Nephrite missed a step, the voluminous robes of his junior all but obscuring his path, and nearly crashed to his knees. His disciple came to his rescue that moment, and used his telekinetic power to keep Zoisite in the air for Nephrite to recover his balance. On his heels came Kunzite, and the youngest member of the Dark Kingdom snatched a mouthful of air for over-taxed lungs, grabbed his nii-san out of the air and told them to translocate back to the lake.

"Damn this boy! Why couldn't he have been born stronger? Don't tell me that little knock into the wall cracked his delicate skull!" Nephrite ranted.

Kunzite's silver eyes blazed dangerously but against all precedence, considering his outspoken nature, he didn't say anything, though he did wonder about Nephrite's change of heart. All he did was probe Zoisite's body for broken bones. It was a wonder, even if Zoisite was injured, how he could remain unconscious throughout Nephrite's caterwauling, and Kunzite hoped that the trip underwater hadn't aggravated any injuries. The ward around the Dark Kingdom was now a blessing in disguise.

"*Is* he alright?" The question came from Jadeite, the blonde leaning against one wall.

"Nothing broken thankfully," Kunzite replied without looking up. "But a hell lot of bruises, and he's running a fever. I think it's because he overstrained himself."

Nephrite snorted. "Oh maybe it's just a fainting fit. He's never fought against so many people before."

That did it. Kunzite stripped his outer robe, rolled it up as a pillow for Zoisite and gently placed his nii-san's head on it before standing to face Nephrite.

"I've had enough of your snide remarks. If you're not here to help, you can jolly well leave!"

Nephrite turned scathing sapphire eyes on his junior's disciple. "And just *who* was it who lost the Silver Crystal? I wonder about your true devotion to Zoisite."

Kunzite's silver eyes widened, and he punched Nephrite without warning. Jadeite stepped in, prepared to punish Kunzite's rudeness, but Nephrite ordered him to stay where he was.

"Just what do you mean by that?" Kunzite roared, not caring if he was making a din himself.

"Ask yourself! And I'm not meaning the first time you tried to charge the Silver Crystal. I'm referring to the second time. You've a lot to answer for, Kunzite."

Kunzite didn't miss the significance of Nephrite calling him by his name, and not just 'boy'. "I don't get what you're asking," he said warily.

Nephrite wiped blood from his nose. "I don't believe you're so callous. If you were really the one who did it, I'll kill you."

Kunzite growled in frustration. "Stop pussyfooting around the 'it' and tell me what 'it' is for goodness sakes! What happened that night? We were practising again, and I heard a disturbance, went to check it and came back to find Zoisite asking me weird questions. Like what you're doing now."

"What a convenient excuse," Nephrite sneered. "Who's to believe you?"

"You still haven't told me what the 'it' is," Kunzite pointed out. "And what do you care? Why are you so bothered with what happens between me and Zoisite. Or are you just jealous?"

By the wall, Jadeite coughed in embarrassment at the innuendo in Kunzite's words, but Nephrite fielded it with surprising equanimity. "Zoisite is my junior. And before that he was my friend. Before Beryl-sama took both of us back to the Dark Kingdom. Hell, just because I don't agree with him on a few points doesn't mean that I hate him! We were as close as brothers!" Nephrite exclaimed, sounding truly aggrieved. "It's just that when Beryl-sama trained him in his powers, claiming that they were founded in cold, he became the perfect ice princess. Use your brains! If I wasn't truly interested in Zoisite safety, would I have saved you guys at that villa?"

"You could have been after the Crystal," Kunzite muttered, but a glare from Nephrite told him to shut up and truly use his brains.

"You're right. I was jealous, after I heard you calling him 'nii-san'. *I* was *his* nii-san until *you* came along," the auburn haired senior grumbled.

"Well, you had to run away first," Kunzite said with tired good humour. "Now will you tell me what the 'it' is, please?"

Nephrite looked uncomfortably away, forced to mention something which none of them four had any *real* experience in. Jadeite scowled at his teacher's hemming and hawing and cut into the conversation with his usual sharp, straight to the point way. "You are accused of taking advantage of Zoisite-sama."

