Zoisite lay on his stomach on the bed, idly kicking his legs over the edge and thinking about the night before. "I can't believe I actually KISSED him! It's so EMBARRASSING! Maybe I'll just hibernate in my room for the rest of my life and then I won't have to face him anymore. I feel so childish," he groaned. "But he didn't look offended..." Zoisite realised where his thoughts were headed for and flipped over, grumbling to himself. "I am such an idiot!"

The floor trembled slightly, and together with it, the bed. Zoisite rolled off in surprise and the first thing he headed for was his lute. Then when he had it safe in his arms, he sat back down and wondered what the hell was going on. The floor shook for the second time in a minute, and Zoisite was starting to get worried. And to add on to the strange trembling, there were sounds of people screaming. He padded over to the door and poked his head out....

For a moment, Zoisite wondered if the entire bardic wing was involved in a screaming exercise of some sort, then his brain kicked in and he moved to intercept one of his shrieking peers who was pounding down the corridor. "Hey! What's happening?" he yelled.

The apprentice merely pointed backwards, too terrified and busy expanding his lungs to bother elaborating. Zoisite released the man and ran towards the direction he pointed in. A second later, he wished he hadn't. :Talk about not thinking before I act. This was the stupid fault that got me into that wall incident. Well, I have killed one of them before. I suppose I could repeat the act if I'm forced to.:

"You idiot! Music isn't going to help you against creatures like that! Run!" one of his teachers hollered at him. Zoisite snorted, but allowed himself to be pulled along. How on earth did the youma manage to get in the palace? It was protected by magic for goodness sakes! And the Generals were all here as well. A spurt of blood crossing his vision got his mind back to the present, and he froze as the youma locked eyes with him. His teacher was sprawled in a bloody pile on the floor, nothing more but a discarded carcass to the youma. Zoisite swallowed and wondered if he was going to die with his throat ripped out by the youma.

"Malachite!" he screamed, not daring to look up as the youma's claws reached for him. He felt the wicked claws whistle past his face, but it wasn't more painful than an ant bite. "Sorry, the General's too busy to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep."

Zoisite looked up in shock at the sardonic words and found himself staring into Nephrite's deep blue eyes. The General kicked the youma carcass away and blasted it just for good measure.

"What's happening?"

Nephrite narrowed his eyes and blasted another two youmas who intruded into his line of vision. "Beryl moved faster than we anticipated, so the palace is basically overrun with bloody youmas. The youmas we encountered yesterday must have been the scouting troop, since the guards that the Prince sent to check out the countryside came back with half their bodies spilling out of them. The bardic wing was the last one to get evacuated and the palace is empty now except for the army. Malachite sent me to fetch you to safety, or he claims he won't be able to concentrate."

"He claimed nothing of that sort," a voice corrected, and Jadeite came into view, bruises in stark view on his neck. "Don't put words in his mouth."

Zoisite sighed and shook his head. Trust these two to start an argument. "Where's Malachite?" he asked.

Jadeite exchanged glances with Nephrite. "Look, we've got no time to indulge in conversation with you. We've got an army to run, youmas to slaughter and Endymion to help. He freed some time for us only to get you to safety. So, you're getting out of the palace now."

Zoisite grabbed hold of Jadeite's coat. "Where the hell is Malachite?"

"Out on a mission. Just get the hell out of here with Jadeite. So if you care about Malachite, just let Jadeite take you to safety, all right? You're not doing any favors to Malachite otherwise," Nephrite reminded, prying Zoisite's fingers from Jadeite's collar when his grip threatened to throttle the poor blonde for the second time in a day.Zoisite snarled and caught hold of Nephrite. "Damnit! Is it that difficult to answer one question? Malachite saved my life thrice over. Jadeite! You owe me one! Just tell me where Malachite is!"

Nephrite scowled and twisted Zoisite's hand out of his hair. "He's gone on a mission to Beryl's fortress. Happy? Now leave!"

