"Brilliant, my lady, simply brilliant." Lord Cyphllype's mood was vastly improved after hearing what Hiode had announced to the Court. "That should show Zoisite who he still has to answer to."

Hiode smiled indulgently. "There wasn't any doubt of that from the beginning, my lord. He is, afterall, a disgrace to our family."

"Have any of you seen Zoisite?" Jadeite asked Nephrite and Kunzite as they met for their daily informal morning meeting.

Nephrite shook his head and Kunzite looked faintly perturbed. "Did you check his rooms?" the silver haired man asked.

"I banged and banged for eternity, but nobody answered. Exactly what did you tell him yesterday, Kunzite?"

"The things that he should have been told a long time ago." Kunzite was frowning. "But that shouldn't affect him to the point that he doesn't even turn up for meetings."

"Stop pacing around before you wear furrows into the carpet, " Nephrite sighed as he walked over to the blonde's side. "Perhaps he was in the shower or having a hangover. The drinks at the palace were rather strong."

"I don't think so, his hearing can't be that bad," Jadeite countered. "I think we should go and call him. Can you guys come along?"

Nephrite shrugged. "Don't you think you should let Kunzite do the calling?" he asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Wait a moment," Kunzite started before Jadeite shoved him in the direction of Zoisite's rooms. "You-wait-I-"

"No use saying anything," Jadeite smirked, the devious glint in his eyes echoing Nephrite's. "There's no need to explain anything to us, we understand perfectly."

Kunzite out of the way, Jadeite turned to his tall mahogany haired partner and pinned him down with a laser blue glare. "How long have you known?" he accused.

Nephrite smiled and toppled backwards to land painfully on his butt as Jadeite pounced.

"Well?" the blonde asked, pretending to examine his fingernails with interest.

"You mean you didn't see it?" Nephrite asked, disbelieving. "It's Kunzite, you know? Not some terribly difficult to read person? You've known him for such a long time and yet you can't tell when his behavior changes?"

Jadeite frowned. "Hey, I've my hands full trying to read you as it is!" he complained. "And I admit I'm not as observant as you. So really, how did you tell?"

The taller General shoved Jadeite off him and got to his feet before extending a hand to Jadeite to help him up. "Well Jadeite, it's not something that I can describe in words, it's just a feeling that I have. And of course, I have my stars to help me."

Jadeite gave him a skeptical look. "Neffy, what can the stars do?"

"They don't do anything, Jad. I just know where to look for things. And I'm off to train with my troops now. Inform me about Zoisite's condition later on?"

Jadeite gave him a vigorous nod. "Yup. By the way, you might want to concentrate more on imparting some skills to your men on how to think on their feet during battle. We nearly lost the previous one cos' the soldiers were so panicky. That's for getting all the new ones." Nephrite saluted his comment in acknowledgement and walked off.

Kunzite rapped on the door a few more times before giving serious thought about barging in. When Jadeite, the General with a damn accurate gut feeling, said that something was wrong, then something was indeed wrong. Holding his palm in front of the door lock, he reached out with his mind and easily twisted it open. Zoisite was sprawled on the floor, all slender joints and long curling hair. Silver eyes opened wide as Kunzite saw the dark stain on the carpet underneath Zoisite.

"Damn!" he swore as he carefully, gently lifted Zoisite off the floor, his pale face flopping backwards. The young General was cold to the touch and unresponsive, but Kunzite breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the dark stain wasn't blood.

Footsteps sounded behind them, and Jadeite came tearing into the room. "What happened?" he demanded breathlessly. "What's happened to Zoisite?"

"I don't know," Kunzite admitted, rocking back on his heels as he cradled the unconscious blonde in his arms. "We'll run a scan through him in the laboratories," he suggested, staggering to his feet with one hundred pounds of dead weight in his arms. That done, he settled Zoisite in a more comfortable position for both of them and strode off. Jadeite paused only to grimace at the ruined carpet and to close the door.

"This is most peculiar," Esako mused, rubbing the bottom of her chin with one hand as she studied the printout she had in her other hands. Passing the printout to Jadeite, she bent to study Zoisite with worried brown eyes.

"I would have thought that we'd managed to catalogue all the toxins there are in this place, but new ones pop up when we least expect it," she sighed. "It seems like our friend here has been poisoned by something very deadly and very rare."

