Mercury was drawn down the hall by what sounded like a fight, but she was completely stunned by what she saw. It wasn't just any two men fighting, it was Nephrite and Kunzite.

Venus and Jupiter were also present, and they yelled at them to stop, but understandably they weren't ready just yet to try and separate them physically. Mercury knew that the two Tennou didn't get along so well, but this was completely out of the ordinary for both of them.

"What's going on?" the blue haired Senshi asked her friends, concerned for the two men. She didn't want them to hurt each other.

"We just got here, same as you," Jupiter replied, "but I think you might be able to get them to stop."

"Me? Why me?"

"Just try."

Mercury was confused, and Venus looked at Jupiter with a similar expression. Looking back at the two men, Mercury could see that this wasn't going to end any time soon. "Both of you, stop it!" she yelled, hoping that they could hear her.

Neither of the Tennou responded and Mercury looked over at Jupiter once more. The Senshi of Thunder urged her to try again.

"Kunzite! Nephrite! Stop this!"

That got Kunzite's attention at least. He paused and looked over at Mercury. Unfortunately, Nephrite did not respond in like and got a good shot in at Kunzite's jaw. Kunzite grunted and slammed into the wall.

"Kunzite!" Mercury yelled, this time running forward to help the man. She looked back at Nephrite, who had also stopped now that Mercury was between the two of them. She turned back to Kunzite and saw that his lower lip was swollen and bloody.

"I'm fine," he insisted, pushing Mercury away from him gently.

"You should get that treated," she said, knowing full well that he wasn't going to take her advice.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Kunzite asked Nephrite, who seemed to be frozen in place.

Nephrite looked from Mercury to Kunzite and back again. "You mean... he didn't..."

"What happened, Nephrite?" Mercury asked, but she wasn't allowed enough time for a response.

Mars and the Princess came running forward. The pair looked the group over quickly with some curiosity, but got down to business quickly. "King Endymion is in danger," she said.

"What?" Kunzite asked, immediately focused on Mars.

"It's this girl, Amaya, she was with Jadeite, she's..."

Mars wasn't even able to finish her sentence before Kunzite bolted in the direction of the throne room. The rest of the group followed, and Mercury tried to get as much information out of Mars as she could before they got there. "What's happening?"

"I'm not really sure, but this girl is dangerous. The flames told me she is linked to Beryl."

That couldn't be good. Kunzite reached the throne room ahead of everyone and burst in before waiting. Mercury thought that it might be best to pause for a moment and get some kind of plan together, but there was no helping that now.

"Princess, you shouldn't go back in there," Mars said.

"I am not leaving Endymion!" she almost screamed.

"Princess, it will probably be dangerous," Mercury tried to explain.

"I don't care, I am going in there."

They didn't really have time to argue. Kunzite and Nephrite were already in there, and Mercury wanted to help them. "Just stay back, Princess, we can't let you get caught up in this."

The five girls entered together, with Princess Serenity taking up the rear. Mercury made sure that she stayed close to her.


Endymion breathed a sigh of relief when his two remaining Tennou entered the room. Zoisite was down, though thankfully alive. He continued to try and force himself to stand, but he hardly had the strength.

Jadeite was currently standing beside him, and had one of his daggers to Endymion's throat. He didn't sense any real danger, but he didn't move just in case. If Amaya, or rather Mio, wanted him as a husband, he wasn't much use to her if he was dead.

"Throw down your weapons!" Mio shouted at the Tennou, using Endymion as a hostage. "If I can't have him, no one will."

OK, so maybe there was some danger. "Don't listen to her!" Endymion yelled at Kunzite and Nephrite from across the room.

"Jadeite! What are you doing?" Kunzite yelled.

Of course, the youngest Tennou didn't reply. Endymion knew that he was being controlled, but Kunzite and Nephrite would not.

"Jadeite has proven to be quite useful," Mio explained, "he was easier to control that I expected. Now, drop you weapons."

Kunzite and Nephrite glanced at each other once before dropping their swords and kicking them out of reach.

"Good," Mio smiled, "now, the three of us are going to walk right out that door, and no one else is going to get in our way, right?"

It was then that Endymion spotted Serenity. She had entered with the Senshi and had been hiding behind them. Damn it, why hadn't they kept her from here? The last thing he wanted was to see her get hurt.

"Stop, please!" Serenity yelled. The Senshi tried to hold her from walking forward. "Why are you doing this?"

