Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!
Zoisite stood in his room at D Point and ran his fingers through his hair. Darien almost didn't let him return for the remainder of the week. When he arrived at Amy's place, he had been livid.
It was safe to say he would not be overwhelmingly infecting himself.
Amy had laughed her ass off as Darien lit into him and his "bone-headed, dumb-ass, half-baked plan," at least that was what Darien called his idea. It amused him that that was a phrase Endymion used when he didn't like an idea, and he was angry.
Kunzite showed up hot on Darien's heels and nodded along with everything Darien said.
Kunzite as a Dark General was a cruel son-of-a-bitch, but now that he was back to himself, his worry was for Darien first and then his men. "You can't go back," he said calmly after Darien stopped yelling.
"It's King Elis. He's a huge problem."
"Yes, but why would weakening us make that better? He will still be there whether you go or not."
"But I could delay -"
Kunzite interrupted, "If she's going to bother with him, she won't keep him on the back burner once he's there. You won't delay anything. You remember his twisted sexual preferences. Who knows, she might enjoy them, but if she's willing to put up with him, I don't think she'll have him there and not use him. Do you really like the idea of her using you to work with him?"
Zoisite shuddered at that gross thought, "No. But I want to serve Darien."
"Use your wits instead. Outthink her and see if she can get you to tell you who controls the Golden Crystal. If he's there, it might be his now and not Endymion's."
"Crap!" Zoisite nodded, "I can try to find that out for you."
Kunzite placed his hand on his shoulder, "Thank you. I can't believe you're willing to go back to that horrible place. She's vile. At least we know she has Metalia."
"What?" Zoisite asked in shock. "Who's that?"
"Metalia, the power behind Beryl. It really wants the Silver Crystal and its energy."
Darien gave Zoisite a smug smile, "See, knowing the name doesn't help after all."
"I see what you mean."
He sighed out in frustration, "I better get back. She's pretending to be confident, but she's down to two generals. That has to have shaken her, especially if she's worried we'll start asking questions over what happened with Kunzite."
Now Zoisite stood there with the nausea-inducing feeling of the dark energy reinfecting him. In a small amount. He would always obey Darien.
He stiffened his spine and went to discover who now controlled the Golden Crystal.
After Zoisite left, Amy smiled at Darien, "Thank you. I knew you'd stop that stupid idea."
Kunzite chuckled, "You're never one to waste time on getting angry over something that you knew would be put to a stop. Since he's not reckless like Jadeite, we don't have to worry about him overdosing on Dark Energy now."
He sighed sadly, "Man, it sucks that he's dead." He was obviously struggling with his heartbreak over that.
"We don't think he's dead. We think he's trapped in a jadeite stone. I have it at my place," Darien said. "We verified that he'd been cleansed of dark energy. We just don't know how to get him out of the stone."
"Serena, Raye, and Amy have been trying to think of something, but they've come up blank."
Kunzite raised one eyebrow and smirked, "Did you try ordering him, Darien? We all have a strong sense of duty to you."
"Could it really be that easy?"
"Does it hurt to try?"
"It most certainly doesn't."
Nephrite sat in his room, confused over what had just happened. Zoisite was acting strange, and it was like a switch flipped in Kunzite. Sailor Venus claimed to love him, and then… he couldn't put his finger on what happened. He'd been distracted by trying to kill the sailor scout.
Then there was Zoisite. Why was he being nice suddenly? Before he'd always been…. Hmm. He'd always been quiet.
He thought about it, and he hadn't been cruel. He'd always just been there waiting and watching. He came and went as he pleased and said very little to him.
He didn't know what to make about that. Everything was confusing. And now Elis was coming. He didn't know why that name made him feel uncomfortable. Like the man was…he didn't know.
Damn. It was time to look for answers. He just didn't know where to look.
What he did know was that Beryl was pleased with him for now. He needed to capitalize on that and make another move.
He thought about Sailor Venus's words of love. He could kill two birds with one stone. He would look into what that had to do with what happened to Kunzite, and he would use the power of love to gather energy.
It was time to go looking at wedding dresses. What symbolizes love more than they do?
Darien sighed. It had been a long day. It all started out with a lecture, progressed to a test next, and then the Negaverse got involved in his day, and it got way more complicated.
Serena was sitting on their couch holding Mina's hand happily, and Kunzite had his arm around Mina possessively.
It had been a shock to him to find out they had been having public sex after the battles. He put that aside for now. He was tired, and his brain was focusing on odd things.
Kunzite held the jadeite stone in his free hand. He studied it and said, "Well, give it a shot."
"Where will he live?" Darien asked, needing practical information. "Right now, he lives in my nightstand drawer."
Kunzite chuckled at that thought, but Serena answered him. "With Lita and Molly. Amy's room is empty."
Darien snorted, "Rick's going to hate that, but okay."
"Molly wouldn't ever cheat on him!" Serena objected.
"No, she wouldn't. I just have a feeling he'd prefer to be the first man she lives with."
Mina shrugged, "He'll get over it. After the talking cats, he should be able to live with a lot."
"Touché."
Darien nodded at Kunzite, who tossed the stone onto the floor.
"Well, here goes." He then took a deep breath and said, "General Jadeite. This is your prince, and I command you to come out of your stone and bow before me."
Darien's eyes bulged wide when he saw Jadeite bowing before him.
"Well, I guess it's really that easy," Serena whispered out in shock. "I guess I better call Raye."