Chapter 35: Fracture
A/N: Sorry this took longer than I wanted to get up. Got sick and was not really in the mood to write for a good few days.
"
It took every last muscle in Prince Endymion's face to keep his expression neutral. A close enough look would easily give away how hard he was working to hold it together. He wanted to be stoic in this moment, but the inevitable consequences that were headed right towards him, with no options for him to avoid them, were bearing down on him hard.
He was seated right next to Kunzite, the two of them buckled into seats right in the middle of a small, square room that comprised the vast majority of an A class ship, currently jumping through space. A heavily-armed and armored trooper sat in each corner of the room, keeping all of their focus and attention on the two prisoners from behind the visors covering their faces.
Endymion glanced over to Kunzite, fighting off the overwhelming urge to say something. He knew enough to know that attempting to have a conversation right now would be the last thing either of them needed. And he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to say, anyway. Although, he really wanted to say something.
Part of him wanted to try to do something as meaningless and vapid as apologizing. It wasn't exactly the kind of relationship they had, but the Prince certainly knew that the situation they currently found themselves in was effectively all on him. Kunzite had spent much of the last year protesting his involvement in this business at all. Were it up to him, they wouldn't be anywhere close to where they were right now. That seemed to warrant some sort of contrition.
He also couldn't help but notice how alert Kunzite looked, glancing back and forth between the armed sentries in each corner, and also seemingly examining the walls of the ship around them. It was almost enough to make Endymion wonder if his general was trying to figure a way out of this situation, as hopeless and final as it may have seemed to him. He wanted to ask Kunzite if that was, indeed, what was currently running through his head. He knew Kunzite to be of extraordinary intelligence and capable of quick thinking, and the possibility of him crafting an escape plan seemed feasible. But, again, he did not dare ask, for very obvious reasons.
And then, just like that, the sobering imminent reality of having to face his father over all this smacked him right in the face, and all thoughts of a miraculous escape were gone. He had no idea how he was going to handle it. He could only assume that it would be his father that would be right there to greet him the moment he landed, so he would have little time to prepare for it.
His stream of thoughts was interrupted as the four guards got to their feet. The iron straps that held the Prince and his general onto the chairs retracted, although both were equally deterred from standing up by the sudden presence of plasma rifles pointed in their direction.
"Alright, let's go," one of them ordered. "Up."
Both got to their feet as a couple of flashing green lights on the right wall precluded a large portion of the surface sliding to the left, opening up to a short tunnel down to a steel door.
"You two go first," the trooper instructed. Kunzite was examining the docking tunnel, Endymion able to pick up on his odd fascination with what seemed like an irrelevant detail to him. "Now!"
With that second prompting, both young men marched into the thin tunnel, not enough room for them to go side-by-side. Kunzite led the way, Endymion right on his heels.
"I'm sorry," Endymion whispered, leaning up close to Kunzite's head.
"I wouldn't apologize just yet," Kunzite mumbled back.
"Quiet up there!"
As Kunzite stopped in front of the steel door, waiting, Endymion was given a split second of optimism before dismissing it as his general trying to make him feel a little better in his final moments before facing his ultimate fate of being disowned and imprisoned. Surely it was one of his duties, to try to comfort him when facing down doom?
With a pneumatic hiss, the door whisked open, revealing a large, mostly black room that seemed to possess rounded walls. A large wooden desk was in the middle of the room, two smaller chairs right in front of it, and a large, cushioned seat behind it. The seat was turned away from the door. Otherwise, the room was oddly barren, seemingly far too large for the purpose it was serving. Perhaps some sort of new-wave style from Neptune or Uranus that the agency was trying to adopt.
"Take your seats," came the voice from behind them. With no other readily obvious seats available, the two men marched over to the ones in front of the desk. Endymion stared right at the back of the large chair, imagining who he might find sitting in it in a few secundas. His father, Grandmaster Galen, some nameless interrogator...none of these options sounded remotely appealing. Kunzite, however, continued to examine his surroundings as much as he could.
And then, they were both seated. Endymion glanced behind him, finding the five armored troopers that had apprehended them standing maybe ten paces back, weapons at the ready. He turned back around, finding the silence so gut-wrenching that he was tempted to say something.
"Um…" he muttered, just barely audible.
"Alright, what's going on here?"
