"A Light in the Darkness"
"Kunzite, I feel something odd about Mal and that girl. Did you read his mind?" asked Zoicite as they were walking away from the Rini's room.
"Yes I did Zoi. But I can't tell you. It is very personal, and it doesn't have anything to do with you or the takeover of Earth," Kunzite replied matter-of-factly. "She and he are in an odd position, but I don't think he will act on his emotions." Zoi seemed to ponder this.
"Well, still, do you think it was wise to leave them in there alone? I think we should go back and escort them to Mother and Father...just to make sure they get there." Kunzite agreed and the two siblings turned around and walked back to the chamber. They opened the door and were greeted with quite a sight. Malachite was leaning over Rini...KISSING HER!?!? And Rini was kissing him back! In fact, one hand was wrapped tightly around his neck, and the other was wrapped around his waist, pulling him close.
"MALACHITE!!! what do you think you are DOING?!? (he had quite a loud yell, much like his father) She is the enemy! She...is...your...enemy..." Kunzite said evenly.
"I knew it, Mal. I KNEW this was trouble! We should have never left you two alone. You do know we will have to turn you in for treason, right?" sighed Zoi. "You will have to go before the royal court and maybe..hopefully...they will be lenient with your sentence because of your good military lineage and your loyalty." With that, the two siblings walked briskly out the door.
"BUT I AM IN LOVE!!!" was the reply they heard just before the door shut. But Malachite was not finished. "Kunzite!" he yelled through the door. "You know what it's like to be in love! Remember Auralite?" he yelled. Kunzite stopped, thinking for a moment.
"Yes," was all he said, remembering the young woman he had fallen for; she had not lasted long. She, like Jedite, had failed one too many times to try and take over Crystal Tokyo. Queen Beryl only thought it would do her some good to die. "But this situation is different. Auralite was the First General; she was on our side. This girl Rini is not. Trust me, Malachite, this is for...your own...good..." Zoicite looked at Kunzite strangely as he punched in the code on the lock and heard the deadbolt lock in place.
"You don't really believe that, do you, Kunzite?" she asked.
"No," Kunzite sighed. "But there's nothing that I can do about that..." Zoicite just stared straight ahead and asked him,
"What are we going to do, Kunny?"
"Well, Zoi, we are going to have to turn them both in, and hope Malachite's death is swift and painless." He heaved a great sigh and walked off. Zoi felt a tear slide down her cheek at her soon-to-be loss.
Malachite hit the door again. "It's useless, love, we're locked in. I can't break the code. Kunzite may be a lower ranking officer than me, but because of his psychic powers and quick reflexes, Beryl favors him over me, so she most likely gave him the security codes of the whole ship (for they were on a ship hovering above the Earth)! There is nothing we can do but wait. But that can not necessarily be a bad thing. I will tell you about how Queen Beryl is alive, and how I am alive, for that matter...."
So Malachite started the long story about how he came to live in this world. When he finished, he looked at Rini, who was listening with fierce intensity, and held her in his arms. He didn't know what to do. He was in love with her, but she had barely spoken one word to him. She had kissed him, and he felt like he was about to explode when she did that, because he had never felt such a kiss before in his life. He then knew she was his match, but he was afraid; for he knew if he forced her to become a member of the Negaverse, they would be outcasts because of his actions now. But he was also afraid she would differ from the Rini now if she--
"Malachite?" Rini asked, interrupting his thoughts. " I am not going to become a member of the Negaverse. I do l..lo..love you, but I am loyal to my planet. It is my duty as a princess..."
"I know Rini; I know..." He kissed her again and lie back on the bed with her in his arms and they fell into a fitful sleep...
"Malachite, is that you? Don't leave me, Malachite!!" He saw Rini running through the cherry blossom grove from eleven years ago...only she was grown and in the gown and tiara she was wearing now..."Malachite!! Find me!" she giggled as she ran. Malachite smiled, ready for the chase. He jumped up and ran around after her a for a little while, then changed his plan. He hid behind a tree, and when she ran by, he jumped out and grabbed her around her waist. She muttered a startled "Eek!" She turned to him and said, "Silly! You scared me! Now for your punishment!!" She was leaning forward to kiss him when she muttered a choked gasp and fell limp in his arms.
"Malachite," boomed a strange voice, "you have been sentenced to death. You have been sentenced to death...death...death...." All Malachite could do was focus on the limp body and the pool of blood on the forming on the front of the gown from an unseen wound.
