AN: Happy May first! ^^;; Is that even a holiday? Well, I promised that I'll update in May, so here's the chapter ^_^ I'm planning to finish this story in May, so there's not long to wait. Hope that most of you are still alive ^^;; I see that many of you want a happy ending… but that'll depend on my mood when I write the future chapters. *insert evil laughter*. And don't kill me after you finish okay?
To my darling husband ( you know who you are): I know that you don't read my *less than gold* stories, but you sometimes check, so this chapter is for you… well the middle part. Know how much you dislike SM, so here's a little something for you ^_^ From your wife.
Thanks to: Annisdabome, Crazygurl70, Kero-chan (^^;; I'll keep that in mind), Kuroi Atropos (You won't have to wait long for the next chapter), Allie, Invisible Rain (I know, when I write a crossover, the first story always tend to follow the original plot, then the next story I write changes the plot), Alexandrea Orozco (still alive?), Falconess, Hoshi no megami (thank you very much, it's not often when I get compliments like yours ^_^), Celes (hehe, have fun hunting), Mingming ( Wai!! I challenge you now. But I miss you, don't see you anymore on AIM), Akiko-chan (here's the next chapter as you commanded), Chibi Michi Hii-chan, Tira Wolf, Maria ( ^^;; thank you), AznAngel, Comet-chan (I'm still hoping to convert you into a Nakago fan), Jade Goddess, Chibi Chibi, Lilyusagi-chan (have fun when you catch them ^_^), Bluejello, Fangboy, Cheska, dawnr86, Zackire, Galexz, Tenshi Cat, SweetKawaiiAngel, Aidenn-chan (remember my advice ^_^ Don't eat), themoonmaiden (will Usagi ever wake up? *laughs*), Uranus2000 (not everyone is dying ^^;; Nuriko is still alive. But go watch the rest of FY!), Mika-chan (I can't believe that you stopped your RGU/SM story .), JLSCORPIO78akaScorpioNightShadow, and Bunni V
P.S. Don't eat while you're reading ^_^
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Chapter 14
"Miaka, are you ready?" Yui called out to the Suzaku no miko, who was being prepared for the summoning ceremony by Soi and Suboshi. Their sacrifice was lying peacefully on a slab of jade, a ceremonial knife rested beside the unconscious girl.
"I'm ready," the red haired girl replied nervously, as she stepped out from behind the waterfall. After the Seiryuu seishi kidnapped Usagi, she was led deep into the forest, where a small waterfall murmured quietly in the serene night. The perfect place to offer their gift to the gods. She was told to purify herself for summoning Suzaku while Yui and Miboshi prepared the silver haired girl for the sacrifice. Now, as she dragged herself out with Soi and Suboshi by her side, all she wanted to do was to go back in time and change everything. It feel like a nightmare, was this truly how she wanted Tamahome to be with her?
"You are not going to back out now, are you Suzaku no miko?" the red head Seiryuu seishi smirked as she saw the double on Miaka's face. "It's too late to go back. We've done all this to help you. And plus, what are your seishi going to feel when they wake up and find you've left with us?"
"We're wasting time, let's just get this over with," Suboshi said harshly, looking at Miaka in disgust. He couldn't stand the sight of her. How could Yui-sama trust her like that? Miaka betrayed her trust long ago, not only that, but how could a miko betray her own seishi? It was true that he hated Tamahome, but as a seishi, he could understand how they all felt when the person they protected with their very lives decided to sell them to the enemy.
"Don't worry about it Miaka. It'll be alright after you summon Suzaku. You can just wish for Tamahome and the others to forget about what happened." Yui reassured her bestirred, leading the red head gently to the jade table.
Taking one of Miaka's hands, the Seiryuu no miko handed her the jewelled knife, blade down. Rubies twinkled under the wan moonlight, the rich colour flashing like the fire of the phoenix god himself. The beautiful knife shook in Miaka's hands. Her own reflection stared back at her from the gleaming blade, daring her to impale the silver haired sacrifice.
"Why… why aren't you going to summon Seiryuu first Yui-chan?" the Suzaku no miko whispered, hesitating now that her goal was so close to her.
"Because if I make my wishes first, I will wish us back to Tokyo. But if you summon Suzaku first, you can use your three wishes for Tamahome, for your seishi to forget your betray, and for Konan's protection, then I'll be able to wish you, Tamahome, and myself back to the real world. This way, you'll be able to do both your duty to he emperor of Konan, and be able to stay with your love and family," the short haired miko explained patiently. "Trust me Miaka. We've been best friends from kindergarten. All I want is for you to be happy."
