"Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring."
-Chinese Proverb
---–
EARTHQUAKE ROCKS JAPAN 25 May 2002AP- An earthquake measuring 9.7 on the Richter scale shook Japan Thursday morning. The Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo has yet to comment on its lack of warning for this latest tragedy to hit the country. Worst hit is Tokyo, the country's largest city and capital, and thought to be the epicenter for the earthquake. Entire city blocks have crumbled, subway rails have twisted out of recognition, and there is still yet no tally of the deaths this lord of earthquakes has caused. Rescuers work frantically to find the thousands still trapped in the rubble of destroyed buildings. The damages have been estimated to cost in the billions.
See EARTHQUAKE, A2
The blonde girl turned vivid green eyes on the man who handed her the paper.
"What's going on over there?" she asked in a young voice.
"It's got the stink of magic written all over," he said. "And the fact that it actually hit means something has happened to the taiyoukai. I remember, in the great Kanto earthquake back in '23-"
"Skip to the point," she said with a grin. "You reminisce too much."
"Taiyoukai have mastery of at least two elements, besides being able to use true magic. The current earth masters are Tsukikage and Sesshoumaru. And if this is the best they could lessen the quake- if they did at all- they're up against something really powerful."
"Which means that there's somebody else besides her trying to work over there," she said with a sharp look.
"It would seem so. And we've been barred reentry to the country. I don't think he thought things would get this bad," the man said, running long fingers through short sandy-colored hair.
"I want to go home. We have to help."
"We can't, kiddo. He's tied us to this city pretty well. And we're both far too lacking in training to be able to free ourselves of the chains he put on us." He pulled on her long braid, the closest physical representation of their invisible bonds.
"For our own safety my tail," she said crossly, twisting her head quickly and snapping her hair out of his hands. "We need to go back, I don't care how much he wants to play with her before destroying her. This is way beyond the means of the deal."
"And don't I know it. But I also know my father well enough that he won't call off the deal for this. He's powerful enough to handle her on his own, and has too great a sense of pride to admit he's in over his head, judging by this earthquake."
"It has to involve the other taiyoukai as well," she said. "What is there powerful enough to keep all four too busy to keep magical attacks from bleeding over into the human world?"
He frowned, concentrating on the ceiling. "Nothing that I know of. Even the dragons would be hard pressed to pose a dangerous threat to the control of the taiyoukai, and they're too lacking in numbers and at odds with each other to do anything if they wanted to."
"Do you suppose the cursed jewel got reborn into another body again? It's been almost a century since the last one."
"I don't have any news of the Meirin family. That's strictly his business, not mine."
"And since when has that stopped people like us?" she asked with a grin.
"When he's powerful enough to kill you with a thought, and it's a subject he would kill over," he said, frowning at his daughter.
"We need to get back to Japan. Any master magicians in the area?"
"Unfortunately, no. Why do you think he asked us to stay here? The area does need someone, and traveling magic-users such as ourselves are always in need of a place to stay for a bit."
"It's been decades though. Someone should have permanently set up shop by now."
"Not if he told them not to. And you know he would."
"Sometimes, he really pisses me off."
"I don't think there's anyone Yoko hasn't pissed off at one time or other."
-- Midday, May 23, Niigata, Japan --
Chame hummed cheerfully to herself as Inu-Yasha glowered at her, a silent battle of wills as to who would break first. Kagome concentrated on projecting warmth towards the finally broken wolf pup sniffling into her shirt.
She hadn't liked that shirt anyway.
Good humor reasserted itself, and Kagome smiled at the barren landscape, dual vision reestablishing itself and showing her a lush farm and blue lake, and a spluttering little redhead treading water, gaping at something behind Kagome.
Happy memories for some, here. Mischa didn't seem to miss the place much.
Chame's tune changed from nonsensical humming to an American jingle Souta had picked up and used constantly until their mother stopped buying snack food. Souta had stopped once the supply ran out. He wasn't stupid.
'It's a Small World After All' lost its fun quality if you ran out of pocky and you had no allowance.
Inu-Yasha didn't have that threat to hold over Chame, and Kagome thought it likely the cheery, cheeky kit would simply switch to a new song if bargained improperly with. 'The Song That Doesn't End' came to mind.
She was snapped out of her thoughts as Chame's humming stopped suddenly and she stared off into the distance. Kagome opened her mouth to ask what she sensed, when Fukii stiffened, hands digging further into her shirt, and curling up tighter into the safety the miko provided.
"What's the matter?" Kagome asked, trying to subtly loosen the redhead's hands. Fukii's claws were tearing holes in her shirt and pressing into her skin, and it wouldn't be long before she drew blood.
