “I know you love me; that’s why you’re here with me, and your happiness comes first anyways…”
She just smiled back at him. Such a sweet boy…she thought, gently holding his hand under the table. But her mind wandered back in time to the night when she tried to steal the gem from her mother’s safe; she had been so sure about her love back then, that she was even willing to betray her own blood for him. Would I do the same for you, baby? She silently asked to the boy in front of her Do I love you that much?
“He used to live up the hill, didn’t he?” Kelvin asked.
“I didn’t know for sure” Molly sighed, not liking the way the conversation was turning “He never, actually, invited me over there”
“I’ll go there” He said, and she realized he wasn’t a boy anymore “If he lives and he wants you back, you’ll be free to go; but if not, well, at least you’ll still have his memory... like you always had”
“There’s no need for you to do that” The red-head cried “It might be dangerous”
“But I need to do it” Kelvin squeezed her hand “It’s been four years since we’re together, and every single day I can feel you wishing I was him. And I can’t be him; first of all I’m like ten years younger, I’m not rich and, Heaven knows, I’m not even half as handsome. But I love you as much or even more; but I guess that’s not worth it to you”
She just turned her gaze to the floor and released his hand.
“You’re worth a dozen of him, Kelvin” Molly whispered. But he’s the one that I want.

****************************************************
Zoycite ran a hand trough her hair, doing her best to hold back the tears. Just when she thought things were starting to get better, that their relationship was actually going somewhere, Malachite had to crush it all with such a shocking revelation. And it wasn’t being a man on her past life what bothered her; it was the fact that, in six years of sleeping together, he had never even bothered to talk to her about that.
“I loved you back then as much as I love you now” Was all he said before she walked away.
“Good to know I’ve always been your bedroom toy” She answered.
Not knowing where to go, she walked trough the park trying to calm down. Good thing it was still morning, and she had plenty of time to worry about where to spend the night; for one thing was certain, this time she wasn’t going back to his bed.
The female General sat down by the lake, not noticing the man who had appeared behind her.
“Mademoiselle Claudel” Said the familiar voice of Ace Darcy.
She turned around and smiled politely, a little bit ashamed that he had to see her face all swollen from crying.
“Officer Darcy” her voice came out a little raspy “What a surprise…”
Ace sat down beside her and took a deck of cards from his pocket.
“I’m off duty today” He said with a smile “I was just taking a walk, but now that I found you, would you like a card reading?”
“A what?” Zoycite chuckled in amusement “Don’t tell me you’re a fortune teller on your spare time”
“Could be” The man winked at her “Besides, if you’ll excuse my nosiness, you look in bad need for some cheering”
Zoycite just sighed as he handed her the deck.
“Scramble them seven times, then place your left hand on top of the deck and concentrate” He said.
She had never been much of a believer; but there was something incredibly familiar about that man. She played with the cards; the little game was making its purpose of distracting her. After a few moments of concentration, she handed the deck back to Ace, who placed some cards before him.
“Let me see” He narrowed his eyes a little “There’s a man, a foreign man, someone from a distant land… Arabian, perhaps?”
“Turkish” Zoycite replied more entertained than surprised “From Istanbul”
“Hmmm, It says you’ve been together for a while” Ace rubbed his temples as if he was concentrating very hard “And it says that he loves you very very much”
“Now, that’s a complete lie” Zoycite sulked “The only one he loves is himself and maybe, a little bit, Nef… His best friend”
“Really?” He asked “Cause, frankly my dear, the cards say that he’s completely in love with you, just that he can’t show it very often; it says he’s a very shy person”
She just sighed and shook her head.
“The cards say that he’s the one for you” Ace insisted.
“What? You work for him or something?” She pouted.
“I’m just telling you your fortune” He smiled sadly at her, as if he had a pain of his own “Most people, though, just believe what they want to believe”
“He keeps on hiding things from me” Zoycite said, glad to let it all out “I don’t think he sees me as his partner, I feel more like his accessory”
“You’re not” Ace looked straight into her eyes “Believe me, you’re not”

****************************************************

Darien walked home by Serena’s side. Destroy the crystals… change their destiny… regain their freedom… Thoughts were echoing in his head. Why shouldn’t they have a choice? Why couldn’t all of them decide their own destiny? Why didn’t HE have any choice himself? Not that he disliked the idea of spending eternity with the nice girl by his side; it was that sometimes he wondered what would have happened if things had been any different, and, as much as he wanted not to think of it, his mind travelled back to a conversation he had four years before.

