Fushigi Yuugi: Mysterious Worlds

About this story:

I first got the idea for FY:MW back in 1998. Unlike most of my fanfic ideas, I actually started writing this one. I'm still not really sure why, as I don't consider it to be one of my better ideas. Maybe because I knew it would stand out from the other Fushigi Yuugi fanfics out there...

I wrote the first few chapters in my initial wave of enthusiasm, and actually posted them to a mailing list. Partly because I wanted some feedback, partly because I wanted to contribute something to the mailing list, and partly because I wanted some pressure from other people to actually get me to finish the story. (I have always had trouble finishing projects that I start.)

Well, I eventually made it to chapter eleven. Then I ran into a raft of personal problems, which ended up with me being mostly barred from computers for a year or so. Since all my FY:MW notes were on computer, I really couldn't work on the story during this time.

After I got my computer access back, though, I found I had lost my enthusiasm for the story. It was a lot of work! And if I was going to spend so much time and effort on something, I now wanted it to be something original, something entirely mine. (I.E. something that wasn't violating copyright!)

For all those reasons, I have stopped writing FY:MW. (Even though I said I would keep going to the very end... sorry, everyone!) However, I know there are people out there who want to know how the story ends. So, I will post all eleven of the completed chapters here on and then I will post a summary of the ending. Hopefully that will bring a sense of closure to the project.

Okay, some more general author's note type stuff: this story begins about five years after the end of the Fushigi Yuugi manga and the second OAV. So there will obviously be general spoilers here and there for the entire series. Consider yourself warned.

As for continuity, since I haven't had a chance to read the continuation novels, or the new manga that's just come out about Genbu no Miko, I doubt that the Mysterious Worlds story fits with them. But it should more or less fit with the main FY story.

If you don't like original characters, be warned. There are tons of them in this story. I have tried very hard to keep them from becoming annoying Mary Sue types; you can decide whether I succeeded or not.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I didn't create Fushigi Yuugi or any of its characters. FY was created by Watase Yuu, and is © by her, Shogakukan, Flower Comics, Movic, Bandai, Studio Pierrot, and TV Tokyo.

Trailer:

I'm going to start off by describing the "trailer" for this fic; images that I see synchronized with the long version of the Fushigi Yuugi opening song. Movies that play in my head... Does anyone other than me do that?

As the opening music starts, we see a young man in medieval clothing. He is walking along a grandly built stone hall towards some unidentifiable but large object. As he walks, he passes many people in armour; they are knights, and each of them smiles at him. He also passes a beautiful lady wearing a crown, and bows his head slightly to her as she smiles brilliantly. Finally he passes an old man in dark robes, who nods his white-haired head with a sense of finality. The young man then walks up to the object, which we can now see is a block of stone roughly shaped into a cube. It has many runes carved into it, but the most spectacular thing about it is an enormous, ornate sword that has been set into the stone up to its hilt. He grabs the hilt and pulls the sword from the stone in a massive flourish of crackling energy.

The scene changes; against a backdrop of the standard countryside of the Universe of the Four Gods, we now see Genbu no Miko in action, as well as her seishi, with Genbu in the background. Then we see similar montages of Byakko's Miko and her seishi, then Yui and her seishi, and finally, just as the wailing trumpet theme starts, we see Miaka and her seishi. As the trumpets continue, all Mikos and seishis are seen, but more and more focus is put on just two of Miaka's seishi: Chichiri and Tasuki. Interspersed with this are scenes from medieval battles with demonic creatures, which involve the knights and characters from the opening sequence. Then, Chichiri and Tasuki are swept away by waves of energy.

Chichiri, dressed in modern-looking clothes, is seen kneeling in front of an important-looking man on a dais; as the camera pans away from the scene, we can see that the room they're in shows high technology. This is made evident when we can see the enormous windows surrounding this throne room; the windows show a futuristic city complete with spires and flying vehicles. The scene changes to the interior of a spaceship in full red-alert mode; Tasuki is there, using his fan to fight a large number of huge, glistening insectoid aliens that can't withstand his magical flames. Then, both Chichiri and Tasuki are seen standing in front of an enormous computer screen, gazing in wonder at the words scrolling across it.

We then see Tasuki embracing a beautiful dark-brown-haired woman; they are torn out of each others' arms by wild energy, separated forever by powers beyond their control. Finally, against a backdrop of a ruined city, we see Chichiri standing, head bowed, maskless, and with both eyes closed. He slowly raises his head until he's facing forward, then opens both of his eyes. His right eye is full of anger and sadness; his left eye seems to be made of electric blue energy that radiates everywhere around him.