Endymion's eyes went wide, and his head snapped over to look at Kunzite, who was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, staring down the back of the chair in front of them.
"U-uh…" Endymion stammered, shocked into a mild stupor by Kunzite's behavior. Maybe he really did have some convoluted plan to get them out of this? If he did, how could this be it?
"Enough playing around, we're all on the clock, so it's time for some answers," Kunzite continued.
"K-Kunzite…" Endymion said weakly, awkwardly glancing over towards the guards standing behind them. "I…"
"Since this is obviously not an agency operation, despite your half-decent attempts to make it resemble one, and this is obviously not The Savery, you must have some motive behind bringing us out here, so let's hear it, there are—"
"Dammit!" The cushioned chair in front of them shifted a bit, Endymion struck by the clearly feminine voice coming from the occupant. Slowly, it spun around to face the two young men, revealing someone Endymion would not have guessed had you given him a million tries. The blonde beauty, Princess Venus, glared at Kunzite with a pout. "I wanted to have a little fun with it first!" She shook her finger over towards Prince Endymion. "Couldn't you at least keep quiet for a few secundas so I could surprise him?!"
"I'm sure he figured it out a while ago as well," Kunzite said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Endymion was far too confused to feel embarrassed, his gaze zipping back and forth between his general and the Princess.
Venus let a soft little hiss go. "When did you figure it out?"
"Immediately," Kunzite said, sounding almost bored. "The agency sends a dozen foot soldiers to ambush and arrest housewives who try to synthesize imperium in their bathtubs, so they certainly wouldn't send five to take down the biggest black market chemist in galactic history. And they certainly wouldn't send all women."
Venus slowly gave a resentful nod. "Mmm...hmm, what makes you think that they're women?"
"I watched them walk," Kunzite said. "And then you had the single-file docking tunnels, very obviously not something you'd find in a space station like The Savery."
"Ah, you're too good," Venus admitted. "I'm not surprised, I suppose."
"Wait," Endymion interjected, finally snapping himself out of the daze he had been stuck in ever since Venus had revealed herself. "Wait, what, what…"
"Now, what's this all about?" Kunzite said, glancing over to the Prince. "You have no idea how difficult the next few days could be for all of us, we need as much time as we can have."
Venus turned her focus over to Prince Endymion now, giving him a bit of an incredulous look. "You know, Endymion, I never thought you'd make much of a royal, but...becoming the most notorious criminal in the galaxy before you turn twenty?" She tilted her head a bit to the side. "That took some time before I could bring myself to believe it. Do you suppose your bassinet got switched at birth, and the real Prince is out there somewhere on Earth, working a night job to put himself through vocational school to become a speeder mechanic?"
Endymion straightened up a bit, giving her a caustic look. "I...what's going on here?" He pointed over towards the Princess. "I barely know you, we don't...how did you…"
She put her palm out towards the Prince. "I know, there's a lot to unpack."
"If...look, if I've been caught, then so be it, but I don't see any reason why you feel the need to...to...mock me for it," he said, face wrinkling a bit. "I've done nothing to you, we've been in the same room as each other maybe a handful of times in our lives! I doubt we've spoken a hundred total words to each other before today!"
"Mm," Venus grunted. "Well, you haven't been caught. Not yet, anyway. I mean, you've been caught by me, but...that's not who you're afraid of now, is it?" She put her hands up behind her head, seat tilting back.
Endymion blanched at this confusing string of sentences. "You're on the council," he said matter-of-factly, pointing towards her. "I saw you at the fundraiser, my father mentioned you, how can—"
"Ah, yes, the fundraiser," Venus recalled. "Fascinating individual, that Cronus. Hides right in plain sight." She reached up towards her nose, tapping the tip of it. "Like, you know how we can't see our own noses even though they're right in front of us? It's like that, it's as if Cronus figured the best way to avoid the agency was crowd up right next to their nose, and ten years later, they haven't even sniffed him!"
Endymion slowly turned his head to give Kunzite a befuddled look, still trying to piece this bizarre interaction together. Kunzite, however, seemed quite focused on getting some straight answers out of the beautiful blonde young woman, and just sat there in stoic silence as she amused herself.
"Life is so much better when you don't trust anyone," Venus continued. "You just approach everything with skepticism and doubt, and things will work out for you. Ten years, that guy operated a galactic imperium smuggling ring, and all the might of the agency didn't touch him. I come on for a few cycles, giving nobody the benefit of the doubt, and just like that, I've got him!"
