Jaded Perspective

Part Three - An Apparent Evil

By Skylark3

Rated PG. I think.

As the sun rose over Tokyo, so did the fears of several young people. Over the previous twenty-four hours, several disturbing events had occurred, all of which were centred around the same man. As if to herald the coming of an unfortunate future, dark clouds gathered rapidly across the sky as the morning progressed. Such a sudden change from what yesterday had appeared to be - the perfect day. But then, appearances can often be deceiving...

----

As the clouds gathered ominously in the sky, Ami looked up uneasily from her text book filled with mathematical equations. Something just doesn't seem right, she thought. Marking and placing her book on top of a high stack of others, she crossed to the window of her room to peer out at the overcast city. All seemed normal enough, yet she'd read enough about the formation and evaporation of water vapour to know that clouds this gloomy couldn't happen in under half an hour. Unless something was terribly wrong.

Could this have something to do with Nephrite? she wondered. It was certainly curious that things were starting to go wrong right after he'd arrived in Tokyo. She tried not to think of the possibility that he might be a catalyst to tip things in the wrong direction, might be out for a second attempt at working his evil doings.

But her kind personality won through, not letting her see what might be a darker side to the bewildered man she'd encountered the previous day. She smiled to herself, shaking her head of short blue hair.

"Serena was right for once. It's the holidays! I've been working just a little too hard..."

----

The delicious smell of hot soup wafted through Lita's apartment, filling every corner and crevice. Eventually it even reached the nose of the exhausted man asleep on the couch. His eyelids fluttered open at the mouth-watering scent, and he turned his head to the side, wincing at the aching burning in his skull. It hurts somehow more than I thought it would, he thought, somewhat surprised. Though there wasn't a mark on his skin, he felt as if he'd been through a hard battle. He was lying underneath a warm blanket, still in his clothes from the day before. They were giving off the faint stench of sweat and perspiration.

Swinging his legs over the edge of the sofa, Nephrite got to his feet, only to nearly collapse as soon as he did. He made an irritated growl. Even with his lousy memory, he knew that being weak and helpless was not something he was used to. Sighing, he sat back on the couch once more, feeling hopelessly defeated by something as small as a few aches and pains.

Suddenly, the door that separated the living room from the kitchen was opened wide by a smiling Lita. She was carrying a steaming bowl of vegetable soup. "How are you?" she asked, offering him the soup, a concerned expression on her face.

He tried to hide how unsteady he was. "I'm fine... It's just a few aches here and there, nothing much at all..." Even as the words left his mouth, he realised how false they sounded. He took the bowl and started to eat.

Lita evidently saw through it, too. "Oh, no. You look like you're about to lose consciousness any second!" she remarked, watching him feed himself. "You'd better stay here for a few more days."

He nodded politely in thanks, looking at Lita while he ate. There was something about her that he couldn't quite place... Her face was so familiar, like he'd been through this a million times in the past, but she denied having ever seen him before. It was a few seconds before he realised he was staring at her. Snapping out of it, he quickly looked aside and finished the soup hurriedly.

"Thank you, Lita." he said, handing her the empty bowl. "It was the best soup I've ever had - at least, that I can remember."

Taking the bowl, Lita seemed a little disappointed for a brief moment, then she smiled, making him wonder if it were just his imagination. "Any time. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now, you should get some more rest." She left the room then, closing the door quietly behind her.

----

Several hours later, Mina also woke to a throbbing headache. I feel terrible! she thought, blinking her bleary eyes. If it was possible, she felt worse than she had the day before. Dragging herself from her bed, she stood up shakily. The world moved in every direction, making her feel dizzy and disoriented. Somehow, she managed to change into a fresh set of clothes, all the while knowing she should really be in bed asleep.

"Why aren't I feeling better?" she murmured to herself. "It's almost unnatural, the way I'm feeling!" She resisted the strong urge to empty her stomach onto the carpet, and spent the next few minutes trying her very best to make a sudden recovery.

When the doorbell rang, she stumbled her way through the house to the front door, fumbling with the safety catch.

"Mina? It's me, Ami!" a voice said from the other side. "I've come to see if you're feeling better."

Glad for a friend to keep her company when she was in this awful state, Mina opened the door slowly. "Ami? Come in!"

Taking one look at Mina, Ami gasped. "What happened? You look like you've come down with something really bad!"

At this, Mina couldn't hold back her misery any longer, and started to sob uncontrollably. "I - I don't know, Ami!" she cried. "I feel much worse than before... I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Ami placed a hand on her shoulder. "It looks like you should get back to sleep, Mina. Maybe whatever it is will pass soon enough. If it doesn't, I'm sure we can find out the cause."

