When Julian opened his eyes, he was lying on the floor in a dark chamber of some sort. The pain in his head was gone, and as he looked down he saw that he was dressed in strange clothing; a gray uniform, green trim. His hair was clean and tied back loosely in a ponytail.

He tried to stand up, and was surprised when he was able to do so easily. There was no more pain in his legs. I must be dreaming. This couldn't possibly be real.

Gabriel... the memory of the white haired stranger pierced his mind, and he looked around frantically. Where is he!?

Julian didn't see anyone, much less Gabriel. The chamber was completely dark, containing only a small throne or chair of some sort at the front. It was so... cold. Not at all like the place that Gabriel had mentioned. He looked around warily, but there was really nothing there. Nothing at all. Maybe I'm dead.

He sighed with relief as a familiar caped figure emerged from behind the throne, his arms crossed, his expression as cold as the rest of the place. Julian started forward, and then stopped when he saw Gabriel's eyes. They were so... hostile. They were narrowed and held no emotion at all, just reflected their surroundings like sheets of ice.

"Gabriel?" He said softly, unsure of what to expect. Gabriel walked toward him further, looking him up and down in scrutiny. He felt a bit like a piece of furniture being sold at an auction; and not doing so well. Finally, Gabriel spoke.

"I lied to you, Julian."

Julian stared at him, dumbfounded. Lied? About what?

"My name is Kunzite. And you are now Zoisite. Do you understand?"

Julian was about to shake his head, but Gabriel's gaze stopped him in his tracks; those eyes were no longer friendly. He felt like a caged animal. Gabriel didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't care.

"You are under my tutelage now, Zoisite. I expect to be addressed in the proper manner as Kunzite-sama or General Kunzite. Do you understand?" Zoisite stared at him. Tutelage? Tutelage for what? What he insane?

"You will report to the Initiation tomorrow as soon as you are awakened, and until that time you will stay with the other recruits in your dormitory. Once there, you will be under the control of your commanding officer until I come for you. Is this understood?"

What was going on? Julian felt as though he had been thrust into a rather surreal nightmare, which would explain the rapid healing of his wounds.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" He murmured, and Gabriel smirked.

"No, you're not." Suddenly, Gabriel held out both hands and he felt himself pushed backwards by a bright light that seemed to flash from them. He stumbled to the floor, dazed, eyes wide.

"Do not question me again, Zoisite. Understand?"

Zoisite wanted to snap 'I'm not deaf!', but Kunzite was wearing an expression that told him that he did not want to press this man too far. He certainly didn't want to be thrown to the floor again. As Kunzite turned to leave, he panicked.

"Kunzite-sama." He said, not being able to keep a note of sarcasm from his voice. Kunzite turned, eyebrows raised in polite inquiry.

"What?"

"Tutelage for what? What the hell is this place?" He put his hands on his hips impatiently, suddenly very angry. And why shouldn't he be? Gabriel... or rather Kunzite, had lied to him. He was now in a place he knew nothing about, practically kidnapped, and had no way out.

"You are now a soldier of the Dark Kingdom, Zoisite. I will see you in seven hours." He left with a sweep of his cape, abandoning Zoisite in an unfamiliar place with no idea of what was supposed to happen. He felt a surge of hatred. You lied to me. I was a fool to believe that anyone could actually care about me. What a joke.

Gods, get me out of here!

"Please follow me, Zoisite, sir." He heard a voice behind him, and turned around...

Zoisite found himself face to face with an absolutely horrifying creature; it's eyes glowing bright yellow from under large, wrinkled folds of flesh, it's head completely shorn of hair, its skin gray. Huge, dagger-like fangs hung out over its lower lip, cutting into the flesh of its chin. Zoisite staggered back, mouth agape.

"What....?" He gasped, eyes flickering quickly over the expanse of the room for some method of escape. The creature tilted its head in confusion, then grinned, which made it even more frightening.

"A youma." It hissed. Zoisite stared at it, eyes wide, mouth agape, and then started when it moved toward him. "Please, sir, follow me," it hissed again.

Zoisite felt his heart beating against his chest. This was some horrible, horrible nightmare. It had to be.

But the creature seemed to shrink almost in its skin, becoming smaller. It moved away from him cautiously, eyes widening.

"You must come." It repeated, wild eyes moving almost hysterically from object to object. To think, this youma was afraid of him. "Come."

Zoisite took a deep breath, swallowing audibly, and followed far behind the youma as it walked toward one dark corner of the room. It looked back to see if he was following occasionally, as Zoisite had made sure to keep a safe distance between them.

