.
Naru screamed as Nephrite was thrown against the wall. The tall King sank to the ground, barely able to retain consciousness. Levitating about six feet off the floor, Zoisite smirked. The smaller King had planned to leave all the actual combat to the youma, but Nephrite had somehow been able to defeat the three he'd sent. But the older King had not been able to stand against his rival.
Zoisite floated over to where Nephrite lay, lowering himself to the ground to stand before the fallen King with a cruel smile. "So, Nephrite, looks like you've just fought your last battle," he said.
Nephrite raised his head, green blood trickling down his cheek, and smiled. He smiled. Zoisite took a step back, blinking uncertainly. The idiot redhead girl took this opportunity to fling herself down by the King, cradling his larger body against hers.
Nephrite weakly raised one hand to stroke the girls hair, then turned his attention to the uneasy man before him. Blue eyes met green ones. "Go ahead and kill me, Zoisite," he told him. Naru turned fearful eyes upon the lithe young King. "Go ahead and kill us both. Because there's only one thing that matters to me now, and no matter what you do, you can't take that away from me." He smiled again.
Zoisite wanted to run; to turn away from Nephrite and his love and leave, and never return to his life as a King in the Dark Kingdom. Instead, he forced a sneer to his lips, and in a haughty tone said "No, I can't kill you," Naru sighed, relieved. "Not like this, anyway. Get on your feet, Nephrite. Fight me to your end."
Nephrite closed his eyes and sighed. He opened his eyes again, putting one hand on Naru's shoulder and bracing the other against the wall of the warehouse. He attempted one, twice, to haul himself to his feet, failing miserably. Zoisite snarled silently, almost unknowingly conjuring up an ice crystal.
"Damn you, you bastard, GET UP!"
He tried again, was almost completely on his feet when his knees buckled, depositing him once more on the floor. Sapphire eyes filled with pain met those of the younger King. "I'm sorry. Zoisite. I can't."
Inwardly he seethed. Why was Nephrite acting this way? What was wrong with him? And what the hell did he think he was doing? "Then take energy from your lover, Nephrite!" he spat.
Now Nephrite appeared angry. "And leave her defenseless and at your mercy when you kill me? I think not!"
Zoisite snorted softly, unable to see what the foolish human girl could possibly do to defend herself against him. At least the other King knew the futility of his fighting with Zoisite, even if the realization came too late to save him. But suddenly Zoisite was feeling very charitable. "Very well, Nephrite. I promise that this will only be between you and me, and once I kill you I'll allow the girl to leave unharmed."
Nephrite stared at him suspiciously. After all, the androgynous King rarely showed any mercy, and never any where Nephrite was concerned.
But Naru, apparently, seemed to find this acceptable. "I'll do it, Nephrite! You can take all the energy you want!"
Zoisite grinned. "Yes, Nephrite. Take all the energy you need. Not that it will do you any good. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!"
Nephrite trembled with rage. "Damn you, Zoisite," he hissed.
"A little late for that, Nephy-kun," Nephrite squeezed his eyes shut, reaching out to cup Naru's cheek with his hand. "Forgive me for taking this, my heart," he murmured as he drained her energy.
Zoisite watched impassively as the other King staggered to his feet, taking a moment to gain his balance. Zoisite stepped back with a smirk as Nephrite gathered the energy, preparing for an attack.
"Don't waste all your energy in one blow," he taunted. "You don't want me to kill you so soon."
"Don't be so sure of your success," Nephrite growled, forming some energy into a ball and flinging it at him.
Zoisite dodged it easily, laughing. "Is that the best you can do?" he sneered.
Nephrite leapt forward, grabbing his fellow King by the arm and jerking him to the ground. Zoisite shrieked indignantly, slashing at Nephrite with the previously unused ice crystal. It caught Nephrite on the forearm, green blood welling in the deep gash.
Nephrite cursed, staggering back. Zoisite scrambled to his feet, once again smiling. "Not bad, Nephrite...but not good enough to save you!" He summoned his cherry blossoms and sent them at Nephrite, turning into sharp knives as they flew toward him.
They struck Nephrite's torso and upraised arms, more green blood splattering as they made impact. Gasping, he fell to his knees, the pain almost overwhelming. Zoisite towered above him (not an easy feat for someone Zoisite's height), grinning evilly.
"Looks like this is the end of the line, Nephrite," he said with a smirk, brandishing another ice crystal. "I can't honestly say it was nice knowing you, but-" he broke off as a wave of raw energy washed over them, flinging them a good 12 feet before they landed in a painful tangle of limbs against the wall.
Zoisite recovered first, groaning and pushing himself away from Nephrite. The King was shaken, trembling inside and out. And he couldn't explain why. Sure, being abruptly blasted wasn't fun, but it didn't leave you so... fearful. Well, not Zoisite, anyway. Beside him Nephrite pulled himself into a sitting position, grunting and cursing softly. His redheaded girl had not been caught in the blast, and rushed to his side to support him.
"What did you do?" she demanded of Zoisite.
