Chapter 08: Faustian Arrangements
The small, pure white ball spun through the air, shooting off into the distance, Endymion and Kunzite just barely able to make it out as it went a couple hundred paces down the rich green field in front of the two. The two held silent for several beats, Kunzite holding still in his follow-through, long steel club in his hands.
The ball bounced a few times on the green turf, bouncing and rolling further and further away, finally coming to rest, right in the middle of the light green stretch.
"Every time," Endymion said wistfully. "Right down the middle, exactly where you want to put it, every single time. I don't know how you do it."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Kunzite replied.
"Well, based off your stroke and follow-through, clearly, your ribs are healed completely," Endymion mused. "That's good."
"I feel perfectly fine," Kunzite agreed. "It's good to be back on my feet. Good timing, too. I can't let Zoisite see me bedridden, I'd never hear the end of it."
"How long is he sticking around?" Endymion asked, the pair walking over to the small floating cart behind them.
"Just a few days," Kunzite answered, sliding the iron club into a small slot along the back of the cart. "Looking at documents for days on end, even Zoisite needs to decompress at some point. And he needs to...check in on his charge every now and then. Being away this long, not exactly...normal."
Endymion nodded, jumping into the cart's right seat as Kunzite boarded the left side.
"Your Highness, uh...perhaps this would be a good time to talk about it?" Kunzite suggested as the cart quickly sped across the grassy plain, zooming towards where the two young men had hit their balls, zipping past trees and bushes on the way.
"Good a time as any," Endymion said casually, glancing about the scenery as the cart quickly closed in on Endymion's ball, having not gone nearly as far as Kunzite's. The cart slowed to a stop.
"Once again, I want to stress. I'm not saying it was a bad idea," Kunzite began as Endymion slowly jumped from the cart and went over to the back of it, where all the assorted iron clubs were held in neat little rows. "There was merit to it, and it's not a bad thing that we tried it. But, really looking at it, judging the entire situation, perhaps it's simply not a good idea."
Endymion plucked one of the clubs from the cart, judging the slope of the club face carefully before going over to where his ball had landed.
"So, with your permission, I can...I can make all of this go away. It'll be like we never did anything, there won't be any trouble, we move on with our lives."
"Say, Kunzite, I'm not sure if I remembered to pack the truffles," Endymion said, going up to his ball and standing next to it, judging the way it had landed and how it might affect his stroke. "Can you check the side trunk?"
"...alright," Kunzite said slowly, clearly confused. He silently stood up from the cart, jumping down to the ground and went around to the other side of the vehicle.
Endymion took a couple of practice swings with his club, bringing it up high behind him before violently swinging it forward, as he heard the side trunk being opened by Kunzite. With an amused smile on his face, he placed the face of the club right up next to the ball, got down into a firm, even stance, and pulled the club back up over his head.
With a whip, Endymion brought the club down and around, striking the ball with as much strength as he could manage, sending it flying off into the distance, past where Kunzite's ball had landed and going off towards the flag in the far distance, a few hundred paces away from the two.
After watching the ball land and come to a stop on the plain, he turned towards the cart, putting the club up behind his shoulders and casually looking over as Kunzite's head re-emerged from looking down into the trunk. "So, where are we on those truffles?"
"Um...I'm...I'm not sure I understand, Your Highness," Kunzite said, face wrinkled in confusion as he looked down at the contents of the trunk.
As if ignorant to his confusion, Endymion walked over, looking over into the side trunk. It was filled with stacks and stacks of cred currency, rectangular paper bills, packing the entire storage container to the brim.
"Oh, right, right!" Endymion said lightly. "Yeah, um, almost forgot about that." He went to the back of the cart and replaced the club in the slot.
"I'm not sure I follow," Kunzite said slowly, looking over at the Prince. "Where's this from? The vaults? What's the purpose?"
"Oh, well…" Endymion vaulted himself into the seat on the left side of the cart, crossing his right leg over his left. "You, uh, you remember those guys that ripped you off? Tried to kill you?"
Kunzite's head jumped back a bit, as if he had a physical reaction to the confusion he was feeling. "...yes."
"Well, let's just say...they regret doing that," Endymion settled on. "Come on, your shot."
Kunzite was rooted to the spot for a couple beats before shaking it off and marching up to the front of the cart. "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?" His face practically looked alien, so many wrinkles were in it. "I'm completely lost, I—"
"I had a little sit down with the...person in charge of smuggling over in Latium, and by the end, they saw things my way, and decided that it might be better to have a...business relationship with us."
Kunzite leapt up into the cart, glaring over at his charge with a powerful, piercing look. "Your Highness, are you trying to tell me that you—"
"Alright, I...I think maybe your mind might be...distracted from clubball right now." He reached over, propping his right hand over Kunzite's shoulders. "So how about we just, uh...call it good for the day, ride on over to the bathhouse, sweat it out, and I'll tell you all about it?"