"Yui…" tears appeared in Miaka's eyes as she listened. "Thank you…"
"For what?" the sandy blonde looked a little confused.
"For being my friend. For forgiving me after I left you those three month. And for giving me this chance of loving Tamahome," the red head cried and hugged the Seiryuu no miko. "Silly girl. That's what friends are for. " Yui returned the embrace. "Now, are you ready for the summoning ceremony?"
Miaka nodded silently, wiping away her tears.
"The four palaces of the heavens
The four corners of the Earth
In the name of the sacred law
Belief, and goodness…
I summon thee, Suzaku
Lord of the South
I now say these words to thee
Appear on Earth from the seven palaces of heaven…
For the sake of those here who adore you
Come to us here
With thy holy power
Smash the evil which threatens us
Save us
And hear our wishes to thee
Descend to us from heaven!"
"Miaka no!"
A scream stopped the Suzaku no miko from stabbing Usagi with teh knife, thus preventing the last step of the ceremony.
"Tamahome?" the red haired girl whispered in disbelief.
"Tamahome," Yui whispered in anger as the seishi's appearance ruined everything. With a little flick of her hand, she mentioned for Suboshi to keep their unexpected guest entertained.
The young Seiryuu seishi was only too happy to obey. The meteorite bells of his ryuseisui spinning excitedly by his side. "How about it Tamahome-san?" the young man sneered. "Let me give you a welcome while your miko make your wishes come true."
The Suzaku seishi jumped away just in time as the two meteorite bells flew at his head. "Miaka! Don't do this. I'll never forgive you if you kill another person just to be together with me!"
Miaka looked uncertainly between Yui and Tamahome. All of her previous confidence came crashing down around her. How could this be? She was doing this for the two of them, so they could be together forever, but…
"Miaka, don't listen to him He's still under Usagi's spells. Sacrifice her right now to the beast god, or else Tamahome will never be normal again!" the Seiryuu no miko said to her best friend, hoping to calm the red head enough to continue the ceremony, despite Tamahome's shouts in the background, as he dodged Suboshi's attacks.
"Yui…" a sudden cry of pain from the Suzaku seishi made Mika stare in horror as blood began to drip down for Tamahome's face, where Suboshi's meteorite bell managed to glance off from his cheek. "Tamahome!" Desperate, she turned to the Seiryuu no miko. "Yui… I… I can't do this," Miaka said, laying down the knife. "Please tell Suboshi to stop."
A disgusted look appeared on the sandy blonde's face. "Soi."
"Yes Yui-sama?" the female Seiryuu seishi bowed, waiting for her orders.
"Go and help Suboshi. Don't kill Tamahome, play around with him a little. I want Miaka to see every punch, and hear every scream."
"With pleasure Yui-sama," Soi replied, smirking at the Suzaku no miko.
"Yui-chan…" Miaka whispered helplessly as she watched with fearful eyes as Tamahome dodged Suboshi's attacks, only to step into Soi's lightening bolts. There was no way he could counterattack while the two Seiryuu seishi were teaming up on him.
"The choice is yours Miaka. Either choose Tamahome or Usagi. Choose Tamahome, then you'll have to sacrifice Usagi to Suzaku. If you choose Usagi… then I'll let you watch Soi and Suboshi have their fun with him. I might even ask Miboshi to join in too. He has some interesting creations that I'm sure neither you nor Tamahome has ever seen before." the Seiryuu no miko turned away from her best friend.
"Yui-chan… why are you doing this?"
"Why?… Isn't it a little too late to be asking that Miaka? This wouldn't have happened if you came back for me. This wouldn't have happened if Tamahome chose me over you. And when that little bitch came and stole Nakago away, he was the only person who took care of me in this book! But he abandoned me, just like you did. That's why I'm going to make him suffer, by taking away his most important person. If I can't have any happiness, then I'll make sure that no one can!" the short haired girl broke off, and started to laugh hysterically. "So Miaka, have you made up your decision yet? Who is it going to be?"
"Yui… Tamahome…" the Suzaku no miko looked between the two person she cared the most in the world.
"Mi… Miaka… don't listen to her. Don't kill Usagi… Yui is only using you!" the blue haired man managed to pant out as another of Soi's lightening bolts hit him square in the chest.