Kunzite's eyes nearly popped out. "I – what? NO! That is the *sickest lie* I have ever heard of!"

"You swear you didn't do it?" Nephrite challenged.

"Yes! You mean someone did…take advantage of my nii-san?"

"Well yes. The chastity spot Beryl-sama put on his arm is gone. If it's not you, who could it be?"

Kunzite swore. "That's a very sweeping statement, and I resent that." He sat down, and forced his mind to think back to that fateful day.

Mamoru walking down the path hurriedly –

Mamoru nearly crashing into the tree at the mere sound of his voice –

Mamoru looking so guilty –

And the perfect thing to confirm that Mamoru was indeed the culprit – nobody else outside the Dark Kingdom knew that Zoisite was a man.

Kunzite surged to his feet and nearly brought the chamber they were in crashing down around them. "Damn that bastard to hell!" he cursed, and blasphemed his way through another six furious, incoherent sentences.

"What is it?" Zoisite asked blearily, blinking open hot eyes and trying to struggle to a sitting position, but the weight of his robes seemed to plaster him to the ground, he was that weak.

Kunzite thumped down on the ground next to the delicate blonde. "Nothing," he replied. He didn't want this revelation to kill his teacher. Next to him, Nephrite regarded him with burning eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Kunzite asked, ignoring Nephrite completely. "I've got a headache," Zoisite said mournfully. "But nothing that time won't heal. Nephrite-sama, you came back to help."

"So glad you noticed," Nephrite said dryly, then looked at Kunzite and Jadeite. "Out," he ordered. "I need to talk to my junior for a while." Kunzite looked as if he was about to protest, but Jadeite pulled him out with him, blue eyes revealing nothing.

"Leave them alone. If I'm not mistaken, they've got a few things to say to each other."

Kunzite folded himself onto the wall opposite his peer. "You've been with Nephrite-sama for a longer period of time. How come your hair's so much shorter than mine? Come to think of it, you don't say much either."

Jadeite surprised him with a smile. "I have only Nephrite-sama to thank. It seems we have quite a bit of time together. Shall we build up our rapport? After all, we are peers."

Kunzite was intrigued. "Tell me then."

"I had a certain reputation of being a klutz."

Kunzite's silver eyebrows tipped upwards. "You, a klutz?" It was hard to imagine the self-assured and taciturn blond doing anything clumsy. Then his mind caught up. "Had?" Kunzite could almost guess what was going to come out of Jadeite's mouth. Probably Nephrite discovered him, saw through to his talent and polished the rough diamond. Predictable, yawn.

"Nephrite-sama doesn't like me much, actually. He took me in only because he killed my father by mistake when he was drunk. It wasn't totally his fault, actually, because somebody else started a brawl, and Nephrite-sama's aim is horrendous when he's drunk. He zapped my father instead of the person who started the brawl. All I have basically is mind-speech and my telekinetic ability, nothing else. And a very straightforward way of saying things. No tact. Being a klutz, Nephrite-sama didn't dare teach me how to use the sword initially for fear I ended up running myself through instead of the enemy. That's why my rank's lower than yours. Nephrite-sama also told me of the short time he spent under Beryl-sama once." Jadeite crossed his hands behind his head and sighed.

"From what I gathered, it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Beryl-sama was a woman who liked screaming a lot, and for no apparent reason. Zoisite-sama used to run to Nephrite-sama whenever they got chewed out. And well, except for Beryl-sama's half sister, there were no other people in this Dark Kingdom. I think both Nephrite-sama and Zoisite-sama's orientation got warped. Nephrite-sama ran away to find out if it was Beryl's influence that he was like that, or if he was born like that, and I think he truly loved Zoisite-sama. He was dead drunk that night we left the Dark Kingdom after that little Silver Crystal escapade."

"Oh," Kunzite said thoughtfully. "And I thought he was just being mean. Thank you."

