When he'd asked her teleport him to the Negaverse, she hadn't thought twice. Cats couldn't teleport while she could, so of course she wouldn't say no to her cute little Grendelpoo's request. When he'd asked her to follow him, however, she became more curious.

The Russian Blue padded along the dark, empty corridors of the castle with only the clicks of the Eternal's heels echoing through the rooms. The castle itself was vast - vast and lonely. Dia felt herself rubbing against her arms for warmth, the chill of the building enveloping them both.

As he approached the throne room, he paused. She caught him giving a wistful look in the direction of the closed doors but remained quiet. How many stories did the one little Guardian hold in him? He, who had seen Queens fall and Kings rise in his tiny little lifetime. It had never occurred to her just how involved the feline was with the history of the Negaverse.

Passing the room, he continued down the hallway. She'd never come this far before, but then again, she'd never ventured into the Negaverse more than she needed to. It was drab and depressing - the dark secrets it held were secrets she had no interest in knowing.

"I don't want you getting too involved in a relationship. Duties come first, in the Negaverse."

The bold statement caught her off guard, the candy senshi furrowing her eyebrows as she stared down at the tiny cat. What in the world had gotten into him? "I know that, Grendel. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were, Dia. But I know you."

"You don't understand what it's like be-"

"You don't understand."

Her mouth closed immediately as his snap cut her off. The hair on his back had begun to rise, the Chaos Guardian evidently irritated with her arguing.

He cleared his throat, his fur softening once more. Grendel repeated himself. "You don't understand, but I understand it all too well. Which is why I brought you here: to show you something."

It finally dawned on her that they both had stopped; Grendel, directly in front of a darkened room, her, a few yard behind him. He motioned towards one of the torches hanging from the sconce, implying for her to retrieve one. It took her several tugs before she was able to loosen it from its hold, but she managed to break it free without much struggle.

Following him into the room, an eerie sensation fell over her. Was she even supposed to be in here? Was he? And how did he know about this abandoned room - or what she presumed to be abandoned, the emptiness a clear sign that Laurelite had no purpose for it but to let it rot away like all of the other empty corridors and rooms in the castle that found no use.

It didn't take long for Grendel to find what he'd been looking for, little paws scampering over the marble flooring to reach their destination. "Here she is. Dia, come here."

She?

Raising the torch, she followed after the Guardian at a much slower pace, her eyes narrowing as she tried to study the large crystals in front of Grendel. There were dozens of them in the room, but he was set on the one with the blurry orange and pur---

Her feet halted the moment she realized what was inside of the crystal, her torch nearly falling to the floor. There were people inside of these crystals!

"G-Grendel... who is this? How do you know this woman?"

"This was my old mistress." Taking a seat in front of the crystal, blue eyes stared up at the frozen woman with a serene expression across her face. Pressed tightly against the dark skinned man with purple dreadlocks, they both seemed oddly at peace, despite the fact they were locked within a crystal. "Dia, this is General Nealite and her husband, General-King Charonite."

The last part seemed a bit forced out, but Dia's focus remained on the fiery haired woman on display. "W-What happened to them?"

"Love happened, Dia. This is what I was warning you about - this is what happens when you mix romance in with work."

His tail twitched, thrashing back and forth against the marble flooring. He was clearly growing irritated, perhaps at the situation behind his story?

"They became inconvenient. A nuisance. They ended up putting their love before their duties and now all three are doomed to stay like this for eternity."

"All...three?"

Her eyes scanned the crystal, widening as she realized what Grendel was saying. She glanced down at him, suddenly noticing how there was dust around the floor - everywhere but in front of the crystal. Despite the cat not having moved, there were paw marks imprinted along the dust around the crystal. Did he visit her often? If she were his mistress, that would mean he's been without her for...

She could feel her heart breaking on his behalf, but rose colored eyes forced themselves back to the stranger. Her voice grew quiet. "But that isn't fair. Isn't there anything we can do?"

"The former Queen, Beryl, she's the one who did it." The venom in his voice was unmistakable. "In her eyes, they wronged her and now the essence of Beryl resides in your new Queen. I doubt that she has any interest in either of them."

it was his turn to grow quiet, his tail stopping as his head lowered, breaking the gaze he had on the crystallized woman. "Some things are better left in the past, I suppose."

Straightening himself up, he moved to stand in front of Dia, waiting expectantly for her to retrieve him. "I didn't bring you here to be sorry for her - or me. I wanted this to be a lesson to you. I want you to see what could happen if you let your emotions get the better of you - don't let them get in the way of your work. Your duty, Sailor Dia. No man or woman is worth losing your freedom over."

Or life, Dia thought grimly. Coldness snaked through her, sending a shiver down her back as one hand rose to touch the crystal. She'd noted how Grendel has said the word freedom in the place of life - did that mean this woman was still alive? Locked away, slumbering for eternity all because she chose to trade affections with one of her superiors?

Fingers caressed the crystal, her eyes finding it difficult to leave the young woman's face. The young woman who hardly appeared much older than Dia herself. Was she going to allow herself to fall under the same trap as this...this General Nealite?

No, no man was worth a punishment so cruel. Closing her eyes, she dropped her hand from the crystal and moved to stoop down and swipe up the Guardian cat. Turning on her heels, she hastened their departure from the forgotten room, the torch flickering as its light drew away from the sleeping face of a forgotten Negaverse loyalist.