Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Charlotte's Arc ❯ Suzaku, how could you? ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Ohayo! Shadow is writing the last part of her `mirror, mirror' arc. Yay!

Disclaimer: Oh, can I have FY for my birthday? It's in June…

Notes: Suzaku seishi will probably be a bit different, in appearance and powers…

“It's getting dark.” Byakko observed.

“Shut up.” Suzaku said. He was in a foul mood, as the mother of `Mitsukake' had accidentally miscarried, and that meant he had to find a replacement.

“Touchy, are we?” Seiryu asked. Suzaku growled and flung a plate of meatballs at his fellow seikun.

With a bit of chi manipulation, Seiryu adjusted the flight path of the plate so it crashed into Genbu's face.

Genbu blinked. “SUZAKU!”

Suzaku noticed that Seiryu's miko was giggling. He debated whether or not to fling a plate at her as well. Noticing the plate of chicken at his elbow (why can't mother remember that I can't eat poultry?), he flung it at the laughing miko.

Charlotte waved her fingers and a second plate flew into Genbu's face.

“That's it!” Genbu shouted. “It's war!” He immediately started flinging plates of noodles and fish at the phoenix.

Suzaku did a bit of chi manipulation himself, causing one to hit Charlotte and another to hit Seiryu.

Both of them glared.

Taiitsukun sweatdropped. “Children…”

Byakko got involved by throwing pickles at Taiitsukun, who retaliated by throwing Nyan-Nyans.

Charlotte ducked a Nyan-Nyan and snatched up a bowl of soup. She managed to hit Suzaku's left wing.

Suzaku winced. Getting annoyed, he sent a bolt of fire at her.

She ducked behind Seiryu, who got scorched.

Seiryu didn't appreciate this turn of events and drenched Suzaku.

Byakko and Genbu were hurling drumsticks and broccoli at each other.

Finally, Taiitsukun decided to put a stop to the fighting.

“The next one who throws anything will get turned into a Nyan-Nyan!”

This threat quickly shut the quarrelers up.

Taiitsukun dusted her hands with satisfaction. “Ok, Suzaku, since you started the fight, you are responsible for cleaning up this mess.”

Suzaku groaned.

The rest of the brawlers trooped out, laughing.

Suzaku sighed as he picked up a mop and began to clean.

“Why is life so hard? Seiryu's got a miko who adores him - can you believe it? And I'm stuck with no seishi yet!”

Suzaku continued to mope. *Sigh. *

Earth, years later...

“A son!” The man cried enthusiastically, holding up the small child. The child blinked his large green eyes and smiled. At the same time, a symbol flared up on his right forearm. The man turned to his wife. “He is blessed by Suzaku himself!”

His wife smiled tiredly and cradled the child.

A blue-haired girl with glasses studied the book in front of her skeptically.

“Serena, are you sure that this is the real Shijintenchisho?”

“Positive!” Her blonde friend agreed. “Both Molly and I got sucked in, so be carefully. It might happen to you too!”

The girl chuckled. “Well, who knows?”

They watched as a bright red light issued forth.

Suzaku watched as his holy red light surrounded a girl. She had waist-length blue hair, glasses, and was dressed in (gasp!) a school uniform.

“YAY! My Miko's here!” He shouted jubilantly.

“Pipe down, will ya?” Seiryu asked. He reached for his blue earmuffs.

“My miko has cometh! Hahaha!”

Seiryu threw a container of bubble bath at Suzaku. It hit the rejoicing phoenix on the head and knocked him out.

“Hey!”

“Oops.” Seiryu said, not looking the least bit repentant.

Suzaku rubbed his head and glared.

Amy looked around. “Where am I? Oh yeah, I got sucked into this book thingie…”

She looked around and noticed a large group of ragged men.

“Oh great.” Amy muttered. She closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

“LEKKA SHINEN!” A voice shouted. A wave of flame billowed over the men, disintegrating them.

(Okay! A/N: Tasuki does not have a Tessen in this fic, at least not yet. When he yells the incantation, the fire usually just appears, or it flows out of his fingers, okay?)

“Miss, are you all right?” The speaker was a young man with flame-red hair and green eyes looking at her anxiously.

“Yes, thank you.” Amy said politely.

“No problem.” He said, making a little bow. Then, he noticed her clothes. “Shit, look at yer clothes. Ya aren't from around here, that's for sure.”

“Um, yes.” Amy said. * What am I going to tell him? I'm from another world and I got sucked into a book and now I'm here? Sure, he'll buy that. *

Tasuki's eyes grew thoughtfully. “Hmm, ya can't be the miko now, could you?”

Amy blinked. Either this guy was smart or he was psychic. “Well… I think so…”

“Great! I'm Tasuki! Now lemme see, I've got ta find you some suitable clothes… Follow me!” Tasuki took Amy's hand and led her through a forest until they reached a small cottage.

Amy looked around. The place was comfortably furnished. That was strange. Maybe he was some nobleman?

“Hmmm….” Tasuki was digging through a clothes chest. Finally, he withdrew a dark red robe. It looked nearly new.

“This'll do. Now jest put this on over yer clothes, hear?” Tasuki handed Amy the robe and then went to prepare dinner.

Amy was somewhat confused, but she put the robe on - it was a trifle big, but not too bad. Then, she sat and pondered the situation. * I've gone into the book, just as Serena said she did. Only she was Genbu no miko… and now, I've got to find the other six seishi and summon Suzaku, I think, before I can go home. I've been rescued by a nice young man - Tasuki, and I guess that's it for now. *

Tasuki hummed as he chopped the vegetables and tossed them in. He hadn't known the miko would show up so soon, but since she had shown up, that meant they'd have peace in Konan soon, right?

He was so busy that he didn't notice the other person until they tapped him on the shoulder.

“AAHHHH! Oh, it's just you, Chiri. Guess what happened today? The miko showed up! Isn't that cool?”

Chichiri looked at his fellow seishi. “Nani, no da?” She blinked confusedly.

“The miko showed up! Can't ya feel her?”

Chichiri concentrated and found a definite spot of red chi, that was slowly pulsing and swelling…

“Hai, no da. Did you tell her about me yet?”

“Nah, not yet. I'll let her find our herself.” Tasuki covered the vegetables to let them steam. Chichiri pulled a string of fish out of her shawl and set to work cleaning them. She had light blue hair in two loops. (A/N: Think Chichiri-chan from volume 8 of the FY manga. She still has the staff, and her kesa is now a dark blue silk shawl w/white embroidery, okay? She has mostly the same powers but now she can control water too!)

