Cycle of Our Souls: Heart's Love
Part IV
M is for Mars

"I'm getting readings of a vast concentration of Dark Energy around Serena's house. It's almost like a vacuum has occurred. I think we should go check it out," Mercury was saying as Mina and Malachy entered the basement room.
"Are you coming with us, Mal?" Jadeite asked.
"It's too dangerous," Venus spoke up quickly.
"Mina, you didn't tell him?" Raye demanded, angry.
"He doesn't remember," the blond replied softly.
"Didn't tell me what?" Malachy cried.
"How dangerous our search for Serena might be," Amy offered quietly, interrupting Raye before she could say a word. "You may come with us if you like, but I doubt you will come out of it unscathed."
Mina started to speak, but Amy cut her off with surprising force. "It's his choice. You know he can't be kept in the dark forever."
Biting her lip, Mina nodded and turned away to stare at the computer screen. Artemis nudged against her hand, purring, and she stroked him idly. It's his choice, she repeated to herself. He'll have to find out some time.
"I'll go with you," Malachy told them. "I heard her scream too, ne? It seems only right that I help any way I can."
"All right, then!" Jupiter said. "Let's go, minna... there's no time to waste!"
The others rushed from the room to leave only Mina and Raye. "Mina..."
"Nai, Raye, don't start," she interrupted more harshly than she meant to.
"I know what you're going through."
"How can I tell him? He was our enemy, Raye... he almost killed us. He was in love with Zoisite, a man! Oh, Gods, I had almost forgotten that... he was in love with a man. Does he really love me, Raye? Did he ever? This is one issue you and Jay didn't have to grapple with."
The dark-haired girl sighed and rested a gentle hand on her friend's arm. "He will remember, Mina, and soon... I can see it in his eyes. I can also see how much he cares for you. Hai, he loved Zoisite... but perhaps that was just because of his need to love someone. I imagine the Negaverse isn't a very nice place to live..." she trailed off, and Mina turned to face her with a sad smile.
"Domo arigato, Raye... I guess now I know how hard it was for you when you figured out Jay's true identity."
She smiled. "I was frightened and angry, but Jay regained his memories and told me what happened. Malachy will do the same for you, and then you'll understand as I do. Now let's go: that group can't handle even half a youma without us!"

"It looks perfectly normal to me," Lita was saying as Mina and Raye joined the group gathered in front of Serena's house.
"I don't understand," Amy said, typing furiously at her palmtop, "I'm reading enough Dark Energy to take over half of Tokyo, but I can't see anything wrong."
"I can sense it," Raye said after a moment. She shivered, and Jadeite wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Mercury's right, it's strong... stronger than anything I've ever felt before. I... I can't sense Serena at all."
Darien frowned angrily. "This just isn't right. Where's Luna? Why didn't Serena's family hear her scream? Why does it look as though nothing's wrong?"
"What should we do?" Jadeite questioned.
"I don't know," Mina replied, "but we need to get in somehow. I don't want to wake her parents or Sammy, though... so... any ideas?"
"We could go through her window. It's not that hard to get to, and..." Darien trailed off, blushing, as he realized everyone was staring at him. "I came one time to warn her of danger or something... it was a while back."
"Uh-huh," Mina said with a grin, "I bet. But anyway, do you think you could do it again?"
"He shouldn't go alone," Malachy spoke up quickly, much to everyone's astonishment. "It could be dangerous in there, ne? At least one other person should go with him to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."
Jadeite grinned. "Just like old times... Malachite always the practical one."
Mina cast him a warning glare, but Malachy only smiled. "Hai, Jadeite, just like old times." The words stunned them all, but none more so than Malachy himself. "Just... like... old times..." he whispered, his violet eyes wide with shock. Then his gaze traveled to Mina and he said one word, one word which seemed to stop time: "Mi'ko-chan?"
@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-
"When I come back, we'll be married, just like we talked about last night, Mi'ko-chan," Malachite said softly, urgently.