"Damn!" Jadeite swore under his breath, worrying at a hangnail. "What the hell are we supposed to do? I thought you scientists assured us that we've been immunised against all things like that!"

Esako turned a glare on him. "You don't expect a few injections and all to make you invincible, do you? In that case, why don't you be God?"

"I'm sorry, Esa, I guess I'm too worried..."

Kunzite stared at Zoisite silently, observing the pale features that was too sickly to look white. They had him hooked up to an IV unit and wired to a console which was programmed to discern exactly what was being attacked in his body. It was too soon to get any data out of it. The earliest was two hours away.

"Jadeite," he called suddenly, still looking at Zoisite. "Get a carpet sample from Zoisite's room. If you can find that wine bottle, bring it along too." Jadeite was off in a flash. "Esako, my apologies for dragging you away from your work, but we need you to run a few more tests."

Esako brushed chestnut bangs out of her eyes and reached up to pin her unruly hair down more securely. "Sure. And Kunzite, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask something."

"Go ahead," Kunzite said, sounding a little surprised. "What is it?"

"I've been hearing things about Zoisite now and..."

"You want to know if they are true or not?" Kunzite blew out a sigh. "Which ones did you hear?"

"Oh, just variation 2.5 and 3.0," Esako replied blandly. "You know, the one which has the entire Court in gossip over and the one which has Zoisite as the ultimate bitch from hell."

"Here's version 4.82 then," Kunzite commented just as blandly as the scientist had. "Zoisite got to the top on his own talents and merits alone, and he's about one of the most misinterpreted person I know around here."

"I had a feeling that the real stuff was something like that...I've met Zoisite a few times along the corridors...he doesn't try to fill up the corridor with his presence like some other pompous army officer. Instead, I get the image of a tightly contained ball of icy fire. He seems like the kind who's tough on the outside but soft on the inside."

Kunzite saluted the scientist. "Right on the dot! Now, if only the palace had more people like you."

Everything seemed dark and confining...Zoisite was beginning to feel damned claustrophobic. He could barely make out sounds around him, but other than that, everything else was a mystery to him. He had no idea where he was, had no sense of feel or smell or sight. As he tried to latch onto the only clue he had, he could have sworn to himself that he heard Kunzite's voice. That meant one of two things; he was either somewhere in the North Wing, or he was hallucinating very, very badly. If this was indeed a hallucination, he must have fouled up big time, for he never had any dreams, awake or asleep, about other people. And the person in question was Kunzite. Kunzite!

"What's this?" Esako asked aloud when the machine gave a little beep. "General Zoisite, can you hear me?" she called out slowly and clearly. There was no response from the deathly pale blonde.

"The machine says that he's conscious and all. Why doesn't he say anything then?" The scientist frowned, deep lines furrowed across her forehead.

"Could the machine have been mistaken?" Kunzite asked dubiously. "If Zoisite were conscious, he'd be doing his level best to get up. He hates lying down on lab tables."

:So that's where I am,: Zoisite mused. :True, I should be up and about upon hearing that...but why can't I feel anything? I don't even know what happened. What if I were to remain in this limbo stage forever? I can't do anything to alert Kunzite to my condition!:

Esako shook her head. "This machine is 100% reliable. Could be one of the myriad of effects of the poison he ingested," she suggested. At that moment, Jadeite came pounding into the room.

"Here," he panted, shoving a small plastic ziplock bag and the wine bottle at Esako. "I've managed to confirm that nobody went into Zoisite's room other than us since he locked himself in last night."

"Well done," Kunzite murmured, shifting a little to the side to allow Jadeite better view of their friend.

"There's been no improvement?" Jadeite asked, despair warring with desperate hope. Kunzite gave a minute shake of his head. Jadeite's entire person drooped, and he shuffled away to pick up the report that the computer had generated so far. Esako shook her head. The mood in the room had plummeted to such a level that even she, a person with very low levels of Empathy, felt terrible. Jadeite had always shown his feelings for people whom he liked openly, so it was no surprise that he was like this, but now Kunzite had joined in as well. Distress radiated from him like the sharp spikes on an urchin.