While the two seishi were busy cooking dinner, Amy had left the house and started wandering around in the forest. It wasn't exactly a very smart thing to do, but not all mikos (or mikos-to-be) were very intelligent. While she was walking around, Amy noticed a clump of pretty purple flowers. So she decided to go over and pick some.

She had gathered an armful when she noticed it had gotten dark. She immediately retraced her steps back to the cottage. There, she found Tasuki and Chichiri with dinner, waiting for her.

“Do I know you?” She asked Chichiri.

“I'm Suzaku no shichiseishi Chichiri, no da! I'm very pleased to meet you miko-sama, no da!” Chichiri said.

“Thank you. I'm very pleased to meet you too.” Amy said. The three of them sat down around the table and ate and talked.

“This is sickeningly sweet.” Seiryu said, appalled at the sight.

Suzaku shrugged and preened.

“Well, it looks like your miko had really good luck.” Byakko said. “She found two seishi right away!”

“My miko did that too!” Genbu protested.

“No she didn't. It took her three weeks to find Hikitsu after she found Hatsui!”

Genbu growled.

The next day, Amy, Chichiri, and Tasuki set off to search for the rest of the seishi, and obtain the sacred scroll of Suzaku. They borrowed horses at the nearest town and set off.

“I'm bored.” Amy whined. She was sore from all the horseback riding, and she was sure there were bruises forming on her legs.

“It is getting dark, Chichiri.” Tasuki observed, looking up at the sky.

“Don't worry, we'll stop soon.” Chichiri promised. They rode on for a bit more before the skies darkened enough for her to decide to stop.

Amy huddled by the fire they had built. The tents were already up - she was grateful for that much. The fire had kept the wild animals away, although if she looked carefully enough, she could see the glowing eyes around the camp.

“Don't pay them any attention.” Tasuki said. “They won't attack us.”

“It's getting late, Miko-sama.” Chichiri said. “Perhaps you should go to sleep.” Amy nodded and crawled into the nearest one of the tents.

She slept well that night, bruised as she was.

“This is still boring.” Seiryu whined.

Suzaku whacked his sibling.

Seiryu called up a tsunami, and was well-nigh near beating Suzaku when Taiitsukun forced him to stop.

Seiryu glared.

Suzaku shrugged and fluffed his feathers.

The next morning, Amy woke up, feeling very tired. She ached all over and did not relish the thought of another day of horseback riding.

Amy sighed. She headed down towards the stream and splashed water on her face to wake herself up. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice the Kutou assassin that was following her. Fortunately, a semi-awake Tasuki noticed.

“Amy, duck! LEKKA SHINEN!” The unfortunate man was immediately crispy.

The Kutou assassin died.

Amy looked horrified. “You killed him!”

“He would have killed you.” Tasuki said matter-of-factly. “How'd they know that the miko was here?”

“I don't know…”

Seiryu watched the events with interest. “Hmm. This might get interesting… I think there are still a couple of assassins out there…”

Suzaku looked smug. “She'll be okay.”

“That's cause she's got two seishi protecting her!”

“Aw, too bad for you. Can't kill the miko, huh?” Seiryu glared.

Charlotte walked in. “Hi. Am I interrupting something?”

“Oh, no. Come in.” Seiryu said. Charlotte sat down next to him and peered into the mirror. She saw Tasuki fry the rest of the assassins.

“Is there anything you wanted to ask me?” Suzaku asked.

“Well, sort of. How come you didn't use the amnesia treatment on me like Genbu did?”

Suzaku rubbed his chin. “Well, I don't know… isn't that good?”

“Do I have to be a guy again?”

“I don't think so.” Suzaku said.

“Good.” Charlotte smiled and continued to watch.

Tasuki, Chichiri, and Amy had traveled through the forest for days before they reached a town.

“Finally! Tonight we won't have to camp out!” Amy said cheerfully.

Tasuki yawned. The days of nonstop horseback riding had taken its toll on the former bandit and he was looking forwards to a good night's sleep on a soft bed.

They checked in at the inn and got two rooms. One room was for Amy, and the other for Tasuki and Chichiri. (Yes, I know she is female. So sue me! Besides, there's no romance between Tas/Chi yet, just strong friendship.)

“Do you think there might be another Suzaku seishi here?” Amy asked.

“Maybe. Why don't you ask around?” Tasuki suggested. “I'll go order some food.”

“Okay!” Amy said as she ran out. Chichiri sweatdropped.

“She's just really lucky isn't she?” Byakko said.

“I guess. Or maybe she can actually attract the seishi using her chi.”

“Maybe…” Genbu said doubtfully.

Amy walked around, asking people if there were any seishi. Finally, one person spoke up.

“A few towns away, there is a very good martial artist… I think her name is Tamahome…”

“Her?”

“Yes, her.” The merchant continued. “She has dark green hair. But I think that's it.”

“Thanks!” Amy said chirpily.

“She's so genki.” Seiryu said, revolted.

Charlotte patted him on the head. “Now, now. She can't help being ditzy.”

“Is it just tradition for Suzaku to have a ditz for a miko?” Seiryu wondered.

“I HEARD THAT!” Suzaku shouted, just as a flying heart-shaped pincushion (with pins still stuck in it) hit Seiryu in the face.

Seiryu got swirly-eyed and fell over.

Suzaku snickered.

Charlotte concentrated and a bathtub landed on Suzaku's head. Seiryu snickered at Suzaku's plight. Suzaku just rubbed his head and glared some more.

“Okay, then! I'll go find Tamahome!” Amy declared. Her green eyes twinkled.

To be continued…

Part 2!

The next day, Amy, Tasuki, and Chichiri left the village. The villagers had graciously provided fresh horses and enough food for a week. Amy supposed it was because she was the miko.

“I wonder where we are?” Amy wondered as they rode through a leafy canopy.

“Probably somewhere between the villages.” Tasuki said sarcastically.

Chichiri sighed and hoped fervently that the two of them wouldn't argue. However, her hopes went unfulfilled. Tasuki had gotten along so well with Amy, but suddenly he had become more peevish than usual.

“Are you implying that I'm stupid?” Amy asked.

“Not really, no.” Tasuki countered.

“What do you mean by not really?” Amy asked, as smoke started coming out of her ears.

