Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Generation - Part 28

Disclaimer: Yuu Watase owns Fushigi Yuugi. I own all the original characters. Don't steal them.

Author's Note: Still in Konan. I wanted to have some fun with Hono'o. Who do you think that mysterious stranger was? I've got more tricks up my sleeve before I'm done. Anyway, it should be apparent to anyone out there that I watch a lot of anime. I have a lot of different influences running through this story. It's a lot of fun. Some might be wondering why is it taking so long for them to get back to Eiyou. It's because they need to find all the seishi first. Fate is predestined to help locate the last seishi who was finally introduced. There are spoilers from the TV series and some analysis of the series. I have now seen most of the series. ^_^

Mariko was having that recurring dream again. The one where she was being devoured. Mariko knew about the three wishes and the devouring. She was certain that the other mikos didn't know about that. Mariko knew that the trick to the wishes was that the miko was automatically sent home after the wishes are made. There was no need to wish to go home. That was the fatal mistake the last Genbu no Miko made. Also, her will wasn't strong enough. Yui almost had the same fate. Mariko's fear was getting worse with each passing day. Mariko had thought about it. Why was it that the mikos always had to be girls from another world? It was because the gods didn't want to devour native people of their world. They would rather devour others from another world. Something inside Mariko told her that. In any case, it was time to wake up.

Hono'o had come home late the prior evening. She was soaking wet. She gave no coherent explanation as to why. All she said was that it was some jackass' fault. Hono'o looked mad, and so everyone steered clear of her. To top it off, Hono'o had a very bad night. She had the dream where Zhenyou was attacking her again. Hono'o woke up to see if her powers were back. She tried, but nothing happened. In fact, she felt even weaker. This was after almost a full night's worth of sleep. Hono'o had the bad feeling that things were just going to get worse.

Sei and Odayaka had made preparations to continue onward to Eiyou. They were a day away from the capital. The Kou family was sad to see Hono'o go back to Eiyou so soon. Aidou gave Hono'o a log of wood with a silk ribbon tied around it with a note attached. Hono'o gave her aunt a weird look, but shrugged her shoulders.

"What's that log for, Hono'o?" asked Kawa.

"Don't ask. Believe you don't want to know," answered Hono'o. They all rode to back to the capital of Eiyou.

* * *

Shiro had planned to go back home to Mt. Leikaku last night, but the ungrateful redheaded girl sidetracked him. He was so close to home when he came to the girl's aid. He was traveling by horseback when he decided to stop for a little while on the road. A group of people rode past him. There were seven of them total including the redheaded girl. He smirked. 'How could some with a disposition like that have friends?' thought Shiro. He noticed that the group was going towards the capital.

'Hmm. I've never been to the capital of Konan. All my traveling, and I've never been there,' thought Shiro. He looked back at where Mt. Leikaku was. He looked the other way at the road where the group had just went through. For some strange reason, he felt like he was being pulled towards the capital.

"Oh well! I can go home after I visit the capital. There's bound to be some kind of fight competition over there," said Shiro out loud. He got back on his horse and took off for the capital city of Konan.

* * *

They finally reached the palace late evening. Actually it was early morning. Shitsu, Kawa, and Taki marveled at the very beautiful place. Kawa and Taki still had no idea that Odayaka was the Emperor of Konan. They assumed that since they were seishi, it wasn't a problem for the Emperor if they stayed for a little while. Odayaka garnered the silence of Mariko, Sei, and Shitsu. He didn't want to say he was Emperor just yet. Shitsu realized, like Mariko and Sei, that she forgot that he was Emperor.

Hono'o had gone to sleep in one of the chambers in the palace. It seemed like a good idea. Mariko insisted because she was worried Hono'o. She wanted to keep an eye on her. It was too late to make her go to her family's house even though it was so close by. Hono'o wanted to avoid the scrutinizing gaze of her father a little while longer. She had decided to see Miss Zhang the first thing in the morning. Maybe, Miss Zhang knew what to do. Otherwise she was in trouble.