Jadeite gave an expressive shrug. "We are peers, and there's only four of us left. If we're to face the senshi and Princess Serenity to get back the Silver Crystal, then we'd better be united. Besides, if you keep giving Nephrite-sama black eyes and bleeding noses, he won't be aesthetically pleasing enough to continue staying here with us."

Kunzite's eyes widened slightly at the madcap glint in the narrow blue eyes. And Jadeite laughed. "We keep a high standard here you know. All those people swarming us last night? They were probably jealous.",P>

Zoisite watched his senior pace around the room three times, neither of them saying a thing. Suddenly, Nephrite stopped and flopped down beside his injured junior.

"I thought I told you to take better care of yourself when I left the Dark Kingdom, and to take everything Beryl-sama said with more than a pinch of salt. You didn't listen to me."

"How else was I supposed to stay sane then?" Zoisite asked simply. "You should have taken me with you when you left."

Nephrite scowled. "Damn it! I was only sixteen then, and you were ten, and prone to falling ill *all* the time. How was I supposed to smuggle you out? Frankly I was surprised you didn't die of pneumonia, playing around with ice so much. Besides, you've just realized the outside world isn't a bed of roses. It worked out better that you stayed back here."

"Then what are you complaining about?"

"I am complaining about the fact that you have changed so much so that even when Beryl-sama's dead, you can't revert to your original character."

"What? You want me to be a crybaby? Or would you prefer it if we get into fights al the time? I recall us bearing a set of scratches in one place or another all the time. What's the point? Besides, my powers are founded in cold."

Nephrite snorted. "That is pure beewax! At least when you were a crybaby or when you had that awful temper I had a reason for slapping you. Now even if I want to, I don't have a reason. Alright! If you insist on that philosophy, I won't insist. But I've got to teach you something."

Zoisite inclined his head. "What?"

"I'm going to teach you to swear," Nephrite said with a startling grin. "We can start with 'damn'. Very simple, very common."

Zoisite stared at his senior. "What's the point of *that*?"

"The point is," Nephrite said, enunciating slowly, "to teach you to use your feelings more and your icicle brains less. Now, repeat after me. Damn."

"Da-amn," Zoisite said slowly, pronouncing it as two syllables.

Nephrite slapped his forehead. "You sound constipated. Never mind, let's try it again. Say it faster and with more force."

Minako glared at the wall, hatred seething in her heart for Kunzite and his disgusting teacher. Outside, she could hear her parents saying good-bye to those senshi from the Silver Millenium Order. Suddenly, she made up her mind, and ran out of her room.

"Father, mother, I've changed my mind. I want to be a member of the Silver Millenium Order."

Aino Nataka stared at his daughter. "Didn't you renounce membership a few years back? I thought you hated the discipline required."

Minako scowled at him, a first from her to him. "I said I changed my mind."

The senshi of Uranus stepped in and bent so that they were eye to eye. Minako's blue eyes faced Uranus's green eyes fearlessly and determinedly.

"If you grant your permission, Aino-san, we will take your daughter in. The senshi of Venus has yet to find a student. I think Minako would be a good choice."

Minako restrained herself from jumping with joy, and she didn't care if her parent's consent sounded strained. She was going to take revenge on those two for embarrassing her in front of a hundred people and for not giving her what she wanted.

"We really have to go. Minako, please pack whatever you want and follow us," Uranus instructed the girl, and sat down to wait.

"Are we going to march up to Princess Serenity and demand our Crystal back?" Jadeite asked, leaning against the wall like always.

"It is ours. I should say so."

"Let's split up then, under disguises. With our warm reception at the Aino's villa, I've no doubt we'll get a hotter one if we go as our usual selves." This comment came from Kunzite. "And to throw any suspicious people off our tracks once we get to the capital, Nephrite-sama, you'll go with nii-san. I'll go with Jadeite." Kunzite certainly sounded as if he was the leader instead of Nephrite. Zoisite had happily stepped down for his senior, never having liked responsibility very much.

Nephrite raised one eyebrow. "At least you're using your brains now," he said approvingly. "The idea's sound, just that I don't think Princess Serenity will be very enthusiastic in returning our Crystal once she's realizes what it's capable of doing."

