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Zoisite
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Zeke Norling had always liked the cold. Being raised in Northern Europe did that to a person, although he had always suspected there was a deeper reason behind it. Not that he searched for one. Zeke was an enigma, he was a border-line genius, but was usually much too much going on to apply himself. He was not happy with his lot in life, but never did anything to change his fate. His mind was usually in the present, dealing with issues he or his family had, rather than trying to find out about some long dead dream.
Despite his name being Zakarias, everyone called him Zeke. As far as he knows, it was because of his older sister, who was three when he was born, could not pronounce 'Zakarias'. His mother died when he was two, she had been sick when pregnant with him and after giving birth, she never regained her strength.
Zeke doesn't remember his father being anything other than the withdrawn and emotionally neglectful man he had been, but his sister, Lillian, swears that he used to be different. When Ingrid, their mother died, it took a part of Kristoffer, their father, with her.
From a young age, Zeke knew he was different, and not just because of the dreams he had been getting since before he could remember. Zeke had always been an outgoing and jovial boy, but his humour was mostly used to cover his insecurities. He looked more like a girl and growing up, other boys often teased him for it. As he older he learned to embrace his androgynous looks, even growing out his hair and letting is natural exuberance shine. But while he was younger, his dark strawberry blond hair was kept short. He wore clothes that only suited boys, played boy sports and never did anything to give his bullies fuel.
His affinity for the cold possibly had something to do with the fact that he always ran hot, or with the fact that he was born and raised in Norway, but, truthfully, Zeke supposed it had everything to do with a blue haired woman he dreamt about. He could never quite recall her features while awake, but he knew she was strong and brave and smart. He knew her name was Moria, Princess of Mercury and that she controlled water in all forms. She was the very embodiment of kindness. He knew she had loved Zoisite, King of the North, Knight of Healing and Purity. Him.
As crazy as all it sounds, Zeke could not help but believe his dreams to be true. He and Lillian would sit for hours, and he would tell her of Elysion, the Golden Kingdom, whose heir, Prince Endymion, was madly in love with Serenity, the Lunarian Princess and the future ruler of the entire Silver Millennium. He told her of Beryl and Metaria and how they twisted his mind and the minds of his brothers, Jadeite, Nephrite and Kunzite.
Lillian was in love with the fairy tale like love of Serenity and Endymion. Zeke knew that his sister just thought he was really good at making up stories.
Every winter, when the fires in the houses were lit, Zeke would seek the outdoor. He would stay for hours in the snow, the ice reminding him of Moira. As he got older, and he learnt of his powers, Zeke would run a heated hand over the snow, melting it and filing the air with vapours.
He was thirteen when he first summoned a flame in the palm of his hand. His sister had walked in at that point and thought he was lighting himself on fire. She rushed him to the hospital and right to the emergency ward before he could tell her he was fine. Lillian had only just gotten her driver's licence a month before.
Because of their father's distance, Lillian had to take up many things around the house and as soon as Zeke was old enough, he tried to help as much as he could. Lillian would not allow him to risk his future or let him become disillusioned to the world. Too bad his sister never realised it was too late for that.
When Zeke was fifteen, he began to get jumpy. He could feel the darkness rising and he knew it would only be a matter of time until it came for him.
His sister thought that it was just pressure getting to him, since a few years earlier, Zeke had elected to skip a grade and he would be graduating at the end of the year. By the time he did graduate, a month after his sixteenth birthday, Zeke had descended into full blown paranoia. He was jumping at every noise, he never left the house. When he attacked Kristoffer one night in a fit, Lillian said it was enough and committed him to a short stay in a facility, for his own good.
If she didn't know that the ranting of the stories he told her as children were fake, she would wish them real, just so that her brother would not seem so mad. Going on about mythology and gemstones. She knew that all Zeke wanted to do in life was to help her and he wanted to help people, but the pressure of finishing school early and starting university, not to mention their troubling childhood. She blamed herself, for not shielding Zeke more.
Zeke had been in the facility for a few months, after the initial shock of his commitment wore off, he figured that he could be safe here. There were cameras and staff watching everything. He pushed Zoisite down, into the deepest, darkest pit of his mind, hoping that Beryl of Metaria would not be able to locate him. The regular medication also helped keep the memories at bay.
His sister visited once a week, always asking if he was all right. He had passed the mandatory commitment period months ago and had signed himself back in. Now, Zeke's stay was up to him, so long as he felt he was a danger to the world, he was keeping himself locked up. Even if a small part knew that there was only one place on Earth that would be safe from the Dark Kingdom, but he had no idea if Elysion even still existed.
While inside, Zeke wrote all he could remember of the Silver Millennium.
After almost a year, Zeke felt the futility of his stay. He felt the Dark Kingdom's approach and he knew it would happen tonight. He wrote a letter to his sister, posting his notes to her and asking her not to look for him when he goes missing, not top report him and just move on.
That night, after light's out, Beryl appeared.
Zeke did not move when she arrived, his back to her. He just simply looked down. "Beryl," he muttered. "How wonderful to see you again," he said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes to himself.
"Zoisite," she sneered. "Come with me, King of the North." It wasn't a question.
Zeke had no intention of going quietly, before Beryl finished her sentence, he had summoned a fireball and thrown it her way.
Beryl just side stepped it and disappeared. She appeared again, right in front of him, a dark purple aura crackling around him as Zeke felt his energy drain.
