Until You 15

When the prince and his generals lunged forwards to the opening portal, Kunzite was the one who was responsible to push Ian. As soon as the portal closed behind them, leaving two monsters for the sailor scouts to deal with. They weren�t very concerned for the sailor scouts safety because they knew too well of their capability in fighting those monsters. After all they had survived all those years fighting every enemy that had arisen. They had also managed to kill the generals though the generals that they had killed weren�t as strong as they were now. All that four of them had to concern right now was preventing Ian from escaping to their own dimension back.

When they finally regained their composure, they took a quick look around before they settled all their attention to the man that they had brought with. Ian was shaking with unconcealed fury as he got back to his feet. He looked around at the four men, who were circling him, and saw they were as angry as he was. Suddenly, Ian felt threatened. One thing that was out of their consideration was this was his stronghold�his sanctuary. He was the leader and he controlled this place! Silently, Ian started to summon all of his monsters, which was more than ten that he had let loosed lest Nephrite managed to escape with his inner power. Living his all life with the generals in his past life taught him not to underestimate them.

Kunzite started the first attack. He lunged for wards unexpectedly with his swords, causing Ian to stagger back in disbelief and firmly held his shallow wound on his right arm as the result of Kunzite�s nearly missed attack. Darien started to issuing order when he saw the fight had begun. �Jadeite and me will go find where exactly Nephrite was being held and Zoisite!� Zoisite wielded his sword readily when his prince called him and looked expectantly at Darien for order. �You stayed here with Kunzite, try to held up this fight as long as you can until we got back.� Zoisite nodded his head.

�Prince Endymion�� Zoisite called him, before Darien and Jadeite ran towards the darkness. Darien looked back. �Its good to have you back, my prince.� Darien couldn�t help but feeling pleased and smiled back. Before this, he felt that his memory of his past life as prince of Earth was a fake because he couldn�t feel the pride of being one. And having Golden Crystal embedded inside his body didn�t help him much since he could see it. But now, after Zoisite�s admonishment and the loyalty that the generals had shown him in such a short time, he began to feel like a prince because a huge part of his past life had came back. His faithful guardians. And now he was going to save one of his parts.

As Zoisite and Kunzite attacked relentlessly and fiercely at Ian, Jadeite and Darien went deeper into the dark corridor of Ian�s castle. Jadeite had absolutely no idea where Nephrite had been held but he reasoned himself that the more monsters they had encountered, the higher chances they had to find Nephrite. It felt like they had been running into the darkness for such a long time and so far they had only encountered one monster. Jadeite did not like this at all. He knew that both of them were wasting time but perhaps the information that they had run for only a few minutes might ease him a lot.

�I think we may have gone at the wrong way,� Jadeite panted for his breath when stopped for a while after they had easily vanquished the first monster. Darien generated his power into a bright light using his left hand to look around the gloomy and dark places while the other hand firm held to a long sword.

Not long ago before Ian had appeared, Darien had asked Kunzite how to manipulate his Golden Crystal to its full potential and Kunzite told him that he and the rest of generals had only own a small portion of the Golden Crystal. The fact that the prince of Earth asked his generals how to use his own crystal was out of Kunzite expectation because by now he thought that Darien had known how to use it. Darien remembered his disappointment when Kunzite told him that as a keeper of a small portion of Golden Crystal, he didn�t know whether the main portion that Darien had in his body worked the same was as the portion that was embedded him body.

But Kunzite taught him anyway and when Darien had mastered what Kunzite had told him, Kunzite said that Darien had not used a bigger part of the crystal. After that, Darien had secretly practiced to manipulate his crystal and sharpened his skill in sword using the vague memories of his past life. Nephrite had accidentally seen him practiced and he told Nephrite about his lack of previous life memories that could help him throughout the swordplay skills. Nephrite then helped him, not by showing him his skills but by trying to reawaken Darien�s memories so Darien can reclaim the skills that he had mastered long time ago. Amazingly it had worked little by little. And when Jadeite joined them a while later, it was amazing that he could forget and remember back all the things that he had tried to remember for more than the last twenty years of his life in such a short time.