"We'll have to resort to subterfuge then to get it back. I have a bone to pick with those Silver Millenium Order members, in particular the senshi and that black haired bastard."

Zoisite roused from his half-doze. "Why? Other than ratting on us, he didn't do anything."

Nephrite winced at his choice of words, and gave Kunzite a small shake of his head to warn him not to tell Zoisite.

Jadeite resisted the urge to reach beneath his hair and scratch his scalp off.

"Stop being so fidgety!" Kunzite whispered in his ear. Jadeite shot him a black look.

"You're not the one wearing a wig!" he whispered back fiercely. "And it certainly isn't hot for you since you've got your hair all bundled up on your head!"

Kunzite bit back a laugh. "Nobody would believe me as a girl, Jadeite."

Jadeite scowled horribly, caught sight of two travelers sitting on the rim of the fountain nearby and took a leisurely stroll over. The auburn haired man faced him with an altogether too calm expression, but the twinkle in his sapphire eyes told Jadeite that he wouldn't be able to stop being the butt of Nephrite's jokes for a century. The blond lady had an amused smile on her face. Kunzite remained where he was, leaning against the wall of a building with an unconcerned expression, staring at a pigeon making it's way across the street.

Nephrite moved over a little to make space for his junior, the bland expression still in place. Jadeite huffed, and sat down, rearranging the loose skirts of the dress he wore. "Well met, Lady Jadeite. We were wondering when you would turn up," Nephrite murmured.

Jadeite glared at his teacher. "We had to walk a greater distance than you!" he retorted. "We'll meet at the palace gates tomorrow morning at ten sharp. Make sure you don't get so dead drunk Lady Zoisite has to drag your carcass there by herself!"

Zoisite stifled a laugh as Nephrite returned his junior's glare. "You're starting to follow that silver haired brat; no manners! You're going to get it the next time I teach you."

Jadeite's sharp features rearranged themselves into a smirk. "Now isn't that a fine way to treat a lady?"

Mamoru sauntered down the street with Rei, yawning and not bothering to cover his mouth when he did so. Rei shot him a disgusted look, and twitched the robes that pronounced her to be the senshi of Mars back into place.

"We may be going back to the temple tomorrow," she said, then stopped at the look on his face. It was part dismay and part dread anticipation – a strange combination.

"Is something the matter?" she asked sharply. Mamoru shook his head hastily.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Rei gave him a knowing, sly smile. "I know why you don't want to go back."

Mamoru shot her a startled glance. "Why?"

"You're in love with Princess Serenity, right?"

Mamoru groaned, half relieved that Rei didn't guess the actual reason, and half-irritated that she made such sweeping assumptions. Just because men were falling over her feet didn't mean that *he* had to fall over her feet as well. "Nonsense! I'm not in love with her. Besides, there are hundreds of suitors waiting to even look at her face, she wouldn't bother with me."

Rei grinned and slapped him on the back. "There's no need to pull such a long face even if Princess Serenity doesn't want you. Why don't we go and get some supper? If I eat in the palace, I may throw up in front of the cook. Palace food is so rich. Ugh."

"No doubt the cook would crack your head open for insulting her skills," Mamoru commented dryly. "But since you mentioned it, supper sounds good. There's an inn over there."

Rei idly twirled a strand of her glossy black hair while waiting for the food to be served, a thoughtful expression on her face as she did so. "Do you think those four of the Dark Kingdom Sect will come to bother us?"

Mamoru nearly jumped at the sudden question. Like all who knew they'd done something bad, Mamoru's guilty conscience started to plague him, telling him that Rei's question was not an innocent one, and that it was leading somewhere where he didn't want it to lead to.

"W-why should they? After all, we're not the ones who chased them back. If they want to bother us, why not bother the other pugilists who were there?"

"Stupid!" Rei exclaimed. "Our temple is below the entrance to the cave that they live in. It would be incredibly convenient for them to come down and fight with us. Besides, you and Mercury were the ones who revealed their little secrets. Speaking of secrets, however did you know that Zoisite wasn't female? You can't tell even from a close distance. I've asked Makoto and she said that if you hadn't announced it to the whole world, she would still be in the dark. The former senshi of Mercury was in the dark too, according to Makoto. I've seen Zoisite before too. He's incredibly feminine-looking." She turned expectant eyes on him.

