Disclaimer: See that? ::points to a colorful banner that reads, "DF does not own Fushigi Yuugi.":: You do? Good. Don't sue me, please. ::puppy dog eyes::
Warnings: Strong language, angst, shonen-ai/yaoi implications, sexual innuendo…and…well…that pretty much covers it.
Notes: Again, a great big shout-out of thanks to Kim C. and Koishii-kun, my beta readers. How you guys put up with me constantly running into writers block is beyond me. Congratulations to Divine Filth and Jess-chan for guessing the quote at the end of the last chapter. Well, after many rewrites, and losing the chapter entirely, I have finally finished the chapter. Go me.
In an attempt to create some sort of inspiration to get over my writer's block, I decided that I needed music! Yes, no story is complete without a soundtrack of sorts. So I went through my music and decided that B'z would be my theme music pieces! "Be there" is the opening theme and "Ai no mama Ni" is the closing theme. ^^ Thank you, Koishii-kun, for getting me addicted to them!
Chapter Three:
"The Maiden of Seiryuu"
The Legend Continues
Yui had often seen pictures of palaces before. There was one in Tokyo; naturally, she had never been inside it. The hallways she was taken through seemed a bit more simplistic than she had imagined, no matter how many colors and patterns were used. She was not sure what she had been expecting, but the odd simplicity of the halls that were accented on occasion by weaponry was most certainly not it.
Tamahome walked ahead of her, soldiers armed with spears on either side of her. She did not dare try to break away from them. She had already attempted this once before. Tamahome's military had excellent peripheral vision and both soldiers had moved to block her only way of escape before she had completely turned around and had a chance to blink. As for Tamahome, he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, always acting as though he was one step ahead of her. He also seemed to be quite adept in frightening people without even looking at them, considering the causal tone of voice when he had told her that he would impale her if she attempted to run again. She had never heard that tone of voice use that much menace before.
They continued to walk until they came to a set of closed doors. As they slowed to a stop, Yui peered around Tamahome's arm to see that the doors were made entirely out of gold that glinted in the torchlight, an emblem of some sort of bird engraved into the doorway and spread out over both doors. Two more warriors armed with spears stood at attention on either side of the doorway. They seemed to grow taller as they straightened even more upon seeing Tamahome.
"Sir!" they exclaimed as one.
"I must speak to heika-sama," Tamahome told them. "Open the doors."
The two soldiers looked at each other, locked in a moment of silent debate before turning their faces to look at Tamahome again.
"We are…sorry, shogun-sama," the one on Yui's left said, voice trembling a bit, "but heika-sama said that he did not want to be disturbed."
Yui felt herself smirk involuntarily and her arms cross over her chest. That was that, then. How exactly would Tamahome deal with this? Seeing the shogun before her bring his hand to the hilt of the sword he wore around his waist made Yui's eyes widen. That was not an option she had been considering. After all, Tamahome wasn't the type to kill his own men, was he?
"You will allow me to see heika-sama for two reasons," Tamahome snapped, voice lowering dangerously. His voice was no louder than a low, almost guttural growl, and yet everything he said was enunciated clearly, daring the two men in front of him to disobey. "One: I am your superior officer and I trained you to follow my orders. Two: I am a Suzaku no shichiseishi, which gives me equal social status with heika-sama."
Yui felt her head jerk towards Tamahome, eyes becoming as big as saucers as she focused on the man in armor near her. His eyes were narrowed, deadly serious. She slowly turned her head to look back at the guards at the doors. The guards had apparently been convinced more by the threat of the sword than by his words and were moving towards the doors to slowly push them open. Yui turned to look at Tamahome again. He had said that he was a Suzaku no shichiseishi…but the book had only mentioned Seiryuu no shichiseishi in the prologue, not anything about seishi of Suzaku. So…if Seiryuu was a dragon…
"What's a Suzaku?" Miaka would have asked had she been there.
That's another question I have to answer, Yui thought as her mind focused on an image of Miaka with her purely innocent smile upon her face. What happened to Miaka?
