Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Fushigi Yuugi: Daydream's Embrace ❯ Episode 20: Masque of Truth ( Chapter 20 )

Episode 20
Masque of Truth
By: Mrs. Tasuki and Nyan Nyan

Katherine impatiently waited by the window of Tamahome's house, subconsciously drumming her fingers on the wooden sill. Her hazel eyes intently observed the landscape, jumping at any sign of life. It had been only a couple minutes since Hotohori and Tasuki ran into the forest, running to Christina's aid, but those few minutes seemed like a lifetime to the priestess. Thoughts of Christina's safety and Amiboshi persistently ran through her mind, consuming every one of her thoughts like an inferno. She felt someone unexpectedly place their hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. Mitsukake quickly removed his hand, startled by Katherine's reaction. "I'm sorry Mits, you surprised me."

"That's alright," the healer replied, awkwardly tensing up and intently gazing at the floor. "You shouldn't worry so much. It's not healthy," he suggested while inadvertently scratching the back of his neck.

"I guess you have point," Katherine responded with a sigh. She focused her gaze on a random point on the far wall as she started to softly snap her fingers.

Uneasily, Mitsukake walked over to Katherine and lightly grasped one of her hands. "Priestess, doesn't fidgeting count as worrying?" he asked with a kind glance while he let go of her hand. Katherine let out a frustrated sigh, disappointed in herself for causing stress once again. "Try thinking about something irrelevant," he recommended as he rubbed his left temple with his index finger, trying to calm his frustration.

Biting her bottom lip, Katherine whispered, "Okay..." She stood there thinking for a moment or two. She began to rock on her heels, looking at the wooden floor with a passive stare. Abruptly stopping her rocking motion, she looked up and asked, "Where's Nuriko?"

"He's checking on the children, so, please, don't be troubled," the doctor warned in a low but reassuring voice.

"Okey dokey then..." Katherine sighed as she turned around and started looking out the window once again.

Mitsukake looked up at the ceiling for a moment and sighed, knowing that even his healing powers couldn't force tranquility in the priestess. He stood behind her, easily gazing over her head and through the window to find several silhouettes shadowed by the moonlight, moving towards them. "See? No reason to worry," he commented as he lightly placed his hand on Katherine's shoulder.

Katherine was relieved in part to see three people returning, but gritted her teeth at the sight of the fourth silhouette. "Shit-taki mushrooms," Katherine muttered under her breath, inaudible to the doctor.

*

The old, wooden door swung open with a creak, and Christina trudged inside, followed by Hotohori and Tasuki, who were half-carrying a teenage boy with dirty-blond hair. He looked as if he was about Katherine and Christina's age, and was covered in various burns and bruises, though he had been through just about every disaster one could be submitted to in a day. Hotohori and Tasuki carefully set the boy down on one of the makeshift beds on the floor, vigilant not to touch any of his wounds. As Mitsukake walked over to check on the stranger, Christina sidled next to Katherine, who glanced at the boy, then glared daggers at her friend.

Mitsukake kneeled down in front of the wounded sei, examining the injuries on the boy's body. Remembering he had used most of his powers on Tamahome's father, he let out a long, regretful sigh. "I can't heal him completely," the healer said as the injuries began to fade, "but until my powers are completely restored tomorrow, this is all I can do."

Nuriko nudged Christina with his elbow and asked quietly while nodding towards the injured boy, "Who is that?"

"He's..." the girl faltered, uneasy under Katherine's continuous fierce look. "He says he's Chiriko."

"Oh!" Nuriko beamed, "You found the last sei?"

"I guess..." Christina shrugged, her gaze fixed upon the ground in an effort to ignore her fellow priestess's glower. She cursed herself that she didn't just shout out, "He's a Seiryuu spy!" or pointed out that his Suzaku symbol tattoo looked fake. She was so close to pointing out to Hotohori or Tasuki that he wasn't Chiriko, but her pity for him had stopped her. He had looked so helpless; covered in burns and bruises, his hair tangled in a mess of twigs and leaves. But yet she hated him; hated him for lying to them, despised him for what he was planning to do.

