Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. Yuu Watase does. As if you didn't know. ^_~. But Amantha is mine! ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ^.^.;;;;
(Author's Notes and Glossary at the bottom)
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Deceptive Reflection
Chapter Two: Yume Kamo Shirenai/ It Might Be A Dream
The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and a blushing light crept over the land. A mist rose and dew sparkled on the grass and wildflower fields at the outskirts of the town. In the silence, all noises could be heard clearly: a dog barking in the distance, early risers leaving their homes, small children awakening.
The small town of Heiwa was a day's ride from Eiyou. As they rode, Miaka slept, snoring slightly. Tasuki could be heard quietly muttering to himself about having to get up that early in the morning. The others were quiet, especially Nuriko, who had other things on his mind.
That girl's promise couldn't have been real. She was just an experienced charlatan, adept at weaving stories others would believe, to cheat them out of their valuables. She was probably heading in the opposite direction, away from Eiyou and the little town, putting as much distance as she coud between herself and those she had swindled that day.
But he had to wonder... How did she know who he was? Perhaps she had been to Eiyou, had heard of the Suzaku Seishi. That might account for her recognizing him as one of them. It was even possible that she had, at some point, dealt with his father, for all those silks that she festooned her booth with.
But she had known other things. She had known about his past, about Kourin, the events surrounding Kourin's death. It wasn't likely she had heard about that while buying silk. She had known exactly how he had felt. His sadness, his guilt. She knew too much for it to not be real.
Nuriko let out a weary sigh, as doubts plagued him, warring with a more optimistic hope that maybe, just maybe, the girl's promise was true. That he would find his beloved sister waiting for him. But he couldn't get his hopes up, in case...
"Nuriko? Daijoubu desu ka, Nuriko?" Nuriko shook himself from his thoughts to see Miaka looking at him curiously. "You look upset. Something wrong?" Nuriko shook his head.
"Nothing, I'm fine, Miaka," he said, forcing a smile. "Just tired!" Miaka nodded.
"Okay! Just making sure!" she replied, with a smile. Nuriko continued to smile back, until Miaka turned back to talk to Chiriko. Something about a 'parabola.' It sounded like some type of flesh-eating disease. With a slight shudder at the thought, Nuriko looked ahead, to the road, to Eiyou and hopefully, to Kourin.
*~*~*
Amantha awoke with the dawn, looking out to the sun as it rose over the mountain and smiled. This was the day.
She brushed the tangles out of her crimson hair and tied it up in a bun. Then, donning her black and purple kimono again, she moved out into the forest. She walked a ways, listening to the awakening birdsong, watched as flowers slowly opened their buds to greet the sun, felt the dew tickling her feet and smelled the scent of pine and new plant growth. The world was at peace and in harmony, full of energy. This was good, as she was going to need all the energy she could get for this.
She arrived at a clearing, fully bathed in the light of the newly risen sun, where dew still shone brightly and wisps of mist whispered through the long grasses. In the northern part of the clearing grew a huge willow, with ancient gnarled roots that reached over a large span of the clearing. The branches of the tree reached just as far, providing heavenly shade in the summer and shelter in the winter. The tree held an old power which Amantha felt strongly as she laid a hand on it. In the eastern quarter stood what looked to be a table made of relatively flat rock. Amantha approached it and carefully laid out incense, a feather, and hung from the end a chime which tinkled happily in the breeze. At the southern end was a small fire pit, the rocks around it painted in red. Amantha went about the clearing, collecting leaves and branches fallen from the mighty willow. She piled these in the fire pit, as well as other wood and kindling she had collected on her way. At the west end of the clearing ran a brook, that jumped, flashed and babbled happily in the sunlight. She took a double handful of the cool water and drank. It was sweet and refreshing. Then she smiled to herself. It was time.
She lit the incense and started the fire, then using black silk cord, made symbols on the ground in the centre of the clearing. She sat among them, and closed her eyes, calling into the darkness and Abyss of death.
"Chou Kourin! Awaken, spirit of the deceased! Come to me, and answer to my call! Chou Kourin, I summon you!" As she spoke, the wind picked up, swirling her hair about her face, causing the willow tree to sway. The stream began to flow faster, harder, intensely, sending white spray up as it crashed against it's banks. The fire in the fire pit grew, until it looked as if would spread and consume the clearing and the forest. Even the willow seemed to react, it seemed to reach out towards Amantha, whether to help her or destroy her, it could not be said.
