Author Notes: Hey I'm not doing to bad; so far I'm managing to keep up with the one chapter a week promise. This chapter focuses a bit on Satura and Tasuki and Miaka. Oh and I apologize in advance for the Hotohori scene, but I couldn't help it, I just had to take the opportunity and poke fun at his narcissism. After seeing all those scenes where he's acting narcissistic I just had to write something about it. I'm not being mean to Hotohori-sama, He was actually the first character I liked, when I first started watching the series, and he's still one of my top favorites. ^_^ Anyways, Enjoy!
Satura adjusted her sword belt as she waited to begin the final part of her yearly fighting arts test. She was talking with Keldar about Druidic customs when she noticed something very repulsive, in her opinion at least. Crown Prince Tirek, the eldest son and heir to the throne and one of the worst people she had ever had the misfortune of meeting. From the time she had made her debut at fifteen to the present date, Tirek had been after her to marry him. Satura had for the first twenty proposals, turned him down politely. After the fiftieth, she had gone to the King and asked him to do something about it.
The King had issued her special permission to use physical force (short of killing or disabling him) to refuse the proposals. The King felt it would be good for Tirek who was to use to getting his way. Also, he felt Satura had been more than patient and polite with his son. So when Tirek came over and interrupted the women's conversation, Satura had trouble keeping her temper under control. "Hello, Satura." Tirek said, swaggering and tossing his black, wavy hair. "Hello Your Highness." The mage replied politely. "How's my bride-to-be doing?" He added.
Keldar raised an eyebrow at Tirek, thinking that the Prince was in for a nasty surprise when he found out about the gift Garret had given Satura. "I'm fine Prince Tirek, but I am not marrying you!" Satura snapped angrily. "Nor will I ever be engaged to you." She held up her right hand, where there, sparkling innocently on one of her fingers, was a promise ring. Garret had given it to her the night before she left.
They had been sitting near the fire, simply content to be together. Garret had then reached into a belt pouch and pulled out a silk wrapped bundle. He opened it to reveal two amethyst, diamond and sapphire rings. The gemstones of the rings were arranged around two gold hands holding a heart with the words 'I promise' engraved on it. Garret pressed the heart on one of the rings. A small panel opened on the inside of the ring, to reveal the words 'My heart and soul are yours for eternity.' Garret took her and slipped it on her finger. "Go with my love when you journey tomorrow." Both had fallen asleep soon after.
Tirek had no problem recognizing the ring. "Who gave that to you?" he asked. "Garret." The mage replied. "Garret! That low class nobody has a lot of nerve going after-" THUNK! Satura swung her left arm into Tirek's face, catching it on the arm guard. The Prince fell with a thump to the ground. "Well that's the end of that." She declared. "You didn't kill him, did you?" Keldar asked. "No, I just hit him hard enough to knock him out for a few hours." "Satura Mel'si?" an initiate's voice called. A young boy walked over to them. "It is time for your last test, my lady." Satura nodded. "Wish me luck, Keldar." "Good luck, my friend." The Druid said. "May Nyasha smile on you."
******
Satura entered the arena, which was just a large marble dome with rows and rows of seats. She walked to the middle of the arena and waited. "This final and last test will gauge your swordsmanship. Defeat as many opponents as you can in five minutes." A voice rang out into the arena. The mage nodded and unsheathed her sword. She gripped it and gave a nod.
A door opened and her first opponent came out. It was one of the King's elite guards she noticed with some interest. He had his sword drawn when he suddenly lunged at her. The mage blocked it the swung at him, neatly hooking his sword and sending it flying. "Next opponent!" The guard left and was replaced by the Captain of the elite guards. This fight when on for a few blocks and thrusts of their swords but then the mage pulled the same trick as before. "Next opponent!" Satura's next two opponents were defeated just as easily. "Last opponent!"
The door opened and out came an eight-foot tall, muscular barbarian. Satura gulped, she didn't think it would come down to this. The barbarian roared swinging his sword. He then focused in on the mage. He gave another roar and charged. Satura took a defensive stance. The barbarian raised his sword and swung down at her, Satura raised her sword to meet his... only to have the barbarian fall flat on his face. "Huh?" The mage looked at her unconscious opponent. "What happened?"
"When you moved your sword to defend, he raised his to counter it, only to knock himself out with his own sword." Satura looked up to see, the chief councilman to the warrior-mage order looking at her. "So that means I beat him?" She asked, amused. "It does. You passed your ten-year exam with above average scores. Now let me see your armguards." Satura removed her armguards and handed them to the councilman. He focused his magic for a moment; there was a bright flash of light around the guards.
When it faded Satura could now see three rows of gemstones on the guards. A row of sapphires were above the symbols, diamonds where in the spaces between the symbols and a row of emeralds were below they symbols. "The diamonds represent an above average score in fighting, the emeralds an above average score in magic, the sapphires for your section, the sapphire griffins. Satura put the guards back on. "Now go rest for your Sharil Ceremony." Satura sheathed her sword, bowed and left the arena.
