"Oh my gosh! It's just like old days! You're all here!" Miaka gushed, jumping up and
down in place. She stopped jumping and blinked seriously. "Well...minus the fact that
you're all getting along for once...." she added, glancing over to the six Seiryuu
warriors that had converged in one area.
"Yeah, but where's that blue-eyed freak, Nakago?" Tasuki put in. He leaned against
a large boulder, his arms folded across his chest and one foot propped against the
rock. "Why isn't he here? To chicken to face the people who put a kink in his plans?"
"Grrr...! How dare you say that about Lord Nakago!!" Tomo snarled.
"Come on over here, we'll show you how chicken Lord Nakago is!" Soi put in, forming
a ball of electricity between her hands.
"Oh, that's a big threat coming from someone who can just throw static cling, and
whose only talent focuses in the bedroom area." Nuriko put in, snorting at his own
inside joke. Soi turned her snarling upon him.
"At least I can get men in my bedroom you half-baked queer!" she yelled. Ashitare
grumbled something from the back, causing Hotohori to freeze and stomp a foot
forward.
"Speak for yourself! At least I bathe and lack fleas!" Ashitare let out a roar and
charged up to the front line, facing off with Hotohori in a battle of glowing battle
auras.
"Hmmph. I can at least look halfway decent in women's makeup." Miboshi mumbled
haughtily.
"Bite me!" Mitsukake yelled.
"Um...can't we just get along?" Amiboshi put in meekly.
"Oh shut up brother-lover!" Chiriko suddenly proclaimed. All stopped to blink at him
in shock, then returned to their shouting match a moment later.
On the sidelines, Rain, Taka, Miaka, Yui, Suboshi, and Chichiri all watched, one
collective sweatdrop forming on their heads.
"Um...is it too late to re-phrase the whole 'getting-along' part?" Miaka asked sheepishly.
----------------------------
That night, the storm, both in the sky and on the ground, passed. Rain wandered away
from the tents that the blue-haired little girl, whom introduced herself as Nyan-Nyan
and Rain's new personal servant, had made magically appear. She sighed and pulled
herself up onto the boulder Tasuki had been leaning against earlier that day. Looking
up to the stars, she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head upon them heavily.
"They're numerous aren't they?" a woman's voice came. Rain blinked in surprise and glance
down. Next to her, Soi stood with her arms folded, staring up to the sky as well.
"Excuse me?" she asked in surprise. Soi cocked her head slightly and smiled.
"The stars. They seem to go on forever." Rain blinked at her a few times, then turned to
face them again.
"Yeah.....I could never see this many....not even when I was back in America." She replied,
leaning her chin on her knees once more. Soi glanced up at her curiously.
"America?" Rain turned to see her staring in confusion at her. "Is that like the Too-ki-yo
that Lady Yui comes from?" She asked, her eyes crossing slightly as she tried to pronounce
Tokyo. Rain laughed lightly.
"No...it's far away from Tokyo. It's a different country entirely." She smiled. Soi breathed
her admiration, then returned to staring at the stars.
Swooning a bit from the sake he had Nyan-Nyan conjure up for him, Tasuki stumbled his way
from camp, attempting to find a decent, private spot to relieve himself at. He came across
Soi and Rain talking, and ducked behind a rock to eavesdrop.
"So I noticed that you've discovered my lightning power." Soi began casually. Rain turned to
stare at her again.
"Yeah...what about it?" she asked, placing a hand over her leg. Her skin was feverish under her
jeans, as if it were unhappy with the new mark upon it. Soi stared at her for a moment, then
hopped lightly up to the rock, and sat down next to her. She stared solemnly at Rain for a
few moments longer, Rain's brow quirking in confusion. Looking down, she then placed a hand
on Rain's leg, right over the mark. Rain's eyes widened in surprise. Not just because there was
a woman putting a hand on her leg, but because she wasn't as see-through as she had been earlier
that day. In fact, she was cloudy, and Rain almost thought she felt the pressure from her hand.
"This mark will remain feverish, and most likely bleed until you master both of my powers."
She said seriously. Rain frowned and looked up at her.
