"Priestess..." a young voice whispered. Yui stirred and made a soft noise in her throat.
"Sister-Priestess..." a little girl's voice whispered as well. A small hand came out and
nudged Yui's shoulder.
"Stop that Uruki! You're not supposed to touch the Priestess without permission.!" Another
voice came. Yui stirred again and opened her eyes. She focused on three children's faces
hovering above her bed.
"Tetsuya?!" she cried, sitting up. The children backed away from her, the two older glancing
at each other.
"No Tetsuya here!" the little girls voice proclaimed. Yui blinked and finally noticed them. Two
boys and one small girl stood next to her bed, the two boys dropping down onto one knee. One
glanced up at the little girl, who had a finger in her mouth, and pulled her down.
"Oh...it's you..." Yui said, swinging her legs over to the side of the bed and sitting up. The young
reincarnations of Hikitsu and Tomite lifted their heads.
"You returned to this world Priestess of Genbu...so we followed you here to protect you." Hikitsu
said. Yui shook her head.
"But I've already got the Seiryuu to protect me..." she began. These children were too young to be
called as Celestial warriors, and she didn't want them getting involved. Tomite shook his head.
"But we must." He stated, then stood. He pushed the little girl forward. "Introduce yourself to the
priestess." He whispered harshly. The little girl blinked at him, then latched onto Yui's neck in a hug.
"Not that way!" Hikitsu gasped, reaching out to pull her off. Yui held up a hand and smiled.
"It's all right." She said. The little girl looked up into Yui's face, studying her, then grinned.
"Lai-Lin!" she giggled, then hugged Yui again. Tomite smacked his forehead.
"Your Celestial name weirdo." He groaned into his hand. Lai-Lin frowned at Tomite, then pushed
herself away from Yui.
"Uruki...." she said, pouting.
------------------------------------
"Rain!!!!" Miaka cried enthusiastically, racing through the halls of the palace towards Rain's
room.
"Miaka slow down!" Taka yelled, running after her. He tripped on a few pieces of fallen ceiling,
stumbling him. "Miaka, what's the hurry?!"
"Priestess of Suzaku, no running please!" a courtier warned as she raced by him. Miaka ignored
him and giggled, turning a corner into the hallway Rain's room was located in.
"Rain!!" Miaka exclaimed, bursting into her room. Her breath caught in her throat in a tiny 'eep' as
she caught sight of Tasuki reclined in Rain's bed, his back against the headboard, head bobbing
with sleep.
"What is it?" Rain asked groggily, pushing herself up. She rubbed her eyes, then stopped, seeing
Tasuki next to her. "Who said you could sleep in my bed?!" she shouted, pushing him over. He tumbled
out of the bed, waking up as he hit the floor.
"What the hell was that for?" he shouted, standing up.
"I said you could stay, meaning stay in the chair, not in my bed!" Rain shouted back. Miaka sweat
dropped.
"Um...yeah.......Hotohori and Boushin want to see you...." Miaka said nervously as she scooted from
the room. Rain blinked at her, then jumped out of bed.
-----------------------------------------
"...and so, since we can not get the one who did this to Boushin to turn him back, we'd like you...as
Taits-kun....to do it for him." Hotohori finished. Rain listened patiently, seated in a chair with the
other Suzaku warriors in Houki's chamber. Rain shut her eyes and sighed.
"Were you always this demanding of your previous Taits-kun?" she asked wearily. Chiriko glanced
at her in surprise.
"All we're asking you to do is return Boushin to his normal form! I don't remember hearing anyone else
ask you to do anything else for them!" He exclaimed. Rain opened one eye and glanced at him, then shut
it again and stood up.
"Listen....I'd like to help, but I can't do that....not yet anyway. I'm not Taits-kun yet, just a girl named
Rain with a small set of weird powers." She said, turning towards the door. Chichiri stood in her way.
"You have the celestial powers, no da." He said, taking off his mask. Rain looked up into his face. "There
was a Byakko warrior by the name of Subaru, no da, who could control ages, no da. If you concentrate
hard enough, you can call up that power, no da." Rain shook her head.
"No can do. I just can't call up the powers....they just kind of randomly choose to emerge." She said, trying
to move past him. Chichiri only moved with her, blocking her escape route.
"Have you ever tried to call them up?" Mitsukake asked seriously. Rain turned to look at him, then at Tasuki,
who stood in a corner with one foot propped against the wall, then at Hotohori and Boushin. Sighing in
defeat, she lowered her head and turned back towards them.
"I'll try." She said softly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Big sister!!" Lai-Lin shouted, clinging to Rain around the waist. Rain's eyes widened and she leaned
down to hug the little girl.
"Lai-Lin...how did you get here?!" she exclaimed. Lai-Lin giggled.
"We took her out of her village before the beasts destroyed it." Tomite said, walking forward. Rain
looked at him in shock. The dream had been real. She tilted her head as two boys knelt before her
in a bow.
"We are the three Warriors of Genbu, Hikitsu, Tomite and Uruki." Hikitsu introduced, casting his
eyes downward. "We are honored to meet you Taits-kun." Lai-Lin giggled again and hugged Rain.
"Big-sister isn't Taits-kun!" she said. Tomite and Hikitsu stared at her in shock.