Endymion was getting far too much of a kick out of the bewildered look on Kunzite's face, endlessly amused by how he was able to take the man who was supposed to be prepared for anything and completely throw him for a loop. The cart began to zip off, this time going off the course, heading to the right of where the balls were, going between trees and cutting over towards the entrance to the course.
"
"Your Highness. Please." Kunzite reached up to rub his face. "Please, I am begging you, just tell me you're joking."
The small room was filled with heated steam, making it hard to see much of anything. The two men sat on a wooden bench, both of them entirely naked outside of towels wrapped around their waists, letting the steam clear out their pores and their lungs.
"I give you my word, I will find it as funny as you want me to find it after you tell me it's a joke. I will tell you it's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life. Just please, tell me you're joking so I can relax."
"I'm not," Endymion replied simply. "It's true, all of it. Now pull yourself together, this isn't a good look for you."
Kunzite, with a groan, rubbed his forehead. "You...you went into an Imperium smuggler Kingpin's den by yourself."
"Yes," Endymion replied.
Kunzite closed his eyes, covering his mouth with his right hand.
"I mean, I'm sitting right here in front of you, so maybe your concern about hypotheticals that didn't actually happen is just putting needless stress on yourself," Endymion suggested.
"Your Highness, I…" he glanced around the steamy room for a moment. "I can't protect you if you don't let me. None of us can, none of your guardians can do their job if you don't let us! We can do everything in our power to make sure that you are kept safe, and none of it means a thing if you keep putting yourself in these situations! So, please, let us do our job!"
Endymion shook his head. "It...it's not right, Kunzite. These are my decisions I'm making. I sent you out there to do something for this, and you got hurt. Got hurt doing something that you didn't even want to do, because I told you to do it." He grimaced. "So what, I'm just going to keep...sending my guardians out there to get hurt for me?"
"Yes!" Kunzite insisted. "That's exactly what you're supposed to do! That's what we do."
"Well...it's not right," Endymion repeated.
"Ohhhh…" Kunzite moaned, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "How did you even...find this place?"
"I gave a free sample to a couple of street dealers, said if they wanted more they had to take me to their boss," Endymion said. "Seemed like the best way to do it."
"They could have killed you...you could have been killed the moment you stepped inside the building...at any time you could have been killed before you would have even had the chance to react…" Kunzite mumbled to himself.
"I wasn't! Clearly!" Endymion insisted. "Let's focus on that part, okay? I'm alive and well!"
"What if the chemical reaction hadn't worked?" Kunzite asked. "You went in there armed with nothing but a bit of hyper-pure lexington powder and vadonterus acid, if the reaction hadn't worked, think about what would have happened!"
"It's science, Kunzite, it's...it works every time. Chemical reactions don't randomly choose when to work and not work, it just works." Endymion nodded.
Kunzite sighed deeply, taking in a large portion of steam to his lungs. "And, Your Highness, just because you were able to safely extricate yourself doesn't mean that everything is fine. You are a very high-profile person."
"No no, it's okay, I...I'm aware of that, obviously. I wore a disguise." Endymion reached up to tug on a chain above his head, releasing a new blast of heated steam into the room.
"What kind of disguise?" Kunzite asked.
"Um...tuxedo," Endymion said hesitantly. "I wore a tuxedo, top hat...cape, gloves, you know, the...you know the fashion."
Kunzite stared flatly at his charge for several beats.
"Oh! And, a mask," Endymion added. "Yeah, a...remember the masquerade ball we had a couple years ago? I just...put the mask on from that. Over my eyes."
"A mask?" Kunzite repeated.
"Yes, it...it covers my eyes."
"I recall," Kunzite said tersely. "Is...is that it?"
"Uh...I think so," Endymion said slowly. "I mentioned the cape, right?"
Kunzite put his right hand up to his eyes, covering them in exasperation.
"Look, they didn't recognize me!" Endymion whined. "Trust me, I know the reactions that people have when they suddenly see the Prince of Earth standing in front of them, and none of them had any of those kinds of reactions!"
Kunzite slowly shook his head.
"Come on, just...stop worrying about what could have gone wrong, it worked," Endymion insisted. "They didn't know who I was, I'm...I'm sure of it."
"Did you at least give a fake name?" Kunzite asked.
"Uh...of course," Endymion said evasively.
"What was it?" Kunzite asked, tone indicating that he wasn't sure if he wanted to even hear it.
Endymion turned to his left, grabbing a small bag with a nozzle on the top of it, lifting it to his mouth and taking a large drink of water from it.
"Your Majesty?" Kunzite prompted as Endymion guzzled down the ice cold liquid.
Endymion set the bag down next to him. "...Tuxedo Mask," he said under his breath, quickly clearing his throat.