"What do you mean, both powers?" she asked, shifting slightly. Soi looked into her eyes, and for
a fleeting moment she thought Soi was pitying her. She pulled back slightly. "What do you mean
both powers?" she asked again, her tone more demanding. Soi sighed and drew her hand away.
"Bochu. It's the power to raise or lower someone's energy level and spiritual power through
intercourse." She stated in an almost professional tone. Behind the boulder, Tasuki choked
on his own spit. Shit, he'd forgotten about that one. He turned his attention back when he
heard Rain let out an amused snort.
"Unh uh." She said, disbelieving. She let out a few laughs. "No...that's really funny, you know?
I mean, you had me going for a minute there." She laughed again. Soi continued to stare at her.
"I was being serious." She said evenly. Rain stopped laughing to stare at her for a moment,
then began laughing again.
"Right...so you're telling me, even if I master the other, what, twenty six now, powers, it would
be no good because there'd be this other half to yours? Nuh uh. That's not fair." She stood up
and slid off the boulder. "There ain't no one here that I'd wanna do that with, and besides,
I've got my morals, so I'm not just going to go hop in bed with...Tasuki for example.." behind the
boulder Tasuki's eyes popped open and he froze, "just to master this. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll
do without." With that she turned and trudged off towards the mountain.
Soi sighed and watched her walk away, then lowered her head and shut her eyes. She opened
them slightly and glanced to her left, raising a hand and snapping her fingers. A small bolt of
lightning suddenly came out of the clear sky, zapping Tasuki behind the rock. He let out one
cough, a cloud of charred air coming out. Soi floated down from the boulder and breezed past
his blackened person.
"That's what you get, perverted eavesdropper." She said airily, walking back towards the camp.
Tasuki watched her depart with a glare. He then turned and looked at Rain, who had stopped in
the middle of the clearing between the rise of the mountain and the place where he stood. She
was looking up to the stars again, and then reached into her shirt, pulling out the amulet Taits-kun
had given her and clutching it. His face softening into what some would identify as pity, he watched
her for a few more moments, then turned and retreated back to the camp.
--------------------------------
Tetsuya sat at a small table in another room of the strange, palace-like home Nazo had brought him
to, eating hungrily from his plate of food. He'd finally given up being wary around Nazo, hunger
thinking for him. Nazo watched him eat with an expressionless smile on his face, sipping every now
and again from his gold cup. Tetsuya tried his best to ignore his staring and eat, but felt the strange
uncomfortable crawl creeping up and down his skin.
Earlier that day, after dressing, he had naturally inspected his reflection in the mirror, and
screamed. Nazo came up behind him and smiled at him in the mirror, and placed a hand upon his
shoulder.
"This look suits you, Tetsuya." He smiled. Tetsuya took a step forward, his eyes opened wide in
shock.
"No way man....is this some sort of trick mirror?" he breathed, reaching a hand out and touching
the glass. The clothes looked rich, he wore a wide-armed black shirt, over which was a long dress-
coat that touched the floor and had a slit running up one leg to the sliver rope-belt tied loosely
around his waist. The coat was dark blue, a black dragon circling his torso, silver specks embroidered
into the dragon to appear as scales. Under the coat, he wore black straight pants, much like the pants
Nazo wore, and black slippers. What shocked him the most, however, was his hair. Just earlier that day
he swore that it had been short, like he'd always worn it his entire life. But now, it was long, and trailed
down to the small of his back.
"No, it's quite real." Nazo said, gently lifting a lock of Tetsuya's hair. Tetsuya turned and took it from
his hand. Sure enough, it was real. Lai-Lai came up behind him on the other side and pressed herself
up against him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Lai-Lai likes it...." she purred. Tetsuya glanced over at her, then back at his reflection. This was way
too weird. He didn't remember reading about anything about accelerated appearance change when
Yui or Miaka were in this book.
Now, he was starting to get used to his new look, and even kind of liked it. He just wished Nazo would
stare in another direction. Finishing off his drink, Tetsuya swallowed noisily and set his cup down with
a thunk. He blinked and glanced about him, inspecting his surroundings for the first time. Black, gold,
and red seemed to be the color theme running through the entire place. Black and Red curtains were
draped from different places in the ceiling, the floor was a dark gold wood color, and the walls were
black. The table he sat at was a black marble with gold designs painted upon it. Thoughtfully prying a
stray piece of food from one tooth with his tongue, he came to the conclusion that Nazo was either really
fond of those three colors, or just plain queer.