"Uruki...knock it off! You'll get us in trouble!" Tomite hissed, reaching out to pull her away. Lai-Lin
made an unhappy noise and dodged behind Rain.
"It's all right, Lai-Li-err, Uruki is a friend." Rain said, smiling. Hikitsu and Tomite stared as Lai-Lin
stuck her tongue out at them.
--------------------------------------------
Rain nervously glanced about her as she entered the shrine room of Suzaku. The Seiryuu and Genbu
warriors ventured as close as they could, and sat down outside of the barrier to watch. It was dimly
lit inside, several candle pillars placed on either side of the statue of Suzaku and in the corners. Upon
an ornately decorated blanket sat Boushin, wearing only a loincloth. He stared up at her expectantly.
Lining the tile entrance on either side, stood the Suzaku warriors. Houki knelt off to the side of Hotohori,
her hands clasped nervously in front of her chest. Rain swallowed. Geez, you'd think I was doing something
that could kill him....she thought.
Well, you could kill him. You could age him too much either way, killing him with old age, or blinking him
out of existence. The familiar gruff voice of Taits-kun came. Rain frowned slightly.
Who invited you into my head? She retorted. Taits-kun laughed.
Just get the job done, we'll talk later.
Taking a breath, Rain stopped in front Boushin, then knelt down onto one knee. She rubbed the backs of
her hands nervously and let her breath out. "Are you ready, Boushin?" she asked. Boushin nodded and
bowed his head, shutting his eyes.
God this feels so fake....Rain thought as she raised her hands and placed them on his head, shutting her
own eyes I haven't the slightest as to what I'm supposed to be doing. She opened one eye slightly and
saw that the rest of the warriors surrounding her had their eyes shut, hands raised, praying to their
Cardinal god. She shut it again. Great.....that's a load off my shoulders. She thought bitterly.
Nazo's head rose as he felt the pull of power inside Rain. He stood up from the chair he had seated
himself in to think and walked over to the large mirror.
Yes...that's it.....he grinned darkly. He lifted one hand and placed it upon the mirror, his touch
disturbing the image as if it were a reflection upon water. He shut his own eyes in concentration.
Outside the shrine, playing a game of ball with Lai-Lin, Nyan-Nyan suddenly froze, and stared into the
sky with fright. Clouds began to rapidly gather above the palace, thunder booming within them.
"What's going on Nyan-Nyan?" Yui asked, her own voice tinged with fright. Nyan-Nyan turned towards
the shrine.
"No! Taits-kun must stop! Is not a good thing to happen!!" she cried, running towards the shrine entrance.
There was a flare of light, and she was repelled, knocking her several feet away.
"Sister!!" Lai-Lin cried, running to her side. Amiboshi stared at the entrance in shock.
"It shouldn't have done that....Nyan-Nyan is a creation of Taits-kun...she should've been able to enter...."
he said, taking a step forward and touching the barrier.
"Wait...what's that?" Suboshi asked, looking up to the clouds. There was a pastel ball of light, much
like the one Nyan-Nyan turned into to travel, coming down from the clouds to them. There was a bright
light from the bottom of it, and a person slowly emerged.
She landed softly, her feet bare, a single anklet jingling as her feet touched the ground. She was smiling
emotionlessly, as if she were a doll. Nyan-Nyan lifted her head weakly.
"Nyan-Nyan...why did you attack Nyan-Nyan?" she asked. Lai-Lai flipped a piece of hair over her
shoulder.
"Master Nazo makes Nyan-Nyan into Lai-Lai." She said haughtily. She held her hands in front of her, one
above the other with a space between. "Now Lai-Lai shall make dead of Nyan-Nyan and other Taits-kun!"
A crackling ball of light formed between her hands, and she threw it at them. The Seiryuu and Genbu
jumped in different directions, Suboshi grabbing Yui as he leapt, Tomite taking Lai-Lin and Nyan-Nyan.
"What was that?" Miaka asked, turning towards the entrance. She gasped as the ball of light sailed
directly towards them, then hit the barrier. She winced and cried out in fear.
"Good Suzaku...is that....a Nyan-Nyan?" Nuriko asked in disbelief, shielding Miaka from the light.
"Look! It's working!!" Chiriko exclaimed, pointing to Rain and Boushin. There was a white light forming
around Rain's hands, and she winced in exertion. Boushin's body was beginning to shrink, ever so slightly,
as Rain tried to get a grip on the power.
"Now." Nazo said, pushing his hand into the image of Rain that was displayed on the mirror.
Rain cried out, a spot of blood forming on the left side of her chest. Her whole body became engulfed in
black electricity, and she hunched towards Boushin. He was wincing, trying to bear the electricity
coming from her.
"Stop her!" Tasuki suddenly shouted, breaking away from the sideline. He ran towards her, but was
repelled by the same barrier that kept the others out of the shrine. He flew and landed several feet
away. He looked up at Chichiri desperately. "Stop her dammit!" he shouted.
The electricity tore away small bits of Rain's clothing, revealing more symbols upon her body, all
bleeding. She threw her head back and screamed, unable to handle all the powers at once.