Still against the backdrop of the ruined city, a small boy in ornate robes holding a book begins to run, but with each footstep, the world around him changes from modern-day Tokyo to a city of Konan Country to a futuristic city; all three are ruined and scarred by alien spaceships that seem to be an extension of outer space itself. The aliens themselves can be dimly seen; they are humanoid, though wolflike, and delight in destruction. Wild flames arise everywhere and attack the aliens; the flames come from a very serious-looking Tasuki. He is not holding his fan. Waves and streams of blue energy join the flames; Chichiri has entered the fray. He is not holding his staff. The massive powers seem to come from inside the two men, not from any external objects.

They then stand back to back in the middle of the screen, surrounded by spirals of their own energies, one spiral a fiery orange-red, the other an icy blue, holding off the alien onslaught. They are joined, at the four corners of the screen, by the four Mikos and their divine beasts. As the music draws to a close, a final character appears at the very centre of the screen; it is the young man from the opening sequence, holding aloft his great sword. All of the characters hold their poses as the music ends, but on the very final chord, the swordsman in the centre drives his sword into the ground.

So, has that got you interested?

Well, here's the story then.

Prologue:

She paused in front of the massive carved stone, and sighed. She resembled an ordinary old woman, with wrinkled face and stern demeanor, but her eyes, bottomless wellsprings of ageless wisdom, revealed the fact that she was far more than what she seemed. Well, that, and the fact that she was floating in midair.

Voices wafted through the air, incredibly cute voices that seemed to follow the old woman everywhere she went. "Fix, fix, cure, cure!" one seemed to say. Another chirped, "Fix Taiitsu-kun's face!" The woman turned in the direction of the voices and sighed. Her eyes, though, were drawn back to the stone in front of her almost immediately.

It was a stone, nothing more, nothing less. No mysterious forces inhabited it, and no souls were trapped in it. It had no strange powers, it had no magic aura, and no curses had been laid on it; all in all, it was just an ordinary stone, roughly hewn into a cubic shape. The only thing that differentiated it from thousands of other stones used for buildings or for city walls around the country was a single sentence that had been carved into one of its sides. The old woman sighed again as she read that sentence for what seemed to be the millionth time.

"When the three worlds become one," the sentence proclaimed, "the legends will live again."

She turned abruptly, and floated off down the hall. But ridding herself of the sight of the stone couldn't stop her from thinking about the words written on it. Finally, in desperation, she mentally asked a question of the unknown person whose hands had carved those words. How long? How long will it be before this prophecy comes true? How long do we have to prepare?

No answer came. She hadn't been expecting one; she never did. But she still couldn't keep herself from asking, as she had done every day for ages on end. She mulled over the sentence and her questions as she floated back to her chambers, blasting an overly enthusiastic Nyan-Nyan into the upper atmosphere as she went, and prepared for that day's period of meditation. As she began, the unknown authors' words floated back into her mind.

When the three worlds become one, the legends will live again.

Chapter One:

It was a beautiful, peaceful day. The sky was blue, and decorated with light, fluffy clouds; the trees beside the road had brilliant green leaves, vibrant with verdant life. There was only one traveler on the road that led towards Konan Country's capital city, and he rode in silence, not wanting to disturb the feeling of peacefulness that surrounded everything.

As the lone traveler got closer to the capital city, the peace and silence was replaced by a cheerful sort of noise, the kind of noise made by thousands of people happily going about their daily business. The sound only increased as he rode up to the city gates.

The young guard on duty there gave the traveler a long, searching look. It was true, the red-haired traveler had a disreputable air about him, as if he was some kind of thief or bandit. The guard raised his pike with a frown to keep this scruffy-looking stranger out of the capital city. He was thwarted in his plans, however, by a slightly more experienced guard who rushed up and almost knocked the pike out of his hands.

"Don't you know who this is, idiot?" hissed the more knowledgeable city guard. "One of the greatest heroes of our time. Let him pass!"

The younger guards' eyes widened as he realized the importance of his older colleagues' words. He mumbled a hasty apology and quickly moved out of the traveler's way. The red-haired traveler nodded his thanks to the older guard before passing through into the capital city.

I guess it's my own fault. The traveler thought about the recent near-incident at the city gates as he rode straight towards Konan Country's royal palace. I haven't been here for a while, so it's no wonder that people are starting to forget what I look like... In fact, he realized, he hadn't visited the palace since the year before.

As he passed through the streets, the traveler noticed signs of a great celebration that had taken place recently. People were sweeping confetti and scattered flowers off the ground, and taking large banners down off their stores and houses. A group of little children raced around laughing, playing with multicoloured streamers that they had no doubt found discarded earlier that day. The red-haired traveler smiled wryly as he surveyed the great clean-up that progressed around him. "Well," he muttered, "looks like I missed a hell of a great party."