"Okay…" Endymion squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head back and forth. "Can you start making sense?! What's going on here?!"
She smirked, but gradually leaned forward towards the two young men across from her. "Alright, alright." She waved her right hand over towards the armored troopers standing behind Endymion, who took the prompt to begin removing their helmets. The Prince turned around, watching all five of them reveal themselves to be attractive blonde females, the likes of which you would certainly not expect to find forming the entirety of an agency strike team.
"Your general is correct," Venus stated. "This is not an agency operation, and there's a possibility we can keep it that way. I'm sure that's in your best interests." She shrugged. "It's not because I like you, though, believe me. Truth be told, I'd actually rather enjoy handing you over to your father, since I heavily suspect you've had to bury Princess Serenity under a mountain of lies over the last year to accomplish all this."
Endymion almost opened his mouth to protest this statement, before catching himself and realizing it would be best to not give information away right now. He settled for giving an annoyed grunt and glancing away, crossing his arms over his chest haughtily.
"I've been hunting the man that they call Tuxedo Mask for many cycles now," Venus stated. "Ever since you started operating back on Earth. I actually saw you, I think it might have been one of the first times you were using that absurd disguise." She grinned, leaning her head back. "Was enough to plant the idea in my head, but I just didn't have the resources to actually find you. I suppose that's to your credit, I had to force my way onto the agency's council to actually track you down."
"Why do you care about any of this?" Endymion asked. "What does any of this have to do with you?!"
"I want to work with you," Venus answered. "You see, Prince, I have a need for money. And it just doesn't seem fair to me that you get to reap all the rewards of falling ass backwards into a lifetime's supply of the most valuable substance in all the universe, or...however you managed to come across this imperium strain that has the whole galaxy's panties in a bunch."
"You have an awful lot to say about things that you know very little about," Endymion said tersely.
She rolled her eyes. "My mistake. Of course, you must have found it digging around in your backyard. Some time in between getting your specialty 'Humid Evening Outdoor Musical Festival' cape embroidered with rubies and interviewing a new squadron of maids to be tasked with daily rearranging of your bedroom ornaments, of course, you were out on the palace grounds, drilling."
"Either way," Endymion grunted. "Is this some kind of joke? You...you dress up as agency goons, you arrest me, take me out here to...to wherever this is, all so you can work with me?! H...how would you even work for me?! How, exactly, do you think that would work?! What is it that you think we do?!"
"Look, Prince, if you're so repulsed by the idea, I can always just drive you two over to The Savery and let the wheels of justice do what they will," Venus offered. "You should consider yourself lucky that this is the solution that I prefer."
"Oh, I feel very lucky right now," Endymion said as dryly as he could manage. "A handful of minutas ago, I had—"
Kunzite gently placed his right hand onto Endymion's left shoulder, managing to pre-empt the bitter tirade that was brewing. "What do you propose, Your Highness? We're listening."
Venus sighed. "Thank you." Endymion gave Kunzite an odd look, instinctively assuming that his 'Your Highness' was addressed to him before applying context, but then reluctantly gave Princess Venus his attention. "In any case, it seems to me that you've got the supply, and you've got the means to synthesize the supply, so where I come in is distribution."
"We have distribution," Endymion protested. "In fact, we have everything we need."
"Had," Venus corrected. "This morning, you had everything you need, maybe. But believe me, that little operation wasn't done without the cooperation of Cronus, who is probably scrambling to flush all the evidence and find a way to pin everything on you as we speak."
Endymion's mouth fell open slightly. Without thinking, he moved to stand up, held back only by Kunzite grabbing onto his shoulder. He was vaguely aware of a flurry of movement behind him as Venus's lieutenants brought their weapons to bear. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't take it personally," Venus said, gesturing slowly for Endymion to sit back down. "I made him an offer that he had to take. Help me grab his chemists, and I'd give him the opportunity to cover his tracks." She laughed, gesticulating over towards the wall to her right. "He's probably out there right now, setting file cabinets on fire and waiting for an agency strike team to kick down his door. Funny to imagine, when you think about it."
Endymion seemed less than amused, however, as he settled himself back down, expression clouded with frustration and anger.