Zoisite whirled and pounded down the corridor, ducking past two youmas and smelling burnt flesh as Nephrite blasted them to oblivion.

"Zoi-kun you idiot! Come back!" Jadeite yelled, bounding after him, but Zoisite was traveling like the wind, and Jadeite was still winded from his last fight.

"Damned. Whenever did this happen? One moment Zoisite's just hanging out with us, the next moment he's gone and fallen in love with Malachite. Malachite! Of all people!"

Nephrite expertly turned another few youmas into flaming beacons while his partner ranted on. "Incredible, but not impossible. Aren't you glad for Malachite?"

Jadeite flushed furiously at the thought of Malachite in a relationship. Somehow, the most he could think of Malachite was 'father hen'. Other than that, everything was blank. Nephrite chuckled at his blank expression.

"We better get back to Endymion before he destroys his own palace."

Jadeite chuckled at the image of the Prince trying to fry a youma and missing his target, flaming a curtain instead. "Yeah. But still, should we leave Zoisite alone?"

Nephrite's mouth twisted wryly. "That kid will get to Malachite by hook or by crook. He'll only die if Malachite decides to blast him to bits for disobeying him, which means we'll get blasted to bits too when he returns. Otherwise, Zoisite may just be the trump card against Beryl."

Jadeite thought back to the wall climbing episode and Malachite's comment about magic helping Zoisite and nodded. Then he followed Nephrite as they ran down the corridors to aid their Prince. The palace was in a mess, littered with bodies of youma and human alike. It was going to be an uphill task getting everything back to normal, not to mention winning back the faith of the masses.

Zoisite punched a youma hard enough that it reeled back, stunned for the moment. it was amazingly easy to dodge them, and the anxiety and fear that clouded his senses was probably sending the adrenaline coursing through his blood to give him much needed energy and speed. But once in his mad rush, he was forced to stop.

Delano lay on the ground, throat torn out and eyes staring emptily upwards. His face was contorted in an expression of terror and pain, and his mouth was open, like he had been caught in mid scream. Zoisite knelt down beside him and gently closed his eyes. The old man had been more than a little grumpy, but he had been a good teacher. Zoisite was going to miss him. He murmured a silent prayer, and the next moment, he was up and running again.

Malachite had shown him the teleportation room once when they were exploring the palace together, and that was where he was headed for. In his mind, he seethed at the Prince, the idiot who came up with the plan and everybody else for sending Malachite into danger. A tiny portion of the army was guarding the room, but Zoisite merely bowled straight into them and wormed his way through as soldier shouted in astonishment, pain and anger when Zoisite punched whoever was in his way.

"Let him go!" a voice bellowed just as fifty over soldiers decided to squeeze into the tiny room.

"But General Jadeite!" a captain protested and got a glare. "He's going to help General Malachite. You have permission to kill anybody else who tries to do the same."

With that, Jadeite was off and running to try and catch up with Nephrite. No youmas blocked his path, a blessed relief, since Jadeite wanted to save his power for the actual battle.

Malachite searched around with both his magical senses and human senses. The place was empty or the distinct youma feel, and Malachite suspected that Beryl was now launching her all out attempt to get the kingdom. Which meant that he had to hurry and try to assassinate Beryl before there wasn't a kingdom to return to. But the air behind him warped and shimmered, and Malachite readied all his arsenal in anticipation for the intruder.

Zoisite stared at the patterns drawn on the ground in frustration. How the hell was he supposed to activate the portal? Any mages that could help him were probably congregated with the Prince and the other two Generals to deal with the youmas. So that left him alone with this circle.

"So bright, Zoisite," he muttered aloud. "What the hell are you trying to achieve? Malachite's going to rip my head off when he comes back." The blonde stepped into the middle of the circle and bit his lip. "But I really don't want to see him dead. But what can I do? I'm only a damned bardic apprentice. My teacher was correct. Music isn't going to help. Besides, the most important thing is getting to his side now. I want to get to Beryl's damned country, kingdom, whatever!" he shouted out loud. He only had a glimpse of the air warping around him before his vision blacked out.

