Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ In Dreams ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I own no Fushigi Yuugi Characters, Places, or Ideas.



Jennifer sat desolately on her bed, pouting and wondering why she always had nothing to do on Saturday afternoons. There were movies or shopping in the evening and sleeping in in the morning, but nothing for a fifteen year old to do in the afternoons. Except watch TV. It was too bad that there was never anything good on during the day on Saturday. She scowled at the blank TV screen that was on the other side of the room, staring at her. She threw the offending remote down onto one of her blue rugs, which were clear of junk, for a change, and then leaned back onto her giant navy blue pillow.

Her room was centered around her bed, which strangely hung from the ceiling, held up by heavy, yet decorative chains. She had found the design in a magazine shortly after moving in with her father. There was a black and silver painted window box sitting in front of the only window. Luckily for her, it faced east, giving her a daily dose of sunrise sunshine. A real pain when one is trying to sleep in during the half of a month one gets for "summer". Next to the window box was the small dresser on which her TV and DVD player sat, all of the other available space taken up by DVDs she had just finished watching and had neglected to put away. On the south wall were the books shelves that held all of the DVD's manga and books that she had been able to collect in the two and a half years that she'd lived with her father. Covering the rest of the wall space were various wallscrolls that she'd picked up over the past two years, since she had started watching anime and reading manga. Her double closet that housed all of her clothes were on the western wall. Stuck half-way in front of a wall scroll was her desk that had mounds of paper, from unfinished stories, and her computer which was blinking every now and then as it did a virus scan that took all day to finish.

She sat in the middle of her room, on top of her blue and black bed spreads and surrounded by more pillows than any normal person would ever use. She examined her scowl, which seemed to be her constant facial expression, in the mirror that was on the back of the door that led into the hallway and saw that her hair was actually still all in the binds that she had out it in that morning. She twirled a deliberately left out strand of hair and sighed. Up until the beginning of that school year it had been all black with bright blue bangs; she had had to left the color fade, however, once she had finished the transfer papers for her new private school. She liked the school, but she really wanted her blue hair back.

She turned away from the mirror to scowl at the phone. Her brown-haired best friend, Mark, had been sick lately and had not called her all week, adding to her boredom. She was also a little worried about him, and that bothered her more than the fact that he hadn't called to say that he wasn't dying, if only because she typically didn't care about anything besides herself. He had a tendency to get sick fairly often, something that their other friends joked that he had picked up from her, since she always seemed to be going from one illness to the next. Mark had also had something called an "overpowering subconscious" his whole life. Jennifer would have taken that at face value and just accepted it, except that her own doctor said that was what she had and when comparing her habit of "creating memories" to whatever the hell Mark had, she saw that they were nothing alike, so obviously the doctors were crazy. Not that she cared to share her opinion with them, but still. Mark's problem was that he felt like he had two lives... He would go around and do normal everyday things like everyone else, but once he went to sleep he did the same things all over again, just in a different world, or so he said. She thought that it was farfetched and couldn't believe it at first, but once she had really gotten to know him, she had begun to believe him.

That was all in the past though. He did still suffer from whatever he had, but she fully believed him now. What was really worrying her was the fact that lately he had not been able to tell which world he was really living in. This had distressed her even more when one morning he had called her and asked who she was, what it was he was talking to her with, and where was he. He had been completely still in that other awareness or world or whatever and it had scared her. She had also been slightly confused that he had actually been able to use the phone, let alone call her. The fact that he was sick on top of it all just upset her more.

They had been best friends ever since he had moved in a little more than two years ago, only a few months after she herself had moved in. When Jennifer's friend, Marie, had forced her to read a bunch of manga that she had bought, she was instantly entranced by the stories and artwork styles. Needing more, she had asked around until she found out that Mark actually owned quite a collection. They had quickly become friends and soon after were inseparable, even though they were sometimes trailed by her friend Mari-chan, who had adopted them as younger siblings. Mari-chan was another anime addict who lived across the street from Mark and had been their source of anime until they had been able to buy their own. Since Mari's younger sister left much to be desired in her mind, Mari had easy taken them "under her wing" so-to-speak.

When they were both fourteen people began to bother them as to why they weren't "going out". They had both answered that they saw no point in it when they could just go and hang out together without all of the drama and stress of being a couple. It's not like they were going to go anywhere with a relationship in any case. There was just too much that each of them had to do. On top of that, though only a few people, namely Mari and Mark, knew about it, Jennifer just couldn't handle a boyfriend. She just didn't trust people enough. Add that to Mark's own family problems and you have a recipe for disaster.