He had just finished his training in the Negaverse and was ready to go back to earth. The decision of training him separately had given Darien a sense of confidence that he wouldn’t have gotten other wise; during those six months his strength and skill had increased considerably. When the mission was over, he had convinced Queen Beryl to let him stay for another couple of months; at the time, he had been watching over the scouts disguised as the ‘Moonlight Knight’ and getting an extra training, avoiding his destiny for a little while. But all good things come to an end, and it had been the night before he was forced to return:
“Why?” he had asked Malachite, who had been his trainer for the past months “Why won’t you come with me and become the guardians? It’s your destiny!”
“Says who?” The older man retorted.
“The legend! You must be by the side of the sailor Soldiers... Just as I must be with the Moon Princess”
“Even if it is true, even if we are bound to become guardians eventually” The silver-haired General appeared to be illuminated by some kind of inspiration “We will not surrender that easy, we will stand and fight it until the end… Besides, I do not believe in absolute destiny”
****************************************************

[tanzanite]

FINALLY!!!

Finally, the plot takes form… and for those of you a bit confused, the explanatory prequel is on its way!!
***

Chapter 5: Ruined in a day.
~… But stop acting like a child
Every step we take is the one
That's gonna undo what you've done
It could take all day…~
New Order



Stubborn stubborn men, Molly thought as she walked up the hill to the Sanjoin manor; considering that its owner, or former owner, had few if any need to walk around the city, it was a pretty long way to get there. She sighed, Neflyte and his…privacy! And Kelvin and his… obsession with coming up here, the redhead cursed as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. It was almost noon and the heat was barely tolerable; Molly was glad when the road ended and the long path of forest, that surrounded the house, darkened her environment. If one thing she could say about Neflyte was that the man certainly had a thing for seclusion.

She decide to cut her way through the trees instead of following the dirt path from where, she supposed, the car was driven to the main door. What if he’s alive? What if he wants me to be with him? For the first time in four years, Molly felt butterflies in her stomach, the ones that only Neflyte could give her. In all the years after that night, when he disappeared in her arms, the red-haired girl never had, actually, stopped dreaming of the things that might have happened had she been able to get the thorns out from his shoulder. All childish naïve dreams at first: A white wedding, a loving family. Then, as she grew older, her fantasies also changed; suddenly she was more interested in finding the truth about that man, in discovering the real person hidden behind the image of Masato Sanjoin and his alter-ego.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a flash of light coming from behind the trees, some kind of putrid smell filled the atmosphere inside the forest, and the loud screams of Kelvin could be heard not far from where she was standing. Molly tried to run, but her body seemed to be stuck to the ground, she couldn’t take a step forward or a step back. She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to protect herself from the strange energy floating around the forest, and waited.
***
Neflyte braced himself against a nearby wall; a strange feeling of nausea was slowly taking over his body. The entity… he thought just a second before fainting.
When he woke up, his whole body was covered in cold sweat. What the…? He got back on his feet and walked out of the house; from what he had felt, the entity must have been awfully close, probably somewhere in the forest. His energy had been drained somehow and, in such a condition, he wouldn’t stand a chance against it. Still, he decided to go out, determined and a little bit stubborn.

He walked a few steps from the door, and almost gasped at the disturbing image before him: The boy, Molly’s boyfriend, laid on the ground bleeding. He’s as good as dead, by now, Neflyte deducted and his mind remained cold from years of training. The second General walked to Kelvin’s body and kneeled beside him. The boy was still breathing.
“You…” he said in a faint voice “You’re alive…”
Neflyte placed a hand over his wounds, checking if there was anything left to do.
“Please…” Kelvin’s eyes, that looked quite thoughtful without his glasses, suddenly filled with strength and met with his “I know I won’t live much longer. So listen well, you moron. She still loves you… Prove yourself worth that love”

The auburn-haired man was caught off guard by these last words. His competitor was slowly expiring in his arms, the one he had looked down to so often, considering him nothing but a sleazy boy. But, you’re right, it’s me who can’t measure up to you…
“I swear, I’ll do anything for her” Neflyte whispered, intimidated by the courage he hadn’t been able to show four years earlier and was now displayed to him.
Kelvin just nodded and closed his eyes for the last time.