"Isn't there anyone else in this big old place besides you, me and Lai-Lai?" he asked his host, who was
munching on an apple wedge. Nazo glanced up at him and smiled once more. Tetsuya was getting tired
of that look. He wanted to know what Nazo had to be so damn smug about, and he wanted to know now.
"Of course there is." He stated smoothly, cutting off another wedge of apple. Tetsuya tensed. There
was another thing he was finding as a pet peeve with the guy. He always said 'of course' to any
question Tetsuya asked him. Catching his thoughts, Nazo's smile darkened. "They're in other
apartments, however. I'm afraid they're a little frightened of you at this time....you see, they've
never seen anyone from the world beyond the book." Tetsuya dropped his empty cup onto the floor.
"Did....did you just say what I think you said?" he fumbled, his eyes wide, trying to reach down for
his cup without breaking eye contact with Nazo. Nazo shut his eyes and smiled warmly.
"No, I did not read your mind this time Tetsuya. I've always known of the world beyond. It's that
world from which we draw our life." He said. "If no one were to read the book ever again...this
world would cease to exist."
"Cease to exist?" Hoshi wondered aloud. She blinked and shut one side of the book to see the
cover, a thought crossing her face. She glanced at Keisuke, who was still sleeping, then back
down at the page. "Could it be......that....no matter how many copies of the book are destroyed........
"...there will always be a copy born to take its place, no da." Chichiri concluded. Everyone stared
at him in stunned silence.
"If you knew about this all along, why didn't you say anything before?!" Taka demanded.
Chichiri regarded him solemnly, his mask laying upon the ground.
"Because, not everyone knows what we really are." He motioned to the Seiryuu crowded into the
tent next to the group of seated Suzaku. "They, for instance, did not know that they were just
characters in a book until they died. You, for one were one of the first to find out on your own.
I'm sure you can remember the feeling that you had, discovering that you were just writing on a
paper, even without Tamahome's memories." Miaka and Yui glanced at each other with a worried look.
"So....no matter how many times the book is sealed even, a new copy will appear?" Yui asked.
Chichiri shut his eye and nodded. Away from the group, Rain let out her breath in a puff and
kicked the heel of her shoe into the dirt. Nyan-Nyan, seated next to her, blinked and tilted her
head. Chichiri and several of the others turned to look at her.
"Then how come I wasn't summoned into this world as a priestess? How come I get the extra bonus
prize as Taits-kun?" she scoffed, kicking her heel into the ground. Chichiri sighed heavily.
"I was just getting to that..." he said in a soft voice. All attention turned back onto him. "As you
saw, Taits-kun existed in two forms, the female Yin that we Suzaku are most familiar with, and
the male Yang, that you Seiryuu are most familiar with, no da. When this world was created by
the four gods, they battled each other in a devastating fight that destroyed much of our world,
a result of an argument on who should rule the world as the cardinal god." Rain lifted her head
and looked at him, remembering the strange images she saw in the black kanji on the cover of the
book.
"They finally came to a stalemate, and decided that they had to seal themselves away from the
world they had created, making their only link being through a virgin girl who would be chosen as
a priestess.
"But, no girls in the world they created would be strong enough to endure the tasks of collecting
people blessed by the stars. Thus began the Priestess legend." Chichiri stopped and glanced at Rain
before continuing. "But until a Priestess arrived, there needed to be some sort of balance between
the cardinal points, not only to keep the world from spiraling into to limbo, but to keep the four gods
themselves at bay. So, they began the search for the one who would balance light and dark...."
"And so they created a man with no imperfections, right?" Chiriko put in, his voice bright. Chichiri s
miled softly at him and shook his head.
"That is half incorrect." Chiriko's smile faded and his mouth dropped open. "Two gods created the
man, but the other two created a softer person, the one whom would later be called a woman. The
gods brought both of them together in what we now see as Mount Tai-Kyoku.." he motioned to the
mountains outside of the tent, "and proceeded to argue about who was better for the job, no da.
