Part VI

Diana nods, pressing a hand onto a nasty cut that Jae got on his shoulder, putting pressure on it to slow the bleeding.

"You're right, Zoi, how about you, Kunz and Neph tell her while I take care of Jae's and HLM's injuries? We'll join you later," Diana says,
looking at everyone, and noticing that HLM was the only other person injured with the chest of her uniform being torn open to reveal ravaged
and bleeding flesh underneath.

"I will be fine, HLM says softly.

Neph turns to HLM and puts his hands on her shoulders, "You're injured, let Diana tend to your injuries, you need to be as strong as possible."

"No. I mean it. See? I'm healing already," she looks down at her flesh knitting itself back together, as do the rest, amazement in all of their faces.

"Ah...well...it appears M-chan will be accompanying us after all."

A few moments later, Jae and Diana are in their room as everyone else is telling Serenity and her court about the battle.

"Here, Jae, sit down," Diana says softly, leading him to a chair.

"Oh, love, are you sure you're all right? Nothing hurts?" Jae asks, concerned.

"Ah," she answers as she gently sits him down, "everything hurts, but it's nothing serious, I'm not nearly as delicate as I look, you of all people should know that. Here, put your hand here and press," she answers, not missing a beat, letting him continue the pressure on the wound while she goes to get the medical stuff.

"I love it when you talk like that," he tells her, taking in the view as she walks away to get the stuff.

She giggles, "Then you'll like what I have to say next even more."

"And what's that?"

"Take your shirt off," she tells him with a grin.

He laughs softly, complying and flexing for her, "Like this?"

"Oh...oh yeah, baby," she grins and kneels down, taking a look at his shoulder.

"Itai, love...I'm afraid this is going to need stitches."

She cringes in sympathy as she sees him pale.

"Oh beloved, gomen, I know how much you hate stitches. This is going to hurt while I clean this wound."

"It's ok, beloved, I know," he clenches his teeth as he feels the sting of the solution she uses to clean the wound.

"Gomen, just a little longer...there," she says, putting the last bloodied cloths aside and leaning over to kiss his sweaty forehead.

She cringes looking at the still bleeding wound.

"I'm sorry love, but there's no way around the stitches," she says looking apologetically into his eyes and absentmindedly wiping her hands on her already dirty uniform, "would you like a little time to recover before I get started on the stitches?"

Jae shakes his head, "Iie, just get it over with."

Diana nods and tells him to stay still in a soft voice as she starts the stitching.

Jae stares off into space, going deep into a meditation that Diana had taught him.

Diana finishes sewing him up as quickly and gently as she could.

She pauses for a second, seeing if he would come out of the meditation on his own. Seeing that he didn't seem to be coming out of it, she considered ways to wake him up, as it were.

Diana grins and leans forward, pressing her lips firmly to his. Within seconds, she feels him sliding his arms around her middle and pulling her close. She brings her arms around his middle, pressing her hands against his back.

She pulls back and looks into his sapphire eyes.

"All done. Now I suggest we get cleaned up," Diana whispers to him.

"Cleaned up? Why?" Jae asks, still spacey from the meditation.

"Because we're both covered in blood," she answers, running a fingertip lightly down his chest, leaving a pink trail behind.

He shivers also noticing the stirring he was feeling in response to her light touch.

He reaches up, gently tracing her jaw with his fingertips, then running them down the delicate curves of her neck.

"Mmm," she shivers as his fingers find and unfasten the buttons of her uniform top, "I see you're feeling better."

"Much," he answers, looking at her bra clad chest and the stirring increases.

 "Oh, love, we really shouldn't," she whispers, seeing the slowly growing bulge in his pants as he slides the dirtied top off over her shoulders.

"Why not?" he asks as he unfastens her bra, sliding it off and kissing his way down her neck and suckling her chest, sliding his arms around
her, then running his hands over her back.

She tilts her head back and moans, burying her hands in her lover's hair.

Diana then forces herself back under control and disentangles her hands from Jae's hair, then sliding one of her hands under his chin and, looking down at him, gently tilts his head up.

"Because this could be war," she answers softly, cooling both of them down considerably, "and we have to talk to Serenity to see what she needs us to do."

Jae sighs and nods, saying softly, "You're right, love, let's get cleaned up."

"OK," Diana answers, kissing his forehead before getting. They both get cleaned up.

After they're both clean, she bandages his stitched up wound to protect it.

She sighs.

"I have such a bad feeling about this," she says, holding tight to Jae's hand as they make their way to the little used war room where all the others are.

"I think we all do, love."

As they step inside, Endymion is asking Nephrite and Mars if their respective divinations bore any fruit as to who was behind this attack.

"The stars showed me a woman, tall, slender and with red hair with...a darkness behind her," Nephrite tells him.

"The Sacred Flame showed me much the same. It also gave the impression that this is the beginning of something much larger," Mars puts in.

"The Stars did as well."

"Ah...anything else?"

Both Neph and Mars shake their heads.

Then Neph and Endymion notice the pale look of horror on HLM's face.

Neph rests a hand gently on her shoulder and asks in a soft voice, "M-chan? What is it?"

"O...oh...just...your description of that woman, it...it sounded exactly like a legend that has been passed down through the generations," she answers in a trembling voice.

"What is this legend, HLM? Perhaps it will help," Serenity says in her gentle way.

"Well, um," HLM straitens her back in her chair, preparing herself mentally to tell her tale, "it is said that millions and millions of years ago, there was a child born on one of our remote planets that was absolutely and unconstestably evil. Her parents and those all around her refused to see this, and as soon as she reached and destroyed the world she lived on.

She did not go unpunished for this deed, though. No, she was exiled forever from the Black Hole worlds.

Before she was forced out, though, she made a vow to one day return and destroy all our worlds and kill our entire race."

HLM closes her eyes and licks her lips.

"The legend describes this woman as 'having hair as red as blood, willow thin and having the yellow eyes of a lizard,' and her name so the legend says, is Beryl."

Part V
Part VII
Beginnings and Endings Index