Chapter 5
Disclaimer: This is just such a drag to type out. Fushigi Yuugi is not mine, I make no profit out of this, and I do this for my own enjoyment's sake, yadda yadda. ^_^
Okay, so this chapter is very explanatory. Just tying up some of the loose ends that have gotten a bit confusing. (Mind you , I've still left several things out.) Miaka is introduced in this chapter and she is VERY, VERY, out of character. Everyone is, because that's just the way I wrote it. I wanted the changes to reflect what they've gone through. Just a short note on that, anyways, enjoy!
"Wait."
Kasumi ran into his back as Hotohori stopped suddenly in front of her. She rubbed her nose, annoyed. "Why are you just stopping?"
"This path leads us very close to the rebel headquarters. It must be a shortcut." Hotohori replied unapologetically.
Chuei shifted his weight around with Yuiren still deeply sleeping on his back. "So Tamahome will be there?" he asked.
"Most likely. He probably returned from whatever mission Tasuki had already sent him on." Hotohori said.
Kasumi moved to the front and saw the path sloping downwards onto a plain. A complex series of buildings and courtyards loomed ahead. She brushed her hair aside impatiently. "Let's go." She said, with a hint of exasperation to her voice.
"Why are you so eager to get there?" Chuei wondered, smiling.
Kasumi looked serious, and leaned forwards to him. "Because…."
"Because?" he prompted.
"I want a shower." She answered, laughing. Chuei rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
Hotohori grunted. "It will be a problem getting you in.," he stated suddenly. He ignored the scathing look she shot him. "With you formerly being in the Gasshou and all… Miaka is very cautious now, and she has changed from when she first came to Konan. I wouldn't be surprised if they arrested you immediately."
"Have we not had this argument before?" she asked, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Let them arrest me if they feel they have to. As long as I have a chance to speak for myself fairly, I'm sure they'll see that I mean no harm. To the rebels, anyway."
He shrugged in response. "If you say so. I'll try to help you out as much as I can."
Kasumi looked surprised. "Thank you." She began walking towards the buildings with them, deep in thought.
"What are they doing?" Soi hissed, holding onto the tree branch for balance. "I can't see. That trainee's fat head is in the way."
"They are reading." Nakago said darkly. "No doubt to uncover more of that prophecy."
After the storm had receded, they had continued on to the Gasshou hideout. It was built deep within the forest, completely surrounded by dense, ominous trees that pressed in from all sides. The trees were so much a part of the structure that some rooms and balconies were built to rest on the higher branches. Although the dense foliage was a good cover, it made for easier spying. However, the leaves felt oppressive, and it made on wonder if someone was hiding behind them, watching them as they watched others.
"Can you see the writing?" Nakago asked, glancing around to offset the nagging doubt that had been tugging at the corner of his mind.
Soi carefully edged closer to the window. "Hang on…. There. Failings, fallings. This is what shall occur, and the waters will flow through separate streams. Friendships forgotten, enmity lost… new shall arise a complete god…" she moved back slowly to sit next to him. "That is all they have."
"That is already too much. This is not good. If they have made out the beginning already… it will only be a matter of time before Chiriko gets the entire incantation. " Nakago stated. "We should climb back down." He swung his legs over the branch and began to make his way down.
All at once, his senses went on alert. Something whistled by his ear. Looking up quickly, he saw Soi clutching her arm and looking gray.
"Poisoned dart." She cursed and pulled it out. The branch rustled behind her. Turning around, it dawned upon her that they had been watched the entire time. "Go back without me!" she cried to Nakago. "Quickly! They know we are here."
It felt like he was being wrenched in two. Nakago wanted badly to go get her, but the impassive part of him knew that she could take care of herself if it came to it, and that it was necessary to relay the new intelligence. Before dropping to the forest floor, he threw up a small chain with an amulet on it.
Soi caught it and nodded grimly, tucking it under her shirt just as Gasshou guards surrounded her, smirking and sneering. She watched Nakago mount the horse and gallop away without a sound. Good. They missed him.
As they dragged Soi to her feet, she briefly touched the chain he had thrown up, knowing they would be able to communicate at the very least. Finally, the poison took affect and she abruptly fell into a dreamless state of unconsciousness.