Malachite stared in shock when he saw the body plummet towards him with frightful velocity, and sheathing his sword, he caught the young blonde in his arms. Zoisite's emerald eyes were closed, and his brow was wrinkled, as if he was having a migraine. Which was probably the case. Teleportation spells were never gracious on the uninitiated.

"Zoisite, Zoisite, wake up," Malachite urged, shaking the blonde. When Zoisite's eyelashes fluttered uncertainly and he managed to pry open one emerald eye, Malachite swore with relief. Half of him wanted to smack Zoisite for not listening to his orders, while the other half of him was, for some unknown reason, ecstatic to see the young bardic apprentice.

"Huh?" Zoisite mumbled in bewilderment and then leapt to his feet. "Malachite! I found you!" he cried, throwing his arms around the startled General. All thoughts of scolding Zoisite flew out of Malachite's head, and he relaxed enough to return the hug.

"Zoisite. It's going to be very dangerous, where we're going. I expect you to listen to me from now on," the silver haired General ordered, breaking off the hug. Zoisite stared at Malachite.

"I can stay? You're not angry with me?"

Malachite chuckled at Zoisite's wide-eyed expression. "I should be, but no, I'm not. You stay because I don't have the energy to spare to send you back via teleportation and cloak your passage as well. The faster we get our job done, the sooner we can return."

Zoisite brushed the wrinkles from his tunic. "And what is the job?"

"We kill Beryl," Malachite informed him grimly. Then he stared at Zoisite. "What the hell is that doing here?"

Zoisite looked at his lute and smiled sheepishly. "I can't let go of her. Perhaps she'll come to be of some use?" he said hopefully, bracing himself for a scathing remark, but Malachite merely started walking.

"Don't say anything if she gets smashed in the process," was his answer after a few seconds. Zoisite smiled and ran to keep up with his long strides.

Jadeite opted not to shout his battle cry unlike every other soldier surrounding him, and he silently blasted youma after youma. Exponentially stronger than the last batch? Jadeite didn't see anything different in them, just the need to barbecue them blacker than before. Endymion was shouting orders to his officers as he tried to direct the action as well as he could from a well protected position. Nephrite was with him to contain the enthusiastic prince, and to offer whatever pearls of wisdom he had. He looked around to see where the youmas were concentrated the most, and as he did, his eyes brushed past a heap of dead youmas. The pile shuddered, and as Jadeite wrenched his eyes back to watch the dead youmas, the top most one got up. It's movements were jerky, the fact that half its leg had been hacked explained that, but within a few seconds, it was moving like a live youma.

Jadeite sucked in his breath. This was Beryl's new strategy? To create undying youmas?"Endymion! 'Ware your left!" he shouted to the Prince as the 'dead' youmas clambered to their feet and joined in the fight. Blasting youmas by magic drained the mage considerably, and normal fire didn't seem to be able to kill it. More and more 'dead' youma bucked the trend and got to their feet, heading straight for the soldiers in a kamikaze attack.

"Damn! What is Malachite doing?" Endymion demanded as he blasted a handful of youma. Circumstances were not looking good. This was only a small section of the palace. What about the rest of the palace and the capital? There weren't enough mages to go around. He wasn't given to praying, but damned if he wasn't going to try any possible means. :Malachite, hurry up and kill that bitch! We're all counting on you now.: Then he amended his though. Nephrite had informed him of Zoisite's impetuous action. :Malachite and Zoisite, hurry up!:

Zoisite trudged through the barren, black wasteland feeling very, very exposed. There wasn't a single tree of outcrop of rock or anything to break the monotony of the flat plain. At least he'd changed before coming here. His deep green suit was more or less similar to the background, but his shiny copper-blonde hair wasn't so inconspicuous. But Malachite didn't seem concerned in the least. He walked on, not saying a word, one step in front of Zoisite, as if protecting him from whatever was in front.