Taken by surprise by the question, he could only blink at her.
It was Nephrite who answered her. "He may be evil, Naru-chan, but he isn't stupid. He would hardly blast himself. " He glanced at Zoisite. "And I think I recognized that energy..."
Zoisite nodded before he caught himself. Yes, he had recognized the 'signature' of the energy. That was what had frightened him. Though who or what could frighten him, he couldn't begin to imagine...
Naru frowned. "Well, if he didn't, than who-?"
"Why, me, of course,"
Zoisite's head jerked up in response to the voice, his eyes widening with an inexplicable terror as he turned them on the impressive figure hanging in midair. Beside him he heard Nephrite's sharp intake of breath and Naru's whimper as they gazed at the man in stunned, perhaps even terrified silence.
Nephrite was the first to speak. "Who are you?" His voice was harsh.
The floating man laughed. He flipped his shoulder-length dark blue hair back with a toss of his head. "We've met before. Surely you remember?" Something in his tone said he knew better, and was just toying with them.
Nephrite glanced at Zoisite, who returned it with a shrug. "Indulge us," he suggested flatly to the levitating stranger.
The man smirked. "Very well. I am Linarite." He nodded to Nephrite. "Pleased to make your-ah, reaquaintance, Nephrite," Linarite's smirk turned to a leer. "Zoisite,"
Something about the way he said his name made Zoisite shiver. He hugged himself, unable to stop trembling. In an attempt to cover for this weakness, he growled "What are you here for? Who sent you?"
Nephrite suddenly leaned toward him. "He's wearing our uniform!" he hissed.
Zoisite gasped, realizing that Nephrite was right. The bastard was laughing again. Incensed, Zoisite shrieked "Just who in the BLOODY hells are you?!?!"
Linarite shook his ruefully. "It really is a pity you don't remember...but don't worry. I'll make up for the lost time." He cocked his head. "For now, suffice it to say that I am but Queen Beryl's humble servant... and you two have been summoned."
Zoisite and Nephrite exchanged glances. Zoisite shook his head and stood; Nephrite followed suit.
Zoisite knelt beside his lover's throne. "Kunzite," he whispered.
Hidden in shadows, Kunzite stared down at the younger man. "Zoisite," he acknowledged.
"Kunzite-sama, what do you know about this Linarite?"
Kunzite couldn't help but notice the tremble in the little sakura's voice. "Not nearly as much as I would like, Zoi-kun," he murmured.
Zoisite bowed his head. "He frightens me, Kunzite-sama. And I don't understand why."
Kunzite stroked his hair soothingly. "And it would be for the best if you never found out," he whispered, too low for Zoisite to hear.
Zoisite stood before the crystal-incased Jadeite, his hands pressed against it.' Oh, niisan, why did you have to screw up so badly?' He bit his lower lip, fighting tears.' I miss you more than you could possibly imagine. No one knows...'And there was no one to tell. Kunzite. He couldn't tell him. His lover wouldn't understand. 'He never really liked you anyway, Jadeite-niisan. He never understood...'
He leaned closer to the crystal, resting his forehead against it. He pressed his hands against the spot closest to Jadeite's. He closed his eyes, for the moment enjoying the solitude surrounding Jadeite's prison. It had been almost a month since Linarite had arrived, and things had been getting steadily worse. Beryl seemed to favor the blue-headed mystery-man almost as much as, if not more than, Kunzite. He was now in charge of searching for the ginzuishou, and so far had done a fine job of it, having collected five of the seven nijizuishou. But the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen had the other two, and Queen Beryl was of the opinion that they knew the identity of Serenity's brat. Zoisite found himself hoping they did, and that they destroyed Beryl and Linarite, leaving himself and Kunzite to live the rest of their lives in peace.
And Nephrite. Couldn't forget Nephrite.
Strangely enough, over the past month his hatred for Nephrite had diminished to almost nothing. It was like they had never been rivals, never tried to kill each other (and in Zoisite's case, almost succeeding, had it not been for the interference of a certain blue-haired King). It was...strange. But then, everything was strange, now.
A faint scuffing noise alerted Zoisite to the fact that he was no longer alone. He whirled to find Linarite leaning casually against the door. His body tensed uneasily at the sight of him. "What do you want?" he snarled.
Linarite gave him a nasty smile. "I've been waiting to get you in this position, Zoisite-kun.....well, something close to it, anyway." he leered.
Zoisite felt the first stirrings of fear inside him. "Wh-what do you want?"he hissed, his back pressing against the crystal.
Linarite didn't reply, instead walking in an inward spiraling circle around the crystal until he stood face-to-face with Zoisite. He reached over Zoisite's shoulder to stroke the crystal in the vicinity of Jadeite's face. This unnerved Zoisite greater than any of the King's actions so far. He tried to move away, only to be stopped by Linarite's other arm at his waist.
Linarite smiled, a mere baring of his teeth. "Where do you think you're going?" He pressed himself against the petite man, completely trapping Zoisite between himself and the crystal-incased Jadeite.
