Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Akeru Sasoi ~ Empty Temptation ❯ A Demoness' Work ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: A Demoness' Work
Note: I was told that Tasuki's fan is actually metal, not rock, by Heather on Fanfiction.net. I just wanted to say that this is after the OVA, and that during the TV series, Tasuki's tessen got upgraded to diamond by Taiitsukun. And, diamond is a type of rock. Just making this point clear.

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He awoke in a small, mirrored chamber, sitting up slowly. "My head, no da..."

"Oi, Chichiri, you OK?" Tasuki was leaning over him, apprehension apparent on his features. He helped the monk to sit up.

"Doko...?"

"Ya took quite a fall there, Chichiri-san. That girl has some sort of magic locket. Seems that's where we are. Inside the locket." Kouji clarified. Tasuki started.

"Yeah, right! That damn bitch! She was after all of us the whole time!" he scowled.

"Daijoubu, no da. Escaping out of here should be easy enough, once we try, na no da."

"Try tellin' that to the mirrors. They reflected my fire right back at me an' Kouji."

Chichiri frowned. "Now, why does that ring a bell...? Da!"

"What is it?"

"Taiitsukun once told me about a rare type of substance called Kitral. I recall that it is supposed to null magic, and then un-null it, effectively enhancing it, while flinging it back to the attacker. No known magic has any effect on it."

"Well, that's just great. Just damn great."

"So, this leaves us where?"


"It seems that we must wait until the young woman releases us, no da."

"Yeah, so in the meantime, let's look around and see if there's anything useful in this damned thing." Tasuki said, turning and glancing around. There wasn't much else occupying space in the room. The three spotted a small pile of dirt, a small stone, a bigger, shimmering pile of sand, and a green, horn-like object. Kouji picked up the latter to inspect it, but dropped it instantly, backing away. "Yuck!"

"What's wrong, Kouji-san, no da?"

"That thing STINKS!"

"It should. That's a stink horn." a female voice piped up. Relicta popped into view in front of them. "And it's only one of the many diversities of Xanth."

"Zanth, no da?"

The girl sidestepped a burst of Tasuki's fire. "Xanth. It's spelled with an X. A land full of magical puns, as you three will soon find out."

Barely holding his friend back, Kouji looked puzzled. "What do ya mean by that?"

Relicta smirked. "Why, you're going on a quest, of course. Why else would I go to all that trouble to get you here? Of course, I didn't have to do it EXACTLY as I did..."

"You bitch!" Tasuki broke free of the bandit's grip, charging her...

...and going straight through. Whirling as to land on his butt, the fiery-haired seishi goggled at the girl, who yawned.

"You never learn, do you?" she turned her eyes to her painted fingernails.

"W-what ARE you?"

"Oh? Didn't I tell you before? As I said, I am the Demoness Relicta, DeRelicta for short. I'm sort of a loner of the demons, ever since I got that magic talent. In fact, though, the talent was the reason I got picked for the job. Not every demoness can handle something like this, you know."

"Job, no da?"

"The mission to bring the two remaining Suzaku warriors to Xanth, of course." the demoness spoke in a tone one would use on an ignorant child. "To tell you the truth, the only reason I accepted was because of all the chances I could get to do mischief. We demons live for an eternity, so can get bored quite easily."

"I still don't understand why you brought any of us here, including me." Kouji interjected.

She gave him an approving glance. "Actually, no one said anything about you, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have another's help. Besides, you were standing too close to flame-boy here for me to just summon him into the locket. As for the reason..." she disappeared.

"Hey, come back he-" Tasuki started, but was cut off when his orientation changed radically. He felt like he was going to puke.

Then the sensation was gone as quickly as it had come, and the group found themselves lying on the ground.

Picking himself up and getting ready to expect anything and everything, Tasuki was surprised to find Relicta face-to-face with him. Or rather, her face was level with his own, but she herself was floating upside-down in mid-air, her long tresses hanging an inch from the ground.

"By the way," she smiled, completely changing tactics. "What's your name?"

The fire Seishi was so taken aback all he could do was answer. "Tasuki."

She looked cutely confused. "Really? Awhile back, that one," she indicated Kouji, "called you 'Genrou'."

"Ah, he's Kouji and I'm Chichiri, na no da. 'Genrou' is Tasuki's nickname, while 'Tasuki' is a name given to him according to his role as Suzaku Seishi." Chichiri explained.

Relicta twirled around until she was right side up, floating gently down. "Well, either way, it doesn't matter to me. Flame-boy here could be called Pixie Styx for all I care."

The aforementioned 'flame-boy' started to see red. The demoness smirked.

"I'm beginning to see a method to the madness," Kouji muttered.

"Relicta-san, is there any particular reason you keep insulting Tasuki-kun, no da?"

The demoness looked surprised. "Why, yes, actually. All demons like to cause mischief to mortals. It's the only fun we get in this existence."

"Yeah, some fun." the fire Seishi griped.

"Oh, but it IS fun." she replied demurely. Her clothing fuzzed slightly, and the beginnings of a blush formed on Tasuki's face as she stepped closer. "In fact-"

"Ah, ah, ah! Now, we can't be making fronts on the new people so soon, can we?"

