So, do you wonder what this story must entail? It’s called completing the square. So far, I’ve had three of the Outer Senshi somehow offer a little bit of "help" to three of the Dark Kingdom Kings…

And then there were two.

Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha Comics and Toei Animation.

I was beautiful once.

A strange thing to say – but when you gaze upon something as lovely as that girl who stood on that stage, playing her blessed heart out, it didn’t seem that peculiar. Certainly I could see what was dark in me was opposite to what was bright in her. That was – and is – my own "humble" opinion, and in this twisted little world, what else matters? Self-absorption is my life – because I have nothing else to live for.

Ah, dig me a well to cry in before I begin – for I have lost much, and there is much I should repent for. But there is time enough for that later. I have all eternity to lament my fate – and wish for something more.

I grow so melancholy – oh, but how I have changed. Before, there was no time for such weak emotions.

Give me eternity, and I have time for everything that I once neglected. It is far too bad that I cannot apologise, cannot repent, for who would listen to me now? I speak the language of the dead, the language of the unformed, because I am lost beyond a hope. Lost beyond a trace.

Sometimes, I think I can still hear that violin music.

It’s odd, the things you remember when you have eternity to muse over the past. The most peculiar events stick in my head…like the violin.

And like the shrine maiden.

Yes, Hino Rei, the fiery red Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Mars. Strange how I can remember her with such a mixture of hate, love, triumph and regret.

Maybe it all comes down to the violinist that I remember so vividly. Why does that girl stay in my head? She was only a part of my life for but a fleeting moment – but she is forever engraved onto my mind. How could that possibly be?

Maybe it is because of the strange nature of the meeting I became entangled in with her. She was a strange soul with a peculiar magnetism – peculiar because it worked both ways. It attracted me to her – God how it attracted me to her – but it also repulsed me in a manner I cannot describe. It was as if she were pulling me to her with one arm and pushing me away with the other.

Perhaps that mystery is what made me stay, I don’t know. All I do know is that she had an aura I couldn’t ignore.

I know who she reminded me of. It was too obvious to be missed – the fact that the violinist had the aura of the damned Sailor Senshi. I only realised it because of the title of the piece which she played on her violin with such ease.

Fire Walk With Me.

There. The goddess whom I loved a thousand years ago. My reminder of who she was – and what a stupid idiot I was to think I could walk away from her. I asked the Martian Princess to walk with me a thousand years ago, knowing full well I was playing with fire to wish for such a thing. Once we set down that path together, our paths were destined to cross again and again and again.

I burned myself, but that was to be expected. After all, I did realise what I was doing by following Beryl into the depths of Metallia’s personal Hell.

Yes, it was the title that made me realise just what that violinist was – even if she did not know it herself. She had the calm, tranquil aura of a water element Senshi about her, and that is why I could see her elegant power, surrounding her like a graceful curtain of absolute power. Because it was so different to that of the woman I loved a thousand years ago. Mars. The raven-haired beauty who shall hate me forever, because she always could hold a grudge.

The meeting, however…I still remember that violinist…Kaiou Michiru…

* * *

The auditorium was certainly remarkable, and I noted with some glee the amount of people crammed into this space. Yes, this would be a marvellous place to set up a youma to gather energy from all the pathetic, culturally-correct humans who liked to come here on Saturday evenings.

Seated in my own private box, alone as I so desired, I tapped fingers absently on the table as I thought on the plan I was formulating. The calm decorum of the auditorium was a welcome respite from the dark tenseness of the Dark Kingdom – and the rich, royal colours of gold, purple and red decorating the hall certainly worked to give me a flash of welcome colour. The greys and dark, organic greens of my home were not exactly aesthetically pleasing to one such as myself. One who liked to paint, liked to draw. A mere hobby, but one that kept me sane, nonetheless. Though some would choose to debate that little fact. People like Nephrite, for instance. Still he mocked me for trying to take energy from so many, when he so thoughtfully told me that it would be more beneficial to get energy from one person at a time. Ha. Like that could ever work. Well, as they say, too much alcohol dulls the mind.

