Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yu Watase and not me.

Author's note: Hiya people. Sorry for the long wait. I decided to give my poor brain a break after finals. Hopefully I can put up another chapter before I go back to school. Oh, and I've started a new fanfic. If anyone of you have ever seen Shamanic Princess, please feel free to check out Angel of Music. Now that I've gotten that little shameless plug out of the way ^_^… Thanks for being patient and for the review The Invisible Becca-Chan, Keena and Angel of AnimeXOXO - love reading your reviews, so sorry about the cliffhanger. I really didn't mean for it to end that way, Flying heart - thanks, guess you read my mind. Well on with the story, enjoy!

Chapter 14

Mei sat by the pond and stared at the water with unseeing eyes. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts while the others set up camp nearby. In her mind, the same scene kept playing over and over - Tasuki shoving her out of the way, Tasuki getting hit by the chi blast, then Tasuki bleeding on the ground.

"You look troubled, no da."

The young demi-goddess started and turned around. She gave Chichiri a small smile before facing the water again. The seishi sat down beside her and waited for Mei to speak first.

"It's all my fault," she said softly. "I should have just … He got hurt because of me. If Tamahome hadn't stopped Nakago with his own chi ball, who knows what the Seiryuu seishi would have done next."

Mei covered her face with her hands and cried. Chichiri took off his mask before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault. Besides, it was only a shoulder wound. Mitsukake fixed it up already, so you shouldn't worry about it."

"Yeah? But what about the next time?!" she snapped back. "What if I do something idiotic again and put you all in danger?" She looked away from Chichiri before continuing more softly. "Taiitsukun was right. I never do anything but mess things up. I should have just stayed in Mt. Taikuoku."

The monk looked towards the pond as well and asked, "You sure about that? You would have missed out on a lot of things. Tasuki for instance."

Mei gave him a surprised look, not sure what to say. The seishi saw her expression and chuckled.

"Don't look surprised. I've known you long enough to know that you have feeling for him."

"I love him, Chichiri," she admitted. "I don't know how or why, when all he does is get mad at me." Mei smiled softly as she remembered the kiss. "Well, maybe not all the time."

"You know, he wouldn't have risked his life like that if he didn't feel the same way about you."

"Hmm … I doubt it," she replied softly.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." The seishi replaced the mask on his face and stood up. "Why don't we ask him, no da?"

"What?!" exclaimed Mei. "Chichiri, don't you dare. Come back here!" She grabbed the monk's kesa from behind and yanked hard.

"Ackhh! … I was just kidding, no da … let go … you're chocking me, no da!" The two continued to joke around before settling down in a companionable silence.

"Thanks, Chichiri," Mei said after a while and gave the monk's hand a squeeze for emphasis.

"No problem, no da," he answered and squeezed her hand in return.

Behind a tree, Tasuki watched the two from afar. Whatever they said to each other was lost to his ears. However, he saw enough to witness the closeness between them.

******

"Hey, how much further do we have to freakin' go?!" complained Tasuki. "I'm fryin' out here!" The red head drew an arm over his brows and placed his canteen over his lips. He tilted it up, but no water came out. "Oh man."

"Here you go, Tasuki." Mei held out her own canteen to wards the seishi with a smile. "Have some of mine."

Tasuki grunted his thanks. He quickly returned the container to her and rode off to the head of the group. He had been trying to keep his distance from Mei ever since he saw her with Chichiri by the pond the other day. After saving Mei from Nakago, the fiery bandit realized just how much the green-haired girl had began to mean to him. Somehow in the middle of all this, he fell in love with her. 'But from the look of things, it seemed that she did not feel the same way,' he mused silently. 'Sure she was always nice and sweet to me. And she didn't pull away from that kiss. But face it, man, she has a thing for Chichiri, not you.'

The jealous part of him wanted nothing more than to trash anyone who would dare get close to Mei. But being that Chichiri was a fellow seishi and a close friend, he knew he could never do that. Both people mean so much to him that the only way he can make Mei happy was to stay away from her and keep her and Chichiri together.

Tasuki gave himself a mental shake and thought, 'Jeez, when did I become such a sentimental freak?'

"Everyone, look!" Miaka exclaimed, pointing to a city below them. "It's Sairo, we finally made it!"

"Perhaps we can find shelter and food," Chiriko piped in. "We've been under the sun too long and need to replenish our bodies."

The group headed towards the city. Mei looked around the capitol and sensed that something was not quite right. Everything looked normal, but she felt that something was missing. She was still troubled when they checked in at an inn and got ready to order food. They sat down around a table and Mei finally realized that they were missing someone.

