Love, Peace, and Chibis,
~Mysia Ri
Fushigi Akugi
Chapter 9: Aoi Jiyuu Shiroi Nozomi: To Stay With You Forever
Houjun looked out a window to where Tasuki
and his men were fighting against the Mt. Kaou bandits. He sighed
and sent a quick prayer for they're victory before looking back to where
Hikou sat talking to Chichiri. They had been back within the
safety of the stronghold for almost a
day and already he was begining to feel out of place and un-needed.
With a final glance out the
window, he slipped out of the room and left for his sleeping quarters..
Hikou shook his head and looked into Chichiri's
eye.
"I really don't know, Jun. He looks
like you, acts like you...and the others did say you were
dead..."
"But I'm not," Chichiri replied, burying his
good eye in his right hand. The last thing I remember before waking
up is Tenkou attacking Tasuki and me teleporting to intercept the attack.
True, it should have killed me, but I-"
"You were clinically dead, Houjun," Hikou
cut him off sharply. "Mitsukake-san examined you and confirmed it.
How you came back, I don't know." He paused catching the almost hurt
look in his friend's eye and sighed. "Look, Jun, it's not that I'm
not glad you're back. It's just that I
know about as much as you do on this. He's the Dove of Suzaku,
but other than that, you both
bear the mark of Suzaku on your right knee. You share almost
all the same memories and are
alike in many ways. Why don't you contact Taiitsu-kun and ask
her what's going on?"
"We tried. Both of us did last night,"
Chichiri said sadly.
"And?"
"And she didn't answer either of us."
"Lord Tenkou?"
"Yosui," the demon lord began cooly.
"Soon."
"Yes my lord."
Tenkou chuckled and looked at the image projected before him.
Chichiri looked up as Hikou rose to greet Kouji and a few words passed
between them.
"And now," he began, an evil smirk forming
on his lips as the image shifted to show Houjun alone in his room.
"Begins the end."
Tasuki stood before Houjun's door lost in thought.
He hadn't spoken to theteen since their
return to Mt. Reikaku, but he knew he had to. He took a deep
breath and opened the door
easily. Houjun was staring out the window in his room, his hands
resting on the sill gently. He
quietly crossed over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Houjun?"
"Who am I?" the teen asked quietly, his voice
wavering a bit. Tasuki blinked and stared at him.
"N-nani?"
"Who am I?" the teen repeated. "I...I
can't be Chichiri...but then..am I really Houjun?"
"Hey," Tasuki begin gently. "Don't be
like that. You are Houjun and you're Chichiri too."
"No. I...I don't think I am. I
think...I think I'm starting to understand, but I..." he stopped and bowed
his head, his body trembling a bit as he tried to keep from crying.
"I...I'm just so confused right now and nothing makes any sense."
The bandit nodded slightly and wrapped his
arms around him. "I think we all are right now. We need to
figure out what's going on. Why don't you ask Serge?"
"I...I though of that, but the path is blocked
off by the Mt. Kaou bandits." He sighed and
shook his head. "Yama and Fuji found two more memory jewels (Tamahome
and Nuriko), but they don't help much. Why am I even bothering to
finish finding them..."
"Houjun..." He gently grabbed
the younger man by the shoulder, turning him towards him, and kissed firmly.
After a moment, he let go of him and sighed. "Look, I don't
think anyone knows what's goin' on anymore. All I know is that, like
it or not, you're Chichiri as much as he's Houjun. We'll talk to
Serge and figure things out, alright?" He raised his hand to gently brush
Houjun's cheek. After a moment, the younger man nodded and stepped
forward in to Tasuki's embrace.
Chichiri walked away from Houjun's room, still
in disbelief at what he had seen.
'He replaced me...He found someone else....Why?
How...could he...?' His mind fumbled through all the possiblities
but could come to no conclusion. He looked up and relized he had
somehow walked outside and was in the forest. His grip tightened
on his staff and he looked up at the sky where dark clouds were gathering.
"Why?" He asked aloud, his only answer at
distance roar of thunder. He finally tore his gaze away from the
oncoming storm and sank to the ground beneath a near by tree.
Revenge.
He looked up at the sound of the word, not
sure if he had heard it or said it himself. 'That's not the answer,
no da...'
Revenge.
"I won't resort to that."
Revenge.
He tried to respond but suddenly found he
couldn't breath, let alone talk. He grabbed at his throat with one
hand, desperatly gasping for air, as a shadow fell over him.
Hikou soared over the trees swiftly, his bat-like
wings barly making a sound as he came to rest on a balcony. After
making them disappear, he slipped into the room and sighed.
"No sign of him."
"Great," Kouji muttered, folding his arms
over his chest as he looked at Serge, who sat at the head of the table.
To his right sat Houjun followed by Tasuki, Kouji, Chiriko, and Nuriko.
Hotohori sat on the ither end with Hikou, Tamahome, Miaka, Fuji, and Yama
to his right. "So now whadda we do?"
