Hmm. Well, this took me awhile to do, didn’t it? Blame Natasha, the lousy little – uh, I won’t say anything else about my dear friend Natasha, now will I? I’ll just blame this mess on my psychotic muse, Celestine. All of this is HER fault (or maybe, quite possibly, it’s NATASHA’S fault), so flame her, not me. But be warned, if you dare flame her, Celestine will probably make you see the other side of that wall over there – THE HARD WAY.

P.S. Hi there, Amberlin! Watch out for those killer muffins! Especially the kiwifruit ones!

by Celeste Goodchild

chapter three:

______________________________________________________________________________________

The return had not been highly welcomed.

The strangeness of the two men was obvious to all who knew them. Orpheus, was once very vibrant and alive, had fallen mainly silent, and refused to say much about what had happened to him during his prolonged absence.

As for Orion, on whom much of the blame was laid, he was oh so changed. He seemed to…watch people more often, and he had developed a weird fascination with stars and the like. Even Melpomene, his so-called fiancée, seemed to avoid him almost constantly. Only Perseus, his "mistress," seemed to have no fear of the man these days.

Athena and Adonis were seated in the gardens, having decided that this was the only safe place to have a private conversation. Adonis had travelled to the Moon under the guise of visiting Aphrodite, but he had really come to speak with Athena. The reason for this was because firstly, the Senshi Mercury was more or less confined to the royal palace, and secondly, Orpheus more or less refused to come to the Moon to visit her.

This strange avoidance was obviously hurting the slight princess, and Orpheus was really beginning to frustrate Adonis as well. Numerous times, he had tried to speak with the young man, and every time, he had been neatly rejected. He couldn’t get anywhere near Orpheus these days…the young man would always either outright keep out of his way, or physically push him out of the way. At least his nightmares had stopped – Adonis had spent numerous nights outside the door to his bedchambers, a sort of silent guard. And each and every night had been silent.

Adonis sighed as he looked at the Senshi of Mercury. "Athena, I tried to convince him to come – but he seemed more interested in playing with his toys. You know what I mean?"

Athena nodded reluctantly. "Yes…you told me about his recent fascination with magic and the like…you never trained him in any kind of magic, did you?"

Adonis shook his head faintly. "I’m one of the only people in the Universe who actively uses magic, and I did not teach him anything. I am wondering who did…"

"Are you truly sure that this place, where ever they were, has not left a deeper corruption on them?" asked Athena, nervously wringing her hands in her lap. "They’ve been back for what – two weeks? How can you be so sure that they are truly a part of our Kingdom still?"

He sighed. "We can’t be. And that is what scares me the most."

________________________________________________________________________

The week was drawing to its conclusion – and for some reason, this placed a cold sense of dread over the heart of the Queen. She called to her the Princess, her Senshi, the Prince, and only two of his guardians.

The group had been ushered into her audience chamber, and all were slightly ill at ease. Endymion had one arm slung around Selene, who appeared quiet and withdrawn. The other Senshi and Generals were more formal, the two men keeping away from the four women.

Queen Serenity sighed as she looked over the group. "I brought you here because I want to speak with you, regarding the two generals who vanished without explanation several weeks ago, and returned two weeks ago today. They have not said much regarding their absence, the purpose of it or anything else, and they are secretive and mysterious. So it is with a heavy heart that I tell you they are not the people you used to know."

Shock covered the faces of all assembled, but it affected four people most of all – Adonis, Odysseus, Endymion and Athena. Queen Serenity hated the looks of betrayal on their faces, and she felt for their loss. She had never been overly fond of either of the two generals, but the others had been. And the loss of any friend was always painful. "They do not act like your old compatriots, they are changed. Their once bright auras are dark and bleak, their hearts are frozen. From what I have been able to ascertain, this is not entirely their own fault. Legend tells of another dimension that is accessible from here only three times a year. In this realm lives an immaterial daemon named Metallia…and she can work though others to spread her evil." She sighed heavily. "Legend also speaks of an sorceress, who was taken a thousand years ago to this…Dark Kingdom. And she said she would return…to destroy the universe. Her name is Beryl."

The others nodded, struck dumb. "She comes to them now, to try and take them over…for that is how a kingdom will usually fall. From the inside." Serenity closed her eyes for a lamenting moment before continuing. "I think what happened was that Beryl brainwashed them into working for her. I have spoken to many mystics regarding the method behind this…madness, and they say that they are controlled by the implanted belief that they are members of the Dark Kingdom, ‘imprisoned’ in these new lives in the Universe." She turned her wise, worried eyes on the two generals, whom were both regarding her silently. "And I do believe that they believe you are also members of the Dark Kingdom who simply do not remember their pasts. I believe they will do everything within their not inconsiderable power to bring you ‘back’ to them…"

Black.