As a scraping noise filled her ears, she turned to look at the doors to get her first look at an imperial audience chamber. From what she could see through the rapidly opening doors, it was a very large room; tall enough to fit two elephants standing on top of each other inside and long enough to fit a seven-car train in. It might have been longer than that, however, as Yui never was very good at judging distance. Marble pillars lined marble walls and floors, drawing the eye to a long staircase that stretched over halfway up the back wall. Atop this raised platform was a dais of sorts, a throne that appeared to be as gold as the doors resting there. Behind the throne was an elaborate painting of a bird that looked like a combination of a phoenix and a peacock in pure red. Was this Suzaku?
Tamahome marched inside slowly, Yui having no choice but to follow. A quick glance revealed assorted shades of darkness between the pillars that lined the way to the staircase. She took her eyes off of them and glanced ahead only to be aware of eyes watching her on all sides. She turned to look between the pillars, but it was too dark to tell if any person stood there or not.
A flash of movement on the throne caught her attention. There was a person sitting there, she realized. It was a man, wearing gold robes with black trim around the hems, motioning to a figure at the bottom of the steps. The man in the throne must be the emperor, Yui decided. The figure, dressed in blue, stood, waves of blond hair cascading down the back of the blue robes. Yui felt her breath catch in her throat. Was that Nakago there? He walked up the stairs in silence, head tilted upwards slightly as if always keeping his eyes on the emperor. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he drew the bouquet of flowers he held in the direction of the emperor, kneeling as best he could on the stairs. Yui realized that this was, most definitely, Nakago.
The emperor stood, twisting his wrist slightly and motioning upwards. Nakago stood in response, his back to Yui. Without warning, the emperor's raised hand darted forward, securing itself around Nakago's neck. He pushed his hand up further on the pale skin, causing Nakago's head to jerk upwards. Nakago let out a strangled gasp that carried easily in the large, empty room. The emperor's other hand moved upwards to, presumably, press against Nakago's cheek. As Nakago's head tilted slightly to Yui's right in response to the emperor's touch, Yui noticed that Nakago's posture seemed to be relaxing more as he became more comfortable with what was occurring. Yui was unsure whether to be pleased or disgusted when the emperor's head moved forward, presumably pressing his lips against Nakago's.
By this time, Tamahome, Yui, and the two soldiers that had accompanied them were a few feet away from the base of the staircase. Yui stared up at the dais where Nakago and the emperor stood, locked as they were. Tamahome cleared his throat to alert the emperor that he was there. It carried just as easily as Nakago's gasp had and did the trick. The emperor took his time about releasing Nakago from his grasp, slowly sinking backwards into his throne. Nakago turned towards the staircase again ready to descend it.
"No, Nakago," the emperor ordered. Nakago froze, his foot inches away from touching the step directly below the dais. Instantly, his foot joined him on the dais once again as he turned to look at the emperor, eyes looking at him curiously. "This should not take too long." The emperor made a slicing gesture to his right hand to a set of pillows by his right side. Nakago nodded once and moved towards them, sinking gracefully downwards onto them. The emperor watched his every movement with unveiled pleasure before returning his attention to Tamahome. "What do you want, Tamahome?"
"Heika-sama," Tamahome announced, bowing slightly from the waist. The emperor gave a slight growl of displeasure and made a circular motion with his hand, indicating to Tamahome to speed up whatever-it-was that he wanted to talk to him about. Tamahome turned, grabbing Yui's arm, armored hand branding her flesh through her the sleeve of her jacket. "I found this girl in one of your private gardens, heika-sama." So saying, he swung her around his body, pinning her arm behind her body. She gave a slight yelp of pain.
The emperor leaned forward a bit, his attention appropriately attracted by the girl. Her cry had also attracted the attention of Nakago, it seemed. He jerked his head up to stare at her, recognition blazing in his eyes for a moment as brightly as the symbol for heart had shone on his forehead mere minutes before. Without warning, the recognition there died as he lowered his eyes to stare at the hands that he had folded in his lap.
"She might be a refugee from Kutou, heika-sama," Tamahome continued.
"Is that so?" the emperor asked, tone thoughtful. "Well, then…perhaps we should show her what happens to people of Kutou who trespass on Konan soil."
"It would be well deserved, heika-sama," Tamahome was quick to agree, "what with the way she assaulted me."
Yui could put up with being called a refugee from Kutou, wherever that was. She could put up with the feeling that her arm was about to fall off; she had dealt with worse, after all. She could put up with being called a trespasser, as she apparently had done so without knowing she had. But the outright lie at what had transpired in the gardens was too much.
