"Rei! Is it that bad?" Mamoru crouched beside the gasping priestess at the southern wall.
A goblin warrior, looking as if he'd just run a marathon, bowed, then whispered into the shogun's ear.
"The farthest kimon has been breached," said the shogun, flashing his sharp teeth. "But several other kimon, from dwellings within the village, have also opened."
"What?" said Mamoru. "You're kidding! Why would Beryl waste energy on a bunch of little kimon that can't last more than a minute?"
"Usa's scepter," said Usagi.
The shogun sniffed the night air. "The oni forces advancing from the outer kimon are large and armed with dark magic. We will need all our armies to hold them back."
"But what about the oni coming through all the little kimon?" said Mamoru. "That could be a problem."
"True. Are the senshi still planning to break into the Dark Kingdom?"
"We sure are," said Usagi and Minako together.
"Then do it now. I fear that your auspicious presence here will not be enough to save us."
Usagi helped Rei to her feet. "Are you ready?"
"Don't worry about me," said Rei. "I'm not the one who just had a baby."
"I can't let you do this," said Mamoru, laying his hand over Usagi's back. "You haven't regained your strength."
"You heard the shogun; we don't have time for naps!" Motioning with her hands, Usagi addressed the four senshi. "Time to transform! Are you coming with us, Mamo-chan?"
Mamoru nodded. A night of swinging his katana on the battle field might bring him glory, but protecting Usagi and Usa was more important.
"Let's do it!" said Usagi, raising her wand into the air as the others joined hands in a circle around her. *"Moon Prism Power . . . Make up!"*
For Mamoru, it was always magic, watching Usagi transform into her warrior self. From the first time he had witnessed it over three years ago, the awakening of Sailor Moon moved him more than any transfiguration in any religion he had ever read about. Usagi--young, imperfect, in many ways immature, became not a different person, but the consummation of all her past and future lives. It was not a stranger suddenly looking through her eyes, but her true identity. Girl, Empress, fighter and lover.
Her twelve-layer kimono, fan, combs and all the trappings of Crystal Yedo vanished. Poised in the air like a dancer, she stretched her arms and pointed her toes as red and blue ribbons coiled around her body. They turned into the fuku--a bright, silken raiment more like a figure skater's costume than a fighter's uniform. The ribbons around her feet became red boots, and those around her hands became white gloves. The two tails flowing from the rolled buns atop her head lengthened, and Mamoru thought she was far more radiant than the fabled Princess Kaguya could ever have been.
The other four senshi also transformed.
"You can get up now," said Usagi to the shogun, whose nose was planted in the grass.
"You are a goddess!" he cried.
She pulled the red bow from her bodice and gave it to the awestruck goblin. "For my gratitude." Then she turned to Mamoru and the other scouts.
"Let's go!"
Teleporting to the alley behind Crown Arcade, Mamoru was glad he didn't pass out this time, although he was disappointed that he couldn't take his samurai armor and katana to Earth. It wasn't as comfortable as a tuxedo, but it sure looked cool.
"We have to focus on a strong source of light in Jigoku to break into the kimon," said Usagi. "Everything depends on Zoe and Kunzite."
"Gods help us," said Mamoru as he and the senshi joined hands.
"Mamo-kun," whispered Minako beside him. "If we don't make it out alive . . . "
"Yeah?" said Mamoru.
"I want you to know that it's not that I don't like you, but . . . well, okay. I never liked you. But what I mean is . . . uh . . . I'd hate it if we died, and I never got a chance to tell you . . . um . . . to tell you . . ."
"That you'd rather be on my side than Beryl's?"
"Shhh!" said the others.
"It's all right," said Mamoru, squeezing Minako's fingers.
Tokyo night's couldn't get really dark, not with the light-pollution. Forget about watching stars. And this part of town, although mostly deserted by nine o'clock, still rumbled with busses and subways. Crystal Yedo's fresh smell of cut hay was replaced by acrid, damp concrete. The bright colors of the fuku and Usagi's golden wand were all that cut through the pervading gray. Somewhere, thought Mamoru, the bum under the loading dock stairs was probably watching their little circle, wondering what kind of goofy religious cult *this* was.
