Disclaimer: If FY was mine, I wouldn't share it with anyone in the world! But…I don't own FY. Aren't you glad?


Genbu, why had I gone and made such an insane promise with Urumiya? I was definitely going to have my skull bashed in for this; still, I hoped Takiko had more sense than to like a guy like him. Despite the fact that he was a seishi too, Urumiya struck me as one of a rather…mischievous nature. In fact, it was these types of people that I had shunned from my life long ago.

I collapsed on the extremely soft and smooth sheets that had been set out for me on the bed, reveling in the luxury that I was now bestowed in. Looking up, I could see the high ceiling practically miles above me, as if it would never stop even if it reached the sky. Genbu, the Hokkan palace was fabulous. I had never once in my life imagined that I'd be lying on a bed in the palace when I was hunting in the forest back in my village. It had seemed like a faraway dream- something that seemed to near, yet so far at the same time.

How had things ended up like this? One minute, I had been normal Chamka from a small village somewhere in the northeast of the Hokkan, and suddenly, I was the Genbu seishi Tomite who was entrusted with the duty of protecting the Genbu no miko with my life. How had it all started? It had come to be rather much of a shock for me, though, in the early stages. True, it was every person's dream to become a seishi and possess incredible powers, but along with it came the terrible cost. Legend said that the seishi would encounter a tragedy early in their lives to awaken their powers, but mine hadn't…until Takiko dropped out of the sky.

Sighing, I lifted my hand, staring at the lined surface of my palm. Life was so complicated that you couldn't possibly judge what was going to happen next. Genbu forbid, I might even die in two days' time, if it was fated like that. Destiny is weird, I tell you.

I yawned, stretching slightly. It had been a long journey after all, and I should really go for some rest. Maybe they'll call me for…dinner…

-------

"CHAMKA!"

I jumped up immediately, my eyes wide. Where was the fire? Where was the war? Where was the Kutou army that was attacking me? Then, I spotted Takiko who definitely didn't look pleased. Okay, I was in trouble. No, I wasn't, I was in jeopardy of my head being smashed in and reduced to a pile of dust.

"Um…hi?" I squeaked, cowering slightly under the glare that she was giving me. Now, that was scarier than the face of Genbu, I do believe, especially when she was on a rampage. Genbu, I was in soooo much trouble…

She stopped short at the foot of the bed, her face now turning from a very bright red to dark purple. "WHOEVER GAVE YOU THE PERMISSION TO RUN MY LIFE, CHAMKA?! I DON'T NEED YOU DECIDING THINGS FOR ME!"

Oh…so that's why she was so mad. "Well," I tried to reason with her while trying to inch off the bed from the other side and out the door. "Urumiya thought he might want to know his miko a little better, so he asked me to help. That isn't wrong, is it? I'm sure he's not planning to do anything hentai of that sort…I think. You mean he asked you himself?"

"Other than waltzing in and bowing and all, I guess you could say that. DON'T change the subject."

"As I said...he shouldn't be planning anything bad."

Her hands were planted on her hips furiously, her fingers biting into the soft folds of silk fabric on her robe. "Oh? And what gives you the right to go around telling him that yes, I'd go to that little dinner of his? Just because you agree to something doesn't necessarily mean I'd agree!"

"Well…I was thinking that you would prefer to get to know your seishi better," I put in quickly before she could explode. "After all, until you can find the sixth and seventh seishi, you're going to be spending time with all your existing seishi, which include Urumiya. Why not spend a little quality time with him?"

"You…you…" She looked slightly deflated now, and I let out a small sigh of relief at the sight of that. I was safe…for now that is. With Takiko's incredible temper, there's no idea what she could churn out next, Genbu help me.

"Since when have you become so mature and all anyway?" she suddenly spoke up, and I blinked, seeing a slight frown on her face. "I don't remember you acting like this back at your village. What's with the change of behaviour? Something bothering you, Chamka?"

I blinked once again, and the meaning of her words finally sank in. Her words rang true; I had felt slightly weird ever since I had passed through the city walls. It had felt strange…yet familiar. "Iie, nothing of that sort," I lied, something still tapping at the back of my head. "I just didn't like the way the guards suddenly arrested me. By the way, they haven't given back my bow."

