Warning : Canon facts a-plenty! I added them because they're crucial for my plot. You'll be seeing them all around!
THE LOST WISH
Under the bleak, somber light of the dull-grey heavens, the siege began. The soldiers of Kutou, hungry for blood and battle, rode into the fray and pandemonium with the shogun at their head; victory but a wish away. The troops of Konan anticipated this, perhaps, but were ready, if need be; to go down fighting than to stand still and be devoured like hatchlings before a pack of famished predators. It was long ago decided that the two countries were to be at war, for Seiryu himself was a god of war, and his blessings were always to be tested during battle, for they were of no use elsewhere. That was Nakago's decision. It was he who had decided this invasion, to force Konan to submit under Kutou's iron thrall – it was decided by him that this was the only way to invoke the great war-god. The god's powers were best invoked under siege and assault for optimum efficiency.
Riding at the head of his power-hungry troops, the shogun fought like a demon, misty blue wisps of his chi rising and falling with every attack, tearing, burning, ramming down enemies right and left; not unlike young Suboshi who had derived full thrill in the mettle and executed his berserker fury with smiles and shouts.
For the better part of the first hour, the troops of Kutou had the upper hand. It was true that they had always been a warrior-strong nation, the cruelty of their iron army famed the world over, no less effective in war and conquest. They had full credit for wiping out whole tribes and races; and at one time – today being not unlike that very occasion, even rose to a position so formidable that the whole world itself seemed to tremble under Kutou's grip. Pushing them back valiantly, bearing them and all their ferocities, the generals of Konan could only pray as more and more of their soldiers fell and were slaughtered relentlessly, the earth itself running red with blood.
Nakago disembarked from the fray after sending three Konan soldiers to their fates with a strong blast of chi that tore them to ribbons. The ground beneath his horse's feet was littered with armoured corpses, both of Kutou and Konan alike, jabbed and stuck at many places with swords and spears, strewn with broken shields, dead beasts and other objects of war. Yui, wrapped in a hooded cloak was standing atop a small hillock with Suboshi close by, and many thunders surrounded them.
Nakago blinked as lightning illumined his visage. Soi.
Cringing, he tightened his hold upon his reins. His free spirited animal understood his urgency all too well, and sprinted in a break neck gallop, its speed ramming its rider upon the fury of limitless air, his great cape billowing behind him; arrows whizzing beside his ear. When he arrived at the top of the hillock, he was quickly greeted by Soi – her expression strangely demure, perhaps remembering the event that took place between them before the battle; but still full ready to assist him. Coming closer, she took the horse's bridle and helped him calm the restless animal, patting it gently on the neck. Nakago's eyes trailed across her. He blinked quickly when he saw her sadness, because it was a sadness he did not know.
They were disturbed by an excited shout from Suboshi who pointed westward.
"Look there!" cried the young Seiryu Seishi.
Nakago and Soi turned at once, and saw across the somber horizon, amidst the throng of battle and banner where soldiers were interlocked in bloody combat; the arrival of several horses galloping swiftly past the tumult, heading directly towards them. Nakago's lips trailed to a half-smile as he recognized the riders, all too familiar figures : a healer, a bandit, a mage and a young girl and a proud looking youth who shared the same horse, bringing the wind with them.
"Lady Yui," said Nakago coldly, turning to the Seiryu no Miko. "Shall we now put Seiryu's power to the test?"
Three wishes. One was already made to seal Suzaku away. Their enemies were powerless. Two remain.
Nakago savoured the whet of the wind against his face.
A wish was all he needed. One simple wish.
Suddenly something else disturbed his perception – something refreshing, smelling almost like a fresh, flowery scent that entered his nostrils. Strange, thought Nakago. Why would that kind of smell exist in a battlefield?
It was then and there that he realized Soi had passed very close by him, fully immersed in combat. His eyes wandered again, all across Soi from head to toe …
Before he could react however, Soi and Suboshi had already stepped into the fray. With a brilliant blast of white-hot lightning, the female Seiryu Seishi incinerated a dozen enemies in their path, reducing them to ashes. Suboshi mutilated and killed half a dozen more, his deadly Ryuseisi plummeting through head, mouth, flesh and gut with laser precision in a trail of blood. Soi, seeing her shogun's satisfaction, smiled to herself as she glowered with pride. He was impressed.
"Look at them run!" cried Suboshi, crackling with laughter. His Ryuseisi had gone mad, shooting off in all directions as the Suzaku Seishi scattered in panic. "We have them. They're completely powerless!"
Nakago, looming, but oddly sullen-faced, was still immersed with recognition of the strange flowery scent that rose from somewhere beside him. It reminded him of that night, the night he fished Yui off the streets after rescuing her from alleged rapists. He flinched.
He lied to her. He had her convinced that she was raped. It was all a lie.
