Disclaimer and Author's Notes: Too tired to write much now..later mayhaps.. Neway, standard disclaimers apply, read some of my other fics for full, more innovative ones. PLEASE, PLEASE email me and sign my guestbook!(http://www.geocities.com/keitree)..*sniffles*
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Chapter 4

Mina tried to mask all reaction but the pitiful sight of Mercury and Mars shattered her reserve. She gasped softly as one pale hand shot to her mouth, covering it. Tears filled sapphire eyes and she hastily blinked them away. They lay on two marble tables, bodies limp, eyes closed, a bluish light encasing them with a soft luminous glow that made their necklaces glint dully.

She stumbled to their sides and stared, oblivious of Kunzite who stayed at the entrance to the small, dark, round chamber. Mina took one cold hand in each of her own, trembling. "Rei... Ami... Oh Venus, oh God what have I done?" Her head bent in sorrow, golden hair falling to obscure her face. She stayed that way for a moment before marshaling her inner strength and sitting up. She turned to Kunzite, face full of a fury he had never seen before, fury that rivaled the wrath of fallen kings, fury that made him, General of an army that had conquered the known Universe, take a step back.

She gently dropped their hands and stood, fists clenched white at her sides, before advancing. "What have you done to them?" she asked, voice a dangerous whisper. The startled ice features smoothed into an unruffled mask

"What my Emperor bade me to do, what my office required. They live." Mina raised one fist to his face as if to strike it, shaking.

"They live?!" she cried. "They breathe. They do not live. For them, for them death would be better!"

"And would you have me order Beryl to release them?" he asked in a low tone, urgent. Golden eyebrows raised.

"Since when does Beryl take orders from you, General?" He ignored the barb and reached forward to grab her hand and pull it down.

"Fine, would you have me ask her, ask Sol for their deaths?" Mina ripped away and turned to look at her friends, her still friends. She took a deep shuddering breath and crossed her arms tightly across her chest, rocking slightly in pain.

A wall swung open to reveal a woman with blood colored hair and a low cut, velvet dress that bulged slightly at the stomach.

"Yes child," the Sorceress Beryl said softly, rich voice seductive, "would you have him ask me for their deaths?" Kunzite stiffened at her appearance and cursed as Mina spun. Large eyes flickered from him to her and he read Mina's thoughts clearly. That this had all been a set up, a plan, that he had known that Beryl had been listening for the whole time. He watched the princess as she raised her chin high, pale face drawn, flushed, yet proud, oh how proud she was, and yet inside he sensed humility too, humility learned at far too great a price.

Anger filled her face again but if anything it was more frightening than her white- hot rage. This anger burned steady andcold, demanding truth, seeking justice.

" No. I ask for peace. I ask for mercy. I ask for honor. I ask for vows made to be maintained. I ask for freedom. But I ask a deaf man to listen and a blind woman to see. I ask the haughty to stoop low and the poor to reach high. I ask for a new order. I ask for a new life, another chance, a hope in this world of despair. I ask for this with all of my heart but I know there will be only pain as an answer. To all I ask you mock me with pain. So be it. You want me as an ally; I see that now. You thought to use Rei and Ami as bait but they're beyond my help as I am. I used to be a Healer before that was taken from me too. I won't ask for their deaths because that would indebt me to you. Do your worst but I'll die condemning you and yours until the day your hands snuff my life out or until you have me join them there." She waved to the tables and turned to go back to her chambers, sickened by the people who now ruled the universe, but Kunzite blocked her exit.

"Let me go," she whispered, deflated of passion, looking tired, small beyond belief. The anger lingered still but it was subdued, for now, and replaced by a soul wrenching weariness he knew himself all to well. Beryl watched her with dancing eyes and Kunzite sighed as the woman nodded to him. 'Damn it all, not now!'

"No Lady. You have an audience with Emperor Sol." He responded quietly to Beryl's cue. Sapphires flickered and her mouth pursed.

"No General. I will have no audience with that man and I am no Lady." She spat. "Let me pass." She tried to move forward and he sidestepped to fill the doorway fully.

"I'm sorry Lady but you will be escorted to the Throne Room now." Mina looked up at him, entreaty plain. "I'm sorry Lady," he added in a gentler tone. Wrath swirled her eyes a deep cobalt.

"Move now."

"No."