"I assaulted you?" Yui demanded, wishing she could glare at Tamahome more than ever or, at the very least, kick him where she knew it would hurt. "You were the one who tried to rape Miaka! How dare you say that I tried to attack you!" Tamahome's grip on her arm tightened, a silent warning to be quiet. She forced herself to ignore it as she glanced up at the dais, looking right into the amber eyes of the emperor. "I admit it. We did trespass, but we didn't know we did! There was this blue light and-----"
"Repeat that," the emperor snarled, glaring at her.
"The…part about the blue light?" Yui asked, looking a bit confused.
The emperor did not move his head, but Yui distinctly caught his eyes darting to look at the kneeling figure beside him, eyes slightly narrowed. What did Nakago have to do with this? Then Yui remembered that Nakago had come to her defense in the gardens before. Nakago had been there! Surely he could defend her.
"Nakago! Tell him!" Yui shouted, looking at the blond man. Nakago looked at her, eyes and face expressionless as she continued. "Tell the emperor that I'm telling the truth!"
Now the emperor turned his head to look at Nakago, eyes still narrowed. His voice sounded controlled, almost as if he was forcing himself to say the words as calmly as possible. "Nakago. Is this true." It was not a question, more like a direct order.
Nakago stared at Yui for a moment, silence taking hold of the room as Tamahome once more tightened his grip on Yui's arm, threatening to break it. Yui's eyes locked on Nakago's, her eyes pleading, and his eyes vacant. He broke eye contact with her to stare at a point somewhere on the far wall just over Tamahome's head. Nakago spoke, voice soft and barely audible in the room, yet somehow still clear. "No, heika-sama. I have never seen this girl before in my life."
Yui's eyes widened. It was a direct lie! She had been there! She could not have imagined Nakago actually coming to her defense, had she? She had not imagined the ball of blue energy she had seen that had slammed into Tamahome to throw him from Miaka. She couldn't have. She didn't have that much of an overactive imagination.
"Nakago! Tell them the truth!" Yui pleaded with the dejected-looking man on the dais. Tamahome was holding onto her arm tightly, otherwise she might have tried to get closer to him. Her body was shaking with fear and unshed tears of confusion. "PLEASE!? Tell them!"
The emperor cast another glance at Nakago, looking for something in the blue eyes that were turned down to once again study the hands in his lap. The emperor smiled thinly in a twisted form of veiled pleasure before turning his attention to Yui and Tamahome once again.
"Send the girl to Kaen, Tamahome. Nakago will be along shortly," the emperor ordered with a dismissive tone as his eyes once again flickered to the blonde man beside him. "If the girl proves to be obedient, you may keep her if it pleases you."
Yui could almost feel the animalistic smile creep onto Tamahome's face as his grip on her arm lessened. She stared up at the emperor, eyes filled with nothing more than pure hatred as she felt the man behind her bow from the waist. All at once, Tamahome ushered her from the room, trapped ahead of him, the doors all too soon scraping shut behind her.
Tamahome once again silently marched her down the hallway. Yui paid no attention to her surroundings as she walked, no concept of time registering within her mind. And then she walked straight into a wall of soft fabric. It took her a moment to realize that this was a person she had walked into. Slowly, she took a step back and gazed at the person that blocked the hallway.
It was a slim man that could have easily been mistaken for a woman. His arms were crossed over his chest, long purple braid draping over one shoulder. He was dressed in a long lilac tunic with long sleeves, hems edged with green, red pants appearing beneath the tunic, finished off by a pair of delicate black shoes. His gold eyes were narrowed at Yui, apparently highly annoyed.
"What is this?" he demanded, eyeing Yui in disapproval. He caught a glimpse of Tamahome over Yui's head and frowned even more. "Really, Tamahome. Keep out of my way, would you?" He tossed his braid over his shoulder imperiously. That motion alone was enough to convince Yui that she didn't like this newcomer at all.
"Ryuuen," Tamahome said through gritted teeth. Yui felt herself smile a bit. Apparently, Tamahome didn't like this man, either.
"What are you smiling about?" Ryuuen snarled, eyes once again turning to her. He took a step forward, almost innocent face turning menacing with that one step. Yui backed up a pace, but Ryuuen was a bit too fast for her. His hands latched around her shoulders, nails digging into her back through the fabric of her jacket. "You're no better than he is…a toy for heika-sama to manipulate as he pleases. Taking interest in that Kutou scum like you…I don't know why he does…"
"Hands off her, Ryuuen," Tamahome ordered. "This one is mine."