Mariko woke up the next morning breathing deeply. There was a real burning sensation emitting from her chest. Mariko clutched her hand against her heart. 'Those dreams seem so real. Why is this burning coming from my chest? I wonder if this is how my mother felt when they got close to summoning Suzaku. Wait, how can I feel like I'm being devoured if I haven't even summon him yet?' mused Mariko. She wasn't getting much sleep these days. It was time for some Tai Chi. Sei, Shitsu, and Taki were still asleep. Odayaka and Kawa were early raisers like Mariko. The three of them meet for breakfast.

"Morning Odayaka. Morning Kawa," greeted Mariko with a slight smile.

"Good Morning, Mariko," said Kawa.

"It's a nice day today," said Odayaka.

They all sat down to eat breakfast. Kawa mentioned that she was worried about finding the last seishi. Odayaka said that with the shinzahou it shouldn't be a problem locating the last seishi. Mariko said that she would be using the shinzahou later that day.

"I'll use it when everyone is up and about. Sei can sleep in half the day if you give him the chance to. Hono'o should be up soon," said Mariko.

"Um. Mariko. Hono'o was up at the crack of dawn. She went off somewhere by herself. I saw her as I was getting up to go to the bath this morning. She got out so quickly that I didn't have time to ask where she was going," said Kawa.

Mariko's eyes showed concern in them. 'There's something wrong with her. I can feel it. I just can't figure out what it is,' thought Mariko.

"Speaking of Hono'o, don't you think she's been acting strange lately? It's like she's on edge about something. She gets even madder when someone sneaks up on her. Hono'o is usually more patient than that. It's like her fuse got shorter or something," observed Odayaka.

"I'll talk to her later," said Mariko.

They all heard someone open the door from behind them. Tasuki and Chichiri's jaws dropped.

"Hi Tasuki. Hi Chichiri," said Mariko with a smile. It was good to see them.

"What is it Chichiri-sensei? Lord Tasuki?" asked Odayaka.

"You're here! When did you get back? And who is this?" asked Tasuki. The two of them weren't expecting them.

"We got back late last night. We didn't make much of a fuss. Now, if you would excuse me I have to get ready for a meeting," said Odayaka as he got up from the table and left the room.

When he left the room, Chichiri and Tasuki looked at Mariko expectantly.

"What? Oh! You want to know who this is. This is Kawa. She is the fifth seishi. Her powers are protective shielding," said Mariko as she gestured at Kawa.

"Hello," said Kawa as she waved at them.

"Where are the other seishi? Where's Hono'o?" asked Tasuki.

"We've only got six seishi so far. Hono'o went off somewhere. We don't know. She should be coming back here," said Mariko. She felt like Tasuki was interrogating her. Tasuki growled slightly. His own daughter wasn't there. Where could she have gone?

"We needed to come back here. The shinzahou kept saying that the seventh seishi was nearby. At first it said that Shiro was near Mt. Leikaku, but that was a dead end. We decided to come here," Kawa informed them.

"Who are the other seishi, no da?" asked Chichiri.

"There's Shitsu. She's the fourth seishi. She's an earth witch. Shitsu was the weapons maker that Odayaka was looking for to make Sei's sword. The Mt. Leikaku Bandits were kind enough to direct us to her. Actually, it was Kouji who said where to find her. Then, we found Kawa. Next we found Taki. His powers are superhuman strength. Taki's home village is Hakko," said Mariko summing things up as quickly as possible.

"What about the last seishi?" asked Tasuki.

"The shinzahou told us that the last seishi was at the base of Mt. Leikaku, but that was a bust. We'll have to use it again," answered Mariko.

"Mariko said that we should come back here. She plans on using the shinzahou to locate the last seishi using all of our powers," in tone Kawa.

"We'll have to wait for everyone to wake up or come back," said Mariko.