Nazo's eyebrows drew together in a slight wince as he concentrated. Slowly, the character that
meant 'wings' appeared on his right forearm.
"REKKA-"
"STOP!" Mitsukake shouted, grabbing Tasuki's tessen and pulling it back. Tasuki glared at him.
"What are you doing?! Something's definitely wrong you idiot!" he yelled back at him. Mitsukake
looked at him evenly.
"If you use that fire now, you could harm Boushin." He said in a low voice. Tasuki's eyes widened,
and he looked desperately between the now mourning empress and Rain.
"Shit...." he spat, angry. An idea passed his mind. "Chichiri, cover me!" he shouted, re-holstering his
tessen and sprinting towards Rain. Chichiri held his prayer beads between his thumb and forefinger
as Tasuki neared the barrier surrounding Rain, and began silently chanting a spell. Tasuki connected
with the barrier, but did not get repelled. He winced as the black electricity began surrounding him
too, but pushed onward.
A dark smile gracing his lips despite his exerted wince, Nazo let out a hoarse chuckle as another symbol
appeared on his temple.
Tasuki blindly reached out his hand, the four symbols on his body flaring in unison, and grabbed what
he hoped was Rain's arm, and pulled.
Nazo's eyes opened wide. "NO!" he yelled into the mirror. A red force repelled him a moment later,
knocking him across his room and into the wall. He fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, and did not move.
Tasuki fell onto his back, Rain tumbling out of the electricity and onto his chest. He held her protectively,
knocked momentarily senseless. There was a shocked silence from all, even the battle outside seemed
to have gone into a silent stalemate. A few stray bolts of the black electricity traveled up and down
Rain and Tasuki, and over the statue of Suzaku. Chichiri removed his mask and took a step forward,
his eye as wide as it could go.
Tasuki groaned and pushed himself to a sit. He held Rain propped up on one arm, and touched her
face, his expression that of fear. "Rain....Rain, come on, wake up!" he said in a low voice. He took her
chin in one hand and shook her face gently. "Rain..wake up!"
"Boushin!!" Houki finally cried, rushing over to the blanket. Tasuki looked up to find Hotohori and
Houki kneeling by the blanket, cuddling a two-year old baby to them.
"It worked!" Chiriko said in awe. Tasuki looked back down at Rain. Yeah...but at what cost?
His eyes widened in alarm as the symbol on her temple, and on her hand were not visible. "Rain....?
Rain...!" he exclaimed, shaking her harder. Her clothes were shredded, barely enough left to cover
her, and displaying the symbols upon the rest of her body. He let out a breath of relief a she finally
stirred and opened her eyes.
"Did it work?" she asked in a weak voice. Tasuki smiled at her, tears unexpectedly brimming in his
eyes and nodded. He then hugged her tightly. She smiled, exhausted, and hugged him back.
"LOOK OUT!" Hikitsu cried as Suboshi was propelled past the barrier and into the statue of Suzaku.
Red electricity instantly surrounded him and caused him to cry out in pain. Tasuki covered Rain
protectively.
"Suzaku! Please stop!" Miaka suddenly cried, breaking away from Nuriko and Taka. There was a
strange blur to the ruined statue, almost as if Suzaku were moving to look at her, and the electricity
stopped. Suboshi fell to the floor in a heap, Mitsukake running over to him, unbandaging his hand.
"Nyan-Nyan, please stop!" Nyan-Nyan cried, holding her hands out to protect the Genbu children as
Lai-Lai tried to blast them.
"Lai-Lai do this for Nazo!" she screamed. She fell to her knees and hit her fingertips to the ground.
A jagged split formed in the pavement from them and stretched out, widening into a wider split.
Rain sat up quickly as she heard the rumbling from outside and the sound of earth splitting. She pulled
herself away from Tasuki.
"Move!' she breathed, stumbling to her feet and running into Houki, Hotohori and Boushin. They turned
and stared at her in surprise as she landed on her knees upon the blanket. The earth split beneath her
a moment later and she fell into the crack.
"Dammit!" Tasuki growled to himself. There wasn't going to be any rest from the trouble Rain kept
putting herself in. He stood up just as Lai-Lai floated in, hovering much like the former Taits-kun
used to do. She glared menacingly, Nyan-Nyan under her arm and unconscious. She lowered herself
into the split, dropping Nyan-Nyan to the ground next to it.
Rain lifted her head with effort, wincing. Her entire body burned with pain and felt broken. Lai-Lai
slowly lowered herself down, glaring at Rain.
"Lai-Lai make Nazo happy..." she said in a low voice, another ball of light forming in her hand. Rain
winced and tried to push herself to a sit.
"Aren't...you...a Nyan-Nyan?" she asked. Lai-Lai's eyes narrowed.
"Lai-Lai above Nyan-Nyan. Before Taits-kun make Lai-Lai care for Nazo all by herself." The light
grew brighter. "Before Taits-kun say Lai-Lai not right to become love of Nazo because Lai-Lai just a
Nyan-Nyan!" Rain squinted, not quite making sense of her words.
"But.....I'm not the old Taits-kun..." she rasped. Lai-Lai glowered.
"Yes you are. I see before Taits-kun within you head!" she shouted. Tasuki jumped down into the split
behind her and pulled out his tessen.