“Nothing!” Tasuki said, edging away.

“Uh-oh.” Chichiri said as she sighed.

“I'm the miko! Listen to me!” Amy shouted.

“Yeah, we'll I'm older then ya!” Tasuki shouted back.

“At least I have better fashion sense!”

“In that? Are ya kidding?”

“Why you-!”

“LEKKA SHINEN!”

Chichiri threw up a barrier just in time to prevent Amy from being scorched.

Tasuki glared. “Why'd ya do that, Chiri-chan?”

“Tasuki-kun no da, you shouldn't try to burn the miko no da.”

Tasuki sighed.

Amy simpered.

The two of them glared at each other again and stuck out their tongues.

Chichiri sweatdropped. “How immature can they get? I thought they were friends…”

“That was funny.” Seiryu said, as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“Can't they all be like Chichiri?” Suzaku wondered idly.

“Apparently not. You have a ditzy miko and a five-year old seishi! That's hilarious!” Genbu said.

Byakko just snickered.

Suzaku flame-broiled the three other seikun and turned back to the mirror, glaring.

Seiryu coughed up a cloud of smoke and glared at Suzaku's back.

“No, I won't share a tent with you.” Amy said stubbornly.

Tasuki rolled her eyes. “Listen, we only have two tents, and I don't think Chichiri wants to share. Plus, I already shared with Chiri, and she didn't complain. So it's your turn.”

“Too bad then.” Amy said, sticking out her tongue.

“I'm not f******* sleeping out in the open! I'll get cold!” Tasuki said whining.

“Bad luck.” Amy said as she entered her tent. “I don't trust you.”

Tasuki moaned. “Chiri-chan, can I share with you, please?”

Chichiri sighed. Apparently her plan to get the two to stop arguing was not working.

“Okay, Tasuki-kun no da, but only tonight, no da?”

“Why?” Tasuki asked as he climbed in the tent.

“Because I want you two to get along.”

“Aw, Chiri…”

Chichiri sweatdropped when Tasuki clung onto her leg. “Please! Don't make me sleep in a tent with her!”

“T-tasuki…”

Tasuki got big teary eyes and looked up at Chichiri pleadingly. “Please?”

Chichiri sweatdropped again, “H-hai, Tasuki-kun.”

Tasuki grinned and crawled under the blankets. “Thanks, Chiri-chan!” Then, he promptly fell asleep.

Amy tossed and turned that night. She wasn't used to sleeping in the forest. Being tired, she couldn't very well leave the tent. So she sat there and thought. * So far, I've found two of my seishi. Tasuki's a pain in the butt. Well, he used to be nice, but now he's suddenly very annoying. What the heck happened to him to change him so fast? It's odd… Chichiri's sort of nice, but I can't wait to find Tamahome. It will be nice to have a girl to talk to. Not that Chichiri's not a girl or anything, but she seems too strict… *

Amy pondered some more. Finally, she fell asleep. She was woken by shouts.

“LEKKA SHINEN!”

Amy groaned. She stuck her head out of the tent flap and was confronted with the sight of Tasuki and Chichiri fighting off a bunch of bandits.

Chichiri was blasting people right and left with water blasts, while Tasuki was just flaming various bandits.

However, the sheer number of bandits was soon wearing down the reserves of the seishi.

“HELP!” Amy shouted, when an assassin grabbed her leg. Tasuki rolled his eyes. “LEKKA SHINEN!” The unfortunate bandit was toasted. Amy quickly headed towards her seishi, who were standing back-to-back.

“You know, maybe you should just teleport us out of here, Chiri.” Tasuki said.

“I can't, no da! It's too hard to concentrate no da!” Chichiri sent another wave of water at the attacking men and tried to protect Amy.

Amy whimpered. “What am I going to do?”

Tasuki glared. “Just stay out of trouble!”

“Well, you're screwed.” Seiryu remarked.

Suzaku scowled. “You've been picking up language quirks from your miko, haven't you.”

“So?” Seiryu turned back towards the mirror. Charlotte had left yesterday. Taiitsukun had called her into the chamber, and a red glow had covered her body. Then, she had vanished. So far, Seiryu had no clue where she was.

Suzaku sighed. He focused more of his energy on Tasuki and Chichiri, hoping they would make it.

“REKKA SHINEN!” Flame billowed from Tasuki's outstretched hands and formed into a phoenix, which charged the bandits. Some of them fled, but there were still many left.

“This is not working.” Chichiri said nervously. She blasted another man into a tree and hoped that it would be over soon.

“Need some help?” A voice asked. A young girl dressed in a black tunic and pants, with dark green hair tied back in two pigtails, jumped down from the tree and started beating up the men. As she fought, the sign of `Ogre' blazed on her forehead.

“Thanks!” Tasuki said, relieved. With the new seishi's help, the rest of the bandits were quickly dispatched.

“Save your thanks. Money?” Tamahome held out her hands. Chichiri blinked.

“Uh, money?”

“Well, you didn't expect me to do it for free, did you?” Tamahome asked.

Amy sweatdropped. “Well, I am the miko…”

“Eh?” Tamahome looked at Amy, perplexed.

“You are? Well then, I'm Suzaku no shichiseishi Tamahome and I'm very pleased to meet you!” Tamahome shook Amy's hand.

“Weird…” Was Byakko's only comment, Genbu's snoring could be heard in the background, while Seiryu was pouring himself some sake and studiously not looking at the mirror.

Suzaku moaned. “At least they found Tamahome….”

“What's wrong?” Seiryu asked, putting down his empty sake cup.

“Look.” Seiryu looked at the mirror and saw Tasuki and Chichiri dunking Tamahome in a stream.

“So?”

Suzaku whapped Seiryu, who ducked.

“What was that for?” Tamahome spluttered as he came up.

“For being rude, no da!” Chichiri said cheerfully.

Tasuki grinned, showing his fangs. Tamahome scowled and went to find Amy.

Amy was busy looking at some necklaces. The town they were in had a pretty decent market, so she was admiring the merchandise.

“Oi! Amy! Do ya want any dinner?” Tasuki shouted. Amy looked up from the clothing stall and sighed.

“Coming.” Amy sighed.

Tamahome ran over. “Are you coming? They have great food at that inn.”

“Yep!” Amy followed Tamahome into the dining room. The Suzaku group ate and talked for a while.

“So, how do we find the rest of the seishi?” Amy asked.