Mio laughed. "Oh, it's nothing personal Princess, I just happen to have a thing for your fiance. Not to mention being Queen of Earth." She motioned with her hand, and Endymion felt a push against his back and Jadeite forced him to move forward slowly. The dagger never left his throat, and while Endymion wouldn't have been against trying to free himself, he just couldn't bring himself to hurt Jadeite.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!"

Endymion flinched when Venus' attack came flying towards them. It had been aimed at Jadeite, but just like with Zoisite's attack, Jadeite managed to stop it in mid-air and fling it back at the Senshi.

Venus screamed as she was hit with her own blast, knocking her to the floor.

"There has been quite enough of that," Mio commented, moving to stand closer to Endymion and Jadeite. "Princess, order your Senshi to stand down if you don't want to see Endymion hurt."

All eyes were on Serenity then. "I..."

"There is no attack that anyone in this room can create that Jadeite will not be able to block. You'll only end up hurting yourselves."

"Serenity! Get out of here!" Endymion yelled. "You shouldn't be here!"

"I am not letting you go, Endymion!"


Mars had slowly started inching herself around the side of the room. Venus' attack had given her enough of a distraction to get far enough around that she was to Amaya's side. Attacking Jadeite was useless, that had been proven, but Jadeite was not the real enemy.

Carefully, Mars readied one of her o-fuda. She would only have one shot at this, so she had to make it good, and before her Princess ordered her to stand down.

Amaya took a step forward and continued to taunt the Princess. The angle was perfect now.

"Akuryou Taisan!"

The o-fuda flew straight, but Mars was not expecting Jadeite to react so quickly. He left Endymion's side and jumped in front of the scroll, stopping it as he had stopped everything else. It disintegrated in his hand. Mars could only stare in shock.

"That's my boy," Amaya praised him as he returned to holding Endymion, who had not attempted any escape. Earth men are idiots. "Now, does anyone else want to take us on, or are we free to leave yet? I assure you that I will kill him if you do not stand aside."

Jupiter and Mercury looked to each other and the Princess. They were the ones closest to the door, but it didn't look like they planned to move any time soon.

Nephrite and Kunzite stood on opposite sides of that trio. They would probably mount a physical attack once Jadeite was close enough.

Venus was back on her feet at this point, but looked uncertain. It wasn't the Senshi's job to protect the Earth's King.

Zoisite was still down, but he seemed to be gaining strength again. He had managed to push himself up on his knees, but was in no shape to be readying an attack.

"Stand aside," Amaya ordered again. Still, Jupiter and Mercury held their ground, albeit a bit more determined this time. Mars wasn't sure how good of an idea that was, but she didn't have anything better.

Amaya looked over her shoulder, "Jadeite," she said simply, giving an unspoken order.

Jadeite's hand moved. The dagger he had been holding to Endymion's throat moved away and was flipped up in the air. He caught in again expertly, and then slashed a warning across Endymion's left arm. Endymion cried out in pain and surprise and Jadeite's weapon returned to the king's throat.

"I didn't want to hurt him, but you gave me little choice," Amaya said.

"No!" Serenity screamed, once again trying to run to Endymion's side. Mercury and Jupiter held her. "Don't hurt him!"

"Then move out of my way!" Amaya shouted back at her.

"I won't let you hurt him..." Serenity said, her voice taking on a darker quality. Mars stared at her. She had never heard the Princess speak like this before.

A bright light engulfed the Princess then. Bright enough the Mercury and Jupiter had to release her in order to block the light from their eyes. Mars covered her own eyes as well, but trying to see as best as she could.

The Princess had changed somehow. Mars couldn't see the details, but it looked like she wore a sailor fuku now, as well, her hair had changed in style and colour. It was difficult to see in detail as the white light was so intense.

"Get away from him!" The Princess yelled again, but her tone was so foreign that Mars didn't think it could really be her Princess speaking.

Everyone in the room, including Amaya and Endymion were staring at her in shock. The Princess raised her arm, and Mars could have sworn that she now held a short sword as well. What was going on?

In a panic, Amaya launched an attack of her own directed at the Princess. None of the Senshi were ready for it, but apparently the Princess was. Swinging her weapon in the shape of a pentagram, she was able to hold the energy and then directed it back at Amaya.

It struck home, or at least Mars thought it did. Amaya screamed and then disappeared.


