Disclaimer: Hay all...Umm usual terms apply..I don't own the rights to the basics of this story, hats off to Naoko Takeuchi, and I'm not making money off of this. Yadadada...LOL... Please don't sue me... man I sound like a broken record! =) Oh *email* me at inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com !! Chapter Three Kunzite held his side as he tried to ward off the agony but he refused to succumb to cries of pain though he distinctly heard his fellow Generals as Beryl tortured them and most likely turned them to her side. 'I will not bow to her will!' He thought fiercely, jaw clenched in fury. He would not betray his Prince, would not betray his people, would not betray his love. He remembered as they said goodbye that night, not so long ago before the tragic battle tore them apart... *Kunzite held her tenderly and pretended to not see the tears gleaming bright on her cheeks. "Mi-chan, my sweetest Mi-chan," he whispered into one delicately curved ear. She sighed heavily and allowed him to gather her closer. They lay that way for the longest time on the last perfect night of Earth, not speaking, for they needed no words. They were the two halves of one soul. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly and she kissed his hands before turning to face him. "I want you to know," she said softly, "that I love you and I always will. You're the only man I've ever loved..." He smiled at her, sorrow filling his face along with the joy. "I know darling," he replied just as gently, "I know."* Kunzite allowed himself to drift back from his memories, to the harsh pain of the present. He felt the coldness first, before a voice that hinted of rolling blackness and dark seduction spoke once again. "Give in Kunzite. Your courage, though amendable, is annoying. You are only causing yourself more pain. Submit to the will of the Negaverse for we are stronger than you can, or will ever be!" Kunzite rolled away from her, jaw set in a stubborn line. "Never," he gasped and bit his lip as, with a flick of one deadly wrist, Beryl visited upon his body untold pain. He arched his back as dark energy coursed through him but no sound came from his twisted lips. Finally it abated and he collapsed again. "The others have already been conquered Kunzite, join my ranks..." "I don't believe you," he spluttered, denial on his features. Beryl chuckled as she showed him with a mirror made of Negaverse power... *Zoicite refused to give in, to bend. Even throughout the torture he kept the vision of a blue women before him. Beryl was determined to have him though. She ripped away Ami's name, her face, her very memory... He fought though, Earth only knew how he fought. He fought as he forgot his own name, his identity, but still managed to hold the image of a blank faced woman. Even as he screamed and writhed in pain he refused to give over all that was left of the woman he once called love. Beryl growled as she contemplated the stubborn man before laughing as she thought of a way to turn his own persistance against him. With her mistress's help she took the mental picture and Zoicite himself and changed them... When she was done she admired her handy work. A woman lay before her, a woman with Zoicite's face and body. She grinned wickedly as her new servant awakened. He had refused to let go of the picture of a woman so she had turned him into one!* *Jadeite shuddered as he tried to escape the dark power that attempted to subvert him into something different, someone not human. "Rei help me," he breathed. Her very name seemed to lend him strength for his fight, he only prayed it would be enough... His wreaked and weary head raised as he heard the door to his prison slide open. But it wasn't Beryl who has shillouted in the doorway, it was Zoicite. Hope flared brightly in his aching chest. 'Had he somehow gotten free?' Jadeite thought wildly. Zoicite walked into the light and moved up to the bed Jadeite was on. As he walked into the light Jadeite felt his body freeze with shock and for the first time a bit of fear. It was Zoicite but a Zoicite changed. A lovely mouth sneered at him and his uniform showed clearly curves where previously none were. "Hello friend, ready to join the Negaverse?" Jadeite only had time to scream once more before Zoicite reached out with frightening power to crush him.* *Nephrite breathed deeply, refusing to look into the empty eyes of the two people he once called friend. Beryl stood with them, a superior smile on her wretched face. One clawed hand reached out and stroked his cheek, leaving ragged red lines behind. "Oh Nephrite, Nephrite, what shall we do with you?" she asked, voice amused. He shut his furious eyes and clenched his jaw, he would not allow this creature to get a rise out of him! "The others have been good boys, actually a good boy and girl... Is your weakness as mundane as the others, a mere woman?" He tensed at those words and she sighed. "Really, I am disappointed. I expected something better from you, oh well. You'll still bow to me, all of you will in time." She put her hand on his chest and unleashed her arcane energy. He tried to fight her on his own but it wasn't enough so he envoked the image of his beloved Lita, his breast pocket blazing a whole in his chest where her earrings lay. But in the end even that wasn't enough. He had one victory though, Beryl won him over but not completely because she couldn't quite erase the red haired woman, really a girl, who made him laugh and who shared chocolate parfait with him on warm nights. Her name was blurred, as was her face, but deep in his heart his only loyalty was to her...