The Four Kings

Chapter Three





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I





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“…and then he said: ‘You’re gonna need a brick or chainsaw if you wanna get out that one, Harry.’”.



Table five in the back of the restaurant burst in the laughter for the fifth time that night as the dark haired man in the center of the group told another outlandish and outrageous tale. Still smiling, Mamoru at his dinner companions hysterics. He reached for the bottle of wine in the middle of the table, a beautiful woman on his left giggled merrily as she dropped her right hand onto his tight for the tenth time that evening.



Easily as if flicking away a fly, Mamoru brushed her hand aside as he turned to frowning little blonde on his right.



“What wrong, baby?” he asked his fiancée.



Everything was wrong, that was what was wrong. Tonight was one of those rare nights that Usagi joined Mamoru out on the town with him and his friends. And it was just his friends. Her friends (the Senshi) did not know in advance where they would go or who they would see, because these nights were spontaneous as Mamoru would call Usagi and tell her that he was going out and that he wanted her there.



Minako had tried to intercept these dates but stopped when Mamoru asked rather pointedly in front of Usagi what was wrong with him having a life outside of them? He wanted to share his world with Usagi, but he kept her so off balance and confused that when she interrogated by her Senshi, she could never tell them anything, other than there were a lot of people and everyone was having a good time.







Yes, everyone was having a good time except Usagi.



She sat beside Mamoru slipping her wine and nibbling on the cake that Mamoru had ordered for after saying that she would love it after she tried it. Two more bottles of wine were brought to the table; someone suggested that they go out for coffee. Usagi was uncomfortable with these people, while Mamoru was more relaxed. He was smiling, telling jokes, and was not being himself.



With her friends, he rarely smiled and never told any jokes. With her friends he drank tea and water. He did not propose long nights of conversation about politics, philosophy, or whatever caught his fancy. With his friends he did these things and this really upset her.



It was late when Mamoru returned Usagi to her off-campus apartment. He chose not to come up when he saw Minako and Rei walking in their direction.



“Mamo-chan, I am not finished,” Usagi grabbed the lapels of his dark blue overcoat.



Mamoru pressed another kiss to her lips as he gently pulled her hands from his coat. “I believe that we are, hime. I am people grow up and people change and it my choice to not spend all my time with your female friends.”



Rejection, Mamoru was rejecting something that was important to her. Her Senshi were more than her friends. Friends came and went, like Naru and Umino had. But her Senshi were different, they were her family.



Yet before she could make that argument, Mamoru had kissed her final time and then slipped into his car.



“Mamo-chan,” she called him.



Mamoru waved to her, before pulling off, leaving her with her guardians.







As he drove away, Mamoru could not help but to look back at three women in rearview mirror. His lips curled up in disgust. How much longer would have to bow down to the greatest threat to his world since Beryl?



Were he not so desperately in love Serenity, Mamoru would have gladly faced the Senshi but fate was not so kind to her son and it was he was forced to play this very dangerous game. But he determined to win no matter the cost, for the price of failure was too high for the Prince of Terra to pay.



Thankfully he was no longer alone in this struggle. His mother’s court had been reborn thanks to Queen Serenity benevolence and it was the hand of Fate and good helping of fortune that they all had been assumed positions of high standing and power in this new life. It was them that found the orphan Mamoru and made him legitimate. They gave him a name, oversaw his education, and training. He had tutors who taught him everything from political protocol to dancing. He was given the Chiba estate and vast fortune with retainers who made sure he everything that he could possibly want, need, or desire.



These invisible protectors were also aiding Mamoru in silent war against Silver Millennium. Thankfully, they were no longer alone in aiding their Prince and protecting their world. Two of the legendary Four Kings of the Golden Kingdom had been found and both were now with their Prince. Furuhata Motoki and Kumada Yuuichirou, it had been confirmed were to be Gabriel, Lord Kunzite and Samael, Lord Jadeite. This had been confirmed by the Prince himself, through the four stones that Beryl had used to trap fragments of the Kings spirits. The stone reported resonated when in the vicinity of their souls.



The stones shattered when Mamoru placed them near the two young men thus their souls have merged and their rebirth have been completed. Motoki now resembled his former self and his memories as Kunzite were returning to him. For Yuuichirou, the results were the same as they had been for Motoki, who had a six month advantage over the other.







As for the where about of Nephrite and Zoicite, Mamoru had a very good idea of who they could possibly be.



His looked over at Ami’s boyfriend; a dark smile graced his features as the tanzanite crystal in pulsed under his palm.