Hello minna! After another long hiatus, I'm back to wreak havoc on the world of fanfiction! Didn't you all miss me?
(Silence. Crickets chirp.)
*Sweatdrop* Okay… Neways, I probably won't be able to update for a long time after this, because my end of year exams are coming up and there's streaming this year. *Makes face* So I have absolutely no idea when I'll next be able to write. Gomen nasai!
Oh yes, to Otaku Pitcher-san, Sansele-chan wants to know why you don't write any stories of your own. She's been using my review board as a BBS board.
(A shakujou pierces through Draconsis, courtesy of Sansele)
And I'm sorry if my version of Byakko Seikun is very alike to CLAMPravens! *Sniffle* I think it has to do with reading to much of "Juri"… But I tried to make him as original as possible!
And, just to note, the first section was written after I'd just been through Kouki Arashi's Yami no Matsuei fics. They take the cake for the most angsty and sappy thing around with a plot to rival anyone's fic. *Cries* I'm nowhere near her standard of writing…
Nyan-chan: There, there. *Chucks self-help books at Draconsis*
Oh yeah, I'd better tell you people a bit about Saiyuki. Erm…basically there's one character named Sanzo, and he's got a gun. *Crazy grin* And there's another guy called Hakkai, and he's got this pet dragon which can turn into a jeep. Umph… yea, I think that's all you need to know…Besides that fact that Sanzo rocks.
Neways, a big THANK YOU to EVERYONE who reviewed, you people are the best!
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"……" Speech
(……) Authors Notes/ Comments
[……] Thoughts
((……)) Sounds
*……* Actions/Emotions
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[Fushigi Yuugi Belongs to Watase Yuu]
[Minekuza Kazuya owns Gensomaden Saiyuki.]
[Hamasaki Ayumi belongs to herself, great J-rock artist that she is.]
[I do not own GateKeepers.]
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Draconsis Presents:
A Draconsis Fanfiction
The Great Wars of The World
~ Flowers of the Sands Arc / Sabure no Hana Enko ~
[Chapter 07 – Illumination]
"I'll fight, I don't want to see anymore wars. I'll fight to end all wars with my own hands."
~Houjou Yukino, GateKeepers
Year 1488, Seishuku 61
Fire.
Enemy.
RunHackSlashShit.
Too many. Everywhere.
Worse than Hokkan, worse than all we've ever been through.
Where's 'Chiri?
So many dead…
Dead…All dead…
Red uniforms. Tattered. Bloodied.
Red banner, still flying high, like Suzaku. Still flying high on Suzaku's wings…
Pain…
"REKKA SHINEN!!!!!!!"
Hmph.
Green everywhere…Too many…
Blood.
On hands. Everywhere.
Green like grass. Like the grass underfoot. Now stained with the blood of the dying. Unwashable. Forever.
SpearSlashSwordBlockRun.
"REKKA SHINEN!!!!!"
Tired…
But this is what a seishi is supposed to do, protect the country he or she serves.
Protect with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength.
Every last bit.
Surrounded.
Is this the only way?
No allies in sight.
Is this why I was born?
Alone.
Why we endured all the hardships together?
Green as far as the eye can see.
Why Mits' saved me so long ago?
No one on my side hurt because of me.
Grip tessen with both hands.
So I could do this for Konan?
Raise tessen to the skies, a final salute to Suzaku.
Do what I nearly did to myself that horrible night so long ago?
Save the country. Be a hero.
But never able to walk through those gates again. The gates to home.
Never talk and joke with Chiri again.
Never drink sake by a warm fire with Kouji in Reikaku-zan.
Never breathe again.
But it's for Konan. No, for the future.
Yep. For the future.
One last time.
"REKKA!"
Blazing fire. Intense heat.
"SHINEN!!!"
Divine flame. Vengeance of Suzaku.
Descend.
If I have to go, I'm taking all of you Hokkan soldiers with me.
-~=*[^]*=~-
Byakko Seikun twitched.
It was not his day today. The paper was late, his secretary had a fever, one of his employees was not responding to calls and there were two Nyan Nyans arguing in front of him. Definitely not his day.
"SANZO!"
"HAKKAI!"
"SANZO!"
