Post by Lady Serenity on Nov 13, 2008 8:19:57 GMT -5
Quick Notes: Mina’s parents know that Mina was Sailor V
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Mina sat in her room wondering what she could do for her friend, Serena. Serena's one true love was trapped in the Negaverse with no memories of his real life. He only had the life Queen Beryl gave him. Mina knew that the evil queen and Darien were on intimate relations and she also knew Serena never wanted to believe it. This was hard on Serena, especially the last time she saw Darien. She was up at a resort; saw Darien and he had told her that he didn't know her. She was heart broken. ‘When I get my hands on the Negaverse...’ she thought.
Mina kept going over in her mind all the different times he tried to kill his true love but never could go through with it. It was like the Darien with memories were fighting and keeping his evil, brainwashed self, from making the blow. She thought of all the times when Darien would thwart Malachite's plans.
Her mind drifted to Malachite. ‘I wonder about him...’ She was able to paint a picture of him in her mind. She pictured, his long, silver hair blowing in the wind, along with his long, white cape. She pictured every single detail of him. She drew a picture and colored it. Her thoughts were interrupted when her mother walked in.
"Mina dear, your father and I are going out for the evening," she said.
"Thanks," Mina said. She looked at the picture she drew and it was Malachite. ‘How in the world...’ She couldn't understand why she drew him. She looked more closely at the drawing. What she saw in the picture was not the Malachite trying to kill them. This Malachite was different.
He stood on an edge of a cliff wearing his cape. His long hair and cape were blowing in the wind. But he was not wearing his Negaverse uniform; he wore a blue-gray uniform with white trimming going down the arms and legs. He, of course, wore white gloves. The uniform looked like something the captain of the guards would wear to a formal gathering for the king. His hand was held out for someone to grasp it. The expression on his face was a sad happy grin. The picture looked like he was saying good-bye to his love.
Suddenly she heard her communicator. "Yeah, what's up?"
"Trouble," Amy's voice came through. Her voiced trembled with fear. "Greg and I are on the fair grounds and Prince Darien is after him."
"I'm on my way." Mina folded the picture just to make sure her mother wouldn't see it. Just as she put the communicator away, she accidentally placed the picture with the communicator. She was about to run out the front door of her home, when Artemis appeared.
"What's wrong?"
"Darien is after Greg. He's been collecting the crystal carriers."
"Well what are we waiting for, let's move," the white cat said and dashed off down the street. Mina was on his heels.
====
The scouts had another brutal battle with a youma. They were so close this time in getting Darien back. Sailor Moon used her Moon Wand on Darien to heal him. His memories return but he was taken back to the Negaverse before he regained consciousness. When the scouts and Greg were ok, they left for home, except for Venus. She stayed back a little while longer before heading home. Not too far away, Malachite stood in the shadows watching the scout. Before she left, she changed back to normal and then left. Something fell out of her pocket, when she headed out of the fair grounds.
When Malachite saw her change, he was shocked. He now knew the identity of Sailor Venus. An evil grin appeared on his face as he thought of an idea. When Mina was long gone, he came out of the shadows. He walked over to where Venus stood and saw something on the ground.
Picking it up, he seen that it was a piece of paper, folded. Out of curiosity, he unfolded the paper to reveal the picture Mina drew and it caught him off guard. He saw a painting just a little while ago. After a few minutes of shock, he left to find Venus, taking the paper with him.
====
Mina walked into her home, her muscles aching. Artemis wasn't far behind. She walked to the kitchen for a drink of water and came back.
"We get a good work out when we fight Malachite and Darien," Mina said.
"Don't let Serena here you say that."
"I would never say that in front of her, even if my life depended on it."
"Well, your life depends on it now," a voice said.
Mina snapped her head to find Malachite standing near the sofa, arms crossed. She jumped, dropping the glass, and ran towards the door. But before she could get to the door, Malachite swiftly got behind her and pulled her close to him. She tried to struggle free. Artemis was about to attack.
"I wouldn't think about, fur ball. You attack me and you will never see your charge again," Malachite said.
That stopped Artemis dead in his tracks.
"I know who you are," Malachite said out loud, "Sailor Venus. I watched you changed and leave." He got closer to her and whispered, "By the way nice picture you drew of me."
Mina gasped.
"Yes. You dropped it. And I suppose your cat doesn't even know you drew this." His lips were so close to her ear that she couldn't even tell if he was kissing her or not. "You're trembling, Sailor Venus. Now, tell your cat to go and get your friends."
"Artemis," Mina said. "Get the others."
"But, Mi..."
"Do it."
Mina saw out the corner of her eye, Artemis head upstairs and knew he went out her bedroom window. When he was gone, Mina began to struggle.
"Keep it up, and you won't see morning ever again," he hissed making her stop struggling. "Good girl. Now you will tell me everything I want to know," he said lightly kissing her ear. "What is your true name?"
"Why should I?" she asked in fear. Here was a man, holding her hostage and he could do whatever he wanted. He was stronger than her in her normal form.
