Author Notes: This is a work of fiction, written by Appaku and Alicia (alithealligator). Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yuu Watase.
Fighting off the other three guards did not require much more effort once fire power was involved, and the remaining attacks were easily defeated. The three men quickly ran to the side of the cliff to see if they could catch any glimpse of Miaka, but the evening mist was too thick. "Damn it," Tamahome cursed himself. "How could I have been so stupid as to let that happen?"
"Wherever she is, there's not a scratch on her," offered Tasuki, though he too felt irritated at Tamahome for pushing her over the edge. "I don't feel a thing, so she landed softly. If she landed, anyway. She could still be falling."
"That's really not funny."
"It can't go down that far," Kouji looked down, but the slightly foggy night air made it even harder to tell where the end of the cliff might have been. "There's probably some way to get down safety, or we could just do it the easy way."
"We're not all as lucky as Miaka, you know."
Miaka, in fact, was very lucky. Her rescuer in white had shielded her from any terrible impact she might have gotten, and he had been able to kick off the sides of boulders enough to break their fall into several smaller spurts. The rescuer was not as lucky, though, because even after a display like that, he had gotten his share of bruises and a twisted ankle. "Are you alright?" he asked her.
"That was amazing, Hotohori."
"So you can tell it's me?" She could tell he was smiling from behind the white garb.
"Why are you wearing that, huh?" she wondered aloud. "Cheap disguise? Or… oh no! It can't be…!"
"What, Miaka?"
"Did something happen to your face?"
"Ha, no," he laughed a bit and unwrapped the top so she could see that his face was still blemish-free. Even with such little light available to see with, he seemed to glow. "Are you relieved?"
"Knowing you, yes," answered she.
"I was wearing it to keep from drawing attention to myself, what with all the bounties being posted on us. I thought it would be better than just leaving my face out in the open."
How typical of him to think of that, she thought. He had even gone so far as to put his hair up into a tight bun on the top of his head. It was the first time she had seen him looking so regal since she had her first adventure in the Universe of the Four Gods. "You didn't go back to Sairou?"
"Of course not," he replied. "I couldn't leave, especially knowing that you'd likely be looking for me. I gathered that everyone had been split up by the time the battles ended."
"You've been missing for two months. Have you been incognito this entire time?"
"Only for most of it."
"And no one noticed the mysterious man covered in white?"
"That's not the issue here, Miaka."
"No, it's not! Don't you know how worried Houki and everyone else in Sairou probably is about you? I had hoped so much that you had gone back… because I didn't want to think that… I didn't want to be worried about you too, Hotohori, but I was!"
He didn't say anything to that immediately, as he noticed her eyes were swelling with tears. Instead, he leaned forward and softly kissed her forehead, then murmured, "I was even more worried about you."
Oh no! Please don't still be in love with me! shot through her mind as some blood rushed to her face. I'm with Tamahome!
"I should see where we are," he pushed himself to his feet, but hobbled ungracefully as he tried to put weight on his left foot. She was quick to be at his side and support him, insisting that he not push it.
"Tamahome will be here soon, it's alright," she said. "It's okay not to go anywhere just yet."
The rest of the castle had very quickly been alerted to the attack. Nakago came running, especially when he felt Yui's life force close to where it had occurred. On his way to investigate, he found Suboshi leading her away, so he approached and put a defensive arm around Yui's shoulders before looking up to meet eyes with the youth. "Go to the source and stop it," he commanded, which Suboshi didn't take a moment to argue with before jumping back into the flames. It would have been a simple matter for Nakago to lead her to safety, if only the hall he had taken had not just been hit with a similar attack. With Yui there, there was not much he could do that wouldn't endanger her. Even though it hardly seemed like the appropriate time, he asked her if she was alright.
"Nakago," she looked back fearfully. "Please, get me out of here!"
"I can't," he looked around. "The flames are on both sides."
"Then I'll wish for Seiryuu to make them stop!"
"Don't!" he changed his tone and turned her so that she couldn't look away from him. "Don't waste a wish like that. I'll be able to stop this all if you wish to make me god."
Even amidst the flames, time seemed to stop for a moment in Yui's mind. "A… god?"
"Despite being a celestial warrior, I am merely human. I can't get you out of this unharmed." As he spoke, a few sparks hit his arm, causing him to flinch. "If I am a god, I can rescue you and put a stop to what is causing this. Seiryuu will not do that unless you make him do so, and then it will waste your wishes."
"But… a god… that's…"
"Hurry, Lady Yui," he urged her, still looking around for a way out just in case she wouldn't.
Behind the start of the flames, Suboshi found a group of about ten men with their arms full of weapons, including items to start large fires. "Hurry and find general Nakago!" they yelled to each other. "Take him down."
"Arson," Suboshi thought aloud as he observed them. That was what had destroyed the way of life he knew when he was still very young. Fire, violent men, hatred, weapons, fire, fire, fire!
The men did not have much time between when they saw him and when they were senselessly torn apart by meteor balls.
The group who planed this was not limited to those men. A larger group of them was running at the other end of the where the fires had spread, strategically headed for the main palace to take off the new emperor's head.
Said emperor appeared before them, floating in a ball of pale blue light. His form was hard to distinguish at first, as it was radiant even against the flames. They were started to notice that his feet were not touching the ground, and in his arms, Yui hung limply. Like ice, Nakago stared back at them. "What is the meaning of this?