* * *

Hono'o was now in front of Miss Zhang's house. The air was damp. There had been a mist of heavy fog all morning. Hono'o was still tired, but she had no choice. It didn't matter the amount of rest that she had. Her powers were gone. It was nothing like the time when Yui sealed off the last seishi's powers. It was different Hono'o was getting weaker as time passed.

Hono'o knocked at Miss Zhang's door. "Miss Zhang? Miss Zhang? Are you there?" called Hono'o in a soft voice. There was no answer. Hono'o opened the door with a little push. She gasped at what she saw.

There was blood everywhere. Hono'o started to shake as she walked around. The place wasn't ransacked. It looked like Miss Zhang was suddenly attacked. Hono'o had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"NO!" she cried as she clamped her hands over her ears.

'Zhenyou. He must have attacked her. She was the first person to know that I was a seishi. He must have killed her,' thought Hono'o frantically.

She looked for Miss Zhang's body, but she couldn't find her. There was so much blood. Hono'o realized that the blood was fresh. It was still wet. The attack had to be recent, but there was no way of knowing when the attack actually occurred.

Hono'o took off running for the palace. She past people in the street. Hono'o knocked some people flat on their backs. She ran up the palace steps. Hono'o didn't know who she was looking for. She had her cloak hood on, but tore it off when she got inside the palace.

"It's good to see that most of the seishi are assembled, no da," said Chichiri. Tasuki nodded in agreement. They both were surprised when someone ran past them. Tasuki realized it was Hono'o. Chichiri and Tasuki took off after her.

Hono'o ran until she saw Mariko standing in the hall. Mariko turned around to see Hono'o. Mariko saw that she was upset about something, and held out her arms for Hono'o. Hono'o collapsed into Mariko's arms. Mariko was whispering soothing things to Hono'o.

"What happened, Hono'o?" asked Mariko softly. Tasuki and Chichiri had caught up with her. Tasuki was about to step forward to do something, but Chichiri placed his staff in Tasuki's way.

"What the Hell, Chichiri?" asked Tasuki in a tone of disbelief.

"Leave them be for a little bit, no da," whispered Chichiri. Tasuki stepped back with a scowl. There was something wrong with his baby girl, and he wasn't allowed to fix the problem right away like he always did.

"Miss Zhang, my sensei…she's gone," gasped Hono'o as she clung to Mariko.

"You don't know where she went," said Mariko. She suddenly realized something, "You mean something happened to her."

"There was blood everywhere. I couldn't find her body. The place was a wreck inside," whispered Hono'o.

"I'll send Sei and Taki to check it out. Everything will be fine. We'll find out what happened," said Mariko in a firm voice.

"It's not all right. Miss Zhang was attacked. It had to be Zhenyou," insisted Hono'o.

"Zhenyou?" asked Chichiri.

"He was our guide. He left us so suddenly before we got to Hono'o's grandparents house," called Sei from behind Mariko and Hono'o.

"A guide?" asked Tasuki.

"He's no guide. He was some sort of mage. Ask Odayaka. We didn't trust him, Mariko. We were keeping an eye on him. Do you remember that mirror that he gave to Odayaka?" asked Hono'o as she lifted herself up. She pulled away from Mariko's arms. She had her back turned from everyone. She was wiping the tears away from her face. Mariko thought of helping her, but Hono'o body language said that she didn't want anyone touching her.

"What about the mirror that Odayaka got from him?" asked Taki.

"It was enchanted. It was supposed to siphon power from him," answered Hono'o, "I went after Zhenyou. He disappeared before I could do anything to him." Hono'o knew that she was lying, but it was true. Zhenyou disappeared before Hono'o could do something to him. She didn't say anything about him attacking her and taking her powers.

"You knew about it, but you didn't say anything? Hono'o!" exclaimed Sei.

