"The heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close;
As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets
The same look that she turned when he rose."
-- Cyltie --
"What the devil--" Jadeite exclaimed when they saw an ugly, wrinkly face of one of their nemesis.
"Zircon! It was you who contacted the King was it not?" Kunzite demanded.
Pharaoh Zircon cackled. "Ah, Yoningumi… You were so slow to realize that you have been tricked."
It was then that they grasped what he meant. "You son of a devil!!! You lured us here so you can search the Taakoizu yourself did you not!!?" Nephrite demanded, his hands on the screen as if trying to shake Zircon out of it.
"You bastard!! You will pay for this when we get there." Zoisite gritted his teeth.
Zircon laughed once more. "I am afraid that is not possible for you. You see this?" He said and the screen portrayed the planet Uranus with a negative energy shield. "No one can penetrate that shield without me having to disengaged it first. Suffice it to say that you are to stay in Venus even if you do not desire it."
"If you ever harm the Uranus monarchs I will personally annihilate you in any way I can." Kunzite said.
"My, my, however are you going to manage that Kunzite? Though you have nothing to worry about. I do not have use for them. Though I cannot say the same thing about the prince."
"What the devil do you mean by that?" Endymion demanded and went to stand in front of the screen.
Once again the screen blinked out and now portrayed Lady Beryl unconscious in the arms of one of Zircon's creature.
Endymion gasped. "Lady Beryl!! What have you done! What do you want with her?"
"Oh I do not have use for her but my queen does." Zircon said and cut off the screen.
"Hera? But how could this be? I thought she was imprisoned." Endymion stated, turning to Yoningumi for answer.
"My prince, do not forget, Hera is a powerful wench. I do not doubt that she can still use a little bit of her magic even if she is imprisoned in her galaxy." Jadeite explained.
"What does that Lady Beryl mean to you prince?" Haruka spoke, curious for the first time.
Endymion slid a glance at her before sighing. "We are betrothed."
Queen Afërdita, who was also quiet after Zircon appeared, now put her arm on the prince's shoulder comfortingly. "Do not be worried, my dear. Perhaps in time you can save her. If that old man spoke of the truth and Hera needs her, then I doubt if they will harm her in any way."
"But what that old witch could possibly want with Beryl?" Zoisite murmured.
"Uh… perhaps her magic?" Jadeite answered meekly.
Nephrite snorted. "I doubt it."
They all walked back to the throne room where Queen Afërdita excused herself to speak to her guards.
"So what do we do now that we cannot go back to Uranus and help the monarchs?" Haruka asked.
"We stay here like Zircon wanted. If we try to go to Uranus we might be stepping into his trap for all we know. Until then we will try to use our time here in Venus by looking at the other celestial gems." Kunzite demanded.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll stay here in the palace for the reason that Zircon might contact us once again while you go and locate for a missing gem. I will avert him if he contacts us so he might not get suspicious." Jadeite commented and walked back towards the communicator room.
Nephrite nodded. "Yes, that is a good idea and I will go with the prince and--"
Kunzite cut him off. "No. You go with Zoisite and Haruka will go with Endymion."
Zoisite and Nephrite stared at him. "You will let a mere warrior go with the prince? Are you mad?" Zoisite exclaimed.
Both Haruka and Endymion protested at once.
"Oh for the love of--! It is not like I cannot take care of myself. You treat me as if I am nothing but an infant."
"Mere warrior? I am no mere warrior you insolent bastard. I have you know I could beat you with my hand tied behind my back."
Kunzite stared at the pair amusingly. "Come now, Zoisite, that was not necessary, was it? I am certain that Haruka could look out for the prince with no trouble at all. As for you prince, no we do not treat you as a mere babe but we do not want to risk you going by yourself and have yourself killed or kidnapped by the enemy."
"That is preposterous." Endymion said, frustrated.
Kunzite shrugged nonchalantly.
"So which gem do we look for this time?" Nephrite asked.
Endymion took off the scroll from his left boot once again. "I am not certain which one."
"A gold one?" Haruka suggested.
"There is no gold gem." Zoisite protested.
"Try the Kougyoku." Kunzite hinted.
"Hmm… Kougyoku… 'love'." Endymion stated.
No one spoke for a moment.
"I beg your pardon?" Kunzite broke the silence, clearly puzzled.
Endymion shrugged and put the scroll back on its place. "That was it. The word 'love' is written beside the Kougyoku."
"Well…that is going to be a littler harder than I thought." Haruka said, amused.
"Where do we start to look then?" Nephrite sighed, clearly disturbed.
"Stick to the original plan. We split up and look for the people of old." Kunzite remarked.
Once again, they went out of their separate ways with Jadeite leaving behind as a distraction to Zircon.
Kunzite wandered the Guinevere Planitia by himself, a vastly city located in front of the Magellan Castle. From his mounted horse, he observed the people around him, beautiful people, either men or women. He spotted a very old blind man sitting by a tree, shielded from the sunlight, his hand reaching out in front of him, begging for money.
He dismounted on his horse and approached the blind man. He had a flaxen hair, nearly identical to Kunzite, though a little longer, almost reaching past his waist, and slightly bald on top.
"Is someone there!" Shouted the blind man.
"Do not be alarmed, kind man, I will not let you harm in any way." Kunzite spoke kindly to the blind, unwilling to frighten him.
"Then what do you want? If you come to rob me off, you are not in luck for I have no money with me self, young lad." The blind man said cheerily.
Kunzite shook his head, then as if remembering the old man could not see him, he spoke again. "Please, I did not come here to rob you or anything like that. I was just hoping if you will help me as to give me information about where I can find the people of old."
"People of old you say? Well…am I not fit as a person of old then?" The old man said amusingly.