"We're soldiers, Mal-chan: we both know you might not be coming back."
"Don't say that, Minako! I love you... I'll always love you, and I'll do my damnedest to get back to you."
She smiled sadly. "I know you will, love, I know you will." With a final embrace and a kiss, he stepped back to join his fellow Generals and their Prince. Each man waved to his beloved one last time before they disappeared in a flash of light.
"I miss him already," Minako said with a long, soft sigh.

"This," Malachite said angrily, "is not the Earth Kingdom." He squinted, trying to peer through the living darkness that surrounded him. What the hell was going on? Why weren't they in the graceful marble hall of the Earth Palace?
"Whatever gave you that idea?" he vaguely heard Jadeite say. Reaching out a hand, Malachite grabbed something soft that brushed against his fingers.
"Itai!" Zoisite cried. "Something has my hair! Zoi!" The flower petals fizzled out quickly and Malachite gave Zoi-kun's precious blond curls another yank.
"It's only me, Zoisite, don't go shooting your petals around in here!" Zoi smoothed his hair with an indignant sniff, Nephrite made some ill-timed remark in an attempt to ascertain their whereabouts and the whereabouts of their prince, and the next thing Malachite knew, he was standing before the most hideous woman he had ever beheld.
"I am Queen Beryl of the Negaverse, and I desire the services of the famed Earth Generals," she said in a voice that chilled the blood and sent shudders down his spine.
"We will never serve you, bitch!" he cried, angry that she would even propose a possible betrayal. "Our loyalty is sworn to Prince Endymion of Earth, and you are his enemy!"
"We'll see about that," she hissed, lips sliding back to bear those ghastly, nightmarish fangs. There was a flash, similar to that of a teleport, and each General found himself alone, alone and facing a different Hell of his own worst fears.

"Loyalty is a passing weakness, Malachite," a voice whispered in his head. "You are weak. Your loyalty is weak. Your Prince is weak. Your Lady Minako is weak. The only strength is the Negaverse. Empress Metallia is strong, Malachite, and so would be your loyalty to Her!"
"No. You are wrong! I will never betray my Prince. I will never betray the Earth! And, most of all, I will never betray Minako!"
"Will you not? Poor, foolish little Malachite... you already have. Look. See. KNOW."
With this last command, a pool appeared at Malachite's feet. It was smooth, shiny and as black as obsidian. Squinting, he tried to peer into its depths, only to pull back in horror. "You lie. That is not reality!"
"How do you know? How do you know? How do you know?" The voice echoed around and around the vast, dark hall in a ghostly litany. "Look again... look again... look again..." Compelled by the strange voice, Malachite found his gaze focused on the pool once more.
"Nai... this isn't real. Nai..." he whispered to himself over and over. Truly it was a scene to chill one down to the very marrow.
Malachite stood before the beautiful, grand gates of the Earth Palace, a frightening leer contorting his usually handsome features. Behind him were his comrades; Zoisite, Jadeite and Nephrite; all with the same look of contempt and hatred.
"Surrender to the Dark Kingdom, Prince Endymion!" Malachite cried.
"Never!" his former sovereign said. "You have no power here, Malachite. Be gone!"
He laughed long and loud. "The little Princeling thinks to order me around? Nai, Endymion, those days are over!" Pulling his sword from its sheath, Malachite thrust it into his friend's body as casually as he might spear a fish in a pond. "It's done, Prince! The Earth is ours!"
The look of horror and betrayal flashed in Endymion's indigo eyes for a moment, then was quickly replaced by the blank, glazed look of death. With another laugh, Malachite pulled his sword from the dead body and turned to the others. "Burn it."
A flash.
The flames were bright, lurid, angry. He hated them, but he hated the Earth Kingdom more. With a sneer, he turned away from the sight of the burning village and back to the obsidian and black marble pavilion that housed his Queen. "It is done," he said, lowering himself onto one knee.
"And Endymion?"
"Dead, my Queen."