"Actually, they have," Takiko raised one hand and placed my familiar carved wooden bow on the bed, ruffling the blanket slightly as she did. "Unfortunately, you were asleep, and they didn't want to wake you, so they just put it outside your door for fear of waking you. Not everyone here is half bad, you know."

"Except that stupid captain," I complained grumpily, picking up the bow and pretending to aim at something at the other side of the room. "By the way, you still haven't told me why you're suddenly barging into my room. Do you do that as a hobby of some sort?"

She looked insulted at my comment, as if I had just told her that her head was larger than her entire body put together. "Of course not! Honestly, Chamka, sometimes I think you're as childish as ever, just after I've said something about you not being so childish anymore. You're hopeless!"

Genbu, this baka head-hitting onna could insult. "Well? That doesn't answer the question…"

"Fine…heika-sama asked us to assemble on the dais- he has something to discuss with us, apparently. And you're ten minutes late already," she noted with a slight frown. "You slept like a log, so you didn't even hear the servant boy when he came to tell you about it."

"Well, it isn't my fault that you get into trouble so much," I remarked, getting out of bed and stretching. It was just then that I noticed that Takiko was wearing a green robe, much unlike those that we had bought for her back in Iname's village earlier in our journey. "Those robes…?"

She turned slightly pink and immediately looked down, flushing. "Oh…I found these in my closet when I went to see what they had done to my clothes. Apparently, heika-sama has given me an enormous wardrobe…that consists mostly of green. They're amazing, though- I can't believe I've seen so many clothes ever in my life."

I shrugged. "Well, the colour does look nice on you," I commented, going to my cupboard to see if I, too, had many pieces of green clothing. Fortunately, our emperor seemed to understand that the Genbu seishi weren't in need of a green wardrobe, and thus had selected various coloured clothes to be given to us. I extracted a brown tunic from the millions of clothes hangers in the cupboard after much rifling through, together with a pair of black that was slightly snug, reaching my ankles.

Looking up, I saw Takiko folding her arms and looking at me. "Chamka…you're beginning to act weird."

"Ehhh?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing in particular," she brushed it off, looking back before closing the door. "We'll be waiting for you in the throne room, Chamka. Don't be late."

I stared at the door, listening as her footsteps echoed down the hall and finally disappeared into silence. Now what in Genbu's name was that supposed to mean?

-------

"Ah, you're late, Tomite. I take it that you were exhausted from your journey?"

I was greeted by this statement accompanied by a chuckle from heika-sama who was residing on the throne with an amused smile on his face. Turning slightly red in the face, I looked down, but not before catching the smile on Hikitsu's face. "What's so funny?" I growled at him, not liking to be laughed at.

Hikitsu shook his head. "Well, I'd never have guessed that you're one to be late, Tomite," he remarked lightly, folding his arms slightly. "After all, we did send Takiko-san to look for you when you didn't appear for the first ten minutes."

"Well, it's not my fault that some crazy head-hitting onna came in like a stampeded and almost yelled my head off," I muttered under my breath, glaring at Takiko to tried to look as innocent as she could. "I could have woken up very well myself if someone hadn't deafened me."

"You're blaming me for your tardiness?" she raised an eyebrow at me, something glinting in her eye as she raised an arm. "Tell me, Chamka, who was the one who was sleeping so soundly until he could scare away an elephant?"

The entire group blinked. "What's an e-le-phant?" Urumiya tried his best to pronounce it, only to end up making it sound like something that sounded close to 'ghost'. Takiko sweatdropped at his mispronunciation, giving him a strange look.

"Well, it's a big animal that's almost as high as that pillar over there," she explained, pointing to a tall pillar beside her. "It's used in other countries to drag logs from forests when they are cut down. Never mind," she quickly added, seeing confusion even cloud heika-sama's eyes. "No matter about elephants, anyway. Why did you call for us, heika?"

The ruler of Hokkan nodded, clearing his throat. "I must inform you of the situation that we are facing now against Kutou. Could you kindly come to the study with me- there is someone I need the three of you to meet."

