CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Zosite stared down at her hands in stunned disbelief she was healed. She looked up and saw Malachite and her heart swelled "Malachite" she cried before throwing herself into his arms. She couldn't believe it he was really here and that this was really happening.

She squeezed him tightly for the moment unable to do anything else. She wasn't dreaming they were both here. Together.

"It's alright right now Zosite your free" he murmured in her hair while squeezing her back just as hard But just then a voice from behind them spoke

"How sweet."

Zosite swung around and saw Tuxedo Mask well the human who was Tuxedo Mask. Darien. She blinked when he suddenly disappeared only to reappear at Malachite side. She didn't understand what he saying to Malachite what trap? She looked around seeing for the first time that they were surrounded by the sailor scouts. When her eyes landed on Sailormoon old memories and feeling came flooding back. "You" she hissed angrily.

It was because of this moon brat that Beryl had destroyed her in the first place. If she hadn't stopped her from retrieving the Imperial Crystal when it formed Beryl wouldn't have cared that she tried to destroy the human Darien. None of that would have mattered if she had retrieved the crystal. Instead being beaten by the newly discovered Princess Serena and failing to get the crystal was just another nail in her coffin.

Her attention came back to Malachite when she heard him crying out "No you can't." She looked around to see who he was talking to and to her amazement it seemed he was talking to Sailormoon. And why did she hear concern in his voice? Concern for Sailormoon? It didn't make sense. She turned in his arms to look at him prepared to ask him what was going on when she suddenly found herself being pushed away from him. Caught off guard she flew back. Her shocked gaze turned to one of horror as she saw him fall through a black hole in the ground disappearing from sight. She screamed his name and regaining her balance hurried over to the spot he had just been standing. But there was nothing no Malachite no black hole.

"Malachite" she cried desperately pounding on the ground

"Enough" Darien commanded surprising Zosite so completely that she did indeed stop "you'll be joining him soon" he finished harshly and Zosite looked at him in a daze. This couldn't be happening. Ignoring the others she starred down at the spot where Malachite had been standing trying to understand what had just happened. One minute he was here holding her in his arms something she never dared to dream would happen again and the next he was gone. Swallowed up by the ground. Was he alive? The possibility of his not being seemed to drain the life out of her legs and she crumbled into a heap on the ground.

She didn't understand how this could be happening. The last thing she remembered was Beryl sentencing her to be encased in stone after they were all resurrected by Jedite. She remembered that time clearly.

Zosite looked down at herself in amazement than she looked around. Her eyes widened when they saw Nephlite but it was the man standing beside him that had her eyes tearing up. Their eyes met and before she knew it Malachite swept her up in his arms.

Malachite were alive she cried ecstatically and laughed joyfully as he swung her around and around as his laughter joined hers.

"That's enough Malachite, Zosite."

The laughter died. Malachite stopped twirling around and released her. Standing to attention they both bowed. Out of the corner of her eye Zosite noticed that Nephlite wasn't bowing in fact he was looking at Beryl with a bitter twist to his mouth and a knowing look in his eye. That was when the joy of being alive for Zosite took another turn as she remembered how she had died. She had died by her Queens hands the same Queen that towered over them now.

"My Queen" Malachite addressed "do we have you to thank for bringing us back?"

"No" Beryl barked sharply not wanting to admit just yet that she too had been defeated by that moon brat and those pesky Sailor scouts. She looked them all over before finally resting her eyes on Zosite. "It's time to for me to execute your punishment Zosite."

Zosite starred at her wide eyed with disbelief. She couldn't grasp the fact that her Queen was talking about punishing her when she'd just been revived from the dead wasn't dying the last time punishment enough. Then a horrible thought occurred to her. Could Beryl be planning to end her life once again?

She barely heard Malachite's protest over the pounding of her heart. She turned to look at him she saw his desperation and anger. She looked to see how beryl was taking his insolence and saw that she wasn't taking it so well if Malachite wasn't careful he could find Beryl's ire focused on him. She couldn't allow that to happen.

"Malachite please" she begged. He stopped talking and turned to look at her. Knowing they had so little time they said silently what they couldn't say aloud. But she turned away from him before his desperation and fear for her overruled his sense of self-preservation. She wouldn't let anything happen to him if she could help it. She approached Beryl knelt down on one knee and bowed her head before her.

"I'm ready for any punishment you see seem fit to give My Queen." she said almost choking on the words.

Beryl looked down at her bowed head silently before ordering the other two out. Malachite hesitated as if he was about to argue with her. Beryl shot him a sharp look daring him to disobey her. Her eyes promised that any further insolence from him would be meet with extreme displeasure and pain.