"They finally decided, with the suggestions of the man and woman, to split the power in two, since
the full power itself would be too much, even for the gods themselves, to handle. The man getting
the Yang, and the woman receiving the Yin."
"Wait, wait, wait." Rain interrupted, sitting up. "If there were two then, why is there only me now?
If they were god-created beings who couldn't handle light and dark together, then how am I
supposed to?!" Chichiri shut his eye.
"When I trained under Taits-kun for two years, I was introduced to a young man, he had black
hair and the strangest color of eyes...they looked as if they were made from gold..." Rain froze
and held her breath, her eyes open as wide as they could go. "His name was Nazo, and he was
the son of Yin and Yang."
Everyone in the group all let out a surprised "HUH?!" at the same time, leaning forward, and
Rain began to shiver.
"Hold it......so Taits-kun was created specifically for the job by the four gods, merge into one
complete Supreme Being, and still have kids?!" Tasuki exclaimed. "Shit, that's insane!" Chichiri
regarded him solemnly.
"So was Nazo. Although the gods did not outright forbid them, it was a taboo for them to have a
child together. As deities of our world, they were created to be beyond mortal desires. Nazo was
born with both light and dark within him, and the warring sides drove him mad at a young age. He
would often try to kill me while I slept."
"Then...is he this 'brother' of yours that Taits-kun mentioned before she disappeared?" Taka asked.
Chichiri nodded.
"I was with them for so long, I suppose you could say that they adopted me in a way. Nazo became
jealous, and after fighting me, disappeared into the world. He took with him one Nyan-Nyan, who
had taken care of him since birth." He took a breath. "I can only imagine that he trained in the time
he was gone, to return for what he always claimed as his birthright."
"Birthright?" Miaka asked, tilting her head. Yui raised an eyebrow and lowered her eyelids, but did
not look at her. It wasn't hard to see what she was refraining from saying.
"Yes....the...."
"...right of Taits-kun." Rain murmured. All turned to look at her once more. She sat shivering against
the back of the tent, the little Nyan-Nyan covering her with a blanket she'd pulled out of the air.
"That's why a book for Taits-kun appeared, isn't it? Because they knew that Nazo would return some
day and kill them, right?" she looked up at Chichiri, who nodded slowly. There was a low rumbling in
the east, another storm coming upon them. Rain glanced out the tent flap. "And so this world will just
go chaotic, fall apart in a sense, if I don't take the light and dark out of him."
"And those who were meant to reincarnate will return to a physical form, the balance broken between
life and death." Mitsukake added. No one seemed to be entirely too shocked at this statement, for a
majority of the occupants of the tent were starting to become cloudy, their souls becoming flesh.
Rain stood up, letting Nyan-Nyan's blanket fall to the ground. She walked slowly towards the opening
of the tent.
"Where are you going?" Yui asked, turning to face her. Rain didn't look behind her.
"For a walk....I need some air." She said in a quiet voice. Everyone watched her leave before returning
to their former positions.
"Poor girl...she's got a heavy weight to carry all at once..." Hotohori said quietly. Everyone silently
agreed with him. Tasuki glanced back towards the flap of the tent, his brow furrowing in thought.
"HEY! I KNOW!" Miaka suddenly burst out, breaking the silence and causing everyone to jump,
startled. Nuriko stuck a finger into his ear and wiggled it, as if cleaning it.
"Well, now that I'm dead and deaf, what is it?" he asked, wincing. Miaka giggled and threw a fist
above her head.
"Let's all go take a bath in those hot springs!!!" she giggled. Several dozen pairs of baffled eyes turned
to stare at her. Miaka opened her eyes, her smile wavering a bit.
"Come on! It'll be fun! There's a ton of them over there, so the girls can have their own, the guys can
have their own, the animals can have their own...." she thought out loud, counting on her fingers.
"Roar!!" Ashitare suddenly put in, frowning. Tama-Neko, who had been sleeping on Yui's lap yawned
and stretched.
"...and the queer can have their own..."
"HEY!" Tomo and Nuriko exclaimed. Miaka thought for a few more minutes, then grinned again.