�No�� Darien said softly as he looked into the place where he had pointed his bright hand. �I think that we are going at the right place.�

Jadeite looked up in mild surprised. �Why do you say that?� When Darien motioned his head, telling Jadeite to come beside him, Jadeite straightened his body and walked towards Darien.

�Look at the ceiling and the walls of this corridor�� Darien pointed at the walls. �They are being smaller as we go deeper and the ceiling is being built lower. The air is also getting stench. It showed that we are going somewhere that no one had usually gone.�

Jadeite looked around and knew that his prince had spoken the truth. �The dungeon�� He said softly. �But, why are no monsters or Ian�s disgusting creatures around? Knowing Ian, I had confidently assumed that he had always been very cautious.�

Darien couldn�t help but agreeing to Jadeite. Suddenly, an ugly thought of Ian summoning all the monsters towards Kunzite and Zoisite crept into his mind but he stubbornly chased the thought away. Ian would never be that desperate. �Maybe he hadn�t thought that we managed to get into his dimension.� Darien said unsurely. Then he ran forwards as if trying to focus to his mission to save Nephrite. �Come on, Jadeite!�

* * * * * *

Nephrite had given up his attempt to keep on standing a few moments ago, since he had begun to feel nothing from his upper thigh downwards. So, he had let himself to hang by his wrists, knowing than soon he would lose the feeling of his hands too. But he was too deep in his pains and thirst to care about anything else. From here, he could hear footsteps echoed through the dark corridor and it took almost all his strength just to raise his head and looked expectantly to the door. Even at this stage of his condition, Nephrite obeyed his towering pride to at least stayed conscious in front of Ian.

In spite of his pride telling him that he wasn�t dreaded the regular visits from Ian, which never failed to add new wounds to him, he could feel his heart quickened in anxiety and hatred. Before this Ian had came to tell him that he was going to fetch Lita and Ian had determinately told him that he would not come here without Lita. Nephrite believed that with all his heart. His eyes never left the opened door as the footsteps were getting near.

But through his blurry vision, Nephrite saw Jadeite and Darien came inside and not Ian, bringing Lita. If earlier before he had feared about losing his legs and arms now, seeing Jadeite and Darien looked horrifyingly at him, Nephrite started to fear about losing his mind as well. It seemed like forever they just stared at each other and Jadeite and Darien look as if they to shock to move. Trying to chase the vision away, Nephrite closed back his eyes and lowered his head once more. Furthermore, it was painful to just lift his head and keep his eyes opened. All he wanted to do was to lie down and sleep�

Jadeite had envisioned Nephrite�s condition but he had never thought that Ian had left Nephrite standing for the last two days with that kind of injuries. His anger doubled when he saw the new wounds that he was sure as hell that Nephrite didn�t get them before he was taken away. As if it wasn�t enough for Ian to make Nephrite stood up for the last two days and didn�t give him water, Ian had tortured Nephrite too. It was when Nephrite broke the eyes contact, Jadeite and Darien immediately snapped out of their shock. �God�what has he done to you�� Darien breathed in unstrained anger, hatred and sorrow.

It was when Jadeite touched Nephrite�s arm to carefully release him the damned shackles that Nephrite realized that he wasn�t seeing visions. It was true and his friends had finally come to get him out of this hellhole. As soon as the shackled being released, Nephrite would have fallen to the floor with a loud thud if Jadeite hadn�t caught him and lowered him slowly to the floor and let his back rested to the icy wall. Never in Nephrite�s whole life had he appreciated the pleasure of sitting. Nephrite let his eyes closed for a few moments because the exhaustion was too overwhelming and he still couldn�t feel his legs and slowly losing the consciousness that he had stubbornly held for the last two days. The relief that Nephrite was feeling was too overpowering that he unintentionally let go everything to his friends� hands. His stubbornness, his safety, his pride and his life�

Jadeite and Darien looked alarmingly at each other when Nephrite didn�t open his eyes back and his breaths were too shallow, threatening them to stop the heart from beating. His condition was horrific. It looked like every inch of Nephrite�s face was covered with old and new bruises and dried and fresh blood that Darien wasn�t sure where his cuts were. It was as if Ian tried to mar Nephrite�s face but when Jadeite laid Nephrite on the floor and ripped opened Nephrite�s office shirt that he had worn the day before his abduction to reveal his muscular body, Darien began to wonder if Ian wanted to mar not only Nephrite�s face but also his whole body. The bruises on his ribs telling them that Nephrite had broken ribs and the huge and dark blue bruise on his stomach told them that Ian had used something hard to hit Nephrite. Jadeite and Darien realized that they didn�t want to know what Ian had used to inflict such a bruise.