"HAKKAI!"
"SANZO!"
"HAKKAI!"
"SANZO!"
"HAKKAI!"
The two Nyan Nyans had been arguing for the past hour or so. The only thing that distinguished then from the normal Nyan Nyans under Taiitsukun was the white sashes they both wore.
Byakko Seikun slumped further back into his floating chair. The two Nyan Nyans were getting on his nerves. In the orange clouds that served for a sky for the Palace, a few lightning bolts crackled.
"Nooooooooooo! Sanzo-sama is better! He's got a gun!"
"NO WAY! Hakkai-sama is way better! He's got Hakuryu!"
((ZAP))
The Nyan Nyan who had just spoke was fried by one of Byakko's lightning bolts.
Byakko cracked his knuckles. Now he felt much better.
"PHAHHAHHAHHAHA! Serves you right!"
"It's not my fault! I don't even know why he zapped me with those lightning bolts!"
"Because you talked about Hakkai's pet."
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's a dragon-"
((ZAP))
The two Nyan Nyans had finally stopped talking, and Byakko felt much better than before.
-~=*[^]*=~-
"Ne, do you think there's something wrong with Chibi-neko?" Amefuri prodded the cat with a finger. Chibi-neko had been twitching its nose for the last few minutes, and it was starting to scare Amefuri's horse.
The trio had been able to buy a horse for Subaru with the money Empress Tora had given to them, and with the blessings of Subaru's family, they had continued their journey to Hanasaru Village.
"Nah, it probably inhaled some sand or something." Kokie replied. She turned to Subaru. "What'cha think?"
Subaru was holding the reins loosely, with a rather dazed look on her face. The land had given way from plains to scrubland, and the soil had gotten sandier. Trees sparsely dotted the land now, and the open space made travelling faster.
"Mou, she spaced out again…" Amefuri sweatdropped.
Kokie drew her horse alongside Subaru's, before yelling into her ear, "NIREI-SAN!"
Subaru jerked upright, nearly loosing her seat on the horse. "Hai, sensei? No, I wasn't dreaming in class again…"
Both Amefuri and Kokie burst into laughter.
-~=*[^]*=~-
There were three sharp knocks on the gates to Byakko's palace.
"Master Hikou desires to enter your esteemed presence." A static sounding voice recording of Hamasaki Ayumi announced into the earpiece that Byakko wore on his left ear.
Byakko let loose a rather evil sounding laugh before clapping his hands over his mouth, hoping that none of his employees had noticed. None had. Muttering gleefully under his breath, Byakko steered his hover-chair to the main courtyard.
Byakko was not the first to arrive. His secretary was already there, and by the looks of it, was giving Hikou quite an earful.
"Hikou. The reason why it is called the morning paper is because it is delivered in the MORNING!" Rokou twirled his handgun in his right hand, giving Hikou glares that would probably have scared many others to death.
Hikou looked unfazed.
"Rokou." Byakko interrupted him.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH! Byakko-sama! Gomen nasaiiiiiiiiiii~~~! I didn't see you coming and I didn't hear you coming and I was just yelling at Hikou because he's late delivering the papers again-" Rokou was stopped by a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face Hikou, who had materialised his Kanki wings.
"Boo."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-"
There was a loud crash of thunder from the sky that had darkened intensely in the past few seconds. It was followed by a few not-so-discreet coughs from Byakko Seikun.
"Rokou, save the gun for a better use than the paperboy." Byakko said to his secretary. Rokou slid the gun into his shoulder holster, followed by a few muttered oaths.
Byakko Seikun then turned his attentions onto Hikou.
"Hikou. If the papers are late, ever, ever, again…" The statement was followed by a bolt of lightning that struck dangerously close to Hikou, creating a charred spot on the flagstones of the courtyard. Hikou inched away from the burn mark.
"Byakko-sama. Shall I add 'replace flagstones' to the to-do list?" Rokou had pulled out his palmtop, stylus at the ready.
Byakko's touch screen computer materialised and displayed a close up picture of the charred flagstones. He sighed. "Yes, you'd better."
-~=*[^]*=~-
"Yuuki residence, home of Yuuki Keisuke, available bishonen."
"Keisuke, that was lame."