Chichiri took a step back as a floating eyeball appeared in front of him. Relicta rolled her own eyes and let go of Tasuki as Kouji and the others looked puzzeled.

"Making what's?" the navy-haired bandit asked.

The eye focused on him. "Proposals, progresses, improvements, developments, acquaintances-"

"Advances?" Relicta asked, sullen.

"Whatever." the eye agreed crossly. And, indeed, another eye appeared, and the two crossed, as a voluptuous body shimmered into view.

"Hello, Metria." Relicta said, forcing a smile to her face. "How very nice to see you. We were just preparing to leave."

"As I saw." Metria answered. "But first, let me introduce my self to the newcomers."

Relicta sighed. "Alright, alright, get on with it."

"I am the Demoness Metria, also known as D. Metria," the second demoness announced, inhaling. "I can never seem to find the right word. And you three are-?"

"They are Tasuki, Chichiri, and Kouji, respectively." Relicta answered. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we really have to get going. We're on a tight schedule."

"Well, since you are determined, would you like the company of Ted and Monica on your journey?"

"Ted and Monica, no da?" Chichiri inquired.

"Ixnay," muttered Relicta.

"My darling little baby Ted, and his inseparable friend of the same age, DeMonica. They would like to go on another adventure."

"Sure, I guess. What could be the harm in baby-sittin' a couple a kids?" Tasuki asked, before Relicta could clap a hand over his mouth.

"Many pilgrims."

Groaning, Relicta buried her head in her hands as Metria turned into a ball of smoke. "More than you realize, flame-boy. They're half-demon, so are worse than regular children." the Metria-smoke ball divided into two smaller orbs. These two suddenly made sounds like Nyan-Nyan's popping into existence. "And now we're stuck with 'em."

Before the group stood two children of about four or five, one male and one female. She wore a little frilly pink dress with matching feminine sandals. Her brown hair was tied with a red ribbon. He wore blue shorts and matching sneakers, and had short blonde hair.

"Auntie Relicta!" the girl, Monica, cried, giving the demoness a hug. Ted looked disgusted.

He pulled on the bottom of her dress. "Let's explore."

Letting go of Monica, Relicta gave them a warning look. "I'm advising you two: Don't stray far. You're both half human, and I don't want to have to explain to your mothers why you got chomped by a dragon or something."

"Awww..." the two said in unison. Monica grabbed Chichiri's hand, while Ted grabbed Tasuki's, and the tugged them forward.

"C'mon! We can go farther if you come with us." Ted said.

"And just where exactly do you think you're going?" Relicta asked in her best Authority voice.

"Oh, we don't know..." they said.

Suddenly, a light bulb appeared above Monica's head, and flashed brilliantly. Tasuki, Chichiri, and Kouji once again looked surprised.

"She's got an idea!" Ted explained.

The three sweatdropped.

"Since they're new to Xanth, maybe... maybe we can show them a tangle tree?" Monica asked.

Relicta's face lit up, and throwing a glance at her victims- er, charges-, she smirked. "Well, why not? I'm sure they want to see some of the regular attractions of Xanth. You two run along and find one that's relatively close to the path we'll be taking to Castle Roogna. We'll wait here."

"Okay!" the children ran off excitedly.

Once the two had disappeared from view, Chichiri ventured a question. "Castle Roogna, no da?"

Relicta turned around and addressed them all. "Yeah, monk-boy. We are currently about 20 miles north of the With-A-Cookee River."

Tasuki and Kouji snorted. The demoness gave them a look.

"Once we reach the river, we can either cross it, or use it as a means of travel."

"Do you have a map, so we can see what you're talkin' about?" Kouji asked. Suddenly there was a full-sized map where Relicta had been. Lips appeared at the bottom of it. As the demoness spoke, a dotted line appeared, showing the path they would travel.


"The With-A-Cookee River is here. We are here. Once we cross the river barrier, we'll stop at the North Village to acquire any supplies we may need, and to find lodging. The next day at dawn or so we will start out for the Gap Chasm, which splits Xanth in half. That journey should take a day or two on it's own. Then we have to figure out a way to cross the Chasm, for the Gap Dragon lives in it's depths, and nothing messes with that particular dragon, not even a full grown ogre. Avoiding the Basilisks and Com-Pewter's lair, we will reach Castle Roogna, where the Magician King Dor will be waiting. That's when the journey REALLY begins."

The map disappeared, and Relicta re-appeared. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, what exactly are we supposed to do here?" Kouji asked.

"To be honest, I don't know. The Demon Professor Grossclout just told me to collect and bring you to the castle. Either the King or the Good Magician should be able to help, though."

Before any more questions could be asked, Ted and Monica came tearing down the path, before stopping in front of the group and jumping up and down in excitement.

"We found one! We found one!" they cried.

Turing around, Relicta threw a glance over her shoulder. The glance landed in front of Chichiri, who stared at it before kicking it away.

"Shall we go?" the demoness asked.

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Yeah, I bet you're still groaning over that last pun. I had to do it, though: It's the Xanth way.

Next up: The three from the 'Shi Jin Ten Sho' tangle with a tangle tree (pun intended).

Nozomi