The soft buzz of the people seated below me was still annoying, even though the sound was far from threatening. I was a person who had always desired, always loved silence. There was no logical reason for me to be at such a display except for reasons of business. Quiet had always been something I had preferred, though I am yet to figure out why.

I tapped out an impatient staccato beat on the mahogany table, as to my intense relief, the lights lowered, and the sound ceased with barely a further provocation. The silence was only to last a short period – for a tall lithe man stepped onto the stage with a long, silver flute in hand. I only half-watched him play. He was not someone I wanted to youmanize for my own purposes. Not one of my little gang of youma could pretend to be that blonde-haired man, I decided that in an instant.

I listened to the other performers with half an ear, suddenly feeling drastically lonely. I don’t know why – perhaps because everybody else there was with someone – friend, lover, relative – and I was alone. It made me think. The Dark Kingdom wasn’t a place for friendship or love, though I knew full well such rare emotions could come into play. The melancholy silver king Kunzite and his volatile sakura Zoisite were proof enough of such things. Though I never believed they would last the way they did.

Still…I was on the verge of leaving when the girl’s name was announced – the violinist. Kaiou Michiru…

I turned from the door of the box to stare down at the girl. Her tall, svelte form, encased in a simple beaded black dress, was bathed in the light of a single spotlight. Her eyes were closed as she lifted the violin to her chin, her sea-green hair shining with threads of gold in the light.

She opened her eyes – blue. Neptune’s blue – it was like she held the ocean in her eyes. It wasn’t then that I knew her for what she was, though.

Even though I had heard the title of her piece – Fire Walk With Me.

Call me a man obsessed, but at that moment a name rang through my head, the name of the Princess of Mars as it was a thousand years ago.

Yes, and then she played. This Kaiou Michiru, beautiful like no other human I had seen before. She had an air of grace about her that was different to any of these so-called supermodels I had noticed teenaged girls liked to idolise. Unlike them – who in my humble opinion had looks that didn’t actually make up for their deficiency in brain cells – Kaiou Michiru had a different kind of beauty.

No, the violinist had an aura of strength about her – almost angelic, but still too earthen to be rightly called heavenly.

I decided then that this girl would be the one my friendly neighbourhood youma would imitate, so that after next week’s concert, I would have a hefty amount of energy to give Queen Beryl-sama. After all, I could see the way the girl held her audience captive with her beautiful music.

Still…I felt as if I were missing something. Something in the title that reflected something in her oceanic eyes…it was if I knew this girl. From a thousand years ago.

And, I won’t lie and say I have completely forgotten the past, as I know the Senshi have. I know the other three kings remember nothing – I tried to ask Zoisite about it once, and he just stared at me blankly when I mentioned Serenity. Nephrite did much the same – and Kunzite. Ah, he could know more than he lets on – Lord knows, there is an unreadable book, even to Zoisite, who tries so desperately to thaw his heart – but I don’t think so. For some unfathomable reason, it is I alone who remembers the fall of the Moon Kingdom. Not that I like to talk about it.

Or even think about it.

But that girl…she brought up a lot of bad memories with that one song. I tried to convince myself my sudden desire to meet her face to face was because I wanted to use her in an energy plot. I fooled no-one but myself with that one.

When the concert was over, I went to her dressing room with but a thought. The glories of negative power, I guess you could call it. She didn’t seem at all surprised to see me, and that is what began my tentative liking of the girl. She was seated at her dressing table, brushing out her wavy sea-green hair, staring enraptured at her reflection. Not that she appeared overly vain. I had the impression that she was deep in thought on more important things than her looks.

She saw me appear from no-where to stand behind her in her mirror. She slowly stopped her rhythmic brushing, and placed the brush down on the dressing table with careful decorum. Using on lithe leg hidden beneath the dress, she turned the chair around so that she faced me. There was no smile on her face, but there was no anger nor surprise. She looked frankly neutral. "At least I know you’re not a vampire."

Her first words – in such a lovely voice. Spoken perfectly seriously, without worry or concern.