"Um, Malachite. Isn't this a bit strange? Is Beryl just going to sit in her castle and let us walk up to her gates and get in? Aren't we a little too conspicuous?"

"I'm cloaking our progress with a little bit of magic. She shouldn't notice it amid all her grand conjury she's doing. Look up in the air above you Zoisite," Malachite said without breaking stride.

Zoisite did as he was told and found the air a hundred feet up shimmering strangely. "That's magic?" he asked in puzzlement.

"That's the disturbance using magic causes to the energy fields in the environment. And to judge from the way the energy fields and lines are reacting, Beryl's draining them to the point of dryness. Trust me, our energy use won't be detected. And Zoisite, don't loiter behind, if you get out of my three foot sphere of influence, I won't be able to shield you from Beryl's prying eyes."

Zoisite scurried to catch up with Malachite in fright and almost clung to his arm. "You're not saying that only to frighten me are you?"

Malachite smiled slightly. "Well, you asked for it by coming here."

Zoisite punched Malachite's arm and they continued their trek over land that had utterly no landmarks whatsoever. Zoisite wondered how Malachite knew his way around so well. Beryl turned her head around as something emerald flashed in her peripheral vision. She could have sworn she saw an unfamiliar aura lurking around on her southern borders. But it was gone.

The scarlet haired Queen leaned back on her throne and stared at the black ball fixed to one arm of her throne. The energy flows were relatively even, though fluctuations occurred since she was forced to tap her secondary reserves of energy now. The Earthian Kingdom was proving to be more of a problem than she originally thought, and she wasn't sure if the Kingdom was worth the trouble. But she'd already gotten this far and she couldn't afford to stop. She scrutinized every tiny energy line in her domain, and after a few minutes of eye-straining, found a sliver of energy that was going against the flow. So, the Earth Kingdom had finally sent an assassin? Two to be exact. The one with the emerald aura wasn't the same as the one controlling the energy flow. Beryl pondered for a few seconds and decided that she would get more fun out of the game by allowing the two intruders to come closer to her fortress. Besides, she would need to concentrate on her youma warriors in the Earth Kingdom. If the two earthians could get pass her guards at the gate and through her fortress, only then would she consider them worthy enough opponents and accord them the attention.

"Zoisite, you must not leave my side now, do you understand?" Malachite whispered, keeping his eyes on the youmas guarding Beryl's fortress. Zoisite managed a nod, hugging his lute close to him. "Good." The silver haired General flicked his wrists, and something small and black landed on the ground near the youmas. They stepped forward, ears upright and tense as they searched for the source of the little sound.

*HMM*

Zoisite stared in awe as the youmas and a good portion of the gate disappeared in a bright and very intense beam of black light. Within a few seconds, the light faded out, leaving only a small circle to say where the youmas had been.

"What was that? Was it magic?" he whispered.

Malachite smiled. "Hardly. That's one of Jadeite's little experiments. This is one of his rejects, since he didn't manage to achieve an implosion device with white light. I thought the black would blend in well with the rest of the surroundings. That's the only one though."

"Got any more gadgets up your sleeve?"

Malachite shook his head. "No. We're going to proceed on like normal mortals."

Zoisite gaped, but could think of nothing more to say. Proceed like normal mortals? What the hell were they supposed to use against youmas? And just what was Malachite thinking of?

Beryl was more than slightly impressed when she found the front part of her fortress gone. So, they cleared the first hurdle successfully. How would they fare in the rest of the tests?"Malachite, how come you know so much about this castle?" Zoisite asked as they skulked around the corridors, avoiding what youma they could, and Malachite sliced the rest to ribbons when they couldn't.

"It gets predictable. Beryl obviously isn't very creative or imaginative, as one can tell from the youmas she's been making. Have you seen one with a different hair colour let alone body? The answer is no. And that lack has been applied to her fortress building too. Five steps from here, the corridor will twist to the right."

Malachite was true. The castle was the same everywhere, and Zoisite hated it. He always liked to see different things. "So, where do you think Beryl is?"