Serge closed his eyes for a moment before
speaking. "The problem is that I should have explained this to all
of you from the start."
"Explained what?" Houjun pressed. The
older man sighed and looked at each of them.
"It will be a little difficult to explain
if you do not know of the gemini spell. It is a spell that can separate
a person into two being. In this case, the spell was used with a
spell to cause a type of suspended animation to one of the gemini being
until it was lifted. The spell can only work effectivly in certain
circumstances, such as Chichiri."
"So yer sayin' that that Tenkou guy used the
Gemini spell on Chichiri, but why? What would he gain from it?" Kouji
asked.
"Because Chichiri-sama didn't want to be known
as Houjun," Fuji began.
"His spirit was in turmoil because of the
events of his past, both what he know and what he doesn't," Yama concluded.
"That doesn't make sense. What do you
mean what I don't know? I want a straight answer," Houjun insisted,
his hands gripping the edge of the table.
"The truth, then. You and Chichiri are
two parts of the same being only separated by the Gemini spell. There
is a way to reverse the spell, but it can be painful unless both gemini
can find at least one thing they still bear in common. For now, you
must both agree to at least work together," Segre explained. "I'll
go out and serch for Chichiri."
Chiriko looked at Fuji and Yama as Serge rose.
"You two are gemini then, right?"
Yama nodded in response.
"As one being we couldn't control our magic
as well," Fuji smiled.
Suddenly the door burst open, one of
Tasuki's scouts stumbling in, gasping for breath. "S-s-sir...Ch-Chichiri...sama..."
"You found him?" Tasuki asked, rushing to
his side.
"H-hai...he...a-attacked...us...."
The words had barely escaped the gaurd's mouth
when Houjun had disappeared. He didn't know what was going on or
why, but if that other him was causing trouble...
He appeared in a clearing the the woods near
the base of Mt. Reikaku and looked around. He could sense he familiar
life force that was his own lurking near by and turned to face it.
It wasn't long before Chichiri emerged, aa redish battle aura surrounding
him. Houjun narrowed his eye and drew his sword.
"Why are you attacking us?"
"To draw you out, of course. I won't
have a copy like you taking my place anymore."
"I'm not a copy!" the teen shouted back, anger
rising at the thought of anyone, let alone himself, attacking people just
to draw out someone. "We're the same person! Come with me back
to the base and we can talk."
"No. I'm going to make sure that you
never touch my Tasuki again." Before Houjun to react, Chichiri had
attacked with a burst of black magic that threw him back ten feet.
He looked up in time to dodge his staff and slashed at the seishi's leg,
missing as he teleported behind him, his staff nearly smashing into his
back. Chichiri panted, looking up at the teen as he appeared before
him, sword held ready.
"I don't want to fight you, Chichiri."
"Then you'll just have to die then."
Another burst of magic flew from his fingers and Houjun lept in the air,
bringing his sword down. Chichiri's staff came up, blocking the attack
and throwing Houjun back a few feet. The teen landed on his feet
and charged at his older self, his blade of his sword glowing Suzaku red
as he attacked.
"Where the fuck are they?" Tasuki growled,
looking around.
"Over there!" Serge pointed towards a flash
of light in the distance and they headed that way. Yama and Fuji
followed along swiftly, glancing back from time to time to make sure the
other seishi had stayed behind as requested. Suddenly, all four of
them found themselves floating in the air and surrounded by a dark aura.
"Come, now, don't spoil my fun."
"Tenkou," Tasuki growled, his hatred of the
demon god burning in his eyes.
"They're not done with there duel yet." He
laughed evilly and turned back with a frown. "Hmph, and you made
me miss the ending. " It looks like Houjun was his weaker side after all."
Chichiri walked towards them, a deep cut visible
in his right arm and a dent in his staff from blocking a powerful sword
attack.
Tenkou smiled and looked back at Tasuki.
"I suppose it makes it easier for you, however. Now you don't have
to break either of their hearts by having to chose only one of them.
Tasuki gaped at both Tenkou and Chichiri,
tears coming to his amber eyes and Serge looked away, gritting his teeth.
"And now I'll kill my only other obstacle,"
he continued, pointing a finger at Serge. "The dove's father."
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And you thought I'd let you off without a cliff hanger :p I'll type up Chapter 10 and post it tomorrow afternoon for added suspense, so if you want to know what happens next, tune in tomorrow: Same monk time, same bandit channel
If you're still with me, then you must have questions. I'll answer one of them. Chichiri's middle name is Akia because my friend said it was.
How can Serge be Chichiri/Houjun's father? Could Chichiri really
have killed the one being who stood a chance at defeating Tenkou?
Would I seriously tell you the answer right now when I told you it was
a cliffhanger?
Until tomorrow, you'll just have to wait ^_~*
"Darkness can not exsist in the presense of light" -Tamahome OVA 3 episode 4 (Not to be confused with OVA 2 tape 2 -_-)