"This is great!" Nuriko continued, too happy to notice Christina and Katherine's less than cheerful behavior.

Mitsukake carefully stood up, holding onto the back of a chair for assistance, and announced that the boy was sleeping, and would be fine by morning. The rest of the seishi retired to their respective cots, and fell asleep quickly, glad that the last sei had finally been found.

*

Katherine lay patiently on her cot, quietly waiting for everyone to fall asleep. After what seemed to be a half an hour she quietly stood up and lightly tapped Christina with her foot. Knowing that Katherine would drag her outside for another chat, Christina rolled over on her side and muttered, "Yeah...yeah...I'm awake."

"Good. C'mon let's go somewhere where no one will hear," Katherine responded in a low voice as she tiptoed towards the door.

Christina sat straight up, realizing where Katherine was heading. In a quivering voice, she asked, "You don't mean out there...do you?"

Katherine turned around and crossed her arms, glaring at her friend. "Where else do you suppose we go?" she asked, raising one eyebrow and softly tapping her foot.

"I...I dunno..." Christina mumbled as cautiously followed Katherine out the door. Once outside, and, feeling rather childish for her fear, she cautiously looked around for evil flying creatures before sitting down on the soft ground. While yawning, she asked, "Haven't you ever heard of something called sleep?"

"Well, I dunno, I haven't experienced it lately `cause I'm too busy trying to fix everything you screw up," Katherine sarcastically replied, sitting across from the other priestess.

Quickly standing by up and stomping her foot, Christina hollered, "Hey! That was totally and completely uncalled for! ...You know Katherine, you're really starting to get on my nerves."

Katherine's jaw slightly dropped as she furrowed her eyebrows in anger. "Well, sor-ry! Somebody needs to figure out what the hell we are doing! And pardon me for being a bit angry right now, but I think I have a right to be," she disdainfully answered while crossing her arms

"Okay, fine. Tomorrow we'll tell everyone that Chiriko is Amiboshi." Christina heartlessly concluded, trying to avoid a fight with her friend. "'Kay? 'Kay," she continued, quickly answering herself before Katherine could.

Raising her eyebrows in shock, Katherine exclaimed, "No, we can't do that!"

Letting out a long agitated sigh, she asked, "What now?!"

"Well, think about it!" Katherine opposed as she stood up. Then taking in a deep breath and lowering her voice to a whisper, she continued to explain, "Amiboshi never really wanted to ruin the ceremony. I mean, if he backed down then Nakago probably would kill Suboshi out of vengeance. We can't blame him for Nakago forcing him to be in this situation. Plus, if we rat out on him, he'll probably be executed!"

Remembering that Katherine had always shown sympathy for Amiboshi, Christina let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, fine. But what are we supposed to do then?" she asked, knowing that nothing she said would change her friend's mind.

"I think we should give him a chance," Katherine simply stated.

Not believing her ears, Christina shouted, "What?!"

"Well, if we are nice enough to Amiboshi maybe he'll come clean without us forcing him to. It's worth a shot," she continued with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Fine, whatever," Christina mumbled as she rolled her eyes, not believing Katherine's hypocrisy. "But if your idea doesn't work we're doing it my way. You're not gonna blame anything on me anymore," she coldly stated as she stood up and walked into the house, leaving Katherine stranded. Katherine laid back into the soft grass, gazing up at the stars. Letting out a long sigh, Christina's words ran through her mind as she replayed the scene in her head.

*

Christina stomped into the cottage and slammed the door shut out of anger. Remembering that everyone was sound asleep, she quickly glanced around the room to make sure she didn't wake anyone up. Finding the room in the same condition it was a couple minutes earlier, she let out a long sigh of relief. She tiptoed past Tasuki and Mitsukake and slid into her cot, completely oblivious of the lavender pair of eyes watching her.

Leaning under the slightly cracked window, Nuriko let out a sigh of relief, glad to not be discovered. Words of Christina's and Katherine's previous conversation ran though the sei's mind as he leaned his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

*

"Hello? Aunt Claire" Diana questioned into the phone meekly.

