Before we begin, there's some notes to go over as per usual.
1. This is a sequel to "Reflections of the Magical Watch". Thus, there will be a LOT of spoilers for the main story.
2. Since this is sequel story, it takes place in Mai's continuity, which is pretty different from the official games, anime, and manga. Take it with a grain of salt.
3. Unlike the main story, this one has a heavier focus on OCs since we got more original yokai now being center stage. However, canon yokai will not be fully excluded either.
4. This is a work of fiction first and foremost. Resemblances to real people and events are merely by coincidence.
Tale 1: Skies of Vermilion, the Great USA!
A week had passed since the defeat of the yoma once and for all, the bridge between both the human and yokai worlds being much more clearer and accessible. Both races lived in harmony as several yomakai were restored in the reopening of both gates.
This era of peace was mostly thanks to the efforts of one girl and her friends, both of the human and supernatural varieties. With a magical watch, this girl connected with the hearts of yokai to fend off the evil yoma from destroying the human world.
Things began in a dressing room, where three girls were finishing up their looks for the important occasion. From how they were dressed and fairly tense looking, it seemed they were attending something important.
"Alright, I think we're ready for this…" A girl with long dark hair and glasses began, nodding her head as she looked at the other girls. "Are you guys ready?"
Another girl, having wild violet hair and a more supernatural edge looked at the long haired girl. "Yeah just give me a moment, I wanna look cute for once dangit!"
Two cat yokai, one a pastel yellow with teal flames on her tail and periwinkle inner ears, the other pink with azure tail flames with hot pink inner ears creaked open the door to check on the girls. They were also very well dressed for the occasion, even doing up their fur slightly.
"Everyone are you ready to go?" The yellow cat began, looking around. "We're wrapping up on Great King Enma's re-enthronement so you guys should best be ready to go soon."
"Oh yeah don't worry, we're ready!" The more wild girl said, joined by the one with long dark hair. The third one, a girl with fluffy blonde hair and green eyes awkwardly joined the other two. It was clear by her constant hand fidgeting and overall quietness she was beyond nervous about all this.
"Alright looks like we're all ready to go so let's get a move on!" The pink cat said, leading the group of girls down a hall to meet up with a handful of other yokai who were also waiting. Through a small peek beyond the door, the grand hall of the palace was absolutely packed with yokai of all shapes, sizes, ranks, and tribes.
Standing at the end of the hall on the elaborately decorated throne was an equally as decorated yokai. He had reddish skin and blond hair, mostly obstructed by a crown he had probably only worn twice in his life, alongside the crazy elaborate outfit.
"My subjects, it's truly a miracle that I've not only returned to bring order, but the human and yokai worlds now join in hand in hand," The regal yokai spoke, giving his speech. "Even as Great King Enma, I did not accomplish this harmonious unity alone…"
Now was the moment these doors would soon open. All the girls got arranged in line, standing next to a yokai as Great King Enma was about to continue his speech.
"There are three brave, kind souls who've helped make this a reality," Great King Enma continued to speak, gesturing to the door. "The first one I would like to introduce is Shinju Mori, one of the Priestesses of the Grand Moon that serves under Queen Kaguya. Accompanying her was fellow loyal servant of Kaguya, Fushigi Snow Rabby."
The doors opened and walking down the halls was the dark haired girl, Shinju, accompanied by an albino rabbit yokai, Snow Rabby. The two gracefully walked down, stopping and kneeling before the king. The young king gave a hand motion and the duo rose up.
"Your majesty, it's with my upper most honor to have lent my hands to this unity and I'll continue to serve with the moon's guidance!" Shinju gave a small speech, before she stepped aside so Great King Enma could carry on with his speech.
"Next is one of the great princesses, Princess Suseri. She had lived in the human world for most of her life, adapting to their ways and spreading it's knowledge with her companion, Isamashi Fuyunyan Ace, under the name Kokoro Yukimura," Great King Enma kept on going with the introductions, as the doors opened once more
With a grand entrance, the wild yet refined girl, Suseri, walked down with her floating blue cat companion, Fuyunyan Ace accompanying her. Like Shinju before her, Suseri also kneeled before Great King Enma before being allowed to rise up once more.
"It's an absolute honor to be here today, your majesty," Suseri began, trying to sound much more formal than usual. "I'll keep making sure the exchange between humans and yokai is never lost!"