"...I'm sorry, what was that?" Kunzite continued to push.
"...Tuxedo...Mask."
Kunzite once again started to silently stare at the Crown Prince, blinking every few beats, the silence enveloping the entire room and saying more than anything Kunzite could verbalize.
"Because I was wearing a—"
"I get it," Kunzite interrupted. It was rare for the Earth general to actually stop the Prince mid-sentence. Endymion figured he'd let it go this time.
"Okay, look, I...I forgot to come up with a name, okay?!" Endymion said defensively, looking over at Kunzite self-consciously. "And they put me on the spot, and...I just blurted out the first thing I could think of that…that..." he trailed off. "Didn't sound...stupid." He pursed his lips.
"So what's my name now? Cape Boots?" Kunzite asked dryly.
"If you...want it to be," Endymion replied meekly.
Kunzite grunted, but then gave a half-hearted shrug. "Well, I suppose that name can't really link you to your actual identity," he admitted.
"Right," Endymion said. "And that's what matters."
"Nevertheless, Your Highness, at the very least, if you wanted to pursue...vengeance, you should have consulted with me or one of your other guardians," Kunzite said, staying firm in his defense of his role in Endymion's life.
"Okay, you...you have a point," he acknowledged. "But what's done is done, and it worked. Sorry, I just...I didn't like the idea of these guys out there, just getting away with it."
Kunzite blinked a few times, leaning back against the wall of the steam room. "Did...did you say something about a business relationship earlier?"
Endymion sat up straight on the bench. "We still have ten libras of refined Imperium. She seemed interested in purchasing it. And there's a mutual respect between us now, so I think we may as well proceed."
Kunzite grimaced, face pulling taut. "Are you...do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Hey, she's not going to try to mess with us now, not after what I did," Endymion assured his guardian. "Look, if you don't feel comfortable with it, I don't blame you, you can...just let me handle the transaction alone—"
"No." Kunzite again stepped on Endymion's sentence. Again, the Prince chose to let the rudeness go. "Absolutely not."
"Okay then," Endymion said. "We'll change the way we do things a bit, make things safer, and I think we'll be fine. In a couple days, we should head back into Latium, see if we can get her to take another two libras, work out some kind of system."
"I…" Kunzite paused for a moment. "Her?"
"Yeah," Endymion said, looking over at Kunzite and nodding. "Her. Not bad looking, either."
"Hm." Kunzite chewed on his tongue for a moment. "Interesting."
"Oh, by the way, three hundred thousand of that money is yours," Endymion added, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.
"How do you figure that?" Kunzite asked.
"I had them cough up extra, in light of your...trauma at their hands," Endymion explained, sighing as he felt the steam seep into his pores.
"What am I going to do with money?" Kunzite inquired.
Endymion shrugged. "Buy more capes and boots."
Kunzite gave his charge a caustic look, but after a moment simply reached up to yank the chain above his head again.
"
"We're getting close, I promise," Princess Mercury said softly, holding her hand out towards Princess Serenity. The two young women were standing out on the balcony just outside Endymion's bedroom, overlooking a seemingly endless stretch of buildings that made up the fanciest that the Earth had to offer, taking in the pleasant midday atmosphere, a clear day with blue skies and an un-oppressive heat.
"Oh, I don't mind," Serenity replied, leaning up over the handrail and looking over the tops of fancy towers and expensive buildings. "Nothing screams romance and love to me more than giant piles of paperwork and documentation."
Mercury gave a wan smile. "It's going...well, by the way." She nodded. "Zoisite's been...agreeable. Please don't tell anyone I said that."
"Of course not," Serenity agreed. "I'm not completely lost when it comes to politics. Just mostly." She reached over to Mercury's right shoulder. "It's good to see you, by the way, I...I didn't think I'd see you until the wedding. Really good to see you."
"When Zoisite said he needed to head back to Earth, I figured...why not come with him, you know?" Mercury explained. "See how you're doing. So, how are you doing?"
"Oh...pretty good," Serenity said noncommittally. "Pretty good."
"You're happy here?" Mercury prodded. "The Earth Palace, you like it?"
"Oh, of course, it's...it's much nicer than the one on the Moon, much...better use of space too." She grimaced a bit. "You know we basically abandoned the east wing of the Moon Palace?" She shrugged. "Just a dark, barren wing, an eyesore."
"Oh, stop," Mercury chided. "It's not that bad, you just...downsized a bit."
"But yeah, it's...beautiful here. Everything matters, everything serves a purpose, it's...I love it." She blinked a few times. "Endy's, uh...he's been a little different lately."
"Oh really?" Mercury prompted. "Good, or bad?"
"Well…" she gave a little smirk as she looked down at the steps leading up to the palace entrance, several stories below. "He's been...friskier lately. A little more energy, if you get me."