"Both of you, there's no point in moping around here. I'll inform you two immediately if I find anything. In the meantime, why don't you try to locate the people who did this to Zoisite? I don't think he deliberately poisoned himself." The two Generals found themselves chased out of the laboratory, and the door closed firmly behind them.

"Can we really press charges against the Tzael family?" Jadeite asked, fighting the urge to go after every single person in that clan and turn them into spectacular bonfires. Or maybe with Nephrite's help, they could come up with something a little classier: molotov cocktails.

"I seriously am not sure if the army or her pet advisor, Lord Cyphllype ranks higher in the Queen's favour now."

Jadeite swore, inventively and pungently. "But Kunzite, we're the ones backbones of this Kingdom. Without us, this entire place will fall. What happened to the level of respect we are supposed to be accorded? Everybody knows that we Generals are the most important people after the Queen."

Kunzite irritably ran his hand through his hair. "It's called complacency, Jad. Look, there hasn't been any infiltration by the youma for the last ten years, hence we are sidelined nowadays. Lord Cyphllype belongs to one of the only noble lines which hasn't had any dissidents in the ranks - the rest all had the odd trouble maker. And Lord Cyphllype has always trumpeted his support for the Queen. He keeps some of the other nobles in line by being one of the shrewdest players of palace politics. Why shouldn't the Queen regard him more highly in this context of time? Zoisite is new, hasn't been involved in any real battles yet to prove his worth. If his father were to sow a little doubt in the Queen's mind about his abilities, she might very well judge Zoisite unsuitable as a General and tell us to get another one."

"So, don't you just hate the way this place functions?"

Jadeite whirled at the sound of the voice. "Neph! Don't do that!" he groused. "Make some noise to alert us, please?"

Nephrite gifted him with a small smile. "You might not be able to target the brain behind this operation against Zoisite, but you can cripple the organization. The one who actually carried out this plan to poison Zoisite is his childhood adversary, Terry."

"What's the point of targeting the minions? It's not like that bastard will be affected. He'd most likely get himself a replacement within the blink of the eye."

"We have to keep this from the Queen," Nephrite stated calmly as he warded the laboratory. "If she were to know about Zoisite's condition, she'd definitely have him removed from her service. And if that sentence were passed, Zoisite would be little better than a vegetable."

"Mfrrgghhh?!" Jadeite muttered inarticulately, completely frustrated at his inability to do anything.

"I can disguise Zoisite's aura from the Queen's eyes, the rest of you can run interference for us. Between the three of us, I think we can hoodwink the Queen successfully. The only problem is-"

"Lord Cyphllype," Jadeite spat out.

Kunzite's eyes flashed, Nephrite's shifted to their most unreadable level.

"We're not Generals for nothing," Kunzite said finally. "I'll call for a 'friendly' meeting with him tomorrow morning. During that interval, you two will have maintain the glamour on Zoisite's aura."

"Done!" Jadeite declared.

"Oi, Zoi-chan, don't you ever get tired of being in bed?" Jadeite wondered aloud in a singsong voice. If Zoisite wasn't bored, he definitely was! And Nephrite was busy maintaining his comatose colleague's aura in addition to supervising the army's exercises, so he wasn't available for even small talk.

*Grr...he actually called me Zoi...chan?: Zoisite muttered darkly in his mind. :CHAN? What does he take me for? A three year old kid? If only I could talk to him...but telepathy never was one of my strong points...in fact, it's so weak I can barely make out surface thoughts of others...and to top that off, my shields are damned stubborn. Even if one of the others were to try and ascertain my thoughts, my shields would bounce them off. What a rotten deal!*

Jadeite swung his legs idly and then began to think aloud as he was wont to do when he felt safe by himself in his own rooms. "Okay, since you're not the only problem we have on our hands, let’s say we talk about something else...like the terrorists!"

*The terrorists? That's Jadeite's department,* Zoisite thought carefully. Kunzite was in charge of overall defense and army policies, i.e. everybody would report to him whether indirectly or directly. Nephrite was in charge of the army, so the less important stuff passed through him. The four of them worked together when making decisions on battle tactics or when constructing the wards that kept the Kingdom safe from outside invasion. Zoisite didn't really have his own department yet, but he guessed that it probably would be something similar to Jadeite's assignment.

"That irritating bunch of girls. Who do they think they are? Don't they have anything better to do?"

