Total Eclipse: Minako's Story

Special Edition Dark Kingdom Interlude

By: Zellie

"Tonight Darkness will shadow the Light -

Symmetry divine, there's no force greater

Dividing the Fathers of Time

Tonight Darkness will shadow the Light -

Paradise denied - the balance of ages

forever lost in time" -Fallen by Symphony X

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was late, I knew. But in a place with darkness eternal, who was to say it wasn't early? I awoke to a feeling. The knowledge that there was something else in the darkness must have roused me from my uneasy slumber. My body was stiff, and I was still finding it hard to breathe.

"Oh, is little Mia sore?" A malicious voice in the darkness called to me. I jumped, pulling the sheet around me closely. "Oh, don't worry darling, You know me. There's nothing to be afraid of." I swallowed. I searched the darkness, but could not decipher anything in the pitch black.

"Who are you?" I asked. My voice broke. I could hear him moving. He shifted from his position to a different one.

"Come now, Minako. Think. Think really hard. You know me, you know me well." His voice was coming closer. I closed my eyes. There was suddenly a light pressure on my leg. I opened my eyes again. Cold, negative energy filtered through the air towards me.

"A-Ace?" I questioned.

"Exactly." The voice hissed. He lit a candle. I clutched the sheets as the light flared suddenly. I shielded my eyes from the light and sucked in a breath. Ace leaned in close to me. "I'm not surprised that Beryl had such an interest in you." He said slowly. "But I am surprised that you felt comfortable enough to sleep nude." He touched my arm.

"Please don't do this..." I begged. I shivered under his touch. The negative energy hurt. It raced along my skin. "Ace, please. Let me go...help me get out of here." He pouted.

"Why?" He stood up. Taking the candle with him. "So you can go back to him? So that you can become his slave?" He set the candle down on a dresser. "I'm saving you, Minako. Just think of it. You can have eternity with me! I'm the one who knew you. The one who longed for you. I told him about you. My "brother." Long nights we were up talking, my thoughts were always on you." His dark words scared me. "But you chose him. That arrogant fool. He thinks you'll always come running back to him. But what if you get a taste of something better?" He stood above me now. I looked at him, the fear showing through in my eyes. A drop of wax slid off the candle and fell on my arm.

"Ow!" I jumped as the hot wax landed on my skin. Ace bent down and kissed my arm where the wax had been. I tried to draw my arm back.

"Don't..." He whispered as he took a hold of my arm, and held it close to his lips. His breath on my arm made me shiver. He sighed softy. "You don't know how I've dreamed of this..." He let go of me and stood up and began lighting other candles around the room. When they were all lit, the room was still dim, but it was better than before.

He was wearing a robe, I knew once the light penetrated the darkness. The flickering light played shadows against his hair and features. But I still couldn't get over the darkness in his eyes. He was once so carefree and happy, but now it was all changed. He picked up my dress.

"It's a nice gown. Fine material." He fingered the skirt. His eyes drifted towards me. I sunk farther down into the bed. I wanted to make sure that he knew nothing of me. He sighed. "Why is it I was the one cursed. I wanted to be the one to hold you. To hear the rustles of your skirts, to feel the soft materials on the contours of your body. Yet here I am, trapped in this barren land, while he has you all to yourself."

"One would think you've been consumed by jealousy." I said mustering up courage.

"You don't know the half of it, darling." He cupped my chin in his hand. Then he leaned down and kissed me passionately. I tried to pull away from him, but he held me tight. The kiss seemed to last a long while. When he finally broke it off, we were both panting from lack of air. He turned away suddenly. I brushed my lips and tried to regain my breath.

"Don't ever do that again." I said finally. He turned on me, his eyes flashing.

"You're in my domain now, Minako. You'll do as I say, not the other way around." He grabbed the sheet and yanked it away from me. I drew my knees up to my chest to cover my self.

"You're mad!" I cried.

