When Misara woke again, it was late morning and everyone else was already awake. After talking to Miaka, she learned that the attempt to free Tamahome was that very night. Apparently, only Chichiri and Miaka were going. No one else looked very happy about that, but there was not much that could be done about it. If too many people went, they would be more likely to get caught. After dinner that evening, while Miaka and Chichiri were getting ready to go, Misara got a strange feeling in her stomach. She shook off the premonition and tried to help the best she could, but she couldn't forget about it.

Her face must have showed some of her worry, because Tasuki came up to her and asked, "Is anything wrong, Misara?" She looked at him quickly, then shook her head and turned away. He frowned and turned his attention elsewhere, but kept an eye on her.


It was almost time for them to leave, and Miaka was hungry. Misara was hurrying to the kitchen for something for Miaka to eat when it hit her. A pain so intense inside her head that she couldn't even breathe. She collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air. It passed quickly, and when she was able to stand, she grasped the railing and thought. She knew it had something to do with Tamahome but she couldn't figure out what it was. Everything was still hazy, and she was still dazed. As she took some food and headed back to the others, her eyes grew wider. It could be her imagination, she thought, but she could feel him anymore. It was hard to explain, even to herself, but ever since she had touched his symbol, it was like...a part of her belonged to him, and now she couldn't feel that part. This was too much of a bad omen for her to ignore, but she wasn't about to bring it up and worry Miaka. Yes, she decided. That was the most important thing, not to upset Miaka. Besides, she reasoned, it wasn't something she could explain to them.

Soon they were ready to go. It was getting late, and they had promised to meet Tamahome at midnight. Chichiri spread his cape-thing (Misara had yet to figure out what it was) on the ground and stepped on it. Suddenly, Tasuki came forward.

"I'm goin' with y'all." He announced, to the surprise of everyone.

Chichiri shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea, no da. Too many people an-"

Tasuki cut him off. "I guess I'll have to eat these yummy buns all by myself then." He whimpered, a bun appearing in his hand from nowhere.

Miaka jumped on Chichiri. "Oh, let the poor guy go!" She cried.

"Okay, okay!" Chichiri gave in, and Tasuki tossed a bun to Miaka, who scarfed it. The three of them stood on Chichiri's cape and Miaka waved goodbye, crumbs still on her face. Misara hid a smile as Chichiri made a few motions with his hands and they disappeared.



Later that night, the remainder of the group sat in one of Hotohori's rooms. Chiriko was playing his flute, and Nuriko was about to hit him. It seemed that the only people who could stand Chiriko's flute was Hotohori and Miaka. Mitsukake didn't seemed to be annoyed by anything, and likewise with Chichiri. Misara walked in the door, a tray of drinks in her hands.

"Chiriko," she said, stopping in her tracks and sighing in exasperation. "you have to put that thing down to drink something, you know."

Sheepishly, Chiriko stopped playing and put his flute away. "Hey Misara," Nuriko said suddenly, "you haven't touched Chiriko's symbol yet, have you?"

Surprised, Misara shook her head. "I guess not..." she said.

Chiriko looked confused. "What do you mean?" He asked nervously.

Nuriko rolled his eyes at Chiriko. "She's got to touch your symbol, you know, your symbol of Suzaku. For protection purposes only, so don't get any ideas." He winked at Misara, who rolled her eyes. "By the way, Chiriko, how old are you?" Nuriko asked.

"I'm fifteen..." he said, still looking nervous.

Misara laughed. "Too young for me, Nuriko, so don't YOU get any ideas." Nuriko looked appalled, then pushed Misara at Chiriko.

"Go on, young'uns. Let's get this over with, and then once Tamahome gets back, we can summon Suzaku." He said.

"Hold on..." Chiriko held his hands up. "Isn't this kind of...private?"

Misara shrugged her shoulders at him. "If you want, I guess..." she looked curiously at him. "We can go to your room then." She turned on her heel and headed out the door, not looking back at Chiriko. He followed her hesitantly, with a look on his face that reminded Nuriko of a pig being led to slaughter.



Chiriko closed the door behind him. Misara stood by the table, waiting impatiently for him. He pulled the collar of his shirt to one side where a blue symbol flashed. Misara gasped in surprise when she saw it, but before she could do anything else, Chiriko backhanded her and she fell. As she lay on the floor, her eyes wide and her mouth about to scream, he pinned her to the ground and put his elbow in her throat, causing her to cry out in pain. His other hand covered her mouth quickly.

"If you say or do anything..." he started, his eyes full of fury. "I swear I'll kill you."

Misara choked and gasped some more before she rasped, "Okay!" He let go of her and she rolled over, hand on her throat, wheezing. He pulled her to her feet, and she glared at him hatefully.

Once she could speak, she lashed out at him. "I knew there was something suspicious with you! How dare you pretend to be our friend! You're nothing but a back-stabbing villain and I'll kill you before you hurt any of my friends!" She swung at him but he dodged it easily, catching her arm. He made her look at him, and this time, his eyes were sad.

"Yes, I know what I'm doing is wrong...but it's not my fault!" He argued. "Just listen to what I have to say, please?"

"No!" She cried, trying to pull herself free. "I'm going to kill you first!"

"Nakago made me do it! Please, it's wasn't my idea and I never meant to hurt any of you, but it was all Nakago's plan! You have to believe me!" He shouted over her protests.