"The throne room, Zoisite."

Beryl could feel the two intruders coming closer and closer, but the Earth Kingdom was still holding out stubbornly. So, she underestimated that Prince after all. But he was weakening, and he didn't know that she, too, was about to come to the end of her resources. If she could just force him a little, he might never know how close he came to winning by default. Her remaining youmas were all scurrying to slow them down and give her time while she completed her attack on the Earth Kingdom.

Malachite sensed them coming before he saw them, and he pulled Zoisite behind him, pushing himself against the wall so that he only had to defend on three sides. The young blonde was frightened, but he didn't make a sound, not even a gasp when the hordes of youma poured onto them. If only he had taught Zoisite swordplay and the young bardic apprentice had a sword in his hands rather than his lute....

Zoisite hated the feeling of uselessness. Here he was hiding behind Malachite and was nothing more than a baggage that was in the General's way. If only he had magic or could fight with a proper sword, perhaps he would be of use then.

Malachite was more concerned for the safety of the diminutive blonde behind him than for himself. No doubt he was important, for without him, the mission would most definitely fail, but Zoisite took up a considerable portion of his mind now, and blast it, there were too many youmas around. No doubt Beryl was already aware of their presence, so he should just blast all of them. But Malachite hesitated. Beryl was an unknown persona, and Malachite wanted to have his reservoir of power as close to full as he could. But this was ridiculous! Hacking and bashing wasn't in his department!

Zoisite hovered against the back of the wall still thinking furiously how he could help Malachite. His lute was close to useless. Even if he could bear to bash it against a youma's head, it would only take out one youma, and where would that leave him? Malachite was going all out against the youmas now, and Zoisite wondered why didn't he just save himself the trouble and blast the youmas with magic. He raked his eyes over the youma, trying to decide which one he would whammy over the head if it came too close. Then he saw his chance and looped his lute over his back. No point in destroying it when he didn't have to.

Malachite caught the movement in his peripheral vision, but both his hands were free, and he had precious little space to maneuver. The youma's blade came whistling towards him, but the impact never came.

"Hyah!" Zoisite shouted, kicking the youma back with all his might, and was rewarded when the creature bowled backwards into his peers.

"Well done, Zoisite!" Malachite murmured, finally getting the space he needed to move. Five youmas fell before him, and Zoisite fell happily back into the General's protection radius. Finally, he was able to help. His fist hurt, but that was a minor inconvenience. With a feral grin, Zoisite waited for his next chance.

"No! Zoisite! You're going too far out!" Malachite shouted. The boy's enthusiasm was carrying him too far away from himself, which was very dangerous. Zoisite tripped over a youma's outstretched foot, went down, missed having his head sliced off and crashed to the floor.

"Damn it!" Malachite spat out, trying to reach the blonde, but before he could do anything, one youma had already snatched him up and run off down the corridor.

"Bloody hell!" the General roared, letting rip with his magic and totally immolating the youmas till not even ash remained. "Zoisite!"

Zoisite struggled as hard as he could, but the youma had him pinioned securely against his side. Bouncing up and down the corridors at breakneck speed looking down at the floor with a youma's bony hip digging into him wasn't how he wanted to travel. Miraculously, his lute was still slung on his back. The stupid youma hadn't bothered to discard it even when it made him remarkably more bulky to carry. He could only guess where he was going - to meet Beryl.

Malachite cursed the damned fortress for being so SIMILAR. In his state of panicked anxiety, one place looked the same as another. "Damn," he cursed softly, stopping and holding onto a wall. This was getting him nowhere. If he couldn't get back his level-headedness, he, Zoisite and the kingdom would be doomed. With a tiny bit of magic, he placed a glowing arrow on the wall to tell him he'd passed this stretch already. Beryl barely looked up from the crystal ball even when the youma ran into the throne room and threw itself prostrate on the floor, together with the young blonde that it had kidnapped. "Welcome to my castle, human."

