CHAPTER THIRTEEN

When the light of the crystal finally faded Malachite walked up to Sailormoon and knelt at her feet.

"Forgive me Princess. I have wronged you and your family."

"Malachite please get up." Sailormoon said softly blushing furiously. She never had a man kneeling at her feet before. Well not in this lifetime anyway.

Malachite rose to his feet and took her hand. "I know I have caused you endless trouble" he paused his face tortured "What happened to your mother and the Moon kingdom I was partly responsible for. I don't expect you to ever forgive me for the part I played in what happened. I know that I can never forgive myself for the awful things that I've done. Some things will haunt me forever."

"Don't" Sailormoon begged looking at him earnestly "Please you were a different man then. I could never hold your past actions against you . It's what you do now that matters. Right now it's the only thing that matters."

Malachite raised her hand to his lips "Thank you Princess your heart is as forgiving now as it was then." he released her hand and turned to look at Zosite "I shall repay your kindness by sharing with you the knowledge I have about the Prince."

………………

Jedite was about to come out of his skin he didn't know how much more he could take. The suspense was killing him. What would his punishment be for trying to kill Prince Darien. Unconsciously his hand rose to touch his face the mask that covered his scarred left check was cold to the touch. He didn't think anything could compare to this but then again he still had one good side didn't he? He shuddered just thinking about it.

"Your not looking so good Jedite."

Startled Jedite jumped at the sound of that voice. I'm like a scared rabbit he snarled to himself in disgust. He didn't know how long he had been their pacing back and forth lost in his own thoughts. Straitening his shoulders he turned around to face him "I was wondering when you'd show up" he stated

…………….

"I can never begin to thank you for releasing me from Beryl's hold Princess. Malachite shook his head in resignation. I always believed that I was with Beryl of my own free will that my loyalty was real but now that you've shattered that image by ridding me of all that negative energy I can see how much she really controlled me. Trust me when I say this Serenity I will always be in your debt. He gave her a tired smile "But maybe by telling you what I know I will be repaying you in a small way and ease my conscious a little bit in the process."

"Thank you Malachite anything you could tell us about him would be helpful. Now lets get to work on reuniting you with Zosite."

When Malachite turned to look at her amazingly she thought she saw a glint of a tear his eye but then he blinked and it was gone. Maybe she just imagined it.

She was so sweet and good how could he ever have caused her such pain. Malachite thought in despair. The death of her mother. The destruction of her home. The kidnapping of her true love Prince Darien just as she found him again. All these things he was partly responsible for and more. He couldn't bare to hurt her again. And isn't that what he would be doing by telling her what he knew? Would telling her the truth about Prince Darien about herself only continue the cycle of pain he seemed destined to cause her?

Sailormoon decided she had rest enough. It was time to bring Zosite back and hope everything turned out for the best. She raised her brooch and once again called upon the power of the Crystal to aide her.

"Moon Healing Activation."

The crystal flared to life and light now surrounded Zosite. But after awhile the scouts began to get restless. They knew how dangerous the Crystal was to Serena and the longer she used it the weaker she would be afterwards. They knew Malachite trusted Zosite and now they had no reason to distrust Malachite but Zosite was a different matter. Despite Malachite's claim that she would join him rather than return to Beryl they couldn't take the chance that Zosite might not feel the same way and instead attack them and with Sailormoon's energy so low so they all were determined to keep an eye on both of them Sailormoon and Zosite.

Sailormoon gritted her teeth and bit back a moan. This was much harder than she thought it would be. Transforming Zosite back to normal was really draining her. She could already feel herself weakening. The Crystal was using more of her energy than it did when it healed Malachite. But she had to do this. She had promised Malachite she would help them and he had promised to tell her all about the Dark Prince and she had to know who he was she just had to.

Malachite watched her struggling and winced but then the light faded and Zosite was once again flesh and blood.

"Malachite" she cried when she saw him and threw herself into his arms.

The Scouts stood back and watched the reunion in silence. They all knew that Zosite still had to make a choice. And it might be the one that could put a damper on their reunion.

"She'll choose him" Sailormoon whispered "I know she will"

"Will she?" Uranus asked skeptically

"Oh Malachite" Zosite sobbed as she held onto him for dear life

"Shhh" he murmured soothingly as his hands stroke her head and back "Its alright now Zosite your free."

"How sweet" a voice drawled sarcastically

Startled they all swung around to look behind them. It was the Dark Prince.

………………..

Nephlite stepped further into the room and lifted an eyebrow at Jedite "Oh have you? That's strange since you've known all along exactly where to find me. Anyway I'm here now released from that dark hole Beryl calls a dungeon. And since you or any of the others never bothered to visit me I can't imagine how you were expecting me. Nephlite waved a hand at him when he opened his mouth to respond "Don't worry about it I'm sure you had your reasons I'm just glad to be out of there. I thought for sure Beryl was going to leave me their to rot. How long has it been I wonder? It feels as if I'd been down their for an eternity. But enough about me It seems as if your going through your own version of hell right now. " Nephlite observed He was also curious about the mask Jedite was wearing. Curious but not interested. The truth be told he really didn't care what happened to Jedite he was just slowly trying to get as much information out of him as possible. Any so called friendship the two of them had shared in the past was gone. He had been brought back to life only to be abandoned in a dark tomb and left there without another thought.

"It hasn't even been a year." Jedite grumbled Furious that Nephlite had seen through his façade. "You look different " he continued absentmindedly even the reappearance of Nephlite couldn't take his mind off his own troubles for long. "Harder. Older" And more trouble he added silently. Dam why were they taking so long? What were they planning on doing to him?