As soon as she heard Nakago's name, she stopped and stared at him. "Nakago?" She asked timidly. "It was his idea?"

He nodded, relieved that she had stopped, and she sat down in a chair, dazed.

"Why?" was all she could say. Chiriko shrugged.

"I don't know, but...well...I do know that your friends are in danger now. You've got to help them..." he trailed off.

Misara stood and looked at him angrily. "How do I know you're not lying again?"

His eyes narrowed. "You just have to trust me, okay?"

She paused, then sighed in frustration. "I guess I don't have any choice, do I?" She headed for the door, then turned back to him. "So your name isn't Chiriko, is it?"

He looked at the floor. "I am Amiboshi, one of the Seiryu Seven." He said softly. "I'm not proud of that title either." He added, looking at her quickly.

Misara glared at him. "Whatever." She said as she turned to leave.



Minutes later, Misara was back in Kutou. It had taken quite an effort to get there. One miscalculated shot had landed her in Kouji's bed back at the bandit hideout. A surprised Kouji could only gape at her as she quickly apologized and vanished again. Concentrating her mind on Chichiri, she had finally gotten to the royal palace, but neither he, Tasuki or Miaka were to be seen. She decided to wander around a while. As she crept through the palace, she wondered vaguely if her powers were weakening. She didn't feel as well as she used to, and the teleporting wasn't getting better by practicing. The smell of food wafted through the air to her, and she realized that she was hungry. Dodging guards, she quickly found the room where the food was. Closing the door behind her, she strained to see in the dark room. Suddenly, a lantern was lit and she shielded her eyes from the unexpected brightness. When her eyes had readjusted, she saw food sitting on a table, and seated at that table was Nakago. Too stunned for words, she could only stare at him. He motioned her to sit, and she did, almost mechanically.

"How's your arm doing?" He asked sarcastically.

That jolted her back to reality. "You...you lying sneaky...whatever you are!" She cried. "How dare you send Amiboshi to hurt my friends!"

He chuckled, sending her into a fury. "Don't lose your temper, Miss Goddess. It's not ladylike." He laughed again, and she stood, about to hit him. He turned from laughing to angry in almost an instant. "Sit down!" He ordered.

Her eyes narrowed, but she slowly sat back down. He pushed one of the plates in front of her. "Hungry?" He asked, laughing again.

"No thank you." She forced the words out.

"Come on, eat! I don't want you thinking I'm not hospitable." He laughed again.

She took a fork and stabbed something on her plate, brought it to her lips and chewed it without ever taking her eyes off him. He seemed to be smiling more now that she had eaten. All of a sudden, she felt very strange, and almost choked on her food. She fell off her chair and for the second time that night, lay gasping on the floor. His shadow fell over her, and he laughed again. She decided right then and there that she didn't like his laugh at all, but was interrupted in her thoughts by him when he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.

"You'll feel a little strange for a while, I expect." He said, still grinning at her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked furiously.

"Just something I slipped into your food. It won't harm you, at least not very much, but it will make you a little more willing to cooperate. It also affects your subconscious. For you, specifically, the part of you that knows when your precious Suzaku warriors are in trouble. So now you won't know, and won't be able to interfere." He smirked at her as she stared up at his face, absolutely distressed but unable to think clearly about running away.

"And now for the kicker, eh?" He said. "Do you happen to remember a dream you had recently about me, Misara?" From the way her eyes widened it was obvious she did, and he continued. "Well, it's rather difficult to explain. As far as you know, only one god can call the Goddess of the Sky, and there can only be one of her in this world at a time. But I am blessed to be one of the Seiryu Seven, and therefore, a servant of the all-mighty Seiryu. I asked him to 'steal' you from the Suzaku Seven for me, but even he could not do that. So we had to compromise, and you had to seal the deal. The dream I showed you gave you the option of becoming the Goddess for the Seiryu Seven as well, and you took it by running away from them and into my arms. It was so sweet, don't you think?" She was so shocked that she couldn't reply, so he finished his speech. "And now it's time for you to become my protector. What do you say, Misara? It'll be fun! You'll stay with me as long as I live and I'll always have you as my pretty little bodyguard, always willing to die for me and do anything I ask. Sounds rather nice, doesn't it?" He didn't wait for her answer as he took her hand. A bright blue symbol flashed on his forehead, and before she could react, he had put her hand to it. The same symbol appeared on her forehead, and she felt the same weakness she had felt with the others but she was too drugged to keep from fainting this time.

Nakago picked her up effortlessly. "Let's go see how your little friends are doing, shall we? I expect the fighting should be starting about now." He carried her out of the room, closing the door behind him with his foot and walking across the palace to a tower where a blond-haired girl stood waiting.

"Nakago, what's going on?" She asked shrilly. He leaned over the edge of the tower and saw the two Suzaku warriors standing below with their priestess, about to be attacked by an old friend.

"Just as I thought." He said, smiling once more. "This ought to be good."



Well, maybe that wasn't as good as I had promised...but scary to me nonetheless. Ah, poor Hotohori has more than one rival in love, eh? Of course, he still doesn't care about anyone but Miaka, mores the pity. Don't worry though. As much as Nakago will end up liking Misara, she won't go for him. Dark-haired bishonen are best, right?