"What the hell do you want with me?" Zoisite demanded, kicking the disgusting youma away from him and getting to his feet. A defiant expression settled on his face, and his eyes darted about the room nervously. The throne room was an ugly shade of dark green and it cast an oppressive glow on everything, included Beryl. She looked vaguely demonic, and Zoisite shuddered. Though she looked human enough to pass for one, he felt the urge to throw up in her presence more than in the youmas' presence.

"I'm out of energy," the scarlet haired queen said pleasantly enough. "You're going to supply me with it. And whatever I can squeeze from you will be enough to ensure my complete victory against the earthian army."

Zoisite shook his head. "You'll never be able to get past Nephrite. Jadeite and the Prince!"

Beryl smiled nastily. "You're so sure, little boy? Why don't you see what's happening now?" She waved her hands, and images appeared in thin air, floating a foot or so above the ground. It was like watching a movie on a transparent screen. Zoisite peered at it and tried to figure out what was going on.

Jadeite clutched at the wound in his side and managed to dissolve another three youmas before he collapsed on the ground. Within an instant, Nephrite was at his side, helping him to his feet with one hand and destroying a rank of youmas with a wave of his other hand.

"You're so careless," the auburn haired General growled out, dumping the younger blonde behind him with Endymion. "How did you manage to get spitted by those morons?"Jadeite smiled faintly, his eyes watering with the pain and energy drain. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"Don't die on us now!" Endymion snapped, his hands full of directing mages, resting those who were on the brink of exhaustion and trying to organize the army. "Malachite and Zoisite ought to be on their way. Just hang on a bit more."

"Believe me, Endy, I have no wish to be buried under a mound of youmas," Jadeite quipped, and clutched at his side a little tighter.

Zoisite reached out involuntarily and yelped in surprise when his hand went right through Jadeite. "Damn you! Why do you want to take our kingdom?"

Beryl smiled silkily. "That's a simple question."

"You're just a greedy, bitter woman who can't stand seeing anything positive," a low voice drawled out from the doorway.

Zoisite spun around in delight and relief. "Malachite!"

"Malachite? The second highest ranking person in the Earth Kingdom? Surprising that Endymion was willing to risk you instead of one of his lesser subordinates. It's not going to matter who he sends, since all of you will die anyway. Even more surprising that he sent a child with utterly no magical powers as well."

"I came myself!" Zoisite snapped. "So shut up!"

"That child of yours has quite a temper," Beryl observed. "No matter. Two of you would be more than enough to ensure my victory."

"I Challenge you, Queen Beryl," Malachite said calmly, as if it was something that he did on a regular basis. Zoisite had no idea what exactly constituted a Challenge, but looking at both Malachite's and Beryl's faces, it didn't seem like a good thing.

"What are you doing?" he whispered over to Malachite, who waved him silent with his hand. For once, he looked terrifying. Zoisite had never seen him this way, not even when they were ambushed by youmas in the countryside. Beryl, on the other hand, looked as if she had swallowed something bad, and was highly disgusted.

"A Challenge?" she mused aloud. "Do you think you can even draw with me, let alone say kill me? Perhaps you overestimate yourself," she finished scornfully.

"Not that much," Malachite rebutted with a slight twist to his mouth. "You've drained yourself dry, maybe too dry trying to fuel your youmas back from the brink of death. This is a formal Challenge issue. You have no choice but to accept."

Beryl rose from her throne, ignoring the unstable energy lines that criss-crossed through the air. She had spent enough time directing it and imposing her will on it that the energy flows were able to act independently. All she had to ensure was that nothing disturbed it.

"Very well, human. I accept. The proxy for your fair play will be that child you brought along." She shot out a personal energy thread, lifting Zoisite in the air and suspending him out of the only window in the room. "By the way, the window overlooks a precipice," she added with a grin. Zoisite stayed very, very still, willing himself not to look down. Ever since the incident with the wall, he'd grown slightly afraid of heights. The General's cerulean eyes flashed dangerously, but he merely stepped to the centre of the room. It was the Defender's right to select something of value as a guarantee for the Challenger's good conduct, and there was nothing he could do about the rules. But if he didn't Challenge Beryl, he was certain Beryl would never take the initiative and Challenge him. Around the energy strand that held Zoisite up, he twined his own energy strand. It was all he could spare, and he hoped that Beryl wouldn't be able to break it too easily.