*Oh, the self-titled Enlightners of the Modern Age,* Zoisite recalled. He had heard a few things about them, like how they possessed weak powers of their own which were deemed not suitable for army needs.

"And the Border Lords are sending in reports of increased activity by those thrice-damned youma! So, help me, but why do I have to be stuck with the job of chasing off those five silly things? And I'm not even permitted to kill them. Damn that Queen."

"Be glad that this entire room has been warded three times over by Kunzite, me and you," Nephrite suddenly interjected. Jadeite frowned. "I thought I told you to at least give me some warning," he sighed. "I know, I know." he stood up abruptly from his chair and turned to face Nephrite. "Do me a favour please?" he asked in a light, breezy manner.

Nephrite had a not-so-wonderful premonition, and his eyes bugged out comically as Jadeite phrased his request. "Could you sound out Zoi-chan's mind for me and tell me that he isn't a vegetable?"

"Jadeite!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I shouldn't be intruding on other people's privacy, but still..." he looked pleadingly at Nephrite, who'd closed his eyes and placed the back of one hand against his forehead in a long suffering pose.

"This from the person who was the strongest advocate of protection against intrusion of the telepathic sort," the mahogany haired General sighed. "If you insist."

Jadeite gave him a vigorous nod of his head. "I insist!"

Nephrite walked over to where Zoisite laid on the pallet prepared for him by Esako. "We really shouldn't arrange his hands like that," he muttered to himself. "It looks as if we're preparing him for a funeral or something to that effect." He rearranged Zoisite's hands so that they lay at his side instead of folded across his chest and then Nephrite touched one finger to the blonde's head lightly.

Zoisite's mental shields were formidable, thanks to Kunzite's thorough training and Zoisite's innate suspicious nature, but Nephrite was a genius in finding loopholes in mental barriers, and he managed to locate a tiny hairline fault running down one 'wall'.

*Gotcha,* Nephrite thought not-quite-triumphantly. After all, he was committing a grave offense...Now, if he could just make the fault a little bigger so that he could pass through.

*What took you guys so long?!* came the totally unexpected mindvoice. Nephrite was nearly shocked back to his own head at that.

*Zoisite?* he asked cautiously, extending one thought tendril.

*Yeah, it's me. Why's it so quiet out there?*

Nephrite took a moment to figure out what Zoisite was talking about. *You mean you can hear what's happening around you?*

*Ah huh. Jadeite was talking about terrorists just now. My sense of hearing seems to be the only thing working though; I have no control whatsoever over my body.*

That certainly took things to a new level. Zoisite was conscious, and from the tone of his mindvoice, bored to death by his 'imprisonment'.

*Can you relate what happened after you parted with Kunzite on the night of the palace function?* Nephrite asked, sensing Jadeite's impatience.

*It's in that bloody bottle of wine that snake gave me!* Zoisite snarled out, his vehemence so strong it momentarily amplified his mindvoice to a shout. Nephrite winced.

*Careful! Can you tell what kind of toxin this is?*

*Yeah, sort of. I came across it once during my stint in some herbalist's shop. The unfortunate thing is that I didn't quite take notice of it then cos' it was something that the herbalist prepared by mistake. I only recognized it by its smell.*

*So you don't know how to purge it from your system?*

Nephrite sensed Zoisite's frustration and disgust, all directed at himself. *I can only guess at what to do. If only I had been more careful, then I wouldn't be in this BLOODY state!*

*Zoisite,* Nephrite's voice cut in gently. *It's none of your fault. Jadeite, that little worry-wart, has sworn to do anything and everything he can to get you out of this. You can expect the same level of dedication from Kunzite and me.*

*But I don't deserve it,* Zoisite murmured so softly that Nephrite had to strain to make out what he was trying to say.

*Nonsense, of course you do,* a new voice cut in. Both Nephrite and Zoisite 'looked' up in surprise.

*Kunzite,* Zoisite breathed with a little bit of wonder and surprise before recovering his normal tone. :What are you doing here?:

:I'd like to include Jadeite in on this discussion too, so wait a moment while I link him up with us.: Besides Zoisite, Jadeite too had very low-level telepathy skills.

:Finally, I get to join the party,: Jadeite joked with a huff. :Zoi-chan! You're not a vegetable after all! I was so afraid...:

:Zoi-CHAN? CHAN ?! What do you take me for? A child?:

Jadeite grinned.