Colour of mourning, colour of death. All shades of seeming start off black – but this was deeper. The Gate was much deeper, and much more evil than anything had any right to be.

The two remaining generals, guardians of the Prince of Earth, stood in the grounds of the palace of Earth, and stared at the darkening sky.

"You can feel it, can’t you?" asked Hermes softly, turning to stare at his taller, quieter companion. Adonis, the iciest general of them all, closed his eyes, and looked down.

"I can feel an evil presence in this world – but what is worse, I can feel it in my friends…"

Hermes nodded sadly. He had honestly liked his companions, his friends…

"They’re not the people we used to know," he interjected softy. "Adonis…you were a great friend to Orpheus, and…I’m sorry that it wasn’t enough to keep him from Beryl…"

Adonis shook his head. "I don’t believe Orpheus would do such a thing…he’s just a child at heart, a frightened child who is desperately afraid of being alone. To Orpheus, loneliness is the greatest Hell he could ever imagine."

"So glad you know me so well, Adonis," hissed a voice from behind the pair, and they both spun in shock to face a small man with coppery-blonde hair, and a tall man with long auburn coloured tresses.

"Why are you here? Why did you even come back, Orpheus?" asked Adonis, with great difficulty. "We accepted you back because we honestly believed that you meant it when you said you were still on our side…but you lied, didn’t you?"

Orpheus cast a sidelong look at Orion – and the other realised with a start that the pair were dressed in unusual grey uniforms, a sword hanging at their hips. It was Orion who spoke next. "We didn’t lie. We never specifically said that we were on your side…and you should know, you’re addressing us incorrectly."

"And how would we address you correctly, Orion?" asked Adonis in a almost apathetic voice.

Orion smirked. "For one, you’ve got our names wrong – and your own, for that matter, Lord Kunzite-sama."

Adonis jerked backwards at the name. "Excuse me?" he asked, and although his voice was unaffected, inside he was shaking.

Orpheus smirked. "Oh, indeed, Kunzaito-sama, my sensei, my love…and you remember me, don’t you?" His verdant eyes narrowed, sending a chill down Adonis’s vulnerable spine. He had never…seen Orpheus like this, just so…evil. His eyes had never contained such horror before, not even within the throes of the most bloody of battles. "Don’t you?"

Orion shook his head, placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. Orpheus stared at it with annoyance, but he did not move from it, and he did not say a further word. He just continued to stare with anger at the two generals.

"I am the second of the Dark Kingdom Kings, Nephrite," he said with a smug look, and he looked with an odd mix of affection and distaste at the younger man. "This is the fourth, Zoisite. He is the brother of the third king, Jadeite, and both student and companion to the highest ranking of us all." He turned pale sapphire eyes on Adonis, who stared back at him with his own steadfast argent eyes. Nephrite pulled a slight bow in his direction. "Lord Kunzite-sama."

"You remember me, don’t you?" asked Zoisite in his slight, silvery tenor. "Kunzaito-sama…" He made to move forward, but Nephrite caught his arm, yanking him backwards rather roughly. Zoisite spun on the man angrily, but he did not attack him. He clenched his fists rebelliously at his sides, and bowed his head.

Nephrite smiled at the display of submission to his greater superiority. Then he turned to the other two. "The great gate comes, my Lords," he said with a deepening smirk. "And you must join us – or fall with this kingdom. We will destroy this place…and you have the choice of coming with us – or going with them."

Zoisite’s head snapped up, and he automatically extended a gloved hand towards the silver-haired man. A smile lightened the dark expression on his face, and he cocked an eyebrow. "My Lord?"

Adonis stared at the hand for only a moment. The he turned away. "I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Zoisite, but I am going nowhere with you."

An expression of pure malice contorted Zoisite’s once pretty features into a sadly horrifying sneer. It was as if he had donned a mask – he hardly seemed recognisable in this state. "Oh really?"

Nephrite shot a rancorous glare at the young man. "Zoisite, would you please keep your hormones in check for five minutes, or is that just purely beyond you?!"

Zoisite opened his mouth to yell some suitably obscene comment at the general, but the startled looks on the faces of Adonis and Hermes stopped him. Then he rolled his eyes, and looked towards the sky. "Nephrite-sama, we must go. The Queen wishes us to lead her troops forward, and we must be present to do so, don’t you think?"