"It'll work out just great!!"
down in place. She stopped jumping and blinked seriously. "Well...minus the fact that
you're all getting along for once...." she added, glancing over to the six Seiryuu
warriors that had converged in one area.
"Yeah, but where's that blue-eyed freak, Nakago?" Tasuki put in. He leaned against
a large boulder, his arms folded across his chest and one foot propped against the
rock. "Why isn't he here? To chicken to face the people who put a kink in his plans?"
"Grrr...! How dare you say that about Lord Nakago!!" Tomo snarled.
"Come on over here, we'll show you how chicken Lord Nakago is!" Soi put in, forming
a ball of electricity between her hands.
"Oh, that's a big threat coming from someone who can just throw static cling, and
whose only talent focuses in the bedroom area." Nuriko put in, snorting at his own
inside joke. Soi turned her snarling upon him.
"At least I can get men in my bedroom you half-baked queer!" she yelled. Ashitare
grumbled something from the back, causing Hotohori to freeze and stomp a foot
forward.
"Speak for yourself! At least I bathe and lack fleas!" Ashitare let out a roar and
charged up to the front line, facing off with Hotohori in a battle of glowing battle
auras.
"Hmmph. I can at least look halfway decent in women's makeup." Miboshi mumbled
haughtily.
"Bite me!" Mitsukake yelled.
"Um...can't we just get along?" Amiboshi put in meekly.
"Oh shut up brother-lover!" Chiriko suddenly proclaimed. All stopped to blink at him
in shock, then returned to their shouting match a moment later.
On the sidelines, Rain, Taka, Miaka, Yui, Suboshi, and Chichiri all watched, one
collective sweatdrop forming on their heads.
"Um...is it too late to re-phrase the whole 'getting-along' part?" Miaka asked sheepishly.
----------------------------
That night, the storm, both in the sky and on the ground, passed. Rain wandered away
from the tents that the blue-haired little girl, whom introduced herself as Nyan-Nyan
and Rain's new personal servant, had made magically appear. She sighed and pulled
herself up onto the boulder Tasuki had been leaning against earlier that day. Looking
up to the stars, she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head upon them heavily.
"They're numerous aren't they?" a woman's voice came. Rain blinked in surprise and glance
down. Next to her, Soi stood with her arms folded, staring up to the sky as well.
"Excuse me?" she asked in surprise. Soi cocked her head slightly and smiled.
"The stars. They seem to go on forever." Rain blinked at her a few times, then turned to
face them again.
"Yeah.....I could never see this many....not even when I was back in America." She replied,
leaning her chin on her knees once more. Soi glanced up at her curiously.
"America?" Rain turned to see her staring in confusion at her. "Is that like the Too-ki-yo
that Lady Yui comes from?" She asked, her eyes crossing slightly as she tried to pronounce
Tokyo. Rain laughed lightly.
"No...it's far away from Tokyo. It's a different country entirely." She smiled. Soi breathed
her admiration, then returned to staring at the stars.
Swooning a bit from the sake he had Nyan-Nyan conjure up for him, Tasuki stumbled his way
from camp, attempting to find a decent, private spot to relieve himself at. He came across
Soi and Rain talking, and ducked behind a rock to eavesdrop.
"So I noticed that you've discovered my lightning power." Soi began casually. Rain turned to
stare at her again.
"Yeah...what about it?" she asked, placing a hand over her leg. Her skin was feverish under her
jeans, as if it were unhappy with the new mark upon it. Soi stared at her for a moment, then
hopped lightly up to the rock, and sat down next to her. She stared solemnly at Rain for a
few moments longer, Rain's brow quirking in confusion. Looking down, she then placed a hand
on Rain's leg, right over the mark. Rain's eyes widened in surprise. Not just because there was
a woman putting a hand on her leg, but because she wasn't as see-through as she had been earlier
that day. In fact, she was cloudy, and Rain almost thought she felt the pressure from her hand.
"This mark will remain feverish, and most likely bleed until you master both of my powers."
She said seriously. Rain frowned and looked up at her.