"I, uh...I think I do," Mercury said quickly, averting her gaze a bit down towards the marble steps below.
"So, that's good," she acknowledged. "He's opened up to me a bit too. I don't know if it's the marriage announcement or what, but he's...confided in me. Like, in ways that are...so, personal. As if the walls are just finally getting knocked down, once and for all."
"Well, that makes sense to me," Mercury said, voice low as she glanced back at the blue curtain between them and the entrance back into the bedroom. "You're about to become family, for the rest of your lives, it's...different than when you're just together. He feels comfortable with you, like he can tell you anything." She nodded.
"And...and then...in other ways, it feels like he's going the other way," Serenity said quietly. "I know that doesn't make sense, but…"
"What do you mean?" Mercury asked.
"He's been more...serious, lately. Ever since the marriage announcement, he seems more stressed than ever about possibly becoming King. Like, it's a burden now." She put her hand up under her chin.
"He's getting older," Mercury reasoned. "The throne gets closer every day."
"He's been...gone quite a bit lately," she continued. "It's odd, he won't even tell me why. Not really, he...it's always vague. He has to go do...something with Kunzite, he'll be gone all day. Gone all morning. Gone all night." She shrugged. "Wasn't like that before. He seems less comfortable, somehow. Less...I don't even know the word, prepared? Composed?"
"A royal does have responsibilities," Mercury suggested. "And the older you get, the bigger and more difficult those responsibilities come."
"I just kind of thought that we'd...be spending more time together as we got older, not...not less," Serenity mumbled. "I mean, a few years ago, he would definitely spend time away from me, but I knew it was his education, he was spending time with scholars and instructors. I thought that, when that was over, he'd...well, it'd just be me and him." She shook her head. "God, I probably just sound really selfish now, don't I?"
"No, no, I...I don't think that," Mercury said.
"The way he's acting, it's just...it's confusing. You see what I mean? Hard to really...define it. He's just been a little strange. And it's a bit odd, how vague he's being."
"It's probably boring," Mercury proposed. "He doesn't want to bore you with the details of politics, that's probably all it is. I...I wouldn't overthink it, Serenity. I'm sure that, once you two are officially married, and…" she glanced down at Serenity's stomach for a brief moment. "...well, yes...you'll be with him practically all the time."
Serenity nodded. "Thank you, Mercury. I appreciate it. You're right, as always, of course, I...you're right."
Mercury reached over and stroked Serenity's left shoulder.
"Hey, Mercury, if I spat over the balcony ledge, and it fell down to the palace steps and hit someone, would it hurt them?" Serenity asked out of nowhere.
Mercury blinked rapidly a few times, face going blank. "W-what?"
"Yeah, if I spat over the ledge, and it...y'know, hit someone in the head, would it like...would it actually hurt them?"
Mercury shook her head rapidly back and forth, as if shaking off disgust at the suggestion. "Who is putting these ideas in your head? D-don't do that, really, just...don't do that."
"I wasn't going to do it," Serenity said defensively. "I was just...wondering if it could actually hurt someone."
"...p-probably not, but...don't do it," Mercury warned. "That's, that's disgusting. Who is giving you these ideas?"
"Nobody!" Serenity insisted. "It just...occurred to me just now."
Mercury rolled her eyes. "Well...things like that shouldn't occur to you."
Serenity gave a little grin.
"
The area around the meat cart was quite populated during this time of day, a bustling wave of people moving in every direction, between the many small tables that were set up every several paces. The Crown Prince of Earth and his most trusted guardian were sitting at one of these small, circular, green tables. Endymion had a tin plate with a rolled-up piece of bread on it, the insides filled with meat.
Kunzite continually glanced over at his charge, who was back in his 'disguise', wearing the mask, cape, hat and suit combination that made him look like a fictional character from a children's story more than anything else.
"If you had just...consulted with me or any of your other guardians," Kunzite said under his breath. "A little bit of hair-dye, some cheek inserts, maybe some unfashionable clothing, and you would have been unrecognizable."
"I don't see anyone recognizing me right now," Endymion whispered.
"Perhaps, but...everyone is looking," Kunzite muttered. "That's not ideal either."
"Well, if everyone's looking, and nobody can tell who I am, then that bodes well for the disguise, doesn't it?" Endymion replied. He reached his gloved hands down towards the meat wrap in front of him, picking it up.
Kunzite immediately reached over, placing his hand atop the food as Endymion lifted it to his mouth. "Do not."
"But I ordered it," Endymion reminded him. "It'd be weird if I ordered something and didn't eat it."
"Why'd you order it?" Kunzite asked.
"Because it'd be weird if I was sitting here and didn't order something. What's the big deal, it's just...bread and meat." He looked down at the wrap in his hands.
Kunzite puffed a little breath out of his nostrils. "Do you know how they put the meat inside the bread on those?"
