Again...
A story will be retold once more.
Over and over, with the same beginning each time.
But therein lies an ending with many possible outcomes.
Come and see what could have been.
Eiyou Palace; Evening…
Nakago had made his self useful in ordering soldiers about for the cleanup. He took pride in being able to order around the soldiers of his enemy. When the cleaning at last seemed to be under control he made his way to the Emperor's office to announce his departure.
"Clearly this is a very difficult time for your people and forcing a contract right now is not in our best interest. I'll convince the Emperor of Kutou to allow for more time, with no hard feelings. I was witness to the carnage and a mourning period would be appropriate."
Saihitei agreed, wishing him a safe journey home and good fortune. Nakago bowed deeply before making his exit and heading for the horses his own men had prepared. They would journey both night and day, allowing for a much more speedy arrival back in Kutou. Their priestess needed to return and be taught their summoning ritual. Only 2 of their Seishi remained out of his reach and they were both here within the Konan Palace walls.
Good hearted or no, these unclaimed warriors could not ignore the pull in their chest towards Kutou forever. This is what it meant to be Seiryuu: a pull towards the time and place of summoning was unavoidable and it was drawing nearer. Surely the Amazon woman he spotted and the other woman (though he doubted that person really was a woman and was actually more like an 'it') would both feel the need to head his direction soon enough. He would make sure of it.
Seated upon his horse he waited for Tomo's arrival so that proper instructions could be given to his most faithful servant.
Out of the shadow of a wide oak tree, Tomo's figure melted into view. Silently, he fell in stride next to his master.
"Your orders?" he asked after they had gone a few feet from the palace gates.
"I have two missions for you. They are of an importance I can only leave in your hands." He smiled and nodded to his greatest ally. "First, the Amazon warrior woman... she carries the chi of a Seiryuu Seishi. We must find a way to convince her to join us in Kutou to attempt our summoning. The second mission is to visit the woman called Ji-hime and advise her to do the same. She is a woman… but she isn't. No, she's more of a being. If what I sensed today is correct, she may have absorbed some Suzaku chi; if this goes on unchecked she will die."
He nodded to his 'friend' as their horses began to make their way away from the Konan palace. "Be as the shadows. Let no one know you remained here for me. We are trying to avoid a war until Konan is completely broken. Their summoning may have failed but they can still recover."
He dug his heels into the horse to spur him forward and galloped away. He trusted Tomo to achieve what he requested of him. As of yet, Tomo hadn't let the Shogun down.
Nakago's hair whipped angrily as he sped through the night. The timing had to be right, and there was no greater chance of conquering Konan than now. As the Suzaku celestials mourned the loss of one of their own and the palace was left in ruins created by demons, a surprise attack would be perfect. He had no doubt in his mind that the Emperor of Konan, however young and foolish, would know of Nakago's plans for attack, but there would be nothing Konan could do about it. Taking over Konan should be easy, and Nakago was confident that he did not even need to lead the army for the advance.
Yes, there were other more important matters to attend to. Tomo would go search out the remaining two Seiryuu celestials and the summoning ceremony would take place as soon as possible. He just needed to get his Priestess back...
A plan formed in his mind as he neared the capital.
The Palace Bathhouse
Editor's note: This scene has been altered from its original version. Through much trying and failed attempts, life happens and it has become impossible for all the key writers of this story to complete it as intended. Where does that leave us? With me making some key changes
The original version of this scene involved an extremely well written, intense, yaoi rape of Tasuki by Tamahome. The scene occurred at a stage of the story where I had only just taken over as Miaka in the RPG and it was a story in motion already. Personally, I'm not much of a yaoi fan (with a few exceptions…) and for the sake of my editing and for the remainder of the story that I will eventually have to pen by myself, I am altering the story significantly in this respect.
Please understand that this was not done as an insult to the original authors but as a way of editing the story to make it easier for me to (hopefully) one day finish the story we tried to tell by RPG but were unable to complete.
The sound of boots echoed down the hallway. The halls were dark. Most of the servants and guests had long gone to sleep. There were guards posted at nearly every door, but that was the only inkling left that the massacre of that morning had occurred at all. Under the cover of the near darkness, Sou strode past the Emperor's meeting hall, there were voices murmuring behind the closed doors and it seemed to be the only room whose lamp was still burning brightly at this hour.