With Suseri stepping aside to join up with Shinju, there was one last member of the three girls. Pressure felt truly real at this point…
"Finally, there is one last brave soul who made this all possible. With the guidance from Citrine Magic Academy graduate Fushigi Nyanmajo and Mebinanyan's heir Pretty Sailornyan, this one moved yokai without resorting to a violent tactic. She is none other than Mai Suzuki!" Great King Enma announced, the grand doors opening a third and final time.
Fear was truly real in the blonde's mind, but she swallowed her fears and kept a strong head in all this. She slowly walked out and down the halls, her two feline friends accompanying her. The walk down the hall felt like an eternity, but soon she found herself kneeling before the great king, before being motioned to rise up again.
"Your majesty," Mai began, trying to keep a steady tone without stumbling and sounding overly nervous. "I-It's with great honor to have helped brought great peace to both humans and yokai at long last, and I'll continue to help bring this peace for one and all!"
It was a major relief off the blonde to finally get that speech out. Hopefully nobody noticed her stuttering. She was certainly going to take a long nap as soon as she got home…
Though from that day forth, the girls would be recognized for their brave efforts by humans, by yokai, by all.
The peace kept being undisturbed, even as the days became weeks, and the weeks became months. Seven months have since passed since the ceremony, the freezing blanket of winter taking it's place as the new year had settled in.
Today, however, would be the start of a new chapter.
It was a brisk afternoon, a new year had arisen with the lightly falling snow around Sakura New Town. The usual trio of girls were all waiting around the international airport, Mai having a few suitcases next to her.
"Ah geez, I dunno if I can take seeing ya off again…" Kokoro stated, rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah it only feels like recently that we've been able to all relax," Shinju added in with a bit of a shrug. "I mean, back in spring was such a crazy whirlwind of things."
"Heh, it doesn't feel that long ago, actually," Mai gently laughed off. "It's hard to believe it's almost been a year and I'll be sixteen in a month!"
Mai looked off a bit. "But...I did promise I would visit my grandparents in St. Peanutsburg this year...I know I'll be half way across the world but you guys won't be too far from me in spirit!"
"That's true just...remember about time zones," Shinju added in. "I'm easily woken up by my phone sometimes…"
"Oh yeah, speaking of time zones, I know jetlag is gonna be an issue for ya," Kokoro began, lifting up one of her arms. "Which is why I requested a fellow yokai of the pretty tribe to help you out."
The alternative punk girl snapped her fingers and by her side was a white tapir like yokai. "Introduce yourself now, yeah?"
"Why hello dear, I'm Haku of the Pretty Tribe," Haku introduced herself. "Princess Suseri here requested me to accompany you to make sure you have good dreams and zero jet lag!"
"Hello, I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm happy to meet you Haku!" Mai greeted, kneeling down a little to shake the hand or rather trunk or the yokai.
"I wish I had more to say other than well, have a safe flight," Shinju stated, the blonde getting her suitcases.
"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll message you two once I land!" Mai said goodbye to her two friends, trying her best to navigate the airport. It was her first time flying alone, but she seemed to understand it for the most part.
Well, alone was a bit of a stretch. She had not only Haku with her, but her loyal companions Nyanmajo and Sailornyan. They were just...getting a headstart on napping on top of Mai's belongings much to her dismay.
A long, long, long fight had passed without any mishaps or bumps. It was mostly just a lot of sleeping, only waking up for a bit for an inflight meal. Though, Haku was there once Mai got off to be sure she wasn't too disoriented.
"I'll stay here to help the other passengers, you can call me any time with the jewel I gave you!" Haku waved goodbye, Mai waving back goodbye as she made her way outwards.
Though, while Mai wasn't completely tired, she was at least very confused about the time. Seems that the sun was setting as Mai made her way out to find where her grandma had said to meet up.
"Mai, goodness it's been so long!" A gentle, much older woman greeted the blonde. Mai instantly perked up.
"Grandma!" Mai greeted, hugging her grandma. "It's been quite sometime, how have things been?"
"Quite peaceful I'll say. Aside from the child across who's said to have a sixth sense, everything's been as normal as they can possibly be," Mai's grandma filled in, making the group tilt their heads slightly as they walked to the car.