Yui did not feel up to contradicting Tamahome as Ryuuen's eyes left hers to meet Tamahome's.
"Yours? Heika-sama actually trusted you with her?" Ryuuen demanded, giving a snort of derision. "I wouldn't have."
Tamahome bristled at the insult, eyes narrowing even more. "Why you little…"
"I don't think so," Ryuuen snapped, shoving Yui away from him. She stumbled backwards towards a wall as Ryuuen advanced on Tamahome. "Heika-sama happens to like me a hell of a lot more than he does you. Besides, after that little…slight to me a few weeks ago, heika-sama isn't too thrilled with you."
"Do not presume to speak for the emperor," Tamahome returned, eyes narrowing. "I am his shogun, whereas you…you are little more than a plaything. Do not think so highly of yourself, Ryuuen."
Ryuuen let out a strangled gasp of annoyance as his eyes narrowed even more than they had before. Intrigued by the conflict, Yui dared to take a step closer to them, although there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind that perhaps the fight might turn to blows. Before her fears could be realized, she became aware of another person in the hallway. Ryuuen was also aware of this fact, craning his neck around Tamahome's shoulder to see who it was. Yui followed his gaze to meet a very familiar blue robe, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Nakago had apparently escaped the emperor for the time being.
"Tamahome-dono, heika-sama has requested that the girl comes with me so I may show her what areas she is allowed and what she is not," Nakago said, voice as soft as it had been when Yui first met him. He did not seem to see Ryuuen, or, if he did, he was ignoring the purple-haired man.
Ryuuen averted his gaze from Nakago's, crossing his arms over his chest. After a moment of silence, Ryuuen spoke, voice annoyed, "Don't you have something you wish to say to me, Nakago?"
The look on Nakago's face clearly said, Not particularly, no. What actually came out of Nakago's mouth was, "Gomen nasai…Ryuuen-san. I didn't see you there. Forgive me."
Ryuuen smirked a bit. "That's better."
Yui inched carefully closer to Nakago as he turned his attention back to Tamahome. "May I have your permission to do as heika-sama instructed me to, Tamahome-dono?"
Yui glanced at Tamahome eagerly. She would like nothing more than to escape from the two feuding men and stay with Nakago at the moment, no matter how submissive Nakago would act around others. Anything would be better than remaining there. Tamahome gave Nakago a sharp nod of affirmation and, after casting a final glare at Ryuuen, stormed off down the hall. Ryuuen turned his attention to Nakago now, eyes narrowing a bit at him. Nakago caught the look and shied away from it, motioning rapidly to Yui. She took the hint and darted to Nakago, gently taking his hand. The skin felt relatively smooth, which Yui had been expecting, but parts of his hand seemed to have raised calluses that had smoothed over an extended period of time.
"Come on, Nakago," Yui said, tugging on his hand gently. "Let's go."
Nakago nodded, prying his hand from Yui's grasp. Silently, he led Yui off down the hall, leaving Ryuuen alone. Long moments passed as they walked in silence; Yui was a bit frightened to say anything within the halls of the palace. Soon, however, Nakago passed through a door, leaving Yui no choice but to follow. And then she was bathed in warm sunlight.
Miaka stopped reading, flipping the pages towards somewhere in the middle of the book. She was expecting to see more inked writing as she had been seeing all ready. She noticed that the pages were the same texture as those that came before it, exactly the same coloring. However, the pages at this point in the book were totally blank. Her eyes widened.
"Na…NANI?!" Miaka exclaimed, staring at the blank pages in surprise. "What sort of screwed up book is this?" After a moment of consideration, she continued, speaking to the air as it was. "It…its like its writing itself as it goes. But that's impossible…"
She flipped back to where she had been, studying the text. Miaka scanned it, attempting to locate where she had left off. Her finger traced over the rough parchment until she located her place and she continued from there.
While the young lady went on a tour of the palace, the emperor of Konan called one of the Suzaku seishi to him to talk about the young lady.
There was a bit of a pause and then…
"What's a Suzaku?"
