Author's Note: Wai! I'm so happy that I have a total of 11 reviews (at this point)! You see, I didn't have time to write over spring break (no access to a computer, you know) and I was starting to wonder if people actually wanted to read my story. (Yep, self-doubt all the way.) I come back and check, and I have eleven reviews!!! Cool! I almost felt like crying with happiness (but I'm not that obsessed with my fic).
Dream sequences are now denoted with \\ \\.
Warning: Some more violence and cursing.
Disclaimer: Through writing my first fanfiction that I'm putting on-line, I'm realizing how annoying these are. I just don't own it.
~Facing Death: Never Lose Hope~
Tsunami looked straight up at the gun pointing towards her head. The demon-possessed gangsters and innocent civilians were about to kill Kotori and herself. She stared up into the gun, looking straight towards what was, in all probability, going to be the source of her demise. Then she glanced over to her left, where a struggling Kotori was also being held down.
I need to help her! But how can I?
As Tsunami thought that, she watched the trigger on the gun being pulled. Time seemed to slow, and the motion that would lead to her demise seemed to take an eternity. The hand moved to pull the trigger, and…
***Minutes Earlier***
Vidal was again kneeling in prayer in front of the white altar in the small church. The light of the sun poured into the cool church through the many-colored stained glass windows. The carpet was beginning to feel uncomfortable under his knees, but it did not keep him from dozing off after the long night.
He usually did not have memorable dreams, but this one was quite unusual.
\\There was a man, perhaps a few years older than him, sitting to the right of the altar in the church. He had a strange staff, a blue robe with circular patterns on it, and a fishing hat. His face was somehow strange, and it didn't look quite real. It seemed to be always smiling.
And if Vidal hadn't known that he was not the guy, he would have thought that he was. The other man looked almost exactly like Vidal, except for his face. On closer inspection, he noticed that the man's hair was also a few shades lighter than his own.
"Who are you?" he asked calmly. He knew that it could not be himself.
"I'm you no da," was the only reply. It came in a voice much higher than Vidal's own.
Vidal's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. "But… How?"
The man on the bench smiled and reached towards his face. He pulled away a mask; it was the mask that had been making his face look abnormal. He spoke, now in a voice that matched Vidal's. "I'm Chichiri of the Suzaku Seishi." Vidal tried to protest that he didn't believe in what those strange people had told him, but Chichiri continued before he could voice his thoughts. "I know that you do not believe it is real – but you should trust them. You are also Chichiri of the Suzaku Seishi, destined to protect your priestess with your life during her quest to summon Suzaku. Your power is magic, which I will teach you through dreams as your quest continues."
Vidal was looking at the large scar that crossed Chichiri's eye. "How did you get that?" Then he winced inwardly, realizing that the question was very tactless.
Chichiri reached up to touch where the scar ended on his right cheek. "I acted before I thought, and the two most important people in my life died because of my actions."
Understanding dawned over Vidal. "That almost happened to me too." He touched the red scab that crossed his left cheek and closed his eyes. "But the people are still alive, thank God." He lifted his eyes to meet Chichiri's, and in that moment he knew that all he had been told was true. His religion might state that there was only one God, but now he knew for a fact the existence of another. "I guess… I guess it is time to do my duty."
Chichiri smiled again and nodded. With one swift movement, he put on his mask and stood up. "Be sure to take good care of the priestess and your fellow warriors no da! I'll leave my shakujo, kesa, and kasa here to help you out." He gestured to his staff, cloak, and hat. "Good luck – and hurry. Chiriko and the Miko are in trouble no da!"\\
Vidal started awake as Chichiri said that. He looked in surprise at the kesa, shakujo, and kasa in a neat pile to the right of the altar. Deciding to follow the advice in his dream, he collected the items and put them on. He put the kasa on easily, but he looked with bewilderment at the kesa. He did not know how to wear the robe or cloak as Chichiri had been, so he wrapped it around his shoulders instead and tied it at his neck.
Now that he was settled, he picked up the shakujo and turned from the altar towards the door of the church. As he walked, he was only slightly surprised to notice that he was disappearing.
****Back at the School****
The trigger on the gun was pulled back slowly. Tsunami knew that the bullet would come out and kill her in a matter of seconds.
In the period where she waited, unhappily but calmly, for the bullet to bite, she could have sworn that she heard a voice speak. "Don't kill her. Kill the other girl."