Her gaze narrowed as their eyes locked. His pity dissipated as they squared off. Blue to gray, cerulean to silver. Unnoticed by either her form slowly blurred as golden light moved to fill her. Beryl, alarmed yet curious, put one clawed, protective, hand over her stomach and backed up as she watched intently, gathering her own power. Kunzite though was still oblivious, lost in a contest of wills, as was Mina, elsewise she would have known the magic that touched her for what it was, and rejoiced.

"Move."

"No."

"Yes!" At the last the light exploded and the symbol of Venus shone like a beacon on her forehead. As she felt her form melt Mina instinctly walked through him. Almost instantly the power faded as her essence returned and she solidified with a surprised gasp. She only had time to wonder at it before Beryl lashed out and smothered her tight in a web of dark magic, face grim.

Kunzite whirled to face the Sorceress. "What in all hells was that?" Beryl shook her head, prespiration shining on her forehead and she studied the now unconscious princess.

"Magic," she replied, voice short.

"They have no magic," he responded. "If they had magic like that then they have just been playing with us all that time... With magic like that she could have escaped any time. With magic like that our armies would have been nigh near defenseless! Don't you dare tell me they have magic!" Beryl winced as she wrestled with powers she had never before seen and could barely control.

"Don't you dare tell me they don't! Now silence!" Kunzite moved to protest but thought better of it. He knew the complexities of spells and while he cared naught for Beryl she carried his Emperor's child.

Tension built in the silent room, broken only by Mina who gasped occasionally as Beryl's power gripped her tighter. Kunzite clenched his jaw until at last there was relief, as if the entire room heaved a sigh, and released. Beryl opened wearied eyes and Kunzite moved to catch her as she swayed and fell.

"Fetch Sol," she whispered. "We need Zoicite. I have the power but he has the knowledge..."

"And the girl?" Beryl grimaced, her haughtiness destroyed by what she had seen today.

"For now I have her but the control is uncertain at best."

"And if she broke free with her magic at full strength?" he asked in a low voice, still doubting, but made to believe. Beryl was a witch but she was no actress, her weariness was unfeigned and she, mistress of darkness, was not easily tired.

"Then may she grant us the mercy we never showed them."

Mina writhed in a prison of darkness but she was far from helpless. Unconscious she none the less fought, fought with the power of Venus, with golden light that filled her, rejuvinated her, renewed her, burnt away her terror and replaced it with a calm serenity. Serendipity.

Zoicite watched the woman Pharl named as Lena through half lidded eyes as she served them dinner. Too good to be true, and yet, too good not to be. He blinked lazily as Pahrl took more than a fair portion of dinner and heaped it onto his plate unselfconsciously. Zoicite waved her away as she turned to offer him one of the dishes and he watched as she walked away.

Now she was the perfect image of a housekeeper, demure, unobtrusive, with just the right touch of obnoxious curiosity that all housekeepers seemed to have. She averted her eyes and offered food with impeccable manners but... She held the trays stiffly, as if not used to carrying them, and he noticed her hands were hardened like that of a fighter. And sometimes, not often, but in rare moments he saw her stance shift, from that of a peasant to something, someone, much more. His green eyes narrowed speculatively as he sat straighter to address Pharl.

"Pity that I couldn't speak to Princess Mercury. People say she was as interested in magic as I am." His lips curled into a satisfied sneer as Lena abruptly stiffened at the mention of the princess. Pharl, oblivious to the game, played unwittingly along.

"Princess Mercury?" he rumbled. "Ami, Princess of Mercury. Yes I recall some stories of her. I take it she's dead now?" Zoicite sniffed, unconcerned.

"Girl," he ordered, "I believe I would like some of that dish after all." Slowly, obediantly, Lena turned and he hid a smile of supreme satisfaction. He wanted to observe her face. Now, it was hooded, unrevealing, yet her form was tensed lightly, ready to spring forward with coiled energy.

"Actually, she lives, not for long, but she lives. Oh I doubt she wants to but she has little say in the matter. When we caught her and the firecracker, Princess Mars, we wanted them whole, unharmed, perfect blackmail fodder. They had other ideas. When they realized it was hopeless they tried to deny us even in that by inflicting wounds to take their own lives.

They were fast but we were faster. Our resident Sorceress, Beryl, caught them in an energy field and held them stable. And so they remain, frozen with mortal wounds. They'll catch up with them sooner of later but not before we use them to our advantage. Even near death our holding them gives us power over the population of other planets.