"Halt!" ordered a commanding voice. From below the hill's incline rode a man in light armor, his eyes narrowed in wariness. Kasumi noted with mild amusement that he was of the yellow, the second from lowest stage in terms of the intensity of his power.
Hotohori moved to stand in front of her, and nodded his head to acknowledge the man. "Koji." He said. "It's just me."
"Who is the other man and the girl?" Koji asked smartly.
"Tamahome's younger brother and sister. They have come to join him after their village was destroyed by Gasshou troops. The girl, Yuiren, seems to be quite ill." Hotohori responded.
"I see. But that woman is Chiriko's enchantress." Koji stated distrustfully.
Kasumi couldn't help herself from replying. "Former." She retorted suddenly. Hotohori glared at her, and motioned for her to stay silent.
"She has left the Gasshou faction and brings us valuable information. I'm sure Miaka will see her and determine for herself whether Kasumi is trust worthy or not. As for myself, I have been traveling with her for these past few days and have found her to be completely reliable." Hotohori said loftily. "Unless you'd rather dispute me, of course."
Koji sensed his impatience and wisely relented. "Very well. Follow me. The girl can ride on the horse behind me."
Chuei sighed in relief, and placed Yuiren behind Koji. The three walked in front of Koji in silence. Kasumi could feel Koji's eyes on her back, watching her every move. She was sorely tempted to make him fall of his horse, but knew it wouldn't reflect well on her. Still… before she had time to re-contemplate her planned mischief, Koji jumped off the horse, carrying Yuiren.
He waved with one hand up to the guard at the gate who opened it from the inside. They were led through a series of elaborately carved passageways of marble and mahogany, until they stopped before to great doors. Kasumi wondered irreverently in anyone ever got lost as he paused for a moment. Then Koji knocked twice, and stepped back as the doors were swung open in a sweeping motion.
Inside the cavernous room was an enormous oval table of a dark wood, polished to a high sheen. At the end of the table, across the room, stood a grand chair in which a woman with flowing brown hair sat.
"Hotohori." said Miaka quietly, and her voice carried all the way to them. "You've returned. I've heard about the village, but we can do no more. Stay in our village for awhile and regain strength."
Hotohori made a short bow in assent.
"Chuei." She now addressed Tamahome's younger brother, watching him with her deep eyes. "Tamahome will be coming back tomorrow. You will stay here as well until he has returned and until Yuiren has recovered sufficiently. She will be cared for. Koji, take Chuei to the guest rooms in the southern quarters, and have the physicians look over her. "
Now Miaka looked at Kasumi. "Enchantress." She said in a calm tone. "Sit by me and explain why we should not kill you for being a Gasshou member on rebel soil." She shifted her eyes back to Hotohori. "You too. Explain why you are associating with her."
Kasumi tossed her extravagant hair in a fluid motion and walked smoothly to a seat, eyes flashing at Miaka coldly. Hotohori shrugged and sat next to her.
"You will not stand a chance against Chiriko without me." She said simply, crossing her legs. "You do not know what he is planning. I do. I haven't even told Hotohori the entire plan."
He shot her a disgruntled look.
Miaka saw it. "Then you should tell us now. I know you have more powers than Hotohori and me combined, and that you would be able to rival Chiriko in combat. So I'll say to you now that I believe you. Tasuki has told me all the details after departing from your camp. You must, however, see us as an ally, and not a rival in Chiriko's downfall."
"I understand." She answered, lowering her dark lashes.
"Now Hotohori. Tell me why you have been associating with her before we deemed her trustworthy."
He looked up, his brow creased. "I don't know why, okay? I just felt that I could trust her. She did knock out Mitsukake and Suboshi."
"She did not kill them." Miaka pronounced.
Kasumi arched an eyebrow.
Miaka smiled wryly. "At least your judgment seems to be accurate, Hotohori. Now tell us of the plan."
Kasumi suddenly looked world-weary, and lines of worry appeared on her forehead. She sighed heavily and leaned into the hard back of the chair. "I hope you're ready for this…"
"You remember, about one hundred years ago, a girl came into our world and summoned Genbu. Soon after, another girl came and summoned Byakko. Both priestesses were successful in this. Two of the four gods have been summoned.