"Yes, Diana?" replied in an unclear, phone-speaker blurred voice.

"I uh..." Diana mumbled, her hands fidgeting and twisting the gray phone cord. "I wanted to know if I could have Joan over tonight..."

"Well, I..." her aunt started to answer.

Unsuccessfully trying to force herself to sound nonchalant, Diana continued, "We really need to work on this project for...for Social Studies."

"It's fine by me."

"Thanks!" Diana smiled, "We'll be over soon!" Diana let out a long sigh of relief as she slammed the phone down in its receiver.

"I'll go pack my stuff," Joan piped in.

"Good, and hurry it up!" Diana shouted up the stairs as Joan ran up to her room. Diana sat back down on the couch and leafed through the pages of The Universe of the Four Gods until she had found where she had left off. She had only begun to read when Joan tramped back down the stairs, her huge duffel bag hanging off her shoulder. Joan and Diana walked outside to the driveway and quickly hopped into Diana's yellow 1999 Pontiac Grand Am, heading for Aunt Claire's house to discuss The Universe of the Four Gods in privacy.

*

Inside Tamahome's house, Katherine looked over at Chiriko, who was sitting in a chair playing scales on his flute. She stealthily walked over, hoping to not be noticed. Once she was a couple feet away from the sei she asked a sing-song voice while innocently looking up at the ceiling, "Chiriko?"

Startled, Chiriko whipped his head around and found the priestess nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Yes, Priestess?" he shakily asked, trying to calm himself.

"Awww...don't be silly. Call me Katherine," she humbly said with a slight wave of the hand. "Anyways, I was wondering if..." she suddenly stopped, unsure if she should continue her sentence. She looked up to find Chiriko slowly nodding his head, motioning her to continue. "If...I could play your flute?" she rapidly asked, running all her words together.

Chiriko looked at her cautiously, tightening his grasp on the flute. "W- Why?" he stammered, nervously biting his lip.

"Well...it's just that...I learned how to play the flute several years ago, and I wanna see what it's like playing a flute like yours. All the flutes in my world are made out of metal," she explained, looking innocent as possible.

*

Hotohori and Tasuki stood next to the two horses, placing the bags on their saddles. Trying to find some common ground between Hotohori and himself, Tasuki asked, "So, what's goin' on between you an' that Katherine girl?"

Hotohori slowly turned his head and looked at Tasuki questionably. "May I ask you to clarify what you mean by that?" he responded, still trying to process what the bandit had said previously.

"Well, ya two acted like ya were a couple an' stuff when we found Mitsukake, but, then, after that...nothin'. I mean, yer lettin' her call all th' shots," Tasuki explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "If I liked girls, I'd make sure she knew who was boss. As leader of th' bandits, I'd have complete control over her. But ya never had control over anythin', have ya?" he rhetorically asked, arrogant in himself for knowing how to be in command.

Christina, who had overheard Tasuki's last couple sentences, decided she would have to save him from any further embarrassment. She tiptoed up to Hotohori and lightly tapped him on the shoulder, hoping to get the emperor's focus off of Tasuki. "Hotohori?" she naively asked in the same sing-song voice Katherine had just used on Chiriko.

Hotohori looked behind his shoulder to find the priestess swaying back and forth and inadvertently playing with her hands. "Yes, Christina?" he asked, trying not to sound irritated by Tasuki's comments.

Christina started to scratch the back of her neck as she continued in a meek voice, "Well, you see, I have this really, really good idea...can we have a party for finding all the seishi?"

Taking Christina's party idea into deep consideration, Hotohori let out a long, soft sigh.

Before Hotohori could ask Christina all the details, Tasuki quickly gave his opinion on the suggestion. "I LOVE that idea!" he exclaimed, his face beaming with excitement.

The emperor glared at the bandit for a second, then reasonably asked Christina, "Where would we have it?"

Slyly smiling, Christina answered, "At your place, of course!"

Interrupting Hotohori's thoughts once again, Tasuki stated, "Sounds good t' me. Wait, ya' don't live in a shack, do ya?" he asked, turning towards Hotohori, oblivious to the sei's profession.