Mamoru broke into a cold sweat. "Um…er…" :How the hell do I answer that?: he asked himself. Rei was still waiting.

"Surely you didn't get a vision, right? So, who's your information source?" When Mamoru still hesitated, Rei repeated her question, and her volume grew with each successive question.

Zoisite tried stuffing cotton wool in his ear to shut out the sound, but that didn't work. Nephrite-sama was sprawled face down on his bed, snoring, after drinking what Zoisite took for a mountain of wine. He truly respected his senior's tolerance level.

Finally, Zoisite swung his legs out of bed, wrapped a robe around himself and tip-toed out of the room to see who was making the din downstairs. He wanted to be fresh for the audience before the Princess the next day, and that yelling person wasn't helping.

Zoisite peered down the stairs and stopped himself from moving down. From his angle, he could just make out a very familiar head. More familiar than he was comfortable with. What was Mamoru and the senshi of Mars doing here? The girl's voice certainly wasn't getting any softer – Zoisite could remain where he was and hear everything perfectly. Evidently, no serving boy seemed inclined to go near them either.

Mamoru scratched his head irritably. "Alright. The first time I saw Zoisite and Kunzite do 'it', it was with the former Mercury. The second time I saw them, Mercury wasn't with me, and I had a better…view of things."

Rei goggled at him. "What? You saw them twice?" she shrieked. "You shameless creature! You mean you went on all those solitary walks just to catch a glimpse of them? Disgusting!" But the tone of her voice clearly indicated otherwise.

Zoisite stayed very still. He'd only tried charging the Crystal twice, and Mamoru had seen them both times?

"Did you see both of them, or only one of them?" Rei's interrogation didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon.

"Both," Mamoru replied.

Zoisite snorted. That was an outright lie. If Mamoru had seen both of them on the second time, Kunzite would have done something…Kunzite would have done….Zoisite's heart nearly stopped beating, and he staggered back to the room he shared with Nephrite.

"Nephrite-sama, wake up!" Zoisite shouted, pounding on his head with one fist. When that had no effect, Zoisite drew an ice crystal from the damp air and knocked him with it, sharp end first.

"Ouch! Zoisite, are you out of your mind? Wait for a day more, then you can get together with Kunzite again. Don't be so impatient!" Nephrite moaned, rubbing his head. "Why you disturb me for?" He took one look at Zoisite's blazing green eyes and came fully awake. "Zoi, what's wrong?"

"Answer me very truthfully. Did Kunsaito tell you anything about the second time we tried charging the Crystal?"

Nephrite didn't answer. Under the strength of those terrible burning eyes, he couldn't find the mettle in him to lie, not even half-heartedly.

"The chastity spot is gone from my arm. You saw it for yourself. Was what Kunsaito told you related to that?"

"Zoisite," Nephrite cut in sharply. "What are you thinking about? Kunzite's your disciple for heaven's sake!"

"Precisely," Zoisite agreed, a strange gleam in his eyes. He didn't look very sane. "He wasn't the one who did it to me, right? He told you who did it to me, right? You two were talking. TELL ME!"

Nephrite backed away from the bed slowly, circling around Zoisite like he would a mad horse. "Calm down, Zoi. If there's any problem, we can talk it out in a civilized manner."

"Don't bother," Zoisite replied, sitting down on the bed, all his earlier pent up energy bleeding away. "You don't have to tell me. It's late. Better go to bed or we won't be on time tomorrow." Without another word, not even a glance, Zoisite lay down facing the wall. Nephrite didn't know what to do, and he decided that the best line of action was to leave his junior alone.

Kunzite waited a trifle impatiently for his senior and love to turn up. It felt a bit weird thinking of Zoisite as his love and not as his teacher or nii-san. But it felt goo too. And when the two appeared, he hooked Zoisite over to him. More of a reflex action than the suspicion that Nephrite would do something to his nii-san.