"Because if you don’t, by the time your friends get here, you won’t be," he warned.
"Mina."
"You're from England, which fought off enemies as Sailor V." he questioned.
"Why would you care? You're just going to kill me anyway and my friends."
"Maybe and maybe not. I may decide to have a secret love affair," he whispered again this time chuckling.
Mina gasped in horror. How could he suggest something like that?
Suddenly, she thought of an idea. She knew a little bit about Queen Beryl from what Luna and Artemis told her and the others and knew Beryl did not tolerate failures or traitors. She was going to try and use her knowledge of Beryl to get herself free.
"I know a little about you people," Mina said. "What would Beryl do to you if she caught you having a love affair with a scout?"
"Don't you play that on me," Malachite growled.
"Well, I'm not that stupid. I know something happened to Zoycite and it wasn't good on her account. Queen Beryl killed her, didn't she?"
"You say something like that again and I'll..."
"You'll what? Hurt me? I can help you. We can help each other," Mina said. She was confused at her own words. She couldn't understand why she was saying this.
"You're just saying that to have me let you go. But it won't work." His voice, she realized, was not the same strong, deep, in control, voice. He was holding something back and she was going to find out what that was.
"You're hurting. I can feel it," she said.
"Stop!"
"I how can I stop? You're allowing me to feel your pain. I am, after all, the scout of love."
"I am not."
"Really. Then tell me why, your voice doesn't sound convincing or its usual controlling voice." At that moment, she felt his grip loosen a bit. For a second she thought what would be the best way to approach this, jump out of his arms or continue on with the painful subject. Before she knew it, she turned herself to face him. His arms were still tight against her.
"Nobody can get passed the scout of love," she said.
"Well, I can."
"Oh, then how come I just turned? I could have jumped away and knocked you out, before you had a chance to know I was gone."
He looked down at her and saw the truth. For a while they looked at each other. He started to fight a battle within himself. This teenage girl was able to sense his pain for Zoycite. He soon realized that the tables were now turned. She had the advantage, not him.
All too soon, they heard noises coming from upstairs and knew it was the Sailor Scouts.
Malachite released his grip on the girl and turned. "Until we meet again. And until then, I shall keep this," Malachite said, showing off the picture. Before she had a chance, to try and snatch it, he disappeared as scouts came down.
"Mina what happened?" Sailor Moon asked and then looked around. "Where’s Malachite? "
"Malachite knows who I am."
The girls gasped.
"Well, where is he now?" Sailor Mars asked impatiently.
"He left. Somehow I was able to take advantage of the situation. But, I don't know."
"We better be careful," Mercury said. "He may know Mina but he doesn’t know us and he could if we become careless. Anyway to theorize how he figured you out?"
"When we left the park, He may still been there hiding. I stayed behind for a few minutes longer and transformed back to normal before leaving," Mina said.
"And you're ok?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yes. He didn’t do anything but give empty threats."
"What kind of threats?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Nothing much."
"He does have some kind of hidden agenda. Maybe you should stay with one of us," Sailor Moon suggested.
"No. Mom and dad will be home at midnight."
"All right. Artemis let us know if any more trouble occurs."
"Will do," Artemis said.
"Let's go before Mr. and Mrs. Aino come back," Jupiter said.
When the girls were gone, Artemis turned to his charge. "What did he do?"
"Artemis, that's the question. He didn't do anything, except threaten me. I don't want to get into details what he said. But I felt something from him."
"What?"
"His pain. I felt pain for Zoycite. If I had been alone with him for a few minutes longer, I would have found out what happened to Zoycite."
"What? How? Never mind, don't answer that. You were able to feel his pain?"
"Yes. There's something else. I think we know each other from before, on the Moon. Why else would he have held me hostage only to leave when the scouts showed up?"
"I don't know."
"I'm going to dig into this some more."
"Mina, you be careful. Malachite is the most dangerous one of them all."
"No, that would Beryl. If my suspicions are right, I might be able to get Malachite to help us."
"Mina, I better warn you now, that is really dangerous."
"Artemis, you by know now, that when I have my mind set on something, I do it."
"Yes, I know. Just be careful and any sign of trouble, tell the scouts. I'm going to let Luna know."
"Good idea. But, I don't want the others to know, until I know for sure, please make sure Luna doesn't say anything."
Mina went to her room to prepare for bed. Up until she fell asleep, her mind kept drifting from the picture she drew to Malachite's little visit.
====
Days went by and Mina was nowhere near the end of her mission to find out why she drew Malachite. Malachite, meanwhile, watched her. He knew she was trying to find a connection to the picture. Every day, as he watched, he always had the picture with him.
Now, down in the depths of the caves leading to the Negaverse, the scouts were transported to another world, long forgotten. Malachite was shocked to see the Moon wand, take them out of there. When he was over the shock, he knew the cats were also down so he went and found them.