The sound of a door opening and the abrupt movement of someone caught everyone's eye. "Look at me! Look at me!" Katherine exclaimed, interrupting the trio's conversation. She rushed over to where they were standing and eagerly declared, "I can play the flute!" She then brought Chiriko's wooden flute to her lips and let out a long soft note.

"Katherine! Would you stop for a sec?!" Christina shouted, not wanting anyone to interrupt her careful persuading of the emperor. "We are trying to talk over here," she informed while waving her friend to come join the dispute, knowing that Katherine would be on her side.

Katherine skipped over and abruptly jumped into place next to Tasuki. "So what's up?" she cheerfully asked, but before anyone could answer someone else came barging outside.

"Hey! Come back here! That's mine!" Chiriko yelled as he pointed at the flute and ran towards the priestess.

"Okay, okay. Don't have a cow..." Katherine relented, handing over the flute to its rightful owner. "It's not like I was gonna hurt anyone with it," she stated, completely oblivious to the pun that abuse was the true purpose of the wooden instrument.

"Okay! Everyone done interrupting us?!" Christina exclaimed, before the conversation drew too far away from the heated debate she was having with her seishi. Suddenly softening her expression, the priestess turn to Hotohori and begged, "Please? You know you know you want to."

Lowering her head and turning away from the seishi, Katherine mumbled, "What are you talking about?"

"A party," Christina whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"Ohhh," Katherine breathed, merrily jumping back into place. Suddenly changing her tone, Katherine pleaded "C'mon Hotohori! It will be fun!"

"I suppose..." Hotohori relented, followed by Katherine and Christina jumping for joy.

Abruptly stopping the joyous skipping, Katherine looked over at Christina and bit her lip. "By the way, I'm sorry about last night," she mumbled, referring to the fight they had over Chiriko.

Raising her eyebrows, Christina looked at her friend oddly for a second. "Whatever," she quickly said, then quickly changed her attention towards her seishi.

Katherine rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. Turning away from the group, she walked over to the side of the house and leaned against it. She heard the rustling of grass and looked up to find Chiriko standing a few feet away. "Hey," she mumbled as she moved down a bit, subconsciously telling him to come join her.

The sei slowly walked over and awkwardly leaned against the house and turned towards her. Seeing the troubled look on the priestess's face, Chiriko realized something was bothering her. "Would you like me to play you a song?" he innocently asked while fiddling around the flute.

"Nah, that's okay," Katherine mumbled, knowing that Amiboshi used his music to subconsciously weaken people's chi. "Christina has just been getting on my nerves lately," she explained, afterwards biting her bottom lip.

"I understand," Chiriko sighed, placing the flute in his belt.

Katherine looked at him for a second before saying, "I'm really sorry, but no you don't. You only met us last night. Christina has been hiding her emotions this whole entire time. I'm tired of her always expecting me to interpret what's goin' on inside her mind. I'm not a freakin' mind reader for a reason!" she exclaimed, letting her head fall back against the house. After a second she looked over at Chiriko, who was nervously scratching his left arm. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything..." she apologized, remorseful for making him so uneasy.

"It's okay, it sounds like you needed to tell someone. Maybe I should talk to her," he offered, hoping to stop the small feud between the priestess.

"No! Don't do that!" Katherine quickly shouted, knowing that the last person Christina wanted to talk to was Chiriko. "Please, just don't. I handle it in my own way," she continued, softening her tone.

"O...kay..." Chiriko answered, slightly startled by her initial reaction. "Just don't keep it all bottled up, or else you will be doing the same thing to her that she has been doing to you," he advised. Turning away from her, he continued back towards the seishi, who were still conversing about the party.

"'Kay!" Katherine called out, but she decided stay behind, needing to continue contemplating on her friendship with Christina.