Mamoru drew as close to his wife's mind as their bond permitted. Eyes shut, they tried to see the love between Zoisite and Kunzite as a hair-line trace into the dark energy of Beryl's domain. A light to follow, to pull the senshi inside. Mamoru could feel Usagi's energy drain, but he didn't dare interrupt the trance.
After several minutes, she slumped into Mamoru's arms, shaking her head.
"I can't . . . if there's love there, it's not strong enough to crack the crystal structure of Beryl's ward."
"Not strong enough?" said Makoto. "All Zoe ever did was pine for Kunzite . . . except when she was cuddling--"
Everyone looked at Ami.
Ami stepped back. "I certainly never encouraged her!"
Minako ground her teeth.
"Well, I didn't!" defended Ami.
"Nobody's accusing you," said Usagi.
While the scouts argued, Mamoru felt his hackles rise. Jigoku was approaching in a form he knew too well.
"Look out!" he cried, as Kunzite pounced from above like a cat who had been lying in wait. Mamoru conjured a rose, but Kunzite was already drawing a portal back to his lair, with Ami in his claws. It was such a flash, Ami couldn't even scream. Kunzite, silent and lithe as a panther, dragged her through the portal before anyone could stop him.
"Lemme go!" cried Ami, kicking as hard as she could. Kunzite hoisted her over his shoulder, feet over head, before she could stomp on his instep or knee his groin. Even for a man of his strength and martial training, it was a struggle keeping her from clawing his eyes out. This petite woman fought dirtier than Zoisite.
"Stop that!" hissed Kunzite, pulling Ami's fingernails from his face. He could feel blood dripping down one ear, where she had sunk her teeth. Now she had his hair in her fists, and was trying to put a choke hold on him between her legs.
He wrestled her into his bedchamber and threw her into his nest. She leaped up and flew at him, but he covered her with a bubble of dark energy, much like the one Beryl was using on Zoisite.
"Stop shrieking," said Kunzite, touching his painfully shredded ear. Blood was streaming down his jaw.
Ami didn't seem to notice that her blue and white fuku was completely torn off one shoulder, or that the little skirt couldn't hide the smear of blood on her leg--Kunzite's blood, no doubt.
"I'm keeping you out of the fray." he said.
"Why don't you go bleach your roots?"
Kunzite rolled his eyes. He was getting a little weary of that line. "This is my natural hair color, little dark one. And believe me, I wouldn't give a damn about you if it weren't for Zoisite, so keep your peace!"
Ami's expression changed. She cocked her head and brushed the heavy bangs from her eyes. "What about Zoisite? How is she?"
Kunzite felt a twinge of pain at the concern in Ami's face. "Zoisite is alive. That's all you need to know." His resentment warred with admiration. The quietest, most reserved and cerebral of the senshi would attack a man twice her size if given half a chance. Ami challenged him like someone who didn't believe in death. Kunzite had to admire that.
He recalled Ami's fair face and blue-black hair from the Silver Millennium. He could still see her dark eyes gazing into Zoisite's, back when Zoisite was only his squire, unaware of Kunzite's feelings. And he could remember how glad he was the night Zoisite and Princess Mercury had their falling out, just before Beryl's attack against Prince Mamoru.
Then the Mother Queen of Princess Usagi's kingdom sent Beryl and her servants to sleep for a thousand years. And when Kunzite awoke to the city lights of modern Tokyo, Zoisite finally belonged to him.
Kunzite was not going to let some feisty reincarnation of the celestial princess change that, even if Mercury was as brave as she was pretty.
"Where's Chibi Usa?" said Ami.
Kunzite hadn't meant to respond with a growl, and chided himself for letting his jealousy get the better of him. Ami was settling herself into the nest, sniffing and poking curiously at the tangle of feathered coverlets, torn clothing and bits of fabric.
"You sleep in this?" she said.
Kunzite swung around with a "Hmph!" and stalked out of the room. If that was a note of pity in Ami's voice, he didn't want to hear it.
