Warning! Warning! It's chapter ten here at last! Couple of things about this chapter. First of all, it contains a short section of quite graphic – as in, clinically graphic – violence, and as such, finally brings this fic up to the R rating I gave it months ago. Secondly it contains characters from some other anime and north American cartoon shows and as such requires an additional disclaimer. None of the characters belong to me, they are all copyright to whoever owns them and I'm using them all without permission. I'll give them back in one piece, I promise!
Now, hope you all enjoy, please don't flame me about the violence, as it was necessary for plot advancement, and otherwise let me know what you think of my humble little offering!
Chapter 10:
Trapped
Lunch was served and everyone except Iris was sitting waiting for her.
"I can't believe she's late for lunch." Elwing said, "She never misses a meal. Maybe she fell asleep."
Tasuki stood up. "I'll go fetch her." he offered.
"Sure, go ahead." Elwing shrugged, "And tell her she's gotta stop falling asleep on the job."
'Well, it looks like I've got another opportunity.' Tasuki thought to himself as the butterflies started up again, 'I don't get this! How can it be so damn hard to say three little words?' He knocked on Iris's door, but there wasn't any response. "Iris!" he called as he opened the door, "It's time for lunch. We're all waitin' for you."
Iris was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, facing away from the door.
"Hey! Why the Hell are you ignorin' me?" Tasuki objected, "Dammit, did you fall asleep sittin' up!?" He walked over to Iris and looked her in the face. Her eyes were open, but they looked dull and vacant, and their colour was a flat, muddy greenish-brown, without any of the bright hazel highlights which usually indicated her moods. "Iris?" Tasuki said, concerned now as he shook her by the shoulders, "Dammit, snap out of it!" There was no response. He looked down at her hands, and realized she was holding the Crystal of Clear Sight. "Oh, shit!" he swore, "Fuckin' headstrong woman! Why the Hell couldn't you have waited until Chichiri checked that Seiryuu-damned thing for spells?" Tasuki desperately tried to pry Iris's fingers loose from the crystal. When he couldn't budge her fingers, tears started streaming from his eyes. "Damn! Chichiri! Nuriko! Anybody! I need help here!" He shook Iris again, then clutched her tightly to him, "Please Iris, you have to wake up! I love you, dammit!"
Back in the dining room, everyone was still sitting and waiting.
"I wonder what's taking him so long?" Nuriko asked with a wicked little grin and a wink.
"Hmm...could be almost..." Elwing started, then gasped as her character blazed to life, "Something is very wrong!" she exclaimed, "Tasuki's extremely upset."
They all took off at a run toward Iris's room.
When they got there, Tasuki was holding Iris and rocking back and forth, weeping broken-heartedly.
"What's wrong?" Elwing asked, laying her hand on Tasuki's shoulder.
"She used that damn bloody stupid fuckin' crystal, and now she won't wake up!" he wailed, "Dammit, I was supposed to protect her!"
"Okay Tasuki, it'll be alright. Just let us help." Nuriko soothed as he pried Tasuki away from Iris so they could see what was wrong.
"Nuriko, would you get Tasuki out of here, he's obviously far too distraught to help, no da." Chichiri pointed out.
Nuriko nodded and wrapped his arms around Tasuki, dragging him into the hall. All the seishi except Chichiri and Mitsukake filed out to help try to calm Tasuki down.
"Dammit, Nuriko, let me go!" Tasuki protested as he struggled to get loose from the strong seishi's grip, "I hafta help her!" his face fell, "I hafta help her." he moaned and went limp in Nuriko's arms.
Nuriko gently set Tasuki down so he was sitting against a wall and they all sat around him, close by in case he might try to bolt.
"Why are you so upset, Tasuki?" Chiriko asked, "I can understand that you're worried, we all are, but for you it seems to be more than that."
"I'm supposed to protect Iris, but I just let this happen." Tasuki said, a note of hopelessness in his voice, "I didn't even feel that she was in danger!"
"Are you sure that's your only reason?" Tamahome asked slyly.
"Alright, so it's not, but... I love her, damnit!" he shouted, "I love her." he said quietly and burst into tears again.
"Tasuki, you must have faith in Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Elwing. They'll figure out some way to save Iris." Hotohori reassured him.