Hotohori could not recall ever being more annoyed than he was now. Nakago's disobedience he could tolerate to an extent. However, the girl would be a problem for him. She had mentioned blue light that had brought her here and had said Nakago could vouch for her. He knew Nakago had lied before him; had he not, Hotohori would have seen fit to punish him later. The girl…he suspected there was something more about her. He could not quite put his finger on it, however.
This girl was the source of his problems.
He scowled, slouching slightly in his chair, not caring how unlike him the action was. He was getting more frustrated by the minute. If the girl's story about the light were true, then that would mean disaster for Konan.
"You wanted to see me, heika-sama?"
Instinctively, Hotohori straightened and leaned forward slightly to see who was addressing him. It was a young man on his knees before the staircase. He was dressed in a dark blue, so dark that it seemed black. A staff was clenched in one of his hands. The hair was a rather light blue color, bangs seeming to be predominately sticking up in front, and hair falling into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Hotohori relaxed a bit; the hair gave who it was away. It was a man that he knew and trusted…one of the few in the palace these days.
"Yes," he replied, folding his hands. "You may stand."
"Heika-sama is most gracious," the man returned, straightening.
"My majesty would prefer to look at your face rather than the top of your head," Hotohori snapped.
"Forgive me, heika-sama." He raised his head to look at Hotohori, one of the few who dared. One orange-red eye stared at him, the other eternally sealed by a scar. "What troubles you, heika-sama?"
If there was one thing that Hotohori hated, it was the man in front of him acting as though he could read other people's minds.
"None of your tricks today, Chichiri," Hotohori ordered. "We are not in the mood."
"Whatever it is, it seems to be bothering you greatly, heika-sama," Chichiri continued as if Hotohori had not spoken. Hotohori scowled again, gripping the armrests of his throne tightly. Chichiri noted the reaction, the barest hint of a smile crossing his face. "Why don't you tell me what it is? I might be able to help."
"That girl," was Hotohori's response through gritted teeth. "The one Tamahome brought in here."
"Ah…the young lady," Chichiri said knowingly. "I was watching when Tamahome arrived. I saw the young woman. Quite…interesting, actually." The smile disappeared in an instant. In a rather serious tone, he added, "She is no Kutou refugee as Tamahome claims, heika-sama."
Hotohori's eyes narrowed slightly. "What?" he asked, voice turning dangerous.
Yui and Nakago walked across the pavilions of the palace in silence. During the course of the walk, Yui was beginning to wonder if the emperor had given Nakago an excuse to leave his presence to talk about something without a servant around. She only half-paid attention to the places Nakago showed her, lost in her own thoughts. Tamahome had said that Yui was a refugee of Kutou, whatever or wherever that was. Given her personal appearance, might Tamahome have made that assumption because her hair and eyes resembled Nakago's? Nakago most certainly didn't seem to be from this area. She shrugged her shoulders, gathering her courage to ask Nakago.
"Ne…Nakago-san…" Yui started.
"Yes, my lady?" Nakago replied, not looking at her. Yui frowned. Formality for her when she was supposed to be a servant of Tamahome's if she cooperated? That didn't seem right.
"My name is Yui. Hongo Yui," she told him, hoping that would get him to drop the formality.
"Did you wish to ask me something, Yui-san?" Nakago wondered. Yui sighed. Getting him to stop being so formal around her was going to be a lot harder than she thought.
"Nakago-san, could you not call me that?" Yui asked. "I'm not any higher up on this social ladder than you are."
"Everyone is more important than I am," Nakago whispered. "Heika-sama says so. His word is truth."
Yui froze, eyes widening involuntarily. To hear words like that come out of his mouth… what had the emperor done to him to make him say something like that? She ran to catch up to him, fully intent on figuring out exactly what was going on in this place.
"And you listen to him?" Yui demanded incredulously.
"I am his," was the simple reply. "I…I belong to him."
"You can't tell me you actually enjoy it!" Yui insisted. "It isn't right for people to be treated like property for the upper class to do with as they please!"
Nakago stopped abruptly. Yui stopped, as well, and looked at him. His gaze looked towards the floor of the pavilion, hair veiling his face on either side. Yui moved in front of him to see his facial expression. His eyes were sad…almost reluctant.