"I would...assume they put it in there with...their hands?" Endymion said slowly, confused by the question. "I don't get it."
"The meat comes out of a hose," Kunzite explained. "They just spray the hose out onto the bread."
Endymion's face wrinkled, forehead contracting slightly. "How does...how does meat come out of a hose?"
Kunzite raised an eyebrow over at Endymion as the Prince turned to look at him.
"Uh...huh," Endymion mumbled, looking back at the wrap in his hands.
"You take one bite out of that thing, I can personally promise that you'll spend the next two days in the latrine," Kunzite added. "You'll be lucky if we can get you home in time."
Endymion set the wrap back down on the plate.
"Wow, talk about committing!"
Both young men's heads snapped up. A few paces from them, Mimete was approaching, wearing a yellow dress and large red earrings. Two large men flanked her, one of them carrying a large burlap sack.
"Still rocking the costume, uh...I respect that, in a weird way," Mimete said, quickly taking the seat opposite the two men on the other side of the table.
"I didn't expect to see you in person," Endymion admitted.
"Well, you're a very special client, so I thought I'd make the extra effort." She flashed her gaze over to the right a bit, looking at Kunzite. "Oh, the partner. How are your ribs?"
Kunzite just sat there, a mild scowl on his face, ready to turn violent at a moment's notice if necessary.
"How are your ears?" Endymion countered.
"Not great, actually," Mimete admitted. "Been sleeping bad lately, ringing just won't stop." She gave her head a quick shake. "But, water under the bridge." She leaned in a bit. "Assuming you've brought the…"
"We've got it," Endymion answered. "You?"
The man to Mimete's right stepped forward and dropped the burlap sack at her feet. She nudged it with her leg across to the other side of the table, pushing it along the floor underneath the eating surface. "Eight hundred thousand."
Kunzite slowly bent down a bit, pulling the sack over towards him and undoing the knots that tied it shut. Endymion kept his eyes on the orange-haired woman in front of him.
"So...how much product are we looking at here?" Mimete asked, steepling her hands together in front of her and leaning forward towards the disguised Prince. "How long can we expect this...relationship to last?"
"I wouldn't worry about us running out anytime soon," Endymion replied. "You keep paying up, we'll keep supplying you."
"Good to hear," Mimete answered. "This stuff, it's changed everything for my operation. As much as you have, I'll take."
"Looks good over here," Kunzite said, head popping back up from underneath the table.
Endymion got to his feet. "Be right back." With quick, large strides, he walked away from the table, pushing past a pair of hooded men and going over towards the far wall.
Kunzite and Mimete sat there in silence for several, staring each other down.
"So, no hard feelings?" Mimete suggested. "I mean, you got a pretty generous injury settlement, right?"
Kunzite had no reaction, simply blinking a couple times, glancing up at either of the men a step behind Mimete before returning his gaze back to the woman.
"Oh, come on, man," Mimete said with a little laugh. "You oughta know, no honor among thieves! I had to do it!"
A few beats later, Endymion returned with a paper-wrapped package under his arm. He set it down on the table in front of Mimete before taking his seat. "Good to complete a business transaction with you that doesn't involve an explosion."
Mimete unwrapped the edge of the package, peering down inside it before sticking a reader tip into it. "You bring me another two libras in, say, six days? That work?"
"I think we can swing that," Endymion answered.
"Oh, not here, though," Mimete added, re-sealing the paper wrapping after a moment. "I'm leaving Librum in a couple days and we'll be ramping down distribution here."
Endymion flinched back slightly. "L-leaving? Why, what's going on?"
Mimete hunched over a bit, putting her hand up next to her mouth. "It's time to move on. Gotta stay one step ahead of the agency."
"But...but this is the perfect place for this kind of stuff," Endymion countered. "Look, we're doing this out in the open, public place, and everyone's just minding their own business, why leave? The agency doesn't have roots here, do they?"
Mimete scoffed. "Not right now, but...the moment they realize the product that's being slung on these streets, that's gonna change. A bust is gonna happen, any day now this is gonna pop up on their radar, and then this whole city's gonna be crawling with agency pricks. Dealing is gonna be impossible."
Endymion's face twitched at a bit as he took in that statement, letting the significance of her words strike him.
"Oh, come on, buddy!" Mimete said with a smirk. "You're surprised? Tuxedo Mask, uh...can I call you Mask? Anyway, Mask, you had to know...the moment the agency realizes that something like this exists, they're gonna hunt you to the ends of the universe." She glanced about. "Give it five or six days, every...third or fourth person walking around here is gonna be a spook." She cleared her throat. "Don't worry, your product is good enough to be worth it for me, and in a few cycles things will cool down here and I can come back, but...you wanna continue this, come find me in Yarlford." She stood up, grabbing the package. "See you boys, stay safe."