"If you knew what was good for ya, you'd back off." He growled. Lai-Lai turned her head to glance
at him, then fired the ball of light at him. Caught off guard, he was propelled into the wall of the split.
The light dispersed into strange glowing shackles, pinning him to the wall.
"You love this Taits-kun, yes?" she smirked. Both Tasuki and Rain's eyes widened. Lai-Lai formed
another ball of light and aimed her hand towards Tasuki. "But you can no have this Taits-kun. She
is not for you." The light grew brighter.
Stop him you bull headed brat! If she kills him, Nazo shall become Yang! Taits-kun Yin shouted in her
head. Rain's breath caught in her chest as the dream that almost cost her life resurfaced. A glowing
light surrounded her and her body was propelled upwards and forward.
"Nyan-Nyan...leave him." An echoing voice commanded.
Lai-Lai turned in shock towards the voice. Rain was surrounded in a bright white light, her hair blown
gently as if there were a wind blowing from the ground. Her eyes, even the whites, glowed white.
"Taits-kun?" Lai-Lai whispered. She shrunk down to a crouch in fear. Rain raised a hand, and it began
to glow with a brighter light. It swirled for a moment, then shot out in a beam towards Lai-Lai.
"Get out, Lai-Lai!" Nazo shouted, jumping from the air in front of the beam. He held up his hands and
blocked it with a shield of dark light. Lai-Lai stayed where she was, unable to move. Nazo, eyes squinted
from exertion, turned and kicked a stray pebble at her. "I said go!" he snarled. Lai-Lai finally blinked
and stood up. She jumped into the air and turned into the pastel bubble, then zoomed out of the shrine.
Tasuki fell to the ground, the shackles disappearing.
Rain lowered her hand and tilted her head at Nazo, and blinked. Nazo lowered his own hands, the dark
light disappearing. He panted a few times, then managed a dark smirk.
"You're tearing yourself apart, bringing out all this power now, Taits-kun." He murmured. Nuriko's symbol,
right below her collarbone on her right side, suddenly burst out in a tiny spray of blood. Rain did appear
to feel it, but continued to stare at Nazo curiously, like a glowing doll. More symbols began to bleed in
the same manner.
"If you had Yang...would that give you a soul?" she asked him, her voice still echoing. Nazo's smirk dropped
and he stared at her in disbelief, then glared.
"I don't need just one. I was born to become both." He snarled. Rain held a hand out again, a pained look
crossing her face. Nazo smirked again. "As for the soul....once all the symbols leave your body an onto mine...
I shall have the souls of all the celestial warriors into one." Rain's hand dropped, her holy light surrounding
her beginning to waver. Nazo slowly walked towards her and stood in front of her.
"Hey, get away from her!" Tasuki managed to shout, pushing himself up enough to see what was happening.
Lai-Lai's light shackles had paralyzed him somehow. Nazo leaned down and kissed Rain, her eyes going as
wide as they could go. Nuriko's willow symbol upon her chest drew in the blood it had just begun to bleed,
as if in reverse. It disappeared a moment after, only to re-appear on Nazo's chest.
"I SAID, GET AWAY FROM HER!" Tasuki screamed, holding a hand out. 'Heart' flared on his forehead, a
blue light forming in front of his hand and shooting towards Nazo. It hit him in his back, breaking the kiss
and causing him to stumble forward as if pushed. Nazo turned and glared at Tasuki. The light had left Rain,
and she fell back down to her knees. Tasuki's arm dropped, unable to move anything now.
Nazo smirked and made his way over to Tasuki, and knelt in front of him. He yanked him up by his hair so he
could stare into his face.
"You've been a pest to me from the very start." He said huskily, tracing a line down Tasuki's jaw with his
fingernail. Tasuki winced, his eyes watering from the pain in his scalp. Nazo's smirk darkened, and he
leaned down towards Tasuki's mouth.
"GET AWAY!" Chichiri shouted, holding his magic rod in front of him. A barrier formed around Tasuki,
zapping Nazo and forcing him to drop Tasuki's head. Taka, Hotohori, Suboshi, Ashitare and Hikitsu
dropped down into the split, in front of Tasuki, and went into fighting stance. Nazo tossed a piece of
hair over his shoulder and shifted his weight to another foot.
"Honestly. Such pitiful idiots. Now is not the time, nor place for us to do battle." He said haughtily. There
was a blurring of the air behind him, and Tetsuya appeared. Nazo reached over to him and put an arm
around him, stroking his face. "Besides, I have someone close to you.....who is at my disposal." With that,
he clenched his hand, his fingernails digging into Tetsuya's cheek and drawing a pinprick of blood.
"NO!" Yui yelled from above. Nazo glanced up briefly, then back down at the warriors.
"So long my friends." He said, laughing as he disappeared. Yui sank to her knees and raised a hand to her
mouth. Lai-Lin kneeled beside her and put her small arms around her neck, hugging her tightly.
"It's all right Sister-Priestess. Taits-kun will make things all better!" she said in a child-pity voice. She leaned
her head against Yui's shoulder. Yui glanced down at Rain who was staring into the dark, her eyes glassy
like a dolls. Yui shut her eyes and looked away.