"What do you mean, both powers?" she asked, shifting slightly. Soi looked into her eyes, and for
a fleeting moment she thought Soi was pitying her. She pulled back slightly. "What do you mean
both powers?" she asked again, her tone more demanding. Soi sighed and drew her hand away.
"Bochu. It's the power to raise or lower someone's energy level and spiritual power through
intercourse." She stated in an almost professional tone. Behind the boulder, Tasuki choked
on his own spit. Shit, he'd forgotten about that one. He turned his attention back when he
heard Rain let out an amused snort.
"Unh uh." She said, disbelieving. She let out a few laughs. "No...that's really funny, you know?
I mean, you had me going for a minute there." She laughed again. Soi continued to stare at her.
"I was being serious." She said evenly. Rain stopped laughing to stare at her for a moment,
then began laughing again.
"Right...so you're telling me, even if I master the other, what, twenty six now, powers, it would
be no good because there'd be this other half to yours? Nuh uh. That's not fair." She stood up
and slid off the boulder. "There ain't no one here that I'd wanna do that with, and besides,
I've got my morals, so I'm not just going to go hop in bed with...Tasuki for example.." behind the
boulder Tasuki's eyes popped open and he froze, "just to master this. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll
do without." With that she turned and trudged off towards the mountain.
Soi sighed and watched her walk away, then lowered her head and shut her eyes. She opened
them slightly and glanced to her left, raising a hand and snapping her fingers. A small bolt of
lightning suddenly came out of the clear sky, zapping Tasuki behind the rock. He let out one
cough, a cloud of charred air coming out. Soi floated down from the boulder and breezed past
his blackened person.
"That's what you get, perverted eavesdropper." She said airily, walking back towards the camp.
Tasuki watched her depart with a glare. He then turned and looked at Rain, who had stopped in
the middle of the clearing between the rise of the mountain and the place where he stood. She
was looking up to the stars again, and then reached into her shirt, pulling out the amulet Taits-kun
had given her and clutching it. His face softening into what some would identify as pity, he watched
her for a few more moments, then turned and retreated back to the camp.
--------------------------------
Tetsuya sat at a small table in another room of the strange, palace-like home Nazo had brought him
to, eating hungrily from his plate of food. He'd finally given up being wary around Nazo, hunger
thinking for him. Nazo watched him eat with an expressionless smile on his face, sipping every now
and again from his gold cup. Tetsuya tried his best to ignore his staring and eat, but felt the strange
uncomfortable crawl creeping up and down his skin.
Earlier that day, after dressing, he had naturally inspected his reflection in the mirror, and
screamed. Nazo came up behind him and smiled at him in the mirror, and placed a hand upon his
shoulder.
"This look suits you, Tetsuya." He smiled. Tetsuya took a step forward, his eyes opened wide in
shock.
"No way man....is this some sort of trick mirror?" he breathed, reaching a hand out and touching
the glass. The clothes looked rich, he wore a wide-armed black shirt, over which was a long dress-
coat that touched the floor and had a slit running up one leg to the sliver rope-belt tied loosely
around his waist. The coat was dark blue, a black dragon circling his torso, silver specks embroidered
into the dragon to appear as scales. Under the coat, he wore black straight pants, much like the pants
Nazo wore, and black slippers. What shocked him the most, however, was his hair. Just earlier that day
he swore that it had been short, like he'd always worn it his entire life. But now, it was long, and trailed
down to the small of his back.
"No, it's quite real." Nazo said, gently lifting a lock of Tetsuya's hair. Tetsuya turned and took it from
his hand. Sure enough, it was real. Lai-Lai came up behind him on the other side and pressed herself
up against him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Lai-Lai likes it...." she purred. Tetsuya glanced over at her, then back at his reflection. This was way
too weird. He didn't remember reading about anything about accelerated appearance change when
Yui or Miaka were in this book.
Now, he was starting to get used to his new look, and even kind of liked it. He just wished Nazo would
stare in another direction. Finishing off his drink, Tetsuya swallowed noisily and set his cup down with
a thunk. He blinked and glanced about him, inspecting his surroundings for the first time. Black, gold,
and red seemed to be the color theme running through the entire place. Black and Red curtains were
draped from different places in the ceiling, the floor was a dark gold wood color, and the walls were
black. The table he sat at was a black marble with gold designs painted upon it. Thoughtfully prying a
stray piece of food from one tooth with his tongue, he came to the conclusion that Nazo was either really
fond of those three colors, or just plain queer.
