Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Fushigi Yuugi: Daydream's Embrace ❯ Episode 26: Guarded Trust ( Chapter 26 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Mrs Tasuki 
The dramatic conclusion to the Kodoku saga. Plus, all seven seishi are together and the ceremony is a day away. Will Suzaku be summoned? Or do the Gods of Fate have something else in mind?
Anime/Manga: Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 05.14.2005 | Updated On: 05.14.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 8.6K | Visits: 343 | Status: Completed
The dramatic conclusion to the Kodoku saga. Plus, all seven seishi are together and the ceremony is a day away. Will Suzaku be summoned? Or do the Gods of Fate have something else in mind?
Anime/Manga: Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 05.14.2005 | Updated On: 05.14.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 8.6K | Visits: 343 | Status: Completed
Episode 26:
Guarded Trust
By: Mrs. Tasuki and Nyan Nyan
It seemed as though Nuriko had just tossed Tasuki out of the room and returned to a civil conversation with the emperor when the door was thrown open. Who else but Tasuki stood, leaning upon the door, completely out of breath. “Tasuki!” scolded Nuriko, “I thought I told you to ge-“
“There's something wrong with Katherine!” gasped Tasuki, the last few minutes was a blur in the bandit's mind.
“What?!” demanded both Nuriko and Hotohori worriedly. The emperor immediately ran to the door, pausing to let Tasuki lead the way, and Nuriko quickly followed behind.
“She's down by th' bench…” Tasuki answered, pointing at the seat in the center of the garden.
“What is wrong with her?” Hotohori asked, running faster until his strides matched that of the bandit.
“I dunno,” answered Tasuki honestly, “She just got all strange-like…”
At those words, the emperor stopped in his tracks, causing Nuriko to nearly slam into him. “What do you mean `strange-like'?” inquired Hotohori.
“What?” asked Tasuki as he also stopped and turned around. “Are ya kiddin'? C'mon, we gotta go!” Nuriko and Hotohori glanced ominously at each other, refusing to move an inch lest Katherine's crisis was another trap. “Gods!” yelled the bandit lividly, “You two er impossible! Katherine's out there dyin' er something an' yer afraid she'll beat ya up?!” He shook his head angrily, and shouted, “Well, t' hell with both of ya,” before turning and running back to where he had last seen Katherine.
Hotohori and Nuriko stood still and watched the bandit disappear into the gardens. Nuriko suggested, “We should get Chichiri to make sure she's back to normal...”
“He just said `dying',” Hotohori said quietly. He gave Nuriko a look that seemed full of disappointment, and then quickly hurried to follow Tasuki's path. Even though a world of confusion and doubt seemed to haunt him relentlessly, he always knew Katherine was the one for him. Somehow, someway, He knew she would overcome whatever was controlling her, no matter what the cost. But what if the cost was her life? Suddenly, everything running through the sei's mind halted as he saw Tasuki kneeling on the ground in front of Katherine.
Hotohori's body and mind froze. The air in his lungs stopped, along with everything else in the world. Everything turned to slow motion, like they were immersed in water. “What happened?” yelled the emperor as he rushed to the girl, kneeling down on the cold, wet ground beside his priestess.
Katherine's skin was a pale, sickly white color, and beads of cold sweat slid down her forehead as she trembled, leaving tiny rivers of sweat down her face. Her eyes were closed tightly, as if she was straining to block out a nightmare that troubled her, and her mouth was open, allowing words and phrases of nonsense to be muttered under her breath.
“I dunno,” Tasuki answered worriedly, “She wasn't like this b'fore!”
Hotohori quickly turned to Nuriko, who had obediently followed the emperor, and ordered, “Find Mitsukake!”
“Yes, your Highness,” whispered the lavender-haired sei as he jumped up and ran off.
Tasuki roughly grabbed Katherine's shoulders, vainly trying to stop her from convulsing. “Katherine, c'mon! Wake up!” he shouted. He turned to Hotohori, his fangs bared angrily, like some sort of wild animal. “Are ya happy now!” he yelled, “Look what ya did!”
Hotohori jumped back as though he had been bitten, his eyes wide as he processed the comment. He would never purposefully do anything to hurt Katherine; he loved her more than she would probably ever get the chance to know. But Tasuki was right. The filthy, cursing, drunken bandit had seen what the emperor could not.
The fact was it did not matter if she purposefully did anything. He had not even believed Katherine when she looked him in the eye and swore that she had not done any wrong. Her eyes were so filled with hurt and sorrow, so sad that he did not believe her, so betrayed, and he did not even listen.
Hotohori leaned Katherine against the side of the tree, cupping his hand around her cheek and holding her shoulder. “Katherine! Please, wake up!” he desperately shouted. Seeing no change in her face, he slowly picked her up and placed her on the ground. Sorrowfully looking at her, he picked up her trembling hand and softly kissed it. “Please, I...I love you. I don't care if you never forgive me. I just...” he paused for a moment, searching his mind for the perfect words. “I just want to see you happy,” Hotohori finished as a solitary tear slid off his cheek and unto her face.
“...tears?” Katherine whispered as her hand stopped trembling and became limp.
Realizing the girl's body had become almost deathly still, Tasuki rushed to her side, relieved to find her chest still rising and falling. His voice overwhelmed with joy, he yelled, “Yeah! She's snappin' out of it! C'mon buddy, say somethin' else!” He waited a moment, and then looked at the emperor incredulously when he didn't respond. The emperor's eyes were closed, his seishi mark glowing brightly. Tasuki rushed over to Hotohori's side shouting, “Shit! Not you too!” He waited several seconds before scrambling to his feet, his eyes never leaving the motionless couple. Something strange was going on, and Mitsukake was taking forever to arrive.
oOo
Once again in the ceremony room, Katherine stared into the golden eyes of Suzaku. He expressed such sorrow that it seemed to pierce right through her. Her heart ached for a second time, wishing the dream would stop haunting her. “Please…what do you want? Why am I having this dream again?” she asked the god, her hazel eyes sparkling with tears. Everything about the dream was identical to the previous time she experienced it. Miaka's reflection, the basin of fire, the rain pouring from above. It was as if she was watching a movie twice.
“You've made more than one mistake here,” Suzaku stated quietly. The words cut through her like a blade. It was the second time the god expressed his disappointment in her, and Christina had said the same thing. Katherine looked away from the golden eyes, streaked with ceremonial yellow paint.
The doors slammed shut, shutting off the source of light. Katherine looked around, pitch black surrounding her. Unable to see, she waved her hands in front of her, searching for anything to grasp a hold of. “You must start choosing your own path,” the god's voice echoed. Her eyes shifted about the room, noting the sudden change in the dream's sequence as she placed a strand of her rain-soaked hair behind her ear. Her breath quickening, she stepped forward, lost to where the dream would take her next.
A cold chill ran down Katherine's spine. There was someone else in the room; she could feel it. Trembling, she fled for her life into the darkness, knowing that the presence had to be the figure draped in black shrouds. Seeing nothing, she continued to run, hearing the man's footsteps come faster and louder, hoping that an exit was near. She felt the figure grab her arm, forcing her to swing around and face him. Her breath trembling, she stared at the tall silhouette in front of her. Wanting to see the man who had caused her so much grief she looked into his face, only to find it was overcast by a shadow from the cloak's hood, as if it was fate that his face would remain a mystery.
“I...I love you,” echoed throughout the room.
At that moment, the figure gently took the girl's hand and placed it on his cheek. Biting her bottom lip, Katherine slightly tilted her head, a strange feeling of sympathy running through her body. As cool droplet of water hit her fingertips, she whispered, “...tears?” This was not the black shrouded creature she had once been running away from.
With her free hand, Katherine slowly reached out and removed the hood covering the man's face. She smiled slightly as the man moved her hand to his lips and lightly kissed it. “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he whispered, his golden eyes sparkling with tears.
“…I know,” the girl replied, looking at her feet shamefully. All the fighting, the attacks, were because of an illusion. There was nothing she could say or do that would redeem her. In a second's time, she realized that, instead of trusting what she knew, she almost killed the two people loved the most.
Seeing the look of regret on the girl's face, the man placed his hand under her chin and slowly lifted her head. “I love you and only you.”
For the first time, Katherine knew what it was like to live for someone, to finally be the person she wanted to be. When Katherine was with him, she wasn't worried about the future or everything that needed to be done. She knew that it was for the gods to decide and all she had to do was try her best. Hotohori had always had the courage to tell Katherine how he felt, but she had never said anything in return. Katherine drew in a deep breath, searching for the words she had known all along. “I love you too.”
oOo
In a state of panic, Tasuki stared blankly at the motionless couple, as the seconds slowly tick away. Katherine was still muttering under her breath, and Hotohori's mark glowed brilliantly. Just when the bandit was about to dart off in search for the still missing doctor, Hotohori's seishi mark began to fade.