Sou continued through the heavily guarded passageways. He was slightly amused by how easily he could slip through at such high alert, but being back here seemed to amplify the screaming in his head. It was a steadily droning accusation laced with guilt and remorse that had conquered Tamahome. It left him an empty shell with a soul that had escaped in favor of fantasies and dreams, but 'Sou' was stronger than him, stronger by far.
He needed horses and he was about to step up to the heavy ironwood door of the stables when he heard a group of guards shout to someone. Their tone was rough and belittling and last he knew there were no other prisoners being held. Tamahome was no dumb kid, and Sou put two and two together.
While he was back at the scene of the crime, why not pay his little murderer friend a kind visit?
From on top of the roof tiles black eyes watched. A feathered head cocked and twisted to keep its target in sight.
Tasuki grumbled as the large group of guards that had dragged him from the jail cell tossed him into the bathhouse with the command to 'Wash your stinking hide.' His shoulder ached from his collision with the concrete and tiled floor of the bathhouse. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the guards thought it was a good idea to leave his hands tied in front of him and let him figure out how to get his clothes off on his own.
He growled as he clumsily untied his pants and let them drop to the floor, the boots had been taken from him before he'd left his cell. His shirt was the problem, aside from having his hands bound, so he pitched a fit and tore it apart, the tatters hanging at his wrists under the ropes that bound his hands. He glared at the blood splattered white pieces of shirt that littered the floor and almost allowed himself a snicker. 'I'll have plenty of rags to wash with,' he thought ruefully, as he snatched one up with a cake of soap that had been left for his use.
He scrubbed furiously at his skin, scraping off the splatters of blood; Nuriko's, the maids he'd been too late to save, and the blood that had transferred from Tamahome's hands and clothes to his own.
He washed and scrubbed at his skin until it was an angry pink then rinsed off in the small bucket of cold water that was left for him. Getting awkwardly to his feet, Tasuki stepped into the bath and sat on a small ledge for just that purpose. He dropped his head back on his neck and closed his eyes, sighing in defeat. He was going to hang for a crime he didn't commit; well, he didn't think he'd committed it anyway...
Was it the voices that made Sou follow? The treacherous things never stopped and he was sure they would drive him insane ('Have they not already?' he wondered) but he followed with a lurking sneer on his lips until he was standing at the bathhouse doors. He placed his hands on the wooden frame and pushed them open.
Tasuki heard the doors open again and slipped off of the ledge and sat at the bottom of the bath, wanting to be left alone in his misery. He couldn't listen to those bastard guards poke at him about his coming death. They took it too far when they mocked what he would look like while he hung. They'd teased him saying that he'd probably cry for his mother in his last moments and loudly speculated over if he would piss himself when they kicked the lever to stretch his neck.
He wanted to block it all out and found a small piece of relief under the water, almost wishing he had the strength and courage to stay there until he drowned. Tasuki climbed back up to the ledge and sat, still battling back and forth over if he had really caused the misery that kept following him, if he was really a murderer or not. He waited for the snide comments and disdainful remarks to come, they always did.
Sou let the door slide shut again on the quiet guards. He didn't speak, just folded his arms across his chest and walked around the tub, eyeing Tasuki with a dark smirk. "Genrou," he cooed, acknowledging him as he came around to the edge where the bandit leaned.
He was dressed in what looked like silk; a loose shirt and fine pants. Something the kind people at the inn had lent him out of mercy. Cold, dark, green eyes refused to budge from their fixed stare. They narrowed in a cruel smile as he circled Tasuki like a shark stalking his prey, looking down from the raised ledge of the tiled floor. "They're letting you clean up?" he asked, finally stopping behind Tasuki, his arms folded.
Tasuki flinched at his voice and slowly turned a haunted glare up to Tamahome. "Yeah. You come to finish what you started earlier?" he asked, gesturing awkwardly to his neck and the ring of hand shaped bruises that adorned it. "If ya had only held on a few more minutes, I'd be outta this mess. Thanks fer th' 'present'."
He turned his back to Tamahome again, staring at his reflection in the water. "They're gonna hang me tomorrow, anyway." He spoke softly, almost wonderingly. Tasuki chuckled at his pathetic reflection, then turned his head to look at Tamahome again. "Guess they figured ya had a good idea an' wanted t'finish the job."
Sou stared at Tasuki, hearing his words but no longer really registering them. He smiled down to the water, kneeling over the ledge and trailing his hands over the ripples on the surface. He really had wished he would get to be the one to finish the job. Why his hands had gone weak was an annoying and irritating question. It made him question if Tamahome was as gone from his body as he intended. No, Tamahome was gone and Tasuki would be gone tomorrow. He could die weeping and pathetic in front of a hundred faceless people all hating him and that was better than anything he could think up to do to him. Well, almost better.