When the scouts returned they had just seen Malachite hurt the cats and they attacked Malachite. Now, as he laid slumped on the floor, dieing, Sailor Venus had a vision of Malachite in the past.
<Flashback Princess of Venus ran through the meadows on the Moon. As she ran, she almost tripped over the skirts of her gown. She picked up her dress and was able to run faster. When she reached her destination, she found a man standing on top of a cliff, looking out over the kingdom. He was wearing his formal attire, cape blowing in the wind, as was his long white hair. The man who stood before her was her love. It was last day she was going to see him for a long time.
"Why do you need to go? " she asked.
"You know why," he answered sadly. "My love." He turned to the small woman and wrapped his arms around her. "I shall miss you.”
"I shall miss you as well. Please return safely." She closed her eyes the man bent down and kissed her.
He let her go and started to move away while still looking at her. Their hands were linked. As he walked away, his hand left hers, slowly. When her hand was no longer touching his, tears started fall from her eyes. He smiled at her to not to lose faith. His smile was sad as he feared that he may never return back her, alive.
Unknowingly to her, it was going to ever be the last she saw him as her love. She had no idea that he would have been taken hostage and brainwashed to work for Queen Serenity’s mortal enemy, Queen Beryl. <End Flashback
Sailor Venus looked at the dying man as she figured out why she drew the picture. It was the picture she last saw him as a good man on the Moon. She could feel his physical strength leaving him.
He watched with weakened eyes as the scouts gather around the cats. He couldn't hear them talking but he knew it was about him. He watched them leave. He now remembered his last day on the Moon. The picture Mina drew now made sense. She loved him and it was a picture of her last sight of him.
A ways down the tunnel, Sailor Venus stopped. Sailor Mars was the first to notice Venus had stopped.
"Hey, guys wait," Mars said. As the others turned to Mars, Mars asked Venus what was wrong.
"Nothing," the blond scout said. "How do we know, Malachite is dead?"
"Venus, he's slumped against a wall, dieing," Mars said a little irritated.
"You guys keep going I'm going to check to see if he really is finished."
"No!" Sailor Moon burst out.
"Sailor Moon I can take care of myself. Besides, I've kept something from you all. I had asked Luna and Artemis to keep it quiet. When Malachite was at my home, I felt his pain for Zoycite. That is what made him really leave, I think. He couldn't stand that I could feel his emotions."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Jupiter asked.
"I had to be sure. He is from the Moon. But before it was destroyed he was a good man. I believe I can change him. I am going back to see if I can help him and if not well I will kill him."
"We should go with you then," Mercury suggested.
"No. He may think, that you came back to finish the job. It will be better, if I went alone. Since I'm the scout of love, I can channel my energy to heal him enough so he can teleport us out of here. If not, I will turn into Sailor V and get out."
"Mina, knows what she's doing," Artemis said. He was held in Venus's arms. "When you get to know her better, you will understand why she does things the way she does."
"I want someone to stay with you. Jupiter, go with her," Sailor Moon commanded. "The rest of us will stay here, until everything is safe."
Sailor Venus sighed in defeat. "Come on, Jupiter before it's too late," she said and dashed down the tunnel. Jupiter wasn't long catching up to her. When they did reach Malachite, he was still slumped over with his eyes closed.
"Stay here," Venus whispered. Venus walked over to Malachite and knelt down. As she got closer, Malachite, weakly opened his eyes.
"Wh--?"
"Don't speak. Save the rest of your strength. I'm going to make a deal with you. I will save your life, if you switch sides. I know about you. You were a good man once on the Moon and I know you can be that man again." She held out her hand to grasp his. "Do we have a deal? Cause if not, Jupiter and I will finish you off."
He tried to snort as she was blackmailing him. But his decision was already made up. He looked at her and weakly tried to bring his hand up to grasp hers. Venus saw what he was trying to do and swiftly grasped his hand.
Venus gasped at the touch. His hand was cold to the touch. His life energy was leaving him fast. "Jupiter, come here. He's weaker than I thought. I need your help."
Jupiter came over at her call.
"The weapon needs get pulled out," Venus said. "Malachite, I'm going to share my energy with you, to keep you alive. No matter how painful, having the weapon pulled out, you must hold my hand."
Seconds went by and Jupiter was in position to pull the weapon out. Venus stayed by Malachite, holding his hand.
"Ready," Jupiter said. She didn’t want to do it but she trusted Venus’s decision.
"Yes." Venus tightened her grip on Malachite's hand. Jupiter grabbed the weapon and pulled. Malachite felt a huge surge of pain in his left side by his heart. The pain was so great that, he thought he was going to faint, but Venus held on to him. He was surprised at how warm her energy felt as some of it poured into him. The warmth of her energy was like walking out into the sunshine on a warm spring day.
When Jupiter had the weapon out, she threw it against the wall. Jupiter watched in silence as Venus cuddled Malachite against her. His wound was closing fast from her energy
"With my energy, you will come with me to the others and teleport us and you out of here. To do that, though, you will need all our energy. Jupiter, help me to get him standing."