"Your Highness, once Cronus realizes that you were bluffing, he's going to consider you a loose end," Kunzite warned. "He won't accept having someone out there who knows about his black market dealings, and he will do whatever it takes to tie off that end."
"You let me worry about that," Venus said simply. "I'm a survivor. I'll make sure that Cronus understands that the best way to continue to fly under the agency radar is to leave me alone. Now, as I was saying, I'm prepared to sell your product. And I can offer you something nobody else in the universe can." She propped her right elbow up on the right armrest of her chair, putting her hand up to her chin. "The opportunity to sell black market imperium on Venus."
Endymion, obviously already in a bad mood at hearing of Cronus's willingness to sell him out, scoffed at the offer. "There is no black market on Venus! It's impossible to sell down there, you should know that better than anyone! You can't sell so much as a single shred without it being detected by those probes! If we try to sell there, we're all going to end up in cells on The Savery!"
"Under typical circumstances, you'd be correct," Venus admitted, nodding. "Believe me, I know about the state-of-the-art spying apparatus we've built to precisely regulate imperium usage." She grimaced. "Also very familiar with how it's put us waist-deep in debt. Very effective, though. Not an ounce of illegal product gets through without being discovered and followed through until everyone involved is brought to justice."
"And yet, here you are, proposing we all just march to our doom," Endymion said colorfully, becoming more irritated with each passing moment.
"I'm both a member of the Venus royal house and I sit on the high council of the Galactic Imperium Agency," Venus said expansively. "Come now, Prince, think about who you're talking to! A little bit of subterfuge on my end, and those probes will be reporting what I tell them to report. Then I just have to balance it with the agency, and you've got yourself the perfect crime."
Endymion looked less-than-impressed, still visibly fuming.
"We'll be the only ones operating on the planet," Venus continued. "And believe me, the agency has taken full advantage of the fact that they have no competition. Prices are significantly higher compared to any other planet or moon. Means we can charge more. Plus, since Venus is entirely dependent on the spying apparatus and probes to report illicit imperium, the odds of any dealers ever getting caught are virtually nil."
"And who's going to sell it? You?" Endymion asked caustically. "You plan on running around in the streets all day?"
"I have tens of thousands of loyal agents throughout the population of Venus, just waiting to follow my orders in whatever capacity I need them," she stated. "I've thought my end out, Prince, and I'm ready to begin immediately." She put her hands out towards Endymion and Kunzite. "Oh, one last thing. Given the nature of our current encounter, I'm going to have to insist on a particular payment structure."
Endymion slowly lifted his left hand up to his face, rubbing at his left temple, eyes squeezed shut in frustration. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered.
"You'll still make money," she assured him. "But I'm taking ninety percent of the profits."
"You want...ninety percent, for distribution?" Endymion said listlessly, too beaten down to be appropriately irked by the demand.
"No, I want ninety percent for distribution, and not turning you into the agency like I could very easily do," she answered coolly. "So, how are we feeling?"
"Ooohhhh…" Endymion groaned, not even attempting to hide his utter disdain for the decision she was currently forcing upon him.
"Come on, guys," Venus urged. "Don't make me do my job. Between you and me, I don't want to do my job. It sounds really boring. And those cells on board The Savery? Not a place anyone wants to grow old."
"I think we can work something out," Kunzite said, after a final glance over at his Prince seemed to prove that he wasn't going to even attempt to pretend he was happy with this sudden whirlwind of arrangements being thrust upon him. "We'd be happy to have you distribute our product."
"Oh, yes, ecstatic," Endymion grumbled. "Why, let us just head on over to our laboratory, filled with all the substances, chemicals, and equipment that we need to synthesize imperium, and we'll have that ready before you...oh, wait a moment! For some reason, we—"
Kunzite again placed a calming hand onto Endymion's shoulder, turning to look at Princess Venus as he tried to keep the Prince under control. "...what His Highness is trying to say, is that we will need some time to procure equipment and resources for our procedure. Previously, Cronus was handling that end of things. We won't be able to start immediately."
She nodded. "Well. If I can be of assistance, let me know. The sooner we can get started, the better. But yes, I understand, and I have some patience. Just not an infinite amount."
