Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yugi or anything else that I may have mentioned in the fic.
Chapter 2
Twisted fate
Miaka groggily woke up. She'd been having a nice dream about being back in the real world. But it was even more special than she could have imagined. All of her seishi were there laughing and having the time of their lives. Even Yui was there. 'Yui…' Yui had been the source of her worries for the last few nights. It seemed that they just kept getting farther and farther apart from each other. Unfortunately, Miaka started feeling even lonelier because of it. True, she had Tamahome and all the rest of them. But there was something different with Yui. She could go to Yui with any problem she had and she would understand. She could always count on Yui. But now, that was but a distant memory. And what Taitskun said didn't make things any better. Even without Yui, she could always go to Tamahome for support. But now she needed to distance herself from him. Tamahome understood why they needed to be less intimate, but there was a part of her that was begging for some sort of intimacy from someone. But since all of her seishi were males, she couldn't risk getting too close to them that way. Yui was her only friend in this world that was a girl and right now she desperately needed a girl to talk to.
She quickly put all those stray thoughts aside when she remembered what had actually woken her. "I'm soooo hungry," she croaked just as her stomach chimed in to agree with her. Barely able to control her feet, she got dressed and headed for the dining hall. She walked only two steps when she heard a familiar voice. "MIAKAAA!" Before she had a chance to react she found herself lying back down on the floor with a very large load sitting on her chest. "Hello, Nuriko." "Oh sorry Miaka. I just meant to give you a big hug. I guess I don't know my own strength. By the way what are you doing up?" Nuriko asked still sitting on Miaka. "My stomach woke me up. So, I decided to make it shut up by going and getting something to eat, Do you want to come?" "Well, I don't know. It sounds like you have enough company without me, with your stomach and all. Anyway I already ate. I'd actually be surprised if there's any food left. You slept right through breakfast. But I guess you could get a few scraps off of those servants if you offer to help them clean up. Although that might just cause more trouble than good, knowing your proneness to 'accidents'."
Miaka only half listened to the rest of Nuriko's speech too caught up on one line in particular. "You mean there's no food!!" She yelled her stomach taking over her mouth. Her knees suddenly grew weak and she collapsed under the pressure. All she could say was "No food. No food," over and over again. Nuriko couldn't hold back his amusement at seeing Miaka in such a state. He began laughing uncontrollably. Miaka, getting a little angry at her seishi's lack of compassion, managed to get enough strength to get up and yell at him. "Nuriko! You are so mean laughing at my pain. I could starve to death if I don't get anything to eat. Oh no. I can already feel myself wasting away." At her last words, Nuriko began laughing even harder. He tried to gain some control to try and sooth his dear Priestess. "Miaka, it's alright. I was only playing with you. There's plenty of food so you don't have to worry about wasting away." He stopped all of a sudden, his face growing serious. "But I wasn't completely lying to you. You did sleep past breakfast. We were all a little worried. But I guess you've had a hard time lately and just needed a good rest." His cheerfulness returned. "But now you look right as rain. Plus you have great timing. Lunch is going to be served in a few minutes so you just lucked out. I'd almost be tempted to challenge you to an eating contest, but with you missing a meal, there's no way I could match your hunger." Miaka was about to say something about that, but was abruptly cut off. "Race you there." Without warning, Nuriko sprinted down the sidewalk. Not wanting to give up on a nice race, Miaka started running after him and yelled, "You cheater."
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Breakfast went well, nothing eventful happened. Just like Nuriko predicted, Miaka packed down more than everyone at the table put together. When they had first gotten to the dining hall, everyone jumped on Miaka. They too had been more than a little worried about Miaka's absence at breakfast. Many of them even ran to her room just to make sure she hadn't been kidnapped or anything else happened to her. Because of this, all of them had decided to get to the dining hall early, just in case she wandered in to get food early. After they got over the greeting they all began eating. Most of them ate very little still worried about Miaka's health. They couldn't help but keep half an eye on her the entire meal. But once she had eaten almost anything in sight, they began to relax some. After the meal they had separated and gone their different ways. Miaka headed back to her room. She found herself accompanied by three of her seishi, still suspicious of something aloof. The four of them walked slowly down the hallway, Tamahome on Miaka's right and Nuriko on her left. Tasuki was trailing a few feet away wanting a little distance from the group. But it gave him a perfect opportunity to scope out any dangers and keep Miaka almost sandwiched in.