�Jadeite, he isn�t breathing!� Darien spoke up sharply. Jadeite immediately checked for his pulse and was relieved to find it beating even though it was too slow. Then, he leaned forwards, pinched Nephrite�s nose closed, pulled his neck outwards a little and put his mouth firmly onto Nephrite�s. He could feel how cold Nephrite�s lips against his lips and he tasted the salty taste of dried blood on his injured lips. Losing too much blood and forcing to stand up was too much for a person to bear. It was miracle Nephrite still alive. How he hated Ian! Jadeite breathed out his life into Nephrite, lifted his head back a little to inhale deeply and put back his mouth onto Nephrite�s. He repeated his action and he could feel his own heart pounding in fear and desperation.

�Come on, Nephrite�come on�come on�� Darien chanted to encourage him. Darien also was aware of Nephrite�s strong will to survive through all this and he knew that the fact that Nephrite was still alive was a wonder.

Breathe�breathe�Nephrite� Jadeite thought frantically as he continued his attempt to revive Nephrite. Don�t you dare give up now�Neph�Not when we are so close to get you out from here�

As if Nephrite heard his friends calling him, he started to cough violently, causing Jadeite�s and Darien�s heart to leap in sudden joy and Jadeite started to move his head away to give Nephrite space to breathe easily. When he opened his eyes, Jadeite and Darien�s relieved was too great that they laughed. Their laughter was too contagious that Nephrite help but to grin a little too. Nephrite lay there for a few moments before he could speak up. �I thought it was Ian who was kissing me�� Nephrite whispered hoarsely as he smiled weakly to Jadeite, as if tried to hide his pains from the past tortures. �But I think I like it better when you did.�

�You mean�Ian did kiss you?� Jadeite was in high spirits that he joked back at Nephrite�s words.

�What do you think?� Nephrite gasped as he tried to get up with Darien�s help. Jadeite knew that he was referring to Ian�s treatment to him during his hostage and relieved to find that Nephrite was awake well enough to make a joke of what had happened in the past.

�Can you stand, Nephrite?� Darien asked. �I know we are rushing you, but Kunzite and Zoisite couldn�t hold Ian any longer. We have to get out from here.�

Nephrite stifled his gasps of pain when his broken ribs protested at his attempt to stand up. He didn�t know how to even stand let alone walk with his numb legs and aching body but he wasn�t planning to say no. �Yes, I can. Just give a minute,� he said instead. With his one of his arms around Jadeite�s shoulders, Nephrite forced his legs to support his weight. And he could feel nothing from upper thighs downwards. The numbness was overwhelming.

Jadeite could feel how much Nephrite was leaning to him and know Nephrite was fiercely willed himself to stand. With Nephrite standing close to him, Jadeite could hear Nephrite�s breath getting shallow with his every attempt to stand. Nephrite would never last the dark journey back to Kunzite and Zoisite. However, to make Nephrite to admit that he couldn�t do something was impossible. At that time, he wished with all his heart that Serena was with them, so that she could heal Nephrite right here and he wouldn�t have to argued with Nephrite! �Bullshit!� Jadeite angrily swore, causing Darien and Nephrite to look at him with surprise. �You can not walk, Nephrite, as you well know! So quit pretending that you can!�

For a moment Nephrite was speechless, then he looked away. He was acutely aware of his useless condition right now. Who was he kidding? Not Jadeite�that was for sure. He had been his partner for as long as he could remember. Telling Jadeite that he could walk in this condition was a down straight lie. �If I said that I can not walk and I don�t even have any feeling of my legs and told you to just leave me here, would you do that?� Nephrite watched Jadeite�s face turned more ominous than before at his words and he knew his answer even Jadeite could even said it. �I know you wouldn�t. I just don�t want to be your burden!�

�What are you saying?� Jadeite couldn�t believe what Nephrite had just said to him. Nephrite�a burden to him? He loved Nephrite more than a brother could love his own siblings and Nephrite didn�t want to be his burden? Had he already forgotten the time when Jadeite was the one who had been his burden? �That�s what a partner for. To be his other partner�s burden!� Jadeite secured Nephrite arm around his shoulder, determined to support him all the way. It was until Jadeite hold Nephrite�s wrist that Nephrite realized about his sore injuries from the hanging but as usual Nephrite stubbornly bit his lips from accidentally gasping from pain. Luckily they were at the same size and he had carried Nephrite�s corpse all the way from Planet Jupiter to Earth. Nephrite opened his mouth to protest, but Jadeite was expecting Nephrite to do that. �Look, I promise you that you won�t be a burden to me,� Jadeite tried to settle Nephrite�s conscience. He gave Nephrite a glare that made Nephrite reluctantly swallowed back the protest that was hovering on his lips. After all, all these talking made his parched throat hurt.

Darien smiled when he saw the strong bond between his generals and suddenly realized that he wanted to be in that kind of bond. He knew he couldn�t just slip inside the bond. He had to work his way and being their prince didn�t help much. So, he went to Nephrite�s left side and lifted Nephrite�s arm to wrap it around his shoulder. Jadeite smiled gratefully at Darien�s help. Nephrite knew defeat was facing him when he encountered one. He should know better than to expect his friends to abandon him. He should be angry at his friends� foolish attempt but he felt strangely pleased�

* * * * * *

Kunzite panted in his ordeal to keep Ian from opening another portal to jump into his own dimension. But even with Zoisite�s help, Ian�s skills had improved drastically. From their fights, Kunzite managed to get himself a long cut but shallow from his upper left arm down to the middle of his lower arm, Zoisite received a hard blow on his forehead, which the blood was tickling slowly as a result of Ian�s slash and Ian had two wounds to make up for the injuries that both Kunzite and Zoisite received. It was a gash on his chest, ripping off his black clothes and a nasty nosebleed from Zoisite�s powerful punch.

Ian knew that he was badly outnumbered and when the rest of the generals came, he would lose. But he refused to let himself panicked. After all the thirteen monsters that he had summoned earlier were getting near and all he had to do was to hold on until then. Kunzite wielded his sword determinately. Ian had brought nothing but pain and misery to them ever since he had shown up and Kunzite wanted to end all this now. Although their main plan was to bring Nephrite out and tried not to vanquish anyone yet, Kunzite allowed his anger to rule his action.

Skillfully, Kunzite leaped forward and slashed his sword. Ian hold up his sword to receive Kunzite�s blow and the swords clashed with a loud clang. As both of them strained their muscles to force each other to meet the swords, Kunzite gave Zoisite a slight glance, motioning him to attack while both of Ian�s hands were busy. Zoisite responded to Kunzite�s sign and started to launch an attack to finish Ian off. But then something happened that made their position changed from winning to losing. Zoisite�s sword was only a couple of inches from Ian�s neck to finish this whole things off, when a sudden wave of black energy burst out from Ian�s body. The black energy hit the unprepared Kunzite and a surprised Zoisite, causing both of them thrown off to the walls nearby.

Zoisite groaned in pain as his back crash into the thick wall, making his head slightly spinning from the hard impact. However, Kunzite wasn�t as lucky as Zoisite to be hit at his back. When the black energy pushed him away from Ian, it wasn�t his back that hit the wall- it was his head. Unmoving, the blood from Kunzite�s head slowly form a tiny pool upon the cold floor.

�Kunzite!� Zoisite�s tone was filled with fear and anxious when he heard the loud thud from Kunzite�s impact. He wanted to go near him, to see whether he was all right or not but from the corner of his eyes, he could see that Ian was preparing himself for another attack. Zoisite was torn between two options. His mind made a quick decision- he would protect Kunzite by accepting Ian�s attack. As he lunged forward to counteract Ian�s attack, his heart was praying as hard as he could that Jadeite and Darien arrived quickly so they could take his part in fighting this bastard and he could take a look at the unconscious figure that was lying behind him.