Seconds later, the emperor slowly opened his eyes, a slight smile growing on his face. Tasuki looked in bewilderment at the man. What was there to be smiling about? Katherine still hadn't snapped out of the trance. The moment the thought ran through the bandit's mind, Katherine's eyes snapped open as she gasped for air. “Shit!” the bandit exclaimed as he jumped backwards, eyes wide with surprise.
Katherine looked around her in bewilderment, soaking in her surroundings. She was on the ground, which was obviously still wet from the rainstorm. Hotohori was kneeling beside her, his hand on hers, while Tasuki looked at her as if she was a ghost. Her head was pounding and felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. “What happened?” she asked, still catching her breath.
Tasuki turned his head towards the sound of pounding footsteps against the soft ground. He rolled his eyes at the sight of Nuriko and Mitsukake approaching him, two seconds too late. They rushed up to the sei, eyes filled with worry. “Is she alright?” Nuriko wondered as he looked past the bandit and at Katherine, who was still lying on the ground.
“Yer too late,” Tasuki greeted with a victorious grin on his face, “Hotohori-sama already saved th' day.”
Ignoring all the commotion bustling around him, Hotohori pushed a strand of Katherine's hair behind her ear. Gently rubbing her hand with his thumb, he asked worriedly, “Can you stand?”
“I think so...” Katherine whispered as she placed her hands on the ground, preparing herself to push off it. But before she had the chance, Hotohori scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the palace, abandoning the other seishi. “Hotohori?” Katherine questioned.
Hotohori looked down at her with the same golden eyes she had grown to know and adore. “Yes, Katherine?”
She leaned her head into his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “I love you,” she softly whispered.
Smiling in return, Hotohori softly stated, “I know. I heard you the first time.”
oOo
The boy pulled back on his horse's reins, and the stallion whinnied shrilly as it slid to a quick stop, scattering pebbles and dirt onto the cobblestone streets. He jumped off of his steed, leaving the horse alone, and began to walk towards the main gate to the palace entrance. The guards at the gate quickly bowed at his presence and greeted him, “Sir!” The doors to the great gate were flung open, and the warrior stepped inside, where an advisor was already awaiting him.
“Where is my brother?” inquired the boy, looking around the empty halls in hopes of seeing his younger sibling. The moment he had entered the palace walls, he had realized that Suboshi was not there, for his ki had disappeared completely.
“L…Lord Amiboshi?” inquired the advisor while he bowed shakily.
“Where is Suboshi?” asked the boy again, still looking around as if his brother would appear out of nowhere.
“Lord…Lord Nakago said that…” the advisor murmured in amazement.
“If you don't know where my brother is, then tell me where to find Nakago,” said Amiboshi, too hurried to bother with a servant's stuttering.
“Lord Nakago is…is in his chambers…” answered the advisor as he pointed a shaking hand down one of the many empty halls. Amiboshi nodded to the man, and then quickly walked to where the shogun's chambers were.
As the boy stepped outside the gilded doors to Nakago's chambers, the doors swung open to allow him access. “Come in, Amiboshi,” Nakago's voice called flatly. The boy stepped inside, quite disturbed when the doors shut themselves behind him.
“Nakago,” inquired Amiboshi, “where's my brother?”
“Completing the task you could not,” replied the shogun coolly.
Amiboshi frowned and stepped forward, struggling to see the expression on Nakago's face, which was shrouded in darkness. “What do you mean?”
“You have failed,” answered Nakago, “so your brother has taken your place.”
“How could you send him there?!” Amiboshi asked angrily. His brother's safety was most important, and Amiboshi had reached an agreement with the priestesses of Suzaku. What if one of the seishi found that his brother was one of the Seiryuu seishi? Suboshi would be killed immediately. Amiboshi shouted, “You send him to his death!”
Nakago stepped out from the shadows, a cold expression of heartlessness upon his face. He strode past Amiboshi, uttering not one word. As if the cold steel could sense the Shogun's presence the doors opened, and the sei walked out of the room. The doors slammed behind him, and Amiboshi rushed to them and struggled to pull the door open.
The door would not budge. “Nakago!” yelled Amiboshi, “Nakago, let me out!” He banged his fists against the door, knowing that his seishi power, his great celestial abilities, were of no use. He slammed his fist against the door only last time in desperation, quickly realizing his last chance to save his brother.
Amiboshi walked to the other side of the room and searched for something, anything sharp. He found what he was looking for upon a table; some unlucky servant had left one of her hairpins lying around. He quickly grabbed the pin and began to scratch into his left forearm `Come home'.
Ignoring the slow, throbbing pain, the warrior finished his message and waited for a reply. He paced around the room until a sharp scratching on his right arm caught his attention. Amiboshi turned his arm over to see the reply from his brother. `It's too late'.
oOo
Sitting on top of an unmade bed, Joan and Diana huddled together, both pairs of eyes glued to the black text appearing before them. Joan was frantically biting her nails as Diana restlessly twirled her blue-tipped hair around her finger, neither of them noticing their nervous habits. “'Trapped in an illusion once more, Lady Katherine fled for her life, trying to escape from the haunting nightmare, '” Diana muttered, reading the text to herself. Joan glared at Diana, losing track of the line she was reading. Not noticing pair of icy blue-gray eyes, Diana continued, “Whereupon, she found the Suzaku sei Hotohori, who had come to her rescue.”
“Would ya stop?” Joan grumbled through her teeth.
Snapping back to reality, Diana looked over at Joan. “Stop what?” she questioned, her bright blue eyes looking at her friend innocently.
“Your mumbling! What else?!” Joan yelled. The stress of reading about her sister's turmoil in life-and-death situations was taking a toll on Joan's nerves. She was just inches away from punching a hole through Diana's wall.
Her eyes turning from a bright blue to a dark navy, Diana exclaimed, “Well, if wasn't for you biting your nails I wouldn't have to read out loud! Do you know how hard it is to concentrate with a constant `crunch crunch crunch' reverberating through your ears?!”
Proudly standing on top of her friend bed, Joan assumed her trade-mark fighting stance. “Well, I'm sorry if I'm sooo hard to read with!” she mocked.
Jumping off the bed, Diana stomped her right foot for emphasis. “Hey! Who said you could stand on my bed?!” She glared at her vertically challenged friend, now almost eye-to-eye. Joan hopped off the bed, almost landing on Diana. Taking a quick step backwards, Diana grabbed the book from on top the bed. “Okay. Obviously both of us reading this isn't working, so I'll just read it aloud. Okay? Okay,” she rattled off, speaking too fast for any human to understand.
“Huh?” Joan asked as she squinted her eyes, trying to decipher the jumble of words her friend has just uttered.
Sighing loudly, Diana placed a strand of her blue-tipped hair behind her ear. “I'm...gonna...read...this...” she restated slowly, mocking Joan, as she held the book up.
Her gray-blue eyes becoming wide with anger, Joan yelled, “Why should you get to read it?!”
“Because I'm taller,” Diana stated simply as she held the book above her head out of Joan's reach. Ignoring the jumping midget, she continued to read, “'The Lady Katherine stated her love for the emperor...'” she paused for a second, biting her lip as she silently reread the line. Eyes wide with surprise, she turned to Joan, who as frozen to the ground in shock.
“She...what?!” Joan screamed, not believing what her little sister had just declared.
oOo
The soft, sweet melody of birds chirping filled the hot, sticky air. Their song sounded slower, as if the sparrows themselves were too overheated to sing properly. Katherine looked up at the afternoon sky, where the sun was blazing a stifling heat upon the city of Eiyou. Fanning herself with one hand, Katherine walked over the soft grass, hoping the movement would get her mind off the blistering heat. With every step she took, her mind became more entranced with the small, cool, azure pond she was walking towards. As if her body was hypnotized, she walked closer to the body of water, wanting more than anything to dive in, clothes, shoes, and all, if only to escape from the heat for one moment. When she reached the edge of the water she stopped, taking a moment to look down at her reflection and reached her hand out to touch the identical girl's face, mesmerized in her thoughts. As her fingertips touched the cold water, tiny ripples spread through the surface, banishing the reflection like a bad dream.
“Hot, ain't it?” a voice greeted from nearby.
Snapping back to reality, Katherine's head shot up in the direction of the voice. She smiled to find Tasuki laying on one of the rocks, hands intertwined behind his head as a makeshift pillow, legs splayed out roguishly. She giggled slightly as she made a connection between the bandit and a lizard, sunning itself after a meal. “Whatcha doin'?” Katherine asked as she playfully stretched her fingers towards the sky.
Glancing in her direction, Tasuki answered, “Nuthin'. Stop distractin' me.”
