Author's note: please, give me reviews! Here is the big reveal (some of you guessed it!) - the motivation behind this person's appearance will be revealed soon.

Chapter 24

A second later, a large fireball flew over Moon's head and landed right where their enemy had been standing with Venus in his arms. An explosion followed suit when it contacted the rooftop and debris flew everywhere. Moon's head shot up to see Mars panting, an angry expression gracing her face.

"Damn it!" she shrieked, kicking some debris away from her feet. She swiftly turned, surveyed the rooftop and found who she was looking for. She stomped over the rubble and seized Kunzite by his collar, roughly pulling him up, her emotions giving her the strength to handle him so. "Who was that?" she snarled into his face.

He barely acknowledged the fierce raven-haired senshi. He gazed over her shoulder where he'd watched his lover literally disappear before his eyes. "I've… no idea."

"Well, think harder – your head isn't filled with concrete, right? There is a brain in there somewhere! He said his identity is for you to figure out. You must have known him!" she said, growing steadily more hysterical. A frown was forming between Kunzite's eyebrows and when he didn't respond, Mars started shaking him. "Come on. We. Need. To. Get. Venus. Back!" she hissed.

Then realisation passed over his face as he looked down at Mars' fists that grasped his collar and her words sank in. He easily brushed her off and glared down at her. "Thank you for stating the obvious, Mars," he growled. He turned to Mercury who was already scanning the area. "Anything?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's like they were never here."

Jupiter was holding Moon up with an arm around her waist as she sagged into her side. Tuxedo Kamen had made his way over to the two senshi to look at what injuries she'd sustained.

"Hide and seek," Moon murmured, "he wants us to find him."

"Trap?" Zoicite questioned.

"Most likely but we need to know who he is first. He seemed really interested in Kunzite," Mercury mused. She turned to him. "Are you sure you don't know who he is?"

He shook his head. "I wish I knew."

"Let's head to the shrine and regroup there," Jupiter suggested.

Minako brought her hand to her head and winced. Her head was sore, and the ache and lump were there to prove it. She shifted her position and attempted to sit upright. She looked around herself, a little disorientated. She squinted. The air was odd. It had a strange orange glow to it and the scent was nothing she could remember coming across before on Earth. She looked down at herself to find that she was no longer in her senshi uniform. She wore a scoop-neck floor length dress in her customary Venus colours. She had a choker at her neck that tied in a ribbon at the back and the over skirt of her dress sat in frills that started from the waist and delicately fell in waves to the floor. She frowned. This was her princess attire. How did she get this? She looked around the spacious room that held very little in it.

"If you're wondering about your current state of dress, that was all you," a familiar deep voice interrupted her thoughts. "When we reached here, you lost your senshi suit and that thing appeared."

"Thing? You know what it is?" she asked, gesturing to the dress.

"Of course, I do," he replied flatly. "I could never forget it."

Minako made to open her mouth to ask further about his familiarity with her princess dress but he continued after a moment.

"I must say that I'm hurt that you haven't figured out who I am," he tutted. "After all the time we've been spending together, and you didn't notice once. Even your friends sensed it and one of them failed to have faith in her own precognition!"

She frowned and considered him once again as he came closer.

"I want to say it but I'm afraid it's true," she muttered under her breath.

"Afraid? Afraid! I don't understand why you senshi are always so afraid! I thought you were supposed to be protectors and guardians of the solar system, yet you're afraid." He shook his head. "You only have yourselves to blame, really."

"Danieru," she stated, noting his slender build, the way he held himself, the way his hair fell to one side above the deep, grey eyes.

"You're getting warmer," he said, rolling his eyes. "I wonder if your boy toy will do any better. That remains to be seen."

"Why am I here?" she asked, perching herself on the edge of her seat.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask the most basic question: where we are?" he stated, raising an eyebrow. Minako glared at him and he went on. "Officially, we're in Magellan Castle – that's certainly going to confuse the Mercury twit in any case." Minako's eyes widened, having realised why she thought the foggy atmosphere was familiar to her. "We aren't on Venus, if that's what you're going to ask me. We're actually in Death Valley." Minako frowned, unable to hide the alarm passing over her face. "Don't be so dramatic, Mina. Death Valley, California – the hottest place on the planet Earth. It seemed the best place. I'm most comfortable here. It's the closest I could get to Venus on this sad, blue planet."

"Why do you want to be on Venus?"

"Why?" he repeated, frowning. "I was born there."

Kunzite sat outside underneath the great tree that countless amounts of charms were tied to encourage good fortune. He thought about how useless he'd been in protecting Minako. She was a strong person – always had been. As the leader of the inner senshi of the solar system, she had this powerful air about her that he always admired. But he was reminded today that she was still just a girl, a girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. He glanced through the open doors in the shrine and noted the other girls, discussing strategy or means to get her back. He caught the eye of the other guys and they had the same expression on their respective faces. The girls were born with the world on their shoulders.

He looked out over the Juban district. Who was this person who took such an interest in Venus? It was clear that that's what grounded him. But why? He made it clear that Kunzite had crossed paths with him before. Possibly on Earth? If that's the case, then it can only be somebody that Minako has associated with. That leaves only a few possibilities but it's more than that.

He didn't know why but he thought about the people in Minako's life, rather than his. He thought about his life before his reincarnation. The possibilities were endless in this case. He pressed his fists against his eyes and meditated on his thoughts. Princess Venus was an unforgettable character and that brought a lot of attention. She certainly caught his attention. His head shot up. Of course!

Minako had told him about her experiences as Sailor V and her past had come back to bite her. They had a connection with the person involved in one of those experiences and it set her on her path to become Sailor Venus. That experience had broken her heart and it hardened her into the strong senshi that he knew her as today. Instant guilt came over him as he remembered the man that he knew during Minako's days as Sailor V. How could he have missed this?

"Back during the Silver Millennium, a lowly foot-soldier was posted to Venus. Later he was assigned to fight under Prince Endymion of Earth during the rise of Queen Metalia. When he was on Earth, he saw the Princess of Venus for the first time and fell in love with her, but this was an unrequited love for she had feelings for the leader of the Shitennou under the Earth Prince's command. Of course, it was an impossible love to pursue for him."

Minako sat frozen in her seat, listening to his story.

"We know how the story goes. Queen Serenity sealed away Queen Metalia and everyone was reborn on Earth. The Shitennou, like so many Earthlings, had allied themselves with the Dark Kingdom but they also were reborn. This lowly foot-soldier served under the leader of the Shitennou and he lead the Dark Agency under his command. He got close to a sailor senshi he had never encountered before. She reminded him so much of his lost love from the Silver Millennium that he became curious. Nevertheless, it didn't end well. It was his duty to the Dark Kingdom to kill her, despite that this senshi fell for him. She tried to save him from a deadly blow, but he'd done what he needed to do. The goddess of love was doomed in love, so he allowed himself to die by his own hand."

Minako gulped and slowly got to her feet.

"Danburite," she breathed.