As both of them skillfully dodged and threw attacks to each other, seeking the tiniest opportunity to put injuries to their opponent, Ian opened his mouth to start his provocation. �What has happened to your leader?� Ian emphasized the word leader with such malice. Zoisite intended to ignore Ian�s barbs and furrowed his eyebrows in deep concentration as he slashed his sword across Ian�s chest. Ian let out a mutter of curses as he leaped backwards to avoid Zoisite�s slash. It was so close that Ian was determined as ever to insult Zoisite so deeply that Zoisite would lose the concentration that he had now.

�Surely Kunzite can handle a few head knocks, can�t he?� Ian�s lips curled into a smirk. �Of course�after years not seeing you guys, you had became weaker and I�m getting stronger.� Zoisite�s eyes narrowed at Ian�s words and how he longed to at least have one of his blows contacted with Ian�s flesh. But neither of them managed to draw blood from each other.

Then Zoisite heard something that lifted his heart in sudden relief. The sound of footsteps. Zoisite drew out almost all of his power to push Ian away from him, so he could have a few moments to catch his breath and his plan succeeded. Ian gasped in surprise when the energy burst out from Zoisite�s sword and caused him to stagger backward. Zoisite kept his face facing Ian but in the corner of his eyes, he tried to catch a glimpse of the owners of the footstep. He thought they were belonged to Jadeite and Darien but through the sound of the echoes, their movements were to fast for someone who was supporting or carrying a wounded man. Instinctively, Zoisite tightened his grip on the sword, expecting the worst.

Kunzite slowly and painfully roused up from cold floor that pooled with his own blood. Reaching blindly for the swords, he used his another hand to wipe the blood from his eyes. His head ached from the knocking and bleeding and Kunzite supported himself against the wall as he stood up. �Kunzite!� He heard Zoisite was calling him from somewhere. Damn it! Kunzite swore. My head was hurting like crazy and I can�t see Zoisite. He grabbed the opening wound on his left forehead and tried to focus.

Zoisite retreated cautiously, with his eyes never left Ian lest he would do something out of expectation. �You okay?� Zoisite whispered when he was near enough for Kunzite to hear, keeping his eyes glued to Ian. Ian just stood there leniently as if he was confident enough to believe that he could win the battle.

�Yeah�� Kunzite was relieved to find his vision was back to normal though his head was pounding like crazy. �Whose footsteps are those?�

�I don�t know,� Zoisite answered back. His heart was pounding in anxiety when the footsteps were getting near. �I don�t think those are our prince�s and Jadeite�s, though.� Kunzite slowly nodded in silent agreement.

�Ian looked triumphant�� Kunzite nodded towards Ian. �I hate to say this, but I think Ian�s saviors are here.�

�My thought exactly�� Zoisite�s next words were stuck at his throat when he saw a numerous monsters were coming towards them. They were not as big or as powerful as the monster Ian had sent to them before but many nevertheless. Too many for merely two generals to handle them all. Kunzite and Zoisite cursed when they realized that it would be hard to come home in one piece.

�Ah�the entertainers are here,� Ian laughed. Seeing his slaves came made Ian exhilarated enough to be oblivious to his wounds from previous battle with Kunzite and Zoisite. �I�ve made them just for you��

Kunzite saw his intention to open the portal to his own dimension and instantly fear for the sailor scout�s safety, especially his precious Mina, tightened around his heart. �Zoisite! Try to hold back as many monsters as you can!� Kunzite scattered his orders to Zoisite. Zoisite twisted his head back to look at his leader�s face to confirm that he was serious and he saw that Kunzite was dead serious. �Alone?! There must be at least ten monsters that are coming towards us! What the hell are you going to do?!� Zoisite�s eyebrows were drew closed in displeased.

�Ian�s going back to our world and I�ll be dead before I allow that thing to happen!� Kunzite�s voice was determined and yet full of anger that Zoisite knew better than to argued with him. Once Kunzite set his mind to do something, no living earth could stop him. He just Kunzite knew what he was doing with his forehead bleeding like leaking pipe.

