A Reuion Two Thousand Years Overdue [Endymion/Shitennou; Others Also Welcome]

[November 14th, 2011]

In all truth, for one Zacharie Rousseau, better known as Zoisite, the Second in Command of Prince Endymion’s Shitennou, the prospect of regaining a physical form had never even crossed his mind. At least, not after his death while brainwashed by Beryl and Metallia. Before that… before he had known anything of the world he had once been a part of, during his life in the Golden Kingdom… before he had known he was betraying a master he had once sworn fealty and loyalty to… Before any of that, he had simply been a normal, if extremely effeminate and non-heterosexual, boy. He had had a Mother, a Father, and a normal life. Well, as normal as anything could be considered, especially when his parents had divorced when he was fourteen, his Father had been verbally and then physically abusive, and his Mother had died only two years after they had come to America from France… Who was he kidding, anyways? But even if his life hadn’t been normal, it still certainly hadn’t been anything supernatural. No, that had all happened after his Mother’s death, just months after he had turned eighteen, soon after the start of his senior year.

That was when he had met Beryl, and he had accepted the power she had offered him. Being powerless was always something he had hated, and when he had been offered power… he had taken it right away, without thought to anything else. He had fought against his master and the Senshi, but had quickly been killed and reduced to a stone-like corpse. Shortly after, he had been revived for a small amount of time, following which he had become a stone which bore the same name; he became a zoisite stone. In that form, he had been what most would call a semi-corporal spirit. Though he hadn’t been capable of much, he could be of assistance to his master in an advisory capacity, and though he had often wished he could do more, he had contented himself with it for five years; and then… then everything had changed in seemingly the blink of an eye. One moment, he had been a stone, and then… the next, he had been a man once more. Standing between Kunzite-sama and Jadeite, there had been only a moment needed for understanding to pass through them all.

As soon as that moment had passed, he had followed Kunzite-sama, and attempted to contain his emotions, upon laying eyes upon his master once more. Now is not the time for this, the blonde advised himself, but still, he could feel the burn of tears in his grey-green eyes. “Prince… Master Endymion…” As always, the lightest of French accents was carried by his soprano tone, as what was now very sweet and laden with emotion was known by all here to be able to become cold and hard and unforgiving - cruel and snide and vicious... His voice as changeable as his emotions, but that light French lilt would always remain. All other words but this, so whispered with a mix of joy and sorrow as they were, seemed to fail him at that moment. Even though it was a rather feminine gesture, the tips of long, slender fingers had come to his lips then, as if for the 5’11” male to hold in his emotions… Zoisite truly did not know what else to do, just then – his emotions were in chaos and he didn’t want to make a scene because of them – and so simply settled for beaming at his master, with eyes filled with tears.

Jadeite had only let go of him once they were up the golden-lined stairs and into the main temple, down a short hallway and into another round room with large, open windows, the light of Elysion pouring in from all sides. The shock of their unexpected arrival seemed to drain him of his aggressive anger, furious passion giving way to confusion, which made his body weaken. It was as though only now it had realized three days had passed since he had actually slept peacefully, three days since he had eaten anything; if it weren’t for his vague memories of Helios approaching with tea every now and again, he might have been in severe stages of dehydration by now. As Jadeite examined him critically, the world around him swam.

“Get him a seat,” the blonde commanded.

From behind him came the sound of chair legs hitting the ground to Nephrite’s comment, “I’m not blind.”

“I don’t need a seat.” Endymion replied, even as Jadeite reached out and put pressure on his shoulder to silently have him comply. At first his legs gave way, but then he straightened, pushing the general’s hand off of his shoulder and whirling aside, anger flashing again at the suggestion of his weakness, “I need answers! Serena is out there and no one – NO ONE – has done anything yet!” He grabbed his head then, hair pushed aside for his attempt to make the room stop spinning.

Grey-green eyes watched the scene play out in silence, as emotions were reigned in once more controlled. Well, this was… certainly not quite the kind of reunion the smaller blonde had been expecting, but then again, he hadn’t really been expecting to get such at thing to begin with, so that was moot point at the moment. He forced himself to be detached for the moment, to keep from his emotions getting the better of him again. Perhaps in time, Zoisite reasoned, hand retracting to fall at his sides once more, gaze suddenly un readable and a touch cold, he could be his snarky, effeminate, bratty self again, but for now… for now, he needed to be something more than just the baby of the Shitennou. Resisting the urge to toy with the end of his mid-back length dirty blonde ponytail – it seemed that his nerves were asserting themselves – the smallest of the Four Heavenly Kings stepped forward, expression still much less expressive than moments previously, but obviously entreating. “Master Endymion,” it felt odd to be addressing the Prince in a physical capacity, but that would pass, he reasoned, “please… As your advisors, your generals, and, hopefully still, your friends,” Zoisite allowed himself to smirk just a bit at his own choice of words, but it was gone quickly in favor of the more pressing gravity of the situation.