He hurried through the corridors to Beryl's audience chamber, knowing that his absence would bring more suspicion upon him. He and Beryl had broken into Usagi's palace by focusing on the source of darkness-- the hatred between Mamoru and Zoisite. But now Beryl feared that the reverse might also work. She had intimated her concern that Usagi might find a source of light in Jigoku.
Beryl hadn't said explicitly what that source of light might be, but everyone knew about Kunzite and Zoisite, and now everyone was watching. Kunzite had to hide his feelings, and not let on just how deep his bond with Zoisite really was. He now had to act stoically unconcerned whenever Beryl described possible methods of killing Zoisite. He couldn't show his fear and rage, and above all, he had to resist the overwhelming need to visit Zoisite's cell.
Beryl would kill Zoisite if she thought their love was strong enough to be a danger.
Pausing at the entrance to the audience chamber, Kunzite showered himself with a grooming spell to get the blood off his face and gloves, and to smooth his tangled hair back into a long, platinum fan. But there was little he could do about his mangled ear, except hope that Beryl wouldn't notice.
"Lord Kunzite!" called Beryl as the general straightened his cape and crossed the polished, obsidian floor of the deep, vaulted space. The energy felt different. The pools of liquid black oozing from the shadows quaked in an odd way. One of the more slender stalactites had fallen, and lay in chalky pieces near the back.
Kunzite's nostrils flared. Something was wrong. Something unknown and dangerous. But he dropped to his knees before Beryl's dais and kissed the floor just as he always did.
"Have your officers successfully dispatched our forces through all the kimon?" said Beryl.
"Hai. Nine armies, three divisions each--eighty-one brigades. And the initial attack at the palace provided just enough diversion to upset the energy balance for our breach. The real siege is about to commence."
"Excellent! Tell your officers that I have decided to open twelve more kimon!"
"My Queen?" said Kunzite, looking up. Princess Usa's scepter floated beside her, draped in the black fabric of Zoisite's yukata from Crystal Yedo. The bandage around Beryl's left hand reminded him that Beryl couldn't touch it, and had to draw its power indirectly. Kunzite could hear a soft ringing that might've come from the wand, but the harmonic resonance throughout the chamber made it hard to tell.
Beryl started laughing. "Twelve more kimon! The power in this stick is even greater than I thought!"
"But . . . Most Honored One! It takes so much energy to open even one kimon! Twelve? I cannot advise it!"
"Then make it twenty-four! I have more than enough energy!" Beryl threw her head back, fists in the air.
But she also trembled in a way that spooked Kunzite. Shivers ran from her flowing, red tresses to the hem of the blue gown. The surge of power rising within her was certainly strong, but it felt unstable, like the mania of psychosis before a nervous collapse. Kunzite narrowed his eyes at Usa's scepter.
The insectoid youma who tended Zoisite appeared from the shadows.
"Come forward!" commanded Beryl. The youma, one of Beryl's more articulate, obeyed and scuttled forth. In its crab-like claws was a white blanket that radiated strange, foreign light.
"What is that?" said Beryl, drawing her thin lips back over her fangs.
Keeping its antennae bowed low, it presented the blanket like an offering and flexed its mouth parts to speak.
"Mmmost Honored One, thisss was in Lady Zzzoisite's cell."
Kunzite's eyes widened.
"I never authorized that!" said Beryl. "How did it pass through my ward? Who put it there?"
The youma was shaking so hard, Kunzite could hear the clicking plates of its red and black exoskeleton. "I know not, my Queen. The guards insssist that no one entered that sssector."
"Well, blankets don't materialize out of the air." Beryl flashed an eye at Kunzite, who tried to look as much like a stone as he could.
"There's more," said the youma. "When I checked on Lady Zzzoisite, I found her cell . . . cleaned. And there was fffresh water and fffood that I nnnever brought. And diapers for the infant. And Lady Zzzoisite was . . . "
"She was what?" said Beryl.
"She was rocking the infant and sssinging! Sssomething about blackbirds."