"What took you so long?" he hissed. "It's nearly twelve! Not to mention we're dying of this damned humidity!"

Zoisite managed an elegant shrug. "Nephrite-sama was messing around with his hair."

Nephrite rolled his eyes. "You're not much better yourself!"

"Alright, stop quibbling," Jadeite cut in irritably. The wig was still killing his scalp. "We have to get an audience with Princess Serenity."

Custom dictated that the palace gates were always open to members of the public so that those who needed to see the Princess could do so. The guards at the gate gave them a quick look over and waved them through. Once in, Jadeite shucked his wig, wiggled out of his long skirt which concealed the pants beneath.

"Now, to get to the throne room."

The four walked briskly down the wide corridor. There were doors to either side at certain regular intervals, and all of them were tightly shut. Kunzite was startled to hear the sounds of high pitched laughter coming from one of the doors they passed.

"Mamoru! You're so lewd!"

"I never knew you had this other side to you. You look so innocent and clean."

"Twice? Once was enough, for heaven's sakes!"

"No wonder you kept running away to the forest."

"You girls have sick minds!" Mamoru protested, climbing to his feet from where he saw in a chair, surrounded by giggling Inner senshis. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn had a separate room further down.

"Oh?" Rei batted her eye lashes. "Was it fun to watch?"

Mamoru's jaw dropped. "Rei!" he shrieked in mortified horror.

Even the blue haired girl Ami, the quiet senshi of Mercury, laughed. "Come on, Mamoru. What else did you do?"

"I didn't do ANYTHING!" he shouted, pulling open the door, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Zoisite looked up at him, his flashing eyes at odds with his calm expression, the other three members of his Sect flanking him. Mamoru backed a step into the room, and his tongue unlocked.

"I didn't – it's Zoisite!" he yelled. The senshis jumped up, and Zoisite grabbed hold of Mamoru by his shirt with one hand.

"You are in deep shit," he said clearly, the first sentence he uttered with an obscenity in it. Kunzite started violently at his nii-san's side.

"What? He knows? You told him?" he hissed at Nephrite.

"I swear to God I didn't tell anything! He figured it out himself!" Nephrite defended, sweating a little under the glare that Kunzite gave him.

"Let go of him!" Minako yelled, bounding out of the room and grabbing hold of Zoisite's arm. Her nails dug into flesh, but since she'd been training for only two months, she was like a toddler compared to Zoisite. Bracing his feet, he swung his whole body weight to the side, and Mamoru crashed into Minako, who in turn crashed into the door post. Her grip loosened, and Zoisite dragged Mamoru out to the passage way.

"You bastard. I've had enough of your lies!" Zoisite yelled, an ice blade already forming in his hands. Kunzite shook his head. Things had deviated so far from plans. He stepped in to restrain Zoisite, but the slender blond pushed him away, still holding onto Mamoru all the while.

"Where is the Silver Crystal?" as the next question from him. "Don't hedge! I'll kill you as quickly as you tell me."

Rei blasted a fireball, and Nephrite defended his junior with a sprinkle of star-shaped energy.

The other senshis yelled what Kunzite took for battle calls, and charged at them. Things were getting *so* messy, and Zoisite only had eyes for the cowering black haired man before him. Jadeite was on a one on one with Rei, Nephrite handled Makoto and Ami with finesse, while Kunzite was left to deal with the senshi of Venus and her student. What Minako lacked in experience, she and her teacher more than made up for it in terms of viciousness. More than once, Kunzite missed being decapitated only by frantically twisting his body out of the path of the love chains at the very last moment.

"What is it?" Princess Serenity screeched when the guard poked his head into her private practice arena without even a knock on the door.

"Well?" she asked icily as the man huffed and puffed to get his breath back.

"Your…highness…the…the…senshi are…fighting…with…with three men and one woman…"

Princess Serenity grinned, and threw the Silver Crystal that was in her hand up and down in the air. "At last! I was wondering how I was going to test this when everybody's so afraid of hitting me. Mobilize the first guard unit," she told the still-breathless guard, "and tell them to find me!" A second later, she was bounding out of the door.