Chichiri thought. “Hmm… they have a scroll in the palace, but I don't see how we can see it…”

“Just look for people with glowing red symbols are their bodies!” Tasuki said.

Tamahome thought. “Yeah, that seems like good advice.”

Tasuki grinned, but his face changed when Tamahome demanded a six copper ryo fee for the counseling.

“Hey!” Tasuki said, whapping Tamahome on the head.

Tamahome's eyes got big. “You hit a girl!”

Tasuki shrugged. “Yer not really a girl, yer a tomboy! Ya don't count!”

Chichiri sighed.

“We still have to discuss rooms, no da. Amy is sharing with me, so Tasuki and Tamahome will have to share a room, no da.”

“WHAT?!” Tamahome looked shocked.

“Well, that's the cheapest way, no da.” Chichiri said, finishing. “If you refuse to share…”

“AAAAARRRGGGGHHHH! CHICHIRI I THOUGHT YOU WERE FAIR I'M NOT A GIRL I REFUSE TO SHARE A ROOM WITH ONE ESPECIALLY TAMAHOME AND I AM GOING TO DAMN YOU TO HELL UNLESS YOU GIVE ME A DIFFERENT ROOMATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Chichiri sighed. Tasuki could be quite immature when he wanted to be. She waved her staff threateningly, and a bubble of water formed.

Tasuki shut up, but continued to glare.

“Sigh.” Chichiri rolled her eyes. Tasuki continued to glare at Tamahome for a good while.

Finally, Tasuki muttered something about the unfairness of the situation and headed up towards the room.

Tamahome frowned. But, to her credit, she didn't say anything. Chichiri saw that it was getting dark, so she collected a rather sleepy Amy and returned to her room as well.

Chapter 3!

Sometime in the middle of the night, Chichiri was woken by shouts coming from the room next door. She rubbed her eyes blearily and padded over to the door. It sounded like Tasuki and Tamahome were arguing. Sighing, Chichiri opened the door and silently slipped into the hallway. She knocked on the door.

Tasuki was busy tying Tamahome to the bed with strips of cloth when a knock sounded at the door. “Who is it? Whaddya want?”

“It's me, Tasuki-kun no da. What's happening in there no da?”

Tasuki finished the knot and opened the door. Chichiri blinked at the sight. Tamahome was apparently fastened quite securely to the bedpost with a gag in her mouth, and looked ready to kill.

“T-tasuki-kun?”

Tasuki colored. “Not like that, Chiri-chan! She's a freaking hentai! I woke up and she was on top of me! And she was awake! What would you do?”

Chichiri raised her eyebrows and looked at Tamahome, who was also bright red.

“Well, Tamahome-chan? What do you have to say for yourself no da?” Chichiri untied Tamahome's gag as she talked.

“It wasn't intentional! I swear!” Tamahome said.

“Yes it was! You planned this!” Tasuki accused.

Chichiri sighed. “QUIET!”

The two brawlers shut up and continued to glare at each other.

Seiryu chuckled as he saw the scene. Suzaku's face was as red as his hair.

“So, god of love, huh? Having fun spreading the love around?”

“That was an accident!” Suzaku protested.

“Sure.” Seiryu said. “Just don't do anything hentai to my miko.”

“Would I?” Suzaku asked innocently.

Seiryu smacked Suzaku, who looked shocked. Then, he flame-broiled Seiryu.

“Please, Chiri-chan, can't I sleep in your room?” Tasuki pleaded as eloquently as he could.

“Tasuki-kun, you've already tied up Tamahome-kun no da. She can't hurt you now, no da.”

“But what if she gets loose?” Tasuki asked worriedly.

“I already put her to sleep, Tasuki-kun no da. Don't worry about it, no da!”

Tasuki sighed nervously, but agreed to go to bed. Chichiri sighed and patted him on the head. “Now, now, it's not that bad, Tasuki-kun.”

Tasuki fidgeted, but went to bed.

Chichiri sighed again. *What the heck am I supposed to do with those two? Not to mention Amy… *

Seiryu was still snickering. Suzaku was growling. Byakko and Genbu were playing gin rummy with some cards that just happened to be lying around.

“I'm bored.” Genbu whined.

“Shut up!” Suzaku snapped, looking at the mirror anxiously.

“Touchy, aren't we?” Seiryu asked. Suzaku responded with a flash of fire.

Seiryu's eyes narrowed as blue chi gathered around him.

Luckily, Taiitsukun interfered. She tied Seiryu up to prevent him from destroying the few remaining mirrors.

Seiryu sulked as he tried to formulate an escape plan.

“Where are we?” Amy asked, looking around. They were in yet another forest.

“I don't know!” Tamahome said cheerfully. Tasuki covered his ears and fervently prayed the peppy seishi would just shut up. Apparently Chichiri's sleep spell had backfired, and now Tamahome seemed to be on a perpetual sugar high.

“How can you be so cheerful?” Tasuki moaned.

“Because I always look on the bright side of things, I guess!” Tamahome said.

Tasuki turned to Chichiri. “Chiri-chan, what happened to her?”

“Sleep spell had some bad side-effects no da.” Chichiri whispered back.

“Oh. I see.” Tasuki turned to study the scenery. The forest was rather sunny, which was good. He didn't enjoy walking through dark forests.

Chichiri scanned for suspicious ki as they walked along. You could never be too careful, she thought. However, the bright forest was a bonus, as it was much harder for lurkers or Kutou spies/assassins to hide in.

Tasuki had his hands over his ears as he tried to block out the sounds of Tamahome's truly terrible singing voice. It wasn't working very well. He looked pleadingly at Chichiri, who shrugged.

Tamahome sang cheerfully as she walked along. At least the noise was driving away any potential dangers, Amy thought. Nobody would want to come within range of such a horrible sound willingly. Maybe there were some benefits to having her around…

Genbu was looking into the mirror with an expression of disgust and his green earmuffs securely fastened over his ears.

Suzaku walked in. He had finished his lunch of vegetable porridge and eggs, and was in a better mood.

“Hi!” Suzaku said.

Genbu waved him over. “What is Tamahome's seishi power again?”

“Martial arts, why?”

“Because he sounds as bad as Urumiya did… and that was his seishi power.” Genbu said. (A/N: If you bothered to read `Genbu how could you', you would know who Urumiya was. But I'll tell you anyways. He was the blonde Genbu shichiseishi whose power was the gift of terrible singing. ;))

Suzaku shrugged. “Do you know why?”

