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He opened his eyes.

Dark.

Diffused red light. He was lying on his back.

He tried to lift his head, pale hair pooling on the floor. His fingers met with the cool, polished stone under him.

Zoisaito! The place where your spirit resides... Guide me there!

He remembered.

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It had been aeons.

Maybe not. Perhaps he was exaggerating.

A few hundred years, at least.

Although... decades? Could it have been?

No. Far longer than that.

Kunzite woke abruptly, starting in his chair.

Two days.

He leaned his head against the stone back.

Oshitaishite orimashita...

It had been aeons. But it still hurt as much as the very moment.

* * * *

Minutes later, Kunzite picked up his uniform jacket and slipped it on over the black shirt he wore underneath.

Kunzaito!

For the third time.

I'm coming, you stone-hearted bitch.

Lately, Beryl's telepathic summons had really began to irk him. He thanked Kami-sama that they were only one-way transmitions.

He fastened the cape about his shoulders and, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from his eyes, left his castle for Queen Beryl's throne room.

* * * *

"You called, Your Majesty?"

"Only about fifty times."

"Forgive me."

Beryl sat in on her rocky throne, her ever-present crystal ball shoved over to one side. She leaned on one elbow, looking remarkably bored. "I have summoned you here to discuss the retrieval of the Silver Crystal. Now that we know where it is, it should be easy to obtain."

Kunzite nodded, only then noticing the dark-haired Prince Endymion standing near him in the shadows.

"I'm down to my last and most powerful servants," Beryl continued, "Now that all of my disobedient and weak kings have been... removed."

Kunzite stiffened, the only implication that he was madly enraged.

Smirking, Beryl straightened in her chair and crossed her legs. She leaned an elbow on her knee, tapping her long fingernails on her chin. Then she smiled, not entirely unkindly.

"How you treasure your precious control."

He made a small noise of surprise.

The Queen narrowed her eyes, letting her hand drop. "You wouldn't even allow yourself to let your little boyfriend know how you felt about him."

If she were any other person, he would have killed her where she sat.

Beryl smiled at him again, venomously, and turned to Endymion but still watching him out of the corner of her eye. "You and the Prince will work together to get the ginzuishou. Both of you have sufficient knowledge of the Senshi and should have no trouble... getting along."

Kunzite stared at her. He hid his surprise well, but obviously not well enough. She smirked at him again.

His gaze moved to the as of yet silent Endymion. Not this man. Anyone but this man.

He viciously hated Endymion. And he knew that the reason for his hate was entirely Beryl's fault, but he wasn't stupid.

He was anything but.

So he hated Endymion. Blame had to be laid somewhere. And if it wasn't for Endymion, this brainwashed Tuxedo Mask, his lover would not be dead.

"Surely, Your Majesty..." he began, but Beryl stopped him with a wave of her hand.

"No arguments. You have your orders. Dismissed."

Still silent, Endymion bowed and returned to the shadows. For a moment, Kunzite watched his Queen with narrowed eyes, thinly veiling his hatred.

She smiled. "Dismissed, Kunzaito."

* * * *

It was dark and he was standing in a world full of mist, a black and slightly cold world where he could see nothing but himself.

He shivered.

Slowly, a mist-white apparition formed behind him, over his shoulder, he could feel it, see it, it was touching his face...

"...Kunzaito-sama..."

He smiled, looked up, tears in his eyes, at the small face above him and the small hands touching him.

"Kunzaito-sama."

The apparition moved around him, floated around to face him and reach a pale hand up to touch the tears.

"Don't be sad, Kunzaito-sama."

He awoke with a stifled gasp, breathing hard, gripping the arms of his chair. Grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes, he sighed.

"Kunzaito."

Kunzite started violently and whirled in his chair.

Endymion.

"What the hell do you want?" This is not the time...

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No."

The Prince smiled, coming closer. "I just thought it would be a good idea to discuss what actions we should take against the Sailor Senshi. I have a great deal of experience in fighting beside them and I know their weaknesses."

Kunzite stood, his back still to Endymion. "Well?"

The other man folded his arms. "As you know, they have much power that even they cannot yet comprehend, and we don't have much of a chance trying to fight against it. But their strongest weapon is their friendship, and that can be used against them. I have no doubt that if we capture the four inner Senshi, Sailor Moon will give us the ginzuishou without a fight in return for the lives of her companions."

Kunzite said nothing. It was a good idea, and he resented it.

Endymion moved around to his side, still smiling in a slightly malevolent manner. "You don't look well. Haven't you been getting enough sleep?"

Kunzite glared at him.