A couple of the men reacted in fright and turned to run, but small balls of light followed them and quickly struck them down, burning their corpses faster than the fire otherwise would have done. Others hesitated, especially having watched the fate their comrades met, but the one in front stood his ground. "We will never have a Hin on the throne!"
With a loud shout, he restored confidence in his remaining comrades, who all charged with him just as loudly and raised swords, axes, picks, or torches. This meant nothing, as they were charging against a mere emperor, but a god. In not so much as a glimpse from Nakago, they were obliterated.
Well then… what next?
Ah, yes. The flames. Those would have to be put out before they caused any more damage. Nakago merely willed it, and the flames smoked themselves out all throughout the castle. Were there any guerrillas still left?
His consciousness floated around the area, allowing him to have a window into each of the other the other rooms and halls. There he found Suboshi's handiwork, as well as Suboshi himself.
He was in a spare room, holding a body that looked much like his own. With his godly knowledge, Nakago understood that this was his twin who was actually a Suzaku warrior, but was supposed to have given that up to stay in Kutou, but had been killed in the attack. Suboshi held his half-crushed body and screamed in anguish, but any human standing where Nakago was would not have been able to hear him clearly from so far away. Testing his godly powers further, he was able to catch glimpses of what Suboshi was thinking.
I abandoned you after all-- why did you leave me again -- I'll kill them, I'll kill them all! --how could you leave like this, abandon me? -- it's my fault, if only I had come back -- Brother, forgive me!
No sense in dwelling on an inconsolable youth. Nakago quickly tried to avoid hearing anything else out of him. With out using any godly powers, he looked down to his priestess. Or rather, the priestess of the god he could feel burning within her. She looked completely exhausted, and now that he was coming off the initial rush of godliness, he too was starting to feel like he couldn't stand up, as if he needed more time to digest this power down to something he felt more comfortable using.
In Konan, Doukun felt a strange chill. It was similar to how it felt when Tomo and Ashitare died, but this made him feel more nervous. More threatened. Was something happening in Kutou?
"Is something wrong?" Rokou asked, having noticed the quick gasp he had a moment earlier. "You look ill."
"I'm alright, thank you," he replied, then put his thoughts back to where they had been before. His research had turned out to be showing him information that he wished wasn't true. For the moment, he had no way to know if it was true or not, but the possibilities it presented made him nervous. "Please summon another messenger. I need to write another letter immediately."
The boy quickly left the room, and when Rokou felt it was safe, he motioned for an inconspicuous servant to come to his side so he could pass him a letter of his own writing. The servant nodded, and dashed out to an assigned meeting place. Chuuei was waiting there, relieved to see that the other servant made it and had still not been discovered. They quickly made the exchange, and Chuuei dutifully ran back to Nuriko's intricate cave just outside the capital.
Nuriko opened the folds as Chuuei caught his breath. "Chichiri!" he yelled as he read, causing all the other people in the cave (mostly elderly officials who might have been prone to heart attacks) to jump. "They've captured Chichiri, and he's being held in the imperial prison," he turned to his servant, "We have to hurry and help!"
"Does the letter say that part?"
"Of course it doesn't," he tossed it over his shoulder. "Let's get looking for Miaka."
"All we know is that they're somewhere east of here," replied the boy, "how would we know where to find them?"
"Well," the prince thought for a moment, "I'll feel them in my gut, how about that?" Of course the elderly officials tried to persuade Nuriko not to leave, but they were wise enough to know when to quit. Thus, the two of them headed out on blind feelings and instincts.
"It's gotten a lot darker," Miaka pointed out. Tamahome and the others still had not made it down, but she didn't mind staying with Hotohori.
"Indeed," he replied. Fortunately, as a seasoned traveler, he was prepared with a few dry snacks (and enough endurance to let Miaka have some of his share). They stayed against the base of the cliff and looked up at the sky. The night air had cleared up considerably, so they could see glittering stars.
"Oh, there's your constellation," she pointed. "It's funny, even knowing about you all, I've barely taken any time to look at any of the stars."
"You've been busy, no one can blame you," he replied, "too bad neither of us knows how to interpret their arrangement."
"Well, the Tamahome constellation is pretty close. Maybe that means he's almost here."
"Or it could mean he's close in other ways."
She stopped and looked at him, completely red. "How did you know?"
"I didn't actually mean it like that," he said back, also a little flustered to have been so correct. "So then… you love Tamahome, don't you?"
"Yes," she frowned and averted her glance. "I'm sorry… I mean, well… if I have anything to make you feel bad about."
"No, Miaka. You shouldn't apologize for loving anyone."
They paused, and as if he was feeling too awkward, Hotohori stood up and supported himself with the rock face to walk a few steps away from her. His figure was silhouetted by what little moonlight there was. "The truth is, Miaka… I was in love with you from the start."
I'm sorry, Hotohori.
"I wanted to protect you not only because you were my priestess, but because I could simply be a man around you, and not just someone who could be the emperor. I had hoped before that I could make you my bride after all this was over."
I know, and I'm sorry.
"I realize now how selfish it was of me to think that I could try to be the only one to protect you, and also how selfish it would be of me to try to focus on making you love me back when I have an entire… no, two countries to be concerned about. I already decided not to force this on you. I'm simply relieved that you're safe, and that I may fight at your side again. Please… just allow me to love you still."