Music Box
by happyhappysunshine

Chapter 3

* * * * * * * *

Jadeite stood there waiting for the girl to wake up in what had once been Nephrite's mansion lair. Silence lingered in the ominous drawing room where the tinted light shone in from the large cathedral-like windows.

He was growing impatient. He had so many questions to ask the girl who seemed to be the key to find out what had happened and yet, it had been hours and she still hadn't woken up!

Weeks ago, he had found himself in the empty space which had been the Negaverse, but there was not a soul to be found or a trace of where anyone had gone. All he remembered was failing at his mission, being sentenced to eternal sleep, and all his other memories seemed to be a blur. From time to time he would remember useless patches of his memories, but none of it was helpful .He figured the Negaverse must have been defeated by the Sailor Scouts after all. Not knowing where else to go, he transported back to Earth and hoped to find his fellow guardians so that they could tell him what happened.

Up until now, he had been wandering around Tokyo aimlessly trying to find any clue. At some point he remembered where Nephrite had kept his earth lair, yet when he arrived all it revealed was that no one had been living there for a while.

Now that he had confirmed proof that Nephrite was dead, he was worried that Zoicite and Kunzite had died as well, leaving him alone as the last guardian. He wasn't sure who he was anymore. With Beryl gone, he felt something in between what he was and what Beryl made him.

He watched the girl anxiously. He was also extensively curious about how Nephrite got involved with her. Indeed while she was sleeping he now observed that she had the delicate features and innocent beauty of a young woman, but was that alone enough to tempt Nephrite so far?

Finally, her eyelids fluttered and opened wide while her lagoonish blue-green eyes stared at him with startled horror.

"Wait," he said with forced gentleness before she had time to

to get up or scream, "I'm not going to hurt you, I only want to clear this out and ask you a few questions. And, we might be able to piece back together a way to speak with Nephrite, which would be very important to me. Please" He cast her look of such genuine desperation that she sat up and hesitantly nodded in agreement. Also, he had mentioned his name.

Jadeite pulled out the music box from his pocket and held it out.

"Now let me ask you, do you know anything about this except for that it plays music?" he stared at her intently. She realized she didn't and slowly hook her head.

"Alright. may I ask if you now remember how Nephrite died?"

"He died – she bit her lip – he died protecting me from monsters who were trying to kill us. They wanted – a crystal or something. In the end, some evil man with long blond hair took it and the Sailor Scouts came to kill the monsters but-but," Naru couldn't finish and as the sobs overtook her and she could no longer speak.

Jadeite looked in disbelief as what she had told him made him ask himself even more questions. Why would Zoicite send monsters to have Nephrite killed? How would some mere youma even able to apprehend one of the Negaverse's greatest warriors? What crystal were they talking about? And still, how had Nephrite died for this human girl? Thousands of questions, and no way to find the answers.

Sensing he had to calm the girl down, he decided to tell her about the box. It would get her to both stop crying and perhaps help him get to Nephrite. He knew he was at the limits of his anxiety and frustration but still, he pressed on. He could sense he was getting close.

He felt a little ill at ease as he brought himself closer to the girl and put a gentle hand on her arm as a way to comfort her. This made her look up at him curiously with her swollen eyes.

"Let me tell you a story."

* * * * * * * *

return to Index / go to Chapter 4

The Nephrite and Naru Treasury