In Iris's room, Elwing, Chichiri, and Mitsukake were hovering over her, trying to figure out exactly what had gone wrong.
"There's some sort of a tie between her and the crystal, no da." Chichiri said.
Elwing laid her hand on her friend's forehead and tried to sense her emotional state. Her eyes went wide and she began to shake. "Oh my Goddess!" she whispered, "How can this be?"
"What is it, no da?" Chichiri asked her.
"She's not there. She's breathing, her heart is beating, but there's no 'self' to be found!" Elwing said, stunned.
"Perhaps that is the link to the crystal, she must be inside." Mitsukake suggested.
"That would make sense, no da."
"Well then, how do we bring her back?" Elwing asked.
"Someone will have to enter the crystal and tell her what has happened, no da. Once she knows she's in the crystal, she should be able to return herself to her own body, no da." Chichiri explained.
"It'll have to be me, then." Elwing resolved.
Chichiri took off his mask and looked at her gravely. "Are you sure you're ready to do this, no da?" he asked her.
"Frankly, no, but it doesn't seem like I have much choice. I'm the only one who can enter the minds of others."
Chichiri gazed intently at her for a minute. "You'll need an anchor, no da. Without an anchor you might not be able to find your way back to your own body. Let me be that anchor, no da." he offered.
Elwing simply nodded, unable to think of any words to express the love and honour she felt at this offer. She gazed deeply into the eyes of her friend, frightened by their vacancy, then sat down and laid her hands over Iris's.
Chichiri sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her, concentrating on the bond of love he felt for this brave girl from so far away.
"I will sustain her body and yours," Mitsukake told Elwing, "but try not to be inside for too long. Even I can't keep your bodies alive without souls forever."
Elwing tranced and felt herself being pulled in by the void of Iris's soul-less body, and then from there into the crystal.
'Bring her back, but come back safely to me, itooshi.' Chichiri thought as he watched Elwing's character appear on and then fade from Iris's body.
To Elwing, the inside of the crystal appeared identical to the palace.
"Well, if this is the palace, then Iris will either be in her room or the throne room." Elwing reasoned. Since she was closer to the throne room, she headed in that direction.
The main difference she noticed between this place and the actual palace was that there were no other people. The hallways were completely empty, so when she heard footsteps coming toward her, she immediately perked up. 'That must be Iris.' she thought.
But when the owner of the feet came around the corner, Elwing almost dropped to the floor from laughter. It wasn't Iris at all, it was Amelia Wil Tesla Sailune, from The Slayers.
"You are a vile interloper into Iris's mind!" Amelia shouted, "In the name of Justice I will expel you from this place!" Amelia took a running leap at Elwing, who stood to one side at the last moment and stuck out her foot. Amelia fell flat on her face and there was an apparition of Gourry poking her with a stick. "If you can defeat me, then your intentions must be good." Amelia said, then they both vanished.
"Hmm, I guess that must have been part of her mental defenses." Elwing mused.
She continued on to the throne room. As she opened the massive double doors, she noticed a girl standing beside the throne. All she could see was the back of her head, but she looked kindof like Iris.
"Iris, is that you?" Elwing called out, a little more wary this time.
"I am a part of her." The girl turned around, "And it's my purpose to protect her mind form intruders." She picked up the long pole-like weapon, which had been leaning against the throne. "I am Sailor Saturn!" she announced and stepped out from behind the curtain which had been partially obscuring her and leveled her Silence Glaive at Elwing.
"Oh, shit!" muttered Elwing to herself, "Can't you ever think of anything but anime characters, Iris?" She sighed and stepped forward to face Iris's version of the senshi of death and rebirth.
"In the name of Purity and Sanctity I will banish you from Iris's mind!" Sailor Saturn raised the Silence Glaive above her head. "Silence Glaive Surprise!" she shouted.
"Oh Hell!" Elwing said, wide-eyed, and ran forward, catching and holding the shaft of the Silence Glaive just behind the blade, halfway down its descending arc. The two of them struggled for a minute, but their strengths were fairly evenly matched, and the angle of the glaive, since Elwing was taller, was an awkward one from which to exert much force over such a long handle so it was a stalemate.
"Listen to me," Elwing pleaded, "if you destroy this place, you will break the delicate thread linking Iris back to her body and her soul will wander forever. Is that what you want?"