Some day we'll use that trump card on Mars and Mercury, probably soon if Mercury continues to rebel as it has. Then we'll release them to the darkness that birthed them for we'll have no use for them after that." He watched Lena as she served him. 'Damn!' he thought in a kind of admiring exasperation, 'she didn't so much as blink!' And yet... He sensed a mystery and his job was to unravel life's mysteries. A sudden idea struck him and he grinned before turning to Pharl.

Lita ground her teeth as she served the thrice be damned man dinner. As his cold green eyes slid away from her she refrained from letting a sigh of relief out. The way he watched her... It wasn't like a nobleman watching a servant or like a man watching a woman, it was that but there was an intensity too... He saw, not past her disguise, but he saw that she had one. He sensed that and she knew it with instincts that, had she not been a princess, a senshi, would have made her a fine diplomat.

The comments about Ami and Rei had cinched it. He was baiting her and he wanted her to step into his trap. He suspected her. Her hands clenched tight around the plate, until her knuckles showed white.

"Pharl," he said in a silky cool voice that grated on her nerves and raised imaginary hackles. "In my travels I often have need of a secretary. I don't have the time to document all of my findings and frankly the more tedious labor isn't suited to me at all. I wonder, do you know of someone, a slave perhaps, that I could take with me. You'd be handsomely compensated for your trouble of course..." Lita's heart quickened within her breast and she unconsciously shifted into a wide legged battle stance.

"Girl," he ordered arrogantly as he turned to her, emerald eyes lighting up with interest again.

"Can you read and write? Remember that it's treasonous to lieto a General." She paused, about to reply that of course she couldn't read or write, few peasants could, but bit back the words. An outright lie he could see through but a partial lie?

"Girl," he barked, voice commanding. "I'm waiting..." She forced her expression into submissiveness.

"I can read and write a little," Lita replied in a soft, barely audible voice. It was perfectly okay, even expected, to be nosy but it was best not show superiority in front of 'masters'. "Father didn't want me to learn but when I insisted he allowed it."

"Really?" he remarked. "You do know that it's treasonous to lie to me?" Annoyed by the game she was about to snap that it wasn't treasonous to lie to a mere General. It was treasonous to lie to an Emperor, or a King, or a Queen, but no others.

Then she cursed mentally. She had almost fallen for it. Damn her glib tongue! No peasant would know the finer technicalities that came with rank, and none would truly care. "Yes General," she murmured, "I know and I'm not lying."

Zoicite leaned back and studied her. "You know Pharl, your housekeeper might be just the person I need." Pharl abruptly spluttered.

"Zoicite! Why her?" The younger man sent an unconcerned look in his host's direction.

"Why not? Well girl, how about it? You'd get to see the Universe..."

"How about what sir?" she responded in a small voice that reeked with meekness. Green eyes flashed and locked with hers and she bit back triumph. Where before there had been asuredness now there was hesitation. She read it there. Before he had been sure she was hiding something, now though...

His face registered coldness. "Would you like to be my secretary?" Lita frowned faintly, masking stronger emotions that rose in response to his proposal.

"But sir, you said you need a slave and I am no slave. A servant mayhaps but no slave." The man shrugged.

"There's little difference, is there? Your master still commands your life, or your death. Free in name, bonded in truth, or bonded in both name and truth, no real difference." The sharpness in his voice commanded her not to reply but she drew herself up anyway, ignoring the inner voice screaming caution at her.

"Excuse me sir but there is a very large difference. I will never bear chains on my wrists or a collar around my neck. If I do I will be wearing them unjustly. My forefathers were free and my children will be. Perhaps in nothing more than name but there is power in names.

I fear I must decline your offer. My aunt came to an understanding with the good Governor. If she and my uncle ever return I wish them able to find me." Zoicite rose and to her inner delight he had to tip his head back the slightest bit to stare her straight in the eyes.

"I fear girl, that you have no choice. I want you as my secretary and I always get what I want." Forgetting herself Lita curled her upper lip in disgust at the total arrogance that man had.

"You've yet to get Pluto General." Pharl choked and Zoicite reached up like lightning to slap her across her face. More surprised than hurt she rocked back on her heels.

"Learn your place girl and learn it fast else you truly shall be a slave."