Completely oblivious to their real motives Miaka went in her room. She went there to get her camera, intending to take as many pictures as she could before they left in search of the Shinzaho. Miaka went in alone, the trio waiting just outside her door. She ran to her backpack and very quickly went through her belongings, throwing any unwanted belongings to and fro thinking that she could pick them up later. Once she found her camera she yelled back to them signaling that she was on her way. She headed back towards the door, when something caught her attention. She turned in the direction of her bed and saw what seemed to be a letter of some sort. A little more than puzzled, she walked over to her bed and picked up the letter. All it said on the outside was Miaka. She then slowly opened the letter and read:
Miaka,
I'm sorry that I have been so mean to you. I was just scared and needed someone to blame. I can't believe the things I did to you. I don't know how you could ever forgive me. But I hope you do. I've missed you and I'm ready to go home. I don't think I can stand it here anymore. I'm going to run away. Please meet me tonight when the sun goes down at the little village called Sion. If you don't come I'll understand.
Hope to see you,
Yui
The letter nearly fell out of her hands as the message sank in. The trio outside decided to check on her seeing that it had been quite a few minutes since she had signaled that she was coming. When they came in, they saw Miaka standing in the middle of the room staring at nothing. A crinkled piece of paper was wadded up in her right hand. "What is it Miaka," Tamahome asked walking closer and putting a hand on her shoulder to snap her back to reality. It seemed to work. Miaka, at his touch, turned around, her green eyes focusing on his. "It's Yui," she started, "she says she's sorry."
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"I don't like it. Something's fishy about the whole thing," stated Tasuki a little more than mad. After telling the trio what the letter said, Miaka started to go meet Yui. But Tamahome prevented her. He told her that one, she shouldn't go out there alone and two, that this might all be some ploy to trap her. Unfortunately, Miaka wasn't willing to listen to reason, so Tamahome was forced to drag her into the throne room and urged his two fellow seishi to gather up the rest of the seishi in order to discuss their current predicament. They were all gathered in the throne room now, none of them too optimistic, except Miaka.
"I'm afraid I have to agree with Tasuki. It is more than plausible that this is a trap of some sort," the emperor added. "I'm not sure if you should go Miaka." "But I have to. She's my best friend! I knew she could never hate me. But even besides that, she said she's going to run away. She'll be all alone. I can't just leave her there by herself." There was nothing but silence for a moment while the party took this into consideration. Finally, Tamahome spoke up. "I don't like this either. I can just feel that there's something not right about this. But if she has changed we can't just leave her there. Unfortunately, I think we have to go. But Miaka can not go alone." "I am more than capable of taking care of myself, you guys don't have to worry about me." Every seishi gave her a questioning look, doubting her ability to 'take care of herself' knowing of how many times she has claimed that and found herself in trouble.
"Yeah, Miaka, we're just going to let our priestess waltz by Kutou by herself without any protection. You've got to be kidding me," stated Tasuki. Before Tasuki could add anymore, Chichiri butted in. "I too have my reservations about the true purpose of this letter, but I do have to agree with Tamahome, we have to check this out for ourselves, no da." "So it's settled then," Hotohori began, "yet there still remains the question of who shall go." "It might not be the best thing to let everyone go if this is a trap. If so, Kutou may have a way of tracking our movements. They may think it a little suspicious if we all go. I think we should keep our party to a minimum, four at the most. I volunteer to go. We know from the past that the Seiyru have people with magic powers, who has these powers though is still a mystery. Given this, I think I must go if nothing else to serve as a lookout for any Seiyru seishi."