Kunzite watched Beryl's manic euphoria turn dark. She started hissing through her fangs and shooting paranoid glances from side to side.
"Source of light," she muttered.
"Is my Queen quite well?" said Kunzite. "Perhaps this infusion of foreign energy has some side effect--"
"Zoisite has been manipulated by the enfanta. Such bonding is dangerous." Beryl turned to the youma. "The enfanta can feed from a bottle, can it not? It doesn't need Zoisite's dugs. I'd better get down there and pull that suckling whelp off her teat before this gets out of hand."
Kunzite added, "I shall augment the security around that sector."
"Tend to the battle," said Beryl. "And let me deal with Zoisite. I'll find out what's going on."
Two teleports to Earth in one night. Mamoru steadied himself against the brick wall behind Crown Arcade, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Usagi and the senshi had tried again and again to break into the Dark Kingdom, to no avail. So Mamoru had taken a moment to check up on Crystal Yedo.
Usagi was down on the asphalt, knees huddled to her chest. Makoto, Minako and Rei stood around her.
"Usako!" said Mamoru. "Are you okay?"
"She's getting tired," said Makoto.
"We've got at least half a million oni on us. That dragon's still circling over the palace, but things don't look good. Kimon keep popping open, and our forces are overwhelmed."
"Then I have to try again," said Usagi. "I know there's love between Zoe and Kunzite, and if I just keep focusing on it, sooner or later we'll break through. Let's make a circle."
*Amazing,* thought Zoisite. No matter how many changes Usa needed, the stack of diapers Nephrite had left never got any smaller. And after the youma took Zoisite's blanket away, another blanket had appeared, just as warm as the first. Best of all, Usa's colic hadn't returned.
Spreading her new blanket over the stone floor, Zoisite gently lay Usa down and took a fresh diaper. Then she started shredding the quilted stuffing out of it.
"I'll make you a little bed."
Suddenly, the baby started whimpering. Zoisite sensed an unmistakable presence approaching from beyond the cavern, followed by an eerie green-blue light. She snatched up Usa, blanket and all, and clutched her like stolen treasure.
Zoisite kept her back turned, but she could feel Beryl's energy filling the room, touching her like a rash over her naked skin. She scurried under the blanket for shelter, holding Usa under her chin.
"How dare you keep your back to me!" said Beryl, dissolving the ward around the cell. "Turn around! Who brought you these things?"
Zoisite turned, eyes lowered.
"Answer me! Who brought you this blanket? Was it Kunzite?"
"No," said Zoisite.
"Visitors are forbidden! Anyone disobeying me will be put to death!"
"You are too late, Most Honored One. He who gave me this blanket is already dead." Despite her trembling, Zoisite couldn't help raising a faint smile.
"Oh?" said the queen. "Who killed him?"
"I did."
"What are you smiling about? How dare you lie to me! Don't you know what I can do to you?"
"Your humble servant can die only once in this awakening, my Queen."
"Then I'll shall make certain your death takes a good, long time."
Zoisite took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking and the quaver in her voice. "I know. You manipulate Kunzite with false hopes, but I know you're going to kill me."
Beryl's hiss bubbled into a low growl. "Or maybe I'll keep you alive, as I keep Jadeite."
"As you have done to Jadeite, your own dark master will one day do to you."
"What! You, you insolent . . . "
Zoisite felt as if she were kneeling beneath a latrine as Beryl poured names over her head. But she knew that this was all Beryl could do right now, since the queen couldn't risk aiming her scepter and blasting; she might kill Usa and extinguish both her scepter and the enfanta's. Even if she blasted Zoisite alone, she might kill the unborn child within.
"You live for now," hissed Beryl. "But I'll see you tortured no matter what Kunzite accomplishes in Crystal Yedo. Now, give me that blanket!"
Zoisite obeyed. But just as she tossed it through the stalactite bars, another armload of white feathers tumbled over her shoulders and became a new blanket right before Beryl's eyes.