"Not all of us were so fortunate as you Jedite. When your resurrected us it was not for our benefit but for yours" he snapped "Even though we all died it wasn't enough for Beryl. She still wanted me punished for what she considered my betrayal. You bringing me back was not a new beginning but the beginning of a life of darkness and solitude."

"I didn't know" Jedite shouted angrily he didn't need to be reminded how unforgiving Beryl could be not now. He knew first hand how harsh her punishments could be "I don't know why your blaming me. I didn't tell you to betray Beryl over the love of some ordinary human girl. Just as I didn't tell Zosite to take things into her own hands and disobey a direct order from Beryl I-" Jedite stopped suddenly when he finally noticed the icy anger blazing bright in Nephlite's eyes. At the moment he looked more beast then man.

"Don't you ever talk about her that way" he stated in a soft chilling voice "She loved me for who I was and despite what I was. She was the only one to ever except me and expect nothing in return. So be very careful how you talk about her"

"Fine" Jedite snapped "but don't think you the only one who has suffered." Jedite gripped the edge of his mask "Look" he shouted as he tore it off exposing his torn face. "Look at what she did to me and tell me I haven't suffered like the rest of you."

Nephlite stood there for a moment not saying a word. He waited until Jedite had put his mask back on and was facing him again before he spoke "The only mistake I made was telling her about Molly. She asked me about her after we were resurrected. I tried to explain that I didn't betray her but that I was only trying to save Molly from Zosite who had been using her in a vile plan to get my crystal." He gave Jedite a twisted smile "I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. Being reborn can have that affect I guess," he said trying to lighten the moment "I should have known that beryl wouldn't like hearing that I cared for anybody but her. It was when I told her how Molly was the light to my darkness that she finally knew what she was going to do with me. I guess she considered it ironic to cast me into that dark hole where their was no light. Not a speck of it and the only sound you could here was the sound of your own breathing."

Nephlite growled as he thought about it. He didn't know how he had survived so long with his sanity but he wasn't going to waste this chance to redeem himself he never planned on going back their. Not alive anyway.

"But enough about the past. She has summoned me released me from my imprisonment and the only reason why that I can think of for her to do such a nice and forgiving thing is that another one of her generals has stepped out of line and she wished for my expertise in interrogation." His mouth took on a grimace. "I was always good at that." He looked over to the now pale Jedite "and the way you've been acting suggests to me that you're the one who's been up to no good. Care to tell me what's going on around here?"

…………………..

Before anyone could react to the Dark Prince's presence he disappeared and then reappeared by Malachite

"You really are pathetic Malachite. I didn't think you'd fall for my trap so quickly you couldn't even hold out for a day."

"What trap" Malachite snapped while holding Zosite protectively in his arms. Why did he have to find them now when he was so helpless to do anything? He had to stall him and keep his attention away from the Sailor Scouts who were moving to surround them.

"Malachite what's going on?" Zosite asked in confusion looking around she saw that they were some how surrounded by the enemy and once her eyes landed on Sailormoon she hissed "you."

"She doesn't seem to happy does she?" he pointed out in amusement "Did you really think that conversation we had was purposely only to warn you not to try anything. No in case you can't recall it was I who brought up the conversation about Sailormoon being able to heal Zosite by using her Crystal. I must admit it worked beautifully. You are so gullible.

"You conniving bastart" he hissed

Darien chuckled "Yes well I did tell you that love was a weakness Malachite. You should have heeded my warning. And now you've had to learn the hard way. Now let's go Beryl wants a word with you."

"You're not taking him anywhere," Mars yelled, "in case you haven't noticed we have you outnumbered and surrounded."

Darien who had been ignoring them purposely turned an amused eye on them. "Don't think that if I planned all this that I'd have a way to get rid of all of you as well"

"He's lying." Jupiter cried "He knows we have him outnumbered he's just trying to distract us.

"Am I hum" he tapped his chin looking lost in thought "Than those 7 yoma's I've set loose on Tokyo will have to be disappointed I promised them a fight" he shrugged his shoulders and smiled at them "Oh well I'm sure they wont miss your presence for too long. By now I'm sure they've forgotten about you and are at this moment looking for energy to steal and bring back to Beryl."

Mercury immediately took out her mini computer "He's not bluffing you guys their all over where going to have to split up to handle them all before they cause to much damage."

"Yes run along girls" Darien chided shooing them away with his hand

"What are we going to do?" Venus cried They couldn't abandon Malachite but they couldn't allow those yoma to go around terrorizing people and stealing their energy.

"We'll have to destroy him and quickly than will go deal with those yoma's" Uranus yelled to the others.

"No you cant" Malachite cried out desperately. He was at a loss as to what to do. They didn't know who the Dark Prince really was and he had no idea how to tell them or whether he should tell them.

"No" Sailormoon stated quietly but with command "you guys go I'll stay here and deal with him myself." her eyes met his and she knew this was something she had to do.

"No way."

"Are you crazy?"

"Sailormoon have you lost your mind?"

"That's fine by me" Darien stated coldly "but first things first" Before anyone could determine what he was up to dark energy shot out through his hand that he had pointed at the ground.

Malachite barely had enough time to push Zosite out the way before a black hole appeared below his feet and he fell through it.

"Malachite" Zosite screamed as she watched her love disappear. Malachite"

"Enough" Darien commanded "You'll be joining him soon enough." Darien only had to look at Sailormoon and want her. This couldn't go on. He wanted to forget about Malachite and drag her off to another cave. She was a distraction. One that he couldn't afford and the only way he could think to put a stop to it all was by destroying her.