“Apparently one of your other seishi accidentally did the wrong spell…” Genbu said.

“Oh no. I knew I should have given Chichiri different powers….”

The four people walked along. Tamahome had finally shut up when Chichiri had threatened to drown him. Tasuki was glad that Tamahome had finally shut up.

Chichiri yawned. It was only afternoon, but a whole day of walking had left the seishi rather exhausted. Amy noticed and yawned also.

“How much longer do we have to walk, Chiri? My feet really hurt!” Tasuki complained.

“Not much longer, Tasuki-kun.” Chichiri said.

Tasuki sighed and hoped that the sun would go down soon.

As they walked along, Amy studied her three seishi. * Chichiri is really mature. I like that about her. She's sort of like a bossy older sister, but in a nice way. She has really cool powers too, water blasts and stuff like that. Tasuki… well, he's really annoying! With that red hair, and a temper to match! Does he just like pissing me off? But he did save me a couple of times already, so I can't hate him. I think Tasuki and Chichiri are best friends, which is really weird, since they're opposites… I don't know Tamahome that well yet, but she seems okay… a little out of it, but okay. Hey, anyone who can piss of tasuki is good! I guess that's it… *

Chichiri studied the road in front of them. They had suddenly come to a fork, and she wasn't quite sure which path to take. She called Tasuki over.

“What's the matter, Chiri-chan?” Tasuki asked.

“Do you remember which road we take to get to the capital, no da?”

Tasuki scratched his head. “Er…”

“Oh no! Don't tell me you forgot, no da!” Chichiri said.

Tasuki thought for a minute, but then his features brightened. “It's okay, Chiri, I've got a plan!”

Chichiri blinked. “You do?”

“Sure! Just a sec… LEKKA SHINEN!” A small bird formed on Tasuki's finger. Tasuki smiled. “Okay, which path is the right one?”

The bird fluttered towards the fork in the road. It soon settled on the left fork.

“Cool!” Amy said grudgingly.

Tamahome nodded enthusiastically. Tasuki resisted the urge to bash the seishi upside the head. But then he remembered that it wasn't exactly Tamahome's fault that he was so cheerful. Also, he didn't exactly have anything to hit Tamahome with…

Chichiri noticed the fact and breathed a sigh of relief. * Thank Suzaku. *

Now that they knew where to go, the seishi quickly headed towards their intended destination. Konan's capital, Eiyou.

To be continued…

Part 4!

Three days of endless traveling along a dusty road had tired all of the seishi out. Tasuki had become very irritable, and Chichiri had threatened to drown him several times already. Amy spent all of her time sulking or arguing with Tasuki. Tamahome spent her time recounting the coins she had earned, over and over, driving everyone crazy in the process. Chichiri meditated for hours on end trying to stay sane.

Of course, you can only take so much before you snap.

Chichiri was quickly reaching her breaking point. That was not a good thing. Unfortunately, the others seemed oblivious to the fact.

Tamahome was humming a risqué Konan drinking song loudly. Tasuki was sleeping on top of his horse, while Amy was just riding with a scowl permanently etched on her face. Chichiri had her hands over her ears and was trying to remember a spell to tune out Tamahome's `singing'.

All in all, it was a good time for the Kutou assassins to strike.

Chichiri barely had time to blink before the twelve black-clad men appeared out of the forest. She quickly cast a shield spell over the miko, before summoning forth her twisting waterfalls and whirlpools to cast against the enemy. Tasuki had woken up just in time to duck from a sword that would have taken his head off.

“LEKKA SHINEN!” Tasuki cried, forming a flaming phoenix that charged the Kutou assassins. Tamahome seemed to have recovered and was now using her martial arts skills to the best of her ability. Within moments, all of the assassins were unconscious or dead.

Amy sighed, relieved. “Well, that was different…”

“We'd better leave this place before reinforcements come.” Chichiri said. They re-mounted their horses and galloped off towards Eiyou.

“Quit trying to kill my miko!” Suzaku yelled.

Seiryu stuck out his tongue.

Suzaku growled.

Taiitsukun malleted both gods, because she was trying to sleep

Nuriko sighed. She turned to Hotohori, who looked like he was trying to stifle a yawn. It was another boring council session, and as Hotohori's empress-to-be, she was forced to attend. Actually, not forced, Hotohori had persuaded her to go again, saying that if he had to suffer, at least he should suffer with a friend by his side.

Soon, Nuriko got so bored that she started doing the embroidery she had discreetly brought with her. As she sewed, she imagined what the priestess of Suzaku would look like. Hmm… long, flowing red hair… and dark blue eyes… and she would be perfect and graceful…

Hotohori snuck a peek over Nuriko's shoulder and smiled. It was a cute picture. He wondered if it was one of Nuriko's friends.

Finally, Nuriko was sufficiently bored enough to kick the councilor out.

“Shall we go to lunch now?” Nuriko asked cheerfully.

Hotohori smiled, relieved. “How do you do that?”

“Well, I'm not emperor, so I don't have to be all polite and formal.” Nuriko said grinning cheerfully. She straightened her skirts and winked at Hotohori. “Shall we go?”

Hotohori smiled and they headed towards his chambers, sending a servant to tell the cooks to bring lunch for both of them.

As they ate, they talked.

“Do you think the miko is going to show up soon?” Nuriko asked.

“Maybe. What do you think she's like?”

Nuriko shrugged. “Well, I hope she's nice, pretty, graceful, and ladylike.”

“Sounds perfect.” Hotohori agreed. Then, he lowered his voice. “I've heard that at least one of the other seishi has appeared already.”

“That must mean that the time is near.” Nuriko said, helping herself to some rice.

“Indeed.” Hotohori and Nuriko ate in silence afterwards.

As they rode along, they listened to travelers and merchants for the news of any possible seishi. Amy heard lots of folk tales and stories, but no news about potential seishi. She was very discouraged when they finally rode into Eiyou.

As they walked through the crowds, they noticed that an imperial procession was coming.

“You know, this would be a good time to pay me back.” Tamahome said. “If you could just fetch me a jewel from the emperor's crown, I'd be rolling in money.”

`Really?” Amy asked. She immediately rushed towards the palanquin.

“Amy!” Tasuki ran after her, worried. Was the miko that crazy? Couldn't she see that tama-baka was just joking?