* * * * * *

When Jadeite and Darien finally arrived to where Kunzite and Zoisite was supposed to fight Ian alone, the scene that greeted them was out of their expectation. To their horror, they could see that Zoisite was barely had any strength left to hold back the good knows how many monsters that was trying to get through him to help their master from vicious Kunzite. Never in their whole life, have neither Darien and Jadeite saw this many monsters attacking them at the same time. It was as if there were in the battlefield where handful of army were attacking and outnumbering the few generals. And it was true. Kunzite was to busy dodging and attacking Ian while Zoisite was too deep in his exhaustion and injuries to even notice that their prince and friends were already there but he tried his very damnest to obey his leader�s order.

Nephrite could sense something was wrong when he felt his supporters had abruptly stopped. Lifting his head, he saw Kunzite and Zoisite were struggling to handle the whole miserable situation and suddenly he had this awful feeling that the reason Jadeite and Darien didn�t rush forward to their aid was because they were reluctant to leave him here�like this. �What are you waiting for?� Nephrite let out a husky question and saw both of them looked at each other indecisively. His suspicion was confirmed. He had warned Jadeite about him being a burden and now looked at what had happened.

�I told you I don�t want to be your burden,� Nephrite hissed at Jadeite and Jadeite let out a sigh. How could he leave him like this? Nephrite couldn�t even stand up and how was he supposed to defend himself if one of the monsters managed to get near him? �And you tell me that I won�t be.� Nephrite�s words reminded Jadeite of his own words and he silently cursed himself for saying such things. He only wanted to shut Nephrite�s mouth.

�Fine,� Jadeite and Darien said in unison and they laid Nephrite in sitting position a little bit far away from the monsters. �I�ll be fine�don�t worry,� Nephrite smiled softly.

Letting out a frustrated snort, Jadeite turned around and lunged forward into the battle. Darien slowly shook his head in amusement as he followed Jadeite�s lead. As Jadeite took over the monster that was fighting Zoisite, Darien immediately wrapped his arms around Zoisite�s shoulders to prevent him from falling in exhaustion. �What happen? Where are all these monsters come from?� Darien asked the pale-face Zoisite- from the rapidly losing energy. It was then Zoisite realized that Jadeite and Darien had returned.

Using his erectly stuck sword as his support, he answered breathlessly. �I think Ian summoned them right after you left� It looks as if the whole castle guard were here.� Darien�s mind thought furiously at Zoisite�s words. �No wonder we hadn�t encounter any monster on the way to release Nephrite�well, except one.�

Zoisite looked up to face Darien, feeling his losing energy was coming back slowly to him. �How�s Nephrite?�

�Not good, we�ve got to get him out of here quickly,� Darien nodded his head to the spot where Nephrite was sitting. Both of them saw that Nephrite was holding his ribs tightly and his breaths were getting shallow to each breath he took. �He�d stopped breathing when we found him.�

�That bastard�� Zoisite hissed. Slowly he straightened his back, feeling a lot better than when Darien caught him. Wielding his sword with blood-red vengeance, he looked at his prince with a smile and said, �Shall we?� Darien replied with a slight nod of his head and a matching grin. Then both of them joined Jadeite into the battle.

Ian looked around and realized bitterly that his castle guards were no matched to the fierce-looking generals at all. He had to get out from this dimension as quickly as possible. His mouth twisted into an irony snarled. It was amazing how fast things could turn against you when it was a little while ago you were on the winning side.

Summoning one of the monsters that somehow managed to sneak behind Kunzite, Ian ordered his slave to stab the leader of generals from behind. Nephrite saw this and he didn�t whether Kunzite was too immersed in his fight with Ian or his bleeding forehead had malfunctioned his sixth sense because Kunzite was obviously unaware of the sneaking monster behind him. Nephrite preferred the former. Blindly, Nephrite searched the cold floor a weapon or something hard enough to disable Ian�s cowardly tactic. Alarm to see the monster had already raised its spear to thrust it into Kunzite�s heart; Nephrite�s hand came luckily in contact with a pointed stone. When Nephrite raised the object, he realized that he pointed stone was the broken spear, probably from Zoisite�s earlier attack. Then, letting some of the leftover energy of Golden Crystal in his body flowed into the broken spear, Nephrite threw with all his might towards the monster and paid dearly for his vigorous act. Nephrite never got the chance to see whether his throwing hit the mark or not as he fell onto the floor, clutching his ribs and breathing heavily.