"I hate him," Nakago said without much conviction. "He destroyed my country…my people…my emperor…"
"Wait a second," Yui said, cutting him off. "What do you mean, he destroyed your country? You mean you aren't from…wherever the heck we are now?"
He raised his eyes briefly to study her in confusion. "No. I am of Kutou. Konan conquered it five months ago. Everyone knows that."
"I wouldn't," Yui said, eyes widening a bit. She spoke more to herself than to Nakago now, studying her crossed arms as she thought aloud. "That explains the destroyed city I saw. And if Suzaku is a phoenix, then he can't be the dragon I saw hovering over…"
"Dragon?" Nakago demanded, blue eyes fixing on her. Surprised, Yui glanced up at him. His eyes were serious. Surprised, but ultimately serious. "What was that about a dragon?"
"What do you mean, Chichiri?" Hotohori demanded. "Her hair and eyes resemble that of Nakago. He is of Kutou…"
"His tribe was wiped out many years ago, heika-sama," Chichiri explained. "He is the sole survivor."
"Then…" Hotohori started. The thought he had in his mind was replaced with an even graver thought. His eyes widened, staring at Chichiri in shock. "No. That's impossible."
"Why is it so hard to believe, heika-sama?" Chichiri asked with a bit of a shrug.
Hotohori glared at him. "Are you trying to tell me that girl is a miko?"
"Hai, heika-sama," Chichiri replied, nodding once for emphasis. His bangs bounced as he did so. "Unfortunately, she is not the chosen of Suzaku."
Hotohori felt his eyes narrow a bit. "That means she's Seiryuu no miko, then. With the blue light she mentioned, there's no other way she could be anyone but Seiryuu no miko." He cursed under his breath, pounding a fist on the arm of his throne. He felt his body grow rigid with anger. He knew what Seiryuu no miko meant for Konan. That girl would be Kutou's instrument of revenge. "Put up the wards around the Suzaku shrine. If she goes anywhere near it, we want her to suffer."
"As you wish, heika-sama."
"I…that is…" Yui started, trying to break her eyes away from the intense stare that Nakago was giving her but finding that she could not. She sighed. She had best tell him everything. "I'm not from here, Nakago-san. I was reading this book, the Universe of the Four Gods or something like that, in the library and it sucked Miaka and me into it. Miaka must have gone back or something, but I didn't. Before we found the book, I saw a dragon hovering over a ruined city. It was glowing with this blue light and then blue light brought me and Miaka here…"
Nakago's eyes widened slightly, looking at her. Yui was starting to wonder if Nakago would believe her or not. Without warning, his eyes grew cold again and looked away from her. "That's impossible."
"Why?" Yui demanded. "Why do you find that so hard to believe?"
"Because if Seiryuu even gave a damn about us, He would have summoned the miko here before Konan destroyed us," Nakago snapped. Yui watched him. There was a hint of sadness and betrayal hidden behind the blue eyes. He couldn't think that Seiryuu had betrayed his country…could he? "Kutou exists in name only because He refused to get off His ass and send us the miko. And because of Him, my entire country is destroyed."
"Miko?" Yui asked, frowning. The book had mentioned a young lady who gathered the seven seishi of Seiryuu…was the 'young lady' the miko Nakago mentioned? "Look, Nakago-san, I'm sorry about your country…"
"What would you know of it?!" Nakago shouted, allowing emotion to creep into his blue eyes. Yui could see pain and hatred there, wrapped behind sorrow. "You didn't see it destroyed right in front of you! You didn't see innocent people slaughtered…homes destroyed…"
"I said I was sorry…"
"Unless you can bring it back, don't bother apologizing to me." He stopped suddenly, looking at her. Nakago lowered his eyes again, once again never directly looking at Yui. "Gomen nasai, Yui-san. I didn't mean to snap at you. Forgive me."
She nodded, then glanced around the pavilion in which they stood. The palace served as a dramatic background for the immediate area. What immediately caught her eye was a building that was separate from the main palace. A large staircase led up to it, gold doors with what looked like a bird engraved on it keeping it separate from the rest of the world. Her curiosity piqued, Yui took a step closer to see it better.
"Ne…Nakago-san? What's that building over there?" Yui asked, pointing to it.
Nakago glanced up to see where she was pointing and took in a sharp breath. "That's the Suzaku shrine. We're not allowed up there. Or…at least I'm not. I'm a Seriyuu no shichiseishi…so I'm not allowed. Suzaku won't allow me to enter it."
