Rules Are Meant To Be Broken-Part 7
It was the sixth day of Zoicite's visit, and he was beginning to fall in love with the subtle beauty of both the palace and the planet...as well as some other things. Shortly after breakfast, he found his way to Ami's rooms with ease, now familiar with most parts of the palace. Knocking on the door, he was surprised (not an uncommon occurrence during his journey and stay on Mercury; he was beginning to get resigned to it) to see that the princess was dressed in casual clothing, a plain brown shirt and white cotton shirt with a head covering for her distinctive hair. Smiling at him, she said, "Good morning. I thought that you might like to visit the crystal mines today, if you aren't too tired."
"Good morning. I would love to, but I don't have any plainer clothing, only generals' uniforms."
Scrutinizing him closely, she was suddenly struck by an idea that she wasn't sure was either good or bad. "Your build and height is a little like that of my father's when he was younger. I'm sure we could find some of his clothes from his youth that could fit you," Ami suggested.
Before he could protest, the gen found himself walking along through a nearby town, wearing the King of Mercury's old clothes. He hadn't exactly felt right wearing them, but since there was no other alternative (his men were just as clothes-less as he was), he had given in and tried on the outfit. Ami had stood before him as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, with a slightly sad and wistful look on her face. He had guessed immediately what had caused it and felt bad, but there was nothing that he could do or say to make her feel better.
Now her sorrow was hidden under a now-familiar smile as she waved to various friendly people that had cordially waved at the strangers walking through their town. "I guess this town is like a typical Earthen town, but not all parts of mercury are like this."
"Oh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow as he looked around at the street signs, open air markets with fresh produce and meat, and just homes in general.
"There are some parts of Mercury that are completely submerged. There, we have our famous underwater cities, and most of our technology has been geared towards improving life under water."
Envisioning the lovely sight, Zoicite questioned, "Then why don't you live there? I mean, why was the palace built above water and far away from it?"
"It's not really that far away, and we do have advanced transportation systems that include teleportation," explained Ami, "and when Mercury first became colonized, we were not subaqueous people. I think it's only been in the past one hundred and fifty years or so that we've been able to live underwater without very little trouble. One hundred and fifty years compared to thousands of millions of years of life before that is not a very long time. We're hoping, with the help of the other planets, especially Neptune, that new improvements will be made."
The semi-long walk to the mines seemed much shorter because of the eager conversation between Ami and Zoicite, and the latter was almost disappointed that they were switching from the topic of aquatic life to crystal formation but decided that one can't have everything in life. Looking around furtively, Ami located the doorway to a less-traveled mine that was no longer in use. "There are quite a few beautiful specimens left in this mine, and it's really quite safe."
"Are there any lamps we can use?"
Smiling in the gentle, enigmatic way he had learned to associate with her, the princess shook her head and curled her fingers into a fist. Curling them, he blinked as soft blue ice seemed to have materialized in her palm, shedding a bright light. "Light is not hard to maintain, and it doesn't wear away strength as easily as attacks do." As they entered the dark tunnel, lit by her eternal glow, they never noticed the Danger: Caution sign lying face down to the side of the mine....
~~~~*~~~
Although he had besieged her with questions in the beginning, they had been walking through this particular tunnel in silence for a while, just admiring the many-colored crystals and the unique hues each gave off. Suddenly, among all the beauty in the tunnel, Zoicite felt the need to rid his soul of one of his heaviest burdens. "Ami, what was your childhood like? Before you went to the Moon?"
Darting a glance at him questioningly, she replied willingly, "My parents were quite busy, but they always endeavored to spend time with me. I was a happy child...even though anyone will tell you that I was a mischievous little imp."
Letting out a startled laugh, the blond-haired man asked, "You? Associated with mischief? Never!"
"You'd be surprised at some of the things I came up with," Ami told him, grinning slyly. "Most of the pranks were harmless, and I became very good at sneaking up on people."
"I don't doubt it," he murmured dryly.
"So what was your own youth like?"
His previously good mood turning sour, Zoicite gazed unseeing at a particularly bright cluster of green crystals before plucking up the courage to tell her. "I was alone in life since I was ten years old."
Softly, she asked, "What happened?"
Taking a deep breath, the general continued to stare into the distance. It was as if he were speaking from eons away...from his soul. "Well, my father had taught me how to hunt a year ago, and game was becoming scarce near home. Because it was a pretty small town even then, hunting was a necessity to live. I had to track a dear many miles from my home...and then....when I came back, many of the buildings had been set on fire. I smelled-I smelled burning wood and flesh, so I began running towards home. There were dead people lying in the street: men, women, and even children. My parents and younger sister had both been killed by raiders. They used to hit our village continuously, but Endymion's father was too busy with his other work and couldn't be bothered with one small village. I lost everything that day," he whispered, not noticing that tears were running down his face. "It was a nightmare to see Father and Mother dead....and then there was Joie...my sister. She was a little like you as a child, I guess. You remind me of her sometimes. She was always playful and laughing, and she made the world a lighter place. Her name meant joy, and she brought it to the world in every way she knew how."