When the two girls had Malachite standing, he was leaning on both girls. It took some time, but they were able to reach the other scouts.
"Well, it's about...huh!" Mars gasped.
The other two girls whipped their heads around to see Venus and Jupiter carrying Malachite.
"What do you think you are doing?" Mars snapped.
"Saving his life," Venus said. "We have to get out of here before we are detected. We all have to hold on to Malachite and share our energy with him. He's weaker than I thought."
"How do we know that he isn't faking it?" Mars asked, angered.
"Mars, he doesn't even have enough strength to speak, let alone teleport. He needs our energy to teleport," Jupiter said.
Before long, Venus and Jupiter had Malachite on the floor and were kneeling beside him. Sailor Moon and Mercury stood behind them and touched Malachite’s shoulders. Mars was the only one left. With the four girls lending Malachite their energy, he was able to speak.
"Sailor Mars," he said with difficulty. "I will not fight you. I don't even have the strength. Venus gave me a choice, either join you or die. I think you can figure which way I went, since I'm here."
"Fine," Mars said.
Once Mars touched Malachite and the two cats sat cautiously on his lap, the girls generated their energy to him; a wide beam of light surrounded the group and vanished. As they vanished the girls were able to see the tunnel disappear and the city reappear. When they were completely in the city, the girls let go of Malachite except for Venus.
"So what do we do now?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Go home and rest. We have a big fight with Beryl soon," Venus answered.
"What about you? What are you going to do?" Mercury asked.
"I'm taking Malachite back to my place," Venus said. "Don't worry I'll be fine. By the time I get back home, the energy you gave Malachite will have worn off. Artemis, I think it would be better if you stayed with Sailor Moon. She can tend to your wounds."
Artemis and Luna got off Malachite and were picked up by Mercury and Sailor Moon.
With Malachite's arm wrapped around her shoulder, she stood up, taking Malachite with her, and started to leave. Sailor Moon was going to make a protest but Artemis stopped her. Artemis was now in the arms of Mercury.
"Serena, she'll be fine. There's something I know that she doesn't."
"What is that?" Jupiter asked.
"She already told you that he is from the Moon. Well, what she is doing is actually out of love."
"Artemis you're not making any sense," Jupiter said.
"Malachite and Mina were lovers on the Moon," Artemis said.
Everyone gasped.
"She may remember her life with him but she doesn't realize how much she loved him. I figure she will by tomorrow. Let's get out here."
As the girls turned to leave, Sailor Moon looked back to see, in the distance, Venus still leaving.
====
Mina had turned back to normal in the alleyway when she got close to her home. When she was home, she hollered out, "Mom, dad are you home?"
Her parents came running out to see Mina.
"Yes," her mother said. "Who is he? What is going on?"
"Long story. Can you please help me get him upstairs, in the spare room," Mina said.
It took a few minutes to get Malachite upstairs but when he was lying in the spare room bed, his lost the rest of his strength.
"Mom, you know that I was Sailor V, right?" Mina asked.
"Yes," her mother said slowly.
"Well, I'm Sailor Venus and this was an enemy. I saved his life as an agreement that he would not fight us. I don't except you to understand right now. There is something about him, about my past that I need to find out."
"Great. I thought we were rid of that life."
Her mother left, cautiously and when was gone, Mina found an old wooden chair and placed it over by the bed and sat down. She grasped Malachite's hand as he lost consciousness.
The next morning, Mina awoke, to Malachite weakly shaking her hand. As her eyes opened, Malachite was staring at her.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"A little better," he said. "Why did you bring me here?"
"Why did you take my picture?"
"Well, I guess one question deserves another. I took your picture, because for the past three weeks, I've been searching my past. The morning, I took your picture I found a painting of me almost in the exact pose you drew." Even though he was still weak, his voice was almost back to normal.
"There's a painting of you?"
"Yes. Now time for you to answer my question."
"I brought you here, because, I'm trying to find out my past as well and also this is the safest place to be, to regain your strength and the Negaverse can't find you."
"Well, I guess that is a good answer. So we are trying to find our past and it deals with the two of us."
"What do you mean?"
"I suppose you remember the last time we saw each other, well when you came back, I remembered my past before the Negaverse. You are right. I was a good man once. I am from the Moon and you and I had a relationship."
"A relationship. You mean like...boyfriend-girlfriend relationship."
"Something like that, we were married."
"Married?" she gasped. "That is why I kept saying weird things and dreaming about you," Mina mumbled to herself.
Malachite looked away as he tried to sit up. At first Mina was going to stop him but at first contact, she couldn’t help but help him up. She looked up to his face and noticed how close she was to him. She even could feel his breath on her face. Before she had a chance to move back, he grasped the back of her neck and pulled her towards him until his lips touched hers. The act was quick and surprised her. After a moment, her eyes closed as she responded back.
The kiss lasted longer than they both thought. But when they separated, they were silent. They stared at each other for a few minutes until her mother called saying breakfast was ready. With help, Malachite got out of bed and went down stairs to eat breakfast with Mina.