She frowned slightly in displeasure. "Dead? I told you to keep him alive. I told you I wanted him, Malachite."
"Yes, Your Majesty, but he attacked us."
She nodded slowly. "Very well, Malachite. You have done well. It is now time to turn our attention to the Moon Kingdom."
Malachite gave a cry of anguish and tried to look away, but now he couldn't. This couldn't be the truth... he would never... no, no, no! Endymion! Please, my Prince!
"This is real... this is real... this is real..." the disembodied voice hammered at him, and he was beginning to believe it.
The scene changed again.
"You're a fool, Lady Minako!" he said scornfully. "Did you actually believe I loved you? What a child you are! How could I love such a spineless, sniveling little thing as yourself?"
She took a step away, looking as though he had struck her. "Nai, Malachite, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about this, Minako!" He raised his hand and let loose a blast of Dark Energy that sent the pretty blond flying. She landed several yards away with a sickening, bone-crushing thud. Moving closer to her inert form, Malachite laughed cruelly. "See, Lady? I told you I would return."
She looked up at him with sapphire eyes fill with terror and hurt, but he only lifted his hand again, blasting her with another, final jolt of Darkness.
"Nai, Mi'ko-chan, I would never hurt you! MINAKO!" Malachite screamed, struggling against whatever it was that held him enthralled.
"You cannot escape. You are ours. Just give up... give up... give up..."
"NEVER!" he cried, even as another variation of the horror reaped at his own hands began to play out before his eyes.

The battlefield was something out of a nightmare... but Minako supposed that most were. The youma seemed endless, and she could tell her Senshi were growing tired. It had been a long, bitter day, and they had little to show for all their effort. Blasting another one of the nasty creatures, Venus cast a glance over her shoulder. The Palace was far too close for comfort!
The youma were, as she had predicted, proving too much for the common soldier. So many dead... too many... Gods, would the supply of them never end?! Minako stepped on something soft, and she glanced down. An orange flower, how strange... Nai! her mind screamed as she recognized it. It was a flower from her own bed, the second closest one to the Moon Palace itself!
She felt panic brush by on heated wings, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. They have to run out of youma sometime. We're still strong. Surely the Outers haven't been defeated... surely they'll come to our aid... As these thoughts and more swirled around in her mind, a great cry suddenly
went up from the enemy ranks and they fell back, no longer fighting.
With a puzzled frown, she pushed and shoved her way through the soldiers to find her Senshi. "Why did they just stop like that? Have we won?" Ami asked, just as concerned as Minako herself.
"I don't think so," she barely heard Makoto whisper, "look!" They all followed her arm and Rei gasped and said something about it being the Generals, but wasn't that strange because she could've sworn Jadeite was dead?!
The four tall, handsome men approached and each girl found herself taking a step back. "Malachite?" Minako asked softly, unsure if it was truly her love she was seeing. "Malachite, what's going on? Have you come to help us?" But she knew the answer. She rejected it as being impossible even as she
realized that it was the only truth.
"Nai, Sailor Venus," he said, his gentle voice lost in tones of cruelty, "we have come to destroy you in the name of the Negaverse!"
Each girl reacted differently, but it was only Minako who managed to push crushing anguish aside, finding comfort in her role as a soldier. "I should have known. I should never have trusted you. You lied to me, every word!"
He shrugged as though the matter troubled him little. "Come, Lady Venus, let's not waste time in talk!" Brandishing his sword, he made a small trickle of blood appear at her cheek.
Concentrating, Minako formed her own sword. "Though it breaks my heart to do so, I will punish you in the name of Venus and the Moon Kingdom." She dove at him, but he easily dodged the sloppy attack.
Turning her momentum against her, he thrust his sword out, and she knew it was too late to halt her progress. Even as she fell upon the blade, Minako's mind was turning, and so, therefor, was her body. Her own sword caught him in the stomach and he let out a little grunt. "You underestimated me,
Malachite. It's a mistake you won't live to regret," she whispered.