Panicking, he squirmed, lashing out with hands, feet, and knees. Linarite cursed and grabbed his arms, then thrust his knee into Zoisite's stomach. Zoisite groaned and sagged in Linarite's grasp, tears stinging his eyes. Linarite tossed him mercilessly to the ground, where he curled into a ball. Linarite stood over him, grimacing and shaking his head.
"You were so much easier to deal with as a child," he said.
Zoisite hissed. "You were around during the Silver Millennium?" His green eyes narrowed. "I don't remember you!"
"How little you know, child," Linarite laughed softly. "How little you know."
Zoisite shook his head, confused, angry, and hurt. "What do you want?" he demanded again.
Linarite knelt beside him, reaching out to stroke his hair. "I think you know what I want, Zoi-kun, " he murmured, then laughed as Zoisite jerked away from his hand. "I want you....I want to posses you. You belong to me."
Zoisite scrambled back, tried to get to his feet. Without rising Linarite grabbed Zoisite's ankle and jerked him back to him. "You're not going anywhere, sakura."
Zoisite, enraged, tried to summon an ice crystal. And failed. Tears leaking down his cheeks, he tried to summon his cherry blossoms. An energy ball. Anything.
Linarite watched him with obvious amusement. Suddenly, Zoisite could feel the energy around him, trapping him and preventing him from using his own. Trapping him with...Linarite.
Terrified, he opened his mouth to scream, but then Linarite was on top of him, crushing Zoisite's mouth with his. Zoisite bucked and twisted underneath him, desperately trying to get away. Linarite propped himself up on one elbow, frowning.
"You know, Zoisite, there are sooo many more colors that suit you better than gray...." he fingered the buttons on Zoisite's uniform. "You really ought to take this thing off..."
Gasping, Zoisite jerked away, than pulled back his arm and swung at Linarite as hard as he could. He hit the blue-haired man in the left eye. The shield surrounding them disappeared. Blind with rage, Zoisite flung himself at Linarite, hitting, clawing and kicking him as hard as he could.
The other King fell back, cursing loudly and trying to fight off the little man. Zoisite, without the shield blocking his power, conjured an ice crystal and positioned it above Linarite's chest with a psychotic grin. "Now you're going to pay for that," he told the man. He raised his arm, preparing to slam the crystal down into Linarite's chest with all the force he could muster. And was taken completely by surprise by the energy bolt that connected with his chest.
He flew back, landing hard and scraping his back on the rough stone floor. Then Linarite was on him again, his face contorted with rage. "Ch', you little bastard, I'm gonna make you pay for that," he snarled, bringing his fist hard against Zoisite's side. Then his stomach. His other side. And then each new pain blurred into the rest, until he could no longer tell new from old. Consciousness slipped away and Zoisite wondered if he was going to wake up.
Nephrite leaned back in the chair, stretching his long legs beneath the table on the patio of his mansion outside of Tokyo. Since Linarite's arrival, he had begun to spend most of his time away from the Dark Kingdom. In fact, he was hardly there at all now, unless Beryl summoned him. Which was not often.
Pouring himself another glass of wine, he got up and began pacing the long deck. He was restless, and not just because Beryl had given most assignments to Linarite. He had seen Naru only twice since the blue-haired man had arrived, and both times he had only been able to stay with her a few precious moments. And he wasn't the only one affected, either. Kunzite stuck close by Linarite, always watching for the mistake that would lose the man Beryl's favor. Zoisite, on the other hand, was rarely to be seen. He seemed to go out of his way to avoid notice. He wondered idly if Zoisite was as bothered by his lover's fall from Beryl's graces as Kunzite was.
He staightened, sitting rigidlly in the chair, mental "ear" open as he felt power manifest somewhere in the property surrounding his earthly home. Ahh... speak of the devil and he will appear, he thought. It was Zoisite. He finished off the rest of his wine in a single gulp and stood, facing the direction the little devil had arrived. But Zoisite didn't approach the mansion. Frowning, Nephrite leaped over the patio rail and onto the soft grass below. "Very well," he murmured to himself. "If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
He strode to the area where Zoisite had appeared with appearent leisure, wary of any traps the little man might have set. This is rediculous, he thought with exasperation. Zoisite couldn't have done anything in so little time. And what reason could he have for dredging up our old battle at this time? He shook his head, struck by a sudden, amusing thought. The small man had probably just seen a field mouse and fainted.
And then he found his fellow King.
Well, Zoisite was unconscious; slumped at the base of an old pine, his eyes were closed and his breathing shallow. But Nephrite seriously doubted any field mouse could do this much damage. As far as he could see, Zoisite was nothing more than a mass of bruises and dried blood. He knelt beside him, placing a hand against his throat. Zoisite's pulse was faint and erratic. He rocked back on his heels, considering; he could leave his rival here, possibly to die, or... Nephrite grunted resolutely, scooping Zoisite into his arms and standing. Saving Zoisite was surely worth the explanation for his condition. Not even the Sailor Senshi had ever been able to inflict this much damage.
. .