Feeling an aching sadness in her heart, Ami said helplessly, "I'm so sorry."
"So am I," he whispered brokenly, "so am I. After that, I traveled across the continent with whatever I could salvage from the ruins of our home. One day, I finally came to my destination-the palace. I wanted the king about what had happened to my village, but his councillors wouldn't even let me see him. They laughed at me, until a black-haired boy my age emerged from the room. It was Endymion, and he asked his father to listen to me. The king sent help for villages like mine and reinforced army squads patrolling the land. I stayed at the palace then, with Endy, and later...it was just natural for me to become a general. I stuck to him like glue, because I thought that if I couldn't protect my own family, then it was the least I could do to protect him." After a moment's pause, he went on with his long soliloquy. "Some people think that it's fate that I became a general. That it was destiny my family died. The strange thing was, my name used to be just plain Zoi. So it was all nice and easy for them to make it ‘Zoicite' for a typical general's name-because we use minerals. But I refuse to believe that someone knew it would all turn out like this!! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!"
Before either of them could say anything more, an ominous rumbling and crunching sound was heard. As dust filled the air and obscured the vision, Ami choked out, "I think the ceiling's caving in!" And indeed, it was, as the shaking and crashes grew closer and closer until the blue light went out and nothing more could be seen or heard in the dark silence of fallen tons of rock.
~~~~*~~~~
When he finally came to, Zoicite was in a slight state of shock because of the extent of his injuries. He hadn't been killed, luckily, only surrounded by rocks because of a sturdy ceiling of rock above him that had not fallen. After carefully trying to shift around the rock in the dark for a few minutes, he decided that it was hopeless. Frowning, he thought about the cave-in. True, he had been shouting rather loudly, but it was dangerous for caves to just cave-in because of loud noises. The problem was, he wasn't sure if anyone knew that they had come here. He had been surprised when they had had on trouble slipping out. On Earth, Endymion was followed around by the generals AND one or two bodyguards to ensure his safety. The biggest problem was, the gen didn't think he had enough energy for a teleport. Besides that, he was unwilling to leave Ami, and he couldn't find her in the surrounding stone and pitch-black darkness.
Suddenly, he blinked, cat-like green eyes seeing something in the black. His mind was disbelieving his eyes for one of the first times in his life, and Zoicite wasn't sure if he was hallucinating yet or not. Frowning, he wrinkled his brow and stared further, trying to move his neck. Was that light...blue?? A memory struck him then: Ami's light that she had created when they had been walking through the mines. As the general retrieved his zoicite stone from deep inside him; it was a strong, dark forest green that matched his eyes. The minute he had drawn it out, the bluish light had become stronger and connected a beam with the stone. As all the power poured into his body, Zoicite's spine arched in pain from too much energy that wasn't his running through him. Instinctively, with as much control over his mind as he could muster, filled with a dazzling mix soft blue-green power, Zoicite teleported back to the Mercurian palace.
Immediately, he was met by Greg. "General Zoicite! What happened to the princess? She's hurt!"
Feeling his muscles groan in agony and stiffening at the man's tone that implied that he had had something to do with her injuries, the gen replied shortly, "We got caught in a cave-in at a mine. There were no warning signs around. We have to get her to the healers as soon as possible; her life signs are fading quickly."
Together, the Prime Minister and the General of Earth got Ami to the infirmary. Unfortunately, there was only one junior healer there, eyes wide with fright as she backed into a corner, knocking over various bottles in her nervousness. "My lady!"
Glancing at her with disdain, Greg asked, "Where are the other healers?"
"There was a youma disturbance, my lord! Two hundred miles away! They took a transport vehicle shortly before breakfast!"
Cursing to himself, Zoicite muttered to himself, "Probably too far away for them to teleport back, if they can teleport."
"The only ones who can teleport are Meleah and Arino, and their ranges are very short."
Taking a deep breath, the general looked deep into the other man's doubting brown eyes. He had no other choice, and he had to make this stubborn man who disliked him for no apparent reason see it as well. "You have to trust me on this one, Gregory. As a general, I have healing powers. It is within my level of training to deal with injuries such as the ones Ami has. Do you trust me enough to let me heal her?"
After a moment's hesitation, Greg lowered pained eyes to the floor. "Yes," he whispered, "do what you can."
Almost immediately, Zoicite reached for the blue-green within him still. Disregarding the misgivings in his own mind, he carefully burned out all traces of infection, healed the cracks of broken bones, and closed open cuts. In the process of healing her, he was surprised to find that his own injuries were healing. Slumping to the ground when he was finished, he looked at the Prime Minister, who was holding the princess's hands. "It is done."
Casting a look at him, Greg sighed. "Thank you, General Zoicite. You're near collapse after working all that magic. Go back to your rooms and rest."
"Will you stay with her?" the blond-haired man asked wearily, barely managing to keep himself from swaying dizzily.