"Tamahome!" The red haired girl screamed out in terror as her seishi fell to his knees in pain.
"Hurry up and decide Miaka!" Yui said impatiently. "He won't last though the next attack."
"I… " Miaka shut her eyes in frustration, not wanting to watch any more. Blindly, she reached out for the knife she had put down early. A small whimper escaped her lips as her finger was cut by the new blade.
"Suzaku!" the Suzaku no miko changed for the second time. Willing herself to ignore Tamahome as the seishi screamed for her to stop. "Descend to us from Heaven!" She cried out the completing phrase of the holy incantation, and brought down the knife down as hard as she could with both hands.
A blinding flash of lightening descended from the sky, accompanied by peals of thunder, as warm blood splashed onto the Suzaku no miko's hands and robe.
Everyone turned towards the restless sky, waiting fearfully for the appearance of Suzaku. Seconds turned into minutes and there were still no signs of the phoenix god. Yui frowned, there was no change except for the sudden gathering of the thunderclouds and lightening. Maybe Miaka didn't stab their sacrifice hard enough to take away her life? Pushing away the dazed Suzaku no Miko, the short haired girl took hold of the knife that was still embedded deeply in Usagi's bloody body, and pulled it out. Blood gushed out from the open wound. There was no expression on the goddess's face, she still kept the peaceful expression she had at the beginning.
She looked dead, she wasn't even breathing, but something about Usagi's body made Yui back away uneasily. Why was she afraid of a corpse? The Seiryuu no miko screamed at herself mentally. Her enemy just died. She just proved that she was the strongest. Yui tired to comfort herself, but it was no use. The serene expression on Usagi's face seemed to be mocking her.
Clutching the jewelled knife tightly, the Seiryuu no miko uttered a scream, a look of madness appeared in her eyes, and began to wildly stab and slash at Usagi's body.
No one dared to move as Yui continued to mutate the body of the goddess. Specks of blood flew up from the knife and splattered onto Miaka's face, who was to terrified to even twitch.
"Yui-sama…" Suboshi whispered in horror, before he quickly turned away and covered his mouth, his stomach threatening to empty its contents.
Even Miboshi closed his eyes as the beautiful body of their sacrifice quickly turned into a mound of unidentifiable flesh and blood. Panting, and satisfied when she could no longer recognize any features of her former rival, Yui calmly put down the knife and turned with none of her previous insanity.
An explosion of blinding light froze the Seiryuu no miko before she could take even five steps. The wind began to blow violently, until all the strong currents swirled together, to form one great sphere of whirling wind.
"Byakko?" three new voices gasped out in surprise above the noise of the roaring winds. The Suzaku no miko, Seiryuu no miko and their seishi looked up in surprise while they hang on to the trees to prevent from being sucked in by the wind, which was as sharp as the claws of the tiger god.
Tokaki, Subaru, and Tatara quickly dropped to their knees as the wind slowly began to die down. From the round shield, the form of a man appeared, his divine body covered with white armour. Cat like golden eyes glared at the two mikos, a small beard swayed in the wind as the youngest of the four gods graced the mortal realm with his presence.
"We are honoured to have you with us, Byakko-sama," Tatara murmured, head bowed.
The yellow eyes flickered towards the direction of the three older seishi. "It has been long since we last met, my seishi. But my business is not with you today," the god dismissed the three, before he turned back to the two mikos.
"Suzaku no miko, Seiryuu no miko. Hear now to the four celestial gods. You have angered us and harmed our own. Both Suzaku and Seiryuu are enraged with your actions. They no longer approve you as their mikos. From this moment forth, you two will no longer serve the gods of the four heavens!" the tiger god said, his wind cutting through the shock which befell upon the two former mikos, before he disappeared again.
"I… I don't believe it…" Yui whispered. "He can't take away our position as the miko. He's not even our god…"
All the seishi looked between themselves in confusion. If Yui and Miaka were no longer mikos… then does that mean that they didn't have to serve and protect them anymore? The only purpose of the seishi was to serve their miko until she was able to summon the god. But now…
"What have you done?" a familiar coarse voice hissed in rage.
"Taitsukun," Miaka said out loud, for once not surprised to see the old hag's appearance, but she asked anyway. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think Miaka?" the old lady hissed out, her face was even uglier with anger distorting it. "You have not only made it impossible to go back to your world, you've also doomed this one!"
"But… all I did was tried to help. I wanted to summon Suzaku just like you told me to," the red head whimpered out in fear.