Sailor Saturn looked her in the eyes. "She's not in her body?"
"No. An evil spell has trapped her soul within this crystal. I'm trying to break the spell so she can return."
"I concede then." Sailor Saturn said, and shifted her grip to raise the Glaive again. Elwing let go and she leaned the Silence Glaive back against the throne. "Good luck in your quest." Sailor Saturn saluted her, then disappeared.
"Well, obviously she's not in the throne room." Elwing said, "I guess I should look for her in her bedroom." She turned around and opened the doors to the throne room, which had somehow closed behind her again.
She stepped out into the hallway, but had only gone a few feet when she felt something knock her down from behind. Lying face-down on the floor, Elwing evaluated her situation. She could feel heavy paws pinning her shoulders, and there was no way she was strong enough to throw the animal off her.
"What are you doing in Iris's mind?" she heard a vaguely familiar male voice ask from above her.
"I'm here to help!" she insisted. The pressure of the paws let up enough for her to turn over and sit up, and she tuned to face her newest opponent. It was what appeared to be a mechanized cheetah.
'I stand corrected, anime isn't the only thing you think about.' Elwing though with a laugh, 'It would be Cheetor, wouldn't it!'
"How are you here to help?" Cheetor demanded, "And help with what?"
"Iris's self, apparently along with all of you, has been imprisoned within a crystal. I'm here to help her break free."
"Why should I trust you?" Cheetor asked.
"Because you know who I am, and you know I would never do anything to hurt Iris." Elwing said calmly.
"Ultra Gear! Alright then, I'll help you to help Iris." Cheetor said, and transformed into a blaster.
Elwing picked the 'Cheetor Blaster' up and headed for Iris's room in this eerie echoing copy of the palace.
As she passed by the door to the dining room, a puck came flying out and almost hit her on the head.
"Playing through!" called a young female voice, and out the door came... Elwing almost fell down laughing once again. It was Gosalyn Mallard from Darkwing Duck. She had a hockey stick in hand and was skating toward Elwing at breakneck speed on rollerblades.
"Stop right there!" Elwing cried and leveled the blaster at her. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you get in the way of my helping Iris I will do anything I can to stop you."
"I'd listen to her." The blaster agreed.
"Cheetor?" Gosalyn asked, confused, "You're backing her?"
"Yes, I am." he said firmly.
"All right, I guess I'll let you go ahead." Gosalyn said to Elwing and vanished.
"Thanks." Elwing said to Cheetor the blaster.
"Hey, it's no problem at all." he replied.
As Elwing turned down the hallway where all the bedrooms of the seishi were located, she was nearly blinded by a bright explosion of light. As she shook off the after-images, she cold see Jubilee from The X-Men standing in the middle of the hallway.
"You're not a part of Iris's mind!" Jubilee accused, "Get out of here!" she threw another burst of pyrotechnics at Elwing.
"I'm not the threat, I'm here to help deal with the threat!" Elwing shouted out, slowly moving closer and closer to Iris's door. "You're all trapped with Iris inside this crystal. Please, you have to believe me and let me help!" Elwing said, blinded by flash after flash of electrostatic light.
"Why should I trust you?" Jubilee asked suspiciously.
"What is it with you people and not trusting me?" Elwing asked Cheetor.
"It's our job to be suspicious of anyone sneaking in where they don't belong." he explained.
"I suppose that makes sense." she acknowledged. To Jubilee she said, "I would never hurt anyone, or enter their mind uninvited except in dire emergency. It's part of my religion, you know that!"
Jubilee let up with the fireworks. "You have a point there." she admitted, "I guess I'll have to let you pass." she said and vanished.
When they got to the door of Iris's room, Cheetor the blaster said, "Well, I guess this is my last stop."
"What do you mean?" Elwing asked him.
"I can't go any further into Iris's private space, I'm only one of her outer mind's defenses, and that's her self in there." he explained.
"Oh, I see. Well, thanks for your help and support." Elwing said gratefully.
"No problem." the blaster said and disappeared.