Hotohori and Nuriko looked up when they heard screams. Nuriko stuck her head out through the curtains, and saw two guards holding a struggling girl in a red robe. However, the robe had fallen open and Nuriko could see the strange, otherworldly clothes she wore underneath…

“Hotohori-sama?”

Hotohori turned to Nuriko. “Nuriko? What is it?”

“I think you'd better look outside…” Nuriko said.

Hotohori shrugged and did as was told. When he saw the clothes, he automatically made the right assumption.

“Release her!”

The guards all looked surprised. “But Heika-sama…”

“She is the miko. Do as I say.” Hotohori demanded in his most imperious voice.

Nuriko grinned. “You heard him!”

The guards grumbled and released Amy, who was unharmed.

Tasuki ran up. “What do ya think yer doing? Tamahome meant it as a joke!”

“Oh.” Amy looked said.

“Detain the girl and her companions.” Hotohori told the guards. They nodded and surrounded Amy, Tasuki, Chichiri, and Tamahome.

Tamahome started sweating. Would she get beheaded for this?

The four were escorted off to the imperial palace.

“This is all your fault!” Tasuki yelled at Tamahome.

“I-I didn't know she would actually believe it.” Tamahome said. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself. It was cold in the dungeons!

Chichiri was wondering whether or not it would be okay to break out of jail.

Amy had started conjugating French verbs, out of pure boredom.

They all sat morosely, until a guard took them to the emperor.

“Could it really be her?” Hotohori asked.

“I don't know.” Nuriko said, helping Hotohori get his hair in the buns so they would fit under his bucket hat.

“Nuriko… what if she isn't the priestess?”

“Then, we'll just release her.” Nuriko said. She tied the last bun in place. “There! That should hold for a while.”

“Thanks, Nuriko. What would I do without you?”

Nuriko shrugged. “I don't know.” She grinned and then went over to the dressing table to fix her makeup.

“Ne, Hotohori-sama, why do you need all of this makeup?”

Hotohori sighed. “I wouldn't know. Ask my advisors.”

Nuriko suddenly giggled, imagining the advisors' looks if she asked them about makeup.

“Are you ready yet?”

“Just a minute! Can I wear this?” Nuriko held up a simple golden necklace, with little amethyst roses dangling off it.

“Go ahead, Nuriko.” Hotohori said. He closed his eyes, knowing that his advisors would want an explanation very soon, about why he hadn't just killed the young girl.

Sure enough, a knock sounded at the door minutes later.

Both Nuriko and Hotohori rose and headed to the council chambers.

Amy nervously twirled her hair around a finger. Tasuki and Chichiri were whispering frantically, probably about possible escape plans in case the emperor wanted to kill them, while Tamahome just stared blankly at the wall.

The door to the great hall slowly opened…

To be continued… Just kidding!

“Wow! He's cute!” Amy said, swooning at the sight of Hotohori. Nuriko's eyes narrowed and Hotohori laid a restraining hand on her arm.

“Our apologies for treating you in such a manner.” Hotohori said. “We simply needed to make sure that you were the real priestess of Suzaku.”

Amy blinked.

Chichiri nudged her. “Well, tell him the truth!”

“I-I am.” Amy said. “And these are my seishi - Tasuki, Chichiri, and Tamahome.”

Hotohori nodded regally. “I see.” Nuriko handed him the scroll. “Now could you please show your seishi symbols?”

Tasuki went first. Flame flickered on his fingers as `Wing' lit up on his forearm. Next, Tamahome's Ogre sign lit up on her forehead, and Chichiri's sign of `Well' lit up on her left forearm.

“Excellent.” Hotohori dismissed his advisors and the doors slammed shut. “And now we are five.”

“Five?” Amy asked, surprised. In answer, `Star' flared up on Hotohori's neck. Nuriko pulled the collar of her dress down to show `Willow' shining on her chest.

“This is great!” Amy said.

“Here.” Nuriko handed Amy the sacred scroll. “These contain the clues for locating the constellations.”

Amy grinned.

A week passed. They had had no luck at all locating the last two constellations.

“I'm worried.” Amy said.

Hotohori looked up from his paperwork. “Do not worry, Miko-sama.”

“They'll be drawn to you, like we were.” Nuriko said. She petted her chest, where her symbol was faintly glowing.

“Yes, but…” Amy trailed off as Tasuki came running in.

“Sorry ta interrupt ya, Heika-sama, but there's a group of people from Kutou who want to see ya!”

“Is it important?” Hotohori asked, getting up from his chair.

“I think it is- they've got one of the other seishi with them no da!” Chichiri said.

Hotohori quickly changed into his armor and went outside, followed by the rest of the seishi.

The assassins were gathered together. There, wrapped in several chains was a man, actually a boy. His eyes were closed, and there were bruises on his arms and face, but what caught Hotohori's attention was the symbol for stretching, glowing red right under his chin.

“Where did you find him?” Hotohori demanded imperiously. “And what do you want?”

The leader bowed. “Konan-koku no Heika-sama, we captured him in Kutou. We do not know what he was doing there, and he would not tell us. We only ask a small fee for him to be returned.”

“Very well.” Hotohori paid the assassins, who released the seishi. He fell to the floor with a thump and stayed out.

“Nuriko, take him to one of the empty rooms. I'll question him later.”

Nuriko nodded and carried the boy to his room.

To be continued…

Part 5!

Charlotte groaned. Her head was throbbing and she didn't remember where she had gotten all the bruises. When she opened her eyes, she didn't expect to see Tasuki staring into her face either.

“You're awake!” Tasuki shouted loudly, causing Charlotte to glare at him and rub her head.

“Y-yes. Where am I?” This place did not resemble Mt. Reikaku, or the Kutou palace, or Hokkan or Sailo for that matter, and it definitely wasn't Mt. Taikyoku. But Tasuki was here, so that meant all of the other seishi were probably here as well… maybe she was back in the real world?

“Konan imperial palace.” Tasuki said. He watched the other seishi suddenly turn pale.

“Konan…” Charlotte gasped as she realized the implications. Oh yes… she had to serve Suzaku… and she still had all her memories… wonderful!

“Are you all right?”

“I'm fine, Tasuki. Now why don't you just go outside and leave me alone for a bit.” Charlotte said. The flame-haired bandit looked at her uncertainly, but left. After he was gone, Charlotte tested her seishi bonds. The one she had with Tasuki was still there, but Tasuki was no longer just a nameless spirit anymore. He had been reborn. So that meant Nuriko had probably been reborn too…

< What's going on? >

< I believe that all of us would like to know that. > Nakago said dryly.