"S-Sixth sense? W-What do you mean by that?" Nyanmajo asked, Mai's grandma nodding her head as she started the car once everyone was in.
"He's the child of my neighbor across the street, Fuyuko Hikage. I think he might actually be as old as you Mai at this point, goodness," Mai's grandma exposited some. "But he's a fairly shy little thing, seeing strange things in his dreams that often end up coming true..."
"Huh that's pretty interesting, know anything else?" Sailornyan asked, the old woman shaking her head slightly as they came to a red light.
"No not really, as many conversations I've had with Fuyuko, I could never catch that boy's name," Mai's grandmother started with a sigh. "Then again, could be my old age catching up. What about you, Mai dear?"
"Well…" Mai began rubbing the back of her head. Nyanmajo gave a light sigh as she decided to speak up for the blonde teen.
"It's...it's a long, long story…" Nyanmajo filled in, begining to go on as brief of a summary as she could possibly do of Mai's adventures seven months ago.
As the four drove out of the airport and more into the main town, the golden hour lighting settled in on the sights. Despite St. Peanutsburg being a bit more quaint than Sakura New Town, it still felt big and grand. Humans and yokai seemed to get along harmoniously, everything from the smaller and cuter ones, to the larger ones, to even...the rather cruder ones Mai tried to stay away from. It all was quite a harmonious sight to see on the road home.
On the road home, something caught her eye. A billboard advertisement for the St. Peanutsburg Library. Headlining was an exhibit on never before seen versions of ancient literature and even some artwork from various regions in asia, mainly advertising things from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
Perhaps it might be something Mai should look into...
Unknost to anyone, in the backwoods near St. Peanutsburg, a shadowy figure lurked. It took the form of a normal fox, but with ash black fur and bright pink irises accented with gold. The fox looked up at the street sign for the library's exhibit.
"A showcase of various ancient asian literature, huh?" The fox spoke to itself, a sinister feminine voice being her tone. "Well, perhaps that book will be in the collection on display!"
The fox gave a small laugh, before with a puff of fuschia smoke seamlessly transformed into a small raven to fly off into the american town.
Night had come as things began to settle down, Mai fast asleep with rather quick adjustments to the timezone shifts thanks to Haku. Though within the blonde's sleep, something kept speaking to the back of her unconscious mind…
Now that both worlds have been in unity for some time...Evil wishes to take over once more.
You are the one who wields the balance...between light and dark...just remember…
...heroes
Four…
Three realms…
Two…
One book...One fate for all…
The answers lie in marks of the past...
The following morning Mai woke up, feeling a bit heavy headed but overall normal. She rubbed her forehead a bit, hoping it would clear up her foggy mind.
However, as the morning progressed something just wouldn't leave Mai's head, she was ready to go in a coat and all as she headed to the door.
"I'm gonna run over to the library, call me if you need anything alright?" Mai waved out to her grandma, the elder nodding her head.
"You take care now, you and your feline friends too!" Mai's grandma waved, as Mai was on her way out.
Thankfully despite the new location, Mai didn't get lost or confused, she managed to find her way just fine. It was a large yet quaint facility, a warm welcoming feeling greeting the blonde and her feline companions entered. Shelves among shelves were spread across various roomy sections.
And of course in the middle, there were a few glass cases of a few small arts and artifacts from ancient times. This caught the eyes of Sailornyan.
"Woah! These are all so cool!" Sailornyan quite loudly stated, not knowing the concept of an inside voice. Nyanmajo and Mai tried to get her to pipe down but it was too late.
One of the librarians nearby gave quite the nasty glare at the three. Not even telling them to shush, just a cold glare from her old looking eyes. She looked quite old, aged copper red hair and dark eyes that had a glare that could freeze even the warmest of folks. Around her neck was something, but she was already back to work before Mai could get a good look.
"Try to stay quiet…" Mai whispered to her feline friends.
"Yeah...less we get glares from that lady, the better oi…" Nyanmajo whispered as well.
The three looked around the small display of cases showcasing small pieces of art, mostly from various books and literary pieces naturally. Though one of the pieces stood out.