"Isn't there anyone else in this big old place besides you, me and Lai-Lai?" he asked his host, who was
munching on an apple wedge. Nazo glanced up at him and smiled once more. Tetsuya was getting tired
of that look. He wanted to know what Nazo had to be so damn smug about, and he wanted to know now.
"Of course there is." He stated smoothly, cutting off another wedge of apple. Tetsuya tensed. There
was another thing he was finding as a pet peeve with the guy. He always said 'of course' to any
question Tetsuya asked him. Catching his thoughts, Nazo's smile darkened. "They're in other
apartments, however. I'm afraid they're a little frightened of you at this time....you see, they've
never seen anyone from the world beyond the book." Tetsuya dropped his empty cup onto the floor.
"Did....did you just say what I think you said?" he fumbled, his eyes wide, trying to reach down for
his cup without breaking eye contact with Nazo. Nazo shut his eyes and smiled warmly.
"No, I did not read your mind this time Tetsuya. I've always known of the world beyond. It's that
world from which we draw our life." He said. "If no one were to read the book ever again...this
world would cease to exist."
"Cease to exist?" Hoshi wondered aloud. She blinked and shut one side of the book to see the
cover, a thought crossing her face. She glanced at Keisuke, who was still sleeping, then back
down at the page. "Could it be......that....no matter how many copies of the book are destroyed........
"...there will always be a copy born to take its place, no da." Chichiri concluded. Everyone stared
at him in stunned silence.
"If you knew about this all along, why didn't you say anything before?!" Taka demanded.
Chichiri regarded him solemnly, his mask laying upon the ground.
"Because, not everyone knows what we really are." He motioned to the Seiryuu crowded into the
tent next to the group of seated Suzaku. "They, for instance, did not know that they were just
characters in a book until they died. You, for one were one of the first to find out on your own.
I'm sure you can remember the feeling that you had, discovering that you were just writing on a
paper, even without Tamahome's memories." Miaka and Yui glanced at each other with a worried look.
"So....no matter how many times the book is sealed even, a new copy will appear?" Yui asked.
Chichiri shut his eye and nodded. Away from the group, Rain let out her breath in a puff and
kicked the heel of her shoe into the dirt. Nyan-Nyan, seated next to her, blinked and tilted her
head. Chichiri and several of the others turned to look at her.
"Then how come I wasn't summoned into this world as a priestess? How come I get the extra bonus
prize as Taits-kun?" she scoffed, kicking her heel into the ground. Chichiri sighed heavily.
"I was just getting to that..." he said in a soft voice. All attention turned back onto him. "As you
saw, Taits-kun existed in two forms, the female Yin that we Suzaku are most familiar with, and
the male Yang, that you Seiryuu are most familiar with, no da. When this world was created by
the four gods, they battled each other in a devastating fight that destroyed much of our world,
a result of an argument on who should rule the world as the cardinal god." Rain lifted her head
and looked at him, remembering the strange images she saw in the black kanji on the cover of the
book.
"They finally came to a stalemate, and decided that they had to seal themselves away from the
world they had created, making their only link being through a virgin girl who would be chosen as
a priestess.
"But, no girls in the world they created would be strong enough to endure the tasks of collecting
people blessed by the stars. Thus began the Priestess legend." Chichiri stopped and glanced at Rain
before continuing. "But until a Priestess arrived, there needed to be some sort of balance between
the cardinal points, not only to keep the world from spiraling into to limbo, but to keep the four gods
themselves at bay. So, they began the search for the one who would balance light and dark...."
"And so they created a man with no imperfections, right?" Chiriko put in, his voice bright. Chichiri s
miled softly at him and shook his head.
"That is half incorrect." Chiriko's smile faded and his mouth dropped open. "Two gods created the
man, but the other two created a softer person, the one whom would later be called a woman. The
gods brought both of them together in what we now see as Mount Tai-Kyoku.." he motioned to the
mountains outside of the tent, "and proceeded to argue about who was better for the job, no da.