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Mina sat in her room wondering what she could do for her friend, Serena. Serena's one true love was trapped in the Negaverse with no memories of his real life. He only had the life Queen Beryl gave him. Mina knew that the evil queen and Darien were on intimate relations and she also knew Serena never wanted to believe it. This was hard on Serena, especially the last time she saw Darien. She was up at a resort; saw Darien and he had told her that he didn't know her. She was heart broken. ‘When I get my hands on the Negaverse...’ she thought.
Mina kept going over in her mind all the different times he tried to kill his true love but never could go through with it. It was like the Darien with memories were fighting and keeping his evil, brainwashed self, from making the blow. She thought of all the times when Darien would thwart Malachite's plans.
Her mind drifted to Malachite. ‘I wonder about him...’ She was able to paint a picture of him in her mind. She pictured, his long, silver hair blowing in the wind, along with his long, white cape. She pictured every single detail of him. She drew a picture and colored it. Her thoughts were interrupted when her mother walked in.
"Mina dear, your father and I are going out for the evening," she said.
"Thanks," Mina said. She looked at the picture she drew and it was Malachite. ‘How in the world...’ She couldn't understand why she drew him. She looked more closely at the drawing. What she saw in the picture was not the Malachite trying to kill them. This Malachite was different.
He stood on an edge of a cliff wearing his cape. His long hair and cape were blowing in the wind. But he was not wearing his Negaverse uniform; he wore a blue-gray uniform with white trimming going down the arms and legs. He, of course, wore white gloves. The uniform looked like something the captain of the guards would wear to a formal gathering for the king. His hand was held out for someone to grasp it. The expression on his face was a sad happy grin. The picture looked like he was saying good-bye to his love.
Suddenly she heard her communicator. "Yeah, what's up?"
"Trouble," Amy's voice came through. Her voiced trembled with fear. "Greg and I are on the fair grounds and Prince Darien is after him."
"I'm on my way." Mina folded the picture just to make sure her mother wouldn't see it. Just as she put the communicator away, she accidentally placed the picture with the communicator. She was about to run out the front door of her home, when Artemis appeared.
"What's wrong?"
"Darien is after Greg. He's been collecting the crystal carriers."
"Well what are we waiting for, let's move," the white cat said and dashed off down the street. Mina was on his heels.
====
The scouts had another brutal battle with a youma. They were so close this time in getting Darien back. Sailor Moon used her Moon Wand on Darien to heal him. His memories return but he was taken back to the Negaverse before he regained consciousness. When the scouts and Greg were ok, they left for home, except for Venus. She stayed back a little while longer before heading home. Not too far away, Malachite stood in the shadows watching the scout. Before she left, she changed back to normal and then left. Something fell out of her pocket, when she headed out of the fair grounds.
When Malachite saw her change, he was shocked. He now knew the identity of Sailor Venus. An evil grin appeared on his face as he thought of an idea. When Mina was long gone, he came out of the shadows. He walked over to where Venus stood and saw something on the ground.
Picking it up, he seen that it was a piece of paper, folded. Out of curiosity, he unfolded the paper to reveal the picture Mina drew and it caught him off guard. He saw a painting just a little while ago. After a few minutes of shock, he left to find Venus, taking the paper with him.
====
Mina walked into her home, her muscles aching. Artemis wasn't far behind. She walked to the kitchen for a drink of water and came back.
"We get a good work out when we fight Malachite and Darien," Mina said.
"Don't let Serena here you say that."
"I would never say that in front of her, even if my life depended on it."
"Well, your life depends on it now," a voice said.
Mina snapped her head to find Malachite standing near the sofa, arms crossed. She jumped, dropping the glass, and ran towards the door. But before she could get to the door, Malachite swiftly got behind her and pulled her close to him. She tried to struggle free. Artemis was about to attack.
"I wouldn't think about, fur ball. You attack me and you will never see your charge again," Malachite said.
That stopped Artemis dead in his tracks.
"I know who you are," Malachite said out loud, "Sailor Venus. I watched you changed and leave." He got closer to her and whispered, "By the way nice picture you drew of me."
Mina gasped.
"Yes. You dropped it. And I suppose your cat doesn't even know you drew this." His lips were so close to her ear that she couldn't even tell if he was kissing her or not. "You're trembling, Sailor Venus. Now, tell your cat to go and get your friends."
"Artemis," Mina said. "Get the others."
"But, Mi..."
"Do it."
Mina saw out the corner of her eye, Artemis head upstairs and knew he went out her bedroom window. When he was gone, Mina began to struggle.
"Keep it up, and you won't see morning ever again," he hissed making her stop struggling. "Good girl. Now you will tell me everything I want to know," he said lightly kissing her ear. "What is your true name?"
"Why should I?" she asked in fear. Here was a man, holding her hostage and he could do whatever he wanted. He was stronger than her in her normal form.
"Because if you don’t, by the time your friends get here, you won’t be," he warned.