Smiling, Katherine approached the sei and sat down next to him, getting lost in her own thoughts, enjoying the silent company. She looked over Tasuki, who was dozing off, exhausted from the day before, and noticed a large clay bottle sitting next to him. Deciding that the bandit probably wouldn't care if she took a little sip of his water, she picked up the bottle and let the soothing liquid fill her mouth. As it washed over her tongue, Katherine realized that it was not cool, clean water, but some type of vile drink. “Blah! Nwah! Bleh!” the girl shouted as she rubbed off her tongue.
Snapping out of his dreamlike state, Tasuki turned on his side, laughing loudly at the naïve priestess. “Haha! Too strong fer ya, eh?”
“You could've told me it was sake!” Katherine coughed, glaring at the bandit.
Staring at the sky, he absently stated, “Wow, ya an' Christina sure are different.”
“Gee, thanks,” the girl answered sarcastically, reclining back on the soft grass.
“Nah, that's a good thing. Like two sides of th' same coin, if ya know what I mean.”
Katherine rolled on her side and looked up at the sei, who seemed rather lost in thought. “Speaking of Christina, do you like her?”
Surprised by the off-topic question, Tasuki sat up and scratched the back of his neck. “Yah, I guess...she's alright,” he answered. He looked at the priestess, eyebrows furrowed, wondering what type of answer she expected.
Katherine couldn't help but to smile at his confusion. “No I mean, do you liiiike her?” she asked again, hoping that the extra emphasis on the word would help the poor bandit.
“Yaaaaah, she's alright,” he answered once again, wondering if the priestess had swallowed any more drugs.
Sighing loudly, Katherine flopped back down on the grass, covering her eyes with her hands, hoping that no one could truly be that oblivious. “Never mind, you're hopeless”
Tasuki laid back down against the rock, squinting at the bright blue sky. “Okay, whatever. So why'd ya come out here anyways?”
“I was hot, and the pond looked so nice. Where I'm from it never gets this freakin' warm!” she exclaimed, plucking at the shirt, praying for any type of relief from the heat wave. She paused for a moment to look at the bandit, the same bandit who believed in her so much the other day, even when the man she loved hadn't. “Actually, I kinda wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me fer what?” he asked, still gazing at the sky above him.
“You know...” The girl paused for a moment, thinking of how to put it without sounding unbelievably corny. “For believing me when no one else did,” she finished as she rolled her eyes, knowing she had failed. Biting her bottom lip, Katherine waited for laughter to come spewing out of the bandit's mouth.
“Nah, it was no big deal,” Tasuki sighed.
Glad to be taken seriously, Katherine smiled in response. “But, it is a big deal!” she exclaimed. “Even though I was totally wrong, it's nice to know I can count on someone to believe me.”
Tasuki still didn't understand why she was thanking him. He did what he thought was right, that was it. If anything, she should be yelling Hotohori for not believing her, instead of thanking him for doing what any decent person would do. “It was no problem, just stop getting' all sappy on me,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact.
Realizing Tasuki could only take so much sincerity, she couldn't help but grin. “Okay, fine. I'll shut up.” Katherine laid back down against the grass, her mind returning to her own thoughts. The once overbearing heat now seemed like a nice warm blanket as she started to drift off to sleep. Several minutes passed as she drifted from a light doze into a full slumber.
“So, you're all cured, right?” an abrupt voice asked, too loudly to ignore.
Startled, Katherine bolted to an upright position, exclaiming, “Uh?! What?” Once she recognized where she was and who was talking, she took a deep breath. “Um…actually...” she stammered as she fidgeted with her hair innocently.
“Actually what?” Tasuki enunciated with much diction, looking at her almost angrily.
Never directly facing the sei in the eyes, Katherine muttered, “Actually…” She paused for a second, debating whether she should tell him. “I still don't remember what happened,” she finished, running her words together, afraid of his reaction.
After what had happened over the past two days, he assumed everything was back to normal. “You're not gonna try again, are ya?” he asked, hoping Katherine smart enough to know that risking her life was not worth one memory.
“No! Of course not!” she exclaimed to Tasuki's relief.
“Good,” he sighed, looking back up at the clear blue sky.
“But…” Katherine muttered, running her index finger over the grass.
Tasuki despised the moment the word reached his ear. Katherine was one who didn't know when to give up, but even she must have realized that she couldn't possibly win. “But what?” he asked, trying his hardest to suppress his impatience.
“But...it's just hard!” the girl whined as she pounded her fist into the ground.
The bandit demanded, “What's so hard about it? Ya lost a memory! It happens to me lots of times. Usually after I drink too much.” No matter how hard he tried Katherine would always be a mystery to the poor bandit. She spent so much time worrying about things that weren't even problems to begin with. Why couldn't she realize she can't change everything? The future was meant to be unknown, which was why the bandit enjoyed living in the present.
“Well, not only did I lose a memory, I gained a couple that weren't so pleasant,” Katherine explained, biting her bottom lip.
“Christina and Hotohori?”
“Yah,” she sighed as she let her head fall back onto the ground sleepily.
Tasuki grabbed the bottle of sake, loudly gulping the drink as he rolled his eyes. “Well, ya know it didn't happen, so what's th' big deal?” he asked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
“You don't understand...” Katherine muttered as she nervously played with her hands. Her eyes never leaving the ground, she continued, “It's like whenever I look at him I think about it, I see it. It's engraved in my mind. And even though I know it's not true, it still hurts!”
“So, what're ya gonna do about it?”
“I-I don't know yet,” the girl stammered, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I'll figure something out. Just don't tell anyone, okay?” she pleaded, uneasily looking at the bandit.
“Okay, sure,” Tasuki shrugged. “Just promise me tha' you're not gonna try t' remember `gain.”
“I promise,” Katherine swore, standing up and brushing off the back of her shorts. She thoughtfully added before walking back towards the palace, “Ya know, whatever girl you do end up with, she'll be lucky to have you.”
Tasuki immediately bolted into an upright position and shouted, “What are ya talkin' about? I don't like girls!”
Katherine turned around, with an all-knowing smile. “Then, I hope you and Nuriko are very happy together,” she snickered, walking backwards, a huge grin on her face.
“Hey! I may not like girls, but I hate guys even more!” he shouted after the priestess.
“Yeah...sure...” the girl replied and winked before turning back around and ran away from the offended sei before he could think of a snappy comeback.
Smirking and glaring at the same time, Tasuki watched her until she entered the palace. “Wimmen,” he muttered, before lying back down on the rock and drifting off to sleep.
oOo
The sun was beginning to disappear, behind the far off mountains in the distance. Through the refreshing chill of the evening breeze, two figures walked through the gardens of the Konan palace. “So are you and Katherine...okay?” Nuriko inquired quietly.
“I guess...” Christina shrugged. “I mean, she's okay now, you know?” She stared at the ground, trying to imagine what it would have been like if she had been the one drugged with Kodoku. Would she have tried to kill Katherine? It seemed laughable that she would hurt her best friend; she still would have given her friend the benefit of the doubt. But Katherine hadn't trusted her, betrayed their friendship.
“She had been given Kodoku,” Christina thought to herself. “It wasn't her fault.” She sighed, wondering what to do. She wanted to talk to Katherine, but could not bring herself to do it. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Christina knew she couldn't totally trust Katherine. She would be nervous and wary of another attack. And shouldn't she? How could she ever forget that her so-called best friend had tried to choke her to death?
“Well...” Nuriko sighed, trying to find a way to change the subject; he knew Christina wasn't ready to forgive Katherine yet. “What are we going to do about Chiriko?”
“The ceremony's tomorrow,” Christina said flatly. “So, we have to find him by then...” She rubbed her temples, trying to think of a way to find the last celestial warrior. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Chichiri could search for his ki! Then, we could use his kasa to get him!”
“We should go now then...” Nuriko pointed out. “Chichiri's most likely in his room meditating.”
“C'mon!” Christina said as she grabbed Nuriko's sleeve and turned around, leading the sei back towards the palace. They passed handfuls of servants, who smiled as they marveled at how much energy they had, in the middle of a scorching heat wave. When they reached the monk's room, they slowly peeked around the monk's doorframe to see him meditating inside, just as Nuriko had guessed.
“Did you want something, no da?” asked Chichiri as he stood up from a small mat in front of his bed.
“We need to find Chiriko,” Christina said quickly as she shut the door, lest a passerby hear them. The ceremony was a day away, and the last thing they needed was to have the whole palace gossiping how Chiriko was never found.
Chichiri answered, “Did you check his room, no da?”
“No,” said Nuriko, “Amiboshi already left. We still need to find Chiriko!”
“What, no da?” Chichiri asked, utterly confused.
Christina quickly explained, “That was Amiboshi, one of the Seiryuu. We found him out,“ she explained, “and he left. We have to find Chiriko by the ceremony tomorrow.”