Malachite took the warning to heart and knowing that their was nothing he could do for the moment he cast one last look at Zosite's bowed head before leaving.

"So you think that your punishment should be lifted do you Zosite"

Head still bowed Zosite answered her. "I believe I have learned my lesson my Queen."

"Well I don't" she snapped. She was still furious with Zosite blaming her for more than just disobeying her orders. Her conflict and competition with Nephlite had resulted in his demise and once she had been destroyed she began to lose Malachite as well. He lost focus after her death which resulted in his at the hands of Sailormoon and so when the final battle arrived she was without any of her generals. "I was to hasty in ending your life before Zosite." Beryl admitted surprisingly

Zosite's head snapped up at this statement. Hope flared to life in her heart. Did this mean that Beryl wasn't going to end her life again?

"But" Beryl continued causing that hope to dim "you still need to learn your lesson. And I think I have just the thing."

Heart pounding Zosite waited to hear her fate. Could it possibly be worst than death?

"Your to be encased in stone until a time that I see fit to release you."

Zosite had to bite back a cry. Perhaps this was worse to actually be alive but for the most part not. And Beryl was so unpredictable and stubborn when it came to changing her mind. So Zosite knew that she could be encased in stone for weeks, years or for all her days their was no telling. Oh Malachite we almost had a second chance. Please my love she begged silently as she stood up to face Beryl please be happy and don't suffer to much over my fate. She knew that unless a miracle happened she would never be free.

But now she was free and she knew instinctively that Beryl hadn't been the one to release her so it must have been Malachite. Somehow he must have found a way to do it. She glanced up at the sound of shouts. She watched as the sailor scouts disappeared in similar black holes as the one malachite had fallen through. She listened as Sailormoon confronted Darien and what she heard amazed her. Than she suddenly remembered that the last time she had seen Darien. Her and Malachite had delivered him into the arms of Queen Beryl and now she finally realized why she had wanted with him so badly. Darien the man who was also Tuxedo Mask the man who always came to the Scouts rescue was now working for the Negaverse.

For a minute a sense of satisfaction and glee washed over her. Sailormoon's knight and shining armor now worked for their side. Knowing how devastated she must feel brought a smile to her face but that smile soon faded as she fully realized what all this meant. If Darien was working for Beryl and he was the one who made the scouts disappear than he was also the one who took Malachite away. And if that was true than Malachite was now in the hands of Beryl.

…………..

"I can't take this" Luna cried looking over at Artemis the waiting was killing her they should have heard something by now "I have to know what's going on."

And before he could stop her she leaped out of the bedroom window.

"Luna" he cried as he followed after her.

……….

Zosite couldn't breath as the situation became so clear to her. The fight between Sailormoon and Darien faded into the back of her mind. All the things that didn't make sense before now did. Malachite had left beryl so that Sailormoon could bring her back with the imperial crystal and by doing so brought Beryl wraith down on him she must have found out and sent Darien to retrieve them and now malachite was at Beryl's mercy. And she knew from experience that she had none.

………..

Nephlite wasted no more time after leaving Jedite alone with his demons he quickly made his way to see Beryl.

"Nephlite good come here." She commanded on seeing him

Nephlite made his way over to her He didn't let it show in his expression but he was very wary of her at that moment. She radiated bad vibes. Her eyes positively gleamed with a fiery rage. He had guessed right. She had released him because one of the other generals stepped out of line. But he didn't lower his guard just because it was one of them who'd angered her. He knew Beryl very well and he knew that she could very easily take out her anger on him or anyone else in her path just because they were there. That's why he was wary and why he would stay on his guard until he was well out of her reach.

"Theirs a traitor among us that I want you to give your personal attention to."

"And who is this traitor?" Nephlite asked although he had a pretty good idea who it was that was why he was completely taken aback when she stated roughly

"Malachite is the traitor. Prince Darien has already delivered him into the dungeons. I want you to go there immediately and expose him to your special technique of interrogation. I need to know what he told Sailormoon and the others. He says that he told them nothing but I cant risk believing him." She gave Nephlite a hard stare "Get my answers Nephlite and afterwards make sure he's still alive because I promise you the punishment I have in store for him will be noting compared to yours and his precious Zosite. And nobody will dare to betray me again."

Nephlite bowed before leaving but he didn't go straight to the dungeons. He wasn't telling Jedite about Malachite to relieve his worries no he was telling him about Malachite for completely selfish reasons. He wanted to be their when Jedite realized that he had taken him into his confidences for no reason and now he had information that would mean his downfall if beryl ever found out. Yes he wanted to be their when Jedite realized that his fate rested in his hands.