"I thought that he was gone for good once he couldn't take any power from Odayaka," answered Hono'o with a dangerous edge on her voice. If Sei was going to push her, then he was going to see her temper, which she was careful to keep in check.

"How could he have know about your sensei?" asked Taki. Tasuki and Chichiri were looking at him because he wasn't formally introduced yet.

"He must have been watching us for a while. It is possible Zhenyou knew about some of our personal lives. Since Hono'o was the one that confronted him, she's the one who gets hit. There's no way he could have attacked Hono'o's family. Not last night we were there. Tasuki is here," mused Mariko out loud. She wasn't an honors student in Jonan for nothing.

"We should be careful. Let's not forget from the past. Nakago was dangerous. Something tells me this isn't the last we've seen of Zhenyou," said Sei.

Chichiri and Tasuki were out of the conversation. They thought that Sei and Mariko were analyzing the situation very well. Mariko had a lot of intelligence, and she knew how to use it. They were still waiting for introductions to Taki.

"Oh. I almost forgot. This is Taki, the sixth seishi," said Mariko with a smile.

"Hello. Chichiri. Tasuki. It's an honor to meet you both," said Taki with a formal bow.

Hono'o stood there quietly. She wasn't saying anything. She was thinking about how guilty she was of lying to Mariko. Her father placed his hand on her shoulder. Hono'o looked into her father's eyes.

"It's good to have you home, Hono'o. Lei," said Tasuki with soft smile. He had missed his spirited daughter during her absence. Her father embraced her because he missed her and her feelings were hurt. Hono'o hugged him back. She had to go pick up something for her father.

"Where are you going?" asked Tasuki.

"I have something from my grandma and grandpa's," said Hono'o as she ran off to her room.

"What's up?" asked a female voice from behind all of them. It was Shitsu and Kawa.

"Hello again, Shitsu, no da!" greeted Chichiri.

"Hello to you to Master Chichiri," said Shitsu with a smile.

"You're the earth witch that Mariko was talking about?" asked Tasuki. Shitsu nodded. 'Damn there are more women on this group this time than the last time. Three total. Or maybe four depending on who Shiro is,' thought Tasuki.

"Papa, here's something from Aunt Aidou," said Hono'o as she handed log with a ribbon around it. Tasuki gave it a pained look of exasperation.

"Thank you for not throwing it at me, Hono'o," said Tasuki.

"No problem, Papa," said Hono'o with a smile. It was good to be at home despite not having any of her powers. Her father's presence was comforting.

"Uh, no da. The log, no da," said Chichiri with a grin on his face.

"Not one word, Chichiri," warned Tasuki. Chichiri teleported to another place in the palace so that he could have a good laugh at Tasuki's expense.

"We have to wait for Odayaka before we can get started. Hono'o get some rest," Mariko ordered her gently. Hono'o went back to her chamber without saying a word. Tasuki followed her with a concerned gaze.

* * *

"I have called this meeting because I wanted to tell you all what I have seen on my journey around Konan," said Odayaka in a clear voice.

"What is it?" asked the Prime Minister.

"I've kept a journal of account of all that I have seen. You are all out of touch with the people of Konan. I have chosen to remedy the problem myself. So, you are all going to sit here and listen to me. I don't want any disruptions while I read," ordered Odayaka. The council could see that he was serious. The council had been very worried about him since he had left Konan. They were sadden to hear the deaths of the two Imperial guards that had accompanied him.

Odayaka took little over an hour reading the list out loud to all of them. Most of the council shifted uncomfortably because they could tell that he was going to relieve them of some of their power. Odayaka finished. Not only did he read what he didn't like, but he also read how he wanted to change things. The council wasn't liking this one bit when Odayaka was done they were in an uproar. Everyone was speaking at once. Odayaka calmly sat there. The Prime Minister and Vice Minister were standing up.

"SILENCE!" ordered Odayaka in a loud voice. The council stopped what they were doing. The never heard Odayaka rise his voice before at them.

"Your Highness, we apologize for our behavior," said the Prime Minister.