"Does it look like I'm here to finish you off?" he asked the water, scooping up a handful and watching it spill between his fingers. "I'm just here to say good bye."
Tasuki snorted. "Fine. Ya said good bye. See ya next life time." Waving a hand in annoyed dismissal, Tasuki scooted away from Tamahome and fixed his gaze on the small slit of night sky that peeked in through the small steam vents in the ceiling.
A single crow perched on the vent and gazed down on them.
He stared at that small sliver of inky black and said a silent good bye. It was the last night's sky he'd ever see. How ridiculous was that? He was going to miss seeing the end of a day and the thousands of small pinpricks of light that adorned lady nightfall's evening dress. He wished Miaka could be with him to share one last starry sky before he left her.
Would he miss baths too? Would being dead hurt? Would it be a release? He wasn't sure. "Tamahome, you think that bein' dead will hurt?"
Sou twisted a look of horrific confusion over to Tasuki, but not at what he had said. Something idiotic inside of him felt bad -BAD- for the bandit. He closed his eyes and stood up, pushing the guilty feeling aside. Sou gave a short, resentful laugh. "I'm sure it doesn't hurt as much as the dying, but you'll know soon enough."
The hurt expression on Tasuki's face made Sou feel stable again.
"Are you afraid?"
He hoped the answer was yes. Tasuki had every reason to be afraid and he wanted him to feel it thoroughly.
Tasuki shifted again, trying to make sure Tamahome didn't try to drown him in the water if he had a sudden change of heart. "I'm… kinda curious. I ain't afraid of pain or bein' hurt, I guess I just don't wanna give up life just yet. Ya know? I'm only seventeen."
It was sad really, he was barely a man and yet he was going to die. He had hardly lived yet. "So, ya said good bye. What else do ya want?" he asked, curious as to why Tamahome was still there.
"Why? Am I making you nervous?" A hint of a smirk that seemed ever persistent ghosted Sou's lips.
He touched the other man's shoulder with his fingertips, walking his index finger up Tasuki's neck and flicking his ear.
Tasuki raised a brow. "No, not nervous. Just- Hey!" He pushed Sou's hand away with his bound wrists. "What th' hell are ya touchin' me for?"
Sou smirked. His eyes burned into Tasuki's. "Perhaps I should give you a kiss goodbye. You've wanted me for so long now, and it must have hurt to see me off with someone else, didn't it?" He whispered the last bit directly into Tasuki's ear, licking a water droplet from his enemy's neck.
Tasuki flinched back, foot slipping on the ledge as he scrambled to get away. "Now wait a damn minute! I blurted out somethin' I wasn't completely sure of, but ya said no. Leave it at that. 'Sides, I love Mi-chan. I jus' didn't think I had a chance wit' her at the time an' I was confused an'…" He struggled with the words to explain his little outburst and his confused feelings.
Fully dressed, Sou slipped entirely into the bath. He advanced towards his frightened prey and placed a hand on Tasuki's chin. "You love Miaka, the Priestess?" He pulled Tasuki's face close to his own, speaking a feather's distance from the other's lips. "You want to be inside of her." He chose words that he knew would make Tasuki writhe.
"It… it ain't like that! I jus'…"
A devilish smirk curved Sou's lips. He knew now how he could provide Tasuki with the pain he hoped he'd suffer.
"She is pretty, I suppose. For a child, anyway." A dark grin spread over Sou's face. "Since you won't be around to do it, should I be the one to make her into a woman for you? Or shall I leave it to the Emperor?" he asked.
"What in th' hell!" Before he could get out any further protest Sou's hands came down on Tasuki's shoulders and pushed down hard, covering Tasuki up to his hair in water.
Tasuki thrashed around, gripping Tamahome's hand and tugging at it. Air was fast leaving his lungs, and he struggled harder. Desperation drove him to claw at the hand holding him under. He kicked at Tamahome's feet, attempting to knock him over, but soon enough the fight was leaving him. His lungs burned, starving for oxygen.
Sou pulled him back up and, before Tasuki could gulp down a breath of air, Sou clamped his hand over Tasuki's mouth.
Tasuki pushed against Tamahome's chest with bound wrists, leaning his head back as far as he could to break the grip Tamahome had on him. When he managed to get his face away he gasped in a breath. In a raspy growl he snarled at Sou. "What the hell was that for? I thought ya said ya weren't here t' kill me! Ya wanna help me then leggo a me, otherwise leave me t'die!"