"Mina."
"You're from England, which fought off enemies as Sailor V." he questioned.
"Why would you care? You're just going to kill me anyway and my friends."
"Maybe and maybe not. I may decide to have a secret love affair," he whispered again this time chuckling.
Mina gasped in horror. How could he suggest something like that?
Suddenly, she thought of an idea. She knew a little bit about Queen Beryl from what Luna and Artemis told her and the others and knew Beryl did not tolerate failures or traitors. She was going to try and use her knowledge of Beryl to get herself free.
"I know a little about you people," Mina said. "What would Beryl do to you if she caught you having a love affair with a scout?"
"Don't you play that on me," Malachite growled.
"Well, I'm not that stupid. I know something happened to Zoycite and it wasn't good on her account. Queen Beryl killed her, didn't she?"
"You say something like that again and I'll..."
"You'll what? Hurt me? I can help you. We can help each other," Mina said. She was confused at her own words. She couldn't understand why she was saying this.
"You're just saying that to have me let you go. But it won't work." His voice, she realized, was not the same strong, deep, in control, voice. He was holding something back and she was going to find out what that was.
"You're hurting. I can feel it," she said.
"Stop!"
"I how can I stop? You're allowing me to feel your pain. I am, after all, the scout of love."
"I am not."
"Really. Then tell me why, your voice doesn't sound convincing or its usual controlling voice." At that moment, she felt his grip loosen a bit. For a second she thought what would be the best way to approach this, jump out of his arms or continue on with the painful subject. Before she knew it, she turned herself to face him. His arms were still tight against her.
"Nobody can get passed the scout of love," she said.
"Well, I can."
"Oh, then how come I just turned? I could have jumped away and knocked you out, before you had a chance to know I was gone."
He looked down at her and saw the truth. For a while they looked at each other. He started to fight a battle within himself. This teenage girl was able to sense his pain for Zoycite. He soon realized that the tables were now turned. She had the advantage, not him.
All too soon, they heard noises coming from upstairs and knew it was the Sailor Scouts.
Malachite released his grip on the girl and turned. "Until we meet again. And until then, I shall keep this," Malachite said, showing off the picture. Before she had a chance, to try and snatch it, he disappeared as scouts came down.
"Mina what happened?" Sailor Moon asked and then looked around. "Where’s Malachite? "
"Malachite knows who I am."
The girls gasped.
"Well, where is he now?" Sailor Mars asked impatiently.
"He left. Somehow I was able to take advantage of the situation. But, I don't know."
"We better be careful," Mercury said. "He may know Mina but he doesn’t know us and he could if we become careless. Anyway to theorize how he figured you out?"
"When we left the park, He may still been there hiding. I stayed behind for a few minutes longer and transformed back to normal before leaving," Mina said.
"And you're ok?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yes. He didn’t do anything but give empty threats."
"What kind of threats?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Nothing much."
"He does have some kind of hidden agenda. Maybe you should stay with one of us," Sailor Moon suggested.
"No. Mom and dad will be home at midnight."
"All right. Artemis let us know if any more trouble occurs."
"Will do," Artemis said.
"Let's go before Mr. and Mrs. Aino come back," Jupiter said.
When the girls were gone, Artemis turned to his charge. "What did he do?"
"Artemis, that's the question. He didn't do anything, except threaten me. I don't want to get into details what he said. But I felt something from him."
"What?"
"His pain. I felt pain for Zoycite. If I had been alone with him for a few minutes longer, I would have found out what happened to Zoycite."
"What? How? Never mind, don't answer that. You were able to feel his pain?"
"Yes. There's something else. I think we know each other from before, on the Moon. Why else would he have held me hostage only to leave when the scouts showed up?"
"I don't know."
"I'm going to dig into this some more."
"Mina, you be careful. Malachite is the most dangerous one of them all."
"No, that would Beryl. If my suspicions are right, I might be able to get Malachite to help us."
"Mina, I better warn you now, that is really dangerous."
"Artemis, you by know now, that when I have my mind set on something, I do it."
"Yes, I know. Just be careful and any sign of trouble, tell the scouts. I'm going to let Luna know."
"Good idea. But, I don't want the others to know, until I know for sure, please make sure Luna doesn't say anything."
Mina went to her room to prepare for bed. Up until she fell asleep, her mind kept drifting from the picture she drew to Malachite's little visit.
====
Days went by and Mina was nowhere near the end of her mission to find out why she drew Malachite. Malachite, meanwhile, watched her. He knew she was trying to find a connection to the picture. Every day, as he watched, he always had the picture with him.
Now, down in the depths of the caves leading to the Negaverse, the scouts were transported to another world, long forgotten. Malachite was shocked to see the Moon wand, take them out of there. When he was over the shock, he knew the cats were also down so he went and found them.
When the scouts returned they had just seen Malachite hurt the cats and they attacked Malachite. Now, as he laid slumped on the floor, dieing, Sailor Venus had a vision of Malachite in the past.