:Back to the issue at hand,: Kunzite said, drawing their attention and injecting a bit of sobriety into the situation. :Zoisite, can you do anything about this? You were a herbalist apprentice before, no?:

:As I've already told Nephrite, I can only try and experiment around...when I came across this poison, it was as a failure product of the herbalist I apprenticed myself to.

::In that case, Esako will be on hand to help you with whatever you need. I trust that your magical capabilities are unscathed?:

Zoisite gave a dubious mental nod. :I should think so...I didn't exactly test them out, you know.:

:Good. Makes things simpler in that case. Zoisite, we'll be needing your help in warding the kingdom from intrusion. You have the strongest shields and the most defensive talents. We'll be aiding you, don't worry. Maintaining your shields shouldn't be too time-consuming. Work on an antidote for this poison as soon as possible. We have no idea what kind of side effects it has. Jadeite'll go after the person who came up with it.:

:You mean I actually get to flex my muscles for once?: Jadeite crowed happily.

:Sure seems that way, just make sure you don't maim him beyond repair,: Nephrite added with a smile.

:Guess you guys should go off now,: Zoisite heaved out reluctantly. Kunzite broke off their connections to Zoisite and motioned for Nephrite and Jadeite to join him outside the laboratory.

"This is strange, don't you think?" Jadeite asked, as soon as the door was shut securely behind them. "Why would anybody want to administer a poison which leaves the brain intact? Especially in a General? Everybody knows that we've got magic."

"Everybody in the army, and even then, only the higher echelons know that we've got mind magic. Outsiders wouldn't know what we can do," Nephrite explained, tapping his fingers against the wall. "Esako says that Zoisite's internal system is shutting down slowly. He's got perhaps a few more weeks before his body becomes useless. When the heart goes, we would expect the brain to go as well."

"Sou...ka..." Jadeite murmured. He straightened from his slouch on the wall and started walking away from the other two Generals.

"You're doing very well," Nephrite observed quietly as Kunzite pushed his hair back from his face.

"You don't see me to tearing my hair out in grief do you?" came the soft, mocking reply.

"No," Nephrite said calmly. "I don't. But that's not what I mean. Kunzite, you don't have to keep it bottled within you. I know what you've been telling Zoisite and you're not practicing what you preach."

"Serenity can't find out about this."

"She's going to if you continue behaving like that. What happened to your iron control? The one that saw you through so many scandals."

"What scandals?" Kunzite asked blankly.

"You know, the ones that had you as the ultimate seducer?" Nephrite prompted, stifling a laugh behind his palm when Kunzite's eyes lit up with realization.

"Nephrite!" he exclaimed indignantly. "That was eons ago! And how young were we then?"

“About Jadeite's age," Nephrite replied with a smile.

"And what about yourself? Pot calling the kettle black."

Nephrite bowed with a flourish. "Oh, then was then. Come on, let's go hoodwink the Queen for all that we're worth," Nephrite said, turning on his rakish megawatt smile, a twinkle in his deep blue eyes. Kunzite was hard pressed to keep a straight face as they walked down the corridor.

Zoisite finished the wards on the Kingdom and 'stepped' back to rake a critical eye over his masterpiece. The scintillating blue-white glare that the wards gave out to all except their creator was designed to dazzle, if not temporarily blind, the magesight of any enemy that might try to sound out the barrier for any faults. Unlike the other three Generals, his wards were not structured evenly like that of a crystal lattice, stamped with protection sigils in rigid arrangement. Instead, his was a seamless flow; it was almost impossible to tell where his wards started and where they ended, and that was what the Generals were hoping to capitalize on. The youma had always come up against the crystal wards of the other Generals, and they were actually easy to break once the youma could find the order of the wards. In the past, Kunzite would arrange his wards innermost, followed by Nephrite with Jadeite's on the outside to form a triple ring barrier. Since all of them had their own direction of arrangement, the youma were suitably hampered in their quest to conquer the Kingdom. But when Kunzite had discovered that a small portion of Jadeite's wards had given way, and Nephrite's was about to give way, they were forced to rethink their strategy. It wasn't Jadeite's fault...rather, it seemed that the youma were actually able to make the wards disintegrate or unravel by themselves.

