Chapter 6: Beryl

I.

Face pressed against a cold stone floor, I wake up in a palace of howling winds. My eyes adjust to the oppressive darkness as I drag my trembling fingers along the smooth surface underneath me, and push myself up.

I quickly scan my surroundings, and notice Menewa lying on his back right next to me. Raffaele and Shen are there as well, a little further away. Leaning over, I grip Menewa's shoulder, call out his name.
He finally opens his eyes and stares into mine.
"What… What happened? Where are we?" he asks confusedly.
We both look up at the vault ceiling far above our heads.
"I don't know," I tell him, and watch a cloud of vapour rise from my mouth.

My entire body is shivering.

"Why am I here, in this starless place?" Menewa speaks, strangely out of character.
I search the shadows for an answer, for a slithering tail behind the arches along the walls. For the scales of Abathur, the Judge of the Dead.
Is my soul about to be weighed?
I stand, refusing to be sentenced on my knees. A current of air brings my hair over my face, into my mouth. I peer through the white storm, defiant, yet ridden with terror.
Menewa rises too, while Shen regains consciousness. Raffaele sits up, tries in vain to warm himself up.
"My hands…" he says. "I can't feel my hands."
The numbness is unbearable.

We wait, expect something prophetic to occur. But time seems to stand still, and we are alone inside this endless hall.
"Arad," Shen says. "We have to find a way out of here."
Menewa snaps.
"How? We don't even know where we are!"
"Staying here is of no use!"
"Enough," I tell them, still examining the darkness. "We will walk."
I give them no time to agree or disagree, and immediately lead the way. The other Heavenly Kings follow, as I take them deeper and deeper into the shadows.

"We must have gone through a wormhole," Menewa says, catching up with me. "An Einstein-Rosen bridge."
"A… what?" Raffaele asks from behind.
"It's a hypothetical passage through space-time, a sort of shortcut that connects two different points."
"W-When you say 'hypothetical', you mean it's not necessarily… necessarily real?"
"Looks pretty real to me!" Menewa angrily retorts.
"And how do we go back?" Shen inquires.
"We can't. Remember that black circle on the wall at Sendaizakaue? That was the wormhole, opening. Then we got sucked in… And it must have closed, because it was nowhere in sight when we woke up just now."
"Will it open again?"
"How should I know? It's all hypothetical."
"But you said…"
"I believe there is a reason for our being here," I interrupt them.
"What could it be? To think we were so close to finding our Master," Shen says.
Raffaele is taken aback by this remark.
"Our Master?"
"Yes, Raffaele," I reply. "I think there are only Four Heavenly Kings. And that young man we saw, he must have been our Master in our previous life."
"It does make sense," Menewa says. "When I saw him, I was in such awe. And when I crossed the street to get to him, I felt as though I could have braved anything for him."
Raffaele grabs hold of my sleeve.
"But if he's our Master, Arad, then why are we here, in this horrible place?"

I turn around, but cannot utter a single word. Embedded in the darkness, ten thousand luminescent eyes fix themselves upon me. They glow red, and yellow and blue, and they have no irises.
"Arad?"
Menewa wills his glance in their direction. The others see them too, and we begin to run. Our footsteps echo through the palace, our pulses increase. Shen trips, and we stop to help him get up. Then we carry on, until, to our utter despair, we reach the end of the hall.
Frightened, we take a look behind us. But the eyes have closed. We stay right where we are, in front of two immense doors that reach up to the vault above, shivering as the cold gusts of wind cut through us like silver blades.

Menewa screams. He stares up at the air and tries to shield his face from an invisible threat.
"The Day Star! The Day Star is collapsing!"
Confused, I try to understand what he is talking about, but I suddenly realize that there is a steel collar around my neck. My hands are cuffed and I am chained to a rock. And as I glance down at my stomach, I see an open wound. An eagle bathes in my blood, and feeds on my liver.
Stumbling through the darkness, Raffaele speaks of a den of lions. He howls and whimpers, begs not to be torn apart. Shen has his hands over his throat, and claims that he is being beheaded by an evil spirit with a bow.

This is a nightmare, it must be a nightmare.

How can you dream when you are not asleep? How can a nightmare torment you when you are wide awake? My mind wants to reason, but my spirit is breaking. I slowly begin to resign myself to the absurdity of my fate, when the black doors open, and the visions subside.

II.

"What was that? What the hell was that?" Menewa shouts, recovering from the shock.
I examine my naked wrists while he keeps speaking.
"Is everyone alright?"
He receives no reply from us. Instead, a woman's voice emerges from the next room.
"Come to me, my Heavenly Kings," she beckons, and we have no choice but to comply.