"So be it. Activate your half of the barrier," he said curtly, a semi-circle of silver energy flaring up behind and around him. :Zoisite, don't worry. I'll get you back.:

Endymion felt terror surging through him as the army of youma pressed closer around him and his men. They could only hold out for at most an hour before the sheer numbers of youma overwhelmed them. Of the hundred mages that he started out with, only twenty had enough energy left to continue blasting the youmas, and of that twenty, more than ten were on their last dregs. His army was still fighting on, but they were getting more and more demoralized by the minute as they didn't seem to have much effect on the youmas. The stench of burned flesh was sickening, and Endymion choked.

"Hold on, Endy," Jadeite murmured by his side, trying to do as much as he could in his weakened state.

"Shut up you and rest. You deplete your magic and you deplete your life as well," the Prince snarled, knocking a youma over and creating a domino effect. Nephrite grimaced and finished off the job by firing them all.

Malachite staggered slightly, and Beryl's energy daggers ripped through one sleeve, scoring a jagged tear down his arm. Across the circle that their combined powers had erected, Beryl stood panting. She had been more depleted than she thought by directing the energy lines to her youma forces earlier on, and as such, was reduced to fighting on the same level as the Earthian General. And the General was winning too. His silver half circle barrier was creeping inexorably closer to her side, but Beryl wasn't planning to die for a very long time. She deactivated the energy strand that was keeping Zoisite aloft in the air and smashed Malachite's energy thread. The backlash of energy released sent a sliver of pain rippling through the General's mind, but the sight of Zoisite hurtling downwards tore through his heart.

"You bitch!" he shouted.

Beryl shrugged nonchalantly. "Whoever told you to trust me?" she purred silkily, letting fly with energy bolts. Malachite dodged them effortlessly, pouring all his energy and concentration into one final attack. For Zoisite, the kingdom and himself.

Zoisite shrieked, watching the deadly sharp stalagmites rushing closer and closer to meet him. They seemed different from their Earthian counterparts, and Zoisite was sure death by impalement was his preferred choice.

"Dammit! I don't want to die like that!" he screamed. "Don'tletmetouchtheground!" It was like the wall incident all over again, except Malachite wouldn't be there to catch him to safety.

The air whistling past his ears stopped, and Zoisite stared in astonishment to find the tip of the longest stalagmite staring at him in the eye. Miraculously, he had been saved barely an inch from death. There were no strings attached to him, no strange warping of the air above him indicated that Malachite hadn't been able to save him with the energy strands. So, who was his unknown benefactor? And he was still a long and painful way from the ground.

"Now, if only I could get back up," Zoisite thought aloud. "I hope I didn't scare Malachite too much." The stalagmite retreated an inch, or rather, Zoisite realized that he had moved up by an inch. "Huh?" The proverbial light bulb lit up atop his head.

"I want to get back up. All the way up," he demanded, and his heart flew from his mouth to the air as the mysterious force supporting him shot him up to the window. The scene was almost like the one he'd seen over a minute ago, but Malachite seemed to be on the losing end now. Beryl's scarlet flames was on the verge of fully engulfing the General's silver barrier. This wasn't the way Zoisite wanted to end. He was a definite supported of fairy tale endings. The force had shifted him close enough to the window that he was able to hop physically in. It felt so much better now that he was in control.

Beryl grinned unpleasantly as she pushed the human all the way against his silver barrier. "So much for you and your little child. Your interfering has caused a glitch in my schedule, but no matter, the Earth Kingdom will soon be mine." Malachite's face was a perfect mirror of glass, not revealing any emotion he felt. Beryl felt cheated when she didn't get the anticipated feelings of fear and despair. She opened her mouth to shout out the phrases that would bring final victory to her hand, but was rudely interrupted by a voice she truly didn't expect to hear.