It was a fancifully decorated Byobu, depicting quite an interesting scene on one side. The old golden screen depicted a bird, dragon, tortoise, and tiger all charging ahead as the sun broke through the clouds to shine on the animals. The four beasts seemed to be going up against some kind of dark mass, mostly covered by blotches of dark ink that didn't age well. Though the evil mass had quite the glaring look…
The other side depicted the same four animals, but with several spherical objects surrounding them depicted with bagua lines. The dark mass from before seemed to be binded by these jewels, a book being above the scene.
Mai tried to analyze the scene, but a clumsy turn made her collide with someone with quite the recoil. The two awkwardly fell over, the person Mai had bumped into looking pretty distressed.
"Goodness! M-My glasses!" The poor soul yelped. He looked about Mai's age with black hair that covered half of his face, donning a yellow cardigan sweater with a green pullover shirt and dark blue pants. The black haired boy desperately tried to feel for his glasses on the floor.
Noticing the glasses by her feet, Mai gently picked up the pair of eyewear and gently handed it over to the boy. "A-Are these yours?" Mai had asked the boy, the latter gently taking the glasses and putting them on his face.
Once the glasses had been reunited, Mai got a better look at the boy's face. He had a shy yet calm expression, complete with very soothing, gentle brown eyes.
"I'm sorry about bumping into you, I didn't really see where I was going…" Mai apologized, helping the boy up. "Then again I don't move with the most style and grace…"
"That's okay, don't worry a lot about it," The boy reassured Mai, a bit of realization coming to his face. "Oh I almost forgot, I'm Mao Hikage...You're my neighbor Sally's granddaughter, aren't you?"
"It's nice to meet you, Mao. I'm Mai Suzuki," Mai introduced herself, trying not to get too loud to get that librarian's glare again. "But how did you know that?"
Mao readjusted his glasses slightly. "I heard how she has a granddaughter back in Sakura New Town. I used to live there...at least from what I'm told, I had to move here when I was very young…"
"Interesting to hear, anywho as you can tell I'm not too alone on this," Mai responded, motioning to her two yokai companions. "These are my friends, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan. Say hello!"
"Hello!" Nyanmajo greeted with a small wave.
"Heya!" Sailornyan joined in.
Unknownst to the four, someone or rather something, was creeping around. A woodpecker with black feathers and pink and gold irises inspected a glass case containing an old journal. With precision, a hole was made to let the book gently be brought out of its glass confinements. A puff of smoke later, the woodpecker had become a snake that slithered to grab the book in it's mouth.
But, there was one who noticed the crafty shapeshifter.
"Hey...why is there a snake…" Mao asked, pointing to one of the glass cases being broken into.
"And why does it need to steal a book nonetheless?" Mai added in.
Being caught red handed, the snake transformed into a hare, nipping the book in it's mouth still as it ran.
"H-Hey! Come back here!" Mai stated, running after the rabbit, Mao and the two nyans following suit.
After the two kids ran out, the old librarian looked to see the book was stolen from the glass case much to her shock. Her shock was traded for a serious look as she made her ways out as well.
After a bit of running, the group had made it to the woods on the outskirts of town. The hare had stopped, the two teens and felines looking at the hare.
"Could you please return that book?" Mao asked, the hare squinting it's face.
"Why should I?" The hare spoke, it's dark pink and golden eyes glaring.
Another puff of smoke revealed likely the shapeshifter's true form. Taking the form of a feminine fox yokai with the same glaring hot pink and golden eyes and a sinister grin. She wore a cloak that covered her ears and split into nine ends that resembled tails with golden wisp markings on them. She wore a traditional grey kimono and geta, clutching the book in her paw like hands.
"You know I, the great Tamamo no Mae has been after this tome for so, so long…" The yokai, Tamamo no Mae introduced herself with a shrill, intimidating voice. "I will not let some foolish children wield the Yokai Sangokushi...I'm the only one worthy!"
Tamamo quickly got to undoing the straps on the book, opening to see the contents. But to her surprise.
"W-What the...they're all blank!?" Tamamo no Mae yelled, before her eyes caught the fine print on the back over. "Replication copy!?"
The sinister kitsune closed the book, a disgusted look on her face. "You...You are going to pay for wronging me like this!"
"But...we never tricked you?" Mai stammered, Mao becoming a good deal frightened by the opposing yokai.
"I don't want to hear it, you clearly did!" Tamamo no Mae yelled, throwing the book aside. "It's your kind who sealed me away, so you're guaranteed to have tricked me with a book…"
Before the kitsune could change into something threatening, Mai stepped forward, clutching her watch. "Nyanmajo, if you please, I think we're going to have to teach her a lesson!"