< Right. We have to get out of here! > Suboshi had started to spazz out.

Amiboshi whacked him.

< Calm down! I have to fulfill this duty, and then I can go home! Now can any of you explain why I was in Kutou? >

< I believe Suzaku's teleportation skills were off. > Miboshi said.

< Well, that would explain it… >

A while later, Nuriko knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Charlotte said. Her eyes widened as both Nuriko and Hotohori walked in through the door. From the look in their eyes, it was obvious that they were enamored with each other.

< Looks like Nuriko got lucky. > Tomo commented.

< She is a girl. > Soi said.

Tomo shrugged.

“Can I talk to you?” Hotohori asked.

Charlotte nodded. The two other seishi sat down on the bed and turned to her.

“What were you doing on Kutou?”

Charlotte quickly thought up an excuse. “I-I live near the border. One day, Kutou's armies attacked. They killed everyone in the village except for me, because I was a seishi. I think they wanted me to work for them.”

Charlotte sighed. “Afterwards, I was kept drugged and chained, to prevent me from escaping.” Her black eyes glimmered with tears.

Nuriko and Hotohori nodded sympathetically and left the newest seishi alone.

Charlotte sighed. Her auburn hair fell to her shoulders. Idly, she flipped shin open.

“Seiryu?”

Seiryu looked up and opened his own clam. “Oh! Char, is that you?”

“Who else would be calling you? Beat up Suzaku for me, will you? He turned me into a guy, and I have red hair!”

“Okay!” Seiryu said. He closed the clam and stalked off to find Suzaku.

Two weeks later…

**************************** This part is rated R! **********************

Amy was wandering around in the gardens. She was pretty lonely. “I wish somebody loved me…”

In the trees, a Kutou assassin watched. He silently dropped a packet of powder over her form. Amy immediately fell into a dreamless sleep. When she awoke, her eyes were bright glowing red. She quickly ran into the palace, with only one thought in her mind.

Hotohori and Nuriko were woken up in the middle of the night when someone crashed into their room. Nuriko looked up from the bed. “Who is it?”

“How dare you disturb us,” Hotohori said with anger in his stern voice.

“It's me.” Amy said.

“Amy-sama? Why are you here?” Nuriko climbed out of bed and lit a few of the lamps. She gasped when she saw Amy standing there in extremely scandalous clothes. (A/N: Actually, in her underwear, but…)

Hotohori was blushing madly. “Amy-sama… what are you doing?”

Amy jumped onto the bed with him. “Hotohori, I want you to make love to me.”

“WHAT?!” Hotohori's eyes bugged out of his head. Amy started sniffling and then ran off. Hotohori and Nuriko exchanged worried looks and promptly ran after her, as soon as they had put their shoes on.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Suzaku demanded.

Seiryu shrugged. “Don't ask me.”

Byakko looked down. “Oh my. This is worse than I thought.”

“You know, if your miko loses her virginity, you're screwed.” Seiryu said. “There's only 1 shinzaho…”

Suzaku started pounding on the mirror and shouting at his miko to stop.

Amy continued running, influenced by the mind-altering drug coursing through her veins.

She tried Tasuki's room next.

Tasuki wasn't very happy to be woken up at 3 in the morning. Especially not tied to his bed very securely. Amy immediately jumped on him and started stripping off her clothes.

“What is going on here?” Tasuki asked, severely freaked out as she started to strip him. When she climbed onto him, his worst fears were realized.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! CHICHIRI!”

Chichiri rolled her eyes as she climbed out of bed. “What is it now?” Had Tasuki gotten another nightmare?

“What is it, Tasuki-kun?” Chichiri's eyes bugged out at the sight that awaited her. Tasuki was trying to push the nude miko off him, while screaming at her to stop.

“Tasuki!” Chichiri ran over to Tasuki's side and attempted to help.

Amy simply whacked Chichiri over the head with a mallet that appeared out of nowhere and tried to get Tasuki to cooperate.

The Kutou assassin was laughing his head off. “I knew that powder would come in handy.”

“What does it do?” Another spy asked.

“It makes the miko want to make love. It's an uncontrollable instinct.” The spies laughed and waited for the results.

Hotohori and Nuriko ran in, and then promptly both got nosebleeds.

“A-Amy!” Amy had had her arms around Tasuki's neck and was now thrusting her hips towards his. Tasuki's eyes were filled with tears and he was begging her to stop.

Amy was giggling uncontrollably. It seemed like a no-win situation.

However, Chichiri hadn't fainted when Amy had whacked her. She started chanting a spell to try and bring the miko back to normal. Meanwhile, Nuriko had awoken and was using her super strength to keep Amy away from Tasuki. Hotohori was using his sword to free Tasuki, who was having hysterics.

Suddenly, Amy went slack in Hotohori's arms. Hotohori carried her to her room and left her there.

Alone in her room, Amy giggled. They had fallen for it! The urge still burned in her veins, so she went outside and had at it with some of the guards. Still not tired, she dashed off to Chiriko's room, clad only in a thin robe. Perhaps he wouldn't mind… besides, she liked older men anyways.

“My god…” Suzaku breathed, horrified.

Seiryu took one look at the mirror, saw where Suzaku's horny miko was headed, and immediately took out his clamshell.

Byakko looked sick. He staggered off to the bathroom.

Genbu's snores were heard in the background, so obviously he was just sleeping and hadn't noticed any of the commotion.

Charlotte yawned. She heard something ringing, so she pulled shin out of her pocket. “Seiryu… it's five in the morning…”

“Charlotte, listen to me. Lock your door now! Or else something really bad is going to happen… and don't open it!”

Charlotte shrugged and locked her door. Soon, she heard someone pounding on it.

Amy was frustrated. Hotohori hadn't wanted to cooperate… but Tasuki had been fun. She grinned. She was hoping that Chiriko would make love to her, but he seemed to be sleeping. Still… she was getting impatient.

“Chiriko! Wake up!”

Charlotte opened the door a crack. “Amy? What-.” She was bowled over as Amy jumped on her and started undoing her pants.

“AMY!” Charlotte lashed out at Amy with a foot and sent her flying into a wall. “What are you doing?!”