*Damn this area,* Zoisite swore to himself. He found that he worked best when talking to the air before him. He had been working hard on the wards for the past few days and had completely neglected to work on his own condition. Smoothing over the area in question with a more appropriate cipher of protection, he finally allowed himself a small nod of satisfaction. The Kingdom was now wrapped 3 times over with his wards, and none of the ward circles were connected to one another in even the smallest places. It was a bit of a hassle to think of how to position the different wards so that they would not interfere with each other, but at last he had done it. The only thing left was to get the other Generals to ward the Kingdom again. That should daunt the youma enough to put them permanently off the idea of invading the Kingdom. If not, it would give them sufficient time to prepare a 'welcome' party.

Now that the wards were done, he could turn his attention to other pressing matters. Kunzite had thoughtfully created a control that was triggered by thought alone so that he could contact Esako anytime he wanted. Esako had quietly accepted this latest assignment as Zoisite's assistant and so far she had been helpful. Zoisite triggered off the control and within a few seconds, Esako was asking what he needed through the controls of the time-splicing capsule. It seemed the most logical place to put Zoisite since the capsule's controls were capable of linking the mind directly to the outside world.

*Please send a call to whichever General is free at the moment,* he relayed politely. Esako agreed, and Kunzite responded. Kunzite always responded, no matter what time Zoisite called. Sometimes Nephrite came, other times Jadeite, but Kunzite was always available.

*How many days have passed?* he asked while waiting for the silver haired General to show up.

*Six days this time,* came the reply. Six days. Which meant that two weeks had already passed since he was poisoned.

*Found anything?* As always, Esako was quite taken aback by Zoisite's straightforwardness about his condition. He didn't sound the least bit depressed or angry or even resigned. He talked about it as if he were discussing the plans for lunch. It was as if he'd been poisoned countless of times before such that he'd grown completely blasé about it.

*No.*

*I don't understand why you guys act as if I'm going to die,* Zoisite muttered irritably. Oh, if only he could get his hands in that bastard Terry's neck. Or perhaps stake him up as a target pincushion for his ice blades in the practice arena. *I bet I stink,* he mumbled grumpily as he strained to hear any changes in the noise patterns of the room which would inform him of Kunzite's arrival. The door clicked, and though Zoisite knew it was futile, he still tried to turn his head towards that direction. He supposed he hated the lack of control over his body the most.

*The wards are up already,* he informed Kunzite peevishly as soon as he felt the older General's mind lap gently against his.

*Didn't have a good day?* Kunzite asked, careful not to sound pitying or too sympathetic.

*Good day, bad day, it's the same everyday,* Zoisite replied with an almost bitter sounding smirk.

*You haven't been taking care of yourself? Jadeite's going to scream you bloody the next time he comes by.*

Zoisite gave a mental grimace. *Only the devil can take care of himself when working on defense wards. I have no idea on how to work on those two at the same time.* He caught the faint sound of Kunzite's boots tapping on the floor. It was an action that Kunzite had picked up only recently.

*Anyway, what's up in the army?* Zoisite asked before the silence stretched too long. If he needed quiet, he could have it all when he was alone.

*Nothing out of the ordinary. Serenity, on the other hand, wants to commend you for your wonderful job on the wards.*

Zoisite was a little stunned. He'd just finished work on it a short while ago. How-

*Serenity is more attuned to the Kingdom then most,* Kunzite reminded his blonde counterpart.

*And just how is she supposed to see me in this state? Can't she just send a written letter or something*

"Don't worry Zoi-chan, we'll take care of everything!" a new voice sing-songed it's way into Zoisite's head. Jadeite simply would not give up the affectionate take on Zoisite's name no matter how much the emerald-eyed General railed at him. In the end, Zoisite had given up trying to persuade Jadeite otherwise. Stubbornness seemed to be a trait common to all Generals.