Elwing opened the door to Iris's room and was greeted by an appalling scene of carnage. Charred and mutilated bodies lay strewn across the floor...bodies which looked disturbingly like the Suzaku seishi. At the back of the room, Iris was hanging in chains on the wall and Tasuki, with an evil gleam in his eyes, was sitting in a chair below her feet, resting his feet up on another and looking altogether very pleased with himself. Iris looked up and saw her friend standing in the doorway.
"Elwing? But...how? You're dead!" she moaned, "They're all dead." She began to weep.
"All but you and I, my dear." the evil-looking Tasuki agreed.
Iris began to replay events to herself, and Elwing looked on helplessly as phantom characters played out the scenes which had lead to this one.
As in the real world, Iris tried to use the crystal. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then her door burst open and Tasuki came storming in. "I want to talk to you." he told Iris, "You need to know something." Chains came out of nowhere and strung Iris up as she now appeared. "That crystal was cursed to turn me evil!" he said gleefully, "Those chains will drain you chi, and since fear despair and anger are emotions which feed me now, I think I'll have a little fun with my former comrades."
As he said this, Tamahome came running in. "What's wrong?" he asked, "I sensed evil!"
"That would be me, Obake-chan. Lekka Shin'en!" Tasuki swept the Tessen down and sent an intense wave of flame at Tamahome, who choked a few times, then keeled over.
"I've always wanted to do that." Tasuki chuckled.
Iris was too shocked to even say anything.
Now Hotohori came through the door. "That's it, Tasuki, you've crossed the line. Killing one of your fellow seishi is a transgression I will not forgive." he said accusingly as he looked sadly at Tamahome's immolated corpse. Grimly Hotohori drew his Shinken.
Tasuki tightened the Tessen's pleats until it was as sharp and deadly as any shortsword and the two of them faced off. After a few rushing attacks, Tasuki ducked low as he passed by Hotohori and stabbed the Tessen deep into his side, hitting directly into the kidney. He then changed the angle until he found the aorta against the spinal column and severed it. Hotohori fell to his knees and dropped his sword, then fell flat on his face, blood gushing from his side.
Tasuki looked at the bloody tessen in his hand, then at the Shinken. "I think I'll take that." He said, sheathing the Tessen after wiping it clean on Hotohori's sleeve.
In through the open door came the rest of the seishi and Elwing. They took in the two dead seishi on the floor and Tasuki's maniacal grin in one glance and formed up to face off against him. Nuriko was the first to attack, throwing a heavy table at Tasuki, but he dodged, and with seemingly inhuman speed sliced Nuriko across the belly.
"Remind you of anything?" he asked nastily as Nuriko struggled to hold the slippery sides of his wound together.
Mitsukake reached out to try to heal Nuriko, but Tasuki clicked his tongue at the healer.
"Oh no you don't." he said. Moving again almost faster than the eye could follow, he sheared off Mitsukake's left hand, then stabbed him through the heart.
Nuriko slid to his knees and flopped onto his side as Mitsukake dropped in a boneless heap beside him. Iris finally started screaming and Tasuki turned around.
"Oh shut up, would you? You're always chattering away," he said critically. Out of nowhere a gag tied itself over Iris's mouth.
Chiriko was staring at Tasuki, stunned, while Chichiri chanted to try to loosen Iris's chains. "How could you do this, Tasuki?" Chiriko asked, "I've always respected you, how could you..."
"Oh you just shut up too." Tasuki growled and with one clean swipe cut off Chiriko's head.
While he had been doing this, the memory Elwing had snuck around to try to get closer to Iris, staying up against the wall to guard her back.
"I see you." Tasuki said evilly and ran at her with the Shinken raised.
"No!" Chichiri cried out and ran in front of Elwing. Tasuki didn't even slow for a second, and the ultra-sharp sword slid cleanly through both of their hearts, pinning them to the wall as though they were insects on display.
"Well," Tasuki chuckled, "they wanted to be together, so I suppose they got their wish." He went over and removed the gag from Iris's mouth, but all she could do was weep broken-heartedly.
The real Elwing had to suppress the urge to gag or scream or run, crying, out of there as fast as she could. 'It's not real.' she reminded herself, then said it out loud, "It's not real, Iris! This is all an illusion!"
"An illusion?" Iris looked up weakly.
"Yes, an illusion!" Elwing cried.
"Damn you!" swore Tasuki, and shot a wave of fire at her, but it rebounded off a barrier which surrounded her.
