Hello minna! I'm very, very sorry I've been so slow in updating, but I didn't expect my school workload this year to be so large. As it is, I'm staying back every weekday past five thirty pm as I have various activities in school, and my micromouse competition is coming up…@_@
Akito: I told you nine subjects for O levels was suicidal.
I didn't know I would have to stay back for three days just because of Art elective, did I? -_-;;; Stupid me…
Akito: Humph.
Anyways, I'll try really hard to speed up, and I have been trying to keep to my quota of one chapter of something per three weeks. ^_^
Some of you may have noticed that I have started another ficcy, Enigma: Tokyo. It's a Tasuki fic (ehheheheheh…), set in modern times, involving Tasuki as a police officer (no powers here folks.), and one annoying partner. I think it's quite good.
Fuurin: She got a roku kyu review!!!
Err…yeah. ^_^ Go me.
As a funny side note, I got 36 out of 40 for my commonwealth essay. Top in class. ^_^
Akito: Drac, only about, oh lets say… HALF of the world knows about it by now. Ego.
I need ego folder.
Akito: Che.
I was also thinking of renaming this fic to Legends Unfolding. To me, "The Great Wars of the World" just doesn't have the "oomphff" effect, y'know? Plus, the storyline has taken a drastic turn from the war-like scenario I though of at first…^^;;;
Neways, enjoy the fic, minna-san!
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Kai: Why can't my characters say "da yo" da yo? It's not like I invented the phrase da yo. I mean, look da yo. You used it too da yo. And animes use it too da yo. So I can jolly da yo well use it in my fic. Da yo. ^_~ And for the last time Kai. The fic was –originally- based on real life people. Now it's not. Mm'kay? And Kai, lay off on Baki-chan. *pats Mabataki* Meanie.
Otaku Pitcher: Mabataki-chan the Tasuki-type character? Hmmm… not really… They are alike in some areas, but they're really very different. I don't know why you like Byakuya either. ^_^ I like him too, but hey, I created him. ^_^ Once again, really sorry I took so long to update. The cliffhanger must have been killer…^^;;; I didn't even consider it a cliffhanger…ehehehe… Yep, it is a crime that I don't get more reviews. I punishment shall be that they have to memorize my story, muahahha! ^^;; Ehehe... never mind…
Wingsong: Harlowwwwwww!!!! Thanks for reading my story!!! Hey, minna, you all should read Wingsong's stuff, they're really good! I think the start was pretty cheesy too; I may have to rewrite it… *shrugs* Maybe. I know about the typos…_… my spelling is actually really bad…^^;;; Thanks once again!
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Beta read by Sansele.
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"……" Speech
(……) Authors Notes/ Comments
[……] Thoughts
((……)) Sounds
*……* Actions/Emotions
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[Fushigi Yuugi Belongs to Watase Yuu]
[I do not own Hikaru no Go]
[Original characters, plotline, etc are the intellectual property of Draconsis]
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Draconsis Presents:
A Draconsis Fanfiction
The Great Wars of The World
~ King of Thieves Arc ~
[Chapter 12 – Underground Labyrinth]
It's true... A glass labyrinth
Crossing, as though on a tightrope
Yeah, everyone's a lonely wanderer
Traveling without a compass
~ Key: The Metal Idol - Fugitive: Run away
"YOU!?"
Mabataki Dai looked at Amefuri.
Amefuri looked at Mabataki Dai.
Subaru looked confused.
Chibi-neko decided it was time for the cat to take center stage and all hell broke loose. The feline scampered across the room, and with a rather inhuman grin, sank all sixteen claws into the thief.
"YEOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"
Chibi-neko learnt firsthand the wonders of flight. But, being a cat, it landed safely a few feet away from the injured thief. Huffing to itself, Chibi-neko began to lick all traces of the nasty human away.
Mabataki launched into a string of colorful expletives. "Blasted, brain-dead..." He then noticed that Subaru and Amefuri were looking at him rather queerly. Amefuri raised a shaky finger.
"Tokaki." She pointed at the shimmering ivory character, situated smack in the middle of his forehead.
A flood of memories hit him in a rush. Growing up in Tokyo, that fateful day outside the courthouse, and his primary school days. Most prominent was the memory of six young girls, each with their own distinct character.
