Title: Captive of Fate
Author: Phoenix
Chapter Three: Feminist Shi Seishi Will Give You an Ulcer…
Author's Note
Sorry it took so long, but as I mentioned before, I have no clue where I'm going with this story. I have a few sketchy ideas that I came up with, but no real direction, so if anyone has any ideas or requests, please let me know. ^_^. On with the chapter.
Feminist Shi Seishi Will Give You an Ulcer…
"You're a girl!" Yelled Masahiro as the guards ran into the room shining light onto the two figures on the floor.
The female individual beneath the Suzaku no Monku threw him off of herself and into the wall, leaving him slightly disorientated. As the guards rushed towards her, she managed to evade them in a fury of kicks, punches and ducking. She succeeded in escaping through the window she had entered through with several guards hot on her pursuit.
The victim of her attack watched as her get away transpired, murmuring to himself a single word, "Red."
"Well now," started one of the princes, Masahiro didn't know, nor did he care which one spoke, "things certainly seem to liven up with you here, Masahiro."
Masahiro just groaned.
The next morning, Masahiro and the princes were gathered together for a small breakfast. Small meaning there were roughly a hundred different dishes to choose from. Masahiro reckoned that this would be the best moment to satisfy some of his curiosity.
"So, how can you tell that someone is a celestial warrior?" the Suzaku no Monku asked in an almost shy voice.
Ichiro, the eldest of the set of twins, answered him. "Well, a shi seishi has a symbol on them that's there from their birth. Depending on which star of the constellation they represent, the placement of the symbol on their body varies. Forehead, neck, chest, hand… Seven different positions for seven different stars."
"So where are your symbols?"
This time it was Kenji's turn to answer. "Ichiro's is on his forehead and mine is on my neck."
"So how come I can't see them?"
"They only appear when our powers are being used, when they do appear, they shine with a light which color varies depending on which beast god the shi seishi serves. In our case it shines red."
"Powers?" Asked Masahiro wanting more details.
"We're not too sure about those yet. The details in the legends are very sketchy about them at best. All we know is that Suzaku has bestowed upon us certain privileges to protect our Miko." Replied Ichiro looking almost ashamed for his lack of knowledge.
Satisfied that he had learned all he needed to know at the moment, Masahiro excused himself from the meal to go think in his room.
Masahiro needed time to think, and if the events of the previous night were any indication, he wouldn't be able to think in the palace. He therefore had to somehow had to escape the palace. The monk managed to find some casual clothes to change into seeing as how his own clothes would more than likely make him stand out in a crowd. Evading the guards had been a bit harder than he had anticipated, but Masahiro had succeeded in leaving the palace unnoticed.
The peace and quiet that reigned within the palace walls instantly disappeared when he left the confines of the castle; as if he were entering a whole new world. The streets of the city were bustling with life as merchants and peasants interacted as they did every day. A few guards were doing their rounds, making sure that nothing was amiss in the city, though who decided when something was amiss was unknown to Masahiro.
The young man walked around the city, observing everyone and everything. Masahiro had rarely, if ever, seen Tokyo so animated. He was torn away from his musings as a familiar head of green hair entered his peripheral view. Upon closer inspection, Masahiro realized that the hair belonged to his attacker from the prior night.
Masahiro decided that he would discreetly follow the mysterious woman as she made her way through the market. In the daylight he was able to observe her better. She was younger than him, possibly by a few years. Despite her small build, she could easily pass as a young boy; her messily spiked green hair and choice of wardrobe definitely did not hinder the illusion. Her clothes consisted of dark brown sandals, black slacks and a light brown sleeveless shirt, which complimented her green hair and still managed to bring out her pale complexion.
Masahiro followed the intriguing woman to an old and weather worn house on the outskirts of town that she entered. He debated with himself the next following moments on what his course of action should be. Having decided that he hadn't followed her all the way here only to turn into a coward and chicken out of confronting her.
Taking a deep breath to steel himself for whatever may come, Masahiro walked up to the door and knocked twice. As the object of his pursuit opened the door, a look of shock quickly flitted over her features only to be replaced by a look of fury.
"What do you want?" She asked, looking as if she would slam the door in his face at any moment.
"Please," Masahiro pleaded, "I just want to talk. Nothing more, I promise." As the figure before him continued to glare, Masahiro tried to convince her that he did not pose a threat to her. "Please, I promise I won't tell anyone where you are, I simply want to know a few things about last night's events that you may be able to clear up."
The Suzaku no Monku honestly believed that the young woman would refuse him, and was pleasantly surprised when she reluctantly opened her door to let him enter her home. "Try anything and you'll regret it."
Masahiro simply nodded as he followed her into the old structure. He did not fail to notice the several small figures trying to peek into the room through a back window without being noticed, but decided it would be best if he didn't comment. They sat down on opposite sides of a rickety table, the only visible furniture within the one room house.
"So? What do you want to know?"
"Well, for starters, what's your name?" Seeing her frown, Masahiro tried to put her at ease. "Mine's Masahiro. I've always believed it's best to know the name of the person you're conversing with."
"Her frown didn't lighten, but she answered none the less. "My name is Midori." No unnecessary words.
"What were you doing in the palace last night?"
