Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer and explanation.
Love, Life, and Death By Annie-chan Chapter Twenty-Five: PhoenixThe world was coming to an end.
Not yet, no da, Hôjun reminded himself, trying to keep himself under control. Fury, fear, and hopelessness were quickly taking him over, and he could feel the same emotions overtaking the other Seishi as well. The current circumstances seemed to insist him in denial.
Miaka was dead, killed by the man she loved. No, not the man she loved. The memories of the man she loved, implanted in a puppet body and sent to betray and kill them all. The puppet Tamahome had been overwhelmed with jealousy and rage when she had refused him, choosing Sukunami Taka instead. Now, his anger had led her to her death in her attempt to save Taka's life.
He, Hotohori, Nuriko, Tasuki, Mitsukake, and Chiriko were trying everything they could to get through the barrier Tenkô had cast on the door leading to Tamahome, Taka, and Miaka. Nothing was working. All they could do was watch as Taka seemed to be looking at something that was not there, and then get up and advance on his unstable mirror image. Tamahome was clearly as devastated over Miaka's death as Taka, and all he seemed able to do was back away from Taka, blasting at him with his ki, demanding Taka stay back. His voice was high-pitched with hysteria.
Hôjun and the others could barely hear what Taka was saying, they saw him embrace Tamahome…there was a scream, a bright flash of light, and they were suddenly somewhere else. It took Hôjun a moment to realize where they were. They were in front of Tenkô's citadel, the center of the demonically created city that hovered over Tokyo. There was only one Tamahome left. The Suzaku Shichi Seishi champion was finally whole once again.
Hôjun felt it, just like all the other Seishi. The beaten body that lay at Tamahome's feet was alive, her spirit somehow returned.
"Nani?!" Hôjun and Tasuki cried at the same time.
"How can that be?!" Hotohori said, his eyes wide in confusion and the mixture of volatile emotions they had all been feeling since the battle began. "We felt her die! We felt her die!"
"No time!" Tasuki answered, determination burning in his amber eyes. "C'mon!"
Hôjun and the others followed him, running over to Miaka and Tamahome, gathering around them.
"You forgot us, you stupid bastard!" Tasuki grinned to Tenkô, brandishing his tessen.
There was nothing else to do. While Chiriko and Mitsukake went over to Miaka to try to heal her so she didn't die again, the other five Seishi leapt into battle tactics, throwing everything they had at the smirking Demon God before them. Nothing worked. Not Hotohori's sword, not Nuriko's strength, not Hôjun's magic, not Tasuki's fire…not even Tamahome's powerful ki attacks could even touch him.
"Tamahome-san!" Chiriko could be heard shouting. "Miaka-san is alive!"
"Daijôbu da, Tamahome!" Mitsukake added, having finished the healing job. "She will be all right, but she needs protection!"
Tamahome turned to go to Miaka, but Hôjun, Tasuki, and the others were suddenly engulfed in a powerful attack, strong enough to disintegrate the very ground beneath their feet. Hôjun barely had enough time to throw up a shield to protect them. He was almost forced to his knees as the barrier spell was strained to its limit.
Then, they all heard something they never expected to hear. Two voices, Tamahome's and Miaka's, speaking the sacred chant that brought the mighty Phoenix God to the Material Plane. Everything stopped as the two lovers were engulfed in a ball of fire. Suzaku's fire.
Demo…what are they summoning him with, no da?! Hôjun thought, confused. Of course, no da! Their love, no da! Love is the source of Suzaku's power, no da!
Tamahome and Miaka completely disappeared, the flames forming themselves into a tall, slender, humanoid shape…
And, there he stood, his deep-crimson wings spread wide, his face a serene mask of concentration. Suzaku, their lord and protector, the Phoenix God himself. The deity put his hands together, and the entire demonic city suddenly erupted in a massive explosion. Everyone looked toward Tenkô and blinked in surprise. His flesh seemed to be drying out, his body beginning to look like that of a half-decomposed corpse.
"Yûki Miaka…Sukunami Taka…" Tenkô's deep voice growled. "I should have destroyed you two long ago, and not given you the chance to do this to me!" He looked at Suzaku, the red-clothed god watching him calmly. "I…I can't be beaten! I am a god!"
At that moment, Hôjun found himself thinking of Hikô, and reached up to finger the circular stone hanging around his neck on a string, the only thing of Hikô's physical entity remaining. His head jerked up, eye wide, as he heard a small, scared voice echo in his mind.
Hikô! he sent back, recognizing immediately the voice.
Hôjun! Hikô cried again, sounding terrified. Hôjun, tasukete! Onegai! He's intent on dragging us down to Hell with him! Hôjun got a mental image of Hikô kneeling in a pitch-black void, his arms around the figures of a frightened Renhô and Miisû clutching at him, all three of them trembling violently, so scared that tears were on their faces. Without another thought, Hôjun ran toward the dying Demon God.
"Chichiri!" Suzaku shouted, surprised at his Seishi's actions. "Stay back!" The frantic cries of the other Seishi could be heard also. But, it was too late.
"You fool!" Tenkô cried, satisfied. He reached out and caught the unfortunate Seishi, taking complete control of him. The entirety of a Seishi's powerful ki—especially one as strong and well skilled as Hôjun—would be enough to heal him from Suzaku's attack, and give him another opportunity to himself attack.
Hôjun gasped and then screamed as evil power wrapped around him, pure cold lancing through him, pain exploding in every fiber of his being as his life force was drawn out of him.