As the matter of fact, the spear did hit the monster�s hands and instead of stabbing Kunzite in his heart as Ian planned to do, the last minute throwing had diverted the stabbing to Kunzite�s arm, causing him to gasp in surprise and intense pain. Darien heard Kunzite�s gasp and immediately slashed the monster that he had been fighting with one swift and dismissive slash. He went to retrieve the still shock Kunzite from Ian before he could finish the job. �Are you alright?� Darien eyed the wound with worried. It was deep and ugly.

�Damn it!� Kunzite shouted in frustration, unable to utter even the word �yes� to answer Darien�s inquiry. Ian saw this rare opportunity and instantly opened a small portal behind him. Kunzite and Darien�s widened in horrific realization and immediately lunged forward to drag Ian from entering the portal back to their own dimension. But this time, due to Kunzite�s injuries, they weren�t succeeded in preventing Ian�s entry.

At the same time, Jadeite and Zoisite managed to kill the last monster without adding any new injury. They immediately turned their back around to face Ian but saw nothing except Kunzite clutching his bleeding arm tightly and Darien leaning his head against the wall in utter frustration. Jadeite opened his mouth to ask Ian�s whereabouts when realization hit him like lightning. Ian had succeeded to escape to their dimension. �Damnation!� Darien shouted as he punched the wall.

�He escaped?!� Jadeite�s asked in disbelief. �What happen?�

�I don�t know!� Kunzite answered roughly as he ripped his uniform�s sleeves to bare his arm and winced audibly at the ugly sight of the wound. �I was delaying Ian when suddenly a monster came out from behind me and stabbed me in the arm, though I think it wasn�t the arm that the monster intended to stab at the first place!� Kunzite used the rip-off sleeves and tied it around his arm to stop the bleeding.

�What makes the monster don�t?� Zoisite asked with a frown.

�I did�� A hoarse and almost soundless came from far, all the four of them swung around facing the tired-looking man behind them. Nephrite, still holding his injured ribs, didn�t dare to move lest he made the broken ribs worsened, so he curved up a small grin. Jadeite went to him and hauled him so his arm would be around Jadeite�s shoulders. �Can you move yet?� Jadeite asked.

�No�� Nephrite answered truthfully. �I can't feel my legs yet.� And my body too. Nephrite added in his mind. There was no way he going to tell Jadeite about his whole condition. If he knew Jadeite, Jadeite would carry him all the way like some dead man. �You can't feel your legs?� Kunzite frowned in worry. �What did Ian do to you?�

�I saw the monster raised his spear to stab you in the heart,� Nephrite answered instead of satisfying Kunzite�s curiosity. �I couldn�t go to you and I certainly couldn�t shout a warning�� Nephrite referred his parched mouth. �So, I threw another spear toward the monster, causing him to lost his target.�

Kunzite didn�t listen to Nephrite�s words because he was looking at each of Nephrite�s wound. Nephrite knew that the large bruises on his stomach and ribs were the worse and suddenly he had an urge to button his shirt back. �What did Ian do to you�?� It sounded less curious and angrier.

�Look�just forget about it� Nephrite couldn�t tell his friends the ordeal that he had endured for the last few days. It was like relived and re-experienced the whole hell once again and all he wanted to do was to get out from this place and forget that it had ever existed and the whole things had ever happened. Jadeite saw the effect from the torturing in Nephrite�s eyes. They were full of pain and a handful of time was needed to heal the wound completely.

�What are we going to do now?� Jadeite immediately changed the topic, which was rewarded with a grateful smile from Nephrite. Kunzite didn�t miss any of this and he was determined to know what was Nephrite hiding from him.

�We wait until Ami opens the portal from the other side of the dimension,� Zoisite said.

�How?� Jadeite asked. �You said yourself that we didn�t know where is Ian�s dimension and that is one of the reasons we tried the crazy stunt before.� Nephrite wanted to know the stunt but he wisely kept his mouth closed. There would be plenty of time for questions later.

�Yes, that was why we invented this transponder. It can exact our location and Ami would be able to open the portal from our dimension.� Zoisite took out a small and square device from his pocket for all to see.

�Well�I just hope that Ami managed to reopen the portal before Ian slaughter all of them,� Darien voiced his worries. His words made his generals went silent.

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