Slipping to the ground, the Senshi of Love could feel the life draining out of her in a slow, warm flow. Perhaps it would be nice to die... the others were already gone: Ami, Makoto, Zoisite, Nephrite, Jadeite... Rei was close... Malachite was closer. There was an explosion, and Minako knew without knowing how that Serena and Endymion were dead, too. How did this happen? she thought. We were so happy...
Reaching out, her bloody hand found Malachite's and she squeezed gently. "I never lied to you, Mi'ko-chan," she heard him whisper just before the darkness of death closed in around them both.
@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-
"Nai," Malachy whispered, "what... oh, Gods, Mina..." His voice trailed away and a single tear dripped from silver lashes.
"It was a long time ago, Malachy," she told him, her voice gentle.
"I killed you!" he cried. "I killed you in cold blood, Mina... I killed you for no reason other than because I could."
"I killed you, too... and Mars killed Jadeite, Mercury killed Zoisite and Jupiter killed Nephrite. It was horrible... a tragedy and something that probably could have been avoided had we understood. But we didn't, and you certainly weren't going to explain it to us."
Malachy's silver-violet eyes traveled from Mina to Jadeite to Darien. "You... Endymion! Endy-kun! I betrayed you..."
Jadeite smiled sadly. "I did too, Mal. Like Mina said, it was a long time ago."
"But there are horrors more recent," he said softly. "I nearly destroyed all of you. Jadeite, Beryl froze you in a block of ice! How did you... what happened?"
He shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing. You died, remember?"
Malachy frowned and shook his head. "I remember everything. I remember the Silver Millennium, and I remember the battles against the Sailor Scouts... I remember searching for the rainbow crystals with Zoisite." His eyes widened and suddenly he became very, very pale. "Zoisite."
Mina bit her lip and turned away. "You remember Zoisite," she said quietly.
He sighed and ran a hand through his long, silvery-mint hair. "It doesn't change anything, Mina," he told her, his voice soft and urgent.
"Doesn't it?"
"No! The past is the past."
"You could say the same thing about us."
"I guess you won't really know until you see him again," Lita spoke up.
Amy paled slightly at this. "I suppose none of us will."
"All I know is I love you, Mina. I did love Zoisite, but it's as blurry as a chalk drawing left out in the rain. I did love him... but I do love you."
She smiled brightly and wiped away her tears. "I believe you, Malachy. I believe you." She threw herself into his arms and he kissed her.
Lita cleared her throat politely. "Much as I hate to break up this moment, we do still have business to attend to."
The couple broke apart and Malachy changed to Malachite in a flash of light. Looking down at the silver and blue uniform, he grinned. "It feels good to be wearing this again!"
"It's good to see you in it again," Darien replied quietly, a comment that meant more to Malachite than could be measured. It was forgiveness, forgiveness without it being asked, forgiveness granted as though the past had never been.
"So who's going in?" Malachite asked briskly.
"I am," Darien spoke up.
"Like Mal said, you're not going alone," Jadeite told him. "I'm going too."
"And I. You're our Prince, ne? We can't send you in by yourself."
"Then let's get this show on the road. How did you get into her window, Darien?" Raye said.
"I jumped," he replied as though the answer were completely obvious.
"Then jump," she told him, her voice tinged with sarcasm.
A few moments later the three men were climbing in Serena's window. Mina had loaned Malachite her communicator so that they could keep in touch with the Senshi. "Luna's here," he said after a moment. "She seems to be asleep... Darien's trying to wake her now."
"Serena's not missing, she's right -- Oh, Gods, where's Serena?!" could vaguely be heard in the background.
"I should've gone with them," Artemis said grimly. "Sounds like Luna needs me."
Mina smiled at him. "She'll be fine, Artemis. Darien will take care of her."
Then there was a cry, haunted and Earth-shattering. They all recognized it instantly. "Darien!" Raye cried.
"Malachite, what's happening? Malachite, can you hear me?!" Mina screamed into the communicator.
"We found her," came a grim voice moments later. "She's dead."
End IV