There is nowhere else to go.

We walk into an altar room with a floor as reflective as a mirror. A dark figure stands on a dais, at the top of limestone stairs.
"Who are you?" I demand, placing myself in front of my friends.
"Who are you, Kunzite?"
"That is not my name."
"Yes, it is."
"Show yourself to us. Stop hiding in the shadows!"
"Very well."
She surrounds herself with a red aura, and I recognize the woman from my dream. Her cruel gaze, and pale skin. Her wavy hair is now crimson; it floats upwards, revealing pointed ears. She is wearing a purple dress and has horns protruding from her shoulders. Her bony, elongated finger are wrapped around a staff that she holds beside her as she observes us from a distance.
"I've been waiting for you," she says.
"Who are you?" Menewa shouts, stepping forward.
"I am your Master, Nephrite."
"N… Nephrite?"
"Our Master?" Shen inquires. "We saw our Master back in Tokyo. That young man with black hair. We were lead to him by Arad's coordinates!"
"Of course you were, Jadeite."
"What do you mean by that?" I ask. "How do you know? Did you lead us here all along? Was it all your doing?"
I curl my fists.
"Did you… put those coordinates in my head?"
"I didn't need to, my wingless angel."

She descends the stairs, and walks over to us. Oh, how she reeks of blood. I want to recoil from her, but I can't, I simply can't.
"That young man was indeed your Master, long ago. His name is Endymion, Crown Prince of what was once called the Earth Kingdom. You were created to serve him. All four of you. The Heavenly Kings, each with a region of Earth under your special protection."
Smiling, the woman gets closer to me and strokes my cheek. I pull away in disgust, but she grabs the back of my neck, and kisses my ear.
"You, Kunzite, were the Heavenly King of the Middle East."
She leaves me, and walks over to Menewa. She cups his chin in her hand, inspects him as a buyer would inspect a slave.
"You, my brave and valiant Nephrite, were the Heavenly King of North America."
Slithering around him, she then reaches Raffaele, whom she presses against her like a child.
"You, my beautiful Zoisite, were the Heavenly King of Europe."
Finally, she pets Shen's golden hair.
"And you, Jadeite, were the Heavenly King of the Far East."

The woman returns to me with a grin. She puts her hand on my chest, her fingers begin to unbutton my shirt. I want to stop her, but she locks me in her gaze.
"Four noble creatures. And look at you now, reborn in this time to serve the same Master who betrayed you."
"Be… Betrayed us?" I breathe as she slowly drags her bladelike nails across my skin.
She simply stares into my eyes, but profanes me all the same. I am ashamed of my own thoughts, of the obscene images she is infiltrating in my brain.
"Yes, Kunzite. Endymion betrayed you. He sold the Earth to the Moon, and turned his back on his own protectors…"
Oh, she desecrates me, mind and body.
"…subjected you to the Moon's servitude."
I am unable to move, unable to clear my head of her filth. I can feel myself bleeding, but I cannot stop her.
"…and made you his fools."
I gasp as her nails reach my adomen. She lowers her gaze and releases me at last. I scream in agony, my rages ignites. She smiles at me, and retreats while I struggle to regain my composure.