With that, she turned and departed, followed closely by both of her enforcers. Endymion just sat there, deep in thought.
"Does she seem a little off to you?" Kunzite asked, looking over at his charge after watching the three individuals disappear into the crowd. "Not entirely sane?"
Endymion nodded.
"Alright, let's get out of here," Kunzite said, standing up and placing his hand on Endymion's left shoulder, sack of creds slung over his shoulder.
"
"Four hundred thousand a libra, say...costs us...about nine hundred for purifying materials. Cost of transport out into deep space, plus delivery of product, just call it a thousand total. Two libras every six days, call it sixty-one deliveries in a year. Forty-eight million, six hundred and seventy-eight thousand cred profit per year." Kunzite looked over at Endymion.
The two were holed up in the back of Endymion's walk-in closet, back near the assorted accessories, standing between two of the large shelves. Endymion was leaning up against the shelf behind him, Kunzite standing in front of him with his arms folded over his chest.
"Not even fifty million creds a year," Kunzite accentuated. "The palace's yearly expenditures on food and drink alone exceed that."
Endymion nodded, his brain cranking as he stared vacantly down at the floor.
"Even minor investments into educational programs for the planet are typically many times more than that," Kunzite muttered. "Defense spending increases are more than an order of magnitude bigger."
"Yes, yes, I see that," Endymion whispered, glancing over at the closet door on the opposite side of the room, peeking over rows and rows of outfits.
"All I'm saying, Your Highness, is that we need to consider if the return on investment is worth our time," Kunzite said. "What are we trying to accomplish here? Even our promised financial assistance on the Moon is going to run into the billions. Are we really going to spend all of this time and effort in order to make enough to...get a new set of glassware and china for the palace?"
"We need to make more, faster, that's obvious," Endymion agreed.
"Now, possibly, over time, we might be able to increase our delivery sizes, depends on how big her operation is," Kunzite continued. "Double, triple, quadruple our profits, still not really worth the effort." He swallowed. "Remember, you're cycles away from becoming a husband, and a few more from becoming a parent."
"Yes, yes, I...at that point, Jadeite could be your lab assistant," Endymion said quickly.
"And it will be difficult to keep the miners on the Moon away from that cave at a certain point," Kunzite added. "We could pursue relationships with other smugglers, but at a certain point, we may run into difficulty obtaining enough Grenyx to synthesize fast enough." He shook his head. "Even for someone like me, it may be difficult to acquire enough without attracting attention." He thought for a moment. "We might be able to get around that, might need Nephrite's network. Still—"
"We're leaving too much money on the table with our synthesization process," Endymion said suddenly, voice a bit stronger than it had been earlier in the conversation. "We need a higher purity product."
Kunzite blinked a few times. "Your Highness, we are producing the purest Imperium that we possibly can, I researched this issue as much as I could. Ninety-two percent is as good as we're ever going to get."
"We both know that's not true," Endymion countered. "Kunzite. If parabolic correlation holds past ninety-eight percent purity, we might be leaving...sixty to seventy percent of its potential on the table here. We could be getting double or triple the price. We won't know until we test it, but it's certainly significant. And, besides that, we're taking a massive amount of potential energy and tossing it in the trash with our current purification procedure. Whatever it takes to take advantage of every bit we can, it's worth it."
"There's nothing we can do there," Kunzite insisted. "What you're talking about, it can't be done."
"There's a formula for synthesizing Imperium with fractional purity loss," Endymion continued, ignoring the warnings of his guardian. "Less than two percent, maybe not even one percent. It exists, Kunzite. Don't tell me it doesn't."
"And we will never get it," Kunzite said. "It's impossible. Locked up tight by the agency."
"I don't want to hear impossible," Endymion muttered darkly. "My father is the most powerful man in the galaxy, I'm the Prince of Earth, you're the finest general the Earth has had in centuries, and, by the way, my father sits on the high council of that agency, and you're telling me obtaining a recipe is impossible." He scoffed. "I don't accept that."
"Yes, Your Highness, your father sits on the agency high council, and even he isn't allowed access to that formula!" Kunzite protested. "None of them are! Only the Grandmaster of the agency and the laboratory scientists aboard The Savery are given access to it, and none of those people ever leave the station." He stared Endymion down. "Your Majesty, I am not...lying to you because I think it'll be too difficult to accomplish, or that it's risky, if I thought those things I would tell you that. It can't be done. That formula exists in only one place in this galaxy, and I'd have an easier time getting to it if it was at the center of the sun."
Endymion stared back up at his guardian, crossing his arms over his chest, frowning a bit.
"The Savery is covered with cutting-edge sensors and weaponry. If a spaceship bigger than my fist tried to get within a hundred thousand dolichos without getting clearance, they'd know about it and have a thousand canons ready to blast it into dust. You can hardly move a step in that place without it getting detected and reported, even if you did get inside." Kunzite nodded assuredly. "I'm sorry, but it's not a question of difficulty or risk. It's simply impossible. Even if we had your father's co-operation, it can't be done."