"I'm going as well. I'm not going to let Miaka out of my sight. Plus, I wouldn't mind settling the score if we see Nakago. And if we do see him, I'm the only one who has the same power as him. I'm your best bet against him," Tamahome stated pulling Miaka even closer to him as he spoke. "So, we've chosen two. Unfortunately, my duties and my officials will not allow me to leave, though I'd much wanted to go. Also, I think that both Mitskake and Chiriko should stay behind. Though they are excellent seishi, they are not warriors and wouldn't be suited for the task at hand. That leaves two," he pointed to the two remaining seishi. "I think only one of them should go," Chichiri stated. Nuriko opened his mouth and was about to talk until someone's shoe grinded on his foot. He screamed as Tasuki spoke up. "I want to go," he began, "I too would like to settle the score with Nakago and his lackeys for causing us to go through so much grief." Regaining himself, Nuriko narrowed his eyes at Tasuki, the cause of his current pain and again was about to voice his opinion. But again he didn't get the chance. "It's settled then. Tamahome, Chichiri, and Tasuki will accompany Miaka on her trip to meet Yui. I suggest you leave immediately. It will take a few hours to get there and it would be prudent if you arrived there at the time the letter suggests." With Hotohori's statement, they left the throne room and headed in their opposite ways. But Nuriko was able to get in one big punch to Tasuki before they left.
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It was nearly dusk when the group got to Sion. They rode nearly five hours straight and were completely exhausted. Chichiri and Tasuki rode on separate horses while Miaka shared Tamahome's horse. Deciding they needed a little break before they met possible danger, they stopped by a little pub. Tamahome not really wanting to, had to wake Miaka from the sleep she was in while riding. Normally, he would let her rest there, but knowing Miaka, she'd go running off on her own trying to find Yui. Plus, none of them had eaten since lunch and he thought if nothing else, he should wake her so she could eat. Though soon he was regretting this. At the mention of food, Miaka went haywire. She ate fifteen plates, drawing the attention of everyone in the place. He and his fellow seishi couldn't help but slouch down in their seats feeling quite embarrassed by their priestess' zeal for food. After wasting too much money, in Tamahome's opinion, on paying for the food, they started looking for Yui. It was now dusk. But now they realized that they had no clue as to where to find her. Marking, Sion wasn't a very large town, but it was large enough that someone could get lost in the crowds.
They looked for nearly thirty minutes with no luck. They were just about to give up, losing all hope of finding her when Miaka thought she saw her in the middle of a crowd. It would be hard to get to her since the streets were jammed pack. Seeing the fireworks in the sky, Miaka thought there must be some festival or something going on. She motioned for her seishi to follow suite as she dived into the sea of people. Miaka didn't know how it felt like, but she could swear that this is how sardines must feel like in a can. Very reluctantly, Miaka and the crew were able to swim their way to "Yui". Thankfully it was Yui. Once she noticed Miaka, her face lit up. More than overjoyed by her friend's happiness, Miaka leapt at Yui grabbing her in a big bear hug.
"Oh I've missed you so much, Yui." "I've missed you too, Miaka," Yui said a little surprised at Miaka's sudden embrace. She couldn't help thinking about the dream she had the night before of her and Miaka. It felt just like it did then, both in her dream and in the real world when the scene first transpired. She couldn't help but feel a little happy. It felt so good to be hugged like this. But almost as quickly as it came, the happiness faded as Yui remembered her true purpose here and her true feelings about Miaka. She struggled and was just barely able to pull Miaka away from her long enough to speak. "I think we should go somewhere a little more open." Understanding what she meant, Miaka followed suite following Yui as she maneuvered herself out of the crowd.
Miaka found that she had trouble keeping up. 'Reminder to myself, exercise more.' Once she got out of the crowd Miaka bent down putting her hands on her knees in order to catch her breath. Her stop allowed her seishi to catch up to her stopping right next to her. As soon as she totally regained herself she stood up and looked for Yui. Yui was at the top of a hill a couple of yards away from where she was and the edge of the crowd. It was basically quiet where they were now except for the distant sound of the crowd and the few regular noises one hears at night. It was also much darker here than it was in town. Since the festival was going on, the town decided they didn't need to light this area up leaving them alone with the only light, the light of the moon. Yui began to motion Miaka to come to her. Without any doubt she darted forward towards her with her seishi following slowly behind. As she got closer to Yui, her arms got wider. She was only a few feet away when someone pulled her back.
