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: 3-17-14 We have reached a milestone! This chapter marks the halfway point of "Suzaku's Oracle," the first book of OFG. I loved the title "Interlude" for this chapter. There isn't a lot of action going on, but this chapter serves to pull together some threads of the story, as well as give me a good jumping off point for the second half of SO. ~Sapphire
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Oracles of the Four Gods
"Suzaku's Oracle"
By: Sapphire
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Part Fifteen ~ Interlude
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Chichiri was impatient while he and Tasuki waited outside Aneko's room. All was quiet on the other side of the closed doors, except for the occasional soft utterance of pain, which made him nervous. Those little noises ceased after a time, and that made him worry. Despite his impatience, he managed to maintain an impassive expression and a clam demeanor as he perched on the railing of the pavilion's terrace. Tasuki, on the other hand, was suffering a major bout of guilt. He was pacing back and fourth along the length of the narrow garden walk just below the railing where Chichiri sat.
More than an hour had passed since the doctor had arrived to tend to Aneko, and it was starting to seem like the waiting would never end. When the door slowly swung open, Chichiri jumped down from his perch, and was joined an instant later by an anxious Tasuki. The Empress, who had been inside watching over the entire proceeding, quietly stepped out, followed closely by the doctor.
"She okay?" Tasuki inquired, the guilt evident in his voice.
"She is resting comfortably right now," the doctor assured him. "The Lady's arm was beginning to heal improperly, but I was able to correct the problem. Even so, it was a painful ordeal for the Lady. It is a blessing she fainted when she did. It spared her much. Give her time to rest, and she will recover." Chichiri allowed himself a sigh of relief. Tasuki evidently felt the same. His shoulders sagged, and he leaned heavily against the railing of the terrace as if exhausted.
Empress Houki dismissed the doctor and sent him off with one of the guards to collect payment for his troubles and services. Chichiri watched the doctor disappear then turned to the Empress when she gave a weary sigh. She looked up at him and smiled reassuringly.
"You needn't worry about me. You know council has this effect on me." She laughed softly, and Chichiri had to smile. "Go and get some rest. There's nothing more to be done tonight."
"Don't have ta ask me twice," Tasuki said, shuffling past Chichiri and the Empress on his way to his own room and his invitingly comfortable bed. "I'm beat. See ya in the mornin'."
"Goodnight, Tasuki," Chichiri called, then turned to go find his own bed.
"One moment, if you will," the Empress detained him. He turned back. "She asked for you," she told him. "The physician thought it unwise to accommodate her at the time. I thought you'd like to know." Chichiri nodded then turned toward his room. "And one more thing," she interrupted once again. He turned to face her a second time. "I'm not sure it's important, but I feel I should mention it to you. For a time, Lady Aneko was delirious, and she was repeating the word 'Danno' over and over. I am of the opinion that 'Danno' is a person. Do you know who she was speaking of?"
"Why did you leave me, Danno? Why?" Aneko's words came back to Chichiri so clearly. She had been having some kind of dream at the time. Now this name again. Who was this Danno, and what relation was he or she to Aneko?
"I don't know if it's important, either, na no da," Chichiri told the Empress.
"Well, no matter. I only thought I should mention it."
"Thank-you, Your Highness." Empress Houki nodded her farewell, then left, her attendants and bodyguard in tow. Once she was gone from sight Chichiri swung the door to Aneko's room open and slipped inside the dimly lit room. The light came from a single lamp on the dressing table. The bed curtains were drawn back, tied to the bedposts. Just beyond them lay Aneko. Her face was pale and drawn, a testament to what she had been through only a short time ago. Chichiri stood, just watching her for a long time. She didn't move, save the slow and even rise and fall of the blankets as she breathed. He suspected she wouldn't wake for a long time. With a sigh, he turned and left the room, seeking out his own bed and some much needed sleep.
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Awareness of a constant ache came before anything else. Slowly rising from the dregs of a deep and dreamless slumber, Aneko came to consciousness in stages. When she realized the ache she felt was originating in her arm, she remembered the doctor, and the Empress sitting by her bedside as he worked. She cautiously lifted an eyelid, fearing the doctor was still there ready to inflict more dreaded pain. Surprise and then relief filled her when she saw she was alone. Looking around, she noticed a faint light peeking in through the shuttered windows; it was morning. Carefully, Aneko rose until she was sitting upright with her feet on the cool floor. Giving her room a once over, she spied her clothes hanging where she'd left them to dry the night before. She dressed as quickly as she was able then slipped out of her room into the fresh morning air.
It was early; the sun was barely up above the horizon. Aneko felt a slight chill in the air, but she knew she'd stay warm if she kept at a brisk pace. She wasn't intent on a particular destination, she was simply eager to explore her new surroundings. Wandering about the palace buildings, she found herself in the beautiful palace gardens. Stopping occasionally to breathe in their fragrance, she marveled at the multitudes of roses she found. Violets, pansies, daisies, and orchids, everything she came across was sweet-smelling and beautiful. One plant in particular, which she could not readily identify, was a small flower with five yellow petals in the shape of a star and smelled like sunshine and honey. Aneko could not resist helping herself to a small blossom and tucking it behind her ear so she could carry the scent with her.