And then she could sense something coming. And judging by the way Inu-Yasha flattened his ears back and started growling, he could sense it too.
A huge barrage of magic slammed into Fukii, sending Kagome toppling over. The ground shuddered beneath them, making the ash and dirt ripple like water. Chame ducked her head down and under her arms in an instinctive motion to protect herself from rubble that would be falling had they still been in cramped Tokyo. Inu-Yasha leaned backwards, supporting himself on his hands, too proud to give up total control and just lay and wait for the quaking to end.
Once the tremors stopped, the four slowly stood up, dusting themselves off.
"What the fuck was that?" Inu-Yasha said, glaring at Fukii- the seeming target of the attack.
She shook her head, red locks flying, and a glint of something green caught the sharper-eyed hanyou and kitsune's eyes.
Chame made it to Fukii first, and tugged the taller youkai down to eye level, her small hands brushing away Fukii's red-orange bangs to reveal a green leaf tattooed into the girl's forehead.
"The heir," Inu-Yasha said in a somewhat astonished tone.
It was what Kouga and Mikomi had been shooting for- who would expect the secondary heir to be someone who hadn't reached her majority?
Chame's features went still, eyes darkening, and she looked old. "Kouga-sama is dead then," she said solemnly, fingers tracing the marking.
Fukii's eyes lost some of the life they had gained, but they remained dry.
"I need to go see-" she started hesitantly.
"We all need to get back. This changes things," Inu-Yasha said, cutting Fukii's request mercifully short. Go see the taiyoukai about the fact they now had proof of Kouga's death. He didn't feel like watching a third set of waterworks. Nor did he think Fukii's pride would take another crying session very well. One, he would admit, was healing. Two was being a big baby.
"Could someone explain please?" Kagome whined.
"Grandfather named me his heir," Fukii snapped out. "Only on very rare occasions will an heir name their own heir. Usually the taiyoukai has a list of successors, but only one true heir. The heir naming their own heir is meant for emergencies where someone knows the entire list, and the secondary heir can't be on it. It's a safety precaution. The fact that the power of the North just slammed into me like an elephant means that Tsukikage-sama died and her power went to Kouga-sama. And he just died." She stalked off in the direction she had come, scratching her forehead furiously.
As they trotted after the wolf youkai, Kagome could easily see the family resemblance. Stalking off with waiting for apologies or explanations, and a lecture voice that could ice over the sun. If the mood had been different, she would have giggled over the fact that it was likely from the younger-looking Fukii that Mischa had learned it from.
As it was, she could lift her spirits high enough to even pretend to smile. Something far more powerful than what now resided in Fukii was coming, and she knew instinctively it wasn't friendly.
-- Maebashi, Japan --
Souta found himself raised a good two feet in the air, staring down a pullover-clad arm into angry dark red eyes.
"What the fuck did you think you were doing?" the man asked.
"Were you trying to kill us all?" The other man looked calmer, except for the same angry eyes.
"There was something human," Souta said, still not sure what he had been doing himself.
"Yeah," the one holding him up said. "You."
"No, my element's air," Souta argued. "That wasn't. It felt more like-" Souta stopped. It felt more like Mischa. He shivered. The dragons mistook the faint sense of fear to be for them.
"Earth?" The calmer one said.
Souta nodded. It wasn't a lie- Mischa had said she had earth magic. And if in their escape from the holding cell, he, the air user, was sent to the waking world and freedom, it made sense that Mischa, the untrained earth elementalist and his opposite, was sent in the opposite direction- further captivity.
"Put him down, Jiro," Ayame said, tapping her fist on her brother's back. "He has absolutely no idea what could have happened, and since it didn't, there isn't a problem."
"That was your freebie, human." The dragon opened his fist, releasing Souta's shirt, and Souta landed gracefully on his feet, to the disappointment of the elder two dragons. Ayame sighed in annoyance when Souta glowered up at the dragons cornering him.
"Grow up," she snapped at the trio.
The three turned their heads to the girl. Souta gave her a sheepish grin. Jiro glowered. The third- Ichiro- simply shook his head in mock annoyance.
"Aya-chan, you should not order your elders about so."
"We deserve your respect and obedience, not your impertinence," Jiro added in, looking down his nose pointedly, expression ruined by the smirk playing across his lips.
"Whatever," she said with a snort.
The reply was cut off as all three dragons stared at the cliff face in horror.
Souta turned around slowly.
The dragon entombed in the mountain was moving. He was still asleep, but moving all the same.
"An air elementalist, especially a human, couldn't cause that," Ayame said quickly, before her brothers could get angry with the teenager again.