“HOW COULD YOU???” the crying voice of a girl made him look up.
A cold shiver went up his spine when he realized it was Molly standing right before him.
“You bastard…” a rage he had never seen before filled her voice “How could you? First my sister… then my boyfriend…”
Neflyte just stared back at her, unable to defend himself; knowing that she wouldn’t listen to him anyways. I didn’t… Please believe me… please forgive me…
“Molly…” he whispered.
“I WISH YOU WERE REALLY DEAD!!!!!!!!” she cried, slapping him on the face.
“Call an ambulance…” he said and teleported away.
***
Darien paced around in his room; he had been awake all night just thinking about the last words Malachite had said to him that time in the Negaverse, I do not believe in absolute destiny. He had gone to the conclusion that all of his present life was only an interlude between his past in the Silver Millennium and his future in Crystal Tokyo. That, no matter what he did, in the end it will all amount the same. He was Prince Endymion, Tuxedo Mask and Neo King Endymion; all in all it was fine, the problem was that those three personalities left him with little time to be Darien Chiba. And it was all right, it was bloody fantastic; he would gladly sacrifice his own life for Serena and Rini, and Crystal Tokyo, and the Sailor Scouts. The only damn problem was that there were these guys, supposedly his personal guard, supposedly the Guardians of the Sailors, supposedly the ‘Four Heavenly Kings”, who had not only proved them all wrong by having one of them reborn as a woman, but also had the nerve to tell him they didn’t believe in absolute destiny.

And it all made him feel pretty stupid for being the only one who had, actually, sacrificed his own freedom to pursue a greater good; even if he wasn’t exactly sure how it worked. Why couldn’t he admit that, sometimes, he got extremely bored of being surrounded by Serena and her friends only? Why couldn’t he say that it had also freaked the hell out of him when Rini appeared out of the sky? Couldn’t they know that, even if Neo King Endymion was, he, Darien Chiba wasn’t ready to become a parent? Wasn’t he supposed to become a great doctor and focus on his career for a change? Should marrying Serena be the only thing in his life? Had he any opinion on the subject or was it all part of Queen Serenity’s plan?

He stopped and looked in the mirror. I’m through with this he said to himself, the past is gone, the future’s way to far, I’m living my own life. And he knew just where to start.


***
Jedite was sweeping the stairs of the temple, while, on the doorway, his dear friend was drawing in her sketch book. He had known better than to ask anything when she showed up the night before, looking for a place to stay. Dressed in his clothes, Zoycite somehow acquired a boyish look; come to think of it, it hadn’t been such a shock to find out that she had been a man in her past life; all in all, it had always been her charm. Even if she was a woman, Zoycite certainly knew how to be more of a man that the three of them together: she could perform the roughest tasks and wouldn’t back down on anything just because she was female. I can’t even recall the last time I saw her on a skirt Jedite smiled.

She looked at him and smiled back, making some quick movements with her pencil on the paper and turning it to reveal quite a good drawing of him in temple clothes.
“You’re pretty god, did you know that?” he said, walking closer to take a better look at her drawing “Definitely talented”
“I used to dream about studying art in Pont Avent before I joined the Negaverse” she sighed.
“Do you regret it?” Jedite asked.
“No” she smiled sadly “It was my chance to leave Dijon”
“I know what you mean” he looked at her, a little overwhelmed “I really don’t want to go back to Mumbai… especially not to that place”
Jedite felt his lungs on the verge of closing and quickly grabbed the inhaler out from his pocket, relieved that the only person nearby was one he trusted enough.
“Relax” she said, and wrapped a friendly arm around his shoulder “Don’t let it bring you down, it was a long time ago”
Jedite just shook his head.
“I often fell like out of all four, I’m the one who got stuck with the worst” he whispered “Look at me, first the thing with my f***ing parents and then my damn asthma, not to mention I’m like the only one without a 20/20 eyesight”
“Don’t pity yourself!” Zoycite frowned “In spite of all that you still made it up to here... just like the rest of us”