“Da...” Chichiri groaned, placing a hand on his head, as if the new information caused him physical pain.
“Well, what are you waiting for?!” Nuriko yelled, his hand upon his hip as he waited, “Let's hurry up!”
“Right, no da!” Chichiri said as he grabbed his hat and cape. He threw the cape upon the floor and stepped on top, motioning for Christina and Nuriko to follow his lead. As they stepped atop the cape, they began to sink into the folds of the cloth as if it was quicksand.
“Chiriko, here we come!” shouted Christina as his head disappeared beneath the cloth. The cape slowly faded, as if it was sinking into the floor, pulled through a tiny knothole, until it disappeared with a tiny pop.
oOo
Tasuki had finally awoken from his nap by the pond, feeling quite refreshed. He breathed deeply and sighed, wondering how he had gone from being a bandit to the kind of person that people bowed to every single time they walked past him. Actually, being bowed to was getting very annoying quickly. He was forced to bow back, or the person wouldn't leave him alone.
As he walked aimlessly, Tasuki wondered exactly where he was heading; his feet seemed to know, but the rest of him did not. He soon realized the perfect place to go after such a nice nap: to his room and take another nap. Back at Mt. Reikaku there never seemed time to lull around and do nothing, but at the palace, it seemed to be the only thing there was to do. He wondered how Hotohori and Nuriko could have lived at the palace before the entertainment of Katherine and Christina running around and wreaking havoc.
As Tasuki yawned again, he heard a quiet popping, and then screaming filled the air, which slowly grew louder and louder until something heavy fell atop the bandit. “Ahh! Shit!” Tasuki shouted as he was pinned to the ground with his face pressed into the gravel. “What th' hell are ya doin'?!” he yelled into the soil as he squirmed from under the weight of whatever was on top of him.
“Sorry, no da,” Chichiri said worriedly as he floated down next to Tasuki, the only person who had been exempt from the law of gravity, “I was trying to land on the grass.”
“Well you got the gravel pathway,” Nuriko said as he stood up from where he had fallen, holding his aching backside in pain. “My poor back!”
“What about my back?!” Tasuki asked angrily. He turned back his head to look at the remaining people on his back and inquired loudly, “What th' hell are ya all doin'?!”
“Sorry!” two voices shouted at once. One of the voice belonged to Christina, but the other voice, a high, childlike voice was one that Tasuki did not recognize.
“What th' hell izzat?!” the bandit asked angrily as he rolled over and tossed the remaining people off of his back. “Oh, my back, ya broke it!”
Christina started laughing loudly, grabbing her stomach with one hand as she doubled over and pointed at Tasuki with the other. Standing up, the bandit walked forward and asked seriously, “What's so funny?”
Nuriko paused his snickering to reply, “You've got something on your face, Tasuki…”
Tasuki slapped his hand to his cheek and rubbed it to find a thick layer of dirt was over his skin. “Oh, ya think that's funny?” he asked as he rubbed it off onto his palms. “This is even funnier!” he shouted as he attacked Christina and wiped the dirt onto her cheeks.
Screaming, Christina struggled to get away, but she was no match for Tasuki. The sei held her arms together with one hand and covered her face in dirt with the other. “No! No, not funny!” shouted the girl as Tasuki, Nuriko, and Chichiri laughed loudly. When she was finally released, Christina was no longer laughing.
After a moment, she looked up at Tasuki, who was still covered in dirt despite all of the soil he had rubbed onto her face, and imagined what she must have looked like. The two burst out into a fit of laughter, and did not stop until Tasuki looked down and asked “Who's that?”
Christina followed Tasuki's gaze to see a little boy wearing light blue and green robes, with bright, inquisitive eyes and brown hair that was pulled into a tuft above his head. “Meet Chiriko,” said Christina.
oOo
“Role call!” shouted Christina, her hands behind her back in a position of mock authority. She glanced at the face of each seishi as she walked down the line. Katherine stood at Christina's side, like a second-in-command. “Tamahome?”
“Here,” replied the sei, who was standing next to Miaka, in a rather unexcited manner.
“Nuriko?”
“I'm right in front of you!” answered the beautiful sei in an annoyed tone as he tapped one foot, his hand on his hip in a gesture of impatience.
“Tasuki?” asked Christina. She looked over at the bandit, who was sighing and rolling his eyes like a boy stuck at a school assembly. Christina sighed, irritated that he was not making it any easier for her to count. She walked forward and called, “Chichiri?”
“Da!”
“Mitsukak e?” Christina paused, waiting for an answer. The room fell silent, She looked up to see that the doctor was standing right in front of her, towering above her slender form. Sighing at the doctor's quiet nature, she moved on, calling, “Hotohori?”
“I'm here,” answered Hotohori. Christina smiled at the first real answer, and then moved back to the front so that everyone could see her. “All right then,” Christina continued, “we have some very important business to discuss.”
“Right,” Katherine added. “First of all, the ceremony is tomorrow, and we'd like to say it's been a blast, and we'd like to thank you for putting up with us.”
“The fruit baskets are in the mail,” Christina added lightheartedly.
“Shut up,” replied Katherine with a roll of her eyes and a slight smile.
Ignoring Katherine, Christina continued, “Secondly, we'd like to introduce you to…” she paused and pointedly looked at Katherine, adding, “Drum roll, please.” Katherine rushed to the nearest table and began pounding upon the wood with her hands. “...Chiriko!” Christina exclaimed. She looked over to the corner of the room where a small boy stood.
The boy walked forward, his chestnut hair, held up in a high ponytail that bobbed with each step. “Hello,” the boy greeted in a high voice as he bowed to the seishi, “My real name Ou Doukun, but I'm also known as the celestial warrior Chiriko.”
“What?!” Tamahome shouted confusedly. “Where did the real Chiriko go?”
“This is the real Chiriko,” Katherine answered. She nudged the boy, who lifted up the bottom of his right pant leg to show a glimmering red symbol.
“What happened to the other boy?” Mitsukake asked worriedly.
“That was Amiboshi,” answered Nuriko. “One of the Seiryuu seishi.”
“Where exactly is this…Amiboshi now?” inquired Hotohori, worried that the Seiryuu warrior was still in his country.
“He went back to Kutou,” said Katherine.
“I apologize for not coming to the capital until now,” said Chiriko bowing heavily.
“Well, yer here now I s'ppose…” said Tasuki shrugged. “Don't be so hard on yerself, kid.”
“Thank you,” replied Chiriko with a smile. He looked over at the nine warriors who stood before him. None of them seemed to be too intimidating, with the exception of the tall one in the center who'd barely spoken since he had arrived. Slightly smiling, he thought maybe for the first time in his life he had found where he belonged.
oOo
Thudding footsteps filled the air as Joan paced about the bedroom, clutching her head. “Holy crap...holy crap...holy crap...” she muttered for no one to hear. Suddenly she stopped, screaming “Holy crap!” as if the shock of it all finally reached her system. “It's my blasted little sister! What the hell does she think she's doing?!” she yelled at ceiling.
Lying on her bed, exhausted, Diana watched her friend fret over such a simple concept. “This is a new version of Fushigi Yuugi, somebody was bound to fall in love at sometime,” she rationalized, rolling her bright blue eyes at Joan's drama.
Joan rushed over to Diana's bed and grabbed the tall girl's collar, almost causing her to fall of the bed. “This isn't a blasted TV series!” the protective older sibling shouted, threatening with her fist to release her pent up anger on Diana's face. “This is real life and that is my little sister!” Releasing Diana, she rushed over to the dresser and grabbed the neatly laid-out dollar bill. “Katherine, are you in there?!” she screamed at the innocent piece of green paper. “Get out here now so I can hurt you!”
Completely unfazed by Joan's threats, Diana sat up on the bed and stretched her arms. “I don't get it...your sister is in love. Isn't this supposed to be a happy occasion?”
Tired of Diana's constant opposition, the sister defended, “She's only fifteen! She doesn't know what love is! I'm nineteen and I don't know what love is!”
“That's because you're fucked up,” Diana teased under her breath, only to be responded with a cold glare. Holding her hands up as a gesture of peace, the girl smiled innocently. “Just kidding. Grow a sense of humor, would ya?”
“Ha Ha. Very funny,” Joan mocked with much diction in her voice. Throwing the dollar bill back on the dresser, she made her way towards the book, knocking over anything in her way. Holding the book upside down, she yelled, “Get out here now!” Hoping Katherine would fall from the words of the story, she shook the book violently above the ground.
A loud crack sounded through the air. Recognizing the noise instantly, Diana jumped to her feet and screamed, “The binding!”
Yet, unknown to the two psychotic girls fighting over the fragile novel, Katherine's love for the emperor was the least of the group's problems. As they scrambled around, trying to mend the book, lines of misfortune continued to appear on the tattered pages.
