Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Warrior ❯ Miko's Treasure, Seishi's Curse ( Chapter 1 )

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

Disclaimer:

GS: Again, Fushigi Yuugi is not mine. *evil grin* I can always steal it from Watase, though...

Tamahome: HELL NO!!

GS: *shrugs* Just a suggestion...

~***~
Forgotten Warrior

Chapter One: Miko's Treasure, Seishi's Curse
~***~

And how it sings and how it sighs
and how it never stays
And how it rings and how it cries
and how it sails away...away...away...
--Lazy Days, Enya

~***~

"Hey guys!" Miaka shouted happily. She tapped the ground with her foot. "There's something buried here, I think!"

Tamahome sighed. At least it was a plus side to Miaka's clumsy tumble down the hill. He joined her, along with Tasuki and Nuriko, in digging into the soft earth.

Fully uncovered, Miaka's "treasure" resembled a dirt-caked golden sphere, dulled from age. "What do you think it is?" Miaka asked.

Tasuki rolled his eyes. "Obviously, some little kid in the next village took it out here to play and forgot about it. Whadja think it was? Some magic talisman or somethin'?"

Both Tamahome and Miaka glared at him. "Shut up!"

"Okay, sorry." Tasuki stood and started walking up the hill. "Don't have a fuckin' cow, for Suzaku's sake."

Nuriko picked up the golden ball. "If Tasuki's right, maybe we can give it back to whoever owns it."

"Whatever." Tamahome stood. "All I know is, I'm not putting that thing anywhere near me. It gives me the creeps."

Nuriko rolled his eyes and gave the ball to Miaka. "You are such a baby. It's just a toy."

Tamahome glared at him. "It happens to be a toy that gives me the creeps, okay?!"

Nuriko turned and followed Tasuki. "Okay! I think you should go to sleep early tonight! Are you ever cranky!"

"Yeah, Tamahome," said Miaka. "You've been snappy to everyone today. What's wrong?"

"Bad dream last night, I guess." He helped her to her feet. "About my family again."

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Tamahome. You can't keep blaming yourself for that."

"I know." He looked up at the top of the hill. Nuriko and Tasuki were there with Mitsukake, waiting for them. "Let's get moving if we're to meet the others before dark."

~***~

The fivesome got to the village--as expected, before dark. As soon as they got to the inn, Tasuki ordered a bottle of sake. And also as expected, he didn't share it...

"How can he drink so much in an hour, no da?" Chichiri said in awe.

"Must be his metabolism," Nuriko said with a sigh. "You ever see him after just one glass?"

"Go figure, no da."

When Tasuki finally passed out, Mitsukake graciously carried him into his room and dropped him on the bed. The healer walked out shaking his head. "He's going to get chirrohis of the liver if he's not careful," he muttered.

~***~

Late in the night, Miaka's bag (which was unexplainably lying on the floor in Tasuki's room, and open) became surrounded in soft golden light. The ball they had found earlier rolled out and right near Tasuki's hand, which was attached to his arm, which was draped over the edge of the bed.

Tasuki growled a little in his sleep, then woke up. "What the hell?" he whispered when he saw the light. He looked over the edge of the bed and grabbed the glowing ball. "What the fuck is this doin' here?"

Before he could think of a perfectly logical explanation (which would have taken hours), the ball burst into a myriad tiny golden pieces. He gasped and sat straight up on the bed.

From the collected pieces of the ball came a brilliant white light, which the bandit had to shield his eyes against. The light became an arrow that was absorbed into his body by his seishi mark. Tasuki screamed, seeing that his right arm was glowing white, and the light
was spreading to his entire body.

Nuriko was the first one to hear the scream. He bashed through the door, awakening the others, who joined in crowding the doorway. They gasped at what they saw.

More than half of Tasuki's body was surrounded in the eerie light, quickly beginning to spread to his face. As his body was completely covered, Chichiri found his voice. "It's a ghost, no da. It's possessing him..."

"What?!" Miaka shouted. "Where did it come from?!"

"I'm not sure, no da. All I know is that it is extremely powerful, no da."

The light faded, and Tasuki slumped forward. He wasn't moving, not even breathing. His face was emotionless, almost like the image of death.

As the others moved closer to help him, he breathed in sharply. Everyone jumped. Tasuki's eyes slowly opened, having changed from gold to an ethereal blue. Those eyes moved slowly to his left hand, watching the living flesh in awe.

"I'm alive," he muttered in a voice not his own. "A seishi of Suzaku..." He looked up at the others and stood, looking at the faces of the others.

"Who are you?" Miaka whispered in amazement.

The stranger looked down at her, his face perfectly emotionless. "I am Midori, the last of the Okuda family." He turned his gaze to Tamahome. "I have entered this body only to enact my revenge on Seiryuu and all who serve him."