"You are bound to him, all four of you. The hands of fate will always drag you back to him. As the leader of the Heavenly Kings, you, Kunzite, have the strongest connection to Endymion. The coordinates did not come from me, or from anyone else. They came from you. For a few moments after you woke up from your dream, you were still in touch with your inner self. Your subconscious is where your old self resides, along with your knowledge of where Endymion and your fellow Heavenly Kings are at all times."
All this time, it was written within us.
"You are like slaves to him. To this traitor. The magic stones you wear are the stones that were once incrusted in your swords. They made their way back to you, as tokens of your fellowship, and of your oath towards the Crown Prince of Earth. How pathetic that you were drawn to Endymion again, to serve the same imbecile who caused your ruin. But thankfully, I have managed to lead you here before you could bow to him again."
"What do you want from us?" I ask, still in pain.
"I want to give you everything that you desire."
"We want nothing to do with you."
"Oh, but you do, Kunzite. You do. My philosopher, you seek to find meaning to your life? Don't let it be the same as it once was. To exist solely for Endymion. Serve the Dark Kingdom, and fulfill a far greater destiny."
She glances over at Raffaele.
"Zoisite, you dream of a new Golden Age. Follow me, and help me usher in the Golden Age of the Dark Kingdom. Find splendour in darkness, and it will satisfy you more than everything you beheld during the days of the Earth Kingdom."
Now, she addresses Shen.
"You want to keep the past alive, Jadeite? Then carry out the plans of the Dark Kingdom, and help the dark forces of old rise over this new world."
She points her staff at Menewa.
"And you, Nephrite. You want to remember all the things you once knew about the stars. I will give you more than that. I will give you the power of gods. You will be able to create stars, and bend them to your will. As you once did, when you served under me."
"Served under you?"
"Yes. We have met before, my Heavenly Kings. My name is Beryl. In the interest of the Earth, we formed an alliance to stop Endymion from handing our planet over to the Moon. I gave you powers, made you stronger than ever."
Menewa seems dangerously interested.
"Powers? You mean that I used to know how to bend the stars?"
"Of course. Each of you were granted powers no human had ever possessed."
"How?"
"Buried in a crypt underneath this palace is the Daughter of the Sun. Metalia, our Great Ruler. She is the one who bestowed her blessings upon me, and upon you as well."
"You mean to say that we betrayed Endymion to join forces with you?" I ask.
"No, he betrayed you. So you pledged yourselves to me, and to our Great Ruler."
"He… betrayed us," I repeat, and cannot look away. I am mesmerized by her glow, her every gesture.
"Yes, he did. Light betrayed you, so you found refuge in Darkness."
"The true beauty is within the shining darkness," I declare, as though I am reciting an old mantra.
"Yes, Kunzite. Will you pledge yourselves to me again? Give me your bodies, for you have already given me your souls."
"Our souls?"
"You do not remember it, do you? That day when you kissed my hand, and promised to serve Darkness for all eternity."

The image flashes in my mind, the buried memory I could not understand.
We sold ourselves to Darkness.
"Will you give me these new bodies?" she continues. "Renew the promise you once made. Take your powers back, and serve a better Master. For serving Endymion has brought you only pain and misery."

Another memory surfaces.
I see a golden-haired goddess, wielding a sword. My heart is assailed with grief.

"So these stones, they mean that we belong to Endymion?" Raffaele says, his voice quivering with anger.
"I will not belong to a traitor!" Menewa shouts.
"Neither will I!" Shen declares.
"Become more than what you were meant to be," Beryl urges us. "Give me these new bodies, and I will rid you of your human weakness! Remember those nightmares you had in the hall?"

The beast devours my liver, searches for my heart.
And I am bound in chains.

"…they represented your human fears. Become one with the Shadows, and make fear your ally!"
I cannot possibly oppose her. She has subdued me completely, I know that I am hers. I cannot remember anything, but I am certain that I have lived this moment before.

She stands at the foot of the stairs, and I draw near. I kneel before her, bow my head. Then I take her hand, bring it to my lips, and lay a kiss upon it.
While my fellow Heavenly Kings fall to their knees, and our stone pendants shatter.

"Now," Beryl says, raising her staff, "I will destroy you, so as to rebuild you again."
She recites an incantation, speak the words in an ancient tongue. The spell is linear and without melody, it is full of hatred and contempt. She casts it with haste, and we immediately feel its full effect.

My flesh is seething. I gasp in pain as I fold over, and catch my reflection on the floor. I can see my face, melting. The skin dripping, sliding right off my cheekbones, my eyes sinking to my mouth.
Our screams resonate through the room, but nothing can liberate us from this atrocity. I watch myself fall to pieces, Menewa implores the stars for mercy. Raffaele wails pathetically, and Shen drowns in his own debris.

We lie at Beryl's feet, and she turns away from us, waiting for the transformation to be complete.

It is too late for regrets.

III.

As I open my eyes, I find myself in an open casket.

But I am not dead.
I sit up, and notice that I am wearing a grey uniform. Staring blankly, I touch my face. I am filled with indifference, devoid of pain. I leave the glass bed, and a cape unfolds and drapes behind me.

Three men are there with me. I recognize them. Nephrite, Jadeite and Zoisite. I don't remember meeting them before, but I know exactly who they are.

Nephrite sits on his closed casket, legs crossed.
"It's about time you woke up, Kunzite," he smirks, forming a tiny star between his thumb and his index finger.
"Our Master awaits," Jadeite informs me.
Zoisite is leaning against a wall.
"She has instructions for us."
I nod, and contemplate my men.

We are the Heavenly Kings. Beryl's Four Commanders, and eternal servants of the Dark Kingdom. We have sworn an oath to Darkness, and must submit to its designs. What lies beyond that is immaterial. It is only shadow, and peering at it is like peering into a void.

"Then we will obey," I declare, and lead us to our fate.