"Of course I shall," Nyanmajo responded, handing a yellow jewel to Mai as the blonde took a stance with the watch and jewel in hand.
"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her call, inserting the jewel and flipping it upwards. "...Fushigi Nyanmajo!"
With a flash of yellow light, Mai had transformed back into her original threads. Red witch's outfit with yellow socks and white mary jane shoes, complete with a small star wand in her hand. She knew the transforming on her new watch worked, but it felt oddly nostalgic with this outfit in particular.
"The yoma might have been defeated, but when evil hearts lurk, I'll be the one to stop them in the name of love and justice!" Mai gave her speech, pointing at the malicious yokai. "So that means you!"
"That's real cute, but I'm sure you've caught on that I can transform too!" Tamamo no Mae responded, a large puff of smoke enveloping her as she transformed once again. This time, she appeared to have taken the form of a vulture like raptor, but one the size of an ostrich!
Naturally Mai and Nyanmajo tried to cast some fire magic onto the large bird, but it bounced right off, reducing it to nothing. The large bird of prey knocked right into the blonde and her witchy cat as she was about to fly off from the thicket of trees, quite hard as well.
"Now come with me, you two are going to be the ones who will pay the price for messing with me!" Tamamo no Mae screeched, grabbing Mao and Sailornyan in her talons before flying off.
"Mai, Nyanmajo!" Mao and Sailornyan yelled in unison, being whisked away by the fiendish raptor.
"Mao, Sailornyan!" Mai and Nyanmajo yelled, trying to chase after the bird but alas. The tailwind from the massive bird was quite strong, causing the two to be knocked back into a tree's trunk.
The old, nameless librarian had caught up, seeing the bird take off and finding Mai and Nyanmajo by a tree with the mysterious replication copy of the Yokai Sangokushi nearby.
It didn't take long for Mai to notice the old woman's intimidating presence, the blonde quickly grabbing the book's replication copy and handing it over.
"H-here you go, I-I didn't steal it I swear!" Mai begged for mercy, the librarian giving a look that thankfully wasn't an intimidating glare.
"I know you didn't, nor did you friend," The librarian spoke for once, shocking Mai right on the spot. "What's important is that you need to save your friends from that fiend of a yokai."
"But how?" Nyanmajo questioned the old woman. "That yokai made quick work of us in one swoop!"
The old woman gently stroked her chin before nodding. "Perhaps I should give you a hand...but only this once. After this I'll expect you to learn to fend for yourself, kid."
Without another word, the elder shed off her disguise with a fiery wave of energy, revealing a much different form. She now resembled a large, majestic peafowl with glimmering vermilion wings that faded off into yellow, then green, then blue. The bird's stature easily rose over that of Mai's, and was easy enough to ride on.
"Get on, we don't have much time to lose," The large bird said, Mai complying by getting on with the replication copy of the Yokai Sangokushi still in hand, Nyanmajo following suit.
"But wait just who are you and what were you doing in a-woooaaaah!" Mai tried to ask, being caught off guard by how fast the graceful peafowl took off. Despite the large size, the bird flew as fast as a falcon.
They eventually caught up to Tamamo no Mae, managing to knock the bird down onto the roof of a large barn. Mao and Sailornyan had safely been freed from the talons of Tamamo no Mae, even Tamamo no Mae looking shocked at the sight of the massive bird.
"You're...You're…" Tamamo no Mae stammered in fear, the large vermilion bird giving a glare.
"Suzaku, the holy vermilion bird of the south, ruler of flames and the skies!" Suzaku introduced herself, giving a fiery glare at the shapeshifting yokai.
"You...I won't let you win against me this time, Suzaku!" Tamamo no Mae screeched,taking to the skies with Suzaku to fight with her there.
"How dare you have a mock copy of the Yokai Sangokushi that isn't able to do anything!?" Tamamo no Mae screeched at the vermilion bird.
"Do you think I know where that old book is!? I've been looking for it longer than you, Tamamo!" Suzaku screeched back, ramming into the other bird. "And if I do ever find it, you aren't getting your hands on it!"
