Bolstering every ounce of courage she possessed, Yuri slunk forward
to intercept her visitor. "Sister, are you mad?! I trust you realize that
your presence here jeopardizes all that I have struggled to achieve for the
success of the Plan!" Yuri hissed, eyes blazing at Mai with boundless fury.
"I beg of you, Yuri…forgive me! I have failed Lord Ayashi, who was gracious
enough to bestow upon me a second chance to accomplish my assigned portion
of the Plan." Yuri studied Mai's impregnated condition contemptuously. "I
sincerely doubt that Ayashi desired for you to reside in the palace with me
while you redeem yourself. Your bodyguard was affiliated with the Seishi of
Suzaku at one time. I probed the mind of the one called "Chiriko" moments
before your arrival. He seems to have fond recollections of a certain
"Tamahome". Thus, you are endangering the entire mission!"
"The one of whom you speak is at least four days travel from Konan. That is plenty of time for me to make enough progress in my requested endeavors to prove to Lord Ayashi that I am his eternally loyal and devoted servant." Mai commented wearily, sinking to her knees in the dewdrop-strewn grass of the garden. Yuri ground her teeth, restraining herself from letting her emotions affect her judgement. Providing Mai with sanctuary after she royally botched her contribution to the Plan was forbidden. She was an outcast among Ayashi's minions now, and her sister no longer. "We wouldn't be in this mess if you had kept your pants on!" Yuri snarled, hastily wiping a tear that had squeezed between her firmly clasped eyelids. Mai released a haughty guffaw. "I'm not the one probing the enemy, Sister Dearest!"
Without warning, a miniscule crimson oval appeared in the sky, signaling the quasi-anticipated entrance of a magical personage of the demonic sort, mere centimeters from Mai's left shoulder. Faint spurts of flame erupted from its core, as an intimidatingly muscular leg protruded from the hovering shape. Much to their dismay, an equally built, scantily- clad midsection followed by a broad torso, rugged jawline, soul-piercing eyes, and a wild shock of velvety blue hair accompanied the aforementioned appendage. "And the plot thickens." Yuri grumbled observantly, snatching a Japanese Elm bud from the air as it promenaded elegantly to earth.
"Four days just flies by when you're having this much fun with your most favoritest sister in the whole universe." Mai quipped hurling a steely stare at her "bodyguard", clasping her hands in a gesture of fervent prayer dramatically, mutely willing Yuri to throw caution to the wind in the name of divine sisterhood, henceforth turning her back on Ayashi, the only real family she'd ever known, cared for even. Thoroughly disgusted with her weakness, Yuri yanked her ingrate of a sister to her feet, discovering only minute satisfaction in Mai's resounding yelp of anguish over her vise-like grip, and dragged Mai roughly from the garden.
"What can I do ya for?" The bartender slurred cordially, snapping his suspenders against his impressive potbelly to emphasize the greeting. Nuriko flipped his violet braid over his right shoulder, easing himself gingerly atop a precariously rickety barstool, squinting stealthily about him in the dim lantern light. He was enveloped on all sides by a fairly surly bunch occupying the circular wooden tables dispersed throughout the cramped room. Antlers of various beasts were mounted on the walls, accented by life-like portraits of wild game, some native to those parts, others foreign, but equally magnificent. Halos of odiferous cigar smoke billowed against the ceiling, clogging one's lungs while permeating one's beer mug.
"A young girl wouldn't have happened to drop in here recently?" Nuriko inquired hesitantly, mentally berating himself for briefly contemplating the notion. Miaka suffered from an almost carnal affinity for food. Such an establishment was incapable of serving cuisine worthy to kiss the tastebuds of the royal Priestess of Suzaku. "Cute little thing with eyes bigger than her stomach, and a disturbing lust for anything edible?" The bartender chuckled in amusement. "That would be the one, Sir!" Nuriko confirmed joyfully, twirling jubilantly in his off-kilter seat. "Can you tell me where she is now?" He glowered momentarily at the waitress, who, in his opinion, had not received the proper training in fish-net management. Adorning oneself with hosiery is an art that many individuals attempt, but few have mastered. The bartended pointed an index finger to Nuriko's left, readjusting his suspenders once more in self-satisfaction.