"There's something else in there," Jiro said.
"And it is drawing all the magic in the area to it," Ichiro said.
"I don't feel any pull," Souta said, eyes transfixed by the sight of the dragon.
Both men turned suspicious gazes on Souta.
"You don't feel it?" the two asked in unison.
"Not a pull," Souta said. "But I can feel something in there."
The two exchanged worried glances while Ayame frowned at her friend.
Simultaneously, Ichiro silently commanded the mountain to move and Jiro summoned a wind to blast through the mountain. Or at least tried to. When their magic hit the mountain, the energy twisted as something else came in contact with it, and the power went dormant, nestling behind the cliff face with the rest of the energies being drawn in.
"Oh fuck," Jiro said.
"Who did he capture and why didn't he notice their abilities?" Ichiro continued.
"What's going on?" Ayame asked waspishly, annoyed to not understand what her brothers were talking about. Souta sympathized completely.
"Every so often," the kimono-clad dragon explained, "Father runs across someone he needs alive, but not for very long. As the taiyoukai reinforce the seal here religiously, it is an excellent location to put a soul and its powers until it is needed to draw upon."
"Except he fucking didn't realize whoever he captured can manipulate youki," Jiro continued. "And not only can he manipulate youki, it looks like he can steal it as well. If we're lucky, he won't tap into the seal before letting all hell loose to try and escape."
"What would happen then?" Souta asked.
Jiro gave him a feral grin. "You'll be wishing Ayame had let us eat you."
"Because Ryukotsusei will be fully awakened and pissed beyond all reason," Ichiro clarified.
The ground beneath them shuddered.
Ayame looked worriedly south. "And something like that will happen."
"What the hell was that?" Souta asked as the tremors stopped. The dragons ignored him.
"Not pleased at all," Ichiro said, shuddering slightly.
"Should we wait around and pray he isn't coming here or do we make tracks west?" Jiro asked.
"I do not think he has noticed our defection yet. We should wait for Saburo."
Souta looked pleadingly at Ayame to explain. She shook her head, indicating that this wasn't the time.
"We can't wait forever," Ayame said.
"We have waited your entire life, Aya-chan, a few more days- or hours- will not hurt," Ichiro said.
"Because if you think we'll let dear old uncle Ryu continue controlling Father, you're sadly mistaken," Jiro said with a snarl.
Souta decided that he was safer not knowing. Because they still might be hungry, and if he asked a few too many impertinent questions, he might find himself being a midday snack.
And he was too fond of living to cause that to happen on purpose.
-- Tokyo, Japan --
Yoshi had spent almost thirty years living in Tokyo. This was the first time the ground rippled like water. And it was the first time he had seen parked cars bob like ducks at a shooting arcade. The cigarette fell out of his mouth.
He had been through earthquakes before. This wasn't one. And if the angry surge of youki that swept through the sky northwards was any sign, this was only the beginning of trouble.
The street continued to ripple beneath his feet.
And above him, the massive skyscrapers continued to creak dangerously, even as their shattered windows rained glass down upon him, only to be swept away by the tempest of wind circling him.
"This would happen while the taiyoukai are tied up in defending their titles from a power-mad dragon," he said, annoyed, glaring up into the sky at the towering buildings.
One's support beams finally gave out, not up to the increasing pressure of the earthquake still shaking the entire island.
"Not around me, you're not." Sharp winds sliced through cement like it was hot butter, turning the falling rubble into so much ash that it seemed a late snowfall. Bodies continued to fall, only to be cushioned by warm gusts of air as they neared their impending death by high impact collision with hard pavement. Most were unconscious, and Yoshi didn't care about an open show of his powers. Things would be so hectic and confused that they would believe themselves delusional. Or that it was a miracle.
But he was no god, only one air master trying to protect the city he called home.
He could only hope that the other elementalists and youkai scattered throughout the city would keep their heads about them as well. If the taiyoukai couldn't prevent the destruction, it would be up to them to prevent the entire city from falling into the sea.
He could only hope the outcome of the impending fight with the dragon that had caused this would be worth the price that was being paid.
"So young to have to do such a terrible thing to the one you love."
He shook his head to clear the unwanted memory from his mind, too tied up in controlling the fierce winds to wonder why he was recalling her words.
Around him, as buildings gave up their ability to stand, skyscrapers shattered into ash, and residents of the buildings piled.
Across the city, fire, air, earth, and water each found ways to lessen the destruction. And the few true magicians worked to stop the earthquake from collapsing the entire southern starboard of the island into the raging sea. And only one thing ran through their minds.
Where were the lords, and why had they given up their responsibility of keeping magic from causing wide-scale destruction?