* Kunzite fought down the rising tide of panic. He could not show her his fear or he would be doomed... Beryl stood over him, red hair fluttering around her cruel face, cold eyes studying him. With one slender finger she reached out and toyed with a strand of silvery hair. "What is *your* weakness General Kunzite," she mused to herself. With a secretive smile she placed a hand over his forehead. "Queen Metallia," she cried, "lend me your strength!" Like black lightning the power shot out of the swirling darkness and ran through Queen Beryl's arms to Kunzite's head. Images flashed in front of the Queen's eyes... *He held a beautiful golden haired woman in his arms, peaceful for the first time in his life... The woman smiled radiantly at him and for once he could forget his duty and just allow himself to be Kunzite because Mina understood, she was the leader of the Sailor Scouts just as he led his Generals...* She choked as she stared in shock at him... Leader of the Sailor Scouts? Could it really be? Could the missing Venusian Princess and Sailor Venus be one in the same? A great many puzzles fell into place and she shook her head. It made sense, it all made sense, and the others? She quickly calculated all that she knew about the princesses and gasped as she figured it out, all the princesses were the senshi! Thus all of the scouts would be beyond relunctant to kill the generals. Beryl smiled evilly and sent dark power out to crush the memories, to tear him away from the very things that kept him from giving in but he resisted her fiercely. Beryl determinedly erased her name, her face, but the image of a golden haired woman remained. A woman who understood him and was a warrior just as he was. Suddenly Beryl laughed as she thought how use that against him. In the place of Mina's face she inserted the now female Zoicite's, teased the memory until the blonde tresses were curled, and the sailor uniform was gradually changed to a dark gray just like his own. 'Have your golden warrior woman' she thought with dark amusement. 'In punishment for your stubbornness...You shall remain loyal as long as Zoicite still exists for with him/her you believe to be in love!!!' * * * Mina woke up groggily, head pounding in pain. Her vision slowly came back to her and the blurred images gradually cleared until she could see that her bed was surrounded by her friends. Luna was sitting by her pillow and Queen Serenity was standing right beside her. Next to the Queen was Ser-chan and Endymion. The other three senshi sat on the edge of her bed. All of them were staring at her, worry for her creasing their foreheads. "Everyone?" she asked faintly... "What happened?" Luna stood up and nosed her gently with her cold feline nose in welcome. "We were hoping you could tell us. We used the scout link to track you and suddenly all of the senshi blacked out except for Ami who managed to tell us that you were in trouble. Queen Serenity used the Imperium Silver Crystal to transport you back and you've been unconscious ever since." Min looked down and noticed that she was heavily bandaged. She shook her head carefully as she tried to remember... And then it came back to her, in all its terrible darkness. Mina gasped as tears abruptly filled her sapphire eyes. "How long have I been out?" she demanded fiercely as she bolted up, ignoring her numerous wounds that cried out I protest. "Three days," Luna answered with a perplexed look. Mina put a hand over her mouth, deathly afraid, her bright eyes wide. "The other planets, the shields, what about them..." Suddenly Luna too looked uneasy. "The Queen was trying to reserve her strength, she hasn't checked them with the crystal since we got you back." Without another word Queen Serenity took out the crystal and held it in her cupped hands, concentrating momentarily as she used its power to check on the other planets that the senshi called home. Her ashen face was all the answer that Mina needed. Serenity looked up as she banished the gentle white glow of energy. "They're gone and so are the enemy. All of the Negaverse's forces are centralized on Earth." Mina moaned miserably. "We're too late. Oh by the planets we're too late..." * * * Mina shuddered as she drew her yellow cloak closer to her aching body. She limped through the shattered streets, the majestic buildings of glass smashed and broken. They lay toppled, like bodies without souls and their empty windows haunted her like accusing eyes. Smoke curled here and there, rising to escape into the leaden sky. An entire planet stilled, crushed, all the beauty fled in the face of such cold-hearted brutality. She tried not to look at the bodies because she knew many were people she knew, people she had grown up with, friends, enemies, it didn't matter anymore. They were dead, equal in that at least. Mina wished she could join them. A cruel wind stirred debris and she sidestepped trash that was once someone's cherished belongings. She walked up to the ransacked