"Where's Tasuki?" she asked.

"He said something about this place not having any good sake," answered Tamahome. "So he went to go look for a tavern."

"Oh."

Mei barely touched her food throughout the entire meal as she grew more depressed. At first she thought Tasuki's avoidance was just her imagination, but his disappearance right now quickly confirmed her suspicion. 'I guess he's mad at me again,' she quietly told herself.

"Mei, are you alright?" Mitsukake asked, breaking through her reverie. "Your not eating your food."

"Oh … me? I'm fine." She plastered on a bright smile. "I just don't have much of an appetite. I guess I'm tired that's all."

"In that case, can I have your food?" Miaka asked hopefully.

Everyone at the table groaned.

"What?" the priestess asked innocently.

"Nothing," Mei said quickly. "Here, help yourself."

The demi-goddess excused herself and headed to her room. She changed her mind halfway there and backtracked. Mei glanced at her friends' table and made sure no one was watching as she quickly snuck out of the inn. Once outside, she again tried to figure out what was bugging her about the city. She walked up and down the streets observing the people, but couldn't find anything amiss.

"Still," she thought out loud. "There's something not right here. Hmm … wonder where Tasuki is?"

After a few minutes of getting no where, Mei decided to head back to the inn and talk to Chichiri about what she sensed. As she turned around a corner, Mei accidentally bumped into a hooded figure.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.

"It's alright," came the soft reply. The lady smiled at Mei and asked if she was lost. "You just look so deep in thought."

"No, I'm fine." Mei backed away from the woman, not liking what she felt from her.

"If you're sure then," the other lady said with a smile. "Have a nice day."

Mei nodded and watched her walk away. She didn't know why, but something made her follow the hooded figure. She carefully reached out her senses and gasped when she felt Seiryuu's power surrounding the woman. What was more strange was that the lady didn't feel like a person at all. It felt like she was just a hallow shell.

"As if she isn't real," Mei wondered out loud.

The young demi-goddess focused on the bustling citizens around her and froze in shock when she felt no chi coming from any of them. She gave a sudden scream when a hand clasped her shoulder from behind. Still screaming, Mei swung her arm back and felt it connect with something soft. She heard a muffled curse and turned to see a certain red-haired bandit nursing his injured nose with one hand and carrying a bottle of sake in the other.

"Whatcha do that fer?!" he yelled through his hand.

"Tasuki? … Oh gods, I'm so sorry. It's just that I was already freaked out. Then you came and well … Are you okay?"

The seishi blushed when he saw Mei peering up at him with worried eyes. "Uh … I'm fine. I was gonna ask you the same question. You were just standing in the middle of the street with this look on your face."

Mei remembered what she just discovered and quickly grabbed the boy's arm in her excitement. Tasuki's blush deepened as Mei leaned in closer and whispered to him in a fierce tone.

"Tasuki, we have to get out of here. This place … it isn't real. I think it's a Seiryuu trap."

"Whoa, hold on. What are you talking about?"

"The people … they're hallow. It's like all this is an illusion."

"Not real?" The bandit held up the bottle of sake and drank. "Taste real enough to me. Are you sure you're okay? The sun didn't fry your brain or anything, did it?"

Mei let out an exasperated breath and dragged Tasuki back to the inn with her. When they entered the building, they saw Chichiri about to climb the stairs.

"Chichiri, wait," Mei called out. "Where are the others?"

"Miaka and Tamahome are resting, no da. Chiriko's at the capitol library reading up on something and Mitsukake's stocking up on our medicine supply. Why? What's wrong, no da?"

"Can't you sense it?" Mei asked. "There isn't a single tangible life force in the city aside from us."

Tasuki shook his head. "She thinks all this is an illusion, can you believe that?"

"Um … Mei I don't really sense anything wrong, no da," Chichiri said worriedly. With a wary glance at the red head the monk whispered, "Are you sure you're not imagining things? Should you even be saying things like that in front of Tasuki, no da?"

"I was just telling her that maybe it was because she was under the sun too long," Tasuki said eyeing the two suspiciously.

"Ha…ha," laughed Chichiri weakly. "Tasuki's right, no da."

"Arrgh, snap out of it, you guys!"

Mei thought for a while as the two seishis watched her with concern. 'Okay, they're obviously hypnotized or something,' she silently told herself. 'So how do I get them to snap out of it?' Mei glanced over at Chichiri and saw the shakujo in his hand. Without any hesitation, she snatched the staff, hefted it in her hands, then looked at the two men with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry guys, but it's the only way. And this is real enough to cause pain."