“Unbeknownst to the inhabitants inside the palace walls, one boy posed a deadly threat to the Priestesses and their seishi. Declaring he was the Suzaku sei, Chiriko, the palace guards opened the gates...”
It seemed as though Nuriko had just tossed Tasuki out of the room and returned to a civil conversation with the emperor when the door was thrown open. Who else but Tasuki stood, leaning upon the door, completely out of breath. “Tasuki!” scolded Nuriko, “I thought I told you to ge-“
“There's something wrong with Katherine!” gasped Tasuki, the last few minutes was a blur in the bandit's mind.
“What?!” demanded both Nuriko and Hotohori worriedly. The emperor immediately ran to the door, pausing to let Tasuki lead the way, and Nuriko quickly followed behind.
“She's down by th' bench…” Tasuki answered, pointing at the seat in the center of the garden.
“What is wrong with her?” Hotohori asked, running faster until his strides matched that of the bandit.
“I dunno,” answered Tasuki honestly, “She just got all strange-like…”
At those words, the emperor stopped in his tracks, causing Nuriko to nearly slam into him. “What do you mean `strange-like'?” inquired Hotohori.
“What?” asked Tasuki as he also stopped and turned around. “Are ya kiddin'? C'mon, we gotta go!” Nuriko and Hotohori glanced ominously at each other, refusing to move an inch lest Katherine's crisis was another trap. “Gods!” yelled the bandit lividly, “You two er impossible! Katherine's out there dyin' er something an' yer afraid she'll beat ya up?!” He shook his head angrily, and shouted, “Well, t' hell with both of ya,” before turning and running back to where he had last seen Katherine.
Hotohori and Nuriko stood still and watched the bandit disappear into the gardens. Nuriko suggested, “We should get Chichiri to make sure she's back to normal...”
“He just said `dying',” Hotohori said quietly. He gave Nuriko a look that seemed full of disappointment, and then quickly hurried to follow Tasuki's path. Even though a world of confusion and doubt seemed to haunt him relentlessly, he always knew Katherine was the one for him. Somehow, someway, He knew she would overcome whatever was controlling her, no matter what the cost. But what if the cost was her life? Suddenly, everything running through the sei's mind halted as he saw Tasuki kneeling on the ground in front of Katherine.
Hotohori's body and mind froze. The air in his lungs stopped, along with everything else in the world. Everything turned to slow motion, like they were immersed in water. “What happened?” yelled the emperor as he rushed to the girl, kneeling down on the cold, wet ground beside his priestess.
Katherine's skin was a pale, sickly white color, and beads of cold sweat slid down her forehead as she trembled, leaving tiny rivers of sweat down her face. Her eyes were closed tightly, as if she was straining to block out a nightmare that troubled her, and her mouth was open, allowing words and phrases of nonsense to be muttered under her breath.
“I dunno,” Tasuki answered worriedly, “She wasn't like this b'fore!”
Hotohori quickly turned to Nuriko, who had obediently followed the emperor, and ordered, “Find Mitsukake!”
“Yes, your Highness,” whispered the lavender-haired sei as he jumped up and ran off.
Tasuki roughly grabbed Katherine's shoulders, vainly trying to stop her from convulsing. “Katherine, c'mon! Wake up!” he shouted. He turned to Hotohori, his fangs bared angrily, like some sort of wild animal. “Are ya happy now!” he yelled, “Look what ya did!”
Hotohori jumped back as though he had been bitten, his eyes wide as he processed the comment. He would never purposefully do anything to hurt Katherine; he loved her more than she would probably ever get the chance to know. But Tasuki was right. The filthy, cursing, drunken bandit had seen what the emperor could not.
The fact was it did not matter if she purposefully did anything. He had not even believed Katherine when she looked him in the eye and swore that she had not done any wrong. Her eyes were so filled with hurt and sorrow, so sad that he did not believe her, so betrayed, and he did not even listen.
Hotohori leaned Katherine against the side of the tree, cupping his hand around her cheek and holding her shoulder. “Katherine! Please, wake up!” he desperately shouted. Seeing no change in her face, he slowly picked her up and placed her on the ground. Sorrowfully looking at her, he picked up her trembling hand and softly kissed it. “Please, I...I love you. I don't care if you never forgive me. I just...” he paused for a moment, searching his mind for the perfect words. “I just want to see you happy,” Hotohori finished as a solitary tear slid off his cheek and unto her face.
“...tears?” Katherine whispered as her hand stopped trembling and became limp.
Realizing the girl's body had become almost deathly still, Tasuki rushed to her side, relieved to find her chest still rising and falling. His voice overwhelmed with joy, he yelled, “Yeah! She's snappin' out of it! C'mon buddy, say somethin' else!” He waited a moment, and then looked at the emperor incredulously when he didn't respond. The emperor's eyes were closed, his seishi mark glowing brightly. Tasuki rushed over to Hotohori's side shouting, “Shit! Not you too!” He waited several seconds before scrambling to his feet, his eyes never leaving the motionless couple. Something strange was going on, and Mitsukake was taking forever to arrive.
oOo
Once again in the ceremony room, Katherine stared into the golden eyes of Suzaku. He expressed such sorrow that it seemed to pierce right through her. Her heart ached for a second time, wishing the dream would stop haunting her. “Please…what do you want? Why am I having this dream again?” she asked the god, her hazel eyes sparkling with tears. Everything about the dream was identical to the previous time she experienced it. Miaka's reflection, the basin of fire, the rain pouring from above. It was as if she was watching a movie twice.
“You've made more than one mistake here,” Suzaku stated quietly. The words cut through her like a blade. It was the second time the god expressed his disappointment in her, and Christina had said the same thing. Katherine looked away from the golden eyes, streaked with ceremonial yellow paint.
The doors slammed shut, shutting off the source of light. Katherine looked around, pitch black surrounding her. Unable to see, she waved her hands in front of her, searching for anything to grasp a hold of. “You must start choosing your own path,” the god's voice echoed. Her eyes shifted about the room, noting the sudden change in the dream's sequence as she placed a strand of her rain-soaked hair behind her ear. Her breath quickening, she stepped forward, lost to where the dream would take her next.
A cold chill ran down Katherine's spine. There was someone else in the room; she could feel it. Trembling, she fled for her life into the darkness, knowing that the presence had to be the figure draped in black shrouds. Seeing nothing, she continued to run, hearing the man's footsteps come faster and louder, hoping that an exit was near. She felt the figure grab her arm, forcing her to swing around and face him. Her breath trembling, she stared at the tall silhouette in front of her. Wanting to see the man who had caused her so much grief she looked into his face, only to find it was overcast by a shadow from the cloak's hood, as if it was fate that his face would remain a mystery.
“I...I love you,” echoed throughout the room.
At that moment, the figure gently took the girl's hand and placed it on his cheek. Biting her bottom lip, Katherine slightly tilted her head, a strange feeling of sympathy running through her body. As cool droplet of water hit her fingertips, she whispered, “...tears?” This was not the black shrouded creature she had once been running away from.
With her free hand, Katherine slowly reached out and removed the hood covering the man's face. She smiled slightly as the man moved her hand to his lips and lightly kissed it. “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he whispered, his golden eyes sparkling with tears.
“…I know,” the girl replied, looking at her feet shamefully. All the fighting, the attacks, were because of an illusion. There was nothing she could say or do that would redeem her. In a second's time, she realized that, instead of trusting what she knew, she almost killed the two people loved the most.
Seeing the look of regret on the girl's face, the man placed his hand under her chin and slowly lifted her head. “I love you and only you.”
For the first time, Katherine knew what it was like to live for someone, to finally be the person she wanted to be. When Katherine was with him, she wasn't worried about the future or everything that needed to be done. She knew that it was for the gods to decide and all she had to do was try her best. Hotohori had always had the courage to tell Katherine how he felt, but she had never said anything in return. Katherine drew in a deep breath, searching for the words she had known all along. “I love you too.”
oOo
In a state of panic, Tasuki stared blankly at the motionless couple, as the seconds slowly tick away. Katherine was still muttering under her breath, and Hotohori's mark glowed brilliantly. Just when the bandit was about to dart off in search for the still missing doctor, Hotohori's seishi mark began to fade.
Seconds later, the emperor slowly opened his eyes, a slight smile growing on his face. Tasuki looked in bewilderment at the man. What was there to be smiling about? Katherine still hadn't snapped out of the trance. The moment the thought ran through the bandit's mind, Katherine's eyes snapped open as she gasped for air. “Shit!” the bandit exclaimed as he jumped backwards, eyes wide with surprise.