"Beryl!" Zoisite shouted, bringing his lute down on the barrier. Malachite used that moment of distraction to pull the blade from his boot and fling it at Beryl. It buried itself up to the hilt in her left side, green blood oozing out at the edges.

"This is such a waste," Zoisite muttered, looking at the ashes that was all that remained of his lute. The barrier dissolved completely and Malachite wobbled over to his side. The young blonde looked up into Malachite's face and grinned.

"Malachite, the expression on your face is priceless!" he exclaimed, but was choked for breath a split second later.

"You idiot! How dare you scare me like that?" Malachite roared, hugging Zoisite to him for all he was worth.

"Urgh. Ma-Malachite, you're...strangling...me."

Malachite released Zoisite from his arms and stared into his flushed face and glittering emerald eyes. A second later, he turned away from the blonde and looked over at Beryl. "Stupid not to have put up her guard against physical attacks as well."

"She probably didn't expect me to do anything," Zoisite sniffed distastefully. "What are you going to do with her body?"

"Nothing. Leave it here to rot," Malachite said flatly, drawing the blade from her and wiping it on her dress. For good measure, he threw an energy blast into the bargain. "Sorry about your lute."

Zoisite sat mutely staring at the ashes. He ought to feel something, but he didn't. The lute wasn't important compared to Malachite. The silver haired General got to his feet and strode up to Beryl's throne, looking at the black crystal ball attached to it. The energy flows were badly twisted and trying to fight free now that Beryl's control over them was gone. It wasn't a difficult matter to release all the energy.

Endymion wanted to scream as a youma made a swipe for his head. He was out of magical energy, and so were the rest of his mages. An inch away from his nose, the youma grimaced and crumpled to the ground, nothing more than a charred body.

"Scared, huh, little boy?"

Endymion looked up to find Nephrite's sardonic face looking down at him. "Nephrite! You devil! What happened to you?"

Nephrite looked mournfully at one clump of singed hair. "My control was a little off," he admitted. Endymion stared at him and a chuckle escaped his mouth, slowly increasing in volume and numbers to graduate into full-fledged hysterical laughter. Nephrite sniffed indignantly.

"That's not funny. Besides, you were the one screaming you head off when you saw the youma going after you. Guess Zoisite didn't get in Malachite's way after all."

"You give him too little credit," Jadeite chided from his position on the ground. Nephrite ignored the comment. "But now that they're alone together, I wonder when they'll come back."

Endymion had a confused expression on his face. "Huh? Immediately of course. Who wants to stay in that wasteland?"

"Zoisite, do you realise something?" Malachite asked as Zoisite flung his arms around him.

"What?"

"You've got magic."

Zoisite sat upright and stared at the General. "And I thought for once the heavens were smiling on me. You just broke that beautiful illusion."

Malachite shrugged. "My apologies, Zoisite. Would you care to consider a career in the army now?"

The young blonde stared thoughtfully at the floor. Jadeite had asked him the question before, and the answer then, as it was now, as 'no'. Music was his first love, and would continue to be, though something would prove a strong rival in the future. And he couldn't forget his promise to Delano. The old man would be heartbroken in his grave if Zoisite just upped and left.

"Not now. Maybe next time, when I graduate from bardic school. Besides, even if I have magic, I can only use it in times of great danger, right? What's the point of training something so unpredictable when I've got other talents to develop?"

Malachite's face fell, almost imperceptibly, but Zoisite knew where to look. "But I didn't say I'd refuse the offer forever."

"You'd give up your position as a bard? Can you bear to?"

Zoisite leaned forward. "No, But I've got something as good," he declared, emerald eyes glimmering.

Malachite leaned down. "Zoisite, you truly are adorable."

Both of them reached for each other, but the next moment...

"Our teeth knocked," Zoisite said with a furious blush that turned his entire face red, up to the ears.

"Um, sorry."