Tamahome was walking closely behind but not keeping the pace that Miaka was keeping. He couldn't help but feel a smile come on as he saw how happy Miaka was. But that smile quickly faded as he felt something. He ran to catch up with Miaka and quickly pulled her back. Something flew in front of Miaka's face just millimeters away from hitting her. Miaka was a little more than startled. As she got her bearings she barely got out, "Yui?"
Before Miaka could do anything else, Tamahome had her behind him, making sure nothing else happened to her. "Who are you? Show your face!" Tamahome screamed ready to take action for almost hurting Miaka. A second later, someone stepped out from behind Yui. He couldn't distinguish who it was at first, but then it dawned on him. "Amiboshi…"
"Wrong. I am not Amiboshi. No, you killed him. I am his brother, Suboshi. And I am here to get my revenge for his murder." As soon as he finished his sentence Suboshi sent another wave of fury from his weapon of choice. Tamahome was able to easily avoid it and was about to make his own attack when another attack came. He was able to move both him and Miaka out of the way just in time. The blue ball of light that had nearly killed him began to dissipate. Knowing very well whom this blast came from, Tamahome searched around for the source. He was surprised to find two people instead of one. His eyes narrowed, "Nakago." Without thinking he leapt towards Nakago. Before he could get there though a flash of lightning hit singing the bangs of his hair. He thought it quite odd for lightning to flash when there was no rain, but then his answer came when he looked at the other person next to Nakago.
"I am Soi, of the Seiyru seven. I will not allow you to touch Lord Nakago. You'll have to go through me first." She then got in a stance and got ready for action. From behind him, Tamahome heard, "Reka Shienn!!" Before she knew it, a whirlwind of flames came through the air. Not expecting that, Soi was caught off balanced. The flames hit her head on causing her to fall back a little, though she did not lose her stance.
"Tamahome, go after him. We'll take the other ones, just concentrate on him," Chichiri told him. With this acknowledgement, Tamahome nodded and turned his attention back on Nakago. The battle was chaotic. Miaka hardly knew where to look. Tamahome was fighting Nakago, neither of them getting the upper hand. Chichiri was fighting Soi, apparently getting the upper hand by confusing her. The worst off was Tasuki. He was fighting Suboshi. Suboshi kept on attacking him with his weapon over and over again. Tasuki was able to dodge it with his seishi speed, but he was gradually losing energy coming closer and closer to being hit. Miaka had at first been in the middle, not really knowing where to go. But that quickly changed when a runaway chi blast from Nakago had nearly burned all the hair off her head. She was currently on the outside of the circle, watching the battle in horror. 'This is terrible. They're all equally matched. How are they going to possibly win.' She then looked up at the full moon. 'Please, Suzaku. Let us come out alive.' She moved her eyes back down to the fight and then moved them to stare at her feet. 'This is all my fault. Why was I so willing to trust Yui? I know she can't change back overnight. And now because of me, the people I love most may die.'
She moved her attention to Yui. She was still standing in the same spot, not ten feet away from her. She was also looking down at the fight. 'Even though this happened, I don't think she's totally gone. When I hugged her, I could feel her satisfaction, like she needed it.' Miaka gazed at her for a few more seconds and then turned her attention back to the fight. Tasuki seemed even more tired than he had before. Suboshi lashed out with his balled weapon. Tasuki was able to get out of the way just in time. But now the ball was headed for Yui. Suboshi noticing it, tried with all his might to make it stop, but unfortunately it didn't obey and continued its course towards Yui. Yui had ample time to move, but for some reason she wasn't moving. Her feet were planted on the ground, fear making her unable to move.