Taits-kun is now within Nazo.
"Sister-Priestess..." a little girl's voice whispered as well. A small hand came out and
nudged Yui's shoulder.
"Stop that Uruki! You're not supposed to touch the Priestess without permission.!" Another
voice came. Yui stirred again and opened her eyes. She focused on three children's faces
hovering above her bed.
"Tetsuya?!" she cried, sitting up. The children backed away from her, the two older glancing
at each other.
"No Tetsuya here!" the little girls voice proclaimed. Yui blinked and finally noticed them. Two
boys and one small girl stood next to her bed, the two boys dropping down onto one knee. One
glanced up at the little girl, who had a finger in her mouth, and pulled her down.
"Oh...it's you..." Yui said, swinging her legs over to the side of the bed and sitting up. The young
reincarnations of Hikitsu and Tomite lifted their heads.
"You returned to this world Priestess of Genbu...so we followed you here to protect you." Hikitsu
said. Yui shook her head.
"But I've already got the Seiryuu to protect me..." she began. These children were too young to be
called as Celestial warriors, and she didn't want them getting involved. Tomite shook his head.
"But we must." He stated, then stood. He pushed the little girl forward. "Introduce yourself to the
priestess." He whispered harshly. The little girl blinked at him, then latched onto Yui's neck in a hug.
"Not that way!" Hikitsu gasped, reaching out to pull her off. Yui held up a hand and smiled.
"It's all right." She said. The little girl looked up into Yui's face, studying her, then grinned.
"Lai-Lin!" she giggled, then hugged Yui again. Tomite smacked his forehead.
"Your Celestial name weirdo." He groaned into his hand. Lai-Lin frowned at Tomite, then pushed
herself away from Yui.
"Uruki...." she said, pouting.
------------------------------------
"Rain!!!!" Miaka cried enthusiastically, racing through the halls of the palace towards Rain's
room.
"Miaka slow down!" Taka yelled, running after her. He tripped on a few pieces of fallen ceiling,
stumbling him. "Miaka, what's the hurry?!"
"Priestess of Suzaku, no running please!" a courtier warned as she raced by him. Miaka ignored
him and giggled, turning a corner into the hallway Rain's room was located in.
"Rain!!" Miaka exclaimed, bursting into her room. Her breath caught in her throat in a tiny 'eep' as
she caught sight of Tasuki reclined in Rain's bed, his back against the headboard, head bobbing
with sleep.
"What is it?" Rain asked groggily, pushing herself up. She rubbed her eyes, then stopped, seeing
Tasuki next to her. "Who said you could sleep in my bed?!" she shouted, pushing him over. He tumbled
out of the bed, waking up as he hit the floor.
"What the hell was that for?" he shouted, standing up.
"I said you could stay, meaning stay in the chair, not in my bed!" Rain shouted back. Miaka sweat
dropped.
"Um...yeah.......Hotohori and Boushin want to see you...." Miaka said nervously as she scooted from
the room. Rain blinked at her, then jumped out of bed.
-----------------------------------------
"...and so, since we can not get the one who did this to Boushin to turn him back, we'd like you...as
Taits-kun....to do it for him." Hotohori finished. Rain listened patiently, seated in a chair with the
other Suzaku warriors in Houki's chamber. Rain shut her eyes and sighed.
"Were you always this demanding of your previous Taits-kun?" she asked wearily. Chiriko glanced
at her in surprise.
"All we're asking you to do is return Boushin to his normal form! I don't remember hearing anyone else
ask you to do anything else for them!" He exclaimed. Rain opened one eye and glanced at him, then shut
it again and stood up.
"Listen....I'd like to help, but I can't do that....not yet anyway. I'm not Taits-kun yet, just a girl named
Rain with a small set of weird powers." She said, turning towards the door. Chichiri stood in her way.
"You have the celestial powers, no da." He said, taking off his mask. Rain looked up into his face. "There
was a Byakko warrior by the name of Subaru, no da, who could control ages, no da. If you concentrate
hard enough, you can call up that power, no da." Rain shook her head.
"No can do. I just can't call up the powers....they just kind of randomly choose to emerge." She said, trying
to move past him. Chichiri only moved with her, blocking her escape route.
"Have you ever tried to call them up?" Mitsukake asked seriously. Rain turned to look at him, then at Tasuki,
who stood in a corner with one foot propped against the wall, then at Hotohori and Boushin. Sighing in
defeat, she lowered her head and turned back towards them.
"I'll try." She said softly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Big sister!!" Lai-Lin shouted, clinging to Rain around the waist. Rain's eyes widened and she leaned
down to hug the little girl.
"Lai-Lin...how did you get here?!" she exclaimed. Lai-Lin giggled.
"We took her out of her village before the beasts destroyed it." Tomite said, walking forward. Rain
looked at him in shock. The dream had been real. She tilted her head as two boys knelt before her
in a bow.
"We are the three Warriors of Genbu, Hikitsu, Tomite and Uruki." Hikitsu introduced, casting his
eyes downward. "We are honored to meet you Taits-kun." Lai-Lin giggled again and hugged Rain.
"Big-sister isn't Taits-kun!" she said. Tomite and Hikitsu stared at her in shock.