But the scent had not come from Yui. He remembered being in contact with it even before entering her chamber. It rose off the wet, misty night from the palace gardens. He remembered a black-robed figure brushing past them.
At that very moment, Soi, locked in combat, passed very close to him, sparks flying out of her hand. With a fluid, graceful motion, she leapt past him as the sky grew darker and lightning flashed with many voices, striking down enemies by the dozen. He continued to look at her, while she smiled to herself, savouring every moment of seeing their enemies on the run. The Suzaku Seishi fared no better. They scuttled off in all directions. A second brilliant bolt of lightning flashed out of the graying sky that sent one horse in a panic-stricken stupour, throwing both its riders down on the ground - a young girl, and that proud-looking youth she herself would have killed when she had the chance some days ago, but spared.
Soi kept her eyes upon the couple as they helped each other to their feet, clutching each other's arms. Nakago, as always, would have called them "fools" (within her hearing, anyway), and disregard this courageous (or foolhardy) deed of theirs to come to battle without power or prayer and prove nothing. But so in love they had been, that Soi sometimes felt that such love could indeed make heavens of hell. She sighed. Could her own little love make a heaven of hell?
"Ha ha! Look at them run!" cried Suboshi. "Step back, Soi. Tamahome's mine!"
The boy had youth to add to his mettle, not to mention berserker fury as he began to take aim his deadly weapon, only to be stopped by a furious shout from the Seiryu no Miko that forced him a hasty retreat.
"They're mine!" said Yui, dismounting her horse and throwing her cloak off angrily. Her erstwhile pallid face had now become twisted with fury, her small fists clenched tight. She looked at Nakago. "Nakago, I'll grant you your wish later. I have a little score to settle with my dear friend Miaka first!" she spat.
Nakago's eyes narrowed. Like him, this war had always been a personal vendetta for the Seiryu no Miko.. Everything was self-serving. Was that why he had used her, because she was like him?
"Time to say goodbye to Tamahome, Miaka!" hissed Yui. "This is where it ends!"
Nakago flinched slightly as the girl scraped the ground with her heels and allowed a wave of pure hate to flow through her, shouting at the top of her lungs under the darkening sky, all across the war-torn plain.
"Kai-jin!"
The shogun's eyes widened when a soft shade of blue danced against them like a bright, azure star as the body of the Seiryu no Miko got enveloped under its brilliance. The wish! His slender eyes trailed all across her hungrily. A second wish had been made – and it was not his!
Yui weakly pushed herself up from her bed. Her throat had become very dry. She had been dreaming – seeing nothing but a strange blue cloud, and her form, totally bare and limp, was floating upon it. She could not even clench her fists properly. Every joint within her body was screaming.
Alarmed, she turned to the window, hearing the sound of drapes being pulled back. Warm light entered the richly furnished room of silk and fragrant wood. Her eyes narrowed as a familiar figure approached her bed.
"I see you are awake," said Nakago, taking a seat beside her. "Are you well, Lady Yui?"
"I … think so," replied the girl. "I don't remember much … but I can feel something inside me…" She looked at the Seishi worriedly. "It has happened, isn't it…?" she asked.
"Seiryu has been summoned," said Nakago, looking at her. "He is inside you now, Lady Yui."
He rose from his seat and stepped towards the window, his majestic caped form blocking the warm golden light of the morning as he stood. "You and Seiryu are now one – "said he, and turned back halfway. "Surely, you must have known of that during the summoning."
"It all seemed like a dream," replied the Seiryu no Miko, wrapping the sheets around her shoulders, cringing slightly as she lowered her head. "But yes – I remember him saying that he would grant me three wishes."
"That is the promise of the four gods," replied Nakago.
"What would I wish for?"
Nakago backed slightly, his eyes widening. For a moment, Yui thought she saw something like passionate fury upon him – something she had never seen; but as she slowly blinked, he seemed quite his normal self, inscrutable as always.
"Should I wish for victory over our enemies?"
Nakago folded his cloak at his front and looked at her. "Lady Yui," he said. "May I request you something?"
"Why – yes, of course."
"I would like you to reserve one wish for me," said Nakago with a strange glitter in his eye.
"Yes … yes. Of course. You have helped me so much – I'll gladly give you one of the three wishes, Nakago," she replied. "What would you wish for?"
Nakago looked at her, his countenance sullen, looking nearly morbid. "I would like to be immortal," he said. "I would like to be a god, Lady Yui. Can you promise me that?"
If Yui found that request to be peculiar in any way, she failed to show it in his presence, barely nodding her head, when the door flew open and a maid appeared with a half-open mouth.
"B-breakfast is served .." she said.
Soi, horrified, watched as the girl's angry voice rose in a furious shout. "Great Eastgod Seiryu, take me and Miaka back home to our world, right now!"
Continued Next Chapter!