Then the light decreased suddenly, leaving
them all blind for a moment. Kunzite recovered first, and saw the silhouette
moving in front of him. His heart missed a beat.
Yet something was wrong. It wasn't Zoisite.
Not really. He looked a little younger, less sophisticated with his hair
loosened wildly. And he wore a Yamato soldier's armor, not his Dark Kingdom
uniform.
The young man looked up to Kunzite, frowned,
obviously lost as he tried to stand up on his feet to give the proper
salute.
" Kunzite-dono?..."
It had been long, very long since Kunzite
had last been called that way. Zoisite had never called him so. From the
day Queen Metalia had made him the next Shinma, on Kunzite's suggestion.
From the day he'd stopped being human and joined the Dark Kingdom as a
demon like Jadeite, and no longer as a mere mortal soldier.
The Silver Cristal... Kunzite let it fall
on the floor with a clinking noise. It had brought Zoisite back to life,
yes, but also "healed" him from Metalia's influence, her evil
power... The young man in front of him was the human he was before, Shiro.
The young man asked further :
" Kunzite-dono? Where are we? Where's the army?"
Kunzite tried to figure out an answer. The
Silver Cristal had erased in Shiro all traces of his Dark Kingdom commitment,
and all his memories as a shinma too... What was left in him of what they
had lived together? Of the few intimacy that Kunzite had granted him,
in order to obtain his total devotion?
Ah, it hurt... To remember that he had so
deliberately pretended to share Zoisite's feelings, but thought only of
the best way to manipulate him. That was necessary to ensure his loyalty,
he had thought. Zoisite was so obviously a treacherous weasel, who had
abandoned his family then joined and left several clans before he'd eventually
elected the Dark Kingdom's human army.
Bloodthirsty, remorseless, feeling absolutely
no bond to whoever or whatever but himself and his sword, and certainly
not to his kind... All reasons why he'd been the perfect choice to replace
the Shinma that was becoming too much of a trouble for Kunzite.
Yet Zoisite's freedom had seemed dangerous
to Kunzite, and he'd looked for a way to keep a hold on the youth's burning
passions and rage, that he had soon found...
Now just as Kunzite realized that it was a two-way
game that he'd been playing, and that they had both lost – or won
-, it all came back to the start. He was nothing to him any more, only
his warlord.
Kunzite reached out to him, and saw Shiro's
eyes widen in horror.
" Kunzite-dono! What happened to your hands?!"
Kunzite looked down to it too. His white
gloves had burned completely, his hands were black and crackled, and green
blood tainted them. They didn't hurt that much yet, now that the Silver
Crystal had stopped glowing. Kunzite had lived through worse.
" That will heal with a spell", he replied unconcerned.
But the horror in Shiro's eyes... Not at
his green blood or the plant-like fibers showing through his burnt skin,
but at the depth of his injuries...
Of course. He had almost forgotten that
Shiro had always admired and worshipped him, before the Shinma even understood
that he could change his feelings into something stronger and useful.
Shiro had never been afraid of him, unlike the other soldiers. Yet he
knew a lot better how not human Kunzite was, and how evil he could be.
He simply didn't care, and undoubtedly related more to him that way than
to his fellows.
Kunzite wandered, maybe it wasn't that bad
that he had lost his memories. Maybe he should use that opportunity to
start their relationship anew, and make it real this time.
Queen Beryl's voice took him out of his musing.
" Kunzite! What are you doing? Why is this scum alive still? Kill
him now, and bring me back the Silver Crystal!"
The Senshi, who had been recovering from
Kunzite's attacks and prepared to fight back, stopped bewildered. Kunzite
turned to the Queen's image floating in the air.
" No" was all that he answered, quietly.
Queen Beryl didn't quite believe her own
pointed ears at first, then became enraged.
" You dare?! Follow my orders, I am your Queen!"
" You're not. My Queen is Metalia. And you're no longer leading us
for her glory, but for yours and your mean whims. You're leading the Dark
Kingdom to its defeat, as you already did centuries ago, killing your
own troops. And Metalia doesn't seem to be wanting to correct you. I won't
fight for you any longer this hopeless battle."
The dark Queen's eyes glowed with pure hatred,
and lightning bolts at them she yelled:
"Die then!"
Kunzite drew Shiro close, intensifying his
energy fields to resist the Queen's fury.
Flash : Shiro's mind was shaken by a memory,
one of a violent pain exploding through his body after a similar scream
of anger... Had the Queen blasted him before? But what for? He was only
a soldier, he had never even met the Queen in person.
A stronger bolt pushed Shiro closer against
Kunzite, and he wondered why the Ice King even bothered to protect him
at all.
Flash : snuggled into those strong arms,
breathing the scent of his silver hair and relaxing to the sound of his
quiet heartbeat, a firm gloved hand gently stroking his head... Shiro
blushed slightly. Had it been a dream? Or had it really happened? He felt
as if it wasn't the first time he was held in this embrace.
Another bolt, another flash. Him facing
the dark thing that was called Queen Metalia, and repeating an oath of
allegiance to her, but keeping his eyes on Kunzite all along. Kunzite,
nodding in agreement at his dedication. How he had longed for every word
of praise from him while they trained together...
That uniform he's wearing in his memories...
A Shinma suit?
He had wished with all his heart to become
as powerful as Kunzite-dono, to be worth his respect. There was no way
a handsome, strong creature with so many powers would even look at him,
if there weren't at least his warfare skills that he worked so hard for.
Memories were struggling to surface in his
mind, and he was getting a headache in his attempts to recover them and
understand what they meant. But he had to know. It was something very
important to him, he knew it...
" Kunzite-sama..."
How did Kunzite hear him despite the thunder
of Queen Beryl's attacks was a mystery, but he looked down to him in the
moment, appealed by the different call.
These green eyes... Kunzite could see memories
awakening in these deep green eyes. The old warmth showed in them again.
Then an hesitant voice, almost apologizing.
" Kunzite-sama... I no longer have my powers. I am no longer a Shinma..."
Shiro could hardly believe the care in Kunzite's
eyes, and gentleness in his voice once so tough.
" It doesn't matter..."
He lightly closed his lips on Shiro's, who
threw his arms around his neck for an eager kiss. He couldn't remember
how close, how intimate he'd been with Kunzite before, so he would try
anything until the King would stop him. And he didn't.
His mind was pulsing with memories coming
back, and his whole frame seemed to burn suddenly. Kunzite felt a change
in the body and fabric under his hands, the rush of power inside Shiro,
calling to the dark forces of the universe, filling in the human frame
and consuming it.
When their lips finally parted, he was not
surprised to face Zoisite, in his green-adorned Shinma suit, his hair
tied in a loose pony-tail as usual, his eyes shining with malicious joy
and excitement after their kiss.
Magic was a question of will... Once you
knew how to reach the forces, you could never really forget it.
Queen Beryl eventually stopped her infuriated
and useless strikes.
" Kunzite! That is your last chance! Get rid of your ridiculous pet
and get me the Silver Crystal!"
Zoisite turned to her with an offended smirk.
" Who's the ridiculous pet?!"
Kunzite smiled behind him, held him tightly
so that he wouldn't jump to the Queen, and took him away, far from the
Queen, the Senshi and that stupid war. It was no longer theirs.
End |