"Uruki...knock it off! You'll get us in trouble!" Tomite hissed, reaching out to pull her away. Lai-Lin
made an unhappy noise and dodged behind Rain.
"It's all right, Lai-Li-err, Uruki is a friend." Rain said, smiling. Hikitsu and Tomite stared as Lai-Lin
stuck her tongue out at them.
--------------------------------------------
Rain nervously glanced about her as she entered the shrine room of Suzaku. The Seiryuu and Genbu
warriors ventured as close as they could, and sat down outside of the barrier to watch. It was dimly
lit inside, several candle pillars placed on either side of the statue of Suzaku and in the corners. Upon
an ornately decorated blanket sat Boushin, wearing only a loincloth. He stared up at her expectantly.
Lining the tile entrance on either side, stood the Suzaku warriors. Houki knelt off to the side of Hotohori,
her hands clasped nervously in front of her chest. Rain swallowed. Geez, you'd think I was doing something
that could kill him....she thought.
Well, you could kill him. You could age him too much either way, killing him with old age, or blinking him
out of existence. The familiar gruff voice of Taits-kun came. Rain frowned slightly.
Who invited you into my head? She retorted. Taits-kun laughed.
Just get the job done, we'll talk later.
Taking a breath, Rain stopped in front Boushin, then knelt down onto one knee. She rubbed the backs of
her hands nervously and let her breath out. "Are you ready, Boushin?" she asked. Boushin nodded and
bowed his head, shutting his eyes.
God this feels so fake....Rain thought as she raised her hands and placed them on his head, shutting her
own eyes I haven't the slightest as to what I'm supposed to be doing. She opened one eye slightly and
saw that the rest of the warriors surrounding her had their eyes shut, hands raised, praying to their
Cardinal god. She shut it again. Great.....that's a load off my shoulders. She thought bitterly.
Nazo's head rose as he felt the pull of power inside Rain. He stood up from the chair he had seated
himself in to think and walked over to the large mirror.
Yes...that's it.....he grinned darkly. He lifted one hand and placed it upon the mirror, his touch
disturbing the image as if it were a reflection upon water. He shut his own eyes in concentration.
Outside the shrine, playing a game of ball with Lai-Lin, Nyan-Nyan suddenly froze, and stared into the
sky with fright. Clouds began to rapidly gather above the palace, thunder booming within them.
"What's going on Nyan-Nyan?" Yui asked, her own voice tinged with fright. Nyan-Nyan turned towards
the shrine.
"No! Taits-kun must stop! Is not a good thing to happen!!" she cried, running towards the shrine entrance.
There was a flare of light, and she was repelled, knocking her several feet away.
"Sister!!" Lai-Lin cried, running to her side. Amiboshi stared at the entrance in shock.
"It shouldn't have done that....Nyan-Nyan is a creation of Taits-kun...she should've been able to enter...."
he said, taking a step forward and touching the barrier.
"Wait...what's that?" Suboshi asked, looking up to the clouds. There was a pastel ball of light, much
like the one Nyan-Nyan turned into to travel, coming down from the clouds to them. There was a bright
light from the bottom of it, and a person slowly emerged.
She landed softly, her feet bare, a single anklet jingling as her feet touched the ground. She was smiling
emotionlessly, as if she were a doll. Nyan-Nyan lifted her head weakly.
"Nyan-Nyan...why did you attack Nyan-Nyan?" she asked. Lai-Lai flipped a piece of hair over her
shoulder.
"Master Nazo makes Nyan-Nyan into Lai-Lai." She said haughtily. She held her hands in front of her, one
above the other with a space between. "Now Lai-Lai shall make dead of Nyan-Nyan and other Taits-kun!"
A crackling ball of light formed between her hands, and she threw it at them. The Seiryuu and Genbu
jumped in different directions, Suboshi grabbing Yui as he leapt, Tomite taking Lai-Lin and Nyan-Nyan.
"What was that?" Miaka asked, turning towards the entrance. She gasped as the ball of light sailed
directly towards them, then hit the barrier. She winced and cried out in fear.
"Good Suzaku...is that....a Nyan-Nyan?" Nuriko asked in disbelief, shielding Miaka from the light.
"Look! It's working!!" Chiriko exclaimed, pointing to Rain and Boushin. There was a white light forming
around Rain's hands, and she winced in exertion. Boushin's body was beginning to shrink, ever so slightly,
as Rain tried to get a grip on the power.
"Now." Nazo said, pushing his hand into the image of Rain that was displayed on the mirror.
Rain cried out, a spot of blood forming on the left side of her chest. Her whole body became engulfed in
black electricity, and she hunched towards Boushin. He was wincing, trying to bear the electricity
coming from her.
"Stop her!" Tasuki suddenly shouted, breaking away from the sideline. He ran towards her, but was
repelled by the same barrier that kept the others out of the shrine. He flew and landed several feet
away. He looked up at Chichiri desperately. "Stop her dammit!" he shouted.
The electricity tore away small bits of Rain's clothing, revealing more symbols upon her body, all
bleeding. She threw her head back and screamed, unable to handle all the powers at once.
Nazo's eyebrows drew together in a slight wince as he concentrated. Slowly, the character that
meant 'wings' appeared on his right forearm.