*

Miaka watched over Tamahome, silently praying for him to open his blue eyes once more. She damped the small white cloth, now stained red, into the small basin of water. She continued to absently twist the excess water out of the cloth, her eyes never leaving the face of her love. The priestess tenderly placed the cold cloth on his cheek, and Tamahome flinched suddenly in response. Miaka quickly drew back her hand, startled at the sudden movement. Tamahome had been lying lifelessly on the bed for such an extended amount of time that Miaka had almost given up all hope. "Tamahome?" she asked uneasily, quietly pleading for any type of response. Her heart skipped a beat as the sei's eyes slowly opened, showing the calm blue sparkle she had been longing to see.

"Where am I?" Tamahome wondered as his eyes wondered around the room. He had the inclination to sit up, and attempted to do so, but once he started to move a surge of pain came rushing through his body.

"Don't move!" Miaka exclaimed, eyes widening in fear. "You've been asleep for five days," she explained with a gentle voice.

Tamahome slowly lay back down, with help from Miaka, and looked up at the priestess's innocent eyes. "Have you been watching over me the whole time?" he asked his voice husky with pain.

"Of course I have," she whispered, placing the cloth in the basin of water once more. "I never want to lose you," the priestess continued as she dabbed the wet cloth over the forehead of the sei, her potential enemy.

*

The Suzaku seishi was sitting in a large, slightly run-down restaurant. They had to move two tables together in order for everyone to sit together. Christina made sure that she was sitting next to Tasuki, and Katherine, of course, was sitting next to Hotohori. Nuriko was talking about how they should go about getting Tamahome back, causing Katherine and Christina to tune him out, since they already knew that Chichiri was fated to take care of that.

Christina took her chopsticks and started banging them on the table, pretending she was an expert drummer. After a couple minutes of the irksome tapping, Katherine couldn't take it any longer. "Would you please just stop?" Katherine asked through her teeth. "You need to learn how to focus. Ya know...fo-cus?" she continued, even though she wasn't paying attention to Nuriko either.

"Did you say 'fuck us'?" Christina curiously asked in a slightly strident voice, misinterpreting her friend's words. All of the sudden, everyone in the establishment was looking at the two of them, unsure if they had just heard Christina correctly. The seishi just stared in complete shock, unsure of what to say.

Not knowing how to reply, Katherine just let her head fall against the table, wishing she had not just heard that. "You may continue about our situation," she calmly said to her seishi, waving them on, with her head still on the table, hoping to avoid dwelling on Christina's comment. She glanced over to the side and aimlessly watched middle-aged men walk by their table and sit at the table behind Hotohori and herself. Gradually, their conversation caught Katherine's interest, causing her to pick up her head and listen carefully.

"The government today has gotten completely out of control," the first man said.

"I wonder if the people at the capital even know what they are doing!" the second man added.

This caused Katherine to abruptly grab a hold of Hotohori's hand, unsure if he had heard the insulting comment too. She looked around her table; no one else seemed to notice the conversation going on behind them. She then noticed Hotohori was looking at her, wondering what caused her to suddenly grab his hand. His distraction from his fellow seishi's discussion caused him to hear the conversation happening behind him.

"They aren't even doin' anything about th' situation with Kutou!" the first man continued as Katherine squeezed Hotohori's hand tighter. "They are just sitting in the lap of luxury without a worry in the world!"

"Shhhh!" the other man ordered. "If anyone hears us we could be executed." Hotohori slightly winced in response to the man's fear of the government.

"I don't care anymore! I'm tired of being a servant to that idiot, naïve boy of an emperor." Slowly moving a strand of hair out of his face, Hotohori set his gaze on a random point on the dusty floor, mentally recalling the mistakes he had made in his reign. A waiter then approached the pair's table to take their order, causing them to drop the subject for a moment or two.

"It's okay..." Katherine whispered to Hotohori, subconsciously trying to calm herself.

Christina then noticed Katherine's behavior, and recognized it as a common danger sign. Katherine was staring intently at the table and using her free hand to vigorously play with her hair. "Uh oh..." Christina mumbled.

"What?" Chiriko innocently asked.

"Katherine's becoming angry, and she doesn't hold her anger very well," Christina stated, just waiting for Katherine to explode. She had no idea what had made Katherine so irate, but she knew Katherine well enough to know that it must have been something huge.