Katherine looked around her in bewilderment, soaking in her surroundings. She was on the ground, which was obviously still wet from the rainstorm. Hotohori was kneeling beside her, his hand on hers, while Tasuki looked at her as if she was a ghost. Her head was pounding and felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. “What happened?” she asked, still catching her breath.
Tasuki turned his head towards the sound of pounding footsteps against the soft ground. He rolled his eyes at the sight of Nuriko and Mitsukake approaching him, two seconds too late. They rushed up to the sei, eyes filled with worry. “Is she alright?” Nuriko wondered as he looked past the bandit and at Katherine, who was still lying on the ground.
“Yer too late,” Tasuki greeted with a victorious grin on his face, “Hotohori-sama already saved th' day.”
Ignoring all the commotion bustling around him, Hotohori pushed a strand of Katherine's hair behind her ear. Gently rubbing her hand with his thumb, he asked worriedly, “Can you stand?”
“I think so...” Katherine whispered as she placed her hands on the ground, preparing herself to push off it. But before she had the chance, Hotohori scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the palace, abandoning the other seishi. “Hotohori?” Katherine questioned.
Hotohori looked down at her with the same golden eyes she had grown to know and adore. “Yes, Katherine?”
She leaned her head into his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “I love you,” she softly whispered.
Smiling in return, Hotohori softly stated, “I know. I heard you the first time.”
oOo
The boy pulled back on his horse's reins, and the stallion whinnied shrilly as it slid to a quick stop, scattering pebbles and dirt onto the cobblestone streets. He jumped off of his steed, leaving the horse alone, and began to walk towards the main gate to the palace entrance. The guards at the gate quickly bowed at his presence and greeted him, “Sir!” The doors to the great gate were flung open, and the warrior stepped inside, where an advisor was already awaiting him.
“Where is my brother?” inquired the boy, looking around the empty halls in hopes of seeing his younger sibling. The moment he had entered the palace walls, he had realized that Suboshi was not there, for his ki had disappeared completely.
“L…Lord Amiboshi?” inquired the advisor while he bowed shakily.
“Where is Suboshi?” asked the boy again, still looking around as if his brother would appear out of nowhere.
“Lord…Lord Nakago said that…” the advisor murmured in amazement.
“If you don't know where my brother is, then tell me where to find Nakago,” said Amiboshi, too hurried to bother with a servant's stuttering.
“Lord Nakago is…is in his chambers…” answered the advisor as he pointed a shaking hand down one of the many empty halls. Amiboshi nodded to the man, and then quickly walked to where the shogun's chambers were.
As the boy stepped outside the gilded doors to Nakago's chambers, the doors swung open to allow him access. “Come in, Amiboshi,” Nakago's voice called flatly. The boy stepped inside, quite disturbed when the doors shut themselves behind him.
“Nakago,” inquired Amiboshi, “where's my brother?”
“Completing the task you could not,” replied the shogun coolly.
Amiboshi frowned and stepped forward, struggling to see the expression on Nakago's face, which was shrouded in darkness. “What do you mean?”
“You have failed,” answered Nakago, “so your brother has taken your place.”
“How could you send him there?!” Amiboshi asked angrily. His brother's safety was most important, and Amiboshi had reached an agreement with the priestesses of Suzaku. What if one of the seishi found that his brother was one of the Seiryuu seishi? Suboshi would be killed immediately. Amiboshi shouted, “You send him to his death!”
Nakago stepped out from the shadows, a cold expression of heartlessness upon his face. He strode past Amiboshi, uttering not one word. As if the cold steel could sense the Shogun's presence the doors opened, and the sei walked out of the room. The doors slammed behind him, and Amiboshi rushed to them and struggled to pull the door open.
The door would not budge. “Nakago!” yelled Amiboshi, “Nakago, let me out!” He banged his fists against the door, knowing that his seishi power, his great celestial abilities, were of no use. He slammed his fist against the door only last time in desperation, quickly realizing his last chance to save his brother.
Amiboshi walked to the other side of the room and searched for something, anything sharp. He found what he was looking for upon a table; some unlucky servant had left one of her hairpins lying around. He quickly grabbed the pin and began to scratch into his left forearm `Come home'.
Ignoring the slow, throbbing pain, the warrior finished his message and waited for a reply. He paced around the room until a sharp scratching on his right arm caught his attention. Amiboshi turned his arm over to see the reply from his brother. `It's too late'.
oOo
Sitting on top of an unmade bed, Joan and Diana huddled together, both pairs of eyes glued to the black text appearing before them. Joan was frantically biting her nails as Diana restlessly twirled her blue-tipped hair around her finger, neither of them noticing their nervous habits. “'Trapped in an illusion once more, Lady Katherine fled for her life, trying to escape from the haunting nightmare, '” Diana muttered, reading the text to herself. Joan glared at Diana, losing track of the line she was reading. Not noticing pair of icy blue-gray eyes, Diana continued, “Whereupon, she found the Suzaku sei Hotohori, who had come to her rescue.”
“Would ya stop?” Joan grumbled through her teeth.
Snapping back to reality, Diana looked over at Joan. “Stop what?” she questioned, her bright blue eyes looking at her friend innocently.
“Your mumbling! What else?!” Joan yelled. The stress of reading about her sister's turmoil in life-and-death situations was taking a toll on Joan's nerves. She was just inches away from punching a hole through Diana's wall.
Her eyes turning from a bright blue to a dark navy, Diana exclaimed, “Well, if wasn't for you biting your nails I wouldn't have to read out loud! Do you know how hard it is to concentrate with a constant `crunch crunch crunch' reverberating through your ears?!”
Proudly standing on top of her friend bed, Joan assumed her trade-mark fighting stance. “Well, I'm sorry if I'm sooo hard to read with!” she mocked.
Jumping off the bed, Diana stomped her right foot for emphasis. “Hey! Who said you could stand on my bed?!” She glared at her vertically challenged friend, now almost eye-to-eye. Joan hopped off the bed, almost landing on Diana. Taking a quick step backwards, Diana grabbed the book from on top the bed. “Okay. Obviously both of us reading this isn't working, so I'll just read it aloud. Okay? Okay,” she rattled off, speaking too fast for any human to understand.
“Huh?” Joan asked as she squinted her eyes, trying to decipher the jumble of words her friend has just uttered.
Sighing loudly, Diana placed a strand of her blue-tipped hair behind her ear. “I'm...gonna...read...this...” she restated slowly, mocking Joan, as she held the book up.
Her gray-blue eyes becoming wide with anger, Joan yelled, “Why should you get to read it?!”
“Because I'm taller,” Diana stated simply as she held the book above her head out of Joan's reach. Ignoring the jumping midget, she continued to read, “'The Lady Katherine stated her love for the emperor...'” she paused for a second, biting her lip as she silently reread the line. Eyes wide with surprise, she turned to Joan, who as frozen to the ground in shock.
“She...what?!” Joan screamed, not believing what her little sister had just declared.
oOo
The soft, sweet melody of birds chirping filled the hot, sticky air. Their song sounded slower, as if the sparrows themselves were too overheated to sing properly. Katherine looked up at the afternoon sky, where the sun was blazing a stifling heat upon the city of Eiyou. Fanning herself with one hand, Katherine walked over the soft grass, hoping the movement would get her mind off the blistering heat. With every step she took, her mind became more entranced with the small, cool, azure pond she was walking towards. As if her body was hypnotized, she walked closer to the body of water, wanting more than anything to dive in, clothes, shoes, and all, if only to escape from the heat for one moment. When she reached the edge of the water she stopped, taking a moment to look down at her reflection and reached her hand out to touch the identical girl's face, mesmerized in her thoughts. As her fingertips touched the cold water, tiny ripples spread through the surface, banishing the reflection like a bad dream.
“Hot, ain't it?” a voice greeted from nearby.
Snapping back to reality, Katherine's head shot up in the direction of the voice. She smiled to find Tasuki laying on one of the rocks, hands intertwined behind his head as a makeshift pillow, legs splayed out roguishly. She giggled slightly as she made a connection between the bandit and a lizard, sunning itself after a meal. “Whatcha doin'?” Katherine asked as she playfully stretched her fingers towards the sky.
Glancing in her direction, Tasuki answered, “Nuthin'. Stop distractin' me.”
Smiling, Katherine approached the sei and sat down next to him, getting lost in her own thoughts, enjoying the silent company. She looked over Tasuki, who was dozing off, exhausted from the day before, and noticed a large clay bottle sitting next to him. Deciding that the bandit probably wouldn't care if she took a little sip of his water, she picked up the bottle and let the soothing liquid fill her mouth. As it washed over her tongue, Katherine realized that it was not cool, clean water, but some type of vile drink. “Blah! Nwah! Bleh!” the girl shouted as she rubbed off her tongue.