"No, Genrou." Sou grabbed him around the neck, enjoying the panic-stricken look he wore. "I want you to suffer like you've made me suffer. I want to know that you are the reason others have been and will continue to be hurt!"
His dark green eyes glinted in the reflection from the water.
"Most of all, I want you to know what I saw. I want you to feel it all for them. Feel the claws ripping into you while you scream in agony, wild beasts throwing you against the stone floor hard enough to crack your skull, watching your insides spill out while you're eaten alive, and all the while praying to a fake god that your hero will save you, your older brother will come crashing through that door any second and save you, save your precious sister. But it never happens!" Tears had started to flow down Sou's cheeks, but he didn't seem to pay them any mind.
"I want you to see them when you sleep and think of them when you're in hell. And I want you to know that the only person who can make the nightmares stop is the person who hates you more than anything in the world."
Sou pushed a hand to Tasuki's chest and pinned him to the edge of the bath, biting the nape of his neck.
Tasuki tried to push away, but he couldn't grip anything very well. His back started to ache pressing against the rim of the tub.
That was the truth behind Tamahome's visit, wasn't it? He wasn't here to say goodbye, apologize for his mistrust, or even to kill his enemy. This was revenge.
Sou's eyes narrowed. The hatred that he had masked came roaring back to life. Blazing bolts of sickened red, tainted with blood, tainted with black essence, swirled around him. His hand tightened around Tasuki's throat, right over the circle of bruises from earlier in the day. He wanted to feel Tasuki's life force drained out of him.
Tasuki felt his eyes go wide as sharp teeth dug deeply into his neck and memories flowed into his mind in a jumble that was interconnected to a flow of images from his own eyes. Images of him telling Miaka he loved her, seeing his horror as Nuriko died to save him, images of the wreck Tamahome had been. His confusion and self distrust as everyone heaped blame on him, surprise and shock filling him when the beasts had called him master, his brief confusion over misplaced feelings for Tamahome, the quiet grief when he realized that Ji could make Tamahome happy, allowing Miaka into his heart at last, seeing her joy when she looked at him. Thousands of images flowed and connected with ones coming from somewhere completely unknown.
Sou hummed as not only Tasuki's life force but his life flowed into him. The bandit now held Tamahome's memories. The horror and the crazed denial, the burning hatred and the not quite love... He easily gave up the horrific images of his children's faces when he found them dead. He drank in the happy moments of Tasuki's life with relish, as if they would replace his own. Tears of all sorts of emotions flowed down both their cheeks and mingled with the salty taste of the blood. Everything flowed like wine in a promised country. He knew of Tamahome's last moments of exaltation before the world came crashing down, the secret exchange of his first time inside a woman's body and the devastating consequences that turned him into what he was now; driving a wedge between the part he called Sou and the part that still belonged to Tamahome.
Tasuki at last understood what Tamahome had become and who had done it to him. It was his fault… and Ji-hime's. His voice returned and he screamed his release, tears of loss wetting his eyes and trailing down his cheeks. "No," he whispered, "No... It's not true." The only things he could see and hear were the echoes of memories still slamming around in his head.
Sou pulled away, leaving what was left for the executioner tomorrow. Not a drop was spilled as he licked his lips, got silently out of the water, and left.
Tasuki was now caught in the last memory gifted -cursed- to him; Tamahome's anger and hurt. He didn't hear a sound as Tamahome, now Sou,left him there to mourn.
He lay on the cold floor, watching the memories replay before his saddened eyes. He didn't know how long he had been laying there when the guards came in to collect him.
Ardou looked down at the crumpled and crying form of his prisoner. It looked as though he'd been overcome by the guilt of his actions. They tried to break the bandit out of it but he remained in a nearly comatose state, muttering quietly to himself. He smirked and gestured to his men to grab Tasuki and drag him through the halls in the exact state he was in.
He'd have preferred that it were the middle of the day so that the display of the broken bandit being dragged through the halls could be witnessed by all of the inhabitants of the palace, but he was happy enough to call a cadence as they marched down the halls.
A mixture of laughter and mocking curses fell on Tasuki's ears, mingling with the horrific images that Sou had given him.
Soft white light from the room below reflected in eager black eyes. Could birds smile? If they could, this one just had. There was a pattering flutter as it took off. The steam rising from the bath house slits swirled with the wind from its wings, and one black, not-quite-crow raced back to its master.