After the disappearance of Miaka, Taka and Yui, Tetsuya had thoroughly searched the Sukunami apartment for a scroll of any kind, but had failed to find one. So he picked the next alternative – call Keisuke.
"Tetsuya! Eh, I though you were having dinner with Miaka today…"
"Was. Yui, Miaka and Taka were pulled back into the ShiJinTenChiNoSho." He slumped against the wall next to the phone.
"WHAT!!!!!!!! Are you sure?"
"There was a flash of red light and another one of blue light just before I came. Plus, there's cooked food in the kitchen, untouched." His hands wandered to the yo-yo in his pocket, and he began spinning it to take his mind off the fact that Yui was gone.
"So they really were pulled back in."
"Yep. No scroll this time either." The yo-yo flew seamlessly back to his hand.
"So what can we do then?"
"Nothing." Tetsuya removed his sunglasses and held them up to the light, "Nothing, except to hope."
-~=*[^]*=~-
Namame was in a foul mood. He was still convinced that they could have triumphed over the Byakko seishi that night in the forest, had Inami not given the signal to fall back.
It was a crisp Hokkan morning, with only a light snowfall the previous night. The air was fresh and inviting, and the predawn chill had dissipated. But the beauty of the morning was lost on the Genbu seishi, still submerged in his own thoughts.
He viciously slashed through the air with his bou staff.
[Part of it is Urumiya's fault. He could have at least helped out earlier.]
He completed the manoeuvre and paused in a pose for a few seconds, before moving on to the next action.
The bou staff swept through the snow, creating patterns where it struck.
[The moron just went to sleep yesterday night after Inami dismissed us, and slept like a rock. Not even a snore.]
Namame paused, breathing heavily. The chill air filled his lungs, scorching his throat with every breath.
[Urumiya might as well be a rock the way he acts. Doesn't talk to anyone, keeps himself to himself.]
Deep in the palace, a bell tolled, signalling the serving of breakfast. Namame reluctantly left the training grounds and walked back o his room to freshen up.
[Next time, Byakko seishi. Next time, I'll be ready.]
-~=*[^]*=~-
"So you see, the seishi have no weapons, and Agent is not really helping them out much…" Rokou pointed out to Byakko. They were gathered in the main room in the palace, the giant monitor screen on the far wall displaying the seishis current position.
Byakko rubbed his chin thoughtfully. There were a few…interesting weapons currently in his armoury, but those might attract a bit too much attention to his seishi. He could always think up a few more of course, it wouldn't hurt to have a few secret weapons to use on the Genbu seishi.
Hikou had flown off to do his next job, but not without a few snide remarks, which had inevitable been followed by a number of bullets that didn't even come close to him. But another lightning bolt had pretty much assured that the papers would be delivered by the crack of dawn tomorrow.
"Rokou, are they going to be alone tonight?" Byakko booted up his Pentium 21 computer and proceeded to start typing.
"Ah, Hai… Unless they ride their horses 1.78 times faster, then they would reach Hanasaru Village a few hours after dark." Rokou was still wondering why Byakko needed a secretary. He was a Seikun for goodness sakes. Ah well. He had all eternity to figure it out. Unless he was fired of course.
Byakko rubbed his hands gleefully once again. The presents should be ready by then, and the normal day-to-day business could be taken care of by the main system computers.
"Rokou, get my suit ready for tonight. The white one with the black trimming." Byakko steered his hover chair off to his private rooms, continuing to make plans in his head.
Rokou flipped open his palmtop and noted it down. [Mental note to self: Ask Byakko Seikun later if he wants to bring some lightning bolts or a Nyan Nyan.]
[Mental note to self #2: Ooooh wait. Cross out Nyan Nyan.]
-~=*[^]*=~-
"According to Ame-chan's map, we're a only few hours away from Hanasaru Village." Kokie was seated on the ground, trying to read what she could of the map in the fading daylight.
The trio had set up camp for the night in a corpse of trees that provided shelter from the chill night wind, and a campfire blazed merrily in the middle of the clearing.
"Is that good or bad?" Subaru asked. She wasn't very clear about the whole seishi thing, never having been a Fushigi Yuugi fangirl. But lucky for her, she had two previously obsessed fangirls to help.