The queen gasped and stepped back. Terror flashed across her face. Pupils narrowed to slits. One spiny finger reached absently for a lock of hair and twined it about as Beryl stood, speechless for a moment.
Then she composed herself, shaking back her floor-length tresses and lifting her pointed chin as if amused.
"So," said Beryl. "You think you have allies from the other side? A blanket won't keep my hungry youma off you when your body is laid out for our victory feast. You promised much, Zoisite, but you wasted yourself on petty indulgences."
"Such as my love for Kunzite?"
Zoisite couldn't tell if Beryl's reaction was true smugness or hidden unease.
"If the love between you is so strong," said Beryl, "why does Kunzite never visit you? Why does he show so little concern whenever I speak with him about your death? I know how he's enjoyed the odd features of your body, but believe me, Zoisite, his ambition as an officer comes first."
*She lies!* Zoisite told herself. *None of it is true! See the fear in her face!* Zoisite pulled Usa closer, more to comfort herself than to comfort the baby.
"You've got to wonder what sick kind of man would be aroused by a freak. I'd be suspicious of him if I were you.
"You're just jealous because you never had a love of your own, not even when you captured Mamoru during the Second Awakening and brainwashed him."
"Jealous? Of someone who has to indulge the twisted fantasies of a sexual deviant to maintain rank? You call that love? Zoisite, romantic love is a cultural construction fostered for the purpose of controlling bloodlines and wealth. I haven't the stomach to dwell upon what it is you share when you spread your legs for Kunzite, but it's not love."
Zoisite squeezed her eyes shut. *Don't listen!* she repeated to herself. *Beryl is a devil!*
"Let's be realistic, Zoisite. Are you someone who would attract people of good character? And I don't mean confused perverts like Kunzite. I mean decent men, like Mamoru. Look at yourself. When you served in his guard, you sold military secrets to his enemy. You hated your master because you could not stand that he was your better. You sought a higher rank by possessing the Princess of Mercury, who could feel only contempt for you. And when she spurned you, you took your revenge by delivering the celestial court into my hands. Not terribly honorable, Zoisite.
"But when you were finally granted rank within Jigoku-- the only kingdom suitable for such as yourself, you proved incompetent. You even murdered your superior officer, Nephrite, just to secure your place. You've never been given trust which you didn't exploit, or honor which you didn't betray. You've accomplished nothing but failure.
"Dare to examine your soul, and you'll know I'm telling the truth. You are a worthless traitor and a murderer, and you will get exactly what you deserve."
Try as she might, Zoisite couldn't deny any of it. All she could do was take shelter under Nephrite's blanket, and cling to the baby who had finally accepted her.
"T-talk all you want," she stammered. "You'll still lose. Mamoru and Usagi will defeat you!"
Beryl laughed. "And they'll fly to your rescue, right? After you stole their child and turned it oni?"
"What, what are you talking about? The baby's not oni!"
"Not when it first came here," said Beryl. "But what do you suppose happens to an infant who suckles a demon? It resisted you for a long time, didn't it? I wonder who changed its mind? Was it the visitor who gave you all these delightful blankets?" Beryl smiled. "You must thank him for me."
"You're lying! Usa's not oni!"
"Then explain the infant's acceptance of you."
"She . . . I . . . " Zoisite didn't know what to say. This was too monstrous to be true!
"You have completed its transformation," said Beryl, reaching between the stalactites into the cell. "Now, give it to me."
Zoisite hadn't the strength to resist. The weight of Beryl's condemnation pressed too heavily for her to even lift her head. But as soon as she passed Usa into Beryl's hands, the child started screaming. That had to mean something, she decided. Zoisite clung to that hope as she clung to her blanket. It wasn't much, but it was all she had.
"No matter what you do, Zoisite, you'll always belong to me. From now, through all the millennia. Enjoy your blanket."
Zoisite crouched low against the cold stone and shivered for a long while after Beryl's departure. Hardly even noticing that Beryl had neglected to re-seal the ward, she held onto the blanket, twisting the corners around her hands. How did Beryl always know what to say? she wondered. Whenever Zoisite tried to be strong, Beryl could always reach into her deepest fears and expose every shame. Now there were only a few threads of hope to cling to: the knowledge that Beryl was a queen of lies, Usa's crying in Beryl's hands, and the warmth of the blanket.