And only one sweaty, quickly exhausting air master knew the answer. They were battling to the death, for control of the entire magical world.
All because one son had not been content with his lot in life and tried to conquer the world through lies, assassination, and stolen power. And it was happening again.
Yoshi was breathing in more dust than air, but it didn't matter. The moment his magic had awakened for the first time, he hadn't needed to breathe to survive. It was just habit. But the unconscious bodies of innocents slowly falling around him, they did.
One last expenditure of power, and he would be completely spent. The winds that circled the mile around him sped up, circling faster as they gathered the dust and rubble into one whirling earth tornado, and sped towards the sea, safely dumping its cargo into the water.
Save for one cheery little breeze that caught the exhausted master as he crumpled to the ground. The breeze thrummed power through him, and the unconscious man disappeared in a puff of pale lavender smoke.
-- Niigata, Japan --
Dragon flight, no matter how improbable it was for a wingless creature to fly, was remarkably fast. There were a great deal of things faster than it, but they were celestial bodies and not as bound to the rules of magic set by the earth.
Magic stated anything could travel faster than the speed of light, but only if they were willing to expend a great deal of power in doing so. So the ability that all living things held the possibility of was rarely used, apart from dire emergencies and acts of gods.
This was neither, but he had stolen enough power over the years for the price to be small change compared to what it would cost others. For the weak, the price was their life once their task was completed. Thus why it was an ability of the last resort.
And so it was mere minutes that were all that had lain between Tokyo and Niigata for the powerful dragon, instead of the usual hours.
He reached the taiyoukai just before Kagome did.
He could almost hear the collective "Oh fuck" that ran through all of their minds as they finally noticed the serpentine figure in the sky.
By then, however, it was too late.
-----
Flames so hot they were blue rained down upon the entire area. The air was thick with the amount of magic the dragon had poured into the flames, ensuring that it wouldn't be just fire that would kill those standing below.
Yoko appeared startled as a gold shield suddenly encapsulated him as the flames entered his danger zone, but he grinned mischievously upwards and gave the irate dragon a finger before the sphere closed around him and hid him from sight.
Sesshoumaru crossed his arms over his chest and disappeared behind a curtain of blue flame.
Hizashi made no move to counter the fire that hit her, and Kagome bit back a scream as the youngest of the taiyoukai caught fire.
Kagome held her hand up and a pink shield circled around her and the three demons she stood with. The flames and magic bounced off harmlessly towards other, more susceptible targets.
The magically endowed flames disappeared as they hit Matsuro, vanishing away into the youki sink that he had been made into. The actual flames themselves left no marks on the fire elementalist, and coalesced into a small glowing blue ball in his hand that he tossed back at the dragon in an irritated manner. Some of the dragon's beard caught fire, but it quickly was put out.
Mischa crossed her arms in front of her face and bowed her head as fire coursed down her body and deep into the ground at her feet, sending a mushroom of earth into the sky. Her skin turned into an ugly shade of red and large welts rose up across her exposed skin.
The magic and flames finally decreased, vanishing into the handsome redhead's body and disappearing down the energy sink that was a part of him. Kagome spared a moment to wonder what had happened to him and how much magic could be stolen before it became over saturated and exploded.
Sesshoumaru stood unharmed, as did Yoko once he remembered to drop the gold shield that hid him from view. Hizashi's flaming form disappeared into ash. There was no time to question the action.
The pink shield around the four dropped, and Inu-Yasha quickly had Tetsusaiga out, yelling at the sky-bound dragon to come down and fight like a man. Fukii sent two shuriken spinning skyward that clinked uselessly off the dragon's scales. Kagome summoned her bow, and drew back a glowing arrow. Chame crossed her arms over her chest as she studied the serpentine shape hovering above the wide, lifeless field.
Mischa, far too used to pain, barely felt the burns of fire and overexposure to magic that covered most of her body. Amber light flared brighter, and the taiyoukai realized she had instinctively grounded herself in her element and acted as a conduit for the huge amounts of magic the dragon had thrown into the assault. The side effect was that there was now a great deal more earth magic present than there had been, but as it was still demonic in nature, the young woman couldn't touch it. They, however, could use the dragon's own magic against him.
Before they could however, the dragon's form wavered, as if they were seeing it in the reflection of water, and it slowly pulled itself apart into two complete, slightly smaller forms. And then again.
Before long, the sky was filled with relatively normal-sized dragons. As one, they landed on the ground and shifted into more human forms. A dozen identical green-and-gray haired men stood interspersed between the others.
Kagome let her arrow fly in a silent signal to let the real fight begin.