Past Meetings
Chapter Twenty One
by, Cony
When Zoisite finished his story he looked at Mercury. She was
giggling, and trying her best not to show it. When she realized he
had finished, looked at him, and asked: "Did you get him?"
"Well, it depends on what you think catching is. If it means to finish
in the kitchen, completely covered with flour, with Neflyte and
Endymion choking him, and me and Kunzite with all that night's food
all over us, while everyone looked at us, well, we did."
Then, for the first time since they were together, Mercury laughed.
She didn't care any longer; she just let everything free. She laughed
until her stomach hurt, then looked at Zoisite's confused expression,
and laughed again. She was so happy, as if she had opened at last
the shell she always carried. For the first time, she was revealing
herself as she truly was, not as her friends or everyone else thought
she was. This was the real princess Mercury, a joyful, happy and
passionate about-to-be-woman, and not the cold, lonely and boring
girl the Moon people knew.
In the meanwhile, Zoisite heard her laughing. It was like as if heaven
itself was being revealed to him. A sound that filled his ears, his
body, and especially his heart. He could feel as Mercury loosened
up, and laughed from her heart. Zoisite felt as if his goal had just
been achieved. For some minutes, he stood there, just staring at
her, and them he started laughing himself. Their voices melded again
and again, echoing through the Moon morning. They felt so good in
there, alone, together, being how their hearts told them to be.
Suddenly, Zoisite felt a shiver ran up through his spine. The air was
changing from a light, happy feeling to an evil, full of hatred
environment. His seriousness was immediately detected by
Mercury, who stopped laughing, and looked around. There, walking
towards them, was their worst nightmare. Ren, the Saturn Prince.
"I've caught you at last," he said venom dripping from his voice.
"Now, you little pathetic earthling, let's finish what we started." Ren
opened his hand, and threw black energy towards Zoisite. He was
surprised, and the evil energy hit him in the chest. As he fell
backwards, he heard a scream that he recognized as Mercury's.
"Nooo!! Zoisite!"
He tried to stand up, but something seemed to be holding him in
place. He moved his head, and looking over him, saw an energy web
trapping him. He felt as it surrounded him completely. Trying to get
rid of it, he wriggled impatiently, but he wasn't able to break free.
From the corner of his eye, he saw as Mercury ran to him, and was
stopped by a commanding voice: "No, no, Mercury. If you don't
behave, your friend here will suffer." Then, Zoisite felt as he was
levitating, and was stuck against a nearby tree. His back smashed
against the tree trunk, and he heard a cracking sound, which he
recognized.
There go two of my ribs. He grunted, and opened his eyes, trying to
focus them on something. Everything was a blur, but there, always
there, was the black energy that had him trapped. Shaking his head,
the only thing he could move, he cleared his gaze. He looked at
Ren, who was clearly enjoying his suffering. Zoisite felt as his
stomach revolted just forcing him.
But then, he turned his eyes to his right, and what he saw made his
heart break. Mercury was crying. Hot tears running quietly along her
cheeks, coming from her beautiful blue eyes, leaving behind them a
wet trail of pain. Desperately, he tried to break free again, but all he
did was make the evil net to hold him tighter. Air was not reaching
his lungs properly, and he started choking. Mercury looked at him in
despair, and made a movement to run to him. Suddenly, Ren was in
between them, repeating: "Princess Mercury. Forget about him. You
have me, and that's an honor. If you continue being so stubborn,
you'll make me kill him." While he spoke, he moved his hand
towards Zoisite, and he felt as the net pressed against his flesh. The
pain was unbearable, especially as it pressed against his arm and
he couldn't avoid screaming. Turning his head to his right, he saw as
the bandage Mercury had put over his wound was dried again with a
deep red: blood…
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