"And I also told you, no ordered you to protect the princess, and you killed her!"
"What's so special about Usagi anyways?! Why must everyone make a big deal out of her? Can't you all see that she was just a witch?!" Yui cried out in defence.
Taitsukun didn't even spare Yui a glance, before one of her long ribbons slapped across the girl's face hard.
"What do you know. You have been only concerned with yourself ever since you came to this world. Making a big fuss even though you were never raped." the old lady replied equally disgusted.
"Yui?" Miaka looked at her best friend in shock.
"She knew that she was still a virgin. It was written on the scroll that only a maiden could be the miko. Since Seiryuu never replaced her before this, then it must mean that she's still a virgin."
"Taitsukun, we came as you told us, but we were too late to stop them," Subaru interrupted, and hung her head in shame. Tatara was staring unseeingly down at the jade table in surprise. There was no trace of his granddaughter's body anymore. The only indication that the goddess was even there, was the trace of blood and the knife…
"I.. I tired to stop them too, but…" Tamahome tried to speak, before started to cough, specks of blood appeared from all the internal damages he received from Suboshi's meteorite bell.
"Shut up and rest now Obake," Tokaki reprimanded lightly as he teleported to his pupil's side and supported the Suzaku seishi in his arms. "I'm proud to be your sensei," the blue haired man gave a weak smile in return before he fainted from exhaustion.
"Tamahome!" Miaka cried in alarm as she was about to run to her beloved, but was stopped by Tokaki's glare.
"Taitsukun," Subaru asked. "Why Byakko appeared, he said something about harming their own…"
"It happened a long time ago," the old ruler sighed. "When the universe was just born. But now, it is know as a legend.
"I'm sure that you've all heard of the story of the rabbit in the moon. When the universe was first created, the heavenly bodies were dived into five parts. The first four sections were divided among the four gods, Byakko, Genbuu, Suzaku, and Seiryuu. The central part was given to Serenity, the youngest of the five.
"Serenity was cherished by her four brothers. She was denied nothing, except that she was forbidden to leave the heavens and go to Earth.
"However, one day when the four gods were busy, her curiosity got the better of her, and she descended to Earth. Entranced by the mortals, she did not return to the heavens on time, and her four brothers discovered her on Earth.
"Because she broke the rules set by heaven, the banned her from the heavens, to the lonely moon, where she could only gaze upon Earth and not reach it. That was the last that I have heard of her. But it was rumoured that she fell in love and had a daughter before her kingdom on the moon was destroyed.
"Serenity's daughter was reborn on Earth in a different time, as the granddaughter of the Byakko and Genbuu no miko. At age sixteen, the daughter whose name is Usagi inherited the power of the universe. In order to extinguish an old enemy, she came back to this world. The power she has to summon the gods, is actually the power she has as their niece."
Everyone stared speechless at Taitsukun as she finished her tale. Usagi… the niece of the four gods. Then it was no coincidence that she was born into the family of the Genbuu and Byakko no miko.
Understanding dawned upon everyone's faces. That was why it seemed like Usagi could use the power of all the gods. Taitsukun looked around the different expressions on the seishi's faces. Surprise, shock, disbelief, regret…
It was then that the old ruler noticed. "Where is Soi?"
~*~*~*~
He was back. It surprised him that out of all seven levels of hell, he would end up here in death. Everywhere he turned, he could see the two of them from before. If eh stayed here, he would surely go mad; haunted with memories of her, of memories the only happiness he knew of. And to suffer through eternity remembering but not having her.
How fickle of fate to bring him in death to the place that they first met. He would be tortured forever knowing that it was because of him that she wouldn't be here with him, in the own little haven.
Suddenly, the idea of loneliness, of nothingness, of the void became too overwhelming for him, as he suddenly sunk to his knees. Funny how the dark and silent never bothered him before, but that was only because Usagi was the light and joy which she brings to everywhere. His head fell inot his hands as hot tears blurred his vision. How ironic, he was in the same position almost fifteen years ago, when she found him here in her dream. He could almost hear her voice if he closed his eyes.
"Naka-kun…"
His reddened eyes shot open.
"Naka-kun…" The sweet voice called out again. Snapping up his head, the bond man stared bewilderedly as a golden light formed in the darkness…
AN: The legend is actually a Chinese legend that I changed a little to suit the story. Hehe, I'll be off now to study for exams ^_^