A few minutes later, after having left his horse at the royal stables, and being told that His Royal Highness wanted to see him very much, the redhead found himself walking through one of the many beautiful gardens that surrounded the palace. Finding a bench, he put his travel bag on the ground and sat down. He did not, however, put down the large metal fan that he carried with him everywhere. Even though he knew that the security around the palace was flawless, it never hurt to be careful.

He sat calmly, enjoying the silence. Whatever else you got as a member of the most famous group of bandits in the country, peace and quiet was not easy to come by. He looked around, quietly enjoying the sights of the garden. That is, until an enthusiastic, youthful voice shattered the silence.

"Uncle Tasuki!"

He turned just in time to see a young boy running joyfully towards him, unhampered by ornate robes, and even wearing a small bucket hat. Well, silence is overrated, anyway, he thought with a grin as the young Emperor of Konan Country jumped into his arms.

"You're back! It's been so long since I saw you. Guess what, Uncle Tasuki? I got a new horse this year! He's really big, and all brown; I wanted a black one but I guess they couldn't find one that colour that I could ride. I can ride real well now! I hardly ever fall off, and I get right back on, like you told me."

Tasuki couldn't believe how Hotohori's son, Boushin, had turned out to be such a chatterbox. I guess he's making up for all that time when he didn't talk at all, he thought. He's certainly changed a lot since I was here last, a whole year ago. Out loud he said, "That's great! You keep that up, and you'll be a better rider than me one day." All this talk of horses and riding reminded the red-haired bandit of something. "Just let me get at my bag, okay? I've got something for you." The boy climbed out of his lap and sat next to him on the bench as he searched through his travel bag.

"You missed my birthday party, Uncle Tasuki!" said Boushin, in a mock-wounded tone of voice, as he waited. "There were dancers, and streamers everywhere, and lots of food. I liked the desserts a lot. Chichiri was there; he gave me a book. I can read now; I'm really good at that too!"

Tasuki finally got his hands on what he was looking for: a little statue of a galloping horse, carved out of wood. He presented it solemnly to the young Emperor. "Happy seventh birthday, Boushin-chan," he said warmly.

"Oh! It's so nice! Like he's running in the wind," said the boy, entranced with the gift. Tasuki leaned back, pleased with the reaction. He looked up, and was happy to see a blue-haired monk walking along a garden path towards them.

"Chichiri!" called out Tasuki. "Long time no see!"

The ever-smiling monk was accosted by the Emperor as he approached. "Look what Uncle Tasuki gave me! A horse! It's running through the wind," Boushin explained.

Chichiri grinned even wider. "It's wonderful no da!" Sitting down on the bench next to Tasuki, he whispered, "I hope you didn't steal it."

The red-haired bandit frowned.

"I carved it myself!" he whispered fiercely. It had taken him a week to get it just right, too.

"In that case... Well done, na no da!"

"Stole the woodcarving knife, though."

"Oh."

The little Emperor, oblivious to the conversation, was happily playing with his latest acquisition, making the tiny horse gallop around the bench, over the delicately trimmed plants in the garden, and even through Tasuki's hair, to the bandit's chagrin. Suddenly, the boy stopped, and said, "I have to go show this to Mama! She'll just love it."

Tasuki wondered how Houki, the Empress-Regent, was doing. By all accounts, she was doing a fine job of running the country for her young son. He wondered how hard it would be to run an entire country; the only leadership job he'd ever done had been to run the Mt. Leikaku bandit group for a short while, and he knew how difficult that had been at times.

"Let's go!" called Boushin, already halfway down the garden path.

"But I just sat down no da!" complained Chichiri. Oblivious to the monk's complaints, the young Emperor kept going, a bundle of youthful energy and high spirits.

"I can show Uncle Tasuki the library on the way there!" Boushin exclaimed. Chichiri dragged himself off the bench, and Tasuki gathered up his travel bag; both of the former Seishi of Suzaku happily followed Hotohori's son as he led them through the palace grounds towards the library. "I'm reading a lot now. My teachers all want me to read boring books, of history and stuff, but I like reading stories more. There's lots of stories in the library. They had to open old sections that were sealed away, just for me! I want to read everything in the library."

Chichiri added, "You wouldn't believe how much of Konan's Great Library has been sealed away in storage over the years. There were crates worth of scrolls stacked high in storage rooms, no da! Well, all that's changed because of Boushin-chan here. He's become something of a voracious reader in the last year, no da."

