Disclaimer- I don't own it na no da…
AN- Anybody sick and tired of this story and ready to toss me out the window? I have the feeling nobody really likes this, but I figure all boredom caused fics must be finished. Of course, I have no idea where this story is going but… hey! That's all right, that's OK I'm gonna do it anyway!
"Wake up, good-for-nothing." The order was accompanied by a rough shaking. She did not reply. There was no need, and besides, she was still tired. "Hurry up. The sooner you do so the better it will be for you." The voice was more insistent now, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Where… am I?" She looked around the mostly empty room, puzzled. "How'd I get here…?" She couldn't really remember much. A flower, red. There had to be more. A girl, the… Suzaku no miko. Two warriors of the phoenix god. She concentrated, automatically clutching the crystal around her neck. The phoenix floating in it was gone, and the red mist had faded to white.
"What is that thing?" The voice again. She looked up at its source, a middle-aged man. She knew that she should recognize him… Gods her memory was dying. She meditated for a brief second without really appearing to and felt much better for it.
The man cuffed her. "Do you always space out like that? I asked you a question. What is that thing around your neck?"
"A necklace," she declared innocently, resisting the urge to add "duh". "It's really nice, ne, Inari? I got it as a present when I was younger." She smiled disarmingly and turned the globe to let it catch the light. "Sugoi…"
Inari sighed impatiently. "Look. I can tell that's no ordinary necklace. There's no clasp anywhere, it doesn't fit over your neck, and nothing cuts that darned chain. It just totally refuses to come off. You think I'm stupid or something?"
Her onyx eyes flashed dangerously, the childish act gone. "You tried to take it off?" In her hand, the sphere glowed scarlet again. "You tried to violate an ancient rule by attempting to cut it? Did you?!" Her voice slashed through the air like a knife.
He winced. "My Master's orders. He wanted all valuables. In fact, he wishes to speak to you now. Come. I will take you to him."
*****
"You're not serious, are you?" Hotohori exclaimed. "Kiboku is actually a woman named Saigo Atsuna?"
"Hai no da," Chichiri asserted, looking somewhat shaken. "Her sister turned up in Tamahome's room. The two had a short verbal war, then the ground just sort of opened up na no da…" He paused. "Ki- Atsuna told us that she acted as Kiboku to protect herself and her family, that someone was after her. "
"Do you believe her?" Tamahome spoke up. He had been dragged back to the palace, still snoring, after Rako had followed Atsuna and the floor had simply closed back up after her.
"Yes, I do," the monk said simply.
"We should look for her," Miaka suggested, deeply troubled by what she had witnessed. "I mean, she helped us so many times. Don't you think?"
"It could be a trap," Tamahome warned instantly.
Chichiri sighed as he felt a foreign presence. "I think we're about to get some answers no da." The words barely left his lips when Atsuna's image appeared, floating in the middle of the room.
"Konban wa minna-san!" she greeted perkily. "I'm in a great place with *ahem* nice people who decided that they're all bored out of their skulls." The familiar sarcasm was obvious in her tone. "They say that I can give you a clue as to where I am, and you can try to find me! Sound that not fun? Here's a fun clue, five words long, and even imparts info you'd never get anywhere else… I KNOW I'm telling too much. Leave me alone. OK, here goes. The sea is the sky. JA!" She vanished.
"That's it? The sea is the sky? And that's supposed to mean what?" Tamahome ranted. "Women are just impossible! And I still say it's a trap."
Hotohori sighed. "Chichiri-san? What do you think?"
"It could be a trap, like Tamahome-san said no da," Chichiri admitted. "Yet I sense the mark of Suzaku on her, somehow na no da… I don't know."
"Suzaku's mark?" Tamahome rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. There are seven that bear His mark, and we're all here. She's trying to keep Suzaku from being summoned!"
"Ooh, Tama-baby," Nuriko said almost teasingly. "You've just assassinated your argument. You haven't been around with us, so you have no idea how many times she could have killed Chichiri-san or anybody really."
"Definitely no da," Chichiri agreed. "She seems extremely powerful. There really would be no reason for her to set so elaborate a trap na no da. She could have just murdered me the day we met, or on the road one of the times when we weren't in the presence of others."
"Then we are to assume that she is telling the truth?" Hotohori asked, looking around at the group. "All right. I guess we have to decipher the clue. I agree with you, Tamahome. Women are impossible. What sea? What sky? And what information does this clue provide that we could not get anywhere else besides where she is? What is wrong with her brain?"
"Your Majesty," Chiriko began timidly. "She would not have given us a clue that we could not figure out. Surely one of us has the key to this."
"Of course, but who?"
"Chichiri-san? Did she ever tell you anything of interest? Anything she attached importance to?"
"No, never no da. Well, there was a short discussion on the sister who disappeared. If we could only find her, but Atsuna seemed to imply that she was also in Hibari's clutches no da. And there was also this extremely brief time when she told me that she was neither mortal nor immortal, all of which appears to have no relevance to this clue no da."
"Is this all just some huge high-stakes family feud?" Tamahome complained. "Every sister's after another. There's no way we'll get anywhere!"
"Wait," Miaka said suddenly. "I know what the sky is."
Stupid way to end, ne? The clue is the result of no sleep and extreme boredom, so even when it's explained later it might not make sense unless you're reading at a really late hour on no sleep. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Even if it's only to tell me that this is the stupidest piece of fiction ever created and you hope I die a painful death for wasting FF's servers!! OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE!!!!!!