"No, no, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOO!" Malachite woke up with a start. He quickly looked around. There she was. Rini was safe, but Malachite heard footsteps outside in the hallway outside his door. The lock opened, and in walked a pretty girl with greenish-blue hair and amber eyes.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Malachite! And look at the pretty girl he decided to bring with him. Is it Rini? Do you LOVE her?" The girl mocked Malachite unmercifully. "Well, your fate has been decided, Mal. You will die. Do you like that, Mal? You will DIE!" Malachite looked at the girl. He had never liked her. She was too mean, and was one of the highest ranking officers on the ship; and she knew it.
"Oh don't think that they wanted you to die. I just told them that if they didn't, they would join you in your fate. I am so happy, for even your parents, Zoicite, the wanna-be Princess, and Malachite, the Strong and Brave, shook! I think we will have a celebration after the execution. Yes, that sounds nice. Now, wake her up, and follow me." Mal glared at the girl as he kissed Rini awake.
"Beloved, we have to go now. Come, let's get up, shall we?" They followed the girl out of the room into the hallway and were met by armed guards, just in case they tried to escape.
"Girl, who are you, and where are you taking us?" Rini said as she walked down the hall. She fairly surprised Malachite, since she had said nothing up until this point. The girl grinned.
"My name is Amber. I am a very high ranking officer on this ship. My parents are Prince Diamond and Princess Emerald. Since they have been exiled, I have excelled in the military of this ship. And," she said pausing for effect, "I am taking you to be executed!" This fairly made Rini swoon, for she had been through much on in the past day and a half.
It seemed to Rini they had been walking for centuries when they came to a large room with strange decorations. In fact, the room seemed to be a living thing, with veins and muscles contracting and pulsing. Only, the room was a greenish black shade that reminded Rini of some alien body that was waiting to swallow her up. Then a Woman spoke.
"Malachite, Fourth Officer of the Negaverse, You are accused of treason. How do you plead?" The voice was cold and sent chills up and down Rini's back, like a spider walking on her spine. She did not like this situation at all.
"My Queen, I plead that I am in love and have not committed treason of the mind or body, but of the heart. I cannot help that she is the Princess of the Moon Kingdom. I cannot help that I love her. I only know that I love her with all of my heart." Mal said evenly.
"Then you are found guilty and must die! It's sad, because you would have made a good officer in my military....ah well, C'est La Vie!" With this, she made a small gesture almost like brushing away a fly, and a blot of dark shot out of her fingers. It was aimed straight at Malachite. He knew it was his time, so he closed his eyes.
"Strange," he thought. "It is taking to long..." He opened his eyes to his worst horror.
Rini heard all of the Queen's speech in stunned silence. "But I just got to see him!" she thought. " He can't die! I JUST MET HIM!!!" She watched the Queen shoot the bolt of dark out of her fingers. She saw it was aimed straight at Malachite's chest. Before she could think, she had jumped in front of the young man.
She took the full force of the blast. She knew then she would die. "As long as you are alive, it was worth it," she whispered to Malachite as he opened his eyes. "I have always loved you, ever since I met you....." The young man bent over her with a broken will.
" No...no..Rini..I love you..no...darling, don't die please! PLEASE!" He gently held her in his arms as her life ebbed away.
"I love you," she whispered once more before she gasped a little breath, and died.
"No...no..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" screamed Malachite. His emotion was so great at his loss, that he was engulfed in a black light. The whole ship was engulfed in this light. It blacked out the whole sky of Crystal Tokyo. The children ran inside to hide behind their parents. The parents hid their eyes, praying it would all be al right. Some people even claimed they heard an anguished man screaming far away. Then, the dark slowly started to change to gray, then white, then it was light. The power the Negaverse had over Malachite was gone.
The ship was breaking up. The parts were falling, but burning up in the atmosphere. There was nothing left but a young beaten man (who some said had the Royal Mark, a golden crescent Moon, on his forehead) holding a pretty girl who, it seemed, was sleeping very peacefully on the garden hill overlooking the city, exactly where the couple met eleven years ago. The young man picked up the girl and slowly, ceremoniously, strode toward the crystal palace.
Darien was sitting in his observatory when he saw the darkness cover the sky, then turn into a blinding flash of light. He ran out of the castle only to see a beautiful young man carrying a tiny body with long pink hair and a silver tiara. He knew at once and dropped to the ground in silence. After all he had seen, after all he had been through, he couldn't see his daughter dead. His only daughter.
"I'm sorry...I loved her too."