And suddenly the trigger was released. It wasn't pulled back; it was just… let go. She blinked at the sudden, unexpected change in her immediate future, which now looked like it would be a lot longer than she had formerly anticipated. Then she glanced over at Kotori, knowing because of that voice – that strange, somehow familiar voice – that Kotori would be fired at very, very soon.
She didn't know what to do. She wanted to save Kotori, but she just did not know how. She glanced around, but all of her friends were separated from her by the possessed mob.
I am one of the Suzaku Seven! The thought came from somewhere deep inside of Tsunami. The voice was both hers and not hers, as if it came from a faraway memory. It was the part of her that was not just Tsunami, a normal teenaged girl, but Chiriko, the Suzaku seishi. The world seemed to pause as she realized the significance of that.
I'm not just Tsunami any more. She looked at Kotori, desperately wanting to help. It is my duty to protect my miko, and my friends. She thought about why she wanted to protect Kotori. She is like a sister to me, and she is my friend. I have to do something, anything, to help. I must help her. I am Chiriko of the Suzaku Seishi!
Tsunami felt strange, and then, for a minute, she was completely Chiriko. She had all of his memories, all of his emotions, all of his doubts and worries, all of his belief in his country and Suzaku, and all of his caring and bravery for the sake of his miko. Suzaku! Please, help me save your chosen priestess! A rush of adrenaline hit Tsunami – no, now she knew she was completely Chiriko – like a tidal wave. With strength she normally would not possess, she pulled out of the grip of the gangster holding her down and tried to pull the gun away from the person about to fire it at Kotori.
Her energy, even given extra strength by her adrenaline rush, was still not up to that of a man, especially that of one controlled by a demon. She was smacked with the gun in her face, and before she lost consciousness she could feel herself being thrown against the wall. Then the world faded from Tsunami's view.
The man that had just hurled Tsunami into the brick wall of the cafeteria turned back to Kotori with the gun. He again pointed it towards Kotori.
It was at that moment that two events happened.
One was Hikaru, enraged by what had happened to her sister, began to fight with renewed energy. Person after person fell from hits on the head by her tessen.
The second was a red chi blast was fired from the shadows at the gun. It was knocked out of the controlled person's hands, and then another two chi blasts freed Kotori and knocked the opponents away from her.
Following the second event, Vidal stepped out from the shadows near one of the cafeteria doors and greeted everyone with a hello as he knocked people out with his staff. Finally the people being hit stopped getting back up.
As the seishi began to fight with strength renewed from their will to survive, a curious event happened. As a beast-like roar sounded throughout the cafeteria. It seemed to echo over and over as specks of blue light came up from the possessed people until they vanished into darkness. The opponents that were still standing collapsed to the ground, with every single one of them unconscious.
Vidal looked at his hands curiously as Tahir sat down where he stood with a sigh of relief. Lee and Kotori were looking around in surprise. Slowly, all of them looked with worry towards the blacked out Tsunami.
Hikaru knelt down next to her sister and checked her over for any injuries. She swore when she touched the back of Tsunami's head and her fingers came out red. Tsunami was bleeding, though it wasn't extremely bad. "Damn. We need to get her to a doctor, or at least get her to someplace where she can rest for awhile." She glanced towards Vidal. "Thanks for joining us. Finally. Can you help get Tsunami to anyplace safe?"
"Will my apartment work? No one else lives there anymore." He paused as he recalled the reason why, but then he shook it off. "I think I can get us there, though I'm not quite sure."
"Whatever. Just get us someplace where she can rest, okay?"
"Right." Vidal closed his eyes to concentrate, and then they all disappeared in a bright crimson light. The cafeteria was left gratefully behind.
~TBC~
Author's Note #2: Ah… It seems ironic to me that a person who planned to become a Catholic priest ends up using Buddhist tools… but it just might be me.
And a note to Rayna (the real one): You're a great friend, but enough with the complaints already. It's more fun to flame people over a phone. (That makes me think of a song! Authors roasting over an open review… No, doesn't sound right.) *shrugs* Rayna is a nice name, so I named the character Rayna. It's that simple.
And did I spell the name of Chichiri's staff correctly? Is it shakujo? Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
Sorry if this chapter was shorter than usual. I just wanted to get it out as soon as I could.
Peace,
Chibigreenwizardmon