AN- Anybody sick and tired of this story and ready to toss me out the window? I have the feeling nobody really likes this, but I figure all boredom caused fics must be finished. Of course, I have no idea where this story is going but… hey! That's all right, that's OK I'm gonna do it anyway!
"Wake up, good-for-nothing." The order was accompanied by a rough shaking. She did not reply. There was no need, and besides, she was still tired. "Hurry up. The sooner you do so the better it will be for you." The voice was more insistent now, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Where… am I?" She looked around the mostly empty room, puzzled. "How'd I get here…?" She couldn't really remember much. A flower, red. There had to be more. A girl, the… Suzaku no miko. Two warriors of the phoenix god. She concentrated, automatically clutching the crystal around her neck. The phoenix floating in it was gone, and the red mist had faded to white.
"What is that thing?" The voice again. She looked up at its source, a middle-aged man. She knew that she should recognize him… Gods her memory was dying. She meditated for a brief second without really appearing to and felt much better for it.
The man cuffed her. "Do you always space out like that? I asked you a question. What is that thing around your neck?"
"A necklace," she declared innocently, resisting the urge to add "duh". "It's really nice, ne, Inari? I got it as a present when I was younger." She smiled disarmingly and turned the globe to let it catch the light. "Sugoi…"
Inari sighed impatiently. "Look. I can tell that's no ordinary necklace. There's no clasp anywhere, it doesn't fit over your neck, and nothing cuts that darned chain. It just totally refuses to come off. You think I'm stupid or something?"
Her onyx eyes flashed dangerously, the childish act gone. "You tried to take it off?" In her hand, the sphere glowed scarlet again. "You tried to violate an ancient rule by attempting to cut it? Did you?!" Her voice slashed through the air like a knife.
He winced. "My Master's orders. He wanted all valuables. In fact, he wishes to speak to you now. Come. I will take you to him."
*****
"You're not serious, are you?" Hotohori exclaimed. "Kiboku is actually a woman named Saigo Atsuna?"
"Hai no da," Chichiri asserted, looking somewhat shaken. "Her sister turned up in Tamahome's room. The two had a short verbal war, then the ground just sort of opened up na no da…" He paused. "Ki- Atsuna told us that she acted as Kiboku to protect herself and her family, that someone was after her. "
"Do you believe her?" Tamahome spoke up. He had been dragged back to the palace, still snoring, after Rako had followed Atsuna and the floor had simply closed back up after her.
"Yes, I do," the monk said simply.
"We should look for her," Miaka suggested, deeply troubled by what she had witnessed. "I mean, she helped us so many times. Don't you think?"
"It could be a trap," Tamahome warned instantly.
Chichiri sighed as he felt a foreign presence. "I think we're about to get some answers no da." The words barely left his lips when Atsuna's image appeared, floating in the middle of the room.
"Konban wa minna-san!" she greeted perkily. "I'm in a great place with *ahem* nice people who decided that they're all bored out of their skulls." The familiar sarcasm was obvious in her tone. "They say that I can give you a clue as to where I am, and you can try to find me! Sound that not fun? Here's a fun clue, five words long, and even imparts info you'd never get anywhere else… I KNOW I'm telling too much. Leave me alone. OK, here goes. The sea is the sky. JA!" She vanished.
"That's it? The sea is the sky? And that's supposed to mean what?" Tamahome ranted. "Women are just impossible! And I still say it's a trap."
Hotohori sighed. "Chichiri-san? What do you think?"
"It could be a trap, like Tamahome-san said no da," Chichiri admitted. "Yet I sense the mark of Suzaku on her, somehow na no da… I don't know."
"Suzaku's mark?" Tamahome rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. There are seven that bear His mark, and we're all here. She's trying to keep Suzaku from being summoned!"
"Ooh, Tama-baby," Nuriko said almost teasingly. "You've just assassinated your argument. You haven't been around with us, so you have no idea how many times she could have killed Chichiri-san or anybody really."
"Definitely no da," Chichiri agreed. "She seems extremely powerful. There really would be no reason for her to set so elaborate a trap na no da. She could have just murdered me the day we met, or on the road one of the times when we weren't in the presence of others."
"Then we are to assume that she is telling the truth?" Hotohori asked, looking around at the group. "All right. I guess we have to decipher the clue. I agree with you, Tamahome. Women are impossible. What sea? What sky? And what information does this clue provide that we could not get anywhere else besides where she is? What is wrong with her brain?"
"Your Majesty," Chiriko began timidly. "She would not have given us a clue that we could not figure out. Surely one of us has the key to this."
"Of course, but who?"
"Chichiri-san? Did she ever tell you anything of interest? Anything she attached importance to?"
"No, never no da. Well, there was a short discussion on the sister who disappeared. If we could only find her, but Atsuna seemed to imply that she was also in Hibari's clutches no da. And there was also this extremely brief time when she told me that she was neither mortal nor immortal, all of which appears to have no relevance to this clue no da."
"Is this all just some huge high-stakes family feud?" Tamahome complained. "Every sister's after another. There's no way we'll get anywhere!"
"Wait," Miaka said suddenly. "I know what the sky is."
Stupid way to end, ne? The clue is the result of no sleep and extreme boredom, so even when it's explained later it might not make sense unless you're reading at a really late hour on no sleep. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Even if it's only to tell me that this is the stupidest piece of fiction ever created and you hope I die a painful death for wasting FF's servers!! OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE!!!!!!