And more recently, about six years ago, you and Yui came into this world to become the priestesses of Seiyuu and Suzaku. Everything seemed to be going well at first, but then trouble began tearing the Suzaku Seishi apart. Nuriko was angry that Hotohori loved you, you were angry at Hotohori because he was totally indifferent to Nuriko."
"Nuriko was a guy." Hotohori pointed out, indignant.
"Still, Nuriko used to be a friend." Miaka said matter-of-factly.
"Whatever." Kasumi said pointedly, moving on. "So people began taking sides and getting angry. Then it grew to the point where the Seiryuu Seishi were so confident that they could summon Seiryuu and that the Suzaku Seishi couldn't that they decided to get involved. Amiboshi fell in love with Miaka went he was sent to spy on you; Tamahome went nuts over it, and nearly throttled him over it. That's when Suboshi got involved for his dear brother. And then came the rest of the Seiryuu Seishi."
"Don't we already know this?" Miaka asked.
"Yes… but I have a point to make. All this time, no one paid attention to Chiriko, except for Chichiri, who would sometimes study with him. Chiriko was growing up and getting new ideas. One night, they visited a book merchant in secret."
"But why in secret? They had access to the royal library." Hotohori objected.
"They were studying the four gods of this world. Chichiri happened upon a short description of a powerful merged god in one of the books. So he and Chiriko set out to find out more. They learned that anything related with this merged god was banned in Konan. They might have stopped there, but Chiriko's curiosity, still innocent at the time, made him long for more knowledge. With Chichiri's help, they had a book merchant from Hokkan find an old book on it and delivered it to them." Kasumi's face darkened. "This is when he learned that he would be fully able to summon the god himself, given enough time to ensure that Suzaku and Seiryuu were not summoned and to decipher the ancient incantation."
"But how…." Miaka trailed off. "How did the bickering get so bad?"
"Chiriko set everything up." Kasumi said simply. "He made things worse."
"But he was just a boy! He was barely sixteen when everything fell apart!" Hotohori said angrily. He slammed his fist down on the table.
"He was being ignored. In the prime of his youth, he was stuck all day in a musty library, unable to go out unless he could face the arguments. It did bad things to his mind. Chiriko was angry. He couldn't just go out into the streets and talk with people at his age. Chiriko finally concluded that people were doing this to him on purpose. He realized that if he helped the fight along to the point where no one would reconcile, he could make everyone pay for it."
"By summoning the god as revenge." Hotohori finished grimly.
"What he didn't know or expect then was that people would gain powers. The four gods didn't want to merge. It would mean the death of them in favor of a new creation. So they all gave hidden powers that went beyond normal seishi powers to different individuals who were involved with the fights. If the need ever arose, those powers would be awakened in order to fight the one who summons the god. But as I already said to Hotohori before, if Chiriko manages to summon the god, everyone with the given powers, including himself, will be killed."
"Why?" Miaka asked.
"Because the gods gave us small parts of themselves when they gave us new powers. We all have a bit of them in us. If they die, then we will as well. We've learned to depend so greatly on these abilities that they've become an integral part of ourselves."
"But Chiriko's realized this, right?" Hotohori said, a little uncertainly.
"Yes."
"Then why is he still going through with this?" Miaka questioned, raising her brows.
"Chiriko… he doesn't care anymore. As long as he can kill us and wreak havoc in our world, he wouldn't mind dying alongside us. I don't think the deaths will be immediate, though. The more powerful individuals would have to go first, because we received more of the gods. Then the weaker people."
"The silver would die first," Miaka repeated, her face ashen. "You, Hotohori, Chiriko, Chichiri…. Then black, red, and yellow. And then the younglings, the blue."
"And I assume the silver will die immediately." Kasumi added, as if it had no impact on her whatsoever.
"How do you know all this?" Hotohori demanded suddenly, turning to look at her in the eyes.
She held his gaze for only a moment before looking away. "You know I was part of the Gasshou." She paused, and then added. "I was one of the three silvers they had. I knew everything there was to know."