"I’m not exactly a vampire," I replied softly, looking at her with barely concealed curiosity. "How did you know I wasn’t?"

"I can see your reflection in the mirror," she replied matter-of-factly, standing up to extend a hand to me. "Forgive my rudeness – my name is Kaiou Michiru."

"It’s nice to meet you, Kaiou-san," I replied, shaking her hand. Obviously, to this extraordinary musician, manners came before asking probing questions about how I had materialised into her dressing room.

"No name? I don’t suppose it matters," she said lightly, turning around to pick up her brush again. Running it through her hair, I noticed a small smile start to play at her lips. "Have you something to ask me? I take it you don’t usually run around town materialising in random girls’ dressing rooms."

I had to crack a smile at this – the tension in this room was practically non-existent. I couldn’t understand why, but this girl had little or no fear of me. "It would certainly be a very impolite hobby to have. Therefore, I don’t tend to do such things."

She raised a playful eyebrow. "You do it just for me, then?"

I had to crack a smile – she was certainly easy to talk to. "Does that surprise you?"

She laughed out loud. "Nothing surprises me anymore." She then looked at me more closely, squinting her aqua eyes as she did so. "I know you."

"You do?"

"Hai," she replied, and then suddenly went off on another, completely different, tangent. "Why do you do this?"

"Nanii?"

"Come into stranger’s rooms, and stare at them?" I think she was on the verge of laughter – and how I longed to hear that laughter! I knew it would be the sweetest sound… "Are you just curious, or is there a deeper reason for your obvious restlessness?"

I had to think on that one. Though my mouth was famous for disengaging itself from my brain, therefore it went off on me completely. "I’m just looking for my lost love."

"Love?" she asked, looking perplexed. Then she smiled. "You know about love?"

I had to laugh, though slightly uncomfortably. "I don’t know why I said that. All I know about love is some mathematician’s quote on the damned thing."

"Oh?" She seemed intrigued. "And what is that?"

I shifted my feet a little before answering. "Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness."

My quoted words seemed to have a profound effect on the young woman, who visibly recoiled. "Not everything is fatal," she said softly, and then she frowned. Her whole face seemed to change into a visage of pain as she whispered her next words, in an urgently heartbroken voice. "And that was doesn’t kill us only makes us stranger…"

I was startled beyond belief at her abrupt, painful change in demeanour. "Are you all right, Michiru-san?" I asked, seamlessly slipping into the use of her first name. She didn’t appear to care.

"No…no I’m not all right," she said softly, and then turned to the doorway. Without another word, she left the dressing room.

Standing in her hasty wake, I suddenly saw what had been staring me in the face the whole time. Crying out to be noticed.

* * *

I had known from her first transformation that Hino Rei was the fire element Senshi Sailor Mars. Though I had never acted upon my knowledge, I had always known. Maybe it was some dormant part of my former love for the princess she had been, but Hell. What good is thinking about the past going to do me now? I’m a little knick-knack these days, a King trapped in crystal like a mosquito trapped in amber.

That’s why I have an eternity to think about what I’ve done. Jadeite, sentenced to an Eternity of Hard Thought. So, what else should I do, but think on what I could and should have been?

Naturally, thrown into all this is a healthy dose of regret. Not that it counts for much when you live in a pretty little condominium crystal with a glorious view of the River Styx.

At least the memory of the violinist is still with me. I haven’t gone insane yet, though I suppose that is a great and marvellous opportunity just waiting for me.

When I can yank my thoughts away from the memories that a thousand years could not drag from me, I remember the violinist. What was it that she said to me that effected me so profoundly? Ah, yes. She told me that not everything was fatal, when I had told her that caution was the most mortal wound to true happiness. What was she trying to say to me? That I was using caution as an excuse? My own paranoia was what held me back from trying to garner some forgiveness from Rei?

A thousand years of "what ifs?" is what I have endured, and there. There is the proof that I will endure at least another ten thousand, if not an eternity of more questions beginning with "what if"…

Yes, she had said to me that not everything is fatal.

Well, I doubt I could get any stranger than this.