As Boushin showed off his carved horse to every single person they met on their way to the library, Tasuki reflected on Chichiri's last statement. Boushin had changed a lot in the past year, apparently, and Tasuki hadn't been here to see it. He hadn't visited the palace for a whole year; the last time he'd come had been for the young Emperor's sixth birthday. And he had even seriously considered not coming for the boy's seventh birthday. After all, what connection did he, an infamous bandit, truly have to the Emperor? He'd just known the boy's father for a few weeks, that was all.

Passing palace guards and all sorts of finely dressed nobles of the royal court of Konan Country as he followed the little Emperor and Chichiri to the library, Tasuki began to feel horribly out of place. He looked around furtively at the richly decorated, and highly guarded, palace grounds as they walked by them. He felt that, at any moment, one of the guards would suddenly wake up out of a stupor and shout, "Hey you! You're not supposed to be here!" He had visions of being thrown unceremoniously out of the city, or even worse, being imprisoned. After all, what business did a scruffy bandit, a low-life thief, have in the Imperial Palace?

True, he had come to regard it as a second home during that short time he had spent with Miaka and the other seishi, but that whole episode of his life now seemed so distant, even dreamlike. He still had the character on his arm, and all the wonderful memories, but they seemed to be more distant with every passing day.

With a sigh, Tasuki resolved to leave the palace as soon as possible, after seeing Boushin's beloved library. He needed to get away from this delicate, fancy world with its beauty and opulence, and go back to the rough life of the Mt. Leikaku bandits, back to where he belonged, and never return here again. He'd regret leaving Boushin forever, but it would be for the best.

They arrived at the library, and Boushin immediately took the seishi on a grand tour.

"Here's where all the maps are. And these are the histories that my teachers always make me read, but they're so boring. Except for some of them that are like stories, but they really happened to people. I like reading those, but not as much as the other stories. There's lots of those over here! I'm going to read them all one day," said the young Emperor with a sense of finality. By the joyful sheen in Boushin's eyes, Tasuki could see that the little boy meant it, too. He himself had never much cared for reading, but he could tell that Hotohori's son truly did.

"And the storage rooms are over here. There's so many scrolls in here, all packed away. Lots of them are just records and stuff lots more boring than the histories. But there are some stories. I found a book all about dragons in here, about a lady who could talk to them I mean. It was a really good book. And there are so many more!"

Chichiri, who'd obviously been treated to a tour of the library before, wandered off by himself. Boushin led Tasuki around a dusty, cobweb-covered storage room, piled high with stacks of crates. A few crates had been opened, probably by Boushin himself, and the contents were spread out over all available surfaces.

"I found these myself! They're mostly boring stuff, like this guy's diary. He was a really dull guy, even if he was an Emperor. But these here are books all about legends, and they're really good."

Boushin's discussion of the books he'd found was cut short by a call from Chichiri, who was over on the other side of the room. "What's this, no da?"

The little Emperor raced over to Chichiri immediately, eager to see what the monk had found. Tasuki followed him, a few paces behind. He wondered what could possibly startle Chichiri.

They found the blue-haired monk standing by a huge pile of crates, stacked haphazardly. Some of the boxes full of scrolls had succumbed to gravity and had fallen down; old books and scrolls of many different types covered the floor. Chichiri had picked up one book and was scrutinizing its cover, frowning a little. When he got close enough, Tasuki could see why. Every other book here was bound with leather or something similar; they had that much in common, at least. But this book had a very thin cover, just a little thicker than a sheet of paper, really. It was also covered with a glossy finish. Its most startling feature, however, was the amazingly lifelike picture on its cover. It depicted an odd-looking creature that seemed to be a mix of insect and man.

Tasuki said, "It almost looks like one of the books that Miaka brought from her world, doesn't it?"

"I know. But how could it have gotten here, no da? This room has been sealed away for decades."

Boushin was jumping up and down, trying to get a better look at the mysterious object in Chichiri's hands. "Let me see! Let me see!" Succumbing to the pressure, the monk let him have the book.

"Wow! I've never seen a book like this before."

Boushin spent a few seconds staring at the picture on the cover before opening the book and starting to read the words printed on the first page.

"This," he read out loud, "is the story of two friends, who traveled to a faraway world, and who gained powers beyond their wildest dreams. This book itself is an incantation; whoever turns the page will cause the story to become reality."

Tasuki and Chichiri stared wide-eyed at each other. But before they could say a word, before they could prevent it from happening, the young Emperor turned the page.

When the everpresent palace guards raced into the old storage room in response to the shouts they had heard, all they found was a travel bag, a strange book lying half-open on the ground, and a small carved statue of a galloping horse.