Amy's body crackled with red, angry chi; the chi expanded and forced her against a wall. Then, Amy grinned sadistically and started undoing Charlotte's pants.

Charlotte freaked and tried to escape, but a chi blast hit her in the head and her body went limp.

< NO! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! > Tomo said, freaked out.

< It is. > Nakago said. He was trying to possess her, but for some reason it wasn't working.

< What can we do? > Soi asked, very worried.

Ashitare just growled and tried to break free. However, the red seals of Suzaku's sealing still shone in front of them. They tried breaking the seals with their powers, but it was no good. All they could do was watch as the Suzaku no miko took advantage of the unconscious seishi.

***** End Section *******************************************************

“SUZAKU!” Seiryu screamed. Suzaku came running.

“What is it? Has it stopped yet?”

Seiryu stabbed at the screen with an accusing finger. “What is your miko doing to my miko?!”

Suzaku gulped as he looked at the scene. “Er…”

“Suzaku! I am going to kill you!” Seiryu jumped onto Suzaku's back and started to choke him.

“Ack! It was an accident!” Suzaku choked out.

“Some accident! If you wanted to spread the love around, you could have done it some other way!”

“Well, my miko won't be able to summon me now!”

“I don't care!” Seiryu shouted, blasting Suzaku. “DIE! DIE! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!”

Amy stayed locked in Charlotte's rooms, while Charlotte stayed unconscious for almost two days. When the spell had finally worn off, Amy was shocked.

Charlotte woke up a while later. Amy had thoughtfully dressed her in some clean clothes and cleaned up most of the mess.

“What happened?” She asked, rubbing her head.

Immediately, the spirits began chattering. After a few minutes, Charlotte was able to piece together what had happened. She wasn't too happy with the fact.

< You're saying that she raped me while I was a guy!? >

< Well… > Nakago said. He hesitated. < I'm not lying to you this time. >

< You have no reason to. > Charlotte said bitterly. < Why? >

< I think that it was some type of drug. > Miboshi said helpfully.

< I-I can't believe it. > Charlotte said, shell-shocked. Her body started glowing with bright blue light. Amy quickly dashed out the door, sensing imminent danger. Charlotte followed. Strangely, her clothes suddenly changed into brilliant blue armor.

“Argh! She's going to kill my miko!” Suzaku ranted.

Seiryu stuck out his tongue. “Serves her right.”

“But!”

Charlotte stared at Amy with blank eyes. “You raped me.”

“I-I didn't mean to! It was an accident!” Amy snapped.

Charlotte's eyes suddenly turned a bright, glowing gold. Dragon wings sprouted out of her shoulders. Seiryu's symbol shone brightly on her forehead.

“Kai - jin.” She said softly.

There was a roar, and then Seiryu materialized in dragon form.

Suzaku stared in shock. “MOM! Seiryu's breaking the rules!”

Taiitsukun came running. “I know, but after what your miko did to his…I think he has a right to be upset.”

Suzaku frowned. “Uh-oh…”

End of part 5!

Part 6: The end…

There was only a minute of shocked silence before a servant screamed.

Charlotte whipped around, her armor dissolving into the summoning robes she had worn at her first summoning. The wings attached to her back fluttered once, twice. Blue light surrounded her body.

Seiryu stood before Charlotte, who collapsed into his arms.

There were seven flashes of light, and then all seven Seiryu seishi stood there, ghostly but still visible. Nuriko and Tasuki, as if drawn by an inexplicable longing, entered the circle, their red symbols darkening to purple and then to blue. Hotohori and Chichiri tried to enter, but were blocked by an impenetrateable barrier.

Up in heaven, Suzaku was ranting.

Seiryu held his sobbing miko until she stopped crying and dried her tears. Her eyes blazed with resolve.

“Seiryu, please let Suzaku be summoned!” Seiryu nodded his assent and Suzaku materialized in front of a shocked Amy.

Suzaku made his speech to Amy. (The reason why the authoress is not reciting it is because I've already written the speech several times, so you should know it by now!)

Amy did the normal three wishes - peace, happiness, and true love.

Then, she was promptly eaten. Also known as being sent back to her world with some memory loss and never being able to enter the book again.

Suzaku was mortified.

“I can't believe you actually ate your miko.” Seiryu said.

“Hey, its not my fault that she was weak-willed!” Suzaku protested.

Just then, Mitsukake showed up.

He looked around. He saw three very shocked Suzaku seishi, two confused Seiryu guardians, seven ghostly seishi, Seiryu, Suzaku, and a miko. Needless to say, Mitsukake was very confused.

Suzaku was still standing there, in human form. Charlotte glared at him. Then, she smiled. Red light covered her body, as well as all the other seishi. “Erase.” She whispered. All of the seishi's eyes clouded over for a moment.

With a poof, Genbu, Byakko, and Taiitsukun all materialized.

Charlotte bowed.

Taiitsukun gestured, and Seiryu let go of her. She floated over to where the gods were standing.

“Charlotte, you have successfully passed my test. I am dutifully impressed. You may return to your own world now.” Charlotte's clothes dissolved, and she stood there in a tattered school uniform. Around her neck hung her key and the Seiryu shinzaho.

“However… because of your outstanding performance, I wish you to have this. In the future, enemies will threaten our world. You are the only one we can count on. Will you accept the mantle as the guardian of the entryway into our world? The task is difficult and time-consuming, and it is a lonely path that you will walk.”

Charlotte hesitated. She just wanted to go home… but she also wanted to help the seishi, no matter which god they served. If she accepted, she could be sealed again, or killed, or worse, but…

“I… accept.”

“Good. Then please take this.” Taiitsukun held out her hand and a tiny silver key formed.

“What is this?”

“This key will open many doors.” Taiitsukun said cryptically. “You may use it to enter the universe at will. You cannot bring other people with you though. The book's enchantment has almost completely worn off; no more mikos will be drawn into this world. That is the only legimate entryway to our world. Guard it well!”

“I will.” Charlotte bowed.

“Good-bye, then.” Taiitsukun said. Charlotte blacked out afterwards.

(Okay. Calculating that 1 week = 1 hour, Charlotte was gone for approximately 62.07 weeks, which is over a year in the real world…)

Charlotte materialized in her house. She was so tired that she fell asleep immediately and didn't wake for two days.

With a sigh, Charlotte closed her eyes. She would forget about having a normal life from now on, because with the task at hand, it would be impossible.

The Beginning.

4/29/02 to 6/28/02