She sighed again, it would have been nice to go out with him, like that, but their answers had been completely truthful and she couldn't exactly take it back and change her mind now, least of all when he was sick. She got up from her bed and walked over to the alphabetized book shelf and looked at the rows of manga... She made a face and picked up one of her favorites: Fushigi Yuugi #2: Oracle. She just loved the part where Miaka discovers that Nuriko is really a man. She went back over and laid down on her pile of pillows and began to read it for the millionth time. She would have read #5 because it is in that book that one meets her favorite character of all time, Amiboshi, but her copy was currently in the hands of her friend Marie who didn't look to be handing it over anytime soon. She was also a bit miffed by the fact that Mark had adamantly refused to read Fushigi Yuugi, which in her opinion was only the greatest anime and manga ever. She was even more offended because he had read all of the other manga and watched all of the other anime. She made a face at the thought and continued with reading it.

When her watched started beeping, she was startled out of her zone and quickly turned it off. She compared the times between her watch and her stereo, noting that, once again, her watch was five minutes fast, though not by her doing. She unhooked the evil thing that threw it across the room where it landed on her desk. She shoved the manga back onto the self before leaving her room to do the task her watch had alerted her to. She weaved around the various wandering animals in her house and finally arrived in the basement, where she pulled two small white mice off of the exercise wheel. She closed the door tightly behind her, so that the cats couldn't eat the rest of the mice and then went back up the stairs. She closed the screen door to her room behind her, once again against the cats, and then slid open the top of her snakes' tank. She lowered the struggling mice into the tank and carefully fed both of her babies. She wanted to bring them onto the bed with her, as she usually did when reading and in a bad mood, but they always acted up right after eating, so she let them be. No use getting bitten for a little bit of comfort.

She went back over to her self and pulled out book three of Fushigi Yuugi. She then plopped back onto her bed, this time turning the stereo on quietly. Prior to owning Morgan and Kennen, her snakes, she had always blasted her music as loud as possible, but now she had to respect their sensitive senses and leave the music moderately low. Dropping that remote next to the one belonging to the TV she laid back down and once again read the adventures of Miaka-baka.

She was still reading it twenty minutes later when her phone rang with it's annoying ring tone from the field show that she had marched in the marching band her freshman year at her old public school. She picked it up and gave a disgruntled, "What now?" into the speaker at being disturbed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you busy Jennifer? I was just wondering if you could come over here and make me some food since I made you some last time you were sick and all alone at home, with no company but your evil little pet snakes that want to eat me. Please?" She heard Mark's voice over the line, weak from sore throat and hard to understand from the stupid runny nose that barely ever left either of them and smiled shaking her head. He was sounding weaker and even more pathetic than he really was, trust him to lay it on as thick as possible.

"Yeah, sure, I'll be right over. Don't die until I get there." She heard him laugh weakly before she hung up the phone, and bounced down the stairs. She yelled at her little brother, who was sneaking cookies again, to tell his mom that she'd be at Mark's and then went right out the door after grabbing Mark's letterman's jacket, that she had stolen, off of the couch. Closing the door behind herself, she hoped that Alex would remember to tell Jamie this time because the last time he had forgotten and she had gotten grounded for a week. "Stupid little half brother," she thought as she walked quickly through her neighborhood to Mark's house. She was in the opinion that you shouldn't have to go all of the way around the corner if the house you were trying to get to was directly behind the one you were at, but no one ever listened to her anyways.

The door was unlocked and she didn't even bother saying hello when she stepped in, locking the door behind herself. No one was ever home at Mark's house for... Reasons... The rest of his family hated and resented him, so they were always off doing things without him. She maneuvered around piles of junk and finally made her way into the kitchen. She knew his kitchen as well as she knew her own, partly because it was, like the rest of his house, designed exactly the same as hers and partly because she had been over so many times. She made hot turkey sandwiches, with real cheese, not that stupid processed cheese-food-like-product that most people had. She set them on a tray and grabbed two cans of iced tea out of the fridge before going into his room.

Of course, he was asleep by the time she got up the stairs, but she didn't mind, she just sat on his own window box, he had copied her idea, and ate her own sandwich. She dug into the pockets of Mark's letter jacket, which she had more often than he did and gave a silent cheer when she found that her CD player was still in it. She set the half empty tray back down and then leaned onto the window sill. She turned on the CD player and smiled when she heard Jewel's voice ringing out of the headphones. She then zoned out, gazing out the window and the little kids playing in the street.

She sat staring out of the window for ten minutes before she became bored with her CD. She turned the player off, briefly noting that it needed new batteries and moved over to Mark to see if she could wake him up before his sandwich was ice cold. She pulled the butterfly-seat chair that she had left at his house over next to the bed and stared at his face for a moment. His features were more rounded than either of her brothers and his cheekbones were higher than most people's. She brushed some of his light brown hair out of his face in a gentle, intimate gesture before grabbing his left shoulder and shaking him violently.