Endymion seemed to relax a bit, sighing a bit, chest shrinking down fractionally.
"Frankly, Your Highness, we'd even have a much easier time getting into…" Kunzite tilted his head downward a bit, trailing off, face going blank, mouth easing shut.
"Kunzite?" Endymion prompted, standing up straight from the shelf and bending down a bit to look at Kunzite's face.
Kunzite just blinked robotically for a few beats, clearly deep in contemplation. "...yes...well, perhaps." His mouth tightened a bit, and then he looked up at his charge. "Your Highness. There may be another way."
"Another way?" Endymion repeated.
"That formula may exist in one other location in the galaxy," Kunzite said, looking over at the closet door across the room. "Possibly. I'd even say probably." He blinked a few times. "And it's possible we might be able to get it, but…"
"But what?" Endymion prompted, looking quite excited now, leaning into Kunzite, hanging onto his every word.
"We'll have to bring a third person in on what we're doing. A particular person," Kunzite began to march over towards the closet door, fitting his large frame just between assorted outfits on either side of him.
"Someone who may not be entirely trustworthy?" Endymion asked, giving hot pursuit behind his guardian, deathly curious.
"Oh, no, it's not a matter of trust, it's, just...well, he may have some opinions on all of this." Kunzite reached for the knob back out into the Prince's bedroom, turning back to look at Endymion. "Your call."
"Who?" The Prince asked.
"
"Black market Imperium smuggling?"
The four word sentence said so much more than most four word sentences managed to accomplish, using tone and meter to convey meaning beyond the actual definition of the words. Endymion picked up on all the little insinuations behind the question, so clear was it's subtle implication.
Zoisite's private chambers couldn't help but feel a touch odd. Unlikes Kunzite, he had taken some time to make the room his own, and had done so with several shelves full of leather-bound books, as well as a curious pastel color scheme that seemed somehow at odds with the rest of the palace. The walls and ceiling were a soft pink, a color that normally might have been calming but in a place like this seemed rather odd. The shag carpet below their feet was also a bit of an interesting choice. Well, to Zoisite's credit, he had certainly made the room his own. And in Endymion's opinion, he could keep it.
Zoisite was sitting up on the edge of the bed, hands on his knees, looking over at Endymion and Kunzite, who were seated on a mauve couch in the middle of the room.
"I...Kunzite, this is hardly your style of humor, I've known you long enough to know that," Zoisite added, looking over at his elder guardian. "Perhaps the Prince, I could see it, but you...he's put you up to this, then? Involving you in his little joke?"
"It's not a joke," Kunzite said with a small sigh. "It's the truth, Zoisite."
"Although for the record, smuggling is just part of...we're also mining and synthesizing," Endymion threw in quietly.
"Oh...wow," Zoisite managed, putting his hands up to cover his face as he leaned his head back. "I leave the planet for a few days, and this is what happens?"
"I know it's a lot to take in at once," Kunzite said. "But it's the truth."
"Wow!" Zoisite ducked her head back down to look at the two. "You...you do understand who your father is, right? What he does? How he feels about...this particular criminal activity?"
"He's very aware, Zoisite, now—"
"You know, I completely understand not reporting it. Not saying I endorse it, but I get that!" He got up. "Could completely change the nature of the merger, I...sure, keep it under your hat, but this is beyond the pale, how…" she looked over at Kunzite. "How did you allow the Prince to get involved in something like this?!"
Kunzite gave him a flat stare. "It was entirely the Prince's decision, Zoisite—"
"Oh, what could have possibly been going through your minds, to even...consider this?! You couldn't have picked a worse strain of criminal activity to undertake if you tried! If there's one thing that the King won't cover up for you, it's this!" He began to wander around the room, going around behind the couch, both Kunzite and Endymion twisting their heads around to follow him. "You'd have a better chance getting him to help you cover up killing Princess Serenity!"
"Zoisite?"
"And for what, money?!" He spread his arms out to the sides. "We snap our fingers and money comes falling into our pockets, any time we want, as much as we want! Have you seen our balance reports lately?! There's a reason why the royal house on Saturn is begging us to help them fight their civil war, because they know we've got the funds for it!"
"Zoisite."
"What you've described to me already sounds like enough to land you a lengthy sentence on board The Savery, a disowning from the royal family of Earth, and probably banishment to the outer planets, so—"
"Hey!"
Zoisite finally stopped, snapping his head over to look at Kunzite. Shooting him a bit of an odd look, he rotated his eyeballs over towards Endymion, then looked back to Zoisite.
The young general seemed to finally catch himself, going a bit red as he realized where his tirade had taken him. "U-uh...I...I question your decision making in recent times. Your Highness," he managed to say meekly.