"You're inside the crystal!" Elwing said, willing her friend to believe, "That isn't the real Tasuki, he's an imposter. The real Tasuki would never do such things!"
"You're right." Iris said slowly, "The real Tasuki wouldn't do things like that." She seemed to strengthen. "You aren't Tasuki, who are you?" she asked, turning to her captor.
'Tasuki' laughed evilly. "So, you've seen through my little ploy, have you? I suppose I'll have to introduce myself then." He seemed to slide liquidly until he was a tall man with mauve, floor-length hair. "I am the evil God Tenkou, Taiitsukun's opposite," he said, bowing mockingly to them both, "and I shall destroy you!"
"Oh no you won't." Elwing said firmly, "Iris, this is all happening in your mind, only you can banish this 'Tenkou'."
"You're right." Iris agreed. Angrily she looked at Tenkou. "Get the hell out of my head!" she yelled at him.
Tenkou only laughed, and threw a bolt of mauve energy at Elwing, which was again blocked by her shield.
"Remember what he said!" Elwing shouted, "Anger and fear feed him! You have to stay calm!"
"But how do you calmly banish someone from you mind?!" Iris asked, "This will never work." She sagged despairingly in her chains and Tenkou grinned.
"You can't give up!" Elwing pleaded, "Think of Tasuki… The real Tasuki! He loves you, he said so himself! You're not going to let yourself die in here and never see him again, are you?" she cajoled.
"He loves me?" Iris perked up.
"Yes, he does!" Elwing assured her, "He loves you very much, he just couldn't bring himself to admit it. He was beside himself when he found your comatose body. You have to go back to him!"
"I have to go back to him." Iris agreed resolutely. "Tenkou, in the name of love, of my love for Tasuki, I banish you from my mind." She said firmly.
Instantly Tenkou disappeared. "Don't think you've seen the last of me little girls." His voice came floating back as the constructed crystal-world began to dissolve.
Elwing felt something tugging at her, and she grabbed hold of Iris as they were pulled back into Iris's body. For a minute, Elwing was confused and disoriented.
Chichiri saw both characters light on Iris's body and knew he had to call Elwing back to herself. He reached out with his mind the way she had described doing when she used her power and called, 'Itooshi, this way, follow me home!'
Elwing heard his call and turned toward the voice of her love, finding the thin thread connecting back to her own body. Once she was there, she almost fainted, but was wrapped safely in Chichiri's arms and he held her tight.
"You did well, no da." he congratulated her, "Now I think it's time for bed, no da." He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into her own room, leaving the door open so she could see Iris being checked out by Mitsukake. Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, Elwing was sound asleep, encouraged by one of Chichiri's sleeping spells. Chichiri brushed a stray lock of hair off her face and kissed her forehead, then returned to Iris's room and closed the door.
"We should let Tasuki know she's all right." Mitsukake indicated the sleeping Iris. "Otherwise he might just burn down the palace by sheer worry."
"I'll do that, no da." Chichiri said. He put on his mask, then went out into the hall, and five hopeful faces looked up at him.
"Is she... " Tasuki started.
"She's going to be alright, no da." Chichiri confirmed.
Tasuki's face lit up with joy. "I'll sit with her." he said, and quickly went in to relieve Mitsukake, who, understanding how he felt (everyone had heard him yelling about those feelings) left and closed the door.
"You should stay with Elwing." Mitsukake said to Chichiri, "She used a lot of her energy, and I want to be sure she's grounded back within herself. We'll bring you four lunch." he escorted the rest of the seishi back to the dining room.
Tasuki sat on the edge of Iris's bed, stroking her hair over and over. "I almost lost you! Damnit, I should have felt something! I should have known you were in danger!" he slammed his fist against his thigh. "Why the Hell didn't I feel anything?!"
Iris moaned and he quickly shut up. A soft knock came at the door.
"It's just Nuriko and I." Tamahome said, "We've brought some lunch."
"I don't want to eat right now, but put it on the table, Iris'll probably be hungry when she wakes up." Tasuki said without turning to look at them.
They slipped in quietly and left as soon as they had put the trays down, but they only went as far as the other side of the door, where they listened intently.
Iris stirred and began to wake. "Tasuki?" she said blearily.