Both aerial specters fought, casting blasts of vermilion and fuschia fire at one another, talons ripping into each other's feathery coats and feathers of black and vermilion scattered across the chilly air. All Mai, Mao, and the two nyans could do was simply watch from the barn's roof, unable to do much.
Though, the battle did turn for the worst…
"Now, you understand why fighting for harmony is entirely pointless, correct?" Tamamo no Mae said, managing to slam Suzaku right into the ground next to the barn. The impact left plenty of dirt and crimson feathers flying in the air. Such a feat probably would have reduced a normal bird to dust, but thankfully Suzaku was surviving but just barely...
"I...I don't fight for peace...I fight for myself and what I think is...important…" Suzaku weakly responded, trying to yell back at the large buzzard but to no avail.
Mai and the others managed to find a hatch that let them safely scale down the barn, rushing over to the vermilion bird's side.
"Are...Are you going to be okay?" Mao asked the bird, trying to keep his distance but still offering a kind gesture to the yokai.
"At least you're safe...that's all that matters right now…" Suzaku responded, looking over at Mai. "Gave what the blonde kid wanted, so my work here would be done but...I can't fly away to get back to my own business…"
Mai bit the bottom of her lip, approaching the bird sadly. "I'm...I'm really sorry...Had Mao and I not chased after Tamamo no Mae, we wouldn't be in this mess. You'd be free…"
The blonde gently stroked the bird's head as well, only to notice something near the massive bird that caught Mai's eye. Slowly the blonde picked up the object, inspecting it.
It was a jewel, similarly sized to the yokai jewel's Mai knew. It was done in a completely crystal clear casing, encompassing all the colors of light yet being none at the same time. Engraved within were bagua lines, representing the element of fire.
"Is this...what I think it is?" Mai asked, the bird weakly looking at the girl holding the jewel.
"It's one of the two jewels associated with me...Honestly kid if you think it'll do something, do what you gotta do," Suzaku responded. Mai looked down at the jewel then her watch.
It was practically instinct for her, but her hands motioned over the watch, inserting the jewel. As the clear jewel was inserted, words flowed into the blonde's mind and then out her mouth.
"Burn it up in the southern skies above! If you would please come forth the vermilion Guardian...Suzaku!" Mai yelled with all her heart, a fiery vermilion light overtaking Mai and Suzaku.
Once the fires calmed down, Mai was donning some new threads. The main outfit she wore consisted of a crimson wushu uniform, stylized with golden patterns and flames and long, wing like sleeves. On her head was a small yet elaborate golden hairclip resembling a phoenix with small red flowers accenting it.
Suzaku also went through a change, being much more humanoid with lavender skin and vermilion hair accented with light red. Her hands and feet became more talon like, even keeping her large wings, but naturally wore an outfit somewhat similar to Mai's. She looked over at the blonde.
"How...How did you do this...I wasn't allowed to change into my queen form after I used my powers during that great battle…" Suzaku monologue to herself, confused at what was going on. "You even got my looks, how is that possible?"
Mai gave Suzaku a shrug in response. "I...I don't know, I just put the jewel in there and stuff happened! But I did put my heart into it, so maybe that might have something to do with it?"
Tamamo no Mae still flew high up in the air in her bird form, Suzaku looking up at the shadowy avian. "Either way, I got business I need to take care of!"
The vermilion yokai quickly took off to the skies, leaving Mai in a bit of a panicked worried. "W-Wait up! You're just going to get yourself hurt again!"
Mai had managed to open the door to the barn, running up the stairs within to climb back up to the rooftop once again. The chilling wind made Mai nervous, but seeing the two bird yokai fighting once more made her take a deep breath and take a leap of faith.
"Mao! Nyanmajo, Sailornyan! If I fall, please catch me!" Mai shouted, running and then jumping off the barn roof with her arms extended to her side. Mao and the two feline yokai couldn't bear to watch at first until…
It was proven that Mai's sleeve wings were fully functional, the blonde taking fight and catching up with Suzaku and Tamamo no Mae.
"Suzaku, I think I know how we can win this!" Mai joined in, somehow keeping afloat as Suzaku kept casting fire at the larger raptor.
"We!? What do you mean by 'we' exactly?" Suzaku harshly responded to the blonde. "You're just going to get in the way!"
"Listen to me, you just have to give me your hand and everything will sort itself out! Just trust me on this alright?" Mai tried to convince the vermilion bird yokai, helping her avoid an incoming swoop from Tamamo no Mae.