"You always did have an attitude," Beryl said, "Never listening to anyone other than Kunzite or Endymion." Zeke felt his eye lids get heavy. "I suppose it is fortunate that I have already collected your precious leader, Kunzite."
"No," Zeke whispered, as his consciousness waned. "Not again," he begged, the faces of his fellow Shitennou, Jadeite, Nephrite and Kunzite flash through his mind, followed by his Prince and Mercury. "Please, not again."
Zeke did not know how long he spent trapped in darkness, yelling until his lungs hurt. He felt the evils his Dark Kingdom self did. They echoed through his soul. Sometimes, images or voices reached him. He briefly saw himself attacking Sailors Mars, Jupiter and Mercury. Then he felt the overwhelming power of Sailor Moon as she healed all of Tokyo. He heard himself deliberating with Kunzite about the possibility of Sailor Moon having the Silver Crystal.
"Moon Twilight Flash," Sailor Moon yelled, but Zoisite just laughed.
He danced out of the attacks of Mars and Jupiter, all the while holding onto Sailor Moon, while she called for Tuxedo Kamen. For a spilt second before he was ripped apart by Sailor V's boomerang, he had clarity in his mind. Zoisite and Zeke were one, probably because he knew that he was going to die. His only regret wasn't the fact that he had been manipulated, again or that he never got to make up for his past misdeeds. No, it was that he never got to find Moria or Endymion and see them one last time⦠Though he was glad that Mercury had not been the one to kill him, like Mars had Jadeite and Jupiter had Nephrite.
But, of course he would see Endymion again. It was his duty as one of the Shitennou to be there for his master, even if his physical body was no longer available.
Years passed, and Zeke's soul dwelled inside a Zoisite crystal, appearing only when Mamoru called on them. While it was not how Zeke had imagined his life, he learnt to deal with it, as he had with every other obstacle he had faced so far.
Until he and his brothers were offered a second chance, anyway.
Zeke woke up in a grassy yard, the bright sun beating down on him. He heard a familiar voice calling his name.
"Zeke, Zeke." She would say, "Zakarias, is it really you?"
A shadow loomed over him and blocked out the sun's glare. Zeke's eyes fluttered.
"Lilly," he muttered.
"Oh, you're home," his sister cried, jumping on him and hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you," Lillian said over and over. "It was all true, they showed me the video of the night you went missing. And I've seen things these last few years. And now you just appear out of thin air after four years. Where have you been?"
Zeke could not answer, he was just happy to see his sister again. Plus he could not remember anything from the last four years, but he knew that it had to do with his past life.
It was easy for Zeke to fit back into his old life. Easy for him to ignore the feeling that there was something out there for him.
He stayed with his sister, their father now dead. Lillian was getting married, so Zeke ignored the yearning he had, pushed it aside, to stay with his sister. Six months after his sister married, she told him he was to be an uncle and when his nephew was just eight months old, Zeke decided that he would get on with his life, when he saw that his sister no longer needed him. With all this happening, Zeke found it almost easy to forget that there was something he was meant to do and his time limit was running out.
Two years after Zeke's reappearance, he decided that he was going to get his life back on track. His married sister, brother-in-law, Jorg and nephew, Erik, moved to Denmark, where Jorg is from and Zeke received a letter that he had been accepted to the University of Zurich, a place he had always wanted to go and had been accepted into years ago, but had never had the chance.
He farewelled his sister tearfully, as she told him she was proud and that it was time 'Zeke did something for Zeke!'
Zeke flew through his first year and was wondering what to do with his first summer holidays when he saw her. She was coming out of an on campus library, her head bowed and going through her bag, a phone at her ear, resting on her shoulder speaking in Japanese. He heard her say names like 'Usagi-chan' and 'Mamoru-kun' and both struck him as familiar.
Zeke recognised her immediately, from her short, blue hair to her sparkling eyes, hidden behind large, wire-frame glasses.
He was shocked, even though he had ignored the calling three years ago, the calling had found him.
"Moria!" He called out, before he could stop himself. "Moria," he felt his legs move on their own and before he knew it he was standing in front of her.
Her eyes were opened wide, almost comically.
She said something in Japanese into the phone, quickly, before hanging up. She opened her mouth several times, the words stuck in her throat, then gave up looked as if she did not know if she wanted to smile or cry.
"Zoisite?" She whispered, reaching a hand out, as if to see if he is really there.
"Mercury," he whispers back, with a smile, taking her hand from mid-air and placing it on his check. He wanted to show her he was real.
"You're here," she said in fluent, if accented, English, "I can't believe you're here. I didn't know you go here. When did you start going here?"
"Last year," he told her, leading her to a bench. "What's your name, my little Naiad? I don't think I can call you Moria anymore."
"Ami Mizuno, and you, Zoisite? What's your name?"
"Zakarias Norling, but you can call me Zeke." He held out his hand as if to shake. She placed her impossibly small one in his and it just fit. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ami?" He kissed her knuckles and got lost in the sparkling blue of her eyes. "Say, do you want to get a coffee with me?"
Ami just smiled, "So long as you come to a wedding with me this summer, in Japan. I know some people who are dying to see you."
"I'd love to."
Zoisite is in the bag. Just good ol' Kunzy left. (Don't tell him I called him that, it's probably Minako's special nickname for him, haha.)
I'm also thinking I'll do a chapter of the Senshi's thought's when they are reunited. Maybe? Who knows?
FYI, the University of Zurich is where Albert Einstein went for a few years to get his Ph.D, I figured that Ami would like that.
Leave a review and let me know what you think.