"Shh... I'm here." he reassured her, stroking her hand.
"It all seemed so real!" she said.
"I'm sorry. I should have helped you." Tasuki apologized.
"Why? What could you have done?" Iris asked, only half awake.
"Why? Because I love you, dammit, that's why!" Tasuki said, a tear or two trickling down his cheek. Angrily he dashed them away. "It doesn't fuckin' matter what I could have ... " he stopped when he looked at Iris and saw that she was crying. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned, "Did I say something wrong? You're in love with Nuriko, aren't you?" he said, looking away to hide his own tears.
Iris sat up, still weeping. "No, I'm not in love with him, how could I be? I've loved only you from the first moment I set eyes on you! But... I thought... I thought you HATED me!" she wailed.
Tasuki hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "Of course I don't hate you." he fiercely reassured her, "I might not have realized how I felt at first, but I never hated you. I'm just too much of a fuckin' idiot to say it is all."
She sniffled and stopped crying. "Really?" she asked.
"Really." he assured her, "But I feel awful. I didn't even know you were in danger! I should have helped you!"
"Oh, but you did." Iris told Tasuki, "In the crystal, Elwing told me you loved me, and even though I didn't quite believe her, my love for you was enough to banish the evil from my mind." she looked deep into his eyes, "Thank you." she said.
"You ... you're welcome." Tasuki stammered, once again mesmerized by the rainbow-like quality of her eyes. Suddenly shy, he stood up. "I should go and let you eat your lunch." he said softly, "You'll probably want to sleep some more."
He leaned over to kiss her on the forehead, and his shadow falling across her made her look up. They touched lips. Both were initially startled, but then love and passion conquered their shyness, and the kiss continued, Iris slipping her arms around Tasuki as he sat back down on the bed and pulled her to him.
The long silence piqued the interest of Nuriko and Tamahome, who were still listening, and they opened the door just a crack and peeked in. When they saw Iris and Tasuki locked deeply in a passionate kiss, they were barely able to contain their giggles long enough to close the door and run down the hall before they exploded.
"Well, it looks like Tasuki has lost his hatred of women!" Tamahome pointed out gleefully.
After a couple of minutes, Tasuki and Iris broke off the kiss, both red-faced.
"I... I guess I should...go..." Tasuki said reluctantly.
"I... I suppose so..." Iris agreed half-heartedly.
Tasuki walked to the door. As he was going out, he turned around and looked back at her. "I love you." he said, quick and low, and blushed again.
"I love you too." Iris whispered back, also blushing.
Tasuki walked down the hall to his own room in a daze, his mind still lost in the sweet kiss he had shared and the joy and release of admitting his feelings. Unaware of his surroundings, he bumped into the still-giggling Nuriko and Tamahome. "Oh, sorry." he said vacantly and walked on.
Tamahome grinned wickedly at Nuriko, who laid a brotherly arm over Tasuki's shoulder.
"You seem a little distracted." Nuriko said.
"Hmm?" Tasuki looked up for a second, then his eyes glazed over again.
"Does she have sweet lips?" Tamahome asked oh-so-innocently.
Tasuki sighed, blushing. "She's perfect. She has the tenderest, most beautiful, sweetest..." He broke off as he realized what he was saying and glared at Tamahome. "Where the Hell do you get off askin' that question, Obake-chan!" he growled possessively, "Her lips are none of your fuckin' business!"
Tamahome laughed and held his hands up in a gesture of apology. "She's all yours, don't worry, I was just teasing you." he assured the fiery-haired seishi.
"We're just happy for you, ne, Tamahome?" Nuriko grinned, patting Tasuki on the shoulder.
Tasuki grinned a little sheepishly, then his gaze abstracted again and he wandered into his room.
"I guess he didn't want lunch after all." Nuriko said to Tamahome and the two of them left laughing and went to eat their own lunches with the others.
Hey, another little warning, this one more about the posting schedule. I have been having major computer troubles (basically my computer is dying a slow and agonizing death) so hopefully I will be able to keep to my schedule, but please understand, if Chapter 11 isn't out next Tuesday, it isn't because I don't want to post it then, okay? I'll honestly try my best to get it out, but no guarantees from now until I manage to get a new compy -_-;;; Wish me luck, minna!
The frustrated kitsune