////////// Flashback \\\\\\\\
It was the final day of school, the last day where all seven of them would walk out of the same school gate in the same winter chill. The posting results were out, and he was going to Jonan High. However, the other six had won places in Nanyo High, Jonan's main competitor.
"Ne, cheer up, Dai-kun," Seigi prodded him. "I'm still your neighbor."
He smiled back at her. "It won't be the same, you know." He turned to the rest of the group, their shadows hiding amongst the fallen leaves, smiling slightly. "I won't have anyone to make fun of in Jonan."
He was simultaneously hit with various school bags.
\\\\\\\ End flashback ///////
He blinked and shook his head slightly. Memories were a pesky thing when you had two sets of them.
"Okay, what in all seven constellations is he doing here?" Amefuri pointed at him as she asked Subaru. Subaru didn't reply.
"That's what I would like to know," He replied his childhood friend. "The last time I checked, I was having a bowl of ramen at home." He glared at Chibi-neko. "Plus, I certainly wasn't one of the Byakko no Shichi Seishi."
A loud screech floated down the passageway, getting higher each second. "I BET THEY'VE BEEN KILLED BY A GIANT BLOODSUCKIN' MONSTER THAT LIVES DOWN HERE AND WE'RE ALL GONNA –"
It was interrupted by the not-so-quiet sound of a sword being drawn.
A dead silence followed.
The three Seishi and Chibi-neko sweatdropped.
-~=*[^]*=~-
Byakuya massaged his temples again. "Let me get this straight. I sent you two off to check on some strange sounds, and you two come back with another Seishi?" He shot a baleful glare at Amefuri, Subaru and Tokaki. "Am I correct?"
Amefuri and Subaru smiled and shoved Tokaki in front. "Hai, hai." They nodded their heads in unison. Tokaki used his foot and edged Chibi-neko in front. The cat then turned its nose up at Tokaki and stalked back behind the two female Seishi.
[Gee whiz, I didn't know Seishi multiplied so fast.] Byakuya rolled his eyes. Oh well. It could be worse. Tokaki could have been a girl. Byakuya shuddered at the thought. [Oh kami-sama. Please not another girl.]
"I suppose we'd better get going." He pointed down the dark passageway. "Lights please."
The Seishi looked extremely confused.
"Your Seishi symbols. They emit light."
Amidst a chorus of "Oh…"s the passageway was duly lit up, and the group continued further into the underground labyrinth of the Kotozukeru Shrine.
Byakuya was beginning to wish he had stayed back in the palace and done paperwork.
-~=*[^]*=~-
Toroki rapped sharply against the obstruction before them.
"It's a door," she said.
"Oh, cool." Amefuri stepped up and rapped lightly over the engraved surface. "Knock, knock."
Toroki whapped her over the head with a scabbard as the other Seishi nodded in agreement.
The wind wielder pouted as she rubbed her head. "Wrong. The reply should have been 'Who's there?'"
Byakuya sighed and turned away as he waited for his Seishi to stop murdering one another. Really. Four year olds would have more common sense.
The door was made of some kind of granite. Engraved in the center was a round object, positioned so that it would split into half when the door was opened. Seven stars adorned the top of the door, with a sun on the left half and crescents moon on the right half. There was no handle to be seen, nor keyhole, or any other opening device for that matter.
His eyes fell onto a marble slab embedded in the rock beside the door.
Sun and Moon joined through flesh,
One of this world and one of the other.
Sun and Moon do thus mesh,
Together, join and rip asunder.
[Somebody needs rhyming lessons…] He sweatdropped.
"What's that?" Amefuri popped up.
[Wonder of wonders, they finally decided to stop murdering each other.]
Kokie popped up beside her. "It looks like a rhyme of some sort."
"Ooh, maybe it's the key to getting to door opened." Amefuri studied the rhyme. "Just like in one of those Fantasy books."
Kokie gave her a flat-eyed look. "Okay, no more David Eddings for you."
Byakuya resisted the urge to whip out a sharp, pointy knife and gut them.
"Hey!" Tokaki yelled. Everyone turned to face him.
He jabbed the center of the Moon design, which lit up. But as soon as he took his hand away, the light faded.
"Cool, ne?" He grinned.
He demonstrated again, and then tried it on the Sun design. Nothing happened.