"MIAKA!" Nuriko exalted, launching himself from the barstool in unbridled ecstasy, landing with a horrendous KERPLOP upon the startled brunette before him. "Nuriko…" She returned between dainty nibbles. Her response was more of a question than an overjoyed reaction to being reunited with an old friend at long last. Tugging at his braid in puzzlement, Nuriko chided sternly, "What the hell were you thinking, vanishing from the palace like that, nearly terrifying His Highness into an early grave?!" "Is it just me, or has a certain violet-haired someone been eating, sleeping, and breathing Hotohori?!" Miaka snapped tersely, a violent edge to her innate sing-song tone.
Exasperated beyond description, Nuriko slammed a feminine fist against the countertop, shattering the seemingly indestructible wooden slab to microscopic splinters on impact. "LISTEN TO ME MISSY! I AM OLDER THAN YOU, WISER THAN YOU, MORE INTELLIGENT THAN YOU, AND SO MUCH PRETTIER THAN YOU! IN A NUTSHELL, I AM THE BETTER WOMAN! UNFORTUANATELY, NONE OF MY ENDEARING QUALITIES POSSESS THE ABILITY TO RESTRAIN ME FROM MAULING YOUR FUCKING ASS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, YOU SELF-CENTERED BAKA, SO BRING IT ON!" Pounding his chest in an uncharacteristic, undeniably hilarious burst of testosterone, Nuriko advanced menacingly upon his cowering victim.
Miaka subtly transported her person to another barstool. "Locating Tamahome is a matter of the utmost importance, Nuriko. Mankind's future depends upon the Suzaku Seishi. Minus a single Seishi, we have lost the war prior to the first battle! On a more intimate level, surely you can understand my all- consuming passionate need to hold Tamahome in my arms again, as a fellow woman grappling with true love." Her companion averted his captivating eyes to the matted what-could-be-construed-as-beige-if-and-only-if-you-are-one- hundred-percent-soused carpet blanketing the no doubt wooden floor. "I shall aid you in your search for Tamahome, Miaka. HOWEVER, this venture will be conducted in accordance with my rules. No more disappearing acts for you, Young Lady! You are a priestess, not a magician, and as such, you must fulfill your duties BEFORE satisfying your heart's every inclination!"
Nuriko evaluated his unnecessary destruction of property ruefully, meekly forking over an awe-inspiring wad of cash to the bartender, who venomously leered in their general direction, sourly supervising their snail's-pace departure from his tavern. Linking elbows with the target of his most recent verbal assault amiably, Nuriko led his charge from the squalid conditions of their surroundings out into the chill, yet blissfully fresh, atmosphere of the evening.
************************************************************************
"WE'RE SHIT-LICKIN' SCREWED!" Suzaku thundered in despair, hurtling a particularly attractive ornate vase decked with a soothing floral pattern and gilded trim at the nearest wall. "Shit-Lickin' Screwed wouldn't happen to be any relation to the Finger-Lickin' Good genre, perchance?" An attendant, ceasing his fanning, joked lamely in a valiant attempt to pacify the numerous chis crackling anxiously about the expansive chamber. Suzaku failed to bat an eyelash, opting instead to resume his intense concentration on the hovering orb, which constantly displayed images of the gods' Seishis, the dietys' sole link to their beloved creations, as Byakku cringed in heart-wrenching anguish. "How is it that I, a god, one of the supreme rulers of the universe, am forced to observe my prides and joys falling prey to the ultimate deception, while I am imprisoned in the heavens unable to rescue them?!"
"You must remain calm, Byakku. We have already suffered the loss of one vase tonight…" Seriyu snorted haughtily at Suzaku. "I would HATE to see you lose your temper as well! Gentlemen, I beseech you, nay, I DEMAND of you, what else shall be torn from us before this war, this calamity of magnanimous proportions has finally reached its completion?!" Tumultuous applause of defiance greeted Seriyu's eloquent, impromptu tirade. "War, my Lambs, never reaches its completion. For all involved are eternally haunted by dreams of regrettable deeds, gut-churning slaughter, and weapons stained crimson. Even the victorious are defeated by the memories!" Taiitsukun's gravelly philosophies materialized from the jagged ceramic debris of the obliterated vase.