"YEEEEEOOOOWWW!" Ami screamed as she went down, the first casualty of this fight. Nephrite tossed her a smug smile before concentrating on Makoto. Mamoru yelped as Zoisite's blade whacked him across the shoulder yet another time, reducing his sleeve to shreds.

"I've already told you, the Silver Crystal is with Princess Serenity!" he shouted out, glaring at the blonde as he scurried opposite him, panting heavily.

"I'll kill you Kunzite, if that's the last thing I do! I'll KILL you!" Minako shouted, swinging her blade with all her might. The impact of it sent an unpleasant shock down Kunzite's arm and he leapt backwards, retaliating with a ball of energy and knocking Rei into the path of the senshi of Venus's love chains. The senshi of Mars cursed furiously as she tried to untangle herself, and one wildly flying end of the chain whacked Makoto on her head.

Nephrite sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "You guys are *so* pathetic. Six of you against four of us."

The Outer senshi, having only realized that their colleagues were embroiled in a fight, pounded up one corridor. Zoisite waved his left hand casually, and a wall of ice sprang up, blocking the entire passageway. When it shuddered barely half a second after Zoisite had erected it, credit to the Outer senshis with their powerful attacks," the blond amended the spell such that the ice wall would renew itself continuously, the supply of moisture in the air making it self-sufficient.

"Pick on someone your own size!" a voice called out, and Princess Serenity sprinted up to them, the ice wall forming behind her a split second too late.

Zoisite dealt Mamoru a flying kick, and when he was on the floor gasping for breath, stomped on his hand. "You were saying?" he asked with a grim smile, and a dangerous twinkle in his eyes. The remaining three members of the Dark Kingdom Sect traded glances with each other.

"Those six are no match for you. You knew that two months ago when we gathered at the Aino's Villa. You really shouldn't be bullying them, you know."

When Mamoru tried to crawl to his feet, Zoisite kicked his elbow out from under him. "He's merely reaping the rewards of his despicable actions," he replied.

"Ah, so you came for the Silver Crystal, no?" Princess Serenity asked with a smile.

"Stop playing games," Nephrite cut in desperately, trying to avoid a messier conflict. "Just give us back the Crystal and we'll go. If not, don't blame us for not being gentle to you, Princess."

The Princess grinned. "Oh, not at all. If you want the Crystal, come and get it from me," she invited tauntingly. "The rest of you, clear the place! Don't flop all around and block the way!"

Sullenly, the senshi dragged themselves to the side.

Zoisite's eyes narrowed, and he took one step towards the Princess. Kunzite followed, trying to fathom why the Princess was so confident. The Silver Crystal swung from her hand, a thin silver thread laced through it.

"Zoi – nii-san, don't attack!" he shouted, as Zoisite flung a handful of ice crystal darts at the Princess. He leapt up when he heard Kunzite's warning, but the Crystal's defense radius had expanded. The blinding white light came on, and a sickening crack told them something had hit the ice walls erected.

"One down, three to go," Princess Serenity sang out merrily.

Then…

"Isn't it a little too early to gloat?"

"AAAAAAIIIIII" Princess Serenity screamed out in stupefied disbelief. "Impossible! I honed the Crystal myself! It's defense mechanism should have killed you, nobody can be that fast! If not, the blow to your head on the ice wall should have wrapped you up!"

Nephrite, Jadeite and Kunzite blew a relieved breath collectively.

"I'm not as delicate as I look, and much faster!" Zoisite retorted, three ice darts between his fingers, and two lines of blood down his left temple. He'd caught three out of five of the darts that the Crystal reflected towards him. The top of the foot thick ice wall was cracked in a radial pattern.

"So, I underestimated you. My mistake. It won't happen again," the Princess conceded with a tight-lipped smile. "But the Crystal is still with me. Tell you what. I'll go on a one on one with the leader. If he beats me, you can have the Crystal back. If not…I'll have your heads!"

Nephrite stepped forward. "Deal." Princess Serenity smiled and tossed the Crystal to Minako.