“We feel your pain, your fury…” for he was sure if he had said that they understood would surely have earned him something along the lines of a strike across the face, as if he were merely an insolent child, at the very least, “your desire to save your beloved, but…” And here he bit is bottom lip, hoping that the fear didn’t show in his eyes, as he finally continued speaking. He knew that this could very well earn him swift and painful punishment, but he also knew it needed to be said. “But if you harm yourself with your actions… if you do not properly care for yourself… would that not in turn hurt your beloved as well?” He hoped that the wording had been both delicate enough not to cause too much offense (for causing offense period seemed to be unavoidable at present) but also forceful enough that they had gotten through to the distraught Prince. “So please… even if you will not care for yourself, then allow us to at least o what we may to see you in good health.” Zoisite just hoped that he hadn’t said too much, as he tended to ramble at times like these… and doing so, at the moment, would probably end with him in rather dire straits, if Endymion took it badly.

Still, though, the youngest King felt no regret for his words; they had needed to be said, even if they would get him in trouble.

Kunzite who had fallen behind when Jadeite had dragged Endymion away from the senshi just leaned against the door way his arms crossed over his chest. He watched as the scene unfolded it would seem that his prince wasn't having any of jadeite's worry well than that would have to change. As he went to speak Zoisite beat him to it so he just closed his mouth and watched just as silent as he normally was. As soon as the youngest of the group had finished speaking Kunzite took his chance before he could be interrupted he spoke. “Zoisite is right what use are you going to be to her when your dead on your feet I can tell by just looking at you that you have not slept in days and if you have it wasn't a very restful sleep.” he took this opportunity to take a step into the room and walked up standing next to Jadeite. “so now I believe it would be best to let the mother hen.” he at this point had been referring to Jadeite and how the blond had been acting since seeing their prince in the state he was in. “worry over you and your health so may I suggest taking the offered seat.” yes he phrased it as a request but he really wasn't leaving it open for discussion.




He watched Endymion to see the reaction to his words granted he didn't really care how his words came across. After a few moments his eye's softened “when this is all done and over with she will need you to be their for her but you need to keep your strength up so you can and that means you need your rest.” He was silent after that to see exactly how his prince would take it. His words may not be appreciated but he felt that was exactly what Endymion would need to hear but than again he had been wrong before not that the white haired man would admit it to Jadeite or Nephrite but still.

ooc:

He was seething with anger, so furious that his rapidly blurring vision was reddening. His head still spun and swam, despite his grip on his forehead and temple, and Zoisite's words were only making it worse. His friends? Of course they were still his friends - none of this was their fault. They hadn't been sitting around idly as the world above burned - had they? Blue eyes peered suspiciously at them all, darting from face to face in some sort of telepathic attempt to read how long the Kings had been corporeal. His mind reeled as he grasped at his short-term memory - had they been there when he called out the scouts? He could see it all over again, every line magnified, every color intensified... but they weren't there. His body debristled, a minuscule amount of stress leaving him. No, it wasn't their fault. They hadn't just been standing around - whether they were awake and out in the city or inert in stone form, there was nothing more they could have been doing previously.

He stood, listening to Zoisite's plea, and a hurt, sarcastic smile overcame his features the longer he listened. 'We feel your pain, your fury.' Lies. Hopeless, fruitless lies! They had no IDEA what he was feeling! This guilt, this loss, this deep, aching pain - none of it! As if concurring, his heart fluttered painfully, his hard smile collapsing momentarily as the memory of her laugh came unbidden. The look on her face when Diamond... He gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw tight and willing the image away. If they had any notion of what he was feeling they wouldn't just be standing around here.

'your desire to save your beloved, but…But if you harm yourself with your actions… if you do not properly care for yourself… would that not in turn hurt your beloved as well?” How would it harm her? His sloth harmed her! Every moment spent here was another moment she was in Diamond's mercy, under that man's... he collapsed into the chair, his head in his hands and his elbows supported by his knees as he fought to concentrate on the floor rather than the last time Serena had been alone with Diamond. The floor. Golden, tiled, mosiac-like. Familiar, somehow.

...but not enough to make him forget.

“So please… even if you will not care for yourself, then allow us to at least do what we may to see you in good health.” The lilting voice ceased, and for a split second there was nothing but silence and the faint whisper of wind through the outer chamber, but then a deeper voice cut through. “Zoisite is right. What use are you going to be to her when you are dead on your feet? I can tell just by just looking at you that you have not slept in days, and if you have it wasn't a very restful sleep. So now I believe it would be best to let the mother hen worry over you and your health. May I suggest taking the offered seat?"

Endymion looked up, Kunzite's words just different enough to distract him. Usually the leader of his guard, the closest of his companions, was less talkative, more a voice of reason than of suggestion, preferring less words than more. His attempt at a joke almost made Endymion wonder if something had happened to change him, but the next phrase was more akin to what he expected Kunzite to say, “When this is all done and over with she will need you to be there for her, but you need to keep your strength up, and that means you need your rest.”

When all of this is done and over with?

The smile returned with a huff of disbelief. Endymion stood, his metallic armor plates jingling as he wobbled uncertainly on his feet. Deciding the real door must have been somewhere between the two images of the door in front of him, he struck forward, his body language much more confident than it had any right to be. He didn't know where he was going; maybe to await the senshi's reports. Maybe to review duties and miscellaneous information with Helios about the running of Elysion and the mechanics of transferring between worlds. It had been three days. If there was any chance that his resting could have done Serena any good, she would have been with him now. They would've been together. His heart constricted, but he ignored it, his skin prickling with a sudden cool breeze through the pillars of the antechamber. His mind was in a fog; despite how he disliked to admit it, perhaps rest would not be such a waste of his time.

Board Note:

((Prince Endymion has stumbled from the board.))