"They finally decided, with the suggestions of the man and woman, to split the power in two, since
the full power itself would be too much, even for the gods themselves, to handle. The man getting
the Yang, and the woman receiving the Yin."
"Wait, wait, wait." Rain interrupted, sitting up. "If there were two then, why is there only me now?
If they were god-created beings who couldn't handle light and dark together, then how am I
supposed to?!" Chichiri shut his eye.
"When I trained under Taits-kun for two years, I was introduced to a young man, he had black
hair and the strangest color of eyes...they looked as if they were made from gold..." Rain froze
and held her breath, her eyes open as wide as they could go. "His name was Nazo, and he was
the son of Yin and Yang."
Everyone in the group all let out a surprised "HUH?!" at the same time, leaning forward, and
Rain began to shiver.
"Hold it......so Taits-kun was created specifically for the job by the four gods, merge into one
complete Supreme Being, and still have kids?!" Tasuki exclaimed. "Shit, that's insane!" Chichiri
regarded him solemnly.
"So was Nazo. Although the gods did not outright forbid them, it was a taboo for them to have a
child together. As deities of our world, they were created to be beyond mortal desires. Nazo was
born with both light and dark within him, and the warring sides drove him mad at a young age. He
would often try to kill me while I slept."
"Then...is he this 'brother' of yours that Taits-kun mentioned before she disappeared?" Taka asked.
Chichiri nodded.
"I was with them for so long, I suppose you could say that they adopted me in a way. Nazo became
jealous, and after fighting me, disappeared into the world. He took with him one Nyan-Nyan, who
had taken care of him since birth." He took a breath. "I can only imagine that he trained in the time
he was gone, to return for what he always claimed as his birthright."
"Birthright?" Miaka asked, tilting her head. Yui raised an eyebrow and lowered her eyelids, but did
not look at her. It wasn't hard to see what she was refraining from saying.
"Yes....the...."
"...right of Taits-kun." Rain murmured. All turned to look at her once more. She sat shivering against
the back of the tent, the little Nyan-Nyan covering her with a blanket she'd pulled out of the air.
"That's why a book for Taits-kun appeared, isn't it? Because they knew that Nazo would return some
day and kill them, right?" she looked up at Chichiri, who nodded slowly. There was a low rumbling in
the east, another storm coming upon them. Rain glanced out the tent flap. "And so this world will just
go chaotic, fall apart in a sense, if I don't take the light and dark out of him."
"And those who were meant to reincarnate will return to a physical form, the balance broken between
life and death." Mitsukake added. No one seemed to be entirely too shocked at this statement, for a
majority of the occupants of the tent were starting to become cloudy, their souls becoming flesh.
Rain stood up, letting Nyan-Nyan's blanket fall to the ground. She walked slowly towards the opening
of the tent.
"Where are you going?" Yui asked, turning to face her. Rain didn't look behind her.
"For a walk....I need some air." She said in a quiet voice. Everyone watched her leave before returning
to their former positions.
"Poor girl...she's got a heavy weight to carry all at once..." Hotohori said quietly. Everyone silently
agreed with him. Tasuki glanced back towards the flap of the tent, his brow furrowing in thought.
"HEY! I KNOW!" Miaka suddenly burst out, breaking the silence and causing everyone to jump,
startled. Nuriko stuck a finger into his ear and wiggled it, as if cleaning it.
"Well, now that I'm dead and deaf, what is it?" he asked, wincing. Miaka giggled and threw a fist
above her head.
"Let's all go take a bath in those hot springs!!!" she giggled. Several dozen pairs of baffled eyes turned
to stare at her. Miaka opened her eyes, her smile wavering a bit.
"Come on! It'll be fun! There's a ton of them over there, so the girls can have their own, the guys can
have their own, the animals can have their own...." she thought out loud, counting on her fingers.
"Roar!!" Ashitare suddenly put in, frowning. Tama-Neko, who had been sleeping on Yui's lap yawned
and stretched.
"...and the queer can have their own..."
"HEY!" Tomo and Nuriko exclaimed. Miaka thought for a few more minutes, then grinned again.
"It'll work out just great!!"