This statement grabbed everyone else's attention. "Katherine...becoming angry? I'm sorry, but I just can't seem to picture that," Tasuki commented as he started to laugh, imagining the usually calm Katherine filled with rage.

"She seems to be hiding it kind of well," Nuriko mentioned optimistically.

"Watch...just watch," Christina muttered.

The waiter then left the table behind them, and the two men continued their conversation. "I honestly wonder how this empire has lasted so long with under that fool's control," the first man stated. This time it was loud enough for everyone at the other table to hear.

Hotohori looked at the floor, disappointed in himself. He had no idea people thought such things of him. He had tried his hardest, but maybe they were right. Maybe he could have done more. Suddenly, the awful, barren atmosphere of Tamahome's village appeared in his thoughts. How Tamahome had to become obsessed with making money in order to put food on the table for his siblings. How the situation in Kutou could have been resolved if only he had planned more and was more experienced. And lastly, how he was depending on the priestesses, his love, to risk their lives to save his empire, an empire that should have been safe all along.

When Katherine noticed the disappointed look in Hotohori's eyes she let go of his hand and calmly stood up. "Please, excuse me for one moment," she said in an upbeat, plastic voice.

"Katherine...don't," Hotohori warned. He didn't want her to make the situation worse than it already was, but Katherine just ignored him.

As she approached the table, she took in a deep breath, trying to hold her anger for a moment. "Um... excuse me," she greeted innocently. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing part of your conversation."

The two men looked up at her realizing that she was talking to them. They stared in distaste noticing her immodest tank top and denim shorts. "And?" the second man asked with a sneer.

"Aaaaand...would you like my opinion on your comments?" she asked in a meek voice.

"No...not really...like some slut's opinion matters," the first man answered, hoping that this would shut the annoyance up. Katherine bit her bottom lip and glared at the man. Hotohori was about to stand up and give the two men a piece of his mind about calling Katherine, the Priestess of Suzaku, a slut, but then he realized that Katherine had complete control of this situation.

"Oh... well this 'slut's' does," she snapped, punctuating her statement by punching him in the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. She then stepped on the man's stomach and let all her rage flow out of her. "Just so you know, THAT FOOL does more for this country than you could EVER imagine!!! He gives up his love for this empire! Next time you see him why don't you ask him how much free time he has?!?! And you know what his answer will be...? NONE!!!" she hollered at the man, but she wasn't done yet. Katherine needed to vent, and she quite good at it. "He's been through more than any person should ever have to go through!!! He does SO much more than sit on his ass and order people around! He would give anything for the people of his empire!" She then turned her attention to the second man, who was looking at her completely shocked. "Oh and, by the way, he would never execute any one for sharing their opinion, good or bad. And if it was bad he would try even harder to do his job better," she simply stated, lowing her voice. She then stepped off of the first man's stomach and headed back towards her table. "C'mon, let's go," she said serenely, shaking out the pain in her punching hand and walking towards the doorway.

"Wow," Tasuki commented, shocked.

"What's her problem?" Chiriko asked, still not knowing what her motivation was.

Pushing in her chair to follow Katherine hoping the others would follow, Christina stated, "Lemme just put it this way, Katherine LOVES the government system in this country."

*

"Daaaaaa..." Chichiri sighed as he skillfully balanced on his super deformed head on Hotohori's throne. "When are they coming back, no da?" he complained, letting out a long yawn afterwards.

"Your Majesty!" an elderly advisor interrupted, unsure if that super deformed creature was really `his highness' doing aerobics in his office.

Suddenly sitting upright and returning to Hotohori's normal form, Chichiri asked in a low, professional voice, "What do you require?"

Taking a moment to clear his throat, the advisor continued, "The Priestesses of Suzaku have returned with the celestial warriors." The scholar had barely finished his sentence before the monk zoomed past him.

*

The familiar skyline of the Konan Empire loomed off in the distance, far away from the hustle and bustle of the capital city itself; it seemed almost a private oasis in a desert of commotion. The palace seemed even more splendid than usual, mostly because the travelers had spent the last few weeks on tiring, dusty roads, but still, the gold gleamed in such an inviting way that the seishi and priestesses couldn't help but sigh with relief. The gates were opened, and the group trotted in, suddenly feeling more awake and energetic than they had while traveling.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm in a palace," Chiriko stated as he looked around in awe.