"You...you've gotta be freaking kidding me…" Endymion continued to mumble under his breath. "Insane, insane, this is just insane…"
"I suppose that's all," Venus said, her cheeriness seemingly holding an inverse correlation to Endymion's irritation. She waved her hand over towards her lieutenants, still closely observing the conversation and ready to protect their Princess if the need came up. "Aphrodite will drop you off wherever you like, and we'll be in touch."
"Do you have any idea, what you've done?" Endymion hissed, massaging his forehead just above his right eye and looking down at the floor. "What you've—"
Kunzite, in one quick motion, got to his feet and placed his hand into the crook of Endymion's arm, lifting him up into a standing position. "We'll be in touch," he said hurriedly, turning around and trying to pull Endymion away from Princess Venus, taking him towards the docking tunnel one labored step at a time.
"I'm excited to get to work with you."
Kunzite stopped mid-step, turning his head around to look at Venus, who was now leaning back and resting her legs up on top of the desk. She was, indeed, seemingly looking over at the Earth general. Tentatively, he pointed his right hand's index finger up towards his face, wearing a quizzical expression.
"You're a legend down on my planet, you know? You should hear the stories they tell about those two years you spent down there," Venus continued, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Mostly exaggerated, I'm sure," Kunzite said, trying to sound dismissive.
"The men...and the women," she added.
It took about half a beat for all of Endymion's simmering rage to seemingly melt into oblivion, his posture straightening up and expression rearranging into one of intrigued confusion. He slowly turned to look at Kunzite, who had blanched a bit, before quickly gathering himself and beginning to lead a considerably more pliable Prince over towards the docking tunnel.
"Right," Kunzite grunted. "We should get going."
As Kunzite led Endymion away, the Earth Prince couldn't stop himself from casting a look over his shoulder at Princess Venus, for the first time during this entire interaction possibly wanting to hear what else she might have to say.
"
Endymion couldn't take his eyes off of his most trusted guardian, who seemed determined to ignore his unbreaking gaze, as the two sat right next to each other in the two middle seats of the small ship, the same which had taken them to meet with Princess Venus, this time lacking the four armed guards in the corners. The two were effectively alone, with the cockpit of the ship cut off from the body thanks to a thick steel barrier, giving them some privacy.
"And the women?" Endymion blurted out, breaking the extended silence that the ship interior had been sitting in for the better part of the last few secundas.
"I'd really prefer to not discuss it," Kunzite said stiffly, looking over to his left towards the floor.
Endymion just continued to stare his general down, eyebrow raised quizzically.
"And we have more important things to think about right now," he added. "So, anyway, when we get to the palace, it's imperative you not leave until you get word from me. In fact, I'm going to fabricate an anonymous threat against you. Just enough to warrant additional security for a few days."
Endymion sighed, bristling at the reminder of how his situation had taken such a drastic turn for the worse in the last few minutas. He sulked, leaning back heavily against the backrest of his chair. "We had everything running like clockwork, and—"
"Your Highness, please, just hold it in for a little bit!" Kunzite pleaded. "Just...let's get to the palace first and secure things. We're not safe yet. Cronus certainly must consider us loose ends right now, whether or not we're in agency custody."
Endymion's expression darkened at mention of his former business partner. "And what's he going to do about it? What, he's going to just...kill the Crown Prince of Earth? That's a realistic scenario in your mind?!"
Kunzite winced, considering his words carefully. "It...it can't be ruled out. We've seen first-hand that Cronus is capable of a lot that nobody would have guessed. In his mind, right now, we currently pose nothing but risk to his operation. Let's assume he'll take whatever action he needs to in order to mitigate that risk."
Endymion released a growl from the back of his throat, working very hard to honor Kunzite's request to bite his tongue until they were in a more secure location.
"So, once we land, I'll start doing everything in my power to figure out what we're up against and what our options are. And, I'll look into acquiring a new lab and the necessary equipment to start our operation up again."
Endymion twisted his body around towards his general. "Are you...you do realize how bad this is, right? Do you understand the magnitude of what we've lost today? That lousy bitch may as well have killed us both—"
"Your Highness, please!" Kunzite hissed. He threw a quick glance up towards the steel door up to the ship cockpit. "And yes, I know, this is hardly ideal. I'm just as displeased as you are. This is absolutely the exact sort of thing I wanted to avoid."
Endymion settled himself back into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Thank you."