Jadeite tousled Zoisite's hair, feeling a pang rip through his heart, knowing that Zoisite wouldn't be able to scream at him for messing it up. If not for the slightest rise and fall of his chest as the machine forced almost ruined lungs to breathe and the spirited mind voice, Zoisite could well have been a realistic wax figure. He had indeed confronted the boy Terry, and left the boy in a shuddering wreck, nearly dead from fear. But on hindsight, it was useless to go after the boy since he couldn't give any information. All that boy understood was pettiness and jealousy, not to mention mean-spiritness, and Terry sure wasn't the only child in court who acted like that. As for Lord Cyphllype...Jadeite suppressed an urge to spit in the man's face. He was blithely going about his duties in court. The most Kunzite had been able to get out of his meeting with him was to ensure that the noble would have nothing to do with Zoisite ever again. The Generals couldn't do anything obvious towards him, so Kunzite had covertly planted a ward in Cyphllype's mind such that he wouldn't be able to think of harm towards Zoisite without first being struck down by one of the worst migraines ever.

Nephrite stole quietly into the room. "Zoisite's one hell of a wards constructor," he commented softly enough to prevent Zoisite from clearly making out what he was saying. "And the Queen wants to see him in an hour's time."

"Damn! Even if Esako was the most brilliant scientist in this bloody universe, she wouldn't be able to get the antidote to the poison in time. I just managed to track down the idiot who administered the toxin and delivered him to her." There was silence in the room.

"Guess the masquerade will have to go," Jadeite sighed. "And pray that Zoisite will be allowed to stay on here."

"You don't look very good," Serenity commented, sipping daintily at her cup of tea. One of the silent attendants waiting on her every whim and fancy moved forward to inquire if Lord Cyphllype needed anything. The chief advisor to the Queen waved her back.

"Your Majesty," he began, and that made the Queen look up from the swirling depths of her tea. Lord Cyphllype only used her title when he was about to address important state issues.

"I would like to recommend that you conduct a thorough review of the officers in the army."

"Oh?"

Lord Cyphllype grimaced as he tried to fight through the fog of pain that clouded his mind. "They do not inspire the same level of confidence as the officers of old, notably the younger Generals."

Serenity put her cup down on the saucer and dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a delicate white napkin. "You would be referring to General Tzael?" At Lord Cyphllype's delighted nod, she shook her head slightly. "My long time advisor, please do not cloud your judgement with private matters. Zoisite has proven to be most intelligent and useful to the Kingdom. I will not dismiss him." When Lord Cyphllype made as if to protest, she held up her hand. "There will be more pressing matters that the Generals will have to attend to later. The Kingdom will need all four of her Generals at hand should invasion threaten. Are you suggesting that your family pride is greater than the Kingdom's needs?" Queen Serenity's voice had grown steely and cold.

Lord Cyphllype blanched. "I would not dare to suggest such a thing, Your Majesty," he hastily amended. "I was just trying to tell Your Majesty that Zoisite is unable to carry out his physical duties now."

Queen Serenity beckoned for her servants to clear the table. "I was prepared to overlook the ill deeds you have committed in the past fortnight," she mused. "Since you willingly brought it up yourself, I suppose you will also bear the consequences of your actions. Do not presume to think that I am blind to the fact that you ordered General Tzael poisoned," she warned. "It is a crime to deprive the Kingdom of her protectors." A servant silently offered her a blank scroll and a quill pen. She scribbled a few words down on it and ordered the servant to pass it to her secretary.

"You have just been dismissed from your office," she informed Lord Cyphllype calmly, rising from her chair. "Take pride that I did not dismiss you from the Court completely. I do not approve of people too entrenched in their old-fashioned ideas. Besides," she added after a pause, "I have always made it clear that the army will always remain separate from palace politics." When she did not get even a murmur in response, she looked behind her and found that Lord Cyphllype had collapsed on the ground in a faint.

"He is getting to be more of a hassle than a help nowadays."

Kunzite strode down the palace corridors, words running through his head as he tried to think of the best way to broach the subject of Zoisite's condition to Serenity. Just before he arrived at Serenity's private chambers, a herald stepped in front of him and informed him that the Queen would be making her royal way down to the laboratory.

"There is no need to explain anything, General Eysten. I know already."

Kunzite bowed before the Queen. "Your forgiveness," he murmured. So it would seem that their attempts to shelter Zoisite had been in vain. She was decked out in her official gauzy white robes, which usually signaled that something of grave importance was going to be done. Even more disturbing was the fact that she had her white gloves on, which meant that she was going to use her Moon Sceptre.

"You have instructed General Tzael very well," Serenity said, looking squarely at her eldest General, as they made their way down to the labs, the herald walking in front of both of them.