"Aww…" He pouted, and then brightened up. "We could blow it to bits." The thief hopefully held up an Ofuda.
Byakuya waited for everyone to whack Tokaki, then shifted irritably. "Let me try." He strode over to the door, and placed his hand on the moon design. Nothing happened. Annoyed, he tried the Sun design.
To everyone's surprise, it lit up.
"Oh great," Toroki grumbled. "A temperamental door."
Subaru turned around from studying the rhyme. [If the moon responds to Tokaki, someone from another world, and the sun responds to Byakuya-kun…then…]
"Byakuya-san, touch the sun again," She asked. [Joined through flesh.] "And Tokaki, put your hand on the moon, please."
Furrowing his brows slightly, Tokaki placed his right hand on the moon and waited for Byakuya to finish grumbling and for the Sun to light up.
"Now, hold hands."
Tokaki looked in horror at Subaru. "Have you been reading yaoi fics again!?"
Toroki wasted no time in whacking him. The swordswoman then whipped out a katana, the blade glinting in the dim light from their Seishi symbols. "Do it."
Grumbling, Tokaki grabbed Byakuya's hand.
The door promptly exploded.
Coughing from the dust, Tokaki shot the other Seishi a grin. "Told ya we could have just exploded it."
This time, Kokie decided to assist Toroki in a spot of Seishi whacking.
Byakuya blinked a trifle, looking at the rhyme and then back at the Byakko no Shichi Seishi.
-~=*[^]*=~-
They had only moved down a short passageway when they came to another blockade.
Tokaki whipped out his Ofuda, but hastily retracted them when he saw a murderous Toroki and Kokie advance towards him.
Byakuya shook his head sadly as he examined the wall, pointedly ignoring the various thuds and metal clanging from behind him. A real pity Tokaki's head was so thick. A little damage wouldn't hurt.
A grid was carved into the wall panel, with black dots and white dots carved on some of the converging points. Gray bits stuck out of the grid, inviting someone to press one into the lattice, surrounded the dots.
Byakuya did a double take. And nearly whacked Amefuri as she suggested that they look for another horrible rhyme.
Instead, he took a deep breath. "It's a Weiqi board," he told her.
"Ohhhhhhhhh…What's that?"
((Bonk))
"Itai…"
Toroki readjusted her katana so she could easily reach it. "Didn't you read Hikaru no Go?"
"Ohhhh…That!!!"
Toroki sighed and rolled her eyes.
Subaru looked at the seed on the playing grid. "So you're supposed to play Chinese chess with a wall?" She asked, giving him a blank look.
Byakuya decided that paperwork was much more preferable to being stuck with the Seishi.
"I suppose so." He leaned forward to study the game.
"How do you tell which color you are?" Amefuri asked.
Byakuya adjusted his overcoat, and took some solace in the fact that all his knives were still there.
"We are the Miko and Seishi of Byakko-Seikun, literally the white tiger." He grimaced at her. "White tiger equals white seeds, get it?"
The Seishi all moved a step backwards.
Byakuya rolled his eyes and continued studying the game. After a while, he pressed one of the bits that jutted out, and it sank backwards, turning white. The black seeds, now surrounded due to the new white seed, vanished, and the panel slid open.
Byakuya swept through, a pleased look on his face.
"Aw man, I didn't know that playing board games was this useful." Tokaki muttered behind him.
"It is NOT just a board game!!!" Toroki screeched.
((CLUNK))
The Prince of Sairo pointedly ignored the various thuds and other painful noises from behind him.
-~=*[^]*=~-
The Seishi stared in awe around the vast cavern. Phosphorus moss crept up the walls, stalactites dripped from the ceiling, and a vast underground lake stretched out before them, the dark waters hiding their secrets. Stepping-stones littered the surface of the lake, carved into squares and embossed with either a star or a Kanji character.
Amefuri held out her hand, shedding light onto a marble pillar that rose out of the ground.
A word for the Seishi, A star for the Miko,
Under the water is the way to go.
Two upon two platforms,
Lights amongst the thorns.
Open the door,
Near the floor,
But two you must leave behind,
Continue thus your quest to find.
Subaru looked at the rhyme and sighed. "Why can't they just write out the instructions?"
