She

Chapter 2

By Maria Szabo

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. This is a work of fanfiction and the only profit being made is that of enjoyment.

Zoicite's quarters had a musty smell of disuse about them. It had been some time, Kunzite was told, since the second general of the Shitennou had disappeared during a fiery conflict with the Sailor Senshi. As Kunzite himself had not yet revived at the time, he was unsure of whether Zoicite's defeat had meant his death or a forced hiatus, such as he himself had been subject to only a short while before. Nephrite had witnessed the event, but when questioned, he had become rather vague, which led Kunzite to believe that Queen Beryl had been casting her mind-control spells again.

The grand piano dominated most of the central chamber. There were still pages of compositions scattered about, which confirmed Kunzite's belief that no one had been in the rooms since Zoicite's fall. Off to one side were his personal rooms, barely used. But it was in here that he found what he was looking for.

The bed was not much different from his own, except for the color scheme of silver, grey and white. He vaguely remembered seeing the room in the daylight, once long ago, teasing the dapper silver-haired general for taking so long over his morning dressing rituals. Zoicite had always been fastidious. The colors had a dreamy-like beauty to them then, but now, in the gloom of the Dark Kingdom, the room resembled a nest of shadows.

He laid her down, almost gently, on the grey sheets. Mercury had transformed to her human state when she had finally succumbed to exhaustion. He hesitated a moment, watching her, and then reached down to brush her dark hair out of her face. She had been difficult, much more difficult that he'd anticipated…

"Why? I was just beginning to have some fun!"

"You were beginning to anger them," He pulled her relentlessly down the hallway and she quickened her pace to keep up with his longer stride.

"So what if I was? They're weak."

"Don't flatter yourself. Nephrite and Jadeite are stronger than you think." His hand tightened its grasp around her arm and he pulled her in through a door. "Watch yourself around them."

"Where…?"

"My quarters." He let her go, abruptly, and gestured vaguely towards the few chairs in the room. "Make yourself comfortable. We need to talk."

Of course, she would not sit down immediately, he was amused to note, but stalked around the chamber suspiciously, peering at every object as if she were memorizing its position and use. She finally paused at the chess board.

"You like chess?" she asked, a note of surprise in her voice.

"Perhaps," he replied.

"Hmm."

She took a seat near the board and looked up at him expectantly.

"No," he said, "Not now."

"You say that a lot, don't you?"

A distant memory stirred in him, and something inside told him that she had said those words to him before, once, long ago. He suppressed it. What happened then had no bearing on what he was doing now. Mercury was convenient. He'd only chosen her because of that. He gave her a bitter laugh.

"It wasn't the right time then to kill your companions. It isn't the right time now to play chess. There is a proper time for everything. Wait for it."

"I had them."

"Not the Princess. Not Venus."

She fell silent. He watched her face carefully. Kunzite had suspected that the so-called "Princess Venus" was some sort of decoy, for she was too obvious in her hide-and-go-seek game, and although Moon came over as a complete simpleton, he believed that she was the one he was looking for. He had wondered whether the rest of the senshi were aware of the deception, but Mercury's face reflected nothing but annoyance.

"No. Venus was not there. Venus is never there. We are supposed to protect her but…"

"She doesn't want protection?"

Mercury snorted, delicately. "Obviously not."

"Interesting."

"That's fine with me. It'll make it easier to isolate her."

"Leave her to the others."

"And why is that?"

"You're closer to Moon, aren't you?" He raised an eyebrow, until she nodded. "It'll be easier to deal with her first, then. The 'Princess' can wait."

She seemed to ignore his sarcastic emphasis and that confirmed his suspicions that Mercury didn't know who the real Princess was. And if she didn't, it was very likely the other Senshi didn't either. His plan had a chance.

Mercury pitched over suddenly, her hand grasping at her forehead. He reached over to steady her. She pushed him away indignantly.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. It's…nothing. It's late." She shook her head, and for a second, her eyes appeared confused.

"Perhaps you should rest," he suggested softly.

She stiffened, and then nodded. "Yes. Maybe I should. Where?"

"There's room in my bed…"

Her glare burned him.

"…if you want. No?"

"No."

He smirked. "Your loss. We'll put you in Zoicite's quarters for now. Acceptable?"

Mercury muttered something in reply, but he could not make it out. Her weight shifted, and he realized he needed to get her down the hall before she fell unconscious. He wrapped an arm around her to help her up, and half-walked, half-carried the girl to what would be her temporary room. He could only pray the others didn't see it.

So much trouble, this girl. She'd better be worth it.

To be continued