<Flashback Princess of Venus ran through the meadows on the Moon. As she ran, she almost tripped over the skirts of her gown. She picked up her dress and was able to run faster. When she reached her destination, she found a man standing on top of a cliff, looking out over the kingdom. He was wearing his formal attire, cape blowing in the wind, as was his long white hair. The man who stood before her was her love. It was last day she was going to see him for a long time.
"Why do you need to go? " she asked.
"You know why," he answered sadly. "My love." He turned to the small woman and wrapped his arms around her. "I shall miss you.”
"I shall miss you as well. Please return safely." She closed her eyes the man bent down and kissed her.
He let her go and started to move away while still looking at her. Their hands were linked. As he walked away, his hand left hers, slowly. When her hand was no longer touching his, tears started fall from her eyes. He smiled at her to not to lose faith. His smile was sad as he feared that he may never return back her, alive.
Unknowingly to her, it was going to ever be the last she saw him as her love. She had no idea that he would have been taken hostage and brainwashed to work for Queen Serenity’s mortal enemy, Queen Beryl. <End Flashback
Sailor Venus looked at the dying man as she figured out why she drew the picture. It was the picture she last saw him as a good man on the Moon. She could feel his physical strength leaving him.
He watched with weakened eyes as the scouts gather around the cats. He couldn't hear them talking but he knew it was about him. He watched them leave. He now remembered his last day on the Moon. The picture Mina drew now made sense. She loved him and it was a picture of her last sight of him.
A ways down the tunnel, Sailor Venus stopped. Sailor Mars was the first to notice Venus had stopped.
"Hey, guys wait," Mars said. As the others turned to Mars, Mars asked Venus what was wrong.
"Nothing," the blond scout said. "How do we know, Malachite is dead?"
"Venus, he's slumped against a wall, dieing," Mars said a little irritated.
"You guys keep going I'm going to check to see if he really is finished."
"No!" Sailor Moon burst out.
"Sailor Moon I can take care of myself. Besides, I've kept something from you all. I had asked Luna and Artemis to keep it quiet. When Malachite was at my home, I felt his pain for Zoycite. That is what made him really leave, I think. He couldn't stand that I could feel his emotions."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Jupiter asked.
"I had to be sure. He is from the Moon. But before it was destroyed he was a good man. I believe I can change him. I am going back to see if I can help him and if not well I will kill him."
"We should go with you then," Mercury suggested.
"No. He may think, that you came back to finish the job. It will be better, if I went alone. Since I'm the scout of love, I can channel my energy to heal him enough so he can teleport us out of here. If not, I will turn into Sailor V and get out."
"Mina, knows what she's doing," Artemis said. He was held in Venus's arms. "When you get to know her better, you will understand why she does things the way she does."
"I want someone to stay with you. Jupiter, go with her," Sailor Moon commanded. "The rest of us will stay here, until everything is safe."
Sailor Venus sighed in defeat. "Come on, Jupiter before it's too late," she said and dashed down the tunnel. Jupiter wasn't long catching up to her. When they did reach Malachite, he was still slumped over with his eyes closed.
"Stay here," Venus whispered. Venus walked over to Malachite and knelt down. As she got closer, Malachite, weakly opened his eyes.
"Wh--?"
"Don't speak. Save the rest of your strength. I'm going to make a deal with you. I will save your life, if you switch sides. I know about you. You were a good man once on the Moon and I know you can be that man again." She held out her hand to grasp his. "Do we have a deal? Cause if not, Jupiter and I will finish you off."
He tried to snort as she was blackmailing him. But his decision was already made up. He looked at her and weakly tried to bring his hand up to grasp hers. Venus saw what he was trying to do and swiftly grasped his hand.
Venus gasped at the touch. His hand was cold to the touch. His life energy was leaving him fast. "Jupiter, come here. He's weaker than I thought. I need your help."
Jupiter came over at her call.
"The weapon needs get pulled out," Venus said. "Malachite, I'm going to share my energy with you, to keep you alive. No matter how painful, having the weapon pulled out, you must hold my hand."
Seconds went by and Jupiter was in position to pull the weapon out. Venus stayed by Malachite, holding his hand.
"Ready," Jupiter said. She didn’t want to do it but she trusted Venus’s decision.
"Yes." Venus tightened her grip on Malachite's hand. Jupiter grabbed the weapon and pulled. Malachite felt a huge surge of pain in his left side by his heart. The pain was so great that, he thought he was going to faint, but Venus held on to him. He was surprised at how warm her energy felt as some of it poured into him. The warmth of her energy was like walking out into the sunshine on a warm spring day.
When Jupiter had the weapon out, she threw it against the wall. Jupiter watched in silence as Venus cuddled Malachite against her. His wound was closing fast from her energy
"With my energy, you will come with me to the others and teleport us and you out of here. To do that, though, you will need all our energy. Jupiter, help me to get him standing."
When the two girls had Malachite standing, he was leaning on both girls. It took some time, but they were able to reach the other scouts.
