THE FOUR LOVERS
HAPPINESS IS A PHOENIX
Chapter One
Nephrite
The quarters of the Generals on the planet Earth were
tailored to their individual tastes. Kunzite's, for
example, were subdued, with plenty of nooks and crannies to
store the various weapons he had collected. Jaedite's on
the other hand were done in bright splashes of color and
fashionable flair, and it seemed that when you walked in
that the room merged with him until his presence was so
overpowering that you swooned. Or, at least, that's what
some of the ladies had reported.
Nephrite's, though, were meant for comfort, and while he'd
indulged in a little luxury here and there, it wasn't
overdone. He now sat on his low slung, dark colored couch,
staring at the green wine goblet in front of him, eyes
shaded a deep brown in thought.
he wondered.
He had not seen his love in three days. Normally the pan's
of loneliness would not hit him for near a week. Yet these
were the times of the Negaforce, the black mass that was
reaching out slowly for the moon.
Where she was...
He had to stifle the pang that wrenched his heart, the urge
to get up and teleport himself to the Moon. He could--he'd
practiced enough with Jaedite when they'd arranged midnight
rendezvous with those they loved.
Yet...now was not the time. The Prince had gone in fear
for his lover, and had cautioned them to stay behind and
protect the Palace and themselves. He seemed strangely
grave at the time, and his eyes had been dark, like he knew
something and didn't want to talk about it.
Kunzite and Zoicite were out on the watch now, making the
rounds; they'd agreed to take overlapping watches, and soon
he'd relieve Kunzite and go on duty with Zoicite. They'd
agreed that neither Jaedite or Zoicite would be placed
together; though they were the wiliest of the Generals, they
were also the weakest, and they couldn't leave the big a
weak point in their defenses. After he left duty, he would
walk the lines of men waiting to defend their capital. Ever
since Priam had died, the Sea had declined and the Earth had
become the most powerful place on Earth, with Endymion at
its head. Most young men took more of fancy to the dashing,
roughened prince, and came to help in droves; the more men,
the more supervision, though. Their last true rest had been
when they'd escorted Endymion to the Moon.
He remembered his meeting with Jupiter (Kato to him), in
the Library of all places. It was a near maze of knowledge
and contained volumes on the wonders of every planet, every
speck that existed in Sol almost. He'd found her in a
section of mysteries, paging through the last sheets of a
book.
"How sad," she sighed.
"What?" he asked quietly as he sat near her, holding a book
on the wonders of Jade.
She sat back, a sad contentedness dancing in her deep green
eyes. "The book...it's about a man whose evil twin takes
over his life, and before he can stop him, kills his
beloved."
"That is sad," Nephrite replied, cautiously taking her hand
in his.
"There's no one around."
"I suppose I shouldn't worry so much," he sighed. "I just
don't want to see you in trouble."
"I can take care of myself," she retorted lightly. "But
it's nice for you to be so protective of me. After all, no
one else is."
"But the Senshi..."
"Yes, we watch out for each other," she sighed. "But
besides that...no one."
"It's my duty then, luv," he said in reply, fingers gently
rubbing the hand he held. She smiled at this, and her eyes
seemed to lose that trace of sadness they held. He leaned
into kiss her gently on the cheek; she turned and caught it
on the mouth, surprising him a little.
"My dear," he said when he finally drew back, "we cannot do
that in public."
"Afraid of being caught?"
"Yes."
Now she turned her emerald eyes full on him, and he
shivered at the intensity of her gaze. It was not quite a
shudder-shiver, but not quite a pleasure-shiver either.
"Love," she said softly, "why are you afraid of being caught
with me? We could pass ourselves off as friends exchanging
a platonic hello, or dismiss it as a trick of vision. Why,
your starfield protection could shift and make us appear
common!"
He didn't smile, though he felt the urge, but merely faced
her completely and took both of her hands. "My Lady," he
said quietly, "its not that I doubt what you have said. All
are true ways to avert public knowledge of our affair, and
my mind has mulled over these as well. Yet...how many
platonic kisses can true friends exchange before they shy
away from it and become lovers? Could we honestly dismiss
ourselves in front of others before they began to suspect?
Also, my starfield is unable to hold an illusion for length
amounts of time, nor can it cast a complete on like
Serenity's pen or Venus' crystal. No, my love, I fear that
publicly we will have to have more discretion than, say,
Mars and Jade."
A brief smile at what he talked of flittered over her face;
at the last ball, the two had been their usual flirty
selves--that is, until the last few dances. Then, they'd
suddenly noticed each other, and seemed to fall in love at
first sight--again. The room had filled with their heated
exchanges, and it wasn't because they were throwing
fireballs at each other. Yet the smiled waned and her eyes
held worry again, and she fidgeted in her seat before softly
asking, "Why love? Why are they so paranoid?"