"REKKA-"
"STOP!" Mitsukake shouted, grabbing Tasuki's tessen and pulling it back. Tasuki glared at him.
"What are you doing?! Something's definitely wrong you idiot!" he yelled back at him. Mitsukake
looked at him evenly.
"If you use that fire now, you could harm Boushin." He said in a low voice. Tasuki's eyes widened,
and he looked desperately between the now mourning empress and Rain.
"Shit...." he spat, angry. An idea passed his mind. "Chichiri, cover me!" he shouted, re-holstering his
tessen and sprinting towards Rain. Chichiri held his prayer beads between his thumb and forefinger
as Tasuki neared the barrier surrounding Rain, and began silently chanting a spell. Tasuki connected
with the barrier, but did not get repelled. He winced as the black electricity began surrounding him
too, but pushed onward.
A dark smile gracing his lips despite his exerted wince, Nazo let out a hoarse chuckle as another symbol
appeared on his temple.
Tasuki blindly reached out his hand, the four symbols on his body flaring in unison, and grabbed what
he hoped was Rain's arm, and pulled.
Nazo's eyes opened wide. "NO!" he yelled into the mirror. A red force repelled him a moment later,
knocking him across his room and into the wall. He fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, and did not move.
Tasuki fell onto his back, Rain tumbling out of the electricity and onto his chest. He held her protectively,
knocked momentarily senseless. There was a shocked silence from all, even the battle outside seemed
to have gone into a silent stalemate. A few stray bolts of the black electricity traveled up and down
Rain and Tasuki, and over the statue of Suzaku. Chichiri removed his mask and took a step forward,
his eye as wide as it could go.
Tasuki groaned and pushed himself to a sit. He held Rain propped up on one arm, and touched her
face, his expression that of fear. "Rain....Rain, come on, wake up!" he said in a low voice. He took her
chin in one hand and shook her face gently. "Rain..wake up!"
"Boushin!!" Houki finally cried, rushing over to the blanket. Tasuki looked up to find Hotohori and
Houki kneeling by the blanket, cuddling a two-year old baby to them.
"It worked!" Chiriko said in awe. Tasuki looked back down at Rain. Yeah...but at what cost?
His eyes widened in alarm as the symbol on her temple, and on her hand were not visible. "Rain....?
Rain...!" he exclaimed, shaking her harder. Her clothes were shredded, barely enough left to cover
her, and displaying the symbols upon the rest of her body. He let out a breath of relief a she finally
stirred and opened her eyes.
"Did it work?" she asked in a weak voice. Tasuki smiled at her, tears unexpectedly brimming in his
eyes and nodded. He then hugged her tightly. She smiled, exhausted, and hugged him back.
"LOOK OUT!" Hikitsu cried as Suboshi was propelled past the barrier and into the statue of Suzaku.
Red electricity instantly surrounded him and caused him to cry out in pain. Tasuki covered Rain
protectively.
"Suzaku! Please stop!" Miaka suddenly cried, breaking away from Nuriko and Taka. There was a
strange blur to the ruined statue, almost as if Suzaku were moving to look at her, and the electricity
stopped. Suboshi fell to the floor in a heap, Mitsukake running over to him, unbandaging his hand.
"Nyan-Nyan, please stop!" Nyan-Nyan cried, holding her hands out to protect the Genbu children as
Lai-Lai tried to blast them.
"Lai-Lai do this for Nazo!" she screamed. She fell to her knees and hit her fingertips to the ground.
A jagged split formed in the pavement from them and stretched out, widening into a wider split.
Rain sat up quickly as she heard the rumbling from outside and the sound of earth splitting. She pulled
herself away from Tasuki.
"Move!' she breathed, stumbling to her feet and running into Houki, Hotohori and Boushin. They turned
and stared at her in surprise as she landed on her knees upon the blanket. The earth split beneath her
a moment later and she fell into the crack.
"Dammit!" Tasuki growled to himself. There wasn't going to be any rest from the trouble Rain kept
putting herself in. He stood up just as Lai-Lai floated in, hovering much like the former Taits-kun
used to do. She glared menacingly, Nyan-Nyan under her arm and unconscious. She lowered herself
into the split, dropping Nyan-Nyan to the ground next to it.
Rain lifted her head with effort, wincing. Her entire body burned with pain and felt broken. Lai-Lai
slowly lowered herself down, glaring at Rain.
"Lai-Lai make Nazo happy..." she said in a low voice, another ball of light forming in her hand. Rain
winced and tried to push herself to a sit.
"Aren't...you...a Nyan-Nyan?" she asked. Lai-Lai's eyes narrowed.
"Lai-Lai above Nyan-Nyan. Before Taits-kun make Lai-Lai care for Nazo all by herself." The light
grew brighter. "Before Taits-kun say Lai-Lai not right to become love of Nazo because Lai-Lai just a
Nyan-Nyan!" Rain squinted, not quite making sense of her words.
"But.....I'm not the old Taits-kun..." she rasped. Lai-Lai glowered.
"Yes you are. I see before Taits-kun within you head!" she shouted. Tasuki jumped down into the split
behind her and pulled out his tessen.