"Cause it wouldn't be any fun that way!"
Amefuri was duly silenced.
Tokaki studied the stepping-stones, one finger tapping against his cheek. He leapt over to the nearest stepping stone, one marked with a star. As soon as he landed, Tokaki found himself teleported back onto the banks of the lake, blinking in confusion.
Byakuya sighed. "Isn't it obvious enough? The doorway to the next area is submerged under the lake, and we need to activate the stepping-stones with weights so as to reduce the water level." He pointed to the star embossed platform. "'A star for the Miko.' That means only I can go there."
Subaru nodded. "And a word for the Seishi. In this case they probably mean the Kanji for our Seishi symbols." She pointed to the other stepping-stones.
Kokie leapt to one marked with her Seishi symbol. Nothing happened.
Amefuri gaped. "Kami-sama, it works!"
Subaru glared at the wind Seishi. "What was that supposed to mean?"
Amefuri quickly jumped over to a platform marked with her symbol.
The Seishi and Byakuya proceeded to jump from one platform to the next, Subaru narrowly avoiding an unscheduled swimming trip. Byakuya grumbled as he hopped from stone to stone, mumbling about crazy people with too much time on their hands.
As Subaru landed on her sixth stone, the kanji symbol lit up, and with a grinding of gears the water level started to recede, until it was halfway down. Ladders could now be seen, jutting out from each platform a foot below the surface.
Byakuya noted the drop in the water level, as well as the top of a doorway that could be seen towards his left. [One more to go.]
Subaru tried to jump to the next platform, but as soon as she left, the water once again began to fill the underground lake. The Seishi hurriedly jumped back, and the water level dropped again.
"I guess you'll just have to stay there." Tokaki smiled at her.
The other Seishi and the Byakko no Miko continued to jump across the stones. Kokie landed on another stone that lit up, and the water level dropped completely, giving the other Seishi free access to the doorway.
Subaru was past the halfway mark on her ladder when the water started to leak in again, and she scrambled back up the platform. The artist looked helplessly at the other Seishi, and at Kokie who was experiencing the same problem.
"Byakuya-kun." Kokie had scrambled back onto her platform, and now she regarded the Byakko no Miko, one eyebrow raised.
"Sayonara." Byakuya was already walking across the dry lakebed, halfway across to the doorway.
"NANI!?"
Byakuya returned her a withering glare. "The rhyme said we would have to leave two behind. Have fun."
Amefuri stopped in her tracks, shock appearing across her features. "But we can't leave them here. Byakko knows what could happen."
The Prince of Sairo whirled backwards. "We have to. We need to get the Orb of Byakko to help us defeat the Genbu Seishi, and the Suzaku and Seiryu Seishi as well, if the need arises." He pointed towards the doorway. "We might need every Seishi we have in there." His eyes flashed slightly in the dim underground cavern.
Toroki, Tokaki and Amefuri looked at each other, reaching a silent agreement.
"Hai."
-~=*[^]*=~-
The three remaining Seishi trailed after Byakuya as they walked up the flight of steps in the passageway.
"You think they'll be alright?" Toroki asked.
Tokaki smiled. "They should be."
They rounded a bend and nearly collided with Byakuya, who had stopped. The Seishi looked in front of Byakuya and groaned.
Another Weiqi panel.
-~=*[^]*=~-
Inami quickly rearranged the request forms in his hands, putting the items that required less money in front, and those that required more at the back. It was only a couple of hours after noon, but the Genbu Seishi knew that Nobunaga would have started drinking long before. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the servant was following him, carrying his most precious ally for now – a keg of super strong brandy. Guaranteed to intoxicate the Dictator of Hokkan after just six mouthfuls, Nobunaga would be more open to signing the request forms, thus the need to put the requests for larger funding at the back.
Turning into the annex used by Nobunaga Mitsuo, Inami moved Tomite's form up three places. Tomite swore he'd just discovered a new poison so strong, it could wipe out an entire lake of fish with just two drops; despite the heavy dilution it would take. Whether or not it really could was of no consequence – Tomite would probably discover something much stronger in his experiments. Inami approved of whatever the herbalist did. Tomite was a product of centuries of genius and knowledge, a fine heir to the hereditary position of the Master of the Herbalist Guild. Not many people knew that the brainwashing drug Kodoku had originated in Hokkan.