"I believe I overheard one of you darlings mentioning imprisonment…" She cooed serenely, flouncing pompously into view. "Hai!" Suzaku blustered, refusing to allow Byakku, who had never experienced Taiitsukun's abominable wrath, to be interrogated for voicing an emotion all had felt, but none had yet dared express. "Tasuki, the boisterous bandit, Chiriko, the socially awkward, brilliant scholar, Chichiri, the wise mentor, Tamahome, the fortune fiend, Nuriko, the lovable elder sister, Hotohori, the just emperor, and countless others… All of these are pawns in a sinister game, as we play the role of the paralyzed spectators, incapable of performing any action beyond looking on in horror, as they are destroyed one by one. Taiitsukun, we are but mere prisoners of our own inabilities!" As Suzaku spoke, shimmering crystal tears cascaded down his ghastly pale cheeks, clattering melodiously to the marble floor. His fellow gods gasped in unison. Tears of a celestial being were priceless, as well as extrodonairally rare.
Genbu recalled hearing a legend on his last visit to the mortal realm of a tyrannical king, who's only daughter and heir suffered from a fatal ailment, which no mortal medicine had the capacity to cure. As a last ditch effort to preserve the princess's life, the king traded his entire kingdom for a tiny vile of a god's tears. Stoically, he contemplated the number of kingdoms they could receive courtesy of Suzaku's unexpected outburst.
"Dry your eyes, and pack your bags, Suzaku! That goes for the whole worthless lot of you! A child of mixed spirits has been conceived. The birth shall occur prior to the completion of the moon's cycle. If our good friend Ayashi harms a single hair on the infant's head, Man and Deitykind had better stick their heads between their legs, and kiss their asses good- bye! You boys are traveling to the Mortal Realm, and remaining there until the end of the war, where you will serve as babysitters! Buh-bye now!"
A mountain of luggage thudded to the floor in a remarkably tidy pile, shielding the orb from view. Promptly, the gods waltzed to the mound to claim their suitcases. "By Jove! I do believe she is quite serious!" Genru declared in a pathetic excuse for a British accent. Taiitsukun waved triumphantly at her brave little soldiers, as a brilliant burst of chi engulfed them, sweeping them away from their cherished castle in the clouds to the Mortal Realm.
A.N. Thus, the gods are reduced to baby-sitting duty. Yuri and Mai turn out a brilliant performance depicting the "joys" of sisterly bonding. And Miaka needs hormone treatments, while Nuriko and his AHEM "balls" triumph in the face of baka-enduced adversity. What else awaits these brave heroes and heroines in their battle against (or alongside) the infamous Lord Ayashi?! Only time will tell! As for this authoress, I am leaping into bed with a bellow of sheer joy. (Sleep truly becomes me!) Following my brief reminder that Shades of Gray remains neglected, and needs some attention if you wish for this fic to be continued, of course. This will be the last chapter of A Light in the Darkness if Shades does not get reviews SOON!
"The one of whom you speak is at least four days travel from Konan. That is plenty of time for me to make enough progress in my requested endeavors to prove to Lord Ayashi that I am his eternally loyal and devoted servant." Mai commented wearily, sinking to her knees in the dewdrop-strewn grass of the garden. Yuri ground her teeth, restraining herself from letting her emotions affect her judgement. Providing Mai with sanctuary after she royally botched her contribution to the Plan was forbidden. She was an outcast among Ayashi's minions now, and her sister no longer. "We wouldn't be in this mess if you had kept your pants on!" Yuri snarled, hastily wiping a tear that had squeezed between her firmly clasped eyelids. Mai released a haughty guffaw. "I'm not the one probing the enemy, Sister Dearest!"
Without warning, a miniscule crimson oval appeared in the sky, signaling the quasi-anticipated entrance of a magical personage of the demonic sort, mere centimeters from Mai's left shoulder. Faint spurts of flame erupted from its core, as an intimidatingly muscular leg protruded from the hovering shape. Much to their dismay, an equally built, scantily- clad midsection followed by a broad torso, rugged jawline, soul-piercing eyes, and a wild shock of velvety blue hair accompanied the aforementioned appendage. "And the plot thickens." Yuri grumbled observantly, snatching a Japanese Elm bud from the air as it promenaded elegantly to earth.
"Four days just flies by when you're having this much fun with your most favoritest sister in the whole universe." Mai quipped hurling a steely stare at her "bodyguard", clasping her hands in a gesture of fervent prayer dramatically, mutely willing Yuri to throw caution to the wind in the name of divine sisterhood, henceforth turning her back on Ayashi, the only real family she'd ever known, cared for even. Thoroughly disgusted with her weakness, Yuri yanked her ingrate of a sister to her feet, discovering only minute satisfaction in Mai's resounding yelp of anguish over her vise-like grip, and dragged Mai roughly from the garden.