Snapping out of his dreamlike state, Tasuki turned on his side, laughing loudly at the naïve priestess. “Haha! Too strong fer ya, eh?”
“You could've told me it was sake!” Katherine coughed, glaring at the bandit.
Staring at the sky, he absently stated, “Wow, ya an' Christina sure are different.”
“Gee, thanks,” the girl answered sarcastically, reclining back on the soft grass.
“Nah, that's a good thing. Like two sides of th' same coin, if ya know what I mean.”
Katherine rolled on her side and looked up at the sei, who seemed rather lost in thought. “Speaking of Christina, do you like her?”
Surprised by the off-topic question, Tasuki sat up and scratched the back of his neck. “Yah, I guess...she's alright,” he answered. He looked at the priestess, eyebrows furrowed, wondering what type of answer she expected.
Katherine couldn't help but to smile at his confusion. “No I mean, do you liiiike her?” she asked again, hoping that the extra emphasis on the word would help the poor bandit.
“Yaaaaah, she's alright,” he answered once again, wondering if the priestess had swallowed any more drugs.
Sighing loudly, Katherine flopped back down on the grass, covering her eyes with her hands, hoping that no one could truly be that oblivious. “Never mind, you're hopeless”
Tasuki laid back down against the rock, squinting at the bright blue sky. “Okay, whatever. So why'd ya come out here anyways?”
“I was hot, and the pond looked so nice. Where I'm from it never gets this freakin' warm!” she exclaimed, plucking at the shirt, praying for any type of relief from the heat wave. She paused for a moment to look at the bandit, the same bandit who believed in her so much the other day, even when the man she loved hadn't. “Actually, I kinda wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me fer what?” he asked, still gazing at the sky above him.
“You know...” The girl paused for a moment, thinking of how to put it without sounding unbelievably corny. “For believing me when no one else did,” she finished as she rolled her eyes, knowing she had failed. Biting her bottom lip, Katherine waited for laughter to come spewing out of the bandit's mouth.
“Nah, it was no big deal,” Tasuki sighed.
Glad to be taken seriously, Katherine smiled in response. “But, it is a big deal!” she exclaimed. “Even though I was totally wrong, it's nice to know I can count on someone to believe me.”
Tasuki still didn't understand why she was thanking him. He did what he thought was right, that was it. If anything, she should be yelling Hotohori for not believing her, instead of thanking him for doing what any decent person would do. “It was no problem, just stop getting' all sappy on me,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact.
Realizing Tasuki could only take so much sincerity, she couldn't help but grin. “Okay, fine. I'll shut up.” Katherine laid back down against the grass, her mind returning to her own thoughts. The once overbearing heat now seemed like a nice warm blanket as she started to drift off to sleep. Several minutes passed as she drifted from a light doze into a full slumber.
“So, you're all cured, right?” an abrupt voice asked, too loudly to ignore.
Startled, Katherine bolted to an upright position, exclaiming, “Uh?! What?” Once she recognized where she was and who was talking, she took a deep breath. “Um…actually...” she stammered as she fidgeted with her hair innocently.
“Actually what?” Tasuki enunciated with much diction, looking at her almost angrily.
Never directly facing the sei in the eyes, Katherine muttered, “Actually…” She paused for a second, debating whether she should tell him. “I still don't remember what happened,” she finished, running her words together, afraid of his reaction.
After what had happened over the past two days, he assumed everything was back to normal. “You're not gonna try again, are ya?” he asked, hoping Katherine smart enough to know that risking her life was not worth one memory.
“No! Of course not!” she exclaimed to Tasuki's relief.
“Good,” he sighed, looking back up at the clear blue sky.
“But…” Katherine muttered, running her index finger over the grass.
Tasuki despised the moment the word reached his ear. Katherine was one who didn't know when to give up, but even she must have realized that she couldn't possibly win. “But what?” he asked, trying his hardest to suppress his impatience.
“But...it's just hard!” the girl whined as she pounded her fist into the ground.
The bandit demanded, “What's so hard about it? Ya lost a memory! It happens to me lots of times. Usually after I drink too much.” No matter how hard he tried Katherine would always be a mystery to the poor bandit. She spent so much time worrying about things that weren't even problems to begin with. Why couldn't she realize she can't change everything? The future was meant to be unknown, which was why the bandit enjoyed living in the present.
“Well, not only did I lose a memory, I gained a couple that weren't so pleasant,” Katherine explained, biting her bottom lip.
“Christina and Hotohori?”
“Yah,” she sighed as she let her head fall back onto the ground sleepily.
Tasuki grabbed the bottle of sake, loudly gulping the drink as he rolled his eyes. “Well, ya know it didn't happen, so what's th' big deal?” he asked, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
“You don't understand...” Katherine muttered as she nervously played with her hands. Her eyes never leaving the ground, she continued, “It's like whenever I look at him I think about it, I see it. It's engraved in my mind. And even though I know it's not true, it still hurts!”
“So, what're ya gonna do about it?”
“I-I don't know yet,” the girl stammered, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I'll figure something out. Just don't tell anyone, okay?” she pleaded, uneasily looking at the bandit.
“Okay, sure,” Tasuki shrugged. “Just promise me tha' you're not gonna try t' remember `gain.”
“I promise,” Katherine swore, standing up and brushing off the back of her shorts. She thoughtfully added before walking back towards the palace, “Ya know, whatever girl you do end up with, she'll be lucky to have you.”
Tasuki immediately bolted into an upright position and shouted, “What are ya talkin' about? I don't like girls!”
Katherine turned around, with an all-knowing smile. “Then, I hope you and Nuriko are very happy together,” she snickered, walking backwards, a huge grin on her face.
“Hey! I may not like girls, but I hate guys even more!” he shouted after the priestess.
“Yeah...sure...” the girl replied and winked before turning back around and ran away from the offended sei before he could think of a snappy comeback.
Smirking and glaring at the same time, Tasuki watched her until she entered the palace. “Wimmen,” he muttered, before lying back down on the rock and drifting off to sleep.
oOo
The sun was beginning to disappear, behind the far off mountains in the distance. Through the refreshing chill of the evening breeze, two figures walked through the gardens of the Konan palace. “So are you and Katherine...okay?” Nuriko inquired quietly.
“I guess...” Christina shrugged. “I mean, she's okay now, you know?” She stared at the ground, trying to imagine what it would have been like if she had been the one drugged with Kodoku. Would she have tried to kill Katherine? It seemed laughable that she would hurt her best friend; she still would have given her friend the benefit of the doubt. But Katherine hadn't trusted her, betrayed their friendship.
“She had been given Kodoku,” Christina thought to herself. “It wasn't her fault.” She sighed, wondering what to do. She wanted to talk to Katherine, but could not bring herself to do it. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Christina knew she couldn't totally trust Katherine. She would be nervous and wary of another attack. And shouldn't she? How could she ever forget that her so-called best friend had tried to choke her to death?
“Well...” Nuriko sighed, trying to find a way to change the subject; he knew Christina wasn't ready to forgive Katherine yet. “What are we going to do about Chiriko?”
“The ceremony's tomorrow,” Christina said flatly. “So, we have to find him by then...” She rubbed her temples, trying to think of a way to find the last celestial warrior. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Chichiri could search for his ki! Then, we could use his kasa to get him!”
“We should go now then...” Nuriko pointed out. “Chichiri's most likely in his room meditating.”
“C'mon!” Christina said as she grabbed Nuriko's sleeve and turned around, leading the sei back towards the palace. They passed handfuls of servants, who smiled as they marveled at how much energy they had, in the middle of a scorching heat wave. When they reached the monk's room, they slowly peeked around the monk's doorframe to see him meditating inside, just as Nuriko had guessed.
“Did you want something, no da?” asked Chichiri as he stood up from a small mat in front of his bed.
“We need to find Chiriko,” Christina said quickly as she shut the door, lest a passerby hear them. The ceremony was a day away, and the last thing they needed was to have the whole palace gossiping how Chiriko was never found.
Chichiri answered, “Did you check his room, no da?”
“No,” said Nuriko, “Amiboshi already left. We still need to find Chiriko!”
“What, no da?” Chichiri asked, utterly confused.
Christina quickly explained, “That was Amiboshi, one of the Seiryuu. We found him out,“ she explained, “and he left. We have to find Chiriko by the ceremony tomorrow.”
“Da...” Chichiri groaned, placing a hand on his head, as if the new information caused him physical pain.
“Well, what are you waiting for?!” Nuriko yelled, his hand upon his hip as he waited, “Let's hurry up!”
“Right, no da!” Chichiri said as he grabbed his hat and cape. He threw the cape upon the floor and stepped on top, motioning for Christina and Nuriko to follow his lead. As they stepped atop the cape, they began to sink into the folds of the cloth as if it was quicksand.