Inami rapped sharply on the door, barely waiting for an acknowledgement before he swept into the room, his dark green cloak flaring out behind him. Motioning to the servant, he made sure the keg of brandy was safely on Nobunaga's desk, with a large cup beside it.
Nobunaga gazed blearily at him. "What now?"
The Genbu Seishi resisted the urge to strike the man. This was the new ruler of Hokkan – a slob with cheap wine already tainting his breath, a man who couldn't navigate through the dangerous political waters without an aide, a man who only sat on the Hokkan throne because of a little known advisor by the name of Gakui Rombun. A man doomed to die.
He adjusted his cloak, looking around in concealed distaste. The room was in shambles, with important documents strewn liberally all over the place. Thank goodness he had ordered a copy of every single one of them, now stored safely in his own quarters.
Inami forced himself to smile and bow. "I greet the eternal ruler of Hokkan." Inwardly, Inami decided that being roasted alive was too good a death for Nobunaga Mitsuo. Maybe having his limbs hacked off would be a more fitting fate.
The dictator was already on his second cup. He waved condescendingly at Inami. "Just get on with it."
Inami was glad that he had shifted up Tomite's request. At the rate that Nobunaga was consuming the brandy, most of the later forms probably wouldn't be signed.
"I bring request forms for more money, your eminence," Inami said as he placed the pile on what available space there was on the desk. There wasn't much, what with the emperor of Hokkan slumped over it, and wine kegs jostling with the brandy for space.
Nobunaga opened one bloodshot eye before pulling out the imperial seal from a drawer of his desk. He glanced at the topmost paper before groaning.
"Read them out to me, then bring them over if I feel like granting them." The dictator reached once again for the brandy keg.
Inami retrieved the stack of papers, brushing off the dust from the tabletop. Nobunaga was a fool on some days. The drunkard had forgotten Inami's power, the power that had stirred up the peasants of peaceful, dreary Hokkan. The power that had forever tainted the image of the last king of the Suppon dynasty, causing thousands of once loyal soldiers to revolt against a good, but gutless king with no appetite for war. The power that had cleared a path for Nobunaga Mitsuo, a lowly general, to the glorious throne of Hokkan.
Yes, Nobunaga Mitsuo might once have been a genius at military strategy, but a general had no place in the subtle nuances of an international political battlefield.
Inami began to read, feeling his voice swell upwards and towards the intoxicated ruler. He molded the sound, turning an innocent suggestion, a simple statement into a hidden order. Soon the pile of approved requests grew, but none touched the place for the rejected pile. Inami could feel the power charging through his throat, bursting forth with every word, every miniscule change in tone. The back of his neck grew warm, and he paused for a while to bring his cloak upwards to hide the Seishi symbol located on the nape of his neck.
It wouldn't do for Nobunaga to discover his hidden agenda, oh no, no, no. When people a hundred years later read about poor, bumbling Nobunaga Mitsuo in a history text, they would shake their heads, thanking Genbu-Seikun that Gakui Rombun, Genbu no Shichi Seishi Inami, had the foresight to remove the lousy ruler from the throne.
For Hokkan was his, and had always been.
-~=*[^]*=~-
Namame fidgeted in his chair. "Inami isn't gonna like this."
Hatsui sat in a chair next to Namame, eyes closed and unmoving. "He doesn't have to."
The three Genbu Seishi had managed to kill every single guardian in the Kotozukeru shrine, but the priests had died without letting out even a single hint of the whereabouts of the Orb of Byakko. Some idiot had then set off the traps in the Shrine, causing the place to fill with sand. Much later, from their vantage point on top of a nearby hill, they could still see the sand continuing to pour forth from the windows of the Shrine, and within an hour Kotozukeru had been completely covered.
"Well, 'scuze me for wanting to stay alive," Namame replied as he propped his staff against the wall. "Inami is gonna murder us when he finds out that we didn't get the Byakko Orb."
Hatsui sighed, feeling some of his energy returning after performing his spell. He shouldn't have lost his temper, he shouldn't have struck out with the Teishijikan Spell. It was far too energy draining, and right now he would need every ounce he could use.