"Yes, Minako, and you're mine. Beryl let me have you, at least for the night if not for more." I shivered. The thought of him controlling me was to much for me to bear.

"I'll never let you have me." I said defiantly. "No one owns me, Adonis."

"I'm being gentle with you, girl." He snarled. He pulled me up from the bed and threw me to the ground. "You're lucky your little hero was there this morning, or you would have been here a lot sooner." He stood above me. I looked up at him. Pain spread through my body as the shock of my sudden contact with the ground registered. My dress lay just a few inches from me. My heart was pounding, my breath short. I reached for the dress and managed to get a hold of it before he did. I put it on as best I could and stood up. Ace grabbed my arm. "You're not getting away again, Minako." He said confidently.

"Like hell I'm not." I said coldly. I concentrated briefly and sent a blast of energy into his unprotected stomach. He stumbled backwards and I ran. I ran through the halls blindly. After a few minutes I knew he was pursuing me. The passages were deathly silent. I looked behind me to see if I could see him. I ran headlong into something. It latched on to me. I shrieked and tried to pry myself away from its tightening grip. Ace ran up behind me.

"Let go of her!" He called as he smacked the creature that held me. I tugged to get free again. "You can't have the girl I love!" He cried and continued to beat it. Finally it whined and let go, then retreated to some place away from us in the castle. He grasped my shoulders. He was exhausted. "Minako...are you alright?" He asked, between his shallow breathing. I stepped back, moving away from his grasp.

"Stop it! Stay away from me!" I cried. I was scared. The cold was deepening. Tears began to form in my eyes. "You don't really love me." I breathed. "It's just lust. You only want me for the joys of the flesh. You don't care about me anymore than you care for fresh air or sunlight! I'm just a possession to you!" I turned from him, frustrated. The tears fell in the darkness, dampening the solid floor. He stood mute.

"Maybe you're right." He said quietly. "But maybe I'm not completely like them yet." He walked over to me and held me, gently. "Have faith in me, Minako. Maybe there's time to save me yet..." He mumbled into my hair. "Just have faith." I shook my had.

"I don't know if I can."

"Why?" He asked it like a child would when they've done something they don't know is wrong.

"Because...you're a shell of the boy I knew. You're not the Ace who was my friend. You've changed and let your anger rule you. I can't unleash you into an unsuspecting world where you can harm innocent people!" He stepped back. I shivered. His look was angry and distorted. I faced him plainly.

"You don't know what it's like living in his shadow." He said.

"Let me go." I pleaded. He grasped his hair in anguish.

"I can't, Minako! I can't help you! I can't release you. If I do, she'll kill me. The only reason she let me near you was to harm you! 'The thrill of a virgin.' She said. She promised me you'd submit. Even if I had to force myself on you. I could have you. But I stopped myself. I couldn't take from you what she took from me. But I'd rather live then let you go free!" He kicked the wall.

The echoes of his words reverberated down the hall. Then a deep silence settled in for long moments. I shivered. He had intended to rape me if he had to. Anything. Just to have one thing over his brother. The information was too much for me. I turned to the wall and leaned against it. Stupefied by his words, I stood in rapt contemplation for many minutes. He kicked the wall again.

Suddenly a low hissing sound came out of nowhere. It gradually came closer. I felt a breeze go by me, but didn't see anything. Then I was thrown into the wall hard. I heard struggling sounds and Ace cry out. More struggling. A growl from the creature and more hissing. Then Ace cried out again and a loud "thunk" was heard. Then a scuffing sound as he was dragged away. Then came silence. Cold, hard, silence.


~Notes from Zellie~

This piece was not originally part of the story. This is brand new material that was just written in a fit of inspiration to aid the flow of the story. With most of Total Eclipse being over two years old, this piece is possibly more dark and moody than the rest. If you are confused, please continue on to part five of Total Eclipse to return to the fluffy-bunny state of Minako's world. Thank you,


Zellie (Lil_Venus@hotmail.com)