Disclaimer: Please see the Prologue of Suzaku's Oracle for a blanket disclaimer.
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Warnings: Rated PG-13 or Fiction T.
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Notes: 7-16-13 In the story description, I wrote that OFG builds on and continues the story of FY as it was told in the anime. Yes, I own and have read the graphic novels. There are some differences between the two, and I am going to defer to the anime where those differences occur. With one exception. The OAV's (original animated videos). I do not consider the first three episodes ("Lost Bonds," "Flash of Grief," "Separation, and Then…") to be part of the story. More on this in the End Notes. ~Sapphire
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Oracles of the Four Gods
"Suzaku's Oracle"
By: Sapphire
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Part Five ~ Defender
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…...
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A moment later, the woman passed out, slumping over against the rock. The symbol on her forehead flickered and died, and then the protective shield dissipated. Chichiri wasn't sure what to make of the woman. He was positive he hadn't been imagining the ogre symbol, and the red light had most definitely been Suzaku's protective power. But how?
He slipped his mask back into place, then approached her slowly, bending down to see the damage done to her. A pained expression had etched itself in her features, and a dark red mark marred her left cheek. It would be a nasty bruise before long. Her left arm lay at an odd angle, and Chichiri remembered how she'd cradled it, and guessed that it had somehow been broken. There were no signs of other wounds so he decided it would be simple enough to move her to safety. Whoever she was, he just couldn't leave her there. Gathering her unconscious form up in his arms, he lifted her from the ground. With a soft moan, her eyes flickered open, and she looked up at him. She seemed disoriented at first, but then recognition flashed in her eyes as she remembered where she was. Chichiri stared into those deep blue eyes for a long moment before looking away.
"Put me down, please," she said in a strained whisper. Chichiri obliged her and set the woman lightly on her feet. She swayed as he released her, and he caught hold of her before she could topple over. He held onto her until she had regained her balance, then slowly let go. She took a deep breath and looked around. Chichiri watched as her gaze lingered on the still forms of the men who had attacked her. "Then it wasn't a nightmare," she stated in a quiet voice. Chichiri shook his head grimly. "Who are you?" she asked, looking up at him.
"I'm just a wanderer, no da," he replied without a moment's hesitation. He watched as her gaze scanned the four unconscious forms of her attackers again. "They paid for what they did," he said, "For your arm and for the bruises."
"Bruises?" she echoed in confusion.
"Here on your face, no da," Chichiri told her, gently touching her cheek. The woman held up a hand and carefully probed her cheek. Her gaze rested on an uninteresting stone on the dirt road as her mind seemed to drift off from the present.
Aneko recalled the tall man striking her. She physically flinched at the memory. And she remembered he was going to strike her again. "What is this? Some kind of magic? Stop it this minute!" the words floated into Aneko's mind. She recalled the strange red light surrounding her again.
"Did you see the red light? Did you do that?" Aneko queried. She'd seen the stranger use some kind of attack that involved glowing flashes of red light. It was just like the red light she'd been surrounded by. He shook his head.
"No, I didn't," he replied evasively. "I'm not sure..." he was thoughtful for a moment, "but I know how to find out. If you're ready to go, I'll take us straight there, no da."
"Where?" Aneko asked, confused.
"The Imperial Palace," he replied. Aneko stared at him wide eyed, unsure as he held out a hand to her. "Trust me," he coaxed, extending his hand further to her.
"No," she refused decisively in a quiet but firm voice. He seemed surprised by her answer. She didn't care. She didn't know him or anything about him. True he had taken out the men that had attacked her, but what was to say he didn't have similar intentions toward her? She shuddered involuntarily, wondering what those men would have done to her once they'd subdued her. She didn't really want to think about it. "I want you to go."
"What?" the stranger was clearly bewildered by her.
"I want you to go," she repeated evenly. "Leave me alone." Aneko felt uncomfortable as he studied her a moment. She knew she was in bad shape. She was exhausted emotionally and physically with a broken left arm and some nasty bruises to boot, but she wanted far away from him and the four men who'd attacked her. She got the impression that he understood this, at least that he understood she didn't trust him. He glanced at the road behind her, and she chanced a look back to see what he saw. Lying in the dirt in the middle of the road was an ordinary looking straw hat. Aneko shifted her gaze back onto the stranger. He seemed to have come to some kind of resolve.