"Quit yapping! Just fall out of the way already!" Tamamo no Mae insulted with a shrill screech. "You're like intolerable cockroaches!"
Taking Mai's word, Suzaku extended out her talon like hand to Mai, a warm feeling flowing through the both of them as they focused their energy together in the air. An aura of flames enveloped the two as they set their eyes on the dark bird of prey, flying together hand in hand.
"Corona Feathers Dance!" Both Mai and Suzaku yelled together, a massive aura of fire surrounding the two that took the shape of a large phoenix.
The fiery duo managed to engulf the dark avian in flames, causing her to plummet downwards as the vermilion duo gracefully made their ways back down to the ground. The moment the two reunited with the ground, Tamamo no Mae's bird form exploded in a mass of sparkles and feathers. Once that was said and done, Tamamo no Mae stood in her usual humanoid kitsune form.
"You'll pay for this...You'll all pay for this…" Tamamo no Mae hissed, clutching her arm and grabbed the false copy of the Yokai Sangokushi Mai had brought along. "But this is only the beginning, you hear!?"
Tamamo no Mae disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving behind another jewel. It was also completely clear like the one jewel Mai had used with her watch, also being in vermilion and white. However, this one had the lines meaning "Earth".
In the meantime, as Mai reverted back to her civilian self, Suzaku turned back into the large peafowl form. Mao, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan joined back with the group.
"H-How did you do that exactly?" Nyanmajo asked. "Not only did Mai transform, but Suzaku as well!"
"I'm not sure...I think it had something to do with the fire jewel…" Mai answered, holding up both jewels.
"That and the fire jewel is the one most associated with my direction of the south. Dunno why it made me go back into my queen form when you used it, I thought I had lost that form long, long ago…" Suzaku pondered. Mao looked but his hand on his chin in thinking.
"But if you're the titular ruler of fire and skies, how come the other jewel is earth?" Mao questioned the peafowl yokai, the latter shaking her head.
"Me and a few other beasts share elements the jewels represent, but fire is the element I rule and rule alone," Suzaku answered with a sigh. "I don't want to talk for all that much longer, so best I get you kids home…"
Mai, Mao, and the two cat yokai all climbed onto the back of Suzaku, the bird yokai flying through back to St. Peanutsburg as the sun began to gently set.
Within no time at all, Suzaku had brought the two teens in front of the house of Mai's grandmother.
"Thank you very much, Suzaku!" Mao thanked the large bird, Mai giving a gesture of thanks as well.
"Say...You gave me a jewel of some kind...does that mean we're…" Mai began to speak, trying to look into her bag for her Great Yokai Dictionary. Suzaku looked off.
"Don't count on it kid, I just saved you and your pals on a whim," Suzaku responded, stretching out her wings once more. "Just keep your noses out of trouble now, alright?"
With that, Suzaku flew off into the setting horizon. A feather from the vermilion bird gently floated from the skies. Mai took the feather and gently held it between her fingers, Mao looking as well.
"Well, for a yokai of fire she was pretty uhh...cold…" Mao remarked sheepishly. Mai nodded.
"That's true, but even if she's a bit cold I still want to try to be friends with her," Mai commented, before looking at Mao brightly. "Besides, it's not like I didn't make a friend today!"
Mao rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Aw geez Mai...W-Well I'll see you tomorrow then!"
"Right, see you tomorrow, Mao!" Mai waved back, the two heading home for the remainder of the evening. Truly it was a bit of an overwhelming first day, new yokai, new evil afoot, quite a bit for a young teen to process. But, she knew she wasn't going to be alone in all this. Alongside her friends, she would do her best to unravel whatever evil was lurking before major damage could be caused!
Elsewhere, Tamamo no Mae looked over the false copy of the Yokai Sangokushi, seeing if there were any details. Through every page and cover, she checked for any signs that might help her.
"Drat...all these pages are blank...What kind of fool would make such a thing? How would they know what the Yokai Sangokushi even looks like!?" Tamamo no Mae monologue to herself, before noticing an odd symbol in one of the inner covers.
The symbol in question resembled an upside down heart made of two snake like figures. Tamamo no Mae seemed to recognize the symbol, a sinister grin on her face.
Whoever made this faux copy, they would lead her to the real deal.