Kunzite chuckled slightly. "I meant, sire, the people who have lived for at least a thousand years or so."
"Forgive me for disappointing you, me lad, but there is no person who has lived for that long here. Oh wait…there is one I believe. She lives in Aphrodite Terra. Just go there and when you see the Kypris, the temple of Aphrodite, you walk in there. But I must warn you, me lad, you can never go in without an offering."
Kunzite frowned. "Why the need of an offering?"
The old man shrugged. "I do not know, young one. There has never been a person who is worthy enough to go in the temple of Aphrodite. When people go there, they simply pray outside the temple. They make an offering but it is clearly not enough for them to walk inside."
"I thank you, kind man, for your assistance." Kunzite bowed his head.
The old man waved a hand dismissively. "I did not do much, me lad."
Kunzite took a gold coin from his pouch and put it in the old man's hand and slowly closing it.
The old man protested, clearly embarrassed. "Do not bother--"
"Believe me, it is. Once again, I thank you." He said and went on his way.
He did not notice the old man disappearing in a puff of smoke for he was too busy contemplating the idea that, this time, they might have found a gem, at last.
The Aphrodite Terra was only consisted of the Kypris, but it still referred as a city to Venusian people.
Kunzite arrived there minutes before the sundown. He eyed the golden temple. It was not huge but it was big enough to fit a naked statue, the statue of the goddess Aphrodite. The statue was situated on the left side, and on its right was two altars, both lit by fire.
Kunzite attempted to walk inside, but found that he could not walk in.
Again he tried, but was blocked by an invisible barrier.
He thought of an offering, decided on his gold coins, but later changed his mind.
What could a goddess need for his coin anyway? Surely, the goddess needs much more than that.
And then, an idea came into his mind. He drew his daishos and he knelt by the altar.
"Please, accept my offering, my daishos, as a means of my guidance and my protection."
Then he stood up and tried once again to walk inside and now found that he could.
Inside, the temple was still golden, maybe more so, with its blooming flowers, sparkling curtains, and golden lit candles everywhere. In the centre of the temple stood another bigger statue although not fully naked.
Kunzite looked around, trying to find a living person in the temple. When he found none however, he made to leave.
"Leaving so soon?" Came a soft voice behind him. Kunzite whirled around and felt his jaw dropped literally.
There, a few feet away from him, a goddess stood. She wore a long fitting, near transparent, gold gown with long sleeves and v-neckline that was low as to emphasize her cleavage. She was adorned with gold necklaces and bracelets, and her long, shining, golden mane that reached past her thighs, were adorned with matching golden bow on her back.
For the first time in his life, Kunzite was left speechless.
"Are…are you the goddess herself? The… goddess of love and beauty? A…Aphrodite?" He questioned.
The woman laughed, a musical song to Kunzite's ears.
"I wish… but I appreciate the flattering remark. So what brings you here handsome warrior?" She said, smiling delicately.
Kunzite, also for the first time in his life, flushed a bit red.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "I was informed that the person of old I seek lives in this temple. Are you… that person?" He asked, then kicked himself mentally for such a ridiculous question.
The goddess stood before him did not look like old at all, in fact, she looked closer to his age, much to his delight.
The woman laughed once again. "Do I look old to you, handsome one?" She said.
"I suppose not… but please tell me, where is the person I seek? It is important that I find that person."
The woman looked at him and tilted her head in such a beautiful way that Kunzite found himself once again speechless. "What is your motive for seeking this person?"
"I cannot tell you."
"And why not?"
"Because…" Kunzite found himself unable to go on when the woman lifted a hand and gracefully tossed her head and flipped her hair. Then the woman walked nearer to Kunzite, and he felt a tug on his heart.
"Tell me, handsome warrior, if I give you such pleasure in my bed, would you…tell me of your secret then? Of why you seek so importantly for this person?" She whispered, one finger running smoothly on Kunzite's breastplate.
Kunzite's eyes narrowed and his illusions shattered. He stepped back from the woman and glared at her.
"I cannot tell you solely for the reason that you have displayed upon me. I do not trust you, woman." He said, gritting his teeth.
The woman was clearly unperturbed despite his declaration. "I ask again…why ever not?"
"A woman who so willingly give her body to some stranger to seek out information is not a person I can trust." He declared and turned around abruptly, ready to walk out.
He was almost outside the temple when he heard the woman's soft voice once again.
"Well done, Kunzite. You have undeniably passed my test. You are worthy of seeking the Kougyoku."
This shocked Kunzite and he turned around so suddenly but found himself looking at the empty temple, not a trace of the goddess who spoke to him.
"Where are you! I beg of you, tell me where the Kougyoku is!" He shouted.
The goddess did not appear again, only the sound of her voice was left of her trace. "Return to the palace, my handsome warrior, and you will find what you seek on the morrow. Until then, farewell."
Kunzite sighed and did what he was told, only the echo of her voice penetrating in his mind.
"Was that really necessary?" The man said to the woman.
"Which one?" The woman asked amusingly.
"That… that crude remark about giving him pleasure if he told you."
She laughed. "Oh come now, it was just a simple test and nothing more. If he fell for my trick then clearly he is not worthy."
"So what are you going to do until then?"
"Simply…I will join them in their journey."
The man gave a startled cry. "What! You know you cannot reveal it until they found all of them."
"Who says about revealing it? I am just going to join them. Nothing harm in that. Besides, I need something to do before I go bored out of my mind."
The man sighed in exasperation. "When are you going to change?"
"If I do that, then you would not love me as much as you do now, would you?" The woman said playfully.
The only answer she got was a grumble.
-- The story is Copyrighted © by dloveheart 2002 --
(some characters excluded)