"But I can't do anything about that now," Kunzite said. "There's no point in dwelling on the situation we had this morning. Now, I just have to do everything I can to keep you alive and free. Just...please, work with me for the next few days, and we'll find a way out of this. Whatever you think of your situation right now, it's better than sitting in a cell on The Savery, being accosted by your father."
Endymion grumbled, rolling his eyes.
"
"How is that possible?" Cronus demanded, leaning forward over his desk, looking down at his communicator disc. "Are my sources inside the agency really that worthless?"
"That's not the issue, sir," Ptilol replied, her voice causing the audio wave hologram above the disc to expand and stretch about. "There's no chance that the Crown Prince of Earth would suddenly be apprehended and charged by the agency without news of it leaking to one of your informants. It's simply not possible for something that big to happen off the radar. He was taken from your facility on Deimos yesterday, he definitely would have shown up in their system by now."
"Again, how is that possible?" Cronus continued, disbelieving of how good the news seemed to be.
"I don't know," Ptilol admitted. "You'll be the first to know when we get some sort of confirmation that he's shown up back at the Earth Palace, since I'm sure that's where he'll go at some point. But at this point, I feel very comfortable saying that, for one reason or another, Prince Endymion isn't being charged with anything and isn't on The Savery. Furthermore, there's no indication that the agency is planning any sort of investigation into you or suspects anything of you. So if you're waiting for your door to be kicked in, it seems like it might not be happening."
Cyprine finally couldn't hold silent any longer, leaning up against the wall right by the door to the office. She quickly stomped over to the desk. "We saw the Prince and his bodyguard taken out of our Deimos facility in cuffs by agency troopers!" she insisted. "I saw it personally! This has to be an expertly-handled coverup of some kind, it's not as if he...escaped en route, or something like that!"
"Even if he did, our informants in the agency would have heard about that by now," Cronus pointed out. "No, this...it's as if this whole thing was some sort of elaborate prank."
"A prank?" Cyprine repeated. "By who?"
"I'm not saying it was a prank, just that it's as if it was one," Cronus said dismissively. "Thank you, Ptilol, please let me know as soon as Prince Endymion shows up." He tapped the center of the disc, then steepled his fingers underneath his mouth, thinking. "Well, that makes everything rather complicated."
"Does it?" Cyprine asked. "What's changed? We know for a fact that an agency council member is aware of our black market imperium activities, and could, at any moment, have the entire might of the G.I.A. crash down on us with an investigation that will put all of us behind bars until the heat death of the universe!"
"Yes, she could," Cronus acknowledged, turning around to look at the back wall of his office, staring at a spot between the multiple certificates and diplomas. "And yet, she's not."
"But she will," Cyprine warned. "We need to keep covering our tracks, as quickly and as definitively as possible."
"Let's consider the alternative," Cronus said, suddenly spinning around. "Just for a moment."
"You can't be serious," Cyprine said, looking rather stunned. "We have a guillotine hanging over our necks, and you want to wait for the blade to start moving before we get out of the way?"
"Cyprine, please, remember why I do this." He pointed up towards the ceiling. "I am currently sitting on the largest black market imperium distribution chain in the galaxy, one I have built up over ten years, and I have no supply for them to sell! This network will collapse absent imperium. If production stops for so much as a single cycle, everything gets put at risk. I thought it was possible that I might be able to use my agency informants to learn where the Prince was keeping his supply when he told their interrogators, then perhaps beat the agency in a race to get to it, but now, that imperium may as well be a in another galaxy for how accessible it is to me. So, I have to open myself up to other possibilities."
"You're not suggesting what I think you are, are you?" Cyprine questioned.
"So, suppose we wait for the Prince to pop up on our radar. Presumably at the Earth Palace. Once we have some degree of confidence that...for some reason, the events of the last couple days were not what we thought they were, we reach out to him. Tell him that we've...moved his laboratory to our installation on Earth, and that we're ready to start working again." Cronus nodded thoughtfully, pacing around behind his desk now, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "Treat the last couple days like the minor hiccup that it ended up being, and pick things up right where we left off."
Cyprine sighed, falling down heavily into the chair in front of Cronus's desk. "Sir, how can we even consider continuing working in black market imperium when a council member knows?! We shouldn't even have this discussion until we tie off that loose end."