******
The mage stood before the silver doors that led to the Sharil chamber. There was a groaning noise and the doors opened. "Enter seeker and learn thy fate." A disembodied voice instructed. Satura cautiously entered the room and the doors slammed shut. The room was completely empty save for a small shallow pit piled high with cushions. Not knowing what to do she crossed the room and sat down inside the pit sinking into the downy pillows. As she lay there she started to feel sleepy and found herself slowly falling asleep.
In the next instant Satura herself in a world of complete blackness, she knew wasn't in the mortal realm any longer. A spot of white light started forming and gave off a bright flash to reveal a woman with light blonde hair. She was wearing a pale yellow dress. "Minnera." The mage murmured. Minnera was the Queen of the Gods and the patron god of her family. It was said that the family was descended from the goddess. "My dearest daughter, I have come to you for a time to give you a gift and offer you aid." Minnera smiled at the mage. "Gift?"
"A gift only one of my blood can bear." The goddess replied. "One of your... blood?" The mage's eyes widened. "Yes child. The legends are true. The Mel'si family is of direct descent from me. I have waited many years for a child of my blood who would be able to handle the dormant power that lies in each of my descendents." She gave Satura a serious look. "And now I've finally found her." Satura stared, speechless at the Minnera trying to get over the shock of situation.
A knife and chalice suddenly appeared in Minnera's hands. She took the knife and slit her wrist with it. She held her arm over the chalice and let the blood drain into until it was half full. She then covered the injured arm with her other hand, when she removed it the injured wrist was now healed. Minnera took the chalice in her hand and held it out to Satura who shook he head no. "Child, I know you don't want this burden but many lives depend on your controlling your gift. I have looked into the future and I see nothing but death and tragedy for you if you do not accept this power. If you do accept it I see happiness and love for you and your friends and all of Delika."
Satura sighed and took the chalice. "If that's true I guess I have no choice. I can't risk ruining so many lives if it can be prevented." She thought of something then. "How do I control these new abilities?" She asked. "Tell me daughter what do I represent?" Minnera asked. "Love, Hope and Friendship." Satura answered, puzzled. "Yes, not let me tell you something. A god, a mortal can have all the power in the world, but can still be powerless unless they have a purpose. My followers all wish for love and friendship and try to maintain hope. That is the real power I am offering you." The goddess explained.
"Then why am I drinking this?" "To augment your abilities." "Don't I have enough?" Satura asked. "You don't have enough to defeat Merioso." "Oh lovely." The mage muttered. "Let me explain a bit more. If you feel strong feelings of love or friendship for a person then if you see them in danger you will want to protect them and those feeling will increase your abilities." Something clicked in the mage's mind. "So the great power of my family is simply to increase our magic using our feelings?"
"Yes, but there are other small abilities you'll learn about in due time." Minnera said. "If that's all then why did you wait for me to come along?" "You were the only one who had abilities worth increasing and the only one good enough to control the increase of power." "Oh." Satura eyed the chalice for a moment in disgust, but she closed her eyes and downed it in one gulp. It felt like hot lava was running through her chest and throat and spreading to the rest of her body.
She choked and dropped the chalice, falling to her knees. The pain worsened as she tried to breath. "When will it stop?" She managed to choke out. "After you lose conscience." The goddess replied. Satura managed even her present condition to give Minnera a withering look. The goddess simply smiled. "Your time is almost up so I will say my final words to you. The ablities you have been granted will overwhelm you at first but you will master them." Minnera gave the mage another smile. "My dear daughter, I wish you luck on you quest and happiness in your life." The fire in Satura's body consumed her mind and she gave herself up to the blissful blackness that clouded her mind.
******
A wet nose and an even wetter tongue brought a certain redhead around to reality. "Ohhhh, wha' happened?" Tasuki moaned, sitting up. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizzy feeling. The wet nose nudged him. "Zyra." He muttered. The wolf looked at him, whining a little. The seishi smiled slightly. "I'm fine my head's just feeling kind of fuzzy." What happened and where did that soul rune medallion come from? "Soul rune?" Tasuki looked down at his chest, there around his neck was an exact replica of his soul rune.
"Huh? Where did that come from?" Where you and the miko visited by your patron god? The wolf asked. "Well Suzaku was the one who told us that were soul mates. He showed us the runes and everything." The bandit replied. That explains it then. Zyra noticed the seishi's confused look. When two soul mates are shown their runes in Delika by their patron god the runes become solid and form medallions, like the one you wear. If Suzaku had done this in your world the necklaces wouldn't have appeared.