Miaka watched in horror as the ball moved ever so closer to Yui. Without hesitation she ran towards Yui. Tamahome, still battling Nakago, looked up and saw her headed toward the catastrophe. "Miaka, NO!!!" he yelled, breaking his attention away long enough to give his warning. At his signal, all seishi, including Seiyru, turned their attention to the matter at hand. Miaka continued forward, disobeying the orders from her love. She jumped right in front of Yui, twisting her arms back a bit to lightly grab Yui's arms. "Miaka…" is all Yui was able to get out.
In an instant, the ball slammed into Miaka causing the two girls to slide back a bit at the impact. The ball twirled and bored its way through, ripping through the priestess' skin, only stopping when Suboshi's orders from before finally got through. Miaka's eyes went glassy and she tumbled to the ground. As she fell, Yui braced herself against Miaka not wanting her to crash on the ground. Blood was everywhere, staining her clothes a dark red. Yui couldn't help but feel a few stray tears leave her eyes at the sight at hand. Not able to hold himself back anymore, Tamahome left the battle with Nakago to go to Miaka's side. When he got there only faint breaths were heard from Miaka. He knelt down beside both Yui and Miaka and couldn't help but grasp Miaka in his arms and pull her towards him.
"T..Tamahome…" Miaka began her voice raspy from the blood slowly flooding her lungs. "Shhh. Don't speak Miaka. You need to keep your strength." Tears began to leak out beneath Tamahome's clenched eyes. He kept them closed, not wanting to look at the reality of the situation, thinking if he didn't see it, that it wasn't there. A slight tug on his shirt brought him back to his senses as he opened his eyes focusing back on his lover. Her face was losing all color and little beads of sweat began to break the surface of her skin. "I'm sorry, Tamahome, I guess I messed up big time," she broke off for a moment as she coughed. When she began talking again, Tamahome noticed a little trickle of blood trickle down her chin from her mouth. "I'm sorry I failed you, all of you, including you Yui," she motioned towards Yui. "All I wanted was to have all of you in my life, to be happy with you. But I guess I was too selfish. I'm sorry Yui that I couldn't save you. In the end I couldn't even save myself let alone Konan. Please tell Hotohori I'm sorry I failed him too. I failed everyone." Tamahome came in not wanting to listen to anymore of her self-bashing. "You didn't fail anyone, Miaka. You saved us all in some way or another. You saved me. I love you, Miaka." "I love you too, Tamaho…" She wasn't able to finish her sentence, the rest of her breath escaped as her head lulled to the side. She was dead.
"No…NO…NOOOO!!!!!" Tamahome screamed losing any self-control he had. He gently set Miaka back on the ground next to Yui and stood up tears pouring down his face. An aura of red light was flaring around him as his oni symbol shined brightly on his forehead. Almost on cue, all the seishi returned to themselves and prepared to fight. Too blind by his hurt and anger Tamahome blasted off a chi blast and sent it barreling towards Nakago. Nakago, having more control of his senses, sent his own chi attack to take care of Tamahome's. Similar attacks were done by all the seishi, trying to hit their respective targets that somehow were across from them. Simultaneously, Tamahome's, Nakago's, Tasuki's, and Soi's attacks all converged in the same spot hitting each other at the same time. At the impact a white light emerged replacing the colors of the other attacks. But instead of dissipating, it grew. At the same moment, the full moon seemed to get brighter and glow the same color as the small ball of energy, almost seeming like they were communicating to each other. The attack seemed to have ended as the ball of energy grew bigger and bigger. In an instant the light was surrounding all the seishi. The light spread until it encompassed the whole city then it disappeared, leaving no one from the fight behind. Yui barely noticed the light. The last thing she remembered is holding Miaka's dead body next to hers, a tear escaping and landing on the dead body's cheek.
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AN: Sorry it's so sad. I promise it's not all over yet. Also, I'm sorry for leaving this kind of hanging. I promise I'll update this, but it might be a while. I have a lot of schoolwork coming at me all at once. But I hope you all liked it. Please review.