Abruptly, a large mass of light blue hear and a smiling face appeared before the group, startling the three naive seishi. "Wha' th' hell izzat?!" Tasuki shouted, pointing the figure and growling angrily at the unknown subject.

"That's Chichiri, a celestial warrior, who hasn't changed a bit!" Nuriko explained, slightly giggling at the bandit's reaction to the rather odd monk.

Noticing that one of the seishi seemed to disappear, Chiriko commented, "Where'd Hotohori go?"

"Yeah, y' look up, an' suddenly he's gone!" Tasuki exclaimed, not liking mysterious surprises.

Turning to her seishi, Christina exclaimed, "Aw, c'mon! Think about it! Hasn't Hotohori ever seemed a bit...proper to ya? Dude, he even rode a white horse. White horse...nobility. Nobility...white horse. White horse..." Noticing the confused expressions on their faces, she knew she was getting nowhere with the three newcomers, so she decided to let Nuriko explain it to them.

The former courtier let out a long agitated sigh at his comrades' stupidity. "Don't you guys get it yet?! He's-"he started to explain, but was soon cut short by the emperor himself, who reappeared at Nuriko's side.

"Please Nuriko," Hotohori calmly stated, readjusting the collar on his imperial robes.

Katherine took one look at the new outfit Hotohori had rapidly changed into and let out a sad whimper. "Dear God, the hat returns..." she muttered to her self, letting out a long sigh and sorrowfully shaking her head.

Slightly bowing, Chichiri smiled, happy to be out of its uncomfortable robes, "Your majesty! Your kingdom rejoices on the occasion of your safe return."

Tasuki's eyes widened in shock, finally realizing, "Y-yer MAJESTY?!" rang through the palace walls.

To Be Continued...

AN3: You may be wondering why Nuriko has kept quiet about the lil secret and are about to review us telling us that he wouldn't do that. Well, please wait until the next episode.

~*~

FUSHIGI AKUGI

The Crucible: Fushigi Yuugi Style

AN: If you haven't read the Crucible, then you definitely don't want to read this Fushigi Akugi. Mrs. Tasuki read the part of Abigail in English class, while Nyan Nyan read out Mrs. Putnam. We were trying to work on the fic, but it was too much fun. And Nyan Nyan accidentally wrote `Joan' instead of `John' (Proctor). We had way too much Dr. Pepper and got a little crazy. Read at your own mental risk.

Christina/Abigail: We sweated like stallions behind the barn.

Joan Proctor: Whore! I call out whore in your name!

C/A: You love me still...Joan Procter.

Joan: I will cut off my hand before reach for you again.

C/A: Ow...That would hurt.

Joan: I know...that's why I'm gonna make out with you right now.

C/A: Joan...ever since you've found that book, I know you've been feeling something.

Joan: Shut up and follow me to that barn. I'm going to punish you.

C/A: Go to it.

Katherine/Mrs. Putnam: Christina I never knew...now we can actually be sisters!!!

C/A: My name is Abigail, GODAMMNIT!

K/Mrs. P.: (To Hotohori/Mr. Putnam) Are you ready, Mr. Putnam, to make another baby?

Nuriko: I am Goody Osburne, and I will kill your children! They will wither in your arms!

Mrs. P: Oh well, we can always make more.

Abigail: Mrs. Putnam! Why are you a red bird! Stop attacking me!

Chiriko/Mary Warren: I don't see a bird!

Abigail: I don't see a bird! Mary Warren! Stop sending your spirit into me! Everything you say your spirit is making me repeat!

Joan Proctor: I want that feisty spirit of yours!

Abigail: I want that feisty spirit of yours!

Mary Warren: You're supposed to mock me, not her.

Abigail: You're supposed to mock me, not her.

Mary Warren: Hey where did the Putnams go?

Abigail: Behind the barn.