"If you knew what was good for ya, you'd back off." He growled. Lai-Lai turned her head to glance
at him, then fired the ball of light at him. Caught off guard, he was propelled into the wall of the split.
The light dispersed into strange glowing shackles, pinning him to the wall.
"You love this Taits-kun, yes?" she smirked. Both Tasuki and Rain's eyes widened. Lai-Lai formed
another ball of light and aimed her hand towards Tasuki. "But you can no have this Taits-kun. She
is not for you." The light grew brighter.
Stop him you bull headed brat! If she kills him, Nazo shall become Yang! Taits-kun Yin shouted in her
head. Rain's breath caught in her chest as the dream that almost cost her life resurfaced. A glowing
light surrounded her and her body was propelled upwards and forward.
"Nyan-Nyan...leave him." An echoing voice commanded.
Lai-Lai turned in shock towards the voice. Rain was surrounded in a bright white light, her hair blown
gently as if there were a wind blowing from the ground. Her eyes, even the whites, glowed white.
"Taits-kun?" Lai-Lai whispered. She shrunk down to a crouch in fear. Rain raised a hand, and it began
to glow with a brighter light. It swirled for a moment, then shot out in a beam towards Lai-Lai.
"Get out, Lai-Lai!" Nazo shouted, jumping from the air in front of the beam. He held up his hands and
blocked it with a shield of dark light. Lai-Lai stayed where she was, unable to move. Nazo, eyes squinted
from exertion, turned and kicked a stray pebble at her. "I said go!" he snarled. Lai-Lai finally blinked
and stood up. She jumped into the air and turned into the pastel bubble, then zoomed out of the shrine.
Tasuki fell to the ground, the shackles disappearing.
Rain lowered her hand and tilted her head at Nazo, and blinked. Nazo lowered his own hands, the dark
light disappearing. He panted a few times, then managed a dark smirk.
"You're tearing yourself apart, bringing out all this power now, Taits-kun." He murmured. Nuriko's symbol,
right below her collarbone on her right side, suddenly burst out in a tiny spray of blood. Rain did appear
to feel it, but continued to stare at Nazo curiously, like a glowing doll. More symbols began to bleed in
the same manner.
"If you had Yang...would that give you a soul?" she asked him, her voice still echoing. Nazo's smirk dropped
and he stared at her in disbelief, then glared.
"I don't need just one. I was born to become both." He snarled. Rain held a hand out again, a pained look
crossing her face. Nazo smirked again. "As for the soul....once all the symbols leave your body an onto mine...
I shall have the souls of all the celestial warriors into one." Rain's hand dropped, her holy light surrounding
her beginning to waver. Nazo slowly walked towards her and stood in front of her.
"Hey, get away from her!" Tasuki managed to shout, pushing himself up enough to see what was happening.
Lai-Lai's light shackles had paralyzed him somehow. Nazo leaned down and kissed Rain, her eyes going as
wide as they could go. Nuriko's willow symbol upon her chest drew in the blood it had just begun to bleed,
as if in reverse. It disappeared a moment after, only to re-appear on Nazo's chest.
"I SAID, GET AWAY FROM HER!" Tasuki screamed, holding a hand out. 'Heart' flared on his forehead, a
blue light forming in front of his hand and shooting towards Nazo. It hit him in his back, breaking the kiss
and causing him to stumble forward as if pushed. Nazo turned and glared at Tasuki. The light had left Rain,
and she fell back down to her knees. Tasuki's arm dropped, unable to move anything now.
Nazo smirked and made his way over to Tasuki, and knelt in front of him. He yanked him up by his hair so he
could stare into his face.
"You've been a pest to me from the very start." He said huskily, tracing a line down Tasuki's jaw with his
fingernail. Tasuki winced, his eyes watering from the pain in his scalp. Nazo's smirk darkened, and he
leaned down towards Tasuki's mouth.
"GET AWAY!" Chichiri shouted, holding his magic rod in front of him. A barrier formed around Tasuki,
zapping Nazo and forcing him to drop Tasuki's head. Taka, Hotohori, Suboshi, Ashitare and Hikitsu
dropped down into the split, in front of Tasuki, and went into fighting stance. Nazo tossed a piece of
hair over his shoulder and shifted his weight to another foot.
"Honestly. Such pitiful idiots. Now is not the time, nor place for us to do battle." He said haughtily. There
was a blurring of the air behind him, and Tetsuya appeared. Nazo reached over to him and put an arm
around him, stroking his face. "Besides, I have someone close to you.....who is at my disposal." With that,
he clenched his hand, his fingernails digging into Tetsuya's cheek and drawing a pinprick of blood.
"NO!" Yui yelled from above. Nazo glanced up briefly, then back down at the warriors.
"So long my friends." He said, laughing as he disappeared. Yui sank to her knees and raised a hand to her
mouth. Lai-Lin kneeled beside her and put her small arms around her neck, hugging her tightly.
"It's all right Sister-Priestess. Taits-kun will make things all better!" she said in a child-pity voice. She leaned
her head against Yui's shoulder. Yui glanced down at Rain who was staring into the dark, her eyes glassy
like a dolls. Yui shut her eyes and looked away.
Taits-kun is now within Nazo.