With a furtive glance between her and the hat, the stranger walked over to the hat and hooked the ornate top of his staff under the brim. Then with an easy movement, he flicked the straw hat up into the air above his head. As it fell, the hat covered the top of the staff and then began to swallow it, along with the man as it started to fall down over his hair. He smiled and waved as the rest of him slowly vanished until the hat settled into the dust of the dirt road.
Aneko stared, amazed. She slowly approached the hat and gingerly picked it up. It was empty, just a regular straw hat. She turned it over slowly, examining it. There was nothing peculiar about it, nor about the ground around it. She blinked hard, thinking perhaps she had imagined the whole thing. She knew she hadn't. Standing, she looked up the road toward the city she couldn't see and moved to toss the hat aside. Some strange intuition stopped her. With a shrug, she tied the strings together around her neck and let it dangle down her back. It would be a bright sunny day, and out among the fields away from the woods there wouldn't be the luxury of big leafy trees to shade her eyes. With grim determination she retrieved her coat and set out along the road, continuing on her journey to the city of Eiyou.
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…...
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The air shimmered above the roadway, as if distorted by rising heat. Two figures appeared. One was a tall man with long, dull moss colored hair and intense green eyes. His companion was a woman with flowing golden hair and eyes colored the deepest blue of the sky. They hovered there above the roadway a moment, hand in hand, before their feet were set lightly onto the dirt. The scene before them was not what they had expected. The woman was there, just as they had been told, as well as the criminal men intent on taking her prisoner. But there was another, and they watched in surprise as he fired off three powerful blasts of life force and took out the three fleeing slavers.
"Look, Kaori, there's a character on his knee! He's a Suzaku Warrior," the man said in surprise.
"I think she's hurt, Wataru," Kaori replied. "We should get her quickly." Wataru nodded, and they moved forward so they could help her, bring her back with them as they'd been bid. Suddenly they were both lying flat in the dust of the road. "Ow," Kaori groaned, pushing herself up to a sitting position.
"That hurt," Wataru agreed.
"What was it?" Kaori asked. She and Wataru both turned to look for whatever had stopped them. Kaori's jaw dropped when she sighted the faint red glow of some kind of near-invisible barrier. "Wataru?"
"I thinks it's a ward," Wataru said slowly. "There's one like it around her," he pointed to the woman they'd come to retrieve. The two of them watched as that shimmering ward faded and dissipated, the Suzaku Warrior approaching her. "Did he do this?" Wataru wondered aloud.
"Hey!" Kaori shouted, "Warrior of Suzaku!" Neither the Celestial Warrior, nor the woman seemed to notice them. "Hey!" Kaori shouted louder.
"I don't think they can hear you," Wataru said. "I don't think they can see us." He looked at the ward still blocking them. "I don't think the Suzaku Warrior is doing this."
"Then who?" Kaori asked. Wataru shook his head, picking himself up from the dirt. He offered Kaori a hand up, and pulled her to her feet before they brushed themselves off.
"That's a very good question," Wataru finally answered her. "Whoever it is, he or she isn't going to let us do our duty here."
"Let's hurry back," Kaori suggested. "We have to tell Taiitsukun about this. She'll know what to do." Wataru nodded, and Kaori took his hand, using her power to return from whence they came.
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…...
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To be continued…
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End Note: In the manga, Yui NEVER became the priestess of Genbu. So why, then, is it in the anime? Back in the day, the explanation floating around the FY fan universe was that those three episodes were meant to be a bridge between the anime's ending and the second part of the OVA concerning Tamahome's lost memory jewels. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but that's the information that was available to me at the time. There were two camps back then: those who felt those episodes were a part of the main story, and those who felt they were more of an alternate-reality side story. I fall in with the second group. I feel those episodes are not really a part of the cannon story. To me they are a "what-if" scenario. ~Sapphire
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Edited 3-17-14
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