"It’s nice to see that you can keep your mind on the job," replied Nephrite dryly, before giving the other two men a suitably nasty glare. "As you can see, war is imminent. Call it a party – and you’re all invited. Just remember to bring your friends. You might need them."

Nephrite turned and teleported in the same movement, leaving Zoisite alone in the palace gardens, the sky continuing to darken. From a distance away, a lone siren began to wail. As the long seconds stretched into minutes, Zoisite continued to stare at Adonis without stopping.

"Go, Zoisite," said Adonis softly, finally breaking the long silence. More sirens had flocked to join the first, growing in volume and urgency. All of the three men were needed in war – though on different sides.

Zoisite put out his hand again, extending it towards the silver haired man. The expression on his face was one of dark hope. "Kunzaito-sama…"

"No."

The word was final, one that twisted Zoisite’s lips into a grimace of both pain and anger. "You’re a fool if you think you can run away from me, Kunzite-sama," he hissed, before turning abruptly and storming off in a furious flurry of cherry blossoms.

Adonis shook his head, and turned to his companion, Hermes. "I guess this means that they weren’t kidding about the war," he said, indicating the sky with a weary hand. The sirens continued to wail in the darkening sky.

Hermes nodded slightly. "We should stay here in the palace, with the King and his son, to protect them. For surely, the one who has taken our friends from us will want the king and his heirs dead. There are plenty of officers in the field who can do much the same job of leading the men as we can."

Adonis nodded slowly. "Yes. But, you know, this is far beyond just a simple war, Hermes. I do quite honestly believe that this…this is our own personal Armageddon."

________________________________________________________________________

Zoisite’s first course of action had been to go briefly to the Moon, to report on any activities the Queen of the Moon was now engaging in. He had simply discovered that the Princess Selene was now in the personal care of the Prince of the Earth himself, and was at present on the land of Terra.

Being something of an espionage expert, he had not expected to be observed by anyone during his brief sojourn. But as he had been about to make a teleport back to the Kingdom of Earth, he had heard a voice say his former name. Not with any emotion, but the same way she had always said it.

"Orpheus."

Athena stared at the man standing before her, her eyes both saddened and hopeful. She knew that this was not Orpheus standing before her, yet some part of her screamed out that it was, how could it not be the man she had fallen in love with so easily, without trying to?

The sword dangled loosely from one hand as the slight man moved closer to her, his verdant eyes never leaving the dim sapphire that coloured her eyes. "Dear Athena, why aren’t you afraid of me?"

"I’m only afraid of what you might do to me, Orpheus," she almost whispered, taken a step backward. The man smiled oddly, not really knowing just what Athena was implying. He had expected her to be calm and collected, but he had not expected to see such sadness in those large, beautiful eyes.

Beautiful? How can I possibly call a Senshi beautiful?

He then took her hand ever so slightly, and looked at the slender hand that trembled in his own. Her hand was tiny, well-formed – and the same size as his own. He only stood a few centimetres higher than the slight princess.

Without warning, two identical tears spilled out of Athena’s eyes, and fell down her ivory cheeks silently, her heart aching in her chest. "Orpheus, how could you do this to me?"

Startled, he watched the girl’s eyes as she watched his, not knowing what to say to her. She was now uncomfortably close to him, and to his horror, and her own amazement, Athena thrust herself forward and wrapped her arms about his neck, leaning forward to place an almost desperate kiss on his lips.

Zoisite had to resist the strong temptation to rip the girl’s throat out for daring to touch him, but he did not. Instead, he leant into the kiss, lulling the girl into a false sense of security.

Athena knew she was being childish, and incredibly foolish. The man who she was kissing was not the man she had thought she had loved, but an evil doppelganger who probably wanted nothing more than to kill her. And kill her. And then kill her again.

He shoved her backwards suddenly, and drew the long, wicked blade from its scabbard, pointing it to the princess’s prone heart. An instant look of madness coloured his verdant eyes black and bleak, as Athena stared back at him blankly.

"Why?" she whispered, and though the words were plaintive, they lacked a desperate weakness. It was a simple cry for help. And a hope that he could not offer her.

Zoisite’s deranged smirk continued to grow across his face as he spoke. "Because you’re a thorn in my side. I have to pull you out. And throw you away."