But there was something else, too. Mamoru's thorns were like a whisper, promising that Zoisite would not be completely forgotten no matter what she had done in the past.
Kunzite didn't trust Beryl's mania. Such a psychotic power madness could lead to stupid actions. He tried not to think about what she might be doing to Zoisite at this moment, but he prayed to whatever would listen that Beryl wouldn't lose her temper and aim her staff. If she did so, she would extinguish her powers, which was fine with Kunzite. But Zoisite would be dead.
In the meanwhile, Kunzite knew he had to move Princess Mercury to a more remote and secure place. The risk was too great that Beryl's manic paranoia would drive her to inspect her general's quarters.
Entering the amber-lit caverns of his living chambers, Kunzite found Mercury curled inside his nest, resting under his dome of dark energy. As he stood over her, she raised heavy eyelids and drew the back of her hand across her mouth, hiding a yawn. She had burrowed into the tangle of fabric and covered her bare arms and legs just as Zoisite did when snuggling.
With the harsh discipline Kunzite reserved only for himself, he decided that jealousy would not get the upper hand. If there was pain, he would block it. One did not last long in the Dark Kingdom by letting emotions take control. But his throat tightened as he beheld his rival. She was an admirable fighter. She was intelligent and pretty, and Kunzite could understand Zoisite's attraction to her. It made Kunzite hate her even more.
He growled and said, "You can sleep at a time like this?"
"I haven't slept in two days, but it's not your business." Ami rubbed her face.
She really did look tired, thought Kunzite. Perhaps the initial attack on her palace had worn her out. But since he couldn't read her energy levels through his dome, there was no way to tell. Moving her would require utmost caution, not just for the sake of his remaining ear, but for security. There were servants nearby who had the gift for various binding and gagging spells, but Kunzite didn't dare call them. Ami's presence was too dangerous a secret to tell anyone.
"Princess Mercury," he said, bending to one knee beside the nest. "Ami? This may be hard to understand, but I'm trying to protect you. Zoisite's request." Those last two words caught in his throat.
Ami turned her face away, which made her even more unreadable.
"I have to move you, to keep you safe from Beryl, and we must do it quietly, understand?"
The girl looked weary and defeated. But Zoisite sometimes acted this way on purpose, before springing an attack. Zoisite might've learned the trick from her.
"Do you understand?" said Kunzite. "I would not have an easy time explaining the presence of a senshi in my bed."
Ami said nothing. She had curled herself into a ball, like a little animal. For a moment, Kunzite considered binding her with an actual piece of rope or strip of cloth, something that wouldn't require magic he didn't possess.
But then, like a lone tendril peeking out from his chambers, he sensed Beryl's return. She was approaching . . . fast.
"Shit! C'mon!" Kunzite shattered his energy dome and swept Ami into his arms. He plunged into the darkness of a back exit.
Racing through a maze of narrow, poorly lit caves, Kunzite panted, eyes forward. No time to worry about the screaming bundle slung over his shoulder.
"Shut up!" he snarled.
He would toss her into one of the abandoned cells up ahead. And he would gag her even if he had to rip up his own cape to do it. Mercury was squirming, trying to twist her arms free. She kicked, then slammed one knee into Kunzite's chest. Kunzite felt her teeth in the back of his neck.
But when he grabbed her hair to yank her away, her hands shot up to seize an outcropping of rock. With a boot heel in Kunzite's face, Ami vaulted out of his grasp and rolled across the cave floor.
"Stupid kid!" said Kunzite. "You wanna get killed?"
"If I can take you with me!"
"I am trying to save your ass, you little shit!"
"Yeah, right!" Ami crossed her hands and shot an energy pulse of ice bubbles. Normally, Kunzite would simply reflect them back. But he didn't dare injure Ami, so he snapped up a ward that would absorb her attack instead.