Smiling infuriatingly, he continued. "You barely conceal your hatred of me, Kunzaito. Could it be that you are becoming more free with your emotions?" His eyes moved noticeably to the picture of Kunzite and Zoisite that sat on the mantle. "Of course... now... it's a little too late. Isn't it?"

Kunzite turned and backhanded him across the face, knocking him several feet away on the floor.

The Prince raised himself onto his knees, wiping blood from his mouth with a gloved hand. He chuckled spitefully. "Ah, I see the invincible one really does have feelings."

"Get out!!"

With a last mocking smile, Endymion rose and left the chamber.

* * * *

Days later, still the same. No progress. Damned Senshi.

Beryl was getting impatient, Metallia was awakening...

They had found the entrance, the entrance to the Dark Kingdom. They had attempted to heal Endymion and now he was in an unresponsive state, his regained memories being erased yet again.

Kunzite was the last able king. He was tired of the Senshi and he wanted them gone, once and for all.

And then...

And then...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He pulled himself into a sitting position. He could see his reflection in the dark stone beneath him -- he looked terrible. He raised a hand to his chest.

Impaled by his own weapon.

Where his fingers should have met blood, they met flesh. The wound...?

Gone. He winced. But still tender. He ran a hand over his face. Where were--

"Kunzaito-sama...?"

His pupils contracted.

The low light played off coppery blond hair in the shadows.

The young man flung himself at Kunzite, throwing his arms around his lover's neck.

"Kunzaito-sama! I knew you would join me soon! I'm so happy!"

"Zoisaito...?" Kunzite put his arms around the boy's slim body, almost afraid that if he embraced him too tightly he would disappear. Zoisite moved back after a moment, his face alight with joy. He is capable of such a range of emotions...

"Are we in Hell?"

Zoisite blinked, uncomprehending.

"Because it doesn't look like Heaven..."

The younger man cocked his head.

"We're not dead, Kunzaito-sama."

"Not... dead...?"

Zoisite smiled. "No. I don't know where we are, but we aren't dead." He glanced behind him. "I've been here ever since..." He paused. Didn't know what to call it.

Kunzite shuddered in spite of himself. He took the young man by the shoulders, unable to keep his hands from shaking.

"Zoisaito... Forgive me. I love you. I'm sorry that I never told you."

For a split second, the expression on Zoisite's face was pure ecstacy. Then he smiled and touched his lover's nose with the tip of a forefinger.

"Baka. I know that."

Kunzite cleared his throat, slightly embarassed by his uncharacteristic emotional display. "Have you explored this place?"

The boy nodded. "We are not in the place where I woke up, after--" Out of respect for Kunzite, he didn't say it. "I wandered around for a while, how far I can't say. Everything looks the same. Dark polished floors and pale crimson light. I have come across nothing except that."

Kunzite frowned and pulled himself onto his feet, his hands still on Zoisite's shoulders. "You found nothing? In all the time that has passed since you..."

Zoisite blinked again. "All the time that has passed...? What do you mean, Kunzaito-sama? It has only been a few hours, maybe, since I left you."

"A few hours?!" His voice was sharper than he had intended it to be, and the younger man looked shocked. "Zoisaito... you have been gone for days!" Hellish aeons... Kunzite thought, and it registered on his face.

Zoisite's of shock increased. "Surely not!" He shook his head. "It couldn't have been more than a little while, I would have gone crazy! Alone..."

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light, permiating the darkness, enveloping them. Kunzite drew the boy closer to him protectively, squinting against the brightness. "What's happening?" Zoisite murmured, not afraid, but cautious. As the light faded away, they realized that they were standing on another cold, polished floor, this time in the center of the Dark Kingdom's great hall, in front of Beryl's empty throne. Kunzite turned. Where there were usually hordes of youma, the glassy floors stretched beyond his range of sight.

It was perfectly silent.

"Where is...?" Zoisite broke away from him and ran to the edge of the hall and up onto the rocky platform where Beryl communicated with Queen Metallia. Before Kunzite could follow, he returned, slowly, a look of half-frightened confusion on his face.

"Metallia is gone."

Kunzite moved forward, taking the younger man in his arms as if resolved to never let anything frighten or hurt him again.

"The Senshi must have..." He stared at the empty place where the energy that was Metallia had pulsed. "The Senshi must have destroyed them."

And suddenly, he realized that it didn't matter. As Zoisite looked up at him wonderingly, he realized that it had never mattered. He smiled.

"Kunzaito-sama...?"

"Shh."

He rested his hands on Zoisite's small shoulders, and kissed him.

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