She trembled slightly as he ran the blade softly across the soft flesh of her throat, barely daring to breathe as he did so. "Orpheus…"

"Do not call me that," he murmured in his low, almost hypnotic voice. "I cannot kill you now, dear Athena. I am needed on Earth, and I have not the time to waste with you and your silly Senshi friends here on the Moon. For if I kill you now, they will know, will they not? And they will come, braying for my blood. I am not in the mood for that now, but I will return later. For your pretty head, my pretty Senshi."

The silent hubbub of petals that engulfed him then bore him away to the blue planet, leaving a shaken princess in his wake. For hours after that encounter, Athena would hear his final words to her.

("I’m coming for you, Athena…coming for your head!")

________________________________________________________________________

Hermes couldn’t believe the devastation that had been wreaked over the land in such a short time…it was the most awful sight, yet, his own comrades had been the ones who had done this to the land. They had been…changed, somehow. At least, that was what Serenity had told them. There was some greater force at work in these lands…

"So there you are," came a voice behind him. His heart sank when he heard it, for it was both so heart-achingly familiar, and so disgustingly alien. He turned to face Orpheus – or ‘Zoisite,’ as he now so liked to be called.

"If you’ve come to ask for my forgiveness, don’t bother," he replied in a monotone. "And I doubt if your so called beloved Athena will ever forgive you for your traitorous ways, either."

"Her name means wisdom," mused Zoisite quietly, seemingly off the subject. Then he decided to get to the point. "She’s rather naïve for a girl with a name like that."

"I won’t forgive you for this – and neither will Athena." Something suddenly struck him, and he turned his dark sapphire blue eyes on him. "And what about Adonis?"

The mention of his friend obviously rattled his cage a little. "What about Adonis?"

Hermes snorted. "Come on, Orpheus! Oh, excuse me, Zoisite. Everyone with a pair of eyes can see what you two are like – or used to be like, at any rate. We all know about the way you two used to carry on…but do you honestly think that Adonis will continue to waste his time with a traitorous murderer?"

Zoisite tossed his head, looking annoyed. "Jadeite, wake up. We’ve been brainwashed into believing that we’re from the Earthen Kingdom…but we’re not."

Hermes sighed restlessly. Serenity had warned him that the pair would tell him something along the lines of this. "No, Orpheus," he said in a babying tone. "This Beryl-daemon wants you to believe that…but it just isn’t true. We’re from earth…and there’s nothing more to say. What else is there to say?"

Zoisite’s eyes darkened. "They sure pulled the wool over your eyes, Jadeite."

His own eyes darkened at the use of the alien name. "Stop calling me that," he hissed, and he stepped backward, not wanting to be anywhere near the strange, effeminate "king." Yet, he was not so stupid that he would turn his back on him. He was not to be trusted.

"Going somewhere, Jadeite?" asked a smooth voice from behind him, and without thinking , he turned his back on Zoisite to find himself face to face with Nephrite.

He was now between a rock and a hard place. Or two homicidal ex-friends, whatever you wanted to call it. But what was important was the solitude. He was alone with two people who quite possibly wanted to kill him, or worse.

They could make him one of them.

"Why are you so afraid?" asked Zoisite, in a deceptively gentle voice. He moved closer, and put a hand around his waist, letting it sit there lightly. He looked up at him with calculating verdant eyes, managing to hold his dark sapphire eyes hostage. Hermes could only keep staring blindly at him as he murmured "Why do you keep running away?"

Nephrite smirked as he crossed his arms and regarded the pair. It appeared that they amused him to a great extent. "Jadeite, you just don’t remember it all. But you can, and you will…once we’re through with you." He turned around to look at Zoisite, who released his grip on Hermes and smiled lightly. "I’ll go and get Kunzite, shall I?"

"First things first," Nephrite said sharply. "Beryl told you to go and find out where the princess is…and make sure that the prince and princess are separated. And that they stay that way."

He bowed his head slightly, though Hermes could not see much respect in the gesture. Zoisite then gave the blonde man an impish smile. "Don’t worry," he said lightly, brushing his hair from his eyes. "It doesn’t hurt – right, Nephrite?"

The man with the luxurious auburn mane looked bored. "Don’t worry about that, Jadeite. You’ll have more important matters on your mind."

Zoisite then saluted smartly, and vanished in a flurry of…cherry blossoms?

Hermes looked at Nephrite, all of a sudden feeling very tired. He had not slept well, his own dreams had been roads paved to Hell. The dark curse of the evil spirit had not passed him by. It was difficult to remain untouched.

________________________________________________________________________

Zoisite moved swiftly through the silent palace gardens – the war had not reached this far. Yet.