"Chichiri!!!!!!!!!!" a voice screamed, and Hôjun felt the cold disappear with a snap, warmth taking its place, two strong arms wrapping tightly around him. Hôjun instinctively clutched at his savior, his self-preservation instinct kicking in. As his savoir landed in a kneeling position, Hôjun opened his eye and realized with a shock just whose arms held him so protectively.
"Su…Suzaku-seikun, no da!" he gasped. He shut right up as a wave a dread washed over him. The look of fury in the god's eyes promised doom to any who dared to cross him.
"How dare you?!" Suzaku hissed, clearly enraged further than anyone had ever seen him before. "How dare you try to take him?! One of my Seishi?! I have lost four already! I refuse to lose any more!" He clenched his teeth for a moment, then began speaking again, more calmly. "You are not a god, Tenkô. You are only the vengeance-mad ghost of a prince from Ancient Japan. Yes, you are stronger than me and each of my brothers, but against all of us, you are weak."
Hôjun stayed conscious long enough to see three other divine beings emerge from the storm of power the demonic city had been consumed in since Suzaku's first attack. Then, the amount of ki Tenkô had managed to drain from him caught up to him, and he fainted dead away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hôjun awoke to all-surrounding warmth, and he was being held comfortably by someone tall and slender. He got the distinct impression they were floating.
"Hnn…koko…doko?" he muttered before opening his eyes.
"Open your eyes," a rarely heard yet familiar voice said softly. "We are in the space between the Miko world and our world."
"Suzaku-seikun," Hôjun whispered, "why did you bring me here, no da?"
"You needed to be healed, my son, and normal healing magic would not do the job," the god answered, loosening his grip, but still keeping Hôjun close to him. "That attack left you tainted with dark magic, and you needed to be cleansed, or the evil would take you over."
"Tenkô…dead?" Hôjun asked, feeling stronger by the minute.
Suzaku nodded once. "Hai."
Hôjun closed his eye, but quickly opened it again when he remembered someone. "Hikô…!"
"Daijôbu desu yo," Suzaku soothed, his voice comforting. "He, Renhô, and Miisû are free. The vision you saw of them was just an illusion Tenkô gave you to draw you near him. He held their spirits captive, but they were released to Heaven as soon as he was defeated. He never would have been able to take them to Hell with him."
Hôjun exhaled. "Yokatta, no da." He looked back up to the Phoenix God, a question in his eye. "Why did you save me, no da? I am only one person, no da. Plus, it is my own fault I was caught by that illusion, no da."
"It is like I told Tenkô, Chichiri," Suzaku explained. "I had already lost four of my Seishi. I didn't intend to lose any others." He sighed and bowed his head. "I was not visible to people on the Material Plane, but I wept bitterly over each of my Seishi's graves. They all died far before their time." He looked up again, sadness in his eyes. "The war between my Seishi and Seiryû's was the most unfortunate thing to happen in recent times, until Tenkô began his assault on the worlds. All of the Four Beast Gods care greatly for their Seishi, but I care for mine more than any of my brothers do for theirs. No, I don't care for them, I love them."
"Suzaku-seikun," Hôjun whispered, sorrow of his own welling up. "Why do you always look so sad? You look as if your life is nothing but despair. I never thought the God of Love could look so downcast until I saw you for the first time."
"Yes, I am the God of Love," Suzaku answered. "Love can be the most joyful emotion someone feels, but love can also be sorrow. I love all living things, from humans to animals to insects to plants…they all mean everything to me. The sorrow on my face is the sorrow I feel daily for them, for the pain of living. Suffering is everywhere, in one form or another. Many humans hold me as the most compassionate of the Four Gods, and I believe they are right. I have shed many tears for the sake of the living." Even as he said this, a single tear slipped from his eye, leaving a glistening trail over his smooth cheek.
Hôjun, moved to pity, instinctively reached up and brushed the tear away. Suzaku seemed snapped out of his thoughts.
"Sumimasen," the god apologized, drying his moistened eyes. "I got lost in my thoughts." He smiled gently down to Hôjun. "Don't worry about me. Life is not all pain. It is not only sorrow I feel. Watching the happiness life can bring to the living gives me great joy. Like your children. I rarely see children more contented."
"Yokatta, no da" Hôjun sighed. He was greatly relieved the god he served found happiness watching mortals, and not just endless sadness, as he perpetual expression suggested.
"Now, then," Suzaku said, a rare almost-grin coming to his face. "I should get you back to your friends at Daikyoku-zan. I don't want to keep them waiting for you."
Hôjun hadn't time to respond before he felt a surge of power sweep through him. When next he opened his eyes, he saw the familiar landscape of Tai'itsukun's mountain, and he knew in his heart that the long struggle was finally over.
To be continued…Author's Notes: The idea for this came on a spur-of-the-moment inspiration. The Four Gods are portrayed in the manga and anime as stoic, serious divinities, any emotions barely recognizable and quickly passing. Besides, we see Genbu and Byakko only once and Seiryû thrice, very few times compared to all the other characters. Suzaku's appearances in book fourteen, prolonged as they were, really weren't enough to show us much of his character. I decided to at least give him a little more depth, he being my favorite of the four. Quite the—*drooooooool*—bishônen, I might add! ^_^V *ahem* Anyway, how did this chapter turn out? Good? Not good? Please, please, please, let me know! Either leave a review or send an email to mangareader@hotmail.com, onegai shimasu! This fic is my pride and joy, and I would really like to know if it's still entertaining (I never thought I'd stretch it out this long)!