The young man had reached Darien. He placed Rini in her father's hands. He finally felt the tears start to come. He had stopped feeling numb. He now felt empty, even more empty than he had before he met Rini. He needed to....he didn't know. Leave. He needed to leave. Fast. Where would he--
"Wait!" A beautiful Woman stepped out of the castle doorway. She had long blond hair pulled up in buns and large blue eyes filled with knowledge. "Is she...Oh NO!" she gasped."My daughter...my only daughter!" She cried also. Only Darien was silent.
"Can you heal her Serenity?"
The beautiful woman looked up sharply. She gracefully stood up and ran into the castle. A few minutes later, she came out with the Imperium Silver Crystal. "I will try..." She stood over Rini and cried out "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!" nothing happened. She was dead. Darien picked her up and brought her inside. Malachite followed. Queen Serenity said nothing to Malachite. She and Darien seemed to understand he was a mourner as well. Darien placed Rini on her bed, then he and Serenity left the room, to let Malachite say good-bye for the last time.
Malachite watched the door close. He moved over to Rini. "Oh Rini. no...oh RINI!!!" With these last words, he fell on the bed, kissing her face lightly. "Rini, what can I do? Please, come back! I need you, I am lost without you! I NEED YOU!!!" He grabbed her up and hugged her limp body tightly. He felt his aura glowing and surrounding both of their bodies. The blue aura surrounded them both. He felt it caressing his soul, and finding hers. She stirred in his arms.
Rini was lost. She was in a blackness that seemed to surround her. She was walking on air, yet it seemed to materialize under her feet like the floor. "Malachite...Mom? Dad? WHERE ARE YOU?!....I'm scared!" She didn't know what was going on and was pondering what to do when she heard someone calling her.
"Rini! I need you!!"
She could barely make out the sounds as they floated around her. Suddenly, a blue light drifted toward her and surrounded her. It flowed around her like water, but felt warm. When she opened her eyes, she saw a little boy with blue/gray hair reciting a speech he learned for a class. She then saw him practicing his training as a soldier. She saw him resting in a cherry tree grove and being surprised at seeing a little girl with pink hair bounding up the garden path. She saw Malachite growing up, falling in love with her. Watching her. Keeping her from harm.
She wanted very much to go back to him. The blue light was receding. She ran to follow it, and saw Malachite holding a little body with pink hair on her bed. Crying...he was crying for her. She had never seen him so vulnerable. She had to go back. She closed her eyes again and concentrated....no...wished to live again. To be held in his arms. To be protected by him. She felt the blue light surround her again and she opened her eyes to see Malachite staring back at her.
She remembered seeing his memories. She had looked into his soul. "Malachite..." was all she could say before he kissed her through his tears over and over again.
"Please don't ever leave me again...marry me!" She could only nod her head. He cried for a very long time. When he had cried out all of his tears he said, "I will marry you now, and stay here with you in the Moon Kingdom." She smiled. He picked her up and carried her to her parents in the main hall.
"Rini?" gasped Queen Serenity. "Rini?" She ran over to Rini and threw her arms around her in a relived and incredulous embrace. Darien followed in a similar manner. Rini was glad to see her parents. "How...why?" they asked.
"Malachite gave me some of his life. He brought me back," replied Rini.
Darien asked, "Is this true, Malachite?" Malachite replied yes. Then to Rini and Malachite's surprise, Darien and Queen Serenity turned to Malachite and bowed to their knees. "Thank you, Malachite. We owe you everything we own, and we proudly give it up to you." Malachite and Rini were married and lived as the rulers of the Moon Kingdom to this very day.
"Well, kids, how did you..." The beautiful woman looked at her twins and realized with a smile they were asleep.
"Rini, dear, why do you tell the children these boring bedtime stories?" A young man had materialized in the doorway.
"Oh, Malachite. You know it is true, and the children love it!" He picked her up kissed her on her nose.
"Well," he said softly, as to not wake the children, "I love you!" He carried her to their room for a long peaceful sleep.
A woman stood outside the gates of the castle looking in. She had long black hair and long sinister fingernails. She was wearing a long black cloak and a beret that hid her cold face. She turned to the group behind her, who was dressed similarity and spoke.
"Well, it seems Malachite is the ruler of the Moon Kingdom. It will be easier to take over the Earth if he is in there. All we have to do is capture him and brainwash him to fight for the Negaverse." She laughed an eerie laugh, frightening away some birds in the vicinity. The three behind her looked up showing a pair of emerald green eyes with blue/gray hair, a pair of gray eyes with orange hair, and a pair of amber eyes with green hair.
"Yes Queen Beryl," they all said in unison.