He wondered where Kunzite was. No – he was still Adonis at present. But not for much longer…not if Zoisite had his way. "We’re meant to be together – forever," he murmured, a dark smile crossing his sharply beautiful face. "Oh Kunzaito-sama, you don’t know what you’re missing – why don’t you come out and play? You are mine, surely you know that…you can never get away from me, because I’ll always be right beside you…where I belong."

The night sky, with the ominously full moon hanging in the clear depths, was filled with stars. Zoisite looked up at them for a moment, and smiled lightly. "The stars know everything, Nephrite? Surely not…they don’t know where Adonis is…but I do. I can feel his presence…"

He turned, and moved quickly to the abandoned music room. It was ironic that Adonis would choose to go there. Zoisite smiled as he stepped through the large doorway, to see Adonis seated at the piano, his fingers poised over the keys. He moved up behind the man like a silent panther, admiring the way his silver hair shone like condensed moonlight in the natural night light. The man’s senses seemed curiously dulled – ordinarily, he should have been able to tell if another moved in his vicinity.

Zoisite smiled in absolute pleasure, and crept his delicate hands around the older man’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder as he turned his lips to his ear. "Oh, Kunzaito-sama, how I’ve missed you…"

The man didn’t move an inch, he just said in reply "That is not my name – and Zoisite is not yours."

He sighed, and whispered in return "You were always so stubborn, never able to admit when you were wrong…Kunzaito-sama, please. Stop playing games. Come home, to me and my bed…forget the sin, you and I were supposed to be together – forever."

Adonis let a finger touch the piano key gently. "Do you remember when you tried to teach me to play last month? You sat me down here and just moved my fingers where they were supposed to go – you told me that it was the way Eurydice taught you to play, before she gave you the talent to do it yourself."

Zoisite frowned, and ran his hand down the side of his face, and pressed his cheek against his. He placed his other hand over Adonis’s right, guiding his fingers gently. "Like this, my love."

He seemed bemused. "Orpheus, what’s happened to you? You’re not evil, you’re…you’re my friend. My greatest friend…not my lover. I love Aphrodite…"

Zoisite suddenly reeled backward, like the name repulsed him. "Her?" he hissed, his eyes darkening.

Adonis sighed, not turning from the piano. "Orpheus, you and I both know that we can never be together, you are the one who pointed it out to me! You were the only thing I never thought over, pondered over, was the slightest bit reserved about…although now I am. Because you are my friend, and I never wanted to hurt you."

"Then why did you let me love you?" he asked softly, his eyes blank and staring. "Why did you make me love you?! Traitor! You damn TRAITOR!" His once quiet voice spiralled with startling speed into the shriek of a banshee, and Adonis winced at the sound.

Standing and turning to face the trembling man in one fluid movement, Adonis allowed himself to look directly into his vindictive green eyes. "You betrayed yourself," he murmured softly, completely without any form of rancour. "Orpheus – Zoisite – whoever the Hell you are, you betrayed only yourself. You say that we are dark, but we are light. Only through corruption in your deepest of hearts could this daemon could have changed you. Orpheus, who corrupted you?"

The man looked baffled, slowly stepping back. Though his eyes never left those melancholy silver-blue of his friend. "I was born corrupted. They changed me into him…Orpheus is not real! Kunzaito-sama, please! Why aren’t you listening to me?"

"Why aren’t you listening to yourself?" he asked painfully. "Tell me…Zoisite. If you were really of the Dark Kingdom, why on Earth would we want to bring you here as one of our own? You’re of Earth, Orpheus!"

He smiled shakily. "You’re lying," he whispered, with the same disbelieving smile still pasted haphazardly on his face. "Lying, lying, lying…"

"Then leave me," Adonis almost choked out, still looking into his eyes with tortured argent. He had never been a person for tears, or anything such, but now, staring at his corrupted friend, he felt an overwhelming urge to just weep helplessly for what he had lost. For what both of them had lost.

"What?" Zoisite seemed more bewildered than shaken, and Adonis wondered what made the young man stay. For surely…he was evil, impure. What on Earth made him stay? He couldn’t love in such a state…could he? Was it possible that…some part of him was capable of such a pure emotion?

"Leave me to my despair," he said softly, turning back to the ebony and ivory of the keys. "Leave me to my own mourning. And to each our own – go back to your darkness, Orpheus. I don’t know in what part of you Beryl found your sin, but…I just hope and pray it wasn’t my love for you. I could never live with the guilt of knowing it was me who indirectly did this to you."