"Well, it's about...huh!" Mars gasped.
The other two girls whipped their heads around to see Venus and Jupiter carrying Malachite.
"What do you think you are doing?" Mars snapped.
"Saving his life," Venus said. "We have to get out of here before we are detected. We all have to hold on to Malachite and share our energy with him. He's weaker than I thought."
"How do we know that he isn't faking it?" Mars asked, angered.
"Mars, he doesn't even have enough strength to speak, let alone teleport. He needs our energy to teleport," Jupiter said.
Before long, Venus and Jupiter had Malachite on the floor and were kneeling beside him. Sailor Moon and Mercury stood behind them and touched Malachite’s shoulders. Mars was the only one left. With the four girls lending Malachite their energy, he was able to speak.
"Sailor Mars," he said with difficulty. "I will not fight you. I don't even have the strength. Venus gave me a choice, either join you or die. I think you can figure which way I went, since I'm here."
"Fine," Mars said.
Once Mars touched Malachite and the two cats sat cautiously on his lap, the girls generated their energy to him; a wide beam of light surrounded the group and vanished. As they vanished the girls were able to see the tunnel disappear and the city reappear. When they were completely in the city, the girls let go of Malachite except for Venus.
"So what do we do now?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Go home and rest. We have a big fight with Beryl soon," Venus answered.
"What about you? What are you going to do?" Mercury asked.
"I'm taking Malachite back to my place," Venus said. "Don't worry I'll be fine. By the time I get back home, the energy you gave Malachite will have worn off. Artemis, I think it would be better if you stayed with Sailor Moon. She can tend to your wounds."
Artemis and Luna got off Malachite and were picked up by Mercury and Sailor Moon.
With Malachite's arm wrapped around her shoulder, she stood up, taking Malachite with her, and started to leave. Sailor Moon was going to make a protest but Artemis stopped her. Artemis was now in the arms of Mercury.
"Serena, she'll be fine. There's something I know that she doesn't."
"What is that?" Jupiter asked.
"She already told you that he is from the Moon. Well, what she is doing is actually out of love."
"Artemis you're not making any sense," Jupiter said.
"Malachite and Mina were lovers on the Moon," Artemis said.
Everyone gasped.
"She may remember her life with him but she doesn't realize how much she loved him. I figure she will by tomorrow. Let's get out here."
As the girls turned to leave, Sailor Moon looked back to see, in the distance, Venus still leaving.
====
Mina had turned back to normal in the alleyway when she got close to her home. When she was home, she hollered out, "Mom, dad are you home?"
Her parents came running out to see Mina.
"Yes," her mother said. "Who is he? What is going on?"
"Long story. Can you please help me get him upstairs, in the spare room," Mina said.
It took a few minutes to get Malachite upstairs but when he was lying in the spare room bed, his lost the rest of his strength.
"Mom, you know that I was Sailor V, right?" Mina asked.
"Yes," her mother said slowly.
"Well, I'm Sailor Venus and this was an enemy. I saved his life as an agreement that he would not fight us. I don't except you to understand right now. There is something about him, about my past that I need to find out."
"Great. I thought we were rid of that life."
Her mother left, cautiously and when was gone, Mina found an old wooden chair and placed it over by the bed and sat down. She grasped Malachite's hand as he lost consciousness.
The next morning, Mina awoke, to Malachite weakly shaking her hand. As her eyes opened, Malachite was staring at her.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"A little better," he said. "Why did you bring me here?"
"Why did you take my picture?"
"Well, I guess one question deserves another. I took your picture, because for the past three weeks, I've been searching my past. The morning, I took your picture I found a painting of me almost in the exact pose you drew." Even though he was still weak, his voice was almost back to normal.
"There's a painting of you?"
"Yes. Now time for you to answer my question."
"I brought you here, because, I'm trying to find out my past as well and also this is the safest place to be, to regain your strength and the Negaverse can't find you."
"Well, I guess that is a good answer. So we are trying to find our past and it deals with the two of us."
"What do you mean?"
"I suppose you remember the last time we saw each other, well when you came back, I remembered my past before the Negaverse. You are right. I was a good man once. I am from the Moon and you and I had a relationship."
"A relationship. You mean like...boyfriend-girlfriend relationship."
"Something like that, we were married."
"Married?" she gasped. "That is why I kept saying weird things and dreaming about you," Mina mumbled to herself.
Malachite looked away as he tried to sit up. At first Mina was going to stop him but at first contact, she couldn’t help but help him up. She looked up to his face and noticed how close she was to him. She even could feel his breath on her face. Before she had a chance to move back, he grasped the back of her neck and pulled her towards him until his lips touched hers. The act was quick and surprised her. After a moment, her eyes closed as she responded back.
The kiss lasted longer than they both thought. But when they separated, they were silent. They stared at each other for a few minutes until her mother called saying breakfast was ready. With help, Malachite got out of bed and went down stairs to eat breakfast with Mina.