"I was going to steal something." Midori was not ashamed of her actions, and her tone of voice practically dared him to try to make her feel humiliation.
"Why were you trying to rob the palace?" Masahiro's question held a certain amount of childish curiosity mixed in with his naïveté.
"The same reason everyone else in this city steals," she practically snorted, "to survive."
"For your brothers and sisters?" Masahiro asked motioning towards the window with his head.
Midori's frown deepened and she simply ground out a "Yes."
Taking the hint, Masahiro decided to leave her family out of the conversation. "Have you ever heard of the legend of the Suzaku no Miko?"
"What?" Masahiro cheered inwardly for having caught her off guard. "What does that have to do with anything? Of course I've heard of the legend, everyone in Konan has."
"This may be a bit blunt, but are you a shi seishi?" Masahiro asked hoping that he hadn't blown everything.
"What? How did you know?" Was all Midori could manage to say due to her extreme shock. She hadn't seen this coming.
"Well, I saw a red light glowing from under your shirt when you threw me into the wall and fought with the guards to get away. So am I right?"
"I suppose there is no use in denying it then. Yes, I am a shi seishi. I represent the constellation of Nuriko, the willow.
"So your job is to protect the miko, right?"
"Yes, everyone knows that it is the shi seishi's job to protect the miko."
"Um, yeah, of course everyone knows. What if I were to say that you went against your sacred duty last night?"
"How so?"
"Well… I'm the Suzaku no miko, or rather the Suzaku no monku." Masahiro said while trying to hide his embarrassed blush.
"Impossible. The miko is just that, a priestess, a female priestess." Midori ground out.
"Apparently the legend isn't a hundred percent truthful on some points." The monk sheepishly replied.
"I will not. I refuse."
"Refuse what?" Masahiro asked, fearing the worst.
"I refuse to have anything to do with this mockery of a sacred legend. The Shi seishi are to protect a female, not some… man!" Midori practically spit out the last word.
"So you'll protect a miko, but not a monku?" Masahiro asked incredulously.
"Of course! Men are all pigs." Midori's voice started to rise as her anger grew.
"What? How can you say that? You can't generalize like that! I'm not a pig!" Masahiro was in turn starting to get quite upset.
"Yes you are! You are a man and are therefore a pig!"
"No I'm not!" Masahiro practically shrieked. "If men are such pigs, then why do you go around dressed as one?" He asked, taunting her.
"Because this is a male dominated society which believes that women should stay at home all day caring for the children and therefore, for me to do anything in this world, I must pretend to be a pig as well." Midori explained.
"Well you're failing at being a pig, but you're damn well succeeding at being a bitch." Masahiro took a calming breath while Midori stood watching him mouth agape; unable to believe he had said such a thing. "Are you saying that you refuse to perform your duty and protect the Suzaku no monku?"
"Of course." Midori snapped.
"What would it take to convince you to change your mind?" He asked tiredly.
"Nothing can change my mind. I will not back down on something I believe in."
Masahiro was ready to give up until he remembered how protective of her family she had seemed earlier. "What if I can convince the princes to place your family under their care and make sure they will never have to wish for anything more?"
Midori was perplexed. By refusing to accept, she would be standing by her principles; however, if she accepted, Midori would be doing the best thing she could possibly do for her family. "If you can bring me the prince and have him give me his word about securing my family's future, I will accept." She accepted morosely.
"Of course, if you'll just come back to the palace with me—"
"No!" Midori cut him off abruptly. "I said you must bring them here. I will not go to the palace again unless I am certain that I will not be arrested. Midori cut him off abruptly."
"Alright, I suppose that makes sense." Masahiro conceded; he hadn't thought of the possibility of her being arrested. "I'll go to the palace and try to bring someone back with me alright?"
A long pause. "Yes." One word was uttered, and Midori had sealed her fate.
It had taken Masahiro nearly two hours to explain everything to the princes and to finally acquire their approval. They weren't pleased with him for sneaking out of the palace, after all, the city is a dangerous place, but they had forgotten all about it when Masahiro had mentioned that he had found another Shi seishi.
They had finally decided that Ichiro would accompany Masahiro to Midori's home. After a change of clothes when Masahiro had at last convinced Ichiro that it was best to be as inconspicuous as possible, the two departed.
They ventured across the city without wasting a moment. When Masahiro and Ichiro arrived at their destination, they found a young girl with a long green hair tied up in pig tails crying her heart out.
"Hey there, what's wrong? Where's Midori?" Asked Masahiro as he crouched down to be at eye level with the child. The young prince held back, unsure of how to react around children.
"They took her away!!" She shrieked between sobs.
"Who took her away?" Ichiro asked, now becoming very worried and forgetting that he didn't know how to react around infants.
"The guards!! They took her away for today's public execution!! They took my Mommy away!!"
"Oh shit." Was all that Masahiro could mutter.
So what did you think? Any ideas on how I should develop it further? I know I kind of lessened the quality around the major dialogue part of the chapter, but I'm really tired… Does anyone have any information about the shi seishi and their constellations? IE they're symbols, constellations… Or anything about the Byako Shi seishi?
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, please review (unless you want to wait another five months for a new chapter that is).