"Keep that for me for the time being."

Kunzite stepped over to Zoisite. "You're lucky not to have cracked your skull this time," he murmured, tearing off the hem of his robe and bandaging the blonde's head. Zoisite winced as Kunzite added pressure to stop the bleeding.

"The bruises are bad enough," he retorted. Then he caught sight of Minako staring murderously at him. "Exactly what is that girl's relationship with you?"

"That?" Kunzite looked up from Zoisite's head. "A childhood acquaintance I was unfortunate as to make. A very bad mistake to know her."

Minako hissed in anger. "Watch what you say. I'll make sure I force you to watch when I kill your darling teacher."

"You think you can manage that, girl?" Zoisite asked. "Come back a hundred years later and we shall see then."

"Don't mock me!" Minako warned. "What I want, I can achieve. Now!" She surged to her feet and drew her sword, aiming for Zoisite's throat. The blonde dodged neatly out of the way, formed an ice blade and swung it at Minako. Kunzite saw the Crystal flash dangerously before the swords connected.

"Damned! The Crystal's not only tuned to the Princess but to the senshi as well!" Kunzite shouted, trying to grab hold of Zoisite's robe and yank him backwards. But it was too late. There was no way Zoisite could defend himself, and this time, he crashed right through the ice wall and landed at the feet of the guards gathered, blood from where the jagged ice shards had pierced him staining his robes.

Nephrite's concentration wavered, and only Jadeite's intervention spared his life when Princess Serenity's attack shot directly at him. Teacher and disciple landed in a heap near the other ice wall. The one with the Outer senshi on the outside. The ice wall shuddered violently, more cracks appearing as the Outer senshis' combined attacks were faster than the wall's efforts to renew itself.

:"Get out of the palace now! We can't defeat the senshi and the Princess until we find out a way to neutralize the Crystal!:" Jadeite yelled into Kunzite's head. Nephrite smashed the ice wall, snatched advantage of the Outer senshis' momentary hesitation as they flung up their arms to protect their faces from the flying debris and sprinted down the corridors, bull-dozing anybody who got in their way. Kunzite lunged in the opposite direction, trying to get his teacher. Nephrite cursed.

"Get that idiot out with your telekinetic abilities before he kills himself!" he ordered Jadeite, who carried out the instructions without delay. Kunzite found himself being yanked backwards and dragged down the corridors with frightening speed.

"Damn it! Let me go!" he roared, but Jadeite's grip on him was like steel. A moment later, the energy flows twisted violently as a translocation gate winked into existence, fetching the three away.

Princess Serenity dusted her clothes and stepped through the hole in the ice wall to peer at a semi-conscious Zoisite. In his state of shock, he was as good as paralyzed.

"Your fellow Sect members abandoned you here," she said softly and with palpable malice.

"Never," Zoisite replied with conviction. "Kunsaito will come back for me. Wait and see."

"Why not?" Princess Serenity smiled. "We'll wait and see indeed. Guards! Drag him off to the dungeons!"

Kunzite never felt the urge to kill someone as badly as he felt it now. "You abandoned Zoisaito there. Alone! I'll kill you!"

Nephrite strode up to his ranting junior's disciple and slapped him across the face. Hard. "Get a grip on yourself. Zoisite can be saved if you put your energy to better use. Think of a way to counter the damned Crystal and we will get him free!"

"We didn't want to lose you. If you had continued back there, you would have lost your life!" Jadeite chimed in. "And that is NOT what Zoisite-sama would want. He's waiting for us, no, for you now…."

"I went yesterday, you can make the trip today!"

The guard looked at his companions who were buried to their noses in the cards they held and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe we're stuck down here when everybody else is having fun at Princess Serenity's wedding. But I'm not going."

"Too bad. It's your turn today. Damned if I'm going to climb a hundred steps down just to deliver that dog food. Why doesn't the Princess just kill him off? The last time I went in to check if he was still alive, that little bastard clawed my arm so badly my wife thought I'd gotten into a brawl."

"If he dares, I'll crack his little skull. Tomorrow it's definitely your turn."