Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta. I'm so excited to work on this story with you.
*Ofuda A type of talisman or amulet issued by a Shinto shrine.
Zoisite cringed as he reinfected himself with dark energy. It made his skin crawl as it seeped through his veins. He wanted to claw at his skin and try to dig it back out violently, but he refrained. He had to make an appearance in front of Beryl and the other generals. He had spent enough time away that he would be missed soon. He couldn't let them become suspicious.
Right now, he was already looking forward to when his appearance was over, and he could use the Ofuda* he had gotten from a shine to cleanse the dark energy from him, removing the sickening taint.
He'd begun to realize he was tainted with dark energy when he viewed Jadeite's first battle with the Sailor Scouts. Sailor Mercury stirred something deep inside of him, and there was an odd sensation gnawing at him that she was important and that something was wrong. He went back to D point and immediately ran scans on himself and searched his computer for facts. He spent five long days with very little sleep researching everything then coming up with a plan.
He was pissed when he first realized that he was evil. Not only that, it was all done against his will - again. He kept up pretenses around the others to not let on what was happening. When Sailor Mars exorcised Jadeite, he grieved in silence. He then started researching what it meant that there was a jadeite stone left behind. He believed it still held the essence of Jadeite. He really hoped he was right. He then decided he had to trust Endymion and Serenity to make things right. That was all that was helping him hold on right now.
He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed in frustration. He wanted to be away from D point and Beryl. He hated living there, but he was pragmatic too. He felt he had to keep an eye on things. That was how he discovered that the generals weren't really serving Beryl. She was just another pawn; there was a bigger evil that they were serving. He just didn't know its name yet. He stayed, biding his time and waiting to find out more.
Looking Beryl in the eyes and pretending to serve her sickened him. He remembered her. He remembered her desire to be queen.
It had been a sickening revelation when they discovered that King Elis, Endymion's father, was sleeping with her and trying to set her up to be Endymion's wife. He realized that the king wanted his child growing inside of her and becoming Endymion's heir. Everyone knew he was disappointed that Endymion hadn't turned out to be a monster like him. Apparently, he was taking his next shot "righting" that.
Beryl didn't care who screwed her as long as she had power. She initially tried to marry Elis, but she was okay with trading him for his son. She didn't care about them, only what they could give her. She easily went to the king's bed night after night. He had a lusty sexual appetite, and she was fine with keeping him well satisfied. After all, he gave her jewels and promised to make her royalty. She knew he wanted her to control his son, and she was more than happy to do just that.
What neither of them counted on was Serenity. As they screwed in the darkness, Endymion had found his light. From the moment he met her, she held all the power over him and could get him to do anything she wanted. Of course, she never abused that power. Well...other than the time she got him to give in and take her virginity. Zoisite mused that Endymion really didn't seem to mind losing the battle of wills on that subject. He seemed pretty satisfied with giving in. Other than that one time, she didn't wield the power she had over him, and that, more than anything, made all the generals adore her.
The king was furious when he discovered that Endymion had married Serenity in a ritual on the moon. Beryl was incensed. What they hadn't realized at the time was that she hadn't given up. She discovered a way to infect herself with a dark energy force and used it on others. They hadn't figured it out until it was too late. And apparently, she had that power again.
Now what he wanted most was to serve Endymion and to have Sailor Mercury back. Those two things were helping him hang on, helping him keep reinfecting himself with dark energy to keep up appearances. Beryl would know instantly if he was cleansed of the darkness if she saw him. So he infected himself like a cloak of protection. He was just careful to keep the amount of dark energy infecting him low. He couldn't risk being overwhelmed by it and succumb to its power.
He didn't have a fallback plan. He had to erase all his research in order to cover his tracks and keep his discovery a secret. If he were overwhelmed with darkness, he wouldn't have anything to point the way back to the light. Well, other than his beloved Sailor Mercury.
He stood and walked out of his room and to the throne room that Beryl seemed to constantly reside in. It was time to put on an evil face and play his part. His soul was riding on his performance.