"No!" Mina snapped sharply. "I can't go back to sleep! It was sleeping that made this sickness worse in the first place!"

"But I really think you should..."

Mina sighed. "Trust me on this one, Ami. I know this isn't any regular illness. I can't explain it, but it feels like I'm losing control of everything! And I can't stop it!" She sniffed, attempting to cease the flow of tears that ran down her cheek.

For once, Ami could do nothing except watch Mina's confidence deteriorate before her eyes.

----

Lita walked down the street towards the shops, intending to buy some extra food, as she now had a guest in her apartment. As she kept a steady pace, she couldn't keep the previous day's events from her mind, especially the row between her and Mina.

Hmm... Mina's house isn't too far from here - perhaps I should go and see her, apologise for making her so angry yesterday. She decided to go and see if she could make amends.

Diverting from her first route, Lita crossed the street and headed in the new direction of Mina's house. As she walked she tried to think of the right things to say. Mina, hi! How are you? I've come to apologise... No, that's not right. What if she thinks I'm mocking her? I don't want to lose a friend over a little quarrel! It was hopeless. No matter what she came up with, she was worried that Mina would turn her away again. She'd lost so many people in the past, her friends were the most important people in her life now. I'm just too paranoid.

"Oh, this is hopeless!" she cried out in annoyance, stamping her foot down hard on the pavement.

"What is?" a voice asked curiously from behind her.

Turning to face the speaker, Lita beheld Nephrite. She had no way of telling how long he'd been following her. He was wearing different - and cleaner - clothes than the ones she'd left him in - probably another weird Negaversian power – but they were no less stylish. She was temporarily rendered speechless before she managed to gasp out, "Ah... Nephrite! I thought you were asleep! Aren't you supposed to be getting rest?"

The tall man shrugged. "I slept for a while, but just a moment ago I woke up feeling completely well. Your soup must have been a miracle cure! I thought I'd look for you to thank you... Still, I wasn't expecting to end up out here. Not that I mind that much..."

Lita sighed. "Oh, well... I'm glad you're feeling better. You might as well come with me to Mina's house. Perhaps she'll be too busy being nice to you to be angry with me!"

Nephrite looked concerned. "Is that what you were so angry about? Your friend rejecting you again?" He laughed. "Anyone would have to be crazy to dislike you! You're the nicest person I know!"

Lita smiled. "Thank you. You're not too bad yourself!" Once again, she found herself being drawn in by those indigo-violet eyes. The spark she'd noticed the day before had returned, a fierce determination. She supposed that determination was to find out about his life – probably nothing else mattered more to him. So why, then, do I want that spark to be centred on me?

----

Ami tried to console a still-weeping Mina.

"Mina - I know you can pull through this. If you want, I can take your blood sample and run some tests to find out just what is going on."

She shook her head of blond hair. "Oh, no! Please, not needles!" She sobbed loudly, almost rivalling Serena's trademark wail.

Ami tried again. "Well, alternatively this could have been brought on by strong emotional trauma... Do you think it could have been jealousy of Lita and Nephrite -"

At the mention of his name, Mina's face suddenly want rigid and blank. When she spoke, her voice sounded strained and harsh. "Nephrite! That loser is mine!" She scowled viciously. "He won't get away with this!" She stood straight and tall, seemingly losing all signs of weakness. "Ami, I'm feeling much better now. I think I'll go out for a walk."

Shocked and confused, Ami stared at her, alert sirens going off in her brain. That's got to be more than plain jealousy, she thought to herself. For once I just can't understand what's happening! "Mina? You really shouldn't leave the house. You're very sick - just wait until I can ring the hospital..."

"No!" Her voice thundered through the house, authoritive and definite. To Ami's horror, she raised a hand from which poured forth dark energy, crackling and flashing into an uncontrollable whirlpool.

"Mina, no! It's the Negaverse! Fight it!"

"Stupid girl!" Mina retorted. "I will not have you stand in my way! Get lost!" She released the swirling energy straight towards the protesting girl.

"Ahhh!" Ami screamed in pain and terror as the blow pushed her back forcefully into the wall of the house. She sank to her knees, whimpering. "Mina... you have to fight this thing... don't let it take you over!"

"Hah! Nothing's wrong with me, Ami! As a matter of fact, I'm feeling better than I've ever felt in my life! Now, I must be going!" Without another word, she raised a hand to the ceiling, clenched her fist and vanished without a trace.

Ami lowered her head and let out a pent-up breath. "Oh, Mina... don't give up, whatever you do..." she whispered softly to the empty room.

A knock on the door was enough to make her wearily rise. She leaned on the wall as she painstakingly made her way to the front of the house. Wincing at the pain she felt, she somehow managed to open the door, only to fall in a heap on the ground immediately after.