Endymion just stared at him for several beats, the tension palpable in the room. Finally, he turned away, looking back in front of him. "It's okay. So do I."
Zoisite relaxed a bit.
"But...is there going to be a problem from you, Zoisite?" Endymion asked, not turning to look at his youngest guardian.
"Of course not," Zoisite said immediately. "Nobody will hear it from me, of course, I'd never do that." He shook his head. "But, I must say, if you continue down this path, you will be caught. You sleep five rooms away from where an agency council member sleeps, who also doubles as your father and your King."
"Be that as it may, the Prince has chosen his path," Kunzite said, standing up and turning to face Zoisite. "Now, you're heading back to Mercury tomorrow, are you not?"
"Yes, I am," he acknowledged, nodding.
"The vaults," Kunzite said simply. "The palace vaults on Mercury. You know them? You've been in there, haven't you?"
"Once," Zoisite replied, hesitating slightly. "Few years ago, when I was finishing up my education there."
"Can you get back in there?" Kunzite asked.
Zoisite's face wrinkled. "N-no, nobody gets in there, only the royal family and a couple of high-ranking scholars are allowed in there, outside of the very rare guest. They only let me in once because...my intelligence scores were basically perfect, they were trying to tempt me to stay instead of returning to Earth. And believe me, they didn't let me touch anything."
"But perhaps you could finagle permission to get back inside?" Kunzite continued. "Maybe Princess Mercury could be convinced to allow you access for a short time?"
Zoisite blinked a few times, face twisting a little bit. "...I...I doubt it. Kunzite, they have basically all the knowledge of the known universe in there, knowledge is the most precious thing to the Mercury Royals, they'd sooner part with their diamonds. I doubt they'll just let me check something out for some light reading between negotiations."
"There's something in that vault that we need," Endymion spoke up. "One of the many pieces of secret knowledge in that vault, that Mercury refuses to share with others, hoarding for themselves to perhaps one day use as leverage."
"Well, they definitely wouldn't let me look at that," Zoisite insisted. "They've been keeping that information secret all this time and they're just going to...let an Earth general wander in there and check it out?"
"Well, obviously you wouldn't tell them what you want to do," Kunzite said. "But we need a formula, it's almost certainly in there somewhere. The formula for synthesizing Imperium with minimal loss of purity. I'm sure that the House of Mercury would want to make sure they were the only ones who had it in the event that the agency were to fall. That's exactly the kind of knowledge they would prize. I'm sure they have it."
"I...I'm just not s-seeing how I'd get in there," Zoisite stammered. "It's not even a...a question of strength, I doubt you or Nephrite could get in there either, and...beyond that, I'm not going to fight my way in. That's a terrible idea, for many reasons."
"We're not asking you to," Kunzite assured him. "I'm asking you to persuade Princess Mercury to allow you access into the vaults. Do you think you could do that?"
"U-uh…" Zoisite was truly flustered now, looking around his room, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It's...it's hard to say...she's very smart as well, and she knows better than to—"
"Zoisite." Endymion drew himself up to his full height and slowly turned around towards his guardian. "Do you think it's possible that you could utilize your relationship with Princess Mercury to let you into the vaults?"
Zoisite blinked a few times, going red in the face. "R-...R-relationship?" he repeated.
"Yes. The negotiations. You're hammering out the Kingdom merger with her, right?" Endymion cocked his head a bit.
"O-oh," Zoisite said, relaxing a bit. "Y-yes."
"Alright then," Endymion said. "Is it possible that you could use those negotiations to convince her?"
"Uh…" Zoisite looked down at the floor, as if searching for something. "I...it's...it's possible."
Endymion's eyes flashed. "Then I'm counting on you. Find your way into that vault. Find the formula. Bring it back to me and Kunzite."
"W-well, Your Highness, if I may," Zoisite spoke up suddenly. "I...I don't know if I should."
Kunzite cocked an eyebrow over at Zoisite.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Endymion requested, crossing his arms over his chest.
"It...it can go wrong!" Zoisite said, voice cracking slightly. "I mean, the merger could be put at risk if things go poorly, we have alliances and trade deals with Mercury that could be damaged if she were to take offense somehow, I...that vault really is the most sacred thing to Mercury, and...and she's a very nice woman."
Kunzite's head recoiled a bit away from Zoisite in mild shock.
"Princess Mercury, she's...she's nice. Friendly. A-and...she doesn't...I would prefer not to...trick her like this," Zoisite managed to force out, confidence visibly waning under Endymion's glare.
The room was silent yet again, the tension having returned after an extended hiatus.
"Your Highness, is this an—" Zoisite began.
"Yes," Endymion replied flatly.
Zoisite sighed, but quickly nodded. "O-okay," he said. "Okay."