"That's good da yo. Then we can find our miko soon, and we can go back to the capital and sleep on a real bed." Amefuri piped up. Ground isn't a good support for bedrolls.
Kokie prodded her with the rolled up map. "I though you were from the Vanguard. All those that I've seen never complain about the ground."
"Yeah, but I'm from the city division. We work inside Sairo city, and rarely leave the city gates. Those that you would have seen would be from one of the field divisions." Amefuri made a face. "They actually enjoy sleeping with the bugs."
A loud yowl from Chibi-neko interrupted the conversation. An outline of a figure had appeared by the campfire, and as the seishi continued to watch, rapidly solidified into a human figure.
"Hello." Byakko greeted them.
Chibi-neko scampered off into the trees.
Predictably, Kokie and Amefuri responded with a typical fangirl response. They screamed.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Only Subaru remained calm, as she had no idea about who had just appeared. "Who's that?"
Kokie very nearly strangled Subaru. "BYAKKO SEIKUN! As in, OUR BOSS!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhh…… We have a boss?"
"YES, BAKA!"
Amefuri prodded the both of them. The three turned to face Byakko, who looked eerily calm amidst a horrendous amount of static electricity radiating from him.
"Can we continue now?" Byakko drawled out.
"Hai!" The seishi responded together.
"Good!" Byakko clasped his hands together. He produced three boxes from the fold of his cloak. "Kokie, this one is for you." He handed her one of the boxes.
Kokie opened the lid, revealing a white, oval shaped gem strung on a silver chain. The chain rose into the air, before unclasping itself and draping over Kokie's neck. It fastened itself again, letting the gem slide down to the centre. A mist seemed to swirl through the polished stone, though it was hard to tell.
"That will store any excess ki. You by yourself can only store so much ki for use, so this will help you store more than your body capacity. You can try it out later…" Byakko explained.
Kokie turned towards Amefuri with an evil grin, ready to pounce onto her. Amefuri hastily hide behind Subaru.
"…But not on one of my seishi."
Kokie sat down, but the evil look still remained. She shot another wicked grin at Amefuri, who moved even further away.
Byakko handed another box to Amefuri. It contained a Sensu, made from silver. A maple leaf pattern had been burnished into the metal, and a white jade with a hole through the centre dangled from a cord. Further down on the cord, a blue knotted decoration also swung in the night breeze.
"Try it. Use some ki on it." Byakko suggested.
Amefuri let some of her ki flow into the fan, and it extended and morphed, transforming into a double-bladed sword. The blade of the sword also had maple leaves burnished into it, and a mixture of silver and sky blue brocade twined around the handle of the sword. The hanging decorations on the fan had become the stabiliser for the sword, and all in all, the sword was a masterpiece.
Amefuri experimentally swung the sword around, and measured it against herself. She gasped, "It's exactly right for me. The weight, the length, everything."
Byakko grinned. "Glad you like it." He handed the third box to Subaru.
The third box contained a scroll that was deceptively long for its thickness. The scroll was a painting of various animals and objects. Each subject, though minute, was rendered in life-like detail.
"Cool. What does it do?" Subaru asked. Amefuri and Kokie promptly fell over.
Byakko opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the Lilo and Stitch themesong came from his pocket. He twitched before pulling out his mobile and pressed the answer key. "Byakko here. Ahhhh. I seeeeeee… Okay, I'll be right there."
He turned to his three seishi, all of whom were very surprised that there was mobile reception in the universe of the four gods. "I have to go. Apparently, one of the Nyan Nyans blew up the oven." He gave them another grin before vaporising back to his palace.
The seishi blinked at Byakko's sudden disappearance. Kokie stood up with an evil laugh.
"Ame-chan~~~"
"Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!"
-~=*[^]*=~-
"Duck."
"What? I don't see the duck formation on the board-"
An arrow whizzed past Saihitei's face and embedded itself into one of the pillars of the pavilion.
"Ah. Sou ka. Duck."
"GOMENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!" Ryuuen bounced into the pavilion, but wilting when he encountered the death glares of two very pissed Weiqi players. "Ehehehehehe…"
"Ryuuen." Byakuya stood up from his seat at the table. "Next time, when you practice archery, do us a favour. Try not to murder us."
