Disclaimer: Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play was created by Yu Watase, who has real claim to it, along with people at Pioneer Entertainment, Shogakukan, Flower Comics, Bandai, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, and anyone else on this seemingly endless list that I forgot to mention. Fushigi Yugi characters were used without permission. This story was created for other Fushigi Yugi fans to enjoy. No money is being made from this fic.

Warnings: This part rated PG-13 for language. Overall rating of PG-13.

Notes: This is it! My last chapter in "Suzaku's Orakuru" for you. Mind you, "Oracles of the Four Gods is two thirds away from being completed, but here is the finished first 'book' (so to speak). ~Saphire.

Oracles of the Four Gods

Suzaku's Orakuru

By : Sapphire

Part Thirty ~ Travelers Return

"Your highness!" Empress Houki looked up toward the enormous, ornate doors of the main audience chamber of the palace just as Aneko, Tasuki, and Chichiri were admitted through it. A warm, welcoming smile spread across her face as Lady Aneko announced, "We're back!"

"Lady Aneko!" the Empress exclaimed, rising from her seat on the throne. "You are looking very well!"

"I'm quite recovered," Aneko confirmed as she hurried forward. Houki reached out and took the taller woman's hands and clasped onto them in friendly greeting. The Empress waved away her advisors and hand servants as she walked with Suzaku no Orakuru toward the two seishi.

"You will have to tell me all about it. What did the great Taiitsukun have to say?"

"Maybe we shouldn't talk here," Chichiri spoke up, interrupting the two women. "We should go somewhere more private, no da." Houki looked up at the monk and nodded.

"Agreed," she said. "I know just the place. Follow me." Empress Houki hooked her arm through Aneko's and led them through the palace corridors in the general direction of the Royal Apartments. In an inconspicuous corner there was a small room with a long table and eight chairs squeezed around it. "In here. No one will disturb us. There are few who even know of this room's existence." She settled herself into the cushioned chair at the head of the table and indicated the others sit. The atmosphere turned serious as the Empress gazed at the sober expressions the other three turned to her.

"Taiitsukun has felt the evil presence Suzaku told us about," Chichiri began. "She's worried about it, no da."

"The great Taiitsukun is worried?" Empress Houki didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"She doesn't know what the fuck it is, either," Tasuki added. "No one does."

"Taiitsukun does seem to think it can be defeated, though," Aneko put in.

"How?" Houki demanded. If there was a way to protect her son and her people, she wanted to know it immediately.

"We don't know," Chichiri explained. "Taiitsukun sent us back to Konan and told us to be on the lookout for anything unusual, no matter how small."

"What is that supposed to accomplish?" Houki looked between all three, confused beyond imagination. It seemed to her the more they learned, the less they knew.

"Information," Aneko replied quietly. "She wants us to gather information."

"The other three Oracles were told the same damn thing," Tasuki put in.

"Other oracles?" Now they had the Empress' total attention. "There are more oracles?"

"Yes," Aneko responded. "The oracles of Genbu, Byakko, and Seiryu have all come to this world, too. Taiitsukun says that all four must come together in order to gain their full power. I'm not sure what that means, or how it works, or when it's supposed to happen, but you can be sure Taiitsukun will let us know when the time comes."

"Ambiguous," Houki commented. "The other oracles, they are working together, with us, and Taiitsukun?" Ambiguity could be dealt with if assurances could be made. The Empress only wanted her mind set at ease. She wanted to know that her son and her people would be safe from this evil.

"We didn't meet the other oracles," Chichiri told the Empress. "We don't know their personal feelings. We do know, whether the other oracles want to or not, they will work with us. They have to, or they can't complete the work they were meant to do in this world, no da."

"Taiitsukun told me," Aneko related, "she said I have to remember I was brought here for a purpose, and that I can't allow anything to interfere with that purpose. She was very serious. The other oracles will do what they must for the same reason that I will do what I must."

"What purpose brought you here?" Houki asked. Aneko was silent for a moment before answering.

"That's the one thing I really wish I knew. I can't imagine why I was brought here."

"And you'll do whatever it is that you must? No matter what it is?" Houki pressed. As Empress Regent, she wanted her assurance.

"I'll do it. I have to do it. I want to do it. I am Suzaku no Orakuru."

~~~~~

In a black tent, at the foot of a high mountain, sat a tall, lithe woman with flowing magenta hair that reached past her waist. Her sharp red eyes gazed up at the cloud shrouded lofty heights of the mountain. She fingered the heavy ornamented necklace that hung about her neck as she thought. She pulled her fine wrap about her bare shoulders as a misty gust of wind blew into the tent. It did little to cover the woman's provocatively dressed form. A slow, but deliberate, smirk came to her voluptuous lips.

"Soon," the word was low and soft, almost non-existent. She was biding her time, waiting while she adjusted to the strains of constantly expending energy. There was no doubt that she would adjust, and then she could begin to regain her strength and build her energy up again. "Then," she whispered, "then the mountain will be mine."

"My Lady," a man announced himself, peering into the tent. "Ah, my Lady looks to the mountain again."

"Kazuo, my Captain," the woman purred. "You have news?"

"My Lady, my spy has returned. He reports the men who were away during our first attack have returned. They've begun to rebuild." The smirk on her face broadened until it nearly became a smile.

"Have they really?" she asked. "Their defenses are no match to us. Let the pitiful fools waste their precious energy."

"My Lady, I had thought you'd want to attack," Captain Kazuo asserted. "I thought it prudent to attack when they were still weak."

"I've already told you they are no match for us. Leikaku is as good as ours. Besides, I have other business to tend to. Business pertaining to Eiyou." Captain Kazuo raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "Let's just say, I must rectify the outcome of a certain incident. Surely there is something that the men can do until the imminent trip up the mountain?" Captain Kazuo nodded. "Then go have them do it."

"As you wish, My Lady."

~~~~~

To be continued…

End Notes: I want to say thank-you to everyone who sent me encouragement via e-mail or reviews. I really appreciate the feedback, constructive criticism and all. As you know, the story isn't really finished. Aneko, Chichiri, Tasuki, and Kouji still have a long journey ahead of them. I invite each of you to join me in the next 'book' of "Oracles of the Four Gods" called "Oracle's Destiny" and continue that journey with me. ~Sapphire