"Princess Venus was smart enough to figure me out in a few cycles, meaning she's smart enough to make sure that I go down if anything happens to her. We handle the loose end by staying away from it and hoping it remains dormant. Meanwhile, by bringing Prince Endymion back into the business, we tamp off that potential loose end by giving him a reason to not be a problem for our operation."
Cyprine looked downright shocked. "Cronus, this isn't like you! We've stayed alive for the last decade because you're careful and you don't take risks! The Cronus of last year would have burned everything to the ground and disappeared underground by now!"
"Cyprine!" Cronus snapped warningly. "That's enough!"
With a reluctant unease that spoke to her lack of faith in her boss's decision making in this moment, Cyprine settled herself back down, absentmindedly playing with her ponytail.
"Remember why I do this," he insisted. "It's not every day that a quadrillion cred business opportunity falls in your lap. If I were to, as you put it, burn everything to the ground, it would be another ten years to build myself back up again, at least. How much longer do you think Saturn is going to last without our intervention?"
"We've made enough money and had enough of an impact on the war," Cyprine countered.
"I will not have Saturn be a barren husk by the end of it," Cronus said. "I want it over with inside of a year. And the only way we can do that is if we keep the business running. Maybe I've been good at mitigating risk over the last decade. But now, Cyprine, now is the time to invite a little risk, if the alternative is to start over from scratch." He put his palm down on the desk surface. "We contact Endymion as soon as we have confirmation that he's back in the palace."
Cyprine gave a curt little nod, standing up. "And suppose he's figured out that you gave him up to the agency?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'll understand, it's...this is a business," Cronus replied.
"
Endymion gave the leftmost wall of Kunzite's private chambers a frustrated, feral punch, drawing a loud thud from the wall and a hiss of pain from him. He recoiled back, hopping back towards the bed across the small room, holding his right fist in his left hand.
"Your Highness, please," Kunzite said quietly as Endymion winced and groaned, keeling over a bit.
"Sorry, sorry," he muttered, easing himself down into a sitting position on the bed, right next to his general. "I just...how did we get here?! How did this happen in one day?! You know, I was really starting to like Cronus too, he seemed like he genuinely cared, and he just...sells me out the moment things get a little difficult. I'm making tens of billions of creds for him, and I get thrown out the window like it means nothing!" He crossed his right leg over his left. "And...that stupid girl, poking around in things that are none of her business, doing things that she has no understanding of the consequences of, all with that shitty smile on her face like this is just a game!" He shook his head. "Now we're stuck selling a small fraction of what we were before for...for an insignificant amount of money, all because of what she wanted, nevermind anything else about the situation!" He wildly gesticulated over towards the door out to the hallway. "And now I've got half a dozen palace guards following me everywhere I go, practically under house arrest, just waiting for the assassins to come take their shots at me, all the while, my wife won't stop calling me in a panic over a...vague and non-descript threat against me that my father probably gets twice a day on average...am I the only person involved in any of this who is capable of acting in a professional matter?!"
With that final outburst, Endymion leaned back slightly, seemingly having managed to burn out a little bit of his frustration and anger. Slowly, hesitantly, Kunzite reached over and placed a comforting hand on the Prince's shoulder, unsure of what to say.
Fortunately for him, the communicator on Endymion's belt began buzzing. Lazily, the Prince looked down at it, grabbing it after a couple beats.
"Kunzite, if this is Serenity again, I'm handing the communicator to you," he said, lifting it up in front of his mouth and threading the earpiece from it into his ear. "If I can't get her to calm down with everything I've already told her, then you need to try." He tapped the center of the disc. "Prince Endymion speaking."
Almost immediately, his forehead knitted, Kunzite taking note of his sudden change in mood.
"Excuse me?" Endymion asked, scowling as he listened to the other side of the call. "You want me to what?!"
"
The door to Viluy's office was harshly thrown open, getting the small, white-haired woman to jump to her feet in shock. Prince Endymion stormed in, looking comical as he held his arms down stiffly at his sides, almost as if he was trying to appear larger than he actually was.
"Oh, Your Highness!" Viluy said, taking a reflexive half-step back at his aggressive approach. "You should have told the receptionist—"
Endymion placed his knuckles down on the desk surface that Viluy stood behind, staring her down. "We're falling behind on our quota?" he said in mild disbelief. "Did I hear you right on the call earlier? Was that what you said?"