Kunzite smiled slightly. "Tzael is a fast and able learner. Besides, if he didn't already have talent, he would never be able to rise to the rank of General."

Serenity nodded in agreement. Then, tilting her head to the side a little, she told Kunzite that she had already gotten rid of Cyphllype. Her seemingly gentle pale blue eyes did not miss Kunzite's start of surprise, no matter that he smoothed over his expression immediately.

"Seriously, General Eysten, did you expect me to value my court ministers over my Generals?"

Kunzite bowed. "My apologies, Your Majesty. I had not meant that."

Serenity glanced at the man that she had nearly fallen in love with the first time they met almost a hundred years ago when Kunzite was a baby presented to her by his noble parents. At that time, she had never met a baby that looked as wise and yet feisty as Kunzite, and his silver eyes had called out to her. But like her predecessors and the future queens to come, her hand would always go to the Prince of the Earth. Come to think of it, her visit to Earth was long overdue. Kunzite had not lost his wise-look, but she was sure his feisty side was reserved only for the people he was close to - the other Generals, and more importantly, the blond child whom he was willing to risk life and name to preserve.

"Forgiveness granted," Serenity said out calmly enough, coldly enough, appearances had to be upkept after all, but she heaved a heavy, melancholic mental sigh.

Jadeite and Nephrite both felt it at the same time, and as they looked at each other, colour drained from both their faces. "Not so soon," Jadeite gasped out, stepping in front of Zoisite's capsule instinctively.

"Your Majesty," Jadeite and Nephrite greeted, bowing their heads as Kunzite swung open the door and the Queen stepped regally through.

Queen Serenity stifled a sigh as she regarded their tense postures and tight lipped expressions. Why did the Generals all assume that she was going to kill Zoisite? She frowned mentally. Perhaps it had something to do with the way she chose to portray herself...she would have to discuss with her image consultant over that.

"How is General Tzael doing?"

Jadeite sneaked a look at Kunzite. The silver haired General did not seem overly worried, so Jadeite surmised that the Queen wasn't here to kill off Zoisite.

"An antidote has not been found yet," Nephrite said, and Jadeite was very nearly tempted to kick Nephrite hard in the shins. If they told the Queen that an antidote was in the making, then perhaps Zoisite could stay for a longer period of time. Nephrite shot a side-long look at his younger compatriot, and his sapphire eyes flashed warning that spoke of dire consequences if Jadeite said anything.

"Aa," Serenity commented calmly, as if it was common to have Generals dying of poison everyday. She looked around the room, muttering something to herself under her breath. Jadeite felt positively mystified as to what she was doing, but Nephrite and Kunzite didn't seem alarmed in the least bit. He hated it when he felt so ignorant of what was happening...it just sort of emphasized the fact that he joined the Generals so much later, and it made him feel like he wasn't part of them at all.

*Serenity's going to use her Moon Sceptre,* Nephrite explained suddenly into Jadeite's head. *You joined us late that's why you've never seen her use it before.* And then, Jadeite remembered why it had been worth giving up the life that he'd known for the past twenty years to follow Nephrite when the mahogany haired General had come a-calling.

A shrill whine served as prelude for the scintillating burst of pink light that filled the room. Serenity winced mentally as she shielded her eyes against the garish display. She should have heeded her mother's advice not to choose pink as the default colour for the Moon Sceptre when she was young.

All Zoisite knew was that one moment the Generals were whispering about him, and the next moment the Queen had arrived at the labs. And after that, there was this really irritating humming noise that filled the air and made his ears ache. And after that...he'd tumbled head over heels into darkness.

Jadeite pried one eye open when he felt the brightness against his eyelids recede towards normal levels. Nephrite and Kunzite were doing the same, but they didn't seem quite as surprised as Jadeite when they found that all the machines in the lab had short circuited. Serenity was in the midst of tucking her Moon Sceptre into the folds of her gown where Jadeite presumed a pocket was.

"General Tzael should recover in the span of two days. After that, I would like to meet all of you for a briefing in my throne room." Serenity motioned for Kunzite to stay where he was when he made a move to see her out of the lab.

"Stay and take care of Tzael," she ordered in an undertone, smiling when Kunzite flushed ever so faintly.