Slowly the world came into focus for Jadeite. The first thing he noticed was a bright light in front of him slowly fading. He looked around and saw that he was in the throne room. Hadn't he just been in his chambers with Amaya?

Next, he noticed that he was standing beside the Master, and was holding his dagger to his throat. He immediately dropped the weapon and it clanged noisily on the floor. "What... what was I..." he backed away from the Master slowly and then noticed the blood on his king's sleeve. Slowly his eyes fell down to his blade once again and saw that it was indeed stained with his own Master's blood.

His knees gave out from under him and Jadeite collapsed to the floor. He was finding it difficult to breath as realization began to set in. He didn't know how he got here, but he had hurt his own Master, had held him at knife point. How could he do such a thing?

He was aware of several people standing over him then. Kunzite kicked the discarded weapon out of his reach and then grabbed the second one he wore on his belt. Jadeite didn't fight him, he knew what Kunzite was doing.

"He's fine now, Kunzite," Jadeite heard the Master say above him. Jadeite kept his eyes focused on the ground, too shocked to do or say anything.

"I'm not taking any chances."

"Master, are you alright?" Zoisite's voice asked, his slow footsteps approaching the group now as well.

"I'm fine, and you?"

"Getting better."

Had he done something to Zoisite as well? Jadeite couldn't bring himself to look up at him.

The white clad Tennou knelt down beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Jadeite, do you know where you are?"

Jadeite nodded.

"Do you know what just happened?"

Again, Jadeite nodded.

"You remember?"

This time he shook his head. There was a pause while the quartet around him contemplated what to do next. "Talk him to his chambers for now, we'll decide what to do with him after," came Kunzite's order.

Jadeite felt his stomach knot, he knew what this meant. The Master gave a short protest, but seemed to resign quickly. Jadeite swallowed difficultly as Zoisite's tried to pull him to his feet. Jadeite was still quite shaky and the two of them would have fallen back to the floor again if Nephrite hadn't caught his other arm.

"I'll take him," Nephrite offered, "you're still weak."

"I'll be fine," Zoisite protested. "I want to speak to him."

"I'll go with you," an out-of-place female voice offered. Jadeite caught sight of an orange fuku out of the corner of his eye. Venus?

She took Jadeite's other arm from Nephrite and wrapped it over her own shoulders.

"You don't have to," Zoisite protested.

"I want to help you," Venus replied, "you were hurt the most."

Jadeite flinched at the comment. He didn't know how, but he just knew that Zoisite's injuries were his doing as well. How could he have hurt those closest to him?

"Jadeite, can you walk?"

Again, Jadeite silently nodded, and the trio moved slowly out of the throne room and down the hall.

He knew what punishment his actions would give him, and even though he had never feared death, Jadeite was scared none-the-less. He wanted to know what had lead to him committing such an act before he faced the consequences of it. The last thing he remembered was being in his room with Amaya. Amaya... Where was she?

Zoisite opened the door when they reached it, and Jadeite was brought to the sofa. Zoisite sat beside him, and sounded rather winded from the journey.

"Can I get you anything?" Venus asked.

"Perhaps a glass of water for him," Zoisite replied and Venus left the room.

Slowly, Jadeite looked around the room. Amaya wasn't here. He knew that Zoisite wouldn't want him to ask, but what did it matter now? "Where's Amaya?" he asked quietly.

A slight pause before Zoisite answered, "Jadeite, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I was here, with her. I had just gone off duty."

"And then you woke up in the throne room?"

Jadeite nodded.

Sailor Venus returned and offered Jadeite the glass. He took it and managed to look up at her face briefly. She looked concerned for him, and so he looked away. Why should they be concerned for him after the things he did?

"Amaya's gone,' Zoisite finally replied.

Gone? Jadeite could feel panic building inside him. "Where is she?" he asked again, this time his voice sounded more urgent.

"Jadeite, I need you to think back. When the two of you were together were there ever times when you would-"

"Where is she?" Jadeite repeated his question, but this time his voice had risen. He turned in his seat and looked directly at Zoisite. "Did you do something to her? Is she hurt? Was she arrested as well? Where is she!?"

Despite his outburst, Zoisite's expression didn't change. "She's been using you, Jadeite. She's a witch, like Beryl."

The older Tennou reached out his hand and rested it on Jadeite's arm, but Jadeite slapped it away. "No, she's not. She's..."