"Come to me, spirit! Come within the confines of my sacred space, with no ill will towards me!" Amantha's voice grew in volume and intensity, seemingly ignorant to all that was happening about her. "Appear!" she barked. Her eyes snapped open, and she saw in front of her she whom she sought.
The spirit of Chou Kourin had appeared to her.
Amantha smiled then, as the elements seemed to die down. She looked upon the spirit before her. Kourin was identical to Ryuuen, save for her hair being in two buns, one on either side of her head, and her outfit, a white dress a young girl might wear. She also seemed not to have aged since her death, though her eyes held the knowledge of her years, had she been alive. Kourin stared at Amantha, frowning in confusion.
"Why do you summon me?" she asked, her voice quiet and hesitant. "What do you want with me?" Amantha smiled.
"I want to reunite you with your brother," she said, smiling. Kourin stared, still looking confused.
"But...it's not possible. I died. Unless..." she paused and her eyes widened in fear, her concern for her brother obvious. "Please, don't kill him!" she begged. "He has so much to do, so much to live for. A duty to Suzaku no Miko..." She looked as if she were going to cry then, and Amantha shook her head.
"I will not kill him," she said calmly. "You will live again, Kourin."
Amantha smiled, then made a gesture. Out of nowhere materialized a long, wooden box. Kourin's eyes widened as it opened to reveal a small skeleton.
"That's...me!" she cried, horrified. Amantha seemed unperturbed by it and approached it. From her pocket she drew a violet strand of hair, and a pendant on a silver chain. She placed the strand of hair in the rib cage, running down the spine and the chain around the skeleton's neck. She then whispered a few words, that grew into a chant. As the chant increased in volume, the hair and pendant, then the skeleton began to glow. The wind, water, fire and tree began to react again, and the feeling of power was apparent to both Amantha and Kourin. Then, the skeleton began growing, until it reached the size of teenage girl. Flesh and skin began to materialize, building up a body. When the chanting died down, the body seemed fully alive, and it matched perfectly to the image of the spirit that was Kourin.
"Incredible..." Kourin whispered in awe. Amantha smiled.
"The best is yet to come." The look in those cold blue eyes sent a feeling of foreboding through Kourin's ethereal form, but she ignored it.
She would be able to be with Ryuuen again, and that would be worth any price.
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Chapter Glossary:
Heiwa, the name of the town, is Japanese for peace.
Daijoubu desu ka? - Are you alright?
Today's Message from The Authour-Chick:
WOW! I'm so amazed (and surprised, and thrilled, and touched) by everyone's comments! Awww! You guys are soooo nice! Honestly, I'm really surprised that everyone liked it that much. *shrugs* I'm really hard on my own writing and drawing and stuff, though so...I wasn't really sure if Nuriko was well in character in the first chapter, but you guys all seemed to think so, so...I hope I did as well this chapter, and will in the future. *crosses fingers*
First, you may or may not have noticed that
A) I have both a Japanese title for the chapter and an English title
and
B) I went back and gave a Japanese title to Chapter One. Why? Well, actually, it's because
i) I liked this title better than the one I had before for the chapter
and
ii) I've already picked out the title for Chapter Three, which was Japanese so...wanted to keep things uniform, I guess.
Since I've never seen FY subtitled (*growl*) and I get my manga translated, I wasn't sure how people (Miaka in this chapter) generally refer to Nuriko. (Is it Nuriko-san, Nuriko-chan, Nuriko-kun, etc?)
And the thing about the parabola? *grin* That's math class catching up to me. I noticed Miaka doing Pythagorean theorem in one of the manga and we've just started talking about parabolas in math so...I thought it was kinda funny. Not really funny, but vaguely funny. My sense of humour is weird though, so...*shrugs*
Oh, and if you didn't figure it out, (Silly you! ^_~.) Amantha is the witch girl from Chapter 1. Her name is a shortened version of Amarantha which means "beyond death." In Greek(?) mythology it's a plant thought to be immortal. (Is there a real plant called Amarantha? Anyone?)
Actually, it's funny, I didn't get as far as I wanted to with this chapter but...*shrugs* It's long enough as it is and I wanted to get more up. I don't know what I think about it though...I might rewrite it one day.
Also, my formatting doesn't seem to be showing up. *frowns* It's no biggie but...
Anyways, thanks for all the encouragement, minna-chan! (And if anyone wants to be a beta reader for future chapters, please e-mail me!) You'll probably be happy to know that Chapter 3 is already on it's way! Ja~
^_~.V
~*Hikari Shisutano