Lita rushed in, closely followed by Nephrite. "Oh, no! Ami! What happened?"

Shaking her head, Ami gave a shaky sigh. "It's Mina. The Negaverse has returned, and something's taken over her." She tried unsuccessfully to stand up, only to drop back onto the cold floor.

Lita bent down and gently helped the blue-haired girl into a standing position. "I'd better get you home. Nephrite, would you mind going back to my apartment to wait for me there? I might be a few hours."

Realising this was not the time to ask questions, he nodded, and silently vanished from sight, leaving a vague sparkling of tiny stars in his wake. Ami stared after him at the rapidly fading glimmer.

"Lita, we really need to discuss this."

She nodded seriously. "I know. But first, I'd better call the others."

----

Serena groaned, and swatted at the air, missing a small black cat by inches. "Luna, I'm too sleepy - just ten more minutes, okay?" She rolled over on her bed, pulling the covers tighter around her.

"It's nearly midday!" the talking cat replied. "Don't you think it's about time you got up?"

"Hmm, just let me sleep for a little longer..." Serena was cut off, as a sharp beeping noise sounded from the middle of the undescribable mess littering the floor of her room. "Oh... what could that be?"

"Try getting out of bed to find out!" Luna suggested dryly.

Grumpily sitting up, Serena slid her feet over the edge of the bed. "This is blackmail, or something very close to it!" In her white pyjamas covered in cute multicoloured crescent moons, she picked her way along an almost invisible path through the clutter. The piercing noise was coming from a small, round object lying half-buried under a pile of comics that depicted the adventures of Sailor-V. "My communicator!" she cried, picking it up and flipping it open to see who was calling. "Hi, Rei!"

Indeed, a miniaturised picture of Rei's face was visible on the tiny screen inside the communicator. "Gee, Serena! You look even more of a wreck than usual! What happened, did I wake you up yet again?"

Turning red, she glared at Rei. "No, as a matter of fact, I've been awake for hours! I was just about to go out, for your information!"

"Oh, really? In your pyjamas? I can imagine what people would say when they saw you in the streets dressed like that!" Before Serena could argue, she continued. "Anyway, we're having a Scout meeting at Ami's house - so don't go back to sleep!" There was a click, as the screen went abruptly black.

"But I was awake!" Serena retorted furiously to the blank screen.

As the cat on her bed was heard to sigh, Serena whirled round and complained. "Oh, don't you start! After all, it's all your fault! You should have woken me earlier!"

Luna groaned.

----

"So, what's your verdict, Ami?" asked a curious Rei. She looked up from her seated position on the floor. She, Ami and Lita were all at Ami's house, Lita having taken Ami home after the incident with Mina.

Ami began her explanation. "I'm not completely sure about this, but my theory is that Nephrite is the cause of all this trouble."

Lita leapt to her feet. "No way! He'd never do anything like that!"

"How can you be so sure?" Rei pointed out. "I mean, Mina didn't exactly make a good impression on him yesterday!"

Ami nodded. "Rei's right, Lita. Plus, you can't deny that everything strange started from his appearance." She started to tick off on her fingers. "Firstly, Nephrite used to be evil. How do we know he isn't faking his memory loss? Secondly, he doesn't seem to be surprised at all by everything that's been happening. Thirdly, it's quite possible that he used Mina's jealousy against her to turn her evil."

"And how would he do that?" Lita asked sceptically.

"Post hypnotic suggestion," came the answer. "That's when an idea or obsession is planted into someone's subconscious mind, and -"

"Okay, Ami, you can spare us the details later." Rei said decidedly. "Right now, we have to work out how to get Mina back to normal."

"Hey, now wait a minute!" Lita exclaimed. "I know Nephrite didn't do anything to Mina. He was really being genuine about not remembering anything."

"That might be the case," Ami agreed. "But it's still possible that he's doing this unconsciously. Perhaps he just doesn't realise that he's afflicting poor Mina with Nega energy."

Rei groaned. "Oh, great! This just puts things in even more of a mix-up!"

"Hello!" came a cheery voice from the other side of the room. "Serena here, to save the day once again! The door was open, so I thought I'd come straight in!"

"You're late!" Rei immediately accused her. "What was it this time? A quick stop at the shops on the way? Or something else?"

"For your information," Serena began haughtily, "I had nothing to do with it!"

A tall, black-haired figure stepped forward into the room behind her. "Sorry about that... I got pestered by a certain Meatball Head for a ride here... it took me a while to get ready."

"Darien!" Ami exclaimed. "You're becoming as bad as Serena is!"

"That's because she's such a bad influence." Rei explained, matter-of-factly.