Eventually she came to a place where the palace grounds opened out into a rolling lawn and wooded park. Aneko set out across the neatly trimmed grass and thought how wonderful it was to have a break from Tokyo; there was no closed-in feeling here, or tall buildings, or wall-to-wall jostling people. Near a pond, among a grove of trees, was a small temple. The bright reddish wood contrasted very well with the green of the surrounding landscape. Very picturesque, Aneko thought. Ambling past that, she followed the bank of the clear pond. The sun glinted off the still water, and when she leaned over a little, she could see her reflection as clearly as she would had she been looking into a mirror.
Dark gray-brown stone rose up out of the pond's southernmost bank. One side looked quite climbable, and Aneko easily scaled it. The top was smooth and flat, except for one place where the rock protruded upward in the corner of the space. The stone was invitingly warm from the morning sun's rays. The protruding rock was smooth and slanted backward at an easy angle. Aneko sat down and leaned on it, then let her tired head rest against it as she thought about the day before. Had she really seen Suzaku in the shrine? Was Suzaku truly a god? Or had she just been dreaming it all? With the quiet tranquility of the morning, and lingering thoughts of Suzaku, she slipped into sleep, and a dream. Her dream was very real, as though she could reach out and touch the people parading through it. It was a dream about a girl, from another world, who came to gather the seven stars and make her wishes come true...
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The first place Chichiri headed when he woke was Aneko's room. He paused outside the door and knocked lightly, though he didn't expect an answer. When there was no answer, he swung the door open as quietly as he could and slipped inside and looked around. Aneko was nowhere in sight. He was surprised. By all rights, she should still be soundly sleeping. The night before had been rough on her. Chichiri quickly dismissed his astonishment, and replaced it with worry. Suzaku had charged him with protecting her, and he couldn't protect her if he didn't know where she was.
Quickly, he decided to tap into his Seishi senses and locate her through the bond that all of a god's chosen shared in common. Her life force was easy to locate; it was the only one, besides Tasuki's and his own, that was strong enough to belong to a living being inhabiting the same world he was. Following its lead, he was surprised that it led him right to a place where he himself liked to go when he sought quiet and solitude. Nimbly, he climbed up the rock and was standing atop it in moments.
She lay curled up against the sun-warmed stone, peacefully sleeping. Strangely, a faint red glow surrounded her body. Chichiri blinked in astonishment. He had never seen that before, save when she had been in danger. He searched out any threat with his Seishi senses, but there was nothing. "Odd," he thought, and then, suddenly, the glow was gone. Chichiri shrugged.
"Aneko. Aneko, wake up," he said, bending down to nudge her shoulder. Slowly, she opened her eyes, holding a hand up to block the sun that was shining directly into them.
"Chichiri," she said groggily by way of greeting.
"I've been looking for you, no da," Chichiri told her. "Why aren't you in your room?"
"I woke up early," Aneko said, struggling to get up with only the use of one hand. "I went for a morning walk and ended up stopping here for a nap." Chichiri took hold of Aneko's uninjured arm and pulled her to her feet. "Thank-you," she said.
"You should be resting, no da," Chichiri chided her gently.
"Can't get much more rest than sleeping," she replied with a soft laugh. "And I was having quite an adventure in my dream."
"You know what I meant, na no da," Chichiri pointed out with an amused smile.
"I do, but I'm fine," Aneko assured him, pulling her arm free of his grasp. "My left arm aches, but otherwise..." Chichiri shook his head with mild exasperation. He suspected she was a lot like Tasuki in that she didn't like being an invalid.
"The doctor said you should rest a few days. That means staying put in your room. Staying put in your bed would be even better," he told her.
"I don't need bed rest," Aneko countered. "I'll recover the same without it. Don't worry about me so much."
"Suzaku told me to take care of you, no da. Are you going to make my job difficult?" Chichiri questioned.
"Suzaku told you to protect me, not take care of me," Aneko corrected with an amused smile. Chichiri shrugged, barely managing to keep an embarrassed blush from his face. He wasn't quite sure why her teasing remark bothered him the way it did. Chichiri ignored it as he took Aneko firmly by the shoulders and started walking her toward the edge of the rock ledge. "Where are you taking me?" Aneko demanded, still unwilling to comply.
"I'm going to put you where you'll do the most good, no da," he told her. "I'm taking you back to your room." Aneko sighed in resignation and followed him obediently down off the rocks and back to her room.
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. "I'll behave, but you can't make me sleep. And someone has to keep me company. You don't have TV."
"TV? What's that, no da?" Chichiri asked quizzically.
"Never mind," Aneko said with a laugh. "I doubt you'd believe me, even if I told you."
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To be continued…
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End Note: I hope you're enjoying my story so far! I also hope you plan on staying with me into the next half of SO. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send them my way. ~Sapphire
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