"Inami can't kill us. Besides, we successfully blockaded the Kotozukeru Shrine. No one can get in now." Hatsui leaned back against the chair, wishing Namame would shut up.
Urumiya was leaning against the far wall, blending in with the shadows. Hatsui could see just the faintest glimpse of a porcelain white chin beneath the hood, and slender white fingers peeking out from the sleeves. An artist's fingers, they must be, such long, slender and unmarked fingers were impossible amongst the commoners. Only an artist could keep his hands from the biting cold wind of Hokkan, only them and the nobles. Hatsui furrowed his brows. Urumiya couldn't be a noble. Could he?
There was a sudden burst of cold air as Inami threw open the door, a bundle of papers in his hands. The leader of the Genbu Seishi glared at the three of them, adjusting his cloak and depositing his papers on the hardwood desk before glaring at the three of them again.
"Next time, do not enter before I say so." Inami sat down in his chair, his gaze still frosty.
Hatsui forced himself to stand up. "Gomen nasai, Inami. We thought it best to report at once to you." He bowed in one fluid motion, pushing his green hair away from his eyes.
Inami nodded, accepting their excuse. "So, how did the mission go?"
Hatsui hesitated, mental rephrasing several sentences. "We had attacked the Shrine, and had also rounded up everyone when a group of local rift-raft appeared, a group of Saironian bandits perhaps." The Seishi shrugged. "They immediately grasped the situation when one of the priests yelled for help, and a scuffle broke out."
"A full fledged fight more like it, Hatsui." Namame interrupted.
Hatsui glared at him. Really. Commoners had no manners. You couldn't breed it into them if you tried.
"As I was saying." Hatsui glared meaning fully at Namame, who rolled his eyes and ignored Hatsui. "Our assassins would have been able to defeat the rabble quite easily, except that someone had activated the sand trap. We had to evacuate, and thus had no time to find out where the Orb of Byakko was."
Inami was frowning. Not good.
"But, we stayed on, hiding on a nearby hilltop. The Shrine was completely buried in the sand, there is no way out or in now." Hatsui gestured towards Earth Seishi. "Namame is quite certain of that."
Namame nodded, backing Hatsui up. "Whoever designed the trap was pretty good. The entire ground level of the structure is filled, it would take ages to dig out so much sand." The Earth Seishi smirked. "No one would bother, since that amount of sand would also require expensive equipment. Even if they did it would take at least fourteen months."
Inami's frown had lessened. Hatsui calmed down a bit.
"So you both believe that the Orb of Byakko is well out of anyone's reach for the present?" Inami asked the both of them.
Hatsui and Namame both nodded.
"What about you, Urumiya?"
Hatsui noticed the slight chill in Inami's voice as he addressed the shadow Seishi. Had Urumiya done something to offend Inami? Or was Inami being paranoid? Being the seventh Genbu Seishi to be found, he didn't know about what had happened before his arrival. Did Urumiya foul up in some major way?
I agree with them.
Hatsui nearly jumped. Mentally berating himself to remember about Urumiya's ability to communicate directly to one's mind, Hatsui couldn't help but wonder how Urumiya did it. Could it be because he was a Kagetsukai, a shadow wielder? Or was it his Seishi power?
Inami seemed placated. The advisor to Nobunaga-sama would be adjusting his cloak if he was annoyed, but right now he was fiddling with the papers, a sure sign that Inami was calm and unbothered.
"Very well then." Inami waved his hands dismissively. "You are all free to go."
Urumiya immediately disappeared by melting into the shadows, and Namame had glared at the shadow user before stalking out. Hatsui bowed to Inami, before walking backwards three steps, then turning to go, the proper way one should leave a superior.
Manners were important here at court. Making people like you was what counted, what made them decide not to send an assassin after you. Careful observation was needed too, in order to learn when was the best time to approach someone.
Hatsui bowed to a Lady who smiled back at him, her entourage of maids tittering. Always the perfect gentleman, Hatsui was the apple of his father's eye.
His blue eyes clouded as he pulled the door of his room shut behind him. Father had opposed Nobunaga, had sent Hatsui to a remote border mansion to keep him away from the crazy general. No one had known that Hatsui was a Seishi back then, but Inami had somehow found out, and now he was back in Hokkyo, the capital of Hokkan, and staying in the palace.
