The tips of his fingers were suddenly filled with warmth and they reflexively twitched, slowly moved from years of being frozen. There was a surge of heat, and the man suddenly dropped to the ground, his legs weak and shaky and unable to support him after so much time of going unused. Oxygen filled and burned his lungs as he shook and trembled against the cold, his eyes shut against the burning light, made sensitive by his time in absolute darkness.

"Do not be startled. You are awake."

The man tilted his head in the direction of the smooth, cold voice and shuddered, attempting to get up and failing spectacularly. "Why did you release me?" he growled, squinting up at the man clothed in darkness, only able to make out sharp red eyes from the shadows of his face.

The man shrugged. "I need a hand in my affairs in the city of Tokyo. Besides, Eternal Sleep is a terrible thing, isn't it, Jadeite?"

His eyes had adjusted, and the ice blue glared defiantly at the red. "How do you know me?"

"My people studied your kingdom and their failures," the shadow said, smirking as the general tensed, jaw clenched in controlled rage. "I've learned from the Dark Kingdom, and I believe you were the most effective of Beryl's generals. I want you to do my work on Earth because I know you will be effective."

Jadeite grinned. "And if I do? What's in it for me?"

"I'm looking to awaken the Dark Crystal," the shadow purred, closely examining the general's skepticism. "With it, I can awaken the dark god that resides within it, and he has limitless power. Help me, and I will give you power you couldn't possibly imagine."

There was a brief silence for a moment before Jadeite began laughing, the dark figure merely observing him stoically. "Do you take me for a fool? Why shouldn't I just go get this thing myself? Why should I have to depend on you for power when I can have it on my own?"

"You can't touch it," the shadow said, red eyes glowing. "The crystal would reject you and tear your body apart. It can only sync with a very specific energy frequency. You don't have that."

"Then what the hell do you want me to do!" the young general cried, growing ever more angry at the smug, arrogant, shadow of a man that stood before him, and the dark creature simply laughed.

"Oh, Jadeite, you are instrumental to me. The Dark Crystal is inside a human. I need you to seek him out and bring him to me. I will remove the crystal."

"Yeah? Well, I won't do it," the general said defiantly, crossing his arms and legs. "Do your own dirty work; I'm not anybody's puppet."

The shadow simply sighed, his breath freezing in the chill air, and with a lazy wave of his hand, ice suddenly encased the general's legs, and with a terrified and shocked scream that caught in his throat as his body tensed with cold, the young man began to struggle, icy blue eyes wide with fear.

"If that is what you want," the cloaked figure said softly. "I gave you a chance for freedom. You are a fool for declining my offer, but I suppose it can't be helped."

"No, wait! You said…" he started, voice choking over fear and cold and desperation. "You said you needed me!"

"Oh, but Jadeite, I do. But this does not mean you are indispensable. Look around you," he said softly, gesturing to the endless space filled with cold, frozen haze and a sea of ice crystals, each one containing a being that had been banished there to the land of Eternal Sleep, each one frozen with looks of horror and fear marked on their faces as they relived nothing but nightmares for eternity.

"I do need you, Jadeite. I do not have a corporeal form anymore. I only exist as a real being in ethereal plains like this one. I need somebody to help me on Earth, but I am not so desperate that I need to choose you. I have hundreds of thousands of options. You were my first choice, but you're not so special that you get any kind of sway or bargaining power. No doubt my next choice will promise to obey in exchange for getting out of this hell."

"No, no, wait! Please!" the blond cried as the ice quickly made its way up his chest, tears running from his eyes but quickly freezing on his cheeks as the cloaked figure turned from him and began to walk away. "Please, I'll do as you say, just please! Please! Don't leave me here!" The figure stopped and looked over his shoulder, glaring menacingly at the struggling man nearly entirely encased in the ice. "Please," Jadeite said weakly. "Please. I'll help you. I'll get this human for you. I don't want the crystal; I don't want power or anything. Just get me out of here."

"And then what? What happens after you have done as I asked?"

"I don't care," the general choked, shoulders shaking from cold and emotion. "I just want to live somewhere and pretend like nothing I have done ever happened."

For a while, the shadow didn't move, and everything was silent, save for quiet, coked sobs that seemed to echo in the desolate space. Then a flood of warmth once again overtook his body, and the ice melted from Jadeite's prone form. The general lay sobbing freely on the ground, muttering quiet thank you's under his breath.

"We should leave this place," the dark figure said passionlessly.

"What…what is my mission? What is it I should do?" Jadeite asked as he crawled to his knees.

The cloaked man sighed and looked at him sympathetically. "I will give you details about it later. For now, just prepare yourself for the inevitability that others will also be after him."

Jadeite's eyes lit up with something cruel, a long instilled feeling of hatred and revenge that suddenly seemed to possess his entire being. "The senshi? Are the senshi after him?"

"Understand, Jadeite," the man said smoothly, a sharp current of danger running through his voice that shook the young general out of his vengeful state. "The senshi are not to be attacked outright. Stay hidden if you can. If not, only attack if you are attacked first. We cannot afford to have them know what we are doing. They could ruin everything."

"If we kill them, they won't be a problem."

"Killing them is impossible without the Black Crystal."

"But-"

"We are not here for revenge, Jadeite. Beryl did this to you, not them."

The blond held his breath and looked away, clearly not pleased, but he nodded, quietly growling, "Yes, I understand."

"Good." With a wave of his hand, a dark portal materialized before them, and the cloaked figure seemed to float through. "Come, my general," he commanded from the void. "We have work to do."

"Just…just what are you?" the general asked, staring warily at the portal. "Who are you?"

"In time, Jadeite," the voice said softly, red eyes seemingly looking right through him. "In time, you'll know everything."

As Jadeite stepped through the portal, it quickly closed behind him, leaving the plain as cold and empty and silent as it was before, save for one small gap in the sea of crystal where the Dark Kingdom's Jadeite once stood.