"Over the past couple of weeks, she's been gradually putting you under a spell. Where there times when you were together that you have trouble remembering? Perhaps like earlier today when we found you in the hall together?"

Jadeite could haven't sworn that his heart had stopped for a few seconds. Those words she would whisper to him that made the world go all fuzzy. But no... she loved him and he loved her, she wouldn't...

"I need to know what she did to you."

It hurt, it hurt so much. Jadeite could feel the tears falling down his face, but did nothing to stop them. She was supposed to have loved him... she said that she loved him. When they were together, it was like there was no one else in the world. When they made love, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever experienced.

"She wouldn't do anything like that!" Jadeite screamed. "She wouldn't..."

Zoisite said nothing, but tried to comfort Jadeite again. He replaced his hand on Jadeite arm and offered him a handkerchief. Jadeite snatched the cloth and whipped his eyes, but they were damp again within seconds.

"What she did to you was cruel," Venus said quietly from her seat nearby. "She mistreated you, used your emotions against you. Love is a very powerful emotion that shouldn't be used in such a way."

Amaya wouldn't do those things, would she?

"Would you like some time alone?" Zoisite asked.

In truth, Jadeite was scared to be alone right now. He shook his head in the negative. Anything would be better than being alone, even Zoisite yelling at him for being with Amaya.

"I need to go and see the Princess," Venus said quietly. "You'll be alright with him?"

Zoisite nodded and Venus took her leave. "Be strong," she said on her way out. "You'll get through this."

With the Senshi gone, Jadeite felt a bit more relaxed. He continued to cry, he just couldn't stop himself from doing that. He must look so pathetic to Zoisite right now.

"What did I do?" Jadeite asked after a long silence.

"I don't know if that's the best thing to talk about right now."

"Please, I need to know."

Zoisite nodded and sat quietly for a moment. "In truth, I don't know everything. We'll be meeting later tonight to go over everything that has happened. I was in the throne room with the Master when he finished his business for the day. Mars came in and told us what I had already begun to suspect, that Amaya was dangerous.

"She came into the room then with you following behind her. Your eyes were... dark, dim. I could tell that you weren't in control of your own actions. When I stood between the Master and you, she ordered you to attack me. She had given you power, Metalia's power, and you had no trouble getting passed me.

"Amaya, or rather Mio, had you hold the Master. She intended to leave the palace with him. The others tried to attack you, but you were able to deflect their attacks without the slightest difficulty.

"Something happened with the Princess then that I don't even understand. Somehow she was able to defeat Mio. I don't know if she was killed or simply teleported away."

Jadeite hoped that it was the latter. "The Master's arm. I cut it, didn't I?"

"Under Mio's spell, yes."

Jadeite brought his feet up and wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face in his knees. Zoisite stroked his arm, and Jadeite had to admit that the comfort was appreciated. "I'm going to be... punished, aren't I? I attacked the Master."

"No," Zoisite said softly, "you won't be."

His response confused Jadeite, as Jadeite was well versed in the laws, particularly those that apply to the Shitennou or anyone who would attack the king. "But I..."

"Your actions were not your own doing, Jadeite. You won't be blamed for them."

"Kunzite took my weapons and said that I'm not to leave my chambers."

"It's only a precaution, until we know what kind of spell Mio had you under."

"Mio?"

"It's Amaya's real name."

"But she doesn't remember her real name."

Zoisite sighed. "She's been lying to you, to everyone, from the beginning. We're going to investigate and see what we can learn about her."

Jadeite peaked over his knees at Zoisite. He felt a bit of relief when he saw that Zoisite wasn't angry with him and knowing that he wasn't going to be executed was also comforting. "What happens now?"

"We're going to try and piece together what happened and what we know about Mio. Anything that you can remember or tell us about her or your relationship would be helpful. I need to go and talk to Kunzite, I'll come back a bit later."

Zoisite began to stand, but Jadeite reached out before he had a chance and wrapped his arms around Zoisite. "Wait, please! I don't want to be alone."

Zoisite looked down at him, confused and concerned. When he finally did return the gesture, and gave Jadeite a gentle squeeze, Jadeite was surprised by just how much better he felt.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Zoisite promised. "But I have to take care of some things."

Jadeite nodded and slowly released Zoisite. He didn't understand why the idea of being alone frightened him so much, but as he watched Zoisite walk out of the room, the emptiness Jadeite felt in the room told him for certain that Amaya wasn't going to be coming back.