"However, you should reconsider some of the changes you want, your Highness," in toned the Vice Minister.

"No. You've had your way for twenty years. It's time I take responsibility. Now, all of you will sit down and listen to me again. I want to implement some of these as part of an experiment. If you don't feel you can accept it, then you will lose your positions. I have no problem replacing all of you," said Odayaka as he crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't backing down from them.

The council realized that they had lost. It was now time to really listen to their Emperor. Odayaka had plan things out well. As much as they all hated to admit it, the Emperor of Konan had finally grown up.

* * *

Mariko had sent Sei and Taki to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Miss Zhang. Hono'o was sleeping again. Her body was shutting down. Actually, it was far more serious than that. Hono'o was dying slowly. She could feel it happening to her. It was taking a lot out of her to keep up. Zhenyou knew what he was doing when he took Hono'o's powers from her. She was avoiding everyone, especially her father and Mariko. Mariko had a sixth sense when it came to her seishi. Hono'o wasn't about to tell them about her powers being drained. She was too stubborn and too much pride to admit that. Hono'o didn't know that she was dying.

Tasuki had slid the door open to check on her. 'She looks pale. Why is she sleeping again? Is it because of Miss Zhang? Maybe, the trip was too much for her,' thought Tasuki. He went over to his daughter's sleeping form to moved some of her hair behind her ear. He remembered when she was little. She was five when she got sick with a horrible fever. Tasuki and Ling didn't sleep for days during that time. Tasuki even more so than his wife. The only person who could cure her was Emperor Boushin. At the age of nine his powers were already quite strong. He was more than happy to do it. Chichiri said that it got him out of the palace. Tasuki had never been so afraid in his life. His boys were always so healthy. Tasuki leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Tasuki pulled away. Her skin was cold. He pulled a blanket over her, and left the room quietly.

Odayaka had finally gotten out of the meeting. He had to change and go meet the other seishi. Sei and Taki had gotten back from Miss Zhang's, and they had promised to report to Mariko what they had seen. Sei and Taki came back to talk to Mariko. She didn't like what she was hearing. They found nothing.

"It doesn't make any sense. Didn't anyone hear anything or see anything?" asked Mariko.

"No. Then again, people tended to avoid Miss Zhang all together," answered Taki.

"There was no evidence of weapon use. That much I can tell you. If it was Zhenyou, he must have used magic or his fists," said Sei.

"I don't like this. There are too many things wrong around here," said Mariko firmly after much thought.

Tasuki and Chichiri were listening to what the three of them were talking about. Tasuki was worried about Hono'o. Chichiri was concerned about this Zhenyou. Whoever he was, he was able to get past Odayaka.

"She has a better presence than Miaka," remarked Tasuki after a while. He was watching the way Mariko took charge of the situation.

"Remember, Tasuki, Mariko is two years older than when Miaka started, no da. Besides, Mariko had to grow up a little fast, no da. She's not her mother, no da," commented Chichiri.

"It's sad that she can't remember her mother. We should tell her about Miaka more. I'm sure that she hasn't heard everything about Miaka's time here," said Tasuki.

Chichiri always suspected that Tasuki loved Miaka very much. Not the way that Chichiri loved her, but more along the way that Tamahome, Hotohori, and Nuriko loved her. Chiriko looked up to Miaka as sort of like an older sister. Chichiri thought of her as an understanding friend. Mitsukake thought of her as the cure for all the sadness he had in his life. She was a ray of sunshine. Tasuki loved Miaka very much. Chichiri knew that he was more at a loss when they found out that Miaka had died. Mariko was a living reminder of Miaka. They had to make sure that she succeeded for Miaka's memory.

"It's good to see that you're back from your meeting, Odayaka," said Kawa.

"Are we ready? I'll wake Hono'o up," offered Shitsu.

"No," ordered Mariko softly.

"What? We need her to use the shinzahou to find the last seishi, Mariko," said Sei.