****

They were sitting in the coffee shop they had their first date four years ago. Back then she had almost dragged him in, and now it was him who called her. She just sipped her coffee in silence, her purple eyes had grown darker and most of her teenage temper had turned into a woman’s strength.
“It’s been a long time since we were here” Darien said, breaking their silence.
“Really?” Raye asked, turning her face to look outside the window “I forgot it completely”
“Yeah, you invited me that time” he smiled softly “Then we went to the park… it was four years ago, when Neflyte was in town”
“Nope, it just doesn’t ring any bells” Darien knew, by the way she said those words, Raye had never really forgiven him.
“I really enjoyed our dates” he admitted, and this returned her eyes to his “I never wanted it to end the way it did”
Raye smirked at him, in a way she never did to anyone. You must really resent me he thought and reached out his hand to touch hers. She withdrew it immediately.
“It was not your decision” she frowned “Your destiny is with Serena… that’s the way it’s meant to be”
“I know, I know” he sighed, a little bit overwhelmed “But sometimes I wonder how it could have been if only…”
There was a small change in Raye’s eyes, almost unnoticeable but definitely there. Her mouth turned into a half smile.
***

Thick tresses of blood stained white porcelain as he leaned forward once again, when another rush of the red fluid escaped from his mouth. Vomiting blood…this has to be more serious than I thought Malachite said in his mind as he leaned his head against the bathroom wall; the pain in his stomach had grown sharper during the last hour and he knew he should have eaten something, yet he couldn’t even think about food. His vision began to cloud and the world went black for a moment; he would have slammed his head against the toilet if a hand hadn’t pulled him by the hair the last minute.

The first General, regained consciousness laying on his bed, with a bottle of milk being pressed to his mouth by a blood-crusted hand. He immediately recognized the arm it was attached to and acknowledged the blood covering it wasn’t his... it couldn’t be from it’s owner either, for it was common red blood and not the strange green substance that, Malachite knew, flowed through the veins of that arm. He raised his hand and yanked the bottle away from his face.

“You have to get something in your stomach” Neflyte protested “In case you haven’t noticed, you look like shit”
“Well, my dear” Malachite turned his face to meet his comrade’s eyes “You are definitely not doing much better yourself”
“Just drink this” the auburn-haired man insisted with the milk. He just sighed and grabbed the bottle, the white liquid felt somehow soothing as it poured down his throat; of course he wasn’t about to admit it. He placed the bottle on the bedside table and turned his gaze back to Neflyte.
“What happened? Whose blood is that?” he asked, still feeling a bit dizzy.
“The boy… Molly’s boyfriend… He’s dead” there was a small tremor in the voice of the second General “I found him outside the manor and he died in my arms”
A sharp pain assaulted him once again, and he bent over trying to hold back another rush of blood coming out from his mouth. He regained composure in what seemed to be an unbelievable small amount of time.
“Did you kill him?” Malachite asked through greeted teeth.
“No” Neflyte shook his head “I swear I didn’t, the entity is to blame for that one as well”
Malachite nodded and, with a great effort, raised himself from the bed.
“We must call the others, if that is the case, he will be rising again soon” he said “And we must be around when it happens”
***

He watched her as he buttoned up her blouse with her back turned to him. Needless to say, the whole experience had left him even more confused. Did she know this was my first time as well? He asked to himself, with his eyes still fixed on the ebony cascade of her hair.
“How do you feel?” he asked, trying to sound as if he was more concerned about her than about himself.
“Just like I did two hours ago” she answered, and fixed her long hair before turning around to face him “I have to go now”
“This will not happen again, will it?” he lowered his gaze to the carpet, a bit too ashamed to look her in the eye.
“Of course it won’t!” Raye scoffed “Serena is my friend, you know... But this one, well, she owed it to me”
“So did I” Darien sighed as she walked out from his apartment.

He lay back on his bed, feeling the softness of the comforter against his naked skin. A soft cry surprised him as he rose to find a blond haired girl staring at him. The look in her big blue eyes was as infinite and unspeakable as the whole universe.
“I met Raye while I was walking out of the elevator…” she whispered “She told me your door was unlocked”
“Serena…” Darien whispered, for the first time not knowing what to say to her.
“What’s wrong, Darien?” she asked, and he realized she wasn’t angry but concerned.
“Serena” he looked into her eyes, finally realizing the magnitude of their depth; and, for the first time, he admitted: “Serena, I’m scared”
The blond girl took a step closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Darien hid his face on her belly and breathed in the cherry scent of her skin.
“It will be alright” she said, running her fingers through his hair, soothing him with her loving hands “Everything will be alright”
“You think so, my love?” he asked, speaking these last words more sincerely than ever.
She took his face in her hands and, softly, tilted it for him to look at her.
“When have I ever failed you?” she asked with a smile.
***
She paced around the hall, outside from where the members of the Parliament, along with Queen Beryl, had been discussing for over three hours. The heavy coat made her look a bit smaller than she was; but the temperature of the Negaverse had decreased so badly that it was barely impossible to stay warm without many layers of clothes. She lighted up a smoke and, along with many other Generals, awaited for a resolution.