"Of course."
~~~~*~~~~
"Can you believe the news that's going around?"
"I haven't heard anything, what happened?"
"The princess and General Zoicite were visiting one of the crystal mines when it caved in without warning! They didn't see the sign warning visitors away, either! Someone found it lying facedown on the grass near the mine!"
"That's really dangerous! What happened to them? Are they hurt?"
"General Zoicite teleported both of them back from the crush of rock, but the princess was almost dying! He healed her, and when she was healed, his own wounds were also gone!"
"He must have powerful magic! How wonderful that he used it to save her highness!"
"These Terrans are not as bad as we thought. He could have saved himself and left her there, you know. Then we could have been attacked and taken over by Earth, without any heirs left to the throne."
"This General Zoicite should be very much rewarded, and we should also send our thanks to Prince Endymion."
"I hear that in the diplomatic talks this morning, the princess's council was busy praising the general and thanking the embassy, as well."
"Tell us more about this general, Anissa!"
"I hear that he was born a commoner."
"Oh, he was! He worked ever so hard to prove his worth to the prince, you know."
"He's trained for years under High General Kunzite, hasn't he?"
"Oh, General Kunzite's a wizard with his sword and brilliant warrior. He also trained the other generals, you know."
"What are they like? Are they as powerful as General Zoicite?"
"Even more so! Nephrite can talk to the stars, and Jadeite is very good at sensing auras."
"Perhaps the Shitenou are different than we thought they were...and more important."
~~~~*~~~~
Ami groaned as she stirred the next morning, her muscles and entire body stiff and sore from yesterday's events. Opening her eyes slowly, she smiled slightly in recognition at the sleeping man in an extremely uncomfortable chair beside her. "Hello, Greg."
Jumping as he woke up, the brunette man sighed with relief. After the healers had come back, they had refined some of Zoicite's healing but said that he had done and excellent job and gave Ami a clean bill of health. Still, he had remained near her throughout the night, drifting off sometime near dawn. "Ami! How are you feeling?"
"I'm all right, I guess. Have you been here the whole night?" When he nodded meekly, she scolded, "You shouldn't have! I'm perfectly fine. After my muscles stop screaming in pain, of course, but that will go away." Suddenly, the past day's events hit her hard, pouring remembrance back into her tired brain. "How did I get back here? He saved me, didn't he?"
"Yes," Greg said softly.
"Is he..." the princess trailed off weakly, that what she thought wasn't true.
Looking down, the Commander General sighed. He remembered that through the night, she had twisted and turned through nightmares, sometimes calling out his name and some other man's that he did not know. "No, he's fine. He's just resting in his rooms, tired out after healing you. All the healers were away dealing with the aftermath of a youma attack."
"Is everyone all right there?" When he nodded again, the princess sat up, disregarding his helping hands. "I want to get up."
"I don't think so, Ami. You were badly injured and near death."
"But I'm fine now, right? Then let me get up."
"No. You'll overextend yourself and collapse."
"I'm not some porcelain object!" Ami's temper was flaring, never a good sign. Suddenly, she glanced towards the door and beamed joyfully. "Zoicite!"
Coming towards them, also smiling, the gen bowed rather stiffly to both. "Commander, princess. I trust you had a good night's rest?"
Scowling at him, Greg didn't hear her answer as he got up, noticing a messenger beckoning him outside the door. When he received the message that he was being called away to an urgent meeting, he looked back and said, "Ami, I'm sorry, but I have a meeting to go to now."
"That's all right," she replied rather distractedly, barely looking at him. "Thank you for everything, Greg. I'll see you later then?"
He nodded curtly and turned on his heel.
Turning to the general, Ami pouted and asked, "I don't suppose you're going to let me get up, either?"
Cheerily, he replied, "Not at all. He's right, you know. Besides, people will get worried if they see you around after being hurt."
"They'll be worried if I'm NOT seen."
"I'm sure your Prime Minister and council will take care of everything. If you're not sure," his smile was gently mocking, "I'm sure I can persuade the latter to come and talk to you and assuage your fears. What do you say?"
Sitting back, the princess glared at him. "You play dirty."
Hiding a satisfied grin, Zoicite took Greg's uncomfortable chair and sat down, crossing his legs. "I take it you're as stiff and full of pains as I am?"
When she looked away, out the window, his grin appeared. "What was your first clue?"
"Well, apparent moodiness, being short of temper, and the way you're holding yourself."
Looking back at him, Ami sighed softly and released the tension from her body. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be...short-tempered. Here I am, snapping at you when I should be thanking you."
"Think nothing of it," he gestured gallantly.
Rolling her eyes towards the ceiling at his overdone motion, she turned serious as she remarked, "You never told me that you could heal as well."
"I used to heal in my village. There were no other people that could treat illnesses, no doctors or anything. And ever since then....I haven't used it. It can't bring back dead people. I haven't even healed Endymion."
Holding his eyes with hers, she whispered softly, "Thank you-Zoi."
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