"She's not up to it. We'll have to do it with the people we have available," insisted Mariko. Something inside her told her not to push Hono'o.

"What are we going to do?" asked Odayaka in an almost challenging tone. He knew that Mariko was very smart, but he didn't think that she could come up with something. His eyebrow was raised.

"Hmm. Let me think for a second," said Mariko softly. She closed her eyes to concentrate. 'Hmm. We need the power to find the last seishi. We only have five available. Let's see. We can't use too much power to do it. We have to summon Suzaku to do it. Maybe if we…' thought Mariko. She suddenly snapped her fingers. She turned her attention to Chichiri and Tasuki.

"We have five new seishi here. We need to fill in the space. You're still seishi. Your powers are even stronger than they were before aren't they?" asked Mariko. Tasuki nodded. Chichiri thought about what Mariko was saying.

"AH, NO DA! I get it, no da. You want us to add our power to use the shinzahou, no da. That way there's seven people total, no da," exclaimed Chichiri. Mariko smiled and nodded. Odayaka's jaw dropped. How could she come up with an idea so fast?

"Well, what are we waiting for? We have one more seishi to find," said Tasuki with his arms folded over his chest. He never thought that he would have to substitute for his daughter, but it was nice to see some action.

"I've got to hand it to you, Mariko. That sounds like a good idea that way we don't use up all our powers," agreed Sei. Odayaka couldn't help, but smile at all of this. Mariko was a really something.

"Why don't we do this in the temple?" suggested Odayaka.

They all went over there. Mariko stood in the center with the shinzahou on top of her head. The others surrounded her. They concentrated their chi. Mariko concentrated. 'Suzaku give me vision. Where is the last seishi?' thought Mariko.

Mariko's vision traveled into the capital, Eiyou. The symbol for castle was floating around. It narrowed itself down to a specific location. It was an arena. Mariko opened her eyes.

"What did you see, Mariko?" asked Taki.

"Is there an arena in Eiyou?" asked Mariko.

"Yes, no da," answered Chichiri.

"The last seishi is going to be there," said Mariko, "Tomorrow for sure. We'll have to go there."

* * *

There was a three-day fight competition that was going on. Shiro had joined the fight competition a day late. He wanted to take home the title for the capital city. He had to go by his given name to enter the competition. Shiro had second thoughts, but the rules were specific. He had won the past couple of matches without any trouble. The next day was the last day of the fight. It would be time to go home afterwards.

Shiro waited for the results to be tallied. He was waiting for the formal announcement to be made. Shiro found out that Kou Lingsu had won the competition for two years running. Shiro knew about the Kous. His father was a best friend of Genrou. He recalled the triplets who picked on him when he was younger. He barely remembered Genrou's redhead daughter.

"Finally match for this year's martial arts hand to hand combat competition will be between last year's undefeated champion, Kou Lingsu, and new contender to Eiyou, Wei Kuairong," announced the official.

"Well, what do you know," said Shiro out loud. No one in Eiyou knew him as the Castle. 'I'm going to kick Lingsu's ass,' he thought with a smirk on his face.

~*ClareBear's Omake*~

Chiriko: So close yet so far.

Nuriko: I wonder if they'll figure out that he's the last seishi.

Mitsukake: Hono'o is getting weaker and weaker.

Miaka: Mariko knows there's something wrong with her.

Tamahome: This should be an interesting match.

Hotohori: I don't think it's very fair. Shiro's a seishi, and Tasuki's son is just a regular person.

Tamahome: Anyone wanna bet on this fight?

Miaka hits Tamahome over the head.

Miaka: We know who's going to win already! Stop that! You're making bets. Mariko is definitely your daughter! You just proved it!

Tamahome has swirls around his eyes. Miaka is standing over him. Hotohori, Mitsukake, and Chiriko are sweatdropped. Nuriko is laughing hysterically. They are all superdeformed.