"Why are they here in the first place? Tasuki asked. It goes back to a decree the gods made. At some point in the lives of the people Delika they are visted by their patron god whether they have found their soul mate or not. Sometimes the medallions are used to lead soul mates to each other. They do have other uses though. You'll always be able to tell where Miaka is and if she is injured, not even Merioso can block the rune's power, since it uses your soul to make the connection. It will also increase your seishi abilities a little bit, as well." Zyra finished explaining. "Oh."
Tasuki looked over at Miaka who had woken up and been listeining to them. Noticing him looking at her she suddenly blushed furiously. "Are you alright, Miaka?" He asked. Still blushing she nodded. He got up and walked over to her. He knelt down in front of her trying to catch her gaze with his own. Instead of meeting his eyes she found the clump of mud stuck to her leg more interesting. Tasuki however, wasn't going to let her off that easily. He put his hand under her chin and gently forced her head up so amber eyes met hazel eyes.
He stared at her for a few moments before saying quietly, "Guess this is hard for you isn't it? Trying to accept everything Suzaku told us, on top of this quest where in. It's hard for you, but it's also hard for me." He chuckled softly. "I always expected to go through life a swinging bandit bachelor." He said, a small smile on his face. Miaka returned it with a shaky smile of her own. "The best thing to do, in my opinion s just to let things fall into place, alright." Miaka nodded. "Good."
He leaned in to give her a friendly kiss on the cheek, however it landed on her mouth instead and remained friendly for about five seconds. Miaka gasped against his lips, her eyes widening in surprise. On unspoken mutual agreement they both pulled away form each other. Looking into each other's astonished eyes they found they couldn't speak. Tasuki was the first to make a move.
"We-we should probably head back to camp." he stammered standing up and helping her to her feet. "Good idea." Miaka said shakily. Neither one of them made a move to go back toward camp." They just stood there awkwardly for few minutes. Finally both of them decided to say something. Turning towards each other, their eyes met and time seemed to stop. Tasuki took a step toward the miko his arm went around her waist pulling her against his body; his other went to her chin, tilting it up.
He caught her lips in a passionate, tender kiss. One of Miaka's hands was buried in Tasuki's hair; the other was resting gently on his chest. A fleeting thought raced through the miko's mind. Was this right? Tasuki deepened the kiss and she had her answer. Yes, this is right. Tasuki was the one all along. I feel more love for him then I ever felt for Taka. He is my soul mate.
Tasuki slowly ended the kiss, pulling away to look at Miaka. "I love you Mi-chan." He said softly. The girl buried her head in hi chest. "I love you, Tas-chan." She whispered. A loud wail, followed by a very familiar, slightly feminine voice broke the mood. "It's so beautiful." Nuriko wailed, blowing his noise on a handkerchief. Garret was busy writing on a piece of parchment with a quill pen. "Hey, thanks you two, now I've got enough material for a ballad." He said looking up at them and winking.
The couple exchanged looks that were a mixture of horror, embarrassment and surprise. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING SPYING ON US?!" Tasuki shouted. "Well when you didn't come back this morning, we went looking for you and well, sort found you in that, um, very passionate looking kiss." Garret said sheepishly. Unfortuneatly, he and Nuriko couldn't resist adding, "So when's the wedding?"
Chichiri, who had been watching with Hotohori at a safe distance, shook his head. "They shouldn't have said that na no da." He said quietly. Judging from the look on Tasuki's face his last nerve had been struck. "Hotohori-sama I think it would be wise to duck in a few minutes." Tasuki grabbed his tessen and aimed it at Nuriko and Garret. "LEKKA SHIEN!" The fans; flame shot out and engulfed the pair. Hotohori and Chichiri hit the ground just in time for the flame to fly harmlessly overhead.
When the flames disappeared they revealed a burnt seishi and bard. "Eh?" Garret asked stupidly. A horrified scream broke their stupor. A hysterical Hotohori was holding up the end of his ponytail. "He burned it!" the horrified emperor exclaimed, looking at the charred ends of his hair.
Tasuki looked at Nuriko. "You mean to tell me, he was dead all this time and he never lost the narcissistic streak?' He asked in disbelief. "Heh, Heh, 'fraid not." Nuriko replied a slightly pained expression on his face. "It'll grow back na no da." Chichiri said attempting to comfort the distressed seishi. Garret dusted off his tunic and rolled up his slightly singed parchment. "Come on we should get going, we've already lost half a day of travel." He said heading back towards camp.
The others all nodded except for Hotohori who was still moaning about his hair. The rest of the group shook their heads and followed Garret, the emperor bringing up the rear.
Author notes: Well I hoped you like that last chapter, but now I want to ask you something. What does everybody think of a romance between Keldar and Chichiri? I was thinking about writing it in a possible sequel or doing it in a separate story, which was another idea I had. I know their really isn't a lot of information on Keldar out right now, but with the way I have her written and the story of her past I have stuck in my head I think it could work. Well anyways, tell me and see you next week! ^_^