Both seishis managed to asked, "Pain?" before the demi-goddess hit them on the head with the shakujo. Hard. Both the bandit and monk fell over with a groan and cradled their heads. Tasuki let out a string of foul words and stood up to glare at Mei.

"What the heck's the big idea?!" he yelled. "First you freakin' punch me on the nose. Now, you hit me on the head with a freakin' …" Tasuki stopped his tirade and blinked at his surrounding. "What the …"

Chichiri had also recovered and was looking around him in astonishment. "You're right, no da."

"What do you see?" she asked. For her the buildings and people where still there, but if they had snapped out of the illusion then it would mean that they could see their real environment.

"S-sand," Tasuki said in shock. "We're in the middle of a freakin' desert."

"Only a sorcerer could wield magic this powerful, no da. And this could only mean …"

"Seiryuu." Mei finished for Chichiri.

Tasuki looked at Mei with confused eyes. "But how'd you know?"

"No time," she explained, handing back Chichiri's shakujo. "We have to get the others to…"

All three froze when they heard someone cackle behind them. Mei spun around and saw a painted man materialize as well as witness the city dissolve before her eyes.

"Nakago was right about you," the man said to Mei. "How else could you have seen through my shin's illusion."

"Who the heck are you?!" Tasuki shouted.

"I am Tomo of the Seiryuu Seven. Your deaths could have been less painful. But then again I rather enjoy it the other way around."

Tasuki pulled Mei behind him and told her to run. "We'll take care of this freak."

Tomo raised his shin and made Tasuki and Chichiri believe that they were trapped in a tangle of vines. Both seishis began to scream in pain as Tomo tightened the imaginary vines and added thorns to the illusion. Tears formed in Mei's eyes as she watched them suffer.

"Fight it, Tasuki! It's just in your mind. Chichiri, remember your training!"

Mei heard Tasuki scream again and her heart constricted in pain at the sound. She squeezed her eyes shut as her mind flashed an image of Tasuki taking Nakago's blast for her.

'No,' she thought. 'I won't let him get hurt again.' She looked up and turned cold eyes toward the Seiryuu seishi.

"Stop it," she commanded in a deadly whisper.

"I don't think so," Tomo replied. He tried to weave an illusion around her, but gasped when it didn't work.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with." Mei lifted a hand and within seconds the shin in Tomo's hand shattered into tiny pieces.

Tasuki and Chichiri stumbled as they were released from the imaginary vines, while Miaka and the other Suzaku seishis blinked around them in confusion.

"What's going on?" the priestess asked. Miaka and the others looked on as Mei's body emitted a strange light.

"You said you enjoy painful deaths," Mei was saying. "Well here's one that you might like."

Tasuki could only stare as Mei trapped Tomo in a cage of electricity. The seishi screamed in pain and with a burst of energy, the demi-goddess disintegrated the man.

Everyone's eyes were trained on the green-haired girl, but Mei was only concerned about the red head's reaction. She looked at Tasuki, not sure what to say. She saw him looking at her blankly, not sure of how he was taking the whole situation.

'Tasuki, say something,' she silently pleaded.

Before anyone could say anything, Mei suddenly found herself encased in a sphere of light. The demi-goddess panicked and placed her hands against the invicible barrier.

"No, don't…," she cried out towards the sky. With tears in her eyes she gazed back at the bandit.

"Tasuki," she whispered before disappearing with the sphere.

"Mei!" Miaka exclaimed as she, Tamahome, Chiriko and Mitsukake rushed to where Tasuki and Chichiri stood.

Tasuki blinked as his brain finally registered what happened. "Where'd she go?" he asked in a thin voice. "She was just … and then she … Dang it! Who did this?!" Anger swirled within him and immediately turned to face the blue-haired monk.

"I don't know what the heck just happened here, but I have a feeling that you do! You're the only one who's not shock about any of this. So spill it! If anything happens to her, I swear …"

Chichiri took off his mask and fixed a steady gaze at the bandit. "Calm down, Tasuki."

"Chichiri, do you know what happened to Mei?" Chiriko asked.

"Yes," the monk replied. "Don't worry, she's not in any danger."

"So where is she?" Tamahome asked.

"I believe she's been teleported to Taiitsukun's palace."

"What the freak does that old hag want with Mei?!" Tasuki retorted.

"To just have a word with her hopefully. As a goddess, Meilin wasn't suppose to interfere with any seishi business. Apparently, killing Tomo was the last straw for Taiitsukun."

"You mean to say, Mei is the goddess Meilin," Mitsukake said.

"If Mei is Meilin," Chiriko mused. "Then that would mean that she's Taiitsukun's sister."