“Chiriko, here we come!” shouted Christina as his head disappeared beneath the cloth. The cape slowly faded, as if it was sinking into the floor, pulled through a tiny knothole, until it disappeared with a tiny pop.
oOo
Tasuki had finally awoken from his nap by the pond, feeling quite refreshed. He breathed deeply and sighed, wondering how he had gone from being a bandit to the kind of person that people bowed to every single time they walked past him. Actually, being bowed to was getting very annoying quickly. He was forced to bow back, or the person wouldn't leave him alone.
As he walked aimlessly, Tasuki wondered exactly where he was heading; his feet seemed to know, but the rest of him did not. He soon realized the perfect place to go after such a nice nap: to his room and take another nap. Back at Mt. Reikaku there never seemed time to lull around and do nothing, but at the palace, it seemed to be the only thing there was to do. He wondered how Hotohori and Nuriko could have lived at the palace before the entertainment of Katherine and Christina running around and wreaking havoc.
As Tasuki yawned again, he heard a quiet popping, and then screaming filled the air, which slowly grew louder and louder until something heavy fell atop the bandit. “Ahh! Shit!” Tasuki shouted as he was pinned to the ground with his face pressed into the gravel. “What th' hell are ya doin'?!” he yelled into the soil as he squirmed from under the weight of whatever was on top of him.
“Sorry, no da,” Chichiri said worriedly as he floated down next to Tasuki, the only person who had been exempt from the law of gravity, “I was trying to land on the grass.”
“Well you got the gravel pathway,” Nuriko said as he stood up from where he had fallen, holding his aching backside in pain. “My poor back!”
“What about my back?!” Tasuki asked angrily. He turned back his head to look at the remaining people on his back and inquired loudly, “What th' hell are ya all doin'?!”
“Sorry!” two voices shouted at once. One of the voice belonged to Christina, but the other voice, a high, childlike voice was one that Tasuki did not recognize.
“What th' hell izzat?!” the bandit asked angrily as he rolled over and tossed the remaining people off of his back. “Oh, my back, ya broke it!”
Christina started laughing loudly, grabbing her stomach with one hand as she doubled over and pointed at Tasuki with the other. Standing up, the bandit walked forward and asked seriously, “What's so funny?”
Nuriko paused his snickering to reply, “You've got something on your face, Tasuki…”
Tasuki slapped his hand to his cheek and rubbed it to find a thick layer of dirt was over his skin. “Oh, ya think that's funny?” he asked as he rubbed it off onto his palms. “This is even funnier!” he shouted as he attacked Christina and wiped the dirt onto her cheeks.
Screaming, Christina struggled to get away, but she was no match for Tasuki. The sei held her arms together with one hand and covered her face in dirt with the other. “No! No, not funny!” shouted the girl as Tasuki, Nuriko, and Chichiri laughed loudly. When she was finally released, Christina was no longer laughing.
After a moment, she looked up at Tasuki, who was still covered in dirt despite all of the soil he had rubbed onto her face, and imagined what she must have looked like. The two burst out into a fit of laughter, and did not stop until Tasuki looked down and asked “Who's that?”
Christina followed Tasuki's gaze to see a little boy wearing light blue and green robes, with bright, inquisitive eyes and brown hair that was pulled into a tuft above his head. “Meet Chiriko,” said Christina.
oOo
“Role call!” shouted Christina, her hands behind her back in a position of mock authority. She glanced at the face of each seishi as she walked down the line. Katherine stood at Christina's side, like a second-in-command. “Tamahome?”
“Here,” replied the sei, who was standing next to Miaka, in a rather unexcited manner.
“Nuriko?”
“I'm right in front of you!” answered the beautiful sei in an annoyed tone as he tapped one foot, his hand on his hip in a gesture of impatience.
“Tasuki?” asked Christina. She looked over at the bandit, who was sighing and rolling his eyes like a boy stuck at a school assembly. Christina sighed, irritated that he was not making it any easier for her to count. She walked forward and called, “Chichiri?”
“Da!”
“Mitsukak e?” Christina paused, waiting for an answer. The room fell silent, She looked up to see that the doctor was standing right in front of her, towering above her slender form. Sighing at the doctor's quiet nature, she moved on, calling, “Hotohori?”
“I'm here,” answered Hotohori. Christina smiled at the first real answer, and then moved back to the front so that everyone could see her. “All right then,” Christina continued, “we have some very important business to discuss.”
“Right,” Katherine added. “First of all, the ceremony is tomorrow, and we'd like to say it's been a blast, and we'd like to thank you for putting up with us.”
“The fruit baskets are in the mail,” Christina added lightheartedly.
“Shut up,” replied Katherine with a roll of her eyes and a slight smile.
Ignoring Katherine, Christina continued, “Secondly, we'd like to introduce you to…” she paused and pointedly looked at Katherine, adding, “Drum roll, please.” Katherine rushed to the nearest table and began pounding upon the wood with her hands. “...Chiriko!” Christina exclaimed. She looked over to the corner of the room where a small boy stood.
The boy walked forward, his chestnut hair, held up in a high ponytail that bobbed with each step. “Hello,” the boy greeted in a high voice as he bowed to the seishi, “My real name Ou Doukun, but I'm also known as the celestial warrior Chiriko.”
“What?!” Tamahome shouted confusedly. “Where did the real Chiriko go?”
“This is the real Chiriko,” Katherine answered. She nudged the boy, who lifted up the bottom of his right pant leg to show a glimmering red symbol.
“What happened to the other boy?” Mitsukake asked worriedly.
“That was Amiboshi,” answered Nuriko. “One of the Seiryuu seishi.”
“Where exactly is this…Amiboshi now?” inquired Hotohori, worried that the Seiryuu warrior was still in his country.
“He went back to Kutou,” said Katherine.
“I apologize for not coming to the capital until now,” said Chiriko bowing heavily.
“Well, yer here now I s'ppose…” said Tasuki shrugged. “Don't be so hard on yerself, kid.”
“Thank you,” replied Chiriko with a smile. He looked over at the nine warriors who stood before him. None of them seemed to be too intimidating, with the exception of the tall one in the center who'd barely spoken since he had arrived. Slightly smiling, he thought maybe for the first time in his life he had found where he belonged.
oOo
Thudding footsteps filled the air as Joan paced about the bedroom, clutching her head. “Holy crap...holy crap...holy crap...” she muttered for no one to hear. Suddenly she stopped, screaming “Holy crap!” as if the shock of it all finally reached her system. “It's my blasted little sister! What the hell does she think she's doing?!” she yelled at ceiling.
Lying on her bed, exhausted, Diana watched her friend fret over such a simple concept. “This is a new version of Fushigi Yuugi, somebody was bound to fall in love at sometime,” she rationalized, rolling her bright blue eyes at Joan's drama.
Joan rushed over to Diana's bed and grabbed the tall girl's collar, almost causing her to fall of the bed. “This isn't a blasted TV series!” the protective older sibling shouted, threatening with her fist to release her pent up anger on Diana's face. “This is real life and that is my little sister!” Releasing Diana, she rushed over to the dresser and grabbed the neatly laid-out dollar bill. “Katherine, are you in there?!” she screamed at the innocent piece of green paper. “Get out here now so I can hurt you!”
Completely unfazed by Joan's threats, Diana sat up on the bed and stretched her arms. “I don't get it...your sister is in love. Isn't this supposed to be a happy occasion?”
Tired of Diana's constant opposition, the sister defended, “She's only fifteen! She doesn't know what love is! I'm nineteen and I don't know what love is!”
“That's because you're fucked up,” Diana teased under her breath, only to be responded with a cold glare. Holding her hands up as a gesture of peace, the girl smiled innocently. “Just kidding. Grow a sense of humor, would ya?”
“Ha Ha. Very funny,” Joan mocked with much diction in her voice. Throwing the dollar bill back on the dresser, she made her way towards the book, knocking over anything in her way. Holding the book upside down, she yelled, “Get out here now!” Hoping Katherine would fall from the words of the story, she shook the book violently above the ground.
A loud crack sounded through the air. Recognizing the noise instantly, Diana jumped to her feet and screamed, “The binding!”
Yet, unknown to the two psychotic girls fighting over the fragile novel, Katherine's love for the emperor was the least of the group's problems. As they scrambled around, trying to mend the book, lines of misfortune continued to appear on the tattered pages.
“Unbeknownst to the inhabitants inside the palace walls, one boy posed a deadly threat to the Priestesses and their seishi. Declaring he was the Suzaku sei, Chiriko, the palace guards opened the gates...”
To Be Continued...
A/N: This episode is dedicated to The Muses Tk and Zv. She's an awesome writer and she helped us greatly with concluding the Kodoku conflict. Thanks much! She has several works posted, but one of my favorites is “In Dreams”. It's a must-read.