She was not too much to look at: barely reaching the minimal required height to become a General, her long violet hair constantly getting in the way of her face and her big purple eyes were surrounded by faint lines that revealed her true age. Her thin lips were frowned in anguish as she turned to look at the man standing beside her.

He didn’t look as if he was doing any better than her: his blue eyes revealed no emotion, but she could tell he was nervous for the way he ran a hand through his hair. He was staring at the closed doors of the closed hall.
“Things are getting worse than we expected” he said and wrapped an arm around her waist “We must get out of here, do something”
“Azurite…” Carbonite looked at her husband “I trust Malachite will find us a solution quite soon”
“As much faith as I have on my brother’s skills” Azurite shook his head “I’m afraid he’s not being himself lately”
The violet haired woman nodded slightly, she could also recall noticing the shade that, during the past months, had been extinguishing the silver halo of the ’Ice King’.
***
Jedite stared in silence at his superior officers, holding Zoycite’s hand between his. They had called an urgent meeting, and it was plain obvious why; both men looked like they had been through hell: Malachite appeared like he could barely stand up by himself and Neflyte was covered in blood and staring into space.
“I have called you because there happens to be an issue we must get rid of before we take our separate ways to find the stones” the silver haired general spoke with great effort “Apparently; the Tokyo PD has some evidence that could get one of us convicted for murder”
Zoycite released herself from Jedite’s grip and took a step forward; it was clearly visible that she was still mad at Malachite and her temper always blocked her judgement. The moonlight was the only source of illumination over that hidden spot outside the temple; and it reflected on her golden hair and made it look like she had a strange sort of halo.
“I think he’s guilty” she said, and Jedite shuddered a bit when he noticed her words were tinted with a faint French accent.
“I didn’t kill anybody, Zoycite” Neflyte’s voice came out in such an anxious tone, that the blond man immediately realized he wasn’t lying.
“He is telling the truth” Malachite sentenced, more to silence Zoycite’s tantrum than to reinforce Neflyte’s position.

Jedite sighed. He knew Neflyte was innocent; being the most social of the four, there was little, if any, chance that the auburn haired General would just go and kill civilians. Besides it was obvious, at least for those who knew about the entity, what the real murder was. But Zoycite was too angry, and the female General was capable of throwing her best friend to a certain death when overwhelmed by rage. And Malachite looked like he was about to have a breakdown any second.

“NO! YOU KNOW HE ISN’T” she said, taking another step and pushing Malachite against a wall “YOU ONLY DEFEND HIM CAUSE HE’S YOUR FRIEND!”

Holy… Jedite thought, and exchanged a quick look with Neflyte.

“Zoycite…” The silver haired General whispered.
“And you’re just going to sell us out, again, just like Endymion did a thousand years ago” she said, her voice filled with anger “YOU BASTARD!”

What happened next, neither Jedite nor Neflyte had seen it coming: As Zoycite tried to shove him once again; Malachite held her wrist with one hand and slapped her hard on the face with the other. Her lighter body bent from the blow, and she fell on her knees as he released his grip on her hand. Zoycite cried silently and covered her injured face. Malachite took a step backwards and looked at her with something that appeared to be panic. Jedite rushed to her side and held her close; while Neflyte just placed a hand on the shoulder of the older man.

“What have I done?” the silver haired man whispered, staring at his hand in despair.

“Let’s get out of here” Neflyte wrapped an arm around his friend’s waist “We’ll talk this over when we come back, let’s give all of us time to cool down a bit”
Malachite just nodded, and allowed his second in command to lead him away.
Jedite didn’t say a word; he just lifted Zoycite in his arms and headed for the temple.
“It’s over, Jed” She said “I’m never going back to him, we’re completely over