"Ehehehehehehehehe…"
-~=*[ Tsudzuku ]*=~-
Story GuidePart One – Anyone else figured out what Tasuki did to himself?
Dragons and Byakko – Touchy subject for Byakko right now. I wonder why…*pointed look at Seiryu*
Nirei – That's Subaru's surname from the real world.
Rokou – Very few fanfics use Rokou-chan… So I gave him a part, along with a PDA, gun and a couple of things.
Palmtop – Erm…Everyone knows what a palmtop is, right?
Stylus – That's the pen thingy for use on a PDA.
Hamasaki Ayumi – She's a very good J-rock artist. As for how Byakko got her voice for his computer system… I have no idea.
Hikou – I love being evil to Hikou (Sansele, Don't murder me.) But his Kanki wings are those wings he has. Yep, he can make them go away.
Bou Staff Manoeuvres – Okay, short lecture coming up. The attacks a weapon can use are taught in a set, and different sects (Chinese schools for training of martial arts) often create their own set of skills. Each set of skills consists of a collection of manoeuvres, and after each manoeuvre there is normally a pause during practice before the person begins the next manoeuvre. Since the manoeuvre normally ends in a certain pose for stability, readiness or whatnot, that what the transitioning stand is. You'll have to pardon me if I'm wrong on some points, all information was gleaned from Chinese sword-fighting novels, since most sects refuse to share their skills with anyone else.
Sensu – Chinese folding fan.
Sword length – I think there's a sort of ratio concerning the sword length versus length of various body parts, but I'm not sure. But of course you're not going to use a sword so long you have difficulty controlling it.
Weiqi – A board game originating from China. In the west it is also called Go. It is a two player game, black seeds versus white seeds. The seeds can be placed anywhere on the grid of the board (19 lines x 19 lines), and the object is to surround your enemies seeds so there aren't any available grid points next to a group. Thus, various formations can be formed, and well, so have been given names, like chess moves. Weiqi is also mistakenly called Chinese chess sometimes, there's another Chinese board game that is more similar to Western chess, and that one is called Chinese chess.
Pentium – the highest Pentium right now is Pentium 4 or 5 I think…so Pentium 21 hasn't even been planned yet.
Firewall – It's supposed to keep viruses and hackers out of your computer system.
This is the longest chapter so far in terms of story content, excluding AN's and other notes. The whole thing is a total of 3700+ words, longest chapter of anything I've ever written. *Grin* Go me!
Oh yeah, for readers of the Yami no Matsuei series, I'm also posting one up today, in the tradition of my "The Problem with Apple Pie" fics.
What? You haven't read them yet?
Nyan-chan: *Holds up sign: Shameless self-advertising*
As always, feel free to ask me any questions, since I'm a Chinese by birth and some of the concepts might be a bit hard to understand.
And of course, review my fic, leave a note to review your fic, and I'll review! Power to the unnoticed authoresses!
Nyan-chan: Too much self-help books.
*Throws maths textbook at Nyan-chan*
So, whom do we have for free talk today?
Nyan-chan: Er…Hikou, Rokou, the two other Nyan Nyans…
=Thunder rumbles=
Nyan-chan: There's also Byakko Seikun of course…
It such a difficult choice, if I don't pick Hikou, Sansele (-read. Hikou fangirl.) will murder me. If I don't pick Rokou, Rokou will try to murder me. If I don't pick the Nyan Nyans, you will murder me. If I -
=Lightning flashes=
*Face pales* Okay, I get your drift. Lets welcome Byakko Seikun!
((Beep Beep))
Ara? New email message from Byakko Seikun… "Not free. But will fry you anyway for even thinking of having someone else do the free talk."
Eep.
Computer, activate shields.
What? Firewall one down, firewall two down, firewall three doused by water… Wait, that can't happen…
New message from Byakko Seikun…"You're trying to protect your computer from the person who invented hacking."
Oh beep…looks like I'll have to go back to the real world…
Hey! Noooooooo! Don't shut the portal-
[Shutdown initiated. Have a nice day.]
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO……….
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Signing off,
Draconsis
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