"Wake up Mark, your food's getting cold, wake up." She shook him a little harder before giving up and leaning back into the chair to watch him again. She sighed and twirled her hair some more. He had a vicious look on his face; probably a result of his dreams and Jennifer wondered, not for the first time, what happened in the other world that he dreamed about. He hadn't gone into much detail, just that he had a twin and that it was in some archaic time period, though his meaning of the word archaic and the real definition were two very different things. She had a feeling that life there was even worse than life here, so she hadn't pressed him for more details. She sighed, leaning her head against one of the "wings." Mark started mumbling in his sleep then and she sat up, surprised. Jennifer leaned closer; in all of the times that she had watched him sleep while he was sick, even though they weren't as numerous as the times he must have watched her sleep, he had never made any sound while asleep. Curious as to what he was saying, she moved her ear right up to his mouth and heard the faint words.

"If I'm gonna escape... It's gotta be NOW!" She jumped back at his words. They were mumbled, but there was power and conviction behind them. Her eyes went wide as she saw his right hand move over to grasp his left two middle fingers. Her mind was moving so fast that it was giving her answers without explaining them, which only made her more confused. She knew that something was terribly wrong about all of this, but with her mind spinning she could only look on in fear and confusion.

"Mark....?"



"To mo's entirely focused on his shell. If I'm gonna escape, it's gotta be NOW!" Amiboshi thought as he struggled against the illusory binds that kept him from helping the Suzaku no Miko, Miaka. "These vines are an illusion; I have to wake myself up." He mentally flinched as he struggled against the restraints to reach his left hand with his right. When he finally was able to grasp his fingers, he pulled them back fast and hard and heard them break with a snap. "YAAAAAHH!"

Through the haze of pain, he grabbed up his flute and played, breaking the illusion that bound Miaka, giving her the chance to break free completely.



"Oh, no. There is no way in the seventh hell that this is happening." She grabbed at his hands and he only tried harder to move them, "There is no way that you are going to go breaking your fingers, not while I'm here." She didn't know where her certainty of his plan of action came from and she was too tied up in her fear of what was happening and confusion to think straight. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she struggled against his dream.



When Miaka was finally free of the illusions he ran and knelt at her side. He ignored the throbbing pain in his hand as he went to protect her. Tama-neko was making the worst meowing sounds as he bent over her, "Miaka are you alright!?"

"Stand aside Amiboshi!" He turned to see Tomo standing over him imperiously. He returned Tomo's command with only a fierce look. "You are a Seiryu Celestial Warrior. Would you rescue your enemy, the priestess of Suzaku, by betraying your comrade?"



She grabbed both of his hands and held them by the wrist in her right and reached over to his right shoulder with her left to once again try and shake him awake. With his struggling, his shirt moved off of the shoulder she had a hold on, to reveal the symbol for "kou" glowing brightly on the skin. She shook her head in denial and yelled, "Wake up, Mark!" Feeling helpless tears started to make tracks across her cheeks.



Tho ughts raced through Amiboshi's head as he moved into a defiant pose against the "fellow" warrior. "Miaka made me realize that I was just running away. She taught me that I have to fight evil. And Tamahome treated me, his enemy, as a friend!" Those thoughts only steeled a decision that he had already made. He glared at the paint-faced warrior and yelled, "I won't let you touch her. It's you that I'm going to fight!"



"Please Mark!" Jennifer asked helplessly, knowing what was to come next...



" I see, as you wish." Tomo said, coldly looking down at him, "Given the state of your fingers, your flute won't put me in much danger. And once the traitor is properly cooked, I'll turn my tastes to the sweet priestess of Suzaku."

Cold fear gripped Amiboshi's heart and he turned back to look at Miaka, yelling, "Miaka, now's the time to run!! Hurry!"



"You have to wake up!"



"You have to wake up!"



J ennifer gasped in fear and shock as a blinding blue and silver light erupted around her. Her tear-reddened eyes grew even wider as the world began to fall and she lost all track of everything. When the light faded and she could see again the first thing she saw was Mark. She feeling like she had just woken up from some strange dream, she ran to him without a thought for anything except reaching him and having all of her fears put to rest. She had barely made it two steps when she felt something grab her arm. She spun around to face the one who held her and gasped, while at the same time punching forward as hard as she could into the gaudily colored face, all the while letting out a blood curdling scream of pure terror. Once the hand let go of her arm she also kicked as hard as she could at the freakishly scary man's crotch.

That done, she jumped backwards toward Mark, not letting her eyes off of the man who had grabbed her. When she sensed Mark behind her, she turned to face him, only to see that his own eyes were wide with shock and fear. She almost burst into a fresh wave of tears as he slowly inched back, away from her. When he finally began to speak his voice was uncertain and fearful, "No... This can't be true! You don't exist, you're just a dream!"






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"Well, we're going back and editing everything, so we'd like to thank everyone who reviewed this chapter!"

-The Muses Tk and Zv DuVeraun