"What can I do ya for?" The bartender slurred cordially, snapping his suspenders against his impressive potbelly to emphasize the greeting. Nuriko flipped his violet braid over his right shoulder, easing himself gingerly atop a precariously rickety barstool, squinting stealthily about him in the dim lantern light. He was enveloped on all sides by a fairly surly bunch occupying the circular wooden tables dispersed throughout the cramped room. Antlers of various beasts were mounted on the walls, accented by life-like portraits of wild game, some native to those parts, others foreign, but equally magnificent. Halos of odiferous cigar smoke billowed against the ceiling, clogging one's lungs while permeating one's beer mug.
"A young girl wouldn't have happened to drop in here recently?" Nuriko inquired hesitantly, mentally berating himself for briefly contemplating the notion. Miaka suffered from an almost carnal affinity for food. Such an establishment was incapable of serving cuisine worthy to kiss the tastebuds of the royal Priestess of Suzaku. "Cute little thing with eyes bigger than her stomach, and a disturbing lust for anything edible?" The bartender chuckled in amusement. "That would be the one, Sir!" Nuriko confirmed joyfully, twirling jubilantly in his off-kilter seat. "Can you tell me where she is now?" He glowered momentarily at the waitress, who, in his opinion, had not received the proper training in fish-net management. Adorning oneself with hosiery is an art that many individuals attempt, but few have mastered. The bartended pointed an index finger to Nuriko's left, readjusting his suspenders once more in self-satisfaction.
"MIAKA!" Nuriko exalted, launching himself from the barstool in unbridled ecstasy, landing with a horrendous KERPLOP upon the startled brunette before him. "Nuriko…" She returned between dainty nibbles. Her response was more of a question than an overjoyed reaction to being reunited with an old friend at long last. Tugging at his braid in puzzlement, Nuriko chided sternly, "What the hell were you thinking, vanishing from the palace like that, nearly terrifying His Highness into an early grave?!" "Is it just me, or has a certain violet-haired someone been eating, sleeping, and breathing Hotohori?!" Miaka snapped tersely, a violent edge to her innate sing-song tone.
Exasperated beyond description, Nuriko slammed a feminine fist against the countertop, shattering the seemingly indestructible wooden slab to microscopic splinters on impact. "LISTEN TO ME MISSY! I AM OLDER THAN YOU, WISER THAN YOU, MORE INTELLIGENT THAN YOU, AND SO MUCH PRETTIER THAN YOU! IN A NUTSHELL, I AM THE BETTER WOMAN! UNFORTUANATELY, NONE OF MY ENDEARING QUALITIES POSSESS THE ABILITY TO RESTRAIN ME FROM MAULING YOUR FUCKING ASS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, YOU SELF-CENTERED BAKA, SO BRING IT ON!" Pounding his chest in an uncharacteristic, undeniably hilarious burst of testosterone, Nuriko advanced menacingly upon his cowering victim.
Miaka subtly transported her person to another barstool. "Locating Tamahome is a matter of the utmost importance, Nuriko. Mankind's future depends upon the Suzaku Seishi. Minus a single Seishi, we have lost the war prior to the first battle! On a more intimate level, surely you can understand my all- consuming passionate need to hold Tamahome in my arms again, as a fellow woman grappling with true love." Her companion averted his captivating eyes to the matted what-could-be-construed-as-beige-if-and-only-if-you-are-one- hundred-percent-soused carpet blanketing the no doubt wooden floor. "I shall aid you in your search for Tamahome, Miaka. HOWEVER, this venture will be conducted in accordance with my rules. No more disappearing acts for you, Young Lady! You are a priestess, not a magician, and as such, you must fulfill your duties BEFORE satisfying your heart's every inclination!"
Nuriko evaluated his unnecessary destruction of property ruefully, meekly forking over an awe-inspiring wad of cash to the bartender, who venomously leered in their general direction, sourly supervising their snail's-pace departure from his tavern. Linking elbows with the target of his most recent verbal assault amiably, Nuriko led his charge from the squalid conditions of their surroundings out into the chill, yet blissfully fresh, atmosphere of the evening.