"Don't start!" he said. "I don't want to hurt you!"
But Ami shot a second blast, then a third and fourth. She was like a little dog that wouldn't quit.
"Stop it!" hissed Kunzite, tossing up another ward, afraid of the noise they were making. "Don't you realize I could kill you with a look?" Chunks of stone flew with every blast, and the floor grew slick with ice.
"You're not so tough!" said Ami.
Kunzite rolled his eyes. "You're more foolhardy than Zoisite! Come here!" He leaped for her, but his boot slipped. Ami bolted.
"Not that way!" cried Kunzite, scrambling over the ice. *Oh, Gods!* The kid was heading straight for Beryl!
He chased her through a tangle of rough, volcanic passages, and through glittering caves of quartz, pyrite and granite, ducking when the tunnels couldn't clear his height. The tiny globes of light riveted into the stone were sparse, forcing him to feel his way. Mercury was well beyond him, but he could still sense her direction. Finally, he emerged into the open, at the edge of Beryl's audience chamber.
Looking up, Kunzite saw Mercury clinging to an outcropping of smoky quartz over thirty feet above him. Apparently, she had found another passage, one that opened onto a cliff.
"How in Hell did you get up there?" said Kunzite, glancing about. "Hide!"
Beryl entered the chamber.
Before Ami could retreat, a small blast from Beryl collapsed the cave, filling the mouth with crystal shards.
"What's this?" said Beryl, lowering her staff as she crossed the polished obsidian. "What's a senshi doing here?" The youma who had tended Zoisite followed close behind, clutching a screaming infant in its spare legs.
Kunzite dropped to his knees. "Most Honored--"
"Have the senshi broken through our kimon?" said Beryl.
Kunzite lifted his eyes just in time to see Beryl aim her staff at Ami. "No!" he cried, as the energy bolt grazed its target. "Queen Beryl, be careful! Your powers!" He knew it. Usa's scepter, which still hung over the dais, was clouding Beryl's judgment.
But when the dust cleared, Mercury was still alive. Barely. The dark queen's aim had been about as centered as her mind. A twinge across Beryl's expression told Kunzite that she realized the foolishness of her action, but she quickly covered it.
"Kunzite!" said Beryl. "Never question me! I know what I'm doing! That was to weaken her, to make certain her fall will be fatal. Now . . ." Beryl raised her staff again and blasted the crystalline wall just under the ledge where Ami huddled. It cracked, then splintered in sharp fissures, smashing the polished floor below.
Ami still clung to a piece of rock high above the jagged pile of shards. But she was slipping, weak from the first blast. Probably going into shock. Her wound looked like a pattern of burgundy flames across her thigh. Part of her arm was burned as well. The tattered shreds of her once-blue skirt were singed black. Eyes shut, mouth hanging open, the senshi curled around the chunk of stone as her chi drained.
Kunzite swallowed, waiting for her to fall, to die. His explanation to Zoisite would be simple. He had protected Mercury all he could. He'd done everything. But the foolish, little senshi had flung herself at Beryl. It couldn't be helped.
Zoisite would be furious and hurt, but she'd eventually come around. The little rat wasn't someone who could remain alone for long. She wasn't that strong. She would return to his arms, and he would have no rival. Yes, thought Kunzite. This was best.
But it would break Zoisite's heart. Back in the Silver Millennium, Mercury had been the closest thing to a friend Zoisite ever had. And Crystal Yedo brought them together again. This rekindled romance hurt Kunzite more than he could bear. But now he could stand by, blameless, and witness its death. Nothing could be done.
Ami's foothold crumbled. She yelped, slipping further.
Kunzite didn't realize how tense he was until a heavy drop of sweat streamed down between his eyes. He told himself to patiently wait for the inevitable. Then he wouldn't have to lose Zoisite to a rival, and wasn't that the most important thing?
But deep inside, the still, small voice questioned him. If he truly loved Zoisite, could he stand by and allow her to be hurt? Even if it was the only way he could keep her?