"I meant before Gasshou. How you knew about the fights."
Kasumi stood up all of a sudden. "I've told you but you would not believe me. I knew you back then. Not within the palace, but when you'd go out to escape it. And some of it was common knowledge." She said quietly, and then turned to Miaka. "I am weary from all this travel. Is there a room I can rest in?"
Miaka motioned to a guard. "He will lead you to the eastern wing. I will meet with you again tomorrow."
Kasumi nodded to her and Hotohori. She wanted to say something more to him, but caught sight of his brooding expression and left silently.
Hotohori's head sprang up in surprise once the doors closed. "The eastern wing?" he asked warily. "I thought that was reserved for traitors and prisoners."
Miaka looked at him sharply. "I don't know if we can trust her yet."
"You were the one who said not half an hour ago that she should be able to trust us!" he roared, standing up and causing his chair to fall over.
"Would you rather have gotten this intelligence through violence or through a bit of play-acting?" Miaka asked coldly. "She is walking to her rooms compliantly enough. May I remind you that she could destroy all of us in one act?"
"She trusted me, and because of that, I led her to believe that we could trust you." Hotohori said dangerously. He began to pace around the room restlessly.
"And so she should. All we're doing is performing some tests on her properties. If she's willing to cooperate, then she will be deemed trustworthy." Miaka replied calmly.
Hotohori was outraged. "You're treating her as an experiment?" He badly wanted to throw chairs at Miaka, but restrained himself. The troops were loyal to her, so starting a rebellion against the head of the rebels would not be prudent just yet.
"We have noticed she possess some extraordinary powers, as you may have noticed. Her quick recovery, the ability to make objects materialize, and a large amount of expendable energy may be useful to us if we can learn how to harness it."
"That's just…." he paused to search for a word strong enough to convey his utter disgust. He didn't finish, but just growled and made for the exit.
"Hotohori." Miaka's voice sliced through the air. "You will not interfere anymore. This is no longer your concern."
Hotohori laughed harshly in reply. "Like hell it is."
"You are to be confined to your quarters until the experimentation is over. I'm posting several guards and Tasuki to watch you." Miaka said, eyes flashing. "You will not attempt anything." Her voice became sweet. "This is for your own good, even though you may not realize it now. It seems that you have been bewitched by the enchantress."
He stalked off to his rooms, ignoring her voice, and trying hard not to hit the six guards that were tailing him like hens.
Reviewer thanking time! (It seems like I have a nice bunch of faithful reviewers… thanks!)
Rainy: It was actually your review that made me want to explain how some things came to be… however; the explanation is only half-complete. There's always fun in a bit of mystery. More will come in later chapters.
DragonGoddess: Evil Chiriko fanart??? Cooooool!!!! That's awesome!!
Faerie_X: You'll find about the whole Yuiren and Chuei thing soon. And yeah, now that I think about it, why didn't I make Kasumi shove Suboshi off the cliff? Now I have to think about what I'm going to do with him…..
Princess_yumin: Actually, I have been wondering if I should do an entirely separate side story or work it into this fic itself. Suggestions, anyone?
Kawaii tenshi chan: Admittance is the first step to recovery from an addiction! *grin*
SugarGlider: You have no idea how long this will probably turn out to be…. ^_^
Hamstersr2cool: Chichiri, eh? Yeah, Chichiri does seem pretty darn cool.
J-chan: That is actually a really funny thought. Chiriko, stamping his foot with a red face…. Lol.
Booglez: *blush* Too much praise make's an author grow a head full of hot air….. ^_^
Ichiko-Kun: Oh yes. You are completely right. Look for something huge. It may not be in the next few chapters though. Give it a bit of time, because I need to set all of it up. But don't worry, if huge is what you want, it's definitely coming.
Thaurvingwil: Nah, Houki doesn't have that much of a problem. It's all quite reasonable, once you get along to that chapter of the fic. But as I said above, it won't be soon, although I promise you, it WILL come.
The next chapter will be along quicker than this one took, as that dratted French Grammar test is over and no new test are looming within the next week or so. Thank you to all the reviewers!