He now knew why his father had sent him away. Nobunaga was not dedicated, had not been brought up knowing proper behavior. The dictator had no idea how many nobles were disgusted at him, with his wine drinking and coarse language.
Hatsui neatly tied his hair up, before selecting a random book from the shelf and beginning to read. He needed to learn how to control his temper; he needed to learn how to control his powers. Inami had said they would get stronger with practice, but if each use left him so drained, he wasn't sure if he would be able to practice much.
Hatsui settled on a comfortable chair, his eyes scanning the book but his mind running elsewhere.
Yes, Hokkan would need a new ruler, but who, who? Who could rule Hokkan with strength of mind, with single-minded dedication, and with the personality to survive in court?
Who?
-~=*[ Tsudzuku To Be Continued ]*=~-
Story GuideChibi-neko's claws – I'm assuming cats have four claws per paw… I'm not sure; I've never had a cat…
Japan's education system – Once again, not very sure about this. I do know that they go to one school from 13-15, then High school from 16-18 I think… Gahhh, confusing…@_@
Weiqi – That's the Chinese name for Go, which I suppose they would be using here, since it's ancient China and all… It's the Go from Hikaru no Go, and you can actually play it on Yahoo… I suck at Go. _.
Brandy – I don't think they have brandy in ancient China… but they do have this rice wine that is 50% alcohol. ^_^
Imperial Seal – I think most will know what this is if y'all watched Shanghai Knights… Fann Wong is from Singapore y'know? Go Singapore! (I'm feeling strangely patriotic today…) Well, anyways, it's a stamp thingy… (Not a mail stamp, a stamp. You know. With ink.) It's made from a carved stone, and it's normally carved with the characters of a person's name for personal seals, or in this case, the imperial symbol. It can be used with either ink or wax, but ink is more common.
Teishijikan – The meaning? It's my secret… haha.
Proper way of leaving – I think I read this somewhere… Not sure if it's European or Chinese…
Hokkyo – The capital of Hokkan. I made this up. ^_^ Literally, it means "North City".
@_@ @_@ Akugi! @_@ @_@
Tokaki: *Looks at Amefuri*
Amefuri: *Looks at Tokaki*
*Long pause*
Amefuri: Hey, you got some Ketchup on your chin.
Amefuri: Okay, what in all seven constellations is he doing here?
Subaru: Sitting in some hay.
Amefuri: -_-;;;
Byakuya: Am I correct?
*Confetti and streamers pop out from nowhere*
Loud voice: yes, you are correct! Congratulations, you have won the grand prize!
Byakuya: *Slightly freaked*
Byakuya: Lights please.
*Electronic light bulbs light up the corridor*
Byakuya: *rolls eyes*
Amefuri: Knock knock.
Voice from other side: Who's there?
Seishi: *Freaked*
Tokaki: Have you been reading yaoi fics again?
Toroki: *Whacks him* *Whips out Katana* Do it.
Kokie: It! *Collapses into hentai laughter*
Subaru: *Slips and falls into the lake*
Other Seishi: *laugh*
@_@ @_@ @_@ @_@ @_@
That's it for today minna, and remember to review with your views on the stuff I said in the starting Author's note!
Another chapter over 5000 words!!! ^_^. 5431 to be exact.
As a side note, the plot bunnies are plotting.
Plot bunny #1: I say we should-
Plot bunny #2: Shhhh! She'll hear!
Plot bunny #3: Sou da! Our plans will be all for naught of Draconsis finds out.
*Bunnies see Draconsis looking queerly at them*
*Bunnies whip out carrots and start munching*
Plot bunny #1: What's up, doc?
*Sweatdrop* The plot bunnies… are really weird…
Oh yeah, I'll be alternating chapter writing between Enigma: Tokyo and Wars, so the next chapter will be an Enigma chapter, kay minna?
Remember to read and review!!!
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Signing off,
Draconsis
@-}---
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Amefuri: we now continue on to the next trial, and more of those moronic clues that don't rhyme! Oh the horror!
Kokie: *slaps her* Well, at least you aren't stranded and stuck in some room with only Subaru for company!
Byakuya: Would you two keep quiet? I need to figure out the lock!
Tokaki: La di da, Ame-chan and Ko-chan are in trouble, haha! OW! ITAI! Gerrof!