……………

Zosite couldn't bare it she knew that fate that awaited her love and all because he had tried to save her. She looked over at the other two who were too busy fighting each other to pay her any mind and hoped they destroyed each other. But the longer she watched them the more certain she became that that possibility didn't exist. Oh they both fought hard but either one could have ended the battle a long time ago if their objective was to destroy the other. They might be fooling themselves but they didn't fool her. They were both fighting like they wanted to win but they also fought with caution.

She thought it was finally over when he trapped her with the tree. But she soon came to realize her mistake. It seemed at first that his attempt was to frighten her but that soon changed as his touch became a caress. As she watched she felt anger building up inside of her. It wasn't fair. She an Malachite were doomed to be apart while these two for were now fighting on different sides seemed to be finding their way back to each other. Her rage exploded when he didn't take the crystal but past it like it was nothing. Without thinking she called on her ice crystal attack. If she couldn't have Malachite than she'd make sure that Sailormoon never got her tuxedo mask back either. When she let loose her attack she smiled he was so preoccupied with her that he had no idea of the danger closing in on him.

She hadn't counted on him moving or Sailormoon crying out a warning. She knew her chance was blown but then she watched in disbelief as instead of getting out of the way he stayed where he was. She watched him fling his roses at her ice crystal and then fling himself at Sailormoon protecting her. She watched her crystals get destroyed all but two and knew they were going to hit her mark after all. This was even better let him die protecting her then he revenge would be all the sweeter.

Her elation faded fast as out of no where two streaks of white connected and destroyed the rest of her ice crystals. She looked around but their was no one in sight all that was left was two white roses.

Even when the danger past Darien didn't let go of her right away. He knew that if a crystal had survived it would have already imbedded itself in his back. He didn't let go because she felt so good. When he finally let go it was only because he had to. Before they could pick up where they had left off her had a little something to take care of first.

He turned to face Zosite his expression deadly. He saw her pale. He pulled out some roses and let them fly. His roses were just as deadly as her ice crystals and just as accurate. But it was fortunate for her that he wasn't aiming to destroy her just to put her out of commission for awhile. Once the roses did their job he turned his attention back to Sailormoon. He started for her only to stop when he heard the faint cries of the Sailor scouts. They were close and closing in on their location.

Sailormoon swung her head around. She could have sworn she heard the girls. Yes it was them they were here. She looked at him in bewilderment. She didn't understand. Had he let them go or had they escaped.

Darien avoided her gaze how could he explain something he didn't understand himself. The fact was he could have had the scouts in a cell right next to Malachite's but instead he had spared them. All because of her. He didn't know how he had planned on destroying her when he couldn't even destroy her friends simply because he knew that it would cause her pain. He snorted in disgust. How could this one slip of a girl turn him around so much. He needed to think about this and determine once and for all what he was going to do with her.

He backed away from her and retrieved the unconscious Zosite. He starred at her for a long moment and just as the sailor scouts came into view he disappeared.

Once he was gone the branches that had been holding her captive retreated and she crumbled to the ground.

………

Jedite looked at Nephlite with wary eyes. "your saying that Malachite has betrayed the Negaverse"

"Yes it would seem so. That means that you've been here stewing for nothing."

"I don't believe it" Jedite snarled "theirs no reason for him to. He's one of Beryl's favorites" he didn't know what game Nephlite was playing but he was not in the mood.

Nephlite shrugged his shoulders "I wasn't told the reason but if I had to guess I'd say it had something to do with Zosite. But you don't have to believe me just come and see for yourself he's in the dungeon now Beryl wants me to find out what he told the Scouts"

Jedite looked at him starting to believe suddenly he smiled that means that Prince Darien has no idea I'm responsible for the cave in or he would have told Beryl by now"

Yes" Nephlite agreed "it would seem that you and I are the only one who know"

Jedite froze at those words as he realized in horror the position he had put himself in by confiding in Nephlite.

……….

Zosite stood before Beryl trembling with fear. Where was malachite? What had happened to him?

"Well Zosite as you know Malachite has betrayed me and the Negaverse to free you. He conspired with those sailor brats. Conspired against me" she roared

"Please my Queen I'm sure he was just using them to bring me back so that the both of us could turn on them and take the crystal for you."

"You fool he had the moon princess use the imperial crystal on him he was never planning on coming back now the only question that remains is would you have decided to stay with him and betray me also."

Zosite felt the fear choking her she had to do something say something that would take beryl's focus off her. Then it came to her.

"I don't think you should be worried about my loyalty my Queen but that of Darien's." Zosite caught her the sudden flare of interest in her eyes it seemed Beryl had a thing for this Darien. She just might have away to save herself after all. As soon as she informed Beryl of Darien's behavior with Sailormoon. It was going to be Darien who took the fall. It seemed she'd have her revenge after all.