He nodded at the guard on his right who opened a door on the other side of the room that lead down to a dark pathway. I stared at it, wondering if our emperor was indeed planning to chop my head off in the dark. Nah…he wouldn't do that, would he? Whatever it was, I certainly hoped not.

"Excuse me for the lack of light," heika apologized, standing up from the throne. "It is crucial that no one else knows about this place other than a few chosen people. Now come, my guards will stand watch outside the throne room to ensure no one enters without permission from me."

"Including me," Urumiya pointed out with a grin, only to get a frown from Takiko who didn't seem that pleased to be on the same room as the prince. "In fact, I'll be the one leading the way as I've frequently gone there as a kid. It's dark, I warn you. Want to come with me, Takiko-san?"

"Not in my life," she muttered, and I hid a smirk when his face fell. Somehow, despite the fact that I had never liked Takiko, I didn't quite trust him with the head-hitting onna either. Something in his profile kept nagging in my head that it wasn't safe to leave any females with him- it would lead to hell if someone did.

Iname seemed to take slight pity on him and stepped forward. "I don't mind coming with you if you need help, Urumiya-san; I'm rather good with directions. Do you have any objections, Tomite-san?"

"Me?" I blinked at the mention of my seishi name. What did I have to do with this? "Uh…sure, I guess. Go on- I have no objections."

The girl seemed to frown slightly at me, as if expecting me to keep her by my side eternally, and I sweatdropped. Surely she couldn't be serious? Okay, so I was hentai, but I wasn't that hentai to an extent. I knew my limitations. "Fine, I'll go to the front with Urumiya-san. Takiko-san…?"

Takiko smiled, and I could see the strain on her eyes as she waved the invitation off. "No thanks; I think I'll just stay with Chamka and Hikitsu here- I'll be safe with them," she spoke quickly before adding something under her breath. "And anything to stay away from that hentai Urumiya."

Heika shrugged. "Well, it's decided then. Shall we go?"

-------

There was only one word that I could use to describe this place: DARK. It was impossible to see anything, even though Urumiya was leading the way with a lantern at the front of the line. Our surroundings were foreboding, their dark, shadowy fingers seeming to stretch out at us. Genbu, why was there a place like this in the palace?

"Chamka, it's dark…" Takiko whispered, after giving me a soft poke in the ribs. "Why can't they fix lights in this place or something. It's so creepy, as if they're ghosts in here…what if there are?"

Her voice grew unnaturally high at her last words as she trembled, sticking closer to me and I sighed. Girls. Thank Genbu Iname had volunteered to help Urumiya with the directions as she could see very well in the dark, or that seishi might as well be clinging on to me too. Handling Takiko was enough of a handful, trust me.

"I don't think there should be ghosts," I told her, trying my best to release my arm from her monstrously strong grip that began to generate red welts near my elbow. "Itai…don't grip my hand like that, head-hitting onna, and DON'T hit me for that comment. I can't see you arm in the dark."

"I don't think I can even hit you," she bit her lip as she replied, making her voice sound strangely softer than usual. "There are so many shadows on the walls…I'm just afraid one of them might suddenly jump out at me."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes. If she wasn't going to loosen her grip, I was really going to imitate a ghost and go "BOO" to give her nightmares for the rest of her life. "Takiko, can you LET GO?"

"I don't think they're ghosts in the palace, Takiko-san," Hatsui assured her comfortingly, seeing that my patience was already wavering. "This is the palace after all; they simply don't dump bodies here like in the dungeons in Kutou. In fact, this place is isolated from the dungeons."

"There are dungeons in this country?" she asked, looking slightly taken aback for a moment. "You mean you have those kind of things even back in these times?"

"Of course," Hatsui seemed surprised at her question. "Similar to other countries, we also have wrongdoers, only that our laws are slightly different as we have more tribes spread out in this country than in others. Each law differs a little from one tribe to the other. Seiki, what's taking so long?" he asked, seeing the light from the lamp disappear for a second. "Are there any problems up front?"

"Seiki?" heika's voice came worriedly through the dim light. "What's wrong?"