palace, trembling in silent fear. Oh Venus, her mother and father and Marcus... She didn't bother to wipe away the bitter tears that fell silently from her sorrow filled eyes. Mina paused at the steps that led up to the palace that she had lived in for nearly her entire life. She saw it momentarily in her mind's eyes, as it had once been. Great pillars reached upwards, a mute testament to the glory of her people. Arches curved proudly and all of the buildings gleamed with a sheen of lightest gold. Mina sobbed once crossed her arms across her chest, shaking uncontrollably. With a labored step she climbed the once grand stairs, her heart growing heavier with every forward movement. Finally she reached the top and the deathly silence was broken by her fierce cry of denial at the sight of three bodies lying still on the cracked marble floor. Mina half ran, have slid to them and finally reached their sides. The true tears came then, tears of grieving so painful that her physical wounds were nothing compared to the soul rendering agony of her betrayed soul. Her shoulders shook as she wept over the prone bodies of her mother, father, and older brother. "Marcus," she whispered brokenly as she clutched his hand, his once lively and handsome face forever stilled, vacant blue eyes that matched her own staring sightlessly into the descending night. A slip of paper folded carefully in his front pocket of his bloodied jacket caught her eyes. With quaking hands she pulled it out and unfolded it. Suddenly Mina dropped it, as if it burned her slight fingers. The wind caught it and carried it away with one triumphant gust but in her mind it was still there, a mere slip with her lover's distinct scrawl on it, she would know his handwriting anywhere; Kunzite. Her head shot up as a small crash shattered her horrified reverie. Mina stood and ran towards the great gates that led to the palace center. A pile of rubble by one of the doors, now hanging from its hinges, shifted. And just barely through the newly made hole she could see a tuft of white. Mina fell to her knees and began to furiously claw at the stubborn stone, face a mask. Sweat trickled unnoticed down her face and her hands were almost black by the time she managed to pull away the last binding chunk of rock. Artemis gasped hugely and she carefully pulled out her friend. He lay in her lap, beautiful coat shabby and stained red. His whiskers twitched lifelessly but when he looked at her she felt her spirit soar briefly with a surge of joy. Kunzite had taken away her home and family but he not even he could strip away all that she held dear. Inevetiably something would survive. Something had too, if she was to remain sane and yet even then it wasn't enough. The disease bitterness was worming its way to her soul and she didn't know if she had enough strength inside of her to stop its deadly descent. Mina cradled Artemis lovingly and for once he allowed her. "Don't worry," she said softly. "You're safe now Artemis, you're safe and I swear I'll do all within my power to make sure that this never happens again, even if it kills me." After all, her soul and heart was already numb with pain, death would be a welcomed relief from the knife of betrayal that her lover had stabbed in her trusting back. She rose, standing tall though she shook with fatigue. She sent a pulse of thought along the scout link and sighed deeply as the Imperium Crystal's light encased them in a protective shell. Mina opened her eyes as they were deposited in the war room. The other scouts were there as well. All of them were ashen, sick with fear and denial and grief. Rei was sobbing as she clutched her brother's wedding ring in her hand, mute testament to his fate as well. So many friends gone. So many loved ones lost to beyond the cruelness, the pain. Mina was glad in a way because she knew, deep down, that this was a fight that they weren't destined to win. At least those that were gone didn't have to be here to witness it, but she did, they did. They had sworn, the day they became senshi, to protect and protect they would, even if there was nothing left but crushed ideals and broken dreams. Mina set Artemis down carefully and stepped forward to link hands with her friends. Queen Serenity, the felines, Princess Serenity and Endymion watched on, faces showing the same sadness that was reflected on their friends. Mina took a deep breath, seeking still more of the strength that was almost gone, before sending her mind along the link that bound her soul sisters and she together. They did their work quietly, in silence, anger at the nescessity apparent even in the tension filled air. When they were done still more tears had been shed and Mina ached in a dozen more places where her friends had once given her power and comfort. The scount link was gone, erased by their own doing for in the battle ahead if one warrior fell there would be no time for the soul wrenching mourning that would follow. So now, now she was truly alone. Author's Notes: Hi ya'll...sorry but this isn't edited...=) Oppsies... LOL...well I'm a little too sleep deprived to be creative so hope you enjoyed it! Email and let me know, that's an order. *g* Oh thanks for the people who emailed me: Yoshi, Mn, and Sailor Memory and cheers for mercurami who proofs my stuff!