"Where are we going?" He called to the youma, not moving any closer.

"To the main hall, Zoisite sir. You must meet the other recruits."

Zoisite nodded and allowed himself to be led away from the chamber, only sparing a wary glance behind him. You lied to me... and now I have to find a way out of here before I go insane as well.

The youma led him to a separate wing, and he started to feel a little better as he saw more and more people. Humans. Some of them even his age. He sighed with relief, but with the relief came the familiar fear. What if they didn't accept him? What if they drove him away, calling him names and beating him up?

"Here, sir. Sit here until the assignments are given out." The youma disappeared, obviously to deliver more "recruits" to this place. Zoisite felt a wave of relief as the youma disappeared. He only hoped there were no more of them lurking around. Doubts seized him as well. Could Kunzite possibly be expecting him to fight? It was almost amusing. He was a weakling! He had always been a weakling!

A weakling who managed to kill his father in cold blood. Strange, but he was somehow becoming detached from the life he had before. Thinking of his mother did not cause him grief, for perhaps the first time since she had been dead. He smiled at that thought. Perhaps not all of what Kunzite told him had been a lie.

There weren't many recruits there, only about twenty, and he felt a bit better. Part of a select group? That's a new one for me. This has to be a nightmare.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" Zoisite's head snapped up as he thought he heard Kunzite's voice. But it was just another recruit. He was very good-looking, with long wavy auburn hair and cornflower blue eyes. He smiled wryly as he sat down, tossing his hair out of his eyes.

"My name's Nephrite. You new here?" He asked, holding out a hand. Zoisite took it reluctantly, slightly heartened by the Nephrite's seeming friendliness.

"Zoisite. Yes I am." He said, shaking Nephrite's hand.

The other boy smiled again. "I've been here for three days. It gets better, trust me." Zoisite smiled, and then blushed slightly as Nephrite continued to stare at him distractedly. He then shook his head and looked away.

Suddenly, a tall, balding man stood up in front of them and cleared his throat. The recruits stopped talking amongst themselves, their eyes fixing upon him as he spoke.

"Welcome, recruits. I trust you all know why you are here. To defend the Dark Kingdom from the tyranny of the Moon Kingdom. You're abilities have been tested, and I would like to announce the assignments for all recruits."

"Tested?" Zoisite whispered to Nephrite. "When was I tested?"

"Surely someone came to you. You couldn't have just popped in here uninvited."

"You mean... he was testing me?" Nephrite nodded, and Zoisite felt a sinking feeling. The fight, the beating by my father...they were tests? How could he!

"But... what's the Moon Kingdom? Is everyone here insane?" He hissed.

Nephrite chuckled. "It seems that way at first," he muttered, then turned back to the speaker, "but it's better not to ask questions."

Zoisite felt his anger begin to quicken as the commanding officer continued to speak. --How am I going to get out of here? There has to be a way...--

Finally, baldy got to the assignments. "Under the tutelage of General Quartzite.... Zircon, Carnelian, and Ruby."

--How could Kunzite do that to me? I killed my father for some stupid test! I'll kill him next!--

"Under the tutelage of General Tourmaline... Chalcedony, Hematite, and Serpentine."

-- But... how can I kill him? He is surely more powerful than I am. I couldn't even handle killing my father under the influence of extreme pain and anger, and I hated him!

But I hate Kunzite too... don't I?--

"..tutelage of General Kunzite... Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoisite."

Zoisite stiffened. Kunzite had said it himself... he was now Zoisite's master.

"Well, Zoisite, it looks as if we will be seeing a lot more of each other." Nephrite smiled strangely at him, a look that usually would have made Zoisite blush. But now... he was too overcome with confused emotion to respond. He stared into space, slightly frightened.

"Zoisite? Are you all right?" Nephrite placed a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned.

Zoisite nodded wretchedly. "I'm just... tired. I've had a long day."

Nephrite nodded sympathetically, when a slightly older boy with short blonde hair joined them. Nephrite and who Zoisite assumed was the one named Jadeite began to converse with each other, and Zoisite suddenly clenched his fists in determination. Whatever happened, he would come out of this on top. Somehow...

He followed the others to their mutual dormitory, ambition burning in his eyes. This time, he wouldn't be a failure. To anyone. If Kunzite wanted him to be a soldier than that's what he would be... the best soldier the Dark Kingdom had ever seen!

But something inside of him was crying... mother. Forgive me.