"Well...we are," Viluy said, glancing up to see Kunzite enter the modest workroom and shut the door quickly behind him. She sidestepped over to a small whiteboard against the back left wall, assorted blue scribbles along the surface. She tapped her fingertip against the drawing surface three times in rapid succession, and the board was wiped clean. "I mean, don't misunderstand, Your Highness, we're not blaming anyone, we understand that circumstances were a little...irregular the last few days."
"Irregular," Endymion repeated dryly. "Is that your word?"
"Either way, the...the distribution network still requires a certain amount of supply, so assuming things have been resolved on your end, um...your new laboratory is ready for use. I can show you to it as soon as you would like. We've constructed it to match the initial laboratory as closely as possible, so you two should be able to ramp up and get going pretty much immediately."
Endymion's mouth was hanging open in stinging disbelief. "Are you...do you realize that I got arrested three days ago?! I...where is Cronus?! I want to talk to him."
"Not here," Viluy said, giving Kunzite an uneasy glance, meekly clasping her hands together in front of her waist. "He's...I'm actually not entirely sure where he is, perhaps you could try to contact him—"
"I was trying to call him the whole trip here, he won't answer," Endymion hissed, reaching down and yanking his communicator off his belt, holding it out towards Viluy and shaking it towards her.
"Well, he's a very busy man, I'm sure he'll get back to you as soon as he can," Viluy said. "I...I don't really know very much about any of this, I was just told to...to make sure that you knew that the lab had been moved for security purposes. I mean, this is better for you, right? You don't even have to leave your planet to get to the lab."
Endymion was about to continue accosting Viluy, but Kunzite gave him a yank on the shoulder. "Me and The Prince will be right back," Kunzite said hurriedly, jerking his head towards the office door. Endymion's cheeks practically expanded out in a exasperated rage, but as Kunzite went over to the wooden exit, he relented and followed.
The two stepped out into the sparsely-populated hallway, Kunzite giving a quick glance down both sides before leaning in towards Endymion. "Your Highness, let's think this through."
I am thinking it through!" he snapped. "Can't you put this together?! He sold us to the agency to try to save his own skin, and now that we've managed to worm out way out of it, he thinks we can just...go back to the way things were like nothing happened!"
"Yes, and...maybe that's not such a bad idea," Kunzite whispered. "I'm going to vet this, heavily, trust me. You won't set foot in that laboratory until I examine every single bit of it, but...this would solve all of your problems."
"How do you figure?" Endymion asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We won't have to worry about Cronus viewing us as loose ends if we go back to working with him. He obviously places a high value on the assets he gains through us, we can leverage that," Kunzite explained.
"Yes, until the next time someone jumps up and scares him into handing us over to the agency," he growled.
"Meanwhile," Kunzite continued. "Now we don't have to worry about a lab, or supplies. We'll be able to give Princess Venus what she wants immediately, and consistently. We get to go back to making the same money we were before. Everyone wins."
Endymion winced, as if physically hurt by this final phrase. "Oh, goodie, everybody wins, I'm so happy to help the guy who—"
"Your Highness, this is for the best," Kunzite insisted, quickly checking down both sides of the long white hallway again. "Just...give me some time to investigate this. But it really is the best-case scenario given the last couple days. We should take it."
Endymion frowned deeply, not particularly convinced by his general's suggestion.
"Come on," Kunzite urged. "We're going to have a very hard time fulfilling Princess Venus's demands any other way. This will be a huge burden off our backs."
The Earth Prince huffed, looking down the long hallway, almost as if he was trying to find some sort of third option to take that would solve his current list of issues while also granting him some catharsis. After several long beats, however, he shrugged. "Fine."
"Right," Kunzite said. "We, uh, we should tell Viluy to pass along the information about our arrangement with Venus." He made to
"Why?" Endymion questioned immediately, turning on Kunzite harshly. "We're doing it regardless of his opinion of it. Doesn't matter what he thinks. Why does he need to know?"
Kunzite faltered a bit, confused by Endymion picking this particular point to push. "Well, it's not as if...he'll know soon enough by the amount of chemicals we're using."
"And if he has a problem with it, he can come and voice it to me, but I'm not asking permission, because I don't need it," Endymion grumbled. "Not a word about Venus, that's an order."
With that, Endymion rounded past Kunzite and pushed open the door back into Viluy's workroom, leaving Kunzite standing there in no small amount of confusion.