Nephrite took only a moment to think and a breath before
answering, "You know that I'm not the greatest supporter of
your politics?"
"Yes," she replied. "It's never bothered me, though."
"But it bothers others," he said. "Powerful people in this
court loathe me with a passion. My fear is that if they
discovered us together, they would bring some sort of...I
don't know, foolish charge against me and force Selenity to
forbade me to come here ever again. And then I'd never be
able to see you again, Kato, and my heart would shatter into
a million pieces."
His eyes melted into soft brown at the words, and the
peculiar hoarseness in his voice grated against her soul,
and tears came to her eyes. For eternity it seemed she
stared deep into those eyes, searching the emotions within
them and finding not a grain of a lie, but nothing but
tremendous, overwhelming love. "I love you, Nephrite, and as
long as I live I will never leave you," she finally said. "I
promise." She clasped his hand tighter now, and a trace of
tear stained the corner of her eye.
He in turn stared into her eyes, and found quicker the love
he knew was there. "I love you as well, my lady," he
whispered, the hoarseness gone yet the words making her
insides quiver. "And I swear to you, on my life in my honor,
that I will never hurt you nor leave you." He withdrew his
hands from hers and presented the right one, palm up; a dark
velvet box appeared in front of her. "They're yours."
She opened the box and her eyes widened; automatically she
brushed the lingering tear away and reached out to touch
them. It was a pair of rose earrings, both of a dark coral
pink, and they shimmered and winked in the sudden light like
a pair of stars shining together. And now she had a feeling
why he'd given them to her, and not just because she'd once
expressed a like for roses. She looked up at him, and into
his brown eyes, and whispered softly, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, my love," he replied as she set the box
down on the table. He leaned over and violated his own rule
by gently kissing her...which had led into an evening he
would remember for years to come.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt across his brain snapped him
from his reverie, and he jumped from his couch and looked
across the room. Nothing. Yet something had just violated
his quarters; it had breached the grid he'd set up in order
to tell him when visitors and/or intruders showed up on his
doorstep.
"Hello?" he called out. "Jade, Kunzite?" He checked his
clock; he still had fifteen minutes before he was to go on
watch with Zoicite. "I have time!"
"No you don't, Nephrite!"
The voice exploded out of a far corner, and he turned
quickly to see a wave of water come rushing at him. He
teleported himself out of the way and into the air, hovering
so that his head nearly touched the ceiling. From above he
saw a watery women slither into the room, her skin and eyes
a bright blue, with very little hair. he thought--
or some type of Negaverse creature, comparing it to the
descriptions he'd heard. Automatically a whirl of white
tinged black power swirled in his left hand, and his spord
appeared in his right, and with a roar of "BEAST!" he
swooped down upon the creature.
"Heh-heh," the water creature said, and a pillar of water
immediately began to launch itself toward him. He slid out
of the way with ease and launched the power attack at it,
clipping its shoulder. A cry of pain surged through the
room, and he followed it up with burst of static, which
surrounded and imprisoned the creature. His feet landed in
the water, and he surveyed the room with disgust...
...before whirling to catch the end of a trident aimed at
him. "I think not, fiend," he growled, and the fight was on.
This creature was a snaky, slimy thing with green skin and a
red tongue that matched its orange, flaming eyes. A spark
flew from it's mouth, and the star shield flicked beneath it
before responding with a white flame. The creature tried to
duck, and soon found the tip of his spord at its throat.
Then another attacker came, and another. Soon, Nephrite
was facing off against four, and doing pretty well for the
amount of people he faced. He was about to teleport out and
bring back Kunzite, and then do some serious damage. Yet it
was then the smooth point of a lance speared his shoulder,
and with a cry of pan he dropped his sword. The youma
advanced, seeking blood, but bursts of star power flared at
them, and they stepped back.
"Don't hurt him anymore!"
The voice was dark and feminine, and saturated with power
and arrogance. The youma fell silent before it, and the
lance point came out of his shoulder, which he quickly
covered with his hand. He growled then, and drew upon the
star field to help patch the injury as he called out, "Who
are you?"
There was a laugh, and no reply. Yet in front of him
appeared a women, clothed in purple and a mane of red
falling down her back, eyes red, with pointed ears sticking
from beneath the aforementioned mane. She looked down at him
and laughed again, then advanced. The star field sparked in
front of him...until she drew out a dark crystal and drained
enough energy away from it so it collapsed. A strange
heaviness came over him as he looked up over her, and he
felt his eyes role back into his head as he slumped to the
floor, passing out cold.
"Nice to meet you as well, Nephrite," Beryl whispered
evily, then looked up at the shadow behind him. "Take him
away! We have plans to carry out."
The shadow behind him grunted, then leaned down to touch him,
both disappearing in a flash of purple. The youma followed Beryl,
leaving behind an empty, destroyed room were there was once peace.
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