Serena appeared to be furious. "Uuuooh! Rei! You're so mean!" She proceeded to burst into tears. "Why do you always have to be so horrible?"

"Aren't we getting a little off the track here?" Lita cut in, rather coldly. "We're supposed to be discussing important things!"

Everyone turned to look at her. "Gee, Lita! What's up with you today?" Rei asked curiously.

"Did I miss something?" Serena added. Ami quickly filled the two newcomers in with all the details of the day's events.

"Whoa, hang on here!" Darien held up his hands as if to sheild himself from the onslaught of information. "Are you saying that one of Queen Beryl's generals has come back from the dead?"

"Yes!" Serena announced triumphantly. "He's really here!"

"Have either of you seen him in the last half-hour?" Ami asked. "He might be causing more havoc even as we speak!"

"And he's got his rotten hands on Mina?" Serena asked. "But I thought he'd forgotten everything!"

Ami nodded. "We don't know for sure, but it's probable that he's just out to make trouble." She sighed. "It's a pity... I thought he was telling the truth, myself!"

"We have to stop him, before he destroys the lives of other people!" Darien declared, clenching his fist in determination.

Lita folded her arms and looked away. "You can all think what you like." she muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear. "I know he didn't do anything to hurt anyone!" She turned, and stubbornly headed for the door.

"But... Lita! Where are you going?" Serena called after her.

"Back home!" was the reply. She slammed the door on the way out.

There was a brief silence as everyone wondered the same thing. "Lita really likes that guy, doesn't she?" Ami voiced unnecessarily.

Rei sighed. "...And then there were three."

----

In a terrible mood, Lita stormed down the street. It's about time someone decided to show a little loyalty around here! she thought angrily. It just annoyed her to see her friends immediately jump to conclusions about Nephrite simply because he had a bad reputation in the past. Or... maybe a little more than just a reputation, but that was beside the point. She knew he was innocent this time - but it made her so furious to see other people accusing him of a crime he had nothing to do with. Oh sure, there was a vague possibility that she might be wrong, but she was determined to try and prove he had no part in this particular incident with Mina. If that meant deserting her friends, then so be it. Yet even as she thought it through, a guilty feeling kept nagging at her. Why do I feel so strongly about Nephrite? Why don't I just accept that he could be still evil? She shook her head, momentarily confused, then abruptly decided to forget about it for a while. She'd made up her mind, and that would do for now.

As she furiously turned a corner, she came to an abrupt halt, staring. A few metres away stood Nephrite, who was arguing with another man. Lita watched curiously as they quarrelled, their backs to her. Eventually though, the other man stepped back and shook his head, before walking away in the direction Lita had been heading. She hurriedly made her way over to Nephrite. "I thought you'd gone back to my apartment!" she remarked, making him jump and whirl to face her.

"Oh... Lita! Don't creep up on me like that!" he objected. Lita bit back the comment that was on the tip of her tongue, but he noticed anyway. "What is it?"

"Nothing much," she muttered, her cheeks turning red. "I was just thinking how suspicious you looked, like you were up to something."

At this, he burst out laughing. "Why, have your friends finally convinced you that I'm the cause of all this trouble?"

She felt her cheeks burn even harder in response to how close he really was. Then, a loose end caught her attention. "Hang on - how did you know that my friends think it's you?"

Nephrite waved it off, smiling. "It's obvious. The way they all look at me... it's what most people would think in a situation like this, anyway. I'm surprised you don't think the same, actually."

Lita felt that her face was by now red enough to substitute for a traffic light. "Ah, well..." she trailed off uncertainly.

Realising how uncomfortable she was becoming, Nephrite quickly changed the subject. "Well, to put an end to your worries, I did return to the apartment. But then I decided that there's no way I'll ever find out who I am if I just sit around doing nothing. I went out again to see if I could find something out..." Here, his face lit up suddenly, as if only just realising something. "...and I did. Lita..." he placed a hand on her shoulder and stared at her intently. "Lita, that man who I met - he knows me! At least, I think he does. He seems to think I'm someone called Maxfield Stanton, which is partly the reason why we were arguing. Do you know what he's talking about?"

Lita, who had really been lost in her own thoughts, heard the last two sentences and shook her head. "Um... sorry. I've never heard of anyone called Maxfield. What else did he say?"

"He asked where I'd been for the last few months. When I told him of my amnesia, he laughed and said the taxes on my house would have been piling up lately. So... either he's lying, or I have somewhere to live!"

Despite herself, Lita felt a pang of disappointment. Does this mean he won't be staying at my apartment, then? But she smiled, if a little sadly. "Well, what are you waiting for, then? We've got to find this house of yours!"