Hatsui frowned as the line came to a complete stop suddenly, the light in the lamp flickering in the lantern and causing shadows as Iname's voice came from the front. "Something's wrong, Urumiya-san. I don't feel myself…"

There was suddenly a loud scream and the light went out.

-------

Chaos erupted as everyone scrambled for cover, only to find none except for the hard, stony surfaces of the walls that surrounded us. Screams could be heard from my side, most probably from none other than Takiko who clung on to me tighter than a leech. Shouts rang in my ears, the myriad voices coming from all directions.

"What happened?" I could hear Hikitsu shout above the din, and suddenly, there was a loud burst of laughter from in front. I think everyone must have blinked at that point, for suddenly, the light came back on, and everyone squinted as Iname held it up with a triumphant smirk. "I did it!"

Slow comprehension finally dawned to Hatsui who was standing in front of me, and he frowned, walking to the front to pick her up by her collar. "Give it up, Seiki, or I'll harm your real body so terribly that you won't be able to walk when you return. Give Iname-san back her body. Now."

The three of us at the back blinked as Iname sighed, frowning at Hatsui. "You're no fun, you know that?" she complained as Urumiya stood, staring at her with a wide open mouth. Then, seeing Hatsui's serious expression, she sighed and closed her eyes and there was a sudden loud whoosh.

Urumiya suddenly snapped to attention, giving us the cheekiest grin that one could see in the terrible light. "Fooled all of you, didn't I?" he asked, and I blinked, confused. What in Genbu's name had just happened?

Heika himself seemed to manage to comprehend this messy situation and smiled, giving his son a little push. "No more jokes, Seiki, we're in a hurry here. Don't worry," he added, seeing our confused expressions. "I'll explain it all later. Now, come, we have to make haste."

The shadows seemed to grow longer on the walls as we continued walking through the dark lair, and I shivered, feeling a slight draft come in from somewhere. It was as if there was an opening somewhere here… We finally came to a tall door, and heika stepped in front and rapped on the wood three times. We stood there, stunned, as the large door creaked open.


Author's notes:

Whee!!! I had a little trouble with the earlier part of this chapter, but the other half came well and…flowing well. I can't find any other words to describe it. ^_^;;

Takiko is dressed in green and has a green wardrobe! Okay, so I admit that I got the idea from Kang Xiu's fic…so thanks, girl! By the way, that fic's really nice. ^_~ Yes, since you're one of my most faithful reviewers, I'll advertise your fics here, okay?? *hint hint to those who want this to be done: you know what to do, okay?? ^_^*

Don't understand the last bit where Iname talks all funny and stuff? Don't worry, continue reading the next chapter, and I'll explain it to you, no big. All you have to do is continue reading. ^_^

As usual, this comes in all the chapters and everyone's fics: the plead for reviews! Us fanfic authors rely on reviews to get feedback from our beloved (no, that isn't sucking up), so don't forget to review! I'll be very sad if you didn't! *gives everyone big puppy dog eyes*

Tomite: If you don't, I will never appear again in this fic.

That isn't possible, you know- you're the main character after all.

Tomite: I don't care. No review, no me.

Well, you heard what he said, people, so you know what to do! Review to you heart's content!! Well, I could continue the fic without him, but if this story is from his POV...that isn't possible. Trust me, you don't want it from Iname's POV, do you? If you do...go read someone else's fic, but I warn you: there are only a handful of fics on all the Genbu seishi on fanfiction.net and mine is one of them. Hehe...you can guess the rest, so review, okay??

Heh...my old interest in Slayers is slowly reappearing as I continue watching Slayers Next and downloading WAVs of Filia and Xellos (that pairing rulllllessssss!!). Not that I'm anywhere near abandoning this fic, though; I love it too much to let it go unfinished! ^_~

Anyway....Kang Xiu, man if I don't see you soon, that surprise of yours might go stale. x_x On a brighter note, you're the first reviewer! Maybe I should make a Takiko + Tomite shrine or something...

Touki Yume, Urumiya tragic? He doesn't seem like that type of person. If he is...Tomite will be a happy clown in the fields of...Hawaii doing the hula. ^_^ Everyone likes heika-sama, I know- he's cool!

Okay then, until next time, ja ne~!