"I don't want to enter it," Yui said stubbornly. "I just want to look inside. Would that be okay?" She turned around to look at Nakago. His eyes were wide, fear crossing his gaze.
"No. No it wouldn't, Yui-san. You could get into a lot of trouble if you did…" Nakago told her. He studied her for a moment, as if assessing her determination to enter a place which they were not allowed under any circumstances. Yui crossed her arms over her chest, meeting his gaze boldly. "Yui-san, we aren't allowed to be anywhere near the Suzaku shrine! If we were caught---"
"Which we won't, Nakago-san," she assured him, uncrossing her arms. "If we're caught, I'll take all the blame for it. I promise."
"No," Nakago said firmly. The two stared at each other for a few moments, neither willing to back down. Finally, Nakago turned again. "Come on, Yui-san. I should show you the gardens now…"
Nakago started off in the direction of the gardens. Yui knew full well where the gardens were from here; she could make out the tops of trees and other exotic plants in the distance. She took a step after Nakago. Then, she stopped, and turned her attention back towards the Suzaku shrine. What harm could come from taking a look inside it? Despite the fact that Nakago had told her not to, she turned and jogged quietly towards the building. Up the stairs she went, taking them two at a time. After a few moments, the gold doors of the Suzaku shrine loomed in front of her. There was a carving of Suzaku embossed on the door, his feet the door handles. It was rather creative if she thought about it. Yui reached forward to place her hands on the door handles.
"YUI-SAN!" a voice shouted. Was that Nakago? "Get away from there! Yui-san!"
Paying the voice no heed, she gripped the door handles tightly and flung the doors open. She took a step inside towards a gorgeous gold statue of Suzaku. And then, much to her surprise, red light streaked down from the door frame, shooting through her. Pain spread from the top of her head downwards, sending a burning sensation through her body. She screamed in pain, falling backwards. It felt like every part of her was on fire. All she could see in front of her eyes was flames… She felt herself falling backwards, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. She glanced up, seeing a pair of blue eyes staring at her. They held a combination of annoyance and surprise within them. There was something else that was blue, too… was that the symbol for heart?
"You came," he whispered. Yui managed to figure out this was Nakago by the voice. Voice tainted with surprise, he continued. "You…you really came. You're really here…Seiryuu no miko."
…TBC…
Notes: ::wail:: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to take as long as it did! I think this is the shortest chapter of the three I've written. Only twelve pages where the others are close to twenty. Figures, ne? The main goal of this chapter was to introduce the idea that Yui was Seiryuu no miko. There was really no other point to this chapter. ^^ Okay, I lied. See, Kim? I threw in Ryuuen just for you. ^^ No Kaen/Soi yet again. She will show up next chapter.
No translation of random Japanese here. Everything in this chapter I've used before. HOWEVER, it is time for Reversal Akugi! You know those sections in Fushigi Yuugi where Watase-sama completely re-writes a section of the story to make it humorous? My turn!
REVERSAL AKUGI #1
Tamahome: One: I am your superior officer and I trained you to follow my orders. Two: I am a Suzaku no shichiseishi, which gives me equal social status with heika-sama.
Soldiers: Uh…
Yui: You're on equal footing with the emperor? Since when?
Tamahome: ::realizes what he just said:: Shit… if heika-sama hears this…
Hotohori: …which I did.
Tamahome: Crap.
REVERSAL AKUGI #2
Yui: ::opens the doors to the Suzaku shrine, sees the gold statue of Suzaku::
Choir: ::singing:: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yui: The…hell?
REVERSAL AKUGI #2 – Take 2
Yui: ::opens the doors to the Suzaku shrine, sees the gold statue of Suzaku::
Choir: (a la Tenkuu no Escaflowne) Es-caaaaaaaaaaaa-flooooooooooow-ne!
Suzaku: I'm Suzaku. Not some stupid suit of armor.
Choir: Suuuuuu-zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Yui: ::sighs:: Oh brother.
REVERSAL AKUGI #3
Miaka: ::reading the book and, instead of translating what's there, reads:: "Amun kum Ra, Amun kum Dei." It speaks of the night and of the day…
Mummy Fans: No! You must not read from the book!
Sorry. Multiple random references here. I'm done now. Have fun!