He had no time to answer. When Ami finally lost her hold and fell, there was no chance for Kunzite to reason with that voice. Instead, he found himself bounding forward like a wound, steel spring. His arms caught Ami just inches from the sharp stones below. In one swift movement, he curled around her and rolled into the fall, taking the blow himself.
Crouching over her on the floor, in the midst of the rock debris, Kunzite's hands passed across her delicate face and through her hair. He touched the skin surrounding her burns. He could feel her chi still draining, sliding toward death. But at this point, Kunzite had already made his choice, and there was only one thing left to do. Holding his rival close, he bent down and pressed his lips to Ami's, since a kiss was the fastest way to transfer his own chi to her.
Ami was limp and barely conscious. Her little body felt so fragile in Kunzite's arms, he had to cradle the back of her head in his hand. Her soft lips were slightly parted and unresisting; she couldn't really kiss him back, but it wasn't necessary. All he had to do was keep his mouth on hers and will his own energy to pass through. As her chi started to stabilize, Kunzite held the kiss for as long as he dared.
It was draining him. He could sense his own loss of chi as an ill feeling in his stomach and a coldness in his limbs. But it was not dangerous . . . yet. Zoisite¹s little, dark one was almost recovered . . . a bit more . . . he could give just a bit more.
Then, strong enough to pull away from his lips, Ami blinked up at him and softly gasped. He almost smiled.
³Kunzite!² shrieked Beryl.
Kunzite snapped his head up. For a few crucial moments, he¹d forgotten about Beryl.
³What¹s this? You¹ve taken up with a senshi? How dare you betray me!²
Kunzite turned to see Beryl striding toward him. Her eyes were white, her lips pulled back from her fangs. She jerked her head at an odd angle, like one stricken with a nervous disorder.
³My Queen,² said Kunzite. ³It¹s not--²
³You¹re all traitors! The whole lot of you!² She aimed her staff.
³Queen Beryl!²
The blast was not as strong as he had feared, but Kunzite took it directly in the chest. After a moment of white shock, he found himself sprawled on the rock pile with Ami behind him, holding his head in her lap.
³That was a warning,² said the queen. ³Get up and take care of this senshi the way you¹re supposed to. Now!²
But Kunzite could not get up. He could barely even see. His vision was a fading tunnel. After giving so much of his chi to Ami, there was nothing left to sustain even a minor blast.
³Get up!² screamed Beryl. ³I command you!²
The pain from the burn in his chest was dizzying. But it was also growing distant, slipping away with his consciousness. Kunzite was just aware enough to realize that Beryl must not have noticed him giving his chi to Ami. Otherwise, Beryl wouldn¹t have dared to blast him. Normally, he could¹ve taken it. But now he would die, and the power in Beryl¹s staff would die with him.
Through heavy eyelids, Kunzite passively watched Beryl¹s expression evolve from rage to panic. ³Lord Kunzite!² she said. ³What¹s the matter with you? I command you!²
³He¹s dying,² said Ami, laying her hand over his chest, just above the wound.
³Impossible! That was not a fatal blast!²
³It is to someone who just sacrificed his own energy to save me.²
Kunzite looked up at Ami. ³Beryl will . . . now be powerless,² he whispered. "She's not allowed to kill directly . . . with her staff." He paused for breath. "Her staff . . . dies with me."
³What?² said Ami. She bent down close to Kunzite¹s face.
³You . . . must find Zoisite . . . and be happy together.²
³Excuse me?²
³I know . . . about your love,² said Kunzite.
³Our love?² Ami stared. Then her hand flew to her mouth. ³Oh, no! We¹re not like that at all!²
³You two are not lovers?²
³We're not even friends! In fact, Zoisite and I parted on rather bad terms!²
³Really?² Kunzite closed his eyes and began to softly chuckle in despair. ³Then . . . we are all fools, aren¹t we?²
Beryl stood frozen. Her long, spiny fingers clutched the iron tendrils climbing the length of her staff. Behind her, in the arms of the youma servant, Usa wailed.
END OF PART X
Enjoying the story so far? Gentle reader, you may e-mail me at: johns877@tc.umn.edu