************************************************************************
"WE'RE SHIT-LICKIN' SCREWED!" Suzaku thundered in despair, hurtling a particularly attractive ornate vase decked with a soothing floral pattern and gilded trim at the nearest wall. "Shit-Lickin' Screwed wouldn't happen to be any relation to the Finger-Lickin' Good genre, perchance?" An attendant, ceasing his fanning, joked lamely in a valiant attempt to pacify the numerous chis crackling anxiously about the expansive chamber. Suzaku failed to bat an eyelash, opting instead to resume his intense concentration on the hovering orb, which constantly displayed images of the gods' Seishis, the dietys' sole link to their beloved creations, as Byakku cringed in heart-wrenching anguish. "How is it that I, a god, one of the supreme rulers of the universe, am forced to observe my prides and joys falling prey to the ultimate deception, while I am imprisoned in the heavens unable to rescue them?!"
"You must remain calm, Byakku. We have already suffered the loss of one vase tonight…" Seriyu snorted haughtily at Suzaku. "I would HATE to see you lose your temper as well! Gentlemen, I beseech you, nay, I DEMAND of you, what else shall be torn from us before this war, this calamity of magnanimous proportions has finally reached its completion?!" Tumultuous applause of defiance greeted Seriyu's eloquent, impromptu tirade. "War, my Lambs, never reaches its completion. For all involved are eternally haunted by dreams of regrettable deeds, gut-churning slaughter, and weapons stained crimson. Even the victorious are defeated by the memories!" Taiitsukun's gravelly philosophies materialized from the jagged ceramic debris of the obliterated vase.
"I believe I overheard one of you darlings mentioning imprisonment…" She cooed serenely, flouncing pompously into view. "Hai!" Suzaku blustered, refusing to allow Byakku, who had never experienced Taiitsukun's abominable wrath, to be interrogated for voicing an emotion all had felt, but none had yet dared express. "Tasuki, the boisterous bandit, Chiriko, the socially awkward, brilliant scholar, Chichiri, the wise mentor, Tamahome, the fortune fiend, Nuriko, the lovable elder sister, Hotohori, the just emperor, and countless others… All of these are pawns in a sinister game, as we play the role of the paralyzed spectators, incapable of performing any action beyond looking on in horror, as they are destroyed one by one. Taiitsukun, we are but mere prisoners of our own inabilities!" As Suzaku spoke, shimmering crystal tears cascaded down his ghastly pale cheeks, clattering melodiously to the marble floor. His fellow gods gasped in unison. Tears of a celestial being were priceless, as well as extrodonairally rare.
Genbu recalled hearing a legend on his last visit to the mortal realm of a tyrannical king, who's only daughter and heir suffered from a fatal ailment, which no mortal medicine had the capacity to cure. As a last ditch effort to preserve the princess's life, the king traded his entire kingdom for a tiny vile of a god's tears. Stoically, he contemplated the number of kingdoms they could receive courtesy of Suzaku's unexpected outburst.
"Dry your eyes, and pack your bags, Suzaku! That goes for the whole worthless lot of you! A child of mixed spirits has been conceived. The birth shall occur prior to the completion of the moon's cycle. If our good friend Ayashi harms a single hair on the infant's head, Man and Deitykind had better stick their heads between their legs, and kiss their asses good- bye! You boys are traveling to the Mortal Realm, and remaining there until the end of the war, where you will serve as babysitters! Buh-bye now!"
A mountain of luggage thudded to the floor in a remarkably tidy pile, shielding the orb from view. Promptly, the gods waltzed to the mound to claim their suitcases. "By Jove! I do believe she is quite serious!" Genru declared in a pathetic excuse for a British accent. Taiitsukun waved triumphantly at her brave little soldiers, as a brilliant burst of chi engulfed them, sweeping them away from their cherished castle in the clouds to the Mortal Realm.
A.N. Thus, the gods are reduced to baby-sitting duty. Yuri and Mai turn out a brilliant performance depicting the "joys" of sisterly bonding. And Miaka needs hormone treatments, while Nuriko and his AHEM "balls" triumph in the face of baka-enduced adversity. What else awaits these brave heroes and heroines in their battle against (or alongside) the infamous Lord Ayashi?! Only time will tell! As for this authoress, I am leaping into bed with a bellow of sheer joy. (Sleep truly becomes me!) Following my brief reminder that Shades of Gray remains neglected, and needs some attention if you wish for this fic to be continued, of course. This will be the last chapter of A Light in the Darkness if Shades does not get reviews SOON!