He lowered his head, feeling the hot tears begin to course down his cheeks. He couldn’t face the man again, he didn’t know if he ever could again. "I only wanted to love you," he whispered, more to himself than the man behind him.

"It wasn’t you," he whispered softly. "It was…jealousy…"

Startled, Adonis spun around. That voice – it had been Orpheus! Orpheus! He was still such a part of Zoisite. His heart filled with new hope, he turned.

A hope that flared and died.

Orpheus – Zoisite was no longer in the room.

"Adonis?"

A soft, sweet voice permeated his thoughts, and he turned to find that Aphrodite, dressed in her Senshi seeming, was watching him. Her wide blue eyes were compassionate, filled with longing – a longing to take his pain away.

"You…how long have you been watching, Aphrodite?" he asked softly, and she looked to the ground, seemingly a little ashamed.

"I know it’s not polite to eavesdrop…but Adonis…I never realised just how much you loved…Orpheus."

Standing, he moved towards the woman and wrapped his arms around her. She lay her head against his shoulder, one gentle but sure hand moving around his waist. "You…love him greatly, do you not..?"

"Yes," he murmured softly in reply, allowing one hand to stroke her hair as the sweet smell of her made him feel slightly dizzy as he breathed it in. Her scent was sweet, almost tangy, the smell of roses in a cool summer evening…unlike the ambrosial fragrance of Orpheus. He always had the light smell of cherry blossoms hanging in the air around him, a soft blanket that always enveloped him in its warmth when he was near him.

He realised with a start just how deeply he had fallen under Orpheus’s spell – and the pain in his heart confirmed what he already knew to be the truth. "I do love him, Aphrodite…very much so."

She nodded, and looked outside the window, with a heavy sigh. Night-time was slowly falling across the sky that was already dim from smoke of the fires burning throughout the city. "I think you are needed in the wars, Adonis. Why do you stay here? I don’t…I don’t want to have to be the one to tell you this, but Orpheus is dead. He’s shown you nothing new…Beryl killed Orpheus, and even though Zoisite resembles him so greatly, it is only skin deep…Orpheus is gone."

"I know," he murmured, and he gently pressed his lips over Aphrodite’s, but only for a moment. "Aphrodite, go to the moon, go to your princess. I will be fine here…after all, sometimes things do have to work out…don’t they?"

She nodded faintly, and stood away from him. As she called upon her own power to teleport herself to her duties as the Guardian of the Moon Princess, she suddenly pressed her lithe fingers to her lush lips, and blew the lonely general a soft kiss. She smiled brightly at him as she vanished, and he had to wonder at the girl’s inherent charisma. She had a very special presence about her, one he didn’t fully understand. All he knew was that it only made her love her more.

________________________________________________________________________

Zoisite was there. He knew what he was doing – and he was going to do it. "Just watch me, Nephrite," he hissed under his breath. Nephrite had laughed when Queen Beryl had given him this particular assignment, declaring that the effeminate, slightly built man was too weak to carry out such an important task.

The palace spread before him like a labyrinth, but his years as a member of the court gave him an easy insight into the layout. He knew where he was going, and precisely how to get there.

Nephrite had laughed openly at the orders given to Zoisite by the Queen, but he had had an uneasy feeling in his bones. Zoisite may have never looked very dangerous, but the manner in which the delicate man held himself belied a well hidden insidious viciousness. Zoisite’s outwardly feminine appearance hid a fiend-like nature, he knew all too well.

The king moved easily, his new task as assassin nothing to him. He knew the dangers, but an over confidence in his abilities secured him a place in the realm of success. It would be all too easy for Zoisite to complete the task that he had been given.

The King had not gone far, Zoisite could see that now. Pacing restlessly before his throne, he was strangely alone. He had been told that the King would be like this, though he did not entirely understand why this was so.

Perhaps he’s waiting for that idiot son of his to show up…Zoisite felt his heart twist in rancorous anger at the thought of the young prince. Even in his anger though, he was suspicious of the fact that the King of Earth was alone. Adonis and Hermes had theoretically stayed in the palace to protect him, though Hermes had now turned, and Adonis had paced the halls up and down alone.

Zoisite smiled at the moment, and then descended upon the king. Descended upon his destiny.

And after he had gone to the king to "speak freely" with the man who had been his monarch, an odd thought struck him, one he would not unusually entertain. It was not an apologetic, nor remorseful statement, though it was a strange one. It was more some kind of twisted observation he made as he surveyed his handiwork.

Who would have ever thought the old man could have so much blood in him?

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